《Mixed Blessing System》


 Chapter 1 Transmigrating

    KA-BOOM!

    Countless red rays, mixed with ck and white ones, filled the horizon, creating the backdrop of an unparalleled storm capable of shaking the soul of even the greatest experts in the world.

    Meanwhile, such a thing destroyed the surroundings, which were alreadypletely in ruins, signaling the beginning of the end of a perfect catastrophe.

    Over an area of tens of thousands of square meters, thousands of corpses mingled in the devastated terrain, where streams of blood could already be seen at the lowest points of the terrain.

    The bodies of gigantic beings, mythical animals, humanoid beings with wings, and much more were part of the now diabolical scenery of what was once a peaceful region.

    And while the terrible smell of death filled the reddish sky of that region now under the sounds of only lightning, a man was on his knee on the ground, badly wounded.

    He seemed to be in his early middle age, but his age could not be judged by his appearance alone. But at the moment, no one, if there were anyone else there, would pay attention to this.

    Instead, anyone in the vicinity would pay attention to the cuts on this man''s chest and his iplete arm, which were cut in half, with the bones showing.

    His clothes were burned in several ces, his armor in pieces. However, his back had not even a wound or a scar to show.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah...." His tremulous gaze, which was losing focus with each passing instant, was focused on the ground in front of him as he took a hurried breath, feeling that there was not much time left.

    ''Another failure...'' He wailed in his mind, ignoring the surroundings, ready to make hisst move.

    He then ced one hand on the ground and made a brief finger sign until a red ring appeared thereing from his hand, rapidly increasing in size, until a lightless hole formed under him.

    Sacrificial Skill: Temporal Inversion!

    Using all that he had left, his body shook vigorously. At the same time, the surroundings seemed to be copsing in on themselves, as would happen to a grand star before it died and became a ck hole.

    Meanwhile, that man''s body started to burn, slowly fading away.

    ''I''m going to try onest time. Maybe the next candidate...''

    Unfortunately, before he finished his thoughts, his bodypletely disappeared, while an explosion ofary magnitude surged from that ce.

    ...

    POW!

    "Ahhhh!"

    "What was that?"

    "Hey! Hey! Did you see that?"

    "I don''t know. I was walking by and then..."

    "Boom!"

    "Looks like a pedestrian threw himself in front of a carriage!"

    "Ahhhh! Is he dead?"

    The tumult began to form in the middle of one of the main streets of Peters City, where carriages and people passed by. Still, the crowd was already beginning to disrupt the normal traffic flow over there.

    But considering the unusual phenomenon that had just happened right in front of many of those eyes, it was not easy to me these people''s curiosity. After all, how many times in one''s life would one have the chance to watch some random dude throw himself in front of a carriage running at high speed?

    The world was so big, there were so many people, and yet, right in front of them, a city good-for-nothing threw himself like an idiot in front of a moving vehicle. But, unfortunately for such a person, the coachman of that carriage could not brake in time.

    Anyway, while curious onlookers began to create amotion in the surrounding area, some looked at the ident scene with shining eyes.

    That had been unbelievable!

    Even more so for the people who despised or envied the poor good-for-nothing, some of whom could not help but look up to the heavens and think that he had finally realized his pathetic existence and destroyed himself.

    ''This wretch has been lucky in his life.''

    ''Now the heavens are collecting karma used on this failed project.'' Some more frowning individuals thought simr things, not smiling but notmenting that youth''s death.

    Yes, death. None of them knew if such a victim had died, but who would live to tell about being hit by a carriage going more than 70 kilometers per hour?

    Nobody there knew stories like that, even considering that this was the infamous cultivation world!

    Thus, some locals who had problems with that person or were jealous of him for marrying the city''s number one beauty could not help but grin while seeing his body.

    Miss Viktoria Frost was the most beautiful and talented of the young generation in Peters City. Yet, she had married a nobody with no talent or intelligence.

    How could her many suitors ept such a thing?

    If only he had something to count... But no!

    He was a good-for-nothing who spent his time gambling, was famous for his big mouth, and ''spewed'' unfounded nonsense that only embarrassed all sides.

    That was the person who had had the grace to marry the goddess in the eyes of thousands of people in this city!

    And considering that negative fame, there was no way that some of those individuals could feel any pity for such youth.

    No, at the sight of that body full of wounds, of the face that looked like that of a drunkard, some peopleughed internally, using their best acting skills not to let outughter.

    After all, it was not good tough aloud at someone else''s misfortune, even more so considering that now Miss Viktoria Frost would be a widow.

    How many of them did not want the chance to console her?

    And so, they watched that motionless body on the edge of that street, where over 40 people were already gathering at this point.

    "Hey! Somebody get the coroner!"

    But as that small crowd vigorously discussed the matter, with some of the few concerned individuals trying to deal with the situation, one of the fingers on that youth''s right hand moved slightly.

    ...

    ''What the fuck...'' Lothur Ritter eximed in his mind, feeling a pain in his head as if an ax had struck him and now had his head split in two halves.

    However, as he exposed his expression of pain and tried to bring his hands to that part of his body, all this young man could do was run his hands along the inside of his head.

    ''Ahhhh!'' He tried to scream, but all he could do was open his mouth.

    But that was not strange at all. That''s because, without a physical body, how could Lothur speak or touch himself?

    And in fact, if this young man looked at himself at the moment, all he would see was a semi-transparent aura, which looked very much like himself.

    ''What''s happening, gods? Is this some kind of dream?'' He wondered in awe, feeling nervous and apprehensive, sensing the increase in his heart rate, even though he did not have a body.

    However, while trying to make sense of his situation, this earthling, that was in his first year of college, noticed something strange slowly appearing in front of his eyes.

    ''What is it?'' He looked at what looked like a ball of light getting closer to his forehead.

    Lothur then tried to move away from the damn thing, fearing it would make him feel worse.

    ''Damn it! What the fuck is this?''

    ''Is this just a delusion of mine?''

    ''Tsk!''

    ''I have to stop drinking!'' So, he thought, convinced that he could no longer hang out with his old friends or he would gopletely insane.

    But before Lothur realized it, the previous ball of light entered his head without giving him a chance to at least think of a counterattack.

    [Establishing connection with the host''s soul...]

    [Initiating system...]

    [The host doesn''t have a physical body...]

    [Initiating unteral possession...]<sub> </sub>

    [Protocol-1 activated, annihting soul not connected to the system...]

    Several messages appeared in the middle of Lothur''s vision, as if they were text boxes from aputer, with the ''screen'' about 50 centimeters away from his eyes.

    As he watched those letters that seemed to change color depending on where he looked, this young man shuddered, stopping his previous thoughts.

    [Toxins detected in the new body. Eliminating all toxins and seals present in it...]

    ''This is no ordinary delirium!''

    ''Incredible!''

    ''I must be the first in history to delirium nonsenses like that!'' He chuckled in his mind, feeling that the stories of people who saw monsters in their illusions seemed more interesting than seeing messages in text boxes in his head.

    Lothur thought that if he were ever going to experience something like this, it would be after waking up in the middle of the night and having to turn off the lights in his house while running so the demon in the dark would not catch him.

    But who knew? He, Lothur, was raving about virtual absurdities!

    ''At least I''m not hearing voices!''

    ''That''s already good!'' Lothur smiled just before seeing the text box again in the middle of his vision.

    [Finalizing initial preparations...]

    [System activated...]

    [Status activated...]

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: ****]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 0 (weakened)]

    [STR: 0.7] [CON: 0.3] [DEX: 0.8] [AGI: 0.9]

    [INT: 15.0] [PER: 4.5] [WIL: 18.1]

    [Host, do your best and find the Lost Tree!]

    [Find the Lost Tree Seven Fallen Scrolls to discover its location!]

    [For each scroll found, the benefits to the host will be immeasurable!]

    [The host must fulfill this mission at any cost. Otherwise, be prepared to perish alongside this whole world! Find the Lost Tree. This is yourst hope!]

    [This third attempt is thest, there will not be a fourth!]

    [Until a next time, host. Do your best or die trying!]

    ''What?''

    But before he could think anything else, he felt pain again, this time in his head and all over his body.

    ''AHHHHHHH!''

    ...

    "AHHHHHHH!"

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhh! Damn him!"

    "The rascal has returned from death!"

    "Ahhhh! Kill him!"

    "Don''t let this abomination defile ournd!"

    Screams of terror spread through the same street as before, just after that city good-for-nothing''s body suddenly moved, before an unexpected scream left his throat.

    It had frightened the soul of every single person there, be they men, women, young or old!

    Hence, many could not help but tremble in fear, pleading for some brave soul to extinguish the abomination that seemed to have returned from the underworld.

    "Fuck! It hurts!" The youth, who coincidentally was named Lothur Ritter, cried out in pain, finally managing to use his hands to touch his head.

    "Elders, kill him while he''s disoriented!"

    "Maybe he is dangerous!!" Some young men said this almost simultaneously,menting that Lothur''s luck was too great.

    ''Hell!''

    ''Even being poisoned and hit by a carriage couldn''t kill this worthless bastard?'' Someone in the crowd thought about it silently, looking at Lothur with an expression that could scare even children.

    As for Lothur, he finally noticed themotion in his surroundings and tried to hold back his cries of pain to beg those people to stop trying to kill him.

    "Damn it! What about are you people talking? You want to kill an injured person?"

    "Quick, help me get to the hospital!"

    "Hospital?"

    "What''s he talking about?"

    "He''s gone crazy! He''s saying things that don''t exist!" People in the surrounding areamented without caring that Lothur was listening to them.

    ''What? Isn''t there a hospital around here?'' Lothur looked at the surroundings in doubt, not understanding into which ce he had fallen.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" But at that moment, a sudden wave of information flooded his brain, causing him to fall face-first to the ground as he cried out in pain.

    "Clear the way! Clear the way!"

    More voices arose there, but this time they were not curious people but the local coroner staff, a group responsible for investigating the death of people in this ce.

    However, when one of the local coroner''s men arrived next to Lothur''s body, he immediately frowned, realizing that there was no dead man for them.

    "What''s going on here? This person is undoubtedly alive!"

    "This..."

    "A carriage hit him... We... We thought he had..." Someone said this while shaking with nervousness.

    "Hey! Isn''t that the Frost family''s son-inw?" One of those men from the local coroner''s office identified young Lothur.

    "So, that''s him?"

    "What do we do now? Do we just abandon him here?"

    "No!"

    "Coroner Klossner is close to the Frost family. If we leave their son-inw here right after we arrive, I''m afraid we might leave our boss in a strange situation!"

    "Yes, that''s right!"

    "Let''s take that good-for-nothing son-inw to the Frost estate!"

    "Yes, let''s go!"

    ...

 Chapter 2 Shock Of Reality

    After a few minutes, Lothur was already lying down in one of the smallest rooms in the residential area of his wife''s family estate.

    In that ce decorated with a few items, all of them simply for the standard of this organization, there was almost no decorative furniture, just the basics for a ce like that.

    For example, there was a simple locker in the left corner of the room, next to the only two doors there, one leading to the bathroom and the other leading into and out of the room.

    In addition, there was a small window on the right side of the room, but it was not the type that opened.

    At the same time, a rtivelyrge single bed used most of the remaining area, leaving little room to walk around.

    But right there, Lothur was lying with his eyes open, looking at the only light fixture in the room, which was reflecting part of his appearance.

    This young man was about 1.9 meters tall, in the best physical shape of a 19-year-old man, with shapely muscles proportional to his height, white skin, unmarked by time or idental situations.

    He had silver hair and eyes, and most importantly, an attractiveness hard to find even in the cultivation world.

    But looking at his reflection, Lothur was not that impressed with his appearance.

    No, although his appearance was different from the one he had in his past life and even made him feel better about the situation, what was on his mind was the fact that he had suddenly transmigrated to this world!

    As he observed his reflection, he could not help but find it strange that at this moment, he was upying a body that was not his own!

    ''This all seems like a dream!''

    ''Or maybe a nightmare!'' He thought about it silently, motionless in that bed, terribly shocked by the 180-degree change he had gone through in thest few minutes.

    One moment he was with his college friends, going out to have fun, and then, boom, here he was, in a different body, with strange memories in his mind.

    And to make matters worse, his body hurt in a way that he did not understand how he was still alive.

    It was as if every fiber of his being had been beaten to a near-death state, leaving only the bare minimum for him to continue suffering in this world.

    Considering all this, this young man was in aplete panic now.

    He spent a few minutes in the same position, not doing or thinking much, looking at his reflection, trying to calm his restless heart.

    Gulp!

    He then tried to move as best he could until two of his fingers pressed against the top of his left thigh.

    "Ouch!" Immediately after that, he felt the pain he had already expected for that.

    "I truly did possess this body!" He gave voice to his thoughts, incredulous.

    After concluding this could not be a dream or an ordinary delirium, Lothur decided to analyze his new circumstances to understand at least the context in which he had been inserted.

    Lothur was not the most thoughtful person from where he came from, but he had a minimum ofmon sense that could help him in strange situations.

    Because of this, when he found himself in such a situation, he took only the time necessary to let the initial shock pass to try to understand his surroundings better.

    He felt that he could not do anything to change this reality, so perhaps considering the information he had in mind was the best alternative.

    Hell, if he felt the pain of a pinch, he could not risk his life in this ce!

    Maybe this was a dream or an illusion, but that pain was genuinely real for him, and he would do anything to avoid suffering.

    Therefore, assuming this as reality seemed the best option for him now. And to that end, Lothur promptly began to check the information of his predecessor, the owner of the body he had suddenly possessed.

    ''My bad, perhaps you died because of me, but I fear I will still have to invade your deepest privacy...'' He considered this as he began to pay attention to his predecessor''s memories.

    In doing so, Lothur immediately discovered that such a person had the same name and age as him. However, those were the only simrities between the two.

    For everything else, it could be said they werepletely different. For starters, the appearance of the two could be considered quite distinct, although the Lothur of Earth was not far behind in terms of attractiveness.

    He was obviously not as handsome as the Lothur of this cultivation world. Still, by Earth standards, his physical qualities could be considered superb.

    At least in most of his features.<sub> </sub>

    But going forward, their personalities werepletely different. One of them had been a good-for-nothing ignored by themunity in which he lived. The other was a responsible student who had led an ordinary life with no great ups and downs.

    On another matter, the young man from Earth had a traditional family that loved him. But, at the same time, the one from this world was an orphan raised by a guardian, who unfortunately had passed away not long ago.

    Shortly before the death of his guardian, Lothur from this world had married the firstdy of House Frost for reasons that he himself did not understand.

    However, at the time, his predecessor was just a young man who did not think much of responsibilities. He had just epted the arrangements made between his guardian and Viktoria Frost.

    After all, Viktoria was a beauty that many wished only to observe from afar, so why should he not marry her?

    Since she was the one who wanted him as her husband, then he had calmly epted his fate.

    ''If the greatest beauty in the city wanted to marry me, why would I refuse? I will enjoy my luck!'' That had been his thought at the time.

    After that, he lived as the son-inw of this family, something extremely despised in this world since, with few exceptions, men would never marry women within their families.

    No, doing such a thing was a sign of a tremendous difference in status between the parties, something considered humiliating to the men of this world.

    As a result, this had gotten Lothur into a lot of trouble in his short time with Viktoria.

    Combine this with the inconsequential personality of that young man, the good-for-nothing Lothur of Peters City, a social disgrace, the enemy of the local youth, had emerged.

    Understanding this, Lothur from Earth smiled bitterly, feeling that he would have a lot of trouble in this ce.

    "Sigh..."

    ''The amount of disadvantages here is simply unbelievable!''

    ''How did he survive for 19 years? In a cruel ce like this...'' He thought about it when he finally realized that he was not in a world simr to Earth.

    ''A cruel ce like... Like... Like this world.''

    His eyes widened in amazement, realizing this was a cultivation world, simr to many of the fantasy stories he had seen during his life on Earth.

    It was not identical to the foolish things developed by all kinds of minds on Earth. But still, people could use something called spiritual energy to change their bodies in this world!

    Not only that, altering one''s own body with spiritual energy allowed cultivators, as these people were called, to develop powers and physical abilities beyond the ordinary.

    There was even the possibility of living for thousands of years in this world because of this!

    But as he thought about this fantastic feature, the exciting look in Lothur''s eyes quickly changed, now showing disappointment.

    ''How unlucky of me...'' Hemented in his heart, feeling bad that his predecessor had a body unable to the cultivation journey.

    ''But it seems that this fellow was untalented and an idiot...''

    ''He has almost no information about this world!''

    ''Only local stuff from this ce, uh, Peters City, and some nearby areas. Other than that, nothing!''

    "No wonder everyone called you useless." He muttered in a low voice, paying no attention to his surroundings.

    "Oh?" A feminine tone reached Lothur''s ears as this young man finally realized he was not alone.

    "It seems that being hit has affected your brain, but at least now you can understand reality..."

    "Hahaha, that''s already a breakthrough!" A woman, the same age as Lothur, as beautiful as the most beautiful actresses on Earth, said this amidst her chuckle.

    Upon hearing that, Lothur''s eyes widened in surprise as he looked to the left side of his bed, where that woman was standing behind the person he was expecting to meet.

    "Viktoria..." Lothur muttered, incredulous at that beauty, who seemed even more impressive than the memory his predecessor had left.

    ...

 Chapter 3 Ice-Hearted Woman

    "Viktoria..." Lothur repeated that woman''s name one more time, watching her intently.

    Viktoria Frost was a beauty in a million. To begin with, at the age of 19, she was around 1.62 meters tall, which made her neither tall nor short by the standards of this world.

    But, moving on, her body had desired measurements, with good-sized hips that would make any loser stare from afar, dreaming of one day being able to touch her. At the same time, the two peaks on her chest maintained the proportionality of her body, having a size that was simply difficult to hide, even with discreet clothing.

    As for her waist, their part of her body separated those other two aspects perfectly, forming a silhouette desired even by other women.

    However, this was only the most superficial physical quality of this woman. Getting closer to her, one could notice her perfectly smooth skin, without any blemishes or scars, well defined but not showing the muscles of her body.

    Finally, her facial attractiveness, well, that was the main point of Viktoria''s appearance. Her face was oval, with brown eyes, with thin nose and mouth, with beautiful wavy brown hair that went down to the middle of her back.

    And watching this woman, who was wearing a blue dress, which went down to her knees and left a small glimpse of her upper chest at disposal, Lothur was silent, impressed.

    He was not a beta, someone who would be with his mouth open in a situation like this, not knowing what to say to a beauty like Viktoria. But still, this young man had been caught off guard in this situation.

    Just now, he wasmenting his terrible fate in having ''gotten'' a body unable to cultivate. Still, then this woman had suddenly appeared in this room.

    Hell, he had to admit that his strong mentality, something he had been trying to obtain in his previous life, had involuntarily trembled in that instant.

    "Viktoria, what are you doing here?" He tried to calm himself, to regain his appearance of indifference while looking into that woman''s eyes.

    Unfortunately for this young man''s predecessor, Viktoria had a personality as cold as liquid nitrogen and had never let him even touch her hands.

    Considering this, they had never slept in the same room, much less entered each other''s ''personal space.''

    Because of all this, the new Lothur was curious to know what this woman wanted bying to his room. After all, she had shown no affection for him until then, so why bother to visit him so suddenly?

    And soon, he had his question answered.

    "I heard that you were hit by a carriage this afternoon..." Viktoria said this in a tone that did not show any fluctuation generated by emotions. "Is that true?"

    "Hmm, I believe it is." He shook his head to the right while moving his lips to show that it had not been a big deal to him. "Are you by any chance worried about your husband, dear?"

    "Tsk!"

    After those words finisheding out of Lothur''s mouth, Elise, Viktoria''s servant, almost jumped on the young man resting on that bed, full of irritation towards him.

    "Look at the way you talk to the young miss!"

    "A good-for-nothing like you can''t afford to call her that way!"

    "Humph!"

    "Mere servants should wait off to the side when the masters are talking!" Lothur said this in one breath, retorting to that woman who had always made things difficult for his predecessor.

    Realizing what he had said, Lothur himself was struck by the words he had used for the first time in his life. ''Don''t tell me I also inherited that individual''s bad habits?'' He wondered before he heard a sharp sound.

    "What did you say, you bastard?" The eyes of that beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes almost popped out of their sockets as her delicate face turned red with anger.

    "Young miss, don''t hold me back!"

    "Let me teach this asshole a lesson!"

    But to Elise''s misfortune, Viktoria held her by one of her arms just before she jumped on that bed to spank Lothur.

    "Elise, don''t do anything reckless."

    "Lothur is already hurt, and you shouldn''t say such things to him either."

    "But..."

    "No buts!"

    "It doesn''t matter if he and I are just husband and wife in name. At the end of the day, he is still your young master."

    "Then try to respect him a little."

    "How, young miss? He''s nothing but a useless son-inw who doesn''t..."

    Viktoria then frowned, looking meaningfully at that woman.<sub> </sub>

    Gulp!

    At this sight, Elise felt a chill run through her body. She then bowed her head and said in a low voice. "All right, young miss, I promise not to do anything else."

    "Hehe, well done, Viktoria!" Lothur took the opportunity to throw salt into the wound,ughing, even though it was making him feel an unparalleled pain in his abdomen. "You have trained your servant well."

    "Son of a..."

    But this time, Elise merely gritted her teeth in anger, waiting for those two to settle their affairs beside the exit door of Lothur''s room.

    "Lothur, you have to stop teasing Elise too. Why are you two like this? Every time the three of us are in the same ce, I have to worry about keeping you from getting hurt."

    "You are just two mortals. Why don''t you understand each other and avoid any danger to your fragile conditions?"

    "Don''t forget, even the most potent pill in our world cannot save a corpse." Viktoria finished her sermon, always using the same tone, without any emotional change.

    Lothur then looked at her silently, thinking how cold this woman could be. ''Interesting.'' He smiled, feeling that at least his predecessor had guaranteed some emotions for him.

    He then said. "Is that all you had to say? Or maybe you want to do something with your injured husband?"

    "You''re bolder than ever, huh?"

    "But that''s okay. I''ll let it go this time since you''re hurt." Viktoria said this as she ced some bottles with pills next to one of Lothur''s hands.

    "Use these to recover your injuries as quickly as possible. My parents have invited you to join us for dinner tonight, so don''t bete, even if you haven''t finished recovering."

    "Do you understand?"

    Lothur then pressed his jaw, remembering that in the marriage mode of this world, upon joining a family, such a person essentially became part of that organization.

    Since he was a son-inw in his wife''s family, his position was not so different from that of Elise.

    He had to obey the family''s rules, respect the hierarchy of this organization, and even ask permission for certain things.

    Then, he felt terrible thinking about it, finding it uneptable that so many restrictions now constrained him.

    He was from a country where he could do whatever he wanted as long as it did not harm other people. So, it was truly strange to him to be in this current situation.

    ''What the hell!''

    ''I have practically no voice in this damn house!''

    But he knew that saying those words aloud would not do his cause any good. So, that way, he just nodded to that ice-hearted woman, looking forward to the day when he would turn the tables on this ce.

    "Very well."

    "Rest for the rest of the day and go to my parents'' house as soon as the sun goes down." Viktoria was about to leave that ce when she suddenly remembered something and turned to him.

    "And don''t disappoint my parents."

    "I can understand your words against Elise, but stop saying arrogant things in front of my parents!"

    After that, the two beauties disappeared, leaving the young Lothur alone with his thoughts.

    ''What aplication...''

    ''What will I do now?''

    But nothing came to his mind. All he had were those bottles with pills, which seemed to be his only possibility at the moment to at least reduce the pain in his body.

    As for how to adapt and react to this reality, he was still unsure how to do it. Without relevant information, power, or status, all he could do now was ept certain momentary impositions.

    ''But what about that damn thing?''

    ''Uh, I think it was called system...''

    ''In any case, that thing won''t give me any help?''

    ...

 Chapter 4 First And Only Hint

    After thinking about the system in such an unfortunate way, suddenly, a new message appeared for the young Lothur.

    [First and only Hint: wee gift.]

    "Oh?" Lothur forgot that his whole body was sore and unconsciously stirred as he saw such a message appearing right in front of him.

    "Ouch!"

    "Hell!" He cried out in pain, feeling his injuries even more intensely than before he was brought to this room.

    ''Damn, I''d better take these pills soon!'' He pondered over this, picking up those pill bottles left by Viktoria.

    [Body Recovery Pills] [Rank: Iron] [Purity: 52%] [4 units]

    [Effect: recovers damage to the different tissues of a given body].

    Immediately after touching that bottle with pills, a screen with its information appeared in front of Lothur.

    ''Oh?''

    ''So this so-called system can also see the characteristics of what I touch?'' Lothur wondered in surprise but did not think much of it and immediately threw those pills into his mouth,pletely ignoring whether that was the right thing to do or not.

    All he had in mind now was to reduce his body''s pain and understand what was this Hint that the system had given him.

    After this, he unconsciously thought of the word ''Hint.'' Soon after, a new text appeared in front of him, helping this young man understand a little more of the system''s functionality.

    [Hint]

    [As a wee gift, the system naturally brought the host''s soul to the body closest to one of the Lost Tree Seven Fallen Scrolls.]

    [As the host''s ultimate purpose,pleting the Lost Tree Seven Fallen Scrolls collection is a must. Hence, the system must assist you in at least your first gathering.]

    [Thus, the host must take advantage of the opportunity created and search for the first scroll as quickly as possible not to lose its location.]

    [Search for a metal leaf, and when such a thinges within reach of the host''s hands, the system will naturally recognize such a scroll.]

    After Lothur finished reading that, the text in front of him disappeared, allowing this young man to return to observing his surroundings normally.

    ''So, this thing is nearby!'' He thought about it in satisfaction, feeling that at least there was a chance that such a system would help him at the beginning of his journey.

    Lothur was bewildered as to what to do in the future.

    He had been someone who always had a purpose in his former life. And with that, it was genuinely hopeless to find himself in a totally different ce, which he had practically no good information about because of the ipetence of his predecessor.

    To make matters worse, he was injured and could not even do the same as most ordinary people in this world!

    But knowing that the system had at least given him this opportunity, he now felt much better.

    At the very least, he could go after that thing and maybe get a pleasant surprise.

    ''Well, there''s nothing I can do in my current condition.''

    ''Then, I will continue my recovery until I can get out of this damn bed. After that, I will look for such an item before dinner with that woman''s parents.'' He nned.

    "Sigh..."

    ''I hope those pills are not like the medicine in my world.''

    ...

    After a while, the end of the day finally arrived in Peters City, with the orange sky slowly giving way to the darkness of night.

    But while the local temperature was easing and some young people were out ying, Lothur had just left his room to go to his previously arranged appointment.

    Lothur had barely managed to dress because of the pain in his frail body, but after much effort, he had managed to at least look presentable.

    And since there was not much time left for the asion he had been ''invited'' to begin, he could not waste any time looking for one of the scrolls he was supposed to find.

    Not because such a thing was any more important than visiting his inws. It was not. Gathering that thing was much more important to him than visiting his wife''s family.

    Not only because his life might well be positively affected bypleting the system requirements but also because he did not like the idea of seeing his inws.<sub> </sub>

    His former self was simply too troublesome. Thur, his mother-inw hated him.

    His father-inw was not so bad and could even defend him in certain situations. However, even this person would hardly stand against Viktoria''s mother, and in general, the former Lothur had to listen to all kinds of sermons from that woman.

    Not surprisingly, Lothur had a grudge against such a person and always avoided meeting her in this estate.

    Knowing all this, the present Lothur was worried about having to suffer from the harassment of an angry mother-inw when he had just arrived in this world.

    However, as much as his task of collecting the scrolls was more important and exciting to him, this young man did not have many options here.

    As a member of the Frost family, a mere son-inw, he could very well have his freedom threatened, be arrested, and even physically punished if he did not obey the house rules.

    And as much as beingte or even missing dinner with the inws was no great crime, Viktoria''s parents were the leaders of this family... In other words, if they decided to punish him for this, he would be alone, with no one to defend him!

    So, thinking that it would be more beneficial to keep his long-term freedom, in view of the fact that the scroll might not be in this residence, he had decided to go ahead with thismitment.

    If the item in question were in this ce, such behavior would not hinder him much. But, on the other hand, if the first scroll to be collected was outside the Frost estate and that family punished him, it could impair him immensely.

    So, he just moved on, trying to avoid expressing the difort around his body, until he opened the door of his inws'' residence that gave ess to the dining room.

    ...

    "... And that''s what happened." Viktoria was just finishing talking about something with her parents when suddenly Lothur entered that ce.

    He was strolling, carrying a stern expression on his face, while a slight pallor could be seen on his cheeks.

    Upon seeing her worthless son-inw, Mabel Rios felt even more disdain and anger that such a scumbag had married her beautiful and talented daughter.

    ''I still underestimated him!''

    "It seems that even my worst expectations of you were wrong..." She said in an icy tone, looking at Lothur in a way that, if the look killed, this young man would drop dead to the floor.

    "Honey, let''s not talk about that now." Aiken Frost, the patriarch of this family and Viktoria''s father, said this to the beautiful woman sitting next to him. "It is not Lothur''s fault that a carriage hit him..."

    "Humph!" That woman, who looked a lot like Viktoria, but with the typical charm that only mature women could have made a sound of discontent upon hearing such a thing.

    To her, it did not matter whether it was luck or bad luck that had caused it for young Lothur. From the rumors already circting in the family, he seemed drunk before the incident.

    In this case, it was his fault!

    "Good-for-notings naturally attract the worst to themselves!" She said, feeling one of her husband''s hands squeezing her thigh, asking her to tone down her offenses.

    And upon hearing those ''beautiful words of wee,'' Lothur felt even worse than he had assumed he would feel upon meeting that woman.

    ''This person is toxic!''

    ''What have I done to deserve this?''

    ''If my predecessor had at least consummated his marriage to Viktoria, I could understand such a thing, but...''

    "Tsk!"

    "If I am not wee, I can just return from whence I came!" He said without thinking, surprised by this ability to make matters worse without any need.

    ''What the fuck!''

    ''Why did I say that?''

    "Lothur, be quiet and sit down!" Then, finally, a thin voice reached Lothur''s ears,ing from the fourth upied seat at therge table where Viktoria''s family was at this instant.

    There were many tes of different kinds of cuisines there, with Mabel and Aiken at the end of the table, while on the sides were Viktoria and her twin sister, Annaliesa.

    Then, hearing the voice of the only person in this house who conversed with him in an ''equal'' tone, Lothur pressed his fists together and just did what she had ''suggested.''

    He sat beside his wife, still irritated, looking first at Viktoria''s inexpressive face, then at Annaliesa, andstly to his mother-inw.

    "Well, may I ask why madam Frost invited me here? I assume it wasn''t just to enjoy mypany, right?" He said, once again impressing with his tongue.

    ...

 Chapter 5 Blackmail

    Mabel looked into the silver eyes of that young man, feeling even more irritated with him. ''I''d better not waste my patience on this brat!''

    ''One day, this worthless man''s tongue will kill him, and I won''t have to tolerate him anymore!'' She thought about it silently, suppressing herself not to attack a mere mortal.

    This woman might not be an original member of this family, but because she was much stronger than her husband, she could not be so careless as to lose control with a mere son-inw.

    Even more so, considering that just one finger of hers could end Lothur''s poor life, which, although not such a bad idea, could hinder the ns of this organization in the short term...

    So, she slowly inhaled the air in her surroundings to keep her stress from getting out of control.

    After suppressing her anger under the vignt eyes of her daughters and Aiken, Mabel finally touched on the subject she had to discuss with that ungrateful son-inw.

    "Lothur, you and Viktoria have been married for six months, but still, you have never shown any responsibility or sense of duty to the family."

    "You haven''t even tried to change your wed behaviors."

    "However, House Frost is not like any ordinary family in our kingdom!"

    "There is no way we can ept your behavior for much longer."

    "Thus, starting tomorrow, you will attend the Morning Star Academy to learn how to make yourself minimally useful to the family."

    Viktoria''s father thenmented in a low voice in the middle of his wife''s speech. "Try not to waste this chance. Mabel went to a lot of trouble to get a spot for you."

    The Morning Star Academy was the principal educational center for the nobility in this region of Peters City. This institution was where not only the young members of these organizations could learn about everyday things, such as geography, but also unique subjects, like cultivation.

    Cultivation was not always about passing knowledge from one generation to the next but about practical opportunities for self-knowledge.

    Certainly, the advice of an experienced cultivator with simr characteristics to the student would be significant. But each person had their own particrities, which made such a thing inefficient after a certain point.

    Hence there was a need for a ce for self-improvement, with diverse possibilities of challenging situations for youths.

    These ces were the academies existing in this world, as in the case of the Morning Star Academy.

    Because of this, noble families sent their offspring to institutions like these, where all resources could be directed only to create the necessary circumstances for developing new cultivators.

    Some of these families were powerful but could hardly do the same as these academies. After all, they had to nurture their talents and manage all the operations that a family typically had.

    In short, it was impractical to maintain the training of their young talents with the resources avable from only one of these organizations. Even more, it was not at all easy topete with talents developed in ces like those academies.

    As a result, noble families of this state sent their talents to academies. Consequently, ces like the Morning Star Academy were tough to get a spot!

    Therefore, Aiken had warned his son-inw, hoping that this young man would not waste Mabel''s efforts.

    "So, that''s what you want..." Lothur said in a low voice, understanding the intentions of that matriarch.

    And he was not entirely against this idea since his predecessor had wasted his time on useless things and left practically no information from this world for the young man from Earth.

    However, apart from the grim thought of having to return to school, every fiber in Lothur''s body was telling him to refuse Mabel''s offer and escape from this ce.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''It seems the will of the damned remains in this body!'' Lothur finally realized why he was talking nonsense without at least thinking first.

    ''Come on, man! You''re already dead!''

    ''Now, this body belongs to me!''

    ''And I''m not you!'' He tried to fight the impulsive side of that body but got no response.

    ''Damn, I hope I don''t have to live with these symptoms for a long time...''

    He then said. "Can''t I study at home?"

    "What''s the need to go to this academy? I''m not able to cultivate, so I can just learn..."

    But as he tried to justify his refusal, Mabel mmed her right hand hard on the table, irritated. "I don''t want to hear your excuses. You''re going to the academy starting tomorrow, and that''s final!"

    Viktoria then interceded. "Lothur, do as mother said."

    "You might think it''s bad to go to the academy, but you might even enjoy it. Besides, it might at least give you a purpose..."

    She then bowed her head next to Lothur and said in a low voice, teasing him. "Aren''t you always trying to flirt with girls?"

    "Let me tell you this. No woman is interested in men without purpose. At most, they will use you until they find a better option."

    But she did not need to tell Lothur that. As someone who had a strong mentality and understood the basics of women''s minds, he understood well about hypergamy.<sub> </sub>

    However, even if he did not know anything about it, Viktoria''s advice still would not have stimted his mind. In that instant, Lothur saw a red-colored metallic leaf, the size of a fingernail, on the ne around that woman''s neck.

    ''Is that it?'' He wondered but got no answer from the system.

    ''Maybe that''s it... I should investigate this further!''

    "Hmmm."

    "All right, I''ll do my best to frequent such a ce." He said this in a disgruntled tone, grimacing as he ate something from his te.

    Annaliesa then smiled and said. "Hehe, maybe you and I can go to the academy together from now on..."

    "Oh? You go to that ce?"

    "But what about..." He looked at Viktoria, but he did not even have to finish what he wanted to ask.

    Annaliesa answered him. "My sister is also a student. But since she is a prodigy, she rarely shows up at the academy."

    "Is that so?"

    "What about you? You are twin sisters, right? So, your talent must also be impressive."

    "Tsk!"

    "What do you think you''re doing? That isn''t a bar table where you guys can talk however you want!" Mabelined, feeling irritated by Lothur''s attemptedparison.

    As for Annaliesa, she just remained silent, her facepletely red, feeling ashamed that she was less talented than her sister.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Looks like Annaliesa ispletely in Viktoria''s shadow, huh?''

    ''It''s not for nothing that she treats me so much better than the rest of these people...''

    ''She has a sense of inferiority because of her sister''s talent.''

    After that, the dinner continued with a few more disturbances, but eventually, Lothur managed to escape Mabel''s furious clutches.

    However, when he finished his business with those people, this young man went after Viktoria instead of returning to his room, insisting that he had something ofst importance to talk to her about.

    But they were not alone as they walked towards her room. No, after they left the dining room of Viktoria''s parents'' residence, this woman''s servant was already apanying her again.

    "Scumbag, what do you want to talk to the young miss about?"

    "Naturally, this is a conversation between husband and wife... You don''t..."

    "Lothur, just say what you want with me." Viktoria stopped her husband from finishing his words, turning to him and standing with her back to the door of her room.

    This young man felt his heartbeat elerating as nervousness spread through his being upon hearing her voice.

    He was not nervous about standing in front of this beautiful woman, but because he had no idea how to get his hands on that ne around her neck.

    That might be nothing, but if it was what he thought, it might change his life to some degree. Consequently, his next step was crucial.

    If he achieved this, he might or might not get the item demanded by the system. However, if he took the wrong step, Viktoria could very well prevent him from at least finding out if the ne was what he thought it was or not!

    "Viktoria, can''t you be a little kinder to your husband? If the people of this city find out how I''m treated..." He said in a teasing tone.

    "What are you trying?" That ice-hearted woman narrowed her eyes dangerously as she looked at him.

    "I''m saying I can''t live like this!"

    "If I have no intimacy with the woman who chose me as her husband, I fear nothing is left for me in this world! Then I will be unable to keep my anguish to myself for long!" He said, feigning irritation.

    "What?"

    "You son of a bitch!"

    "How can you talk such nonsense?" Elise was the first to exim in hatred, striking that young man directly in the chest.

    "Ouch!"

    ...

 Chapter 6 The Goal

    "Ouch!" Lothur cried out in pain, feeling as if a rock had hit his left chest.

    ''What a wild woman!''

    ''She attacked me so hard, so suddenly!'' He looked at Elise, regretting that this woman was there to get in the way of his business with Viktoria.

    But before Elise could do anything else, Viktoria finally made her move, stopping that blonde woman from kicking Lothur in the belly.

    "Elise, what do you think you''re doing?" She shouted with a slightly angry tone, feeling bad for having to defend such a man.

    Feeling Viktoria''s icy hand gripping her heel, Elise looked at her in surprise and tried to justify herself. "Young miss, this scumbag..."

    "No matter how you see him, you cannot hit him like that!

    "Get out now!" Viktoria ordered coldly, feeling that she needed to have a serious talk with that womanter.

    Viktoria genuinely had no feelings for Lothur. However, it was not appropriate for him to be beaten by that person, or rather by anyone.

    It was not good for him to get hurt or even for his life to be at risk... It would not be suitable for her to be a widow so soon...

    And although Viktoria did not find it so problematic for Elise to teach Lothur a lesson just once, such a thing could get out of hand if she allowed it to happen once. So, she would instead simply prevent it, not tolerating any aggression.

    ''Hmmm.''

    ''Interesting.'' Lothur looked silently at Viktoria, noticing some unconscious signs left by her.

    After seeing that blonde woman leaving them alone, Lothur sighed deeply and said in a weakened tone. "Darling, it''s a good thing you stopped her, or you would have be a widow before we even consummated our marriage..."

    But he did not continue with his words when he saw Viktoria''s cold gaze in his direction. "What were you saying before she attacked you? Exin it to me well because, for some reason, I feel like you were trying to threaten me..." She said, standing in front of the man lying on the ground.

    Upon hearing this, Lothur tried to ignore the pain in his body and looked into that woman''s eyes without showing fear to her.

    He then held a brief silence until he finally asked something. "If you don''t want me as your real husband, why did we get married?"

    "You don''t need to know."

    "Everything was agreed upon between your guardian and me, so just understand that you and I have no affinity and will never have any more meaningful rtionship than that."

    "But you can still enjoy the advantage of saying you are my husband and being part of the Frost family."

    "Oh? I think I need to know..."

    "Do you think I care about any arrangement between you and my guardian?" He asked in a provocative tone, noting how that woman held back from doing anything against him.

    He then continued. "From my point of view, it seems that you need me, but I don''t feel any need to be married to you..."

    "And, my dear wife, do you know who has the most power in a rtionship?"

    "The strongest, of course!"

    "Wrong!"

    "The one who has the most power in a rtionship is the one who needs the other the least!"

    "Then why shouldn''t I demand more than I have now?"

    "Is that so? You don''t need me?" Viktoria''s eyes grew colder as she advanced against Lothur. "Your guardian told me that you would be more than happy to fulfill the role of my husband..."

    "Did she lie? Or are you trying to change your own words?"

    "Hehe, Viktoria, although you are so cold on the outside, I can see that you feel irritated by my words..."

    ''Perhaps the women of this world are not so different from some of them on Earth...'' He cautiously observed Viktoria''s figure, sensing that, to some degree, that woman ced importance on personal validation through others'' opinions.

    "But, all right, let''s put that aside." He said as he raised one of his hands toward her, indicating her to help him up.

    He then said. "Let''s make a deal."<sub> </sub>

    "I will ignore why you want me as your husband, even though you don''t want me. And I will act in ordance with my role. But in return, I want you to do one thing with me, just once."

    Her eyes sharpened even more, while some veins in her neck appeared due to the tension she was feeling. "Be careful with your next words, Lothur..."

    "Unfortunately, dear, I won''t be asking that today..." He chuckled before finally going to his goal. "What I want is easy and simple to do."

    "How about you give your husband a warm hug? I promise not to tell anyone, and I will do as agreed."

    "A hug?" Viktoria said in surprise, not believing that''s what this man wanted. ''It seems I overestimated him...''

    ''Humph!''

    ''He would never have the courage to suggest anything else!''

    But Viktoria had misunderstood Lothur. He was not seeking affection from this woman who radiated waves of contempt toward him in asking for a hug.

    No, Lothur would never stoop to such a level of submission, especially with someone who had no regard for him whatsoever.

    This young man''s mindset was very clear about rtionships between men and women. He knew that no woman would be attracted to the beta loser who was avable, submissive, and needy for her attention.

    Thus, he would never behave in this way to try to attract a woman. No, this action now was nothing more than a method for him to get closer to the ne around Viktoria''s neck!

    As for winning that woman over, well, it was too soon for him to think about that. Lothur understood that his value as a man to Viktoria was meager at this point. So, there was no point in him worrying about her for the moment.

    He would just invest in himself, and sooner orter, she would have the opportunity to participate in his life, not the other way around!

    And whether or not that would happen made no difference to him either.

    As a man growing up on Earth, Lothur was used to women of much lesser beauty than those of the cultivation world. So, even if he became interested in some ''action,'' he didn''t need to rte to Viktoria to get that.

    Eventually, he would increase his value as a man, and the various options in his surroundings would converge in his favor. As for Viktoria, she was just one option in a pool of opportunities.

    That way, he just wanted to get his hands on one of those scrolls mentioned by the system, which might help him evolve in this strange ce he had transmigrated.

    "Well? Will you make this little gesture to your husband? Or will you leave me here on the floor?" He asked with a bright smile on his face, still with one of his hands pointed at her.

    After that, Viktoria pulled that young man up, making him stand right in front of her, a distance away that she had never allowed any man to stand from her.

    "Do we have a deal?" His pupils contracted, look at her as she looked into his eyes with her head slightly raised.

    At that instant, Viktoria and Lothur were only about forty centimeters away from each other, and if anyone watched them from afar, they would think they might kiss at any moment.

    However, for those two who were closer to each other and could read the intentions in each other''s eyes, they both knew this had no chance of happening.

    That was particrly true for Lothur since he saw a deadly look in Viktoria''s eyes, which, if it were not for the fact that his life seemed to have some value to her, he was sure he would not escape alive.

    She then opened her arms, making room for Lothur, but making no move to approach him. "Make it quick and never touch the subject again."

    "Don''t worry, dear, I always keep my promises!" He said this with a genuine smile on his handsome face before finally doing what should be done.

    ''I hope this damn ne is what I''m thinking, or this was all for nothing...''

    He then brought one of his hands to the middle of Viktoria''s back, while the other went straight to the back of her neck.

    ''It''s all or nothing!'' He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his back as he finallypleted his move.

    In that instant, he hugged that woman, hoping that his interpretation skills had not failed him.

    ''Come on! Come on!''

    ''The damn leaf is closer to me than the reach of my hands... Come on, system!'' He prayed in his mind, hoping Viktoria would not screw things up before achieving his goal.

    ...

 Chapter 7 Goal Conquered

    [First Lost Tree Fallen Scroll sessfully collected...]

    Finally, Lothur saw this message before him as he looked down, with Viktoria still in his arms.

    Seeing that, he unconsciously hugged her even tighter, feeling a wave of satisfaction running through his body.

    ''Fuck yeah!''

    However, before he unwittingly showed his excitement, he suddenly thought of a problem. ''What will happen to that ne? Or rather, what will happen to that red leaf?''

    [The system requires what''s on the leaf, not the exterior of it...]

    ''So that''s it!''

    ''Then? What do I gain by collecting this thing?''

    [Does the host wish to absorb that first singrity right this instant?]

    Gulp!

    ''Better not!'' He thought, fearing that Viktoria would notice something if he proceeded with this in front of her.

    ''I''ll do thatter!''

    After that, he saw the system message box disappear from his sight, and a feeling of rxation arose in his body.

    "Sigh..."

    But then he heard a cold toneing from the vicinity of his left chest. "Are you done, or will you be like this all night?"

    "If you want, we can do it like that..."

    Pa!

    After speaking as he wished, Lothur felt the weight of Viktoria''s hand on his right cheek just before he almost fell backward.

    "Now go away!"

    "But don''t forget what you promised, or I''ll make you wish for death!" She said as she walked into her residence, leaving that man alone in that hallway.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Well, I didn''t expect anything anyway, so it''s time to return to my room...''

    ...

    Upon arriving in his room, Lothur sat down in one of the corners of his bed and immediately called up the system.

    ''Come on, time to absorb this thing!''

    [Beginning absorption of the first part of the seven singrities...]

    [Scroll sessfully identified...]

    [The baptism process will begin in 3... 2... 1...]

    After that, a humming sounded in Lothur''s ears while a red light that only he could see spread in his surroundings, little by little enveloping him in what looked like a sphere of light.

    Meanwhile, he felt as if he had suddenly be drunk, with his consciousness floating and part of his reason wavering.

    The red light from before began to prate his skin in that instant, causing Lothur to look at himself in terror, wondering if this was some kind of delirium.

    However, this state did notst long. He soon began to feel an unparalleled pain in the middle of his back, where if he could see, he would witness his spine glowing red, likeva.

    "Ahhhhhhhhh!" He shouted in a crazed manner, with nothing else in his mind but that feeling which was nothing better than having that part of his body ripped off.

    ...

    After a few minutes in that state, the almost unconscious Lothur saw the message he had been waiting for from the system.

    [Absorption of the first collected singritypleted!]

    [The host''s body was considerably changed after merging with the first Scroll...]

    [Increased bone quality identified...]

    [Increased muscle quality...]

    ...

    [Increased affinity of the host''s soul with the Lost Tree...]

    [Host''s Physique evolution: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger.]

    [The host''s bloodline has been strengthened.]

    [Spirit baptismpleted...]<sub> </sub>

    [Activating status...]

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 1]

    [STR: 1.4] [CON: 0.6] [DEX: 1.6] [AGI: 1.8]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 36.2]

    ''Uh?''

    ''Those characteristics...'' Lothur thought about those numbers he had ignored earlier, finally paying attention to his status.

    ''STR, uh, that must be the strength attribute, huh?''

    ''Oh, I get it!''

    ''That system somehow quantifies my characteristics into numerical values!'' He eximed in his mind, remembering some games he had known in his life on Earth.

    But not understanding much of the overall situation, he soon put his status aside to focus on the earlier messages.

    These messages were making Lothur feel better and better. But this was not because it was making him satisfied. On the contrary, what pleased him was the refreshing feeling in his body after that earlier torment.

    As he felt his bodypletely healed, not only from what had happened a few moments ago but also from the lightning wounds, he finally smiled in joy.

    With that, he immediately ran to his bathroom since he felt he should observe himself in the mirror.

    "Wow!" He eximed in surprise, running his hands over his jaw, feeling that as handsome as he had been before, he had managed to get even better.

    "Uh? What''s that?" He unconsciously moved his finger toward a lousy goo oozing from his navel.

    "Damn, what the fuck is this?"

    Immediately after this, he lowered his head without caring where he was and felt a sudden urge to put everything in his stomach out.

    ''Where did thate from? How can something smell so bad?'' Lothur wondered in disgust, feeling that there was something deading out of his belly button.

    ''Damn it! I have to take a shower, or this smell will knock me out!''

    And then he ran into the shower, still seeing thest message from before in front of him.

    While doing so, he did not forget what he had just read. ''System, what is this physique you quoted?''

    [What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger: after fighting to the brink of exhaustion, the threshold of life, as long as the host can stabilize his situation, your body will be stronger after your recovery.]

    [Unique condition: ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger'' is closely rted to strong feelings. Without them, this Physique will naturally lose its main characteristic.]

    [The envy and hatred of others are your weapons to evolve to the top!]

    ''What?'' Lothur''s eyes shone in surprise as he understood that, although impressive, this Physique was somewhat problematic.

    After all, the characteristic of this innate ability implied that he would have to suffer considerably to achieve advancements!

    And as much as it also meant great returns, it was not so easy for an earthling to ept that so quickly.

    It might be much easier if he were a native of this world or even a prehistoric human from Earth. But as someone from a technological and rtively peaceful civilization, the idea of fighting until he was on the brink of death was not so appealing to Lothur.

    "Sigh..."

    ''It seems that this system is a mixed blessing...''

    ''There are advantages, but gigantic risks apany them.'' His eyes sharpened as he understood a little more of this system.

    There were no free lunches, and Lothur understood that very well.

    If the system gave him something, he would have to be naive not to assume that he would lose or give something back at some point.

    Regardless of whether this was an alternate world, this young man felt that things could not be created out of anything without any foundation.

    If he could obtain power so simply, there must be aplex method behind it. After all, even the good-for-nothing Lothur knew that the cultivation world was for the few!

    ''If I''m not mistaken, this condition must be rted to the fact that by hating me, people will naturally try to kill me. With that, as long as I survive, I''ll be able to get stronger.''

    "What aplication..." He muttered in a low voice as he felt the water from his bathroom shower running down his body.

    ''Looks like the start of my journey in this ce won''t be easy...''

    He thenughed sarcastically, feeling that at this point, the body he had inherited might help him more than he expected. ''With that fellow''s qualities, it shouldn''t be hard to piss off many people...''

    "At least I have a way to go now!''

 Chapter 8 Plans And Fresh Start

    After a long night at the Frost family estate, Lothur left his room for a new day, which could be the beginning of his ns in this world.

    He had spent the entire night thinking about what he should do with his new life. What the system associated with him was about and how to deal with his situation in his family.

    He had inherited the body of his predecessor and even some of the characteristics of that person. However, the individualing from Earth felt no attachment to his predecessor''s wishes, ns, or responsibilities.

    He would even fulfill some of these responsibilities and promises since he could not escape them at the moment.

    But make no mistake. The breathing Lothur was not of this world. He would never see himself as a person from this ce, and he would never fully ept the customs and opinions of this world.

    He was of the Earth. He had an irreceable family, and he could not ept the identity of that other person.

    He could even adapt to the circumstances since he was not a fool incapable of change. However, he had already decided that he would not give a damn about his predecessor''s past!

    Lothur Ritter of the cultivation world was dead, and he, an earthling, was the one who was alive. That way, his intentions would follow a different path than that person''s, and he did not care if his predecessor thought ''A'' or ''B'' in the past.

    Now it was his will in charge, and any remnants of that person''s personality were nothing more than symptoms of a disease, in his opinion.

    And like a disease, Lothur would do his best to eliminate those symptoms that were nothing more than a hindrance to him.

    From now on, for anyone who had problems with him, Lothur would naturally appropriately treat them. As for those who stayed out of his way, he was not interested in seeking trouble with such people.

    The past was in the past, and as long as such things did note to torment him, he was prepared to ignore some people from his predecessor''s past.

    Besides these personal issues concerning his predecessor, he had put the so-called system as his priority to get stronger and find out more about it.

    In fact, he did not trust such a thing.

    Despite the clear disadvantages, he felt that it was too good for him.

    Why had he been given such a thing? How was he different from the others? What was the purpose of finding the Lost Tree?

    He did not know the answer to these questions. Still, he would not simply ept the impositions of the system without investigating and trying to understand them.

    Lothur decided to use it as it would do him no good to distrust the system if he died because he was too weak before evenpleting the system''s objective.

    But that would not stop him from being careful!

    Finally, his situation in that family bothered him. However, since he was at a total disadvantage, for the time being, he had decided to carry on with his role as son-inw and go to the Morning Star Academy.

    At least he could use this opportunity to learn more about the world he was in and get the fundamentals to regain control of his life.

    His goal was evident here. He wanted no limitations in this ce!

    He wanted the freedom to do what he wanted, where he wanted, and with whom he wanted!

    With all this in mind, he left his room with a determined look on his face, looking like apletely different person than before.

    As he did so, he clenched his fists, feeling a strength iparable to what he had on Earth, something that was giving him confidence for this fresh start.

    ''This is the beginning, Lothur.''

    ''Power...''

    ''Power is not something that gives you an advantage over others, that makes you beat a single opponent, but rather the quality of controlling one''s destiny.''

    ''That is my ambition!'' He convinced himself of this once again, just before he passed the first people on his way out of that estate.

    ...

    Immediately after noticing the presence of people in his surroundings, Lothur removed his determined look from his face, reverting to wearing a regr expression.

    And while he heard some insults and unfortunatements about him, he simply continued his way to the ce where the second miss of this family was waiting for him.

    "Lothur, what took you so long? I''ve been waiting for you here for 10 minutes!" That woman who physically resembled Viktoria said this loudly, looking at him from inside a carriage.

    Lothur then got into that carriage,rge enough to amodate up to four peoplefortably, while two ordinary horses provided the power for this means of transportation.

    "Anna, wasn''t it only 10 minutes? So what are youining about?" He said as he observed the woman dressed in a blue dress that had an opening next to her right leg, which showed that part of her body.

    ''Fashion in this world is fascinating...'' He noted this in silence.

    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>

    "And you think I should wait for you? You''re the one who should be in this ce waiting for me!" She said in an irritated tone.

    He then teased her. "Why? It is you who can enjoy my goodpany..."

    "Humph!"

    "You think you''re too much! Who wants to be in yourpany?"

    "A woman who waits for me for 10 minutes wants to..." He murmured, smiling at that woman. "Maybe I should have married you instead of your sister..."

    "What?" Annaliese asked in surprise, with slight redness on her beautiful face. She then said softly. "How can you suggest such a thing? If other people hear you, it will be an embarrassment to the whole family!"

    "And my mother would probably kill you..."

    He looked at her in silence, noting how she had not immediately rejected him. ''Having an appearance like mine is a hugepetitive advantage...''

    ''Good!''

    "Hehe, don''t worry about it." He said this in a low voice, looking at her and then at the window of that carriage. "But I believe your sister wouldn''t mind that..."

    "You mean..."

    "Do you think your sister would allow me to find another woman? Do you think she would mind?"

    "Of course, she would!

    "Who do you think my older sister is? She would never share her husband with other women!"

    "Even considering our rtionship?" He asked.

    "Yes. Even considering your rtionship with her."

    But Lothur did not think so. "Hehe, Annaliese, do you want to make a bet with me?"

    That woman''s eyes then sparkled in interest upon hearing that. "About what?"

    "Your sister will agree to share me with other women."

    "Humph!"

    "That will never happen..."

    "Then let''s make a bet about it." He continued.

    "If I''m wrong, I''ll do whatever you want for a wholly year. But if I''m right, I want you to help me with something."

    "What?" Her eyes sharpened as she remembered the dubious character of the person in front of her.

    Lothur looked at her thoughtfully, thinking of his, ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger.'' "I want you to train with me, no questions asked, doing what I tell you, even if it''s counterintuitive."

    "Train with you? Why would you want to do that?"

    "That doesn''t matter now. Do you ept the bet? Are you confident in your perception of your sister?" He asked in a provocative tone, looking at her challengingly.

    "I ept the bet!"

    "Even if my sister has no feelings for you, it would be a humiliation to the family if she agreed to share you with others."

    "You won''t win this bet!" She said confidently.

    "But how will we test your views? Will you simply ask her that?"

    He then smiled at her as if ying with an innocent child. "In up to a month, I will make her say the words before you."

    "We''ll test it then!"

    After he said that, Annaliese agreed before that carriage finally stopped in front of the two''s destination.

    "Second miss, young master, we have arrived at the Morning Star Academy."

    ...

 Chapter 9 The Cultivation Ranks

    After the coachman informed them of their arrival at their destination, Lothur and Annaliese quickly set off in the direction of the Morning Star Academy.

    As they made their way towards the entrance to the academy, they came face to face with arge buildingplex, somewhat simr to the multi-sportplexes that exist on Earth.

    The buildings there, on the other hand, appeared much more high-end, with many rounded surfaces and some impossible angles, contrary to what Lothur thought made sense.

    That ce honestly did not look like the typical environment Lothur thought he would find here. After all, was not this supposed to be a ce of learning?

    And seeing Lothur''s eyes moving from side to side, exploring the surroundings, Annalieseughed softly and said. "The Morning Star Academy is aplete trainingplex for cultivators below the 3rd stage."

    "That way, there are all kinds of training rooms, challenge rooms, libraries, facilities to support the students, etc. Finally, there are always a few thousand students around this ce, and some of them even live here. So, there is also a dormitory in this area."

    "Thus, the built-up area of the academy is vast, and some buildings are somewhat special."

    Hearing all that while walking beside Annaliese and observing the surroundings, Lothur understood this ce little by little.

    "What are the cultivation ranks?" He asked.

    "You don''t know? Really?" She found this strange, even considering that Lothur could not cultivate.

    She knew that upon marrying her sister, Lothur had passed several Frost family tests, particrly those concerning cultivation and talent. So, she knew that he was just an ordinary human with no cultivation.

    However, even ordinary humans knew at least the basics about the first cultivation ranks in this world.

    "Well, I was busy with other things on my mind, so I don''t know much about it..."

    "Sigh..."

    "That''s fine."

    "There are five cultivation stages known. The first is called Mortal Warrior, which is divided into nine transformations. Nextes the Spiritual Warrior, which is divided into six revolutions."

    "The 3rd is the Transcendent stage, subdivided into Soul Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Soul."

    "The 4th stage is the Saint, subdivided into Origin, Celestial, and Supreme."

    "Finally, the highest of all, with only legends of people reaching it, is the Sage stage, which should be divided into five catastrophes."

    "Isn''t there a 6th stage?" Lothur asked in curiosity.

    "Of course not!"

    "How would there be?"

    "Even cultivators at the end of the 4th stage are already extremely rare to appear in the world. So, how can we think of a 6th stage?" She said this as if she were talking to an idiot.

    And in fact, what she had said was not absurd. Even 4th stage cultivators were usually only known through history books and knowledge passed down orally in great organizations.

    But even the Frost family had no information about people at that stage in contemporary times. So, how could Annaliese dare to think about the existence of a 6th stage?

    That was counter-intuitive!

    "I see..."

    "Well, if you have any questions, you can look for me in Sector-4."

    "Sector-4?" He asked in doubt.

    "The academy is subdivided into six sectors, representing different levels of talent and cultivation. The higher the sector, the higher your position within the academy. And consequently, the options for sses, training, anyway, are significantly different from one sector to the next."

    "But just so you know, as long as you can improve your cultivation and knowledge, you can move up sectors. So your talent only determines where you will start in the academy."

    "Oh? You''re in Sector-4. What cultivation level is required for that?"

    "6th Transformation." She smiled.

    "And what sector does your sister study?"<sub> </sub>

    Annaliese''s satisfied expression disappeared upon hearing this, giving way to one of embarrassment. "When shees to the academy, she attends Sector-6."

    "Seriously?" Lothur''s eyes widened in surprise, shocked to discover that his wife was so talented.

    He knew that Viktoria could not be at the peak of the 2nd stage. So, upon hearing that she frequented the Sector-6, he immediately inferred this was due to her impressive talents.

    He then touched one of Annaliese''s shoulders, understanding the pressure she felt from her twin sister. But he did not say anything to this sister-inw of his.

    Saying something would make no difference to her as Annaliese had undoubtedly heard all kinds of advice not topare herself to Viktoria or let herself get down about it. Thus, if she still cared about it, saying more might cause unnecessary friction.

    Therefore, he had remained silent, merely showing his support through that small gesture.

    "Well, I don''t want to get in your way, so just give me the directions to Sector-1..." He was about to say that when suddenly he remembered something.

    "Since I have no cultivation and my talent is terrible, where should I go?"

    She then shook her head from side to side, putting that matter aside. "I believe you will study in Sector-1, so just follow the directions for that area."

    "In each sector, there is an administration. You should go there to make your identification and ask your questions."

    "Hmm, thanks, see youter." He gestured goodbye to her, following the directions distributed throughout that area.

    ...

    After some time of walking through theplex of the Morning Star Academy, Lothur finally reached Sector-1 administrative building.

    In this ce that looked like an ordinary office building, this young man soon came across a small line of people.

    That was not the regr season for students to enter this academy, so the number of new students was not significant to the point that this ce was filled with people, as Lothur expected.

    And realizing this, he soon felt better since he would not have to wait long in this ce.

    After making a few inquiries around the area, he soon joined the queue in question, waiting to be attended to.

    In this ce, the new students of this institution were not only given an identification card to ess the buildings in this area but also to participate in external missions.

    Lothur did not know this yet, but there were disputes between disciples in this institution, with even a ranking of the students.

    There were many possibilities in this ce that he would eventually get to know. But all this could only be done through the identification obtained in this ce, a type of credential with unique formations inscriptions.

    Besides this essential item, the new students would get at these ces some basic information about the rules and the location of each part of the sector they were in.

    Finally, the institution set up an academic training program from the moment a new student registered there. So this was also passed on to the new students in this area.

    As for the issue regarding cultivation, training, in short, practical things, this was much freer. Each student was unrestrained in deciding how they would use their time.

    And upon finding out about this, Lothur readily understood why his wife could afford toe to this ce when she wanted.

    She was already part of the highest sector of the academy, so she probably no longer had any theoretical obligations there. And since the practical part was more independent, she coulde whenever she wanted to this ce and use her time for other essential matters of her life.

    Finally, he learned that the requirement to graduate from this institution was 10 years here, reach at least Sector-4, or reach the 3rd stage, which, when done by a student of Sector-6, would already be enough to end such student time there.

    After taking his study n, Lothur realized that some of his subjects were not so different from the ones he had on Earth. For example, he had to take some subjects that the people of this world called economics, geopolitics, anatomy,nguages, etc.

    In other words, things simr to what he had seen on Earth.

    There were also other subjects that he could not associate with anything from his past life, but this was to be expected. After all, he was in the cultivation world now!

    But while he understood all that, he suddenly heard his name being called.

    "Lothur Ritter,e with me. The director wants to speak with you."

    ...

 Chapter 10 First Class 1

    After following a middle-aged woman who seemed to be a secretary, Lothur soon found himself in front of an office simr to those used by professors in his past life.

    The difference was that the decorations there seemed much more rustic, some even detracting from the kind of academic environment he expected, without the presence of items dependent on electricity.

    But Lothur did not pay much attention to these points. That was because he already knew this society he was in was different from the one on Earth.

    He had particr difficulty in defining the technological level of this world. He had little information at his disposal at the time. Also, he did not truly understand the use of spiritual energy.

    As far as he knew, there was no concept of electricity, or rather, the use of applications rted to this nature of the matter in this world. However, he knew thatmps and other simr items in this cultivation world delivered desired forms of energy, as in the case of light or thermal energy, wished for some operations.

    Yet, he did not know how the energy conversion was done for these devices to function, nor the primary source of these energy forms.

    Was it spiritual energy itself?

    He did not know.

    As such, he found it very difficult topare this world to Earth.

    But in general, if one looked from afar, the level of this society seemed simr to that found in middle-aged Europe.

    But on closer observation, there was the variable of spiritual energy, whichplicated everything. Lamps illuminated the cities at night. Thermal items could easily change the temperature of closed environments, making this society pretty strange to him.

    Knowing this, Lothur felt that socially this world, or perhaps Peters City, was far behind the Earth of his time. But as far as technology was concerned, he had no idea.

    This cultivation world could be below the technological level of the third industrial revolution, or it could be far above that. But, of course, everything depended on the cultivation level, and he was too weak and limited to try to guess that.

    Anyway, ignoring the ordinary surroundings, he soon sat down in front of the person who wanted to meet him, a middle-aged man with a long beard and gray hair.

    "So, you are young Lothur, huh?" That figure said in a grave tone, looking at the young man sitting on the other side of his desk while he had a cigar at the corner of his mouth.

    Lothur nodded to that man and asked. "And you must be the director, right? Is there something you need from me?"

    "You are truly bold..." That manughed, feeling that this little fellow did not know the difference between heaven and Earth.

    However, he had dealt with good-for-nothings like Lothur in the past, so that fellow''s casual and cheeky manner was not enough to provoke this man''s ire.

    "I''ll get straight to the point, Lothur."

    "You entered the Morning Star Academy through the back doors. If it weren''t for the fact that Mrs. Frost charged us with a favor regarding an old debt, we would not have epted you into our institution."

    "To make matters worse, you can''t cultivate, and you have a terrible history of trouble..." He looked in the direction of a document that was on his desk.

    "Gambling, public disturbance, immoral behavior..."

    "Wow!"

    "There are so many things here. I must tell you that I''m impressed that you managed all of this being only 19."

    "Looks like you''ve kept yourself busy thest few years." He said sarcastically, interested in Lothur''s figure but also feeling a little contempt.

    But Lothur did not even blink at hearing those words. He already knew about the achievements of his predecessor and was prepared to deal with situations like the current one.

    So, he stood there in silence, calmly waiting to hear everything the director of this sector wanted to speak to him.

    "Because of all these special features of your entry into our institution, I''m afraid we will be more rigorous with you than with other students."

    "Thus, I must make it clear to you that any nonpliance with our rules on your part will result in your immediate expulsion."

    "We will also not give you cultivation resources unless, of course, you canplete quests that have rewards. Also, since you cannot cultivate, your credential will not give you ess to the areas of ourplex regarding cultivation and spiritual training."

    "Is that all?" Lothur asked, looking into that man''s eyes reassuringly.

    "Tsk!"

    "That''s all, young man. Don''t you have a problem with that? Do you understand your situation clearly?"

    "I have a question."

    "Tell me."

    "If I won''t have ess to the cultivation-rted part, how will I advance from sector to sector? How will I graduate?"

    That man then leaned his back against the support of his armchair and used two of his fingers to pick up his cigar. "You will naturally follow a different path from the other students. As long as you master the basic knowledge, we will give you ess to the more advanced sectors."

    "Once you reach Sector-4, you will graduate as after that all the required content is rted to spiritual cultivation."<sub> </sub>

    "I see..." Lothur murmured, satisfied.

    The director''s eyes then narrowed, and he asked. "Are you satisfied with that? Doesn''t it bother you that we treat you differently from others?"

    Lothur then stood up from where he was standing, smiling. "What''s wrong with that? Isn''t it natural for the highlights individuals to be treated differently from the masses?"

    "I''ll just treat that as you guys opening the way for me to reach the top faster."

    Upon hearing those words, that middle-aged man stood there with his mouth open, shocked at the arrogance of such a weakd.

    ''It seems that all this information is true!''

    ''He''s a loser!''

    But before Lothur left that ce, he suddenly found something strange and asked. "By the way, principal, don''t I have to take any aptitude tests? I''ve never entered an academy like this before, but I know that tests like this aremon to happen."

    "About that, don''t worry. The Frost family sent us all your results, so there''s no need for you to repeat them." The principal said unceremoniously.

    Usually, academies like this did tests on their new students since one could not trust families who might have hidden interests. But Lothur''s case was unique. After all, this was a young man with no talent or cultivation.

    Who in their right mind would charge a significant favor to allow this young man to enter this institution and leave him in an unfavorable position because of a lie concerning his talent?

    It made no sense!

    Mabel had worked hard to get this position for Lothur, so if he had any talent, she definitely would not have done that.

    And precisely because of this, this director did not think it was necessary to check Lothur''s talent a second time.

    "I see..."

    "Well, is that all, director? Do you still need my presence here?"

    The director shook his head negatively and made a hand gesture to Lothur. "Go away!"

    ...

    After saying goodbye to that man, Lothur quickly made his way toward his first ss, something he was eager to begin.

    Not because he wanted to relive his times in school or college. But because he could finally get some critical information to know how to locate himself in this world.

    On this first day of ss, he had two different subjects: geopolitics and economics. Thetter he wanted to attend just to confirm if his theories about these subjects were correct.

    If this were the case, for someone who had learned all the basics of economics and mathematics during elementary school in his home country, he would not waste his time with this.

    No, his priorities were geopolitics, anatomy,nguages, and so on, subjects that might be quite different from the knowledge he had in his previous life.

    With this, he went on to his first ss in a small amphitheater in a building a few hundred meters from the local administration.

    There, he soon came face to face with the row of seats, where more than 200 young people could be seen sitting at different points.

    There were people of different ages, with some of them being the same age as Lothur but many others younger.

    But this was to be expected. After all, Lothur was rearward in the education of the nobility of this world!

    Take Annaliese as an example, who was the same age as him and was already in sector-4. As such, it was impossible for him not to have to study with 12, 13, and 14-year-olds kids.

    "Sigh..."

    ''At least those brats won''t be standing in my path while I learn the basics...'' He thought about it, reminding himself that he needs to piss people off, but that might not be good now.

    That would be his first contact with the information he so desperately sought. Also, many of those youths would not feel angry at him for the same reasons as people of Lothur''s age.

    And even if he managed to make them angry, what would he gain by fighting with a bunch of kids?

    As such, he could only resign himself to the fact that this was some kind of temporary benefit so that he could study in peace.

    With this in mind, he looked in the direction of the women there who should be closer in age to his own and who were pretty. Then he walked toward a ce surrounded by them.

    "You, what do you think you are doing?"

    ...

 Chapter 11 First Class 2

    Hearing the teacher''s voice who was standing in the middle of the stage in that amphitheater, Lothur turned to her with a look of curiosity. "Is there a problem?"

    That woman''s eyes sharpened as she noticed the positioning of this young neer. "What is your name? Are you by any chance a new student?"

    "Oh? Do I have to introduce myself?" He asked aloud, looking around, surprised at that. ''Well, this is a room full of children. That shouldn''t be strange...''

    He looked again at that woman dressed in an outfit very simr to those worn by stewardesses in hisst world and said. "Well, my name is Lothur Ritter, but you can just call me Lothur."

    "And yes, I am new here, but don''t bother introducing yourselves to me. I won''t be staying long in this ce, so I will hardly remember your names." He said, looking at where the children in that ce were.

    "How arrogant!"

    "Who is this idiot?"

    Murmurs spread through there as the young people began to look strangely at Lothur.

    At the same time, the teacher stood watching him with her mouth open, enjoying the sight of this new student who was self-sabotaging his social situation.

    ''How can someone be such an idiot? Does he think he''s a genius?'' She wondered, startled by his out-of-the-ordinary behavior.

    ''Young people his age are already at least in Sector-3, but he starts in Sector-1 saying that?''

    "Now, dear teacher, may I sit down? Or is there something else you want to know? I don''t mind personal questions..." He said, standing between the stage and the row of seats, waiting for that woman''s answer.

    ''This boy...'' She shook her hands and said. "Call me Miss Koch, and yes, you may sit down. But since this is your first day here, try to follow the ss with one of your ssmates."

    Lothur then headed toward the ce he wanted to sit before, where there was a small group of beautiful women.

    Looking at those women who must have been between 16 and 19, he waved at them, smiling, and sat down next to a redhead, who was just as pretty as Elise.

    "Hi, you wouldn''t mind if I follow the ss with you, right?" He sat down next to her and said this in a quiet tone, looking her in the eye in an eye contact that few would attempt in the first contact.

    "I..." She stammered, turning her eyes away from his with embarrassment. "You can."

    "Hmm, by the way, what should I call you?" He smiled at her.

    "Elke."

    "Elke, call me Lothur. I''ll probably adapt quickly to this ce, but being around someone like you might make me want to stay here longer..."

    "That..." The woman''s face turned red at hearing that, experiencing such an explicit situation like that for the first time in her life.

    She was only 17, the age at which humans in this world became adults. Because of this, and also due to her beauty, she had never experienced a situation where a man was so direct with her.

    She had several suitors, many of them in this ss. However, none of them dared toe directly to her, even just to sit next to her.

    Consequently, she was surprised to hear Lothur''s words as she observed this young man''s iparable countenance.

    "Hehe..." Her lips formed a discreet smile, and without realizing it, a gracefulugh reached the ears of those in her surroundings.

    After this, Lothur moved a little closer to her and began to look at Elke''s books on a stand that existed in front of each seat in such an amphitheater.

    As he did so, he leaned sideways while quickly using one of his hands to touch the upper middle of that young woman''s back while supporting himself. "Elke, would you mind lending me one of those other books?" He used his other hand to point in the direction of an open bag on the floor.

    That was the cultivation world, but spatial items were not somon and cheap to the point that even low-level people had independent spaces to carry books.

    No, even if some of those students had storage items, such a thing certainly could not store many cubic centimeters.

    Therefore, they would never carry books in spatial devices, as it would be much more interesting to have medicine and emergency resources in them.<sub> </sub>

    So, everyone in that ss had bags or backpacks, like the one at Elke''s feet.

    "Yes, but wouldn''t you rather attend ss?" She asked in a low voice, not bothered by Lothur''s touch. "It might be more interesting for you to catch up on the weeks of your dy at another time."

    "Is that so?" He smiled, saying softly in Elke''s left ear. "Perhaps you would like me to follow this ss very closely..."

    Gulp!

    "I..."

    "No, that''s not why..."

    "Oh? Too bad." Lothur removed his hand from her back with the same expression on his face as before, finally bending down and picking up the book that had the name ''Geopolitics-I'' in her bag.

    "Don''t worry. I''ll finish reading it before ss is over."

    Noticing Lothur''s movement, Elke felt strange by the change in his behavior, which had gone from a warm person to a cold one in a matter of seconds.

    ''Did I do something wrong?'' She wondered quietly, looking sideways at Lothur''s face, curious.

    And while Lothur was reading that book, Elke watched him every 2 or 3 minutes, seeing how focused he was, totally ignoring her presence there.

    ''Why don''t you look at me? Are you pretending to concentrate just to tease me?'' She began to feel nervous, watching that young man change pages every 30 seconds.

    This situation was extraordinary for her. After all, right now, while Lothur was standing next to her, reading that book focused, more than a dozen young men were watching her from afar.

    And she obviously knew this since every woman had this divine sense of noticing the eyes watching them.

    However, the young man closest to her, who could take the opportunity to talk to her and try to get closer, was ignoring her.

    That was incredibly annoying!

    She then moved a little closer to him, running one of her hands through her hair to get his attention.

    However, Lothur was not doing any of this on purpose. Or rather, he knew how his actions could influence those around him, but his goal there was not to provoke Elke, although that would be good for him.

    No, he was just focused on the content of that book while using his speed-reading technique, something he had learned in his previous life.

    That was the first book about this world Lothur had read, and as he learned some basic information, he could not ignore the feeling of satisfaction that came with the knowledge he was umting.

    With that book, he had already discovered that Peters City was actually thergest city of Linn Province, one of the ten regions of Leopoldine.

    Leopoldine was arge state ruled by an imperial family of the same name. That was an ancient power that almost 2,000 years ago had brought the ten then independent regions together into a centralized government.

    But even if Leopoldine was asrge as the Europe of Lothur''s previous world, this ce had less than 30 million inhabitants and was surrounded by four other empires and a few kingdoms. Each of them with poptions asrge or evenrger than the one of this state.

    And precisely because of this, this empire was constantly involved in conflicts with outside powers, trying to regain or take new territories.

    Leopoldine did not have a passage to the sea, so from time to time, wars took ce. After all, having to cross borders could be very costly...

    How could overtaxed goods from a state not unlike its neighbors with ess to the seapete in the continental market?

    That was a problem!

    But Lothur did not delve too deeply into the external affairs of this state. No, there was not much information in that introductory book on the subject. So, he had soon begun to learn more about Linn Province, the learning focus for the young beginners at this academy.

    ...

 Chapter 12 First Class 3

    Linn Province was in the northernmost part of Leopoldine, with about 4 million inhabitants and an economy based on the exploitation ofmodities.

    That might be the cultivation world, but the vast majority of the people in this world were just individuals unable to cultivate, as must have been the case with the past Lothur.

    Consequently, the maind economy relied heavily on ordinary resources, food items, or those needed to produce low-level spiritual equipment such asmps.

    Because of this factor, the currency used in this world was not the infamous spiritual crystals, items used in cultivation.

    No, although a spiritual crystal had the qualities sought after in a currency, such as scarcity and high value, the currency used throughout this world needed to be simpler. Otherwise, it would beplicated to capture and distribute resources among ordinary people.

    Not only this, these resources could be used for cultivation, something that further decreased their cirction!

    With this, the continental economy used a standard that mainly relied on three types of coins. These were the bronze, silver, and gold coins, with one gold worth 10 silver or 100 bronze coins.

    And even if it was challenging to buy spiritual crystals with thesemon coins, this did not make this economic model impossible for the great cultivators of this world.

    The coins were just as important to them as to the ordinary people of this world!

    Spiritual crystals were mined items, which could be done with ordinarybor, using, of course, the right tools.

    On the other hand, even spiritual tools produced by cultivators neededmodities that ordinary people could also produce or mine.

    The same thing for food and basically all the primary sectors found in any civilization, such as construction.

    But these workers had to be paid something in return, even if it was food, right?

    very existed in some parts of this world. Still, not all states on this continent, Concordia, used it because enved people did not shop.

    So, there was a great need for standard currencies, even for high-level cultivators, since, indirectly,mon currencies produced spiritual crystals!

    Consequently, the standard economy, the production of meremodities in Linn Province, was crucial for local cultivators.

    Because of this, Lothur soon understood some of the social-political dynamics of Peters City, where, although House Frost was the strongest, several other powers werepeting with this family.

    In this ce, there was an organization that governed the province on behalf of House Leopoldine, another organization that governed the city, and finally, somepeting families in local businesses.

    In addition to these local powers, there were institutions in this ce directly affiliated to the imperial family, as in the case of the academy that Lothur was in at this very moment.

    However, these powers were much more neutral around here and rarely got involved in the affairs of the local nobility.

    Understanding all this, Lothur found himself in a ce full of political problems that he, a son-inw of the Frost family, could hardly escape.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Looks like I''ll have a moreplicated start than I had assumed.'' He finally took his eyes off the words in Elke''s book, closing it and considering his future.

    ''Viktoria married me because she has some interest in being married to me...''

    ''However, there was no advantage to her marrying the city good-for-nothing. Maybe she was simply using me because I have no talent and would probably never try to usurp the power of the Frost family?''

    "Hmmm..."

    ''That must be the case unless, of course, Lothur''ste guardian had some shocking secret to force this marriage...''

    ''But this is unlikely... I think.'' He pondered, ignoring his surroundings.

    ''Never mind.''

    ''In one case or another, I''ll be drawn into some kind of political confrontation.''

    "Shit!" He cursed his luck in a low voice, attracting Elke''s attention.

    "Did you say something?"

    He then looked at Elke''s pretty face and stood silent for a second. ''I have to learn more about this world, especially about cultivation.''

    ''I also need to get a method to build afortable position that will allow me to leave the Frost family in the future.''

    "Elke, why don''t you show me Sector-1? I want to find this ce library and other areas with certain information of interest to me."

    "Perhaps we can have tea after that."

    Elke''s eyes then opened in surprise. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

    "Sure, why not?" He smiled, looking at her lips and then back into her eyes. "How old are you?"

    "17."

    "Great. Do you have a boyfriend?"

    "Uh? I... No." She replied with her face flushed. ''He just met me, and already he wants to go out with me?''

    ''He''s very bold if he thinks I''ll make it so easily!''

    "But... I don''t know if that''s a good idea..."<sub> </sub>

    "Oh? Then it''s okay." He stood up from where he was standing, preparing to leave. "Shall we?" Lothur said as he waved one of his hands at Elke.

    By now, the first ss of the day was over, and several people in the surroundings of that amphitheater were slowly leaving the ce. At the same time, the teacher had already disappeared.

    Amidst the noise of simultaneous conversations in that area, Elke looked intensely into Lothur''s eyes, feeling strange at this moment.

    "Uh? But..."

    "We''re not going to have a date, but you can still show me this ce, right?"

    Hearing this, she was speechless and just raised one of her hands towards that young man, using it to stand up. ''He''s truly confident...''

    ''If it were one of those others, he''d probably be red with embarrassment and run away from me...'' She looked discreetly at some of her observers, giving Lothur''s behavior credit.

    She then turned to her friends and said. "Hey, I will help student Lothur get to know our sector. So, see youter."

    "Oh? You''re going to do that?"

    "Looks like he doesn''t just have looks, huh? Just by having exchanged a few words with you, and you already..." A blonde girl was about to say this,ughing, when that redhead made a disgruntled expression and turned away from her friends.

    "You''ve got it wrong. I will only help a new student. Nothing more!"

    "Come on, Lothur." She said this after picking up her bag and walking ahead of him.

    Meanwhile, several eyes watched those two leaving that area, feeling wronged that such an arrogant person had been privileged to leave apanied by the beautiful Elke.

    ...

    "So, that''s that ranking I heard earlier, huh?" Lothur said this to Elke as he observed arge tower in the central part of Sector-1.

    After leaving the previous amphitheater, these two had walked for several minutes around Sector-1, with Elke introducing the most relevant ces to Lothur.

    To begin with, they had passed in front of the library in this area, where all students were free to use it. Next, Elke introduced Lothur to the local cafeteria, a restaurant, the mission hall, and the business area of this sector.

    At the Morning Star Academy, students and even teachers had the possibility to exchange, sell or buy items within this institution.

    Teachers naturally had better items, while students constantly went on missions and got new ones. And with the wealth that some of the students of this institution had, all kinds of business could take ce in the specific areas for this.

    Anyway, Lothur had been interested in that ce. Still, as he did not have many belongings, he made a mental note about such an area before getting to know the central square of Sector-1.

    This ce, which had gardens and what looked like a giant obelisk in its center, was where the ranking of the students of this institution was.

    As he came face to face with it, Lothur felt in awe of this ce''s people.

    "Thepetition here seems amazing..."

    ''They actually rank even thest ces...'' He thought of this as he looked at his name, which at the moment was in position 4,568.

    ''Is that a way of encouragement?'' He looked at that in silence, remembering that there were only two kinds of pain. One was that which hurt, and one that transformed.

    In this case, showing the world your mediocrity could be considered a way to put great weight on a naive''s shoulders, pressing the immature young people, as was the case with most of the new students there.

    The humiliated would change or give up!

    In any case, the cultivation world would prevail.

    Either the world would gain new people with the will to do what was necessary, who understood the wicked way of this world, or it would lose those who would only waste the limited resources.

    As Lothur thought about it, he felt that this ce despised the weak and glorified the strong. ''This world is much wilder than Earth.''

    ''I cannot expect words of justice here. Whoever has the bigger hand in a given matter will definitely win in the end, and no one will care about the losing side.''

    "Hmm, this is revealing."

    "You think so?" Elke asked in interest, watching this young man''s left face, feeling that perhaps his words had a greater meaning.

    "Of course..." He smiled at her as he stared her in the face. "What is your position, Elke?"

    A slight blush appeared on her face, and she said in a low voice. "4.451."

    "Oh? I see. Most of the students in Sector-1 must be in those final positions..."

    "Don''t you think it''s bad that we have to be exposed like this? I know that most of us have only been here a short time and will naturally rise as time goes on. But not everyone wants that kind of exposure."

    "It''s true..." Lothur noticed the discontent of that woman beside him.

    He then took one of her hands and said. "But this is just a test, Elke. Once you reach a certain temperament, these tests lose their meaning."

    "But tell me one thing. Is there any advantage to having good positions in that ranking?"

    ...

 Chapter 13 Ranking Advantages

    Hearing Lothur''s question, Elke put her embarrassment for the lousy position she was in aside and answered him. "Yes."

    "Between rank 501 and 1,000, students can apply formon positions within our academy."

    "For example, Miss Koch, our teacher, is actually a student in Sector-4. But since she is between those positions, she has the right to apply for ordinary teaching positions."

    "And she has won apetition for that position, so she is our geopolitics teacher."

    "With that, she earns a professor''s sry while getting ess to better sectors, even though she''s still in Sector-4."

    "Between positions 201 and 500, students get personal counseling with the academy''s cultivation teachers once a week."

    That was a great advantage because not all the students at this institution were fromrge noble houses. On the contrary, several of them were from emerging institutions that had not yet achieved an excellent background for their cultivators to have an understanding good enough to help the new generations.

    And since this academy''s students were only entitled to generic sses focused on the basics of each part of cultivation, that opportunity could be significantly crucial for the ''humble'' nobles of this ce.

    At the very least, they could save many crystals, the currency used in this kind of business, and still avoid learning from their own mistakes.

    "Between positions 101 and 200, students can earn an allowance of 7,000 bronze coins, one Marrow-Cleansing Pill per month, and the chance topete for certain opportunities."

    ''7,000?'' Lothur''s eyes widened in surprise.

    As far as he knew, an ordinary person like him could survive with less than 400 bronze coins a month.

    With that, such a payment was rtively high for him!

    "Those in the top 100 earn from 7,000 to 20,000 bronze coins, depending on their position. They also get entry to the academy''s special cultivation rooms and a guaranteed spot on any expedition or opportunity that arises." Elke finished exining to him.

    "Oh?" Lothur looked at the top of the rankings and saw Viktoria''s name in the top 10. ''It looks like my wife is truly heavily favored here.''

    "Elke, what do I need to move up in this ranking?"

    "There is only one way. Bypleting missions and earning merit through that."

    "I see..." He smiled at her, liking how things worked in this ce.

    Lothur then moved closer to her, using one of his hands to grasp the middle of Elke''s back and say in her ear. "At some point in the future, you will see my name in the first position of that ranking."

    Her face turned slightly toward his, her eyes focused on his. "Is that so? Don''t you think that''s too high? If your expectations are too high, any trouble will affect you that much more."

    "Facing problems is not bad. It means I''ll have more ways to transform myself into my best version. What would scare me is getting a good position easily."

    "Sometimes hearing a yes, getting what you want easily can be much worse than point-nk defeat."

    "So, there''s no sense in not chasing the number one position. What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger, Elke!" He smiled confidently, making that woman shiver at his words.

    Elke then bit her lips as she noticed the confident expression on Lothur''s face, feeling that although those words were absurd, this young man did not seem to be saying them out of his mouth.

    Elke knew that cultivation depended greatly on the age at which one began his journey. And since Lothur seemed older than her and did not emit spiritual fluctuations, she did not think he was in a position to say those words.

    However, his words seemed to have a different value when dictated by that unhesitating tone. At the same time, his eyes passed unprecedented confidence to her.

    "I don''t know why, but I believe you." She gracefullyughed just before waving one of her hands, calling him to continue the tour.

    ...

    After a while, when Elke had finally finished showing Lothur almost the entire built-up area of Sector-1, they walked through one of the gardens.

    There, students were meditating in silence or eating while having fun sitting on the grass and talking in groups.

    On the other hand, the natural greenery and the beautiful buildings that harmonized this environment made the people in the surrounding area feel a specific relief from the pressure ofpeting in thisrge organization.<sub> </sub>

    And seeing this, Lothur was reminded a little of Earth, realizing that there were simrities between this ce and his homnd, although their vast differences.

    "Elke, thank you for your help. I feel that from now on, I can find myself in this ce even without help." He said as he turned to her, standing in one of the corners of that area.

    She then smiled at him. "You''re wee."

    He realized that there was no one else in his vicinity and moved a little closer to her, standing only thirty centimeters away from this woman who had a live fence behind her, preventing her from moving away from him.

    Lothur then took one of her hands and looked deeply into Elke''s beautiful brown eyes. "Let me thank you properly..."

    After that, he moved forward until his lips were only an inch away from Elke''s. "Don''t you want to?"

    Gulp!

    "Lothur, don''t you think this is going too fast? You''ve just met me..."

    He kept looking into her eyes, pursuing them without bothering if anyone would see the two. "What''s wrong with that?"

    "We''re two adults here. We''re two independent individuals who naturally are not doing anything they should not be doing."

    "The question is, is it worth it not to do what you want just because you just met me?" One of his hands squeezed the left side of Elke''s waist, making her body shiver.

    "Elke, I won''t take the final step. That''s up to you."

    Her brown eyes fluttered in uncertainty as her heart leaped in her chest, making her medium-sized breasts rise and fall faster and faster.

    And as much as she thought this should not happen, every fiber of her body kept her from leaving that ce.

    Lothur was pressing her against the green fence in that ce, but he was not using any force, or rather, she was stronger than him and could easily pull away from him. But still, her body did not seem interested in this possibility.

    Instead, her pupils were dted, and her feminine senses were heightened at this moment, almost screaming at her to do what he wanted.

    And how could she not be like this? Lothur was simply the most handsome man she had ever seen. Moreover, he was the only person who had ever had such confidence in court her and demonstrated his unwavering determination to her.

    He had not bowed to her and lost his individuality in any instant as many of her observers did while trying to please her. Besides, his sometimes unexpected behavior made her feel ufortable, wanting to change him.

    So, she could not help but feelpelled to step forward to try to tame this hard-to-read being.

    "Can you keep this a secret? I don''t want to tarnish my reputation." She said in a low voice, thinking about her past.

    Lothur just smiled at her, saying nothing, watching the nervousness on that beautiful face.

    "Elke, decide what you want to do."

    Gulp!

    ''Why doesn''t he answer my questions? He always does something different than I''m expecting...''

    ''Ahh!''

    ''How annoying!'' She felt nervous as her body got closer and closer to Lothur''s.

    But as she thought about those things, her hands passed behind Lothur''s neck, and she finally made the final move.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    ...

 Chapter 14 Womans Scent

    In that instant, Elke melted into Lothur''s arms as she felt his lips, slowly allowing her womanly instincts to overwhelm her.

    She had no experience with it, but as she felt Lothur''s movements, her body began to respond unconsciously, slowly improving the sensation of doing that.

    As she felt something pleasant travel through her body, she closed her eyes. She used one of her hands to massage Lothur''s left cheek, ignoring the shameless way he touched her.

    And with that, the two of thempletely ignored their surroundings, from where three young men a little younger than Elke was watching from behind the leaves of a tree.

    "Damn!"

    "How could that bastard do this to her?" One of them said in a low voice, feeling hard-to-bear envy in his heart.

    At the same time, a young man with ck hair and sharp eyes was green with anger while between those other two as he looked at Lothur and Elke''s warm kiss.

    "Damn son of a..."

    "He must have used some cowardly trick against my Elke!"

    "How could such a beautiful and graceful woman like her be interested in an arrogant and worthless man?"

    "Uneptable!" He roared at his two followers, furious, filled with hatred at having to see the girl he liked in the arms of some nobody.

    To make matters worse, from Elke''s gestures, the way she was kissing Lothur, and allowing him to touch her, it was clear to these viewers that she was enjoying it.

    And this only made them feel worse, with the urge to vomit the contents of their stomachs.

    "Young master, what shall we do? This guy dared to touch Miss Becker. We have to do something! We can''t let this go on." The other individual, tall and strong, said in a tone that carried his anger at having to see that.

    Those two had to make way for the ck-haired young man since they were both weaker and from humbler backgrounds. But internally, they both wanted Elke as much as the young master did.

    Because of this, they were all irritated by Lothur''s situation.

    The ck-haired young man then said. "Find out who this damned Lothur Ritter is. I want to know if we can offend him and his weak points!"

    After that, those young men from the same geopolitics ss as Lothur left the area, their hearts beating rapidly, while the pressure in their heads made them feel sick.

    In any way, after three minutes since their departure, Lothur and Elke finally parted their lips, both hotter than before, especially the young redhead.

    She now had a blush all over her face, making her even more attractive. In addition, her lips were glowing to Lothur, and her breathing sounded like a melody to his ears.

    As for this young man, he, too, had enjoyed this little diversion. But as a man who had had countless rtionships in his past life, this was no big deal to him.

    Therefore, his heart was much calmer than Elke''s, and the smile on his face was discreet, carrying a meaning that only the two of them could understand.

    Gulp!

    In excitement, she swallowed her saliva, feeling incredible as if her nk ck world had gained color overnight.

    "That was amazing!" She said in a low voice, biting her lips, interested in this new discovery of hers.

    "Hmmm." Lothur nodded, noting the silly way such a virgin woman was watching him.

    His current body was also a virgin, but the young man from Earth would not see himself that way.

    His experiences were undeniable!

    And with that, he did not see himself as an equal to her. "If you want, we can continue this."

    "Really?" Her eyes sparkled, beginning to like the idea of meeting with him.

    "Yes, but right now, we have to split up. I have some business I want to take care of..." He said as he looked at the tip of that obelisk in the vicinity of this garden they were in. "We can see each other tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

    She then sped her hands together, looking at how he did not seem as interested in continuing this now as she was. "We still have a few minutes left... Why don''t we continue?"

    Lothur smiled upon hearing that but did not do what she wanted. "Elke, I want you to push yourself with your studies and cultivation. Try to keep that feeling you had just now under control."

    "If you do that, I''ll show you something new tomorrow." He yed with her, using her psychology to prepare her for a new y with him.

    He told her not to overthink what had happened, but Lothur knew that was impossible, even more so when considering that he had just promised her something else.<sub> </sub>

    So, how could she obey himpletely? Hell, now she could not ignore thinking about what they had done!

    But that was precisely Lothur''s interest.

    "Really?"

    After that, Elke quickly kissed one of Lothur''s cheeks before the two parted.

    That woman did as she had promised him and ran towards her studies while he remained satisfied in the same ce as before.

    ''Pretty good for the first day of school...'' Heughed, already wondering what his dear wife would think of that if she found out. ''I''m sure Viktoria won''t be jealous of me, but I still have to get her approval to win the bet with Annaliese.''

    Lothur had a clear n in mind. That was to make Annaliese his trainer so that he could use his, ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger,'' to raise his physical power.

    He could naturally ask her for that now, but there was a risk that she would ignore him. After all, who would train like the way he needed?

    And as for asking other people, although tempting, he would not do it under any circumstances. No, how could he trust strangers with his life?

    Annaliese at least was his sister-inw and would do her best not to kill him, even if she agreed to beat him to a state of near-death. But other people, well, Lothur could not trust!

    ''In any case, now I should look for Annaliese.''

    ''Since I cannot attend the cultivation-rted facilities of this ce, I will ask her for help.''

    Lothur only had two sses this first day. And since the next one would still take some time to start, he wanted to find his sister-inw to efficiently uses his time here.

    Spending this free time with the beautiful Elke was interesting, but this had two fundamental problems. The first was that he wanted to tease that woman, showing her that he would not do everything she wanted, even things that were good for himself. And second, he was far behind his peers. So, he had to use his time more efficiently.

    With that in mind, he quickly followed the directions of the Morning Star Academy map, going to Sector-4.

    ...

    After arriving at Sector-4, Lothur passed through several environments where he thought he could find Annaliese.

    In doing so, he saw many people of his age and some arrogant looks against him.

    But he already expected this all. After all, the people in Sector-1 simply did not know him because most of them were just kids who did not know about certain Peters City matters.

    Even if they were aware of the strange marriage of the most talented and beautiful woman of the local generation to a young man with no future, not everyone would associate his name and image.

    But for those people of the same age as him, more powerful, that is, closer to the minimum level to understand who Viktoria was, well, those knew how to recognize Lothur.

    So, as he entered that area, Lothur just ignored thements and cold nces in his direction, looking for the beautiful Annaliese.

    "Lothur?"

    After some time, finally, he heard Annaliese''s sweet voice calling him as he was passing next to a small fighting arena.

    He looked around the surroundings looking for that woman until he came across the person dressed in the same dress as earlier today, with one of her legs being shown through the opening in her clothing.

    "Anna, I thought it would be easier to find you here..."

    "This ce is a lot bigger than I imagined." Hemented as he reached her side, near other women.

    Seeing the look in her brother-inw''s eyes, Annaliese turned away from her friends and directed this shameless person away from there.

    "What happened? Are you already in need of my help?" She asked in doubt.

    But just as this young man was about to open his mouth to speak, her eyebrows frowned as she smelled a strange scent.

    "That fragrance..." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "That''s a woman''s scent!"

    "Lothur, what have you done?"

    ...

 Chapter 15 The Basics Of Cultivation

    Hearing that usation, Lothur looked incredulously at Annaliese as he tried to smell his clothes. ''I feel nothing!'' He pondered quietly.

    But the irritation in Annaliese''s gaze was genuinely troubling, and he was not silent for long. "What are you talking about?"

    "Lothur..." She walked towards him with a sharp look on her face while one of her hands was trailing towards his right wrist to prevent any attempt to escape from this scoundrel.

    "Lothur, answer me at once. Who is the bitch?"

    But this young man was not the type to obey when told what to do. "Anna, if you are smelling any woman''s scent, it must be because there were many ''flowers'' in the ce where I sat earlier."

    "You must be mistaken." He let go of one of her hands but continued to stand in front of her, watching her with a confident expression on his face.

    Lothur could tell Annaliese the truth, but from her behavior, he knew it was best not to assume what he had done to Elke earlier. He would do it if Viktoria questioned him, but not with his sister-inw or any other person.

    "Lothur!"

    "Do you think I''m an idiot? If you don''t tell me now, I swear I''ll tell my sister everything!"

    Lothur narrowed his eyes and then used his tongue to lick his lips. "Do that!"

    "Tsk!"

    ''Bastard! On his first day in this ce, he''s already gotten some little slut!''

    ''How degrading!''

    ''That is a real humiliation to our family!'' She stood silently watching Lothur, red with anger.

    But since Annaliese only had her word for pressing Lothur at this instant, she did not feel she could pressure him to speak the truth if he did not want to do so.

    So, with that in mind, she thought of a solution to solve the problem. ''I will keep an eye on this ungrateful brother-inw to prevent our family name from being further degraded.''

    ''I will not say anything to my sister for the time being.''

    She then said in an irritated manner. "Then what do you want with me, scumbag? Can''t you see I''m busy?"

    But Lothur did not like her tone and used one of his hands to take her left wrist and bring her closer to him. "Anna, why are you so angry? You know well about my rtionship with your sister."

    "Can''t you give me a break? Who do you think is more limited by this marriage? Your sister? Or me?"

    But that woman in front of him said nothing. Instead, she just watched him with a judgmental look, still dissatisfied.

    "Sigh..."

    "I came here because I want your help regarding spiritual cultivation."

    "What do you want to know?"

    "Everything."

    "The academy does not intend to allow me to use the areas rted to cultivation."

    Her eyes then opened in realization, recognizing this point was indeed pertinent. "But you can''t cultivate. So, what difference does it make for you to know that?"

    "I think you''d better use your time to learn the other subjects and get your degree as soon as possible. Only then will you be able to help our family and bring pride to my sister."

    "Tsk!"

    "Our family?" He said with a bit of irritation in his tone, but he did not lose control. "Then forget it. I''ll make my way to solve my problems."

    After that, he started walking on the path opposite her, thinking it had been a mistake to trust her.

    ''Elke can''t do the same as Annaliese, but I can get something out of her...''

    "Wait!"

    After a few seconds, Annaliese ran after him, shouting at him to wait for her.

    "What do you want?" He asked as he looked at the woman walking on his left side.

    "Sigh..."

    "I''m sorry for saying that, Lothur."

    "I said more than I should have..." She said in an apologetic tone, understanding that she had wronged her brother-inw.<sub> </sub>

    She knew very well how unpleasant it was to bepared to her older sister, who was so much more talented than she was. And with that, after saying those words to Lothur, she had immediately felt bad for speaking so casually about his greatest weakness.

    "Tell me what you want to know, and I will help you."

    "If you can lend me your basic cultivation books, that will be enough, and I won''t have to bother you once again."

    "I''m sorry, but the academy doesn''t give us those books. We have to return them once we change sectors. So, the ones I have are all from Sector-4."

    "Why don''t we talk about it? I''m not like my sister, but I can teach you the basics."

    "Really? So, tell me something, how does a person know that he has reached the 1st Transformation? Or the 2nd? Is there something special between different levels?"

    Upon hearing that, Annaliese tried to suppress the surprise on her face, as she did not want to offend this young man unnecessarily by implying that he was an ignoramus. "Well, that''s simple."

    "Any cultivator first needs a proper cultivation technique to begin their journey. From that technique, he will naturally feel the difference between the strength of an ordinary human to a 1st Transformation cultivator."

    "The first stage is focused on transforming the mortal body into a spiritual body. It consists of nine spiritual cleansings, which are basically the processes in which your body eliminates toxins and undergoes changes necessary for soul development."

    "At that stage, each time we take a step forward, spiritual cleansing brings us benefits. Like, for example, increased vitality, physical strength, endurance, visual ability, in short, everything improves."

    "Since this process happens nine times, we say that the Mortal Warrior goes from the 1st to the 9th Transformation."

    "So, that''s how it is..." He muttered in a low voice as he remembered what had happened the night before. "Does this spiritual cleansing release a stinky ck goo?"

    "Oh? Yes, that''s what we call impurities." She answered without paying attention to the satisfied expression on Lothur''s face.

    ''Looks like I''m able to cultivate now!'' He celebrated internally, realizing that the system had saved him and solved his body''s problems. ''I''m probably at 1st Transformation!''

    ''But...''

    "Is it possible to start cultivation without a technique?" He asked.

    "No."

    "Let me tell you a bit of history. The first cultivation techniques were created from the intuitive procedures of cultivation geniuses from ancient times."

    "If you want to know, the difference between today and that time is that today we have numerous techniques at our disposal, of qualities of all kinds. With them, we can start our cultivating journey immediately. But back then, a cultivator needed to understand nature on his own to be able to start his cultivation."

    "But this procedure adopted by the past geniuses is nothing more than the primordial form of our cultivation techniques."

    ''Then how did I advance in level?'' Lothur wondered quietly. ''Is the system my technique? Or is it that ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger''?''

    ''No. Thatst option is the Physique, so it can''t be a technique!''

    "Anna, when we talk about cultivators, what does the Physique mean?"

    "Physique is not exactly the body, but the quality rtive to the body. Because of this, we all have a type of Physique, but it may or may not awaken, may or may not be useful in our activities."

    "In any case, once someone awakens a Physique, it naturally confers some ability to that person."

    "Have you awakened yours?" He asked in curiosity.

    Annaliese then shook her head negatively. "It is challenging to do such a thing, and there is often a need for special resources or conditions for that to happen."

    "As far as I know, even my sister couldn''t awaken hers."

    "Oh?" A smile broke out on Lothur''s face as he imagined thepetitive advantage he would have because of this.

    "So, how do I rate the level of a Physique? Is there such a thing, or is there no rating?"

    "The Physique rating is the same as that of spiritual cultivation." She replied as she looked at the side of Lothur''s face, still walking with him through that open area of Sector-4.

    "If you ask me, the difference between Physique and spiritual cultivation is the dependence on external resources. With spiritual techniques, you will depend on your soul power and those techniques to use your powers. Whereas with Physique, your soul is used as fuel for its abilities."

    "I don''t need to tell you which is better, right?"

    ''So, that''s it!" Finally, Lothur could not contain his smile and demonstrated an image to Annaliese as even more attractive than he usually was.

    ''Looks like that''s the benefit of the system! It can give me abilities as I gather those things!''

    ...

 Chapter 16 Anne

    "What?" Annaliese smiled at Lothur, not understanding why this young man suddenly started smiling after herst words. ''Did I say something wrong?''

    "Nothing."

    "I just thought what you told me was interesting. I had never thought there were such impressive things in the cultivation world..." He said this as he looked mysteriously at her, making her wonder what was on his mind.

    But just then, he saw someone that caught his attention, and it did not take him long to say goodbye to his dear sister-inw. "Anna, thank you for that information. How about we continue this conversation another time?"

    "I feel that I can learn many things by your side."

    "Is that so?" A slight redness appeared on Annaliese''s face, while her eyes and mouth formed a specific pattern, typical of those satisfied. "That''s fine. I have other things to do now, so we''ll talkter."

    But before she could distance herself from him, Viktoria''s sister took one of Lothur''s arms and looked him in the eye. "Don''t go after other women. Don''t dishonor my sister."

    "Rest assured. I just want to talk to my teacher." He was sincere as he looked in the direction of Miss Koch, who was sitting alone not far from these two.

    "But I must say, Anna, what will your sister think if you keep sniffing me as if I were your husband? Hehe, how interesting would it be if both sisters were with me?" He suggested before finally moving on toward that teacher.

    "That pig!" Annaliese said this in a low voice, ring at Lothur''s fleeing figure. ''That bastard is truly bold! He keeps talking nonsense to me!''

    And soon, she left that ce, making room for young Lothur to approach his target without further disturbance.

    ...

    "Beautiful teacher!" He said as he sat down next to that woman with ck hair, fair skin, and a body proportionate for her 1.6 meters tall.

    Hearing that tone she had heard earlier today, Anneke Koch looked at the silver-haired young man at her side, surprised to see this person here.

    "Student Ritter, what are you doing in Sector-4? What do you want with me?"

    "Beautiful teacher, why are you so cold? I obviously want to talk to someone more mature..."

    "Unfortunately, that Sector-1 is full of children."

    "I feel like a fish out of water in that ce." He said, smiling, trying to approach this woman.

    Lothur was naturally someone attracted to beauty and would not pass up opportunities that showed themselves to him. But he would not bother to approach every beautiful woman that came his way.

    After all, in this world, the standard was so high that if he kept his principles cultivated on earth, he would not be able to control himself!

    But even though he had no interest in trying to get involved with every beauty in his path, he wanted to get close to some women who could help him achieve his goals.

    In Elke''s case, this woman was an exception. Lothur just found her interesting and wanted her to have a healthy rtionship in his beginning here.

    And, of course, he would not just use her and discard herter. He was not so wicked.

    In any case, of all the other women in his life now, a number of them were veryplex, with problems that would take time to solve.

    But in Anneke''s case, this woman, despite being a student at this institution, had a teaching position, which in itself was a testament to herpetence.

    Many people in this academy stood to vie for the few teaching positions here. Still, this woman was one of the few actually to perform student and teacher roles simultaneously.

    And it must be said that, in this ce, this was not a position despised by noblemen from the best of backgrounds!

    Considering this, he thought that making contact with this woman could bring him closer to specific issues about this ce and someone with considerable political knowledge.

    Yes, considerable, since he, Lothur, was only a son-inw of the Frost family, who until recently could not cultivate. As such, his position was precarious, and to approach anyone in this academy would be enough for him to learn a lot.

    But as a teacher in this ce and someone capable of teaching geopolitics, Anneke had something extra that people like Annaliese did not have.

    That''s why he was interested in her!

    He could build up his intelligencework over time or even reach high enough positions for information toe naturally to him.

    However, Lothur was not the type to do all the work when other people could do it for him!<sub> </sub>

    No, if this young man was going to invest in his past life, he was undoubtedly the type to entrust his money to goodpanies instead of creating his own.

    And extending that logic to his current situation, having someone with better information than his, who already cared about staying informed, would be both the least risky and most advantageous for him.

    Thus, because of his interest in improving his position in this society, he wanted to bring this woman over to his side to strengthen him.

    She then looked at him in curiosity. "And why would you think you would not be a fish out of water trying to approach me?"

    "Beautiful teacher, I naturally have an interest in the history of our vast world that cannot be found in those young people..."

    "Only by conversing with an intelligent and capable woman will I be able to share my academic passions." He said this with a deep expression on his face, looking into Anneke''s eyes without difort.

    "Is that so?" She asked in surprise, finding it unusual that this newly-matricted young man had the same interests as she did.

    "Of course, I would never lie to you, beautiful teacher."

    "And I already told you to call me Miss Koch."

    "Hehe, beautiful teacher, you can say that I will do as the rules say during sses. But out here, you and I are just two students from the Morning Star Academy."

    "But how about that? If you tell me your name, I''ll stop calling you that way."

    She then looked at him more closely, finding Lothur''s attempt amusing. "All this just to get my name? You can hear that from other students with a lot less work..."

    "I''d rather hear it directly from you."

    "Tsk!"

    "Lothur, you truly are something, huh? I almost can''t believe that the first Miss Frost married someone so bold."

    "What do you think she will think if she hears that you are flirting with women on your first day at the academy?" She formed a smile on her face, revealing that she knew more about him than he thought.

    "Oh? So, you had already recognized me?" He was surprised but did not flinch.

    "Sure, I just didn''t say anything as I didn''t want to harm a student by talking about his problems in public."

    "But I must say, you''re pretty fearless, huh?" She looked him up and down, trying to understand where his confidence came from beside his singr attractiveness.

    "Besides flirting with a ssmate earlier today, now you do it with your teacher..."

    "Poor Miss Frost!"

    "Hehehe, beautiful teacher, it seems your eyes were watching me earlier... Or are you able to pay attention to everything your students do?"

    "Tsk!"

    "All right, I''ll tell you my name just to end this disrespectfulness of yours."

    "My name is Anneke."

    "Oh? That''s a good name, Anne." He smiled, teasing her.

    And upon hearing the intimate way he referred to her, Anneke promptly became embarrassed as she watched Lothur''s silver eyes. "Anne?"

    But then, the noon bell began to ring in that academy when it was finally time for Lothur to get on with his afternoon sses.

    "Anne, see you tomorrow..."

    "I hope I can hear some good stories from you!" He said as he turned away from her, heading back to Sector-1.

    ''Ah, this woman will be much harder than Elke...'' He sighed in his heart as he realized that Anneke''s maturity was on another level.

    But that was not bad for him either. "Let''s see what happens in the next few days!"

 Chapter 17 Economics And Ambush

    After saying goodbye to Anneke, Lothur spent the rest of the afternoon at the Morning Star Academy.

    He had gone to the economics ss, only to find out what level this ce was at since he judged his knowledge in that area quite decent in his past life.

    He was not an expert, nor had he been someone who pursued the deeper details of that area of knowledge or its ramifications. However, as a young man who had been well educated in economics and the basic concepts involved, he had many ideas about such a thing.

    That would certainly have been enough in his former life for him to know how to handle his economic life, as well as to identify problems in problematic suggestions or policies.

    But even confidently, he had paid attention to the ss he had taken and sought introductory readings about the economy in this world. Who could guarantee that this ce did not have much deeper concepts than Earth?

    He was not sure about this, so he had made an effort to understand the economy in this society a little better.

    However, just as he had expected due to the memories of his predecessor, he had discovered that the economy of this ce was simple.

    They even unconsciously used many ideas simr to those Lothur had learned on Earth. But there were no established rules, no poprized concepts to facilitate local economic development, etc.

    For example, he had searched in the books he read about the concepts ofpound interest and future value. But at no point did he find them, drawing his attention to how backward this world was concerning something so relevant.

    And realizing all this, he understood that the idea of investments in this world practically did not exist.

    Anyone in this ce would find it usible to invest in himself, in his cultivation. After all, this was the cultivation world, the home of the individualistic and ambitious. But when it came to investing in other people or businesses, ideas became increasingly scarce.

    Some even unconsciously invested in other people. But this was more like something they did to leave an inheritance, as in the case of masters with their disciples, or to help a loved one protect themselves.

    Other than that, the idea of helping another person was counterintuitive since that person might overtake his benefactor and eventually subjugate or betray such an individual.

    So, Lothur had realized that the institutions of this world were collectively weak, even considering powers with many experts. Or rather, they were a long way from reaching their own potential.

    After all, what would happen to, for example, a sect that had lost the most powerful experts and their disciples?

    The answer to this was clear. Such an organization would naturally cease to exist or wither away over time because hardly anyone talented enough would have the best knowledge left by those people.

    And even if they did, such people would not be numerous, and the chance that they would die before a possible recovery of power would simply be gigantic.

    However, what is the point of creating something so fragile that it can''t even be self-sustaining without its experts?

    Certainly, specialists were relevant and fulfilled essential roles. But would not it be more interesting to create something that, even weakened, can fight to survive, keeping its best characteristics?

    But for that, investing in more people was necessary, and that was practically not happening in this world.

    Having learned all this about the economy of this world, Lothur had been pleased since this was an opportunity for him.

    He had notions of economics that could only be considered advanced in this society, even though this was onlymon knowledge where he came from.

    Therefore, he wanted to use this to build his financial life in this ce, something necessary not only for his quality of life but also for his own cultivation.

    However, he was in no hurry, even with many ideas and knowledge to aplish this feat. No, Lothur knew that the nail that stood out was the first to be hammered.

    Considering this, he had to try at least to improve other of his characteristics so that he would at least be able to act without having to worry about his actions sabotaging him.

    He not only needed power but people and organizations capable of hiding his tracks, something necessary for someone with his intentions.

    And precisely because he had practically none of this at the moment, he was in no hurry and had in mind how he should act to reach the point where he could put his ideas to the test in the future.

    After the economics ss, he had spent some time in the Sector-1 library, learning about other information necessary for his ns or simply his best experience of this world.

    ...<sub> </sub>

    After leaving the academy at the end of the day, Lothur immediately made his way alone to the Frost family estate.

    He should have returned home with Annaliese, but he had missed his schedule because of his dedication to his reading.

    With that, realizing that Annaliese had not had the patience to wait for him for more than an hour, Lothur had not wasted much time in that ce and started on his way back.

    Because of his predecessor, who had wandered erratically through this city many times, Lothur knew the local map as he knew his hand. And with that, he had been left in no doubt about what to do in this situation.

    Peters City was not a vast ce where someone like him would need transportation to get around.

    That was a city about the size of the typical medium-sized cities on Earth.

    However, even though it was not so grand that he lost the courage to walk home, this was a walk of over an hour!

    So, away from thefortable carriage that had brought him to the local academy earlier, Lothur had begun his journey, walking briskly, hurrying to reach his goal.

    He was still not much better than an ordinary human, so what he most wanted at this moment was to get home, eat something, and then sleep. Then, the next day he could go back to putting his ns for the future into practice.

    However, life wasplicated, and one did not always get what one wanted!

    As he was returning home, Lothur was being chased by a group of three individuals, each with their identity covered, walking in the shadows and watching him.

    And for a young man who had just found himself in this dangerous cultivation world, Lothur naturally had not noticed those three chasing him.

    That had been his mistake!

    ...

    After a while, Lothur was almost at the Frost family estate when suddenly he found himself surrounded by three masked people standing at the side of an alley.

    In that ce where there was no one nearby, and trash could be seen in some spots near old or abandoned facilities, Lothur stopped, finding the situation strange.

    He could not probe people''s strengths, much less check certain soul-rted conditions. But as he came across those people, Lothur immediately sensed their fighting intent.

    "Who are you, people? What do you want with me?" He asked in a confident tone, showing no fear in his posture.

    But all he heard was a distinct tongue sound.

    "Tsk!"

    ''This guy is just an aimless wanderer, but still... Still!'' One of those three thought about it in silence as he held an eighty-centimeter-long stick in one of his hands.

    He then said in an unrecognizable tone. "Let''s teach this good-for-nothing a lesson!"

    "Let''s see if he will still touch Miss Becker after we break his two legs and arms!" The most vicious of the three said this as he finally jumped towards Lothur, already in a position to punch his opponent, using a metal item around his fist.

    At the same time, the other two also moved against Lothur, using their best means of action to attack Lothur''s legs, arms, and groin.

    "Shit!" Lothur shouted in anger, feeling the bad luck left behind by his predecessor.

    ''Who are these bastards? Why are they attacking me?'' He tried to consider the people his predecessor had offended, but there were so many that he could not even think of a single one of them.

    But seeing the punches and other types of attacksing at his body, he had no time to think about those possibilities. No, since he was in that position, all he could do was try to defend himself!

    ...

 Chapter 18 No Luck

    Just before the enemy attacks hit his body, Lothur put up a defensive position, trying to imitate things he had seen on television in his previous life.

    When he was on Earth, Lothur had never bothered to learn any martial arts. And since his predecessor had never done anything of the sort either, he had nothing significant to use at this point.

    The only thing was his own body and the few fight scenes he had ever seen on television.

    Thus, he lowered his body slightly, putting one of his arms near his head while the other was in a lower position to defend his lower body.

    Simultaneously, remembering how boxers move their feet during their fights, Lothur tried to do the same.

    In this way, he began to ''dance'' as his opponents tried to hit him from his right, left, and front.

    The one on the right had a wooden stick and was quickly approaching Lothur''s left knee.

    The one on the left had no weapon with him but was spinning in the air, while one of his feet was heading toward Lothur''s left arm.

    Finally, the one in front was punching in the direction of Lothur''s face, while he had a device in his hand that increased the damage of his blows.

    "Take that, you scoundrel!" That individual punching said this in hatred.

    Pow!

    And then, in that instant, the punch came straight against his face, as he instinctively leaned his spine back slightly and tried to protect himself from the other two attacks.

    To do this, he jumped into the air and directed a kick at the person who was trying to hit him from his left.

    He could try to do this against the one who had been trying to attack one of his knees with a stick. Still, thinking that item could hurt him even more, he decided to bet on attacking the unarmed individual.

    At the very least, this move could protect him from that person, while his body movement would be enough for the enemy armed with a stick to miss his knee.

    Therefore, as the young man who had tried to punch Lothur slowly hit the air, the silver-haired young man''s body spun in the air, when finally his right shin hit the shining against one of his arms.

    Pow!

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhh! Son of a bitch!"

    At that instant, as the two young men''s legs crashed through the air, cries of pain left their throats as the stick from before hit the ground.

    Upon realizing that situation, the two who had not been injured immediately frowned, sensing that there was something wrong with the information they received.

    That was because no ordinary human could ever withstand a kick from a 1st Transformation cultivator and still cause pain to his opponent!

    "Damn it!"

    "Those damn rats have tricked us!" The young man who had thrown thest punch said this in frustration, feeling ashamed for being humiliated by mere information sellers.

    The one with the stick then nodded and said. "That wretch is at the peak of the 1st Transformation!"

    They could not sense Lothur''s cultivation. However, from the way the silver-haired young man had tried to defend himself, these two knew that their enemy had used everything he had.

    And precisely because of this, they understood that Lothur was only a little stronger than the young man who was now screaming in pain. Otherwise, if he had been stronger, their ally would surely have had an open fracture from that crash alone!

    However, seeing their ally falling to the ground with that part of his body intact, the two knew that Lothur had not reached 2nd Transformation.

    "It doesn''t matter!" The leader of the three said this, seeing that Lothur was looking from side to side as if trying to find a way to escape. "There are three of us, and we still have weapons on our side!"

    "Come on, let''s beat this wretch until he learns not to mess with other people''s women!"

    And with that said, they finally went back to attacking Lothur, only this time being much more careful since their opponent was a bit stronger than them.

    "Shit!"

    "You bastards, I''ll remember this!" Lothur shouted in anger as he pressed his jaw hard, furious at being in such a ridiculous situation.

    But unfortunately for Lothur, even if he was a little stronger than those young men, he had two significant disadvantages here.

    The first was obviously the problem of his opponents'' weapons, which would definitely only need to hit him once to knock him out.

    And the second was his experience. Lothur remembered scenes from movies that had helped him make that first move. Unfortunately, however, that sess was nothing but beginner''s luck!

    He hadbined the underestimation of his opponents with the fact that his actual body was already much stronger and more agile than that of an ordinary human. Because of this, he had managed to dodge enemy attacks and still wound one of those people.

    But his situation had changedpletely, and without his enemies underestimating him, Lothur was in trouble!

    "Let''s see how long you can hold out, asshole!"<sub> </sub>

    Pow!

    ...

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    After almost three full minutes of one-sided fighting, the three finally moved away from Lothur, leaving that bruised body on the floor, writhing in pain.

    At the beginning of the fight, they had some difficulties. Still, as soon as Lothur received the first attack, he had lost the focus needed for such situations.

    After all, he was not used to the idea of feeling pain.

    ? All his concentration had been diluted as he went through this, opening up gaps in his position for his opponents.

    From then on, the three enemies beat Lothur as they pleased, hitting him dozens of times on his legs and arms.

    They had only failed to injure the precious item of such an opponent because, in spite of everything, Lothur would never give up on his little brother.

    No, that part of his body was of utmost importance for someone with his personality. He would rather have every one of his bones broken than a single muscle in that region be injured!

    So, although they tried hard, the three failed to destroy Lothur''s manhood.

    Finally, when they realized that people were approaching the area, they promptly withdrew, satisfied with their action.

    They did not aim to kill Lothur but rather to give him a fright to scare his dreams.

    There werews in this city, and none of them wanted such big trouble just for an affair.

    So, they had been content to break Lothur''s four limbs and leave him extremely injured in that alley, screaming in pain like a woman during childbirth.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    ''Bastards!''

    "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

    ''I''m going to kill you miserable bastards!'' He thought this amidst his screams, unable to muster the strength to verbalize his threats.

    And while he was in that situation he had never imagined himself in, it was not long before curious people approached that ce.

    "Hey! Hey!"

    "Kid, can you hear me? Are you still alive?" A gentleman dressed as a farmer stopped beside that bloodied body, concerned that he had witnessed someone in this situation.

    "Ahhhh!"

    Lothur then made an unimaginable thrust, clenching his jaw so hard that the pain around his body seemed to be subsiding.

    He then said with difficulty. "Fros... Frost... Esta..."

    Estate..."

    "Frost estate?" That person asked as more curious people gathered on the outskirts, looking at Lothur as they put their hands to their mouths.

    "Y... Yes..."

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s three enemies had finally stopped their escape in another alley in that part of Peters City, all satisfied with the thrill of that attack.

    "That worn will be a few months without showing up at the academy, hahaha..." The tallest of the three said this as he removed some concealment items from his clothes.

    On the other hand, although he was smiling, the one who had received Lothur''s initial attack did not look so cheerful. "But even though we taught him a lesson, we still suffered quite a bit..." He pointed to the trails of blood near the mouths and noses of hispanions.

    But upon hearing that, the ck-haired young man who had led this attack made a sound of disgust and changed the subject. "That''s the fault of the damned rats who sold us incorrect information!"

    "We''ll deal with them another day!"

    "What about that bastard Lothur?"

    "What about him?" The ck-haired young man asked this with an icy expression on his face. "He naturally isn''t a problem anymore."

    "With so many injuries, even if he ever walks again, my Elke will never look at him!"

 Chapter 19 2nd Transformation

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    Cries of pain reverberated through one of the hallways of the building where Lothur''s room was located, echoing throughout the entire floor.

    At the same time as this, several of the servants from the Frost family estate were in the vicinity of that room, curious about what was going on.

    Only 15 minutes ago, Lothur had arrived at this ce being carried by ordinary citizens. Shortly afterward, one of the local doctors called by the family came to attend him, and then the screams of agony began.

    And since it was already night in this city, many servants of this estate who had nothing to do were in the area watching the situation in curiosity.

    Many of these people did not like Lothur because of the young man''s unusual personality, and when they found out that he had been almost killed, many could not help bute to enjoy the scene.

    And just those who had arrived earlier to this part of the Frost family estate were seeing through the open door of Lothur''s room this young man being tortured by a doctor.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" Lothur cried out in desperation once again as a woman with violet hair held him down, and the doctor dressed in a ck suit used his hands to deal with the broken bones in his legs.

    In doing this, the doctor was constantly breaking and reshaping Lothur''s bones, trying to correct the problems created by the previous ''ident.''

    However, this was notfortable. Each time the doctor used his hands, Lothur felt excruciating pain and did not even understand how he was still conscious.

    As a result, the young man, who had only his underwear on at the moment, was drenched in sweat while a hard-to-describe pallor spread over his entire body.

    "Doctor, if we continue, I''m afraid he won''t be able to take it." The woman with violet hair, eyes of the same color, and delicate features said this while using her hands to immobilize Lothur''s upper body.

    But the doctor was not interested in his assistant''s concerns. "It doesn''t matter. Doesn''t it, Lothur?" He asked this to the young man in agony, understanding that this was all just this patient''s own choice.

    Finding Lothur in this ce, the doctor who was attending him had told him that if he did not get this shock treatment, he could expect severe sequels in the future!

    But as a young man who had just started his life in this world, Lothur could not ept something so horrible.

    With that, Lothur had asked the doctor to do whatever it takes to at least leave his body in a state where he could recover without worrying about sequels.

    No matter how much he would have to suffer!

    And with that, the doctor continued.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    ...

    While Lothur was receiving his treatment, Viktoria quickly moved toward her husband''s room, worried that she would be a widow so early in her life.

    She had just finished a cultivation session when suddenly a servant brought the news that Lothur was in hisst moments.

    Thus, she left the ce where she was worried sick, while Elise followed behind her with a satisfied expression on her face.

    But it was not long before these two reached the side of Lothur''s room, where the many servants promptly made way for the first Miss Frost.

    "What happened here?" She asked this with an icy expression, typical of her, but which at the moment seemed even worse.

    As for Elise, she stood watching the dying young man in that room, pleased by his suffering. ''You deserve it, pig!''

    The doctor then said. "First Miss Frost, I can''t tell you what happened, but this young man was beaten until he had almost every bone in his body fractured."

    "What?"

    "That''s just what you heard. But rest assured, your husband should recover after a few weeks in bed..." He said this mournfully, sensing that such a woman might be furious over what had happened to Lothur.

    Many people in Peters City talked about the possibility that Viktoria and Lothur''s marriage was not consummated and therefore had no validity. But this man did not dare listen to rumors, and if his clients wanted to y strange games, he was willing to tolerate them and show his sincerity.

    As such, seeing the angry expression in Viktoria''s eyes, he did not care whether the rumors were true. Instead, he only pretends to feel sorry for her situation, especially Lothur.

    Upon hearing this, Viktoria felt irritated, but realizing that Lothur''s life was not at risk, she managed to calm down a bit.

    She did not like being associated with Lothur since this young man had nothing to be proud of or somewhat not be ashamed of.

    But for her own purposes, it was interesting to Viktoria that others thought and even talked about her and Lothur as a real couple.

    "Doctor, how is my husband doing? Looking at him from here, I feel worried..." She said this, looking at the now unconscious Lothur.

    The doctor with the bulging belly and ck mustache thenughed. "Don''t worry. He fainted after having hisst bones reshaped by my technique..."

    He then looked at Lothur with a certain twinkle in his eyes. "But I must say, first Miss Frost, this husband of yours is kind of tough."

    "Oh? Why?" Viktoria asked this as Elise looked at that doctor strangely.

    "For a human with no spiritual cultivation, he does have quite a determination!"

    "I have dealt with many patients in my career, but I have never seen a mortal able to endure so much pain!"<sub> </sub>

    "It can''t be!" Elisemented in disbelief, ring at Lothur''s sweaty body. "This scumbag doesn''t have the guts to work on anything. How can he have such a strong will?"

    "Humph!" The assistant made a disgruntled sound, thinking that such a servant woman was talking about things she did not know. "Are you doubting my master''s words?"

    "I..." Elise was about to say something, but Viktoria beckoned her to be quiet, and she was quick to obey.

    "Anyway, I thank you for attending to us so promptly, Doctor Snee. I hope to see you in a different situation next time." Viktoria said this as she handed over a small coin bag, paying for that man''s service.

    "See you."

    ...

    The night quickly gave way to daybreak in the blink of an eye, with the first rays of light prating Lothur''s room through the small window there.

    And amid his dimly lit room, Lothur slowly demonstrated the signs of a person about to awaken as he moved his body and expressed disgust on his face.

    But still half-drowsy, he could not be sure what the problem was.

    No, in the dream he was having, all he felt was a set of two sensations. One felt as if he was floating in a sea of goo, making him feel a grotesque sensation. But at the same time, a smell of carrion was reaching his nostrils, making his face twitch.

    "What the fuck is that?" He muttered unconsciously, feeling that something was odd.

    As he opened his eyes, Lothur quickly raised his upper body, sitting up in the middle of his bed as he looked down.

    "What the fu..." He said this without realizing it, finally understanding where the strange smell in his room wasing from.

    But as he thought more about what had happened to him, the smell and sensation of that goo slowly faded from his mind while a smile formed on his face.

    ''It works!''

    ''I can rely on the, ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger''!''

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 2.1] [CON: 1.2] [DEX: 2.1] [AGI: 2.9]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 38]

    "Incredible!" He looked down at his two hands, feeling an impressive power.

    "Hahaha, I''ve reached 2nd Transformation!" He celebrated loudly, smiling like never before in his life, not feeling the slightest bit of difort in his body.

    However, while feeling happy, he suddenly realized that some of his attributes had not increased with his advancement.

    ''Why did this happen? Is there some special condition...'' But as he thought about it further, he quickly realized that the improved attributes mainly were rted to his physical constitution.

    On the other hand, of his non-physical attributes, only his Will had improved after his previous advancement.

    ''Got it!''

    ''''What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger,'' affect my body because it suffered from the previous injuries.'' He thought about it in silence. ''As for the mental attributes, they probably won''t evolve in that same way!''

    ''At least that should be true for Intelligence and Perception.''

    ''As for the Will, maybe it was affected because I endured the beating and medical treatment?'' He wondered doubtfully.

    ''But this is amazing! Not only did I increase my strength, but I recovered remarkably quickly!''

    ''I wonder if that was something done by the doctor? Or maybe it''s rted to my advancement? Maybe it''s a characteristic of my Physique?''

    But without much knowledge of cultivation, Lothur put those thoughts aside for the moment and got up to go to the bathroom.

    ''Well, yesterday I learned a fundamental lesson...''

    "I don''t know how to fight!" He muttered, making up his mind to seek the correction of this significant problem.

    ''Well then, today I will continue with my ns and try to find someone to teach mebat techniques!''

    ...

 Chapter 20 Lucky Man

    As Lothur finished bathing in his room, Elise suddenly opened the door of that ce with an expression that carried anger and the typical grace of those before ying tricks on other people.

    She genuinely did not want to have any contact with a scumbag like Lothur. Still, today Viktoria had ordered her toe to this ce and observe his situation.

    For this, she felt anger.

    However, as much as she disliked checking on the condition of the only good-for-nothing in this family, she could not help but consider taking advantage of the situation to y with him.

    Since she was already in ''hell,'' then why not find a benefit from this ce?

    And precisely because of that, she had a silly smile on her beautiful face.

    ''Let''s see what I do with you today, scumbag...'' She pondered while entering that room.

    However, as she came face to face with the bed that took up almost the entire space of that ce, Elise frowned her eyebrows in shock and surprise.

    "Lothur?"

    ''Where is he?" She wondered doubtfully, not understanding how he was not here.

    Considering Lothur''s situation the night before, he should be lying down, feeling pain all over his body. So, howe he was not around?

    She then considered the only usible thing. ''Did someone take him from this ce?''

    But as she walked in, she smelled a horrible odoring from the bed, which had no sheet at the time, only a sizeable wet mark with the design of a human silhouette.

    ''What is that odor? What happened here?'' She wondered but could not find any hypothesis in her mind.

    But that was not surprising. After all, upon entering his bathroom, Lothur had taken all the dirty sheets and thrown them in the trash. So, only the remaining odor of his body''s impurities and sweat remained on that bed.

    And without seeing such evidence, Elise could not assume that such an odor was rted to the advancement Lothur had recently undergone.

    ''Well, I have to get back...'' She was thinking of something when she heard a strange sounding from the bathroom and promptly assumed a fighting stance.

    Lothur was gone, and Elise knew that such a situation could not be the Frost family''s doing. Otherwise, Viktoria would not have ordered her toe to this ce.

    So, she immediately thought the worst, not finding Lothur in this ce and hearing a strange noiseing from the bathroom.

    Pa!

    She used part of her strength to kick the closed door of that bathroom, quickly making her way into it.

    "Ahhhh!"

    But upon entering that ce, Elise came face to face with Lothur, who at the moment was utterly naked while using a white towel to dry his hair.

    And seeing that, Lothur was surprised by the unexpected visit of this woman, who was now looking at his crotch strangely.

    Gulp!

    He heard a distinct sound as this woman looked at his little brother, who was almost as big as a grown man''s forearm.

    After a few seconds in silence, Elise suddenly returned to her rationality and shouted at him. "You beast!"

    "How can you stand in such a shameful way in front of me?"

    "I was taking a shower inside my bathroom with the door closed. How do you think I would be?" He asked in a provocative tone, looking with interest at that blushing woman.

    "That..." She did not know what to say, feeling that there indeed was a mistake here.

    And as she took a nce at Lothur''s exposed body part, she felt she should not be there and simply ran away, ignoring the mission Viktoria had passed her.

    As for Lothur, he continued doing the same as before that woman''s forced entry into his bathroom, wondering what he would do next. ''Well, my dear wife came to visit mest night, concerned about my situation...''

    ''I feel I must lessen the fear in her heart.'' He smiled, remembering Viktoria''s conversation with the doctor who had attended him.

    At the time of Viktoria''s visit, Lothur was passed out. However, he had heard all thements made by the people inside his room.

    Hence, he was interested in seeing his stunning wife, perhaps using this opportunity to get closer to her.<sub> </sub>

    ...

    After dressing, Lothur quickly made his way toward the part of the Frost residence where the patriarch''s family lived.

    And knowing the way to Viktoria''s room, he immediately reached that ce.

    Pa! Pa!

    He knocked twice on the door of her room, waiting outside with a smile on his face and dressed in a typical suit for young people of his age in this world.

    "What do you..." Viktoria opened the door already saying something, but upon seeing the person standing there, she immediately fell silent, with her mouth slightly open and a strange look on her face.

    "Lothur!"

    "How can you be here? You should be in bed!" She said this as she advanced against him, quickly grabbing one of this young man''s wrists.

    "Dear, if you want to touch your husband''s body, you don''t have to be so hasty. We can do it slowly..." He whispered to her as he watched her check his condition.

    But Viktoria was so surprised by Lothur''s sudden recovery that she did not even mind hisment.

    She then muttered in disbelief. "Your body looks in excellent condition..."

    After saying that, she pulled Lothur into her room and closed the door.

    She then ced him against one of the side walls there, watching him cautiously. "What have you done? How did you recover from so many injuries so quickly?"

    "I don''t know." He said earnestly.

    There was no reason for him to try to give Viktoria a better answer than that. He would not be able to convince her of anything anyway. After all, he understood nothing of spiritual cultivation, the only possible exnation for his recovery.

    And while it would be interesting for him not to be in this current position, he had no choice but to confront Viktoria. That was because even if he tried to hide, the Frost family would find out about his miraculous recovery.

    But he did not want to waste time in this ce pretending to be in bed. So, he could only try to deal with the situation head-on by showing Viktoria his unexpected recovery.

    "Don''t you know?"

    "Lothur, this exnation is not good enough!" She spoke in a louder tone, slowly approaching him. "Nobody recovers like that without something significant having happened..."

    "Speak the truth!"

    He then clenched his fists in frustration but did not back down against this woman. Instead, he stepped forward to stand even closer to her. "Viktoria, how could I exin something I don''t understand myself?"

    "I woke up feeling a little better, despite the pain in my arms and legs..." He made some gestures, indicating where he ''felt'' pain. "I thought maybe you or that doctor had given me some powerful medicine."

    "But it seems that wasn''t the case."

    She took another step forward, standing only twenty centimeters away from Lothur. "You''re hiding something."

    He then opened his arms and said with a serious expression. "Whether you believe me or not is up to you, dear. I''m right here. Why don''t you show me this impressive talent of yours that everyone talks about and find out what happened to me?"

    After hearing this, her eyes sharpened, but she did not know what to do. Lothur''s cultivation was still non-existent. There was no remnant of medicine or pills in his body other than those used by the doctor the night before.

    Other than that, apart from the recovery itself, nothing justified his sudden recuperation.

    Finding no hint of it, Viktoria felt a slight disturbance in her mind. ''Was that truly a miracle? Maybe he has a special constitution that helps him recover quickly?''

    ''Hmm, the day before, he looked pretty good when he left for the academy with my sister, even considering he was hit by a carriage the day before yesterday...''

    "Sigh..." She sighed in defeat, finally retracting her aura, which inexplicably did not affect Lothur.

    "It seems you have more luck than I had imagined."

    "Well, I''ll let it go this time, but if something strange like that happens again, I hope you have a good justification for me..."

    "Now, since you are healed, get to the academy before you miss the day''s first ss."

 Chapter 21 In-Laws Conversation

    As Lothur made his way to the Morning Star Academy, in the room of the Frost family patriarch, Viktoria''s parents were finishing dressing.

    In that ce, Mabel was finishing putting on a beautiful blue dress while her husband was buttoning up his ck suit, sitting on the edge of an armchair that was on one side of the bed.

    But as they did so, they were both talking in low voices, asionally looking at each other through the mirror in front of Mabel.

    "The situation in the empire is getting more difficult for the family..." Aiken said after a long sigh of disappointment.

    ''If only I were stronger.'' Hemented in his heart, feeling that he had failed his ancestors.

    "This is out of our control, dear." Mabel looked at him meaningfully, also regretting the situation they were in. "This is an internal dispute within the imperial family. But, on the other hand, that person''s actions don''t make our situation any easier.

    "If only he hadn''t done that..."

    "Sigh!" Mabel''s husband sighed as he thought of that fellow who was the greatest criminal in Leopoldine''s history.

    Everyone in this state expected the First Prince of Leopoldine to be the next emperor. He was so strong and talented that no one had any doubts about his ascension. Even his brothers did not want topete with him.

    However, such a person was simply uncontroble, detached from power, and had behaved, shall we say, questioningly since he was a little boy.

    Later in his life, he became a renowned criminal and had even been expelled from the imperial family.

    Hell, he was a criminal who even had a wanted poster, with the words, ''only dead''!

    Because of this individual, the current situation of dispute in the Leopoldine family existed.

    "Well, even if it weren''t for that fellow, unfortunately, our family has been marginalized for centuries..."

    "It was only a matter of time before we were affected by the political games of the imperial throne."

    The Frost family was an ancient organization, existing since the time of the ten independent regions previously conquered and dominated by the Leopoldine family.

    And precisely because it was an organization prior to the formation of the empire, Viktoria''s family always suffered from the antagonism of powers created during the current dynasty. Not only because they were not ''fully'' loyal to House Leopoldine but also because they had long been an organization almost as strong as such a family itself.

    That was a problem!

    In typical situations, two prominent organizations of equivalent power could live in peace. But from time to time, problems always appeared.

    That could range from some silly dispute of the younger generation or the dispute or disagreement over something significant. In any case, when something like this increased tensions between the parties, hardly anyone woulde out unscathed.

    Consequently, it was in the interest of one force to dominate or destroy the other!

    In the case in question, House Leopoldine dominated a more extensive and populous territory than House Frost... With more resources and people, fate seemed to have sided with the imperial power.

    But unfortunately for the organization that Lothur currently belonged to, time did not usually forgive anyone!

    As time went by, geniuses came and went. That was normal for any power with thousands of descendants and a long history. But with parasites constantly corroding them, even an organization with good foundations could shake.

    And the Frost family had finally started to shake in thest few centuries.

    That happened not only because of the constant action of the powers antagonistic toward them but also because of the terrible luck of this organization, which gradually lost its best geniuses throughout history.

    A great example was the current patriarch, someone weaker than his wife, Mabel. Thetter, in turn, was weaker than the typical patriarch this organization has had throughout its history.

    Mabel continued. "The family has lost a lot of space in thest few decades, and now with the problem of imperial session, we may no longer be tolerated."

    "Tsk!"

    "Both sides are pressuring us to make a move." Aiken stood up from where he was, angrily waving one of his arms.

    "Sigh..." He sighed once again, trying not to stress himself more than he should on this matter. "But at least little Vicky bought us some time."

    But upon hearing thatment, Mabel''s beautiful face contorted, disying an angry expression. "Or rather, our daughter sacrificed herself by marrying that scumbag for the sake of your family!"

    "Mabel, I never wished for anything like that to happen..." Aiken looked at that woman seriously, alsomenting his daughter''s fate.<sub> </sub>

    He did not me Lothur for being with his precious daughter.

    For that very reason, he did not treat that boy badly, who, truth be told, was helping them a lot. But still, like a good father, he wished that his daughter had a reliable man by her side.

    Unfortunately, to avoid the pressures of the sides vying for the imperial throne, who feared that Viktoria, this talented person, would choose one side and the other would be harmed, she married Lothur.

    Marrying Lothur decreased her chances of joining one of the parties and decreased the chance of more talents arising in the Frost family or even that this house would get support.

    After all, mortals and cultivators could hardly generate powerful offspring. But, on the other hand, with Viktoria being with Lothur, the chance of her decadent family getting support overnight was slim.

    With that, House Frost could continue to weaken!

    Knowing this, Viktoria had convinced herself that she needed to get married and end at least temporarily the pressures regarding a political marriage involving her.

    She knew this was only temporary, but as long as it gave them time, perhaps her family could survive another royal session.

    "Our child married a good-for-nothing with no future just because of the ipetence of this family!"

    "Now her future is ruined!" Mabel shouted at that man with her reddening eyes. "Even if she remarries, she will never be a well-liked woman in our society!"

    "All because of that scumbag!"

    "Mabel, don''t talk like that. Lothur is not to me for anything. You know very well that Vicky chose him on her own."

    "On the other hand, you knew how mysterious the guardian of Lothur was. Maybe Vicky knows some secret, and that''s why she chose you."

    "I don''t believe that!" Mabel shouted as she walked up against her husband. "She thought marrying a worthless man would not bring another feud into our family!"

    "She never thought of her happiness, only her family!"

    "Sigh..." Aiken gave up, finallying closer to his lovely wife, hugging her gently. "I am sorry, my love. I let you down."

    "But you know that Vicky and Lothur never did anything, and more than half the cityments on things like that. So, there is still salvation for our daughter."

    "Anyway, we just need to endure until the decision of the imperial heir is made."

    "Humph!"

    "That''s if that scumbag survives until then!" She said angrily, feeling that even Lothur was no good for that. "Did you hear what happened to him yesterday? That good-for-nothing almost got killed!"

    "Yes, the city is getting more and more dangerous..."

    "I will send some guards to look after his safety after his recovery," Aiken said inmentation, feeling sorry for Lothur.

    ''Poor boy. That situation is probably our organization''s fault.''

    ...

    After his ''kind'' conversation with Viktoria, Lothur went to the local academy, where he spent a few hours following the morning sses, understanding a little more about the subjects of this world.

    He wanted to see what they were about, whether they were simr in some degree to those of his world or whether they were different.

    In doing so, he had realized that not only the economy in this ce was simpler, but all the other areas of knowledge. In fact, it seemed that aside from cultivation, everything he had seen was elementary, and even Earth children could master these concepts with ease.

    Upon finding out about this, Lothur realized that he did not need to attend most of these sses. No, since the academy did not require its students to attend sses, as long as he studied on his own and passed the tests, he could raise his position in this ce.

    With this in mind, apart from the geopolitics sses, he could have contact with Elke and Anneke; he had no interest in attending almost any of the other sses.

    With only his study skills inherited from his former life, Lothur was sure that he could learn these basic things of this world on his own.

    So, as he walked towards the ce where he wanted to meet Annaliese to talk about cultivation once more, this young man already knew what he had to do in the afternoon.

    ''After seeing Anna, I will proceed to the geopolitics ss and try to advance my rtionship with Anne and Elke...''

 Chapter 22 Shocking Different People

    Upon reaching Sector-4, it did not take long, and soon Lothur found his sister-inw.

    "Lothur?" Annaliese said in shock, looking in the young man''s direction, who walked toward her.

    She had heard in her family about the event of the previous day. That way, seeing Lothur walking in that area as if nothing had happened, she could not help but cry out in surprise, getting up from where she was and running towards him.

    "You..."

    "I heard that you were beaten up the night before."

    "How can you be here? Can you truly be here instead of resting at home?" She asked with a noticeably nervous tone as she touched Lothur''s shoulders carefully.

    "Thank you for your concern, Anna."

    "I don''t know what happened, but I was feeling better by the time I woke up this morning. So, I just came to the academy as I should have." He said this as he looked into her worried eyes, pleased to see this reaction in Annaliese.

    ''Sigh...''

    ''Annaliese cares about me far more than Viktoria...''

    ''Maybe ''I'' married the wrong sister.'' He smiled internally while Annaliese still looked at him with concern.

    She then asked in a guilty tone. "Lothur, what happened yesterday? I didn''t wait for you because you took too long and then... And then... All that happened."

    Lothur''s eyes then opened as he realized what was on that woman''s mind, and he then ced one of his hands on one of her shoulders. "Anna, what happened has nothing to do with you."

    "Yesterday, I was reading some books in my sector library and got carried away with some discoveries that made me miss my schedule."

    "After that..." He then recounted every detail of what had happened the night before, when three masked men had ambushed him in one of the alleys in this city.

    "What? How does someone have the nerve to ambush a member of the Frost family?" Annaliese said in a tone charged with anger and humiliation, outraged by what had happened.

    Lothur might only be a son-inw of the Frost family, but that did not change the fact that he was part of that organization.

    As a member of this family, even if he were a pet, the people in the family would not ept outsiders doing such an absurd thing!

    That was a demonstration that these individuals were not intimidated by the power of House Frost!

    How could Annaliese ept this without getting angry?

    With that mentality, she felt offended that her family was despised by the people who attacked Lothur.

    "Damn bastards!"

    "Lothur, let''s talk to Mom and Dad when we get back! We can''t let this incident go unnoticed!" She took one of his hands and said that firmly.

    But Lothur did not see things from the same angle as Annaliese. "And what am I going to tell your parents? That I was attacked by three strangers that I have no clue about?"

    "Your mother will just lecture me, saying that this was probably my fault. That I am a useless person unable to recognize an enemy." He said with a cold smile on his face.

    "No. I prefer to solve my problems on my own."

    Annaliese frowned and looked at him strangely. "What? How are you going to do that? You are a mere mortal with no cultivation or training!"

    "That''s what I''vee all this way to talk to you about..."

    <o>,m "Anna, I want you to help me findbat techniques that can help me protect myself."</o>

    "Combat techniques? And what do you want that for? Even if you manage to learn something like that, it will still be useless!"

    "With only the strength of a mortal, even a 1st Transformation cultivator without techniques will be able to beat you with a single punch!"

    "Besides, cultivator weapons are weighty. So, if your strength is not great, even if you learn a technique, you will still be unable to fight."

    "Oh?" Lothur''s mouth dropped open in surprise. "Why? I know there are weapons for mortals."

    "Sigh..."<sub> </sub>

    Annaliese then sighed due to Lothur''sck ofmon sense. "Listen to this: physical strength naturally greatly increases when cultivation increases. Because of this, if cultivators'' items are not tough enough, even the user''s own attack could destroy their weapon."

    "Imagine a sword breaking simply because its user put all his strength into the attack..."

    "That''s what would happen if a cultivator used mundane items. And as you can imagine, such artifacts cannot withstand cultivator attacks."

    "I see..." Lothur muttered as he remembered that he had unintentionally dented his bathroom sink just after his recovery.

    ''Cultivator items must be dense to withstand the forces applied to them...'' He imagined this as he remembered that the said artifacts Annaliese talked about were not oversized.

    "Anyway, I still want to learn how to defend myself, Anna. Can you help me with that?"

    "Sigh... It''s okay." She said in defeat. "I don''t think this will be of any use, but since you insist, look for the Innumerable Scrolls store in our city."

    "You''ll be able to buy techniques there with ease. "

    Annaliese naturally already knew about Lothur''s situation at this academy. And since her family would not give their high-level techniques to someone who could not even cultivate, that ce seemed the best suggestion, in her opinion.

    The Innumerable Scrolls store was a ce that sold techniques of all kinds, which had a considerable amount of options to the point that anyone could find what they needed.

    As long as such an individual had the necessary resources, even some high-level techniques could be acquired in such a ce!

    "Innumerable Scrolls, eh?" Lothur smiled in satisfaction.

    "All right, Anna. Thanks for the information." He waved to her as he said goodbye. "I''ll look for that ceter. Then we''ll talk on the way home. Okay?"

    "Okay."

    ...

    After saying goodbye to Annaliese, Lothur quickly reached the ce of his next ss, the amphitheater where he had met Elke.

    But as he entered that ce, Lothur suddenly heard a questioningden with disbelief.

    "What? How can you be here?" The ck-haired young man said this aloud as he rose from his seat.

    At the same time, as the people in that area began to watch the situation unfold, the two associates of the ck-haired young man also stood up with incredulous looks on their faces.

    "What is going on here? How can this person be here?" One of them said in a low voice, feeling bad for seeing their target so well.

    "That..."

    And realizing that, Lothur''s eyes sharpened in realization since, besides those three, no one else seemed surprised by his presence in this ce. ''Hmm.''

    ''You guys probably have some rtion to what happened the night before...'' He imagined this, considering that no matter how much information spread everywhere, the reaction of those people seemed somewhat out of the ordinary.

    He then smiled coldly and ignored them, promptly heading towards where Elke was already watching him, with a smile on her beautiful face.

    ''I will talk to you once I learn how to protect myself... Until then, enjoy it while you can!''

    ''I may not be of this world, but I know how to handle situations like this!''

    Lothur came from Earth, a rtively peaceful ce despite all the problems. But even in a world where one could leave home without much worry of not returning, bullying and violence happened everywhere.

    And as only a 19-year-old, Lothur remembered very well things that had happened in his school when he was younger.

    He himself had never suffered from such a problem, but he had seen and heard several cases of ssmates suffering from it.

    However, despite society''s attempt to resolve such situations peacefully, with dialogue and awareness-raising, Lothur had never seen such a thing work.

    On the contrary, whenever a bullying problem in his school was resolved, it was usually due to the victim taking action rather than the bully realizing his error.

    And knowing that he could not allow himself to be bullied, he already had a good idea of how to act against the people who had ambushed him the night before!

    ...

 Chapter 23 Troublesome Little Game

    "Good morning, Lothur!" Elke greeted him soon after seeing himing toward her, smiling at him as she ran one of her hands through her red hair.

    Noticing the expression on that woman''s face, Lothur smiled and waved to her, pleased to see how this woman looked even more beautiful than the day before.

    "Good morning, Elke. You look a little different today..."

    "Is that so?" She asked in surprise. "I didn''t do anything different today, but I woke up feeling more energetic for some reason."

    "Hehe, I can imagine." He sat down next to her and then greeted the other women sitting around before finally turning his attention to the woman next to him.

    "So? Did you do what I told you yesterday?"

    "I..." Elke''s cheeks suddenly turned pink as she tried to turn her eyes away from Lothur''s.

    Gulp!

    "I struggled in my studies, but I confess I couldn''t help but think about what happened to us." She said softly, something only the two of them could hear.

    "Is that it?" He looked at her with interest. "Do you regret what you did yesterday? We can stop this if you want..."

    "No!" She said a little louder as she held Lothur''s right forearm. "I don''t regret anything, and I''m willing to continue."

    "Oh?" Lothur liked to hear that, finding it fascinating how determined this woman was. ''Well, that''s not strange...''

    ''In my life on earth, I have met several women like her even though I had less than 30% of my current attractiveness and much less experience.'' He pondered in silence.

    "Well, you are sincere, so even if you have not been able to keep your thoughts under control, I will still show you something newter."

    "But I hope you will be able to live up to our agreements next time. All right?"

    She nodded at him silently, curious to know what it was that Lothur would show herter.

    "But since you haven''t fulfilled our ''agreement'' perfectly, I want you to do one other thing for me before that... Is that okay with you?"

    "What do you want?"

    "Nothing much."

    "I just want you to apany me to the Innumerable Scrolls store after this ss. I need to see this ce, but I confess I don''t know its location."

    "Oh?" She said in surprise, interested in this simple task but curious about this man.

    Elke knew of the story concerning the firstdy of House Frost that ran through the four corners of Peters City. However, she had not associated the figure of Lothur with Viktoria''s husband.

    Not only because she did not know Viktoria''s husband personally, but because the person next to her did not resemble the city good-for-nothing at all.

    With that in mind, even though she knew Lothur''s name, she had no idea of his background and was curious to learn more about this man who had treated her so distinctively the day before.

    "It''s okay. I can do that." She said this after watching him for a moment. "But if you don''t mind my asking, why do you want to go to that ce? Isn''t it better that you simply go to the cultivation area in our sector?"

    "There are various techniques of all kinds in that ce, and there are still teachers and even students who can help you understand them."

    "It''s definitely much simpler and more economical for you to do it here..."

    But Lothur had nothing to do about that. "Well, that''splicated, but understand that I truly need to go to this ce."

    He took a brief break while looking at her intensely and then asked. "Well? Will you help me?"

    "Yes. Can we do it after this ss? Or do you have a ss after Miss Koch''s discipline?"

    Students in the same sector could have different ss schedules at the Morning Star Academy. Not only that, even students with simr schedules could take lessons in different sses.

    That was the case with Lothur and Elke. They had a geopolitics ss together but took each of the other subjects in this institution in different sses.

    So, not knowing about Lothur''s free time, Elke had questioned him on this point.

    ''I even have a ss after that period in Anneke''s subject, but it''s something I can learn on my own at the local library.''

    "No. I''m free after this Miss Koch ss." He said to her without dy.

    "Perfect."<sub> </sub>

    After that, the two continued to talk for some more time, constantly over the eyes of Elke''s three young admirers.

    But as the conversations in that area created a turbulent melody around that amphitheater, Anneke finally stepped up onto the ss stage, causing the voices in the surroundings to subside suddenly.

    She looked at her ss for a moment and then saw the figure of Lothur smiling while talking to Elke. ''This guy...''

    ''He''s truly confident even without any talent!''

    ''Even though he is married to the firstdy of House Frost, he still has the nerve to flirt with the youngdy of the Becker family!'' Anneke pondered this as she prepared her ss instruments.

    Unlike Lothur, she naturally knew Peters City''s powers very well and knew where each of her students came from.

    With this knowledge, she could not help but admire Lothur''s audacity in flirting with ady of great local economic power, despite the fact that he was already Viktoria''s husband.

    ''Elke is not talented at cultivation, but still, her family''s power is so great that any faults she has, disappear in its face.''

    ''Does he know what he is getting involved in? Or is his arrogance at that level?'' She looked at that young man''s face and saw him winking at her while smiling.

    ''And he still makes that gesture to me while flirting with another woman!'' She felt an urge to hit Lothur but stopped herself from doing so by clenching her fists tightly.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Calm down, Anneke. He''s just a fool who doesn''t know of the danger in his surroundings.'' She deeply sighed as she closed her eyes to calm herself.

    She then said aloud. "Students, open your books where we left offst ss and read the first ten pages."

    "Meanwhile..."

    "Student Ritter,e over here."

    Hearing Anneke''s words, the many students in that ce did not find her orders strange and soon began to open their books simultaneously.

    On the other hand, Lothur got up from his seat and walked over to that woman, curious to know what she wanted with him.

    But no one in the amphitheater thought it strange that such a beautiful teacher wanted to talk to Lothur. After all, he was a new student, and even old students could be called upon by teachers from time to time.

    Thus, that ce soon went silent as many people read and Lothur stood face to face with Anneke next to her desk.

    "Is there a problem, Miss Koch?" He smiled at her, curious.

    "Miss Koch, eh? Now you call me that?"

    "Of course."

    "As I said, in ss, I will do as you said and address my teacher formally. Only outside will I use the name, Anne..."

    Her eyes then sharpened, and she made an advisory expression at him. "Your tongue will one day lead you to despair..."

    "But lucky for you, I won''t be the one to lead you to that."

    "Good!" He said without caring about the look on her face.

    "Anyway, since you''re new here and don''t seem to know where you''re stepping, let me give you some advice..." She looked in Elke''s direction and continued. "That youngdy you were flirting with earlier, Elke."

    "I would not advise you to get involved with her. She particrly won''t harm you willingly, but you should be careful when rting to powerful people."

    "Especially considering your wife''s family."

    "Powerful family?" He said in surprise.

    "Hmm, House Becker is not as strong as your wife''s family, but they are influential in Peters City."

    "Besides, even though they are not an enemy of your family, they are not friends either."

    "I''m telling you this because this little game of yours can create much bigger problems than you realize."

    ...

 Chapter 24 Innumerable Scrolls

    "Is that so? Can you tell me more about it?" Lothur looked at Anneke earnestly, wanting to know more about Elke.

    He honestly did not know about the woman''s past, so he was curious to hear from Anneke. However, regardless of the situation, he would not stay away from that redhead merely because of their families.

    After all, what kind of man is afraid and would walk away from a woman he wants just because of her family?

    He would, of course, take appropriate concerns in possession of information from the Backer House. However, that would not stop him from doing as he wished.

    "Sigh..." Anneke deeply sighed as she looked at the man in front of her. "The Becker family is arge precious metal mining organization in Linn Province."

    "In fact, it owns 20% of the provincial mineral production and is the thirdrgest organization in that business, behind only the Baier family, which owns 25%, and your Frost family, which has 40%."

    "Because of that and their rtionship with thergest grain producer in the province, that redhead''s family has great financial power, capable of causing problems even for you, the Frost family''s son-inw."

    "Not only that, Elke is the daughter of the Becker patriarch. Her future is to marry into another influential family in Linn Province." She said as she looked in the direction of where some of the young men interested in that redhead were. "Even more so considering some recent disputes..."

    "Well, her family is probably already arranging her marriage to some rival power orpetitor of theirs."

    "So, I say don''t get involved in this mess of local noble families."

    She then sighed as she observed the calm way Lothur was watching her as if realizing that her warning would not change his attitude at all.

    "That''s all the information I can give you to help you locate yourself better in this dangerous ce."

    "Miss Koch, I''m impressed." He smiled at her, still standing in front of this woman''s desk. "I did not expect that someone I met by chance would have such a background, but while I am grateful for this information, I will not change my ns."

    ''Giving up Elke would not be a big problem since we have no feelings. But once I do something like that to avoid futureplications, I would damage my own mentality.''

    ''Doing it once with the justification that it wouldn''t affect me tremendously would just be an excuse for an inability to face problems or unwanted situations.''

    ''That way, it would only be a matter of time before my conviction would copse from epting such a thing, and eventually, I would give up anything that would cause me trouble.''

    ''That''s not worth it!'' Lothur pondered this in silence, determined to go through with his intentions.

    As long as Elke herself wished to continue the game they were ying, he would not back down. As for the future problems this would create, well, the very fact that he was breathing could already be considered an offense to someone.

    After all, his Physique seemed quite heaven-defying, so sooner orter, he would face much bigger problems than the Becker family.

    That was the disputed cultivation world, where the strongest acted against the weak, taking whatever interested them.

    ''You gained something from your effort? Outstanding, congrattions!''

    ''Now pass it to me!''

    That was thew of the jungle, and the morepetitors, the scarcer the resources, i.e., the more offenses and reasons to fight.

    He, Lothur, might not be someone who originated from this world. Still, he understood well the idea behind thepetition for resources. Moreover, his predecessor had given him enough information to understand this was a society where thieves robbed thieves.

    Hence the reason for him not to back down and stay true to his mindset.

    "Are you sure?" She looked at him cautiously, trying to understand from where the confidence of this young man who was not showing any doubt in his expression wasing from. ''The Frost family would not help you in situations like this...''

    ''No, in fact, they would probably punish you before you even went ahead with these games.''

    ''Then where does this attitudee from?''

    Lothur thenughed and said. "Miss Koch, if you talk like that, I''m afraid I''ll fall in love..."

    "Ah, we have just met, but you already show such concern for me."

    "Maybe we are predestined..."

    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>

    "Go sit down, student Ritter."

    After that, Anneke''s ss went quietly. This woman put her irritation toward Lothur aside, and this young man continued his games with Elke.

    ...

    Some time after the end of the previous ss, Lothur and Elke could be seen walking in front of a building that looked like arge barrel in the central part of Peters City.

    The two were wearing the traditional uniform of the Morning Star Academy, which wasposed of ck and red fabrics, with the symbol of a star at the height of their hearts.

    Anyway, as they walked through the area with many peopleing and going, they finally entered that barrel-shaped building with a big name at its entrance.

    Innumerable Scrolls.

    "Lothur, what do you expect to find in this ce?" Elke asked her ssmate, curious about his intentions.

    For Elke, who did not know about Lothur''s origin,ing to this ce was somewhat counterintuitive.

    Although this establishment had good techniques for even the strongest cultivators, hardly a person at the beginning of the cultivation journey would need or be able to afford anything there.

    Usually, the people who attended the Morning Star Academy were mostly nobles or their subordinates. And with that, these people naturally already had basic techniques, even disregarding the options provided by the academy.

    On the other hand, even if students still wanted to dilute their time by learning more techniques than needed, they would have trouble doing the same due to their own limits.

    To learn many techniques, one would need to have an excellent natural talent or deep cultivation understanding.

    In Lothur''s case, he could not be very talented since he was in Sector-1. As for cultivation understanding, this young man could not have it as besides being young; he did not seem to have any cultivation at all.

    That was Elke''s opinion.

    And thinking about it, she did not understand what Lothur wanted to do in this ce.

    ''Maybe he just wants an excuse to hang out with me?'' She wondered as she felt her cheeks heat up.

    <o>,m Lothur then said. "I want to look for some options in this ce."</o>

    "I looked up some information about this store in a book during Miss Koch''s ss and found that this is thergest chain of such stores in our empire!"

    "Then there must be some pretty good stuff here."

    She then nodded to him. "Hmm, this is indeed the biggest store that sells techniques in the empire. Or rather, this Innumerable Scrollswork is thergest of its kind in our state."

    "Yes." Lothur continued. "I''ve read that each of the stores in this chain has sample copies from other branches. That makes it possible for customers from all over the empire to buy their items without leaving their respective cities."

    "You read it, huh?" Sheughed softly. "So that''s why you were so focused earlier..."

    "But you could have just asked me and saved your efforts, you know?"

    But Lothur just stared at her in silence, without answering that question.

    He then said. "Come on. I want to see what''s in this ce. Maybe I''ll have some luck finding something suitable, and that won''t break me, hehe."

    After the twoughed, they finally came across the first part of that ce, arge hall full of shelves and subdivisions, where dozens of people came and went.

    ''Wow!''

    ''That ce looks like a bookstore.'' Lothur thought about it before pulling one of Elke''s hands and heading towards his first target in that ce.

    ...

 Chapter 25 Looking For Techniques

    "Lothur, this is the Sample Hall, where the summary of the mostmon techniques sold in this store is." Elke began to exin to the man beside her as they walked through the aisles of shelves.

    "There are all kinds of Iron-grade techniques here, where ordinary people interested in buying them can easily use their coins to acquire memory crystals."

    "In this area, you just find what you want and take the copy of the technique summary of your interest to one of those people." She pointed one of her hands at some of the employees of that establishment who were near them.

    "Huh?" Lothur found Elke''s exnation strange, implying something that went against much of what he had seen in his past life. "Why do I get the impression that it is not enough to have coins to buy techniques here?"

    ? Sheughed. "Because that''s not enough."

    "This store has four floors, but only the first one is open for anyone to enter. Beyond this point, if someone wants to buy something in the Innumerable Scrolls, that individual will have to meet some requirements."

    "That..."

    "So how do they do business here? I''ve never heard of a store where the customer has to prove himself worthy to buy something!" Hemented in an uncertain tone, finding this all very unusual.

    "Well, I''m not sure of the intentions of the organization behind such a store, but I believe it makes sense not to let just anyone obtain certain techniques."

    "This is also a chance for Innumerable Scrolls to create contacts with customers with good future potential or position in the empire."

    "As for how they operate here, they naturally have requirements for cultivation level, talent, influence, etc. Anything that can prove your worth can be used to liberate your entry to the upper floors of this store."

    "If you want to enter the second floor, you need to cultivate at least peak 2nd stage. Or have a Green-grade talent. Another possibility is to have some important position in the province." She said as she looked into Lothur''s eyes with a frown.

    She did not think this young man could fulfill either of the first two options. After all, besides not sensing any cultivationing from him, a person with Green-grade talent would not start studying in Sector-1.

    Talent in this world was the measure of potential, the capacity for understanding that cultivators could have, something Lothur called Intelligence.

    Such a thing was not immutable and could be affected by resources, ces, or even good contacts. However, it was not easy to change a person''s talent, and few had the opportunity to do so.

    With this in mind, Elke considered that Lothur could not reach the second floor of this store, where the best Iron-grade and most of the Bronze-grade techniques were.

    The techniques in this world were divided into six ranks, starting with the lowest, Iron, through Bronze, Silver, Gold, tinum, and finally the highest, Diamond.

    As for the difference between them, well, to put it simply, the higher the quality of a technique, the more efficient it would be at transforming energy.

    On the other hand, the fundamentalws involved in the techniques also influenced their ssification. So, more challenging characteristics were also a differentiator seen in techniques of different qualities.

    Consequently, a Diamond-grade technique was much more efficient than an Iron-grade one. Still, its power would also be more impressive.

    Examples of one challenging andmon feature are the ability to control the gravity of a given space and another that improves the strength of its user''s punches.

    Lothur then asked Elke. "How do they test the talent of the clients here? Is there any way for me to know my exact talent without taking a test?"

    "They have a device called the Aptitude Crystal that does that test. So you just have to ask one of those employees to take you to a testing room, and there they will do what is necessary to evaluate your talent."

    "As for your other question, you can get an idea of how talented you are by your cultivation speed. How quickly you learn a new technique. The quality of yourprehension, etc."

    "But only high talent or cultivation people can distinguish different talents by only observing these factors."<sub> </sub>

    "So I can''t tell you for sure how you can self-assess yourself, other than taking the aptitude test."

    She then looked at him in curiosity and asked. "Anyway, the organization you are a part of must have done this before, right? Don''t you know what your talent is?"

    "Uh?" Lothur said in surprise, not answering her right away as he thought of an answer. ''If my knowledge from my past life is worth anything, then Intelligence must be rted to understanding.''

    Lothur had already noticed that the system seemed to quantify his characteristics from ideas in his own mind. He thought this because, instead of the line [Cultivation] indicating the level corresponding to the cultivation system of this world, the system showed him [level 1.], which was not something used in this ce.

    On the other hand, the description of the pills given by Viktoria to him had also agreed with this idea, since although he did not know about the cultivation ranks, Lothur''s predecessor knew about the ssification of pills.

    Because of this, he thought that his attributes, which had a lot to do with the games he had yed in his previous life, had those names to make it easier for him to understand.

    And knowing what Intelligence meant, he could not help but think that this was the talent these people from the cultivation world valued so highly.

    ''In this case, my talent seems to be higher than it should be...'' He pondered this as he remembered that the values of his mental attributes were much higher than the physical ones.

    Lothur had also already doubled his initial Intelligence value, so he was confident that his current talent had increased over his predecessor''s.

    He said. "For certain reasons, when I did my test, my family''s device was not working normally. After that, I ended up ignoring that for other factors..."

    "Anyway, let''s look at some techniques in this ce, and if we don''t find anything, I''ll do this test to see how far I can go." He pulled Elke by one of her hands, heading toward a shelf with the name ''movement'' written on it.

    "By the way, you said there are only Iron-grade techniques on this floor. But what about the others? What are the highest grade techniques sold by Innumerable Scrolls?" He asked as he started flipping through some movement techniques summaries.

    Elke watched Lothur reading that information next to him and said. "There are Iron-grade techniques on all floors. The difference is that those found on the upper floors are among the best or rarest."

    "Then, all the other floors have Bronze-grade techniques. From the third onward, all have those of Silver-grade, and finally, the fourth floor has techniques of all those grades, plus those of Gold-grade."

    "Oh?" Lothur took his eyes off the yellowish leaf he held in his hands. "Aren''t there any higher grade techniques?"

    But upon hearing such a question, Elke could not help butugh, finding Lothur''s joke funny. "Of course, there isn''t!"

    "Diamond-grade techniques are practically legends. Aside from the stories, no one has ever actually seen anyone using one of those."

    "As for tinum-grade ones, they are so rare that the number of people known to have one of them can be counted on the fingers of one hand!"

    "So, how would anyone try to sell something so precious?"

    "I see..." Lothur murmured as he touched his chin thoughtfully, curious to know more about this world.

    After that, he and Elke did not find much that might interest him, so they headed toward one of the store employees.

    "Hello, how can I help you?" A young man who appeared to be the same age as Lothur asked as he politely behaved himself in his ck suit.

    ...

 Chapter 26 Aptitude Test

    "Hello, my name is Lothur, and she is my friend, Elke." That silver-haired young man greeted the store employee before exining what he wanted. "I want to ess the second floor of this store, but this is my first time here."

    "So that''s it..." The young man smiled, sensing that Lothur was another one of the many people who came to test their luck in this ce every day. ''I don''t sense any cultivation from him, and that beauty is at the 1st Transformation.''

    But upon paying attention to the clothes of the two, he decided not to push them away from there and just do what they wanted. ''Sigh, it''s not worth pissing off these members of the nobility for so little.''

    "Well, if that''s the case, just follow me. I will take you to do one of the aptitude test rooms." That well-dressed fellow said this before finally moving on as Lothur and Elke followed him.

    "Friend, tell me something, does someone with the ability to enter upper floors have the power to take people with them?"

    "No. Every person who intends to enter our store to obtain products must go through our requirements."

    ''Eh? And what''s to stop me from passing on these techniques to other people? That rule makes no sense...'' Lothur was thinking about it, but soon that individual''s voice stopped his train of thought.

    "But don''t worry, our store''s system is foolproof. When you buy a technique here, our customers receive a copy of the purchased technique that only up to three people can learn."

    "After that, the memory crystal decays until nothing but dust remains."

    "So every customer who has ess to our upper floors has the privilege of ess to techniques that are hardly propagated around the world."

    "Really? So by buying a technique here, someone is only paying for a copy..." Lothur muttered to himself, realizing the advantage of this deal to the sellers.

    On Earth, this seemed to happen too. There were products on Earth that customers only had to pay for once. After that, customers would have them as long as they existed, were functional, and werepatible with other technologies.

    But then some genius thought of the idea of subscriptions, and products of that other kind slowly disappeared.

    But this was a way with no turning back. After all, why sell something expensive only once when you can sell something cheaper every month, at a price the masses can afford, indefinitely?

    And upon noticing the business model of this establishment, Lothur immediately understood why anyone in this world would sell techniques that should be secretive due to the cruel nature of this world.

    ''Ah, this chain owners must be swimming in spiritual crystals...'' Lothur felt a little admiration for these individuals before turning to hispanion and asking something. "Elke, will you take the test with me?"

    "Uh? Oh, no."

    "I already know my talent, and I also already have ess to the second floor of this store." She said this quickly, trying to talk as little as possible about her shameful talent.

    Elke naturally did not have a great talent. Still, due to her position as the daughter of the patriarch of the Becker family, she had what it took to ess the second floor of this store.

    "Is that so? Haha, so I hope I don''t disappoint you with my aptitude testter."

    ...

    After a few moments, Lothur, Elke, and the employee from before finally reached a hallway that had three doors on each of its sides.

    "This way." That individual waved to the two as he opened the door to one of those rooms.

    Upon entering there, Lothur immediately observed his surroundings, seeing a rtively small room of less than 10 square meters. There was a counter with a white crystal on top, some paintings of naturalndscapes of this region on the walls, and some armchairs.

    Immediately that white crystal, an octahedron, caught Lothur''s attention. At the same time, that employee went behind that counter, and Elke sat down in one of the armchairs there.

    And then right away, that man said. "Well, will you try to get approval to enter the second floor through your talent or contacts?"

    "If it is for your position, we will have to..."

    "Don''t worry about that. I''ll take the aptitude test." Lothur stopped that individual from continuing, hurrying to find out what the rating of his talent would be.

    "OK then." He stepped forward and began to touch that crystal in a way that Lothur did not understand.

    ? "To test your talent, you basically had to ce one of your hands on this face of the Aptitude Crystal." This store employee indicated with one of his fingers the right ce for Lothur.

    Then Lothur did what that man advised him to do until he began to feel the temperature in that used hand slightly rise.<sub> </sub>

    Finally, that octahedron began to glow in rainbow colors, with multiple beams of light leaving that item on all sides as one of the colors slowly spread across its surface.

    "Green-grade Talent!" Elke shouted in surprise as she got up from her chair in a startled manner.

    She could not believe that Lothur, a student from the humble Sector-1, had a talent of this quality!

    ''Lothur...''

    ''Who are you? What are you doing in Sector-1?'' She asked herself as she bit her lips.

    On the other hand, that man was satisfied that he had not mistreated these young people. That''s because someone with Green-grade talent had enough aptitude to be a Transcendent!

    And in a world full of mortals, someone capable of reaching the 3rd stage could already be considered an expert in many ces. Consequently, that man was happy that his good sense had prevented him from scaring those two away.

    ''Green-grade talent, who could this person be? He said his name... Uh... Lothur. But I don''t know anyone that talented with such a name.''

    ''There is only that good-for-nothing of the Frost family, but that fellow has no talent.''

    But that man did not think about it for long. He soon smiled at Lothur and offered his congrattions. "Excellent, sir."

    "You have great talent and naturally qualify for ess to the second floor of our store!"

    "Here, take this." He gave a medallion to Lothur, something that had the symbol of a green crystal. "Just show it at the entrance to the second floor, and the guards will not stop you."

    "Oh?" Lothur grabbed that as he smiled, satisfied that his assumptions were confirmed correct. ''It seems that my talent is different from my predecessor''s.''

    ''Is this just a system thing? Or is it something rted to me? The system said it had annihted my predecessor''s soul before my possession...'' He pondered about the matter as he observed that medallion.

    ''Well, it doesn''t matter. I''ll keep those questions, and I''ll naturally get to the truth when I have more information!''

    "Thank you." He said to that man before turning to the shocked Elke and pulling her out of that ce. "Come on, Elke. I want to see the techniques avable on that second floor."

    Gulp!

    "All right..." She sighed quietly, following hismand toward that area.

    ''Oh, why am I feeling so bad? I should be happy that he has a good talent!''

    ''But... But... That means.'' She clenched her fists in frustration just before they reached the entrance to the second floor.

    "You two, show your permissions or get out of here!" A tall, muscr man dressed in ck armor, simr to others, said this in a grave tone after the two reached the entrance to the second floor.

    But unlike what usually happened, that guard quickly saw the couple showing their green medallions.

    "Hmm, very well, you cane in."

    Then Elke and Lothur entered that area, a ce somewhat smaller than the second floor but much more beautiful and luxurious, to the point that the difference was simply surreal.

    At the same time, while the second floor had several peopleing and going, this ce was much more secluded, with only a few people passing through.

    The individuals there also seemed to dress much better, with appearances that were hard to ignore and noble bearing, only seen from those of good education.

    That was true for the customers next to the shelves and even the employees who wore green clothes in that area.

    "Dear customers, wee to the second floor of Innumerable Scrolls. This one''s name is Wilfried. How can I help you?" One of those employees approached Lothur and Elke formally.

    ...

 Chapter 27 About Techniques

    When Lothur noticed the distinction in the treatment of the customers from this floor to the previous one, he was not too startled since he had expected something like this from this world.

    Even on Earth, where political correctness demanded equal treatment for all, there were distinctions in treating customers with different backgrounds. So, it would not be in the cultivation world that things would be fair.

    No, in the cultivation world, people were much more truthful with their intentions, ttering those of high status and ignoring the ordinary.

    This ce was unlike the Earth, where people had only virtual power, something fictitious that depended on belief in certain institutions. No, in the ce where Lothur was now, power was something tangible that could actually cause chaos at the snap of a finger.

    Such a thing depended only on the will of a given person!

    For example, if someone did not like the face of a stranger passing on the street, in this world, that person could even kill the other individual. Meanwhile, on Earth, even if someone had the financial or physical means to destroy others, this could be pretty difficult to do.

    Money could lose its value. Someone could ignore the prevailingws and go against that society''s morals, or even against the foreseeable. But, on the other hand, cultivators'' strength was always on their side and could be used in every situation!

    It would not matter whether or not the ''enemy'' believed in one person''s power or money. The enemy could still be crushed in the blink of an eye if he was not careful.

    With that, naturally, the employees of this spiritual technique store served their customers differently depending on the capabilities of such people.

    "Hello, I''m looking for specializedbat techniques." Lothur nodded to that man, getting straight to the point without dilly-dallying.

    "Combat techniques, huh? Do you have any preferences? We have many of those around here, but not all of them will be interesting for you depending on your previous techniques and your physical condition." The employee said in a calm tone, indicating the direction of the shelves where the summaries ofbat techniques were.

    Upon hearing that, Lothur did not know what to say to that man since he had never trained anything, nor did he understand how one technique could differ from another. All he wanted here was to find something to use to defend himself and eventually act against ''the rocks'' in his path.

    Seeing herpanion''s silence, Elke took the lead and said. "Let''s look at some movement techniques first, but we don''t have any preferences."

    Movement techniques were the mostmon ones that existed in the cultivation world. That is because they rarely required the use of external items or special training conditions.

    In fact, due to the main characteristic of this type of technique, these options basically only depended on the user''s physical condition.

    And even though some techniques of this type were more or less suitable depending on the cultivation level, Physique and Bloodline, in general, were the most generic of all.

    Considering this, Elke had indicated this path to Lothur, giving him time to think better about what he wanted regarding other types ofbat techniques.

    "OK. Follow me." That man led the way for those two.

    As he walked behind that person, side by side with Elke, Lothur smiled at what had just happened, pleased with her initiative.

    ''This girl has more qualities than I had thought...'' He looked at her sideways but said nothing.

    "Here we are..."

    "On this shelf, we have 8 Bronze-grade and 12 Iron-grade movement techniques. Feel free to look for something suitable, and when you want my help, I''ll be waiting for next door." The employee said this quickly, just before making room for those two.

    p "Hmm, thanks for the help."</anda>

    After that, Lothur looked into Elke''s eyes and asked. "Do you want to help me find something? Don''t worry about the particrs of these techniques. I just want to find something with potential."

    "All right."

    Then the two began to study those options, which were priced at around 4,000 bronze coins for Iron-grade techniques and 18,000 silver coins for Bronze-grade ones.

    But this was not the regr price of the techniques but rather the value of the copy with the limited number that one could use the memory crystal.

    If someone wanted to buy the original scroll of a technique in this world, that person might have to pay an average of up to 10 times the value of the copies!

    But even with the coins, hardly anyone would be able to buy one original scroll.<sub> </sub>

    Anyway, they quickly started flipping through the summary of each of the techniques there until one of them found something interesting.

    "Lothur, check this one out." Elke approached him and handed him the summary of that technique. "This is an Iron-grade technique called Cross Walk. It promises to double your natural speed as early as the first phase of mastery, Beginner. Then, it continues to double your results with each advance inprehension."

    "Oh? All that?" Lothur asked in surprise.

    The techniques of this world also had their ssification given the level of mastery of their users.

    The mastery level of a technique, the phase of it, was something that differentiated whether a person could use the same technique to do something basic orplex. Forparative purposes, this basically distinguished the same as, for example, one person on Earth who could do the four basic operations and another who could do double integrals.

    As for the stages of this ssification of mastery, they ranged from Beginner to Adept, Master, and finally, Grandmaster.

    But despite the few ranks, the difficulty between them was so great that it was said that the vast majority of cultivators could barely get past the first mastery phase of their techniques!

    As for reaching the Master phase, that was as difficult or more difficult than reaching the 4th stage!

    But since mastery of a technique was rted to understanding, Lothur was not so concerned about this now.

    As long as he could improve his Intelligence in the future, he knew he could advance faster in his cultivation and technique domains.

    With that in mind, he did not underestimate even those Iron-grade techniques.

    One of them trained to its maximum was undoubtedly more significant than one of higher grade but trained only in the initial phase!

    "Yes," Elke replied to Lothur.

    "This technique seems a bit special because of that speed feature. But that''s because the most important thing about it only happens to those who have reached the Adept phase."

    "I think it is being sold on this floor because of such a disadvantage, even though it is a technique that is probably no weaker than many of those Bronze-grade ones."

    "I see..." Lothur said this in a low voice as he read the contents regarding that technique.

    He had seen several of those Bronze and Iron-grade movement techniques before, but none of them had caught his attention. So, seeing something that could be so promising, at least in this initial moment of his, he soon added it to his shopping list.

    ''3,690 bronze coins, huh? Luckily my predecessor''s guardian left some inheritance for him.'' Lothur sighed in relief as he massaged the storage item into one of his fingers.

    ''From what I remember, Lothur inherited over 200,000 bronze coins, but he spent a lot of that reserve in thest few months, and now I''m left with only 89,000...''

    "Sigh."

    ''For now, that will be enough for me to learn some self-defense techniques.''

    After thinking about it, it did not take long for Lothur to follow Elke''s side down that floor, looking first for a defensive technique and then an offensive one.

    In the end, he headed towards the cashier on that floor to pay the 12,000 bronze coins regarding those techniques and get the crystals with the actual contents of all three.

    ''Tonight, I will spend the rest of the night practicing those techniques. Maybe I can learn at least one of them by tomorrow.'' He thought about it with a smile on his face.

    At the same time, he and Elke were returning to the Morning Star Academy, chatting about minor matters of that ce.

    However, as they passed the entrance to thatrge cultivator trainingplex in Peters City, a female silhouette was silently stalking them from the shadows.

    ''Is it her?'' That person wondered before seeing those two stop in a secluded ce.

    ...

 Chapter 28 Learning The First Technique 1

    Seeing Elke and Lothur stop in a secluded spot, the woman with brown hair and a green dress chasing them hid behind the trunk of a tree and watched them from afar.

    ''Who is this woman? Could she be a colleague of his? Or maybe an acquaintance from when he was still single?'' She bit her lower lip, beginning to feel worried.

    But as she watched them from afar, her brown eyes suddenly witnessed shameless behavior that she could hardly believe a woman could ept in broad daylight.

    ''What a little bitch!''

    ''How does she allow this?'' Her beautiful face turned red as her nails left marks on the trunk in front of her.

    At that instant, this stalker of Lothur was watching how he hugged Elke and kissed her on the lips. Only as he did so, one of his hands was squeezing something he should not have, making this woman feel angry that such a redhead had no sense of self-respect.

    And when she saw his following action, she almost exploded in anger and ran towards them.

    ''Bastard!''

    ''Scoundrel!''

    ''How can you do this to my older sister!'' Annaliese internally screamed as she saw Lothur kissing Elke''s neck without caring where they were.

    After her ss ended, Lothur''s sister-inw went out to look for this young man. However, upon not finding him in Sector-1, Annaliese had followed some directions from ssmates of those two and managed to find them at the ce she had indicated to him earlier.

    Finally, she decided to follow them from the shadows to determine if that was the woman Lothur had previously been with.

    With that, she could at least act against him to save the honor of her family and sister.

    But now that she saw her brother-inw''s immoral behavior, this woman was in a situation where she did not know what to do.

    She felt that she should stop hiding and confront those two to end that adulterous rtionship once and for all. However, her rational side told her that it was better to be more discreet and keep this matter as private as possible.

    So, she clenched her hands in hatred, leaving several marks on that trunk as she held herself back from doing something eye-catching.

    ''Lothur, you will pay me!''

    ''You think you can go around wooing women as you please? No, I''ll talk to my sisterter today so she can put some limits on you, you beast!'' So she thought decidedly before finally leaving that ce in silence.

    ...

    "So, what did you think?" Lothur smiled at Elke as he saw sweat dripping from that woman''s face after using a specific massage technique on her he had learned on Earth.

    He naturally had not done anything too intimate since they were in a public ce, where kissing was already the limit of how far they could go.

    But for a man who had had vast experience in such matters in his previous life, Lothur knew a thing or two about satisfying a woman without even taking off her clothes or touching certain parts.

    "Lothur..." She looked at him amidst her irregr breathing, feeling as if her expectation had not been disappointed but met with a wide positive margin. "That was even better than I had thought..."

    "What did you do to me? Is that some secret technique?"

    "Hehe, you can say that." He smiled as he watched her closely. "Anyway, it''s almost time for me to return home, so let''s say goodbye around here."

    "Do youe home every day?" She asked in surprise, considering that arge portion of the students at this academy stayed at least a few days a week in the dormitory of this institution.

    Many of these disciples were nobles, but their organizations were not located in Peters City. And as much as some powers could afford residences for their members, a significant portion of the students preferred to stay at the academy, where most of their acquaintances and interests were.

    Considering this, upon discovering that Lothur did not stay in the dormitory of the Morning Star Academy, Elke was interested in finding out which of the local families he belonged to.

    "Well, yes. I have some responsibilities, and I always have to return after the academy." Hemented, but without revealing any further details. "What about you? Do you stick around here often?"

    "Oh? Oh, no, my family is based here in Peters City. Our property is on the south side of the city..."

    "Is that so?"

    "Well, it''s a shame. It would be nice to have a more private ce in this academy..." He said in a low voice. "But unfortunately, I won''t get something like that."

    "Anyway, I''ll see you tomorrow, Elke." He kissed one of her cheeks before turning and running towards where Annaliese should be waiting for him.

    "Bye..." Elke sighed, thinking about Lothur''sst words.

    ...

    After his earlier farewell, Lothur quickly reached the carriage that this time had not left without him from the local academy.

    However, upon entering that means of transportation, the silver-haired young man found a grumpy Annaliese, who did not even greet him.<sub> </sub>

    Even after a few minutes of traveling face to face, she did not try to talk to him even once, leaving him with a strange feeling in his being since he knew how much she liked to talk.

    In fact, all she had shown that indicated that she was not totally ignoring him was the movement of her nose when she had checked the scenting from Lothur.

    But she did this for only a few seconds and said nothing to the young man before her, having be more irritated after such an action.

    In the end, they both went their separate ways as they arrived at the Frost family estate without saying anything to each other.

    As he watched with an uncertain expression that woman disappearing amidst the buildings in that area, Lothur sighed deeply and decided to go ahead with his ns.

    ''I don''t know what happened to Annaliese, but that can wait.''

    ''I''m going to my room to study some of those techniques, andter I''ll find a quiet ce to test them out!'' He clenched his fists and ran to his room.

    ...

    Upon arriving in his room, Lothur immediately used his spatial ring to retrieve the three memory crystals containing the techniques purchased earlier.

    [Cross Walk] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: ****]

    [Description: move up to twice as fast as ordinary people of your level and double these results with each advancement in mastery. Increases the user''s Agility effects by 10% and Constitution effects by 5% while activated.]

    ...

    [Steel Body] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: ****]

    [Description: temper your body to the extreme and obtain the strength and toughness needed by living shields. Increases the effects of the user''s Constitution by 10% while activated.]

    ...

    [Art of Tearing Down Trees] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery Level: ****]

    [Description: use your muscles to their limit while wielding the gloriousbat ax to bring down your enemies as poor, defenseless trees. Increases the user''s Strength effects by 5% while activated.]

    ...

    Luthor felt the teachings of each of the techniques in his mind, as he constantly saw the system messages appearing in front of him.

    And noting those descriptions that told him more of the remarkable effects of the techniques than the contents themselves in the memory crystals, Lothur began to n what to do now.

    ''That attack technique one can''t train without a proper weapon, so I''ll leave it to look at that another day.''

    ''On the other hand, my body is weak right now. So, even if I have a good defense, it will be useless if the enemy attack is enough to injure me seriously.'' He looked at the floor of his room and decided to start learning the movement technique.

    ''With the Cross Walk, I will at least be able to improve my speed and dodging, which can make a big difference in a fight.''

    Agility refers to the whole body''s ability and not just the hands, as in the case of Dexterity. And as such, enriching this characteristic could cause better defensive results since dodging, bnce, and reaction speed was improved, generating a benefit for him.

    On the other hand, the quality inherent to the body, health, and physical Constitution generated a person''s resistance, something rted to speed, drug resistance, pain, vitality, etc.

    Hence, learning this movement technique seemed more important to the desperate Lothur.

    That could very well be the only way for him to defend himself when something simr to the previous night''s incident happened again!

    With this in mind, he changed his clothes and headed towards the corridor where his room was located to run towards the training floors of this estate.

    But seeing that ce half dark and empty, a gleam appeared in his eyes, and then he tested something.

    Cross Walk!

    As he followed the directions left by the memory crystal, Lothur felt something strange in his body and then tried to run.

    ''Uh?''

    ...

 Chapter 29 Learning The First Technique 2

    "Ouch!" A cry of pain left the silver-haired young man''s throat as he suddenly fell face-first to the ground.

    In trying to activate his movement technique and run down that corridor, Lothur had thought that knowing the basics of the technique was enough for him to use it properly.

    With that, just before he hit the ground, he had felt a particr weakness in his legs before he finally went off bnce and fell to the ground.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''This feeling is like I just finished leg training at the gym!'' He felt ufortable, realizing that actually, the weakness in his legs was a few times more significant than it would be after a leg day.

    Feeling this while still slumped face down on the ground, Lothur looked at his legs in revtion, trying to understand what this meant. ''It seems there is a physical requirement to use this technique.''

    ''Is my Constitution too low for that?'' He pondered silently, remembering that this was the lowest attribute of his status.

    But upon closer examination of the situation, he soon realized that it could not be just that. ''No!''

    ''If it were only for my Constitution, I would at least have been able to perform some part of the movement of this technique. But I couldn''t even perform the three basic steps...''

    His eyes widened in realization as he thought of these things. ''It seems that just seeing the contents of the technique is not enough. I have to understand the fundamentals of it genuinely!"

    And indeed, that was his current problem. The memory crystal he had acquired had shown him the steps necessary to use those techniques as if it were a lesson recorded by a cultivator for future generations.

    However, such a thing did not only have the necessary external movements and theory behind the technique. In the memory crystal, there was also some of the understanding needed to use it. But this could only be absorbed if its user tried to sense it while training with the purpose of learning and not imitating.

    And Lothur thought this made a lot of sense as if just observing techniques was enough to learn them; then no one would need to fight or pay for these things. No, it would be enough for a particr person to be willing to watch fighting daily, and such an individual would naturally learn valuable things.

    Unfortunately, life was not so convenient!

    Cultivators could even draw inspiration from the techniques of their opponents or from people they had watched fight up close. But this was not for the visual effect itself but for the feeling regarding how that individual used thews of this world.

    But doing this was not straightforward!

    A memory crystal would leave behind the method of the technique without much restriction beyond the cultivator''s own understanding of it. But learning something in use during a fight was a thousand times moreplex than this other means because beyond the limits of talent, there was the way thews were used.

    During the use of a technique, thews involved would mix with the free spiritual energy in the environment, with the differentws in the surroundings, with the feelings of its users, and so on.

    In short, trying to learn a technique by observing its use was like distinguishing the smell of a specific substance in an aromatic soup from many other substances. In contrast, doing the same utilizing a memory crystal was like studying the smell of a single substance.

    In any case, trying to imitate the realization of a technique was not enough to activate it sessfully, and Lothur had just learned that in practice.

    "Sigh..."

    ''I have to practice this more concentratedly!" He made up his mind before finally running towards an empty area on the northernmost side of this Frost family estate.

    In such a ce, Lothur knew that there was a smallwn that might be useful for him to exercise on. But not only that, this ce was the training area for the servants of this institution, who he knew had to be busy with their responsibilities at this time.

    The Frost family had many businesses in Peters City, and it was the responsibility of these servants to perform services such as delivering messages, carrying goods, solving some minor issues, etc.

    And since it was not even dinner time yet in this region and the local businesses should still be open, this silver-haired young man felt that he would not be disturbed there.

    Or rather, there at least the chances of him running into anyone were smaller, as the other training areas of this estate always had people present, regardless of the time of day.

    Lothur wanted to keep his training secret not only because he did not want to draw attention to the sudden change in his characteristics. But also so that he would not have to meet certain troublesome people in this ce.

    The first reason worried him the most. However, as long as he spent a few days away from this ce, he could find some justification for his sudden evolution in terms of talent.<sub> </sub>

    That was the cultivation world, after all, a ce full of treasures that could perform almost any kind of miracle.

    As for the second problem, he was despised by many people in this family, and it might be painful toe into contact with some of these people when he still had no control over his own mouth...

    With these thoughts in mind, he soon reached his destination.

    ...

    While Lothur was training on the north side of the Frost estate, Annaliese had just knocked on her sister''s residence door.

    "Anna?" Viktoria said in surprise as she came across her twin sister. "Did something happen? Why do you look so upset?"

    "Big sister, let''s talk inside." Annaliese clenched her fist at the thought of Lothur, ready to rat out that young man.

    "Oh?" Viktoria curiously looked at Annaliese but did as she should.

    She then closed the door, and it did not take long to sit face to face with Annaliese around a small ss table.

    On that table, there were some books she had been reading earlier and a cup of hot spiritual tea, which she used to drink while studying her family''s business.

    After serving her sister a drink and seeing the look on Annaliese''s face, Viktoria sighed and said. "Anna, if you have something to say, get to the point. What''s so serious for you to hesitate to tell your sister?"

    Annaliese bit her lower lip and looked at the surroundings of that luxurious room, where there were several tasteful decorations and art paintings. But she did not waste much time escaping Viktoria''s gaze and soon began to speak.

    "Sister, I don''t want to get involved in your affairs, but I think you should talk to Lothur."

    "Lothur?" Viktoria''s eyes widened in surprise. "Why should I talk to Lothur? Has he done something troubling? Maybe..."

    Viktoria noticed the slight redness in Annaliese''s face and soon suspected something.

    She pressed her jaw together and then asked in a worried tone. "That rascal didn''t try anything against you, right?"

    Annaliese and Viktoria were twins, but although they looked alike, they were not identical.

    However, even though not as talented and beautiful as her older sister, Annaliese was still a rare beauty and could easily be mistaken for Viktoria in certain situations.

    Thinking about this, Viktoria soon began to worry about what her good-for-nothing husband could have done to get Annaliese toe over and talk to her.

    ''Don''t tell me that man is courting my sister?''

    But Annaliese soon gave Viktoria a different answer. "Sister, you won''t believe it. I caught that rascal red-handed kissing another woman!"

    "To make matters worse, this is not the first time!"

    "Yesterday, I smelled a woman''s scenting from his body, and then when I followed him earlier today, I finally saw the jerk acting up!" She said, clearly annoyed, still not believing Lothur''s indecency.

    She then proceeded to tell what she had seen. "When I saw Lothur earlier..."

    "What? He did that?" Viktoria''s mouth dropped open in shock as she felt surprised for the first time in a long time.

    ...

 Chapter 30 Learning The First Technique 3

    Viktoria had been married to Lothur for over six months now. Although they had not lived together as a couple during such a period, this woman had learned about his personality.

    So, she knew that although Lothur was a good-for-nothing arrogant guy who ran after women from all over the city, she also understood that his skills in this regard werecking.

    After all, even if he was extremely handsome, that was all he had!

    Looks were important in attraction. But women were hardly attracted to men who did not know how to talk, to have even the slightest exciting ideas, in other words, content.

    That was even more true in the cultivation world, where status and prestige could be considered even more critical than on Earth.

    That was particrly true considering that many female cultivators abstained from sexual rtions early in their lives. In fact, it was not unusual to find women over 100-years-old in this world who were still virgins!

    But in this world, Lothur had no talent. His past could be considered shameful, given his position in House Frost. He was arrogant without even one quality beyond his appearance.

    He was someone who gambled, lived without worrying about tomorrow, had no funds that could guarantee his future, and barely had a primary education by the standards of this world.

    How could anyone be interested in a young man with no scope or prospects?

    To be with him would be an absolute waste of time for the vast majority of women!

    Moreover, no matter how good confidence was, being arrogant without any foundation only turned such a person into a stranger, something unappreciated by women.

    Knowing all of this, Viktoria could not imagine a woman, nay, a Morning Star Academy student, giving herself to Lothur in the manner Annaliese described.

    ''What kind of woman is this? Does she not care about her future? How can someone act so vulgarly with him?'' Viktoria wondered in disbelief, feeling that such a thing made no sense.

    If the woman Annaliese described to her was at least some desperate mortal who was perhaps in search of something specific, Viktoria could understand the situation. But this was a student of the Morning Star Academy, probably a member of the local nobility.

    She should be someone with sufficient means to understand the consequences of her decisions and not be influenced by his appearance.

    So how could someone like that allow herself to be used by someone as low-level as Lothur?

    That is, it''s not as if he had some magical skill of conquest to fool someone of nobility, someone presumably intelligent.

    "Are you serious?" She asked her younger sister, looking at Annaliese with a slightly altered expression, something rarely seen on her.

    Annaliese then eximed. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

    "How can that be?"

    "Are you telling me that this redhead gave herself to Lothur happily?"

    "Are we truly talking about the same person? Anna, Lothur is not someone who is capable of holding an interesting conversation with a woman for more than 1 minute!"

    "How can that be true?" She stood up from her chair as she asked that.

    "I don''t know..." Annaliese finally realized that, indeed, Lothur should not have the necessary skills for this and began to wonder how he had managed that.

    ''Come to think of it...''

    "Sister, perhaps he is maturing." Shemented as she looked into Viktoria''s eyes. "I feel he is bing different. At least thest few days, I have felt different when I am with him."

    "Maybe he managed to fool that brat somehow!"

    ''To fool her? Lothur?'' Viktoria''s eyes sharpened, not thinking that could be possible.

    "Anyway, sister, he truly was cheating on you with that redhead. What are you going to do about it? We can''t let this go on!"

    "That..."

    ''Indeed. Regardless of how he managed this feat, if Anna saw him doing it, then we need to have a serious talk!''

    ? ''I don''t care what he does, but he has to talk about it with me first, and he can''t do these things in public.'' She made up her mind as her younger sister watched her in anticipation.

    "All right, after dinner with our parents, I''ll go talk to him."

    "Hehe, that''s better, sister!"

    ...

    Quickly more than 3 hours passed from the moment Lothur left his room to go to the northernmost area of the Frost estate.

    In those three hours, this young man had spent most of his time practicing the Cross Walk, repeating the movements necessary for the technique to work while trying to understand it.

    But as much as this was his first time training a technique of this world, and he did not have much knowledge regarding cultivation, Lothur quickly understood how to train.

    That had not been something caused by luck or the system. But something instinctive in his body, as would be the case with an animal that knows it needs to eat, mate, and so on, even though it does not have the reason to think about why.

    After performing the technique a few times, he felt something strange happening in his body, which led him to try to understand how it worked and what the connection was with the movement technique.<sub> </sub>

    And by doing this for most of this time, Lothur finally managed to activate the Cross Walk technique for the first time!

    While practicing that technique, he could barely do the basic steps at low speed, sometimes looking like a drunk person trying to move. But when he finally managed to activate it sessfully, Lothur moved gracefully while expressing the characteristics of the first phase of it.

    ...

    [Cross Walk] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Beginner]

    [Effect: +10% AGI; +5% CON.]

    ...

    He finally saw the system message appearing in front of him, as drops of sweat dripped down his face, down his neck, umting on his soaked clothes.

    ''Hehe, finally!'' He celebrated as he saw this, feeling cramps in various parts of his body.

    He then fell to his knees, just before he allowed himself to lie down on that grass in the servants'' area of this estate, finally able to breathe without caring about his training.

    But as he did so, he soon saw new system warnings appearing in front of him.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 2.2] [CON: 1.5] [DEX: 2.2] [AGI: 3.1]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 38.1]

    ...

    "Oh?" He eximed in surprise upon seeing his status.

    ''So training these techniques can increase my attributes, huh?''

    ''Well, I guess that makes sense. After all, this training worked my body quite hard, so it should be normal for me to be stronger after this.''

    ''On the other hand, besides affecting my Constitution and Agility more significantly, it also increased my Will...'' He silently pondered as he smelled the grass and looked up at the starry sky.

    Peters City was not very bright during the nights, despite its considerable poption. Therefore, it was possible to observe the night sky there without any problems.

    And by observing that, Lothur felt the peace needed to understand better how cultivation in this world worked through the system''s data.

    ''That''s perfect!''

    ''I won''t have to be beaten up every time just to ensure my advancements!''

    ''But what about those mental attributes? How will I improve?''

    So far, Lothur had realized that the mental attributes seemed not to be affected as simply as the physical ones. And knowing that these attributes were in no way less important than the physical ones, he could not help but worry about raising their values as well.

    For the moment, this was fine since his mental attributes were far above the physical ones. However, if he wanted to climb to the top of this ce he was in, brute strength alone would not be enough.

    Hence his concern!

    ''Well, I have no way of finding that out for now. So, I''ll continue with my current ns and eventually figure out how to improve that.''

    "Sigh..."

    "Time to return and take a shower!" He stood up from where he was and then made his way in the direction of his room.

 Chapter 31 Beating The Cold-Hearted Woman

    Halfway back to his room, Lothur felt his stomach rumbling and promptly got something to eat from one of the cafeterias for the subordinates of this organization.

    He was not precisely a subordinate in Frost House. Still, since it was past cafeteria mealtime for the members of that family, he had had no other choice.

    In any case, the food in this world was not bad. Even considering the choices avable to the subordinates of this organization, it was already quite tasty for a young maning from Earth.

    Lothur did not quite understand the reason for this. Still, he thought it was one more advantage rted to spiritual energy.

    Of course, he absolutely loved it.

    After getting what he wanted, Lothur continued back to his room while eating some snacks on skewers.

    All he wanted right now was to get to his room, take a cold shower, and then lie down on his bed to recover his tired body.

    With this, he would waste no time sitting down somewhere to eat and was just doing this while returning to his room.

    ...

    After some time, Lothur finally entered the corridor where his room was, having already finished his meal.

    However, when he got close to his room, he immediately saw a woman leaning against the side of his bedroom door, looking in his direction with an angry expression.

    ''Viktoria? What does she want now?'' He frowned, finding it a pain in the ass to have to deal with this woman right now.

    In other situations, he would interact with Viktoria with pleasure, but he wanted to rest right now. With that said, all he did not want at this moment was to have to deal with the problems of this family that he had inherited from his predecessor.

    "Tsk!"

    ''I have almost no advantages here, and I still have to deal with the negatives.'' He sighed when he finally got close enough to her to ''feel'' the chill of that woman''s personality.

    "Do you know how long I''ve been waiting for you?" She asked just after he reached her side and stuck a key in the door lock.

    "Next time, you might want to let me know beforehand to ensure you won''t waste your time waiting for me." He replied dryly before walking into that small room.

    Seeing him walk in there without bothering to invite her, Viktoria narrowed her eyes but said nothing about this behavior. Instead, she followed him until they were alone in that tiny ce.

    Viktoria looked down at his sweaty clothes and smelled a distinctive scenting from him. "Where were you? Why are you all sweaty?"

    Lothur ignored her and then began to remove his clothes, heading toward the bathroom. "What do you want, Viktoria? I''m sure you didn''te all this way to ask me about this." He turned to her, already shirtless, being only in his trouser.

    "You..."

    Noticing his behavior, Viktoria almost lost herposure, shocked to see a Lothur so oblivious to her. But more than that, what attracted her attention the most was this young man''s physical condition.

    He was not necessarily muscr. But as Viktoria watched him, she readily realized that he seemed to have much more muscle than the night before when doctor Snee had treated him.

    Forparison purposes, the difference in Viktoria''s view of Lothur''s physique was likeparing the body of a thin person before and after three months of gym and diet.

    Since this had happened overnight to a mere mortal, she could not help but pay attention to Lothur''s body.

    But with her strong will, she soon suppressed the doubts in her mind. "Lothur, what do you think you are doing taking off your clothes in front of me? Are you trying to provoke me?"

    "Provoke you? I''m not interested."

    "I just want to take a shower to ease my current situation." He said as he removed his underwear, standing in just his underwear in front of her. "If you have something to talk to me about, do it while I''m in the shower..."

    "If you want to talk eye-to-eye, I don''t mind sharing the shower with you." Heughed, finally stepping into his bathroom but leaving the door open for her.

    "You..." Her eyes opened wide as her hands closed tightly. ''What''s wrong with him? Why this behavior all of a sudden?''

    ''He''s never done anything like this before!''

    ''Is this little bitch Annaliese told me about giving him that much confidence?''

    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>

    She then got right to the point as she leaned against the wall next to the bathroom door in that room. "Lothur, my sister told me she saw you with a woman earlier today. Is that true?"

    Upon hearing this, Lothur''s mouth opened in realization as he felt the cold water from his shower slowly refreshing his body.

    ''So that''s it...''

    He then replied. "That''s right. I was with another woman earlier."

    "Her name is Elke."

    "What?" Viktoria almost stormed into the bathroom in anger, shocked that he was so transparent with her even to say his mistress'' name.

    "Are you serious? How can you admit it so openly? Don''t you feel ashamed, Lothur?"

    "What is there to be ashamed of, Viktoria? You''ve already made it very clear of the rtionship we have, so why should I worry about it?" He said amidst the sounds of dripping water.

    "So, unless you are thinking of changing our rtionship, you can forget about the idea of me not bonding with others..."

    He was about to state his intentions when she walked into that bathroom red with anger, looking in the direction of his face. "You can''t do that! I forbid it!"

    "Is that so? How are you going to do that?" He challenged her.

    "Lothur!"

    "Don''t y games with me. I can lock you in your room if you don''t obey me!"

    "Is that so? Then I guess you''d better tell your mother that I will no longer be able to attend the academy she went to so much trouble to enroll me in." However, he did not back down, demonstrating to her that he was willing to follow through with his ideals, regardless of what she thought.

    And seeing how he was looking at her, Viktoria shivered with anger, feeling this furious for the first time in her life.

    She genuinely did not mind him going out with other women as there were no feelings in their rtionship. But hearing and seeing his ways, she had felt that she could not allow him to continue doing what he wanted so easily.

    However, she did not know how to force him to obey her words. After all, she could not go against her mother''s ns nor use her strength against him, or worse things could happen for her and her family.

    After thinking about all this, her mind was a mess, and she did not even realize that she was practically standing next to the shower where her husband was totally naked.

    After a moment of silence, Lothur decided to say something. "Viktoria, publicly, I will act as your husband. But in other situations, I will be with other women."

    "Then you''d better get used to the idea that I won''t abstain from this."

    "That cannot be negotiated."

    "Tsk!"

    "Bastard!"

    "Aren''t you ashamed to say that to me?" She watched him dry himself with a white towel, still standing beside that spot where the shower was. "Regardless, since we are husband and wife, your decisions still affect me, even considering our unusual rtionship."

    "Lothur, you can''t think you can do everything you want in a rtionship like this!"

    "So, what do you want?" He stepped out of his shower area, using the towel from before around his waist.

    As she came face to face with this tall, attractive young man, Viktoria avoided watching Lothur''s body, looking directly into his silver eyes. "You need to talk to me regarding who you want to date before you do anything like that."

    "Plus, you can''t do that in public, as happened today!"

    "That is careless and will tarnish our family''s reputation."

    "Is that so?" He looked at her as they stood only thirty centimeters apart, "I can do that."

    ...

 Chapter 32 Winning The Bet

    After hearing Lothur agree with her for the first time in this conversation, Viktoria felt a little better. "But I don''t want you to continue with that woman."

    "No, not that." He shook his head, at the same time feeling her heaving breath on his bare chest. "I''ll tell you who I date, but you won''t have any power of choice regarding that."

    "I will just let you know so that we can deal with the situation more efficiently."

    She then sped her hands in anger at this uncontroble young man, feeling frustrated that she could not make him obey. "All right."

    "Tell me about this woman then..."

    He then gave a brief ount of the redhead he was with when Annaliese caught them. "Her name is Elke Becker, she''s 17, and she''s my ssmate in geopolitics ss."

    "Becker? The youngdy from the Becker family?"

    "Hmm, that must be her."

    Viktoria''s eyebrows drew together tightly, and she increased the tone of the conversation. "Definitely not!"

    "This woman is not for you to y with! That will only bring trouble to our family and may even worsen the rtionship between the Beckers and us!"

    p As Anneke had told Lothur earlier, the Becker family was in the mining business in this province. And even if House Frost was number one in this productive sector, if the otherpetitors got together, even Viktoria''s family could face problems.</anda>

    Plus, considering how her Frost family''s connections had recently been with the local powers, Viktoria could not help but think that Lothur''s move would only worsen everything.

    "Tsk!"

    "Rest assured. I know what I''m doing." He turned and walked out of that bathroom, heading toward the garment he had already separated on his bed.

    "No, Lothur, you can''t do that. That girl will soon be avable for her family to find an arranged husband to create rtionships with other powers."

    "You continuing this madness will create problems for all the organizations involved in this!" She shouted at him as she followed him out of the bathroom.

    However, as she did so, she saw something she did not want to when the healthy young man stoodpletely naked in front of her as he dressed.

    "You..." She was appalled to look at her husband the way he hade into the world. ''What a shameless man!''

    ''He dares show that thing to me?'' She bit her lips and said. "Lothur, are you doing this on purpose? Do you want me to teach you a lesson today?"

    "Viktoria, you are in my room. First, you broke into my bathroom while I was taking a shower. And now you followed me while I came to get dressed."

    "What do you want?"

    "Tsk!"

    ''What an annoying rascal!''

    He ignored the woman slowly approaching him and said as he stood with his back to her. "Anyway, I will start doing as you said before. I will be more careful in my adventures and talk to you about the women I go out with."

    "Other than that, I''ll be careful with Elke, but I''m not going to stop doing what I want because bigger problems might affect me." He said, ready to maintain his mindset at all costs.

    "You''re truly not going to listen to me?" She pulled him by one of his arms, making him stand against one of the walls of that ce, face to face with her.

    "No." He smiled.

    "If it were another day, maybe if you kissed me... No, not even that." He let go of her and walked to the side of his bed.

    After sitting there and seeing Viktoria''s deadly cold stare, he got ready to lie down and said. "By the way, since we''ve already made it clear how things will happen in the future, I want you to tell your sister about this."

    "Annaliese?" Her eyebrows went wide because of her surprise. "Why? What are you thinking, Lothur?"

    "She keeps testing my patience talking about how I can''t get involved with other women and things like that. So, I want you to make it clear to her about our arrangement."

    "Maybe then she can ept the situation without more problems being generated between us..." He said with a mysterious smile on his face, thinking of his sister-inw.

    If Viktoria did what he was asking, that would be enough for him to win the bet previously made with Annaliese. And with that, he could finally start training with her!

    ''With that done, I''ll probably be able to level up quickly!'' He pondered what would happen next.

    He did not know exactly how the advances regarding his ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger'' worked. But considering that all bodies had their limits, he understood that it was not enough to be beaten by the strongest person in the world for him to be better than this individual.

    But what would be the limit of this? How much would his attributes improve with training alongside Annaliese? Would these increases decrease over time?<sub> </sub>

    Anyway, he had many questions in mind. Still, he felt that using the possibilities of his Physique was what would help him understand these points. At the same time, he felt that he could even learn more about the system by doing so.

    Hence, he was excited for tomorrow when he could finally approach Annaliese regarding their agreement.

    But while Lothur was thinking about tomorrow, Viktoria was still standing beside him, looking at him in aplicated way.

    "All right, I''ll tell my sister not to bother you about it..."

    "But I don''t want you taking a shine to her side. She is out of bounds, do you hear me?" She approached the young man lying on that bed and said this emphatically.

    "Don''t y with her!"

    "Hmm, I won''t do anything with Anna that she doesn''t want." He smiled at her. "You have my word on that."

    "Humph!"

    "You are despicable!"

    After those ''kind'' words, Viktoria left that ce in a hurry, feeling her head boiling with anger. But she had no choice but to ept today''s defeat since she had no idea how to deal with Lothur.

    Due to her overconfidence in her characteristics, she never imagined that she would need to make an effort to control her husband one day. And since she had no feelings for Lothur, she had not even bothered about such matters.

    In this way, she had put herself in this vulnerable position, in which she now felt ufortable seeing him acting so independently as if she did not matter.

    ''That bastard!''

    ''I won''t forget that!''

    ...

    The night quickly gave way to day as Lothur finally awoke in his room, satisfied with the magnificent night''s rest he had had.

    He had slept like a baby after yesterday''s training, something he had not yet experienced in this world since his arrival here.

    And feeling the pleasurable sensation in his body, something that was making him even more excited about cultivation, he prepared to leave that ce for another day at the Morning Star Academy.

    Soon after getting something to eat, he headed towards the ce from where Annaliese''s carriage left every day.

    However, instead of finding that beautiful woman waiting for him, as had happened on his first day of ss, he was the one who had to wait for her today.

    "Old Graf, where is Annaliese?" He asked as he reached the coachman''s side.

    Seeing the silver-haired young man addressing him, Graf promptly replied to Lothur. "Young master, the seconddy should be here by now. But perhaps she will be another five or ten minutes."

    This person was one of several servants of the Frost family, one of the few people who did not, at least openly, despise Lothur.

    Lothur was able to cultivate cordial rtionships with a few servants despite his unfavorable circumstances at this location, where many spoke ill of him and even wished him the worst.

    Many were envious or resentful that they did not have the same luck as him, despite having qualities much more helpful than this good-for-nothing. But even in ces like this, there were always those who no longer cared so much about the sess of others and were able to transcend some worldly desires.

    That was particrly true for some more experienced people, like old Graf, who was already in thest years of his mortal life.

    Therefore, Lothur''s predecessor had not had to live in a ce where he was hated and despised by absolutely all people.

    Among them, Graf was someone who treated Lothur with rtive respect.

    "Is that so?" Lothur said in a low voice, just before he sat down inside that red carriage and began to wait for Annaliese while he thought about what to doter.

    But it did not take long before a woman with a sulky expression on her face entered that carriage.

    "Oh? Anna, I thought you..."

    "Don''t talk to me!"

    "You''re a pig, and I don''t want you anywhere near me anymore!" She said this angrily as she remembered her conversation with her sister the night before.

    ...

 Chapter 33 Lying For The First Time

    "Anna?" Lothur found this woman''s way of talking to him strange, as their rtionship always seemed very good. "What''s the matter?"

    But Annaliese just pressed her jaw into silence, looking out of that carriage to avoid having to look at the fellow in front of her.

    After entering her older sister''s room and discovering that woman was destroying everything, Annaliese had heard everything Lothur had said the night before.

    Annaliese had never seen her sister as angry as the night before. Still, after understanding the situation, she herself felt like beating Lothur until he regretted it.

    Unfortunately, they couldn''t risk his health for the time being because it would be tricky for Viktoria to be a widow so soon as the imperial dispute happened.

    In any case, Annaliese was disgusted with Lothur and could not help but treat him in that drastic manner.

    "Annaliese, your sister spoke to you, right?" Finally, Lothur understood some of what was going on and got right to the point. "Why are you so angry? I understand your sister, but you? I''m not even your husband..."

    She then turned to him and looked at him with her eyes trembling with anger, wishing she could make him swallow his words.

    He continued. "Well, it doesn''t matter whether you''re happy or not. That''s how things will work out between Viktoria and me."

    "However, I want to know if your word has any value. Does it?" He looked earnestly into her eyes, not bothering with her manners.

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Of course, my word has value!" She eximed with a specific tone of contempt mixed in with her anger.

    "Good!"

    "Now, I hope you are prepared to pay for our bet."

    "What?"

    "Your sister has already told you that she sees no problem in sharing me with others, so I won the bet. Therefore, you will train with me and do whatever I tell you to do."

    "That''s what you agreed to, right?" His eyes sharpened as he leaned his body forward to watch her more closely. "Will you back out now? Or will you keep your word?"

    "Lothur!"

    "Lothur..." She said slowly as one of his hands squeezed the soft material of her seat. "Are you sure you want to do this with me? I''m afraid I can''t hold on..."

    He smiled and said. "I''m willing to trust you."

    "Plus, I don''t think you''re that hard in a fight..."

    "Really? So, when do you want this to happen? How about now?" She looked at him wanting to squeeze him against a wall until he apologized for everything he had said to Viktoria.

    "Let''s do it tonight." Then, he remembered something andmented. "In fact, call that doctor who treated me before."

    Her eyes widened in surprise, without precisely understanding what he was saying. ''You said you trust me, but you ask for a doctor to be present? What do you think I am?''

    "Tsk!"

    "Fine, I will call the doctor in case we need to treat your injuries."

    "Great!"

    ...

    As Lothur and Annaliese made their way to the academy apanied by some Frost family guards, Mabel and her husband were in front of Viktoria at this very moment.

    After Lothur''s sudden recovery, his inws found out about such a thing and were obviously shocked.

    They had even tried to find that man before dinnerst night, but no servant had been able to find him.

    After that, they left the matter for Viktoria to deal with, but mysteriously she had not gone to talk to them after she had said she would meet Lothur after dinner.

    So, they were receiving this woman in the office of the patriarch of this family, sitting side by side behind arge wooden desk while Viktoria stood in front of them.

    "Vicky, what happenedst night? We waited for you for hours, but you didn''t return." Then, her father began speaking, looking at her with surprise on his face, as something like this had never happened before.

    Mabel then continued her husband''s words. "After that, we discovered that several pieces of furniture in your room were reced earlier today..."

    "What happened?"

    Hearing her parents'' questioning, Viktoria felt a weight on her shoulders, feeling guilty for having to lie to them. "I had a little argument with Lothurst night, but we worked it all out."

    "Anyway, at that moment, I was a bit stressed, so I ended up forgetting toe and talk to you..."<sub> </sub>

    Viktoria had always been an exemry daughter who followed the family rules and brought pride to this house. But after spending the night thinking about the argument she had had with Lothur, she felt that she could not tell her parents the truth.

    Otherwise, Mabel would surely lose patience and do something to regretter.

    On the other hand, Viktoria did not want to look like a weak woman who could not even control her husband. So, she wanted to keep Lothur''s uncontroble womanizing side to herself and her sister for now.

    ''I am sorry, but I will keep the secret about this until I can dominate him.'' She thought about this as she watched her parents.

    "A little argument?" The two looked at each other as they repeated their daughter''s words.

    Viktoria was always so calm. What could possibly irritate her to the point that she argued with Lothur?

    "It''s nothing. Lothur''s mouth just reached a new level of nonsense, and I just went a little over the edge and argued with him."

    "After that, I may have lost some of my tempers. I''m sorry."

    ''That seems strange...'' Mabel looked at her daughter''s face, with her intuition telling her that there was much more here than Viktoria seemed to want to expose. But since she trusted her eldest daughter so much, she put the matter aside.

    "Well, but did you find out what happened to him? How did he recover so quickly?"

    "Maybe there''s something fishy about him?" Mabel asked with a dangerous glint on her face.

    She did not think Lothur could be a spy for enemies of this family since they had done all kinds of tests on him and discovered every detail of his body.

    And as someone who, besides attractiveness, had nothing else, they had ruled out any chance of him being a spy. However, he could still have agreed to join one of the factions vying for the imperial throne after joining the Frost family.

    And thinking about how he had miraculously recovered, this woman could not help but think of that chance for Lothur.

    Viktoria then replied. "No, mother. It is impossible that he got some miraculous resource from our enemies."

    "I checked his body more than once, and other than the resources used by Doctor Snee, there was nothing else on his body."

    "However, I did notice a difference in his bodypared to days ago." She said, attracting the attention of those two.

    "What is it?" Aiken asked in concern that Lothur was hiding things from them.

    "Physically, he seems to be stronger than he was a few days ago."

    "Oh? That''s unusual..."

    "Someone suffering considerable damage to their body and then for no obvious reason having a physical improvement..." Aiken thought aloud, remembering something about Physiques.

    "Perhaps he has awakened his Physique?" He looked at his wife with a curious expression on his face.

    Physiques were tricky to awaken because the cultivator often would not even know what kind of Physique he had until the awakening. But doing so might require several conditions, which might be pretty impossible to aplish unless such a person was already aware of their Physique.

    Therefore, most people in this world could not awaken their Physique!

    However, every human had such a thing, even those with no talent for cultivation, as in Lothur''s case.

    Because of this, Aiken did not rule out the possibility since the young man had recently undergone near-death experiences, somethingmon among the requirements of particr Physiques.

    Mabel and Viktoria''s eyes narrowed as they heard this possibility.

    Viktoria''s mother then said. "It''s not impossible."

    "Did he truly get it?"

    "But what would his ability be? Regeneration?"

    "Maybe."

    "Tsk!"

    "That is of no use to our family. Without him being able to cultivate, his ability will never be relevant." She said in an irritated tone, already assuming the worst for Lothur.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria was reviewing all her moments with Lothur recently. ''He seems more confident than ever...''

    ''Is that truly it? Has he awakened his Physique and is more arrogant than ever because of it?''

    ''Hmm, I''ll have to find out more about that!''

 Chapter 34 Before Training

    Several hours passed, and Lothur was already returning from the Morning Star Academy alongside his beautiful sister-inw.

    After arguing with Annaliese earlier, Lothur had gone on with his interests at the local academy, having attended thenguage ss and spent time in the library in Sector-1.

    In Leopoldine and throughout the continent, the Common Language was the most spoken, and hardly anyone would need to know other forms ofnguage to live well in this ce.

    However, in the far north of Concordia existed non-human species that asionally came into contact with the rest of the society of this world, even considering their reclusion from those who were different.

    <o>,m And because of the non-asional encounters with these beings, which were sometimes tense, with a bit of violence involved, most of the human nobles of Leopoldine learned some of suchnguages.</o>

    There were several of them, but two were the main ones. One was the Ancestral Language, spoken by the Ancestral Folk. The other was the Spiritual Language, spoken by species of humanoid beasts.

    The first one was highlyplicated and was only taught at this institution where Lothur was studying from Sector-4 onwards.

    Spiritual Language, on the other hand, was rtively more straightforward. Furthermore, due to the more significant number of humanoid beasts outside the Ancestral Lands, it was thenguage focus for beginning students like Lothur.

    It was moremonly used in everyday life. It was also more valuable since the number of its native speakers in this world was hundreds of times the number of members of the Ancestral Folk.

    Such beings also left the Ancestral Lands much more often. In fact, some races could even be found living around other areas of this continent.

    Thus, thisnguage was essential for cultivators, which is why it was taught at the beginning of the study period for students of the Morning Star Academy.

    In any case, the Spiritual Language was not that difficult, and Lothur was sure that he could learn its basics in no more than six months.

    So, he had spent his morning at that academy between the Spiritual Language ss and his time in the library, where he was catching up on basic information about this world.

    After that, since he had no geopolitics ss today, Lothur did not see the beautiful teacher Anneke, but he did meet Elke during the noon break.

    They did not have ss together, but since Elke already knew about Lothur''s schedule, she met him in Sector-1 and then lunched with him.

    After that, Lothur was taken by that woman to a cksmith store in the center of Peters City, where he wanted to find a suitable weapon to train his offensive technique.

    And after seeing many low-grade weapons in that store, he had finally found a suitable Iron-grade ax, which cost him 10,000 bronze coins.

    That had scared him quite a bit since much of his reserves had been spent in just a few minutes in that ce on a single item.

    However, he had already learned from some books in the academy library that artifacts produced by cksmiths were highly resistant to weather and hardly ever suffered damage.

    In fact, an artifact produced by a 1-star cksmith couldst twice as long as the vitality of a peak Mortal Warrior, those who customarily used items of this quality.

    Furthermore, as long as someone at the beginning of the 2nd stage did not counterattack or attack such an artifact, this item would hardly suffer significant damage to affect its durability.

    Knowing this, even though he felt a pain in his heart for having to spend such an amount, Lothur had made this investment.

    And with this item in his spatial ring, Lothur already had everything he needed to learn his first offensive technique.

    However, he still had training with Annaliese and learned the defensive technique that was on his list of things to do.

    So, after saying goodbye to Elke without much fun today, he spent some more time in the academy library until he met up with Annaliese for the two of them to return home.

    ...

    "Did you talk to that doctor?" Lothur asked as he sat face to face with Annaliese inside her carriage.

    Upon hearing this, the woman, who still had an irritated expression on her face, looked into his silver eyes and said dryly. "I have spoken with him. He should join us in an hour."

    "Why? Are you afraid of what I can do, and he won''t arrive in time?"

    ''That''s what I''m afraid of...'' Heughed internally but said nothing to her.

    He wanted to get stronger, but that did not mean he did not fear death. Not only that but worse than death was having to suffer slowly. So, since he had chosen this challenging path, he at least had to make sure of certain conditions.<sub> </sub>

    As for this woman being angry with him, that only helped him. After all, the system had already informed him about the condition of strong feelings for his Physique to be better utilized.

    So, he was more than happy to see the look of anger in her eyes as she had teased him.

    ''She''s angry with me, so I probably won''t be able to test whether I can get stronger being beaten by someone who has no negative feelings for me...'' He pondered this question that had been puzzling him ever since he won the previous bet.

    That was Lothur''s most significant doubt about his Physique at the moment.

    It would be great if he could make this woman his training partner and get stronger. But what if the effects of ''what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger'' were diminished by his opponent''s hatred for him?

    That was a question he wanted to answer, but that could be answered only by being beaten by someone who was not angry with him.

    At the moment, that person was not Annaliese.

    "Sigh..."

    ''But this is better.''

    ''At least I can be sure that I will benefit from this training with her.'' He looked on the bright side in all of this.

    After a while in silence, Lothur finally said to Annaliese. "Where will we do this? I want to start when we arrive at your family''s estate."

    "Oh?" she smiled coldly. "Sounds like you''re looking to be punished as soon as possible, huh?"

    "Are you by any chance a masochist, Lothur?"

    But he did not waste his time with this woman''s games, having stood silently watching her calmly.

    "Tsk!"

    "Let''s go to my residence. I have arge training yard in my area, enough for us to train without problems, but..."

    "But tell me one thing. What will this training be like? Do you even know how to fight? What exactly do you want with this?"

    "As I said when we made that bet, I don''t want you to ask unnecessary questions. As for how we will train, you will find outter."

    "Humph!"

    "I hope you''re not thinking of shameless things." She looked at him cautiously, remembering the words her sister had told her. "If you try any funny stuff, be prepared to..."

    "Hehe, you don''t have to worry about that. The training I want is something quite ordinary that you will do using your fists or whatever you normally use in fighting."

    After that, the two continued there in silence until their carriage arrived at the Frost estate, in a small circr square around a bronze statue.

    As they got out of that carriage, the two ignored that entrance to the principal residence of that estate and proceeded in silence towards Annaliese''s residence.

    Such a ce was in the same part of that building as Viktoria''s residence, in this building of the Frost patriarch.

    Then, the two passed through a long corridor with several decorative nts on the sides and rounded psters, which gave anyone who passed there a pleasant feeling.

    But Lothur and Annaliese were already used to every detail of this ce and soon reached their goal, not having seen anyone on their way to that residence.

    However, even though they saw no people in their surroundings, that did not mean that no one had noticed them!

    ''What is this scumbag doing with Annaliese?'' A blonde woman wondered as she hid behind one of the pirs of the corridor from before.

    ...

 Chapter 35 Training Or One-Sided Beating?

    Seeing Lothur enter Annaliese''s residence, Elise''s eyebrows drew together tightly as her mouth dropped open at the absurd thought going through her mind.

    ''No! It can''t be!''

    ''This guy wouldn''t be able to!'' She shook her head from side to side, smiling at her delusions.

    But, regardless of what she thought, Lothur had entered Annaliese''s residence apanied only by such a woman, and Elise could not help but be intrigued.

    So, instead of going on with her business, she approached that area, using an alternative path that could lead her to a ce from where she could better observe that residence.

    Servants were obliged to serve their masters and not get involved in their affairs. But some individuals in this condition could not contain their curiosity in certain situations.

    Since her curiosity was much greater than that of the other people on this property, Elise could not help but spy on these two.

    And having already done simr things in the past, she quickly found a way to approach those two without drawing anyone''s attention.

    ''Hmm? It looks like they are heading to the courtyard of her residence...'' She noticed their movements and promptly moved across the roof of that area while ducking down so as not to attract their attention.

    With that, it was not long before she observed the two in the middle of Annaliese''s courtyard, where was a small space designated for training, something familiar to find in cultivators'' residences.

    Usually, cultivating alone at home, without many resources or artifacts, was the norm for most cultivators in this world. And even members of the nobility did not usually train in unique ces unless they already held high positions in their organizations.

    That was true due to the greater ease of cultivating without outside help at the early levels of cultivation and the costs required to use unique ces or resources.

    So, even though Annaliese was part of the nobility, she trained in an ''ordinary'' ce, which only had a better concentration of spiritual energy than other areas in this region.

    Seeing the two in that training ce, Elise became even more curious about what Lothur wanted there.

    However, she suddenly saw something that almost made her lose herposure.

    ''What?''

    ''Don''t tell me they are going to do that?'' Her face turned red as she saw Lothur taking off his shirt in front of Annaliese.

    Unfortunately, Elise could not hear them from that spot, so she understood the situationpletely differently than she should have...

    Not only that, because of her previous encounter with Lothur, this woman soon began to think that it was only natural for him to seek out as many rtionships as possible...

    She was still shocked by Lothur''s sudden recovery the day before, but every time she thought of him, all that came to her mind was his naked body.

    ''With something that size, I doubt he''ll be able to abstain for long...'' She felt nervous, thinking she should leave that ce to warn Viktoria of this uneptable situation.

    Due to these impure thoughts, she did not take long to flee from that ce in nervousness, trying to put him out of her mind.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Annaliese''s courtyard...

    Lothur had just taken off his shirt to prepare for training with his sister-inw and had a determined expression on his face.

    He then listened. "What do you think you..."

    "Don''t worry. I just don''t want to destroy my clothes." He smiled at her just before talking about how things should work between them. "Annaliese, I know what I''m about to ask will seem irrational, but I need you to help me with this."

    Her eyes sharpened as the interest in her heart increased to another level. She listened. "I want you to teach me a lesson..." He almostughed at his words. "I want you to use whatever force is necessary to push me to my limit."

    "As long as you don''t aim at my eyes or genitalia, as well as not using weapons, you can do whatever you want during training."

    "The training ends when I am at the limit so that I can no longer maintain my consciousness." He said determinedly, staying only in short shorts as he got into a fighting stance.

    He only had his movement technique, but he still thought it appropriate to prepare in this way to face Annaliese, a 6th Transformation cultivator.

    Seeing that and having heard all of his conditions, Annaliese felt awkward right now, despite the undeniable desire she had in her heart to teach him a lesson.

    "Why do you..."

    "No, Annaliese, I said before. No questions asked."

    "Will you keep your word? Or will you keep stalling?" He asked dryly, looking at that woman''s body in a way that irritated her.

    "You!" Her fists suddenly closed as she walked toward him. "Fine!"

    "If you want to suffer, then I will teach you something for you to never forget!"<sub> </sub>

    "I just hope you don''t regret itter, scumbag!" She continued in her clothes from before, since to deal with a mere mortal, she would not even need to worry about improving her fighting conditions.

    "Good!"

    "But don''t underestimate me. If you give me gaps, I will try to take advantage of this beautiful body of yours." He said this as he smiled in a way Annaliese had never seen him do.

    But Lothur was not showing lust for this woman right now because of any kind of perversion he might have. No, as a strong-minded person, this man would not show that kind of look even if the most beautiful woman in Concordia was naked in front of him.

    He was only doing this to stimte that woman''s negative feelings against him, using his own past to his advantage to provoke her even more.

    "You shameless worm!" She finally could not take the anger she felt at the moment for Lothur and ran at him, ready to make him swallow his words.

    "Now, even if you ask me for forgiveness, I won''t let that go!"

    "Good!" Lothur said in satisfaction as he finally began to use his movement technique for the first time in a fight.

    Cross Walk!

    He then felt every fiber of his body bing more energetic as the movements of this technique flowed through his mind, telling him how to act in this situation.

    Doing this for the first time as Annalieseunched a kick towards his chest, Lothur immediately made a backward movement, deflecting it with ease.

    "I told you not to underestimate me..." He whispered to her as he made his hands run towards her waist.

    Seeing that, Annaliese was shocked for a moment, as Lothur had easily dodged a blow that a mortal should not be able to dodge. But as she saw his handsing towards her body, the blood rushed to her head, and she acted more vigorously.

    Pow!

    She made a normal punching motion toward Lothur''s chest, this time using more force and speed than the previous blow.

    Seeing the close-range attacking at him, Lothur finally became more serious, sensing that it would not be long before this woman began to put pressure on him.

    He clenched his jaw tightly and began to prepare himself for what woulde next.

    This training was for his body, but his will was the most important thing. Without this, he would probably dismount after Annaliese''s first blow.

    However, having a strong will would not lessen the pain caused by injuries!

    And being prepared, he finally received the first blow after dodging his opponent five moves in a row.

    "Ahhhhhh!" The first cry of pain left his throat while his eyes trembled uncontrobly.

    Realizing that, Annaliese remained impressed, but she did not stop fighting him, constantly trying to deliver more punches and kicks against his body.

    Pow!

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    "That''s for you saying those things to my sister!"

    Pow!

    "Ouch!"

    "That''s for you looking at me in that disgusting way!"

    ...

    Pow!

    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

    "That''s for you always being so annoying!"

    And then Annaliese lost control, hitting him with a force equivalent to that of a person at the beginning of the 3rd Transformation.

    But since at no time had Lothurined or eximed more mediocrely, she continued to follow his rules while relieving the frustration from her heart.

    ...

 Chapter 36 Worrying Situation

    While Lothur and Annaliese were ''training,'' Elise had already reported her concerns to Viktoria, who at this moment was running furiously to her sister''s residence.

    ''Uneptable!''

    ''I talked to him just yesterday about it, but he''s already trying to corrupt my sister?'' Her face was red with hatred, while Elise followed closely behind her, also with a reddened face, but for a different reason.

    ''If I don''t teach this wretch a lesson today, I''m afraid I won''t be able to keep calm in my heart!'' Viktoria made up her mind, feeling emotions she had never thought she would feel at this stage of her life.

    Lothur was quickly taking over her mind whenever she had some free time. Every time she finished her responsibilities, she thought about how hateful he was bing.

    And at the thought that he had dared to tease her sister and undress in front of Annaliese, Viktoria was experiencing an unprecedented rage that she did not know if she could control.

    Just like that, she and Elise arrived at the ce on this property where Annaliese''s residence was located, a ce where two people she had seen only a few days ago were waiting, sitting in front of the door of that residence.

    "Doctor Snee? What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise, but without losing even a bit of the anger, she felt for Lothur.

    "Oh? First Miss Frost, it''s a surprise to see you again so soon." That fellow greeted her before finally stating his purpose here. "Second Miss Frost scheduled an appointment with me earlier today, so I am here to attend to her."

    "Appointment?"

    ''She nned that? Don''t tell me my sister is acting on that bastard''s ideas?'' Viktoria thought about it in nervousness, imagining that the worst could happen.

    ''No! No! No!'' She ran towards the interior of that ce right after ordering Elise to stay outside with Doctor Snee and his assistant.

    ...

    Pow!

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    "That''s for you being a scoundrel!" Annaliese threw another punch against Lothur''s fallen body as she sat on top of him, beating him mercilessly.

    And just at that moment, the sound of someoneing over there reverberated through that space, but without sess in getting Annaliese''s attention.

    "What?"

    "Annaliese..." Viktoria eximed in shock as she saw apletely different scene than she expected to find here.

    ''What is happening here? Why was she beating him up?'' A shiver traveled throughout her body as she finally paid attention to Lothur''s condition.

    At that moment, the young man who should have silver hair had his hair utterly red from his own blood. At the same time, Viktoria could not see Lothur''s face for sure, as he was all bruised from the nose down, withrge bruises spreading to his chest.

    "Annaliese!"

    "Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill him?" She finally jumped toward those two, concerned about Lothur''s situation.

    As Annaliese felt her hand stop before it struck Lothur''s body again, she finally regained some of her consciousness. "Sister, what are you..."

    But as she tried to understand why Viktoria was there, Annaliese realized Lothur''s situation and began to panic.

    "No!"

    "What have I done?"

    "Lothur! Lothur! Wake up!" Tears began to trickle down her eyes as tremendous guilt flooded this woman''s heart.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria pulled Lothur''s unconscious body away from her sister and shouted for Doctor Snee toe to this ce.

    "Doctor Snee! Doctor Snee!"

    "Run over here! We need help!" Her nervous shouts drew the attention of the three people outside that room, who promptly ran to that ce.

    ''I wonder what...'' Elise swallowed her saliva in concern for what Lothur might have done to Annaliese, but that was short-lived.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" Doctor Snee''s assistant cried out in shock as she saw the situation in that ce.

    Lothur was all bruised up and the Second Miss Frost had her clothes wholly stained with blood, like that of an assassin caught in the act.

    "This..."

    Even the experienced Doctor Snee did not know how to react, feeling that there was something incredibly wrong here. ''What the fuck is this?''

    ''This youngdy nned to do this and called me here for such a thing?'' He wondered in terror, sensing Annaliese''s bizarre fetish.

    ''Poor kid...''

    ''If he stays in this ce, he''ll probably die!''

    He then began taking care of Lothur''s situation while his assistant slowly regained her usual coolness amid Annaliese''s uncontroble sobbing.

    "Sister... Big sister, I... I..." She tried to speak, but only a strange sound came out of her mouth amidst her cries.

    After seeing the situation in this ce, Elise''s eyes werepletely wide open in surprise at the present situation.<sub> </sub>

    Gulp!

    ''How did things get to this point?'' She looked at Annaliese and did not understand how this woman had done such brutality.

    Even more so, considering the shameless things she thought would happen here while she had gone to warn Viktoria.

    But thinking about some of her old ns, Elise did not feel bad for Lothur''s degrading situation. ''Well, if he dies here, it will be better for everyone.''

    ''I won''t have to get my hands dirty, and the Frost family itself will have to bury the matter.''

    ''Perfect!'' She smiled internally but showed no such thing in her expression.

    Elise had wanted to deal with Lothur before. Still, due to the extraordinary situations in the past few days, she had not tried anything against him.

    Elise had had several opportunities to act against him. Yet, in each of them, if she had done something, she would have be the biggest suspect, which went against her interests.

    Because of this, seeing Lothur''s deplorable situation, something caused by someone from the Frost family, she could not help but feel good.

    "So, Doctor Snee? Will he survive?" Viktoria asked in concern, feeling a terrible sensation in her heart.

    She did not like Lothur, but seeing him in this situation, something caused by her sister, this woman was feeling incredibly guilty.

    As for whether or not Lothur had caused this situation, it did not matter. Annaliese was stronger and more intelligent than he was, as well as knowing the current situation of this family. As such, that woman could not do that to him under any circumstances!

    Thus, Viktoria was genuinely feeling terrible about the whole thing.

    And after some time after her question, finally, Doctor Snee gave his answer. "We were almost toote..." He said in a heavy tone, feeling sorry for this young man.

    He had just healed Lothur a few days ago, but this kid was already in this state...

    It was pitiful!

    Gulp!

    "But he will survive."

    "Sigh..."

    "As I said before, he has a strong will... Even unconscious, I can feel that he is fighting to live." Hemented in appreciation of Lothur''s determination.

    ''I will try to talk to this young manter... There is no future for him if he continues like this.''

    "Sigh!"

    "Good, good!" Viktoria closed her eyes, feeling better that his life was not at risk.

    ...

    After a while, instead of taking Lothur to his room, Viktoria took him to her own, intent on keeping an eye on him, ensuring no one interfered with his recovery.

    Doctor Snee had told her she should expect an absurd amount of time for young Lothur to recover. Still, remembering what had happened recently, Viktoria did not believe it would take that long.

    In any case, even though she did not know how long it would take him to recover, she did not want to risk his life and was willing to make an effort to at least repair her husband''s recent losses.

    Specifically, she was worried about Annaliese and did not want to leave that woman alone with him until she understood what had happened.

    But after putting Lothur in her bed, Viktoria heard the door being mmed.

    "Sister, please let me in." Annaliese cried in despair as she felt angry at herself. "I don''t know what happened to me. I know I shouldn''t have done that, and I hate myself for it. But I need to see him."

    "I have to apologize to him."

    "I..."

    "Annaliese, go to your room. I''m sure our parents will be calling you soon." Viktoria said in an indifferent tone, as she usually spoke.

    "I know that, but... But..."

    "Please, big sister, let me see him..."

    Viktoria then leaned her back against that door, speaking to her sister with that piece of wood separating them. "Annaliese, you almost killed him!"

    "You''d better stay away from him until you calm down a bit."

    Upon hearing that, gallons of tears again ran down Annaliese''s eyes until she finally returned to her room in nervousness.

    "Sigh..."

    ''What''s happening to her?" Viktoria sighed, before sitting down in a chair beside her bed, prepared to watch Lothur.

    ...

 Chapter 37 Recovery And Progress

    While Viktoria was meditating right in front of the bed that Lothur was lying on, that woman''s parents had already found out everything that had happened.

    Not only that, by now, they were face to face with Annaliese, furious about what had happened earlier.

    Aiken already felt sorry for Lothur. Still, upon finding out that the poor fellow had been beaten by his daughter, he could not help but feel worse.

    Instead of providing opportunities for him, as should be the case, they were terrorizing the poor guy''s life.

    It was a great shame!

    As for Mabel, even if she did not like Lothur, she could not ept the current situation. It would be one thing if he had taken a beating from someone outside the family, but Annaliese should know his relevance.

    Not only that, but if the story leaked, the Frost family would have to deal with the public embarrassment and might even be aughingstock in the city.

    That was uneptable!

    Thinking about these things, the two were sitting side by side in arge hall, looking disappointedly at the woman kneeling on the floor a few feet away from them.

    "Annaliese, tell us what happened." Aiken was the first to say something while watching the tears still flowing from his daughter''s eyes.

    "Father, earlier, Lothur asked me to train with him and push him. But while I was doing that, I... I..."

    "I lost control and went further than I should have." She said this in an embittered tone.

    "Training?" Mabel found that odd since Lothur did not even knowmon fighting skills, let alone something for him to train with a 6th Transformation cultivator.

    "I don''t understand what he wanted either... He just told me to fight him and not underestimate him."

    Aiken frowned his eyebrows and asked. "Annaliese, why do you think you did this to him? Did Lothur provoke you in some way? Did he do something he shouldn''t have?"

    "He..." She stammered, remembering how her sister did not want their parents to know that Lothur wanted to be with other women despite the fact that he was married within this family.

    And feeling guilty for everything she had done, she could not tell the truth to these people, who would probably cause even more trouble for him if they knew the truth.

    "I don''t know... I think he tried to encourage me before the fight. But, still, other than that, I don''t remember anything serious enough for him to deserve anything like that." She said as she looked at the ground, not daring to look at her parents.

    "That..."

    "So he didn''t do anything?" Aiken stood up in surprise, finding this situation even worse. "Annaliese, how could you do something like that to a family member?"

    "Go to the punishment hall!"

    "You will stay there during the nights this weekend. And I don''t want to hear about you hanging out with your friends for the next few days!"

    "And don''t even think about leaving there before you finish it!" He shouted irritatedly before finally seeing that woman running out of there.

    "Sigh..."

    "What happened to her? Why would she do something so brutal for no reason?" He sat back in his armchair, profoundly breathing as he felt a headache creeping up on him.

    "I don''t know."

    "But I don''t think this girl is telling us the whole truth." Mabel''s eyes sharpened as she looked at where her daughter had been a few moments ago.

    ''A person asmon as Annaliese doesn''t change so suddenly, exposing such violence without something happening.'' She thought silently, thinking that all this was rted to Lothur.

    ''He definitely did something to Annaliese!''

    ''I just don''t know if that was enough for her to have had such a reaction...''

    "Anyway, this Lothur is exhibiting rtively strange behavior."

    "Why would he seek training with Annaliese?"

    "Nothing like this has happened in his more than six months in our family." She looked at her husband, exposing her thoughts.

    "That''s probably his survival instinct finally speaking louder, dear." Aiken pondered the most likely thing in that situation. "He just entered a ce full of people better than him, where peoplepete for basically everything."

    "It''s natural for him to get desperate and look for change."

    "Humph!"

    "I could ept that excuse if it were other people, but he doesn''t have the profile for it, Aiken."

    Aiken then looked silently at his wife but said nothing. ''He''s probably met someone and is trying to improve himself.''<sub> </sub>

    ''Ah, poor kid...''

    Aiken was not against the idea of setting up a harem. But his wife had never allowed him to think about other women in all the years of their marriage. But that did not stop him from understanding the attraction of polygamy.

    And knowing how dry Lothur''s rtionship was with his daughter, he would not me this young man for seeking other women.

    Considering this, this man was sure that Lothur was changing for some love interest and not something more unbelievable like his wife seemed to think.

    "Sigh..."

    "Let''s hope that he does have some recovery skills and that the previous situation is not an exception. So, maybe he will recover soon."

    ...

    Time began to pass, and as Viktoria continued to meditate in her room, Lothur''s body moved slowly because of muscle spasms.

    At the same time, his temperature had risen considerably, and if Viktoria approached him, she would probably feel a temperature that was difficult to feel in humans.

    Because of this, he was already sweating considerably, with every piece of clothing on his body soaked and his sweat dripping onto the sheets of Viktoria''s bed.

    As his eyelids moved rapidly, the bruises on his face were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye, with bruises disappearing in a matter of seconds and cuts closing up in a matter of minutes.

    At the same time, his bones were healing faster than the rest of his body, emitting an intense heat that turned them red likeva.

    However, unlike the first time Lothur had suffered something simr, he was not feeling pain. On the contrary, while dreaming absurd things concerning his first days in this world, he had a smile on his face, feeling quitefortable at the moment.

    And in fact, the feeling he felt was quite pleasant. That is, he felt as if he were rxing in a sauna, while his physical condition seemed to improve with every breath.

    That was an almost addictive feeling!

    In the midst of all this, he began to breathe more deeply, finally catching the attention of Viktoria, who was still awake.

    "Hmm?" She opened her eyes and observed her bed.

    After making sure that what she was hearing was indeed a breathing frequency of a healthy person and not a dying one, she jumped up from where she was and approached him.

    Viktoria eximed in shock as she felt the sheets on Lothur''s body soaked through and then noticed the changes in his face.

    Before, Lothur looked like a pugilist after a good beating. But now, his face had already returned to normal such that seeing him now, no one would believe her if she said that only a few hours ago he had been beaten by Annaliese.

    ''That...''

    ''How can that be?'' She moved even closer to him, leaning on that bed.

    And touching Lothur''s neck lightly, she began to probe his situation, curious to know what was happening.

    However, as she did so, all she noticed was her husband''s extreme recovery, not having sensed any techniques, spiritual energy, medicine, or anything else that could exin his situation.

    It seemed that his body was naturally regenerating itself!

    But as she looked at him in shock, Lothur''s eyes opened, and he saw his wife''s beautiful face just inches from his while she was still touching him.

    "Viktoria?" He said her name in surprise, not expecting to find this woman soon after he awoke from his ''rest.''

    And immediately, as he looked more focused at her, his own status appeared in front of him.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 3.3] [CON: 3.0] [DEX: 2.9] [AGI: 5]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 40]

    ''Oh?''

    ...

 Chapter 38 In His Wifes Bed

    ''It seems that my Physique is truly amazing!'' Lothur thought about it in satisfaction, feeling the thrill of seeing his attributes increase so much all at once.

    At the same time, he noticed that he had not jumped levels this time, but that did not bother him.

    He, of course, would like to rise to the top of the world quickly if possible. But such a thing was merely a childish dream. He knew this and did not expect much progress after ''training'' with Annaliese.

    Lothur still did not know much about spiritual cultivation in this world. Still, he considered that at least his body should follow rules simr to those of bodies on Earth. That is, just as someone could not try to get the maximum weight of an exercise on his first day at the gym, someone here could not gain too much power at once.

    He felt he needed to ''inte'' his power little by little to ensure foundations that could sustain his development in the future. And with this in mind, he had already considered the possibility that his Physique gave him limited advances within his body limits.

    In this way, he was not unhappy about not reaching the 3rd Transformation.

    However, when doing some quick math, he realized that his cultivation seemed to depend only on his physique attributes since there would be no point in his having advanced previously if mental values were considered.

    After all, his values rted to physical characteristics even now did not represent much of the total sum. Hell, even this current sum was no more significant than the value of his Intelligence, which had increased only once since his arrival in this world.

    As such, mental attributes did not affect his cultivation level or have relevant weights in this calction.

    On the other hand, he realized that the average required for advancement from the 1st Transformation to the 2nd was lower than that from the 2nd to the 3rd.

    ''As expected, cultivation did not follow a linear progression...'' He continued to stare at Viktoria''s beautiful face as he thought about these things.

    But with this woman''s presence there, he did not continue thinking about that and soon left the matters rted to cultivation aside.

    "Viktoria... Where am I?" He felt an extremelyfortable sensation in his body, something his old bed had never offered him.

    As he looked and felt the quality of the sheets around his body, he soon realized that this was not his room.

    Hearing her husband''s voice, Viktoria remained silent for a while as she looked at him, full of surprise in her eyes.

    Viktoria saw the final part of his remarkable recovery, something she had never seen or heard in her life. And hearing him talking to her as if nothing had happened, this woman felt a great mystery surrounding Lothur, making her stay silent.

    ''How is this possible? I''m seeing him in front of me, but I can''t believe what just happened!'' She continued holding his neck as she looked at him closely.

    Lothur noticed her gaze and then smiled. "If you want, we can kiss now..."

    Her face flushed as she finally realized that she should not stare at him so closely and turned away from him.

    "Dear, where are we? Is this your room? Did you bring me here?" He did not continue his earlier teasing, being more interested in knowing what had happened.

    One moment he was ''training'' with Annaliese, and then, he fainted due to Annaliese''s blows and woke up in this cozy ce.

    More importantly, he felt that the look on Viktoria''s face was a little different, which worried him. ''I wonder what happened? Did she notice my cultivation level?'' He worried.

    Lothur knew that his cultivation level would not remain a secret forever. Annaliese had already fought with him, and sooner orter, other people would find out. But he wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible.

    After all, his position in this family was not at allfortable!

    And as much as talents had opportunities regardless of where they were, Lothur preferred to be a talent with freedom and not one with responsibilities to this family.

    What happened to talents in a situation like his? Well, they naturally became high-level pawns once they reached their potential.

    But Lothur did not want something like that for himself!

    That''s why he was worried about Viktoria.

    She then replied in a tone that did not sound like her at all due to the insecurity in her voice. "I brought you to my room after what happened between you and Annaliese."

    His eyes sharpened as he heard that. "What exactly happened between Annaliese and me?"

    "You don''t remember?" Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Annaliese almost killed you!"

    "If I had arrived a few minutester, you might have been killed!"<sub> </sub>

    "What?" He surprisedly said, not expecting something like this, ''It''s not possible!''

    ''She''s saying this because I asked Annaliese to leave me in a deplorable state?''

    But he ignored those thoughts for the moment and asked. "Where is Annaliese? By the way, I didn''t expect anyone else to know about it, so how did you find out about it and even stop her?"

    "Elise saw you taking your shirt off in front of Annaliese and came to tell me, thinking you were trying to get funny with my sister."

    "Fortunately, that made me run to that ce and stop her." She sighed as she remembered the scare from earlier and felt a little better now, knowing he was okay. "After that, Doctor Snee took care of you, and I brought you here."

    "As for Annaliese, don''t worry about her for the moment."

    "I see..."

    His eyes sparkled in interest, and he asked. "In fact, why am I here and not in my room?"

    "That..." She looked at him carefully, hesitantly showing concern for him.

    Viktoria already knew about this man''s personality and understood that many men in this world would go into ''passion mode'' if they knew that women cared or thought about them. But her thoughts were not romantic, and she did not want this person to misunderstand things.

    "I don''t know why my sister was so violent with you, but to make sure nothing else happens, I decided to bring you here, where I can easily keep an eye on you."

    "Anyway, now that you have heard my answers, it is time for you to be honest with me, Lothur."

    She then climbed into that bed, with him still lying, wrapped by her sheets, and she sat down next to his waist. "Lothur, how did you recover so quickly? That is already the second time this has happened. I will not ept your excuses this time!"

    His pupils contracted tightly, and his heart began to beat faster.

    He did not know what to say, but he felt that he definitely could not talk about the system''s existence or his Physique.

    He then tried to pretend that he had no idea about the origin of his miraculous recovery. "How am I supposed to know that, Viktoria?"

    "You, who is such a strong and talented cultivator, can''t understand that, so how will I?"

    "Lothur..." She held one of his fists, trying to push him to speak.

    "I''ve said that before. If you want to do something, go ahead. But don''te to me with these interrogations!"

    She then tried to use her cultivation pressure to annoy Lothur. But unfortunately for her, this man felt no such influence.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I can''t feel anything special about his body!''

    ''What''s wrong with him? If he had a special Physique, shouldn''t I at least feel some sign?'' She felt frustrated when she could not interrogate her ipetent husband.

    But while thinking about these things, she suddenly leaned over the wet part of that bed, soaked by Lothur''s sweat.

    "That..."

    "Tsk!"

    But Lothur did not even notice the wetness on that bed and ignored the apparent irritation on her face, asking sincerely. "Did you feel something strange in my body? Perhaps there is some indication of what is happening to me?"

    She looked at him thoughtfully, trying to find out if he was being honest or not. "I don''t feel anything in your body. It is just like a few days ago."

    ''Oh? Then that''s great!'' He internallyughed but continued with a motionless expression on his face.

    "If that''s the case, then let''s forget about it for the moment." He ran one of his hands toward Viktoria and said. "But since we''re already here, why don''t we get some more sleep?"

    "That will be a great opportunity to improve our bonds as husband and wife..."

 Chapter 39 Training Days 1

    Upon feeling one of Lothur''s hands holding her waist, Viktoria almost lost her temper and pped him.

    However, due to this young man''s particr circumstances, she did nothing for the moment but avoid falling into his arms, as he seemed to want to.

    "You must have had your brain damaged by Annaliese if you think I will sleep with you!"

    "What''s wrong with us sleeping together? I''m already in your bed, and even if I wanted to try something, I couldn''t..." He said in a low voice, looking intensely into her eyes.

    "Dream on!"

    "Hehe, apparently, you don''t intend to keep me around for long?" He asked as he made a funny expression. "Too bad. And I thought this would be my new normal..."

    "Tsk!"

    "I will keep an eye on you during the nights until I understand what happened with Annaliese and you. After that, you will go back to your room."

    "But don''t think I will let you lie in my bed again!"

    "That was your only chance because of your injuries." So, she got up from that ce and walked to where she was meditating earlier.

    "Oh? All right then..." Heughed softly, not continuing his provocations.

    After some time in silence, he thought of something and said. "Viktoria, I feel like I''m not fully recovered, so I''ll stay the next three days around here."

    Her eyes widened in surprise at thatment. "Not fully recovered? That doesn''t seem to be true."

    "Do you think such a quick recoveryes without cost? I may look fine on the outside, but I''m still weakened!" He lied.

    "Besides, I''ll only miss one day of sses since we have the weekend ahead of us."

    In Concordia, the weeks were more or less like those on earth, but there were 13 months and only 4 weeks a month in this world.

    Anyway, during Saturdays and Sundays, many organizations in this world functioned differently as most of their members were usually mortals who needed rest.

    But this went beyond mortals. Even cultivators appreciated the idea of weekends. After all, having a day off could be the lifeline for many people to cultivate, train their techniques, or even do a side job.

    The human calendar in this world has been operating in this manner for a long time. Because of this, the concept of weekends had be so ingrained in this society that even the Morning Star Academy did not usually operate on Saturdays and Sundays.

    Any student could have ess to that academy building on weekends. Still, there were no sses or teachers to attend them.

    And knowing that today was Friday, and he did not have much to do in that ce, Lothur wanted to use that excuse to finish learning the twobat techniques he had left.

    He already had in mind to seek revenge against the people who beat him up before but to do this, he first had to learn more about how to act in fights.

    On the other hand, he wanted to start working on his position in the student rankings of that academy to get perhaps more benefits that could help him be stronger.

    His predecessor was not a person who cared much about serious matters in this world. Still, even that person knew that cultivation resources could be more valuable than talent.

    Considering this, he did not underestimate the potential of cultivation resources just because of his enviable characteristics. No, it would be foolish not to use all the options in his path!

    "So? You don''t see a problem with that, right?" He leaned on that bed and looked at her.

    "Sigh..."

    "Fine, but stay here in my area. I don''t want you walking around the property while you''re injured." She said in defeat, feeling that he was not being sincere but that it was best to keep him out of trouble for the time being.

    If he were indeed weakened, then it would not be good for her to allow him to show himself vulnerable to potential trouble!

    "Hehe, you truly are empathetic..."

    ...

    After a few hours, Viktoria had left Lothur in her area alone while she went about her daily business.

    In the meantime, this young man finally finished learning the basics of his first defensive technique.

    [Steel Body] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Beginner]

    [Effect: +10% CON]

    Lothur saw the system message appearing in front of him as he felt each of his muscles be much more resilient.

    At the same time, as he looked at the fingers of his hand, he felt as if his skin had be thicker, although visually, it looked the same as before that technique''s activation.

    On the other hand, the pain he was feeling during the training of this technique suddenly diminished, as if his resistance to pain had also increased.

    ''Amazing!''

    ''Is this how cultivators feel?'' He opened his hands while still looking down and smiling. ''What an addictive feeling!''

    "The cultivation world is truly amazing!" He muttered in a low voice.<sub> </sub>

    Meanwhile, the system messages appeared for him again.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 3.4] [CON: 3.3] [DEX: 3] [AGI: 5.1]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 40.1]

    ...

    After seeing this, a broad smile appeared on Lothur''s face as he rested on the ground of the outside training ce of his wife''s residence area, happy with his progress.

    But as he did this for a few moments, he finally got up and went to the side of a small table, where there was a transparent jug with ice water.

    Glub! Glub! Glub!

    "Ahh!" He opened his mouth and eximed, feeling the coolness of that liquid relieving the heat of his training.

    After that, he retrieved the previously purchased weapon from his spatial ring, intent on starting to train his attack technique.

    [Common Double Ax] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: increases the user''s attack power by 10%.]

    [Reminder: it weighs 100 kilograms.]

    Seeing that message appearing after a metallic-red ax with two des, onerge and one smaller, appeared in his hands, Lothur smiled as he felt the weight of this weapon.

    But as a 2nd Transformation cultivator, this was not much for him. In fact, as his Strength was already over 3, lifting this item was rtively easy for him.

    It was not so easy that he did not even notice without exerting force to manipte it. Still, it was enough for him to y with such an item without exhausting himself with just a few movements.

    As he felt the muscles in his right arm contracting due to that weapon, Lothur made a few movements with it. Yet, realizing how ridiculous he was, this young manughed and dropped that item to the ground.

    ''I''d better start learning the basics of the Art of Tearing Down Trees...'' He thought about that when the memory crystal of that technique appeared in his hand.

    After that, he quickly understood how to begin his training, something that not coincidentally required him to cut down trees to learn.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Looks like I''ll have to talk to someone about that.'' He looked toward the exit door of that area, remembering that Annaliese was supposed to be in prison in her residence.

    And so, he totally ignored his wife''s orders, heading toward his sister-inw''s ce.

    ...

    Pa! Pa!

    When he reached the other side of the corridor of that area where Viktoria''s residence was, Lothur knocked twice on the front door of Annaliese''s residence.

    But after a few moments of waiting, all he heard was a hoarse voice asking who it was.

    "Who is it? Don''t you know that my parents have forbidden me to have visitors?" Annaliese''s frail voice sounded from behind that door.

    "Anna, open the door. It''s me, Lothur." He said this without much concern, thinking that the problem of the previous night was more insignificant than these people were considering.

    Gulp!

    Upon hearing that, that woman''s eyes opened wide as her heart began to beat faster and guilt flooded her mind.

    "Lothur..." She murmured, with tears already watering her eyes. "Lothur, you''d better go. I shouldn''t see you now..."

    "Anna, open the door."

    ...

 Chapter 40 Training Days 2

    After a while outside Annaliese''s residence, Lothur finally saw that door slowly opening, making room for him to enter.

    He observed that Annaliese had run somewhere soon after opening the door for him, and then he closed the door to that ce and observed her fragrant, well-arranged residence.

    Unlike Viktoria, who had a luxurious but rather simplistic ce, Annaliese''s residence was much more ''alive,'' with various refined decorations and flowers here and there.

    But since he had alreadye to this ce the night before, Lothur did not pay much attention to the surroundings and just followed the sound of Annaliese''s sobbing.

    "Anna, why are you hiding? Do you need to do this to me?" He said in a low voice, trying to sound as friendly as possible to her.

    As he wandered around that meeting room, Annaliese watched him behind her bedroom door, terrified of what she might do to him but also relieved to see him so well.

    ''He doesn''t look hurt one bit!''

    ''I wonder how he does that? Maybe I should ask...''

    ''No!''

    ''If I get any more involved with him, I might lose control like I did yesterday!'' She clenched her fists in concern when she finally saw himing toward her.

    "Anna, don''t be silly."

    "What happened yesterday was my fault. I forced you to train with me and provoked you more than I should have. It''s not your fault." He finally saw where she was, noticing the nightclothes she was wearing.

    Such a piece of clothing was not shy at all, being something that covered the main parts of her body but without hiding the excellent measurements of her beautiful body.

    Viktoria and Annaliese might have their particrities regarding appearance. Still, in terms of body measurements, the only distinction between the two was that the younger sister had rtively minor breasts.

    But other than that, someone could easily confuse the two just by their other body measurements.

    "Lothur, why are you here? You shouldn''te near me. Don''t you remember the night before? That wasn''t just normal training!"

    "If my sister hadn''t arrived in time, I don''t know what could have happened!" She cried out amidst her sobs.

    "There''s something wrong with me!"

    But Lothur was not in agreement with Annaliese''s words. He pushed lightly on her bedroom door and finally used one of his hands to grab her wrist.

    He then felt slight resistance from her, but he soon managed to ovee that, bringing her into his embrace. "There is nothing wrong with you."

    "You did what I asked, and nothing bad happened." He hugged her waist tightly while his free hand calmly massaged her head. "We can even try that one more time..." Heughed, looking at her.

    But upon hearing those words, tears dripped from Annaliese''s eyes, and she finally got the courage to look into his eyes. "No, Lothur, please don''t make me do that ever again!"

    "You don''t know how bad I feltst night because of what I did!" She melted into his arms as she had an emotional breakdown.

    After this, Lothur said nothing more. He only closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply, understanding that it must not be easy to do what he wanted.

    ''It''s a shame...''

    ''I could get a few more advances if we kept going.''

    ''But there''s nothing to do. She seems unstable right now, and to demand that of her would not be fair.'' He opened his eyes and noticed the pitying look on Annaliese''s face.

    Lothur then wiped the tears from one of her cheeks with his fingers and said. "All right, Anna. I won''t talk about it anymore."

    "I''m sorry for putting you in that position."

    Annaliese then lowered her head and buried it in Lothur''s chest, smelling his scent as she hugged him tightly. "I am the one who owes you forgiveness, Lothur."

    "But I promise you I will never do anything to hurt you again."

    Hearing this, Lothur felt Annaliese''s sincerity, noticing someone showing such concern for him for the first time in this world.

    ''Despite everything, this family still managed to raise a good girl.'' He sighed before kissing Annaliese''s head, finding the concern in her words particrly interesting.<sub> </sub>

    "All right, Anna."

    "But now I want to talk to you about something."

    "Wait!" She said this as she saw that he was about to stop hugging her. "Can we stay like this a little longer?" She spoke in an embarrassed tone.

    "Oh? That''s fine."

    "Anyway, I''m here because I want to do the training on one of the techniques I bought at that store you referred me to."

    "Uh? Have you bought anything already?" She said as she had her faceterally with his chest, with one of her ears listening to Lothur''s heartbeat.

    "Yes. And to train one of those techniques, I need a ce with trees that can be cut. That''s why I came here since I don''t know where I can find such a ce."

    "What? That''s pretty unusual." She wiped the tears from her face, already feeling much better at this instant.

    But after thinking for a while, she finally answered what he wanted. "In any forest region, you can find many trees to cut down. But it might be a bit dangerous to leave the city just to train that."

    "Then I suggest you visit the Cultivation House in the northern part of our city. There you will find several rooms with special formations that can help you train your technique."

    "Cultivation House?" Lothur had never heard of such a ce, so he was naturally curious about it.

    Knowing Lothur''sck ofmon sense, Annalieseughed softly and said. "The Cultivation House is the second institution in our province to offer aplete cultivation experience."

    "The first is the Morning Star Academy, which also teaches its students."

    "As for the Cultivation House, it doesn''t teach anyone anything and doesn''t demand any kind of allegiance. However, by paying for services or fulfilling missions offered by that institution, you can get ess to resources and special training rooms from that ce."

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes widened in surprise as he thought such a ce could greatly help him in the future.

    After all, unlike other students of the Morning Star Academy, Lothur did not have ess to the cultivation areas of that ce. And with that, the Cultivation House could offer aplementary option for his training as a cultivator.

    Lothur obviously nned to change his position in that academy in the future. But for now, since he wanted to keep his skills and cultivation a secret, it would be more interesting to continue as an ordinary mortal in that institution.

    Furthermore, when Lothur learned that the Cultivation House did not require allegiance, he assumed that it wasparable to mercenary guilds and likely would not require his identity.

    That was just perfect for him!

    ''Very well, I will go to the Cultivation House tomorrow!''

    ''I already told Viktoria that I wouldn''t be going out today because of my injuries, so if I go to that ce now, I''ll probably have problems with her.''

    ''Then I''ll spend the rest of the day practicing my two techniques, and I''ll settle this issue tomorrow!'' He made up his mind, squeezing Annaliese even tighter into his embrace.

    He then looked at Annaliese''s now flushed face and sighed. ''It''s just a shame she''s not ready for something more intimate...''

    ''If she weren''t so opposed to my extramarital rtions, I would take her for myself right here and now.'' He looked at her pink lips andmented that it was not yet time for him to try something more with her.

    And noticing Lothur''s gaze, Annaliese turned her face slightly, feeling a sudden warmth in her body. But even though she thought it would be better to get away from him now, she stayed there hugging him for a few more moments.

    Finally, after almost five minutes of silence, she felt her embrace with him getting looser as they finally said goodbye.

    "I''m sorry you''re detained because of me..."

    "Don''t say that. I deserve something much worse for what happened yesterday!"

    "Really? Sigh, well, I hope I can return to the academy at your side Monday, Anna."

    "Me too."

    "Well, see youter."

    "See you..."

 Chapter 41 Training Days 3

    After his brief encounter with Annaliese, Lothur returned to Viktoria''s residence without anyone noticing his little escape. Then, he used the rest of the day to practice his two already learned techniques, focusing on gaining more attribute points and improving his proficiency in them.

    A technique might have a low rating, but that was only its first limitation. However, because the majority of people in this world struggled to pass even the Beginner phase, even an Iron-grade technique could be impressive in the hands of a genius who mastered it at the Grandmaster level.

    Another critical point was its user''s cultivation level��the greater its power, the greater the technique''s effectiveness.

    With this in mind, Lothur did not take his training lightly, even considering how standard his techniques were.

    He hoped to increase his Intelligence attribute in the future, so aiming for high levels of mastery in each technique was not too high a goal for him. As such, he wanted to be different from the rest, doing something that few could or even attempted, bing a Grandmaster!

    ...

    After sunset in Peters City, Lothur finally finished hisst training session of the day, lying face up in the small training area of his wife''s residence.

    There he was, breathing heavily, while he seemed to be melting due to the impressive amount of sweat pouring from his body.

    Such a thing could be easily noticed even if someone looking at that ce ignored his body. That was because the entire wooden floor of that area was stained with traces of wet feet and sweat drops.

    But while he was in that state, a small puddle of ck goo was standing beside him, from which drops of this disgusting substance continued to umte as it dripped from his navel.

    He had finally reached the 3rd Transformation!

    And already knowing what that meant, Lothur did not even need to see the system screen in front of him to smile in satisfaction, feeling the pleasure of leveling up.

    Finally, trying to regain his breath and ignore that strange smell in his surroundings, the young man dressed only in a small pair of shorts turned his attention back to the system screen.

    In this instant, he finally understood a little more of this.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 4.0] [CON: 4.8] [DEX: 4.1] [AGI: 6.2]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 40.7]

    ''Level 3, huh? By my count, level 3 should be cultivation with average physical attributes above 4.''

    ''Let''s see what the average value of my attributes will be the next time I advance...'' He pondered silently, feeling that he could begin to predict the values needed to level up. With that, he could understand more of the strength of people more substantial than him, something precious to anyone!

    But as he thought about he looked straight at his attributes and remembered the warnings during his four training sessions today. He realized that his speed of progress had already slowed!

    "Sigh..."

    ''There must be some kind of body resistance rted to this kind of training.''

    ''I''ve only trained a few hours on each of these techniques, but my progress has already slowed by an average of about 25%!''

    ''That''s rming!''

    ''At this rate, in a few weeks with these techniques, I won''t have any attribute gain anymore!'' His eyes opened wide at the thought of this possibility.

    But that was the life of cultivators. Beginners like Lothur usually had impressive results in their first training. But, then, their results dropped considerably after weeks or months.

    And since manycked the willpower and talent to keep persevering, they would never find out how to retrieve their gains.

    However, Lothur did not feel too desperate about this since he could always count on his Physique''s advantages. So, even if training these techniques would no longer help him increase his level, it would still be something worthwhile for him, as long as he could advance his mastery and rely on his incredible Physique powers!

    ...

    After learning a little more about cultivation in this world, Lothur cleaned up that area and then took a cold shower in Viktoria''s bathroom.

    However, as he was leaving that ce in the same way he usually did in his room, this young man ran into his wife, who by now had returned from her responsibilities.

    She was sitting in an armchair beside her bed, slowly taking off her shoes, while her slender calf was on disy to Lothur.

    But as he looked at his beautiful wife, she finally saw him wearing only a towel around his waist.

    Viktoria watched him for a moment, feeling a little angry at this shameless person. Still, then she noticed the improvements in his body.<sub> </sub>

    ''This guy...''

    ''He''s getting stronger.'' She noticed the volume of Lothur''s chest and shoulders, while his abdomen seemed much more defined than before.

    And seeing that such an idea was not in her head, she stood up to approach him, curious. "What have you been doing? Are you training your body or something like that?"

    Hearing that, Lothur smiled and said. "I''m exercisingtely, but it''s no big deal."

    "Why? Are you feeling more attracted to your spouse?"

    "Tsk!"

    ''This idiot...''

    ''He''s probably not doing anything. That must be rted to the miraculous recoveries he''s been through recently.'' She watched him dress inconspicuously, assessing his figure.

    After Lothur finished putting on his clothes, Elise arrived at that residence bringing the two of them dinner.

    "Aren''t you eating with your parents today?" The silver-haired young man asked this as he sat down at the only dining table there was around.

    Noticing her husband watching her, Viktoria was honest. "No. They are busy with something."

    "Oh?"

    And while the two of them were talking, Elise was staring at Lothur with a terrible expression in her eyes, incredulous at seeing this scumbag so well.

    ''Damn!''

    ''Is he immortal or something? How did he survive the night before and still recover so well?''

    ''Hell, he looks better than ever!'' She admits how well Lothur was looking, something seen in his muscles and his skin''s sheer quality.

    And thinking about how much better it would be for her if this young man just disappeared, Elise felt terrible seeing him looking so good.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I have to think of something to deal with this scumbag.'' She thought about that as she watched the two eating, mainly looking at the young man who seemed to have the appetite of a wild animal.

    "Wow, this food is delicious!" Lothurplimented the dish he was devouring. "This ce has good cooks, huh?"

    "Really?" Viktoriaughed as she looked at Elise.

    "Of course!"

    "By the way, dear, can you cook?"

    But then Viktoria''s expression went cold at hearing such words, "Why should I?"

    "For me, of course."

    "My wife has to be able to satisfy me in e..." He smiled at her as he made a gesture with his right hand, trailing toward one of her hands.

    "Humph!"

    "The day I cook for you is the day hell itself will freeze over!"

    "Then I already feel bad for the poor demons... They will freeze very soon." He joked onest time before finally smelling Viktoria''s hand as his face was pped.

    Pa!

    "That''s your punishment for saying so much nonsense in such a short time." Viktoria looked at him coldly before finally giving him another warning. "By the way, you will sleep on that couch tonight." She pointed to that piece of furniture. "So don''t even think about going anywhere near my bed tonight, understand?"

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, the night passed.

    After sleeping on a couch in Viktoria''s residence, Lothur secretly left that ce after her departure, heading toward his goal.

    As soon as he managed to leave the area of the Frost estate, he immediately headed towards the central part of Peters City, where the local Cultivation House was located.

 Chapter 42 Training Days 4

    Upon arriving in front of a building that looked like a golden pyramid trunk, Lothur did not waste much time enjoying the surroundings and soon entered the local Cultivation House.

    Like the Innumerable Scrolls store, this ce was an institution with a presence in many cities throughout the empire and was one of Leopoldine''s great organizations.

    Not only did this ce offer cultivation rooms for rogue cultivators, but it also had services for outsourced work, such as escort missions and simr things.

    At the same time, there were some establishments rted to spiritual cultivation in that ce, such as a store for pills and alchemical potions, items often used by customers of ces like this.

    However, when entering the entrance hall of that post, Lothur did not pay attention to any of these options avable in the Cultivation House.

    No, since his funds were only dwindling recently, Lothur was interested in just getting on with his training to avoid running out of coins for future opportunities.

    He could even spend everything he had on cultivation products to try to raise his level quickly. But since he did not yet know precisely how cultivation resources worked, doing something like this would be a mistake.

    Thus, sticking to the basics and continuing with his ns seemed to him to be a better idea than risking everything on strange things.

    At the same time, he did not feel ready to undertake missions or jobs that might pay him good money. So, he really could not pursue all the options on his path.

    With this in mind, he quickly arrived at the main service counter of the ce, where half a dozen people were serving at the moment.

    All these people attending were beautiful women dressed in matching dresses, which showed how healthy they were.

    And seeing one of them getting free, Lothur soon approached her in search of information.

    "Hello, this is my first time in this ce, so I want to know how to get a good training room."

    Hearing the voice of the most handsome man she had seen in her entire life, that attendant smiled and took a brief moment to respond to Lothur. "Well, I am happy to be able to attend to you on your first time in the Cultivation House..."

    "I hope I can satisfy your questions about this ce."

    She ran one of her hands through her hair, looking intensely at Lothur. "The training rooms of our institution are avable in three ways."

    "First, if you are part of one of therge organizations in the empire, you naturally only need to pay the basic fee for the cultivation room you want."

    "Second, if you are a member of our institution, you can pay smaller amounts regarding the fee of the cultivation rooms depending on your rank."

    "Third, you can simply skip these requirements by paying the fee for the cultivation room you desire."

    Upon hearing this, Lothur continued to stand in front of that woman, his arms crossed at chest height. "How much is that fee?"

    "For cultivation rooms for Mortal Warriors, the cost for 12 hours is one thousand bronze coins." She said to him, assuming that he was probably in search of this room.

    She was not a cultivator. But considering how youth and inexperienced Lothur seemed to be, she had readily assumed he was a 1st stage cultivator.

    ''A thousand coins?'' Lothur showed no surprise, but in his heart, he was shocked.

    A thousand bronze coins for only twelve hours... How many days would someone like him need to work to get that many coins?

    Hell, even peak cultivators of the 1st stage usually did not make much more than 100,000 bronze coins per year of work. But here in this ce, they were charging that for just 50 days'' rent for the cheapest type of cultivation room!

    ''Spiritual cultivation is truly expensive! No wonder it''s so hard for ordinary people to raise their level.''

    He then asked. "I''ve heard that the Cultivation House doesn''t require loyalty. Is that true? I''m interested in joining your ranks if it is."

    She smiled at him and said. "Yes, indeed we are. Here you only need to be loyal to what youmit to."

    "But in other situations, we never demand help from our members. We don''t charge our members anything beyond what is promised when they do missions and other things. On the other hand, we give various advantages to members of the Cultivation House."

    "Is that so? Tell me a little bit about it."<sub> </sub>

    "If you look in that direction..." She pointed her right hand to somece. "You will find the information station in this building. There, our members can get information of different ranks depending on their position in the ranking of our agents."

    "At the same time, you can meet high-ranking people and even trade with them if so you are qualified."

    "We also have exclusive auctions, partnerships with local stores, and more."

    "As for the previous cultivation room, someone new to our organization only pays 50% of the normal amount."

    "But that amount can decrease and even reach 0 depending on your position in the Cultivation House!" She said in an excited tone.

    "I see..." Lothur muttered in a low voice, interested in this initial discount. "What do I need to join the Cultivation House?"

    "You need to be at least a 5th Transformation cultivator since we don''t have missions for people of cultivation lower than that. In addition to that requirement, we will, of course, do the necessary physical tests and an examination to prove that you are not an enemy spy."

    "If there are no problems, your application can be confirmed within a week."

    "A week, huh?" He sighed as he realized he had no alternatives but to pay more per hour. ''It doesn''t seem to be difficult to join this organization, but I can only wait for now.''

    "By the way, I want to know if I have to use my real identity when I join this organization. Can I keep my identity secret?"

    "Yes. In fact, many of our members are quite famous for their deeds, but few truly know their names and origin." Sheughed, finding it funny that such a striking-looking person would think to hide his identity.

    ''With such looks, even if I have seen tens of thousands of faces in my life, I will never forget your appearance...'' She appraised him once more, thinking he would not be able to hide, at least from her.

    "Very good," Lothurmented before finally moving on with his ns there. "Then, for the time being, I''ll rent a cultivation room for 1st stage cultivators."

    "Uh? What about your application?" She asked in surprise.

    "I''ll do thatter."

    "Oh? All right, then."

    After that, theypleted the transaction, with Lothur leaving a thousand coins behind in exchange for the key to one of the many cultivation rooms in this building.

    ...

    After going up to the second floor, Lothur walked down a long corridor until he reached a door with the number ''217'' engraved on it, the same as the ess key he had obtained.

    With that, he quickly unlocked the room and went inside, curious to know what the notorious cultivation rooms were like.

    However, upon entering that ce, Lothur found nothing exceptional but rather a ce of about 20 square meters, almost entirely empty.

    In fact, there were only three things in that ce. One was what looked like a ceiling air conditioner like the ones from his former life. Another was what looked like a wooden dummy, and finally, a small cube that stood precisely in the middle of the ce.

    But as he entered, Lothur unconsciously looked at the door that was already closed at the moment and saw some hints on how to use this ce.

    ''Good thing they put this here...'' He sighed in his heart.

    And upon reading that, it did not take him long to understand that the object on the ceiling was actually an object containing a spatial formation for the best use of the spiritual energy within that room.

    On the other hand, the dummy was a puppet that also had formations on its body, which was helpful to use in training.

    As for the small cube, that was a small simtor that used an illusory formation that enabled its users to have any kind of mental training they wished.

    ''Oh? That seems useful for me to increase my understanding regarding those techniques...'' He realized this, finally preparing to begin his training.

 Chapter 43 Finally Back

    After some time in that cultivation room, Lothur was sitting cross-legged on a cultivation cushion, with his eyes closed.

    However, he was not cultivating but instead experiencing the illusion created by the small cube while training his understanding of the Art of Tearing Down Trees.

    Within that mental illusion, this young man was in the middle of arge forest, where thousands of trees formed a seemingly endless sea of green leaves.

    Yet, while the area he was in was quite interesting to see and explore, Lothur was not interested in wasting time there. No, this ce had cost him dearly, and he did not want to waste a second in this cultivation room.

    Consequently, he was already using a long ax against a tree in front of him, constantly striking at that thick trunk.

    There, he stood with his legs spaced away from each other, his knees slightly bent, and his feet turned in different directions.

    At the same time, he was holding the big ax with both hands, making movements that were slowly changing.

    At first, his body position had been different from now, when he had practically started to attack that tree without any preparation. But as he reached his target, he slowly found the best-attacking positions, improving his posture and offensive movements.

    But even though he had already evolved quite a bit in thest few minutes, he was still slowly learning about the unique behavior of an ax in his hands.

    Weapons like these had centers of gravity far away from the hands. So, the force he had to make to ''y'' with such an artifact was not small, and every movement was a challenge for him.

    On the other hand, weapons of this type failed concerning attack speed��consequently, the attacks made by ax users needed to be highly effective.

    Not only was it ideal that he finished his enemy with as few blows as possible, but he also had to be creative with his attacks. Otherwise, a living, moving opponent could have a significant advantage after one mistake on his part.

    With the experience he gained from attacking that tree''s trunk, Lothur was evolving his understanding of the Art of Tearing Down Trees.

    ...

    A few hourster...

    [Art of Tearing Down Trees] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Beginner]

    [Effect: +5% STR]

    Finally, the system message appeared in front of Lothur, making this young man stop his illusory training for a moment and return his attention to that cultivation room.

    Opening his eyes, he continued to see the same screen as before. He found it interesting that even within an illusion, the system worked precisely as in the real world.

    In any case, it did not take him long to realize that, unlike his training in the real world, something like this in an illusion did not increase his attributes.

    But this was to be expected. After all, that small cube was made to train the understanding regarding techniques of its users, not to train the body.

    Typical training had that characteristic due to the constant use of the user''s body, but just studying the technique itself would not do that. As such, he gained no benefit beyond learning the basics of that technique.

    On the other hand, the mental attributes had different workingspared to the physical ones. Therefore, even illusory training could not stimte his Intelligence and Perception.

    As for his Will, it could be stimted by such a thing. But since physical pain yed an essential role in stimting this characteristic, the gains from training with that were far less than what he could get from regr training. So, his results were not remarkable in this respect.

    However, Lothur was pleased to be able to master the basics of that technique without having to leave the city. What''s more, even if he had to cut down trees to advance it, he could still train the strokes of the technique without having to do so.

    That would not bring him advances in understanding. Still, he could improve his physical characteristics through training with a real ax.

    With this in mind, he was quick to summon the ax in his spatial ring, ready to face the puppet in that room.

    Not only could this help him improve his attributes, but it would also give him real fighting experience!

    Thus, he soon activated that puppet, selecting a lower strength level than his, but prepared to increase the difficulty as he got used to the experience.

    ...

    "Hah... Haa... Wow!" Lothur finally fell to his knees on the floor, utterly sweaty after fighting for almost 5 hours against the puppet in his cultivation room.

    In that time, he had been able to advance hisbat abilities to the point where he had mastered the fundamentals of what he had learned in the previous illusion in order to face the puppet, with a powerparable to that of a 3rd Transformation cultivator.

    But that had been his limit for now, which in itself had made him suffer a lot in thest few hours, but also taught him about how decisive he needs to be when using an ax.

    Anyway, while he was breathing hurriedly, this young man saw thest of the warnings regarding the improvements in his characteristics.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in DEX.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]<sub> </sub>

    [+0.1 in CON.]

    [+0.2 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 4.3] [CON: 5] [DEX: 4.3] [AGI: 6.3]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 40.8]

    As he smiled and saw his status, Lothur saw the timekeeper in that rooming up on hisst few minutes that he had the right to stay there.

    Even though there was still time for him to train for a little longer, since he did not think he would get any more attribute points, he simply ended his training today.

    He still had to return to Viktoria''s residence before that woman returned, so he decided to use the remaining minutes to clean himself up and go home.

    ''Ah, that was a good training day!'' He smiled satisfyingly.

    ''I''lle here again tomorrow before returning to my routine at the Morning Star Academy on Monday!''

    He would like to use this ce more often, but he did not have the funds toe here daily. But on the other hand, even if he wanted to enroll in this institution, he could only wait for the time being because his level was still too low.

    Hence, he was determined toe to this ce tomorrow and perhaps on weekends in the future. But, other than that, he was aware that his focus should be on the academy.

    Therefore, it was not long before he returned home for the meal and rest that he so desired at the moment.

    ...

    As he finished dressing Monday morning, Lothur checked his status one more time before heading towards Annaliese''s carriage.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    p [Bloodline: ****]</anda>

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 5.5] [CON: 5.6] [DEX: 5.0] [AGI: 6.8]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 41.2]

    After seeing this and feeling a slight increase in his confidence, he got into the carriage of his beautiful sister-inw, who was still feeling awkward as she stood face to face with him.

    "Good morning, Anna."

    "Morning." She replied in a low voice as she avoided eye contact with the young man in front of her.

    "How was your weekend? Your family has already freed you from your punishment, right?" He asked as he jumped up from his seat and stood side by side with her.

    "Yes, I can now return to my usual routine."

    "Well, I don''t like the idea of you having to be punished because of me."

    He ced one of his hands on top of one of hers, looking into the brown eyes of that beauty.

    She ignored that and simply asked about his weekend. "Did you go to the Cultivation House? How was your experience?"

    "Yes, I went." He smiled. "I had a good time in that ce..."

    "But I don''t want to talk too much about it. In the future, you will see the results of my training, hehe." He looked out of the window of that carriage, excited to return to the academy.

    ''Today, I will talk to those three individuals.'' His eyes sharpened as he felt his hand scratching for revenge on the people who beat him.

    ...

 Chapter 44 Losers

    After living for a few days in the cultivation world, the earthling Lothur gradually felt changes in certain parts of himself that he had never experienced in his previous life.

    It was nothing significant until then, but after he began to feel the pleasure of getting stronger, this young man began to feel excited about the idea of fights and the like.

    It was as if, little by little, his blood was heating up while a desire for domination surged in the depths of his soul. And with that, his fighting intent was higher than ever.

    But this was not only because of the previous beating. No, even after that, his will to fight was not so different from what he would feel if he were on earth.

    The worst happened just after these three days of training when he, for hours, fought with a smile on his face against the previous puppet.

    And thinking about the three people who had attacked him earlier, this young man could not help but wonder what it would feel like to leave his enemies in the same state they had left him...

    Hell, he had even dreamed about it the night before!

    But all this was not a pure coincidence or something hidden from the earthling Lothur''s personality. No, such a thing was part of spiritual cultivation, the path to power, something that went far beyond just longing to live longer.

    Many began cultivating because they hoped to live longer and earn more money. However, spiritual energy was like an addictive drug; the stronger someone was, the more that person craved power.

    And in such apetitive world, power was obtained through domination, which stimted every cultivator''spetitive side.

    This obviously influenced different people in different ways. But it remarkably affected those with a strong mentality and those aware of what power meant.

    Lothur did not know it, but he was already beginning to experience these side effects!

    ...

    After saying goodbye to Annaliese, Lothur headed towards the amphitheater where he had his geopolitics ss.

    When he arrived there, he immediately looked in the direction of a beautiful redheaded woman, who did not seem to be in a good mood today.

    But even though she was not in her best state, that beauty was still the most graceful of the dozens of women in that area.

    "Why are you so serious, Elke? Maybe you missed me on Friday?" He asked with a smile on his face as he stopped facing her.

    Hearing that tone of voice loaded with confidence, Elke took her eyes off the book in her left hand and looked at him with a slightly more satisfying look. "Lothur!"

    "Why didn''t youe Friday?" Elke wanted to get up to hug him. Still, as she remembered where she was, she restrained herself before showing the whole ss her rtionship with Lothur.

    Lothur smiled as he saw her meaningful look just before sitting down beside her. "That day, I had a little trouble and had to miss the academy."

    "But don''t worry, I will soonpensate you for my absence..." He brought his face closer to her left ear and said softly. "I know you must have been longing to see me."

    Gulp!

    She looked at him in silence, realizing that he seemed to understand her desires very well. ''Am I that obvious?''

    "In any case, we must be careful about where we do our things." He winked at her as he smiled discreetly.

    "That makes sense..." She once again thought about how to get a ce in the academy dorm, something that could make things tremendously easier for them.

    ''He said before that he couldn''t get a ce in the dorm, but I definitely can!''

    ''I''ll tell my family that I need a private ce to rest while I''m here. So, I should be able to get that in a few days.'' She smiled but said nothing to Lothur so she could surprise himter.

    But as the two stood there talking in low voices, with flirtatious looks on their faces, suddenly a group of half a dozen young people stopped in front of them.

    All of these people appeared to be under the age of 15, brats in Lothur''s view.

    However, as much as this young man did not give a damn about the children of this ss, he soon noticed the ck-haired young man who was his target leading this group.

    The ck-haired young man then looked at Lothur with an expression of disgust and anger on his face and said. "Lothur Ritter, I challenge you to a duel!"

    After this was said, the voices in the surroundings quickly diminished, as Elke and Lothur finally lost their good humor from before to look at that person.

    "And who are you?" Lothur asked calmly, looking at the ck-haired young man as if he had never seen such a person.<sub> </sub>

    "What?"

    "He doesn''t know the young master?"

    "That bastard can only be trying to piss us off!" That young man''s minions brandished in fury as they demonstrated their willingness to smash Lothur''s face.

    But that person was determined to personally humiliate Lothur, preferably in front of Elke, just to get rid of the hatred in his heart.

    "Tsk!"

    "My name is Alric Baier." The ck-haired young man said this as he looked coldly at Lothur, confident that he could handle this jerk now that he had advanced to 2nd Transformation.

    "I never thought that the good-for-nothing of the Frost family would join our academy. Furthermore, he would flirt with other women even though he is married to the First Miss Frost." Alric said this with a smile, throwing the truth about Lothur in Elke''s face so that such a woman would wake up and stop her game with him.

    Alric did not understand what was wrong with Elke for her to be attracted to trash like Lothur. But if she were so weak that she could not choose with whom she hung out, he would do it for her.

    ''We will be engaged soon, so I have to take the reins of the rtionship right away!'' He pondered this, thinking about the conversations that were urring between his Baier family and House Becker.

    With that in mind, he threw the truth about Lothur in that woman''s face, wanting to humiliate Lothur in a fight for the whole ss to see how he would smash this poor fellow''s face.

    And upon hearing Alric''sment, Elke looked doubtfully at Lothur, in disbelief that this was the good-for-nothing son-inw of the Frost family.

    ''It can''t be!''

    ''Lothur is such a confident and intelligent person!''

    ''That is false!'' She bit her lower lip and rose from her chair.

    "Alric, stop bothering us!"

    "Lothur has just entered the academy, and you want to challenge him? What is your real purpose here?" She yelled at that person while Lothur remained in his chair, watching her with interest.

    "Elke, this is between me and that ipetent."

    "Lothur, don''t tell me you''re going to chicken out and stand on a woman''s wings? Don''t tell me you''re such a pussy?" He said for the whole ss to hear, mocking Lothur''s honor.

    But upon hearing that, Lothur was not bothered at all. ''Looks like it was truly you, huh?'' And noticing that young man''s casual nces at Elke, it was not hard for the silver-haired man to understand it all.

    ''Hehe, looks like you''re a loser who saw the girl you like being dominated by another, huh?''

    ''Pathetic!''

    ''But I won''t fight you on your terms. That would only show my strength to the whole academy and create reasonable justification for your family to act against me openly.'' So he thought about it as he listened to Elke defending him.

    ''I would rather take my revenge on you in my own way when I find it most convenient.''

    "Lothur, fight me!"

    "If you lose, you will swear that nevere near Elke again."

    "I am not interested in your suggestion." Then, Lothurmented something. "I have no interest in a pathetic little show from a desperate person."

    "I loathe people of your kind."

    Upon hearing Lothur''s calm words, each of those young men in Alric''s group looked at him with a desire to strangle him.

    ''It seems there are only losers in this ss.'' Lothur smiled at them as he stood.

    But as they stood in that tense position for a few moments, Elke finally lost her patience and said. "If you want to fight someone, then I will do it in his ce, Alric!"

    "Lothur is my friend, and I will not let you threaten him so freely!"

 Chapter 45 Resolving The Conflict

    Upon hearing Elke''s nonsense, Alric was about to grab this woman''s wrist to get her out of his way when suddenly Lothur stopped him.

    "What do you think you are doing?" He asked this as he pushed that unpleasant fellow away from Elke.

    Lothur did not yet know how to sense other people''s cultivation. But even though he did not know that Elke was no match for Alric, Viktoria''s husband would not allow another man to touch his woman.

    Yes, his woman. He and Elke had no feelings for each other and were not doing anything incredibly intimate. But Lothur was a selfish man who did not ept the idea of sharing his women.

    Even in a casual rtionship, he would not allow another man to touch the woman he was with!

    Even more, considering that fellow did not seem to care about hurting Elke, something Lothur found highly uneptable.

    "Humph!"

    "For a worm who hides behind a woman, you kind of have some attitude, trash!" Alric angrilymented with an arrogant look on his face, ring at the man in front of Elke.

    "Well? Do you ept my challenge?"

    "Of course not," Lothur said as he turned to Elke and took one of her hands as if preparing to leave that ce.

    "Then what is your problem? Are you going to allow her to fight in your ce, coward?" Alric shouted for everyone in that amphitheater to hear him as his face turned red.

    "I don''t know if your parents let you hit your head when you were minor, but you should seek help, loser." Lothur looked back and said this. "Your opinion doesn''t matter to me. I don''t need to fight with you, and Elke doesn''t need to do anything either."

    "Who do you think you are?"

    Lothurughed and shook his head. "Tsk!"

    "A mere brat has no right to speak such absurdities."

    "What?"

    "You miserable, son of a..." Alric was about to explode in hatred when suddenly Professor Koch entered that ce.

    "What''s going on here?" She shouted as she saw the crowd surrounding Lothur and Elke. At the same time, there was significant tension in the air.

    But upon realizing this, rather than getting more involved in this situation, Lothur simply pulled Elke into his arms, leading her out of that amphitheater.

    In the meantime, the rest of the room, including Alric, lost sight of those two as they were distracted by that teacher.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''The wretch escaped without my noticing!'' Alric cursed Lothur in his mind but did nothing.

    Now that Anneke had already directed her attention to him, Alric had no choice but to endure that woman''s sermon.

    As for this woman, she showed all her unhappiness at seeing these people disrupting her ss, but she was also interested in what she had just seen.

    ''This Lothur...''

    ''He''s definitely not the useless guy everyone thinks he is.'' She thought about it as she remembered how he had left that ce unnoticed by the other students.

    However, she, a 6th Transformation cultivator, could not be fooled by his movement technique!

    ''Anyway, it looks like he escaped a good scolding...'' Sheughed in her heart, remembering the rules of this ce and Lothur''s situation.

    The Morning Star Academy naturally allowed fights between students since this was an extremelypetitive ce. However, there were rules about how this could happen.

    And among the prohibitions, students were not allowed to disrupt sses because of personal disputes!

    So, Anneke was interested in how Lothur had escaped this problem, dodging possible penalties.

    ''Next time I see him, I will try to understand why he is hiding.''

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur and Elke had finally reached the end of an empty corridor, where there was no sign of people for dozens of meters.

    "Lothur..." Elke looked at him in surprise, thinking how fast he was moving as he carried her in his arms.

    ''You are not someone without cultivation!'' Her eyes widened as she thought of her experience at his side days ago.

    ''How could he be? Someone with Green talent has great potential for the standard of our province!''

    ''Then why is he hiding? Why is he in Sector-1?'' Questions began to arise chaotically in her confused mind as she felt him still holding her in his arms.

    "Elke, let''s talk." He finally said something just before putting her back down.

    After seeing the serious look on his face, Elke''s eyes twitched, and she asked in an unsure tone. "Lothur... What Alric said... Is that true?"<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, it is true."

    She opened her mouth momentarily and then closed it as her eyes reddened. "How can that be? Then why are you acting intimate with me? Are you just ying with me?"

    "No, Elke, I''m not ying with you." He moved closer to her, slowly pressing her against a wall. "I won''t go into details, but Viktoria has not forbidden me to be with other women."

    "So, unless you have a problem with being with amitted man, there won''t be any problem regarding her."

    "And just so you know, I want to be with you."

    Gulp!

    "How can you say something like that? Of course, I don''t want to be with another woman''s man. What future would I have by doing that?"

    "You would have me." He touched one of her cheeks, feeling the tears streaming from her eyes.

    Lothur might have thought there was no feeling between them, but this woman was already beginning to fall in love with him. Considering this, upon discovering the terrible truth about this man, she could not help but feel an ache in her heart.

    "Would I have you?" She was surprised by his unusual response.

    "Yes, you would have me." He touched his lips against hers and felt her involuntary responses mixed with her reluctance.

    But as she felt this young man''s grip, it was not long before Elke gave into his arms, kissing him even more intensely than at other times.

    "Mmmm~"

    As she felt the heat of her body rise, the redhead began to talk about this rtionship. "Lothur, I don''t think we should do that~"

    "Besides, you are alreadymitted. My family will never give me to you~"

    "You are asking too much of me~"

    "Don''t worry about those details, Elke. I''ll take care of everything~" Hemented amidst their kisses.

    "You just need to follow your instincts and know I will make it happen. I''ll give you exactly what you need~"

    "But~" She closed her eyes as she felt Lothur ying with her ears and neck. "I don''t know if I can ept sharing you with others~"

    "I''ll make it worth your while, Elke~"

    "Plus, if you were my woman, I''d probably spend more time with you than with Viktoria~"

    "Is that so?" She looked at him more seriously, feeling happy to hear that.

    But while waiting for an answer from him, she suddenly felt one of his hands touching a particr part of her body.

    "Uh? What are you..."

    "Shh!"

    "Stay calm. I''ll make you rx a little. Just give me a minute..." Lothur smiled at her before returning to kissing and ''ying'' with his hands.

    ...

    "Hah... Hah... What was that?"

    After a little over a minute, Elke gasped as she felt a sensation hard to forget in her body.

    And while leaning on Lothur''s arms due to the weakness in her legs, she felt even more confused at this instant. Her body genuinely wanted to continue the rtionship with him. Still, her mind told her there would only be trouble ahead of them.

    But as she felt her gaze clouded by the doubts in her heart, she heard his voice. "Trust me. I will solve any problem thates along."

    "I know the problems I may have because of this, but I am reassured about the future. You can stay that way too." He held one of her hands and looked into her eyes intensely.

    "And don''t worry about that person. I''ll deal with himter. So, he won''t get in our way."

    Elke was surprised to see how willing he was to get into trouble just for her, someone with ordinary talent and beauty inferior to Viktoria''s.

    "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked. "Once we walk further, there may be no turning back..."

    He just smiled at her, indicating that there was no doubt in his mind.

    Elke then sighed in relief and epted this madness. "All right, I want to keep getting to know you."

    ...

 Chapter 46 Perception

    "Good!" Lothur smiled and hugged Elke''s thin waist just before letting go of her and asking. "By the way, can you tell me where I can buy a mask?"

    "A mask?" She readily realized that he was thinking. "Do you want to do something against Alric?"

    "Hmm, I think he deserves a lesson for his boldness..." Lothur gave no details about his previous incident, which he was almost sure had been caused by Alric.

    "Lothur, he''s already at the 2nd Transformation. So you''d better be careful."

    "2nd Transformation, huh?" He was surprised to hear that, but that was nothing to him.

    The difference between 2nd and 3rd Transformation was not slight, so such a person should not be a problem even considering offensive items andbat techniques.

    On the other hand, his advance had been much higher than his opponent''s, so he had the surprise factor on his side!

    "Don''t worry. He''s no big deal to me."

    She thought about how he had moved earlier and did not doubt his words. "But you can''t exaggerate either. He is the son of the patriarch of the Baier family. It won''t be good to make that family angry about it."

    "Don''t worry. I won''t do anything crazy... Besides, I have a feeling they won''t recognize me." Heughed.

    "Oh? All right, then. You don''t have to go anywhere. I can give you a mask." She took something from her storage item and handed it to Lothur.

    Seeing that porcin item in her hands, Lothur epted it, promptly storing it in his own spatial ring.

    "Come on. Let''s find something to do while the geopolitics ss goes on." He said this after noticing that the strength in Elke''s legs had returned.

    And upon hearing Lothur, that woman readily agreed with him, following him toward one of the cafeterias in Sector-1 as her heart beat hurriedly.

    Elke could not believe she was following such a dangerous path, but the thrill in her heart made it worthwhile. Not only that, the idea of being with Lothur was getting more and more attractive to her, little by little putting a smile on her face.

    ''He seems so different from the rumors...''

    ''Maybe someone has ruined his reputation on purpose? I can''t believe someone like that was called a good-for-nothing!''

    ...

    Sometimeter, Lothur and Elke said their goodbyes as each of them went on to settle their affairs at this academy.

    In Lothur''s case, he found Annaliese to talk more about cultivation, finally asking that woman how cultivators sense the cultivation of others.

    Lothur had never worried about this in his few days in this world. However, noticing that Alric had grown stronger without him even realizing it had worried him a bit.

    Alric was no big deal, but there could be dangerous people in his way in the future. Therefore, this young man did not want to be in the dark when something like this happened again.

    And in talking about it with Annaliese, he discovered that sensing an opponent''s cultivation level was not as easy as one might imagine.

    The spiritual energy of cultivators, in a sense, was like a type of radiation. However, there were ways to contain this radiation, which basically prevented other individuals from noticing such a thing.

    That could be done through special cultivation techniques, unique artifacts, exceptional Physiques, or even certain cultivators'' abilities regarding spiritual maniption.

    With this, if a particr cultivator had fulfilled any of these requirements, hiding one''s cultivation from those of the same cultivation stage was not so difficult. In this situation, only at specific times, such as the middle of a fight, during cultivation, or when the cultivator himself let his aura be released, could his cultivation be easily essed.

    As for how to do this, well, it was simply through something called spiritual sense, a kind of cultivators'' sixth sense.

    That was simr to an innate ability of cultivators that grew stronger and developed as the cultivators'' level increased.

    After finding out about this, Lothur left his sister-inw and went to a green area of that academy, where he found a quiet ce to sit and meditate.

    He did not cultivate spiritual energy like other people in this world. Still, since even the Physique depended on spiritual power to function, he was sure he had spiritual energy in his body. And with that, he should also be able to use that ability.

    With that in mind, he had begun to meditate in that quiet area, trying to sense the surroundings without opening his eyes.

    ...

    After trying to do this for a while, Lothur finally felt a strange sensation, as if suddenly the darkness had taken on many colorful outlines and shapes.

    He still had his eyes closed, but it felt as if colored clouds surrounded his body, while the world looked like a sea of this stuff.

    ''Is that spiritual energy?'' He wondered in surprise.

    And just as he thought he had seeded in using his spiritual sense, he tried to scan the people in his surroundings.

    ''Incredible!''<sub> </sub>

    ''So that''s how it is...''

    Immediately after that, the system gave signs of life.

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 1]

    [STR: 1.7] [CON: 2.2] [DEX: 2.1] [AGI: 1.9]

    Lothur saw the stats of one of the people he had looked at when he opened his eyes, someone he did not know.

    ''Wow!''

    ''So the system can do something like that too!'' He smiled since that was undoubtedly a rather important ability.

    After all, he could precisely see his opponents'' strengths and weaknesses!

    But he soon put that aside when more system messages appeared in front of him.

    [+0.5 in PER.]

    ''Oh?'' His eyes widened. ''So Perception is not only rted to vision but all the skills rted to the senses...''

    ''Then I should be able to evolve this attribute as I train spiritual sense!''

    "Very good!"

    "Now I am prepared to face those people!" He stood up, determined to pursue the three people who had beaten him.

    He was only highly suspicious of one of them since only Alric had shown his feelings the most. But this Lothur was sure that the ck-haired fellow would reveal his associates or minions involved in the trouble.

    So, he quickly went on his way in search of those people!

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, a few hours had passed. At this moment, the Morning Star Academy students were already returning to their homes or the local amodation.

    Amidst the departure of these many students, Annaliese was already returning home unapanied by Lothur, already knowing he would not return with her.

    Lothur had obviously warned her that he had something to take care of, so she would not wait for him in vain.

    Hence, Lothur had followed in the footsteps of the ck-haired young man, who had not returned to his home but had gone along with two other youths to the local suburbs.

    When he noticed the strange path those three took, Lothur found it suspicious, but since it did not go against his ns, he just continued secretly pursuing them.

    He wanted to teach that cheeky fellow a good lesson, so going to the distant regions of this city was not exactly a bad thing.

    And by doing that for a few minutes, it was not long before the trio stopped next to two children, shouting arrogantly at them.

    "You miserable bastards!"

    "You sold us wrong informationst time, so get ready to pay for that!" A tall, muscr young man said this angrily, prepared to take action against the two brats at any moment.

    "Tsk!"

    "You must be mistaken! Ourwork is the best in the city!"

    "But if the information was not the most urate, it means that your target is cautious and knows how to hide information even from his shadow."

    "Don''t me us for this person''s efficiency!" One of the two said this while showing a confident front, even though he was just an ordinary mortal.

    "There''s no way we''re the problem!"

    "Humph!"

    "Say what you want. We will take our coins back or end your lives!" Alric said in a harsh tone, still feeling the fury of Lothur''s words.

    ...

 Chapter 47 Revenge

    Upon hearing Alric''s threatening words, the two youths, who could not even be 14-years-old, felt pressured, but they also did not want to have to give their coins.

    If they did this here, there was a risk that in the future, they would not be able to keep their earnings because customers would always try things like this when they did not get the best results.

    When this happened, it would be the end of their business, or maybe even their lives!

    After all, weakness could lead to abuse, and abuse would lead to more drastic situations, with the violence, of course.

    With that in mind, they could not back down in the face of those three.

    "If you will act against us, be prepared to deal with the consequences of pissing off the entire Mouse Company." The one who looked more muscr said this, trying to sound confident.

    "Mouse Company, huh?" Alric said with a contemptuous smile on his face. "What can you guys do to me, the young master of the Baier family?"

    "I think that even if I get rid of you here and now, your little group would not care, and maybe your leaders woulde and ask for my forgiveness..."

    "Haha, young master, let''s finish these idiots off in one fell swoop!" The tall, muscr young man said this while was already holding a wooden stick in his hands.

    ''Oh?''

    And Lothur promptly noticed that item that had caused him countless seconds of pain. ''So that wretch was one of the three who attacked me!''

    ''Very good! I can deal with those brats in one go!'' A smile appeared beneath the mask Lothur was wearing as he watched those people from afar.

    He did not feel ready to act yet because it seemed more interesting to let those people cause more trouble in that area.

    Lothur was not listening to the conversation of those five individuals. Still, because of the bodily disposition of each of them, he felt that things were not developing well.

    And thinking that it would be interesting to let the two sides fight so that he could perhaps use such a thing to his advantage, he just continued to watch them in silence.

    ''If they fight, there will be one more suspect to what I will do with themter...'' An even more satisfied smile formed on Lothur''s face.

    As this silver-haired man watched the situation, Alric''s group acted against the two youths, quickly beating them, something easy for them due to the difference in strength between the parties.

    As they watched the convulsing bodies of those two youths, now full of wounds on their bodies, Alric''s two minions collected the items around the bodies of their targets.

    "Tsk!"

    "Those damn rats had hardly any coins with them!" The one who seemed the weakest of the three said this angrily.

    "Looks like they know how to guard their resources..." The young man with the stick in his hands said thoughtfully. "That must be why no one hase to protect them."

    "Humph!"

    "But more important than getting my coins back, we teach these bastards a lesson," Alric said as he looked with contempt at the bloodied face of one of those two. "That''s what happens when you challenge me!"

    "Uh?"

    But just as he was getting ready to kick that individual''s head in, Alric turned on his back, realizing that someone else was in the vicinity.

    "Who are you?" He asked in an authoritative tone, looking in the direction of a masked person wearing arge ck overcoat.

    [Name: Alric Baier]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 2.8] [CON: 2.0] [DEX: 2.1] [AGI: 2.4]

    Lothur looked at the stats of his primary target while thinking about how to deal with these people.

    He could use his newly learned attack technique, but this could turn into a massacre, something he wanted to avoid.

    He did not want to leave several mutted bodies in that ce. No, he wanted to teach those three a lesson that would get them a few months off the streets.

    With that, he could not use the ax!

    ''I think I''ll get that stick for myself...'' He looked in the direction of the tall, muscr young man.

    The stick was not a weapon he had trained in. Still, as he thought about it, Lothur judged that if he used such a thing as his ax, he could cause his opponents quite a bit of pain without putting them at risk.

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 1]

    [STR: 2.2] [CON: 1.8] [DEX: 2.1] [AGI: 1.4]

    After realizing the strengths and weaknesses of that target, Lothur ignored Alric''s earlier question and made his first move!

    Cross Walk!<sub> </sub>

    In that instant, he activated his movement technique, crossing the fifteen meters separating him from his targets until he reached the back of that tall, muscr young man.

    Lothur had more than four times the Agility and nearly three times the Constitution of such a person. So, Alric''s minion did not even notice his enemy approaching his back.

    "Look out!" Alric shouted in surprise when he noticed one of the hands of that mysterious opponent stealing the wooden stick from his minion without any resistance.

    But it was already toote for that minion. Once he felt his weapon disappearing from his hands, his eyes opened wide, and he saw the shadow on his back.

    Pow!

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    The tall, muscr young man was kicked hard in one of his knees by Lothur, beginning to cry out in pain. At the same time, he fell to the ground and felt that part of his body in an unnatural position.

    "Bastard!" Alric''s other minion shouted in hatred as he saw the result of a single attack from this mysterious enemy, feeling how vicious such a person was.

    ''He wanted to screw with my knee earlier, so it''s only fair to let him feel some of his own medicine!'' Lothur had no regrets about kicking his target''s knee while feeling incredible for ''fighting'' here.

    But as Alric looked at the situation, he suddenly turned pale, examining in terror the enemy in front of him. ''That''s a cultivator of at least 3rd Transformation!'' His back shivered as he thought the worst.

    The strength used earlier by Lothur was definitely more significant than that of someone at the 2nd Transformation. Therefore, Alric already knew that his opponent had the power of at least 3rd Transformation. However, since he felt nothing of his enemy''s cultivation, he was starting to get nervous about having to face someone even more substantial than that!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I''ll have to run!'' He made up his mind before turning and started running away, abandoning his two minions.

    After seeing that, Lothur wasted no time. He looked at the other minion who was next to him and leaped into the air. He then spun his body in a direction that directed much of his strength in one of his feet against his opponent''s arms.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    Both of that young man''s thin arms immediately fractured at several different points, with him flying backward until he fell onto the ground, bawling in pain.

    Then, Lothur again used his movement technique to stop Alric''s escape.

    "Damn it!"

    "Bastard! Do you know who I am? You dare to touch the Baier family heir?" Alric said amidst his agitated breathing, appealing to the only thing that could save him at the moment.

    Unfortunately for him, his opponent was not the type to be intimidated by mere words.

    "Is that so?" Lothur finally said something, but due to the mask on his face, his voice was muffled enough for that young man to recognize him. "Well, let me tell you something..."

    "Your family is not here!"

    "I''ll make sure you never forget that!" Finally, Lothur reached Alric and spun the stick in the air until he attacked his target in the direction of his enemy''s groin.

    "Oh, no..." Alric shuddered in fear as he realized where Lothur''s attack was heading, already with tears in his eyes.

    Crack!

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A thunderous cry of desperation came from that young man''s throat, startling even the two already highly injured young men.

    ''That''s for trying to hurt me the other day!'' Lothur kept that stick on Alric''s groin, pressing hard on such a thing.

    After that, he used the stick again, this time to hit that young man in the shins. ''That''s for trying to interfere in my rtionship with Elke!''

    Pow!

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    ...

    ''That''s for thinking about my woman!''

    Pow!

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    Finally, after several blows, Lothur had hit both of Alric''s arms and legs and finished ''smashing'' what was in the groin of such an opponent.

    In the midst of this, Alric fainted in pain, as did his minions, who had fainted even earlier due to the terror of having seen Lothur doing such cruelty to their leader.

    However, when he was finished with that person, Lothur did not forgive those two. Instead, he made a point of beating them some more, making sure that each of them became even worse than he was after that beating a few days ago.

    ...

 Chapter 48 A Little Leisure, A Little Distress

    After finishing those three people, Lothur wasted no time and ran from that area, using his movement technique to move away from there.

    He had not taken anything from those people since he was not a criminal who robbed his opponents. But, on the other hand, there was always the risk of stolen items being traced, so doing such a thing did not seem attractive to him.

    Hence, besides taking revenge on those people, Lothur aplished nothing else on that asion, having just left the three and the two children from before lying in that area.

    After this, he changed his clothes before arriving in a busier part of the city and also put away the mask he had received from Elke earlier.

    ''Wow!''

    ''That was truly amazing!'' He smiled as he returned home, feeling a sense of gratification throughout his being.

    ''Is this how cultivators feel when dealing with weaker people?''

    ''Magnificent!'' He looked down at his hands, feeling his strength.

    ''No wonder that fellow tried to challenge me earlier! He advanced and was overconfident about defeating me in front of the students in Sector-1!''

    A smile then formed on his lips. "Unfortunately, his opponent was me, hehe."

    While thinking about the recent events, Lothur passed in front of the central square of this city, a very well organized and brightly lit ce where people usually strolled at this time of night.

    Several of the province''s best restaurants and upscale stores were located there, establishments that stayed opente into the night.

    And while these services were the most used in this ce, there were people there who were just walking or having fun in the open air, near the central statue of this city.

    In the middle of that square was a 10-meter high statue, made entirely of a super-strong metal alloy, which guaranteed the durability of this historical monument made in honor of the founder of this city.

    Such an individual had created this ce more than 30,000 years ago, at a time before the current dynasty. And even considering the political change, his statue remained there, and hisst name became the name of the city where Lothur now lived.

    But this was not surprising. ording to the legends, such a person had been an Origin Saint in his time, someone that even members of the Leopoldine Dynasty dared not offend.

    And seeing the statue of that individual, Lothur could not help but click his tongue, imagining the stories of this cultivation world, of the adventures such a person must have experienced.

    ''Origin Saint, huh? There must be no one else of that level here in Peters City... Why has the home of someone like that changed so much?'' He wondered as he looked in the direction of that statue.

    But as he smelled the fragrance of meating from one of the kiosks in that area, Lothur put that matter aside, feeling his mouth salivate.

    "Buddy, how much is the portion?" He asked as he reached the side of one of the attendants in that ce.

    "10 bronze coins per serving. You can choose the type of meat you want and one more side dish." The man, who looked to be about 30-years-old, said this as he pointed to the extensive menu on one of the walls of that ce.

    ''10 bronze coins? What a robbery!'' Lothur''s eyes widened as he looked at that individual.

    This amount of coins was not much, but considering that he ate five meals a day and did not even work, paying such an amount for a single meal seemed like a lot.

    However, his stomach was already rumbling, and being in that ce, Lothur shook his hands and waved to the guy, indicating for him to prepare a portion.

    ...

    Sometimeter, one of the servants of House Baier, who was responsible for driving Alric''s carriage, finally met the young man.

    Earlier Alric''s group had followed separately to their meeting with the two young members of the Mouse Company.

    After all, they intended to do things they should not do in that ce and, as such, had left such a person waiting for them at the academy.

    But after more than two hours of waiting for them, this man had begun to sense that something was wrong and followed the tracks of his young master and those two ''friends'' of Alric.

    In this way, he had reached that isted ce where five injured bodies were lying in the middle of the same street Lothur had acted earlier.

    "Young master!" This middle-aged man, ck and white hair, a little overweight, shouted as he ran toward the bloodied Alric.

    As he came closer to that young man, the servant soon realized the extreme condition of Alric''s body, which, as much as it was not at risk, was bruised to a worrying extent.

    ''How could this have happened? How did the young master end up in this state?'' His eyes fluttered in disbelief as he looked at Alric with pity.

    He then once again observed the two children in that ce and soon recognized them. ''Those are members of the Mouse Company.''<sub> </sub>

    ''What did the young master want here?''

    ''No, that doesn''t matter now! The most important thing is that the young master was injured in this ce while he was with these people!''

    ''I must find out if the Mouse Company dared to act against the young master!'' He made up his mind just before taking the five bodies in that ce to Alric''s carriage.

    For the moment, he could not dy in taking Alric back to the Baier estate. Still, he would soon begin to investigate this matter.

    With this in mind, this person could not leave anyone behind!

    ...

    Some more timeter, the patriarch of the Baier family finally left his son''s room with a livid expression on his face, full of anger at what had happened.

    "How dare anyone do this to my son?" He shouted for everyone in his residence to hear him, as looks of hatred spread throughout that ce.

    Alric''s mother, who at the moment had tears in her eyes, ignored her husband''s fit of rage and looked thoughtfully at the family doctor.

    "Doctor Straub, isn''t there anything you can do for my son? We cannot ept this loss!" She said, looking out the door of Alric''s room from where she was picturing the scene she saw earlier.

    Her son''s groin had been so brutalized that Alric''s two precious jewels had beenpletely crushed!

    At the same time, his little friend, who had once looked healthy and growing bigger and bigger, now looked like a dented hose, full of bruises.

    Thinking about how this could affect her only son''s future, that woman could not help but question that doctor about the future of Alric''s manhood.

    "Sigh..." An old man with a mustache and long white hair sighed deeply, expressing his regret in his expression.

    "Madam Baier, my abilities are limited, so I cannot say for certain the young master''s future."

    "But as far as I am concerned, I am sorry to inform you, but I cannot imagine the young master fully recovering from this loss."

    "I believe he may regain some of his manhood with time. But only the future can tell us whether he will be fertile or even able to fulfill his responsibilities as a man."

    "I believe that even the Coroner Klossner would be unable to do anything in this situation..." Hemented in a low voice, quoting the best doctor in the province.

    "That..." Alric''s mother shuddered upon hearing that.

    "That can''t be!" Alric''s aunt, who was also there, shouted angrily, finding it uneptable that her nephew would meet such a tragic fate. "There must be something we can do!"

    But doctor Straub did not know what to say to these people. ''Whoever did this, such a person has certainly destroyed this young man''s future.''

    ''There is no way his body can fully recover from something like that!'' He pondered silently, thinking that if Alric was younger, such a thing could be reversed. But since that individual was already nearing his biological maturity, there was not much his body could do.

    ''Well, at least he can recover from his other injuries without affecting his talent.'' He sighed, remembering that there were men in this world who did not involve themselves in certain worldly matters...

    "We can''t leave little Alric like that!"

    "That is uneptable!"

    "How will the young master continue the family lineage like that?"

    "Ah, what a tragedy!"

    Severalments arose in that area as the Baier patriarch boiled with anger.

    "Ahhh! I will kill whoever did that!" Such an individual shouted with all his might, looking in the direction of his son.

    "Addler! Addler!"

    "Go investigate that matter alongside servant Lanzo!"

    "I want you to bring me the person responsible for this incident as soon as possible!" He gave his orders to one of his subordinates there.

 Chapter 49 Province Conference

    Sometimeter, Lothur entered his room with a peaceful look on his face, wishing he could lie in his bed and sleep until the next day.

    After his ''full'' recovery and resolution of the situation with Annaliese, Viktoria had allowed him to return to this room. She had no interest in keeping him in her residence for too long.

    So, this man was back in his humble room, where he barely had space to train.

    But since it was alreadyte at night, Lothur was not interested in training today, even more so considering the ''exercise'' he had just done.

    With this in mind, right after changing his clothes, hey down on his bed and closed his eyes.

    Pa!

    But as trouble alwayses at the worst of times, just as he was about to fall asleep, his door was mmed by someone.

    "Hell. Who knocks on other people''s doors in the middle of the night?" He asked aloud, making an angry expression as he looked at his door.

    "Lothur, it''s me. Open the door." Viktoria said in a low voice, but enough for him to hear her perfectly well.

    "Tsk!"

    After that, he opened his door as his eyes squinted in the brightness of that hallway, trying to observe the beauty dressed in an elegant blue outfit. "Viktoria, what do you want now? Couldn''t this wait until dawn?"

    Viktoria then ignored his inelegant questions and entered that room uninvited.

    She sat on one end of his bed and said. "My parents wanted to have dinner with you earlier, but I couldn''t find you. Where were you?"

    Lothur ignored her question and asked her what the problem was. "What do your parents want from me? Is your mother not satisfied with annoying me once a week, by any chance? Does she want to increase the frequency of our meetings?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t you dare say that again!" She stood up from where she was, looking at him warily. "If anyone hears you saying that, you won''t even need strangers to beat you up. She wille here to finish you off!"

    But Lothur did not show any regret. Instead, he closed his eyes and smiled at the beauty holding one of his arms. "So? Why are you here?"

    "Have you gotten used to sleeping in the same room as your husband and couldn''t stand the longing?"

    "You have a vivid imagination..." Sheughed, knowing that getting angry at hisments would not solve the situation. "But that''s okay. You kept dreaming about it."

    "In the meantime, I came here to warn you about a problem."

    Lothur''s eyes widened upon hearing this, with him finallying out of his sleepy state to look at her meaningfully.

    He then listened. "In a month, we will have the Province Conference, a meeting of the local powers that takes ce every 20 years."

    The Province Conference was actually apetition between the local powers that could guarantee advantages based on the final ranking of the organizations participating in the event.

    Among these advantages were the right to vacancies in the Morning Star Academy, the exploration of mining and agricultural areas, and even the privilege regarding certain taxes levied by the imperial family.

    The local academy was apetitive ce, where many people entered through its rigorous selection process. However, noble organizations always had more people with qualifications to enter that institution than there were ces offered through selections.

    As such, gaining a good cement in the Province Conference could guarantee a more significant number of a given family''s talents entering that institution.

    On the other hand, even though families had their territories, the entire empire belonged to the Leopoldine family. Each noble house just took care of smaller parts of that vast state for that power.

    At the end of the day, each noble family had to pay taxes and report possible developments to the imperial family, who could make demands and collect taxes at any time.

    Of course, this did not happen ording to the emperor''s every wish. After all, taking everything from his vassals, demanding more than should, or coveting certain items too much was the form for rebellions.

    But even though there werews that provided that families could stay away from imperial punishments, there were ways for this state''s rulers to distribute more or less power to those organizations.<sub> </sub>

    Among them was the administration of some exceptional regions, which were granted to the organizations that demonstrated the best performance in the conferences of their respective provinces.

    Because of these and other minor advantages, families like Viktoria''s valued such an event highly!

    Viktoria looked significantly at the man in front of her and said. "We thought you wouldn''t have to participate in this before, so I never said anything to you."

    "But as we tried to register our members without your presence, we were barred by other local families."

    Lothur understood what she was about to tell him and felt a headache.

    "We didn''t have anything to do. Thepetition is simply too important to risk our participation. So get ready to apany us to this event in the next few weeks."

    He pressed his jaw hard and faced that woman face to face. "And how am I supposed to participate in thispetition? Are there mortals in this? Will I have to fight, or are there different tests regarding that?"

    Lothur already knew what the Province Conference was since the primary content of his geopolitics sses was precisely about Linn Province.

    But he did not know how the final ranking of thatpetition was determined.

    "Sigh..."

    "It''s hard to say. That could vary. But in any case, even if you have to fight, just give up after you get on stage."

    "It''s not like it will make any difference anyway..." She looked away as she said that.

    "Good!" Lothurmented without showing his difort at having to hear such words.

    She watched him for a moment, finally realizing something Annaliese had told her earlier.

    "Is there something else?" He asked as he realized that she did not seem intent on leaving.

    "What were you doing to have been sote? In fact, these past two days, you have not stayed at my residence as you had promised. So, what have you been doing?"

    Upon hearing such questioning, Lothur simply walked to his bed andy down, intending to sleep.

    "If you have nothing more to say, close the door after you leave..."

    He looked at her already lying on that bed, andughed. "Of course, if you want to join me, I won''t mind."

    Lothur did not like this woman''s questioning, which made it seem as if he owed her something as if he was her subordinate. But in his view, epting this behavior from her by answering her questions was like encouraging her to continue behaving this way.

    Thus, instead of being honest with her, he preferred to keep silent so as not to encourage her to continue with this approach.

    "Lothur!" Viktoria walked over to his bedside and watched him intensely, wanting to teach him some good manners.

    But seeing his rxed expression, of one who was about to fall asleep, she sped her hands tightly and left that ce in a hurry, indignant that he did not obey her.

    ''That bastard!''

    ''How can he behave like that? Before he acted as if he was ready to answer me anything I asked!''

    ''But now... Now!''

    "I have to do something!" She muttered as she entered her residence, heading towards her training ce to release some frustration from dealing with that uncontroble man.

    ''He needs to return to my control! Otherwise, this will only get worse!''

    And while Viktoria was thinking of ways to get Lothur in line, he was already sleeping peacefully in his room, dreaming of what he would do to Elke in the future.

 Chapter 50 Choosing An Academy Mission

    Another day began in Peters City, where Lothur was already arriving at the academy alongside Annaliese.

    He had spent a great night''s sleep in his room and woke up early for another day in this ce, satisfied that he had gotten rid of three problems the night before.

    In addition, now that Lothur had his first taste of actualbat, he was eager to begin his climb to the top of the Morning Star Academy''s ranking.

    He had already thought that at some point, he should start doing the missions issued by that institution. Still, previously he had been busy doing other things.

    Not only had he been building up strength to protect himself. But he had also spent several hours learning about the cultivation world, specifically the Linn Province.

    Even though he had a practically endless study path ahead of him, he believed he was already minimally capable of experiencing a bit more of this world.

    So today, Lothur intended to stop by the Sector-1 Mission Hall, where he finally wanted to choose a mission to carry out in theing days.

    ...

    Saying goodbye to Annaliese, Lothur followed the path Elke showed him previously to the area where the Mission Hall was.

    But as he was walking through that area, he suddenly found Anneke in his path, who was heading towards her responsibilities at the moment.

    And seeing that bold man waving at her, Professor Koch remembered what she had seen the day before and decided to approach Lothur to answer some of her curiosities.

    "Lothur, what are you doing in this ce? Isn''t it time for you to be in one of your sses?" That woman dressed in a beautiful set of blue and ck clothes asked this as she walked side by side with him, not showing any more intimacy than she should have.

    "Oh? Anne, you care about me far more than I thought... I wonder if you''ve fallen in love?"

    "Tsk!"

    "You brat, why don''t you just answer me?" She looked at him unhappily but managed to avoid any more meaningful reaction. "In fact, why are you hiding underneath the farce of a good-for-nothing?"

    "Don''t try to fool me with your nonsense this time. I clearly saw you using a technique yesterday."

    After hearing that, Lothur looked more carefully at Anneke but continued walking toward his destination.

    After a while in silence, he said to her. "It is not right to say that I was hiding before. What is right is that I am doing it now."

    "What? What do you mean by that?" Her expression changed after those words were spoken.

    Not only had she not understood, but she had also been surprised at the answer he had given her.

    Anneke had expected some lie or that he would simply ignore her. But suddenly, he had told her that, without showing any sign that he was lying.

    And indeed, Lothur had no reason to lie or try to deceive this woman. After all, Anneke had seen him in action; whether he wanted to or not, she could already spoil his ns if she so chose.

    "Well, unless there is a way to hide the results of tests done byrge noble families, then there would be no way for me to hide."

    She gave him a strange look, understanding that there were no ways to cheat aptitude tests in this world.

    Even the strongest cultivators could not do this as specific cultivation rules were independent of how influential someone was or their talents. Nevertheless, once an aptitude test was taken, there would always be some result.

    That could be the specific result, indicating the characteristics of the cultivator tested. Or it could be an abnormal phenomenon caused by the divergence in the quality of the apparatus used and the characteristics of the individual tested.

    In any case, there was always some signal, so Anneke knew Lothur couldn''t hide from such tests.

    "As for now, why simply go out announcing to the world your good fortune when you can keep it to yourself?"

    Lothur had his lofty goals, to put himself in a position that would be looked up to by many in one way or another. But he did not do this out of simple interest in attracting others'' attention but for the sake of the benefits of power.

    Since he was too far from achieving anything relevant to be eye-catching, there was no reason for him to reveal himself to other people.

    "Is that right?" She stopped walking in the middle of the Mission Hall, causing him also to stop. "And how did you get this good fortune?"

    "I don''t know. Why don''t you tell me?" He opens his arms, looking at her with a smile on his face.

    As the two stood there in that position, the people in the surrounding area were already watching them strangely, as it looked as if Lothur was about to hug the beautiful Professor Koch.<sub> </sub>

    "Hey, are you seeing this?"

    "Of course! Do you think I''m blind?"

    "So, there seems to be something strange between those two..."

    "Yes, they don''t seem to recognize where they are..."

    "Sigh..."

    "Did it have to be Professor Koch? Ah, another lost beauty!"

    Comments appeared in the surroundings as Anneke''s calm face gained a slight blush since she was listening to several of thesements very well.

    ? ''This Lothur...''

    ''Is he doing this on purpose? Does he want to embarrass me to stop me from asking my questions?'' She bit her lower lip, feeling cowed by this man who had only been at this academy for a week.

    "Tsk!"

    "We''ll continue our conversation another day, student Ritter."

    After that, she quickly walked away from that area, letting that man turn his way back to where he could find the missions.

    Knowing how this ce worked because of Elke''s advice, Lothur quickly went to arge mural with several posters with missions.

    In this Mission Hall, as in the other sectors of this institution, any student could choose the missions of his level from the options avable on the mission board of his sector.

    Thus, if such a student had the minimum qualifications necessary to do a particr mission, the Mission Hall administration responsible for the mission would authorize this.

    They would pass on the responsibility of the mission to the student or group of students that wanted tomit to it, making a slight adjustment to the ID of such people.

    So, students could try their luck doing these missions, which of course, had to be proven when they were done, or possible benefits rted to them would not be paid.

    Knowing the limitations of this ce, Lothur could not help but sigh for a moment since he could not take missions much above the level of a Sector-1 student.

    That was because Sector-1 missions were naturally meant to challenge the people in this sector. But, on the other hand, for someone who wanted to attempt moreplex missions, such an individual would have to move up a sector, something challenging to do in a short time.

    That was because, in order to move from one sector to the next, a student needed to pass several tests, among them thepletion of 10 sessful missions in the past 12 months.

    Even if he had the necessary knowledge to move up a sector, which he did not, Lothur would be unable to do missions of other sectors of this academy.

    But this man understood why this was so.

    This was a ce of education first and foremost. As such, it was to be expected that the missions of this academy would not be given to just anyone, or some of the more ambitious students would die in droves!

    With that in mind, Lothur soon began to read the title of the posters in front of him.

    ''Training mission...''

    ''Bodyguard mission...''

    ''Medicinal collector mission...''

    ''Human guinea pig... Debt collector... Specialized essory..." He muttered to himself, realizing that there were all sorts of missions, even those that seemed unrted to spiritual cultivation.

    At the same time, the prizes promised for those missions were around 200-400 bronze coins and 20-40 merit points.

    But some possibilities provided extra prizes, as in the case of someone who helped collect medicines and could earn part of their harvest.

    Realizing the possibilities in front of him, Lothur spent some time thinking about what to choose until one of those missions stood out to him.

    ...

 Chapter 51 Mission And Worry

    As he held the paper of one of those missions in his hands, Lothur decided that this seemed the best alternative for him.

    None of those missions seemed to require dangerous things from the students willing to try toplete them. However, some basically involved more technical skills, and others depended on some more physical activity.

    But in general, most of the missions in this sector took ce within Peters City itself, while a few involved short trips to some forest or vige nearby.

    Thinking about how he was not so interested in technical missions at this time when he still had a lot to learn, Lothur decided on something simple.

    He took a medicinal gathering mission, which required him to gather 10 kilograms of Tooth Grass, a spice found in a forest 15 kilometers north, 20 kilometers west of this academy.

    Such a mission had a deadline of one week toplete and paid 300 bronze coins and 30 merit points for thepetition.

    At the end of the mission, the student or group that took it had to take the Tooth Grass to an establishment in the center of Peters City, a ce called the Root Cave.

    Being decided on this mission, Lothur promptly made his way to the student service zone in the Mission Hall, ready to take on such a task.

    "Hello, this is my first time taking a mission here..." He exined to the middle-aged woman standing on the other side of arge counter that many other people were doing the same as him at the moment.

    "Oh?" That woman smiled in surprise but soon gave Lothur some instructions. "If that is the case, I must tell you to be careful when choosing a mission."

    "Missions may give you benefits at the academy, but risks are always involved."

    "For example, it is not umon for outsiders to try to pay for missions at our institution and, because of the price, lie about certain information."

    "We do what we can to avoid manipted information in the missions avable here, but it is impossible to stop such casespletely."

    "A desperate person takes desperate measures at the cost of other people''s lives." She looked carefully at Lothur, passing on a bit from her experiences to this neer that she had liked the look.

    "With that said, never take the information provided by the contractor for granted and use your best judgment to make your own decisions."

    After hearing that, Lothur felt surprised but also grateful to hear such wise words.

    She then continued. "On the other hand, even if the information left by the contractor is true, that doesn''t mean everything will go ording to n."

    "Many students fail at this, and when they least expect it, they lose points for not fulfilling their missions."

    "They lose points?" Lothur asked this in doubt.

    "Yes, when you fail a mission, you indirectly damage the image of Morning Star Academy. Hence, when you fail a certain mission, you lose 50% of the merit points promised as a prize for that mission."

    She looked at the paper Lothur had ced in front of her and continued. "In the case of this mission, if you fail, you will lose 15 merit points."

    "Since this is your first time doing a mission, you would be left with a negative bnce of 15 points in such a situation."

    "That..."

    "Finally, if you want to upgrade your sector in the future, one of the academy''s requirements is merit points."

    "You need to use them to pay to take the ascension exam, so if your points are negative or too low, you may never get that advancement."

    ''Wow!''

    ''This academy truly stimtes its students!'' Lothur was impressed, but he did not lose his will to climb the rankings of this ce.

    The opposite of that, knowing how difficult the journey was, he had only felt an even greater desire to win in this ce!

    "Hmm, that''s okay, I understand."

    "Well, since you are aware, I just need your ID item to register this mission in your name." Shemented with a smile on her face as she took the item that was in Lothur''s hands.

    "All done, Lothur. This mission is now registered in your name. You have until one week or one business day after thest day of the deadline to bring back its results."

    "After that, we will consider that you have failed."

    "Hmm, okay. Thank you very much for the information." He smiled and said goodbye to that woman, satisfied that he had taken his first assignment.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Well, that doesn''t sound as exciting as I had originally imagined, but I will at least be able to start my way towards the top of that ranking.'' He looked to the side where the obelisk in Sector-1 was.<sub> </sub>

    ''On the other hand, I can do missions in the Cultivation House whenever I want.''

    "Very well!"

    ''I''llplete this mission this weekend!'' He made up his mind just before going towards the library, where he still had stacks of books to read.

    ...

    After a while, it was already lunchtime in Peters City when Lothur left the library in Sector-1 to find a ce to eat.

    However, as he walked toward one of the local cafeterias, he met up with a woman who was already looking for him.

    "Lothur,e with me!" Elke said this in an agitated tone as she took one of his wrists and directed him away from the busy area he was in.

    "Elke, I know our rtionship is excellent, but can you at least give me a hello before you take me away like this?" He teased her, smiling at seeing this woman acting so determinedly.

    Upon hearing this, Elke blushed but said nothing about his flirtation. Instead, she went straight to the point regarding what she had heard the night before.

    "Lothur..." She looked at him and realized they were no longer in a bustling ce. "Alric was beaten the night before until he was..."

    Gulp!

    "Until he was crippled!" She said in a whispery voice after looking both ways, confirming that no one else would hear her.

    "Oh? Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

    "Lothur..." She looked at him with aplicated expression on her face. "Did you do that?"

    He was silent, looking at her in a way that she could not doubt what his answer would be.

    "Why did you do that? I heard that the Baier patriarch wants to kill you! Because of that, you don''t know the danger you are in now!"

    But Lothur was not bothered by this and brought her closer to him. "Only you and I know about this, so I doubt they will find out that someone without cultivation did that..."

    "On the other hand, even if they suspect something, they won''t act openly against me since they can''t prove that I''m responsible for anything."

    She frowned her eyebrows and said. "Noble families are not known for acting openly, but rather under the covers!"

    "They won''t care about evidence. They will go after you when they think you are the only reasonable variable!"

    Seeing the concern in her eyes, Lothur eased his natural confidence and gave her a good reason for his actions. "I had no choice, Elke."

    "I know there are problems with acting against people like that, but when someone is cornered, sometimes hitting the monster in their path head-on is the only alternative."

    He then got honest, but without giving too many details. "Alric has not only tried to get involved in our affairs, but he has also tried to act against me before."

    "Our situation had already passed the point where we could shake hands." He looked her in the eye seriously. "He needed to suffer that, or situations like the one before would continue to recur."

    "I don''t regret what I did, Elke."

    "Sigh..."

    "So you two already had a past..." She sighed in defeat, feeling bad about it all.

    "What are we going to do now?"

    "Don''t worry. I''m already working on something."

    And indeed he was. Lothur had not expected to have to deal with a vengeful family right at his start in this ce. But terrible or not, that made no difference to his journey. He was not training to deal with only one revenge, but for the journey of power, in search of his freedom.

    So he was already preparing himself for every kind of variable simr to this, as he sought to be stronger and better informed about the situation of the ce he was in.

    Thus, he had not lost his calm and wasforting Elke!

    ...

 Chapter 52 A Place Of Our Own

    "I hope you do have a way to work this out..." She said in a low voice as she leaned her face against his chest, worried about the future of this man who had given her so many thrills.

    "Don''t worry too much about that for now. I''ll at least have some more time before they try to approach me with suspicion." Heforted her, ying with Elke''s wavy red hair.

    ''Not as long as I would like.'' She then sighed deeply and said softly. "Yes, that is probably true..."

    After a few seconds of silence, Lothur continued hugging her and said. "Anyway, since you''re already here, why don''t we find something to do? I have the next hour free before continuing my business."

    "Oh?" Her eyes sparkled as she remembered something she had aplished the night before. "Speaking of which, I have something perfect for us to do now."

    "Really? And what would that be?"

    She looked at him with a genuine smile and said excitedly. "Yesterday, I spoke with my family, and they gave me permission to find a ce for me in the academy dormitory."

    "With that, I just need to go to the administration of Sector-1 to do the formalities, and then I will get a more private ce for us."

    Hearing this, Lothur smiled, pleased by this woman''s initiative. "That''s perfect."

    "Let''s do it now!" He took one of her hands and promptly started his way towards the administration of this sector while thinking about how convenient such a thing would be.

    And seeing Lothur''s determined look, Elke smiled graciously, following him as she felt a magnificent sensation in her being, which made her forget about the previous problem.

    ''What will we do after that?'' Her face got all flushed as she looked at Lothur''s body.

    ...

    Upon arriving at the local administration, Lothur and Elke sat in the waiting area of that ce, waiting for the person in charge of the academy dormitory.

    And while doing so, the two were talking about matters that every institution student had to engage in.

    "I picked up my first mission today, Elke."

    "Oh? Are you already going to do that? Many students only do their first missions after months of studying here." She looked at him curiously, a little worried.

    Elke naturally had many questions about Lothur, as she had already observed and noted a number of peculiar characteristics about him, mysteries that made her eager to learn more about his story.

    Things like his talent and his unexined presence in Sector-1. The fact that he was much stronger than people from Sector-1, but she could not sense any cultivation in his body. And also the strange stories rted to the good-for-nothing Frost family son-inw.

    All this and more had been making this woman think about him constantly, having even had her dreams invaded by Lothur.

    And hearing that he was already getting involved with thepetitive part of the academy had stirred some of her concerns. After all, if he was too quick, that might not be the best thing for her.

    Lothur then said. "Well, as I told you first, I want to reach the top of this academy. So, I must start doing those missions as soon as possible."

    "Speaking of which, since there is a possibility of team missions, why don''t we work together on something? That could be beneficial to us in many ways..."

    "That..." She looked at him in surprise, not expecting such an invitation.

    Usually, she would not like joining other people as it would mean having to share responsibilities, which bothered her, especially given her low talent. But doing it with Lothur was rtively tempting.

    "I''m not sure..."

    "I don''t want to get in your way." She looked away from him, embarrassed.

    Lothur then put one of his hands around her waist and said quietly. "I doubt that you will get in my way. In fact, there are many ways you can help me during academy missions."

    "Is that so? How?"

    "Simple, you are smarter and have more information than I do. So obviously, we make a good duo!"

    "As for raw power, you shouldn''t worry about that. I would never let a woman of mine take unnecessary risks." He smiled.

    Elke turned even redder after hearing those words, but she felt great to hear that from him.

    ''Other than that, we can work on your talent in the future.'' He looked at her mysteriously.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 1]

    [STR: 1.2] [CON: 1.8] [DEX: 2.3] [AGI: 2.6]<sub> </sub>

    Lothur could not see other people''s talent as that was a mental attribute, something difficult to quantify using only his Perception. But even though he did not know how much this characteristic of Elke''s was worth, he understood that it should not be high.

    In any case, there were cultivation resources in this world that could increase one''s talent, so he did not think it was a waste of time to be by Elke''s side.

    There was no telling about tomorrow; he might not even be in this world in a year. So, worrying about her future at the moment was the least of his worries.

    He, Lothur, preferred to live in the moment!

    Therefore, even though he was not in love with Elke at the moment, he had an interest in being with her and helping her solve that problem, if possible.

    Thus, he was not worried about her low talent.

    He then continued. "On the other hand, I can see that you will soon reach the 2nd Transformation. So it will be a good thing if we can umte merit points together."

    She smiled and turned sideways to him as she used one of her hands to scratch her eyes, hiding a tear that had just dripped from one of her eyes.

    "Then I''ll do it the way you said..." Shemented softly, just before her name was called by the person in charge of the local dormitory.

    "Elke Becker, room number 3."

    After hearing this, the two got up and headed towards that room in the same area Lothur had visited just a few days ago.

    Just as they were walking down the corridor there, the two came across the director of this sector, a middle-aged man with a long beard and gray hair.

    Seeing that young man standing there, the director stopped in front of Lothur and Elke, curious.

    "Lothur?"

    "What are you doing here?" He found it strange that such a troublemaker was apanying the youngdy of the Becker family. ''This guy...''

    ''Don''t tell me he''s disturbing this student?'' The director remembered Lothur''s dirty record, worried if thisd was already about to break the rules of this institution.

    The Morning Star Academy naturally did not prevent its students from having rtionships, as long as they were adults, of course. However, any kind of harassment, stalking, ckmail, or things like that was forbidden by this institution.

    Thinking about these rules, that man soon became concerned about Elke being pursued by Lothur.

    Lothur then replied. "I am apanying my friend Elke."

    "Is there a problem?"

    "Friend?" The director repeated this, not believing Lothur one bit.

    Finally, he looked at Elke and got straight to the point. "Miss Becker, is he telling the truth? If he is bothering you, just say the word, and I will solve whatever problem there is."

    Elke looked surprisingly at that man, finding all this distrust of Lothur strange. ''He acts as if Lothur is an ouw...''

    ''How disrespectful for a director!''

    She said. "Lothur and I have only known each other for a short time, but we became friends after showing him the academy."

    "What?" That man almost choked dry upon hearing that. "Is that true?"

    "Sure, I wouldn''t lie to you, director."

    <o>,m "That..." He looked at Lothur surprisedly, giving this young man credit. ''It seems that this fellow has skills with women.''</o>

    "Sigh..."

    "All right, go on your way."

    ...

    After talking for almost 20 minutes with the person in charge of the local dormitory, Elke and Lothur had heard the rules of that area and then retrieved the room key she was entitled to.

    Elke''s family was wealthy, so after her parents'' approval, she got a good ce in the local dormitory.

    Hence, she had not had topete for the standard rooms with other students and immediately got a nice 60-square meter room in one of the better buildings in the local dormitory.

    Knowing where her room was, Elke promptly led the way for Lothur.

 Chapter 53 Not Today

    Upon entering Elke''s room, the two immediately faced an environment that was much more than just a bedroom.

    As expected of a 60-square meter environment, there was not just a ce to sleep but items and space for aplete leisure experience.

    For example, there was arge bathroom in that ce, which was not only spacious but also had a round bathtub that could amodate more than one person at a time.

    At the same time, every item of decoration in that ce, from the paintings on the walls to the light fixtures, and even doorknobs, were all good quality and beautiful materials to look at.

    Besides these details, there was a small area with a dining table and sofa tofortably receive up to 5 people. Finally, there was the resting area, where arge double bed was well-positioned near arge window.

    Looking at this ce for a few moments, Lothur was surprised at the quality and size of this ''room.''

    ''And I thought the dormitory here would only offer a room like mine...'' He smiled quietly, realizing how humble he was.

    "This ce looks nice, Elke."

    Lothur approached that woman who was also getting to know this ce and asked in a toneden with hidden intentions. "How often do you intend toe here?"

    "Uh?" She turned to him, not knowing how to answer that question. "I think every day during the intervals. Other than that, I don''t think I''ll be able to stay here much longer."

    "Is that so?" He brought her closer to himself, understanding that it would not be easy for her to suddenly start sleeping in the academy. ''Well, it wouldn''t be easy for me to do that either, so that''s not a problem for the moment.''

    "If that''s the case, we must make the most of our time in this ce, right?"

    "Oh?" A genuine smile appeared on Elke''s lips as she felt her body, little by little, melting in Lothur''s arms.

    After that, she ced one of her hands between his chest, feeling this man''s muscles as she looked intensely at his lips. "I think you''re right..."

    She then took the initiative and bit Lothur''s lower lip before continuing her y, kissing him passionately.

    This time they were not in a public ce, so Elke was several times more at ease, willing to do things she would not do with Lothur in other ces.

    On the other hand, by ying this game with Lothur for thest few days, she was slowly learning how to ''dance'' with him, already taking the initiative and testing things on her mind.

    "Mmmmm~"

    The two kissed as they went back and forth through that ce, sometimes bumping themselves against the furniture in their way, approaching therge double bed there.

    While they were doing that, Lothur used his skillful hands to unbutton Elke''s clothes, with his heart pulsing strongly due to the desire he felt now.

    ''Hehe, at this rate, I''ll be able to solve this body''s ''problem'' in no time.'' Heughed internally, thinking about how well things were developing with Elke.

    However, this young man was still further away than he would have liked from this little goal of his.

    "Lothur~"

    "Lothur, don''t..." Elke broke her kiss with him, finally stopping the shameless hands of this man who had already wholly unbuttoned the top of her clothes.

    Lothur then opened his eyes and looked at the beauty in his arms, this redhead who had part of her ck bra showing at the moment. At the same time, her well-defined abdomen could be seen through the crack of her half-unbuttoned shirt.

    "What? I thought you were enjoying it." He said this in a low voice, continuing with other movements, quickly bringing his lips closer to her bare neck.

    "Yes, I am, but we can''t do that~" She tried to say that as she felt goosebumps all over her body, determined not to give herself away wholly today.

    "At least not today..."

    "Oh?" Lothur finally stopped his movements to look into her eyes. "All right, then. But what do you want to do?"

    "Can you do what you did before?" Her cheeks turned even rosier as a strange sensation spread through her body.

    "Right away, Miss..."

    ...<sub> </sub>

    After some time, Lothur returned to his room in the Frost family estate.

    After saying goodbye to Elke earlier, he went on with his business at the Morning Star Academy, having spent most of his time in the library in Sector-1. In addition, he had also continued his conversations regarding spiritual cultivation with Annaliese.

    And this time, with no one to bother him, he returned home at the time he was supposed to. But then, he immediately headed for the servants'' training ce he had used before.

    There, Lothur trained for about four hours straight before finishing his activities, getting something to eat in one of the cafeterias of this estate and returning to his room.

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 5.7] [CON: 5.9] [DEX: 5.2] [AGI: 7.0]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11.5] [WIL: 41.4]

    Looking at his status again, Lothur deeply sighed as he rested on his bed, understanding yet another of the characteristics of spiritual cultivation.

    He had previously realized that technique training lost its effects over time. But by training his techniques longer, he gradually understood more about this.

    From what he had already understood, a technique usually had its best result regarding attribute ''advancements'' upon its first uses.

    If a technique delivered ''x'' attribute points for certain training intervals, the number of hours needed for ''x'' to happen increased with time. For example, if at one point a cultivator needed 1 hour to get ''x,'' then at some point the same ''x'' would require 100 hours, or even more.

    It became more difficult to continue getting physical benefits from training techniques as the cultivators'' bodies naturally adapted to the new training conditions.

    Something simr to what happened with muscle training in academies on Earth.

    And knowing this, Lothur felt a little uneasy since it implied his advances would not continue as frequently. But on the other hand, he was full of doubts about the variables that might influence this.

    He had only trained his techniques in everyday situations, in ordinary ces, without using any external items, apart from his weapon, of course.

    But already in possession of knowledge about spiritual cultivation, Lothur knew that there were unique ces around this world, treasures or items with positive effects on their users.

    So, he had not given up hope of improving his attributes by training!

    But at the same time, as he realized this, he understood thatprehending a technique did not directly corrte with those positive effects on his physical attributes.

    While the effects on his physical attributes were already beginning to decrease, his understanding of his techniques only increased!

    ''This probably rtes to the improved condition of my body, something that has been allowing me to execute my techniques more perfectly...'' He pondered on this, confident that a bettermand over his own body helped his training, which consequently could make his understanding easier.

    "Sigh..."

    "Anyway, I have to do some tests." He thought of Annaliese for a brief moment. "I have to think of ways to use my Physique more effectively."

    ''Perhaps I should elerate my progress from Sector-1 to Sector-2? But I still have toplete several tasks before I can do that...''

    Lothur was naturally thinking about this because the brats in Sector-1 would not be able to help him get stronger with fighting. So, there was no point in him asking for trouble with the youngsters in his sector.

    However, he felt he needed to test his Physique. ''Maybe my Physique doesn''t require me to be on the verge of death every time? Maybe just about some damage can generate benefits for me?''

    "Hmm, I have to try to at least get some normal training with Anna. Maybe that will help me understand my Physique a little more!" He made up his mind, prepared to explore the possibilities in his path.

 Chapter 54 Are We Going To The Auction?

    The next day, upon meeting Annaliese on his way to the Morning Star Academy, Lothur did not have to deal with this woman''s bad mood towards him.

    The day before, Annaliese had once again noticed that Lothur had been with Elke. Still, other than being a little quiet on the way back from the academy, she had not argued with him or demanded that he change his behavior.

    After a quiet evening, she let her bad mood pass, returning to her usual mode with Lothur, chatting and enjoying herself with him on the way to the academy.

    She still did not like him dating other women and her sister allowing such behavior. But due to the guilt for beating him up, she no longer felt in the position to talk about it openly.

    As such, she kept her thoughts on such a subject to herself while talking about other things with Lothur.

    "Hey, Lothur, did you hear about the auction that will take ce at the local trading house in 10 days?" She asked as she looked with interest at the attractive silver-haired man in front of her.

    "Auction?"

    "Yes, I heard that several valuable items will be put up for auction in our city in the next few days. They say that even a Silver-grade armor is among the main items of that event." She said excitedly, looking forward to this event.

    "Silver-grade? Really?" Lothur asked in surprise, as items of that quality could be valuable even to cultivators at the 4th stage!

    In Concordia, even if the number of cultivators was only a fraction of the maind poption, the production capacity for good quality items was less than the demand. Consequently, less favored high-level cultivators had to be content with, shall we say, more ordinary resources.

    ? And Silver-grade items were precisely unsuitable for people at the 4th stage since they did not offer the bestbat conditions for their users.

    Such items were best used by people at the 3rd stage, those who could genuinely use all their capabilities without being limited by the conditions of such items.

    However, a cultivator at the 4th stage having a Silver-grade item was much better than having nothing or using something of inferior quality.

    Since there were no high-grade resources for everyone, many cultivators were more than happy to have the best at their disposal!

    Hence, items like that were not underestimated!

    But while many had to ept using items that limited them to some degree, a few in this world had the privilege of using items of superior quality to their cultivation base.

    Such a thing was notmon to see as, in many cases, these items had limitations rted to their weight and usability. But there were exceptional cases where such limitations could be ovee, so items of that quality were in demand even by 2nd stage cultivators!

    Knowing this, Annaliese was looking forward to the auction of that armor.

    She nodded to Lothur and said. "Yes. But that should be one of thest items to be auctioned. Several other objects and cultivation resources will be auctioned at that event..."

    "Why don''t we go? I think it will be fun, and we can find something within our budget." She suggested, remembering that her brother-inw had more strength than appeared on the surface.

    She knew there was something special about him, as Lothur had demonstrated in their previous ''training'' abat prowess far superior to that of a mortal. But due to her guilt, this woman did not feel in the position to question him about it or even talk to her family about the fact that he was so strong.

    In any case, knowing that he was striving to get stronger, she felt that taking him to this auction might help him on his way, even if she did not quite understand what he wanted.

    On the other hand, Annaliese liked the idea of participating in such events. As such, she was joining the useful with the pleasant by nning to do this with Lothur.

    "An auction, huh?" Lothur smiled, curious to know what such an event would be like in the cultivation world but also interested in what he might find at such an event. "Interesting."

    "All right, I''lle with you to that auction."

    Annaliese smiled at his answer and did not take long to start making her ns. "Well, since that is the case, we need to stop by a tailor shop and buy a formal outfit for you!"

    "Stop by a tailor shop?" Lothur looked at her strangely.

    "Of course, I won''t let you go to the Auction House in ordinary clothes! That would be an embarrassment to our family."

    "Is that so? All right, then." He agreed with her, finding it amusing in Annaliese''s worrying behavior. ''But will I be able to buy anything? Unfortunately, my resources are not at their best...''

    ''Ah, never mind.''<sub> </sub>

    ''At this event, I will at least be able to meet a little more of the cultivation society and learn more about the customs of this world.''

    "When will we do that? I n to go on a mission at the weekend, so I don''t know if I''ll be able to be free during those days."

    Hearing this, Annaliese looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to be ready to do academy missions. "Are you going to do that already? Isn''t it better that you at least learn a little more at the academy before you risk doing missions?"

    "Lothur, those missions don''t always turn out as expected!"

    He smiled at her concern and said. "Don''t worry. A person from Mission Hall warned me about this. Still, I''m confident I''ll be able to aplish this mission without too many problems."

    "Sigh..."

    "What kind of mission did you take? Even if you have strength, some of these missions demand theoretical knowledge that I doubt you have after only a few days at the academy."

    He did not feel offended since this was indeed true. "I will collect medicine outside the city."

    "Is that so? Then be careful. In those wild medicinal fields, there is always the risk that you will run into venomous animals and even some low-level beasts."

    In this world, there were animals just like on Earth, beings that, just like mortal humans, were not capable of cultivating spiritual energy in their bodies.

    On the other hand, those animals that had ''talent'' and learned how to cultivate were called spiritual beasts.

    Just like humans, they usually did not change their external appearance exaggeratedly. On the contrary, the changes were simr: improvements in external and internal characteristics.

    She looked at him carefully and warned him. "Believe me. Even cultivators don''t want to have the problem of being bitten by a snake or certain insects."

    "The poisons of these beings are less potent in our bodies than in mortal bodies, but they can still damage our foundations, cause pain and financial loss."

    "Then be careful."

    "Oh? I''ll remember said..." He muttered in a low voice, feeling grateful to have a sister-inw so concerned for him.

    "Thank you, Anna."

    She then answered the previous question. "Anyway, we can go to the tailor on Friday after the academy. What do you think?"

    "Hmm, that''s fine with me."

    After that, the two left the carriage from before and headed to the academy, still talking.

    Lothur then said. "By the way, Anna, I want you to help me with something..."

    "But don''t worry, you will only help me improve my skills. I won''t ask you to use your strength likest time." He took one of her hands right after noticing her worried look.

    "It''s just that I haven''t found anyone reliable yet to evaluate my techniques and give me some tips..." But, of course, he lied about that final part since he genuinely wanted her to put some pressure on his training, hoping his Physique would be stimted.

    "Lothur..."

    "Lothur, if I do this, you will have to promise not to provoke me as you did before." She looked at him with reddened eyes, fearing she would hurt him again.

    "Don''t worry. I won''t behave that way with you again."

    "If that''s so, then we can meetter today."

    "Hehe, that''s fine. I''lle to your residence after dinner time." He said this before the two said goodbye and headed towards their respective responsibilities.

 Chapter 55 Serious Training 1

    After arriving in Sector-1, Lothur made his way to the foreignnguage ss, where his journey this day was to begin.

    However, upon entering the amphitheater where he should have Spiritual Language ss, he found himself in a strange situation.

    As he walked toward where he usually sat, the students already in that area were all looking in his direction. Not only that, while they stared at him without any discretion, many had strange expressions on their faces, as if Lothur was in trouble or something like that.

    Realizing that there was something wrong in this ce, this man frowned in concern as he made his way to his seat, which was close to some of the beauties of this ss.

    Lothur was not in the same foreignnguage ss as Elke, but one of her friends, who was also in Professor Koch''s ss, was part of this ss.

    Precisely because of this, he soon followed in the direction of this woman with ck hair, brown eyes, and beautiful dimples on her cheeks when she smiled.

    He may not have known what was happening, but he had no problem talking to women, let alone a friend of Elke. So, he soon looked her in the eye, curious to discover the problem.

    [Name: Anke Geissler]

    [Cultivation: level 1]

    [STR: 1.9] [CON: 2.1] [DEX: 1.5] [AGI: 2.3]

    As Lothur sat next to her, he realized that such a woman was also looking at him strangely and asked. "Anke, what''s the matter? Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

    That beautiful friend of Elke''s continued to stare at Lothur for another brief moment before finally shaking her head and sighing.

    "You''re in trouble, Lothur." She said in a low voice as she pulled him, bringing him closer to herself.

    Hearing and feeling Anke''s movement, Lothur''s eyes sharpened as he became even more serious. "Tell me what happened."

    She then whispered in his ear. "A few minutes ago, a student from Sector-3 came here looking for you."

    "He knew you had a ss here, so he left a message for us to give you, saying he challenges you to a battle in three days."

    "A battle?" Lothur made a strange expression, finding this somewhat meaningless. "I can just refuse... I don''t understand why you seem to think there''s a problem with that."

    But Anke did not change her expression at all. "You can refuse if you want, but this person has important contacts within the academy, and they will certainly make your life here difficult."

    "On the other hand, we will have apetition in three months to determine the Secret Realm vacancies. And since each Sector is entitled to a certain number of vacancies, the academy allows people from different sectors to challenge theirpetitors."

    "ording to the rules of thispetition, one side cannot refuse the fight unless, of course, he is willing to give up thepetition."

    "Oh?" Lothur found this strange since there was a big difference between the strength and knowledge of people from different sectors of this academy. "Isn''t that unfair? How can people from Sector-1pete against those from Sector-3, and the academy allows that?"

    "That''s simple. Thispetition doesn''t depend on your cultivation since it takes ce in a special area, where the cultivation of eachpetitor facing each other is equal."

    "Thispetition tests your skills as a warrior and other areas, not your brute strength."

    "Because of this, even people from Sector-1 have a chance to go to the Secret Realm, and naturally, people from other sectors can challenge us."

    "He will certainly challenge you in thispetition if you do not ept his three-day challenge."

    Such challenges could happen, but it was not usually frequent since facing people from lower sectors was a great shame to this institution''s students. However, the person who wanted to fight Lothur had shown quite a lot of hatred when he came to this ce, and knowing this, Anke did not rule out that possibility.

    "So that''s it..." Lothur muttered in a low voice, understanding the rules of that tournament.

    He already knew that thispetition would happen soon. Still, since he had just entered this ce and was preupied with other things, he had not given it much thought.

    He knew that he had to participate in thispetition as all students of the Morning Star Academy had to do this, at least in the initial stages of it. But, on the other hand, the results of this tournament were also counted in the students'' ranking, something that interested this young man a lot.

    Because of this, he would participate in thispetition and not think about the possibility of giving up because of a troublesome opponent.<sub> </sub>

    ''In three months, I will probably already be at 5th Transformation or maybe even higher...''

    ''Someone from Sector-3 won''t be a worry to me.'' He smiled as he closed his eyes, curious to know who this person who wanted trouble with him was.

    ''Is it some old enemy of my predecessor?'' But he did not waste much time thinking about that and soon asked Anke. "By the way, who is this fellow? What does he have against me to want a fight? Do you know?"

    "His name is Merten Baier. But I can only imagine what his problem is with you..." She said this as she remembered the confusion a few days ago when Alric had challenged Lothur.

    "Merten is Alric''s cousin."

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes widened in surprise, with him finally understanding what the problem was. ''That was quicker than I expected...''

    ''But why this guy and not someone stronger? Is he just trying to scare me because of that recent disagreement?''

    Lothur knew that the Baier family would find out about his and Alric''s quarrel. After all, dozens of people, several of them being that young man''sckeys, had seen the whole thing.

    However, he thought it would take that family longer to bother him because, despite that argument, there was nothing else to incriminate him. Besides, Alric was not exactly a young man beloved by the masses.

    Everyone knew about his arrogant personality. He constantly got into trouble with other noblemen of lower status than him, who generally had to lower their heads after getting in his way.

    And since Lothur had already heard about that individual from Elke, he expected that at least other people in this academy would be bothered by the Baier family before him.

    He had just entered this institution, was someone famous for being a good-for-nothing in Peters City, and even had no cultivation.

    How could he be a suspect in what happened to Alric?

    That way, he could only think that this cousin of Alric was trying to deal with him to test his innocence.

    "Tsk!"

    ''He''s probably challenging other people in this sector, so the three days...'' Lothur more or less understood the situation but did not despair.

    "Well, if he wants to challenge me during thepetition that will take ce in three months, then that''s fine. I won''t fight him now just because he wants to." Heughed as he looked at Anke.

    Hearing this, that 16-year-old looked at Lothur curiously, finding his calmness unexpected. "As I said, Merten has contacts at the academy."

    "Suchpetition is not the only way he can harm you."

    "Don''t worry. I don''t need many things from this academy and don''t intend to use essential services for a while. So, it won''t make a difference." Lothur said this calmly.

    Such a thing was out of his control, so it did not make sense for him to stress himself. And since he did not have many benefits in this ce, he did not feel he had much to lose.

    Thus, the two finished their conversation just before a fat, bearded, middle-aged man entered that ce to teach the Spiritual Language.

    "Well, let''s start from where we left off in thest ss..."

    ...

    After a few hours, Lothur returned alongside Annaliese to the Frost family estate, where he practiced some of his techniques and then had dinner in one of the cafeterias.

    Then, he hurried to Annaliese''s residence, where he greeted his beautiful sister-inw and proceeded to the spot where she had previously beaten him.

    "Well, let''s determine some rules..." Annaliese began to speak while looking at him thoughtfully.

    ...

 Chapter 56 Serious Training 2

    "For starters, this is just training, so I will only use strength equivalent to yours so we canpete a little bit without it being a waste of time." Then, Annaliese began to speak about her requirements for training her brother-inw.

    "Thus, no unnecessary talking during the fight."

    "If you say anything while we are fighting that is irrelevant to yourbat ability, I will stop immediately and not train with you again. All right?"

    Lothur continued stretching as he listened to her, "OK."

    "Good."

    "Besides, since this is training, we can''t use rules like those from before." She looked at him meaningfully, showing more confidence than she had done in the past few days. "Let''s have our friendly match like cultivators normally do."

    She then pointed to the markings on the ground in that small training area in this courtyard and continued. "You see those markings? Well, if one of us steps outside that big circle, that person will immediately lose the match."

    Such a thing required both parties to put more effort into the fight since, in a limited space, it was harder to dodge and still secure your position. But, on the other hand, some attacks could also be inhibited if one side was too close to the other. After all, techniques always had their activation time.

    As such, for a friendly fight where one side had to be careful not to hurt the other side excessively, fighting in a limited space was an excellent way to increase the difficulty of the fight and ensure better training results.

    That was why Annaliese had suggested it, despite how easy it might be to eliminate a naive or foolish opponent in a contest with such rules.

    She then continued. "On the other hand, if one of us stays down on the ground for 10 seconds, stops breathing, spits blood, or other worrying signs, the fight will end immediately."

    "Finally, we will only do this for a maximum of 30 minutes. After that, no matter if you will be exhausted or anxious to continue, we will stop and continue tomorrow."

    "OK?"

    Lothur nodded to her and suddenly felt a doubt rise in his heart. "Anna, my offensive technique demands an ax. How will I fight with it without risking hurting you? Is there some kind of wooden ax here?"

    Annaliese was only momentarily perplexed by Lothur''s peculiar inquiry, as she was already aware that hecked a clear grasp of cultivation-rted matters.

    She then answered him in her thin voice. "Lothur, when cultivators have friendly matches, they always use the weapons they would use in battles."

    "Of course, some would choose not to use their main weapons, since it might be a problem to show other people their wealth or even a danger to fight with their highest level items. But cultivators never use fake items in their matches."

    "Doing so would naturally alter the performance of someone already used to training and fighting with their weapons. And since the purpose of matches like these is to judge the skills of each party, making use of fake items would inhibit this."

    "Then we don''t use such items."

    "But isn''t that too dangerous? I know you are stronger than me, but I also know that people of the same level often train like this." Lothur said this with a worried expression on his face. "Aren''t the risks too high?"

    "There are always risks in fights, Lothur. That''s part of it."

    "But you don''t have to worry whether your weapon is something like an ax, a sword, or a stone. It''s not easy to seriously injure a cultivator of the same strength range as you, even when using weapons." She taught him this important lesson.

    An ax could indeed significantly injure a person who was hit by an opponent of strength simr to his. But thereiny the problem, hitting.

    That is, while one side was attacking, the other side would not stand still and wait for the blow!

    And since a training like this required full attention from both involved, the attacked side would always have options to deflect, defend, or even counterattack the other side.

    As long as they fought with the same degree of power, it could be tricky for one side to seriously injure the other, even when one used a sword and the other nothing but his hands.

    Even in the scenario where the blow hit the other party, the effects of such a thing could be decreased by defensive items or techniques.

    At the end of the day, even the injured individual''s body could prevent a fatal injury.

    Hence, even with that tradition of fighting, people rarely got seriously injured in training.

    Other than that, cultivators always had pills or medicines with them, so hardly one side would die even if something happened. That''s why Annaliese had found Lothur''s earlier question strange.

    It was something so ingrained as truth in her mind that she could not imagine two cultivators using fake weapons to fight.

    She then finished her exnation. "Even if I had the same fighting proficiency as you, a fight between us would only have risky moves near the end of it, when we would both be nearly exhausted."

    "Before that, it would demand too much inattention for one side to be injured by the other''s movement."

    "Oh? So that''s how it is..." Lothur finally understood such a reality.

    He had only had three fighting experiences in this world, so he did not know much about the difficulty of battling against people of the same level as him.<sub> </sub>

    To make matters worse, of his three experiences, one he was beaten by someone much stronger than him, another he was smashed by a group of people of his level. Finally, in the previous experience, he was already much more substantial than his opponents.

    Because of this, he had not had the chance to learn that lesson alone, needing this teaching from Annaliese.

    "Well, do you have any questions?" Annaliese positioned herself at one end of the circle around the area they could use for this fight.

    Hearing this, Lothur looked at that woman''s status and his own once again.

    ...

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 6]

    [STR: 18.9] [CON: 21.1] [DEX: 22.5] [AGI: 21.3]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 5.8] [CON: 6.1] [DEX: 5.3] [AGI: 7.2]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11] [WIL: 41.6]

    ...

    After seeing Annaliese''s physical attributes again, Lothur felt a certain excitement in his heart, wondering when he would reach that level.

    On the other hand, he could not help but notice how weak he was, despite his sessive recent advances.

    ''Well, sooner orter, I''ll get there.''

    ''I don''t need to worry about it. I''ll just take it one step at a time.'' He sighed just before summoning his ax and looking into Annaliese''s eyes.

    "No, we can start whenever you want."

    Hearing that, such a woman picked up a bronze coin and showed it to Lothur. "When it falls to the ground, we will start our match."

    "OK."

    And then she tossed that coin upward, directed so that it fell in the center of that circr area.

    In that way, the two followed the parabolic trajectory of that circr piece of metal until finally, their fight began!

    At that instant, Lothur immediately activated his movement technique and ran towards Annaliese, intending to attack her with everything he had.

    He would, of course, not target any sensitive parts of that woman. Still, even disregarding this, there was plenty of area on Annaliese''s body for him to aim at.

    With that in mind, it did not take long for him to start moving his ax while moving nimbly.

    ''Oh?'' Seeing that, Annaliese also began to move around the area, but she was not using her technique. After all, her average speed alone was already much faster than Lothur''s, so she could not use her movement technique.

    However, she was moving while feeling surprised at the initial performance already disyed by Lothur, as it seemed that he had already learned three techniques.

    They had faced each other only a few days ago, but at that time, Lothur had demonstrated only one technique. Knowing that he had bought exactly three techniques at the Innumerable Scrolls store, that woman was curious how he could learn techniques so quickly.

    ''Did he have them before?'' She wondered as she dodged his attacks, preparing to counterattack.

    ...

 Chapter 57 Serious Training 3

    As she thought about how and when Lothur had learned his techniques, Annaliese began to pay attention to this man''s strikes and movements.

    As he attacked, he disyed a power equivalent to someone who had just reached 3rd Transformation, something superior to what she had seen just a few days ago.

    And noticing this, she could not help but wonder how he had managed to get stronger in such a short period.

    ''That...''

    ''What''s with this strength of his? Is he by any chance using some item to hide his cultivation?''

    ''No. There''s nothing on Lothur''s body nor his clothes.'' She dodged a diagonal attack, feeling a slight wind pass through her belly after the tip of his weapon made an arc in the air.

    Jumping back a few centimeters, she decided to test her opponent''s defenses, still curious about where his strength came from.

    Pow!

    With that, she made a surprise move towards Lothur, taking advantage of the fact that he was still finishing the diagonal move from before to kick him in the chest.

    Seeing that, Lothur promptly tried to dodge his opponent''s attack, jumping to the side while using the weight of his weapon to his advantage.

    However, he had not been so quick, and the tip of Annaliese''s left foot struck his right arm, causing him to go off bnce and fall to the ground.

    "Ouch!" He let out a slight sound of pain as he rolled across the floor, already trying to get up before falling outside the circle that demarcated that ce.

    ''Not bad!'' Annaliese praised him in her mind, realizing that most of her kick had not affected that man, or he would not have recovered himself so quickly.

    However, soon after the two returned to the fight, it did not take long for that woman to notice several problems in Lothur''s posture, somethingmon to see in inexperienced cultivators.

    She then continued to fight with him, exchanging blows and dodging his attacks, constantly pushing him while giving her tips. "Lothur, your defensive positioning is not good."

    "Every time you attack me, you leave several gaps that are easy to see and take advantage of."

    She watched his movements as sweat began to form in that man''s pores, slowly wetting his clothes. "If it weren''t for your movement technique being excellent for your level, the fight would be over by now."

    She then moved right after he tried to hit her left shoulder, taking advantage of one of his gaps to scare him a little.

    Pow!

    After seeing that woman''s fists approaching his belly, Lothur''s eyes fluttered. He tried with all his might to dodge that by jumping back.

    "See?" Sheughed, thinking of how she had subtly touched his abdomen before he was able to escape that attack. "If I were using one of my techniques right now, I certainly would have hit you, even with your reaction speed."

    Annaliese was obviously not using her techniques since, with her natural strength and speed rtive to her body, she could easily overpower Lothur.

    She saw him begin to breathe hurriedly, looking at her with an expression of doubt. She smiled and said. "You need to be alert at all times, Lothur."

    "It is not because one attack of yours may defeat your enemy that you should let your guard down."

    "The opposite of that, as long as you are not sure of your victory, you never leave openings for enemies or people in your surroundings."

    "Always be ready to act!" She pressed him again, now using a little more of her speed to attack this man and work on his weaknesses.

    "OK." He said in determination, beginning to pay attention to those points raised by Annaliese.

    As they continued this fight for a while longer, that woman soon saw another problem in Lothur''s posture.

    "Besides your defense when you attack, your attacks are not the best either." She continued to ''dance'' with him, constantly deflecting and counter-attacking this man, making him suffer.

    So far, Lothur had not hit any attack on that woman, only having expended his energy to strike the air and deal with her attacks.

    With that, as he sweated considerably and struggled with his mouth open to breathe more easily, he heard her voice. "You have to work your weapon more intelligently."

    "It is not good for you to behave as if you are trying to hit a stationary target. You are wasting your energy every time you put so much force into your blows and make these simple movements."

    "Let your imagination tell you how to use the ax in your hands."

    "Don''t restrict yourself to the obvious!"

    "Think that that weapon is part of your body and that it is possible to move it without restriction." She watched him closely, seeing the determined look in his eyes.<sub> </sub>

    "How am I going to do that? Moving this ax is not as easy as you imagine..." He said in frustration.

    "Then that means you are not yet strong enough to use this weapon properly or that it is not suitable for you." She said this as she summoned an item from her spatial ring.

    After that was said, she picked up something that looked like a long cylindrical steel bar and spun it on one of her fingers, making it form what looked like a spinning shield.

    At the same time, she indicated for him to attack her, smiling as she showed him some of the skills he might have if he were more clever with his weapon.

    ng!

    As he tried to attack that woman, Lothur saw her using that thing to stop his movement, causing the ax in his hand to fly away.

    Then she used that thing to cut his shirt while making a different motion, simr to the one painters use with their brushes.

    Upon sensing that, Lothur stumbled backward, feeling that even using an ordinary steel bar, Annaliese had demonstrated a dexterity far superior to his.

    ''So that''s it...'' He finally understood that he did not need to use his ax as simply as before.

    After falling to the ground, he saw Annaliese stopping herst movement, using one of her hands to help him up.

    "Well, let''s stop here."

    "Now that you''re already exhausted, and I''ve already given you several hints, let''s leave it until we continue this tomorrow."

    Hearing that, he did notin, having just looked into Annaliese''s brown eyes with gratitude, feeling that this training had been precious.

    Lothur still did not know if the minor injuries he sustained in those minutes would be enough to boost his Physique. However, because of that woman''s hints and how he had been pressed during thest few minutes, he knew that this could be useful for his understanding of his techniques.

    And that in itself would already be extremely important to him!

    "Sigh..."

    "Thanks for the help, Anna." He said sincerely. "I hope you won''t mind continuing to help me in the future."

    She smiled at him upon hearing that, pleased to have had this moment with him without making a blunder as had happened previously. "Hmm, you don''t have to thank me. I''m happy to be able to help you."

    "However, answer me one thing..." She approached him with a curious expression on her beautiful face. "Since when can you do these things? Why are you hiding this from my sister?"

    Lothur breathlessly breathed as he watched that woman, wondering how he should answer such a thing.

    "I think it was after I was hit by a carriage a few days ago..." He said without specifying his situation.

    "Oh?" She watched him in surprise, interested in how being hit by a carriage had changed him so much.

    "But I don''t want other people to know about it because I want to surprise your sister..." He used that excuse to dispel that woman''s doubts. "I want to surprise her during the academypetition for the Secret Realm ces."

    "I want to use that to improve our rtionship."

    "What?"

    "Are you serious?" Her eyes widened in shock, surprised at this revtion. "If this is true, why are you after that other woman?"

    "That..."

    "You wouldn''t understand."

    "Anyway, I am telling you the truth, so I hope you can keep that secret for me. I don''t want to raise expectations for your sister and then fail her..." He lied, but without showing any hesitation in his voice or look.

    And that had been enough for Annaliese.

    As someone who had, to some degree, disappointed her parents with talent not as good as her sister''s, she knew how expectations could influence rtionships.

    "All right, go get some rest. See you tomorrow."

    After that, Lothur quickly left that ce, making his way back to his room in anticipation of what would happen when he woke up the next day, already recovered.

 Chapter 58 Strolling Through Peters City

    A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and Friday finally arrived.

    After the first training with Annaliese, Lothur realized the importance of fighting human opponents and not just training his techniques alone or on objects.

    That had also helped him understand a little more about his techniques, opening up a new path for him to continue pursuing his dreams in this world.

    However, this was only the most obvious thing he had realized after that first training. After that, the next day, Lothur realized what the effects of such a thing were on his body.

    To his surprise, he had actually gained more attribute points by training with Annaliese. However, he had the feeling that such a thing was like the results of his exercises, unlike the progress he had made after the times he had recovered from beatings.

    Lothur still was unsure if this meant that he would need to be beaten to near death to receive his physique''s benefits as Annaliese had not hurt him in their training. But now, he knew that his physique would not be stimted that way.

    His body, yes, could get stronger with this kind of training. Still, the speed of advancement was inferior by arge margin to that which he experienced post-regenerations.

    In any case, Lothur was satisfied with this since, as much as he had not advanced significantly during these training days, he felt he could master his techniques more quickly this way.

    Therefore, during the intervening period, this man went to Annaliese''s residence every day at night to train with her.

    On the other hand, Lothur was not absent from the Morning Star Academy these days and continued studying in the library and attending the Spiritual Language and Geopolitics sses.

    He had also had some fun with Elke in the room she had obtained, but nothing more than he had ever done had happened with them.

    Other than that, aside from the offensivements that Lothur heard on the Frost family estate every day, as well as the rumors at the academy that he had angered Merten Baier, he had spent these days tranquility.

    ...

    After reading hisst book of the day in the Sector-1 library, Lothur hurried quickly towards the academy exit, where he and Annaliese had arranged to meet.

    Soon they would be going to an auction together, and that woman did not want to be around someone who did not know how to dress. So, they had arranged to go to a local tailor shop to choose something for Lothur.

    And knowing how interested that woman was in this little ''outing'' with him, Lothur did not take long to reach his destination as he saw his status once again.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 6.4] [CON: 7.0] [DEX: 5.8] [AGI: 7.7]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 11.5] [WIL: 42]

    Seeing this, he smiled in satisfaction, feeling that his continued progress was satisfactory, although not as fast as he would have liked.

    On the other hand, as he looked at his Perception attribute, he could not help but think about what he had aplished the night before.

    ''It seems that the more I use my sensory abilities, the more I can boost this attribute...''

    He then closed his eyes as he waited for Annaliese at the academy entrance, in a green area with several studentsing and going. He then thought about his biggest problem. ''I just don''t know how to increase my Intelligence...''

    ''Why is it so hard to do that?''

    But as he did that for a few moments, he finally heard his sister-inw''s sweet voiceing from behind him, making him open his eyes and see that entrance again.

    "Lothur, are you ready?" She asked with a smile on her face as she moved gracefully, dressed in a ck and white outfit, different from the academy uniform Lothur had on his body.

    Looking at her for a moment, Lothur was surprised to see her this way, but he did not disapprove. "Yes, shall we?"

    "Hmmm." She nodded at him and indicated for them to follow on foot, walking side by side with him.<sub> </sub>

    "Anna, you look terrific out of your uniform..." He whispered to her, looking intensely into her eyes.

    "Really? Well, then you''ll be even more impressed with the dress I bought for the auction." She said, happy to beplimented.

    After a brief silence, she watched his handsome face from the side and said confidently. "But don''t worry. In a little while, we will find something that will look as good or even better on you."

    "Maybe you''ll even catch the attention of all the people at the auction..."

    After that, the twoughed as they walked towards the store of the most renowned tailor in this city, which was not far from there.

    ...

    As they entered a high-end establishment in the central part of Peters City, Lothur and Annaliese immediately found themselves in a rtively empty ce, which did not look like a store at all.

    There were no clothes avable. In fact, there was nothing that reminded them that they were in a tailor shop. Instead, the ce looked like a small hotel reception, with refined decorations, a few ces to sit, and several side doors.

    At the front desk, only two middle-aged women were working. Still, each was dressed like a noblewoman, with different clothes that highlighted their unique beauty.

    Besides Lothur and Annaliese, only two other customers were there at the moment, one of them a young man younger than Lothur and the other a grown woman with blond hair.

    The young man was sitting in one of the waiting seats of the ce, while the woman was being attended to by one of the employees there.

    Seeing this, Annaliese took one of Lothur''s hands and led him to that free attendant.

    "Hello, I would like to order a formal outfit for him." She said to that middle-aged woman.

    Upon hearing that, such an attendant looked at Lothur in silence for a few moments, seeing how physically well he looked and admiring his iparable looks.

    "It will be easy to find something for someone like him." Sheughed softly, looking at Annaliese with an envious expression on her face.

    At the same time, that blonde woman near themughed upon hearing that but did not disagree. ''Ah, that girl is lucky to get a man of this quality...'' So, she thought as she watched Lothur, thinking that these two were a couple.

    Lothur ignored the woman''s remark and approached the bench in front of him, inquisitive about how this ce operated and whether or not the clothes produced there were unique.

    "Well, before we take his measurements, let''s decide what the materials of his clothes will be and some details..." That woman grew more serious after seeing the blushing Annaliese getting agitated, going straight to business.

    She then opened arge book already on that bench, which had no ordinary sheets but several different types of fabrics.

    Upon seeing this, Lothur felt curious about it and promptly used the fingers of one of his hands to feel those materials.

    [Three-Eyed Serpent Leather] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Feature: increases the user''s defenses by 15%. Increases the user''s resistance to poisons while used.]

    ...

    [Spiritual Cotton] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: maintains the user''s body temperature when in an area with spiritual stability.]

    ...

    Upon reading some of the system''s warnings, Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, realizing that this ce was not ordinary!

    Clothes produced by some of those materials could be authentic cloth armor!

    ...

 Chapter 59 Dinner Before The First Mission

    "That..." Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, drawing attention from Annaliese and that woman attending them.

    "Is there a problem, Lothur?" Annaliese questioned him as she saw the strange expression on his face, which generally seemed so calm.

    Meanwhile, that attendant watched him in silence, noticing how he was touching several of those materials in the book she had opened.

    ''Did he like something?'' She wondered before finally hearing him cough twice.

    p "Cough! Cough!"</anda>

    "Eh, I just found that Three-Eyed Serpent Leather interesting. It is extraordinary." Lothur said this to disguise his earlier expression.

    "Oh? Three-Eyed Serpent Leather?" Annaliese looked at the different materials in front of her but could not see what he was talking about.

    "You identified Three-Eyed Serpent Leather just by touching it?" Finally, that woman attending them asked in astonishment, since that material was not so different from other types of leather in that book.

    Even she, someone who had worked in this store for decades and had taken years to learn how to identify these materials, still could not do it with just a simple touch. But here was this young man of iparable looks, doing the ''impossible'' right in front of her.

    It was not for nothing that she had been surprised!

    "Uh? Is there a problem? I happened to have read about this material before, so I identified it by touching it." Lothur said naively but told the truth.

    Among the many books he was reading in the library of Sector-1, they counted books concerning materials and objects necessary to this world.

    Even though he did not have ess to cultivation-rted things there, even ordinary citizens needed to be aware of cultivation resources.

    They were potentially life-changing items!

    On the other hand, cultivation resources were items of great importance for the continental economy. So, naturally, matters concerning these items went beyond the cultivation content of the Morning Star Academy, which had made it possible for this young man to learn about some of these items.

    "Did you happen..." That woman repeated Lothur''s words in a low voice, finding it incredible that such a prodigy had appeared so suddenly in front of her.

    "Young man, what is your name?" She asked after calming down a bit.

    "Lothur."

    "Well, Lothur, I must tell you that you have an amazing talent for identifying materials. Have you ever thought about the idea of bing a tailor?"

    "What?" Annaliese was the first to say something, realizing what was happening there. ''Is this woman recruiting him? Why? What the hell is going on?''

    As for Lothur, he said nothing upon hearing that. He had no interest in tailoring, but he did not like closing doors in his path so quickly.

    There was nothing wrong with hearing what that woman had to say!

    "Me? Talent? Are you sure, ma''am? I only recognized that by coincidence. I don''t think I could identify all those materials..."

    "No." She shook her head, contradicting the ''modesty'' of the young man in front of her. "Even if you cannot identify all of them, be able to do that with just one, but with such ease and dexterity is already amazing."

    "You must have above-average sensory capabilities!"

    "Actually, not so much..." Lothur murmured, smiling awkwardly at that person.

    But she was not convinced and said. "Lothur, you must know the importance of cksmiths in our world, right? Well, our tailoring profession isplementary to forging since we deal with materials with the potential to strengthen defensive items produced by cksmiths."

    "As such, we don''t just produce ordinary clothing, as many people think."

    Hearing that, Annaliese nodded in agreement, not interested in trying to get that woman away from Lothur. "That is true."

    "Some defensive items don''t even need to be produced by cksmiths. Tailors can produce special clothing as good or even better than armor."

    That was true. Unique clothing produced by tailors could be better than some armor since fabrics generally restricted less body movement and were lighter. However, there was one major drawback to tailor-made products, which allowed armor sales not to decline.

    The price!

    Because it relied on unique materials with somewhat challenging characteristics, tailor-made clothing could notpete cost-effectively with armor, items produced with standard resources.<sub> </sub>

    But this did not make the specialization of that store any less critical in Concordia because there were always possibilities to use unique clothing that went beyond the potential of armor.

    On the other hand, armors themselves had their weaknesses, which were usually strengthened through thebination of cksmiths and tailors.

    Knowing this, that woman had told Lothur about it, and Annaliese did not contradict her, even helping her introduce this spiritual profession to him.

    "Is that right?" Lothur looked with interest at Annaliese, seeing that she did not seem worried about him being recruited that way.

    ''Hmm, she probably thinks it would be good for someone like me to get a profession...''

    ''Well, but for now, I don''t know if I want that for myself.'' He pondered before finally answering that woman''s interest. "Well, maybe we can talk about that other time."

    "But right now, I truly need to order an outfit for a formal asion."

    Hearing that, such a woman was not dissatisfied since Lothur had not refused her offer. And thinking about how he was still just a customer, she regained her previous posture and said. "Well, let''s get on with that business first."

    "Have you made up your mind which fabric you will choose? After that, we still have to talk about the model of the clothes, special features..." Before taking this young man''s measurements, she began to talk about everything she needed to know about him.

    These unique clothes could have distinctive features, such as secret storage for weapons, hiding armor under the clothes, etc.

    With this, Lothur and Annaliese spent some time making decisions about these points until that woman took his measurements.

    At that moment, Lothur used a device avable in that store, which measured its target''s body without touching or even requiring the customer to take off his clothes.

    And with that, soon, he and Annaliese received the bill for the clothes ordered.

    "Five thousand bronze coins?" Lothur said in surprise as he saw the amount written on a piece of paper, shocked by the price of a set of clothes in this ce.

    That attendant then said. "Yes, I am giving you a special 30% discount because of your great talent, so the price is only 5,000 bronze coins."

    ''Only?'' Lothur felt a pang in his heart, feeling that he would be poor at this rate.

    But seeing Annaliese was about to pay that woman, he stepped forward and refused his sister-inw''s coins. "No, Anna, I will pay for it myself."

    "Are you sure? I''m the one who made you buy this, so I don''t mind paying."

    "Hmm, thanks for the concern, but I will pay." He sighed in his heart, feeling that this outfit would have to be worth a lot.

    ''Ah, it''s not for nothing that my predecessor spent so many coins in such a short time after his guardian died...''

    After that, it was not long before the two left that ce, heading back to the Frost family property as they walked through the local streets.

    The clothes he had ordered had been promised to be ready in 5 days. As such, he promised to return after that time to take those clothes and get to know that profession a little better.

    ...

    It was already night by the time Lothur and Annaliese arrived at the Frost family estate.

    However, as they were walking through the ce, a blonde woman appeared in the opposite direction, with a gaze focused on the silver-haired young man.

    Seeing Elise looking at him like that, Lothur wasted no time and asked. "What do you want now? Maybe you got hooked from the previous vision and want to see me like that again?"

    "See you like that?" Her cheeks turned red at the memory of Lothur''s naked body. ''Damn bastard!''

    ''But you will pay me!''

    ''Now that you''re going out on a mission, I''ll have my chance to act!''

    Elise then sighed after a moment of silence, trying to calm herself down. She then said to those two. "The master and madam want you to attend the dinner tonight."

    "In fact, do that a little earlier." She smiled as she remembered Mabel''s tone. "Looks like madam has a lot to talk to you two about, hehe."

 Chapter 60 No Dinner

    After hearing Elise''s warning, Lothur and Annaliese looked at each other for a moment, worried about what Mabel might want with the two of them.

    And noticing the concern in each other''s eyes, the two quickly headed towards their rooms to prepare for dinner.

    It was still some time before dinner at the home of the Frost patriarch, and both needed to return to their rooms to change clothes and other minor matters. Especially Lothur, who still had the slight smell of Elke on his body, something that, if he did not take a shower, could be noticed by Mabel.

    Seeing those two disappearing from her sight, Elise continued in the same ce as before, looking with a smile on her face in the direction Lothur had run. ''Ah, Lothur, you hardly know what awaits you...''

    ''Enjoy it while you can, for your situation will not befortable much longer.'' She licked her lips in anticipation of the weekend when Lothur would leave for his academy mission.

    ...

    After a while, Lothur and Annaliese finally entered the dining room of the Frost patriarch''s house, where that man and his wife were already waiting for them.

    Mabel was sitting next to her husband, wearing a long blue dress. But despite its volume, it only amplified some of her most striking features.

    At the same time, Aiken was wearing a usual suit that fit him well and matched his mustache and brown hair.

    But as they stood around the dining table that was still empty, those two looked at the people who had just entered there with sober looks on their faces. Especially Mabel, who was already beginning to get annoyed with Lothur just by seeing him in front of her.

    Aiken then said. "Lothur, Anna, we want to know what is going on with you..."

    "Not only did Anna do that horrible thing a few days ago, but now..." He paused briefly, trying to calm down a bit due to the thought he had in mind considering what some servants had told him. "But now you two meet every night in her residence."

    "Lothur, you..." He was about to say something when the silver-haired young man suddenly realized where this conversation was going and stopped his father-inw from further irritating Mabel.

    "Father-inw, you are overthinking this. Anna and I were just talking about what happened." Lothur said this with a calm expression, sometimes looking at that man and then at the woman at his side. "There''s truly nothing strange going on."

    "The previous event was just a misunderstanding."

    Annaliese nodded in agreement and swore at her father, "That''s right, father. I don''t know what you heard, but Lothur and I are just getting along after everything that happened."

    "Is that so?" That fellow''s expression improved considerably.

    But in that instant, Mabel let out a big ''humph'' and stood up from where she was. "I don''t believe that nonsense one bit."

    "Bastard, what are you trying with my daughter? Don''t tell me that you are desperately courting Annaliese after getting nothing with Viktoria?" She walked toward him.

    "Mother..." Annaliese turned red with embarrassment at that woman''s words.

    And hearing that, Lothur was silent for a moment, looking at that woman intently, feeling his anger rising.

    [Name: Mabel Rios]

    [cultivation: ???]

    [STR: ????] [CON: ????] [DEX: ???] [AGI: ???]

    But seeing that woman''s status for the first time, Lothur almost forgot where he was, opening his mouth slightly in surprise.

    ''What the fuck is that?''

    ''I can''t see anything!'' He shouted in his mind, seeing such a situation for the first time since he got this system function.

    He had already tried to see Viktoria''s status. However, even with that woman, he could still see her level, although he could not see her attributes.

    But with Mabel, nothing!

    He had not seen Mabel since he started using his spiritual senses, so this was the first opportunity he had had to try to check her features. And seeing that, he promptly tried to do the same with his father-inw to understand the problem.

    However, he only had the same result with Aiken as with Viktoria, seeing his father-inw was at level 14, the 2nd stage 5th Revolution.

    ''Are they so strong that I can''t check their strength?''

    ''Unbelievable!''

    And seeing how Lothur had looked at him, Aiken felt a little bad since he could not do anything against his wife.

    That was her personality, so he could only silently support the young man in front of him.

    Lothur then said after a brief moment. "I don''t know what you are talking about, madam. Anna and I are good friends, so what''s wrong with us talking in her residence?"

    "It''s not as if I can wee her into my humble little room..."

    "What? Now you''reining about our hospitality?" That woman looked at him closely, holding back from teaching this fellow a lesson.

    She then looked at Annaliese and asked. "Anna, are you such good friends? Why is that the first time I''ve heard that?"

    "Tell your mother the truth."<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, mother." Annaliese lowered her head and answered obediently. "Lothur and I have always had an easy time talking. And after he entered the academy, I''ve been helping him get to know that ce better."

    That was indeed true, and Mabel readily sensed this. ''Is that actually true? Isn''t this scumbag pushing his luck?'' She doubted her senses.

    "Tsk!"

    "In any case, the previous situation is still not well exined." Mabel continued. "If you want to help him at the academy, I don''t mind."

    "At least this good-for-nothing can learn something useful." She looked disgustedly at him, making him shiver with anger. "But do it in the presence of other people."

    "I don''t want you and him alone after what happened. Do you hear me?"

    ''What a bitch!'' Lothur felt as if this woman was trying to get in his way however she could, and he could not help but curse at her.

    ''I have to get out of this family!''

    ''There is no room for me in a ce like this!''

    And seeing Lothur''s eyes, Annaliese felt insecure at the moment, thinking that at any moment, this young man and her mother might start a fight.

    Gulp!

    "As long as it''s someone of my choosing, that''s fine, mother." She said as she thought about how to continue training with Lothur in secret. ''I guess I''ll have to do that far away from here...''

    "Hmm, that''s better." Mabel lowered her tone as she looked at that girl with brown hair resembling hers.

    But soon after, she coldly looked once more at Lothur. "Now, moving on to the next subject, tell me what happened to you. How did you recover so quickly?"

    "Tsk!"

    "I already told Viktoria. Why don''t you ask her?"

    She moved closer to him, not liking the way he was talking. "You think I don''t know that? I want to know the truth since, for some reason, my daughter can''t extract it from you!"

    "Then why don''t you try?" He looked her in the eye, standing in the same position as before.

    "Bastard!"

    Mabel finally lost her temper and grabbed that young man''s neck with one of her hands, squeezing it ''gently'' to make him feel the pressure of this situation.

    After seeing that, Aiken''s eyes narrowed as he rushed to his wife''s side.

    "Mabel, don''t overreact!"

    "Lothur''s words were not thought out, but I am sure he is not trying to deceive us." He said as he touched one of Mabel''s shoulders, trying to get her to stop what she was doing.

    "Mother..." Annaliese looked in astonishment at her mother, feeling guilty that what she did had put Lothur in such a situation.

    As for Lothur, he remained silent while breathing with some difficulty but without feeling the spiritual pressure released by that woman.

    After a few moments in that situation, Mabel looked strangely at Lothur until she finally let go of him.

    "Tsk!"

    "Go to your room. You won''t get your meal today as punishment for speaking in that tone with me." She said this as she returned to her chair, feeling frustrated at not getting anything from him.

    After that, Lothur left in a hurry, having mmed the door hard after leaving that dining room.

    On the other hand, Annaliese was not happy at all and said. "I''ve lost my appetite!"

    "Anna,e back..."

    But that woman did not listen to her father''s words, having run in the same direction as Lothur.

    "Sigh..."

    Aiken sighed at that situation, also feeling his appetite pass. "What''s all this for, dear? At this rate, Lothur himself will find a way out of our family."

    But she did notment on the matter.

    Realizing this, he sat down beside her and asked what mattered. "What have you found out?"

    "Nothing." She said in a disappointed tone.

    Mabel had checked Lothur''s constitution by touching him earlier, which was her goal from the beginning of the conversation.

    However, she only found a body simr to the one that had been tested when that young man joined this family, only a little stronger physically. "The bastard is just as ordinary as he was on his first day here."

 Chapter 61 Going On The Mission

    After leaving the dining room of her family''s residence, Annaliese hurried toward Lothur''s room, worried about what was on his mind at that moment.

    She had clearly felt all the anger in his gaze earlier and knew how difficult her mother could be when such a woman had a problem with something.

    Thinking about how her actions caused this whole situation, she wanted to talk to him and resolve the matter.

    With that in mind, she quickly arrived at that ce where Lothur had just entered, and the door to his room was still open.

    "Lothur..." She said his name in an uncertain tone as she ced one of her hands on the door about to be closed.

    But Lothur said nothing, having just stood facing one of the walls of his room, lowered his head, closed his hands tightly, and started punching such a structure.

    "Tsk!"

    Upon entering there and seeing the enraged Lothur, Annaliese closed the door of that room and approached him. "Lothur, I''m sorry for what happened."

    "My mother can be harsh sometimes..."

    "Harsh sometimes?" He said in an irritated tone. "That woman is always causing trouble for me!"

    "Tsk!"

    "I don''t know why I joined this family! Were my guardian and I crazy when we epted this?" He asked without looking at her, speaking in a tone she had never heard.

    Realizing his anger, Annaliese began to feel panicky, not knowing how to handle the situation.

    "Maybe I should just get my things and get the hell out of this ce!"

    "No!" She finally said something, stepping forward until she was a few inches away from his back. At the same time, one of her hands followed the path of his arms to stop him from continuing to hurt himself.

    "Don''t decide something like that now, Lothur. You''re nervous and can''t think sober right now." She said this agitatedly, knowing that there was a reason he was in this family.

    "I feel I can think clearly about it now."

    "What is there for me here? I only have problems dealing with your sister and mother! There''s no fucking respect!"

    Gulp!

    Annaliese''s heart began to beat faster, without her knowing what to say to calm the person in front of her.

    She then moved her arms and hugged Lothur from behind, leaning her head against his back. "No, Lothur, don''t do this."

    "We''ll work everything out!"

    "Things will get better!"

    "You just need to calm down a little more. Trust me!"

    She then turned him around, making him stand with his back to that wall, face to face with her. "Please don''t be impulsive."

    Lothur looked at her closely, but his anger had not diminished one bit. "I don''t have that much patience for..."

    He was about to say that when that woman hugging him swallowed her saliva in determination and did something unexpected for Lothur.

    In that instant, she ced her lips on his, silencing him as she gave him her first kiss. Sensing that, as well as Annaliese''s nervousness, Lothur finally put the previous subject aside as he looked at her with surprise in his eyes.

    ''You...''

    But as Lothur felt Annaliese''s inexperienced and tongueless kiss, he felt his manly instincts calling him. So, he set aside his rational side to kiss his sister-inw properly.

    At that moment, he put his tongue in her mouth, causing her to open her eyes for an instant, but soon after awakening something new in her.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    As if programmed to return Lothur''s advance, Annaliese''s tongue began to work on its own, quickly enhancing their experience.

    ''What am I doing? That''s Lothur! My brother-inw!'' Her mind was screaming in despair about this madness, but her body seemed to act independently.<sub> </sub>

    It was as if her subconscious had taken over her body, acting in this way to bind this man to her family.

    ''No!''

    ''That is wrong! My sister will go crazy if she finds out about this!'' She rationalized the situation, but her body felt perfect, making her sense even more guilty.

    "Mmmmm~"

    Finally, after a full minute of kissing Lothur, Annaliese managed to muster the strength to pull away from him while gasping for breath.

    "Hah... I... Hah... I sh... Hah... I shouldn''t have done that..." She said as she felt ashamed, just before she ran out of Lothur''s arms and walked out of that room with her facepletely red.

    ''Damn it! Why did I do that? How will I look at him now? And worse, my sister will treat me like a slut if she finds out about this!'' She went straight to her residence, feeling extremely confused now.

    On the other hand, as Lothur heard the woman''s footsteps bing less and less discernible, he sat on one end of his bed, shocked.

    He had never imagined that such a woman would behave so decisively toward him, especially when he was not in any degree trying to court her.

    Hell, he had said some things that genuinely could have offended that woman. But still, the whole thing urred.

    "That..." He looked at the floor of his room with a confused look, trying to understand where that hade from. ''Is it guilt? Maybe a little fear too?'' He pondered this.

    And with such a turnaround in his evening, he soony down on that bed, with too many thoughts in his mind to do anything but stand around thinking about it all.

    He was in no mood to train, much less be able to sleep after what had just happened.

    Not only was he irritated to the limit by Mabel, but Annaliese had ''turned him upside down,'' changed his extreme anger into sexual interest.

    "Shit!"

    ''Now I won''t be able to sleep...'' He sighed deeply.

    ...

    Hours passed, and the first bright rays of daylight were already illuminating Peters City when a silver-haired man left the Frost family estate unapanied.

    That man was dressed in a typical adventurer''s outfit, something light but which at the same time protected most of his skin, leaving only his head and hands uncovered.

    On the other hand, he wore boots that went halfway up his shins and arge overcoat over his adventurer''s clothing due to the cold weather early in the day.

    At the same time, he had a tired look on his face, indicating that he had not slept well the night before.

    However, Lothur had nothing to do about it. He had spent most of the night thinking about what had happened earlier and had no alternative but to leave this way.

    His mission was his priority at the moment, and he was not going to dy it because of something so small.

    Therefore, Lothur was already heading towards the establishment that had issued the mission he hadmitted to, where the materials and the map needed for the job in question were located.

    The ce was called One Thousand and One Medicines, a store that specialized in selling natural medicines in this city.

    Medicines were the way people of this world called the resources simr to nts and fruits that contained spiritual energy and the power to influence some reactions when used.

    This kind of resource could be used in its raw state, as food, or in the preparation of cultivation resources, such as pills, in items produced by alchemists or other professionals.

    Lothur knew this, and as such, he was walking briskly towards the store, interested in exploring more of this world, perhaps getting to know an area relevant to him.

    That was his first mission at the academy. But nothing stopped Lothur from trying to learn while doing such a thing, to know things that could influence his life!

    As such, he soon arrived at a ce that looked like arge old house with a crooked roof and many nts blending in with the walls.

    Upon entering through the front door, he came upon an establishment full of jars scattered on shelves, where only three people were around at the moment.

    "You..." Lothur heard a tone of voice that he already knew...

 Chapter 62 Invitation

    "You... How can this be? How are you here?" Lothur heard a thin voiceing from ahead of him, a tone he had heard only a few days ago.

    Noticing that he already knew the owner of that voice, Lothur immediately paid attention to the three people in that store.

    One of them was an olddy wearing an elegant outfit and an apron while working behind a counter that had several different bottles.

    Another was a young woman who could not have been much older than Lothur and was holding a broom in her hands, cleaning the wooden floor in that area.

    Finally, another woman was there, someone with beautiful violet hair. Still, instead of the attire of an attendant, this woman was wearing noble clothes, typically seen on civilians of good background.

    And it was precisely this civilian who had called Lothur, who was at the moment looking at him in shock as she stood next to thedy replenishing medicine in some bottles.

    Seeing that woman''s face, Lothur could not identify her, but he was sure he knew her since that tone of voice was something he would not forget.

    "Are you..." He was about to ask as he approached her when she made a movement toward him,ing to his side and touching one of his hands.

    Upon noticing this unusual reaction, Lothur immediately focused on that woman, curious to know who this daring woman was.

    [Name: Sofie]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 30.2] [CON: 32.5] [DEX: 33.8] [AGI: 29.9]

    ''Sofie?'' Lothur tried to remember that name until he finally pondered the sounds he had heard during the medical treatment he went through after his first beating in this world.

    ''Ah, now I remember! She was with that guy, Doctor Snee!''

    ''Anyway, her level is impressive!''

    ''She''s one of the strongest people I''ve ever seen the attributes of!'' He thought about this for a moment as he watched her watch him intensely as if she saw a dead person walking and talking in front of her.

    "That..."

    "How did you recover so quickly? How can you look so well without even a trace of potent medicines in your body?" She muttered in disbelief, unaware of how such a person was walking and talking, considering that he should still be unconscious from the earlier beating.

    But realizing that she was getting carried away with her curiosity, that woman soon turned away from Lothur, a little embarrassed.

    "I''m sorry, I got carried away just now..."

    She then remembered that he was not supposed to know her and felt even worse. "Please don''t think I''m a strange woman trying to touch you..."

    "My name is Sofie Carl. I am Doctor Snee''s assistant and apprentice. We recently took care of your case..." She paused briefly, looking at the young man in front of her, trying to understand if this was a dream. "Anyway, because you were a patient, I felt curious about what happened to you."

    "I''m sorry."

    "So, that''s it..." He pretended that he had not realized this, easing the expression of surprise on his face. "Well, thank you for your recent help, Miss Carl. I don''t know what might have happened if it hadn''t been for you."

    "No... We did almost nothing." She sighed, feeling for the first time in a long time that, in fact, she and her master had done nothing extraordinary to a patient.

    "So..." She looked at him with the same curiosity as before. "What happened to you? How did you recover so quickly?"

    "That..."

    "Well, I think it was the weather."

    "After that, I woke up feeling in a good mood. Since then, I''ve been healthier than ever..." He lied tantly.

    "The weather?" Sofie''s eyes widened at thisment, finding it unbelievable that this man could say such nonsense.

    But on second thought, such a justification was more likely than the use of medical resources. After all, what medicinal item would not leave traces?

    But even she, someone who was learning directly from one of the best 2-star doctors in the province, had not noticed anything on his body.

    "Sigh..."

    She sighed for a moment and said sincerely. "Well, I''m d you''re okay. You can''t imagine how worried Doctor Snee was after seeing you in that state..."

    "Is that true?"<sub> </sub>

    "Yes. On two asions in less than two weeks, you were on the verge of death... Even Doctor Snee, who sees so many people weekly, was moved by your situation." She answered him in a low voice.

    p As she mentioned it, she remembered something and said. "By the way, Lothur, Doctor Snee would like you toe and visit us sometime."</anda>

    "He wants to offer you some advice and maybe even help."

    "It will only depend on you."

    "Is that so?" His eyes widened in curiosity. "Why would he offer me such a thing?"

    "That only by talking to him will you be able to find out."

    While the two were talking, suddenly that old woman said something. "So that fellow is interested in this young man, eh? Young man, what have you done to attract that fellow''s attention?"

    "Do you happen to have a special constitution?" She asked about that since, in her mind, there was no sense in thinking of Doctor Snee wanting to help a young man with no cultivation.

    "Aunt Ilma!" Sofie said in a slightly louder tone. "Stop trying to scare people. You''ve already pushed away from us thest two who were interested in learning from my master!"

    ''Oh?'' Lothur watched those two, surprised since there seemed to be a rtionship between these people, rather than Sofie being just another customer in this ce.

    And indeed, there was something between them. This woman, the owner of this medicine store, was the older sister of Doctor Snee, the doctor who had saved Lothur.

    Because of this rtionship, Sofie naturally came to this ce a lot. At the same time, Ilma naturally got more involved than she should in her younger brother''s affairs.

    After seeing those two exchanging a few words about their problems, Lothur saw that violet-haired woman getting ready to leave the ce, bidding him farewell.

    "Lothur, go visit my master another time. You will not regret it."

    "That could be your chance to solve your problems... Then go to my master''s office. It is only 100 meters from here, in that big red house."

    "Oh? I''ll see that another time." Of course, Lothur did not guarantee he would go, but he did not refuse either.

    After that woman left such an establishment, Lothur stopped in front of the olddy and heard her ask. "Young man, what do you need? Tell me, and I will bring your items in a few minutes."

    "The ma''am misunderstands me. I am not here for shopping."

    He pulled out his Morning Star Academy identification item, proving to her where he came from. "I am here for the mission left by this store at the academy."

    "That..." She did not think it was strange that someone woulde looking for that, but instead that a person with no cultivation intended to harvest medicines outside this city.

    That was dangerous!

    "Young man, I don''t want to discourage you or anything like that. But are you sure about this? Harvesting medicines may seem easy at first nce. Still, we always risk being stung by insects and venenous animals."

    "On the other hand, sometimes our medicines of interest are within hostile territories..." She did not go into detail but made a point of warning him about possible challenges.

    "If you are not at least a 1st Transformation cultivator, then I am afraid your safety will bepromised."

    That woman naturally did not care about Lothur''s life. But since her brother seemed interested in this young man, she had done him the favor of teaching him such things.

    Lothur then looked at her and smiled. "Thank you for your concern, ma''am. But I am fine with the risks of this mission and have my means of survival."

    "So, for now, I would appreciate it if you could inform me more about my mission."

    "Sigh..."

    "Well, if you insist, I already have everything prepared for you." She pointed in the direction of a cloth and leather bag propped up on one of the many shelves in that store.

    "There, you will find the items necessary for harvesting the Tooth Grass. And of course, there is also a map there that will take you to the best ces to harvest these resources."

    After hearing that, Lothur immediately opened that bag, checking each item and understanding where to start.

    Then, he promised that old woman to return before Sunday evening, saying goodbye to her and leaving that ce in a hurry.

    ...

 Chapter 63 First Time In The Forest And Start Of The Harvest

    After leaving the previous establishment, Lothur made his way towards the northern side of Peters City, heading for the forest a few kilometers away from that exit of this city.

    Peters City where between mountainous regions, in the middle of a valley, where dense forests could be found only a few dozen kilometers from the center of this ce.

    At the same time, woods covered the remaining areas between the built-up part of the city and the mountains surrounding this ce.

    Already in possession of knowledge of the local geography, Lothur knew precisely where to begin his journey to the areas where the Tooth Grass could be found.

    In doing so, he quickly made his way through the city, following the main cobblestone boulevard. Along the way, he observed his surroundings as he walked briskly, noticing parts of this city that he had not yet passed and the movement there.

    Besides several buildings that hardly exceeded four stories in height, Lothur noticed that there were all sorts of shops rted to spiritual professions. For example, while walking there, he saw a store that specialized in selling potions and pills, as well as the local Formation Masters Association.

    However, despite the curiosity of entering one of these ces that his predecessor had never entered, Lothur was particrly interested in that area''s movement.

    Besides the peopleing and going on the sidewalks, many doing work, others just walking, and finally, some going their ways in a hurry, the movement of carriages caught his attention.

    That was because, although there were half a million people in this city, there were not many carriages on the streets of Peters City. But, the opposite of this, the number of such things there seemed far below what there should be in a city of this size.

    And this was easily noticed by Lothur when this young man associated the sidewalks full of people and the rtively empty streets.

    ''It seems that the means of transportation in this ce are not efficient...'' He noted such a problem, looking at how most people on those streets looked well physically, even though they were mortals.

    ''The citizens of this city have to walk a lot.'' His eyes sharpened as he noticed such a thing.

    On the other hand, while there were few carriages in that city, Lothur noticed that the number of animals there was not small.

    Several horses and other animals valuable in transportation were passing through that area while humans rode on their backs.

    And seeing this, Lothur could not help but imagine the possibilities of this cultivation world.

    Not only humans could cultivate spiritual energy in this world. Animals could too, and it was no different for nts and other living beings!

    Obviously, just as with humans, most other living beings could not do such a thing. But every species had beings that could transcend the difficulties of starting cultivation.

    As such, there were all kinds of unique creatures in this world!

    But spiritual beings were not easy to see in cities with as many mortals as Peters City. No, even if there were some beasts in this ce, they were even less numerous than the local cultivators, making it difficult to spot one of them on the streets of this ce.

    On the other hand, beings like this usually avoided human cities. So, besides imagining what it would be like to see an avenue full of different beings, for the moment, Lothur could only admire the wealth of possibilities in this world.

    ...

    After almost two hours of walking to his destination, Lothur had passed through the outer woods of Peters City and then entered one of the nearby mountains.

    In such a diverse nt environment, he spent most of his time on high alert, observing every disturbance in his surroundings while attempting to ignore the beauty of that forest.

    There were trees with unique trunks, which had patterns on them that made parts glow as if they were living veins, while strange fruits could be seen here and there.

    At the same time, the mosses found in some parts of that area did not look ordinary, and Lothur had taken extra care when walking through such an unknown ce.

    Finally, even though it was daytime and this young man had the willpower and courage to explore unknown ces, he could not help but feel a little uneasy.

    The sound of wind through the trees there, as well as the chill that seemed to increase all of a sudden,bined with the dimness generated by the leaves in the area, created a strange setting.

    The ce was indeed beautiful, but all Lothur felt was as if he had entered a cursed forest, made to frighten the weak.<sub> </sub>

    To make matters worse, he had this feeling that he was being watched.

    That had made him twice as careful as he had nned!

    Hence, this young man reached his current position without much trouble, having ovee the strange feeling in his heart, and finally stopped to check his map.

    In doing so, he found a ce where he could easily observe his surroundings and where there was no way for small insects or animals to be hidden.

    He then opened the bag he got earlier and took out a map and an object that looked like a watch.

    ''Well, if I''m not wrong, I should be in the vicinity of the first area with these Tooth Grass.'' Lothur pondered as he carefully studied that map, preparing to move forward with harvesting this medicine.

    Medicine harvesting was easy, and anyone could do it, provided they had the proper tools and a good manual.

    Since Lothur had both, he was not worried about not knowing how to collect the 10 kilograms of Tooth Grass he needed toplete this mission.

    In any case, after realizing that it was only a short while before he reached his first harvesting point, Lothur put those items away in his bag while grabbing a bottle of water.

    Glub! Glub! Glub!

    "Ah, time to continue!"

    ...

    After a few more minutes, Lothur finally came across a rtively t area on that part of the mountain he was on, where the luminosity could prate the forest without being impeded by the leaves.

    In such a ce, several small insects were making noises that were hard to miss as they circled different nts, among them one with beautiful yellow flowers.

    Seeing those nts, Lothur immediately remembered the images of Tooth Grass he had seen in books from the Morning Star Academy.

    ''So that''s what I''ll have to harvest...'' He pondered as he watched those little nts from some distance, already considering how to keep those insects away.

    ''Hmm, I can''t see the attributes of those insects, so they must just be ordinary beings.''

    ''I think if I burn something, it will scare them off.'' He looked around his surroundings, trying to see any animals nearby, particrly worried about snakes or simr beings.

    And not noticing anything, this young man improvised a torch with some piece of log and some survival items he had brought with him for this trip.

    Lothur obviously had note to this ce unprepared. No, during the days that had passed since he had taken this mission, he had bought more than three thousand bronze coins in resources helpful in situations like this.

    That was not just for this mission, as some of these items were not for one-time use. As such, he had made this investment.

    Anyway, it did not take long for that makeshift torch to begin spewing smoke over the area and for him to begin his movements.

    As he did so, Lothur used one of his hands to hold the torch while he walked around and waved his other hand, trying to stop any insects that came his way.

    And soon, several of those creatures started moving away from him, making room for the area where the Tooth Grass nts were.

    Achieving this, Lothur ced that torch in a ce where it could continue to ward off the insects in the surrounding area and promptly began his harvest.

    ''Hehe, time to start!''

    But as he began to settle his affairs in that ce, three people were watching him from a distance, standing on a branch of one of the trees in that area...

 Chapter 64 Ambush

    "How did that bastard survive that damn poison?" One of the three individuals asked this of his cronies while looking toward the young man harvesting medicine.

    Upon hearing that, the person who had been responsible for the ''ident'' days ago that was supposed to kill Lothur looked at that individual and said. "I''d like to know about that too."

    "I poisoned him with what our superiors gave us, and I saw the wretch falling in the street because of the effect of the poison and then being hit by a carriage."

    "How can that be? Are you sure you didn''t use that poison in the wrong way?" The same person from before said this while looking at the individual, shocked.

    "I did as I was taught!"

    "What''s more, the effects of that poison were as they should have been. He really looked ready to die at any moment at that time."

    "There is no mistake about that!"

    "Tsk!"

    "I''m not so sure..."

    "But I will believe you since I have just returned from Hond Province. But anyway, tell me exactly what happened."

    "That day, in a moment, he fell face down on the ground just before our carriage passed that spot. So he looked dead, finished for a few moments. But then he came back to life, even with all his injuries..." The individual who had watched that whole event during the transmigration of the earthling Lothurmented in a low voice.

    "Oh? That''s truly unusual..."

    That third individual then continued. "After that, Miss Harris passed us a message informing us about this good-for-nothing guy recovering quickly after a beating."

    "She could not examine his body, but she suspects something strange is happening with him or that family."

    "Miss Harris said that?" That person who seemed to be the leader of the three asked in surprise. ''What is that woman thinking? Does she by any chance think that this good-for-nothing got some ability or something?''

    ''Impossible!''

    ''That brat couldn''t do her own work and is thinking nonsense.'' So, he pondered as he thought of the woman he was obliged to pay his respects to, but that he did not like her at all because she had surpassed him, even though she was much younger than him.

    He then asked. "What else did Miss Harris say?"

    "She said that if we don''t resolve this by nightfall, she will have to act on her own. And that if that happens, she will pass on our failure to our superiors..."

    "What?"

    ''Damn brat!''

    ''She''s only raised her position a little and already acting so arrogantly?'' That man clenched his fists in anger, feeling that he should get rid of Lothur as soon as possible.

    "Well, then, here''s what we''ll do..."

    With that, they quickly decided how to proceed regarding Lothur, intent on ending their previous mission that had already failed once.

    ...

    After almost 30 minutes of harvesting Tooth Grass in that area, Lothur managed to escape the insects in that ce due to the torch by his side.

    And because of this, he gathered almost half a kilo of medicine!

    However, there were not that many nts in that area, and he was almost done with his work there before he could continue exploring the forest.

    "Sigh..."

    ''That job is not difficult. The problem is having to go from one side of the forest to the other, constantly watching out for insects and animals.'' He thought about that as he wiped the sweat on his forehead.

    But as he finished his business there and prepared to drink some water, this young man began to hear strange noises bing more and more noticeable in that area.

    ''What is that?'' He turned in the direction of where those sounds wereing from.

    As he began to feel the ground in that area shaking, Lothur finally saw shadows of more than five rhinos approaching him in the distance.

    "Damn!"

    ''What are animals like that doing in the middle of a mountainous region? Could it be that they are beasts?'' He found it strange that those animals were in a different habitat than expected. Still, he did not find it impossible thing to happen as this was a cultivation world.

    Spiritual beasts could develop a lot of intellect, sometimes to the point of evenpeting with humans. So, it was not impossible to find a type of being like that in a strange habitat as it might be a rational reason for that.

    That is why Lothur was suspicious.

    In any way, upon noticing those beingsing toward him, Lothur promptly started running, trying to get away from those beings while watching them intently.

    ''They are not beasts!'' So, he concluded that as he saw no sign from the system about the attributes of those beings, as was the case when he observed mortals.

    Realizing this, the strangeness in his heart increased by another degree as he ran through that area.

    Boom!<sub> </sub>

    But just as Lothur was running through the area, an explosion erupted right in front of where he was trying to escape.

    That did not injure him but prevented him from continuing on his way, having been reached by the group of giant animals.

    "Shit!"

    "This is a trap!" He clenched his hands in anger, feeling someone was ying with him.

    Just as he was thinking about this, several des flew toward his body,ing from three different ces simultaneously with the horn attack one of those animals was aiming at him.

    Acknowledging his predicament, Lothur wasted no time in activating his movement and defense techniques while picking up the weapon in his spatial ring.

    Steel Body!

    Cross Walk!

    He tried to move in the small space left to him in that area, trying not to be hit by those animals.

    Even if these rhinos were not spiritual beasts, their size was simply much more considerable than Lothur thought he could handle in a confrontation.

    Since he was still not many times stronger than a mortal, he did not want to risk having his fragile body crushed by such beings. With that, he moved from one side of that ce to the other, already carrying arge ax in his hands, preparing to attack.

    But before he even had a chance to hit one of those animals, they started attacking some trees in the surroundings, as if they were no longer interested in Lothur.

    ''That...''

    ''Looks like I was just in their way? But what about those people?'' Lothur tried to understand the situation. But due to his inexperience in this world, he did not know precisely how to exin the previous circumstances.

    He then looked at his surroundings and saw three people approaching where he was standing, each with weapons in their hands, looking at him in shock.

    "That bastard is truly fast! How did he manage to do that?"

    "I don''t know. Maybe the adrenaline stimted him to do such a thing?"

    "In any case, now that he has figured us out, we have no choice but to act more directly..." The group leadermented as he red in Lothur''s direction.

    And seeing those people more closely, Lothur finally recognized one of them since his predecessor had drunk with such an individual before.

    By focusing on that individual, Lothur finally saw his features.

    [Name: Willi]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 3.1] [CON: 3.0] [DEX: 3.8] [AGI: 2.7]

    ''Willi?'' Immediately upon remembering that name, various pieces of information flowed into Lothur''s mind.

    Willi was a drinkingpanion that Lothur''s predecessor had met weeks ago and partied with him on several asions. In fact, thest day of that individual''s life from before the earthling''s arrival in the cultivation world had been at Willi''s side...

    Connecting some information with the present situation, Lothur soon understood that this person was not a friend but an enemy in disguise.

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 5.6] [CON: 5.2] [DEX: 4.8] [AGI: 4.4]

    ...

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 7.0] [CON: 6.5] [DEX: 8.1] [AGI: 7.2]

    Seeing his other two opponents'' attributes, Lothur realized he was not in good condition and promptly prepared for a fight.

    But as someoneing from Earth, he could not help but try to at least talk to those people to better understand the situation.

    "Willi, what are you doing? Why did you attack me like that? I could have died from that!" He said, looking at those people carefully, in a defensive position.

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t waste your time talking. Let''s kill him in one go." The strongest one there said, ignoring what someone who would soon be dead had in mind.

    ''Kill me?'' Cold sweat dripped down Lothur''s back, with him facing such a situation for the first time in his life.

    ...

 Chapter 65 Facing Bugs

    Lothur was terrified to be in that situation for the first time in his life, especially since one of the people who wanted to kill him was supposed to be his drinking buddy.

    What could his predecessor have done to deserve such absurdity?

    Lothur could think of several other people to try to kill him, but never would that man''s name appear on his list.

    However, regardless of what he thought, that person and those two men he did not know were already using everything they had to eliminate him.

    Sensing that, Lothur promptly began to use his movement technique, dodging his opponents'' attacks while feeling his hands itching for him to use his weapon.

    The first enemy to attack him had been precisely the weakest, Willi, who viciously used a dagger to try to cut into Lothur''s abdomen.

    After dodging that with ease, Lothur''s eyes narrowed dangerously. He felt that if he were only a mortal, as those people thought he was, he would have been mortally wounded by his drinkingrade.

    But he did not have time to observe the shocked expression on Willi''s face as the level 3 individual used a nail-covered stick to hit him in the head.

    Vuup!

    The stick passed with force through the air but did not hit Lothur, as this young man was much more adept at dodging than his enemies were at attacking him.

    Then, he managed to evade the move of the strongest man in that group, who had tried to use a long sword to cut him down.

    But this time, instead of simply dodging the enemy attack, Lothur used his weapon to counterattack that person with a solid diagonal blow.

    ? ng!

    A metallic sound spread through that area as that man finally realized the force exhibited by Lothur, something to make him stand with his mouth and eyes wide open.

    "The rascal was hiding!"

    "He''s at the peak of the 3rd Transformation!"

    "What? How can that be?" The other two asked simultaneously, feeling skeptical about it, even considering how Lothur had dodged their attacks just now.

    Hearing that exchange of words, Lothur felt a strange sensation, as if his instincts were telling him to eliminate these people in this ce, or terrible things might happen!

    Feeling this, at the same time that the euphoria typical of fights began to flood his mind, this young man slowly began to attack those people.

    At first, he was not yet aiming to kill those individuals, but as he fought and saw the vicious blows of those people who wanted to kill him, he was slowly changing.

    That was not Earth. Lothur was fully aware of this and had already thought about what might happen if he had to deal with something so problematic in this ce.

    Would he act as he did on Earth?

    Well, if the situation were not dangerous, he would try to engage in dialogue. But by having weapons constantly pointed against his vital organs, this young man could not stick to his principles as an earthling.

    Now he was in the cultivation world, where the junglew was prevalent. In this situation, his primitive instinct, cultivated not only by the ancestors of his predecessor but by the human ancestors on Earth, began to emerge from the depths of Lothur.

    At that moment, while dodging the attacks of the weaker individuals in that group and fighting the stronger ones there, Lothur''s mind was getting rid of all unnecessary thoughts, leaving only those necessary for his survival.

    In this situation, Lothur felt he should not hold back against people who wanted to kill him!

    No, there was nothing wrong with using everything he had to deal with these people and even taking the risk of mortally wounding them.

    If they died for it, what could he do? That was his life, and he had to defend it at all costs, even if these people had to die for it!

    Thinking about how they had attacked him, how they had used an ambush to bring him down, hatred flooded Lothur''s heart, making him wish for the death of these people.

    "Damn bastards!" He cursed at those people, moving around the surroundings so that none of them could reach him.

    That was already expected for the first two individuals since Lothur''s cultivation was superior to theirs. However, in the case of the enemy leader, although such a person had some characteristics superior to Lothur''s, this person was just someone who had just reached the 4th Transformation!

    On the other hand, Lothur was almost advancing to that level and had a movement technique that, coupled with his constitution and agility, gave him a great advantage against that person!<sub> </sub>

    ''Damn!''

    ''Why is he so fast? He shouldn''t be like this!'' The enemy leader felt all this was getting out of his control, while a terrible feeling filled his heart.

    ''If only I could attack him...''

    Unfortunately for that man holding a sword, Lothur had already realized that his strong point was attacking and the skill with his hands. So, in this case, Lothur kept away from such a person, trying to find a loophole to finish this fight quickly.

    Since he was the person with the best constitution of those people, it did not take long for this young man to realize that they were getting slower and slower, while he could still move with some ease.

    ''This is my chance!'' He thought about this as he finally approached that strongest individual there, attacking such a person hard.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Finally, a loud cry of pain came out of that man''s throat as one of the sharp parts of Lothur''s ax hit him right in the middle of his chest!

    As he felt that item getting stuck in his opponent''s chest, Lothur was not slow to notice that the two remaining opponents were already preparing to run.

    Seeing this, he quickly stole his enemy''s sword instead of wasting time trying to remove the sunk ax from that man''s chest. He then ran at those two, using that weapon like an ax.

    ''I will interrogate one of you, so the other need not continue living.'' He looked at the stronger of the two and then made a horizontal movement when he was only two meters away from his target.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Another terrified scream came out of that level 3 individual''s mouth as he felt his body being broken into two parts, right at the height of his navel!

    Seeing that, Willi almost shit himself with fear but does not have time to do or say anything.

    As soon as Lothur dealt with that person, he immediately aimed at the knees of his old drinking buddy, quickly cutting off those two parts of Willi''s body.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Cries of pain continued reverberating through that area as Lothur realized he no longer had to be in a hurry to eliminate them.

    Thus, he quickly ended the lives of those two individuals suffering from his cruelest blows before turning his attention to Willi.

    "Now you will speak, no?" Lothur asked this while still feeling his body filled with the urge to kill, which was preventing certain rational parts of his being from reacting to this unexpected situation.

    Seeing the look on Lothur''s face, Willi roared in pain, fearing his near end butcking the courage to say anything to this person.

    He bit his lips and then said under great pain. "If you will kill me, do it soon, for I will not betray my organization!"

    Hearing this, Lothur was about to do something against Willi when suddenly he began to hear a buzzing sound typically emitted by insects.

    As he looked from one side to the other, he saw a swarm of bees rapidly approaching where he was standing, making him feel fear of continuing there.

    Thinking about it, he did not bother to continue with that person and simply used his ax to end his opponent''s life.

    He did not want any of these people to reveal his secrets to the world, so leaving such a person alive would be foolish. Besides, he had already killed two people, so it would make no difference to do this to a third, right?

    Well, he thought so and did what was necessary before finally fleeing that ce in a hurry to hide somewhere safe.

    But, despite being a cultivator, someone fast and with good physical characteristics, Lothur was not spared by some of the bees that chased and attacked him on his escape path!

    ''Damn!''

    ''Damn those bugs!''

    ...

 Chapter 66 Guilt

    After leaving the previous area in a hurry, Lothur was chased for tens of meters by hundreds of bees as big as ping-pong balls from his previous life.

    Such organisms had ck and yellow bodies, stings the size of ordinary needles, which looked especially threatening at first sight.

    But not only this had caught Lothur''s attention. Those beings'' speed was frightening since they had managed to keep up with him even though he was a cultivator at 3rd Transformation!

    "Damn it!" He said some curses while waving his hands, trying to push those beings away.

    However, he could not protect himself from all those insects in his surroundings, having already suffered a lot with the stings from those beings.

    "Ouch!" He let out a sound of pain amidst his teeth clenched against each other, experiencing the toxin of the bees of this world.

    ''Fuck, it hurts!'' He realized that even though his Constitution was far superior to mortals, thesemon insects were causing him more than they would if they were on Earth.

    ''It seems that evenmon animals of this world are more powerful than those on earth...''

    Feeling some of those beings entering through the gaps in his clothes, Lothur spotted the entrance to a small cave, to which he ran as he tried to crush the beings bothering him.

    As he did so, he soon observed the surroundings of that cave, checking to see if there were any animals or people there.

    The cave was about 10 meters long, from its entrance to the deepest part, and was mostly an irregr s-shaped tunnel, quite dark, even though it was still daytime.

    Lothur then realized nothing significant in his surroundings and threw himself to the ground, rolling from side to side.

    As he did so, he immediately heard the sound of those insects being crushed. At the same time, the pain around his body increased due to the various stings around his skin.

    "Hell!"

    "Ahhhhhh!" He closed his eyes as he expressed his pain, finally slowing his movement as he realized that all the bees on his clothes had been crushed.

    Noticing this, he looked at that dark ce that he could see well enough not to trip over anything and sighed in relief as he realized that other bees had not chased him.

    He then sat down cross-legged, feeling chills run through his body. Then, he began to take off some of his clothes, intending to remove the stings on his skin.

    Bee stings had substances toxic to humans that could even cause problems for low-level cultivators like Lothur. With that in mind, he did not want to keep that on his body and promptly began to remove them.

    "Ouch!" He grunted in pain, feeling the irregrities of one of the stings hurting his body even more.

    And after doing this for two full minutes, this young man finished removing the nearly 30 stings from his skin.

    Looking down at his arms, which had been the part of his body most affected, Lothur shivered sweaty from the previous exertion.

    ''I didn''t think such a thing would leave such big bruises!'' He looked at the swelling on his arms, shocked by the blisters on that part of his body.

    But as he felt a strange sensation in his body from the bee venom, Lothur finally realized what he had done.

    He thought of the image from earlier when he had killed those people coldly, of the brutal way he had left those bodies.

    Remembering the screams of pain and the feeling of his enemies'' blood on his hands, he looked at the ax lying on the ground beside him and saw the proof of what he had done.

    Then he suddenly felt sick, as if he had eaten rotten food and had to put out the entire contents of his stomach.

    He put both hands on the floor, supporting his upper body, while his mouth opened with the spasms of his esophagus. Then, after feeling a great chill go through his body, he finally could not hold back and vomit in that ce.

    ''I killed those people!'' He rationalized what he had done, feeling the bted guilt for having done something so heinous, something uneptable where he had grown up.

    A few moments ago, Lothur acted on his survival instincts, following the junglew to ensure his stay in this world. That had not been something done coldly but had been a reaction influenced little by reason.

    In fact, thinking about what had happened, Lothur could hardly believe his actions since that one did not look like him at all.

    But that was none other than Lothur. In the previous situation, he had acted as quickly as possible, leaving little time for him to consider how wrong it was to kill another human.

    All in his mind in those moments was a primitive desire, a will to eliminate the threats in his path. And such a thing had neutralized the mental part of Lothur thatmanded his moral principles.

    In a way, like the pain that woulde with an injury while an athlete was exercising, the actual weight of his action had not arrived during his ''exercise.''<sub> </sub>

    At the time of an injury during physical activity, due to the condition of the body, the pain was usually greatly diminished, and only after the body cooled down would the worste.

    The same thing had happened to Lothur when he killed for the first time in his life!

    But having time to ponder over it, the guilt and terrible feeling rted to his previous action hit him hard!

    ''How could I have done that? I killed those people as if they were nothing!'' He felt even sicker, ignoring his surroundings while shaking vigorously.

    ''Even an animal wouldn''t deserve that!''

    But unable to ept what he had done, he looked up and suddenly saw something that startled him.

    As he looked up at the top of that cave, Lothur finally saw an almost 1-meter-long spider standing in that ce, looking in his direction.

    Gulp!

    Seeing the many eyes of that creature, Lothur was quick to move towards his ax, preparing to eliminate it.

    But when he made this sudden movement, the creature jumped, already making a move to neutralize him with its wires, as it seemed ready to bite him.

    ''Holy crap!''

    ''How did I miss such arge creature?'' Lothur finally managed to calm down a bit from his previous emotions, feeling his mind once again working with rity.

    With that, he promptly used his movement technique coupled with his agility to dodge the enemy attack, rolling across the ground until he fell beside his weapon.

    Next, he did not wait for that being to continue threatening his life and made a horizontal move against that spider''s legs.

    He did not know exactly how to eliminate his opponent in one stroke as there were no spiders of that size on Earth. Therefore, as it might have unusual characteristics that would surprise himter, he did the basics to stop it.

    Without its mobility, that spider would be in a rather precarious situation. With this in mind, Lothur quickly tried to cut off half of its legs in a single blow.

    At the same time, that being made a move trying to use its poisonous ws, aiming at Lothur''s body.

    Due to his attack and proximity to that being, Lothur was unable to dodge in time, having part of his arms scratched by one of its ws.

    "Shit!"

    "Die, insect!" He shouted in anger after suffering that and finishing cutting off some of that being''s legs.

    He then looked at that creature struggling on the ground and made a quick vertical motion, smashing his ax against the spider''s head.

    Crack!

    The shell of that insect made several sounds before being crushed by Lothur''s movement, revealing a gooey mass that almost made that young man vomit again at such a sight.

    But as soon as he realized his enemy was dead, Lothur discovered that he had been poisoned. So, he hurried to take the potions he had bought before departing for this mission.

    Glub! Glub! Glub!

    He drank the contents of about three bottles of potions while he was already shaking, feeling the ill effects of the poison mixed from that spider and the bees from before.

    ''Damn, I''m losing my consciousness...'' He broke into a cold sweat as he felt his body rxing until the glow in his eyes disappeared, and he fell face down on the ground.

    ...

    Meanwhile, a person wearing an all-ck mask appeared in the vicinity of where the three bodies of Lothur''s enemies were.

    Watching the surroundings as she felt the wind making her long blonde hair curl, that woman felt something was wrong as she looked at the signs of battle in the surroundings.

    ''What happened here?''

    ...

 Chapter 67 Dealing With The Guilt

    As she approached that ce that had a faint smell of iron in the air, that woman of beautiful proportions and blond hair carefully observed the area from above a tree branch.

    She then noticed that there were bodies there, as well as signs of blood in various parts of the area. With that, she frowned her brow, feeling a bad sensation.

    ''It can''t be them...'' She thought of the people she had sent to chase a certain someone.

    Those individuals had already failed to deal with their target. Still, this woman had given them the benefit of the doubt as the previous attempt had been in the middle of the city.

    That ce was naturally more difficult for someone to dispose of all their skills in an assassination attempt due to the chances of traces being left.

    So, after finding out that Lothur would go out on a mission, she gave those three people one more chance to eliminate their target in this ce where no one could stop them from using all their skills.

    In any case, even though she had given them a chance to repair their previous failure, this woman did not fully trust those three. That''s why she had pursued their tracks as soon as she freed herself from her responsibilities in Peters City.

    However, even though she did not fully trust those people, this blonde woman had never thought she would encounter such a brutal scene as the one in front of her.

    "That..." She looked in shock at the bodies of those people, seeing that the weakest individual there still had open eyes while blood dripped from the deep cut on his neck.

    On the other hand, another corpse, besides having a hole made by the de of a sword in the middle of his forehead, had his waistpletely split, with his intestines lying on the ground.

    Finally, the corpse of the strongest one was lying on its side, with a cut on its chest that looked as if an ax had made it due to the size of the wound.

    ''They all died brutally!'' She noticed the look of awe on the faces of those individuals, not understanding how something like that could have happened.

    ''Who did this to them? Did they piss off some 5th Transformation cultivator?''

    ''Why would they do something like that? They just had to chase that good-for-nothing of Lothur!'' She began to feel irritated, but since there was no one there, she just swallowed her anger before starting to collect the items left behind by those individuals.

    "Tsk!"

    ''At least the person who defeated them left their spatial rings...''

    "Uh?" She was surprised at her thoughts since it was customary in this world for someone to loot the bodies of their enemies.

    Thinking about it, she could not help but find it strange that the person who eliminated these people did no such thing. ''Why didn''t the assassin collect these items? Don''t tell me he thinks he is too good to collect free coins?'' She looked strangely at one of the rings already in her hands.

    But without many details in that ce to tell her exactly what had happened, this blonde woman was not slow to leave that area.

    ''The tracks on this path are confusing... It looks like a lot of animals passed through here earlier.'' She looked in the direction of the rhino tracks from before.

    ''That scumbag probably passed through here before that!'' She clenched her hands angrily, wondering what to do.

    "Sigh..."

    ''All I can do now is head toward the closest Tooth Grass harvesting site from here. He will be near one of the ces where this medicine grows!''

    ...

    Six hourster...

    After all this time in that cave, Lothur''s body showed signs of life when a ck goo stoppeding out of his pores and navel.

    However, contrary to what had happened thest few times, the impurities that came out of his body on this asion were about three times more significant than thest.

    Because of this, his clothes were utterly soaked with that stinking substance, which had already formed a puddle on the cave floor next to the spider''s corpse.

    At the same time, the bruises he had gotten earlier, such as the cut made by one of the spider''s ws, had already been regenerated. In fact, the condition of Lothur''s body was better than ever, and now his muscles seemed even bigger and stronger.

    Before, he looked like someone who had only trained a little to achieve an attractive body definition. But after this recovery, besides improving his skin''s quality, his muscles gained volume and high definition, like that of natural bodybuilders on earth with a few years of training.

    And while his conditioning was better than ever, his senses and bodily functions had also improved. After all, the spiritual cleansing not only affected his external appearance.

    Arms capable of lifting hundreds of pounds of weight had to have, in addition to strong muscles, strong bones, efficient transport of gases and nutrients, etc.

    For this, all organs had to evolve to maintain a cultivator''s strength!

    With that, Lothur''s sense of smell was much sharper the moment, and he soon awoke from his unconscious state due to the strange odor in his surroundings.

    ''Uh?'' He opened his eyes and saw the dark ce he was in, quickly beginning to remember everything that had happened.<sub> </sub>

    But before he could even get a chance to start stressing about his bad luck, something pleasant to look at appeared in his vision.

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons acquired.]

    ''Oh?'' Lothur''s eyes blinked a few times, with him finding it amazing that he could get even that kind of thing.

    But as he reasoned, Lothur did not think this was some kind of ''magic'' from the system. ''My body recovers quickly, so it''s not strange that I got a resistance to poisons after a poisoning...''

    ''In other words, the system is merely showing me the obvious!''

    Just then, he saw his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 6.9] [CON: 8.0] [DEX: 6.0] [AGI: 7.9]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 12] [WIL: 45]

    Seeing this, he smiled in satisfaction, happier than ever to get a level advance right after starting his mission.

    ''Hmmm, looks like my advancement this time was not stimted by my Physique.'' Lothur pondered as he realized that the increase in his attributes had been slightpared to what he had experienced the two times his Physique had helped him.

    Lothur, on the other hand, could not help but associate the significant increase in his Constitution and the improvement in Perception with the poisons he''d been exposed to.

    ''Did contact with those poisons improve my body''s quality with that resistance? That must be the case.'' He smiled, feeling tremendously good.

    ''That''s crazy. I went through all that earlier, but now I feel so good.''

    ''The benefits of the risks in this world are tremendous.'' He realized some of the reality of the cultivation world.

    One would not always benefit from the risks one took. But every good opportunityes with risks, and only those with the good fortune, bad luck, will, or need to face difficult situations could rise to the top and reap the rewards.

    As for those who chose or were not forced to take risks, who amodated themselves, well, they would never be exposed to excessive gains of the risks.

    Realizing this, Lothur looks at his previous misfortune with a different mind.

    He did not want to have to suffer all the time for gains. But he could see that as long as he endured the worst, sooner orter, he would reap tremendous benefits.

    He could see that his start in this world could be painful, but once he improved his position, such situations would no longer be so frequent or necessary.

    In other words, he was now suffering only to reap the future benefits!

    In contrast, as Lothur calmly reflected on what he had done prior to entering this cave, he felt reassured about having vited his moral principles by killing other humans.

    Those people had tried to kill him, and he had only followed his survival instincts.

    How could he, someone with no experience in such situations, be guilty of not knowing how to control himself?

    If his instincts made him kill those people, then the only ones to me for that were the very individuals who tried to act against him in the first ce!

    If it were other situations, Lothur would try to use his rational side not to kill people. But in such an extreme circumstance, his enemies had attracted that terrible fate upon themselves.

    Thinking about it, he soon felt less guilty for his actions.

    "Sigh..."

    ''In any way, I should go back and check those people''s belongings.''

    ''They''re already dead, and I desperately need resources.'' Then, he convinced himself, just before he got up from where he was standing and started to change his clothes.

    After that, he looked in the direction of that spider and thought of something else...

 Chapter 68 Ive Been Robbed!

    Upon seeing the corpse of that giant spider, Lothur began to wonder if it might have some value. After all, the thing was of abnormal size, and perhaps its body parts had some use in this world.

    However, he had no knowledge concerning the animals of this world. He had no idea whether or not this being could have value. At the same time, he faced a crucial problem.

    That was the size of that being.

    Such an organism was massive, and Lothur did not have enough space in his spatial ring to store that body. But, on the other hand, he could not carry a corpse that big with him, as it could attract other animals and be problematic for him toplete his activities.

    With that in mind, Lothur had a problem ahead of him, as he thought it was a waste to leave that corpse behind, but he also did not see how he could get the best out of it.

    ''Well, an animal that size must have its value.''

    ''Maybe if I pull the venom inocting ws off this spider, I might be able to sell it somewhere.'' He looked at that part of the brown and ck corpse in front of him.

    He then quickly made some moves with his ax, only using some cautiousness in his movements, as he was not yet used to his new strength.

    After a while, he removed some small parts of the corpse from that area, leaving behind only the most significant part of it, which he could not take with him.

    With that, he put all those parts into his spatial ring just before leaving the remains of that spider behind and heading back from where he hade from earlier.

    ...

    After a few minutes, Lothur finally arrived at the ce where he had fought earlier.

    Upon arriving in that area, he immediately found the three corpses from earlier, each in the same positions as before, still with their eyes open, as they had died.

    Previously that blonde masked woman had passed by this ce, but even though she knew these people, she had not bothered to do anything about their bodies.

    No, she was not a friend, nor did she get along with those people, let alone care about their post-mortem dignity.

    After all, they were just associates of the close organizations, people of lower status than her. So, she had not taken care of those corpses but had abandoned them in that ce for the animals to devour!

    Anyway, Lothur still did not know that others had passed by there, so he went directly next to the first corpse in his path, already curious to know what he would get there.

    However, Lothur had taken too long to collect the items left behind by his enemies!

    "That..."

    ''What the fuck! Where are these people''s rings?'' He found that strange.

    He had noticed how each of his opponents previously had spatial rings in their hands. But now, he was in this ce where none of the dead people had such items on their fingers.

    And upon observing the surroundings carefully, Lothur finally realized that even the previous sword one of those individuals used was not around.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Don''t tell me I was robbed?'' He felt frustration permeating his body, incredulous that such a thing had happened.

    That was the middle of the forest, and yet the young man''s enemies had already had their inheritances turned over by others who had nothing to do with their deaths.

    And thinking about how someone could have the courage to steal someone else''s targets, Lothur felt appalled at how low the morals were in the cultivation world!

    "Shit!" He cursed aloud, feeling the mistake of not having looted those bodies earlier.

    ''If this happens again in the future, I can''t dy in collecting the battle prizes!''

    ''I can''t risk losing cultivation and financial resources so easily!'' He clenched his hands tightly, sighing in defeat.

    With that, it did not take long for Lothur to gather the bodies of those three people in the middle of a structure he had set up to incinerate them.

    Lothur and these people had been enemies. But since he had killed them, this young man felt a responsibility to at least ensure that animals would not eat the bodies of his opponents.

    That was the least dignity he could give these people.<sub> </sub>

    But he did not wait to see those three bodies return to ashes. No, the moment ck smoke began to rise in the sky of that area, he left.

    His goal in returning to those people was to gather resources. But since he had aplished nothing, he returned to his original ns of gathering the Tooth Grass.

    Thus, he quickly made his way through that forest, constantly paying attention to his way so as not to make unnecessary mistakes.

    ...

    While Lothur continued his business in the forest near Peters City, Alric''s cousin was at this moment investigating the events concerning the beating of that fellow.

    ? Merten Baier was not the only one doing this work. Still, because of his proximity to Alric, he devoted some of his time to finding those responsible for Alric''s tragic situation.

    For this reason, he had challenged several of Alric''s opponents in the Morning Star Academy, people who had been offended or had reason to act against young master Baier.

    Alric had offended many people in the academy due to his arrogant and authoritative personality. Therefore, there was nock of people in that ce who would like to beat him up until there was not much left...

    And among some of the disaffected was Lothur, of course.

    However, this individual from the Baier family did not have Lothur as his prime suspect. On the contrary, in Merten''s opinion, this good-for-nothing was probably the one with the slightest chance of being behind what happened to Alric.

    In any case, he had challenged Lothur because this young man had already shown suspicious and disrespectful behavior towards the Baier family. So, he could at least repair the family''s image by beating up Lothur for the whole academy.

    As for the culprit for that situation, well, due to Alric''s circumstances when he had been beaten, that, in Merten''s opinion, had probably been the Mouse Company.

    From what they had learned so far, Alric and his minions had beaten up two child members of the Mouse Company because of dissatisfaction with their service.

    And before they even had a chance to kill those two, the event that the entire Baier family wasmenting had developed.

    Because of this, that cousin of Alric''s was heading for one of the posts of the Mouse Company at this moment, intent on finding those responsible for his cousin''s tragedy.

    "Have you dealt with those two?" Merten asked the servant who was apanying him as he walked through one of the many alleys in the suburb of Peters City.

    Upon hearing that, the servant dressed in a garment typically worn by butlers answered Merten. "Yes, young master Merten. The two brats beaten by young master Alric were eliminated soon after their interrogation."

    "That is good."

    "In these tumultuous times with the Frost family, we can''t have any trace of crimes by important members, or our enemies might use that to neutralize us."

    "Anyway, let''s not talk about that now."

    "All right, young master Merten."

    "Well, let''s see what we get in this ce..." Merten looked at the abandoned building his servant was showing him the way to. "Are our forces already in ce?"

    "Yes. If any trouble happens, we will destroy this ce."

    "Very well!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, the Becker family had already learned about Alric''s tragedy, and the patriarch of that family was angry over such a disgrace.

    He intended to marry his family to House Baier through a political marriage between Alric and Elke. Still, with that young man''s manhood in check, such a thing was no longer sure to happen.

    They could reunite Elke with another member of that family. Still, for the political arrangements he desired, it would be difficult to marry the daughter of a patriarch to someone who was not an heir.

    After all, the point of this political marriage would be to bring benefits to both parties through an agreement of equals, given the future of Elke and Alric''s children.

    Unfortunately, a stone had appeared in the middle of the ns of the patriarchs of those two families!

    ...

 Chapter 69 Elkes Situation

    In a luxurious office inside the mansion of the patriarch of the Becker family, the leader of this organization was sitting at the main post next to a beautiful mature woman.

    Both he and she had beautiful red hair. But unlike the woman who looked to be in her early thirties, the patriarch Becker had some white hair mixed in with the red hair on his head and wrinkles on his face that showed his advanced age.

    But even though he was much older than Elke''s mother, Gomeric Becker had a high standard appearance that could easily attract and deceive inexperienced women.

    As for Hilda Kr��ger, she had the same level of beauty as Elke, only with the charm of mature women, which that young woman was still far from achieving.

    As she stood next to her husband, facing two men, they discussed the recent problem that was already hindering their ns.

    "The Baier family is a household of ipetents! How can they let something so absurd happen to their young master?" Hilda said in an irritated manner as she looked at those high-level people in her family.

    On the other hand, Gomeric was not one bit less dissatisfied than Hilda. He had a livid expression on his face, heavily pressing his jaw to the point that anyone could see that.

    "That''s extremely careless of them." He said this just after his wife. "What kind of family doesn''t keep an eye on their most important offspring?"

    "Having a bodyguard following young masters is the basics!"

    One of those two nodded in agreement while looking at the two people set with their backs to arge ss door that gave a beautiful view into the central part of Peters City. "It seems that young master Alric escaped from his subordinates in an attempt to hide his tracks."

    "He was trying to seek information from a young man from the Morning Star Academy, but due to a mistake by those who sold him such information, he went in search of ''justice.''"

    "Anyway, he wanted to do something foolish and distanced himself from his subordinates. But, unfortunately, his actions put him in that situation..."

    The person next to that white-haired, fair-skinned man nodded, waving his long ck beard. "Now, no one knows if he will be able to regain his manhood."

    "He is still unconscious due to his injuries, so the Baier family has been looking for medicines and doctors even outside the province..."

    "We have to keep an eye on that as they will try everything to get that young man back or at least pretend he has recovered. Even try a fake marriage to hide the truth about young master Alric." Such a person looked significantly at the Becker patriarch, indicating this worrisome possibility.

    The Becker family naturally wanted to marry their young miss to some young master for their own sake and not that of other organizations!

    In the first moment, a marriage could set in ce or even create an alliance between powers, sometimes even between former enemies. But in the long run, the best benefits did not strictlye from this initial change.

    The best benefits came with the offspring of the couple brought together by the greater interests of the two families!

    In such a marriage model, a woman''s family would only have valid benefits to justify the marriage in case her children had the opportunity to be influential within the other power.

    After all, alliance rtionships could end as quickly as they began. Still, a family was much harder to destroy, even in the cruel cultivation world.

    On the other hand, it was only through the hands of a descendant of both families that an ambition to merge powers could be done without major plotting.

    But thinking about the possibility that the Baier family might want to continue Alric and Elke''s marriage even under the current circumstances went against the interests of House Becker!

    Hence that fellow''s concern!

    "Tsk!"

    "I hope those old men in the Baier family aren''t thinking about it, or we may have to break the good rtionship we''ve had for thest 500 years." Elke''s father said this coldly, not even considering allowing such a thing.

    Hilda then sighed after these words were spoken, feeling that at least the news of the engagement of these two houses had not yet left their upper echelons.

    Not even Elke knew of such a thing!

    "At least a potential refusal on our part won''t soil that family''s name, so maybe we won''t destroy our ties." She remarked this just before her group heard therge door of that office being mmed.

    Pa! Pa!

    A servant''s voice then sounded through there. "Patriarch, the young miss is here as requested by madam."

    "Oh? Let her in." Her father said this in a slightly less irritated tone.<sub> </sub>

    After that, that beautiful youngdy who had been getting involved with Lothur stopped beside her father and mother''s work table, being watched by those four people.

    "Mother, father, why do you want to see me? Is something wrong?" She asked as she first greeted the two elders in that ce with a nod and then looked at those two people.

    Her mother eased her previous expression and showed her a smile. "Elke, tell me how you are doing at the academy. You have been there for almost four months now. Is there any progress?"

    "Hmmm. I think I''ll move to Sector-2 in a few weeks." She said this with confidence.

    "Oh? That''s good." Hilda did not think her daughter''s slowness was terrible since it was hard for a person with an ordinary talent like Elke to advance faster than that.

    In any case, Elke''s main characteristic was her ability to give an heir to the family that married her, not her power. As such, none of those people were concerned about the level of this woman.

    They would be if she were a man, but since she was not, that was not a concern.

    Men and women naturally could go as far as in the cultivation ranks. But while men were the natural heirs of this world, women hardly took on that role. And in House Becker, that was how things worked.

    Consequently, since she would not lead this family anyway, and her valuey in producing heirs, even her mother was not disappointed by her talent.

    It was a shame. Hilda and the patriarch felt this way since it meant that Elke would probably live little. But there were not many alternatives for them, and because of their feelings, they could not detest her just for that.

    She could help the family and produce heirs for them. That was more than enough!

    Hilda got to the point. "Elke, you are an adult now and will soon have to take on greater responsibilities in the family. Do you understand that?"

    "Yes, mother." She answered truthfully, not liking the direction of this conversation.

    "Good."

    "Then you understand that we will soon find a good man for you."

    "However, just because we will show you the ''way'' does not mean you will not be able to do anything for yourself." She took a piece of paper with several names on it from her ring and handed it to Elke.

    "Here are some young men from the Morning Star Academy who have the potential to be your husband."

    "We already have a favorite, but maybe things won''t work out with him..." She did not reveal her family''s secret agreement with House Baier.

    But Hilda did not even need to do that. Elke was not dumb. She readilyprehended that as she saw the four names on that paper, where Alric''s name was the first one there. ''I''m d Lothur crippled that person...''

    ''I won''t have to stay with someone so pathetic, and I''ll still have more time with a real man.'' She thought about this as she imagined how Lothur treated her and provoked her emotions.

    She trusted him as she went along with the madness of their rtionship. But deep in her heart, Elke knew how difficult it would be for them to be able to be happy together. As such, she understood that her time with him was not much, and she would probably have to marry one of those names.

    Hence, she would at least no longer have to put up with someone like Alric!

    She would prefer to stay with Lothur, but if she was forced to be with another man, she at least did not want to stay with someone she already knew had many ws.

    In any case, she would never say anything against her parents'' orders, much less talk about her feelings for Lothur. That would only make everything between them more challenging, which went against her interests.

    She then remained silent, feeling her eyes grow watery as she listened to her mother.

    "Anyway, you can try to get to know these people better, and we will take into consideration the one you like the most. Then, depending on the situation, you can stay with such a person."

    "I understand." She weaved her head just before hearing a few more things and then left that ce.

    ''I will do nothing of the sort!''

    ''I will stay with Lothur as long as I can!'' She thought about it as she walked away from that ce, with tears on her cheeks.

 Chapter 70 Return

    One dayter...

    After going through almost every field where Tooth Grass grew in that forest region, the blonde woman searching for Lothur finally gave up her n.

    She had not understood what had happened, but strangely, she could not find the tracks of that young man aftering across the previous corpses.

    On the other hand, every ce she had passed after collecting the items of those corpses had not yet been searched by anyone. It was as if her target had simply given up on his mission to collect the Tooth Grass!

    But this woman had nothing to do with that situation.

    She had tried to chase a person behind her tracks, who had been careful in his steps, slowpared to her.

    In the end, she did not find Lothur anywhere and just returned angrily to Peters City,menting her failure.

    However, while that woman had been frustrated in her attempt to deal with Lothur, this individual had gone about his mission without further problems.

    He had encountered other animals and insects in that forested area during the night. But none of them couldpare to the human danger he had faced earlier. Moreover, with his advancement to the 4th Transformation, Lothur had be quite powerful, able to ensure his safety with a certain margin of advantage in this ce.

    That was a ce typically visited by cultivators at the beginning of their cultivation journey or mortals in search of sustenance. Thus, there were not many dangers there for someone at his current level.

    Thus he had managed to gather the amount of Tooth Grass without further problems, but also without further opportunities for advancement.

    With that, after dawn in this region, Lothur was preparing to return to Peters City, following the way he hade, looking forward to getting home.

    ...

    ''Oh?''

    ''A fire? Are there people further ahead?'' Lothur came across a column of smoke rising into the sky from a ce only 20 meters away from him.

    Noticing the movement around that rtively clear area due to the low nt density, he soon snuck between the trees to check for people in the vicinity.

    In the cultivation world, meeting people far from cities always had its dangers. Even more so considering an isted ce, where people had less reason not to killpetitors or enemies.

    You could never know for sure if a stranger encountered in the middle of a trip was just an ordinary person traveling, a criminal on the run, someone who had just obtained a valuable item, or even an enemy.

    There were many possibilities, which is why people from this world used to avoid encountering strangers while traveling through forest regions like that.

    But even knowing this, Lothur did not want just to turn around and take a detour. No, since he had spotted people on his way, he at least wanted to confirm the strength of these people.

    If they were stronger than him, he could take double or triple care to avoid them. If they were weaker than him, he could continue on his way without worrying about being attacked for simply passing through the vicinity of that area.

    And considering his advantage of not emitting spiritual fluctuations, he could easily sneak around there.

    ''Let''s see if these people are strong...'' He looked between the leaves of a nt in front of him.

    With that, Lothur finally saw a group of three people camping in that ce, where there was a small tent and, a few meters from it, a campfire with food on skewers.

    But something there caught Lothur''s attention.

    ''What the fuck...'' He felt terrible, with a sudden urge to vomit. ''That... That looks like parts of the corpse of a spider as that being!''

    ''Those people are eating that?'' His eyes opened wide, feeling disgusted at the beautiful woman who at the moment was sitting by the fire with a skewer of purple meat in her hands, eating the thing with gusto.

    And her twopanions were making no different expressions than that woman while also eating parts of the spider corpse not far from them.

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 2.1] [COM: 3] [DEX: 2.8] [AGI: 3.1]

    Lothur then saw the statuses of those three people, first of that woman eating what looked like ''spider loin'' and then of the two men who were on the same level as her.

    He felt somewhat relieved that these people were not a danger to him, but his disgust at watching that wild meal scene prevented him from simply leaving that area.

    Instead of continuing walking, he stood still, with his hands on his knee as he tried not to vomit up everything in his stomach.

    But he could not do that for long when he suddenly saw that woman eating one of the spider eyes.

    ''Fuck!''

    "Cough! Cough! Cough!"

    Hearing coughing sounds from one of the nts in the surrounding area, those three individuals dressed as adventurers put their meals aside and promptly drew their weapons.<sub> </sub>

    With their experience, they soon noticed where that sound wasing from, where at the moment, a silver-haired young man was vomiting like a person riddled with disease.

    And noticing his weakness, they soon lowered their guards.

    "Kid, are you okay?" The woman asked with a smile on her face, finding it curious that such a handsome young man hade across them in such a manner.

    "What''s wrong with you, brat?" The man, who appeared to be the oldest of the three, with a goatee full of ck hair, said this in a somewhat irritated tone. "Were you by any chance spying on us?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t be such an idiot, Dachs. What would an ordinary mortal want with us?"

    "Humph!"

    "No mortal would know how to differentiate us from other mortals!" Dachs said in an authoritative tone.

    But the woman in that group ignored her twopanions and approached Lothur. "Come on, let big sister take a look at you..." She smiled as she tried to take his body in her arms.

    However, upon sensing the smell of roasted meating from that woman, Lothur immediately turned away from her, disgusted. "No, I''m fine."

    "I was just passing by when I saw you devouring that thing..." He swallowed his saliva, trying not to cough and ignore the smell in the air. "Is it normal for adventurers to eat that kind of insect?"

    "Isn''t it disgusting?"

    "Disgusting?" The three people said before waves ofughter left their lips.

    "Hahaha, kid, you don''t know the truth about the world!"

    "It seems this poor mortal doesn''t know the world''s gifts..."

    "Hehe, we were eating some of the best meat in the world, and he threw up in disgust?"

    "Hrious!"

    That woman then exined to Lothur. "Giant Tropical Spider meat is a delicacy served at the imperial court!"

    "We were lucky to find the remains of that one nearby, so we were tasting it."

    "Otherwise, we would have had to spend thousands of coins just for the chance to taste a few ounces of this wonderful meat!"

    "What? Are you kidding me?" Lothur finally got over his nausea and looked doubtfully at those people. ''How can that be good?''

    "Hehe, do you want to taste it?" She asked this as she winked at him and then took thest skewer from that fire. "But to do that, you''ll have to give this big sister here a kiss..."

    "Tsk!"

    "I have no interest!"

    ? "I don''t have the stomach to taste exotic meats." He moved his shoulders back in a defensive stance.

    "Hahaha, good. More left for us!" The younger manmented in satisfaction since he did not like that woman''s crazy idea of sharing food with this stranger.

    Seeing the reaction of those people who had already returned to eating that delicacy, Lothur watched them for a moment longer, controlling his disgust. He then remembered what was on his spatial ring and asked. "If this is as good as you say, do other parts of this spider have any value?"

    "For example, the venom. Does that have any value?"

    The man who appeared to be the oldest nodded and said. "Of course!"

    "That spider''s venom can knock out a 4th Transformation cultivator for hours and even kill someone at the 2nd Transformation!"

    "Then it is valuable to 1st stage people."

    "Oh?" Lothur put his disgust aside, liking this information.

    "Why do you ask? Do you know where we can find one of those?" The woman asked, looking warily at Lothur.

    "No."

    "I just thought that if its flesh is as valuable as you said, then the poison must be even more..." He smiled as he walked away from those people. "I wish I had the strength to defeat and the luck to find one of those, hahaha."

    After that, those people ignored the strange ''mortal'' who had passed in their way, someone insignificant in their eyes who was not worth causing trouble.

    As for Lothur, he quickly returned to Peters City with a smile on his lips.

 Chapter 71 Small Mistake

    After arriving in the urban part of Peters City, Lothur did not go directly to the Frost family estate but rather to the medicine store he had previously passed.

    With his missionpleted, he wanted to immediately deliver the 10 kilograms of Tooth Grass to that establishment and receive the confirmation medal to collect his awards at the academyter.

    Once a person or business establishment puts missions at the Morning Star Academy, uponpletion, a student or group would have to take the proof to the academy or to the person who created it.

    Usually, the first way was the mostmon, preventing ordinary people from dealing with some problems. Take, for example, the case of a foolish student who forces his way over academy clients.

    Such a thing was notmon to happen, but it was also not rare to the point that people ignored the possibility. Spiritual cultivation gave people much power, and some could easily lose control and act brutally against ordinary or weaker people.

    Therefore, one could never be too careful!

    But in the case of the medicine harvest that Lothur had done, as it was part of the mission to use the items borrowed from that establishment, the medicine had to be delivered directly to that ce.

    But since the mission payment was made directly by the academy, Lothur needed to collect the proof that he hadpleted his duties, the confirmation medal.

    With this in mind, he entered that sizeable old house with a crooked roof and the name One Thousand and One Medicines on the outside.

    ...

    "Hello, I am here to deliver the 10 kilograms of Tooth Grass."

    Lothur said that as he approached the reception desk of that ce, next to the old woman who had attended him the day before.

    "Oh? You got back pretty fast, huh?" That person, who was wearing arge green apron over her white clothes, said this as she looked in surprise at Lothur. ''For a mortal, you''re extremely quick at what you do!''

    ''I wonder if he was lucky to find everything he needed in one area?''

    But she did not invest much of her time in this little matter, only having gotten a good impression of the young man in front of her. "Well, that''s all right. Ten kilos of Tooth Grass and all the items I lent you earlier."

    She then gave Lothur a red medal, the item he needed toplete his mission.

    After storing it in his spatial ring, Lothur smiled and said goodbye to that person, heading back to the Frost estate.

    He wanted to know how to sell the poisonous ws of the spider he had killed. Still, since he had heard that such a thing could be considered valuable, Lothur did not want to talk about it with strangers.

    Instead, he wanted to talk about the method and ce of selling this item with Elke, Viktoria, or Annaliese, these three women he felt he could trust regarding this.

    Viktoria particrly would not be his first choice. Still, since she seemed to have a vested interest in maintaining his well-being, Lothur did not think she would try to harm him. So, he had some confidence in her, despite the differences between them.

    On the other hand, he had not forgotten the previous assassination attempt and wanted to find a way to resolve such a thing.

    He did not know how he could have offended those three people, but something told him that more people were after him and that those three were just someone''s minions. And thinking about it, he was not willing to ignore that event!

    ''I think talking to Anneke is the best way for me to try to work this out...''

    ''Anna and Elke will probably be apprehensive if they hear about that and will try to take my problems to other people.''

    ''Anne, on the other hand, has a maturity and knowledge that is more advanced than those two.'' He made up his mind before finally entering that estate of his wife''s family.

    ...

    After some time in his room resting, Lothur heard someone knocking on his bedroom door.

    "Scumbag, I know you are there. Open the door!" Elise''s voice sounded behind that wooden door, awakening Lothur from his sleep.

    "Tsk!"

    "What do you want?" He asked aloud, still lying on his bed.

    "The young miss wants you to apany me to her."

    "Oh?" He jumped out of his bed and opened that door, revealing to Elise his naked torso.

    Seeing the well-defined muscles of the silver-haired young man, Elise clenched her hands as she thought of what she had already seen and the frustration she had gone through in thest 24 hours.

    ''That bastard!''

    ''Besides being a shameless person, he does everything the wrong way!''

    ''Why didn''t he show up at any ces I went? Did he know I was after him?'' She wondered as she watched Lothur dress, irritated by her recent failure.

    The blonde woman who had ''stolen'' the prizes from Lothur''s efforts had obviously been Elise. She had set out earlier to finish him off, but by the will of fate, nothing had happened ording to her ns.<sub> </sub>

    First, her underlings had been strangely eliminated. Next, she had wasted all her time wandering around that forested region without finding any trace of him.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I have to find a way to get rid of this nuisance! Only then can our organization get closer to the Frost family...''

    "Come on. I''m ready to see my beloved wife." So Lothur said to that woman right after he locked his room, ignorant as to the plots rted to Elise and the mysterious organization behind her.

    At the same time, this young man watched her for a moment, curious to check whether or not she could cultivate.

    He could hide from many cultivators, even Viktoria''s powerful parents... So, why would others not be able to do the same?

    Lothur was not of this ce and had much to learn about the cruel ways of the cultivation world. But he could not ignore his curiosity about this person who was so close to his wife and had always shown hostility to him.

    ''Hmm, as expected, I don''t see anything.'' He pondered after not receiving a response from the system...

    After that, the two proceeded in silence to Viktoria''s residence, where this woman was already waiting for Lothur.

    ...

    "Elise, you can wait for us outside. I want to talk privately with Lothur." Viktoria said to her servant before closing the door of her residence and beckoning Lothur to sit down somewhere.

    "Dear, what do you want with me? Are you by any chance worried to know what I did thest day?"

    "Tsk!"

    "I see that you keep yelling absurdities..." She smiled coldly, sitting in a lovely white armchair in front of him.

    She then went straight to the point, looking at him thoughtfully. "Lothur, my sister told me what happened between you two."

    "She did?" He said that in surprise, rising from the sofa he was on, incredulous.

    ''It can''t be!''

    ''Annaliese wouldn''t say such a thing to her!'' He broke into a cold sweat as he thought about what might happen if such a thing had reached Viktoria.

    And seeing the calm way that woman looked at him, he began to feel even worse since it was never a good sign when a woman seemed to be calm in situations like this.

    Gulp!

    "I must say, that truly surprised me when I heard..."

    "Really?"

    "I don''t doubt it." Lothur swallowed his saliva, already preparing to be taught a good lesson in this ce. "Maybe we''d better not take it so seriously..."

    "Hmm? Why?"

    Gulp!

    "You''re not angry?"

    "By the way, you didn''t tell your parents about this, right?" He looked at her apprehensively.

    "Of course not!"

    "What good would it do for me to tell my parents?"

    "Sigh!"

    "Good, or your mother would eat me alive..."

    "But aren''t you outraged? The other night you didn''t seem happy at all. What''s changed?"

    "We even..."

    "Hmm? What are you talking about? Why would I be angry with you for wanting to learn to protect yourself better?" She looked at him strangely.

    Lothur then almost showed his great surprise as he realized that he had made a small mistake and almost revealed what he should not have.

    ''Damn, I almost told her about my kiss with Annaliese!'' He massaged one of his cheeks, trying not to look at Viktoria. ''I almost guaranteed my own end!''

 Chapter 72 Conversation With The Wife

    "Oh? Please don''t bother about what I said. I was imagining a recent problem and got confused, dear." Lothur quickly dodged Viktoria''s questions, not showing much of his nervousness.

    "Is that so?" She observed him but did not pursue the subject, even though her intuition told her he was hiding something.

    "It''s good that you care about learning how to defend yourself, but don''t overdo it."

    "Don''t try topete with cultivators. It''s pointless for a mortal to do that, even considering your recovery ability."

    "You think so?" He smiled without exposing much of his fun, already imagining the expression Viktoria would make when he revealed his strength.

    She ignored his jocr tonement and touched on another subject she had discussed with Annaliese. "My sister told me about what happened between my parents and you on Friday night..."

    Hearing that, Lothur lost his earlier smile and got a solemn expression. He looked at her and realized a slight concern in his wife''s eyes.

    "Lothur, you have to understand my mother''s side. It is not easy for her in the situation we are in, and you have never helped yourself to at least look like a more responsible person."

    "Give her a break, stop talking nonsense, and focus on your affairs at the academy. Then, things might get a lot better in a few months."

    "Give her a break? Understand her side?" He looked at that woman feeling terrible for having heard those words.

    He was apparently in this family for that organization''s good and not for his own. He thought. But still, he had to understand his oppressor''s side when he was merely trying to live his life?

    That was absurd!

    Lothur was not one toin about the problems in his path or to have to ask others for help whenever a problem arose. But his situation in this ce was genuinely extreme to the point that he felt like stating his thoughts about these setbacks.

    Viktoria wanted him to think about Mabel''s side, but who was thinking about his side?

    "Are you kidding me?" He got up from where he was standing and started walking through the living room of that residence, indignantly looking at her. "Anna and I were just practicing in our spare time, and your mother decided to get in our way just to annoy me!"

    "Get in your way? And what''s wrong with that? Why do you want to train with my sister without other people around?" She, too, stood up, curious to understand Lothur''s motives.

    Viktoria already knew the details of her parents'' conversation with Lothur and Annaliese since her sister had invited her to be the one to be with them in these exercises. But she was yet to understand why Lothur had be so angry as to say he should leave this family.

    Unfortunately for her, her sister had not told her everything she knew about Lothur.

    And considering Viktoria''s concern about Lothur''s willingness to leave the Frost family, she could not help but be curious about all this.

    Leaving a noble family after marriage was naturally not simple. But if one of the parties had the intention to do such a thing, problems of all kinds could arise from this intention.

    Hence the reason for her concern.

    Lothur then looked at her, wondering what to say. "You wouldn''t understand my motives even if I told you."

    "In any case, what did your sister tell you? By the way, where is she?"

    Viktoria came closer to Lothur as she clenched her fists in frustration at not being able to extract the truth from this man no matter how hard she tried.

    He always escaped her ''clutches,'' leaving her questions unanswered and doing only what he wanted. That was genuinely annoying for a person so used to being answered and hearing yes from just about everyone!

    ''This Lothur...''

    ''I''ll talk to Karen to help me control this fellow.'' She thought of her best friend, the only one she could trust regarding this delicate matter for her.

    She sighed in defeat and then answered him. "I don''t know what you''ve been doing with my sister, but she''s keeping a good secret about whatever it is."<sub> </sub>

    "She hasn''t told me anything other than that you two are training."

    ''Oh? I''m d she didn''t say anything about us...'' He remembered Annaliese''s sweet lips but did not show his satisfaction to Viktoria.

    "As for where she should be, I don''t know. Today is Sunday, so she must be having fun with her friends."

    Viktoria and Annaliese were practically the same age, differing by only a few minutes in favor of Lothur''s wife. But due to the difference in talents between the two, one still lived like a 19-year-old, while the other had responsibilities and no longer wasted her time with certain futilities.

    Because of this, while Annaliese spent part of her weekends with her friends or resting, Viktoria was always doing something rted to her position in the Frost family.

    She, of course, had her free moments, like this one. But she often did not have time to do the same as her sister. That was the reason for the difference between their lives, even considering the slight age difference.

    "So that''s it..."

    ''Well, I guess I''ll have to talk to her about what happened...''

    Viktoria noted that Lothur seemed to have nothing more to say and tried to get at least a direct answer from this young man. "By the way, how was your first mission? Did you manage toplete it?"

    "Hmmm." He nodded in agreement. "I already picked up the confirmation medal. I just need to take it to the Mission Hall tomorrow."

    "So, you didn''t face any problems? Usually, there are rtively troublesome animals in those regions where medicine grows."

    "Yes, I had some minor problems..."

    "In particr, three animals got in my way and forced me to act more drastically... Lucky for me, Anna had already taught me a few tricks." He did not specify the attempt against his life.

    Lothur could speak the truth to Viktoria, but in doing so, he would run the risk of this woman cing bodyguards to follow him. And as much as this would not be the end of the world, having people protecting him could very well turn into a significant disadvantage.

    After all, with guards protecting him, enemies would naturally underestimate him less and use more power against him. But on the other hand, influential people would hardly ever be put on his guard, so he preferred not to be limited by other people.

    He had even found a way to convince his father-inw to remove the guards ced to apany him earlier after his first ''encounter'' with Alric. So, it would not be now that he would risk limiting his movements by telling Viktoria the whole truth.

    "Is that so?" She asked with interest.

    "Hmm, but the fight wasn''t interesting. Believe me. You don''t want to waste your time hearing about it..." He said as he looked at his spatial ring and remembered something Viktoria could help him with.

    "Among some animals I came across, I was lucky enough to get some parts of a Giant Tropical Spider that seems to have died after a confrontation with other adventurers."

    "Do you know where I can sell these parts? I even have the ws with the venom from that being."

    Upon hearing that, Viktoria''s eyes widened in surprise, shocked at how lucky Lothur had been to find that being dead in his path. "Did you get parts of a Giant Tropical Spider?"

    "It is not particrly valuable from the point of view of cultivators beyond the 1st stage. But in addition to its flesh being enjoyed by people of all strength ranges, its venom is valuable to those at the beginning of their cultivation journeys."

    ''Is this serious? Do people in this world like insect meat?'' He ignored the rest of Viktoria''sment, remembering the previous situation.

    But before he felt nauseous, he quickly answered her, showing those deadly parts of his previous enemy. "Of course, dear. I wouldn''t lie to my wife."

    "That..."

    "You have them." Shemented in surprise. ''How lucky!''

    "Well, since that is the case, you can sell..."

 Chapter 73 Hearing What You Shouldnt

    "You can sell this on the Morning Star Academy. You can find many potential buyers for this spider''s venom there." She said to him as she held up one of the ws that Lothur had shown her.

    She then looked at him seriously and said. "Outside the academy, more people might be interested, but don''t trade quality for quantity."

    "The people in that academy are individuals of high purchasing power. Meanwhile, on the streets, you will find people with fewer resources, more willing to take risks to get what they want..."

    "Anyway, if you want to sell this, keep a good paycheck, and not take unnecessary risks, then the academy is the best ce for you."

    "Oh?" Lothur looked at her closely as he remembered the ce Elke had shown him during their first tour in Sector-1.

    "On the other hand, by doing this at the academy, you can even get merit points." She informed him about such detail of that institution. "Every time you do business within the academy, you encourage the concentration of resources or cultivation items among the students."

    "This helps to promote the level of cultivation and understanding of the students, which may have the consequence of increasing the academy''s prestige in the future."

    "In that way, trading within the academy is well regarded by the administration, and because of that, they give merit points worth 0.1% of the value of bronze coins traded in that ce."

    "I don''t need to tell you how important that is, right?" She looked at him in a way that reaffirmed the idea that there were no other ways to ascend in that ce without the merit points.

    And since such points could only be transferred from the academy to the students and vice versa, there was no way to negotiate them. So, each student had to take advantage of those possibilities thrown up by the academy governance.

    "I see."

    "Hmm, thanks for the information, Viktoria. I''ll look into it tomorrow when I go to that ce."

    "But tell me one thing." He stored that remnant of the spider in his storage ring and asked his wife. "How much will I be able to earn with that?"

    "Five to ten thousand bronze coins. No more than that."

    "That poison is precious for people at the beginning of the first stage, but besides having a limited number of uses, people of that strength range can''t earn many coins."

    "Then it will hardly go beyond that."

    "What? Really? I heard that the meat of that spider is precious... How can it be so cheap?" He said with a slightly altered tone since he had imagined a much higher value.

    Viktoriaughed at Lothur and said. "For 1st stage cultivators, this spider''s venom is more valuable than the meat. But unfortunately for you, the meat of this species is prized by high-level cultivators, which raises the price of the kilo considerably."

    Even ordinary food, with no natural spiritual energy in its structures, could be transformed into spiritual meals of high nutritional value and exquisite taste.

    For this, all that was needed was a cook specialized in manipting spiritual energy to prepare such a meal. Because of this possibility, high-level cultivators could even pay dearly for a pound of Giant Tropical Spider meat.

    With the increasing demand and the purchasing power of people seeking such a resource, naturally, the price was high.

    As for the poison of such a specimen, well, it was helpful in a restricted number of people, weaker and poorer individuals. Naturally, therefore, such a thing naturally had a more moderate price.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Those damned adventurers took the fruits of mybor!''

    ''What a loss!'' Lothur closed his eyes in disappointment, regretting that he had left behind that significant piece of the spider that had attacked him earlier.

    ''Anyway, that amount should be enough for me to recover some coins I have spent since I arrived in this world.''

    "Sigh..."

    After sighing slightly, Lothur''s eyes sparkled with the thought concerning the lesson of this previous situation, and he soon set a goal in his mind. ''I need a spatial ring with more extensive storage!''

    ''I can''t keep leaving my prizes behind!''

    ...

    After finishing his conversation with Viktoria, Lothur made his way to an empty spot on that estate, where he had spent a few hours training.

    He wanted to talk to Annaliese about what had happened between the two. Still, since she was not around, he simply focused his attention on his techniques. It was still not even half the day in Peters City, so this young man took advantage of the time he had to continue improving his attributes.

    And as expected, after a few hours of diligent training, Lothur raised his physical attributes a bit more!

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 7.1] [CON: 8.4] [DEX: 6.3] [AGI: 8.1]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 12] [WIL: 45.3]

    Lothur was looking at the system screen with a smile on his face, sweaty from head to toe when suddenly he heard voices nearby.<sub> </sub>

    "Hey, did you do what we agreed?" A female voice soundeding from behind one of the trees in the vicinity of the servant training area, where hardly anyone could be seen in the vicinity at the moment.

    The voice then continued. "Did you do it or not? They are pressuring me so that I..."

    "Shh!"

    "What are you saying? What if someone hears you?" A male voice boomed through that area in a whispery tone, but still, Lothur heard it perfectly.

    The female voice then reassured hispanion. "Rest assured, at this time of day, none of the servants on this estate are in a position to waste their time training."

    "Even so! I don''t think we should discuss matters that could guarantee our death in such an open ce!"

    "Tsk!"

    "What a coward!"

    "Then how are we going to settle that? We will soon have the Province Conference, and our friends wish to see your family in the worst ce..."

    "I know about that problem."

    "But with that useless man''s participation, we just have to drug the food of an importantpetitor, and the results will naturallye." He said as he pointed to himself

    "What can a declining house do against rising organizations? Just one more defeat will be enough to ensure the family''s failure in thispetition." He said this in an even lower tone, but still, Lothur heard him perfectly well.

    ''That voice...''

    ''I''ve heard it somewhere, but I can''t remember who it was.'' He closed his eyes in a mental effort, but nothing came to his mind.

    The female voice sounded again, this time with a mockery tone. "You are truly determined, hehe."

    "Not many work as hard as you do to sabotage their own organization..."

    "Humph!"

    "You can judge me as you wish. But I am saving my family in my way!"

    "Some in this family don''t understand that we are no longer great as we once were. So, they refuse to ept the passage of time, even if it results in our destruction."

    "It''s their fault we are being pressured on all sides!"

    "So what I am doing is nothing more than taking one step backward so I can take two steps forward in the future!"

    "Following the Third Prince will be the salvation of House Frost!"

    ''Third Prince?'' Lothur looked in the direction of where those people were standing, curious to know what treachery was evolving in that family.

    ''Hmm, it seems my wife''s family is not in the best of situations...''

    ''Crown Prince. Pressured on all sides. Not as grand as they once were. Hmmm.''

    ''I need to talk to Anneke about the province and empire situation. Maybe I can understand what is going on with her help...''

    Crack!

    A small wooden branch broke with a movement from Lothur.

    As he pondered the matter, the man from before suddenly heard that noiseing from Lothur''s direction and shouted. "Who''s there? Show yourself!"

    He then promptly spread his mighty aura over that area, intending to bring down anyone who was behind the subtle disturbance of a few seconds ago.

    But Lothur was no fool to stay to meet those people. So, he simply activated his movement technique, disappearing from that area in the blink of an eye.

    "Is someone spying on us? Howe I don''t feel anything?" That mysterious woman asked that as she also checked the area.

    And realizing that there was no one around, the man frowned his eyebrows. "Tsk!"

    "That''s your fault! I heard the noise of a twig and already thought we were being spied on!" Such an individual said in concern while sighing in relief.

    He was not the strongest in this family. But, still, with his spiritual pressure, he knew that he could even get in the way of some of the strongest in this organization. And if even someone stronger than him had been there, then he and hispanion would not still be breathing!

    Hence, if no one was left behind and they were still alive, then this could only mean that it had all been a false rm.

    Unfortunately, these people did not know about Lothur''s strange ability not to be affected by the spiritual pressure of cultivators!

    That man then said. "Anyway, let''s not continue here. Now I''m suddenly feeling as if something bad is going to happen..."

 Chapter 74 Mouse Company Leader

    Meanwhile, in a not busy area of Peters City, a blonde woman wearing a mask on her face walked towards an old building, where several scruffy people were gathering on the outskirts.

    In that ce where these individuals who looked like homeless people were, there were small fires here and there, as well as a certain silence capable of striking fear into the hearts of the weak.

    But this was not a simple ce where people with no luck nor good judgment skills in their lives gathered. No, some of the eyes in the surroundings were not those of people who do not know what to do with their lives but of obstinate people with goals.

    Precisely because of this distortion of signs, the strange sensation someone unsuspecting would feel when passing by this area was significant to the point of causing fear.

    However, as significant as the sensation of being observed and the tension in the air was, the woman ignored this, already ustomed to visiting this area.

    With that, she went on her way, passing by several individuals who limited the passage of people to the upper floors of one building that seemed abandoned.

    And upon arriving at the most important ce there, she finally came across better-dressed people, different from those on lower levels.

    "Are you here to notify thepletion of your mission?" A dark-skinned, muscr man, 2 meters tall, asked the neer calmly.

    The blonde observed the man in front of her, disappointed with her failure. "No. Problems arose during the previous attempt, so I am here to notify your leader."

    "Problems, huh?" That man''s eyes sharpened as he looked meaningfully at her. ''Such ipetence...''

    ''Is killing a mere mortal that hard for this younger generation? Do they think that people of higher rank and seniority have to do everything around here?''

    But that man said nothing to that woman that had seductive curves.

    It was not his role to discipline her, even more so considering that this woman did not belong to this ce. As such, he just walked out of the front of the door he was guarding, making room for her to move on.

    Soon after this, Elise made her way to notify the people of this ce about yesterday''s incident, entering a rtively dark ce with a strange smell in the air.

    Smelling the odor of drink and another she did not quite understand, this woman wriggled her nose under her mask while a disgusted expression formed on her face.

    She then ignored the vulgar decorations of that ce and made her way to the office of the leader of this post.

    Slurp!

    "Ahhh~"

    Upon entering that ce, Elise saw a scene that she sincerely wished she had not seen, making her feel worse for dealing with such people.

    They belonged to the same organization, but because she came from a different post, one with less ''corruption,'' she could not help but be disgusted by such people.

    This feeling was particrly true of the leader of this post, the man she had just seen sitting on a sofa, forcing a naked woman''s face into his private part.

    After being faced with that situation, she closed her fists, red in that person''s direction, and said. "I am here to report something about my mission."

    "Oh?" That fellow finally realized Elise''s presence, but he was not embarrassed nor stopped what he was doing.

    He simply smiled at her, letting go of the body full of red and purple marks of the person who was serving him, and rxed his arms over parts of that sofa.

    As he made that movement that gave a different image of the tattoos on his upper body, he finally said. "Can''t you wait a few minutes?"

    "Or rather, if you want to join..."

    "Tsk!"

    "If you don''t mind dying the services ordered by our leader, I can wait for you to finish your fun." She said in an irritated tone.

    The man thenughed wryly and looked at the woman serving him, who was in a deplorable state.

    Seeing this, that woman ran her hand over his face, wiping the tears from her face and something else from her lips.

    She then ran naked through there, quickly leaving those two alone.

    ''How despicable!''

    ''If it weren''t for my leader''s orders, I wouldn''t even exchange words with someone like that!'' She looked in that woman''s direction in silence.<sub> </sub>

    That man then pulled up his trousers and walked over to the chair behind his desk, picking up a sizeable brown cigar that was there and taking a few puffs.

    "So?" He asked, still smiling.

    "You shouldn''t treat such a woman that way. What if shees out saying the wrong thing because of your manners?"

    "Hahaha, impossible!"

    "That one there, I have already conquered body and soul!"

    "You need to know her story!" He said with a proud look on his face. "She was married to a nice husband, and they both had three small children. But after a few nights of adventure, she dumped them to be by my side!"

    "You must see, her husband still seeks out my Mouse Company every week in search of information from his missing wife..."

    "Thest time he did this, she was doing what you saw today, totally naked under my desk, while her pathetic husband was crying for her."

    "Tsk!"

    "You are despicable!" She looked at him with even more disgust, knowing that such a man did not use ''fair'' means to deal with women.

    Elise had been working with the people of the Mouse Company for months, so she had seen several situations like today''s, with different women involved. As such, she knew he did not use natural conquest skills but somewhat corrupt means to bind his victims to him.

    However, despite her contempt for such attitudes, it was neither her responsibility nor ce to get involved with these people''s problems.

    With that in mind, she tried to ignore the previous situation and got straight to the point. "About the previous mission, I''m afraid I failed to eliminate that fellow once again."

    "Oh?" That man with a goatee and ck hair said, getting much soberer. "Is that why those three haven''t returned yet?"

    "They''re still trying to handle that good-for-nothing?"

    "No. They''re dead."

    "What?" He stood up from his chair, not understanding how three cultivators died trying to deal with an ordinary mortal.

    Elise then said what she had seen the day before and that Lothur had returned alive and well from his mission.

    "How can that be? Who would kill my men? They certainly didn''t do any shit to justify something like that!" The veins in Kai Berger''s neck trembled as he said these words in an irritated tone.

    He had created the Mouse Company to help him serve the organization he and Elise were part of. Still, even so, he hated the idea of having his members eliminated without justification.

    Kai was even capable of sacrificing his subordinates. Yet, those three were only doing a service he ordered and had never created problems for his Mouse Company.

    As such, he could not help but shake with anger, feeling that he needed to show the person responsible for those deaths that he was not to be trifled with!

    "I don''t know," Elise said in a low voice before continuing with matters concerning Lothur. "But regardless of what is behind those three deaths, we must find a way to deal with that fellow."

    "We''ve already failed to eliminate him several times, but if we can''t deal with him in the next few weeks, I''m afraid that when our leader returns from Hond Province, we''ll have problems..."

    "At the very least, he will not be pleased to learn Lothur is still alive."

    Remembering that their leader wanted to eliminate an old enemy and marry the Frost family, Kai quicklyid out his alternative ns. "I won''t forget about that situation, but we must focus on eliminating that brat."

    "But lucky for us, he''s not like I know his father. Otherwise, it would be more problematic..."

    "Hmmm."

    "Then I will give some orders to my subordinates to set something up for him." He then smiled as he remembered something. "I heard Lothur likes to gamble, no? So, I''ll have someone approach him and take him to the Three Feathers Casino."

    "House Frost itself will naturally abandon him after that!"

    ...

 Chapter 75 Trouble With The Baier Family

    The Frost family forbade its members to gamble due to past experiences in which the family had lost years of umted profits through the mistakes of their descendants.

    Because of this trauma, any member of that organization caught gambling in casinos suffered heavy punishments that could even go as far as their exile.

    In Concordia, debts were not passed on to family members or organizations behind the person who made such debts. However, the organization that had debts to collect even had the right to demand the life of its debtors!

    The imperial family prohibited assassinations within the cities of the empire. Still, once someone was proven to be a debtor unable to pay his prize, the creditor organization could act without further problems with the localws.

    The imperial family did not help in this dirty service. Still, it also would not persecute an organization for merely iming the life of its debtor.

    That was extreme, true. But in a world where currencies were so crucial to cultivators, hardly anyone would sacrifice their wealth just to kill a person. On the other hand, creditor organizations usually do not take their debtors'' lives.

    After all, ending these people''s lives was the same as epting the loss.

    As such, what usually happened was that the debtor lost his freedom and became a ve of the creditor organization!

    In any case, even if houses or family members did not inherit other people''s debts, these organizations frequently harmed themselves by saving their loved ones'' lives or freedom.

    That had been the case with the Frost family in the past.

    The people who had ced bets and lost were relevant to the family, and as such, that organization had paid their debts.

    But in thinking about this n to deal with Lothur, that man was not concerned about that happening. After all, that young man was only a son-inw of the Frost family, someone who, ording to the rumors, did not even sleep in his wife''s residence.

    So, suppose they could trick Lothur into acquiring arge debt at a local casino. In that case, that could be the end of Viktoria''s marriage!

    As for afterward, they could even im his life without any significant problems.

    It was a perfect n!

    "Well, I hope he falls for that," Elise said as she thought about what that fellow had already done.

    Lothur had been taking bets during the six months he had been married to Viktoria. However, aside from the problems and rumors concerning his less notable characteristics, no one had proof of his actions.

    On the other hand, no person had ever gone to collect debts from the Frost family so that his freedom would not bepromised.

    Thus, even though he had his gambling stories, the earthling''s predecessor had never been punished by that family.

    And with no sure evidence of Lothur''s gambling character, Elise could only pray that the rumors were true!

    "Anyway, do as you choose. I think this might help us while I try to find loopholes to deal with him." She thoughtfully said before finally changing the topic. "Speaking of problems, I heard disturbing rumors about something going on between your organization and the Baier family..."

    "Is that true?"

    That man''s previously worried expression turned even uglier when he heard that. "They are targeting us, but we are innocent regarding this situation."

    "It seems that young master Baier was beaten until he was crippled while doing business with some of our boys."

    "Because of that, those damn Baier family are ming us for that brat''s misery!" He growled, furious at dealing with such a big problem that was not their fault.

    He and his organization operated in the underworld, doing dirty jobs, framing people, killing, etc. So they constantly had to deal with problems generated by their actions, which had made this man calm about misfortunes.

    However, now his organization was facing an unseen threat, something unrted to them, but that seemed to be the work of an enemy trying to hit them...

    Now that, yes, was enough to take the calm out of that man!

    Elise then said. "Settle this as soon as possible."

    "We can''t let a misunderstanding get in the way of the young master''s ns!"

    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>

    "You don''t have to tell me that!" Kaimented as he looked at Elise''s body, feeling irritated and thinking of the future rewards he would have.

    ''I hope the young master truly gives me what I want...''

    ''If he does, all this effort and trouble will be worth it.''

    Realizing the lust in that person''s eyes, Elise felt disgusted with that person again and soon left that dirty ce.

    ...

    Meanwhile, a few minutes had passed since Lothur''s escape from that ce where he had heard things he should not have.

    After leaving that area in a hurry, he returned to his room and took a brief shower just before leaving that property.

    He did not want to hang around that ce after almost getting caught at the wrong ce and time. So, after making himself presentable, he had taken to the streets of Peters City, ready to pay a visit.

    With that, he quickly made his way to the street where the Thousand and One Medicines store was located, heading directly to a nearby red house.

    ''Doctor Snee''s Office.'' Lothur read the sign there and followed a stone path surrounded by a living fence about a meter high.

    Arriving at the front door, Lothur used a mechanism to attract the attention of someone there, curious to know why Sofie had invited him.

    He had not nned toe to this ce at this time. Still, after considering that he would be busy during the week and was not interested in continuing his training today, he decided toe here.

    That was an opportunity for him to solve a curiosity that was on his mind while simultaneously putting aside the previous problem and giving Annaliese time to return to the Frost estate.

    And he did not wait long in that ce when finally the violet-haired woman appeared to greet him. "Lothur?" Sofie asked in her sweet voice.

    "Good afternoon, Sofie." He smiled at the sight of that woman, greeting her before entering that part of Doctor Snee''s residence.

    "Sofie, after what you told me earlier, I couldn''t bear the curiosity toe here to find out what Doctor Snee wants with me."

    "I wonder if I can talk to him now?" He asked as he looked at the surroundings, a rtively simple ce with high-standard chairs for people to sit on and a small reception desk at the beginning of the entrance hallway there.

    There was no one else there but these two, so Lothur did not bother to go straight to the point, seeking a word with the doctor who had already helped him twice.

    Sofie nodded to him in agreement andmented. "Wait here for a moment."

    "Doctor Snee is finishing a procedure but will be free to attend you in a moment."

    Afterward, he sat in a seat while that woman rushed to Doctor Snee''s workroom to warn her boss of Lothur''s arrival.

    "Doctor, the young master of the Frost family is here to see you." She said in a low voice in the ear of that man, who was finishing sewing the hand of a tall, muscr individual.

    "Oh?" He took his eyes off the shiny objects made of spiritual energy in his hands to look at Sofie. "Tell him to wait for me for just five minutes."

    "I''ll finish closing up Captain Xaver''s injury and be unupied."

    After Sofie left that ce, the ck-haired, unshaven man looked at the person helping him and asked. "A new disciple?"

    "Haha, who knows."

    "That young man definitely has the will necessary to walk any path." He remembered the strength of will he had seen in Lothur and what Sofie had told him about Lothur''s super recovery.

    Thus, this man could not help but ponder the idea of how Lothur would fare in his field of his, even considering the clear disadvantages Viktoria''s husband had.

    ...

 Chapter 76 Opportunity For Salvation

    At first, Doctor Snee wanted to talk to Lothur to give some pointers to this youth as such an individual did not seem to have a promising future in the Frost family.

    Aside from the city rumors, Doctor Snee was sure that if Lothur remained in that organization, the day woulde when even the best doctor in the province would be unable to save him.

    And as someone concerned about the survival of his patients, this local doctor could not ignore the situation without at least talking to Lothur.

    However, after hearing from his assistant about her unexpected encounter with Lothur in the Thousand and One Medicines store, this man had gained an entirely different interest.

    As a doctor, it was his job to save or improve the quality of life of his patients. However, his job was also to study and learn new things about his profession.

    So, knowing that Lothur had mysteriously recovered from a near-death condition that should have kept him bedridden for weeks, this man could not help but want to study this case.

    Perhaps he could learn something new from Lothur and take a step further in mastering his techniques. Or even if that did not happen, if that young man had some sort of healing ability, such a doctor would be more than happy to ept him as a disciple!

    With that in mind, he finished what he was doing, giving a medicinal pot to his patient before finally escorting such a person to the exit.

    "Well, until next time, Doctor Snee." That individual shook his head at that fellow before noticing Lothur''s presence in that ce and leaving.

    Pa!

    After the door of that ce closed, Doctor Snee looked at Lothur and waved one of his hands, calling him to the office.

    Seeing this, Lothur immediately followed the man''s instructions, quickly settling into one of the chairs in front of the man''s desk.

    That office was rtively like what Lothur expected for a doctor''s workce. There was a ce for the patient and the doctor to talk face to face, while arge stretcher was in one corner of the room, along with various strange utensils on side shelves.

    Right next to one of those pieces of furniture, near therge stretcher, Sofie was cleaning the ce where the previous patient had used it.

    "So, Lothur..." The voice of that figure with the bulging belly and ck mustache sounded once again as he watched the curious young man looking at that office. "You must be curious as to why I invited you here, right?"

    "Hmmm." Lothur made a sound of agreement as he watched that ce.

    As he focused his attention on that man sitting across the table from him, Lothur quickly saw Doctor Snee''s status.

    [Name: Kendrick Snee]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: ??] [COM: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    ''Hmm, this person is just like Viktoria. He is at the 2nd stage...'' Lothur pondered this, beginning to understand the limitations of such a system''s feature. ''Apparently, I can see the physical attributes of my ''targets'' when they are at the same stage as mine.''

    ''One stage up, and I can only see the level, and two, I can''t see anything...''

    ''That must be it.'' He thought of his mother-inw, who should be at the 3rd stage, a Transcendent cultivator.

    But before he could get angry with Mabel, that fellow''s voice caught Lothur''s attention again. "Well, let''s talk about it. But since you''re here, why don''t you let me check on your condition while we talk?"

    "Your recent trauma was significant, so I want to know if there are any sequels after your sudden recovery..."

    "Oh? Fine by me, but I''m out of coins to pay for medical treatment..." Lothurughed, not disagreeing with this offer. "But you can send the bill to the Frost family if you want."

    "Uh, you don''t have to worry about that..." Doctor Snee stood up and waved for Lothur to climb onto that stretcher that Sofie had already finished cleaning.

    "Take off your shirt too, please."

    And promptly, Lothur did as he should, sitting on that stretcher shirtless, facing the doctor in front of him and with the violet-haired woman beside him.

    Sofie''s eyes then sharpened as she observed Lothur''s torso, sensing that he seemed to have much more prominent muscles now than a few days ago. ''That...''

    ''His muscles developed after a recovery? What a bizarre thing!''<sub> </sub>

    Doctor Snee also realized this point but said nothing about it to Lothur. Instead, he began to advise this young man as he examined his patient''s condition. "Lothur, what do you think of the Frost family?"

    "I mean, I don''t want to get involved in your affairs, but you almost died twice in a few days... Don''t you think you are following a dangerous path in that ce?"

    "I''ve heard rumors of all kinds in this world, and after witnessing the previous situation, I couldn''t help but worry..." He remembered cases of powerful butpletely insane cultivators who sometimes beat people to death for no reason.

    Lothur understood what that doctor''s concern was and said. "What I think about this family doesn''t matter. What can I do? It''s not like they''re going to let me go anyway."

    "But you shouldn''t worry about the previous situation." He thought this doctor was misjudging Annaliese''s figure and promptly tried to repair that woman''s reputation. "Previously, I angered my sister-inw in a way that I shouldn''t have, and she ended up losing control of her anger..."

    "But that is not a recurring situation. Annaliese and I are good friends."

    "Friends?" That assistant looked at Lothur with strangeness in her eyes. ''Can you call that a friend these days?'' Sofie remembered how Annaliese looked after she had stained her own clothes and fists with Lothur''s blood.

    "Really? You don''t have to worry. I naturally keep confidential everything my patients tell me during consultations. So, if you have something to say..."

    "No, I really don''t."

    "Sigh..."

    "All right, let''s not talk about it anymore." That fellow sighed, sensing that Lothur was trying not to talk about his situation in that family. "Anyway, have you ever thought about bing a doctor?"

    "In my profession, we naturally need to cultivate spiritual energy to have the best skills. However, many mortals in this world need care as often or even more than us cultivators."

    "And for many diseases and conditionsmon among mortals, ordinary skills that don''t need spiritual cultivation are enough for a good doctor to grow..."

    "So? Why don''t you be my apprentice? That way, you can at least build your own path in case something goes wrong with your other ns." He suggested this after noticing that Lothur''s body still had no sign of cultivation.

    Not only that, apart from the improvement in muscle quality, something this doctor did not understand where it hade from, nothing, in particr, had caught his attention in Lothur''s body.

    So, he had already ruled out the possibility that Lothur might have a helpful skill in medicine.

    In any case, since he had already talked to that point, it did not harm him to propose that to Lothur since this young man indeed had good willpower, something useful in any profession.

    "That..." Because of this unexpected proposal, Lothur did not know what to say to that man. ''I need to find a source of coins in this world, but I don''t think medicine suits me.''

    ''If I can learn such a thing to use in my personal affairs, it wouldn''t be bad. But working with something like that doesn''t interest me.''

    Spiritual Doctors did what other professionals, especially alchemists, could not solve with their skills, which was basically to take care ofplex problems in the human body.

    In short, every resource existing in this world had ways of affecting the being that consumed them. But let''s say that resource ''A'' could solve problem ''C.'' That might work in certain situations, but what if there was a condition ''B'' getting in the way of that resource solving the problem?

    What if ten conditions were getting in the way of such a thing?

    That was the point that made the medical profession exist in this world. That was one of the few professions that could solve conditions hindering unique resources from doing their job.

    Think about what had happened to Lothur. If this young man had been an average person, even using high-quality recovery pills would not have been enough to cure him. Instead, someone would need to restore his body to a certain state, which was necessary for resources to work.

    On the other hand, sometimes cultivation resources could have adverse effects. For example, many resources could significantly increase the ''turbulence'' of spiritual energy in a cultivator''s body.

    But if such a person was injured, using a resource that had the potential to heal him but had such ''turbulence'' could be a big problem.

    That''s why doctors are essential in this world!

    But as important a profession as it was, Lothur did not think he had the suitable characteristics for him to be a doctor. So, he could not help but feel that it was not a good thing for him to focus on that at the moment.

    He thought of something and then said. "Doctor Snee..."

 Chapter 77 Lets Talk

    <o>,m "Doctor Snee, I have recently started my journey at the ck Star Academy, and I am already busy with the sses there."</o>

    "If I try to get involved with something that demands so much study time, I feel that I won''t be able to get good results at anything... So for now, I want to focus only on the academy."

    "I appreciate the opportunity, but I will have to decline." He said respectfully since that person had already helped him twice and still showed concern for his situation.

    Upon hearing this, Doctor Snee did not try to convince Lothur otherwise. It genuinely would take years for an ordinary person to be a doctor capable of attending to mortals.

    On the other hand, the academy was not precisely where people spent much of their lives. In this case, if he changed his mindter, it wouldn''t be toote to learn about medicine.

    However, Sofie was not so convinced of these points. "Lothur, are you sure about this? Even if learning our upation takes longer than other professions, if you have good talent and willpower, anything is possible!"

    "Even halving the time required for your training would not be difficult!"

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes opened in surprise upon hearing those magical words. ''Well, I don''t want to invest my time in that now. But if I can increase my Intelligence in the future, I''ll be able to understand new knowledge much faster.''

    ''In that case, learning something useful might not be bad.'' Of course, he had no intention of bing a doctor like Kendrick, but being able to do what this bulging-belly man did was not bad.

    At the very least, he could take care of his problems if he had such skills!

    "Cough!" Doctor Snee coughed in indication for Sofie not to overdo her words. ''Halve it? Who does she think is standing in front of her? A Divine Doctor or something?''

    "Well, who knows in the future. But right now, I need to focus on the academy." He said as he looked at that beautiful woman. ''At the moment, what I need is a profession that I can learn quickly and use to earn coins.''

    ''Other things are not worth the little time I have to invest.''

    After that, those people felt slightly disappointed by Lothur''s refusals, but they did not press the matter any further.

    "Anyway, how do I look? Is there something wrong with my body?" Lothur asked after a while, curious to know if that expert could find out anything about his Physique.

    He would naturally prefer that no one be able to perceive his Physique since his ability was too challenging. But as the person in front of him was a doctor, Lothur wondered if he would have to worry about such a person finding out about his uniqueness.

    "No. Your body is fine. In fact, your physical condition is excellent for a mortal." Kendrick said in disappointment, feeling that it was a shame that such a young man did not have some extraordinary power.

    He was still curious about Lothur''s recovery. Still, considering his analysis, he had found nothing to indicate that this young man''s body had gone through the previous traumas.

    ''I wonder what happened to him?''

    After that, those people talked some more until Lothur finally left that ce, returning to the Frost family estate.

    ...

    Pa! Pa!

    Annaliese heard the door of her residence being knocked on twice, but no voice came from behind that door.

    She then walked there, stopping in the middle of the way to check who had been bothering her earlier in the evening. As she did so, she remembered that a servant had told her that Lothur had returned earlier. ''Is it him?''

    Gulp!

    She felt nervous, thinking of what she had done two nights ago when she had nervously kissed her sister''s husband.

    She then heard the voice of the person who had not left her mind for the past two days. "Anna, it''s me. I know you''re there. Open the door."

    "Let''s talk."

    After some time in silence, she then used a perfect excuse. "Lothur, I don''t think we can. Have you forgotten that my mother has forbidden me to see you when we are alone?"

    "Would you rather talk about it like that? I''d rather discuss our..." He was about to say this out loud when suddenly the door in front of him opened, and a woman dressed in her training clothes pulled him by one of his arms.

    "Are you crazy?" She asked in nervousness as he closed the door to her residence and looked at Lothur. "If you spoke any further, you would guarantee your death and seed in ruining my honor!"<sub> </sub>

    Seeing how willing she seemed to talk to him now, Lothur smiled in satisfaction. "Well, I knew you would do something to stop me, so it''s all right."

    "But anyway, are you all right?" He looked at her meaningfully, making it clear to her what he was talking about.

    Noticing that man approaching her, Annaliese stepped back, ashamed of what she had done before. "It''s better if you just forget what I did that night."

    "It was a mistake, and I hope you won''t mention it to my sister..."

    "I don''t want her to think I''m trying to steal her husband." She said this with her head down, speaking so low that Lothur had barely heard.

    "I almost told her earlier..." He joked with Annaliese, recalling the earlier situation.

    "What?" She looked at him in shock after hearing such words, not believing that he would do such a betrayal.

    "Hehe, it was a misunderstanding."

    "Your sister came to tell me that you two had talked... That''s why I almost talk too much."

    "Luckily, Viktoria is less experienced than you in these matters."

    "Less experienced?" Annaliese''s cheeks turned pink while remembering what she had done with Lothur. ''I think that''s probably true...''

    And as she lost herself in her thoughts, Annaliese suddenly felt Lothur''s arms wrapping around her. "But, Anna, I am sorry to inform you, but I am not the type to forget such good times."

    "Certain mistakes sometimes bring us great consequences..." He said in a low tone, gradually moving closer to her face.

    But realizing that she would end up in the same situation as before, Annaliese used some of her strength and stopped the handsome man in front of her from kissing her again. "No, Lothur, we can''t."

    "Before, I was confused and didn''t know what to do. But now that I can think better, I know we cannot continue this mistake."

    "Are you sure about that?" He did not stop, ready to stimte thepetitive side of the woman in front of him. "I know you enjoyed our kiss, something your sister has never experienced..."

    "And if you allow me, I will continue to show you things your sister may never have the chance to experience." He moved his mouth closer to her left ear and then weakly blew Annaliese''s beautiful bare neck.

    That woman then shivered from head to toe, again feeling her heart wildly beating as it had that fateful day.

    "Anna, as I said, maybe I married the wrong sister. I would rather be with you..."

    At that instant, he attacked his ''prey,'' holding her in his arms as he ran toward her reddened lips.

    Gulp!

    ''What do I do? What do I do?'' She looked at him nervously, feeling as if time was passing more slowly, as Lothur gradually touched her lips.

    And as she tried to pull away from him, Annaliese suddenly realized that her brother-inw seemed even stronger than before, leaving her shocked for a moment. ''4th Transformation?'' She considered it as shepared it to his previous strength.

    As she was shocked by his increased strength, which was not enough to hold her there but had been enough to slow her escape, she finally felt Lothur''s tongue.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    Unfortunately for the rational Annaliese, her lips and tongue had already learned to respond to Lothur''s provoked impulses. Soon, she was kissing him back, her mindpletely nk.

    ''You have helped me several times already. So, I will relieve some of your stress, Anna.'' Lothur pondered this as he yed with his fingers down her body.

    He then directed her to a couch in that residence''s living room, prepared to show her what he had already done with Elke.

    ''After this, it will be hard for you to forget our adventures, dear sister-inw.'' A smile appeared on his lips just before he began his movements.

 Chapter 78 Conversation

    Hourster...

    After a great night''s sleep, Lothur was already beside Annaliese in this woman''s carriage, heading to the Morning Star Academy.

    But while he had a peaceful expression on his face, which reflected how in good spirits he was, the beauty beside him seemed a little nervous, not as well-behaved as usual.

    Annaliese had a lost look on her face, her hair, though beautiful, looked a bit different than usual, and her clothes looked as if they had been put on in a hurry.

    But she had not beente for the day. On the contrary, the problem here was that she had hardly slept the night before because her mind kept thinking about what she had done with Lothur.

    Things between the two of them had not reached a point of no return. Still, after getting carried away with Lothur''s advances, she had done things with him that she had not even dreamed of being capable of!

    More than that, Lothur had shown her a different feature of her body, which had brought a new meaning to her life.

    And thinking that she was standing side by side with her brother-inw at this moment, she could not help but feel nervous and embarrassed.

    Because of this, she avoided looking at the person next to her, as she felt her heart beating strongly. She then tried to speak in a low voice. "Lothur, what we didst night was wrong! That was a betrayal of my sister''s trust!"

    But Lothur did not feel at all bad for ying with his sister-inw. "I don''t think it''s..."

    "If Viktoria finds out, I think other than the initial surprise; she won''t even mind." He smiled, looking at the left cheek of Annaliese''s pretty face.

    "If she finds out? That definitely can''t happen!" She finally looked him in the eye, determined to keep their forbidden rtionship secret.

    "Don''t worry. I won''t say anything to her if you don''t want to. But Anna, I must say that she will eventually find out."

    "Will she find out? Impossible!"

    "Only you and I know that. There''s no way she can figure it out!"

    "Is that so? Even if we take care from now on, I think she will realize it in the future."

    "From now on? Do you think we will continue this?" She looked at him more closely, thinking he was getting too bold to think she would continue this.

    ''I must say that was truly very exciting and fun, but I will not allow myself to continue with it!''

    ''It''s simply impossible!''

    ''He and I are rted. He is my sister''s husband! I can''t go on with it even if we had a lovely night...'' She tried to talk herself out of it while waiting for his answer.

    ''We can still be normal rtives again!''

    But Lothur did not bother to exin to her what would happen next. Annaliese had several mental moorings hindering her from continuing what she had started a few nights ago, and him talking much about it would not help at all.

    So he merely left it to her to work out what she wanted to do, ignoring the previous question. "Anyway, I hope you and I can get back to training starting today."

    "Train?" She felt a little irritated at not hearing an answer from him regarding that crucial matter. ''Do you want to talk about training with me at this point? What about what we did yesterday? We almost had...''

    But this time, Lothur''s voice quickly answered her. "Yes, I need to get stronger as soon as possible. And at the moment, I need you to help me by training with me."

    "However, I don''t want to do this in the presence of other people, as your mother said."

    "Not even my sister? Then how will we do that?" She asked as she tried to ignore her many thoughts about the previous night.

    "As I said before, I want to impress your sister. So, it makes no sense for me to train with you in front of her. As for how we will do it, I don''t know yet."

    Lothur then took one of her hands and looked at her thoughtfully. "I hope you can help me with that."

    "That''s..." Annaliese looked down at her hand and pulled it back a little, feeling a slight shock go through that part of her body.

    "All right. I''ll see a way we can work this out, but our previous conversation isn''t over yet!"<sub> </sub>

    After saying those words, she finally saw the entrance to the academy through the window on her left side. Shortly after that, the coachman opened the door for her and Lothur.

    Then the two parted, with Lothur quickly making his way toward the Mission Hall to record thepletion of his previous task.

    ...

    After collecting his prize and reviewing a few more missions for him to continue pursuing his goals in this ce, Lothur made his way to geopolitics ss.

    There, he met up with the beautiful Elke, who was radiant for the day, looking at him with even more desire in her eyes, as if something had encouraged her to be more active with him.

    And Lothur naturally did not miss the opportunity to develop their rtionship a little further, nning to go on a mission with her.

    Not only that, as had already been happening over the past few days, he and she scheduled lunch together and time to continue their fun in Elke''s room.

    At the end of the day''s first ss, seeing that Anneke was ready to leave that ce, Lothur said goodbye to Elke and ran after that teacher.

    "Anne, do you have some free time for now?" He asked this as he walked beside that woman with ck hair and a slender body.

    Realizing that such a bold student was interested in something, Anneke did not turn him down immediately, curious about Lothur''s serious tone.

    Besides, she was still interested in why he was hiding his powers, so she wanted to hear him at the moment.

    "I have a few minutes, so speak what you want."

    "Great!"

    After that, the two quickly arrived at one of the gardens in that academy, a ce that several students used for leisure time. However, despite the peopleing and going there, there were good enough private ces for conversations like the one Lothur wanted to have due to the size of that area.

    He then sat down in front of her and began to speak. "Anne, I have two matters I would like to seek your opinion or advice on."

    "What is it?" She asked in curiosity.

    "Well, recently, I experienced a strange situation during my first mission. A group, for no apparent reason, acted against me."

    "In short, I want to know how to go after the origin of these people, as well as uncover the reason for this situation." Hemented on the previous incident without giving details of what had happened to Anneke.

    "So that''s it..." She sighed but was not surprised since it was not umon for groups to act against each other in forests, and Lothur had also built a terrible reputation.

    Anneke knew well that many people in this academy and city would be more than happy to see Lothur fail or even help cause trouble for him.

    She then replied. "Well, if you have their identities, it will be easy to find their origins. After that, you simply need some local investigative group to do the necessary for you."

    "The local Cultivation House has our city''s most reliable service of its kind. There is also the Mouse Company, but they are from the underworld, so I wouldn''t advise you to look for them..."

    "Maybe they even already have something against you." She said this as she thought about the information that hade into her hands concerning Alric''s situation.

    She did not know about Lothur''s involvement with Alric''s current situation. But Anneke knew that young master Baier had suffered his tragedy whileining about a service concerning Lothur.

    "Cultivation House, huh?" Lothur was d to hear this as he had already had an excellent impression of this institution.

    As for the other option, he was not interested. Lothur''s predecessor had already had contact with some of the rats in that organization, so he knew it was not good to have rtions with those people.

    The previous Lothur was an idiot who liked to gamble and did not think so much about the consequences of his actions. But the current one was not like that and, unlike his predecessor, he saw the problem with approaching the Mouse Company.

    ''Well, I''ll stop by the Cultivation House when I go out to do my mission with Elke.'' He made up his mind just before continuing his business with Anneke.

    ...

 Chapter 79 Appointed Meeting And Time To Negotiate

    ''Hmm, when I go to the Cultivation House, I must remember not to expose my previous situation with Willi and those two.''

    ''If I start looking for information from them after their deaths, the organization behind them might notice and consider it suspicious. So, I guess I should look for Willi''s origin, considering we have a past together.'' Lothur pondered as he had one of his hands on his chin.

    ''I can use the excuse that I haven''t seen him in days...'' He smiled, making Anneke think of the things on this young man''s mind.

    ''A drinking buddy concerned about the disappearance of hispanion. Perfect!''

    "What? Why are you smiling?" Anneke asked as she could not help but smile as well because of the contagious smile of that attractive person.

    Lothur then looked into her eyes and continued with his next question. "I just think that this won''t be that difficult... Anyway, my other question is a little moreplicated."

    He saw that he had gotten Anneke''s full attention and tried to express himself as evasively as possible. "Recently, I''ve been feeling strange in the Frost family. Some people there never seem to rx, full of tension, as if they live solving problems..."

    "Can you tell me if something is going on in the province? I feel like a blind man in the middle of a gunfight. There are strange signs, but I''m lost given theck of information."

    "Oh?" Anneke was surprised at such a thing because the troubled situation of the Frost family was amon topic among cultivators.

    The Frost House was powerful in Linn Province, with a lot of history and contacts, which definitely made it relevant regardless of the problems. But the origin of this family was also a problem, and again and again, this family faced challenges.

    The powers created during the current dynasty were constantly growing in influence and power, while those from the era of the ten independent regions were declining. And since the Frost family had always tried to keep out of the political games of the capital, this power had naturally ostracized itself and attracted the interest of others.

    At certain moments in history, it was possible to stay in a position of neutrality. However, most powers did not like such a thing, as it was more challenging to distinguish between allies and friends with such behavior.

    And when decisive moments like the present one arrived, this family always suffered external pressures. Of course, that had happened in the past, but given this organization''s great power in other times, it had ovee all the pressures in its path.

    However, this family was no longer as strong at present. Their influence in Linn Province had already declined considerably, and the rival powers had moved closer to their position.

    As such, this family had many current problems, and it was to be expected that the members of House Frost would be solving problems constantly, as Lothur had said.

    Because these things had been going on for a long time, already being part of local history, Anneke was surprised that Lothur knew nothing about it. "It seems that despite your hiding, some of the rumors about you are true..." She said this after a long sigh.

    Upon hearing this, Lothur was not offended, only having smiled awkwardly, waiting for this woman''s response.

    "Anyway, I think that for you to understand this, we would need a  long conversation... But I don''t have time for that at the moment."

    "Then how about this? Let''s arrange to have lunch together tomorrow, and at that time, I''ll tell you a few things." She looked at him thoughtfully, showing hermitment as a teacher. "In the meantime, study a little more about the history of Peters City. That is content you should have learned by now if you have not entered this academy sote."

    "Anyway, this will help you understand a little more about your family, and when we talk, I will remove your remaining doubts."

    Finishing listening to Anneke''s words, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, interested in how this woman had made herself avable to help him regarding this matter.

    "Anne, you..."

    But before he misunderstood the situation, she made a point of rifying everything. "Don''t misunderstand me. That is not a date. If you want to know, I''m doing this for two reasons."

    "Oh?"

    "First, this is my job as a teacher. You have a question that is directly rted to my subject. So, it''s only natural that I try to help you."

    "On the other hand, if you want to have this lunch with me, you will have to give me something in return." She smiled, thinking of the mystery behind this who was the most attractive man in the academy.

    She naturally would not be persuaded by his attractiveness alone. But hell, Anneke was not an icy woman who sealed off from her life those things that might stimte her. On the contrary, she was someone who had a curious personality and who could not ignore the mysteries behind Lothur.<sub> </sub>

    Considering also how active he was in trying to approach her, she considered the idea of allowing him to do so while she would have the opportunity to satisfy her curiosity.

    The fact that he was handsome was also important, but that was more like a bonus for her and not her goal. Therefore, she had not missed the opportunity to negotiate with him.

    "Hehe, if you want my body as payment, I don''t see a problem with that..." Lothur said this as he moved closer to her, ying with his beautiful teacher.

    "Tsk!"

    "Could that be considered payment?" Sheughed, not bothered by his words since she already understood his personality well enough at this point. "I think you''re the one who would be getting a payment in that situation..."

    "Don''t be so sure... But anyway, as long as it''s something I can do without too much trouble, I''m willing to give you whatever you want."

    "Well, I''ll see you tomorrow then. Go to this ce." She handed him a small paper card with the logo of one of the restaurants in Sector-4.

    ...

    After his brief conversation with Anneke, Lothur made his way to the trading area in Sector-1, where he intended to sell the parts of the Giant Tropical Spider.

    And quickly, he arrived at one of the buildings surrounding the square where the ranking of the students was projected in this sector.

    Such a ce looked like a big marketce, where several stalls with posters were well organized in aisles with specific purposes in an area of hundreds of square meters.

    For example, there were aisles there that only had people trading formations. Others just pills and potions, weapons, everyday items, clothes, etc. Besides that, there was arge circr reception in the center of that area, where several people were standing around.

    Above that reception, a formation that projected images presented a set of information that Lothur had no idea what it meant.

    And not knowing where to start in that ce, he immediately made his way to one of the people in that reception.

    "Hello, I have an item to trade, but I don''t know exactly how to proceed in this ce." He said as he stopped next to a young man who looked younger than him and was at level 2.

    Noticing the person who had taken him out of his focus, the student who was there because of one of the many missions avable in this sector, then looked at Lothur intently.

    ''Hmmm?'' He found it strange to see someone so distinguished in front of him, already feeling a fit of anger towards Lothur. ''That appearance... Tsk!''

    ''Lucky bastard!''

    He then said in a disinterested tone. "If you don''t have the permission to set up a trading stall here, then you can only trade items in the collective trading room."

    "In that room, if you are going to buy, then follow this direction..." He pointed to a particr ce. "There, you can buy what you want."

    "But this is not an auction. You can negotiate directly with the owners of items for sale, so there''s no point in you just bidding the highest."

    "If you want to sell, you must go through the item evaluation area..." He pointed to another ce. "There, your items will be checked, and if it''s not a fake, you can disy them in the collective trading room."

    After hearing this, Lothur quickly made his way towards that ce indicated by such a person.

    Meanwhile, a woman approached that student and said. "Wow! That guy looks as handsome as the description of the individual that Chief Valentin is after..."

    "What?" That young man said in surprise, not realizing that fundamental fact when he saw Lothur''s annoying face.

    ...

 Chapter 80 Collective Trading Room

    "Boss! Boss! I believe that fellow you warned us about is negotiating in our building!" The young man who had attended to Lothur a few moments ago said this to the person in charge of the Sector-1 Business House.

    Upon hearing that, a middle-aged man took his eyes off the papers on the table he was working on and looked in the direction of that shouting young man.

    Seeing that young man dressed in the uniform of that establishment standing beside the entrance door of that office, that member of the Morning Star Academy frowned his eyebrows and stood up from where he was. "Are you sure?" He asked in a grave tone.

    "Yes, I attended him myself." That young man nodded his head, promptly giving details about Lothur. "He has long silver hair and an appearance capable of irritating even eunuchs."

    "He also seems to have no cultivation, just like the person the boss is looking for."

    "Oh? And where is he now?"

    "He just walked into one of the collective trading rooms."

    "Well, tell the people in charge of that area not to sell any of his items. And if he shows interest in buying anything, set people on our side to negotiate directly with the owners of the items of interest to him."

    "That''s..."

    That man then looked at this student who was still standing around and asked in a cold tone. "What do you still want here? Go carry out my orders!"

    "But, how are we going to justify that? If this person denounces us..."

    "Don''t overthink about it. Of course, we can''t refuse to serve any student, but we are not obliged to give priority to anyone..." That middle-aged guy, who had a wicked look, smiled and said. "The staff downstairs will know what to do."

    "OK!"

    After that, that strange-looking man continued to stare in the direction of the part where the young man from before had left. ''The good-for-nothing of the Frost family, huh?''

    ''I don''t know how you''ve managed to annoy young master Merten, but since you''vee to my domain, I''ll get in your way as much as possible.''

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur had finally reached the ce where he could put his items up for sale.

    At that ce indicated earlier by that young student, Lothur found an area that looked like a store, with several side structures where various items were on disy.

    But while the walls had many items to attract the attention of the people passing by, there was arge circr area in the center of the ce with several small tables. Next to each table was a small board with the names of the items being traded by the people there.

    And while some people were waiting for interested parties to approach their chairs, most had at least one person already debating about the prices of the trade items and their characteristics.

    "Your Marrow Cleansing Pill is only 50% pure. I won''t pay more than 100 bronze coins per unit."

    "Tsk!"

    "If I go to sell my pills in the city, I can get at least 120. So, increase your offer, or I won''t waste my time with you anymore."

    ...

    "Hey, how about we trade your Red Bear skin with my Winged Serpent Leather?"

    "No, I''m in search of coins..."

    Lothur watched the surroundings with interest, finding how this ce operated differently than he expected.

    But as he watched in silence, one of this ce''s several officials finally called out to him.

    "My friend, sorry for the dy. We are facing some technical problems today..." A short, thin man smiled as he said this, having made Lothur wait for a few minutes after he arrived at this ce.

    As soon as he entered this ce, Lothur handed over the items he intended to sell to be checked by the employees in this area. But even though he found several officials free, he had still been asked to wait for a few moments...

    "All right." Lothur took no notice of such a thing and went straight to the point. "What is the difference in the items being traded directly in this ce," He pointed to that circr area. "And these others?" He pointed to one of the shelves there.

    That person then replied. "Well, when you want to sell something here, you can just sit in one of those ces to advertise your item. Then, if someone interested is in the vicinity, you can quickly trade such a thing without dy or fees."<sub> </sub>

    "However, people are not always interested in every kind of item. So, we make avable the possibility for our students to leave their items here to let other students know that someone is selling them."

    "Those are the items on these shelves." He made a hand gesture showing some weapons that were around.

    "In this second case, you need to pay a fee of 10% of the sale value of your items to leave them to sample here. Then, of course, we will sell it for you and notify you of the sale when it happens."

    "This option has the advantage of convenience but some disadvantages. You get fewer coins, you run the risk of not being able to negotiate a better deal with the buyer, and you may have to wait days or weeks to get your items sold."

    "I see..." Lothur looked again in the direction of those negotiating there and saw thest avable seats being upied by several people who had just arrived there.

    One moment there were more than 15 seats avable there for students like Lothur to try to advertise their items, and then, the next second, all the spaces had been taken.

    Seeing this, Lothur asked. "What happens if there are no seats avable in that area?" He pointed to that now crowded ce.

    "We don''t have anything to do. Here we follow the order of arrival, and no student has preference over others." That thin man spread his arms in a wailing expression. "If any student decides to stay here for 2 hours, 6 hours, we can''t kick him out..."

    "Then, other interested parties have to wait."

    Hearing this, Lothur felt a little frustrated, regretting his bad luck arriving at this ce at such a busy time...

    ''I''m going to wait for 20 minutes. Then, if no one gives me room in this damn ce, I''ll leave those parts of the Giant Tropical Spider here.'' He closed his eyes, thinking he could not waste too much time waiting.

    In his opinion, 10% was a lot. But his time was much more valuable. After all, he had too many things to do in Sector-1 to get his promotion to Sector-2. So, he was willing to ept the disadvantages of opting for that second option of that ce.

    p ...</anda>

    After 20 minutes, no one left that area, and Lothur finally lost his patience.

    He went next to the same individual as before and said. "Hey, I''m not going to wait. I want to leave my items here for this ce to sell them."

    "Oh? Hehe, I understand."

    "Well, you just need to hand me what you want to sell, and I will arrange a ce on our shelves."

    "Hmm, here it is." Lothur handed over the remaining parts of that spider he killed just before making a quick registration at that ce, leaving his data behind.

    Finally, he departed that ce with one less weight on his shoulders, confident that he could get his coins in a short time.

    So, he made his way to the library, where he intended to read a bit about what he had discussed earlier with Anneke before it was time for him to go to lunch with Elke.

    ...

    After eating with the beautiful Elke, Lothur and this woman did not waste much time and went to her room in the local dormitory.

    As they walked towards that ce of their own, Elke did not ignore something she had heard from one of her friends and asked. "Lothur, I heard that Alric''s cousin challenged you. Is that true?"

    "Hmm, a guy named Merten challenged me, but the period he gave me has passed," Lothur replied without showing much concern about it.

    "That..."

    "Lothur, this is serious! You shouldn''t take it so casually! Merten won''t forget about it and will find ways to bother you!"

    "Don''t you know that people like him have a lot of influence in the academy?" She looked at him thoughtfully, squeezing one of his arms to get his attention.

    "I know that, but doing what he wanted would only bring me harm..."

    "Why? Wouldn''t it be better if you fought him as the others challenged and continued your routine?" She asked, still not understanding why he was hiding. "At least he could forget about you and not challenge you in thepetition for the Secret Realm slots."

    Hearing such a thing, Lothur smiled and moved closer to one of Elke''s ears. "Don''t worry. If he does that, he''s the one who will lose the Secret Realm slot, not me."

    ...

 Chapter 81 Stones In The Way

    "Is that so?" Elke asked in anticipation for Lothur since students in Sector-3 were usually people between the 4th and 5th Transformation.

    In this case, for Lothur to be so rxed about facing someone like that could only mean that he was already almost as strong as that. However, Elke had a hard time believing such a thing since, usually, people in Sector-1 were not that powerful.

    Lothur saw the door to Elke''s room and smiled at her, showing his reassurance about the whole thing. "Trust me, even when it seems unreasonable, if you trust me, I guarantee we will have great results together."

    After hearing that and closing the door to that room, Elke stood watching Lothur for a moment, thinking about what he had just said.

    ''Maybe I should tell him about my family''s ns? I know that''s probably still a secret known to few, but I think I should say it...''

    ''If I want to be with him, I must take a chance and trust him.'' She watched him intently as he slowly removed his outermost clothes, looking at her with eyes full of desire.

    Gulp!

    ''He''s the one I want to be with, not those idiots!'' So she convinced herself, also starting to take off parts of her clothes, feeling that ignoring her rational side would be best in this situation.

    "Lothur, I want to talk to you about a problem~"

    Elke finally said something as he was already hugging her, making his movements that little by little made her breathe faster and faster.

    Lothur then continued kissing her neck, looking at her as if he were a predator watching the prey he wanted to eat. "Hmm? What is it?"

    "Lothur, my family is already nning to marry me to some influential organization in the province..." She looked into his eyes and felt herpanion''s lips parting from her neck.

    Sensing this, she became nervous and promptly exined herself. "But that''s not me who wants it!"

    "My parents are behind all this, acting in the family interest."

    "Oh? And what do you want?" Lothur rose from his position, looking up into Elke''s eyes.

    He naturally was not surprised that a noble family wanted to marry off the patriarch''s daughter to another power. After all, this was a local custom that even his predecessor was aware of.

    Marriages of this kind were the mostmon way for powerful families to enter into alliances with other powers, creating bonds that were difficult to break.

    There were cases of betrayal, one power trying to take over the other, and not every family being united enough to face particr challenges. For example, it was not so rare to hear stories of children killing parents or parents killing children for their own good.

    But cases like that were the minority, and most of the time, most people would try not to eliminate their offspring. That went beyond reason, being a basic survival instinct that almost every human in this world had.

    Because of this, alliances of this kind usually had rtively attractive sess rates. In this way, political marriages were widespread, and even children in this world knew about the way powerful families acted in this regard.

    In possession of such knowledge, Lothur had not found it strange that Elke''s parents did not care about her opinion and were already preparing an arranged marriage for her.

    It was already expected that something like this would happen. But all he cared about was her opinion.

    Unlike Elke, Lothur still had no romantic feelings for her. And even if he had an interest in her and was open to the possibilities of a more long-term rtionship, this could change a lot depending on what she had in mind.

    So, he was not worried about her family.

    She saw the seriousness in herpanion''s eyes and answered with sincerity. "Lothur, if it were up to me, I would rather be free to be with you, but that is not up to me..."

    "Is that so?"

    "Of course! I have no interest in those people selected by my family, nor in the alliance, my parents want to forge!"

    "By the way, it''s a good thing you crippled that fellow. Otherwise, we''d have even less time."

    Seeing the look of doubt on Lothur''s face, she exined. "Alric was my family''s favorite candidate."

    "I see..." His eyes opened wider as he understood such a thing. ''It was not for nothing that he was so abusive in speaking of Elke as if she were already his wife...''

    ''Hehe, what an idiot!''

    ''If he had kept his mouth shut, maybe he would have had a chance to get in the way of my affairs with her with a more sudden marriage...'' He was thinking about this when he suddenly realized something.<sub> </sub>

    "Elke, isn''t Alric younger than you? How would you two get married when he is not even an adult yet?"

    "Hmm? Our marriage would naturally be scheduled for when hees of age." She stated the obvious.

    "What are the ages of your other candidates?"

    "About the same as Alric''s." She replied without understanding what Lothur wanted.

    "Good, there is enough time." He smiled and returned his advances against the beauty in front of him, eager to take his current rtionship with Elke to a new level.

    "If you truly want that, then I''ll make it happen..." He slowly removed thest remaining piece of clothing over Elke''s bra. "But now, let me take care of you."

    Gulp!

    "Lothur~" She closed her eyes and felt something warm, wet, and soft touching a sensitive part of her body.

    ...

    After they finished dressing, Lothur had a satisfied smile on his face, feeling that it would not take long to solve the problem of his body.

    As for Elke, her face was flushed in disbelief at how she had let Lothur leave her almost naked and do so many strange things to her upper body.

    But what had embarrassed her the most was how much she had enjoyed the whole thing, the feeling that had almost made her ask for something with no return, and how she had screamed in a vulgar way...

    Luckily, her rational side had worked in time. However, she honestly did not know if she could resist her feelings for long. And as such, she was looking at Lothur with shame and a little fear.

    "Elke, I want to see if that item I told you about has been sold. Do you want toe with me?" He asked as he saw that hispanion had already finished dressing.

    Lothur knew that the poison of the Giant Tropical Spider was valuable to people at the early cultivation levels. And since there were practically only such individuals in Sector-1, he was confident it would be sold quickly.

    Consequently, he was already interested in going to that location, even considering that only a few hours had passed since his time there.

    "Well, I still have a few minutes, so I don''t see a problem with doing that..." She said in a low voice.

    "Great!"

    ...

    After a few minutes of walking, the two arrived at the same ce where Lothur had left the remnants of the Giant Tropical Spider he had collected.

    At that ce, Lothur wasted no time and immediately looked for the person he had spoken to earlier in search of the information about the sale of what he had left there.

    And just now, that individual finished looking at the system in that collective trading room to inform the youth in front of him. "I''m sorry, your item has not been sold yet."

    "What? Not yet?" Lothur said in surprise, finding this strange.

    While he and Elke had waited for that person to search this ce''s system, he had looked at the shelves in the surrounding area. But he saw nothing like those parts he had left earlier.

    That had reinforced his idea that such a thing had already been sold, adding to this young man''s negative surprise at this point.

    "I''m sorry, but that''s what''s in the system." That person made a sincere expression,menting the fact.

    "If that hasn''t been sold yet, where is my item? Why haven''t I seen it anywhere around here?"

    That man dressed in the uniform of this ce then looked at the information in the system, silent for a few seconds. He then replied. "Your item is on our shelves." He pointed to a particr ce. "It''s more or less in that ce."

    Hearing this, Lothur looked at the ce pointed out and saw the far corner of that shelf, where the meeting of two walls was.

    He then took Elke''s hand and went in that direction since he still was not seeing anything.

    ...

 Chapter 82 Taking A Step Back

    When they arrived at where Lothur''s item was supposed to be for sale, he and Elke could not find such a thing right away.

    But watching those shelves in front of her for some time, Elke finally saw the item and its description in the lower, less visible corner of that shelf.

    "Lothur..." She squeezed one of his arms and indicated the direction of the item.

    Seeing that, Lothur finally understood why he had not seen his item or the reason for something so valuable to the people in that sector not being sold.

    "Tsk!"

    ''They put an item worth thousands of bronze coins in the least favored location of this establishment, while pills worth a few hundred coins are in noble areas...'' He looked to the side and saw some low-level pills on a more visible part of those shelves.

    Realizing this, he soon understood there was something wrong in this ce.

    ''Looks like someone is making things difficult for me here, huh?'' He looked thoughtfully at where the attendant from before was standing. ''Or is it because of this Merten guy?

    ''It doesn''t matter. This ce probably won''t be of any use to me...'' He suddenly approached that shelf, intending to retrieve his items and leave this ce.

    However, as he did so, the attendant''s voice sounded. "Hey, hey! You can''t do that!" Such a person ran toward Lothur and Elke, preventing that young man from touching his own item.

    "Since these items are in possession of our trading room, only officials can handle them!" He stopped beside the two, exining the situation.

    "Is that so? Are you telling me that I can''t touch my own item?" Lothur asked with a smile on his face, looking coldly at the person in front of him.

    "I don''t make the rules..."

    Elke frowned at this, finding it strange that such a person was making things so difficult for Lothur. "What''s wrong here?" She asked in an indignant tone. "Why has a valuable item been left aside in this ce?"

    Noticing Miss Becker''s questioning, that attendant felt insecure about dealing with such a person. So far, he had calmly behaved since Lothur was a nobody of no relevance. As such, he had not worried about following his superior''s directions.

    But when he realized that Elke was not there just watching, this individual felt a little nervous.

    Elke could do nothing against him for following the rules of this establishment, but this could cause problems for him. After all, she was influential in her organization and could make insignificant beings like him suffer in many ways!

    He then used the best excuse he had in mind. "All avable spaces were upied with other artifacts. Thus, we have ced Lothur''s item here."

    "I''m sorry the ce is not so good." He lowered his head subserviently, further irritating the silver-haired young man.

    ''Absurd!''

    Lothur closed his eyes for a moment, his heart beating faster as his hands itched for him to act. But he just tried to breathe deeply, reminding himself that he could not be careless, or the people of this ce would find a way to kick him out of the academy.

    He then thought of something and leaned his face against Elke''s until his lips were next to her left ear. "Answer me, what happens to the fee charged at this ce?"

    Elke did not quite understand what Lothur wanted but answered him without dy. "The academy uses a portion to maintain this ce and keeps the profit."

    "So if people are misappropriating or hindering the gathering of resources here, that would be a problem?" Lothur''s eyes sparkled as he felt he should not let this situation go unnoticed.

    He, Lothur, was not a forgiving person.

    In his previous life, this young man was the type to give the benefit of the doubt to the people he dealt with. However, once someone made a mistake with him, he would never trust that person again, no matter what happened.

    He was not childish to stop talking to friends and colleagues, acting irritably, or even treating others with unnecessary disrespect. But upon losing trust in someone, he would simply not say anything relevant to that individual anymore, would start avoiding them, and would not believe promises or the like.

    And now, in his second life, given the extreme circumstances of this world and the emotions left behind by his predecessor, he had gained vengeful traits in his personality.<sub> </sub>

    So when he found himself in this situation where he was being unjustifiably attacked, he immediately thought of something to use against the people behind this all.

    "Well, if that''s the case, I can onlyment having to wait any longer..." Lothur said this quietly, surprising both Elke and that attendant.

    After that, he started walking towards the exit of that ce, leaving behind the now shocked attendant.

    "That..."

    Lothur needed his coins. But if leaving his item was what it took to create doubt about the honesty of the manager of that ce, he was willing to put such a thing aside for the time being.

    Meanwhile, the idea of reporting what was happening in this ce to the academy''s management had crossed his mind.

    Lothur knew that in this world, the word justice was worthless. But he also knew that the honor of the name, the respect, and the status in this ce were highly valued.

    So, even if the problem had started with something insignificant, what would the management think of a corrupt official who might be putting the name of this academy at risk?

    Lothur knew that if someone was scheming for him in this ce, then this should not be the first time such a person had done so. No, trying to make life difficult for a student like him over something so small was typical of those who had already corrupted themselves to certain practices.

    Come to think of it, if the person behind this problem had already put the academy''s interests aside for his own good, what would the academy do with such an individual?

    He, Lothur, was a student who couldpete for the Secret Realm slots. He was a student like many others there. Yet, he had been prevented from continuing his practices in this ce, which could impede his progress. And while he was no big deal, what would happen if officials kept getting in the way of local students just like that?

    Thepetition of this academy with others in other provinces was not small; even little things could influence the results in the Secret Realm. That way, this small thing could quickly turn into something gigantic!

    All things considered, Lothur was prepared to counterattack the person who stood in his way today!

    ''Very well, I''ll hire an investigative service in the Cultivation House and end the career of whoever did this.'' He looked at the exit of that ce and thought. ''I can''t do much here, but even the students who live in the dormitory leave the academy now and then...''

    ''Just wait!''

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the office of the leader of the area, Lothur and Elke had just left...

    "Boss, brat Lothur left without causing any trouble!" The attendant from earlier said this in a nervous tone, finding such behavior from someone who had been so wronged strange.

    "Oh? He didn''t do anything?" The boss said this as he looked in shock at his subordinate. ''How can that be? Shouldn''t this Lothur guy be someone out of control, a real jerk?''

    ''Is he just a coward?''

    "Tsk!"

    "Looks like he narrowly escaped expulsion..." Such a person said in a low voice, frustrated that his n to get Lothur to start a mess in that ce had failed.

    If such a thing had happened, Lothur would have been quickly kicked out from the academy, which went ording to Merten''s ns!

    However, that did not happen, and that fellow could not help but doubt Lothur''s record.

    ''In any case, that brat won''t get anything here. My job is done!''

    "Go and release the people who have been upying the spaces earlier today."

    "That''s already disrupted a lot of other students'' operations today. If we dy any longer, the academy might notice..." He gave his orders just before that individual left that office.

 Chapter 83 Attempted Seduction

    "Lothur, what happened back there? Why didn''t you try to get your item back?" Elke asked herpanion just after they left that area.

    Hearing the doubt of the beautiful redhead next to him, Lothur felt his head boiling over the problem from earlier, but he did not let his feelings get in his way. He said to her. "Someone in that ce wanted to get in my way, so it made no difference if I tried to get my item back. They wouldn''t allow me."

    "Anyway, in situations like this, it is better to take a step back and think of something to solve such..."

    "But don''t worry, I will return!"

    "Oh? And what do you intend to do?" She looked him in the eye, impressed to hear that from him. "If you want, I can buy that thing to avoid any more trouble."

    He smiled at that but did not ept her kindness. "Thanks for the offer, Elke, but no. I''ll work it out in my own way."

    "I already have something in mind, so I''ll start working it out when we go on our mission."

    ''Whoever you are, you''ll be sorry for standing in the way between me and my coins.'' He remembered the feeling of beating Alric and this person''s minions as his hands itched.

    ...

    After a while, Lothur finished his business at the Morning Star Academy and was heading towards the exit of this ce when suddenly a person approached him.

    "Hey, handsome!"

    "Hey! Don''t tell me you''ve already forgotten me?"

    "You are already behaving like this just a few days away from each other?" A woman of average beauty by the standards of this world but with perfect curves approached Lothur with a smile on her face.

    Seeing this person who had tattoos on her arms and wore a short dress that showed a lot of her legs, Lothur frowned, remembering this person.

    Besides Willi, there was a woman he used to chat with during their drinking or gambling. That was Erika, this woman with tanned skin, green eyes, and an ambiguous look.

    Smelling the odor of alcohol from her body, Lothur observed her, concerned about this person''s past due to his previous experience with Willi.

    [Name: Erika]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 1.1] [COM: 2.2] [DEX: 2.5] [AGI: 2.4]

    Seeing this person''s status, Lothur realized there were more cultivators in the outskirts of his predecessor than such a person thought.

    Like Willi, this woman had always behaved like a mortal and never demonstrated any power to Lothur.

    ''Did she have any rtion to that fellow?'' He wondered silently, finally feeling that woman touching one of his arms as if she was trying to take him to some bar, as had happened several times in the past.

    She noticed the unusual silence of that man of unique attractiveness and asked. "Lothur, what''s the matter with you? Did the cat eat your tongue? Come on, don''t be shy with me now."

    "Haven''t you always wanted to be with me? Since Willi''s not around, let''s have some more fun today..." She licked her lips slowly, looking into his eyes with a trace of desire.

    ? ''It won''t be bad to have some fun with you today...''

    Seeing that, Lothur felt something was wrong and stopped following that woman. "Willi... Do you know where he is? I haven''t seen him for days..."

    "Thest time I saw him, I was hit by a carriage. Do you know if he''s okay? I feel like maybe he got hurt from being too close to me."

    Hearing Lothur''s uncertain tone, that womanughed internally at this person''s ignorance. ''Idiot!''

    ''Willi tried to kill you, and you still care about him?''

    ''Pathetic!''

    ''Tsk!''

    ''If you keep talking this nonsense, I might get all dried up...'' She looked up, feeling that despite his attractiveness, Lothur did not have what it took even to make her interested.

    And considering how she had the appeal to take him to a particr ceter, her uing experience did not look promising.<sub> </sub>

    "Lothur, I''m worried too." She sentimentally looked at him, forcing her voice to sound thinner, as if she were about to start crying. "I haven''t seen him in days..."

    "Oh, Lothur, hug me!" She began to sob.

    Feeling that woman''s grip, Lothur feltpelled to pull her away. Still, since his predecessor tried to please that woman like a fool in hopes of intimacy, he stood there, motionless.

    ''There is certainly something wrong...''

    ''This woman has never exhibited such behavior before, and despite her masterful acting, I have seen woman lying in a much more truthful manner.''

    After a few seconds of standing in the middle of one of the sidewalks in the central part of Peters City, Erika finally removed her face from Lothur''s chest and said to him. "Let''s go to my ce..."

    "We can talk more privately there and then have some funter..."

    "Why don''t we go to the Three Feathers Casinoter in the evening?" She suggested this that was her goal here.

    "Oh?" Lothur looked at her more seriously, not liking that woman''s suggestions.

    Lothur was a womanizer, but he felt nothing for women like Erika. As he looked at her, although he saw a person who had her attractiveness, all he saw was a woman of low value.

    Someone who wore filthy clothes, who offered herself to him without proper approach, with her body full of strange tattoos and stinking of alcohol.

    Hell, this woman could not possiblypare to Elke and Annaliese. So how could he be interested in someone like that?

    To make matters worse, the earthling Lothur hated gambling. So, naturally, he despised casinos.

    He particrly had no problem with people having fun in such ces if they knew they would lose their money. But as for the fools who believed they stood a chance against the table, these he had nopassion for and sincerely wished for the worst.

    In his opinion, certain people needed to suffer, to lose everything they had to learn that there were no free lunches in the world or such a thing as good luck.

    For him, wealth was built through work and investment in real assets, the economy, goodpanies, organizations, or real estate. Because of this, he would never spend even a coin in a gambling house.

    So, after hearing Erika''s words, he felt even more contempt for her. He turned away from that woman who looked like a cat in the heat, trying to convince a male to do what should be done.

    "I''ll have to refuse this time, Erika." He said without showing his opinion of her. "I have a matter to settle with my wife, so I feel you will have to wait for another day."

    "What?" She looked at him in surprise, finding it unbelievable that this virgin had refused to go to bed with her. ''Is he serious? He''s not only giving up lying with me, but also giving up doing his favorite hobby!''

    ''What is happening in this world? Does he truly have amitment?'' She remained silent, her mouth open as she waited for Lothur''s response.

    "I''m sorry, Erika, but I''m unavable today." He said as he moved a little further away from her, waving one of his hands as if saying goodbye.

    Seeing that handsome man walking away from her, Erika felt rejected for the first time in a long time. ''Damn!'' She thought about it as she considered that she had failed in her first attempt to seduce Lothur and lead him to a ce of destruction.

    "Tsk!"

    ''I''d better get back to my post...'' She clenched her hands in frustration, following the way she had gone earlier.

    However, as she headed for her spot, Lothur had wasted no time and began to stalk, curious to know where she would lead him.

    ''That woman... I feel that she and Willi are flour from the same bag.''

    ''If that is true, then she will probably lead me to that person''s organization.'' He continued to chase her tracks, deftly concealing his movements.

    ''Well, I''ll look into who''s behind her and then return.''

    ''We''ll see. Maybe this will show me why there are people after a good-for-nothing...''

    After that, several minutes passed, and Lothur reached one of the suburbs of Peters City, where Erika entered one of the many old buildings in that area.

    ...

 Chapter 84 Identifying The Enemy

    Lothur finally arrived in front of an abandoned building in that area away from the center of Peters City.

    In this ce, with many poorly dressed people in the surroundings, Erika had entered through a side entrance and disappeared in the middle of that building.

    Seeing this, Lothur frowned, finding it strange that a woman like her would be in such a ce.

    She might have her less good features than others he knew, but she was still a woman with her qualities, someone who could easily attract many men. As such, Lothur did not expect her to walk into a building where beggars seemed to congregate.

    ces like these were dangerous anywhere!

    However, remembering how appearances could be deceiving, Lothur soon began checking out the people in the surrounding area, looking for cultivators.

    ''Level 1, level 2, level 2, level 3...'' He quickly saw the statuses of a dozen people, all of whom were cultivators despite their appearances.

    ''It seems this is the headquarters of the organization behind her.''

    ''But is that the same group that sent those three after me?'' He wondered as he stayed hidden behind garbage cans, not far from that building that Erika had entered.

    But as he watched that area, suddenly a man who looked around 30, with short ck hair and a body typical of those who did not exercise, appeared shouting at the side of that building.

    "Please, please!"

    "Help me find my wife! She''s been missing for four months now! Please!" The man fell to his knees on the ground as he looked at the people who had just thrown him out of the building that Erika had entered.

    Tears dripped from his eyes as such an individual ignored his injured elbows, begging for help from these people. "Please, gentlemen! My children can''t sleep at night, and I can''t stop thinking about what might have happened to her!"

    "Please, the Mouse Company is the only hope I have!" He bellowed amidst his desperate crying.

    Seeing and hearing that, Lothur finally understood who was behind Erika. ''Mouse Company, huh?''

    ''It makes sense...'' He clenched his fists, feeling that an organization that worked in the shadows and underworld could definitely be a threat to him.

    ''Was Willi also from that organization?'' But unfortunately, Lothur could not answer that question since he had no evidence to connect such a person to that organization.

    He felt that Erika was not innocent and that she probably had some connection with Willi. But this was his intuition working, so he could not be sure.

    In any case, he was now sure that she was dangerous and that the Mouse Company could be plotting against him through her.

    ''I hope I never have to see you again, Erika. But if you insist on meeting me, I''m afraid I''ll have to use you...'' He closed his eyes for a moment, determined to do what was necessary to get information and protect himself.

    After that, he did not take long and soon left that area discreetly, not attracting the attention of the many watchers in the surroundings.

    ...

    After his little adventure, Lothur trained for some time when he arrived at the estate of his wife''s family. But this time, he did not go to train with Annaliese since, unlike the night before, someone was watching her residence.

    Nevertheless, after training, he spent the night in his room until he finally left the estate early the next day.

    So, after speaking with Annaliese on their way to the Morning Star Academy and answering a few more of his cultivation-rted questions, he went to his daytime schedule.

    He attended the Spiritual Language ss, visited the library, and watched fights between students on one of the fighting stages in Sector-1.

    Each academy sector had training areas for cultivators but also structures where people could fight matches open to the public.

    Such ces could be used in challenges, like the ones Lothur had already received, or even battles between people looking for better ces in the student rankings.

    After some score, students could challenge others in better positions and then ''steal'' the merit points from their opponents if they won the fight, of course.

    In any way, although it was pretty interesting to watch these fights, Lothur had not done this as a form of entertainment but as a study, an inspiration for his own path.

    In the end, he went on to his meeting with Anneke in a restaurant in Sector-4.

    ...<sub> </sub>

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 7.4] [CON: 8.6] [DEX: 6.5] [AGI: 8.3]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 12] [WIL: 45.5]

    ...

    "So? Did you do what I told you?" Anneke asked the handsome man in front of her as she used a silver fork to pick a vegetable from the colorful meal she was having.

    Lothur then rxed in thatfortable chair in such a restaurant, holding a drinking cup in one hand.

    He saw the rtively busy ce, with peopleing and going, several tables just like theirs upied and said. "I learned a little more about the difficulties of the Frost family..."

    "It seems parasites are consuming this family, and sadly, such an organization seems to ept it all." He thought about the things he had read and what he had heard the other day.

    "Parasites, huh?" She said this in a low voice, thinking that part of these parasites were people from the imperial family, whom Lothur should not refer to in this way.

    But understanding what he meant, Anneke just said. "The Frost family is not exactly as guilty for their situation as you think. They were just surpassed. Life is like that, full of cycles."

    "Powers go up, and others go down constantly. That''s the normality of things..."

    "I disagree."

    "That truly is what happens, but only because the leaders of that family seem to have epted afortable position in the past and stopped moving forward."

    "Unfortunately, the one who amodates and epts what he has achieved is the one who will eventually regret it. In a world like this, the one who doesn''t keep moving forward necessarily regresses." He said this as he put his drink back on the table and sampled some more of the fine cuisine of this establishment.

    Meanwhile, Anneke was looking at him strangely, surprised to hear such well-thought-out words from Lothur.

    "The current position of this family was already predictable if you ask me. Sooner orter, there would be a less talented generation..."

    "Gee..." She stopped eating her sd and asked. "Did you learn all this by reading in one day? Do you still have any questions?"

    "I do. The imperial family is stronger than the current Frost House. So, why doesn''t that organization simply force my wife''s family into full submission? Why do these plots?"

    Anneke realized that despite some good ideas, Lothur stillcked a good sense to judge moreplex situations. She said. "That''s simple. Even sovereigns need to use rules, or everyone would fear them so much that it would be impossible for them to rule."

    "As such, the imperial family would hardly make a drastic decision without good justification."

    "As for those actions, I can''t tell you about that. Some families are simplypeting to improve their positions. So, I don''t know if there''s a finger of the imperial family in every Frost family problem."

    "In any case, with the royal session to be decided, it''s normal for candidates from House Leopoldine to be more active."

    "Thus, your family is more affected than it normally would be..." She looked at him meaningfully, giving him this information that basically proved his suspicions regarding his marriage to Viktoria.

    ''So, she married me to buy time for her family?'' He pondered this, regretting that his wife had not chosen him for his attractiveness.

    "What?" Anneke questioned the smile on Lothur''s face.

    "Nothing. I''m just curious how long I''ll have to deal with these problems... What is the emperor''s situation? He must be in pretty bad shape to search for an heir, no?"

    ...

 Chapter 85 Plans

    "The emperor''s situation?" Anneke repeated Lothur''s words, interested in how this young man seemed not to mind speaking of such a figure so freely.

    Leopoldine emperor was the strongest person in that state, someone who was undoubtedly among the most powerful in this part of Concordia.

    And even if few people knew how powerful he was, Anneke had no doubts about the ability of someone capable of dominating for centuries so many organizations with cultivators at the 3rd stage.

    So, she did not like to refer to such a person so casually and did not know much about the same.

    "How would I know?" She asked in a jocr tone. "Do you think I have ess to the imperial court to know these important details?"

    "All I can tell you is whates out publicly, like that person''s desire to choose his sessor in the next few years."

    "Other than that, I don''t know if he is well or injured, although I doubt he is unhealthy..." She said, thinking about how no one could oppose such an expert, which guaranteed him a great position.

    "Oh? I see..." Lothur was not disappointed to hear that, but considering Anneke''s answer, he knew that he might have to endure problems concerning the session for months to a few years.

    ''What a headache...''

    ''Why don''t these people just give up their leadership position? What''s the point in leading a state?'' He wondered, feeling bad for having to live through the consequences of power madmen.

    In Lothur''s view, there was no advantage in bing a king, emperor, or president. To him, only masochists would seek so many responsibilities when more exciting options were avable.

    For example, on Earth, being the president of a country was a guarantee of trouble, constant stress, and hatred from parts of the poption.

    Every decision by such a person would be looked down upon by some part of themunity. At the same time, problems would always arise, something easily seen in how quickly people in these positions aged during their times. Also, a good president would rarely be recognized as such while alive.

    The best consequences of the actions of someone of such importance usuallye with decades of development. But this could often even have its roots passed on to those who did not deserve it, those who would be in power when the best consequences had their effects.

    That was only part of the problem of being a state leader, something that, in Lothur''s opinion, only madmen would seek.

    To him, it made much more sense to be behind the curtains, making the necessary moves from the shadows, using the fools who sought status with the public.

    He understood that there could be advantages to being the emperor, especially in a cultivation world where democracy did not exist. But he judged that there were better options that did not limit one''s life so much.

    He sincerely doubted that the public face inmand, the emperor, was the peak of power!

    For these thoughts, he considered thepetition of these people from the imperial family to be foolish. So, naturally, he felt annoyed that he had to deal with the consequences of this.

    "Sigh..."

    "Well, changing the subject, I think the Mouse Company might be behind that situation I told you about yesterday..."

    "Last night, as I was returning home, a woman member of that organization tried to seduce me and take me to a casino." He looked into Anneke''s eyes seriously. "I couldn''t help but feel that they are plotting against me."

    "Can you think of any reason for this? Maybe the Mouse Company is working for one of those enemy powers of the Frost family?"

    Hearing that, Anneke wanted tough, surprised at this shameless man talking about a woman trying to seduce him. "A woman tried to seduce you? Are you sure it wasn''t the other way around?"

    "Of course!" He closed his eyes, feeling struck by Anneke''s words.

    "And you weren''t seduced? Were you, by any chance, sick?"

    "For someone who flirts with a ssmate and his own teacher, I find it strange that you''re telling me this..."

    "Tsk!"

    "I am not someone who tries to be with every woman in my path, Anne."

    "What is this misconception you have about me?"

    "Is that so? And why do you seem to flirt with every woman I see you with?" Her eyes sharpened.<sub> </sub>

    "Because you''ve only seen me with worthwhile women. You included."

    "You!" The cheeks of that ck-haired woman grew hot as she looked at that bold fellow.

    But she soon tried to breathe more calmly as she sped her hands on her legs. ''At least you won''t disrespect that youngdy by hanging out with sluts...'' She felt that Lothur was not that bad, noting how Elke would not have to be humiliated by being with some random womanizer.

    She then answered his earlier question, ignoring the story of the woman who had tried to seduce him. "Well, I don''t know why the Mouse Company is plotting against you, but that might have something to do with Alric''s situation."

    "Alric?" His eyebrows frowned with concern that Anneke knew about what he had done.

    "Yes, Alric sought information about you with that organization before the incident days ago. Because of that, the Baier family has a disagreement with the Mouse Company."

    ? "That might have something to do with what you told me..." She finally loosened her legs, feeling the previous heat passing. "But it could be for other reasons too. Who knows?"

    "Sigh!" He breathed in relief, d that person had not discovered that he was behind the Alric incident.

    ''Anyway, if they are after me for such a thing, then I have to be careful!''

    After Lothur was silent for some time, Anneke finally asked about her payment. "So? Won''t you tell me anything about your good fortune? I will not ept an excuse. You will not leave this ce without telling me anything!"

    "Hmmm?" He looked at Anneke thoughtfully, trying to find a way to please her without saying anything relevant. "Don''t you think my telling you my secrets just for some information isn''t too high a price?"

    "No, you even had lunch with me. Nay, you even got a date with me. How many people won''t wonder what''s happening here?" She looked at the surroundings, where some individuals were watching them.

    He then got up from his seat and walked over to Anneke''s side, showing one of his hands for her to lean on and get up. "If this is a date, we need to make it look like one." He said into one of her ears, making her regret what she had said earlier.

    As she felt one of Lothur''s hands on her waist and his warm breath on her neck, Anneke shivered from head to toe, feeling nervous for the first time in a long time. She listened. "I don''t think certain secrets can be discussed in public, so if you want to hear my story, we can talk about it in a more private ce."

    "Do you have a ce in the local dormitory? I promise I will answer one of your questions if you agree to talk in a more tranquil ce..."

    Gulp!

    ''Bastard! What you want is toe to my room!''

    ''But you think I can''t handle you?''

    ''Humph!''

    ''You need to improve a lot to make me interested, and I''m strong enough to teach you a lesson!''

    "All right, student Ritter." She turned away from him, speaking loud enough for people in the surrounding area to hear her. "I''m already feeling better. So you don''t have to keep supporting me..."

    "Oh? That''s fine."

    "We can continue this conversation next Monday. I hope you don''t run away from your promise." She handed him a piece of paper after saying those words in a low voice.

    After seeing the location of her room on that piece of paper, Lothur smiled and said goodbye to Anneke.

    ...

    Hourster, Lothur had already returned from the Morning Star Academy, having talked with Annaliese about them going out to train together at the local Cultivation House on the weekend.

    After she agreed on the condition that he no longer talked about the previous subject, they parted ways, with Lothur going to his wife''s residence to have dinner with her.

    For some reason, Viktoria wanted to talk to him. So, after receiving a letter in his room, he promptly went to his wife''s residence, curious.

    "Dear, your beloved is here for you." He said with a smile as he knocked on the door of that residence.

    Upon hearing that, a person on the other side of the door smiled strangely, as her hair color changed to a brownish shade after activating a specific item...

 Chapter 86 Ill Have To Remember You

    "Lothur,e with me." ''Viktoria'' opened the door and made a hand gesture to her husband, with her typical cold expression that made it look like she was always bored.

    Seeing that, Lothur did not suspect anything and made his way into that residence he already knew.

    "Dear wife, have you prepared dinner for your husband? Are you finally ready to take a step forward in our rtionship?" He said casually, smiling and observing that woman of perfect proportions.

    "Tsk!"

    "If you''re going to keep talking this nonsense, I don''t think we should even go through with it." She said in an icy voice.

    Then, she said in an ambiguous tone, "Anyway, I called you here today so we can talk while we eat something. I have some business to resolve with you..."

    "Business? What business?"

    "For starters, I want to know more about your ns at the academy. How is your development in that ce? You have alreadypleted one mission, so I imagine you will soon be doing other simr activities, no?" She walked him to the side of the dining area of the residence, where a table with several cuisines was waiting for them.

    Gulp!

    Upon smelling the excellent fragrance of that food, Lothur could not help but swallow his saliva in anticipation, waiting for the opportunity to taste such things.

    Of all the things in this world that were different from those on Earth, cuisine was one of his favorites. Thus, he felt terrific whenever he went to have meals in this world.

    And sensing the delicious smelling from those receptacles on the table he sat around, Lothur felt his hunger suddenly being aroused. "Did you by any chance cook this? From the smell, I can already tell it''s amazing!"

    Hearing that, ''Viktoria'' smiled and gave credit to the person who actually deserved it. "I wouldn''t cook it for you. But if you want to know, that was Elise''s doing. Satisfied? You guys get along so badly, but look how satisfied you are before you eat her food..."

    "Elise, huh?" Lothurughed as he had already started to serve himself. "Looks like this woman has some quality."

    "Some quality, huh?" ''Viktoria'' clenched her fists, trying to control herself not to hit Lothur.

    "Wow!"

    "She truly knows how to cook!"

    "Tsk!"

    "It''s just a pity she has a terrible mouth. Otherwise, she would be the ideal woman to marry!" He said as he tasted the different dishes prepared by Elise.

    ''To marry?'' ''Viktoria''s'' cheeks turned pink as some images shed in her memory, making her think about what she should not.

    ''That jerk!''

    ''Does he know it''s me and not Viktoria? Is that why he''s making jokes?'' Elise, disguised as Viktoria, wondered that, feeling strange to hear those words from him.

    After her previous ns had failed, this blonde woman had thought of another method to try to eliminate Lothur. And after finding out that Viktoria had gone off to solve a problem outside Peters City, Elise had put her new n into action.

    She intended to get Lothur drunk and leave his body in Viktoria''s room to make it look like he had drunk too much,e to a ce he should not have, and died of natural causes.

    It was the perfect n!

    She could eliminate her target effortlessly and still avoid suspicion.

    As such, she was striving to follow through on her ns to make Lothur eat her poisoned food and drink the alcohol she had prepared for him.

    ''It does not matter. I will follow my ns to the end. If he has already realized something, I will end it all the moment he acts!'' She made up her mind as she tasted her meal, which had poison in it. Still, since she had already taken some potions and was a 6th Transformation cultivator, such a thing would have no significant effect on her.

    Soon, she began to speak with Lothur about the academy as they devoured the meal she had prepared, mainly him, who had already repeated it twice.

    After a while, Lothur began tough like a fool, sometimes confusing his words as he saw the images in front of him bing blurred.

    As for ''Viktoria,'' she was happier than ever, a little altered because of the drink. However, because of the potion she had taken, she was much more aware of everything than herpanion.

    "Honey... Why are... Are you so cold to me? Hey... Hey,e here, hug me!" Lothur stood up and walked over to her, walking awkwardly.

    "Tsk!"

    "I already told you not to try such foolishness with me!" She yelled at him, making a motion to p his face.

    However, as she did so, she saw Lothur deftly deflect her blow, stumbling forward and falling on top of her.

    "Uh?"<sub> </sub>

    "Ouch!"

    "Idiot! You''re heavier than you think! How do you let yourself fall on top of me?" Elise yelled at Lothur but suddenly felt the situation change as she had never expected.

    "Foolish woman, let me show you what your husband is capable of..." He hugged her slender body before forcing his kiss, finally intending to join his wife.

    "No..."

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    Elise attempted to stop Lothur''s advance, but to her surprise, breaking free from his embrace and stopping his rapid movement proved to be incredibly challenging.

    ''What''s going on? Why does he look so strong? Am I that weak at the moment? Or do I wish it without knowing it?'' She wondered in confusion, feeling strange.

    In a state of half-intoxication, the servant of Viktoria felt the enemy invasion in her mouth. Yet, as his body pressed against hers, she kept thinking of Lothur''s younger brother.

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    ''No! No, this can''t be happening! I can''t allow this to continue!''

    ''I can''t let this worm touch me like that!'' She slowly regained her strength as her tongue lost some of its natural ability to respond to Lothur''s.

    ''And what''s with those thoughts? Damn it!''

    ''This filthy person is my enemy! Why do I keep thinking about his body? I''ve seen other naked men before and never felt that way!'' She finally opened her eyes, pushing that man up.

    Upon doing so and gainingplete control of the situation, Elise finally pulled a dagger out from under her clothes, shing toward the neck of the drunk man.

    She then made an agile move, pushing Lothur against a wall until she stopped her dagger when it was pressed into the base of his neck.

    "Ahhhh! How hateful!" She screamed for the first time, feeling like she should just slit his throat but knowing she could not.

    Her perfect n would only work if only the toxin she used were the cause of Lothur''s death. Then, if she left battle marks on his body, there would be suspicion about what happened, and she could get into trouble.

    With that in mind, Elise felt frustrated that she could not brutally kill this person who had dared to touch her body.

    ''That wretched bastard! He took my first kiss! How will I be able to give myself to the young master in the future?'' She leaned her face against Lothur''s, noticing the blood dripping from his lips where she had bitten him early.

    She then could not control herself, tasting the enemy''s blood in her mouth and wanting to slit his throat.

    ''You lucky bastard!''

    ''If you hadn''t escaped from me in that forest, I would have tortured you slowly! But now, now!

    ''Now you can die peacefully.''

    ''Damn it!''

    She finally took her dagger from his throat, realizing that the focus in Lothur''s eyes was already going away, a sign of the effect of the poison she used.

    "Tsk!"

    "Anyway, you''re finished!" She grabbed his body in herp, carrying him toward Viktoria''s bed.

    "Tsk!"

    "You will finally get out of my way. It''s just a shame I''ll have to remember you." She murmured in his ear before finally leaving that ce in a hurry.

    Meanwhile, Lothur saw the darkness in his eyes increasing little by little. At the same time, his other senses seemed not to be working at the moment.

    ''Ah, I''m so sleepy...''

    ...

    "Lothur! Lothur!"

    "What are you doing in my bed?" Viktoria asked as she entered her room the other morning, looking coldly at the man lying naked in that ce...

 Chapter 87 Enemy

    Seeing Lothur''s sleepy body lying on her bed while hugging her pillows, Viktoria felt anger at finding this man in her room.

    To make matters worse, he was defiling her sheets and pillows, naked, while having his ''tool'' erect, pointing proudly to the sky.

    Seeing that thing quite different from when she had seen Lothur naked after a shower days ago, she could not help but focus her attention on it, shocked. ''How does he keep that in his pants?''

    ''That''s bigger than my forearm!''

    ''What an animal!''

    But at the sight of that pulsing thing, Viktoria no longer restrained herself, shouting angrily at him.

    "Lothur! Lothur!"

    "What are you doing in my bed?"

    "Wake up! I swear I''ll cut this thing off if you don''t give me a good justification!"

    As he felt a chill going through his entire body, Lothur opened his eyes. He did not give a damn about the difference in brightness and looked at the woman next to him.

    "Viktoria..." He said in an uncertain tone, remembering some things that had happened the night before.

    He smiled and then ran one of his hands up to Viktoria''s left arm, pulling her onto that bed, "Come give your husband a good morning kiss."

    He promptly moved to stand over her, going for her cherry lips.

    Sensing this sudden change, Viktoria almost failed to react in time when Lothur and his erect thing almost touched her.

    "Lothur Ritter!"

    "You must bepletely insane to do such a thing!" She raged, pping him in the middle of his chest, sending him high into the air without mercy.

    <o>,m "Ouch!" He cried out in pain as he felt his back hit the ceiling hard and then fall faster than he hade up, reaching the hard floor, not Viktoria''sfortable bed.</o>

    As he felt this bad start to the morning, the system messages finally showed him the reality.

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 15%.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 7.6] [CON: 9.0] [DEX: 6.5] [AGI: 8.5]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 12.5] [WIL: 45.5]

    ...

    ''Oh?'' As he felt his cheek stick to the icy marble floor of Viktoria''s room, Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, realizing something was wrong.

    ''My status has improved without training... My resistance to poisons... That... Was I poisoned? When?''

    But as he was thinking about these things, he saw that ice-hearted woman walking slowly toward him, with what looked like a belt in her fairy hands.

    "You will pay me, Lothur!"

    "No one will be able to save you today!" She slowly said this but in a tone that would make anyone''s soul tremble with fear.

    At the moment, Viktoria looked like a demon about to devour its prey, full of killing intent, seemingly unable to forgive Lothur.<sub> </sub>

    "Hey, hey, baby! What are you doing? Have you forgotten aboutst night?" Lothur quickly stood up, moving away from that woman while making calm gestures.

    "You gave me a great dinnerst night, and we even talked about our rtionship..."

    "What?"

    "What are you talking about, scumbag? Are you trying to make an excuse for your actions? What nightst night? Only in your dreams, I was with youst night!" She said this full of hatred, moving faster and faster towards her idiot husband.

    "What? Viktoria, how can you lie like that? We had a nice evening. We even kissed! Don''t tell me you don''t remember?"

    "I know I may have forced myself against you at first, but I felt your enthusiasm as you kissed me! You enjoyed it!" He said this, sometimes looking back for a way out.

    "Bastard!"

    "I don''t know what kind of fantasy you have with me, but it will end today!" She ran at him, filled with the urge to beat him until nothing was left.

    "No! Why are you doing this? Hmm?" He realized that he could have only been poisoned there, as he had not done or consumed anything out of the ordinary the day before, aside from the event with ''Viktoria.''

    "Did you poison me? Did you do all this to act this way now?" He asked angrily, feeling terrible for waking up in such a situation.

    Viktoria was one of the few people he thought would not purposely hurt him. But thinking about that possibility made him feel bad, his heart slowly filling with anger.

    "I poisoned you? I wasn''t even in Peters City yesterday. How could I have poisoned you?" She ignored that man''s protests and finally pressed him against a wall, preparing to teach him an important lesson.

    But as she got closer to his body, she smelled a woman''s scent that was simr to hers, which could not have happened just because he slept in her bed.

    ''Hmmm? What is that?'' She dropped the item in her hand, but her following action, grabbing Lothur''s neck, startled this man more than his previous vision.

    ''This smell? That''s my pheromone! Even though it''s a little faint and mixed with other fragrances, that is undeniably my scent!'' Her eyes sharpened, with her finally feeling that Lothur''s ''dream'' had not been as imaginary as she had thought.

    "What?" She finally noticed faint traces of a substance on Lothur''s body,monly found on people recently recovered from poisonings.

    Viktoria was not a doctor, but considering her extraordinary talent and genius status, she could identify several problems and substances with a brief analysis of her target. As such, she did not let such a thing go unnoticed!

    She could not identify what poison could have stimted the production of such a substance in Lothur''s body. Still, she did not doubt that he had been poisoned.

    ''Someone tried to kill him while disguised as me?'' She understood the situation, feeling doubly worse now since she had misjudged Lothur and had her residence invaded by enemies.

    Viktoria then closed her eyes and let go of Lothur. "I''m sorry, it seems you were telling the truth."

    Lothur''s eyebrows frowned as he found this all strange. ''Bipr?''

    But soon, he understood the situation. "It seems you were with someone who impersonated me the night before. Your memories are of that person, not me, since I was out of the city yesterday."

    "You can ask Anna about that since I talked to her about such a thing..."

    "What? But she had a face just like yours! Even the ways of acting and speaking were simr! How can that be?"

    Viktoria looked at him, trying to ignore the thing between his legs that had now calmed down. She then said. "Do you think I would try to poison you? Why would I do that? Besides, why would I bring you into my room and still leave you in my bed?"

    "Someone tried to kill you by impersonating me, Lothur!"

    "That..." He finally realized the truth, beginning to feel fearful since he had been easily fooled by such an enemy the night before.

    ''How lucky I had my resistance to poisons and the advantage of being a cultivator!'' He swallowed his saliva in fear, feeling that he could have died in that experience.

    ''In any case, I can no longer be careless! I have to use the system to ensure the identity of everyone I interact with from now on!'' He pondered this fact.

    He could tell people''s identities even without seeing their faces as long as he knew the other part!

    Last night he had only not used such a thing on ''Viktoria'' because he already knew he could not see her status. And since he had no reason to suspect her, nor that there were such perfect ways to impersonate someone, he had made that mistake.

    He looked at Viktoria seriously, no longer as fearful as before, understanding that this woman was on his side, despite all the problems. "Viktoria, how could this have happened? How could a woman disguise herself as you so perfectly?"

    "About that..."

 Chapter 88 Suspicion

    "About that, the person who tried to kill you was probably wearing a Silver-grade mask. An item of that quality could fool even cultivators." She said as she thought about how absurd that was, but that was the most usible exnation she had in mind.

    Aside from that, it would be impossible for someone to disguise themselves so perfectly unless this enemy had a Physique that gave her an awe-inspiring and rare innate ability.

    Lothur ''was'' only a mortal, but even people like that could perceive distinctions in the physical appearance of a person trying to impersonate another without high-level items or abilities. So, Viktoria had the impression that this enemy had used a Silver-grade item as the second option was even more unimaginable.

    An item could be bought or taken using force. But an ability like that, only by being born with one, could someone have such an advantage.

    "A mask? Really?" He said as he looked into his wife''s beautiful eyes, ignoring his nakedness. "So with something like that, anyone can impersonate other people? Isn''t that too scary?"

    Viktoria turned around, no longer looking at Lothur''s naked body, and said. "Yes, this is a terrible thing, and precisely because of this, it is not easy to buy, produce, or find items of this kind."

    "The imperial family even forbids the use of such masks."

    "If someone is caught wearing something of the sort, that person can even be executed!"

    "So you don''t have to worry about often facing situations like that. And there are ways to take action against users of such items." She said, looking sideways, seeing he had not taken the opportunity to dress up.

    "Do you intend to keep showing me this thing or what? Get dressed!"

    "Oh?" Lothur finally realized the chill in his intimate area, discovering that he was naked. "I''m sorry, dear. Sometimes I sleep like this, so I''m used to being this way..."

    She blushed a little as she watched him dress, curious to know how he hid that thing in his clothes.

    But then she heard his question. "You said there are ways to take action against someone like that... How?"

    "Hmm?" She did not pay attention at first, but after a few seconds, she noticed that she had be distracted and said to him. "It doesn''t make much difference to you because a strong spiritual sense is necessary to do something like that."

    Items like the one used by Elise were magnificent. Not only for its ability to change one''s appearance almost perfectly but also for making it difficult for such a thing to be noticed by others.

    That is, it was not impossible to notice the use of such an item, but other people would need to be looking for it from the start. Otherwise, even using one''s spiritual sense to check the spiritual fluctuations of the mask user, others would not be able to perceive the effect of the mask.

    In any case, someone capable of probing the peculiarities of such an item could break its effect by using some methods. But since Lothur ''was'' only a mortal, Viktoria did not waste her time exining to him theplex method of doing this.

    ''Spiritual sense, eh?'' Lothur pondered this as he finished dressing, feeling that the system would not fail even if he tried to identify someone wearing such a mask.

    "Anyway, someone tried to kill youst night, and we can''t just stand by and do nothing..." She walked toward the exit door of her residence, intending to talk to her parents.

    However, on the way there, she heard that door mmed by her servant.

    Pa! Pa!

    "Young miss?" Elise asked from the other side of that door, with a quiet expression on her face, preparing to show her great surprise at Lothur''s death.

    ''Hehe, I will finally be able to go ahead with my ns.'' She closed her eyes momentarily, just before Viktoria opened that door.

    But as she looked inside that residence, Elise also saw the figure of Lothur walking behind that brown-haired woman.

    ''What?'' Her eyes opened wide as she took a step back, totally shocked to see that scumbag alive and well.

    Gulp!

    ''How can this be? How can he be alive? How? How?'' She swallowed her saliva in nervousness, not understanding what was wrong with this world that such a person would not die no matter what she did.

    ''Is he immortal by any chance? Or was the damn poison I got from that trash rotten?'' She tried her best not to show her surprise at seeing Lothur alive, but soon that man put her in a difficult position.

    "Viktoria, the person with me yesterday served a meal that your servant supposedly prepared." He looked significantly at Elise, beginning to suspect this woman.

    Seeing the look in Elise''s eyes, Lothur did not know if she was surprised to see him at Viktoria''s residence so early in the day or if there was something more to it. But considering the past between the two, he honestly did not doubt that she would be capable of trying to eliminate him.

    Hence his suspicion!<sub> </sub>

    After hearing that, Viktoria looked strangely at Elise. "Did you prepare dinner for someonest night? Did you do something against Lothur, Elise?"

    Realizing that, Elise left her dazed thoughts regarding the hard-to-kill Lothur and looked at Viktoria with an ignorant look. "Young miss, I don''t know what you are talking about."

    "Yesterday, the young miss was out of Peters City, so how could I have prepared any meal? And what could I have done for that scumbag, young miss? I only contact him when I have to!"

    "Why would I try anything when I got a night off?" She said this in an unjustified tone.

    "Plus,st night, I was with one of my roommates! She can confirm that I didn''t leave the dorm all night!"

    Hearing that, Viktoria felt that her servant was probably not at fault since Elise had an alibi. Besides, that blond woman was only a mortal, so the chance that she had participated in something so dangerous was slight.

    Cultivators could use mortals, but hardly one of them would be and still remain alive. Thus, Viktoria''s suspicions of Elise had already diminished considerably.

    On the other hand, the chance that Elise had acted directly against Lothur was even more unlikely. After all, high-level spiritual items demanded energy to operate. But then again, such a servant did not have what it took to do so...

    "Is that so? Then..."

    As Viktoria was about to say something, but then Lothur stepped forward andmented, still suspicious of Elise. "Dear, I don''t think she''s telling the truth."

    "The person I met yesterday seemed a little too interested in thepliments I paid your servant''s culinary skills. At first, I thought it was no big deal since I thought she was you."

    "But now I have the impression that such a person was her."

    Elise looked at Lothur in shock, regretting not cutting his throat when she had the chance. But thinking how he could prove nothing, she said in an angerden tone. "You scumbag! You''re very good at using innocent people!"

    "I already said I spent the night in the servants'' dormitory. So, how do I have anything to do with this business of yours?"

    Lothur ignored her protests and used some of his strength to take that woman in his embrace, preparing to test his theory. "Viktoria, I kissed that person who tried to kill me. I can easily identify such a person if I kiss her again."

    After hearing that, Elise began to break into a cold sweat since her life would be over if she fell there.

    She was powerless to run away from Viktoria. Furthermore, if she did that, it would probably be her end. After all, she could not act now, or it would only confirm Lothur''s suspicions!

    ''What do I do? What do I do?'' She felt her whole body growing weaker, and her head began to ache. ''Maybe he can''t recognize me! He was drunk yesterday...''

    But before Lothur could make his final move, Viktoria pulled him away from his servant, preventing the two''s kiss. "Lothur, I know you have a lot on your mind now, but don''t think I''ll let you force yourself against her on that ount."

    "A kiss is not evidence of a crime!"

    "How could you identify someone like that? It''s absurd!"

    "No, I could..."

    "No!"

    "Let''s investigate this properly. Elise has already given her answer, so we need to check this information." She said as she pulled him away from Elise, who was a suspect but did not deserve to be sexually assaulted by him.

    As a woman, Viktoria could not allow such a thing to happen in front of her. What would she do if Elise was innocent? A kiss might not be a big deal, but thisdy despised people who forced servants to do sex work and the like. So, how could she allow Lothur to go through with it?

    "Tsk!" Lothur closed his eyes, feeling the frustration of being prevented from resolving this doubt in his heart.

    As for Elise, she felt a great relief in her chest, still breaking into a cold sweat. ''Good thing Viktoria is pure, or...''

    Gulp!

    ...

 Chapter 89 Going On A Team Mission

    After the tense situation, Viktoria headed alongside Elise to the disciplinary area of the Frost estate, intending to continue with the previous night''s incident investigations.

    On the other hand, Lothur returned to his room since he had nothing to do about it.

    He was annoyed by what had happened. After all, he had been easily deceived. However, resolving this matter was far beyond his current capabilities. Therefore, he tried not to pursue this matter, intending to prepare for the Morning Star Academy.

    ''I have to improve my resistance to poisons...'' He pondered this as he finished putting on his clothes in his room.

    He had already been poisoned twice, and now realizing the danger he was in, he could not help but think of himself using that to his advantage!

    Lothur did not know whether the next person who tried to poison him would make the same mistake as his enemy the night before. So, he wanted to stimte his resistance to poisons himself, using controlled doses.

    ''I think I''ll try to learn about the profession of poison masters so I can work this out as best I can.'' He made up his mind as he was already walking through the corridors of that area where his room was.

    ''Anyway, today I will start my mission with Elke, so maybe I can learn something about that.''

    p Previously, Lothur had arranged with Elke for a team mission, which could help the two get merit points within the Morning Star Academy.</anda>

    This silver-haired man wanted to move up sectors within that institution, but to do so, he needed those merit points. But, on the other hand, he enjoyed himself beside Elke, so he wanted to take her as high as possible in that ce.

    Since he was sure he could take her to Sector-2, maybe even Sector-3, he had no reason to leave her behind or not try to do things that would be positive for both sides.

    He was still ignorant about this society, while Elke was someone who had some of the information he needed. And as much as he could aplish the same with other people, there was no reason for him not to try that with her.

    That way,ter today, they would proceed to the local Cultivation House, where their mission would begin.

    For such a mission, the two would have to train a young man from another part of this province, someone who did not enter that academy due to itspetition.

    At the same time, they would have to serve as guides for him in Peters City and protect such youth from possible trouble.

    The crime was everywhere, and ''tourists'' like the contractors of this mission, were one of the favorite types of victims of criminals!

    Hence, peopleing from outside this city need to seek services like this at the local academy or the Cultivation House.

    Anyway, when thinking about this mission, Lothur soon put in his ns toter pay for the investigations of the previous incident at the academy and those involving Willi and Erika.

    That would cost him coins that he did not want to spend at the moment, but he already had in mind to collect those expenses from the people who acted against him with interest!

    With all this in mind, he soon met up with Annaliese and continued his daytime responsibilities.

    ...

    After spending half the day in the cultivator trainingplex of the local academy, Lothur and Elke left this woman''s room, heading for the Cultivation House.

    "Lothur, did you like that? Did I do it right?" Elke asked as she walked side by side with the person she was already in love with, feeling ashamed of what she had done today.

    Seeing the redness on hispanion''s face, Lothur smiled at her inexperience andmented in a whisper tone. "Trust me, Elke, you did well."

    "Hehe, that would only have been better if you had used another part of your body..."

    "What? Another part?" She felt shocks traveling through her body as she remembered how she had first seen Lothur naked and touched parts no maiden should.

    She then felt anxious and said. "You mean..."

    "Well, it wouldn''t be the same, but that would please me. However, I was talking about it here..." He pointed to her mouth, making her imagine shameless things.

    "That..."

    "Can I do something like that? Wouldn''t that be weird?"<sub> </sub>

    "That would give me so much satisfaction like when you felt it when I kissed you down there..." He suggested in one of her ears, making her feel more heat throughout her body.

    Gulp!

    ''I''ll do it next time!'' She made up her mind without dy as she looked down at Lothur''s body. ''I wonder what it will taste like...''

    ''No, how can I think about that? The most important thing is how I will manage to do it!''

    After this brief intimate conversation, the two quickly arrived at the Cultivation House, where Lothur wasted no time going to the area where people could hire private investigators.

    Arriving at that ce that looked like an ordinary hallway with many rooms, Lothur and Elke soon found where the person avable to assist them was.

    "Hello, how can I help you?" A middle-aged woman sitting on one side of a small wooden table in a room with only four chairs and that table observed that young and beautiful couple.

    Seeing that person waving to them and indicating to close the door after entering there, the two soon did that and sat down on the other side of that table.

    "Well?" She smiled, interested to know what a mortal and such a weak woman wanted in that ce.

    Elke looked at the man at her side, seeing the serious expression on his face. He then said. "I have heard that this area of the Cultivation House offers investigation services. Is that true?"

    That woman nodded to Lothur but said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

    "Well, I want to hire investigations regarding three people."

    "One of them is named Willi, or at least that''s what he told me. He''s a good friend of mine. We''ve had some good times and even went out drinking asionally. But I''m recently worried because I haven''t seen him for days..." Lothur said in a nervous tone, making an expression that even Elke believed in the nervousness that he was talking about his good friend.

    ''I didn''t know Lothur had friends...'' So she thought in curiosity as this man had not exined to her all about what he wanted in this ce.

    Lothur then continued. "Another person I want to investigate is named Erika. She is part of the Mouse Company, and for some reason, I feel that she and Willi had more inmon than I was told."

    "I want to know if they were members of the same organization."

    ''Erika?'' Elke''s eyes opened wide as her intuition began to work in an attempt to guess who this woman was.

    "Mouse Company, huh?" That woman who wore an all-gray outfit finally said something, interested in how this mortal was curious about people from the local underworld. "If those two have any influence, it won''t be cheap to investigate people from that organization."

    "Don''t worry. They were both at the early levels of the 1st stage from what I found out on my own..."

    "Oh? Then that will be easy." She said as she jotted down some information on a piece of paper that was on a clipboard. "What about the third person?"

    "That person is the mostplicated of all. I don''t know his name or appearance. Still, I know he has decision-making power within the Collective Trading Room of the Morning Star Academy."

    "I imagine he might be behind corrupt actions in that ce..."

    "I want that individual''sst few years to be analyzed and all his slip-ups to be documented."

    "I am looking for any evidence that could topple him from his position." He said with a look typical of those on a hunt, wishing to obtain what was necessary to destroy such a person''s career.

    Lothur had already heard from Elke that this ce kept its clients and investigations confidential. That was why he had been so open with that Cultivation House investigative group employee.

    "It may be difficult to get information from an employee of that institution, but as long as you are willing to pay, anything is possible." That person finished her notes and looked into Lothur''s eyes.

    "We don''t care about your motives for seeking information from these people, but we require certain guarantees for our work."

    "Are you willing to go through with it?"

    ...

 Chapter 90 Beginning Of The Mission

    "What guarantees?" Lothur asked.

    "Well, aside from the most important part, the advance payment, we expect you to avoid talking about how you obtained the information we will eventually hand over to you."

    Cultivators, in general, knew there was an investigative service in the Cultivation House. But that was not the only organization that did simr work in this province and city.

    And since some investigations could lead to considerable trouble, it was in the interest of this institution to rid itself of any connection with such matters.

    To investigate certain groups or people, this institution used members of other powers, in a way, internal agents. But these individuals could be exposed if the authorship of investigations was passed on to the Cultivation House.

    So, to prevent troublesome people from going after the investigators from this group, every client had to keep the secret of how they got their information.

    As for how they did that, well, that was naturally guaranteed by Blood Contracts.

    "Is that okay with you?" That middle-aged woman asked again as a yellow paper full of strange symbols appeared on that table below one of her hands.

    Seeing that item he had heard about, Lothur nodded in agreement since he had no intention toe out and talk about it.

    Blood Contracts were a means by which the partiesmitted themselves to follow the rules in it, something that, if broken by one of the parties, could attract punishments of all sorts.

    Some could simply be struck by lightning capable of turning cultivators'' bodies into piles of dust in moments. Others could simply have their karma changed, something that would help such an individual meet their end.

    In any case, Blood Contracts were powerful and difficult to break. As such, this device was often used by cultivators in this ce where Lothur was.

    "Well, the price to investigate those two is 200 bronze coins each. But on the other hand, investigating an official of the Morning Star Academy can be troublesome and dangerous. So, the rate is variable, but we''ll start with the price of a thousand coins."

    ? "That way, in addition to signing the contract, you have to pay 700 bronze coins right now and the rest when the job is done."

    "Okay."

    After some time...

    "Very well,e back here in a week, and your service will probably be done by then." She said this as she got up from where she was, closing arge book in which she had stored the contract signed by Lothur.

    After that, it did not take long for the two to leave that room and head to where they were supposed to meet the person who made the mission they got at the academy.

    "Lothur, who are those two people you are looking for information from?" As they arrived in the entrance hall of the Cultivation House, Elke sat down next to Lothur on a wooden bench and asked this in a low voice.

    "Enemies." He gave her no details, only saying what he was, in fact, sure of.

    She found this strange and could not help but question him. "Enemies? Didn''t you say you were friends with that Willi guy and were even concerned about his disappearance?"

    "I said what I needed to say, Elke..." He smiled at her before finally seeing a young man who looked two years younger than Elke, walking around that area, not knowing where to go.

    Realizing that such a person had the characteristics of the contractor of their mission, Lothur took one of Elke''s hands and called her to meet such a client.

    "Your name is Jacob? Jacob Siegel?" Lothur asked as he stopped beside that young man who still had cheeks that indicated his immaturity, dressed like an adventurer''s apprentice.

    Hearing someone addressing him, that person with brown hair and a round face turned to Lothur and saw this man''s annoying face and the beautiful Elke.

    "Uh? Oh, yes, my name is Jacob. Are you the students of the Morning Star Academy?"<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, this is mypanion Elke, and my name is Lothur. We are here for your service." He said this as he observed that person who seemed to have just recently reached level 1.

    Elke soon greeted that customer, promptly having asked about his origin and the like, something to create a better connection between them.

    It was unnecessary to make friends with clients in situations like this, but just doing the job and not talking to the other party couldplicate the whole thing. And as a person who liked to talk, she had not taken the time to seek out Jacob''s basics as they made their way to one of the cultivation rooms in that building.

    As he did so, the young Jacob sighed in relief, feeling good that this time he had managed to hire people who were not as cold as others he had met in recent weeks.

    He was the son of a wealthy merchant from one of several towns in Linn Province. He did not have enough to get into the Morning Star Academy but could hire students from that institution.

    Since Jacob had only recently begun cultivating, he had been traveling to Peters City with his father''s store wagon to learn from the students of that institution.

    The wagon from his father''s store came to this city twice a month to buy resources and then returned to their town the same day. During its arrival and departure, Jacob would take the time to learn more about the cultivation world from people who lived the cultivator''s life 24 hours a day.

    He told this to Lothur and Elke, so the two soon understood a little of his story and the difficulties and facilities this mission could have.

    The difficulties would be more for Lothur since this man was still learning about the cultivation world and could hardly teach others. As for ease, besides Elke being fully capable ofpleting that weakness of herpanion, the young Ritter had the strength to press his client in fights.

    And so, they soon entered a cultivation room simr to the one Lothur had used before, where, without dy, Jacob prepared for a match.

    Meanwhile, Lothur came close to Elke and spoke something into one of her ears, causing her face to blush.

    Seeing the sparkle in the eyes of that gentle woman he was already almost falling in love with, Jacob suddenly asked. "Are you... Are you by any chance a couple?"

    "What?" Elke almost jumped in surprise, not expecting a young man like that to ask such a thing.

    And as she blushed with embarrassment, Lothurughed out loud and looked at her with interest. "I guess we can say that..."

    If it were on Earth, he definitely would not say such a thing since he thought exclusive rtionships were a waste of time, something required by society but that it was not a good deal for men of his age.

    He was the type who would stay single and make the most of the opportunities he had, using his judgment to select the best partners through multiple experiences. And as such, he always made it clear to his women on Earth that he had no interest inmitment.

    But as in the cultivation world, he did not have to do that!

    Since harems were not umon in this ce, there was no reason for him not to assume the women he desired!

    After hearing Lothur''s answer, Elke watched him with her mouth open, feeling her heart beating faster and the heat on her face rising.

    But on the other hand, Jacob had a disappointed expression on his face, as it was truly disappointing to meet a beauty like Elke, kind and friendly but alreadymitted.

    Lothur ignored the thoughts of those two and said. "Anyway, Jacob, Elke will be in charge of teaching you theoretical things, and I will train you. Is that okay with you?"

    "Uh? Really? But..." He looked at Lothur with a strange expression since he could not feel the cultivation of this annoying-looking person.

    Elke noticed that and smiled, feeling good for some reason. "Jacob, don''t make the mistake of underestimating Lothur. He is much stronger than I am and will be able to push you to the point that I cannot."

    "Oh? If that is the case, then please guide me." He said to Lothur as his fighting spirit rose considerably.

    After that, they began to exchange blows...

 Chapter 91 The Teachings Of Lothur And Elke

    After a while, Jacob was lying in the middle of that cultivation room,pletely sweaty, breathing hurriedly due to the training he had just had with Lothur.

    ''What an animal!''

    ''How can he be so fast?'' The young man wondered as he looked up at the ceiling of that room, shocked by Lothur''s abilities.

    Lothur had no extremely unusual moves or techniques, nor had he demonstrated outstanding fighting proficiency. But each of this individual''smon blows had been extremely difficult for Jacob to defend, dodge, or counter.

    Not because Lothur was much stronger than that young man, but because Elke''spanion exactly knew how much of his force to use to press his opponent.

    Lothur knew how much Jacob had in his attributes, so it had been easy for young Ritter to estimate how much he could use to pressure such a person.

    That was not an estimate he had made ignorantly but something he had already realized during his previous training with Annaliese.

    He had realized that a person with Constitution ''x'' could usually deal with blows from someone with Strength of up to ''1.2x'' without suffering danger of death or severe injuries.

    It hurt, of course, but not to the extent that such a person could be injured for days and thus not be able to continue training. In any case, these minor injuries were what could cause changes.

    From Lothur''s observations, he only had his body stimted to the point of being able to undergo improvements when this difference was close to the limit. Only from that point on would he reap the best results from training with someone stronger!

    Considering this and his advantage of having the data from the system, Lothur had applied his theory to that young man during the previous training and had pushed Jacob to the limit.

    So, Jacob was in that current situation, his whole body sore, tired to the limit, but also satisfied with that training session.

    ''He''s an animal while fighting. But I must say the guy truly knows what he''s doing!'' Jacob realized how different Lothur was from the other people he had trained with on other asions.

    Usually, what he had experienced had been opponents who took it too lightly, others too heavy, hurting him more than they should have. But, at the same time, some used their skills to boost their morale without passing on the teachings and difficulty required in situations like this.

    In short, Jacob rarely felt so enlightened and exhausted, but without being seriously injured, after training. And because of this, he could not help but realize what a great ability Lothur had in training others.

    "Thank you for the teachings, Mister Lothur," Jacob said amid his breath as he looked to the side, where the silver-haired man stood, with Elkebing his long hair.

    "Mister Lothur is truly good at teaching through his fists. I had doubted it before, but now I see what a fool I was for allowing myself to be fooled by appearances." He said sincerely.

    "Appearances, huh?" Lothur closed his eyes and smiled. But he did not mind the fact that he looked weak. Quite the opposite, he was pleased to hear that his theories indeed seemed correct.

    ''Well, I just need to use other people as guinea pigs. Eventually, I will have a training protocol for my women...'' He looked at Elke, already nning to help her get stronger once he had his method a little more refined.

    On the other hand, while he was thinking about these things, Elke was smiling in satisfaction at thepliment Jacob had paid Lothur. ''It seems he truly does hide a lot of his qualities...'' She bit her lower lip as shebed his hair.

    ''I wonder if I am the only one who knows his secrets? I hope his wife doesn''t know anything...''

    "Well, I just did my job. Anyway, try to recover as quickly as possible before we go out to eat and stop by the ce you had talked about earlier."

    "Oh? All right..." Jacob sat down and retrieved some potions from his spatial ring, quickly beginning to drink those items.

    And while he was recovering, Elke continued to look after Lothur but took the opportunity to ask that client of theirs. "Jacob, do you have any questions? I can exin a few more things while we still have time here."

    "Well, I do have a question." He looked at Lothur since his question was precisely about this fellow. "What reasons can justify the inability of someone to sense another person''s cultivation?"<sub> </sub>

    Lothur realized the reason for that question but said nothing. Instead, he just looked at Elke to see if she had something to say that he did not already know.

    She smiled and started. "Well, there are several ways in which one''s strength can be hidden that justify one''s inability to sense the cultivation of another person of the same stage."

    "That could be an external item, such as, for example, a formation that contains the cultivator''s spiritual energy inside his body, preventing others from feeling its remaining fluctuations. Another could be a Soul Bone with an ability rted to energy control."

    "But Soul Bones are extremely rare, and finding one with that kind of ability is even more difficult."

    "There are also cultivation techniques that have that effect. Some innate abilities of Physiques can do the same. And of course, some bloodlines also have the potential to cause such a thing."

    "All that?" That young man was surprised to learn that there were so many methods to hide one''s cultivation level.

    "There''s more. Besides the obvious fact that you can''t estimate the cultivation of someone from an entire stage above you, there are two types of cultivation in our world."

    "One, the mostmon of all, is soul cultivation. But there is also body cultivation." She looked at Lothur, figuring only the second option could exin his case.

    Other people could not tell if Lothur was hiding his cultivation with something or not, but Elke, who had seen him naked, knew there was nothing like that on him.

    On the other hand, awakening the Bloodline or Physique was something soplex and unusual to happen that she had no hope of that being the justification.

    Furthermore, she did not consider the other possibilities because of how he fought and how muscr his body looked.

    "Body cultivation? I''ve never heard of it. What''s the difference between that to soul cultivation?" That young man asked with a curious expression on his face.

    "In the first stage, there is almost no difference. The two are focused on strengthening the fleshy body at that point. But they are quite different, and further on in their cultivation journey, that bes obvious."

    "In short, soul cultivation eventually focuses on the soul, which makes it possible to manipte spiritual energy outside your body. For example, with this type of cultivation, you can eventually use a technique that creates a spiritual energy avatar."

    "Body cultivation, on the other hand, cannot do the same, no matter what level the cultivator is. Such cultivation constantly increases the person''s physical power and stimtes his Physique abilities. But it is not useful for techniques that involve using spiritual energy external to the body."

    "Uh? So, that kind of cultivation isn''t a waste of time?" Jacob said with a smile on his face as Lothur more or less learned something new.

    "That depends. If a cultivator can awaken his Physique, then he has to cultivate that second alternative to improve his results. Otherwise, that kind of cultivation truly can be a waste of time since it takes away a lot of possibilities from the cultivator."

    "With a powerful soul, someone can travel through space, fly, teleport, etc. There''s no way someone with only brute strength can ovee that."

    "In any case, if someone cultivates his own body but not the soul, then it''s basically impossible to sense that person''s level using your spiritual sense. Only by fighting with him will you be able to estimate his power." She finished exining the basics to that young man.

    ''So, what I have must be body cultivation...'' Lothur pondered about that.

    But he was not sure if that was the case. That was because, Lothur had already realized that he did not feel the cultivation pressure of other cultivators, which escaped the rules he knew.

    And as much as this did not mean much regarding the question of his cultivation not being felt by others, this opened up the possibility that the system or another of his characteristics was behind this.

    Anyway, now that Lothur knew a little more about what Elke had taught Jacob, a curiosity arose in his mind. ''Should I try to cultivate my soul?''

    ...

 Chapter 92 Business Opportunity

    After considering his previous idea, Lothur took the opportunity and asked. "Elke, can a person who uses his body cultivation have difficulties cultivating the soul? For that matter, do the advances in the two types of cultivation promote spiritual cleansing? If so, what happens when a person gets too far apart between soul and body level?"

    But before Elke had a chance to answer that, Jacob looked at Lothur in surprise since this was also his doubt, but he did not understand how someone so strong could still not know that. "You frankly don''t..."

    "Yes, I don''t know." Lothur smiled, telling the truth.

    He could simply lie and say that he was doing this for Jacob as a way to teach the client of the Morning Star Academy. But he did not give a damn about the opinion of a young man he had just met.

    As such, why bother to look better for such a person?

    Elke already knew that hecked some knowledge, so there was no reason for him to try to look better than he indeed was!

    That young man was silent after hearing that, surprised by Lothur''s direct response. ''Despite his extremely annoying appearance, this guy is kind of nice...''

    Elkeughed graciously and then said. "Well, to answer your first question, it depends."

    "Unless such a person has an inability for soul cultivation or a Physique with a problematic trait, rarely will being a body cultivator result in problems for soul cultivation."

    "But there are problems that can slow down both types of cultivation. That is, you need time and resources to cultivate each of them. So, for most people, it''s not feasible."

    "Usually, the great cultivators guide their juniors to choose the one that best suits their conditions."

    "As for your second question..." She looked at him with eyes full of interest since, in her opinion, Lothur was telling her that this was his case. And knowing more about him was what she wanted at the moment!

    "For someone who has already advanced several levels at body cultivation, for example, that person when he starts cultivating his soul, he will have a benefit over those who don''t do that."

    "The spiritual cleansing that happens during each advancement is not something that happens because your body needs to be improved, but because the advancement stimtes such a thing. That way, even if you already have a body or soul without impurities, you will still undergo spiritual cleansing."

    "Even when you are cultivating soul levels lower than your body''s."

    "Because of this, the spiritual cleansing stops focusing on your body, which no longer needs it to focus on your soul. Thus, this situation makes even talent advancements and foundation improvements possible!" Her eyes sparkled, thinking about how far Lothur could get if that were his case.

    "Sigh..."

    "A pity that doing both, in the long run, is impossible," Jacobmented after hearing Elke''s exnation.

    He felt that as interesting as it was, it was a waste of time to consider that possibility.

    But Lothur did not think so. ''Looks like the system truly gave me a good ability!''

    ''I don''t need to worry about cultivating my body since it probably does that on its own. So, I can just find a good soul cultivation technique and have body and soul cultivation!'' He closed his hands, craving to do that.

    After that, Jacob went into the bathroom of that ce to change clothes since it was almost time for them to leave the Cultivation House.

    Meanwhile, Lothur brought Elke into his embrace and asked in one of her ears. "Is there any problem with learning cultivation techniques from that store we went to? I''m thinking of acquiring that."

    Hearing thisment confirming her suspicions, Elke tried to ignore the excitement in her heart to advise this man properly. "Lothur, if that''s the case for you, I think you shouldn''t learn any soul cultivation techniques for the time being."

    "Oh? Why not?"

    She looked him in the eye and answered sincerely. "First, because it truly doesn''t make much difference to have soul or body cultivation at the first stage. So, I think you''d better stick with what you''re doing to have better results when you''re closer to the 2nd stage."

    "Second, because unlike ordinary techniques, like the ones you bought before, soul cultivation techniques are, let''s say, more restricted."

    "Common techniques can be umted. You can learn as many as you have time for, and there will be no problem with your condition, apart from wasting time with such dilution."

    "But soul cultivation techniques are the foundations of your soul, something that will shape that essential part of your being by following the rules of the technique."<sub> </sub>

    "On that ount, once you start training such a technique, you will have to go all the way with it, or to change, you will have to give up your soul cultivation!"

    "What? You mean to change from such a technique, one has to restart his soul cultivation?" He asked to make sure he had understood correctly.

    Elke then nodded and said. "That''s right."

    "So, I think you''d better improve your position in the academy or the Frost family, as well as your body cultivation before you think about starting to cultivate your soul."

    "That way, at least your chances of regrettingter it will be less."

    Seeing the concern in her eyes, Lothur genuinely felt good that he had won this woman over. He could not help but hug her again until their lips touched in a beautiful kiss to be seen.

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    And someone actually got a chance to see that.

    "Cough! Cough!" Jacob coughed twice after leaving that room''s bathroom, feeling bad for seeing that beauty in Lothur''s arms.

    But despite his envy, Jacob had already developed a certain respect for Lothur and tried to ignore that.

    Lothur looked at that fellow as if nothing had happened and said. "Shall we go? I think we''ll still be able to go to the Formation Masters Association, as you had nned."

    "Hmm,e on!"

    ...

    After a few minutes, those three left the building of the local Cultivation House, heading towards another part of the center of Peters City.

    But halfway through that goal of theirs, Lothur once again noticed the transportation situation in that city, not holding out the opportunity to talk about it with Elke.

    "Elke, I started paying attention in this city recently and realized that most people here have no means of transportation. Isn''t that a problem? I mean, with so many mortals in this ce, I''m sure they face various problems doing certain jobs or getting to and from work. No?"

    "Oh? Speaking of which, I had never considered such a thing, but it''s true." She looked around and noticed that there were few carriages on the streets but sidewalks full of people with tired looks on their faces.

    "I think you''re right. It must be a problem... But I''m not in the best position to talk about it." She said, not wanting to talk about something she was not sure about.

    Jacob overheard the conversation between the two individuals escorting him and agreed with that. "I''m not from this ce, but the transportation problem ismon throughout the province."

    "My father has a store in Lewerenz. But even though we have a carriage, we can only send it to fetch resources here twice a month because it is impossible to do that more often."

    "It''s costly to pay for trips like that. We always have to pay for mercenaries since carriages break down often, and both animals, beasts, and humans can act against us."

    "That''s because we have our own carriage... But traveling around the province is a real headache for someone with no such thing." So he said as he thought of an asion when he had had to travel without his family''s carriage.

    "Poorer people who just want to make an individual trip, for example, can take months to gather the coins needed just to rent a carriage!"

    "Oh?" Upon hearing those sweet words, Lothur''s eyes sparkled with such an opportunity that it seemed much more significant than he had thought.

    ''It seems that if I develop a transportationpany in this ce, I will have much to gain!''

    He felt excited about such a thing, already thinking he could solve his financial problems without sacrificing years of his life learning a profession. ''That''s great!''

    ''I just need to study the local situation a little more and get a financier for my project!''

    ...

 Chapter 93 Getting To Know The Association Of Formation Master 1

    After a brief conversation between those three about the transportation problems in Peters City and Linn Province, they arrived at the local Formation Masters Association.

    Jacob was interested in stopping by to pick up a formation he had ordered on hisst visit to this city. Because of this, they quickly made their way to the interior of a building in the city''s central area, which looked like an inverted triangr pyramid trunk covered by ss windows.

    When they arrived at the entrance hall of this ce, their group immediately came across arge well-lit area that had several screens containing information about what neers could find there.

    There were directions to teaching facilities in that building, such as libraries and stores specializing in the sale of books and items needed to produce formations.

    The Formation Masters Association was an institution present not only in this city but throughout Concordia. And as such, it was not just an institution for meetings of formations masters. No, it was aimed at teaching and developing what was by far the most critical spiritual profession in this world!

    However, unlike other institutions of reputation, this organization, despite its influence, had no real power.

    Its members were merely individuals who belonged to other organizations or were rogue cultivators, people who joined the association to learn, pass on, or test their skills.

    Thus, this institution had no missions for its members, was not involved in political matters, and was merely a ce to meet, teach and develop this profession.

    Anyway, in that entrance hall, there were also directions to the area where some formations masters stores that were still in training trad their products.

    Such people had no way of supporting their stores or having enough customers to not depend on popr ces like that. So, low-level professionals were usually found there and not in stores around the city.

    In fact, this was not only the case in the Formation Masters Association but in most of the spiritual professions in this world.

    Beginners, that is, 1-star practitioners, were usually just apprentices, and their items were traded in their masters'' establishments or ces like this association.

    For this reason, Jacob had ordered his item of interest at this ce and not at a store around this city.

    He did not need high-level items, and the variety of low-level items in this ce was much greater than in stores around the city!

    So, this ce was better for people like him!

    Seeing those directions, Jacob led the group to where he had ordered his low-level formation.

    ''That ce is interesting...'' Lothur thought about it as he observed the surroundings, feeling that perhaps he should pay more attention to this profession than he had nned.

    ''From what little I''ve learned, it''s the formations that exin how certain technologies in this world work, as in the case ofmps that don''t use electricity as a power source.'' He pondered this as he walked alongside Elke, behind Jacob amid that entrance hall with several peopleing and going.

    Formations were nothing more than spiritual devices that, in a practical way, manipted thews of this world to perform specific tasks.

    That was obviously not something simple, and it did not have tremendous results either. For example, a high-level formation could alter the passage of time in an area. Still, it was impossible to use a simr device to, for example, reverse an injury, turn back time, resurrect the dead, etc.

    In short, formations manipted thews of this world superficially without touching their core!

    What formations typically did include manipting the concentration of spiritual energy in an area, enhancing the properties of objects, and transforming spiritual energy into light energy.

    One can suppose that this world''sws were, let''s just say, disorganized atoms mixed in not-so-interesting ways, like certain minerals in a quarry. But, on the other hand, formations were like the process that could, for example, turn iron ore into ingots, something much stronger and more valuable.

    Formations took the chaoticws between heaven and earth, gently manipted them, and resulted in the final product, for example, an item capable of illuminating the darkness.

    Thinking about how vital formations could be in this world, Lothur did not underestimate this profession.

    Unlike medicine, he felt that learning it was a must for him.

    He did not yet know how useful this could be on his journey, nor if such an area could help him in his ns to earn coins with a transportpany. But he already wanted to get closer to this field!<sub> </sub>

    He then asked Elke. "Hey, what is required for someone to join this association? Does such a person need to be a formation master, or is it possible to start in this profession here?"

    Hearing that, Elke remembered Lothur''s talent rating and was curious if he would try to learn this profession. "As far as I know, to be a member of the association, you need to take an entrance test that evaluates your knowledge regarding formations."

    "So it is impossible for someone without any knowledge in that profession to be a member of this institution."

    "Anyway, if I''m not mistaken, at the end of such a test, the candidate needs to create an Iron-grade formation with at least 30% efficiency."

    "The candidate who manages to pass all the tests then earns the 1-star formation master badge, as well as the membership card, something necessary to practice that profession."

    "Oh? Can''t one be a formation master on their own? Then why does someone need an associate card to practice the profession?" He asked in doubt.

    "You can learn any profession on your own. But someone without the recognition of the Formation Masters Association can''t open their store in cities, and hardly anyone would buy their products."

    "After all, poorly produced formations can quickly lose their effects or even cause idents..."

    Hearing that, Jacobpleted Elke''s speech. "In addition, some products needed for the development of formations can also be used in producing some mass destruction weapons."

    "Such weapons have their production limited by the imperial family, so only people with high-level credentials and good contacts in such institutions can ess that."

    "I see..."

    Lothur realized more about this vast world, muttering in a low voice. "So this association is as a regtor of this profession..."

    "And how does someone learn the basics of that profession? Don''t tell me that only people from families focused on that profession get that?"

    The formation master''s field was lucrative. So, Lothur did not ignore the possibility that powers in that upation would concentrate on the techniques and theory behind formations to ensure their profits.

    But thinking like that, he was underestimating this cultivation world too much.

    He then heard Elke''s sweet voice. "Don''t worry. Here in this association, there is a store where all the basic books are sold."

    "Before we leave, we can stop by there." She suggested in a low voice.

    Lothur was right in thinking that powers would try to concentrate on information and techniques. But he was wrong to think such organizations would go so far as to make it difficult for new people to enter that domain.

    Learning a spiritual profession was like cultivation itself, challenging. Depending on the profession, one must have good talent and other skills to grow within such a specialization.

    Even if it was undesirable to increasepetition, such organizations did not restrict the entry of novices into their professions. It was so difficult for someone without a solid background to surpass the 1-star level that it did not make sense to restrict that!

    Thus, anyone with coins could buy the books and low-level items needed to learn a profession, be it that of formation masters, cksmiths, etc.

    There was nothing to block a person''s start in one of these fields other than that individual''s own limitations!

    And learning about this, Lothur smiled, interested in starting to learn such a thing.

    "Hmm, let''s do thatter." He said to Elke just before they finally reached where Jacob was to pick up his item.

    ...

 Chapter 94 Getting To Know The Association Of Formation Masters 2

    Upon arriving in arge area that looked like one shopping mall floor, Lothur and his group came across a small za with eight aisles and several stores.

    In addition, there were a few stalls in this small za with people selling their items, where the movement was rtively moderate for the night in this city.

    But this was not a shopping mall like those on Earth, but a ce where cultivators went to solve some of their concerns. As such, no people were strolling around, and there was no reason to have more people in such a part of this association.

    With that, Jacob did not take long to lead the way to the establishment where he had ordered an item.

    Entering such a ce, Lothur paid attention to the surroundings that looked like the typical retail store setting, with several copies of the items sold there for customers to examine.

    However, none of them was real, but rather the ''shells'' of what usually came with formations.

    Formations were things thaty between the spiritual and the physical. At first, they did not have their existence in the material world. Still, because of the inscription left by a formation master, it could be something physical and be manipted by others.

    In general, these things were like a processing core engraved on items.

    For example, a spatial ring was a special metal alloy produced by cksmiths, which was needed to ensure its durability and integrity. But what made rings of this kind valuable were formations engraved on such items, which created small folded spaces inside the ring.

    But the items in that store were only the ''shells,'' as would be the case with the metal alloy that shaped a spatial ring before having inscriptions engraved on it.

    And knowing this, Lothur did not waste time looking at those items in an attempt to understand them better.

    At most, he was curious to look at the prices of some of the shier things there.

    ''Iron-grade defensive formation: 12,000 bronze coins.'' He read that on a little te in front of a dark sphere.

    ''Iron-grade explosive formation: 8,000 bronze coins.'' He noticed the difference between a defensive and an offensive item in the price of that product and this other.

    ''Seems like items that can save lives are more expensive, huh? It makes sense.''

    But as he ran his eyes through the various items there, he suddenly heard Jacob''s voice arguing with someone in that ce.

    "What, my order isn''t ready? How can that be? I paid for this shit up front, man!" That young man gestured to the 1-star formation master that he had ced such an order.

    "Tsk!"

    Hearing the brat in front of him bawling, that tall, strong man, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, made a tongue sound in displeasure and said. "Unforeseen things happen."

    "You ordered aplex Iron-grade formation, but unfortunately, we had an entrance test just a few days ago. What can I do if most of the resources needed for your formation have been sold to amateur formation masters trying to enter our association?"

    Seeing that, Elke frowned her eyebrows and looked at Lothur. "I think this guy is trying to deceive Jacob because our client is not from this city."

    "Oh?" Lothur continued to look at those two who were only 10 meters away from them while he pretended to keep an eye on the products in the surrounding area.

    He then listened. "If you want to wait another two weeks, I will deliver your item then, but..."

    The man smiled and said. "If you''re in a hurry and are willing to pay a fee for me to solve the problems rted to this, I can get your item to you by the end of the night."

    "A fee? But I already paid the value of the package!"

    "Yes, but that''s another thing, kid. Look, I don''t have much time to waste. I have a formation simr to the one you ordered, but it''s from another customer who was in front of you."

    "However, I hear he''s sick, so if you''re willing to pay a small fee, I''ll take the risk of delivering that person''s item to you." He said in a slightly lower tone while smiling mysteriously.

    "That..."

    Seeing how that formation master was tricking Jacob, Lothur finally understood the situation. ''So that''s it...''<sub> </sub>

    ''This guy is trying to take advantage of Jacob, using the pretext of a problem to charge a fee that shouldn''t exist.''

    Lothur had seen such a practice happening before, only in a slightly different way. In certain ces on Earth, it was not umon for vendors to suddenly raise the price of products upon realizing that the customer did not know the area.

    And as much as there were distinctions in this situation, he could not help but notice how simr some everyday corruptions could be between this world and Earth.

    That way, as that guy smiled in a way that tried to fool young Jacob, Lothur suddenly squeezed the left shoulder of that 4th Transformation person. "Can you tell me a little about this?" He asked as he smiled gently.

    However, the grip of his hand said something else, and that formation master quickly noticed this.

    "Who are you?" Such a person tried to move away from Lothur. Still, the difference between them was in favor of the handsome man who had a face that could easily irritate men of all kinds.

    Elke also approached where Jacob was standing and threatened that individual. "I hope you are telling the truth about not being able to buy Jacob''s formation materials. Otherwise, I feel that Mister Storch will not spare you..."

    "Mister Storch?" That man''s eyes widened in terror upon hearing thest name of the number two of this Formation Masters Association.

    ''Who is this brat? How does she know the identity of someone so important?'' He looked at Elke''s high-end clothes and felt his situation was not good.

    But as he remembered the pain he was feeling in one of his shoulders, he suddenly realized that Elke''s threat was not the greatest of his worries. ''Anyway, this bastard is powerful!''

    ''What will I do if he decides to act against me?'' He feared that Lothur would decide to actter while trying to free himself from that man''s grip.

    "Lothur, Elke... What''s going on?" Jacob finally realized that there was something strange about that man''s behavior.

    Elke then exined. "Jacob, it doesn''t matter if an entrance test for new formation masters happened recently. Such events ur once a month, and this entire institution always prepared itself for such events."

    "Then, even if the items needed for your formation are needed at one of those events, themand of this ce would surely have measures to maintain local functionality."

    "How would they disrupt their associates'' work just to give new people a chance to join them? It doesn''t make sense!" She said, looking at that youth and then the man with an expression of pain and fear on his face.

    "Tsk!"

    "Take it in one go, brat!" That fellow finally gave up, tossing a metal cube to Jacob whileining to Lothur. "Fine. I told the truth, but I''ll take that loss this time!"

    "But don''t ever look for me again!" He then ran from there after feeling Lothur easing his grip.

    Seeing that, Lothur smiled as he realized the act of that guy. Still, since there was no reason for him to pursue this matter, he merely continued side by side with hispanions.

    ''That''s what we were hired for, eh? His father was probably the one who posted the assignment at the academy. And knowing the profiteers in this city, he didn''t just want instructors for his son, but people also capable of escorting this fellow.''

    He then asked. "Is that all you wanted, Jacob?"

    "Yes..." The young man said with his head down, feeling vulnerable for almost being tricked.

    "Well, let''s stop by a store so I can buy some items in that ce, and then we''ll find a ce to eat."

    "After that, Elke and I will escort you to the location of your carriage. Is that okay with you?" Lothur asked seriously, already preparing to leave that ce that had nothing of interest to him at the moment.

    "Fine."

    After that, they soon left, passing the lower floor of this association, where the store that sold the books and resources that Lothur needed to start his journey with formations was.

    ...

 Chapter 95 Ending The Mission

    Sometimeter, Lothur''s group left the Formation Masters Association building.

    They had stopped by that institution''s store that sold items needed by beginners in the profession of formation masters, with Lothur having spent some more of his savings.

    Lothur had spent 7,000 bronze coins there on two inscription books and a basic set needed to produce his first Iron-grade formation.

    And with that, he had found out from one of the officials at that ce that the next entrance test for new formation masters would take ce in 20 days.

    So he had already put it on his n to try to learn the basics of that profession during this period in order to be able to participate in this entrance test that would take ce in the next few weeks.

    After finishing all their business there, Lothur''s group had headed to one of the many restaurants in this city, where Jacob was already finishing his meal.

    ...

    As Lothur watched the young man finish devouring the contents of his te, he looked up at the sky of that outdoor area, seeing the many stars that decorated such a thing.

    And feeling the coolness of the night, he imagined what it would be like to spend the rest of the time until dawn beside Elke in her room. However, for the moment, this could only remain in his imagination.

    Not because he and she did not want to do something like that, they certainly did. But because both were not allowed to sleep outside their families'' estates, at least not today.

    Elke had naturally only gotten that room because of the excuse that she wanted a ce to rest during the breaks from sses at the Morning Star Academy. So, her parents would not allow her to sleep outside without reasonable justification.

    Lothur, on the other hand, had even less freedom than that woman. That was because, even though he was not a maiden who should be protected, this fellow had obligations to House Frost.

    He was only a son-inw in his wife''s family, someone who needed to keep up appearances. So Viktoria''s family did not allow him to sleep outside; if he tried something like this, he could surely be punishedter.

    And since he did not have his freedom, being someone with status almost equal to the servants of that organization, he could only imagine doing that with Elke on this day.

    Lothur knew that there was a tracking item on his body that he could not remove and that basically prevented him from escaping Mabel''s ''clutches.'' So, to avoid trouble, he would just go along with the rules of that family for the time being.

    But internally, he felt pretty irritated that he could not do what he wanted!

    ''Sigh.''

    ''At least I''m not missing anything yet...'' He looked at Elke, thinking that even if he had his freedom, he still could not take this woman anywhere he wanted.

    But as he had a mysterious look on his face and Elke watched him, trying to understand this man, Jacob finally said something. "Well, Lothur, Elke, thank you for today''s service."

    "I don''t think I''ve had such satisfactory results since I started doing this sort of thing." He bowed his head in gratitude, feeling that even though he paid, he still owed these people such words.

    Lothur and Elke had only done their service. Still, given how much better the results of this had beenpared to Jacob''s other experiments, he thanked them both.

    "Hmm, don''t worry about that." Elke nodded, feeling good about beingplimented alongside Lothur. "But then? It''s about time you leave, isn''t it?"

    "Shall we go?"

    "Oh, yes, let''s go!" He got up from the table after leaving a small bag of coins, the payment for that dinner.

    After that, they made their way along the sidewalks of that city''s well-lit and still busy street, heading for where that young man''s family wagon was supposed to be.

    ...

    When they arrived near the Peters City suburbs, the three found themselves on a deserted street, where noises of loads and people talking could be heard.

    In that area of the city, several warehouses and local resource depots were located. Precisely because of this, Jacob''s father''s wagon was in the area, finishing being filled with resources to be loaded for Lewerenz.

    Because of the nature of the operations in this area of Peters City, even during the nights, there was a lot of noise from items being loaded and unloaded. But there were no problems. After all, there were no residential buildings in this part of the city.<sub> </sub>

    Anyway, even though they were already in that noisy area, this group had not yet seen anything in the surroundings. All that was there was a wide street where dust could be seen moving with the night winds.

    No carriages were outside the depots in that area, and the lighting there was more or less precarious, with spots where the most fearful would shiver in anxiety.

    At this ce, the three of them were walking at moderate paces, with Lothur checking their surroundings and Elke and Jacob silently walking with their heads down, anxious.

    And just as they were about to reach the depot where Jacob''s father''s wagon should be, suddenly six people appeared on the outskirts,ing from the side streets of that area.

    Two of them were approaching them from the front of Lothur''s group, walking as if they were just following their path. Another two wereing from behind, with thetter two, oneing from the left and the other from the right of that crossroads.

    When Lothur realized that, although they seemed to be just following their paths, these people wereing closer and closer to them, he suddenly stopped his step.

    He held Elke''s and Jacob''s shoulders, making them stop as well.

    After that, he frowned his eyebrows and checked the level of those people. ''Four cultivators at 2nd Transformation and two at 3rd, huh?''

    ''What do they want?''

    On the other hand, as Jacob and Elke began to fear that group of people that was much stronger and more numerous than theirs, those six people also stopped their movements.

    Some of them began to form smiling expressions as they looked at the gorgeous woman who had done them the favor of offering herself to them bying to this ce unescorted.

    ''Hehehe, a mortal, a young man who has just started his cultivation, and this beauty who is almost at the 2nd Transformation...'' One of them thought of this as he licked his lips.

    ''From those two clothes, they definitely have coins or resources for us brothers.'' The leader of the group smiled, satisfied.

    Usually, they hung around the local suburbs looking for easy opportunities. Still, people like Elke or Jacob were always apanied by troublesome individuals.

    So, they rarely acted against their prey.

    However, these poor fools had underestimated the dangers of the night and hade to this dark and precarious ce without extra help...

    What could they do? If those people wanted so badly to give her their items and that woman wished to have a wild night with them, then they could only take advantage of this sign given by the world!

    "Hehehe, beauty, where are you going?" One of the boldest of the group asked this as he looked lewdly at Elke, hardly able to wait to taste her.

    Seeing that, Elke shivered in fear, dreading the look that not only that man had toward her but also the others there.

    "Beauty, if youe with us easily, we can let your friends leave in peace..." The leader of that group of thieves finally said something while drawing a ck dagger. "You just need to free yourself and have fun with these six brothers here."

    "It will be fun, and no one will get hurt!"

    "Hehehe, that''s right."

    "Let us show you what real men can do, beauty!"

    "I''m sure these brats don''t have what it takes for that!" Another fellow looked at Lothur, thinking that someone who looked like that could not like a woman.

    And while Jacob was trembling with fear at those people''s words, Lothur was boiling with anger, his hands itching for him to act.

    Not only that, upon hearing thements of those men regarding his woman, a bloodlust began to flood his mind, quickly suppressing his morally correct thoughts.

    ''So you guys are that kind of vermin, huh?'' He ran one of his fingers across his spatial ring, feeling the pressure in his head increasing as he watched those people.

    "Let me teach you what happens to those who court other people''s women in my homnd..."

 Chapter 96 Brutal

    After slowly saying those words, Lothur summoned the ax in his spatial ring and made a sudden move.

    Almost immediately after such a weapon appeared in his right hand, he made a throwing motion toward the chest of the strongest of those individuals.

    Vuup!

    "What?"

    "How?"

    The criminals in the surrounding area were surprised by Lothur''s movement. However, before they even realized how strong the throwing of that ax had been, such a thing hit the chest of that 3rd Transformation cultivator, the one with the best attributes.

    At that instant, sounds of flesh being pierced and bones breaking came out of that man''s chest as a look of disbelief formed on his face.

    After that, that individual''s body was thrown backward, while one of Lothur''s ax des was already fully stuck in his left chest.

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    A pathetic scream that did notst 2 seconds spread to the surroundings before that person fell dead to the ground!

    Puff!

    Seeing that happen only 4 seconds after Lothur''s words had finisheding out of his mouth, everyone there was shocked at the brutality with which this young man acted.

    Elke was shocked to the core of her soul, feeling that all of this was unbelievable.

    At one moment, she was afraid of what might happen to all of them. But then, Lothur acted, finishing off such an opponent as if a 3rd Transformation cultivator were nothing!

    That had been impressive!

    ''Lothur...'' She sped her hands together, remembering his words.

    On the other hand, each of the five individuals surviving that first move of Lothur''s was terrified, disbelieving that their leader had died like that.

    "How? How can that be?" One of them muttered in a weakened tone, already preparing to turn and run from there.

    But Lothur was filled with hatred at the moment, and all he had in mind was to eliminate the vermin who had unholy ideas regarding his woman.

    With his brutal side inmand, he quickly made a move to take back his ax, surprising those people there, as his speed was at least four times faster than the fastest among them.

    Because of this, as he ran to the front where that corpse was lying, Lothur took the opportunity andunched a flying kick towards the head of the level 2 enemy that was near him.

    Pow!

    Immediately after one of his feet hit that opponent''s jaw, Lothurnded on the ground next to that corpse, seeing that person''s deformed face spinning horizontally, while a strange look appeared on that face.

    However, this time no sound of agony came out, as that individual fell without consciousness as if he had lost all signs of his body in a single instant.

    And seeing the nk look in that man''s bulging eyes, Jacob understood that Lothur''s kick had been enough to break that enemy''s neck, finishing another opponent.

    ''Unbelievable!'' His eyes widened in surprise, not expecting Lothur to be so powerful.

    "This guy is a monster! Run away! Warn the rest..." The other level 3 individual was about to say those words, already running through that area, when suddenly Lothur''s ax came flying and hit such a person in the middle of his back.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    This time, cries of painsted longer, with that man falling to the ground as he struggled, feeling like something had broken his spine.

    "Ahh! Run! Run!"

    "Save yourselves!"

    "Ahh! Don''t kill me! Don''t kill me!"

    The three survivors began to scream in desperation, fleeing down different paths, hoping such a monster would not wipe them all out.

    But they had underestimated Lothur''s movement technique and determination!

    The moment this young man had removed his ax from the body of his first target to throw it at that man''s back, he had caught the des in the hands of that first body.

    Having done so, immediately after his second ax throw, Lothur began to run in pursuit of those three remaining opponents, throwing the two des against two different targets.

    Swooish!

    The first de thrown spun horizontally, slicing toward the leg of one of his more distant opponents.

    The second de thrown spun vertically, heading towards the head of that other 2nd Transformation cultivator.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Lothur''s farthest opponent then got walloped, feeling his leg being sliced by a 30-centimeter-long weapon that hit him so hard that he was almost thrown forward.<sub> </sub>

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    And while that man, now missing one of his legs, cried out in pain, trying toprehend what had just happened, the other target of Lothur''s throws fell face down on the ground, dead.

    The de thrown by Lothur had hit the back of that person''s head, killing him in a split second and lodging in his head.

    "What?" Thest criminal running there almost shit his pants as he saw hisstpanions being brutally wounded.

    They were just having another night of fun, working to secure their earnings while robbing gullible fools. How could they deserve this?

    How could trying to get a naive girl into bed with all of them have brought them to such a hell? They had done simr things so many times in the past, but nothing like this had ever happened.

    Thinking of simr things, that survivor was desperate, praying for a brave soul toe along and save him.

    But just as many of his victims had not found a savior, this man had met the same fate.

    When such a person was only 40 meters away from the first body, Lothur caught up with him, hitting a powerful kick to his ribs.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhh! Miserable! Wretched, son of a bitch!"

    "Ahhhhhhhh! Wait for that! Bastard!"

    That person rolled across the ground as he bawled in pain, feeling in every fiber of his body that this was the end.

    Thinking about it, he could not help but curse Lothur, trying to infuse some fear in that opponent''s mind.

    "Shut up and die!" Lothur''s eyes sharpened as he raised his right foot to the height of his navel and then brought it down with full force on that person''s head.

    Puff!

    The brains of that individual sttered all over the surroundings right after Lothur smashed that head, finally ending the screams of his opponent.

    "Ahhhh!"

    As hemented that his trousers had be soiled from that ill-thought-out blow, Lothur noticed the cries of pain from those two wounded men, the one who had lost his leg and the other who had an ax jammed into his back.

    Looking toward the two, he slowly moved his neck, emitting sounds of snapping bones. "Jacob, do me a favor. Collect the items from each corpse while I finish with these two." He said coldly, without even looking at that young man.

    Gulp!

    After hearing that, Jacob did not take long to do as ordered and quickly ran towards the corpse closest to him.

    "Lothur..." Elke said in a low voice, grateful that Lothur had done all that for her.

    She was a woman of the cultivation world, someone who, however unustomed to killing, understood well what was necessary and needed to happen.

    If Lothur had not been there, she probably would have been raped by those people, and Jacob killed.

    Considering this, she did not pity them and was grateful that such a man was so decisive in protecting her!

    To her, no matter how scary Lothur seemed at the moment, her image of him had only improved as she looked at him even more interested.

    She then managed to say something besides his name. "Lothur, I will help you..."

    But that man did not want that. "No, Elke. Stay where you are, and don''t touch those bodies."

    "Uh? Why?"

    "I don''t want you to get your hands dirty..." He said this in a less cold tone as he used a de to slit that person''s throat who had lost one of his legs.

    Lothur had already killed nine people since he arrived there and was already bing someone capable of doing what was necessary in the cultivation world. But he still had his principles and would not let a pure person like Elke get her hands dirty when he could do all the dirty work.

    Anyway, it did not take long for him to retrieve his ax and use it to end the life of thest enemy, ending the elimination of that group of criminals.

    Elke then ran to his side and hugged him tightly, finally feeling good after the abusivements of less than 2 minutes ago.

    "Lothur, thank you..." She felt her eyes moisten as her heart beat faster and her feelings overflowed.

    ''That''s the man I want for myself!''

    ''I can''t allow myself to be with another!'' She thought about it at that moment, feeling that she should do everything in her power to be with Lothur.

    Meanwhile, that silver-haired man heard Jacob''s voice. "Now, what do we do?"

    ...

 Chapter 97 Resolving The Situation

    Hearing Jacob''s question, Lothur looked in the direction of this young man and then at the corpses around that street they were on.

    Murders were forbidden within Peters City, and if they were caught, trouble could follow them for a long time. But on the other hand, Lothur and Elke were on a protection mission, so they had the prerogative to act vigorously in such a situation.

    At the very least, the Morning Star Academy would have to be on their side. After all, it needed to reassure its clients that its students would do their best to protect them in simr situations.

    With that in mind, Elke was not so worried about Lothur being imprisoned for these deaths. However, since he did not want to expose his strength to the whole city, this man did not want to use legal means to resolve this situation.

    In this case, this was a concern for him!

    He thought for a moment and then asked those two. "Do you have bags with you?"

    "Bags?" Jacob did not understand what Lothur wanted, sharpening his gaze as he looked at him in doubt.

    "You wouldn''t be thinking..." Elke was about to say her estimate when Lothur exposed his ideas to them.

    "Now that they are already dead, it makes no difference what happens to their bodies. So, I will dismember them and take their remains out of the city."

    "After that, I will cremate or eliminate their parts," Lothur said in a confident tone.

    He then looked at the beautiful face of the woman hugging his waist and asked. "By the way, is it possible for us to eliminate the evidence of what happened here?"

    "If we were at the 2nd stage, we would only have to use some of our energy to erode the blood marks in the surroundings. But since we can''t manipte spiritual energy outside our bodies yet, only with external items will we be able to do that..."

    Jacob found their conversation strange and asked. "Wait a moment. Why do you want to get rid of these bodies as if you have done something wrong? Let''s just call the guards, and this will be resolved before midnight."

    "No. That would be a problem." Lothurmented as he looked into that young man''s eyes, making Jacob momentarily remember how powerful he was.

    ''Lothur is truly a monster without equal, yet he is by Elke''s side on a mission...''

    ''Is that just because they are a couple, or is there another justification?'' Jacob was silent for a moment, thinking about this situation he had put himself in.

    ''In any case, he''s powerful enough to kill a group of six, two of whom are 3rd Transformation cultivators. So that means he''s probably close to 5th Transformation at the very least!''

    ''Hmmm.''

    ''I''d better do something to keep in touch with someone so talented!'' Jacob finally made up his mind.

    Considering Lothur''s age, he would not be considered exceptionally talented within the Morning Star Academy. At most, he would be on the same talent level as Annaliese.

    However, that was an institution where the most talented members of the provincial nobility studied. So, considering only the standards of ordinary cultivators, as in the case of Jacob and his family, Lothur''s talent was already of an extremely high level!

    And because of how good a trainer Lothur seemed to be, Jacob could not help but use this situation to get closer to such a potential expert.

    "All right, I have a way to eliminate this evidence. You just need to take care of these bodies." The 14 or 15-year-old boy said while summoning a green bottle from his spatial ring.

    "This corrosive liquid can degrademon substances such as blood and other bodily fluids." He said as he pointed to the stains on the surroundings.

    "We just need to mix a few milliliters with water and use that to wash those stained ces."

    Hearing that, Elke immediately retrieved the bottle with water that was on her spatial ring, indicating for Lothur and Jacob to do the same.

    "Great!" Lothur smiled at the two while receiving threerge cloth bags from Jacob. "You two can clean up that mess. In the meantime, I will collect these bodies."

    "Okay!"

    After that, it did not take long for them to get down to cleaning up, with Lothur dismembering his opponents'' bodies and cing them in those bags.

    His actions that night had been exaggerated. But after his first encounter with death and nearly being poisoned, he was more determined than ever to keep his secret safe. And considering how hateful those people had been when referring to Elke, he had reached this point where he had dismembered them without difort or resentment.

    He was not a fool and had already realized that if he were not decisive, then he would sooner orter be destroyed by people capable of being so.

    Anyway, with that street cleared of traces of Lothur''s short ''battle'' with the bandits from earlier, this man managed to get two of those three bags into his spatial ring.

    But he had to keep the third one in hand while they headed towards the ce Jacob was supposed to leave.

    ...

    After arriving inside a warehouse where several wagons were being loaded or unloaded, those three soon arrived at the side of Jacob''s family''s means of transport.

    As they stopped there, the silver-haired man with a ck sack on his back stopped beside the beautiful Elke and said goodbye to that young man, exchanging a few words with the coachman of that wagon.<sub> </sub>

    "Well, it looks like everything worked out fine. Thanks for the service, young people." An old man with white hair and 5th Transformation cultivation said this to the two in front of him.

    "Hmm, we just did our job," Elke said with a smile on her face.

    "By the way, what is that bag you are carrying? It looks heavy." The old man looked at that strangely, finding such a thing unusual.

    Lothur thenughed and said. "Oh, about that, we found some wild animals in those streets, and I was forced to act after they went against Jacob."

    "I didn''t want to leave the carcass behind and put them in this bag."

    "Do you want to see it?" Lothur made the motion to bring that bag forward, smiling at that man.

    Gulp!

    Hearing that, Elke and Jacob became nervous, shocked by Lothur''s boldness in risking to show what was in that bag to such a person.

    And as they swallowed their salivas in anticipation, that old fellowughed and said. "There is no need."

    Lothur smiled back and took that bag back to his back. "Well, if that''s all, we say goodbye here."

    "If fate permits, we''ll see you again." He nodded to Jacob before taking one of Elke''s hands and starting to leave that area.

    Seeing that, Jacob waved back, already anxious about seeing these people again.

    "Looks like you saw a lot today, huh?" That coachman finally asked something after seeing that Lothur and Elke had disappeared from his sight. "How was the experience with those two? That young man doesn''t seem simple to me, although I don''t feel his cultivation..."

    "Well, Lothur and Elke make a good pair. And perhaps because of that, I learned and saw many new things today..."

    "Oh? That''s the first time I''ve seen you praising someone, young master."

    "Hmm, well, keep his name in your mind. Then, if Lothur shows up in Lewerenz, that may be the chance for our family to bond with him."

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur and Elke had just left that street where the previous incident had developed.

    "Lothur, why did you do that? What if that man had asked to see that bag?" She said in an unsure tone, thinking what he had done was too risky.

    But Lothur said nothing to her about it, only having smiled at the cute expression on Elke''s face. ''When lying, naturally you have to act in such a way that it looks as if even you believe the lie...''

    She watched him, waiting for his answer, but she did not hear what she was waiting about. "Elke, I''m going to take you to the vicinity of your house, then I''ll deal with these leftovers..."

    "Is that okay with you?"

    "Uh? Why don''t we do this together?"

    "I''ll dispose of these bodies outside the city, so it might be dangerous for me to take you to a ce I don''t know overnight."

    "I feel morefortable if you return to your residence."

    Hearing his concern, she remembered what she had heard earlier when Lothur had called her his woman.

    Thinking of this, she felt a warmth in her body again, determined to be with this man.

    Elke then looked to either side of the deserted street they were passing and directed Lothur against one of the walls there, causing him to drop that ck bag. She then went for his lips!

    "Mmmmmmmmmm~"

    Suffering Elke''s advance, Lothur epted her, promptly embracing her slender waist as he kissed her fervently.

    "Lothur, I want you to go straight to our room tomorrow morning..." She said as she parted her lips from his, speaking into this man''s left ear.

    Hearing that, Lothur more or less understood what she wanted because of her tone. Still, before he could say anything, Elke sucked his neck, leaving a little mark there.

    "Perfect!" Heughed, eager to solve the ''problem'' of his body.

    After that, it was not long before the two returned to the well-lit and organized part of Peters City, where they parted ways.

    ...

 Chapter 98 Counting Gains

    After saying goodbye to Elke, Lothur arrived at an area outside the built-up part of Peters City, near a stream that ran between the valleys of that region.

    In that ce with trees far away from each other, where one could easily observe the starry sky, Lothur was finishing eliminating the contents of those three bags.

    He had made a small fire not far from that stream and burned the remains parts of those people that were easiest to identify. As for therger and more difficult to trace pieces, he had simply thrown them into the stream, hoping that the animals or beast of that region would finish his work.

    Anyway, after he had finished putting those pieces of meat to burn and had thrown away the rest, Lothur sat down not far from that fire with the spatial rings of his enemies in his hands.

    This time he had not made the mistake of leaving behind the ''prizes'' of his efforts. Instead, he had saved them in order to check his winnings at this time when he was waiting for that fire to burn out.

    ''Let''s see what these people left for me...'' He thought of this as he began to scan those rings.

    Spatial rings, as said before, were items capable of storing items in folded spaces created by formations. And like every formation, anyone could manipte such artifacts, as long as some conditions were met.

    At first nce, spatial rings were items supposed to keep their owners'' wealth safe. Because of this, these items had the functionality to connect with the spirituality of their user, something that basically made itplicated for other people to ess such storage items.

    It was possible to break such a security protocol. Still, to do so, the person attempting such a thing would need to be a formations master of a higher degree than the one who produced such an item. Otherwise, it would be impossible to do this without destroying the inscriptions on the ring''s body.

    However, Lothur did not have to worry about this since the former owners of these rings had died, and now the connection of these items with their owners had dissipated.

    That way, those rings were in their condition of maximum essibility for him!

    "What?" Lothur counted the number of coins in the six rings and almost jumped in surprise, as he did not expect to find that number of bronze coins.

    ''80,000 bronze coins!'' He looked at the bags of coins he had gathered from those six spatial rings.

    But while that seemed surprising at first nce to this young man who had just over 50,000 bronze coins in his ring, that was not significant.

    After all, six people were in that group, and each was much older than Lothur. That is, they were more numerous and had the opportunity to umte coins for longer than him.

    Bronze coins were also the lowest value currency in this world, so tens of thousands of them were no big deal.

    In fact, one could say that the amount he had just collected was a disappointment. Such people probably spent most of what they earned, so there was only that amount.

    But still, Lothur was happy to more than double his currency reserves!

    ''Besides those bronze coins, there are also somemon items in those rings, low-level formations, and various potions and pills.''

    ''Finally, they left some daggers, a chest armor, and medicines...'' He ced those things in front of him, looking at the system information.

    [Chest Armor] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: increases the user''s defense in the chest region by 5% when used.]

    ...

    [Wild Root] [Rank: Iron]

    [Feature: root with 30% poison, 25% medicinalpound, and the rest of the nutrientposition aremonly found inmon roots.]

    <o>,m Lothur looked at the description of each of the items in those rings, finding some of those medicines interesting.</o>

    Most of them had poison in their body. And that soon caught Lothur''s attention. ''Were they preparing to use poison on someone? Or crude medicines usually have small amounts of poison in their body?''

    But with no knowledge of either subject, Lothur soon put those questions aside, remembering that he had to learn the profession of poison masters.

    ''The society of this world does not so well regard poison masters because they are usually rted to murders and things like that. But still, there are ces with such professionals in Peters City.'' Lothur pondered this matter of extreme importance to him.<sub> </sub>

    Poison masters could do more than just produce poisons to kill. They could also cure certain diseases and even improve the quality of bodies. For example, what had happened to Lothur the times he had been poisoned, his sudden increase in his Constitution, could be provoked by poison masters therapy!

    But not everyone knew or valued these characteristics of poison masters as it was not easy to achieve these results, and poisons'' reputation in assassinations was widespread.

    Consequently, it would not be as easy for him to start studying this profession as the area of formations masters.

    Lothur had asked about the local ''poison masters association'' during his earlier dinner with Jacob and Elke. But there was no such thing in Peters City, and if he wanted to learn that profession, he would have to approach a poison master directly!

    Thinking of these difficulties, he sighed as he watched the mes in his vicinity. ''Looks like it won''t be long before I can return...''

    "Sigh!"

    "Anyway, I also have to worry about getting a secondary attack technique!" He muttered in a low voice, remembering how useful the ax could be for surprising enemies with throws.

    But since, unfortunately, he could not ''pull'' back his weapon, such a feature was a problem, or rather, his way of using that weapon up to a moment still had to improve a lot.

    Thinking about how dangerous this world was, that he had to be prepared for everything, he could not help but think of adding one more offensive technique.

    That way, he could at least use two fighting styles during his fights, varying depending on the general conditions in his surroundings!

    ''Hmm, now that I''ve gotten a few more coins, I''ll be able to buy one more technique in that store without running the risk of going bankrupt...'' Heughed, finally getting up from where he was standing and walking over to the fire''s ashes.

    After that, Lothur took no time to erase the traces of that fire, having buried the ashes there and then scattered leaves around the surroundings.

    With that, he quickly returned to the built-up part of Peters City, heading directly to the Frost family estate.

    ...

    Hours passed, and the day was already dawning when Lothur left alongside Annaliese for the Morning Star Academy.

    The two chatted a bit on the way, talking about their ns for the auction that would take ce on Friday and the weekend training scheduled earlier.

    After that, the two went on to their affairs at that institution, with Annaliese going to one of her sses and Lothur to Elke''s room.

    After arriving in that ce, as that beauty was already waiting for him, Lothur did not have to wait and was soon locked in thatfortable ce with just that redhead.

    "Lothur..." Elke stopped beside the entrance door, looking at Lothur''s handsome face as her hands went down into her clothes.

    Seeing that woman currently wearing a pink silk robe, Lothur looked at her hands, slowly undoing the knot at her waist.

    He readily understood what she was about to do and looked her in the eyes, noticing that she looked a little different as if she had used some beauty product.

    But since Lothur did not understand anything about this sort of thing in the cultivation world, he just appreciated how attractive she looked. Then, finally, that robe fell to the floor, revealing Elke''s naked body.

    Seeing the look in the eyes of the man she desired, Elke felt an even more fervent heat, already imagining what it would be like to satisfy this person.

    Her heart beat faster, and her breathing slowly began to emit certain sounds as she slowly approached Lothur, intending to remove his clothes.

    "I want you to make me yours, Lothur..."

    "I want to give you everything I have." She said in a nervous tone before kissing him and unbuttoning his trousers.

    After a while, the two of them went to bed...

 Chapter 99 Back To The Tailor Shop 1

    Sometime after Lothur had entered that room in the dormitory of the Morning Star Academy, low moans could be heard in that lit ce.

    While the curtains there prevented most of the light rays from brightening that room, the sound of moving springs echoed through it in a rhythm that varied in intensity from time to time.

    In the first moment of this intimate meeting of this beautiful couple, everything had begun slowly, with Lothur using his skills to prepare Elke little by little for this new experience in her life.

    At the very beginning, she still had a body disposition that showed difort on her part, even if the expression on her face and herments were of pure satisfaction.

    However, with the well-developed techniques that Lothur had brought from Earth, it did not take long for her body to rx with his. Quickly the difort in her body gave way to the pure pleasure she longed to feel and give to this man.

    With that, the once not-so-natural sounds became the heavenly melody that every man longs to hear; with the expression on Elke''s face, sounds and bodily signals finally came into harmony.

    So they had reached this moment when Elke had a cloudy look on her eyes, lost in the feeling of being possessed by the only man capable of stirring her emotions.

    As for Lothur, he was working with pleasure on that woman, feeling the best experience of its kind, even considering those of his past life.

    ''Advantages of the cultivation world...'' He had thought of this as he felt the most noticeable differences.

    ...

    After feeling that handsome partner of hers finishing for the third time in thesest 70 minutes of fun, Elke looked lovingly at the man on top of her. "Lothur..." She felt unprecedented happiness and looked into his eyes, wishing she would never leave there.

    "Elke, you were perfect." He said this while leaning on his elbows, with his face less than 10 centimeters away from hers.

    After hearing that, she could not help but smile, hugging his body even tighter as she feltplete. "Thank you for making me a woman, Lothur... I will never forget this day."

    "No matter what!"

    "Hehe, I think you will have many memories to remember, even if you forget this day, Elke." He said this with a shameless smile, already imagining the beautiful future ahead of them. "After all, we will have time to do this many more times in the future..."

    "Oh?" Her eyes sparkled in interest as that was indeed her wish. "We just have to be careful about the consequences of that..." Sheughed as she looked in the direction of her belly.

    Hearing that, Lothur suddenly felt a chill rising up his back at the mere thought of pregnancy.

    Gulp!

    ''I hadn''t thought of that!''

    ''Are there contraceptive methods in this world?'' He worried at the thought of an unwanted child, something that, if it happened on Earth, would be enough to ruin the life of a 19-year-old man.

    He then said in a slightly nervous tone. "Elke, do you think..."

    Realizing the fear of that man, sheughed gracefully and then said it. "You are so silly, Lothur!"

    "How can such a strong man be frightened by the mere thought of a child?"

    ''Where Ie from, that is very frightening...''

    "But don''t worry about that. I don''t think having a child now would be good either..." She said this as she thought about how amazing it could be to have the grace to carry Lothur''s offspring in her belly. ''Maybe in the future...''

    "In any case, for people who can cultivate, like us, pregnancy is a slightly moreplicated process than it normally is with mortals."

    "Besides the duration of pregnancy being longer, which varies with the mother''s cultivation level, the chances of the fertilization decrease depending on the couple''s talent and cultivation."

    "On the other hand, from the 2nd stage, cultivators can manipte their spiritual energy externally and internally their bodies."

    In the 1st stage, cultivators merely cultivated spiritual energy, using their soul or body cultivation techniques to transform their bodies. But this did not mean that such people could manipte this energy inside their bodies.

    No, except for the moment of cultivation when their techniques of this nature were used, one could not manipte spiritual energy at this stage.

    As such, what Elke was about to say was impossible to do at this stage that they were at. "At that stage, cultivators can use their spiritual energy to destroy their gametes, controlling the chance of pregnancy."

    "So for cultivators of that level, there are no concerns regarding unexpected pregnancy."

    "Oh?" Lothur found this extremely interesting, a truly divine gift. ''That''s perfect...'' He smiled before opening his eyes and remembering they had not gotten there yet.

    "But..."<sub> </sub>

    "I know what you mean, but don''t worry. I''m not in my fertile period..." She said in a low voice, red with embarrassment. "I did the mathst night."

    "You did?" Lothur repeated this, looking at Elke''s cute face, smiling at her. "But is that enough to be sure? I have the impression that there are not only risks during that period..."

    If it were on Earth, he would be sure there would be risks outside of a woman''s fertile period. After all, gametes had an ''expiration date,'' and a te fertilization'' was not impossible.

    But Lothur was no longer on Earth, and both he and Elke were cultivators. In this case, what if the ''expiration date'' of his gametes was longer?

    That was his concern!

    Elkeughed and continued to calm her lover. "Don''t worry, you silly. The gametes of cultivators decay faster than that of mortals."

    "Again, that depends on the cultivation level of those involved."

    "Anyway, my period just passed a week ago. So don''t worry about it. I won''t get pregnant just for this day..."

    Hearing that, Lothur rxed on that bed, finally breathing more peacefully as he felt relief in his being.

    He was not against the idea of having children, even more so in the cultivation world, where he had no chance of having to pay child support...

    But since he was the type who would raise his children, it made no sense for him to add this further problem to his life at the moment.

    Noticing how relieved Lothur seemed to be, Elke felt a little ufortable, having lifted her upper body and leaned over to stare at him.

    But seeing that beautiful view at his side, Lothur understood that she had not liked his unwillingness to have children.

    "Lothur..."

    He then said before she became more irritated. "Elke, I just don''t want to have children now. But once I get to a morefortable position, I will work to put babies in my women''s bellies."

    Lothur had just transmigrated, had barely begun his cultivation, and did not even have a ce to call his own. How could he want a family now?

    Only a fool would not be worried about dealing with children under these troubling circumstances!

    "What?" Her face flushed, softening her previous expression.

    Lothur smiled at her and brought her back into his embrace. "Since there are no problems, shall we continue?"

    Gulp!

    "Are you in the mood again?" She asked as she noticed her lover''s animation.

    "Hmm. Do you think you can handle it? But, of course, if you are too tired, we can stop..."

    "No!"

    "Let me take care of you a little longer. But, this is thest time today, okay? I don''t want to miss the afternoon sses." She said this as she felt her body warming up.

    "Hehe, okay..."

    ...

    Soon morning gave way to the afternoon in Peters City, and the two lovers left the previous room to get on with their business at the Morning Star Academy.

    However, before leaving that ce, Elke had coincidentally advanced to level 2!

    Lothur had realized this after seeing the womane out of the shower looking subtly healthier, even better than when he had met her earlier in the day.

    And curiously, her attribute that had increased the most had been Constitution. ''I wonder how she had trained to achieve that?'' Lothur had thought such a thing.

    But since Elke''s overall increase in power had not been significant, Lothur did not pay much attention to it.

    After they said goodbye, it did not take long for him to continue with his studies until he left the academy to go to the tailor shop, where the previously ordered clothes were already waiting for him.

 Chapter 100 Back To The Tailor Shop 2

    After returning to that high-end store in the central part of Peters City, it did not take long for Lothur toe face to face with the woman who had served him earlier.

    Seeing that unmistakable face of Lothur''s, that woman had already identified who he was and picked up his order that was already waiting for him at the reception counter.

    "Here you are, young man." She smiled at him as she passed him such a package. "Why don''t you try it on so we can see if everything is right?"

    Seeing the way that woman was biting the tip of a pen and smiling at him, Lothur understood that she did not just want to check the condition of that outfit. He thenughed and went to a fitting room in one of the many side doors of the ce.

    He did not care if the woman wanted to watch him while he tried on the clothes. He was not shy and found it interesting that many women had eyes of desire when watching him.

    And as long as she did not try anything strange, he was okay with all that.

    So, he soon began to change his clothes while that woman tried to spy on him, curious to see that man''s body.

    ''Besides being handsome, he''s strong...'' She leaned next to the fitting room door that he had entered, watching through a small side opening.

    "Sigh..."

    ''It''s a pity I''m too old. Otherwise...'' Sheughed, running the tip of her tongue across her lips.

    After that, Lothur left that fitting room already dressed in the clothes he had bought, a gray tuxedo with a dark blue butterfly tie, which fit his body perfectly.

    [Grey Tuxedo] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: increases the wearer''s heat resistance by 10%. Increases the user''s attractiveness to women by 10%. Increases the envy and hatred of men in the wearer''s surroundings by 30%.]

    [Description: typical party tuxedo, with the ability to keep the user always prepared to deal with an enemy. It has three secret spaces that can store weapons up to 15 centimeters long.]

    Lothur temporarily ignored the system''s warnings as he walked in front of that middle-aged woman, seeing how her eyes were sparkling as she observed him.

    "Lothur, you look perfect in this outfit!" She said excitedly, pleased with the work of the tailor who had produced that costume.

    "I think yourpanion will be thrilled at the event you two will go... I think all thedies will be jealous of her." Sheughed,ing to Lothur''s side and patting his right shoulder.

    He did not find those words strange andmented in good humor. "You forgot to say that I will attract the envy and hatred of other men who see me on this asion..."

    "Hehe, that is probably true..."

    "Anyway, now that you have tested your order and seem satisfied tell me if you have thought about my previous suggestion. What do you say?" She grew a little more serious, thinking about how easily Lothur seemed to recognize spiritual items.

    Professional tailors could produce items that could be even more valuable than some armor. However, these professionals depended on existing resources and their sensory abilities to do this.

    With a practical resource in hand, such a tailor could use his senses to identify the best ways tobine different materials to form something powerful. Such a thing was not as simple as one might imagine since certain features could only be taken advantage of if the tailor was millimeter-precise.

    And to do this, these professionals needed unique sensory abilities, which this woman thought Lothur had as he could easily identifyplex items.

    After hearing that woman''s question, Lothur observed her for a moment and got straight to the point. "It''s not impossible for me to learn some about this profession. But it would have to happen my way."

    "Oh? What do you mean?"

    "If I had the books and materials necessary to learn the basics of that profession, I would try to learn about that field in my spare time."

    "But I don''t intend to learn just one profession, and this definitely won''t be the most important of them for me. So, I need space to pursue my own objectives..."

    "If those conditions can be epted, I don''t mind making a deal with that store."

    That woman was not insisting that Lothur be a tailor out of sheer kindness!

    She was part of that store, an organization of tailors in Peters City. In other words, she was part of a power that wanted to maintain its position, which required the constant arrival of talent.<sub> </sub>

    After all, in the business world, the organization that does not grow necessarily regresses due to the growth ofpetitors.

    So what this middle-aged woman wanted in encouraging Lothur to be a tailor was to bring someone talented into the organization she was part of!

    Since Lothur had already realized this, he spoke about those conditions that guaranteed his freedom to see if such a person would still be interested in pursuing that offer.

    "So that''s it..." She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about it. "And what would we gain by helping you and still giving you all this freedom you want? It''s not cheap to be a tailor because our profession requires training with considerably expensive resources."

    Lothur smiled and said. "Well, the advantage would be that I would never join another tailor organization. Of course, I could agree to produce items for your organization within a certain annual limit."

    "What limit?"

    "20 per year as long as I am a 1-star tailor, 10 as long as I am a 2-star, 3 when I am a 3-star or 1 a 4-star tailor."

    "4-star?" She repeated this in surprise since she had never heard of anyone in this profession reaching that level.

    After all, to achieve the 4-star rank in any profession, a cultivator must have some characteristics simr to those cultivators at the 4th stage!

    The ranks of professionals did not precisely follow the order of cultivation. That is, the ranks of different professions took into ount different attributes.

    In the case of tailors and formation masters, they relied on the same attributes to determine their ranks.

    Intelligence, Dexterity, and Perception.

    The difference between the two professions was that for tailors, Dexterity and Perception were more critical. On the other hand, for formation masters, Intelligence and Perception were the most crucial points.

    And since the ranking did not depend on all physical attributes, it was not impossible for a cultivator at the 2nd stage, for example, to be a 3-star professional.

    Evidently, this was highly unusual to see, as, for a person to achieve such a ranking, that individual''s attributes would have to be simr to that of 3rd stage cultivators.

    But even tricky as it was, it was not impossible to meet such people.

    In any case, for Lothur to be a 4-star tailor, he would have to be at least at the peak of the 3rd stage. Thinking of this, that middle-aged woman found his speech somewhat exaggerated.

    ''I''m just making it clear what the limit will be.'' He smiled, ignoring the fact that she found it absurd.

    After thinking about this offer of Lothur for a while, that attendant ignored the joking part of him and asked. "Are you willing to promise this with a Blood Contract?"

    "Within my criteria, yes."

    After that, it did not take long for that woman to get a Blood Contract before Lothur received the books and basic kit for him to start that career.

    With that done, he left that store, setting off toward a location north of the city, where one of the few local poison master houses should be.

    Lothur did not want to wait long for the next person who would try to poison him��so running after this profession was the fastest way for him to protect himself.

    After talking with Annaliese at the academy earlier today, he had already learned about some ces for him to do this.

    ''I hope no one I''m going to visit is too weird...'' He remembered the reputation of some of the people in that profession and felt a little nervous.

    Poison masters could have peculiar personalities given the inherent darkness of those using poisons daily. On the other hand, the social segregation some of them suffered did not help either. Therefore, many of these professionals could be, shall we say, challenging to deal with.

    But Lothur had nothing to do. The threat to his life was real. Only if he acted preventively could he solve more significant problems in the future!

    With this goal in mind, he did not take long to achieve his objective!

    ...

 Chapter 101 Poison Masters

    After a few minutes of walking, Lothur stopped in front of a mansion on the north side of Peters City. In this area, some of the most luxurious estates of the city''s wealthiest residents were located.

    In this province, there was only one headquarters of a high-level organization, as the headquarters of these families, such as Lothur''s wife''s, were enormous and had existed in this city for longer.

    As such, most of the headquarters of local organizations were not around this area of Peters City, with only the Becker House being based there.

    In any case, wealthy individuals, but without organizations behind them, as in the case of some local high-level professionals, lived in this neighborhood.

    And right there was the property of the poison master that Lothur had heard about, whom he wanted to meet to facilitate his entry into this profession.

    So, when he stopped in front of that mansion with apletely different design than the other properties in the surrounding area, Lothur took a deep breath, ignoring the fact that the ce did not look as gloomy as he had imagined.

    From the ideas of his predecessor, a poison master should be a terrible-looking person who probably lived in lonely ces, surrounded by death and degradation.

    But that building in front of him did not look bad at all. In fact, he could see many nts and flowers around that area, whilerge ss windows covered the facade of the ce, giving a transparent idea of who lived there.

    With this reality and contrasting thoughts, he stepped forward and touched themunication device outside the property.

    And before he knew it, someone was already in front of him, on the other side of the bars that circled the front of that property.

    "Kid, what do you want here? Do you have an appointment?" A green-haired woman asked this as she observed that face she had never seen before.

    ''Is it a new customer? But he''s only a mortal... It must not be that.'' She wondered as she found Lothur''s face cute.

    Noticing that woman who, after Viktoria and Mabel, would undoubtedly be the most beautiful he had ever seen, Lothur felt surprised to see someone like that in that ce.

    He had expected to find some decrepit old man there, but surprisingly such beauty had appeared to attend him.

    ''That''s better...'' He then looked at her status.

    [Name: ???]

    [Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: ???] [CON: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    ''As expected...''

    He then smiled before finally answering that woman. "Hello, beautifuldy. My name is Lothur, and this is my first time here. So I don''t have an appointment time."

    "Oh? Beautiful, huh?" She smiled at him as not manyplimented her beauty. ''It seems he is truly ignorant...''

    ''I''ll let it go this time. Anyway, it will be interesting to see the expression on his face when he finds out what I am capable of...'' She smiled graciously, giving Lothur the wrong impression.

    She then asked. "And what do you want here, young Lothur? Do you know whose property this is?"

    "Of course, this is the estate of the most renowned local poison master!" He said this even though he had no idea who owned this ce or such a person''s ranking among local poison masters.

    "Oh? You really can talk, huh? But then, what is the purpose of a mere mortal visiting the estate of the ''most renowned local poison master''?"

    "I want to be... No, in fact, I must be a poison master!" He said in a confident tone while looking into the dark green eyes of that beauty on the other side of that golden bars.

    "Is that so?" That woman finally heard something surprising that made her uncross her arms and look more seriously at Lothur.

    The profession of poison masters could be considered one of the most difficult of all spiritual professions since it demanded that cultivators following this path use poisons in their bodies.

    But not everyone had what it took to deal with some of the mostmon substances in this field, or rather, not everyone could develop resistance to poisons!

    Consequently, even if someone could withstand a potent poison because of his cultivation, this would not mean that such a person had the potential to be a poison master.

    And seeing the ''mortal'' in front of her saying those words, that disciple of the person behind this property looked at Lothur more seriously, trying to see if he was joking with her.<sub> </sub>

    ''He doesn''t seem to be just talking out of his mouth, but... But where does he get the idea that he can be a poison master? Does he think all he has to do is want?''

    ''Not only do we have to have a high-level talent to understand thews of this world, but we also need bodies capable of resisting the worst poisons. At the same time, our senses must be the sharpest and most important of all, the great willpower is needed to withstand the terror of poisons!''

    ''How can he underestimate the most demanding profession in Concordia?''

    She looked at him thoughtfully for almost a full minute, making Lothur feel drops of sweat dripping off his back. He then heard her melodious voice. "Do you have any reason to think you are worthy of bing a poison master? It''s not enough that you want it. You have to have something to prove your ability."

    "If you have something that catches my attention, I might consider talking to my mistress about you..."

    "Oh? Well, I don''t know how to prove myself to you. But I''ve already developed a slight resistance for Iron-grade poisons, even though I haven''t tried to put any effort into it..."

    "Is that enough?"

    "What? Have you developed resistance to poisons without trying to do so? How did you do it?" Her eyes widened in shock, in disbelief that an ordinary mortal could do that.

    After all, developing resistance to poisons was not an easy job!

    Poisons could kill when applied at the incorrect dose, which, to tell the truth, did not have to be high and could easily be administered incorrectly.

    Hell, many beginner poison masters made constant mistakes and ended up on the verge of death by mistaking the amount of poison they could handle.

    Just imagine a person with no knowledge who was not trying to boost their own resistance?

    It would be almost impossible to aplish such a feat without severe sequels!

    On the other hand, there were poisons used explicitly in training these professionals, which were not easy to find, as it usually was with poisons for just killing.

    With this, the green-haired woman was in a state of denial about Lothur''s words since he was basically saying that he resisted idental poisoning, survived, and still acquired resistance.

    That would be impressive if it were true!

    Lothur then was honest with that woman. "The first time I was poisoned, I was bitten by a Giant Tropical Spider. A few dayster, someone tried to kill me, but after that dinner, I just woke up fine the other day."

    "That actually happened less than three days ago..." He was speaking when that woman frowned. She then used one of her arms through the bars there and grabbed Lothur''s right arm.

    "What? You''ve been poisoned!" She said in surprise as she noticed the substance people recovered from certain poisonings would have in their bodies for a few days after the poisoning.

    ''Did he tell the truth?'' She wondered because just having recovered from poisoning was not enough to generate resistance.

    She then looked him in the eye and decided to move on with this matter. "Lothur, if you want to be a poison master, I have a proposition for you."

    "Go ahead."

    "Allow me to test your resistance to poisons. Then, if you can get through it, not only do I promise to talk about you with my mistress, but I will give you an introductory book to my profession."

    "And how will we do that?" He asked with interest.

    She let go of his arm and proceeded to open the side gate that was there. "Let''s go inside, and I will give you a dose of poisons normally used to stimte beginners in my activity."

    "This toxin is potent enough to put the lives of mortals at risk, so I hope you are aware of that."

    "Just so you know, I will not save you if you were lying about your resistance." She said as she looked at him with an advisory gaze. "Are you okay with that?"

    "Hmm,e on." He smiled at her before walking into that well-flowered estate.

    ...

 Chapter 102 Oh, Mine...

    After entering that estate, Lothur passed a beautiful entrance garden, where many nts he had already spotted from afar were decorating and perfuming the ce.

    But those were not the only flowers he had his eye on...

    No, the woman in front of him, who was wearing a white dress that went down to her knees and had clear skin without imperfections, was also beautiful and had a lovely fragrance.

    And thinking about how this woman must be a poison master, Lothur could not help but consider how absurd the thoughts of his predecessor about people of this profession were.

    Poison masters were definitely powerful, but upon seeing that woman, the idea of someone terribly deformed and dirty had disappeared from Lothur''s mind.

    "By the way, can you tell me your name? And whose property is this?" He asked as he walked up a flight of stairs behind that woman.

    Upon hearing that, the green-haired beauty looked back momentarily and then said. "My name is Reba. As for my mistress, shouldn''t you know that? How do youe to other people''s houses asking to learn without knowing that person''s name?"

    "Hehe, I''m sorry. I was just trying to start a conversation..." Lothur lied since he genuinely did not know the name of such a person.

    "Oh? Are you sure you want to be a poison master? Not many of us try to start an unnecessary conversation. We are usually more quiet and direct in our words." She eyed him, interested in that fellow''s appearance.

    Unlike the women with whom Lothur hung out most of his time, this one in front of him already had a bit more experience in the business, being 31 years old. As such, she had enough experience to put her in a more ''offensive'' position regarding certain subjects...

    And hell, Lothur was a sight for sore eyes!

    To make matters worse, he seemed to have a good talent for bing a poison master.

    ''Maybe I should y with him a little? There are hardly any men capable of withstanding my touch...'' She pondered over this, considering her poisonous body.

    ''Usually, they don''tst even a night, maybe...''

    "Oh? You can tell me..."

    After chatting a bit with Lothur on the way to herboratory, it was not long, and Reba and herpanion settled into that ce.

    There, unlike what Lothur had found at Doctor Snee''s workce, that area had arge orange tub in the center, without any gurneys or ces to socialize. Instead, there were some side shelves with jars and herbs, while arge bookcase stretched across the wall opposite the entrance door.

    And observing this ce that only had two small upper windows, Lothur became curious about what would happen next and asked. "What do you want me to do?"

    Seeing that Lothur did not seem to be going back on his words, Reba smiled and said. "Nothing much. Just wait for me to prepare this tub with some low-level poisons."

    "After that, you just have to endure a ''rxing'' bath in there for 10 minutes. Then, if you don''t die, you will have proven your point, and I will do as promised."

    "Oh? Is that how poison masters normally act?" He asked curiously.

    "Sometimes..." She said as she paced back and forth in thatb, picking up jars with liquids or herbs, sometimes looking for items that were not so essible there. "Poisons, as you know, have a high potential to cause harm to those bodies in contact with them."

    "Depending on the type of poison, if it gets into your bloodstream, it is almost impossible to reverse the situation without some damage."

    "As such, at the beginning of a poison master''s training, usually an apprentice is only exposed to toxic substances through his skin."

    "Only at more advanced levels does a poison master use poisons more internally in their bodies."

    "Oh? Makes sense..." Lothur muttered in a low voice, making mental notes about this situation.

    "But there are other methods of training a person''s resistance to poisons. For example, there are poison masters who wear poison tattoos, which basically continuously release toxins into such people''s bodies."

    After saying that, she mixed into that tub all the items she collected, also throwing in there some substance that Lothur knew was not water.

    "Take off your clothes." She said after swallowing her saliva, curious to see if he would obey her. "Take everything off, including your underwear..."

    "Fine!"

    Then, every piece covering Lothur''s body had already been removed in a few seconds. He walked towards that tub, totally naked, without any modesty.

    Gulp!

    "Oh, mine..." Reba almost shuddered at the sight of the health of the silver-haired man. ''I said that just to test him, but...''

    ''Good thing he''s not shy, or I''d never see one that size...''

    After staring at something she should not for a few moments, Reba smiled and touched Lothur''s left shoulder, more interested in seeing him seed. "Now you can lie and pretend you''re just taking a rxing bath in the tub."

    "If what you said is true, and I hope it is..." She closed her eyes momentarily, took a deep breath, and continued. "You shouldn''t feel much more than a slight burning through your body."

    ? "OK."<sub> </sub>

    Lothur then stepped into that tub with a greenish liquid inside, putting his right foot in first and proceeding with the rest of his body as he felt nothing.

    [Mixture of three basic poisons] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: degrades constitution at 15% of host recovery rate.]

    [Description: Mixture used to alter the body of cultivators by stimting the evolution of their resistance.]

    "Sigh!"

    As he settled there, Lothur closed his eyes and sighed, feeling an excellent little warmth he had not expected. ''My recovery rate is higher than the degradation rate of this liquid, so I can just rx...''

    With that, he continued with his eyes closed, quickly falling asleep while being watched by the shocked Reba.

    ''That...''

    ''He''s sofortable that he slept?'' She scanned Lothur''s calm vital signs, which showed that he had fallen asleep.

    ''He was telling the truth! He''s even able to rx during torture like that!''

    Training for poison masters was notfortable. But, the opposite of that, most poisons used by these individuals caused excruciating pain sensations.

    Thus, she hoped Lothur would at least feel a little bad in that situation!

    But seeing him so well there, Reba no longer doubted that he had indeed identally developed resistance to poisons!

    After all, only then could someone like him endure that bath without feeling bad.

    It must be said that even cultivators several times stronger than mortals would feel terrible in that situation. The difference between such a person and a mortal would only be the level of difort and the chance of intoxication.

    But regardless of cultivation, considering that such a person did not have a very high level, only those with resistance to poisons could go through this experience painlessly!

    ''It seems he does have his qualities...'' She smiled, already wondering if Lothur could withstand her poisonous body...

    But while doing so, she suddenly saw something that caught her attention.

    In that bathtub, the greenish liquid suddenly became more transparent, little by little bing the color of the water.

    Seeing that, she understood what was happening. ''His body sucked up all the poisonous substance? How can that be?''

    ''Is that a physical characteristic of his body?'' She knelt beside that tub as her fingers ran down Lothur''s bare chest, curious to check him out in that situation.

    Unfortunately for her, there was no exnation for the situation, only a subtle improvement in that man''s skin quality.

    [Iron-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 16.5%.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 7.6] [CON: 9.2] [DEX: 6.5] [AGI: 8.5]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 13] [WIL: 45.5]

    Upon opening his eyes, Lothur immediately saw the system messages, realizing he had improved his characteristics.

    But even though this was almost insignificant, he was not bothered. After all, the experiment had been too simple to stimte him to more significant gains.

    And with that, he soon focused on the fairy hands that were massaging his chest at this very moment.

    "It''s truly nice to wake up like this, you know?"

    ...

 Chapter 103 Learning Three Professions 1

    "Oh?" Hearing Lothur''s cleverment and seeing how he had turned to watch her, Reba almost jumped backward in surprise.

    ''This boy...''

    ''He even flirts with me? It seems he doesn''t know of the danger in his vicinity.''

    "Ba, did I pass your test? So what now? What do we do?" He stood in that tub,ing face to face with her, not bothering with the chill on his privates.

    "Ba?" She closed her eyes momentarily, almost forgetting the surprise she had just moments ago.

    With that, she took a deep breath and threw a white towel in his direction, feeling that while it was interesting, it was better not to y too much with Lothur for the moment.

    ''This guy is a predator. I can feel it. He won''t be bothered to y with me...'' She looked at him getting dressed before finally saying. "Lothur, I''m d to see someone so talented and interested in joining my profession."

    "Then, of course, I will do as promised. I will give you the introductory materials and talk about you with my mistress when the opportunity arises..."

    "In the meantime, can you exin what''s wrong with your body? Why I don''t feel like I can sense anything in it, even when I directly touched you?"

    "It was as if you had just taken an ordinary bath, and no trace of poison remained on your skin."

    "Is that so?" He said in surprise since he didn''t understand how his resistance to poisons worked, in addition to not noticing anything during his brief nap. ''That must be another one of my Physique''s abilities.''

    ''The system told me that my Physique can evolve when it is pushed to its limits. It said this specifically concerning fighting, but poisons can have simr or worse effects to beatings.'' He thought about this in silence.

    He then said to that green-haired beauty. "Well, I don''t know what happened since I fell asleep during that bath. But, on the other hand, I really do not know your profession, so I can''t think of anything."

    "Maybe I have an affinity..." Lothur smiled.

    Hearing those words, Reba looked at him intently, finding no words to try to force this man to talk. If he knew what he had, he would probably know how to use it.

    In this case, it would be a mistake for him toe here and show her his abilities without needing to do such a thing. As such, she judged that he was being sincere and decided to save her curiosities about him for another time.

    "All right, then let''s finish our business here. I have things to do." She headed toward the door of thatboratory, indicating with her hands for Lothur to follow her.

    As she walked toward the exit of that property, she continued to converse with him. "Anyway, after you master the basics of these materials I just gave you, if you want to learn more,e over here."

    "If my mistress is interested in teaching you, things will be simpler. Otherwise, I will point you where to go so you can at least manage to develop on your own."

    "Oh? That''s kind of you, Ba."

    Hearing that, Reba closed her eyes again, frowning. ''I don''t think I''ve given you the intimacy to call me that, Lothur.''

    "Sigh!"

    And as the two walked in silence, a man and a woman, who appeared to be in the same age range as Reba, walked by the two of them through that entrance garden they were passing.

    "Oh? Who is this, Reba? Your new toy?" The woman said in a teasing tone, looking at Lothur as if he were a mere object.

    At the same time, the man frowned, seeing that his junior had seduced yet another innocent. "Reba, you at least shouldn''t do that to mortals."

    "Don''t you know that they don''t..."

    "What if he is? What does that have to do with you?" She smiled before pulling one of Lothur''s arms and leading him toward the exit gate of that ce.

    "Tsk!"

    "That bitch!"

    "She''s always acting the way she wants! I hate her!" The woman beside that man said this in a low voice, looking in the direction of Reba and Lothur. "Why does the mistress treat her with such preference? I don''t see myself worse than her in anything!"

    "Sigh..."

    ''You''re going to start that again...'' The thin, pale-skinned man thought about it in silence. "Well, she has the Ancient Poison Body."

    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>

    "Don''t tell me about it again!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, already outside that estate...

    "What happened back there?" Lothur asked the beauty in front of him.

    Reba then smiled and said. "Nothing. You''ll find out in the future."

    "Anyway, you''d better go."

    "But I hope you won''t take too long to return, or I''ll be disappointed..." She made a seductive expression, wondering if he would desire her and make an effort to return.

    "Is that so? Well, I don''t know how long it will take me to return here. So, until next time." He smiled at her before finally making his way back to the Frost family estate.

    Meanwhile, Reba stood watching him from afar until the man from earlier approached her and asked. "Who was that? Normally you don''t try to seduce mere mortals... Is there something special about him?"

    "Maybe..." She said ambiguously, smiling as she looked in the direction Lothur had gone.

    "You''d better not do anything foolish. You know that you can''t have a normal life with your constitution."

    "You''d better do what the mistress said. Focus on your cultivation, and maybe you will gain control over your poisonous ability..."

    "In any case, our society sees no problem in a woman who..."

    "Tsk!"

    "I don''t want to hear any more of that!"

    "Sigh..." That man sighed as he saw Reba returning to that estate, angry at his words.

    ''It must be hard for someone with her personality not to be able to do what she wants without wreaking havoc on those who get involved with her...''

    ''And to have seen so many people die in her arms already, sigh, how unfortunate...''

    ...

    After some time, Lothur entered his room and soon began to read the introductory material to the profession of poison masters that he had received from Reba.

    And in doing so, he soon discovered something relevant not only to poison masters but also to other spiritual professionals.

    That is, 1st stage cultivators, those who started their journey with 1-star rank, were nothing more than apprentices. Their products were only the result of their knowledge and direct maniption, and there was no spirituality, as might perhaps be expected.

    But this was normal. After all, without the ability to manipte spiritual energy internally or externally in their bodies, no cultivator could use their cultivation to improve a product.

    And as such, 1-star poison masters just used their theoretical knowledge regarding poisons and practiced experiments like those that earthlings would do inboratories.

    The difference between this type of training in the cultivation world and experiments on Earth was that poison masters used the poisons to prepare their bodies for when they could manipte spiritual energy.

    That was because, upon reaching a certain level of poison resistance, a cultivator would naturally add the characteristics of poisons to his spiritual foundation. That was necessary for their further development as poison masters!

    At the beginning of cultivation, spirit and body were the same. Because of this, whatever influenced a cultivator''s body when such a person was at the 1st stage, could hinder or facilitate the development of some future abilities.

    Therefore, that was something that could guarantee how strong and skilled a practitioner would be in the future!

    That was particrly true for poison masters, but it could also influence other types of spiritual professionals.

    Realizing this, it did not take long for Lothur to open the introductory books for formation masters and tailors. He wanted to understand how each of these professions could develop better in the future depending on how he behaved now.

    And so, he spent the rest of the night with eyes on those books, excited by what he was discovering, by what would help him grow in this world!

    ...

 Chapter 104 Learning Three Professions 2

    After studying the contents of those introductory books all night, Lothur discovered what determined a promising formation master or tailor.

    The potential of a person attempting any profession, among them these two, depended on how far one could go in the cultivation ranks.

    An individual does not necessarily need to be powerful to be a high-level professional. But since it was difficult for someone to have attributes far apart from each other, usually only those with the greatest potential could get farther in their respective professions.

    In short, the most important thing was talent, the attribute of Intelligence!

    Someone with a higher value in this attribute could go further in the cultivation ranks and have ess to better resources as a consequence. Still, they would also have a better time mastering their professions of interest.

    As such, Lothur had learned that the most important thing concerning his future professions was to increase his Intelligence!

    This attribute was not necessarily the most important for all professions since some demanded more of other factors.

    For example, while Intelligence was important for a cksmith, it would be useless to have such a thing without a good Constitution or Strength. In the case of poison masters, the most crucial thing was Constitution, since if the body could not withstand the poisons, such a professional could even die!

    And with this night of study, he had learned more about the importance of mental attributes in the world, something that until the day before seemed to pale in front of physical attributes.

    It also made him understand those spiritual professions were much moreplex than the activity of warriors, which was the most popr type of upation in this world.

    Consequently, the earnings of these professionals could not be small. On the contrary, they were probably among the best remunerations one could get in Concordia!

    With this, Lothur had be even more interested in learning those professions, having already memorized several symbols of the formations and materials for poison masters and tailors.

    ...

    The next day, Lothur went to one of the cafeterias on the Frost family estate just after sunrise, still with the information he had just absorbed in mind.

    ''Formation masters can create functional devices that basically function like technology on Earth...'' As he stood in line to get his breakfast, he thought about this in silence.

    ''Obviously, one can''t produce a cell phone or develop the inte with this, but some simpler things are possible.''

    ''Hmm...''

    ''I think I might be able to use this in the carriages of my futurepany!'' His eyes sparkled at this possibility.

    Lothur knew that the local transportation problem was an opportunity for him. But he also understood that someone small like him would be quickly crushed by a significant power that discovered the opportunity.

    If he started his transportationpany and then started making money, it would only be a matter of time before a financial power took over hispany!

    So to take advantage of the opportunity, he knew he needed an innovative means of transportation, which only he could develop.

    That is, something that others could not easily replicate!

    So, by learning a little more about the profession of formation masters, he had already seen the potential for formations to be used to produce alternative means of transportation in this world.

    He had thought to use his knowledge concerning the means of transportation on Earth and try to create formations that would function analogously to the transportation technologies of his previous world.

    At the same time, he had made it a priority to develop a self-destruct formation, something to protect his future inventions.

    Thinking about these things, he smiled as he sat down in a chair in front of one of the manymunal tables in the servants'' area of this estate.

    The cafeteria for the nobles of this family would not open untilter, and since in such a ce Lothur had to hear more disparagingments than in this ce, he preferred toe here.

    With that, he soon began to devour his meal, which, even though it was the simplest option on this estate, was still many times tastier than the best meals he had had on Earth.

    ...

    After finishing his breakfast and ignoring the murmurs in his vicinity, Lothur felt full of energy and returned to his room to have a shower before going to the academy.

    As he did so, he noticed that he had not been tired from staying up all night while studying.

    ''Benefits of cultivation, I suppose...'' He considered such a thing as he stepped into the shower, quickly doing what had to be done and getting out of there to get dressed.

    ''I will continue to study these professions today, but I must find time to shop and start learning a newbat technique.'' He thought of the store Innumerable Scrolls, his only option to get something of the sort.<sub> </sub>

    With his ns in mind, it was not long before he made his way to Morning Star Academy, once again enjoying Annaliese''spany.

    "Good morning, Anna." He smiled at that beauty, already imagining that they would be attending a local auction tonight.

    Hearing that, Annaliese tried to ignore the dreams she had been having recently and talked to Lothur without showing her improper ideas. "Morning..."

    "Are you ready for the auction? Have you picked up your costume?"

    "Hmmm, I think you will enjoy being by my sideter."

    "Oh? Well, I also have something special to wear tonight. You should..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence, realizing that she had almost said something silly. "Anyway, stop by my residence at 7, and then we''ll leave together."

    "All right."

    After hearing that, she watched Lothur for a few moments, remembering theirst conversation. "Did you go in search of the poison master I told you about?"

    "Yes. I think I met that person''s disciple, a green-haired woman named Reba."

    "Very kind this woman. She even gave me the introductory material for practicing her profession."

    "What? Reba? Reba B?ttger?" Annaliese almost jumped out of her armchair after hearing Lothur.

    "Yes, I didn''t hear herst name, but it must be her," Lothur replied calmly. "Is there a problem?"

    "Lothur, did this woman try something strange with you?" Annaliese said in a concerned tone as she leaned her body forward and took one of Lothur''s hands.

    "Did she try something against me? No, why would she do anything?"

    "Lothur, that woman is dangerous!"

    "She has a reputation as someone who seduces men. To make matters worse, every time a man is seen with her, he dies a day or twoter from poisoning!"

    "Who knows what she does with these poor bastards..." She said, looking into his eyes as if to tell him not to get carried away by her looks and sumb to his desires.

    "Oh? That''s truly surprising!" His eyes widened as the previous situation shed through his mind. "But I don''t think she''s that bad. She was quite thoughtful when I was with her and behaved naturally."

    For Lothur, it was customary for women of all ages and sexual preferences to look at him with eyes of appreciation and sometimes desire. So, he had not found the previous situation strange...

    The worry in Annaliese''s heart increased after that was said. "No matter what happens, don''t let that woman y with you!"

    "In fact, try not to let any poison master touch your body. Many forget to clean themselves of certain substances after they are done working because they are already so used to poisons."

    "So it''s not umon for professionals in that field to identally poison other people."

    "So be careful!"

    "OK." He nodded at her, epting that good advice.

    "By the way, always remember to sanitize yourself after using poisons. If you''re not careful, you could end up poisoning people important to you."

    "I''ll remember that."

    "Sigh!"

    ''You give me so much trouble, Lothur...'' She finally rxed a little, still worried about him having contact with that woman. ''Considering his womanizing personality, that will be a problem.''

    ''What can I do?''

    After thinking about it for a while, blushing, she asked. "Anyway, what do you think of this profession? Are you going to pursue a career with it?"

    ...

 Chapter 105 Learning Three Professions 3

    Hearing Annaliese''s question, Lothur looked intensely at her but did not hide his ns. "Whether I will pursue a career in this? Well, I won''t be a traditional poison master who depends on clients to survive."

    "I don''t intend to open a clinic, serve people, or even focus on this profession. The opposite of that, I intend to master this area of knowledge for my own use."

    "Won''t you focus on that? Own use?" Her eyes widened as she found how unusual Lothur''s goal was.

    Not many sessful professionals in this world have more than one upation. In fact, those who had many talents and tried to develop them all usually did not achieve the peak in any of them!

    And with so much history known, most cultivators in this world knew that following such a challenging path was not worth it. After all, it was definitely better to have one specialization developed to its peak than several underdeveloped skills!

    Because of this, people willing to have more than one specialization, as in Lothur''s case, were not at allmon to find, even considering those geniuses with multiple skills.

    On the other hand, after hearing that he wanted to use it for his own use, Annaliese became a little less concerned about his interest. "Don''t you find it simpler to find one upation and then hire the service of professionals to help you with your other goals? That seems much simpler to me."

    "No, because I would have to entrust important things to others when I am still fragile." He went straight to the point.

    Lothur wanted to reach the top, but he did not want to be used or tricked by ill-intentioned people who would surelye his way.

    And even if there were ways for him to trust other people, to hire ''outsourced'' services safely, it would only work if he had the strength to do so. But unfortunately, he did not have the strength on his side, much less the resources to hire other people.

    Thus, learning professions on his own, creating his products, and keeping their secrecy to himself was the best he could do now. As such, he did not judge Annaliese''s suggestion as good for him.

    On the other hand, he honestly did not need to reach the top of any of his future professions. After all, he only wanted to learn them for himself, not for the sake of status, love for the profession, or ambition to be the best in those domains.

    As in the example of the poison masters'' profession, he wanted to use it just to improve his resistance to poisons, thus decreasing his chances of being poisoned to death in the future.

    And considering the peculiar characteristics of his body, he would be better off not trusting other people too much!

    "Oh?" Annaliese''s eyes opened wider, with her finally understanding that Lothur''s ambitions should not be small. ''So you have ns that could be jeopardized if you allow others to know certain details, huh?''

    ''I wonder what you want? It can''t be simple, or you wouldn''t be so concerned as to choose such a difficult path...'' She felt her curiosity about the man in front of her increase to another level, still listening to him.

    "In any case, bing a peak spiritual professional or famous one is not my goal. Eventually, I may even traditionally use my future professions, attending to one or other people, but those will be exceptions."

    "I will be a poison master for my own sake." He looked at her more seriously and asked. "Did your sister tell you what happened recently?"

    "What happened recently? No." She answered awkwardly, not understanding what Lothur could be talking about.

    He then said in a low voice. "Someone broke into your sister''s residence, disguised as her, and poisoned me."

    "What?" She stood up from where she was in nervousness, already feeling her heart beating faster, as one of her hands ran up to Lothur''s left arm. "When did this happen? Why didn''t you tell me about it? For that matter, are you okay?"

    Hearing that woman''s worried tone, Lothur smiled and reassured her. "Don''t worry, Anna. Luckily I resisted that person''s attempt to kill me."

    "Because of that, I decided to be a poison master."

    "So that''s why..." She finally understood the reason for his goals, no longer disagreeing with the choices he was making. ''Who did this? How could anyone act against him like that?''

    Gulp!

    Annaliese then felt a tightness in her chest, fearing that something could happen to that man. ''Someone almost killed him, and I didn''t even notice anything... What am I going to do? What can I do to change this?''

    After feeling nervous for a while, she finally agreed with him, determined to help Lothur. "You''re right. It''s better for you to be average in your professions but have cards up your sleeve than to be vulnerable or dependent on others."

    ''As long as you are safe, it will all be worth it...''

    "So, I think you should focus on your support professions. At the same time, I will find a way to train with you more often!"<sub> </sub>

    "Oh? And what will we do about your parents? Your mother won''t make our time any easier, and I''m not willing to let other people know me as well as you do."

    Annaliese felt good hearing that and promptly said the first alternative that came to her mind. "I have a way."

    "First, I will help you reach a level of strength equivalent to the 5th Transformation. Once that happens, you can enroll in the Cultivation House."

    "After that, we can do pair missions that will give us the excuse to be alone." She smiled at him, feeling that this could be quite fun in addition to being helpful. "We can train while doing missions outside Peters City."

    "I see..." Lothur closed his eyes as he pondered regarding that, realizing that such a thing was indeed the best way for them.

    After all, he did not have enough coins to constantly go to the Cultivation House''s training rooms!

    Thus, this was a good and profitable option for him.

    After that, as their carriage gradually slowed down in the vicinity of the Morning Star Academy, Lothur checked Annaliese''s status.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 6]

    [STR: 19.5] [CON: 22.1] [DEX: 23] [AGI: 21.9]

    ''By my estimates, Annaliese is almost at level 7... Well, that''s good. She''ll be able to train me for longer than I had thought.''

    ''That way, this n of hers can be effective for a good period!''

    "All right, let''s do it your way."

    ...

    After the start of the day for those two, quickly hours passed, and by now, Lothur was getting ready to leave for the auction he and Annaliese had agreed to go to.

    During that day, he had settled several matters at the academy, had some more fun with Elke, and once again noticed an advance in her Constitution.

    Lothur still did not know what was happening. But, for the moment, he had in mind that perhaps their intense ''exercises'' were somehow improving Elke''s muscture, as would happen to an out-of-shape person when starting to train.

    Anyway, he had decided to pay attention to this in the future before he had gone next to her to Innumerable Scrolls and bought another attack technique.

    After that, he learned the basics of such a technique and finished his studies for the day concerning those three spiritual professions he had begun to grasp.

    Of those three professions, he already felt ready to begin practical training, the tailoring one. Still, given his ns for the next few days, he had postponed this until the future.

    In the case of the formation master''s profession, that was definitely the one that required the most of him, so he still did not have enough to start training.

    He still needed to learn more symbols and the workings of this type of spiritual item. Hence, although he already knew the basics, Lothur did not want to rush and would study it a bit more before attempting to build his first formation.

    On the other hand, hispatibility with poisons was genuinely superb, and because of this, he had already begun to experiment with this profession.

    After Lothur learned the basics and tested the set he got from Reba, he had already prepared some poisons!

    But given hismitment to Annaliese, this man left it to start tempering his body with those resourcester, after today''s asion.

    With that, it did not take long for him to leave his room and head toward his appointment with Annaliese!

    ...

 Chapter 106 Arriving At The Auction House

    Upon leaving his room, Lothur looked at his status again, noting his improvements from his training over the past few hours.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 7.7] [CON: 9.3] [DEX: 6.6] [AGI: 8.6]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 13] [WIL: 45.6]

    He had not achieved magnificent results. Still, considering that he had only just mastered his new technique, the attribute points gained were already enough to put a smile on his face.

    Those points hade from an attack technique he had bought earlier, one that specialized in close-range attacks using daggers.

    [Assassin Code] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery Level: Beginner]

    [Description:bine your speed and dexterity to end the lives of those in your path with a dagger, an essential item for anyone pursuing the Assassin Code. Increases the user''s Dexterity effects by 10% while operating.]

    Lothur had purchased this technique because it was just what hecked at the moment, hand-to-handbat. Of course, he could use his ax to do such a thing, but given the size of this type of weapon, it was not as effective as something small and light in those situations.

    On the other hand, Lothur felt he could carry several daggers with him, which he could not do with that other weapon, even considering his spatial ring.

    And considering hisbat style up until then, he felt that the use of the daggerplemented some of his current offensive abilities.

    So, he took advantage of the fact that he already had some daggers that had been left by old enemies and learned such a technique based on this valuable weapon in surprise and close-range attacks.

    Anyway, while he was smiling due to his satisfaction for having learned another technique and improved his stats, Lothur finally met up with Annaliese.

    Upon arriving in front of his sister-inw''s residence, he did not have to wait long and was soon greeted by that woman who looked more beautiful than ever.

    After being greeted at the front door of Annaliese''s house by her, Lothur was momentarily stunned. Because at this moment, such a woman looked much more beautiful and mature than she usually did, almost to the point that he mistook her for Viktoria.

    Annaliese wore a red dress that went down to her knees, enhancing her breasts and making them appearrger than they were. At the same time, such clothing highlighted the ''healthiest'' part of her body, her hips.

    When Lothur saw her, he slowly watched her from head to toe, past her delicate toes, her crystal shoes, her slender ankles, to her beautiful face.

    Seeing Annaliese''s red lips and slightly flushed face, Lothur felt like bringing her closer to him and kissing her right then and there. Unfortunately, there were a few servants in the vicinity. If he did such a thing, that would probably be his end!

    "Anna, you look more beautiful than ever..." He said in a low voice as he showed one of his arms to her, indicating her to follow him.

    Hearing that, Annaliese felt a warmth rise from deep within her body, pleased at such apliment. "You are more striking than ever..." She crossed one of her arms with Lothur''s, already walking beside him toward the exit of that ce.

    "I just hope other women don''t covet my date tonight..." She joked with him as she looked at Lothur, feeling that he actually looked more charming in those clothes.

    Usually, Lothur did not dress badly. After all, the uniform of the Morning Star Academy was not bad. However, Annaliese was not used to seeing him in such distinguished attire, clothes that perfectly matched his first-level appearance.

    And sensing the strong masculine smell that his body exuded, Annaliese could not help but blush and remember their previous actions.

    Gulp!

    ''I don''t know if it was a good idea to do this with him tonight...'' She felt nervous, her heart pounding as she finally got into her carriage. ''But now that I''m here, I can''t back out!''

    ''I can definitely spend a night with my brother-inw without anything happening!''

    ''I''m rational, and I just got a promotion! There''s no way Lothur can mess with my mentality now!'' She smiled internally, confident in herself.

    ...

    5 minutester...

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    "Lothur~ We shouldn''t do this~"<sub> </sub>

    Annaliese said this in a breathless tone, still with her lips connected to Lothur''s, as the two embraced inside that carriage.

    Sensing that they should stop, Lothur tried to ignore his sister-inw''s attractive perfume and taste, rxing his embrace. "Hmm, we''re almost at the auction now. We really must behave..."

    He then smiled at her and straightened his slightly messy clothes, satisfied that his sister-inw''s desires were the same as his.

    After days since they hadst kissed, Lothur had never touched the subject or tried any other advances against her. But on this asion, after they had gotten into that carriage, Annaliese sat next to him and acted as if she was giving him permission to step forward.

    And like someone who would not forgive even his sister-inw, Lothur wasted no time and had brought her into his arms, having spent most of the drive to the auction building kissing her.

    "Lothur, you are so sinful!"

    <o>,m "How can you covet your own sister-inw?" She said in a tone that showed no negative feelings as she tried to fix her dress. "Aren''t you afraid of where this will lead you?"</o>

    "What will you do if my parents find out?"

    "I guess we''ll have to get married..." He smiled at her.

    Hearing that, Annaliese did not think it was a bad idea and just joked with him. "For that, you would have to stay alive. But I don''t think you willst long while you have these thoughts of having two sisters simultaneously."

    Lothur said nothing more after that since they had just arrived at the building where the evening auction was to take ce.

    With that, soon after a servant opened the door to Annaliese''s carriage, Lothur was the first to get out, then he helped his sister-inw down the steps.

    After that, the two walked side by side down a long red carpet, with Annaliese holding one of Lothur''s arms.

    As they did so, dozens of people in the surroundings of that ce who were watching the illustrious people arriving at this asion started looking at those two.

    "Wow!"

    "Look at that goddess over there!"

    "She is adorable!"

    "My god, I would give anything for a night with her!"

    "Haha, you can dream about it!"

    "Look at the person next to her. With a man like that on her side, no woman would look at someone like you..." A young woman said this to the person from before while looking with interest at the most handsome man she had ever seen.

    At the same time asughter sounded around, VIP guests from tonight''s auction were also walking down that red carpet, where those ordinary people were observing the surroundings.

    This auction house had two levels. One for special guests, prestigious and resourceful people. And another for ordinary individuals that could buy reserves.

    Those many people on the outskirts of where Lothur was passing by now were those waiting to enter the standard level of that auction house. In contrast, the entrance, where people were walking down a beautiful red carpet, was where the VIP guests went through.

    So, not only was that couple passing by at that moment, but several other guests that had arrived at the same time as them were heading towards the interior of such a building.

    And with themotion in the surroundings, it was not long before two beautiful women, one blonde and one redhead stepped up a notch and approached Lothur and Annaliese.

    "Looks like this older brother is stealing all the attention for himself... How boring..." The blonde woman said this as she smiled yfully at Lothur and Annaliese.

    "Ah, but it''s not unfair. He truly does have a different aura." The redheaded beauty, dressed in a ck outfit,mented in a low voice as she winked at Lothur before finally introducing herself. "My name is Nora, and this is my friend, Caroline."

    Seeing those two beauties approaching them, Annaliese was not slow to identify their origin. "So you are Miss Frohberg and Miss Waldauer..."

    Nora Frohberg was someone from Sector 4 of the Morning Star Academy, also the daughter of the current head of the city, the leader of House Frohberg. On the other hand, Caroline Waldauer, also from Sector 4, was part of the Waldauer family, the organization that ruled the Linn Province on behalf of House Leopoldine.

    Because of such a background, even though they were not her ssmates in any of their sses, Annaliese soon recognized them.

    "Hehe, Annaliese, who is your escort? I don''t remember anyone so impressive at your side..."

    "He wouldn''t happen to be your future fianc��, would he? That would be a shame." The young blonde, Caroline, said in a provocative tone.

    ...

 Chapter 107 Academy Factions 1

    Upon hearing the provocative question from that blonde woman, Lothur immediately looked at the statuses of those two. And with that, he soon realized that Nora was at level 8, and Caroline was already a 9th Transformation cultivator, the maximum level of the 1st stage.

    [Name: Caroline Waldauer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 38.7] [CON: 42] [DEX: 41] [AGI: 39.9]

    ''Wow!''

    ''This woman is the strongest I''ve ever managed to see the attributes of!''

    ''So that''s the 1st stage limit?'' Lothur watched Caroline''s thin, beautiful face intently, drawing that woman''s attention.

    She then winked at Lothur, smiling graciously, while listening to the almost irritated Annaliese''s response.

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t talk nonsense. He is my brother-inw, Lothur."

    "Oh?" The two beauties walking side by side with Lothur and Annaliese made the same sound of surprise, looking at that fellow as they frowned.

    Both knew of the rumors going around Peters City that Viktoria had married a good-for-nothing guy who had nothing else besides looks. However, neither of them had ever seen Lothur, nor could they even associate that man who exuded a formidable aura with the good-for-nothing.

    Thus, both were surprised to find out who that man was.

    "Sigh..."

    "That''s a real pity," Nora said in a low voice, but not low enough for Annaliese not to hear her.

    "A pity for what? Can you tell me that, Nora?" Annaliese asked with an irritated tone, looking thoughtfully at that redheaded woman.

    Nora then looked for a moment into Lothur''s silver eyes and smiled. "It''s nothing. It''s just a pity that he''s already engaged, hehe..."

    As she covered her mouth with one of her hands, Nora could not help but think of the waste in front of her. ''Ah, how can someone like that not have talent? This world is bizarre...''

    ''Well, I wonder why Viktoria is with someone like him? Is it just because of his looks? I don''t believe it...''

    While Nora was letting her curiosity run wild, Caroline was also thinking about Lothur. ''But that look of his... I can''t tell, but I feel like I''ve seen him somewhere before. I wonder if I''ve met any of his rtives?''

    Unfortunately, apart from the slight sense of familiarity with Lothur, Caroline could not get any answer to her question. As the daughter of the provincial leader, she had seen so many people, nobles, criminals, merchants, etc. So, it was not easy for her to remember the origin of that feeling.

    After a few moments of silence, Lothur formally introduced himself to those women as they finally arrived in the entrance hall of that auction house.

    There were already a dozen people chatting around the area, many with drinks in their hands. Meanwhile, a festive atmosphere was in the air, as if this was a reunion ce for many old acquaintances.

    But in fact, this ce could be considered a reunion one. After all, this was the province''s main city and the most famous auction nearby. Consequently, whenever there were valuable items to be auctioned, many old people already thought to be dead or missing would appear at this ce.

    Of course, not all of them liked to expose themselves and went straight to their VIP rooms. That could easily be seen as not even half of the capacity of the ce was filled, even though there were only 20 minutes left before the start of the event.

    After arriving at that ce, Lothur and those threedies soon had crystal goblets in their hands, chatting while waiting for the auction to start.

    "So you joined the academy, huh?" Nora was surprised to discover such information since that institution was especially strict about new students.

    "Hmmm." Lothur nodded at her, looking into her beautiful eyes. "That ce isn''t bad. I''ve met a lot of interesting things there, and I should be moving up from Sector soon."

    "Really?" Caroline looked quizzically at Lothur, already thinking of a subject important to any student in that organization. "Annaliese, do you intend to take him into your faction? Without it, I don''t think he''ll be able to move up from Sector-3 to 4 in the future."

    "Faction?" Lothur said in surprise, not understanding what they were talking about.

    Annaliese then turned to him and exined. "Lothur, any student can start their own faction at the Morning Star Academy. As for why doing that, well, that''s simply because, without support, no one can develop in the academy."

    The factions of the Morning Star Academy were like small student organizations, which, depending on their influence, could have certain privileges in that institution.

    An example of these privileges was the high-level missions.<sub> </sub>

    Most people in the cultivation world could not cultivate, or they were just low-level cultivators. Because of this, the demand for low-level services was extremely high, as evidenced by the fact that even Lothur, who should not be able to cultivate, was able to ept missions.

    Hence, low-level students like Lothur did not feel the most significant effects of thepetition that existed between cultivators. Consequently, there was no need for him to be in a faction at the moment, so neither he nor Elke had spoken about it until then.

    But that was not sustainable in the long run!

    The number of high-level cultivators decreased more and more as one looked at the top of the cultivation ranks.

    That was behind the existence of a smaller number of missions for more powerful students, creating morepetition for these quests. That was the main point behind the factions!

    To bring people with affinities and power together and then use their joint influence to gain ownership of those missions. That way, the members of a faction could grow faster within the academy, something useful for their status and personal power!

    And so, at a certain point in a student''s journey in that academy, such a person would need to join a faction, or one might not even be able to graduate.

    Annaliese continued. "In any case, you don''t need to worry about joining a faction until you reach Sector-3. Until then, you can develop without much help."

    "On the other hand, no faction would ept a student from Sector-2 or below, so you don''t have to stress about it now."

    "Really?"

    "Hmm, when you want to create your faction, talk to me, and I will help you." His sister-inwmented, already thinking that was his goal.

    After all, if he wanted to keep his strength secret, this would be the best option.

    "Create your faction?" Nora asked with interest. But as she thought about his situation, she soon understood that there was no other alternative for Lothur.

    Caroline then surprised her friend. "If you want, I can arrange a space in my faction for you, Lothur."

    "What?" Annaliese and Nora looked at that blonde in amazement.

    Caroline belonged to one of the three most influential factions of the Morning Star Academy, of which Nora was also a member too.

    "Well, I appreciate the offer. I''ll consider it, and I''ll join the most suitable faction when the timees." Lothur said with a smile on his face.

    He genuinely wanted to hide his strength. But that could certainly be done in a faction where he would not have to have a lot of responsibilities for being the leader or anything like that.

    Lothur understood that being a member of a family, sect, academy, or faction limited a cultivator''s possibilities and power to act. But such limitation came with fewer responsibilities, something he greatly appreciated.

    Lothur did not like the idea of bing a leader or anything like that, and as such, starting his faction went entirely against his ideal of staying away from significant responsibilities.

    And as much as joining a faction had the potential to go against another of his goals, he knew it could be circumvented.

    In his vision, as long as he was strong and skilled enough, he would not only achieve freedom but also keep his strength a secret from most of the members of the faction he joined.

    That was what made Caroline''s offer so interesting!

    That blonde smiled, finding it interesting that he had not turned her down as she had expected.

    "Lothur!" Annaliese pinched his right hand, calling him in a low voice. She then looked at those two and said. "Well, let''s say goodbye for now. The auction is about to start, and I want to find our ce while there''s still time..."

    "Oh? Hehe, see youter."

    "See you."

    After that, Annaliese pulled Lothur by one of his arms, heading toward the flight of stairs on one side of that luxurious hall.

    "Lothur, what are you thinking? Why didn''t you refuse her? Now that you''ve said that, I''m sure she''ll harass you into joining her damned faction!" She said in a slightly annoyed tone, but without drawing attention to the people walking by.

    "Besides, I thought you wanted to keep a low profile, didn''t you?"

    Hearing that, Lothur smiled, thinking that his sister-inw looked even more beautiful when she was irritated. "About that..."

 Chapter 108 Academy Factions 2

    "I want to keep a low profile, but it won''t always be that way, Anna."

    "I will keep it that way as long as I can. But that will change with the contest for the Secret Realm vacancies."

    "Secret Realm? You intend to participate in that?" She nced sideways at him, still walking toward their VIP room.

    "Of course." Lothur smiled.

    How could he miss such a chance?

    The Secret Realm was not an ordinary ce but rather a cultivation sanctuary for low-level people, as was the case with the students of the Morning Star Academy.

    Not only that, such a region of space had been created by high-level cultivators thousands of years ago, even before Leopoldine''s formation!

    Initially, that was just ancient ruins located in an area now belonging to Linn Province. But even though it was a long-known ce, due to the grandeur of these ruins, not even half of it had been explored.

    But this was not surprising. That was because, besides the Secret Realm limiting the cultivation of those who entered it to below the 3rd stage, it did not open constantly and could not be manipted by outsiders.

    Precisely because of these limitations, such a ce remained a mystery to most organizations in this province and even Leopoldine. So, not only was it favorable for the cultivation of low-level people, but it could also have life-changing riches!

    That was not a totally safe ce and had its dangers. But, on the other hand, given its size and the time of exploration, many spaces had already been emptied. However, among those who sessfully passed through it, asionally would appear some individuals who would eventually climb the cultivation and social ranks due to their good fortune there.

    For all that, there was no way that Lothur could not value this opportunity that he had learned at the Morning Star Academy.

    "Are you sure? Not only people from our academy go to that ce. Other institutions in the province and even the Empire are guaranteed ces in the Secret Realm."

    "Then that ce might be much more dangerous than you think!" Annaliese warned as they finally arrived at the ce she had arranged earlier.

    The VIP room they were in was not grand, but besides the fancy armchairs near a balcony on the second floor of that auction house, there was a small living room area there.

    There was a table with some food and drink, a ck leather sofa, and various decorations around it.

    Seeing that, Lothur sat at one end of that sofa and replied to Annaliese. "I am aware of the risks. But, in any case, I will participate in the Secret Realm vacanciespetition. So my strength will eventually show itself."

    "Therefore, joining one of the factions of the academy will not be a problem concerning that."

    "Sigh..."

    "I still think it would be better for you to create your faction. That way, you would not have to be limited by anyone, and you could still act on your own."

    "Your rewards would also be greater..."

    "Hmmm, I understand and agree with your point. But those advantages don''te for free."

    ? "By creating a faction, I would probably face resistance from other existing factions, in addition to all the work of creation and administration."

    "I don''t have the patience to lead. I''d rather find a ready-made organization with the structure to wee me, and that will give me some freedoms. I will have topromise to some degree. Still, at least this faction will be able to open routes for my development." He was sincere with her.

    Of all the people Lothur knew in the cultivation world, Annaliese could be considered the one he trusted the most. That was due not only to the sinful rtionship they were developing but to both of their pasts.

    Before his arrival here, Annaliese had been one of the few people of status not to treat his predecessor badly, often dealing with him on an equal footing. And since the earthling Lothur still had some of his predecessor''s feelings and personality, he could not help but feel good about his sister-inw.

    On the other hand, she was the one who knew most about him at the moment, but even so, his secrets had not spread. That way, he did not feel he should hide his thoughts from her!

    "So that''s it... Well, if you wanted, I would take care of those things for you myself. But, forget it since you don''t want to create a faction." Annaliese said in a defeated tone.

    "Oh? But aren''t you already part of a faction? How would you help me with that?"

    "I''m part of my sister''s faction. So, it wouldn''t be hard for me to get her approval to help you."

    "Viktoria has her faction, huh? Well, that was to be expected..." Lothur smiled, looking at a painting in front of that sofa he was on.

    Meanwhile, Annaliese continued to watch him. "Since you want to join an existing faction, why not do it in our faction? Ice Feathers isn''t the strongest at the moment, but we''re second in the academy faction rankings!" She said in a proud tone.

    "Ice Feathers? Is that the name of your faction?" Lothurughed. "What is the rank of Caroline''s faction?"

    Hearing that, Annaliese felt a little ufortable but soon answered Lothur. "The faction she is part of is called Draconic Feathers and is ranked third."<sub> </sub>

    "And first ce?"

    "Angelic Feathers is ranked first."

    Lothur frowned, noticing the pattern. "All the factions have ''feathers'' in their name? What''s up with that?"

    Annaliese then answered him. "Well, that''s a tradition in the academy. The first faction created there, which had that name, once saved many students and teachers from a deadly threat."

    "After that, several members of that faction continued in the academy even after graduation, taking on roles as teachers and protectors. Because of that generation, the academy had a golden age that secured several achievements across the Empire for our academy."

    "Even the Imperial Academy of that era suffered whenpeting with us!" She said in a proud tone, full of envy for the glory of the ancestors who had achieved such an aplishment.

    Currently, the Morning Star Academy only had one of those individuals from that faction, and its level had declined from the top of the Empire to fifth ce.

    Thinking about how difficult it was for them to stay among the top five academic institutions in the Empire, Annaliese could not help but admire the achievement of those ancestors.

    "Anyway, after that, various factions began to emerge within the Morning Star Academy, but they all adopted ''feathers'' in their name."

    "Over time, the academy itself added a requirement to have that word in the name of new factions. So, every faction in our academy shares that characteristic."

    "Wow, I didn''t know that story..."

    "In any way, I am surprised that your sister is not the leader of the strongest faction. I thought she was the most talented of the current generation..." He said in a slightly provocative tone.

    "Tsk!"

    "My older sister is the most talented of her age group!"

    "But there are people older than her in Sector 6, and Angelic Feathers has more than twice the number of members of our faction!"

    "How can wepare to them? They even have three students already at the end of the Spiritual Warrior stage!"

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes widened in surprise at such information. ''That''s impressive!''

    ''So there are students in that academy who are as strong as my father-inw? How can that be?''

    That was the difference in talents. Aiken Frost had hundreds of years in this world, but he had already encountered a bottleneck in cultivation. On the other hand, other individuals only a few years older than his daughter were already close to his level.

    But people like that were not numerous, and even they could not ovee someone like Aiken so easily. After all, cultivation only became moreplex at higher levels and with a cultivator''s age.

    Someone not only had to gather energy to advance to higher stages but also understand Natural Laws. As such, while it might be quick to move up within a stage, changing stages was a job for few.

    On the other hand, the best years of cultivation were definitely the early years of a person, particrly between the ages of 10 and 30. After that, cultivators would notice their advancement speed dropping each year dramatically.

    That, of course, could be suppressed for a while if such an individual achieved faster advancement than his aging. But in the end, the stage advancement requirements were not simple, and since hardly any people could change their talent, most cultivators would encounter bottlenecks preventing them from reaching the top.

    In any case, for Lothur, the situation of that academy was still imposing!

    After a while, he said in a low voice. "Maybe I should join Angelic Feathers..."

    "What did you say?" Annaliese almost jumped on him, ready to teach this ungrateful brother-inw a lesson.

    Lothur thenughed and brought her into his arms, trying to justify himself. "I''m just kidding!"

    ''Of course, I''ll join you and Viktoria!"

    "Humph!"

    "That''s better!" She pouted at him when the lights outside that room finally went out, indicating that the auction was about to start.

    "Oh? Let''s go to our seats!" She ran to one of the armchairs on the balcony of that VIP room.

    ...

 Chapter 109 Beginning Of The Auction

    As soon as the lights outside Annaliese and Lothur''s VIP room went out, the two of them promptly sat down in the main seats in that area.

    From there, they faced a big area with an empty space between the first and the third floor of this theater-like building. There, the rows of seats on the first floor were crowded, while on the opposite side of Lothur''s VIP room, a stage about 30 meters in length stretched from one end of that space to the other.

    While a single round light source illuminated the center of that stage, Lothur looked around the surrounding area, seeing the other balconies of the VIP rooms on three sides of that area.

    There were two levels of special rooms in the local auction house. One was this one on the second floor, where Lothur and his sister-inw were at the moment. The other, on the third floor, was where normally the most prominent individuals of the province stayed whening to this ce.

    But unlike the VIP rooms on the second floor, those on the third floor had dark ss in front of their balconies that were able to totally conceal the identity of the people there. On the other hand, those ces were less numerous and more prominent than those simr to Lothur and Annaliese''s area.

    "You said earlier that a Silver-grade armor would be auctioned today. Will your family try their luck here?" Lothur looked to his left side, where his beautiful sister-inw was watching the front of that ce with an anxious look on her face.

    She turned to him and said. "Hmm, my mother and sister must be here too."

    ''Oh? Looks like you really like your brother-inw, huh?'' Lothurughed, realizing that she had preferred toe to this ce by his side rather than with those two.

    ...

    Meanwhile, on the third floor of that building...

    Viktoria and Mabel were sitting side by side on a balcony in the left area of that building, near the stage, at an angle that Lothur''s wife could see where her sister was.

    "Didn''t Annaliese say she wouldn''te with us to the auction?" She asked her mother, still looking toward those two well-dressed, attractive people.

    "Hmm?" Mabel looked at her daughter with a distracted look due to the many things on her mind. "Yes, she said."

    "Are you worried about her disinterest in apanying us to events like this? Don''t worry, Vicky. Anna is still immature. But sooner orter, she will grow up and be more responsible."

    "But for now, let''s allow her to have fun with her friends."

    "Hmm, she must  enjoy having fun with her friends..." Viktoriamented in a low voice, curious as to why her sister hade to this ce alongside Lothur. ''Are they really friends?'' Doubt arose in her heart as she saw the blush on Annaliese''s cheeks.

    But as she thought about that, finally, a distinct sound reverberated through that area. Soon after, a person walked across that stage until finally reaching the lighted circr area.

    With the arrival of this person at the center of that stage, thest voices in the surroundings ceased as everyone looked in the direction of that ck-haired, well-bearded man, who wore a luxurious ck suit.

    Standing there, he looked from one side to the other, pleased that he was hosting a fully booked auction once again. He then began to speak. "Good evening, everyone!"

    "Dear guests, wee to another round of Weidmann Gate auctions!"

    "This one is named Martin Waldauer, and I will be hosting this asion for the next few hours..." He quickly introduced himself, causing several murmurs to arise in the surroundings as he was none other than the son of Linn Province Duke!

    Considering this alone, many of the more ordinary people in that ce could not help but be amazed that a person of such status was there hosting this event.

    But this was no surprise for the most influential people in the VIP area. Despite that person''s unusual status and power, this was the auction house of the duke''s family!

    On the other hand, Martin''s presence in this ce meant something more. The presence of valuable items on this asion!

    Leopoldine naturally had its rules that restricted violent actions within its cities. However, because of some riches, even some of the most peaceful minds could be carried away by greed.

    In this case, even if this was Peters City and the duke''s auction house, Weidmann Gate used that peak 2nd stage cultivator to host this event!

    ''Level 15, huh? This guy is stronger than my father-inw!'' Lothur was impressed to see that individual who was ending speaking the rules of this auction.

    "It looks like there truly are valuable things to be auctioned off, Lothur!" Annaliesemented to him in an animated tone, smiling graciously.

    "Hmm, it looks like that''s right, but... Why are you so excited? I don''t think we''ll be able to buy anything here."

    She looked at him with a yful look and said. "Who says I can''t?"

    "Oh?"

    "Obviously, I can''t dispute a Silver-grade armor, but there will certainly be items within my budget!" She said confidently.

    ''Well, I only have 150,000 bronze coins. Let''s see if I can get something...'' Lothur turned his attention to that stage as he remembered the earnings he had recently had.

    In addition to the academy missions, he had sold some of the items collected from the bodies of his enemies and raised funds from them. Therefore, his financial reserves had reached that amount.

    Martin then finished his presentation. "... Well, with that said, I hope everyone here understands the position of our auction house and behaves properly during this asion."

    "We will not tolerate interruptions by people trying to use their status to stop the auction from going forward. Whoever bids the highest will be the winner."<sub> </sub>

    "Don''t me us if you or your organization lose the right to participate in our auctions in the future!" He said in a tone charged with energy, making hundreds of people in that ce tremble with fear.

    "How terrifying the aura of a peak Spiritual Warrior!"

    "Incredible!"

    "So the rumors are true?"

    "Truly worthy of the future leader of the province! He''s already reached that level in just 100 years of cultivation!"

    "What a prodigy!"

    "He''s even more talented than his father..."

    Severalments arose in the first-floor seats and the VIP rooms.

    But Martin was not bothered by the voices that momentarily arose in that ce and soon positioned himself next to an item that had already been lit on that stage.

    "Well, to begin this auction, we have here a unique artifact, which, even in our humble house, we have never had the chance to auction something of the sort." He removed a ck cloth that looked of very high quality, covering the item that stood on a one-meter-high pir.

    In doing so, Martin revealed to everyone in the ce a war hammer with a handle more than a meter long and a head shaped like a square pyramid, red and gray.

    He then continued. "That is an imposing war hammer produced with the metal alloy of Spiritual Carbon and Deep Sea Iron, one of the toughest metals found in Concordia!"

    "This item is ssified as being a Bronze-grade weapon. But make no mistake, due to the presence of that special mineral, it can even sh with Silver-grade weapons without being destroyed in a single blow."

    "On the other hand, testing of this item gives us confidence that it can even cause damage to ordinary or damaged Silver-grade armor if used with caution."

    "Finally, if used by a 3rd stage cultivator, the projection spirit from it is almost 50% as strong as that of Silver-grade weapons!"

    After those sweet words were spoken, many people there began to voice their thoughts, surprised that the auction house was already starting the event with an item of such value.

    "Amazing!"

    "Looks like we will only have valuable items today..."

    "Damn! Why didn''t I bring more coins? Now how am I going to get artifacts for my family?"

    "That war hammer is truly interesting..."

    "Haha, we are destined!"

    After Martin made a brief moment of silence, waiting for the crowd to calm down, he finally said. "Well, the starting bid is 40,000 silver coins, with a minimum raise of 1,000 silver coins."

    Upon hearing that, Lothur, who wasfortably in his armchair drinking something, suddenly felt an urge to spit the entire contents into his mouth, shocked at that number.

    ''40,000 silver coins? That''s 400,000 bronze coins! How can that be? They already start the auction with an item of that value?'' He leaned forward, looking more closely at that war hammer.

    But then he began to hear several voices. "41.000."

    "42.000."

    ...

    "49.000."

    ...

    "88.000!" A slightly nervous voice gave that bid when there were not many leftpeting for that item.

    ? After that, Martin called out to the audience three times until no one else dared to raise the bid for that item. "Well, sold for 88,000 silver coins to the gentlemen in room number 12."

    And then, after a few seconds ofmotion, Martin walked over to the side of where another item was, with the lighting of the previous one being turned off and this oneing on.

    He then removed the fabric covering that item, revealing what appeared to be a femur bone, metallic, red, and blue.

    "Well, as you can see, this is..."

 Chapter 110 Soul Bone

    "Soul bone!" Viktoria stood up from her armchair as she identified that, speaking out loud. But due to the formations in that VIP room, only her mother could hear her.

    Mabel then nodded in agreement and said in a tone charged with interest. "Indeed, that is a soul bonepatible with the left femur!"

    Soul Bones were a type of unique cultivation item produced when a matured demon died in natural ways or was killed without the chance to self-destruct.

    There were two kinds of beings in this world. One was those of pure bloodline, or instead of the same species. The other was of half-breeds created by the mixtures of two or more species. The demons in question were members of a pure humanoid species of the same category as humans and animals.

    In any case, a unique reaction would be triggered within a demon''s corpse at the moment of their death. Such an event would concentrate thews and energies remaining in the corpse into one of the many bones in its body. That resulted in what became known in this world as Soul Bones!

    Soul Bones were itemspatible among pure species only with humans and could provide passive abilities to those who sessfully absorbed them.

    Because of this, and also because demons could strengthen themselves by drinking human blood and devouring human flesh, those two kinds were natural enemies who hunted each other!

    And so, when Martin presented that blue and red Soul Bone, reactions like Viktoria''s immediately arose in the surroundings.

    "It''s a Soul Bone!" An old man stood up in the middle of the armchairs on the first floor with an expression of astonishment on his face.

    "Unbelievable! I never thought I would have the chance to see one of these at an auction!"

    "It''s truly our luck to find such a thing here!"

    "Is that a Soul Bone sold by a demon hunter? Is someone like that in our city?" A young woman in one of the VIP rooms on the second floormented on this with a tone full of admiration and interest.

    Humans and demons naturally hated each other. So, demon hunters were highly valued and respected in human society!

    "But I wonder why the owner of this is auctioning off something like this? Maybe he is an expert who already has theplete set of Soul Bones?"

    "If that is the case, that person must be a Saint at the very least!" Someone said with a look full of admiration and respect.

    There was a limit to how many Soul Bones a human could absorb.

    In short, each human could absorb one bone in the head area, four in the legs, four in the arms, and one in the torso area. No matter the type of bone, these were the limits for each part of the body, and ten bones in total were the maximum that a human could absorb.

    Precisely because of this, the idea that there was a person with aplete set of Soul Bones was simply fantastic. Since only those strongest in the world could achieve this, many in the surrounding area soon thought that there was some senior cultivator in the city!

    ...

    As loudments spread throughout the first two floors of that auction house, Annaliese and Lothur were also shocked to see that being auctioned off.

    After all, in addition to demons being powerful and having extremely high vitality, which made it difficult to kill one of them, the number of these beings was not significant!

    To get an idea, if there were 500 million humans in Concordia, then the demon poption should not even reach 10 million. Because of this, any Soul Bone could be considered rare, even those from beings of weaker lineages.

    "A Soul Bone..."

    "Unbelievable!"

    "I didn''t think people were willing to sell their Soul Bones!" Annaliesemented in a vibrant tone to Lothur, full of interest to know what the ability of that bone would be.

    The Frost family had three Soul Bones as they could be removed from human bodies sometime after the death of their former owner. Aiken had two of these three, and Viktoria had the third.

    Mabel also had two soul bones, which she had obtained before joining the Frost family.

    And knowing how powerful such an item could be, Annaliese was full of curiosity, already hoping that her family would acquire the item.

    Lothur then agreed with her as he stared with wide eyes and mouth at that red and blue bone. "It''s a shame I don''t have enough coins. Otherwise, I would try topete for it."

    "With something like that, gaining a passive ability or even an immediate strength increase would be like a walk in the park!"

    Lothur naturally already knew about Soul Bones due to his studies over the past few weeks at the Morning Star Academy. As such, he understood perfectly well how valuable a bone like that could be.

    Even the lowest quality bones, those of Iron-grade, could help those who absorbed them significantly. That was because, although there was no possibility of removing a Soul Bone without the death or crippling of its owner, it could grow along with the cultivator who had it!<sub> </sub>

    Knowing this, Lothur was more than interested in that item!

    "Hmmm." She nodded at him.

    In general, Soul Bones inherited one of the abilities of the demon who generated it. But there was also the possibility that such a resource could transform into an energy form highlypatible with humans.

    Because of this, even talent enhancement or vitality increases were not impossible to achieve by absorbing a Soul Bone!

    Martin''s voice then sounded after the initial moment of agitation. "I present you with this Femur Soul Bone, previously belonging to a Servant Demon who has reached the 2nd stage of cultivation."

    The purity of bloodline ranked demons, ranging from those with the minor talent, Servants, through Lord, General, Monarch and finally, the most talented, Emperor.

    As for the cultivation level, the relevance of this to the Soul Bone was that the more powerful the demon, the more mature the ability left. But, of course, this had no bearing on the quality of the bone since what truly mattered regarding this characteristic was the purity of the demon''s bloodline.

    One of those beings with a purer bloodline would naturally leave behind a Soul Bone with a more powerful ability. On the other hand, individuals of the same bloodline rank could leave their skill more mature if it was of a higher level.

    The auctioneer then said. "The senior selling this Soul Bone informed us that while alive, the demon who generated this item had a mind control ability. So, we judge that whoever absorbs it will probably gain a passive ability of the same kind."

    ...

    "Mind control?"

    "That''s interesting... But it''s a pity that Soul Bone is only from a Servant demon." An old man with his head full of white hair said this in a low voice to the people next to him in one of the VIP rooms on the third floor.

    "An Iron-grade soul bone doesn''t seem that relevant to my family."

    "Hmm, finding one of those would be great. But paying for it might not be worth the cost... It''s not for nothing that the demon hunter behind it is selling it." A man with ck hair and a rtively young face said this to the old man at his side.

    "Let''s see what happens..."

    ...

    "Vicky, what do you think about this?" Mabel asked her daughter, still looking with interest at that Soul Bone.

    It was true that bones could develop with their owners. Still, it was much better to develop something that was already powerful. Considering that, it was not strange that the interest of many of the most powerful in that ce waned after that man''s description.

    "Well, a Soul Bone is still a Soul Bone."

    "If the price isn''t exaggerated, I think it''s worth trying to buy it. But, of course, that won''t do for me, as I already had a femur bone. But it might be useful for Anna, who doesn''t have one."

    "In the best-case scenario, that Soul Bone can turn into energy to improve her talent without even taking up one of the slots she has for absorbing Soul Bones. At worst, she might gain a valuable skill."

    "Oh?" Mabel smiled.

    She already knew all that. The reason for her question was actually to test her daughter''s decisions, to test the future heir to the Frost family!

    And with that in mind, Mabel turned her attention to Martin, who was finishing his presentation.

    "... With all that said, I announce that the starting bid for this Soul Bone is 15,000 silver coins, with a minimum increase of 500!"

    And then, soon, several bids began to emerge in that ce.

    "15.000!"

    "15.500!"

    "20.000!" A voice broke from Lothur''s VIP room, momentarily drawing the attention of many people in that ce.

    ...

 Chapter 111 Winning Bid

    After hearing the sweet voice of the woman at his side, Lothur noticed the thoughtful expression on her face and was surprised by her high opening bid for the Soul Bone.

    "Isn''t that an enormous increase, Anna? The bidding has just started, and you''ve already raised your bid by nine times the minimum increase amount."

    She looked at him and smiled before exining her reasons. "That''s necessary. To scare off others interested in that Soul Bone, I need to show right at the start that I''m willing to spend a lot for it."

    Auctions were events full of possibilities, where a product could reach prices even tens of times higher than its original value. Precisely because of this reality, people who participated in events like these had their strategies for getting items of interest without going bankrupt.

    One of these strategies was to make considerable price increases right at the beginning of the offers and thereby scare off other interested parties.

    Suppose everyone followed the rule of bidding only the minimum amount. In that case, each person bidding could get the impression that the price increase would not be so impressive. That is, they could make a 10,000 product go to 20,000 without finding it too strange, but if a single bid increased the value of the product by the same amount, it would scare them away.

    That was strange, but it was how the human mentality worked.

    Annaliese could join the other interested parties in helping the price of that Soul Bone reach 20,000. But while that would not scare anyone away, a single 4.5 thousand increase was enough to make the other interested parties think twice about what they were doing.

    And as expected, after her bid, silence permeated that ce for a few moments, with several of the interested parties rethinking what they were doing.

    "20.500!"

    "21.000!"

    Annaliese did not fret and said. "25.000!"

    With that bid, several people in the other VIP rooms on the second floor looked in her and Lothur''s direction, realizing that such a beauty would not give up this Soul Bone.

    "Looks like Annaliese truly wants it, huh?" Caroline said to Nora as she looked at those two from a distance.

    "What are you going to do, Nora? Are you still going to try to buy that Soul Bone? I don''t think she''s willing to give it up..."

    Hearing that, the redhead clenched her fists, feeling bad that Annaliese stood in her way.

    "Tsk!"

    "Well, that Soul Bone has the potential to help me get stronger, but I can''t spend all my savings on somethinging only from a 2nd stage Servant demon."

    "Hmm, my own family wanted to directly buy this Soul Bone from the demon hunter selling it since it is never bad to have more Soul Bones. But that senior insisted on putting it up for auction, and we don''t think it''s worth that many coins." Carolinemented to her friend, indicating that she agreed with Nora''s decision.

    "In any case, House Frost is still one of the richest in the Province, so let''s allow Annaliese to spend more of their resources on this low-level item." She smiled with a mysterious look in her eyes, thinking that it was not so bad that such a person would get the Soul Bone.

    ''At the end of the day, my Waldauer family will gain the most...''

    "Hmm, you are right."

    "The Frosts are our rivals. So, I will wait for another Soul Bone." Noramented when the bidding for that item had reached 30,000 silver coins.

    "Soon, we will have thepetition for the Secret Realm vacancies. I heard that there a Soul Bone will be..."

    ...

    While those two were talking, Mabel looked toward her daughter and Lothur, feeling surprised to see those two there.

    "That girl... What is she doing with him? Viktoria, did you know about this?"

    "I found out a few minutes ago... But I didn''t know about their ns toe to this auction."

    "Tsk!"

    "Later today, I want you to deal with your little husband. I find this rtionship between him and your sister weird!"

    Sensing her mother''s tone, Viktoria sighed, but she agreed that, indeed, those two were closer than they should be. "In any case, will we let Anna get on with it? The price is already at 30,000 coins..."

    "Sigh!"

    "That girl..." Mabel closed her eyes but did not think it was a terrible idea that her daughter was running after that item using her own resources and not directly that of the family.

    Obviously, Viktoria and Annaliese had their allowance in the Frost family, something equivalent to their aplishments and talents, simr to the earnings of the members of that organization. As such, strictly speaking, those coins were not necessarily from the family''s reserves.

    So, seeing that her daughter had not asked her for such an item and was willing to bid for it herself, Mabel was pleased with Annaliese''s determination.

    "Well, let''s allow her to buy that Soul Bone. That will be a good learning experience for her."<sub> </sub>

    ...

    "30 thousand for thedy in room number 4. Anyone gives more?"

    After silence permeated that ce, finally, the auctioneer tapped a small hammer on a piece of wood and said. "Sold for 30,000 to thedy in room number 4!"

    "Yes!" Annaliese said in delight, almost jumping into Lothur''s arms to hug him.

    "Congrattions on your aplishment, Anna. I hope this Soul Bone makes you more powerful." Lothur smiled at her.

    "Hehe, thank you!"

    After that, Martin quickly sold three more items at the auction, a Bronze-grade formation, a Bronze-grade soul cultivation technique, and a map.

    Each of them had achieved higher values than the previous items. Still, none of them had been disputed by Annaliese or her family.

    And with that, the auction quickly passed the first thirty minutes of the event, when the sixth item of the evening appeared on stage.

    "Our next item is a Bronze-grade pill, with 70% purity!" The auctioneer opened his hands, showing the pill that had two golden stripes parallel to each other in the middle of that item. "Dear guests, this pill was produced by alchemist Trautmann a few months ago, before he became a 3-star rank."

    "So, I guess everyone here understands the quality of this resource, right?" He asked, looking from one side of that ce to the other.

    "ording to alchemist Trautmann, this pill can stimte the five bodily senses and the spiritual sense of the one who consumes it. Obviously, the effects will be best on people below the 3rd stage, with better results on someone at the end of the 1st stage."

    He then smiled, knowing what many there must have had in mind. "But don''t worry, this pill is totally harmless to weaker cultivators!"

    "Even mortals could take it without danger of suffering from the pill''s power!"

    "What?"

    "Is that true?"

    "So there are pills capable of even that?"

    Several voices rose in the surrounding area, with many curious about that fact.

    Pills were items made from spiritual medicines, ingredients with energy, and potentially aggressive particles. As such, most pills in this world have side effects if not consumed by qualified people.

    Because of this, after Martin''s speech, many of the less well-informed in that ce eximed their surprise.

    "I understand your doubts, but what I said ispletely true. This pill will stimte the body of the one who ingests it to its limit. After that, it will naturally decay and lose all its effects without harming the body or the cultivation of such a person."

    "That is the main point of this pill!"

    "With that, the starting price of the Six Senses Pill is 30,000 silver coins, with a minimum increase of 2,000 coins!"

    "35.000!"

    "37.000!"

    As several bids sounded in the surrounding area, most of theming from the VIP rooms on the third floor, Lothur curiously observed the situation.

    "Anna, a single pill costs all that?"

    She looked at her brother-inw and said. "Actually, a pill like that costs a little more if you want to get it in alternative ways."

    "But since this is an auction that can quickly raise the price of it, naturally, there is a small discount for the initial offer."

    "In any case, although it is a considerable amount for a single pill, if what the auctioneer said is true, then it is indeed worth that. After all, even someone at the 1st stage can ingest it."

    "Imagine the effects of a Bronze-grade pill on someone like us? The effects of it would easily bring their senses to the level of someone at the 2nd stage even if their cultivation were still at the 1st stage!"

    "Oh?"

    "Pills are that mysterious?" His eyes shed in interest while a wish surged in his heart. "For that matter, what is the difference between pills and potions? Can you tell me a little about alchemy?"

    ...

 Chapter 112 Alchemy

    After listening to Lothur''s questions, Annaliese ignored the bids and started talking about alchemy with him. "Well, pills are mighty resources, capable of changing the lives of their users from water to wine."

    "Some can rejuvenate people near death by old age. Others can heal mortal injuries. The best of them are those that can improve our useful characteristics for cultivation or our professions."

    "In the case of this pill being auctioned off, I believe it is extremely important for cultivators of virtually all professions. After all, senses are always important, no matter what area of knowledge we are talking about!"

    "So, pills really can be described as mysterious and powerful." Sheughed graciously, interested in how Lothur was looking at her. "As for the difference between them and potions, well, there is a big difference."

    "Potions are liquid, while pills are solid. That implies that the absorption of these resources is done differently by our bodies."

    "The consequence is that there are different uses for each of them."

    "For example, potions are absorbed by our bodies more quickly than pills. In fact, while we had to circte our energies in our bodies to use the medicinal effect of a pill, the same is not necessary for potions."

    "Potions act directly. They are absorbed like water and therefore have faster and simpler effects."

    "Oh? It seems that potions are better than pills..." Lothurmented in curiosity.

    "No, pills are definitely much better." She smiled at his naive mistake. "Potions truly do have better effects in certain situations, but they have one w that is hard to correct..."

    "The too easy absorption!"

    "It might be nice to have high absorption in certain situations, but that diminished potions'' potential. After all, if they are easily absorbed, then alchemists cannot concentrate much medicinal power on them. Otherwise, such a resource could quickly turn into poison!"

    The difference between medicine and poison could be vast, but among the distinctions was the dose. The body could develop resistance without treating the problem if the dose was too low. On the other hand, if the dose was too high, it could easily exceed the body''s limits and cause irreparable damage.

    As such, potions were usually consumable resources with low medicinal concentration besides being more challenging to produce.

    Precisely because of this, the potential of potions was not as great as that of pills!

    Pills, however, being more difficult to absorb, could carry significant power in themselves, which could be absorbed by cultivators little by little.

    Besides this tremendous positive point, while the effects of potions were limited to the fleshy body, pills could even influence the soul of cultivators!

    Of course, this would require the one consuming such a pill to circte his energies through his soul cultivation technique while the ''digestion'' of the pill was taking ce.

    In any case, the potential of pills was indeed better than that of potions.

    "But don''t try to see pills and potions aspetitors, Lothur. These are two products made by alchemists that areplementary, notpetitors."

    "Let''s say you have an injury and are unconscious. So, in that situation, someone next to you using a potion on you is definitely more interesting and safer. But, on the other hand, after you regain some of your consciousness, using a proper pill could help you recover to a more significant extent."

    "Anyway, that depends a lot on the circumstances. But pills and potions have their uses without nullifying each other."

    "I see..."

    She then continued. "As for alchemy, well, that is the second most important spiritual profession on our continent."

    "The three most important professions in our continent are that of formation masters, then alchemy, and finally, the mostmon of all, that ofbat masters."

    "However, as much as alchemy is only second, it is definitely the most used among us cultivators. In fact, it is only not in the first ce because mortals rarely use pills and potions. At the same time, formations solve almost every daily problem."

    "But alchemy is vital since it is the only profession capable of manipting an infinite variety of unique cultivation resources to produce effects useful to us cultivators."

    "Poison masters can do something simr but are limited to using poisons to ''purify.'' Therefore, never could the products of such a practitioner solve diseases or ailments not rted to toxins. But alchemy can do that!"

    "Because alchemy is so capable of solving problems, this profession is critical and naturally has a very high value for those who study it."

    "So, the prices of certain pills can truly be as high as that one at auction. But pills of the same rank can have different values!"<sub> </sub>

    "The price depends on what such resources can do." She finished her exnation while the most recent bid for that pill was already 81,000 silver coins.

    After hearing that, Lothur was interested in learning about such a profession. Still, since he was already busy learning others at the moment, he just left a mental reminder to look for it in the future.

    "111,000!" A slightly annoyed voice gave this bid, finally making other peoplepeting for that pill fall silent.

    "Any bids higher than the gentleman in room 31?" The auctioneer looked in the direction of the VIP rooms on the third floor of that area, with a hammer in his hand, waiting to give the signal.

    Sensing no indication that there would be any new bids, that man counted to three until he mmed down his hammer, indicating the end of the bids for that pill. "Six Senses Pill sold to the senior in room 31 for 111,000 silver coins!"

    After that, a few more minutes passed, and three other items were auctioned off, each with prices simr to or slightly higher than that pill.

    But that was not strange to happen. After all, as much as items further along in the auction order were more valuable, the selling price at an event like this always depended on the intent of the potential buyers.

    Hence, even the first items in such an event could be priced close to thest, which logically should be worth more.

    In any case, during the time that had passed, Lothur and Annaliese just followed the bids, sometimes talking about the auctioned items but not bidding anymore.

    But it was not that neither of them was interested, but that they were both out of coins!

    Lothur only had the equivalent of 15,000 silver coins, which was not enough for him to join the initial bidding on these items. As for Annaliese, she had already spent more than 60% of her reserves, so naturally, she did not have enough coins to continue bidding.

    But both were interested in seeing thest item of the evening, that Silver-grade armor!

    "Do you think your family will try to buy that rumored armor? So far, they haven''t made any offers..." Lothurmented.

    "Well, my mother is only in this ce to bid for that armor. So it''s only natural that she hasn''t bid on the other auctioned items just by being around."

    While they were talking, a servant of that auction house finally arrived in that VIP room, carrying arge rectangr metal box with her.

    "Dear guests, I am here to deliver your item." A woman dressed as a high-ranking servantmented as she bowed her head to those two, standing bent over between their armchairs.

    Realizing what this visit was all about, Annaliese promptly tossed a bag full of coins to that woman and then put that metal box in her spatial ring.

    After checking the number of coins, that servant wasted no more time there, having thanked Annaliese for her preference for this auction house, before departing from whence she came.

    "When are you going to absorb that Soul Bone, Anna? Can I watch?" Lothur asked.

    She nodded her head in agreement and said. "I will do that when we get home. Then I will call my sister, and you cane to watch me without my mother causing trouble."

    "Hmm, thanks."

    "By the way, may I take a look at this Soul Bone? I am curious to see such a thing..."

    "Sure. When we get back, I''ll let you take a closer look at it before I start absorbing it."

    "Oh? OK then."

    Following those words, the auctioneer came to the side of something shaped like a humanoid doll covered by a long ck cloth.

    "Dear guests, we are finallying to the end of this asion, with the evening''sst but not least item!"

    He then pulled the fabric from above that humanoid doll, finally revealing the outlines of the most anticipated item of the evening.

    Everyone in that ce fell silent. Even those on the second floor who had no chance of getting such a thing sat in their seats politely, watching the auction of thest item.

    "That is a Silver-grade Armor that..."

 Chapter 113 The Last Item

    "This is a Silver-grade armor found in a historic ruin in the Three Great Lakes region."

    The Three Great Lakes region was further east of Leopoldine, where the great mountain range that prevented ess to the sea to that state was located.

    That was an ancient region where, thousands of years ago, some of the most powerful families of the time of the ten independent regions that existed before the formation of the empire were located.

    However, with the victory of House Leopoldine against the Allied Army of the Ten Independent Regions, that area had been devastated thousands of years ago. At the time in question, such a ce was abandoned, as it had no fertile soil, and with some consequences of the war, that area became home to high-level beasts.

    Because of this, some of the wealth of those devastated organizations or even those killed in the war had not been looted due to the area''s dangers. Hence, there were still items of value in those ruins, today being an area of exploration for brave and powerful people.

    The auctioneer continued his presentation. "We estimate that such armor is from the time of the War of Conquest, probably an artifact made by the enemy forces of the imperial family!"

    After this was said, several sounds of surprise and excitement arose in the surroundings of that auction house. But that was not for nothing. After all, the organizations formerly based in such a region were known for their excellence in the cksmith profession!

    At the time of the Leopoldine family''s conquest, this organization was more powerful than the enemies of the ten independent regions. But, of course, the strengths were not that distinct when all enemies were added together. Yet, individually speaking, that imperial family was already stronger than each of the organizations in those areas at that time.

    However, even though that imperial house had exterminated many enemies before the formation of the Allied Army of the Ten Independent Regions, they had had great difficulty dealing with the powers of the Three Great Lakes region at that time.

    The reason for this? Well, it was simply the high-level artifacts of those enemy organizations!

    The products made by the cksmiths of that area not only had better ratings than the average artifacts of House Leopoldine. Such items also had unique individual qualities, with some even having unique abilities engraved on their metal bodies.

    Therefore, an item of such origin had a chance to have the trait rarely seen in the present, a unique ability that could be activated through the spiritual maniption of its user!

    Hence, people in the surrounding area are uneasy about that item!

    "We have done some tests on this armor, and we assure you that it is in perfect shape, with its inscriptions still in good condition..."

    "In other words, its ability is intact!" He opened his arms and smiled without exining further about such a feature.

    But that was to be expected. After all, unlike the previously auctioned Soul Bone, the skill of a Silver-grade item was very significant. So, the future owner of this armor would undoubtedly prefer to keep it a secret.

    That was the cultivation world, and unless one did not have the option, it would always be better to keep one''s skills, techniques, etc., as secrets. Only in this way could one reap the best fruits when necessary!

    On the other hand, even if talking about the positive points of that item was important for the auction, it was not entirely essential. That''s because, unlike the Soul Bone that could have ''useless'' skills for certain professionals, an armor had no way to have that disadvantage.

    That is, the ability of such an item had to be rted to its characteristics. So, since anyone interested in armor would be after improvements in their defenses, any skill rted to this would be helpful!

    The most crucial point, in this case, was not the ability but the existence or not of one.

    So, the desire of those interested in that armor was not diminished one bit by theck of details about such a thing. On the contrary, knowing that it did indeed have this scarce characteristic, the people on the third floor became even more interested!

    And with this information, Martin soon announced the start of the bidding!

    "Well, without further ado. The starting bid for this armor is 300,000 gold coins, with a minimum increase of 10,000!"

    "500.000!" The first voice in that ce made everyone in the auction momentarily stunned.

    "510.000!"

    ...

    On the balcony of Lothur and Annaliese''s VIP room...

    "What?" After nearly choking on the drink he was drinking and then spitting it forward, Lothur said it out loud, shocked at the value of that thing.

    "What is wrong with these people? That''s fucking 50 million bronze coins! How can they give that much on a single item?" He got up from his armchair and looked at Annaliese.

    Seeing that, Annaliese put one of her hands over her mouth and smiled at her ignorant brother-inw. ''Looks like it was a good decision to bring you along, Lothur... You''re amusing.''

    After a few seconds of appreciating that scene in front of her, she then exined it to him. "You are silly. Do you know how long such armor canst in the hands of a Transcendent like my mother? More than 3,000 years!"

    "That''s already far more than the ordinary life expectancy of cultivators at the 3rd stage!"

    The life expectancy of cultivators depended on the cultivation stage, or rather, the quality of their bodies. Among the first three stages, these limits were 300, 700, and 1,600 years, respectively.<sub> </sub>

    However, there were alternative ways to increase one''s vitality.

    Because of this, artifacts like that were lifetime items for local cultivators, greatly justified their value.

    "On the other hand, people like my mother can gather sums like that in a few years of work. So that value is not as exaggerated as you think..."

    "It''s just that the local leaders are much stronger than people like us." She looked in the direction of the VIP room where her mother should be and finished. "To them, that amount is no big deal!"

    "This..." After hearing that, Lothur understood the reality and why such a thing cost that high figures that ordinary mortals would probably never be able to muster in their lifetimes.

    Hell, the number of mortals with the ability to gather such amounts should be just a few hundred, even considering the entire continent!

    However, cultivators were different!

    They could live much longer than mortals since, besides cultivation increasing their life expectancy, unique resources that could alter vitality had better results in cultivators. And besides being able to umte coins for longer, they still had priceless abilities, which could significantly increase their earnings.

    Therefore, items like that armor could endrge fortunes in the blink of an eye.

    ? "1.520.000!" Mabel bid again, her voice already much more nervous than it had been at the beginning of the bidding.

    "Wow!"

    "1.5 million gold coins! That''s truly impressive!"

    "Well, I guess herst bidder probably won''t go on, right?"

    Voices on the first floor circled the surroundings, while thest two VIP rooms on the third floor with people vying for that item suffered from the tension of the people present.

    "Tsk!"

    "That bitch!"

    "She truly has a lot of coins!" A woman who appeared to be in her early middle age, but with first-rate beauty and magnificent curves, said such a thing irritatedly.

    At the same time, the rtively young man dressed in armor standing behind this purple-d woman said. "Madam, we had better give up that item."

    "If I''m not incorrect, this person must be Mabel Rios. But House Frost won''tst much longer, and soon we will have the Province Conference... So, I think we can get that armor without spending a single coin!"

    "Oh? What are you thinking?" She became interested and looked back.

    Then that individual lowered his face and said close to her ear. "I heard that there are people..."

    ...

    "Anyone else interested in the Water Armor? Any higher bidders than thedy in room number 38?" Martin asked as he looked toward room 33, where the Frost familypetitor was supposed to be.

    However, no voice broke from behind the dark ss of room 33, signaling that this should be the end of the auction.

    After a few seconds, the auctioneer mmed his hammer and finalized the bidding for that armor. "Very well then, the Water Armor is sold to thedy in room 38 for 1.52 million gold coins!"

    "With that, we end this asion of our auction house!"

    "I thank everyone present for their confidence in us, and on behalf of Weidmann Gate, I wish you all to return in the future!"

    After Martin said those words quickly, the people there began to rise from their seats, already chatting loudly, causing a melody of voices to arise in the area.

    As the side lights of thatrge area came on again, Lothur and Annaliese left the ce they were in, satisfied with the event.

    "Do you want something to eat, Lothur? I think my sister will stay in this ce with my mother for a while, so we have some time to return home."

    "Oh? Hehe,e on."

 Chapter 114 Absorbing The Soul Bone 1

    After some time, Annaliese and Lothur had already dined at a local restaurant and returned to the Frost family estate.

    In such a ce, they did not take long to meet Viktoria, who had already returned from the auction house alongside her mother.

    Although conflicts after events like that were rtivelymon, nothing had happened to them even though they had bought an item that cost them 152 million bronze coins.

    But this was not as surprising as one might think. After all, this was Peters City, a city under imperial rule and the home of House Frost, a family that, although decadent, still had enough power to wreak havoc on the other local forces.

    On the other hand, Mabel was not weak at all!

    Hell, she was one of the five strongest people in the entire Linn Province!

    So, since she was a Soul Core Transcendent carrying that Silver-grade armor, no one had tried to act against her and Viktoria.

    With that, soon Lothur and Annaliese were with Viktoria!

    ...

    "What were you two doing at the auction? Anna, why didn''t you tell me about this?" Lothur''s wife looked curiously, with a bit of concern, at the two individuals sitting on the sofa in the living room of her residence.

    Annaliese then pouted at her sister and said in a toneden with injustice. "We went to have fun, of course... Only you can do that, sister?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Having fun? Do you think that''s fun? Don''t you understand how dangerous that ce is?"

    "Why would it be dangerous?" Lothur asked with hisck ofmon sense.

    "Sigh!"

    Viktoria then shook her head in disappointment at his ignorance and said. "If you had just watched the auction, the dangers of that ce would not affect you. But you bought a Soul Bone!"

    "It is fortunate that you were able to return here without being attacked by self-interested vermins."

    "Sigh!"

    "Maybe it was because that Soul Bone didn''t attract the attention of the powerful people at the auction. But be more careful! There aren''t just influential people after items like that!"

    "If some local criminal had discovered such a thing in time, you probably would have been ambushed before you got here!"

    "Oh? I guess the imperial rules are worthless then..." Lothur closed his eyes and smiled, saying this in a mocking tone. "That imperial family is not respected. It is more wea..."

    Before he finished saying his words, one hand from Annaliese and another from Viktoria hit his face, causing him to shut up immediately.

    "Idiot!"

    "Don''t you ever say something like that out loud again!" Viktoria said this, already red with anger at how careless Lothur was.

    Annaliese then said in a sweeter tone than her sister, "Lothur, don''t you know that speaking ill of the imperial family can earn you death punishment? If someone from that organization saw you saying things like that, that person would immediately consider you a traitor to the empire."

    The Leopoldine family ruled their empire with iron fists and always watched over the honor of their name. Moreover, since treason was usually apanied by disrespect, resentment, etc., speaking ill of this organization could easily be mistaken for signs of rebellion by the imperial sovereigns.

    The imperial house was harsh, true, but it was also not unfair to most people and organizations in its empire. On the contrary, for ordinary people, the sovereign house of this state was responsible for local order and progress.

    So, who would speak ill of such power? In the imperial family''s view, only those with nefarious intentions towards their position of power!

    On the other hand, between eliminating an innocent fool and setting a criminal free, most cultivators in this world would prefer the first option. In this case, eliminating such people was the simplest way to prevent rebellions!

    Hence the problem with Lothur''sment.

    "Tsk!"

    "I didn''t know that..." He said as he took their hands away from his mouth and regretted in his mind that he was in a state where he was not even free to speak his opinions.

    "Humph!"

    "When you don''t know something, then keep quiet! Or you''ll kill yourself and still harm those close to you!"

    "Sigh... I almost lost my good humor from buying that Soul Bone." Annalieseined in a low voice before finishing answering her sister. "Anyway, there was no reason for me to say anything to you, sister."

    "What''s wrong with Lothur and me going to the auction together? We are family!"

    Upon hearing Annaliese''s tone, Viktoria felt a little ufortable, but she did not truly understand why. She just sighed, thinking that her senses were probably affected by the fact that she had tried on the armor bought by her mother early.

    "Well, and what do you want with me?"<sub> </sub>

    "Sister, I want to start absorbing that Soul Bone."

    "Hmm, but why am I needed for that? You can do it yourself, Anna."

    "I know that!"

    "I just want you to be present because Lothur is curious to see me absorb that Soul Bone. But you know that our mother will not be happy if he and I are left alone in my residence." Annaliese was sincere.

    "Oh?" Viktoria looked at Lothur with a somewhat colder look. "Why do you want to do that? You''re not trying to use any excuse to get closer to Annaliese, are you?"

    Annaliese then turned slightly red, while Lothur''s subconscious made him take a not-so-smart route. "You''re right. I want to be closer to my sister-inw..."

    Gulp!

    "Bastard! I will castrate you if you touch my sister!" Viktoria angrily stood up from where she was, while Annaliese did the same to stop her.

    "Sister!"

    "Can''t you see that Lothur is just teasing you?" She said in a slightly altered tone, feeling an internal satisfaction mixed with shame.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was cursing his predecessor, who now and then still managed to get him in trouble with the remnants of his personality.

    ''That bastard...''

    ''Lucky that every time my Will rises, I feel as if my control over my emotions and that guy''s problematic personality improves.''

    That was indeed happening. Lothur had been afflicted with the arrogant and problematic side of his predecessor. But as he grew stronger, the earthling realized that he was getting less and less out of control.

    With that, he was hopeful about the future but also regretted that he would still have to deal with problems like that of today for a while longer.

    "Honey, you are easier to tease than I had thought..." He said after much effort. "Come on, can''t you handle a simple joke?"

    "Tsk!"

    ''This creep is getting bolder and bolder!''

    ''Sigh!''

    ''Karen will also be going to the academy Monday, so I''ll finally be able to ask her for some advice...'' She thought about her best friend and the event that would take ce in Sector-6 in three days.

    Viktoria did not know how to deal with a man like Lothur, but she trusted that her good friend, who always talked about rtionships with her, would know what to do.

    With that in mind, she calmed down a bit, allowing Annaliese to sigh in relief but also guilt.

    ''Ah... And to think I''m the one betraying your trust, sister...'' Annaliese closed her eyes in silence. ''Why am I doing this? That is so wrong on so many levels.''

    ''Maybe I should tell her everything?''

    ''No! She would me Lothur, and only he would get hurt by it!''

    ''I can''t let that happen!''

    Viktoria then sat down in a seat in her living room and said to Annaliese, breaking this woman''s train of thought. "If you are here to absorb this Soul Bone, let''s get started immediately. I have other things to doter, so let''s not dy that."

    "Oh? Fine."

    With that, Annaliese removed the metal box of that item from her spatial ring, cing it on the floor in the middle of that room. After that, she opened such a thing, revealing a 25-centimeter-long bone, a bit different from the femur of ordinary humans.

    On this red and blue bone, one could see tattoo-like symbols all over its surface when observed more closely. But due to its size and irregr contours, one could not estimate what was represented there.

    On the other hand, while its magnificence was enough to attract anyone''s attention, a powerful aura surrounded it, which emitted pulses of energy like a beating heart.

    With that, Lothur felt a slight shiver through his body, even if the pressure of that was not limiting him, as was happening with Annaliese and Viktoria.

    "This..." Lothur slowly approached that.

    Annaliese then looked at him and said. "Lothur, you want to see this up close, yes? Come, I''ll help you."

    She then spread some of her energy around his body, not knowing that the pressure of that Soul Bone was not affecting her brother-inw.

    Anyway, as he felt warm energy around his body, Lothur finally put his hands on that Soul Bone while being watched by Viktoria and Annaliese.

    ...

 Chapter 115 Absorbing Soul Bone 2

    Immediately after touching the red and blue Soul Bone, the system showed the information about that item.

    [Servant Femur Soul Bone] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will be a pure energy source imbued with Natural Laws. It will not be one of the 10 Soul Bones but rather a tonic for the body, mind, and soul of the one who absorbs it.]

    [Reminder: the minimum soul cultivation required to absorb this Soul Bone sessfully is 1st Transformation. Below that, whoever attempts to absorb it will have their body and/or soul obliterated.]

    Upon seeing that, Lothur felt a mix of emotions in his heart.

    First, that Iron-grade Soul Bone was simply much better than he had thought.

    After all, it could raise the attributes of the person who absorbed it without even upying one of the ten ces for Soul Bones existing in humans.

    What did this mean?

    It meant that such a person could permanently improve his cultivation, talent, and senses without sacrificing one of his body''s few Soul Bone slots with a bone of only Iron-grade rank!

    Don''t misunderstand. Having a passive ability was more valuable than cultivation improvements. While there were few Soul Bones in this world, there were various ways to improve one''s cultivation and skills.

    However, there were passive skills that were useless for some cultivators and skills that went against the characteristics of some people. On the other hand, one could not tell about tomorrow. Therefore, between getting an attribute boost and gaining a low-level Soul Bone skill, the first option was more promising!

    Hell, if Viktoria or others at that auction earlier had known about this information the system alerted Lothur to, Annaliese definitely would not have gotten that Soul Bone!

    Second. Even though this Soul Bone was more valuable than the people in that auction had judged it to be, something positive, Lothur was feeling a little bad at the moment. That''s because there was a soul cultivation requirement.

    But he was not sure if he had soul cultivation!

    That was the problem!

    He was not the one who was going to absorb this Soul Bone, but he would look for opportunities to get something like this in the future. With that, he could not help but worry about the question of his soul cultivation!

    [Absorb Servant Demon Femur Soul Bone?] The system asked him without much ceremony.

    ''Oh?'' His eyes widened in surprise. But he soon regained his calm. ''No.''

    After that, he smiled warmly and handed that item to Annaliese, happy that she had gotten something so valuable. "Anna, I feel that this Soul Bone will give you a great surprise, hehe."

    "Oh? Why do you say that?" She smiled with him.

    "It''s a feeling..."

    "Anyway, how does one do to absorb a Soul Bone? Are you going to start now?"

    "Hmm," She nodded at him and looked at Viktoria. "Sister, can you exin this to Lothur while I start?"

    ''Why does Annaliese want him to understand about this? What difference does it make to him?'' Viktoria observed those two individuals standing side by side, simultaneously holding different parts of the Soul Bone. ''There is something she is not telling me! I can feel it!''

    "Sigh! All right."

    "Lothur,e sit next to me. You can''t be near Anna when the Fusion Ceremony starts."

    "Fusion Ceremony? Is that what the process of absorbing a Soul Bone is called?"

    "Yes, most of us call it that, but other intelligent races in Concordia also have other names for it."

    "Oh? I thought only humans could absorb Soul Bones..." He said as he sat down across from her while Annaliese stood in a lotus position in the middle of that room.

    "In theory, only humans should be able to absorb Soul Bones, but there is a single variable to that..."

    "One variable?" His eyebrows drew together. "Which one?"

    "Take it easy. I''ll get to it in a few moments..."

    "For now, let''s pay attention to what Annaliese is doing. Do you see how she seems to have started meditating?"

    "Yes."

    "To fuse to a Soul Bone, a cultivator needs to circte his energies through his soul cultivation technique. That''s because the Soul Bone doesn''t just connect to the body of the one who absorbs it. No, these things connect body and soul!"

    "It is because of this connection that cultivators gain passive abilities in their soul, simr to spiritual techniques. That''s the effect on the soul."

    "On the other hand, whenever someone fuses to a Soul Bone, their body will be more resistant, and vitality will increase. That is the effect on the flesh."<sub> </sub>

    "We are cultivators, people who defy thews created by heaven. But even so, no matter how high one''s cultivation is, the body still remains the most important point for a cultivator''s life, even if his soul is powerful."

    "Do you know why that is?" She looked at the man who was concentrating on Annaliese right now.

    "No."

    "That is simply because our souls would dissipate if they did not upy a suitable ''container.'' And since our bodies retain some of their mortality with just normal cultivation, no matter how high your cultivation is, it is impossible to live forever."

    "However, there is one exception!" She looked determinedly at Annaliese, pointing with one of her fingers at the red and blue bone floating at the height of Annaliese''s breasts, only 10 centimeters away from her.

    "Soul Bones!"

    "Soul Bones connect soul and body, which brings the characteristics of both parties closer together, eventually even being able to create a spirit body!"

    "Look at that!" She pointed to the red and blue bone, which at the moment had begun to emit even more elerated pulses and started spinning in front of Annaliese.

    "After circting her energies through her soul cultivation technique, Anna infused part of her energies into that bone. With that, naturally, the fusion process will begin, with the bone attempting to blend with the person owning the spiritual fluctuation imbued in it."

    "With that, it will first fuse with one of the fleshy body parts of such a person absorbing it, then connect the soul and produce the first spirit part of that person''s spirit body." Shemented as that bone was already on the side of Annaliese''s left thigh, stuck there like a piece of armor.

    As that bone entered Annaliese''s leg bit by bit, with this woman expressing agony on her face, Viktoria continued her speech. "Do you know what it means to have a spirit body?"

    "No."

    "Having a spirit body means that you have sessfully managed to fuse with 10 Soul Bones and ovee the mortal limits of your body!"

    "That obviously doesn''t mean that you would be an immortal by achieving that feat since even our soul has a dissipation rate that depends on the cultivation level."

    She then looked at Lothur with glowing eyes and said. "However, there are legends that a person with the full set of Soul Bones and who is at least at the 4th stage can have their bodypletely destroyed and still have the chance to rebuild it!"

    "That person would be a quasi-immortal in our concepts!"

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes and mouth opened significantly, feeling the same excitement Viktoria already had at the idea of achieving such a feat.

    "But how is that done? Isn''t our soul a part of the fleshy body? How is it done to produce a new body?"

    "The soul stops being a part of the body and bes just a resident of it after someone reaches the 2nd stage."

    "On the other hand, once you get a spirit body, all you need are some high-level materials and your soul force to rebuild your body."

    "The most important thing about the body is the essence, but that can be preserved in the soul and spirit body. With that, remaking a fleshy body is as simple a process as baking a cake."

    "So that''s how it is..."

    After that, that bone finally disappeared, fully entering Annaliese''s left thigh, from which an intense glow and pulses were leaving.

    "Now that the bone has entered her body, it will fuse to her left femur, creating the bridge between that part of her body and her soul."

    "That will be the first part of her spirit body..." Viktoria was about to say that when she suddenly realized that what was happening to Annaliese was different than it should be.

    <o>,m "What? No fusion?" Viktoria stood up from where she was and looked more focused at her sister.</o>

    "Hmm, it can''t be that..."

    "Was she truly so lucky?"

    Lothur saw the surprise on his wife''s face and smiled, judging that Viktoria had realized that Soul Bone would not give Annaliese an ability but a blessing!

    "Unbelievable!"

    "What is it, dear?"

    Viktoria was not bothered by Lothur''s manner and said. "She didn''t get her first spirit body part, but her talent will definitely evolve."

    "That''s because that bone has be a pure form of energy!"

    After that, Viktoria stood there for a few more moments with an expression of surprise on her face that such a rare event had happened. But soon, she took Lothur into the courtyard of her house to give Annaliese more privacy to take advantage of that opportunity.

    "By the way, are you sure this quasi-immortality is possible? I think it''s too good to be true."

    ...

 Chapter 116 Heavens Hated Abomination

    "How am I supposed to know that?" Viktoria said to Lothur as she sat down on the outside area of her residence. "How many people withplete Soul Bone set and cultivation of at least 4th stage do you think there are out there?"

    "And even if there are such people on the continent, do you think I would have ess to them to ask questions?"

    "Tsk!"

    "As I said before, this is a legend, and the fact of quasi-immortality may very well be the fantasy part of the story to make it more attractive. However, it is a fact that the spirit body arises with the Soul Bones and that it has its special peculiarities."

    "A single Soul Bone can already increase the vitality of a 1st stage cultivator by a few hundred years. But what about theplete set?"

    "So, even if that is an ancient legend, there are indications enough for us to believe that something special happens when we gather 10 Soul Bones."

    "I see..." Lothur muttered as he sat down in front of Viktoria while looking in the direction of where Annaliese was absorbing that Soul Bone.

    At this point, even outside his wife''s residence, Lothur could feel the vibrations of the Fusion Ceremony, with waves of energy hitting where he was, along with a constant humming sound.

    In addition, Annaliese''s grunts of pain kept escaping from her throat, drawing the attention of those two.

    "Anna will take a few hours to finish going through the baptism of that energy generated by the Soul Bone. So, there''s no need for you to hang around here anymore..."

    "No, I''m going to stay here until she''s finished. I want to see what changes she will go through." He stopped her from continuing her words.

    "Uh?"

    But before Viktoria began to question him about his interest in Annaliese, he used the momentary silence to ask about his wife''s words earlier. "By the way, what was the exception you spoke of earlier? What species other than ours can absorb Soul Bones?"

    Upon hearing that, the look on Viktoria''s face became solemn, with her eyebrows narrowing and a sharp look appearing in her eyes. She then said. "There is an exception for the absorption of Soul Bones. They are terrifying creatures in our world, hated by the heavens and feared by the earth."

    "Half-breeds of humans and demons!"

    Species capable of achieving humanoid forms in Concordia could interbreed and generate fertile offspring. For example, animals capable of cultivation eventually became beasts. However, with cultivation, these beasts could gain the ability to transform their bodies into humanoid forms.

    In this way, beasts could interbreed with, for example, humans and generate mixed offspring of both species. In this case in question, this was the origin of the race of Humanoid Spiritual Beasts, which had characteristics of both species.

    In the case presented by Viktoria, humans and demons could also generate a mixed race, which shared characteristics of both species.

    "What? How is that possible?" Lothur stood up from where he was standing, finding this possibility impossible. After all, humans and demons hated each other and were natural enemies.

    So, how could demons and humans be willing to interbreed and generate offspring?

    Viktoria nodded at him, understanding Lothur''s doubt. "It seems impossible, but it''s not."

    "There is no way for a human and a demon to fall in love with each other, as is possible between beasts and humans, as well as other species mixtures. However, demons of weak lineage are extremely vtile in their emotions."

    "Some of them are capable of raping their victims before devouring them."

    "However, aftermitting a **** on his victim, the demon may be unable to kill her. That could be because he was killed before he had the opportunity or for another reason. Hence, humans and demons can deliver offspring."

    Gulp!

    "In any case, because these beings share characteristics from both parties, they can absorb Soul Bones. But before you ask, that''s not possible for other mixed species of humans."

    "I see..." Lothur sat back, already a little calmer. "Why did you say the heavens hate them? If they are descended from humans, shouldn''t they be able to control their bloodlust more easily?"

    "No, they can''t..." She then told how these beings had be enemies of all living things.

    "In the remote past, a high-ranking female demon, for some reason, decided to do experiments between humans and demons. As a result, she coupled with several of her victims in search of fertilization."

    "Eventually, she seeded."

    "Unfortunately, that creature shared the cultivation talents that we humans have, but also the vitality and power of demons."<sub> </sub>

    Demons had extremely strong vitalities and could live dozens of times longer than humans of the same cultivation range. That was their unique characteristic, the reason that even though there were few of them, they still existed.

    As for humans, although they could not live as long as other species in this world nor had high-level regenerative abilities, they possessed one of the best cultivation speeds.

    To make a long story short, what an ordinary human able to cultivate could achieve in 100 years could require thousands of years for an ordinary demon.

    "At the same time, he could strengthen himself by devouring human blood and flesh, but also by adding Soul Bones to his constitution."

    "To make matters worse, he shared the uncontroble side of demons." She clenched her fists, feeling a little fear in her being. "Ultimately, this first half-breed killed his mother, devoured his father, and all the people that demon had kidnapped."

    "After tens of thousands of deaths, the little devil, only 10 at the time, was exterminated by a group of high-level cultivators. From that day on, all species, including the demons, began to persecute these abominations."

    That had been the story behind the emergence of the first half-breed of demons and humans. However, this was only a narrative created by the powerful ones of this world. The real story was much more frightening!

    The first of these beings had appeared after a low-level demon had ravaged a vige, raping and devouring many women on the day in question. Unfortunately for him, the vige was saved by a demon hunter, who saved the lives of a few dozen people in that ce.

    However, one of the surviving raped women had be pregnant!

    Then the worst came out.

    For some unknown reason, half-breeds of humans and demons were extremely beautiful and were loved unconditionally by their creators. Not only this, all the remnants of that vige eventually developed feelings for that creature, having helped it develop in its weaker moments.

    Eventually, after devouring its mother and the vige it grew up in, that being exterminated an entire human empire, having killed hundreds of thousands of demons and millions of beings of other species.

    That catastrophe caused the greatest experts of that period to leave their seclusions, fearing the sudden end.

    Fortunately for the other species of this world, even such a terrifying being had its limits. It was eventually killed by an alliance of Concordia''s ten most powerful species.

    From that day on, all the species pledged to pursue and eliminate any half-breed of humans and demons.

    The most recent case happened 400 years ago when something simr to the first case happened in a vige in Leopoldine. After that creature was born, someone managed to identify it and report it to the demon-hunting guilds of this empire.

    The next day more than 300 3rd stage cultivators appeared there. Then, they exterminated the newborn and everyone present.

    These were terrifying creatures that could not be allowed to grow. As such, to avoid trouble, even babies were persecuted, and their creators shared the same fate as them.

    No one with close contact with these abominations could be allowed to live!

    In any case, although the actual story was somewhat different from the one known to Viktoria, the abilities of these half-breeds were as she had told Lothur.

    "Unbelievable!" Lothur said in a low voice, feeling how terrifying this world could be. "For that matter, do these half-breeds produce Soul Bones?"

    "As far as I know, no. But most of these half-breeds were killed while still in their infancy, and demons in their infancy don''t produce Soul Bones either, so I''m not sure." She said in an uncertain tone, watching in her sister''s direction.

    "In any case, they are the only ones besides us capable of absorbing Soul Bones..."

    After many minutes of talking about that, Lothur suddenly asked his wife. "Honey, how does one be a demon hunter? Is it enough to kill beings of that species to be someone like that? Or is there a procedure behind it?"

    "You want to be a demon hunter?" Sheughed but did not stop answering him. "But seriously speaking, do you think a cultivator without certain technical knowledge can kill a demon?"

    "Of course, if the level of such a person is many times higher than that of the demon, then he may be able to eliminate one of these. But most likely, a person without in-depth knowledge will be fooled by the demon."

    "Many of them can survive even after their bodies are sliced apart!"

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes widened at such information.

    "So, anyone interested in doing that must seek out a demon hunter''s guild and learn the techniques necessary to eliminate these beings truly."

    ...

 Chapter 117 Breakthrough

    "I see..." Lothur muttered under his breath, already thinking about the idea of hunting demons in the future.

    Before having the previous conversation with Viktoria, he knew that demons produced Soul Bones. But the spirit-body part and the possibility of quasi-immortality were unknown to him.

    Thus, upon discovering the marvels that Soul Bones could do for cultivators, this ambitious man could not help but desire aplete set of such artifacts.

    To do so, he would undoubtedly have to learn the techniques for eliminating demons and hunting them down. After all, there were not many of them in this world, and there were even those who managed to blend into human societies.

    Demons of powerful bloodlines, such as those ssified as Emperors, had bodies remarkably simr to those of humans. Not only that, among all types of demons, these were the only ones that could control their bloodlust and even live among humans!

    So, it was not so simple to find one of these. Unless one was very unlucky or lucky, depending on one''s abilities, finding a demon was more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

    Hence the need to learn from the notorious Demon Hunters'' Guild!

    Lothur then smiled silently. ''When I be stronger, I will seek out one of those guilds!''

    "By the way, dear, is there such a guild in Peters City? What are the requirements to join that organization?"

    Hearing that, Viktoriaughed and said. "There is, but I don''t think you''ll be able to get into that ce..."

    "The Demon Hunters'' Guild is a continental institution, respected by all humanity and even some other races. As such, the requirements to join that noble institution are not small, and an ordinary mortal would not make it."

    "Really? Who knows, maybe I will be the first..." Heughed.

    "Haha, not many can make meugh like that, Lothur, haha... I must admit that you are funny!"

    "Anyway, if you want to embarrass yourself, then I''ll tell you this. The local Demon Hunters'' Guild is on the top floor of the Seraphim Church, in the sacred temple of our city."

    The Seraphim Church was the most widespread religious institution in Leopoldine, the preacher of the faith of tens of millions of people on this continent, with the most significant number of devotees among local religions.

    It was supposedly created by a demon hunter who descended from a divine race, an individual who, ording to legend, had ascended to immortality.

    Considering this and the fact that such an institution preached the fight against demons and other beings that tormented humanity, it had be very famous in Concordia, with many mortals following it.

    Because of the connection of the church''s founder with the demon hunters, the Demon Hunters'' Guild was part of this institution and was, in fact, the most influential legion of this church.

    Viktoria continued. "That ce is an area that only those people with merit, power, and no nefarious interests can enter."

    "From what I''ve heard, to join that organization, one has to pass through the seraph light and receive God''s blessing!"

    "Then, good luck trying to get into that ce, haha." Sheughed, finally feeling a little better about dealing with this husband of hers.

    ''I want to see if a person who likes bets and is a womanizer who doesn''t care about his wife will get the seraph''s approval!''

    ''Haha, maybe I should follow him when he tries to do that foolish thing? At least I can get revenge for the anger he is causing me!''

    On the other hand, Lothur was thinking about different things than his wife. ''Well, I don''t like to speak well of myself, but I particrly think I''m good enough.''

    ''Anyway, the system is on my side, so it will probably help me with this.''

    ''This seraph light is probably just another little test.''

    Lothur was not a religious person, so there was no way he could think of this church and seraphim mystically. To him, the founder of this organization was just another cultivator, someone who had probably reached a high level in life.

    In this way, there was nothing to fear or worry about. It was just another test on his path, and he would naturally do his best to pass it like any other.

    ...

    Sometimeter, husband and wife finally realized that the soundsing from inside that residence had ceased.

    At the same time, the pulses of energy from earlier had ended, having been reced by a distinctive aroma, which soon left that ce and reached the couple''s nostrils.

    "Oh?"

    "Has she advanced?" Lothur unconsciously asked as Viktoria ran with a satisfied expression on her face to see her sister.

    At this point, Viktoria already had her sense of smell sealed off. At the same time, poor Lothur, who could not use the spiritual energy in his body for this, just used his strong willpower to ignore it.

    He just followed after his wife and entered the ce where Annaliese was still sitting in a lotus position.

    As he reached there, he immediately noticed the puddle of ck liquid under the ce his sister-inw was standing. Meanwhile, her body seemed to have changed considerably.

    "Anna..."<sub> </sub>

    She was beautiful before, a beauty of high standard even for the cultivation world. However, Annaliese stillckedpared to her older sister, who looked like a goddess living among humans.

    But after sessfully absorbing the energy generated by the Soul Bone purchased earlier, she underwent a qualitative change, having reached a level of beauty very close to Viktoria''s.

    She was still a bit behind. After all, her measurements had not changed. Only the appearance of her skin, muscle quality, and cellr efficiency had evolved. But the new Annaliese was still making Lothur more excited and happy.

    ''Let me see your new strength...''

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.2] [CON: 37] [DEX: 35.7] [AGI: 34]

    "That..."

    ''She went from the beginning of level 6 to the end of level 8 in just a few hours!''

    ''Impressive!'' Lothur''s eyes sparkled in excitement, eager to undergo simr experiences in the future.

    But Lothur had seen only the tip of the iceberg!

    The most important effect of the pure energy that Soul Bone generated was in regard to Annaliese''s mental characteristics, which had improved by more than 100%.

    With this, not only her senses but her talent and will had undergone significant changes, which would bring her many benefits in training and cultivation in the future!

    "Impressive!"

    "Soul Bones are truly amazing!" Hemented in a low voice, drawing the attention of the satisfied Viktoria.

    Viktoria could not quantify Annaliese''s advancement as her husband could. But with her senses of a higher level than his, she readily realized that her sister had reached the peak of the 8th Transformation.

    Thus, she was delighted with Annaliese''s good fortune.

    She then said to Lothur. "Good luck trying to find Soul Bones."

    "Although there are many cultivators with Soul Bones, there is no method to track them down. But, on the other hand, a person with just one of those can already be considered exceptionally talented in our world."

    "So, even if you know the identity of someone with Soul Bones, it may be impossible to remove such items from their bodies."

    "With that, you are left with only the demons, beings that are extremely rare to find, each of them extremely difficult to kill..."

    Lothur ignored his wife''s words of ''encouragement'' and watched Annalieseing out of her meditative state. "Anna, how are you? What did you get out of this opportunity?" He gave one of his hands to her, smiling gently.

    Seeing Lothur''s handsome face, Annaliese blushed slightly and used his help to get up. "I didn''t get a skill, but I gained several improvements in my cultivation, body, and even talent!"

    "Big sister, I am now at the peak of the 8th Transformation!" She said with watery eyes, happier than ever.

    "Hmmm!"

    "Congrattions, Anna." Viktoria nodded as Lothur moved toward her to hug her.

    But Annaliese jumped back when she saw that, not wanting him to touch her at that moment. "Lothur and sister, excuse me, but I must go to the bathroom to clean myself..."

    She ran from there but looked back once again, embarrassed that she had soiled the living room of her sister''s residence. "Sister, I..."

    "Go on, don''t bother with that." Viktoria manipted the spiritual energy in her body, making a wave of white energy form around her hands.

    After doing so, she directed that ''fog'' toward the toxins on the ground, causing them to burn in a few seconds.

    Lothur watched it from beginning to end, impressed by the abilities of a Spiritual Warrior.

    But after Viktoria looked at him coldly, he left that ce, already psychologically preparing to ingest the poisons he had prepared earlier!

    ''Anna has leveled up, so I can''t fall behind!''

    ''Time for me to get a qualitative improvement myself!''

    ...

 Chapter 118 Poison Cleansing

    After arriving at his room, Lothur immediately removed each garment from his body and went into the bathroom.

    There, he closed the shower tub drain and poured a bunch of the poisons he had prepared with the materials Reba had given him previously.

    After learning the basics of training his body''s resistance, Lothur intended to use these resources to raise his resistance to poisons and the quality of his body.

    Poisons in excessive amounts or not-so-well-thought-out mixtures could be dangerous to the body, causing problems of various kinds. But when well used, these substances could generate therapeutic effects that were hard to find in other resources.

    And with his new knowledge, Lothur knew what was necessary to make those poisons clean impurities from his body without causing him problems or risking his physiological condition.

    So, after finishing pouring the poisons into that tub and adding a few liters of water, hey there and closed his eyes.

    ''Uh?''

    However, before he could rx, as he had done at the residence of the local poison master where he met Reba, Lothur began to feel pain through every pore between his feet and head.

    Not even 10 seconds had passed since most of his body had been submerged in that purple fluid when he felt as if endless micro-needles had started to pierce his body.

    ''That... Is that the feeling poison masters sense when tempering their bodies with maximum level poisons for their conditions?'' He opened his eyes and wondered, already using some of his willpower to suppress the pain in his body.

    And indeed, that was the situation there. Previously, Reba had used a poison mixture capable of stimting only beginners to body tempering with poisons.

    Such a thing was enough to put the lives of mortals at risk, but it was no big deal for a young man who had already been poisoned twice in the recent past.

    Hence Lothur had not suffered in that earlier test, and now as he began to temper his body with a substance more suited to his level, he soon began to feel the pain of this kind of training.

    But he was not discouraged by what was happening. On the contrary, as he noticed the pain in his body increasing, Lothur smiled in satisfaction.

    Not because he was a strange masochist, he was not. But because these signs meant that he would soon be able to reap the good fruits!

    He had already been poisoned twice, once without even realizing it. So, going through training capable of making him shiver in pain was just what he needed to prepare himself for the future!

    ''Perfect!''

    ''From what I''m feeling, I think I can increase the intensity of the poison by 20% to 40% the next time I go to temper my body...''

    ''Depends on how much I can evolve this time.''

    ''Anyway,'' He looked at a small, finger-sized vial with a red liquid inside. ''If I''m still conscious after this bath, I''ll take such a potion!''

    Besides tempering the body through ''baths'' like the one he was experiencing, poison masters could also directly ingest poisons. That was not something usual for people at the 1st stage as there were many risks of such a thing doing more damage than good. But it could be done, and luckily Lothur had the ingredients for such a potion!

    Previously he had acquired some medicines from dead enemies, which had poisonous substances in their constitutions.

    From these medicines, he produced a small poisonous potion to be ingested.

    With this, he was willing to go through the risks of ingesting such poison, confident that his resilience would bring him good results even if it were dangerous.

    After all, if he could even survive doses of poisons made for killing, why not achieve the same with resources made for training?

    He had no reason to doubt his advantages, and with the many dangers surrounding him, he soon took that potion after almost 3 hours of suffering in that tub.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah..." He came out of the bathroom breathing hurriedly, feeling significant fatigue throughout his body.

    As he did so, he dried himself off and then sat in a lotus position in the small area between his bed and the door to his room, preparing himself to deal with the effects of that potion.

    He did not know how to cultivate, but meditating was something anyone with the will could do.

    And then, he soon began to roar in pain in that position, with his muscles shaking uncontrobly from time to time, sweat dripping all over his body.

    ...

    Another three hours passed, and at this instant, Lothur was pale in that position from before, with a terrible expression on his face.

    But as he struggled to endure the nauseating feeling in his body, coupled with his current weakness, several parts of his half-naked body had ck drops of sweat dripping off them. Not only that, at the height of his navel, a small ck crystal had oozed out of that area, where it felt as if a needle that had previously been lodged in his body had finally been removed.

    As he felt that thing finish leaving his body, Lothur opened his eyes and ran to the bathroom, barely able to hold back the urge to throw up halfway there.

    "Ah, disgusting!" He muttered amid this moment when he had spit out the internal impurities from his body, finally ending this torturous night.<sub> </sub>

    As he finished removing thest remnants of impurities from his body, the system warnings appeared before him.

    [Iron-grade Poison Resistance.]

    [Progress: 39%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 8.1] [CON: 10.1] [DEX: 7.4] [AGI: 8.9]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 15] [WIL: 47]

    Upon seeing that, Lothur''s face coloration improved a bit, as he felt satisfied that he had improved his features so much with this procedure.

    He had not increased in level, as he had barely reached level 4 before this night, and the further one went in the cultivation ranks, the higher the steps were in his path. But even so, he had expelled hundreds of grams of impurities, something not caused by spiritual cleansing but poisonous cleansing of his skin and marrow.

    In any case, apart from his talent, every one of his attributes had evolved, smoothing enough to put a smile on his face.

    ''The quality of my muscles and bones have improved, so even my strength, dexterity, and agility, which at first nce doesn''t seem much associated with poison cleansing, have improved.''

    ''Great!''

    ''On the other hand, my resistance to poisons has more than doubled!''

    ''Perfect. Common Iron-grade poisons should no longer be a danger to me!" He muttered as he looked at himself in his bathroom mirror, noting that he had improved his appearance somewhat.

    But with his goals for the night aplished, he did not take long to clean that room and take a shower before lying down on his bed to at least sleep for about three hours before daybreak.

    The next day he did not have to go to the academy as it was Saturday in this empire. But he had arranged with Annaliese to go to the local Cultivation House, where they could finally return to their training after the days that Mabel had stood in his way.

    ...

    The next day, Lothur woke up full of energy, quickly having made his first meal of the day, and headed off to meet Annaliese.

    With that, when it was only 10 a.m., he found his beautiful sister-inw standing beside the entrance za of the Frost estate.

    "Good morning, Anna. How did you spend the night?" He asked with a mysterious smile on his face.

    Seeing her brother-inw, who looked slightly different from the night before, Annaliese bit her lips andmented casually. "Very well. I almost couldn''t sleep due to the anxiety caused by my breakthrough, but yesterday was one of the best days of my life."

    "Hehe, I can imagine."

    "And you? What did you do? I feel like there''s something different about you this morning."

    "Oh? Did you notice? Well,st night, I started tempering my body with poisons. So, I made some progress in those hours." Hemented in a low voice as they walked towards the Cultivation House.

    Hearing that, Annaliese unconsciously took his left arm and began to feel it, sensing the differences in his body.

    "That..."

    "Looks like you experienced quite an improvement, huh?" She opened her eyes wide, thinking that he had gained a lot for just one night of training.

    Lothurughed upon seeing her reaction and said. "Hmm, if you want, I will help you with poison treatments in the future."

    "Rest assured. Just one kiss will be enough to pay for my services..."

    "You bastard..." She said this in a humorous tone, with the two of them chuckling soon after before finally entering the Cultivation House building.

    ...

 Chapter 119 Beginning Of Training

    After they entered one of the cultivation rooms in that building, Lothur no longer held back and pulled Annaliese into his arms. Then he kissed her warmly, squeezing her firm body as he got to know the new sticity of this level 8 woman.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    Sensing Lothur''s movement, this time, Annaliese made no move to deny his intentions. Instead, she had epted his kiss, opening her mouth and allowing his bold tongue to dance with hers.

    Lothur truly knew how to make her feel good, and with the more and more frequent contacts, the burning desire that was in any youth had already awakened in Annaliese''s heart. In this way, she had already ovee the stage of denying her feelings to ept her forbidden rtionship with her brother-inw.

    Thus, one of her hands ran down Lothur''s neck, massaging the back of his neck, while the other felt this young man''s well-defined abdomen.

    "Lothur~" She tried to speak amidst the kissing of the two, enjoying that, but feeling that she should talk to him about it before this rtionship continued.

    "Lothur~ Are you sure you want this with me? Our family won''t ept it~" She looked at him as she tasted him in her mouth.

    He then slowed his movements and said. "Now they won''t ept it. But what about in the future? For now, let''s just do what we wish, Anna. Then, I will personally take responsibility and talk to your family when I am stronger."

    Gulp!

    "Are you sure? My sister and mother will kill you..." She bit her lips, worried.

    "I''ll take my chances." He smiled at her before bringing her back to his lips, quickly raising the temperature of that cultivation room.

    Her heart began beating faster as he slowly moved his hands into her clothes. She felt helpless and could not refuse his movements.

    "Lothur~ I don''t think we should go that far yet~"

    "Oh? But that night, you and I..." He recalled that he had already seen her half-naked when they almost lost control over their actions in her room some nights ago.

    "I know, but I wasn''t thinking straight before!" She blushed in embarrassment. "On the other hand, I don''t want to do that here in this ce..."

    "Is that so? Haha, then let''s leave it for another time." He pulled his hand out from inside her clothes, understanding that even in this world, a woman would value the ce and timing of certain things.

    "Sigh..."

    She sighed in relief as she thought about the feelings in her heart. ''I''m d Lothur can control himself in this situation. I don''t know if I would have the strength to resist him any longer...''

    She then lifted her head upwards, feeling sweat dripping down her neck and the high temperature of her body decreasing with the chilly wind in that cultivation room.

    After a minute, Lothur was already dressed in attire typically worn in training, ready to begin what he and Annaliese had nned. "Anna, try pushing me harder thanst time."

    "I''m not asking you to teach me a lesson..." Heughed. "But I want you to just push me to the point where my physique can be stimted and develop."

    "Just fighting at my own level won''t bring me the best results."

    Hearing that and seeing him in a fighting position, Annaliese finally overcame the carnal desires in her body and prepared to train with him. "All right." She said as she got herself into a fighting position.

    Then, with his weapon in hand and daggers strategically ced around his body, Lothur waved to her, and the fight began.

    He began dancing with his ax, making a series of moves to limit Annaliese''s space of action in his vicinity. In doing so, he sometimes dropped one of his hands from that weapon and used daggers to attack her by surprise.

    At the beginning of the confrontation, Annaliese did not make many offensive moves. Instead, she focuses on paying attention to Lothur''s speed and mastery of his techniques.

    ''Hmmm.''

    ''He''s improved a lot since thest time we trained!'' She felt surprised, happy to see him grow so fast, even without having support from other people.

    ''Not only has his speed increased, but his flexibility, creativity, endurance, everything is better than before.''

    ''Even his senses towards his opponent have improved.'' She saw that he noticed every move she made and promptly initiated defensive or offensive reactions.

    "Lothur, you have improved a lot!" Sheplimented him, smiling. "Is that rted to the poison treatment you supposedly did?"<sub> </sub>

    "Hmm, after separating from you and Viktoriast night, I had several physical improvements from the poison potions I prepared." He replied, still actively moving, constantly attacking and preparing to defend himself against her.

    "That''s amazing! I didn''t think poison treatments were so effective!"

    She then began to counterattack him, using an amount of strength equivalent to that of someone at the beginning of the 5th Transformation. "I see you''ve also learned a new offensive technique, huh?"

    "Is that to handle your weaknesses regarding that heavy, slow weapon?"

    "More or less that." He was sincere, already beginning to sweat under his sister-inw''s precise attacks.

    "Well, don''t worry too much about the negative points you are facing now. Once a cultivator reaches the 2nd stage, he can use weapons and techniques in its spirit form, freely manipting the energy in his body internally and externally."

    "With this, you will be able to create a special connection with your weapon and even draw it back into your hands when it is away from you."

    "Oh? Like a ma?" He asked in doubt.

    "Hmm, that''s right."

    "You will also be able to learn techniques that go beyond using weapons or directly using your muscles to fight."

    "For example, you will be able to learn techniques in which you can spit fire created by spiritual energy, create energy streams, summon spirit creatures to fight for you, etc."

    "The mortal limitations of your body will drastically reduce once you be a Spiritual Warrior!" She said with a twinkle in her eyes, already anticipating the day she herself would reach level 10.

    Previously she did not expect to get there in a short time, but with her sudden improvement in terms of cultivation and talent, she now already imagined reaching that level in a matter of months!

    While she felt a little anxious about her future advancement, Lothur was even more excited about getting stronger and being able to use such magical techniques.

    With that, he soon put more energy into his movements, moving forward with this training that could definitely help him reach his goals faster!

    ...

    After hours of training alongside Annaliese, brother-inw, and sister-inw left the previous cultivation room to eat something and rest for the afternoon training session.

    Knowing that he did not have much time to waste, Lothur took the opportunity of having to rest for a while to go alongside Annaliese to a ce of his interest.

    He had already realized the business opportunity in this city and had even learned some of the basics of the profession of formation masters. With this, he was already starting to get ideas on how to adapt some of the earthly technologies to this world.

    But to do this, he would need to get involved with producing his unique means of transportation, which had invariably led him to think of the local carpenters'' stores.

    The carriages of this world were basically made of wood, using animal power, simr to those of the European Middle Ages on Earth.

    Since he did not know how to produce those means of transportation, he only had the alternative of finding a good local carpenter''s store and doing business with it.

    He would not need to learn the trade himself since the core of his transports would be the formations he would create. So, carpenters would only need to produce the parts of such special carriages or whatever would be, without him having to worry about the confidentiality of their design.

    With that in mind, he took Annaliese to one of those stores in downtown Peters City, ready to prospect the best ce to do business once he had funds.

    "Lothur, do you think this is a good idea?" Annaliese asked him after hearing his ideas. "I''ve never heard of anything like this before."

    "I don''t think it will work out. I think you would be better off focusing on bing a good poison master."

    Lothurughed upon hearing that and exined. "Being a poison master is not bad, but where Ie from, the best businesses are not the ones where you have to work constantly to make capital."

    "The best business is one where you put in an initial effort, and eventually you can live through a continuously passive ie generated by it."

    "Poison masters can''t do that, no matter how good they are. But if I create my business and seed, eventually I can have magnificent results!"

    ...

 Chapter 120 Finding Someone Creative

    "Oh?" Annaliese''s eyes widened in surprise. ''That sounds true...''

    ''But where did he learn these things from? How did my negligent brother-inw from until recently be so smart?'' She looked at him with curiosity but was pleased that he had such good ideas.

    She then decided to ask. "All right, I understand your point. But how are you going to develop this business? I mean, I don''t think it will be cheap to do such a thing at a fast enough rate that other local powers won''t take over your business before you develop it."

    "Hmm, that is indeed a problem..." Then, he got serious, considering the possibilities at hand. "Besides me directly earning the coins to develop my business, I can only find a financier interested in bing my partner."

    "Financier? That''s not easy to get without having great contacts and guarantees." She said, remembering that in this world, it was notmon for people to invest in strangers without a background to support them, as in Lothur''s case.

    Lothur was currently part of the Frost family, but as a son-inw of that house, no one would think Viktoria''s family would support him. In this case, Lothur being a member of that organization was irrelevant to this matter.

    "I know, but I''ll still have to try something as that''s the quickest way to settle this."

    On Earth, money loans were how small businesses became prominent in a few years. That was worthwhile for projects with great potentials, such as the one Lothur was nning.

    After all, the simple annual profit of a business could take many years to enable massive business growth.

    Knowing this, he did not mind getting a partner to share his future profits. Of course, it would be better if he had the coins needed for this initial investment, but since he did not, agreeing to pay the interest on a loan was already the best thing for him.

    "If I can''t find someone with the intelligence to invest in my business, I will have to do it independently."

    "It will take much longer for me to develop it to a good level, but it is possible."

    "I just need to increase my strength and carry out missions."

    "It''s just that I would have to wait a long time tounch my business. I definitely can''t give room forpetition. So I would have to take an aggressive approach, taking all potential customers already at an early stage."

    "Oh? You''re truly bold, haha." Annalieseughed graciously, finding it fascinating how her brother-inw viewed these matters.

    "Well, since you believe so strongly that this will work out, then try to meet Coroner Klossner in the sub-office for local crimes."

    "Individually speaking, he is one of the wealthiest people in this city and is potentially the best candidate to invest in your business."

    "Oh? Is that true?" He turned to her with interest.

    "Hmmm."

    "Not only does he have the ability to finance you, but he is also someone who has a good rtionship with our family. In other words, the chance of your business causing problems for us will be less if you get a deal with him and not with some organization rival of our family."

    "That also means that if your business develops, you can contribute to the family, improving your image to my mother."

    "Coroner Klossner also has a reputation as a brilliant man. So, the chance that he will see potential in your business may be greater than with other members of the local bourgeoisie."

    After advising Lothur on that matter, the two arrived at one of the local carpentry shops, a noisy ce where wood splintering could be seen in the corners of the floor.

    At the same time, several semi-finished items were there, among them chariots and small boats.

    "Young master, young miss, how can I help you?" A tall, robust, shirtless man approached the two to attend to these potential customers.

    Lothur then said. "We are searching for a carpenter who can help me build something special..." He then took out a scroll from his spatial ring, which had parts of the design of a new type of carriage.

    As he took it and looked at that piece of paper, the carpenter looked at it strangely and said. "I''m sorry, we only produce items from our catalog." He pointed to a painting on one of the side walls in that area.

    "That project of yours looks quite interesting, but it won''t be easy to produce. I''ve never seen a carpenter build such strange things, and it will certainly take a lot of work time."

    "Young master, I advise you not to waste your time with this." He handed the scroll back to Lothur, looking at the couple in front of him with a mournful expression. ''Who is going to waste their time with a joke like that? I estimate that even creative carpenters would take hundreds of hours just to build one of these parts sessfully...''

    ''Those youths may be rich, but no one would be willing to spend that many coins on something that probably has no use.''

    This man had not seen theplete design of one of the cars of Lothur''s future transportpany but the parts that would be part of it. However, he could tell from his experience that it was more or less a carriage design.

    In any case, far-fetched, frilly projects like those were not umon to appear among wealthy young people with a lot of time to spare. The problem? Well, they always lost interest in those nonsenses that led nowhere.<sub> </sub>

    After all, there was no point in spending hundreds of thousands of coins on things that could easily be reced by items worth thousands!

    So, even if the store behind that man epted orders outside their catalog, this person promptly refused to serve Lothur.

    It would be a waste of time!

    "So, that''s how it is..."

    ...

    After some time, Lothur and Annaliese had gone through half a dozen local carpenters'' stores. As expected, they had the same result at each of those ces.

    "Lothur, I think it''s almost time for us to return..." Annaliese said in a low voice, feeling bad for their failure.

    "Hmm, let''s just try thisst location. Maybe there is someone here who has a genuine interest in his own profession." He said in a slightly annoyed tone.

    He knew it would not be easy, but not even one of the people he had talked to in thest 50 minutes showed any curiosity about his project. How was this possible? How could carpenters not be interested in apletely new project?

    It was as if they all wanted to continue with what was already known without stepping forward to create something uniquely new.

    ''It''s no wonder that even with so many possibilities brought about by spiritual energy, most people in this world live in medieval conditions...''

    ''These people are toofortable to change!''

    While he had an irritated expression, Annaliese took one of his hands and massaged it, trying to calm her brother-inw as they entered thest store.

    In that ce that was not much bigger than Lothur''s room, they found a single person, a young man who looked malnourished, sitting on a stool while manipting strange items.

    This person had arge round lens in his right eye as he worked on an item, seeking millimeter precision with his slow, smooth movements.

    Seeing this, Annaliese shook her head, feeling theirst chance would fail.

    All the carpenters they had encountered seemed like strong people with years of experience. So, how could this frail young man, who looked like a weirdo, help them?

    ''Sigh... Lucky we''ll have one more training session to clear the frustrations from your mind.'' She looked at Lothur silently.

    "Hello, I was wondering if the owner of this store could help me regarding this project." Lothur waved the same scroll as before, but the young man there did not even look at it.

    "What is this project of yours about? This store only produces unique things, so I won''t waste time looking at something ordinary." He said in an immature tone.

    "Oh?" Lothur said in interest at that person''s apparent arrogance. "I think my project is quite unique. At the very least, it has never been done in this world, and the number of carpenters capable of making it possible must not be high..."

    "What?" Finally, the young carpenter looked back, stopping his movements on the piece he was working on.

    He then stood up in a leap and took the project from Lothur''s hands. "Give it to me here."

    "Hmmm."

    "Hmm... Really..."

    "Very different..." He walked from side to side, making several hand gestures as he tried to assemble the parts on that paper in his mind and visualize the final product.

    "This is a very different carriage... What is its purpose of it? Carrying people or materials?"

    ''Finally, someone who sees more than just a difficult job to do!'' Lothur felt better and exined. "I won''t go into details since I don''t want to spread my idea to someone who doesn''t have a Blood Contract with me yet."

    "But what you are looking at is the project that will revolutionize transportation in Concordia!"

    "This can either carry people or material goods."

    ...

 Chapter 121 Training Results

    "Oh? And what is the advantage of it over the types of carriages already in existence?"

    "I can see that this project will give rise to something a littlerger than the carriages usually seen on our streets. But that alone is not enough to revolutionize transportation in our world." Hemented, still looking at the details of the design made by Lothur.

    "That is the part I will be involved in developing this project." Lothur smiled. "The differentiator of this model and others I have in mind will be cost and operational efficiency."

    "These means of transportation will not need beasts as a power source for them to work."

    "What?" The young carpenter looked incredulously at Lothur.

    There were no carriages independent of animal power in Concordia. Because of this, he could not help but be interested in what Lothur was proposing.

    Lothur continued. "As you know, beasts or animals are costly to acquire, train, and maintain."

    "That kind of force will always depend on the constant flow of coin for food, treatment of diseases and wounds of these beings. They also have several vulnerabilities and are not always avable."

    "For example, ordinary horses need to rest from time to time, eat, do their biological needs, and eventually they age and die. So, when using animals like this as the driving force of carriages, the owners of these means of transportation constantly need to spend resources to keep several horses avable."

    "In the end, they still have to buy new horses from time to time, or at least keep some with breeding capacity."

    "In any case, the maintenance costs for this type of force are not low and makend means of transportation considerably expensive." He said, drawing looks of surprise and admiration from the two people there.

    "My creation wille to solve this problem. It will rece this animal power source. And with that, we will be able to lower the cost ofnd transportation, increasing the essibility of it."

    "In this way, it will revolutionize the means of transportation on our continent!"

    "Interesting... Interesting!" The young manughed after hearing all that, still walking from one side of his small store to the other.

    "But will that work? Do you have any proof that such a thing is possible?"

    Annaliese looked at Lothur in curiosity, interested to discover if this could genuinely get out of the abstract world and be something concrete.

    "No, because I don''t have a model to test," Lothur told part of the truth. But he hid the fact that he was still at an earlier stage of beginning to develop the formations necessary for his vehicles to function.

    He was almost sure that it was possible since, unlike the people of this world, he understood the basic principles behind the transformation of different types of energy and the use of this to move objects.

    He would have to build pistons, something perfectly viable, and find a way to transform spiritual energy into force to move the pistons, theplication here.

    The rest of the gears and parts of his vehicles would be rtively simpler to make, and with testing, he and his team would eventually reach an efficient enough model.

    So, he was confident in his ns!

    Lothur then suggested. "How about this? Why don''t we do a little simtion? First, you will mold the parts of it on a diminished scale. Then I''ll construct this little carriage, which will be the size of an adult pig, and finish the procedure."

    "We will do a test run after that. Then, we can sign a Blood Contract and eventually develop the project together if it works out."

    "What do you think?" Lothur smiled as he opened his arms in confidence.

    Annaliese listened to all that in silence and watched the young weirdo, waiting for his answer.

    "Hmm... That''s not a bad idea... But you will have to pay the value of the pieces of that miniature. I will not charge for my services since I am interested in this project. But I don''t have the materials..."

    "Oh? How much are we talking about?"

    "Well..." The young man stopped pacing back and forth and began doing math with his fingers, adjusting the dimensions of the miniature rtive to the original design. "Considering a 5 to 6 times decrease from the size of that, I think 10,000 bronze coins will do it."

    Hearing this young man''s response, Lothur pondered this for a moment, not finding this amount abusive. ''Ordinary carriages usually cost between 50 to 150 thousand bronze coins, depending on the materials used. These prices also take into ount the production service, which costs an average of 30% of the value of the final product.''

    ''Ten thousand bronze coins is not a high value for that. This model is especially distinctive, so it is expected that not every material will work in it, and there will be a greater waste.'' He pondered before picking up a bag with the coins requested by that young man.

    "By the way, what is your name?" Lothur asked.

    "Frederik Calis." He said as he counted the coins Lothur handed him.

    "Well, my name is Lothur. I hope we can do good business in the future."  He said, noting Frederik''s status.

    [Name: Frederik Calis]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 1.7] [CON: 2.2] [DEX: 22.1] [AGI: 1.8]

    Seeing this, Lothur smiled, and after introducing himself to Frederik, he and Annaliese said their goodbyes, quickly heading back to the Cultivation House.<sub> </sub>

    "Lothur, do you think he will be able to help you? I can''t say, but he doesn''t give me confidence." She said as she walked side by side with her brother-inw.

    "Haha, Anna, you are being biased by judging his ability considering only his fragile appearance." Heughed at his sister-inw''s inability to realize how impressive that young man''s skill with his hands was.

    Frederik had one of the strangest statuses Lothur had ever seen. But it exined his aptitude very well, which had given the silver-haired young man the confidence to leave ten thousand coins with such a person.

    For Frederik''s profession, being a cultivator was not a requirement. Obviously, that made a difference, but most of these professionals were either mortals or low-level cultivators.

    In this way, most of the carpenters that such a couple encountered today were either mortals or individuals below Frederik''s level. Therefore, Lothur knew theirst encounter had helped him find one of the most skilled local carpenters, a hidden gem in that humble store.

    Lothur then said to Annaliese. "Believe me. I just got a great deal."

    "Really? I''ll trust you then..."

    As they walked side by side, Lothur was silent, considering his luck. ''It seems Frederik''s frail appearance and quirky personality have diminished his trustworthiness so much that no one else has noticed his unusual abilities.''

    ''Sigh...''

    ''Although if I didn''t have the system on my side, I probably wouldn''t have trusted him either...''

    ''Anyway, I benefited from his situation, and now I have to develop my ns as soon as possible.''

    Before leaving Frederik''s store, Lothur had been given a one-month deadline to return to that ce for the parts ordered earlier. Consequently, he had that period to develop his formation master skills!

    ...

    A day passed in the blink of an eye.

    After the previous situation with Frederik, Lothur and Annaliese trained the rest of Saturday afternoon in the Cultivation House before returning to the Frost family estate.

    On Sunday morning, they followed a simr routine as the day before, training in the morning in one of the cultivation rooms of that institution. Then, after having their afternoon meal and rest, they returned to their training, arriving at the present moment, thete afternoon in this city.

    After finishing hisst fighting session with Annaliese, Lothur looked at his status while taking a shower in the bathroom of their cultivation room.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 9.4] [CON: 12] [DEX: 8.8] [AGI: 10.5]

    [INT: 30] [PER: 15] [WIL: 48.2]

    Seeing this, Lothur immediately felt satisfaction in his being, realizing that more challenging training could yield better results than his previous experiences with Annaliese.

    However, even this type of training lost its effects as time passed. Just like the training with technique, the first attribute increases came with smaller amounts of training hours. But quickly, this increased, and the identical amounts of attribute gains required much more training time.

    In any case, Lothur had already learned after the recent auction that there were alternative methods of increasing one''s strength, so the difficulties of training in the short term did not scare him.

    Then, he soon left the bathroom and found his sister-inw waiting for him.

    He walked over to her with a smile on his face and said. "Thank you for all this, Anna. Without you, I wouldn''t have achieved these results this weekend."

    "You don''t have to thank me..."

    "Hmm, but I want to." He moved closer to her, bringing her into his embrace and, without dy beginning to kiss her cherry lips.

    "Mmmmm~"

    She openly epted his advance while ying with her brother-inw''s naked abdomen.

    After sensing that she was still resistant to opening up entirely to him, Lothur thought about the solution to this situation.

    "Anna, what do you think of us going out on a Cultivation House mission together? I think it will be interesting to travel around the province and get to know this ce a little more, no?"

    "Oh?"

    ...

 Chapter 122 A Prodigy?

    "What are you nning?" Annaliese looked at his lips and then his eyes.

    "Nothing, I just think it will be good for both of us, don''t you? That is a good way for us to raise funds and gain experience outside the academy."

    "You probably have ess to good missions in Sector-4 and your sister''s faction, but I''m still in Sector-1! My missions are not good at all for me to gather the funds I need for my projects."

    "So, I need to do Cultivation House missions."

    "I see..." She muttered.

    "But how do you intend to do that? To take Cultivation House missions, a cultivator must be a registered member of that organization. But you..."

    Lothur nodded at her and answered her question. "I know I must reach the 5th Transformation to join the Cultivation House. But, I''m not simply suggesting we do it today or tomorrow..."

    "When I can get there, we''ll do a mission together. What do you think?"

    She smiled graciously at him, understanding his point and finding this idea interesting. "Well, that''s fine. But what about my parents? Do you think they will allow it?"

    "Do they need to know?" Lothurughed. "When the timees, just tell them you''re going on a mission. That shouldn''t be weird, right? You''re already an 8th Transformation cultivator, and it''s certainly not a bad idea to get to know the province a little more."

    "Hell, they might jump in happiness upon realizing that you''re growing up so fast!"

    "What about you? Don''t you think they''ll be suspicious if we go out on missions simultaneously?"

    "Only if they think I''m amazing and can keep up with you... Do you think your mother sees me that well?"

    Sheughed upon hearing this, agreeing that, indeed there was no way her family would be suspicious of him going on a mission with her. "I hope you will make it worth the risk of lying to my mother..."

    "Hehe, I will."

    After finishing their nning, Lothur finished dressing, and the two returned to Annaliese''s family estate.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the house of the poison master recently visited by Lothur...

    In therge garden at the back of that mansion, two women who seemed to be in their early twenties and a man who looked a little older than them were standing in front of a woman dressed in ck.

    This woman had purple eyes and hair, white skin without imperfections that was slightly pale, but in a striking way that would not make her look ill. Her measurements were perfect, and if Lothur saw her, he would probably put her on the same level of beauty as Viktoria.

    But unlike his wife, this woman in ck had hundreds of years of experience and a cultivation level far superior to Annaliese''s sister. Not only that, her influence was significant throughout the province, given her reputation as a poison master.

    Besides that, she had a bored look on her beautiful face, chatting with her only three students in this generation.

    "You three have improved a lot since thest test we took. But you still fail on some concepts and ways of mixing spiritual energy and poison particles."

    "In any case, if you can solve that problem, I probably won''t have anything more to teach you."

    "Your poison resistances have already reached good levels, and all you truly need for graduation is that previous point and, of course, to improve your cultivation bases."

    The young woman standing in front of this poison master, with green hair, said. "How can you say that, mistress? We still have a long road ahead of us, and we can certainly learn a lot here."

    "Reba is right, mistress." The man said, resolutely looking at the woman sitting on a wooden bench there in that garden.

    Elisabeth Vogel, a 6th Revolution cultivator, then sighed. "If one day I be a Transcendent, then I will indeed have much to teach you... But until that dayes, I won''t have much to show you."

    "Anyway, you two can get back to your business. I want talks with Reba alone." She nodded, dismissing those two.

    After hearing that, the young poison master simply left from there without dy, but hispanion looked firmly at Reba before doing the same.

    Reba smiled upon seeing this but soon turned her attention to the purple-haired woman.

    Elisabeth then began, "How is your Ancient Poison Body? Have any incidents happened recently?"

    Hearing her mistress'' concerned tone, she shook her head negatively. "No. Mistress, I haven''t lost control over my constitution for over four months now."

    "Perhaps the problem has been solved?"

    "No, there''s no reason it should have solved it if we haven''t managed to do anything in that period." She seriously said as she took one of Reba''s wrists. "Anyway, I''ve already made some preparations for the next time that happens."

    "You only need to lock yourself in the basement when you feel your body heat up strangely. That will indicate that your ability will get out of control."<sub> </sub>

    "Oh? All right then..."

    They talked for a while longer until Reba remembered a promise she had made a few days ago. "By the way, mistress, I recently met a young man with interesting poison resistance skills."

    "Is that so? What level is he at? Is he a 1-star poison master?" She asked without showing much interest, despite her apparent surprise to hear Reba paying apliment to someone other than herself. ''I wonder if she''s thinking of...''

    But Elisabeth soon had her train of thought interrupted by Reba''s speech. "Actually, he''s not a poison master. He hadn''t even studied the profession when I found him."

    "Uh? And how can you say he has interesting skills?"

    "It''s because he has an ability to generate innate resistance to poisons!"

    "What?" That dignified woman stood up from her seat, surprised to hear something so absurd. ''Even you who have the Ancient Poison Body had to undergo training to awaken it and generate its great resistance to poisons. How can someone do that without even properly training?''

    "Reba, are you lying to your mistress? Speak the truth!"

    "Mistress, the disciple is being truthful!"

    "That person''s name is Lothur Ritter. I investigated him, and as much as he is the son-inw of the Frost family, there is no indication that he has received training. In fact, he is not even able to cultivate, which makes me even more certain of his ability."

    "What? How is that possible?" Her eyes fluttered in excitement upon hearing those words. "Reba, tell me everything you know!"

    "Hmmm."

    "Mistress, he came to me a few days ago interested in learning our profession."

    "ording to Lothur, he was poisoned twice. I can attest that he didn''t lie about it. And then, he mysteriously developed a slight resistance to poisons."

    "I did a test with him, and he truly endured the novice poison mixture without any problem, he... He even caught up on sleep while doing it."

    At this point, Elisabeth''s mouth was open in shock since she understood far more than her disciple howplicated it was to do what Lothur did. ''He has a high-level affinity for poisons!''

    ''This boy must be a prodigy of our profession!''

    "And what did you do after that? Don''t tell me you scared him off, Reba?"

    The green-haired beauty pouted and said. "What do you think of me, mistress? I even yed with him, but he handled the situation so well that I preferred not to risk giving myself to a lion in sheep''s clothing..."

    "In any case, I gave him the basic material for our profession and promised to speak of his name to you, mistress."

    "I told him to return when he mastered the basics of that."

    "Oh?" Elisabeth sighed in relief and touched the left shoulder of the young woman in front of her. "You did well, Ba."

    ''But it''s a surprise that someone was able to scare off your ''fun'' side...''

    ''He must have quite a personality!''

    "What do you want to do, mistress?" Reba asked after a moment of silence.

    "Put some men to keep an eye on him. You must immediately bring him to me if he seeks out other poison masters. Otherwise, let him learn on his own for the time being."

    ''It is good that he has some space to decide toe to us without further pressure... His loyalty and gratitude will be greater that way!'' She pondered.

    "OK, but..."

    "But?"

    "Do you think he can..." Reba''s cheeks heated as her mistress sighed at the ideas of this disciple of hers.

    "If everything you told me is true, then maybe he can... But you''d better not get your hopes up too high."

    "Let''s stick to our main n. Running after theplete maturation of your soul is the surest way for you to have a normal life."

    "Then don''t waste too much time on those thoughts."

    Gulp!

    "I''ll do my best, mistress!"

 Chapter 123 Back To The Academy

    At the end of Sunday, after arriving home next to Annaliese, Lothur ate something in one of that estate''s dining halls and went to his small room. But on this asion, he did not cultivate nor train since he had done many things in thest three days and needed to rest for the beginning of the week.

    So, apart from preparing some items to train his tailoring skills the next day, he justy down on his bed and slept until dawn.

    The next morning he followed his usual routine, quickly making his way to Annaliese''s carriage in the area outside the home of the Frost patriarch.

    "Good morning, Ann..." He was entering that carriage when he suddenly saw an extra person there.

    "Viktoria, dear, what are you doing here?" He asked as he looked at one of the twin sisters sitting side by side.

    "Lothur, my sister is going to the academy with us today. Aren''t you happy?" Annaliese promptly exined to him, smiling at being able to go to the academy with her.

    Annaliese lived in Viktoria''s shadows within the Frost family, but this woman loved her older sister and respected her very much.

    In fact, she was very proud of Viktoria and liked when her sister went to the academy with her.

    "Hmmm." Lothur nodded to Annaliese and looked at Viktoria once again. "Perhaps you would like to spend more time with your husband, dear? That''s nice of you..."

    "I''m sure everyone will be envious of me when they see me walking hand in hand with you through the academy gates."

    Annaliese swallowed her saliva, turning slightly red at Lothur''s behavior. ''Holding hands?''

    Viktoria looked at him coldly, clenching one of her fists while having her other hand hiding it. "You must be dreaming things if you think I will let you touch my hands."

    "Oh? I thought we had to look like a couple? Was I wrong?" He looked at Annaliese, smiling. "Perhaps you would prefer that I do this with Anna? If you suppress your cultivation, I''m sure people will think..."

    "Lothur, we don''t need intimacy in public to demonstrate our rtionship. Only indiscreet people act like that. So, as long as you walk side by side with me, no one will think anything strange." She said after breathing for a few moments, controlling her urge to hit him.

    ''Elise is right. This scumbag needs to be taught a lesson!''

    ''I''ll make some preparations today, and then I''ll start putting him in his ce!''

    ''Humph!''

    ''I doubt I can''t control him!''

    "Is that so? Well, it makes no difference then. But I hope you won''t mind my absence at times. I have some appointments today..." He remembered his agreement with Anneke, who had invited him to her room.

    "Do whatever you want," Viktoria said as she looked down the street.

    But Anna did not let Lothur''sment go ignored. "Are you talking about that little sl... Cough! Cough! That girl, Elke?"

    "Also..." He smiled.

    "Lothur, why do you keep up this? I think your situation isplicated enough, don''t you?" She shook her head in aplicated way to ignore, indicating something that only she and he could understand.

    "I truly don''t think you need it..."

    "Oh?" He understood Annaliese''s subliminal message as he looked at Viktoria in curiosity.

    On the other hand, Viktoria was slightly surprised by Annaliese''s good intentions in keeping this man out of trouble. "Leave him, Anna. Then, when things go wrong with her, we''ll be here to enjoy the show."

    "No, sister, I''d rather not see that happen..." Annaliese looked away and continued. "That would be bad for the family..."

    "Oh?"

    While they were talking about this matter, the carriage arrived at the Morning Star Academy, where, without dy, they proceeded side by side through the entrance of that ce.

    "Look at that. That''s the First Miss Frost!"

    "WOW!"

    "She''s so beautiful!"

    "My God, how could a bastard like Lothur have gotten the fortune to marry her?"

    Groups of young people in the surrounding area began toment in whispered tones as the trio continued on their way towards the academy''s interior.

    But while some noticed how impressive Viktoria was, others soon noticed the changes in Annaliese.

    "Hey, isn''t that Annaliese? What happened to her? She looks different."

    "True! Her appearance seems to have changed overnight. I wonder if the Frost family found something valuable and decided to give it to her?"

    "Impossible!"

    "A decadent family like that couldn''t distribute such valuable resources to someone with her talent! It would have been better to have given it to Viktoria!"

    "Tsk!"

    "That bitch got lucky!" A blonde woman looked in Annaliese''s direction and understood what was behind the change in Lothur''s sister-inw''s appearance.<sub> </sub>

    ''Damn!''

    ''If I had known something like this would happen, I wouldn''t have given up that Soul Bone!''

    On the other hand, while dozens of people were paying attention to the two sisters, a woman with blonde hair and green eyes approached them with a smile.

    She had a remarkable appearance that seemed to make a golden aura appear in her surroundings, while anyone would think that she was descended from some divine bloodline or something like that.

    With her graceful steps, full of elegance but also with some sensuality, Lothur could not help but watch her closely, surprised that he still found people capable of shocking him. ''Who''s that?''

    "Viktoria, I''m d you came, or this day would be tedious..." The sweet voice of this blonde broke Lothur''s thoughts as his group finally stopped face to face with this woman.

    "Good to see you, Karen." Annaliese greeted this blonde, her sister''s best friend.

    "Hmm, you look better than ever, Anna."

    Viktoria then introduced Lothur to her friend. "Lothur, this is Karen Hum, a good friend of mine."

    "Karen, this is my husband, Lothur Ritter."

    "Oh? So you are the infamous Lothur, huh?"

    "I''ve heard a lot of things about you..." She smiled at him before giving him a friendly hug and kissing his right cheek.

    She then said in a low voice in one of his ears. "I hope you''re treating her well, or, hehe..."

    Feeling her grip on his shoulder, Lothur did not back down and tried to make her waist closer to his. "If you want to get involved in our rtionship, I hope you are prepared for everything..."

    "Bold..."

    "I like it!"

    After they parted, the two looked at each other meaningfully but said nothing more, and quickly those women returned to their conversation.

    Lothur, on the other hand, soon bid farewell to the three, heading for Sector-1. As for Annaliese, she apanied her sister for a few more minutes until only Viktoria and Karen continued on their way towards thest sector of this institution.

    "Viktoria, I must say that your husband is much more handsome than rumors give him credit for! I would probably steal him from you if it weren''t for his poor talent!" Karen smiled as she said that.

    "Tsk!"

    "Stop these jokes. I have something serious to talk to you about." Viktoria was not bothered by the previousment.

    "Oh? It''s about him, right?"

    "Hmm, indeed." Viktoria looked thoughtfully at her friend and pulled her to a quieter ce near a garden of Sector-6.

    After they sat down on a bench made of stone near a fountain, Viktoria began to tell her problems with Lothur. "That fellow has been getting bolder and bolder."

    "He talked a lot of nonsense before, but he waspletely harmless and was under my control. But recently, he''s been doing pretty much whatever he wants!"

    "He doesn''t answer my questions, makes me keep waiting for him, ahh... Just thinking about it makes me feel angry at that scumbag!"

    "Oh?" Karen looked at her friend curiously, not expecting the always calm Viktoria to show nervousness when talking about her good-for-nothing husband.

    "He''s even seeing another woman, even though he''s married to me!"

    "What? And you allowed this?" She stood up in shock. "I know your marriage is a fantasy because of your debt to that person and your family''s current situation. But this could still affect your image!"

    "I know..." Viktoria said as she looked at the ground. "I wanted to avoid such a thing, but that scumbag managed to beat me in our argument..."

    "He has been very independent recently. I feel like every time I talk to him; Ie out losing... It''s like he has nothing to lose, and any result is fine for him, while for me..."

    "Tsk!"

    "Anyway, I don''t want to keep remembering all these defeats I''ve had for him."

    "I want you to help me deal with this uncontroble fellow. Do you know how?"

    "If possible, I want to make him crawl under my feet!" Viktoria clenched her fists to the point where discernible sounds came from her hands.

    <o>,m Karen looked awkwardly at Viktoria, not knowing what to say. ''I never thought even you would wish for something like this...''</o>

    ''It seems that even someone so talented and calm about her feelings can be provoked by the opposite sex.''

    ''Amazing!''

    "Well, there are ways to deal with someone like that, but it''s not easy. You can even lose control of the situation and end up falling..."

 Chapter 124 Challenge

    "... And end up falling in love with him. I can teach you a few things, but I rmend you just ignore him. Doing that may not be what you want at the moment, but at least you won''t identally fall in love with him."

    "Me falling in love with him? Are you underestimating me or overestimating him?" Viktoria asked in an irritated tone, looking at her friend with a bit of hostility in her eyes.

    "You think so?" Karen said in a provocative tone. "This irritation of yours towards him is already a troubling sign. If he doesn''t matter to you, why bother if he''s doing what he wants and not listening to you?"

    "Are you suggesting that I have feelings for that scumbag? Impossible!" She stood up from where she was and waved one of her hands in the air. "Impossible! Are you trying to make me angry by saying these things, Karen?"

    "No, I''m just saying..."

    "In any case, are you sure you want to go ahead with your ns? I''ll repeat it. I think you should just ignore him."

    Viktoria shook her head negatively and said. "I''m not as easily persuaded as you say, so thanks, but no. I''m going to make that scumbag pay for the anger he''s been putting me through!"

    Karen then sighed in defeat before beginning to counsel her friend. "All right, then. Then don''t say I didn''t warn you... Anyway, you have two options if you want to make him bootlick for you."

    "Which ones?" She asked.

    Karen then exined. "You must choose a stick or a carrot."

    "Uh?"

    "Either you will act aggressively with him in your approach, or you will use incentives to get him to eat into your hands."

    "Oh?"

    "Men are easy to manipte. They are extremely visual and easily controlled by their desires. So, it won''t be hard for you to get him to notice you more than he should and start desiring to be with you. That will be the basics that will turn him into a fool who will do anything you want..."

    "That... But doesn''t he already desire me? How will I do what you say?" Viktoria was used to being desired by almost every man in her surroundings, so it was hard for her to imagine Lothur as an exception.

    "Haha, of course, he desires you. But not enough to be desperate and willing to do anything for you!" Karenughed at her friend''s innocence. "You must show him what he could have if he were kinder to you if he started pleasing you by behaving himself."

    She looked more seriously at Viktoria and said. "Well, that''s the carrot strategy. You don''t have to overexpose yourself; you can slowly bring him into your control with small moves. The other option, on the other hand, is faster but is much more invasive..."

    "Invasive?" Viktoria''s eyebrows arched.

    "Yes. The first strategy consists of a kind of covertnguage. The second relies on overtnguage. In this case, you would have to approach Lothur directly and show him something hard to ignore..." Her face turned slightly red as she said that part.

    Viktoria closed her eyes as she heard that. "Karen, I''m not sure if I understand you..."

    Karen then revealed. "Kiss him, give him a chance, and he''ll be itching for more. From then on, you will have him under your control even if you don''t let him touch your body again."

    "What? Nonsense! That kind of nonsense doesn''t work! Who do you think I am?" Viktoria felt irritated by her friend''s bold suggestions.

    "It does work..." Karenughed. "There are many men who their wives manipte in just that way. The rtionship is initially good, but the dayes when she no longer gives what he wants."

    Karen exined the truth to her friend. "Then these men start acting like desperate servants, hoping to get a little intimacy. From then on, these women lead the rtionship, which also exins theter disinterest of women in their partners who behave this way."

    "Sigh..."

    "If you act overtly with him, you will have a better chance of getting him on your feet, as you wish. But you will have to take that bold step..."

    "No! I definitely won''t do that! Even if you are right, I would only reward him by letting him touch me!" Viktoria clenched her fists tightly. "I''d rather use the covert strategy!"

    "Hmm, good luck," Karen said while shaking her head, fearing where her friend would get to. ''He may not have many qualities, but the main quality for a temporary crush is his forte...''

    ''I hope your shot doesn''t backfire, Viktoria.''

    ...

    A few hourster, Lothur had already attended one of the morning sses when he finally made his way to Anneke''s room in the local dormitory.

    Pa! Pa!<sub> </sub>

    He knocked on her room door twice before his beautiful geopolitics teacher came to greet him. "Lothur, it seems that even though you''re a shameless bastard, your words are still worth something, eh?"

    Seeing the provocative smile on her face, Lothur looked at the lips of this beautiful ck-haired woman but did not answer her question. Instead, he walked into that ce, stopping beside her, waiting for her to close the door.

    He looked at her status and saw that Anneke had recently risen to level 7 and then said. "Congrattions on reaching the 7th Transformation."

    "Oh? Did you realize that?" Her eyes sharpened as she stopped before him in the small hallway entrance to her room. ''You truly are hiding your strength!''

    "So? Are you prepared to tell me what your good fortune was? Or are you going to try to use some excuse not to say what you promised?" She asked, smiling provocatively.

    "Anne, you are bold, huh? Wanting to uncover secrets that could end other people''s lives... Aren''t you afraid of getting dirty by putting your hand where it shouldn''t be?" He moved closer to her, causing her to move back.

    "Oh? No offense, but a fortune that makes someone useless able to cultivate is not as dangerous as you think..." She faced the wall at her back.

    "Hehe, so let''s just say I found something that improved my talent a bit." He stopped when she put one of her arms on his right shoulder. "Is that enough to you?"

    "That''s vague!"

    "Is it? Then how about this? If you help me find something, I''ll give you one more relevant detail. Then, I''ll give you something else if you want it to..." He said as he bit his lips and looked intensely at her cherry lips.

    She ignored Lothur''s gesture and eased the strength in her hand holding his shoulder. "What do you want?"

    "I''m after a metal leaf, about the size of a pendant from nes or things like that. I don''t know the color of this item, but it probably has significant value to the people or organizations that have it."

    "Oh?" Her mind fell into a state of reflection, trying to think what this leaf Lothur was talking about might be.

    Meanwhile, she got careless, and Lothur finally got close enough to her to bring her into his arms. "Anne, if you continue to be so interested in me, I will think you''re in love..."

    Gulp!

    She turned to him, putting her thoughts aside. But, unfortunately, in doing so, she made the mistake of ignoring that his face was only inches away from hers.

    In that instant, she felt her lips touch something soft, moist, and warm, and her whole body went weak with the sensation of this unconscious action.

    "Anne! I didn''t think you would steal a kiss from me like that!" Lothurughed as he saw the woman freeze there.

    "Your bas..." She was saying, ready to attack Lothur, but this young man skillfully deflected her blow by hugging her.

    "That blow just now was a little too decisive, no? You don''t even know my strength level... What if it hurt me?" He asked as he held her against the wall.

    "Tsk!"

    "It was meant to hurt you! How dare you kiss me?"

    "Oh? I''m sure it was you who did that, Anne..." Heughed before saying in her ear. "If I had kissed you, you wouldn''t beining now, but rather in my arms, lost in the sensation of being kissed by someone who knows what he''s doing."

    "Arrogant!"

    "What can a brat like you do that? I''m sure the First Miss Frost never gave you the pleasure of kissing her! As for that brat, Elke, what can she know?" She turned red as she looked at him.

    "That sounds like a challenge... Well, I ept it!" He made his way toward her lips, shocking her with his boldness in trying to kiss his teacher.

    ''Scoundrel!'' But in this situation where they were so close, she had no time to reject him as his lips touched hers, sending shocks throughout her body.

    As she felt Lothur''s tongue entering her mouth, Anneke could not ignore her primal feminine instincts. She liked his looks, and his every attitude provoked her in a remarkably new way to her. So, she soon did what her genes were telling her to do.

    "Mmmmm~"

    ...

 Chapter 125 Competitors

    "Mmmm~"

    The two kissed for at least a few minutes in Anneke''s room''s entrance hallway. At first, this teacher of Lothur''s had resisted a bit, but after feeling his movements, her hands stopped trying to push him away.

    Soon she had both hands on Lothur''s face, one gently massaging his right cheek and the other on the back of his neck.

    In that instant, nothing but the sensation of his tongue was on her mind, as she momentarily forgot that he had dared to make such a move against her.

    At the end of the minutes of intense kissing, Lothur separated his lips from hers and looked intensely into her eyes. "What did you think? Surprised, no?" Heughed, pleased with Anneke''s lost look.

    She then regained her rationality and felt what she had just allowed herself to do as she used her hands to straighten her messy clothes. ''This bastard truly is a good kisser. I''ll give him that!''

    ''But he''s too bold! And a womanizer to make it worse!'' She looked at him in silence, not knowing what to do in this unexpected situation.

    Anneke was a beauty, a respectable student both for her teaching duties and for her above-average aptitude. Because of this, few men dared to act so assertively against her.

    Even if she had already had her experiences with love, she always had to show many signs for the people she was interested in to realize that they should take action. Because of this, she had never been kissed without first giving a sign of approval or taking the initiative.

    That put her in this unique situation, feeling good but also confused.

    "Lothur..." She sighed as she closed her eyes. ''What do I do with you now?''

    ''Sigh!''

    ''I guess I''d better not give him the pleasure and say what I thought.... I''ll just pretend it didn''t happen!'' She made up her mind silently.

    "What were you talking about before? A metal leaf? What do you want with that?" She wiped her lips and indicated with one of her hands the way for Lothur to follow her.

    After that, she sat down in a leather armchair under Lothur''s curious gaze.

    ''Are you just going to ignore our kiss? I must say, this is the first time I havee across an answer like that...'' He smiled and sat down in front of her. ''But since that''s what you want, I''ll y by your rules.''

    "Hmm, I want to find leaves like that. I don''t have much information about it, but I feel they are important to me..."

    He closed his eyes momentarily and said. "Anyway, I believe that if we work together, we can find out what they are, and eventually, you will be able to quench your curiosity. What do you say?"

    She watched him silently for a few moments, observing his eyes and sometimes his lips. "All right, I''ll help you get information about these leaves, but I can''t guarantee anything. This information you''ve given me is vague..."

    "By the way," He interrupted her as he remembered something. "I have another tip to give you."

    "Oh?"

    "These leaves I speak of are probably simr to the one Viktoria has on her ne. I don''t know if she knows what that is, which may also be the situation for other owners of that item. So, maybe the owners of that don''t value it as I said..."

    "I see..." She muttered as she looked at the little table that separated Lothur and her. "Anyway, I''ll see what I can do. But you already owe me a lot, Lothur..."

    "How do you intend to repay for so many favors? Will you always lie to me and use excuses?"

    "You want payments that could potentially get me killed... What do you expect? That I hand over my head on a silver tter to you?"

    "However, if you want something different, for example, to have me, then I guess I won''t have to lie or use excuses..." Heughed as he opened his arms and rxed in an armchair.

    "You?" Her face turned red as the feeling from earlier traveled through her body.

    After a few moments with one watching the other intensely, she sighed deeply and calmed her nerves. "I''ll think about what I want from you without demanding that you take risks..."

    "But you''d better not behave so boldly in the future. I don''t know if I''ll be able to hold my strength if you make me angry, Lothur."

    He smiled at herment. "I think you know how to control yourself more than you think, Anne. Otherwise, I don''t think I''d be here anymore... By the way, I don''t think you get angry at all... I can''t tell, but you seemed prettyfortable earlier."

    "Our conversation ends here!" She stood up and pulled Lothur by one of his wrists. "Go. I don''t want to see you until the next geopolitics ss!"

    "Hehe, see youter!"

    After closing the door to her room, Anneke rxed against one of the walls there as she let out a long sigh of relief. ''I have to be more careful!''

    ''That fellow knows how to tease me.''

    ''He''s a hunter, and I only have to lose by falling into his traps!''

    ...<sub> </sub>

    After leaving Anneke''s room, Lothur made his way to his and Elke''s private ce, where he had fun for a few moments with that woman before getting on with the afternoon''s business at the academy.

    At the end of the day, Lothur left Sector-1 apanied by Elke, intent on going to the Cultivation House with her to get the results of the investigation he had paid for earlier.

    Upon doing so, he made his way to the site of Annaliese''s carriage, where he knew his sister-inw would already be waiting for him, as usual.

    Arriving there beside Elke, he knocked on one of the carriage windows andmunicated with his sister-inw. "Anna, I have something to take care of, so you can go without me."

    Hearing that, Annaliese and Viktoria looked through that window and saw a red-haired woman standing next to Lothur, her face as red as a tomato.

    ''That...''

    ''That''s the daughter of the Becker family!'' Viktoria identified Lothur''spanion and felt he was teasing her for going there with his woman.

    But surprisingly, Viktoria was not the most annoyed person there. No, while she clenched her fists in anger at Lothur''s audacity, Annaliese left the inside of that carriage with an irritated expression.

    "May I know where you are going?" She ignored Elke and looked at Lothur with a meaningful look.

    "Hmm." Lothurughed. "I''m going to the Cultivation House with my friend, Elke."

    "Oh? A friend, huh?"

    Hearing Annaliese''s hostility-filled words, Elke felt ashamed that their rtionship was much moreplicated than that. She could not help but feel bad that she was sleeping with the husband of the woman inside that carriage, who the sister was probably trying to defend at this instant.

    "Well then, I will go with you!" She left some things inside that carriage and said goodbye to her sister. "Sister, I will keep an eye on my brother-inw. Then go home without me."

    "Anna, you don''t have to. I don''t..."

    "No," Annaliese insisted. "I will!"

    "That''s..." Elke tugged at Lothur''s shirt, looking at him with a worried expression on her face.

    "Don''t worry, Elke. Anna and I get along very well. I''m sure you two will soon be like sisters." He smiled as heforted his partner.

    As he did so, he noted her status once again.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 2]

    [STR: 1.5] [CON: 3.0] [DEX: 2.9] [AGI: 3.1]

    ''Elke''s characteristics were steadily rising... In particr, her constitution improves every time we have sex...''

    ''Is that because of me, or is it the very characteristic of her body?'' He wondered as Annaliese finished getting ready to apany him.

    ''Anyway, it seems that every time her constitution goes up, the other attributes improve shortly afterward... Hmm, that must be because her training is more intense? Her body bes more resilient and starts producing faster nerve responses, so her training is more efficient?''

    ''That must be the case.''

    ''Well, when I have my first time with Anna, I''ll see if she or I generate these effects.'' As he thought about it, he saw Annaliese take one of his arms and hug it as if ready topete with Elke.

    He then joked. "Elke, why don''t youe and take my left arm?"

    "That... Won''t people think that''s weird?" She asked, embarrassed.

    And as Annaliese pinched his right forearm, Lothur said. "Find what weird? Would anyone in this city think that I am capable of staying with two beautiful women like you two? A good-for-nothing like me wouldn''t be able to achieve that..."

    "Besides, Anna is my sister-inw. Since she''s already doing it, no one will think strange things if you do the same, Elke." He thenughed and said. "Only I risk being mistaken for someone who doesn''t like women..."

    After thesements finisheding out of his mouth, Viktoria felt as if something very wrong was happening in front of her, but she did not quite understand the feeling in her heart.

    On the other hand, Annaliese and Elke had very different thoughts from Viktoria''s, as they had their secrets with him.

    "Hahaha,dies, may we go?"

    ...

 Chapter 126 Investigation Results

    After some time walking with the two beautiful women arm in arm with him, Lothur had ovee the many looks of hatred and envy on the way to the Cultivation House.

    At the same time, he had somehow managed the situation between Elke and Annaliese so that one would not pull the other''s hair in public and start a fight.

    At first, the redhead was still slightly shy and showed no hostility to Lothur''s sister-inw. But after some teasing from Annaliese, the atmosphere had heated up, and even the embarrassed woman had started to attack her opponent.

    At first, Lothur had been amused by the two exchanging barbs and looking at each other strangely. But after a few moments, he skillfully controlled the situation just before they reached the Cultivation House.

    Upon entering that building, Annaliese asked. "By the way, what do you want in this ce, Lothur? Don''t tell me you intend to train this brat?"

    "Brat?" Elke looked at her rival, clearly understanding that Annaliese was not just a sister-inw to Lothur. ''What a hypocritical bitch! She''s in love with her brother-inw, but she treats me as if I''m doing something immoral!''

    ''Humph!''

    Lothur lightly squeezed Annaliese''s waist for her to stop and said. "Previously, I tried to sell one of my belonging inside the academy, but someone from the collective business room put several difficulties in my way."

    He felt that the women beside him had calmed their tempers somewhat and continued. "I found this attitude strange, considering the value of the item I was selling to students in Sector-1. So, I paid for an investigation to find out if I can take this person down."

    "Oh?" Annaliese was surprised to find out about that. "Why didn''t you tell me about it? I would have helped you solve that problem faster."

    "Humph!"

    "Lothur doesn''t need your help. We handled this matter just fine before you put your nose where it didn''t belong." Elkemented casually.

    "Sigh!"

    "Anyway, I also paid for another investigation regarding potential enemies of mine. During my first mission, someone who was supposed to be a ''friend'' tried to kill me. After that, a ''friend'' tried to seduce me to go to a casino."

    Hearing thosest words, Annaliese made him stop and turn to him. "A friend tried to seduce you? Lothur, you are hiding things from me!"

    "Who is this woman? I want to know who dares to try to seduce my brother-inw!"

    "Don''t worry. She is not important. Depending on the fruits of the investigation, I will deal with her myself." His eyes sharpened while his tone was cold.

    Lothur had already gotten used to the idea of living in this chaotic civilization where the strongest decided everything and murder plots unfolded around every corner.

    Considering his experiences with both assassination attempts against himself and killings he hadmitted, he had already gained some of the coldness of cultivators.

    Because of this, he had already reached the point where he would show no mercy even to women. If someone like that tried to ruin or even end his life, he would act!

    So, depending on the results of the investigation he paid for earlier, he was determined to act against his old ''friend.''

    In his previous life, Lothur did not believe in second chances. In this life, on the other hand, he already believed that, depending on the mistake, a person would not even deserve the gift of life.

    An enemy who tries to kill you and has the power to do so cannot be forgiven, no matter what happens. Even if such a person could eventually change, it would never change their actions and the possibility that they might have seeded in eliminating you.

    Such an enemy might fail to kill you, but with the possibility of sess, what if they had seeded? Well, in that case, you would have died, and it would not matter if such a person had the potential to be an ally in the future.

    This possibility did not please Lothur!

    He would rather have an enemy in the present dead than a potential ally alive in the future!

    Therefore, he believed that an enemy who risks his life should be eliminated at all costs, no matter who they are or their transformation potential.

    After hearing this, Annaliese did not feel bad for Lothur''s answer. On the contrary, she was d that such a woman had aplished nothing with him and still acquired his antagonism.

    "That''s better..." She smiled as they sat down inside one of the rooms in the investigation area of the Cultivation House.

    After a few moments, the same woman who had attended to him and Elke entered that ce.<sub> </sub>

    "Another friend, huh?" She smiled as she closed the door and sat in front of those three. "Well, anyway, hmm," She looked at the folder in her hands. "Lothur, we already have your results."

    "Oh?" Lothur took a bag of coins from his spatial ring and asked. "Has the agreed price been changed? Or will I have to pay the amount agreed upon before?"

    "No, the price from before will work." She smiled as she opened that and saw some information. "It seems that this person from Morning Star Academy has been acting beyond his limits on many asions. So, it wasn''t hard for us to gather some evidence against him."

    "I see..." Lothur smiled as he received confirmation of his suspicions. "By the way, he acted against me because of the young man from the Baier family, right?"

    "Hmm, exactly."

    "Merten Baier wants to make your life difficult at the academy because you refused his previous challenge. By the way," She took her eyes off those documents and looked at him. "That wasn''t part of our agreement, but we documented it as a courtesy. Other people at this academy have their eye on you."

    "The director of Sector-1 seems to be watching you, while some teachers in your sses will probably hinder your progress due to your constant absence."

    "Some of them are just annoyed that someone who came in through the back doors of the academy wastes his opportunities. But others seem to have connections with House Baier. So be careful."

    "Even the principal?" Annaliese asked in shock since such a person should be impartial.

    But Elke was not surprised by this since she had previously seen how that individual treated Lothur.

    "That''s no surprise," He said in a low voice. "This principal has warned me that if I make any mistakes, he will expel me from the academy."

    "That..." Annaliese fretted, finding this all unfair.

    "Anyway," That woman flipped through the papers in her hands and moved on to the next subject. "About those two people you were seeking information from, uh, Willi and Erika. Well, that person named Willi is missing, but we assume he''s dead."

    "That''s too bad..." Lothur made a rueful expression, maintaining his facade of a concerned friend.

    "But you were right. He and this woman named Erika have connections beyond their friendship with you over the past few months. Not only that, she is part of a local brothel that has a connection to the Mouse Company."

    "They both approached you with interests we don''t know for sure, but it wasn''t something from fate. They wanted something or provoking something."

    "Bastards!" Lothur mmed one of his fists against the table in front of him. "Not for nothing did that woman want to take me to a casino. She probably wanted to get me to gamble and build up a huge debt!"

    "Hmm, that makes sense," Annaliesemented, realizing that such a thing would indeed be a big problem for Lothur within her family.

    As for Elke, she waited for that woman to leave the document with the collected information,e out, and ask him. "What do you intend to do now, Lothur?"

    He stood silent for a moment as those two beautiful women watched him. "There are still many mysteries behind the Mouse Company. So, I will try to understand their purpose before I do anything. But now, at least I know they are not after me for what happened to Alric and the Baier family''s subsequent problem with that group."

    "They were after me long before I entered the Morning Star Academy!"

    The two women there nodded at him and listened. "So, first, I will settle that academy matter. Aside from it being something simpler, since this official, uh, Valentin, has harmed several students, I''ll be able to settle my affairs with him in no time."

    The local academy had its preferences and was not impartial. But since their performance, fame and honor would be at stake if students were hindered for petty reasons, then even the institution''s leaders could not ignore Lothur''s problem.

    If it had just been Merten versus Lothur, they would not give a damn about this situation. But since an official had prevented relevant resources from being sold within the academy premises, this was a serious situation!

    That had happened in Sector-1, but what if one day Valentin came to Sector-6? Would he disrupt the lives of some of the local elite students?

    The risk was not zero, so it was better to eliminate someone like this while he was still irrelevant!

    Knowing this, Lothur was rxed about solving this problem.

    ''After this, I''ll do him the favor of making him pay with interest and correction for my loss!'' He left the Cultivation House with his twopanions and decided what to do the next day.

 Chapter 127 Misunderstanding

    Meanwhile, the Baier family and the Mouse Company continued to be estranged due to Alric''s previous incident.

    Alric''s family was putting pressure on this organization due to their failure to find clear clues as to who had acted against this young master. But things had not gotten out of hand with one side acting more seriously than they should.

    The Baier patriarch was furious about what had happened to his son, even more so considering that Alric had lost his manhood. But still, he would note at the Mouse Company with destructive force without further proof.

    The Mouse Company might be an underworld force, but the Baier patriarch knew about some of the troublesome connections of that organization!

    With that said, other than minor disagreements, and an end to friendlymunication between the parties, no major fighting had taken ce in this period since Lothur''s action.

    However, neither side was sure if this was the end. So, to avoid continuing to risk confrontation with arge family, the very members of the local underworld organization were investigating Alric''s misfortune.

    ...

    "Any findings, Leon?" The leader of the Mouse Company asked one of the men across his desk.

    Seeing the serious expression on his leader''s face, Leon, a tall, strong, dark-skinned man, said. "Boss, so far, we have not been able to find out exactly who acted against the brat. But among the many suspects, the good-for-nothing Lothur is among the possibilities."

    "Oh? Why do you think that?" That man''s eyebrows drew together after those words were spoken.

    "Boss, as you already know, Alric was after information of that fellow."

    "Hmmm."

    "But before Alric''s incident, he and his two minions returned to their homes full of injuries a certain day... But, surprisingly, neither of them sought help from their families to seek justice."

    "That..." Kai tried to understand what that subordinate was about to say.

    "They probably beat the crap out of someone but ended up injured. In any case, since Alric''s group won, they did not seek justice for their injuries." That man stated. "That''s what I believe!"

    "Interesting..." Kai put one of his hands to his mouth and murmured, considering this information. "But why do you say that troublesome fellow''s son is one of the suspects?"

    Leon then responded. "He is a suspect because he is one of the few who had a disagreement with Alric recently. Also, the day they returned to their homes with injuries, the three subjects were seen in the vicinity of House Frost property."

    "I see... That is why you ced him among the suspects. But what makes you think that Lothur would be able to act against those three?"

    "That is obviously because of Miss Harris'' warnings. This Lothur seems to be hiding something... I can''t tell if he''s truly a good-for-nothing like we all think." His eyes sharpen. "Maybe he inherited something from that person..."

    Hearing this, Kai became much soberer since, unlike Lothur, he knew well the origin of that silver-haired young man. "If he inherited something from that man, he truly is a danger."

    ''No wonder my master wants to kill that brat!'' He thought.

    After a few moments in silence, smoking a long cigar, Kai decided. "Try to put the Baier family against that brat. He should be dead by now, but surprisingly he is managing to avoid us better than we had anticipated."

    "Yes."

    "Then throw some bait to them. On the other hand, tell Erika that if she can''t cause trouble for Lothur in the next few days, she can forget about freeing herself from her current position." He said in an icy tone. "Also, speak with Elise. I want her to try more vigorously to deal with him."

    "About that, boss," One of the other individuals in that office said. "She recently tried to deal with him but almost got caught... Isn''t it better that she slow down her current pace? If she gets caught..."

    "No."

    "If she''s at risk of being discovered, it''s better to act at once and run away after eliminating him." This leader refused his subordinate''s ideas. "Anyway, do that quickly."

    "Yes, boss!"

    After some of those individuals left that ce, Kai came face to face with his right hand. "Do you have something to tell me?"

    The man then said. "Recently, the brat Lothur was at the Cultivation House seeking information about Willi and Erika."

    "Oh? Has he found out anything?"

    "We don''t know yet, but from what I was told, he seemed concerned about Willi''s disappearance, as one would expect from a good friend."

    "Hahahaha, what an idiot! I guess I''m giving him too much credit because of his background... But there really shouldn''t be any risk here." He had a fewughs because of that information.

    ...

    A few hourster, at the Becker family estate...<sub> </sub>

    At this point, Elke had already said goodbye to Lothur and was diligently cultivating in her room, something she had recently learned to appreciate.

    Before meeting Lothur, she had never enjoyed cultivating or training her techniques due to her low talent. But this had changed for some reason.

    Mysteriously, her body seemed to be getting more and more adept at spiritual cultivation, as if something was making her job more convenient and much more enjoyable. And in fact, her results wereing more effortlessly, making this whole process interesting for her.

    ''I think this change happened after Lothur made me a woman...'' She thought about this while sitting on a cultivation cushion in a lotus position in the middle of her room. ''I wonder why this is happening? Is it because of this feeling I get while I am with him?'' Her face flushed.

    ''In any case, I have to try harder!''

    ''Lothur is much more talented than me, so I can''t bezy, or I''ll fall behind!''

    ''Especially considering that little bitch sister-inw of his.'' Elke opened her eyes at the thought of that. "She''s having an affair with her brother-inw..."

    "What a slut she is!" She muttered.

    ...

    As Elke finished her nightly cultivation and prepared for bed, her parents received some worrying information.

    "Patriarch, ma''am, I''m afraid the young miss has been seen in public doing something she shouldn''t be doing today." A middle-aged man, kneeling beside arge bed, said this in a low voice.

    Upon hearing that, Elke''s father looked strangely into the face of this trusted servant of his and asked. "What did Elke do?"

    "She was seen walking arm in arm with a young man earlier today..."

    "What?" Elke''s mother almost jumped out of bed in surprise upon hearing this. "How could that be? Who was the bastard?"

    "About that, ma''am, the person''s name is Lothur Ritter, and he is the young son-inw of the Frost family." This man''s eyes opened wider as he remembered another piece of information. "By the way, on this asion, not only was the young miss walking arm in arm with him. The Second Miss Frost was too."

    "His sister-inw?" Elke''s mother asked awkwardly, thinking of a strange possibility.

    As for Elke''s father, he was starting to get worried. "It can''t be that..."

    "Impossible!" His wife said. "A good-for-nothing like him couldn''t get House Frost''s approval to have both sisters!"

    She thenid out her thoughts. "Thinking about that, this brat is nothing but a fantasy husband to that child, Viktoria. Maybe he actually does not like this type of ''fruit''?"

    "You''re saying..."

    "Maybe he doesn''t even like women! How would the Second Miss Frost walk arm in arm with him, along with our daughter, if they knew he might get the situation wrong?" She insisted. "You know how men are. All it takes is for a woman to be nice to one of you, and many already think they have a chance of getting some intimacy..."

    "Not for nothing! It makes perfect sense now! That''s why Viktoria married him!" She said.

    "Sigh!"

    "Is that so?" The patriarch asked uncertainly. ''I don''t think my daughter would do such a foolish thing if this young man is a real deal...''

    ''That would only tarnish her image and that of our family!''

    He looked at that servant and asked. "What do you think of that?"

    "I agree with ma''am, patriarch. That young man has no talent whatsoever, and as far as I know, he only recently met the young miss. So, I think it''s improbable that someone as intelligent as her would make such a foolish mistake."

    "Hmm, that makes sense."

    "Keep an eye on that brat. If what he has with my daughter is more than mere friendship, don''t hesitate to deal with him!"

    "Yes, patriarch!"

    Elke''s mother thought of something and said. "Dear, why don''t we remove our doubt on our own? How about we invite him to dinner? That way, we can assess whether he is a risk to little Elke''s reputation."

    "Oh? Good idea!"

    After that, he ordered that servant to find a way to follow this n without alerting Elke just before the two got ready for bed.

    ''Lothur, huh? I want to see what that little brat wants...''

 Chapter 128 The Cowards Way

    The next day...

    As Lothur went on with his morning routine at the Morning Star Academy, his wife''s servant, Elise, was standing beside a small fountain at the exit of that institution.

    She quietly observed the surroundings, watching the tiny birds ying around, some of them singing.

    But while she was standing there, as if she was just killing time, a young man in the uniform of this academy stopped not far from her and bent down as if toce up his boot.

    As he made this movement at a distance that no one could tell they were there for each other, he said in a low voice. "Miss Harris, what do you want this time?"

    She continued to watch the movement of the waters in that fountain and said. "I want you to keep an eye on Lothur as much as possible for the next few days. If he is going to do anything out of the ordinary, you must let me know immediately."

    "Oh? That''s fine, but..." He nced momentarily at her but soon turned his attention back to the ground.

    "You will get your reward soon. Do you think I won''t pay you?"

    "I feel better knowing of Miss Harris''mitment." He smiled.

    After that, she turned and walked towards the part of the city where the Frost family headquarters was located. ''That damned Lothur!''

    ''On his ount, I''ll have to take my chances!'' She made a deadly serious expression as she walked along the central sidewalks of Peters City, remembering the notice she had received the night before.

    Kai had asked her to act against Lothur as soon as possible due to the previous incident when he had exposed his suspicions towards her. As such, she was preparing to give up her position as an infiltrator into the Frost family to eliminate him, which could be very dangerous for her.

    After all, no matter how much she had certain circumstances in her favor, there was an undeniable risk that she would suffer from a Frost family persecution.

    She did not like that; in fact, a cautious person like her could not like that at all!

    Hence, she was under quite a bit of stress at the moment, feeling her hatred for Lothur rise to new levels.

    ''You could have just died that day, scumbag! But no, you need to take others with you, huh? But that''s okay. With the Baier family being put against you, you''ll be finished even if I don''t make it!'' She smiled mysteriously.

    ...

    After finishing some of his business at the academy, Lothur headed towards the administration of his sector, ready to solve the previous problem.

    On his way to the ce where the person responsible for such a matter was, he passed Anneke, but apart from receiving a fatal look from her, they did not exchange words.

    Thus, he was soon beside the principal of his sector, walking to the person responsible for the disciplinary area of this institution.

    "Lothur, are you sure of what you told me? usations like the one you want to make are severe!" That overweight man said this solemnly, looking at the young man walking calmly beside him.

    "Of course, I have proof that he is a corrupt person." Lothur smiled.

    "That..."

    "Still, I must warn you that even if the academy epts this and decides to deal with Valentin, that may still not be good for you." He advised. "In the cultivators'' world, we don''t appreciate conflict resolution that way."

    "Using a grievance to get someone out of their position seems somewhat cowardly to most of us. Not only that, the academy staff will look down on you. After all, at the end of the day, Valentin is one of them."

    "Oh?" Lothur looked at that man''s round face, curious at thatment. "Principal, have you by any chance forgotten that I am not a cultivator and am only a son-inw of the Frost family?"

    "Only the academy can help me seek justice."

    "That..." He turned red like a tomato as he realized that he had forgotten these details. ''True! Lothur is a good-for-nothing! How could he use his strength or position to solve your problems? It''s only natural that he''s a coward!''

    This man then listened. ''As for these academy officials, I honestly don''t care about any of them. So what difference does it make if they like me?"

    "I am fine with the academy''s rules, so I am reassured that I will not be wronged. Or are the rules of this institution worthless?" He looked provocatively at the principal.

    "Tsk!"

    "Of course, our rules are worth a lot!" The principal said in an irritated tone, remaining silent after this exchange of words until they reached their destination.

    "What do you want here?" An elderly man, sitting on a chair next to the entrance of that ce, reading a newspaper, asked the principal of Sector-1 without even looking at the neers.

    The principal bowed and replied. "Mr. Harth, this young man here ims to have suffered an injustice by one of our employees. I have brought him here to follow up with theint process."<sub> </sub>

    "Oh?" The old man looked at Lothur as this silver-haired young man saw this old man''s mysteriously status.

    ''Level 15, huh?''

    "Young man, what is your name? Why are you seeking justice using a method like this?"

    Lothur then replied. "Naturally, it''s for the good of the academy!"

    "Unfortunately, there is at least one parasite in this institution which clearly does not respect it and acts for himself. Elder, if he is allowed to grow, there maye a day when the honor of the Morning Star Academy is tarnished just because of one person."

    "As a student of this great institution, I cannot stand by while people with nefarious goals erode the academy!" He solemnly said, with a tone filled with a sense of belonging and duty.

    Hearing all this, the principal of Sector-1 was shocked and open-mouthed, not understanding how Lothur could be so shameless to say such words in front of him. ''What a damned brat!''

    ''You''ve only been at the academy for a few days! How can you have all these feelings for this ce? Aren''t you ashamed to lie like that just to hide your weakness?''

    Meanwhile, the old manughed at Lothur''s words, but he did not think it was bad at all. So, even if this young student''s speech was not 100% honest, acting publicly for the good of the academy was not bad!

    As for other interests, everyone had at least one! But what was wrong with that? As long as the academy was not harmed or gained something, its members'' ambitions were not bad!

    "Young man, I can see that you have a strong feeling for the academy."

    "Very good!" He put away his paper and waved one of his hands at Lothur. "So? What do you want to report? Pass me the evidence, and I''ll deal with it."

    Lothur smiled and said. "An employee named Valentin acted against me in the collective business room in Sector-1. Because of that, I paid for an investigation and got this..." He then passed the documents he had received at the local Cultivation House to that old man.

    "Extortion, illegal favoritism, artificial price increase, nepotism, illegal trading of items outside the academy..." The old man quickly saw Valentin''s list of offenses, even being surprised that such a vermin had managed to infiltrate the academy.

    This institution naturally did its best to keep its members in line by doing background checks and some periodic analyses. But even with all this care, someone soiled from head to toe had managed to stay under the radar.

    It was truly something to open the eyes of this loyal member of the Morning Star Academy!

    After a while, that old man finally said something. "Young man, you have done amendable job denouncing this person. Keep it up in the future, and never turn your back on the academy!"

    "Naturally." Lothur smiled.

    "You," Mr. Harth looked at the Sector-1 principal and said. "Give this young man 100 merit points. As for that person, we will deal with him on our own."

    "As you wish..."

    After that, Lothur made his way to his and Elke''s room, hoping that at the end of the day, he would finally be able to earn some coins and resolve this whole problem.

    ...

    A few hourster, a man was being dragged out of the academy in screams, bawling because of the injustice he was suffering while asking people in the surrounding area for help.

    "Young master, young master! Tell them it''s all right! It was you who paid me to do those things. Tell them!" He bellowed amidst his sweat, looking in Merten''s direction.

    But that fellow ignored him as if this was his first time seeing this person.

    "Damn it!"

    "Please! Don''t do this! I need this job! I''ve devoted more than 20 years of my life to it!" He tried to appeal forpassion from those men from the disciplinary area of this organization.

    However, none of the men dragging him out of the academy building even blinked. Instead, they acted as if they were listening to the buzzing of an insect.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was standing next to Elke, not far away, smiling as he saw the despair of this person.

    Valentin then saw the look in that young man''s eyes and understood everything. "Bastard! Coward! It was you, wasn''t it? Lothur! Lothur!"

    "You will pay for this, Lothur!" He shouted as the academy building was left behind.

    After that, he was thrown into the middle of a street like a garbage sack, finally out of that academy.

    ''Little bastard, you pay me back!'' He slowly stood up as he clenched his fists, determined to get revenge.

 Chapter 129 Gains After Justice Is Done

    Meanwhile, still in the vicinity of where Valentin had been dragged away by the men from the academy''s disciplinary team, students and teachers were still talking about this unusual situation.

    "I never thought that an academy employee would be fired like that... I wonder what happened?"

    "I don''t know. But it seems that this is rted to Merten Baier..." Some students exchangedments in the surrounding area, where this nobleman and Lothur were.

    On the other hand, the teachers who had seen more of this situation were already talking among themselves, with some of them looking with ugly expressions in Lothur and Elke''s direction.

    "That was the doings of that good-for-nothing student who barely attends our sses!" A middle-aged womanmented to two other colleagues.

    "Tsk!"

    "What a coward. He certainly could have handled this without using such shameful means! It is not for nothing that the Frost family needed to use a favor to get him into the academy. He is simply incapable of aplishing anything on his own!" A thin, balding man said while clenching his fists.

    He thenmented. "I will make that little bastard stay in Sector-1 until he is expelled! He definitely won''t pass my exam for Sector-2!"

    "Oh?" Another man there felt surprised by thesements. "That was a low action, but I don''t think Lothur is that bad. He is an outstanding student in my Spiritual Language subject."

    While many were discussing the matter, Merten was staring in Lothur''s direction, fuming in anger that such a fellow had escaped the pressure he had put on him.

    He then walked toward where Elke and Lothur were standing and looked at her with disgust, seeing howfortable she looked next to him. "Miss Becker, it is a surprise to me to see you with this person... Are you by any chance friends?" He asked after staring at the annoying-looking man for a few seconds.

    Lothur signaled for Elke not to say anything and answered. "We are close friends. Is there a problem?"

    "Oh? Close friends, huh?" He clenched his fists and felt like hitting Lothur on that spot. But after restraining himself, he looked at her again and said. "Miss Becker, I think you''d better not make friends with people like him. Our young master will recover and..."

    "Humph!"

    Elke no longer held back and said. "That will never happen!"

    Hearing the tone of disdain and disgust, Merten felt as if his family had been challenged and stepped forward.

    Meanwhile, Lothur did the same, standing between that fellow and Elke. "What do you want? If that was all you had to say, go away and stop wasting our time. Can''t you see that we don''t like your presence?"

    "Lothur!" Merten shivered with anger upon hearing the arrogant tone of this good-for-nothing. "You are bold now. But what about when I challenged you? What did you do? A coward unable to protect his own..."

    Hearing Merten''s words, Lothur smiled without feeling bad. "Why would I do what you want? Anyway, if you want to fight me so badly, wait for thepetition for the Secret Realm ces. I will fight you on that asion."

    "Humph!"

    "Hiding behind thatpetition, eh?" Mertenughed. "But that''s okay. I''ll wait for it. But you might hide once more... That''s the kind of trash you are."

    After this first ''friendly'' meeting, the two sides parted ways without further trouble since neither could fight in that ce, not even force the other party into epting a challenge.

    With that, Lothur and Elke headed toward the collective business room where he had left the remains of the Giant Tropical Spider.

    ...

    After some time, Lothur and Elke arrived at the ce, where without further dy, his items had already been sold!

    But neither of them was surprised at the speed of such a sale. After all, the venom from that spider was precious for cultivators in Sector-1. So, with no one left to ''hide'' that item among less valuable things, someone interested soon bought that.

    "Student Ritter, here they are. One hundred gold coins for the sale of your items." A different attendant than the one who had attended to him before handed him his coins without dy. "As an apology for your negative experience with us, we did not charge you the academy fee and will give you this discount the next ten times you trade with us."

    "Oh?" Lothur smiled as he counted his coins and heard that. "Hehe, that''s better."

    The attendant continued. "Also, like any other deal made within the academy, you earned 0.1% of the value of the bronze coins traded in merit points."

    "If you look in your ID, your new points will already appear."<sub> </sub>

    Lothur then picked up his ID and saw some symbols glowing in blue. ''185 merit points, huh? It looks like that old man didn''t lie about giving me 100 points.'' He then saw that he had moved up over 50 ranks between the beginning of the day and this moment.

    After settling that matter, Elke took him to another part of that Sector-1 business area, where Lothur managed to buy a spatial ring.

    Previously he had already felt the need to get an ampler storage item. So, after settling the previous matter and remembering to look for a ring in that area, he soon got something suitable.

    He spent 130,000 bronze coins he had on a partially damaged Bronze-grade spatial ring, which could still store five times the volume of his previous storage item.

    With that, his savings dropped to about just over 10,000 bronze coins, making this man realize how quicklyrge amounts of coins could be spent on cultivation resources.

    ''Sigh... Normal humans could live for decades with the number of coins I just spent.'' He sighed as he looked at one of his fingers.

    ...

    After making his previous investment, Lothur said goodbye to Elke and headed alone towards Valentin''s house, where he intended to teach that person a lesson.

    Lothur had been nning to do this even before he paid for the previous investigative mission, so obviously, he already had the location of this ce.

    So, after telling Annaliese to go home without him, he walked toward that ce, thinking about how much he could gain from Valentin.

    ''That fellow was pretty corrupt. So, I''ll probably get something to cover my expenses in this ring...'' He was thinking about that when he realized he was being chased.

    ''Oh? Is that you?'' He then saw Valentin''s status appearing, even considering that such a stalker hid behind a pole and had his identity protected by several items.

    [Name: Valentin]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 8.8] [CON: 9.0] [DEX: 7.9] [AGI: 8.0]

    ''I was thinking ofing to you, but since you''ve given yourself to me, I''ll settle this as soon as possible...'' Lothur looked back mysteriously before running towards a secluded spot that he knew had little traffic.

    Seeing this, Valentin did not hesitate to pursue his target, feeling that he should act as soon as possible and settle his revenge.

    ''Damn brat! Just you wait. Today I will cut your little friend and make you a eunuch!'' Heughed under the cloth covering his face. ''After that, I won''t even have to kill you... You''ll probably do that yourself, hahaha.''

    After considering what he would do with this opponent, it did not take Valentin long to travel a few kilometers behind Lothur''s footsteps, finally arriving at an area near one of the exits of Peters City.

    In that deserted area, where there were only warehouses and noisy buildings, the first to stop his movements was Lothur, momentarily surprising Valentin.

    ''Oh? Is he ready to face his destiny?'' The pursuer thought about it as he stopped running, finally ceasing to hide as he moved, to stand in the middle of that street.

    As he continued to stand still in his position, with his back to Valentin, Lothur then asked. "Are you here for revenge or just to greet me, Valentin?"

    "Did you recognize me?" Valentin said in a disdainful tone. "I must admit that you are much better than rumors give you credit for! But so what? What will you do now?" He said as he unrolled the cloth that covered his face.

    After hearing those words, Lothur smiled and turned to stand face to face with this opponent. "So? What are you going to do? Attack the young master of the Frost family without a justification? Aren''t you afraid of being persecuted?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Using your wife''s family to scare me? As expected from a worm who uses cowardly means!" He said as he drew his sword, already with a different n in mind.

    "I wanted to teach you a lesson, worm. But you and your big mouth betrayed you, haha. If you hadn''t recognized me, I would have left you alive!" Heughed maniacally and then finished. "But now this is the end of you! I''ll show you what happens to vermin like you when they see themselves as bigger than they are!"

    ...

 Chapter 130 Capital Gains

    ''Valentin, Valentin... You just make everything easier for me...'' Lothur thought, looking cautiously at Valentin.

    Previously he had nned to disguise himself when he arrived near Valentin''s residence so that he could teach this fellow a lesson.

    Of course, he also intended to rob the person who had made him spend hundreds of coins on an investigation and made him wait for days for the sale of the spider parts.

    But Lothur did not intend to kill his opponent since, without revealing his identity, it would be impossible for the other party to identify him. On the other hand, Valentin''s mistake had not been so severe that he deserved to die.

    He deserved a lesson, but that was all!

    However, since Valentin was willing to kill a poor student who was not even capable of cultivating for simple revenge, this situation was totally different. In this case, Lothur would show no mercy even if the person in front of him was innocent.

    Those who try to take his life naturally could only expect the same from him!

    With this, when Valentin exposed his thoughts of eliminating him, Lothur immediately stood in a defensive position, his hands close to the daggers hidden in his clothes.

    The other party did not know about Lothur''s abilities, so he intended to solve the problem quickly with a surprise attack. That way, he did not take the ax in his spatial ring. Instead, he prepared to activate his defensive and movement techniques when his opponent came closer.

    ''Valentin can be a danger to me in terms of dexterity and strength. But, unfortunately for him, dexterity and strength are useless if the other party has faster reactions and is underestimated.'' He looked cautiously at the person running against him, making an expression of fear on his face to deceive his opponent.

    Meanwhile, Valentin had a smile on his face as he ran toward Lothur, holding his sword in his two hands.

    ''I''ll cut this idiot in half!'' He thought about it, already envisioning his victory.

    Lothur slowly moved his fingers through his clothes and prepared himself. ''Hmm, I''ll use my speed to react to his attack at thest second and then attack him at his sensitive points.''

    ''My attack probably won''t be enough to kill him in a single movement, so I''ll incapacitate him first!''

    After Lothur thought about what to do to get rid of Valentin without risk or dy, and when this man was only 2 meters away from him, the silver-haired young man moved.

    He quickly picked up the first two daggers hidden in his clothes and threw them, aiming at two different points on Valentin.

    The first went directly into the man''s left eye, while the second flew into the left side of Valentin''s neck.

    Then, after Lothur threw his daggers and began to move with his movement technique, Valentin finally realized that he had made a fatal mistake.

    When he saw the speed with which Lothur threw those daggers at him, Valentin immediately realized that his opponent was not a simple mortal like everyone thought!

    No, this fellow was even faster than him, a 4th Transformation cultivator!

    Sensing that, this former Morning Star Academy staff member felt a chill run down his spine while cold sweat began to drip down his back.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''That bastard was hiding!'' He swallowed his saliva in fear, but it was already toote.

    Without having prepared for a counterattack from his opponent, Valentin was defenseless as to the attack even faster than his maximum speed. In this case, this man was hit one second after noticing Lothur''s movement!

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He cried out loudly as he felt one of the daggers passing at speed through one side of his neck while the other pierced one of his eyes.

    At that instant, he suddenly stopped running, dropping the sword in his hands to ce his hands on his eye and neck.

    ''Damn it!''

    "Ahhhhhhhhh!" He noticed the blood leaving his body from the cut on his neck while his eye hurt so that he could barely think.

    But to Valentin''s misfortune, Lothur had not stood by and watched his opponent suffer.

    No, immediately after throwing his daggers, this young man used a lot of his energy to move sideways, shortly afterward rushing to Valentin''s back.

    After doing so, in a split second, an ax appeared in his hands, and he used all the remaining strength in his body to hit the top of Valentin''s head.

    Puff!

    One of the des of Lothur''s double ax pierced Valentin''s skull with force, suddenly causing the man''s entire body to stop.

    At that instant, a nk look filled Valentin''s eyes as his cries of pain ceased, and his body lost its bnce.<sub> </sub>

    As Lothur pulled the ax on his enemy''s head, blood squirted out of that cut as that body slowly fell forward.

    Valentin had finally died!

    "Sigh!"

    ''To be underestimated is truly amazing!'' Lothur looked at the body before him and felt how easy it was to defeat a fool.

    He probably would have had to fight for a few minutes to beat this opponent if he had not been underestimated. Not only that, but Valentin''s attributes were not much different from Lothur''s, and that man had much more experience than this young man.

    Therefore, the danger of this fight to Lothur would be significant!

    Unfortunately for Valentin, he knew nothing about Lothur, having put himself in that passive position that led him to the darkness of death.

    Finally, after finishing with this opponent, Lothur looked around the street to see if anyone had seen him. Then, realizing no one was in the vicinity, he quickly stored Valentin''s body in his spatial ring and headed for the nearby woods.

    ''I hope this fellow''s items are with him, not in his house...'' He pondered as he ran to his destination, regretting that such a person hade against him.

    Now that he had killed Valentin, it would be risky for Lothur to show up at the home of someone who would soon be reported missing. In this case, any item of value in Valentin''s house was now beyond the reach of this young man.

    Therefore, Lothur could only pray that such an enemy had been cautious enough to always keep his items of value with him while he was alive. Otherwise, that young man would naturally not have the best harvest from this situation!

    ...

    While he had already disappeared from that street, some people from the surrounding properties left their buildings, looking from one side of the street to the other in curiosity.

    "Did you hear those screams, or am I going crazy?" One of them asked the person from the warehouse across the street.

    "No, I heard screams of desperation too. It onlysted a few seconds but was enough to alert me." The other person said as he strangely looked at his surroundings.

    "That..."

    "Maybe something happened in one of the neighboring buildings?" Another person asked since there were no noticeable traces on that street.

    After those words, they looked at each other in silence, realizing it was best to ignore the matter.

    If there was a body, they could do something about it. But without evidence, who would want to get involved in such a matter? Murders were not umon, and hell, they were just mortals.

    So, without further trouble, those people soon returned to their jobs, leaving that street empty.

    ...

    After disposing of Valentin''s body as he had done with past enemies, Lothur returned to the Frost estate smiling.

    He had been lucky enough to get a ring filled with items of value for someone of his cultivation stage!

    But this was not strange at all. After all, as much as Valentin was only a Sector-1 employee, he had worked at the academy for decades!

    With that, he had umted a savings ount and items of various kinds, having left afortable inheritance for his assassin.

    ''That fellow left me 160,000 bronze coins, an Iron-rade spatial ring, some Iron-grade clothing, a sword, several pills and potions of that same quality.'' Lothur smiled, looking at the brightly lit street in front of him, where well-dressed people passed. ''Besides, there are many small items that can be sold.''

    ''Not bad... Not bad at all.''

    ''I believe that if I sell all these items, I can get 300,000 bronze coins...''

    "Excellent!" He muttered as he passed through the entrance of the Frost estate, making his way through the corridors of the main building towards his room.

    ''Well, in the next few days, I will sell some of these items outside the academy to raise funds. But I have to be careful not to sell them in one ce...''

    ''I have to avoid any suspicions! Maybe someone...'' As he was thinking about this, suddenly Elise appeared in his path, stopping him from passing through the hallway entrance to his room.

    "What do you want?" He looked into this blond woman''s eyes with a bit of hostility. ''Viktoria may have previously prevented me from getting hard evidence, but I will not be convinced of your innocence.''

    ''I''ll be careful with you as long as I have my suspicions!''

 Chapter 131 Carrot Strategy

    After hearing Lothur''s question, Elise clenched her fists and said coldly. "The young miss has invited you to her residence, abusive scumbag."

    "Abusive scumbag?" His eyes sharpened at this new way of her referring to him.

    "That''s what you are, isn''t it? You tried to force yourself against me with a bullshit excuse..." Sheughed, but only contempt and anger could be seen in her manner.

    "Your attempt was a good one, scumbag. But know that a loser like you will never get the chance to touch me!"

    "Viktoria and this family may have released you after they couldn''t find anything to incriminate you, but I''m not them." He took a step forward, causing that woman to frown her eyebrows and step back. "To me, you are guilty until proven otherwise..."

    "Tsk!"

    "Lothur, are you truly trying to force yourself against a poor servant of your family?" She hated him even more for her inability to act in this situation. "Don''t you feel ashamed that you have to use these methods? Come on, stop using excuses and say at once that you desire me!"

    "I desire you? Why would I do that? Someone with a poisonous tongue like yours doesn''t have the least to attract me." He said as the two of them moved, one back and one forward.

    ''Bastard!''

    ''You pay me, Lothur!''

    ''I''ll make a point of making you suffer!'' She clenched her fists before turning and running, pretending to be just a weak mortal, as everyone thought.

    As for Lothur, he did not chase after his wife''s servant since that might get him into trouble.

    With that, he just watched for a few moments in the direction she had left before sighing and heading for Viktoria''s residence.

    ''Let''s see what this woman wants... If it''s nothing prolonged, I''ll still have time to practice my techniques and try to use my tailoring skills to produce something.''

    ...

    After some time, Lothur entered Viktoria''s residence, and she soon invited him to sit down and have some tea.

    Immediately upon hearing his wife''s invitation, Lothur felt that was something wrong going on, as Viktoria seemed much nicer to him today.

    He left his usual bold side to watch her in silence. Meanwhile, he tried to understand the situation as he looked at her clothes that were a little more sexy than usual.

    ''Did something happen?'' He looked at the woman standing next to him, pouring tea for him with a serene look on her face.

    After she finished serving him, Viktoria sat across that table,ing face to face with her husband. "Try it. I think you''ll like it..." She suggested.

    Gulp!

    ''Something is going on here. Definitely!'' He swallowed his saliva and looked at the cup with red liquid and white smoke.

    After tasting that drink under his wife''s gaze, he looked thankful and deeply into her brown eyes. "Viktoria, is everything okay?"

    "Sure, I just wanted to invite you for a drink so we can talk a little. Even if we are husband and wife only on paper, nothing stops us from getting along, right? So, let''s talk a little and get to know more about each other." She replied, smiling at him.

    "That..."

    "That''s a little odd, honey." He looked down at her slight cleavage and then back to paying attention to her eyes. "You''ve never been this friendly to me before... I feel like something is going on. This change is too sudden."

    "Yes, you are right, Lothur." She showed no irritation with the way he was referring to her. "I just realized how badly I was behaving before... Anyway, since we are together, I feel like we can have a much better time if we at least try to be friends. Don''t you think?"

    His eyes opened wide after thatment. ''This woman assumed she was wrong? That''s the first time I''ve seen a woman do that!''

    He looked to the sides, trying to see if there was some kind of trap, but the system information confirmed that this was indeed his wife. ''Maybe she''s drunk? But, no, it could be some other kind of hallucinogenic substance. The cultivation world cannot be underestimated!''

    He rose from his seat and said. "Honey, I sense that you are not feeling well. How about we call Anna? Maybe..."

    Upon hearing this, Viktoria closed her beautiful eyes but showed no anger. Only in her mind was she beginning to feel irritated by her husband. ''Do you think I''m sick just because I''m treating you well? Am I that unpleasant in your eyes?''

    She then stood up and took one of Lothur''s hands, stopping him from leaving. "You''re right. I am feeling a little strange... But it''s no big deal. I just need you to stay with me for the hour."<sub> </sub>

    "Can you do that?"

    Gulp!

    "Yes..." He replied in a tone that sounded more like he was asking himself whether or not he should go through with it.

    "Good. Walk with me to my room. I''m feeling a little weak right now..." She grabbed Lothur''s arm and braced herself against him as if she had lost her bnce.

    Sensing her movement, Lothur did not flinch and used his other hand to support her, firmly gripping Viktoria''s right forearm.

    Then, as they slowly walked to her room, this man smelled Viktoria''s perfume as he felt the soft skin of her arm.

    ''What''s wrong with her? Why is she letting me touch her when before she wouldn''t even allow me to touch her hands?'' He looked at her every second, calmly leading the way, not understanding this situation.

    On the other hand, Viktoria looked fine on the outside. However, her heart was pounding like never before, and her many thoughts gradually made her feel a headache.

    ''Damn, do I truly have to do that to control him?''

    ''Maybe this behavior of his is temporary, and I don''t actually have to give him hope...''

    But the demon on her shoulder soon gave voice to its contrary thoughts. ''No! I have no way of knowing that for sure, and I  frankly can''t stand his current ways!''

    ''I want him to get down on his knees to me and go back to behaving like a good husband who obeys his wife!''

    ''Ahh! But it''s truly hateful to have to let him touch my body...'' She looked at the hand firmly squeezing her forearm, noting Lothur''s strength. ''But this fellow does have some admirable strength.''

    ''Hmm? His forearm looks strong and defined... He must be training hard.'' She felt the sweat from Lothur''s hands on her skin and looked at his handsome face.

    ''What? Why are you looking at me so strangely? Aren''t you supposed to have your eyes full of desire right now?'' She felt particrly challenged as she saw his worried look.

    She then decided to ask an intimate question to break the awkward silence of this strange situation. "Lothur, how are you and that girl doing? Do you like her?"

    "Uh?" He was surprised by the question. "That... Uh... Well, I suppose so. Why the question?"

    "I just want to know how you two are doing..." Her face turned red, and she asked. "How far have you gone? Anna said you were kissing before..."

    Lothurughed and answered vaguely. "We went as far as she wanted to go..."

    Finally, Viktoria stopped walking, feeling that such information was somehow not simple. ''What does that mean? Don''t tell me you''ve crossed the line and...''

    ''No! Impossible! She wouldn''t be that dumb!'' She closed her eyes and smiled at her silly thoughts.

    ''Are you by any chance jealous, darling? Perhaps you have finally realized that you may lose your man?" Lothur regained some of his usual demeanor as he provocatively asked this.

    "Sigh..."

    Taking a seat on one end of her bed, Viktoria held one of his arms and looked him in the eye. "Why do you have to be like this? We''re doing so well..."

    "Lothur, you knew it? It''s not impossible for us to get along..." She winked at him with her left eye before rxing her body on that bed.

    As she did so, she realized how he looked at her full of beautiful curves body and smiled internally. ''Realize what you are missing...''

    After a few moments, she sighed and said. "Lothur, thank you for helping me. But I feel that I need to rest for a while. So, you can return to your room now."

    "Oh?" He looked her in the eye, no longer seeing as much of the woman of a few seconds ago. He began to distrust this woman''s honesty.

    He then listened. "Let''s talkter about your adventures with Miss Becker. I don''t want you to make a mistake with her."

    "Other than that, I look forward to hearing more about your aplishments at the academy. Can you tell me about itter?" She smiled gently at him just before closing her eyes and pretending to fall asleep.

    Lothur looked at her for a few moments, gently having run one of his fingers through the hair on her forehead. ''Viktoria, you... Are you trying to...''

 Chapter 132 Investigation Mission

    ''Are you trying to seduce me?'' He smiled at the thought of that possibility, finding it a funny thing if that were indeed the case. ''If that''s the case, I''m afraid I''ll soon have two sisters by my side...''

    ''Good!''

    ''I''ve always longed to be with twins. It''s just a pity that I wasn''t lucky enough to meet any in my previous life. But if she really...'' He looked at Viktoria''s pink lips and remembered his kisses with Anna. ''Hmm, looks like you''ll be in my arms sooner than I nned...''

    ''Haha, honey, I don''t know why you''re trying this, but you''ve already lost in this game!'' He finally left Viktoria''s residence, surprised by his wife''s behavior.

    As he walked towards his room, Viktoria opened her eyes as she stood in the same position Lothur had left her on that bed.

    ''I guess it worked.'' Viktoria smiled as she thought about how Lothur had touched her hair when she had ''fallen asleep.''

    She then got up and promptly used her hands to put her hair back in ce, feeling slightly ufortable from the touches she had allowed him today. ''How long will I have to do that? Hmm, I guess I should keep talking to Karen about it...''

    ...

    After Lothur left Viktoria''s residence, he stopped by his room and then went to train hisbat techniques in one of the more secluded areas of the Frost estate.

    Having done this for almost two hours, he returned to his room with his clothes drenched in sweat. However, even though he trained hard, he only gained 0.5 attribute points in this period.

    In any case, at his current progress rate, Lothur felt that he could reach level 5 by the weekend when he and Elke would leave for a mission outside Peters City.

    Thus, he was not disappointed at all with his recent results!

    ''If I advance to level 5 by the weekend, after my mission with Elke, I will enroll in the Cultivation House. With that, I''ll already be able to do a mission with Annaliese...'' He pondered as he stepped into the shower.

    ''Hmm. With that, I''ll be able to have a weekend with Annaliese alone, which will be good for my training and my rtionship with her...'' He smiled as he nned his next steps.

    After he finished cleaning himself up, it did not take long for him to get dressed and get the materials he needed to put his tailoring skills into practice for the first time.

    ''I made the design for a special glove that is supposed to increase the grip between its surface and others but can also protect the wearer from friction with tools and surfaces.'' He looked at the design in his hands while the materials needed for this item were spread out on the floor in front of where he was sitting.

    ''From what I have learned in the many books I have read sinceing to this world, not only is Concordia''s transportation deficient, but also the technologies needed formon activities such as mining and farming.''

    He took his eyes off that drawing and looked at a small candle. ''The most powerful people in this world are cultivators, but many of them don''t pay the slightest attention to mortals. And even considering these individuals can produce many riches useful to cultivators, ordinary technologies are still scarce.''

    ''The tools of thesemon workers are better than those seen on Earth, but they are not sophisticated.'' He remembered that although the tools used in those two activities in this world were moreplex than those on Earth, that was all.

    For example, there were no items as sophisticated as tools that could do the job of dozens of people. No, many mortals were employed or, in some cases, enved to work on a piece ofnd or a mine.

    Because of this simplicity, Lothur had designed something that could be sold for ordinary mortals to use in their activities and facilitate their services.

    The glove in question that he was about to start making could make climbing easier, lessen the difort of working with tools, improve strength and handling, etc. In short, such a glove could increase the wearer''s productivity efficiency!

    What Lothur was doing was an experiment, but if it worked, it could eventually be hispetitive advantage over others in this world.

    Some things he invented he would keep for himself and the organization he created. But others, he was not against spreading throughout this world.

    After all, as much as keeping certain things for himself was good, it was only worth it if it was done to create an item of even greater added value. Otherwise, it was simply more interesting to poprize certain products.

    For example, what was more profitable on Earth, selling food or tractors? The creators of tractors could keep such means for themselves and produce food more cheaply thanpetitors. However, it was simply more profitable for them not to get involved in direct food production, stay just with the tractors, and sell them to farmers.

    That is what Lothur intended to do with some of his creations!<sub> </sub>

    With this in mind, he soon began to handle the ingredients needed for the glove in question and the tools useful for ''joining'' certain parts of this project.

    With his movements, he was constantly using his senses rted to sight, touch, and even smell since even mes could be used in the mold of an artifact. So, he had to pay attention not to burn such materials. But the most critical thing there was his perception regarding the properties of the materials at hand, which was greatly facilitated by the system''s information.

    At the same time, by moving arge needle between some fabrics, Lothur was using all his Dexterity for the first time in this world. With this, he soon realized that, although Dexterity was useful when manipting weapons, the main point of it was definitely at times like the present.

    In other words, Dexterity was more useful outside battles, in spiritual professions that demanded great precision in hand movements!

    Following the steps necessary for producing his glove, it was not long before sweat began to break out on Lothur''s face, a sign not of physical fatigue but mental exhaustion.

    ''Interesting...'' He pondered as he realized his situation. ''In fighting, virtually all pain and exertion is rted to the physical. But hardly a warrior feels great mental fatigue after a battle.''

    ''With spiritual professionals, that seems to be the opposite... I''m not feeling physically tired, but I feel my mind extremely overloaded.'' He finally let go of the instruments in hand, deciding to stop there.

    ''I''ve alreadypleted 60% of this glove, but I''d better leave it until tomorrow. With my current situation, if I continue, I might make a mistake and ruin myst 70 minutes of effort.''

    "Sigh!"

    "Bedtime!" He muttered before drying his face on a towel and falling into his bed.

    ...

    The next day he went on with his usual routine until mid-afternoon and went to the Sector-1 mission hall, where at this moment, he was standing in front of the mural that had dozens of options for him.

    ''These Sector-1 missions are really simple...''

    ''Sigh, it''s a waste of time for someone like me to be limited with such simple things.'' So, he pondered, ignoring the people in the surrounding area staring at him. ''After my mission with Elke, I think I''ll have enough merit points and knowledge to attempt the sector advancement exam.''

    ''Hmm, I''ll do that!''

    After putting that matter aside, he found a poster that had a mission that more or less caught his attention.

    ''That...''

    ''Missing wife investigation mission.'' He read the title before checking the smaller letters where the details were.

    In doing so, it did not take Lothur long to understand the basics of that mission.

    In short, it had been posted by a husband and father concerned about the whereabouts of his wife, who had disappeared without a trace for almost three months.

    This woman named Suse Horn, who was supposed to be just a mortal, had been acting suspiciously for days before her disappearance. And then, after going out shopping one afternoon, she had never returned.

    Her husband, Otto Waltz, another mortal, was not looking for much. He just wanted information that might resolve the doubts in his heart.

    The prize for this mission was 500 bronze coins and 50 merit points, and there was no deadline for it to bepleted. If someone could bring good or bad news to the husband, such a person would get those rewards.

    ''A missing wife, huh? Well, in cases like that, there aren''t many options...'' Lothur closed his eyes and decided to take this assignment. ''One, she died. Two, she abandoned her husband for someone else. Three, she''s been captured and now has her freedom limited.''

    ''In any case, I already feel sorry for that family. It will be difficult for them to return to normal... Anyway, this might help me train my investigative ability and still umte merit points.''

 Chapter 133 Investigation

    After taking the previous mission, Lothur left the academy building and went to where Suse hadst been seen.

    After formally epting the mission posted by her worried husband, he received some information from the academy.

    In the document he received, there were Suse''s usual routines and habits, in short, a simplified history of who she was, something to facilitate the start of investigations.

    Such a thing had been collected with her husband when he posted the mission at the academy andter expanded upon by students from Sector-1.

    Lothur was not the first to pick up this mission, so there was already some information about Suse that went beyond her husband''s ount.

    Among this information was the location where she hadst been seen, the address of some of the missing woman''s acquaintances, and ces she frequented.

    It was nothing detailed, just the basics that could direct the start of investigations by other students.

    With this, Lothur had part of his work made more essible by his colleagues, and soon he was already in a more distant part of the center of Peters City, in a street where there were several types of shops.

    There weremon markets there, with food of various kinds on sale, but also tool stores, bars, restaurants, etc. It was the typical shopping street that could easily be found in any city the size of the one where Lothur lived.

    So, Lothur entered one of the markets in that area, next to a night bar that seemed to be closed at the moment.

    Upon arriving there, he went up to one of the employees to try to find someone he could talk to about the missing woman.

    "Friend, I am seeking information about a person who was supposedlyst seen in this ce. Can you help me?" He asked a middle-aged man who was stacking oranges.

    "A missing woman?" The man asked, curious to know who it was about.

    "Hmm, I have her portrait with me. Would you mind looking at it?"

    The man took his attention away from his work and picked up the yellowish sheet of paper in Lothur''s hands. "This person..."

    ''This again? That must be the third individual who hase here to ask about this woman...'' He felt strange seeing that since other people had spoken about Suse to him or another of his colleagues in the past two months.

    However, each time they had told them something about this woman that should have at least kept this ce away from such investigation. But still, these people kepting...

    ''Maybe they are not from the same organization. It''s understandable.''

    "Sigh..."

    He sighed and said. "Young man, you are not the first toe here seeking information from this woman. She was in our establishment on the day of her disappearance, but as my colleagues told the others investigating this, this was not thest ce she had been."

    "Oh?" Lothur found this surprising since there was no hint of this in the information left by his predecessors. ''I wonder why they didn''t leave that information behind?''

    But soon, he heard from that man. "After passing our grocery store that day, this woman entered the bar next door."

    "Are you sure? My colleagues who came here before didn''t leave me this information..."

    "Well, I don''t know why your colleagues did that, but I am sure. That day, two other colleagues and I were fixing part of the broken roof of the grocery store when we saw her." He said sincerely.

    "I remember it well because one of my colleaguesmented on her that day, just when she came into this bar. He, the other colleague, and I found it strange that a woman who looked like a puritanical housewife would enter such a ce..."

    He approached Lothur and said in a whispering tone. "Others may not know, but that bar next door does not provide onlymon services."

    "What?" Lothur almost choked on hearing this information, starting to create theories about this whole matter.

    "There is a special kind of service there if you know what I mean..." Heughed.

    ''That''s not a good sign...'' Lothur understood what that man was talking about and asked. "I see... But do you have any other information? Have you seen her after that asion?"

    The man shook his head in denial. "No, that day, after we finished our work, we turned our attention to something inside the grocery store. So, I can''t tell you where she went afterward."

    "Well, thanks for the information..." Lothur was about to say goodbye but suddenly remembered to ask something. "By the way, I saw that such a ce is closed. When does it open? Maybe I can get something if I stop by thereter."<sub> </sub>

    The man smiled and said. "This ce has two entrances. This first one leads to themon area, where you can ess the rest of the special services there, but also just use the standard bar service if you want."

    "It is only open at night."

    "The other entrance gives you ess only to the special service of this ce and is in the back street, in a building that looks like a tenement. It''s open 24 hours a day."

    "So that''s it. Well, thanks for the information. I''ll see what I can do..."

    "Good luck."

    ...

    After walking for a few minutes, Lothur reached the back street, promptly making his way toward the tenement entrance.

    Upon arriving there, he had no difficulty entering the building, only having been watched intently by a few nearby men.

    He followed the corridors until he reached what looked like arge hall.

    There, men were drinking and talking in loud voices around several tables, and women performed at different points in this area.

    After seeing those practically naked women, Lothur''s eyes sharpened, with him already starting to feel a lot for the poor worried husband. ''Looks like she abandoned him... But was that intentional or not?''

    A sensuously dressed woman approached Lothur, smiling at such a handsome young man appearing in this ce that generally only had ordinary men.

    "Cutie, is this your first time here?" She approached him intimately, quickly directing him to one of the empty tables.

    "Yes, this is my first time here..." He said as he smelled her intense perfume containing some stimnt drug.

    Unfortunately for this woman, someone with Lothur''s resistance to poisons could not be persuaded by something made primarily for mortals. Thus, he kept all his lucidity as he sat there.

    "Hehe, how about you let this older sister take care of you? You''re so handsome. I''m thinking of not charging you for the first hour... What do you think?" She sat on Lothur''sp and began rubbing herself against him.

    "It''s a tempting proposition, but today I''m searching for a person... Who knows, maybe if you help me sort this out quickly, we can get on with your ns." He did not refuse, speaking this in a flirtatious tone.

    "Oh? You want more than one, cutie?" Sheughed as she looked back, feeling that he was not only handsome but also wild.

    "Maybe..."

    "Anyway, who do you want, cutie? If she''s free, we''ll find a room right away."

    "Well, I have her name, but I don''t know if she is part of the girls in this ce. I just know that she used toe here in the past." He lied as he still did not know if Suse had done such a thing more than once, nor if she had be one of these women.

    But Lothur thought it would be easier to find information about Suse if he did not look like an investigator but rather like a potential client. After all, if his suspicion were confirmed, perhaps the women of this ce would try to defend one of their own from an investigator.

    "Her name is Suse and..." He then described every detail of this missing woman''s appearance.

    "Suse, huh? There isn''t anyone by that name among us. But there is a new woman who looks like the description of the one you just talked about." She continued to fidget on Lothur''sp as she said this.

    "Oh? Is she free? Can you tell me a little about her? A friend of mine said something about her, but I don''t know... Maybe he made the story a little bigger." His eyes sharpened.

    "Haha, your concern is normal. But, unfortunately, not everyone is like this older sister here..." She licked her lips as she made her way toward Lothur''s neck and then provocatively kissed his ear.

    She then said in his ear. "She''s not here today. That Suse is only here twice a week. So, if you want to see her,e at the same time tomorrow."

    "As for what I can say about her, well, I don''t know much since, as I said, she''s a new woman. But she seems to be an uncontroble slut." Sheughed, but her tone had a trace of envy. "She''s one of our leader''s favorites, so she rarely gets with the rest of us."

    ''Interesting...''

 Chapter 134 Suses Truth

    After Lothur''s previous visit to that establishment, he did nothing there since that ce was for people who needed to pay to satisfy their needs. But it turned out that he needed no such thing!

    Then, there was no reason for him to be interested in any of the women there.

    After the previous conversation, he simply promised the woman who attended him that he would be back the next day.

    Lothur then continued his investigation of Suse even though he knew her location. Before finalizing his mission, he wanted to understand what had happened to this woman.

    As such, he needed to understand how she had ended up in such a situation, which was necessary to judge the innocence or otherwise of this woman. He had the impression that Suse had been a victim of some individual, but was it as simple as that?

    Lothur did not know, so he continued to visit other ces recorded by his predecessors, slowly creating a profile for this ''missing'' wife.

    Having done this until nightfall, when Lothur finallyy down on his bed to rest, he understood why his predecessors had notpleted such a mission, despite how easy it was.

    ''It seems the students who took this mission before me had soft hearts...'' He looked at the ceiling of his room with an indecisive look. ''They probably didn''t dare to tell the poor husband the truth.''

    "Sigh... But that truly isn''t simple."

    ''Let''s see what I learn tomorrow. Depending on what I realize upon meeting this woman, I might want to reconsider this...'' He sighed before falling asleep.

    ...

    In the middle of the afternoon the next day, Lothur left the Morning Star Academy and went directly to that bar in a remote area of Peters City.

    When he entered the same hall he had passed the day before, Lothur saw the same woman as before and asked her to help him find his target.

    After a few moments of waiting, a redheaded woman, 1,7 meters tall, with beautiful curves and above average beauty for a mortal, appeareding toward Lothur, smiling devilishly at him.

    "Hey, handsome, are you the one who wanted to see me?" She sat on Lothur''sp unceremoniously, eager to see what such a distinguished customer would bring to her.

    "Yes, I was interested in meeting you..." Lothur said in a flirtatious tone as he analyzed this woman''s situation.

    ''Just from her appearance alone, I can already tell she is definitely under the influence of some substance...'' He frowned as he touched her body and examined her. ''Considering those little bruises, tattoos, piercings, it looks like she''s already lost her way...''

    ''Hmm, maybe I am rushing myself, but I''ll test it out.'' He saw her stand up, take one of his hands, and then direct him to one of the many rooms on this property.

    As he watched how she walked, extremelyfortable even though she was wearing only her underwear, Lothur asked. "What do you prefer to be called?"

    "Handsome, you can call me whatever you want. But people here refer to me by the name Else." She looked at him and blinked.

    "Then I will call you Suse..." He said as he carefully observed the woman in front of him.

    He had paid the woman from before not to inform Suse that he knew her name. So, this redhead had no idea that Lothur knew anything about her, and the moment she heard her name being called, she momentarily frowned as she looked at him more seriously.

    ''Does he know me?'' She became a little nervous and stopped walking toward the room. ''Is he someone after me? I heard that my husband is looking for news from me.''

    Upon realizing this, Lothur confirmed that this was indeed the person he wanted to meet, not just someone simr. Heughed and said. "Suse was the name of my ex-girlfriend. But, unfortunately, she broke up with me for another man..."

    "Oh?" She put her nervousness aside and hugged him, bringing his face to her chest, squeezing him lovingly. "What a silly girl! How can she leave such a handsome man for others? But, don''t worry, handsome, I''ll make you forget that girl!"

    Lothurughed as he heard this, but after they headed back toward a room, he asked her. "I heard that you are new here... Wouldn''t there happen to be someone to care for a beauty like you? I would have stolen you for myself if I had met you earlier." He licked his lips.

    Hearing this, she softlyughed, not showing any negative feelings outwardly. "It''s like you said, there was no one to take care of me... Maybe you are my knight who will rescue me?"

    "Who knows..."

    They entered a darkened room, where she quickly led him toward the bed.<sub> </sub>

    But before anything could happen, Lothur asked her in a saddened tone. "Suse, would you allow yourself if I wanted to rescue you? I don''t want to fool my little heart one more time..."

    Upon hearing such a thing, she, who was already kneeling beside the bed, closed her eyes momentarily and sighed. "Maybe not, handsome."

    "My current life has its ups and downs, but when I''m with my clients, with my boss," As she said that word, her tone and looks showed some enthusiasm that was hard not to notice. "I am genuinely happy when I am with them. I''ve never felt this way before, so I don''t know if I could turn into a reserved wife as you must be after."

    Lothur''s eyes sharpened at that information. "I see... I appreciate you being honest with me. That way, at least I don''t raise expectations..."

    After that, to avoid generating suspicion, he used one of his techniques to make that woman faint in pleasure after giving her a back massage.

    Then, without even looking at her beautiful body or touching her, he left that ce and went to the Frost family estate.

    "Sigh..."

    ''That woman is lost. There is no recovery for her.'' Hemented for the poor worried husband, doubtful whether he should finish this mission.

    ''Hmm, I''ll talk to Elke tomorrow. I''ll hear her opinion on the matter.''

    ...

    The next day, after finishing his fun with Elke in their room, Lothur was still embraced with this beautiful woman, both naked on a bed.

    He then mentioned the subject. "Elke, I''m doing an investigative mission regarding a missing wife, and I''ve already discovered everything there was to find out in that work."

    "Oh? And what''s the problem?" She continued to y with his hair as she rested on him, with one of her ears touching his chest and listening to his heart.

    Lothur exined. "Well, this woman didn''t just disappear, and I don''t know if it''s a good idea to tell her husband the truth."

    Elke grew more curious and looked at him. "Tell me about it."

    "Well..." He then began to exin what had happened with Suse.

    At first, Suse was a good wife and mother of three children, who took care of the household chores and was quite reserved. However, six months ago, she had met a man who helped her with some tasks while her husband was traveling, with whom she eventually had a week-long affair.

    That had been the first time Suse had cheated on her husband, but it had also been the gateway to a world that she now could not leave.

    That affair had not gone far, and after her husband returned from his trip, she had returned to being a devoted wife, no longer involving herself with the man, who was no longer avable anyway.

    Then, about four months ago, she met another man with whom she began to get along and eventually epted an invitation to go to his house.

    On that asion, as expected, she cheated on her husband again. But, unfortunately for her family, this time, she had be involved with a dangerous man, the owner of the ndestine brothel that Lothur had visited.

    Such a person not only had skills in bed beyond the ordinary but also no moral principles that could prevent him from using dirty methods in his conquests.

    And that is what he did. He used stimnt substances on Suse and pushed her to her daily limit for almost a month.

    During this period, she behaved suspiciously, as her husband described in the Sector-1 Mission Hall questionnaire.

    Finally, one day when she had already been wholly dominated, that man ordered her to go to that ndestine brothel. That day she had her first experience selling her body, and she could no longer recover and return home.

    "... From that day on, she followed this new routine of hers, selling her body a few times a week and then spending the rest of her time with her boss." Lothur finished exining.

    "That..." Elke had a shocked expression on her face, pale from what she had just heard. "What a terrible thing!"

 Chapter 135 No Forgiveness And Invitation

    "What a terrible thing! I never thought there were people living lives like that!" Elkemented in shock, her body still on top of his. "How could she have done that to her husband? For that matter, how dare she abandon her children?"

    "It''s a tragedy..." Lothurmented in a sighing tone.

    Suse was a victim, true. She had been addicted to stimnt drugs and had then been ''trained'' to seek a ''new'' kind of happiness in her life.

    That had all been forced upon her by someone else, who had probably not asked her if she wanted it and had only used his dubious means to dominate her.

    However, even though she was a victim and the brothel owner had used her, this did not change the fact that she had betrayed her husband and gotten involved with her ''master'' at first.

    She had made the choices she wanted and eventually fell into the hands of someone evil. Now she and her entire family would have to bear the brunt of her choices!

    Knowing this, Elke and Lothur had no mercy on Suse and saw her guilt in all of this.

    If she were a single woman who had been seduced, they would understand her situation and see her more as a victim. But as a wife, a mother of three, her actions could not be forgotten!

    "What will this family be now?" She asked, worried about the children. "If they find out what their mother did, they will be traumatized for the rest of their lives. None of them may be able to have normal rtionships in the future..."

    "What about this husband of hers? What if he wants to forgive her and bring her back to his home?"

    Hearing this, Lothurughed bitterly and said. "If that happens, he would only destroy his own family. That woman is broken and has no salvation."

    "Even if he found a way to erase her memories?" Elke asked.

    "That wouldn''t do any good." Lothur shook his head negatively. "She betrayed him at first even though she had no experience or memory concerning it. Something motivated her to do that. So, she would eventually repeat her actions without solving this problem, even if we erased her memories."

    "That makes sense..." Elke understood Lothur''s point.

    "To make it worse," He continued. "Suse got involved with someone who put her in that degraded world. That means she doesn''t have good judgment regarding the people she is involved with. Thus, sooner orter, she would bring trouble to this whole family."

    "In this situation, she ''just'' got dominated and became a prostitute. But what if her ''master'' decided to kill her husband? Or else, ruin the lives of those children?"

    His eyes sharpened, and hemented in a cold tone. "Anyway, there are people who don''t deserve to be rescued. Some people need to be abandoned and forgotten."

    "That''s cruel, but crueler is to ruin countless lives for the sake of a single person."

    Elke was silent for a moment as she listened to Lothur''s words, silently agreeing with him, even though this was a ruthless view. ''This poor family will be better off if this woman is away.''

    ''At most, the children will suffer for a few months, but eventually, they will get over the loss of their mother and smile again.''

    She then said. "You can''t give up this mission, Lothur. As you said, this woman doesn''t deserve a second chance, and this family is in danger of being destroyed if this betrayed man doesn''t get the information you got."

    Seeing a little anger in Elke''s eyes, Lothur smiled and brought her face closer to his. "We seem to think alike. I was a little doubtful, but really, this man deserves to see reality."

    After that, he kissed her intensely for a few seconds before they finished their business and got dressed.

    "Elke, after weplete that mission we will do this weekend, I want to advance to Sector-2. Will you do that with me?"

    She nodded at him, indicating yes. "I was already thinking about that..."

    After they finished their business there, he walked toward the exit and asked. "I''m going to the betrayed husband''s house now. Do you want to go with me?"

    "Uh? Are you sure? Isn''t it better if he hears it from just one person?" She asked, feeling it would not be easy to speak this cruel truth to such an individual.

    Lothurughed and said. "If he hears your opinion on the matter, the chance that he will believe and follow my suggestion will be greater. Some men can''t undo the fantastical female image in their minds when other men advise them."

    "To them, it''s as if someone is trying to ruin their fairy tale." He remembered friends of his in his previous life.

    "And why would it be different with me?"

    "Because you are a woman, someone usually worshiped by these people. So, if this husband is one of those individuals, it will be easier for him to hear from another woman that his wife is lost."

    "That..." She hesitated but soon decided, "All right, I''ll go with you."<sub> </sub>

    "Then, let''s go."

    ...

    After leaving the academy, Lothur and Elke barely walked a few dozen yards from that ce when they were stopped by a man dressed in a ck suit.

    "Mister Heinz?" Elke recognized this middle-aged man who stopped them, one of her father''s trusted people.

    Seeing that fellow, Lothur saw that such a man was at level 9, with the best attributes he had the chance to see.

    But this silver-haired man was not intimidated by this person and just stood there beside Elke as if he were standing in front of someone ordinary. "Who is this, Elke?" He casually asked.

    "Lothur, that is one of my father''s people." She said a little nervously, not knowing what would happen next. ''What does he want?''

    Mister Heinz then looked intently at the person in front of him and asked. "So you are young Lothur? Are you a friend of the young miss?"

    "Yes, we are good friends." Lothurughed as he touched one of Elke''s shoulders and brought her closer to him.

    Seeing Elke''s face blushing, that man almost felt that there was something wrong between these two, but as he remembered what he had seen, he felt that this was probably nothing. ''That young man probably doesn''t like women, so the young miss treats him like a female friend.''

    ''That must be the case.'' He sighed, feeling a little disappointed that someone with Lothur''s appearance had cut the wrong way. ''He went to a brothel two days in a row, but even though he had the chance, he didn''t do anything with those two women...''

    ''He''s definitely weird.''

    "Sigh..."

    "Well, I''m d to meet a friend of the young miss." He smiled after sighing, surprising Elkepletely.

    ''What? How can that be? He doesn''t see a problem with Lothur''s behavior?'' Elke looked strangely at her father''s underling.

    Mister Heinz continued. "Young Lothur, today I havee into your way because Ie bearing an invitation from the patriarch, the young miss'' father."

    "Oh? What the father-i..." He was about to call the patriarch Becker his father-inw and then coughed twice. "Uh, what does Elke''s father want with me?"

    "What does my father want?" Elke also asked, worried.

    "The patriarch wants to invite the young miss'' friend to a dinner tomorrow night. Would you be willing to go along with that arrangement, young Lothur?"

    "A dinner?" She looked at Lothur, wondering what this might lead to. ''Will my father do something against him?'' She swallowed her saliva in concern.

    "All right, I''m looking forward to meeting Elke''s father." Lothurughed. "I feel that we will be very close in the future."

    "That..." Heinz found thisment odd, but he only shook his head from side to side before saying goodbye, saying that Elke would take him to the Becker residence when the time was right.

    "Lothur..." She tugged at his shirt after seeing that such a man had disappeared.

    "Don''t worry, Elke. That will be a good opportunity for me and us. Who knows, maybe your father will decide to turn you over to me after a few conversations, haha." Heughed, taking one of her hands and following back to his goal.

    ...

    After a while, Elke and Lothur arrived in front of an average house by local standards, which indicated that this ce''s residents were neither poor nor rich.

    Seeing this, Lothur realized that Suse had abandoned afortable life, reaffirming his decision to tell Otto Waltz the truth.

    He then knocked on the entrance gate and waited beside Elke for two minutes until a man who looked to be around 40, tall, neither fat nor thin, of ordinary appearance, appeared to meet them.

    "Who are you? What do you want?" A voiceden with negativity came from this man''s throat.

    "Sir, we are after someone named Otto Waltz. We are from the Morning Star Academy. We have the results of an investigation left by that person." Lothur said in a solemn tone.

    "Oh? Finally!" This man''s eyes and mouth suddenly opened, and he rushed to wee this beautiful couple. "Young people, sorry for not introducing myself. I am Otto Waltz..."

 Chapter 136 Pretend Shes Dead

    After hearing that man''s hopeful tone and seeing him indicating for them to enter, Lothur sighed and said. "Sir, I think we''d better talk somewhere else. It would be better to keep this just between us..."

    The man froze upon hearing that and looked in the direction of his home, where his children were at the moment. "You mean..."

    "Don''t be hasty, sir. I just want to ensure you have the peace of mind to receive this information. I don''t believe it will be good if your children are around." Lothur said before Otto finished his words.

    "All right, I have an office nearby where no one will bother us." He said this and then asked the children''s nanny to look after them while he left.

    After a few moments, their group reached an office at the end of that same street, the ce where this man worked.

    When they arrived there, Elke was holding one of Lothur''s hands, sweating like she was in a sauna, barely able to look at the man. But with great effort, she looked at him as they sat around a conference table.

    "So, what did you find out? Is my wife okay? What happened to her in thest three months?" He nervously asked as his hands and feet moved constantly.

    Lothur watched this momentarily, feeling his heart beating faster. Then, he looked at Elke, closed his eyes, and sighed. "I suppose we''ve figured it all out, sir..."

    "Oh?"

    "But before we begin, I want to give you some advice. Would you be willing to listen to it, sir?"

    Seeing the serious expression on the face of this young man in front of him, Otto tried to calm his heart and nodded to him.

    "Well, what I am about to say may be difficult, but try to understand that I have a reason for it." He took a breath and then said. "Sir, forget about this woman. The Suse you knew no longer exists."

    Upon hearing this, Otto went pale, feeling as if Lothur was trying to tell him that his beloved wife had died. "You... You..."

    Gulp!

    "That..." He stammered in nervousness but could not say anything distinguishable.

    Elke took courage and said. "Your wife is not dead, sir. But the current Suse can no longer fulfill the roles of wife and mother. If you try to bring her into your life, your whole family will risk ruin."

    "What does that mean?" He looked at the beautiful red-haired woman next to Lothur.

    Lothur then began to exin his findings. "Sir, your wife cheated on you with another man about six months ago. That was her first experience doing so, but not herst."

    Upon hearing this, Otto convulsed before he began to cough, almost to the point of having a nervous breakdown.

    "No, it can''t be!"

    "My Suse wouldn''t be able to!" He said this amidst his pallor, denying with all his heart this cruel reality.

    "Ah, unfortunately, she was able, sir," Lothur said calmly. "The first time happened when you were on a trip about six months ago, sir. At that time, she spent about a week with this man."

    "If you don''t believe me, you can ask your children. Their mother received this person daily in your own home."

    Gulp!

    Elke swallowed her saliva in nervousness as she heard Lothur throwing the naked truth in that man''s face. ''Be more careful with your words!''

    "Your children didn''t see the ''worst'' happening, but they saw this person visiting your house for several days in a row."

    "Anyway, I wouldn''t advise you to involve your children in this, but they can confirm such a thing. Anyway, that was the first time your wife cheated on you, but not thest."

    "After that, she met a man who turned her into a slut."

    "What? Boy, look at the way you talk..." He was saying this angrily, already standing in front of Lothur and Elke.

    But Lothur interrupted him and continued. "I''m not trying to offend your wife, sir. I''m just telling you the truth. Suse has turned into a prostitute. Now she sells her body for a mere 100 bronze coins per hour."

    "Cough! Cough!" The man began coughing up blood after hearing such nonsense, feeling as if someone was squeezing hard on his fragile heart.

    "No way, she wouldn''t be able to! I''ve known Suse for 15 years! She''s always been correct!" He shouted at the two youths in front of him.<sub> </sub>

    "Sir, I was with your wife, and when I mentioned her name, she exhibited nervous behavior. So I''m sure that was her."

    "You what?"

    "Don''t worry. I didn''t touch your wife. I just talked to her to ensure it wasn''t someone who looked like your Suse." Lothur ced a small ss vial with a red liquid inside on the table in front of him.

    "I collected some of her blood. If you distrust me, find a doctor and ask him topare it with your children''s blood. He will tell you whether or not this person was your wife."

    Seeing this, Otto began to fear that everything this young man had told him was true. ''It can''t be! How? Why?''

    Lothur then finished. "Sir, as I said, the Suse you knew is dead. The current Suse is lost in a dirty reality that I don''t know if she will be able to escape. She is addicted to stimnt drugs, but also to sex."

    "If you saw Suse as she is now, I am sure you would not recognize her, considering the tattoos and piercings on her body."

    "So, I rmend that you forget her. Pretend Suse is dead, make up a story for your children, and then leave this city. Try to restart your life somewhere else, get a new wife, finally, live." So, he advised the poor, betrayed husband.

    Elke nodded and said. "That''s for the best, sir. Of course, your children will suffer a little as they ''find'' out their mother is dead, but eventually, they will get over it and be happy again."

    "They will also preserve the memory of their good mother and not the person she became."

    He looked at the two with wide eyes and mouth in amazement at their advice. ''What is wrong with you people? Don''t you understand the meaning of love? How can you tell me just to abandon her?''

    He swallowed his anger and asked. "The way you talk, kid, you sound like you know where she is. Do you? Then tell me how to rescue her!"

    Lothur closed his eyes and sighed in disappointment as he saw the expression on Otto''s face. "Sir, your wife is lost. She will not recover, no matter how hard you try. To make matters worse, she is with a dangerous person, so you may ruin your family if you try to go that way..."

    He looked coldly at Otto and showed some of his murderous intent. "If you want to know where she is, I will tell you. But tell me something first. Are you prepared to see your children die? Be enved? Be orphans?"

    Elke then used one of her hands to squeeze one of Lothur''s thighs, asking him not to overdo it.

    But Otto genuinely saw the end of his family in Lothur''s words, feeling an uncontroble fear in his heart. "No, my children are all I have! I would never jeopardize their safety!" He replied, trembling.

    "Good!"

    "Forget about her, pretend she''s dead. It will be easier that way." Lothur rxed a little, "And do as we said, move to another city. Maybe your wife will get rid of these people one day, but that won''t mean she''ll return to being what she was."

    "Once someone gets dirty, it''s impossible to getpletely clean. There will always be those marks from their past mistakes."

    "So, to ensure she doesn''t find you and destroys you allter, get out of this ce."

    Elke nodded and said. "That woman did unforgivable things while still with you. Worst, she abandoned her own children. Sir, even if one day she gets herself out of the situation she is in, she will never be trusted."

    "A person incapable of making good judgments about the character of people she is in a rtionship with will always be a walking problem, a ticking time bomb."

    "I wouldn''t want her children around her. They could get hurt." She finished, giving her feminine opinion to this foolish husband who seemed willing to forgive his wife.

    After hearing all this, Otto shed a few tears in silence, feeling terrible at this moment.

    He truly loved Suse and was willing to forgive and try to live with her even after all this. But the fear that this would negatively affect his children was almost as great or greater than the desire to be with Suse, to rescue her.

    And this confusion only made everything more painful for this man, who narrowly missed having a mental breakdown right there in front of Lothur and Elke.

    Elke then said. "Sir, try to get over your wife, pretend she died. That may sound cruel, but you will still be able to remember who she once was, not what she has be."

    "Eventually, you will also be able to move on with your life and meet other people."

    "Sigh..."

    "I understand... Thank you for your words and for resolving the doubts in my heart. Now I at least know the truth..." He said in a pitying tone.

    After that, he sat down and ced on the table in front of those two the medal needed for Lothur toplete the mission.

 Chapter 137 End Of Mission And First Formation

    After receiving the confirmation medal of this mission, Lothur watched that depressed man for a few moments and then took one of Elke''s hands to leave.

    "Sigh..."

    Elke sighed as she walked beside Lothur, feeling sorry for Otto. They had broken this man''s heart by showing the cruel reality regarding his wife, whom he still loved. As such, she could not help but feel bad, almost as if they hadmitted a crime.

    ''Well, the reality may be terrifying, but at least he can protect himself now. Ignorance is not a blessing, but a dangerous gamble.'' She looked at herpanion''s handsome face and asked. "Do you think he''ll be okay?"

    Lothur continued to stare at the sidewalk in front of him and answered after thinking for a moment, "I don''t know. Maybe he''ll be a loser and start living like a depressed victim. Or maybe not."

    "He may very well lift his head and move on. Who knows? He can be a man capable of dominating other women in a few years... That''s just up to him."

    "Anyway, it''s not my responsibility. I don''t care." He looked at her lips and smiled.

    "It''s not? I guess we do have a little responsibility, yes..."

    He shook his head negatively. "Saying we have responsibility is like ming a medical examination for the patient''s illness."

    "Getting an exam will never make you sick. It will only reveal the problems already existing in your body. Not doing the exam will only hide the problems and make solving them more difficultter."

    He shook his shoulders and said. "That''s what we did. We showed his wife''s problems and what he might expose himself to by following certain ideas."

    "Whether he will treat the ''disease'' or not, whether he will help it develop and kill him, that''s up to him alone. So, I don''t care."

    Elke could not disagree with him upon hearing those words and then put that matter aside, remembering their meeting with one of her father''s subordinates. ''Sigh... I have my problems to worry about.''

    ''Maybe I should talk to my parents when I get home?'' Elke wondered as she watched her lover.

    ...

    After some time, Lothur received the rewards for the previous investigative mission and then said goodbye to Elke.

    With that, after a little more than an hour, he was already in his room finishing the production of the previous glove.

    It had taken him a while to get to this ce because once again, Viktoria had called him, having heard a little of his daily life.

    After eating beside her, he managed toe to his room to finish producing that item.

    After some time sweating to finish that, a red glove on his hands made the system emit its signal for the first time.

    [Adhering Glove] [ssification: Iron]

    [Feature: increases the grip between surfaces by 50%, increases protection around the hands by 10%, increases the user''s Strength by 5%.]

    [Reminder 1: this glove has a ''half-life'' of 100 years.]

    [Reminder 2: its characteristics will decrease by half each time its ''half-life'' is reached. Itpletely loses its effects after the 3rd ''half-life''.]

    Seeing this, Lothur felt immense satisfaction, realizing that his projects could be real things, not just good ideas on a piece of paper.

    ''Very good!''

    ''I don''t know how much those materials that tailor store gave me cost to them, but with an item that could be useful for 300 years, this here can generate good dividends for me.'' He thought about how helpful something that could circte over several generations within a family would be.

    Mortals hardly ever reached their maximum life expectancy, 100 years. So, an item like this could circte 3, 4, or 5 generations within a family. Naturally, this gave value to the item, which increased the chances that even ordinary people would be interested.

    ''Now I have to see how I will market it... Should I just sell it on my own and make a name for this product before doing business with that store? Or should I sign a royalty agreement and sell this project to them?'' He wondered.

    ''Hmm, the first option might get me better earnings from just this glove. But I have other interests, which will consume much of my time.'' So, he decided on the second option.

    ''When I have time, I''ll stop by that store and see what I can do. If they''re not interested, I''ll look at another ce that sells things directly to mortals.''<sub> </sub>

    After making up his mind about that, Lothur thought about meeting with his future father-inw. ''I will see Elke''s father soon. So, I will take this opportunity to impress him and, who knows, get his support.''

    ''For this, I must produce my first formation that will be used in my vehicles!'' He put away the tailoring items, promptly spreading in the surroundings the things needed to form a formation.

    Formations were inscriptions, so there weren''t many materials needed to make such a thing. The most important thing to set one up was for the formation master to know the symbols, which were nothing more than the nguage'' of the Natural Laws of this world.

    Of course, a single symbol would have no effect, so for a formation to work, a set of ''codes'' would be needed. That was like a ''message'' left by the formation master for the ''world'' to follow his rules.

    That could not be done by using an ordinary brush or writing with a pen on a piece of paper.

    No, one would need a set of gs to create a Natural Law restriction region.

    Natural Laws were part of this world and were in every atom, even in a vacuum. But they had a strange effect of trying to prevent their maniption if certain conditions were not met.

    For example, mighty people could use thews of their own bodies to manipte those outside their bodies, producing fantastic effects. But only by reaching a high level would someone be capable of this.

    Below this level, only by setting up a region of restricted Natural Laws, using the formation gs, would someone be able to evade these rules. By doing this, a formation master could use the nguage'' of thews on objects, producing items with fantastic effects.

    Like, as an example, a spatial ring. Such a thing was nothing more than a super-strong ring produced by a cksmith. In a second step, this received the ''code'' for spatial storage in its own body, generating the already known effect of these items.

    But to use the nguage'' of the Natural Laws, one would not only have to learn the symbols, something that required a lot of understanding but also Perception. Without these things, one would not even be able to learn the symbols needed for the ''code.''

    Finally, without a certain level of will, such a person would not be able to ovee the resistance of thews to being manipted.

    In short, it was not easy. Few could learn the nguage'' of thews, and learning all the symbols could be almost impossible.

    Because of this, there was still much to be developed in this world, and there were not so many formations capable of turning the world upside down.

    Lothur then spread the gs around a syringe he had managed to improvise while holding a crystal brush in his right hand.

    As he finished assembling the gs into a unique pattern, he began to sweat considerably, as he felt as if a bubble had formed around the gs.

    He then tried to move his right hand towards the inside of this invisible bubble, where the syringe was.

    As he did so, he immediately felt a significant restriction on his movement. That was as if the gravity inside that bubble was pushing his hand out of it, almost like pushing an stic fabric.

    ''This is truly demanding, but my will and intelligence are already at a level equivalent to thest level of the 1st stage.'' He stood firm, little by little putting his hand inside such a bubble.

    After a full minute, his hand with the crystal brush came close enough to the improvised syringe for him to use the nguage'' of the Natural Laws.

    ''Well, first, I will write for the energy from the surroundings to be absorbed and used to move the piston when this symbol is squeezed continuously...''

    He wrote some symbols there, making them appear in the surroundings of that syringe and then glow in unlimited colors before disappearingpletely.

    ''I''m going to put this othermand to slowly stop the movement when this other symbol is pressed...'' Lothur began to sweat as he made his second inscription, as mental fatigue began to affect him.

    The problem in this situation was not ack of mental attributes. No, Lothur''s status was excellent for a person trying to reach the first rank, 1-star. But mind and body could get mixed up, and his physical structures still had much to improve.

    On the other hand, he had already put in some effort before he started producing this formation with the production of that glove. So, naturally, Lothur still could not finish such a thing in just one attempt.

    "Sigh!"

    ''Fortunately, I only have two inscriptions to make this formation work...'' He sighed amidst his already agitated breathing. ''I''ll finish that before I go to the academy tomorrow.''

    He then put his items away and headed towards his shower. But as he did so, suddenly, the system gave him a sign.

    [+1.0 in Perception.]

    [+0.7 in Will.]

 Chapter 138 Misunderstanding And First Formation

    While Lothur was smiling at the improvements in his mental attributes, Elke stood beside her parents in a luxurious dining hall.

    As usual, she was very well-dressed, with her wavy red hair loose on her shoulders, showing some of her recent happiness.

    Her mother saw that her daughter had improved a lot in thest few days, seeming to be more rxed about her fears and even more beautiful than ever.

    ''What''s happening with her? Has something urred?'' Hilda paid attention to Elke''s face, which still showed her recent improvements despite her worried look.

    As her father tasted a steak and her mother analyzed her, Elke finally exposed the worries of her heart.

    "Father, what do you want by inviting Lothur to dinner?" She looked at the man sitting at the end of the table they were at, feeling her heart leaping with worry in her chest.

    "Nothing much..." Gomeric replied, still looking down at his te, barely able to contain the smile on his face.

    He and Elke''s mother had already heard from the man who invited Lothur for tomorrow''s dinner about this young man''s behavior when visiting a brothel.

    <o>,m Because of this, the two felt much morefortable knowing that Lothur was probably harmless next to their precious daughter.</o>

    He looked at his daughter and casuallymented. "We just want to meet your friend. We''ve never seen you with a boy before, so it''s only natural that your mother and I would talk to him."

    "Hmmm." Hilda nodded and gave a yful smile to her daughter. "Are you by any chance worried about something, Elke? You wouldn''t be embarrassed to introduce your friend to your old parents, would you?"

    Elke felt nervous at her mother''s look and promptly denied such ament. "No, of course, I''m not embarrassed or worried! I just want to know the reason for this. I found it sudden that Mister Heinz appeared in our path today."

    "So that''s it?" Hilda wiped her lips, still smiling at her daughter''s silly behavior. "Well, then there won''t be any problems. As long as your friend is respectful to you, we''re not opposed to your little rtionship."

    "Uh? Is that right?" Elke misunderstood the situation. ''They really don''t see a problem? What do you mean? Didn''t Mister Heinz happen to talk about how intimate Lothur is with me?''

    "Hmm," her father stated. "But I still want to meet this fellow. I''ve heard some bad rumors about him..."

    Elke shook her head and put her thoughts aside to defend Lothur. "Those rumors are unfounded! Lothur is an honorable person who protects his own and is sincere."

    "Oh?" Her mother''s eyes sharpened. "Can you tell me what you usually do?" She asked.

    "As you may have already investigated, Lothur recently joined the Morning Star Academy. So, I often teach him about the academy or even help him with missions." She began to exin.

    "Other than that, he is much smarter than the rumors given him credit. You will see that when you get to know him... Anyway, he has been helping me with certain matters as well."

    "Really? Is that why you two constantly meet in the dormitory of your academy?" Her mother revealed that she knew this piece of information.

    Gulp!

    "Yes, he is helping me understand a certain technique..." She struggled not to blush in front of her parents. "Look at that. I''m a lot stronger because of it." She showed her fist to her mother, indicating for this woman to check her condition.

    Frowning her eyebrows, Hilda tried to ignore the suspicion in her heart to check if this girl was being honest.

    "What?" She said in surprise before looking at her husband.

    "What is it, dear?"

    "Elke is almost at the 3rd Transformation!" She said that.

    Upon hearing such a thing, Gomeric got up from his seat and approached his daughter to analyze her constitution. "Indeed, she is almost there. Amazing!"

    "Elke, how did you do that? Was it on ount of that young man?"

    She nodded quietly, modifying the truth a bit for her parents. "Lothur and I train together constantly..."

    "Hahahaha, very good! I already like this kid!" Gomericughed, feeling good to see his not-so-talented daughter bing stronger so quickly.

    He then looked at her and said. "Elke, do your best to keep this up! This training is critical to you, so don''t hesitate to do as much as possible with him!"

    Hilda smiled in agreement. "If you can, try to get a little closer to him... Then, if something happens to that Frost family, we can offer a ce for him in our family."

    "What?" Elke looked at her mother in disbelief. ''Are you going to turn me over to him?''

    Gulp!

    She then looked at her father and saw this man nodding as heughed. ''He even said I should continue my ''training'' with Lothur...''

    Elke clenched her fists and said determinedly. "I will do my best, mother, father!"

    ...

    The other morning...

    [Spiritual Piston Model] [ssification: Iron]<sub> </sub>

    [Feature: a syringe capable of using the free spiritual energy in the atmosphere to generate a continued piston motion.]

    [Reminder 1: it can be used for 100 hours before the cylinder cracks and loses its properties.]

    [Reminder 2: the weight limit that can be moved before this prototype bursts is 1 kilogram.]

    [Reminder 3: it will self-destruct if anyone tries to understand its inscriptions.]

    Lothur observed the details of the makeshift syringe that he had just finished putting thest inscription on.

    He smiled when he saw that such a thing could work and immediately connected it to a small wheel that he had improvised.

    After everything was ready, he pressed it in a specific ce, and soon after, the syringe started working, making that little wheel turn little by little.

    "It works! Hahaha, it works!" Heughed in great satisfaction, noting that he would only need the small miniature that the carpenter Frederik was producing for him to make a proper test.

    That was only a model, and he would need to make several inscriptions on the manyponents of his prototype vehicle. So, naturally, there was still a lot of work to be done before Lothur had the miniature needed to prove to a potential investor how valuable his ideas could be.

    But still, seeing this thing working ording to what he had nned was already an essential step for Lothur!

    ''Now I can already be considered a 1-star formation master!'' He smiled as he stored those improvised items in his spatial ring.

    "Well, I''ll be able to take the test to get my registration before I get the miniature that Frederik is making. Then when I go to see coroner Klossner, I''ll have something to prove my ability." He muttered as he finished dressing.

    He then quickly met up with Annaliese to go to the academy.

    "What''s the matter with you? You look tired." She touched one of her brother-inw''s arms,ing closer to him in concern.

    "I finished producing my first formation, so I''m a little tired." He sighed as he smelled the delicious perfume of his sister-inw.

    "Oh? Have you already learned that profession? So quickly?" Annaliese was surprised at such information.

    She had no idea what Lothur''s talent was. But since people in first contact with a profession took months to achieve such a thing, she was shocked at his speed.

    Besides, even talented formation masters usually started learning the symbols of 1-star inscriptions during childhood. So, it was unexpected for Lothur to handle it so quickly.

    "That''s amazing, Lothur!" She said after thinking for a moment. "What have you done? Quick, show me!"

    "I made a necessary formation to that vehicle I talked to you about..." He then showed her that thing, making this woman look at him full of admiration.

    "Are you impressed with your brother-inw, Anna?" He winked at her. "Maybe I deserve a kiss, huh?"

    Hearing that, Annaliese forgot what she was watching and giggled before she moved closer to him and kissed him on one of his cheeks.

    "That''s it? I thought I deserved more..."

    "Humph!"

    "Don''t you think you should get some rest?" She asked. "In your condition, people at the academy will think you''re sick!"

    "Anna, I don''t know what you think of other people, but I feel more energetic when I''m with a beautiful woman like you..."

    He looked at her with desire. "If you want to help me,e here."

    Annaliese saw him pping his hands on his thighs and squeezed her hands firmly. "You like to take risks..."

    After closing the curtains on the windows of this carriage, she sat on hisp and began to kiss him.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    The two continued to do this for a few moments until the speed of their carriage slowed, and the two separated.

    Then, they looked at each other with various meanings in their eyes, without saying a single word about it.

    He then vaguelymented as the coachman opened the door of that carriage. "I''ll soon be able to sign up for that ce... Then, after that, we can get on with that mission."

    "Oh? How long will that take?" She asked in interest.

    "I think at most another week..."

    "Well, I''m looking forward to it."

    "Me too." Heughed just before the two parted ways.

 Chapter 139 Trouble

    After saying goodbye to Annaliese, Lothur used the morning sses to rest and read some books in the Sector-1 library. In such a ce, he had almost entirelye into contact with the materials stored there.

    So now he had another reason to move up a sector within this institution!

    With this in mind, he made his way to the administration of Sector-1 to see some of the problems rted to his ascension within this academy.

    However, halfway to that ce, Lothur came across a group of three people, two men and a woman wearing Sector-3 uniforms.

    They all had solemn expressions on their faces, looking at Lothur as if he had raped their mothers right in front of them.

    "Lothur Ritter..." One of them, Merten, said in a low voice, but one charged with absolute hatred.

    Seeing this, Lothur stopped his way and watched them momentarily. "Are you admiring my looks or what?"

    He looked at the two men and made a disgusted expression. "Sorry, I''m not interested in men. So, can you please stop staring at me?" Then, he looked at the woman. "But this beauty here is not bad..."

    As the two men began to turn red with anger, he winked at that woman. "Beauty, why are you with these losers? Come with me, and I''ll show you what a real man can do."

    "Bastard!" The man next to Merten jumped in front of Lothur, ready to take down this daring mortal.

    But before he could hit Lothur with a punch, Merten managed to stop his brother. "Idiot! We''re inside the academy!"

    The woman, who had lost her cold expression for one of embarrassment, then looked at Lothur with disdain in her eyes. "You are a good-for-nothing despicable as the rumors say!"

    "I can hardly believe that there is someone as hateful as you!"

    But Lothur just smiled at her. "That is amon opinion, but it onlysts until you prove what I have..."

    "Hehe, anyway, I can take care of youter, beauty." He then looked at Merten. "What do you want with me? Haven''t I already made it clear that I will only fight you in thepetition for the Secret Realm slots?"

    "Have you by any chance gone senile and forgotten?"

    "What a son of a..." Merten''s younger brother trembled in anger, feeling that if he did not teach this fellow a lesson, he might have a nervous breakdown.

    As for that Baier family beauty, she looked at Lothur in astonishment. ''How can a mortal be so bold in front of cultivators? What''s wrong with him?''

    Merten closed his eyes momentarily and tried to calm himself. ''Lothur, turn yourself over to my family for your crimes, and we won''t cause any trouble for other people. Otherwise, everyone in your surroundings will suffer from now on!"

    "Crimes?" Lothur curiously looked at Merten. "May I know which crimes are these that I havemitted? Do you know? I have done many things in my life up to this point. So, I may have forgotten about this problem..."

    "Did I happen to steal one of your girlfriends? Maybe I slept with her?" He winked at the woman next to Merten, mischievously grinning. "It wouldn''t be strange for something like that to happen, after all, with that face of yours..."

    This time, Merten was the person who almost lost his patience and made a mistake.

    "Don''t listen to him, Merten! This bastard is just trying to get into your mind! Think about it!" The beautiful woman said this as she tightly held one of this fellow''s shoulders.

    Lothurughed at that as he noticed that people were already in the surroundings watching in their direction.

    After swallowing his anger with difficulty, Merten said. "Lothur, don''t y dumb. I know you are after what happened to our young master!"

    "Surrender and admits your crimes, or prepare for the consequences! We don''t care if you are part of the Frost family. Even they will have to endure our wrath if you don''t make this!" He said while his eyes were red with anger.

    "Oh? Did I do something against your young master?" Lothurughed as if surprised. ''Have they already figured that out? So quickly?''

    He then winked at that woman and asked. "By the way, who is your young master? I don''t pay attention to every child in Sector-1..."

    "Bastard!" Merten''s brother saw how shameless Lothur was.

    She then said. "Don''t y the fool. You know we are rted to Alric!"

    "Is that so? I''m surprised that you two belong to the same family..."

    "Tsk!"

    Lothur heard the sounds that Merten and his brother were making and asked. "So? What did I do against Alric? As far as I remember, I only talked to him once when he challenged me."

    "You wretched bastard!"

    "You know very well what we''re talking about! You are the one who crippled our young master!" Merten said such a thing, even though he was not sure about that.<sub> </sub>

    The Baier family had already received the tip-off from the Mouse Company about the suspicion regarding Lothur.

    The core of this noble house not yet considered him the prime suspect, but when Merten found out about such a thing, he immediately decided to put pressure on this fellow.

    If it genuinely were Lothur, he might feel pressured and reveal the whole truth. After all, unlike them, the silver-haired young man was an idiot good-for-nothing...

    So, Merten had bluffed!

    "Is that so?" Lothurughed. "And how did I do that? Is your cousin by any chance so frail as to have been beaten by a mortal?"

    Hearing this, the two beside Merten could not help but look at their leader, curious to know the reason for his suspicions about Lothur.

    ''That person is hateful, but how would he do that?'' The woman there looked at Lothur in doubt.

    Merten boiled with anger at seeing Lothur''s reaction and made another threat. "If you don''te with me by the end of ss today, I wille after you, Lothur!"

    "Do you think you are safe here? Let''s see what you''ll do when you''re out of the academy or your wife''s house!"

    "Oh? I want to see you try." A female voice came from among the several people already observing the situation around the square they were.

    Upon hearing that tone, Lothur immediately recognized that woman. "Ba!" He said as he saw the green-haired beauty approaching him.

    Reba, the student of the poison master career, whom Lothur had met before, smiled at him and then focused her attention on Merten. "Brat Baier, if you dare to touch a strand of my little friend''s hair without having solid evidence, prepare to deal with my poison."

    "What?" Merten almost cried in injustice at seeing this woman from Sector-6, one of the few students who was already about to graduate from this academyter this year.

    ''That woman... Why is this poisonous bitch defending him?'' Merten looked warily at Lothur, shocked by this turn of events.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Even if this woman is just a poison master and has a dubious reputation, she can still be a great expert in the province!''

    ''I can''t take issue with her just because of this damn kid!''

    "Tsk!"

    "Let''s go!" He said to hispanions, looking coldly at Lothur and then at Reba.

    After they left, Lothur smiled at the beauty in front of him and said. "Ba, what are you doing here? Did you miss me and decide toe after me?"

    "Yes, that''s right." She decided to y with him. "Lucky for you, I came at a good time, no?"

    "Maybe..." He walked back toward his goal, with her following closely behind him. "If you''re curious to know, I''ve already learned the basics of your profession."

    "Already?" She stopped her movement and looked at him in surprise. "Have you started training your body?"

    "Hmmm. I took a bath like the one before and also ingested something special that I prepared myself."

    "You what?" She took one of his wrists and made him face her. "Are you crazy? Aren''t you afraid of being poisoned to death? A beginner like you shouldn''t take risks like that!"

    He liked to see the concern in her eyes and answered her. "I''ve already been poisoned by unknown substances and survived. So, why not take a chance with something known? I knew what I was doing..."

    "Naive!"

    "You don''t know how your resistance works! Doing this is like betting on your life!" She lectured him, angry at how he was risking himself. ''Idiot! If you do that, it will be impossible for you to help me...''

    "Well, on that ount, I''ve already achieved another advance in my resistance to poisons. At my current pace, I might get to 2-stars before I even take the 1-star test." He spoke in a confident tone.

    "Tsk!"

    "You are a confident fool!" She then sighed in defeat. "Anyway, since you''ve already learned the basics and started training your body,e see my master when you have questions. I spoke to her, and she saw no problem receiving you."

    "You must be out of materials to continue training, right? I''ll give you more stuff when youe to see us."

    ...

 Chapter 140 How The Academy Works

    Upon hearing Reba, Lothur looked at her for a moment and asked. "Did you talk about me with your mistress? She wants to teach me this profession?"

    She nodded and smiled at him. "She wishes to meet the prodigy capable of withstanding poisons without preparation."

    "And what does she expect from me? I guess you aren''t just going to sponsor me, right?"

    "Of course." She was honest with him. "My master will give you all the support she can. But in return, we expect you not to work with other poison masters in the province. Also, she hopes that you will eventually not forget your origins."

    "Hmmm." Lothur nodded in agreement with those terms.

    It was natural that any such rtionship would have restrictions to preventpetitors from taking youths like Lothur away after vast investments were made in them. In that way, he saw no problem with loyalty to an establishment, organization, or person like Reba''s mistress.

    On the other hand, Lothur had no interest in exercising the profession of poison master nor other areas that he would eventually master. All this was only for his good and business regarding the items he would create.

    So naturally, he would not be harmed by such restrictions. On the opposite of that, he might even benefit, as he has the chance to connect with established professionals or organizations with contacts and information that he might need in the future.

    "All right, let''s schedule it for next week." He said to her after the two walked through the lobby of an administrative building in Sector-1.

    "Can''t you do it tomorrow? Will you be busy on the weekend?" She looked at him in doubt.

    "That''s right. I''ll be busy since I''m going out on a mission out of Peters City." He exined.

    "Sigh..."

    "Okay, then I''ll see you next week." She was about to say goodbye to him but suddenly felt her left wrist being held by him.

    "Wait a moment. Tell me a little about your mistress. Is there something I should know before I go to her estate?" He looked her in the eye.

    "Are you worried about something? Why would there be something for me to tell you about my mistress?" She gave him a careful look as if she had been offended.

    Heughed and exined. "No offense, Ba, but you know what the reputation of poison masters is like... There are all kinds of rumors about your peculiarities, so I''m just interested to know if I should avoid something."

    "But if she''s like you, I''m rxed with it." He winked at her.

    "Like me?" She lost her grave look, being surprised at that.

    "Hmm, despite the fame of the poison masters, I don''t see anything peculiar about you. Sure, you''re beautiful, but other than that, you''re pretty normal." Heughed as he looked into her green eyes.

    "You think I''m normal? There''s nothing wrong with the way I look at you?" She heard those words for the first time in her life.

    "What''s wrong with the way you look at me? Almost all the women in my daily life look at me the same way you do."

    She then closed her eyes and understood the situation. ''So that''s it... With a look like this, I don''t me you for thinking I''m like those girls who also appreciate your attractiveness.''

    She then smiled graciously. "I truly like your personality, Lothur!"

    "Well, don''t worry, my mistress doesn''t have any special quirks other than her high-level beauty. So, just don''t disrespect her, and everything will be fine."

    After hearing that, Lothur saw that beauty leaving as he imagined what such a person would be like. ''A mistress, huh? I prefer it that way...''

    ...

    After a while, Lothur learned what he would need to take the sector change test.

    Such a thing consisted of written and practical tests for each subject taught in Sector-1. Any student had to perform at least 80% in each of them to get approval to move sector.

    On the other hand, since the teachers gave the tests, it had to take ce over a whole week at times when these people were usually avable for this.

    Thus, Lothur found that he could take his tests after gathering 200 merit points and registering for the week in which he would attempt this.

    After registering for this, there was no return. Even if the student failed, the points would not be returned. Moreover, the payment had to be made the week before the exams.<sub> </sub>

    So, after finding out about this, Lothur epted these conditions and met with Elke for the two to make this payment. Both had already collected more than the 200 merit points and felt ready to move up a sector.

    This way, Lothur almost reset his merit score to zero, dropping several ces in the student rankings.

    "Sigh... I''m back to my starting position." Hemented to Elke as they walked towards the Sector-1 Mission Hall.

    Hearing this, Elke smiled bitterly and massaged his shoulders. "You have nothing to do. Unlike the other students, you grew up quickly within Sector-1."

    "Many in this sector stick around for up to more than a year. So, the number of missions theyplete is much higher than you did."

    "On the other hand, students in other sectors do missions that pay many more merit points... Hence, your position won''t improve much as long as you don''t rx and stay in one sector for a long time." She exined the future to him.

    Lothurmented that he could not do the missions from sectors higher than his andmented. "Well, ording to the Sector-1 principal, I''ll graduate when I finish Sector-4. Then, I''ll try to achieve first ce in the student rankings when I get there."

    Elke smiled at Lothur''s determination but said nothing to spoil his ns.

    Then they reached the mission board of that sector, where they spent some time choosing what they would do for the weekend.

    ''Investigation of strange phenomenon in Lewerenz...'' Lothur read the title of one of those posters, one about a mission that would pay three thousand bronze coins and 300 merit points to the team thatpleted it.

    "The payoff for this mission is not bad at all... Is that normal, Elke?"

    "We can get 150 merit points each just from a Sector-1 mission. I thought the rewards from this ce were smaller."

    Sheughed upon hearing his sillyment. "That''s because this is a team mission. Normally 4 or 5 people woulde together to solve it."

    "Unfortunately, not everyone here is like you..."

    "I see..."

    He then asked. "Is it like that in other sectors too?"

    "Hmm," Elke nodded at him. "But starting in Sector-3, the best group missions all go to the factions of the academy. So, people outside those groups don''t have a chance to pick up anything good."

    She looked at him seriously and said. "Then, eventually, you will have to join one of those groups."

    "Oh? Annaliese has already told me a little about that... Can you exin to me more about these factions? Is the academy who does this kind of division?" He took her to one of the benches in that area for the two to talk about it.

    "Yes. It wasn''t always like this, but after factions in the past have helped the academy on many asions, even one of them saving the lives of many teachers, they made this kind of division." Elke began to speak.

    "At that time, the academy leaders realized that this management model encouraged studentpetition. After all, it is not simple for students to see everyone in their surroundings aspetitors."

    "Competition for resources bes somewhat abstract when the numbers go past certain values when you don''t even know who your opponent is. But when groups are gathered for simr purposes, the number ofpetitors shrinks to those from other factions. At the same time, we can target our efforts against specific individuals, not an amorphous collective."

    "Realizing this in that first experiment, the academy''s management maintained this kind of division. That''s why even today, they deliver the best missions to the best factions."

    She looked at him and finished. "That depends on where those groups stand in the faction ranking."

    "Interesting..." He brieflymented as he felt that made a lot of sense. "What is the process for joining one of these factions? Do you have one of interest?"

    "Well, I don''t have any preferences... Anyway, to get into one of them, you first have to get to Sector-3, since before that, no faction will be interested in taking you in."

    "As for how to get into one of them after achieving that, I can''t say for sure. Some have their own tests. In others, special members have the privilege to bring in new people, etc."

    "We would have to see a specific faction to know the conditions for entering it." But then, she remembered that Lothur''s wife had one of those groups.

    "Are you going to join the Ice Feathers?"

    ...

 Chapter 141 Leaving A Mark On Him

    Upon hearing about Viktoria''s faction, Lothur remembered his conversation with Annaliese during the auction a few days ago. He smiled and said. "I''m not sure. Ice Feathers is only ranked 2nd, right?"

    "Only?" She smiled at him. "Do you know how many factions there are in the academy?"

    "How many?"

    Elke said. "Over 50!"

    "Viktoria''s is ranked 2nd in the factions, but there isn''t a big difference between it and the first group in terms of quality of missions."

    "On the other hand, as far as I know, your wife''s faction has fewer people than the first ranked one. So, it will be easier for you to get good missions by being in her and not Angelic Feathers."

    "Hmm, then I will have to move on to my dear wife''s faction." He maliciouslyughed. "Damn, and me wanting to defeat her being in another faction..."

    Elke shook her head as she closed her eyes, trying to ignore Lothur''s words while swallowing her jealousy.

    She might be his lover, but she did not like the idea of him having a good rtionship with his wife...

    "Tell me about thepetition between these factions. Is it only regarding the academy missions?" He asked after a few moments.

    "No." She thoughtfully looked at him. "Many students take faction affairs very seriously, and some even maintain their connection with them after graduation."

    "For example, it is not umon for graduates to partner with former faction colleagues. In extreme cases, sometimes there are even those who create organizations outside the academy with members originating from their former factions."

    "The number 3 ranked faction is such a case. Draconic Feathers was created by the father of the current Duke of Linn Province. When Chirs Waldauer''s father graduated from the academy, he created this family with his friends. Since that time, the best members of that faction have always been invited to join the family."

    "With the rise of the Waldauer family centuriester, that faction became even stronger because of that, reaching up to the present day."

    She looked at him earnestly, a little worried. "Because of the seriousness of these factions, many end up getting involved in political affairs outside the academy. So, thepetition goes far beyond these silly missions we do..."

    The academy''s missions were vital for the lives of these students in this institution. But they only stayed a short period of their lives in this ce. So obviously, thepetition would not be limited to such a thing.

    "Is that so?" He said in surprise. ''I didn''t expect that!''

    He bitterly smiled and sought Elke''s confirmation. "Then I can expect a lot of resistance when I join Viktoria''s faction, right?"

    "Yes, the Frost family hasn''t had many friends recently..." She said in a whining tone. "Because of that, every kind of opportunity other factions have, they will cause trouble for the members of your wife''s faction."

    "The officialpetitions are the most practical events to see this, but there are other possibilities. Anyway, you will see this in thepetition for the Secret Realm slots. Many members of different factions will challenge Ice Feathers members to narrow down the number of them that will get into that ce."

    ''That is one of their ways to weaken the Frost family...'' He understood such a thing, as he considered that the members of Ice Feathers would undoubtedly have the potential to be at least friends with that organization.

    In that case, by depriving the members of that faction of going further due to the many stones in their way, such factions or organizations behind them were acting against Viktoria''s family!

    With potentially weaker friends, the Frost family''s resistance to trouble would naturally considerably diminish!

    "Well, I don''t mind trouble... Someone with my features will naturally have plenty of it, so I''ll help my wife." He smiled at Elke before taking one of her hands and directing her to the front counter of the Mission Hall.

    After that, Lothur and Elke quickly logged that investigative mission into their IDs, marking it for no other group to pick it up.

    With that, they were soon preupied with their departure, which had to happen tonight for the two to arrive in that town the following day.

    The mission in question had a short deadline, and the two wanted to finish such a thing by Sunday evening. So, soon they went to get ready for it.

    ...

    After separating from Elke, Lothur met with Annaliese on his way back to the Frost estate.

    He had arranged with Elke that she would pick him up at 7 pm for dinner at her house, so he still had time to prepare to meet his future inws.

    With that, he took the opportunity to tell his sister-inw some of his ns.<sub> </sub>

    "Anna, I will be leavingter for dinner with the Becker family, and after that, I will leave on a mission with Elke out of Peters City. Then we will go a few days without seeing each other." He said as he looked into the eyes of the beautiful brown-haired woman in front of him.

    "Dinner with the Becker family?" She found that part strange since she had already expected something to happen with him this weekend as he had not scheduled training with her at the Cultivation House.

    "Lothur, you know that our family and House Becker are not close to each other, right?"

    "Hmm, I am aware." He nodded to her. "Then, isn''t this a good opportunity? Since you probably won''t abandon your family in the future, I can only help my women''s family in my own way. Right?"

    "Your women?" She blushed but could not help but feel good to see him less hostile to her family. "Lothur..." She looked at him withplicated eyes.

    After that, she sat on hisp and hugged him for a moment, feeling protected like never before in her life.

    However, after a few moments, she smells Elke''s scent on his body. "But you''re not going to do this just for me... Sigh, I wish you weren''t so involved with her." She said in a less gentle tone, with a little bit of a jealous tone.

    Annaliese already knew how far Lothur had gone with Elke. So she no longer saw how that redhead could separate herself from him. After all, in this society, a woman''s purity was precious.

    As she felt her jealousy reach a new level, while Lothur was silent, she had an idea. "You two will be alone for the next few days, right?"

    "Yes."

    "Then I''ll leave something so that she doesn''t forget that you''re not just hers..." She smiled at him before kneeling in front of him and start taking off his trousers.

    Gulp!

    "Are you truly going to do this?" He asked, seeing how determined she was.

    "She does this kind of thing with you, right? So, I''ll leave something for her and show her how annoying it is for me to have to smell her when I''m with you." She said without looking at him, watching only the thing in front of her.

    After that, Lothur held himself back from making any noises as the coachman in that carriage ignorantly drove it towards the Frost estate.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Elise was standing outside the Frost estate, talking to someone in secret, while she seemed to be just caring for some flowers.

    "So?" She asked.

    "My contact at the Mission Hall said he is going on a mission with the Becker girl this weekend." Elise''s young contact at the Morning Star Academy softly said.

    "Oh? Where are they going?"

    He replied. "Lewerenz. They should leave today or tomorrow since the mission deadline is pretty short."

    "Hmm," Elise smiled as she closed her eyes, feeling that she could finally deal with this hindrance. "All right, if your information proves true, you will receive your payment by Monday."

    "Hehe, I''ll wait for that." He said before making his way away from that ce.

    After that, Elise walked for a few moments until she arrived near where Lothur and Annaliese were just getting off a carriage.

    He had a strange look on his face, and that brown-haired woman was smiling as she used a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her mouth...

    ''Hmm? Why is Annaliese so flushed? Could it be that she got sick?'' Elise looked at those two in curiosity, but seeing Lothur''s annoying face, she put that thought aside.

    ''Well, standing next to someone so obnoxious every day truly can make anyone sick, haha.''

    ''But don''t worry, Annaliese, you won''t have to live with such a scumbag for long anymore.'' Elise clenched her fists, feeling an incredible thrill in her heart.

    She looked into Lothur''s eyes and coldly smiled. ''Little do you know what will happen to you, worm! Even though you have an excellent lineage, you will die without even knowing anything.''

    Meanwhile, Lothur looked in Elise''s direction, but her expression had already returned to normal...

 Chapter 142 Dinner With Future In-Laws 1

    Some time passed, and after dark in Peters City, Elke''s carriage finally stopped outside the Frost family estate, where Lothur was already waiting for her.

    Obviously, Elke could not enter that estate since her and Lothur''s families were not close to each other. Besides, it would be strange for her to pick up House Frost''s son-inw for dinner...

    Thus, she and Lothur had already arranged to meet at that point, from where, without dy, they made their way to the Becker family estate.

    "What do you think? Do I look okay?" Lothur smiled at Elke and opened his arms, showing her the clothes he had bought to go to the auction with Annaliese.

    He had made some changes to it for today''s asion, so such an outfit was suitable for the asion he would be attending in a few moments.

    Seeing this, Elke graciously smiled at him. "Lothur, even if you were dressed like a homeless man, you would still look magnificent."

    "Oh? I think it could only get better if I got naked..." He winked at her, making her blush with embarrassment.

    ''That''s right...'' She bit her lips, imagining that well-defined body of perfect volume for his height.

    Seeing the look in Elke''s eyes, Lothur teased her, licking his lips. "Elke, don''t be too hasty. We''ll have the next two days to do whatever we want..."

    She remembered something and shook her head, trying to push her dirty thoughts out of her mind. "I still haven''t talked to my parents about the mission we''re going out onter."

    "Oh? Do you think we''ll have any problems?" He asked without showing any nervousness.

    "No, for some reason, my parents seem to like you... But still, they might try to pressure you in some way." She thoughtfully looked at him. "That''s what worries me."

    "So, that''s it." He momentarily closed his eyes, still reassured. "Well, it''s natural for there to be some kind of pressure. After all, I am a man who will be alone with their precious daughter for the next two days..."

    "But considering how weak I ''am,'' I doubt they think I have any chance with you. So, I don''t think it will be as big a challenge as you seem to imagine, Elke."

    "I hope so..." She sighed as she saw the lights of her estate through the window on her right side.

    ...

    After a few moments, Lothur followed Elke through the halls of the patriarch Becker''s house until they reached a living room.

    There, they sat down to talk and wait for her parents while some maids served them.

    But Lothur did not have to wait long, and soon Gomeric and Hilda arrived in that area, both very well-dressed, with clothes that only enhanced their physical qualities.

    Upon seeing these two, the first thing Lothur did was check their cultivation level, and, not surprisingly, he did not see their attributes.

    Gomeric was at level 15, and his wife was at level 11, both at the 2nd stage, Spiritual Warriors.

    ''It seems my vixen mother-inw is truly one of the strongest in this province...'' He thought of Mabel, giving her credit for her powers.

    "So you are our daughter''s friend, young Lothur?" Hilda was the first to say something, as she showed one of her hands to him while her eyes sharpened. ''He is too handsome... It''s frankly a waste that someone like that has no talent and is still...''

    Lothur saw this and, without hesitation, bent down to kiss Hilda''s hand. "That''s me, madam."

    Seeing this, Gomeric was not bothered one bit since, besides being a standard social norm to be used in situations like this, Lothur was harmless...

    "Boy, you look different from the rumors." He said to Lothur as he gave one of this fellow''s hands a hard squeeze.

    "It''s nice to meet you, Patriarch Becker." Lothur smiled and did not mind the pain in his right hand.

    Hilda then gestured with one of her hands. "Lothur, please apany us this way..."

    After that, they proceeded to therge dining room of that residence, where all the necessary utensils were already distributed at one end of therge table there.

    Lothur and Elke then sat side by side, with this woman''s parents sitting across from them, with their eyes fixed on the silver-haired young man.<sub> </sub>

    As they waited for the waiters who would serve them, Gomeric began his questioning. "Lothur, we understand that you and our daughter have recently been spending a lot of time together..."

    Elke swallowed her saliva upon hearing that as she sped her hands on her knees. Gomeric continued. "We want to know what is going on between you two and what you intend with her."

    "Oh? Hehe, that''s not a problem, patriarch." Heughed, still sitting there very well, looking into the eyes of Elke''s father and sometimes at Hilda. "From the moment I met Elke, I already knew we would get along very well."

    "After that, we started our rtionship on the right foot, and since then, we have helped each other." He looked at her and smiled, seeing the nervousness in this redhead''s eyes. "I learn from her, and she learns from me. Weplete each other in a way that is hard to imagine..."

    "So, even though I''ve been with her for such a short time, for me, she already has a ce in my family."

    Elke almost turned red with embarrassment as she heard these things, looking at Lothur, not knowing what her parents would say after such a statement. ''This is dangerous! Even if they like you, I don''t think they will ept me bing yours so easily.'' She panicked.

    But Gomeric just smiled when he heard that. "Oh? Young man, you truly are a boy full of feelings... It''s good to know that a friend of our daughter sees her as part of his family!"

    "Hmmm," Hilda nodded, pleased at Lothur''s words, ''He must see her as a sister... That''s not bad, so it will be easier for us to bring him over to our side!''

    She then said. "Well then, young Lothur, since you see Elke as your family, then our doors will be open to you. If one day you decide to leave the Frost family... We will wee you with open arms."

    "What?" Elke asked in surprise, shocked that her parents hade to this. ''Are they really going to give me to Lothur? Have they given up their previous ns?'' But, as her little heart leaped in surprise, she was beginning to feel happy.

    "Do you actually see no problem with Lothur and me together?" She asked, standing next to him.

    Hilda found her daughter''s reaction interesting but considering that friendships like theirs, between man and woman, were notmon to happen, she figured that this was why Elke was nervous. "Yes, we truly like you and Lothur together..."

    Gomericpleted his wife''s speech. "I still want to know more about you, Lothur. After all, Elke is my only daughter. But for now, I see no problem in your rtionship."

    Hearing this, Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, not expecting things to develop so simply. ''Is this some kind of trap?'' He worried.

    When things seemed too easy, then surely there was something wrong!

    With that thought, he was obviously on alert after suchments.

    On the other hand, Elke could not help but smile in joy and jump into Lothur''s arms, hugging him without any shame, in front of her parents. "Thank you, mom, dad. You don''t know how important he is to me!" She said as she hugged Lothur''s head, sticking it into her beautiful cleavage.

    Seeing that, Gomeric and Hilda frowned but did nothing but watch in silence.

    ''Impossible!'' Hildaughed. ''If there were something between them, Elke would never do that! She''d have to be insane for such nonsense!''

    As for her husband, he was a little doubtful, but seeing the smile on Hilda''s face, he calmed down a little.

    ''Even if he were her fianc��, I doubt Elke would sit on hisp in front of us...''

    ''Ah, he truly must be absolutely harmless, or it wouldn''t happen.'' He sighed in relief.

    "Cough! Cough!" He coughed twice.

    "Girl, I don''t think you should behave like that in front of your parents," Hilda said in her husband''s ce.

    "Oh?" Elke released Lothur''s face and returned to her seat, smiling like a child after winning the greatest gift of her life.

    Lothur still had a worried expression, not understanding this situation at all. ''What''s going on? I thought I was already prepared to deal with all kinds of situations, but I don''t know what to say to these people...''

    ''Cultivators are truly terrifying! What a difficult plot to read!''

    One of the waiters started serving the four of them, and then Gomeric asked Lothur. "Boy, since you see our daughter like that, what does your wife think about it? She must know about your situation, right?"

    ...

 Chapter 143 Dinner With Future In-Laws 2

    Upon hearing Gomeric''s question, Lothur put his doubts aside and replied. "Viktoria naturally knows everything and agrees."

    ? "Oh? The Frost family sees no problem with you being so close to someone in our family?" Elke''s father asked, curious to know the status of this young man in that organization.

    "Besides Viktoria and Annaliese, no one else knows about Elke and me..."

    Hilda realized that Lothur seemed to be not so close to House Frost and tried to prospect further. "Sounds like you''re not sofortable there, huh? Have you ever thought about leaving that family? It can be hard for a son-inw to do that, but there are alternatives..."

    Lothur negatively shook his head. "I have thought about it, but since I have a perfect rtionship with my sister-inw, I no longer see myself doing that."

    Elke closed her eyes as she heard this, annoyed that he considered Annaliese so much.

    ''Hmm, that makes sense... So, the second Miss Frost seems to be as close to him as our daughter...'' Hilda remembered the information about those three walking around Peters City together.

    "Then, you are already connected to House Frost..." Gomeric sighed.

    Lothur realized the problem and then asked. "Is there any enmity between the Frost and Becker families?"

    "No, but there is not a friendship either..." The patriarch did not want to say much since this matter did not concern the younger generation.

    Lothur and Elke were just two children in this man''s eyes, two people without much talent, who probably would not need to worry about such thorny matters.

    In this case, leaving them out of the local plots was the best. Besides, in his view, even if there were problems, the simple friendship of these two did not have much potential to be affected by these issues. Hence, he calmly answered without showing the troubling reality that the Frost family was in.

    Lothur thenmented. "There isn''t a friendship, but does that mean there can''t be one? I''m sure even enemies can sit at the same table with the right incentives."

    Gomeric smiled, seeing that this little friend of his daughter''s had something more than just his good looks. "Indeed, when it''s convenient, forming new friendships isn''t bad..."

    Hilda then asked. "But what would be a good incentive for that, young Lothur? The good rtionship between two juniors is not enough to move whole families."

    As he tasted some of the food on his te, Lothur thought for a moment as he was watched by those two, and Elke touched one of his thighs. He then said. "Well, I don''t get involved in the affairs of the Frost family, so I don''t know what they might have to forge a friendship with House Becker."

    "But I am willing to use some of my ns to help that family on Anna''s behalf." He looked into Hilda''s eyes and said. "It''s some of those ns that could be that incentive."

    "Oh?" The couple made an equal sound, surprised by the confidence of the young mortal in front of them.

    ''Is he talking about that technique Elke said she was learning from him?'' Hilda remembered the previous conversation.

    Gomeric remembered that since that was why he already liked Lothur and even weed this young man so well at this dinner.

    Lothur then said. "I don''t want to sound too confident, but I have ns to revolutionize some aspects of daily life in our province."

    "Elke already knows one of my intentions, but I have other projects in mind."

    The two looked at Elke, and this woman then said. "Lothur wants to use our city''s transportation problem to develop his own business."

    ''So, that''s it...'' The two realized that Lothur had also noticed the local transportation problem.

    Obviously, every significant organization in this ce knew about it. After all, they had watched this ce for hundreds of years at the very least. So, how could they not notice something so simple that even a young man like Lothur could see after only a few days in this ce?

    It would be ridiculous to think that he had such incredible eyesight that only he would notice such an opportunity...

    But all the local powers and even those in the capital had failed to solve or take advantage of the transportation problem. So, Gomeric asked. "Young Lothur, why do you think you can seed at this?"

    He did not believe that an ordinary young man of his daughter''s age would be able to take advantage of this opportunity. But since he had a good impression of Lothur and did not want to offend a friend of Elke''s for so little, he decided to take a ''soft'' approach.

    Hilda agreed with how her husband handled it and watched the young man smiling beside Elke.

    "I think I will seed because I will solve the problem that prevented my predecessors from taking advantage of this opportunity. The high costs!" He said as he ced his forks on the table and gestured.

    "Hmm, the problem of the high cost of maintaining carriages and animals is the biggest obstacle to that..." Gomericmented on this point that many surveys had caused local powers to give up trying to get involved in local transportation.<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, keeping animals, two, three employees to maintain a single carriage, and other costs make it difficult." Lothur thoughtfully looked at the couple in front of him. "But it just so happens that I have the method for something that willpletely rece the use of animal power in the means of transportation in Concordia!"

    "I don''t yet have the test vehicle to prove my point to you since it takes time to do that, and I only recently got the minimum to begin with. But I already have a model that proves my point."

    "You already have?" Elke asked in surprise since, unlike Annaliese, she had not been following Lothur''s progress on this.

    He looked at her and smiled. "Yes, I will have a miniature to test my project in about a month. But by now, I have be a 1-star formation master and have produced the first model."

    Elke''s parents watched the two curiously, positively surprised to discover that Lothur was a formation master. But not only that, it seemed that his ns regarding this matter were going very well, or he would not speak so much to them.

    ''Is this young man the real deal, or is he trying to impress us?'' Gomeric pondered on this. ''Well, he said all that to show us this so-called model. So let''s see what it is.''

    "Can you show it to us, Lothur?" He asked.

    Lothur smiled upon hearing this and not only decided to take the piston model connected to the previous wheel but also put on the glove he produced earlier.

    He walked away from that table and then said. "Patriarch, this is the first model of the automatic motor that will be in each of my vehicles in the future."

    "That may look simple at the moment, but that''s because I don''t have the miniature of my vehicle to make something more sophisticated. But I will have it in a few weeks."

    "So, if you are interested, I can show you my project again when I put the inscriptions on that miniature." He said as he put the wheel on the ground.

    "Oh?"

    "Well, I don''t mind seeing your project when it is closer to the final product. You know, right? I''m not an expert, so I have a less abstract idea of what I''m seeing to understand your product." Gomericmented as he dubiously looked at the thing.

    Meanwhile, Hilda and Elke were watching Lothur with curiosity, especially this young redhead, since she knew how capable her lover was.

    But as Lothur prepared himself, husband and wife did not fail to notice that his glove looked a bit special.

    ''What is it? I''ve never seen something like that with those properties...'' Gomeric probed that with his spiritual sense.

    He could not see the information that Lothur could see with the system. But he could feel some of the main characteristics of the glove on one of this young man''s hands.

    Lothur then began. "Patriarch, by using this cylindrical device with the formations I have inscribed, I can generate a force that will move this wheel."

    He then pressed on the symbol for the movement to begin, making the typical piston motion appear in that makeshift syringe, slowly moving that wheel.

    Then, under the stares of those three, he pressed another symbol, slowly stopping the piston movement, resulting in the wheel''s speed slowing down.

    Gomeric felt ufortable watching that and moved around in his chair, trying to find a morefortable position. "Let me get this straight. Is your idea to make the wheels of a carriage move by themselves? With this device?"

    Lothur looked at him and nodded.

    "But..." Gomeric felt that, while interesting, it was fragile. "Will that little device of yours hold up? I mean, carriages are heavy, and we cultivators are not light either. Even some mortals can considerably increase the weight of a vehicle..."

    "I understand what the patriarch means..." Lothur was not ufortable with that man''s doubt. "But this thing I''m showing you is just an initial model. I improvised it myself, so it is truly fragile."

    "But in the future, I will have carpenters and cksmiths producing theponents of my vehicles. Also, a vehicle will have many devices simr to this one..." He raised the syringe in one of his hands.

    "Oh?" Elke''s parents'' eyes widened in interest.

    Hilda thenmented. "That''s interesting. But I want to see that miniature you said before we see if this can be the incentive to move noble families..."

    She then smiled and looked at the glove on one of Lothur''s hands. "But I am interested in knowing more about it. Where did you buy it?"

    ...

 Chapter 144 Business Opportunity

    Upon hearing that Hilda had fallen into his ''trap,'' Lothur smiled and exined to her. "I didn''t buy it, madam. I made it myself."

    "Oh? You made it?" Husband and wife asked simultaneously.

    Seeing her parents'' reaction, Elke felt proud of Lothur and told them about her lover''s situation. "Mom, dad, Lothur is also studying the tailoring profession!"

    ''Makes sense...'' Gomeric thought about it, feeling that he and his wife were not wrong about Lothur...

    But then they heard that young man''s voice shocking them. "I have not yet taken the test to earn my badge. But I can already be considered a 1-star tailor and poison master."

    "What?" The two ask in surprise.

    Hilda then rose from her seat and looked at Lothur. "Are you telling me that you are simultaneously pursuing three professions?"

    "Yes, madam. I don''t intend to delve into any of them, but it is beneficial to my projects that I can understand the basics of several professions." He hid no such thing from these people.

    Lothur wanted to make a good impression on Elke''s parents since he would surely take this woman away one day. But that was not the main point now. The most important thing was getting an investor for his business.

    He already had ns to follow Annaliese''s rmendation and see the local coroner Klossner. But would not it be better to have more than one investor?

    After all, if he only had one, he might find himself in a situation of being too dependent on just one person or organization. But for someone with basic investment knowledge, Lothur knew that diversification was critical.

    In this case, he could not help but try to bring Elke''s parents and the Becker family over to his side.

    Hell, he would have to be a fool not to try to take advantage of this opportunity just given the future possibility of business with Klossner!

    In that case, he did not hide many things since being honest about some points when doing business was crucial.

    Obviously, he would never talk about the most important secrets of his projects or some of his ideas.

    But for Lothur, it was imperative that his potential partners knew what he could and could not do. That served not to raise expectations beyond his limits and to ensure that he would not have to deal with goals to which he had notmitted himself.

    He, Lothur, would only say he would do something when he was determining and sure of his possibilities. Otherwise, he would never promise anything and obviously would not bother with any expectations he did notmit to.

    That''s why he was so open with these people!

    "So, that''s it..." Gomeric seriously looked at his wife.

    Having more than one profession would be a problem atter levels of mastery. But considering that Lothur was only a mortal who could not go far in these activities, they saw that such a young man was not making a mistake in taking this approach.

    ''He understands his limits, so he doesn''t have high expectations with his professions...'' Gomeric pondered, almost as if he was having a mental conversation with his wife.

    ''Besides, he knows how to use his abilities and weakness to get the best out of himself.'' She looked at Gomeric and then at Lothur, impressed.

    Hilda then closed her eyes and tried to understand Lothur better. ''Despite being a mortal, he seems to have some skills on peak... Sigh! It''s a shame he can''t cultivate.''

    The difference between mortals and cultivators was one''s ability to alter mental and physical characteristics. But being a mortal would not mean that, for example, such a person''s perception would necessarily be less than that of a cultivator!

    Obviously, since cultivators could alter their characteristics, they were generally more talented than mortals in every possible way.

    But in the first stage, finding mortals with better characteristics than certain cultivators was not impossible!

    Some could be born with robust bodies, others with hand skills beyond the ordinary. Even a person''s senses could be sharper than a cultivator several levels above him!

    Because of this, mortals could learn spiritual professions and be 1-star professionals. For this reason alone, Elke''s parents had not found Lothur''s abilities so strange.

    But being only a mortal, Lothur could not develop these abilities of his, the reason for Hilda''smentation.

    After a while, with her parents watching each other in silence, Elke saw her father seriously looking at Lothur.

    "Young Lothur, this vehicle project of yours is promising. But we would like to see it when you have the miniature ready to give us a demonstration. Then, if what you saides true, and this is feasible, we can do business and bring our family closer to yours."

    "Oh?" Lothur smiled upon hearing that.<sub> </sub>

    Elke''s father continued. "However, I am interested in this glove of yours. It seems to have its uses, so I would like to do some testing with it... Would you mind lending it to me? If my ideas are confirmed, we can do business."

    Elke smiled upon hearing her father''s words and hugged Lothur''s left arm, happy about that.

    Lothur then said. "If it were up to me alone, patriarch, I would leave this glove here and now. But I have an agreement with the tailor shop supporting my studies. So, I have to seek their opinion first."

    "Oh? What tailoring shop is that?" Hilda stepped forward.

    Lothur answered. "It''s a high-end tailor shop downtown. I think the name of that store is Patchwork House."

    "Patchwork House?" Hilda looked at her husband. "The Christen family supports that store."

    "Hmm, yes..."

    The Christen family was not a noble house but an ascendant bourgeoisie of Linn Province. They were involved in a dozen businesses, including the market for unique clothing production.

    Gomeric thought for a while and said. "This family is quite difficult to negotiate. So, we''ll leave it to you to talk to them, young Lothur. Maybe we''ll get better results if they don''t know we''re interested in this."

    "All right, that''s fine with me..." Lothur nodded.

    After that, they ate their dessert while talking about little things in Lothur and Elke''s daily life, getting to know a little about this young man and his routine at the academy.

    In this conversation, Hilda and Gomeric did not suspect what was happening with their daughter and the silver-haired young man. That was because of the misunderstanding they had made and because Lothur had been careful with his words and actions due to the uncertainty in his heart about Elke''s parents.

    <o>,m When they were almost finished with dinner, Lothur mentioned the mission that he and Elke would be doing together. "Madam, patriarch, Elke, and I have picked up a group mission at the academy and intend to leave tonight. Is there a problem?"</o>

    "Group Mission? Tonight?" Hilda was surprised since her daughter had not mentioned this to them.

    Lothur exined, lying, "Elke and I intend to change sectors together. So, we need to do this mission toplete some requirements..."

    "You are already going to change sectors?" Gomeric was surprised by this information. "Haven''t you only been at the academy for a few weeks?"

    Elke proudlyughed and said. "I told you, Lothur is very talented, and these vicious rumors do not do justice to his figure!"

    Hilda looked at Lothur, but considering everything she had found out about this young man at this dinner, she did not find it so strange. ''Although he is a mortal, he has many qualities and has an excellent mentality. Hmm, it''s not strange that he is diligent in his studies!''

    ''Sigh... But it''s truly a great injustice. If he could cultivate, he would be a little monster.'' She thought.

    "What''s that mission like?" Gomeric asked.

    "We''re going out to investigate a strange phenomenon in Lewerenz," Elke said.

    "Lewerenz?" He frowned as he pondered the fact, finding it hard to ept the situation since his precious daughter had never left Peters City alone.

    Hilda understood her husband''s doubts, but she was not against it. "Honey, let''s allow them to get on with their ns. I feel this is a good opportunity for Elke to mature a little."

    Hearing that, while watching Elke pouting at her mother, Lothur could not help but agree. ''This will indeed be an opportunity to mature...'' He internallyughed.

    He then said. ''Don''t worry, patriarch. If anything happens, I will protect Elke with my life! As long as I''m standing, nothing will happen to her!"

    Seeing the determination in Lothur''s eyes, Gomeric felt a little better, even though he knew that Elke was probably the one who would protect this fellow. "Well, I will send you in a carriage of our own. That way, you won''t have any trouble on the road."

    "Hehe, that''s better." Elke smiled as she looked at Lothur and then took one of his hands.

    "Mom, dad, I''m going to show Lothur the house now. When you have finished your arrangements, send a servant to let us know." She pulled Lothur toward her room, hardly giving her parents a chance to question her.

    ''That girl...'' Gomericughed, sensing that his daughter was still a little girl trying to impress the first friend she took to her home.

    And so, quickly, Lothur and Elke arrived in her room...

 Chapter 145 Going To Lewerenz

    After Lothur briefly got familiarized with Elke''s residence, she led him to her bedroom, where, without dy, she had him lie down on her bed.

    "Mmmmmm~" The two kissed as hey beneath her, feeling the advance of this woman who seemed even more determined to be with him than in other situations.

    "Elke~" Lothur tried to speak amidst his kisses with her.

    "What?" She asked as she opened her eyes and started kissing the corners of his mouth, moving down towards his jaw until she got close to his left ear.

    "Elke, what''s the risk of someone catching us in the act? I find the idea of doing that with you here incredible, but after all, I value my life..." Heughed as his fingers went against his words, pulling off her undergarments.

    She then said in his ear. "No one will enter here without introducing themselves first~"

    He felt her tongue on his left earlobe, and his pupils dted. She said. "You can rest assured. As long as we don''t make any noise, nobody will ever know..."

    "Really?" He smiled, not being able to hold himself in this situation. ''If the situation is so good, what can I do but ept?'' Lothur looked up at the ceiling andmented in his mind.

    After that, Elke did not take long to do the same thing that Annaliese had done for him on their return from the academy earlier today.

    "What''s that? Who did this?" Elke raised her face and then looked back.

    Lothur then breathed easier after stopping what he was doing and saw the angry look on Elke''s face. "What are you talking about?"

    "There is a mark here, Lothur. But I didn''t do any of it, so who did?" She knew that this was not a man she could keep to herself. But Elke would not simply ept every ''addition'' he made!

    How long would it be before he no longer had time for her if she stayed passive to his adventures?

    With that thought, she could only strive to secure her ce in his life!

    Lothur remembered his little fun with Annaliese and said. "It must have been Anna since, besides you two, I haven''t been with any others yet."

    "Anna? Your sister-inw?" Elke clenched her fists, understanding the situation.

    ''That bitch is doing this with her brother-inw! I thought she was just in love, but it looks like she will soon give herself body and soul to him...'' Elke significantly looked at Lothur, determined to fight with all her weapons for her position.

    ''I must make him realize I am worth more than she is!''

    Elke then returned to what she was doing, only this time with much more enthusiasm, determined to make Lothur fall in love with her unique abilities.

    ''I''ll have two days with him. So, I will not waste my advantage!''

    Meanwhile, Lothur took a moment to return to his activities with a surprised look on his face. ''The advantage of lovepetitors, I would say...''

    ...

    After a while, Lothur and Elke left her room when this woman''s parents had already organized everything for their departure.

    But that had not gotten in the way of whatever they did.

    "Little Elke, you''re blushing. Do you happen to have a fever?" Hilda asked as she ced one of her hands on her daughter''s forehead.

    As Lothur ''distractedly'' looked at the decorations in the surroundings, Elke almost made him lose his facade in front of his inws. "Lothur and I were training..."

    He looked wide-eyed at Elke. ''Aren''t you afraid of them misunderstanding this?''

    "Training? At this hour?" Gomeric casually said, remembering that these two training seemed to have promising effects on Elke''s strength. ''I wonder what they do?''

    "Oh?" Hilda opened her mouth in surprise as she checked her daughter''s body and found that she had subtly improved. "How do you do that?" She looked at her daughter and then at Lothur.

    Lothur froze at hearing this, not knowing what to say.

    Elke answered her mother as she yfullyughed, "That''s a secret!"

    After that, Elke made her parents give up trying to understand this subject further, only having received their encouragement to keep working hard.

    So, they got into a carriage and said their goodbyes before the coachman made the horses run towards the street.

    "Sigh..."

    "Were you trying to kill me, Elke? I almost had a heart attack!" Lothur said as he rxed in an armchair while the redhead hugged him, resting her head on one of his shoulders.

    "My parents have already approved our rtionship, so why should I seekplicated excuses?" She casually asked.

    "And that training thing isn''t an excuse?"<sub> </sub>

    Sheughed and said. "We are exercising. So, in a way, we were training... Isn''t that right?"

    He could not refute such an argument. "That''s a fact... But don''t risk so much in the future. I think your parents might be understanding something wrong."

    "Why?" She turned to him.

    "Why? Why would they ept me like this? I think it''s bizarre." He was sincere. "I know I''m too handsome, with excellent measurements, probably the most attractive man in the city. My talent is also outstanding..."

    He realized that he was praising himself too much and shook his head. "Cough! Cough! Uh, even with my qualities, they only know the bad side. So, it doesn''t make sense."

    Sheughed. "That''s because I told them about the good things about you. I also told them that I''m getting stronger because of our activities. So naturally, they already had a favorable impression of you from the beginning."

    Elke and Lothur had already talked about the effects on her cultivation of their almost daily fun. So, she was already sure what was causing her physical improvements.

    "Is that all it is?" He asked in doubt.

    "Don''t worry, silly. But if you''re not sure, we can wait until you firm up some business with my father, and then we''ll speak the truth to them to remove that doubt from your heart." She suggested as she felt a little sleepy.

    "Hmm, that will be better..."

    After that, the two fell asleep while cuddled in one of the armchairs in that carriage.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at Viktoria''s residence...

    "Elise, you may leave now. Have a good weekend." Viktoria said to her servant as she looked at the blonde standing beside the table where she and Karen were having tea at this instant.

    "Young miss, see you on Sunday evening." Elise smiled, satisfied that she could finally follow through with her ns against Lothur.

    After Elise left that ce and went on with her ns, Viktoria had something important to discuss with her friend.

    "Karen, I''ve been trying the carrot strategy with my husband, but I don''t know if it''s working." She said as she seriously looked at the beauty across that table. "He doesn''t seem delighted by the chance I''m giving him."

    "Oh?" Karen felt surprised at this, but it was not unusual for some men to be a little slower to notice some signs. "Don''t worry. It''s too early to tell if it''s working or not. Some men need us, women, to be explicit in our signals, or they don''t notice anything."

    Apart from exceptions like Lothur, women generally chose their partners in this society.

    Sure, a man might think he had the initiative by picking up a stranger''s fallen handkerchief and think he had the initiative to approach his potential future wife. But the truth is, usually, the handkerchief was dropped on purpose!

    And with countless years of this going on in this society, Karen, who had more experience than Viktoria, knew that Lothur''s wife needed to drop her handkerchief in a more eye-catching way for him to notice.

    "Just continue with what you''ve already started and make him notice the goddess he has a chance to approach if he is a good husband." She chuckled at her friend. "Soon, he will thank the heavens just for being able to be by your side!"

    Viktoria''s eyes sparkled as she imagined Lothur returning to her control. "I can''t wait for that..."

    "In any way," Karen looked more seriously at her friend. "A person from that man recently contacted me."

    Viktoria''s smile disappeared upon hearing such a thing, and she became solemn. "What does this person want? Doesn''t he know that it is risky to maintain any kind ofmunication? And if they get suspicious..."

    "Well, I''m only a messenger, so I don''t know what''s on his mind," Karen sincerely said. "Anyway, he wants to know how Lothur is doing and if you managed to send his guardian''s body. They haven''t received it yet..."

    Lothur''s guardian was an elderly woman who would not live long before they came to live in Peters City when he was still a child. Unfortunately, after his marriage to Viktoria, she died of natural causes due to her advanced age.

    Viktoria had an old debt to the person behind that woman, so she had promised to take care of Lothur and send his guardian body to where it belonged.

    Viktoria said to her friend. "I sent her body to the ce she told me about. What can I do if something went wrong or that was a wrong address?"

    "Where did you send it?" Karen asked, trying to think of what could have happened.

    "The Three Great Lakes region."

    "What? Are you serious?"

    Viktoria nodded. "I thought it was strange too. But she confirmed to me about that ce on three different asions... Anyway, maybe that''s why something went wrong. I''ll see what I can do, but tell them about it."

    "As for Lothur, I can meet with one of his men to talk about my husband."

    "I will pass that on to him..."

 Chapter 146 Arriving In Lewerenz

    The next day...

    When the day was finally dawning, Lothur and Elke''s carriage had already traveled almost all the way to Lewerenz.

    At this moment, they were descending a valley, where a green area with a low density of trees spread out over the surroundings to the edge of the horizon.

    From there, they could see a tiny urban area in the distance, on one side of this immense valley, where their destination was, the small city of Lewerenz.

    Lewerenz had about 70,000 inhabitants and was economically focused on agricultural activity and livestock farming for human consumption. Because of this, such a ce was not poor, but it was simplepared to thergest city in the province, Peters City.

    Seeing their destination was near, Lothur and Elke straightened their crumpled clothes as they talked about what to do next.

    "Where do we start? I don''t know much about this ce." Elkemented to him as she buttoned part of his shirt.

    Hearing this, Lothur continued to look out the window on his side as he put his hair back in ce. "Let''s go to the property of that family who posted this mission about that strange phenomenon. From there, we will start investigating this matter."

    "What do you think it might be?" She asked.

    ording to the mission information they picked up at the academy, such a strange phenomenon appeared in a particr area of Lewerenz. That was like an energy pulse damaging nearby buildings'' structures.

    The family behind the mission was a local bourgeoisie, who owned several buildings in the area most affected by this. Because of this, they had already lost a lot of furniture and were even in danger of losing their buildings if this continued.

    The cracks in these buildings were increasing weekly. Because of this, they had paid for the mission in question.

    "I don''t know. Maybe some natural treasure is being born nearby?" He said as strange effects were released when a natural treasure appeared.

    But that was extremely unlikely to happen, so Lothur could only imagine that there was a chance that this was the case.

    "Anyway, this mission was posted only three days ago, so we have no trace of other groups. We''ll be the first to check it, which means we''ll have to do all the investigative work..." He saw the local buildings getting closer and closer to their carriage.

    Elke understood that point and made up her mind. "All right. Once we get to that ce, we''ll get a room for the night, find something to eat, and then move on to this family estate."

    ...

    Minutes passed, and the couple left the Becker family carriage after arriving in the center of Lewerenz.

    Elke ordered the coachman of her carriage to wait for her and Lothur at that ce, then they checked into a local inn and had their breakfast.

    They asked some people on the streets they passed about directions to get to the estate of the Herrmann family, the contractor for this mission.

    The Herrmann House was an emerging power of Lewerenz, so it was not difficult for the couple to find their way to the mansion they had just arrived at.

    "Young people, what do you want here?" A guard asked as he observed the very well-dressed couple looking with interest at the interior of that mansion.

    "We are students of the Morning Star Academy. We are here for a mission. Can you take us to someone who can talk about it?" Lothur said as he watched a group of teenagers inside that estate.

    "Oh?" That guard opened his mouth in surprise, not expecting that these two were actually from this renowned institution. ''You really can''t judge a book by its cover! He only looks like a mortal, but he is a student of that institution!''

    The guard then proceeded to open the gate for Lothur and Elke, politely showing them the way.

    "Friend, do you know anything about this phenomenon in question?" Lothur asked the guard.

    "No," He shook his head negatively. "I know there is a problem with the family''s properties at the city''s southern end, but I am not sure about the details."

    "I''m sorry."

    "I see..."

    They then entered arge waiting room of that mansion, a nicely decorated ce with room for many people to sit and talk.

    The teenagers Lothur had seen through the ss windows were gathered there.

    "Jacob, so you are here to annoy me again? Haven''t I already told you to stay away from Miss Herrmann?" A red-haired boy with eyes of the same color said this to a young man with brown hair and a round face.

    "Tsk!"

    "The Herrmann family has not yet decided who she will get engaged to, Harry. So, until then, I will continue with my own approach." The childish-cheeked young man said, confident in himself. "If you''re afraid of thepetition, you can get out of here!"<sub> </sub>

    "Brat, you don''t know who you''re messing with!" The young red-headed boy''s subordinate said as Jacob''s friend, who was there to support him, moved to stand in front of the young man with childish cheeks.

    Seeing this, Lothur and Elke looked momentarily at the brown-haired young man and recognized him. "Jacob?" She eximed, remembering the customer she and her lover had attended to days ago.

    Hearing Elke''s soft voice, the four young men looked in the direction where a beautiful red-haired woman stood next to the man who had the most annoying appearance in the world to other men.

    ''Who is this goddess?'' Harry swallowed his saliva.

    He had just seen the most beautiful woman in his entire life!

    On the other hand, Jacob frowned his eyebrows and then smiled. "Elke, Lothur!"

    "Jacob, I didn''t expect to find you here. Are you by any chance part of this family?" Lothur asked as he ignored the other three teenagers in that ce.

    "No, I came here to see Miss Herrmann. What about you?"

    Before either of them could answer, the red-haired young man walked over until he stood between Jacob and Elke, greeting this beautiful woman. "My name is Harry Wehrle. May I ask what thedy''s name is?"

    Elke frowned her eyebrows and replied dryly. "My name is Elke. This one next to me is Lothur, my boyfriend."

    ''This mortal?'' The young man looked at Lothur with anger that such trash could be with a goddess like Elke.

    Elke looked at Jacob and answered him, while Lothur looked at Harry. "We are here to solve the mystery behind the phenomenon afflicting the Herrmann family."

    "Oh?" Jacob understood what this was all about since he had already seen the results of such a thing.

    While they were talking, the guard from earlier had already brought someone to talk to Lothur.

    "Are you from the Morning Star Academy?" A beautiful young woman with ck hair, who appeared to be around 15 but already had a posture that showed her feminine gifts, asked the two.

    Gulp!

    ''What a beautiful man!'' She silently watched Lothur, surprised that someone like that had attended her family''s mission.

    "Yes, that''s us." Elke turned to that neer. "You are the one who will talk to us about it?"

    "Hmm. It should be my older brother, but he is now solving a problem in one of our buildings. So, I will apany you." She looked at Elke and then at Lothur''s silver eyes.

    "Miss Herrmann, can we talk for a moment?" Jacob asked.

    "I''m sorry, I have to deal with that other matter now..." She said, still looking at Lothur.

    "So, that''s it..." Jacobmented in a gloomy tone.

    But then Lothur suggested. "If you want toe with us, I don''t mind, Jacob."

    "Oh?" The brown-haired young man smiled at that. ''Lothur is truly a good person! He''s trying to help me!''

    "Hmm, I''ll go too..." Harry was saying, but then he heard Lothur''s voice.

    "I don''t remember inviting you," Lothur coldly said. "I don''t know who you are, but be careful about looking too much into the ''sun.'' Don''t regret when you lose your eyes."

    The seven people in that room made a momentary silence after Lothur''s words, with the young level 3 redhead looking particrly ugly at him. ''Are you threatening me, mortal?'' He clenched his fists but said nothing.

    Miss Herrmann then said, noticing the contrasting mood in the waiting room of her family mansion. "Well, will you apany me? I will take you to the ce where it all began."

    "Hmmm." Lothur nodded before he felt Elke take one of his hands, and then they followed in the footsteps of that young ck-haired woman.

    Jacob and his follower did the same while the two remaining young men remained in that room, staring in Lothur''s direction.

    After they disappeared from that mansion, Harry listened. "Young master, I didn''t like that fellow at all. We must do something to teach him the difference between cultivators and mortals!"

    The red-haired young man agreed. "I know. Let''s put someone to chase them. Then, depending on what happens, I''ll show that idiot what a real man is!"

 Chapter 147 Tremors And Pulse

    After a few moments, Lothur''s group left the former estate in a Herrmann family carriage.

    "Miss Herrmann, what is your name?" Elke smiled at the young woman in front of her.

    Realizing that she had not introduced herself earlier, the ck-haired girl blushed and replied. "I''m sorry I didn''t introduce myself earlier. My name is Natascha Herrmann, and you?"

    "That one next to me is Lothur, and I am Elke." She said, without specifying which family she or her lover came from, to avoid problems rted to their pasts.

    As the two chatted about ordinary things, Jacob then said to Lothur. "Why don''t you and Elke stop by my estate today or tomorrow?"

    "After I returned from myst stint in Peters City, my father was pleased with my results. When I mentioned you, he told me I should invite you to dinner if the opportunity arose."

    "Is that so?" Lothur looked at him interestedly. "You said your father has a store in this ce, right?"

    "Yes, we sell all kinds of resources. From food to basic materials used inmon activities." Jacob said proudly.

    His family was not muchpared to the high-level powers of Peters City, but in Lewerenz, they were considered wealthy. In this way, this young man was proud of his position.

    "Interesting..."

    "What would be the chance for your father to do business with me, Jacob? I believe I have some products that have the potential to be sold in ces like your father''s."

    Hearing this and remembering Lothur''s abilities, Jacob did not doubt that the fellow in front of him might have some exciting things.

    "I can''t speak for my father, but if these products are good for mortals, the main audience of my father''s store, then it''s not impossible. But you would have to talk to him since I don''t get involved in family affairs yet." He was sincere.

    Listening to the conversation next to her, Natascha then asked in interest. "What kind of product do you want to do business with?"

    Lothur looked at the ck-haired young woman and said. "For the moment, I only have the designs of my products, so I am just prospecting potential allies and future clients."

    ? "But these products are about tools for mortals, which have the potential to increase the efficiency of certain activities. For example, I have a glove that can increase the strength of the one who uses it."

    "I also have ns for a vehicle that can turn over the soil of dozens of acres using just one farmer."

    "Oh? That''s really interesting!" She and Jacob simultaneously said while Elke looked at Lothur, trying to understand his strategy.

    ''Isn''t he trying to do business with my family? What is the need to involve other people in this?'' She wondered.

    Natascha thenmented. "Lothur, my family is also involved in agriculture. So, we will definitely be interested if your product bes real!"

    "Really?" Heughed. "Do you have a contact in Peters City?"

    "I do. My family sends food there three times a month."

    Lothur thought of something and looked at Jacob. "I already know where this fellow''s father''s carriage passes in Peters City. So, when I''m ready to present my product, I''ll send a message through him. Then, you can send your people in Peters City to talk to me."

    Jacob smiled upon hearing this, once again grateful that Lothur involved him in this. "Don''t worry, Miss Herrmann. I will pass Lothur''s message to you when he makes contact."

    "Hmmm." She nodded in agreement with those arrangements. "What about your other products? Is there anything you can introduce to us right away?"

    "For now, I only have the glove I spoke of. Unfortunately, I can''t sell it right now due to a contract, but I can show it to you." Lothur picked up such a thing from his spatial ring.

    After seeing that, the three people inside that carriage with Lothur and Elke looked at it curiously, each of them trying on this glove.

    "That''s unlike any other glove I''ve ever seen," Jacobmented, looking at the item in his hands. "Normally, gloves are only used as thermal protection or against unwanted substances."

    "I''ve never seen one that has such unusual features before..."

    Jacob was the son of a merchant. So, besides having the experience of having alreadye into contact with many types of products, he also had a higher analytical ability than the two at his side.

    "Lothur, I think you should talk about this with my father! Maybe he will be interested."

    Lothur then pondered what he should do. ''Well, if these people like this glove, I will already have gotten my target audience. After that, I''ll just have to find a group willing to produce it for me...''

    After this brief conversation, it was agreed that Lothur would go to Jacob''s house on Sunday evening.

    So, they arrived at one of the Herrmann family''s properties that had been suffering the most from the strange phenomenon that had recently appeared in this area.<sub> </sub>

    That ce was arge warehouse for agricultural materials, where the family''s workers passed before heading to the fields.

    As they walked through the interior of this property, Lothur and Elke soon noticed the many cracked walls, the result of such a phenomenon.

    Natascha began to exin. "The phenomenon that has been hitting us started a week ago. At first, we only felt slight earthquakes every 12 hours."

    "But this was elerating, and on the third day of the phenomenon, in addition to the earthquakes every 3 hours, we began to feel an energy pulse once a day."

    "This energy pulse affects the minds of mortals, making them feel sick and get tired. But on the other hand, these pulses coupled with the tremors create stress points in the structure of the buildings, generating this problem that you can see."

    "Hmm..." Elke nodded as she looked at a crack that could easily fit a grown man''s hand.

    Natascha continued. "The main problem is that the pulses interfere with the formations of our properties, preventing them from protecting the buildings from both tremors, criminals, etc."

    "Since these effects have been appearing at every hour of the day, we are left unprotected many times of the day..."

    "So, that''s it..." Lothur understood why such a phenomenon was so damaging.

    Formations could protect the integrity of structures from earthquakes. But without these items working, this family was bound to pay dearly for such a phenomenon.

    He then said. "Well, we will stay in this ce until this phenomenon appears again. Then, when it does, we will begin our investigation."

    "Then I''ll leave you here. But if you have any questions, just ask someone to call me. I''lle right away." Natascha told before saying goodbye to Lothur and Elke.

    Jacob also said goodbye soon after, following the girl he was in love with.

    "Why did you offer your products to them?" Elke asked right after she and Lothur were alone, "Aren''t you already engaged to my family?"

    Lothurughed upon hearing Elke. "I need consumers, potential partners, potential workers who will produce my items for me. Do you think your family will do all this on their own?"

    "That..."

    "I don''t know who your family will be regarding that, nor what position the families of these two can take me. So, I can''t miss opportunities thate along."

    "In any case, I may eventually have many partners. But no rule says my business will go wrong because I''ve made deals with two, three, in short, ''n'' families, Elke." He took one of her hands.

    "I see... I thought you were disregarding the conversation with my parents." She sighed in relief.

    A light shone in Lothur''s eyes, and he took advantage of the subject to learn more about House Becker. "Speaking of business, what exactly does your family do? I have some basic information, but nothing that can help me understand how we will make our partnership work better."

    "Oh? Are you curious?" She smiled.

    "Sure, in the future, won''t I lead your family?" He spoke into one of her ears, making her blush at the thought of marrying him.

    ''You probably won''t, but maybe our children...'' She thought silently.

    She then answered his question. "Well, my family is involved in mining. So, we also get involved with producing items that use metals."

    "For example, we have a partnership with the Peters City cksmith Guild. Besides, there are several people in that profession in my family. We also have some businesses rted to the production of small ships and everyday items."

    "So your family does that, huh? Does the Frost family also engage in those same markets as your house?" He asked in doubt.

    Even though he was the son-inw of the Frost family, he knew less about his family than Elke, the daughter of apeting power.

    "As far as I know, other than precious metal mining, the Frost family does not engage in any other industries that arepetitors to ours."

    "For example, your wife''s family is involved in producingrge ships and metal bars for building construction, among other things. But this family of yours engages in several other things besides mining. That is why it is one of thergest families in the province."

    ''That''s another reason for so many enemies target them...'' Lothur pondered this in silence, storing that information in his heart.

    As he was doing that, suddenly, the ce began to shake.

    "The phenomenon is starting!" As a result, several workers in that warehouse began to run.

    ...

 Chapter 148 Chasing Tracks

    As the workers in the surrounding area ran back and forth in search of safe shelters, Elke unconsciously grabbed onto one of Lothur''s arms.

    At the same time, this silver-haired man sharpened his gaze, observing the area, trying to understand what was happening.

    ''That looks like a typical earthquake...'' He was thinking about it, but suddenly the energy pulse that Natascha had warned them about came from outside that ce.

    Such a thing was like a shockwave, without the typical characteristic of matter present in the air, having only the spiritualponent.

    In any case, this pulse formed a phenomenon that could be seen by cultivators as well as a shockwave formed from an explosion.

    Elke and Lothur noticed this semi-transparent waveing in the direction of this building from somewhere outside the area.

    Such a thing made the young redhead hugging one of Lothur''s arms tremble, feeling as if her energies had been messed up in a way she could not use her powers.

    However, Lothur did not feel the same, only having seen the phenomenon in front of him and sensing the direction from which it wasing.

    ''It looks like that''sing from the woods on the south side of this city...'' He frowned, feeling that this had been too easy.

    "Elke, are you okay? Did you feel that?" He asked as he looked at the beauty, who already had a few drops of sweat on her forehead given the tension she had just felt.

    She did not seem to hear him, remaining with her eyes closed while she had an expression on her face simr to that of people with headaches. "Elke?" He wrapped his arms around her, unconsciously protecting his woman.

    Meanwhile, he observed the surroundings and saw that many of the mortals previously working there had disappeared from the area, but some animals seemed to have passed out.

    ''That is a great inconvenience. How can they work if every hour something like thises up?'' Lothur wondered when finally Elke stopped feeling sick and looked at him.

    "Lothur?" She said in a slightly tired tone, but no longer feeling the effects of that pulse still going through the area.

    "Are you okay? What did you feel?" He asked.

    "I''m not very well. Just now, I felt like I was going to pass out, but when you hugged me, I felt better." She said, looking into his eyes. "Other than that, I didn''t feel anything else."

    Hearing that, Lothur realized the problem. ''That must be why Natascha''s family hired a mission at the academy. The cultivators in her organization probably couldn''t feel what I just realized because of this pulse...''

    Lothur had already realized that no matter how powerful the people in his surroundings were, he did not feel oppressed by their cultivation pressure.

    Cultivation pressure was something naturally released by cultivators. Those people were like energy reactors with their ''small'' energy fields, which could affect other individuals with weaker energy fields.

    That was something that, without the use of special techniques or unique artifacts, could not be contained.

    Lothur had learned this in his time in the academy library. And since he had never felt this kind of influence before, even when facing Viktoria''s furious mother, he knew that he had an ability that protected him from cultivation pressure!

    Thus his earlier conclusion!

    "Well, I think I''ve found the direction of the problem, so let''s just wait for those effects to end before we continue." Hemented as he observed the site, seeing how the cracks in the walls of the area were increasing in size and quantity.

    Meanwhile, Elke was watching him, noting how he did not seem to feel the least bit bad in this situation. ''Is that because he is stronger and more talented than me?'' She clenched her fists, feeling that she had to try harder not to fall too far behind.

    Lothur then felt the effects of the pulse gradually diminishing, paying attention to this to determine more precisely the location he should pursue.

    ''We will head south of this ce until we reach the forest. After that, we will wait for the next pulse to locate more precisely the ce of interest...'' He nned in silence.

    A minuteter, the effect ceased, and Lothur let Elke out of his embrace. "Shall we go there? I have an idea where we should go."

    "Oh? Really? But..." She looked down at her legs and felt ashamed that she was so weak.

    Lothur realized the problem andughed. "You''re tired, right? No problem, I''ll carry you on my back."

    He lowered himself in front of her, and she watched him in silence, swallowing her saliva in determination before doing what was necessary.

    "Ahhh!" Elke cried in surprise after Lothur stood up, with him using his arms to squeeze her legs while she hugged his neck tightly.

    He looked at her andughed before starting to head toward his destination.

    ...

    After a few minutes, Lothur and Elke finally left the built part of Lewerenz, arriving at a grassy area where some somewhat different beings were working.

    Elke remained embraced with her lover''s neck and said in one of his ears. "Do you see those men with horns on their heads?"

    "Hmm, those must be humanoid beasts, right?" He asked, this being his first time seeing one of those.<sub> </sub>

    Elke shook her head in agreement and said. "Yes, humanoid beasts are strong physically. They say that on average, they are up to 100% physically stronger than humans of the same level."

    "That, of course, depends on the beast race they descended from."

    Humanoid spiritual beasts were a mixture of humans and beasts. That way, there were several types of them since beasts capable of cultivation had countless races with different characteristics.

    So, the characteristics of humanoid spiritual beasts varied greatly!

    Elke continued. "Due to the strength of humanoid beasts descended from physically powerful beasts, many of them can be seen doing vebor in fields around human states."

    While listening to this, Lothur observed a being with two pointed horns on his head working from a distance from them. He had a hairy body, a ne on his neck, and a look of disgust on his human face as he fed a bunch of animals.

    He then asked her. "Isn''t that dangerous? I hear there are a lot of humanoid beasts in Concordia..."

    "No," Elke shook her head. "Most enved humanoid beasts are losers of battles or wars between other races. So, apart from their families, hardly anyone would be bothered by the condition of these individuals."

    Humanoid spiritual beasts had a half-human, half-beast culture. Because of this, they had some traditions, and worldviews, that differed significantly from that of humans.

    For example, a family of humanoid spiritual beasts was much more likely to abandon a ''defective'' child than a human household.

    Obviously, there were those humanoid spiritual beasts who would not do this and humans who would. But this was the exception; as a rule, those beings were much more brutal in their traditions and upbringing than humans.

    Because of this, hardly one of them would feel bad that a fellow humanoid spiritual beast was enved after losing a battle.

    It was only natural that the losing side would be at the mercy of the victor!

    "But if a human group enves innocent humanoid beast, children, or weak individuals, that would be a problem. Those races despise cowardly and weak acts..." She finished.

    "I see..." Lothur stopped watching that individual when they finally reached an area with a higher density of trees.

    "Well, let''s stop further ahead to check out the area."

    "Okay!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Lewerenz...

    After Lothur left the Herrmann family estate with Elke on his back, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of that ce.

    There, a person who was in one of the alleys noticed the arrival of that vehicle and ran to its side.

    "Well?" A young voice came from inside that carriage, where two young men were sitting.

    The person outside the carriage then said. "Young master, those two have set off toward the south. They are being pursued, so if the young master wants, we can follow the hints left by my partner."

    "Oh? Did they go outside the city? To the south?" The young master looked at his subordinate inside that carriage.

    The minion then looked at the red-haired boy and said his opinion. "Young master, there is ake near that area. Maybe those two have gone to have fun..."

    "Well, she said they were a couple, so that''s not strange."

    Harris felt that this would be an excellent opportunity to humiliate the mortal who had dared to threaten him earlier.

    ''He doesn''t know with whom he messed with...'' He clenched his fists in anger. ''Does he think that just because I''m in Lewerenz, I''m one of those bumpkins?''

    ''Humph!''

    ''I''m only here for Miss Herrmann! If it weren''t for that, I would be returning with my master to Reinhard!''

    Reinhard was the secondrgest city in Linn Province, where some of the most substantialpeting powers of those of Peters City were.

    Harry had only found time to visit his family''s old city and see his former love interest because of his master''s recent passage through Peters City.

    Considering this and his arrogance, Harry could not forgive someone like Lothur!

    The fact that this fellow looked so much better than him and still had the beautiful Elke at his side infuriated him even more!

    He then looked out of his carriage and said. "Come on. I want you to show us the way!"

 Chapter 149 Bathing In The Lake

    After almost half a day of walking, Lothur and Elke arrived near ake.

    They had felt the previous phenomena several times during the period they spent reaching that area, more and more feeling the previous phenomena stronger.

    Because of this, they knew they were getting closer to their target and were not worried that it had taken them so long only to walk less than 30 kilometers from their starting point.

    They did not know where they were going, so it was necessary to travel their way at low speed, from time to time stopping to wait for further signs.

    In any case, due to the intensity of thest pulse and earth tremors, Lothur was sure that he and Elke had already traveled more than halfway to the point of interest.

    Since they still had the next day to continue, both were rxed aboutpleting this mission in time. Because of this, they had decided to stop to rest and eat beside theke.

    ...

    "Wow! This ce is beautiful!" Elkemented as she stopped in front of Lothur, observing thergeke ahead from atop a small 20-meter-high peak nearby.

    Lothur agreed as he saw that area. "Let''s get something to eat and then take a bath. What do you think?"

    She smiled and licked her lips. "You want something special after you eat my food, huh?"

    Lothur then used his two hands on her waist and said something in one of Elke''s ears that made her blush and swallowed her saliva.

    "Do you like that?" She asked.

    "Yes, I appreciate women who can do that for me, Elke." He winked at her.

    "Good! You don''t know this yet, but I''m actually an excellent cook! I''m sure you''ll love eating my food." She chuckled, pleased that her parents had prepared her to be a wife capable of handling all aspects of married life with her husband.

    "Then I guess I''ll have two meals soon..." He licked his lips before picking up the redhead in front of him and running with her in his arms.

    As she giggled in happiness along with Lothur, Elke could not help but think about Annaliese, considering she had gained another point ahead of that woman.

    ''Hehe, I doubt someone as talented as her would focus her time on learning cooking! So now I will take care of Lothur''s wishes and make him fall in love with my spice...'' Sheughed, even more, thinking about the double meaning of her thoughts.

    After a few moments, the two sat down on a pic towel that Elke had brought, soon beginning to eat the meal she had prepared.

    "Hmmm, you do cook well!" Lothur said as he savored a sandwich, looking at the food in front of him with interest. ''It''s even tastier than the dishes prepared by Viktoria''s cook!''

    ''This world is amazing. The women are so beautiful, yet all kinds of tasty food can be prepared even by young nobles...''

    "Hehe, that''s nothing," Elke said, satisfied. "My mother made me learn the profession of spiritual cooks for the sake of my future family. Because I''ve been studying it since I was five, I''ve managed to be a 1-star cook even though I''m not very talented."

    "Oh? Then I will thank your motherter." Lothur smiled.

    "Hmmm," She did not bother with that, happy that her efforts had paid off. "But don''t think that''s my limit! Now that I''m improving my strength on ount of our things..." She blushed. "I''ll work my way up to 2-star!"

    "Excellent, Elke! I''ll be happy to test your dishes in the future."

    After getting to know his partner a little more, Lothur and Elke finished eating and took off their clothes, heading toward thatke.

    In the blink of an eye, they were swimming around and smiling, ying with each other.

    ...

    While the happy couple was enjoying themselves in theke in question, four people, two young men and two men who looked to be in their 30s or 40s were watching the area from one of the banks of theke.

    "So, these two truly came to have a romantic date, huh?" Harry clenched his fists as he saw Lothur swimming around Elke.

    "What shall we do, young master?" One of the two men with hair on his face questioned in doubt.

    Before Harry could say anything, hisckey spoke. "Young master, I have an idea..."

    After hearing that fellow''s idea, Harryughed in satisfaction, feeling that it would be great to humiliate Lothur in front of Elke.

    "Hehe, depending on this woman''s personality, I might even have some fun after I get rid of him..." Harry mischievously licked his lips as he watched Elke from afar.

    "Let''s wait for one of them toe out of the water before we act!"

    "OK!"

    ...

    When Lothur was still in the water and Elke was walking to one of the banks of theke, the four individuals appeared near the clothes of the two.

    As soon as they realized that Elke was getting out of the water, they began to smile in anticipation of seeing the young, naked body of that redheaded.

    Unfortunately, Elke only realized that there were people there when half of her body was already out of the water.<sub> </sub>

    "Ahhh!" She shouted in surprise as she raised her arms toward her breasts, covering Lothur''s favorite twins.

    As soon as Elke screamed, Lothur looked in her direction and quickly swam to that area, seeing that four people were lustfully staring at his woman.

    "Did you guys see something?" Lothur asked in a cold tone as he looked at how his partner was facing away from those people with an embarrassed expression on her face.

    "So what if we saw it? We hope to see a lot more!" Harry''s youngckey shouted in a confident tone.

    They were four cultivators, two at the 3rd and two at the 4th Transformation. So, who could stop them from doing whatever they wanted in this ce?

    Lothur was a mortal, and Elke was only at the 2nd Transformation...

    Thus, they would do whatever they wanted, and each one there was confident that they would have a great time this afternoon!

    "So that''s it..." Lothur''s expression became dark as he slowly walked out of theke, ignoring whether his younger brother would be watching.

    Seeing that, the four gazed open-mouthed at Lothur, explicitly focusing on the middle of his legs.

    "How can that be? Is that actually possible?" One of the older ones muttered, shocked by Lothur''s enviable health.

    "This is an abomination! Such a man cannot be allowed to live!" Harry felt humiliated since his little friend could not evenpare to a third of Lothur''s.

    But they were making a big mistake!

    Instead of worrying about their manhoods being held in check by Lothur''s weapon, they should have been worrying about the terrible look on his face.

    "Lothur..." Elke said his name, already knowing what would happen.

    But she was not afraid or wishing to stop her man from getting his hands dirty. To her, those people had hurt her honor, and knowing that Lothur was prepared to deal with them was meaningful to her.

    That meant she was not just a diversion, but someone who mattered to him and whom he would defend from others!

    So all in her heart at the moment were warm feelings towards him.

    "I told you, looking at the sun too much can make you lose your eyes..." Lothur furiously said while already holding his ax in one of his hands.

    "Any man who sees one of my women naked or even dares to think of them deserves death!" He clenched hard the handle of his ax, trembling with rage. "You vermins, get ready!"

    Cross Walk!

    After saying those words, he activated his movement technique, running into the first one in front of him while swinging his ax, ready to ''tear down trees.''

    As he did so, the four individuals frowned, realizing their mistake in thinking Lothur was a mere mortal.

    "Look out!" One of the two older men shouted, trying to save Harry.

    Unfortunately, Lothur had attacked them with everything by surprise, and there was no time for this man to help the red-haired young man.

    Puff.

    At that instant, Lothur''s ax horizontally sliced through the air, hitting the young minion and Harry at the height of their navels.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The two screamed, feeling their bodies split into two parts by a single movement from Lothur.

    And while the two servants were trembling with fear, sweating cold, and turning pale at seeing the intestines of those two falling to the ground, Lothur did not hesitate and used one of his daggers to hit one of them.

    Swooish!

    "Ahhhh!"

    "Cough! Cough!"

    Lothur''s second target was hit in his heart, beginning to cough up blood as he fell backward to the ground.

    "Damn bastard!" The remaining individual screamed in terror, ready to make his final threat.

    He knew he could not fight this young man without hispanions, so his only chance of survival was to use the young redhead''s past!

    "You bastard, you''ll regret this! Do you know who the young master is?" He bellowed while holding the upper body of Harry, who had a lost look on his face, pale as a white sheet of paper.

    "I don''t know. I don''t want to know." Lothurmented before using his ax to cut that man''s neck without giving him a chance to say more.

    ...

 Chapter 150 Shocked!

    After the head of the manst attacked by Lothur fell to the ground, still with a terrified expression on his face, this young man momentarily looked at the three people still breathing.

    They were not well at all. Each had already lost the ability to see due to severe blood loss from their injuries. But they were still having theirst breaths.

    Lothur saw this and wielded his ax, quickly ending their sufferings by butchering them.

    "Lothur..." Elke called his name after a few moments when this young man finally stopped moving his ax, and the blood stopped breaking from the pieces of flesh on the ground.

    "Elke, stay there for a moment. I''ll clean up the mess." Hemented without looking at her, ignoring the blood of his opponents on his body.

    <o>,m But Elke did not obey him and quickly moved closer to where everything had happened, seeing the state of those people who had disrespected her.</o>

    She swallowed her saliva at seeing such a terrible scene and then started to help him.

    "What are you..." He looked at her and started to say something.

    But then she interrupted him. "We are partners, so I won''t let you do everything yourself. Then, of course, I''ll help you clean up the mess."

    "Elke, you don''t have to. I don''t want you to get your hands dirty." Hemented in a low voice.

    "You''re right. I don''t have to. But I want to. I''m your woman, your aplice. So, if you''re getting dirty for me, the least I can do is help you." She said as she set up the fire for those bodies.

    "Sigh..."

    "Fine!" He sighed and quickly collected the spatial rings from his enemies'' bodies before cing them on the fire prepared by Elke.

    After every bit of those bodies began to burn, the two returned to the banks of theke, cleaning themselves up from what they had just done.

    In particr, Elke had helped Lothur clean himself up, massaging the parts of this man''s body that his brutal work had stained.

    "I''m d you stood up for me..." Then, when she had finished cleaning him, Elke hugged Lothur, looking into his eyes with affection in her eyes.

    "You are mine. So, of course, I will defend you." Lothur held her buttocks tightly while her legs were crossed against his back.

    "Oh? Lothur, don''t tell me that''s what I''m thinking?" She blushed as she felt something, surprised that he felt this way after what had just happened.

    "What can I do? I''m a healthy man with a beautiful partner..." He smiled before warmly kissing her lips.

    "Mmmmm~"

    ...

    After a few minutes, Lothur and Elke finished their special ''training'' and left that area to avoid any significant problems.

    They obviously cleared the spot where a fire had destroyed the bodies of those four, having also headed back to the city by an alternate route.

    Lothur had killed the man who wanted to threaten him with Harry''s past, but that did not mean that Elke''spanion had not heard such a thing.

    It was just that it made no difference at that moment. Their death was the best thing to lessen any kind of suspicion or chances of trouble getting closer to him and Elke.

    As such, Lothur had mercilessly killed that person who tried to threaten him.

    However, he was aware that this could bring trouble. So, as he did his best to erase the traces of what had happened earlier and set off back to Lewerenz, he and Elke were already taking the necessary steps to avoid possible investigationsing to them.

    More than half the day had passed, and soon would be dark. So, to avoid being seen near the crime scene, putting the mission aside momentarily and returning to Lewerenz was best.

    Thus, they soon made their way to the north side of such a city, with Lothur having checked the spatial rings of those people.

    In doing so, he discovered that Harry''s ring had a unique mark that tracked such an item.

    Unfortunately for the one who left that, this did not prevent Harry''s belongings from being essed after he died, which allowed Lothur to take everything there.

    In the end, knowing of such a mark because of the system, Lothur threw away that spatial ring and returned to Lewerenz with a magnificent smile on his face.

    ...

    ''I have earned 300,000 bronze coins and several items that can be sold or used in my activities.'' Lothur sat down on a cultivation cushion in the middle of the room that he and Elke had gotten earlier.

    As he smiled with his eyes closed, this young man felt it was time for him to use the most valuable item in Harry''s ring.

    "Six Senses Pill!" He muttered as he looked at the small bottle in his hands.

    [Six Sense Pill] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Purity: 70%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: Enriches the five physical senses of the one who ingests it and also the spiritual sense]]<sub> </sub>

    ''Amazing!''

    "Are you getting ready to take this pill?" Elke sat on the edge of the double bed in that room, wiping her wet red hair with a white towel.

    "I''d better do this now that we''re going to spend the rest of the day in this city." He looked at her with a determined look.

    Lothur had told Elke what he had gotten from those opponents, so she naturally knew the basics of this pill simr to the one that had been auctioned days ago in Peters City.

    "Are you sure? This pill will have more significant effects if you wait until you reach the peak of the 1st stage." Shemented on this information released at that event her family had attended.

    "I know, but it might help me a lot at the moment. And I don''t know if it''s good to wait. It may help the people behind that fellow find me if I don''t consume it." He said in a deep tone.

    "Besides, nobody knows about tomorrow..."

    "I can leave it untilter and regret the missed opportunity in the future... So, I''d better use this advantage now that I have the chance."

    Elke nodded to him as she heard this, starting to get dressed after the shower she had taken upon arriving at this room.

    As she did so, Lothur wasted no time watching his partner''s body and soon put that pill that had two colored lines in the middle of it into his mouth.

    As he did so, he felt it melt on his tongue and as it made its way into his stomach, leaving a cold sensation everywhere it passed.

    Then, it seemed to diffuse with his body, mixing with his intestinal cells and entering his bloodstream.

    Because of this effect, Lothur soon began to feel every part of his body subtly cooling down, while a strange feeling spread even to his soul.

    It was simr to the feeling when a person who had been trapped for countless days in a confined ce, unable to move, would gain more freedom, and his confinement would increase in size, giving him more room to act.

    He felt this way, as if the invisible ''weights'' on his body and soul were decreasing in mass.

    But in this situation, Lothur was not feeling any pain, just feeling refreshed and lighter.

    By this point, Elke had finished dressing and sat in front of Lothur, looking at him with her flushed face, waiting to find out how much better he would get after this.

    ''Damn, even though I''ve been with him for weeks now, I can''t help but be charmed by his appearance!'' She watched his closed eyes move, ignoring herpanion''s naked torso.

    ...

    After almost forty minutes of Elke watching him, Lothur felt the pill''s effects beginning to subside.

    ''I am not feeling any remnants of this pill, even though it is ideal for people stronger than me...'' He thought about this as he analyzed the situation of his body.

    ''Is that a system thing? Or is it what the auctioneer said about this pill not being dangerous for weaker people?''

    ''Sigh! Never mind...'' He opened his eyes and then saw his status appearing.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 9.5] [CON: 14] [DEX: 8.9] [AGI: 10.6]

    [INT: 52.9] [PER: 52.9] [WIL: 49]

    ''What?'' He almost jumped up due to the shock of seeing such massive improvements in some of his attributes.

    That was particrly true for the attribute rted to his talent, which only seemed to evolve through aplishing the system''s mission.

    Apart from the asion when Lothur had absorbed one of the Lost Tree Scrolls, his Intelligence had never increased!

    Because of this, he could not contain his expression of astonishment, alerting the beautiful Elke that something was wrong.

    "Lothur, what happened? Are you feeling unwell?" She left her seat and approached the man sitting in a lotus position.

    Lothur still had a shocked look on his face, with his pupils trembling, but he managed to ease the fear in Elke''s heart. "I''m fine, much better than I had imagined..."

    "I didn''t expect to get so much better after just swallowing that pill!"

    ...

 Chapter 151 Improvements

    "Uh?" Elke was surprised by Lothur''s speech, quickly dropping her worried expression to smile in satisfaction.

    "That''s great, Lothur! I''m happy for you!" She got on her knees in front of him and tightly hugged him.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was still thinking about his attributes, trying to understand the situation.

    ''My Intelligence has increased... I didn''t expect that!''

    ''Maybe that''s because the talent is rted to the senses of body and soul?'' He wondered as he hugged back the beauty in front of him. ''That must be the case...''

    ''But that increase in Intelligence and Perception... Why did they both stop at the same point and not at different values?''

    Lothur naturally paid attention to every improvement he got. So, he knew that different attributes were boosted in different dimensions.

    In that case, this pill taking these two attributes to the same value seemed rather strange to him.

    ''Is that the limit of the 1st stage?'' Such a thought shed through his mind. ''The pill supposedly has better effects on people at the peak of the 1st stage. So, it took those two characteristics of mine to that point?''

    ''Sigh!''

    ''I''ll find that out when I return to Peters City and meet some people at the peak of the 1st stage. Anyway, I got a great breakthrough in my mental attributes and even an improvement in my Constitution!''

    Since the pill could improve the physical senses of the one who consumed it, this naturally affects the quality of one''s body.

    Obviously, the focus of the medicinal effect of the pill was the attribute most rted to the senses, Perception. But it was impossible to change some attributes without affecting others.

    The body and soul of cultivators needed a certain bnce, or they would hardly function.

    Body and soul were an interconnected whole, and when one part advanced too far, the other could notg too far behind, or problems could appear!

    But since Mortal Warriors did not have attributes high enough to generate big problems in a situation like Lothur''s, this guy''s advancement regarding Constitution had not been that significant.

    Anyway, after he thought about those things while being embraced by Elke, Lothur and she separated their bodies, with this man curious to test his new characteristics.

    "Elke, can you step back a bit? I want to test my techniques so we can see if there is any difference." He smiled at her and nned what to do without having to cause too much mess in that room.

    "Hmmm." She nodded to him, climbing into therge double bed in anticipation of what he was about to do.

    Cross Walk!

    Lothur first activated his movement technique, moving back and forth from one side of that room to the other.

    As he did so, he immediately frowned, feeling ashamed that he was doing it in such a lurid manner.

    ''What? Have I always moved this way?'' He paid attention to his clumsy movements, which frankly were not in the least bit efficient.

    Feeling the humiliation of running like that, he immediately focused on correcting his mistakes.

    As he made his moves, going from one side of that room to the other, Elke watched as he seemed to get faster.

    ''Wow!''

    ''Is he advancing in his movement technique?'' She felt excited to see how her lover''s movements were evolving.

    After doing this for only 10 minutes, Lothur saw the system warning in front of him.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    ''What?'' He stopped his movements when he saw this, finding it great how the improvements from technique training hade so easily.

    ''I have increased my Perception and corrected my mistakes. So now I can train more efficiently and raise my gains again?'' He thought about this theory, vibrating with satisfaction, ready to put it into check!

    So, he soon began training his Steel Body. For this, he asked Elke to hit his body with an unsharpened part of his ax, something necessary for him to boost his defenses.

    Elke was not strong enough to hurt him, but even a weak person could harm someone stronger if that individual used a suitable weapon.

    Then, the silver-haired young man realized his mistakes when using that defensive technique. With that, he slowly tried to correct each of those problems, making his Steel Body function more efficiently.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    Due to Elke''s weakness in this training, it had taken Lothur 50 minutes to see the system announcement.

    However, when it appeared to him, he felt his whole body tremble and asked Elke to stop.

    "What? Did I hurt you?" She asked in concern.

    "No, I''m advancing!" He rushed to the bathroom, afraid of dirtying the ce he and Elke would soon be spending the night...

    She looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes, understanding what he was about to go through because of this information. "I will wait for you here..."

    And with that, after leaving each of his garments on the way to the bathroom, Lothur stepped into the tub andy down, feeling the impurities leaving his body.

    "Damn!"<sub> </sub>

    ''I feel like throwing up...'' He felt sick as ck crystals, shrouded in a goo of the same color, left his body through various parts, with much of iting from his navel.

    ...

    15 minutester...

    Finally, Lothur''s body stopped expelling impurities, and his status appeared again in his vision.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 9.7] [CON: 14.6] [DEX: 9.1] [AGI: 10.9]

    [INT: 52.9] [PER: 52.9] [WIL: 49.2]

    ''I have finally reached the 5th Transformation!'' He celebrated upon seeing this as an expression of aplishment formed on his face.

    ''My average physical attribute score is just over 11... Hmmm, that must be the limit from level 4 to 5!''

    ''Considering that I needed 4 points on the average of my physical attributes to get to level 3 and 7 to level 4, my next breakthrough wille when I reach 16!'' He assumed that this was the difference between the 1st stage cultivation levels.

    Then, while still feeling very happy, he did his best to clean the bathtub he was in, opening the window of that ce and throwing various cleaning products into it.

    He then took a bath for about 20 minutes, and after he finished, he stood naked in front of the mirror.

    ''Wow!''

    ''At this rate, it wille the time when no woman will resist me...'' Heughed, seeing how his appearance seemed more refined.

    His muscles looked more inted and defined, to the point that he could now see their fibers when doing some poses. Otherwise, his skin and hair suddenly seemed to have recovered from a period of dehydration, smoother and subtly shining.

    Lothur looked at himself again, noticing his white teeth, and then left that ce to make a girl happy...

    "Elke, what did you think?" He asked her as he stopped in front of the bathroom door.

    "Uh?" Elke suddenly stood up from the bed and looked in Lothur''s direction.

    "What? You... Can you still get any more handsome?" Her mouth almost dropped to the floor as she reached up to touch him.

    "Wow!"

    "Lothur, your skin feels so soft now! And your smell... It''s better than ever!" She hugged him, already feeling her body temperature rising due to the feeling of being with this healthy man.

    Lothur then winked at her. "Do you want to try it?"

    "I thought you were never going to suggest it!" Sheughed before kissing him tenderly.

    "Mmmmm~"

    ...

    Five hourster...

    "Hah... Hah... You''re a beast, Lothur! Hah..." Elkey down next to her lover, feeling every millimeter of her body drenched in sweat while breathing hard.

    "How did you manage to stay like this for so long?" She swallowed her saliva and looked at the man as sweaty as she was beside her.

    Hearing this, Lothur smiled, also in awe of his new performance. "I guess that''s the benefit of advancement... The body gets full of energy, and naturally, certain reactions are longersting."

    "And how they are!" She looked at a particr part of him. "Unfortunately, we can''t go on... I''m too tired... I''m sorry."

    "Elke, don''t worry. You''ve been perfect thest few hours." He turned to her and yed with her damp, red hair.

    "I wish I was stronger..." Shemented as she felt a strange sensation in her being.

    Hearing this, Lothur felt curious and looked at her status.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 2 -> 3]

    [STR: 1.5] [CON: 3.4 -> 4] [DEX: 2.9] [AGI: 3.1]

    ''What''s that?''

    ''She''s about to advance... No''

    "Elke, I think you''re moving up a level..." He wasmenting on this strange thing he saw for the first time, but Elke had already figured it out.

    She tried to run towards the bathroom but felt her legs were not in the ideal state for this...

    "Lothur..." He caught her before she fell, quickly making his way toward the bathroom as ck sweat began to break out from her navel.

    "I''m sorry." Elke blushed and used one of her hands to squeeze Lothur''s nose, embarrassed that such a situation was happening to her.

    ...

 Chapter 152 Happiness

    After experiencing the embarrassing situation of being carried by her lover as impurities began to leave her body, Elke threw Lothur out of the bathroom as shey in the bathtub.

    With that, she put her hands on her face, extremely embarrassed to be in this situation.

    ''Oh, how could this happen when we were in that intimate moment? What if he feels disgusted by me?'' She barely paid attention to her body''s changes, worrying about her priority.

    It was undeniable that this kind of situation was a big problem for attraction. Even long-time couples should maintain a certain amount of privacy and, as far as possible, not let their partner see or feel certain things...

    That was particrly true for people at the beginning of their rtionship, as in the case of Elke and Lothur.

    Because of this, she was naturally worried about what her lover would think of her for seeing her in such a disgusting state and could not enjoy the fact that she was advancing in level.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''In the future, I have to be more careful! Our ''stuff'' might make me stronger, but it might also put me through this situation after we have fun...''

    ''I can''t let that happen again!'' So, Elke thought, determined to train hard, and when she felt she was close to breakthroughs, she would not do that with Lothur until she moved up a level.

    Only then could she ensure that tonight''s mistake would not be repeated!

    "Sigh!"

    ...

    After a few minutes, Elke finished advancing to level 3, improving her external features even more than Lothur had achieved.

    When Elke had finished cleaning herself up and gathering the courage to face Lothur, she timidly left the bathroom to try to get around the awkward situation from earlier.

    But Lothur seemed not the least bothered by this, and as soon as he saw her, he brought her into his arms, happy with the improvements his partner''s body had undergone.

    However, they had not engaged in physical activity since they had both had enough in thest few hours.

    Elke had progressed and recovered from the previous situation. Still, even in these new circumstances, the idea of continuing this did not cross her mind due to her previous situation.

    Not only that, they were starving. So, the couple decided to go out to dinner in one of the local restaurants, so they train their techniquester and then rest for the following day of work.

    ...

    While Lothur and Elke had their evening date, the coachman of Harry''s carriage was beginning to get nervous.

    That young man and his subordinates had left many hours ago and had not given any news of what they were doing.

    That had never happened in the past, so the old coachman was already starting to get bad feelings, sensing that perhaps something terrible had happened to his young master.

    Considering who Harry''s master was, this fellow did not want to take any unnecessary risks by giving that red-haired young man more time to return. Thus, he soon headed towards the Wehrle family estate in Lewerenz, ready to report that young man missing.

    ''I wonder what happened? The young master was just following a mortal and a weak girl...'' This person thought in worry on his way to the Wehrle estate.

    ''Could it be that someone acted against the young master?''

    Gulp!

    ''I hope not, or the master will be furious!''

    ''But maybe I''m worrying too much... Knowing the young master''s personality, he''s probably having fun with that 2nd Transformation girl...'' He sighed, praying that was the situation.

    ...

    The night passed quietly in Lewerenz, and soon the first light rays illuminated this small city in Linn Province.

    Lothur and Elke had not encountered any problems the previous night, having had dinner and a good time before returning to the inn.

    After that, the two trained those techniques they could practice in the room and spent the rest of the night together, sleeping snugly, much to Elke''s happiness.

    With that, as the windows of the Lewerenz houses began to open and the smell of breakfast began to spread, the couple in question broke their kiss amidst their sweaty embrace.

    "Lothur..." Elke took a deep breath, feeling good but also sad since she could not have that kind of daily happiness yet.

    In any case, spending the night with Lothur had been the best experience of her life, and right now, Elke was on cloud nine, with her passion for him reaching a new peak.

    "I think I love you, Lothur..." Shemented as she looked into his eyes, following them as if hers were synchronized to his.

    Upon hearing this, Lothur''s previous smile froze, and he did not know what to say to this beauty in his arms.

    He certainly liked her, but was this love?

    He was not sure.<sub> </sub>

    Because of this, he did not want to give hispany false hope and brought her head to his right shoulder, hugging her tightly in silence.

    Elke realized this and felt a little depressed not to hear simr words from him. But she was determined to be with this man, so this did not make her panic or lose her hopes.

    ''All right, I can wait to hear that another day...'' She rubbed the back of his neck, smelling him. ''As long as you love me one day, all the waiting will be worth it!''

    After this awkward moment, Lothur checked his and Elke''s status.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 1.7] [CON: 4.2] [DEX: 3.1] [AGI: 3.3]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 10] [CON: 15.2] [DEX: 9.4] [AGI: 11.2]

    [INT: 52.9] [PER: 52.9] [WIL: 49.4]

    ''After my improvements in terms of Constitution and mental attributes, it seems that the effects of sex with me on Elke''s body have increased...'' He understood that point, more or lessprehending from where that wasing.

    ''It seems that it is indeed my ability!''

    ''Anyway, I will confirm that when I have my first time with Anna. So, I won''t worry about that for now.'' He thought about that after he finished getting dressed and looked at Elke. "Shall we go? After we get something to eat, I want to return to where we left off on our investigation mission yesterday."

    "Hmm, okay." Elke bitterly smiled at him, trying to ignore the previous situation and get on with theirmitments.

    With that, they soon left the room at the inn they were staying at, quickly stopping by a local coffee shop and heading south to Lewerenz.

    ...

    After more than an hour''s walk, Lothur and Elke walked to the vicinity of theke where the incident with Harry and his group had taken ce.

    Upon arriving there, Lothur and Elke sat down to wait for the phenomenon so they could continue chasing its tracks.

    Hence, they stayed there for almost 40 minutes until finally, the trees in the surrounding area began to sway intensely, while the animals in the vicinity struggled not to fall.

    Lothur noticed this and immediately brought Elke into his arms, protecting his girl from the effects of the energy pulse that woulde soon after.

    But in this situation, contrary to what had happened the day before, Lothur immediately noticed something different.

    Before, he only could feel the direction the pulse wasing from and nothing else. But with his improved Perception, he could now feel as if a pathway to a distant underground area was forming in front of him.

    Also, with each ''shockwave'' of energy sent out by this pulse, he heard a call from someone.

    ''Uh? What is that?'' His eyebrows drew together tightly due to these distinct sensations.

    ''Is it calling us? Is this not a natural phenomenon as I had thought?'' He noticed such a thing slowly diminishing, bing anxious to find out what it was all about.

    Then, the moment the effects of the phenomenon passed, Lothur immediately took one of Elke''s hands and prepared to run in that direction of the path he felt.

    "Lothur?" She realized that there was something different about this young man.

    "I think I just found where thates from, Elke."

    p "Oh?" She understood his satisfaction and soon began to run side by side with her man, curious to find out what the situation was behind this phenomenon affecting Lewerenz.</anda>

    ...

    While the two were doing that, not far from them, near thatke, a blonde woman was leaning on a tree trunk, with a pained expression on her face.

    ''What was that?'' She asked herself in surprise, not expecting that such a strange natural phenomenon would make her feel so bad when she could almost hit her opponent.

    In any case, the pulses from a few moments ago were already gone, and this blonde dressed in a women''sbat outfit did not take long to regain her condition.

    ''Never mind... You''re practically in my grasp now, Lothur!'' Elise mischievously smiled, already imagining how to torture that bastard.

 Chapter 153 Tragedy

    After some time, Lothur and Elke arrived in front of what seemed to be only one of the shores of theke, wherend vegetation was mixed with some algae.

    There were a few spots without vegetation where points of dirt could be seen, looking like the typical scenario one would find in any ce simr to this.

    But Lothur knew this ce was not so ordinary, and something else was undoubtedly there.

    "What are you looking for?" Elke asked as she saw how her partner looked at the ground.

    "I think there is some secret entrance here..." Hemented to her, still looking at the ground as if he was trying to uncover a mirage in front of him.

    Elke opened her mouth in surprise and started to help her man.

    After a few moments, she pointed in the direction of something glowing. "What do you think of that? I can see something metallic there."

    "Oh?" Lothur looked in that direction from a different angle than Elke, through which he could not see that glow. But with her hint, he focused his senses on that small area she indicated and noticed something.

    "That doesn''t lookmon!" He ran over there and tried to rummage through the area, quickly finding the lock on what appeared to be a hatch.

    "That..." Elke saw arge circr lid below the dirt where Lothur had rummaged with his ax.

    After a moment, he used his strength to slowly open that thing that, despite its fragile appearance, was heavy in a way he could not even understand.

    Fortunately, his strength was no longer so insignificant, and after almost two full minutes, he fully opened that entrance.

    "Hah... Hah... That''s truly heavy!"

    Seeing Lothur''s situation, Elke rushed to his side and supported her man by giving one of her arms for him to lean on. At the same time. She took a water bottle from her spatial ring and helped him drink.

    Glub! Glub! Glub!

    "Ahh, thanks, Elke." He said, making her smile at him.

    After that situation, he entered through that hatch before her, finding adder leading down a tunnel that should be at least a hundred meters long.

    He discovered this after dropping a stone, using some of his knowledge from his former life to determine such a thing.

    After dropping a small device with a formation that produced light in that same ce, he realized there was nothing of concern on the way down and began to descend.

    "Come on, Elke. It''s safe to go down thisdder."

    Then, Elke started down thedder along with Lothur, taking some time until they reached the lowest point in that area.

    When they stopped descending, Lothur used a formation to lighten the darkness of the surroundings, revealing arge rectangr area. In that ce, there was a single corridor that stretched tens of meters and seemed to have many roots in its walls.

    "That..."

    "What is this ce?" Elke unconsciously asked, surprised to find such an area in the middle of nowhere.

    "Maybe it''s an old outpost..." Lothur tried to guess, noting that besides this being a rtively hidden ce, the quality of this construction was not to be ignored.

    There were several symbols on the surroundings that he did not understand, while drawings that seemed to portray a battle were on the ceramics on the walls.

    "That must be written in the Ancestral Language." Elke could not understand what was written there either since, like Lothur, she was only a Sector-1 student.

    "Well, let''s go ahead and see what''s in here." He took one of her hands and used his free hand to hold his ax before walking ahead of her down that tunnel.

    As he did so, Lothur moved forward carefully, looking at the surroundings for any suspicious signs or traps.

    But other than the roots in the tunnel walls, there were no traps there, so they soon arrived in another chamber.

    In this ce in question, there was arge circle with various symbols in the middle of that area, and on the opposite side of the tunnel that Lothur and Elke went through was a human statue.

    This statue seemed to be looking toward the circle with symbols on the floor, while a small ck crystal on its forehead seemed to shake gently.

    "What is that?" Elke wondered when suddenly sounds of footsteps came from the tunnel they had just passed.

    Hearing this, Lothur turned to see who it was, quicklying across a face he knew well.

    "You? What are you doing here?" He asked in an irritated tone as he looked into Elise''s eyes and checked her status.

    ? Unfortunately, just as in the past, Lothur could not see anything, indicating to him that she was just a mortal.

    "Scumbag, I want to see where you''re going to run off to now!" Elise smiled as she saw Lothur''s annoyed face, noting that there was no escape route for him to run from her.

    With that, she slowly walked toward him and Elke, as a dark red-ded sword appeared in her hands.

    "You don''t know how annoying it was to put up with you for all these months, worm!"

    "The worst, when you kissed me, it was the worst experience I''ve ever had in my life!" She made a disgusted expression, shocking Elke with this information.<sub> </sub>

    "Lothur... Who is that? What is she talking about?" Elke asked in an unsure tone, sensing that something was not right.

    "That''s one of Viktoria''s servants... Anyway, the story is long, but from what she just said, she is the person who poisoned me a few days ago when I was having dinner with the person who posed as my wife." He said as he cautiously looked at Elise.

    Lothur then clenched his fists in anger. ''I knew it was you!''

    ''A pity Viktoria didn''t allow me to take the proof that day. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be here anymore...''

    He then said to Elise. "You are truly bold... Aren''t you afraid of what will happen to you when the Frost family finds out about this?"

    "Humph!"

    "Because of you, scumbag, I''ll have to run away and hide." She angrily said but thenughed. "In any case, even if I am hunted, it will be worth it if I can eliminate you!"

    "That..." Elke felt fear upon hearing that blonde''s tone.

    She then built up the courage and said. "You''d better leave us alone! I am the young miss of the Becker family, and if anything happens to Lothur, not only House Frost will be after you!"

    "Oh?" Eliseughed upon hearing that. "Do you think I don''t know who you are? You think I didn''te prepared?"

    Gulp!

    As Elke swallowed her saliva in fear, Lothur said to her. "Elke, stand back a little. I don''t know how strong she can be, so it might be risky for you to stand too close to me."

    "But..."

    Lothur did not let her question him. "If she is stronger than me, I will try to hold her off and create a chance for you to escape."

    Gulp!

    "Lothur..." Tears appeared in this young redhead''s eyes, and her little heart began to move in her chest frantically.

    But Elise was not interested in the drama of those two. So, she ran at Lothur, intending to paralyze him before dealing with Elke and then torturing him. "Worm, your time hase!"

    Jumping toward him, she made a diagonal motion with her sword, aiming for his arms with the intention of shing them mercilessly.

    However, Lothur was not much weaker than her, and as soon as he realized what she was doing, he activated his techniques, making a counterattack with his ax.

    ng!

    A second after the fight started, the des of the two''s weapons shed, letting sparks fall into the air as the two stopped their movements.

    "What?" Elise cried out in surprise as she realized that Lothur had a strength almost equal to hers. ''How can that be? Isn''t he just a mortal? Shouldn''t he have a seal preventing him from cultivating?'' She wondered as her eyes opened wide.

    As for Lothur, he took several steps back, feeling his hands shaking given the weight of Elise''s attack. ''This bitch''s attack power surelyes from attributesparable to level 5 people!''

    ''She was hiding the whole time!''

    The two then looked at each other momentarily, knowing what was on each other''s minds. So, no words were needed, and soon the two set off against each other, intending to fight to achieve their goals.

    Elise still wanted to defeat Lothur and felt confident about it since she was a bit stronger than him. As for this silver-haired man, he wanted to tire out his opponent to have a chance of Elke taking him from this ce while he still had a remnant of life.

    He could already sense that she was more substantial than him, so he had no hope of defeating her. At most, he could achieve a draw.

    That would be enough for him anyway, and soon he exchanged a few dozen blows with that woman, shocking Elise even more. At the same time, Elke watched this all from the sidelines, frozen with fear at what might happen to him.

    "Lothur..." She muttered in a low voice, feeling terrible.

    But her voice was not low enough to be unnoticed.

    When Elise was distracted from Lothur, she momentarily looked at Elke and thought of something. ''This bastard is managing to defend himself very well.''

    ''At this rate, I won''t be able to paralyze him!''

    ''However, he has a big weak spot in this ce!'' She jumped back, moving away from the range of Lothur''s weapon.

    At that instant, she focused on Elke and said, wickedly smiling. "First, I''m going to kill your little girlfriend in front of you, worm!"

    Hearing this, Lothur tried to run in front of Elke, but unfortunately, his opponent was faster than him.

    "ELISE, NO!" He shouted in desperation as he saw the blondeing in front of Elke.

    Puff!

    "Lothur..." Elke felt something icy through her left chest amidst the terrifying cold approaching her.

 Chapter 154 Elkes Death?

    The moment Elise''s sword went through Elke''s body, Lothur saw it all from the left side while feeling a pain in his own heart.

    "ELKE!" He shouted in desperation, seeing the evil smile on Elise''s face and the terrified look on his girl''s face.

    "This is what happens when you associate with vermin..." Elise momentarily held her sword through Elke''s body. "You end up being eliminated along with them!"

    After saying her words, Elise drew back her sword, knocking Elke''s body off bnce as blood began to stain the young redhead''s white clothes.

    At the same time, a handful of blood began to drip from Elke''s mouth as she fell backward onto the ground, gradually losing the light in her eyes, feeling an unparalleled cold.

    ''Lothur? Where are you?'' She asked herself in her mind, terrified like never before in her life.

    At that moment, before she fell to the ground, Lothur appeared behind her and caught her in his arms, seeing his girl losing her life.

    "Elke?" He said in a sorrowful tone, with the worst feeling of all arising in his being, as his heart jumped desperately in his chest. "Elke!"

    But as he called out to her, his girl did not answer him once, while her vital signs began to decrease at an rming rate, driving this young man mad.

    "No! That can''t be happening!" He shouted with all his might, ignoring Elise, who was watching this in delight.

    "You deserve it, scumbag!"

    While ignoring Elise''s voice, Lothur despaired. ''No, I can''t lose her!''

    ''Our story is just beginning!'' He shouted in his mind, remembering what had happened that morning. ''I could not even say I love her! No!''

    Tears dripped from Lothur''s eyes, and he lost all the strength of his being as he desperately screamed.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

    Lub dub!

    Suddenly, Lothur''s heart beats in a different rhythm, and the tearsing out of his eyes became dark red as he screamed non-stop.

    His silver pupils then turnedpletely red, with a strange pattern forming around his eyes, following the same color as the blood flowing from those two ces.

    This pattern grew until a pentagram appeared in the middle of his forehead, beginning to rotate counterclockwise.

    [Requisite achieved, awakening bloodline...]

    A warning from the system appeared in front of Lothur, as he felt anger and hatred growing in his heart while still holding Elke''s body.

    But then, he finally took his eyes off his girl and looked at Elise, shaking uncontrobly while still bawling in despair.

    As he did so, he let Elke''s body rest on his chest and unconsciously ''grabbed'' the air with his two hands, as if he was trying to scratch something.

    As he did so, reddish energy, simr to a fine mist, began to leave Lothur''s fingers, spreading to the surroundings.

    [Life Devourer awakened!]

    Seeing that, Elise felt a negative feeling in her heart, as if she had just run into her nemesis.

    Gulp!

    ''What''s that?'' She looked cautiously at Lothur and tried to take a few steps back.

    Unfortunately for her, her body seemed weak at the moment, and before she could react, the red mist reached her.

    When Elise felt the contact of her skin with that thing, she uncontrobly convulsed, feeling as if a parasite had begun to devour her vitality.

    ''What? How, that... It... Is it consuming my vitality?'' She could barely think about it as non-vital parts of her body began to wither away at a rate visible to the naked eye.

    But things did not stop there. As Elise felt her energy disappearing and began to bawl even more than Lothur, her level began to drop, going from 5th Transformation to 1st in just 20 seconds.

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    p Lothur looked coldly at that woman who now looked more like a mummy than a beautiful woman, still with his hands ''grabbing'' the air.</anda>

    However, amid this moment that he did not understand what was happening, he unconsciously moved one of his hands to hold Elke''s body so it would not fall.

    He touched right on top of her left breast, feeling her blood and wound with one of his fingers.

    "Elke..." Feeling that, Lothur''s hatred subsided, giving way to profound sadness in his being that made him fall to his knees on the ground.

    "ELLLLLKKE!" He squeezed her in his arms as Elise''s already dead body slumped to the ground, so dry that she barely looked like anything more than a skeleton.

    As Lothur did this, the previous fog slowly returned to his hands, and the pattern around his eyes and forehead disappeared.<sub> </sub>

    His pupils returned to their original color, and the blood in his eyes dried up, leaving only marks on his face amid the tears that still flowed from there.

    "Elke..." He could barely say her name right, feeling the mucus in his mouth hindering his speech amidst his sobs of sadness.

    "Elke, forgive me..." He then spent the next 15 minutes copiously crying, holding his girl''s body in his arms, not knowing what to do in this situation.

    Now that everything had happened, Lothur felt that he loved the girl in his arms, that his happiness with her could not be reced by anything in the world. Because of this, he felt so much pain as if the blow received by Elke had hit him too, destroying his little heart.

    "Elke... I wasn''t enough for you. I couldn''t protect you!"

    "Elke, I love you too, Elke!" He kissed her blood-smeared lips, taking his right hand off her left breast to hold her delicate little face. "If there is a second chance, I will give everything to you and make you happy!"

    When he made this move, Lothur did not see that the cut at the height of her heart was no longer there, suddenly surprised by Elke''s lips'' movement.

    As he felt a tongue invading his lips, Lothur opened his eyes and moved a little away from Elke, apprehensively looking at her.

    "Cough! Cough!" She slowly opened her eyes and coughed twice, drawing out the rest of the blood in her throat.

    "Elke?" A smile appeared on Lothur''s sorrowful and deste face, with a bit of hope arising in his heart.

    "Elke, forgive me! I have failed you!" He hugged her once more as he again felt the warmth circting through her body, along with the beating of his girl''s heart.

    "Elke!"

    "Lothur..." The young red-haired girl looked into his eyes with affection in hers, feeling the warmth of his body pushing away the previous cold.

    Then, she said in a fragile tone, "I hope you don''t forget your words..."

    "Elke..." He looked at her full of passion, feeling a tremendous relief in his being. "Elke, I never thought I would hear your voice again! I''m d you''re all right, dear!"

    "Hmm, I did not think I would see you again either, Lothur... You do not know how scared I was." She said amid her feebleness.

    But then Elke smiled at him. "But can you say that again? Please..."

    "Yes! Yes!"

    "Elke, I love you! You will be mine, and I will do everything to make you happy!" He said aloud while his voice was already getting hoarse from his many cries of desperation.

    "Perfect!" Elke tried to move but felt too weak to do so. "I love you too, Lothur. Now kiss me, okay?"

    "Yes." He said before moving to her cherry lips.

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    After passionately kissing Elke''s mouth for almost a full minute, Lothur parted his lips from hers as he remembered that she had been seriously wounded.

    His rational side came back into operation at this instant, and he immediately began to check his girl''s physical condition.

    ''The cut on her chest is gone?'' He frowned, not understanding how that had happened.

    He then looked at her status to understand if anything relevant had changed.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3 (weakened)]

    [STR: 0.17] [CON: 0.42] [DEX: 0.31] [AGI: 0.33]

    Upon seeing this, Lothur immediately understood that the fact that Elke had survived was a miracle and that she was in a highly weakened state right now.

    She had lost a lot of blood, so when thinking about it, Lothur long understood that it was expected that she would need to go through a gradual recovery to return to normal.

    Anyway, Lothur continued to use his basic knowledge to ascertain his girl''s body, doing so for almost 10 minutes while sheughed, feeling tickles in her body.

    "Lothur, what are you doing? You look so worried..." She gently held one of his hands. "Don''t I already look fine?"

    He seriously looked at her and said. "No, you''re not. But don''t worry, I will care for you and make you recover!"

    "First, drink this potion to get some of your energy back." He brought a ss bottle with a green liquid inside it close to Elke''s mouth.

    "As for the rest, I''ll see what to do when we return."

    ...

 Chapter 155 Continuing The Mission

    After drinking the recovery potion Lothur had given her, Elke felt a little less tired, but she could still barely move.

    Her face was pale, and her lips were dry. Seeing this, Lothur figured that the blood loss was probably imposing a state of dehydration and malnutrition on his girl.

    So, he took a bottle of water from his spatial ring and tried to help her drink a little bit.

    "Elke, I don''t know if you can eat now, but I think it would be good if you did..." He was about to suggest it, but she soon refused to do so.

    "No, I don''t feel the mood or condition to do that right now."

    "But..." He hesitated but decided it might be better to hear a doctor''s opinion first. "All right, let''s go back to that city and work it out."

    "No!" She eximed in her weakened tone. "I''m not feeling so bad. So, since we''re already here, let''s finish this mission, Lothur."

    "Why? Do you want to risk your life, Elke?" He thoughtfully looked at the beauty in his arms.

    She looked into his eyes and answered. "Aside from my physical fatigue, I feel that I am not at risk. It''s not as bad as you make it sound... So, let''s continue. I feel like this ce has something that will help you a lot."

    "What are you talking about?" He frowned.

    "After I awakened from my previous state, I''ve been feeling a strange but positive feelinging from underneath this circle in the middle of this chamber."

    "I think this is behind the phenomenon we were investigating. Not only that, I think this could be beneficial for you..." She took a hasty breath after saying so many words.

    ''Strange feeling? I feel absolutely nothing.'' He looked at the circle inscribed on the floor not far from him and Elke.

    ''Is she saying that to make me finish the mission? Or maybe there truly is something there? Maybe the Physique or her Bloodline has awakened?''

    Every living being, even mortals unable to cultivate, had a Physique and a Bloodline. And since there were infinitely many of them, with ridiculous conditions to awaken them, it was not impossible for Elke to achieve an awakening after such a traumatic experience.

    But without in-depth knowledge of the subject, Lothur could not tell for sure what his girl''s situation was. All he could do was trust his instincts.

    ''I''ll see about thatter. In any case, I don''t think there is any immediate danger to her life just considering her current condition.'' He thought about Elke''s attributes and this woman''s vital signs.

    With that, he ced his partner on the ground and tried improvising something to carry herfortably and safely.

    "What are you doing?" She asked as she turned to him.

    "You can''t walk, so I am improvising an outfit that can hold your body facing me while I carry you without needing my hands to be upied." Hemented as he used his tailoring skills to transform the outfit he had bought with Annaliese.

    "That outfit... Are you changing thIS outfit? Isn''t it better to use something ordinary?"

    "No, using quality materials will increase safety for you."

    She took her eyes off him and felt terrible. "I''m sorry about that. I didn''t want you to deal with such a big burden..."

    "Hey!" He shouted at her as he approached his girl. "Don''t say that. You are important to me, and none of thispares to our time together. OK?"

    "OK." Tears dripped from her eyes as they stood there for another 10 minutes or so.

    That time was long enough for Lothur to finish preparing the special outfit to hold Elke''s body.

    After his advancement in mental attributes, producing 1-star tailor items had be much more essible. That''s why he could finish his work so quickly, without mentally exhausting himself.

    But he was pretty tired from his brief battle with Elise, so as he finished giving his girl her first care, he drank an Iron-grade recovery potion.

    ''I wonder how much better I will get when I recover from this battle?'' He felt pain as he looked at Elise''s dried corpse.

    After that, he put the special clothing on Elke before connecting that to the part that was on his own body.

    That way, soon Elke was face to face with Lothur, with her legs crossed around his back, with him momentarily holding her buttocks and back.

    Sheughed and said. "When we get to Lewerenzter, people willugh at you carrying me around like I''m a baby..."

    "They canugh all they want. It doesn''t bother me one bit." He massaged her back. "Anyway, I''ll get that damned woman''s belongings. I think the phenomenon will be back soon."

    She nodded at him and looked over her left shoulder to where Elise''s bodyy. ''You deserved that!''

    ''It''s just a shame I didn''t have the strength to protect myself or do anything else... Otherwise, I would have butchered you for trying to end my rtionship with Lothur!''

    Meanwhile, Lothur had already gotten his hands on that woman''s spatial ring, sessfully having gotten another 100,000 bronze coins and several valuable items for sale or future use.

    However, the most important thing he found were two letters that appeared to have been written earlier today. In them was written that Elise ''had'' sessfully eliminated him, the target of someone named Carl Stauss.

    Lothur also discovered that one of the letters was to Kai Berger, with an address in the Mouse Company building.<sub> </sub>

    ''Mouse Company, huh? So it''s you again?'' He clenched one of his hands in hatred, feeling that there was no way he and these enemies could continue living in the same world.

    Either he destroyed them, or they would do this to him!

    There was no forgiveness for people who had hurt one of his own, and Lothur naturally would not let that go, no matter what happened from now on!

    ''You have threatened my life more than once, but this is thest straw! As soon as I get more power, I will eliminate everyone!''

    As he thought about this, the system suddenly showed his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 10] [CON: 15.2] [DEX: 9.4] [AGI: 11.2]

    [INT: 52.9] [PER: 52.9] [WIL: 49.4]

    [EVF: 2.9]

    ''Uh?'' He was taken aback by the system, losing his previous line of thought.

    ''My Bloodline... I have awakened my Bloodline?'' He opened his eyes in surprise since he had not paid much attention to the system earlier.

    [Disy Bloodline information?]

    A system message box appeared before him, but Lothur managed to contain his curiosity and turned down such a thing.

    ''No.''

    ''Now is not the time for me to think about that... I will do such a thing when I leave this ce and have some peace of mind.'' He sighed as Elke watched him.

    On the other hand, he wondered what this new EVF attribute was.

    ''What is EVF?'' He asked the system.

    [EVF: External Vital Force is the form of life-rted energy not connected to the host''s life force. It can be used in conjunction with the host''s Bloodline.]

    ''Oh? Life force, huh? Is that why Elke survived?'' He pondered on such a thing, the only variable in his opinion that could exin Elke''s sudden recovery from her mortal injury.

    But as he thought more about it, even about how to use such a thing, the whole ce began to shake, and the couple realized this was the sign they had been waiting for.

    Lothur hugged Elke''s face, protecting her from the effects of whatever was in this ce.

    Meanwhile, the woman looked at the circle on the floor, which was glowing in a golden color at this instant.

    On the other hand, Lothur saw the statue as the small ck crystal on its forehead seemed to sh at him.

    And then...

    A powerful pulse of energy broke from that thing as the said statue suddenly came to life and jumped toward one end of the circle with patterns glowing in gold on the ground.

    "What?" Lothur wanted to back away, but Elke would not let him.

    "No, let''s wait!" She said in her weakened voice, looking at those patterns on the ground with a positive feeling in her heart.

    And as he looked doubtfully at Elke, the statue spoke.

    "999,991,541 interactions, there are 8,459 left until the soul fragment dissipates."

    "Doubling speed of emergency signals to alert potential..." As the statue was about to say this, it suddenly emitted a pulse in Lothur and Elke''s direction and changed her speech. "Candidates found."

    The instant the statue said this, Lothur and Elke floated into the air, heading for the circle with inscriptions glowing on the ground. It was as if gravity had momentarily stopped working on them!

    And as Lothur frowned, the ground below them opened up, revealing a hole over a highly well-lit area.

    ...

 Chapter 156 Soul Fragment

    After the previous circle opened to reveal a lighted hole, Lothur and Elke floated down, falling at a controlled speed.

    In this way, as they both observed the surroundings and narrowed their eyes due to the intense illumination of the area, they soon reached the lowest point there.

    At such a ce, after getting used to the brightness, they found themselves in an area that seemed to be covered with clouds, white, where they could not see the limits.

    It was as if they had reached infinity!

    "What is this ce?" Elke murmured as she felt one of Lothur''s hands holding her back.

    Just as Lothur was about to say something to her, a semi-transparent figure appeared in front of them from below the clouds.

    Upon seeing the figure of an old man with long hair and beard, both white, Lothur was surprised and remained silent as such a being began to speak. "It seems that young people will have love problems at any age, eh? Tell me, did a rival in love do this?"

    Elke looked over her right shoulder and saw that figure. "No. Just amon enemy who tried to separate us."

    "Oh?" The elder closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. "You are fortunate, little girl. Your boyfriend uniquely saved your life."

    Lothur ignored that and asked. "Who are you? What is this ce?"

    "Sigh... Let''s say that I am a piece of myself. Someone who can no longer remember his name but has one wish before disappearing from this world." The figure turned and sighed, looking at the ''infinity'' of that space.

    "As for this ce, you will find that out in a few minutes, so don''t rush. In any case, don''t look so fearful, kid. I''m only interested in giving you a mission."

    "A mission?" Elke asked, interested because of the positive feeling she felt in her being. "What''s that about?"

    The figure then looked back. "Answer me first. What year and era are we currently in?"

    Elke replied. "490, of the era known as The Great Silence."

    "The Great Silence? What about the era of the Great Regent?"

    "That was 4,500 years ago." So, she answered about this fact, which Lothur had not yet paid attention to.

    He was more concerned with learning things from the present, so naturally, he was in the dark about the information from the past.

    "4.5 thousand years, huh? A long time has passed... It was like a blink of an eye for me." He said in a wistful tone.

    "But then?" Lothur insisted, curious what this was all about.

    The old human figure sighed and exined. "Well, during the era of the Great Regent, I was a demon hunter from the Grapia Kingdom. At that time, I met a young woman, who tardily became my wife and gave birth to my children."

    "Unfortunately, thest time I saw them, they were just children, younger than you. When I said goodbye to them, many things happened, a great war broke out, and by the time I noticed myself, 200 years had passed."

    "At the time, I told myself, ''I am doing this for the greater good, protecting my kingdom and my family.'' But the truth was that I didn''t dare to return after so long..."

    "I feared finding my wife with another man or being hated by my children... Sigh! I was a coward even though I had be a Peak Transcendent before my death." He shook his head, disappointed with himself.

    ''Grapia Kingdom? That must be an ancient state that no longer exists...'' Lothur continued listening to the story of that soul fragment, making his mental notes about this unusual encounter.

    "That is a shame..." Elkemented upon hearing those words.

    He then looked at them and said. "I have made many mistakes in my life. However, that was the greatest regret I had. Not knowing what happened to my family or even caring for them has always tormented me, even in my death."

    "That''s why I used a forbidden technique to burn my vitality and soul power to leave a soul fragment in my final moments."

    Soul fragments could be produced from special techniques and with a pre-death wish from experts above level 18, the former power level of this figure.

    Once a soul fragment was formed, thatst mark could continue in the world for a few times longer than its vitality could give the person in life. That depended on several conditions, among them how the soul fragment would spend that time.

    If it stayed the whole time in the current form that such a figure was in, then its time could be shorter. But on the other hand, if it stayed in standby mode, it couldst longer.

    Lothur and Elke did not know much about these details, but both knew what it meant to be a soul fragment.<sub> </sub>

    The figure continued. "I created this soul fragment to leave a mission for people capable of fulfilling myst wish."

    "What exactly is yourst wish?" Lothur asked.

    The old figure closed his eyes and exined. "I wish for someone of trust and ability to ept a mission to discover what happened to my family and find out my descendants. I failed with them in life, so in death, I want to leave them my inheritance..."

    "If they still exist, of course." He sighed. "That is all I can do for them."

    "Oh? So, our mission would just be to make a delivery?" Elke naively asked.

    "That''s the main part." He negatively shook his head. "But to fulfill the mission, if my family still exists, of course, the one who epts it must ensure that my descendants can use my inheritance."

    Lothur closed his eyes and smiled. "In other words, we must protect them if that is what it takes."

    "Hmm, that''s right!" Heughed. "By epting this mission, you will have to help it at least until that is possible or until five years after your encounter with my descendants."

    "What if they have disappeared into the river of time?" Lothur looked with interest at that figure.

    The semi-transparent old man focused his eyes on Lothur''s and sincerely said. "As long as there is no doubt about the end of my family, all my possessions will be left to the one who epts the mission. "

    "Oh? But I must assume there is a payment for all this, right?" Lothur smiled.

    "Of course. I will give two Soul Bones to whoever epts this!"

    The two opened their mouths upon hearing that.

    "Before I died, I had seven Soul Bones. So, you can choose two of them. However, the rest are part of my inheritance to my family."

    He then said in an advisory tone. "Whoever epts such a mission will have to make a deal with me that will be approved by heaven. So, don''t even think about the other bones or the rest of my inheritance. On the other hand, you will receive such bones immediately, but if you don''t fulfill the mission in 500 years, you can wait for divine punishment."

    ''Two Soul Bones?'' Lothur''s eyes sparkled as Elke looked at him with a happy smile.

    "Well then, I am interested in this mission," Lothur said in animation.

    "Hmmm, I thought that would be the case..." The figure showed one of its hands to Lothur as if calling him to fight. "But I will not give you that mission so easily. First, you must show me you have some aptitude forpleting it."

    "Why? Aren''t you already running out of time?" Elke asked in doubt.

    The figure nodded in agreement. "True, but if your little boyfriend doesn''t have the slightest aptitude, like the previous people who havee here, he will only die in vain."

    "If he tries to solve the mission without aptitude, he will die while visiting the far north of Concordia, where my family must be. If he doesn''t solve it in 500 years, he will be struck with a lightning punishment."

    "In either case, I lose my two Soul Bones and inheritance. And I still have some time to attract more candidates..." He counted in his mind the time he had.

    "Have other peoplee to this ce?" She opened her eyes in surprise.

    "Indeed. Thest time was hundreds of years ago. But that person failed, and I had to go into a state of hibernation for the period. Only recently have I awakened again."

    ''So that''s why this phenomenon is happening...'' Elke understood the situation. ''He is trying to attract candidates for his mission!''

    Lothur then asked. "Far north? Is your family in that area? But isn''t that a problematic region for humans?"

    The figure smiled as he remembered the past. "It is problematic, but what can I do if I fall in love with a young girl from the Ancestral Folks? So, naturally, my family was established in that area, near the Ancestral Region."

    ''So his children and descendants are half-breeds...'' Lothur ponderated about this, already realizing the reason for that figure not to hand over this mission to the first one who came along. ''The Ancestral Folks are extremely talented, so their half-breed won''t be weak.''

    ''Hence the talent requirement. That family is certainly in a dangerous ce for people below the 3rd stage!''

    "Well, I understand your concern, but I think your wait ends here..." Lothur said a momentter, feeling ready to take this man''s test.

    ...

 Chapter 157 Worrying News

    "Oh? So you are confident, young man?" The old figure looked with interest at Lothur.

    He hoped that he would be able to find someone talented as soon as possible since, if that did not happen, he would eventually have to ept any individual who came along. After all, nothing would be left to grant hisst wish once he was gone.

    "Hmm, what do I need to do?" Lothur got straight to the point as Elke watched the situation with curiosity in her eyes.

    "First, let me test your talent for cultivation..." The semi-transparent figure took one of Lothur''s hands and used his extraordinary abilities on this young man.

    When alive, he was a Divine Soul Transcendent.

    Precisely because this level was the end of soul development for cultivators, this man had a strong soul sense, able to even test the talent of others weaker than himself without the need for artifacts.

    Since soul fragments retained the main characteristics of their creator''s soul, he could naturally perform this test with Lothur at the moment.

    "Uh? No soul power?" The semi-transparent being opened his eyes in surprise, finding it unexpected that Lothur had a soul as strong as a mortal''s. "Curious, you don''t cultivate your soul, but I sensed your techniques before you came here, but they certainly need a lot of energy to be active..."

    "Oh? That''s..." He looked into Lothur''s eyes and said. "Body cultivation, huh? It seems that the innate ability of your Physique is giving you all this energy..."

    This soul fragment could not understand what Lothur''s Physique enabled this young man to do. But he realized that such a thing had quite a bit of energy, which seemed to be behind the silver-haired young man''s techniques he used to fight Elise.

    "That''s interesting... But there seems to be something wrong with your soul." His eyes narrowed at that.

    "Something wrong?" Elke asked in concern, while Lothur was shocked at the amount of information this being could see through him.

    ''People at the Divine Soul can do that?'' He wondered as he heard the aged voice of that soul fragment.

    ''Hmmm, I''m not sure what the situation is, but to put it simply, it seems iplete... He definitely won''t be able to use his soul without solving this problem."

    "That''s too bad. Without soul cultivation, you won''t be able to use energy external to your body to fight, or even be a 2-star spiritual professional."

    "Lothur..." Elke worriedly looked at him.

    "Don''t worry, Elke. I can reach peak even using only my body." He said to her as he kissed one of his girl''s cheeks.

    The soul fragment looked with interest at this confident fellow and realized that his talent was not smallpared to others who had passed here in the past.

    "Your talent is enough for you to reach the 3rd stage, so as long as you put in the effort, it won''t be impossible to reach that level within the 500-year time frame." Hemented, feeling that it was better to believe in this young man than to keep waiting in this ce.

    "I can feel a hidden life force in your body. Did you by any chance absorb that girl''s life? If so, I don''t think it will be so difficult for you, even considering the problem of your soul. So, maybe you can fulfill my wish..." He finally released Lothur''s hand.

    "You absorbed her life? Is that how she died?" Elke looked at her man, finally remembering how Elise looked when she herself woke up from her near-death.

    Elke already wanted to talk about this with Lothur, but since she had not had the opportunity, she had kept her curiosity in her heart. Yet, in this situation, she could not help but question Lothur.

    "I''m not sure..." Lothur was saying when the soul fragment answered for him by touching one of her shoulders. "I can feel the same life force in you... Hmmm, I''m not sure what happened, but he seems to have stolen the life force from that girl and split it between the two of you."

    "Most of it is in you, little girl..." An ugly expression appeared on the soul fragment''s face after he realized that such a thing was gradually diminishing.

    "What is it?" Finally, Lothur realized that something was wrong and questioned.

    Elke also looked at that figure and heard some worrying news. "It is true. This life force was passed on to you and saved your life. But unlike the one in him, the one in you is only temporary, girl."

    "If you don''t recover your vitality quickly, you will still die!"

    "What?" Lothur cried out in fear.

    "Your action only gave her more time. But, unfortunately, the life force you gave her is ipatible with this young woman''s body. So, this will be rejected sooner orter." He exined. "If you want to save her, you will have to make her own vitality recover."

    Hearing that, Elke felt afraid again as her eyes watered. "Lothur..."

    He clenched his fists and asked. "What can I save her, senior?"<sub> </sub>

    "Sigh..."

    "It won''t be easy... In her condition, I don''t know how you will do it without putting her at risk. In any case, what you need to do is to help her reach the 4th Transformation. Once she moves up, her body will undergo a spiritual cleansing and be fully recovered from what happened."

    "After that, she will be physically able to absorb one of the Soul Bones that I will let you chooseter. That resource will naturally help her stabilize any problems between soul and body."

    Soul and body were two connected entities. Because of this, when Elke almost died, not only had her body been injured but also her soul. As such, the soul fragment suggested this method toplete her treatment.

    "That..." Lothur and Elke looked at each other, both with fear in their eyes. "How long does she have?" He asked.

    "Hmmm..." The old figure looked at Elke momentarily and said. "A week. At most ten days if you can use what''s left of that girl''s vitality inside your body, boy."

    "Elke..." He looked withplicated eyes at her, worried about his girl''s survival.

    "Lothur, don''t worry. Even if we don''t make it, knowing that you loved me and still having a week with you will be enough for me..." Tears came down her eyes as she took his face with her two little hands.

    "I won''t allow it, Elke!" He felt his heart beat faster and made up his mind. ''Even if I have to steal other people''s vitality, I will not allow you to die!''

    After seeing and hearing this touching moment, the soul fragment sighed, sensing that a dark pathy ahead of the two. Either Elke would die, or Lothur would be an assassin, an enemy of the living beings of this world to keep her alive.

    In either case, the future would not be promising for them.

    He then said. "So, young man, now you have no choice but to ept my mission. But for that, I still want to test your strength. I want to see if your physical power can take you to the 3rd stage."

    Elke looked lovingly into Lothur''s eyes as this young man turned to that soul fragment.

    That was not the time for him to train, but since Elke would need a Soul Bone to recover fully, he could not risk missing this opportunity.

    He then asked. "Senior, I am still wounded from my previous battle. How will I train with you in this state?"

    "Hmm, drink this." A red bottle flew from the clouds below them.

    Then, Lothur felt it reach his right hand.

    [Recovery Potion] [Rank: Silver]

    [Purity: 99%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: recovers damage to the different tissues of a given body.]

    After drinking this potion, Lothur not only felt his body recover in a fraction of a second but also received the system''s warnings of advancements in his attributes.

    When he recovered from injuries, he naturally evolved. In this way, the fight against Elise had already generated results for him!

    Sensing this, he clenched his fists in determination and said to Elke. "Elke, trust me. Leave all your burdens to me, and I will care for everything. You just need to worry about enjoying the journey. Can you do that?"

    "Hmmm." She nodded to him before kissing his lips.

    After that, Lothur unplugged the special clothing holding Elke to his body and ced her sitting on one of the clouds. "Senior, is there any danger to her? Will she be safe if I am not by her side?"

    The soul fragment then said. "No, this ce is momentarily connected to my soul power. So, everything here is under my control. That way, she will be fine if she stays where you left her."

    "Well then, what should I do now?" Lothur approached that individual.

    "Let''s have a match. Use all your skills against me in a 10-minute fight. Then, if you can show me something interesting, I will believe that you can fulfill myst wish."

    ...

 Chapter 158 Amazing Results

    After the soul fragment''s words, Lothur immediately took his ax and looked at that fellow. "How am I going to hit you? Is that even possible?"

    "Don''t worry. Even if you don''t hit me due to my condition, I can measure the power of your attacks and determine yourbat proficiency."

    "All right then. Can we get started?"

    "Whenever you like."

    When the soul fragment gave his order, Lothur activated his movement technique and ran at his opponent.

    At the same time, he threw one of his daggers at his opponent and then started dancing with his ax, almost as if he was doing a training session, not battling someone.

    But while receiving Lothur''s attacks, the soul fragment would now and then attack this young man with pulses of energy.

    ''Hmmm? Is he not feeling the effects of this?'' The old figure was interested that Lothur continued to fight as if he was not feeling anything. ''A positive point for you...''

    He then continued to receive Lothur''s blows for a few more moments until he used his soul power to create energy fists and use them to strike that young man.

    Pow!

    Lothur felt the weight of his enemy''s attack mming against his back and knocking him off bnce downward.

    "Ouch!"

    ''Is he finally attacking?'' He felt his defensive technique being stimted for the first time in this fight.

    Soon, the time began to pass, and of the promised 10 minutes ofbat, 8 passed in the blink of an eye, with Elke watching everything. She watched Lothur skillfully move his feet while manipting the ax in his hands to make increasingly creative attacks against his opponent.

    At the same time, when he was attacked, Lothur''s previously slow reactions were slowly bing more precise, with him managing to avoid the worst and defend himself more easily. In addition, his surprise attacks with daggers considerably evolved, and he could now attack so naturally that sometimes it did not even seem like he was just fighting.

    ''That... This feeling...'' Lothur gradually felt something strange as he used his techniques to fight the soul fragment.

    It was as if, once again, he realized how wrong he was using his techniques.

    [Mastery advancement detected...]

    ...

    [Cross Walk] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Adept]

    ...

    [Art of Tearing Down Trees] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Adept]

    ...

    [Steel Body] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Adept]

    Seeing these messages appearing in front of him, Lothur opened his mouth in shock, barely able to believe that he had done something that most cultivators in this world could not!

    He had advanced the mastery of his techniques in just a few minutes by training with the soul fragment!

    ''What''s going on? Why does it seem so much easier to train with this person?'' He wondered as the excitement in his body overcame his demons.

    [+0.4 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.3 in WIL.]

    [+0.5 in CON.]

    [+0.1 in DEX.]

    [+0.2 in STR.]

    At the end of the first 9 minutes, another system warning appeared in front of Lothur, showing him how much he had gained in such a short time.

    "What''s going on? Why do I seem to improve my understanding of my techniques so quickly?" He asked.

    The soul fragment already knew several of his secrets, so there was no reason to hide that he was advancing his mastery. Not least because it made no sense to think such a being would not realize how much better he was performing in this training.

    With that, Lothur had decided to ask the only one there who could remove the doubts from his heart.

    The soul fragment smiled as he looked at Lothur, pleased that such a young man was far more talented than he had thought. "Well, I can only exist within this secret chamber, so naturally, this ce is not normal."

    "For a soul fragment to exist, there is a need for arge amount of spiritual energy and some unique resources. Because of this, anyone who trains within this ce will have much better results than if they did it in an ordinary ce."

    "After all, the Laws present here are more refined and easier to understand."

    "Then it is not strange that you have advanced to the adept level of mastery in your three main techniques." He finished, smiling as he prepared to stop.

    "So, is there any way to build such a ce? Are there other ces with simr capabilities?" Lothur asked.<sub> </sub>

    If there were other ces like that in the world, he could find ways to advance his powers and understanding more quickly!

    "Haha, sure, kid. I was just someone at the Divine Soul, and I managed to develop this ce. Why wouldn''t there be more?" The soul fragmentughed. "So, yes, there are many such ces, some that are artificially constructed, but others that are natural."

    "The problem is just you finding or managing to develop one of those... But anyway, all the cultivators in the world value this kind of space, so sooner orter, you''ll have to look for that too."

    "Only then will you be able to improve the mastery of your techniques."

    "Oh? How hard is it to improve technique mastery without one of those?"

    The soul fragment then said. "It depends. If you''re talking about techniques of the same quality as yours, as long as you have talent, it''s possible to do it independently. But Gold-grade techniques, for example, are impossible to get to Master level of mastery with talent alone."

    "Even a person with the highest talent wouldn''t be able to do it."

    "That..." Lothur and Elke opened their mouths in surprise.

    Most cultivators in this world could not even get past the Beginner level in their Iron-grade techniques, but this figure spoke such a thing of Gold-grade ones...

    Higher-ranked techniques were more difficult to learn!

    Because of this, the two could not help but be surprised that it was possible to advance understanding on their own in higher grade techniques just with talent.

    "Looks like you live in a fragile era or ce, huh?" The soul fragment realized the problem. "But that shouldn''t be strange. The most talented hardly show themselves in ordinary ces, so, naturally, the masses think that the world''s limits are theirs..."

    "But make no mistake, there are countless cultivators capable of mastering Gold-grade techniques up to the second level of mastery, Adept, without using ces like this."

    "However, even those Red-grade talented individuals need to use external means to go beyond that... So, look for special ces like that in the future, kid. That will help you."

    Lothur clenched his fists and felt he could not miss this opportunity. "Senior, can you train with me longer? I think it will help me get stronger."

    "Is that so?" He looked with his narrowed eyes at Lothur. "I can train with you for an hour. But after that time, I won''t be able to talk to you about some details that can help you in the future."

    "There will only be time for us to make our agreement witnessed by the heavens before I disappear." He said seriously. "Will you still want that?"

    "Information is important, but as long as it''s nothing crucial, I think this opportunity will be more relevant topleting this mission, senior." Lothur said after a few moments of serious thought.

    "Hmm, I think you''ll be able to manage without it." He agreed and prepared to get back to fighting. "Come on. I want to see how far you can go, kid!"

    "Yeah, I''m ready!"

    ...

    With that, time passed, and soon Lothur was drenched with sweat, finishing his hour-long training in that special ce.

    When he reached that point, he saw that figure stop attacking as he fell to his knees on the ground, exhausted.

    However, upon seeing his status, Lothur could not help but grin from ear to ear, satisfied with his progress.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 13.2] [CON: 19.5] [DEX: 13.1] [AGI: 14.9]

    [INT: 52.9] [PER: 52.9] [WIL: 51.4]

    [EVF: 2.9]

    ''Perfect! My strength has significantly increased after I got to this ce!'' He vibrated in excitement and then looked at his girl and smiled at her. ''Probably our chances will increase because of this!''

    Seeing the look on her man''s face, Elke felt more secure as she began to think about what to do after they finished this business. ''Could we possibly...''

    As she thought about the possibilities in front of her, the soul fragment said in a grave tone. "Boy, girl, my time is not much."

    "Senior, what should I do now?" Lothur stood up and asked.

    "Not much. Just try to touch my hand and repeat everything I say." He said as his appearance became more and more transparent.

    At the same time, the surroundings were beginning to lose their clouds and illumination.

    Lothur ignored the strange effects of that room and did what he should.

    "I..." The soul fragment said.

    "I..." Lothur repeated it.

    "I promise in the name..." Then it did not take long for him to say the whole oath to the heavens and Lothur to repeat it without hesitation.

    At the end of this process, Lothur felt something strange in his body, as if he was suddenly being watched. But there was nothing in the surroundings besides them.

    "Boy, everything is finished. Now it is my time to go and leave my Soul Bones behind..." The soul fragmentmented as it floated in the air and began to shine like a star before its death.

    ...

 Chapter 159 Seven Soul Bones

    By the time Lothur had brought Elke into his arms, the figure of the old soul fragment had glowed more and more intensely, emitting a reddish light.

    As he did this, the pulses of energy became stronger and faster, causing the entire underground structure to tremble.

    Not only that, Lothur and Elke could not see, but outside this ce, beside the previouske, the skies had suddenly filled with dark clouds.

    Then lightning appeared on the horizon, while a reddish pir of energy descended from the skies on top of the previous hatch, creating an incredible phenomenon at this moment.

    With this, the effects of the previous phenomenon intensified, reaching even more ces in Lewerenz.

    Because of this, at this instant, thousands of people in this city were already looking in the direction of thatke, terrified by the sensation they felt.

    ...

    "What''s happening?" Some people on the streets of that city shouted the same question while trying to keep their bodies upright.

    But many of them were just mortals, so, soon, several could be seen lying on the streets of that city, passed out because of the energy pulses.

    Simultaneously, the strongest cultivators were holding on not to faint while looking with expressions of pain and annoyance toward theke.

    "I wonder what that is?"

    "Maybe it''s the end? Impossible!"

    "Are any powerful cultivators sacrificing themselves nearby?" The stronger onesmented among themselves, trying to understand the situation.

    Unfortunately, none of them could move at the moment, and all they could do was wait for this strange phenomenon to pass and then try to figure out what was happening.

    ...

    While hundreds of cultivators in Lewerenz were trembling with the lingering effects of what was happening in that underground chamber, Lothur and Elke saw the end of that fellow in front of them.

    "Lothur, the heavens are my witnesses to your promise. Do not fail, or you will face the ultimate punishment that not even a Sage can save you!"

    "Good luck!" He looked at that young man hugging the redhead who did not have much time left.

    "Well, I am ready to be reincarnated..." The old man looked up at the sky and smiled. "I hope I won''t be a coward in my next life!"

    After he said hisst words full of emotion, the old soul fragment gradually pulverized, turning into minor golden points of light.

    Along with this process, seven different objects appeared around his spirit, detaching themselves from it and traveling like rays downward.

    The points of light rose into the sky, ignoring the walls of that chamber while following the path of the reddish pir of light and then disappearing amidst the stormy clouds in that area.

    When Lothur and Elke saw that being wholly disappeared from where they were, the previously white, cloud-filled, and very bright ce lost all its brightness and clouds.

    Darkness appeared in that area in the blink of an eye, causing Elke to hide her little face in Lothur''s chest.

    The silver-haired young man then quickly used a lighting formation to illuminate the area.

    In doing so, they soon realized that the ce that seemed infinite and noble a few moments ago was only a crypt of about 30 square meters.

    Arge rectangr grave was located in the central part of that area, where the seven rays of colored light prated just a few seconds ago.

    "That..." Elke realized what this ce was and could not help but open her mouth in surprise that this was the resting ce of that expert.

    Lothur also observed the surroundings with interest, noting that there were several formation inscriptions on the walls of this crypt and many objects that looked valuable.

    "Let''s see what''s useful in this ce..." Hemented to the woman in his arms and began to search that area.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, all the inscriptions and objects on the walls of this crypt had been damaged to the point that they would be of no use to him.

    He sighed as he noticed the warnings from the system and then turned his attention to the grave of the owner of this ce. "Well, I believe all his belongings are in that ce..."

    "Hmmm." Elke nodded in agreement, sensing that there was indeed something good in that rectangr piece of construction.

    The silver-haired young man then wasted no time, and soon he managed to remove the metal lid on top of the grave in question.

    In doing so, he and Elke finally saw inside that grave, where a skeleton about 2 meters high was lying on a red quilt.

    The couple saw some objects around this skeleton, such as four rings, a ne, torso armor, a sword, and, most importantly, seven colored bones.

    Five of these bones were from parts of the arms and legs, the mostmon to find. But the skeleton also had a Soul Bone from a spine and another from a skull.<sub> </sub>

    Seeing this, Lothur could not help but smile, pleased that he had won two of these bones and had the chance to choose the ones that would satisfy him the most.

    p ''One of them will be for me and the other for Elke. Naturally, hers has to be the one with the best characteristics to protect her soul and body...'' He pondered this as she thoughtfully looked at him.</anda>

    "Lothur, I think you''d better choose the two Soul Bones with what is best for you. Don''t worry about me. I think that elder exaggerated when he said I need it."

    He frowned his eyebrows and seriously said. "Elke, you''re going to absorb one of those bones. There is no debate here!"

    "But... What if it''s a waste to do this to me?" She asked in a concerned manner.

    "It doesn''t matter. You are more important to me than one of those bones." He squeezed her cheeks and said. "There are countless Soul Bones in this world. But you are unique to me."

    Gulp!

    She swallowed her saliva and felt her eyes watering. "OK, honey..."

    "Mmmmmm~"

    After lovingly kissing each other, the two parted their lips, and Lothur began to analyze each of those bones.

    [Lord Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will rece the fib bone in the right leg. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones, one with flight ability. It also increases all physical and mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it by 10%.]

    ...

    [General Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will rece the skull bone. It will be one of 10 Soul Bones, strengthening mental attributes by 30% and physical attributes by 10%. Its user will gain the ability, All Seeing Eyes.]

    ...

    [General Spine Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will rece the spine bone. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones, increasing the physical attributes by 20%. Its extraordinary power is Soul Shock, which can be used to restrict the soul power of those weaker than its user.]

    ...

    When he finished analyzing each of these Soul Bones, Lothur realized that there were 1 Servant demon bone, 2 Lord bones, and 4 General bones. So, he eliminated those three and kept the remaining ones.

    After analyzing the quality of each of those four, Lothur kept the one that was Silver-grade and another Bronze-grade that would give its user an innate soul-rted ability.

    "Elke, I will keep this Spine Soul Bone for you and keep this skull for me." Hemented to her as he kept those two items in his spatial ring. "I feel that this bone will be morepatible with you."

    "OK. I trust you, Lothur." She ignored that colorful bone and continued to look into his eyes.

    "I will absorb mine when we get back to the inn. As for yours, I will do my best to help you advance to the 4th Transformation. When that happens, you will absorb it, OK?"

    "Hmmm." She nodded to him.

    After that, Lothur found a small letter with all the basic instructions in that grave.

    ''... If you see this, either my time has run out, or you are myst hope. If it is the second case, besides the two Soul Bones you have chosen, everything else is part of my family''s inheritance.''

    ''Keep those items with you to hand over to them in case they still exist. For the rest, the two rings on my right hand have the maps and items necessary for you to trace and eventually identify my descendants.''

    ''Use them well, and good luck!''

    After reading this, Lothur did as expected, put all that in his spatial ring, and then looked at that crypt once more, noting nothing was left.

    When he realized everything had been cleaned up, he looked at Elke and smiled. "Shall we go back?"

    "Hmmm." She nodded at him and began to think about a particr possibility, eager to get to the inn and find out if her ideas would be confirmed.

    With that, Lothur departed, ignoring Elise''s dead body in his path and quickly climbing thedder to the exit of this ce on the shore of theke from which they had passed earlier.

    Doing so without much difficulty, he soon began walking back to Lewerenz while noticing the presence of many cultivators in the vicinity of thatke.

    "I wonder what happened?" Elke asked him.

    ...

 Chapter 160 Bloodline

    Upon hearing his girl''s question, Lothur looked at the many people in that green area, all of whom seemed in search of something. "Maybe this is because of what happened earlier? I think the disappearance of that soul fragment must have intensified the earlier phenomena."

    "That makes sense..." She looked over Lothur''s shoulder as several people nearby looked at them strangely.

    "Who are those two?" One of the cultivators in that area asked hispanion as he looked in Lothur and Elke''s direction.

    "I don''t know, but it doesn''t matter. They are just a mortal and a 3rd Transformation girl who seems to be injured..."

    Another person on one of the banks of thatke thenmented in a low voice. "They were probably walking around the area when everything happened. So now they are returning home..."

    "That must be the case."

    "Anyway, don''t bother with these people. Our goal is to understand what happened here!" One of the strongest in the area, 9th Transformation, shouted to hispanions, already with his back to that couple.

    Lothur and Elke noticed the many stares in their direction but were not bothered by it. Instead, he continued on his way, moving away from that area at the maximum speed he could run without causing difort to his girl.

    And so, as they moved toward Lewerenz, it was not long before someone arrived at the underground location where everything had happened.

    "A dead body of a woman?" One of the first to arrive stopped in front of Elise''s body, near the hole in the middle of that area.

    "From the looks of it, she must have died some time ago. Look how dry her skin looks."

    "Yeah..." One of them nodded. "Also, there''s hardly any muscle or fat on her body. Hmm, she must have been here for quite a while!"

    "But how did shest so long in an open ce?" The one with the most doubts there asked.

    "Probably this ce has protections against microorganisms... Anyway, it doesn''t matter. Let''s see what''s below this hole."

    After that person''s voice and several others arrived in that underground construction, the first group reached the soul fragment crypt.

    "That..."

    "There''s nothing here!" Someone shouted in frustration as he noticed that the remnants in the walls of that ce seemed to have lost their effects.

    However, the strongest one there realized something. "This feeling... There was something of value here!"

    "Quick, send people to search the surrounding area for people! Someone has taken a precious treasure in this ce!" Sweat dripped from his forehead, while he could not help but covet whatever was here earlier.

    So, in the blink of an eye, while the strongest in that ce stayed to talk, the rest of the people left that underground area to begin their search in the vicinity of theke.

    ...

    As he walked with Elke hugging him, supported by the unique clothes from earlier, Lothur decided to understand his bloodline.

    ''System, show me what my bloodline is all about.''

    [Life Devourer: by using all his hatred and anger as his base power, the host has ess to the power that controls life and death. That is the power of the monarchs, the gods who control the lower beings.]

    [Limitations: Life Devourer does not work on those with soul power or level 100% above those of the host; it cannot be used more than once per day; the life energy the host can give to others is limited to the value of EVF, and outside the host, such vitality decays at a rate of 1 EVF per day.]

    [Advantages: Life Devourer can be used to steal some or all of the life energy of living beings and turn it into something valuable to the host. It can be given to other people without limitation and can be used to enrich the host''s vitality.]

    [By using the EVF points on himself, the host can increase his Constitution, Soul, and life-rted quality.]

    Seeing all this, Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, shocked to have such a powerful bloodline. ''This is truly amazing!''

    ''With this bloodline, as long as I''m OK, I can at least temporarily save the life of someone important to me!''

    ''On the other hand, I can even be stronger in other situations by eliminating my enemies!'' He felt satisfied with this situation, already imagining he would have many EVFs in the future.

    ''Mouse Company, huh? You will be my first target to test my bloodline!''

    ''Just wait! Sooner orter, I will visit you!''

    ...

    After a few minutes of walking, Lothur passed through one of the entrances to Lewerenz, drawing people''s attention wherever he passed.

    But this was not for nothing. After all, it was not usual to see people carrying others as Lothur did with Elke. Even more so considering that he looked peaceful as he walked down the local streets, with the young redhead resting her little face on one of his shoulders.

    "Hey, do you see that?" A woman in her early middle age called out to her teenage daughter as she looked through the window of her house.

    "My goodness!" The girl, who looked to be in her 15s, put one of her hands to her mouth and eximed. "They... They are so young, but they walk like that..."

    "Tsk!"<sub> </sub>

    "Girl, pay attention. Those two probably already have their minds soiled with all kinds of perversion. That''s the only way people get to that point!" The mother said in a disciplinarian tone.

    "So, if you don''t want to end up like them, or other young perverts in our society, you must protect yourself!"

    "Yes, mother..." The girl replied without much thought. "But I must say that with someone like him, it is worth..."

    "What did you say?" The mother took off her slipper and angrily looked at her daughter.

    As the daughter started to run from her mother, other people were also judging Lothur and Elke.

    "How shameless!"

    "Look for a room!"

    "Ah, young people these days... They''re getting hastier and hastier!"

    "Hey cutie, why don''t you take me like this too?"

    Lothur and Elke ignoredments and murmurs in their surroundings until they reached the inn that had rented a room the day before.

    Upon arriving in the room that still had the bed sheets untidy, Lothur went to put Elke to bed, but then she stopped him.

    "Wait a moment, Lothur. I''m dirty. I need to get out of my clothes and take a bath." She squeezed his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You need a bath too, dear."

    "Oh? All right, let''s get cleaned up, and then I''ll search for a doctor to see the condition of your body..."

    She stopped him from continuing. "No, I''ve been thinking about what to do since that soul fragment warned us of my problem, and I already have a theory on how to solve that problem."

    "But..."

    "Lothur, I don''t want anyone else to know what happens to me or my situation. So, to keep my parents from worrying about me, I don''t want to be consulted by any doctor." She said with determination.

    Elke loved her parents very much and did not want them to suffer for her. But, on the other hand, she did not want people looking at her with pity on their faces, as if she was already dead.

    Hence, she did not want to be examined by any doctor to hide the truth from her family.

    "But, Elke, don''t you think your parents will be suspicious anyway?" Lothur asked in concern.

    She negatively shook her head. "If my theory is right, they won''t. And if I''m wrong, I''ll tell them I tried harder than I should have. So, that will justify you carrying me. But, of course, I will also use that excuse to stay home for the next few days."

    "And how will we resolve your situation without them knowing anything?"

    Sheughed at him. "I will say that we will do our special training. They will naturally give us space for that..."

    "Sigh..."

    "All right..." Lothur finished removing the clothes on his body and hers. Then he picked her up and went towards the bathroom in that extremely ''ufortable'' position for him.

    Elke saw the look on his face and thenughed. "Why are you looking embarrassed? Isn''t it natural for you to have that kind of reaction when you stand like that with me?" As she asked this, she felt something between her legs.

    "But, you..."

    "Shh!"

    "It''s better that you are like this, dear. I think the solution to my problem might be just that..." She blinked at him as she felt Lothur''s handsthering her body.

    Gulp!

    "Is that what you''re talking about?" He felt her handsthering him up as well and thought about the results of their fun. "How are we going to do that with you in this state? What if I hurt you?"

    Sheughed at him and said. "There''s no way you can hurt me. At worst, you will make me happy in myst moments. At best, as a couple, we''ll work it out in our own way!"

    "Elke, are you sure about this?" He sshed water on his body and hers, removing all the foam and dirt.

    "Yes, take me to bed, and we''ll start with you..." She gave her instructions to him, a little bad for depending on him so much but determined to get on with it.

    But listening to her exnations, Lothur felt determined to have the best possible results and said. "Elke, OK. I''ll do it with you."

    "But since we''re going to take risks here, I want to absorb the Soul Bone first. That will at least elevate my features a bit, which may increase the results on your body."

    "Oh?" She was surprised at that. "OK. I can wait a little while."

    ...

 Chapter 161 Beginning Of Elkes Treatment

    After receiving Elke''s consent, Lothur put her on the bed and covered her with the sheets from there, without putting anything on her body that wouldplicate both of their livester...

    So, he put on a pair of shorts, sat on the floor between the bathroom and the bed, and took the Skull Soul Bone from his spatial ring.

    He had no idea how to absorb a Soul Bone since, from the exnation Viktoria and Annaliese had given him, it seemed to depend on soul cultivation. But Lothur remembered how the system had asked him if he wanted to absorb the bone his sister-inw had bought, so he was calm about it.

    Hence, unsurprisingly, as he touched that colorful bone, Lothur soon saw the system message box in front of him.

    [Absorb General Skull Soul Bone?] The system asked him.

    ''Yes!'' He felt excited at the thought of that answer.

    As Lothur''s heart beat faster, Elke watched with curiosity what he was doing. She had never absorbed a Soul Bone before, but she knew what that process was like and was eager to see him do it.

    ''I think Lothur will be doing this for at least an hour...'' So, she pondered when she suddenly saw that bone floating in front of his face.

    At that instant, the Skull Soul Bone glowed brightly, and as if there was a suction force on Lothur''s face, such a thing disappeared in his head in the blink of an eye.

    "What?" She eximed in surprise as she saw how the Soul Bone had shown no resistance to it.

    Soul Bones were items produced by demons. Thus, there was always some remnant of that one''s willpower behind that bone, something that brought pain and required effort on the part of humans trying to absorb them.

    Elke knew this, so she expected that Lothur would at least take some time to fuse with that bone. However, he seemed to have skipped some parts of the process and already had such a thing inside his body!

    And that was just the case there. Lothur did not have a powerful soul because he had never cultivated it. But the system was there to help him, and the moment he authorized the absorption of that bone, the system subdued such a thing for him.

    After doing so, immediately the Soul Bone began to fuse with Lothur''s skull, taking the ce of the normal bone there, then building the first contact between him and his spirit body.

    Since this part of the process was not pleasurable, Lothur soon began to tremble in pain, clenching his fists tightly as he used his best to resist the experience.

    What he felt at the moment was not a bit weaker than his pain when he transmigrated to this world. But, on the contrary, such an experience was even more painful!

    He felt as if someone was crushing and then rebuilding the nerves in his skull while such a powerful resource connected his uncultivated soul.

    And feeling his soul beginning to inte uncontrobly, Lothur could not help but feel terrified by the experience, almost losing his lucidity in the process.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''This hurts!'' He screamed in his mind, but as he thought of his girl and how she had been hurt because of him, his willpower soon showed signs, making the torture more eptable.

    Elke watched all this in concern, feeling bad that her man was suffering.

    ''Lothur...'' She watched him trembling in pain, pressing his teeth against each other so hard that blood began to drip from his mouth.

    At the same time, his face was pale, and sweat soon covered his entire body, forming a small puddle of water below him.

    But while he was going through this situation, the system moved again, pressing this young man''s soul to stop inting while stabilizing his body condition.

    The system was not an ''emergency item'' that Lothur could trust. But since it had volunteered to begin the process of absorbing that Soul Bone, it would naturally not let its host down.

    Once Lothur had reached his limit, the system sealed his soul to contain it and finished the fusion process.

    [Skull Soul Bone sessfully fused with the host.]

    Lothur saw the system''s message as he opened his eyes, feeling a little dizzy and his eyesight blurred.

    But then a force surged within his being, pulling the spiritual energy in the surroundings into his body. Then he opened his eyes and began to feel his strength returning, along with the signs of advancement.

    He smiled as he felt this and rushed into the bathroom, noting how the spiritual cleansing this time seemed less significant than thest.

    Seeing that, Elke rxed on the bed, relieved that he had seeded. ''That was faster than I thought...''

    ''At this rate, we''ll still have the rest of the afternoon in Lewerenz.'' She smiled, imagining what it would be like to be with him now. ''No matter what happenster, I can''t show any difort to him, or Lothur won''t touch me again!''

    While Elke was thinking about him, Lothur was already finishing with his advance.

    ''The 1st stage focuses on the body, so it strengthens and cleanses the body to receive a powerful soul.''<sub> </sub>

    ''However, each past Transformation distances the body further from its mortal condition. Therefore, the impurities eliminated will decrease as it gets closer to the 2nd stage.'' So, he thought as he noted how much less terrible such an advance seemedpared to the previous one.

    But that did not mean spiritual cleansing was less effective at higher levels. No, the problem was that the cleansing eliminated the outermost toxins in the body, which were precisely the most numerous at lower levels.

    However, the most problematic for cultivators were those deeply rooted toxins in their bodies, which required more power to be eliminated. Therefore, spiritual cleansing at higher levels was even more critical than at lower levels of the 1st stage!

    So, as he went through this experience, Lothur felt better and better, as if he were recovering from an infection or something of the sort.

    And after 20 minutes, he finally saw his status appearing in front of him!

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 6]

    [STR: 14.5] [CON: 21.5] [DEX: 14.4] [AGI: 16.4]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 68.8] [WIL: 66.8]

    [EVF: 2.9]

    ''Wow!''

    ''Impressive!'' Heughed in satisfaction as he saw how much this Soul Bone had made him improve his mental attributes.

    Then, as he finished wiping his body with a white towel, he tried to activate his new innate skill.

    [Passive ability: All Seeing Eyes] [Rank: Silver]

    [Characteristics: increases the host''s field of vision; x-ray vision; spirit vision; soul vision.]

    [Progress: 0%]

    He saw the system messages and looked around his surroundings with curiosity, seeing nothing significant at first other than seeing much better. But as he left the bathroom and stood before Elke, he soon saw something on her body.

    As he narrowed his eyes, Lothur had the strange experience of seeing Elke''s body normally, then seeing her bones, then her organs, and then ck streams of energy running from one side of her body to the other.

    He shook his head and tried to focus, gradually mastering such a thing.

    So, he soon saw Elke''s normal fleshy body turning gray together with her surroundings, while the energy forms inside her were distinguished in different colors.

    He saw a ball of red energy near her heart, gradually fading. But, on the other hand, ck ''sparks'' circled her whole body, trying to prate the red ball.

    ''That''s the vitality I passed on to her, and that''s the problem with her body...'' Lothur felt a little bad at seeing that troubling image for the first time.

    "Lothur?" She looked away and saw him watching her seriously. Elke understood the problem, so she tried to ignore the dangers near her and looked at his naked body. "Honey, will you take care of me now?"

    Lothur then deactivated his passive ability and softly breathed before climbing onto that bed and smiling at her. "Don''t worry, Elke. We''ll sort everything out, and you''ll be fine."

    "I know..."

    "Now, let''s try to make this work, OK? If you feel bad at any point, alert me immediately, and we''ll stop." He got under the sheets, positioning himself so that he could easily control the situation.

    "Hmm, I know what to do." She smelled him, watched his face, and could not help but feel shocks through her body.

    She blinked at him andughed. "Now, you must kiss me..."

    Lothur paid attention to her expression for a second and then did what he should, hugging her and then kissing her.

    "Mmmmm~"

    ...

 Chapter 162 Effects Of The Treatment

    After a few minutes, if someone were to enter Lothur and Elke''s room, such a person would first hear the creaking of the bed, a noise characteristic of theplicated dance the two were doing.

    But such a thing would quickly reveal the intensity of it, which followed a quiet rhythm but not so much as to be boring. From the feminine sounds traveling through the surroundings, anyone would know that the redheaded woman below Lothur loved this moment.

    It had all started with small movements by Lothur, such as massages to rx his lover''s body and kisses here and there. After such preliminary movements, he skillfully used all his knowledge and physical abilities to bring hispanion to her best condition, given her current situation.

    Because of this, even if the beginning of the dance was somewhat ufortable for Elke, this beautiful woman soon got used to herpanion''s steps.

    And heck, Lothur danced very well, to the point that a few minutes after the first steps, Elke had almost forgotten her previous misfortune.

    If not for her inability to move freely and make her own steps in this dance, she would have forgotten all about it.

    While she enjoyed her special treatment, Lothur tried to ignore the bestiality in his being, controlling himself so as not to cross the line and hurt his beautifulpanion.

    He was obviously enjoying it. After all, dancing with Elke was delightful, and the cute expression on her face was enough to mess with his nerves.

    But with his great willpower that had already eliminated the remnants of his predecessor''s personality, Lothur managed to restrain himself and do the mostplicated steps of this dance without overdoing it.

    That way, after almost an hour of working for the two of them, Lothur took the most important step, making Elke lose her breath and shake vigorously for the 4th time in a row.

    "Hah... Hah... Lothur, you are perfect... Hah..." She said amidst her agitated breathing, looking into the eyes of the sweaty young man on top of her while sping her fingers over his strong arms.

    Lothur continued in the same position, leaning on just one of his arms, putting no weight on his lover''s body. At the same time, he used one of his hands to massage one of her cheeks, feeling an intense desire to protect her.

    He then looked at her status to see if his girl was right.

    He already knew that Elke could get stronger after their fun. But would that also happen after she was seriously injured? He did not know.

    But then the system showed him the reality.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3 (weakened)]

    [STR: 0.59] [CON: 1.47] [DEX: 1.09] [AGI: 1.16]

    ''What? All that?'' He could not believe how much she had improved in just one hour of treatment!

    "What is it, Lothur? Is something wrong?" She asked, seeing the incredulous look in his eyes.

    "No, Elke. I just realized that you had improved more than I had thought... Wow!" He said in a tone filled with happiness.

    "Oh?" A smile formed on her lips as she realized that she did indeed seem to feel better now. "It worked? It truly worked!"

    "Yes, Elke, it worked! Now you can probably move around a bit, can''t you?" He got off her, and it was not long before he saw her lift one of her legs in the air.

    "Congrattions, Elke. At this rate, our chances of winning this challenge are not small!"

    Tears dripped from her eyes, and then Elke used her strength to climb on top of Lothur and kiss him passionately.

    "I love you!"

    "Mmmmm~"

    As he tasted Elke''s lips, Lothur thought about how this situation had be possible.

    ''That was an expressive increase for only one hour of activities... But my physical and mental characteristics have greatly increased since we arrived in Lewerenz.''

    ''Maybe that''s why? My Constitution alone has evolved by almost 50% in that period.'' He squeezed Elke''s tiny waist gently, feeling full of energy again.

    ''On the other hand, she has weakened a lot. In other words, the difference between our characteristics has increased... I wonder if that''s it?''

    ''Has the effect of our fun intensified because the difference between us has increased?'' He made his theory about this situation until Elke stopped kissing him to breathe better.

    ''Hah... Lothur, what shall we do now?" She asked.

    He looked intently at the beautiful woman sitting on top of him and said. "We have dinner with Jacob''s family, but maybe we should..."

    "No, this is important for the future of our family. So let''s stay, even if I''m not yet in my best condition." She stopped him from continuing.<sub> </sub>

    Elke was already determined to be by Lothur''s side, and with the development of their rtionship after today''s incident, she would no longer hesitate to do anything for that.

    She had already been through the situation of almost losing him, so she would no longer fear investing in this rtionship with him!

    And with the certainty that he loved her too, Elke already ced herself as part of Lothur''s family, even if there was nomitment between them yet.

    Lothur then smiled and said. "All right. Then after we pass the Herrmann family estate, we''ll go to dinner at Jacob''s house."

    Jacob had left a note with the location of his house and the time for Lothur and Elke to go there. So naturally, this man already knew everything he had to do.

    "Hmmm, so we''ll leave for Peters City after this dinner, eh?" She rested her little head on his left chest. "I''ll be able to sleep with you one more night..."

    The trip between Lewerenz and Peters City would take an average of 6 hours using the carriage that brought them to this ce. So, naturally, these two would not arrive in that city until early Monday morning if they followed those ns.

    Hence, Elke could not help but feel good about that, even considering that her parents would probably be worried.

    She then smiled and said. "But we still have about three hours until the end of the afternoon, Lothur... So what will we do in the meantime?"

    "Hahaha, Elke, I truly like your enthusiasm!" Lothurugh. "But first, let''s eat something to supply our other needs..."

    They were only 1st stage cultivators, not so different from mortals. As such, their metabolisms were still highly dependent on the energy contained in food.

    "After that, we''ll do one more treatment session and then talk to that family about finishing the mission."

    "That''s good!" She kissed his chest, satisfied with his arrangements.

    ...

    A little over three hourster...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3 (weakened)]

    [STR: 0.99] [CON: 2.47] [DEX: 1.83] [AGI: 1.95]

    After they finished dressing and departed that inn, Lothur realized that Elke had still had a good improvement on this asion, but that had been subtly less thanst time.

    With that, he concluded that, in fact, her rapid progress was due to the significant difference in powers between them, which meant that this would diminish as she grew stronger.

    On the other hand, previously, only her Constitution attribute evolved with this ''training.'' But in this situation, the other attributes were improving as well.

    ''That must be her body recovering and returning to the old values...'' He thought that was the case, and he had no expectations of her continuing to improve in that way after recovering her attribute values from before Elise''s blow.

    In any case, that was good enough for him for the moment, so he did not worry too much and was d to see her walking again.

    Elke was still feeling a bit weak and certainly could not handle a long walk like the one he took between this city and theke. But to go to an estate a few hundred meters from the inn, she was fine.

    Thus, the couple made their way on foot to that ce, walking through the busy streets of this little city.

    It was Sunday evening, but there was more movement on those streets than there usually would be, with many cultivatorsing and going.

    At the same time, in some ces they passed close by, Lothur and Elke could hear people talking loudly about the phenomena that had struck the entire city this morning.

    That alerted the two about what the people near thatke earlier today were doing and the precautions they should take.

    "Lothur, maybe it''s better that we don''t finish this mission..." Elkemented to him as she saw the front of the Herrmann estate. "The cultivators of that family will think we have found the valuable resources of that ce."

    "Hmm, yes, that is probably the case." He nodded to her, pondering about giving up that mission. "But those people will distrust us even more if we don''t report it."

    "After all, the girl from the Herrmann family knows that we were investigating the matter..."

    "So, we must face these people and tell them we failed. That way, our chances of not having problems with them in the future will be greater." He suggested as he took one of her hands and indicated for them to move on.

    "OK, let''s do it!"

    ...

 Chapter 163 Gift And Dinner

    After passing the guards at the Herrmann family estate, it did not take long for Lothur and Elke to enter that estate, where a dozen people were actively chatting in the entrance halls.

    As they arrived there, soon Natascha''s figure appeared amidst the people in the surrounding area, running towards them. "Lothur, Elke, are you here to talk about the mission? You have finished it, right?" She asked in an excited tone while already pointing the way to a quieter ce.

    Her family had already realized that in thest 6 hours, the previously reported phenomena had disappeared. As such, this young woman already had the idea that the couple next to her had solved the problem.

    "Actually, no." Lothurmented casually, causing that young woman to stop halfway and look back at him in surprise.

    "No?" She asked.

    "That''s right. We failed in our mission." Lothur exined to her. "We were approaching the ce from which the phenomenon was departing little by little. But then a strong pulse made us faint as we rode through the region..."

    "After that, Elke was injured, and we returned to the city to rest. So, since we are about to leave, we havee here to notify you that we have not aplished the mission and that you can hire other students."

    "Perhaps a stronger group than ours can solve this..." He muttered in an embarrassed tone.

    "Solve it? Don''t you know? The phenomenon disappeared after that big pulse from earlier." She said to them in an agitated tone. "I thought it was you!"

    "What?" Lothur and Elke acted in sync, disying their ''surprise'' at this situation.

    "Yes, it has been resolved. Don''t tell me you didn''t know?" Natascha frowned her eyebrows.

    The young redhead thenmented. "Well, we spent the whole afternoon managing my injuries, so we didn''t see nor hear anything about this matter..."

    "Sigh..."

    Lothur sighed, "But I''m d it''s been resolved. That was a pretty annoying problem. I don''t think Sector-1 students like us would be able to solve it..."

    As they said that, Natascha''s older brother, who was listening to their entire conversation from the sidelines, was disappointed that these two had notpleted this mission.

    ''So it wasn''t them...'' He closed his eyes, remembering the ce he had gone earlier alongside his father. ''Well, that wasn''t something for mere students from Sector-1 of the Morning Star Academy.''

    ''Hell, even my father felt bad about that pulse... How would a mortal and a young 3rd Transformation girl get to that ce?'' Heughed.

    He then realized that Elke did indeed look weakened and even remembered the report from one of his men that a young mortal had been seen carrying his injuredpanion into that area.

    ''Hmm, they are telling the truth. They got close to that ce and got into trouble...''

    ''They are not bad!'' He looked at Natascha and secretly called out to her.

    After this young woman asked Lothur and Elke to excuse herself, she entered a room where her brother was.

    "Give them the confirmation medal."

    "Uh? Why? They didn''tplete the mission..." She did not understand what her older brother was thinking.

    He then exined. "They seem to be being sincere, and if what you told me is true, then we may need to have a good rtionship with this young man in the future. That way, let''s make this small gesture to ensure he has a good opinion of our family."

    "Oh? The brother is brilliant!" Natascha opened her eyes in realization.

    After that, she did as she was ordered.

    "Lothur, Elke, my family understands your situation. But since the phenomenon has already been resolved, we want you to give you the confirmation medal as payment for your efforts." She said with a smile on her face.

    Hearing that, the two looked at each other in surprise. "Really?" Elke asked.

    "Hmm, maybe you have brought good luck to us. That''s an important service too, I''d say."

    Hearing this, Lothur was unceremonious, understanding more or less the motivations behind it. "Well, then I thank you for that. I hope I can return the gesture in the future."

    Hearing his response, Natascha''s older brother nodded in their direction, satisfied with that.

    Lothur saw this on his way out but said nothing. ''There is no reason for them to be kind to us other than that they are seeking good rtions with a potential partner...''

    ''Well, that''s not bad. Our results were much better than I had anticipated!'' He smiled as he escorted his girl to Jacob''s family''s estate.<sub> </sub>

    ...

    Upon arriving at their final destination in Lewerenz, Lothur and Elke soon met Jacob.

    "Elke, what happened to you? Are you all right?" That young man asked in a concerned tone upon seeing the pallor on that goddess''s face.

    Hearing that, Elke bitterly smiled and said. "Thank you for your concern, Jacob. But I''m better than I look. We just had a little ident earlier, but I''m already better."

    Jacob heard that and looked at Lothur, who was holding Elke''s waist and looking at him without smiling.

    "Well, then I hope you make a full recovery as soon as possible." He waved one of his hands, showing the way for them. "Please, my father is already waiting for you."

    They followed Jacob through that rtively luxurious estate, not asrge as the Herrmann family''s but great for a small family like this.

    So, they soon reached a beautiful dining room, where a sizeable elliptical table stood in the center, below a light fixture with many crystals decorating it.

    Lothur and Elke then met with a middle-aged man and a woman who appeared to be about ten years younger than that brown-mustached man.

    "Lothur, Elke, this is my father, Kevin Siegel, and my mother, Carlotta Siegel." Jacob introduced them.

    "Hmm, nice to meet you."

    Seeing that couple, Kevin did not think it bad that he had to wait for them as he noticed the silver-haired young man''s intimacy with Elke. ''This youngdy of the Becker family seems to have already been given by her family to him...''

    ''Well, having a connection with such a strong family is not bad!''

    Unlike other people in Lewerenz who had no idea who Elke and Lothur were, Jacob''s father knew enough. After all, he had investigated the silver-haired young man after hearing from his son about the extraordinary abilities of such a person.

    That was why he had invited Lothur to a dinner party.

    And upon discovering that Lothur had products to do business with, this man had found a way to connect with such a young man, so he was not irritated about waiting.

    Jacob''s mother smiled at the couple in front of her and said. "Lothur, Elke, Jacob has said some amazing things about you. ording to him, your teaching talents and cultivation skills are above any young cultivators he has had contact with."

    "Is that so?" Lothur smiled upon hearing that. "Well, I guess we''re a good match." He winked at Elke.

    "So, what are you going to do in the future? Maybe be instructors?" She asked as she indicated for a servant girl to serve dinner for them.

    Elke thenmented. "I think we''ll instruct a few more people in the future, but that won''t be our focus..."

    Among cultivators who specialized inbat, there were all sorts of sub-specializations. As in the case at hand, some warriors became instructors.

    ? Instructors were nothing more than people with an understanding of cultivation and able to teach about it, taking questions from cultivators stuck in bottlenecks or about their mistakes.

    Such a profession was not only seen in academies but there were people like this in every cultivator''s family. Instructors could correct problems and make these people stronger. So, naturally, they were an essential addition to any organization.

    Thus, instructors were highly valued in Leopoldine and even other parts of Concordia!

    "Is that so? Well, talented young people like you have many prospects..." Jacob''s mother controlled the pace of the conversation for a few minutes, getting to know this couple a little better.

    After a while, Kevin finally asked about Lothur''s products, specifically the glove his son had already mentioned.

    Then, he tried it on, feeling that it was indeed unique and helpful. "How much do you n to charge for it?"

    Lothur was honest. "Mister Siegel, I don''t have a price for this glove yet. I just invented it and used the resources given to me by the tailor shop, which is funding my studies."

    "Therefore, I must study if those materials used in it are the best or even necessary. Once I have finished this, I will be able to make an attractive price and pass it on."

    "Oh? How much time do you need to do that?"

    Lothur thought for a moment and said. "Not long. I''ll be going to the tailor shop to take care of some business this week, so I''ll probably have an answer in less than a fortnight."

    "All right. Then here''s what we''ll do..."

 Chapter 164 Returning To Peters City

    Jacob''s father then said. "When you have a price for that glove, contact me through the ce my son went with you in Peters City."

    "As soon as I receive your contact, I will send someone I trust to negotiate with you."

    "That''s good enough for me." Lothur smiled, pleased that he had gotten one more interested in his glove. "By the way, I heard from Jacob that you sell resources in Lewerenz? So I can assume that you have contacts with suppliers of certain materials, right?"

    "Indeed. Although I don''t sell special items for cultivators in my store, nor do I sell raw materials, I do know suppliers of it." Kevin nodded.

    "Well, then we can do more business in the future. I will certainly need several suppliers of materials for my products..." He looked at Jacob and then asked this fellow''s father. "Did he tell you about the special vehicle I am developing?"

    Kevin closed his eyes and nodded. He did not think that this so-called vehicle that could be useful in speeding up the maniption of farnd would be possible to make. But it was undeniable that the idea was tempting, and he could not help but imagine how revolutionary it would be if it became real.

    "He told me about it, but as for that, I''d rather wait for you to move forward with your ns." He said without immediately turning down this young man whom he did not want to offend. "Then, if you eventually produce one of these, I will be more than interested in doing business about it."

    "I see..." Lothur did not feel bad about Kevin''s caution. It was to be expected that people would have some resistance to new technologies never seen before.

    But once he produced the miniature of his first vehicle, Lothur was sure he would get support from his contacts.

    After all, those who do not stay on the side of progress eventually end up eating dust and being left behind!

    Anyway, after talking about their potential business, the group finished their dessert and returned to less relevant subjects.

    But before they said goodbye, Kevin asked Lothur a critically important question.

    "Lothur, you have great ideas and are talented. So, I ask you, what do you intend to do in the future? Frost family, Becker family... Who knows creating your own power?" He asked this in a low voice as his wife and son walked further back beside Elke.

    Lothur''s eyes sharpened at this question, but since this was something relevant for partners to know, he did not hide everything he nned. "I can guarantee that I will have an organization looking after my products and that besides my family and me, others will not influence it."

    "Becker family, Frost family, those divisions are irrelevant to me. I will ally and rte to whoever has good ideas and intentions, whether theye from any background."

    "I particrly prefer the business model of the Cultivation House than those noble families..." He finishedmenting on this as he reached outside the Siegel estate.

    "Oh?" After hearing all that, Kevin''s mouth dropped open in surprise.

    He had not expected that a young man like Lothur had such a well-developed mentality to the point that he had not fallen into the traps of the noble families, even though he was part of one.

    Moreover, Kevin saw that Lothur had more simrities with merchants than with the nobility. And since he was a merchant, he could not help but like this young man even more and feel that his chances of sess were greater because of this.

    He thenughed and tapped one of Lothur''s shoulders. "Well, I hope you seed. In any case, you can count on the Siegel family of Lewerenz in the future!"

    "Hmmm."

    Lothur and Elke then said goodbye to that family, promising to wee them to their own residence for dinner one day.

    Finally, they made their way through the streets of Lewerenz until they reached where the Becker family carriage was waiting for them.

    "Youngdy, you took too long! Where have you been? I was already almost tearing my hair out because of nervousness!" The old coachman ran up to them, feeling a massive relief in his heart to see Elke all right.

    He did not know what to do if something happened to his youngdy.

    How would he face her parents?

    Luckily, she had returned unharmed.

    Elke smiled as she saw that old man she had known since she was a little child. "Don''t worry, old Feller, a few setbacks dyed us, but we have already finalized our business in this city."

    "Let''s return home."

    "SIgh..."

    He sighed in relief and opened the door on one side of the carriage for Elke and Lothur. "Youngdy, you look a little tired... Is everything all right?" He noticed some paleness on her face.

    Elke then replied without looking at him. "I am a little tired due to our mission... Because of that, I will have to rx a bit during our return, so please give us some privacy."

    Lothur understood what this was all about and smiled.<sub> </sub>

    "All right, youngdy! I won''t disturb you!" He naively said.

    And so, Lothur and Elke settled into that carriage while that old figure sat behind the horses to drive that carriage back to Peters City.

    As they did so, a man all in ck, on a horse with fur of the same color, was following their tracks with a severe look on his face.

    ''These people are leaving the city, huh? That will be my chance to question them about what happened to the young master!''

    "Humph!"

    "I don''t believe you people are unrted to the young master''s disappearance! He left to go after you and hasn''t returned, while you look so good..."

    "You know something!" He muttered as he left that well-lit area to enter the dark dirt road that Lothur and Elke''s carriage was making its way down.

    ...

    After a few minutes since their reunion with the coachman of that carriage, Elke and Lothur were warming up the interior of this means of transportation, with this woman already without clothes.

    Elke and Lothur weremitted to this special treatment, so naturally, they would not waste the whole night sleeping!

    Because of this, as soon as they left Lewerenz, they closed the curtains of the carriage windows and began their business...

    Unfortunately, while Elke was already holding her voice not to alert old Feller, Lothur felt strange and stopped his movements.

    "What is it?" Elke opened her eyes and questioned him.

    Lothur said nothing to her, but she could see how his eyes seemed to glow, even in the dark of that carriage.

    All Seeing Eyes!

    Immediately after activating his passive ability, Lothur saw through the walls of the carriage and noticed the presence of a horse running alongside this vehicle.

    As he noticed this, he turned towards the coachman and saw one more person there. Not only this, from the movements of the two, it seemed that the neer was trying to make the coachman faint.

    "We are under attack," Lothurmented as he took his hands off Elke and began to put his clothes back on.

    As he did so, he saw the status of that man.

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 15.4] [CON: 16.1] [DEX: 14.9] [AGI: 16.2]

    Noticing this person''s characteristics, Lothur calmed down and looked around his surroundings for other enemies. But he soon realized that there was no one else around and began to n what to do.

    ''This person will probably stop the carriage somewhere remote and capture us while we sleep...'' He pondered this while doubt about where this person wasing from arose in his heart.

    ''There are several people who may be after me... In particr, the entire Mouse Company.''

    ''Hmmm, it might be good to interrogate him, but since this person has some characteristics superior to mine, I don''t want to risk surprise while Elke is with me.'' His eyes sharpened as the young red-haired woman looked at him in anticipation.

    "Lothur..."

    "Don''t worry. This person is within my capabilities. I will lead with him, and we will return to Peters City." He hugged her and then told her his n. "That person will probably stop this carriage soon, Elke. So, let''s do it this way..."

    After hearing her man''s whispering voice, Elke nodded in agreement to him, confident that everything would work out if she followed what he had suggested.

    With that, it was not long before the two returned to a sleeping position, and that carriage slowed down as it approached a canyon.

    "Everything is going well..." The man investigating Harry''s disappearance looked back and smiled, seeing a ce for him to stop. "Time for action!"

    ...

 Chapter 165 Rancor 1

    After stopping the carriage at the side of a canyon, the man dressed in ck, tall and thin, came down from his position, leaving the dead body of the coachman there.

    He had decided to kill these people the moment he began to act. The reason for this? He noticed this carriage''s quality, which indicated a wealthy family behind these people.

    In this case, even if he released these people if they were innocent, the power behind them would not leave him untouched. So, to avoid the worst, he had already nned to eliminate each of them when he finished his investigation!

    Because of this, poor old Feller had paid the price for standing in this individual''s way!

    In any case, while rubbing his hands together, this man, who was almost at the peak of the 5th Transformation, reached the side of the right door of Elke''s carriage.

    As he did so, he ced his hands on the lock and noticed the noises inside it. ''Sounds like they are sleeping.''

    ''Perfect!''

    ''I will tie these two up and force them to tell what they know.'' His eyes narrowed, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. ''Since they''re both going to die, I''ll have fun with that girl before that, hehehe.''

    ''It would be a waste not to taste something so precious... And won''t it also be good for her? She''ll feel what it''s like to be a real woman before she dies! I bet no one has ever shown her what that''s like!'' He stepped forward as he slowly opened that wooden door.

    Swooish!

    The moment he entered that cabin, a dagger flew toward one of his eyes without giving him a chance to dodge it.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Sensing Lothur''s surprising movement, this man became unbnced and fell off the step of the carriage, bringing both his hands toward his eye.

    Meanwhile, Lothur jumped up from his seat and swung his ax, striking the defenseless abdomen of that person in agony.

    When that fellow saw this, he wanted to do something about it, but amidst the pain from his eye and his fall, he was at too much of a disadvantage to dodge.

    Not only that, Lothur was faster than he was, so besides being able to circte some of his energy into his defensive technique, this man was passive to his opponent.

    "No!" He tried to shout in desperation, but one of the sharp des of Lothur''s ax fell from above and hit the area near his belly button.

    Poof!

    Sounds of flesh being cut arose from his belly as his intestines were cut and crushed by that vicious blow from Lothur.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He lost control over his own body, howling in pain, not knowing what to think.

    Blows to the gut were one of the worst that one could suffer since the victim did not die immediately but rather from bleeding. Because of this, the pain of being wounded in that region was unbelievable, and soon that man began to suffer from his opponent''s second blow.

    "Ahhhh!"

    "Don''t worry. I won''t keep you alive!" Lothur coldly said as he pulled his ax back at him, bringing several pieces of that person''s insides with that de.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    As that man in ck screamed even more after Lothur retrieved his weapon, the silver-haired young man did not hesitate and used all his strength to sh his opponent''s neck.

    Puff!

    In the blink of an eye, therger de of Lothur''s ax touched the thin fellow''s neck, quickly severing it from the rest of his enemy''s body.

    With that, the screams finally stopped, while an expression of great pain was on the face of that now severed head.

    With that, Elke left the interior of that carriage as she realized that her man had handled the situation. "What about old Feller?" She asked as she looked to the sides and saw no one but Lothur and the corpse at his feet.

    Lothur looked toward the front of that carriage with his visual ability and sighed. "He is dead. That man killed him before he stopped the carriage." So, he said after noticing a cut on Feller''s throat.

    Gulp!

    "That..." Elke ran to the side of that fellow she had known for so many years and felt her eyes tear up.<sub> </sub>

    "Elke, I''m sorry," Lothur said as he wiped the blood from his weapons.

    He could have tried to act earlier and perhaps saved Feller''s life. But that would have been risky not only for him but for Elke, his priority in this ce.

    Thinking about it, Lothur did not regret his choices!

    If Feller dying meant Elke was safe, Lothur was okay with that!

    But of course, he would not say something like that to her since there was no need to say such out loud.

    So, after cleaning his weapons, he hugged his girl and consoled her for this loss, all the while watching his surroundings to avoid surprises.

    "Lothur, what shall we do now?" She asked in a saddened tone.

    "We will continue our journey back to Peters City. I guess there must be some map in old Feller''s things, right?" He looked into her eyes while still hugging her.

    "Hmm, probably..."

    "Then we will do that and take the bodies of those two to your family. Since this person killed someone from the Becker family, naturally, your parents will not ignore this matter, right?"

    "Yes, they will certainly avenge old Feller''s death!" She said, determined to seek justice.

    "Well, let''s do that." He pulled his beautifulpanion away from his arms and did what he was supposed to do, storing the bodies of those two while picking up their spatial rings.

    The enemy''s spatial ring, Lothur explored for something that could trace it, but when he realized there was nothing, he put it away to checkter. As for the coachman''s item, he took the maps and returned that man''s belongings to Elke.

    After identifying a helpful map for them on this trip, Lothur climbed into the front of that carriage, ready to go.

    "What are you doing?" He asked as he saw Elke sitting beside him.

    "I will be traveling here. I will not be alone inside the carriage while you are here." She replied as she hugged one of his arms.

    Lothur could not refute her wish and then suggested. "Come into myp. If you are only on my side, I won''t be as effective in protecting you from potential trouble."

    "Oh?" She smiled, sensing that he wanted to take advantage of her. "Hehe, that''s better then..."

    After that, Elke felt the protection and warmth of Lothur''s arms as she sat on his crotch. "It''s truly better to travel like this than by your side, dear..."

    Heughed but did not say much on the subject. "Unfortunately, we can''t have a rxing evening on this return to Peters City..."

    "Sigh!"

    "Really... But maybe we can get some rest when we get to my ce." She suggested as she looked back. "When we arrive, it will be very early, so we''ll still have time until we have to go to the academy."

    "Academy? You intend to go to the academy?" He asked in surprise. He thought she would spend the next few days at home to recover as much as possible.

    "Of course, I will! Do you think I''ll be left behind in Sector-1 without you? Besides, it will be easier for us to continue our things at the academy." She said in a determined tone.

    "I have my privacy at home, but if we overdo it, my parents might suspect our rtionship before you enter into business with my family."

    "So, that''s it? Well, I guess that''s okay." He thought about it for a while and saw the positive sides. "If we do the sector ascension trials together, it will be better. On the other hand, since we''re already changing sectors, we won''t have to attend sses this week."

    "That will give us time to do your treatment and train."

    "Train?" She asked in surprise.

    "Yes, I will train you in the traditional way, not just that other way..." He made a little smile as he said that. "Anyway, you need this to reach the 4th Transformation. So, we will spend a lot of time together this week."

    "Perfect!" She turned her face forward and murmured, pleased with his nning.

    She had learned to enjoy training recently because of her improvements. But by getting a chance to do this with Lothur, she felt even more excited about doing it!

 Chapter 166 Rancor 2

    Hourster...

    As the first rays of daylight slowly appeared on the horizon of the Peters City area, the carriage driven by Lothur passed one of the entrances to this city.

    However, unlike most of the way there, Elke was not sitting on hisp. Right now, she was hugging his left arm; her eyes closed while her head was leaning on one of her man''s shoulders.

    They were already arriving at their destination, so they would not show that much intimacy. For this reason, a few moments ago, she had changed position and sat down next to him.

    Anyway, while Elke got some sleep, something she had done most of the way here, Lothur drove that carriage to the Becker estate, seeing on his way the deserted streets at this time of day.

    ...

    "Patriarch, madam, we just spotted the youngdy arriving at the beginning of the street!" A servant said this as he entered the patriarch Becker''s workroom, where this man and his wife were.

    After a whole night of waiting, the two became increasingly worried about Elke''s tardiness. They had even sent people to look for her, fearful that something had happened.

    So, upon hearing that, the two got up from their seats and ran out of that estate with expressions of relief and disturbance.

    ''That brat! If he''s the one who made herte, I''ll have to teach him a lesson!'' So, Gomeric thought to himself as he ran ahead of his wife.

    And when they finally left their residence, the most important couple of this family soon came across Lothur driving Elke''s carriage, with this young woman at his side.

    Seeing that situation, the two frowned, not understanding the reason for this unusual situation.

    ''Where is old Feller?'' Elke''s mother wondered as she looked at the carriage slowly stopping beside the sidewalk they were standing on.

    "Lothur, what happened? Why are you only arriving now?" She asked in doubt as she watched her daughter wake up.

    "Madam, many things have happened. But to make a long story short, our mission was dyed by a setback, and then we were attacked." So Lothur said, looking at them as he prepared to help Elke down from where they were standing.

    "You were attacked?" Gomeric eximed in concern as he ignored the guards standing on the outskirts, ring at Lothur and Elke.

    By now, Elke had noticed their surroundings'' situation and told her parents. "As we returned, someone attacked us and killed old Feller!"

    "What?" Several voices arose from the surroundings of the entrance to the Becker estate, with the people there beginning to make ugly expressions.

    "Someone attacked you and killed old Feller?" Hilda asked, already feeling angry at the thought that someone had dared such a thing.

    But as she thought about how Feller was a 4th Transformation cultivator, she could not help but question. "What happened? Are you okay?"

    Feeling her mother''s hands touching her wrist, Elke jumped back and said. "We are fine. Luckily we were able to deal with the enemy when he underestimated us..."

    Lothur then gestured with his hand, and two bodies appeared on the sidewalk. "That was the man who attacked us, killed our coachman, and tried to capture us, patriarch, madam."

    At this moment, seeing the body of old Feller, who had served this family for over a century, Gomeric''s face darkened, and he eximed in anger. "Uneptable!"

    "How can a measly 5th Transformation cultivator challenge us like that? That is simply unforgivable!"

    "Heinz!" He shouted, causing one of the several men in the surrounding area toe forward in a sh.

    Gomeric looked at that person and said. "Take some men and start investigating this bastard who dared to attack us. Let''s make the people behind him pay for the death of old Feller!"

    "Yes, patriarch!"

    As Heinz left, Gomeric looked at Lothur and asked. "What happened? How did you get attacked? And more importantly, how did you defeat this person?"

    Lothur looked at that man and saw no way to escape this ce without telling the truth. He then gestured with one of his hands in the direction of the house, indicating for them to talk somewhere more private.<sub> </sub>

    Gomeric and Hilda understood this very well and saw no problem going along with what Lothur wanted.

    "Patriarch, I don''t know who this man is or why he attacked us. It all happened after we left Lewerenz,ing towards Peters City..." He exined how that person had stopped them near a canyon.

    Then, when they finally entered the patriarch''s residence and sat around a living room, Lothur said the most important thing. "... When he tried to enter the carriage cabin, I attacked him by surprise and killed him."

    "Uh?" Hilda eximed in surprise.

    Gomeric also found this strange and opened his mouth in shock to ask. "What? How is that possible? You''re not just..."

    "... A mortal?" Lothurpleted that man''s speech and smiled. "Actually, I am not, but I ask the patriarch and madam to keep the secret."

    Both of them frowned upon hearing this information. However, Lothur continued his speech so as not to generate more suspicion. "I identally ate a medicine that made me stronger and noticed the possibilities of body cultivation. After that, I started to follow that path secretly to surprise Viktoria..."

    "Anyway, because of that, I managed to reach the 6th Transformation, which allowed me to kill that person by surprise."

    "Oh? 6th Transformation?" The two looked at each other surprised that Lothur had already reached that level in body cultivation, even though he was so young.

    Body cultivation was more difficult than soul cultivation due to the need for great physical effort or resistance to pain to evolve. Hence, few could follow this path or even grow fast in it.

    But body cultivation was not a secret or something rarely seen in this world. On the contrary, even soul cultivators would take the chance to increase their physical strength if they had the chance to temper their bodies with resources or in a ce made for body cultivators.

    After all, it was not that difficult to get a technique of this kind, and improving their weaknesses was something that everyone sought.

    In this way, they did not find it so strange or suspicious that Lothur was not a mortal when they discovered that he was a body cultivator.

    It would be strange if he were a soul cultivator since that would imply that he was using something to hide...

    But body cultivation was tough to be noticed, and the chances of Lothur being involved in some plot would be less in this scenario. So, they felt reassured to hear his exnation.

    "So, that''s how you eliminated that person..." Gomeric sighed, wondering how blessed he had been that Lothur had been strong enough. ''I don''t know what I would do if I lost my little girl...''

    Hilda then questioned him. "But Lothur, why do you want to keep this a secret from your wife? Don''t tell me that the Frost family doesn''t know about it?"

    "They don''t know." Lothur realized the problem and exined it. "I started on that path after I married Viktoria. So, as far as they know, I''m just a mortal with no cultivation ability."

    "Oh? Does that mean you reached that level in less than a year?" Her eyes opened even wider at this absurd possibility.

    "I think the medicine I ate boosted my results a bit..." He lied.

    Hilda then looked at Gomeric, interested in this young man who seemed to have many exciting ideas. Before, he was just a clever mortal in her view. But now, Elke''s mother saw a little more in Lothur and could not help but reassess his figure.

    ''Is that all? This young man must be hiding more...'' Her eyes sharpened, and she decided to press him. "Lothur..."

    Realizing what her mother was going to do, Elke said. "Mom, dad, Lothur, and I are tired from the trip. Can you give us some time? We can talkter before we go to the academy."

    "Uh?" Gomeric looked at his daughter. "What do you mean? Is Lothur by any chance going to stay here until your time to go to the academy?"

    "That''s right."

    "He brought me here, so I won''t let hime home like this." She stood up and took one of her man''s hands. "I will let him rest in my residence, and I hope you will prepare a good breakfast for my hero!"

    ...

 Chapter 167 Trouble After The Mission

    Upon hearing Elke''s words, her parents momentarily looked at each other, trying to understand what was happening.

    But when they least expected it, Elke had already disappeared from that ce with Lothur, leaving the two with a strange feeling in their beings.

    "Did she just tell us to prepare breakfast for him?" Gomeric asked in disbelief.

    He had never imagined that his daughter wouldmand him and his wife to serve a man brought into their home by her!

    Lothur was her friend, but was not it an exaggeration for her to say that? That waspletely different from them inviting him to dinner!

    "Sigh..."

    "It seems our daughter wants to impress Lothur after being saved by him," Hilda remarked as she thought about how scary it must have been for Elke to be attacked by surprise.

    "Oh? So, that''s it..." Gomeric understood the situation and felt a little less bad about having to take orders from his daughter. "Well, it hasn''t even dawned properly yet, so it''s good to let them rest a bit."

    "In the meantime, let''s deal with this matter." He stood up to get out of there but was stopped by one of Hilda''s hands.

    "Gomeric, don''t you think there is something wrong with Elke? She looked tired..." Hilda asked her husband, remembering the pale appearance of that young redhead.

    "Come to think of it; she truly doesn''t look well." He frowned. "But that must be something from the incident they''ve been through. So, let''s let them rest untilter to worry about it."

    "If you want to call a doctorter, we will do that."

    "Sigh..."

    "All right."

    ...

    Three hours passed, and the breakfast smell had already reached Elke''s room.

    Lothur and Elke smelled the breakfast fragrance in that nicely decorated ce and smiled, looking into each other''s eyes.

    At the same time, they finally stopped hugging each other and felt their bodies disconnecting.

    Elke looked at the mess they had made these past few hours and the sweaty young man beside her while she was full of energy, even considering that she had not slept a single minute in the past few hours.

    "We have to take a shower, or my parents will find out what we were doing..." She said in a funny tone to him amidst her slightly gasping breath.

    "You''re right..." He stood up and waved one of his hands at her, calling her into the shower.

    "You go ahead. I must eliminate this smell from my room, or the maids will say things they shouldn''t..." She blushed at the mention of that trace left by the mixed bodily fluids of the two of them.

    "Hehe, well, I''ll wait for you in the bathroom..." Lothur smiled as he noted her status before heading to his bath.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3 (weakened)]

    [STR: 1.37] [CON: 3.42] [DEX: 2.53] [AGI: 2.7]

    ''Elke probably can''t train her techniques seriously until she can regain her former status.''

    ''But at this pace, she will achieve that after one more treatment session with me.'' He pondered this as he began to wash up, already nning how to handle his girl''s advancement to level 4.

    ''When we get to the academy, I will take care of her one more time and start training her inbat after we take today''s tests.''

    He then felt two handsing from behind his body, passing between his arms and squeezing him. "Are you in need of help getting cleaned up?" Elke''s sweet voice sounded.

    "Hmmm..." He nodded before he felt Elke helping himther himself up.

    As one helped the other, he had something on his mind and soon exposed his thoughts to her. "Elke, if I want toe to spend the night with you, is there a way for me to infiltrate this ce without drawing the attention of your parents?"

    "Uh? You want toe to sleep with me?" She was surprised by this question.

    "Well, I want to make sure you get to the 4th transformation by Friday night, so we need an intensive treatment for you..." He turned to her and saw her eyes sparkling.

    "I see... Well, it''s not impossible."<sub> </sub>

    "If you disguise yourself as one of the servants in my residence, I''m sure you can gain ess to my room..." She exined to him some details, nning how to do such a thing.

    After talking about it for about 20 minutes, the two finished their shower and got dressed for breakfast with Elke''s parents.

    ...

    As they sat next to Hilda and Gomeric, Lothur and Elke soon heard what they had discussed earlier.

    "Lothur, you don''t have to worry about your secret. We won''t tell anyone about it." Elke''s fathermented as he had a cup of tea in one of his hands.

    "Hehe, thanks for that, patriarch."

    "No, I thank you for taking care of Elke and bringing her back home safely." He looked thoughtfully at Lothur, noticing how rxed his little girl seemed upon returning home.

    Hilda also noticed how Elke''s appearance had improved and could not help but sigh in relief. ''Apparently, she just needed some rest... I''m d it was nothing serious.''

    "Elke, why don''t you stay home today? I feel you''re still tired from that trip and need more rest." She suggested.

    But Elke promptly refused. "No. Today Lothur and I will start the exams to advance in sectors at the academy. So, I can''t miss it, or I''ll fall behind. But, on the other hand, I am well, mom."

    "You will see, when I return at the end of the day, there will no longer be any trace of my fatigue on my face!" She smiled at her family, already anticipating the results she would haveter...

    "Is that so?" Hilda asked as she looked at her daughter, who seemed to be bing rebellious. "Well, don''t go trying too hard then."

    She then looked at Lothur and thanked him. "Thank you for all you have done for my little girl, Lothur. You don''t know how important she is to us."

    "Hmm, no need to thank me, madam. Elke and I are like family. So, I would do anything for her."

    Gomeric and Hilda smiled as they heard that once again, feeling much more natural hearing those words from Lothur on this asion.

    "All right, keep it up. Having that kind of partnership is not bad!" Gomericughed. But then he became more serious and said to Lothur. "As for yesterday''s problem, leave that to us. We will take care of the investigations and subsequent punishments about the previous incident."

    "Oh? I''m d to hear that."

    ...

    After breakfast, Lothur and Elke made their way to the Morning Star Academy, where it was not long before they were surprised by someone.

    "Lothur!" A female scream broke out amidst the crowd of students arriving at that ce for the start of sses after the weekend.

    Hearing that, they both identified the source of that melodious voice, which at the moment carried a tone of concern and relief.

    "Anna..." Lothur saw the pretty face of his sister-inw, while Elke looked with knitted eyebrows in the direction of the brown-haired woman.

    "Lothur, where have you been? Why didn''t you return homest night?" Annaliese agitatedly asked, feeling her little heart beating strongly in her chest.

    She had spent the entire night worrying about him. Not only that, the entire Frost family was already searching for the missing Lothur, fearful about his condition.

    "Anna, don''t be so nervous. I was just a littlete..."

    Lothur smiled at her and massaged the back of the beauty who had embraced him without hesitation.

    "What happened?" She insisted as she looked away and saw her rival.

    "It''s a long story. I''ll tell you about itter, okay?"

    "Sigh!"

    "All right, but let me warn you first. Whatever your reason, I''m afraid you won''t escape a long talk with my mother."

    "She was worried, but when she sees you well, she will put that aside to put pressure on you. She will punish you for your dy." She said in concern of her brother-inw once again losing control over his rage and feeling more anger at being in the Frost family.

    "So, that''s it..."

    She looked into his eyes and said. "Please, ignore whatever my mother tells you."

    ...

 Chapter 168 Understanding Between Women

    Seeing Annaliese''s little eyes looking at him intensely, Lothur could not help but sigh in defeat, wondering how he would escape his poisonous mother-inw.

    Annaliese saw the concern in his eyes and felt terrible that her family was causing him so many headaches. And seeing Elke beside him, she could not help but feel threatened. ''I can''t let this girl take him!''

    ''I have to do something, fast!''

    "All right, Anna, let''s go somewhere to talk in privacy." He turned away from her and led the way to his and Elke''s room in the local dormitory.

    After walking for a few moments, they arrived at that ce and sat down on a sofa there.

    Elke sat on Lothur''s right side and Annaliese on the left, both feeling him squeezing their waists.

    "Anna, this weekend..." He then began to tell all that had happened to him and Elke, how Elise had attacked them, the young redhead''s troubling state, and the attack on their return to Peters City.

    When Lothur talked about it, Elke tried to stop him, but he wanted his women to have a friendly rtionship, so he used this situation to soften Annaliese''s heart.

    That was also a chance for him to make Annaliese understand that he would need to spend more time with Elke than he usually did for at least this week.

    Upon hearing all this, Annaliese had been shocked, having looked at Elke without knowing what to say and noting how much such a woman should have spent with him. It made her realize how selfish her thoughts were of taking Elke away from Lothur just so she could be with him without more people to get in her way.

    She was also shocked to learn about the fantastic abilities Lothur had gained on this trip and that he had gotten something as valuable as a Soul Bone. But more importantly, she could not help but be speechless upon finding out that he was treating Elke by making love with the young redhead!

    "Are you serious?" She looked at the two of them thoughtfully, trying to understand if Lothur was saying that to hurry her into her involvement with him or if it was something else.

    "Do you want proof? Maybe for me to show you?" Elke looked at her provocatively.

    ? "I would love to," Annaliese said naively, not entirely understanding what Elke''s words implied.

    Lothur opened his eyes in surprise at hearing this and asked. "Are you serious, Anna? Do you want to see me and Elke do this?"

    "Uh?" Annaliese made a strange expression as Elkeughed at her misunderstanding.

    "No! Obviously, I don''t want to see you two doing that!" She turned red and stood up,ing face to face with the two of them. "How can you think of that, Lothur? Even if I agree to share you, I will not watch you with others! Smelling her is bad enough!"

    "Agree to share?" Elke asked, still smiling. "Isn''t it the other way around? As far as I know, he and I started our rtionship long before you..."

    "Tsk!" She momentarily turned her face away but remembered what had happened to Elke.

    "I''m sorry, Elke. You''ve been through a lot and deserve to be with Lothur. It''s just that I''m a little possessive, and I need some time to adjust..."

    Elke turned serious. "I''m possessive too, so that''s fine. We''ll get used to the situation little by little."

    "Hmmm."

    "Perfect!" Lothurughed and then asked Annaliese. "When I told you to watch us do this, I meant it. If you want, just stay here since I''ll be spending the rest of the morning doing Elke''s treatment."

    The two women blushed at these words, looking at each other in embarrassment at how open he was.

    He then continued. "But if you just want proof, then feel Elke''s pulse now. Then,ter you will be able to analyze the difference between the before and after."

    "I''m sure it won''t be small."

    She looked into his eyes for a moment and then replied. "I''ll take the second alternative..."

    Lothurughed as he heard that and then saw Annaliese checking Elke''s pulse before she left to attend her sses.

    Unlike him and Elke, Annaliese did not have a week off from sses because of sector ascension exams. So, she could not stay there even if she wanted to since she still needed to learn many things before going to Sector-5.<sub> </sub>

    As for Lothur and Elke, they would have their first round of exams in the afternoon, so they soon went back to their activities.

    ...

    When it reached the middle of the day, Lothur and Elke finished their business and left that dormitory toward one of the Sector-1 canteens.

    As they did so, the silver-haired man looked closely at his red-hairedpanion''s status, satisfied with their efforts'' results.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 1.7] [CON: 4.32] [DEX: 3.1] [AGI: 3.3]

    ''She finally regained her Strength, Dexterity, and Agility attributes...'' Lothur sighed as he saw that, feeling that he would be able to do somebat training with herter.

    "How are you feeling, Elke?" He asked after they sat down at a table to eat.

    She took her eyes off the food on her te and answered. "I feel like my strength has recovered to its previous state, but I still have a strange feeling in my body."

    "What is that like?"

    "It is simr to the sensation we feel when we are falling asleep. It''s not so strong that I get distracted or fall asleep, but it''s simr to that." She exined.

    Lothur''s eyes narrowed at this information, and he saw that although she was recovering, there were several streams of dark energy in her body.

    "Give me one of your hands." He showed his right hand to her, still watching in the direction of her chest with his visual ability activated at maximum.

    Elke understood that he was not just looking at her breasts and gave her left hand to him.

    After that, Lothur''s pupils turned red and a pattern of the same color formed around his eyes.

    Seeing the pentagram circling on her lover''s forehead, Elke realized that this must be the magical ability that had saved her life and looked to the sides, worried about being seen.

    But since they were in one of the quiet corners of the canteen when this ce had just opened, no one there seemed to be paying attention to them.

    Then, red mist appeared on Lothur''s right hand, quickly entering Elke''s body.

    Elke noticed that the previous sensation subtly diminished while her focus seemed much more significant at this moment.

    [EVF: 0.2]

    Lothur saw this attribute diminish considerably and stopped what he was doing after only 5 seconds from when he began this vitality transfer to Elke.

    ''Bloodline is truly a marvelous thing. Even though I have just awakened it, I feel an incredible connection to it and a lot of ease in using it.'' So, he thought as he noticed the gleam in Elke''s eyes.

    ''That must be the advantage of a power thates from oneself and not from a technique, I suppose...''

    "Lothur, thank you..." She squeezed his hand, feeling much better.

    But as they lovingly gazed into each other''s eyes, Anneke saw them from a distance and approached them.

    "You two, why didn''t youe to my ss today?"

    ...

 Chapter 169 The First Day Of Testing

    Having seen how close Lothur and Elke seemed a moment ago, Anneke felt that perhaps he was behind this redhead''s first miss in geopolitics ss.

    And already knowing how shameless and pushy Lothur was, she could not help but worry about this bad influence at Elke''s side. So, she approached the two and asked why they had not attended ss today.

    Seeing Anneke sitting next to her, Lothur turned to her and smiled. "Anne, did you miss us today?"

    "Anne?" Elke looked awkwardly at her teacher.

    Anneke blushed at being called like that in front of Elke and turned to Lothur with an upset expression on her face. But she restrained herself and asked the redhead. "Elke, what happened? Why didn''t youe to ss earlier today?"

    While listening to Elke''s answer, Anneke was now and then secretly spying on Lothur. She was a woman, so she soon realized that there was a big difference between today''s him and the one who kissed her the week before. ''He looks more handsome... What happened?''

    "... Because of this, we will no longer be attending sses in Sector-1, Professor Koch." Elke finished speaking.

    Anneke looked at Lothur and felt surprised. "So, you are already moving up a sector? I understand Elke''s case, but aren''t you being too hasty?"

    "Anne, I am different from these children in Sector-1. For me, this period has already been considerably prolonged." He confidently said. "But don''t worry, I''ll still see you after I get to Sector-2."

    "Humph!"

    "You think I''m worried about not seeing you?" She ignored Elke to stare at him. "It''s much better that way for me! I was already tired of seeing you in my sses!"

    "Really?" Heughed, knowing that was not in the least bit true. "Anyway, it won''t be long before you and I have sses in the same sector... Won''t that be fun, Anne? The three of us will be students in the same sector in the future, maybe ssmates..."

    "Tsk!"

    She turned to the redhead and asked, pointing to Lothur. "Elke, how can you stand to be with this person?"

    Elke justughed upon hearing that before Lothur asked. "Speaking of sectors, are you part of any factions, Anne? I will soon be joining my wife''s, so it would be convenient for us to all be in the same faction..."

    "Oh? You''re quite full of yourself, eh?" She bit her lips and looked at him. "Why would I want to be in the same faction as you? To please you?"

    "So we can do group missions in the future. Aren''t you already helping me with that thing? Wouldn''t it be easier to act together? That way, being in the same faction might be convenient." He seriously said.

    Her eyes sharpened, and she remembered something. "Well, that''s true... But about that, maybe I can get something for you by Friday."

    Lothur was interested to hear this, remembering how vital the metal leaves were to him. "Then let''s arrange to meet on Friday."

    "Sigh!"

    "All right." She remembered thest time they had met to talk about this subject, and her body heat rose a few degrees. "Anyway, I''m part of the Draconic Feathers, so it''s not going to happen that we''re from the same faction."

    "Is that so? What a shame..." He whined as Elke looked doubtfully at him, trying to understand what they were talking about.

    Anneke stood and looked at them onest time before walking out of there. "Since you will take exams to move up a sector, we''ll seeter."

    "Hmm, see youter..." Lothur nodded at her and then turned his attention back to Elke.<sub> </sub>

    "What were you talking about?" She asked.

    "I''ll exin to you about thatter. Now, let''s start with our tests to Sector-2?" He gave one of his hands to her.

    Lothur and Elke were going to take the exams to move up a sector, but they had different amounts of exams to take. That was because he was only a student of themon subjects, and she had, in addition, the spiritual subjects.

    So, while Lothur would have two tests daily from today until Friday, Elke would have three on most days, with four on thest.

    With this, they would only take the first two exams together each day, with Elke having to stay at the academy to finish the others.

    But this would not hinder them at all. That''s because the tests for ascending sectors at this institution were entirely individual.

    The collective events at the academy were training, missions, special asions, etc. That had its uses in ranking the students since, in higher sectors, only collective missions could give enough merit points for someone to grow within this institution.

    Thus, even without directly testing their students'' collective skills during the sector ascension exams, the Morning Star Academy had their methods of assessing this in their students.

    Someone unable to form teams and get results would naturally have fewer merit points, making it harder for him to ascend a sector!

    Thus, Lothur and Elke would not test in pairs and took the exams together because one did not want to leave the other behind. Also, taking the tests in the same week put their schedules in sync, something positive for their interests.

    So, they went ahead with their ns, heading for the testing area in Sector-1, where the Spiritual Language exam was scheduled to begin in a few minutes.

    The standard subject tests were all straightforward exams, where students would only have to answer questions, take specific exercises, in short, prove their abilities.

    Only the tests of spiritual subjects involved certainplications. But even they were not thatplicated, at least not for Elke, who had already passed the minimum level necessary for her to ascend to Sector-2.

    She would at most have a little more work than Lothur, having to fight a friendly match, use her cultivation to solve certain formations, and talk about some spiritual theory.

    With that said, even though she had more trouble ahead of her than Lothur, Elke was at ease since she had been preparing for this for quite some time.

    "Are you prepared?" Elke asked him as they stopped outside the Spiritual Language teacher''s ssroom.

    "Yes, although I have had little time, I have an easy time learning..." He ignored the other students in the surrounding area, looking into her eyes. "Anyway, today will be easy. First, we''ll solve the Spiritual Language test and then the Geopolitics one."

    "Hmmm."

    "After that, we''ll do somebat training. I will also give you one more dose of your treatment before we talk with Anna, and then I''ll leave you off at the site of yourst exam."

    "Aren''t you going to wait for me?" She asked.

    "No. I want to take care of some business while you take yourst test. Anyway, as soon as I settle my affairs at the Frost estate, I wille to your residence." He smiled at her, making her blush.

    "Fine, but be carefulter..."

    After that, the ssroom door opened, and the students there, Lothur and Elke, began to enter the examination room.

 Chapter 170 Problems Of The Heart

    Hours passed, and in this instant, Lothur and Elke had just finished their treatment session after taking the Spiritual Language and Geopolitics exams.

    They had also fought during this period, with Lothur having used his theories on how to press weaker cultivators based on attribute values.

    Because of this, as they walked towards the exit of the academy, Lothur was smiling, pleased with how Elke''s situation was improving.

    She had improved by a little over 0.8 in Constitution in this period and had also increased her Strength a little. Besides, her results were not as significant in the other attributes since her talent was different from Lothur''s.

    In any case, this was only the beginning of herbat training, and to see it improving was already very good.

    Thus, the two soon ran into Annaliese on their way out of the academy.

    "So, how are you doing?" She asked as she looked curiously at Elke.

    Elke smiled and gave her right hand to Annaliese. "You can feel for yourself..."

    "Oh? What? All this?" Annaliese readily noticed the difference in terms of the quality of Elke''s Constitution.

    "Shocked, eh? Will the second Miss Frost feel the temptation and give herself to Lothur after that?" Elke teased, smiling at the expression on Annaliese''s face.

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t talk nonsense. I don''t need any encouragement to..."

    "Oh?"

    Realizing what she was talking about, Annaliese blushed in embarrassment and ran toward her carriage, afraid that Lothur would face her at this moment.

    Lothur saw this with a smile on his face. "Anna, don''t wait for me. I am not returning to your family''s estate now. I have a business to attend to."

    "What? Where are you going?" She put her shame aside and stopped running to look back.

    "With this mission with Elke, I learned the real value of medicine. Previously I didn''t want to waste my time doing this, but for the sake of you all, I need to be prepared for anything." He said in seriousness as he saw Annaliese return to him and Elke.

    "On that ount, I have decided to start learning this profession. Then I will go to Doctor Snee''s estate. He had promised me to help me with this..."

    "Doctor Snee? So you will go to that ce?" She asked, interested in that. "Then I will go with you!"

    ''Since you will spend most of your time this week with Elke, I will take advantage of the few opportunities I have!''

    "Well, if you want to go, then let''s leave Elke off at her exam ce, and we''ll do that..." Hemented before doing so and heading alongside Annaliese to that doctor''s property.

    <o>,m As the brother and sister-inw left the academy, another student ran after them, alerting them.</o>

    Looking back and seeing a level 5 person dressed in the uniforms of the Morning Star Academy, Lothur frowned, trying to understand who that was. ''Sigh! I have many enemies... But I wonder, who is this?''

    "What are you doing chasing us?" He seriously asked such a person, while Annaliese also began to pay attention to the student with a disturbed expression on his face.

    "Where is Elise? What have you done with her?" He asked this with a tone that clearly showed that he was worried sick.

    Lothur watched this person for a moment, realizing that he knew something. "Elise? I don''t know what you are talking about. What would I do with her?"

    "Don''t y dumb, worm!" He bellowed, causing his saliva to leave his mouth while his eyes fluttered, showing their redness to Lothur and Annaliese.<sub> </sub>

    Annaliese realized something was wrong with this person and began to get angry. "Watch how you talk, brat. Call my brother-inw like that again, and I''ll break both your arms and legs!"

    That student, Elise''s previous contact at the Morning Star Academy, ignored the beauty on Lothur''s side and said to him. "I know she went out after you, Lothur! I know she wouldn''t let you get away!"

    "But you''re here, and she''s not... Damn it! Tell me what you''ve done! Tell me what happened to her!"

    "Oh? It looks like you''re pretty involved with her, huh?" Lothur''s eyes grew cold. "You want to know what happened to her? Come with me to a quieter ce, and I''ll tell you."

    "Tell me now, worm! If you don''t, I''ll spread the word to the whole city that..." He was saying this, but Annaliese could no longer bear to hear this person disrespecting Lothur and the Frost family and attacked.

    She used enough force to hurt him but not kill, by kicking his knees and then his arms as he fell to the ground, already agonizing in pain.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    People on the outskirts of that street looked in the direction from which the screams of the student in question wereing, with many already turning away and others gaining interest in the situation.

    "Hey! What are you doing?" One of the city guards in the vicinity ran over there, concerned about any of those people breaking the localws.

    Upon arriving there, he soon realized Annaliese''s identity. "Second Miss Frost, what is the meaning of this?"

    "This person was disturbing us, and I warned him that I would attack him if he continued. He insisted, so I did as promised..." She peacefully said.

    Local rules said that no one, except for local government forces, could kill within the city or cause widespread fights that disturbed the public peace.

    But making a single attack and immobilizing an opponent was not necessarily a crime. It was something to worry about and could cause a lot of problems. But no one with Annaliese''s status would be arrested in this city just for doing what she did.

    So, she calmly responded, not caring what other people would think of that situation.

    "That..." The guard looked at the young man in agony but could not identify him. ''Causing trouble for the Frost family seems to be our leader''s preference, but I don''t know this brat.''

    ''He is irrelevant...'' The guardmented how useless that victim was and soon began to control the incident scene. ''Perhaps I should...''

    Meanwhile, Lothur steadily watched in the direction of that young man, feeling that such a person must have had some involvement in Elise''s earlier action.

    ''Hmm, someone informed that bitch about my mission with Elke. It must have been you, huh?'' He felt Annaliese''s hands touching his arm, but he stood still, staring hatefully at that person. ''Anyone connected with that woman''s actions is my enemy!''

    "Lothur?" Annaliese realized that he did not look well and called his name. "What''s the matter? What are you thinking?"

    "Anna, who is this person? Do you know him? Do you know how I can find him?" He deeply asked.

    She frowned her eyebrows and then answered him. "I don''t know him, but considering the pin on his clothes, I have an idea where to find him."

    "Oh? Tell me about it."

    Before answering him, she asked. "What do you want with him?"

    "I naturally want to solve our problems. This person seems to be rted to what happened with Elke..." He clenched his fists as he said this.

    ...

 Chapter 171 Unexpected Visit

    "Lothur..."

    "Sigh! All right, I''ll tell you, but be careful, okay? There are a lot of problems with acting out against academy students or getting caught doing certain things in our city." She walked back beside him toward their former destination.

    Annaliese would not try to convince Lothur not to do whatever was on his mind. After all, she understood all too well what it meant to be a cultivator, how they solved their problems, and how important it was to be decisive in this world.

    Not only that, after being moved by what had happened to Elke, she could not help but support him in this decision. If it were her in that redhead''s ce, she would feel protected to find out how severe Lothur was in dealing with the matter.

    So, she soon exined to him how to find that student from the Morning Star Academy, having finalized that conversation when they arrived at Doctor Snee''s estate.

    "Thank you, Anna. And don''t worry, I''m stronger than that person, and I have my methods."

    "Hmm, I''m curious to see how much you''ve improved after absorbing that Soul Bone." She smiled at him, hardly able to wait for the mission the two of them would be doing in the next few days.

    "You''ll see..." Hemented when they finally reached the reception area of that property, where Sofie was organizing some papers.

    "Sofie, I''m here to talk about the previous matter..." He said, catching the attention of that violet-haired woman.

    Upon hearing that distinguished voice, Sofie looked toward the entrance of that ce and was surprised to see the most handsome man in the city there. "Lothur!" She said in surprise, not expecting this man toe to this ce today.

    "Lothur, what do you..." She was about to say but realized Annaliese was standing next to him. "You!"

    ''Does she n to do that again?'' The violet-haired beauty felt afraid for Lothur, remembering the strange fetish Annaliese seemed to have.

    "Hmm, good to see you again, Miss Carl." Annaliese greeted her, not knowing how bad her reputation was among the people in this doctor''s office.

    "So, Sofie, is your boss here? I''ve decided to learn this profession, so I''m here to take advantage of the opportunity he has made avable to me." Lothur was straight to the point.

    She was surprised to hear this since Lothur seemed determined not to follow this path the other time. ''Has something changed? Perhaps...'' She looked once more at Annaliese. ''It''s not strange. He wants to protect himself from her!''

    ''Poor thing!'' Her heart softened, but since there was nothing she could do to get Lothur out of Annaliese''s clutches, she just did what was at her disposal.

    "Lothur, wait a moment. My master is already finishing attending to a patient."

    After hearing this, Lothur sat next to Annaliese on a sofa in that reception area, where he would wait for 5 minutes until Doctor Snee was free to receive him.

    "Young man, you''ve changed your mind, eh?" The bulging-bellied man smiled as he appeared in that reception area and looked at Lothur.

    "Hmm, many things have happened recently, and I''ve noticed how important medicine is to my life. So, I''m here to discuss getting started in this field." He stood up and greeted Snee.

    Annaliese followed him, having spoken to that man before entering his office.

    Doctor Snee saw Annaliese and decided to ask. "Young Lothur, how have you been? Any problems like the previous ones?"

    Lothurughed as he remembered the state he had been in the times this man had helped him. "Fortunately, no. I think my skin has be resilient from then to now, so this situation won''t be as frequent... I guess."

    "Oh? That''s better." He ''understood'' the situation.<sub> </sub>

    "Well, let''s talk about serious stuff." He took some books from a cab in his office and ced them in front of Lothur.

    "If you want to learn my profession, you will first have to learn about the human body and the effect of substances on it."

    "That is initially theoretical work, but it will give you work for at least a few months, depending on your talent. After that wille the practical phase, in which you must associate your theoretical knowledge with reality."

    He looked into Lothur''s eyes and sat in his armchair. "That will take a few years."

    "Years?" Annaliese was the one who asked, surprised that just a young beginner learning the basics of this profession would take years.

    It was not easy to learn whatever the professions were. But there was a difference between learning the basics and mastering the skills of a 1-star professional.

    So, while it was customary for cultivators to take years to be peak 1-star professionals, learning the basics usually did not take that long. Even more, considering someone with Lothur''s talents.

    Annaliese was not sure what his talent was. But considering that he had learned the professions of poison master, formation master, and tailor in a matter of days, she knew he had good talent.

    In this case, it seemed an exaggeration to say that it would take him years to master what was necessary to start practicing medicine.

    Doctor Snee then said to her. "Yes, years. Medicine is not asplicated as the profession of formation masters, for example, but our professionals have to remember a lot more things."

    "There are many variables, diseases, and conditions that have simr symptoms, and each body works in its way. That''s not extreme, but it''s enough to make diagnosis and treatment difficult."

    "Because of this, after we learn the theory, we have to test our skills for quite a while until we gain the necessary experience. That''s why it takes us longer than other professionals to be able to start practicing our field."

    Lothur heard this and agreed, feeling that it did indeed make sense. "No matter, I am prepared to master medicine, whatever time it takes to do so."

    "Oh?" Sofia looked at him, finding this change in Lothur magnificent. ''It seems that this woman is scaring him! He''s so determined... He must be worried about his own life!''

    "Good!" Doctor Snee liked to see the determination in Lothur''s silver eyes. "Good, then I''ll lend you those books. Then,e to me when you''ve mastered the theory, and I''ll allow you to apany Sofie on some consultations."

    "She''s already a 1-star doctor, so she''ll be able to evaluate you during her consultations."

    "Really?" Lothur looked at that violet-haired woman.

    Sofie smiled and said. "Hehe, I am almost at the highest point of my rank. I will soon start preparing to learn the basics of 2-star."

    Spiritual professionals of the same rank were not necessarily equal. For example, some alchemists could produce products with 100% purity and others with 20%. This difference was precisely the level of mastery of the professional of that rank, which was independent of the cultivation level.

    On the other hand, when changing ssifications, a doctor like Sofie naturally had to relearn certain concepts, using a moreplex approach that only with an increase in cultivation stage would be possible.

    So, even knowing that Sofie was at level 8, Lothur had no way of knowing her position as a 1-star doctor, nor how far she was from a qualitative breakthrough. Thus, he was positively surprised to hear that.

    "Well, I thank you in advance for the opportunity. Once I do that, I wille to you for help, Sofie..."

 Chapter 172 Time To Face The Mother-In-Law

    After the previous conversation, Lothur and Annaliese said goodbye to Doctor Snee and Sofie, with the medical practice already arranged to take ce whenever he was ready.

    So, they headed back to the Frost family estate, where Lothur would have to face his angry mother-inw after beingte returning home.

    ...

    The moment they arrived at that estate, the first person Lothur and Annaliese saw was Viktoria, who was waiting for them in the living room of her parents'' house.

    The Frost family servants had already found out that Lothur had arrived in Peters City earlier and then went to the Morning Star Academy. As such, she and her parents were already aware of this.

    Since she was ying a dangerous game with Lothur and still had her concerns about his tardiness, Viktoria could not help but wait for him there.

    "Lothur, why didn''t you returnst night as promised?" She asked as she stood before him and looked into those silver eyes.

    Each member of the Frost family had to ask permission to leave the city for more than a day, as in the case of what he had done.

    Even Viktoria would have to do this since the family needed to know the location of its members and departure and arrival times to know when or not to start an investigation.

    Otherwise, how would the family know that a member is missing? How could they send out search or even rescue teams?

    That was the point.

    Because of this, since Lothur had asked to stay out only until Sunday night, a whole problem had broken out with the possibility of his disappearance or even death.

    "Sigh..." Lothur looked at his wife and already felt the headache of having to exin himself to people who normally did not give a damn about him. "I''ll talk about it with your parents in a few moments, so let''s leave it to talk about it in one go..."

    Viktoria frowned but did not think his answer was bad. "All right, but tell me something. How are you? Are you hurt?"

    Annaliese then said. "Sister, don''t worry about Lothur. He has a good exnation for what happened, so please stay at his side and talk to mother so she doesn''t take it hard on him."

    "Stay at his side?" Viktoria looked strangely at her younger sister.

    "Sure, isn''t that the role of a wife? And as I said, he has reason on his side. Thus, you must protect him from our mother. Otherwise, she can punish him even though he is not at fault." Annaliese exined as she took one of Lothur''s hands.

    Viktoria saw this and then made her move, separating the hands of those two. "Let me see how you are..."

    ''Hmm? His skin seems softer and more resistant...'' She touched Lothur''s hand and soon forgot about spiritually analyzing him as she watched the developed muscles of his left forearm.

    ''Why does he seem to be getting stronger and stronger? Can mortals train and have such good results?''

    Lothur felt his wife beginning to feel both his forearms, approaching him in a way she had never done of her own volition before. ''Viktoria... You truly are risking a lot, huh? Well, I can only enjoy the situation.''

    He licked his lips and hugged her. "Oh, dear wife, I knew you were worried, but to greet me with a hug? Well, I didn''t expect that..."

    Viktoria felt the warmth of Lothur''s arms around her waist and had the instinct to pull him away and hit him on the face. But remembering her carrot strategy, she swallowed that urge and let him hug her.

    ''You''re taking advantage of me, but I''ll leave it just so you understand what you''re missing...'' She closed her eyes as she smelled the manly scent of his body.

    At that instant, Mabel and Aiken appeared in that part of their residence.

    Viktoria and Annaliese''s mother looked at this scene, her eyes sharpened, not understanding how her precious daughter could allow herself to be touched by that scumbag.

    As for Aiken, he just closed his eyes and coughed twice.

    "Cough! Cough!"<sub> </sub>

    Upon realizing this, Viktoria immediately turned away from Lothur, red with embarrassment at having been seen like that with him.

    Aiken then looked at Lothur and asked. "What happened? Why didn''t you returnst night?"

    But before Lothur even had a chance to answer, his mother-inw said in a harsh tone. "Whatever it is, be prepared to pay for your mistakes! I will no longer ept that you live the way you want and still break the family rules!"

    "After exining yourself, you will spend the night in the punishment hall to learn more discipline." She said as she coldly looked into his eyes.

    Annaliese saw how Lothur''s normally calm expression had changed and then moved in front of her mother. "No, mother. Lothur is not to me for what happened. It''s unfair for him to pay for being a victim!"

    "Tsk!"

    "Victim?" Aiken stepped forward, trying to hear the truth before his wife attacked Lothur a few more times. "What happened?"

    "Answering the father-inw, when I was on a mission with Elke Becker, a friend from Sector-1 of the academy, Elise, Viktoria''s servant, attacked us."

    "What?" Viktoria jumped in surprise, not expecting Elise to dare something like this.

    Previously Lothur had suspicions about Elise, but these two had always gotten along badly. So, without any evidence to prove that servant''s guilt, Viktoria and this family had considered the matter to be the intrigues of the two.

    Hence, she naturally did not expect that Elise was, in fact, trying to act against Lothur.

    Aiken and Mabel were also shocked by this information since it was a grave situation for a servant to turn against a master.

    Lothur might only be a son-inw in this family, but ultimately he was above almost every servant in the hierarchy of this organization.

    "Lothur, what are you talking about?" The father-inw insisted.

    The silver-haired young man then said. "While Elke and I were doing our mission, Elise attacked us by surprise and almost killed us."

    "She surprisingly was not a mortal, but a 5th Transformation cultivator!" He said as he gestured with his hands and added some lies to his story. "If it weren''t because we entered an underground chamber with a strange power acting, we would have died!"

    "Luckily, just before she killed us, a strange phenomenon happened there, killing her."

    "5th Transformation?" Mabel looked at Aiken. "How is that possible? Doesn''t that girl''s record say she was just a mortal?"

    "Yes, that should be the case..." Aiken looked at the ground, trying to guess what could exin this problem.

    But Lothur did not give them time to overthink it and stated his suspicions. "Father-inw, a few weeks ago, I heard some people on the estate talking about acting against the family to take power from you."

    "I believe that the same person having these traitorous ideas is behind the entrance of a cultivator posing as a mortal into this family."

    "Oh?" He looked wide-eyed at Lothur.

    "Did someone say that? And why didn''t you tell us right away?" Mabel said with an ugly expression on her face.

    "I had no evidence, and I knew you wouldn''t believe me." He closed his eyes and shook his shoulders.

    "So you have evidence now?" She asked.

    ...

 Chapter 173 Enemies Of The Frost Family

    "Yes, I have." Lothur pulled out the two letters he had found in Elise''s belongings. "These are letters she intended to send after she killed me."

    "They are to someone named Carl Stauss and Kai Berger. In them, you can see they ordered my death and have contacts within the family that go beyond Elise."

    Mabel and Aiken approached Lothur and took those pieces of paper, promptly starting to analyze such messages.

    "Uneptable! Who dares do that?" Aiken brandished as he noticed Elise''s words, feeling like a fool for having allowed traitorous to spread within his noble family.

    Meanwhile, Mabel could not help but forget the trouble caused by Lothur to turn her full attention to this matter. "Who did you see talking about acting against us?"

    Lothur then truthfully answered. "I don''t know. I only overheard two people talking and almost got caught up in it."

    "Then, as soon as I heard enough, I ran away without checking who was talking about it." He said while being watched by Viktoria and Annaliese.

    Thetter was surprised since she had not heard anything of the sort from Lothur. However, considering how much she knew about him, she was in doubt whether he was making all this up or if it was, in fact, true.

    Viktoria then asked. "Couldn''t you identify these people? It''s vague to tell us that there are traitors in the family. We have thousands of members!"

    He looked at her and replied. "The female voice I honestly wouldn''t know how to identify. But the male voice I heard that day was not strange to me. I feel like I''ve been with that person before."

    "Oh?" Aiken seriously looked at Lothur. "So, if you heard it again, you would know how to identify it?"

    "Maybe..." Lothur put one of his hands on his chin to think about it. "But I, at the very least, can indicate the ones with the most chance of being the culprit. Thus, I think I can help you with that, father-inw."

    "Good! Good!"

    "Lothur, keep the secret about that. In a few days, we will have an asion to organize our teams attending the Province Conference. Many important family members will attend, so I want you to apany me."

    "After the asion, you will tell me the names of those who may be the person you heard. We will keep an eye on those people from then on." He tapped one of Lothur''s shoulders. "And don''t worry, no innocent person will be harmed by this, so rest assured if you make mistakes about one person or another."

    "As long as the culprit is on your list, that will help us greatly!"

    Meanwhile, Mabel looked again at the names on the letters written by Elise. "So, the Third Prince faction and the Mouse Company are connected, huh? Even more, they are acting against us..."

    Viktoria frowned upon hearing that while keeping certain information to herself. ''Are they just after our family, or do they know...'' She looked at Lothur, remembering her husband''s past.

    Lothur then said. "The Mouse Company has attacked me at least three times in thest few weeks. First, a few days ago, a girl tried to seduce me and take me to a casino. Then, on another day, I was attacked while doing a mission outside Peters City."

    "I paid for an investigation and found out both were associates, people from this local underworld organization."

    "Oh? And why didn''t you tell us anything?" Mabel frowned, thinking that such a young man kept too much information. "We could have avoided this whole situation!"

    "I warned you of my suspicions of Elise, but you did nothing... What could I do? I could only trust myself since you people chose to believe that woman rather than me."

    "You..." Mabel was angry at Lothur''s words but was held back by her husband.

    "Lothur, I am sorry. We have failed you and put you in danger." Aiken sighed in defeat, feeling humiliated. "In the future, don''t hesitate. Talk to me if there is any trouble, and I will take the matter seriously!"

    "If father-inw is promising, then I''ll believe it..."

    "Anyway, Elke and I had to take care of our injuries after that situation. That''s why I waste and couldn''t get into the city until earlier today."

    "And why didn''t youe to tell us that right away?" Mabel questioned him.<sub> </sub>

    "I was exhausted from everything that happened the other day, and Elke wouldn''t let me return home like that. So, she insisted that I rest at her parents'' house before going to the academy."

    "At the Becker house?" She looked at him strangely. "Brat, our family and the Becker House are not friends. So why would they take you in? You haven''t caused any trouble for us, have you?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Elke and I are friends. What difference does it make if your families are not close? What does that have to do with us?"

    "Anyway, her parents like me better than you, madam." He provocatively said.

    Viktoria frowned upon hearing this since she knew Lothur and Elke''s rtionship was not simple. ''Her parents like you? Really? Don''t they suspect anything?'' She felt worried about that family stealing him away from House Frost.

    As for Annaliese, the only one who truly knew how ''deep'' the rtionship between those two was, she found this even stranger. ''Her parents are thinking of giving to him? How is that possible? But it''s impossible that they don''t know about their rtionship! Elke practically has the same smell as Lothur!''

    "Humph!"

    "Stay away from that girl from now on. I don''t want our family to gain one more problem because of two youths." She turned and began to walk away from there as she gave that order.

    ''I''ll do whatever I want!'' Lothur remained silent, watching his beautiful voluptuous-bodied mother-inw leading Aiken away from them.

    After getting rid of Mabel''s punishment, Lothur sighed and looked at the twins beside him.

    "Lothur, I''m sorry I didn''t notice anything..." Viktoria felt terrible for her mistake and looked at him with shame in her eyes. "I was supposed to protect you but ended up putting you at risk."

    "Sister! That is not your fault! That bitch was plotting against our family the whole time. How is this your fault? She even tricked our parents!" Annaliese said in a toneden with confidence.

    "But you should listen to Lothur more. He''s from our family, so he deserves more trust."

    Hearing this, Viktoria nodded as she looked at the silver-haired young man. "Okay, Lothur, let''s have dinner together. I want to hear the details of what happened and take care of you a little bit as an apology."

    "About that, I have some business to take care of tonight, so I won''t be able to have dinner with you." Then, he remembered the student who had revealed himself to him.

    "Business? What business?" She frowned.

    Lothur had just returned and had all this trouble going on. What could he possibly want to do in the middle of the night?

    "Hmm, well, it''s something to do with Elke... After that, she will also help me with something, so we won''t be able to have dinner together." He lied.

    "Help you?" She did not like hearing that her husband refused to have dinner with her just because of that little girl. "What is she going to do? I''m sure I can do the same!"

    As Annaliese blushed at the thought of what her older sister was unknowingly saying, Lothurughed and moved closer to her.

    Standing with his mouth less than 10 centimeters from her right ear, he said in a whispery tone. "For you to do this, we would have to remove every piece of clothing from your body, dear. Are you suggesting that you are willing to do that?"

    Gulp!

    Viktoria turned red like never before in her life and felt her heart suddenly begin to jump faster.

    As the heat from her face rose, she swallowed her saliva and ran from there, shocked. ''How can this be? Is he ying with me?''

    ...

 Chapter 174 Time To Punish An Enemy

    ''How would the young Miss Becker do that? Is she crazy? Doesn''t she know that Lothur and I are married?'' Viktoria asked herself in confusion, unable to believe her husband''s words.

    When she finally arrived at her residence, Viktoria looked at herself in one mirror, noticing her agitated breathing on her full breasts rising and falling. ''Have they reached that point? Is that why he would rather be with her than with me?''

    Gulp!

    ''What do I do? My strategy is not working!''

    ''He said that even her parents like him...'' She walked from one side of her residence to the other, clenching her fists in tension.

    ''Is she trying to steal him away from me? Damn it. She dares even to use that kind of weapon to seduce him?'' She felt threatened by a woman younger than her, who had virtually no talent for cultivation.

    "Lothur..."

    ''No wonder he barely looks at me! He can no longer be satisfied with just looking!''

    ...

    While Viktoria was thinking about many things, sometimes confusing herself, Lothur was still standing in the same ce as before, with Annaliese watching him.

    "What did you say to make her run like that? Don''t tell me you told what you do with that redhead?" She squeezed one of his arms and asked in a solemn tone.

    Annaliese wanted Lothur for herself, but she loved her sister and knew these two were husband and wife at the end of the day. So, she naturally wanted him to behave well with Viktoria and did not want him to hurt her older sister''s heart.

    Viktoria might not be in love with him, but as Lothur''s wife, she could naturally feel offended by his actions. Hence Annaliese''s concern.

    Lothurughed at her and said. "Don''t worry. I just said something so we won''t have to talk too much about what I''m going to do now. And she''ll get over it. I''m sure she''ll take it as a provocation..."

    After saying that, he said goodbye to Annaliese, having heard some words for him to behave himself with Viktoria and to be careful that evening.

    Thus, he soon departed the Frost estate, heading towards where Annaliese had informed him earlier.

    ...

    As Lothur moved on, the leader of the Mouse Company had already noticed Elise''s disappearance and the fact that Lothur had returned from Lewerenz just fine.

    "Boss, I think Miss Harris is dead." A tan-skinned man dressed all in ck said this as he stood in front of his leader, who had a redheaded woman sitting on hisp.

    Upon hearing this, Kai remained silent for a moment, feeling the sensual movements of that voluptuous beauty, who was half-naked, showing several of her tattoos and piercings.

    He then said. "I wonder what happened? Every time we send someone after this brat, our people fail or die!"

    "Could it be that some protector is escorting him? Maybe someone from the Frost family?" He asked as he looked at his subordinate, who could not help but stare at that woman who looked like a cat in heat, waiting for her male.

    The subordinate swallowed his saliva, wondering when he would have time to visit the local brothel and have fun with that beauty. He then said. "Maybe it''s someone from the other side of his family?"

    "Impossible! They wouldn''t risk showing themselves off like that!" Kai refuted.

    After thinking for a second, he then said. "Investigate what happened to her and keep an eye on that brat. I heard he was in my brothelst week, so if he returns, try to take care of him there."

    "Oh? All right, I''ll take care of it."<sub> </sub>

    Kai saw that man walking away and gave hisst order. "But try to avoid getting involved with him if he doesn''te near us these days. I''m afraid the Frost family has already realized that Elise was not someone who could be trusted..."

    "OK!"

    After that, he was finally alone with that redhead, who took off her panties when that man left this office.

    "Master, why do you make me wait so long? Don''t you know how bad I look after going a whole day without feeling you?" She said as she took a hurried breath while directing one of Kai''s hands to part of her body.

    "Oh? I can feel that you were looking forward to this..." Kai felt his fingers be wet with something sticky andughed in satisfaction.

    "By the way, how did that silver-haired young man go with you? Did he do something special?"

    Remembering the unusual encounter she had had a few days ago, that beautiful redhead momentarily stopped what she was about to start and looked at that man. "He did something nice, but I don''t remember the situation. I probably served him like I do my other customers..."

    "You don''t remember, huh? So, it must not have been good..." Kai chuckled as he felt the hot and moist sensation as she started to satisfy him.

    ...

    A few minutester, Lothur was already near where his target was supposed to be.

    In that small condominium where wealthy students from other parts of the province usually rented houses in Peters City, he soon followed the tracks of his target to a house near the northern edge of the condominium.

    With the All Seeing Eyes, Lothur quickly took the weaker or powerful ones out of his path, moving closer to his target.

    But many there were already talking about the incident from earlier. Because of this, it was not difficult for him to eliminate many of the tracks he was following and finally see through a window his target.

    That student appeared to be sitting on a sofa, with part of his arms and legs wrapped in immobilizing bandages. But the most remarkable thing at the moment was not this but the expression of hatred on his face.

    ...

    "Damn it!"

    "Damn, Annaliese! If it weren''t for this bitch, by now, I would have gotten the information I need!" He screamed at the walls of his room, feeling an emotional pain greater than the physical one in his bruised body.

    He had sold information to Elise about Lothur with the promise of payment after this weekend.

    But what angered this young man the most was not the fact that he would not receive a mary value. No, he had not been charged anything other than a meeting with Elise. So, what bothered him most was to think about the possibility that the girl he liked had been killed!

    Because of this, he had spent the entire day shaking with anger that Lothur had returned and Elise had not given any sign of life.

    ''Elise...'' He wanted to clench his fists at the thought of that blonde beauty, but his injuries would not allow it. ''I hope you were justte...''

    He was thinking of something, but when he least expected it, he heard a noiseing from the kitchen of his house and lost his previous thoughts. "Urs?" He called out the name of the caretaker he had hired.

    However, instead of the beautiful middle-aged woman who would take care of his needs for the next few days, three men dressed entirely in ck, with masks on their faces, appeared there.

    ...

 Chapter 175 The Power Of Lothurs Bloodline

    The moment the three men in ck entered his target''s room, Lothur immediately saw their statuses, each at level 5.

    ''Who are these?'' He wondered as he watched through the kitchen wall of that estate, just one door away from those people.

    But then, as he watched, Lothur heard the voice of one of those people. "Boss, are you sure this will work? How are we going to associate the fate of this brat with the second Miss Frost?"

    "Idiot, that girl attacked him in public!" Their leader said, not caring if the young student of the Morning Star Academy would listen to them. "If this brat dies, naturally, she will be the first suspect!"

    "And with us spreading some clues here and near the Frost estateter, our leader will get enough evidence to act against that family!"

    "Oh? That sounds promising!"

    "Hmmm, but it''s a pity that only the second Miss Frost will be harmed... I hear her talent is less than her father''s." The third onemented, grinning from beneath his mask.

    Having heard all this while unable to move, that young man beaten by Annaliese was trembling with fear. "Who are you, people? Do you know who I am?" He asked in a tone that mixed his terror and a bit of arrogance.

    "Tsk!"

    "Brat, sit still and die peacefully. We''ll make it painless..." The three surrounded that young man, each of them with a different weapon in their hands.

    "No! Please don''t do that!" He pissed himself, terrified. "I''m against the Frost family too. I even helped to plot against their son-inw twice in thest few months!"

    "Look what happened to me! That is his fault!" He looked at each of them, trying to find someone to listen to his words. "We are on the same side! There is no need for us to kill each other!"

    "Kill each other? Brat, you are the only one who will die!" Their leader said before getting serious and trying to ease the fears of his target. "I know it''s not fair, but rest assured. Your death will help us harm the Frost family, a millennial power! Be proud of yourself for that!"

    "Hmm, we will remember your sacrifice, boy..." The other two agreed whileughing under their masks.

    "No!"

    But just as that young man was about to be attacked, already with his underwear smeared with something, Lothur appeared at the door of that room, from an angle that the window there gave no view of him.

    Immediately upon realizing the arrival of this person, the three members of the local guard and the terrified young man looked in Lothur''s direction.

    "You..." The man who had seen Lothur and Annaliese earlier frowned upon seeing this person.

    p But as he noticed the pentagram spinning on Lothur''s forehead, he shivered in fear, sensing that something was wrong with this mortal.</anda>

    "So, you were nning to act against Annaliese, huh? You were plotting against my woman!" Lothur felt his blood boil as the fingers of his hands gripped the air, letting a red mist spread to the surroundings.

    "Worms, I will make every one of you pay with your lives for this!" He said in an icy tone that made the backs of those four shivers.

    Gulp!

    "Lothur... I have nothing to do with them! I am your fellow academy student! Save me!" The young man appealed to his old enemy, his only salvation in this ce.

    "Tsk!"

    "You are the one who most deserves to die! Because of you, my Elke was injured." Lothur looked coldly at that person but thenughed as he remembered how such an individual had stopped him earlier. "You want to know what happened to Elise, right? Then let me show you how I killed her!"

    After saying those words, Lothur saw the first of those men being touched by the red energying out of his fingers. In that instant, such a person was consumed, losing every fraction of power in his body while leaving behind a dried corpse.<sub> </sub>

    "Behold! That is the fate of each of you, worms!" He said, seeing how those people looked oppressed in his presence.

    Lothur''s bloodline was exceptional and not only consumed his targets'' strength, turning it into pure life energy. It also had a suppressiveponent that temporarily weakened opponents with powers not so different from his.

    Because of this, Elise had not been able to escape it before, and these people had no escape from this ce!

    The guards'' leader who had invaded this house then said in a terrified tone. "Brat, we are members of the local guard! If you kill us, no one can save you! Even your family will be implicated!"

    "Oh? Threatening me, huh? I''ll tell you something. After people who threaten or covet my women, the ones I hate the most are those who threaten me!" He said, as his eyes and marks on his face shone brightly.

    "If you have the power to do something, do it now! Otherwise, shut up!"

    Lothur then looked into his academy colleague''s eyes andughed. "Don''t be too sad. You''ll get a death just like hers, bastard!"

    "No!"

    As he saw tears dripping from that youth''s eyes, Lothur did not stop ''pressing'' on that fellow''s wound. "And don''t forget, she died because of you. She could still be alive if you hadn''t plotted against me!"

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    The three individuals vigorously shook as they tried to shout for help, but the entire room was filled with a red cloud of energy in the blink of an eye.

    Because of this, within moments, the voices and sounds of terror leaving the throats of the three ceased, leaving only the sounds of their bones and joints reverberating as they fell to the floor, malnourished, dry, dead.

    Noticing this, Lothur soon deactivated his bloodline and saw the system warning.

    [EVF: 41.2]

    ''Oh? Apparently, the EVF absorbed depends on the average value of my targets'' physical attributes...'' Lothur noticed this as he realized that the sum of the averages of the physical attributes of his four targets was precisely 41.

    ''If I convert this into attribute points for myself, will I receive 41.2 points?''

    But since Lothur did not believe in free lunches, he had no expectations about that. His ability to steal his opponents'' power and add it to his own was already good enough, so whatever the conversion rate was would be good enough for him.

    But for now, he did not want to use these EVFs on himself since he had Elke''s case to solve.

    He had a lot of matters to deal with, and he was not an assassin who could worry about just killing people. And as much as he had many enemies, he did not have the power to take on most of them.

    Thus, not knowing when he could absorb more EVFs, he decided to save the ones he already had in case his woman needed them!

    So, while putting that aside, Lothur quickly collected the bodies of those people, checking their spatial rings and items that might have trackers on them.

    With that done, he quietly departed from there, not touching anything, using his visual ability to follow the best escape route!

    "Sigh..."

    ''Time to infiltrate the Becker estate!''

    ...

 Chapter 176 Breaking Into The Becker Estate

    After a few minutes of walking, Lothur left the previous condominium of houses and arrived in the vicinity of the Becker estate.

    Upon arriving at this ce, he immediately checked the surroundings with his visual ability, noting how strict the security regtions of this ce were.

    However, this ce was not imprable without the use of formations in every part of this estate!

    Humans were guarding some sensitive points, but the biggest openings were precisely in ces that should be more protected.

    Human eyes, even those of cultivators, could be deceived, missed by distractions, etc.

    Knowing this, Lothur followed the direction most likely to give him opportunities, where half a dozen level 7 guards were chatting and looking around.

    These people were much stronger than him, but with his visual ability supporting him at all times, plus the system''s warnings, Lothur naturally had some advantages.

    With that, he thought he would have better chances by taking advantage of the human failings of the weaker guards on this estate than try his luck at challenging the formations on the walls circling such an area.

    ''Some of them are distracted, but those two were looking at the surroundings...'' Lothur stopped crouching beside a bush, looking for his moment to act.

    In theory, it should be impossible for him to ovee the vignce of these people. But theory does not always represent reality!

    And the reality of these guards was that, in addition to the advantages Lothur had, they had a massive disadvantage on their side. The fact that they had never had to face such a threat!

    The human mentality was bizarre and used to y tricks on those careless ones.

    A feared ce, such as the headquarters of a noble house, was unlikely to be invaded. The result? Well, the guards naturally became bored and overconfident. That led to failures, which usually did not create problems due to the general fear.

    That was so true that some ces had warnings about the dangers of doing something when in reality, there was no danger at all. And even in such ces, rarely did anyone ''dare'' to do what was forbidden due to the fear of the ''warnings,'' the unknown.

    Precisely because many negligences do not generate serious problems, possibilities such as the one Lothur was pursuing were not rare!

    ''Oh? Got distracted?'' Lothur saw the only two people looking in his direction turn to look at a guard showing something on the street, and he took the opportunity.

    "Hmm?" One of the guards heard the sound of footsteps and stopped looking at the woman walking near that property.

    "Is there a problem, Marcus?" One of the guards, still watching the beautifully curvy woman asked.

    "I think I heard footsteps..." He replied as he scanned his surroundings.

    But all he felt was the same as seconds ago, nothing.

    Another of those guards noticed no one in the surroundings andmented. "Don''t worry. It was probably just the wind or some little animal..."

    p As that guard was about to finish hisment, a colleague of theirs eximed. "Just look here, at 9 o''clock!"</anda>

    "Wow!"

    "Ahh, if only I had one of those at home..."

    ...

    After overtaking the previous guards, Lothur felt cold sweat dripping from his forehead as he hid among the trees in a garden.

    ''Lucky for me that the men of this world are like those on Earth!'' Heughed, pleased that the call girl he had paid to walk for those guards had been sessful.

    As he stood there, he quickly removed his clothes and put on the women''s attire that Elke had given him earlier.<sub> </sub>

    As he finished putting on Elke''s maidservants'' uniform, Lothur let down his silver hair, trying to hide part of his face, before calmly setting off in the direction of her residence.

    ''It''s truly ufortable dressing up as a woman...'' He sighed, remembering a simr experience he had during his past life.

    Once Lothur had almost been caught by a cheated husband in bed with his wife. But he had managed to escape by disguising himself as a woman and using his long hair to his advantage.

    He was not in favor of that sort of thing. He truly despised it. But when one has casual rtionships as he had in his past life, situations like this would happen sooner orter.

    What could he do if the other side hid sensitive information?

    Anyway, as he adjusted to walking in those women''s clothes, Lothur soon arrived near Elke''s residence, where two guards were standing by.

    "Hey, you! Stopping there!" One of the guards said as he saw Lothur walking past them toward the back entrance of the young Miss Becker''s residence.

    "Hmmm?" Lothur said nothing, only having made a doubtful sound with his closed mouth.

    "Who are you? I have never seen any of the youngdy''s maidservants with hair that color." The middle-aged man with a ck beard and mustache said to Lothur.

    The other guard cautiously observed that person and then listened. "Cough! Cough! Pardon me, my voice is a bit hoarse, but as for my identity, I recently joined the group serving the youngdy."

    He then pulled a ne from his pocket, which Elke had given him earlier to prove that he was part of her servant group.

    "That..."

    "Are you truly a new servant? Why haven''t we heard anything about that?" The other man asked, less doubtful about this person but surprised they had not beenmunicated about anything.

    Lothur then forced his voice once again and said in a shrill tone. "I naturally don''t know. I am only a servant of the youngdy. But you can ask her directly why. I''ll wait here."

    Seeing Lothur gesture with his hands, showing that he would ept being handcuffed, the two looked at each other in doubt.

    But then, as they pondered about taking the risk of angering Elke with that kind of approach, this redheaded woman appeared at the second-floor window of her residence.

    "Let her in. I''ll exin the situation to youter." Elke said as she looked at Lothur dressed as a woman, trying hard not tough.

    She already knew that Lothur would arrive, so for thest hour, she had been watching the surroundings of her property, where she had told him toe in. Because of this, it had not taken her long to notice her lover''s arrival and prevent trouble with those guards.

    Upon hearing her voice, the two guards returned the previous item to Lothur, allowing him to enter Elke''s residence.

    "Sigh..."

    ''What I do for my women?'' Lothur smiled bitterly at this situation, but Elke ran toward him just as he walked a few meters inside her residence.

    Seeing that, Lothur prepared to take her in his arms, seeing the beautiful smile on her face.

    "Lothur, you look great in those clothes..." Sheughed as she hugged him and felt her feet leave the ground with Lothur lifting her around his waist.

    She then crossed her legs behind his back, in that position she had gotten used to being in with him the day before. "I''m sure I look better without clothes." He winked at her, already walking toward his woman''s room.

    "That''s true..." She smiled before making her lips touch his in a brief kiss but full of warmth and desire.

    "Well, we''ll practice your techniques a bit, and then when it''s time for you to go to bed, we''ll do your treatment." He said, feeling her sweet taste on his tongue.

    "OK!"

 Chapter 177 Second Day Of Exams

    After joining Elke at this woman''s residence, Lothur would spend three hours fighting her, training herbat skills, and pushing her weak points.

    Following this, they had a lovely time while taking a hot bath, before the night''s adventures...

    The two went to her bed, where they treated the condition in her body for two hours and then slept until just over halfway through the night.

    At this point, the two once again worked hard, this time carrying on with their activities until the darkness of night was giving way to day.

    ...

    "Lothur~ I love you~" Elke said in a whispery tone amidst her gaze clouded with her intense feelings.

    Lothur continued on top of his partner''s body, looking into her eyes as he continued the way he was, finishing this adventure. "I love you too, Elke..." He yed with her hair before kissing her.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    After that intimate moment, the two finished their business, with her continuing in that bed, covered by a thin sheet, while Lothur was dressing.

    As he did so, he looked at her status and smiled.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 1.9] [CON: 6.76] [DEX: 3.2] [AGI: 3.4]

    ''The results of this night''s training have already been superior to the previous afternoon''s...'' He winked at her as he looked in her direction. ''Her body condition improves, so her training can be more intense. The result is a more significant improvement. That should be the case...''

    As he finished putting on his previous female uniform, Lothur looked through the gap in one of the windows of that room and saw that it was still dark enough for him to escape this ce unnoticed.

    He then went to the side of his lover''s bed and saw that she was almost asleep.

    "Elke, I''ll see youter. Now get some sleep. You need to rest after all that..." He kissed her sweaty forehead and left after seeing the beautiful smile on his girl''s lips.

    ''Lothur...''

    ...

    "Lothur..." Elke muttered as she felt someone touching one of her shoulders, slowly opening her eyes to look in the direction of the person waking her up.

    "Lothur? Are you dreaming about your friend, Elke?" Hilda looked at her daughter andughed, not expecting to be mistaken for that person by this girl who had slept a little longer than she should have.

    "Mom!" Elke opened her eyes and lifted her upper body, causing the sheets on top of her to slide off and reveal part of her body to Hilda.

    "Are you sleeping like this now?" Hilda found such a thing unusual.

    She then smelled a strange smelling from her daughter''s sheets and moved her nose as she tried to identify such a thing. "What is this smell? That seems like..."

    Noticing that her mother was about to recognize the traces that she and Lothur left, Elke panicked and used her only alternative. "Mom, Lothur, and I trained hard at the academy yesterday. Just look at my results..."

    "Uh?" Hilda felt her daughter bring her own wrist close to her right hand.

    "Elke?" Hilda''s eyes opened in surprise. "Wow, your body looks so much stronger than before! That training of yours with Lothur must be exceptional!"

    "Hmmm, it is..." Elke ran with the sheets from her bed into the bathroom, quickly eliminating the evidence of what had happened there.

    "Aren''t you going to tell me what this is about? Something like this could be helpful for our whole family!

    "I would like to experience such effective training myself," Hilda naively said.

    Elke turned red upon hearing her mother''s casualment, "You''d better not jump conclusions, mom. This method only works for Lothur and me..."

    "Oh? Why?"

    "I think we arepatible..."

    Hilda did not find this strange since there were cultivatorspatible with some others.<sub> </sub>

    "Anyway, I hope I can at least watch you two one day," Hildamented as she walked out of her daughter''s room.

    ''I don''t think that would be a good idea...''

    "Elke, hurry up. There''s not much time for you to leave for the academy..."

    "OK!"

    "Don''t forget to eat something first."

    ...

    As Elke was leaving for the academy, Lothur and Annaliese were already walking through the halls of this ce, with her looking at him strangely.

    "What is it, Anna? You''ve been looking at me like that ever since we left home... You barely kissed me properly on the way here." Hemented in a low voice, looking at her in curiosity.

    "You spent the whole night with her?" She asked, ignoring all the people in the surrounding area as if only she and Lothur existed in the world.

    "I said it would be like this, didn''t I?"

    "That..."

    He directed her to a quieter ce and asked. "Are you angry?"

    "No, I just feel bad that I can''t do the same..." She replied as she looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

    He smiled and said. "We''ll be able to do that soon. Aren''t we going out to do a Cultivation House mission? Then we''ll have two nights alone."

    She clenched her fists in determination. "Have you signed up for the Cultivation House? It''s not good to leave it until thest minute."

    "Hmm, I''m aware. I''ll do that tomorrow or the day after. I have other matters to deal with today after the academy." Hemented before hearing the academy signal and saying goodbye to Annaliese.

    After that, he quickly moved toward the local dormitory, where he waited for a few minutes for Elke.

    ...

    In the afternoon, Lothur and Elke headed towards their exams for ascension to Sector-2.

    Today they would begin their testing day with the Local History exam, a subject that Lothur had only read the books in the library of Sector-1.

    Because of this unique way he had spent his time on this subject, the moment he entered the room of the Local History teacher, such a person looked at him strangely.

    ''So this brat dares to try to ascend from sector without even seeing my sses, huh?'' That rtively young man looked at Lothur and clenched his fists.

    ''Let''s see what you''ll do! I gave you the hardest possible test!'' Heughed in his mind as he watched a student hand out the tests for him.

    ''Hehe, you may have passed the exams of those two idiots who see no problem approving a good-for-nothing, but from here on out, you will only fail.''

    ''I''ll be the first, but not thest.'' He snapped his fingers, ignoring the other youths in that ce, focusing all his attention on Lothur.

    ''Come on! A coward like you is going to cry? Hehe, a pity I have the freedom to make different tests for each student...''

    While that person was having fun thinking about how he was hurting Lothur, this young man began to read the questions regarding local history.

    ''When the Ten Independent Regions were conquered, the family that would be the Imperial House, Leopoldine, fought and...''

    ''... The most difficult of House Leopoldine''s opponents were located in the Three Great Lakes region. What are the three main reasons behind the enemy''s power?''

    ''What made it possible for our side to win?''

    ''How to counter-attack...'' Lothur read several of the questions on his test, finding these questions quite normal.

    ''Until the level of the questions is not so bad. I can see that it is almost at the level of tests given in no so bad schools on Earth.'' He began to write, smiling, as he knew all the answers.

    "But it''s still too easy for me..."

 Chapter 178 A Misunderstood Genius

    After taking his test for some time, Lothur was the first to get up and hand it to his teacher.

    After seeing that, a smile formed on that man''s lips as he thought about how easy it had been for him. ''Giving up, huh? That''s what I thought!''

    "Are you done?" He asked in a thick tone. "Give it to me here. Then, next time, study more and attend ss..."

    "Study more?" Lothur frowned but did not question such a person, ''Whatever. From now on, I won''t see this guy anymore, so it doesn''t matter what he''s saying.''

    After that, Lothur made his way out of that ce, where he would wait for Elke to finish her exam so they could continue with the following test of the day.

    Meanwhile, the professor from before looked at Lothur''s test with a smiling expression, curious to find out what such an irresponsible student had done.

    ''I wonder how many questions he tried to answer...'' He pondered this just before noticing that all the fields for answers had been filled in.

    ''That...'' Suddenly, his smile froze, but he quickly shook his head in denial at the strange feeling in his being.

    ''Impossible! He must have written idiotic answers to each of the questions! That must be it! He did not want to embarrass himself and did such a thing...''

    With these thoughts in mind, that teacher of Local History soon began to read Lothur''s answers.

    ''... House Leopoldine was stronger than their opponents at the time of the conquest. But the technological level of the powers of the Three Great Lakes region was higher than that of the family that wouldter be the ruler of this state...''

    ''... The level of ironwork and inscriptions of the formations used by the enemy forces of House Leopoldine wasplex to the point of...''

    ''... Due to this, the biggest challenge for this great organization was to ovee with raw power the enemy technology...''

    ''... The best way to solve such a challenge if the past situation were to repeat itself would be through developing new technology, specifically formations. That way, right now, the imperial family should be focusing on research rted to this to...''

    Each answer that the professor read, he was shocked that Lothur understood even things that he had not thought of but that were not impossible to deduce.

    Not only that, Lothur''s exnations followed a natural and simple rhythm that made even new ideas easy to understand. Because of this, with each answer the teacher read, he opened his mouth wider as he began to think about the possibility that a student from Sector-1 knew more about Local History than he did.

    ''How is that possible?'' He wondered as he ignored the students who, every few minutes, stopped beside him to hand in their tests.

    ''How did he get this? Isn''t he a good-for-nothing? Did he cheat?'' This teacher clenched his fists, feeling Lothur could not know so much with only a few weeks of study!

    To make matters worse, he had no idea how this young man had studied. If only such an individual had attended sses, but no! Not even that Lothur had done!

    With that, this man rose from his seat and sped his hands, determined to analyze this situation.

    ''What do I do? Do I go to the board to report him for cheating?'' He saw that there were still two students in his room and sat back to wait for them. ''No. I didn''t see anything, so my words won''t be enough.''

    ''Maybe I should call him to answer other questions in front of the principal? That will prove he cheated!'' He finally received thest piece of evidence and ran out of his room to look for Lothur.

    "Lothur? Has anyone seen Lothur?" He asked the students talking in that hallway.

    "Who is Lothur?" Someone asked.

    Few students in Sector-1 knew Lothur, so it was not unusual for those taking exams for Sector-2 to not know who he was.

    "Lothur was the first to hand in the exam. Did you see where he went?"

    A young woman then realized who such a person was and said. "This Lothur left after Miss Becker handed in her test. They went in this direction..."

    ...<sub> </sub>

    After following the advice of a student, the teacher from before found the ce where Lothur and Elke had just entered, another testing room.

    ''Oh? They''re taking tests to advance a sector...'' He noticed the problem and watched through the ss window as the Economics exam began.

    This Local History teacher saw that the teacher in that ce was one of the employees against Lothur because of this young man''s past in this institution.

    Not attending most of the sses and even causing the dismissal of an employee had soiled Lothur''s reputation with these people.

    Realizing that this woman would be on his side, this man entered that room and spoke as he stood next to her. "Teacher Semmler, I''m here because I think that bastard Lothur cheated on my test and will do the same on yours."

    She put her surprised expression aside and looked with interest at her colleague. "Oh? Are you serious?"

    "Hmm, the bastard got all the questions of my exam right. But it''s simply impossible! It was the hardest test I''ve ever made, and he answered things that even I couldn''t think of!" He said.

    "I see..." Sheughed, wondering what could be behind it. "Don''t worry about it. My subject is much more difficult than yours, and with my extra years of experience, I created a test that even students from higher sectors would have trouble solving."

    "Perfect!"

    "In any case, let''s observe him together. If he cheats on his test, let''s immediately get this good-for-nothing expelled!" He suggested.

    "OK."

    ...

    After about 50 minutes, Lothur handed in his test and looked strangely at the Local History teacher.

    ''What is this guy doing here?'' He looked at how that teacher was sitting next to the Economics teacher. ''Did hee to flirt with her? How unprofessional... Worse, in the middle of a test...''

    As Lothur shook his head and left, the two professors finally turned their attention to Lothur''s test.

    "I didn''t see him doing anything suspicious..." Shemented as she began to analyze the paper handed to her by Lothur.

    "I didn''t see anything either. Maybe he just cheated on my test..." He muttered, remembering that he had not tried to look for any suspicious signs in Lothur during the previous examination.

    So, after a few seconds, he began to get nervous as he saw the shocked expression on that woman''s face.

    "What is it? Is something amiss?"

    "That..." She stammered before rubbing her eyes with her two hands and then rereading Lothur''s answers. "It can''t be!"

    "It''s all right! There are even things here that can be considered innovative!" She said in a shocked tone, not understanding the situation.

    "How is that possible? We''ve both spent thest hour watching him!" He stood up from his chair, drawing the attention of some students there.

    Gulp!

    "That..."

    "Maybe he''s a misunderstood genius?" She asked since that was the only alternative to exin the present situation.

    ...

 Chapter 179 Patchwork House

    "A genius? Impossible! How can that be?" The teacher of Local History shook his head in denial. "Perhaps he has an above-average aptitude for your subject. As for mine, I still don''t know if he was honest."

    "So, what do you intend to do?" She questioned him.

    "I''m going to talk to the principal of Sector-1. I have no evidence against that brat, but if the principal takes the suspicion of cheating seriously, I''m sure our superiors will notice something!"

    "What if he''s not cheating?"

    "That''s not possible! And even if he is not, good for him."

    "We''re only in Sector-1. That''s still not something that impressive!" He turned and walked toward his destination.

    Meanwhile, that woman kept looking at Lothur''s exam, finding his answers impressive and learning something new.

    ''That''s interesting...''

    ...

    A few minutester...

    The teacher of Local History from Sector-1 finally sat in front of the principal of this part of the academy.

    "Principal, I am here to talk about the student Lothur Ritter."

    Upon hearing this, that man who only wanted an excuse to remove Lothur from this academy looked at the person in front of him with interest.

    He had nothing against Lothur. But it was undeniable that this young man was a good-for-nothing who hade through the back doors of this academy. So, to prevent the prestigious name of this institution from tarnishing, this principal and other people from the Morning Star Academy had ced strict conditions for him to study here.

    In this way, the principal of Sector-1 could not help but be interested to hear the sweet words of that teacher. "What did he do?"

    The teacher replied. "I have no proof that he did anything, but I feel he cheated on my exam."

    The principal frowned his eyebrows. "Why?"

    "Because he got all the questions on my test right. But this was the hardest test I''ve ever made, and he never attended my sses!" He said in an angry tone.

    "He did that? But if he cheated, how could you not notice? Don''t tell me you can''t even watch a mortal?" The principal''s voice seemed to be getting a little irritated at the ipetence of the person in front of him.

    "Principal, he probably has his methods of deception..." The teacher insisted after swallowing his saliva. "Why don''t we put someone more capable than me to watch him? I''m sure he will cheat again in the next tests!"

    The principal was silent for a moment, pondering the matter. ''It won''t cost anything to watch him, and if he is indeed cheating, I''ll have an excuse to expel him...''

    "Sigh!"

    "All right, I''ll watch the next exams he takes this week myself." He then looked seriously into that individual''s eyes. "But if you are wrong, I will dismiss you."

    Gulp!

    "I''m sure I''m right!"

    ...

    After a few hours, the end of the day wasing in Peters City when Lothur left Elke at the site of herst exam of the day and set off alongside Annaliese to the tailor shop, the Patchwork House.

    They walked with haste in the direction of that ce and soon entered the store they had visited together for the first time when Lothur was searching for a special outfit for the previous auction.<sub> </sub>

    "Oh? You here?" The middle-aged woman, dressed very nicely, asked as she looked in Lothur''s direction.

    "Hmm," Lothur nodded to that woman and ignored the customers being served by other nearby attendants. "I have already learned the basics and produced my first item. Because of that, I have a few questions I want to respond to."

    "You''ve already learned? So fast?" She eximed in surprise, releasing the fabrics in her hands as she opened her eyes wide.

    Annaliese liked that woman''s shocked expression andughed as she listened to her brother-inw. "Yes, I even got some people interested in the product I produced. So, I want to settle the matters rted to that item."

    Her eyebrows frowned as she understood that Lothur should be after partners other than them. "Have you forgotten your contract?"

    "No, so I am here to ask if you are interested in buying my product or if I can do business with others." He said as he removed the glove from his spatial ring.

    "Oh?" She promptly took it, looking at it curiously. "So, that''s what you did... Not bad for a first try."

    She knew it had been made on his first attempt because every one of the materials given to him had been used on it. And knowing this, this woman could not help but notice how her judgment had been right.

    ''His talent for tailoring is awe-inspiring!'' She ced the glove in her hand, understanding the basics of it.

    After a moment, she said. "Lothur, this glove of yours is quite peculiar. But I''m not the one who decides things here. So, I will send this item to the person in charge of this store."

    "Then you will have to wait for a few days until we have a proposal for you or authorize you to trade it with others."

    "I see..." He had expected something like this, so he did not bother toin.

    There was a self-destruct formation in that glove, so he had no fear of someone finding out exactly how his project worked.

    He then said. "Besides this subject, I want to know how I get more materials and books. I doubt whether the materials I used in that glove are the best and most efficient for its purposes."

    "Oh? You thought of that, huh?" She smiled, pleased that he had noticed such a thing without even needing the advice of a senior.

    It was natural that an item with certain effects could be produced in ''n'' different ways. But just because the ''z'' way worked did not mean it was better than the ''b'' way.

    Due to the inexperience of new professionals, many took time to discover the importance of seeking out the best materials for the purpose of their items.

    And realizing such a thing on his own was further proof of Lothur''s talent for this field of expertise!

    "Very well," She put the glove away and began to exin the situation regarding this store. "Our agreement says that we will provide the teaching materials, so I will pass on more advanced books to you whenever you are ready."

    "We will also provide you with a set with the materials necessary for you to put into practice the knowledge learned in those books. However, other materials will not be provided."

    "That is the price of the freedom you sought with that agreement." She closed her eyes and smiled at him.

    Lothur did not want to be limited by the goals of this organization for him regarding his role as a tailor, as well as not having to focus his time on that. Therefore, the support they would give him was not too significant and was down to passing on knowledge.

    "Hmm, that''s good." But, of course, he had expected this, so he was not disappointed. "Can you give me the contact information of any supply stores?"

    "Hmm, I''ll put that address in the materials book I''ll give you now." She walked toward one of the doors in that area and went inside an inner room.

    After a while, she returned with six different books.

    ...

 Chapter 180 Meeting Rebeccas Mistress

    "Well, Lothur, you can continue your studies with these books here. I have also ced all the materials inside this spatial ring." She indicated with one of her fingers the red ring on top of one of those books.

    Seeing that, Lothur put those items away in his spatial ring and thanked her. "Thanks for the support."

    "Hmm, but since you are developing fast, we will soon start following our agreement..."

    Lothur had promised that as long as he was a 1-star tailor, he would make 20 items for that tailoring shop per year.

    "We''ll start that already?" He questioned her in surprise.

    The middle-aged woman nodded. "Yes, you have already learned the basics and have shown a lot of talent in producing that glove. So, I don''t think it will take long before you be a 1-star tailor."

    "Then we will schedule you to receive your first order in 3 weeks. After that, you''ll have two weeks to pass the test for 1-star tailor and deliver your first order." She tapped one of his shoulders and smiled. "We will keep passing you new orders twice a month from then on."

    When he finished hearing this, Lothur said nothing against it, knowing he would not have to worry about producing 20 items for this tailoring shop. He was sure he could reach 2-star in that profession in less than a year. So, naturally, his responsibilities towards this ce would be less.

    In any case, he had agreed to such a thing before and knew that there were benefits to be gained from testing oneself with responsibilities. Thus, he was rxed about this job.

    ''Hmm, that won''t be a big deal. By my estimates, my mental attributes are all already at the level of 2nd stage cultivators. So, producing Iron-grade items will be easy.'' He then agreed with that woman and promised to return to hear the decision about his glove.

    He then walked beside Annaliese out of that store.

    "Lothur, do you think they will do business about your glove?" She asked.

    He shook his head as he looked at the busy street in front of him. "Probably not. From the appearances of that store, they don''t sell products to ordinary people, the target audience for that glove."

    "Then they will probably free me from my limitations regarding that glove."

    "Oh? That''s too bad, then. It would be easier for you if they did business with you." She sighed in disappointment.

    "Perhaps... But the Becker family seems interested in this item, so perhaps it would be better if the Patchwork House do this." He smiled as he remembered that possibility.

    Lothur did not want to lead, but he wanted to have a lot of influence. And in this matter at hand, doing business through the Patchwork House would give him almost no influence. But, on the other hand, making a deal with the Becker family would give him a lot!

    After all, one of these organizations was all about business, but the other went much further, being a noble house with significant political and military power.

    Lothur liked the idea of having that on his side and could not help but value the rtionship with the Becker family and even a possible approximation of that power with House Frost.

    "Anyway, this glove will just be one of the many passive ies I will have in the future. So, whatever its fate, I will earn it one way or another."

    He stopped in front of her and smiled. "Anna, I will go to the house of the poison master I spoke of earlier. Then, perhaps you had better return without me."

    "Poison master? Where did you meet Reba?" Her eyebrows frowned. "Why don''t you want me to go? Are you by any chance nning something?"

    "Yes, I am going to meet Reba''s mistress. But since I don''t know what that woman has to tell me, I think it''s better that you don''t go, or you may have to wait." He was sincere.

    "Sigh!"

    "Be careful with these people. Poison masters are dangerous because of their problematic abilities and because some can go through states of sensitivities and lose control over their own powers."

    "So, be careful with these people. They cannot be underestimated." She warned him.

    Annaliese was sure that Lothur already knew that. But since she already knew about his womanizing personality, she had to remind him so he would not simply think Reba and other poison masters were like her and Elke.

    That was particrly important to her given the rumors about Reba, who seemed to be a bold woman, someone dangerous to be with a person like Lothur, a yer.<sub> </sub>

    What would happen by throwing fuel on a fire?

    To Annaliese, that would happen if Lothur and Reba were allowed to stay together for too long...

    That way, she could not help but worry!

    "Hmm, I''ll keep that in mind."

    ...

    After some time, Lothur arrived in front of the estate he had visited a few days ago.

    When he got there, he tapped themunication device outside that mansion, where soon a woman he had seen before came to answer him.

    "You? Still alive?" She asked as she remembered seeing this fellow with Reba a few days ago.

    "Why wouldn''t I be?" Lothur looked at her with his eyebrows arched. "Are you trying to kill me, beauty?"

    Noticing Lothur''s provocative tone, that disciple of the poison master behind this estate ignored him and asked. "What do you want here? Are you after Reba? She''s not here at the moment."

    "Seeing Reba is always a sight to behold, but today I am here for her mistress. Is she around?" He asked as he looked into the clear eyes of that young poison master.

    "My mistress? What do you want with her?" She frowned her eyebrows, not understanding why this mortal wanted to get in touch with Elisabeth.

    He smiled at her and said. "If she is here, just tell her that Lothur came to see her. You will find out what it is aboutter."

    "Humph!"

    "My mistress has many concerns. I will not help you if you do not tell me the reason for your visit." She made it difficult for Lothur, thinking he had some connection to her rival, Reba.

    Lothur then gestured with two of his fingers from his right hand, indicating for that woman to approach the bars separating them.

    When she did so, he leaned forward and whispered. "Would you believe me if I told you I am her boyfriend?"

    "What?" She jumped in surprise as she looked at Lothur, slowly beginning to get angry at this fellow. "You bra..."

    Just as she was about to say a few words to get Lothur away from this ce, her mistress'' voice came from inside that estate and made her stop.

    "Bring Lothur to me, and don''t be discourteous to him."

    "Mistress!" The woman looked back toward where Elisabeth''s workce should be, shocked that this person wanted to receive this simple mortal.

    Lothur realized this and smiled, pleased that he did not have to return empty-handed.

    He was already running out of supplies to continue his poison training, and this could also be his opportunity to gain more knowledge.

    So, as he walked behind that beauty, he could not help but look at the results that this visit could bring him.

    "Mistress, what could someone like him have for you to receive him?" That woman asked as she stopped beside Elisabeth while Lothur watched that purple-haired woman who was as beautiful as Viktoria.

    "Haven''t you heard him? He is my boyfriend..."

 Chapter 181 Taboo

    Gulp!

    "Pardon?" The young student asked in astonishment, while Lothur also stood with his mouth open, surprised by this.

    ''Is this going to be a problem?'' He wondered as he swallowed his saliva, remembering what Annaliese had told him just a few minutes ago. ''Didn''t Reba say this woman was normal?''

    ''Damn, she tricked me!''

    "Aren''t you going to give your girlfriend a hug, dear?" That powerful level 15 poison master got up from her chair and opened her arms to Lothur.

    At this sight, Lothur froze, but it did not save him. When he did not move, Elisabeth immediately walked over to him, all the while with a rxed expression on her pretty face.

    "Are you shy that we are in front of my student? It''s okay. Rosa, can you leave us alone?" She said without looking at her student, standing right in front of Lothur.

    After that woman left with her mouth and eyes wide open, Elisabeth hugged Lothur, making this young man tremble, not knowing what to do in this situation.

    "If you say words like that, you better be prepared to take responsibility, young man..." She used one of her fingers to move Lothur''s chin up and look into his eyes.

    ''Let me test your talents...'' She then shocked him even more as she ced her lips over his, making him feel something warm and moist entering his mouth.

    ''Uh? Is this serious?'' Lothur wondered as he felt a woman advancing on him for the first time in his life. ''I know I''m handsome and talented, but this is a bit too much...''

    ''Ah, what the hell!''

    ''If she wants it, I''ll enjoy it! She''s a beauty!'' He closed his eyes and finally ced his hands on her body, beginning to move his tongue to dance with hers.

    Sensing this, Elisabeth shivered momentarily, not expecting that he would actually have the courage to kiss her back. ''What a brave fellow!''

    ''Doesn''t he know I am only testing his resistance to my poison?''

    Poison masters above 1-star could freely produce poison through their bodies. Because of this, this woman could use her tongue to put poison directly into Lothur''s body and test him that way.

    She did not need to do this, but for the sake of her student, Reba, as well as the provocation made by Lothur, she had decided to test him in this way.

    But surprisingly, he kissed her back and even touched parts of her body that he should not have...

    ''This boy... He kisses me like he''s ready to take me to bed.'' Her eyes widened as she almost became unfocused on her work due to the time she had gone without experiencing this kind of advance.

    ''Sigh!''

    ''I''ll let it go this time since I made the first move. But I won''t tolerate this kind of reaction in the future...'' She felt something pressing on her belly and closed her eyes, returning to the intense kiss with Lothur.

    After a minute of doing this, Elisabeth finally separated her mouth from Lothur''s, seeing how he seemed to have be a little tired.

    ''That''s your current limit... Outstanding.'' After looking at him intently, she passed a handkerchief over her lips and gave another to Lothur. ''He''s not a bad kisser.'' She internallyughed without showing it to Lothur. ''On the other hand, maybe he can help Ba.''

    She sat in her seat again while being watched intently by that silver-haired young man. "Reba has told me about you, Lothur. I am very impressed. You have a great future in our profession."

    Gulp!

    ''Isn''t she going to talk about what just happened here?'' He wondered as he looked thoughtfully at that woman while feeling a funny sensation in his stomach.

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 42%]<sub> </sub>

    ''Uh? She poisoned me?'' His eyes widened as he finally noticed the system warning.

    "So, you are here to recognize me as your mistress? I''ll be happy to help you develop your skills to the best of my ability." She said, looking him in the eye.

    "That..." Lothur looked at the surroundings and then back at her, walking around in a lost manner. "I don''t like the idea of having to bow my head to others or call someone a master or a mistress."

    "But I am willing to learn and respect you as my teacher."

    "Teacher, eh? How proud!" She muttered, finding Lothur''s position unusual.

    In that society, the idea of having a master wasmon, and hardly anyone would see anything wrong with that.

    The opposite of that, having a master was something desirable, wanted by the masses.

    <o>,m But for Lothur, who had grown up on Earth, having a master seemed humiliating; it was as if he had to acknowledge someone as his superior.</o>

    This was unnatural to him since he had grown up in a ce where people saw each other as equals, and bowing your head or even kneeling was considered strange and old-fashioned.

    "Well, as long as you respect your mast... Teacher, we can make this work your way." Sheughed and then said. "But you kissed me and still called me your girlfriend... What are you going to do about it? In our society, it is a big taboo for pupil and master to have such intimacy."

    "Uh? But it was you who..."

    She interrupted him before he could say more. "I was testing your body, but you responded intimately, not only by kissing me but by touching parts of my body..."

    "To make matters worse, you felt aroused while doing that to me..." She looked down at the middle of his trousers, remembering the monster that had pressed against her belly. ''This young man''s physical constitution is excellent in every way!''

    Lothur realized his mistake but was not ashamed. ''So, it was a test... Well, that was the most enjoyable test I have ever taken. I wouldn''t mind doing simr ones..."

    "Cough! Cough! But I don''t see any problem with master and pupil rting to each other. I think that''s a beautiful kind of rtionship!" He seriously said, making that woman look at him in surprise.

    "As for the taboo part, obviously, these prohibitions are only for those who care about others'' opinions."

    "I doubt any of us are like that."

    He approached that beautiful woman sitting in a transparent armchair and bent down to take one of her hands.

    Elisabeth did nothing and soon felt Lothur kissing her right hand. "Beautiful teacher, I would love to learn from you. So, I hope you will not be offended by my boldness. I was only sincere to the gesture of one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen."

    Elisabeth''s eyes narrowed, looking intensely at the young man lowered in front of her. ''Not only did you kiss me intimately, but you are courting me, even after you epted me as your mistres... Teacher.''

    ''You truly are a yer, huh?''

    She then felt his hands releasing hers and said. "You''re right. I don''t mind other people''s opinions, and I understand that this kind of reaction is natural for a young man like you."

    "But don''t crave your teacher, Lothur. That can be dangerous."

    She sighed as she saw the smile on his face, knowing he had not heard herst sentence. "Anyway, I can see that you have a great talent for the poisonous art. I don''t know what it is with your body, but I felt it can neutralize and produce resistance to poisons once it absorbs them."

    ''She realized this by kissing me? This woman is talented!'' He pondered as he watched her.

    "But you must be careful. If the absorbed poison is much stronger than what you can withstand, that will be your end!"

    ...

 Chapter 182 A New Training

    "I am aware of that..." Lothurmented.

    "Are you? Then why did Reba tell me that you ingested poisons, even though you knew the dangers of doing so in your physical condition?" She looked at him thoughtfully, ready to give her first lecture to this new student of hers.

    Lothur bitterlyughed and answered her. "I believe that only by stimting my body to the maximum will I be able to seed in my journey. But, unfortunately, those poisonous baths did not seem enough, so I took it a step further by increasing the difficulty of my training."

    "But if my beautiful teacher has a way that is safe and at the same time effective, I will be happy not to take any more risks."

    Elisabeth sharpened her eyes as she heard this, interested in Lothur''s determination. "From your words, it seems that your ambition is not small. Tell me what you want, and maybe I''ll think of some good training for you..."

    "I want to have total resistance to poisons."

    "Total resistance?" She stood up in surprise.

    Unknown substances could still poison even powerful poison masters since reaching the level needed to withstand the worst poisons in this world was impossible.

    Therefore, Elisabeth could not help but be shocked by this young man''s ambition, a newbie who knew nothing about this profession until a few days ago.

    "Forget about it."

    "I have been in this profession for over 600 years and have only met mild resistance to Silver-grade poisons. And at the point I''m at, no matter how much I train, I can''t improve that trait without an advancement..." She said this part in a sighing tone.

    Cultivation in this world could vary for endless reasons. But for poison masters, continuing to advance through the cultivation levels became more difficult than for a traditional cultivator.

    The reason for this?

    Using poisons as the foundation of one''s cultivation base, one would depend upon the poison arts to continue advancing. That meant that such an individual would have to continually increase their resistance to poisons to continue advancing, something problematic to do.

    Poisons could cause damage to such people''s bodies but also create adverse effects on their souls, unbncing that individual''s path.

    This field was a constant challenge for its professionals, who had to continually push to the limit of what was eptable, risking their physical and mental condition at every moment.

    A single mistake in doing so and the poison master in question could damage their foundation, be poisoned, and then gain physical and psychological deformities.

    That was the reason why poison masters had a negative reputation in Concordia!

    Sooner orter, most of them failed at something and ended up paying for the consequences of their choices.

    Cases like Elisabeth''s were rare. Most poison masters of her age would already have several problems rted to such mistakes.

    "600 years?" Lothur opened his mouth in surprise. ''I didn''t expect that...''

    "Oh? Surprised? Are you by any chance disgusted that you kissed someone so old, my dear student?" She lost her regretful expression and yed with Lothur.

    "No, even if you were a thousand years old, I would still be willing to do much more than just kiss you..." He smiled. "I''m just impressed with how well the poison art has done you. You must be talented!"

    She liked Lothur''spliment and said. "You are kind to say so, but I''m not that talented. At least not if I cannot be a 3-star poison master."

    "I''m sure it won''t take long, teacher. I feel you will get there from your current level in no time."

    "Oh? You can sense my level?" She was surprised by this information from Lothur.

    Elisabeth could not sense any cultivationing from him, so she did not understand how he could sense her cultivation.

    Lothurughed, but he did not regret talking to her about it. This woman was already his teacher, so her knowing that he was a cultivator would not be a problem.<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, I can feel something..."

    She walked over to him and held his right wrist, once again trying to check him. "And why don''t I feel anything from yours?"

    "Hehe, that''s a secret." He winked at her. "But if the teacher gives me another kiss, I can tell you..."

    She was distracted hearing that but did not bother pursuing the subject and told him. "Who knows, another day. Now let''s talk about your training. First, we will test your resistance to more potent substances."

    "I will decide on a more effective training for you without you having to take risks like before." She walked over to a tub that was in her workce and began to make some preparations.

    "You can take off your clothes in the bathroom next door. We''ll do something simr to what Reba did to you the other time." She said without looking at him.

    Lothur then simply took off his clothes in that ce and walked over to that tub, not caring about the chill in hisher parts.

    "You''re truly bold, huh?" She noted this, looking down at the middle of his legs. "Well, let me make you suffer a little for showing that to your teacher..."

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Lewerenz...

    After a full day of travel, Harry''s master had traveled hundreds of kilometers from his city to there, finally meeting the coachman of his disciple''s carriage.

    "What happened to Harry? Why don''t I have any information about his whereabouts yet?" He asked in an irritated tone to not only that coachman but the rest of the Wehrle family, who were investigating the disappearance of such a person.

    Noticing the irritation in his voice, even Harry''s parents, who were worried about the whereabouts of their future, were afraid to irritate this man for his failings.

    They cared about Harry, but not as much as this person. And sensing that, they could not help but worry more about being disliked by this man than about their son''s vital status.

    "Master Magnus, calm down a bit. I''m sure Harry is having fun with some girl and doesn''t want to be found by the hour..." So, that fellow''s father was saying but was soon interrupted.

    "Is that so? Then why did I lose contact with my subordinate who was supposed to investigate Harry''s whereabouts? Is he also out having fun with girls?" He sarcastically asked, sensing how useless his disciple''s family was.

    Silence spread over that area until the coachman said. "Master, I have no idea what might have happened to the young master. But he, as well as Mister Pascal, were after a young man named Lothur."

    "That person was on the Herrmann family estate a few days ago, and on that asion, he seems to have irritated the young master. After that, the young master went out to deal with him, and I have not heard from him since then."

    "Mr. Pascal knew this and was determined to pursue this Lothur when he left Lewerenz on Sunday night."

    "Oh? Lothur, eh? Where is he? Where is he from?" That figure asked.

    Harry''s mother then replied. "We don''t know who he is. But he came here from Peters City, from the Morning Star Academy. So, he must have returned there after leaving Lewerenz."

    "The Morning Star Academy?" That man''s eyebrows frowned.

    He was powerful in the province, but some of the powers with members in that academy were beyond his reach. So, he could not help but worry.

    ''In any case, it''s okay to investigate... If it''s someone without much support, I''ll be able to deal with that person and find out what happened between him and Harry.''

    ''If it''s someone influential, I''ll just have to try to understand the situation on my own and forget about any problems.''

    "Very well, I will go to Peters City to understand whatever happens!"

 Chapter 183 Genius

    Three hourster...

    At this moment, Lothur finally stopped shivering in the tub half-soaked with a ck liquid, feeling every part of his body trembling.

    ''This is different from what I experienced on my own...'' He felt every muscle in his body contracting while Elisabeth''s hands rested on his shoulders.

    She had slowly increased the concentration and intensity of the poisons in that unique bath. But, at the same time, she was ''connected'' to him to ensure that she would handle the excess poison when he reached his limit.

    In this way, while Lothur was in a cold sweat and shivering, she was massaging his shoulders, from time to time sending part of her powers to help him.

    "How are you feeling, Lothur?" She softly asked, sitting on the edge of that tub behind him.

    "Terrible!" He was sincere, bitterlyughing. "But I guess that''s what I was looking for, right? Hitting the limits can''t be a pleasant thing..."

    "That''s right."

    "If you seek high performance, then you will always be at the limit of your endurance, at the threshold that separates good training and that which hurts you." Shemented on this as she removed her hands from his shoulders, realizing that his situation had already stabilized.

    "Well, get some rest. From now on, these poisons won''t make you feel so bad anymore and will lose their effects in another 20 minutes or so." She wiped her hands on a towel and walked out of that room.

    "When you feel better, take a shower ande talk to me. I''ll give you some materials to continue on your own for the next few days."

    "OK." He said in a low voice before closing his eyes and rxing.

    After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and saw the system warning.

    [Iron-grade Poison Resistance.]

    [Progress: 54%]

    ''Wow! That was quite an improvement just for the time I''ve been here!'' He eximed in his mind, pleased with this visit to Elisabeth.

    As he smiled and walked towards the bathroom, Reba entered that area from her teacher after learning that Lothur was there.

    "You have be a disciple of my mistress, eh?" She watched him with a smile on her face, not feeling strange to see him without clothes.

    "Well, more or less..." Hemented without looking at her, quickly beginning to wash off the poisonous substances on his body.

    He would be leaving to see Elke after that, so he naturally had to take great care in eliminating the poisonous substances in his body.

    ''Once I get a greater mastery over this profession, I will start treating my women... That will help them be stronger!''

    Reba then said. "It''s good that you didn''t refuse the mistress'' proposal. Now we can see each other more often... Don''t you think that''s interesting?"

    "Very interesting, hehe."

    She was pleased to hear his answer. "I''m d you think the same as me. So, let me tell you, my mistress doesn''t spend much time in this residence, so if you have any questions, talk to me. I will take care of it as long as I have the ability to do so."

    "Just look for me in Sector-6 of the academy, and we''ll talk to you whenever you want."

    He looked at her and nodded in agreement. "OK."

    "But Ba, I have a question. When will I be a 1-star poison master? What is the process for that to happen?"<sub> </sub>

    She realized that Lothur was still ignorant about this profession even though he had already learned several essential things. "Our profession is different from others. For example, we don''t have an association or group that confers promotion to us."

    "Instead, anyone interested in bing an ''n''-star poison master just has to use certain poisons. If you can withstand the effect of these poisons, your body will produce a mark that is what identifies the rank of our professionals."

    "That mark is impossible to be copied or artificially created, so any client interested in the services of poison masters will just pay attention to it."

    She then used her right hand to show her left wrist, "Do you see those two lines on my wrist?"

    "Hmm," He nodded as he wiped himself dry.

    "Well, something like that will appear in the region of your body that you apply the poisons in question."

    "Many of us apply the poison to one of our wrists since it''s easier to be identified that way. But that''s up to you..." Sheughed and said. "I have known a poison master who applied it between her breasts..."

    After hearing this, Lothurughed for a few moments before getting dressed and heading to where Elisabeth was supposed to be waiting for him.

    Upon seeing Elisabeth again after his bath, Lothur received some advice from this woman and the materials he would need to train on his own for the next few days. And, of course, she talked about how he should talk to Reba in case of doubt when she could not receive him.

    After this, Lothur went to his residence to make some preparations and then to Elke''s house.

    ...

    While Lothur was already training hard with his girl, the middle-aged woman from the tailor shop had already passed on his glove to her superior.

    And just at this instant, the woman in charge of that store was on her property, in the Christen family, with a formation master of that organization.

    ? "So, you were able to undo that formation?" The 2-star tailor asked the same-ranked formation master.

    "No..." That woman of rtively youthful appearance, but mature temperament, said this as she sighed and returned that item to the tailor sitting on the other side of the table.

    "I don''t know what formations master did that, but he is a genius." She said in an admiring tone. "Even though it is only an Iron-grade inscription, it cannot be undone."

    "Once inscribed, it will self-detonate if anyone tries to spy on it more than they should."

    "This formation master has created something of low-level, but that can''t be circumvented!"

    The tailor frowned her blond eyebrows and questioned. "Is that possible? Isn''t that just a formation made by a 1-star person? How can someone of higher rank not be able to do anything about it?"

    That woman sighed and exined the reason for that. "I don''t know how the formation master behind this inscription thought of it or inscribed it on the glove. But he has connected the essential structures of such a glove so well with an explosive Natural Law that the least amount of spirituality infused into it will make it explode."

    "I''ve never heard of something like this before! That''s the shocking part!" She said in excitement, feeling great respect for the creator of that.

    "So, even if I use higher grade inscriptions to try to solve this problem, the destructive Natural Law will still act and damage the parts of this item because any formation relies on spiritual energy to fulfill its purpose. In other words, it is not possible to ovee the defensive barrier left in this glove without damaging it."

    "That..." That tailor felt defeated by that.

    She did not feel that Lothur''s glove had the value to be sold in her store. After all, that store sold items for cultivators, and that glove had limited potential among such people.

    But still, since Lothur had learned tailoring from them, she wanted to secretly steal the design of this item and save it for the Christen family.

    Unfortunately, her ns had been thwarted!

 Chapter 184 Small Developments

    Meanwhile, at the Baier family estate...

    At this very moment, the patriarch of this noble house was in his son''s room, observing how pathetic Alric had be after losing his manhood.

    Alric had already recovered from his worst injuries, even to the point of being able to walk on his own after weeks of expensive medical treatment. However, after discovering what had happened to his little friend, Alric became depressed, not wanting to return to the academy or cultivate.

    He was pitifully broken!

    Seeing this in his son, who until recently was full of energy, David Baier, level 15, clenched his fists, feeling humiliated by the stranger who had caused this to his family.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''The damn Mouse Company are not behind these matters, but they throw the me on a mere mortal... How could that brat have done something without leaving any trace behind?''

    The Baier family patriarch had seriously investigated the matter, having watched for possible people in the shadows acting for Lothur. But there was no sign, not even a trace, where his son was brutalized.

    It was as if a ghost had acted against Alric!

    And with no evidence, no reasonable suspicions for him to suspect that Lothur was to me for everything, this man had not focused on this young man.

    There were other possibilities, and he wanted to investigate them before he did anything against anyone in the Frost family.

    His family did not have good rtions with House Frost and even acted against that organization behind the curtains. But he did not want an open problem with that power because of unfounded suspicion.

    This man already knew that the Mouse Company seemed to be trying to harm Lothur, so he had not followed the hints of that local underworld organization.

    For all that, he had not acted!

    But by reaching a point where there did not seem to be a culprit behind what happened to his son, this man was finally reaching his limit.

    ''Tsk!''

    ''Maybe I''d better take that brat Merten''s advice. That Lothur will be forced to attend the Province Conference, so I''ll use this opportunity...'' He looked at his poor son, lying on a bed, staring at the ceiling like an idiot.

    ''Even if he is not guilty, many powers will already act against House Frost during thispetition. So, I will get rid of this problem...''

    ...

    While that man was thinking about what to do with Lothur, this silver-haired young man was training Elke, fighting with this woman in the training room of her residence.

    In that ce simr to the cultivation rooms of the Cultivation House, Elke was drenched with sweat, hurriedly breathing as she fought against Lothur.

    "Come on, Elke, just one more time, and we''ll stop!" He said, without even a drop of sweat on his body.

    Hearing that, Elke attacked with her sword towards Lothur''s right shoulder, trying to scratch him at least.

    However, Lothur was rtively quick in his reactions, and with every move Elke made, he just moved his body and dodged her weapon. At the same time, he attacked her in different ways every now and then, sometimes with kicks to the legs, sometimes with punches against certain sensitive parts of her body.

    The goal was not for him to hurt her but to encourage his girl''s reaction and defenses to make her better prepared forbat.

    And while doing this to her, Lothur was constantly working on his defensive techniques, taking the opportunity to train himself.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    When they finally finished, Lothur felt the system prompts and looked at his status while Elke drank water.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 6]<sub> </sub>

    [STR: 14.6] [CON: 21.8] [DEX: 14.5] [AGI: 16.6]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 68.8] [WIL: 66.9]

    [EVF: 41.2]

    After increasing the mastery of three of his four techniques, Lothur noticed that he now needed less time than before to get warnings of progress.

    But such advancements were not as significant as the previous ones during his training with the soul fragment in Lewerenz.

    In any case, he was pleased to see his progress advancing again, which, even with training with Elke, was generating results for him.

    ''If all goes well, by the weekend when I go out on a mission with Annaliese, I''ll be able to train with her and get even more fantastic results!'' He removed his clothes and quickly went to Elke''s bathroom.

    Upon reaching the shower, Lothur and Elke were quick to start having fun as they cleaned each other''s bodies,ughing as they talked about silly things.

    However, while they were doing that, Hilda''s voice came from outside that ce. "Elke, do you want to train with your old mother? Let me take a look at your progress..."

    Hearing her mother''s voiceing from outside her bathroom, Elke froze while Lothur was behind her, doing something forbidden for young people.

    Gulp!

    Her flushed face quickly lost color as she felt Lothur stop his wild movements. "What shall we do?" He asked, also surprised by Hilda''s ''invasion.''

    Elke then cried out. "Mother, can you leave this until tomorrow? I am tired, and after I finish my bath, I will go to bed."

    Hearing this, Hilda stopped before putting one of her hands on the doorknob of that bathroom door. "Are you tired? You want to talk..."

    "Mother, give me some privacy!" She said a little louder as she felt a movement on Lothur''s part and looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing?" She whispered to him. "What if I had made a noise?"

    Lothur continued to move his waist and smiled. "I suddenly felt more energetic... If you don''t want her to hear us, make her leave. It will be hard for me to stop in my situation."

    "Lothur..." She blushed, feeling that this was indeed the case.

    "Mother, let''s make an appointment to train tomorrow. Now I want to have some peace and rest!" Again, she shouted, this time using all her willpower to give no sign of what was happening in that bathroom.

    Hearing this, Hilda frowned, finding Elke''s behavior unusual. ''Could it be that she is having love problems? Maybe she needs to talk to someone other than her mother?''

    "Sigh!"

    "Fine, but let''s talkter!"

    After Hilda left, it was not long, and a continued moan spread throughout Elke''s residence.

    ...

    The following day, as he finished his things with Elke, Lothur looked at her status, noting his girl''s rapid progress.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 2.7] [CON: 9.5] [DEX: 4.1] [AGI: 4.4]

    "Elke, you are progressing well." Hemented to her as he looked at her face while running one of his fingers across her lips. "I think at your current progress rate; we''ll be able to reach our goal by Friday night."

    "Then prepare to absorb the Soul Bone I have kept for you."

    "Hmmm." She smiled at him, more than pleased with all of this.

    "Lothur, I want you to expedite your business with my parents. I don''t want to wait long before discussing our rtionship with my parents."

    "What?" He was surprised by this.

    She then said. "I don''t see myself returning to the way I was before. I don''t want to have to keep hiding and still not even be able to wee you into my home with peace of mind."

    "Then let''s assume our rtionship to them so we can be together whenever we want to..."

 Chapter 185 Suspect

    "Are you sure you want to rush things so much? I think your parents will probably want to separate us if they find out about us." Lothur said as he looked into her eyes.

    "Not if I tell them the truth..."

    "What? You wouldn''t..." He opened his eyes wide, looking incredulously at her.

    Sheughed and said. "Not to my father, but if I talk to my mother, I can arrange things. She can help us and convince my father."

    Gulp!

    "I think she''ll want to kill me if you tell her..."

    "Shhh!" She put one of her fingers in Lothur''s mouth to shut him up. "You''re silly about these things. Besides being afraid of babies, you''re afraid ofmitting... But you shouldn''t worry about such things. We have already gone too far, and my mother will not act against the man who made me a woman and whom I love."

    "Even more so considering that our rtionship can help me be stronger. And that she will surely value when ites time to give me to you." She took her hand from his mouth and kissed him. "In any case, I am already yours, and you must take responsibility, Lothur."

    "At any moment, I might get pregnant, so we''d better act before something like that happens."

    Gulp!

    After thinking seriously about this for a few moments, he replied. "OK, I will try to talk to them on Friday night. I''ll take the opportunity to meet you onest time before I leave with Annaliese for our mission."

    "Great!" She hugged him tightly before lyingfortably on her bed, preparing to get some sleep while Lothur left.

    ...

    When dawn broke, Hilda went to her daughter''s room just as before.

    However, this time she did not wake Elke immediately, having watched that ce carefully as her sixth sense told her that something was wrong.

    She moved her nose as she got close to Elke''s bed, sensing a distinctive smell from that area. ''This fragrance...''

    Detecting that she had noticed it before and remembering how Elke seemed to be sleeping naked recently, Hilda blushed with embarrassment. ''Is my daughter by any chance discovering herself as a woman?''

    Gulp!

    Hilda knew well the characteristic smell in that ce. But sometimes, the smell of a woman alone could approach that of thebination of man and woman.

    Obviously, they were different enough for her to notice, but considering that her daughter was expected to marry some young master in a few years, there was no way Hilda could suspect Elke of having some forbidden adventure.

    Because of her confidence in her daughter, Hilda could only imagine that Elke was getting to know herself...

    ''Is that why she didn''t want to train yesterday?''

    ''My god, what do I do? Maybe I should try to talk to her?'' She did not know what to do and soon left that ce without trying to wake her daughter.

    As she was doing that, an idea shed through her mind. ''I already know!''

    ''To avoid the embarrassment of having to try to start that conversation, I''ll pretendter to catch her in the act in surprise! That way, I can talk to her about it and solve the problem once and for all!''

    ...

    A few hours passed, and at this moment, Lothur and Elke were already doing the day''s second test while the principal of Sector-1 was watching him.

    After the problem the day before with the teacher of Local History, the director of Sector-1 had scheduled himself to follow the exams that Lothur would take this day.<sub> </sub>

    Because of this, he had already followed the first exam of the day and noted how Lothur had taken his test without showing any dishonesty.

    But he had not yet been convinced that Lothur was innocent. Perhaps this good-for-nothing young man had not used his cheating approach to take the exam before because of him.

    With that said, until he found out the result of that first test, he could not know whether Lothur was intelligent or just a good cheat.

    And so he had reached at this moment, watching Lothur solving the second exam of the day, once again focused on the test itself, showing no suspicious signs.

    Lothur and even Elke had been surprised by the presence of that individual in the ss where they were taking exams today. But since neither of them was doing anything wrong, he found the situation curious, and she felt more contempt for the principal of Sector-1, who was mistreating her man.

    In any case, she knew that her lover was so good that none of these people could harm him. So, even though she felt they had a problem, she simply focused on her own trial.

    And the principal of Sector-1 realized such a thing.

    ''Tsk!''

    ''Why is that brat Becker looking at me in such a disgusting way? What have I done to her?'' He wondered in doubt as he looked at Lothur.

    ''Sigh...''

    ''This fellow hasn''t done anything wrong so far, and we''re almost halfway through this test. And by his average time, he should be finished by now.'' He looked at the clock in that ssroom and pondered the situation.

    But while this person was doing that, the teacher from the previous exam walked into that area with a dazzled look on his face.

    "Principal, I have already reviewed Lothur''s exam..." That person said in an altered tone, alternating between looking at the principal and Lothur. ''How is that possible? He didn''t participate in any of my sses!''

    "Oh? How did he do? Pretty bad?" The principal asked, while the other teacher there, the one in the subject under examination in that ssroom, was also waiting for that individual''s answer.

    Gulp!

    He swallowed his saliva and said at once. "He got all the questions right, just like he did on the four previous exams!"

    "What?"

    They all knew about Lothur''s results on the previous tests since teachers talked among themselves about such things. Additionally, the principal of this sector had already questioned all the teachers who tested such a young man.

    So, when they discovered that Lothur had achieved that while being watched by several teachers and even the principal, they could not help but open their mouths in shock.

    "How is this possible? I saw everything that happened, and he didn''t seem to have cheated!" The principal said in a whispering tone.

    "I''m shocked too..." The teacher in question said. "Some of his answers don''t sound like a student from Sector-1. But even some students from Sector-6 would have a hard time suggesting the things he wrote in his exam!"

    "That..." The principal looked in Lothur''s direction, shocked since he had heard simr words from thest four teachers who tested this young man.

    Thinking about the pattern that had formed in front of him, the fact that Lothur did not seem to be cheating, and the characteristic arrogance of this young man, the principal could not help but question his views.

    ''Is he a genius? Was he ying with us to get under the radar?'' He looked palely at Lothur. ''No. How is it possible that he is so good without any cultivation talent? Doesn''t that mean the Frost family tricked us?''

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I have to redo his tests, or the academy''s honor will be tarnished by having someone so talented studying in Sector-1!'' He felt nervous until he finally saw Lothur stand up to hand in his test.

    ...

 Chapter 186 Im Busy

    After Lothur handed in his test, the principal looked at him seriously and said. "Come with me. Let''s redo your physical tests. I don''t believe you are a talentless mortal."

    "Uh? What are you talking about?" Lothur frowned and looked doubtfully at that man with the bulging belly.

    "You''ve aced all five tests you''ve taken so far. How could you have done that without having great cultivation talent?" He stood beside Lothur and approached one of that young man''s ears. "Your family is hiding you, right? Be sure. We''ll keep the secret."

    "Principal, I don''t know what you are talking about. The Frost family didn''t cheat the academy at all. I''m just smarter than the teachers who took those tests..."

    "What?" The two individuals on the principal''s side felt Lothur''s unnecessary attack.

    Lothur looked at them, shook his shoulders, andughed. "I am telling the truth. I just used a littlemon sense when analyzing the contents of the books I read in the library."

    The principal did not think that was enough and insisted. "In any case, you didn''t take the physical tests when you entered the academy, so I want you to follow me now."

    "No. Now I have an appointment." Lothur refused without hesitation.

    He had to train Elke, his momentary priority. So, he would not ept that man''s orders because of something that could be der.

    "What? Busy? With what? How can anything be more important than the academy?" The principal felt slightly angry, remembering how annoying this individual could be.

    "To me, what I''m going to do now is more important than that. Besides, we can do any testster, right? And I still have until Friday to do my sector advancement tests." He calmly replied.

    "If you have a higher talent than reported by the Frost family, you won''t need to take any tests..." One of the teachers said in a low voice as he looked at Lothur like he was in front of an idiot.

    "I know that. But even if my talent were greater than that reported by the Frost family, I wouldn''t change sectors."

    Lothur already had all his ns in mind considering that he would slowly ascend within the academy. So, he would be greatly damaged if he simply epted a promotion at this ce.

    After all, as a mortal, he had to worry only about themon subjects of this ce and ascending only to Sector-4. In other words, his life was more convenient. He had more freedom and couldplete his time at the academy faster.

    So, why would he ept the privileges of this ce when he had never needed them in the past?

    Lothur knew that every benefit came with problems or responsibilities, so he would not simply let himself be lured into it!

    "You wouldn''t change sectors? What nonsense are you talking?" The principal made an unfriendly expression at this irritating young man.

    Lothur opened his arms and smiled. "ording to the academy rules, a talented student can start his studies in higher sectors, where there are more possibilities and better teachers. But that is only an option. If the student chooses to start in a lower sector, nothing can stop him."

    "That''s in the academy''s statute book."

    "Yes, but why would anyone do that? What is the advantage in having fewer options than one deserves?" The teacher of the subject that Lothur had just taken the exam asked.

    "I don''t need to justify myself. That''s my decision."

    Upon hearing this, the principal almost exploded in anger, beginning to feel his head getting hot from the irritation of having to listen to this person. ''He truly is a good-for-nothing! He has the opportunity to improve, but he uses every option he has to get away with it!''

    ''He doesn''t want anything serious with his life! What a waste of a human being!''

    "Good, good! At least the academy won''t lose its resources on someone uninterested!" He shouted, making all the students in that ce pay attention to them.

    "Go away! Since you''re moving up a sector, I don''t want to see your face anymore!"

    After hearing the cries of the principal and seeing Lothur leaving that ce with a smile on his lips, Elke understood everything that was happening.

    ''He is doing this for me!'' She clenched her hands, feeling happy that the man she loved favored her so much. ''Lothur, I will give you anything you want. I will reward youter!'' Elke clenched her fists, determined to give him something he had been asking for recently...

    ...

    A few hourster...

    At this instant, a carriage was standing at the side of one of the streets near the Frost estate.

    There, a middle-aged man with a ck goatee and balding was watching that ce while having his fists clenched.<sub> </sub>

    "Master Magnus, that is the estate of the Frost family, the noble house to which this Lothur fellow belongs." The coachman of that carriage said in a low voice.

    "But this fellow here is only a son-inw, not an actual member of that family..."

    After hearing this, Harry''s master''s eyes narrowed as he thought about what he might do. ''That person certainly knows something. Perhaps he is even involved...''

    This man already knew that Lothur was only a mortal and that hispanion on the previous trip was only a young 2nd Transformation girl who had recently advanced to the 3rd. So, neither of them could have done anything directly.

    But that did not prevent people were protecting them from the shadows!

    Hence his thoughts about the involvement of those two in the disappearance of his disciple.

    ''But I can''t act carelessly with someone from the Frost family, even if he is only a son-inw!'' He sensed the difficulty of the matter and sighed. ''But as long as I don''t overdo it, I can approach him and at least get some answers from him.''

    He then said to his coachman. ''Let''s stick around here. I want to see when this fellow will leave this ce alone. Then, at that opportunity, I will act."

    "OK!" The coachman replied and soon began to take care of that carriage so that no one would suspect them of being there with bad intentions.

    ...

    While that person was anxiously waiting for any movement from Lothur, this young man had just finished one of his training sessions and saw his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 6]

    [STR: 14.6 -> 14.8]

    [CON: 21.8 -> 22.1]

    [DEX: 14.5 -> 14.8]

    [AGI: 16.6 -> 16.8]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 68.8]

    [WIL: 66.9 -> 67.2]

    [EVF: 41.2]

    After seeing this, he wiped the sweat on his face and ran from thatmon area he had trained in to return to his room.

    Now he would take a hot bath and rest while he studied the medical books he had recently received. He would not go to the Becker estate untilter, so he was not in such a hurry today.

    Unlike thest two days, he had not had anymitments after his afternoon training with Elke, so he had more time today to train and study a bit.

    So, he quickly made his way to his room, already taking off his clothes before closing the door.

    But before he could finish running his sweaty shirt down his neck, Lothur saw someone stop the door to his room before it closed.

    "Oh?" He looked at the floor and saw a female foot in a crystal shoe.

    "Lothur, I will not let you leave today without having dinner with me." Viktoria walked in there with a determined expression on her face.

    ...

 Chapter 187 Stick Strategy

    Hearing his wife''s voice and seeing her beautiful body standing in the doorway to his bedroom, Lothur looked at her in surprise after he finished taking off his shirt.

    Meanwhile, she looked at her husband''s well-defined chest, which looked even more impressive than it was due to the sweat and illumination.

    He saw her opening her little mouth and looking at his abdomen and asked. "Dear wife, what do you want? I still have an appointment with Elke for the rest of the week, so let''s leave it till next week."

    "No!" She stopped watching his body and closed the door. "Lothur, you are my husband. You at least have to be avable to me when I want to talk!"

    "I thought you and I had already agreed about trying to have at least a friendship!" She said in an irritated tone as she walked closer to him.

    "Hmm, I don''t mind having a better rtionship with you. But I''m really busy. I can''t break mymitment to Elke." He was sincere with her and turned to go to his bathroom to start cleaning himself up.

    Seeing how Lothur did not seem to give a damn about her needs, Viktoria panicked, feeling extremely frustrated. ''Damn it, listen to me at least once!'' She ran up to him and grabbed one of his wrists.

    "Hmm?" He turned and looked at her in doubt, not understanding what she wanted by holding him.

    But then, this silver-haired young man listened. "Lothur, I want you to stay with me today."

    "Viktoria..."

    She saw that he was about to refuse her, and after a brief hesitation, she brought her lips toward his, risking the stick strategy that Karen had told her about.

    Upon realizing this, Lothur''s eyes opened wide, with him standing in disbelief that the icy Viktoria had gone so far as to kiss him in desperation!

    But he was no fool and did not miss the opportunity to show his wife what she was missing by being so cold.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    As she felt Lothur''s tongue entering her mouth, Viktoria wanted to pull back in surprise, but with her willpower, she stood there as she felt the advance of his hands.

    Lothur held tightly onto Viktoria''s slender waist, making this brte beauty shiver.

    However, he did not stop there, and amid the pleasurable sensation Viktoria felt for the first time, she felt one of his hands squeezing her lower cheek.

    ''What is that? He''s grabbing my ass!'' Her heart raced, and her body began to heat up.

    She then began to feel a little sweat forming on certain parts of her body, with several thoughts in her mind. ''Why do I feel so weak right now? And why do I feel so good?''

    "Mmmmmm~"

    The two continued doing that for the next 2 minutes, with Viktoria slowly starting to use her tongue as Lothur did while her muscles rxed.

    After the first few nervous moments, she unconsciously gently touched his face, melting into her husband''s strong arms.

    During this time, Lothur slowly began to move his fingers through her clothes, loosening some parts while unbuttoning others.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah..." As she parted her lips from his, Viktoria took a deep breath, looking up at the man holding her.

    But he wasted no time and began kissing her neck as he slowly led her to his bed.

    "Viktoria, let me take care of you..." He said as he groped one of her breasts, making her shiver in nervousness, already lying on that bed.<sub> </sub>

    ''No! I''m losing control of the situation! At this rate, he won''t improve his behavior at all!'' She swallowed her saliva as she tried to regain her strength that was being suppressed by an inner desire she did not quite understand.

    "Lothur..." She whispered his name as she saw that his face was already between her breasts, which were almost being released from her clothes.

    "Lothur, don''t..."

    He finally stopped his movement and looked at the woman below him, noticing the redness in her face and nervousness in her eyes. "Dear, you''ve been very stressed. Let me take care of your needs and make you my wife for real. You won''t regret it."

    Lothur then moved closer to her face and unceremoniously kissed her.

    ''Is this how he does it with that Becker girl?'' Viktoria wondered as she felt Lothur''s lips once more. ''No wonder she gave herself to him! He is ruthless in his ''attacks'' to the point that even someone like me is at a loss...''

    ''Imagine a low-level young woman like her!'' She touched his bulky back before moving her hands and gently pushing his chest. "Lothur, let''s not do what you''re thinking..."

    "Why?" He looked into her brown eyes and asked.

    "Why? You ask that?" She asked back. ''We''ve never done anything like this before. We don''t even have feelings for each other. So, how can I do this to you?''

    He then said to her. "Viktoria, we are husband and wife. Besides, I know that you are attracted to me as much as I am to you. Or have you not noticed your actions in thest minutes?"

    Upon hearing this, she turned red with embarrassment, noting that she had allowed herself to be with him for almost three full minutes, demonstrating attraction-rted feelings. She had even groped his muscles and ignored the sword pointed at her belly.

    There was also a strange sensation in her special area, something good that she had never felt before.

    Gulp!

    He continued. "Then why don''t we make this rtionship real? I guarantee you it will be fun and give you new energy to see the world..."

    "All you have to do is let me go on. Don''t worry. Everything will be natural, and I know you won''t regret it." He massaged one of her cheeks, still on top of her body.

    ''This guy... He talks in a way that makes me feel doubtful.'' She panicked, afraid of losing her virginity in a moment of weakness and not when she was better prepared.

    "No, Lothur, we can''t. I need you to be avable to me and treat me as your wife for this to happen..." She moved her eyes to the side. ''I can''t keep being ignored and still agree to give you everything I have.'' She thought.

    "You need to be a good husband, or we can''t have that kind of rtionship."

    "Is that so?" He felt the warmth in his body cool a little, "It''s a shame then. I''m not the kind of man who will give you what you want, Viktoria. I will give you what you need. But that will sometimes go against what you think you want."

    "Then I can''t be a good husband."

    p "What do I need?" She was surprised at this, watching him get off the bed. "What do you think I need?"</anda>

    But he did not answer her, only having smiled mysteriously at her. ''You need a man to dominate you, Viktoria...''

    "Anyway, I''m sorry if you''re not interested in who I am. Anyway, I have an appointment, and I can''t miss it." He took off his trousers and went into the bathroom. "I''ll talk to youter, dear."

    ...

 Chapter 188 Relaxing (*)

    Seeing Lothur abandon her on that bed while she had her clothes ruffled and half-open, Viktoria felt a wave of frustration and struggled against his bed.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Why? Why would he rather stay with that girl? Am I not as good as her?'' She stood there on his bed for a few moments, staring at the ceiling, pping her arms against the bed.

    ''What do I have to do for him to be mine? Is kissing me and touching my body not enough for him?'' She felt humiliated and got up from there without adjusting her clothes, showing her beautiful cleavage.

    "Lothur, can''t you change? For me..." She said as she stopped beside his shower, this time not caring to see her husband''s nudity.

    Lothur looked at the beauty beside him and stood facing her. "No, I can''t. You will have to deal with or forget about."

    "And how will I deal with that? Every time I''m with you, you tease me, don''t answer my questions, and make me angry!" She panted as her chest rose.

    She was nervous, so out of sorts that she had lost her rational side to face this man who was supposed to be hers.

    "If you want, I can show you the way." He showed one of his hands to her, calling her into the shower. "Take off your clothes ande over here. I''ll help you rx so you can learn to deal with these thoughts of yours..."

    Gulp!

    "Take off my clothes? But..."

    "I won''t do what you''re thinking. I''ll just give you a rxing massage." He smiled at her, ignoring the water running down his body, looking her in the eyes.

    ''Is it just a massage? I think I can do that...'' She clenched her fists in determination and signaled that she would do what he wanted. "Do you promise you won''t do anything beyond my limits?"

    "It will just be a massage, Viktoria."

    "Sigh..."

    After sighing in defeat, she removed her blue dress, letting it fall to the floor while revealing to Lothur one of the most beautiful visions he had ever had.

    Viktoria''s body was the most perfect he had ever seen, and with the ck bra and panties she was wearing, her body had only be more beautiful to him.

    She paused for a moment and saw Lothur''s sword pointing skyward, trembling in doubt. But soon after, she felt one of Lothur''s hands touch her left hand, slowly leading her to his side.

    Viktoria followed that path as if time was passing more slowly, until as she took off her bra, Lothur reached down and removed her panties.

    "You are beautiful, Viktoria." Sheplimented her, feeling his own heart beating faster in excitement for this moment.

    But he did not watch her for long and soon stood up to massage her body.

    "What are you going to do?" She looked into his eyes, feeling the water from the shower running down her skin.

    Lothur then turned her back to him and hugged her from behind. "Calm down... Just rx and enjoy what I''m about to do..." He whispered to her while one of his hands was at the height of her navel and the other going up to her left breast.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah..." Viktoria began to breathe more hurriedly as she felt the contact with Lothur''s body generating shocks through her body.

    She could not stand and moan when he touched her left nipple.

    "Ahhhh~"

    But to her surprise, Lothur did not stop there, and in the blink of an eye, his other hand was on this young woman''s precious area.

    ''That... What is he doing?'' Her eyes widened in astonishment, but her body felt so good at this moment that she did nothing to stop him.<sub> </sub>

    The opposite that, in that instant, she began to open up to him, making the job he was doing easier.

    "Ahhhh~"

    ...

    After 20 minutes...

    Viktoria finally lost the strength in her legs and, after a long moan, copsed on Lothur''s arms, feeling like she was in the clouds.

    "Lothur... Hah... Hah... What have you done to me?" She felt the pleasant tiredness that usually came before a good nap as she reclined against his body.

    "That, dear, is what you need. If you be a good wife, I will help you rx daily..." He hugged her, holding her body so she would not copse.

    "Hah... Is that what I need?" She repeated, hugging him back in doubt. ''I truly feel rxed now...''

    She thought about what had happened and asked. "And what are we going to do now? You know that after this, there''s no turning back. Now, I''m your wife for real."

    Heughed as he picked her up in his arms to take her to bed. "What we do now is up to you. I have an appointment, but I can stay for a few minutes if you are willing."

    Hearing this and feeling him lie on top of her in a simr position to before, she looked down and hesitated. "Are you talking about that? Can''t we just get some sleep? I feel tired."

    "Hmm, I imagine you are..." He massaged her cheeks and smiled. "I can stay here with you for about 15 minutes. After that, I''ll leave. Sorry."

    She closed her eyes and squeezed his arms but did not feel the courage to take thest step. "Lothur, I don''t feel ready. That is important to me, so I want to think it over..."

    "Oh? That''s fine with me..."

    "But I want you to hold me now and sleep with me for a while, okay? I strangely like the warmth of your body..." She blushed as she said this, feeling her submissive side showing a little.

    "Sure, hehe..." Heughed andy beside her just before bringing her into his arms and squeezing her.

    With that, minutes passed, and soon Viktoria fell asleep in Lothur''s arms, feeling protected but also so exhausted that she did not even notice when he left that bed.

    Lothur looked down at his wife''s naked body and then used a sheet to cover her. ''I didn''t think you would give in so quickly, Viktoria. It seems like you''ve been stressing out a lot, huh?''

    ''Youined about me, but that''s probably the Frost family''s problems...'' He sighed, knowing that thisdy had a lot of responsibilities because of her talent.

    "All right, I''ll take care of your needs for the hour, and eventually, I''ll solve those problems." He kissed her forehead before leaving there for Elke''s house.

    With that, he soon ran across that property, quickly leaving this ce through a poorly protected area since he could not legally leave that area.

    And as he did so, the carriage on one of the streets near that estate finally underwent a change, with Harry''s old master getting out of that cab.

    ''Oh? He left earlier than I had imagined!'' This person celebrated that Lothur left in the middle of the night and not earlier in the day as he had expected.

    "Great!"

    "Time to talk!" He set off in pursuit of Lothur.

    ...

 Chapter 189 Deception

    After walking for some time, Lothur realized that a level 13 cultivator was chasing him, someone countless times stronger than him.

    ''Who is this now?'' He kept looking ahead as if he did not see that person, trying to get as close as possible to the Becker residence.

    He had already walked more than halfway between the Frost estate and Elke''s house. So, he naturally only had the alternative of continuing on his way and approaching a refuge.

    But he did not use his movement technique to try to speed up his pace. No, that would not make sense. After all, the enemy was faster than he was!

    Moreover, demonstrating his iparable speed to that of mortals would be highly worrying for him, who passed himself off as a mere mortal.

    Therefore, he just hastened his pace to a justifiable extent, beginning to worry about these enemies that kepting up.

    ''Maybe fate wants me to retake a good beating?'' He sarcastically asked himself.

    But that moment, such a man got tired of chasing him and said. "Kid, wait a moment. I have something to ask you."

    Lothur barely looked back and continued his movement. "Sir, you must have confused me. Good luck in your search..."

    "No, your name is Lothur, right? I want to talk to you." That fellow insisted, but the silver-haired young man kept walking.

    "Do you know me?" Lothur looked at the personing closer and closer to him. "I''m in a hurry, so you can talk whatever you want while you continue my walk..."

    The middle-aged man looked intently at Lothur but saw no problem with that. "All right, I''ll walk with you... Anyway, I don''t know you, but I''m after someone you met with on Saturday in Lewerenz."

    "Saturday? Lewerenz?" Lothur understood what this man was talking about, but he yed dumb. "I met with several people on Saturday. I was doing a mission for the Herrmann family..."

    "I speak of Harry Wehrle." He looked into Lothur''s eyes, waiting for some reaction.

    "Harry?" Lothur made a thoughtful expression until he said. "Oh, so that''s it. There was someone like that in the Herrmann family estate... Well, I don''t know much about him. We only exchanged a few words on that asion before I left. You can ask the Herrmann family about that."

    The old man smiled awkwardly and said. "I have already done that. They told me that you seem to have had a disagreement with him. Can you tell me what happened next?"

    Lothur frowned his eyebrows. "Next? How would I know? I went on my mission, which made mypanion and I gain several injuries in the process. As for this person, I don''t know. I haven''t seen him."

    The young man turned to the man next to him and said. "Why? Who is this Harry to you? Why are you after me?"

    The old man kept his gaze sharp, watching every gesture of Lothur, who, it should be said, behaved very well in this situation. "I am his master. I have not heard from Harry since Saturday, so I am searching for information about him."

    ''So that''s the master that fellow tried to use to threaten me, huh?" Lothur made a regretful expression. "I''m sorry, I don''t know where he went."

    "But not only am I in search of my disciple. A subordinate who was after information from you also disappeared... You don''t know anything about that either?" He looked strangely at Lothur as if he was suspicious.

    Lothur looked ahead and saw the entrance to the Becker family estate. "Oh, about that, I know something."

    That man''s eyes widened. He did not expect that Lothur was going to tell him something!

    Lothur continued. "Someone chased us while we were returning to Peters City. Unfortunately, that person injured someone from the Becker family..."

    "Then a shadow guard from that organization eliminated him before he could do anything against the young Miss Becker."

    "What?" That man eximed in shock, not expecting that such a great organization was involved with the disappearance of his subordinate.

    But before he could have any reaction, Lothur said in a provocative tone. "What are you going to do now, sir? We are already a few meters from the Becker estate, and it just so happens that I called them here..."

    Upon hearing this, this level 13 man looked at Lothur''s hands and saw a Becker family symbol, quickly beginning to feel fear.<sub> </sub>

    "Damn it!" He turned away from Lothur, fearful about having to face that power without any preparation.

    He already did not want to act against Lothur because of House Frost, but now in this situation that another power had appeared in this problem, he could only retreat!

    In this way, he was deceived by Lothur''s lie, who started running without looking back toward the Becker estate after seeing that man escaping.

    He did not know if such a person would realize that the symbol he showed was just something ordinary, so he had to get as close as possible to that area!

    But lucky for Lothur, such a person was too scared to realize his lie. Because of this, he quickly managed to get to a ce where he was no longer in danger, where he stopped and sighed in relief.

    ''Damn, that was close!''

    ''If that man were crazy enough to attack me, I''d be finished!'' He lifted his head, closed his eyes, and sighed. ''But at least I got some relevant information!''

    ''Now I have the face of the person behind that coachman''s death!''

    A sly smile formed on his lips. ''I''m sure Elke''s family will be d to get that information!''

    With that thought in mind, he soon invaded that estate, following simr methods as thest two nights.

    ...

    Hourster...

    While Harry''s master was fleeing from Peters City in terror of the possibility that the Becker family was pursuing him, Elke''s mother was ready to put her ns into action.

    "Dear, what are you doing?" Gomeric asked, seeing his wife restless while she should be finishing reading some reports.

    "I have to have a mother-daughter talk with Elke, so I''ll leave the rest of the work to you, alright?" She finally took courage, ready for this challenge that was about to follow.

    "Oh?" Gomeric opened his mouth in surprise but said nothing against it.

    He understood that women had things that could only be talked about among themselves. It was just a shame that he had not been lucky enough to have a son to raise such an individual.

    "All right, but don''t take too long. I''ll be off to bed in a moment."

    "OK." She said before walking hurriedly to Elke''s residence.

    But when she reached outside that ce, she suddenly slowed her steps, beginning to regret it.

    ''No. I''d better ask one of the handmaidens to talk with her...'' She looked in the direction of Elke''s residence and then to the second-floor window.

    ''No! Even if it''s a bit awkward, my role as a mother is to educate her!'' She put her hesitation aside and climbed up the walls of Elke''s residence, quickly reaching the second floor.

    As she did so, Hilda suddenly found herself inside Elke''s residence, from which distinctive sounds wereing from the room next to the one she entered.

    "Ahhh~"

    Upon hearing this, this woman''s eyes opened wide, and she realized that her daughter was doing something just as she had suspected.

    So, she walked towards the ce where those sounds wereing from...

 Chapter 190 Caught In The Act

    As Hilda walked slowly to her daughter''s room, she felt as if time was passing more slowly, fearful of the shame of this situation.

    But for her daughter not to be a woman who gets lost in her own pleasures, she had to intervene and teach Elke about the importance of saving herself for her future husband.

    Self-knowledge was good, but Elke seemed to be going a bit overboard in her discoveries...

    That''s what Hilda thought!

    So, she soon reached her daughter''s room, quickly entering there since the entrance door was open, not closed as perhaps it should have been.

    ''How careless...'' Hilda shook her head in disappointment.

    And then, it did not take her long toe face to face with what was happening there!

    The moment Hilda entered Elke''s room, such a mother saw her daughter''s head going up and down with her body while her eyes were closed.

    At the same time, an expression of pleasure spread across Elke''s beautiful face while her mouth was slightly open, letting out the sounds of her breathing and cries of pleasure.

    "Ahhhh~"

    Hilda walked closer to her daughter''s bed, shocked to see Elke like that.

    However, when she did, she nearly had a heart attack at the sight of a male hand on her daughter''s right breast, with the other holding one side of Elke''s slender waist.

    "What? What''s going on here?" Hilda asked as she took an extra step to finally see the silver-haired young man beneath Elke, sweaty, with a lustful expression on his face.

    "Ahhhhhh!" Elke cried out in surprise as she heard her mother and looked at that woman who was already less than 5 meters away from her. "Mom!"

    "Oh, damn!" Lothur looked at Hilda in amazement as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown at him.

    Upon realizing this, Elke jumped off Lothur, momentarily revealing his oiled sword, before she quickly covered the bodies of the two with a sheet.

    "Mom, I can exin... It''s not that what you''re thinking..." She said with nervousness, not knowing what to do in that situation.

    Hilda continued watching the two in amazement, not believing that she had just caught her precious daughter in the act with Lothur!

    ''What is going on here? Shouldn''t Lothur cut the other way?'' She continued with her mouth open, and her face was pale like a sick person''s.

    But not only was she pale, being caught in the middle of their fun, but those two on that bed were also nervous, swallowing their saliva in anticipation.

    ''That doesn''t matter now... The most important thing is what was going on here!'' She shook her head and red at the two.

    "Girl, how is that not what I think it is? You weren''t by any chance having sex with Lothur?" She looked first at her daughter and then at him. "How dare you! You have defiled my daughter! Now she can no longer marry!"

    Elke jumped on Lothur, standing between him and her mother. "No, mom, you don''t understand. I love Lothur. I chose to be his and stay with him. He has not defiled me, and I will still marry him!"

    "What are you saying?" She looked incredulously at her foolish daughter. "Have you forgotten our conversation a few weeks ago, Elke? You will marry one of the young men on the list I gave you!"

    "No!" Elke shouted in a determined tone. "I would rather die than marry one of those people! I choose Lothur, mom!"

    Hilda looked strangely at her daughter and then at Lothur. "You have corrupted her, brat! Don''t expect us to forgive that easily!"

    "Madam, I''m sorry I got involved in your ns, but Elke and I will stay together. I was already going to ask you and the patriarch''s permission in the next few days, but this situation happened..." He said, looking into Hilda''s eyes.<sub> </sub>

    "Stay together? Only over my dead body!" She felt like teaching Lothur and that foolish girl a lesson.

    "No, mom! I have given my body and soul to Lothur. He is not to me for anything. So, don''t be angry with him." Elke said in nervousness, feeling that her mother might want to hurt her man.

    "Elke, be quiet! Maybe we can still work this out and get you a husband..." She was saying but was interrupted by Elke.

    "No, I won''t be with anyone but Lothur. Plus, we''ve had sex so often that it''s impossible to change how I am now."

    Hilda began to turn red with anger upon hearing that such a thing had not been the first time. "Brat! You fooled us! You behaved as harmless, but you were a hungry wolf!"

    "Uh? Madam, I didn''t fool anyone. I just didn''t reveal the truth!" Lothur defended himself.

    "It doesn''t matter! I will not allow you to be together! Even if I have to arrest my daughter, I will do it." She jumped toward the bed to get Lothur.

    But then Elke shouted at her. "Then be prepared to sacrifice me, mom! While Lothur and I were doing our mission, I was seriously injured. I''m only alive because of him and our things!"

    Upon hearing this, Hilda stopped her movement and looked strangely at her daughter. "What are you talking about?"

    Elke then exined, as her eyes became watery. "I received a sword blow to my heart, mom. Luckily Lothur had an ability that made me recover in time. But not without serious aftereffects being left on my body."

    "You can feel it. My soul is wounded because of my time on the brink of death." She showed her pulse to her mother.

    Assessing the soul or the physical were different things. But both could be done if cultivators wanted to. Because of this, in the previous days, Hilda had not found out about Elke''s injury when she assessed her daughter''s body.

    The soul was fragile in the 1st stage, so usually, someone assessed the strength of Mortal Warriors through a physical examination.

    Hence the reason for Hilda not assessing Elke''s soul!

    But in this situation, she immediately did what she should and realized how wounded her daughter''s soul was.

    "Elke..." Her voice became thin as concern filled her heart. "Why didn''t you say anything to me? Do you know the risk you are taking?"

    She smiled bitterly and exined. "Because Lothur and I can handle this on our own. Our things make me strong, mom. Remember I told you I''m getting stronger by training with him?"

    Hilda swallowed her saliva upon hearing that.

    "Well, the training I was referring to is what you saw we doing just now."

    "What? How can that be?" She looked in astonishment at Lothur.

    "If you don''t believe me, let us finish what we were doing, and you will notice the difference between the before and after," Elke seriously said.

    Hilda frowned at that idea. "Does this affect your soul? Will it heal you?"

    "No, it only affects my body, mom. But as long as I advance to the 4th Transformation, I will absorb the Soul Bone that Lothur gave me to heal my soul."

    "What? He gave you a Soul Bone?" She looked in even greater shock at Lothur.

    ...

 Chapter 191 True Love

    "Yes, Lothur got two Soul Bones during our mission in Lewerenz," Elke exined to her mother. "One of them he absorbed and the one with better characteristics for the soul he kept for me."

    "Once I finish solving the physical problems in my body with the spiritual cleansing, I will absorb that bone and solve the rest of the problems in my soul."

    Gulp!

    She looked at Lothur. "Did you truly do that? You gave up a Soul Bone for my daughter?"

    Lothur replied seriously. "Of course, madam. Elke is my woman, and I love her. How could I risk her for the sake of a mere Soul Bone?"

    "Can I see that bone?" She asked.

    "Hmmm." Lothur promptly handed the spine bone to Hilda.

    ''General Demon Soul Bone! And one of Bronze-grade!'' She looked in surprise at the green and white bone in her hands. ''This bone is of great quality for Elke!''

    ''Is this boy really giving her this? Does he realize what he is giving up?'' She looked at Lothur again, impressed by his determination to help Elke.

    "At least you''re not so bad..." Hilda sighed as she handed the bone back to Lothur. "You aremitted to protecting her and giving up something so valuable... It seems that your love is true."

    "Sigh!"

    ''What do I do now? I can''t punish a young man who is somitted to my daughter''s well-being... But I also don''t see how they will stay together.'' She closed her eyes thoughtfully.

    Elke then smiled at her mother and said. "Yes, we love each other, and we will deal with any problems thate our way, mom."

    "But you need to stay on our side! Don''t tell father about this. Wait for Lothur to get stronger and develop his business with our family. Once that happens, my father will ept him!" She grabbed one of Hilda''s wrists as she said this.

    Hilda put her conflicted feelings aside and said. "Is that so? Have you forgotten that Lothur already has a wife? To make matters worse, she is not married into his family, but the other way around."

    "In other words, even if we allow you to stay with him, the Becker family will have no advantage over the Frost family."

    Lothur then said. "Madam, at least give me some time to prove myself. I guarantee that if I don''t demonstrate that I can bring benefits to the Becker family, Elke and I will ept any decision you make."

    "But give me that chance. Not only do Elke and I need to continue our rtionship for her sake, but there is no need for you to rush separating us."

    "Finally, I am confident I can impress you, no matter your standard! I just need the time!" He said while looking into his mother-inw''s eyes.

    Hilda''s eyes narrowed, and she thought about it. ''He has to continue with Elke, or my daughter will be at risk. But, on the other hand, the young men on the list of potential husbands I have chosen still need 1-2 years to mature for a marriage...''

    <o>,m ''And if he can bring some advantage to the family, it will be better to give Elke to him.'' She was rational in her decision. ''He has an outstanding personality and is handsome. He will certainly raise capable heirs...''</o>

    "All right, I''ll give you six months. If you demonstrate that you can bring value to the family within that time, I will convince my husband to allow your rtionship. In the meantime, I will keep the secret." She said, feeling strange that she had to allow this.

    "OK, the madam will not regret it!" Lothurmented.

    "But as for this thing of yours, I want to see the results of that. I''m still not convinced that something like that can make another person stronger!" She stood up and walked out of that room.

    "Make it quick. I don''t want to wait all night!"

    After she left that room, Elke looked at Lothur and smiled as if apologizing. "It''s my fault that this happened, I..."

    "No, considering how much we''re doing, it was understandable that someone would notice." He brought her into his embrace. "But don''t worry. I''ll take care of everything and make sure your family epts me as your man."

    "Hmmm, I know..." She softly said before moving toward his lips.

    "Mmmm~"

    ...

    After a while, Hilda ignored the sounds of her daughter with Lothur and finally checked Elke''s condition after this young woman called out to her.

    "It seems that you are speaking the truth. Your body already looks as strong as that of someone at the 5th Transformation, even considering you are at the 3rd..." Hildamented in amazement.<sub> </sub>

    She already suspected that what Elke had told her was true. After all, her daughter''s recent advances were extraordinary.

    But watching someone get stronger after minutes of sex was ridiculous. Who wouldn''t want that? To have fun and still get more powerful...

    It was just too convenient!

    Meanwhile, Lothur looked at Elke''s status.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3]

    [STR: 2.7 -> 3.5]

    [CON: 9.5 -> 11.3]

    [DEX: 4.1 -> 5.1]

    [AGI: 4.4 -> 5.4]

    ''From the looks of it, Elke will advance to level 4 between tomorrow night and Friday morning.'' He smiled, satisfied that their recent training and fun had yielded more results than he had imagined.

    Lothur realized that the higher Elke''s Constitution was, the more vigorous her training could be and the better her recovery was. Because of this, the other attributes were stimted more efficiently in training.

    ''Apparently, our sex has an effect that is suppressing Elke''s low talent...'' Heughed as he imagined the advantages he would have in training his harem in the future. ''My women will be powerful, no matter their talent level!''

    "Sigh!"

    "All right, I believe you," Hildamented after thinking for a few moments. "Keep working hard, but take precautions... I don''t want to be a grandmother before this young man gets permission from our family to marry you, Elke."

    Elke blushed but nodded in agreement.

    "As for you, Lothur, I hope you can keep your promise. It will be better if my daughter does not have to marry another after she has offered herself to you. So, make an effort!" She thoughtfullymented, preparing to return to her home.

    "Don''t worry, madam. I won''t let another man touch my Elke!" He said as he hugged Elke''s waist.

    "Lothur..."

    "Sigh..." Hilda stopped at the door of that room and said goodbye. "All right, now you''d better go to sleep..."

    "Or do your stuff..." She blushed and left there with many thoughts in her mind.

    While Elke and Lothur did as she said, Hilda quickly arrived at her residence, where she found her husband finishing bathing.

    She sat down on one side of their bed and rxed her body, psychologically exhausted.

    "What is it, dear?" Gomeric asked in a curious tone. "How was the talk with our daughter?"

    "Little Elke is already... She''s already a woman. She knows more things than I had imagined." Hilda vaguely answered. "I don''t think she even needs her old mother''s advice."

    "Haha, looks like she surprised you, huh? Elke is capable, even though she has an ordinary talent. I didn''t expect anything different from her!" He said amidst his smiles.

    "Hmm, you have no idea..."

    "Anyway, she''ll be fine, but tell me something, what do you think of Lothur?" She turned over on that bed and looked into her husband''s eyes. "Do you like him?"

    "Lothur? Well, he seems like a good boy..." The two continued talking about this, with Hilda already beginning to probe her husband so one day she could speak in favor of that young man.

    ''I hope you won''t let me down, boy...''

 Chapter 192 Unforgettable Morning

    As the day''s first rays appeared on the horizon, Lothur left the Becker family estate the same way he had done the previous days.

    But before doing so, he made a portrait and handed it to Elke to pass on to Gomeric. Lothur was not forgiving, so since the enemy had appeared to him, he definitely would not let him go without paying for what he did.

    Hence, he made sure that Elke passed on the portrait and some descriptions of that man from the night before to the Becker family leadership. That way, they could deal with this guy for him!

    Anyway, having done that, he quickly returned to the Frost estate, where he also went secretive, another day ensuring that his poisonous mother-inw would not be suspicious of his unauthorized excursions.

    With that, he made his way to his room, where a beautiful woman with brown hair and a stunning body was still lying on his bed.

    Seeing Viktoria, Lothur smiled and removed his clothes, taking no time to settle down on that bed under the nkets with his wife.

    He then hugged her from behind, feeling the pleasant warmth of her body while smelling the unprotected nape of his wife''s neck.

    ...

    A few minutester...

    As Lothur took a nap before another day of studying, Viktoria slowly woke up.

    But today, she had not woken up as usual. No, as she slowly woke up and opened her eyes, she felt a pleasant, rxing sensation all over her body.

    It was as if she had finally rested after long work and stress period.

    ''Wow, I feel good. What happened?'' She looked up and realized that she was not in her room.

    Not only that, as she noticed the different scenery in her surroundings, Viktoria soon felt the warmth of Lothur, who had one of his arms around her waist.

    "Lothur?" Viktoria murmured in a low voice as she remembered the things that had happened the night before. ''Did I truly do all that?'' She wondered as she slowly turned around, facing him.

    Last night her emotions had been running high. So, she had not thought so well about the things she had done. But now, with all her mental rity back, she could not help but be surprised at the absurdities she had allowed herself to do.

    And so, she blushed in embarrassment as she looked at her husband''s handsome face and felt their naked bodies touching.

    ''I gave myself to him!'' She swallowed her saliva but did not back down even though she felt Lothur''s morning erection. ''But he was right. I needed that...''

    ''What do I do now? Last night was so good, but that wasn''t my goal! I always wanted to dominate him, but he was the one who dominated me...'' As she was thinking about this, Lothur awoke from his sleep, hugging his wife''s body tightly.

    He opened his eyes and saw Viktoria''s flushed face watching him.

    Lothurughed but said nothing, just bringing her to his lips.

    "Mmmmmmmmmm~" Viktoria did not refuse him, allowing herself to have her mouth invaded by his bold tongue while his hands positioned her body on top of him.

    "Good morning, dear. Did you sleep well?" He asked after parting their lips, looking into her eyes as he felt her getting warmer.

    "Morning, Lothur... Yes, I slept very well." She watched him as she leaned in, touching his chest. "You opened my eyesst night, but I''m still confused..."

    "In the recent past, I''ve always felt bad having to talk to you, so I don''t know how to handle it now."

    Hearing Viktoria''s sincerity, Lothur did not think it was terrible, "Don''t worry. I will take care of you, and you will naturally start to feel different. You just need to allow yourself to let me help you, dear."

    He massaged her body. "Are you going to do this? I know we''ll get along well from now on."

    Viktoria looked at him silently as she felt a strange sensation in her body, something telling her to do what he wanted. "All right, I''ll do it." She said after a moment.

    "Good!"

    "Then I''ll start by taking care of you so that you have a great day ahead of you." He brought her to his side and then stood over her.

    "What do you intend to do?" She asked with nervousness.<sub> </sub>

    "Something likest night." He smiled. "Do you want to?"

    Gulp!

    Viktoria turned her face to the side, unable to look him in the eye. "I do."

    "Hehe, then let me show you something unique, dear..." After saying that, he reached under the sheets and positioned himself between her legs, putting his face close to Viktoria''s precious area.

    "Lothur, what are you going to do?" She panicked as she felt his breath so close to that area.

    "I''m going to kiss you, of course..." He said before moving forward.

    The moment Lothur made his move, Viktoria''s nervousness passed, and her eyes fluttered as she stared at the ceiling.

    "Ahhhhh~" She moaned as her arms spread wide and her hands clutched the sheets in the surroundings.

    ''Oh, mine!''

    ''What is it? Why is it so good?'' She felt her heartbeat quickening and heat spreading through her body.

    ...

    After a few minutes, Lothur finished what he had started to do to his wife and took her into the bathroom, smiling in satisfaction.

    Then, they cleaned themselves up in silence for some time until Viktoria looked at her husband as he dressed in a hurry. "I''ll be going to the academy with you and Annaliese, so don''t be so quick."

    "Oh? You will go today?" He was surprised at that.

    "I was thinking of not going, but I want to meet with Karen to discuss some important matters..."

    "OK." He smiled at her just before walking to her side and helping her zip up her dress.

    Afterward, they headed off together for breakfast before setting off toward Annaliese''s carriage.

    "Sister? Are you also going to the academy today?" Annaliese looked at her sister, arriving at Lothur''s side.

    "Hmm, today, yes, but don''t get used to it." She said as she got into that vehicle.

    "Hmm? Sister, is it just me, or do you look more beautiful today? I can''t say for sure, but your appearance seems gleaming..." She looked at Viktoria without trying to check for other signs since she would not suspect her sister and Lothur...

    Lothurughed and agreed. "Yes, she looks great. See that, Viktoria? I told you that you needed to rx a little."

    Hearing this, Viktoria blushed in embarrassment that Lothur would say those things in front of Annaliese.

    And that younger sister understood that. "Is something wrong, sister? Why has your face turned so red?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Anna, don''t you know how bad it is to stare at people?" She said with a particr irritation. "I''m just warm! Is something wrong?"

    "No, I was just asking..."

    "Haha, dear, don''t stress. Anna is just impressed that you look different this morning." Lothur winked at the woman in front of him. "Then rx. We''re all family here."

    "All right..." She softly said, turning her face to the side so as not to give Annaliese any more signs.

    But Annaliese looked interestedly at her older sister, ''Did something happen? She seems much calmer with Lothur. Maybe they talked a bit about their rtionship?''

    But with no other trace, Annaliese did not suspect anything.

 Chapter 193 Not Bad

    While Lothur and his favorite twins went to the Morning Star Academy, Elke finished breakfast with her parents.

    In that ce full of colorful decorations and a table with many different foods, Hilda was watching her daughter intently, remembering the night before.

    Meanwhile, Gomeric drank his spiritual tea without knowing what was on his wife''s mind.

    Elke finished eating and finally said. "Dad, I forgot to tell you, but yesterday at the academy, Lothur handed me the portrait of a person."

    "Oh? Yesterday at the academy?" Hilda unconsciously repeated this, thinking that such a thing was probably not true...

    "Hmm, it seems that Lothur was approached by the person behind the man who attacked us while we were returning from Lewerenz," Elke said, drawing Gomeric''s attention.

    "What? Elke, how did you go about forgetting that? Just hand me that thing!" He rose from his seat, nervous at the thought of how that person had disrespected his family.

    Elke gave her father the portrait drawn by Lothur and said. "Father, ording to Lothur, this person is a 3rd Revolution Spiritual Warrior. He must have been in the city until the night before."

    "As for his current location, he doesn''t know. But, ording to him, this person got scared by our family, so there is a possibility that such an individual has already fled."

    Upon hearing you from his daughter, Gomeric became solemn since, although level 12 was not much for him, it was already something to consider.

    "Very well, thank Lothur for me. I will investigate this person and resolve the matter as soon as possible!" He said before putting on his overcoat and departing, leaving the two women there.

    Hilda looked at Elke for a moment and noticed how her appearance seemed to be steadily improving.

    She had not noticed this the night before due to her shock at discovering her daughter''s boldness, but now with more peace of mind, she could not help but notice. ''Elke is bing more and more like her grandmother during her youth...'' She remembered her mother.

    "How are you? Did you sleep well? You did, didn''t you?"

    "Mom!" Elke stood up with an embarrassed expression on her face. "I''m not going to talk about this with you!"

    "Elke, sit down!" Hilda ordered. "I know you must feel bad for talking about it, but you have to discuss these things with someone with experience. I''m your mother, so I''ll tell you a few things so you can deal with it more easily."

    "Uh?" Surprise appeared on Elke''s face.

    "You don''t have much time before you leave for the academy, so I''ll tell you something now. Do you know what men like best?"

    ...

    Sometimeter, in a coffee shop in Sector-6...

    Viktoria and Karen were, at this moment, drinking spiritual tea together in a secluded area of that coffee shop.

    But even if this area were not privileged by its position, they would still have plenty of privacy. After all, most of the students in Sector-6 did note to the academy daily.

    The result was that the areas in this sector were almost always empty, and privacy in this ce was not a problem in everyday situations.

    "Viktoria, I was surprised when you sent a message to mest night. Did something happen? Why did you want to talk to me?" Karen asked as she observed her best friend''s flushed expression.

    Before going to Lothur''s room the night before, Viktoria had sent a letter to her friend because she was beginning to despair about not getting results with him.

    But after everything that had happened the night before and this morning, she now had very different things to talk about with Karen.

    Gulp!

    Viktoria took a deep breath and said. "Karen,st night I lost control and kissed Lothur..."

    "What? Really?" The eyes of that blonde beauty opened wide, incredulous at such a thinging from Viktoria.<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, I don''t know what came over me either, but I kissed him, and he kissed me back..." Her face became even more flushed. "The worst part is that we didn''t stop there."

    Gulp!

    "What did you do?" Karen ced her elbows on the table before her and brought her face closer to Viktoria''s.

    Viktoria truthfully answered her. "At first, not much more than the kiss. Just a few touches... But then he asked me to go shower with him, making me undress and..."

    Karen did not wait for her friend to finish and opened her mouth. "You what? Did you take his orders? Did you take off your clothes for him?"

    "I..." Viktoria paused momentarily, realizing she should not have done that so easily. "He was already naked, and I didn''t see a problem with just a shower together... I..."

    "I really shouldn''t have done it!"

    "And then what happened?" The blonde insisted.

    "He touched me and made me feel good..." Viktoria briefly described Lothur''s movements and how good she had felt.

    "My goodness, I can''t believe what I just heard!" Karen was floored, surprised to the limit by what her cold friend Viktoria had done. "And how are you? Do you regret it? You realize that now that you have given him so much, he will never run after you like a puppy, right?"

    "Your goal is gone. It''s lost!"

    Viktoria looked at her friend with shame, feeling that her willpower was weaker than she thought, "I know, I guess now I''ll simply be his wife..."

    "Uh? That..."

    Viktoria did not let her friend speak, and she said. "Strangely, I don''t regret what I did, and I feel terrific, Karen. I know my goal was to dominate him and to have done things that way should make me angry, but that''s not how I feel now."

    "All I feel is a sense of satisfaction, security, something like... Like I''mplete, you know?" She gestured to Karen. "I enjoyed being with him so much. It wasn''t just tonight. When I woke up this morning, he did..."

    After hearing what Lothur had done to Viktoria this morning, Karen turned pale as she imagined her friend allowing such a thing. "He... Did he kiss you there?"

    "Hmmm." Viktoria nodded. "It was weird at first, but it was also delightful. It''s like..." She exined in detail.

    "Unbelievable!" Karen swallowed her saliva. ''I didn''t think Viktoria would have these experiences before me! I''ve barely kissed once, but she''s done it all...''

    "What now?" The blonde questioned Viktoria after thinking for a while.

    Viktoria sighed and answered. "I don''t know. Before, he made me angry with every word he said. But I don''t get irritated with him anymore afterst night."

    "The opposite of that, I even find him more intelligent and handsome than before... It''s bizarre."

    "I see..." Karen nodded.

    The brown-haired woman then said after a moment. "Anyway, now I''ve given myself to him, and I don''t intend to stop. He wants me to trust him in this strange rtionship, and I''m willing to try. As long as I keep feeling good, I feel like I can get used to having a real husband."

    "And it''s not bad to go to sleep and wake up next to someone. The experience isfortable."

    Karen thought for a moment and then touched on the most critical point. "What about sex? Are you going to do that with him?"

    Gulp!

    "I don''t know. I''m not ready yet..."

 Chapter 194 Entering Cultivation House 1

    Late afternoon...

    After finishing his day exams at the academy, having trained with Elke in the morning and afternoon, Lothur left for the Cultivation House, where he intended to do his registration.

    To do the missions there, something much better than those at the academy as he could take higher level missions, he needed to be correctly enrolled in that institution.

    So, after changing his clothes and putting on the mask that Elke had given him earlier, Lothur entered the building of this organization, curious as to what would be needed to fulfill his goal.

    "Hello, I would like to enroll in the Cultivation House. What do I need to do?" He asked as he reached the side of the reception desk where people usually went to get the keys to the cultivation rooms.

    Upon hearing that, the attendant, dressed in the uniform of this ce, looked at Lothur''s mask and said. "To enroll in our institution, you must go to the exam area and pay the enrollment fee."

    "How much is that fee?" He asked.

    "Three thousand bronze coins."

    "And then what?"

    She answered him. "There will be three tests after you pay your application. The first of them is the talent test. This test is not eliminating, but if you have good talent, the Cultivation House may decide to support you... If you ept the conditions, of course."

    "The second test isbat."

    "The minimum cultivation required to join us is the 5th Transformation. So, if you are below that, we don''t rmend paying the application fee as whoever is testing you will be stronger than you."

    "But being above the 5th Transformation doesn''t guarantee your approval. Some cultivators are naturally less talented forbat. But this exam is designed forbatants, so you might have trouble if you''re not skilled at it."

    She looked thoughtfully at the masked man and warned him. "Then think about it before you pay the application fee. We won''t return those coins, regardless of the results."

    "OK. But what about the third test?" He asked.

    "The third test is to test your mental abilities. Some of our missions eventually lead our members into traps and the like. So, we don''t ept new members unable to withstand certain effects." She answered him.

    After hearing this exnation, Lothur thanked that woman before leaving for the ce she pointed him to.

    p With that, after paying the fee of 3 thousand bronze coins, Lothur sat down on the outskirts of a waiting area, where three other people seemed to be waiting for the same purpose as him.</anda>

    The Cultivation House was arge institution that did not demand exclusivity from its members. Because of this, even a post like this could have tens of thousands of members!

    Not only that, constantly members of this organization were getting injured or killed, while new cultivators were emerging to join those ranks.

    Because of this reality, people were always registering there, as Lothur had just seen.

    However, this was a world where there were many more mortals than cultivators, and as such, there were not as many individuals with the ability to join this organization.

    The result?

    After less than 20 minutes of waiting, Lothur was called by a middle-aged woman.

    "Mister Stuart, you may apany me..." She said as she read the name on Lothur''s ID while that young manughed beneath his mask.

    "You have a very unusual name... Where is he from?" The woman asked as she walked beside Lothur into a room.

    "I read it in a book..."<sub> </sub>

    "Oh, I see. So, it''s a pseudonym." She said as she reached the aptitude test room, where she quickly picked up a white crystal in the shape of an octahedron.

    She then began manipting that thing while Lothur watched everything with his visual ability. ''Oh? Last time I couldn''t understand what was going on, but I can see that this is a formation...''

    After hearing the woman ordering him to touch one of the faces of that geometric figure, Lothur did as he should, still watching it with interest. ''Hmm, that seems to be a device that devours the energy of the one who touches it.''

    ''Not only that, that energy is converted into a special form of power, which activates light sources, which reveal the person''s talent.'' He unraveled the mystery behind such a thing with ease.

    Then he saw that crystal glowing in a green light, just as it had done when he had visited the Innumerable Scrolls store on his first visit there.

    ''My talent has more than doubled since that time...'' His eyes sharpened. ''Looks like the green talent range is pretty considerable, huh? Well, I suppose that''s normal. After all, green is already the third of the six talent grades.''

    "Green talent?" The woman said in surprise, as she did not expect such a promising result from this person who did not seem to have spiritual cultivation.

    ''This person is very talented! He might be someone influential in the province in the future!''

    "Hmm, what do I do now?" He asked her, ignoring the surprise on such a person''s face.

    This middle-aged woman then shook her head, putting aside her surprise. "Mister Stuart, everything is fine here. I will record your talent on your application. In the meantime, you can follow the corridor where we came from. In thest room, you will find the location of the second exam."

    "Oh? Thanks for the information..." He said before making his way to that ce in question.

    With that, he soon arrived at the site of thebat exam, where there were a few guards from the Cultivation House and the people he had seen earlier.

    One of them, a dark, tall, strong man, was called by an old man wearing a special uniform with the symbol of that institution on it.

    "I will tell you the rules. You have 5 minutes to fight me and secure your victory. If you don''t aplish this in that time, you will be eliminated and will not be able to continue with the third test." The old man said while standing in the middle of a fighting tform.

    Lothur heard that and sat down on the bleachers in that area, interested in watching the fights that woulde before his.

    The man who climbed onto the tform nodded in agreement and ced his fighting stance.

    The old man said. "Well, I won''t use weapons. I will only use my fists. Do your best!"

    After that, the old man signaled the battle to begin, with that man immediately running at his opponent with vigor as he wielded a long spear.

    Meanwhile, Lothur carefully observed the man''s test, noting that although he was level 6, hisbat proficiency wascking.

    His strikes were inefficient and gave the impression that he was an amateur who had barely appropriately trained.

    Lothur even hid his face in some parts of the fight, feeling ashamed for the person humiliating himself in front of strangers.

    And unsurprisingly, at the end of the five minutes, such a person was eliminated from that test.

    "Next!"

    ...

    "Next!"

    Lothur''s turn finally came, and he soon climbed the fighting tform to face that same old man from before, eager to see how he would fare after his recent improvements.

 Chapter 195 Entering Cultivation House 2

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 14.2] [CON: 14.9] [DEX: 14.8] [AGI: 14.5]

    Seeing the status of that old man, Lothur smiled as all of his attributes were superior to that person''s, with Dexterity being the only point between the two that were close.

    However, Lothur did not underestimate this man and soon picked up his ax, ying with it in his hands.

    "The rules are the same as you have heard for otherpetitors." The old man looked interested in Lothur since he felt no cultivation from this young man. "All right, for you?"

    "Hmmm, be careful," Lothur said in a low voice, causing a smile to appear on that individual''s face.

    "Do your best!" After he said those words, the examiner nodded to Lothur, signaling thebat to begin.

    Meanwhile, the remaining candidates in that area watched this battle of the masked individual with interest since no one there could see through him.

    Some thought Lothur was just a foolish mortal and wanted to see him take a good beating to learn his ce. But others genuinely hoped to see a surprise in this ce as the world was vast, and one could not underestimate people so quickly.

    So, the half-dozen people there soon saw the start of the fight, as Lothur activated his movement technique, moving at great speed toward his opponent.

    "What?"

    "So fast?" Voices of surprise rang out there, where almost no one could follow Lothur''s movements.

    Speed was something that depended on Constitution and Agility. Because these attributes of Lothur''s were considerably high, one of them close to level 7, those mere 5th Transformation cultivators could not keep up with him.

    And that was true even for the examiner, who was already near the peak of level 5.

    ''How does he move so fast without leaving any disturbance of spiritual energy in the surroundings?'' The old man wondered as he moved, trying to evade the offensive movements Lothur was already making.

    ''Don''t tell me he''s just using his physical strength? Is he that strong?'' The old man felt a rush of air pass across his face as Lothur''s weapon passed close to him.

    As this old man began to sweat, feeling the difficulty of facing someone stronger, Lothur was reveling in the feeling of oppressing someone weaker than him.

    Usually, he had to fight against unfavorable numbers, opponents stronger or of equal power to his. Other than that, only when training with Elke did he fight someone weaker, which did not give him the chance to oppress someone as he was doing now.

    Because of this unusual situation for him, the silver-haired young man was smiling as he deftly moved his feet and swung his ax toward the non-vital points of his opponent.

    Swooish!

    "Hah... Hah..."

    Swooish!

    The old man began dripping in sweat after only a minute and a half of fighting as Lothur pressed him against one end of thatbat tform.

    At this moment, while everyone was looking with open mouths at that one-sided fight, Lothur saw the first opening in his opponent''s defenses and made a decisive attack!

    He firmly held his ax and leaped into the air, spinning his right leg hard towards his opponent''s face.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I won''t be able to dodge it!'' The old man felt like he was off bnce and saw Lothur''s blow approaching him at an rming speed.

    Pow!

    At that instant, the examiner was struck in the face by one of Lothur''s feet, which momentarily made his chin turn away from his opponent''s foot while his cheeks trembled.

    If anyone there was more powerful than Lothur and that old man, such a person could see the iparable expression on the old man''s face in slow motion.

    His eyes seemed to have opened wider, vibrating as the expression of pain slowly formed on his face. Yet, at the same time, all the sagging of his face was showing to its fullest at this instant.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    He was thrown in the direction Lothur had kicked, screaming in pain from his opponent''s unmerciful kick.

    "Phew, that was a good fight!" Lothurmented in a low voice, smiling as he looked toward the fallen old man outside that tform.

    "I suppose that was my victory, right? I''m freed from this test?" He asked the old man, who was in agony on the ground.

    The old man heard this but did not say anything right away, continuing to massage one of his cheeks, feeling a pain that was hard to ignore.<sub> </sub>

    ''What a ruthless bastard! Did he need to kick me so hard?'' He tasted blood in his mouth while one of his teeth seemed to have gone significantly softer.

    But even in pain, this examiner did not take long to answer Lothur. "Yes, you passed. Go to the next test!"

    "Hehe, thanks for the dance, sir." Lothur put away his weapon and calmly left that area amidst the manyments from the spectators there.

    "That fellow is mighty!"

    "I wonder what his cultivation is? Why does he hide behind a mask?"

    "Who knows..."

    "The fact is that someone like that has a lot of future within the Cultivation House. And with the possibilities of this ce..."

    The people there continued to talk about Lothur while the old examiner tried to recover to the next fights.

    ...

    After a few moments of walking through the Cultivation House building examination area, Lothur arrived at the third and final examination site.

    At this ce in question, unlike the previous ones, the number of candidates was almost non-existent. In fact, only one person besides Lothur was there with the two officials who made the examination.

    One of them then saw Lothur and approached this masked person while holding a clipboard in his hands. "Sir, before this test begins, I will have to ask you some questions while you hold this object." He showed a small sphere that seemed made of cloth, like a pillow.

    Lothur took it without hesitation, looking into the eyes of the man in front of him.

    The examiner then began. "Do you hold any grudges against House Leopoldine?"

    "No."

    "Do you have any connection with any organizations in the Three Great Lakes region?"

    "Not that I know of," Lothur replied while the soft sphere in his hand showed no sign.

    The examiner continued. "Are you part of any organizations in the empire?"

    "Yes."

    "Is that organization an enemy of the Leopoldine family?"

    "Not that I know of."

    "Does anyone in your family have a connection to the powers in the Three Great Lakes region?"

    "Not that I know of."

    "Would you agree to join the Leopoldine family if invited?"

    "No."

    The person looked strangely at Lothur upon hearing that answer. But since the sphere of truth had not shown any sign in the previous questions, he could not consider this person an enemy just because of that.

    Such a device could measure the integrity of the words of the person holding it. So, it was safe and reliable to determine possible problems with someone''s answers.

    "Are you hiding your cultivation for some plot?" The examiner asked this question that was not on his chart.

    "Yes."

    That man''s eyebrows drew together tightly. "What are you up to?"

    "To surprise my wife." Lothur smiled beneath his mask as that man looked at the sphere that still showed no signs.

    ''What an idiot!''

    ''He made me raise expectations for nothing...''

    "Sigh!"

    "All right, let''s test your mental qualities, Mister Stuart."

    ...

 Chapter 196 Entering Cultivation House 3

    Hearing the voice of that examiner, Lothur just smiled and followed his directions.

    "This exam will test your mental qualities so we can see if you have the minimum to do special missions of the Cultivation House. Normally our members don''t do missions like this, but it''s not unusual for problems to develop in the middle of something that should be simple." The examiner began to exin.

    "Sometimes these problems can''t be solved by people with low mental qualities, which means they might even die if something like that develops." This uniformed man began to make preparations in a small room while speaking to Lothur.

    "Since the Cultivation House cherishes a certain standard, we don''t like our members dying from being unable to solve inconveniences. So, we require this test."

    "Oh? That sounds pretty strict. You don''t me whoever posted the mission for unexpected problems arising during it?" Lothur asked as he saw a room surrounded by ss, starting to be transparent.

    The examiner replied. "Unexpected problems are not always the fault of the one who posts the mission. Sometimes shit happens."

    "But when we have evidence that the one who posted the mission tried to manipte us, of course, we act. But in general, that''s not the case with missions that fail, so we have that policy."

    "I see..."

    That man then indicated with one of his hands in the direction of that square room surrounded by ss walls. "Enter that area and wait. You will pass that exam if you can hold that ce for five minutes without losing consciousness."

    "Oh? Sounds simple..." Lothur muttered as he followed that man''s lead, quickly entering that room and standing in the middle.

    The examiner''s voice then reached Lothur once again. "We will begin the test in another 20 seconds."

    "Hmmm." Lothur was silent as he watched everything with his visual ability, anticipating what this test was all about.

    He did not know how mental tests were done, so he naturally had a lot of curiosity for this moment.

    ''Will I have to understand something? Maybe unravel some kind of special puzzle?''

    Unfortunately for Lothur, he was bound to be disappointed.

    The mental test of this institution did not constitute something like the one he was in doubt about but a simtion. However, this simtion would only work for people with some mental attributes. Above that value, such a thing would have no effect!

    ''How will this fellow perform? He looks like a mortal on the outside, but he passed thebat test...'' The examiner looked with interest at that room as a gray fog began forming there.

    As Lothur disappeared into the grayish mist of that ce, the examiner gave thestmands to the formations behind that special room.

    ''I wonder what kind of illusion he will see...''

    This test did that. It created illusions in which the cultivators had to endure their fears, nightmares, and other problems that depended greatly on mentality.

    Cultivators with low willpower usually tremble in the face of danger, be impassive in unexpected situations, and fear the mystery of something new. And all this considerably increased the chances that a mission would fail or even an entire group would die.

    That is why this special room tested someone''s fears and the mental resilience expected of that person in a tense and out-of-control situation.

    However, if the one under test were much stronger than the limits of the exam, all he would see would be the fog inside that room, like what Lothur was seeing at this very moment.

    ''Hmmm? Isn''t he going to start the test?'' Lothur tried to look in the direction where the man from before should be.

    Unfortunately, with that grayish curtain of gases in the surroundings, he could only see an extremely illuminated ce with no boundaries.<sub> </sub>

    Besides that, he felt a slightly strange sensation in the back of his neck and eyes, as if something was trying to influence him. But this was not strong and was less bothering than a pinch.

    On the other hand, as he tried to see the ''truth'' with his eyes, Lothur noticed that some of his powers were not working.

    ''I can''t see through this gas... Is there something blocking my visual ability?'' He looked up and down, unable to see anything relevant.

    ...

    After five minutes, the examiner turned off the formations over the special room Lothur was in as he looked over there with a curious expression.

    ''Let''s see how you turned out...'' He imagined Lothur would be at least exhausted, perhaps with pissed trousers.

    But when the gases in the surroundings disappeared, all this examiner saw was a calm young man standing in the same position as before.

    "Uh? Have we already finished the exam? What does this test do? I saw absolutely nothing." Lothurmented to that individual.

    He had thought it might take a while for such an examination to begin, but to his surprise, it was all over in a blink of an eye.

    "You didn''t feel anything?" That man opened the door from where Lothur was standing as his expression of shock grew. "How can that be? Even people at the peak of the 1st stage should at least see part of the illusion."

    "Illusion?" Lothur tilted his head to the right, more or less understanding what this test was like. ''So, my mental strength protected me from the illusion, and I didn''t see anything?''

    "Sigh..."

    ''That was a little disappointing.'' So, he thought to himself, but since that was the case, he could settle his affairs in this ce right away and go on to his next goal.

    "I passed the test, right? What do I do now? Do I need to pass somewhere or wait to start doing the missions?" He asked as he came face to face with that shocked examiner.

    That guy stood watching Lothur strangely for a few seconds but then shook his head and said. "No matter how you did it, there is no way this test could have failed, or you could have cheated. So, yes, you passed."

    "Now you can start doing the Cultivation House missions." He said as he handed Lothur an ID.

    "Uh? Already? I thought there was a deadline for that." Hemented in surprise.

    The examiner exined. "Yes, ordinary people may have to wait up to a week to have their eptance into the Cultivation House confirmed. But people with Green talent, or higher, who pass all the tests, are epted immediately."

    "We will still make some inquiries about you and keep an eye on your missions for a period of six months. But you can already start enjoying the advantages of membership."

    "Oh?" Lothur smiled beneath his mask, "The Cultivation House works differently."

    "Hmm, well, wee to the Cultivation House, and good luck on your journey with us." That man greeted him just before Lothur departed from that ce and headed toward the Patchwork House.

    ''Let me see if I can already do business with the Becker family and Jacob''s father...'' Lothur quickly moved on to his destination.

    ...

 Chapter 197 Scheduled Change

    After a few minutes, Lothur was face-to-face with the middle-aged attendant of that store.

    "Well? Are you interested in my product?" He asked in anticipation of receiving permission to proceed with his business.

    That woman looked intently at Lothur, remembering what she had heard from the person behind that store. "We will not be doing business regarding your glove, so you may proceed as you wish."

    Lothur nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, not at all surprised.

    But then he listened as that well-dressed woman ced his glove on a counter. "You can take your glove back. But tell me, who put the formations on this glove?"

    "Who did? I did it myself." He said as he stored that item in his spatial ring.

    "You did?" That woman''s eyes opened wide.

    She had heard that a genius formation master had left something in that glove that had made it impossible to analyze it. Because of this, this woman could not help but be shocked that Lothur had done this.

    Lothur then casually replied. "I did, didn''t I? I don''t want to focus my time on bing a tailor. That''s because I have other professions of interest. Bing a formation master is one of my objectives."

    That woman''s mouth dropped open at those words as she thought about Lothur''s talent. ''Is he that talented? Is he better as a tailor or a formation master?''

    But then she saw that he seemed to be in a hurry to leave that ce and said. "Lothur, thedy behind that store wants to meet you. Could you meet her this week?"

    "She does, huh?" Lothur asked in surprise, not thinking it was terrible.

    The more connections for him, the better!

    He then said. "No, I''ll be busy until Sunday night. So, I won''t be able to meet this person until next week."

    "Oh? Next week is good for us!" That middle-aged woman said without thinking it was terrible that they would have to wait for him. "How about we schedule it for Monday night?"

    "Hmmm, that''s fine with me."

    "Then it''s scheduled." She smiled in satisfaction as she left the side of the counter she was on to apany Lothur on his way out of that store. "I''ll make the arrangements, so just worry about showing up at the Christen family estate."

    "OK. See youter..."

    ...

    After some time, Lothur stopped by a local store where materials for the tailoring profession were sold.

    He had already gotten the address of such a ce from that woman and had learned about some materials best suited to his glove.

    With this, he did not take long to invest 50,000 bronze coins in various materials different from those he had used before.

    But some of these materials Lothur could not get right away. So, it would still be a few days before he produced the new version of his special glove.

    Anyway, if he made no mistakes in his judgment and did not fail with the production of the new version of the glove, then he already had an idea of how much such a thing was worth.

    With this in mind, he returned to the Frost family estate with a smile on his face, knowing that he could now start negotiating with Elke''s family.

    ...

    Upon arriving in his room, it was not long before Lothur received a visitor, who he knew wasing for him.

    "Lothur, it''s me. Open the door." Viktoria said in a much softer tone than she usually used.

    Hearing that, Lothur smiled and opened the door to his room. "Dear wife, have you missed your husband, and are you here to see him?"

    Viktoria did not contradict Lothur''s speech. Instead, she just sped one of her hands and stepped forward. "You have touched me in a way that I cannot be of any other but you. So, let''s develop our rtionship as husband and wife."<sub> </sub>

    She then put her arms around his body, quickly embracing him as she felt his warmth. "You said you were going to take care of me, right? So, Lothur, I''m here for that."

    "Oh?" He closed the door with one of his hands and hugged her waist tightly.

    After that, he looked into her eyes for a moment and began to kiss her.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    Viktoria readily epted his advance, feeling the pleasing sensation of being kissed by him that previously she had never imagined possible.

    And while she was lost in that sensation, she did not even notice how Lothur skillfully removed almost all the clothes from her body. "What do you want me to do?" He parted his lips from hers and looked at her intensely.

    Gulp!

    "Don''t you know?" She shivered.

    "I know, but I want you to tell me." He brought his face closer to her defenseless neck, speaking next to her left ear.

    Viktoria shivered as she heard and felt his movements, her heart leaping in agitation. "I... I..."

    "You?" He smiled just before gently biting the lobe of one of her ears.

    "Mmm~" Viktoria bit her lips and made a slight sound, feeling her face warming up. "I... I want you to kiss me there, like earlier today."

    "That''s what I imagined, hehe..." He licked his lips since that was his favorite ''dish.''

    And as Viktoria blushed with embarrassment at having said aloud what she wanted, Lothur quickly took off his clothes and carried her to bed.

    ...

    After half an hour, several moans, and a lot of sweat, Lothur and Viktoria finalized their good time as husband and wife.

    At this moment, they were both lying in that small bed of Lothur, both still unclothed, sweaty, and embraced.

    Viktoria had her face resting on Lothur''s left shoulder while her left hand massaged his abdomen. Meanwhile, he looked up with a mysterious expression on his face.

    And without knowing what her husband had in mind, Viktoria considered everything that had happened from the previous night to here. ''Ah, now I feel so rxed... Is that how that redheaded girl feels when she''s with him?''

    ''If we''re supposed to live like this, I don''t see a problem with being with him...'' She looked up, seeing her husband''s chin, blushing a little. "Lothur, what do you think about moving into my residence?" She suggested.

    "Oh? Are you serious?" He looked at her in surprise.

    "Hmmm, even though we haven''t taken the final step yet and I have no experience, I''m no fool, Lothur. I know that sooner orter, we will do something more." She looked into his eyes thoughtfully. ''You put me in a state that I can hardly think straight... And I don''t feel like stopping...''

    She asked. "So, if we''re going to live as husband and wife, isn''t it better if we live and sleep together? I don''t find it convenient toe here every night."

    He smiled upon hearing that. "That''s fine with me, but once I move out, there will be no turning back, dear. And be ready to be my good wife in our residence."

    "I know, and I will be..." She looked at the wall on the other side of that bed, embarrassed that she had so little power over him.

    "Good!"

    "When I return from the Becker family home tomorrow morning, I wille straight to your residence to take care of you." He said. "What do you think?"

    "Great, but..."

 Chapter 198 The Female Preference

    "But, why do you have to go to her house?" Viktoria became serious and looked intensely into his eyes. "What is the situation between you and that girl? You truly need to go see her every day?"

    He answered her without giving too many details. "I have to help Elke inpleting something. And yes, at least until tomorrow, I have to see her every day since that is not yetplete."

    She frowned her eyebrows. "Complete what?"

    "Hmm, that''s an Elke secret, so I can''t talk..." He did not tell the truth but did not lie either.

    She did not like that, and after thinking for a moment, she said. "Lothur, I have changed my mind. Now I no longer allow you to be with other women. In fact, I am removing the permission I gave you earlier."

    "You have me now, so there is no need to seek women outside our house." She climbed on top of him to watch him better as they talked.

    Lothur saw this beauty on top of him, watching her perfect body and the determined look in her eyes.

    She continued. "I am your wife. So, I will take care of you. Just give me time to prepare, and you won''t have to look at others."

    "Is that so?" He chuckled, feeling she was ignoring the sword hitting her lower back. "Unfortunately for you, dear, you took too long. Now, Elke and I are in love. I can''t leave her."

    "What?" She opened her mouth in surprise, not expecting him to say something like that. "You two are in love?"

    "Hmm, we are. I''ll even bring her into my family in the future."

    "Your family? You mean our family?" She turned serious, not liking this conversation at all.

    She had no romantic feelings for Lothur, but he was her husband, and now they had this rtionship. So, she was naturally affected by her jealous side.

    "You will also be of my family in the future. However, I don''t intend to be a son-inw of the Frost family forever."

    "Lothur..." She was about to say something in concern, but he pulled her closer to himself and kissed her.

    "Mmmmm~"

    After doing this for a few moments, he held her close to himself and said, looking into her eyes. "Viktoria, let''s not debate this. You will still be my wife. So what difference does it make if we are in the Frost family?"

    "If what worries you is that you won''t be able to help your family, don''t worry. I won''t demand anything of the sort."

    "But..."

    "Shh!"

    "What did you promise? To be my good wife, no?" He groped her body firmly, making her feel goosebumps.

    "Yes, but that''s different!" She said in a tone that showed the injustice of his wishes. "You want to bring another woman home. How am I supposed to feel about that? It''s like I''m not enough!"

    "Besides, I feel nervous about it. What if you don''t have time to be with me because of others?" She asked with nervousness.

    "Don''t worry. We''ll have plenty of time to work that out in the future." He smiled at her as he massaged his wife''s pretty face. "And having sisters to help you is not as bad as you think."

    "You don''t know how much energy I have... The day wille when you will wish to have help." He joked with her. "Look at this situation... I''ve been with Elke several times in thest 24 hours, and I''m still here."

    She looked down, feeling something pressing against her body, noting that he did indeed seem quite energetic.

    "Viktoria, don''t worry. I will continue to take care of you in the future. It''s just that you will have some sisters by your side..."

    Hearing this from him, she did not know what to do in this situation. If only she had something in her favor to use against him. But no, even her high-level appearance did not seem to move Lothur, and he already had another woman.

    What would she do?

    Well, she did what most women would do when finding themselves helpless in a situation like this.

    "I... I''ll try, but I can''t guarantee that I won''t try to keep you away from the others." She said with difficulty.

    She had already liked being with him, even if that had only just begun. And with no options to push him, nor the courage to give him up, she did what most would do.<sub> </sub>

    A woman would instead share a man of high value than have the exclusivity of a loser!

    Lothur showed great value to her, while she seemed receable to him.

    The result?

    She meekly gave herself over to his desires!

    "We''ll make it work harmoniously, but somepetition isn''t bad..." He chuckled before kissing her slender neck, making her feel better after this troublesome conversation.

    "So, you and Elke have done that several times before?" She shyly asked.

    "Hmmm, almost every day, for a few weeks now." He replied amid kisses on her corbone.

    She swallowed her saliva and asked. "Who do you think is prettier? Me or her?"

    "That''s an unfair question, dear..." Heughed but did not answer.

    Viktoria was more beautiful than Elke. He knew that. But his feelings for that redhead were more intense than for his wife. So, he could notpare the two.

    "Who is a better kisser?" She asked before kissing him for almost a minute.

    Lothurughed and said. "Dear, another unfair question. Kissing is like anything else in life. We get better with practice. And Elke has a few more hours of practice than you..."

    "But that doesn''t mean you''re not good like her. Just that you haven''t had the experience to figure out what works best."

    She looked at him determinedly upon hearing that. ''That makes sense... But I know I''m more talented than that girl, so I''ll figure out how to please you quickly!''

    "I''ll make you change your mind!" She said to him, once again moving toward Lothur''s reddened lips.

    "Mmmmmmm~"

    After a few minutes of doing this, Lothur noticed that she had indeed shown some improvement. But he put that aside as he noticed that it was almost time for him to leave.

    "Dear, let''s continue this tomorrow morning. Now it''s almost time for me to leave." He said as he ced her on his side and got up.

    Viktoria felt that movement and felt terrible that she had to let him go. But considering their previous conversation, she did not question him about it.

    "All right, take it." She took a key in her spatial ring and showed it to him.

    "Oh?" He took it as he saw her getting up to get dressed along with him.

    She said. "Is there something here that you intend to take to my... Our residence? I''ll take whatever you want now, so you don''t have to waste your timeter."

    "Hmm, there are these books." He pointed in the direction of the stack of books in the only closet there.

    Seeing that, Viktoria approached them and put on her spatial ring. "Very well, once you return, I will be waiting for you in my... Our bed."

    "Hehe, fine."

    She continued. "But before you leave, let''s talk about something serious."

    "What do you want to talk about?"

    Viktoria got straight to the point. "This next week, we will have the Province Conference, which will start on Tuesday and go until Friday."

    "Then you should prepare for what will happen in those days since you will have to participate in thatpetition, as I told you before."

    "I see... How will this be? What will my responsibilities be?" He asked as he finished putting on his trousers.

    ...

 Chapter 199 Provincial Conference

    Upon hearing Lothur''s question, Viktoria immediately answered what she knew. "I can''t tell you what each part of thispetition will be like since that will be announced on Tuesday morning by the provincial government."

    "But it is likely that you will have to participate in thebat phase, or at least some kind of debate orprehensionpetition." She seriously said, looking into his eyes. "My mother will probably try to force your participation that relies less on your physical abilities. But there are no guarantees."

    "Oh?" He looked at Viktoria in surprise since this was the first time he had heard anything good from Mabel regarding him. ''Hmm, it must be for the sake of the family...''

    Viktoria then approached him and helped him button his shirt. "Don''t worry. You don''t have to perform well. Just be there to participate and make your presence felt. Leave the rest to the family."

    "Really? You might be surprised at my performance, dear..." He winked at her, bringing his lips closer to her left ear. "There are more things I''m good at besides making you feel good."

    Gulp!

    She did not know what to make of that sentence of his, but considering herck of knowledge regarding Lothur, Viktoria considered that such talents of his referred to his ability with women.

    She looked at him calmly. ''As long as you can help me feel better, that will help a lot...''

    ''I had a much more effective training session this afternoon. But the only thing different I''ve done recently is to be with you.'' She squeezed his muscles while she had already finished helping him get dressed. ''He strangely knew my weakness better than I did...''

    ''Impressive!''

    "Lothur, just attend thepetition, follow the family''s instructions, and be careful of people outside our organization. If you do that, everything should be fine."

    "At worst, I will help you." She kissed his lips.

    "I''m counting on it, dear." Lothur smiled without saying much.

    He wanted to use his progress to shock Viktoria during thispetition and maybe change her view of him to bring them closer together. But even though he did not need that anymore, he wanted to surprise her at this event.

    Anyway, after the two finished talking, Viktoria went to her residence to train, something she eagerly wanted to do to get tired and go to bed. As for Lothur, he escaped from the Frost estate and went directly to the Becker family home.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a small room in the servants'' area of the Frost estate...

    Three people were gathered there, among them two men, one of them being someone dressed as a servant and the other as a nobleman. As for the third person, she was a woman dressed as a housemaid.

    "I guess we can consider Elise dead at this point, right?" The woman asked as she saw the solemn expressions of herpanions.

    "That must be the case." The nobly dressed individual said. "I heard that Kai''s rats discovered some evidence in Lewerenz..."

    "How did that happen? Wasn''t she just after a young man unable to cultivate?" The third individual there inquired.

    "I don''t know. But considering that Lothur is alive and she hasn''t reported back until now, there''s no reason why we should think she survived." The nobleman said.

    <o>,m "Damn!"</o>

    "If that''s true, the boss will be pissed! I heard that he had some ns for her..."

    After hearing the speech of herrade, who was also posing as a servant in this ce, the woman there said. "In any case, we must hurry our action and take the power of this family. When do you think we can take the big step?"

    The nobleman thought for a while and said. "I already have everything nned. We will continue to stay below the radar for the next few weeks. But when the Secret Realm starts, we will make our move!"

    "Secret Realm?" The man dressed as a servant asked in doubt.

    The woman then asked. "You want to act when Viktoria is not around. Is that it?"<sub> </sub>

    "That is the case. Viktoria is not yet strong, but her influence is already big enough to hinder our action. So, we''d better act when part of the core of that family is divided."

    "Here''s what we''ll do..."

    ...

    As that plot developed, Lothur arrived in front of the Becker estate, where this time, he went straight through the entrance gate without hiding.

    "Hey! Hey, you there!" One of the guards there quickly walked towards Lothur, ready to stop this young man who seemed to want to enter this ce.

    Lothur looked in the direction of that person he had fooled for days and took out the item that Gomeric had given him earlier. "I am here to speak with the patriarch. I have serious matters to deal with him."

    "The patriarch?" That individual looked at Lothur and the other guards in the vicinity.

    But since they all realized that the item held by Lothur was authentic, none of them were rude.

    "All right, I will escort you there." Then, as another guard ran to warn Gomeric about this special visit, the person from earlier said.

    ...

    "What? A silver-haired young man? Lothur?" The patriarch rose from his armchair in surprise as he looked at his subordinate.

    "He must be here to do business ..." Hildamented, not thinking that young man would have the audacity toe like that to go have fun with Elke. ''Speaking of which, I have to reinforce the security of this ce.''

    ''Lothur is showing us that there are weaknesses in our property!''

    While she had these thoughts in mind, Hilda followed Gomeric until the two came across the silver-haired young man.

    At the same time, Elke, who had already been warned by one of her handmaidens about Lothur''s visit, rushed to that ce to see the situation.

    "Lothur, what is the reason for your visit? Do you have something on your mind?" Gomeric looked at that ''harmless'' young man, curious.

    "Hmm, patriarch, it''s about that glove we talked about earlier. I have talked to my partners, and they authorized me to trade such a thing as I wish." Lothur bluntly said.

    "In addition, I already have a new design for an even more efficient glove and the price for producing it."

    "Oh?" Patriarch Becker smiled as he saw his daughter hugging one of Lothur''s arms.

    "Lothur, have you already made it?" The young redhead asked in an excited tone. "It was faster than I had imagined!"

    "Yes, I was lucky enough to find new materials and develop a new design for this item." Hemented as Elke''s father directed him into the interior of that residence.

    After they sat around a business table, with Elke on his left side and her parents on the other side, Lothur heard from his mother-inw. "Before we talk numbers, tell me something. What do you seek in this business? Selling gloves? Or something different?"

    Lothur looked into the eyes of that woman who had caught him in the act with Elke. "Madam, I desire a royalty contract with the Becker House."

    "I will pass on the glove design to you, and your responsibility will be to produce and market it. Eventually, every glove produced will have a slice belonging to me.

    "My initial ask will be 40% of the profits for 200 years." He gestured as he smiled at those two.

    "40%? 200 years?" The two looked at each other, interested in how Lothur was negotiating.

    ...

 Chapter 200 Lothurs Glove Business

    Elke''s parents looked at each other, finding the kind of deals Lothur wanted to make unusual.

    It was notmon in this world to make deals like that. Usually, what happened was that one side sold the product and the other side got all the rights to it.

    Because of this difference, both sides were surprised that Lothur had not asked for arge sum for the design of his special glove.

    Lothur realized the problem and said. "It isplicated to assess the fair price of my glove. And in a way, whatever amount House Becker or any other power is willing to pay, I will lose a lot on that."

    "So, I''d rather get nothing now but a slice each month of whatever you guys earn for that time interval."

    "That way, I don''t lose out on this deal, and neither does your family." He smiled. "After all, you will only have to pay me the share of the profits. So, even if the glove is a failure, your family won''t lose anything."

    "Oh?" Gomeric opened his mouth in surprise, thinking that the business model Lothur wanted to follow was not bad at all. ''That''s interesting! Maybe I''ll do more business like that in the future!''

    Meanwhile, Hilda was thinking about the figures quoted by Lothur. ''40% for 200 years. That''s quite a lot for someone who won''t have to do anything, but the glove will be entirely ours after that period...''

    ''On the other hand, if this young man keeps his promise, Elke will marry him. Then eventually our descendants will be entitled to the wealth he produces...'' She briefly looked at her daughter.

    She then said. "I can assume that whatever repairs these gloves need will also be exclusive to us and that you will not create apeting product in the future, right?"

    "Hmmm, sure. I have other things on my mind, so I wouldn''t waste my time with petty attitudes." He nodded in confirmation.

    "And how will we make that work? We''ve never had the experience of negotiating that way before." Gomericmented, looking in interest at the silver-haired young man in front of him.

    Lothur then replied. "We can form apany for the sole purpose of producing these gloves. Your family will control thispany, which must hire tailors and people to run the business."

    "I will personally train the first group of tailors to produce this glove. Eventually, they will be able to do this with other tailors and expand the business."

    He looked at Hilda and continued. "Then your family can set up stores to sell this product or use existing ones."

    "I rmend the second option since getting involved in so many phases of the business is not interesting." He seriously said, looking at Gomeric. "I already have a ce to sell these gloves in Lewerenz, so you can experiment to see how the eptance of this product will be there."

    "Look up the Siegel family."

    "It looks like you''ve thought of everything, huh?" Elkemented in a low voice, looking proudly at her man, excited to see him negotiating with her parents.

    Lothur seemed to be in control of the situation, even considering that he was only a young man in front of two centuries-old cultivators several levels above him.

    And seeing his power, as her parents listened intently to him, Elke could not help but feel amazing to be with him!

    ''I can''t wait forter...'' She discreetly bit her lips.

    Hilda thenplimented. "You have some great ideas, Lothur. I think we can do as you suggested."

    "Hmmm, your manners are different, but they look very promising," Gomericmented in satisfaction.

    There was nothing better than doing business with capable people, to have people like that on your side and not on the side of your enemies!

    After these words, they continued talking about the details of the contract they would sign for a few more minutes.<sub> </sub>

    For example, to protect himself, Lothur demanded that the Becker family would only have two years after signing the agreement to start mass producing the gloves. That was necessary because if this organization was not forced to do so, there could be a chance that they would not produce such an item and wait for the 200-year period to expire.

    There were other details like that, some of which they discussed as they went to the dining hall of that estate, where time flew by as they ate and talked.

    <o>,m "... So, that''s it, Lothur, we will sign that agreement next week. In the meantime, I will already be contacting my family''s tailors so we can begin preparations." Gomeric said after wiping his lips with a napkin.</o>

    As he finished tasting his dessert, Lothur nodded to his father-inw, pleased by his conversation with Gomeric and Hilda. "All right. Once everything is ready, I wille and teach them about it once a week. Then if possible, get 2-star tailors ready. That way, we can get this sorted out faster."

    "Okay, I''ll do that." Gomeric agreed.

    After a few moments, when the servants were already beginning to remove the dishes from that dining table, Elke looked at her father and asked. "Father, I want Lothur to stay at my residence tonight. Do you see a problem with that?"

    "What? The whole night? You want him to sleep in your house?" Gomeric felt terrible to have to hear such a request.

    He ''knew'' that Lothur was harmless. But let a man sleep in his daughter''s residence greatly bothered him!

    Elke then said. "We are not going to sleep, father..."

    Gomeric''s eyes almost popped out of his face, but he heard his daughter''s sweet voice. "... I am at a critical point in my cultivation, and I believe that if I train with Lothur tonight, I will get an advancement."

    "Oh?" Gomeric''s expression improved significantly.

    At the same time, Hilda knew what her daughter would do with Lothur, but she did not even think about it. The idea of Elke advancing was too good, even more so considering this young woman''s troubled situation.

    ''If she advances tonight, she will absorb that Soul Bone and be stronger and maybe even more talented...'' Hilda clenched her fists, extremely pleased.

    "All right, he can stay at your residence tonight, Elke." She said in her husband''s ce. "But I will stay with you to ensure no servant will get the wrong impression."

    Gomeric smiled as he looked at his wife, d she had suggested it.

    Elke knew her mother would not stand in their way and readily agreed.

    Following that, Elke and Lothur got up and headed toward that residence, with Hilda following behind them after saying a few words to her husband.

    After they closed the entrance door to Elke''s residence, Hilda looked at the two of them and asked. "Are you going to do that now? I will put up a formation to block the sounds you make..."

    Lothurughed and said. "Thank you for that, madam. But first, we will do somebat training. I believe Elke will move on after that."

    "Oh? So, you won''t have to do these things anymore after today?" She smiled at them, knowing that they probably would not ept that.

    Elke stepped forward and said. "Of course, we need to! How can we be sure that I will bepletely healed? We''d better keep going as long as there are benefits..."

    "Is that so?" Hilda teasingly looked at her daughter, knowing Elke was bluffing to justify her pleasure.

    "All right, start what you want to do. I''m curious to see how you fight." She grew more serious and walked toward the training area of her daughter''s residence.

    ...

 Chapter 201 Time To Absorb The Soul Bone!

    After a few moments, Elke had changed clothes and joined Lothur in the training area of her residence.

    Immediately upon arriving there, they began their training routine as they had been doing for the past few days. Lothur used his defensive skills to deflect, protect and even counter his girl''s blows.

    At the same time, Elke used everything she had to try to hit Lothur, constantly under the pressure of having to improve the quality of her movements and attacks to get closer to him.

    Seeing this, Hilda was quite impressed, liking the efficient way Lothur handled training with Elke.

    ''This fellow... Not only is he talented and intelligent, but he''s also good at physicalbat!'' She noted how well Lothur moved and that he was neither too lenient nor too strict with his opponent.

    ''Every blow he delivers is at the limit of what Elke can endure without her having to deal with injuries that require days of recovery. At the same time, his dodging is just enough for him not to be hit, but at all times, he is within her capabilities.''

    ''In other words, he''ll never get hit fighting like this, but Elke certainly has the impression that she can reach him at any moment!'' She noticed this, something even she would find difficult to do.

    ''How does he do that? Didn''t he say he had only recently be a cultivator? Is that the understanding of a novice?''

    Hilda watched Lothur and Elke fight for another 30 minutes when the silver-haired young man stopped the battle.

    "Elke is about to advance!" Hemented, surprising the distracted Hilda, as Elke ran to the bathroom, trying to avoid the previous situation.

    Noticing this, Hilda took her previous thoughts out of focus and ran after Elke to watch her during her advance.

    Meanwhile, Lothur stayed behind, knowing that his girl did not want him to see her during the spiritual cleansing.

    "How are you feeling, Elke? Is there something strange about your body?" Hilda stopped beside the bathtub in that bathroom, where Elke was already without any clothes on her little body.

    Meanwhile, the impurities in her body were alreadying out of her pores, particrly her belly button.

    "I feel normal, just like any other breakthrough, mom..." She said, as she felt the typical sensation of this kind of situation and continued to feel the slight ''sleepiness'' over her soul.

    Hearing that nothing was wrong so far, Hilda sighed in relief that nothing strange was happening.

    Considering the blow Elke had received, this young woman''s mother could not help but worry about her in a breakthrough attempt, which had its risks.

    But with the current quality of Elke''s body, even if advancing wasplicated at certain times and in some situations, she felt no difficulty getting through it.

    So, after a few minutes, she was able to stabilize her cultivation in the 4th Transformation, resolving the problems of her fleshy body for good.

    When she saw that her daughter had sessfully advanced, Hilda left Elke in the bathroom to clean herself up while she returned to where Lothur was.

    "She made it... Thank you, Lothur." She massaged one of this young man''s shoulders while looking earnestly into his silver eyes.

    "Madam, Elke is my woman. So, there is nothing to thank for. I will continue to take care of her with my best."

    After hearing this, Hilda felt convinced and hugged Lothur as if she were doing this with the son she, unfortunately, did not have. "Very good, boy, you must take care of her..."

    Meanwhile, Elke came out of the bathroom with a white towel around her body and saw her mother embraced with Lothur. "You can''t take him away from me, mom. That would be terrible..." She joked, making her mother blush in embarrassment.

    "What are you talking about, brat?" Hilda let go of Lothur and looked at her daughter with an expression of irritation, her two hands resting on her waist.

    "Hehe, I''m just kidding..." Elke moved closer to Lothur and hugged him.

    "Well, Elke, time for you to absorb your Soul Bone." Lothurmented while already holding the said bone in his right hand.<sub> </sub>

    Upon hearing this, she became serious and took the Soul Bone from his hand, determined to solve her problems and spend the rest of the night with him without the difort she felt in her soul.

    "All right, I''ll get started!" She said as she sat down in the middle of that area and began the process of fusing with the Spine Soul Bone.

    Seeing that, Hilda sat down in a chair, ready to wait for a few hours. ''Absorbing this bone won''t be easy...'' She pondered, worried about the suffering her daughter would have to go through.

    But Hilda was not unhappy. In the cultivation world, it wasmon to go through trials, suffer physical and mental pain, terrible things to imagine. But with the benefits of those trials, no cultivator would wish to not go through something like that.

    And knowing that her daughter would gain something outstanding and fully recover from her injuries, Hilda was happy for Elke.

    As the Spine Soul Bone floated in front of Elke, Lothur did not miss the opportunity and began to practice his techniques.

    He knew that, unlike him, Elke would not absorb it in a short time. So, he wanted to make the most of this situation to improve himself!

    "What are you doing?" Hilda asked as she looked at the young man running from one side of that room to the other.

    "I want to practice my techniques while Elke absorbs that bone."

    "Oh?" She opened her mouth in surprise but soon thought of something. "Come with me to the other room. I will help you train while my daughter finishes here."

    Hearing this, Lothur smiled in satisfaction since training with this woman would be much better than doing it with Annaliese. In this case, his results would not be insignificant, even if it onlysted an hour or two!

    "Madame, you can take it a little heavy with me. Use a strength equivalent to that of a 7th Transformation person." He suggested as he arrived at another part of Elke''s residence.

    "7th Transformation? Didn''t you say you were only in 6th?" She asked.

    He then replied. "Yes, but my constitution is a little stronger than normal for a person of my level. So, I can take more pressure than I should."

    "Very well, but if you get hurt, don''t me me for it." She gestures with her left hand, indicating for Lothur to start attacking her.

    Then, he immediately picked up his ax and ran at her, ready for this unique training.

    ...

    Sometimeter...

    Lothur had both hands on his knees while sweating considerably, with drops falling from his face and forming a puddle of water below him.

    At the same time, Hilda was standing in front of him, with this young man''s ax in one hand, without the slightest sign of fatigue or that she had fought.

    "You are not bad at all, but I can see that your techniques are newly learned..." She said as she assessed his performance.

    Lothur had not poorly fought. After all, he had already advanced in understanding three techniques, which was hard to see on this continent. But he had not yet managed to put all his possibilities to use.

    Because of this, for someone as experienced as Hilda, Lothur''s many ws were transparent!

    "Hah... Hah... Madam, thank you for the training..." Lothur breathlessly said as he saw the system warning in front of him.

    ...

 Chapter 202 Couple Improvements

    When he had time to breathe peacefully, Lothur felt unique energy spreading through his body and finally saw the system messages.

    [+0.2 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.2 in AGI.]

    [+0.6 in WIL.]

    [+0.5 in CON.]

    [+0.2 in DEX.]

    [+0.4 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 6]

    [STR: 15.6] [CON: 23] [DEX: 15.3] [AGI: 17.4]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 68.8] [WIL: 68]

    [EVF: 40]

    ''Uh? Why has my EVF decreased?'' He opened his mouth in surprise, ignoring that he had had optimal results in just a little over 2 hours of training with Hilda.

    While he was trying to understand the situation, Hilda watched him intently, seeing how the minor bruises around his arms and face were fading.

    ''What? He is recovering without even ingesting a regenerative potion?'' She opened her mouth in surprise, shocked at such a desirable ability of this young man.

    "Lothur, you have a regenerative ability? Is that your Physique?" She asked as she took one of his wrists, interested in discovering more about this young man.

    "Regenerative ability?" Lothur finally paid attention to his mother-inw as he watched the minor wounds on his body healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

    "That..."

    ''That''s new!" He eximed in his mind, but then a system message appeared in front of him.

    [Fusion of the innate abilitying from the host''s Physique with the innate ability from the host''s Bloodline generated a new ability, Super Regeneration.]

    [Super Regeneration: when the host is injured above the body''s average endurance capacity, the ability will use EVF points to recover the host''s body.]

    [In case the host runs out of EVF, the skill will go into hibernation mode if the injury is not fatal.]

    ''Oh?'' His eyes fluttered without him understanding the reason for this change.

    ''Why did this happen? System?'' He asked in his mind.

    But the system was not a person for him to keep asking questions.

    Such a thing only worked with specificmands, so he was ignored.

    Meanwhile, Hilda noted that he looked doubtful. ''This must be your first time doing this...''

    "Well, it seems you have an outstanding skill. So, congrattions, this will certainly be of great benefit to you..." She said as she tapped his right shoulder, feeling good about discovering this trait of his. ''And for my future little grandchildren too!''

    Bloodline and Physique were passed down through the generations from parent to child. And as much as this was usually a mixture of the characteristics of the father and mother, this functionality was a little different for absurd powers.

    When a Bloodline or Physique ability was way outside the curve, it did not matter how weak or strong the other person''s Bloodline and Physique were. The offspring of that couple would inherit that ability!

    That was as if the ability tried to protect itself, not allowing itself to mix with others and ensuring its ''survival.''

    Since Hilda knew this, she could already imagine Elke and Lothur''s children being born with their father''s ability!

    Lothur had no idea what his mother-inw was thinking, but since there was no reason to be sad about gaining an ability, he smiled at her and thanked her. "Hehe, thank you, madam."

    "Lothur, you don''t have to call me in that cold way all the time. For now, when we are alone, you can call me mother-inw."

    She winked at him. "But let''s keep it a secret in front of your father-inw, okay?"

    Lothur noticed the difference in this woman''s treatment, but since Elke would be his no matter what, he did not care. "All right, mada... Mother-inw."

    "That''s better!" After that, she looked toward where Elke was standing and said. "I can feel that my daughter is almost finished. Shall we check on her?"

    "Hmmm."

    ...<sub> </sub>

    When they reached where Elke was standing, she was still in a lotus position, while the Soul Bone could no longer be seen there.

    At the same time, the expression of pain on Elke''s face did not hide the fact that she had suffered a lot to get there. However, it also revealed that the worst was over.

    Seeing this, Hilda smiled in satisfaction, feeling that her daughter was about to gain a new ability and a power bonus!

    Lothur also saw this.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 3 -> 4]

    [STR: 4.1 -> 5.3]

    [CON: 11.8 -> 14.2]

    [DEX: 5.8 -> 7.4]

    [AGI: 6.1 -> 7.8]

    ''Elke has gotten much stronger! After this week, she will certainly have a better time training and progressing within the academy...''

    ''Great!'' He smiled at the improvements his girl was experiencing, pleased that he had produced much of this and knew he could do this with others of his women.

    As he thought about this, Elke opened her eyes and finally felt the feeling in her soul go away due to the Soul Bone stabilizing her situation.

    Because of this, she felt all her focus and attention going to the maximum, revealing a different world to her.

    And with that, a broad smile appeared on her face as she jumped from where she was into Lothur''s arms.

    "Lothur..." She hugged him as she went towards his lips.

    Lothur felt no shame at being in front of his mother-inw and did not refuse the intimacy his woman wanted.

    "Mmmmm~" The two kissed passionately in front of Hilda, making this mature woman blush at seeing such a scene.

    "Cough! Cough!"

    "That''s enough, you two! Have more control. I''m still here." She said to stop them from doing anything else in front of her.

    "Mom..." Elke looked at that woman with a slight embarrassment on her face.

    "It''s okay. I''ve seen much worse things, don''t you think?" Hilda asked, making Lothurugh as that young redhead hid her face in his chest.

    She put her smile aside and asked her daughter. "Anyway, tell me about the skill you got. I want to see what this Soul Bone has brought you..."

    Elke then tried to ignore her embarrassment and said. "My special ability is Soul Shock. It gives me the power to use a nce tounch a soul attack against my opponents."

    "That should be particrly powerful against people weaker than me."

    "Oh?" Hilda smiled upon hearing this, pleased with her daughter inheriting such a helpful ability. ''Something soul-rted, eh? They were fortunate to get such a valuable Soul Bone...''

    "Very well, make good use of it." She said as she patted her daughter on the head.

    "Hmmm." Elke shook her head and felt an even greater attraction toward Lothur. "Besides, I think I''ve awakened my Physique, mom."

    "Uh? When did this happen? How did you do that?" Hilda opened her eyes in amazement.

    No one in the Frost family had ever managed to awaken their own Physique. So, naturally, this woman was shocked and curious to know their hereditary ability.

    Elke then said. "I don''t know for sure. I still have to test it properly. But I seem to have a sixth sense for valuable things..." She blushed as she looked at Lothur.

    "Things of value? Sixth sense?" Hilda frowned her eyebrows. "You mean you can sense things of value in your vicinity?"

    "Hmmm. I felt it when Lothur and I found our Soul Bones, and now I feel iting from him..." She sincerely said.

    "Are you feeling it in me?" Lothur asked in surprise. ''I don''t have any other valuable resources, so that can only be me...''

    ''Wow!''

    ''I truly am terrific!'' He internallyughed.

    Hilda was surprised by this. "Do you feel that way about Lothur?"

    "Yes..." She shook her head in agreement while looking at him in silence. ''Only what I feel is hundreds of times stronger than what I felt in that underground ce...''

    ''That must be because of his skill in bed...'' Mother and daughter thought the same thing, even though they were both silent, just pondering over this strangeness.

    ...

 Chapter 203 Succumbing (18+)

    As silence filled that ce, it did not take long for Lothur and Elke to make their way to her room without them talking much about her ability.

    She had more than enough time to talk to her mother about such things at other times while her time with Lothur was limited. So, she made her mother keep her doubts in her own heart while she went with her partner to her room.

    On the other hand, Hilda stayed in that residence, cultivating in the area Elke had used earlier to absorb the Soul Bone.

    She could not return to her husband while Lothur was alone with her daughter, so she simply activated a sound istion formation and began to meditate.

    ...

    After a night in which the love birds hardly slept, Lothur left the Becker estate early in the day, when natural lighting took over the night''s darkness.

    While Elke peacefully slept, he left the residence next to Hilda, who her husband soon weed into their room.

    As for Lothur, he made his way without much dy to the Frost estate, where he made his movements to the residence that would subsequently be his and Viktoria''s.

    In this ce, he took a hot bath to rx a bit before leaving the bathroom of Viktoria''s room without clothes to join his wife.

    As he got under the sheets of her bed, he immediately felt Viktoria''s warm body approaching him, making sounds indicating that she was awake.

    "What took you so long?" She asked in a half-drowsy tone as she melted into his arms, making direct contact with his skin.

    Lothur realized that his wife had waited for him naked in this ce, and he could not help but smile as he touched her. "Elke got a level advancement, which made things between us take longer..."

    "Oh? Is that so?" She slowly climbed on top of him, intensely hugging and smelling him. "Do you have any energy left for your wife?"

    Heughed and brought her closer to him, making her sit on his belly as he unceremoniously began to y with herrge breasts.

    "Mmmm~" She bit her lips and moaned, feeling one of her nipples being enveloped by something hot, which used perfect pressure to stimte her.

    After a few moments of doing this, Lothur kissed Viktoria''s cherry lips, almost causing her to run out of breath in the few minutes of this morning''s activity.

    "Hah... Hah... You look more ravenous than yesterday..." She said as she looked closely, sensing how excited he seemed.

    "Hmm," Lothur smiled at her and then decided to try a breakthrough. "Do you want to learn how to satisfy me, dear?"

    "Oh?" She looked at him with interest.

    Viktoria had no experience with such things, so she thought Lothur was getting as much pleasure as she was. But even with that thought, she wanted to take him all to herself. So, it is evident that this woman would not miss the opportunity to make him have eyes only for her!

    "What do I have to do?" She asked after swallowing her saliva, determined to get on with it.

    "Nothing much. You''ll do something simr to what I did to you..." He smiled as he looked down, indicating the area Viktoria always tried to ignore.

    "That..."

    Before she could say more, he used his strength to flip her over, making her face close to his groin.

    Gulp!

    She almost screamed in surprise, but seeing that thing so close, all that was left in her mind was that sight, smell, and warm feeling of his legs where she was bracing herself with her hands.

    ''What should I do?'' Viktoria was nervous, but when she felt his tongue on her precious part, she shuddered and unconsciously lowered herself, with that thing touching one of her cheeks.

    She then felt a strange urge to slowly opened her mouth, with one of her hands already holding the base of Lothur''s weapon.

    "Good girl... You got that right." Lothurmented in a whispery tone, giving his wife even more confidence.

    ...

    After a few minutes, Viktoria rxed on Lothur''s body as she used one of her fingers to wipe something on her lips. ''I strangely liked that...'' So, she thought as she remembered the feeling of satisfying her husband.<sub> </sub>

    She had been served by him, which was already incredibly good. But as she served him, she felt a new kind of satisfaction that she could not ignore.

    Not only that, remembering how Lothur was not at all disgusted by her liquids, she decided to try something new today, something that had not made her as disgusted as she had thought.

    ''Is this what makes babies?'' She wondered as she had her right index finger in her mouth. ''It tastes much better than I had imagined...''

    She looked at Lothur''s tool and blushed, thinking about how he had changed her worldview in a matter of a few dozen hours.

    Her eyes widened, and her body warmed. ''I wonder what it will feel like to have him inside me...''

    Gulp!

    ''No! What am I thinking? How can I let myself be taken in so easily?'' She panicked, afraid of giving everything to Lothur so quickly.

    But as she panicked, Lothur noticed her excitement and joked. "Dear, we are husband and wife. If you have any racy thoughts, talk to me..."

    Gulp!

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Viktoria, be honest." He squeezed her tiny waist.

    She looked down, looking away from his gaze. "Do you want to have sex with me?"

    "I would love to."

    "But... How should I prepare for it? I don''t feel confident yet, even though..." She said this, slowly lowering her tone.

    He then said. "You don''t need to prepare. We are already husband and wife. We are expected to do this. So, you just need to feel at ease, dear."

    "If you wish that, let me take care of everything. You will learn with practice." He climbed on top of her, getting into the best position to start that kind of connection.

    She felt her heart leaping in her chest, nervous to the extreme but also full of curiosity.

    What Lothur said was true. She was already his wife and had already done so much with him... Thinking about that and how that rtionship would only get more intense, she could not help but hesitate.

    That was particrly true when he pointed his sword at her precious area.

    "Lothur... Are you sure? I will not allow you to leave me after this. You will forever be in the Frost family, no matter what." She said, showing no signs of backing down.

    He did not answer her, pressing his body a little over hers.

    Gulp!

    "Are you truly going to take my virginity?" She asked with nervousness.

    "If that''s what you want, honey, I''ll do it now." He waited for her consent.

    When he saw her waving her little head in agreement, closing her eyes, he made a slow movement, slowly invading that unknown territory.

    "Ahhhhhhhh~"

    As she moaned, he did all the work and said to her. "I will take care of you for the rest of the morning, so don''t worry about the time."

    "Ahhhhhhh~"

    Viktoria slowly stopped feeling pain, quickly starting to feel good, looking intensely into Lothur''s eyes.

 Chapter 204 Women Who Crave Commitment

    After the previous action began, Lothur and Viktoria spent 5 hours in the bedroom, doing a little bit of everything while getting to know each other more deeply.

    Viktoria was indeed intelligent and capable of learning. Because of this, it had not taken her long to get used to theplicated dance Lothur proposed, quickly reaching such a level that she could not help but stay with him much longer than she should have.

    Lothur had the academy, and she had her responsibilities to House Frost.

    The Province Conference was getting closer and closer, and with thepeting powers of the Frost family looking to weaken them, Viktoria had to deal with problems daily.

    However, during those hours at Lothur''s side, she had not thought about any of it, only acting on her new desires.

    By the end of it all, she had fallen for her husband as a new woman, one who knew what she wanted and needed to do!

    ...

    "Lothur, tonight you won''t have to see that redheaded girl, right?" Viktoria asked as she dressed and looked at him through arge mirror next to her bed. "I want you toe to dinner with my parents and me."

    Lothur, who was finished tying his shoes, looked forward and saw his wife finishing putting on a light green dress. "I don''t think I need to... I''ve alreadypleted what I was doing, and I''ll still see her at the academy. So, I can do that today."

    "But why with your parents? Can''t we have dinner alone, like the other times?" He asked in an attempt to get away from his vicious mother-inw.

    Lothur was skilled with poisons, but that woman could do him more harm than the worst poisons...

    Viktoria then looked back and smiled. "Of course, I will tell them about us. Since we''ve be a de facto couple, there''s no reason to hide it."

    "Besides, I don''t want them to question us because we will be living together from now on."

    "What?" Lothur almost choked dry upon hearing such things.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Why do my women want to take things so seriously? Every time things start to get good, they immediately want to throw me against their parents!''

    ''Sounds like they''re desperate to tie me up!'' He clenched his fists and looked down, seeing a mountain of trouble forming in front of him. "Isn''t it better if we keep it a secret? I mean, your mother hates me. She''ll kill me!"

    Sheughed upon hearing this and walked over to him. "Lothur, you have taken me. Time to take responsibility for what you''ve done!"

    "Uh?" He looked doubtfully at her, making Viktoria''s smile grow wider.

    ''So you have your weaknesses, huh?'' She liked the look on his face, something she had always tried before but failed miserably. ''It''s a shame I''m already yours now, or it would be fun...'' So, she thought just before she sat down on hisp.

    "Lothur, don''t worry about my mother. I''ll deal with her. You just need to act like my husband, and everything will be fine." Viktoria softly said. "For the rest, even if Ipromise myself for the family, I have my freedom, and they won''t be able to do anything if I want to be with you. So, rest assured."

    "That''s easy for you to say..." He sighed, imagining the nightmare he would have to oveeter.

    She saw that he had not backed down and said. "Well, after you get through that, we''ll have a night to ourselves. So, hang in there for a while, and I''ll reward youter..."

    She may have been inexperienced, but Viktoria had already realized how much Lothur had enjoyed being with her. Thus, even in her inexperience and even though she was probably going to be pleased more than he was, she knew she could satisfy him.

    "Later?" Lothur looked at her and reminded himself that this would not be possible. "I''m sorry, but I''m going on a mission tonight. So, I won''t be able to spend the night with you."

    "Mission? With that girl again?" She rose from hisp and thoughtfully looked at him.

    "No. Elke won''t be going with me... Anyway, I''m going out on a mission to get more resources for my ns. Since I''ll be busy with other things next week, it has to be now." He casually replied. "But won''t we have the next week to be together?"

    "There''s no need to rush."

    "That..." Viktoria hesitated, feeling better that he was not nning to go out with Elke but not liking having to part with him right now.<sub> </sub>

    On the other hand, she knew nothing about Lothur. So, when she heard that he had ns, she could not help but be curious.

    "What are these ns you have?" Her eyes sharpened in interest.

    Lothurughed upon hearing that. "You will find out soon enough. But for now, let''s put that aside. It will be a nice surprise for you..."

    She clenched her fists as she heard this, annoyed that he did not answer her as he had in the past, but a little better than before because of their new rtionship.

    "Is that because of those books you have? Are you studying those professions?" She asked about that.

    The day before, Viktoria had brought Lothur''s books to this residence. And in arranging them in a room specifically for such material, she had realized how surprising the books he was using were.

    There were books on medicine, inscriptions, basic tailoring materials, nts for poisons, and spiritual theory.

    Because of this, she became curious and even wanted to talk to him about it to understand what was happening.

    So, at this opportune moment, she quickly questioned him about it.

    Lothur smiled at her and said nothing about it. "Dear, I have to hurry to the academy. I''m alreadyte, so we''ll talkter."

    After feeling her lips touch his briefly, Viktoria watched him leave while she still had many doubts in her heart.

    "Sigh..."

    ''He still keeps secrets from me and doesn''t answer me, but at least we are getting closer... Eventually, things will get better!'' She clenched her fists, feeling energetic for the day ahead.

    After that, she headed off to find her parents, with whom she had business to settle.

    As for Lothur, this young man wanted to know about the effects of his fun with Viktoria, but unfortunately, he could not yet see her status to know how that would work with others besides Elke.

    So, he made his way to the academy, where he would probably have to exin himself to Elke and Annaliese.

    ...

    "Viktoria, what took you so long? I was just about toe after you!" Mabel looked strangely at her precious daughter, who had never beente before.

    Aiken was curious, too, even more so considering the noble aura Viktoria had around her body right now.

    ''What happened to her? Looking at her, it even looks like she took some precious elixir...'' He noticed the look that showed no weariness on Viktoria''s beautiful face, which had a glow that was hard to ignore.

    Mabel had noticed this too, but her daughter''s education took priority over curiosity.

    Viktoria then answered her mother, "I was with Lothur. We are starting to get along, so we spent all morning together."

    "Oh?" Aiken smiled upon hearing that, "That''s good news. I never liked the fact that you were so cold with him."

    "Even in a fake marriage, I think it''s best if the two sides at least be friends."

    But Mabel was not as happy as her husband. "It''s not bad to have a friendly rtionship but don''t waste your time with it. Suppose it can be done in your spare time, fine. But you werete for something important, Viktoria."

    "Don''t let that happen again. Don''t pay too much attention to this boy''s silly needs." Shemented, having no idea that it was Viktoria who wanted time with Lothur, not the other way around...

    As such, Viktoria ignored her mother!

 Chapter 205 If You Cant Go Against Them, Join Them!

    After arriving at the academy, Lothur did not take long to meet Elke in the dormitory room of Sector-1.

    "What happened to you? Why are youte? Do you know I''ve been waiting for you here all morning?" She questioned Lothur as she paced back and forth in front of him.

    Lothur bitterly smiled as he sat on one end of the bed in that room. "I''m sorry about that, Elke, but something came up, and I could not help but bete..."

    Elke thoughtfully looked at him as she heard this, her eyes sharpening as she paid attention to him. "You were with someone else?" She approached him slowly, paying attention to his scent.

    "Yes, I was with Viktoria."

    "Viktoria?" Elke''s eyes and mouth opened in surprise. "How? I thought you two didn''t get along... How did something happen between you?"

    Heughed awkwardly. "I just ignored her, and she went crazy for me... I guess I messed with her pride, and somehow she tried to win me over."

    "That..."

    "How far did you go?" Elke felt her heart beating faster, not liking the idea of Lothur getting along with his wife.

    She knew she would not be the only one in Lothur''s life. But it was undeniable that she did not want to share him, even more so with a woman as beautiful and talented as Viktoria.

    Previously Elke had not worried so much about their marriage because she knew that Lothur and Viktoria did not get along. Not only that, she knew how cold and distant Miss Frost was.

    ? So, everything indicated that she would have topete with Lothur''s shameless sister-inw, whom she would ept since that woman was not as impressive as Viktoria.

    Hence, Elke could not help but think this event was terrible and questioned Lothur about what had happened.

    Lothur then answered truthfully. "We went as far as a husband and wife would go on their honeymoon..."

    "What? You had sex?" Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor at this information, while an unprecedented pallor spread across her face.

    At this moment, Elke felt almost as bad as when a sword struck her heart!

    "Yes, we did. That''s why I dyed. I spent thest hours taking care of her... Anyway," He stood up and walked to Elke''s side. "Don''t worry, I love you, and Viktoria won''t change that, no matter what happens from now on."

    "Then don''t feel so bad. You are mine, and I will take good care of you, Elke." He squeezed her in his arms.

    Meanwhile, Elke felt better as she heard his words and felt the warmth of his body. "But... But, how will that work?"

    "Well, for now, since we don''t live together yet, there really will be some inconveniences. But that is temporary. Once we live together, I will take care of all of you, that I guarantee." He smiled at her before giving a series of kisses on her cherry lips.

    "But..."

    "What about Annaliese? How will you go about convincing the sisters? I don''t think you''ll be able to..." She said, curious about that.

    Minos thenughed since he had a fetish about sisters, even more so when they were twins... "I think Anna will take the situation well. As for Viktoria, I''ll find a way to convince her."

    "Sigh..."

    She sighed as she smelled the masculine scent of her man, feeling the difficulty of loving someone like him.

    But she could not part with this person and soon began to think about how to get used to the idea of having to share him. ''I alone won''t be able to restrict him. So, my only option is to use the help of these sisters...''

    He massaged one of her cheeks and looked into her eyes. "Anyway, today is ourst day of exams at the academy. Are you ready? We only have an hour for the first test, so let''s leave our things forter after our training."<sub> </sub>

    "Later? Can''t we do anything now?" She gave him a cute look.

    "You have noticed that the effects of our fun are diminishing, right?" He asked her.

    "Yes."

    "Well, that''s because the gap between us has narrowed a lot this week. So, as much as it''s nice to do this with you, and we don''t need a bigger motivation, I need time to train and get stronger."

    "So, we can''t do this twice a day during academy hours because we have to train in other ways too... Besides, we''ll have to move up to Sector-2 soon, so we''ll have a bunch of sses ahead of us..."

    He looked at her thoughtfully. "Then let''s do it here when we have time and at night at your ce. Okay?"

    She understood his motivation and clenched her fists. "Fine."

    "Good. I have an appointment with Anneke, so I want you to stay here and cultivate. When I return, we will finish our business with Sector-1." He informed her of his ns.

    "Anneke? Is this about that thing you said I would find out about?" She asked as she remembered the earlier conversation between her man and that teacher from Sector-1.

    "Hmmm, she seems to have some information to hand over to me, so I will go see her now."

    She looked him in the eye and asked. "And why can''t I go too?"

    "Because I want you to train and get stronger. Once you do that, ourbat training will have more effect on me, and we can spend more time doing other things..." He gave her good motivation.

    "Oh?" She opened her mouth in surprise. "Good, I will train even more intensely from now on!"

    "Hehe, that''s the way I like it, dear..."

    After that, Lothur kissed Elke and left toward another room in the dormitory of the Morning Star Academy, where he intended to talk to Anneke.

    ...

    Pa! Pa!

    After knocking on Anneke''s room door twice, Lothur waited for a few moments in a long hallway until his beautiful teacher opened the door.

    "Lothur, I thought you weren''t going toe anymore..." She smiled at him as she moved her hair with her hands.

    Seeing this beautiful woman dressed more formally than Elke, which gave the impression that she was more mature, Lothur felt something deep in his being and stepped forward.

    Lothur hugged Anneke tightly, making her shiver, but he did not kiss her. "You said you had information for me, right?" Instead, he got straight to the point.

    Seeing how he had not made the move she had stipted he would, Anneke felt awkward, almost like she was disappointed. But she did not show that. "Yes, I got some information from a book in Sector-4, and I talked to someone who knows something about those leaves."

    She broke away from his embrace and looked at him. "Lothur, let me tell you this before we continue this conversation."

    "Forget about those leaves. They look like nothing on the surface, but they are quite dangerous. Not only are you after them!"

    ...

 Chapter 206 Information About The Lost Tree Fallen Scrolls

    "Oh?" Hearing Anneke''s worried tone, Lothur opened his mouth and looked at her thoughtfully.

    He knew trouble woulde from searching for the Lost Tree Fallen Scrolls. After all, if just one of them had already awakened the impressive Physique in him, what would it be like to gather several of them?

    Therefore, of course, Lothur understood that the risk must be significant, and there was no need for that beautiful geopolitics teacher to tell him so.

    But still, he asked her. "Why do you say that? What have you found out?"

    She sat down next to him on the couch in that room and exined after a sigh. "First, I discovered in some books I read that these metal sheets are items that have existed since primordial times and are considered relics venerated by different peoples throughout time."

    "Some believed that the world''s end woulde by gathering them all together. Othermunities thought they would avert the apocalypse by bringing the lost warrior to protect the world from invaders."

    "Invaders?" Lothur tilted his head to the side, not understanding what that was about.

    She then exined. "Some ancient individuals thought that extraterritorial races were preparing to invade Concordia, and only by gathering those seven leaves could they prevent the worst."

    "Oh? That sounds a bit mythical..." Hemented.

    "Hmmm," She nodded her head in agreement. "Considering that these were visions of the ancient people of our world, I can''t say about the veracity of this information and whether they are mere legends or something else..."

    "However, there are people in the present who believe some of these stories and do everything they can to gather them."

    Lothur remembered how easy it had been for him to get what was on the leaf Viktoria had on a ne and asked. "Does the Frost family know about what they have?"

    "No, if they knew they would not allow Viktoria to wear such a thing as an ordinary ne..." She said. "Anyway, not many people know about it, and I found out that identifying such an item is not easy."

    "So, your wife never faced any problems wearing that thing, even though people are searching for such things."

    Lothur understood this and was not surprised. ''The system can identify that thing, but it can''t be easy to do that without such a thing...''

    "But as long as she doesn''t get involved with underworld people, I think it''s hardly likely to get her in trouble," Anneke said before sighing and taking one of Lothur''s hands.

    "But if you search for it, you will all be in danger! The people who want to find it are not weaklings and would attack your Frost family if they found out anything!"

    "To make matters worse, some of those people don''t have good rtions with your family. And if they find out about that stuff, that will be the final excuse to justify their action!" She said while looking into that man''s beautiful eyes.

    "Who are they?" He asked in interest.

    Anneke looked at Lothur in silence, not answering him right away. "Are you sure you want to know? Sometimes it''s better to stay in the dark about some problems..."

    Lothur closed his eyes and smiled. "I don''t believe that. Ignorance is always a negative thing. Knowing the reality, no matter how cruel it is, is the best. After all, I live in such reality and am affected by it."

    "So, yes, I want to know."

    She squeezed his hand that she was still holding. "One of them is the Leopoldine family, which supposedly has one of those leaves you are looking for."

    "Oh? The imperial family?" Lothur was surprised, but only for a moment. ''Well, something like that is not strange...''

    She nodded and continued. "The other is House Welzel, a power openly inimical to your family."<sub> </sub>

    House Welzel was a power of the Hond Province, the more extensive territory of Leopoldine. This area was where the capital of the empire and the headquarters of several high-level powers of this state were.

    Lothur frowned his eyebrows upon hearing that from Anneke. "Uh? Why doesn''t the imperial family take the item from House Welzel? If you found out about it, I''m sure that power already knows about it..."

    "Hmm, true, but there is a problem." She smiled at him. "House Welzel is the one that has been around the imperial family the longest. So, for that family to be able to take that item from its main vassal, it would have to have an excellent justification, or it wouldn''t be worth the risk."

    "Since the Leopoldine family doesn''t have the location of the other leaves, they simply won''t act."

    "Makes sense..." Hemented in a low voice.

    "Anyway, as for the other items, they are supposedly scattered across our continent, inds, and even Secret Realms."

    Secret Realms were unique regions of space created by high-level experts. Such ces could contain anything from small buildings, headquarters, or even arge forest. But, of course, this depended on the level of the one who created it or his purposes.

    So, there were countless such ces in this world, many of which had not even been discovered yet, since their creators did not divulge about them or did not have the opportunity.

    Some did this before they died to leave a legacy and mark their existence in the world. Others simply created such things and left them to be discovered identally.

    There were numerous reasons someone would develop something like this, and information about it would not spread.

    As such, people looking for those items had the impression that part of them was in such ces or more powers would have them.

    But this was all spective. After all, like House Frost, there could be other organizations with such items without even knowing about it.

    Anneke then gave her final warning. "Lothur, do not go after these items. If you one day find one of them in a Secret Realm or even exploring our continent, good. Don''t tell anyone about it, and move on with your life."

    "But don''t think of approaching those two organizations or the local underworld to track down such a thing. I only managed that myself because I have some safe contacts, but don''t underestimate the underworld."

    "All kinds of horror can happen to those who get too involved with this!"

    Lothur looked at Anneke''s worried face and smiled, still feeling the warmth of her hand on one of his own. "You''ve helped me a lot, Anne... What do I do with you now? I feel indebted."

    Hearing those words, she rxed a little and smiled. "Maybe it''s time for you to tell me the truth about where your powers came from..."

    "Don''t tell me you will make more excuses? Lothur, I have already helped you more than I should have."

    He heard that and thought quietly, looking at her lips. "Fine, but you must show that you aremitted to keeping the secret..."

    "I am. What do you want me to do to prove it to you?" She asked.

    "Hehe, simple, be my woman, Anne." He smiled, looking at her lips and licking his own. "You know I will take good care of you."

    "Your woman?" She eximed in shock.

    Then she saw him approach her, quickly making her lie down on that sofa as he stood over her. "You want, don''t you?" He said before advancing towards his target.

    ...

 Chapter 207 Solving Their Own Problems

    After kissing Anneke for a few moments, Lothur felt this woman getting carried away with the situation, clearly showing the signs that she wanted it.

    He had noticed earlier the look of disappointment on Anneke''s face when he did not advance against her as he hadst time. So with that and how she had reacted to him on that asion, Lothur was aware that she desired him.

    Yes, she would not give herself to him without him making some effort. But she was avable if he showed some action.

    Since he found her attractive because of her knowledge and the help she had given him so far, he saw no problem joining the useful with the pleasant and suggesting that.

    "Mmmm~"

    "Lothur, you are a scoundrel! You already have a wife, and you''re still with that redhead, but you behave like that with me?" She said as she parted her lips from his to take a breath.

    "Yes, my appetite has always been big..." He smiled at her.

    "Scoundrel!" Sheughed and lightly pped the middle of his chest. But then she said a little more seriously. "But I won''t be your woman so easily. If you want to, you''ll have to do more than that..."

    "Oh? Good then." He continued on top of her, noticing how ''open'' she was to him. "Anyway, if you want to know, I am doing body cultivation. Due to certain special features of my technique, you or others can''t identify my level."

    "So, that''s it?" She opened her mouth in surprise, not expecting that this was the truth about the mystery behind him. "But shouldn''t you be unable to cultivate? I know that body cultivation and soul cultivation are different, but someone unable to cultivate one is hardly able to train the other."

    Anneke had already investigated Lothur and discovered many things about the good-for-nothing son-inw of the Frost family. Thus, she knew about the situation of this young man''s body when Viktoria''s family did his physical tests.

    He then answered her. "Everything changed when I had an ident weeks ago. After that, I started to get stronger."

    "So, an ident awakened your strength..." She murmured, thinking that this could happen.

    ? Anneke then looked into his eyes and said sincerely. "Lothur, don''t worry. Even if we don''t have anything serious, I won''t mention it to anyone."

    "Really?" He smiled at her before sitting down and pulling her onto hisp. "But I get the impression that we will have..."

    "Are you confident?" She asked in a flirtatious tone. "But answer me one thing. How do you intend to deal with me, already having two women with you? There is a time limit on the day, which cannot be ignored, regardless of your level."

    "Your women will not ept being distant or being sidelined by others for too long..."

    He understood what she wanted since that was the biggest problem with harems from the women''s point of view. "I am fully capable of handling you all and making you fully satisfied."

    "Believe me. The numbers haven''t reached my limit yet..." He smiled. "But when it does, I will naturally control myself. Although I enjoy the game, I prefer quality over quantity."

    "Oh? You''re pretty confident, huh? You bastard!" She bit her lips, but because of this man''s many qualities, she could not help but feel agitated.

    Unlike men, creatures who relied heavily on visual and physical features, women were more dependent on the psychological. Because of this, one of them could give herself to a man who, many would say, did not deserve her but who she could not help but feel attracted to because of the game.

    All it took was to stir their emotions, demonstrate confidence in a way that they could practically smell it, and provide whatever they needed. That got them excited in such a way that it was not hard for them to ignore points that might be problematic.

    With the right qualities, an attractive man like Lothur could be a womanizer and even absent sometimes, but they would still want him.

    Because of this reality, unknown to some, Anneke was even more attracted to Lothur and could not contain her desire to kiss him.

    "Mmmmm~"<sub> </sub>

    ...

    After finishing his business with Anneke, Lothur scheduled lunch with her next week for them to continue their game.

    They had not gotten very far, but that beautiful teacher from Sector-1 had practically opened all the doors Lothur needed for him to conquer her.

    With that, he headed with a smile on his lips toward the ce where Elke was waiting for him, ready to finish his sector advance.

    But halfway to the beautiful redhead''s room, Lothur found a group of three surrounding his girl as if they were trying to pressure her.

    He saw this from afar and heard theirments.

    "Elke, why are you so close to that good-for-nothing worm?" A ck-haired young man asked.

    "Yes, answer us! You should be engaged to our young master! We don''t like our family''s future daughter-inw to have such dubious behavior." The only woman there said in an usatory tone.

    Hearing the words of these Baier family people, Elke felt like telling them about her rtionship with Lothur and even telling the difference between a real man and the crippled Alric.

    But she restrained her desires and clenched her fists. "I listened to you politely, but youe to me with these provocations? Go away! I don''t want to see you anymore!"

    "Oh? Are you angry? Elke, you have no right to refuse to talk to us. You owe respect to your future family!" The strongest young man of the three, level 4, said in an arrogant tone, releasing his cultivation pressure.

    Lothur saw this and felt like acting. But when Elke looked in his direction and smiled, he paused his movements and waited.

    She then said. "Now I have an appointment with the academy, so excuse me..."

    "Appointment? Well, if you don''t swear an oath that you won''t see that trash again, we won''t allow you to leave here!" The three looked at each other, ready to block the way of this ''weak'' woman from Sector-1.

    "Is that so?" Elke''s eyes narrowed as she activated her unique ability, Soul Shock.

    When she did this without giving her opponents a chance, a pulse broke from Elke''s body, striking those three mercilessly.

    As they were hit, they shook as if they had lost their bnce, while their eyes rolled back and foam began to form in their mouths.

    Seeing this from a few meters away, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, seeing his girl defeat these three opponents without difficulty.

    As the three fell to the ground, already unconscious, Elke closed the door to her room and looked in the direction of her man. "Shall we go?" She smiled at him as she walked to his side.

    Lothur nodded to her and asked. "You have handled the situation very well. But won''t that lead to trouble?"

    "If it were you, it might, since there are many idiotic people behind this academy. But I won''t have considerable problems, even if they report me." She said.

    Lothur did not feel bad hearing the difference in treatment they received, just understanding that, in fact, it should not be a problem that she acted against them.

    ''Well, it feels good to see my girl acting like that, hehe...''

 Chapter 208 Shes Crazy

    Hourster, Lothur and Elke finished theirst exam, confident that on Monday, they would be promoted to Sector-2.

    After doing so, the two returned to their regr training, which was no longer necessary to save Elke''s life but that Lothur wanted to keep doing to make her stronger.

    Elke was perfectly okay with this since she did not want to be left behind, be a burden, or even much weaker than Lothur''s other women.

    So, they trained inbat for a while before ending their week of activities together with their favorite activity...

    With this, Lothur made some minor improvements, and Elke made more significant advances than her man.

    At the end of it all, the two said goodbye after Elke hugged him tightly, already feeling sorry for not being able to apany him this weekend.

    But that was not a bad thing either. With this, she could train during the weekend and keep getting stronger to apany him on this journey they would have in Sector-2!

    So, Lothur soon met up with Annaliese!

    ...

    "Lothur, why didn''t youe with me earlier today? What were you doing?" Annaliese asked as she walked beside him, heading to the Cultivation House.

    Upon hearing this, Lothur felt he could not hide the truth from Annaliese and took one of her hands, directing her to the square of the statue of the founder of Peters City.

    When they arrived near an area with many trees, a rtively hidden path with few people, he stopped face to face with her, looking into her eyes.

    "Anna, I must update you about my rtionship with your sister..." He seriously said, watching every detail of her face.

    "Your situation with my sister?" Her eyes narrowed along with her eyebrows moving closer together, "What are you talking about?"

    "Well, your sister and I have decided to be husband and wife in the literal sense..." He said, trying not to irritate his sister-inw too much.

    "Literal?" Annaliese''s expression changed as she slowly realized what he was talking about. "Are you serious? Until a few days ago, my sister seemed irritated with you. How could she wish that so suddenly?"

    "I was surprised at the initial moment too." Heughed. "But you should understand by now how she would change so much in such a short time... After all, you know my abilities."

    She blushed as she heard this, finally understanding everything he was saying. "She allowed herself to be touched by you? Really? You''re not just saying that to annoy me?" She asked as she gripped one of his wrists tightly.

    Lothur closed his eyes and bitterlyughed. "Yes, I''m serious. But she allowed herself a little more than just being touched..."

    "What? How is that possible? Lothur, you can''t be serious! Why?" She said in a slightly louder, irritated tone, her eyes already red, somewhat watery.

    Realizing the problem, Lothur stepped forward and brought her into his arms, holding her delicate head against his chest. "Calm down, Anna. Even though I have consummated my marriage to your sister, that doesn''t change my rtionship with you."

    "Do you think I would y with my sister-inw the way I''ve been for the past few weeks if I wasn''t ready tomit? I would never use you. You know that!" He said into one of her ears as tears flowed from her eyes.

    Annaliese loved her sister and knew what Lothur wanted to do by hiding from Viktoria. To win her over. But in the meantime, she had been rting to him. She had developed feelings for her brother-inw, whichplicated the whole situation.

    Now she was not just the younger sister wishing for her sister''s happiness. Instead, she was a woman seeking her happiness, who could not help but feel nervous knowing that the man she wanted to be with was doing so well with Viktoria.

    Hearing Annaliese''s sobs, Lothur used his hands to turn her delicate little face-up and look into her eyes. "You are already mine, Anna. Do you think I''ll leave you because of that? No chance!"

    "Eventually, I will take you from your family and make even your mother ept our rtionship!" He chuckled at her, massaging one of this woman''s rosy cheeks.

    "You promise?" She softly asked.<sub> </sub>

    "Hmm, I promise."

    After hearing this, she climbed up on her tiptoes, intending to kiss him.

    "Anna, don''t you care where we are?" He was surprised by that.

    "No, kiss me." She said, giving him no more time to deflect.

    "Mmmmm~"

    She kissed him passionately, feeling the heat inside her as she was wrapped in his arms.

    But despite her irrational act, Annaliese knew she could not go too far in this and soon stopped her bold move, given a few people in that area.

    Lucky for them, those were just irrelevant mortals who did not even know the identities of the two.

    ''Ah, the love...'' A middle-ageddy looked in the direction of the two lovebirds, remembering her younger days.

    ''Tsk!''

    ''Some people are clueless! How do they do that in public?'' A frustrated young man thought of this as he made an ugly expression in the couple''s direction.

    Lothur and Annaliese did not notice the stares in their direction but soon departed that ce after looking at each other intensely, seeing each other''s intentions in their eyes.

    As they continued their way back, Lothur continued to talk about the matter with her. "Anyway, I think your sister is going to talk about it with her parents tonight, so I already told you about it, so you won''t be surprised."

    "She what?" Annaliese opened her eyes wide, incredulous at such a thing. ''How can that be? My sister has just started a real rtionship with Lothur, but she already wants to talk to our parents. Isn''t that an exaggeration?''

    "She wants them to know that we''re going to live together from now on... Sigh! I think the whole thing is a shot in the foot too, but she insists it will be better this way." He said.

    She looked at him andmented. "Is she crazy? Can''t she see that our mother will want to kill you?"

    "I told her that, but Viktoria doesn''t seem to listen to the voice of reason..."

    Hearing this, Annaliese looked at the ground, wondering what she would do if she were in her sister''s ce. ''But that will be truly convenient for her...''

    ''Tsk!''

    ''How clever!''

    ''With that, she''ll be able to spend more time with him than Elke and me!'' This woman was jealous of her sister, noticing Viktoria''s movement.

    ''Well, I have to find a way to bring up my rtionship with Lothur as well...'' She looked at him mysteriously. ''I just don''t know how yet.''

    At that instant, Lothur unconsciously felt a chill run down his spine, as if fate was plotting against him.

    But seeing the entrance to the Cultivation House, he quickly put that aside and walked alongside his sister-inw into the interior of that building.

    Now it was time for him to take a missionmensurate with his level, which could earn him an adequate amount of coins for his cultivation!

    "Let''s see what''s in it for us, Anna..."

 Chapter 209 What To Do During The Province Conference

    "Are you sure you want to do this mission?" Annaliese looked at herpanion''s mask, a little doubtful about that. "I think we''d be better off taking something less exotic..."

    Lothur looked at her in surprise to hear that. "Don''t you like it? This mission is straightforward. We just have to clear a scorpion-infested cave and check the area."

    "Yes, but you know how fighting nests of insects like that is? There is always arge amount of them, and they are so disgusting..." She remembered past experiences, among them one time she had to endure the feeling of being dirty for two days straight because of the fluids of the snakes she fought against.

    Lothurughed as he realized the problem. "Well, this is the only missionpatible with my level and won''t be a waste of time for you. So, we''re without much of an option here..."

    That was true, but not all of it. Lothur wanted to do this mission because, besides the possibility of fighting a nest of insects capable of imposing a challenge on him, he could also collect poison from these creatures.

    This way, he could get free resources for his poison master training!

    "Sigh..."

    "I hope you are ready to deal with these creatures. I don''t think it will be as you think." She said as she crossed her arms and pouted at him.

    "Don''t worry. We won''t be staying our entire time inside that cave in question. How about that? I''ll take you to dinner tomorrow to make up for it."

    "Oh? That''s better, hehe." She took the paper in his hand and then walked toward the administration of that area. "But what about these strange reports? Do you really see no problem getting involved with something strange?"

    Hearing this, Lothur thought about what he had read on that poster, about the fact that strange noises and even remarkable phenomena had been noticed in that area. "Missions like this can always bring us unexpected results... I like that."

    "Humph!"

    "You like to run into danger!"

    ...

    After registering the mission they would start doing in a few hours, Lothur and Annaliese headed back to the Frost family estate.

    At that ce, it was not long before they were called to the patriarch''s residence, where dinner was already being served.

    "Tomorrow, we will begin the call for ourpetitors participating in the Province Conference. Don''t let anyone..." Aiken said in a low voice in a subordinate''s ear, exining what should be done.

    As he was doing this, the twins and Lothur greeted him and his wife before sitting down.

    "Do this for me..." Aiken dismissed that servant, who promptly nodded in agreement and left the dining room of that residence in a hurry.

    As he passed through the exit corridor and left the patriarch''s residence, that man momentarily smiled before stopping beside a woman dressed as a servant.

    "Is everything ready?" He asked in a whispering tone.

    "Hmm, some flowers will bloom tomorrow. Don''t worry. We just need to wait now." She said as she winked at him and then walked away, getting on with her work.

    "Perfect!" He muttered to himself, already imagining what next week would be like, the first moment of his group''s n for the big event they had in mind.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur was already eating with his women''s family, asionally hearing from Mabel and Aiken about his responsibilities in theing week.

    "Lothur, you cannot miss or bete during the Province Conference. Then, stay by Viktoria''s side whenever possible, so you don''t make a mistake." That man''s father-inw said in an advisory tone.

    Mabel then coldly looked at him. "Your duty during the next week, besides helping us identify the family traitor, will be to make your presence felt."

    "We know you can do nothing to help us, so don''t think about trying to be a hero or your luck. Instead, just follow the family''s orders. Give up when you have to, and hang in there when you have to."

    "If you can at least follow our orders, everything will be fine."

    Lothur closed his eyes as he heard this, imagining his poisonous mother-inw''s look when she saw his performance over the next few days.<sub> </sub>

    Viktoria saw the muscles in Lothur''s face twitching and ced one of her hands on his left knee, ying with her fingers to calm him down.

    Annaliese was also doing something, but Viktoria did not realize it.

    Aiken sighed and said. "Hopefully, the family will not be weaker after this event..."

    Annaliese then said. "Father, I feel we''ll have some good surprises!"

    After looking at Lothur, she continued. "Besides, I also got stronger than we expected for this event. So, we''re not lost."

    Hearing that, Mabel, who was always strict with Annaliese, agreed with her daughter. "You are right. After absorbing that Soul Bone, you have improved much more than we expected and will probably be able to help us."

    The Province Conference was not a contested event between the leaders of the great families of this region, even though it was an important event for the future of each of them.

    Unlike the experts from these organizations, the people attending this event were the youths under 30, the future of these powers.

    The logic behind this was simple. It was the younger generations who could maintain the family''s power in the long term. In other words, a family with good seeds generally did well. And what better than the future to decide the ''value'' of an organization?

    Having specialists was good, but many of them had already reached bottlenecks. They had no time to go out and explore, maybe find something that would change their destinies.

    They had to stay in their territories and take care of bureaucratic and security matters. The result of this? The young people were left with all the possibilities and had the freedom to go out and achieve unusual things, far removed from the possibilities of those seniors.

    In this way, a family with talented young people with good fortune on their side had good chances to prosper.

    Hence, the empire gave such significant possibilities to its subjects using only the younger generation.

    Because of this, Annaliese''s unexpected increase in power a few weeks ago could not be underestimated, and even the strict Mabel was willing to make that positivement.

    Anyway, they talked for a few more moments until Annaliese gave her warning to her parents. "Later, I will travel to do a mission on Finn Mountain. Then I''ll be gone until Sunday night."

    "Finn Mountain? Why are you going out on a mission now? Is it an academy thing?" Mabel questioned her daughter.

    She negatively shook her head. "No. But I want to get some realbat training, so I''ll be doing a cleanup mission in an area full of insects. That will help me prepare better for next week."

    "Oh?" Aiken opened his mouth, finding it good that his youngest daughter was interested in bing stronger.

    "You too?" Viktoria asked in surprise, not expecting Annaliese to leave on a mission the same day as Lothur.

    "Too?" Mabel questioned her precious eldest daughter.

    She answered without much thought on the matter. "Lothur will also go out on a mission tonight."

    Mabel frowned as she looked at him. "Where are you going?"

    "Finn Mountain..." He said with a smile on his face, making Annaliese look at him wide-eyed.

    "What?"

    "Hehe, I''m kidding." Heughed. "How could I go to such a dangerous ce? So instead, I will go camping and collect nts near the city."

    "Sigh..." Aiken sighed as he realized that Lothur was only joking with them, ''What a difficult fellow.''

    But Mabel wanted to p that individual for ying with her like that.

    However, she was stopped by Viktoria''s following speech.

    "Mother, father, before we finish this dinner, I have something to talk about my marriage to Lothur..."

 Chapter 210 Shocking Revelation!

    When Viktoria said those words, everyone in that dining room fell silent, with Lothur and Annaliese swallowing their saliva and Aiken and Mabel curiously watching her.

    Viktoria then continued. "Lothur and I will begin living together in my residence from today. I want to make that clear so that there is no misunderstanding."

    Aiken''s jaw nearly dropped to his te when he heard that, not knowing what to say or even think about his beloved daughter''s statement.

    Gulp!

    As Lothur prepared to take a sudden blow, Mabel looked strangely at Viktoria and stood up from her chair. "What are you saying? What is the meaning of this? Why would you do something like that?"

    Lothur continued beside his wife, feeling the cold approaching him. He then listened to his sweet wife. "Lothur and I are developing our rtionship and have decided to act like husband and wife. We will not pretend anymore, mother, father."

    "What?" Aiken eximed as his wife looked coldly at Lothur, trembling at the absurd possibility in her mind.

    "What have you done, you scoundrel?"

    Lothur then defended himself. "How could I do anything? That is Viktoria we are talking about, madam!"

    Mabel knew how quick this fellow was to make excuses, but it was hard for her to ignore such ament.

    In fact, Viktoria was not someone who could be messed with!

    Besides being calm, she was pretty intelligent and rarely got involved with those she should not have. Her attitude was first-rate. She was a truedy, full of talents and responsibilities.

    How could a good-for-nothing fool her with just a handsome face?

    Viktoria stood up and took one of Lothur''s hands. "Mother, don''t overdo it so much. That is my and Lothur''s business. I am onlymunicating it to you to prevent gossip from confusing you in the future."

    p Aiken, still open-mouthed, looked at the two''s hands together, a level of intimacy he had never seen his daughter having with another man besides him during her childhood. "Viktoria, I don''t quite understand. Do you mean that you will live together to make your marriage more realistic or..."</anda>

    She answered him without letting him finish. "We won''t pretend anything. We will be... No, we are husband and wife in the literal sense. So, we will start living together from today."

    Aiken had not realized the main problem yet, but Mabel understood everything. "You what? No, no, it''s not possible!" She shouted, pacing back and forth as she brought her hands to her head. "Viktoria, you didn''t do something so foolish, did you?"

    Annaliese covered her face in shame as she saw where things hade, realizing that her father was the only one who was still in doubt. ''And when my turnes?" She wondered, feeling her heart thumping in her chest.

    Viktoria squeezed Lothur''s hand, feeling the cold sweat of this fellow, and said something that should be kept secret. "Lothur and I have already consummated our marriage, so there is nothing to discuss, mother. We are husband and wife!"

    "What? You did that?" The usually calm Aiken rose from his seat and mmed his hand on the table, shocked at this revtion.

    On the other hand, Mabel was so surprised that she looked at her daughter in silence for a second, as if she had been told the most incredible nonsense of the century and did not know how to react.

    ''She allowed this?'' Her world changed upon discovering that her precious daughter had given herself to a man without prospects.

    To her, the thought of Lothur and Viktoria together was like thinking of the precious diamond being put in the trash...

    As she thought about this situation for a while, she began to get angrier at Lothur, feeling that he had seduced her immature daughter into these matters of the heart.

    "Brat, there is no one who can save you today! You will pay for defiling my daughter''s body!" She jumped across the table, determined to teach Lothur a good lesson.

    Seeing that, Viktoria was the first to react, pushing Lothur back and blocking her mother''s path. "No!"<sub> </sub>

    "You can''t hurt him for that, mother! I did what I did because I wanted to be with him!" She said as she held her mother''s fists with difficulty.

    Viktoria was countless times weaker than Mabel. But her mother was not using her full strength either. After all, if she did that, even a sneeze of hers could blow Lothur away!

    Thus, Viktoria temporarily prevented her mother from reaching Lothur.

    But her speech only made everything worse!

    If her precious daughter had done such a thing on her own with that scumbag, then that only meant that Lothur had corrupted the good upbringing she had given Viktoria!

    "You worm! You have messed with my daughter''s mind!" She sealed Viktoria''s cultivation in the blink of an eye and continued on her way.

    "No, mother! Don''t hurt Lothur. He is not what you are thinking..." Annaliesa tried to protect the man she was in love with, but Mabel barely patted her left shoulder, and she copsed.

    "Honey, there''s no need for that!" Aiken said as he squeezed one of his wife''s shoulders. "I''m shocked too, but this is a matter for Viktoria and Lothur. How do you want to get involved in it? Isn''t it an exaggeration what you are doing?"

    She looked back and made an angry expression at her husband, indicating for him not to stop her now. "That scumbag needs to learn that his actions have consequences! So, today I will teach him to be more careful!"

    She let go of her husband''s hands and saw Lothur standing on the side of the exit door, looking at her with an angry expression. "Are you going to act against me just because Viktoria and I act like what we are, husband and wife?"

    She clenched her hands in anger, walking toward him. "You not only did that, but you also corrupted her, you bastard!"

    "How would my daughter wish to be with you? How would she even think ofing to talk these things with us if you hadn''t messed with her mindset?"

    "If you wanted Viktoria to be a virgin without a husband, why did you give her to me when we married?" He retorted in an angry tone.

    "Shut up!"

    "No matter what nonsense you have in mind, scoundrel. I will show you what happens to anyone who disrespects my family!" She took off the feminine belt on her tiny waist and picked it up with her two hands.

    Seeing this, Viktoria, still conscious, trembled with fear and screamed. "No, mother, please don''t do that! I was the one who kissed him. I was the one who allowed everything we did!"

    "Viktoria..." Aiken said in a low voice, sighing at hearing these details of his daughter''s life.

    He then picked up Annaliese''s unconscious body and helped Viktoria. "Let''s go outside. Let your mother and Lothur ''talk'' a bit..."

    "But... I can''t. He''s my husband!" She protested.

    "Don''t worry. Your mother is not so extreme. She will only teach Lothur a little lesson, but he is not at risk. I guarantee it." Heforted her, knowing his wife was not so extreme as to risk that young man''s life.

    And as she walked out of that dining room with tears in her eyes, Viktoria heard the sounds of her mother''s belt hitting Lothur.

    At the same time, he was forcing his teeth against each other, trying to contain his cries of pain.

    ''Bitch!''

    ''If I ever get the chance, I''ll violently fuck you!'' He angrily stared at her as he rolled across the floor in pain.

    ...

 Chapter 211 Physique Skill In Action Again

    After a few seconds of swinging her belt against Lothur''s body, Mabel felt her anger subside somewhat and slowed the pace of her attacks.

    But even though little time had passed since she started hitting him, she had already left him ultimately wounded, with purple marks all over his body.

    Lothur''s clothes were soiled with blood, and his face was swollen, with various fluids oozing from his nose and mouth.

    At the same time, he had stopped screaming due to the exhaustion and volume of injuries in that part of his body, but he was still conscious, trembling in pain.

    "That was for you to learn not to mess with my family, you bastard!" She said this, looking into his eyes, feeling hatred that a good-for-nothing like Lothur had touched her precious daughter.

    "And don''t think about touching my daughter''s body again! Maybe we can still work out a way to make her look whole to a man who deserves her!" She invisibly stepped on Lothur''s pride, making him hate her even more.

    She saw the hatred in his eyes, which showed that if he could, he would curse her in every possible way. But she said nothing, having cleaned her belt and put it back in ce.

    "The next time you step out of line, you will note out unscathed, Lothur." She threatened him before walking out of there to call the servants.

    When Mabel did that, it was not long before the group of people from her residence came to take Lothur to his room, where some doctor would surelye to find him.

    But in the meantime, Viktoria returned from where her father had taken her, extremely worried about her husband.

    "Lothur..." She said in a low voice as her eyes grew watery, seeing the sad situation of this man who had won her over.

    "Lothur, forgive me. I didn''t know my mother would do something like this!" She said in sincerity, walking beside the servants who were carrying him.

    "First Mistress, let''s take him to his room. Why don''t you..." One of the handmaids was about to suggest something, but Viktoria stopped her.

    "No, bring him to my residence. I will take care of him." She said, surprising everyone there.

    But like good subordinates, they did not argue with this woman and promptly helped to bring Lothur to her residence.

    "Viktoria!" Mabel shouted to her as she realized the situation.

    Hearing her mother''s voice calling her from another part of that estate, Viktoria red at where Mabel''s voice wasing from.

    "What is it? Don''t you think that''s enough? Look at what you''ve done to him!" She angrily shouted.

    "Enough of that. He''s not important. You will not continue with this nonsense!" Mabel appeared in front of Viktoria.

    "I''ll go on as I please! Lothur and I will live as husband and wife from today on!" She challenged her mother, feeling anger at this woman for the first time in her life.

    "Why? What''s wrong with you? Why would you want that?" Mabel looked strangely at her daughter.

    Viktoria looked away. "That''s not for you to know. I''m staying with Lothur, and that''s final!"

    "Are you challenging me, Viktoria?" Mabel approached her daughter, and her aura became more oppressive.

    "What are you going to do if I am?" She looked into her mother''s eyes and said. "Are you going to arrest me? What about the Province Conference? For that matter, what are you going to do if Lothur changes his mind about helping the family identify the traitors?"

    Mabel clenched her teeth against each other, feeling like teaching her daughter, who was bing rebellious, a lesson, but Viktoria was right. This woman could not risk her family''s future for something so small.

    Her daughter''s purity, or with whom Viktoria had sex, was essential to Mabel, as this woman wished the best for her daughter. But the fate of one person could not bepared to that of a family, not even if that person was her favorite daughter!

    "Tsk!"

    "Do what you want!"

    "But don''teining about how you regret giving yourself to someone with no future!" She growled. "Don''t forget, he''s just a mortal. In 50 years, he will be old, while you will only get prettier."

    "What will you do when that happens, Viktoria? Even if you love him, he will die after only a fraction of your life expectancy."

    "Do you want to get dirty for a pretty little face that willst so short?"

    Viktoria heard her mother''s words, but she said nothing, just leaving that ce to check on her husband''s condition.<sub> </sub>

    Viktoria knew all that, and it had beenplicated for her to give herself to Lothur. But the desire she had to be with him had ovee her reason, and for the time being, she did not want to stop being with him!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Everything was going so well! But now I won''t even be able to have a peaceful night with him...'' She was thinking about that when she suddenly remembered that Lothur wanted to go on a mission tonight.

    ''He''ll be furious that he has to give that up.'' She swallowed her saliva and went into the living room of her residence, where the servants had left Lothur.

    Seeing him in that ce, she knelt beside him and began to clean the blood on his body. As she did this, tears streamed from her eyes, for all this had been her responsibility.

    If only she had kept the secret about her rtionship with him, they could be okay now, without him having a single wound on his body.

    For thinking like this, she felt terrible as she wiped his already naked abdomen with a damp towel.

    But as she did this for a few moments, Viktoria soon noticed Lothur''s regenerative ability kicking in, only this time much more impressively thanst time.

    [Super Regeneration activated.]

    [Consuming all EVF points...]

    At that instant, Lothur''s skin glowed in a golden light as his wounds and injuries rapidly healed as if they were being erased.

    At the same time as this was happening, his body was constantly shaking amidst countless ck dots beginning to be expelled from his body.

    ''What? Marrow cleansing? Is he advancing levels?'' Viktoria was surprised by this, promptly sealing off her sense of smell and taking him to the bathroom.

    ''What''s going on? Why is he going through this?'' She was shocked as she saw the impurities leaving Lothur''s body in great quantity, something she did not see in ordinary advancement situations.

    But this indeed could not be considered an ordinary breakthrough. After all, not only did Lothur already have a Soul Bone, something that breakthroughs could also purify, and he was experiencing not just one breakthrough but two!

    After the beating he took from Viktoria''s mother, Lothur managed to activate his Physique, generating a benefit that took him from level 6 to the beginning of level 8!

    In this situation, he opened his eyes and saw his status appearing.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 6 -> 8]

    [STR: 15.7 -> 23.6]

    [CON: 23.1 -> 46.2]

    [DEX: 15.4 -> 20]

    [AGI: 17.5 -> 28]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 68.8]

    [WIL: 68.1 -> 71.4]

    [EVF: 0]

    ...

 Chapter 212 Important Decision

    After opening his eyes and seeing his new status, Lothur kept his angry expression for the previous situation but was amazed at the benefits he had received.

    His features had increased so much that he could hardly believe it!

    ''This advancement was impressive!'' He eximed in his mind, feeling his body''s strength increase.

    ''But all my EVF points were used up...''

    ''It seems that my previous state was quite serious.'' His eyes sharpened as he closed one of his hands tightly.

    ''From what I can feel, my recovery was total, and I have no trace of misdirected healing due to my previous state.'' He thought about how some of his bones must have been fractured and broken, but how perfectly they had recovered.

    ''Looks like I don''t need any more medical help, as long as I have enough EVF points...''

    As he thought about these things, Viktoria continued to look at him in shock, seeing thest impurities leaving Lothur''s body.

    "What is happening to you? Lothur, why did you go through a marrow cleansing?" She asked him as she knelt beside him outside a bathtub.

    Lothur looked at her without smiling, still upset about the previous situation. "Go to your room. I''ll shower, and we''ll talk in a moment."

    She swallowed her saliva upon hearing his severe tone and refused to do so. "No, I will help you wash up. It''s the least I can do."

    After removing her clothes, Viktoria stepped into that tub and began to wash her husband''s body with her hands, carefully massaging him.

    "Lothur, forgive me. That was my fault. I shouldn''t have told my mother about us..." She said in a pathetic tone, kneeling in front of him while cleaning his legs.

    "Viktoria, I am leaving your family. There is no reason for me to stay here. Your mother made that very clear today." Hemented without looking at her face, angry at his earlier humiliation.

    Lothur had enjoyed the breakthrough he had had, and if he had asked for it all, as he had with Annaliese in the past, he would not be angry. But the situation had been different, and he had suffered simply for doing something that Viktoria herself wanted and that he had a right to since he was her husband.

    So, even with his breakthrough, he could not help but feel angry at Mabel, furious at the unfair way he was treated in this family.

    Hearing Lothur''s wish, Viktoria began to feel nervous since she really needed to be married to him and was already enjoying it.

    "No, Lothur, I can fix everything." She stood up and tightly hugged him. "Trust me. I will fix everything and give you whatever you want. Just don''t think about it, please!"

    "After tonight, I can no longer stay in this house." He said with determination. "I will do my mission, and then I will go and negotiate with your family. If you want to find out who the traitors are, you must release me."

    She pulled her face from his chest and looked into her husband''s eyes, feeling bad that things were developing like this. "Don''t do this, Lothur, please. Stay for me. I''ll give you anything you want! I promise!"

    He thoughtfully looked at her. "You have the option toe with me. Otherwise, forget it. That will be ourst time together."

    Gulp!

    Viktoria felt cowed as her heart beat frantically, nervous at having been put in this situation over something silly. ''What do I do now? What is the best decision?''

    Amid her thoughts, she kissed him, forcing her tongue inside his mouth, hoping that by staying with him, she would bring some peace of mind to her husband.

    "Let me take care of you before your departure for that mission..." She took one of his hands and directed him to her bed. "We''ll talk about all this when you return, OK? Now just let me help you."

    She then made him sit on therge bed in her room, beginning her ''duties'' as a wife without dy.<sub> </sub>

    ...

    Two hourster...

    <o>,m Lothur and Viktoria finished what they had started earlier, both very sweaty, with this beautiful woman still feeling insecure but very satisfied.</o>

    Lothur may have been stressed, but he did not fail in his responsibilities as a man, having delivered another great moment to his wife.

    But despite everything, even after cooling his head a bit, he was still determined to follow his previous idea, and Viktoria could see it in his eyes as he dressed.

    "Lothur..." She looked at him as she used the sheets of her bed to cover part of her body. "Think about all this more carefully. Let''s talk again on Sunday night, OK?"

    He looked at her through a mirror. "I''ll tell you the same. Think better about what I said and don''t regret it. When Ie back, I will go on with my ns with or without you."

    "And know that there is no going back once I am gone."

    "If you decide not toe with me, I can only wish you good luck since there will be no second chance for us."

    Lothur did not believe in returning to a rtionship with an ex-girlfriend or wife. To him, there had to be a reason for the breakup, and once that happened, it was best to move on without looking back.

    Maybe the problem would be solvedter, but was it better to go back to something full of history and problems? Would not it be better to seek new experiences with people who had not yet failed in specific points with him?

    That was his point, which he wanted Viktoria to know when making her decision since he would not return on his words!

    She frowned as she heard this and stood up from where she was. "Lothur, you have taken me as your own. How can you say that? Were you using me?"

    "I took you as mine, but it''s up to you to decide if you truly want to be mine." He looked her in the eye. "If you want to, be on my side, and I''ll take full responsibility."

    After saying that, he left that room without looking back, while Viktoria threw herself on her bed, full of frustration.

    "Damn it!"

    "What have I done?" She struggled on her bed, angry at the situation she had put herself in.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Annaliese had woken up from her mother''s blow and was desperate to find out what had happened to Lothur.

    "Lothur..." She ran from her residence but soon saw him, who was already preparing to go out on the mission along with her.

    Seeing him, she ran up to him and hugged him, relieved that ''nothing'' had happened to him. "I''m d my mom didn''t do anything..." She murmured in one of her ears.

    "That''s not what happened..." He briefly exined to her everything that had happened as he led her out of that estate.

    "Lothur... Did my mother do this?" She felt afraid, remembering the time she had kissed him for the first time after a simple argument.

    Thinking about the difference in the severity of the situations, she did not even need to hear from him to know that he was furious and ready to do the worst!

    "Let''s talk while we travel together..." He said before making his way to where they could leave this property and then meet and go their ways together.

 Chapter 213 Discussion

    <o>,m As Lothur and Annaliese left that Frost family estate, Viktoria pulled herself together and began to make her way to her parents'' home.</o>

    But as she left her residence, she ran into Doctor Snee, who had rushed there after being called by the servants of House Frost.

    "First Miss Frost, where is Lothur? Is he all right?" He asked in concern, feeling that this young man would die if he continued in this family.

    Noticing the problem, Viktoria lowered her head and sighed. "Thank you foring, Doctor Snee, but you won''t be needed anymore..."

    "What? Don''t tell me that..." He ced one of his hands over his mouth, thinking the worst had finally happened.

    "No, he''s fine. Lothur can recover quickly, so he doesn''t need help anymore." She informed him, seeing that that fellow seemed to have some regard for her husband.

    "Sigh!"

    "Can I at least see him?"

    "Unfortunately, he left after he felt better, and I don''t know where he went."

    "I see..." He shook his head in disappointment, but because of the miraculous recovery Lothur had made thest time he was called, this doctor did not doubt Viktoria''s words.

    "Well, if that is the case, I will return to my clinic. But tell Lothur to look me up. Then, I will look at his situation to see if there are no problems."

    She smiled at that man and thanked him for his concern.

    Then Viktoria quickly made her way to her parents'' house, where without difficulty, she reached the office where those two were.

    "Viktoria..." Aiken looked at the angry face of his eldest daughter, seeing that she was about to explode with anger.

    Viktoria did not give her mother or father time to say anything and pointed one of her fingers at Mabel. "Don''t ever put your hands on my husband again! If you ever stand against him again, I won''t hesitate to take his side against the family!"

    "What are you saying?" Mabel stood up angrily. "Are you thinking you can tell me what to do, Viktoria? Don''t forget, until you take your father''s position; you don''t decide anything in this house!"

    "Darling..." Aiken said in a low voice, demonstrating his passive position in his rtionship with that woman.

    "Aiken, don''t get involved in this matter. Our daughter is rebellious after getting involved with that no-future! She needs to hear the voice of reason!" Mabel looked at him and then at Viktoria, showing her disappointment.

    Viktoria then defended Lothur. "Don''t call him that! He is my husband and deserves to be respected!"

    "Tsk!"

    "Until a few days ago, this didn''t bother you..." She looked away. "What did that brat do to you? Did he poison you by any chance? I heard that he is in contact with a poison master."

    The Frost family leadership knew about Lothur''s visits to the Cultivation House, Elisabeth''s house, the tailor shop, etc. Of course, they did not know for sure what this young man was doing and had not taken much notice. But they did know where he hung out during the day.

    So, Mabel threw this information against her daughter, distrusting Lothur.

    "He didn''t do any of that! How would he do that when we barely had contact for days until we settled our differences recently? Plus, I''m the one who made the first move. I''m the one who wants to be with him."

    "Are you listening?" She stepped forward,ing closer to her mother. "Lothur didn''t want to pay attention to me. He has other possibilities. But I insisted. I fought to be with him and did everything he wanted!"

    "Daughter..." Aiken saw Viktoria''s way of talking about how she had started her rtionship with Lothur and felt terrible.

    What father would want to hear from his daughter that she was so submissive to her husband?<sub> </sub>

    "Did you do that?" Mabel asked as she boiled with anger.

    She thought Viktoria was doing all this because it was Lothur''s wish. Then hearing that it was just the opposite, she felt humiliated that she had failed to raise this girl.

    ''How could she be attracted to that? What does he have besides a pretty face?'' She looked with an ugly expression at Viktoria. ''Don''t tell me my daughter is so shallow?''

    Viktoria then replied. "I have done and will do much more. Because I want to be with him!"

    "So, if you are going to stand in our way, I don''t know what can happen, mother. You''d better stop. I''m not asking you to be friends with him or like him. Just stop attacking him!"

    Mabel paid attention to Viktoria''s body and noticed Lothur''s scent, promptly clenching her fists as she noticed that the cursed man had recovered and was still ying with this girl. ''Bastard! You''ve managed to corrupt my daughter!''

    ''Almost 20 years of education thrown in the trash for a little fun!''

    "Humph!"

    "If you want to throw away your life with him, go ahead. I won''t stand in the way of the two lovebirds anymore!" Mabel said after making up her mind. "But I don''t want to see the damn thing''s face anymore. So, make him stay well away from me, or I may lose my patience."

    Viktoria made a cold expression and said. "Don''t worry. Because of you, he wants to leave our family!"

    "He what?" Aiken worried about the trouble this could bring them, even more so considering that his daughter had already given herself to Lothur.

    Viktoria looked at her father and said. "He wants to leave our family. How could he not want to? Everyone mistreats him, and now he even gets beaten for just doing what I asked him to do!"

    "That..." Aiken looked at his wife, not knowing what to say.

    Viktoria then continued. "But I will do my best to ensure he doesn''t leave us. I will try to arrange with him for us to live together outside the family estate, in another part of the city. That way, he can calm down a bit, and we can still stay married."

    Mabel wanted to say something against it, but as she remembered that Lothur was the only one who could help them avoid a tragedy in the family, she remained silent.

    Aiken then said. "Do it, Viktoria. The two of you living together in another part of the city might not be bad. It will give you privacy and remove your rtionship from a stressful environment..."

    "But don''t stay too far away. The family depends on you a lot, my child." He said, feeling bad for depending so much on Viktoria.

    "I know." She sighed. "I will do this so I can still help the family without dealing with his loss."

    ''I hope he''ll ept that...'' She closed her eyes and sighed as she remembered how good it was to be with him and how she did not want to lose him.

    For some reason, she felt her mood improving every time she had fun with Lothur, and her training became more efficient.

    Particrly thisst time after his breakthrough, when he had made her feel even better during the act and energized in this instant.

    Thus, she could not help but appreciate him!

    Mabel thenmented. "Do that, but don''t forget where you are from, Viktoria. You are a Frost. The family has to be your priority, not a man, whoever he is!"

    "Tsk!"

    "I wouldn''t have to worry about that if it weren''t for you!" She said before walking out of there, intent on training and releasing her extra energy.

 Chapter 214 Finn Mountain

    After leaving the Frost estate, Lothur and Annaliese were soon traveling on a single horse, with her in front of him, controlling the animal, while he held onto her waist.

    "Lothur, I am sorry for what my mother did to you. But don''t do this. Don''t leave the family!" Shemented in a soft tone, but one loaded with her concern. "How will we see each other if that happens?"

    He massaged her belly andmented. "I can no longer stay under the same roof as your mother, Anna... But we don''t have to live together to find each other."

    "Didn''t we already do our things out of that ce anyway?" He asked in her right ear.

    "Still! We could go to the academy together every day! But if you leave my house, now that won''t be possible anymore!" She insisted. "Not to mention that if you leave our home, there is no guarantee that my family will continue to allow our ''friendship.''"

    He then calmed her down. "We will still have a chance to see each other at the academy, the Cultivation House, and elsewhere. Everything will be fine, Anna."

    "Besides, I''ll get a house in Peters City, and I''ll be able to receive you with more privacy than in those other ces we''ve been until now."

    "That..."

    "And my sister? You have taken away her purity, Lothur. You can''t abandon her now!" She looked back, saying this with great determination in her voice.

    He looked her in the eye and replied. "It is up to Viktoria to decide what she will do. If she agrees toe with me, then, of course, I will take care of her and honor my responsibilities as a husband."

    "Sigh..."

    ''She was a fool!'' Annalieseined in her mind, feeling bad for having to suffer the consequences of Viktoria''s actions.

    So, the two continued talking about it for a while until they remained silent as they traveled down the dark dirt road ahead.

    They were heading for Finn Mountain, the mountain range located in the province''s heart, typically used by cultivators at the end of the 1st stage.

    In this forested area, there were not only many animals but also beasts and special areas, which could be beneficial for thebat training of cultivators.

    Some parts of this area were controlled entirely by wildlife, but there were also those under human rule.

    Unfortunately, there was a fragile distinction between them, and from time to time, one side would take over areas from the other, creating problems for mercenaries like Lothur and Annaliese.

    There were precious items under mining or even medicine cultivation in the human-dominated areas, which made it imperative to recover points when lost to the other side.

    As such, missions like the one they were on weremonly released in the Cultivation House, where mercenaries could be contacted more easily with such problems.

    Some warriors would train on their own in this area. But since Finn Mountain was huge, it could be challenging to rely only on people in training to fight the beasts in the area.

    Hence, people like these two had to be called in, even though this was a good training area.

    And as much as Finn Mountain was not that far from Peters City, much of that area was difficult to ess, with parts that carriages could not pass, and humans had to make their way slowly.

    Because of this, Lothur and his sister-inw left on a journey that night and soon traveled much of the way to that area!

    ...

    By dawn, Lothur and Annaliese had passed a small vige in the mountains where they had breakfast.

    In this ce where the sheep grazed on the mountains, the green grass and the blue sky formed a beautiful sight as the two set off towards their destination, which was only a few kilometers ahead.

    But as they were preparing to leave that vige behind, an employee of the small coffee shop they had passed ran up to them, waving his big belly as he shouted. "Sir! Ma''am!"<sub> </sub>

    "Wait a moment! I have something to tell you!" He said while hurriedly breathing, even considering that he had only run a few dozen meters.

    "Hmmm?" Lothur looked back, curious to know what that was about.

    At the moment, he was wearing his mask since he wanted to keep his identity a secret during this mission with Annaliese.

    He would not wear such an item when he was alone with her, like during the trip to this ce.

    That fat man looked at Lothur''s mask and Annaliese''s angelic face. "You are going to fight in the mountains, right? Cleaning out one of the caves that have been taken over by beasts, right?"

    This man had overheard Lothur and Annaliese''s conversation while he had served them both food. So, he knew about the purpose of the couple in question.

    Annaliese then replied. "Yes, we are on a mission to clean up one of the areas on Finn Mountain. Why did you ask us about this?"

    He looked thoughtfully into Annaliese''s brown eyes and warned. "Ma''am, there is something wrong in that ce. It''s not just ordinary animals or beasts behind the problem."

    "This problem has been going on for weeks now, and several of the groups that came to solve this mission have failed. Some didn''t even return, while others fled like crazy from that ce..." Hemented as he remembered how strange those mercenaries looked when they returned.

    Some seemed so lucid and cheerful when they went to this mission in question, but when they returned, they looked like madmen escaping from the mental institution, scared to death.

    And seeing how beautiful that woman was, he could not help but feel bad about allowing those two to leave without knowing little about what had happened so far.

    "Oh?" Lothur opened his mouth in surprise. ''That''s why the reward is so high...'' He remembered the more than 30,000 bronze coins he would receive if he seeded in this operation.

    ''But when I took this mission, it was meant for people at the 7th Transformation, the ideal level for me of that moment...''

    ''But now, I''ve moved up to the 8th Transformation, so I think Anna and I will be able to work this out.'' He looked at her and saw her status.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.5] [CON: 37.5] [DEX: 36.2] [AGI: 34.5]

    ''Anna is already strongerpared to the day she absorbed the Soul Bone... That must be because of the talent increase she went through.'' He realized how she had improved 0.5 points in each of her attributes.

    He smiled from beneath his mask andmented to that man. "Thanks for the warning, my friend. But we are fine. We are stronger than those who came before us."

    Annaliese smiled as she heard the confidence in Lothur''s words. "That''s right. The others before us failed, but we will solve that problem. So, don''t worry, we''ll be fine!"

    "That..." Such a man who was only a mortal looked doubtfully at the two but said nothing more.

    "Anyway, thanks for letting us know." Annaliese waved a hand as she said goodbye to that fellow.

    She then controlled their horse along the uneven path in front of them, determined toplete this mission but also a little more attentive to the signs in her path.

    Lothur was also more attentive, using his visual ability to observe the surroundings for traps or trouble.

    "Uh? Are there people there?" He muttered as he saw something passing back and forth inside the cave they had just stopped in front of.

    ...

 Chapter 215 First Challenge

    After stopping in front of the entrance to the cave taken over by scorpions, Lothur and Annaliese got off their horse and looked around.

    p That was a mining site of a family from the vige they had passed earlier, a critical outpost taken over months ago.</anda>

    The two of them realized this when they noticed some structures outside of that cave, where there were resting ces, some storage of debris, and small wooden huts.

    Those structures were covered with dust and cobwebs, and there were only a few fingerprints, probably made by the mercenaries who had passed there before them.

    At the same time, the power source that illuminated the interior of that cave seemed to be malfunctioning in some way, as themps in the formations glowed and went out from time to time.

    "So, that''s the ce?" Lothur muttered as he looked at the surroundings, as the curiosity about what he had seen inside that area sharpened his senses.

    ''What was that? Are there people in this ce?'' He doubtfully wondered since he had not seen the inside of that cave with clearness.

    His visual ability had its limits, of course. He could see through objects, but the further away such a thing was from him, the less detailed and more ''opaque'' such a thing became.

    As such, apart from human silhouettes, Lothur had not seen much else and could not help but wonder what was inside that ce.

    It could be humans, dolls with formations on their bodies, or other things. He had no way of knowing.

    Annaliese then asked, stepping forward. "Shall we go inside?"

    "I''ll go ahead, Anna." He took one of her hands in one hand while the other already held his ax.

    "But... Lothur, isn''t it better that I do this? I''m still stronger than you..." She softlymented, not wanting to mess with his confidence but also concerned for his safety.

    Lothur smiled upon hearing this and looked her in the eye. "I recently reached 8th Transformation, Anna."

    "What?" She asked in surprise, shocked at such sudden information. "How? You had just advanced to the 6th Transformation a few days ago..."

    "Well, remember when I wanted you to punish me, and you beat me up?" Heughed. "I can get stronger when I recover. So, your mother helped me a little the night before..."

    "That..."

    She looked at him with wide eyes. "Are you serious? What a challenging skill!"

    "Hmm, but don''t tell anyone." He seriously said but without showing any distrust of her in his gaze.

    She clenched one of her fists and said to him. "I would never talk about your secrets with others, not even with my family!"

    He smiled at her and then listened. "But how strong are you? Because I am not simply at the 8th Transformation. I''m already halfway through the 9th!"

    "Hmm, I know. I must be a little weaker than you, but my defenses are stronger. So, I guess I''d better take the lead..."

    "I also have the Skull Soul Bone skill. So, I can notice problems more easily."

    Hearing this from him, she nodded in agreement and allowed him to go ahead of her without worrying about this matter anymore.

    With that, the two soon began walking through the long entrance to that cave, wheremps shed from time to time, revealing the path ahead.

    As they followed this path, the smell of wet earth intensified, along with the odor of rotting flesh.

    "Looks like there''s something dead in front of us," Annaliesemented in a low voice as her nose twitched.

    "Hmm, not just something dead." Lothur noticed the noisesing from in front of them, a ce where the tunnel they were in ended in arge area, simr to a crypt.

    Along with the noises, he soon saw the silhouette of some scorpions, each asrge as human children, eating what appeared to be the body of a bear.

    "Anna..."<sub> </sub>

    "I know, I get it." Shemented before he finished, already in a fighting stance, getting ready to start cleaning this ce up.

    The moment Lothur had spoken, one of the scorpions there looked in their direction and turned around, indicating that it was already inevitable for them to get out of there without a fight.

    Since there were several of them in the vicinity, Lothur could not help but prepare himself for the situation he had longed for.

    That would be a more challenging fight than the one he had against that spider weeks ago, and he could still obtain training items!

    So, when one of the scorpions started running towards them, Lothur took the lead and jumped into the air with the ax in his hands above his head.

    With this movement on both sides, in the blink of an eye, dozens of scorpions began climbing the walls of that cave,ing from above, from the sides, and from below.

    Annaliese moved as well, using her techniques without hesitation, already aiming at her opponents'' weak points while watching out for their dangerous stings.

    As Annaliese aimed at the head of one of the first opponents in her range, Lothur struck a blow with his ax, splitting the body of his first opponent in half.

    [Scorpion of the Finn Mountain]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 12.9] [CON: 12.1] [DEX: 11.5] [AGI: 12.3]

    Seeing the status of his next opponent, Lothur quickly dodged an agile attack from that scorpion, who tried to take him by surprise with a stinging blow.

    But as Lothur had already noticed that enemy, he moved to sever that poison-inocting part of his opponent without difficulty.

    Swooish!

    With that, he soon killed half a dozen insects, constantly having to dodge his opponents'' stinging blows and also the vicious ws of those beings.

    Not only did they rely on a potent paralyzing poison, but they had very sharp legs, capable of cutting through trees without difficulty.

    Because of this, even though they were much stronger than their opponents, Lothur and Annaliese had to work hard with this first round of opponents.

    They had to constantly move from one side of the cramped space to the other, running so much that they had sweated considerably in these first 30 minutes of exploration.

    At the same time, their attacks had to be precise to eliminate enemies as soon as possible and avoid surprise hits.

    So, they both faced quite a challenge in this ce, finally realizing why this ce had been infested with scorpions for months.

    "Hah... Those beings are truly good at fighting together..." Annaliese said amidst her agitated breathing while having her hands on her knees, with her tongue out.

    Lothur nodded in agreement and said in a less exhausted tone than Annaliese''s. "I almost got poisoned twice, even considering our difference in strength..."

    Lothur was weaker than Annaliese overall, but his constitution was much better than hers. Because of this, even though he had worked even harder than she had, he seemed less tired in this instant.

    He crouched down next to one of the many scorpion corpses and asked. "Have you been stung by any of them?"

    "No, I''m fine." She said.

    "Good, but I''ll prepare an antidote if we have to face more of them. Is that okay with you?" He asked as he began his action.

    "Hmm, I need to rest for a few more moments before we continue, so it''s okay to dy a bit." She sat on the ground as she took from her spatial ring a recovery potion.

    As far as they knew, this cave had three levels, and this was only the first and smallest of them all. So, they still had a journey ahead of them, with many challenges!

    ...

 Chapter 216 The Second Level Of The Cave

    After some time in that first level of the cave, Lothur gathered the valuable parts of all the dead scorpions and stored them in his spatial ring.

    With that done, he took no time to prepare an antidote for the venom of those creatures to use on Annaliese in case she needed itter.

    Recovery potions could solve poisoning problems, but the course of action this took was somewhat different from that of antidotes. Furthermore, thebined effect of the two substances produced better effects, so he had better have such a thing, even considering his sister-inw''s recovery potions.

    With that done, realizing that Annaliese had already recovered some of her energy, Lothur beckoned to her for them to continue toward the second level of this cave.

    "Let''s go there. Be careful further on. On the second level, there must be more enemies or insects stronger than these we face here." Shemented to him, seeing him holding an ax.

    Lothur agreed with her and moved on, ignoring the system''s warnings regarding small advances he had made in that previous ''training.''

    So, after walking for 15 minutes through one of the tunnels in that human excavation cave, the two arrived near arge chamber, where more sounds of insects eating departed.

    "It seems that some of the mercenaries who came here before us are still serving as food for these beasts..." Hemented as he looked back after seeing human parts being ''savored'' by a giant scorpion.

    Unlike humans and other humanoid races that could learn cultivation techniques and cultivate free spiritual energy in the atmosphere and on earth, beasts had a distinct way of cultivation.

    These beings could also be stronger by absorbing precious medicines and resources, just like humanoid beings. But the standard cultivation method of these beings was not the use of techniques but the devouring ability that each of them had!

    That is, they basically became stronger by devouring their opponents, be they of different species or even members of the same race!

    And by a twist of fate, just as certain beasts could taste magnificent to the human pte, humans could be a delicacy enjoyed by some beast races!

    Hence, it was not strange for, as in the current situation, beasts to slowly devour human bodies, savoring as much as possible of this hard-to-get delicacy.

    Annaliese saw that from afar and felt disgusted, seeing the still whole head of that human. "How awful!"

    The brain was the favorite part of the human body for these scorpions, so they naturally devoured itst.

    Lothur silently watched that for a few moments, noticing that the spatial rings of the dead victims were still there. ''Great!''

    ''I''ll gain some resources from these guys!''

    The scorpions there had not noticed them yet, but the two of them had already noticed the levels of these beings. Each one of them was at level 6, stronger than those of the previous level.

    "Anna, let''s attack first. This group is smaller than thest one, but things will be harder here." Hemented as he prepared to move.

    Annaliese readily agreed with him as she prepared to deal with these opponents.

    She had not thought she would have to use much of her strengthing to this ce, but after arriving there, she realized that this would be a good challenge for her to prepare for the Province Conference.

    So, she was solemn, and after seeing Lothur''s attack movement, she followed him without hesitation, forcefullyunching an attack against the first opponent in her path.

    Pow!

    She kicked with all her might at the creature''s head, but she could not hit it with full force due to the quick reaction of that scorpion.

    However, even though beasts had slightly better senses than humans, their level difference was not slight, so the beast suffered from that blow.

    Boom!

    Such a creature was thrown into the air until it crashed into one of the walls, making a great noise and alerting everyone else on that level.

    As Annaliese began to mess up the area, Lothur had already severed the post-abdomen of his first target before using his daggers to attack the creature''s eyes.

    [Mastery advance detected!]

    ...<sub> </sub>

    [Assassin Code] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Adept]

    While retrieving his daggers from the already dead creature, Lothur saw the system notifications and smiled in satisfaction at achieving such a thing.

    He had not advanced his fourth technique during his training with the soul fragment the previous week as this was his newest technique, which he had trained several hours less than the others.

    But he had already advanced a lot in understanding such a technique in that situation, and only a tiny stimulus was missing for him to achieve such a breakthrough.

    Thus, by struggling intensely at the first level of this ce and now at the second level, he finally achieved the majestic breakthrough ofprehension of such a technique!

    And with that, he soon realized his ws in movement, quickly improving his gestures and killing on his way.

    That soon gave him a sense of frenzy in which he lost any sense of fatigue. He skillfully transformed himself into a killing machine for the insects in that shaded area, from time to time, illuminated by defectivemps.

    Annaliese noticed the improvement in Lothur''s condition and smiled as she saw him getting stronger while she continued to kill her opponents with ease.

    She had more experience than him and was also stronger and faster in her movements. Because of this and the fact that she was also Adept in her techniques, she soon killed thest of her opponents, outnumbering her brother-inw by four dead enemies.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.1 in DEX.]

    Lothur saw the system warnings, a little different from the first level, but on average, added 0.3 points to each physical attribute and his Will.

    [EVF: 0]

    But as he took a hasty breath, he looked at his EVF attribute and felt like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on his back. ''Could I absorb the vitality of these beasts?''

    ''Damn it!''

    ? ''Why didn''t I realize this possibility before? I wasted two floors of beasts!'' He felt the frustration of realizing something important toote.

    "What is it, Lothur? Are you hurt?" Annaliese asked in a sighing tone, more tired than on the previous floor.

    Lothur had made an ugly expression, and his face had turned pale. Then this sister-inw of his naturally worried about the worst and ran towards him.

    This silver-haired man looked into this woman''s brown eyes and bitterly smiled. "Remember the skill I used to save Elke? I could have used that to kill those enemies..."

    "Oh?" She opened her mouth in surprise, realizing why he was so sad after killing all those enemies.

    "But don''t worry, Lothur. I think we''ll have more enemies in the next level." She smiledfortingly at him. "You''ll be able to use your bloodline in that other ce. I''m sure it will work out!"

    "Sigh!"

    "All right, let''s hope the enemies are at our limit." He said in a sighing tone as he looked at the remnants in his surroundings. "Now, let''s collect these things and get ready for the end of this ce."

    "I believe there is something unusual on the top floor." He solemnlymented as he observed the humanoid silhouettes he had seen earlier.

    ...

 Chapter 217 Special Beings

    After a few moments, the couple went down thest corridor in the cave, heading for thest level of the cave.

    But as they did so, instead of reaching a ce simr to the previous ones, where scorpions would be eating or resting nearby, they were faced with an unusual situation.

    There were some level 7 scorpions in the vicinity, but instead of wandering around aimlessly, out of control, they were working evenly.

    Some seemed to be watching the area, while others carried rocks on their backs as if they were helping to build something.

    And indeed, as Lothur and Annaliese watched the area, they came across a ce that looked less like a dig site and more like the interior of a messy temple.

    There was a small altar in the center of that area, where the scorpion beasts were working together with three humans who had parts of their bodies devoured.

    Annaliese could see the cut marks on these individuals'' bare arms and legs, which proved that they were slowly being devoured by something.

    And when the two saw the nk stares, typical of beings without consciousness in their eyes, they knew that these people were not well.

    "Is that what the previous man meant?" Annaliese muttered to herself as she brought one of her hands to her mouth. "How can they stand it? What''s going on?"

    But Lothur did not answer her, having just stared at the thing in front of him, shocked. ''What is this?''

    "Lothur?" Annaliese squeezed one of his hands as she looked forward and did not understand what herpanion was watching to look so shocked.

    "Anna, are you seeing this?"

    "Yes, they are working in that state... It''s impressive."

    He shook his head in denial. "I''m not talking about them, but these semi-transparent creatures." He pointed to an area where Annaliese could not see anything.

    She frowned her eyebrows as she thought about his Soul Bone ability. "I don''t see any of that. So, what are you seeing?"

    Lothur continued behind arge rock along with Annaliese and answered her. "I think they are ghosts..."

    He then described the seven illuminated creatures in that ce, each glowing in a gray color, with no feet, no arms, just a long torso, and head.

    At the same time as this, the expressions on their faces were terrible, like those that Lothur would see in horror movies in his previous life.

    "Ghosts? I think you''re talking about spectres..." Annaliese pondered the description Lothur had given while admiring how strong Lothur''s visual ability was.

    ''He can see something that can supposedly only be observed by beings of at least 3rd stage... That Soul Bone of his is amazing!''

    "What shall we do?" He asked her while keeping his attention on those creatures with unfriendly expressions. "I haven''t studied spectres yet, so I have no idea what to do now, Anna."

    She shook her head and pushed the previous thoughts out of her mind. "Okay, I can''t see these creatures, so I''ll be useless against them, Lothur."

    "But since you can see them, I believe you may be able to estimate their cultivation." She said in his left ear. "Depending on their strength, we can act without concern."

    "Spectres have no physical power, only mental. So, they will at most try to control us or use these living organisms against us."

    And that was what was happening to the half-devoured humans they observed in that ce. Spectres were possessing them to work in that area!

    "Oh?" Lothur opened his mouth in surprise and looked in the direction of those beings.

    [Spectre ****]

    [Cultivation: level 8 (mental)]

    [STR: 0] [CON: 0] [DEX: 0] [AGI: 0]

    ...<sub> </sub>

    [Spectre ****]

    [Cultivation: level 9 (mental)]

    [STR: 0] [CON: 0] [DEX: 0] [AGI: 0]

    Lothur quickly looked at the statuses of each of the seven spectres, noting that they were between the 8th and 9th Transformation.

    But Lothur also realized that these creatures were unique and had no physical attributes, despite their levels.

    ''How is that possible? Shouldn''t the average physical attributes represent the level of cultivators?'' He looked at Annaliese. "Anna, they are between the 8th and 9th Transformation. But answer me this, how is it possible for them to be at those levels without having physical strength?"

    She smiled at him, realizing that her brother-inw still had much to learn. "When a cultivator reaches the 2nd stage, their cultivation is a mixture of soul and body strength."

    "Those spectres are probably Fallen Souls of 3rd stage cultivators. In general, beings like that retain a fraction of their powers, only they all focus on the mental and soul part." She exined.

    Fallen Souls were soul parts of people who would one day be spectres.

    As for these beings, there was no particr reason for such souls to fall off the reincarnation road. So, few understood how to avoid or even resolve the situation of these beings, and there was a lot of mystery about them.

    "So, that''s it..." Lothur realized how much he still had to learn about this world. ''Monday I will have to visit the library in Sector-2. There is a lot I need to learn to be someone influential in this world!''

    "In any case, if they look likete 1st stage cultivators, then what shall we do? Our mental strengths might not be able to withstand them." Shemented to him, worried.

    "If they look like 9th Transformation beings, they have mental and soul attributes simr to the physical attributes of a living human of that level?" Lothur questioned to confirm his assumptions.

    "Yes, that is the case."

    He was pleased to hear that. "And how do we defeat such a being? I have mental strength superior to theirs, but I don''t know what to do."

    "Oh?" She opened her eyes in surprise. "Are you better than them at this?"

    Annaliese saw him nod in agreement and then said. "In this case, they won''t do you any harm. But since you are at the 1st stage, you can''t do anything against them until they attack you. Once they do something like that, you will be able to destroy their soul with your willpower."

    "But they will most likely avoid you as these creatures are sensitive to powerful souls."

    "I don''t have a powerful soul, Anna..." He exined.

    She looked silently at him and said. "Then they will try to attack you, not least because my soul already has a certain power, and they will try to avoid me and take down the one who seems weaker."

    "You can use this opportunity to destroy their soul!"

    His eyes brightened, but he still had many doubts. "But what if only one of them attacks me? If they attack you? How will I defend you?"

    She realized the problem and took her eyes off Lothur to observe the area where those scorpions and humans were. "Spectres cannot exist just anywhere. They cannot live independently without a body or away from their origin area."

    "Otherwise, they would have already taken over the world..." She said in a sighing tone, as it was tough to deal with something few could see.

    "Then I''ll be fine if I don''t get too close to that area."

    He thoughtfully looked at her. "How do we know what the limit of these beings is?"

    "It''s not much. They probably can''t leave this cave, or we would have found them sooner. And they would have noticed us too..." She looked at that ce again. "Are they seeing us?"

    Lothur then observed the face of one of those spectres, one who was looking in his direction. "I''m not sure, but one of them is looking into my eyes."

    ...

 Chapter 218 Finishing The Third Level Of The Cave

    Hearing that, Annaliese frowned her eyebrows and looked at that ce where she could not see anything. "Maybe they have already figured us out and are waiting for one of us to enter their space of influence?"

    Lothur nodded at her and made up his mind. "Anna, I will approach them to clear this ce. But, in the meantime, stay here."

    "If I notice they areing toward you, I will yell for you to run. All right?"

    She looked into her brother-inw''s silver eyes and agreed. "Fine. But what about these other creatures? How do you n to deal with these spectres and them?"

    He massaged one of her shoulders and replied. "My bloodline skill should be enough. I can''t use it more than once a day, but when I activate it, it''s pretty strong. So, I should be fine."

    "But keep an eye on your surroundings. If one of them tries to escape, eliminate them. There''s no reason for us to leave survivors."

    She was silent for a moment, thinking about the situation. ''Lothur is already quite strong and can escape these beasts and the humans here.''

    Annaliese looked at that ce where the spectres should be. ''When ites to those opponents, I can''t see, as long as he has a stronger mental strength than them, there shouldn''t be any problems...''

    ''But does he truly have such powerful mental strength?'' She looked at this man she was in love with, not taking time to remember his achievements. ''Hmm, it must be true. After all, he has learned several spiritual techniques and professions in a short time.''

    "Fine, I''ll wait for you here, deal with fugitives and run back to the vige if anything happens." She said, giving him the confidence to act.

    With that settled, Lothur looked cautiously at the surroundings and took his first step forward, walking towards those spectral creatures.

    The same creature as before continued to stare at him while its deformed face slightly moved as if it were thinking.

    But when Lothur finally stood face to face with all of them, without any object blocking him, all seven spectres intently watched him.

    Lothur then heard some squeaking that sounded like the sounds of poorly tuned radios on Earth as the mouths of those creatures moved.

    ''Are they probably wondering whether or not to act against a mere mortal?'' He wondered as he slowly approached the beasts and humans working in that ce under themand of those spectres.

    As the other beings there began to turn towards him and watch him along with those spectres, finally those creatures made a decision and acted!

    One of them flew towards Lothur, with an expression on its deformed face that indicated that it was smiling.

    Lothur saw this and seriously looked at that being doubtful about what would happen next since he had never had the experience of fighting against something like that.

    But soon, he felt the spectre entering his body, which gave a bizarre sensation to him, simr to being frightened when falling asleep.

    Because of this, he moved his hands, along with his ax, towards his face as if trying to protect himself from an attack.

    But at that instant, the spectre had already entered his consciousness!

    [Level 8 spectre detected in the host''s body...]

    [Exterminate?]

    ''Yes!''

    Lothurughed upon receiving this warning from the system, as he had already expected something like this and could not help but feel pleased with this situation.

    ''That was easier than I thought!''

    ''I can just depend on the system to eliminate these annoying creatures!'' So, he thought as he felt a tremendous urge to sneeze.

    "Atchim!" He sneezed hard as a white vapor left his mouth, glowing brightly as if on fire and disappearing.

    Those creatures watched this with their mouths open, not understanding what was happening.

    Once again, Lothur heard strange noisesing from those six spectres just before the second of them decided to attack him.

    ...<sub> </sub>

    10 secondster...

    "Atchim!" Once again, Lothur sneezed, this time making an even louder noise, which reverberated throughout that cave.

    At this point, Annaliese looked strangely at him, not understanding the situation. ''Why is he sneezing? Is it by any chance an allergy?''

    "Atchim!"

    "Atchim!"

    Lothur sneezed twice more, annihting the fourth of the seven spectres in this cave.

    Because of this, the survivors began to fearfully stare at him, shocked at what was happening.

    They did not understand what this mortal was doing, but they knew perfectly well that their fourpanions had somehow been exterminated!

    And with that in mind, they were soon pissed off, signaling to their ''subordinates'' over there to attack that human they could not seem to attack.

    "Ahh!" One of the humans there ran with an ax towards Lothur, intending to attack him with all his might.

    Seeing this and the expressions on the faces of those spectres, Lothurughed, realizing that he had angered these creatures. "Hahaha, you guys can''t do anything, huh? Well, I will eliminate your little friends who possess those bodies!"

    After provoking the enemy side, Lothur opened his hands and grabbed the air as if he were pulling on a cloth while activating his bloodline skill with his hatred.

    He had nothing against these creatures, but Lothur knew how to get angry!

    He only needed to think of a woman''s face to make him angry!

    Mabel!

    With that done, red patterns soon appeared around his eyes, with his pupils turning that color and a pentagram forming and beginning to circle his forehead.

    As a reddish haze left his fingers, emitting horrible sensations from his surroundings, Annaliese paid attention to him, surprised to see such changes.

    ''What kind of bloodline is this?'' She wondered, not recognizing such a thing but feeling a great fear in her heart as she tried to fathom that red mist.

    As she observed, curious to know what had happened to the spectres, the beasts and humans there paralyzed in front of the mist.

    Each of them felt their cultivations had begun to be suppressed by an invisible force as they felt their legs or ws trembling.

    Their hearts began to beat more strongly, and even in an unconscious state dominated by spectres, those beings felt that they were near the end.

    But in this terrifying situation, none of them thought this was necessarily bad.

    Having been dominated by evil spectres, all they felt was a great destion, the worst feeling of their lives. They had been controlled and were forced to see terrible things while those creatures forced them to act horribly.

    That was particrly true for the humans, who were forced to eat themselves instead of having had parts of their bodies devoured by beasts!

    So, when the red misting from Minos'' bloodline ability reached the bodies of these beings, sucking the life out of them, they were not saddened but relieved!

    However, the creatures controlling them suffered from Minos'' act, making terrifying sounds as theynguished with their hosts.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Slowly the bodies of the beasts and humans there dried up, turning into bones with skin or empty shells, with thest of them screaming in pain until he died a hideous death.

    Seeing the white vapor glowing and disappearing around those bodies, Lothurughed as he turned his attention to the three remaining spectres.

    ...

 Chapter 219 Results And Mystery

    Seeing the silver-haired man looking and smiling at them, the three spectres, the only ones remaining in that area, grimaced.

    They watched all theirpanions and enemies overpowered, earlier being exterminated by this strange creature, a mortal who did not emit an iota of spiritual energy. But even so, he also emitted a terrifying sensation that made them tremble with fear.

    And seeing the strange patterns in the man''s face returning to normal, they could not help but feel relief, feeling better such a pentagram was gone.

    Lothur continued to watch them while the system brought him some great news.

    [EVF: 399]

    ''Holy crap!'' He eximed in his mind in surprise, delighted that he had gotten so many points just for dealing with these beings.

    ''I think after we''re done here, I''ll y with these points a bit to see how I can use them...''

    While he was nning, Annaliese was open-mouthed, shocked to have seen such absurdity unfold in front of her.

    One moment Lothur hade face to face with a bunch of scorpions and some humans, and then in a minute, they had all died horribly.

    At the same time, Lothur looked pleased, as if he had just achieved something incredible while looking intensely in a direction where there was nothing.

    ''It looks like he is about to finish, but there are still opponents...'' She pondered, noting that it was still not safe to move.

    But amidst her thoughts and shock at Lothur''s special powers, Annaliese was happy for him as it was essential to be powerful in this society.

    In this case, Lothur''s future would be bright, which could guarantee his long-term survival and the sess of his projects!

    As she thought about him, Lothur began to walk against those spectres, watching them float away from him.

    "Come on! You know I won''t let you stay here any longer. Let''s end this once and for all." He said, always with a smile on his face, as he moved, trying to surround his opponents.

    But those creatures did not want to give up their ns so easily and tried to escape from him, afraid of being wiped out.

    Unfortunately for those spectres, there was no escape for those who had limited space for movement.

    Not only was Lothur faster than them, but he could also move freely through that area, pushing them against their limits.

    p And with the benefit of seeing them, it did not take long for this man to use his advantages and ''touch'' one of his enemies!</anda>

    [Level 9 Spectre detected in the host''s body...]

    [Exterminate?]

    ''Yes.'' He replied to the system as he saw that having part of his body ''touched'' by these spectres was enough for the system to act on.

    After giving his permission, Lothur saw that spectre being sucked through the spot he had touched, entering through his hand, and then...

    "Atchim!" He sneezed, eliminating another one of those creatures.

    The other two spectres trembled in fear at the sight that their opponent could exterminate them so easily, while Annaliese understood the situation more or less.

    ''It looks like he tried to touch something and then sneezed...'' Her eyes sharpened. ''Hmm, from the number of spectres he said were here and his sneezing, I can tell that these reactions are rted to the end of these beings.''

    ''So, he has already eliminated five, and two remain?'' She wondered, seeing that Lothur''s smile could only indicate that he was ending his business there.

    And so, it was not long before Annaliese saw her brother-inw sneezing twice more, finally finishing cleaning that area.

    "Anna, I''m finished. You cane now." He looked at her and waved one of his hands.

    Hearing this, she sighed in relief and ran toward him, satisfied that it was all over. ''He has very unusual powers... Or is that how spectres are eliminated?''

    Since Annaliese did not know what happened to a spectre when it was eliminated, she could only wonder about Lothur''s method.<sub> </sub>

    "Lothur, you are so strong. I had no idea we would solve this problem so quickly..." She hugged him after kissing him, proud of this man''s aplishments.

    "Hmm, I didn''t expect it either. We werepatible, and things went more right than they should have..." He vaguelymented, feeling that the gains in thosest 5 hours in this cave had been significant.

    Not only had they cleaned up the ce, which would give them the prize of the mission, but he had also collected several items from the dead mercenaries in that ce and parts of the beasts.

    At the same time, he got a lot of EVFs and time with his sister-inw... So, it was a significant gain for him!

    But as he hugged his beautiful sister-inw, feeling good after this victory, Lothur did not take long to realize what was happening there before they arrived.

    With his visual ability, he soon found some inscriptions of aplex formation, along with encrypted text that he could only half understand.

    "Hmm?" He pushed his sister-inw aside and walked over to what looked like a tombstone.

    "What is it?" She asked in curiosity as she saw that he had be more serious.

    Lothur then replied. "Here is written: ''the wheel **** is broken and the dead are lost. The arrival *** will not be prevented, *** they will do everything, ***. We can only fix it on our own or this ****.''"

    "Uh? Why did you skip some words?" She asked as she looked at that thing that she could not see, the words Lothur saw.

    "I don''t understand those words. They are written in a formation, but since I know few inscriptions, I cannot understand that messagepletely." Hemented briefly, still looking at that tombstone.

    "But I have the impression that it has to do with what these spectres were doing here. It looks like they were trying to fix something."

    She frowned her eyebrows. "How is that possible? They shouldn''t be conscious..."

    "Hmm, I guess they weren''t. But doesn''t every organism act on instincts?" He looked into her eyes. "Maybe they were created with the instinct to solve that problem."

    As he said this, that tombstone and what the scorpions and humans from before seemed to be building in this ce began to dpose, turning to dust in a snap of his fingers.

    "That..." Annaliese looked at that without understanding.

    As for Lothur, he too was surprised, even more so that now the said formation had disappeared, leaving no trace for him to investigate when he had more knowledge.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I guess that wasn''t simple...'' He felt frustrated at losing such traces, but there was nothing he could do about it.

    What had happened there was important, but only those with abilities could understand such a thing.

    Unfortunately, he was too weak for that and lost the only trace that could exin this ce.

    He thenmented in a low voice. "I have the impression that there are other ces with information like there was here..."

    "Oh? Why do you think that?" She looked at him.

    "That''s the impression I get. Besides, spectres are strange. Maybe there''s more to this subject than meets the eye..."

    "Sigh!"

    "Anyway, let''s collect what''s left in that ce and leave. We still have to ask the group that controlled this cave toe and check the situation so we can finish our mission." Hemented after sighing.

    "OK."

    After saying that, it did not take long for them to collect what was left there and return to the vige where they had eaten breakfast.

    ...

 Chapter 220 Using EVF Points

    When it was almost mid-afternoon in that part of Finn Mountain, Lothur and Annaliese arrived in the vige they had eaten breakfast in.

    Both were sweaty and with many scorpion blood marks on their clothes, with tired looks on their faces.

    They had been injured in the previous fights but had recovered, either by the recovery skills of one or by the potions of the other.

    But mental fatigue could only be recovered with rest and tranquility, something impossible to have in the opportunities they had had up to this point. Because of this, the two seemed to need a bath, food, and sleep even considering their victorious looks, typical of those who have fulfilled their responsibilities.

    "Are you already back? Sigh... I imagine things have gone from bad to worse once again." An old manmented to the two just after they entered the property of the family that owned the cave they had cleared.

    Upon hearing this, Lothur shook his head in denial and said. "That''s not the case. We have finished our mission and are here to report this to you."

    "What?" That fellow got up from the chair he was resting in and took out the toothpick he had in his mouth to exim in surprise. "Are you serious?"

    As the old man eximed, people in the surrounding area began to pay attention to them, with some already bing hopeful.

    "Is it true?"

    "I hope so. We''ve already had voluminous losses because of that scorpion infestation."

    Annaliese then said in ce of the masked man behind her on her horse. "Yes, we cleared that area. If you want to check, we left all the corpses outside the cave. The inside is clean, as contracted."

    The eyes of that man and the people in the surroundings opened wider and wider as hope flowed in their hearts. "I hope you people are not lying. The Cultivation House takes its missions seriously..."

    Lothur was not bothered by thement in a threatening tone from one of the people there, and when he saw the individual he had talked to before breakfast, he said. "Don''t worry. Everything is fine. Just send someone to check the area. Then, tomorrow afternoon, mypanion and I will stop by to receive our reward and the mission insignia."

    Unlike the Morning Star Academy, the missions of the Cultivation House could be paid directly by the contractors, and all the mercenary would have to get was the mission insignia.

    What was that for? Simple, to help rank the mercenaries.

    Higher-performing mercenaries could ess better and more hotly contested missions, such as those for high-level people, usually scarce operations.

    As such, Lothur only needed to prove to these clients that he hadpleted the mission to receive his coins and that thing. Since he was not in a hurry and intended to spend the rest of his time with Annaliese, he was okay with waiting until the next day.

    "Oh?" Some people there eximed in surprise that Lothur did note over there arrogantly demanding payment, as was usually the case with some mercenaries.

    "All right. I will send someone, and we will deliver the reward to you tomorrow if all is well." The leader of this family, a short man, 1.5 meters tall but muscr,mented.

    After hearing this, Lothur nodded to that person and signaled Annaliese to follow back to the ce they had stayed earlier.

    "What are we going to do now?" She asked him as they rode through the dirt streets of that vige.

    "We''re going to eat something, take a bath, and rest. Later we''ll go out for dinner as I promised and see what happens after that." He said as he hugged her tiny waist, making this woman blush at the thought of her brother-inw.

    That said, it was not long before they arrived at the ce they had hosted.

    ...

    After they finished eating and returned to their room, Lothur and Annaliese sat in meditative positions in different parts of that ce.

    Annaliese was focused on rxing and resting her mind from the hours of the mission, as well as some of the night''s travel she had had these past 24 hours.

    As for Lothur, he needs to rest, but first, he wants to do some tests...

    ''I have a lot of EVF points, so it''s time for me to try to use that to strengthen myself to at least know how this part of my skills works in practice.'' He pondered.

    ''If memory serves me right, EVF points can be used to increase Constitution, Soul, and life-rted quality...'' He remembered the words of the system.

    ''I don''t know what this life-rted quality is... Maybe it''s my life force? My life expectancy?'' He opened his eyes and then said in his mind to the system.

    ''I want to use my EVF through bloodline to strengthen myself. How do I do it?''

    The system then answered him, showing a slightly different status screen.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Host life expectancy: 300 years] (+)

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 23.9]

    [CON: 46.5] (+)

    [DEX: 20.3]

    [AGI: 28.3]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 68.8]

    [WIL: 71.7]

    [SOU: (blocked)] (+)<sub> </sub>

    [EVF: 399]

    ''Oh?'' Lothur''s mouth dropped open at this unique sight, something he had never seen before and had no idea what was possible to appear to him.

    ''Those plus signs are where I can add points through my bloodline and EVF. But what is SOU?''

    [SOU: is the soul-rted attribute of the host. It is still blocked since the host does not have soul power and is iplete.]

    [Toplete it, the host will have to use a unique external method *****.]

    ''What? What is that censored part?''

    [The host''s level is too low. Insufficient talent to understand such a thing.]

    Gulp!

    He swallowed his saliva and clenched one of his fists in frustration.

    "Sigh..."

    ''What about my life expectancy? Why doesn''t it show up in other situations?''

    [That is unnecessary information. The host is only 20 years old right now. In other words, that information doesn''t add anything, and so it was suppressed.]

    [But once the host has only five years left of life force, that information will constantly appear.]

    ''Hmm, that makes sense...''

    He then thought about the plus beside Constitution and ''pressed'' once to see what happened.

    [0.1 points added in CON for the cost of 2 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 46.6]

    ...

    [EVF: 397]

    He frowned as he saw how low the efficiency was. ''Well, that''s a stolen power that didn''t cost me anything. So, I guess I can''tin too much...''

    He then did the same with his life force.

    [1 year added in life expectancy for the cost of 50 EVF.]

    ...

    [Host life expectancy: 301 years]

    ...

    [EVF: 347]

    Seeing this, Lothur did not think it was terrible, as a year of life could mean a lot to a dying person. But since he still had many advances to make and was a long way from his life expectancy ending, he decided not to add more points to this for the time being.

    ''I''ll put a few more points into Constitution and leave a reserve of EVF for emergencies...''

    [5 points added in CON for the cost of 100 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 51.6]

    ...

    [EVF: 247]

    After doing so, he finalized the operation and saw his normal status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 23.9] [CON: 51.6] [DEX: 20.3] [AGI: 28.3]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 68.8] [WIL: 71.7]

    [EVF: 247]

    ...

 Chapter 221 1-Star Poison Master

    Seeing his normal status, Lothur was pleased with his results in ying with the EVF points.

    The conversion rate was not the best, but it was a power that came at virtually no cost to him. So, it was not bad, and he could immediately feel the gains from this investment.

    At the same time, he knew that the higher his body condition, the better his training results would be. That is, the more intense would be his growth concerning the other attributes for a given number of hours of training.

    Thus, as he prepared to manipte the poison of the dead scorpions earlier, he could not help but smile.

    ''Well, now I will train a little bit of my poison path...'' He picked up a bottle with over 5 liters of purple liquid.

    He had collected the poison from each of the dead creatures in the first two levels of thest cave and then stored such a substance in one of his water bottles.

    As for the scorpions on the third level, they had ended with dehydrated bodies, so, unfortunately, Lothur had not obtained this resource.

    Anyway, there was enough for him to prepare a poisonous bath with the other ingredients he already had because of Elisabeth. So, he did not regret the loss of the level 7 scorpion poison and soon went to the bathroom in that room.

    ''First, I will put in some of the pore openers...'' He took medicine and mixed it into the clear water of the tub.

    Poison baths had simple workings. They depended on the poison in the watering into contact with the poison master''s bloodstream, only in a rtively small concentration.

    How to make this concentration small? By absorbing the substance through the skin and not directly into the bloodstream or ingested.

    By absorbing these poisons through the skin, poison masters could control the poisons entering their bodies without risking their hearts pumping out more poison than their bodies could handle.

    But for this to happen, it was necessary to use a substance that would open the pores of the poison master''s body. Otherwise, only by cutting into the skin, something not so interesting to do, would someone be able to connect the poison in the water with the bloodstream.

    So, when preparing this unique bath, Lothur quickly used an essential medicine for this kind of training before mixing some poisons to stabilize the poison from those scorpions.

    Poisons acted differently from one another. They intoxicated cells, but what killed or caused the damage was the response of the cells to each type of poison.

    In this cultivation world, some poisons would cause a person''s nervous system to stop working, immobilizing the affected individual.

    There was a snake capable of poisoning its victim, and its poison made that person seem as if he was already dead while he could still see and hear.

    Because of such a creature, it was not umon for people poisoned with its venom to experience being buried alive, burned, and sometimes even butchered!

    But other poisons could generate other reactions, which were generally not enjoyable to experience in training.

    Because of this, poison masters often mixed different types of poisons to ''bnce'' some reactions and facilitate their training.

    Lothur knew how to ''bnce'' the poison of those scorpions with the ones he had in his spatial ring, so he soon finished preparing his bath and got into that tub.

    ''This numbing sensation...'' He thought as he put his feet into the gray poisonous mixture, feeling the effect of the poison from those scorpions.

    ''It seems that this mixture is quite strong...''

    ''Great! This way, I can significantly improve my resistance to Iron-grade poisons!'' He pondered as he smiled and prepared to begin training.

    After that, he panted and clenched his teeth against each other as his body began to tremble inside that tub.

    ...

    After two hours since Lothur''s tests with the EVF points and his bloodline, Annaliese finished her rest and came out of her meditative state.

    In doing so, she felt that she had be a little stronger, but upon opening her eyes and not finding Lothur, she put that aside to look for him.

    "Lothur?" She asked in a low voice but soon noticed that the bathroommp was on and headed toward that area.

    When she got there, she saw her brother-inw lying in a bathtub filled with a light gray liquid, with only his head sticking out of it.

    "Lothur, that..." She caught his attention, causing him to open his eyes to look at her.<sub> </sub>

    By this point, Lothur had finished the worst part of his training and was no longer in pain. On the contrary, he felt thefortable sensation that always came after arduous training.

    As such, he was a bit sleepy and had a rxed expression on his face.

    "Anna..." He murmured in a low voice, seeing his beautiful sister-inw, who was dressed in a short dress at the moment.

    "Lothur, are you training your poison art?" She asked as she approached him.

    He nodded and smiled at her. "Hmm, so be careful and don''t touch anything."

    "Will you take long? I was thinking about going to bed..." Annaliese said as she blushed at the thought of what she would finally get the chance to do with him.

    He understood what she wanted and felt his little friend start to wake up. "You can go ahead. I''ll join you in about ten more minutes, Anna."

    "Oh? All right." She said as she started to take off her dress in front of him, just to tease him.

    Seeing that, Lothur immensely enjoyed the sight of his sister-inw''s pretty body and soon got up from where he was to clean his body and the tub.

    While doing so, he saw the system notifications in front of him.

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 70%]

    ''70%, huh?'' He smiled, noting a 16 percentage point increase in just two hours of training. ''At this rate, I''ll achieve Bronze-grade poison resistance before I reach the 2nd stage.''

    ''Perfect!''

    But as he finished cleaning up the remaining poisonous substances in that bathroom, Lothur decided to take his test to be a 1-star poison master.

    He took the poison stick he had received from Reba and rubbed it on his right wrist for a few moments until a purple spot appeared there.

    [Poisonous substance detected...]

    [The poison was neutralized.]

    In less than a minute, he saw the system warnings appearing before him, not even having felt the effects of that substance, the test for novice poison masters.

    ? But he saw a small tattoo forming on the spot he had rubbed on his wrist.

    It became a small inscription, looking like a runic barcode.

    Lothur knew this was his identification as a 1-star poison master, so he did not think it was terrible. He just carefully washed his wrist before finishing cleaning that ce.

    Then, while he had an exuberant smile on his face, he left the bathroom and went half-naked to the bed area of that room.

    Seeing his sister-inw lying down and looking nervously in his direction, he climbed onto that bed and stood over her as he felt his body ''activate.''

    "Anna, you look so cute I can hardly control myself..." He looked at her lips and used one of his fingers to y with them.

    She used her hands to grab his waist and bring him closer to her, even though she felt nervous. "Then don''t control yourself."

    After she said that, it was not long before she started kissing him, beginning the glorious night they had ahead.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    ...

 Chapter 222 Fun With Annaliese (18+)

    After a few moments of heated kissing, Annaliese slowly felt the nervousness in her heart diminish as she felt the pleasure of being with Lothur increase.

    She had watched him finish removing his underwear and noticed the dragon she already knew from before poking at her belly.

    At the same time, shocks traveled through her body from time to time, while her little sister gave her a different feeling as if she needed to ''scratch'' something.

    Amid all this, Lothur had kissed her body in several sensitive areas.

    He moved down from her lips, past her jaw, making her shiver as he sucked on the part between her ear and the base of her neck, all the while using his fingers around her body.

    The female body had many sensitive areas, and Lothur knew very well how to test the preferences of each woman he would sleep with.

    In this way, with just a few touches and kisses on the right spots, he had already raised his sister-inw''s warmth and breathing rate, making her want him even more.

    When he finally yed with her nipples and flower, Annaliese did not need much time to moan and beg for more.

    "Mmmmm~" She made a heavenly sound with her mouth closed, looking with dted pupils at the handsome man with his head between her legs.

    She then used her two hands to grab a little hard at his hair and her legs pressed against him.

    "Ahhhhhhhh~" In that instant, she could no longer stand that feeling and felt her first of many orgasms.

    Feeling that, Lothur felt truly happy.

    Whenever hey with a woman, he aimed to make them scream joyfully, to get there before he even connected with them.

    Since he had always seen how women loved to be with him, he felt this was the only way to be with a woman in bed. By satisfying her first, and then she would have an unparalleled fuck that would make her want more and more andpletely give herself to him.

    With that, after almost half an hour of ying with his sister-inw, Lothur finally positioned himself above her, with his crotch very close to Annaliese''s intimate area.

    "Are you ready, Anna?" He asked as he looked into her eyes with an expression of desire on his face.

    Annaliese swallowed her saliva and bit her lips, eager to feel him inside her. "I am. Make me yours..." She said, as her hands were around his neck.

    With thatmand, Lothur wasted no time and looked down, positioning his little friend to enter Annaliese''s wet, hot cave.

    After doing so, he lowered his lower body over Annaliese, slowly widening the path in front of him...

    "Ahhhhhhh~" At that instant, Annaliese squeezed a little hard on Lothur''s body while her eyes trembled, and a scream broke from her mouth.

    Lothur then spent the next few moments moving slowly, helping his sister-inw get used to this new experience.

    During these initial moments, blood dripped from that part of Annaliese''s body, but the pain of this experience soon began to pass to give way to pleasure.

    Such a thing led her to ask him to raise the pace of the thing, something that would rise considerably in a matter of minutes to the point where she would once again get there.

    After this, the two would spend the next two hours ying intensely, experimenting with different positions, always with great desire and pleasure.

    ...

    "Hah... Hah... Lothur, I don''t know if I will be able to walk after today..." Annaliesemented in a tired tone as she rested on top of her lover. "You broke my body!" Sheughed.<sub> </sub>

    Hearing this, Lothur, who was as sweaty as his sister-inw, smiled and massaged her tiny waist while smelling the delicious scent of her brown hair. "That feeling is normal. After all, I am far above average..."

    "You bastard!" She lightly patted one of his chests,ughing but knowing that his arrogance wasing from somewhere.

    ''But it''s impressive that such a thing managed to get inside me...'' She thought about the hours of fun with her brother-inw. ''I guess the physiology sses were right. In the same way that men have erections, women have their organs erged because of arousal...''

    She blushed as she considered that her body had allowed itself to be ''shaped'' by Lothur''s rod.

    But as she thought about these things, she suddenly became a little more serious and said. "Lothur, what do we do from now on? I know it is not a good thing to talk to my family now, but I am already yours. I can no longer marry others."

    He looked into her eyes and answered her. "And I wouldn''t allow that!"

    "Of course you are mine, and you will marry me, not others!" He made her smile in satisfaction.

    "But for now, we will keep our rtionship a secret. Then, when it is more appropriate, I will take you to my home, and we will live our life afterward." He massaged her cheeks as he said this.

    "All right..." Annaliese rxed her body and felt that it was not bad to go along with his ns.

    She wished she could be by his side now, to return home and pack her bags to follow Lothur wherever he went. But she knew that trying that would only bring trouble for them, and she did not want to cause this man any more pain.

    In this way, she would wait for him to get ready to take her from her family and keep meeting him in secret from now on.

    "Lothur, I was thinking about something..." She put one of her fingers to her lips and looked at him, smiling, "How about this? I''ll convince my sister to move in with you to a house in Peters City. With that, I''ll be able to use the excuse that I''ll be visiting my sister so we can see each other easily."

    "Oh?" He looked at her with interest. "What about Viktoria? Will we do this in front of her?"

    "Of course not!" She pped him but then said. "My sister is a busy woman. Even if you live together, she will spend much of the day working on the family properties, training, etc."

    "Then we will have time to be alone without her getting in our way."

    "Is that what you have in mind..." He thought, a little disappointed. "I was imagining that you wanted to serve me alongside Viktoria."

    "What?" She stood up a little, looking at him in disbelief. "How could you think that? It would be strange for my sister and me to do that with you!"

    "It would be disgusting!"

    ? "I think it would be beautiful..." He mischievously looked at her, trying to move this woman to where he wanted her. "Haven''t you two seen each other naked before? The only difference would be that I would be present, and you would hear some strange soundsing from each other."

    "Other than that, it''s no big deal. It would be a beautiful moment of sisters bonding, working together for their man..."

    "You bastard!" She pped his chest again. "You not only want both sisters, but you want them both serving you at the same time? You are immoral, Lothur!"

    "A little..." He embraced her and then changed positions with his beautiful sister-inw, standing on top of her. "Think about it. I would love to do such a thing."

    "Anyway, I think we''d better go out to eat, no? I think I promised you dinner."

    Hearing this, she threw the previous matter to the back of her mind and got up after him, ready to get ready for dinner with him.

    ...

 Chapter 223 Results Of The Fun

    As they finished dressing, Lothur looked at Annaliese''s status to confirm his theories regarding his unique ability in bed.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.6] [CON: 37.6 -> 38.3]

    [DEX: 36.3] [AGI: 34.6]

    ? ''So, it truly is me who is stimting them...'' He smiled. ''But that''s impressive! In just one sex session with Anna, she has increased 0.7 attribute points in Constitution.''

    ''I guess it''s just as I thought!''

    ''It depends on the difference between my Constitution and theirs!''

    ''My Constitution improved greatly because of the beating I got from that poisonous woman, so Anna benefited considerably from that.'' He looked at her finishing dressing, enjoying the image in front of him.

    "Are you feeling energetic?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

    "Oh? I''m fine. Why the question?" She said in surprise.

    "Check the condition of your body. I think you should be stronger now..." He hinted, indicating the thing he had talked to Anna about earlier when she asked for proof about such a thing.

    Annaliese remembered how Elke had asked her if she wanted to see proof of Lothur''s ability and noted that she had just had sex with him. ''That''s right. I should get stronger after having fun with my brother-inw!''

    "What?" She eximed in surprise as she noticed her physical improvements. "I do feel stronger... Lothur!"

    "Hmm, you must be almost 1.9% stronger physically... It''s small, but considering we were just having fun, it''s amazing!" He walked to her side as she jumped into his arms.

    She hugged him and said. "That''s impressive, Lothur!"

    "Now I understand how Elke got so much stronger in such a short time. She was doing this to you every day, so it was obvious that she would advance without difficulty!" Annaliese began to feel irritated.

    "But she wasted your time. How did it take her a whole week to get to just the 4th Transformation with such an opportunity? If I were in her ce, I''d be at the 5th by now!"

    Lothurughed as he heard her. "That''s because of my recent advancements, Anna. I believe that the stronger I am, or rather, the greater the difference between us in my favor, the better the results on you."

    "Oh? So, the improvements she got from you were not as significant as that?"

    "That''s right." He nodded. "Then the next time I see her, she will probably have an even greater improvement than the one we achieved today."

    "I see..." She realized the advantage of this ability of Lothur''s and soon began to think. ''This will be a good and bad thing. Good that his partners will be strong enough to keep up with him. They will be able to team up to control him. Bad because he might attract more female interest.''

    She mysteriously looked away as she hugged him. ''Hmm, despite what I said about keeping our rtionship a secret, I have to talk to Elke and my sister. We can''t let Lothur do what he wants!''

    ''If we take up all his free time, naturally, we won''t have to share him with anyone else!''

    Lothur did not know what his sister-inw was thinking, but he pulled her away from himself, so they could go to a local restaurant. "I believe you''re starving, right?"

    She put her thoughts aside and smiled happily at this handsome man. "Yes, but you will have to help me..."

    Annaliese gave one of her arms to him to hold her due to the weakness she was still feeling in her legs.

    After that, the two left that room.

    ...

    While Lothur and Annaliese were having fun in that Finn Mountain vige, Viktoria was in the woods in the vicinity of Peters City.

    After talking with Karen about Lothur''s guardian and the people who wanted to know about him, she arranged a meeting with a representative of theirs.

    Such a representative had appeared in Peters City on this day and given a signal for her to chase him to this isted location, where they both were at this instant.<sub> </sub>

    "Did someone follow you?" A person dressed in ck, with only his eyes uncovered, asked the beautiful woman dressed in light green in front of him.

    Viktoria nodded and said. "Sure, I''m not an amateur... Anyway, what do you want to know? I thought your goal was to leave Lothur independently and live peacefully."

    "Has something changed?"

    "Yes, our goal is to let him live in peace. That''s why we sealed his soul and physical core so he wouldn''t cultivate his unique powers." That husky-voiced man, with a tone typical of smokers, said calmly. "But still, my leader wants news of his son."

    "How is he? Giving you a lot of trouble?"

    "Trouble?" Viktoria repeated that word. "Lothur constantly gets himself into trouble. But recently, he has be much more responsible and has even been studying a lot."

    "Really?" The man asked in surprise. ''That doesn''t make sense.''

    ''The young master''s personality is that of a spoiled, arrogant child, just like my leader. It''s a family trait that connects him to the most violent lineage on the continent!''

    ''How can he be studying?''

    Viktoriaughed and said. "I think he wants to form his own family and is looking for ways to do that."

    "Oh?" The man found that interesting. ''It''s usible. I heard my leader brought home his first wife when he was 12.''

    ''After that, over 100 women passed through his hands until he turned 17.''

    "What about your rtionship with him? How are you two doing? We know you have certain concerns, but it would be nice..."

    As he was about to speak the suggestion Viktoria had hated to hear before, she interrupted him and said. "Lothur and I have already consummated our marriage. Therefore, there is no need for your group to try to convince me to do that with him."

    The man with the hidden identity looked at Viktoria in surprise and approached her to check if this was true.

    Before this brte beauty could react, such an individual had already touched her wrist and let out a sound of surprise.

    "You are no longer a virgin... Besides, I can smell him on your body." Hemented while Viktoria expressed displeasure at having her privacy invaded.

    ''Not just the smell...'' He noted Lothur''s lineage within Viktoria''s belly and internally chuckled, thinking about how his leader would be pleased to hear of this fellow''s aplishments.

    "Did something happen?" He asked, trying to understand how this cold woman had given herself to the silly Lothur.

    Viktoria turned her face and answered dryly. "He won me over. That''s what happened."

    "Hahahahaha, that''s good to hear. So, you became a real couple?"

    "I think so..."

    "You think so?" He frowned his eyebrows.

    "Lothur wants to leave my family because of his problems with my mother..."

    "That can''t happen! That was not the arrangement we wanted. You have to stay married, Miss Frost." His eyes showed displeasure.

    "I know that..."

    "You know? Are you sure? My leader is not someone known for his patience..."

    She pushed that man away from her and walked towards the city. "Don''t worry. He''s just going to live on another property. But I will go with him, and we will still be married."

    "I know my debt and the promise I made. Besides, now that I''ve given myself to him, I won''t just let him go."

    "I hope so!"

    ...

 Chapter 224 Viktorias Promise And Bet

    After hearing that individual''sst words, Viktoria watched him disappear from the surroundings as she made her way back to Peters City.

    As she ran through that forested area, she remembered the event that had happened years ago, bringing her into contact with Lothur for the first time.

    At that time, she had almost died in an ambush against a group of her family traveling out of the province. But due to the actions of Lothur''s guardian, Viktoria survived to tell the tale.

    p Sometimeter, she met the same person in Peters City who had saved her, only very weakened.</anda>

    In this situation, she did what she had wanted to do for years and promised to do her best to repay the enormous debt she owed to such a person.

    Lothur''s guardian, who at the time already knew that she would die soon, did not miss the opportunity and made Viktoria marry that young man so that he would have someone to rely on after her departure.

    Lothur had always been a troublemaker, so she wanted to leave him with someone who would at least help him in times of need.

    Viktoria would not have to fall in love with Lothur or treat him as her spouse. As long as she protected him from great danger, it would be worth it.

    Viktoria, who at the time already knew about the problem her family would have because of her high talent and willingness to marry, united the useful and the required together and solved her promise and problem in one move.

    But this was not the only point that made her marry Lothur. No, when this fellow''s guardian proposed the marriage, she exined some of the silver-haired young man''s background to Viktoria.

    Because of this, Viktoria knew that Lothur was not simple and that marrying him could bring her other advantages in the long run.

    She was not stupid and knew that making bets was necessary if one wanted to experience significant development.

    So, she went ahead with the marriage and kept all the secrets of this event to herself, letting even her parents think that she was just solving the family problem.

    Because of all that, she started keeping in touch with the group behind the guardian of Lothur, which had led to the situation earlier.

    ''They say they put seals on Lothur''s body, but why has he advanced recently?'' She pondered this after arriving in the urban part of Peters City.

    She had not said anything about it to that man since she did not know what would happen to Lothur if she did that.

    She did not love him, but besides realizing his value around her, she did not want to harm him, even more so after what happened on Friday night. As such, she had kept the secret about Lothur''s strange advancement and his regenerative ability.

    As for the advancement in question, she wanted to talk about it with Lothur the night before, but due to his problematic ns, she had given him space and left to talk about it at another time.

    But she wanted to heal the doubt in her heart since that situation was unexpected.

    ''Thinking about it, how did he get that? I know he advanced, but I felt absolutely no power in his body...''

    ''What level is he at?'' Doubts and more doubts appeared in her heart as she thought about her handsome husband.

    ''Tomorrow, when he returns from his mission with a cooler head, I must talk to him about it...''

    ...

    The night passed, and quickly daylight cleared the darkened skies of Linn Province.

    At this instant, Lothur and Annaliese were finishing their morning activity, naked in the room from before, with him on top of her, kissing her and moving vigorously.

    The night before, they had had a great dinner and then walked around the vige just before they returned to this ce. They then continued to get to know each other deeply, something they had to take advantage of for the time being since they would not have many opportunities in Peters City.<sub> </sub>

    Therefore, they had not cultivated or trained the night before, having instead spent their time in the bed of this room.

    But they had slept. As Mortal Warriors, their bodies still had physiological needs simr to those of mortals.

    So, they had to eat, sleep and do other activities to continue living, things they had done the night before.

    In any case, they had had enough time for all that and were finishing their morning exercises at this instant to start the day positively.

    "Mmmmmmm~" Annaliese felt her whole body tremble and tightened her legs around Lothur''s back, feeling his orgasm as she kissed him.

    Lothur also noticed his sister-inw''s moment, and as he felt the heat, lubrication, and pressure of a part of her body, he got there, too, stopping his movements and looking her in the eyes.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah... That was amazing..." She said as she tried to regain her breath, smiling at him without pushing him away.

    Lothur saw her status and realized that her Constitution had improved by 1.3 from the night before to this instant and smiled at her.

    "You''re great at this, Anna. It looks like you were made for me..." He said to her, but he was not lying.

    Annaliese was the most spontaneous of his women when it came to sex. She did not need to be taught. She did things that pleased him out of instinct and matched him perfectly.

    Elke and Viktoria were great, but the two had to be taught the initial steps of thisplicated dance. But with Annaliese, this had not been necessary. So, he could not help but praise her.

    She smiled at him, a little flushed with embarrassment but happy with thepliment.

    He then asked. "Do you want to go eat now? We can get our mission award after that ande back here for some more time..."

    "After that, we''ll return to Peters City."

    "Sounds perfect to me." She said as she yed with her man''s silver hair.

    After they decided that, they got dressed and left for the local coffee shop, where they surprised the attendant from the previous day, who did not expect to see these two safe and sound.

    They ate there while chatting about various subjects until they headed to the property of the family that owned the previous cave.

    There, as they expected, there was already a lot of movement of workers, with many smiles on the faces of those people.

    Many of the employees of this family were already out of work due to the problems brought about by that important mining site. So, with the functionality return, this whole family and their employees were happy to return to normalcy.

    Lothur and Annaliese did not find this strange and soon walked to where the family leader was, ready to retrieve their reward.

    "What''s up? Is everything okay with the cave? Have you sorted out our prize?" Lothur asked as he came face to face with that short but muscr man.

    "Oh? You havee already?" He took his eyes off a newspaper he was reading and looked at the masked man next to Annaliese. "I have already prepared your coins and insignia, but first, tell me something. How can I contact you in case any problems ur? I don''t want to have to wait for several groups of mercenaries next time."

    Lothur looked at Annaliese, and she answered that individual. "Just ask the Cultivation House for the people whopleted this mission. It will be recorded in our names. So, we can be contacted that way."

    "Oh? All right, then!"

    They soon received their coins and the mission insignia and left for the inn.

 Chapter 225 Annalieses Advise

    Hourster...

    As they were arriving in Peters City, Annaliese stopped her horse so that she and Lothur could say goodbye and thus return separately to the Frost estate.

    Almost no one knew that they had gone on a mission together, so they could not just walk through the gates of the Frost estate or even enter Peters City together.

    That would be too suspicious!

    Thus, they naturally prepared to go their separate ways once they got close to this ce.

    Lothur looked at his sister-inw and then said. "Anna, you may return to your family''s estate. To avoid problems, I will stop by the Cultivation House to finish the mission and buy some items."

    "This week, I will take the test to be a formation master, so I need some materials."

    Annaliese knew how important it was for Lothur to be recognized as a formation master, which would be necessary to legitimize his projects and attract investors. And since that would give them the time needed for their arrival not to be associated, she was alright with his suggestion.

    "Fine... But what will you do next?" She asked, a little worried about what he would do because of what happened on Friday night.

    Lothur made a slightly more serious expression. "I will talk to Viktoria and then to your parents. After that, I will find a hotel or inn to stay in while I get funds and find a house."

    "Sigh..."

    "OK, I''ll see if I can find my sister to talk to her before you do..." Annaliesemented in a sighing tone before kissing him and parting from him.

    As she rode on her horse back to the Frost estate, Lothur looked at her status, noting that she had improved 1.9 attribute points since their first time together.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.6] [CON: 40.2] [DEX: 36.3] [AGI: 34.6]

    As for him, he had not improved from Saturday night to now as he had not trained other than having fun with his sister-inw.

    With that, he ran towards the Cultivation House, where he intended to do what he had told Annaliese.

    ...

    While Lothur was doing his things, Annaliese was face to face with her older sister in the living room of Viktoria''s residence.

    "How did your mission go? Well?" Viktoria looked with a smile on her face at Annaliese, curious about her twin sister''s adventures.

    Viktoria loved Annaliese as much as this sister-inw of Lothur. She might not show much of that on the surface, given her personality and responsibilities. But she cared about her younger sister.

    With that said, seeing that her sister was bing more responsible and had even gone on a mission to train, Viktoria could not help but be happy and ask Annaliese that.

    "I did well... But let''s talk about more important things, sister." Annaliese looked determinedly at Viktoria.

    p Viktoria smiled as she saw the expression on her sister''s face and asked. "Oh? What''s more important than that?"</anda>

    "You and Lothur. You can''t divorce, sister. Lothur is a good person. It would be a great loss to let him go."

    "Uh? What are you talking about?" Viktoria asked as she became more serious. "How do you know that Lothur is considering separating from me?"

    Lothur had brought it up with Viktoria, and this woman only discussed the matter with her parents. So, she was surprised at Annaliese talking about it when this woman had stayed away from home for most of thest few hours.

    Annaliese then told the truth. "Before I left, I met with my brother-inw to see if he was OK. He told me about his ns."<sub> </sub>

    "So, that was it..." Viktoria sighed. She would prefer if Annaliese were not involved in these family headaches. "Don''t worry. I won''t allow Lothur to get away from me."

    "Who do you think I am, Anna? A woman who gives herself to a man and allows him to go away?"

    "Not a chance!"

    "He did what he did because he wanted to. Now he has to take responsibility!" She said with a smile on her face as she massaged one of her sister''s hands tofort her.

    "That..."

    "But what do you intend to do? Lothur doesn''t seem willing to go back on his words..." Annaliese said with a bit of distrust in her voice.

    "Don''t worry. I have a method to calm my husband down. I''ll find a ce for him and me to live, and when he calms down, I''ll bring him back home." She said.

    "Have you thought about that too?" Annaliese curiously looked at Viktoria, finding it amazing that the two had thought of the same thing.

    "Were you here to suggest it to me?" Viktoria smiled as she brought a cup of tea close to her mouth. "It seems my little sister is growing up..."

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t talk to me like that! Anyway, I''m d you''re not going just to let him go. Lothur is very special and worth has what it takes to be by your side, sister."

    "So, I''ll give you another piece of advice..."

    "What is it?"

    "You should talk to that redheaded girl, Elke." She said, looking into Viktoria''s eyes earnestly. "I get that Lothur is a womanizer, and if he''s not restrained, all of u... Cough... All of you will suffer."

    "Then you''d better work together with her, sister."

    Annaliese wanted to work together with her sister differently than Lothur wanted, of course. But she could not do that now. So she had used Elke for that, who she was sure would realize the advantages of them teaming up against him.

    "You what?" Viktoria stood up, annoyed at hearing that she needed to unite with Lothur''s lover. "You don''t think I can handle him alone?"

    Annaliese understood the problem and bitterlyughed. "Don''t be offended, sister. But I have talked to Lothur many times, and I can see that he will not change easily."

    "Then why don''t you work alongside that girl? If you don''t do that, I''m sure there will soon be a fourth or even fifth woman in his life!"

    "Fourth? Don''t you mean third?" Viktoria awkwardly said.

    "Yes, third, whatever." Annaliese stood up and turned away from her sister, afraid that Viktoria would try to analyze her body closely.

    She walked toward the exit of Viktoria''s residence as she said. "Anyway, think about it. I''ll talk to Elke so she can look you up, so try to have an open mind about it."

    Viktoria sped her hands together, feeling that there was something wrong with her sister. But since she would not suspect Annaliese, she just considered that this woman was concerned about her happiness.

    "Tsk!"

    ''My own sister doesn''t trust my abilities to put him in line!''

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Will I have to subject myself to working with that girl? That will be humiliating!'' She looked down at the floor angrily.

 Chapter 226 Time Of Departure 1

    An hour after Annaliese arrived at the Frost family estate, Lothur passed through the entrance gates of this ce and went directly to the residence that was to be his and Viktoria''s.

    He had no problem finishing his mission at the Cultivation House since there was no need for all members of group missions to report to that organization.

    If payments were made directly between clients and mercenaries, then there was no need to ascertain problems between group members.

    So, in addition to having bought the resources he would need to take the tests to be a formation master, he had registered his and Annaliese''s merit points with that institution.

    In addition, he counted the earnings from the spatial rings he had found in thest cave, which earned him a few hundred thousand bronze coins.

    With that, he now had more than 600,000 bronze coins in his spatial ring and other things that could be soldter.

    ''That''s probably not enough for me to buy a decent ce in this city, but I can afford lodging and my living costs...'' Lothur pondered this as he used the key Viktoria had given him to enter the residence in front of him.

    When he opened the door to that ce, he immediately heard footstepsing toward him.

    "Lothur!" Viktoria ran up to him and hugged him as a good submissive wife would do upon seeing her man again after some time away from him.

    Lothur had issues with Viktoria and this family, but he was very fond of such behavior. As such, he could not help but hug her and smile before kissing his wife.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    After kissing for almost a minute, both constantly touching parts of the other''s body, they looked each other in the eye as they parted their lips.

    "Have you given any more thought to the things I said?" She asked, making a cute expression at him. "What are you going to do?"

    "What I said I would." He answered. "The question is, will you go with me or not? I want you toe."

    She sped his clothes with her hands and was momentarily silent. "I will go with you, of course. I won''t let a man who did all those things to me escape responsibility..."

    "But we will stay in Peters City. We''ll find a ce to live around here, and I''ll continue to be involved with my family''s affairs while we live together. You promised, didn''t you? Being in your family wouldn''t limit me."

    He looked in surprise at her proposing just what Annaliese had told him. ''They must have talked...''

    Lothur then said. "Fine, but I don''t want to have to meet with your mother. Then she won''t be able to visit us."

    "Sigh!"

    ''She doesn''t want to see you either...'' Viktoria thought about this as she sighed and rxed her head on his chest, smelling her man''s body.

    ''Uh?''

    ''That fragrance... I''ve smelled it somewhere before.'' She opened her eyes wider as she paid attention to the scent on Lothur''s body.

    "Lothur, who have you been with? Didn''t you say you were on a mission? Why do I smell a woman''s scenting from you?" She looked him in the eyes and tightened her arms around his waist to prevent him from running away.

    "A woman''s scent?" Lothur sniffed, noticing that the female sense of smell differed from the male''s. ''What do they smell? I can never sense such a woman''s fragrance!''

    "Yes, and that scent is not strange to me. Is it by any chance someone I know?" She seriously asked.

    "I don''t know. People can have simr fragrances..." He turned and looked in the direction of a window. "Anyway, I was with a woman this morning. But now I''m here. So, do you truly want to talk about it?"

    ''Scoundrel!''<sub> </sub>

    ''He is a damn womanizer! How can he desire others when he already has me?'' She looked earnestly into his eyes and felt slightly angry as she remembered Annaliese''s words.

    ''Looks like she was right! This bastard needs someone to put him on a leash and stop him from doing what he wants!''

    ''I''ll have to work with that brat Becker!'' Lothur helped Viktoria make up her mind about such a thing.

    "No, I don''t want to hear about your betrayals..." She released him and turned away. "But know that I don''t like it. What would you think if I came home with men''s scent?"

    Lothurughed. "That would be thest time you would ever see me. I would take my things and disappear after killing the bastard who touched my wife."

    "And I can''t do the same?" She turned to him, a little happy to see that he was possessive about her but not like having to share him.

    "You can''t. If you hurt someone like Elke, you''d be hurting me." He sincerely replied.

    "And where''s the justice in that? Don''t I deserve equal treatment?"

    "The world is not fair, Viktoria. To rte to me, you need to ept how I am and live ording to my preferences." He hugged her waist from her back and said into her ears. "I know it must be hard for you. But I will make it worth it, and as I said, you will be grateful to have sisters by your side..."

    "Tsk!"

    ''Scoundrel!'' She thought, saying nothing more to him on that subject. "Anyway, I''ll see what I can do... In the meantime, it''s time for you to exin to me what happened on Friday night."

    "Why did you go through a marrow cleansing? Why can''t I feel your cultivation?" Viktoria turned to him, asking about such a thing she had been thinking about for the past 48 hours.

    Hearing this, Lothur bitterly smiled, seeing that his ns regarding this had failed on the eve of his nning. But he was honest with her. "I had a level advancement, so, of course, I went through a marrow cleansing, as is normal for cultivators at the 1st stage."

    "What?" Her mouth dropped open at what he had just said. "So you''re a cultivator? How? Why? Since when?"

    He sighed. "After an ident, I suffered months ago, my Physique awakened, and I was suddenly able to start cultivating my body."

    "I''ve been training my body cultivation ever since... Remember when Anna beat me up? That''s about when I started cultivating, and at that time, I had asked her for that so I could be stronger."

    "After that, since I realized that no one could see my cultivation, I kept the secret of it to surprise you at the Province Conference..." He smiled. "I wanted to win you over and make you my de facto wife..."

    "What?" Sheughed. "Are you serious?"

    "Hmm, you can ask Anna. She has trained me several times and knows that was my goal for hiding such a thing."

    "I see..." She felt better, even forgetting her previous problem as she went to hug him again. ''So you wanted me all along, huh? But still, you acted indifferently and made me change so much...''

    ''What a guy!''

    ''But at least everything ended well.'' Sheughed internally, not the least dissatisfied that she had ''lost'' her power struggle with him.

    "And what level are you at now?"

    "8th Transformation." He looked into her eyes and waited for this woman''s reaction.

    ...

 Chapter 227 Time Of Departure 2

    "8th Transformation?" She repeated his words as she opened her eyes wide, shocked that he was already so strong. "Are you serious?"

    "Hmmm." He nodded, still looking into his wife''s brown eyes.

    ''It''s not for nothing that his body has improved so much!''

    ''It all makes sense now!'' She cautiously looked at him, checking her husband''s physical condition, which had improved substantially over the past few weeks.

    As she did so, she remembered her intimate moments with Lothur and realized how foolish she had been. ''That''s right. How could a mortal apany a person at the 2nd stage for hours in bed?''

    ''It was obvious that he wasn''t normal, but he still fooled me!'' She bit her lips as she saw Lothur also checking her out.

    But he was not just admiring his wife''s beautiful body. Instead,  Lothur was checking her status, something he had gotten into the habit of always doing when seeing someone.

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: ??] [CON: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    ''She had a breakthrough, huh?'' But then, he noticed that Viktoria was now at the 3rd Revolution of the Spiritual Warrior stage.

    And seeing that, he realized that even with mental attributes simr to someone at the beginning of the 2nd stage, he still could not see the physical attributes of people of that stage.

    ''Apparently, only when I be a Spiritual Warrior will I be able to do that...''

    He remembered some of Annaliese''s teachings. ''The 2nd stage is supposed to be the beginning of soul cultivation and differentiation from body cultivation. Then I probably have to experience a qualitative change to ''spy'' on the characteristics of people above level 9.''

    As Lothur considered these questions about his limitations, Viktoria sighed after thinking about how he had hidden without effort, but she did not think it was terrible.

    She knew that he should be unable to cultivate due to the actions of his enigmatic father''s group. But since he had done such a thing on his own, it meant that either such a person had left that possibility to him or had underestimated her husband.

    In either case, it was not her fault, resulting in positive points for their rtionship!

    Viktoria wanted to be with Lothur because it felt good when she was intimately involved with this man. But she was not unreasonable and knew the problems of rting to a mortal.

    So finding out that he was a cultivator and was already close to having a breakthrough to the next stage, she could not help but be happy, with the weight on her shoulders lessening.

    ''That''s good.''

    ''I won''t have to think about the problem of having given my virginity to someone who won''t be able to be by my side in a few decades.'' She squeezed one of his hands, thinking about it. ''Even if he is not talented, at least he will be with me for a few centuries.''

    ''That is already many times better than I had previously epted...''

    "Very well, Lothur. I am d that you have already reached that level." She said after a while. "I think it would have been better if you had told me this earlier, but it''s nice to find that out finally."

    "Anyway, we must tell my parents and the academy..." She was saying that, but he interrupted her.

    "No. I''ve gotten used to my current situation at the academy, and I have ns in that ce. As for your family, I''m not interested in them bringing moreplications for me."<sub> </sub>

    She swallowed her saliva and was silent for a minute. "That''s fine, but they''ll find that out anyway. You''re going to attend the Province Conference, and you won''t be able to hide."

    "It''s better this way. If they find out now, they''ll cause me trouble. But by the time the conference happens, I''ll be living somewhere else..." He smiled at her.

    "So that''s what you want..." Viktoria closed her eyes and then said. "All right. So, you want to talk to them about our departure now?"

    "Hmm, I don''t want to stay on this property any longer than I have to." He walked around, looking for the items Viktoria had brought from his room to this residence of hers.

    "And where are we going?" She asked as she watched him pick up his books.

    "I don''t know. First, we''ll look for a hotel. Then we''ll look more calmly for a house that meets our needs..." His voice came from inside Viktoria''s office.

    "I have a ce that..."

    Lothur interrupted his wife again. "We are not staying in a ce paid for by your family. I will bank the cost of my ce."

    She chuckled upon hearing that and asked. "How? Did your guardian happen to leave a fortune for you, dear?"

    "I have my own business. I will soon do something that will shock the entire empire, dear wife." He said in an arrogant tone.

    After that, it was not long before Lothur and Viktoria set off in the direction of her parents'' residence, where they quickly met up with Aiken.

    As for Mabel, she was at that residence, but to avoid the previous situation, she decided not to meet with the scumbag who had corrupted her daughter.

    "Lothur, it is good to see that you are better." Aiken said in a friendly tone, already knowing that that young man probably felt terrible about the treatment he received in that family.

    He felt terrible for Lothur, but unfortunately, he was powerless over this problem. Thus, he could only try to talk softer to that unfortunate young man.

    "Patriarch, I am here to ask for my liberation. I no longer wish to live in this ce, where I am not wee." Lothur said as he heard Mabel''s noisesing from another room.

    "Lothur, that is not true. Things are a bitplicated, but we''ve always had open doors for you..." He said as he touched Lothur''s right shoulder.

    "I don''t see it that way, so I want to leave." Lothur remained in his position, looking thoughtfully into that man''s eyes. "I''m going to fulfill my responsibilities to the family regarding Viktoria, the uingpetition, and the identification of the traitor. But I don''t want to be limited in other ways, having to live here or meet with unreasonable people..."

    "Tsk!" A distinct tongue sound came from another room in that residence, but nothing strange happened.

    The three people continued in the middle of the living room of that residence, with Viktoria holding her hands at chest height and her father with a sighing look on his face.

    "There is nothing we can do to resolve this without you having to leave? It will be bad for the family if our daughter lives elsewhere."

    "There are dangers that will not be able to be contained outside our property, not to mention the loss of face our family will have by allowing our son-inw to go live outside..." He said, trying to move this young man.

    p If it were not for the fact that only Lothur could help them identify the family traitor, he and Mabel would not allow him to leave. But since the situation was in this young man''s favor, they could only ept this loss!</anda>

    Lothur then said. "Honestly, patriarch, the family has many other things to worry about than losing face. As for our safety, I''ve almost been poisoned to death in this ce, so I don''t think it will be so different away from here..."

 Chapter 228 Lothur And Viktorias New Nest

    Upon hearing the truth in Lothur''sment, Viktoria and Aiken felt embarrassed and couldn''t say anything to him.

    There were ws in the security of this property, which was not as unusual as one would typically think.

    The aging of some devices and the arrogance of influential powers led to security breaches, which were generally not exploited because of the fear that most would feel of these organizations. But just because something does not show symptoms does not mean it''s perfect or does not have its problems!

    The Frost family was like that. It had ws rted to its decadence, which worsened as time passed. But never before had they had so many security breaches as in the present times.

    Because of this, until recently, the leaders of this organization thought they had a well-structured, clean, and safe headquarters.

    But with Lothur to test them, they had found out otherwise, and now they could only be ashamed of themselves in front of his sharp tongue!

    He then finished hisment. "I know there are risks living outside here, but there are also significant risks here. In any case, I''d rather take my chances out there than stay in this ce."

    Aiken sighed as he heard this, seeing that the treatment Lothur had received in this ce had been so bad that he would rather risk his own life than remain in this ce.

    "Sigh..."

    "All right then, but be careful." He said with his head down as he looked at Viktoria, standing behind Lothur.

    "Father, don''t worry. Lothur and I will be fine." She said, without trying to convince her husband to return on his words. "In any case, I doubt that enemies will notice our move so quickly."

    "At least until the end of the Province Conference, I think we will have peace to live in our new ce without problems."

    He agreed to that and thought that was fine for the time being. ''As long as they take care to protect their identities when essing their new location, it will probably take enemy spies a few days to realize what''s going on...''

    "All right. You can leave." He sighed and said to Lothur. "Don''t forget toe and participate in the asion Imented on earlier. We will have a big breakfast on Tuesday morning, and I want you to be by my side to identify the enemy."

    "OK, Viktoria will bring me in on Tuesday." Lothur agreed to that as he looked at his wife and saw her nodding.

    After saying goodbye, Lothur soon left alongside his beautiful wife, who left most of her things at her residence, which she said she would keep for appearance''s sake.

    So, they soon made their way to a local hotel that was not among the best but not the worst, one good enough for them.

    In doing so, the two were using objects to cover their identities, which did not prevent them from getting a ce, and it was necessary to slow down the news of this spreading.

    Finally, after paying a fee of 200 bronze coins per day for 30 days, the most cost-effective reservation, the couple quickly arrived at their new love nest.

    That was not a prominent ce like Viktoria''s residence. But there was a small living room in conjunction with the dining room, a good-sized double bedroom, and two bathrooms, one for the couple, the other for guests.

    The decoration was decent, much better than where Lothur had stayed with Annaliese but inferior to Viktoria''s residence. Yet, the furniture and paintings were elegant, made of materials that looked decent.

    All in all, the ce looked quite cozy, like a small apartment for couples where Lothur hade from, the only difference being the absence of a kitchen.

    Since neither of them could cook, it would not make any difference.<sub> </sub>

    "Lothur, is this really what you want?" Viktoria sat on her husband''sp just after the two had finished getting acquainted with the ce, and he had taken a seat on the only sofa in the living room.

    "Sure!" He excitedly replied. "This ce may not be like your residence, it may seem strange and unfamiliar, but here we will have peace to live our lives!"

    "What about security? I don''t think enemies will have any trouble getting to us." She said as she felt his hands on her waist and looked him in the eyes.

    "I''ll set up some formations around here. If anyone tries to surprise us, at least we''ll be warned in time to react." He said, not worrying too much about the security issue.

    Security could be a problem if everyone knew they were there, alone. But they had several advantages to protect them for the time being.

    Besides hiding their identities, Viktoria would maintain her daily presence on the Frost estate, and no one would expect her family to allow such a thing. So, at least in the short term, trouble should be unlikely to arise.

    Even if it happened, they would have Lothur''s formations, and it was unlikely that anyone would act so directly against them just because of this recent change.

    Peters City had itsws, and the powers under the rule of the Leopoldine family did not act so openly.

    Otherwise, Viktoria''s family would not have been contaminated with undercover agents or traitors. Instead, they would have been surrounded and massacred!

    But Lothur knew there was a risk that some power like the Mouse Company would try something against them. As such, he had his ns to improve their security in the days ahead.

    "Sigh..."

    Viktoria sighed, wondering what to do with this man of hers. "All right, we''ll find a way to live here for the time being. But what do you want to do now? How about showing me some of your skills?"

    "What skill are you talking about?" He firmly grabbed one of her buttocks and smiled, thinking his wife''s suggestion was somewhat ambiguous.

    Viktoria realized what Lothur meant and turned red with embarrassment, noting how dirty his mind was. But she liked how he took her with enthusiasm and could not help but smile back at him.

    "As my husband, you have to take care of me in bed, but I was talking about your fighting skills, silly!"

    "Oh?" Heughed as he brought her closer to him. "I can show you that another time... I don''t think we can do that in this ce, after all."

    "So, for now, let me just take my responsibilities as a husband." He stood up while he already had her firmly pinned to his body, nning to take her to bed.

    Viktoria did not think it was bad and hugged him tightly, smiling in anticipation of something she had been waiting for, for thest 48 hours.

    "Tomorrow, I will go to the academy with you, and we will have a brief fight so you can show me what you are capable of." Shemented just before he ced her on the bed and began to undress.

    "As you wish, dear... But now, I think it''s time for me to eat something, no? I''m starving."

    Sheughed but spread her legs for him, eager to give him her precious nectar...

 Chapter 229 Noble Cause

    On Monday morning, Lothur and Viktoria were up early, even considering the few hours of sleep they had, quickly getting out to eat and then going to the academy.

    They had had a great night and start to the day, something that had rxed both of them from their everyday problems. But not only that, they started the day much morefortably because they had spent an entire night together for the first time and had done so away from the Frost family.

    That way, after leaving for the academy, they took a rather strange route, going to the Frost estate and leaving on foot to their next destination.

    While doing so to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, Lothur and Viktoria did not show any more intimacy than they had shown on other asions in public.

    That way, even though many people have seen them doing this, both seemed no more than acquaintances walking together and exchanging a few words from time to time.

    "Lothur, tonight I realized something that you may not have noticed yet," Viktoria said, trying not to blush for talking about these matters that, until recently, she was utterly innocent.

    "What is it?" He asked, not showing in his expression the exciting content of this conversation of theirs.

    "Before, when I didn''t know you could cultivate, it wasn''t a problem or rather a big problem that you slept with that girl. But since you can cultivate, you should do it less with her..." She thoughtfully looked at him.

    Then Viktoria said in a whispering tone. "You have no idea how fertile young women at the 1st stage like her are!"

    "What?" Lothur asked in surprise.

    "You know that the fertility of women and men decreases as talent and level increases, right? After all, if that didn''t happen, the world would go into imbnce with too many children of powerful people..."

    "Yes, I know that." He promptly said.

    She continued. "So, your little friend is untalented, low-level, and young... Besides, you must do this constantly, right? And without protection... Maybe she is already pregnant!" Viktoria slowly said, torturing her husband with this shaky information.

    Gulp!

    She noticed him swallowing his saliva but could not be happy about his nervousness. After all, it would also be terrible for her if Elke got pregnant!

    What a shame would not it be for his lover to have her husband''s first child?

    Because of this, Viktoria was warning him to be more careful to prevent the worst from happening. That was not just herpetitive side acting, but her rational trying to protect her family!

    She thenplemented. "But don''t worry. Once you get to the 2nd stage, you''ll be able to do this with her without worry."

    "That..."

    She did not let him say anything and took the opportunity. "For now, just do it with me. I will not get pregnant without us deciding that together..."

    Lothur looked at his wife, trying to understand how sincere she was in her words. But he knew there were risks to what he was doing with Elke and, more recently, Annaliese.

    ''Well, I can''t follow such a rmendation. I don''t want to have children, but I don''t want to get away from Elke...'' He reminded himself that he still needed to find some time to learn spiritual medicine. ''I bet there are other methods of contraception in this world!''

    ''Even if there aren''t, I can create something new to solve this problem!'' He made up his mind to learn such a professionter this week.

    He had a very noble cause in front of him... Not having children!

    ...

    While Lothur and Viktoria were walking to the academy, Annaliese and Elke had already arrived.

    One of them always arrived just after the academy''s entrance gates opened, always going to her room in the local dormitory to wait for Lothur.<sub> </sub>

    The other had left earlier due to the change in her routine generated by Lothur''s departure from the Frost estate.

    But since Annaliese already wanted to talk to Elke and knew about the redhead''s schemes with Lothur, she did not take long to head to the love nest of those two.

    Pa! Pa!

    Hearing the door to her room being mmed, Elke jumped out of her bed and ran to wee Lothur, smiling at being able to see her lover again.

    "Lothu..."

    <o>,m Unfortunately for Elke, as she opened her bedroom door, all she saw was Lothur''s beautiful sister-inw, herpetitor.</o>

    "You?" The satisfied expression on Elke''s face froze, and she looked thoughtfully at the brte outside her room.

    "Expecting someone else, eh?" Annaliese closed her eyes and smiled. "But don''t worry, I think Lothur will be here soon. However, I want to talk to you about something important."

    "Something important?" Elke frowned her eyebrows. "What? In fact, why aren''t you with Lothur? Don''t you alwayse to the academy together?"

    Annaliese stepped forward and entered Elke''s room uninvited. "It''s a long story. I don''t have time to exin it now. So, let''s leave it forter."

    "Let''s focus on the most important thing. You, my sister, and I must work together to stop Lothur." She said as she sat down on the sofa in that room while Elke closed the door and felt surprised by Annaliese''s speech.

    "If we don''t do something, we will have to ept to share him with more and more women!"

    "We?" Elke looked seriously at Annaliese as she noticed something different about her aura.

    Since this redhead knew that Lothur had previously scheduled to go on a mission with this woman, she more or less understood that his sister-inw had not missed the opportunity.

    "You opened your legs for him, huh? So it''s not for nothing that you look different!" Elke eximed, embarrassing the until recently virgin Annaliese.

    "That''s a bizarre way to put it..." She said in a low voice. "We made love. I didn''t open my legs for him!"

    "Tsk!"

    "Same thing..." Elkeughed. "For a sister-inw who slept with your sister''s husband, you''re kind of behaved, huh?"

    "Not as much as a woman who gave herself to a married man, even when she was probably already someone''s fianc��e..."

    After this exchange of pliments,'' one looked at the other in silence until Elke got straight to the point. "You are right. Lothur is a womanizer."

    "I gave it my all in a hot week with him, yet he still slept with your sister and then with you..." Elke sighed. "But how are we going to do anything about it? Do you have a n? What about your sister? Is she okay with all this?"

    Annaliese blushed and replied. "My sister doesn''t know anything, and I hope it stays that way for a while longer..."

    Elkeughed but did not tease Lothur''s sister-inw any further. "Don''t worry about me. I don''t like gossip involving my man."

    "In any case, I can''t talk about it with my sister. So, it will depend on you, Elke." Annaliese seriously said. "As for what we will do, I have thought of something, but we can arrange that together."

    "Surely three will think better than one."

    ...

 Chapter 230 Womens Meeting

    While Annaliese was talking with Elke, the two of them heard the door to that room being mmed by someone.

    Pa! Pa!

    The two immediately got up from where they were standing, knowing that this was probably Lothur.

    "Lothur!" Elke opened the door in a sh, but even though she saw her lover standing there waiting for her with a smile, she saw someone else with him.

    "Sister?" Annaliese asked in surprise, not expecting Viktoria toe to the academy with Lothur on this day.

    Lothur smiled at the sight of Elke and brought her into his embrace while winking at Annaliese. "Good morning to you. I waste because of our new situation, but I am here now..."

    The four of them walked into that room, with Viktoria quickly closing the door, while she had an ugly expression on her face at having to see the intimacy of those two.

    "Sister, what are you doing here?" Annaliese asked.

    "I want to do some training with Lothur. So, since we can''t do that in our hotel room, I came with him to the academy today..." She gave a brief exnation to her younger sister.

    But as she said that, she saw Elke and Lothur warmly kissing each other. "What do you think you are doing?" She stepped forward and held one of Elke''s wrists.

    Lothur then said. "Viktoria, I just gave Elke a good morning kiss. So why make a fuss about it? We all know about the rtionship I have with Elke..."

    Elke looked at Viktoria and saw that this beautiful woman was not enjoying this at all. But she was not ashamed as she had thought in the past. After being caught in the act by her mother, few things could embarrass her...

    But then she heard from Viktoria, who was ignoring Lothur and looking only at her. "Don''t do that again in the future. Even if you two have your rtionship, I don''t want to see you touching my man in front of me."

    She then pulled Lothur to her side, but Elke stopped what Viktoria seemed to want to do. "I say the same to you. I know you are husband and wife, but I don''t want to see you with my man."

    Silence spread through that room as Viktoria and Elke looked at each other with narrowed eyes, causing the air temperature to drop.

    Annaliese was also silent, as she did not want to see her brother-inw with either of these two...

    But she could not say anything!

    Worse, if Lothur and her sister kissed or went to have other intimate behaviors in front of her, she could not evenin and would have to put up with such a thing!

    Therefore, even though Annaliese was not the main one involved in this little morning misunderstanding, she felt even worse than those two.

    As for Lothur, he smiled and said. "Girls, don''t be so cold to each other..." Then, he took the arms of the two and brought them toward him.

    "How about we start that again? Let''s have a warm hug to settle our differences..."

    As the two still stared at each other but grew closer and closer, Lothur looked at Annaliese and said. "Anna, help us here... These two need you to be more united."

    Hearing her brother-inw''s excuse for allowing her to get involved in this strange situation, Annaliese did not hesitate to obey her man and went towards their embrace, helping Elke and Viktoria.

    To do this, she made the arms of the two wrap around her tiny waist while she glued her breasts to her brother-inw''s chest, pretending to do this for them, not for herself.

    "Lothur, how can you involve my sister in this?" Viktoria asked but did not move out of that extraordinary embrace of the four of them.

    "We are family. Plus, Anna doesn''t see a problem with that, right, Anna?" He smiled at this woman.

    "That''s right, sister. You already know my intentions, so let''s not pay attention to such small problems..." Anna said as she looked at Viktoria''s side, noticing that her sister''s appearance looked slightly better.<sub> </sub>

    ''Tsk!''

    ''She spent the night with him...'' She sighed in her heart.

    As for Elke, she had a confused feeling in her being for having to ept Viktoria, but also for knowing this woman''s ignorance towards Annaliese.

    ''Lothur is shameless... Does he want to destroy their sisterly rtionship?'' She internallyughed.

    After listening to her younger sister, Viktoria closed her eyes and epted that she had to work with Elke. "I''m sorry, I went a little overboard." She looked at Elke and said. "Let''s talk while drinking tea at my residence. I want the two of us to have a chance to talk alone about certain things."

    "Oh? That''s fine with me." Elke then looked at Lothur. "As long as you agree, Lothur."

    Lothur nodded, pleased that Elke was asking his permission. "Hmm, it is good that you two have the opportunity to talk. As my women, you should be friends, not rivals."

    Elke smiled at him while Viktoria sped one of her hands and watched him. ''I don''t know if we will be friends, but certainly allies against your irrational side.''

    Lothur remembered something and then said. "By the way, I have good news for you, Elke."

    The three looked at him in curiosity, and he exined. "I got out of the Frost family. So, it won''t be long before I get my own house, and you cane and live with us."

    "What?" Viktoria and Elke eximed in surprise, for different reasons, of course.

    "You left House Frost?" Elke asked.

    "What are you talking about, Lothur? We didn''t talk about any of that!" That level 12 brte said, a little irritated.

    Upon hearing their questions, Lothur finally let go of their waists, took a chair, and put it in front of the sofa there.

    After sitting down in front of the three, he began to speak. "Elke, on Friday night..." Lothur briefly described what happened between him and Mabel, making Annaliese and Viktoria feel embarrassed, while Elke was furious.

    "How barbaric!"

    "Lothur, this would never have happened if you were in my family..." She unconsciously said, but Viktoria and Annaliese remained silent even though offended.

    "Anyway, on ount of this, Viktoria and I are staying in a hotel in the central part of this city. We''ll stay there until I can buy a decent residence."

    He then looked at Viktoria and exined. "Dear, it will still be a while before I can ''steal'' Elke from the Becker family. But sooner orter, it will happen, and we will all live together..."

    "I thought you would expect something like this by now."

    Viktoria then said. "Yes, but isn''t it too soon for that? The way you said it, it seems like we won''t even have time to live on our own, and she will already enter our home!"

    "Well, Elke''s mother caught us in the act, which sped things up a bit between us..." He chuckled at Viktoria and Annaliese, causing the two to look at the young redhead in astonishment.

    "And yet you are still together? How is that possible?" Annaliese asked before her sister.

    Elke blushed and said. "My mother understood my situation and allowed me to continue what I was doing."

    "Now Lothur will have to prove himself valuable to the family, and my mother will convince my father about our marriage..."

 Chapter 231 Lothurs Ambition

    After hearing Elke''s words, Viktoria was open-mouthed at that information. ''How is this possible? Her mother saw her having sex with someone else''s husband and epted such a thing? Worse, is this woman still willing to hand over her daughter to Lothur?''

    She did not have the same information about Lothur that Annaliese and Elke had. So, naturally, Viktoria was shocked to hear all that, trying to understand this absurdity of unimaginable proportions.

    ''Could it be that the Becker matriarch is up to something? But no, how could she use her own daughter''s innocence? It would be absurd!''

    ''They should be after a spouse for her, so they can connect to other organizations and increase their power... But how will they do that now that Lothur has taken Elke''s virginity?''

    She looked at the redhead on her right side. ''She said he will have to prove himself...''

    "How exactly will Lothur be useful to your family? I know he is capable of cultivating, but he is already my husband, and second wives usually don''t earn much... Besides, even if he has some talent, it won''t be for your family to use." She said in seriousness.

    Elke looked at Viktoria as if she was watching the most ignorant person in the world andughed. "You say that because you don''t know anything about Lothur."

    Viktoria closed her eyes and said in a slightly irritated tone. "Oh? Then why don''t you tell me?"

    Annaliese then said. "Lothur has many ns, sister. He has created a product that the Becker family is interested in buying. Because of this, they will soon have a mutually beneficial trade agreement."

    "That''s apart from his other ns, which also draw the attention of Elke''s family..."

    "Business?" She looked at Annaliese and then at her husband. "You will do business with a power that is not even partners with our family?"

    Lothur then said. "I had the opportunity to talk to Elke''s family, so why would I waste that chance just for such a trivial reason? If your family had opened their doors to me, I might have sought you out first."

    Annaliese and Elke were silent after these words from Lothur, as neither wanted to get too involved in this discussion, and they knew he had his point.

    Viktoria clenched her fists, staring at her husband. "I don''t me him for acting like this, but..." She then looked at Annaliese. "You knew about this and did nothing? Don''t you want to protect your own family, Annaliese?"

    Annaliese then defended herself. "Sister, I told Lothur to try to make his arrangements with the coroner Klossner, and he will do that in the next few weeks. It''s just that his test product isn''t ready yet, and the Becker family has approached him in the meantime."

    "They were interested in another product from Lothur, so I believe my brother-inw hasn''t forgotten what I spoke about and didn''t act out of spite."

    Viktoria turned to Lothur. "I understand. You had no option before, and you didn''t mean any harm. But now you have the option to work with others. So what are you going to do? Are you going to harm the family by working withpetitors?"

    Elke red at Viktoria but then heard Lothur say. "These families may have beenpetitors in the past, but they may be allies in the future. So, don''t worry about that. I will naturally unite you and avoid the problems you''re worried about."

    "Oh?" Viktoria looked at him with interest. "How are you going to do that? Do you know about the problems we have? Of the pressure that is against us? Of who her family is rted to and what they want?"

    "If it were so easy to make alliances and friendships, our family would not have lost so much space in thest centuries, Lothur." She disappointedly looked at him without ming him too much since he was an amateur. "Her parents probably tricked you into luring you over to their side."

    "Tsk!" Elke did not like that, but she remained silent after seeing her man''s hand gesture.

    "That may be true, and it isn''t a simple situation. But no matter, I will help solve these problems by bringing together the only two things that matter in power rtions."<sub> </sub>

    "What?" She asked.

    "Coins and brute power." He smiled. "Your family is decaying, but it will hardly face its demise in the short term. Instead, your enemies will probably continue to weaken you, as has been happening in the recent past."

    "Then I will use this half-time to establish my own family and unite the houses of my wives and a few more allies."

    "You?" She stood up, finding such a thing absurd. "That''s a bit too ambitious, don''t you think?"

    He closed his eyes and asked. "Anna, Elke, do you think I''m joking? Do you two think I''m saying this without having the necessary skills?"

    Viktoria continued watching him but was surprised to hear those two voices.

    "No. You have the potential." Elke said.

    "Hmm, my brother-inw can do it, sister. He is much more talented than you think and has innovative ideas that could create an empire." She said with a twinkle in her eyes. "You have to meet his carriage project. That thing is so interesting. It will change our world!"

    Viktoria looked at her sister and Elke, feeling confused about the feelings in her heart. Those two trusted him so much, even when talking about suchplicated things. Yet, at the same time, she knew nothing about her husband, while those two knew so much about him made her angry.

    "Lothur, aren''t you going to tell me about these things? I think it''s time for you to exin your ns and secrets to me. I want to see if your ambition is usible or if those two are trying to fool me."

    He smiled at her and said. "Yes, but let''s do thatter. Soon sses will start, and Elke and I will have our first sses in Sector-2..."

    "Then let''s continue thister." He rose from his seat, preparing to leave. "Now, let''s do what we came here to do? I don''t want any of us to bete."

    "Sigh..."

    "All right. Let''s practice a little, so I can see how strong my impressive husband is...  But I won''t let you get away with it! We''ll talk about itter today!"

    Hearing that, the three prepared to head toward one of the many training ces in this institution.

    Lothur could not use the training facilities of this academy, given his position as a mortal incapable of cultivation. But Viktoria and his other women could do so, so they had no difficulty finding a suitable location.

    Lothur had done this several times the previous week at Elke''s side, so this was not a new situation for him either.

    Thus, soon Lothur''s two weaker women were sitting on the outskirts of a training room, waiting for the friendly match between him and Viktoria.

    "Ready? I will take it a bit hard with you since you are such a wicked husband that hides information from his wife." She said as she showed her fists to Lothur.

    "I prefer it that way, dear." He smiled, already with his ax in hand.

    ...

 Chapter 232 Training With Viktoria

    After hearing Lothur''s boldment, Viktoria meaningfully looked at him, noticing the e to me'' look on his face.

    With that, she sped her hands and started their match, going at him to put him under pressure.

    She could let him start the match by attacking her to measure his level, but she wanted to test him under the pressure of being attacked.

    Having good offensive moves was important. But in a deadly battle, the crucial thing was survival, that is, the ability to defend, dodge and counterattack at the right moment one''s opponent.

    So, she decided to start this test by putting him under the pressure of being attacked, quickly striking with her fists and legs in his direction.

    Viktoria was a Spiritual Warrior who could use techniques beyond those that Lothur used. For example, she could create with her spiritual energy ice objects, which were very useful inbat.

    But in fighting her husband, she would not use any of her techniques aimed at these possibilities. Instead, she would use her superhuman physical strength, simr to what Lothur could use in the 1st stage.

    Pow!

    Lothur felt Viktoria''s first move when she appeared near him and immediately moved in the air, rotating one of her legs towards his abdomen.

    Realizing this, he activated his movement and defense techniques, trying to dodge his wife''s fast attack while moving to protect his abdomen.

    As Viktoria had taken it easy at this first moment due to her little knowledge of what he could do, Lothur sessfully managed to move back and escape.

    In that instant, while Viktoria felt slightly surprised by this, he wasted no time. Lothur already knew that neither party could weaken and be passive in a fight.

    No, he had to attack and put pressure on his opponent as best, so he could not miss the opportunity for a counterattack that would asionallye after an opponent''s mistake!

    With that, he activated his offensive technique and used his double ax to sh toward one of Viktoria''s shoulders, already preparing for his next move.

    "Oh?" She could not help but express herself, seeing the almost point-nk attack he was making.

    But being much stronger than him, she had no trouble deflecting that and then using her fists to punch one of Lothur''s forearms.

    ''First, I''m going to take out your weapon...''

    While she was thinking about that n, Lothur used his free hand to throw a dagger in Viktoria''s direction, already jumping back to protect himself from possible counterattacks.

    Swooish!

    Viktoria missed once again in her attack, having stopped the dagger he threw at her instead of hitting one of his forearms.

    "You''re not bad at all..." She praised him as she moved forward, beginning to increase the power of her blows and speed to a level above his.

    "I can tell that you are excellent at using your techniques, but you are still below the mastery level of those of the same level and age as you."

    Lothur had reached the Adept level of mastery in all his techniques. So, it was obvious that his movements were no longer those of an amateur, and against ordinary cultivators, he would already be at a very high level.

    However, for those of the same level and age as him, such people already had years more experience than Lothur. So, obviously, his strokes still needed to improve, despite all the recent advances he had made.

    But Viktoria was delighted to see Lothur doing so well. After all, until a few months ago, he had no power. Thus, the level he was at now could already be considered excellent!

    On the other hand, she could tell that his talent was not bad. With every blow she came up against or pressed him, she felt that his dodging improved, even if subtly.

    Annaliese and Elke were watching everything, but neither could notice these minor improvements. But for Viktoria, who was already at level 12, analyzing Lothur''s progress during a fight was not that difficult!

    ''Well, his talent must be high. Although, considering that, since he''s still at a ''low'' level and has just learned these techniques, any training above the ordinary might boost his learning...'' She considered this as she watched her husband sweat to keep up with her.<sub> </sub>

    ''That will change when he reaches the 2nd stage and masters these techniques better. But even then, he can still improve considerably under my tutge.'' She saw his potential and smiled.

    With that, thebat between these two soon developed for a few minutes until Lothur was already getting exhausted.

    Annaliese and Elke watched the whole thing up to that final moment with interest, impressed with the current level of their man but also with Viktoria''s strength.

    Neither of them was used to seeing Viktoria in action, so seeing a fraction of this woman''s powers, they were impressed and grateful.

    Grateful because watching high-level people fight benefited weaker cultivators, even in situations where the stronger side did not expose their full powers.

    Viktoria might have fought with only a fraction of her strength, but every movement of her body disyed her cultivation level. So much so that even after more than 10 minutes of fighting, she had not sweated. Her clothes were still neatly put on as if she had just slowly danced with Lothur.

    Therefore, both of Lothur''s lovers absorbed a lot from this fight, especially Elke, who had also been inspired by her lover, who was many times stronger than she was.

    In the end, Viktoria stopped her movements when she saw that Lothur could no longer bear to continue and held him by his arms to keep him from falling.

    "Hah... Hah... Thank you, dear... Hah... That training was excellent." He said in his breathless tone while watching the system notifications.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.3 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    [+0.1 in DEX.]

    [+0.2 in STR.]

    He noticed these improvements were inferior to those he had when training with Hilda, level 11, but he did not think it was unfair. After all, he trained much longer with his mother-inw than with Viktoria.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 24.2] [CON: 51.9] [DEX: 20.5] [AGI: 28.5]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 68.8] [WIL: 72]

    [EVF: 247]

    Looking at his status, he realized his average physical attribute score was over 31 points. But since he needed to pass 37 to reach level 9, he still had a long way to go.

    But even considering the possibility of advancing after a good beating, Lothur no longer considered the option of asking one of his women for it. He had already seen how that could go wrong since it was tricky to beat someone you had feelings for.

    Hence, even though he was hungry for power, he was not in a hurry and did not consider asking Viktoria to give him a good spanking.

    ...

 Chapter 233 Back To The Formation Masters Association

    After the couple finished fighting and the other two women there followed close to the two, Viktoria looked at Lothur and said. "You did very well for someone who has recently started cultivating."

    "Your techniques are not the best, but there is much room for growth for you... That way, starting today, I will take care of your training and introduce you to some techniques more suited to your profile."

    "Oh? You''ll have to wait a while and learn more about Lothur before that..." Elkemented in a low voice, remembering what the soul fragment had said about the soul of this silver-haired man.

    "What are you talking about?" Viktoria asked.

    "Sigh..." Lothur sighed and then said. "Let''s talk about thatter. But, for now, we will train together as you suggested, and when you better understand my situation, we''ll go after the more appropriate techniques you speak of."

    "All right..." She agreed as she curiously looked at him, wanting to know where Elke''s earlier warning hade from.

    But since they all had other things to do now, Viktoria did not pursue the matter and soon said goodbye, promising that she would do that with Lothur three times a week.

    Lothur, Elke, and Annaliese headed out of that room together, with this man promising to continue training with his sister-inw on the weekends.

    As for Elke, they would continue their activities in a simr scheme as the previous week, something necessary for her to continue evolving her powers.

    After the weekend without seeing Lothur, Elke had improved a lot with her training, something that her man had realized with the help of the system.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 4]

    [STR: 5.3 -> 6]

    [CON: 15.4]

    [DEX: 7.4 -> 8.1]

    [AGI: 7.8 -> 8.4]

    But even with these outstanding improvements, Lothur did not want to leave his girl behind or train alone. So, he would make an effort to train with her at least once a day after school was over.

    Anyway, Annaliese soon said goodbye to them to go to Sector-4, while the two quickly went to the Sector-2 office to get their IDs and directions.

    ...

    As Lothur and Elke went on with their first official business as students in Sector-2, the principal of Sector-1 was in front of the teacher of Local History of that same division.

    "Well, you have made heavy usations against an innocent student who meritocratically earned a sector advancement in our academy." The principal said as he disappointed looked at the person in front of him.

    "Besides that, the brat seems to be a genius inmon subjects, having gotten every question right on every test he took."

    Gulp!

    "Principal, can''t we talk about it? I..."

    "Quiet!"

    "I did say, didn''t I?" He asked as his eyes narrowed. "If you were making an unfounded usation, it would end with your dismissal."

    "Well then, from today, you are no longer part of the Morning Star Academy. So pick up all your things and leave!" He said in a louder tone. "And don''t use our name in the future. We will make it a point to count your negative experience as part of our institution!"

    The Sector-1 teacher of Local History was red with anger at being dismissed for something so small, but he knew that he could not go against the words of this person in front of him.<sub> </sub>

    As such, he had no choice but to swallow his frustration and walk away!

    "Damn it!"

    "Damned Lothur!" He angrily shouted as he rushed out of the Sector-1 principal''s office, drawing the attention of two young men watching the area.

    "Looks like the bastard managed to ascend a sector!" One of the twomented, feeling surprised that an arrogant jerk like Lothur could do so.

    The other had an ugly expression on his face and said. "Looks like he was hiding from us... But don''t matter. Now that the Province Conference ising up, we will finally be able to act against him!"

    "Yes." The other nodded in agreement. "I thought the young master Merten would have to wait for thepetition for the Secret Realm slots, but since the patriarch has decided to act against this person, we''ll already be able to do thatter this week!"

    After saying those words, the two smiled and left the area to go on with their dangerous ns.

    ...

    Hourster, Lothur and Elke had learned about their new schedule of activities within Sector-2.

    The number of sses for these two had not increased. Elke would continue to takemon and spiritual sses, while Lothur only themon ones. But the difficulty of the subjects had been raised substantiallypared to the previous sector.

    Because of this, they soon realized they would have to work harder than usual, especially Elke, who already knew her man was somewhat remarkable.

    But because of the level-ups she had gone through since meeting Lothur, Elke was much better prepared for this new challenge, having already reached the top level of students in that sector.

    In any case, the two had divided their schedules to have time for themselves, with Lothur selecting the sses he would attend and those subjects he would only learn in the library.

    Because of their ns, he and she had to split up in this ce, with Lothur moving on to the library and Elke continuing with the sses she needed more than he did.

    In thete afternoon, after training and having fun together, the two said their goodbyes, with Elke heading back to her residence to study while she waited for her man''s evening visit.

    As for Lothur, he quickly made his way alongside Annaliese to the local Formation Masters Association.

    After several days since he had visited that ce alongside Elke and Jacob, it was time for the test for new formation masters at that institution.

    Since Lothur needed the recognition of this institution to prove his worth as a formation master to his future investors, he could not miss this opportunity.

    All he would need to do in this test was to prove his theoretical knowledge and produce an Iron-grade formation with at least 30% efficiency.

    Since he had already produced something of the sort, Lothur was confident he could solve this today, so he headed straight to the ce with his sister-inw.

    Annaliese wanted to spend some time next to her man, and as their situation was not favorable, she took this opportunity to apany him.

    With that, she was by his side during this time, happy to apany him and curious to see her brother-inw in action.

    She did not particrly find the profession of formation master interesting, but the opportunity to see him in action gave her a unique feeling.

    Because she had never seen anything of the sort before either, she was more than happy to get into that ce with Lothur to apany him during this test.

    "Anna, after this test, I will attend a dinner at the Christen family estate to take care of business. Do you want to go with me?" Lothur asked as the two walked to the Formation Masters Association reception.

    ...

 Chapter 234 The First Test 1

    "Christen family?" Annaliese repeated these words from Lothur, surprised by this information.

    He then exined. "The person behind the Patchwork House, someone from the Christen family, wants to meet me. I think the glove and the self-destruction formation I put on that item caught this person''s attention."

    "Because of that, she has invited me to dinner." He looked at her andmented. "She probably wants to probe me to see if she can get a deeper deal with me."

    "So that''s it?" She understood but soon asked him. "But won''t it be a problem if I go with you?"

    "I don''t think so. At least no one warned me I couldn''t take a guest." He smiled. ''But it will be good this way. It''s good for me to build friendships and have influence locally, but if those powers aren''t willing to work with who I want, that will bring problems...''

    ''So if Anna goes with me, that family will probably understand that at least they won''t be able to stand against House Frost if they want to have a deal with me.''

    Lothur had left House Frost estate because of hisplicated rtionship with Mabel. But he had nothing against the institution, the Frost family, which could give him benefits in the future.

    He did not want to rule or lead, but he wanted a power structure working for him, preferably managed by his future wives.

    Since Viktoria was already the natural heir to that family and his wife, he obviously did not want House Frost to be destroyed. But, at the same time, he wanted that organization to be able to be part of hiswork in the future.

    It was much easier for him to use existing powers than to build one from the beginning!

    This way, he would have much less trouble and could entrust other people with the management of these organizations and benefit from his position without any major headaches!

    That was his goal, and to that end, Lothur thought that having Annaliese by his side in this meeting with the Christen family would help him in that regard.

    "Anyway, if she won''t allow my beautiful sister-inw to apany me, I will simply leave without hearing what she has to say." He winked at her just before he reached the reception desk in that area.

    As Annaliese blushed, Lothur looked at one of the unupied attendants and asked. "I''m here to take the exam for 1-star formation master. What do I need to do?"

    That mortal looked at Lothur''s handsome face and was momentarily dazzled. But after a second of watching him, she realized that he had asked a question and answered it. "The exams for apprentice formation masters have been going on since the beginning of the day."

    "To join the tests, you need to follow this direction..." She pointed with her hands, gesturing as she exined to Lothur what he needed to do. "There, you will be able to take the first of the three tests."

    "Any questions or concerns you have beyond that, you can ask directly at that ce."

    "That''s it?" He smiled and thanked her. "Thank you for the information."

    ? "Thank you..." She swallowed her saliva and blushed, jealous of thedy next to the most handsome man in the city.

    Lothur was already used to this kind of treatment from women of all ages, so he did not even notice that woman''s flirtatious tone. Instead, he just took one of Annaliese''s hands in his and directed her to the site of the first test.

    Meanwhile, Annaliese looked back with a bit of irritation. ''What a bitch!''

    ''That mortal was offering herself to him in front of me!''

    ''Lucky she''s no big deal... Otherwise, this fool would have paid attention to her.'' She looked at Lothur and sighed.

    After a moment, Lothur did not know what was on his sister-inw''s mind, but soon he entered arge area that looked like the third test room of the Cultivation House.

    In this ce, on one side were small rooms entirely covered by ss, which separated the inside from the outside.

    In addition, there were two tables with the association employees registering candidates for this exam in front of the queue where half a dozen people were waiting.

    Finally, several people were standing or sitting on the small bleachers in front of the ss rooms, watching andmenting on the test of some apprentice formation masters.<sub> </sub>

    "Sigh..."

    "Of the more than 200 people who came through here today, more than half were eliminated on the first test..."

    "It''s a shame!"

    "These peoplee all the way here to take the test without having learned all the basic inscriptions... They''re fools!"

    "Look there, another dummy!" Someonemented as they saw an apprentice of that profession leave one of the ss rooms with an expression of defeat on his face.

    Meanwhile, other candidates who had already been approved and were standing there looked in Annaliese''s direction with glints in their eyes.

    "Look at this girl! What a cutie!"

    "Ah... If I had someone like that at home, I wouldn''t get out of bed..."

    "But look who she''s with!" Someone pointed. "A mortal... Could it be her servant?"

    "No, he is very well-dressed... Besides, he has an annoying expression to be a mere servant." Someonemented as they looked at Lothur''s face.

    "Maybe he''s a gay friend apanying her for the test?" Someone suggested as they approached Annaliese and Lothur, who were already in the registration line at this instant.

    "Hey, beauty, are you here to take the 1-star formation masters test?" He asked as he approached Annaliese with a smile on his face. "If youe with me for dinnerter, I can give you a few pointers..."

    Lothur looked at that person as if he were looking at a struggling worm but did not say anything right away.

    Annaliese then made an annoyed expression andmented. "I''m here apanying my boyfriend. He''s the one taking the test, not me."

    "Boyfriend?" The young man looked in Lothur''s direction and felt as if somehow the fact that this person was not this girl''s gay friend offended him.

    "Is there a problem?" Lothur asked as he ran one of his hands around Annaliese''s waist.

    What Annaliese said was not a problem. Even if rumors spread, the people who mattered to the Frost family knew that Lothur was Annaliese''s brother-inw. And considering the situation, no one would doubt that Annaliese had only said such a thing to get rid of a pain in the ass bothering her.

    So neither of them was worried about exhibiting intimate behavior in front of several people in that ce.

    The young man then made an ugly expression, but since he could not question the rtionship between those two, he used what he had in mind. "Are you going to take the test for formation master? How? A mere mortal doesn''t have the ability!"

    "I think you''d better go back where you came from and not waste the association''s time." He pulled away a little as he looked in Annaliese''s direction. "It will also be good for you not to embarrass yourself in front of this beautifuldy."

    "Oh? You think so?" Lothurughed, feeling challenged.

    [Name: ****]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 30.6] [CON: 31.2] [DEX: 31.3] [AGI: 30.6]

    "I don''t know who you are, but I bet I''m a much better formation master than you are, as well as in many other things, kid..."

 Chapter 235 The First Test 2

    "What did you say?" The fellow from before turned to Lothur and eximed in anger, feeling offended by the words of that mere mortal.

    "I said I''m much better than you, didn''t you hear? Are you deaf?" Lothurmented loud enough for several people in that ce to hear him.

    The people there turned their faces toward Lothur, Annaliese, and the man in question, causing this fellow to turn red with embarrassment at being teased by someone without power.

    "Humph!"

    "You talk big, but is there anything to lean on? I want to see what you''re better at than me..." He paused as he looked at Lothur''s annoyed face. "In the profession of formation master, of course."

    "You want to bet? I''m sure I''m better than all the 1-star formation masters in this city. So, surpassing someone of your level won''t be difficult..." Lothur said with a smile on his face as he shook his shoulders as if that man was an insignificant worm.

    After those words were said, even the examiners there began to pay attention to Lothur, some of them not knowing what to think, while others sighed in disappointment.

    ''Arrogance is one of the worst evils of this younger generation... They get a little bit of power and already act as if they own the area.'' An old man shook his head as he recorded the information of a young man.

    But not everyone thought trust and rivalry were terrible things to have.

    ''Interesting!''

    ''Cedric is one of our association''s most talented 1-star formation masters... Can this kid outdo him?'' Someone operating the ss rooms in that examination area wondered in curiosity.

    "What arrogance!"

    "And to think that an apprentice would make such a bold statement!" Some of the candidates for that exam eximed while having unfriendly expressions as they looked at Lothur.

    Cedric, the man who had approached him and Annaliese,ughed and said. "The best in the city? I don''t know who''s been telling you lies, but you should wake up to reality!"

    "You can''t believe thepliments your mother, sister, and girlfriend tell you! They try to make you feel better, but they don''t speak the truth!" He said this with contempt in his eyes, not even remembering that he had courted Annaliese seconds ago.

    To him, Lothur''s offense had surpassed the level at which he could deal with this person and still think about looking good to a woman.

    But then he suggested. "But I''ll give you a chance. You want to bet, don''t you? Then if you are approved to be a 1-star formation master and produce an Iron-grade formation with 90% efficiency on thest test, I will grant victory to you!"

    "I will ask you for forgiveness on my knees, and I will even give you a set of gs for a Bronze-grade formation!"

    People in the surrounding area opened their mouths in surprise, some finding it incredible that this person had suggested such a bet, while others thought about Cedric''s limits.

    ''Cedric has yet to reach 90% efficiency in his formations, so his bet is not unfair. But, on the other hand, a set of Bronze-grade gs is valuable to him, which shows that he is willing to take a risk...'' A colleague of Cedric''s thought.

    ? "He''s truly offended..."

    "All right, let''s get on with that bet." Lothur agreed without much thought as the man doing the registration of the test candidates called out to him.

    As he intended to make his entry, someone there asked him. "Wait a moment. Don''t you want to know what you will have to give in case of defeat? How can you ept a bet without knowing that beforehand?"

    Lothur smiled as Annaliese gave his data to the man making his record. "I won''t lose, so it makes no difference."<sub> </sub>

    ''Bastard, son of a bitch!'' Cedric felt hatred from Lothur for this blind confidence and then said. "Very good, very good indeed!"

    "Then I will say this. If you lose, you will have to end your rtionship with her, and I want to have a date with her!"

    Annaliese looked at that fellow and frowned. But before she had a chance to say anything, Lothur said. "As I said, I''m not going to lose, so it makes no difference what you want..."

    "On the other hand, a loser unable to win a woman with his abilities is no threat. Even if I delivered her to your house, you wouldn''t touch a strand of this woman''s hair."

    "Asshole!" Cedric clenched his fists and felt like jumping on Lothur and teaching this fellow a lesson.

    But as he tried to act, he was stopped by one of his friends, while another official called the next to take the test.

    "Next!"

    As one of the people in front of Lothur followed into one of the ss rooms, he and Annaliese left the line from before, and she exined to him. "In this test, your knowledge of inscriptions will be tested in one of these rooms."

    "I believe this will be more or less like an illusion that you will have to solve a puzzle formed by inscriptions." She exined what she had already heard from other candidates taking tests there in that area.

    She had not paid much attention to Cedric as Lothur teased this fellow. Annaliese was used to being wooed daily by several young men, but she was not interested in any of them. The only one who made her feel nervous, with a funny feeling in her stomach, was Lothur, who had also already won her over in a unique way...

    Because of this, even the most confident words and the things that man put into the bet, she paid no attention to almost any of it!

    Instead, she had noticed what this test was like from thements of the people in the surroundings, whether they were 1-star formation masters watching the event or the apprentices being examined.

    From that came the advice to Lothur.

    "So that''s it?" He remembered the test at the Cultivation House. "But if this illusion is too weak, what will happen? I''m afraid I won''t even be able to have my skills tested because of my talent..."

    Someone near Lothur and Annaliese turned to him and gave him a wide-eyed look, given this person''s arrogance.

    Annalieseughed upon hearing that and then answered him. "An illusion can be created to test your mental power, or to test your knowledge and understanding regarding the Natural Laws of our world."

    "The first would fail to test people with mental power higher than the formation limit. But the second one, no."

    "So that''s how it is..." Hemented in a low voice.

    "You didn''t know something so basic?" The man who had just passed the first test and stood beside Lothur and Annaliese asked incredulously. "How can that be?"

    Lothur saw the dark-skinned man to his right and felt that this fellow had a good aura. "I''m ignorant ofmon things, but my abilities are unquestionable..."

    "You''ll seeter... But anyway, my name is Lothur. And you?" He showed one of his hands to the bald, level 7 man.

    That man looked curiously at Lothur and found this guy interesting. "My name is Johann. I am also taking the exam to be a 1-star formation master."

    ...

 Chapter 236 The First Test 3

    After they shook hands, Lothur stopped using his visual power on this young man, who clearly had a Soul Bone in his left eye.

    Lothur was not the friendly type with anyone who came near him. He was more the type who would only get involved with whoever was necessary, or he was interested in, following the example of the women he had gotten involved with so far.

    But seeing that apprentice in the profession of formation master with a Soul Bone standing next to him, Lothur could not help but value this person. After all, he did not want to have to be actively involved in his future endeavors.

    No, he wanted to live in the shadows while others would do the hard work for him!

    As such, having capable people by his side was of paramount relevance for Lothur to realize his dream of domination without worry!

    Thus, Lothur introduced himself to that man who had not seen Annaliese''s brother-inw earlier show of confidence because he was taking the test at that moment.

    After shaking one of Johann''s hands, Lothur said. "Do youe from some big family? Are you living here, in Peters City?"

    "Hmm, my family is not based here, but I came to learn the art of formation masters here in Peters City. So I live here, away from my home, Teusen." He answered the person next to him, this misinformed fellow.

    "Teusen family?" Lothur asked in a low voice to Annaliese.

    "It is a medium-sized power in our province that focuses on this profession." She said in a low voice in one of Lothur''s ears.

    Meanwhile, Johann asked. "What about you?"

    Lothur replied as he looked back at this fellow. "Actually, I''m forming my own family, hehe. But anyway, maybe I''ll tell you this story in the future..."

    After that, Lothur walked beside Annaliese to where one of the examiners was calling him.

    "Is it normal for children of powers who specialize in that profession to send their offspring to study abroad?" He asked her.

    "More or less." She began to speak. "But note that he is already at the 7th Transformation... Inparison, others taking this test are between the 3rd and 5th Transformation."

    "So, he probably received his primary education in his family, and then they sent him here to finish his training."

    She looked at Lothur as she stopped beside one of the ss rooms in that area. "That ismon. Just look at my family''s case. It sent Viktoria to the Morning Star Academy, right? It''s the same logic. My sister learned the basics in our family, but only the academy can finalize her cultivator training."

    "I see..." Hemented as he entered the testing room in that area.

    The examiner read his registration and then said. "Lothur, you will now have your knowledge regarding inscriptions tested. You need to get at least 75% of what you do on the exam right."

    "Do you have any questions?"

    "Are there any rules? Anything I can''t use on the exam?" Lothur asked as he thought about his Soul Bone.

    The examiner said. "Anything you can use, as long as it is not a formation, is considered part of your skills. So, we don''t mind."

    "OK. You can start the exam!" He said with a bit of animation to put his skills to the test.

    ''After my advancement in terms of talent, I haven''t trained my formation master skills much, but I have finished studying the inscriptions for 1-star individuals...'' He thought about this as the room he was in was filled with a colorful gas.

    As he stopped seeing the outside of that area, where Annaliese, Johann, Cedric, and the other individuals were, little by little, Lothur felt the examination begin.

    This time he did not simply feel a little difort and nothing more. This time he did not even feel a weight on his conscience, and soon several inscriptions appeared on his surroundings, like floating buttons.

    But among these ''buttons,'' not everything that was ''written'' could be considered inscriptions, thenguage of Natural Law.

    Some of them also formed sentences, but some were incorrect in small details, which was not difficult for Lothur to identify.<sub> </sub>

    ''Is there also an option for me to correct?'' He realized this as he noticed that he could use his fingers to write on these ''buttons.''

    ''Well, first, let''s eliminate those that are correct...'' He slowly began to tap the ''buttons'' without errors, making them disappear from his surroundings.

    As Lothur did this, his score appeared at the top of the door to the room he had entered.

    ''2%...''

    ''3%... 4%... 4.5%...''

    Annaliese and the other people waiting outside the examination rooms saw his score slowly rising, ignoring the other apprentices taking their tests.

    After Lothur disys arrogance, many curse him, wishing to see him suffer the biggest embarrassment of his life by failing in front of his girl.

    Meanwhile, Cedric had his fists clenched so hard that his bones emitted strange sounds while he kept thinking about Lothur''s words.

    ''That bastard will pay me back!''

    ''When he loses, not only will I steal his girl, but I will also prevent him from continuing to learn my profession!''

    ''I''ll talk to my uncle to make his life difficult whenever hees to the association!'' He mischievously smiled, giving no importance to Lothur''s score.

    That was the most straightforward test, and anyone who studied for the required time could achieve 75%.

    The only problem with this test was that some hasty apprentices did not trust the advice of their superiors and came to take the exam before they were ready.

    As a result, several individuals who had passed before Lothur had failed on it, lost their registration fees, and returned home with their confidence weakened.

    But Cedric saw that although Lothur looked like a mortal, he was not simple!

    ''43%...''

    "That Lothur is truly fast, that I have to admit," Johannmented in a low voice, realizing that at this pace, it would not even take 2 minutes for that silver-haired man to finish the exam.

    ''Even using my Soul Bone, which ispatible with formations, it took me 6 minutes to finish this test...'' He thought, seeing that Lothur''s talent for this profession was not small.

    ''Maybe I should approach him. My family always told me that it would be good for me to have contacts with capable people...'' He continued watching the scoreboard in Lothur''s room.

    ''66%...''

    As for Annaliese, she had a confident smile on her face and was just in doubt about how far Lothur would get. ''Is it possible for him to get everything right?'' She wondered, ignoring the surprisedments in the surroundings.

    ''2 minutes into the test, and he''s almost at the pass mark...'' One of the examiners there looked with interest at Lothur''s score.

    ''Is he that good? Maybe his arrogance is not unfounded?''

    ''74%...''

    Cedric finally saw Lothur achieving what was necessary to pass that exam stage. But he still was not nervous, ''That''s nothing! I want to see how you''ll do on the remaining tests!''

    ''79%...''

    ...

 Chapter 237 The Second Test 1

    ''89%...''

    When the marker on top of the door of the room in which Lothur was taking his exam came close to 90%, even the examiners applying the tests of otherpetitors became distracted.

    The minimum an apprentice had to get right in this exam was 75%, but that did not mean that such a thing was easy to achieve!

    Many who came there failed, and only those with high mastery of the functional inscriptions of Iron-grade formations could achieve the minimum required.

    At the same time, it was straightforward for someone to forget some inscriptions or even confuse them since some were simr. So much so that even 1-star formation masters could take this exam and make some mistakes!

    Because of the difficulty of achieving such a high rate, many were impressed by the silver-haired young man''s abilities.

    ''That fellow studied hard!'' One of the examiners there praised Lothur in his mind, wishing that more apprentices would wait for the right time to take this test.

    "94%..." Johann muttered to himself as he stood beside the room Lothur was in, very impressed with this person''s performance.

    ''I wonder where he came from? He said he is developing his own family... Don''t tell me he has achieved this level of mastery at such a young age without having had the support of a power focused on this profession?'' His eyebrows drew together with this doubt.

    Johann had studied for nearly a decade within his family until he came to Peters City to begin the mostplicated part of his journey as a formation master. He had had great resources and even earned a Soul Bone, but still, he had only reached the 93% mark!

    As such, he was impressed and could not help but approach Annaliese. "Can you tell me how he studied this profession? That is the first time I''ve seen someone of my age with such talent, so I want to know more..."

    Annaliese smiled and said. "Lothur has been learning the profession of formation masters for less than two months."

    Johann and the examiners who heard his question looked at her in disbelief as their eyes opened so wide they looked as if they would jump out of their faces.

    "It can''t be! Impossible!" One of them eximed, feeling that the girlfriend of Lothur''s was ying with them.

    "How is that possible? Even geniuses within our profession with Yellow talent would take longer than that! How could he do that?"

    Annaliese then shook her shoulders and said. "Believe what you want. But that is the truth."

    Cedric also heard such nonsense, clenched his hands in anger, and felt a little contempt for this woman. ''Why is she lying? Is it just because he is a little better-looking than the rest of us? Don''t tell me you''re so shallow?''

    But while the people there considered Annaliese''s words as a provocation to them, Lothur''s score reached the highest level!

    ''100%.'' It blinked three times as it reached the top, while some people outside that room started talking louder, some happy to see that, others envious of Lothur.

    "No matter how fast this young man learned our profession. Just from that result alone, I can already tell he ispatible and has worked hard to achieve perfection!"

    "Yes, true! No wonder he said he was one of the best in the city. He really can say that!"

    Some examiners smiled as they praised Lothur''s admirable performance.

    "Actually, he said he was the best, not one of the..." Someonemented in a low voice,ughing as he watched in the direction of Cedric, who looked a little pale at the moment.

    As for Johann, as he watched the fog in Lothur''s room diminish in density and the silhouette of this young man reappearing, he could not help but recognize this colleague''s achievement.

    ''I took that exam myself, so I know how difficult it is to perform at such a high level...'' He thought, still uncertain about the integrity of Annaliese''s words but certain of Lothur''s talent.<sub> </sub>

    With that, the moment Lothur left that room under the gazes of everyone in that area, silence arose from the noise there, with Annaliese approaching him with a beautiful smile.

    "Congrattions, Lothur, you have achieved the highest score on this exam!" She said as she hugged his right arm.

    He smiled at her andmented. "I already expected something like this..."

    Lothur then looked at the people in his surroundings, nodding to Johann and grinning at Cedric.

    "Young man, congrattions on your result." The old man who had done Lothur''s registration rose from his seat and approached this silver-haired person. "You demonstrated great knowledge regarding inscriptions in this first exam."

    "That was nothing. I just used some of what I recently learned..." Lothurmented in his humble way...

    "Anyway," The old man tapped one of Lothur''s shoulders. "Tell me something, where do youe from? Perhaps from arge family of formation masters?"

    "Not that I know of," Lothur sincerely said. "I started learning this profession on my own as aplementary activity to help me in my main goal."

    "Complementary activity?"

    "You learned it on your own?" People in the surrounding area listened to Lothur and repeated those words, shocked at how impressive or facetious he was.

    If this was true, he was an unparalleled genius. If it was not, then he was probably the biggest rascal in the province to lie so well in front of so many people!

    The old man shook his head and tried to ignore Lothur''s exaggerations. "So you don''t belong to any power?"

    "Sort of. I''m not part of any organization of formation masters."

    The old man then probed Lothur. "So what do you think about joining the association as part of the council? Sure, you''ll still have to finish the exams, but even if you fail at something, we''ll ept you as a member and nurture you!"

    People in the surrounding area opened their mouths, shocked at such an oue.

    Being a member of the Formation Masters Association could have different meanings depending on one''s hierarchy. For example, more than 90% of the members of this institution were just students who could learn in this institution and had a few benefits.

    But only 1% of these professionals were part of the council, the highest group in this institution, those who governed thews of the formation masters and controlled valuable resources.

    Since it was not easy to be a council member, the people there could not help but be surprised.

    Lothur looked at Annaliese and asked in a low voice. "What is this council?"

    Johann heard this and almost fell on the floor due to Lothur''s ignorance.

    Annalieseughed and said. "Ordinary members of this association do not have their freedoms affected and have a rtionship with this organization more as student ''clients'' than actual members."

    "But the council members are like the core of that organization, simr to royalty in a royal family. So they can grow within this institution and eventually actually rule it. But of course, they are limited in many ways..."

    Lothur listened to that carefully while the old man in front of him waited for his answer. "I see, so that''s it..."

 Chapter 238 The Second Test 2

    Lothur then responded to the offer made by that old man. "Well, I don''t likepromises or leadership responsibilities. So if there''s no way for a council member to get rid of those two problems, I will have to decline that offer."

    "What?" The old man eximed in surprise. "Are you serious? What could be more honorable than leading an organization? Besides, this is an instrument for you to grow within this profession quickly!"

    "Are you sure you''re going to decline it? You might not be invited again!" He said, squeezing Lothur''s shoulder a little but without hurting this annoying-looking man.

    Lothur then replied. "I don''t see it that way... This leadership stuff is not for me. Anyway, you are wrong about something. I don''t see myself bing a great formation master in the future."

    "I am learning that along with other professions to fulfill certain goals, but I don''t see myself practicing the profession of formation master as normal people do."

    "You what?" The mouths of the old man and Johann, who heard everything, opened due to these statements of Lothur.

    From what this man was talking about, this profession was not a big deal for him, and he was not that dedicated. That was not his focus, and he did not seem to have much ambition.

    Considering how much talent he should have given the first test of that exam, the two of them soon began to think how unfair the world was.

    ''What a great disgrace!''

    ''A talent like that is going to be wasted because of that foolish mentality of his!'' The old man looked up at the ceiling of that ce as if he was trying to see through the walls and was sending his message to the heavens.

    Meanwhile, Annaliese was reveling in this, happy to see her brother-inw behaving so genuinely.

    "Anyway, how is the second test? By the way, is it also done here?" Lothur asked after a moment of silence in that area.

    Another association official at that location then exined. "The second exam for new 1-star formation masters is done in the next room. But we have to wait for a few more candidates to pass before we can continue with it."

    Johann regained some of hisposure and said to Lothur. "There is a lot ofpetition between formation masters in our world. They say that for every apprentice who starts this profession, only half of them manage to establish themselves and grow in this business."

    "Of that half, more than 70% will not advance to the higher levels and will serve asbor formon artifact production. Only those who are left have the real chance to prosper and seed."

    "Because of this, the second test of the associationbines this toughpetition with the exam we will take." This dark-skinned man said. "We will probably have topete to see who has the best results or the best times doing something."

    "The first half will move on to the next stage, and the rest will fail, even if they finish the test."

    Lothur heard all this and found the ways of this ce interesting. "I see. They are teaching these apprentices the value ofpetition and how the world works..." He muttered in a low voice.

    On Earth, some clueless people liked the idea of teaching children not to count the score and to y with the idea of equality. But in practice, in the real world, the adult world, there was no such thing as equality, and the score was always counted!

    Unfortunately, some fools grew up believing in fantasy and suffered when faced with the cold world awaiting them.

    Lothur knew this and liked the methods of this association as eliminating even those capable of passing a test was a method of teaching that such a thing alone was not enough!

    The weaker ones could feel the injustice, give up, or work harder.

    That was the choice presented in situations like this, something necessary to make this brutal world stronger!

    The resources of this world were limited, and it would be a great misfortune, a genuine sorrow, to waste them on weak people.<sub> </sub>

    So, naturally, the world penalized those unable to use all of themselves, taught that there is no rest and that one must push oneself to the limit to ensure spiritual progress.

    The training that makes you stronger is the one that makes one''s cells understand that if it does not get stronger, the body dies.

    Society needed people like this, so it needed to be cruel to those of low willpower!

    With that in mind, Lothur stood beside Annaliese and Johann for a few minutes until more candidates appeared to contest the second test.

    "To those who passed the first test,e with me!" A tall, muscr man remarked this, not waiting and soon beginning to walk toward a corridor that connected this ce to the next exam area.

    Lothur and his sister-inw followed in that person''s footsteps, while Cedric followed them further back, along with other members of the association who were observing these tests.

    ''This next test is not yet the mostplex, so it won''t be difficult for someone able to do 100% on the first one.'' Cedric, the man with long ck hair, believed, still not despairing.

    His bet was specific. Lothur had to make a formation with at least 90% efficiency. But that could notpare with knowing all the Iron-grade inscriptions or having the ability to pass the second test. So, he was still looking forward as he longed for the moment when Lothur would fall, humiliating himself in front of Annaliese!

    That would be his moment, his revenge against someone who talked colossal nonsense.

    ''I just have to wait!''

    ''He''ll get a few more moments of glory but fall in no time!'' He mischievously grinned until everyone there reached the second exam room.

    As they arrived in that area with a small tform between four bleachers, those candidates saw the man from earlier climb onto the tform that had several tables evenly spread out.

    "The second test of this exam is simple." He said aloud, gesturing and looking at those apprentices. "You must deactivate those formations without destroying them within three minutes."

    "The first half of those who do this within that interval will be approved to proceed with the third exam... The rest will fail!"

    Gulp!

    The 14 apprentices in Lothur''s group understood the challenge, with many swallowing their saliva in nervousness.

    Three minutes was not much time to disarm an unknown formation without the risk ofpromising its integrity.

    Hell, even if it took longer, setting up a formation was much easier than deactivating it without damaging its structures!

    Hence, as they walked up to that stage, randomly choosing their seats, several candidates were quite anxious.

    "Well, I''ve never deactivated a formation before, but it shouldn''t be a problem..." Lothurmented in a low voice as he sat in front of his desk, where a small device with the formation to be deactivated was.

    After that, the examiner looked at each candidate and noticed they were all ''ready.'' So, he gave the signal and fired the timer, an hourss the size of his arm.

    ...

 Chapter 239 The Second Test 3

    After looking at the formation in front of him using his visual ability, Lothur saw each inscription in the code of it.

    That was a standard Iron-grade defensive formation, something that, from what Lothur understood, when activated, would manipte certain atoms in the air to create a type of fabric. The spiritual energy would connect such a thing, and some low-level Natural Laws would shape its structure to produce something with remarkable resilience.

    The practical result of this? The creation of a barrier around a few meters of the formation, capable of withstanding the full force of someone at the 1st stage for some time.

    The time in question could range from infinity, for when a mortal would attack such a thing, or 10 minutes if a cultivator at the 9th Transformation were the one trying to destroy this barrier.

    Lothur noticed this almost instantly but was not impressed since the idea behind it was very basic. But he didn''t think it was a waste of time to pay attention to the details of this formation. On the contrary, it allowed him to understand how the people of this world created the rules behind it.

    On Earth, there was nothing of the sort, but he used the scientific logic of that ce. Since he previously thought that his way of acting was normal, he was slightly surprised to find otherwise. But as he noticed the formations created by others, he slowly understood their ways.

    He created formations with programming that followed his physical, chemical, biological, etc., knowledge from Earth.

    Perhaps because of the scientific method he used, of how organized his thoughts were, he could not help but think of the inscriptions of this world as somewhat simple.

    ''Hmm, maybe it''s because my level is still shallow, and I haven''t seen something of Silver-grade, Gold-grade, etc.'' He thought to himself, stopping paying attention to that to deactivate the formation.

    ''It''s only been 40 seconds, so I''m notte.'' He yed with the brush in his right hand while having that part of his body inside the restricted space under the effect of the formation''s gs.

    But unlike many candidates in the surrounding, this area under restriction was presenting almost no opposition to Lothur''s movements, as had happened the first time he had done a formation.

    The examiners in the surrounding area and even the group of 1-star formation masters there, as in Cedric''s case, had already noticed this and were shocked.

    Gulp!

    ''This guy... Doesn''t he have any difficulty manipting the Laws? How can that be? What level is he at?'' Cedric began to sweat a little since, although this test was not as difficult as the third one, he could not do such a thing!

    He thought it might be a bit tricky to get 100% of the first test right, but considering his Iron-grade formation inscriptions mastery; he thought it was possible that he could manage such a thing. But what was happening to Lothur at the moment was impossible for him to achieve in the short term!

    At the same time, the old man who had invited Lothur earlier could not help but scratch his chin as he thought about this young man''s abilities. ''It seems that he is a genius in a million! Maybe I should try harder to bring him over to our side?''

    ''He seems to be the type who doesn''t likepromise and doesn''t act for the greater good, but when you have such great talent, those ws be tolerable...''

    While many were watching Lothur and ignoring the various candidates sweating in nervousness, this fellow inscribed something over the formation in his hands.

    ''Let me deactivate you...'' He smiled as he finished writing something that nullified the device needed to activate that formation.

    A secondter, he removed his hand from that region of space and soon deactivated the gs, finishing his work.

    He then waved one of his hands at the examiner of this test and stood up from his seat. "I''m done."

    Even speaking softly, Lothur managed to attract the attention of the candidates on that examination tform, who looked at him as if he were a monster.

    "Already?" Someone there asked in disbelief as he saw that less than a third of the test time had passed.<sub> </sub>

    The examiner stopped beside Lothur''s table and looked at the deactivated formation. ''Hmm? It''s in one piece, but I can''t activate it.''

    This man was a 2-star formation master, but he could not see what Lothur had done or whether this young man''s ways differed from this world''s.

    Not because the silver-haired young man had done something special, which he had. But because one could not analyze a formation without using a g or other unique items.

    Lothur could do this using his Soul Bone, which gave him a unique ability. But ordinary people could only see the inscriptions of a formation by cing it under the space of a set of gs.

    As such, that man saw nothing. He only noticed that energy was still flowing in the formation, which indicated that it had not been destroyed. But hismands were not operating.

    "All right, you are approved. You can sit somewhere and wait for the end of this test. Soon we will go to the final part of this exam." He said in a low voice, leaving the formation deactivated by Lothur on that table.

    Hearing this, Lothur made his way to Annaliese''s side while the old man from before walked up on that stage to look at the formation used by the young man who had caught his eye.

    ''Let me see what you have done...'' This man picked up a g set and began to analyze that in front of everyone, not caring about the others'' attention on him.

    He was also an examiner, so obviously, it was his right to do such a thing!

    Meanwhile, Johann and two other people finished their test within the time and among the avable slots.

    ''2:05...''

    When more than two-thirds of the test time had passed, something happened!

    The old man watching Lothur''s formation frowned firmly and realized something was blocking his analysis. ''Uh?''

    He felt a bad sensation and tossed the formation that looked like a cube high above that area.

    Boom!

    Such a thing exploded into blue mes as the materialponents of that item disappeared along with the smoke from such a reaction.

    "What?" The people in that ce were startled by such a thing, surprised that something like that would happen in the middle of an examination.

    But the old man who had tried to look at what he should not have been was the most shocked, not only by the ''little gift'' Lothur had left for him, but this young man''s achievement. ''He put Laws of Destruction into a defensive formation?''

    He incredulously looked at Lothur. ''Yet such a thing was as stable as it should be! How did hebine different Laws into a single object?''

    To do what Lothur did was not impossible. But only at higher levels, with moreplex inscriptions, would someone be able tobine opposing Laws.

    Knowing this, that old examiner was more surprised at Lothur''s achievement than angry at this ''trick''!

    "Sir..."

 Chapter 240 Time For The Last Test

    "Sir, what shall we do now?" One of the examiners asked as he pointed one of his fingers at the candidates in this exam who had failed because of the previous explosion.

    The old man stopped looking at Minos and looked in the direction of the 1-star formation master apprentices, who at the moment had unfriendly expressions on their faces.

    They still had a few seconds of examination ahead of them, but due to the disruption of their concentrations, several of them had failed and caused their formations to be destroyed.

    Because that man''s action had caused this, they could not help but get angry and think that such a thing was his fault and feel wronged.

    "Sir, I was almost able to finish..." One of them was saying his words of protest when that old man raised one of his hands and stopped him.

    "You don''t have to say anything else. You have failed, so you are eliminated." He turned to leave that tform. "Good luck on your next attempt."

    One of the young men harmed by his action got up from his seat and said with irritation. "No, that''s unfair! How did I fail if an examiner''s action got in my way during the test?"

    Other examiners there did not say anything. Instead, they just watched that old man stop his movement and look to the side, where some of the approved candidates were waiting.

    "Five people managed to finish their test within the time limit. That''s more than enough of those who passed this test." He then looked in the direction of the candidate who had dared to speak the previous words to him. "Only two more of you would have a chance of passing, but tell me something. If you cannot keep your attention in such a situation, how do you want us to ept you into our organization?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Go away. Train your attention more, be faster in your formation maniption skills." He gave that advice before leaving without giving those young losers more chances.

    After hearing that, the youngsters there obviously did not like being penalized for such a thing, but who could theyin to? That old man was the supervisor of the day for these exams, so they could only ept their bad luck.

    Even if they had influence, the local Formation Masters Association only held exams like these once a month. So, anyints would have no immediate effect, and they would have to wait to take that exam one way or another.

    Thus, they just swallowed their anger, feeling the world''s injustice.

    On the other hand, Cedric and the other observers there looked at Lothur, knowing that this incident had been his doing.

    Some had envious eyes in his direction, not liking this guy who was so good-looking, had a beautiful girlfriend, and still had exceptional talents...

    He was annoying!

    Cedric was among these people, but because of his bet with Lothur, he was beginning to worry about the uing test and could not think much about the current problem.

    On the other hand, Johann was curious to know what had happened. "What have you done? Why did the formation you altered explode when that man examined it?"

    Lothur smiled and said. "He tried to spy on what I had done, so the self-destructmand I left in that formation activated."

    "Oh?" This young man''s mouth dropped open as he felt even more respect for Lothur. ''Not only was this guy the fastest in deactivating his formation, but he also found time to inscribe something else in there!''<sub> </sub>

    ''Not to mention that that was a defensive formation...''

    "Hey, Lothur, you said you were forming your family, right? So what do you intend to do? Have you thought that joining a power that already exists might be more interesting?" He asked. "There are all kinds of advantages for talented people, so some powers surely are willing to give up certain things for someone like that..."

    "Hmm, I know." Lothur nodded in agreement. "But I have my ns, and I don''t want to get involved in other people''s affairs."

    "But what about you? Have you ever thought of participating in something great? I know you must have your responsibilities in the Teusen family, but if you want to be part of something revolutionary, you will have to go beyond the boundaries of this house..."

    Johann forgot that he was trying to recruit Lothur and asked in doubt. "What do you mean? Are you telling me you have something fantastic in mind?"

    "Hmm, if you want, look for Frederik Calis'' carpenter store in..." Lothur gave Johann the store location of the carpenter who was developing his miniature vehicle. "I''m working with the person behind that ce on a special project, so it won''t be hard for you to find me there in the future."

    "If you are interested, go to that ce on the 20th in the afternoon. We''ll talk in detail about it at that time." Lothur finished making his invitation to Johann as they followed an examiner to the location of thest test.

    Johann listened to all that carefully, interested in Lothur''s words. ''I must see as soon as possible where this ce is...''

    If it were a few hours ago, Johann would ignore the invitation from someone the same age as him, even more so after such a person said absurd things, like something ''great,'' ''unique,'' etc. But after seeing Lothur''s unusual abilities, this person could not help but be moved by Annaliese''s boyfriend''s words.

    ''I''ll see how he does in thest test, but he will likely have the best performance, once again...'' He thought as their group reached thest testing area.

    ''In any case, I lose nothing by listening to his ns. And as my family has said so many times, it does well to be aroundpetent people who are outside the curve!''

    Meanwhile, Annaliese asked in a low voice to Lothur. "Do you want to recruit him? That is the first time I''ve seen you willing to work with someone who doesn''t wear a dress..."

    "Hehe, this fellow has a good future. Then he has enough for me to tolerate him because he is not a woman." Lothur joked with his sister-inw.

    The silver-haired young man then raised his voice a little. "Atst, time for me to win a bet!"

    Cedric heard this but said nothing, having just lowered his head and waited for the examiner''s exnation of thisst test to begin.

    "Well, you who got here probably already know, but I''ll repeat it. In this third test, you must produce an Iron-grade formation with at least 30% efficiency."

    "We will provide you with all the necessary materials, and you will have 30 minutes to finish your projects." He looked at the faces of those five people there. "There are no limits beyond that, so whoever can meet that requirement will earn the formation master credential!"

    After saying those words, he waved one of his hands, showing arge courtyard with several tables, where the necessary materials were in what looked like a pantry.

    "If you are ready, begin!"

    ...

 Chapter 241 Record

    The moment the examiner of thisst test gave his permission for the candidates to begin, Lothur opened the scroll of a formation from the set offered by the association.

    The Formation Masters Association would not test an apprentice''s favorite formation. No, the purpose of this exam was to measure the ability of the individuals under examination. So they had to produce or manipte formations chosen by that ce.

    Since every 1-star formation master was expected to know how to produce any Iron-grade formation, there was no problem in following rules like that.

    On the other hand, all materials used in the exam had to be provided by the association to ensure the integrity of the tests. So, only from something chosen in advance by the management of this ce would the tests work as well as possible.

    With that, after Lothur learned one of those formations he had not yete in contact with, he quickly took the materials he would need to develop it and found a ce to sit down.

    Thus, in the blink of an eye, he assembled the formation gs and began his work to develop his first spatial ring.

    ''This test is beneficial...'' He thought as he made the first preparations to start inscribing on that metal object within thews'' restriction space. ''They make the scroll avable for us to learn new formations!''

    Formation masters could invent formations, as Lothur had done with those he had produced so far, or use those that already existed. Those usually had their details, methods, and necessary materials previously recorded on scrolls, which were usually traded, just like techniques.

    So were recipes for pills, potions, weapons, etc. Every spiritual profession in this world has its valuable ''blueprints.''

    In this way, Lothur had just learned a new kind of formation by taking this test, noticing the secrets behind the handy spatial rings!

    ''So all I have to do is inscribe this code...'' He used a special brush without difficulty to write the programming for this formation. ''And then this will create a ''bubble'' of space the size of the stored object if it is smaller than four cubic meters in volume...''

    ''This other code is to repeat the process if the first object did not upy all the space in the ring. In this case, if it is within the volume limit, a new bubble will be created for the second object...''

    ''This code will then repeat this ''n'' times until that volume is filled...'' He wrote the third line.

    In sequence, he made somemands regarding the item''s security so that the ring''s owner could be assured that others would not have an easy time essing his spatial storage.

    Finally, Lothur addedmand lines for things necessary for the ring to function.

    ''This will be for adding new items and removing thest ones manually...''

    ''That other one will be for using spiritual energy to choose one of the bubbles to be summoned...'' Finally, themand to spiritually add new items.'' He finished inscribing all the rules of that formation.

    However, even though he was already finished with only 8 minutes of testing, he took some more time to protect his inscriptions.

    He had been inspired by the formation design given by the association, but he had used his logic to produce such a thing. So, to protect his intellectual property, Lothur put a self-destructmand on that spatial ring!

    He then withdrew his hand from that restricted space and smiled, satisfied with his work there.

    ? ''Not bad, not bad at all.'' He looked intensely at the silver ring. ''In the future, I won''t need to buy spatial rings anymore, and I will even be able to ''hack'' rings of people still alive.''

    With the knowledge of how to produce something naturally came that of how to deconstruct it...

    There could be several types of spatial rings in this world. But in general, the idea behind them was simr, which made it easy for formation masters to break through the security barriers of these items.

    So Lothur learned something helpful today!

    He then took his attention off that object right after deactivating the gs, finally indicating that he had finished when the time trial was at 13 minutes.

    Seeing this, none of the people waiting for the exam were surprised that Lothur was first.

    But some people there were very excited about this moment!<sub> </sub>

    One of them was Cedric, who nervously bit his nails, finally feeling the risk of his bet.

    On the other hand, the old man from before stood on that stage next to the examiner, curious to know what Lothur''s performance had been.

    He no longer had it in mind to try to spy on the silver-haired young man''s work but was itching to find out the efficiency of the formation produced by Lothur.

    With that, as Annaliese hugged her brother-inw, feeling that his results would once again shock the people there in a few moments, minutes passed. In this period, two more individuals finished their formations, the third of them being Johann.

    Meanwhile, the old formation master saw Lothur''s result and restrained himself so as not to disturb the people in the surroundings with his reaction.

    ''Hmm, I have to talk to my superior about this young man...'' He thoughtfully looked at Lothur. ''His talent is formidable, so we must find a way to bring him to our side!''

    After thinking about it, he left without looking back, leaving Cedric more curious, already walking back and forth in that ce.

    ''29 minutes...''

    He saw the hourss marking the time of this exam, but it did not even take the sand inside it to finish falling from its top. At that moment, thest candidate finished his test!

    With that, the five apprentice formation masters were silent.

    They paid attention to the examiner who already had the results of the other four and was evaluating the formation of thest one.

    The other individuals in the room were also silent, some looking at Lothur, others looking at Cedric, waiting for this decisive moment in their bet.

    The examiner then looked at where the candidates in this examination were standing. Finally, he read out the results. "The 5th to finish the exam, Harald, 35%, approved."

    The level 4 young man jumped in joy at hearing his name, but no one paid attention to him.

    "The 4th to finish, Julian, 29%, reproved."

    "The 3rd, Johann, 59%, approved."

    "The 2nd, Jennifer, 47%, approved." He said as the only woman who had made it to the end of that exam smiled in delight as she embraced herpany.

    Gulp!

    The examiner took a deeper breath, along with Cedric''s nervous moment.

    "The 1st to finish the exam, Lothur, 100%, approved!" He said all at once while feeling a particr pride for having administered the exam of that person who had broken the record for this test.

    But as this examiner proudly looked at the paper in his hands, the people in the surrounding area had wide mouths and eyes.

    Some of them were looking at Lothur with disbelief on their faces, but many were watching Cedric''s ashen expression.

    Cedric was so shocked at this instant that he did not even hear Annaliese''sments as his legs trembled and he fell to the ground.

    "How can that be?"

    ...

 Chapter 242 Fulfilling The Bet

    Hearing Cedric''s incredulous voice, Lothur looked at this fellow andughed. "Oh? I see you are already prepared to assume your defeat, eh?"

    Some people in the surroundingsughed with Lothur, noticing that Cedric was already on his knees, just as he had promised he would be if he lost the bet.

    Realizing that he had unwittingly put himself in that situation, Cedric ''returned'' to reality, putting his disbelief aside to refute Lothur''s victory.

    "No! That result can only be wrong! How can someone doing the test for 1-star formation masters have a result of 100% efficiency?" He shouted to the people there as if he were awyer defending his thesis.

    Cedric then looked at the examiner and said. "If that''s true, he''s already at the level of a 2-star formation master! Wouldn''t that be ridiculous?"

    The people in the area felt sorry for the young man who was struggling not to have his defeat confirmed, even if some understood Cedric''s doubts.

    What he had just said was true. In general, only those already at the 2nd stage and learning this art to be a 2-star professional would get the perfect result when setting up an Iron-grade formation.

    But even if Lothur was someone like that, the people there could not help butugh at Cedric since he had put himself in that situation and had not put any more conditions on this bet of theirs.

    So as impressive as it was and even a little unfair, none of them could side with him right now!

    "Is the result wrong?" The examiner, with the results, looked at Cedric. "Are you saying I don''t know how to evaluate the efficiency of Iron-grade formations?"

    "No..." Cedric said in a slightly lower tone but still irritated. "But how is that possible? Are you telling me that he waited until he reached peak mastery n his ranking toe and take this test?"

    "I don''t know. I don''t care." That examiner shook his shoulders. "The spatial ring he finished has four cubic meters of space, the upper limit for an Iron-grade formation of that kind. So, he got the 100% efficiency."

    The efficiency of a formation was rted to the rate of energy utilization it had. In the case of Iron-grade spatial rings, this rate was most easily exposed in terms of helpful storage volume.

    Four cubic meters was the space limit considering the amount of energy that formation used.

    And as soon as that examiner threw that spatial ring at Cedric, this 1-star formation master noticed this immediately, bing even more disheartened.

    "Tsk!"

    "What a bad loser..."

    "You talked so much earlier, but now you act like this..."

    "It''s a shame!"

    "Kneeling and doing what you promised would be less humiliating..."

    Several people in the surrounding areamented in low voices, making Cedric feel even worse at this instant.

    Lothur saw that his victory was confirmed and asked. "Are you going to honor your own words or not? If so, let''s get on with it. I don''t have all day to wait for you!"

    "Son of a..." Cedric threw the spatial ring in his right hand back to the examiner and clenched his fists, feeling hatred for that person who had put him through so much anger in thest few minutes.

    "You tricked me!" He shouted as he pointed one of his fingers at where Lothur was standing. "You knew you were already at the limit of someone''s 1-star skills, but you still provoked me into betting with you!"

    "Oh?" Annaliese stepped forward and strangely looked at Cedric, emitting waves of contempt. "Are you serious? You''re the one who came to us! So how is this Lothur''s fault?"

    "That''s right! Everyone here saw when you affronted him and told him to drop out of the test without even trying!"<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, thinking about it, I even feel a little angry. Someone like you wanted to stop a genius like Lothur from taking the exam!"

    Several voices came up in Lothur''s defense.

    No one there had liked the arrogantments of this brother-inw of Annaliese''s a few minutes ago. But now that Lothur had proven his talent and shown that he was the best in the city, no one doubted his abilities in this profession.

    Not only that, Lothur had a promising future ahead of him and had even received an invitation to be part of the council of this institution. So, many there took the chance to stand by his side!

    It was too easy to take the champion''s side and beat a fallen ''dog''...

    In this situation, Cedric felt it in his skin, being attacked by people who would normally bow their heads in his presence!

    ''Fucking sycophants!'' He cursed those people as he felt Annaliese''s look of contempt.

    But Cedric had already understood that continuing to y the lousy loser would only worsen his reputation, so he clenched his teeth against each other and swallowed his hatred.

    As he did so, he knelt in front of Lothur and said in great difficulty. "I beg your pardon for my previousments... I was wrong about your abilities..."

    Lothur closed his eyes and smiled as he heard those words, showing one of his open hands to Cedric.

    Cedric saw this and understood that this fellow would not give up the set of Bronze-grade gs he had promised.

    He stared at Lothur''s right hand for a few seconds while being watched by a dozen people in the room, almost all of whom had smiles on their faces.

    After swallowing his saliva angrily, he delivered what Lothur wanted.

    ''Shit!''

    ''I''ll get revenge for this, I swear to you!'' He thought about it while that annoying-looking fellow was already walking out of that ce.

    While Cedric was thinking about what to do to restore his reputation, Lothur heard some congrattory words from Annaliese and Johann until he stopped next to one of the examiners there.

    "So, what happens now? Will I already receive my identification as a 1-star formation master?" He asked that person.

    That man looked at Lothur and exined. "Not today. But tomorrow, when you wake up, your cloak and association ID will already be at the address you gave us when you registered earlier."

    "From then on, you will be able to act as a 1-star formation master and use some of our association''s special services."

    "So that''s it?" Lothur thanked that man and looked at Annaliese. "Can you pick that up for me tomorrow?"

    Annaliese understood the problem and agreed with him without dy. "OK."

    After this brief exchange of words between the two, Johann bid them farewell, promising to meet with Lothur again to discuss the earlier proposal at Frederik''s store.

    With that settled, Lothur and Annaliese wasted no more time at the association''s building and headed for the Christen family estate.

    It was already night in Peters City, but he no longer had to report to the Frost family as before, so he was not worried about schedules.

    As for Annaliese, she had her liberties as she was the patriarch''s daughter, so she also did not worry about the time while she was by her man''s side!

 Chapter 243 A Good Move For Everyone

    As Lothur and Annaliese made their way to the Christen family estate, the old supervisor of the exam for 1-star formation masters rushed to the core of the association building.

    After arriving at the office of one of his superiors, he soon was face to face with that person to talk about the case of the genius who had shown himself today.

    "Philip, I haven''t seen you in a while... How is your family?" The man that this old man was looking for got up from his chair and showed one of his hands to this neer.

    The white-haired old man greeted this superior of his within the Association andmented. "There is nothing new..." Heughed. "At my age, there aren''t many adventures left to cause great happiness or sorrow."

    "Haha, but you are still young. At 500 years old, there''s still a lot to live for in this world!" That fellow who looked younger than Philip said with a good mood, but he was much older than this old man. "Anyway, what brings you here? It''s been a while since youst came to my office with no prior scheduling."

    "I''m sorry about that. But I just met quite a fellow. I came here to talk about him with you." He saw that man''s gestures and sat on a sofa in front of the armchair where such a person sat right after him.

    "Oh? So it''s not a problem... Is this person that relevant? What did he do to make himself stand out?" He asked in curiosity while ying with his ck beard.

    Philip then narrated Lothur''s achievements in the 1-star formation master exam. "Well, he scored perfect on each test in our evaluation for new members. In the first test..."

    "... Finally, he produced an Iron-grade formation with 100% efficiency!" This elderly-looking individual said this with his eyes shining in excitement.

    2-star formation masters could replicate Lothur''s achievements. But there were not many such individuals of the same age as that young man.

    As such, even if Lothur were someone very talented and had already reached the second rank of this profession, his results would be no less impressive.

    One way or another, he could be considered a genius, which is why this man was so excited to talk about him with this individual.

    "He did all that, huh?" That fellow, another 2-star formation master, only much more powerful than Philip,mented in a low voice, interested in Lothur. "What was the level of that fellow? By the way, don''t we already have his record? It''s not umon for some young men to try to redo their tests to improve their records."

    "I couldn''t sense his cultivation level. On the surface, he seems to be just a mortal." Philip said without further ado. "As for the record, this was his first time taking tests at our institution."

    ? The Formation Masters Association used a blood registry, something that had required a drop of Lothur''s blood when he registered earlier. Because of this, there was no way this man could be wrong about the silver-haired young man''s youth and that this was his first time trying to join the Association.

    "That''s unusual... But you said you invited him and he refused. So, what can we do? A genius is no big deal if he cannotmit to our cause." This individual shook his head, feeling it was a shame for a talent like that to be wasted on someone without purpose.

    "But..." Philip stood up, trying to find his words. "But I think we should try one more time. He seems very young. Maybe he can mature if the Association guides him!"

    This old man looked into his superior''s eyes and suggested. "He said he didn''t want leadership responsibilities. So why don''t we give him a chance to be one of us without having big duties? He may change in the future, and in the worst case, we won''t lose anything by having him with us!"

    The Association, an institution spread all over the continent, had tens of thousands of geniuses in its ranks who received support from it.

    Considering this, having an extra one would not make much difference from the point of view of that institution''s resources.

    On the other hand...

    "Besides, he could be our hope for the next movement of powers at headquarters!" Philip clenched his fists in determination.

    Like every organization, the Association had its leadership, which changed from time to time. Not only this, but it also had its factions, which could benefit more or less depending on those inmand.

    Since the position of leader of this organization changed every 100 years, Philip and his superior always had in mind such an event, which could change their lives depending on the results of their posts.<sub> </sub>

    Their post was not Peters City''s but Leopoldine''s one. All the associations of this profession scattered throughout this state were part of the same faction.

    Therefore, bringing a talented young man to their side was the same as strengthening their faction and consequently increasing their chances of sess in the following change of association leadership!

    Upon hearing such a thing, that man, one of the strongest formation masters of this province, could not help but think more about this situation.

    "Sigh..."

    "Our rank is already nurturing two other geniuses. So, the most I can do for someone who doesn''t want responsibility is to give him ess to our library and awards when he does something for the good of the Association." He said, thinking it was worth trying to move this young genius.

    Hearing that, Philip smiled, feeling that this was the right choice for the future of all of them, something that did not go against Lothur''s wishes but had the potential to bring benefits to them.

    "I will go find him and make that offer!" He said before thanking his leader a few more times and leaving in a hurry.

    "Lothur, huh?" The ck-haired man stood thinking about what he had just heard. ''I think I''ve heard that name somewhere before... But it must not be the same person.''

    ''That would be impossible!''

    ...

    While old Philip was proceeding to the Frost estate, the ce Lothur had identified as his address, this fellow and Annaliese arrived at the Christen estate.

    They were, at this moment, at the entrance of this estate, from where they could see arge mansion of unique style, with many different curves and colors, lit up by formations.

    Lothur noticed this as he saw the family''s guards overseeing him and Annaliese.

    "We were not warned that there would be apanion..." One of them said in a low voice as he looked at Lothur.

    Lothur smiled and said. "They didn''t tell me that I couldn''t bring apanion... So, what are we going to do? If I am prevented from entering just for that, I will leave and not return in the future."

    Annaliese continued hugging one of his arms as she watched the expression of those people from this local bourgeois family.

    House Frost had no enmity with that organization. But the Christen family did not want to rte to power with so many enemies. After all, they were not nobles, just wealthy merchants.

    So to avoid problems, they did not want to allow Annaliese to enter their estate.

    On the other hand, talking to Lothur was important to the woman behind the Patchwork House!

    "Tsk!"

    "Fine, but don''t cause trouble, and avoid mentioning that you came here." The lead guard in that ce said in a tone that carried his displeasure. "We definitely will deny any involvement with House Frost!"

    ...

 Chapter 244 Dinner At The Christen Estate 1

    After hearing those words, Annaliese made an annoyed expression at that man. ''And why would I go out talking about it? Do you guys think I''m desperate?''

    "Tsk!"

    Lothur heard the sound Annaliese''s tongue made and just took one of her hands, directing her into the estate''s interior as they followed a guard.

    The man who had said those words to them had exaggerated his fears, but this young man understood where that wasing from.

    He would also avoid dealing with the Frost family if he were in their ce!

    The Christen family was a rising bourgeoisie that did not yet have deep rtions with the nobility or even royalty of Leopoldine. Thus, they did not have many protections and depended on their reputation to do business with the different parties in the empire''s political game.

    If they were seen as allies of the Frost family, they could lose many of their partners and eventually be forced to do business only with the house of Annaliese.

    But House Frost was only one power, which, however great, could not consume all that the Christen family had to offer...

    At the same time, while it was terrible to rte to only one power, it would be much worse to rte to a decaying organization that could be overthrown in a matter of years!

    Hence, the Christen family wanted distance from Annaliese''s family to preserve themselves and maintain their current prosperity.

    "These people... They are too bold! How can they treat me like that, like... Like I''m a needy person who needs their help!" She said in a low voice to Lothur while squeezing one of his arms.

    "Yes, you are right..." Lothur smiled at her as he lied a little tofort his woman. "But let''s put that aside. They are just fearful people... They don''t know anything about us."

    "Hmmm." She nodded at him, d that her man entirely agreed with her.

    After that, they entered a part of that mansion, an entrance hall with two beautiful staircases that looked like reflections of each other.

    There, they were asked to wait for a moment while a servant went to warn the hosts and the guard from before returned to his post.

    A few secondster, while Annaliese still had a sulky expression, two well-dressed women with magnificent hairstyles appeared to wee them.

    One of them had blond hair, and the other had ck. They had very simr body measurements, about 1.6 meters tall, and average breasts, but very noticeable in their dresses, which were not sexy but did not hide them.

    Other than that, all the other measurements of their bodies were well proportioned, while their facial appearances were different, but both were beautiful.

    The two looked young, but from how they behaved and looked at them, Lothur could tell they had a lot of experience.

    "So you are Lothur?" The blond woman gave one of her hands to him while looking disguisedly at Annaliese.

    She did not need anyone to tell her who this brte girl her. She knew the appearances of all the children of important people in this city.

    "Yes, that''s me..." Lothur kissed that blonde''s hand, impressing those two women that he did not simply shake her hand as were expected.

    "Amelie Christen, the person who invited you to this dinner." The blonde said as she retrieved her hand and waved to the person next to her. "This is my friend, Lina Engelmann."

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Lothur..." This ck-haired woman also gave one of her hands to the silver-haired young man, soon noticing him kissing the top of it.

    "The pleasure is all mine..." He smiled as he looked into that woman''s eyes, seeing how she was looking intently.<sub> </sub>

    Annaliese did not like that at all and then said. "My name is Annaliese Frost, and I am here to apany my brother-inw to this dinner."

    "Oh?" That ck-haired woman looked at Annaliese, already knowing who Lothur''spanion was but still greeting her. "The Second Miss Frost is beautiful, as the rumors say."

    "Hmm, wee to my residence," Ameliemented with a smile, ignoring that young man''s boldness in bringing someone else to a dinner he was invited to. ''I can already tell this fellow is bold.''

    ''It''s a shame, but I think all the information we''ve gathered about him is incorrect...'' Shemented in her mind as she directed Lothur and Annaliese into the dining hall of her residence.

    "So, Lothur, you are a formation master? I heard it was you who put the formation on that glove..." The ck-haired woman, the 2-star formation master who had analyzed Lothur''s glove, said in curiosity.

    She was there mainly to meet this young genius behind the formation she had been unable to see through. Hence, she had not waited for them to sit down to eat to ask him about it.

    "Hmm, I made every part of my product myself. And yes, as of today, I am a 1-star formation master. I just passed the association exam..." He said until he was interrupted by Annaliese.

    "My brother-inw not only passed with the best result ever recorded at that institution. He was also invited to join the council after taking the first tests!" She said proudly, making these women see how amazing he was.

    That was not a secret since many people had attended that asion. Thus, Lothur just looked at Annaliese and smiled while those two women stopped to watch him in surprise.

    "Is that true?" The formation master asked in surprise.

    She knew how difficult it was to be part of the council since she had been trying to achieve this for decades!

    Minos nodded in affirmation. "Yes, an old man with white hair and mustache offered it to me, but I refused. I don''t want leadership responsibilities, as his proposal seemed to involve."

    "What?" The two women eximed, shocked at Lothur''s crazy words.

    They did not know many cases of people disinterested in power. After all, cultivators like them depended on it to live longer and better. So who would not seek leadership?

    Only a bunch of fools, as in the case of Leopoldine''s most wanted man and now also Lothur, were crazy enough to talk such nonsense.

    Annaliese then tried to correct Lothur''s words while pinching his belly. "My brother-inw meant that he doesn''t want to get involved in public problems. But he values having good rtions with the high echelon of cultivators in our society."

    "But he refused such a thing?" Lina asked.

    "That was just a negotiation strategy..." Annaliese lied. "My brother-inw got a perfect score on the other two tests after refusing that offer. So they''ll be back to talk to him!"

    "Is that so?" Lothur looked at her along with those two women.

    Amelie then realized that these two seemed much closer than normal brothers-inw and asked. "By the way, what is the rtionship between you two? It is notmon for brother-inw and sister-inw to walk hand in hand..."

    Hearing that, Annaliese removed her right hand from Lothur''s and blushed. "That doesn''t..."

    Lothur then said. "Anna and I are partners, as you can see. So note that whatever you have in mind, it will have to involve her family to some degree."

    "After all, I can''t just abandon the family of two of my women..."

 Chapter 245 Dinner At Christen Estate 2

    "You what?" Amelie looked at those two in surprise, not expecting Lothur to publicly assume such a shameful thing.

    "The Frost family gave both sisters to the same man?" Lina said in disbelief.

    That was a polygamous world, at least for the most part. And even monogamous people understood the rtionships of those different from themselves and did not judge them negatively. But even in this society, sisters marrying the same man was an abnormality.

    And considering that Annaliese and Viktoria were twins and the only daughters of the Frost patriarch, the situation became even more special.

    "Hmm, but please keep the secret about it. We haven''t revealed it in public yet." Lothur smiled at those two while Annaliese looked at him with wide eyes.

    Lothur understood what was on his sister-inw''s mind, but he knew that these people would not go around talking about it. After all, this family wanted to avoid public contact with House Frost and seemed to want to get closer to him.

    Thus, it would not do this organization any good to spread rumors about Lothur and Annaliese.

    On the other hand, by saying this to these women, Lothur showed how vital the Frost family was to him, which would invariably affect their business together.

    They wanted to do business with him, but they would have to consider this!

    So, after hearing Lothur''s request, the two nodded in agreement while they had many thoughts in their minds.

    They would not go out talking about it publicly since they had more important things to do and would not benefit from just dirtying the Frost family''s image. Besides, if Lothur was so good as to be invited to join the Formation Masters Association council, then he was even more valuable to them!

    That way, the two tried to ignore some of the problems rted to what he talked about as they finally sat around a dining table.

    "Please try this one..."

    The blonde hostess showed some appetizers prepared for the two visitors to taste as she poured wine for the four of them.

    "The rumors about you are somewhat unfounded..." Linamented as she looked at Lothur''s handsome face. "Besides being talented, you are also with both sisters while everyone thinks your marriage is fake..."

    "Is that a strategy of yours, Lothur? What are your ns for the future?" This ck-haired woman questioned him, ignoring the food on her te.

    Lothur continued to eat next to Annaliese and answered. "My goal is to build something that eventually no longer needs me but can guarantee me afortable position."

    "Oh? That''s a good goal..." Ameliemented as she watched him thoughtfully. "But how are you going to do that? With your qualities as a tailor and formation master?"

    "I will use my skills rting to those professions and others." He smiled as he thought about presenting his main project to these women.

    He wanted as many associates as possible, so since the Christen family was a rising bourgeoisie, undoubtedly looking for growth opportunities, this was a good try for him.

    "I have something in mind that will change transportation across the continent." He ced his cutlery on the table and looked at the two. "I have a project for a vehicle that will not need animals or beasts to be moved."

    "What? Is something like that possible?" Amelie was surprised at his idea and asked this since she had no experience in the subject.

    But Lina, as a formation master, had heard of past tests concerning people trying to produce objects that moved by themselves, using spiritual energy as fuel.<sub> </sub>

    Unfortunately, only small objects like fans worked with that idea. When groups of people tried to create automatic flying chariots or boats in the past, they always failed.

    These means of transportation were too slow, difficult to control, and could not carry several people or too much cargo at once. Anyway, there were several problems rted to this unique means of transportation that Lothur seemed to talk about, which discouraged Lina a bit.

    "It is possible, but never in the history of our profession has anyone capable of producing something with simr power to ordinary chariots," Linamented, already thinking that Lothur would fail.

    Lothur understood why this woman did not trust him since he had already heard of some of the failed designs made throughout history. "Don''t be so quick in your judgments regarding my project, Miss Engelmann. My idea is entirely new and in no way resembles what my predecessors have tried to do."

    "Is that so?" She asked with a smile on her face.

    "Yes, I will have the miniature of this projectter this month, so I will show it to you if you wish..." He returned his attention to his te.

    "I will also present it to the Becker family, some merchants of Lewerenz, probably my women''s family, and someone else I n to meet soon." He said, trying to draw these women''s attention to the fact that he already had other contacts.

    "Becker family?" Those two were surprised that Minos was mentioning the name of this family.

    Rumors were going around the province that the Becker family was going to marry their daughter to the heir of House Baier. So as much as that family was not an enemy of House Frost, the Baiers did not have good rtions with Annaliese''s family!

    Because of this, it was rather strange to think that a probable future enemy of House Frost would be in thework of contacts of the husband of the future leader of that family in question!

    Annaliese then said. "Lothur has an excellent rtionship with young Miss Becker... Moreover, he has dined with the patriarch''s family a few times and earned that man''s interest."

    "Is that true?" Amelie asked Lothur with interest in her eyes.

    "Yes... Also, I am already doing business with that family regarding that glove I presented to you." He maliciously said.

    These people probably thought before he arrived for this dinner that, besides talent, he had nothing else. But his words and Annaliese''s showed these women that he was not just a naive junior without connections.

    Lothur was someone with goals, already working towards them, and would not just depend on one organization.

    People like this were harder to manipte but more interesting to partner with!

    After all, it was better to be aroundpetent individuals than the other way around.

    Because of this, Lothur was sparing no effort to show these people his position, quoting things that, if investigated, would confirm his position.

    And both Amelie, and Lina, knew they could investigate all those words of theirs.

    "I see..." The blonde womanmented. "Then I will wait until you have such a thing in hand so we can talk about this special vehicle..."

    ''In the meantime, I will send someone to check that information...'' She looked at her friend, and even without saying a single word, she managed to get her message across to Lina.

    Lina thenmented. "Well, it seems you know what you are doing and already have the means to do so. So, I guess you wouldn''t be interested in joining the Christen family..."

 Chapter 246 Lothurs Business Model

    Lothur smiled as he heard why they had invited him to dinner at this ce. "Yes, I have no interest in joining any family... But if your family is interested in bing a partner in others of my businesses, that might work out well."

    "Other of your businesses?" Amelie asked.

    "Yes, our agreement concerns the tailoring profession. But I have businesses like this vehicle that are not rted to what is limited in our contract. So we can talk about those other things." He said as he finished eating his meal.

    "And what do you look for in deals like that? Haven''t you already said that you don''t want to join our family?" Lina asked.

    She and Amelie were interested in Lothur''s products, but that was more as potential customers than as partners, or shareholders, like what he wanted.

    For example, if the vehicle he had in mind worked, they would do business with him regarding several of these vehicles. That was their intention.

    But he wanted someone to finance his business, and with that, they would get a share of the profits from his products.

    In other words, they were utterly different rtionships, which is why Lina asked her question.

    Lothur then said. "I am looking for coins, of course. I want to find sponsors for my projects. Someone who will give me coins for a share of the profits of my business, and eventually when my products pay off, that same someone will receive dividends."

    "Oh? So you want us to be part of your venture?" Amelie asked.

    "Yes, that''s right..." Lothur nodded as he smiled at them.

    "And how much are we talking about? For example, how much would we have to put into your business to receive 50% of the profits?" The blonde woman found Lothur''s methods interesting and questioned this.

    "50%, huh?" Lothur tried to imagine how big his business could be. "Initially, you would have to contribute about 5 million silver coins. After that, you wouldmit to making investments proportional to your share of the business to ensure the expansion of our operation."

    "If we needed 100 million silver coins for a project, you would have to invest 50% of that amount. That would be your responsibility as a partner."

    "What?" The two rose from their seats while Annaliese spat out the drink she had in her mouth due to surprise at the shocking numbers Lothur had quoted.

    "Hmm? Is there a problem?" He asked the three of them.

    "5 million silver coins? Are you serious?" Lina asked in a slightly more agitated tone.

    "Yes, of course," Lothur said naturally. "That''s not much even."

    "You see, those would be the amount for you to buy the initial rights to one of my products and have 50% of the profits rting to it. So as long as you don''t give that up and the product behind the deal continues to exist, you would have that profit forever!"

    Apany or organization had no life expectancy, like the living things behind them. Because of this, there was plenty of time for a family like hers to profit in such a deal, and Lothur had said only the amount he wanted to earn as a prize in such a deal.

    Since it was almost impossible to calcte the actual value of something that could exist forever and each person there could live for centuries, he used a strategy that involved amitment of investments and an initial value. That ensured he would not sell his profits for too little and would still bring him some funds to start his business.

    The two women understood Lothur''s point, but they did not like having tomit to making additional investments.<sub> </sub>

    "That is an extraordinary business you suggest..." Linamented.

    Amelia nodded in agreement. "Why can''t we pay an initial amount and just enjoy the profits?"

    Lothurughed upon hearing that. "A business, whatever it is, has minimal growth potential when it depends only on investments from profits. But the market is cruel and does not forgive those who dy making their moves..."

    "Therefore, those who want to grow need to contributerge amounts of capital when the product is doing well and has a growing demand. Only then can it grow and return even more significant profits."

    "That''s the point. As my partners, it would be your job to provide the necessary incentives for the product to grow. After all, you would be the most interested in its profits since you are the one who would have the 50%..."

    The two understood that while Annaliese stood open-mouthed at her brother-inw''s intelligence in negotiating with these elderly women.

    "Anyway, that''s more or less the kind of deal I''m looking for, and it will always be that way. So think about it. When I present you with something interesting, it will be something of the sort that you will have to consider." He remarked as he began to sample a dessert that the handmaids of that residence had just served.

    The two women became silent after Lothur''s words, thinking it over.

    ''But that''s not so bad...'' Amelie thought. ''With a deal like that, the chances of loss for our side would be limited to that amount paid initially. After that, we could consider the return on the deal to make new investments...''

    Lina considered. ''And this arrangement could guarantee a share of profits for the family that wouldst as long as our organization. That''s something precious and for a low price and risk!''

    Amelie then asked after a few moments, interrupting Lothur and Annaliese''s conversation. "And what would you do with that initial grant?"

    Lothur smiled. "That amount is rtive to the rights portion of the business, but it is not necessarily the cash from the business. It is my profit from creating and selling part of it. So, I could use it by investing in the product or spending it another way."

    "But if I have 50% of the rights and I invest 1 million, then the holders of the other 50% of the business would have to do the same..."

    "I see..." Amelie realized how smart Lothur was and would not bear the costs of his business alone.

    "Haha, Lothur, you are smart." Linaughed as she remembered that they were the ones who thought they could lure this ''naive'' young man into this family andmit to them.

    But who knew, the man who was supposed to be only 20 years old was trying to get them tomit to him!

    As Lothur smiled and winked at that ck-haired woman, Amelie said. "Anyway, I get how you do business, so let''s think about it further, and when you have that miniature, we''ll talk about a deal."

    Lothur thought of something upon hearing that and said. "I think I''ll do a presentation event for that miniature..."

    "Oh?" Annaliese looked at him in surprise since she had never heard him talk about it since he started nning this vehicle.

    He exined to the three. "It will be easier if I gather all the people interested in my vehicle to present such a thing. Then, if all goes well, we can have an ''auction'' or something like that for each of the partners'' shares."

    ''That way, I can make a lot more profit...'' He thought without saying anything as he saw that the three women seemed to agree with him.

 Chapter 247 Different Opinions

    After Lothur talked with Amelie and Lina about how he would like to do business, they chatted for a while longer about tailoring and formation masters applications.

    But that did notst long, and soon the dinner was over, with Lothur and Annaliese saying goodbye to those women and quietly making their way out of the Christen family estate.

    "What are you going to do now, Lothur?" Annaliese asked as she felt like being closer to him, intimately speaking, of course.

    "I will practice a little with Elke, and then I will go to the hotel room in which Viktoria and I are staying. Tomorrow we have to go to the asion at your family, so I n to rest a littleter in the evening." He said as he walked beside his sister-inw.

    She then went straightforward in her wishes. "And when will I have my time with you? Why don''t you break into my residenceter as well?"

    Lothurughed upon hearing this. "Let''s see the Province Conference schedule, and then we''ll find some time for us. All right?"

    At the thought that such a thing would already start the next day, Annaliese did not think it was so bad to have to wait and nodded her head, indicating yes.

    "But let''s do it in my ce, right? It will be better for everyone that way..."

    "OK." She voiced before saying goodbye to him and returning home in a hurry to train and go to bed.

    As for Lothur, he made his way to the Becker family estate.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the estate of House Christen...

    After Lothur left, a man who appeared to be around 30 years old, tall and strong, with ck hair and a mustache, entered the living room where Lina and Amelie were at this instant.

    "So? Did you talk to that young man?" He asked, still standing next to where those two were sitting.

    Amelie looked at this man, the heir to the Christen family, and said. "Yes, but I have good news and bad news..."

    "Oh?" He looked in surprise at his cousin. "Start with the bad news."

    "Hmm, well, the bad news is that he won''t be joining us ormitting himself more deeply to our family." She casually said, showing no disappointment on her face.

    That fellow who would soon take over the leadership of this family noticed this and did notment about this refusal. "And what''s the good one?"

    "That young man seems quite different from what the rumors give him credit for. He has many ideas, is a genius of formations, and a creative tailor." She smiled as she remembered Lothur''s manners as he spent part of that evening with her and Lina.

    Amelie knew she could not just trust the words of people she met. So, she always paid attention to manners, to how these people behaved.

    And when she or Lina had tested him in terms of formations or tailoring, Lothur had skillfully demonstrated his skills, although he still had a lot to learn andckedmon sense.

    But that had not been a bad thing. On the contrary, both had heard that he had not learned these two professions until recently, which gave credibility to his situation and unusual talent. At the same time, it was always better to have someone talented with plenty of room for improvement than to be with someone already stagnant!

    Hence, she was delighted by what she had seen in Lothur at this dinner and could not help but talk about him with a smile on her face. "He seems to be a very skilled negotiator and is preparing to do things that will change our society."

    "What? Is he that good?" The young master Christen asked in surprise, not expecting this blonde woman to speak so highly of the good-for-nothing of the Frost family.<sub> </sub>

    Lina nodded in agreement. "Some of his ideas can change society, as long as they work out. But the way he handles his business is somewhat unusual. So even if he fails, I believe that the very fact that he is trying to do business in our province will change the local power rtions."

    "That''s quite different from the rumors..." Hemented in a reflective tone, looking at the chandelier in that area, thinking about it.

    He had heard about Lothur from Amelie and had gained interest in this son-inw of the Frost family. Since that silver-haired young man seemed to be only a fake spouse, this man did not think it would be impossible to bring Viktoria''s husband over to their side.

    That was why he had agreed with Amelie to probe Lothur, even if they wanted to keep their distance from House Frost.

    But the truth was, even considering Lothur''s talent for formations, this man had thought that such a young man was a good-for-nothing in everything else and would perhaps be easy to manipte.

    However, the reality was somewhat different from what he had imagined!

    "So? How do you assess this situation? From your expressions, it looks like we still have a way to gain something from it." He asked.

    This fellow was the young master of this organization, but he was not a spoiled individual who abused the position created by his parents. On the opposite of that, he had learned with his mother to enjoy doing business, so he did it unhurriedly, considering the different points of view of a problem.

    Some might have been irritated soon after discovering a refusal from their invited party, but he had noticed those two seemed in a good mood. So, he would listen to them first before concluding what to do!

    Amelie then said. "He has shown interest in doing business with our family. In particr, he said he would have something to present to uster this month. Then, we will wait for his contact to assess how far we will go."

    "I see... Then I''ll leave it up to you. But as soon as he is ready to negotiate, let me know." He walked toward the exit of that residence. "I am curious to meet the person you have praised so highly."

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Mouse Company in Peters City...

    At this instant, Kai and his subordinates were kneeling in front of a red-haired young man sitting in the armchair usually used by this leader of the Mouse Company.

    This young man had an ugly look on his face, indicating his terrible mood given the circumstances in which his ns had been affected over the past months.

    And with that, even though he had a high-level appearance that would easily put him in the 2nd rank of this city, now, with his contorted face, he could even scare children.

    "I heard that Elise died, and several of your subordinates failed in the simple task of causing trouble for that bastard..." He said as he had his eyes closed, recalling the losses of his group. "Even a family allied to mine had trouble with you for something possibly caused by that little worm..."

    He then opened his eyes, which were as red as blood, and said. "Kai, what the fuck is going on? Didn''t I tell you to eliminate that demon''s son? Why is he still alive?"

    Gulp!

    Kai lowered his head and said as he felt sweat drip from his neck and back. "Young master Stauss, we did everything we could. But the bastard is fortunate!"

    "Hmm?"

    Kai heard displeasuree from Fritz Stauss, the son of his leader, Carl Stauss, so he changed his train of thought. "Young master, give us one more chance. We will deal with this personter this week!"

    ...

 Chapter 248 Complicated Background

    "With the arrival of the Province Conference, some of our friends infiltrating that family will act to facilitate the defeat of House Frost, which will also help us deal with that brat," Kai confidently said. "When that fellow attends the conference, he will be finished! I''ll have one of my men deal with him and put an end to the young master''s worries if another enemy of his doesn''t intervene first."

    Part of the organizations that were against the Frost family were working together. Some wanted only the overthrow of that family, but others, like House Stauss, also wanted the end of Lothur.

    Due to themon interest of these families against House Frost, Kai knew that several problems would arise for the family of Lothur''s wife in theing days, which would create chances for his group.

    Not only that, he was aware that the Baier family had great chances to act against Lothur since this would be the best opportunity for them to confirm the guilt of this individual in Alric''s misfortune. And with that, it would be the opportunity to get rid of this annoying-looking fellow.

    Given the adverse scenario for Lothur, Kai felt he would not fail this time, and even if his group were not the one to deal the final blow, the silver-haired bastard would perish!

    That''s why he was confident and spoke that way to the young red-haired man in front of him.

    "I think you better be right!" Fritzmented in an icy tone, showing that these people would suffer the consequences if they failed.

    "I was going to give you Elise as a prize if you seed in your mission. But since you allowed her to die, be content with your temporary non-punishment and this second chance. Other than that, there will be no prizes, even if youplete this mission..."

    "But be careful. There won''t be a third chance!" He stood up, looking at that fellow with bent knees in front of him.

    Kai swallowed hisints dry, feeling how much Lothur had disrupted his life. ''Damn it!''

    ''I was supposed to have that beautiful blonde as my toy for me to do with as I pleased, but that miserable bastard had to stand in my way!''

    ''Now, not only have I lost that woman, but I''m also at risk of punishment!'' Kai clenched his fists as the young redhead left that ce to head toward the local hotel.

    Fritz was in this city to attend the Province Conference, apetition in which his family was interested in the results, even though they were from another province.

    So, as a public figure, this young nobleman from House Stauss could not stay in a ce like the headquarters of the Mouse Company, a ce full of criminals and prostitutes.

    As such, after arriving in this city a few hours ago, he had already checked into a prominent local hotel where he was heading right now.

    ''I hope Kai''s men will eliminate little bastard in the next few days...'' He thought as he made his way in his carriage to the center of this city. ''I don''t want to be directly involved in that person''s death.''

    ''When his father finds out, there will surely be chaos, and the first ones in his path will die.'' He remembered a famous shadow of Leopoldine and shivered a little in fear.

    His family was part of the faction of the third prince, which meant that it would be vital for them to dominate or even destroy the Frost family. But this noble house wanted to overthrow Lothur not because of Viktoria or her family, but because of a background that even he did not know about!

    Lothur carried the most violent bloodline on the continent, so they wanted to eliminate this threat and prevent the union of two individuals with the same powers against their faction.

    No one knew for sure what Lothur''s father''s ns were, but everyone knew that if he moved, chaos would spread, and even the strongest in Leopoldine would have a hard time!

    ording to rumors, Lothur''s father would not move as long as the current Emperor was in charge of the state. But evil tongues were spreading rumors that the same would not happen with the imperial sessors...

    To avoid worrying about two simrly dangerous people, not just one, they wanted to take Lothur out of the equation!<sub> </sub>

    But he, Fritz Stauss, did not want to be the one to deliver the decisive blow!

    He knew the terror of the background of Lothur and was using the secret group created by a subordinate to get dirty for him!

    "Sigh..."

    "When the worst happens, we will return to Hond as soon as possible." Hemented to his two bodyguards. "There is no need for us to stay and watch the storm..."

    ...

    At the same time, outside the Frost estate ...

    "I am here to deliver the identification of young Lothur Ritter. Can you lead me to him?" The old formation master that Lothur had met earlier asked one of the guards at the entrance to that estate.

    He was surprised to find that Lothur had given the address of the Frost family, even more so considering that he did not have thatst name. But hell, it was not unusual for servants or children of servants in families of this size to have some above-average talents.

    So this man did not give the matter much thought, putting his surprise aside to look for Lothur and talk to him about joining the Association.

    The guard in question looked strangely at Philip and asked. "Lothur? Identification? What are you talking about?"

    "Yes, a young formation master named Lothur, silver hair, good looks, put this address in his record. Is something wrong?" Philip said.

    "Formation master?" The manughed. "Sir, you must be mistaken. The only Lothur we have here is a good-for-nothing mortal who spends his days throwing his time away."

    "I think the person you are talking about must be someone who looks like him, just..."

    Philip considered the possibility that Lothur had given the wrong address, but considering how talented that fellow was, there was no way he would do something so stupid.

    He then became angry at that guard''s disrespect and said. "Watch yournguage! I won''t allow you to talk about young Lothur that way! He is a respected formation master in our Association, so I will not ept jokes with his name!"

    That man lost his good humor as he had his neck held by one of the hands of that formation master who was many times stronger than himself.

    The other guards in the surrounding area saw this and approached them.

    "What''s the problem here?" The strongest one asked, feeling that he should not underestimate the old man wearing the Formation Masters Association''s cloak.

    Spiritual professionals were not skilled warriors, but their physical characteristics were stillmensurate with their levels. So Philip''s strength could notpare with those ordinary guards!

    Philip then said he was searching for Lothur and heard from other guards there, "Sir, calm down. The only Lothur we know of left this morning and has not yet returned. So you will have to wait..."

    "Oh? All right." He let go of the previous guard''s neck as he prepared to wait.

 Chapter 249 A Little Revenge To Start The Day

    The night quickly passed, and the darkness gradually gave way to the rity of day as this city dawned peacefully under the morning mist of this region.

    Amid this early day on this opening date of the Province Conference, Lothur and Viktoria were cuddled up in bed in the room they had rented earlier.

    After the previous dinner at the Christen family estate, the silver-haired young man had gone to Elke''s residence. In that ce, he fulfilled his responsibilities as a man, having also trained with her until about the middle of the night.

    Afterward, Lothur disguised himself and came to this hotel room, where Viktoria waited for him to have their awaited conversation.

    He had promised Viktoria that he would tell her about his ns and some points only Annaliese and Elke knew about him so far, so they had talked for a few hours about it.

    But there had been no time for Viktoria to learn about every detail of her husband''s life that herpetitors already knew. No, time was limited, and they had to rest for the next day.

    So Lothur had focused on telling her about the main thing, his current ns and his situation regarding his spiritual professions. As for the rest, they would continue talking about it in theing days.

    When the two of them woke up in the morning, cuddled in their ''love nest,'' Viktoria felt even closer to Lothur, smiling at him for slowlying into his life.

    Before, Viktoria could only have doubts and desire to make him reveal himself to her. But now she was learning about her husband, who still had several mysteries around him even when he spoke the truth.

    But Viktoria liked that. Now even when she looked at Lothur and tried to understand his mysteries, she felt good, with a sense of lightness in her being, different from the anger before.

    And with that, she could not help but show her warm side to Lothur.

    "Good morning..." She said in a low voice as she looked into his eyes, still hugging her husband, naked as he was.

    Lothur smiled as he saw his beautiful wife, who, even in the morning, with her messy hair, could still be considered the most beautiful in the city.

    "Good morning, dear..." He murmured to her, slowly bringing her up onto his body as he felt a part of his body point to the sky, heroically asking for a ''battle.''

    Viktoria did not refuse his movements. On the contrary, she enjoyed the initiative, as she loved to have fun with him.

    In fact, she felt it was a shame that she had lost months of their marriage doing nothing of the sort... So now she could only make up for the lost time by doing her best!

    "You are shameless... So early in the morning, and you''re already like this." She licked her upper front teeth, seductively smiling at him.

    Lothur massaged his wife''s buttocks and saw her skin shivering, from her tiny waist to the bountiful twins that were at a perfect angle for him to look at.

    "Is it just me?" He asked in a whispery tone, moving his right hand to her left breast.

    "No..." She replied before moving towards his lips, hungry.

    "Mmmmm~"

    Then the two engaged in a special dance, creating a remarkable symphony as they raised the room''s temperature, adding a scent to the surroundings that only lovers knew.

    ...

    After finishing their husband and wife business, Lothur and Viktoria departed that hotel wearing disguises, quickly making their way towards the Frost family estate.

    At that ce, after secretly entering without alerting anyone, the two took off their masks and walked quietly towards one of the buildings of that estate.

    As they did this for a few moments, Viktoria unconsciously took one of Lothur''s hands, promptly beginning to move her fingers with his in a unique intimacy. She had strangely felt the urge to do this and instantly felt a unique connection with him, almost like when they were having sex.

    Lothur stopped his movements and looked at her.

    "What is it?" She asked as she looked at him, still holding that hand that she had grown ustomed to feeling the warmth of when it touched her.<sub> </sub>

    "Are we going to show intimacy in public now?" He asked with interest in her behavior.

    "Why not? We''re husband and wife, so that should be normal, right?" She said, feeling a little nervous but not understanding why that was.

    "Is that so?" Lothur saw some guards patrolling the surrounding area and nobles of this family talking on the side of some houses.

    They were all looking at the two of them, partly because Viktoria was the family heiress but primarily because of the unusual behavior of the two.

    "So what do you think about kissing me here? We are husband and wife, right? We''re inside your property, so it won''t be improper..." His eyes narrowed.

    Viktoria wanting to show intimacy with him in public was a step forward, but it did not mean much to him. But doing what he suggested in front of the Frost family''s snobby people was relevant to him!

    Hell, a few meters behind Viktoria, Lothur had even seen some individuals who had made him endure nastyments for weeks, so he could not pass up this opportunity to tease them.

    He knew that many men and even some women in this family were passionate about Viktoria.

    Families on this continent were huge organizations, so, sometimes, people with the same surname did not even have blood ties. But even in cases where there was such a thing, it was not umon for cousins and uncles to be interested in female rtives...

    Knowing this, Lothur smiled as he saw Viktoria getting a slight blush, hesitating and looking at the hands of the two of them.

    "That would be extreme!" She whispered to him. "What will the rest of the family think?"

    "What are they already thinking now... After all, why else would you hold my hand if there isn''t something deep between us?" He moved closer to her, seeing more and more people watching in their direction.

    Gulp!

    ''That''s right!''

    ''No grown woman walks hand in hand with a man without something intimate existing between them!'' She realized her mistake but did not let go of his hand since she felt good doing it.

    "Fine, but don''t overdo it..." Then, after making up her mind, she put her hands around his neck and gave him a ''restrained'' kiss, without much of her tongue but enough to shock more than a dozen people near them.

    "What?" One of the young men who were fond of Viktoria in this family saw that and cried out in shock, his heart beating faster.

    While this fellow felt panic in his body, others had mouths so wide open that they had almost had to hold them back to prevent their jaws fall to the ground.

    ''How can this be? How? Why?''

    "Unbelievable!" A servant of this family said as she let her cleaning utensil fall to the floor, seeing a maddeningly strange image forming in front of her.

    Seeing Viktoria kissing Lothur willingly, many there almost felt like a noble and delicate flower had thrown itself into the shit.

    It was disgusting!

    "No!"

    "How can this be happening?" Someone shouted angrily, feeling like his heart was crushed by an invisible hand.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria did not see it, but Lothur had a magnificent smile on his face, even though his eyes were closed as he kissed her.

    ''That feeling... Hmmm, much better than I had imagined.'' He squeezed her tiny waist, enjoying that moment.

    ...

 Chapter 250 He Waited All Night

    After finishing his kiss with Viktoria, Lothur remained there, embracing her while looking over her shoulder at the many faces watching them.

    He mischievously smiled as his hands gripped her waist, making those people look at him as if he were a monster dominating their beloved ''princess.''

    One of them, Aiken''s uncle''s son, saw that and took a few steps forward, approaching the person desecrating the body of the goddess in his heart.

    "Lothur!" He shouted, drawing the attention of the shocked people in the surrounding area and Viktoria, who had not cared for the onlookers nearby.

    "What do you think you are doing? What have you done to make our young miss ept this?" He said in an using tone, making it sound like Lothur was ckmailing Viktoria.

    And such a thing made sense. After all, how could the most beautiful woman in this city, one of the most talented and incredibledies of the younger generation, allow herself to be touched and even kiss a good-for-nothing like Lothur?

    It was absurd!

    Many in the surrounding area began to mutter the matter while the guards still looked at Lothur, very impressed.

    Lothur felt Viktoria turning to look at that person and said. "Who are you?"

    "Don''t you recognize me?" Viktoria''s cousin eximed angrily, feeling humiliated that this person pretended not to remember him. "Don''t y the fool. You know who I am!"

    "Really?" Lothur smiled in a way that showed he was teasing that person.

    Viktoria then asked this cousin, who always had strangely looked at her. "What do you want, Tobias? Lothur is my husband. Why do you think he would need to use some special tactics on me?"

    Lothurughed as if he was watching a clown andmented. "Tobias, if I did something against Viktoria, what makes you believe you can rescue her? You are much weaker than she is... As for your intelligence, well, we don''t need to talk about that, right?"

    Laughter erupted from a few people there as Tobias'' face turned red. "Are you calling me dumb? You? Really?"

    He stepped forward, intending to show his presence to this bold mortal, but before he could say anything else, Lothur put one of his arms around Viktoria''s shoulders and walked out of there.

    "Well, we''ll be going now. My wife and I have things to do." Lothur''s striking voice reached Tobias'' ears as the people there continued to watch the two of them.

    This fellow, red with shame, stood watching them, frozen by his anger and loving disappointment at seeing Viktoria so intimate with that sack of shit.

    ''How did this happen? How did my Viktoria let herself be fooled by a pretty little face?'' He looked down at the ground and clenched his fists. ''Is it just because I''m not as handsome as him?''

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Lothur, just wait! Soon my circumstances will change, and I''ll sort this out! I''m sure ady like Viktoria wouldn''t hook up with shit like you!'' He maniacally looked in the direction of where those two were walking.

    But as Tobias directed his anger at their ns, one of the guards there remembered that he had to talk to Lothur and put his shock aside.

    "Wait a moment!" He shouted as he ran up to the couple walking into the residence area of this ce.

    "Young master, a person is waiting for you outside the estate." He said as he came closer to the two individuals who had stopped after the previous shout.

    "Someone waiting for me?" Lothur questioned in curiosity.

    "Yes, the Second Miss already went to talk to him earlier today, but he insisted on talking to you. So he''s still at the entrance to the estate waiting for you."

    Viktoria looked at Lothur and asked. "Who could that be?"<sub> </sub>

    "I don''t know. Let''s see about that..."

    The two then made their way to that ce where Philip had spent all night waiting for Lothur.

    After arriving at that ce yesterday, this fellow thought Lothur was having fun at the local night or perhaps settling some business outside the Frost estate. So he had decided to wait for this young man''s return.

    Hourster, he had thought about leaving, but the thought that Lothur would arrive soon after he left had prevented him from doing so.

    With that, he was still around at this time, when the movement in the streets was already getting hectic, not only for the everyday activities of this city but also for the event that would beginter.

    Hence, when he finally saw Lothur''s distinguished face, this man stood up from where he was standing and felt that his long wait was over.

    He was in a bit of a bad mood, but considering that he hade without an appointment and was the one seeking this meeting, he did not have that problem in mind when he greeted Lothur.

    "Young Lothur..." He shook one of the hands of the fellow in front of him and looked at Viktoria strangely, feeling that he had seen her before. "And you must be his girlfriend, right? Annaliese."

    Annaliese had said she was Lothur''s girlfriend the day before, and when she had given her brother-inw''s information to this man, she had introduced herself. Because of this, he naturally confused them when he saw Viktoria, who was very simr to that person.

    Viktoria was famous in Peters City, but most people only knew her by name. Since she and Annaliese were quite simr, people like Philip had no way to recognize or differentiate between them despite their distinctions.

    So, as Lothur felt a shiver go up his back, Viktoria looked away, narrowing her eyes to observe him.

    "Girlfriend, huh?"

    Lothur corrected that man, "Sir, don''t make trouble for me. The one you saw was my sister-inw, my wife''s twin sister." He used his hands to gesture, showing Viktoria to that individual. "We just used that little lie to ward off that annoying guy trying to woo my sister-inw..."

    "So that was it... Makes sense, now." The old fellow understood the misunderstanding and helped Lothur avoid the problem of a jealous wife. "Indeed. Cedric courted that youngdy when she said she was your girlfriend."

    "Is that what happened?" Viktoria asked, a little doubtful of the veracity of that. "You are not inappropriately approaching my sister, right?"

    Lothur smiled. "Viktoria, how can you suggest such a thing? Don''t you trust your husband?"

    "Humph!" She turned her back on him since her answer was obvious.

    On the other hand, that fellow from the Formation Masters Association finally recognized Lothur''s wife. ''Viktoria... That''s a unique name. Uh? Frost family...''

    His eyes opened wide. ''That fellow is the husband of the young genius of the Frost family? Viktoria Frost? Not for nothing! Someone as excellent as him could only be around others of his level!''

    ''It all makes sense now. He is not a servant but the young master of the Frost family!''

    As he thought about the possibilities in his mind, he heard Lothur stopping trying to convince Viktoria and this beauty questioning him. "Anyway, what do you want here at this time of the morning? Is there something wrong?"

    Philip then shook his head in denial and said. "There is nothing wrong, First Miss Frost. I just decided toe and deliver Lothur''s identification as a formation master and have another chance to talk with him."

    After saying this, he picked up the items he had refused to hand over to Annaliese earlier. Since he had waited for Lothur, he would not allow someone else to hand these over to that woman and risk not having an excuse to approach this person.

    "Can we talk somewhere more private?" He asked after handing Lothur the ID and cloak of that institution.

    ...

 Chapter 251 A Burden Lothur Doesnt Want

    After hearing this old man''s question, Lothur and Viktoria quickly headed towards her residence together with this fellow.

    Upon entering that ce, they soon sat in the living room to find out what this person wanted.

    "Well?" Viktoria asked as she sat next to her husband on a sofa, face to face with that man in an armchair.

    He supported his elbows on his knees and leaned over to talk to Lothur about his interest here. "I am here to talk about you joining the Formation Masters Association council."

    Lothur smiled as he heard this, remembering that Annaliese had said that his sincere and unthinking words had only been a strategy to attract the attention of the group behind Philip.

    "Oh?" Viktoria looked with surprise at her husband, considering that she had already heard from him that he had rejected the first proposal regarding this Association.

    ''It looks like you''re quite good, eh? Even though you ''pped'' the ''face'' of the Association by refusing them in public, they are still willing toe after you for a second conversation...''

    Lothur then said. "As I said, I''m not interested in responsibility, so..."

    Lothur stopped his words there as he felt Viktoria''s serious look as if she was cursing him.

    Viktoria was obviously against such nonsense. After all, to be part of the Formation Masters Association council was a great honor and privilege for a few. So, how could this fool refusing such a benefit make her happy?

    "Lothur, let''s hear what he has to say first. Then we''ll talk about it together." She said as she ignored Philip, looking meaningfully at her husband.

    Philip thanked Viktoria in his mind for her saying those words and then continued after Lothur gestured for him to do so. "Well, Lothur, I heard your demandsst night. So, I have note here to offer you the same as before."

    "I have already talked to one of my superiors about you, and he has authorized that your entry into the council will be special to fit what you want. We will give you all the freedom you want and ess to our books, blueprints, etc. The only thing you will have to do is to be on the side of our group in the future."

    "Oh?" Lothur was surprised by this. "What exactly do you mean by this?"

    Philip replied. "There are several factions in our institution. From time to time, we have disputes concerning the change in leadership of the Association. So, what we ask is that you side with our faction."

    "That is, we want you and thework of influence you eventually develop within the Association to vote for our faction and not stand against it. In other words, your political support."

    "So that''s it..." Lothur muttered, not thinking this would be problematic for him.

    He did not mind choosing sides. As long as he did not have to take the lead or get involved in things outside of his interest just for the sake of others, he was okay with that.

    "Well, if that''s all it is, I''m interested." He said after thinking about it for a brief moment.

    Philip smiled at those sweet words, but before he could say anything else, he was stopped by Viktoria''s question. "Wait a moment. Is your group going to give all this to Lothur without him having tomit to anything else? How is that possible? Aren''t you giving him too much?"

    Viktoria was not trying to get in the way of her husband''s deal with this man. Quite the opposite, she was trying to protect him from problems that perhaps that man was hiding.

    That was because she knew there were no free lunches in the world. If these people were willing to give so much to Lothur in exchange for so little, there must be some trap or problem.

    Therefore, having asked that question, she did not let those two continue.<sub> </sub>

    Philip then smiled and exined. "Well, to get these benefits, Lothur will not receive financial or resource support from us. He will only receive ess to our materials and buildings and the identity of a council member."

    "But other than that, whatever resources or coins he desires, he will have to perform meritorious acts to gain such things."

    The Formation Masters Association was like any other institution in this world. It invested in their most extraordinary talents in exchange for the possibility of being benefited by the power of these individuals.

    While training these individuals, they would naturally make a series ofmitments that helped the organization behind them. Eventually, most ended up in leadership positions, as elders or even de facto leaders.

    But since Lothur did not want these, he could not receive the same resources as those who didmit!

    She looked at him and said. "Are you sure you want this? It will be much better if you join them and receive full support from the Association."

    That would not only be better for Lothur as a formation master but also for the Frost family. Since she was the future leader of that organization, this woman had to try to move her husband.

    Philip looked hopefully at Lothur but then heard that fellow''s refusal. "I am sure."

    "I have no interest in bing a full-time formation master. Doing such a thing would be a burden on my shoulders." He looked at Philip. "I prefer to get on with things in my way."

    The old fellow sighed and rxed his muscles, seeing that there was no means of moving this young man, a little disappointed, but pleased that Lothur at least epted his proposal. "All right, going along with your ideas isn''t bad..."

    ''We''ll still have time to try to change that.'' He looked at Viktoria and smiled before standing up and saying goodbye to them.

    "Well, I''ll take care of the bureaucratic matters, so you don''t have to worry about anything. Just look for me once you want to use the library or anything else in our Association."

    Lothur stood up and greeted that individual just before leading Philip to the exit door of Viktoria''s residence.

    Once they were alone, Viktoria looked at her husband and asked. "Why do you want to make things difficult? It would be much easier if you focused on being a formation master and eventually used your influence to help me..."

    Lothur stood with his back to that door, looking at his beautiful wife, who was only half a meter away from him. "Just because this is the hardest way doesn''t mean it will be the worst. The opposite, it''s quite likely that the easiest path will be one of the greatest regrets."

    "Just imagine what kind of life we would have if I became a formation master? I probably wouldn''t have time to take care of my wives and would have a quiet life, full of bureaucracies to deal with..." He smiled at her.

    "And that''s a bad thing? Do you happen to prefer the instability and excitement of war?" She moved closer to him.

    "No. But I believe it is wiser to use others to care for my business while I live my life as I wish."

    "Why want to ept the burden of leadership when I can choose someone else to do it for me while I have fun with you?"

    Viktoria felt moved by his words, but she contained her emotions as she remembered her responsibilities. "Sigh... You''re no good, Lothur Ritter."

    ...

 Chapter 252 Nonsense

    After their brief husband and wife conversation, the couple left their residence and headed toward the patriarch''s house.

    Halfway to that ce, they met Annaliese, who was already waiting for them to join the rest of her family.

    "Lothur, that old man from the association came to deliver your things, but he didn''t give them to me. Can you believe it?" She said as she walked beside her sister and him.

    "Hmm, I already talked to him, so I believe you..."

    Before Annaliese could say anything more, Viktoria looked at her and asked. "Are you and Lothur, girlfriend, and boyfriend now, Anna?"

    "What?" She immediately turned red with embarrassment, afraid that her sister had discovered everything.

    Lothur then quickly said. "That fellow has confused Viktoria and you, Anna..."

    "Oh?" She realized that it was not what she was thinking. "About that, sister, I just used a little lie to keep an annoying person away. What''s wrong with that?"

    Viktoria then said. "You better think of different excuses. The way you and Lothur are close, someone might think something like that is true."

    Gulp!

    The two swallowed their saliva, while Viktoria had no idea what she was talking about.

    "But wouldn''t that be interesting? Just imagine you, Anna, and I living together... It would be great fun, dear." Lothur suggested, only to probe how hard it would be for them to convince this woman to ept the whole thing.

    Annaliese avoided looking at Lothur after those words as her sister intensely looked at him. "Don''t talk nonsense. That would be a taboo... Anyway, let''s see my parents right away. The family event is already about to start."

    The two nodded in agreement with her while keeping their thoughts in check.

    ...

    As the three entered the patriarch''s house, two people dressed in servants'' clothing, a man and a woman, stood at the front door of that residence.

    The two weed the family members who arrived to hear Aiken''s words before leaving for the Province Conference''s opening ceremony.

    But from time to time, when no one passed by them, the two would exchange nces andment on their ns in low voices.

    "So, is everything ready?" The woman asked as she disguised herself so as not to look at her aplice.

    He did the same as he looked at the front of that house, watching the people moving down the street where the patriarch''s house was.

    The Frost family estate was quiterge, simr to condominiums of houses on the ce from where Lothur hade. So there was not just one building but many facilities, with even streets wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side.

    Some buildings were individual residences, such as the patriarch''s, but others were collective or even administrative edifices. In the case of the collective ones, such ces were not so different from the academy dormitory, one of which was where Lothur had a room on this estate.

    Anyway, that man then answered his aplice. "Yes. Earlier today, I talked to our friend in this family, and our targets have already been neutralized. So now he and his group will only need a little effort to do the rest of the work."

    "Excellent!"

    "With these arrangements, this family will have no way of keeping some royal concessions and will lose a lot more of their powers!" Shemented in an excited tone but still restrained to avoid attracting attention.

    The Province Conference was apetition that distributed benefits in the province. Thus, besides giving opportunities fornd exploitation and tax discounts, such an event was also crucial for maintaining old privileges.

    A past winner could eventually lose hisnd, for example, if he could not maintain a good performance.

    ''When this familyes inst ce, they will gain no benefits and lose more of their mining areas, which will lead to them having another crisis on their hands...'' The man smiled. ''The economic crisis!''

    As the two reviewed their ns in their minds, a tall, thin man with a mustache the same color as his hair and eyes, brown, walked past the two waving at them, smiling.<sub> </sub>

    "Beautiful day today, isn''t it?" This well-dressed figure asked them.

    "Yes, Master Simon." The two said simultaneously, unable to stop looking at each other.

    After that, Tobias, who had had a great love disappointment a few minutes ago, followed behind that man, quickly approaching him.

    "Father, is everything ready? Shall we start our project today?" He asked while having a determined look on his face.

    Simon Frost, Aiken''s uncle, looked at his son, curious about this fellow''s sudden interest. But his son already knew about part of his ns, so he replied. "Yes. Just stay calm and get on with your responsibilities. In a short time, we will have our results."

    "Great!"

    "I can''t wait to teach a lesson to that good-for-nothing!" Hemented with a murderous glint in his eyes.

    But his fatherughed and said. "Well, I don''t think you''ll get the chance ..."

    ...

    While father and son were talking as they entered the entrance hall of the patriarch''s house, Lothur and his two women arrived where Aiken and Mabel were.

    That was a critical situation for the two, so both tolerated each other''s presence, even considering their recent troubles.

    Lothur then greeted his father-inw, taking Mabel aside, while this woman looked seriously at Viktoria.

    "It''s good that you got here in time, Lothur." Aiken pped one of his hands on his son-inw''s left shoulder, feeling a little nervous as it was time for him to find out about his family''s traitor.

    As Lothur exchanged a few words with Aiken, Mabel asked Viktoria, while she had a strange expression on her face due to the smell of her daughter. "Are you ready for thepetition? I hope you are not wasting too much time on things you shouldn''t..."

    Viktoria bitterlyughed and said. "Believe me, mother, I''m better than ever. Although Lothur has his quirks, he does me a lot of good."

    ''That is to be expected...'' Annaliese thought, looking down at the floor.

    Mabel felt a little disgusted hearing that, but she knew what Viktoria was talking about.

    She did not do much of that with Aiken anymore due to their circumstances, always too busy and tired to think about such things.

    Not only that, even though she still had an extra breath for moments like this, her husband hardly thought about it anymore. All he could think about when hey in his bed at night was lying down and sleeping.

    Hence, she had not done anything of the sort for some time.

    But still, this woman had her past experiences with Aiken and knew how satisfying well-done sex could be. "I don''t doubt it. But try to control yourself. Despite the good moments, there is also a bit of physical exhaustion involved."

    "For a warrior like you, that could be the difference between victory and defeat!"

    Viktoria nodded to her mother, even though she considered that woman to be wrong, ''What nonsense. I feel much more up for fights after being with Lothur than when I keep myself...''

    ''Sigh...''

    ''Mother doesn''t know what she''s talking about.'' Annaliese sighed in silence.

    After that, Aiken said. "Come on. Time to talk to the family''s core about the conference!"

    ...

 Chapter 253 Trouble Before The Competition

    In the blink of an eye, Aiken and his family descended the stairs of that residence to the entrance hall, where many nobles of House Frost were waiting for them.

    That was the final meeting before the start of the Province Conference when these individuals would go over their ns to maintain the family''s position at least.

    Thus, this was a very relevant moment, and when Aiken appeared next to his daughters, wife, and son-inw, everyone stopped their conversations to pay attention to them.

    Some had worried looks on their faces, something expected to be seen there considering the terrible position this family was in. But there were also some smiling looks, some fake, hiding the true intentions of part of the people there.

    Lothur observed this from his vantage point as he stopped beside Aiken at the spot designated for the patriarch''s family, the center of attention there.

    In that spot where everyone in the hall could observe them, Aiken sat in a wooden chair, one part of which went up to the ceiling, carrying the family symbol.

    To his left was Mabel, sitting in a chair simr to his, only a little smaller in terms of back support.

    Annaliese was standing next to her mother on that woman''s left side.

    Finally, Viktoria and Lothur were standing on Aiken''s right side, with this young man closer to the patriarch.

    People there noted how Lothur was standing near Aiken rather than Viktoria, but they considered that this good-for-nothing had ced himself on the wrong side, ignoring the positions of power.

    But then, as some red at Lothur, Aiken waved one of his hands and began to speak. "Well, everyone is here, so let''s talk about what matters."

    "The Province Conference is between us, and House Frost''s future depends on this moment. So I ask everyone that willpete to do your best, follow the ns and orders of your superiors so we can have the best possible oue."

    "We can no longer afford to lose positions to our enemies." He said in a sighing tone, feeling terrible that his management had to deal with so many problems.

    Voices of support and tentative encouragement for the young nobles who would defend the family honorter emerged in the surroundings.

    "That''s right!"

    "Our family can no longer afford to lose property and rights. So you young people need to do the possible and impossible in thispetition. That''s the only way we can improve our situation!"

    "The secret is teamwork. We may not be the most talented and with the best group, but we can outperform our opponents..."

    "Conversely, our group can count on the First Miss!" A bearded old man said with pride that this generation had someone so remarkable to give the family hope. "With her on our side, we are guaranteed several victories! So you guys don''t even need to win all your disputes!"

    "We can''t rely on just one person, even if she is the First Miss..."

    Several people began to expose their contradictory thoughts, some advocating a greater reliance on Viktoria, others supporting the idea that the group was more critical.

    In the midst of this, one of the strongest in this family stepped forward and raised one of his arms, calling for silence.

    Tobias'' father then made a serious expression and brought out some troubling information. "Patriarch, matriarch, I''m afraid our situation is moreplicated than we had thought..."

    Aiken frowned upon hearing that, worried by those words but also noticing the movements of Lothur, who had not shown any sign so far.

    The patriarch asked. "What are you talking about, uncle Simon?"

    Simon Frost then looked at the ground and made a wailing expression. "This morning, Chris and Frank took ill and are in bed." He said, making almost everyone there feel goosebumps on their spines.

    Chris and Frank were two young noblemen from this family who would participate in thispetition, and they were two of the top five who the Frost family chose to participate in the conference!

    Since they were crucial candidates for the family''s sessful oue in thispetition, any problems rted to them were of great concern!<sub> </sub>

    They were one of the few youngsters of this generation who gave confidence to the elders that they would win at least most of their contests!

    "What? How can this be? They were fine until yesterday!" Someone said, as sweat formed on his forehead.

    Aiken and his family were not at all pleased to hear that either, each of them forming worried expressions on their faces.

    "What happened? What is their situation?" Mabel asked.

    Simon looked at that woman, who was like an older version of Viktoria and answered. "I''m not sure what happened. I just found out about it earlier, so my group is still investigating what happened."

    Simon was the head of security for the Frost family. This group handled not only the guarding of that organization but also the investigation of internal problems and espionage.

    He continued. "But ording to the doctor who attended these two, they will need at least five days to recover to apetitive level..."

    Gulp!

    "Five days? We''re finished! It will already be time for the finals to begin in five days!"

    "Hmm, it looks like we won''t be able to count on Chris and Frank in thispetition..."

    More concern arose in the surroundings as Aiken became highly frustrated, forgetting that Lothur was there to help him identify the family traitor.

    But this silver-haired man had forgotten nothing. Instead, he was focused on the voices in the surroundings, little interested in this family''s problems at the moment.

    Lothur cared about the future of the Frost family, as it would be necessary for his ns. But more relevant than a problem of two juniors was to uncover the traitorous rats hidden within that organization!

    So he was focused on identifying his targets in this ce!

    ''I already have two suspects...'' He continued looking at the surroundings without focusing his attention for too long on any of the people there. But Lothur watched the people in this hall as if he was interested in what they were talking about.

    In any case, at no time did he show his suspicions, but he noticed that the potential traitor of this organization was someone of high standing!

    ''That''s problematic...''

    ''If one of these people is the traitor I heard earlier, then more people must be involved with them.'' He pondered on that.

    Powerful people could move others of lesser power and even open up spaces for the infiltration of agents simr to Elise.

    Thinking about this, he not only felt that it made sense that such a woman had managed to get into this family, but he worried about how difficult it would be to solve this problem.

    "Sigh..."

    ''That probably won''t be solved in a short time.'' So he continued listening to thements until someone finally said something that affected him.

    "... I don''t think we have any alternatives but to use young master Lothur." An elderly woman said in a mncholy tone. "We were already forced to enroll him in this conference, but now only he can take more tests... All the other youths in our family are already at their full load. If we put more weight on their shoulders, we''ll have even more problems!"

    Annaliese then stepped forward. "I can take on more responsibility. I''m already at the 8th Transformation, so I can help."

    ...

 Chapter 254 High Treason

    The people in that hall looked momentarily at Annaliese after she said those words.

    Some knew of her recent advancement to level 8, but others did not. Certain information was best to keep secret, even from allies, so her family had not spread the information for all to know.

    And as much as any cultivator could check her level from a simple spiritual probe, it was unusual for people to do this unconsciously, that is, without reason.

    But while some were surprised by Annaliese''s rapid advancement, others still did not think her improvement was enough to solve the problem.

    Chris and Frank were stronger than Annaliese, one at level 9, the other close to his advancement to that level.

    Thus, someone there said. "The advancement of the Second Miss is great news for our family, but not enough. At most, this can cover theck of Frank. But we still have the absence of Chris..."

    "Yes, the Second Miss means well, but it will be difficult for her to take on the responsibilities of those two individuals..." The woman from earliermented in a sighing tone. "Then all we can do is assign those responsibilities to Lothur and consider that we will just lose those points."

    The Province Conference had strict rules. Because of this, the participants from each family were registered in advance, and no changes could be made on the day the event started!

    Because of this, Viktoria''s family had no alternative but to use the registered members to share such responsibilities.

    Since Lothur was the only one not ''overburdened,'' only he was left to fulfill this role!

    Mabel clenched her hands in frustration as she realized she had no choice but to use this useless son-inw.

    ''Damn it. We will have even more defeats than I had imagined!'' She wailed, feeling that the next few days would be difficult.

    Aiken was also frustrated by all this, but he could not do anything about something already out of his control.

    But then he heard from Viktoria. "Don''t worry, father, Lothur will do his best. And who knows, maybe he will get one victory or another..."

    Some people there wanted tough at thisment by Viktoria, feeling that she could only be making a joke.

    But neither they nor those who thought Viktoria was consoling her own family showed their thoughts. There were no alternatives there, so they could only ept thisst alternative to cover the faults of those two young people.

    "Sigh..."

    "Lothur, we''re counting on you." He said as he looked thoughtfully at his son-inw, feeling a mixture of conflicting feelings in his heart.

    Lothurughed and said. "Don''t worry, patriarch. With me, Viktoria and Annaliese, there''s no way we can lose, even if the other team members drop out."

    ''Bastard!

    ''That good for nothing talk big! He has nothing to back him up, but he acts like a big man!''

    "Tsk!" Tobias turned his back to Lothur, angry at this arrogant fellow as he imagined an ideal future. ''Just you wait, you bastard. You will disgrace the family, while I will be the one to bring glory to this house!''

    On the other hand, Tobias'' father could not help but smile at Lothur''s words. "The young master is truly excited... But it is good that you are willing to help the family. As the husband of the First Miss, you must take on certain responsibilities."

    "Indeed. That is my duty..." Lothur''s eyes narrowed as he looked at that man.<sub> </sub>

    Upon hearing this, Simon felt a bad feeling growing in his heart. But he did not understand why, so he just considered this the natural reaction considering the whole context he was in.

    With that, that group of dozens of people soon finished their morning meeting, already preparing for the events that would begin today.

    In this way, it was not long before they left the entrance hall of the patriarch''s residence, leaving behind the core of Viktoria''s family.

    After they went upstairs and entered an office, Aiken soon asked Lothur. "Well? Have you noticed anything?"

    Lothur saw the apprehension on his father-inw''s face and then looked at Viktoria. "Yes, the traitor I heard making ns against the Frost family was in that hall earlier."

    Mabel, who had her back to Lothur, clenched her fists upon hearing this as she looked out the office window.

    Annaliese then asked. "Who is this person?"

    "I have two suspects, who are people who have very simr voices. One is the one called Jonathan from the Butterfly Alley. And the other is your uncle Simon, patriarch." Lothur said as he looked into Aiken''s eyes.

    Hearing that, each of those four people opened their eyes wider, hardly believing that one of Lothur''s suspects was precisely someone from the family''s core.

    "Impossible!"

    "Uncle Simon almost died for this family several times in the past! How would he be able to act against our interests precisely in these difficult times?" Aiken asked while looking at Lothur and also at Mabel.

    Mabel was also in disbelief, but she was more skeptical of the members of this family since she did not originally belong to this organization. In other words, her ties were less significant for her to be deceived by favorable feelings.

    But Lothur, who had almost no emotional connection to that organization and only interests, could clearly see the situation.

    "Patriarch, sometimes when we are very close to something, we can''t see the full picture or situation of what we are observing. That is particrly true when it involves people we think we can trust..." Hemented, speaking in a calm tone as if that was his specialty.

    "But the truth is, if you think about it, it even makes sense that your uncle Simon is guilty. After all, who but him could easily allow enemies into the family?"

    "But there''s no way for you to know that. There are plenty of others with the potential for that!"

    Lothurughed. "Yes, that is true. But his voice and that of the other man were the only ones that assimted to the person I heard. So, it will be easier for you to investigate such a matter from them than from all the other members of this organization."

    He then said with hues of cruelty in his voice. "Anyway, think carefully about who would benefit most from your downfall. The enemy within definitely has interests rtive to your position. But is he just a nobody? I guess only someone of high rank can have the possibility of usurping thoughts..."

    Aiken felt Lothur''s words left him with no room to continue defending the integrity of his uncle''s character.

    But since he promised to investigate the suspects and not simply punish an innocent, he decided to go through with it.

    "Very well. We''ll start investigating these two... With luck, uncle Simon will be proven innocent."

    Lothur looked at that fellow but said nothing. He just thought about how Aiken did not have what it takes to be a leader. ''That fellow trusts his own family too much... Sigh, he is a good person, but as a patriarch, he is a risk to the organization itself.''

 Chapter 255 Before The Opening Ceremony

    After the previous brief conversation, Lothur left alongside Viktoria and Annaliese, heading for one of this family''s carriages.

    It was time for the family to leave for the Province Conference ce, an ancient coliseum in Peters City, where various parts of thepetition would take ce.

    The Province Conference was a five-day event, beginning on Wednesday and continuing through Sunday. In it, little by little, the ranking of the local noble families would be made from the performance of their juniors.

    During the five days of trials, not onlybat skills were tested, since sometimes, as local history had shown, having advanced technologies was almost as good as having high-level warriors.

    The Leopoldine family had experienced this in their own ''skin'' when conquering the ten autonomous regions when the Three Great Lakes Region had imposed great resistance to their conquest using high-level weapons.

    Because of this, the imperial family of this state valued each of the spiritual professions, so they tested those fields during thepetition that the juniors of their vassals take.

    A family with good warriors and spiritual professionals would naturally have better future development than those without, which meant advantages for the empire.

    In this case, those who most deserved the benefits ofnd holdings and resources and the benefit of lower taxes were organizations with good seeds.

    Thus, the Province Conference had several fronts, withpetitions for all kinds of spiritual practitioners and warriors.

    But whatever skills were tested, all were subdivided into elimination tests that took ce on each day of thepetition.

    In other words, on each day of thepetition, there were tests for all the young people involved, with the grand final, the most challenging test, taking ce for everyone on thest day of the event.

    Because of this and the importance of thispetition, the entire province had its eyes on this city during the testing days.

    Even the Morning Star Academy would suspend its activities on these days!

    Anyway, as the presentation of thepetition, the tests, the order of the fights, etc., took ce today from noon on, not only the Frost family was moving, but all the noble houses in the province.

    Besides these families, many organizations from outside the province or even local ascendant powers were attending the event. So this city was on an atypical day, with great movement in the local hotels and carriages in the streets.

    Lothur and his twopanions in their carriage soon realized this as they encountered unusual traffic, with this man remembering a bit of his past life.

    ''Soon, I will bring the problem of traffic on earth into the cultivation world...'' Heughed as he thought about his vehicle design, which would invariably increase the number ofnd transport means in this ce.

    Not only because his vehicle would cheapen the cost of maintaining a mode of transportation in this world but because there were fewer constraints on his design than on existing carriages.

    Each carriage needed at least one animal or beast to pull it. But besides the limit to the number of these beings in the world and the problem of their cost, these beings took up space and left their feces behind, in short, a series of inconveniences.

    But Lothur''s vehicle had no such problems and had a good chance of winning the ''hearts'' of the people of this world.

    That way, seeing a little traffic today, this fellow could not help butugh at the thought of bringing the traffic of Earth to Concordia.

    "What are youughing at?" Annaliese asked as she saw her brother-inw looking into one of the carriage windows.

    Viktoria looked at her husband as well as he answered. "Nothing. I am thinking about how my projects will affect this ce..."

    ''It looks like I will bring some trouble to the mortals of this world, but hopefully, I will be able to fly someday...'' He thought to himself. ''That must be the price of convenience.''<sub> </sub>

    ...

    Meanwhile, Elke and her family were also moving to the opening of the Province Conference, also looking forward to this event.

    Many families werepeting in this contest, so even established powers took risks concerning losing benefits or not gaining new advancements.

    Since some organizations always gained positions, if other mid-level organizations did not at least maintain their previous results, then they could have severe problems in the long run!

    Thus, even powers like House Becker highly valued thispetition and made theirpetitors do their best.

    But Elke was not going to participate in thispetition since she was not exactly one of the most talented in the family, even considering her considerable improvements in thest weeks.

    With that said, she was not focused on participating in this event but rather following her family and watching her man whenever she could.

    "It''s a shame that you didn''t meet young Lothur earlier... Otherwise, you could have the chance to participate and represent us." Gomericmented in a sighing tone, inside the carriage where he, his wife, and Elke were.

    He did not know about the Soul Bone or Lothur and Elke''s fun. So this man attributed all of his daughter''s advances to that ''special training'' with that ''different'' young man and regretted the time it had all happened.

    Hearing that, Elke said nothing, while her mother closed her eyes and felt sorry for not being able to say anything to her husband and allowing him to speak such nonsense.

    ''If you knew what you were suggesting, you would want to iste yourself from the world in shame for suggesting that to your daughter...'' She pondered in shame for hiding the truth from her husband.

    But Hilda knew that Gomeric was right, ''But it is a shame. If they had met months ago, Elke would truly be stronger.''

    "But the family was already prepared for all this, so it doesn''t make that much difference..." Elkemented, enjoying not having topete.

    She had be more interested in cultivation after meeting Lothur. But even so, she was not least obsessed with the disputesmon to talented young people.

    "Sigh..."

    "Elke is right, and on the other hand, it''s for the best," Hilda said as she grew more serious. "It will be safer for her not to get involved. I''ve heard some troublesome rumors about the ns of some families in thispetition."

    "Hmm, a lot is going to act against the Frost family to make that family''s position worse, something that might even bring problems for otherspeting," Gomericmented.

    Elke worried about Lothur and asked. "Is there anything we can do? It won''t be good for anyone if Lothur gets hurt because of this."

    The Province Conference had its rules, but it was possible to kill enemies during thispetition. That was not necessarily something that happened often or was encouraged, but in the past, challenges had opened up this possibility.

    As a test that judged the value of families in the real world, the life and death of thepetitors were part of the evaluation.

    If someone could not survive their challenges, then was not that synonymous with weakness? A test was just a test at the end of the day. But the real world was merciless.

    So the event made such a thing possible, which worried Elke.

    Gomeric sighed and said. "Let''s see..."

 Chapter 256 Arriving At The Colosseum

    Meanwhile, in another part of Peters City, the Baier family was arriving at the coliseum where the Province Conference would begin in minutes.

    Alric was not apanying his family since he had lost all confidence after losing his manhood.

    But Merten, his cronies, the patriarch of this family, and all theirpetitors were going to the ce with a determination to avenge the young master of this noble house!

    They had no hard evidence against Lothur, but after weeks since the incident that destroyed Alric''s manhood, the silver-haired fellow was the closest thing they had to a suspect.

    Supposedly Lothur was a close friend of Elke, whom Alric was in love with. At the same time, the son-inw of the Frost family had been one of thest individuals against whom the young master Baier had acted.

    Considering the arrogance and other adverse facts about Lothur, he was the one who stood out the most for this family to take revenge on.

    As many powers, including House Baier itself, intended to act against the Frost family, eliminating Lothur was not against the ns of this noble house. Hence, they wanted to take him down, even if they were not convinced of his guilt.

    Thus, this group arrived at the local coliseum with blood in their eyes, ready to cause trouble for Lothur as soon as possible!

    ''Just you wait, you scumbag.''

    ''I thought I''d have to wait until thepetition for the Secret Realm slots, but I''ll have the chance to get my hands on you in a matter of days!'' Merten clenched his fists in determination as he walked to his family''s location in this coliseum.

    ...

    At the same time, Anneke was already in the special seats of this coliseum, in her family''s area, a local power rted to espionage.

    House Koch was not an organization highly involved in the empire''s affairs. The opposite, it was a power that usually watched everything from afar, keeping its rtions as discreet as possible.

    As such, it was officially no one''s enemy and transited everywhere, also not extremely close to a single power.

    In short, House Koch could be described as neutral, only involved with the Imperial family and, even then, never going too deep with anyone.

    Because of this, Anneke had helped Lothur before she even had her emotions provoked by him. Her family was not against rtionships with whatever power, as long as they were notpromising.

    But as part of the Linn Province, the Koch family was also participating in the Province Conference, and that woman was among thepetitors from that family.

    ''How will Lothur perform in thispetition?'' She wondered how far he could surprise this province as she watched the center stage of the coliseum.

    Everyone thought he was a mere mortal, the weak point of the Frost family. So, she could not help but imagine the days ahead when he would show himself to the powers of this state.

    That was not necessarily Lothur''s choice. Anneke knew that. But it was a responsibility he could not neglect, so he had no alternative to hide.

    Thus, this woman was also a little worried about him.

    ''Some families will try to move during this event, but I hope nothing bad happens for him.'' She pondered, considering talking to him to give him some tips.

    And so, as Anneke thought about Lothur, this man finally appeared in the Frost family area, on the opposite side of the coliseum to where the Koch family was allocated.

    Due to the silver hair, very unusual to find in Linn Province, it did not take long for Anneke to notice him next to Viktoria and Annaliese.

    ''Hmmm?'' She saw something strange; Viktoria''s left arm embraced Lothur''s right.

    ''What''s with them? Why is Viktoria so close to Lothur?'' Her womanly instincts kicked in, and even without any other reasonable indication, she began to think that these two were more than the rumors gave them credit for.

    Gulp!<sub> </sub>

    ''Don''t tell me they''re together for real?'' Her fists clenched as she thought about the situation she had had with Lothur earlier.

    Lothur had said he wanted her as his woman, so since she was attracted to him, Anneke could not help but feel a little jealous to see him so intimate with Viktoria.

    "Damn!"

    "Uh? Is something wrong, sister Anne?" A young blonde girl next to Anneke asked her best friend.

    "It''s nothing. I just thought out loud..." She said as she took her focus off Lothur to observe her group.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur had just taken a seat in the front row seats of the Frost family area along with Annaliese and Viktoria, visible to many people in that coliseum.

    And in fact, several people besides Anneke were looking at them at the moment, most of them for other reasons, with their different ns in mind.

    ''Viktoria is quite intimate with this fellow...'' Caroline Waldauer watched in their direction, remembering Lothur from when she had met him at the auction weeks ago. ''That fellow...''

    ''He looks much more attractive today than he did that day. What happened to him?'' Her mouth opened slightly, noting how formidable Lothur''s appearance was bing.

    On the other hand, Martin Waldauer, the Duke of Linn''s son and Caroline''s older brother, was standing next to this blonde woman, looking in the same direction as her, with different thoughts in mind.

    ''How will the Frost family fare in thispetition? Naturally, our faction wishes to weaken this organization, but with the third prince''s faction acting, it will be better if we contain our movements...'' He pondered as he felt the wind making his hair move gently.

    ''But with that young man''s participation, I think it will be a disastrous defeat for House Frost...''

    "Sigh!"

    ''It''s a shame that Viktoria married someone like that... Everything would be easier if she had chosen me instead of him.'' Martin clenched his fists, feeling the waste that such beauty had married Lothur.

    And seeing her intimacy with Lothur, Martin regrets it even more. He fully believed the rumors that Viktoria had not consummated the marriage and the silver-haired man was nothing more than a fake husband.

    But the fact that she showed intimacy with Lothur in public was enough for rumors to circte and tarnish her ''record'' if she one day be free to marry another...

    He would not ept rumors about his wife, so he regretted Viktoria''s childish behavior.

    "What a waste..." He sighed, catching his sister''s attention.

    "What do you mean, brother?" She looked at Martin, curious.

    "The First Miss Frost with that young man... That is such a waste. I can''t imagine how someone like her could interact that way with him." He pointed in the direction of Lothur and Viktoria.

    Carolineughed and said. "Who knows, brother, maybe he is special, hehe. I met him a few days ago during the previous auction, and he seemed quite different from the rumors."

    "Oh?"

    "Don''t tell me his appearance fooled you?" This fellow joked with his naive sister.

    "Maybe... But he does give off a different feeling than he should, ording to the rumors. So I wouldn''t underestimate him that much."

    ...

 Chapter 257 Province Conference Of The Year 490 Of The Great Silence

    "Oh? Where is thating from? Is that just your opinion of him, or is there something concrete behind thosements?" Martin asked Caroline a little more seriously.

    "Sigh..."

    "It''s just my opinion of what I could see in him, brother." She said in a sighing tone, thinking her impression was correct but having no facts to show her older brother.

    "Tsk!"

    "You shouldn''t be so shallow, Carol." He shook his head in a disappointed manner. "I know girls your age are driven by looks more than anything, but think again before you pass judgment on someone like that."

    Caroline then remained silent, observing the surroundings bing crowded with people.

    The mostmon areas of this coliseum, where the public could watch thepetition, were already almost full. Only the areas of the noble families that would participate in today''s event still had empty seats, as the participants were still arriving.

    But due to the proximity of the start of the Linn Province Conference, the stairs and side aisles of this coliseum were quite busy, with many following in a hurry to their seats.

    Meanwhile, the groups of VIP spectators were watching in the direction of the teams that would soon bepeting, chatting about the potential ranking of the local powers on Sunday night.

    They would be affected by the oue of this event since these powers that would soon bepeting were the ones that controlled business in the province.

    So, depending on the final ranking, policies, projects, and conflicts, all that and more could change after this. Or not, there could be stabilization, and past movements would remain in the short term.

    There was no way of knowing until the final ranking was released, and so many of the wealthy people from this province and even from other areas of the empire were discussing the matter.

    While they were doing this, some bets were being made not only between the economically powerful but also among ordinary people.

    Although the Province Conference was important for everyone, it was also an entertaining spectacle with potential for bettors.

    So, that ce, from themon area to the VIP rooms, soon became noisy, giving this ce the festive atmosphere that events like this always had.

    Meanwhile, a young red-haired man sat on the balcony of his VIP room and promptly looked in Lothur''s direction.

    Gulp!

    ''This person does have his family lineage.'' He swallowed his saliva as he saw in Lothur the figure of a very relevant figure.

    Fritz''s bodyguards, who were seeing Lothur for the first time in their lives, also noticed the simrity of that fellow to the figure in their minds.

    "Unbelievable!"

    "He is the spitting image of..." One of them was about toment when he was elbowed in the belly by his leader.

    "Ouch!"

    "Idiot! Don''t say that out loud!" The red-headed manmented, sweating with fear. "If anyone hears you, who knows what might happen to us?"

    "They''re supposed to be enemies, but there''s no guarantee that figure will handle this good-for-nothing!" Fritz clenched his fists.

    Aside from the core of his family and a few trusted bodyguards, very few people knew of Lothur''s identity. Not even the person they were talking to, who this young man supposedly looked a lot like, knew about Viktoria''s husband.

    So to avoid further trouble for them, Fritz could not allow one of his men to do something so foolish.<sub> </sub>

    But that was not even necessary.

    By the time everyone was already in their seats for the start of this event, an elderly man who climbed up the centering tform of that coliseum had sawed the figure of Lothur.

    ''That look... With that hair color... Could it be that he is a bastard of that person?'' The eyebrows of this old figure frowned as he thought of the same individual as Fritz.

    He continued walking down that tform and said to a young man beside him. "See what you know about that boy and tell meter."

    "All right, master!" The young man looked at Lothur and marked such a person in his mind.

    Meanwhile, the old man thought about the matter onest time. ''I will see if this fellow is rted to him when I return home... But, for now, time to focus on this conference.''

    He then raised one of his hands, indicating the people in this coliseum to be silent.

    Then this elder began to speak in his calm, tired voice. "Wee to another Linn Province Conference, this time in the year 490 of the Great Silence era!

    "This is the emperor''s challenge, the examination that will assess how the most powerful organizations in the province have fared in recent years. Those who have developed and be more efficient will naturally have their opportunities now, while those who have failed will fall to make way for the stronger ones."

    <o>,m "This is necessary to maintain the empire''s power, so be prepared to defend your families. Thepetition is about to begin, and we will show no mercy to those who fall below the standard required by the emperor!"</o>

    Several people in that ce, attending this event for the first time, got goosebumps upon hearing the introduction from that man, the main referee of the conference.

    It was a tradition to show thepetitors that the future of their families was in their hands and that nothing else would change that.

    The emperor had established that noble families could benefit from this event, but the opposite was true!

    A family could even lose its status as a noble house in this state by losing much of its grants,nd, etc.

    If a noble organization spent long periods in the bottom ranks of thispetition, it would lose everything and eventually be reced by an emerging organization.

    That was how new noble families emerged in Leopoldine most of the time!

    Conflicts leading to the destruction of powers rarely happened for this kind of reality to make room for new noble houses. So that was the mostmonly used by the emperor to switch the ''chairs'' in his state.

    The old fellow then continued. "Let''s talk briefly about thestpetition and its results." Then, he began to read a sheet of paper with the results of such an event.

    "On that asion, the Waldauer family took first ce, followed by the houses Frohberg, ssen, Baier, in 7th, Becker... Then, in 15th, Frost..."

    "We had 39 nine families ranked at thest event, with none falling on that asion. So all the powers here are the same as before..." He looked in the direction of one family. "House Dohmen, this will be yourst chance. If youe inst, you will lose your remaining titles andnds."

    Gulp!

    The group members were nervous, but their hopes were not over.

    But then that old man brought good news. "Finally, I must announce thatpared to thestpetition, five new exploration areas will be passed on by the imperial family to the top three in the final ranking."

    "Among them, a spiritual crystal mine will be the top prize for first ce!" He said, making many people there open their mouths, positively surprised at the new prizes for thispetition.

    ...

 Chapter 258 The Awards

    The Province Conference, which took ce in each administrative subdivision of Leopoldine, benefited the families with the best results, that is, with the most significant future potential.

    But there were not always new benefits. On the contrary, on many asions, what was part of the prizes in thesepetitions were already explorednds, items, or advantages.

    Regardingnd, this meant that most of the time, thend was just reallocated to new families. In other words, they were not new areas of exploitation given by the imperial family to its vassals. An example is the Frost family''s mines. This organization could lose part of its possessions if it ended badly in thispetition.

    Thus, it was unusual that thispetition brought new benefits in terms of exploration areas to the best-ced organizations.

    Therefore, when the old man from before talked about five new areas, among them a crystal mine, an indispensable resource for high-level cultivators, the nobles in the coliseum went into turmoil.

    "Crystal mine?"

    "My goodness, I didn''t think something so valuable would be the prize for the winner of this edition!"

    "Imagine how rich this family will be with this prize? They will surely enter a new level!"

    Manyments arose in themon area of the coliseum, as the VIP viewers and the event participants showed more interest.

    "Crystal mine, huh?" Lothurmented to his wives, surprised by this.

    He had already learned about all the currencies in Concordia and the importance of crystals for cultivation at higher levels.

    In short, a spiritual crystal could be used by cultivators from the 2nd stage on, generating attribute points for those who used them.

    Lothur had concluded that after talking with Elke and Annaliese, so he understood how important it was to have crystals.

    Families usually had to work on several projects to produce enough gold coins to buy crystals. So, how valuable would it not be to have a mine?

    Viktoria nodded upon hearing Lothur''s interested tone and said. "That''s a surprise... Or perhaps, a way for the emperor or the imperial family to reward their favorite?"

    Annaliese looked curiously at her older sister since she was not aware of the essential matters of the family. "What do you mean?"

    Lothur answered in his wife''s ce. "Viktoria doubts whether this is a prize from an actualpetition or a benefit that the imperial family is giving to House Waldauer."

    Viktoria was pleased to see her husband understanding her so well. "Everyone knows that House  Waldauer is the strongest in the province, having ced first in the Province Conference rankings for many years. So, to put that possibility as a prize for first ce is tantamount to giving that family such a thing..."

    "Oh?" Annaliese realized the problem.

    Viktoria sighed and continued. "But at least there are prizes for the other families who ce in the top three positions. So, that''s not bad, even considering that the Waldauer family will once againe in first."

    The other families ahead of Viktoria''s house were not that different from each other.

    Yes, some were stronger than others, but it was not a difference to the point that it would be impossible to think of, for example, the 7th ce ranking beating the 5th. Such a thing was possible, and that''s why Viktoria did not think the remaining prizes would necessarily go to families already ''chosen.''<sub> </sub>

    As they continued talking about this, the members of the highest ranked families in thest tournament were vibrant about these prizes.

    No one doubted that the Waldauer family would be in the top position at the end of the Province Conference. So every person preparing to represent their family or even assist their juniors had the prizes for 2nd and 3rd ce in mind.

    That was something they knew they could get, so they could not help but be excited about the presentation of this event.

    The old man speaking of such apetition continued with his words. "We will also follow up with the arrangements from thest tournament. The 1st ce will get a 100% tax discount for the first year, decreasing by five percentage points each year until the nextpetition. The 2nd with 90%, followed by 80% for the 3rd... And 10% for the 10th ce in the rank."

    "In addition, those who rank up to three positions below their previous ranking will lose part of their territories, and those who rank up to three positions above may gain new fractions in their territories."

    He looked thoughtfully at the areas where the leaders of thesepeting organizations were. "This will be judged and can be followed up after the conference is over, as in previous years."

    After he exined all that, only the neers in thispetition were surprised by these methods since the older ones there were already used to such a thing. So, without much discussion among the audience, the old man soon proceeded to the part where he would exin how the following days ofpetitions would be.

    "In the next few days, we will begin thepetitions between the tournament candidates in their respective areas of expertise." He gestured with his hands, looking from one side of the coliseum to the other.

    "As everyone should know, the candidates are free to join whatever contest they prefer, but they are required to participate in at least one trial per day and a maximum of five trials, with at least onebat."

    This was why the Frost family could not subdivide any more trials among its family members. There was an upper limit on the number of trials a candidate could take.

    On the other hand, although it wasmon in this world for people to learn at least two professions, usually warrior plus something else, there were not many like that in House Frost.

    As such, the elder from earlier had thrown the responsibility on Lothur to do more examinations in the ce of the two young men who were bedridden.

    But these tests such old man was talking about were not necessarily entirely different exams. In this world, there was also a subdivision of warriors, those who fought individually and collectively.

    Because of this, an individual who was only a warrior could participate in two tests involving fighting. One in teams and one individual.

    As for the others, such an individual would need to have a spiritual profession for this.

    In the case of Viktoria and Annaliese, neither of them had Lothur''s professions, but they studied different fields. For example, his wife did spiritual painting, as well as being a musician. As for his sister-inw, she was a spiritual sculptor and a cook.

    In this way, both could participate in four tests each, and because of their limitation of professions, the family could not put even more weight on their shoulders.

    Anyway, Lothur was pleased to hear those sweet words of the old man presenting the rules of the Province Conference, already pondering how he should go about thispetition.

    ''For now, I only have three professions since I have not yet learned medicine nor alchemy, which are my interests. Then I will have to participate in collectivebat...'' He pondered as he listened to that man exin the trials.

    ...

 Chapter 259 The Province Conference Competition Model

    The old man, the main referee of thispetition, began to talk about the trials. "Starting on Wednesday, we will begin the Province Conference with the trials for spiritual professionals, starting with the alchemy trial. Then, in sequence, we will have..."

    "... Finally, at the end of the day, we will have thest two trials, the individual and collective battles."

    Regardless of the importance of the spiritual professions to this world, the main point of anypetition like this was the fights. So, naturally, the most anticipated moment would be at the end of each day, for the best enjoyment of thepetition.

    But not only that. Cultivators were busy with their training and duties and could not follow an event like this in its entirety. So, the essential part of this event, which would demonstrate the raw power potential of each organization in the province, was more relevant and needed to be followed.

    Knowing who would have the best alchemist or poison master was important. But seeing the most talented fighter was on another level and could not be ignored!

    In that way, the division of the tests throughout each day''spetition was not just to keep the audience interested in each fight.

    "In any case, regardless of the order of thepetitions concerning the different professions, we will have random tests for each of them. But they will follow the parameters of the regtory organizations of each profession."

    "The only exception is for warriors, who will have to fight..." He smiled since there were not many ways to test a warrior.

    One could test someone''s talent, but no one would need toe to apetition to find this out. Such a thing was typically done within families, and either others found out about it in their way, or such families used items to hide the talent of their offspringpeting in events like this.

    So there was no point in taking a talent test.

    As forbat understanding, although relevant and moreplex information, this could be essed through ordinary battle.

    Therefore, there were few ways to test a warrior''s skills other than a fight.

    "Anyway, eachpetitor with victories in their respective tests will guarantee a point for their families. That score is the same regardless of whether it''s for an alchemist test or one for warriors."

    "At the same time, each day of the conference is eliminatory. That is, a portion of thosepeting will be eliminated." He looked thoughtfully at thepetitors in different ces in that coliseum. "We have 39 families, with 16 spots for each organization."

    "On the first day of testing, we will eliminate three-quarters of the candidates. On this day, eachpetitor will have two matches against different opponents chosen by a draw, and whoever loses a match will be eliminated."

    He gestured with two fingers and said. "On the second day, two-thirds will be eliminated, but we will have single contests with three contestants each. The best of them will stay in the contest, and the other two will return home."

    "On the third and fourth day, half will be eliminated. So we''ll have single contests between two opponents on those days, and the winner will get to the next round." He gestured with his hands. "Then, we will have 13petitors for the grand final."

    "On this day, thepetitions will be a little different. Each test will have four contests. In the first two, one contestant will always be chosen by chance and will not need to participate in at least one of these contests to move on in thepetition. Meanwhile, the others willpete against each other to determine who continues in the event."

    "Thest two matches will be yed by those remaining, with the fourth determining the overall winner." He smiled as he remembered the prizes for the youngpetitors, not just their families.<sub> </sub>

    This old man then said to the joy of the mainpetitors in that coliseum. "For each profession, that individual who finishes first will have unparalleled resources or opportunity as a prize for their performance. In particr, the winning family of the collective match will have two slots to the Secret Realm and the individual winner, one ce."

    After he finished saying the crucial things that thepetitors needed to know, immediately, each of these youths began to talk about their strategies.

    The Province Conference was not apetition where it was enough to have the physically strongest or the best experts. No, because of the division of trials and scoring scheme, whoever won the most matches had the best chance of winning.

    And as obvious as this seemed, it did not necessarily mean that the family that won the final would be the winner. For example, a family with more people capable ofpeting in various tests of different professions would have a better chance of winning than one that yed fewer matches, even if itspetitors did not win the final.

    Some families were more focused on specializations and would undoubtedly win many of their battles in those fields. But others might have members participating in tests for, for example, four different professions instead of two or three.

    In this case, even if it was difficult for a candidate focused on several areas to win finals, they could bring in several points for their family.

    That was what the Frost family intended to do with many of their candidates!

    For example, Annaliese was not necessarily the best cook of her age in the province, although she worked hard at it and enjoyed cooking. But depending on her opponents and luck, she could get from 0 to 9 points for her family just from the tests for spiritual cooks.

    Meanwhile, she would stillpete in the group test with the rest of the family, the individual fight, and the one for sculpture. So, she could bring in from 0 to 36 points for her family, while apetitor who would only participate in tests for two professions could contribute from 0 to 18.

    In this case, even if the Frost family or others following this strategy did not have the bestpetitors, they could still get essential points for the final ranking!

    On the other hand, there was a minimum of contesting that a family historically needed to achieve scores necessary to maintain their past results. Since House Frost lost twopetitors in this edition of the Province Conference, they had been forced to distribute more responsibilities to their members, among them, Lothur.

    That elder who had suggested that he should bear more responsibility had no idea that Lothur had spiritual professions. She only wanted him to engage in group and individual fights, perhaps bringing some surprise to the family.

    Even if he or others did not get any points, as long as they could get in the way of the family''s opponents, increasing such people''s chances of defeat inter trials, it would be worth it!

    So, as the conversations in each of thepetitor''s areas unfolded, the registration of the participants in the exams they wanted to take opened up, preceding the drawings that would take ceter.

    All this was done publicly for the families to participate and judge the integrity of thepetition. But the participants did not need to remain there for the entire process.

    In this way, as soon as he had signed up for his areas of interest, Lothur headed towards the exit of this coliseum.

    ...

 Chapter 260 Warnings

    As he made his way through the halls of the great coliseum in Peters City, Lothur stood beside his wife and sister-inw, the first holding one of his hands and thetter hugging his left arm.

    Viktoria found it a little strange how close her sister was to her husband, but she was not suspicious of Annaliese. No, if it were Lothur hugging her sister, she would see trouble. But the opposite was no big deal for her to bother with.

    Everyone knew she was his wife. So, no one would think wrong things of this careless behavior of Annaliese.

    Thus, Viktoria had only the matters concerning the Province Conference on her mind at the moment.

    "Are you confident about doing all these tests on the same day, Lothur?" She asked him, alternating her gaze between the way ahead of them and his eyes. "Each test will consume your energy, so you may not have the strength to fight at the end of each night."

    He smiled confidently and said. "Don''t worry, my endurance is much greater than you think, dear.... Or maybe you already know that, don''t you?"

    Hearing Lothur''s yful tone and the shameless smile on his face, Annaliese immediately understood what he was talking about. ''This scoundrel talks about these things like that, without any ceremony...''

    As for Viktoria, she blushed and said. "Don''t be full of yourself! It''s not just physical endurance that matters in situations like thispetition! You''ll be exhausted mentally. That''s what I''m talking about."

    "It depends on the level of my opponents..." He pondered this and asked her. "What is the average strength of the participants? Are they more like you or like Anna?"

    "Hey, don''t talk like that! I''m way above average!" Annalieseined as she pinched Lothur''s waist, unhappy that he had made such an unfairparison.

    Viktoriaughed. "The average strength in terms of cultivation should be between the 7th and 8th Transformation. So, only the strongest, probably one or two per family in the case of the strongest organizations in the province, are at the 2nd stage."

    "Unless you are very unlucky, most of yourpetitors will be people about your level."

    "Oh? Then it won''t be so hard. I''m better than those of the same level as me..." He peacefullymented.

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''t talk like that. Cultivation and talent don''t necessarily go together!" His wife corrected him while squeezing his right hand harder. "Some formations masters at the 7th Transformation are better than others who are already at the 8th!"

    "That doesn''t matter. I''m the best 1-star formation master in the city, dear. So unless a 2-star one appears before me, I won''t lose."

    Lothur was not arrogant. He talks about facts. Since he knew few 1-stars were on his level, this young man had no difficulty saying those words. But he would not say the same thing about, for example, the battles. After all,petitions of this kind depended on factors he could not judge, such as bloodline, physique, techniques, etc.

    If someone asked him, he would be confident in making statements about his performance rtive to his three spiritual professions. But not regarding his skill as a warrior.

    "You are very confident. Then I will believe you," Viktoriamented, feeling good internally, as this would help her family get more points in thispetition.

    She was already worried about the absence of two talented young people in her group, two individuals who could actually help them a lot. But with Lothur, this card up her team''s sleeve, Viktoria could not help but feel a little more hopeful.

    Obviously, she did not think he would get House Frost to 2nd ce just by his participation. That would be ridiculous since there were 14 members in their group, all of whom would need to perform well for the family to reach such a ce.

    But if Lothur performed well, it would be easier for the family would at least not lose power!<sub> </sub>

    Then, Viktoria felt fortunate for his participation in this event, which was so crucial for her family''s future.

    She then said. "Anyway, spare yourself as much as possible and not show all your skills. That is not to protect you from enemy probing but to save your energy."

    "Hmm, I''ll do that..." Hemented as they were about to walk down the stairs in front of them to leave the coliseum.

    However, as they walked through that part of that majestic building, Merten''s group appeared ahead of Lothur''s.

    This time, this young man from the Baier family was not leading the group but alongside the strongestpetitor from House Baier in this edition of the Province Conference.

    "Viktoria, it seems that the rumors about your marriage are not as true as I had thought..." The person leading that groupmented while smiling at Lothur''s wife.

    Viktoria made an icy expression and said to that level 10 young man. "My marriage is not something for you to discuss, Erich."

    "Hehe, no? But I must say, I am surprised you dare to show such intimacy with this fellow..." He looked at Lothur as if he were watching a bag of shit. "Different rumors, not pleasant ones at all, will spread because of this."

    "And what does this have to do with you?" Lothur asked as he looked at that individual while running one of his hands around Viktoria''s waist. "Forget that. Considering you''re standing next to this guy, maybe you''re just another idiot..."

    Seeing Lothur looking at him, Merten turned red with anger but was prevented from acting against his enemy by the leader of his group.

    "Lothur, eh? I want to see if you''ll speak upter when thepetitions begin." The ck-haired young man said this with a provocative smile on his face.

    Meanwhile, several people in the surrounding area had stopped their conversations to observe these two groups, many looking at Erich with good thoughts for him.

    Many people in this city were envious of Lothur because he married the most beautiful woman of the younger generation of the province. As many of them were gathered in the coliseum this day, there was a high concentration of those interested in Viktoria in the area, all mentally giving icy looks to the silver-haired young man.

    But Lothur knew that bothering with the ugly stares in his surroundings would get him nowhere, so he merely focused on the fool in front of him. "I want to see it too, hehe. I think it will be an interesting show for the audience..."

    He walked a few meters, sidestepping this group, and then looked back to say. "But I rmend that you guys don''t try to rush whatever you have in mind. Remember, your family''s future will be at stake!"

    <o>,m "Tsk!"</o>

    "A coward! He''s trying to hide by using these threats!" Merten brandished as he saw Lothur and the twin sisters moving away from his group.

    "Leave him," Erich said as he looked at Viktoria''s ass. "Soon, that person will no longer be a problem. Just follow the patriarch''s ns, and everything will end well."

    "Yes, sorry about that, cousin Erich. I just got a little carried away because of how disgusting that bastard is..."

    As they talked and several dangerous nces were turned towards Lothur, Anneke followed in his footsteps.

    ...

 Chapter 261 Information

    As Anneke approached where Lothur was passing with Viktoria and Annaliese, a man dressed in a hood and with his face protected by a mask was watching them from afar.

    ''That wretch has tricked me!'' He clenched his fists as he looked at Lothur''s annoyed face, remembering the day a mere mortal tricked him.

    ''That day I ran away from Peters City terrified that the Becker family would hunt me down because of him... But the bastard had only shown me amon symbol of that house to frighten me.'' Harry''s master, the young man Lothur had killed in Lewerenz, thought of this in anger at this vile guy.

    But he had not only been frightened by Lothur on that asion. After that, Harry''s master spent days hiding because of the beginning of Elke''s family''s investigations.

    For that reason, he could not even show his identity in public and now had to walk around using a mask through the shadows to protect himself from the target ''engraved'' in the middle of his back.

    ''But just wait, you bastard. My family will act against you and avenge all I have suffered since Harry''s death!'' He stopped watching Lothur and left that area, returning to his family''s side.

    His family was also from the province and wouldpete in this event. So he already had people to stand in Lothur''s way!

    The entries for the candidates in each test at the conference were public for anyone to see, so it would not be hard for his family group to identify where Lothur would bepeting...

    Anyway, while that fellow was plotting against Lothur, this young man was finally stopped by Anneke.

    "Lothur, I finally can talk to you..." She sighed as she stopped her previous hurried walk while holding his right wrist.

    Viktoria then looked at this academy student, whom she knew because of such a person''s family, and asked. "From where do you know my husband, Anneke Koch? What do you want to talk to him about?"

    Annaliese already knew who that woman was to Lothur, so she just watched Anneke while this ck-haired woman answered Viktoria. "I was one of Lothur''s teachers in Sector-1, First Miss Frost. So, I want to give some advice to my former student..."

    "Oh?" Viktoria looked at Lothur, surprised by this but finding the behavior of this person from the Koch family suspicious. "Since when are teachers and students this close? What exactly do you want to talk to him about?"

    Viktoria still did not love Lothur, but she was possessive with everything she had. Hence, since she had given herself to him, this brte naturally would not like to see women approaching him without good reason.

    Anneke smiled as she noticed how defensive Viktoria was with her. ''It looks like you managed to melt that ice heart, eh?'' She looked at Lothur, who had a smile on his face at the moment.

    Lothur enjoyed watching his womenpete for him, so there was no reason to stop the two from exchanging a few barbs.

    Anneke then replied to Viktoria. "True, it is unusual for teacher and student to get close. But Lothur is no longer my student. We are now just colleagues as Annaliese and I, or you and I are..."

    "And what does this ''colleague'' want?" Viktoria closed her eyes and smiled at this person from Sector-4, who strangely gave her a different feeling, something she did not like.

    Anneke looked at Lothur and then said. "Some families are nning to act against your wife''s house. You should expect that by now, right?"

    "Hmm." Lothur nodded since none of this was new to him. ''Hell, there are even members of that family who n to act against House Frost...''

    She continued. "But some of them will act specifically against you. They will do everything not only to make you lose but end badly, very badly..."

    "Act against my brother-inw?" Annaliese was concerned by that woman''s speech. "Why would anyone target my brother-inw? What did he do? It''s not like he''s responsible for the future of the Frost family..."<sub> </sub>

    Annaliese did not want to offend Lothur with that finalment of hers, as although he had the potential for it, no one but her, Viktoria, and Elke knew of his full capabilities. Hence, to her it made no sense to think that the enemies of House Frost wanted his head.

    p For what? Would it solve anything for these Frost family rivals if a son-inw ''without'' powers died or was brutally injured?</anda>

    But while Annaliese did not understand the situation, Viktoria knew some reasons why someone would wish for Lothur''s demise. ''That could be because of his father or someone who wants to separate him from me...''

    Anneke answered Annaliese''s question. "I don''t know exactly. In some cases, it seems that these people are just trying to hurt the Frost family somehow. But in the case of House Baier, they seem to attribute what happened to their young master to Lothur."

    "The Baier family?" Annaliese asked as she looked at Lothur. "Did you do something against Alric?"

    "Yes, he thought Elke was his and not mine, so I smashed his little friend." He said in a low voice, startling the three women around him.

    That was particrly true for Anneke, who was only suspicious about Lothur''s involvement with the Alric incident. "Did you do that for just something like that?" She asked as she looked him in the eye.

    "Just?" Lothur asked without feeling any remorse.

    He was already fully adapted to the cultivation world, so using force to represent his will had already be normal for Lothur.

    "If you want to know, he attacked me a few days before that situation. So, I returned every blow his group gave me that day." He added thisment since it made no sense now to hide information about this, even more so considering that he trusted these women around him.

    "So he was the one who did that to you?" Viktoria asked as she remembered the day people took the beaten Lothur to her family''s estate.

    "Yes, he and his cronies attacked me. I think that must have happened after I kissed Elke. That fellow seemed to be in love with her..."

    "Of course he was!" Anneke eximed. "He convinced his own family to engage with House Becker, so obviously, he wouldn''t like to see you interacting with his future wife!"

    "Is that so?" Lothur scratched his nose. "Well, Elke didn''t know or want that. She preferred to be with me. So, like a man, I taught that fellow his ce."

    "Careless! Now you will have to face their wrath during the Province Conference!" Anneke shook her head in a disappointed manner at him.

    But Lothur showed no regret. "I think they are the ones who should be careful. If they stand in my way, I won''t hesitate to give them a real reason to make us enemies!"

    Lothur did not like the idea of talking to enemies. To him, negotiations were meaningful, but only if both sides wanted the same thing.

    When someone negotiated with another because they had no alternatives, that negotiation would already be a failure before it even happened. So, why negotiate with an enemy who secretly wishes your destruction?

    He preferred total confrontation, with the stronger destroying the weaker side!

    ...

 Chapter 262 Betrayal

    Since the Baier family already held the opposite position to House Frost, Lothur knew there was no way there could be a good rtionship between them. That way, he would have problems with such an organization one way or another, so it made no sense to remain passive to that power''s aggressions against him.

    No, if House Baier were going to attack him openly within thispetition, he would strike back at a higher intensity, giving a concrete justification for them being enemies.

    That way, at least the problems between the parties would be clear to both sides!

    ''If they attack me in this event, there will be no reason for them not to do so after thispetition is over.'' He pondered as he saw the expression on Anneke''s face. ''Since they will stand against me and probably try to kill me after this, I will simply eliminate all my opponents who try to harm me beyond limits...''

    ''That way, I will at least decrease the number of future problems.''

    "Are you crazy? You want to extinguish the fire with more fire?" Anneke approached him and tightly gripped one of this man''s shoulders.

    He smiled at her and remarked to the three women with him at that spot outside the coliseum. "Don''t worry. I am not alone and will soon have several supports. And I am not as weak as they think. If they force me, they will have a terrible result."

    Lothur was confident in his EVF points, especially considering something he had in mind. ''I must act against the Mouse Company and absorb as much of those points as possible...''

    ''Maybe I''ll seek Viktoria''s help to break into that ce. They are dregs of society, so no one will miss them or im justice.''

    Hearing Lothur''sment, Viktoria misunderstood and said. "That''s right. Lothur is not alone. If anyone stands against him, I will act. Finally, I still have my mother. Does anyone dare do anything against us when she is around?"

    Mabel might be annoying, but she was the strongest woman in the province, one of the three strongest people in this area!

    Hence, there was a limit to how far the local powers could go, or they would end up pissing off a Transcendent!

    With that, Anneke sighed as Annaliese nodded in agreement, knowing that Elke''s family would probably not stay motionless to these problems.

    Gomeric might not know about Lothur and Elke''s rtionship, but Hilda did. Would she let this young man suffer without even trying something to help him? Would she allow the death of the man who stole her daughter''s virginity, and who could make that young redhead stronger?

    In Annaliese''s opinion, Hilda would have to be crazy to ignore Lothur as long as her family was not threatened with destruction. After all, the silver-haired young man would certainly do amazing things to them as long as they could continue to exist.

    That''s just considering Lothur''s skills in bed...

    Anneke did not know these secrets yet, so she could only pray that nothing bad would happen to this man of littlemon sense.

    "Well, in any case, be careful." She said before saying goodbye to them.

    "What do we do now?" Annaliese asked as she looked at Lothur and her sister.

    Viktoria looked at the two and said. "I have some family business to take care of, so I will return to our estate."

    Annaliese continued hugging one of Lothur''s arms and said. "Then I will go with Lothur to your hotel room. I want to know exactly where you are so I can visit you in the future."

    "Oh?" Viktoria was not suspicious at all, quickly epting that her sister just wanted ess to her without having to ask them. "Fine, but you''ll have to hide your identity, so no one will find out it''s you going there."

    "I know that! What would people think about seeing me walking into a hotel room with my brother-inw?" Annaliese eximed.

    "I wasn''t talking about that, but it''s true..." Viktoria sighed as she gave Lothur a severe look. "Don''t try anything funny."

    "Don''t worry, dear. I won''t do anything I haven''t already done..." Lothur smiled at her before hugging Viktoria and kissing her briefly.

    Meanwhile, Annaliese was looking away to disguise the redness on her face and avoid seeing her man with another woman.<sub> </sub>

    After this, the two said goodbye to Viktoria and ran to the hotel room in question, where the two entered without attracting anyone''s attention.

    If anyone saw them at that moment, they would think this was the same couple as thest two nights.

    And indeed, the room of the two soon began to disy the same sounds Viktoria had made with Lothur for hours day and night.

    ...

    ? After more than two hours together, Lothur and Annaliese finished their daytime adventure, both of them wholly sweaty and with their breaths racing.

    "Hah... Hah... Lothur, I needed that..." Annaliesemented as she rested her head on his left shoulder, smiling and looking up at the ceiling.

    Lothur liked hearing that, also having enjoyed this little physical activity of theirs.

    Viktoria and Annaliese were twins, but although they looked alike physically, the feeling they gave in bed waspletely different!

    So for him having sex with Annaliese was a unique experience because she was so different yet simr to Viktoria.

    ''Personality differences, I suppose...'' He pondered silently, considering Viktoria was colder while Annaliese was warmer.

    "So? How will we continue over the next few days?" She asked as she turned to him, eager for more.

    Lothur then said. "We''ll check our tests scheduleter, and with that, when we''re both free, we''lle here."

    "What about my sister? What will we do about her? Won''t she find us meeting here strange when she is not here?"

    He then replied. "If wee separately, there won''t be any problems. And if she''s around when youe, just disguise it and say you came to visit us..."

    Annaliese felt a little bad listening to him as if she was betraying her sister. "That''s so wrong..."

    But then she climbed on top of her brother-inw, feeling the me in her body intensifying. "But you make me feel so good, so I can''t help it..."

    "Mmmmmmm~" She kissed him, slowly returning to what they were doing earlier.

    "Do you have something to do now? Mmmm~" She asked amidst their kisses.

    "I will produce the new version of my glove~" Hemented as he alternated between kissing her and talking. "I will be signing a deal with the Becker family this week, so I need to finish that~"

    "Oh?" She pulled away from him and looked him in the eye. "Do we still have time for one more round?"

    "Sure. My skills have evolved a lot, so it won''t be problematic to produce it after we''ve had our fun." Hemented, even more in the heat than his partner.

    "Perfect!"

    "Mmmmmm~"

    Thus, the two were soon back to their man and woman activity, not taking time to begin the exchange of fluids that they so enjoyed doing together.

    At the end of it all, the two cleaned themselves up, and Annaliese said goodbye to Lothur, leaving him alone to work on his glove...

 Chapter 263 Lothurs Target

    After Annaliese left, Lothur quickly turned his attention to producing a new glove, one that would be more efficient than the previous one in terms of cost and effectiveness.

    Since he already had the entire design in mind, the materials in his spatial ring, it did not take long for him to begin producing the item that would serve as his first trade agreement on this world.

    Due to the elevation of his mental characteristics since hisst time doing things as a tailor, Lothur faced no difficulties in his work.

    He skillfully joined the parts of the different materials, slowly giving the product its proper shape while taking advantage of the materials'' effects to intensify his design''s qualities.

    At some point in his work, Lothur used the formations gs he had gotten from Cedric to inscribe a few lines of code on that item to protect his design. The Becker family would soon gain the blueprint of it, but he did not need to allow others to analyze his item.

    ''After I finish here, I''ll train in the Cultivation House, and then I''ll see some information about the Mouse Company...'' He thought about this during the final part of his work.

    ''Those bastards have hindered me since I arrived in this world, so I''ll use them to improve my strength during thispetition!''

    ...

    While Lothur was going to train, the old chief referee of this edition of the Province Conference was in arge local hotel where he was staying.

    He was not from this region of Leopoldine but the capital. As such, this fellow had no other ce to stay and was staying in thergest hotel in Peters City since he could not show preference topetitors in associating with local powers.

    In any case, this fellow was now sitting in front of the balcony of the top floor of that building he was in, listening to his disciple''s exnation.

    "... This fellow''s name is Lothur Ritter. He is the son-inw of the Frost family, husband of Viktoria, the brilliant youth, the hope of that family." That fellow''s disciple said as he recalled the conversations he had had in the previous hours.

    "He doesn''t seem to have any talent, has no spiritual power, and is treated as a good-for-nothing by many in this ce, among them, even people from his wife''s family."

    Information about Lothur getting involved with the professions of formation masters, poison masters, and tailors was not known among this fellow''s enemies.

    After all, Lothur had only recently begun to get involved with these professions, having only formally joined the Formation Masters Association the day before!

    As for his position as a poison master or tailor, that could not even be assessed by others than his wives. Hence, even if some watched Lothur and had news of this young man visiting ces associated with these professions, no one thought he was learning them!

    Because of that, the young disciple of that old man reported outdated information to his master...

    "I don''t know, master. To me, he doesn''t look like a real candidate. It seems to me that the Frost family is just using him because they have been forced into it by their circumstances. But he shouldn''tpete seriously..."

    That old man listened to all this in silence, thinking that if his suspicion turned out to be urate, this would all make a lot of sense. ''If he''s a bastard, it makes more sense that he looks terrible at everything he does.'' He looked away, with several thoughts in his mind.

    ''But does he know something? Or maybe his mother didn''t tell him anything?''

    It wasmon for bastards of influential people to know nothing about the identity of their parents. After all, bastards usually had no promising future due to their threat against the order within powerful families.

    As long as bastards existed, the bloodline of some figures would run even in the absence of him, his legitimate descendants, or talented people. So, there would always be a possibility for those with different ideals who wanted an alternative...

    And this naturally brought problems, which led to the persecution of these individuals.

    Thus, it made sense to this man that Lothur was faking or had been forced to act like a fool without even knowing why.

    He then said to his disciple. "Keep watching this fellow, but don''t do anything to attract attention."

    "Yes, master."

    "However, if he gets injured during the conference, try to collect some of his blood. I want topare it to something ..."

    ...

    Hourster, Lothur finished his training and saw his status appearing in front of him.<sub> </sub>

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 24.2 -> 24.4]

    [CON: 51.9 -> 52.2]

    [DEX: 20.5 -> 20.8]

    [AGI: 28.5 -> 28.9]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 68.8]

    [WIL: 72 -> 72.3]

    [EVF: 247]

    Seeing this, Lothur smiled as he walked towards a ce where he had made an appointment to talk to someone regarding the Mouse Company.

    He was masked at the moment since he was using his identity as Mister Stuart, as he was in his identity in this organization. He was also protecting himself from whoever he was going to talk to now so as not to spread information he was researching about that group.

    Lothur knew that the side that sells information from one was often the same selling information of him to the other. So, he would not make the mistake of thinking that only he could look up to others and was protecting his identity for that reason as well.

    ''I will talk to Viktoriater about my ns. There is no need for us to tolerate the existence of an organization that wants to destroy us...''

    ''Then, if her power is enough to help me, I will convince her to attack their of these vermins!'' He clenched his fists as he felt satisfied with his current powers but much more interested in the advancement he could have if he eliminated such a group.

    Thus, he soon reached the basement of the Cultivation House building, where that organization had ces for its members to meet with part of the local underworld.

    "Are you Mister Stuart?" A man, also hiding his identity, asked Lothur as he stood in front of the door of a small room.

    Lothur looked at that level 7 fellow and nodded in agreement. "Are you Red Bird?"

    "Yes, pleasee with me..."

    After a brief greeting, the two sat down inside one of the many small rooms in the hallway where Lothur had arrived.

    "So, Mister Stuart, what exactly are you looking for? I have many things with me. Information about local families, the most promising youths in the Province Conference, and even some names that will disappear in the next few days." He opened his arms and gestured to Lothur.

    Lothur remained motionless in his seat as he listened to this man and asked him. "I want to know how strong the Mouse Company is. How many Spiritual Warriors do they have, and who is the leader, that is, the strongest."

    "Mouse Company?" That man moved backward, surprised at being asked about this underworld organization. "I have some information about them that might be useful to you, but it won''t be cheap... These guys are everywhere, so since the risk is higher, so is the price."

    "Say how much."

    ...

 Chapter 264 Enemy To Be Fought

    After noticing that Lothur was not joking with him, something he had to check since members of the Mouse Company liked to hunt people who sold information about them, this fellow said. "For 10,000 bronze coins, I am willing to help you."

    Lothur did not even waste his time in an attempt at negotiation and ced a bag of bronze coins on the table that separated them. "Here they are. Now tell me about this organization, about what I asked you."

    That level 7 man looked at the bag of coins for a moment, finding it impressive how this person who looked like a mortal could unceremoniously remove 10,000 bronze coins from his spatial ring.

    It must be said that 10,000 coins were about 33 times the average monthly amount that an average mortal needed to pay their bills and survive in this chaotic cultivation world.

    Not only that, this amount was almost double what someone at level 7, like this individual, earned after a whole month of work. Thus, he soon realized that his client was no ordinary, maybe a prominent businessman or a cultivator hiding his cultivation base, which was not a small thing either.

    Hence, before he even touched that bag, this man clenched his fists, knowing that he had to treat the fellow in front of him more carefully.

    "Well, I''ll start by giving you the most valuable information. The leader of this organization is named Kai, but I don''t know hisst name nor possible connections to powers outside the underworld." He began to speak without even bothering to gauge the number of coins in the bag Lothur ced in front of him.

    "He''s a Spiritual Warrior, but I''m not sure about his level. But it shouldn''t be high, probably between the 1st and 3rd Revolutions. He is the strongest in this group, but this group has four other cultivators at the 2nd stage, all weaker than him, of course."

    "How much weaker?" Lothur asked as he leaned forward while using his elbows on the table to support him.

    He liked that first bit of information since this organization was not entirely off-limits to him. After all, Viktoria was a cultivation genius and was already at level 12, the 3rd Revolution.

    So at least no one in that group could threaten her!

    The masked man then answered Lothur''s questioning. "I know the level of two of them. Both of them are in the 1st Revolution, newly promoted Spiritual Warriors. As for the rest, none of them are at Kai''s level, so they are between the 1st and 2nd Revolutions."

    "Very well. Tell me their numbers and how many posts this group should have." Lothur added the previous information to his ns and followed up with the details that mattered the most.

    The seller of this information noticed that Lothur seemed to be enjoying his information and rxed a bit, picking up the bag of coins in front of him. "Well, the numbers of 1st stage cultivators within that organization are difficult to ess. There are many, if you count prostitutes, informants, and even children enticed by them."

    p "But those above the 7th Transformation are no more than 100." He gestured with his hands. "It''s not arge group, and several of them move around the province, so it''s hard to assess for sure."</anda>

    "I also can''t tell you about possible alliances with other local underworld groups or traditional organizations... They are quite careful about their external rtions." He made a serious expression, but Lothur did not see it because of the mask hiding this individual''s face.

    Lothur then asked. "What about their posts? I know of a ce in this city, an abandoned building near..."

    After that man heard the description of the ce Lothur had seen when he followed Erika, his old ''friend,'' Willi''s partner, who tried to kill him earlier, that man understood where such a ce was.

    "That is the main post of the Mouse Company, Mister Stuart. That''s where their leader, Kai, spends most of his time." He scratched his neck as he spoke this. "I''ve heard that everything happens there... Women are sodomized and trained to be prostitutes."

    "Sigh!"

    "It''s a horrible ce!"

    All the powers in Peters City knew about the Mouse Company and its deplorable actions. But since these actions were focused on mortals, problems rarely urred between this group and the powerful local families.<sub> </sub>

    On the other hand, local families had information that neither Lothur nor this man had. Thus, the Mouse Company coexisted with the local powers, even considering their small power.

    That was true for the Frost family, which, even though they knew that Elise had infiltrated their organization at the behest of Kai and someone else, did not act against the Mouse Company.

    One of the connections in Kai''s group was precisely a power that wanted the end of House Frost, so they could not give that power reason by acting carelessly!

    That informant then continued. "But that group has two other posts in Peters City and one in Reinhard."

    ''Reinhard? The secondrgest city in the province?'' Lothur remembered the local map, quickly identifying where part of his opponents would be.

    But thinking that exterminating the Peters City group would alert people in that post to flee, he did not consider acting in such a ce.

    The only possibility for him to act against members of that organization in this outpost would be in case Kai was not in that city when he decided to act.

    After that, Lothur heard from that man the specific locations of the Mouse Company''s posts, keeping such locations in his mind to visitter.

    "Very well, that''s enough." He said as he rose from his chair and made shake one of that man''s hands.

    The informant noticed a mark on one of Lothur''s wrists and understood something about this person. ''A 1-star poison master? Who could this be? Why is he seeking information about this group?''

    Seeking information about something or someone did not necessarily mean that one was an enemy or that the one doing so wished for the end of that thing. No, there were people, such as the betrayed husband Lothur helped weeks ago, who sought information, such as from this organization, to decide if the services provided by that group were reliable.

    The Mouse Company was a group that spied and investigated people for coins, so many who sought information about this organization just wanted to get closer to it.

    Thus, that man doubted whether Lothur was just another client or enemy of this organization.

    "If you need anything else, look for me here in the Cultivation House..." He suggested as he watched Lothur leave that ce without even looking back.

    ''I''ll look at the ces where the posts of that organization are, and then I''ll visit Elke before I talk to Viktoria...'' Lothur nned as he went on with his ns.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the local Formation Masters Association...

    A middle-aged man walked unceremoniously into the room of one of the council members of this institution, red with anger as he roared. "Philip! Philip, you bastard. What have you done?"

    "I heard my nephew lost his precious set of gs that I gave him, and you still award the little thief responsible for it!"

    ...

 Chapter 265 Deceived

    Seeing the person who had just invaded his workce yelling at him, Philip recognized Cedric''s uncle, readily understanding what this was all about.

    "Dennis, what are you talking about? Your nephew Cedric bet with a young man taking the test for 1-star formation masters and lost. What does this have to do with me?" He opened his arms wide as he looked into that individual''s eyes.

    "What do you have to do with it? I think a lot. No? How else would you invite him to the council after only one test?" He made a strange expression, indicating his doubts about some plot behind it all.

    Philip closed his eyes and sighed. "I imagine your nephew hase to you to ask for justice, right?"

    "Of course! When the little ones suffer, it''s only natural that the bigger onese out to demand justice!" The fellow gestured with his fists, swinging his arms so fast that the sound of air moving could be heard in that instant.

    "Your nephew told you what?"

    "That he was tricked by a thief who wanted to take his g set!"

    Philip shook his head and then exined. "You shouldn''t believe everything your nephew says. He was the one who wanted to bet with that fellow, and he was the one who suggested what would be at stake in the bet. So how could the other side have any guilt?"

    "Or are you telling me that your nephew had his mind controlled by a young man who just became a 1-star formation master?"

    "Tsk!" This neer made a noise of displeasure.

    He already figured that his nephew was hiding part of the truth, but as a council member, he could not simply ept a neer to the association to impose defeats on his nephew.

    He had to show his position of respect and at least punish Lothur so that the members of this organization would know how to respect its hierarchy.

    He then said. "It doesn''t matter what happened. This young man is not good for our organization, so give me his file. I will expel him for being someone uncontroble, unable to act for the good of the association."

    Upon hearing that, Philip''s eyebrows opened while a strange smile slowly formed on his lips. "It''s not going to happen. You can''t expel a council member on your own."

    "What, council member?" This uncle of Cedric''s asked as he opened his eyes in surprise.

    Cedric had told him that Philip had invited Lothur to the council. But from what he had heard, the silver-haired fellow had refused. So he could not help but be surprised to hear such great information from his colleague.

    "What are you talking about? Didn''t he refuse the proposal you made? How can he be a fellow council member?" He made a doubtful expression, not understanding if this individual was trying to deceive him.

    Philipughed and said. "He refused the first offer. But after one of my superiors authorized me to give him some benefits he demanded, I made a new offer, and he joined us."

    "What? Benefits?" This man''s jaw nearly dropped to the floor, shocked that a junior formations master had gained council member status and benefits without ever having done anything for the association. "How is that possible? Who gave this authorization to you?"

    "Joshua Hartmann," Philip replied as he looked into that person''s eyes, waiting to see what he would do.

    Joshua was one of the three most senior formation masters in this province. Thus, his position in the Peters City post was not low, and this uncle of Cedric''s would have difficulty trying to move such an individual!

    "Joshua?" This man''s fists clenched, noticing that there was nothing to be done in this situation. He would have to lose some face because of Lothur!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''This Philip was quick to bring such a brat here! But what''s the point here? Does he value a young formation master that much?'' He pondered since he did not know the full results of Lothur''s tests.<sub> </sub>

    Cedric had not told him the whole truth. Instead, this fellow had subtly diminished Lothur''s results to make it seem that, although talented, this enemy of his was not a genius. Hence, this man in front of Philip had no idea that Lothur had had perfect results in that day''s exam.

    ''Well, I can''t do anything from within the association, but disputes between formation masters are not prohibited...'' He looked away from Philip''s eyes, thinking about sending one of his underlings to cause some trouble for Lothur.

    ''I''ll teach that junior his ce! Even if he is already a council member, he can never think he is an equal of mine!''

    ...

    After a few hours, it was already night in Peters City, and Lothur had checked the points of the Mouse Company in this city.

    Lothur used the system and his visual Skull Soul Bone skill to check the number of individuals in each location. And, of course, he also analyzed the strength of most of them, noting how problematic his ns would be.

    Thus, he was already working out a strategy in his mind to deal with that ce as he walked to the Becker family estate.

    Now Lothur was not only going to fulfill his responsibility as a man with Elke. He was going to meet with her parents to sign the agreement about his glove.

    With the new project in hand, he could ensure the feasibility of the agreement and hand the project over to that organization to beginrge-scale production as soon as possible.

    As he was in dire need of coins at this time when he needed to find a home and pay for resources for his projects, Lothur could not dy in seeking sources of ie!

    Thus, he soon identified himself at the entrance of that estate and then proceeded directly to Elke''s family home.

    ...

    "Lothur, it is good to see you again." Gomeric tapped one of the silver-haired young man''s shoulders just after seeing this fellow standing next to his wife, who had brought him to the office they were currently in.

    Hilda then asked Lothur. "Are you here to see our daughter? Elke is quite worried about you on ount of the Province Conference."

    He nodded to his mother-inw and exined. "Yes, but today before I go to see Elke so we can have a littlebat training, I want to talk to you..." He took the glove. "I''ve finished the new version of it. So, I am ready to sign that agreement."

    As those two looked surprised at the gray glove in Lothur''s hand, this young man saw its features through the system.

    [Adhering Glove] [Rating: Iron]

    [Feature: increases grip between surfaces by 70%, increases protection around hands by 20%, increases the Strength of the wearer by 10%.]

    [Reminder 1: this glove has a ''half-life'' of 200 years.]

    [Reminder 2: its characteristics will decrease by half each time its ''half-life'' is reached. Itpletely loses its effects after the 3rd ''half-life''.]

    ''All the glove characteristics have improved after my advancement in Intelligence, as well as the use of more suitable materials...'' He pondered this as he noted the values disyed by the system.

    ...

 Chapter 266 They Have No Idea With Whom They Are Dealing

    After picking up the gray glove that Lothur showed them, Gomeric immediately noticed that such an item had be much better than the previous one he had seen.

    ''This glove is almost at Bronze-grade...'' Gomeric looked at that item with his eyes twitching, feeling impressed with Lothur''s tailoring skills.

    As Lothur watched his father-inw being shocked, Hilda took that glove from her husband''s hands and put it on.

    ''Oh? It''s improved significantly!'' She jumped on the ceiling of that office and used the glove to stand still in the air, supported only by her hand wearing the glove.

    "Impressive!" Gomericmented as he saw his wife slowly falling, shocked that the glove supported her weight for almost 5 seconds.

    At the same time, Hilda was the happiest there, more and more confident that letting Lothur and Elke continue their rtionship would be the best thing for the Becker family.

    ''It seems that Lothur''s talent loses nothing to the quality of his bloodline... Excellent! My grandchildren will be impressive!''

    "Well done, Lothur! I had already been pleased with the previous glove, but this one will be an absolute sess!" Hildamented as she took such a thing from her right hand. "Besides not being expensive, it is extremely efficient for its purpose."

    "We will certainly make a sess of it!"

    Lothur nodded upon hearing her and then asked Gomeric. "Have youmunicated with the store in Lewerenz that I mentioned?"

    Elke''s father nodded positively. "Yes, one of my trusted subordinates went to that ce and has already settled everything with the Siegel family. We just need to start our operations, and we will sign an agreement with them to sell the first batch of gloves at that ce."

    The Becker family needed to test this Lothur glove''s business viability to know how much they should invest in this project. So, for the time being, they would produce a few hundred of these gloves and send them to Jacob''s family store in Lewerenz.

    If everything went well, they would expand this by making agreements with more stores around the province and increasing their production capacity.

    Lothur was pleased to hear that and then asked. "Then I want to teach your tailors as soon as possible. I want those gloves to be selling on shelves by the end of the month."

    "End of the month, eh? I don''t think that will be a problem." Hildamented. "We''ve already researched ces to buy the materials for this glove, and our 2-star tailors are ready to start learning."

    "Then let''s sign this agreement once and for all..."

    They then continued talking for some more time until they signed a Blood Contract sealing the agreement that would give Lothur rights to the profits from the trade of that product on the order of 40% for 200 years.

    After this was settled, Lothur dined with Elke''s parents and this woman, who had already been notified about his presence.

    ...

    "Lothur, you must be careful in the next few days," Elke spoke while they were still standing around the dining table at her parents'' home. "There are many powers that will try to act against the Frost family, consequently, against you."

    "Hmm, I am already aware of that..." Hemented as he remembered Anneke.

    Elke then said. "If something unusual happens, we will try to do something to help, but our actions are limited."

    Hilda nodded in agreement and said tofort Lothur. "You can count on us. We will speak up on your behalf in case something happens."

    "Hmm, I appreciate that. But I think I''ll be fine, madam." Lothur confidently smiled. "Those families who act against me are the ones who will be in trouble."

    "They have no idea with whom they are dealing..."

    They heard his boldment but did not disagree. Considering what they knew about Lothur, it was not inappropriate for him to say that the local families knew nothing about him.<sub> </sub>

    It was true!

    So they talked for a few more moments until Lothur left alongside Elke for her residence, where they would practicebat for a while and then have fun for another hour.

    "I will be advancing today, so we have to wait for that to happen before we can get on with our stuff..." Elkemented to him as they headed to the training site at her house.

    She wanted to avoid advancing right after having sex with him, so she could not help but rify that point to Lothur.

    He already knew that his partner was about to advance and saw no problem with that. "That''s fine with me... No, it will be better this way."

    In this way, they started their training!

    ...

    After some time, Lothur left Elke''s house, with this woman already at level 5 and him adding 0.1 points to each of his physical attributes.

    With that, he soon returned to his hotel room, where Viktoria was already waiting for him at this instant.

    "Still with the energy to take care of your wife?" She asked as she finished drying her hair, sitting on one side of their bed, watching this fellow who had just closed the door.

    Lothur turned back and saw that brte woman seriously looking at him.

    "Did you bring anyone else here today? When I returned, I smelled something strange in the room..."

    "Strange smell?" He frowned, afraid of his wife''s suspicions.

    But Viktoria did not press the matter when she saw the expression of iprehension on his face. ''It must be nothing. It was too weak to be what I was thinking...'' She thought.

    Annaliese had done her best to try to disguise the odors of her and Lothur''s fluids. But Viktoria''s nose was even more urate than Annaliese''s, so she had picked up on some signs Lothur''s sister-inw missed!

    Lothur then used his troubles to distract Viktoria''s attention from the forbidden things he had done with Annaliese. "Dear, I have an important matter to discuss with you."

    "What is it? Can''t this wait untilter?" She stood up and walked over to him, eager to rx.

    He held her tiny waist with his hands and said as he looked her in the eyes. "No. We''d better settle this as soon as possible... Anyway, it''s about those enemies who want to act against your family and me. I want to deal with the Mouse Company."

    "What?" She let go of him and pulled away a little, surprised to hear something so problematic from her husband. "Where is thising from? Why do you want to act against them now?"

    <o>,m Lothur then seriously said. "I didn''t have the possibility, but now I do. So I want to eliminate these hindrances and acquire something that can strengthen me for the Province Conference."</o>

    "You want to eliminate them?" She awkwardly asked.

    "Yes, they are my enemies, so there is no ce in the world for both of us. One must perish for the other to have peace... And I prefer they are the ones that will disappear." He said, looking into her eyes without being distracted.

    "Impossible!"

    "The Mouse Company is not just a group of bandits operating in the local underworld. They have contacts with a big family in the capital!" She eximed to him, showing her husband why the Frost family never did anything against the organization created by Kai, even considering Elise''s letters.

    ...

 Chapter 267 The Ways Of Lothur

    "Oh? Do they?" Lothur asked as he thought about theplications this might bring for him.

    "Of course!" Viktoria eximed. "Do you think we would ept the existence of such a group if it had no support? That''s the only reason the Mouse Company still exists, considering the problems its members have caused to the province."

    "I see..." He ced one of his hands on his chin and then said. "But it makes no difference. Or rather, it makes a difference since we must prepare ourselves to deal with those who support this organization. But as for the rest, it doesn''t matter."

    "What are you talking about?" She asked, trying to understand her husband.

    Lothur looked into her eyes and asked. "What you think is preferable. Letting a wound on your hand kill you or epting the loss of your hand to save the rest of your body?"

    Viktoria''s eyebrows drew together, and she answered him without much thought. "Sacrificing the hand is better, of course."

    He said. "So, dear, right now, the body in question is your Frost family, and the wound is those organizations that are your enemies. If we don''t cut off the hand and eliminate this ''disease,'' it will spread throughout the rest of the body, eroding the life of your organization."

    "You want that? Are you going to let parasites slowly destroy your family?" He took her arms, squeezing them a little so Viktoria could feel her position.

    "But trying to do something will be worse. They will have reason to act openly against us..." She tried to argue but was stopped by him.

    "They are already doing that, or wouldn''t it be so obvious to everyone that your family will suffer at this Province Conference because of these rival powers!" Lothurughed.

    "Whether you like it or not, dear, they will degrade your family''s position until you are powerless to react. So I ask you. Will you wait until they take away all conditions of reaction from your family? Or will you act while you still can?"

    "That... That''s not so simple."

    "It is simple, Viktoria." He pushed her gently onto the bed and stood over her. "Cut off the hand. These powers will continue toe after your family as long as the problem exists. And as much as there are dangers in acting against these enemies, it is even riskier to wait until they fully ovee your family."

    Her eyes twitched as she looked at him, knowing how dangerous it would be to do something like that but understanding Lothur''s point.

    Lothur''s speech made sense. After all, this was how the Frost family had gotten to their current fragile situation, where they were in danger of being oppressed by the forces of the empire.

    The Frost family had been mighty in the past, but over time it had be a power besieged by developing adversaries. But in the meantime, it had failed to develop and even allowed rivals to grow.

    Eventually, due to adversarial development, this family began to decline from its position, both because of the purposeful actions of some of these powers and because it had been too negligent.

    And now, in the present times, the people in this organization are afraid to act, causing even worse problems.

    Viktoria knew all this and could not help but hesitate after Lothur''s lines.

    "And how do you intend to handle this? How is acting against the mere Mouse Company going to help us? What about the enemy''s reaction?" She asked him, trying to know at least her spouse''s ns.

    Lothur then exined his thoughts to her. "The Mouse Company is probably not a risk to your family, but they are involved in the local plots and have contacts with the traitors in your family. So, taking them down may relieve some pressure on your household."

    "In any case, the main point in taking them out is for me to take out those who have acted against me so many times... I will also be able to get something to prepare better for the Province Conference."<sub> </sub>

    "Prepare better?" She asked.

    "Hmm, you will understandter..." He answered her. "Anyway, we''ll have a while before anyone gets suspicious of us. After all, I want only the two of us to be involved in this. So, it won''t be easy for others to find out who is responsible for anything we do."

    "Just the two of us? And how will we do that?" She smiled, thinking that Lothur was overestimating the abilities of the two of them.

    The Frost family could destroy the Mouse Company in an afternoon if they desired. But that would only be possible using the many members of that organization. Therefore, how would two people at their levels do such a thing?

    "The Province Conference takes ce in five days, so let''s do this over the next three days, eliminating one post at a time." He smiled at her, considering the numbers and locations of the enemies.

    "Don''t you think they''ll get suspicious? Plus, I won''t be able to eliminate the people in their main post. They are strong enough to protect themselves from me." She shook her head from side to side, indicating that such a n would not be possible.

    "Don''t worry. I will help you with my skills. Don''t underestimate the power of formations on a battlefield..."

    Viktoria''s eyes shed in interest at what he had in mind, but she was still not confident.

    He then said. "You just need to help me gather as many enemies that are about the same level as me in the first post. After that, you will understand why it will be possible for us to deal with the main post of that group on the third day of attacks."

    Viktoria was still not OK with all that, but she asked. "Let''s say that this is all possible. Won''t they run away or react after the first attack? Why will they wait for our action?"

    Lothur had already thought about that point and answered her. "That''s the advantage of being in the middle of the Province Conference, dear. Right now, all the focus of the local organizations is on thispetition."

    "So what will the Mouse Company do when a uselesspetitor starts to stand out in thepetition? Everyone will start investigating the situation!"

    Viktoria''s eyes widened at this possibility.

    "In the midst of this, we will pretend to be in closed-door training on your family''s property when we are notpeting. But, at the same time, we will act against the Mouse Company." He smiled at her.

    "At first, the enemies won''t notice anything because they will have lost only the weakest rank besides being too busy with me. But in the blink of an eye, we will be at their main post, and by then, it will be toote for reactions!"

    "Moreover, even if they realize something, we will have already diminished their forces, improved ours, and left our opponents confused to be able to focus on something, be it the conference or revenge."

    "That..." Viktoria was surprised at Lothur''s methods, shocked that he had thought of all this on his own.

    His n was not foolproof, but it was entirely possible to carry it out and bring some good results for them.

    They had the Province Conference to create an alibi for them, so their chances would not be bad, even if they only eliminated one of the enemy posts!

    ...

 Chapter 268 The Night Before The First Day Of Competition

    "I think that can be done..." Shemented in a low voice to him. "When do you want to start?"

    He answered her promptly. "It has to be tomorrow night. Today would not work since the enemy is not distracted enough. But, on the other hand, we can''t wait too long since thepetition won''tst long, and we can''t wait for the finals before we act."

    "I see..." She continued where she was, watching her husband on top of her, feeling awkward about this situation where he was nning everything. "That''s fine, but I hope you''re right, or this coulde back to us even worse."

    He smiled at her. "Viktoria, we don''t even need to do anything for your family''s situation to get worse. There are already plenty of people working for that to happen."

    She felt terrible about that, but it was indeed true. So, she just agreed with her husband, feeling that they could only survive by reacting to their enemy.

    The Frost family thought they might have a good chance with her in the future, given her above-average talent. But Viktoria knew that talent was not everything in this world, and if something happened to her, it would all be for naught.

    Thus being encouraged by her husband to fight while she had the chance, she could not help but be moved by him to act boldly!

    "All right, let''s act your way. But what now?" She felt one of his hands on her waist, and even considering the worry in her mind, she thought about ''that.''

    Lothur smiled, slowly massaging his wife''s little body under the robe she was wearing. "Let''s release the tension in your body for the best oue of all tomorrow, OK?"

    She began to put the previous issues aside as she felt her body warming up. "OK, I also need to help you for tomorrow..."

    So, as Lothur began to move to remove his clothes, Viktoria wasted no time and put one of her hands inside his underwear, ready to serve him.

    After a few minutes of kissing and touching, they were soon in the 69 position, giving their best to each other in this very intimate situation.

    ...

    While Lothur and Viktoria were exchanging fluids in unimaginable ways, Mabel and Aiken talked in bed.

    "Your son-inw has signed up for tryouts for the tailor, formation master, and poison master professions..." Mabel said to her husband while resting her head on his right shoulder.

    Aiken heard this and understood his wife''s doubt. "I know what you mean. He was frequenting ces rted to these professions, so maybe he is not a total amateur. But we''d better not expect any of that..."

    "Sigh..."

    As Aiken sighed, she said. "I know that. Do you think that good-for-nothing is going to bring us a good result? I just thought he might at least try to get in the way of the otherpetitors."

    "He did well to sign up for all his options, even though he had no chance." Aiken praised Lothur, seeing that his wife would not.

    "Anyway, we''d better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day..." He said, looking forward not only to thepetitions starting but also to the end of it when his family might have a few years to prepare for the next such asion.

    ''I just hope we can get out of this event in one piece...''

    As Aiken closed his eyes to sleep, Mabel was staring at the ceiling, a little sleep-deprived, given the worries on her mind.

    But as she groped her husband''s body in a particr area, she could not help but sigh in defeat and feel nostalgic for when she spent hours with Aiken in bed, awake, of course.

    ''Maybe I shouldn''t think about that any more... I''m over 250 years old, so I''ve had enough.'' She thought as she looked at her husband''s face and noticed that he had already fallen asleep.

    ''But if Aiken has a breakthrough and reaches my level, maybe we can return to the way we were before.'' She thought as she felt something inside her urging her not to give up. ''Who knows, after all this challenge, maybe he will surpass his current bottleneck...''<sub> </sub>

    Mabel usually did not think about such things. But the thought that Viktoria was doing this with Lothur had tortured her thest few nights.

    She was a woman too, and she had her desires!

    Hence, as she pondered how much Viktoria seemed to be doing to Lothur, Mabel had been feeling nostalgic about the time when she was the one doing these things.

    Anyway, this woman had tremendous willpower, so after thinking about it for a moment, she soon fell asleep, still embraced by her husband.

    ...

    At the same time, Fritz Stauss was in his hotel room in Peters City with Kai and his bodyguards in that high-standard ce.

    "Everything will start tomorrow. So, use your group as best you can, and don''t let another have the chance to fight him." The young man said this, looking thoughtfully at Kai. "It will be terrible if he is eliminated or injured before we even have a chance to act against him."

    Injured people could not fight in the collective fight, so if Lothur was injured in the individual fight and his opponent was not someone trying to kill him, this group might lose their chance.

    "Don''t worry, young master. I will do my best to ensure the end of that brat tomorrow!" Kai clenched his fists in determination, feeling that he would finally be able to solve this mission.

    His group knew whichpetitions Lothur would be in the next day, so he had already given the necessary orders for trouble to arise for that young man in whatever he did the next day.

    Since the local rules were flexible for Province Conference participants, this man could not see how Lothur could escape him this time!

    ''On the other asions, you miraculously got rid of the worst of it, but this is about to end!'' He closed his eyes and thought about how it would all end pretty soon.

    Fritz nodded at him andmented before ordering his bodyguards to take such a person outside. "I hope so. Starting tomorrow, I want to see the fall of the Frost family and the end of this bastard without any unexpected problems.

    "You won''t be disappointed, young master..."

    "Hmm, now go. I have no more time for you!"

    Afterward, Kai left that ce and returned to his main post, where his bitch was waiting for him, as she usually did at night.

    "Master, I am ready to be disciplined..." Then, on all fours on a bed, a redheaded woman, totally naked, said this while using her hands to open her buttocks.

    Seeing that, Kai slowly felt some of the pressure on his shoulders lessen and approached that bed as he took off his clothes.

    "Suse, what do you say about us surprising your husband with something? I think it will be hot if we have someone watching us as we entertain ourselves for the night..." He said in a devilish tone.

    "As the master wishes..." She said in her depraved tone as she looked away and felt her privates burning.

    "Hehe, let''s do that in the next few days..." He pensioned himself behind her and pped Suse''s left buttock hard.

    Pa!

    "Ahhhh~"

    After that, while connecting with her, he whispered. "It will be good for everyone. He''ll get over your disappearance, and we''ll have fun with that goofy..."

 Chapter 269 The First Day

    The next morning...

    As soon as Lothur and Viktoria finished their morning activities, they left that hotel in disguise and went to the Frost family estate.

    From this ce in question, they followed alongside Annaliese and other family members who were going topete or watch the trials of this first day ofpetition.

    Since the Province Conference involved trials of many spiritual professions, the event started very early in the day and went on without a break until the evening.

    That way, before they had even had breakfast, the three arrived together at the coliseum where they would have to begin their trials today.

    "Lothur, what is the order of your tests? Are any of them scheduled for the same time as mine?" Annaliese asked as she walked beside her brother-inw and sister.

    Lothur then said. "I have thepetition for formations masters now in the morning and will test my other two professions in the afternoon, one at 1 pm, the other at 5 pm."

    "Oh? Then you can see mepeting in my two specialties!" She smilingly eximed as Viktoria realized that her two tests were scheduled for the same time as Lothur''s.

    Not all spiritual professions were as attractive or essential, so some specialty fields had their tryouts simultaneously as other professions.

    There were countless possibilities for spiritual professions, so it would be impossible for the Province Conference management to make room for all of them to be held at different times.

    The day was limited, and this event onlysted five days!

    So, Viktoria could not help but regret it since not only could she not go to watch two of Lothur''s three trials, but he would not be able to see her in action.

    "Show your IDs!" A guard said this to them in an authoritative tone as the group finally reached the front of the entrance for thepetitors.

    After hearing that, the three quickly used the IDs they had received the day before after signing up for their respective contests.

    "When can we see who will be our opponents in the fights?" Lothur asked his women just after they had passed through the previous entrance post.

    Viktoria then answered him. "I think that''s already avable. Do you want to see it? Or is your first trial already going to start?"

    "No, I still have some time..." Lothur replied and then looked at Annaliese.

    "Hmm, I have some time too."

    So they went to the central area of this coliseum, where only thepetitors and regtors of the event were allowed to enter, to check this vital information.

    When they arrived in arge hall near one side of the grandstand of that building, they came upon a ce where several screens disyed the matches that would take ceter.

    There were the locations of the battles, as well as the times of each match, and of course, those who would or could face each other.

    Thispetition had manypetitors, so every fight could not happen at once. Hence, these first, lower quality and more numerous fights would not take ce on the leading tform of this coliseum but in eight different ces in this building.

    This coliseum in question was massive. It was able to hold more than 100,000 people simultaneously. Because of this, there was plenty of room inside this enormous building for each fight and test that would take ce over the next few days.

    Thus, anyone wanting to watch the individual fights on this first day would have to travel to one of the eight ces in question, where thepetitors present would fight a maximum of two matches.

    Because of this format, only the first fight of the day was known, and the second match would ur between people from the same location after a draw.

    That way, Lothur, and his women soon saw where they would have to fight and who their first opponents would be.

    "I will fight on the 7th tform against the Ihln family," Annaliese said, a bit bothered that she did not fall into the same ce as Lothur.<sub> </sub>

    People from the same family could not face each other at the Province Conference, so obviously, there would not be any problems if she had been drawn to the same ce as him.

    "Hmm, I will be on the 3rd tform, against the Becker family..." Viktoria said as she looked with a little smile at Lothur.

    "Why are you looking at me like that? Do your best. I only care about Elke and the continuity of her family. As for the rest, I don''t mind you making them suffer a little." He said, noting that his fight would take ce on the 8th tform against someone from the Baier family...

    ''That''s not a coincidence...'' He pondered as he looked at his name and Merten''s. ''Looks like the Province Conference management is against us, too.''

    ''Sigh!''

    ''What a bummer!''

    Annaliese realized what was on Lothur''s mind and said. "Well, your first fight will be easy and still give you a chance to get revenge on this fellow who constantly tries to stand in your way."

    Annaliese had not experienced several situations where Merten''s aplices had caused trouble for Lothur, but she had already talked to her brother-inw and Elke about such situations. Thus, she knew everything.

    "Hmm, I won''t have to reveal myselfpletely, and I''ll settle the situation with that guy once and for all." Lothur agreed while looking for who the Frost family teams would fight againstter in the evening.

    Each family could send from one to four groups to this phase of thepetition, which had to have at least three people in each.

    Since there was less fighting in thetter part of each day, this part of the event took ce on the leading tform of the coliseum, where 75% of these teams would be eliminated today!

    Viktoria and Annaliese also looked for this information and soon saw that their group of three would be fighting one of the Sitz family teams.

    "Sitz family?" Lothur questioned his women.

    Viktoria nodded and summed it up for him. "That is a family allied with House Baier..."

    "Oh, I see." Lothur smiled, no longer surprised by these battles he and his group would face. "But this is better, facing our enemies right at the beginning."

    "Why?" Annaliese questioned him.

    "So they lost important points for us!" Lothur said as he massaged Annaliese''s back, confident that the enemy action would turn against them anyway.

    Viktoria agreed with him, and not long afterward, they headed towards the site of Lothur''s first trial, which would take ce before Annaliese''s.

    ...

    When they arrived at one of the eight tforms scattered around the inner area of the coliseum, the site of thepetition for formations masters, Lothur and his women soon saw the division of the matches in this ce.

    The scheme of the matches at this ce was simr to that of the individual and team fights on the first day of the trials. So, Lothur only had his first match decided, which would be against someone he did not know.

    But ording to Annaliese and Viktoria, such a person should be someone from a local organization focused on that profession.

    Therefore, as he made his way to the tform and his wives waited in the stands to watch the event, Lothur saw his opponent doing the same as him.

    However, he also saw someone he already knew around his opponent!

    ''Isn''t that idiot? Cedric?'' Lothur looked in the direction of where this person, the uncle of Cedric, and thepetitor in question were looking in his direction.

    ...

 Chapter 270 The 8th Platform Competition (1)

    Noticing Lothur looking at them, the three individuals stopped their dialogue to notice this annoying-looking person.

    "This brat is ''worse'' than you had told me, Cedric..." The uncle of this young man who had lost in the bet with Lothurmented as he observed the level of Lothur''s appearance. ''How can someone look like that? Where is the justice in the world?''

    The young man who was going topete with Lothur thenmented. "It is as they say, in some cases, the creator doesn''t outsource his work... This guy is living proof of that!"

    Cedric listened to thements of these two and then looked in the direction where Annaliese was standing, feeling bad for his inferiority.

    But then he saw Viktoria standing next to Annaliese and almost had a heart attack at the sight of the more beautiful twin of the two.

    Gulp!

    Viktoria and Annaliese were identical twins, but Lothur''s wife had a more developed body, which made her much more attractive than her younger sister.

    Since she was also a few levels above Annaliese, Viktoria seemed to overshadow her sister''s beauty when she stood side by side with this young woman.

    As such, Cedric could not help but swallow his saliva and watch for those two. ''What a vision of paradise...'' But then he remembered the information he had collected about Lothur over the past few hours.

    ''Doesn''t that mean he is married to the prettiest one?'' He looked back at Lothur and felt even angrier at this person who had humiliated him.

    "Damn it!"

    "Hartmut, find a way to humiliate this dude. We can''t let someone like him stand out even more!" He said as he grabbed one of the wrists of that level 9 man.

    But Hartmut did not even need to be encouraged. Someone with Lothur''s looks naturally deserved to suffer to pay for his crimes!

    "Don''t worry. This person will be eliminated from thepetition for formations masters already in the first match with me here." He confidently said before stepping onto the tform where his and Lothur''s match would take ce.

    Lothur saw the whole interaction of the three from afar and already knew more or less what would happen from now on. ''So this fellow is here for revenge, huh? How pathetic. He had to ask for the help of others to take me on...''

    While Cedric shivered at the look Lothur had just given in his direction, Kai was nearby, standing next to hispetitor in this exam.

    "Damn it!"

    "How did this person get the test spot against this little bastard?" He asked his underling, who was standing next to him and hispetitor.

    Kai had naturally nned to put someone to get in Lothur''s way for each of the tests the silver-haired young man intended to take today. But surprisingly, someone else had taken the lead and stolen the first opportunity he would have for the day.

    Kai''s underling then said. "Boss, I think this has something to do with that person..." He pointed in the direction of Cedric''s uncle. "He''s on the local Formations Masters Association council, so he has more influence than we do."

    "Oh? And why would he want to act against that bastard?" Kai asked, still feeling angry at losing the chance to cause some ''ident'' for Lothur.

    "That... I don''t know." The dark-skinned man lowered his head, not knowing what to say.

    The Mouse Company had been watching Lothur, but this young man had only recently made enmity with Cedric, and it all happened inside the Formations Masters Association. So, they had no details of what that young man had done in such a ce.

    Thus, all he could tell his boss was that individual''s rtionship with such an organization and exined his failure to get the position for their candidate.

    "Damn it!"<sub> </sub>

    "Now he will be eliminated without at least being injured or humiliated!" Kai clenched his teeth hard.

    Hispetitor then joked. "Brother Kai, I might still have my chance if he gets through to the second round."

    "Tsk!"

    "What a joke..."

    ...

    While Kai was feeling the loss of his first opportunity, the referee on the 8th tform exined the dispute to Lothur and Hartmut.

    "Very well. You two will have 10 minutes to develop your attack and defense formations with the selected materials." A gray-haired old manmented as he gestured with his hands, alternating his gaze between the two on that tform.

    "After that time is up, whoever has not finished at least one of them will be eliminated. If you both fail, we will give the spot to the one who has done more in their formations."

    "But if both of you finish within the time, you will have to attack each other with your formations the moment the time is up." He pointed to a giant hourss above the tform.

    Then the old manughed as he saw the look of surprise on Lothur''s face. "Who suffers the least and causes the most damage to his opponent will win the confrontation!"

    "Oh? That''s a little different than I expected..." Lothurmented, feeling that this test was much more interesting than the ones he had taken in the Association.

    "Humph! What did you expect? It would be a junior test, like the one you took recently?" Hartmut asked in a disdainful tone, sensing that Lothur would soon lose his good result in the entrance test for the Association.

    The match referee ignored the rivalry between the two and asked. "Are you ready? We won''t give a second more when the match starts!"

    The two nodded in agreement, and then the old man in the center of the tform punched upward, causing a pulse to form and turn the giant hourss.

    "Begin!" He shouted, at the same time as Lothur and Hartmut already began to prepare their formations.

    Along with them, every person in the surrounding area began to watch this tform with interest since, as much as no one there was among the favorites, Lothur was quite famous for hisck of qualities.

    As a famous, good-for-nothing, irritating-looking to men, the husband of the most beautiful young woman in the city, and son-inw of the Frost family, everyone wanted to see Lothur''s downfall.

    So, in the blink of an eye, everyone there was watching in the direction of that ''mortal,'' waiting to watch the Frost family''s first defeat in thispetition.

    But not everyone there was among those who wished for his downfall. Besides Viktoria and Annaliese, Lina, the formations master of the Christen family, was there to follow Lothur''s matches!

    ''How far will you go?'' She wondered as she looked with interest at Lothur manipting his formation gs, already beginning to inscribe his codes on his chosen materials.

    And in that instant, except for Lina, Cedric, and Annaliese, who were already expecting excellent performance from Lothur, the people there began to notice his abilities.

    Lothur had no difficulty moving his brush within thews'' restricted space. But not only that, this time, he was using his two hands to encode his formation, which was rarely seen among professionals in this field.

    And with this, it did not take long for some people to realize that Lothur was not as simple as they imagined!

    ...

 Chapter 271 The 8th Platform Competition (2)

    "Hey, isn''t that brat having it too easy in this?" One of the many Frost family opponents in the vicinity of the 8th tform asked the people in the surrounding area.

    At the same time, that previously noisy ce had be somewhat quiet, with the few voices sounding out asking questions full of doubt regarding Lothur.

    "That..."

    "That person has no trouble inscribing his codes into his formation!"

    "He is already above the 1-star rank of formations master!"

    Some of the experts in that profession in the area made theirments, while those who did not understand the subject so well were more and more surprised.

    Among them, Kai was looking at Lothur with his mouth open, not understanding how this person devoid of qualities could be setting up a formation right in front of him.

    "That fellow is very good..." Kai''spetitor said this while sensing Lothur''s abilities that were beyond the ordinary. "You guys told me that he was not a formations master... Maybe he tricked you?"

    The dark-skinned man next to Kai was just as surprised as his boss, but thinking about the possibility that Lothur had tricked them all this time put him in an even more doubtful state.

    ''It can''t be! How would he distinguish himself as worthless so well when he has above-average skills? It''s not easy being a zero to the left!'' He eximed in his mind, looking at the smooth, quiet movements of Lothur''s brush.

    At that instant, Lothur had just finished inscribing the codes for his first formation and immediately began preparing the defensive item he would use against Hartmut.

    ''That''s a wooden shield, so here''s what I''ll do...'' He thought about many memories from his time on Earth and created the rules behind his defensive formation.

    While Lothur did his work with a smile on his face, his opponent was sweating to finish inscribing his first formation. But from time to time, Hartmut would look at his opponent due to thements in the surroundings, feeling even more pressured that this person was taking everything so easily.

    ''Damn!''

    ''That bastard is doing better than me! How is this possible? Will I have my reputation thrown in the trash by him?'' He thought as drops of sweat formed on his forehead.

    Seeing this from afar, Lina smiled, sensing that Lothur would easily win this first contest on behalf of the Frost family.

    ''His opponent is good, but Lothur''s skills have already reached 2-star rank. The only thing hecks to develop a Bronze-grade formation is the inscriptions...'' She pondered in silence, considering what she saw in the silver-haired young man''s manners.

    The referee of Lothur and Hartmut''s match was also impressed since he was also a formations master and knew how difficult what the silver-haired young man was doing was.

    ''Inscribingws into a formation using two hands is like reading in twonguages simultaneously... But still, this fellow is doing his job without much difficulty.'' He pondered, noting that Lothur''s talent should be close to the 4th rank, Yellow grade.

    ''This boy can be a 3-star formations master in the future!'' He saw the talent needed for Lothur to reach the level of the best specialists in that profession in Leopoldine!

    Leopoldine was a mid-level state in Concordia, so the best experts of the spiritual professions were ranked 3-star.

    So for that man, Lothur''s talent was already impressive enough to put him among Leopoldine''s hopes of nurturing more formations masters to develop the local technology!

    Considering this, he could not help but look at Lothur with a glint in his eyes, already changing his opinion about this fellow who reminded him of someone...

    While everyone around him was still shocked by Lothur''s far superior performance, the sand in the hourss above that tform had already reached three-quarters of the time of the test.

    At this instant, Lothur stopped what he was doing and stood up after putting away the formation gs he had used.<sub> </sub>

    "I''m done." He said as mouths opened all around, and Hartmut looked at him angrily.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Come on, Hartmut! Don''t make me lose even more of my face!'' Cedric''s uncle thought to himself as he looked at his man, feeling that Lothur''s performance had been much better than his nephew had told him, but there was no useining now.

    As such, he could only give mental support to that individual, his only hope that his reputation would not be further tarnished.

    ''I hope no one in the association finds out about this...'' He thought as he looked to the side and saw a person waving in his direction.

    ''Philip?''

    Philip continued smiling at that fellow, feeling good about seeing someone making such a foolish mistake.

    ''Idiot, I told you not to believe everything your nephew says!'' The old man who was there to observe Lothur thought to himself, already wondering what it would be like when he spread this to his fellow members on the council of the Formations Masters Association.

    Anyway, as Cedric''s uncle hid his face, the time trial ended, and Hartmut was able to finish his formations.

    At that instant, the match referee merely looked at the two young men and nodded, saying they could enter the match with their items.

    Lothur then said in a humorous tone. "If you want, I will give you the chance to attack me first..."

    "Oh?" The audience in that area reacted with surprise at Lothur''s magnanimity.

    But Annaliese frowned, showing her sister that something was not right.

    "What is it, Anna?" Viktoria asked her in a low voice.

    "I don''t know. Lothur is not the type to give the enemy a chance..."

    But Hartmut did not know what Annaliese knew, so he smiled at this possibility, feeling that this was his chance to redeem himself.

    ''Bastard, you may have finished before me, but my attack formation is not weak!'' He picked up what looked like a cannonball and ced it on a support.

    Next, Hartmut used what looked like a stick and spun until one end of this artifact hit the ball in question and sent it toward Lothur.

    The moment the end of the stick touched that ball, it glowed in various wavelengths, which started from the point of contact with that artifact and fired a strong pulse backward.

    Then the ball gained speed, quickly bing as fast as a 38 revolver bullet from Earth.

    However, while all this was happening, Lothur was standing there with a blue circr-shaped shield on his right arm, with a ball simr to that of the enemy in his left hand.

    The items offered to thepetitors in this test had to be identical to ensure that the best formations master would win. So, Lothur''s and Hartmut''s attack items were identical.

    And so, as Hartmut watched his attack unfold, the collision finally happened!

    ...

 Chapter 272 The 8th Platform Competition (3)

    The moment the ball thrown by Hartmut arrived a few millimeters away from Lothur''s blue shield; this item shone in that same color while its metallic appearance changed.

    This change urred in a fraction of a second when Hartmut''s ball came closer to the shield, changing its metallic appearance to a rubbery one.

    While everyone present was waiting for Lothur''s shield to explode and for him to suffer brutally from Hartmut''s vicious attack, the ball in question hit that blue item and, after a millisecond, returned from whence it came.

    "What?" Hartmut''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he saw his balling back at him with almost the sameunching power!

    At the same time as this, people in the surrounding area rose from their ces to see the decisive move of this match, Lothur''s surprising counterattack.

    The cultivation world was diverse in many ways but could notpare to Earth''s creativity and stories. Because of this, Lothur could more easily think of alternatives like that, surprising the entire audience there.

    Since Lothur believed that the best defense was offense, he naturally used a single move to protect himself from the enemy attack and still create a danger to such a person.

    But he had not done this blindly. No, when he was making his formations, Lothur had observed the inscriptions used by his opponent through his visual ability. Because of this, he knew that such a ball would not explode when it hit something, so he programmed his shield to reflect the enemy attack!

    Thus, Hartmut had no choice but to quickly grab his shield and try to protect himself however he could, as he was the one who knew most about the power of that attack!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''That ball will greatly weaken my defenses...'' He wailed as his attack finally hit his shield, while that item glowed to be more solid, like a concrete wall.

    Boom!

    A distinct sound broke from the point of collision, with the ball in question crumpling the blue ''wall'' formed by the defensive formation on that shield.

    "Not bad..." Lothurmented with a smile on his face before throwing the ball he had set his offensive formation.

    In that instant, Hartmut trembled in fear, not knowing if he could handle the enemy attack, even if his shield had not been totally destroyed.

    The match referee also prepared to act if he had to, sensing that Lothur''s blow might go beyond the tform''s limits and reach the audience.

    Then the audience in their seats saw the ball slowly flying toward Hartmut, glowing like a bomb about to explode.

    ''Shit...'' The young formations master cursed Cedric and that fellow''s uncle when the bomb thrown by Lothur exploded 1 meter away from him.

    BOOM!

    Blue mes left that little ball, as the fragments of it turned into razor-sharp des, which flew in different directions from the focus of the explosion.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Hartmut screamed in pain as the blue mes melted his shield while some fragments prated different parts of his body.

    At the same time, the match referee promptly triggered the barriers around the fighting tform, inducing the building of a significant blue square-shaped barrier around it.

    Because of this barrier, every single projectile created by the explosion of Lothur''s ball was stopped, not hitting the startled crowd.

    As for Lothur, he skillfully protected himself from his attack by using the shield in his right hand.

    With that, Lothur was left standing at the end of this confrontation while Hartmut cried out in pain, already fallen to the ground.<sub> </sub>

    After a brief moment of silence, the match referee announced the result. "Lothur Ritter, representing the Frost family, wins this match!"

    "Add a point to the Frost family!" He said as he looked at other referees outside the fighting tform, causing the ranking in the surroundings to change subtly.

    [... 18a. Frost Family: 03...]

    "Wow! He truly won!"

    "Lothur won! The good-for-nothing from the Frost family was not eliminated!"

    "Unbelievable! This guy was hiding this whole time!"

    "Haha, I knew it. Such a handsome man couldn''t have bad talent! Heaven wouldn''t be so unfair!" A teenage girl said this while looking at Lothur with a sparkle in her eyes.

    Everyone recognized Lothur''s attractiveness. But most of the cultivators and relevant people in this city would despise him for his low talent, even considering that quality.

    But by showing that he was not useless, Lothur was making many people who would not be fooled just by his appearance more favorable to him.

    However, this was only for part of the people in that ce. Others felt even more anger and contempt towards Lothur, feeling the injustice of the heavens and how much he deserved to get beaten.

    ''Damn bastard!'' Cedric clenched his fists as he knelt on the ground, angrily punching with one of his arms.

    At the same time, Kai had an expression on his face that was as dark as night, feeling like he had eaten shit.

    "How can this be happening?" He muttered in a low voice, feeling the ''cold shower'' that Lothur had gifted him. "Where did this brat get these abilities from? How? Why?"

    His subordinate said nothing to his boss, understanding why Kai was so shocked by Lothur''s performance. ''This enemy should have a bunch of seals on his body... But, sigh, how did he manage to learn anything like that?''

    But as their group watched Lothur descending victoriously from that tform, Viktoria smiled as she looked at her husband.

    ''He''s truly very good... I hadn''t believed everything he and Anna said before, but now my eyes are open.'' She thought to herself, feeling good to have Lothur by her side and very proud of everything she had done with him.

    Women were naturally attracted to the social sess of their mates, an instinct of theirs. That raised her partner''s attractiveness to potentialpetitors and would allow him to have others instead of her. But even with that possibility, what would that mean if he stayed with her? That she was unique!

    Women did not like men who cheated on them, but they loved those who could do so!

    As such, the attraction of a mate''s sess could not be easily measured, and seeing her husband doing so well, Viktoria could not help but hug him in happiness at seeing him return to her.

    Annaliese was also just as happy as her older sister, even more so considering that she had watched much of Lothur''s progress.

    "Congrattions, Lothur!" She hugged him along with her sister, drawing even more hateful nces in this young man''s direction.

    Lothur felt the invisible arrowsing toward him and smiled, looking at the people in the surrounding area as if he was scorning them while he enjoyed his privileges.

    ''I don''t even need to use my predecessor''s arrogance to stimte the effects of hate on my Physical anymore, hehe. All I have to do is take care of my women in public, and a dozen losers will hate me.'' Heughed as he intimately held the waists of those two.

    ...

 Chapter 273 The 8th Platform Competition (4)

    As Lothur hugged the twins, everyone in the surrounding area looked at them, feeling a mixture of emotions over this unexpected start to the conference.

    It was undeniable that all the young people in the area were jealous of Lothur, but what bothered everyone there the most was the talent disyed by this good-for-nothing.

    After all, if Lothur was that good, how would they be ranked next to him?

    It must be said that not many young people within the age limit of thispetition were in the 2-star ranking of spiritual professions throughout the empire!

    So just from his performance in the first match, many already saw Lothur as a formidablepetitor to fight against, someone who would likely humiliate manypetitors in his path!

    But not only that, Lothur''s first match may not have seemed difficult for him, but the truth was that Hartmut was one of the favorites of this 8thpetition tform...

    Cedric''s uncle had tried his best to take Lothur down, after all.

    Therefore, after eliminating Hartmut, Lothur had established himself as one of the favorites, and most there could not help but feel intimidated by him.

    That was true even for the enemies of the Frost family, who were there either to act against him or simply to see the ''failure'' he would bring to that organization.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''The Frost family hid him very well!'' One of the representatives of rival families of that organization thought to himself as he saw Lothur acting intimately with Viktoria and Annaliese.

    But not only enemies wereining in their minds or making shockingments in the surroundings. There were also some members of the Frost family sent by Aiken to follow Lothur''s matches.

    "Unbelievable!" A middle-aged woman, Aiken''s trusted servant, said in a low voice, still not believing everything that had happened.

    People in the surroundings thought that the Frost family had hidden the truth about Lothur, but the most surprised people were those of that family!

    "How did he do that? Some kind of trick?" She asked the man next to her, trying to understand the situation.

    Another trusted servant of Aiken then said. "I don''t know. It looks like he hid from most of the family..."

    Seeing this individual pointing at Viktoria and Annaliese, the woman beside him understood his meaning. ''They are not surprised, so they already know about this? What is going on here?''

    As the strange atmosphere lingered in that area, newpetitors walked up thepetition tform while Lina walked over to where Lothur was standing.

    "Lothur, seeing you in action is quite nice..." Shemented as she got close to this young man and those twins, catching Viktoria''s eye.

    "You..." Viktoria looked at Lina, this 2-star formations master of the Christen family, and recognized her.

    The Christen family was an ascendant power, so Viktoria, the heiress of the Frost family, naturally knew how to recognize each of the 2-star cultivators of that organization.

    And seeing Lina addressing them in public, she could not help but be surprised since that organization was known for not wanting to rte to her House Frost.

    "Hello, First Miss Frost..." Lina smiled at Viktoria as she greeted Lothur''s wife while nodding her head to Annaliese, whom she had met before.

    Lothur then asked. "Is Miss Engelmann here to follow thepetitions on this first day?"<sub> </sub>

    Lina nodded to him while Viktoria was still surprised and said. "Yes, as part of the Christen family, I am here to look for new talent."

    Only families with noble status participated in thispetition, which meant that everyone there was directly or indirectly rted to noble houses.

    But being or not being a noble organization did not mean thatmon power could not have better conditions than some noble families. On the contrary, some individuals of humble origins grew immensely in their activities and eventually even surpassedrge organizations before receiving special status.

    And this was precisely the case for the Christen familypared to the worst-ranked local noble families in thestpetition of its kind.

    Also, one of the powerspeting in this edition of the Province Conference was in danger of losing its nobility status, while House Christen was one of the candidates for that spot.

    As such, this organization would not let this opportunity pass and had sent its members to observe all thepetitions in search of potential seeds.

    Some could not simply leave their families, but there was always the alternative of making arranged marriages. So Lina was also there for this reason, not just for Lothur!

    Viktoria then asked. "What exactly is your rtionship with my husband for you to approach us, Miss Engelmann?"

    Lina looked back at Viktoria and said. "Don''t worry, First Miss Frost, I am not after your husband, although he is my type... We''re just potential business partners."

    "Anyway, that depends on your husband, but seeing him today, I can say that the chances of us getting closer in the future are not small." She finished as she looked at him.

    "That''s good to hear, hehe." Lothur smiled, eager to solve his financial problems with his business.

    ...

    While that group was talking, Kai red at them, still angry at the surprise Lothur had saved for him.

    "Are you going to be able to cause trouble for this worm?" He asked his man who wouldpete on that tform in the second round.

    That young man from one of the local families allied with the faction of the third prince looked at where Lothur was smiling with those three women and said. "Causing trouble for him, eh? Well, I can guarantee I will do that. But as for beating him, I''m not sure."

    "The skills he has shown are far above average, but it could also be that he had a bit of luck during his match against Hartmut. So it''s hard to say what the oue of our confrontation will be..."

    Kai then looked at this young formations master. "It doesn''t matter. Everything will be fine if you manage to disturb him, even if he beats you."

    The young man did not like hearing that, but since his family had ordered him to work with Kai, he listened in silence to this leader of the Mouse Company. "That bastard will still participate in trials for poison masters and tailors in the afternoon. So injuring him or taking away some of his concentration with thisbat will be good enough."

    Kai''s subordinate next to him then smiled upon hearing that. "In those other trials, this wretch will suffer at the hands of our men!"

    And so, while they had no idea of Lothur''s abilities in those other professions, someone bribed by them made the appropriate changes to thebats in the second round of this 8th tform!

    Because of this, within minutes, Lothur would find out that he would have to fight Kai''s man in thisst fight of the day for him in this formations masters contest.

    So when minutes passed, and he finally returned to the previous tform, the audience again went silent, waiting to see him in action!

    ...

 Chapter 274 The 8th Platform Competition (5)

    In the second round of this 8th tform, the referee no longer informed thepetitors of what the test was like since it was in the same format as the first round.

    Thus, when Lothur and his opponent faced each other on that tform, they merely greeted each other before the match referee allowed them to begin their formations.

    Along with the silence in the surroundings, Lothur sat in front of his Bronze-grade formations gs, again attracting angry nces from Cedric, who had given such a thing to him.

    When he looked over to his opponent''s side to spy on what such a person was doing, Lothur immediately noticed something wrong in such a person''s attitude.

    His opponent was beginning to prepare his gs, as was he. But this person seemed to have part of his attention focused on the des hidden in his clothes, some of them in his sleeves.

    Lothur saw all this and the poison vials that such a person had with him, quickly noticing that this opponent was no ordinary person.

    ''Is this guy intending something against me?'' His eyes sharpened as he remembered that this test had no rules preventing apetitor from hindering their opponent.

    He then asked. "What was your name again? Noacky?"

    "It''s Eugen Noack!" Kai''s man said as he looked a little annoyed at Lothur for this fellow''s mistake.

    "Oh? Good to know..." Lothur turned his attention back to his gs, marking the name of this family on his cklist.

    He was not the type who would advocate the destruction of an organization without horrifying things happening.

    But cutting off rtions or excluding and pressuring powers that had already acted against him even minimally were things he did not consider overreaching. So, if Eugen were going to use those things against him as he suspected, Lothur would not let it go cheap!

    Then, while Eugen was a bit confused as to why Lothur was asking his name after hearing it a few seconds ago, he turned his attention back to his ns.

    ''You are very good at formations, but can you defend yourself from de and poison attacks while working?'' He smiled as he began to inscribe his rules into one of his formations.

    And with that, as time slowly began to pass, Eugen made his first attack!

    As everyone was paying attention to how Lothur was inscribing his inscriptions, Eugen quickly moved with one of his hands, striking his opponent''s back.

    Swooish!

    A small de, the size of a needle, flew quickly towards Lothur''s back while the strongest people in the vicinity noticed Eugen''s dirty blow.

    Unfortunately for Eugen, Lothur was a tailor, and his clothes were not ordinary. Because of this, nothing much happened when the thrown de was about to disrupt the silver-haired young man''s concentration.

    The de just mmed against the strengthened fabric of Lothur''s clothes, and after a second, it fell to the ground as if it had hit a steel wall.

    ''Idiot!''

    ''My clothes greatly lessen the damage inflicted by ordinary weapons, and my Constitution is already stronger than that of someone at the 1st Revolution! So you think a mere level 9 cultivator can hurt me?'' Lothur nced at Eugen, calm as if nothing had happened.

    All he had felt was the sensation of having hair pulled out by tweezers. So he continued his work, making a proper offensive formation to finish his opponent.

    ''But you will feel the drama of attempting such a low move in a few moments!'' Lothur clenched his teeth against each other in determination to teach that fellow a lesson.

    At the same time, while the audience in the surrounding area was surprised that Lothur did not even move after Eugen''s blow hit him, this individual had an ugly expression on his face.

    ''Bastard!''

    ''Using artifacts to protect yourself is the coward''s way!'' He inscribed a few more lines of code into his defensive formation as he prepared to hurl poison in Lothur''s direction.<sub> </sub>

    ''Let''s see what you do now...''

    ''You can defend yourself against des, but what about something that is in the air itself?'' He smiled as he opened a vial that was inside his clothes.

    The moment Eugen did that, the match referee immediately raised the defenses of that tform and turned away from the two, feeling that poison.

    Such a substance was not enough to endanger him, a 2nd stage cultivator. But it was enough to cause some annoying problems that he sincerely preferred to avoid.

    So this person soon turned away from the two, looking at Lothur with curiosity to see how the favorite of this match would handle this situation.

    Formation masters were like any other professionals in this world. They were helpful as long as they were able to fulfill their responsibilities. But situations like the current one could also happen, and it was the formation master''s ultimate responsibility to ensure his survival andpletion of the job.

    Because of this, circumstances like this were not prohibited in thispetition, and everyone just watched as Eugen used such a less honest means to defeat his opponent.

    Unfortunately for Eugen, Kai, and everyone else who wished for Lothur''s defeat, nothing happened when the bluish gas covered the entire area where those two were.

    [Poisonous substance detected...]

    [The poison was neutralized.]

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 73%]

    Lothur looked at the system''s message boxes and smiled, pleased that Eugen was helping him improve this feature a bit...

    Meanwhile, Kai''s face was even darker than it was at the end of the other round, feeling frustrated by his apparent defeat to Lothur.

    ''Damn it! What''s going on? Don''t tell me he drank a generic poison antidote before climbing thebat tform?'' He wondered, finding the situation strange.

    The fact that Eugen''s de attack had failed was not that impressive since it wasmon for some people to wear clothes with defensive features. But drinking poison antidote was not a frequent urrence unless one already knew that one would be in a poisonous area.

    So he could not help but wonder and feel a bad sensation.

    "Let''s go!" He rose from his seat and ordered his subordinate. "Let''s get our remainingpetitors ready. There''s no point in continuing to watch this. That bastard is going to win!"

    "Yes, boss!"

    The two departed that area as the match time was nearing its end, and Eugen was sweating in anticipation, both for his failures and the moment of confrontation.

    When the match referee signaled the end of time and time for them to test their formations, Lothur gave his opponent no chance to do anything and threw his offensive item at him.

    Just like that, a ck ball flew in a parabolic trajectory across that circr tform, quickly approaching Eugen, who ran to use his defensive shield above his body.

    When the ball was a meter above Eugen''s blue shield, instead of exploding as he thought it would, white lightning came from it!

    Ka-boom!

    ...

 Chapter 275 Unexpected Preliminary Results!

    The moment the white ray came from Lothur''s ball, it lit up the surroundings as it passed through Eugen''s shield as if it were made of paper.

    Due to the speed of the attack and the fact that this ray was highly opposed to the nature of the type of defense used by Eugen, his shield showed no resistance.

    Eugen had inscribed a code that turned his shield into something fragile against the electric blow created by Lothur''s rules, which could not withstand such a thing and turned to dust in a fraction of a second after his attack.

    With that, almost instantly after this blow that destroyed his blue shield, Eugen could barely react to it when the lightning in question prated his body.

    Such a thing passed through every part of his body, heading towards his feet, and in a final moment, it left his body to prate the soil.

    But when all this happened in a short time of milliseconds, Eugen''s body had already been considerably damaged!

    Part of his organs melted from the electric current that hit him, while a horrifying expression appeared on his face when he fell to the ground, already unconscious.

    His eyes were open to shock everyone, but there was no sign of consciousness in them, scaring all the people in the surroundings of that area.

    "What? How can it be?"

    "Oh, mine!"

    "That..."

    Several people rose from their seats, shocked by the extreme development of Lothur and Eugen''s battle. But that was not just because of how this individual had gone down but also because of young Ritter''s versatility in creating different kinds of offensive formations.

    It was not easy for a young formations master to have a voluminous enough repertoire of creations to have several cards up his sleeve. But Lothur had presented twopletely different types of formations on this tform, something remarkable for anyonepeting there!

    And with that, the Frost family''s rivals and those who hated Lothur soon felt that the victory against Hartmut had not been influenced by luck.

    Lothur was a talented formations master, and the Frost family had fooled them all.

    "Damn!"

    "That bastard is magnificent!"

    "The Frost family didn''te to thispetition unprepared... It looks like we will have some surprises in thispetition."

    "Hehe, that''s better!"

    People began to discuss these matters as the match referee announced the result. "Lothur Ritter, representing the Frost family, wins his second round and moves on to the next round of thepetition!"

    "Add another point to the Frost family!"

    After that man''s words, the ranking again changed, with one more point added to Lothur''s wife''s family.

    [... 14a. Frost family: 08...]

    ''Oh? This family has already moved up a few positions, huh?'' Lothur saw that as he came down from the stage amid the stares of several people in the surrounding area, considering the result of this organization.

    The Frost family had 14petitors in this Province Conference, and some had matches in the morning, as in his and Annaliese''s case. So, since matches were going on simultaneously, some of the hopefuls from this family had already scored some points.

    The Frost family was in decline, but it was not weak!

    Since Aiken and Mabel knew perfectly well that many enemies would act against them, they had ns to protect themselves from enemy movements.<sub> </sub>

    So when Lothur arrived at Viktoria and Annaliese''s side, they celebrated with him for his excellent performance and their family''s improved position.

    "What are we going to do now?" Lothur asked the two, ignoring thements about him in the surrounding area.

    "Let''s go to my test site," Annaliesemented in animation. "In less than 30 minutes, it will be my turn to go up to thebat stage, so we''d better head there now."

    "Hmm, I still have time until my time, which coincides with yours..." Viktoria said as she looked at Lothur. "Then let''s go."

    As they left, Lina watched them from afar, sensing that Lothur would have the same results in the tailoringpetition. ''What should I do? Maybe take a look at him, even though that is Amelie''s responsibility?''

    At the same time, the people from the Frost family sent by Aiken left from there, heading towards where the family leaders should be tomunicate with them about Lothur.

    The leaders of the organizations participating in the Province Conference did not keep up with the small matches of the first few days of the ordeal. There were too many contests and few people to follow each of their family''s matches.

    Hence, apart from the collective matches of each day and the finals, they only followed the ranking results from their VIP areas in this coliseum.

    Each family had a ce for their leaders to follow thepetition, discuss strategies, and even alliances with other families participating in the event.

    The Province Conference served to rank the local organizations, but alliances also influenced the weight of organizations!

    So, one family could join forces with another and work as a team to make life difficult for their opponents or even secure their positions without relying solely on individual results.

    Because of this, during the tests where the young people in these organizations were giving their best, their leaders would follow the results and negotiate among themselves.

    That was happening at this very moment at various points in that coliseum, where the Frost family core was watching the results of their youths with surprise.

    ? ...

    "Unbelievable! We''re already in 14th position!" One of the members of that family in the area designated for House Frost eximed after seeing the point secured by Lothur raise the position of that organization.

    "Things are going better than I had thought! We are already in a higher position than when we finished thest edition, even considering that we are only on the first day."

    "Really! It seems that our young people are performing above expectations..."

    Most of the people in that ce were celebrating the positive start of this family at this event, genuinely happy and hopeful about these preliminary results.

    The Province Conference had been going on for a long time, so these people knew that having a good start was very important. After all, thispetition was a knockoutpetition. That is, doing well on the first day meant morepetitors on the second day, which meant more points for the family!

    Since 75% of thepetitors would be eliminated on this first day, the preliminary result so far was almost like a guarantee for this family that they would not lose their possessions!

    And because of this, those who wished for the Frost family''s downfall in this event were negatively shocked by it all.

    ''What''s going on?'' Aiken''s uncle, Simon, thought to himself as he saw the rankings, not believing these preliminary results. ''Where did those pointse from? I know we could get 4 points in those matches scheduled for this period of the day, but where did those other 4e from?''

    Unfortunately, this man was not counting on Lothur''s result, nor on another factor that helped the Frost family, luck and perhaps the help of some of this young man''s friends!

    If the family had made 5 points so far, he would not have been surprised by such a result. But 8 was well above what he expected, so he could not help but feel strange seeing his ns going down the drain.

    Thus, he ignored the people celebrating in that ce and quickly looked for someone to go see what was going on!

    ...

 Chapter 276 The Shocking Beginning Of The Frost Group!

    While Simon was exhibiting somewhat suspicious behavior, Mabel was watching him from afar because of Lothur''s usation.

    <o>,m But even if she had noticed some strangeness in this man, she could not help but also be surprised by her family''s results in these first hours ofpetition.</o>

    Aiken, who was next to her, could not ignore such a thing either and was grinning from ear to ear, to the point that he even forgot to keep an eye on this possible traitor.

    The day was developing much better than he had imagined!

    "How can this be happening? I wonder who got those extra points for us?" He asked his wife while keeping his family''s ns in mind.

    "Of our youngsterspeting on this first day, Steven and Heinz were already expected to make 3-4 points for us. But we still have a surplus here..." Mabel said as she watched Simon leave that area.

    Aiken nodded at her. "In any case, whoever was responsible for that, we have to thank that personter. That can be the family''s salvation from losing positions in this year''s event!"

    "Hmmm." She nodded and smiled at him, feeling a pleasant sensation only those prepared for the worst could feel.

    ''It looks like luck is on our side!''

    But as she thought about it, the two individuals who had apanied Lothur''s trials finally rushed into that ce, bringing the information to Aiken and his wife.

    "Patriarch, we are here to report the young master''s results in hispetition..." The woman said while having a smile on her face, having spoken loud enough for everyone there to hear her.

    "Tsk!"

    "That fellow must have suffered a humiliating defeat..."

    "But such a servant is really bold. I know Lothur is worthless, but sheughs at the young master''s humiliating performance in front of the patriarch..."

    "Hehe, someone will suffer punishment!"

    As people in the surrounding area muttered all sorts ofments, Mabel frowned as she looked at that underling of her family. "What? Why are you smiling like that, Marie?"

    Their other subordinate, smiling next to Marie, replied in his co-worker''s ce. "Madam, patriarch, the young master has won his two matches!"

    "What?" A man in the middle of that VIP hall unconsciously shouted upon hearing such nonsense, unable to believe what his ears had heard.

    At the same time, all conversations in the surrounding area had ceased, with every single person there looking in the direction of that man in anticipation as to whether thatment was just a joke.

    Aiken and Mabel were also surprised by such an unexpectedment and could not help but be silent for a few moments, their mouths hanging open.

    "Can you repeat that?" Aiken said as he rose from his armchair, not believing that one of his trusted men would make a joke at this point.

    Marie then answered in her colleague''s ce. "Patriarch, madam, it is true. Young master Lothur has won two matches in thepetition for formations masters!"

    "Are you serious? You want me to believe that that good-for-nothing has aplished such a feat?" Mabel clenched her fists and asked in a slightly irritated tone.

    "It''s true, madam. You can ask anyone who was there. The news is already spreading!" That woman said, still smiling on ount of all this being true.

    Marie then added. "He not only won his two matches, madam. He eliminated twopetitors who were favorites in the contest for formations masters after presenting high-level skills for someone his age."

    The man beside her nodded while everyone in that hall swallowed their saliva and paid attention to them. "Not only that, in the second round, the young master''s offensive formation was so effective that it almost killed his opponent, someone at the 9th Transformation!"

    "That young man, Eugen, was taken in a hurry from that ce after the doctors on duty realized the gravity of the situation..." He described some of what had happened after Lothur''s victory.

    With this information, everyone there was at a loss for words, totally surprised by this oue.

    And while they were looking at each other in confusion, Marie and her colleague exined some more details regarding what had happened, only for Aiken and Mabel to hear.

    ...<sub> </sub>

    While the Frost family core was discussing the magnificent results of Lothur, other noble familiespeting in this event received the same information!

    All the organizations participating in the Province Conference were shocked by the start of thepetition for the Frost family.

    After all, many organizations were ready to act against them, and everyone knew about the loss of two of the bestpetitors of such a group.

    So the initial result that already put this family in a higher position than it had finished in thest event of its kind was enough to attract attention.

    But upon finding out that the good-for-nothing from Peters City had won instead of losing humiliatingly, the reactions had been even more impressive!

    ...

    Baier family VIP area...

    "What? He did what?" Patriarch Baier got up from his seat and threw a ss against the floor, not believing the news he had just received.

    "How can that be? Did that bastard do this?" Alric''s mother asked their subordinate, who had watched the entire show put on by Lothur.

    "It is true, patriarch, madam. The young master of the Frost family demonstrated skills of 2-star formations masters on that first asion..."

    People in the surrounding area began to argue about it until someone raised an all-important statement for this family.

    "Not for nothing! I knew it! Now it all makes sense!"

    "The wretch was actually hiding! And from how things are going, he is the real culprit for everything that happened to young master Alric!" The servant who had found Alric unconscious that fateful day said aloud, solving the whole mystery of that incident.

    "What?"

    The people in the surrounding area began to understand the situation, quickly bing increasingly angry at Lothur, with a desire for revenge!

    "We have to finish that bastard!"

    "Yes! The bastard will fight Merten, so give the order for him to kill the sordid Lothur!"

    The patriarch listened to the manyments there as he boiled with rage, feeling that he was right to n to act against Lothur even though he was unsure of this young man''s guilt.

    ''Damn Frost family!''

    ''Damn Lothur!''

    ''You guys pay me! Don''t think that these initial results can save you!''

    ...

    While the Baier family was inmotion, the leaders of House Becker werementing on the matter.

    "It seems that the Frost family has surprised everyone ..."

    "Yeah, who would know, huh? They are demonstrating a result far above what was expected."

    "But this Lothur guy is imposing! I didn''t think someone with such a bad reputation was hiding so much..."

    While the nobles, ignorant of this family''s rtionship with Lothur, were discussing, Gomeric stood up with a cup in his hand, drawing the attention of everyone there.

    "Please, I have something to tell you..."

 Chapter 277 Opinions 1

    When Gomeric asked for silence in that area of the Becker family, it did not take long for the people there to slowly fall silent and look in his direction.

    He then said. "I have something to tell you about thepetitor Lothur Ritter of the Frost family."

    Many eyes went wide among the people there who knew about this young man''s recent visits to their property and his friendship with Elke.

    Elke, who was also there following the event, immediately realized that her father would talk about the newly signed agreement with Lothur and closed her fists in determination.

    For her, the first step for her family to hand her over to Lothur was precisely for the elders to realize how remarkable her lover was. So, she could not help but be excited at this moment.

    Gomeric then continued. "As you know, Lothur is very close to little Elke. And because of that, Hilda and I have had the opportunity to talk with him a few times and notice his abilities."

    "But not only that. Lothur has also taken these chances to approach us and present some of his ideas. One of them, we recently signed a contract!"

    "Oh?"

    "Is that true?" Several people who knew nothing eximed in surprise, with smiles on their faces, since with this first day''s results from Lothur, they could already imagine how favorable this agreement would be for them.

    "This will bring many benefits to the family!"

    "Yes, with such a talented young formations master, the sky is the limit!"

    "Patriarch, what is this agreement signed with the young master of the Frost family all about?"

    Upon hearing the question from one of the elders there, Gomeric quickly summarized his agreement with Lothur. "Our agreement is about a glove produced by this young man. He is actually as talented a formations master as he is a tailor!"

    "What? He''s a tailor too?"

    "Oh? So that''s why the family is gathering tailors?" One of the elders involved in this matter asked, more or lessprehending what was happening.

    Hilda nodded and said. "Yes, he has produced something that we think is of great value to mortals and has the potential to bring a new source of ie to the family. Since everything is already settled about this arrangement, we are preparing to produce and market these gloves!"

    Smiles appeared on several faces around that area until someone from the wing of House Becker, who liked the arranged marriage agreement with the Baier family, asked. "Patriarch, is this worth it? Is it worth getting closer to the decadent Frost family on that ount?"

    Other people thinking the same thing turned their attention again to Gomeric, and this man said. "Elder Otto, perhaps our assessment of House Frost, as well as all the local powers, is incorrect. So let me ask you this question. What if this family wins and increases its local rights instead of losing positions in thispetition?"

    "Furthermore," Hilda continued her husband''s line. "Lothur not only has one thing in mind. Soon he will present us with something that, if it works out well, would pay off for us to take a chance on the Frost family''s side!"

    Elke heard all this from her seat, feeling good that her parents were on Lothur''s side and believed in him.

    And from the people''s reactions in the surrounding area, she felt that anything was possible as long as the Frost family kept doing well and Lothur''s projects proved sessful.

    The powers of the empire were mainly against the Frost family because of that organization''s past. But coin spoke louder than anything in this world, and it was hard to ignore the chance to connect with someone talented, regardless of their background.

    A personmitted to his family''s future would even wee into his home and dine with his worst enemy if that was necessary for his organization''s sess!<sub> </sub>

    So no one was utterly enemy or non-ally of others. Everyone had the potential to change sides when the circumstances were right!

    ...

    At the same time, in the Waldauer family area...

    Caroline was at this moment smiling at her older brother, looking at the serious face of this fellow as if she were saying to him, ''I told you.''

    But while she showed in her expression that her intuition was excellent, she was also surprised by Lothur''s result and the good start of the Frost family in thispetition.

    Caroline had expected that Lothur would do better than everyone expected. But there was no way for her to know that he was as skilled a formations master as he had already proven himself in this first exam he took.

    As such, she could not help but think about that great-looking fellow and try to discover more of his mysteries. ''I think I''ll follow the poison masters match he''ll be participating inter.'' So she thought to herself as she said goodbye to her family to go to her match site.

    As she was doing this, Martin was standing next to his father, the duke of Linn Province, talking to this man about such a start of thepetition.

    "I didn''t expect the son-inw of the Frost family to be hiding... That was a big surprise." Martin said to his father, feeling doubly bad about it all.

    He liked Viktoria, so Lothur''s result, which showed that such a person was not a good-for-anything, only made everything worse.

    Martin did not like the idea that Viktoria had given herself to that fellow. But if Lothur at least was a good-for-nothing, he could console himself that she was the one who was losing out by not choosing him.

    But in this situation, the duke''s son felt terrible, even if he still considered himself many times better than the silver-haired bastard.

    Chris Waldauer listened to his son''sment and continued to observe his family''s 1st ce ranking. "Nobody expected that, but it doesn''t make much difference. A single person will not make the difference needed for House Frost to get a good position in this conference."

    "These other tests that such a boy is going to take are just to round out the number of tests for this family. There is no hope for him to have other good results..." This experienced figure said this, confident in all he had seen in his 450 years.

    Chris knew that it was tough for someone to be as excellent as Lothur was in the profession of formations master at his age and still have time to study other fields. As such, he was confident that this young man would not be able to repeat the same results in his afternoon games.

    As for the fighting skills of this son-inw of the Frost family, he was not worried about this. Lothur might even have some hidden skills, butter on, influential people would be trying to kill him!

    So what future would this young man have?

    Hell, even with this young man''s good result on this first day of thepetition for formations masters, he probably would not take the second day''s test since he might not even be in this world anymore...

    Thus, the Frost family''s good result would invariably be restrained as the day progressed!

    "Is that so?" Martin asked, remembering the look on his younger sister''s face.

    "Hmmm." His father confidently nodded. "You will see, this family will stop moving forward after the trials of that girl, Viktoria..."

 Chapter 278 Opinions 2

    While some families were reacting to the news about Lothur and the preliminary result of House Frost, others were already moving to deal with these unexpected results.

    Some noble houses in Linn Province had already formed alliances for thispetition before they came to this coliseum. But with shocking results in this earlypetition, some minor powers not yet allied with anyone felt in the position of being forced to move.

    Some of the losers in the first few matches of the day were precisely their most reliablepetitors, so they could not help but move before it was toote.

    Not everyone was an enemy of the Frost family, but everyone was interested in this family''s fall since this would improve everyone''s position. So, while some were positively and negatively surprised, others rushed to present their reaction as soon as possible!

    ...

    "How is that possible?" Fritz threw a ss of wine against one of the windows of his VIP room, infuriated by Lothur''s positive result.

    "How? How did this bastard undo the seals on his fucking body? That doesn''t make any sense! His father should be a monster!" He bellowed at his bodyguards, not believing the disgrace that had hovered over all of them.

    Fritz''s faction was afraid that Lothur would join that monster as their enemy in the future, even considering the seals that should make him simr to a mortal. But with this young man without seals, cultivating at his best age for cultivation, everything only worsened.

    And with that, not only was this young master of the Stauss family very worried about this situation, but his bodyguards, who also knew Lothur''s secrets, were too.

    This young man then gave his orders. "Send a message to my father. We must get a group to act against the bastard if he doesn''t die during this damnedpetition!"

    "Yes, young master!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, Simon had reached a deserted area of the coliseum basement, where he knew he could find one of his contacts.

    In that dark ce, he did not take long to smell the dust in the air and cigars in the hands of the three individuals there waiting for him. Seeing these people, he stopped his steps and looked at them as if he had eaten shit. "The Frost family..."

    "No need to talk. We already know everything!" One of them said while he had a terrible face on his face.

    At the same time, Kai, who was also standing there, looked at Simon disgustedly as if this was all their ally''s fault. "You didn''t know about any of this?"

    "Of course not!" Aiken''s uncle eximed in defense of himself. "How would I know? The entire family is shocked by this initial performance of our organization..."

    "We''re not talking about the performance of the damned Frost family, although that pisses us off!" One of them said while looking at that man. "We''re talking about damned Lothur."

    "Lothur? What about him?" Simon asked since he had left for this ce before finding out about the deeds of his family''s young master.

    Kai looked strangely at that fellow but felt that his ally seemed sincere. "The bastard won his two trials."

    "What? How is that possible? He''s a good-for-nothing! The kid doesn''t even know what''s good for himself. How could he win anything?" He eximed, not epting such absurdity.

    "Sigh!"

    "Whether you like it or not, he did this and demonstrated how much talent he was hiding from all of us." The third individual said this, feeling there was no point in pressuring Simon further since this man was demonstrating that he was still on their side.

    When he heard this confirmation, Simon looked at the floor without understanding what was happening. He then muttered. "I didn''t know that. I didn''t count on this brat doing so well. That''s why the family score is higher than expected."

    "Yes, we know," Kaimented. "Then we must act more vigorously against him in the uing trials. We cannot allow him to continuepeting among the formations masters."<sub> </sub>

    "Yes, that would only give the Frost family more points..." The other two nodded in agreement.

    "But what are we going to do against him in the battles? The wretch is probably stronger than he believed, or he wouldn''t show himself like that." Simon realized that problem.

    Kai then said. "We had guessed that. So, let''s act as best we can in this day''s twobat trials."

    Another of them, a man dressed very exquisitely with a beard and white hair, said. "The Baier family will have the opportunity to act against him in his first battle. Then we will see what they do. Then, if they fail, one of our people will act against him in the second round of individual fights."

    The other man added. "We''ll still have two collective matches to act against himter, so we''ll have plenty of opportunities."

    They did not know how good Lothur was, but considering that Viktoria was in the same group as him, everyone there already considered that her group would pass the first round.

    The question was, would they be able to kill Lothur in one of the individual matches? Or would they do it in one of the team games?

    And with that, it did not take long for each of them to go their separate ways, going about making their adjustments so that their actions against the Frost family and Lothur would yield positive results.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur and his women had finally reached the site of Annaliese''s first match of the day.

    Annaliese''s first match was apetition for spiritual cooks, which would take ce on the 5th tform.

    Upon arriving at this ce, the three watched the end of a first-round contest before Annaliese heard her name being called and bid them farewell.

    "Lothur, sister, it''s my turn now. Cheer for me!" She smiled as she said this and hurried to demonstrate her cooking skills to her man.

    As Lothur smiled back at her, standing next to Viktoria, he asked his wife. "How is Annaliese cooking?"

    Viktoria made a serious expression and said. "She''s better than me..."

    "Oh? But that''s not a standard, dear. Many are..." He was about to say, but then his wife gave him an icy look, and he stopped before he finished his words.

    She then said. "I think Anna has a chance of making it to the second day. But I don''t think she can make it to the third."

    "Is that so?" He looked interestedly at his wife, considering that Annaliese''s profession might be affected by her Constitution. "Maybe she will surprise you. I feel that Anna has improved a lot in thest few days... Maybe that will give her some advantage that you are overlooking."

    "Oh?" She looked at him.

    Spiritual cooking depended equally in terms of Intelligence, Perception, and Dexterity. Since Dexterity could be improved more quickly if the Constitution was far above such a trait, Lothur was sure that Annaliese could improve in her profession just because of her activities with him...

    And with that, he did not think it impossible for her to achieve an even better result than Viktoria had in mind. Especially considering that he intended to raise his characteristics using her EVF points soon, which would be handy for his women.

    "Hmm, you''ll see. Anna will make it to the third day of trials." He assured his wife.

    ...

 Chapter 279 Annalieses Competition

    After a few moments, the match referee exined the rules of thepetition to Annaliese and her opponent, someone from the Heise family, another organization against House Frost.

    Lothur and Viktoria were not surprised when they found out about Annaliese''s opponent. After all, many of their family members opponents were sworn enemies of this organization. So it was only natural that several of their early matches were against groups in collusion to defeat them.

    Many families did not have enough for that, but it did not matter. The very fact that these organizations got in their way pushed the members of House Frost to try harder than they should in their first tests, which was already enough to damage the oue of this family inter tests.

    Hence, they had already epted the fact that they would have a lot of opposition, and Annaliese tried not to overthink it as she came face to face with that other spiritual cook.

    She would have to beat this person in a cooking test, something different from what her brother-inw had done earlier.

    In this game, instead of developing something to attack her opponent, Annaliese would have to cook a dish determined by the three referees on that tform. Then, this dish would be judged on taste, texture, and qualities relevant to a tasty meal.

    But this was only the superficial examination in the tests for spiritual cooks. That was because a delicacy prepared by an expert cultivator could not bepared with mortal cuisine!

    A dish made by a spiritual cook could contain spiritual energy, just as in medicines, even if the food used was ordinary. At the same time, Natural Laws could be added to the preparation of food, something that could bring many benefits to those who eat such dishes.

    Dishes produced by renowned cooks could even induce level advancement or be crucial to a person oveing a bottleneck regarding cultivation or even understanding!

    Not only this, specific recipes had the potential to heal physical wounds, soul conditions, and even diseases.

    Thus, there were several items to be checked in a spiritual cook''s product, which were even more relevant than the taste, texture, temperature, and general qualities of the dish.

    Therefore, as soon as Annaliese understood what she would have to do to defeat her opponent, she began to put her hands to work, grabbing all the avable ingredients from her counter.

    But unlike what Lothur had experienced in his second round ofbat, Annaliese did not have to worry about her adversary trying to get in her way or even injure her.

    They might be from the same family, and their opponents might be pursuing the same goal, the downfall of this organization. But there was a big difference between Lothur and Annaliese.

    While he was someone few knew of his problematic past, someone disposable, she was the daughter of the Frost patriarch, someone who could marry into and benefit other families.

    Everyone wanted the downfall of the Frost family, but that could change a lot in case others took over the power of it...

    So, Annaliese and Viktoria served to marry into other families, and it would not be so interesting if they were hurt or had their lives risked. This way, naturally, their opponents would be a ''little'' more loyal in their battles than they would be against Lothur.

    With that, Annaliese and her opponent were soon cooking their respective dishes under the watchful eyes of the hundreds of people in the vicinity of the 5thpetition tform.

    The art of cooking was an exciting thing to watch. When mixed, the ingredients released unique fragrances in the surroundings and even produced fantastic effects that caught people''s attention.

    At the same time, various culinary masters had unique skills when it came to chopping things up, which could in itself be a beautiful presentation for the audience.

    So even though there was nobat, the people in the area were focused on the tform, watching Annaliese ''dancing'' with her instruments and ingredients.

    ...

    After about 50 minutes since the start of Annaliese''s first match, she had won that fight and was now in the middle of the second round.

    This time she was finishing preparing some kind of salmon with rice, the dish she found easiest to prepare.<sub> </sub>

    Since her opponent was a bit stronger than the previous one, she naturally used more of her skills as she threw herbs into the orange pan in front of her.

    As she threw something into that pan, immediately, a green me appeared on top of that fish meat, releasing several colorful sparks simr to small fireworks.

    Amidst those sparks, a unique fragrance left that spot and soon spread over the area, reaching several noses there.

    "Ah, what a delicious fragrance!" Someone said while having his face pointed upwards, with his eyes closed and a smile on his lips.

    "It does look delicious..."

    "It''s just a shame that we have to endure this ''torture'' without being able to taste anything..."

    Comments erupted in the surroundings as the match referees felt it was time to evaluate the dishes for this second round.

    "You have just one more minute..." Someone warned them, as the giant hourss on top of that tform was almost out of the sand on its top.

    Hearing that warning, Annaliese wiped some of the sweat on her face and began to assemble the tes to be served to those referees.

    Her opponent did the same, and in the blink of an eye, time ran out, and both were forced to stop what they were doing, regardless of whether or not they had finished.

    ''It looks like I did more than her...'' Annaliese looked at the tes of her opponent, who did not have time to finish them.

    Her opponent noticed this too, so she naturally had a terrible look on her face, feeling that beating Annaliese had be much more difficult.

    The appearance of a dish was critical in spiritual cooking. After all, a good-looking dish naturally induced desire in those who would taste it. And since desire could even affect the perception of a dish''s vors, it was undeniable that a bad appearance would bring negative points to a dish!

    So that young woman soon clenched her fists, feeling that beating this higher-level opponent had be an almost impossible task.

    Then she watched as those three referees tasted her dish after finishing Annaliese''s.

    "Ingeburg, the vor of your colored rice is fabulous. You havebined each ingredient, the sweet and the salty, producing something bnced." One of the three said.

    "Not only that, thebination of that rice and the Mountain Salmon surprised me, demonstrating your sesses concerning your choice. But..."

    "But you erred in the concentration of some ingredients, something that didn''t affect the taste but decreased the energy efficiency of the dish."

    Thest referee nodded in agreement. "Thews in your dish were harder to distinguish than in Annaliese''s, so you lose this one, Ingeburg."

    Upon hearing that, the young woman fell to her knees while Annaliese raised one of her fists in glee.

    "That''s it!" She shouted as she saw her family''s score improve a little more.

    ...

 Chapter 280 Poison Masters Trial 1

    When Annaliese was dered the winner of this second round, one more point was added to the Frost family group.

    [... 13th Frost Family: 11...]

    Upon seeing this, she immediately returned to Lothur and Viktoria''s side, pleased with her result and looking forward to the next matches of the day.

    She was confident at least making it to the second day of trials for her four tests, so she was in good spirits for this first day of the Province Conference.

    As she arrived next to her brother-inw and sister, she immediately received congrattions from them before asking. "What are we going to do now? We have over two hours until the afternoon tests."

    Viktoria then said. "I have to make some preparations, and then I will take my tests. So, I won''t see you untilter during our teambat."

    "Is that so? See you then..." Lothur quickly kissed his wife before watching her leave, being alone with Annaliese.

    "What are we going to do now, Lothur?" She asked as she looked at him meaningfully.

    "I guess you want to tire me out before mypetition, huh?" Lothur smiled before quickly leaving the area next to her, heading to a ce where they would have privacy.

    They were in the middle of apetition, but doing what they had in mind would help them go further in this ce where so many enemies wanted to take them down.

    At the same time, with Viktoria away from them, this was the only chance they might have for the rest of the day, so neither of them wanted to waste the opportunity.

    ''After my afternoon exam, I will train a bit and start my studies concerning medicine...'' He thought about how useful it would be to have the knowledge needed to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

    ...

    After finishing their things, Lothur and Annaliese dressed quickly, and this young man took the opportunity to check the status of his sister-inw.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.6 -> 33.8]

    [CON: 40.2 -> 41.9]

    [DEX: 36.3 -> 36.5]

    [AGI: 34.6 -> 34.8]

    As he looked at Annaliese''s physical attributes, Lothur had in mind the need for him to raise his own attributes. He knew he was an 8th Transformation cultivator, but that was due to his Constitution only.

    If he were topare himself to others in Agility, Strength, and Dexterity, his correct level would be 7th Transformation!

    Hence, he had in mind the need to evolve such characteristics, which he could only achieve by training.

    "Anna, will it hinder you if we fight a little in the afternoon?" He asked as she looked at him with a silly expression, thinking he was just now watching her pretty body.

    "Do you want to train in the middle of thepetition?" She asked upon hearing that, "I don''t know if it will work. I don''t recover as fast as you, and I have a test before your tailoringpetition."

    "Then I have to get someone else to help me..." He said in a low voice, trying to think of someone capable. "Anyway, let''s get back to the Coliseum."

    "I will test my poison master characteristics in a few moments!" He smiled at Annaliese as he showed one of his arms for her to take while thinking about what such a challenge would be like.

    Since it was a test for poison masters, Lothur imagined that he would have to remain under the effects of the poisonous substances created by the opponents he would face. So he already imagined how positive this would be for him.

    ''Maybe I can raise my resistance to poisons to Bronze grade after today...'' He smiled as he walked alongside Annaliese through the streets near the Coliseum.<sub> </sub>

    ...

    After a few moments, Lothur and Annaliese arrived at the 3rdpetition tform in the Coliseum, where they soon saw who he would be ying against in the first match.

    But before Lothur even questioned his sister-inw about who that person was, Reba shouted his name as she walked toward him.

    "Lothur!"

    Immediately Lothur looked back and saw that beautiful green-haired womaning close to him and Annaliese, giving him a pleasant surprise. "Ba, what are you doing here?" He asked.

    "I came to see you, of course." She said, ignoring the beautiful brown-haired woman at Lothur''s side.

    Reba was a poison master, but she was not part of a noble family topete in thispetition. In this case, she was only there to apany Lothur''spetition because of her mistress'' order.

    Annaliese frowned as she associated the name with the image in front of her, drawing Lothur a little away from this woman of dubious fame. "What do you want with my brother-inw?" She seriously asked.

    Reba then curiously looked at Annaliese, sensing that this could not be an ordinary sister-inw. "Not as much as you, I''d say..." She joked, sensing a delightful smelling from Annaliese.

    Poison masters had senses far beyond the normal, so it was much easier for Reba to identify some signs than for Viktoria.

    So, she naturally smelled what was in Annaliese''s womb!

    "You!" Annaliese did not like this person''s insinuation and almost pped her.

    But Lothur stopped her from doing so, grabbing both her wrist and one of Reba''s. "Anna, don''t be like that. Ba is my colleague, and she is not as dangerous as you think."

    Reba looked at Lothur''s hand holding her left wrist and saw the 1-star poison master mark on that wrist of his. "You''ve already taken the test, huh?"

    "Hmmm." He turned to her and nodded after Annaliese calmed down a bit. "But it won''t take long for me to take the test for 2-star poison master. I just need to get my hands on some books and resources, and I''ll do that in less than a month."

    "Oh?" Her eyes sparkled in interest, with various thoughts only she knew going through her mind.

    Annaliese did not like the look of such a person, but since her brother-inw was a fool who followed every skirt-tail, she knew he had not noticed anything.

    "Lothur, I think you shouldn''t approach her. You can''t have an ordinary rtionship with this woman. She has had many partners and is not good for you." Annaliese said in one of his ears, but Reba heard all that.

    "What did you say?" Reba took a step forward, not liking these offensive wordsing from someone she had barely met.

    Lothur was shocked by Annaliese''s sudden words, his mouth hanging open a little, given the shock of both hearing such information and seeing his sister-inw acting that way. "What?" He asked without realizing it.

    But then Reba looked at her and said. "I don''t know where you got that from, brat. But I can assure you that, unlike you, I am still a virgin."

    "Impossible!" Annaliese stated, red with embarrassment at having her secret revealed so casually.

    Lucky for her, there was no one else paying attention to them...

    "The rumors about you..." She was about to say, but Reba cut her off.

    "Humph!"

    "Rumors are rumors. Don''t talk about me as if you know me!"

    ...

 Chapter 281 Poison Masters Trial 2

    Standing between these two disagreeing women, Lothur soon thought of something to try to end their disagreement.

    "Come on, Anna, don''t be so hard on Ba over a rumor." He said as he looked at his sister-inw before turning to that poison master. "Don''t take what she said the wrong way. Anna is very jealous of me... Anyway, forget about it. I have something more important to talk to you about."

    "What?" Reba stopped paying attention to the annoying Annaliese, more interested in what this junior had in mind.

    Annaliese also looked at Lothur as he answered such a question. "I need a training partner after mypetition. Can you help me with that? Or maybe you are not so good in terms ofbat?"

    "Humph!"

    "I''m not good atbat? I can assure you that the opposite is true. I am an excellent fighter!" Reba said with great confidence.

    Spiritual professionals focused much of their time on their respective fields of expertise. So, it was natural that they did not havebat skills as impressive as those of warriors on the same level.

    But this was not necessarily a rule, and some nonbat spiritual professionals were excellent fighters.

    Lothur smiled at Reba''s words, which indicated that she was still irritated by Annaliese''sment. "Perfect. You will help me after I struggle for the poison masterspetition."

    "Fine by me. But don''t you have otherpetitionster? Are you sure you can train with me and still have energy and focus for the other matches you have signed up for?" She asked, as she had no idea how strong Lothur was or knew about his rapid regeneration.

    "Don''t worry about that. I''ll be fine, even if you take it hard in our match."

    "Oh? Is that so?" She asked, curious to discover thebat level of this young poison master genius she had discovered. "Very well, we''ll do that. But what about thispetition now? What do you hope to aplish here? Just so you know, your opponent is pretty strong."

    Hearing this, Lothur recalled thispetition and thepetitor who would bepeting with him in this first round, which he didn''t know much about. "I will naturally win, whoever it is. My resistance to poisons is already pretty high, so it won''t be easy for the opponent to cause me trouble."

    "Hehe, you''re confident, huh..." Shemented before listening to Annaliese.

    "Humph!"

    "But of course, Lothur is confident. He''s a great poison master." She said, remembering the day her brother-inw trained such a profession after they cleaned the scorpion-infested cave in the Finn Mountains region.

    Reba ignored Annaliese''sment and said to Lothur. "It is good that you are confident, but be careful of your opponent. I have heard that many families are acting against House Frost in this tournament, so someone in thispetition for poison masters may at least try to hinder you for the rest of thepetition with a more potent poison."

    Reba did not have the same information as some of the local nobles Lothur had talked to recently, but her mistress knew about what was happening locally. So, naturally, this green-haired woman was alerting her junior due to Elisabeth.

    Lothur looked at that disputation tform, where his match was about to begin. "If they try something like that, I will have to return the blow..."

    He was already aware of all the risks, so he did not need to be reminded by Reba. Anyone who acted in a way that threatened his life, he would deal with them in an equivalent form.

    As for possible reactions, it did not matter. Being kind to an enemy was like being cruel to yourself!

    Thus, when he said goodbye to those two women, he climbed thebat tform determined to do everything possible to destroy the enemy''s ns against him!<sub> </sub>

    "Lothur Ritter, the new genius of formations in the province, hehe. It''s a pleasure to dispute with someone of such rising fame..." The silver-haired young man''s opponent said this with a smile on his face, something not so sincere, easy to notice.

    Lothur observed this thin young man with ck hair and deep dark circles under his eyes and greeted him. "Let''s have a friendly match, Rudolf Sitz."

    After greeting each other in the middle of that tform, the match referee signaled what they would do in this match. "Well, this is apetition for poison masters, so you must use your poison skills against each other. The one left standing at the end of the match will be the winner."

    "For this, you will be able to use the selected ingredients..." He pointed to the boxes on a table in the middle of thatbat tform. "You will have 3 minutes to prepare whatever it is without being disturbed by your opponent. After that time, regardless of whether one of you has finished, the other will have the right to attack you."

    This test was a little different from that of formations masters. Here there was no time limit to make the poison, just a time limit to do such a thing without the chance of one of them being attacked by the opponent.

    But after such a period, if one of them could withstand the poison of the opponent who finished first, such a person could have the time to finish his poison and then attack the opponent.

    Resistance to poisons was precious to ssify a poison master, so being more or less quick in preparing poisons was not significant. Instead, the most relevant thing was to have good resistance and to be able to produce somethingpelling!

    Hence, as long as one of them could remain conscious, the match would continue!

    Lothur and his opponent nodded, indicating that they were bored, and then that referee promptly made his move to start the match.

    "Begin!"

    When he turned the hourss above that tform, the two young men rushed to the table with the ingredients to begin their ns.

    ''Let''s see what you can do now, worm...'' The young man thought to himself as he thought of a potent poison form to take down Lothur.

    His family hadmanded him to use his skills to the fullest to hurt or even kill Lothur, so he was prepared to deal with this opponent of his. But not only that, as a person who loved to see his poison in action on others, he was more than happy to be able to take down this above-average-looking person.

    He, like most poison masters, did not have a good appearance. So for him, it was a great offense that someone like Lothur existed, even more so considering that this guy dared to register in thepetition for poison masters.

    Thus, he could not help but smile as he started to prepare something to ruin the good life of that daring fellow!

    ''Hehe, you''ll suffer a bit before you die...''

    While Rudolf was preupied with his thoughts, Lothur looked at him with narrowed eyes.

    [Name: Rudolf Sitz]

    [Cultivation: level 7]

    [STR: 20] [CON: 25.3] [DEX: 22.1] [AGI: 21.4]

    ''Judging from the items he picked up, this guy ns to use the One Hundred and One Ulcer Poison on me...''

 Chapter 282 Lothurs Shocking Poison Resistance

    One Hundred and One Ulcer Poison was a potent substance capable of creating internal and external wounds to its target''s body.

    It deformed the appearance and endangered the lives of its victims in such a cruel way that even when fatal, the sufferingsted for hours.

    Knowing this, as he watched that guy manipting the ingredients needed for the substance with a smile on his face, Lothur felt contempt for his opponent.

    It was one thing to try to defeat someone using a poison that could kill, but it was another to use something that would guarantee a torturous death, which would also affect the victim''s psychology due to the visual effects.

    So, upon noticing how vicious his opponent was, Lothur soon made up his mind on how to act in this battle of poison masters.

    ''Let''s see what you do when you taste your own poison...'' He began to prepare something simr to what Rudolf was doing.

    And his movements did not go unnoticed by the various poison masters in the surrounding area, many of them already frowning because of this.

    "He''s preparing the same poison as his opponent? A coincidence?"

    "Impossible!"

    "How would someone do that without having the intent to do so? Of the dozens of poisons for 1-star poison masters, this is one of the most difficult!"

    "Then, there''s no way!"

    "So Lothur is doing it on purpose?" A youngpetitor in the surrounding area noticed the conversations of the old men watching thepetition and asked.

    "If so, he must be an excellent poison master! It''s not easy to notice what kind of substance a poison master is preparing just by the ingredients..."

    Another person then said. "Not only that. This poison is not easy to produce, so his skills would have to be above Rudolf''s for him to perform well in this match..."

    People in the surrounding area began to discuss whether or not Lothur was a talented poison master or if he was trying to imitate his opponent by not having any skills.

    Many had doubts about his participation in this test after his impressive results in thepetition for formations masters.

    But at the same time, others there, who were keeping an eye on how Lothur would perform in this test, could not help but feel a little apprehensive at this moment.

    Some began to remember Lothur''s above-average performance in the morning test, fearing that he would have simr results here.

    ''No, it can''t be that he is a talented poison master...'' One of Kai''s aplices, who was there to observe Lothur, thought about this while feeling nervous.

    They, along with the insiders in the Frost family and the traitors in that organization, had nned to take twopetitors from that family out of the Province Conference to force Lothur to perform.

    So if this fellow were to win several battles, would not that be like them shooting themselves in the foot?

    Those two young men who were absent at most would win a total of 4 trials on this first day, but if Lothur were a good poison master, he would already achieve such a thing by himself after just twopetitions!

    But he still had three morepetitions this day!

    <o>,m So that fellow was trembling in anticipation as the time marker slowly came close to its end.</o>

    The match referee saw this, but he was more interested in what Lothur was doing since, unlike others there, he could sense this young man''s skills.

    ''Thispetitor is not copying his opponent!'' He eximed in his mind. ''This poison he''s making has something a little different from the traditional Hundred and One Ulcer Poison form!''

    Meanwhile, Rudolf had finally finished his poison when the initial 3 minutes were about to end.

    He saw that his opponent was still busy, something he had expected since 3 minutes was too little for even talented 1-star poison masters to produce their poisons.

    Hence, he was even more pleased to see that he would have the chance to defeat his opponent just by attacking, without having to defend himself against whatever Lothur was doing.

    "Time is up. You can now act against each other!" The match referee said, allowing Rudolf to act against Lothur as he watched that silver-haired young man in doubt of what would happen.

    ''His poison seems to be pretty strong, but will he withstand the action of his opponent?'' He wondered as Rudolf quickly cast a purple powder over the area Lothur was in.

    ''Die, you lucky bastard!'' He eximed in his mind, eager to see the result of his creation.<sub> </sub>

    At the same time, everyone in the area fell silent as they watched Rudolf''s relentless attack, curious to know how Lothur would fare in this situation.

    Some there did not know exactly how potent the poison released by Rudolf was. But judging from the experts''ments in the surroundings, even those ignorant of this profession felt it would not be easy for the handsome silver-haired young man.

    And even knowing Lothur''s unusual abilities, Annaliese felt a tightening in her heart as she watched the moment her man was attacked.

    Reba also felt a little tense, as an attack of this kind could notpare to the regr training of poison masters. Therefore, she could only clench her hands in anticipation of Lothur''s reaction!

    [Poisonous substance detected...]

    The system issued its formal warning, alerting Lothur that the substance produced by the enemy had already entered his body and started acting against him.

    But even knowing the effects of the poison, Lothur was not the least concerned and just continued with what he was doing.

    His constitution was already at the level of someone at the beginning of the 2nd stage, while this was only a poison used by 1-star poison masters.

    That way, he was sure that even if his resistance to poisons did not handle such a thing, his body would not be harmed at all by the action of this substance.

    And when he felt a slight sensation of heat in various parts of his body, the system again brought him the good news!

    [The poison was neutralized.]

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 85%]

    Seeing this, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, ''grateful'' to Rudolf for helping him gain such a considerable advance in resistance.

    But not only that, but when he least expected it, the system showed his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 24.5] [CON: 52.3] [DEX: 20.9] [AGI: 29]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 68.8 -> 69.1]

    [WIL: 72.3 -> 72.5]

    [EVF: 247]

    ''Oh?'' He opened his mouth, noting these improvements in mental attributes.

    Noticing the smile on Lothur''s face, Rudolf felt that there was something wrong in all this, as his opponent was not exhibiting the ssic reactions expected aftering into contact with such a substance.

    ''What''s going on here?''

    Not only was he surprised, but all the people in the surrounding area noticed how calm Lothur was, even considering that he was supposed to be agonizing right now.

    Gulp!

    "It can''t be!" Kai''s subordinate said in a low voice, sensing that the worst was about to happen!

    ...

 Chapter 283 Sudden Attack

    When almost everyone around that tform was watching Lothur with surprise on their faces, this young man rose from his seat, having finished his poison.

    He looked at Rudolf momentarily, with a calm expression on his face, without any trace to indicate that substance had contaminated him.

    Lothur then said to his opponent before throwing that powder in a vial in his hand at his opponent. "You brought it on yourself. So don''tinter!"

    In that instant, the doubts of the people in that area were cleared up, with the experts present having realized that Lothur had indeed decided to use such a substance after Rudolf did the same.

    In this case, some 2-star poison masters there soon noticed Lothur''s talent for identifying poisons, bing more impressed with him despite his exceptional resistance.

    ''That boy is truly good!''

    ''I wonder who taught him? Is he still free to be a disciple of one of us?''

    Some of those individuals thought simr things, while Rudolf stood in shock at his previous position.

    He still could not believe how Lothur resisted his poison, and more, he was confident that he could handle something like the One Hundred and One Ulcer Poison. After all, he had the antidote for such a thing, as he had produced this substance several times in the past.

    As such, he did not try to run away or give up the match to escape the opponent''s attack.

    Because of this, he could not avoid but be hit by the relentless poisonous substance produced by Lothur.

    Gulp!

    The match referee swallowed his saliva as he watched this, curious to see what the potential of the poison prepared by Lothur would be, something a little different from the form used by Rudolf.

    ''How effective will it be?'' He wondered as that was thest piece of information needed to dere Lothur the match winner.

    The moment everyone had been waiting for finally came as Rudolf suddenly convulsed, slowly lowering himself to the ground as he began to emit sounds of agony.

    As he did so, feeling the potent effect of Lothur''s poison, he tried to drink the antidote he already had in his spatial ring, feeling a little worse than he should.

    ''What''s happening? Why is it hurting so much?'' He wondered, full of doubt as he cried out in pain.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhh! Help me! Ahhhhhh! It''s killing me!"

    Within seconds he was desperately screaming, crying out for help from the people in that ce, while his whole body was burning, internally and externally.

    At the same time, wounds were beginning to appear all over his face, as if acid was eating away at his flesh from inside his body.

    People in the surrounding area saw this with wide-open mouths and eyes, noticing the shocking action of Lothur''s poison that was even worse than a simple Iron-grade poison.

    The effects hade on very quickly, while their intensity and resistance to the antidote used by Rodulf showed that it was not simple.

    And with that, everyone there noted Lothur''s superiority in this battle, with the match referee quickly ending this round to allow that young man to receive help.

    "Lothur Ritter, representing the Frost family, wins his first round!" The referee shouted as two poison masters from the Sitz family walked up the battle tform to do something about Rudolf.

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    "Please! Help me! Ahhhhhhhhhh!"<sub> </sub>

    "Young Rudolf, stay calm. We are here!" One of them said as he and hispanion were already analyzing the situation of the body of this fellow, one of the favorite poison masters of this family in such apetition.

    But seeing the situation of Rudolf''s body, which at the moment already had wounds spread over more than half of his skin and reaching his internal organs, the two men turned pale.

    "That''s not the One Hundred and One Ulcer Poison! It''s something different!" One of them eximed, feeling helpless about something different from what he had studied.

    As hispanion tried to give something to Rudolf, he shouted in the direction of Lothur, who was already leaving thatbat tform. "Hey, give us the antidote, or our participant will die!"

    The silence continued in that area while many people had their hands in their mouths, noting Rudolf''s deplorable state.

    Lothur then stopped beside the stairs of that circr tform and looked back at where those three individuals stood. He ignored his opponent''s cries of pain and casuallymented. "That was the first time I made that poison, so I don''t have an antidote."

    "What? The first time?"

    "How can that be? Did he risk that much?"

    Several experts voiced their thoughts, finding it incredible that Lothur dared to do something like that in apetition.

    Producing a poison for the first time, even following the form, was not something trivial. On the contrary, it took a lot of training and preparation to produce something like this without making mistakes that would affect the quality of the final product or even the safety of the poison master.

    As such, the people there were surprised by Lothur''s response and immediately considered him even more formidable because of it.

    "He''s testing new ideas whilepeting? Haha, he''s pping all thepetitors in this tournament in the face!"

    "The kid is arrogant, but he''s outstanding!"

    While the people there were talking, the two members of the Sitz family trying to help Rudolf turned even paler upon hearing that from Lothur.

    "Don''t lie to..." Then, as one of them was about to refute Lothur''s words, that young man turned to the tform''s stairs, giving his back to such a person. "Don''t bother. Even if I had the antidote, I wouldn''t give it to you!"

    The moment he said this, one of the two poison masters shook with anger and struck out in Lothur''s direction a ck ball containing his deadly poison.

    When she saw this, Reba frowned and ran to Lothur''s side.

    Before the referee of the match even had a chance to move to stop apetitor from being killed out ofbat, something the imperial family forbade, this green-haired woman received that attack in full.

    Lothur watched it happen near him with his eyebrows fully knitted together, surprised by Reba''s quick reaction.

    The man who had attacked him was someone at level 11, so he was a little afraid of being attacked. But he was not the type to stand still when attacked and was already preparing to defend himself and at least try to avoid the worst.

    However, when Reba received the full attack from his opponent, he was surprised that this level 10 woman did not suffer a bit from such a move!

    That man''s ck ball of poison barely touched her body when suddenly, several runes appeared on this woman''s white skin.

    When this happened, as many looked on and recognized Reba, the ck ball disappeared like a drop of water touching a scorching steel te.

    "What?" The man who threw such a thing screamed in shock as he realized what had happened to his most lethal weapon.

    ...

 Chapter 284 Rebeccas Poisonous Body

    The instant such a thing vanished as it touched one of the runes on Reba''s body, this woman closed her eyes momentarily as if she were processing such a thing.

    As she did this in front of dozens of people in that ce, several individuals there began to argue, raising the noise in the surroundings.

    "That must be Elisabeth''s disciple..."

    "The Poison Body is truly great! It can withstand poisons of a higher level than its owner and even transform such a thing into the owner''s power!"

    "This girl will be even stronger after this fool gives his most powerful poison to her..."

    "But is that a good thing? I''ve heard that this is a power that doesn''te without drastic consequences..."

    "Hmm, I don''t want to be around when that ''time bomb'' goes off!"

    While some paid attention to Reba''s Physique, others felt their hopes of getting close to Lothur diminish.

    ''Apparently, Elisabeth already has a rtionship with this boy from the Frost family, or her disciple would not be here to defend him...'' One of the elders watching this event thought quietly.

    ''It looks like she managed to steal another great local talent. What a shame, that woman is fortunate!''

    Annaliese watched all that with concern and felt a great relief to see that woman of whom she did not have a good impression defending Lothur in time.

    ''At least she''s good for something...'' She sighed, thanking Reba in her heart for her act and also admiring some of this woman''s skill.

    The man who threw such a thing in Lothur''s direction then saw Reba open her eyes and look in his direction.

    But before they could say anything, the match referee shouted angrily. "Sitz family, you have justmitted a serious infraction! Don''t you know that we don''t allow acts againstpetitors outside thebat tforms?"

    The other elder of that family then said. "Match referee, I am sorry for mypanion''s inconsequential act. But ourpetitor is in a terrible state. You must understand that in these situations, reason speaks lower..."

    As Rudolf continued to groan in pain, the friends from House Sitz raised their voices, asking the referee to understand the situation that led to such an inconsequential act.

    Lothur and Reba saw all this, but since they knew there was no point in calling for justice in this ce, they just left that tform and went back to Annaliese.

    The match referee then said as he saw Rudolf being taken from there. "Very well, I understand the situation, but your family will receive a notification for this. If something like that happens again during this tournament, your entire organization will be eliminated from thepetition for poison masters!"

    "The referee is magnanimous." The same elder from before made a gesture of thanks to that individual. At the same time, Lothur''s point was added to the rest of the Frost family.

    [... 13th. Frost Family: 13...]

    This time, the position of this organization did not rise after Lothur''s win, but this was not strange or discouraging.

    Above this family were the top-ranked families, organizations of simr or greater power than theirs but who did not have much opposition in their fights, unlike them.

    Yes, there was a dispute between the most influential powers in the province, but that was something far less than House Frost had to endure.

    So, with betterpetitors and fewer problems, naturally, more of thepetitors from these families would move up a stage and earn points that put them ahead of Lothur''s family.

    However, for Lothur and Annaliese, this was not bad since this was only the first day ofpetition when most of their allies and enemies would be eliminated. However, once the second day arrived, even families ahead of them could easily be outnumbered!<sub> </sub>

    Thus, neither of them was upset about House Frost''s current position!

    "Ba, are you okay? That attack must have overwhelmed you, no?" Lothur asked as the two of them sat down near Annaliese in the chairs that were in that area.

    Reba was feeling a bit ''full'' and would need some time to recover. But she said. "Don''t worry. That was a good challenge that will stimte my characteristics..."

    "Anyway, I appreciate your movement," Lothurmented as he ran one of his hands down the middle of her back while looking toward the person who had tried to attack him. ''I won''t forget that...''

    As they talked, the people in the area who were there to watch Lothur were either totally frustrated or very pleased.

    Some there were people from the Frost, Becker, and Christen families and the Formations Masters Association. Therefore, seeing Lothur''s excellence in this other profession, they could only be pleased.

    It was unusual for people to be so good at two professions since it required a lot of time and dedication to be exceptional in only one area of expertise. But if someone could so easily master two different fields, no one would think it bad to be connected to such a person!

    So, those associated with him or who could positively suffer from his abilities were pleased with this preliminary result of Lothur''s in thepetition for poison masters.

    But that was theplete opposite for the people on Kai''s side.

    "Shit!"

    "How did that happen?" One of Kai''s subordinates said this out loud while waiting for the second round of thispetition to return to his superior.

    The man next to him also had an unfriendly expression on his face and said. "This will be a catastrophe for us. We acted to hurt the Frost family by forcing them to put this bastard in thepetition. But now he is screwing up all our ns!"

    "Tsk!"

    "At this rate, the Frost family will be able to maintain their position!" The other said as a new match was already taking ce on the poison masterpetition tform.

    ...

    After a while, nobody knew what had happened to Rudolf, but the second-round matches for poison masters had already been decided.

    And with that information in mind, Lothur soon listened to Reba and Annaliese''s advice.

    "You have to be careful with that opponent Lothur. He is someone much stronger than that Rudolf, already being at the peak of the 1st stage." The green-haired woman said to him.

    Annaliese nodded in agreement. "He is already at the peak of the 9th Transformation and is a favorite of the Frohberg family."

    Lothur heard this and pondered what the enemies of the Frost family were doing against him. ''That is a hazardous n. What will happen if I eliminate all the bestpetitors from these organizations right at the beginning of thepetition? Aren''t they at all afraid of losing a lot of positions because of that?''

    The first day of fighting was critical, but to force fights against him and risk losing their best members was like giving up points on the next few days ofpetition.

    Hence, Lothur was bing increasingly interested in the enemy''s strategy, which would invariably open up gaps for him to grow further ahead.

    ''Well, if they want to suffer so badly, I will give them what they want!'' He thought of something and looked at Reba.

    ...

 Chapter 285 Evolution

    Looking at that green-haired woman, Lothur considered that his second match would still take some time to start and then asked. "Ba, do you want to help me with something?"

    "What do you want?"

    "Since this next opponent seems somewhat impressive, help me raise my resistance to poisons." He suggested, imagining that a 2-star poison master like Reba could produce something spiritual, even without ingredients with her.

    That was the difference between 1-star practitioners and those of higher level. 1-star professionals always had to use resources to produce their objects of interest, but those higher ranked could add their spirituality to their products.

    So, in the case of a 2-star poison master, such a person could induce poison reactions even without ingredients with them. For this to work, it would only be necessary for this individual to use thews they had already understood and infuse them into the spiritual energy that came into contact with their target or even substance of interest.

    Normally, poison masters of this ssification used this possibility to strengthen their poison mixtures. But it was possible to use such a thing to poison, as Lothur had asked Reba.

    He knew this, and so did she. As such, she readily understood what he wanted with such a suggestion. "Are you sure about this? We are only a few minutes away from your match. If you exhaust yourself now, you may not be able to get the best result in this and other matchester on."

    Annaliese was also thinking the same thing as Reba, worried about Lothur''s stamina, considering the amount of testing he would do per day plus their training and also coupling...

    ''That''s a bit much even for you...'' She thought as she intently watched him.

    Lothur smiled confidently and said. "It''s just that you haven''t seen all I can do yet, hehe. Anyway, I have a card up my sleeve, so even if I get tired, I can use that to recover quickly."

    "So, will you help me?" He thoughtfully looked into Reba''s pretty eyes.

    "Sigh..."

    <o>,m "Where will we do this? We can''t go too far, or you''ll bete..." She asked.</o>

    "We''ll do it right here," Lothur replied without dy as he took off the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing to give Reba ess to his arms.

    "Here?" Annaliese asked. "Won''t that draw the attention of people in the surrounding area?"

    "Don''t worry. At most, they will see Ba giving me a painful massage..." Lothur reassured his sister-inw, who did not know much about the art of poison masters.

    "All right, but how intense can I be? My control over my poison skill is not that high, so something too low will be impossible..." Shemented on that problem.

    Lothur pondered his progress regarding Iron-grade poison resistance and said. "As long as you can restrict your poison ability to the limit someone at the peak of the 1st stage can deal with, I will be fine."

    "Peak of the 1st stage?" Reba''s mouth dropped open in surprise. "Are you already at this level?"

    "Not exactly, but my body is a little stronger than some with my other skills... And my resistance to poisons is almost evolved to Bronze-grade." Hemented without giving more details.

    "Bronze-grade? Isn''t that the resistance of 2-star poison masters?" Annaliese asked in doubt since she thought her brother-inw was still just someone from 1-star.

    "That should be the case..." Reba was surprised at this, considering how little time Lothur had started learning this profession. ''It looks like he was born to work with poisons.''

    ''Great!''

    She then asked him to stand with his back to her and put her hands on his arms, starting a kind of strange massage right there on the bleachers of that tform.

    Some people in the surrounding area found this behavior strange, but sincepetitors stillpete on the tform, few paid any more attention to them than they should have.

    Only Lothur''s enemies or admirers were watching them, trying to understand the point of this strange behavior.<sub> </sub>

    ''Is she poisoning him?'' The opponent who would face Lothur in a few moments noticed a glow in Reba''s hands and understood what was happening on the other side of the tform. ''What is this guy trying? Does he think he can face me after doing something like that?''

    "Tsk!"

    "The wretch is too confident!" He remarked to his elders there waiting for his match.

    "Never mind. Just teach him and the Frost family a lesson when you get up on that tform, Moritz." A white-haired old man advised him. "He beat Rudolf, but that young man can''tpare to you. Then everything will be fine."

    "Hmm, I know that..."

    ...

    After a few moments of trying hard not to express pain or expose his training in his voice, Lothur finally felt a sense of relief when Reba removed her hands from him.

    In that instant, he received thest warning from the system regarding this woman''s poison that had tortured him for several minutes.

    [Resistance to Iron-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 93%]

    ''I am almost reaching the peak of resistance to this grade of poisons...'' He thought about this, as he considered that to advance to Bronze grade, he would probably need something stronger than Iron-grade poisons.

    But as he thought about it, he smiled in satisfaction, imagining that he had significantly decreased the risk of facing his next opponent, who was supposedly at the peak of the 1st stage.

    With that, it did not take long for him to turn his attention back to thebat tform, where his match was about to begin.

    Lothur thanked Reba and said goodbye to Annaliese before running to that spot under the watchful eyes of every person in the area.

    As he came face to face with his opponent, a young man with red hair, like Nora''s, whom he and Annaliese had met at the auction weeks ago, he asked. "What is Nora Frohberg to you?"

    This young man''s eyebrows frowned upon hearing the name of his family''s youngdy. "Do you know our youngdy?"

    "Hmm, I met that beauty a few weeks ago... But unfortunately, today, I will have to make her family suffer a little." Lothurughed and then said a little lower as he came closer to that individual. "If you get the chance, tell her we can still be friends. What is about to happen here is not personal."

    Upon hearing such audacity, Moritz felt a great urge to p Lothur in the face and teach this individual what his ce was.

    Not only because Lothur was clearly despising his abilities and saying he would crush him. But because of the behavior that implied that he had impure interests towards the beautiful and noble Nora.

    "Bastard!"

    "Let''s see if you''re all that!" Moritz narrowly managed to control himself as the veins in his forehead and neck trembled, visible to everyone in the surroundings.

    Unfortunately, no one else but them had heard this exchange ofments, so the audience present on this tform could only wonder what Lothur had said to make Moritz so angry.

    With that, after the match referee gave the order for the match to begin, the two quickly began to produce their poisons, following the same scheme as in the first round!

    ...

 Chapter 286 Marrow Cleansing

    After a few moments since the start of the match, that tform was experiencing a moment of significant silence, where even the gulping of saliva and rumbling of stomachs could be heard.

    But the time had passed quickly, and when everyone least expected it, the 3 minutes were up, with Lothur''s opponent having finished before him once again.

    But this was not because Lothur was less talented than his opponent but because of his confidence in his resistance to poisons. Not only that, if he attacked first and his opponent fell, then he could not experience the benefits of being poisoned.

    In this way, Lothur was naturally behaving more calmly during the initial minutes of the test, giving his opponent the chance to attack him first, as he had done with Rudolf.

    So, when the time in question ended and Moritz got up to attack him, Lothur was still calmly preparing his mixture, which this time was not the same as his opponent''s.

    "Let''s see if you''ll continue with all that arrogance now, bastard!" Maritz shouted as he threw a vial high above where Lothur was standing, shortly afterward throwing a stone to destroy it.

    When the stone hit the transparent vial with his poison, the thing exploded, creating a reaction in the air that started a brown rain over the area where Lothur was sitting.

    The people in the surrounding area watched this with excitement, waiting to see if Lothur would be all right again or if he would fall to the joy of most of them.

    However, as the small cloud formed after the explosion of that fainter diminished along with the rain on Lothur, he showed no reaction, as had happened before.

    Gulp!

    Kai''s allies in the surroundings began to feel that the first round would repeat itself, slowly feeling the sense that their failure could no longer be corrected.

    If Lothur fell in this round, all would be fine. He would get no more points for the Frost family in thepetition for poison masters and would still be at risk of being disabled for other matches.

    But as the situation developed, they slowly realized that this would not happen and the worst of their nightmares was about to happen!

    Others in the area realized this along with Moritz, but when they were about toment on Lothur''s super-resistance to poisons, this young man disyed peculiar behavior...

    As thest drops of that poisonous rain fell on him, Lothur suddenly got up and began to remove his clothes!

    He not only did this with the outermost items on his body but took off almost everything he had, quickly staying with only his underwear in the middle of that tform.

    The women watched this with their mouths open, looking at his almost perfect body, while the men felt terrible as they noticed the bulge in his underwear...

    ''How can this be?'' A young nobleman wondered, seeing that Lothur seemed to be carrying something bulky in his crotch...

    "What is he doing?" Annaliese blushed as she saw how Lothur was acting in front of so many people.

    Reba had a good idea about what was going on with him, but she said nothing as she continued to observe the situation.

    Then, before the people there even began to exim words of outrage at Lothur''s strange behavior, he sat down on the ground, and the experts there realized what was going on.

    "That young man''s resistance to poisons is evolving!" A 2-star specialist said in surprise.

    "Yes, it seems that Moritz helped him break the bottleneck to Bronze-grade poison resistance, and now he is undergoing a marrow cleanse!"

    "Unbelievable!"

    "What a lucky young man! Advancing in the middle of apetition..."

    "Tsk!"

    "He''s already at that level? No wonder Rudolf failed miserably against him!"

    Several peoplemented on this, while thepetitors in the surroundings looked at Lothur as if they saw a monster on that tform.

    Lothur was supposed to be a good-for-nothing, but in a single day, he had already revealed two extraordinary talents!

    Hence, most of these people, who had even mocked him in the past or bet against him in this tournament, could not help but feel a bitter taste in their mouths right now.

    That was even more true for Moritz, who was open-mouthed as he saw the impurities from Lothur''s body umting on the floor of that tform.

    He thought he would defeat his opponent decisively, perhaps even risking the life of such a person. But who knew? He had given Lothur a great deal of help!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''What do I do?'' He hesitated, feeling that he would lose this match.<sub> </sub>

    Amid his desperation, Moritz grabbed a dagger from his clothes and ran toward Lothur, intending to finish his opponent before thepetition ended.

    The Province Conferencepetitions were very clear. No one could interfere with the matches unless one participant quit. But on the other hand, only tested skills could be used during such battles.

    Thus, he could act against Lothur that way, but that would result in his elimination from thispetition.

    However, given his probable defeat, Moritz chose the option that could at least help his family eliminate Lothur and hurt the Frost family!

    "Die, you bastard!" He shouted as he stooped to strike the neck of the silver-haired young man.

    Many people in their chairs stood up as they noticed what he intended, while Annaliese felt her heart thumping in her left chest.

    But as Kai''spanions saw hope before them, Lothur turned one of his hands in the air, scattering a cloud of red dust in his surroundings.

    When such a thing came in contact with his right arm holding the dagger, Moritz felt as if acid had fallen on his skin and immediately withdrew.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He screamed in horror as he used his other hand to clench his forearm, feeling as if his arm was melting.

    Meanwhile, Lothur finally saw the system''s warning about his advancement!

    [Resistance to Bronze-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 0%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 24.5]

    [CON: 52.3 -> 53]

    [DEX: 20.9]

    [AGI: 29]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 69.1 -> 70]

    [WIL: 72.5 -> 73]

    [EVF: 247]

    Noting his status, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, feeling the benefits of having advanced his poison resistance to the Bronze grade.

    At the same time, he looked at his agonizing opponent in front of him and felt that another match was about to end, with another point for him and the Frost family.

    He stood under the watchful eyes of everyone in the area and gathered his clothes, trying to ignore the terrible smell of impurities that had left his body.

    He took his eyes off the young man, who had now lost one of his arms and was screaming uncontrobly, and asked. "I guess I''m the winner of this round, right? Can I go now?"

    With that, the match referee announced the result and freed Lothur.

    "Lothur Ritter beats Moritz Frohberg and moves on to the second day of trials for poison masters!"

    ...

 Chapter 287 The Hardest Days Of The Competition

    [... 12th Frost Family: 16...]

    The Province Conference ranking again changed as Lothur advanced to the next round of thispetition for poison masters.

    Looking at that result, Lothur figured that the other two points probably came from Viktoria since she waspeting simultaneously with him.

    ''We''ve already moved up three positions, so from here on out, we might be able to get benefits for the family...'' He thought about what the man who had opened thispetition the day before had said, satisfied so far but much more excited for the next matches.

    Lothur did not like Mabel because of his problems with that woman, and he was not a big fan of the Frost family either, given the way other nobles and servants of that house treated him. But he was married to Viktoria and was getting involved with Annaliese. So whether he liked this organization or not, its performance in this event was essential to him.

    Hence, as someone who understood this very well and was pragmatic, Lothur was pleased to see the organization he represented doing better than expected.

    What''s more, considering his ns for the future, this could benefit him doubly in his journey in this cultivation world!

    Then, amidst the looks of admiration and hatred in his direction, he quickly left with a smile on his face next to Annaliese and Reba.

    He was still half-naked, given the impurities on his body. But Lothur was not shy, and these two women soon pointed out where he could clean himself in that coliseum.

    ...

    As Lothur''s enemies were leaving that area of the poison masters''petition to take the negative information to their leaders, Viktoria had just finished her match.

    At that moment, she saw her family''s position, imagined that Lothur was helping her, and smiled as she walked away from herbat tform.

    But as she did so with a discreet smile on her face, she saw a young redheaded woman approaching her.

    "Elke Becker..."

    "First Miss Frost..."

    The two exchanged those words, standing face to face, as great rivals would do after a while without seeing each other.

    But then Viktoria asked. "What do you want? Are you here to talk to me?"

    "Yes, we have serious business to take care of, no?" Elke seriously said, thinking of Lothur. "We havemon interests, after all. So I guess we have to work together..."

    "Oh?" Viktoria understood what Elke wanted and did not refuse to talk about such a thing. "Well, I have to take care of some business now, so can we talk about it while I go over there? I heard you have a lot of free time this week..."

    Elke closed her eyes and smiled, trying to ignore the teasing from Lothur''s wife. "Fine by me."

    After that, the two proceeded to leave that area together as Viktoria fans watched in their direction with interest.

    "First Miss Frost and Young Miss Becker walking together?"

    "They know each other?"

    "It seems so..."

    "I didn''t expect that. Could it be that the Becker family is closer to the Frosts than the rumors say?"

    "Impossible!"

    "But that seems to be the case..."<sub> </sub>

    ...

    While curious people were discussing Viktoria and Elke''s possible friendship, Lothur had already cleaned himself up, put his clothes back on, and headed with Annaliese and Reba to a training area of the coliseum.

    This building was huge and had cultivation and training rooms avable for the use of thepeting participants there.

    Usually, this ce was open forrge weekly fights open to the public, an attraction of the evenings in Peters City. Because of the need for areas for the fighters in this coliseum to rest and even test weapons, these training and cultivation ces existed.

    So even though thepetitors would not normally train during the Province Conference due to the disadvantages of doing so, since such ces existed, they were made avable to thepetitors.

    That way, Lothur''s group had no trouble finding one of those spaces, where the three promptly settled in.

    "Lothur, with your advancement in poison resistance, you will have only onepetitor in the trials for poison masters," Rebamented as she watched him prepare to face her.

    "Is that so?" He questioned this woman.

    Annaliese then said. "He is the Waldauer family favorite for the poison masterspetition."

    "Hmm." Reba nodded in agreement. "That person is already a 2-star poison master who is already at the 2nd Revolution. So, he will be your only challenge."

    "Oh? Is there someone that strongpeting?" Lothur was surprised to find that out.

    "Yes... Anyway, you will hardly face each other before the finals, so you will probably be able to advance easily in the next few days." She said as she took off some of the heavier pieces of clothing on her body.

    ''Hmm, after several families lost their most talentedpetitors to me, probably organizations trying to oppose me will slow down their movements...'' He considered this in silence, thinking House Waldauer would probably not force a battle between him and such a person as early as the next day.

    The risk would not be small, and that family might even lose one of their favorite candidates to bring many points to them.

    Hence, the intelligent thing to do in this situation was not to risk the family''s future for the sake of a mere young Mortal Warrior. That is, even if Lothur had a frightening performance in this tournament, these local organizations would still have ways of dealing with him.

    Therefore, they would probably let the trials go on without further interference after noting his various qualities on this first day of trials.

    Lothur believed something simr to that, so he was confident he would not have to face the big favorite that Annaliese and Reba were already talking about the next day.

    Annaliese then said to him. "I think today and thest day of thepetition will be the hardest for you. So as long as we finish well today, everything will be fine."

    "Hmm." He nodded in agreement to her, already preparing to raise some of his features.

    "Ba, we have about an hour before Anna''s next event, so we have no time to waste. You can start by fighting me with strength equivalent to 8th Transformation. But slowly increase your strength if you feel I am holding up well."

    "8th Transformation? Fine, but do you want to do intense training now? Aren''t you tired from what just happened?" She walked into the fighting area of that training room while Annaliese sat away from the two.

    "I said it before, didn''t I? My body is tougher than some of my other skills... So I will recover well." He confidently said. "Besides, after that, I''ll be able to rest during Annaliese''spetition, and my nextpetition will test only my tailoring skills. Then I''ll be fine."

    After hearing all this, Reba no longer tried to convince Lothur otherwise and prepared herself for the start of their fight, curious to see how he would do.

    "Okay. You can start when you feel ready." She said as she saw a two-headed ax appearing in Lothur''s right hand.

    After hearing this, he ran toward her!

    ...

 Chapter 288 Time For The Tailoring Competition

    Running into Reba, Lothur tried diagonally swinging his ax toward one of her shoulders while using his movement technique.

    He was already quite fast at his current level, and the green-haired woman soon realized this, opening her eyes in surprise at Lothur''s first move in this match.

    ''He can move pretty fast, but one can tell that fighting is not his focus...'' She moved as well, first defensively, since she wanted to give him a chance to attack her first to understand her opponent''s fighting style.

    Meanwhile, Reba immediately realized that Lothur was more skilled in his spiritual professions than in terms of battle.

    But the situation was not that simple. While spiritual professions depended heavily on mental attributes, Lothur''s strong point, battle skills depended more on physical attributes.

    At the same time, as much as mental attributes had the potential to increase a cultivator''s speed ofprehension and mastery over techniques, this did not happen overnight.

    That is, Lothur could directly use his mental characteristics in his professions. But when it came to hisbat skills, such attributes only affected him indirectly. So, he needed to train his techniques a lot to learn how to behave in the best possible way.

    ? In other words, it was not a direct thing and depended on a training time that he simply had not had so far!

    Thus, as much as he demonstrated above-average skills in those first two professions already tested this day, he seemed tog far behind when it came to hisbat strength.

    After a few moves, Reba realized this right after noticing that Lothur had unbnced fighting skills that made his performance poor.

    But he was not a bad fighter, far from it. Reba could see that no one below the 8th Transformation would stand a chance against him. But he had set such a high standard with his other abilities that she could not help but consider hisbat strength average...

    "Don''t take this wrong, but you need to train more..." She said to him with a smile on her face when she finally decided to start pressing her opponent after his first few moves.

    Lothur was not offended by this, and as soon as he saw her making an offensive stance, he prepared to defend or dodge.

    "Guide me." He said as he used his visual ability to see that she was using her energies to strengthen her muscles while attacking him.

    ''Spiritual Warriors can manipte their spiritual energy beyond the moment of meditation. They do this by using their soul force to temporarily elevate their physical characteristics...'' He thought about this as he ''danced'' with Reba, noticing everything she was doing.

    With the primary soul development thates when the 2nd stage is reached, soul and body cultivators would differentiate, with the first failing to have significant advancements in their physical attributes.

    But that would not mean that one would necessarily be much weaker than the other regarding brute strength, speed, etc. As Lothur was experimenting with Reba, a soul cultivator like her could temporarily use her soul force to improve her body.

    She was not obligated to do this because a soul cultivator''s strength was in their spiritual techniques. But in cases of brute force disputes and hand-to-hand battles, someone like this had the option to at least temporarily face physically strong opponents this way.

    And with that, he soon noticed a superficial improvement in Reba''s speed, slowly bing a little faster than him.

    "We''re warming up, uh?"

    ...

    After a while, Lothur was sitting in the middle of that fighting area, hurriedly breathing as he felt sweat dripping all over his body.

    Reba looked at him incredulously as he recovered from their fight, with his regeneration quickly recovering the bruises on his body.

    Not only had Lothur shown evolution inbat proficiency during their hour of training, but now he was shocking her with hard-to-find super-regeneration.

    "Surprise, eh?" Annaliese said while having a proud smile on her face. "Lothur has an amazing body, which can recover from even serious injuries in a few minutes..."

    She stopped next to Reba and showed off a bit of her man. "Believe me. You haven''t seen anything yet. He already had suffered some heartbreaking defeats where doctors thought there was no hope for him, yet he recovered after a night''s sleep."

    Reba did not doubt the words of this annoying brte, feeling that it even made sense that he was like that, considering his exceptional resistance to poisons.

    ''In that case, I think he''ll eventually be able to...'' She sped her hands together, feeling that Lothur might be able to help her regarding something she wished to achieve.

    But as she thought about it, Lothur''s eyes opened, and he saw how much he had improved after this training session with Reba.<sub> </sub>

    [+0.2 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.2 in AGI.]

    [+0.6 in WIL.]

    [+0.4 in CON.]

    [+0.2 in DEX.]

    [+0.4 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 25.1] [CON: 53.6] [DEX: 21.3] [AGI: 29.4]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 73.6]

    [EVF: 247]

    After seeing this, Lothur quickly ignored his current improvements to turn his attention to those two women.

    "Ba, thank you for your help. If it''s not too much to ask, I''d like to continue training with you over the next few days between my match times." He said as he stood up.

    "Okay." She smiled, no longer doubting this fellow''s ability to handlepetition and still train at this level.

    With that settled, Lothur quickly used the bathroom in that training room to clean himself up and then made his way alongside Annaliese to this woman''spetition site.

    As for Reba, she had onlye to the coliseum because of her mistress'' order, and she did not like to get involved with nobles. So after saying goodbye to them, she wasted no time and returned to her mistress'' house.

    ...

    About an hourter...

    "Annaliese Frost wins the second round of thepetition for spiritual carving and moves on to the second day of trials!" The match referee announces the result of Lothur''s sister-inw and soon after authorizes the addition of another point to House Frost.

    [... 12th. Frost Family: 18...]

    Upon finishing her match, which had been a bit more tiring than she would like to admit, Annaliese ran to Lothur''s side, tired but pleased that she had gotten more points for her family.

    After hearing Lothur''s words, she regained some of her breath in that ce before they left for the site of his third event of the day.

    It was time for thepetition for spiritual tailors!

    Then, they left thatpetition area for sculptors under the eyes of Annaliese''s many opponents, quickly making their way to where Lothur would soon see some acquaintances of his...

 Chapter 289 Amelies Target

    Upon arriving at the location of his thirdpetition of the day, Lothur immediately saw Amelie and Lina sitting on the outskirts of that fighting tform.

    Not only that, he soon realized that these women wanted to talk to him, so while checking who he wouldpete with, he walked alongside Annaliese to those two.

    At the same time, Kai, who was in the area, looked in the direction of Lothur''s handsome face, full of hatred in his eyes, standing there to see if this young man would repeat his previous exploits.

    He had already heard about Lothur''s outstanding performance in thepetition for poison masters, and now he no longer underestimated this person so much. On the contrary, he hade to this ce only to confirm that his enemy was, in fact, a super genius who would thwart his ns in every possible way.

    So he already expected that Lothur would do very well in this ce and was there just to see for himself.

    ''That wretch!''

    ''He has ruined all my ns! Now our only hope will probably be in the battlester...'' He thought about this as his fists clenched so tightly that the bones in his hands were making strange noises.

    He then said to one of his subordinates there with him. "Start investigating this brat. I want everyone in our group looking for information regarding him and how we didn''t realize he was so good at so many different things."

    "Yes, boss!"

    "That''s very strange... Hiding something like that is absurd. Even big families in the capital can''t hide their top seeds like that, making them look useless to everyone." One of Kai''s allies said this, also interested in investigating Lothur and House Frost.

    "Yes, there is something very wrong here," Kaimented, staring at Lothur and Annaliese, who had just greeted Lina and Amelie.

    ...

    "So you will observe me again, Miss Engelmann?" Lothurmented to that ck-haired woman.

    Lina smiled at him while still sitting next to Amelie. "You were so formidable earlier that my curiosity did not allow me to miss this chance..."

    The blonde next to Lina thenmented. "It''s just a shame we didn''t get a chance to watch you in thepetition for poison masters..."

    "Hmm, we heard you had an excellent performance." Lina nodded in agreement, regretting not having seen Lothur advance his poison resistance in the middle of a match.

    While saying this, the two were genuinely impressed with his performance as a poison master. Due to the glove they came in contact with, both were already aware of his skills as a formations master and tailor.

    But they had no idea whether the profession of poison master that he imed to dedicate himself to along with those other two was also his forte or just something secondary.

    Thus, their surprise and satisfaction had not been small when they learned about his achievements in thatpetition.

    Since both wanted their family close to Lothur, it was excellent that he was so good in so many different areas, even considering that usually people do not do well subdividing so much of their time.

    He would probably have to focus on one profession or another in the future, but that did not diminish how talented he was!

    And having secondary professions was not bad either!

    "Hehe, you haven''t seen anything yet." Lothur smiled, considering that he would soon be a doctor. "Anyway, I''m d you came."<sub> </sub>

    Amelie then looked at him a little more seriously and said. "Your first opponent in this match will probably not be much of a challenge for you, considering your abilities, Lothur. But your second, we believe, will be the Dohmen family''s hope in thispetition."

    The Dohmen family had cedst in thest edition of the Province Conference. In addition, this family focused on tailoring and had a young prodigy who was the hope of this organization for them not to lose their noble titles after this week.

    Lina then said. "The Dohmen family is another one of the powers of the Linn Province that is on the enemy side of House Frost. They have allied themselves with the Baier family due to their precarious position, hoping that with your organization''s fall, they will at least be able to keep their current titles."

    Lothur and Annaliese continued to pay attention to those two when Amelie said. "To that end, surely the draw for your second opponent will be against that young genius of the Dohmen family, who will try his best to destroy you."

    "Is that so? Those families like to bet against me..." Lothur closed his eyes and smiled.

    "But that''s nothing new," Annaliesemented. "Several families are doing the same against my brother-inw today."

    "Yes, we know... But the point here is, we want to propose something to you, Lothur." Amelie looked into the silver eyes of this young man, thinking of her ruthless n.

    She then continued. "This person will do his best to defeat you and even hurt you. If possible, he will certainly try to kill you. So I propose that you get up on that stage and kill Oliver Dohmen."

    "Oh?" Lothur and Annaliese were interested in this woman''s proposal.

    The young brte woman next to him then asked. "Why are you suggesting this? What will you gain from it?"

    Lina then exined. "As we said, Oliver is the hope of this family. That also means that even if they don''t do well in thispetition, as long as he is doing well, this house will have local importance in tailoring."

    House Dohmen''s move against Lothur would be for the sake of their future, but it was also the Christen family''s opportunity!

    Amelie expressed. "Our family has a good chance of bing a house with noble titles if the Dohmen family falls in thispetition. Not only that, if Oliver dies here, we can surpass that family in a few years and take their business for ourselves."

    The Christen family already wanted an opportunity to act against House Dohmen, their rival that was a little stronger than them. But it was tough to act outside of thispetition because of the difference in status between the two organizations, as well as thews of the empire.

    However, when such a family became involved with House Baier and made themselves avable to deal with Lothur, a young man with whom House Christen had good rtions, this incredible opportunity arose!

    Now Amelie''s family could deal with the greatest prodigy of their adversaries and still give a much-needed ''push'' for such an organization to head towards a precipice!

    As such, they could not miss this opportunity, and both women were there to convince Lothur to eliminate Oliver!

    Their family could soon ally themselves with this young man, so it would also be of great benefit to him if they had the chance to gain noble titles, which came with political and economic benefits.

    So, since this was a good situation for both sides, they put their cards on the table without hesitation, talking about the end of young Oliver as if it was no big deal.

    "I should kill Oliver for the Christen family to rise to the nobility, huh?" Lothur said, understanding the advantages he would get out of it.

    ...

 Chapter 290 Tailoring Competition

    "This will be for the sake of our families and our interests..." Amelie seriously said, trying not to sound like a person who casually nned the death of others.

    She was sorry for Oliver but did not pity an enemy who stood in her way. Besides, it was not as if the Dohmen family was kind and generous to everyone.

    That was a noble house, which like all organizations of its kind, had its history marked by the blood of rivals and even innocents.

    That was a cruel world that even the murder of babies was ordered, so it would not be her, with years of experience, who would give up this opportunity just for the sake of one person!

    At the same time, the fact that the enemy side was already nning the end of Lothur made it easier for her family. So, she talked about it without feeling guilty or worried about the image Lothur and Annaliese might have of her after this moment.

    Lothur then said. "All right, if I get the chance, I will eliminate this person named Oliver Dohmen."

    "What?" Annaliese looked at him in surprise. "You''re just going to do it like that? Without blinking?"

    "Several of my opponents in this Province Conference have already demonstrated their desire to kill me. So there is no reason to doubt that such a family will try the same." He thoughtfully said. "Besides, we are in no position to negotiate with the enemy. Thus, eliminating him is the only option left to us."

    The opposing side could n to act against him, but he could also do that. Besides, with the precarious situation of the Frost family, no one would give them the slightest chance to talk. Then why be kind to those who wanted their demise?

    Lothur thought it made no sense to act in such a way and felt that following Amelie''s ns would bring the best results for him.

    If a person would die from it, he did not give a damn!

    Anyone who entered the political and power game had to ept those and other risks!

    Amelie and Lina were pleased to hear Lothur''s wise words, more confident that such a young man was the real deal and not just a junior who needed to be schooled in those problematic aspects of life.

    "Very well, when we achieve our goals, I assure you, we will be very generous in our dealings, Lothur," Ameliemented as she touched one of his shoulders with one of her hands.

    "Just be careful when you are going to act against Oliver. He is very talented." Lina warned him.

    "Hmm, I will be careful."

    Soon after that exchange of words, Lothur and Annaliese walked away from those two while this woman epted the situation in her mind.

    She was unlike Viktoria, who had much more ess to the family''s problems and had dealt many more times with situations of premeditatedly eliminating an enemy. So this youngest daughter of the Frost patriarch was not so cold towards matters like this.

    ''The most important thing is that Lothur gets well. If the other side thinks of acting like this against him, they deserve it!'' She pondered as she sat with her brother-inw in waiting for his match.

    And just like that, it did not take long for Lothur to climb thepetition tform in that area!

    ...

    After almost 50 minutes in thatpetition area for tailors, Lothur had once again impressed everyone with his performance, easily beating his opponent in the first round.

    Because of this, the Frost family gained one more point, while Lothur''s enemies no longer doubted anything about him.

    Even Kai had already left that area, as he no longer had the patience just to watch all his work being hindered by Lothur.<sub> </sub>

    But he had left some of his subordinates to watch this tailoringpetition''s decisive match, which would happen between Lothur and Oliver Dohmen.

    So, time passed, and soon the two young tailors stepped onto thebat tform, prepared to face each other in this test.

    In this test, they would have to fight each other using only their products asbat items, with no technique or other items. Only things they produced during the first 15 minutes of the test, the time given before thebat took ce, could y a relevant role in their battle.

    Tailors could produce special garments that could even give mortals abilities, such as the special glove created by Lothur earlier. In this way, a test for this type of professional usually served to show that with the right clothes, mortal fights would be just as dangerous as those of cultivators.

    For this, obviously, the techniques and artifacts rting to other professions could not be used, as they would take away from the purpose of this examination.

    After climbing onto thatbat tform that had a formation that would block their cultivations after the initial 15 minutes, they greeted each other and received the match referee''s permission to begin.

    The two then ran to different sides of thepetition tform, quickly choosing their materials and starting to produce theirbat items.

    ''I don''t know you, but the family has ordered me to kill you if that is possible. Then I will demonstrate all my skills to you before I end your life...'' Oliver thought to himself as he tried his hardest to create his things.

    At the same time, Lothur saw Oliver''s status once again as he used his visual ability to analyze what his opponent was doing.

    [Name: Oliver Dohmen]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 39.9] [CON: 42] [DEX: 39.1] [AGI: 40.4]

    Lothur then changed his glove design, preparing something unique to finish off his opponent.

    ''If Ibine that force with two gloves working in opposition...'' He imagined as he worked his materials to the best of his abilities to produce clothes that would kill.

    Lothur also had in mind to produce abat suit, something necessary since he could not use previously made items, even if they were from tailors.

    There was no way to guarantee that he had not bought his clothes instead of producing them. Thus, he would have to wear something made during the test!

    With that, both Lothur and Oliver focused on producing their killing clothes during the 15 minutes they had, while hundreds of people followed them in anticipation.

    That was particrly true for Lina and Amelie, who expected to see Oliver''s downfall, and, of course, the Dohmen family elders in the surrounding area.

    If Oliver could bring down Lothur, his family would be guaranteed several points in this tailoringpetition and help from the Baier family in otherpetitions.

    An allied family could eliminate the leading opponents of one of its allies, something that could invariably raise the standing of organizations other than its own.

    That was the hope of this organization, so everyone was nervously watching this fight, feeling that the sand in the hourss was descending more slowly in these moments.

    But when the time finally came, many in the surrounding area swallowed their saliva as they saw the two young men standing up, already with their killing clothes on their bodies.

    ...

 Chapter 291 The First Death Of The Day

    When it was time for Lothur and Oliver to fight, the two stood in their ces, both wearing their killing clothes.

    Oliver was wearing a purple cloak that covered most of his body down to his heels, with green gloves on his hands and ck shoes on his feet.

    On the other hand, Lothur wore a long-sleeved shirt and trousers that fit tightly over his skin, with no bulk left to hinder his movements. He had nothing on his feet, but his hands were protected by red gloves, the same color as his other garments.

    "Are these clothes of that color meant to hide your blood that will soon being out of you?" Oliver looked at Lothur with a smile on his face, teasing his opponent.

    There were still a few more grains of sand left to fall from the top of the hourss, so Lothur closed his eyes andughed. "That''s so as not to scare the beautifuldies in the surrounding area with what''s about to happen, hehe."

    "You are magnanimous. Worrying about thedies here when you are about to have such a relevant duel..." Oliver said in a mocking tone.

    While they were exchanging barbs, the match referee saw that time was up and authorized the two to start this fight!

    "Begin!" He shouted, almost instantly causing the two young men to run against each other.

    As they moved, Lothur immediately showed that he was faster than Oliver.

    Even with the formation of that tform sealing off the spiritual cultivation of the people in the area, this was something that could not be that limited. After all, at the end of the day, a person''s speed depends heavily on physical characteristics!

    Since Lothur had such an attribute far above that of his opponent, he soon showed that he was faster than Oliver!

    ''What?'' Oliver was surprised by this, and when he was only 3 meters away from Lothur, he decided to attack him so as not to suffer from his opponent''s blow first.

    So while running, he spun in the air, making one of his legs circle from a lower position to high, aiming to hit his opponent''s head.

    Both Oliver''s gloves and his shoes produced for this fight had features that increased the hardness of these items, along with the presence of piercing edges. Because of this, a kick or a punch from him would bring his opponent risks simr to being attacked by weapons, not just clothing.

    Additionally, such items protected their wearer''s body from rebounding attacks, which would enable even a mortal to kick or punch a cultivator without getting hurt just by the attack itself.

    Thus, his foot came close to Lothur''s unprotected face as he saw his opponent raising one of his arms to meet this attack.

    ''Idiot, your clothes will not withstand my blow! My items are almost Bronze-grade! You''ll probably break your arm and make it easy for me!'' Oliver thought to himself, already envisioning his victory.

    Pow!

    Unfortunately for him, the moment his foot touched one of Lothur''s arms, he felt like he had hit an iron wall, luckily not being hurt by his own attack.

    At the same time, Lothur used his opposite hand to grab that heel of Oliver''s, squeezing it hard.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Oliver cried in pain as he felt something trying to rip off his right heel, not understanding how Lothur could have so much strength in his hands.

    But Oliver did not know that Lothur''s gloves were the kind that significantly increased the pressure exerted by the wearer, something that could make even a mortal smash logs of wood with their bare hands.

    However, Lothur did not intend to defeat his opponent by crushing that part of the body. So he used his great physical strength to lift Oliver''s body in the air, taking this fellow''s other foot out of contact with the tform.

    <o>,m When he did this, Oliver swallowed his saliva in fear as people in the surrounding area rose from their seats to observe what was about to happen.</o>

    It was unusual for a fellow to take the body of hispetitor in this way and act as if he were ying with a toy.

    Then everyone observed as Lothur grabbed that leg of Oliver''s with both hands and, ignoring the young man''s resistance, made an attacking movement against the ground.

    He moved Oliver''s body as if using a giant hammer to pound the ground, quickly making his opponent''s head hit the tform.

    Pow!

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"<sub> </sub>

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Oliver cried in pain as he was hammered against the ground, having felt his weight acting against him during his elerated fall.

    But his terror did not end there. As he brought his hands to his head, feeling the pain of being attacked so brutally, Lothur punched his stomach a few times, trying to destroy any resistance this fellow might have.

    Then, as the sounds of Oliver''s agony covered the voices in the area, including the supportivements of his family members, Lothur climbed on top of him.

    As he did so, Lothur moved his hands toward Oliver''s head, startling the people on that tform.

    "What is he going to do?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Does it matter? That battle is won!"

    "I didn''t think Lothur was superior even to Oliver... The young prodigy from the Dohmen family couldn''t even impose a challenge to his opponent."

    "Humph!"

    "I don''t believe it! That kick from Oliver must have fractured a couple of Lothur''s bones!"

    "Yes, but that makes no difference. Lothur is beating Oliver..."

    Arguments continued to spread in the surroundings, along with the elders of House Dohmen sweating in awe as they watched their young prodigy suffer at the hands of Lothur.

    "Damn it!"

    "How can this be happening?"

    "What should we do? Maybe throw in the towel before young Oliver gets hurt?" Someone from that family questioned his superior.

    On the other hand, Lina and Amelie were watching Lothur with excitement, looking forward to the moment when he would define the future of the Christen family.

    And when everyone in the surrounding area was heatedly discussing and following the fight, the match referee realized what Lothur was about to do.

    ''He won''t...''

    Gulp!

    This person looked down at Lothur''s hands and saw this fellow squeezing Oliver''s head with his thumbs above his opponent''s eyes and the rest of his fingers firmly around that head.

    In that instant, Oliver''s feet and arms began to il as he forgot the pain he was feeling to despair at this situation.

    "That''s why my clothes are red. To camouge your blood that will gush from your head!" Lothur said to his opponent, with several people in the area understanding that he was going to kill his opponent.

    "Damn it!"

    "Stop this fight! We give up!" Someone from the Dohmen family tried to throw a white towel on the tform, but it was toote.

    At that moment, sounds of bones breaking sounded in that ce as Oliver''s head exploded in Lothur''s hands, scattering his brains all over the surroundings.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" The cries of a few young women arose as most there fell silent, watching this decisive moment.

    ...

 Chapter 292 Lothur Demonstrates His Savagery

    When some girls screamed in the vicinity of thisbat tform, blood gushed out along with Oliver''s brains, hitting Lothur''s clothes and the surroundings.

    At the same time, this person''s agonized arms and legs lost their energy, slowly rxing along with the death of this member of the Dohmen family.

    Realizing that he had sessfully destroyed his opponent, Lothur pulled his hands back a little from the bloody mixture, seeing the brains of his target in his hands.

    But not only was he looking at this, hundreds of people there were open-mouthed, seeing how this battle had developed to a point unexpected by everyone.

    Many people there already expected Lothur to win, but nobody but Amelie, Lina, and Annaliese thought about the possibility that Oliver would also lose his life in this battle!

    That was onlypetition for tailors, and not even spiritual techniques could be used, so the risks of death there were small. But, on the other hand, it was not easy to kill a level 9 person like Oliver by using one''s hands to crush a head!

    After thinking about it, many were even more shocked by how Lothur had finished his opponent, incredulous at his physical strength and the gloves'' ability.

    Even Lina, Amelie, and Annaliese were looking at Lothur''s hands in surprise, as none of them expected him to kill Oliver like that.

    "How can that be?"

    "Did he just crush Oliver''s head with his bare hands?"

    "I''m not dreaming?"

    "Unbelievable!"

    "What a wild boy! How can someone so barbaric participate in apetition for mere tailors? That''s like putting a lion among chickens!" Someone said, offending all thepetitors in the surrounding area.

    Meanwhile, the Dohmen family members were pale, with their hearts beating strangely and hands shaking.

    Oliver was their hope not only for thispetition but to regain the family''s position in the future.

    However, he was murdered right before them when one of them even asked for the match to end.

    Thinking about it, the match referee was at a loss as to what to do in this situation, while he was also incredulous at the point this match had reached. His team had helped the Dohmen family to ce Oliver as Lothur''s opponent, but it was that organization''s problem if theirpetitor was weak.

    On the other hand, he had heard about the withdrawal of that family, but he did not even have time to think about it properly as Oliver''s brains sttered all over thatbat tform.

    ''What do I do now?'' He wondered as he saw Lothur rising from his ce in victory.

    "Well, that''s my victory. You can announce the result now, match referee. My opponent will not stand up..." Lothur said aloud as he stretched his body in front of Oliver''s body.

    "No!" A shout came from the middle of the Dohmen family group. "That wretch murdered our participant. Match referee, I demand justice!"

    "Yes! We all saw how that demon mercilessly killed young Oliver when we had already given up the match!"

    When those people least expected it, Amelie said aloud. "Nonsense! Lothur was in the middle of his match, and the referee did nothing to stop him. So it''s natural that he didn''tmit any infraction."

    "That''s right!" Lina nodded in agreement. "It was participant Oliver''s choice not to give up the fight while he had the chance. As for his death, he can only me himself for not being good enough by facing the wrong opponent!"

    Hearing those two women on Lothur''s side, the Dohmen family members made ugly expressions, understanding their lines'' reasons.

    ''Wretched Christen family!''

    ''So you are after this!'' The oldest of that group clenched his teeth against each other, feeling hatred for this organization plotting against them.<sub> </sub>

    The match referee realized that Amelie and Lina were right. So as not to risk his own position, he dered Lothur''s victory!

    "Contestant Lothur Ritter has killed his opponent, so he wins this match and goes on to the second day of trials of the tailoringpetition."

    "Wow!"

    "That was the first match of the tournament where someone died!"

    "Hmmm."

    "Deaths in the Province Conference are notmon, so we can be considered quite fortunate to have watched such a match!"

    "Even more so considering the way Lothur killed that fellow..."

    The people who did not care about the power struggles in the province and were there just for fun eximed in satisfaction, starting the discussions that would dispel the previous silence in that area.

    Meanwhile, another point was added for the Frost family, with that family finally moving back up in the ranking!

    [... 11th Frost Family: 22...]

    With that, Lothur came down from that tform and went to Annaliese''s side, along with Amelie and Lina following him.

    At the same time, the match referee stood in the middle of thebat tform while people from the Dohmen family and coliseum officials began removing Oliver''s body for the area to be cleaned up.

    "Allpetitors here, pay attention." He said aloud. "Deaths can happen in matches, so if you are not confident or feel that your opponent may kill you, quit your matches while you can."

    "There''s not much we referees can do about situations like that." He said to rid himself of any me people there tried to throw on his shoulders.

    And with that warning, many youngpetitors looked in Lothur''s direction with terrified eyes, fearful of eventually facing this monster.

    ''Why do we have topete with someone like that?''

    ''Damn it!''

    ''This guy is a lunatic! What kind of person kills someone like that?'' One young man thought about it in silence, while several others doubted Lothur''s perfect appearance, noting that he had a terrible bloodlust with him.

    "Ah, but he''s so handsome... How can he be a bad person?" Some more superficial young women wondered simr things as they saw Lothur and those three women departing the area.

    Along with them, the enemies of Lothur and House Frost, who were there to follow his final match in thispetition, left the area with terrible expressions.

    From the Frost family''s current position, this organization would benefit rather than lose in this Province Conference. But, at the same time, Lothur had shown how wild he could be!

    So many of them were feeling particrly bad at the moment.

    Because of this, it would not be long before the news regarding Oliver''s horrible death would spread throughout the coliseum, increasing Lothur''s prestige and making his opponents tremble with rage.

    Meanwhile, he quickly cleaned himself up and changed clothes before heading alongside Annaliese to where they could meet Viktoria.

    It would be time for the traditional battles to begin in a few hours, so since they would both be fighting, they were in a hurry to eat and say goodbye to each other.

    It was time for the most critical part of the day to start!

 Chapter 293 Questioning

    A few moments after Lothur and Oliver''s match ended, the Frost family discovered what had happened just before Viktoria arrived at her family''s VIP area.

    Because of this, the moment she entered that ce, all the elders there, including Simon, looked at her with expressions of curiosity and questioning.

    But almost no one there was unhappy since the family''s results so far were simply too good for an organization in such a delicate situation as theirs. Because of this, even if these people doubted Lothur''s capabilities, they could not help but feel good!

    But Simon could not just ept the situation and see his ns go down the drain because of a little silver-haired bastard!

    He then was the first to step forward and look at this woman with a questioning look. "Viktoria, what is the situation with your husband? Why is he doing so well? Howe the family wasn''t told about any of this?"

    The Frost family had started asking questions about Lothur since his results in thepetition for formations masters. But they did not get very far since there was no indication that he had any abilities or was a danger to the family.

    Lothur had even demanded his exit from their headquarters. Was this the reaction of an undercover spy? No!

    Not to mention that he had never used any benefits in his time with the Frost family and had even been forced by Mabel and Aiken to ept some things, such as going to the local academy.

    So, without talking to him or Viktoria, they could not understand what was going on and could not help but seek answers at this point.

    They had not gone after either Lothur or Viktoria because they did not want to unnecessarily disturb theirpetitors when they brought essential points to the family. But since the heiress of this organization decided on her own to show up at this ce, this was the time for them to get some answers.

    Eventually, they would question Lothur, but questioning Viktoria now would help them at least try to answer some of the questions they had in mind.

    Several of them already knew that Viktoria and Lothur were behaving like husband and wife, so it was to be expected that she knew something.

    Then, when Simon asked his questions, everyone, including Mabel and Aiken, paid attention to Viktoria''s direction, even though both had doubts about this man.

    Viktoria stopped in the middle of that area and saw the many eyes focused on her. She then replied. "Lothur awakened some abilities after an ident months ago." She looked at her parents. "That''s why he recovered so quickly in that previous situation..."

    "So that''s why?" Aiken raised his voice, understanding that, indeed, their conjectures about Lothur at the time were correct.

    "And why did we only find that out now?" Mabel questioned, feeling Lothur was teasing her for not saying anything and making her stressed about thispetition. ''I bet he did it on purpose! He wanted the whole family to feel the despair of losing more of our possessions!''

    Viktoria then told a little lie. "Lothur did it for the good of the family, of course. He told me everything weeks ago and said he had discovered some talents and skills in those three professions."

    "I told him to keep the secret about it and prepare for the Province Conference since I knew enemies would do everything to harm us at this time..." She said, looking at the people in her surroundings. "I don''t think the situation that got Chris and Frank out of thispetition is simple."

    "What?"

    "Is the First Miss saying that others have acted against these two to harm us?"<sub> </sub>

    Viktoria nodded in agreement. "So I wanted to keep the secret about Lothur to give our opponents a surprise... It seems to have worked out well, doesn''t it?"

    Simon clenched his teeth against each other as he felt hatred for this woman and even more for Lothur, who had disguised himself so well. ''Damn brats! They''ve disrupted all my ns.''

    But he did not show his anger to the people in that ce, quickly controlling himself as he thought of the advantage he and his allies had over this organization. ''Fine, I''ll ept this defeat!''

    ''But you are only two juniors. At most, you''ll get a few points in this damnpetition. But what can you do against so many who are against you? We will soon have the opportunity to strike another blow!'' As he walked away from there, he considered without further questioning Viktoria.

    And with Viktoria''s answers, people in the surroundings soon became less suspicious of Lothur being an enemy agent. Not only was her word taken very seriously, but his attitude in securing points for this family was an act that an enemy would never do.

    After all, what benefit would there be in giving more power to an organization they wanted to destroy or undermining the power of the current leaders?

    With that, even Mabel let her guard down for Lothur, even though she still considered that this son-inw of hers was an asshole for hiding even from her and Aiken.

    With that, Viktoria answered a few more questions from the people in this VIP area before discovering what Lothur had done to Oliver.

    "Did he really do that?" She asked with her mouth open, not understanding why her husband would do something so brutal against Oliver.

    ''The Dohmen family is on the enemy side, but we don''t have much rivalry history. Besides, this kind of action might bring more severe post-conference reactions...''

    ''What was he thinking?'' She wondered.

    In the past, she would have thought that Lothur had just made a mistake by acting so brutally. But after getting to know him better, Viktoria now considered that there must be something more to all this.

    If he were someone who enjoys other people''s deaths, then his opponents in the previouspetitions would have suffered much more than they did!

    "Mother, father, I think Lothur probably has something on his mind. He wouldn''t kill this tailor for the sheer fun of it. He''s a lot smarter than he looks." She said, trying to reassure them.

    Aiken felt better hearing this, but Mabel clenched her fists, feeling how much her daughter had changed just for Lothur.

    ''Why does she trust him? What''s in that jerk for her to side with him like that?''

    Having talent was not enough to make someone cautious. So many young masters in this world were the future of their families, but even so, they were real assholes at times. Thus, Mabel would not think that Lothur''s good performance meant that he was, in fact, intelligent.

    Then, she was skeptical about her daughter''s words!

    "Anyway, we''ll talkter. Now I will go and see where he and Annaliese are..." Viktoria said goodbye, wanting to go and talk to Lothur after not seeing him for hours.

 Chapter 294 If Regret Could Kill...

    Meanwhile, the Becker family was more than pleased with Lothur''s disy of talent and House Christen''s interference on his behalf.

    Unlike the Frost family, Elke''s house knew Lothur had a contract with the Christen family. So when people from that organization spoke on his behalf after Oliver''s death, that indicated more was going on between that power and young Ritter.

    Then, they soon saw that Lothur''s rtionships went beyond them and House Frost, which meant that a possible deeper partnership would bring them other powers beyond that decaying family. Since it was advantageous to have as many allies as possible, the people in Elke''s organization could only celebrate that the young man''swork of influence was not so limited.

    At the same time, the more thoughtful people in this family soon realized that Lothur''s action and the presence of Amelie and Lina in that ce, along with Oliver''s death, could only mean one thing. House Christen had asked young Ritter to eliminate that fellow in exchange for more significant support for him in the future.

    If that were the case, Lothur would soon have one more noble family on his side, which would be better for everyone connected to him.

    So, these allies of his were already celebrating not only for Lothur''s magnificent performance in his matches but also for his demonstration of influence.

    There was nothing better than a risky bet proving to be a winner!

    The gains were always gigantic in situations like these!

    ...

    While Elke''s family was celebrating their business with Lothur, the chief referee of the Province Conference was in the results control room inside the coliseum.

    There, the results wereputed, and thepetition ranking was updated every moment, along with the arrival information from thepetitions.

    Additionally, regtory issues could be debated in this ce, thest instance for aggrievedpetitors to seek justice.

    But usually, no one would be awarded a change of results here, as the referees of thispetition were unlikely to pronounce an unfair result. They could even manipte the order of battles and who would fight against whom. But they would not dare to give questionable results.

    And with that, the Dohmen family had already failed in this ce in trying to contest Lothur''s achievements.

    On the other hand, upon finding out all that had already happened on this day involving that silver-haired young man, the chief referee of thispetition could not help but look at his disciple in doubt.

    "Devoid of any talent and not a de factopetitor, eh? That''s what you told me..." That elderly figuremented as he looked at the young man in front of him.

    That young man bitterly smiled and said. "That was the information I got locally, master. But all the local powers, even the Frost family, did not know who he was."

    The old man scratched his eyebrows, feeling that he could not teach his disciple a lesson just for this. But as he closed his eyes, he found it all rather strange. ''This young man is too excellent. Even in the imperial family, there aren''t people with skill in so many different areas...''

    ''Have I erred in my judgment? If he had any rtionship with that person, he would never show such talent in a tournament like this. No, that person would never allow that!'' He doubted his eyes, thinking that perhaps Lothur''s appearance had fooled him.

    "Did you manage to collect any of his blood?" He asked his disciple.

    "No, master. No one has managed to hurt him so far... But there will still be the fightingter. Maybe I''ll get the chance."

    "Very well, do as I told you before."

    "Yes, master!"

    ...

    At the same time, Harry''s master, the young man killed by Lothur in Lewerenz, was apprehensive about his revenge and did not hold back as he approached one of his family''s representatives.<sub> </sub>

    "You must kill that wretch in your collective fight against the Frost family. We can''t let him live, or our family will be at tremendous risk!" He said into one of the ears of one of the young men of his family near the leading tform of the coliseum.

    That young man noticed the nervousness in this elder''s voice but understood that the situation must be difficult. ''This Lothur looks pretty talented. I doubt he is weak as everyone thinks...''

    "Uncle Magnus, my team will do its best to deal with him. But don''t forget, Viktoria will bepeting in the same group as him. So I can''t guarantee anything." He said, sure that it would be better to eliminate Lothur, but aware of the difficulty of this mission.

    "I know that..." Magnus, level 13, said as he felt how much trouble it would be to face Viktoria. "Just do your best. Some troublesome opponents will face this woman in the individual matches, so maybe she will not be in her best condition."

    "OK. If we get the chance, we''ll eliminate him."

    ...

    On the other hand, Merten Baier was beginning to break into a cold sweat, bitterly regretting having put himself in the position of fighting Lothur.

    Unfortunately for him, his match could no longer be changed, and he would be forced to face the savage who had crushed Oliver''s head, someone far stronger than him...

    And thinking about the things he had said to Lothur for weeks, trying to make life difficult for that young man at the Morning Star Academy, Merten was extremely depressed at the moment.

    ''Damn it! Why did this have to happen to me?'' He wondered as he sat on one of the benches outside thebat tform that Lothur and he would go up to fight in a few moments.

    At the same time, the patriarch of this family was also nervous, feeling that dealing with Lothur through legal means within thispetition would be exceedingly difficult for his family.

    In his view, after all that Lothur had presented, this young man was probably at the end of the 1st stage, so only the greatest geniuses of this tournament could impose a challenge on him. However, the day''s first individual and team match had already been decided, and his family did not have much else to do now.

    Besides, depending on Lothur''s performance,ter on, it would not even be worth risking his young geniuses to face a savage bastard capable of murder!

    So he and Lothur''s other opponents were in a tricky situation, shocked by the results and unsure what strategy to follow.

    ''Little Bastard, you just wait. Even if my family can''t take you down in this damnedpetition, there will still be plenty of opportunities for us to deal with you...'' The Baier patriarch, who was on that same tform as Merten, pondered this while the atmosphere was tense in that ce.

    ...

    While most people in the coliseum were talking about Lothur, he was finishing eating next to Annaliese, Viktoria, and Elke.

    Viktoria and Elke had found him and Annaliese, so they used the little time they had to talk and eat together.

    Those two had a conversation earlier, so they were much more friendly at this point.

    "So, Lothur, what are your ns with the Christen family? That thing you did was on their ount, right?" Elke asked.

    "Yes, it will be good if the Christen family bes a noble house. We will have many advantages because of that." He replied, showing Viktoria the reason for his action.

    "So that was it..." Viktoria said, satisfied that there was a reason, as she had thought. "And now, what are you going to do? Anna and I won''t be able to apany you in your individual fights."

    "Then I will stay by his side." Elke hugged one of Lothur''s arms, not caring what other people would think of her.

    "Well, I will continue to deal with my enemies on thebat tforms..." He confidently smiled. "Even if they have prepared something for me, I have my weapons up my sleeve!"

 Chapter 295 All Eyes On Him

    Sometimeter, Annaliese and Viktoria said goodbye to Lothur, heading towards theirbat tforms while he and Elke made their way to the 8th tform, where he would soon be fighting Merten.

    "So you''re going to fight that annoying person, huh?" Elkemented to him, walking alongside Lothur as they arrived at the match site.

    That ce was already packed with people, with many even standing on the stairs in the surrounding area, as there were not enough seats for everyone who wanted to see the fights that would take ce there.

    There were family members ofpetitors who would soon bepeting. But most of these spectators wanted to see Lothur in action, as this young man had already be the big surprise of thispetition.

    Being so excellent in so many areas, no one doubted Lothur''s abilities, and many already considered him a candidate to be fought. And because of this, the moment he and Elke approached that area, the crowd in the area began to look at them thoughtfully.

    That was particrly true for the Baier family members in that area, who were either terrified at the thought of having to face Lothur or with hatred for the slim chances of getting their revenge.

    At the same time, many high-level members of the Frost family''s enemy powers were around to follow the matches of this young man standing in their way.

    Kai, Frits Stauss, Martin Waldauer, patriarch Baier, Simon Frost, and many more were in the vicinity, anticipating the start of Lothur and Merten''s match.

    Lothur ignored the many stares in his direction and said to his woman. "He will suffer for all he has done in the past few weeks... Perhaps his situation will be worse than his cousin''s."

    "Oh?" She smiled while the Baier family members looked in her direction, not liking this young woman next to Lothur.

    ''What is the Becker family doing? How can they allow their youngdy to be close to a married man and the Frost family?'' The matriarch of that family red at Elke, feeling that such an attitude of the Becker family was like a p in the face of House Baier.

    House Becker was supposed to marry into Baier with the marriage of Elke and Alric. But now this young woman was showing such intimacy and closeness with Lothur...

    It was an attitude to question!

    The matriarch then said to her husband. "Perhaps we should reconsider the position of the Becker family. I don''t know if we can continue considering them as one of our friends."

    Devid Baier heard this and stopped looking at Lothur to turn to his wife. "Just on ount of those two? I''m still unsure if this is a Becker family attitude or a foolish girl. Perhaps they are not yet making a mistake as you suggest, dear."

    "That''s why I said we should consider it. Let''s arrange a dinner with Gomeric and Hilda so we can probe their current position." She said, feeling that her instincts were right and something wrong was going on with these friends of theirs.

    While the two talked, Lothur and Elke found a ce to wait for the start of his fight as young men fought on that tform.

    But even standing there without doing much, they were still attracting the attention of people in the area.

    ''How can he have so many skills? What''s wrong with him?'' Fritz had an ugly expression on his face, not understanding why Lothur was so talented.

    Lothur''s father was a monster, but that referred to such a person''sbat skills. Besides that, he was not exceptional in anything else apart from his unusual personality.

    Considering Fritz''s knowledge of such a person''s lineage, he could not help but be surprised that Lothur was an excellent spiritual professional in several different specializations.

    ''Where does this talent of hise from? Maybe it''s the side of his mysterious mother?'' This young red-headed man wondered. ''But wasn''t she supposed to be a normal person? Did our spies get that wrong?''<sub> </sub>

    Unfortunately, only more questions appeared with every moment Fritz thought about Lothur, quickly worsening his mood.

    ''This wretch will turn out to be an even worse variable than my family had expected! We have to do something about it!'' Fritz clenched his fists as he looked in Kai''s direction, seeing that this individual was also concerned.

    ...

    After some time on that 8thbat tform, the referee of thispetition finally called out the names of Lothur and Merten, indicating the time most awaited by everyone in the surroundings.

    The moment the two ced their feet on thebat tform, every person there fell silent in anticipation of what was about to begin.

    Even the referee of the match looked at the two, especially at Lothur, curious as to what the event''s oue would be.

    ''Will he kill his opponent as he did earlier?'' Some spectators wondered simr things, eager to see how brutal Lothur was.

    That was a violent society that enjoyed bloodshed. Thus, it was obvious that the people there wanted Lothur to unleash the demon within and brutalize his opponent.

    Sure, not everyone wanted that, but that was the majority feeling of those who were there for the show, not for the local power struggles.

    "You two," The referee said. "You will have 6 minutes to fight each other and define the winner of the match. But in case both of you are standing at the end of that time, the judgingmittee of this tform will vote and decide who will move on in thepetition."

    The two saw the three people sitting around a table on one side of the tform, amittee simr to which was also present inpetitions for spiritual professionals.

    There was always the possibility of a ''tie,'' so there were people in each contest to decide the winner in these rare situations.

    With that, the two nodded in acknowledgment of the rules of this match, allowing the match referee to step away from them, preparing to begin thisbat.

    As the two also moved away, Lothur looked at Merten and smiled. "Let''s see if you still have all that courage you had at the academy... No one will save you, Merten."

    Merten clenched his fists, sweating coldly. "Lothur, don''t take this so seriously, or the consequences will be catastrophic for you!"

    "Is that so? Then give up the fight since I won''t hold back." Lothur said as his eyes narrowed. ''Of course, I won''t do that. If I do, my next opponent will be someone stronger than I can handle!''

    ''Then I will use you to pretend that I am weaker than I am, that my skills are only in spiritual professions.'' Lothur held himself back fromughing.

    Seeing his opponent''s serious expression, which indicated that he would take it hard with him, Merten shivered, but he could not humiliate his family by giving up.

    "From the looks of it, you are willing to see this through to the end... It looks like you really did that to our young master!" Merten said, shouting. "Admit it, Lothur, you are responsible for that cowardice!"

    ...

 Chapter 296 Merten Vs Lothur

    Upon hearing Merten''s words, Lothur said nothing, only smiling at his opponent, demonstrating his probable guilt about this to everyone in the vicinity.

    At this point, pretending to be innocent would no longer make any difference to him. He had already demonstrated enough skills to make the Baier family suspicious of this. Moreover, even though he did not intend to use everything he had, Lothur already had it in mind to leave Merten in a deplorable state.

    So the Baier family would not leave him in peace even if he refused such a thing!

    But Lothur would also not talk about why he had done this, so he remained silent and waited for the start of the match!

    Merten felt anger when he saw the look on his opponent''s face, already holding his sword firmly, ready to give his best in this match.

    At the same time, Lothur had his ax in his right hand, with each of his daggers hidden in his clothes.

    That was thepetition concerning warriors, so items auxiliary tobat techniques were allowed. The only items not allowed were those not auxiliary to technique, as in the case of armor.

    Thus, neither Lothur nor Merten had such items on their bodies, only theirbat weapons.

    "Begin!" The referee shouted, just after the hourss stabilized and sand began to fall from its top.

    When the two heard this, they both used their movement techniques, moving across that tform against the other.

    Since Lothur had already disyed some of his speed when fighting Oliver, he was obligated in this situation to show himself faster than his opponent.

    But when he got close to Merten to attack him, Lothur promptly controlled his strength to a little above his opponent''s level.

    [Name: Merten Baier]

    [Cultivation: level 6]

    [STR: 16.1] [CON:16.5] [DEX: 15.9] [AGI: 16.1]

    He saw his opponent''s attributes and made the necessary adjustments, striking Merten''s right shoulder with his ax falling diagonally.

    Merten saw this in awe, given his opponent''s speed, but as he counterattacked Lothur with his sword going towards the ax de, it did not take long for him to feel relief.

    sh!

    When the two des shed, everyone in the surrounding area was surprised that Lothur had not made Merten fall and wound him. Instead, the young Baier family man had somehow withstood the attack well, even considering that he was gradually retreating, indicating the superiority of the young Ritter.

    Feeling that he could not stand against this opponent for long, Merten jumped backward, trying to get away from the range of Lothur''s ax.

    As he did so, he sighed, feeling that although fast, his opponent was not as strong as he thought.

    Merten''s situation was still bad, in his opinion. Lothur was stronger than him, which was invariably a risk to his physical integrity. But the difference was not so significant, and he could do something against this opponent!

    ''Bastard, you scared me!'' He saw Lothur once againing towards him.

    Lothur soon began to deliver diagonal attacks, moving that ax with one of his hands like a painter using his brush while Merten danced with his sword.

    Lothur''s blows were a bit stronger than Merten''s, so this young ck-haired man was slowly suffering at his opponent''s hands without even inflicting any risks on the silver-haired man.

    But as Lothur moved around thatbat tform quickly, as if trying to break through his opponent''s defenses, he slowly began to sweat.

    "Uh? Is he using everything he has?"

    "It can''t be... Is he that weak? Don''t tell me we overestimated him?"

    "It''s not a big surprise either. After all, who can be so good in many different areas and still be a good warrior?"

    "That is indeed a point to think about..."

    "But what about that speed of his?"

    "Maybe it''s a special characteristic of his body. It''s not as strange as you think..."

    Comments and discussions quickly spread while Lothur''s enemies frowned, feeling that they had been frightened a little too soon.<sub> </sub>

    Meanwhile, Lothur tried his hardest to train his movement technique while fighting Merten. That was the only way he had thought of to make it look like he was using his all to fight this person.

    ''Well, I can''t take too long...'' He looked in the direction of the hourss, realizing that half the time had already passed. ''If I look too weak, someone might get suspicious. Then it''s time to deal with Merten!''

    So he continued to move as before, only attacking more and more of his opponent''s weak points, gradually ruining the sword in Merten''s hands.

    As Lothur did this, Merten was already panting, feeling several cuts around his body, which Lothur had made during this fight.

    As his sword had lost its edge due to Lothur''s relentless attacks, Merten tried to defend himself against a move by his opponent, but his hands could not withstand such an attack.

    At that instant, he let his sword fall, but Lothur continued his attack, aiming to cut off one of his opponent''s arms.

    He had promised to be decisive, so he would not change his mind now!

    As such, while Merten had a lost expression on his face and the people of his family were shouting things of all sorts, Lothur''s ax struck the middle of this young man''s left arm.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhh!"

    Merten roared in pain as more of his blood sttered into the surroundings, along with three-quarters of his arm being cut off by Lothur''s movement.

    The spectators in the surrounding area watched this in animation, with some bringing their hands to their mouths in disgust while others screamed in satisfaction, raising their drinking sses.

    The audience convulsed as Merten finally fell to the ground, and the referee ended the match!

    "In this first round, 11th fight of the day on the 8th tform, Lothur Ritter defeats his opponent!" That man shouted for all to hear as the Frost family gained more points.

    [... 11th Frost Family: 24...]

    Lothur paid no attention to this, seeing the system announcement regarding his training rtive to the Cross Walk.

    [+0.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 25.2] [CON: 53.9] [DEX: 21.4] [AGI: 29.6]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 73.7]

    [EVF: 247]

    Lothur smiled as he wiped the sweat on his forehead, satisfied with his overall result in this situation, ignoring the cries of pain from his fallen opponent before him.

    As this match was already over, he rushed to Elke''s side while ignoring the protests of the Baier family, who could do nothing against him at the moment.

    With that, his first match was over, and soon he began to prepare for the next fight he would have, which would undoubtedly be moreplicated than this one!

 Chapter 297 Time To Show Your Skills 1

    After a while, the Frost family''s position remained the same, but Lothur and Elke realized that a few more points had been added.

    [... 11th Frost Family: 27...]

    "By the looks of it, Viktoria and Annaliese have finished their two battles for the day..." Elkemented to Lothur, feeling that this was the only justification for the added points.

    Lothur nodded in agreement, feeling it would soon be his turn to give this family another point and perhaps open the possibility for them to reach the 10th position in the ranking.

    And while they were talking about the Frost family''s situation, the enemies of this family in the surrounding area were already moving to establish Lothur''s next opponent.

    However, only one person could be chosen for this role, and as such, many were already disappointed!

    ...

    "What? What do you mean we can''t choose his opponent?" Kai indignantly asked, surprised that his subordinates had allowed such a thing after everything they had witnessed today.

    "Are you people crazy? How can you allow another to choose that bastard''s opponent?" He questioned.

    A dark-skinned man then replied to his boss. "I don''t know what to say, boss. This Lothur has many enemies, so the match referee sold this fellow''s next fight to others... He must have received a much above-average prize."

    "Damn!"

    "Just when he has shown a weakness..." Kai clenched his fists in frustration.

    ...

    "So a family from Reinhard managed to put someone against Lothur? How can that be? This brat has enemies even in that ce?" Patriarch Baier asked a subordinate, annoyed that he could not ce one of his young men against Viktoria''s husband.

    He was discouraged about being able to handle Lothur in thispetition, given this young man''s talent. But after watching Merten''s battle, his mind had changed, and he now thought it was possible to eliminate such a person by using one of his family''s prodigies.

    Unfortunately, when he tried to choose Lothur''s opponent in the second round of thepetition on this 8th tform, he was surpassed by another family.

    "I don''t know, patriarch. But it is a fact that a family from that city managed to pick Lothur''s opponent in this next round." His subordinate replied. "As for his enemies, there aren''t people from everywhere wanting to get rid of such a person? So, they are just another one in the line..."

    ...

    Meanwhile, Magnus, the master of thete Harry, was smiling in anticipation that his family''spetitor would soon put an end to Lothur.

    He had made a personal promise to the match referee in exchange for the ce for his family to face Lothur. As such, he could not help but feel hopeful of getting his revenge against this young man.

    ''Soon, my disgrace will be avenged, you bastard. Then, even if the Becker family continues to pursue me, you will no longer be in this world!'' Heughed beneath his mask, watching the battle on that tform end.

    ...

    Finally, minutes passed, and once again, Lothur advanced up the steps of the 8th tform of the coliseum, presenting himself for hisst match in this ce.

    After this, he would have his final matches of this first day of the Province Conference, the collective one on the centralbat tform. So, Lothur was already looking forward to the end of this day, anticipating what he had in mind to doter alongside Viktoria.

    But as he was thinking about that, positioning himself at one end of that tform, his opponent said to him.

    "Lothur, know I am here to avenge Harry''s death and your cowardly act against Lord Magnus." Such a level 9 young man said to his opponent, smiling in reassurance, happy to have been given this chance to fight the young Ritter.<sub> </sub>

    ''I will gain a lot of prestige by eliminating this person, and I will still receive the gift that Lord Magnus promised...'' He pondered as Lothur watched him.

    [Name: Phil Trapka]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 37.8] [CON: 39.0] [DEX: 38.1] [AGI: 37.4]

    ''Harry, huh?'' Lothur''s eyes narrowed as he remembered the person he had killed in Lewerenz. ''This Magnus fellow must be Harry''s master, the one who tried to approach me that day...''

    "Oh? So you are from the same family as that person? Good to know, the Becker family was having trouble finding out who were the enemies who killed one of their subordinates..." Lothur provocativelyughed. "I''ll be sure to pass this information on to them. Thank you!"

    Phil red at Lothur, clenching his fists in anger. "That is if you can get off this tform, of course. But that won''t happen, worm!"

    "We''ll see!" Lothurmented, feeling that beating this opponent would be troublesome, but he was not at risk.

    ''I think I''ll get a small breakthrough after fighting this person...'' He thought as he would undoubtedly suffer several blows from this opponent, who was faster and stronger in terms of attack than him.

    ''On the other hand, I only have one alternative to beat him...'' He clenched the ax in his right hand, preparing to do his best, even if he had to spill some of his own blood on this tform.

    With that, it was not long before the match referee authorized the two to move, with Phil and Lothur quickly beginning to run at each other.

    Due to Phil and Lothur''s characteristics, the two had almost the same speed, with the silver-haired young man slightly faster than his opponent. But the movements of the blond individual were much more efficient.

    In this way, when both came close to each other and Lothur attacked with his hidden daggers, Phil had no difficulty dodging while also attacking.

    Phil used a spear-based offensive technique, and while he dodged the daggers, he made a move against Lothur''s left shoulder.

    Pow!

    Such a blow quickly approached Lothur, but this silver-haired young man did not dodge.

    Lothur knew that if he only deflected Phil, he would lose the fight after 6 minutes ofbat. The referees of the matchmittee would give the victory to this blond man, as surely such an individual would attack him much more.

    Therefore, to have a chance to beat Phil, Lothur knew he could not dodge. Instead, he had to trap his opponent and find a way to do more damage to Phil than the other way around.

    So, just when everyone thought that would be the end of Lothur for the vicious tip of Phil''s spear, the silver-haired young man moved gently to direct that weapon at a non-vital part of his body.

    It was not long before Phil felt like he had hit a wall, but his spear managed to prate Lothur''s left shoulder gently.

    "What?" Phil and the people in the area shouted in surprise as Lothur used one of his hands to hold that weapon to his shoulder.

    Simultaneously, he used his ax to brutally strike Phil''s hands holding that spear, giving that young man no option but to retreat.

    Phil might have physical attributes superior to Lothur''s Strength, which gave him a defensive advantage in an attack like that. But that did not mean he would not get hurt!

    A blow like the one Lothur had initiated would not cut his arms in half, but it would undoubtedly injure him enough for him to lose some of his focus for the rest of the fight!

    ...

 Chapter 298 Time To Show Your Skills 2

    When he tried to move away from Lothur, Phil struggled while trying to remove his spear from his opponent''s body.

    ''What''s up with that? Why did my spear get so heavy?'' He wondered as he made an ugly expression in that millisecond he had to react.

    Unfortunately for him, Lothur''s body was much sturdier than his. Removing such a spear from young Ritter''s left shoulder would be as problematic as pulling it out of a stone wall after attacking it.

    At the same time, Lothur was no fool. He was putting much of his strength into his hand that was holding that weapon to prevent his opponent from retreating as he wished.

    "Damn it!" Finally, Phil had no choice but to leave his spear and jump backward to escape Lothur''s merciless movement.

    "Wow!"

    "Lothur withstood Phil''s blow and still managed to make him give up his weapon!" People in the surroundingsmented while the feelings on that tform were conflicted.

    Lothur did not look as strong as Phil, but he was doing much better than everyone had imagined.

    Hell, he had taken a blow from Phil and remained as if a fly had bitten him!

    In this way, Magnus and everyone else wishing for Lothur''s death was a little irritated at the moment, feeling that there was something wrong with all of this.

    But Lothur paid no attention to the conversations and quickly threw that spear away.

    People outside thebat tform could not throw things there, and the participants could not leave the tform until the end of their fights. Thus, that was enough for him to stop his opponent from retrieving that item.

    Seeing his opponent running towards him after such an act, Phil clenched his fists and grabbed another spear from his spatial ring.

    ''I''ll have to be careful. Besides that one, I only have one more spear with me!'' He decided not to try to pierce his opponent anymore but only to scratch such a person.

    But when Phil and Lothur approached, and this blonde man tried to do such a thing, he felt difficulty in scratching the silver-haired young man.

    Swooish!

    The de of his spear sliced through Lothur''s shirt at this young man''s chest, but only a tiny scratch appeared on the well-defined chest of this person.

    At the same time, Lothur struck an ax blow against Phil''s right arm, making a one-centimeter deep cut.

    "Bastard!" Phil shouted, leaving his expression of iprehension to be furious with his opponent.

    After that, he increased the pace of his attacks, constantly hitting Lothur and getting hit.

    But while doing so, Phil gradually realized that the de of his spear was losing its edge.

    ''Damn it! This bastard forced me to use a lower-ranked weapon by throwing my main spear off the tform!'' Hemented in his mind, feeling that he would have to switch weapons if he wanted to continue attacking his opponent.

    Lothur''s body had already surpassed those of the 1st stage in terms of endurance. So, an Iron-grade weapon, like Phil''s, would suffer when attacking his skin!

    Meanwhile, Lothur was already sweating through every pore in his body, feeling the difficulty of constantly attacking his opponent without barely doing significant damage.

    ''Sigh... At least I''m training all my techniques in this fight.'' He thought about that as he tried to attack his opponent.

    But at that moment, Phil stepped back a few feet, quickly making that spear disappear for another weapon of a different color to appear in his hands.

    "Oh? You seem to be experiencing difficulty, don''t you?" Lothur teased his opponent, once again running into such a person.<sub> </sub>

    Phil did not bother to respond to Lothur, having made a more angry expression, annoyed that he could not finish his opponent.

    ''What is wrong with this person? Why is his body so hard?'' He asked himself the same question everyone in the area had in mind.

    Everyone there had already realized that Lothur was not strong enough to eliminate Phil. But his body seemed to be a living armor, something shocking to everyone since cultivators usually had bnced qualities.

    Even when someone had one attribute that was better than the others, usually, such a thing did not have a big differencepared to the others.

    So Lothur''s case was something extraordinary for everyone there!

    With this, as the two bloodied young men exchanged blows constantly, Phil began to gasp in exhaustion from his movements as the battle drew to an end.

    With only one minute left in this match, the referees of themittee were already considering that they would have to decide the winner of this round. But at that instant, Lothur again managed to force Phil''s spear against part of his body!

    When this happened, the people in the surrounding area rose from their seats, excited to see one of the opponents unarmed again.

    Then, when Phil did not summon another spear from his spatial ring and began running around that tform, everyone began to watch this end of the fight with apprehension.

    Lothur began to use even more of his skills, using his visual ability to predict his opponent''s movements to ovee Phil''s speed with more effective attacks.

    Because of this, little by little, he approached Phil, making this young man feel his heart in his throat as the de of Lothur''s ax threatened him.

    Phil was not afraid of being seriously injured or of dying. But if he spent thest seconds ofbat being pressed by Lothur, the battle''s oue would be against him!

    So he could not help but despair at the moment, feeling that he had failed to eliminate this enemy of Magnus and publicly humiliated himself!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''How can this be happening?'' He wondered when Lothur finally reached his arms.

    "Ouch!" With his mouth closed, Phil made a sound of pain, protecting the most sensitive parts of his body as his opponent became agitated.

    Lothur seized the moment and unloaded everything he had on Phil, chopping with his ax as if he were madly trying to cut down a tree.

    His blows were so fast that he was barely aiming at Phil, just trying to hit as hard as he could in the seconds he had left.

    As for Phil, even though his opponent was attacking him not so effectively, without a weapon to use or armor to protect him, he could not help bute unstuck in this situation.

    Against the ''ropes'' of thisbat ''ring,'' he only had the option to defend himself while everyone in the surroundings watched his humiliating fight against Lothur.

    Just like that, thest grain of sand fell from the hourss above that tform, causing the match referee to announce the end of the fighting time and go to separate the two.

    "Time is up! Cease your attacks immediately!"

    Thus, the crowd could finally breathe while the three referees deciding the oue looked at each other.

    Lothur and Phil then copsed on the ground after being separated, exhausted, and looking at each other with different emotions.

    But it did not take long for the winner of this battle to be decided!

    ...

 Chapter 299 How Decisive The Enemies Were

    After looking at each other for a few moments and talking among themselves, the three referees decided that the winner of this match could only be one person.

    The fight had been reasonably even at times, but the strategy of one of the participants had ovee his opponent''s strength, giving him the advantage at the end of the contest.

    Thus, they soon informed the central referee on that tform of their decision.

    That person then stood in the middle of that tform and said to Lothur, Phil, and everyone else in the surrounding area. "Contestant Lothur Ritter wins this contest and moves on to the next round of thispetition!"

    The moment he said that, the surroundings went into a convulsion. The people who were there to celebrate vibrated in excitement, while those involved in the local political game had conflicting emotions.

    Part of them still hoped to eliminate Lothur by legal means within this Province Conference, either in the subsequent few days'' fighting or in the team battlester. But many were shocked at his performance, not understanding how this young man could be so challenging when he had no equivalent strength to challenge someone like Phil.

    No one doubted that Lothur had decent battle power, and it could easily take him to the 3rd day ofbat if he were an ordinarypetitor. But his power was too smallpared to the many enemies who wanted to eliminate him, Phil among them. However, he had a card up his sleeve that no one expected!

    "What''s with that young man''s body?"

    "I don''t know... Is he cheating?"

    "Impossible! Every participant is inspected upon climbing thebat tforms of thispetition!"

    "Yes, but how can he have such a sturdy body? Didn''t you see their match? Phil''s second weapon lost its edge after hitting Lothur''s body several times!"

    People began to argue, while every enemy of Lothur there had this problem and mystery in mind.

    Meanwhile, Lothur saw his opponente down from that tform with a hateful look, having cast a nce in his direction full of resentment.

    But he did not pay much attention to that, having focused on the improvements he was experiencing as he descended from that tform.

    [Super Regeneration activated.]

    [Consuming 30 points of EVF...]

    ...

    ? [+0.2 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.1 in AGI.]

    [+0.3 in WIL.]

    [+0.2 in CON.]

    [+0.1 in DEX.]

    [+0.2 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 25.6] [CON: 54.3] [DEX: 21.7] [AGI: 29.9]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 74]

    [EVF: 217]

    ''Hmm, that was less than I had expected...'' Lothur wondered as he noticed the system messages, considering that he had taken some decisive hits from Phil.

    But that should note as a surprise. After all, as his Constitution became more robust, the beating he needed to take to boost his Physique became more demanding.<sub> </sub>

    That is, injuries caused by a 1st stage opponent would not be enough to stimte his 2nd stage body!

    So everything he had achieved in this match in terms of advancement had been simr to what he would achieve in a demanding training session. Since such a match hadsted only 6 minutes, Lothur had not achieved as much as he would have liked.

    But he was not too disappointed about that and soon saw the Frost family''s ranking, while Elke came to his side worried about the blood on his body.

    [... 11th. Frost Family: 28...]

    "Lothur, how are you? Do you want help?" She asked as she held one of his arms.

    "Don''t worry. Most of this blood is not mine. And my wounds have already healed..." He showed her part of his chest through the cuts in his clothes.

    Seeing this, Elke was relieved and congratted her man for the result of this match.

    Soon they left that area where many ugly expressions were directed at them.

    Because of the end of his match, there was no longer any reason for them to stay there. Thus, they headed toward where the group matches were to take ce!

    ...

    After meeting with Viktoria and Annaliese, before saying goodbye to Elke, Lothur told the young redhead to take the information he had obtained to her parents.

    Magnus had sent someone to act against him, and now he knew that such a person belonged to the Trapka family. So as vengeful a person as he was, Lothur would not let the previous situation go unnoticed!

    Hence, after Elke agreed with him, she left to join her parents in the VIP box of House Becker, where they would watch the team''spetition.

    As for Annaliese and Viktoria, the two soon told him about their battles and heard about his struggles.

    Finally, the trio left for thepetitors'' area near the central tform of the coliseum, where in a few moments, the main event of the day would begin!

    ...

    When they arrived at the area where the groups waiting to fight were, Lothur and the twin sisters attracted the attention of the young people in the surrounding area.

    But none of the three paid much attention to the frightened, envious, or hateful looks around, focusing only on each other.

    "Most of thepetitors from our family have already been eliminated..." Viktoria sighed as she spoke of the Frost family''s dilemma to those two. "Even those who have won matches besides us probably won''t be able to stay in thepetition."

    The Frost family''s enemies had acted decisively against that organization on this first day of the Province Conference.

    Besides Viktoria, Annaliese, and Lothur, of the 11 other family participants in thispetition, 9 had been eliminated from their tests so far. Meanwhile, some of them would not even be able to fight in the group match, as they were severely injured.

    As for the 2 who had managed to pass to the next phase of tests, both were in a delicate situation since they would have to fight in a short time in the group match, which was mandatory.

    Considering the risk these people had to suffer, the chances that only the three of them would go on to the second day ofpetition were not small!

    As such, Viktoria could not help but sigh for her family''s situation.

    "The enemies acted very decisively... If it weren''t for you, Lothur, the family would be in a precarious situation now." His wifemented.

    Since each victory eliminated the losing side, if not for Lothur, House Frost would have lost points, but their enemies would also have gained them!

    That way, the oue would have been significantly worse for this organization, and, as the enemies had nned, this noble house could even lose many of its possessions!

    That had been the level at which they had acted against this family!

    But to the misfortune of some and the luck of others, Lothur hadpletely changed these results, preventing the ns of several organizations.

    He smiled at her and said. "I''m just getting started, dear. In theing days, those families who have acted against us will bitterly regret having set their main hopes against me."

    Annaliese nodded in agreement, d that Lothur was on their side to ensure at least a little stability for this family.

    But while they were talking about this, two groups approached them...

 Chapter 300 Group Matches 1

    Two groups approached them when the three Frost family participants peacefully talked about thispetition.

    One had four gorgeous women, while the other had three men and one woman. But even though they were different groups, both were focused on the same person, while their members had serious expressions on their faces.

    "Lothur, you hid very well, eh? I already felt that you were not normal, but your performance so far has exceeded what I expected..." Caroline Waldauer said this while her teammates looked at the handsome face of that young man.

    He was their opponent and enemy, but considering how excellent Lothur was and handsome, they could not help but hesitate at seeing him so close up.

    Meanwhile, the three boys in the other group had no conflicting emotions like these women and hated Lothur with all the strength of their souls.

    "You''d better not think too highly of yourself, Lothur. We''ll soon make you return to being the worm everyone always thought you were." Their leader said as Viktoria and Annaliese identified this person as a favorite of the Frohberg family.

    Nora, whom Lothur had met at the auction weeks ago, was in these boys'' group too.

    Lothur realized this, looking first at these two beauties he had met before and then at the other three women, ignoring the men.

    "Carol, Nora, you are as beautiful as you were that day..." He winked at these two while the twin sisters looked at him strangely. "Are you here to wish me good luck?"

    Nora and Caroline watched the confident way Lothur spoke to them, simr to the first time they had met him but much bolder now.

    "Carol?" The threepanions of this woman repeated at the same time, finding the intimate way he was addressing their leader unexpectedly.

    Nora then said to Lothur. "You shouldn''t ask such questions. We are opponents now."

    "Really?" He repeated, taking no notice of the three young men furiously looking at him. "Then let me tell you this. Ask your families not to force our meeting on thebat tform. I don''t want to have to eliminate or raise my weapon to such beautiful girls..."

    "If possible, send one of these idiots against me so I can fight without worries..." He winked at Nora, making her feel a little strange, considering how Lothur was quoting those individuals, all of whom were stronger than Phil.

    "Damn bastard!!"

    "Son of a bitch!"

    "You have guts for a mere son-inw of the Frost family!"

    All three eximed, angry at how Lothur was acting against them.

    At the same time, Caroline could not help butugh, interested in Lothur. "Well, I have no interest in fighting you. But if it happens, I''ll have to take your team out of thepetition..."

    "Really? And how are you going to do that?" Viktoria stepped forward and asked, making each of those eight people feel cold on their backs.

    Viktoria was one of the three strongestpeting in this edition of the Province Conference, so individually speaking, she was a difficult mountain to deal with. Therefore, they all felt a little cowed to feel her release her aura.

    ''Viktoria is already in the 3rd Revolution!'' One of the young men thought about it, regretting that such a beauty with so much talent was standing next to a piece of crap like Lothur.

    Annaliese then looked at Nora and said. "Don''t just look at my brother-inw. If we fight, I will show you the difference between us."

    Hearing this, this woman who had lost the previous Soul Bone to Annaliese at that auction clenched her fists in anger at this woman. ''Little bitch. Before, you were nothing, but now that you''ve gotten a little stronger...''

    "Tsk!" Nora then turned her back on Annaliese, having no patience to listen to this person who was irritating her.<sub> </sub>

    Lothur then said as he grabbed the waists of his two women. "Well, see you at thepetitions... But now it''s time for us to leave. In a few moments, we will eliminate a few more fools."

    So the three departed that area, leaving behind the five women and three men watching them.

    ...

    "Our first opponent today is one of the Sitz family groups, a family allied with House Baier and other powers that side with the faction of the third prince," Viktoriamented to Annaliese and Lothur as they waited to fight.

    "Sitz family... Will this group be difficult, sister?" Annaliese asked, knowing that the group that was going to face theirs had to have high-level people to stop her sister.

    "Hmm, none of them are on my level, but our group has the disadvantage of one person," Viktoriamented on this fact generated by the situation that the Frost family had sent only 14 of the 16 possiblepetitors. "Of that group, two are at the 2nd stage, with their leader already being in the 2nd Revolution."

    "Oh?" Lothur opened his mouth as he listened to his wife.

    She continued. "So the two strongest of that group will probably try to fight me while the rest will deal with you two."

    "How strong are they?" He asked.

    "One at the 9th and the other at the 8th Transformation," Viktoria responded.

    The first matches of eachpetition within this tournament were decided before the start of each day. So since no one knew of Lothur''s strength beforehand, his opponents had ced a ''weaker'' group to fight theirs.

    The goal was to kill Lothur, while three individuals would deal with Annaliese and Viktoria. And even if those sisters'' group won, as long as he fell, all would be well.

    There were stronger groups from other families to deal with Annaliese and Viktoriater, so the third prince''s coalition of allies put that group against theirs.

    For that reason, there was someone at the 8th Transformation in that group, the one who was previously in charge of dealing with the ''mortal'' Lothur.

    But even in this situation, beating this group would not be easy for them. That was because one level 10 cultivator and one level 11 were enough to cause problems for Viktoria, at least temporarily.

    As for the other two, neither of them would be easy opponents for Lothur and Annaliese.

    That way, Viktoria soon began tobine fighting strategies with those two while they waited for their moment to climb thebat tform.

    ''This battle will be difficult, but I believe we will win...'' Lothur pondered after they finishedbining their strategies. ''But the second round will probably be problematic.''

    ''We will face a more powerful group, something that I won''t be able to handle at the moment with my ordinary skills alone.'' His eyes narrowed as he thought about how to handle this.

    That was not just apetition. It was the fate of the Frost family and the life and death of Lothur!

    So he could not handle the Province Conference like it was some sillypetition where he could hide all his skills in the face of danger. But, on the other hand, he could not simply give up, and he definitely would not give up his life to his opponents.

    Therefore, there was only one way forward for Lothur... To show everything he had in the extreme case he had considered!

    ...

 Chapter 301 Group Matches 2

    While Lothur was considering what to do to ensure the best possible result for his group in thispetition, several battles on the central tform had already taken ce.

    Each family participating in thispetition had to send at least one group topete in the collective matches or a maximum of four.

    Because of this, several matches were to take ce, and many groups had already climbed thebat tform.

    Among them, the remaining Frost family groups had already been eliminated forck ofpetitors capable of fighting or losing to their opponents.

    At the same time, the families that had put their hopes against Lothur in previous disputes had been disadvantaged in these collective matches.

    They either climbed thebat tform with fewer participants in certain groups, or some members were not at their best due to Lothur.

    Because of this, several Frost Family opponents who would have had a chance to get points in this part of the Province Conference lost, which messed up the ranking of the tournament.

    Usually, the ranking of thispetition did not change much from one edition to the next. So everyone more or less expected that the local families would not change their positions much in the final ssification.

    However, due to the variable Lothur, certain families that should be in the middle of the table were near the bottom, while the few at the top concentrated most of the tournament''s points.

    Those who had not faced him had more or less kept close to the expected results, while those who had dared to act against him were getting terrible results.

    And so, slowly, the end of the ranking of thispetition was being established!

    If a family were totally eliminated on the first day of thepetition, their position would fall further and further behind, with no chance of increasing. Thus, some powers were already desperate about the current situation, feeling that the group matches were theirst chances!

    ...

    "The Frost family is doing very well... It looks like Lothur will be able to take that house to the top 10." Gomericmented to his wife and daughter as he watched thepetition rankings.

    At the moment, his family was in 7th position, ahead of the Baier family, one position below where it had been in thest tournament. However, the difference between these two families was only 1 point now!

    Anyway, considering that his family had only had one match against the Frost family on this first day, Gomeric was very rxed, knowing that good winds were blowing in his direction.

    Not only because Lothur, his ally, was doing well but because every person from a big family that this young man eliminated increased the chance for House Becker to increase its position in the ssification.

    Ahead of his family were basically the enemies of the Frost family, so Gomeric could not help but be in a good mood.

    Hilda listened to her husband and said. "Probably. But only he, Viktoria, and Annaliese will keeppeting for that family."

    <o>,m "It''s too risky!"</o>

    The Frost family had a few participants in addition to these three who were qualified for the second day ofpetitions. But Elke''s mother already knew that such people would not be able topete in their current physical condition.

    On the other hand, while the Frost family would probably only have 3petitors on the second day of thepetition, the Baier family, for example, had already secured 7 people. House Becker, 8, and in the first ce, House Waldauer, 11.

    Considering this, the position of House Frost was still precarious, and those three would have to at least have good results by the 3rd day of thepetition to guarantee a favorable result for this family!

    Elke then said in a confident tone. "They will make it. After today, I doubt those families will continue with the same strategy, and that will make things easier for them tomorrow."

    "Let''s see..." Gomericmented.

    ...<sub> </sub>

    In the VIP area of the Frost family...

    Mabel and Aiken were nervously waiting for this first day ofpetitions to end, pleased with the results so far but also worried.

    Their family had lost all the group battles they had participated in so far, either by giving it up or losing.

    And with the result of this match in question, they were now sure they would not be able to count on any more young people besides Lothur, Viktoria, and Annaliese.

    That was risky, not only because they had to rely on a few people but because this group of three was still waiting to fight!

    That meant there were risks of these three getting hurt or even being eliminated from this test, which would be bad for the family.

    Therefore, the two were worried at this moment when Viktoria''s group was about to climb thebat tform.

    "Will we be able to pass this match, dear?" Aiken asked his wife.

    "It will be a tough match for that fellow and Annaliese. But if they can hold out long enough, Viktoria will guarantee our victory." She replied, knowing that Lothur could fight someone at level 9.

    Since Annaliese was fully capable of fighting the level 8 opponent, Mabel was confident of her family''s victory, even if by a slight difference.

    She then said. "The biggest problem will be the second opponent we will face... These families will do everything they can to bring down our group and prevent us from continuing to advance."

    Aiken sighed upon hearing his wife''s analysis as he watched the three representing his family on thatbat tform with apprehension.

    ...

    The moment Lothur and his women stepped onto the central tform of the coliseum, the tens of thousands of people in the stands went into a convulsion.

    Lothur''s name had already spread among those following this tournament, so many there were already eagerly awaiting the moment when he would fight.

    At the same time, Viktoria had long been famous and considered one of the favorites to win the contests she was participating in at the Province Conference. So many were there to see herpeting, and they could not remain silent when she appeared.

    On the other hand, the Sitz family group about to take them on was not as pleased as the tens of thousands of spectators in the coliseum, each looking seriously at Lothur.

    Viktoria and Annaliese were a little stronger than they expected, but that was normal. The local families could not fathom every improvement of their opponents.

    But Lothur''s case was exceptional and the only justification for them to be uncertain right now about aplishing their mission there... Kill such a person!

    And hearing the shouts in favor of the silver-haired young man''s group, they could not help but re at him.

    Lothur saw this, and before the match referee exined the rules, he teased his opponents. "Are you ready to be eliminated? I guess you''re not as happy as you thought, huh?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Lothur, the match hasn''t been decided yet. I think you''re rushing things..." The opposing leader, level 11, said, but without showing much confidence.

    He was sure that he would not win. But their goal was not to win but to overthrow Lothur. Then, he had not given up his hopes yet, even though the situation was not what he wanted.

    ...

 Chapter 302 Viktorias Strength

    The referee saw the two sides of this match exchanging barbs and then said. "You will have 5 minutes ofbat in this contest. The group with the most people standing at the end of that interval will be the winner."

    "Are you ready?" He saw both sides nod in agreement and then turned the hourss of thatbat tform. "Then begin!"

    The moment the start of the fight was authorized, the four young men from the opposing group to Lothur''s began running toward him, all preparing to attack with everything they could in this initial moment.

    Viktoria would probably take care of the strongest of them in a few moments and be able to hold them off and eventually defeat them. So their only chance of being able to kill Lothur might be now, while they all still had ''freedom'' of action.

    With that, Lothur saw the statuses of the four individuals attacking him, two of whom he could not see the attributes of and two that he could.

    [Name: ***]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 38.5] [CON: 39.9] [DEX: 39.1] [AGI: 38.8]

    ...

    [Name: ***]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 29.9] [CON: 31] [DEX: 30.1] [AGI: 30]

    Noting the characteristics of two of the four individuals attacking him, Lothur was confident in defending himself against the weaker ones. But as for the Spiritual Warriors, since he was not even aware of the attributes of these people, he had no idea how he would fare against them.

    He then looked at his sister-inw to check her current situation, with the impression that she was stronger than the level 8 opponent.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.8] [CON: 41.9] [DEX: 36.5] [AGI: 34.8]

    ''Anna will defeat her opponent with ease...'' He pondered as the four opponent attacks came towards him.

    Two of those attacks were of the spiritual type, formed by the energy of those opponents, something that Spiritual Warriors could do.

    One of them was a de attack flying through the surroundings in a parabolic trajectory, heading toward Lothur''s neck.

    The other was like roots growing through the ground like snakes moving towards Lothur''s ankles and wrists.

    As for the other two attacks, they were just ordinary blows since two of those young men were just Mortal Warriors.

    Still, one was an arrow flying toward Lothur''s heart, while the other was a young man attacking with his sword.

    While they were attacking him, Lothur and his women were also running at such people, preparing to fight back.

    That was particrly true for Viktoria, who would not let these people attack Lothur as if she were not there.

    They wanted to start fighting him, but to do so, they would first have to ovee her!

    So Viktoria took the lead from Lothur and Annaliese, quickly making her move against the group attacking her husband.

    When she made her move, the spiritual energy in the surroundings condensed, forming a sizeable pinkish-white flower on her behind.<sub> </sub>

    This flower had six petals and what looked like a few small pink spears, which were like the flower''s stigma.

    This flower rotated counterclockwise, and after a second, it fired those spears at the attacksing in Lothur''s direction, especially those of the two strongest young men.

    Viktoria knew what her husband was capable of, so she would not waste her time trying to protect him from every possible blow. No, that would hinder her from getting the best result against the enemy group and be unnecessary.

    So she focused her initial action against the two strongest opponents and the arrow flying against Lothur. As for the young man attacking with his sword, she allowed her husband to handle this alone.

    At the same time, Annaliese prepared to start facing the level 8 young man who hadunched an arrow as he was the weakest one, whom she was confident of beating.

    Viktoria''s strategy for this fight was to let Lothur ''dance'' with the level 9 individual while she and Annaliese dealt with their opponents.

    Viktoria was confident she could beat the level 10 and 11 opponents fighting her simultaneously. But, on the other hand, Annaliese could deal with the level 8 individual. So their n was for one of the two to handle their responsibility and help Lothur, who had the slightest chance of eliminating his opponent alone.

    Thus, Annaliese did not try to defend her brother-inw, fully trusting her older sister''s n and also Lothur''s characteristics.

    As for this young man, he circled his defensive technique while swinging his ax, ready to attack the individual armed with a sword,ing towards him.

    He nned to deal with this person as he had already done with Phil, this time without risking too much because he had Viktoria and Annaliese to help himter.

    Since the purpose of this match was to have as many ''survivors'' as possible at the end of the 5 minutes, he was not afraid of being negatively evaluated by a jurymittee.

    As he watched his wife''s blows destroy the malicious attacksing his way, Lothur prepared himself to deal with that level 9 young man.

    "It won''t be easy to face me, worm!" That person said when he got close enough to attack Lothur.

    "Tsk!"

    "You talk too much!" Lothur swung his ax toward the deing against him.

    At the same time, the two strongest young men of the Sitz family group had ugly expressions on their faces, frustrated that Viktoria had stopped their initial attempt.

    But with this woman starting to fight, they had no time to mourn and soon focused on Lothur''s wife.

    They wanted to eliminate this young man, but if they focused on Lothur, they would risk bing vulnerable to a person who was stronger than they were...

    As none of them wanted to risk attracting this woman''s wrath, fighting her with everything they had was the best they could do for their own good!

    As for thest of them, he soon attacked a few more times in Lothur''s direction with his arrow, but as soon as Annaliese got close to him, he dropped his bow and arrow to fight her.

    "Your opponent is me!" She said, using arge spear bigger than herself to attack her opponent.

    Thus, the fight on each side began, with Viktoria showing off her enviable skills to the audience in the coliseum, fighting two Spiritual Warriors simultaneously.

    She was powerful, and when she activated her technique, everyone in the surrounding area saw that she was suppressing her opponents, making them tremble with every blow she delivered.

    At the same time, she looked wilder than ever, almost as if she was learning to behave like this with her husband, leaving aside the noble and loyal way of fighting she had before.

    Because of this, from the very beginning of this match, her opponents felt the difficulty of facing someone at level 12, while the audience almost forgot about Annaliese and Lothur''s battles.

    But that would not be the case for the entire battle!

    ...

 Chapter 303 The Battle Of Lothurs Group

    While Viktoria was oppressing her opponents, gradually exhausting and causing injuries to them, Lothur was having a great battle against his opponent.

    Lothur''s opponent was more substantial than Phil but still not so capable as to put his life at risk. After all, his Constitution was well above this opponent''s Strength value.

    So as much as he was hardly causing any injuries to his opponent while they were fighting, Lothur was ''dancing'' well with this person, forcing him to expend his energy.

    While doing this, now and then, he would suffer minor cuts to his opponent''s sword, already with his clothes entirely in tatters, showing his white skin to the audience.

    At the same time, as that person from the Sitz family was hitting him in anger, he was making the most of this situation to train his techniques.

    Their next opponents would probably be stronger, so Lothur wanted to gain as many attribute points as possible by facing this person. And even if this were not enough to prepare him forter, doing this would help him get stronger and stronger, no matter how slowly the process was!

    So he once again used his hands to move his ax against his opponent, avoiding hitting this person''s sword so as not to damage his weapon.

    He was only looking to strike his opponent''s body, trying to take advantage of the constant blows he was receiving to do some damage to that individual.

    While moving to receive as little as possible of the relentless attacks from this man, constantly retreating, going sideways, and tilting his body at different angles, Lothur hit one of that person''s shoulders.

    Hitting the shoulder of that individual who had his clothes torn off, Lothur made another small cut, making the muscles in that young man''s face twitch.

    "Bastard!" Such a person angrily shouted, frustrated at having to ''ept'' Lothur''s constant blows while barely managing to wound this person.

    It was frustrating to face an opponent who did not have the same strength as you but was fully capable of holding you off. That was different from a good battle against someone of an equivalent level, so it could quickly be a very stressful experience.

    That was particrly true for those facing Lothur, as this silver-haired young man was the most annoying type of person to fight against!

    Hence, this fellow once again struck hard against Lothur''s arms, making superficial cuts that hurt but were not dangerous.

    "Is that all you got? Where is the person who was talking so much earlier?" Lothur smiled, mocking his opponent as he moved his hands to throw daggers at the said individual.

    "Bastard!"

    ...

    Simultaneously, Viktoria was increasing her advantage against her opponents.

    At the moment, the two were no longer able to attack her. They, at most, were managing to defend themselves, using their techniques as best they could for that purpose.

    More than half of the match time had already passed, so both wanted to fight to ensure they continued on thebat tform, making it difficult for the opposing team to win.

    Unfortunately, as the roots of the technique of one of the two were trying to form a wall in front of them, another of Viktoria''s techniques, one that manipted water in the air, fired against such a wall.

    That was like sprays of water so fast that they could destroy ordinary house walls as if they were high-poweredsers, leaving no trace behind.

    As for those roots of the technique of one of the two young men facing Viktoria, they were constantly disappearing and reappearing, sucking the energy of its user to keep it protecting them.

    Simultaneously with several jets of watering at them, the other young man was trying to counter Viktoria''s blows by throwing des of spiritual energy at these jets.

    But these blows were not very effective and were barely diminishing the attack power of that woman''s technique.

    Viktoria continued in the middle of that tform, controlling her offensive technique with her hands, moving as if in a beautiful dance.

    Her hands were open, passing through the condensed water in her vicinity, which was forming floating pockets. Each time she touched these pockets, such water clusters moved with her hands like metallic items attracted to a ma.

    That way, when she danced and jumped in the air, spinning rapidly, such pockets changed shape to be jets of water, following the direction of her attack.

    "Wow!"<sub> </sub>

    "First Miss Frost is quite skilled!"

    "Hmm, she has mastered the Water Dance to perfection, even at a young age..."

    "As expected from the greatest genius in centuries of the Frost family!"

    Positivements regarding Viktoria arose among the many spectators of this match, while those two young men suffered from her relentless attacks.

    But while Viktoria was getting close to defeating her opponents, Annaliese was about to do such a thing against hers!

    After oppressing her opponent for almost 3 minutes, the Second Miss Frost used her spear to deliver several blows that had already severely weakened her opponent.

    That level 8 man was already covered in his blood after fighting her for only 3 minutes, feeling exhausted as he screamed in pain due to his new and old injuries.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhh, damn it!"

    He kept trying to dodge, but Annaliese was faster than him and had not suffered injuries capable of making her distracted. Because of this, as she deftly moved with that weaponrger than her own body, Lothur''s sister-inw quickly made new cuts on her opponent''s body.

    Swooish!

    The de of that spear cut through the air and quickly traveled down the young man''s chest, cutting from his left chest to the right side of his waist.

    Upon feeling that, he shuddered and screamed in pain, dropping his weapon as he fell backward.

    Seeing this, Annaliese did not miss the opportunity and used her spear as a support, spinning her body as she held onto it, directing her two feet toward her opponent''s head.

    ''Shit...'' That young man realized Annaliese''s blow but could not even move his arms to protect his face.

    After a millisecond, that woman''s two feet crumpled his head, causing him to faint instantly.

    Annaliese had beaten her opponent!

    "Oh?"

    "Looks like the end of that fight is near, no?"

    "Tsk!"

    "The Frost family will win this match!"

    Annaliese then realized that her opponent was unconscious and wasted no time, immediately running toward Lothur.

    She ignored the noisy surroundings and focused all her attention on her man''s opponent, that fellow who was already quite tired by the moment, totally sweaty and dirty with blood.

    Lothur was also in the same state as this level 9 young man. Seeing this, Annaliese aimed her weapon at the middle of that fellow''s back, rushing to finish him off in one strike.

    Lothur saw this and was pleased, starting to increase his pace so as not to give this person room to escape Annaliese.

    ''Let''s get it over with...'' He thought in his mind, aiming at one of this person''s knees as he gave a strong kick with his right leg.

    ...

 Chapter 304 New Opponents

    Pow!

    "Ahhhh!"

    After Lothurnded a blow with most of his remaining strength on his opponent''s left knee, that person became unbnced and realized his situation.

    ''Damn, Annaliese has already finished...'' He was thinking about it, but with no chance to react in time, he felt that woman''s spear pierce his back at the height of his right lung.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Blood broke from the body of this level 9 individual as the de of Annaliese''s spear came out through his right chest, finally seriously wounding him to the point where he could no longer hold his position.

    Annaliese was weaker than he, but while he had lost much of his energy to Lothur, the difference between him and this woman was less than that between him and the silver-haired young man.

    Thus, being attacked in surprise by Annaliese, this young man suffered the worst and had his body prated by that long weapon.

    But as he slowly fell to his knees from the joint blow of Annaliese and Lothur, the silver-haired young man did not miss this opportunity to strike another attack.

    These people wanted to kill him. That was very clear in the murderous intent of the individual who faced him and in the initial attacks of this opposing group at the beginning of the match. So there was no reason for him to be merciful to such a person.

    Therefore, the moment he saw his opponent fall, letting the sword fall to the ground, Lothur raised his ax in the air and put all his strength into a downward motion.

    The people in the stands saw this and realized what Lothur was about to do as they got up from their seats and went silent.

    "Does he want to kill his opponent?" Aiken asked as he looked at Lothur''s bold act.

    It must be said that killing an opponent in apetition like this, in front of more than 100,000 people, took a lot of courage. After all, there would be no way to hide the situation from people who might want to seek justiceter.

    Furthermore, Lothur acting like this in front of even the leaders of the Sitz family could be considered a big p in the face of this organization!

    In this way, Aiken could not help but stand up in surprise, sensing the unnecessary movement of his son-inw.

    "That brat is trying to bring more trouble to us!" Mabelmented when finally, Lothur''s ax hit the forehead of that level 9 young man.

    When such a thing happened, the desperate look on that person''s face froze as the de of Lothur''s weapon prated his head enough to wound him seriously!

    Lothur may be weaker than him, but at this point in the battle, without his defensive technique activated, this fellow was vulnerable to his opponent.

    Then, in the blink of an eye, Lothur killed his opponent who wanted to kill him earlier!

    "Bastard!"

    "Disloyal son of a b..."

    The people in the Sitz family area began to exim their words of injustice, furious at this opponent''s violent attitude.

    But Lothur did not care about that because there was no point in listening to hypocritical people.

    They wanted to kill him, but he could not do the same?

    Ridiculous!

    That way, Lothur just took his ax from that person''s head, causing blood to flow from that wound.

    Annaliese was open-mouthed, shocked that her brother-inw had done such a thing. But she did not stand still and removed her weapon from that corpse''s body.

    "Why did you do that?" She asked.

    "Anyone with malicious intentions against my family or me deserves death." He said, looking at the other fallen body on that tform.

    Upon seeing that, the remaining members of the Sitz family trembled in anger but soon saw Lothur running towards the unconscious level 8 young man.

    ''I have no mercy for those who raise their weapons against my women or me!'' Lothur jumped into the air andnded a spinning blow with his ax hitting that person''s defenseless neck.

    The people in that coliseum watched this with their mouths open, watching Lothur take out the second of those young men from the Sitz family.

    "He seems to understand his position very well..." An old local expert in one of the VIP areas muttered, liking Lothur''s movement.

    "Killing the enemies who want to eliminate him... That is the best thing for him. Those people will keep trying to act against him anyway, so now he at least has a chance to decrease his opponents'' numbers."<sub> </sub>

    "That young man is decisive! He won''t forgive even a fallen man."

    "Tsk!"

    "The one who forgives is God!"

    Several people, whether in the standard bleachers or in the balconies of that coliseum, began to discuss the matter while Viktoria was finishing his opponents.

    For many people, killing someone who had already fallen or even enemies who surrendered was cruel. But for others, cruel was to give a chance of survival to a person who could bring catastrophe to the lives of those who had spared them with the luck of fate.

    Thus, many did not consider Lothur''s blow a low, despicable move. On the contrary, to them, this was a necessary move for this young man, proof that he was not as foolish as everyone thought.

    Viktoria realized this and did not question her husband, even if this was not precisely her n for this match.

    With that, she soon took down her two opponents, guaranteeing her team victory!

    It was only a shame for Lothur that he did not get the chance to kill those two since the match referee signaled the end of their time when he tried to act.

    "The fourth Frost family group, led by Viktoria, wins and moves on to the second match!" That individualmented, looking at the two corpses in that ce without much emotion in his eyes.

    Then the Frost family won another point, and the conversations in the surrounding area took on a new level, with everyone starting to discuss what would happen next.

    As for Lothur''s group, they soon went down that tform to rest for their next fight without wasting much time talking about what had happened.

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 25.6 -> 25.9]

    [CON: 54.3 -> 54.6]

    [DEX: 21.7 -> 22]

    [AGI: 29.9 -> 30.2]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 70]

    [WIL: 74 -> 74.4]

    [EVF: 217 -> 187]

    ...

    After seeing his status after resting for a while, Lothur saw who their next opponents would be next to his women.

    This time, as they expected, their opponents would be stronger than those in the Sitz family group. Now they would have to face three men at the 2nd stage and a woman at level 9.

    This group was part of the ssen family, one of the favorites of this tournament, another open enemy of the Frost family, allied with people who wanted the end of Lothur.

    Knowing this, he sped his hands in determination, sensing how difficult this battle would be.

    ''I have no choice. I will have to use my remaining EVF points to increase my Constitution...'' Lothur pondered as he remembered that he could not use his bloodline in this ce as he already intended to use itter.

    And so, he opened the system panel and, without dy, improved his Constitution!

    ...

 Chapter 305 Lothurs Dangerous Plan

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 25.9]

    [CON: 54.6 -> 65.4]

    [DEX: 22]

    [AGI: 30.2]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 74.4]

    [EVF: 217 -> 1]

    When Lothur added almost all of his EVF points into his Constitution, he felt the muscles twitch throughout his body. Yet, simultaneously, he felt his bones ache a little, almost as if he had been beaten all over his body.

    But these strange sensations onlysted a few seconds, and only Annaliese and Viktoria realized that something was happening to him.

    "What''s wrong, Lothur?" Annaliese held one of his arms in concern, seeing sweat forming on her man''s handsome face.

    Viktoria had her eyebrows furrowed and was worried that her husband might have been injured more than he should have been in the previous fight.

    But then Lothur closed his eyes and deeply sighed, gradually feeling the bad feeling pass and a lightness emerge in his body.

    The characteristic of his body had augmented by almost 20% in a few seconds, so it was natural for him to feel a significant change, going through a painful phase and then relief.

    So, as soon as he started to feel better, Lothur realized how much he had improved, noting how full of energy and keen he seemed to feel.

    ''I almost advanced a level because of that...'' He silently pondered, still with his eyes closed, as he considered that the average value of his physical attributes was close to 37, the value needed for someone to reach the 9th Transformation.

    ''Well, I don''t know the minimum and maximum average value for a cultivator to be considered a 1st Revolution one. But I imagine my body is strong enough to protect me from people at the beginning of the 2nd stage.'' He pondered, considering the opponents he would have to face alongside Annaliese and Viktoria in a few moments.

    Then Lothur opened his eyes and replied to Annaliese. "It''s nothing. I just felt my body finishing recovering. I''m a little stronger than before now."

    "Really?" Viktoria asked, not finding it too strange since the speed and the way he was recovering was really out of the ordinary. So maybe that reaction was not out of the expected for him.

    Annaliese felt reassured to see the smile on Lothur''s lips and sighed.

    "How will we face our next opponents?" She asked after a while.

    Viktoria momentarily looked at them but said nothing. Lothur looked at her and then spoke what he had in mind. "We will fight a little differently from the other match. Anna and I will fight the 1st Revolution enemy, and you will deal with the rest of the opponents."

    "What?" The twins eximed in surprise, not understanding why he wanted to fight like that.

    "That will be too dangerous for you! I''d better deal with the three 2nd stage enemies while you two finish the 9th Transformation woman." Viktoria said.

    But Lothur refuted his wife. "If we do that, we will lose. You may not be able to eliminate these three within the minutes ofbat we have, and we''ll end up with a draw, with threepetitors on each side at the end of the match."<sub> </sub>

    "Never mind. Following your n will be even more rming. You and Anna may be eliminated or worse." She eximed, sensing her husband''s irrationality.

    Annaliese was also uncertain about this, but she continued in silence, listening to her sister and Lothur.

    He said. "If we do as I suggested, you will easily be able to eliminate the woman on the opposing team. Since the final two opponents are not so different from those of the Sitz family, you will probably beat them as well. That will give us the numerical advantage to win the battle!"

    "What about you? How will you handle this fight?" She asked as her eyebrows arched.

    "As long as that person at the 1st Revolution isn''t close to his advance to the 2nd, I think I can hold him off for a while."

    "What?" Annaliese asked in surprise, not expecting that from her brother-inw.

    "Can you do that?" Viktoria stood up.

    "Is this person close to advancing?" Lothur questioned before answering such a question.

    "No. He should be more or less at the middle part of this level."

    "Then we''ll be fine... Or rather, we''ll get hurt a little, but there won''t be any significant risks," Lothur replied as he thought his defenses could protect him and Annaliese from enemy attacks while Viktoria dealt with the rest of the opponents.

    They looked at Lothur for a moment, trying to process this information.

    They knew that soul cultivators like them, when they reached the 2nd stage, stopped giving importance to their bodies and did not evolve as much regarding this aspect. Thus, a body cultivator like Lothur could have the chance to injure a soul cultivator of a higher level than him.

    But the soul power of this type of cultivator could be directed to strengthen their bodies or directly used in ''magical'' techniques like the ones Viktoria had already used.

    Body cultivators could not manipte spiritual energy out of their bodies to, for example, create the water jets of one of Viktoria''s techniques.

    And such a thing was a significant advantage inbat strength since one could fight and defend oneself without risking one''s skin just by fighting with spiritual energy.

    But also because of this, soul cultivators usually had this attribute far above their physical attribute values, which gave them an advantage against people who followed body cultivation and were at the same level as them.

    Considering this, both sisters were uncertain about Lothur''s strategy since a spiritual blow from someone at level 10 could be worse than a punch from a level 15 body cultivator!

    He realized what was on both sisters'' minds and said. "There is a way we can deal with this. I just need to attack this person before he attacks me with his spiritual technique..."

    Lothur then exined his n to those two, little by little getting them to ept his suggestion and bet on this only alternative they had to win this fight.

    And with that, minutes passed, and soon the referee in the center of thatrgebat tform called for the following teams to fight, the Frost family and the ssen family!

    So, as both teams climbed the centralbat tform of the coliseum, the silence was again present, with everyone paying attention to Lothur''s team.

    The difficulty level for them had increased dramatically in this instant, and those there to enjoy the show or wishing for Lothur''s demise were looking forward to this moment.

    The ssen family group was powerful and could even be considered among the ten most powerful in thispetition. As such, many were hoping to see someone finally deal with Lothur and normalize the situation of this Province Conference.

    "Are you ready?" The match referee approached the two groups and questioned, curious to see how Lothur would handle this situation.

    He then said a few momentster. "Then let''s get started!"

    ...

 Chapter 306 Last Match Of Day 1

    When the match referee gave his permission, the stands of the coliseum vibrated more than thepetitors about to fight, with many emotions being disyed on faces and voices.

    "That will be the best match of the night!"

    "No wonder they put it as thest match of this first day!"

    "But that was to be expected! A show like this can''t have its main attraction first! Imagine if this Lothur dies here? It would be terrible to have other fights after such a thing."

    Ordinary spectatorsmented around the standard bleachers while VIP guests looked toward Lothur''s group.

    "Will he survive?" Fritz tightened his fists around the arm of the chair he was on, feeling it was now all or nothing.

    There would still be other chances for his allies to eliminate Lothur within thispetition or outside of it. But if Viktoria''s group won and this man stayed alive after facing such a strong group, there would not be much hope for others in theing days.

    At least within this tournament, if such a thing happened, it would be imusible for most of the peoplepeting to achieve what this group maybe was unable.

    And that only would make it more difficult!

    So, while the young redhead was thinking about thisst card up his allies'' sleeves for today, Kai was in another part of that coliseum, looking at Lothur.

    ''That wretch is excellent, but he is finished now!'' He thought about the strength of the ssen family team. ''Viktoria won''t be able to hold off 3 Spiritual Warriors, and the Annaliese won''t be able to escape that 9th Transformation woman...''

    As hisrades in the surrounding area felt their mood improve as that match began, he muttered. "Then the bastard will have to suffer at the hands of one of the Spiritual Warriors who escapes Viktoria''s hands!"

    At the same time, Mabel, Aiken, and the Becker family were worried about what might happen in this match.

    And the most fearful of all was Elke, who had her hands firmly sped on her knees, wondering what Lothur had in mind for this moment.

    ''Will he use his special ability?'' She remembered Lothur''s bloodline, wondering if he would use that to deal with the enemies.

    But while all the allies or enemies of this young man were trying to predict what was about to happen, his group and the opponents started to run into each other.

    In that instant after the referee''s order, Viktoria took the lead of her group, following Lothur''s n to deal with the opponents.

    Such a group was already attacking in his direction, just as they had predicted. So, this woman was using her techniques to protect Lothur and Annaliese and counterattack the enemies.

    In particr, she was focused on fighting the three 2nd stage youths, two at level 11 and one at level 10, without caring about the level 9 woman since such a person would not be able to endanger Lothur and Annaliese.

    Since she was the strongest on this tform, Viktoria soon got some advantage over her opponents, sessfully defending their attacks and making them have to think twice before focusing on Lothur.

    At the beginning of a fight, the stronger side would always have the advantage, even if the opponent had the numbers in their favor. Only when therge group had its chance to impose an offensive formation against the higher-level opponent could such a thing change.

    But since that would take some time, Viktoria managed to generate some difficulties for the enemies at this initial moment ofbat.

    Her pink spears departed from the spinning flower behind her, striking against those three individuals as Annaliese and Lothur ran after her.<sub> </sub>

    But contrary to the expectations of many over there, Viktoria was not trying to engage in a long-distance battle against her three primary opponents. No, she was getting closer and closer to the opposing trio, particrly the weakest among them.

    Realizing this, those people found Viktoria''s movement strange, but given this woman''s level, they could not just run. So they all focused their attacks against her, trying to make her move away from them.

    But Viktoria was willing to go a little further than she should have at this early stage of the fight and even hurt herself. So she jumped up close to the level 10 individual and took action against that person without dy!

    Pow!

    She delivered a strong kick against that individual''s belly, sending him toward Lothur and Annaliese, separating him from hispanions.

    "What?" Upon seeing that, not only the people on thebat tform but the entire crowd in the surrounding area, even the referee, eximed in surprise.

    Viktoria''s act was like allowing a wolf into a hen house, so the tens of thousands of people there could not help but frown in iprehension.

    "Are you crazy..."

    "What is Viktoria doing?" Mabel stood up from her seat and shouted, not believing her eyes.

    But when everyone was stunned, Viktoria turned her back on Lothur and Annaliese, finally beginning to focus on her three remaining opponents, her goal from the beginning.

    As for Lothur and Annaliese, they promptly began to act on his n, feeling good that their enemies had not blocked Viktoria''s movement.

    Their problem would be that this young man flying towards Lothur would have the reaction time to activate one of his spiritual techniques and use his soul power against them. But they got an opening since Viktoria had delivered a blow that was hard to ignore and threw him hard!

    Then, as that young man pressed his teeth against each other hard, feeling the damage from Viktoria''s kick to his belly, Lothur caught him.

    Immediately upon catching his opponent''s body, the silver-haired young man put his arms and legs around his opponent''s body, trying to immobilize such a person.

    Lothur held both wrists of the level 10 young man behind his back, using his hands and arms to squeeze his opponent as hard as he could.

    Upon realizing the situation, that young man immediately looked back and felt that his opponents were idiots. "You will regret it..." But as he was going to direct his soul force into his body in an attempt to break free of Lothur, he felt the difficulty of doing so.

    "What?" A strange look appeared on his face.

    Meanwhile, Lothur smiled at him, even considering the veins appearing all over his neck and face, which were already red from the tremendous force he was doing at the moment.

    Lothur did not have a strong enough body to hold this person easily, but the level 10 young man could not escape from there in a short time or with little effort either!

    And so, Lothur gave the order to his sister-inw. "Anna, do your best!" He shouted to the woman standing a few meters before them, holding a long silver spear in her two hands.

    With that, Annaliese began to follow Lothur''s n to attack the defenseless abdomen of the level 10 young man!

    ...

 Chapter 307 Last Match Of Day 2

    When Annaliese received Lothur''s order, she attacked that person''s defenseless chest with her spear.

    ? Lothur''s n was for him to retain his opponent. But, at the same time, she, who had a Strength attribute higher than his, would mercilessly attack such a person.

    Neither of them expected to beat this person by doing this, but they thought they could hold him for the 5 minutes ofbat.

    Such an individual was stronger than them in every way. But being held by someone with a body resilience simr to his, he would have difficulty escaping. At the same time, he could not focus all his powers on escaping from Lothur, as Annaliese''s attacks could hurt him.

    So, by having his forces subdivided between protecting himself from Annaliese and trying to free himself from Lothur, he could hardly react to the silver-haired young man''s n effectively.

    There was no way to use spiritual techniques when he was motionless, with his arms restrained by force. He could even circte his energies internally in his body. Still, he needed freedom of movement to move his powers outside his body and release them properly.

    When spiritual energy left a cultivator''s body, it began to dilute in the environment, mixing with the free energy in the sky and on earth. At the same time, the chaotically mixed Natural Laws in this world would absorb thews behind a cultivator''s techniques.

    Then, will was not enough to activate such a technique! Instead, a cultivator needed to use means to control their energy outside of their body and keep theirws infused into these ''packets'' of energy.

    To do this, a cultivator needed to use his hands, ''molding'' such energy with the Natural Laws to form their spiritual attacks or defenses.

    For example, someone forming an earth barrier would have to ce their hands on the ground and make such a thing appear from the ground. At the same time, a person using water to attack would have to direct such a thing with their hands if there was liquid water near them.

    In the case of Viktoria''s ''flower,'' she needed to join her hands in a kind of seal to create such a thing.

    Thus this level 10 young man could not use his soul techniques to attack Lothur and Annaliese as long as his hands were restrained!

    And with that, seeing the de of Annaliese''s spear cutting diagonally across his defenseless chest, he pressed his teeth together, turning red with rage at his helplessness.

    "You bastard! Let me go!" He shouted, just as Annaliese''s de cut through the fabrics of his clothes, scratching his skin.

    At the same time as this was happening, all the people in the surrounding area were shocked at the development of Viktoria''s strange act.

    Everyone had thought she was crazy throwing someone at level 10 in the direction of these weak 1st stage youths. After all, what could they do against the ssen familypetitor?

    However, when they saw that Lothur not only tried to immobilize his opponent but seeded in doing so, they all opened their mouths in surprise.

    That was particrly true for the enemies of Lothur and the Frost family. They just now had little smiles forming on their faces at Viktoria''s ill-thought-out stroke.

    They thought they would finally see the end of the man who had disrupted most of their ns this day. But then, not only did Lothur not go bad, he managed to trap the level 10 young man as Annaliese attacked.

    "How is that possible?"

    "How can he hold someone at the 1st Revolution?"

    "That..."

    "That''s unbelievable!"

    "The bastard was hiding a lot of his strength! He has such a sturdy body..."

    Several leaders of House Frost''s enemy families started arguing in their VIP areas, watching Annaliese destroy their opponent''s clothes.

    "The bastard is truly going to stand in my way!" Kai almost felt like pulling his hair out in anger, frustrated once again on this terrible day.<sub> </sub>

    Meanwhile, Aiken was staring open-mouthed at where his daughter and Lothur were. He observes the red scratches on that Level 10 young man''s abdomen and chest increasing with Annaliese''s blows.

    "Unbelievable! They are doing this!" Hemented to his wife, who had her eyebrows fully drawn together at the moment, understanding Viktoria''s movement.

    Meanwhile, Gomeric was watching the enemy of Lothur and Annaliese scream in frustration, standing next to his wife and daughter. "Is he truly holding that young man? How is that possible? Elke, what is the exact strength of that young man?"

    Elke was as surprised as her mother, who had trained with Lothur before. "I don''t know. He is exceptional."

    Along with the discussions in this coliseum, Lothur was already breathing with difficulty, feeling his energies drained by holding this person.

    But his work up to this point had not been in vain. The level 10 young man was constantly using his energies to defend himself against Annaliese and to try to free himself from Lothur by ''putting'' his soul power into his body. Because of this, he had also used up many of his powers in these first two minutes ofbat.

    At the same time, Annaliese had inflicted a series of blows on him that had already opened painful cuts in his chest and abdomen.

    Annaliese was not strong enough to injure him to that degree. But, as she focused her blows on the same points, she slowly increased the severity of the injuries on that body.

    Thus, their opponent''s white skin in that area of his body was already red with his blood as he felt intense pain.

    "Ahhhh! Damn you! I''m going to kill you two!"

    "Let me go!"

    He screamed like a madman, his voice hoarse from the constant screaming.

    But Lothur and Annaliese were too tired to pay attention to his speech and kept their ns in mind as shouts from the coliseum audience reached them.

    "Cowards! Fight like real cultivators!" People from the ssen family shouted from their respective positions.

    "Humph!"

    "That''s easy to say when your candidate is fighting people two levels weaker than him..." Someone spoke in mockery.

    "Tsk! Idiots. There is no such thing as cowardice in a fight. I would use a chicken bone to kill if I had to!"

    "Haha, is the great ssen family ''crying'' for the ''injustices'' of the world?"

    Tension rose in the area as many rivals of that family eximed, along with the screams of rogue individuals.

    Simultaneously, Viktoria had already eliminated the level 9 woman, who was outside thebat tform now. As for her two remaining opponents, they were both sweating to fight her.

    It was lessplicated for them to fight this woman than it had been for the Spiritual Warriors of the Sitz family who had fought her earlier. After all, one of them was a level above the weaker of those two of that other family.

    However, that was only a difference of one level, and Viktoria was still stronger than both. Consequently, they were in a passive position at the moment, suppressed by her merciless blows.

    Viktoria was watching her sister and Lothur''s ''battle,'' so she wanted to finish with these people as quickly as possible to go and help them!

    ''There are still 2 minutes left... I have to be faster!''

    ...

 Chapter 308 The First Day Ranking

    With the time approaching its end, Viktoria stepped up her energy expenditure to take down her opponents and try to help herpanions.

    But while she was doing this, Annaliese finally reached her fatigue.

    She used the spear she had in her hands to support herself, no longer able to stand moving against that person.

    One might think that her job was the easiest there, but attacking someone much stronger than her was like attacking a wall!

    Annaliese could damage him, but it came with a lot of effort on her part, something worse than if she had been training her technique.

    When she could no longer attack, Lothur''s enemy finally managed to direct all his strength into his arms in an attempt to free himself.

    He was already exasperated, feeling pain from the wounds in his chest and abdomen and his arms restrained by Lothur. But even so, he still had something to try to use against the exhausted young man on his back.

    "Bastard... Hah... Hah... I''m going to... Kill you!" He said, making a strange expression, a mixture of smile and tiredness.

    Lothur felt his opponent''s arms opening, and at the moment of greatest tension, he unconsciously moved his teeth toward this person''s neck.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ouch!"

    They both screamed at that moment, with Lothur biting hard against that neck that was as hard as a wooden door.

    Meanwhile, Lothur tried to maximize his grip on this opponent''s body, releasing one of his hands to move toward the wounds made by Annaliese.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    "Bastard! I''ll kill you!" That young man cried out in pain, a little afraid of what Lothur might do if such a person managed to bite his neck while his whole body trembled.

    Maintaining concentration was problematic when being attacked on so many different fronts!

    But after a few seconds of suffering, he managed to loosen one of his arms from Lothur''s grip and move his elbow against the young man''s head.

    Pow!

    He elbowed Lothur in the head, making this young man feel like a stone had hit him.

    But even though he felt his bones making strange sounds and blood starting to ooze from his right ear, Lothur continued to grab his opponent''s other arm. He did not stop biting such a person, nor did he stop moving his other hand on this person''s abdominal wounds.

    "Ahhhh!"

    "Damn it! Ahhhh!"

    "Hell!"

    That individual said many things amidst his screams, moving more and more desperate as time passed.

    But he eventually managed to release his other arm from Lothur''s grip and jump away from that person, escaping the humiliating situation he had been in for almost 4 minutes.

    "Worm... Hah... Hah... Now is your end!" He turned to Lothur and smiled, but the pallor on his face and his blurred vision did not give him the confidence to frighten others.

    Lothur then took the ax from his spatial ring and looked at this person, preparing to fight him if necessary.

    He had greatly diminished this person''s strength, so in his opinion, this was no longer a fight with mortal risk!

    "Humph!"

    "You lost!" Lothurmented with a smile, gasping but delighted to see Viktoria finishing one of her two opponents.

    "Tsk!" The level 10 young man took steps toward Lothur. Meanwhile, he gestured with his hands before touching the ground, and chains came out at a point in front of him.

    These brown chains had sharp points that flew out like snakes following their prey, heading towards Lothur''s vital points.

    Seeing this, Lothur moved his ax defensively, preparing to stop these blows while waiting for Viktoria.

    The de of Lothur''s ax touched the tips of some of the chains while he moved his feet to avoid being caught by others.

    But despite the two''s level difference, he did not feel the ''weight'' of countering those blows so significantly. Instead, he only felt his weapon recoiling with his arms after such a collision, but he sessfully deflected the chains.

    Seeing that, Annaliese felt apprehension, but with no more energy to move, she could only mark her presence there to give her family the numerical advantage.

    ''Faster, sister!'' She looked at Viktoria, who was delivering a decisive blow to her remaining opponent at the present moment.<sub> </sub>

    ''Pow!

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" That remaining level 11 individual flew backward with Viktoria''s kick to his chin, unable to continue in this fight.

    With that, Viktoria, who was already sweaty and had superficial wounds on her arms, turned around and used the rest of her energy to strike in the direction of Lothur''s enemy.

    That young man was about to seed in hitting Lothur''s legs with his technique. Still, unfortunately for him, a jet of water came towards him, causing him to lose his concentration.

    "Shit..." He said before being thrown away by such an attack.

    Viktoria did not have much energy left, so this attack of hers was not so strong as to destroy ordinary walls and only threw that man away from Lothur.

    But with this move, the battle was finally decided!

    The referee of the match realized this and then announced the result to the audience. "In thisst battle, the Frost family group wins and moves on to the second day of trials!"

    "Wow!"

    "They truly did it!"

    "Amazing!"

    "That was the best group fight I''ve seen in years..."

    "Ah, the same for me..."

    Discussions began as some people celebrated the result, and others were already leaving the coliseum in anger at such a bad day.

    But as Kai and his allies left to investigate how they had let Lothur''s situation go unnoticed, the Province Conference ranking was updated!

    [1st. Waldauer Family: 67]

    [2nd Frohberg Family: 66]

    [3rd. ssen Family: 62]

    [4th. Sommer Family: 55]

    [5th. Koch Family: 51]

    [6th. Geissler Family: 44]

    [7th. Becker Family: 39]

    [8th. Baier Family: 38]

    [9th. Vogel Family: 37]

    [10th. Sitz Family 35]

    [11th. Frost Family: 30]

    ...

    [39th Dohmen Family: 0]

    With that, the day was decided, and citizens of Linn Province and local powers would soon begin to discuss what might happen in theing days and ce their best bets.

    Great surprises had happened in the coliseum today, but the Province Conference was just beginning.

    So the mood in that ce after the announcement of the final ranking of the first day was varied, easily noticed in different parts of the coliseum that were either silent or noisy.

    Meanwhile, Lothur and his women descended from that tform, satisfied with their results but worried about the following days.

    Lothur and Viktoria had it in mind to do something daring tonight, so they both wanted to get out of there as soon as possible to get enough rest for what they had in mind!

    "Come on. We have quite a day tomorrow..." He said to the two as he ignored the many youths watching them in thepetitors'' area.

    Thus, it was not long before they met up with the rest of the Frost family!

    ...

 Chapter 309 Brief Questioning And Time To Act!

    When Lothur and his twopanions arrived at the Frost family''s VIP area to depart together from the coliseum, everyone there was looking at him.

    From the elders who had only paid attention to him during his marriage to Viktoria to those less significant members who bothered him daily, everyone was in disbelief at his performance.

    Because of this, when he entered that ce, still wounded from the battle earlier, the silence was present, while eyes and mouths showed signs of doubt.

    Many there had already heard Viktoria talking about Lothur, but they had too many questions for him. So, finally seeing him there, each of these people put aside other questions to focus their attention on him.

    That was true for Aiken and Mabel, but also for Simon, the most irritated this day, as he had worked hardest for the downfall of this family in thispetition.

    Seeing this young man getting help from Viktoria to walk, Simon was the first to step forward and question. "Lothur, I think you owe us an exnation, no? Why have you tricked everyone in the family all the way here? What are your intentions?"

    Lothur looked at this person, who he knew was a traitor, and made a contemptuous expression. "I think you should thank me first, no? A thank you would be appreciated!"

    Upon receiving this ''p'' in the face, Simon clenched his fists, but hearing thements in the surroundings, he could not expose his thoughts against this young man.

    People in this world did things and took the side of individuals who benefited them. Since Lothur had benefited the Frost family so much today, many there had already put aside the useless image they had of this young man in their minds. And with that, they thought such a person deserved to be congratted and perhaps even receive some awards.

    Simon then said. "You are right. I got a little overexcited... Lothur, thank you for your efforts. The family will not forget that in the future..."

    "But we deserve some answers, no? If we knew of your abilities, we would have prepared better."

    Lothurughed at that. "That''s what I''m afraid of: of you getting the chance to n something..."

    Hearing that, Simon frowned. But since he had nothing to suspect Lothur of, he did not consider the possibility that this person knew everything he had done.

    Lothur then said, trying to avoid any suspicion. "I think I''m better off nning my own steps. After all, I''m not part of this family."

    Mabel stepped forward and stood face to face with Lothur, wanting to p this person who had deceived her for months. "Don''t hide anything from me anymore." She said before looking at her daughter. "That goes for you too, Viktoria."

    Aiken ced one of his hands on one of his wife''s shoulders and said. "I know you have acted the best way you thought you could, and it has worked out as well as possible. But you have also done some very wild things because of it..."

    "What is the need to kill your opponents, Lothur?" He looked at his son-inw. "Do you know that the Sitz family will not let this go unnoticed? Besides, the Dohmen family will certainly seek justice!"

    The people in the area agreed with this, feeling that Lothur had made severe mistakes in killing those three people.

    Lothur then said in a mocking tone. "Patriarch, the Sitz family is already an enemy of House Frost. Or are you telling me that this and other powers acting vigorously against our party in thispetition is a sign of friendship?"

    "Tsk!"

    "If you are not willing to do anything against your enemies, it is best to simply wipe out the family and their business because that is what enemies are already doing!"

    "What I did was just what you all should have done long ago." He said, not regretting his actions at all.

    Hearing this, the elders there feltplicated since, in fact, the Sitz family was acting practically openly against them. But they did not see the situation as simple as Lothur. It was much moreplex for them to move against their enemies as there was a coalition of organizations against this family.

    If they acted openly, it would only be a matter of time before the enemies gathered against them in arge-scale conflict!

    What would they do when they were surrounded by most of the noble houses in the province?

    There was only one way for them in this situation: extermination!

    So many could not help but sigh at their terrible situation and helplessness.

    But some there, particrly the younger ones, who had fought on this day, could not help but agree with Lothur.

    All these youngsters were talents of the Frost family, who had their pride and wanted to be respected. In this way, they would much rather fight than ept theirplicated situation, as the elders there seemed to prefer.

    Therefore, most of them began to think even more positively about Lothur.<sub> </sub>

    But that was not the case for Viktoria''s cousin, Tobias.

    ''That bastard!''

    ''He''s spoiling all of my father''s ns, and he still has these absurd ideas that could destroy the whole family!'' Tobias clenched his fists angrily, wanting to hit Lothur in the face.

    Unfortunately, after today, he knew he was no match for his cousin''s husband, which made him feel twice as bad!

    Meanwhile, the people in the area chatted a bit with Lothur and Viktoria, talking about what had happened today and what to expect for the second day.

    Some gave them hints, telling Lothur to guard himself against new opponents, not to kill anymore, and the like.

    In the end, they set off together from the coliseum to the Frost family estate under the eyes of several spies from local families.

    ...

    After arriving at the Frost family estate, Lothur, Annaliese, and Viktoria headed to this woman''s residence to rest from the previous fight.

    After some time, Lothur finally saw his status after receiving the improvements generated by the previous fight.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 25.9 -> 26.6]

    [CON: 65.4 -> 65.9]

    [DEX: 22 -> 22.6]

    [AGI: 30.2 -> 30.8]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 70]

    [WIL: 74.4 -> 74.9]

    [EVF: 1 -> 0]

    Seeing this, Lothur felt the advantage of having a more resilient body from a technique-training standpoint. The better his body was, the greater the intensity he could train or fight. Consequently, better were his returns.

    So even if progress in technique training became moreplex over time, having a Constitution far above other attributes helped to reverse such a negative effect.

    And so, he was experiencing these above-average improvements!

    ''Very well, in a little while, I''ll increase my Constitution even more!'' His eyes gained a murderous gleam as he thought about the Mouse Company.

    ''Time to settle our differences!'' Lothur clenched his fists as he stood up to wait for Viktoria for them to leave.

    ...

 Chapter 310 Attack 1

    After resting, Lothur talked with Annaliese for a few moments while Viktoria finished meditating.

    The way he recovered was different from hers. While he did not need to do anything, Viktoria needed to meditate and use her energies to correct the minor wounds on her body. So he was naturally faster than his wife.

    "Are you going out now?" Annaliese asked in a low voice, still tired from the previous battle but already much better than before they left the coliseum.

    Annaliese had not fully rested, but since she would be spending the rest of the night at her family''s estate, she was in no hurry.

    Lothur then said. "Yes, we''ll deal with some matters to better prepare for the future... Anyway, you''d better focus on your recovery for tomorrow. We still have a long journey ahead of us."

    "I know..."

    At this moment, Viktoria finished what she was doing and opened her eyes as she stood up. "Are you ready?" She asked, eager to leave and settle this matter they had arranged as soon as possible.

    Only then could she rx with him in the hotel room they were staying in!

    Lothur waved to her and kissed Annaliese on her right cheek. "See you tomorrow."

    With those words, he and Viktoria departed, hiding their movements until they secretly left the Frost estate.

    Then they both hid their identities and left the vicinity of that area, following a path where no one was watching.

    Lothur had his visual ability activated at all times, so they sessfully dodged all the spies in the vicinity, leaving that area without alerting a single living soul.

    And with that, it did not take long for them to head towards one of the Mouse Company''s outposts!

    ...

    When they reached the weakest post of the Mouse Company in Peters City, Lothur and Viktoria stopped in front of that ce behind a big tree across the street.

    "I can see about 30 people..." Lothurmented to his wife as he looked at the two-story building across the street, a ce that seemed to be abandoned.

    However, this silver-haired young man knew that this ce was not abandoned, and the people who looked like homeless people in the area were all cultivators.

    "You can see all of them from this distance and still through walls?" Viktoria asked in surprise, this being the first time she had seen Lothur using his Soul Bone ability. "Doesn''t that mean you can see through other people''s clothes?"

    "Hmm, yes..." Lothurmented without giving it much thought.

    Viktoria looked at him seriously beneath her mask, finding this ability quite useful and shameless. But after sighing, she asked. "Can you sense their cultivation level?"

    "Not all of them..." Lothur looked at the various system message boxes with the information of the people in that ce. "But the ones I can see are between the 2nd Transformation and the 9th. So there are probably no 2nd stage cultivators in this outpost."

    "Then everything will be fine..." She muttered as she looked at the people in front of that ce, the only ones she could sense the level from where she was. "How do you want to start? In fact, what do you intend to do?"

    "Don''t kill anyone. Just knock them out. I want to collect them all in the same area before I finish their lives." He replied.

    Lothur had yet to exin to Viktoria how his bloodline worked. So hearing what he was nning, she had doubts about what her husband was nning.

    However, she saw no problem in going along with his ns and readily agreed. "All right."<sub> </sub>

    "Let''s move!" He moved his neck, emitting some noises as he prepared forbat.

    But they did not simply n to go at their opponents by demonstrating their intentions to destroy that ce. No, there was no reason for them to act shy and end up creating a battle in this ce.

    So after exchanging a few words, Viktoria stayed in that ce, waiting for the moment to start acting, and Lothur left towards those ''homeless people.''

    From a cultivator''s point of view, this masked person looked like just a mortal. Thus, there was no way for those disguised cultivators to realize who Lothur was.

    At the same time, since each of them was much weaker than him, the strongest being someone at only level 6, he decided to clear the entrance of that ce before Viktoria acted!

    Lothur walked towards that ''abandoned'' building as if he were approaching those individuals to ask for information.

    When he did this, the five people around immediately paid attention in his direction without alerting themselves.

    They would be on alert if it were a cultivator, maybe even sound the rms for that post. But with only one mortaling near them, their reaction had been no different from the one they would have when being visited by a street dog.

    "What does this mortal want?" One of the stronger ones there asked hispanion, both near the entrance of that building.

    "I don''t know. Maybe he''s lost... Anyway, back to that matter, the bosses are focused on finding out about that brat Lothur. So our post will stop its normal activities starting today to..." The other person was saying that when Lothur acted.

    When one of those individuals was getting close to him, Lothur took the daggers hidden in his clothes and shot them hard against the cheeks of the strongest ones there.

    Everyone paid attention in his direction as soon as he did this, but it was already toote for Lothur''s two targets.

    After a few fractions of a second, both who were talking near the entrance of that building felt Lothur''s daggers go through their mouths from one side to the other.

    But this blow was not as simple as that!

    When Lothur had thrown such weapons, the tongues of those two were in a favorable position for his attack.

    So as soon as the daggers passed through their mouths, they lost their tongues before they even began to feel the intense pain of this cut.

    However, while the other people had their eyes turned in the direction Lothur had attacked, he moved, using his movement technique.

    In doing so, none of the remaining individuals had a chance to cry out in surprise as this young man attacked them mercilessly, causing them to faint in the blink of an eye.

    Some of them simply took blows hard enough to make them lose consciousness. But thest of them fell asleep as Lothur strangled him.

    As for the two men who lost their tongues, Lothur was also quick to act against them since even without the ability to speak, they could still manage to warn the people in that building.

    Viktoria saw all of Lothur''s actions from across the street and smiled under her mask, feeling good that her man was decisive and capable.

    But seeing him looking back, she did not hold back and soon made her move to storm the building in front of her as he gathered the unconscious bodies in that doorway!

    ...

 Chapter 311 Attack 2

    After Lothur''s signal, Viktoria was not slow in her movement and soon invaded the ''abandoned'' building where one of the Mouse Company''s groups was.

    In doing so, she attracted the attention of all the people there, quickly acting to knock out those who were in her path.

    She was much stronger than these people, so she only needed tond blows on her opponents'' shoulders to make them fall unconscious.

    While doing this, moving at great speed, she sensed her opponents'' strengths, noting that Lothur had hit almost every level of these people. But he had not identified the aura of a level 10 person, which she had just felt as she invaded this ce.

    ''Well, it doesn''t matter. That person won''t be able to stop us...'' She pondered as shended a blow on a frightened person in her path.

    "Ahhhhh!"

    Meanwhile, the members of this post of the Mouse Company were trembling with fear, despairing at the situation.

    "We''re being invaded!"

    "Quick, call for reinforcements! Reinforcements!"

    Shouts spread through the halls of such a building, along with many of those people running at Viktoria in a desperate attempt to stop her.

    But with every step Viktoria took toward those people, they had no choice but to ept their fate. Even level 11 cultivators had difficulty fighting against someone at level 12 like her, so it would not be these 1st stage people who would put up resistance to her.

    Each of them, at most, could withstand a touch on their bodies and then faint.

    Since Viktoria was much faster than everyone there, she took down more than half of the enemies that Lothur had counted earlier in the blink of an eye.

    "Shit!"

    "We''re finished!"

    "Retreat!"

    "Run! Run as fast as you can!"

    The remnants despaired, while the leader of this post had finally seen Viktoria in action and realized that not even he could stop this masked invader.

    So the people in that ce stopped trying to attack her, to get away as fast as possible while they still had the chance.

    This post had a secret exit, so they soon started to run there.

    But, unfortunately, most of them were simply too slow to do anything against Viktoria. So they just attached to futile hopes as they tried to run, little by little getting knocked down by her, as happened to their otherpanions.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    "Please, mercy!"

    Pow!

    Cries of dread and pleas for mercy sounded as she acted.

    Meanwhile, the level 10 man had his face pale, already near the secret exit, but with a lot of fear in his heart.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Who is this person? Why is she attacking us?'' He wondered, just before suddenly stopping due to the silhouette he saw in front of the entrance to the secret tunnel a few meters in front of him.

    "Who''s there?" He asked as he held up one of his weapons, trembling, while Lothur stood still, preventing this person from escaping.

    Lothur had seen the secret exit of this ce and arranged with Viktoria for one of them toe to it. At the same time, the other acted, taking down the enemies.<sub> </sub>

    Since he was the weakest and had acted first, after taking the unconscious bodies of the guards from the building off the street, he hade directly to this ce.

    And with that, the enemy trying to flee came across a masked person, all in ck, and he could not sense such a person''s cultivation. However, considering the other person''s strength attacking them, he did not doubt Lothur''s power and hesitated.

    He had recently advanced, so he wanted to avoid having to face 2nd stage cultivators as much as possible. Because of this, he did not simply attack Lothur and was careful to consider an escape n.

    But to his misfortune, Viktoria caught up with him before he had a chance to try to attack Lothur!

    "Shit!"

    "Do you guys know whose ce this belongs to? You''ll regret attacking us!" He did what most in his situation would do, threaten the enemy with his connections.

    But he could not say much when Viktoria punched him hard in the jaw, causing his body to rise a few feet in the air and then fall at Minos'' feet, meters in front of where he was standing.

    Lothur saw this and felt satisfied. In just 10 minutes, he and Viktoria invaded this ce, with this womanpletely overpowering the enemies in her path.

    ''It''s nice to have the help of someone so strong!'' He was d she was there, not the least bothered that he did not contribute much.

    The most important thing for them was to clean this ce up fast before other groups from the Mouse Company showed up or discovered the problem.

    Since this group was rtively weakpared to Viktoria, Lothur had no qualms about using his wife''s strength and ''crushing'' this enemy outpost.

    Viktoria looked at him and felt her forehead getting sweaty. Acting against so many people in such a short time was tiring even for her!

    "What now?"

    He answered her. "Now you can sit in a ce and watch."

    As he said this, Lothur began to gather up the unconscious bodies of the 30 or so people from this post of the Mouse Company.

    ''Now you will return to me with interest and correction all the trouble I have faced because of you since I came to this world!'' Lothur thought as he formed a pile of bodies in the basement of that building.

    Viktoria watched all this with curiosity, sitting in one of the corners of that area where the secret exit of this enemy outpost was.

    ''What does he intend to do? Burn them?'' She wondered as she recovered her breath.

    And so, it did not take long for Lothur to gather all the enemies in that ce, and he felt ready to act. "Viktoria, get as far away as you can. I don''t want to affect you."

    "OK..."

    Following this, Lothur thought back to the day Elise had attacked him and Elke, making the patterns of his bloodline appear around his eyes.

    His pupils turned red, and a ''tattoo'' covered the side of his eyes, along with the appearance of a rotating pentagram in the middle of his forehead.

    And with these changes, a red mist appeared from the fingers of Lothur''s hands, both hands facing up at the moment, while his fingers were twitching as if they were reaching for something.

    Viktoria looked with surprise at her husband and felt a shiver run through her body as she tried to probe the mist escaping from his fingers, going towards those bodies.

    ''What is that? What power is that?'' She wondered.

    Viktoria did not recognize this innate ability of her husband, even considering that she had studied both Physique and the Bloodline of Lothur''s father''s family...

    Since it was rare for this kind of trait to change, she could not help but find it strange that Lothur did not have the same abilities as his family, even considering how strong they were.

    ''Is that his bloodline? Where did thate from? From his mother''s family?'' She pondered as she watched with shock as the bodies of those men and women dried up as if they were rotting.

    ...

 Chapter 312 Advance

    In the blink of an eye, the 30 or so bodies around Lothur turned into mummies with expressions of pure terror on their faces.

    They were unconscious when Lothur started, but after the red mist touched them, each individual awoke to give their final screams, feeling despair.

    Because of this, when the red mist around the area began to diminish for Viktoria to see those bodies, expressions of absolute pain could be seen on each of the faces there.

    She saw this and swallowed her saliva, as she could not help but fear Lothur''s killing ability a little.

    Viktoria had seen bloody battles up close and even killed groups almost as numerous as this one. But she had never seen someone eliminate so many people at once and in such a gruesome way before!

    So even the calm Viktoria felt her heart beat differently after watching her husband in action.

    "Lothur, what is that?" She asked unconsciously.

    But he did not answer her immediately, since he was collecting rewards in this ce!

    [EVF: 279]

    ''Hmm, I had better resultsst time. But the scorpions in that cave I went to with Annaliese were stronger on average than these people...'' He considered, remembering that most of those beasts were at the middle to the end of the 1st stage. Meanwhile, those cultivators were primarily people at the beginning and middle of this stage.

    He then smiled and looked at his wife. "That''s my bloodline... Anyway, can you destroy those corpses for me, dear? I feel like I''m about to level up."

    "Uh? You''re going to advance?" Viktoria could not even think much about Lothur''s response when considering that he would advance right after eliminating those people in that strange way.

    When considering that those individuals seemed to have had parts of themselves sucked out by Lothur, she more or less understood what that meant. ''Can he absorb the power of others?''

    Lothur smiled at his open-mouthed wife and took off his clothes before hemanded the system.

    [CON: 65.9] (+)

    Lothur ''clicked'' the plus symbol a few times until he reached his goals with this.

    [4.1 points added in CON for the cost of 82 EVF.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 26.6] [CON: 70] [DEX: 22.6] [AGI: 30.8]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 74.9]

    [EVF: 197]

    With that done, he left the remaining EVF points for an emergency during the next 24 hours, the period he needed to use his bloodline ability again.

    So he soon began to undergo another marrow cleansing, with several ck spots of impurities appearing from the pores of his body.

    Viktoria saw this and admired such an ability, happy that her husband had achieved a breakthrough this evening.<sub> </sub>

    ''That''s good!''

    ''Now he''ll have more means to protect himself and keep winning at the Province Conference!'' She clenched her fists as she destroyed those bodies, leaving no trace of what they did there.

    They did not need to help their enemies discover that they were responsible for this killing. Thus, Viktoria skillfully destroyed each of those bodies and collected their spatial rings.

    Finally, when the effects of the marrow cleansing wore off on Lothur''s body, she destroyed the impurities in and around his body with her spiritual energy.

    After dressing, Lothur looked at Viktoria and said. "Shall we go? I imagine it will be a while before anyone realizes what''s happened here, but we''d better not risk it."

    "Yes." She said in a low voice, looking at him in curiosity, trying to understand how his ability worked.

    "Do you intend to do the same thing you did today for the next two days?" She asked, just after they left that area and began cautiously avoiding dangerous people on their way to the hotel they were staying at.

    "Yes, that is my goal."

    "Do you think you will have any breakthroughs after today?" She asked, thinking that her assumption of his bloodline was correct. ''So many people died over there, and he went up a level... I imagine he can advance again by attacking the outposts of that organization.''

    "I don''t think so," Lothur answered sincerely.

    He did not know which value of average physical attributes he would need to advance to the 2nd stage. Besides, his ability had limits, and he definitely could not absorb the vitality of everyone he acted against.

    Depending on the soul power and the Constitution of the other person, he could not steal the vitality of the same.

    So Lothur had no hope of advancing again in the next two days.

    "No?" She looked at him.

    He then said. "I want to destroy the Mouse Company because they are my enemy. But, they can help me get stronger for thepetition, give me resources... Anyway, I''m not doing this just for level increases."

    "That''s not what I meant. You absorbed the powers of those people, right? So with that many people in that ce, you must have made it to the top of the 1st stage, no?" She stated her opinion to him.

    "Well, my powers are not as efficient as you think..." He ran one of his fingers over his nose. "I have only reached the beginning of the 9th Transformation."

    "That''s it?" She was surprised but did notin too much either since that was already a very challenging power.

    ''Well, it makes sense. It would be strange for such impressive power to have a 100% conversion factor...''

    "That''s fine. You don''t have to advance every day. But, in any case, don''t expect things to be so easy tomorrow and the day after. Once the enemies find out about the disappearance of these people, things will get difficult for us." She said as they spotted the hotel not far from where they were.

    "I don''t think so, at least not for tomorrow." Lothur gave his opinion. "The leaders of the Mouse Company have probably sent orders for most of their members to investigate me. So they probably won''t even miss most people, at least not anytime soon."

    "Then, I guess we''ll still have an easy time tomorrow..."

    "The problem will be when we go to attack the enemy headquarters. Anyway, I will prepare some formations, clothes, and poisons for tomorrow and the day after... That will help us." He said before they both entered the hotel building.

    Viktoria did not doubt that her husband would be able to prepare items to help them in these attacks and did not question him further.

    So they soon went upstairs to their room, where they both took a quick shower before hurriedly going to bed, each desiring each other''s bodies.

    Viktoria had seen something new from Lothur today. Still, despite her initial fear, the satisfaction of knowing that her husband was powerful was far more powerful. Therefore, her desire for him did not diminish but increased after that night.

    With that, it was not long before she felt the physical changes in his body, as well as the difference it would make to her!

 Chapter 313 Starting The Day Off Right (18+)

    The other morning, Viktoria woke up feeling particrly good, with a sense of lightness that she rarely felt in her body.

    Opening her eyes, still embracing her husband, both naked under the sheets of that bed, she slowly turned to look at Lothur''s face, still a little sleepy. But as she remembered what they had done in that room, she slowly began to pay attention to her body.

    ''Uh? That feeling...'' Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked down at herself under the sheets covering the two. ''My body got stronger?'' Her mouth dropped open as she noticed such a thing.

    Ever since she had started having sex with Lothur, Viktoria had noticed that she felt more energetic after having fun with him. But that was not enough for her to think she was getting stronger from having fun with her husband.

    However, she noticed a significant physical difference by paying attention to her body and using her spiritual probing on herself now.

    ''What happened? I feel my body has improved by more than 2% in just one night!'' She tried to make sense of the situation, considering that she had barely had time to train the day before.

    As for the battles she had on the first day of the Province Conference, such matches would not be enough to make someone of her level improve. Thus, this woman could not help but find this important fact strange.

    And at the moment, Viktoria could not even suspect that this was rted to Lothur since this was the first time this had happened, and he had not told her about his secret.

    If Lothur had told her before, she would not have believed him. And since he did not know if he was affecting Viktoria, he decided to leave it to talk to her about it in the future.

    With that, this woman woke up in doubt but pleased by such a thing.

    While thinking about how to justify this increase in her Constitution, Lothur awoke from his sleep and looked at the face of his beautiful wife, who was rubbing herself against his body.

    Lothur felt the stiff nipples of Viktoria''s breasts rubbing against him and promptly sped one of his hands around her waist before inhaling the air and smelling the sweet scent of her hair.

    "Good morning, dear wife..."

    "Morning..." She turned to him and smiled as she felt her leg on top of his, nudged by something hard and warm. "Looks like you''re in the mood for more already, huh?" One of her hands came down toward that part of his body.

    "I always wake up hungry..." He ran his tongue across her lips, looking down at her little mouth.

    Viktoria felt her little sister ''salivate'' due to the look on Lothur''s face and teased him. "You sure have a strong body. Last night you did all those things, and you still looked good at the end, even though you exhausted me..."

    "Are you sure this won''t hinder you in today''spetitions? It''s not normal for someone at your level to be tougher than someone like me. I''m sure you''ll be tired."

    The night before, Lothur had made Viktoria sweat and lose her breath, as had never happened before. Meanwhile, he had only sweated a little, without much exhaustion. Because of that, she was pretty impressed with his performance and worried it would trouble himter.

    Lothur smiled at her and said. "Don''t worry. My body is sturdy, so let me take care of everything..."

    He then turned around, getting on top of Viktoria before kissing her.

    She epted his movement and soon began kissing him, throwing the sheets covering their bodies away as her hands got ready to work.

    Thus, in the blink of an eye, she was with her legs folded behind Lothur''s back while this man''s body rose and fell amidst the sounds of pounding flesh.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    The moans there were soft due to the constant kissing of the two lovers, but the noise of the bed moving was loud, in a way that, if not for the formations in that room, the whole hotel would hear them.<sub> </sub>

    And in that ideal position to make many womene quickly, Viktoria trembled in excitement after a while, hugging Lothur''s body tightly while screaming louder.

    "Ahhhhhhh~"

    "Ahhhhhhhhh~"

    "I''m cumming~"

    Lothur felt his wife ''losing'' control over her own body as a wet, tight feeling intensified for him.

    So he did not miss the opportunity and ''nourished'' his wife''s hungry womb, making her feel on cloud nine in that decisive instant.

    "Hah... Hah... That was perfect, Lothur~" She said in a breathless tone, trying to breathe more calmly as she lessened the tightness of her arms around her husband.

    Her legs rxed and left Lothur''s back alone while an expression of pure happiness formed on her little face.

    Lothur also began to breathe differently, smiling as he looked into his wife''s eyes. "Now we can start our day, don''t you think so, dear?"

    She bit her lips and shook her head slightly. "I think we are the only ones to start the day like this, even considering all our current worries..."

    "Well, those who don''t do that don''t know what they''re missing." He chuckled as he disconnected from his wife and sat beside their bed.

    Viktoria turned her body sideways and watched her husband begin to dress as she admired his body. She had never thought of men before Lothur, but she had to admit that she liked how this man looked.

    However, she did not only have her sexuality in mind and soon remembered something she should have done the night before. "Do you want to check those people''s spatial rings now? I forgot to give them to youst night."

    "Hmm, OK." He wondered how much he would get out of this, even considering that his opponents the night before were low-level people.

    ''I have less than 600,000 bronze coins, so any value in those rings will already add a good amount for me...'' He considered this, knowing his savings were rtively meager for a cultivator.

    If he were a mortal, then 600,000 bronze coins would be enough to sustain him for years. But that was nothing for someone who had several projects in mind, who needed a house, materials for formations, clothes, and poisons.

    So he was desperate for coins!

    "310,000 bronze coins..." He counted aloud each of the items in those spatial rings.

    Most of the things in those rings were low-level items, clothes, or useless junk. As for those that could be sold and generate coins, they were few in number.

    But still, Lothur did not think it was terrible since, unlike Viktoria, any extra value to him was a plus to put a smile on his face.

    So he kept all those things in his spatial ring to finance the projects he would continue to develop after the Province Conference.

    Finally, after Viktoria had recovered from her morning fun with her husband, the two set off in the direction of the Frost estate to return to their activities for the second day ofpetitions!

 Chapter 314 The Start Of The Second Day Of Trials

    Sometimeter, the Trapka family entourage was arriving at the Coliseum for the second day of trials but was suddenly surprised in the vicinity of that ce.

    There, the Becker family entourage stopped at the intersection where the Trapka family group was about to pass, cing their carriages in a formation that prevented free movement on that avenue.

    Noticing the problem, the people from the Trapka family soon started sticking their heads out of the windows of their carriages. At the same time, the pedestrians on the sidewalks watched everything with interest.

    "Hey! What do you people think you''re doing?"

    "Idiots! Get out of the way! Can''t you see we''re going to the Coliseum?" The servants driving those carriages shouted simr things while holding the horses so that idents would not ur.

    The leader of that organization, who was in one of the carriages, then decided to get out to see what was happening. But as he did so, the voice of Gomeric and other members of the Becker family reached his ears.

    "Ewald, we have some business to debate, don''t we? One of your men ordered the death of a servant of my family!" Elke''s father shouted while standing in front of his carriage that was 50 meters ahead of the Trapka patriarch.

    Just then, another important person from that family shouted. "Hand over Magnus to us if you don''t want trouble!"

    "You people are bold to act against our family!"

    "What? What are you talking about?" The people in those carriages shouted in surprise, trying to understand what this was all about.

    But judging by the tones in the voices of the people of the Becker family, even those who knew nothing about what Magnus'' subordinate had done realized the seriousness of the problem.

    As the patriarch Trakpa looked in the direction of Gomeric and Hilda, he left his carriage, clenching his fists in frustration. ''Damn you, Magnus!''

    ''Your subordinate made a shit of acting against these people''s daughter, and you still allowed this information to get to them!''

    He then said. "Gomeric, I don''t know what this is about. Magnus? Who is Magnus? Many people have that name in Reinhard or my family..."

    "Tsk!"

    "It''s no use you ying dumb. We know that this person is part of your organization, Ewald." Hilda said.

    After Elke had passed Lothur''s message to them the night before, this family had pieced together the information from their investigations so far with what their spies realized after watching this family''s group for a night.

    Because of this, they found out who the person had been who had approached Lothur days ago, the person responsible for the murder of the coachman of Elke and Lothur''s carriage on the trip to Lewerenz.

    Since they already knew the level of such a person by associating it with what they knew about the Trapka family, it was easy to find Magnus'' name.

    And so, they were ready to demand that such a family hand this person over to them or take the matter to a new level!

    Magnus, who was in one of those carriages, trembled when he heard those words, cursing Lothur. ''That wretch! He has tricked me for the second time, and now he has brought these people to me!'' He looked from one side of his carriage to the other, trying to find a way out.

    Meanwhile, local guards approached that area on their beasts, birds with two long legs, long necks, and very fast.

    "Hey, what''s going on here?" One of the guards asked in Gomeric''s direction.

    The other said. "Patriarch Becker, it doesn''t matter what the problem is between you. Your group cannot block the avenue like this. That will disrupt everyone''s lives!"

    Tension rose in the surroundings, with the nearby civilians focused on what was happening there, afraid of a battle but also curious.<sub> </sub>

    However, unlike what some expected, nothing significant urred there.

    "Very well, patriarch Trapka. Don''tinter!" Gomeric aggressively adjusted his clothes just before he got into his carriage, signaling his group to depart.

    Seeing that, Ewald pressed his teeth together, sensing that trouble was approaching them and looked toward Magnus'' carriage.

    ''I hope these people don''t take it too far, or...''

    ...

    Hourster, most of the day''spetitions had passed, with the sunset beautifying the outskirts of Peters City.

    As predicted by Lothur and his women, he had faced a calmer second day without many difficult opponents to deal with after a tough first day ofpetition.

    But this was to be expected. After all, ''high'' level individuals had been eliminated by him yesterday, and the families that had talented youngsterspeting did not force their encounter with Lothur.

    They had to secure points for their houses, so for the time being, only luck had decided the matches on this second day.

    Because of this, instead ofpeting against people at the end of the 1st stage, Lothur met several opponents who were only at the middle part of this stage.

    Thus, as the sun set on the horizon, he won his third match this day, securing another point for the Frost family.

    On this second day of trials, eachpetitor was onlypeting in one match in their respective professions. The matches had threepetitors, and only one could win.

    Because of this, the number of matches on this day was smaller, and byte afternoon, all the matches for spiritual professions were over, and it was almost time for the fights.

    But not only had Lothur performed well so far, but Annaliese and Viktoria also won their matches.

    Due to this, the Frost family''s position had risen once again, as their score reached 37, the same as House Sitz''s.

    Thus, thepetition was approaching its most important moments, with the elimination of most of the weaker candidates.

    In any case, Lothur was focused on following his ns, having again had a hot afternoon with Annaliese and then trained with Reba after one of his poison masters'' trials.

    That had given him a few attribute points, only slightly above what he had already received from training with her the day before.

    Since this second day had only half as many battles as the first day, Lothur found time between his matches to study medicine and train his professions.

    At the moment, he needed theoretical knowledge about each of them to achieve the 2-star rank. So it was easier for him to do this before following Annaliese to meet Elke and Viktoria.

    He had not had time to go out with Elke the night before, but she already knew why. So he intended to resolve this after his individual fight, before the group battle he would have this day.

    But considering that his battles today were more straightforward than the previous day''s, he was not too worried, just focused on finishing as quickly as possible to get on with his ns!

    And so, it did not take long for him and the twins to climb the leading battle tform of this Coliseum to fight!

    ...

 Chapter 315 Night Of Killing

    The match referee realized that both groups of opponents from Viktoria''s team had been eliminated and then announced the result to the audience present. "In this battle, the Frost family group wins and moves on to the third day of trials!"

    Immediately after he announced the result, the Province Conference ssification was updated at the end of the second day ofpetition.

    [1st. Waldauer Family: 93]

    [2nd. Frohberg Family: 89]

    [3rd. ssen Family: 84]

    [4th. Sommer Family: 74]

    [5th. Koch Family: 68]

    [6th. Geissler Family: 60]

    [7th. Becker Family: 54]

    [8th. Baier Family: 49]

    [9th. Vogel Family: 46]

    [10th. Frost Family: 41]

    [11th. Sitz Family: 40]

    ...

    [39th. Dohmen Family: 0]

    As soon as that happened, the audience in the VIP areas started discussing this day, impressed with how disputed the top 10 was.

    "It looks like the Frost family wille strong for the third day of battles..."

    "Yes, with three strongpetitors, they have only one lesspetitor than the Koch family, the 5th ce."

    "At this rate, I believe the Frost family will finish in 7th ce..."

    "Is that so? I think they will be eliminated and still have a chance of getting no benefit in this tournament!"

    People less connected to the local issues argued among themselves. At the same time, the enemies of the Frost family and Lothur were worried about these results.

    On this day, the Becker family had acted decisively against House Trapka. It had forced meetings of their candidates with those of that family of Magnus. Because of this, such a family had lost more than half of its contestants and was now with only two people left for the third day.

    At the same time, families like Baier, who had acted on the first day against Lothur, had suffered greatly and lost essential points today. Proof of this was in the difference between this family to House Becker, which increased from 1 point to 5 after this day of trials.

    In the case of the Sitz family, it had even lost its position to House Frost and dropped out of the top 10, with virtually no hope of returning to this group.

    And so, as Lothur and his women came down from thebat tform where they had eliminated two families at once, the representatives of House Baier and House Sitz were ring at them angrily.

    "Son of a bitch!"

    "Because of that bastard, we won''t get anything good out of this tournament, and we''ll still have to fight not to lose our territories!" Patriarch Sitz said aloud to the people in his group.

    "Just wait, Lothur. I will deal with you and your family in no time!" Patriarch Baier muttered in another part of the coliseum, wondering what ns his allies had for House Frost.

    At the same time, his hatred for the person who had destroyed his son''s manhood had increased, along with his wariness against this dangerous person.

    No one had seen anything new from Lothur today, as this young man''s opponents had not been strong enough to challenge him. But the previous day was enough to make everyone hate him more, even if he just passed his tests without showing any new points today.

    That was particrly true for Kai, who was standing there in one of the coliseum''smon grandstands with a dark expression on his face, deadly serious.<sub> </sub>

    "The bastard will pay me back soon, soon." He muttered as his eyes focused on Lothur, who wasughing next to Viktoria and Annaliese.

    He then asked one of his subordinates. "How are the investigations regarding him? Have any of our groups reported anything relevant?"

    A ck man behind him then said. "No. But I noticed that one of our posts has stopped sending update reports to us, boss."

    "What?"

    "When did that happen?" Kai turned to his subordinate with an unfriendly expression, finding this information unusual.

    Usually, they did not maintain instantmunication with their posts around that city or province. But every 12 hours, there was usually some report on updates on the Mouse Company business run by such posts.

    The man then said. "I realized the problem before this battle started, and I have sent some men to try to understand the situation... But maybe it''s just a mistake with the formations in that ce or because of the investigations."

    "Take care of this immediately. We can''t lose contact with any of our groups at this decisive moment!" Kai said, worried, before looking in Fritz''s direction with fear.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''If I don''t deal with this brat in the next few days, I''ll be finished!''

    Fritz, in one of the VIP areas, then asked his bodyguards. "When will our men arrive?"

    "Probably before the final, young master." One of them replied.

    "Very well, we''ll let that bastard have his fun for the time being. We''ll soon send him back where he should be by now!" The red-haired man got up from his armchair and started to leave that ce, very serious but not desperate.

    At the same time, in the Becker family area, Elke was delighted with her man''s result and what she had achieved today.

    After having fun with him in one of the training rooms of this coliseum, she had achieved a breakthrough, having reached level 5!

    Her parents were also thrilled with her advancement and the oue of the Frost family, which could soon be their allies.

    On the other hand, they were focused on pressuring the Trapka family through thispetition because of Magnus, the man responsible for the murder of a subordinate, and the threat to Elke''s life.

    Since their family was not doing badly in thispetition, Gomeric and Hilda were pleased and looking forward to the future ahead!

    "I can''t wait for thispetition to be over..." Elke''s mother said.

    "Hmm, we will probably start trading Lothur''s gloves, and his vehicle project will also be ready in a few days." Gomeric nodded, looking forward to the days toe after this tournament.

    But not only he thinks so. The Frost family leadership, except for Simon, was vibrant with their results.

    It was not yet guaranteed that they would gain new possessions after this tournament. But it was already practically impossible for them to lose three positions from theirst participation in the Province Conference. So they would not lose any of their privileges after this week.

    That was already something to celebrate!

    With that, Aiken smiled in his VIP area, along with Mabel, who was less grumpy than usual, looking forward to the next few days when their situation might improve.

    The Frost family''s situation was still dire. But at least with the security that they would not be poorer after these days, they could think of alternatives to defend themselves against their enemies.

    In this way, the rest of the evening unfolded without further surprises until each of the families in the coliseum began to leave.

    Lothur and Viktoria were not as exhausted as the day before, so both intended to go directly to their following attack site after leaving the coliseum.

    In this way, it did not take long for them to change clothes and put on their masks to attack their enemies on this night of killing!

    ...

 Chapter 316 Using Formations And Clothing To Fight 1

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 27] [CON: 70.2] [DEX: 23.1] [AGI: 31.3]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 75.6]

    [EVF: 197]

    After seeing his status, Lothur activated his visual ability to check the post in front of him. But since this ce was muchrger than the one he and Viktoria had attacked yesterday, he could not check everyone there.

    "So far, I see 40 enemies. But there may be more people in this ce since I can''t see the building''s basement and back parts." Hemented in a low voice to Viktoria as he crouched on the roof of a house across the street.

    Viktoria then asked. "What about their forces? Stronger than thest post, right?"

    "Hmm, I would say they are, on average, three levels stronger than those people. I can see several cultivators who are at the end of the 1st stage among the visible ones. Meanwhile, there are two 2nd stage individuals." He said to her, but without showing concern.

    For him, it was even better that such people were strong!

    After all, that meant more attribute points for his Constitution, something that could save his life and improve his defenses.

    Furthermore, with many EVF points, he would quickly increase his soul power through his lineage when he had a way to solve the problem of it. Thus, he could not help but be excited about this moment.

    "What about their escaping point? Can you see it?" She asked.

    "No. I believe it''s in the underground part that I do not see from here." He answered as he prepared to attack that ce.

    Unlike the night before, Lothur had prepared formations andbat clothing for this attack. This ce would be more difficult to invade, so he had not failed to prepare for the battle that would take ce there.

    "Then, do you want to start the same as yesterday? Or are we going to attack them more openly?"

    Lothur then answered his wife. "I will act against these people on the outskirts of the building while you arrange to ce this on each of those three floors before our invasion." He handed three wooden spheres to Viktoria.

    "What are those things?"

    "Formations that will release poison into that building." He smiled before asking her to open her little mouth.

    Viktoria did so, and soon after, he poured a green liquid from a vial into her mouth. "This will prevent you from feeling any difortter on..."

    Viktoria was strong enough not to be threatened by that. Lothur knew it. But that did not mean the poison he had prepared to use in this ce would not affect her even a bit.

    So he promptly made his wife drink the antidote, and she epted it withoutint, even though it tasted terrible.

    Viktoria then looked at that building and thought about how she should act. Finally, after making up her mind, she looked at it and prepared for the attack!

    "Let''s get started!" He walked to the side of the street, using the same strategy as the day before, to approach those who looked like homeless people but actually were the watchmen of that post.

    At the same time, Viktoria used the nearby rooftops to get closer to that building, quickly finding a way to scale one of the walls there and begin her work.

    She first reached a ce between the first and second floors of that building, where two windows were on each of those levels.<sub> </sub>

    Once there, she found a way to activate Lothur''s formations, throw those wooden spheres into the building, and then close those windows.

    She continued closing the windows in the surrounding area until she reached the third floor, still climbing the walls of this 10-meter-high rectangr building.

    Then, when she reached thest open window, she activated thest formation after entering that building and closing that window, preparing to attack this ce from to top.

    Lothur had told her that he would start the attack from below, so since he was not that strong, it was expected that no one would run away from him. With this, she intended to quickly hunt down the strongest opponents there and block the escape route of this criminal den.

    Simultaneously with his wife''s movements, Lothur quickly took down the seven individuals outside that building.

    After doing so without difficulty, he entered through the front door, not taking long to ce each unconscious body inside this ce about to convulse.

    But as he finished doing that, as he locked the front door, Lothur heard someone''s surprised shout.

    "Uh? Hey, what''s the meaning of that?" A man shouted at him, surprised that unconscious bodies were piled up next to the entrance door, and this masked person had his back to him, locking the door.

    But this man was not stupid and soon understood that this person could not be one of them. So he put one of his hands on the sword at his waist while his face became extremely dark.

    "Enemy!" He shouted with all the strength of his being, making his voice reach the farthest chambers from him in this building.

    Lothur turned to see that person looking at him calmly, who definitely would not mistake him for a mortal. After all, what kind of morality was this that could easily defeat seven cultivators?

    Hell, one of the external watchmen of this post was even at the 7th Transformation!

    With that in mind, that man stood in a guard position, waiting for hispanions in that building to attack Lothur.

    "You bastard! Do you know whose ce this belongs to? We are the Mouse Company! Do you  dare to attack us?" He shouted as he saw Lothur slowly walking toward him.

    It was also in Lothur''s interest to prolong this initial moment to give more people time to get to him before he showed his full capabilities.

    He might not be strong enough to defeat, for example, level 9 cultivators during the Province Conference. But that was because he could not use formations and wear tailor-made clothes during the fighting matches in thatpetition!

    But in this ce, to the misfortune of everyone there, he had no limitations and was ready to use all his cards up his sleeve to eliminate them!

    Just like that, in the blink of an eye, about 20 opponents appeared on the outskirts of the entrance hall of this post of the Mouse Company.

    They all had ugly looks on their faces, with weapons in their hands, as they said hateful things to Lothur, telling him how they would kill him.

    Even a level 10 individual appeared there, looking at this invader cautiously but with confidence.

    They were many, and since Lothur was hiding his identity, this invader did not have the confidence to defeat them easily. And so, he felt he had the upper hand here and looked with interest at this person surrounded by his group.

    "Who are you? Do you know what will happen to you by challenging us?" He asked.

    But Lothur said nothing. He just held metal spheres in his hands, formations that he intended to use at the beginning of this attack.

    He saw with his skill that his poison had already spread through much of this building, and it would only be a matter of seconds before those people would begin to feel its effects.

    So heughed under his mask and threw the spheres in the direction of the strongest people there!

    ...

 Chapter 317 Using Formations And Clothing To Fight 2

    When Lothur hurled the spheres in his hands in the directions of the four strongest individuals there, one level 10 and three level 9, those people looked at it with concern.

    The four circted their energies, promptly activating their defensive techniques as they prepared to deflect.

    But that had been useless. While they could dodge the ck spheres thrown by Lothur, what came next could not be avoided!

    When everyone in the surrounding area was looking at the spheres thrown by Lothur, those things shone like little stars. They then exploded, causing bright lightning to appear from them.

    These electric currents spread almost uncontrobly, only in the direction where the spheres from before were flying.

    Because of this, even though the four individuals changed their original positions to escape this mysterious attack, they were still in the radius of influence of that formation.

    Thus, three of them were electrocuted while still having strange looks on their faces, astounded by the enemy''s sudden action.

    As for the level 10 individual, he was also hit, but he remained conscious due to his level, unlike those three.

    "Damn bastard!" That person shouted the second after Lothur''s attack.

    But right then, the people in that ce, still shocked by Lothur''s surprise attack, began to demonstrate the effects of his poison.

    "What''s happening?"

    "My vision is blurry... It looks like... Gulp! It looks like someone drugged me!"

    "What?" The level 10 individual shouted as he saw his men bing frail, demonstrating strange fighting stances as they tried to stand up.

    Some had their arms on their foreheads, while others were trying to bnce on the side walls of that area.

    Lothur then took the opportunity and ran towards the weaker people, trying to put these people to ''sleep.''

    Lothur knocked out the first half dozen people in his vicinity, those rtively defenseless given their current condition, levels, and proximity to him.

    But before this masked invader could wreak havoc in this ce, the level 10 man clenched his fists. He then attacked in Lothur''s direction, activating one of his spiritual techniques.

    "Die, you worm!" Then, he threw what looked like a giant green whip, simr to the branches of a nt, in Lothur''s direction, intending to trap this individual.

    Lothur saw that and had no fear, continuing to move while using the shield he had prepared for this moment.

    When he activated the formation on that item, such a thing grew in its three dimensions, producing a spiritual conversion zone that shot fireballs in the direction of the enemy technique branches.

    Meanwhile, Lothur threw his daggers toward the non-vital points of the strongest people among the remnants there, just to make sure they would fall while he dealt with that problem.

    "Damn it!" The level 10 cultivator increased his power. He attacked even more Lothur with his technique in a way that the silver-haired young man''s shield could not keep up with so many branches.

    With that, several green branches approached Lothur''s body, going for his wrists and heels, while others tried to pierce him.

    Those going towards Lothur''s abdomen and chest soon hit their targets, crashing through his clothing and throwing him backward.

    Lothur felt the blow and made an expression of pain. Still, because of his constitution, activated defensive technique, and that tailor''s product, he was not hurt.

    The opponent was fighting with 100% of his strength since he had no idea of Lothur''s level and had already realized his opponent''s nefarious methods. But even so, the power of his attacks was only a little stronger than the defense of that young man who had several tricks on his side.<sub> </sub>

    That way, when the energy from the previous attack had dispersed into his clothes and the defensiveyer of his technique. In the end, when it touched his skin, such a thing was no longer a risk to Lothur.

    But this blow had hurt enough to change Lothur''s expression and make him cautious about this enemy.

    Boom!

    He mmed his back into a wall, and cracks formed from the center of the collision.

    The enemy saw this and got an even darker expression, noting that such an opponent was worthy of a tough fight with him.

    ''The bastard has already knocked out almost all the fellows who were here earlier...'' He thought to himself as he tried to suppress the effect of the poison Viktoria had released in this building earlier.

    Lothur could not yet be considered a 2-star poison master, but he was not simply a 1-star either!

    Since his resistance to poisons was already at the Bronze-grade level, the substances he could produce were at a level infinitely close to that rating.

    In other words, the poison from earlier was dangerous even for people at low levels of the 2nd stage!

    But this was not to the point of putting that level 10 cultivator in danger, as had happened to his mates. That was enough to cause an extra ''weight'' on his ''shoulders,'' which he had to direct part of his energy and attention to prevent his body from being poisoned.

    He then tried to scan this building for his partners since less than half of the men in this post were in this ce when Lothur began to act.

    ''Where is everyone? Why did only Ie here?'' He looked at Lothuring out of the crater in one of the walls in that entrance hall and felt a bad feeling.

    Unfortunately for this Mouse Company group, Lothur was not the only one attacking this building!

    At this instant, Viktoria had already taken down more than half of her opponents and was actively fighting the remaining 2nd stage enemies in this outpost.

    He sensed this as he scanned in the direction of the underground floor, where the escape route from this post was.

    ''Someone else is attacking us?'' His eyebrows drew together sweat dripped down his forehead. ''And that person is someone at the 3rd Revolution!''

    But he could not keep thinking about these things for much longer as Lothur took action, activating hisbat techniques to move and attack him.

    Lothur knew that against a 2nd stage cultivator, he could only beat such an opponent by forcing hand-to-handbat. He could not give the opponent a chance to conjure up spiritual attacks. So he wasted no time and used his incredible speed to approach that level 10 man.

    "So fast!" Such a person shouted in surprise, beginning to fear that the opponent was another level 10 cultivator!

    If that was the case, considering the enemy''s unusual methods, then he was finished!

    Pow!

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    And so, a fight in which one side unterally attacked the other began in that entrance area of that building. At the same time, shouts came from the lower floor.

    Viktoria would not kill her opponents for her husband''s sake, but she was not the kind of merciful opponent. So those strongest in this post were naturally suffering in the ce where she had prevented them from escaping.

    In this way, Lothur and Viktoria would sessfully dominate another enemy outpost just before performing a simr ''ceremony'' as the night before...

 Chapter 318 Enemies Close!

    [EVF: 591]

    Lothur felt a weight on his conscience after absorbing so many points at once, which indicated his absorption limit was close to 400 per activation of his bloodline.

    But as the patterns on his face and his eyes returned to normal, he had a smile on his face, extremely pleased with the results of this killing night.

    This action of his with Viktoria was triply beneficial to him!

    First, he gained EVF points, which could make him stronger. Second, he collected the enemies'' spatial rings, which could make him richer. And finally, these actions eliminated enemies, which guaranteed a smoother future for him and his wives.

    So, after finishing his difficult fight in this ce, Lothur could only feel extremely satisfied.

    Viktoria had had a good battle but still dominated her opponents. But Lothur had had a bnced battle with the level 10 cultivator, which guaranteed him some injuries and great exhaustion.

    But in the end, he had beaten the level 10 cultivator using gloves simr to the ones he had used to smash Oliver''s head in that tailoring dispute.

    Lothur had not killed his opponent, of course, but he had sessfully crushed that person''s hands, which guaranteed him victory.

    Anyway, it had all taken about 15 minutes from the beginning to the end of the attack, by which time Viktoria was destroying all the bodies of the more than 40 individuals in this ce.

    While these ''mummies'' were being degraded, Lothur added a few more points to his Constitution.

    [COM: 70.2] (+)

    He already knew that was the characteristic that was relevant concerning making his women stronger after sex with him. So even if he does not need this increase in power, he would still do it.

    With this, he could help his women advance faster!

    [9.8 points added in CON for the cost of 196 EVF.]

    Sensing his bloodline converting those EVF points into Constitution value, Lothur opened his arms and looked up, feeling like an electric current was running through his body.

    He closed his eyes and endured the evolution of his body while clenching his fists and being watched by his wife.

    A minuteter, he opened his eyes and saw the system showing him his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 27] [CON: 80] [DEX: 23.1] [AGI: 31.3]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 75.6]

    [EVF: 395]

    After seeing this and sighing, Lothur looked at Viktoria and saw that she had already finished her work. "Let''s go."

    Then, after handing him the spatial rings she had collected, the two carefully departed from that post.

    ''Another 500,000 bronze coins for me...'' He surveyed such rings as he moved, using his visual ability to choose the best path for them to return to the hotel they were staying in.

    ''Well, I spent 100,000 coins to produce the items I used in this attack, so my savingses to 1.3 million.''

    ...<sub> </sub>

    While Lothur was counting his earnings, Kai''s subordinate, who had talked to him earlier, arrived at the third post in the Peters City of the Mouse Company.

    Upon arriving there, he and his group immediately found themselves in an empty ce, with no lookouts in the surrounding area and no trace ofbat inside.

    "Where is everyone?" One individual who was in that group asked, not understanding the significance of that.

    Many members of this organization were hunting for information regarding Lothur. But it was unlikely that one of their posts would be abandoned, as seemed to be the case with this one.

    This organization had its enemies, so leaving a post unprotected was risky. Therefore, these subordinates of Kai could not help but find the situation in this building strange.

    ''Something happened...'' The ck man thought while his expression was solemn, feeling a terrible premonition.

    If the people of this post had decided to do something as stupid as leaving this ce unprotected, sending everyone to investigate Lothur, they would at least know something.

    But no warning had reached them, and the group in charge of this post had already missed sending two update reports!

    "Run to the boss! Let him know we may be under attack!" He shouted to hispanions, not wanting to wait to discover something more frightening than his suspicions.

    Contrary to popr belief, it took intelligence to live on the fringes of thew in the criminal world. So this man was not stupid and would not wait to act in this situation!

    In the blink of an eye, most of those individuals left that building, with only a few staying behind to begin their investigations.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Magnus was walking back and forth in his room in a local hotel, nervous about things happening since early morning.

    ''Several elders are looking differently at me...'' He had a terrible expression, simr to those sick people would have on their deathbeds.

    ''The patriarch looked at me earlier as if I were a great burden...'' Then, he began to theorize what was about to happen.

    But then, when the branches of a tree outside the hotel he was in swayed due to the night winds, this man shivered and looked in that direction, frightened.

    He was so defensive that he could even be frightened by his shadow at the moment!

    However, this was not an exaggerated reaction. After all, his family had been badly damaged today by House Becker. And if his family''s leadership did not hand him over to those enemies, they would probably lose all their battles the next day.

    In other words, his situation in this family was precarious, and someone could decide to act against him at any moment!

    Not for less, he was nervous, feeling as if his fellow elders were watching him in preparation to attack and hand him over to the Becker family.

    ''I have to escape while I still have the chance!'' He finally made up his mind, confident that he could not remain passive about his future.

    Magnus was one of the strongest in the Trapka family. Still, if the other five elders and the patriarch who was in Peters City to attend the Province Conference acted against him, he would have no escape!

    Thus, he looked from one side of his room to the other with a wary, suspicious look, simr to what madmen would have.

    Then he scanned his surroundings and made his escape n!

    In the blink of an eye, he collected everything he needed in that room and opened the only window in his room before jumping towards the first floor.

    Level 13 cultivators could not fly, but their bodies were sturdy enough to withstand a 15-meter-high fall without injury.

    So he jumped from that hotel''s fourth floor without worrying about this, only with his escape in mind.

    Unfortunately for Magnus, his nervousness led him to a fate worse than he thought it would!

    ...

 Chapter 319 The Consequences Of A Bad Choice

    When Magnus jumped out of the window of his room in that hotel, all the elders and the patriarch of House Trapka, who was there, noticed his attitude.

    They were watching him, as they were already considering handing this person over to the Becker family to avoid deeper problems with this organization.

    The Becker family could not only hurt them badly at the Province Conference but force alliances of House Trapka with other powers to end and attack them in other ways.

    In short, since House Becker was more substantial than their family, they were in great danger of having one of their members in the cross hairs of such an organization!

    So even though Magnus was one of their strongest of them, losing him might be the best choice for this family not to be weakened by an incident he had initiated alone.

    So everyone was already watching him, as he suspected. And when he acted, they immediately left their rooms to pursue him!

    But to Magnus'' misfortune, not only his family members were after him!

    When the Becker family discovered he was the enemy behind the person who attacked Elke''s carriage, endangering her life, that organization had already ced people to watch Magnus.

    Thus, several individuals from House Becker were in the vicinity of that hotel, and when Magnus tried to flee, they immediately realized the problem and began a chase!

    "Quick, go warn the patriarch!" One man said to one of hispanions.

    They were all 2nd stage cultivators. But even if they could hold off the desperate Magnus, they had already noticed the Trapka elders starting to chase that person.

    In this case, since that man was not sure if they would be able to arrest the enemy for bringing him to justice, he ordered the weakest there to go and alert the patriarch!

    At the same time, it did not take Magnus long to realize that not only were his colleagues chasing him, but other people he did not know were too!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Is it the damn Becker family?'' He wondered, confirming his greatest fears, as he associated his family''s action with this other organization.

    ''Bastards! They are in collusion against me!''

    "Hell!"

    "This is all the fault of that damned Lothur!" He shouted as the few people on the streets of this city now noticed the movements in the alleys of the surroundings.

    ''Where is that damned thing? Is he on the Frost estate?'' Magnus began to think of dangerous things.

    Suppose his family was in collusion with House Becker. In that case, he would die or have his cultivation destroyed. That way, he would instead fall down while taking with him the little bastard who had caused all this for him!

    ''Just you wait, you little worm! I won''t fall alone!'' He ran towards the Frost estate.

    Such a ce would be terrible to break into since Mabel, a Transcendent, lived there. But if he were quick, by the time this person caught up with him, he would have killed the little bastard who had caused him so much trouble!

    And with that, this nighttime chase continued, quickly making its way to the vicinity of the Frost estate!

    "Where is he going? Isn''t he fleeing the city?" One of the Trapka family elders chasing Magnus asked, noticing the strange path such a person was taking.

    The patriarch sensed that something wrong was happening, and so he shouted. "Magnus, stop what you are doing! Do you want to cause even more trouble for the family?"

    "Damn it!"

    "What kind of elder are you to cause trouble for the family and try to run away?" He asked in a tone full of contempt and anger.

    "Humph!"

    "That''s easy for you to say! You''re not the one being threatened!" He said in response, still running, already in the vicinity of the Frost family.

    Another elder then said. "Magnus, don''t be foolish! What you are doing can do great harm to the family!"<sub> </sub>

    "That''s right. If you surrender, you might be able to stay alive!" Another person shouted, finally seeing that that man was going to invade House Frost.

    "Fuck you!" He shouted before leaping toward one of the walls of the Frost estate, ignoring the guards and surveince formations in that area.

    He knew this would alert the people on that property, but it would take a while before those strong enough to kill him would show up.

    Thus, he invaded that ce without hesitation, scanning the surroundings for the mortals on that estate, particrly in the nobles'' area.

    He could not sense Lothur''s cultivation like all the other cultivators. Still, since this young man was Viktoria''s husband, he should be one of the few ''mortals'' in the most luxurious part of this estate.

    Thus, he promptly went towards the buildings with the most significant number of cultivators near the end of the first stage and who seemed to be sleeping at the moment.

    Lothur should be in an area of residences or dormitories, so Magnus could only focus his attention where cultivators were sleeping.

    ''Where is he? Show yourself, bastard!'' He wondered, scanning the surrounding area for mortals.

    Meanwhile, a dozen Frost family guards were already beginning to chase and attack him, shocked at the audacity of this person invading this estate.

    As for Magnus'' pursuers, both from the Trapka family and from House Becker, they all stopped their pursuit, not invading that property.

    They knew very well that messing with the Frost family was not easy. It would be terrible to exin that they did not want to offend that family by invading such an estate.

    So they could only stand outside, shocked at the audacity of that man.

    But the Trapka patriarch could not help but turn pale with fear at the thought that the Frost family might target them because of Magnus'' act.

    The Frost family had many enemies and was in decline. But this was not a harmless power. Besides, even if the local rules prevented assassinations within the city, this was not valid for self-defense!

    With that, as sounds of battle came from inside that estate, the patriarch was sweating in fear.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Why did this idiot cause all this?''

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside the Frost estate...

    Magnus had already fought off a dozen opponents, having fended them off as best he could while searching for Lothur.

    But after three minutes, all the mortals he had encountered in his path were irrelevant people.

    "Where is he? Where are you, Lothur?" He shouted madly. "Come out from where you are hiding, you bastard!"

    "Today, I will kill you!"

    He looked from one side of the corridor to the other, seeing the Frost guardsunching spiritual attacks in his direction. At the same time, the weaker servants and nobles fled in panic.

    But as he despaired, trying to find Lothur, suddenly, a powerful aura spread throughout that estate, restraining most of the people there.

    Magnus returned to his senses by sensing something simr to an increase in gravity and returned to his senses. He realized that he had made a grave mistake!

    "Transcendent!" He shouted when he was already surrounded by many guards and could not even move, given Mabel''s spiritual pressure.

    ''I''m finished! And I didn''t even manage to kill that damned wretch!'' He felt hopeless just before he screamed madly, with no more hope.

    ...

 Chapter 320 The Fate Of Magnus

    Meanwhile, outside the Frost estate, Gomeric and Hilda arrived at that ce, ready to finally get revenge on their enemy.

    "Michel, where is..." Hilda was about to ask the group leader watching Magnus when she noticed the group sent by her husband was standing in front of the Frost estate. "What are you doing in this ce? Where is the enemy?"

    Gomeric frowned as he noticed the Trapka family members, each with pale expressions on their faces. "It can''t be..." He looked at the wall in front of him and realized something was happening inside that property.

    Michel then replied. "Madam, the enemy has invaded the Frost family while we were chasing him!"

    "What?" Hilda''s mouth dropped open in shock, not believing that someone would do something so crazy.

    So many families were against the Frost family. But still, none of them tried to act openly or separately. Instead, they acted together, with political actions that weakened this organization and decreased their chances of having an aggressive reaction.

    Why was this so? Because there were few Transcendents in the province!

    Many would die in a major battle if they carelessly crossed the line!

    So to hear that someone had carelessly trespassed on that estate was rather absurd. Not only because of the invasion but because Magnus acted openly, without hiding his movements.

    The noisesing from that ce were obvious. A battle was happening in that ce!

    But while these two were hearing from their subordinates what had happened during the minutes of chasing and waiting in that ce, the noise of fighting on the Frost estate began to approach them.

    "Are theying here?" One of the Trapka elders wondered aloud. "Is Magnus trying to escape? Did he get his way in this ce?"

    But before anyone could say anything else, they all saw when the wall in front of them copsed, and a body bloody from head to toe fell a few meters from where they stood.

    "Magnus?" The Trapka patriarch shouted in surprise, seeing the sad situation of that man who had trespassed on the Frost family estate.

    Mabel had pped Magnus earlier, which had thrown him in that direction. But, at the same time, this man had already suffered enough from the blows of the guards of that estate and was, therefore, badly bruised when she acted.

    Because of this, such a man was in a sorry state when he went over part of the wall there and fell between the Trapka and Becker groups.

    The people outside that estate took steps backward while dozens of Frost guards approached the dying man, fallen on that side street.

    "What are you people doing here?" One of the guards asked as he noticed those people who should not be in that ce in the middle of the night. "Is this a joint action against us?"

    At the same time that the people in those two groups were swallowing their saliva, Mabel and Aiken appeared in that ce, both with severe expressions on their faces.

    Patriarch Becker then was the first to speak up. "Patriarch Frost, madam, we have no rtion to this invasion. Our group was pursuing this man because he was an enemy who tried to act against my daughter. But we stopped our pursuit when we realized what he intended to do."

    "Oh?" Aiken looked in Gomeric''s direction and remembered that information about the Becker family acting against House Tropka at the Province Conference today had reached him.

    He had already seen the Trapka family group across the street, so it was not hard for him or the other people of his family to associate Magnus with that organization.

    Mabel then looked at the Trapka patriarch, someone at level 14, making that man tremble.<sub> </sub>

    "Please, patriarch, madam, don''t think this is our doing! This manmitted a crime, and we were watching him when he decided to run away." He said, sweating in nervousness. "After that, we did the same thing as the Becker family. Trying to chase him down and stop his escape. But who knew he would be able to invade your estate?"

    "We are really sorry, but it''s not our fault. Magnus betrayed the family and was about to be exiled..." An elder standing next to the Trapka patriarch said this, abandoning that person for good.

    Mabel''s eyes narrowed, knowing that these people would try to escape the guilt by all means. But before deciding what to do with them, she asked. "Why would he trespass on my estate?"

    Hilda then stepped forward and exined. "Mrs. Frost, I can''t say with 100% certainty, but I believe this is on Lothur''s ount."

    "That man is behind a person who attacked my daughter and Lothur weeks ago. After that, he tried to approach this young man but was tricked. Then the young master of your family discovered the origin of this man and informed us about it, bringing us to Magnus."

    Gomeric nodded and said. "In desperation, he must have thought of taking revenge on Lothur..."

    "Lothur?" Aiken was surprised as Mabel clenched her fists, noting that this fellow would bring trouble to her, even when he had finally made himself useful.

    But then she said. "Well, it doesn''t matter what you from House Trapka say. One of your people attacked us, so how will you take responsibility for that? I''m not going to let you leave here the way you want to."

    Gulp!

    The Trapka patriarch heard the worst andmented what had happened. "What can we do to reassure the madam?"

    Mabel said. "You will sign Blood Contracts guaranteeing that your family will not act against House Frost in the future."

    That was not a good thing for them since they had rtions with enemy powers of that family. But such a thing was better than them dying in that ce!

    So as they looked at each other, they were quick to agree on that.

    As for the Becker family group, Gomeric approached Aiken and tried to negotiate with this individual. "Patriarch Frost, this man is responsible for an assassination attempt against my daughter... What do you want to let my family take care of his fate?"

    Aiken looked at his wife and felt that this was their opportunity to get something out of this situation.

    The Frost family was more prosperous than House Becker. Still, given its precarious situation, it could get good things for its future by negotiating with this other family.

    And since they had no need to kill Magnus on their own, negotiating with Gomeric was not bad!

    "Well, we can go in and talk about it..." Aiken looked at Magnus'' body, which was still moving and making sounds of pain, before directing Hilda and Elke''s father inside that residence.

    The rest of the people there started to take care of that fallen wall after the Trapka family members left after signing contracts with Mabel.

    Thus, the Frost family got one less enemy that night and an organization to rescue them in case of need in the future!

    Meanwhile, Lothur and Viktoria were enjoying themselves in their hotel room, unaware of all this.

 Chapter 321 Lothurs Explanation

    The other morning, after waking up feeling the same way as the day before, Viktoria could not help but suspect that it was rted to her activities with Lothur.

    She had no clue that sex could provoke such a reaction in women, that Lothur was unique, or any other justification. But the only different thing she was doing was having sex with her husband.

    Therefore, she could only associate her little physical advances with her nightly and morning activities with her husband!

    When Viktoria realized that Lothur had awakened, she took her face off his left chest and observed him sincerely. "Recently, I realized a strange thing..."

    "Strange thing?" His eyes shed as he looked at his wife, trying to understand what she had in mind.

    She then blushed before answering him. "I realized that after we have sex, my body bes stronger."

    "Oh?" He was surprised to hear this since he believed only women with a Constitution weaker than his could be affected by his mysterious ability.

    Because of this, either Viktoria''s Constitution value was lower than his, or his ability could affect even women stronger than him!

    So Lothur could not help but be pleased to hear that since now he could even ''train'' his powerful wife.

    Seeing the smile on Lothur''s face, she bit her lips and then asked. "What is it?"

    "Well, actually, that''s not strange. Every time I had sex with Elke, her body got stronger too." He told her. "That seems to be a special ability of mine, hehe."

    "What?" Viktoria opened her mouth in surprise, unable to believe at first that her husband was telling the truth. "And why didn''t you tell me this before? Are you making this up now?"

    "I am telling the truth." He said as he rolled her onto his body, leaving her sitting on top of his crotch, looking into each other''s eyes. "I didn''t tell you before because you wouldn''t believe me. You''d probably think I was making up a story to get you into bed."

    She looked at him silently, agreeing that she would think something like that. After all, that was too good to be true!

    How convenient would it not be for a man to have the ability to make women stronger through sex?

    Hell, if this news got out, there would be queues of single women at the door of the Frost family estate to see Lothur!

    At the same time, married women would try to meet him secretly, and some ''distinct'' husbands would beg Lothur to fuck their wives...

    Such a thing would mess up Peters City!

    "Are you serious? And why didn''t I realize this before?" She asked.

    "This ability seems to be rted to my powers. Since I became much stronger after thesest two nights, the effects of it have increased on you, dear." Lothur exined briefly.

    "Oh?" Viktoria thought that made sense, but she was still suspicious of her husband. Lothur was not someone incapable of seducing a woman with his words!

    He then smiled as he saw the look on his wife''s face and said. "Pay attention to Elke. Don''t you think she has grown stronger quickly since she started having fun with me?"

    Upon hearing this, Viktoria''s eyes widened in amazement. ''It''s true! I was ignoring such a thing! That brat was only at 1st Transformation when she met Lothur, but yesterday she was already at 5th!''

    "I see..." She muttered as she felt her husband''s arousal rubbing against herher areas.

    Viktoria then looked at him momentarily and said. "Let''s test this out. I want to see what will happen after we''re done..." She ced one of her hands under her legs, directing Lothur''s ''little friend'' to her cave.

    Viktoria was already wet due to their position and because she already had it in mind to do this anyway. So deciding to test his skill, she moved without wasting any time with preliminary movements, sliding on his rod with ease.

    "Mmmm~" She moaned with her mouth closed as she closed her eyes and left Lothur watching her with his mouth open.<sub> </sub>

    ''One determined woman is worth two...'' He imagined this as he ced his hands on her tiny waist.

    ...

    A few minutester...

    "Hah... Hah... I shouldn''t have tried so hard..." Viktoria finally copsed onto her husband''s chest, feeling spasms throughout her body.

    Meanwhile, Lothur felt an incredible sensation in his little brother, constantly pressed by the inner walls of Viktoria''s cave.

    He was also breathing restlessly but had a genuinely happy smile on his face. Female cultivators did not have to train for years to learn to control the inner walls of their caves like earthlings had to gain control over that part of their bodies.

    So Viktoria and all the other women he had sex with knew how to easily control their ''caves,'' which guaranteed him an absolute pleasure.

    Because of this, as he felt that part of his wife embracing his little brother, Lothur was happy and fulfilled.

    He then said to her. "Don''t worry... After a few minutes, you will have more energy than when you woke up."

    She massaged his chest and smiled, feeling that this was indeed true. "It looks like you didn''t lie to me after all..." Viktoria noticed the sudden increase in her Constitution as she probed herself.

    With that, her doubts about the integrity of his words disappeared!

    ''With this skill set, he could kill his opponents, get stronger and then make an army of women...'' She was thinking about that when she suddenly opened her eyes and made a strange expression. ''What am I thinking? He is my husband! I will not allow him to do such a thing!''

    ''It''s much better that I keep getting stronger with him and use this to help my family! I don''t need to share him with others for them to help me!'' She put the absurd idea out of her mind as she ''melted'' in Lothur''s arms.

    That way, they began their third day ofpetitions, not taking long after that to clean themselves up and put on something to return to the Frost estate.

    ...

    When the couple arrived at the Frost family estate, they saw a piece of the wall being repaired and many family guards posted nearby.

    That caused a surprise for the two and made it difficult for them to enter that property secretly.

    "I wonder what happened?" Lothur asked as he looked for a safe path for them.

    There were traitors in this family, so to keep the information that they were living out of this ce, they had to enter this headquarters secretly.

    "I don''t know... Let''s find out." Viktoria said as she frowned under her mask.

    They then found a way to enter this ce unnoticed and immediately went to her residence so as not to cause suspicion.

    When they got there, they still needed to finish changing their clothes when Annaliese knocked on the door, expecting them to have already returned.

    Pa! Pa!

    ...

    AN: I made a mistake in a previous chapter. Elke did not reach level 6, but level 5.

 Chapter 322 Mysterious Enemy

    "Anna, good morning!" Lothur opened the door to Viktoria''s residence for his sister-inw, surprised to see her there so soon.

    "Morning." Annaliese kissed one of Lothur''s cheeks and walked into that ce, talking about what had made here without even being sure if they had returned from their ce. "Last night, someone forced their way onto our estate, trespassing in search of you." She said, looking at him.

    "What?" Viktoria, finishing putting on a green dress, eximed in surprise as she turned back and looked at her sister.

    Lothur also found this unusual, despite the traitors and infiltrators in this family.

    Secretly entering a headquarters was different from forcibly entering a ce!

    So even though he was used to entering ces without permission, he was surprised at the audacity of such a person.

    "In search of me?" He asked, not understanding who it could be.

    He had many enemies. But so far, none of them had dared to act so carelessly. Thus, even he could not understand who the person behind this madness was.

    Annaliese nodded and said. "Last night, a 4th Revolution man invaded our estate in search of you, screaming maniacally, ming you for his misfortunes."

    Annaliese had woken up in the middle of the night because of the noises caused by Magnus and even spied on thetter part of that man''s actions.

    "But he was stopped by the guards and my mother, having been thrown off the estate in the end."

    "Is that why part of the west wall is broken?" Viktoria asked.

    "Yes. He fell into that area, where two groups were waiting for him. One was from the Becker family, and the other was from the Trapka family." She said, looking suggestively at Lothur.

    "So that''s it..." He understood who this madman who dared to invade this ce in search of him was.

    Viktoria looked at Lothur with a doubtful expression, and he then exined. "That is the man behind an attack against Elke and me a few weeks ago. He tried to act against me by sending someone to kill me at the tournament but was unsessful. I reported him to the Becker family, and after that, he must have tried to escape, and this family tried to catch him. As for the other group, I have no idea about its motivation."

    Annaliese nodded in confirmation. "The other group seemed to want to stop him from escaping and hand him over to the Becker family... In any case, in the end, they signed non-aggression agreements with my mother, and this man was given to the Becker family after my father made a deal with that house."

    "So that''s what happens..." Lothur ced one of his hands on his chin, satisfied with the resolution of this problem concerning Magnus.

    He was much weaker than that individual. So even though the Becker family was already after such a person, it was good for him to know that this problem would no longer bother him.

    If such a person had managed to escape, who could know what would happen in the future?

    It was always better to have a dead enemy than a live one!

    After discovering the details of this nightly event, the trio left that ce and had breakfast together before setting off toward the coliseum.

    Mabel had almost discoursed to Lothur because of this. Still, since he was crucial for this family to continue making points, she managed to hold back after much effort.

    As for Aiken, he even thought that the family had benefited from this. After all, now they would not have to fear House Trapka joining their many enemies. In addition, they had reached an agreement with the Becker family that they could receive help from this family in case of need.

    So, just a wall and some wounded people were not enough for him to feel that he had lost the night before!

    But Aiken was concerned because even though Magnus was desperate, this person''s act showed an extremeck of respect for the Frost family.<sub> </sub>

    ''Have we fallen so deep that even someone like him dares to act openly against us?'' He had asked himself such a question several times the night before.

    And so, the Frost family group set off once again for the coliseum, hopeful that thispetition would develop!

    ...

    As Viktoria''s family moved in, Kai was red with anger, furious at what he had just discovered!

    "Who did this? Who dared to attack us?" He shouted as he saw the damaged parts of his second outpost in this city, where Lothur had attacked the night before.

    After one of his most trusted subordinates had visited their third post in this city, Kai had greeted that man''s suspicions with concern.

    But when about two hours ago, the second post failed to send one of the two daily updates, he could not help but feel bad and rushed to this ce.

    Unfortunately for him, his feeling had proved quite right, and now he was seeing where the traces of Lothur''s fight could easily be seen.

    Lothur and Viktoria had been forced to fight and showrge fractions of their strength in this ce to eliminate the more than 40 individuals there. So, naturally, there were more traces in this post than in the one they had attacked first.

    With this, Kai did not even need to order a thorough investigation to determine what had happened there.

    Enemies had attacked them and eliminated their forces rtively easily, eventually destroying the bodies and taking their spatial rings!

    Through it all, he could not help but be furious and scream in frustration.

    He had acted in this city for years, but no one had ever disrespected him so much as to attack him in this way.

    "Unbelievable!" One of his trusted subordinatesmented.

    "Who would have the courage and strength to act so decisively against us?"

    "Sigh... And all this in the middle of our operation against that brat Lothur!"

    "Yes, there was no worse time for such an incident to happen..."

    Several of themmented among themselves, full of doubt but sure that this problem would make their lives more difficult in an unimaginable way.

    "What are we going to do now, boss?" One of them asked.

    Kai clenched his fists and tried to calm himself, knowing that this was not the time to get lost in his thoughts. He knew that only one thing could happen after two attacks in a row!

    An attack on the main base!

    He then said after trying to control his breathing. "Prepare our headquarters. Increase our defenses and call all personnel near Peters City back here."

    "I believe we will soon be attacked, so let''s use everything we have to eliminate this threat!" He said, with even more hatred of these enemies than of Lothur...

    Many people, even allies of his, could deal with Lothur. But this threat to his organization only he could handle. Thus, in this instant, he put the matters concerning the Province Conference aside and focused entirely on his organization!

 Chapter 323 Third Day Of Competition 1

    Hourster, Lothur had alreadypeted in his first round of the day, having once again won and secured a point for the Frost family.

    After that, he apanied Annaliese to her match of spiritual cooks, apetition in which Viktoria believed her sister would go no farther than the third day of the Province Conference.

    However, Viktoria was ignorant about what her beloved sister had been doing with her husband. Therefore, she had made a mistake, and Annaliese managed to cross that line!

    And at this moment, Lothur saw her beating her opponent with difficulty on that tform of disputes for spiritual cooks, moving on to the fourth day of trials.

    He smiled at her and looked at his sister-inw''s status.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 33.8 -> 34.5]

    [CON: 41.9 -> 43.6]

    [DEX: 36.5 -> 37.1]

    [AGI: 34.8 -> 35.5]

    ''Anna has been improving a lottely...'' He saw hering towards him and was quick to congratte this woman.

    After smiling amidst her agitated breathing, given the fierce contest she had just had, Annaliese said in a low voice. "I won today, but I don''t think I''ll be able to keep winning. Next day''s opponents are too strong for me."

    Viktoria, who was standing next to Lothur, thenmented. "It doesn''t matter. You get this far has already been a great help."

    Hearing this, Annaliese looked at her family''s position and felt she had done an excellent job, even if she could not secure more points the next day.

    [10th. Frost Family: 43]*

    While they were talking, Anneke appeared at thatpetition site for cooks and approached where Lothur was standing.

    She had been following this young man''s results for the past few days, but due to herpetition, she had not had time to look for him.

    Unfortunately, she had been eliminated from all herpetitions the day before, so now she was free to wander around the coliseum without worrying about her family''s disputes.

    "Lothur, you are doing much better than I had imagined..." She said as she reached behind him, surprising her former student, who promptly turned to watch her.

    Seeing Anneke, with whom he had yet to develop their rtionship further, Lothur smiled and said. "You should trust me more, hehe... But your family is doing well. I didn''t know House Koch was so capable."

    Anneke was not bothered by Lothur''sck of knowledge regarding the province''s powers and smiled.

    As for Annaliese and Viktoria, they both looked at that woman, with thetter congratting Lothur''s former teacher. "Your family is doing extremely well. Maybe you will finish in the top five."

    "Maybe not..." Annekemented, feeling that the results so far had not been good enough for her family to rise to the top.

    All the families above House Frost''s position in thispetition had lost points by more or less equivalent amounts. Of course, families like Baier, Sitz, and others had lost more for acting against Lothur. But all had suffered from the presence of this young man in thispetition.

    Not all had forced encounters of their youths with Lothur. But as thepetition progressed, the number ofpetitors decreased, and these families ended up having to face him.

    Since there were few 2nd stagepetitors in thispetition, Lothur had gotten the upper hand against all his opponents.<sub> </sub>

    That was particrly true for the spiritual professionspetitions since his mental attributes were far superior to his physical ones, which made him even stronger.

    Also, even 2-star practitioners would have a challenging time with him because of this!

    Thus, the prominent families of this province in thest tournament were losing essential points in this edition.

    It was just a shame for the Frost family that Lothur was only one, and those other families would still finish far ahead of them anyway.

    Anneke then said. "Anyway, it is your family that is doing very well. You will probably get to 6th position if you keep winning like you are."

    Thest final was the day that distributed the most points of all. Because of this, there was still the possibility of many changes at the top of the ranking in thispetition, even considering the few changes in this ranking until now.

    Whoever made it to the final and had the chance to y all the matches could have the chance to score up to 4 points in eachpetition they took part in. Because of this, Anneke thought that House Frost would finish in such a good position.

    And hearing this, Viktoria and Annaliese naturally could not help but be happy, wondering how good it would be to finish in such a position.

    6th ce might not sound like much, but for an organization that had finished 15th in thest edition of the conference, that was impressive.

    But Lothur thought that this family could go further than that. ''That will depend on thest day...'' He thought as he had his eyes closed.

    ...

    After the previous meeting, Lothur''s group chatted for a while with Anneke, then went on with their business in the coliseum.

    They ate, and Lothur went to have fun with Annaliese before his first test of the afternoon, which he once again won. Next, he trained with Reba and then watched his sister-inw win her otherpetition, but this time has gone to her limit to win.

    Then, after he won thest match of the afternoon, Lothur said goodbye to Annaliese and stayed with Elke for a while before heading towards hisbat tform.

    He had a match against a member of the Waldauer family, someone he knew, Caroline!

    Upon arriving at the ce where the match would take ce, Lothur noticed many members of her family in the vicinity. Among these people was the patriarch of such a noble house, the Duke, whom Elke made a point of showing such a person to him.

    As he looked at that influential local expert, Lothur could not help but frown as he saw the extremely dark expression on that person''s face.

    ''What''s wrong with him?'' He wondered if he had offended such a person.

    But there was no way the Duke of Linn Province could not look like that. Only a few moments ago, his son had asked a question that had irritated him immensely.

    "Father, didn''t you say a single person couldn''t make the difference needed for House Frost to finish in a good position in this conference? So why does their position keep increasing?"

    He had heard that and felt an invisible blow to his confidence in his own experience to predict the Frost House''s position in thispetition.

    So now, seeing that person, he could not help but be in a bad mood, even more so considering that his daughter was about to fight the little bastard.

    Lothur knew none of this and headed for a ce to sit with Elke and wait for his time to fight.

    In the meantime, he took the opportunity to spy on his woman''s status and his own.

    ...

    *I made a mistake earlier and added 2 more points to the rankings.

 Chapter 324 Third Day Of Competition 2

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 5]

    [STR: 6 -> 8]

    [CON: 15.4 -> 26]

    [DEX: 8.1 -> 10.2]

    [AGI: 8.4 -> 10.5]

    ''At the current rate, Elke will probably reach level 6 before the end of this tournament...'' He thought, looking at her in a way that she could not help but blush.

    After doing so for a few moments and being satisfied with his woman''s progress, he looked at his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 27.4] [CON: 80.3] [DEX: 23.5] [AGI: 31.7]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 75.9]

    [EVF: 395]

    As he looked at his status, Lothur looked at his mental attributes, particrly Intelligence, which had not increased in a while.

    ''I have to look for resources like that Six Senses Pill I ingested in Lewerenz and Soul Bones. I only know of those two ways to raise that attribute besidespleting the system mission.'' He pondered this.

    Completing the system mission or its phases was not simple. After all, the metal sheets he had to find were either in the hands of dangerous people or were wanted by such people. Thus, he could not depend on that alone to elevate his mental characteristics!

    Thinking about how he had benefited from the Soul Bone he got from the soul fragment and the pill of Harry''s spatial ring, Lothur could only look at those alternatives.

    Lothur had yet to seek these out so far because of his severeck of resources and strength. But with his recent increase in power and the approach of some of his ns starting to pay off, things were changing for him.

    Hence, he already had in mind to look for ways to raise his mental attributes!

    "Elke, where can I find pills like the one I piged from that fellow in Lewerenz, uh, Harry?" He asked the blushing woman, who thought he was looking at her lips.

    Hearing that, Elke shook her face and tried to ovee her thoughts to answer her man. "Pills like that? Some alchemists can produce that, but it''s not cheap. At the same time, it will be hard even to find someone capable of producing such a thing for someone who has advanced as far as you have."

    The number of 2-star professionals in Peters City was not that significant. If one considers all the professions, there should be about 200 such individuals in that location.

    But even if the number was not insignificant, it was far from ideal. Since many of them were members of families, had orders to deliver, or even cultivated and studied, it could be a challenge for someone to order something like this.

    Even more so considering the ingredients were not cheap or easy to find locally. So Elke was naturally pessimistic about Lothur finding something like what he wanted easily.

    "Alchemy, eh?" He understood her line and remembered that he should also learn that profession.

    Previously he had seen at the auction he attended with Annaliese how much alchemists could earn from their pills. Because of this, Lothur''s greed had already made him interested in this profession.

    It was just a pity that he had so many things to do and so little time for it.

    ''After thispetition, I will dedicate myself to bringing my medicine and learning alchemy to the same level as my other professions...''<sub> </sub>

    ''I will use that to solve my problems with my own hands!''

    As he thought about this, thest match before his on thatbat tform ended, and soon his name was called along with Caroline''s.

    Lothur left Elke where they were and climbed onto that tform to face that beautiful blonde woman.

    He then looked at Caroline''s physical attributes through the system screen.

    [Name: Caroline Waldauer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 39.7] [CON: 43] [DEX: 42] [AGI: 40.9]

    ''Oh? It looks like she has improved one point in her average physical attributes since we first saw each other.'' He thought about this as he noticed his opponent''s characteristics.

    On the other hand, Caroline looked seriously at Lothur, knowing her chances of victory were low against him.

    He smiled at her and said. "Carol, why don''t you give up, and we avoid an unnecessary fight? You know that you won''t be able to hurt me at your level, and you will still end up with injuries on your beautiful body..."

    Hearing that, she was not offended, knowing he was speaking the truth. But as the Duke''s daughter, how could she give up?

    "Lothur, we haven''t even fought yet. So why are you in such a hurry? Don''t tell me you can''t face a woman and are trying to use this excuse to save yourself?" She said as her father and brother looked at Lothur angrily, not liking his arrogant manner.

    How could Lothur underestimate a member of this family, the leader of the Province Conference? It was too disrespectful, so

    they could not help but express their displeasure on their faces.

    At the same time, his intimate way of calling this woman had not gone unnoticed by them since, besides them and women, no one else called Caroline Carol.

    ''That brat... Don''t tell me he covets my daughter?'' The Duke clenched his fists, incredulous at Lothur''s audacity in doing this in front of him.

    The crowd in the surrounding area was also discussing Lothur''s opening words as the match referee exined the rules, simr to those of the previous days.

    Lothur ignored the noise in the surroundings and said to her. "It''s up to you, Carol. I''ll try not to hurt your pretty body, but I''m sorry, you''ll feel pain."

    "Tsk!"

    "You weren''t so confident before..." She said to him as she put her battle stance, already preparing to defend herself against him.

    Caroline had received the report from her elders of how Lothur was in battle. Because of this, she was aware that he had not yet shown ''all'' that he had, as each day demonstrated greaterbat power than the one before.

    Since he was already faster than her on the first day ofbat, she was sure she would not have much chance tond blows on his body. The opposite of that, she would probably be in a passive position in this fight, defense being her only alternative.

    So she was not underestimating Lothur and was just there trying to represent her family in the best way possible, even if she would be defeated!

    The referee of the match looked at the two and confirmed that they were ready, signaling them to fight.

    With that done, the people in the surroundings stopped talking about what was about to happen when they were all surprised by Lothur''s speed.

    When he moved, many of the weaker people in the audience did not even see his movements, just a ck blur, the color of his clothes, approaching Caroline.

    "So fast!" She eximed as she raised her weapon in a defensive position.

    But it was toote. Lothur struck a blow to one of her shoulders, knocking her off bnce backward.

    ...

 Chapter 325 Third Day Of Competition 3

    When she least expected to be hit, Caroline felt a piece of Lothur''s ax hit one of her shoulders, and she was then knocked backward off bnce.

    As she felt this, she sensed a pain simr in intensity to the one someone would feel when they hit their little toe on a wall, quickly expressing pain on her face.

    But she did not have much time to concentrate on fighting Lothur or even suppress the difort in her shoulder as he acted against her again.

    Lothur tried to bring down this blonde woman, taking the opportunity of her being off bnce to take her to the ground.

    It was much easier to defeat a fallen opponent than a standing one. So, he wasted no time and made the fighting moves he had learned in movies on Earth and perfected in this world.

    Pow!

    She felt Lothur''s crawl and the blow he used to knock her backward, unable to escape him and falling.

    In this situation, she became more serious. She tried to protect herself by putting on a defensive position to protect her face and vital organs. At the same time, Lothur stood up, attacking her.

    He kicked some parts of her body while asionally attacking the sides of her arms and legs with his weapons, just to hurt her superficially.

    But the pain from superficial injuries was enough to disconcert someone who was cornered and had no means to counterattack, making the fight even more difficult for her.

    Without realizing it, Caroline began to sweat and feel increasingly tense, listening to the noises of conversations in the background. At the same time, Lothur''s voice told her to give up every few seconds.

    "Give up, Carol. There''s no need for you to go through this..." He said in his quiet voice, along with attacks that grew stronger to ''help'' her make up her mind.

    Caroline had used the excuse that Lothur could not fight her because she was a woman, but the truth was that this man had no problem hitting someone of the opposite sex.

    He preferred to have a peaceful time with beautiful women. Still, in a battle, the fact that the other side was a flower would not stop him from defending his interests!

    Caroline felt it in her skin, beginning to regret her bad luck of facing this opponent and still having to fight to the end because of her family.

    Her house had a name to protect, something she could not damage by cowering in the face of an opponent!

    So, she could only press her teeth together and endure the pain of being attacked by a man like Lothur while the time of the match passed.

    ...

    Minutester...

    Finally, the match ended, and Lothur was presented as the winner by themittee of that tform, as he had been the only one to attack in the match.

    At the same time, Caroline left the ce with a look of resentment, with several bloodstains on her arms and her morale damaged by Lothur.

    Her family was unhappy about the situation. Still, it was not as if any of them expected her to win anyway... It was just an eye-opener to see someone being so decisive against a woman, who also was the Duke''s daughter.

    So even this local expert was feeling a sour taste at the moment, losing anotherpetitor to the Frost family and earning some more grudges against Lothur.

    ''That won''t go on for long, little fellow...'' He thought about it as he saw Lothur leaving the area, following alongside Elke to meet Viktoria and Annaliese for the next match.

    ...

    Sometimeter, the entire audience in the coliseum on this day was already in their seats around the central fighting tform, where the group matches were taking ce.

    In this ce, more exciting fights took ce happened at each moment. That brought joy to the ordinary people there, as the remainingpetitors were stronger and showed more of their skills.

    At the beginning of the tournament, many groups have cultivators at the middle part of the 1st stage. But now, most had average strength at the beginning of the 2nd stage, with the minority at the end of the 1st.<sub> </sub>

    Hence, battles like the one between Lothur''s group on the first day of thepetition were happening more and more frequently, presenting great moments to the audience.

    The families were also increasingly agitated as they had to reevaluate their alliances and strategies at the end of each day''spetition.

    Some were simply eliminated from thepetition. So they had to consider how to behave to maintain their current rtionships. Others had to adjust their battle ns to keeppeting until at least the final.

    But while all this was going on in this great coliseum, Lothur''s group took the stage and began to fight, with this young man demonstrating his great endurance once again.

    Their strategy remained the same as the first day. Lothur and Annaliesebined to defeat one of the 2nd stage cultivators while Viktoria dealt with the others.

    That was the only way they couldpete against 2nd stage people since they could not use items like the ones Lothur had the day before when attacking the Mouse Company.

    But for now, their ns were working since, even knowing their strategy, the enemies had difficulty acting against someone with such speed as Lothur''s.

    The main referee of the Province Conference saw this from his VIP area in one part of the coliseum. He looked at thebat tform while holding a vial in his right hand.

    If one were to look at it more closely, one would see a small clear ss vial the size of an adult human finger in his right hand, with a red liquid inside.

    While he had such a thing in his hand, his disciple watched Lothur''s match next to this old figure, ignorant of his master''s thoughts.

    ''When I return to the capital, I will do the proper tests, even considering that this young man doesn''t seem to be who I previously thought...'' He considered, feeling that he was wrong but that it was worth checking this information to finalize the matter.

    It cost nothing to try, and it was always better to eliminate the risk of uncertainty, even for ''small'' situations. Thus, he would not waste what his disciple had achieved by following his orders after great effort.

    And with these thoughts, he soon saw Lothur, Viktoria, and Annaliese beat their opponents, securing thest point of the day for the Frost family group!

    That way, thepetition standings were updated again, but without much change at the top, where most of the remainingpetitors were.

    [1st. Waldauer Family: 113]

    [2nd. Frohberg Family: 103]

    [3rd. ssen Family: 97]

    [4th. Sommer Family: 86]

    [5th. Koch Family: 79]

    [6th. Geissler Family: 73]

    [7th. Becker Family: 66]

    [8th. Baier Family: 54]

    [9th. Frost Family: 52]

    [10th. Vogel Family: 51]

    [11th. Sitz Family: 43]

    ...

    [39th Family Dohmen: 0]

 Chapter 326 What To Do Now?

    After another day of fighting in the coliseum, the Frost family in the top 10 was already a reality. No one doubted this family would be among those positions when the tournament was over.

    Earlier, there were still some hopeful individuals regarding thete performance that the Frost family would have. But more than half of thepetition had already passed, and this family still had three people left topete on the fourth day. Since Viktoria and Lothur were favorites in their respective matches, they were practically in the finals.

    Therefore, other families could no longer catch them up. So, the local powers were sure this family would gain advantages after the conference ended, which went against their interests.

    That meant that taking down the Frost family had be a more problematic mission, and many involved in the sabotages against this organization would have to take a few steps back.

    Thus, there were many people very, very angry about the results that Lothur had guaranteed for this family!

    Unfortunately for them, this young man was cautious not to ''leave'' the Frost estate these days, so they could not even act to do anything to get rid of him...

    These groups could only n to continue weakening the Frost family in the postpetition when the situation in the province returned to normal.

    There were many eyes around at the moment, and House Frost was on high alert... Maybe it would be better to wait for the next opportunity to arise for them to take this family down!

    ...

    After some time, Viktoria and Lothur secretly approached the headquarters of the Mouse Company.

    The two were dressed entirely in ck, with masks hiding their faces, as they watched that ce from afar on the terrace of a building not far from their target.

    While doing so, Lothur could not help but sigh, feeling that the information he had bought about this organization was quite outdated. ''The man who sold me such a thing said that there were four 2nd stage cultivators besides Kai...''

    ''But Viktoria and I have faced more such individuals in the past few days, and there are still those in this post...'' He pondered as he did the math while considering the five people he saw in that headquarters.

    He also saw Kai, level 12, while there were two level 11 and three level 10 individuals.

    Other than these people, in the visible area of this ''abandoned'' building, Lothur could see the statuses of 20 level 9 cultivators, 50 level 8, and almost 100 individuals below level 7.

    ''You can''t trust information sold by unknown informants...'' He realized this truth, storing such a thing in his memory.

    But since the information sold by that informant was not entirely wrong, Lothur did not regret his investment in it.

    "It looks like this ce is waiting for us..." Viktoria did not even need to hear her husband talk about the strength of the people in that ce to realize this.

    Outside this building were 20 cultivators at the moment, all of them well-armed and with cautious looks on their faces.

    At the same time, the prostitutes and unnecessary personnel had been removed earlier. So, the typical movement of women and children there was far from being seen by them now.

    Lothur nodded in agreement to his wife''s speech. "Yes, there are six 2nd stage opponents in that ce. At least, that is what I am seeing."

    "Six?" She looked at him and was surprised. Not even the Frost family had information about that!

    ''It seems that they have strengthened recently...'' She pondered before asking the most important thing. "So, what are we going to do? With these numbers, it will be difficult to break into this ce and follow through with your ns."<sub> </sub>

    To follow through with Lothur''s ns, they had to fight so as not to kill their opponents. Only then could heter absorb that people''s vitalities and be stronger.

    Lothur was silent for a moment after hearing his wife''s question.

    He was not there just to be stronger. One of his goals was to eliminate an enemy group. So following that line of thinking, he did not need to have the best possible efficiency in this ce!

    "Let''s keep going." He said to Viktoria. "But we''ll do things a little differently today. First, we will openly attack them. Second, we will choose who should die to my ability, and the rest will be eliminated in battle."

    Lothur''s idea was simple. The two could not handle a group of almost 200 people, so they would eliminate some of them to handle the rest in his ritual.

    As for attacking this ce openly, there was no other alternative for them. With so many people in the surrounding area, it would be difficult for the two to enter this headquarters secretly.

    On the other hand, the enemy seemed to be preparing to do a battle against them. So it was to be expected that such people would not flee when they started to attack such a ce.

    Then, Lothur was willing to do it!

    Gulp!

    "Are you sure?" She asked in surprise. "Will you be able to handle that many people?"

    She would have difficulty holding the six individuals who were at the 2nd stage. But there would still be over 150 people in the surrounding area that he would have to handle!

    Lothur bitterlyughed and said. "I''ll have to waste a little and take my chances too, but our chances are better than theirs..."

    He saw her looking at him and asked. "Are you willing? If you want to give up, we can do that. But we''ll miss a great chance."

    She noticed the confident tone in her husband''s voice and sighed. "Let''s do it. I want to see how you intend to handle so many people."

    He smiled under his mask and then exined his n of attack to her. Initially, they would jointly attack the facade of that building. Then, they would fight, when she would deal with the 2nd stage opponents, and he would be in charge of the other individuals.

    That was quite challenging, but Lothur thought it was possible because of his defensive and attacking devices, which were not usually so used by warriors.

    Warriors could use formations, clothing, and weapons to their advantage. But they preferred those items produced by cksmiths. And even when they used the others, they were not as skilled at manipting them as the professionals behind such items.

    Lothur would always be more skilled using his skull-crushing glove than a random young man who bought such a thing from him. He knew the full potential of his products, so he could use them in a way that expressed the best of eachponent.

    That''s why he considered his upations his support on the battlefield and was not afraid to face a group of dozens of opponents!

    Anyway, when the two had finishedbining their ns, they moved until they reached an alley in the vicinity of that enemy building.

    After arriving there, they acted, running towards that ce, already attacking so as not to give the surrounding enemies time to react!

    ...

 Chapter 327 Time For Revenge

    When Lothur and Viktoria moved against the enemy outpost, they immediately fired their offensive formations at the nearby guards and parts of the building.

    The first round of attacks threw lightning bolts in the vicinity of those people as if they were spheres of lightning exploding against the guards. At the same time, the second round,unched by the two, contained explosive formations and passed through the windows on that side of the building.

    Boom!

    When that happened, several windows exploded into countless fragments, with damage appearing in the front structures of that building.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Damn, what was that?"

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    Screams arose from the throats of those men attacked by surprise, many of them already lying on the ground unconscious. At the same time, others were crying out in pain or looking around without understanding the situation.

    It had been all of a sudden, one attack, and then, as some of them were electrocuted, explosions startled the others, along with the appearance of several ''projectiles'' in their direction.

    It was not good to be around when the ss exploded, so several people watching the front of this headquarters also suffered from this.

    Meanwhile, the strongest people, who were also a little further away from Lothur and Viktoria''s initial attacks, had a little calm of mind to realize the problem and alert theirpanions.

    "Attack!"

    "We are under attack!"

    Shouts of warning broke amidst the mes of the earlier explosion and the cries of the wounded.

    Lothur and Viktoria saw the damage they had done in that first attack, having even killed some of Kai''s guards.

    With this, they prepared to invade the building and eliminate those in their way in pursuit of their goals in this ce.

    At the same time, the people inside that building were feeling their hearts beating faster, noticing that the mysterious enemy had not failed to target them!

    As Kai had expected, they were next in the enemy''s sights, and now they would have to fight!

    "Come on! Kill those wretches!" He shouted as he turned red with anger at his opponent''s arrogance.

    Kai knew that this had a high chance of happening. But after he had gathered so many subordinates to fight or even scare the opponent, he did not think he would be attacked so openly.

    But it was happening right now. The enemy was attacking them without caring about the majestic strength inside this headquarters!

    So even though those individuals were rushing towards the first floor of this building to fight the enemies, they also had doubts in their minds.

    Was the enemy crazy enough to confront them? What did this mean?

    Well, such individuals were confident of fighting them all and still had a greater chance of victory than defeat!

    Because of this, no matter how strong and numerous they were, no one there was calm, but instead, with a lot of worry in their hearts.

    That would be a challenging battle. They could feel it!

    Meanwhile, the few individuals injured by the initial explosions were trying to stay behind in this attack to stop their bleeding and contain their agony.

    Lothur and Viktoria''s attack was so sinister because it created countless shrapnel that could pierce bodies, causing much difort and difficulty in removing them. And this slowed down the enemy side that had their numbers as their main strength.

    In this chaotic ce, the couple invaded the first entrance hall, where there were various cries of excitement, fear, pain, and the sounds of destructive mes. There, they did not take long to split up and start fighting.

    ? Lothur observed the many people in their surroundings and prepared to face them. At the same time, Viktoria ran towards the stronger enemiesing with the crowd of people, leaving her husband to deal with his problems alone.

    When Kai finally arrived at that ce where the battle was already developing, with Lothur acting against many opponents, he immediately realized that this ce had a problem.

    He could not sense the cultivation of the individual fighting dozens of opponents. Still, the spiritual fluctuation from the woman in ck was too distinctive for him not to recognize her.

    And with that, he could not help but frown and look with narrowed eyes at her. "Viktoria! Are you behind this?" Kai questioned aloud while his stronger subordinates were already trying to surround this opponent that was knocking down the weaker ones on her way to them.

    Because his question was asked loudly, everyone heard Viktoria''s name and was surprised this was the mysterious enemy.

    This organization had been working against the Frost family for a long time. But it was a first for this family to counter-attack them, particrly in such a violent way.

    So it was extraordinary that this was happening now, during the all-important Province Conference!

    Viktoria knew there was no point in hiding the truth from these people at this point, so she began to use her most famous spiritual techniques, targeting these people.

    Lothur had already determined for her who she could kill mercilessly and who she would be better off just knocking out. Thus, this woman soon began to follow through on her ns with her husband, ensuring that everyone there realized who she was.

    "Little bitch, you''re going to regret this!" Kai shouted furiously upon seeing her reaction after being discovered and joining the battle against this woman.

    But as Kai began to ''dance'' alongside his stronger subordinates to restrain Viktoria, he slowly began to pay attention to the direction of the other enemy.

    "That person... I can''t feel his cultivation..."

    Gulp!

    "It can''t be!" He opened his eyes wider, finally identifying that the young man who had ruined his week so far was that individual!

    "Lothur, you pest!" He shouted, making young Ritter''s opponents even more afraid of the person fighting them like an animal.

    While Viktoria was fighting, Lothur used his tailor advantages to fight off his opponents,bining those clothes with his above-average speed.

    Even early 2nd stage cultivators would have a hard time keeping up with Lothur, so he was moving easily against the many 1st stage cultivators there.

    Because of this, with every move, this man would approach his targets and take them down either with an ax or by smashing their heads with his gloves.

    Heads, arms, and other body parts were already flying around that area. In contrast, bodies with smashed heads were unevenly distributed there.

    All this in the time it had taken Kai between getting there, recognizing Viktoria, and finally shouting Lothur''s name.

    Lothur heard his name being called by that person and took off his mask to show his satisfied expression to this enemy.

    "You brought this on yourself! You sent Elise after me, as well as several other people before her. So it''s time for me to collect all those debts by destroying your damned worm organization!" Lothur shouted while holding in his hands the crushed head of one of his opponents.

    "You wretch! I''ll kill you!" Kai said, finally leaving Viktoria''s side to focus his attention on this person who had been causing him so much hatred.

    "This was your worst mistake, bastard! Away from here, you might have survived, but now that you''ve done all this, that will be your end!"

    ...

 Chapter 328 Plan B

    At the same time, over 100 opponents were standing around Lothur, none able to do anything to him due to his speed, Kai found a way to escape Viktoria.

    Viktoria had to fight six opponents until this person decided to do that. But she was only at the beginning of the 3rd Revolution, while several of those opponents were at the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd, with Kai at the beginning of the same level as her. So she would not be able to hold them all together!

    Due to this problematic situation for Viktoria, Kai could escape her by making his subordinates take dangerous measures to make it possible for him to finish Lothur.

    At the moment, he and also these individuals were outraged. But they all knew that if they eliminated Lothur, all their recent defeats would be reversed!

    So one of them betting against this young man, while the rest suffered at Viktoria''s hands, was the best they could do to eliminate this rock in their path.

    And as long as they eliminated Lothur, there would be no more reason for Viktoria to continue this madness, and they could be saved from fighting to the death with her!

    No one hesitated to help that man escape from Viktoria, making possible that moment when he jumped against the ce Lothur was standing, intending to kill such ad.

    ''Finally! Finally, I will be rid of this gue!'' Kai began to celebrate in his mind, already envisioning his rewards and the morale he would gain by freeing the province from this scumbag.

    Many influential people wanted Lothur dead. Thus, having the chance to do this while taking revenge was an absolute dream for Kai, who soon began to lose some of his earlier irritation.

    His organization had been set up to help himplete his missions. Then, those two having eliminated two posts of the Mouse Company was no big dealpared to what he was about to do!

    "Die!" He shouted forcefully, striking out in Lothur''s direction with one of his fists.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria was worried about all this. Still, when she saw her husband, she noticed that Lothur had abandoned n A and was now about to use n B!

    The first was to eliminate some of these people, so they would then knock out the rest. But the second was basically to kill or be killed. Lothur would use his bloodline ability to eliminate the strongest ones there simultaneously!

    As Kai attacked him, Lothur quickly activated his bloodline, making red patterns appear on his face as red mist escaped his fingers.

    He blinked, and his eyes turned blood red. At the same time, a negative feeling began to spread in his surroundings, causing those dozens of people to shiver.

    "What''s happening?"

    "I feel as if something terrible is about to happen..."

    "Why do I feel so vulnerable and afraid? It''s as if a monster has been unleashed near me."

    Several of Kai''s 1st stage subordinates screamed as they felt the suppressive effects of Lothur''s killing skill.

    But not only did they feel they were chickens close to ughter, but Kai also turned extremely pale, and worry appeared on his face.

    ''What is this? What is this sinister ability?'' His eyes were wide open as he looked at the strange Lothur, who was now smiling mischievously, while the red mist had already covered a space of 40 square meters.

    Viktoria saw this from afar and wondered what would happen since she had never seen her husband use this ability against conscious people.

    Thinking about it, she could not help but imagine that it would be more difficult for him to eliminate these people. But, after all, killing unconscious chickens was easier than one that would get desperate and try anything to survive.

    Unfortunately, Viktoria underestimated Lothur''s killing ability, which was precisely conducive to ughter by its characteristics of suppressing enemies within its range!

    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ah!"

    "What''s happening? I''m... I''m losing weight!" Someone shouted in a purely terrified tone.

    But soon after, one of the strongest there said. "We are not losing weight, but rather losing our vitality!"

    Meanwhile, the weaker ones were already losing consciousness, slowly losing the strength in their bodies to continue standing.

    Kai was also feeling his vitality being sucked away and could not help but panic, impressed that a person could have such terrifying power!

    "Abomination!" He shouted with all his remaining strength. "We can''t let this monstrosity escape! He must die, or the entire province and empire will eventually perish to him!" He said in the name of justice.

    The people fighting against Viktoria or who had escaped the reach of Lothur''s bloodline heard and saw the desperate situation of those people as they swallowed their saliva.

    What Kai had just said seemed absurd, but it was entirely possible toe true, considering the present situation in front of them!

    Then, several looked at that ce in fear but stepped forward to try to prevent the worst from happening!

    Lothur saw this and frowned. He noticed a considerable weight increase in his consciousness, something he judged to be due to too many EVF pointsing into his body.

    "If you want to die so badly, let me help you!" He shouted as he pressed his teeth against each other and used the system to distribute more attribute points into his Constitution.

    He could only test this theory for the moment or give up. Since he would never give up, Lothur went for the other option to see if he could kill these people faster!

    [CON: 80.3] (+)

    [14.7 points added in CON for the cost of 294 EVF.]

    As he gave thismand, Lothur felt his body undergoing the transformation generated by his bloodline and system skill. But he made an effort to continue absorbing the vitalities of his opponents, even considering how ufortable he felt at the moment.

    [EVF: 695... 301... 344]

    He saw his points varying due to the simultaneous consumption and gain of EVFs. Still, he did not care much about that, only about his improvements.

    [CON: 95]

    At this moment, when the system showed him only this information, Lothur finally began to feel better and pressed his hands against the air as if he were grasping something.

    As he did so, many individuals in the surrounding area felt their vitalities being grabbed by Lothur. In contrast, Kai himself felt a chill on his back.

    ''What''s going on? Why has he suddenly increased the intensity of this thing?'' He wondered, feeling less and less hopeful about Lothur''s death and unsure about his survival.

    Those individuals who had entered that space covered by the red mist finally regretted it bitterly, feeling that it had all been nothing but false hopes...

    "Hahahahahhaha, thank you, Kai! You helped me a lot!" Lothurughed as he felt the points adding up to his EVF attribute.

    He did not expect that so many fools would try to stop him by entering his ''mouth.'' So by ''swallowing'' all those points that should be lost, this silver-haired young man could only thank the enemy!

    In that instant, despair spread to those still conscious. At the same time, the 5 Spiritual Warriors fighting Viktoria wanted to flee far away from this damned hell.

    But this woman did not miss the opportunity and acted to stop their escape.

    ''I can''t beat 5, but 4 is possible...'' She thought as she threw one of the level 11 opponents in Lothur''s direction.

    ...

 Chapter 329 End Of The Battle

    After Viktoria threw one of her strongest opponents at Lothur, this person immediately felt the effects of his opponent''s bloodline and began to tremble with fear.

    Due to the difference in powers between him and Lothur, as well as in Kai''s case, these two did not perish in a few moments as had happened to most there in the area enveloped by the reddish fog.

    But even so, the two were suppressed by the enemy''s bloodline ability while suffering from losing parts of their vitality.

    They, of course, were using all their energy to defend themselves, trying to create a sort of protective barrier of spiritual energy around their bodies.

    Unfortunately, this was not so effective, and they were continuously losing their vitality.

    But they were slowly moving in the opposite direction of Lothur, hoping they could escape this young man alive.

    Every ability consumed energy and caused a burden on the consciousness of its user. So Lothur must have been trying very hard to keep this thing active and would probably not be able to affect them for long.

    Kai had that in mind, and he was clinging to the faith that he would escape alive!

    But in the meantime, after getting rid of the strongest of her opponents, Viktoria stopped her four enemies from escaping. Then, in sequence, she began to oppress them, attacking them with the intent to kill!

    She could try to throw one more of them in Lothur''s direction. Still, she had already realized that her husband was having difficulty dealing with the enemies in his surroundings. So, since he probably could not handle any more enemies under his bloodline ability, she decided to kill these people.

    "Viktoria, don''t do this! We have important people behind the Mouse Company! Do you think you won''t suffer the consequences if you eliminate us?" The remaining level 11 individual shouted, appealing to thisst alternative for him to save his skin.

    But Viktoria had already gone too far. The risk to her and her family would be much greater if any of these people escaped this ce alive. Then, she would not fall for this opponent''s bullshit and continued attacking them mercilessly, slowly managing to take down the first of them.

    She was already sweaty and with several wounds all over her body, but her enemies were much worse. So, slowly this battle that hadsted so far more than 20 minutes was nearing its end. Each of her opponents was falling at her feet, and Lothur''s enemies were turning into mummies.

    Kai and the level 11 mansted the longest among young Ritter''s opponents. But the leader of that ce held out against Lothur''s skill, while the other died like the more than 100 corpses in his surroundings.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah..." Kai breathed like an extremely old person short of breath as his once muscr, now skeletal body bent forward.

    But he was still conscious as he looked with extreme hatred at Lothur, who was at the moment sweating in exhaustion.

    He had absorbed the vitalities of many people and significantly exhausted their energies. Because of this, he could no longer bear to keep his bloodline skill active and was now with his hands on his knees, breathing with his tongue out.

    "Damn bastard!" Kai said in a high-pitched, shallow tone.

    But because of the weakness he felt throughout his body, he did nothing against his enemy. Instead, he justmented with his whole being the misfortune that had befallen him.

    Seeing this, Viktoria, also suffering, sighed in relief, seeing that her opponent was helpless for them to finish at any moment.

    It would be interesting to interrogate him, but thinking how that might attract trouble and an investigation into his disappearance, she preferred just to end this guy''s life.

    With that, she picked up one of the swords on the ground and approached Kai from behind his back, not hesitating to run that de through his heart!

    "Ouch..." He barely managed to scream as he felt that merciless blow and, soon after, fell to his death on the ground.

    Kai had died!

    "Sigh!"

    Lothur sighed in relief and finally saw the number of points he had absorbed in this ce.

    [EVF: 799*]

    [*: many points absorbed at once. Due to the limitation of the host''s body and mental attributes, some of the absorbed points were lost].

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 27.4] [CON: 95] [DEX: 23.5] [AGI: 31.7]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 70] [WIL: 75.9]

    [EVF: 799]

    He saw this and was not dissatisfied, soon turning his attention to his wife. She had already collected the enemy spatial rings and was burning the bodies there. "Let''s leave. It will be risky for us to stay here any longer." He said in a tired tone.

    Today''s battle had been quite noisy, so the chances that someone had noticed the problem and wasing to this ce were not small.

    Not only that, part of this building was on fire, while many craters had appeared outside around the windows of this building. Since these were obvious points of their attack, their identity could be at risk if they lingered any longer in this ce!

    Viktoria understood this and eliminated only the bodies that had fallen to Lothur''s bloodline ability, leaving those brutalized by herself or him behind.

    "Come on, time to rest..." She said before helping him out of that ce, as he used his visual ability to tell where they should go.

    ...

    Meanwhile, not far from that Mouse Company building, the ce where the non-warrior subordinates of that organization were, was silent.

    Each person there knew that their organization was going through a decisive moment. But not only that, they had heard the battle noisesing from the direction of that headquarters during thest tens of minutes.

    So, everyone was fearful about the end of this organization and the potential retaliation they might suffer in the short term.

    Some of them had made mistakes because of their trust in the Mouse Company''s support, so they might have to bear the weight of the consequences on their shoulders in a short time.

    On the other hand, as much as some of them were children and others were prostitutes, not all wanted the end of this organization. It was a mistake to think that every person in this situation wished to escape their captors'' clutches!

    Some learned to enjoy their terrible and depraved reality, so even some of these women manipted into bing sluts were terrified of the end of Kai''s group.

    Among them, Suse, someone Lothur had met weeks ago, was pale at the thought of the things that could happen to Kai...

    ''I wonder what is happening? How will he be?'' She asked herself things like that every few seconds, extremely nervous.

    But when the battle noises finally ended, she mustered the courage to leave that ce and go see what had happened!

    ...

 Chapter 330 The End Of The Mouse Company

    Upon arriving in front of the Mouse Company headquarters, Suse was not the only one to do so. Others like her, parts of that organization, also went to observe what had happened. At the same time, city guards were arriving,ing to this ce because of the noises earlier.

    The battle in this area would not be enough for the city to be on alert. But several people in the nearby blocks had heard the sounds of what had taken ce there, some of them members of the local guard.

    As it was the responsibility of this group to prevent or start the investigation process of an infraction like the one that had happened there, soon several groups of guards were at this location.

    But the guards did not arrive early enough to prevent members of the attacked organization from entering the building where everything happened.

    And with that, several were already contaminating the battle scene, noticing the remaining corpses, while the smarter ones stole valuables.

    When Suse saw that ce full of bloodstains and mutted human body parts scattered unevenly, she could not help but feel like vomiting.

    And with that feeling, she feared the death of her master, Kai!

    This woman had be ustomed to a life of depravity at that man''s side, who had addicted her to substances and to his very touch. So, seeing this ce devastated but without the slightest sign of Kai''s presence, her concern was deep, along with the tears streaming from her eyes.

    If Kai was not with the other dead Spiritual Warriors there, it could only mean that he was dead, taken away, or he was after his enemies. In any case, the situation was not good since the enemy capable of destroying this ce to such an extent was dangerous for even him!

    As she felt the worst, on her knees next to some pieces of corpses, the guards came in there shouting.

    "Hey! Get out of this ce immediately! You are contaminating the crime scene!"

    Several people in the surrounding area started running with things in their hands when they heard the guards entering this ce, running away as fast as possible.

    Some guards ran after these people, while others dragged out of this ce individuals like Suse, who were getting in the way of their work.

    "Ahhhh! Let me go! Let me go! My boyfriend is dead!" Some of the prostitutes there were shouting simr things as they saw the bodies of people killed by Lothur or Viktoria.

    Meanwhile, one of Kai''s contacts with the Stauss family entered that ce silently, just watching, not touching anything.

    He saw that brutal scene and found it strange, not understanding how, overnight, something so brutal had happened to one of their subordinates.

    They knew Kai was in trouble since such a man had even asked for their help the day before. But no one in Fritz''s group had expected it to be so severe, so they had just ignored his requests as punishment for his inefficiency in dealing with Lothur.

    Seeing the bodies of some of the men who talked to him, this subordinate of Fritz''s felt terrible and angry.

    ''I must warn the young master!'' He thought, observing the surroundings a little more to identify the dead before finally leaving there without difficulty.

    ...

    In the middle of the night, news of the tragedy involving the Mouse Company was spread throughout the major powers in Peters City.

    No one was quite sure what had happened. Still, some power had moved below the radar of all the local forces and eliminated almost all the members of that organization.

    Such news was shocking, especially since all the essential people in this area knew that the Mouse Company was not simple!

    It had influential supporters. More importantly, it was not a vulnerable group!

    To eliminate such an organization would require a battalion or at least a level 14 cultivator. Otherwise, no one could destroy this local underworld group in a single night.

    Unfortunately, the local powers still underestimated technology''s power in battle.

    Local history showed them how stronger cultivators could have difficulties facing weaker people with good equipment. However, they still had not changed their habits. Despite researching the technologies of the powers of the Three Great Lakes Region, they were still weak in this respect.

    So the local powers could only suspect the presence of a specialist in the attacks on the Mouse Company!

    ...

    The estate of the Frost Family...

    "The Mouse Company has been eliminated?" Viktoria asked the servant who woke her and Aiken in the middle of the night.

    The person on his knees beside the bed of these two then replied. "Yes, Madam. Rumors are already circting the city that high-ranking members of that group have been found butchered in their headquarters."

    Aiken''s mouth dropped open in shock as he could not believe this was happening.

    The Mouse Company was an organization that had acted against them several times in the past and was suspected of being behind the traitors in this family. So this news could not be better for him!

    But at the same time that he was pleased, he could not help but feel that this was all very sudden. They were in the middle of the Province Conference and were not paying much attention to these unconnected matters with such a tournament.

    "Who could have done that?"

    ...

    On the other hand, the Duke''s family also received information about the fall of Kai''s group.

    The Duke and his son were meeting with some allies to discuss the uingpetition day when a servant brought up such news in the local government control room.

    "Kai''s group has been wiped out?" Martin asked in surprise, not believing that something like this would happen just at this moment.

    No one was paying attention to conflicts outside the Province Conference right now, while others were investigating the powers of Lothur. So this news was capable of shocking even the greatest local experts!

    The Duke frowned as he listened to the subordinate in question answering his son. "We have no confirmation of Kai''s death, but his top subordinates have been killed. We also found no warriors of that group in this city, and some prostitutes reported that the group was under attack."

    "Kai supposedly fought together with his dead subordinates..."

    ...

    "Kai is dead?" Fritz heard everything from his man and questioned the essential thing.

    "We are not sure, young master. But we assume so." The man from earlier said while he had a cold expression.

    Pa!

    "Tsk!" Fritz did not like to hear this and mmed one of his hands against the table in front of him, angry at this news.

    Kai was a subordinate of his family, who was not weak, by the way. But moreover, despite the rtionship of master and subordinate that he had with such a person, Fritz esteemed the existence of this man.

    At the very least, this person should die for him and the Stauss family, not in a fight they did not expect to happen hours ago!

    Therefore, this young red-headed man could not help but be irritated by this information!

    "Start the investigation of this immediately!"

 Chapter 331 Saturday Morning

    The other morning.

    Simon woke up that morning and went directly to find his aplices within that family, appalled by the news from the night before.

    Kai was his long-time ally, with whom he had nned many of the actions he had been taking recently to usurp power in the Frost family. So the news that the Mouse Company had been wiped out and Kai was presumed dead affected this man''s mood.

    Considering the other bad news concerning the Province Conference, he was apprehensive and could not help but talk to his aplices about alternatives.

    The group they worked for had many ns for this family, so they would not give up. At the same time, another action was already scheduled to happen soon, so for now, they would not regret it but rather readjust their strategies.

    "What do we do now?" He asked as he met with the man and woman who were posing as servants inside the Frost family estate.

    The woman sighed, also upset at the fall of her allies, and said. "Now we can only adjust our ns for the contest for the Secret Realm... At that time, the attention will once again be focused on a contest, and we will have our chance."

    "Hmm, but we can''t make a mistake this time!" The man said, looking thoughtfully at hispanions.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Viktoria and Lothur woke up after a long night''s sleep and had fun before heading out for breakfast with Annaliese.

    That was the penultimate day of the Province Conference. Each contest was already taking ce with a longer interval between them due to the smaller number ofpetitors remaining. So now each of them could watch most of the others'' disputes while they would have more time for themselves between their responsibilities.

    In practice, this meant for Lothur that he could train more to better prepare himself for thest day of matches, which frankly would be challenging.

    On thest day, practically only youths who were at the 2nd stage were left, guaranteeing constant high-level battles.

    But he was not discouraged. On the contrary, he was pretty satisfied and looking forward to the finalsing and thispetition approaching its end.

    Not only could thest day of the trials bring surprises for everyone, but it was also the time for the awards, something he sincerely looked forward to.

    At the same time, after thispetition, he would have a local reputation, which could help him significantly when he started doing business regarding his vehicle project.

    So he could already imagine the ''river'' of coins approaching him because of his excellence in this tournament!

    With these things in mind, he, Viktoria, and Annaliese headed back to the Coliseum this Saturday morning.

    But as the Frost family''s carriages arrived at that venue, just as they were about to enter the Coliseum, a group of people stopped before them, impeding their passage.

    This group stopped in front of Lothur''s carriage just after the Frost patriarch''s group entered that area, and someone closed the gates to them.

    Immediately upon stopping there, the Frost family members separated from the rest saw several 2nd stage cultivators trying to act openly against Lothur''s vehicle.

    At that moment, about ten cultivators, all stronger than Viktoria, rushed against that carriage with their faces hidden by masks. Meanwhile, they unleashed their cultivation pressures on that vehicle, preventing anyone in the surrounding area from moving to escape or trying to stop them.

    "Quick! We have to stop him from getting into the Coliseum!" Someone said amidst these people, aiming at Lothur, the great challenge for the enemy families of House Frost to have better results in thispetition.

    Viktoria, Annaliese, and Lothur realized what was happening. Still, these women were frozen, unable to move due to the opponents'' cultivation pressure.

    The enemies acted fast, and when their carriage had just stopped and they were about to observe the problem, their bodies stopped obeying them.

    But Lothur saw everything with his visual ability, while he could move as he wanted. ''A surprise attack? In this ce?''

    He looked around for Mabel and Aiken and realized that those people were dozens of meters away, surrounded by several individuals of simr levels to them.

    There was even a Transcendent among those people!

    ''Isn''t that the Duke?'' He saw the individual who was there to stop Mabel from acting.

    With that, he noticed that these people wanted to kidnap him since the local guard would not act since the movement of the streets was not being hindered. But, on the other hand, the tournament rules were valid only inside the Coliseum, so being outside this building, Lothur did not have the protections of the management of thispetition!

    But he had already realized that he did not have much time to react and soon prepared to surprise these people.

    He looked at the two women in front of him and the ceiling above them, the only point from which none of the enemies approached them.

    So, the second before the opponents attacked, Lothur acted!

    Boom!

    When one of the carriage doors was blown off by a blow from those individuals, everyone in the surrounding area, among those shocked or even smiling, saw a fantastic reaction.

    Lothur went through the roof of his carriage with two women on his shoulders, both unable to move, like everyone else in the surroundings. But he had no such difficulty, showing these people that theirbined cultivation pressures were nothing to him!

    "What?"

    "How can that be?" One of the masked men said inplete shock. "Not even a 6th Revolution cultivator can do that! Then how?"

    The masked and garbed individuals looked in Lothur''s direction, not understanding what was happening, but sure they could not let this young man get away with it.

    They all knew that Lothur was fast and would be dangerous if such a person entered the Coliseum!

    With that, they all advanced against that young man as soon as hended on the ground and started running against the sidebars of the Coliseum in that area.

    "Wretch! Don''t think you will escape!" One of the strongest shouted as heunched a spiritual attack aimed at Lothur''s back.

    Lothur saw that and pressed his teeth, feeling that he could not escape the pointed ice stoneing at him.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I won''t be able to get into this ce in time!'' He saw the three meters or so in front of him and continued on his way, intending to jump such bars.

    Everyone in the surrounding area looked at him in tension, sensing how incredible this escape attempt had been, but considering his low chances of sess.

    Even some of Lothur''s rivals in that area could not help but regret it, as his attitude had been genuinely unique and decisive.

    Even more so, considering that he had not left those two women behind!

    Swooish!

    Pow!

    Finally, when there was no more time for him to retreat, the impact happened!

    ...

 Chapter 332 Fourth Day Of Competition

    When the pointed ice stone created by one of the enemies trying to hit Lothur was about to hit him, a sword appeared between his back and such an object.

    ng!

    At the same time, blowsing from various parts of the surroundings followed the other individuals attacking Lothur, surprising everyone in the area.

    "Oh?"

    "I wonder who that is?"

    Some onlookers eximed in surprise, many of them still motionless due to the cultivation pressure of the masked individuals.

    "Bastard! Who do you think you are?" One of the masked men shouted as he saw the person with his back to him, someone with red hair, with a few white strands between the red ones.

    This man, tall, strong, and good-looking, level 15, turned his face and looked at the opponent of the same level as him. "You shouldn''t attack juniors like that... Considering your position, it''s a real shame!"

    Hearing this from the mouth of Gomeric, Elke''s father, that strongest masked man clenched his fists in anger, knowing that the Becker patriarch had recognized him.

    He even felt like arguing with this fellow who, until recently, had seemed like a friend to him. But since Lothur had already entered the Coliseum, he only showed his anger by leaving there after a meaningful hand gesture and a ''humph.''

    ''Bastard! How can you do this to us, Gomeric?'' This person was furious as he ran left.

    Meanwhile, Gomeric saw his family members scaring the other individuals in the area but was focused on the figure of the 6th Revolution man.

    ''The Baier family is this desperate, eh? Even the patriarch dared to act against a young Mortal Warrior, hahahahaha.'' Gomericughed in his mind, sensing how low that fellow had reached.

    Since he was on Lothur''s side and would benefit from the good results of that person and even the Frost family, he could only smile in satisfaction.

    At the same time, he looked back and saw that Lothur was already far away and decided to go back to the carriage where his wife and daughter were waiting worriedly.

    ...

    As Lothur entered the Coliseum, all the experts preventing Mabel, Aiken, and other high-level Frost family elders from helping him saw their ns failing.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Devid couldn''t stop that young man?'' The Duke thought about it as he considered the strength of Alric''s father, not being able to believe that the Baier patriarch was so negligent.

    Neither of them saw what helped Lothur, only that this young man had managed to enter the Coliseum with Viktoria and Annaliese at his back.

    Mabel and Aiken saw this and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that Lothur had acted quickly and done the right thing in bringing those two with him.

    Even if someone had helped him, Viktoria and Annaliese could have been taken hostage if he had not caught them in his escape.

    Since they were their daughters andpetitors of this family in the current tournament, this saved the family from losing their good time!

    "Humph!" Mabel tidied her clothes and red at the Duke, making it clear in her gaze that she would not forget.

    Aiken and his group then turned their way, knowing that inside the Coliseum, no one would have the courage to act against Lothur and his daughters.

    As for this young man, he stopped just after walking a few meters into the Coliseum, breathing hurriedly as Viktoria and Annaliese returned to normal.

    "Lothur, thank you!" Annaliese kissed his right cheek as she remembered the previous situation.

    Being under the cultivation pressure of other people could not only be restrictive as to movement, which was terrible in itself. But such a thing usually came with fear in the weakest, something relevant when restricting someone.

    So both she and Viktoria had felt quite a bit of fear in the moments before, which even someone at the level of Lothur''s wife could suffer. After all, even though she was talented and powerful, her powers could notpare with those of people much stronger than she!

    So after being ''rescued'' by her husband in the previous situation, she hugged him tightly and kissed her man as soon as she felt ''free'' again.

    "Mmmm~"

    After feeling the affection of his women, Lothur took a calmer breath. "I didn''t expect that these people were so desperate to that extent..."

    "Hmm, well, it''s actually impressive that they took so long to act," Viktoriamented, considering their family was already in a pretty good position.

    "But what are we going to do now? If they tried this today, what would they do tomorrow?" Annaliese asked, confident that her sister and Lothur would move on to the finals and that the enemies would act.

    Lothur realized this and soon began to consider the possibility that they might have to fight their way to the Coliseum on Sunday.

    "We will have to make some preparations." He said as he walked alongside the two, heading to the site that the first of them wouldpete in now in the morning.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Fritz was angry in his VIP area. He did not believe how so many negative things had happened to his family''s allies since they arrived in Peters City.

    Their goal should be easily achieved. After all, the Frost family and Lothur were two simple opponents, one in decline and the other a young man without support and renown.

    But everything had gone awry in thispetition, along with the tragedy of the Mouse Company and now an action that could hinder him even more!

    "What''s wrong with these people?" He asked in an irritated manner as he looked at one of his bodyguards. "Don''t they know that we are going to attack Lothur tomorrow? How is it possible they did this today and warned the enemy of the problems on the way here?"

    Fritz had nned to make a massive attack on the Frost family group during the drive to the Coliseum on Sunday morning. But now that the Baier family had ''warned'' Lothur of the dangers concerning this, his ns had lost the surprise factor!

    The Frost family would have to be ruled by stupid people for them to risking to the Coliseum in the same way as today.

    Because of this, any surprise action he was preparing could be significantly hindered by this sad move by the Baier family!

    And so, Fritz was getting increasingly nervous, tired of the local plots that always seemed to go wrong when Lothur was somehow involved.

    "But this Lothur is very mysterious, young master." One of those individuals there said. "He hides his abilities very well and even has rtionships with relevant powers in the province..."

    "Who would expect that Patriarch Becker himself would show up to help him?"

    The people in that ce nodded in agreement, while Fritz felt he could not trust anyone in this province. "I want you to list everyone Lothur hase into contact with in thest few years. Let''s consider all these people potential allies of his!"

    "Then keep an eye on families and people like that. We can''t be surprised anymore from here on out!" He said before sitting down and trying to calm himself down by drinking something.

    ''The bastard is harder to deal with than his father...''

 Chapter 333 Ready To Buy A House

    Hours passed, and more people were eliminated in the tests for spiritual professionals in this edition of the Province Conference.

    This time, Annaliese could no longer do well in her matches and was eliminated in the spiritual cook and sculptor tests.

    But nobody was surprised by this since she had been one of the few cultivators at the 1st stage to get this far in thispetition.

    In any case, her family was more than satisfied with her performance, which secured essential points for House Frost''s current position.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria and Lothur had more challenging matches in their support professions. Still, they once again managed to advance, this time to the finals!

    Because of this, the Frost family had managed to move up one more position, passing the Baier family, who had tried to stop them frompeting earlier.

    [8th. Frost family: 57]

    In addition to these results, Lothur had taken care of each of his women in the intervals of their matches and trained with Reba and Viktoria. In addition, he still found time to study his professions and also medicine.

    His resistance to poisons had already advanced since the first day of the trials, reaching the 20% margin in the Bronze grade.

    But amidst all this, Annaliese managed to advance to level 9, an outstanding achievement for their group that still had to fightter!

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 27.4 -> 28]

    [CON: 95]

    [DEX: 23.5 -> 24.1]

    [AGI: 31.7 -> 32.3]

    [INT: 68.8]

    [PER: 70 -> 70.9]

    [WIL: 75.9 -> 76.5]

    [EVF: 799]

    Lothur watched his status as he waited for the moment of his and his women''s group match, once again seeing the advantages of having a good Constitution.

    But he was not too focused on that at the moment.

    After the night before, Lothur had collected many resources from his opponents, earning a small fortune.

    Due to looting the spatial rings of the people killed the night before, he had collected more than 2.8 million bronze coins, reaching the 4 million mark in his spatial ring.

    At the same time, he had obtained Bronze-grade armor, some weapons, and an ax he could use with hisbat technique.

    There were also in such rings some cksmith items and clothing used by warriors. Lothur was already nning to sell those things at the Morning Star Academy to collect coins and merit points.

    ''I think with that number of coins I will have in the next few days, I will be able to buy a decent house...'' He imagined this as he thought about his wallet.

    Living in a hotel was not interesting for him since, besides liking his privacy, he had many enemies. In that case, it was better to have somewhere easier to protect and where he could make changes.

    Since a well-located house in Peters City could cost upwards of 100 thousand silver coins or 1 million bronze coins, he feltfortable making this investment now.

    Lothur then said to Viktoria and Annaliese. "We will look at some houses in this city next week. I want to buy the ce we will live."

    "Oh?" Viktoria opened her mouth in surprise upon hearing her husband''s words, not expecting that he would make that decision so quickly.

    "I''ll help you!" Annaliese smiled. "One of my friends is part of a family that specializes in local construction. Her family has great houses in the northern area of the city."

    "Northern area?" Viktoria looked at Annaliese. "Don''t you think that ce will be expensive for Lothur?"

    Lothur then said. "Don''t worry. Our enemies have given us plenty of resources, hehe. Besides, I will soon have new sources of ie from my business, so it will be good to invest in a definite ce for us."

    Annaliese nodded. "Besides, only in the northern area are houses big enough for Lothur''s needs..."

    "What are you talking about?" Viktoria questioned her sister.

    "Lothur will have some women in the future, so it is not natural for us to find a ce big enough for our... Your family, right?" Annaliese asked.

    Viktoria was not happy to hear that, but it was true that there would be someone else besides her... ''I was forgetting about that redhead.'' She closed her eyes and imagined that having a big house would not be bad.

    With a big ce, at least everyone could have their own space, and she would not have to see and hear what she did not want...

    "All right. I''lle with you." She said after a while.

    "Let''s call Elke too," Lothurmented to the two, thinking it would be perfect if the three could give their opinions about such a ce.

    While they were talking about it, their names were called by the referee of the next group match, and they once again took the central tform!

    When they stood face to face with their opponents, a group from the Duke''s family, those people looked at them cautiously but with arrogant expressions.

    "Viktoria, your group has gone very far. But I fear that this is the end for you." A woman, the leader of that team, shouted, confident of her team''s victory.

    They had four people against Lothur''s group of three. But, at the same time, the weakest of them was at level 10, while they had three people at level 11. So the advantage was in their favor, and that woman felt that she could be the one to defeat that team.

    Viktoria saw that woman from the Waldauer family and said nothing. The battles for them were getting harder and harder, even with the improvements each of them was experiencing. So she did not doubt that her group would not make it to thest battles in the finals.

    However, she thought they could win one more match today!

    "We''ll see!" She said to the opposing group, Lothur and Annaliese backing her up.

    With that, when the match referee gave the signal, both teams ran against each other, each side trying their hardest from the start to win this battle that would be the most difficult of the day.

    The opposing group had a significant advantage against Lothur''s team. Still, this young man was getting increasingly skilled in his techniques, and his body skill was the highest among all fighting there.

    Hell, even Viktoria was already below him when it came to Constitution!

    Therefore, his defense, speed, and ability to perform his mental talents were all in great shape. They all helped him to expose the best of every technique he knew.

    That was not enough for him to overwhelm his opponents. However, it was enough for him to act against some of them, protect Annaliese, and still give Viktoria room to defeat those people!

    Thus, their battle would unfold for minutes, with both sides sweating and even pouring blood on that fighting tform to define the winner.

    In the end, the team with two representatives standing beat the one that had been left with only one person able to continue fighting when the time came to an end!

    ...

 Chapter 334 Finals

    "Haha, we won another one!" One of the Frost family youths jumped up from his seat in the crowd of spectators in the Coliseum, seeing Lothur and Viktoria standing in front of the leader of the opposing group.

    Annaliese had not been able to fight the entire battle. But when it happened, as only two opponents left on thebat tform, Lothur and Viktoriabined forces to eliminate one of them and reach the current result.

    "I didn''t eliminate you, but the next group you take tomorrow will take you out of thepetition!" The ck-haired woman said this while having a pained expression on her face.

    Lothur and Viktoria paid no attention to her. Instead, they simply walked down that tform side by side while watching thetest update of the day of the ranking.

    [1st. Waldauer Family: 123]

    [2nd. Frohberg Family: 110]

    [3rd. ssen Family: 103]

    [4th. Sommer Family: 90]

    [5th. Koch Family: 83]

    [6th. Geissler Family: 76]

    [7th. Becker Family: 72]

    [8th. Frost Family: 60]

    [9th. Baier Family: 54]

    [10th. Vogel Family: 51]

    ...

    [39th. Dohmen Family: 0]

    Seeing this, Lothur smiled, knowing that this result could be overwhelmingly attributed to his efforts.

    But he did not think to demand some sort of prize from Mabel or anything. Instead, he just considered their current situation and what might happen tomorrow.

    "Tomorrow, our group will contest 16 to 32 points. Then our top cement will be 4th position. On the other hand, since the Vogel and Baier families have no otherpetitors resting in the conference, even if we don''t score, we are already guaranteed 8th ce." He said to his wife.

    Thest day of thepetition had 13 participants in each profession. Because of the odd number, in the first two rounds of each contest, one participant would not fight and would be guaranteed a spot in the next round.

    So some participants would have the opportunity to fight 4 matches, others 3, and those more or less lucky, depending on who they were, would have just 2 matches.

    So the score on thest day was variable, and the Frost family''s cement would depend as much on their luck as on the actions of their opponents.

    At this point in the Province Conference, holding back no longer made sense. Then perhaps the same phenomenon that urred on the first day of thepetition would happen in the finals!

    Viktoria then said. "32 points is too much for us. I don''t think our group will win the battles, and I doubt that the two of us will fight every match possible."

    "Hmm, maybe not..." He smiled at her and said. "Some of the individuals who will fight in the group matches will alsopete as our opponents in the disputes for spiritual professionals. So we can y dirty against them and hurt them."

    "Oh?" She looked at him, not the least bit surprised by this since her husband had already taught her about his aggressive side. "That may be our only alternative... Let''s do it!"

    He nodded to her as they moved alongside Annaliese to this family''s carriages.

    "What will we do about tomorrow?" Annaliese asked them. "I bet they will attack us even more significantly than earlier today."

    Lothur looked at Viktoria and said. "We will make some changes to our route."

    ...

    After the end of another day ofpetitions, the families apanying or attending the Province Conference left the Coliseum.

    Lothur chatted for some time with Patriarch Frost before leaving with Viktoria for his hotel room, receiving that man''s thanks once again.

    He had ignored Mabel, just as she had said nothing to him, soon after leaving the Frost estate with his wife.

    This day, unlike the previous ones, they had no battle to fight, so they intended to use the evening to rest and prepare for the finals.

    The next day would be the most difficult for them. After the conference ended, problems from new dimensions would approach Lothur. So, they already had to start preparing since, unlike these days, he would now have more substantial, angrier, and more unconstrained opponents to go after him!

    He had severely injured and even killed somepetitors. Thus, it would not be strange to expect attempts at revenge.

    Lothur was aware of all this and already had his ns in mind!

    ''My house will be the ideal ce for my enemies to die in the future...'' He imagined the ce he would soon buy, a residence that would be the ce for him to have fun with his women, but the terror of his opponents!

    ...

    The next day...

    After quite a night together, Lothur and Viktoria awoke when it was still dark outside the hotel they were in.

    This woman began to cultivate while her husband prepared himself, following a somewhat different routine for this day of trials.

    Today they would not y with each other before leaving, as they wanted to take a different route to disrupt possible enemy ns.

    The enemy was probably already prepared to act against the Frost family group, so it would be a mistake for them to go together with the rest of the family.

    But even if they took an alternative route, they would need to be prepared if the enemy discovered their actions.

    So Lothur was quickly preparing poisons and formations to use on this path to the Coliseum in case something strange happened.

    But he was not worried. With his visual ability and the fact that he and Viktoria would hide their identities while using an alternate route, their chances of reaching the Coliseum were not small!

    Moreover, they would leave early to enter that ce right after the gates opened, at 7 a.m., more than an hour before noble families usually arrived.

    Therefore, the two were soon dressed and left that ce with no intention of heading back to the Frost estate.

    Annaliese already knew of their ns. Since she would be going alongside Mabel and Aiken, these two were reassured that nothing would happen to her.

    In any case, the enemies wanted Lothur, so as long as he entered the Coliseum, no one would try to act against the rest of the Frost family.

    That was Lothur and Viktoria''s n, something they quickly followed as they moved into thatpetition area.

    Today was thest day of the Province Conference, when all thepetitions would take ce on the central tform. So the crowd in that ce today would be thergest of all the days, something they did not take long to realize when they walked out of the busy streets of that city.

    They managed to avoid most of the people in their way because of the ability of Lothur''s Soul Bone. Still, it would not be long before they came across the crowds of people queuing up in that ce.

    They did not have much difficulty on their way, as expected. But they would be in danger until they were not inside the Coliseum!

    As they came across the rows of that ce, they faced a problem getting in there as just spectators.

    "What do we do now?" Viktoria questioned her husband, knowing that the very fact that they were standing there was risky, considering that other people could check her cultivation.

    ...

 Chapter 335 Under The Enemy Radar

    Upon hearing his wife''s question, Lothur thought about the situation for a moment but could note up with a simple solution.

    As he looked around, he noticed several guards were watching the crowd entering the Coliseum, each very attentive to keeping the order of things there.

    That was themon public entrance, so if he tried to force his way in there, he might get into trouble with the event management. So the possibility of him and Viktoria breaking into that ce by jumping over the fence nearby was excluded.

    Yesterday this worked. But such a thing had happened in another area of the Coliseum, where they were being attacked and had their identities exposed. In other words, it was a different situation from the present one, which, in a way, justified their irregr entry. But in the present situation, invading the Coliseum could give them serious problems.

    Also, there could be enemies nearby, and such people could even use the excuse of an invasion to act decisively against them.

    So Lothur soon excluded a possible invasion of this ce.

    On the other hand, entering thepetitors'' area could also be a problem. Each person entering the Coliseum as a participant had to identify themselves.

    Since he and Viktoria would have to show their faces before entering this ce, putting themselves at risk before they could get the protection of the Coliseum, Lothur forgot that possibility.

    "Stay in front of me," Lothur said after thinking and remembering the situation with Elke when they were in Lewerenz.

    "Stay in front of you? What do you want?" Viktoria asked in doubt.

    "I will hug you and try to camouge your cultivation." He said, considering that his body seemed to cancel out opponent auras, which prevented others from sensing his strength but also prevented others'' cultivation pressure from affecting him.

    "Will that work?" She asked in disbelief.

    He smiled with uncertainty from beneath his mask andmented. "I''m not sure if it will work 100%. But I think it will  make it harder for enemies in the vicinity to recognize you."

    There were many people in the vicinity. And with him hugging Viktoria, it would be tricky to determine her position even if someone noticed a person at her level there.

    As they only needed to enter the Coliseum amidst the crowd in the vicinity, doing so seemed to be the best and least risky thing for them.

    ''Hopefully, there''s no one powerful waiting for us here...'' Lothur imagined as Viktoria stood before him.

    After that, he put his arms around her, one going over her shoulders, getting supported above her breasts, and the other below her breasts, at her waist.

    Viktoria blushed as she noticed how Lothur wanted to stay while simultaneously noticing the people looking in their direction.

    But this was a ce crowded with people, many of them couples, who would not find it strange for another couple to embrace each other like this in public.

    There were so many people there that it would not be strange for someone to touch the wife of others where they should not... So would it be strange for a boyfriend or husband to protect his woman by hugging her from behind?

    Most thought not, and soon after looking at them for a few moments, the people in the area would lose interest and leave the two alone.

    "Aren''t you embarrassed to look like this in public?" Viktoria asked as she felt her husband''s face resting on her head, feeling incredibly intimate with him.

    Lothur smiled and continued to smell the delicious scent of her hair. "Of course not. You are my wife, so why would I be embarrassed to treat you as such in public?"

    "But that''s very immoral... We shouldn''t behave like that in public."

    He disagreed with her. "It would be immoral if I were groping your ass or breasts and kissing your neck. It''s not weird here at all... Look at that. Other couples are acting like that too!" He pointed as he saw two people acting simrly to them a few meters from where they were.

    Upon hearing this, Viktoria immediately saw the couple smiling and hugging in the same way as them. Noticing this, she felt her heart calm down and began to enjoy the situation.

    ''It''s not bad to be like this... I feel protected, just like when we sleep together.'' She closed her eyes for a moment as she used one of her hands to massage one of Lothur''s arms.

    Meanwhile, they slowly walked towards the entrance of the Coliseum, where were the turnstiles that each person had to pass through.

    The Frost family had tickets to enter the Coliseum, which families usually earned to allow servants or less prestigious nobles to attend the event. So it had not been difficult for Viktoria to get two tickets for them.

    With that, the two stood at that entrance for more than 20 minutes, walking slowly towards one of the turnstiles, always hugging each other without drawing too much attention.

    Some cultivators watching the area had even noticed that there was someone there who was quite strong for the average person in this ce. Still, none of them could figure out exactly where this person was.

    There were few mortals in the area, so with so many cultivators so close to each other, they could only ignore the situation.

    It was not as if it was against the rules for someone powerful to pass through this ce... Besides, none of them were looking for trouble. They were just watching the area to stop any situation that might happen.

    "Hey!"

    "Hold it right there! Don''t run!" One of them saw a young man trying to run over a turnstile and started running after this delinquent.

    Meanwhile, Lothur and Viktoria finally got close to the beginning of the line!

    "What do we do now?" She asked.

    "We will continue to hide our identities until the time of my match. There''s no need for us to draw attention from our opponents here." Hemented in a low voice, just before it was Viktoria''s turn to enter the Coliseum.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at thepetitors'' entrance in another part of the Coliseum...

    In this ce, several men were hiding in trees and side buildings, guarding the area cautiously while using unique formations to hide their levels.

    It was not easy to get items like this, so Viktoria had not used something of the sort since she had very little time between yesterday and now.

    But getting items like these was lessplicated for someone who had been preparing for days for this moment. So, naturally, these people were using them in this ce.

    "Boss, how long before the enemyes through here?" One of the men theremunicated with the person closest to him while using signnguage.

    The person on a rooftop then said. "Maybe he won''t arrive... We have four groups prepared to act against our target. So he may be neutralized before he gets here."

    "I hope so." Someone sighed. "What if he doesn''t fall into any of our traps?"

    "Impossible!"

    "How could a young man do something like that? Even if he doesn''te with the rest of the Frost family, how would they get here without alerting our men?" Another man said.

    The leader of that group thenmented. "In any case, as long as he doesn''te, that''s already a good thing, although we won''t have a chance to eliminate him..."

 Chapter 336 Where Is He?

    Meanwhile, at the Frost family estate...

    At this very moment, the most important members of this organization were preparing to leave for the Coliseum, many of them already in their carriages.

    But one of them, Simon, was standing outside his carriage, looking from one side to the other, unable to find Viktoria and Lothur.

    Not finding Lothur was to be expected. But this being true even for Viktoria was very strange!

    Since he had been in charge of passing on the information about Lothur''s departure to his cronies, he could not help but get a little nervous now.

    "Where is Lothur?" He asked aloud to the servants on the outskirts. "Move quickly. Wake this boy up. Doesn''t he know how important the Province Conference is to the family?"

    The nobles there looked at him from inside their carriages, and some felt that this aggressivement from Simon was to be expected. After all, since Lothur had brought them to the final, he had to remain responsible for at least one more day!

    That way, the family could have the best possible results in thispetition!

    However, Mabel and Aiken arrived at that ce just that instant and could not help but find Simon''s behavior strange.

    ''He seems very agitated...'' Mabel thought about it silently as she noticed the sweat dripping down that man''s neck.

    Meanwhile, Aiken was a little less suspicious than his wife since Simon was his uncle, someone of the same blood as him. But even someone with a good heart and skeptical of Lothur''s lines could not ignore this behavior in front of him.

    ''It looks like there''s something wrong here...'' He thought as he walked beside his wife and daughter.

    But unlike her parents, Annaliese hadplete confidence in Lothur''s words. To her, it would simply be better for them to arrest this man and only then investigate him than to give him the benefit of the doubt.

    So for her, there was no doubt that this person wanted to harm Lothur with this absurd questioning.

    She then stepped forward and said in a provocative tone. "What do you want, uncle Simon? Lothur and my sister know very well the importance of this event. They are the ones who have secured my family''s current position. So what do you think they will do now? Give up? Forget about thepetition?

    Simon looked at that brat in front of him, feeling that her loudment and a bit of irony were meant to make him feel like a fool.

    "Annaliese..." He said without quite understanding why this child was talking like that. But at the thought that she was trying to defend her sister and brother-inw, he sighed and tried to justify himself. "That''s not the point... I am grateful to Lothur. But where is he now? We can''t bete!"

    The people in the surrounding area nodded, but they all agreed with Annaliese''s words.

    It was Lothur and Viktoria who had given the current position of this family to them, so these two were the ones most interested in continuing topete.

    That was particrly true because Lothur and Viktoria had chances to win the first-ce prize in their respective professions.

    Up to this point, they had only helped the Frost family without guaranteeing anything for themselves. But today, every winner of the day will win relevant prizes!

    Therefore, it made no sense to think that Lothur and Viktoria were sleeping or doing what they should not.

    Annaliese saw that her parents did not correct her for her previous speech and said with a smile. "Don''t worry about them, uncle Simon. I''m sure my brother-inw and sister are already in the Coliseum."

    "What?" He eximed in surprise as Mabel Aiken looked at him cautiously.

    But they would not tell this man or the other people in the area that Viktoria and Lothur had not lived on this property for days. There was no reason to, so they got into their carriage, leaving Simon and his questions behind.

    ''When thispetition is over, we will deal with you...'' Mabel''s eyes sharpened as Annaliese talked to her father.

    "Father, you have to do something against this person. I''m sure he is our enemy, or he wouldn''t try to make so many inquiries about Lothur."

    "Hmm, it''s bizarre... But he is part of our family, Anna. We can''t just believe an usation like that without investigating first." He gave his justification, trying to make his daughter more loyal to her own family. "Do you believe your brother-inw more than your uncle?"

    "Of course! Lothur is wonderful. He would never lie to us." She said withplete confidence.

    Mabel looked strangely at her youngest daughter, but since Annaliese had always gotten along well with Lothur, she did not suspect anything.

    But Aiken was shocked that Annaliese trusted her sister''s husband more than her blood rtive.

    "Anna, how can you be like this? Your uncle has always treated you well." Hemented, shocked at how decisive she was.

    "Lothur is part of our family and is much closer to us than my uncle. Imagine when my sister gets pregnant. He will be the father of your grandchildren!" She said, thinking more of herself than Viktoria

    "What?" Aiken almost hit his head on the carriage roof as he stood up suddenly after those words. "What is this nonsense you are talking about?"

    Mabel was watching Annaliese as well. But since she could imagine how much Viktoria was doing to Lothur, she did not find her daughter''sment strange.

    Annaliese then said. "I am stating the obvious. They are husband and wife, so isn''t it normal for them to get pregnant?"

    Aiken finally clenched his fists and felt his blood rise to his head, imagining this possibility. "No. It''s too early. Your sister needs to focus on cultivation now. She couldn''t do something so foolish!"

    Mabel then relieved him. "Don''t worry, darling. I''m sure Anna has a fertile mind and doesn''t know what she''s talking about. Vicky definitely wouldn''t get pregnant right now."

    "I hope so..." He sighed as his daughter massaged her belly.

    .

    ''What will happen when I get pregnant?" She imagined her parents'' reaction.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at one of the posts where Lothur''s enemy groups were waiting for him...

    "Where are those damned people? Don''t tell me they will use the main path to the Coliseum?" One of the men on the outskirts of an alternate route to the Coliseum asked hispanions as he saw no movement in the surrounding area.

    Fritz''s reinforcements had arrived the night before, having made their ns and positioned themselves around Peters City, aiming to stop Lothur and Viktoria.

    If they tried to go to the Coliseum by one of the routes from the Frost estate, they would be caught by one of the traps or personnel waiting for them!

    Unfortunately for these people, Lothur had left the Frost estate the day before, not today, when they had their eye on such a ce!

    So this group just stood there doing nothing, waiting for someone who would nevere.

 Chapter 337 Did He Give Up?

    Meanwhile, on one of the avenues through which the Frost family''s convoy was passing at this very moment, Fritz and some of his subordinates were waiting for their moment.

    "They areing at the beginning of the avenue, young master." One of themmunicated to that red-haired young man as they hid among the crowd rushing to the coliseum.

    Upon hearing this, Fritz clenched his fists and smiled, feeling that perhaps this was the moment for him to get rid of Lothur finally.

    That had already been a goal of his when Lothur was supposed to be just a worthless man with troublesome potential days ago. But now that this young man had proven how terrible he could be, Fritz had much more reason to act!

    That even gave him more courage to face possible consequences that his actions could bring.

    Unfortunately, Kai had died and had not fulfilled his purpose of eliminating Lothur and suffered the weight of the fists of this young man''s father...

    In any case, even considering the risk that Lothur''s father would eventually pursue him, Fritz was fully willing to act in this ce.

    So as he saw the first carriage of the Frost family group entering the avenue he was in, he asked his men. "Has Simon informed us of Lothur''s movements? Which carriage is he in?"

    One of this young man''s bodyguards shook his head negatively upon hearing this and said. "He has not sent us any information, young master."

    "What? How could he not?" Fritz''s eyes narrowed.

    That man then said. "I am not sure why, but our lookouts near the Frost estate have not yet received his signal."

    Hearing this, Fritz felt that something was wrong. But since none of his groups around this town had the notices of possible actions, he considered that Lothur could only be in one of those carriages passing by there right now.

    "Whatever. Let''s attack them and quickly take action against Viktoria and whatever mortal is closest to her." He gave his order as he prepared to act along with his men.

    Unfortunately for him, as the Frost family carriage group passed between the area where his men were, they noticed a problem.

    Viktoria was not there, and there was not a single mortal among all the people in the carriages passing on that street!

    "Young master, what do we do? They are not here!" One of the strongest men in the surrounding area said this in a worried tone, not wanting to act against Mabel''s group without their target being there.

    It would be terrible to be chased by Mabel. But they were enough to quickly eliminate Lothur and have a good chance of escaping her. However, it would be much worse to risk suffering at her hands without them even having a chance to seed in this mission!

    So one of the strongest individuals sent by the Stauss family to this city to help Fritz was not interested in acting.

    Fritz frowned and clenched his fists, noting that neither Viktoria nor Lothur was among the people in those carriages.

    ''Where are they? Don''t tell me they''re going to give uppeting in the Province Conference Finals?'' He looked at each of those carriages passing by there, feeling frustrated by the current situation.

    As all his men looked at him, tense at what this young man might order them to do, Fritz pressed his teeth and cursed Lothur. ''Damn you!''

    "Retreat!" He said, calling off that operation.

    There was no reason for him to want trouble with the Frost family group so openly and even at the risk of suffering losses to them at the cost of nothing. So this was the only alternative for them.

    With that, while Fritz''s men sighed and the Frost family continued on their way, unaware of the risks in the surroundings, this young man began walking towards the coliseum, stressed.

    "Start investigating the matter immediately!" He said to his men. "I want to know exactly how two people managed to fool dozens of us!"

    "Yes, young master."

    ...

    A few minutester, the grandstands of the coliseum were already almostpletely upied as all thepeting families were there for the start of the finals.

    Not only were those who participated and followed thest days of the trials in this ce, but also some important figures who were notpeting in thispetition.

    Among them was the coroner Klossner. This was a wealthy man from this city who was also part of the Peters City government, even though he was not part of any local noble family.

    And like him, many wealthy people who could have their interests affected by the final of thispetition were in this ce to follow the efforts of the noble families.

    Several were fraternizing among themselves now, taking the opportunity to chat with old acquaintances.

    But while this was going on, Lothur''s main rivals were intrigued by this young man''s situation.

    From the information that had reached several of them, Lothur and Viktoria had not entered thepetitors'' area until now. As it was almost time for this young man''s first match of the day to begin, many were already talking about it without understanding what was going on.

    "I wonder if something happened to him?" Someone in the Baier family group asked.

    "Now it makes no difference to us anymore... Tsk!" One of them said, feeling terrible that he had lost his position to House Frost.

    On the other hand, the people in the Duke''s family group did not understand the situation.

    "I wonder what happened? Surely Fritz''s group failed to act, or we would have received some information." Martinmented to his father, not understanding what could have happened to Lothur and Viktoria.

    The Duke also had a dubious expression on his face, looking in the direction of the Frost family''s area and noting that they were fine. Still, there was a particr uncertainty in the eyes of several people there.

    ''It seems they themselves are not sure what is going on?'' He wondered as he had his eyebrows fully drawn together.

    The Duke then said to his son. "There''s something there. I can''t believe a brat as slippery as he would give it all up now."

    Caroline heard all this and bit her lips. She wondered where Lothur was and if anyone in her family would have the opportunity to avenge the defeat she had had for him.

    ''Where is he? Has something happened to him?'' She looked in Annaliese''s direction and saw that, unlike the other people in that area, this brown-haired woman was tranquil.

    ''Hmm, she knows something...'' Caroline''s eyes narrowed. ''Looks like that fellow is ying with the minds of his opponents.''

    While everyone was thinking about Lothur, the finals'' opening ended, and soon the main referee of the event announced the first matches of formations masters.

    As expected, Lothur''s opponents had forced this young man''s first encounter with one of the strongest formation masterspeting in this final. But, at the same time, they gave him no chance to proceed to the next round without a fight!

    And with that, when his name was called, hundreds of people were silent as they tried to understand what would happen.

    Would he just give up? Would he find a way to attend this match?

    But they soon had their answers!

    ...

 Chapter 338 The Finals For Formations Masters 1

    When Lothur''s name was called, everyone in the coliseum who knew that he had not entered through thepetitors'' area in this ce fell silent in anticipation.

    But the ordinary crowd in this ce celebrated, with thousands of people eager to see the great dark horse of this edition of the Province Conference.

    Of those tens of thousands of people there today, only a fraction of them had had the opportunity to see Lothur''s skills in action in the previous days. So, many were eager to see him.

    Ordinary people usually identified with weaker candidates and opponents of predominant powers because of the ''simrities'' these individuals had with themselves. Thus, many there were cheering for him, a young man who, although unusual, was until recently just a mortal, a good-for-nothing.

    How many there could not be considered better than Lothur a few weeks ago?

    Almost all of them!

    Because of this, many already liked him, even considering his unusual personality.

    But while the stands of this coliseum were celebrating, Lothur''s enemies finally had their answer.

    After the match referee called Lothur''s name, Lothur jumped up from his seat and headed for the battle tform.

    When he did this, several guards in the surrounding area thought this was a spectator breaking the rules and promptly tried to stop him.

    But as he made his move, Lothur took off his mask and the ck cloak he was wearing to camouge himself, showing his identity to everyone.

    "What? Lothur?" The guards heading toward him were the first to realize his identity, stopping short before hitting him.

    At the same time, this young man''s enemies felt as if buckets of cold water had been thrown on their backs.

    They would have preferred that Lothur had simply note!

    But seeing him there, they all knew that the Frost family would gain a few more points and that perhaps their organizations would lose benefits as a result.

    On the other hand, those who knew about the traps around Peters City for this day could not help but stare mysteriously at him.

    "How did he get in here without anyone noticing?" Fritz shouted to his men in the VIP area he was in.

    Lothur and Viktoria leaving the Frost family estate with their identities protected were not out of Fritz''s group''s ns. So he could not help but wonder how these opponents had fooled his many men in this city.

    "Young master, I don''t know how he could have done that." One of the men who had staked out the Frost estate the night before and this morning said. "My group stayed all night in that ce. I can guarantee that there is no way he could have gotten out of there."

    Even the Frost family''s secret exit was being watched as Simon had told them where the outer side of the escape tunnel from that estate was.

    Therefore, even that crucial point had been watched by these people!

    "So the wretch left before our groups even started watching them!" Fritz realized this and mmed his fist against the support of his armchair.

    ''Lucky wretch!''

    ...

    Meanwhile, the people from the Frost family and House Becker were sighing in relief to see that Lothur had worked his way into this ce.

    "He was clever to get in through themon area..." Hildamented to her husband.

    "Hmm, but how did he do it so as not to be discovered? Viktoria''s cultivation is not easy to hide. Finding a formation capable of doing that must not have been easy..." Gomeric said in curiosity.

    Elke heard this and readily imagined that this must be another of Lothur''s abilities coupled with the powers of his Soul Bone.

    On the other hand, Aiken sighed as he looked at his son-inw and then at Viktoria, who was now moving in the direction of thepetitors'' area.

    Now that Lothur had already shown himself, there was no longer any reason for them to hide.

    "It looks like it all worked out..." Aikenmented in a low voice as the match referee finished signaling to Lothur and his opponent the rules of the match.

    But there was nothing new there. They had time to produce their formations, and then they would have to ''duel'' with each other using only what they had developed at that period.

    With that, it did not take long for Lothur, and his level 10 opponent, an almost 2-star formations master, to start producing their respective formations.

    Lothur''s opponent could not yet be considered a 2-star professional. After all, it was not enough to advance a stage for someone to achieve that ssification. That was just as 1st stage youths would not be 1-star professionals just because they were cultivators.

    There was new content to learn at each level of mastery, so even though that young man''s cultivation was higher than his, Lothur was still in the same rank as that person.

    While they started topete, producing their formations, some local Formations Masters Association members were in that ce following the event.

    Johann Teusen, the young formation master Lothur met during his entrance test in that organization, was there apanying his family.

    "Unbelievable!" He said in a low voice as he realized how easily Lothur could manipte the restriction space of the formation gs. "He already has simr maniption skills to those 2-star individuals!"

    Meanwhile, Philip, the old 2-star formations master who invited Lothur to the Formations Masters Association, did not listen to Johann but agreed with him entirely.

    "Lothur is pretty much on the level of our young beginner 2-star formations masters!" Hemented to the elder next to him, the person who gave the order for him to invite young Ritter to their power with many liberties.

    Joshua, standing next to Philip, nodded and said. "Yes. It''s just a shame that his inscriptions are still at the first level of our specialization, or he would be able to produce Bronze-grade formations."

    Joshua could not see what Lothur was doing since it was pretty tricky to see through the Natural Law restriction region of the gs. But he did notice that this young man''s brush movements were simr to those of someone drawing codes with Iron-grade inscriptions.

    "Hmm." Philip nodded. "But lucky for him that his opponent has not yet mastered his Bronze grade inscriptions."

    Meanwhile, Lothur and his opponent moved their work forward, quickly ending the first part of the dispute in this ce with the expiration of the time they had before the battle.

    But unlike previous days, where sometimes Lothur would let his opponent finish first, he made sure to finish before his opponent today.

    He had no way of knowing the difference between him and that person, so he prepared himself as best he could to attack his opponent first!

    As long as his blow was decisive, it would make no difference how good his opponent''s offensive formation was!

    With that, when time ran out, Lothur moved before his opponent even had time to get up, using his unmatched speed.

    He then threw his formation at that opponent, a pair of spheres that spun in opposite directions, producing a shrill sound and leaving beautiful sparks through the air.

    Boom!

    ...

 Chapter 339 The Finals For Formations Masters 2

    When the spheres thrown by Lothur came within just 2 meters of his surprised opponent, the two stopped spinning and exploded!

    Boom!

    The first created a highly bright beam of light, causing people from various parts of the coliseum stands to try to hide their eyes with their forearms.

    That was particrly true for Lothur''s opponent, the young man looking toward the spheres when they exploded.

    He unconsciously closed his eyes at that moment while raising his arms toward his face.

    His defensive shield was in his right hand, already activated, something he had done the moment Lothur had initiated his attack movement.

    This young man was confident in his offensive formation, so he felt he could defeat his opponent by dealing with this sudden attack first and then attacking in a second moment.

    Unfortunately for the Frohberg family''s ck-haired young man''s ns, Lothur''s second sphere exploded along with the first, hurling several fragments at him.

    The first sphere contained a formation to distract the target. At the same time, the second sphere contained an explosive formation, whichunched numerous nails from its interior in all directions.

    Due to that young man''s fright, thousands of tiny nails flew rapidly into his body as he tried to shield his eyes from the intense light produced by the first sphere.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The instant this happened, his defensive item could not contain all the nails, and some of them prated his skin hard.

    As much as these nails were tiny, smaller than fingernails, such a thing did nothing to lessen the pain of being prated by several of these at once.

    At the same time, as much as heavier projectiles were more destructive, in general, speed yed an essential role in the power of such projectiles. Therefore, since those nails wereunched at very high speeds, this young man from the Frohberg family suffered from Lothur''s attack!

    "Ahhhhhh! Bastard! You hit me!" He screamed in pain as he dropped his shield from earlier and fell with his butt on the ground, feeling his legs and arms punctured by those nails.

    So many nails had hit him that his clothes were soon stained with blood, and he lost all sense of touch in his hands and feet.

    Once in these circumstances, even if his formation could defeat Lothur, what could he do if he was not even capable of throwing such a thing?

    Seeing this, Lothur sighed in relief and soon heard the announcement that he had won the match!

    "In this match, the participant..."

    "Disgrace!" The Frohberg patriarch mmed his hands on his seat, cursing Lothur in his mind, for that was the only candidate from that familypeting in the finals.

    Not only that, that ck-haired young man still had three other matches topete in today. So by being injured at that level by Lothur, this person''s chances of gaining points for this family had just decreased significantly!

    "Cruel brat! What''s the need to attack so viciously?" He rose from his seat and shouted while Lothur ignored the many sounds that came to him.

    Few people in the world had regenerative abilities as good as Lothur''s. So those injuries would not resolve themselves quickly, not even if the ck-haired young man drank potions, used pills, or did medical service.

    Any option demanded that his body absorb substances and regenerate his injured tissues. But that took time, something that anypetitor in this ce did not have this day!

    As such, the Frohberg patriarch could not help but feel bad to see how wrong his move had been!

    Meanwhile, his daughter, Nora, that beautiful redhead that Lothur already knew, clenched her fists as she listened to her father.

    She had already suffered a defeat to Annaliese during the tournament and had been eliminated in all her trials on the third day of thepetition. So all this time, she had been watching Lothur''s performance and that woman who should not have been so strong just a few weeks ago.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I shouldn''t have given up that Soul Bone!'' She regretted it once more. ''If I had absorbed it instead of her, I would probably still bepeting!''

    She then looked in Annaliese''s direction, full of hatred in her eyes.

    But Annaliese did not even notice such a thing as she intently watched her brother-inwing up to her in thepetitors'' area.

    Annaliese no longer had spiritual profession trials. However, since she would fight in group battles with Viktoria and Lothur, she could still use thepetitors'' area.

    So she soon joined her brother-inw and her sister, not taking long to start hearing how theiring to the coliseum earlier today had gone.

    ...

    Sometimeter, Lothur once again had to fight in the second round of the formations masterspetition, this time against someone from the ssen family.

    The opponent in this match was not as different as the previous one, so Lothur managed to beat him by using a slightly different strategy than the one used earlier.

    1-star professionals like him usually had limited repertoires. Even more so considering that all the individualspeting in this Province Conference were young, with only a few years of education.

    So mostpetitors suffer from ack of options when fighting their opponents. However, this was not a problem for Lothur. He was very creative and always used his knowledge of physics and chemistry from his previous life to produce his items.

    Because of this, he had a much more diverse repertoire than his opponents and was able to surprise opponents even after days of demonstrating his capabilities.

    With this, he had moved on to the semifinals of this formations masterspetition!

    However, it would not be long before he eliminated the Koch family formations master, hurting his former teacher''s family a bit.

    But Anneke did not care much about this result, being happy to see Lothur reaching the final, where it was now time for him to face the Waldauer family.

    This opponent, unlike the others, was someone at level 11, one of the strongest Lothur had ever seen in thispetition.

    Aside from Viktoria, no one else was at level 12, so the strongest was at the 2nd Revolution.

    But even though there were some of these individuals, they were not many. So only on thisst day ofpetitions did Lothur find them outside of the battles for warriors.

    He saw the opponent climbing up the central tform of this coliseum and felt that this match would be difficult.

    But since he had already gone so far, he would do his best to get the winner''s prize!

    In this way, the final match for formations masters began, with both young men greeting each other and then beginning to inscribe their rules on thebat objects.

    Everyone in the coliseum was anxious for this match to be over, and soon the time passed, and the sand stopped falling from the top of the hourss on the side of that tform.

    At that instant, Lothur and his opponent took their eyes off the formation gs and acted almost simultaneously!

    ...

 Chapter 340 The Finals For Formations Masters 3

    When the two acted almost simultaneously, they attacked each other, throwing their offensive items.

    This time Lothur''s opponent was fast enough to react in time to his initial move, so he did not get an advantage in that initial second of attack.

    And just like his opponent, Lothur raised his defensive shield as he reacted to the enemy movement, already activating his shield with defensive formations to protect him.

    Lothur had to admit. The enemy was more skilled than him at spiritual formations, and in normal situations, he would have to lose this match. Fortunately, he had a Soul Bone with an extremely advantageous ability for such situations!

    Because he could see the type of formation of his opponent, Lothur made the best formations he could think of to defend against and attack the enemy in the time he had.

    He was unsure if he would seed since that opponent seemed to know already inscriptions that he had never seen. But even so, his initial disadvantage was diminished immensely because of his visual ability!

    Hence, when both attacks were within two meters of each other, the formations activated to their maximum, acting against their respective targets.

    The defense of Lothur''s opponent had a weakness for liquids. So his attack was focused on this elemental nature.

    When his object thrown in the direction of that blond individual activated, such a thing expanded like a tiny star before dying. Then it shrank in size, forming countless ''pockets'' of water in the air.

    When this happened, the spiritual energy flowing through that formation connected to these pockets of water and directed a powerful jet toward the opponent''s chest.

    Seeing this, the young man from the Waldauer family frowned, hardly believing that his opponent had justunched his weakness against him!

    But not only did he realize this. The coroner Klossner, who was watching the match from the VIP area of local guests, noticed that Lothur had repeated such a thing in every other match.

    ''This young man has managed to use attacks contrary to his opponents'' defenses in his four matches today... Is this his luck? Or perhaps he has studied his opponents well?'' He tried to understand the situation, noting how above-average Lothur must be.

    ''No, maybe that''s a skill? He could see what his opponent was doing?'' This man was intelligent, so he quickly identified the most usible justification for this situation.

    "Interesting." He muttered, pondering the possibility of meeting this son-inw of the Frost family.

    He was a friend of that family but had never interacted with Lothur. So seeing Viktoria''s husband doing so well, he could not help but be interested in this figure.

    But while he watched that curious situation, this relevant figure in Peters City did not ignore the attackunched against Lothur.

    As the enemy was about to suffer from Lothur''s offensive formation, his attack activated, throwing blue mes in Lothur''s direction.

    Seeing this and still holding his shield over his body, Lothur noticed his defensive formation reacting to the opponent''s attack. Such a thing suddenly transformed from an ordinary round piece of metal to an item that seemed to be made of some kind of fragile material.

    But Lothur''s shield was not fragile. It was just the transformation of an item capable of burning for longer than normal.

    That is, Lothur knew that his opponent''s attack would be the kind where the mes would do the most damage to him. So he had used something that could ''entertain'' those mes, forcing such a thing to burn the transformation of his shield instead of ignoring such a thing and hitting him.

    But while his opponent suffered from the powerful waterjet attack, Lothur''s shield could not consume all the me thrown by his opponent''s offensive formation. When such a thing reached its limit, colored mes on that shield spread out from the sides of it and went towards his body!

    Sssss!

    "Ouch!"

    Finally, Lothur let go of his shield and took a few steps back, quickly taking off his clothes as he felt the enemy mes on his body.

    At the same time, Lothur''s opponent had already lost his shield, as such a thing was destroyed, and he was struck by the remnant of the previous liquid attack.

    "Ahhhh!" He cried out in pain as he knelt on the ground and put his arms around his abdomen, feeling as if he had been kicked several times.

    And while he tasted blood in his mouth, given the internal bleeding he suffered in this attack, Lothur finally managed to get rid of the enemy mes.

    "Ouch!" He clenched his fists tightly and felt the burns on his body, which at the moment only had his underwear around it.

    His burns spread from his face to his two arms, back, chest, and abdomen. They were extremely red, which was already making people, particrly women, put their hands over their mouths.

    Meanwhile, the men who hated Lothur smiled, feeling that this young man had finally gotten what he deserved.

    The judge looked at both sides and could not determine the winner of the match. So he looked at the judgingmittee for any ties and waited for the result.

    "Well, I think Lothur will lose this match..." One of them was going to say, as they felt that the one who lost the most in this match had been this young man.

    It was hard to judge the damage suffered by the other candidate. So they could only consider someone with such visible effects as that one at a disadvantage.

    Lothur also seemed to be suffering almost as much as his opponent, so they favored the person from the Waldauer family.

    However, just as they were about to say the result of this match, Lothur''s Super Regeneration came into y.

    When such a thing activated, the burns around his body, blisters, and any damage to his skin began to reverse as if time was turning back.

    Everyone in that ce saw such a thing, many with open mouths and wide eyes. They were incredulous at such a monstrous regenerative ability.

    "What?" One of the refereemittee members next to that tform stood up from his seat and eximed, watching the wounds on Lothur''s body quickly disappear.

    Even the chief referee of the Province Conference saw that, and his eyes narrowed. "What a monstrous ability! That''s why he''s so strong." He said to his group. "With something like that, he can train until he falls every day and gets the best results!"

    It was well known that deadly battles with risks of serious injury were the best for teaching cultivators to be better. But most could not ''train'' like that since their injuries would limit them.

    Therefore, someone with the skill that Lothur seemed to have had a tremendouspetitive advantage against his opponents.

    And seeing that, someone from the Waldauer family could not keep quiet. "That''s cheating! He''s using skills unrted to the profession of formations masters to lessen the damage to his body!"

    ...

 Chapter 341 Result And Award

    When he heard theints of the Waldauer family member, Lothur frowned and looked in the direction of such an individual.

    But since it was someone he did not even know, the young Ritter soon ignored that being to turn to the referees on that tform. "That can''t be considered cheating. That super-fast regeneration you saw is a passive skill I have."

    Heughed. "What can I do if my body self-regenerates when I am injured? Am I, by any chance, forced to give up my cultivation, bloodline, and Physique when Ipete on this tform?"

    The people in the surrounding area heard Lothur''s questioning and felt that he was being reasonable.

    Take, for example, cultivation. One''s cultivation naturally conferred properties to one''s body. And these properties could increase the defenses, and attack, in short, characteristics of a given body.

    So, someone with a level ''x'' lower than ''y'' might not be able to hurt someone with level ''y.'' But even if he did, such an injury would naturally regenerate at a significantly higher rate than if another person of level ''y'' had done the damage.

    In this case, a higher-levelpetitor could not be punished for the characteristic of his own body, and the same was valid for natural or even artificially obtained abilities.

    Moreover, ording to the rules of thispetition, as long as thepetitors did not use techniques or artifacts external to those tested in thepetition, apetitor could use everything at his disposal.

    Lothur then added. "My opponent''s attack was too weak to damage my body to the point that my regenerative ability didn''t work. So, naturally, he must be the loser."

    "Bullshit!" The same person from before shouted discontentedly. "The fact that you recovered has no bearing on the formations masterspetition!"

    But Lothur rebutted such an argument without even looking at that person. "How could it not? My formation managed to injure my opponent significantly." He pointed in the direction of the young man in agony nearby. "His formation, on the other hand, only caused superficial injuries to me. Look how I look now!" He opened his arms and showed his body to the crowd.

    Everyone there looked once again at Lothur''s shapely body, which only had a few dried blood marks on his skin, but no remaining injuries.

    Lothur''s Super Regeneration had ''erased'' all the damage to his body, which had been a little deeper than he had admitted. But who would need to know that? No one in that ce could check the integrity of his words...

    And with that, as the many women there admired Lothur''s body and the men shivered with envy, the referees looked at each other, feeling that his words were reasonable.

    "The regenerative ability of Lothur was far superior to the attack power of a 2nd stage cultivator''s formation..." One of the refereesmented.

    None of them knew for sure what level Lothur was at. But due to the individual and team battles he had participated in, no one judged him to be a 2nd stage cultivator.

    He was definitely fast and had a firm body. But his attacks were weaker than those of ordinary 9th Transformation cultivators. Not only that, his skills with his techniques seemed to be not that impressive.

    So almost everyone in this ce considered Lothur''s actual cultivation to be level 9.

    With that said, the fact that his regeneration beat an offensive formation from someone at level 11 was an impressive feat, which showed an opponent''s weakness!

    "If Lothur were in the same cultivation range as Henry, we wouldn''t even need to judge this battle." The oldest of the referees on the judgingmitteemented, confident that young Ritter''s victory was the fairest oue of all.

    They looked at each other and nodded to the central referee of the match.

    "In this final, Lothur Ritter beats Henry Waldauer. He is the winner of the formations masterspetition of this edition of the Province Conference!"

    After this result, Lothur smiled after a long sigh, raising his hands high as the audience in the coliseum went into convulsion at his victory.

    "Hahahaha! He won! He won!"

    "Old Bai, now your daughter will have to marry me!" A young man in the crowdughed as he spoke to the old man who had dared to bet him something so valuable.

    "Pay the bet!"

    "Ahh~ I wish I could be Lothur''s wife... He''s so strong and handsome!" A young girl younger than Elke said, making the people in the surrounding area shiver upon hearing this.

    "He''s not bad." An elderly man dered while scratching his beard.

    At the same time themon crowd was celebrating, Lothur''s enemies, particrly those defeated in this match, could not help but feel frustrated.

    "Wretched brat!" The Duke growled, sensing how abominable Lothur was. "How can anyone have such a monstrous ability?" He questioned aloud.

    Coroner Klossner, who was in the VIP area next door, heard this and said. "I heard that his body is extremely strong... Maybe that is an ability of his Physique? Regeneration and endurance are not unconnected things."

    "Still, who on Lothur''s level could have an ability capable of rebuilding his tissues so quickly?" A nearby doctormented, feeling extremely curious about that young man.

    "Hmm, if he bes a Transcendent someday, he will be invincible below the 4th stage." A patriarch said as he considered the power of these hard-to-find people in the Empire.

    "A Transcendent who can hardly be harmed?" Lothur''s enemies began to worry even more.

    That was particrly true for Fritz, who could already imagine Lothur and his father terrorizing their faction!

    In Fritz''s mind, the image of Lothur and his dangerous father were already together on a mountain under the setting sun, maliciouslyughing as they nned their ''next'' acts.

    ''A thousand demons! How are we so unlucky?''

    At the same time, Mabel finally understood how Lothur could recover so quickly each time he was beaten.

    She had always been impressed with his ability, particrly when he recovered so quickly after she acted.

    On that asion, she had done it to knock him out for a few weeks, but the scumbag had recovered in less than a night...

    Now she finally understood the reason for that!

    ''He doesn''t have a bad skill...'' She imagined, feeling that it was no longer a great pity that Viktoria had given herself to Lothur. ''At least his children might have talent.'' She smiled but soon became serious again.

    While everyone was discussing and feeling how impressive Lothur''s Physique was, the prizes of thatpetition were handed out to the top three finishers.

    The third ce match had already happened, so soon Lothur was on top of a podium, lifting a trophy while receiving a spatial ring with his prizes.

    ...

 Chapter 342 The Finals For Poison Masters

    Upon receiving his spatial ring and the congrattions of the match referees, Lothur immediately ignored the envious looks of his previous opponents to focus on the ring in his hands.

    After receiving his prize, he immediately began investigating what was there, hoping for valuable things since this was the magnificent Province Conference.

    Only noble families participated in thispetition, and the winners of each profession were usually people at the 2nd stage, 2-star beginners. So the prizes should be important for people of that strength range, which would make them suitable for Lothur, who had not gone that far yet.

    ''A set of books with unique formations... 100,000 silver coins... A set of Bronze-grade gs and materials... Ingredients for some Bronze-grade formations... And a discount coupon.'' He checked each item there and smiled.

    There were no extraordinary items in that ring that could change a person''s life from water to wine in a short time. But every part of the prize was relevant, and if he made an effort to use it well, he could reap great rewards in the future.

    But while Lothur was paying attention to this, the main referee of thispetition said to them. "Those are the prizes you get for being in the top three. But eachpetitor who wins their disputes for professions will be able to collect one more itemter."

    "One more item? And why not now?" Lothur questioned.

    That manughed and said. "It is a pill that can enhance your senses. However, since it can affect the performance of candidates still with matches to do, we don''t give them until the end of the tournament."

    ''So that''s it...'' Lothur understood, but he did not think it was terrible. He did not even expect there would be more, so this was already a benefit to him, and it would not make much difference if he received such a thingter.

    He did not count on a prize capable of improving his attributes forter matches, so his ns were the same as before.

    ''But this is excellent news... I''ll be able to improve my mental attributester?'' He smiled as he descended the stairs of thebat tform.

    ...

    After a while, thepetitions progressed on that tform until Lothur again rose to contest, this time as a poison master.

    He had much more refined skills in this profession than formations masters. So Lothur was very confident and was not bothered to see that his first opponent was a level 11 woman!

    He was already up against one of the strongestpetitors in thispetition for poison masters!

    Seeing this from her seat in one of the VIP rooms in this coliseum, Elisabeth watched Lothur with narrowed eyes, surprised at how good he was at formations.

    There had been rumors about his performance circting in Peters City for the past few days. But hearing a rumor and seeing the thing were different things.

    Besides, for her, who already knew how good Lothur was in the poison art, it was hard to ept that he could be so good in other areas.

    So, seeing her pupil on that tform, this purple-haired woman could not help but get reflective as she watched Lothur.

    Reba was on her side, watching her junior with apprehension, as she would have difficulty facing that person.

    ''If Lothur beats her, won''t that mean he can already be considered stronger than me?'' She wondered, as she was a little nervous.

    Lothur was advancing too fast, and she had already lost her senior position in a matter of days. In this situation, she had no choice but to feel in a hurry and want to be stronger.

    "Mistress, who do you think will win?" She asked, seeing that Lothur was already contesting against a white-haired young woman on that tform.

    Elisabeth put her thoughts aside and turned her attention to Lothur''s match. "He''s going to win. His poison resistance is very impressive. So even if he can''t significantly poison his opponent, he will have the advantage."

    And as expected, when Lothur and his opponent faced each other using their respective poisons, the results followed such a prediction.

    Lothur''s opponent suffered as if she had a headache, nothing serious, but enough to weaken someone temporarily. At the same time, he felt terrible when he was hit, but after a minute, he was rtively well.

    As the purpose of poisons, in general, was not to harm temporarily but to neutralize opponents, he was presented as the winner of the match!

    After this result was called out, people again shouted to the heavens at the injustice of such a thing,ining that his super-regeneration ability was a cheat.

    But no referee tried to punish Lothur for this. The world was not fair, and people were naturally born with distinct characteristics, advantageous positions, etc.

    Members of small families had topete with members ofrge families, even considering their differences in investment capacity. So how could anyone be punished for special abilities?

    The others could only me their bad luck orck of strength for not being able to beat someone with Lothur''s advantages!

    That was the cultivation world!

    Thus, Lothur beat his first opponent of the poison master matches, not taking long to beat the second and third as well.

    His ability to withstand poisons was not simple, so with each round, his opponents found it more challenging to poison Lothur.

    But what could they do? His skill made him stronger and stronger concerning poisons with each round hepeted. But his opponents were not getting stronger.

    Under those circumstances, the result was clear!

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 33%]

    Lothur saw his progress bar improve a little more after he sat down to wait for his next match, feeling that he would soon win more prizes.

    Lothur''sst opponent in the poison master matches was a young man at level 11, not unlike his other opponents. So he was pretty confident as he chatted with his women, each with smiles on their faces.

    But since poison masters'' battles were rtively faster than others, it did not take long for him to climb thebat tform again, this time in the final!

    As he did so along with his opponent, Lothur saw the look of defeat on the face of the green-haired young man on the other side of that tform.

    Almost all the others who faced him were confident of their victories until they were defeated. But in thispetition of poison masters, no one came close enough to threaten his dominance.

    Because of this, that young man could not help but climb that tform with an ugly look, sure of his imminent defeat.

    "Let''s get this over with as quickly as possible." He said, preparing himself to suffer a bit from Lothur''s poison.

    Lothur was not being nice to anyone. He might be one of the weakest offensively. Still, he was trying to damage as much of his opponents'' conditions as possible.

    The reason for this? The individual and team battles that would take ceter!

    So that person already knew that his opponent would y dirty with him, and he just wanted to end it all quickly.

    In this way, soon the result of thispetition was announced!

    ...

 Chapter 343 Incredible Talents

    When Lothur''s opponent was looking at him with a pained expression from the second-ce position, this silver-haired young man wasughing in satisfaction at the first ce on the podium.

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 36%]

    He ignored the system message box in front of him and focused on the spatial ring he had just received.

    On it were items simr to the one he received after winning thepetition for formations masters, in this case, focused on the poison art.

    There were poison roots and nts, artifacts for manipting poisonponents, ingredients, and books of rare poison mixtures.

    But these books were not only rare to find for 2-star poison masters. No, these books even had tips and recipes for poisons or special substances that could even be ssified as Gold-grade!

    Therefore, these books could be helpful even for 4-star professionals!

    But this was to be expected. After all, this was the Province Conference, where the greatest prodigies of this area of the empire werepeting against each other.

    So each winner had a lot of potentials, and the prizes were proportionally valuable to the possible position of these young people in the empire in the future!

    Lothur also won the same amount of silver coins as in the other award and the right to the pill that the previous referee had told him about.

    And so, his enemies were discussing his poisonous abilities while he was grinning from ear to ear, and themon public was celebrating the dark horse''s victories.

    ...

    ''This Lothur''s abilities are very unusual...'' Simon had an extremely dark expression on his face at the moment.

    He knew that Lothur''s father was a famous fellow in Leopoldine, even though he did not know his father''s identity. But he did not expect that the son of such a person would be so impressive!

    Lothur seemed very good at his inscriptions. But next to his ability to resist poisons, his other specialty seemed to pale.

    Since it was extremely rare to see someone with such extreme skills in more than one profession, this enemy of Lothur could not help but feel strange.

    ''I feel as if I''m being chased by something since he showed himself...'' Simon felt a chill on his back, getting increasingly nervous about the future.

    ...

    Meanwhile, the Baier patriarch had a terrible expression on his face, as if a clock was ringing in his ears, indicating that his time was running out.

    ''If I let him grow any bigger, it will be our end. He will knock on my door himself...'' He shifted his thoughts in the middle of it. ''No, he won''t even have toe near my family. He will poison us without exposing himself!''

    ''That will be a tragedy!'' He looked in Gomeric''s direction, angry that this old fellow had changed sides when the plot was already developing.

    ''Bastard! You''ll be sorry!'' This patriarch clenched his fists, still confident in the coalition of allied organizations in the third prince''s faction.

    A single young man would not stand in the way of their ns, so it would only be a matter of time before the Becker family regretted their own mistakes!

    ...

    At the same time, the Duke was feeling Lothur''s weight in his family''s bottom line.

    Lothur alone could not change the first ce of the Duke''s organization. Still, it was undeniable that this family lost points today because of this young man.

    Not only because Lothur has beaten members of this family in the two matches he has participated in so far but also because of his cruelty in hurting his opponents!

    Lothur''s actions had already harmed one of thepetitors from the Waldauer family in another match of a spiritual profession that Lothur was not evenpeting in.

    So even though he was a figure of the old generation of this city, he was petty in ordering one of its elders around. "Have our descendants use everything they have to hurt Lothur during the fighting matches. Let''s get revenge on that little bastard!"

    "Yes, patriarch!" One of the men of the Waldauer family said while having a strange expression on his face at hearing an order like that from a Transcendent against a Mortal Warrior.

    Martin heard this and clenched his fists, feeling it would be good to watch Viktoria''s husband suffer a little.

    ...

    Some more time passed, and Viktoria managed to bring in 2 points for the Frost family, winning her only two matches and first ce in the spiritual painting contest.

    She had ''coincidentally'' been left out of the first few matches due to the ''impartial'' draw made by the Province Conference management.

    Unlike Lothur, who no one knew the exact limits of and many wanted to test, Viktoria''s strength was known. And precisely because she was impressive, the strongest in thepetition, nobody wanted to give extra points to the Frost family by letting her fight more matches.

    And so, when Lothur climbed the fighting tform again to fight the tailoring matches, the Frost family had already earned ten more points than the previous day!

    [8a. Frost Family: 70]

    This organization still had points to do to move up in position. Still, it had narrowed its gap to House Becker and was heading towards higher positions!

    That was particrly true now that Lothur wouldpete in the tailoring contest, where the participants had been scared off by him due to the tournament''s first day.

    Even strongerpetitors had been impressed by the way Lothur had killed Oliver. Then, in this final, where so much was at stake, some of the stronger ones left even had a certain trepidation about fighting him.

    After all, a savage was very dangerous!

    And so, while many feared him, Lothurpeted in his first match of this contest, which he would win with some difficulty, given his opponent''s strength.

    But luckily for him, his opponents did not have mental attributes like his, most of them having the same technical knowledge as him.

    So Lothru''s matches soon developed, with him facing some bnce with some opponents and fighting as best he could to ensure that the event referees gave him the victory.

    But eventually, Lothur would inflict physical damage on his opponents to hinder them in matchester in the most critical part of the event, the battles.

    In this way, he soon reached the final of the tailoringpetition, this time facing a level 10 individual.

    Since level did not matter much in a match like this, the fact that this opponent was weaker than the others he had faced earlier did not mean that the fight would be any easier.

    In this match, they could not use warrior techniques or skills. Instead, all that mattered was the quality and unique points of their clothing.

    Thus, Lothur was no less serious as he finished producing hisbat items and prepared to act against the young man on the other side of the fighting tform.

    ''After here will be the tricky part. The warrior fights.'' He thought before seeing the referee''s signal and setting off against his opponent.

    ...

 Chapter 344 The Tailors Competition Final

    As Lothur set out to attack his opponent, he immediately used his speed advantage and approached the person as he wished.

    He attacked that individual from the right side, delivering a strong kick toward the ribs of the level 10 young man.

    Pow!

    Upon realizing this aggression, the Frohberg family member tried to raise his arms to defend that part of his body. But due to the difference in reaction between the two, he was at a bit of a disadvantage, and part of his defenses did not absorb the blow.

    "Ouch!" He let out a grunt of pain as he took a few steps back and felt Lothur''s blow on one of his arms and ribs.

    But since his clothes were unique, even a little better than Lothur''s, they managed to absorb most of that blow and protect him from the worst.

    However, although he hit his opponent with one blow, Lothur had not stopped. He knew he had to use his speed to his advantage, or he would have no chance of beating this opponent.

    The difference in terms of the tailoring skills of the two was not significant. Lothur had already realized this through the previous matches of this opponent that he had watched.

    So since he was not sure that he could beat this person with his tailoring skills alone, he was pushing his body to the maximum to ovee this ''equivalence'' in the battle.

    He could not use his movement technique, but his body was naturally more capable than his opponent''s. Then, young Ritter was not nervous either, ready to handle this opponent with caution.

    He then made a hand strike, with his fingers in the shape of ws, going towards the opponent''s body as if he was trying to catch his prey, as birds would do.

    That young man saw that and remembered what Lothur had done to other opponents using his gloves. ''Damn!'' He thought as he tried to roll in the opposite direction of his enemy and not allow himself to be attacked by that.

    The level 10 young man managed to narrowly escape Lothur''s ''clutches,'' with Viktoria''s husband''s hands hitting the ground where such a person had been standing a second before.

    Crack!

    When Lothur''s fingers hit the ground, the stone of that fighting tform immediately cracked, and small holes appeared where his fingers touched.

    "Wow!"

    "That glove is  impressive!" Peoplemented simr things in the stands, wondering what would have happened if a human body had suffered from that.

    ''That young man has some deadly weapons in his hands...'' The chief referee of the Province Conference considered in silence, barely able to understand where Lothur was getting his ideas from.

    Lothur''s items were very different from what cultivators typically saw worldwide. Not only that, the quality of these items was rather strange.

    That is, this old man did not doubt that gloves like Lothur''s could exist around the continent. But to him, something like that would certainly not be made by a 1-star professional like that young man. It would probably take a 3-star tailor to produce such a thing!

    Hence, whenever he saw Lothur fighting the tailor matches in this final, this man could not help but feel that Lothur could use anything to fight.

    He had the impression young Ritter could even think of something unique to turn a chicken feather into a dangerous weapon!

    As the crowd admired the match of those two, Lothur''s opponent broke into a cold sweat at the sight of that damage and the look of such a person in his direction.

    ''What''s wrong with this glove? How can it have so many different properties?'' He wondered, feeling that Lothur had not yet shown all that he was capable of in previous matches.

    So they soon engage in a few minutes of battle��Lothur managing to use his speed to stop his opponent from attacking him. At the same time, he managed tond a few blows against the young man from the Frohberg family, gradually wearing down his defenses and hurting him.

    Lothur showed no mercy against his opponents. So every blow he had dealt had been in the direction of vital organs, always to hurt his opponent as much as possible.

    Because of this, the level 10 young man had spent twice as much energy as he usually would in such a situation.

    Defending oneself against attacks aimed at one''s vital parts was not trivial!

    Even using protective items, there would always be difort from the party being attacked!

    Someone on earth would not want to be shot in the heart while wearing a bulletproof vest. Whereas in the cultivation world, nobody would ept a blow to their heart, even if such a person wore armor!

    So by the time the fight wasing to an end, Lothur and his opponents were sweaty and tired, with the second of them much worse off due to the injuries he had sustained so far.

    Pow!

    Lothur punched his opponent, finallynding a blow to the face, something he had failed to do so far.

    This strike hit the left cheek of the level 10 young man, promptly causing him to faint while his cheeks trembled with shock.

    After a millisecond, his body flew backward a few meters, falling to the ground.

    Seeing the trail of blood dripping from that individual''s mouth and nose, the match referee realized that Lothur''s opponent would not stand up and gave his verdict.

    "Lothur Ritter, representing the Frost family, wins the final of thepetition for tailors!" Such a person said this in a formation, making the more than 100,000 people in the Coliseum listen to him.

    Hearing that, Annaliese and Viktoria celebrated for Lothur from where they stood. At the same time, Elke pped her hands with the thousands of people in the Coliseum.

    ''It looks like Lothur won a small fortune in this edition of the Province Conference...'' Anneke thought this from her area, smiling at Lothur''s result.

    The prize in coins was the same for each winner of the spiritual professionpetitions at that event. But on the other hand, each profession gave indispensable study and practice materials for developing these winning professionals.

    After all, they were Leopoldine''s future!

    So Lothur had gained significant values up to this point, and his former teacher was pleased about it all.

    "Why are youughing, Anne?" One of the rtives of this acquaintance of Lothur''s asked while the two were in the VIP area of the Koch family. "You know he eliminated one of ourpetitors, right? Are you happy about the victory of an opponent?"

    Anneke looked at the beautiful young woman next to her and said. "Lothur was my student at Morning Star Academy. So, of course, I am happy for him..."

    "Oh? He was your student?" The young woman was surprised. ''He is really very dedicated to hiding himself. He even put himself in a humiliating situation like that...''

    ''Incredible!''

    ''What magnificent willpower!'' She liked Lothur''s personality a little more, considering that her family highly valued people who could stay on the fringes of society even when they had significant powers.

    ...

 Chapter 345 Time For Warrior Battles!

    After adding more coins and valuable items to his spatial ring, Lothur went victoriously to thepetitors'' area to rest and watch his wifepete.

    On this day, he had no opportunity to be alone with Elke or Annaliese due to the finals and everyone''s attention being focused on the Coliseum.

    But it was okay. He would soon return to his routine, returning to his academy sses. Also, he would have more time away from his wife so he could be with these other women.

    While resting next to Annaliese, Lothur ignored the hateful and jealous nces in his direction and followed the musicpetition.

    Viktoria yed her instruments very well, one of the most talented in this province, one of the few able to y the harp well at her age.

    Her musical skills were highly refined, the kind that when she yed that instrument, the entire Coliseum fell silent to hear her melody.

    On the outside, Viktoria looked extremely cold, even arrogant to people who did not know her. But her melodies were like she was in bed with Lothur, warm, full of emotion.

    As she yed her instruments, thousands of people in this ce closed their eyes. They felt the musical notes, many of them even shivering in emotion.

    Mortals enjoyed the melody, but low-level cultivators in the area took the opportunity to absorb knowledge.

    Spiritual music was more of a support profession in this cultivation world. Not only could it be used inbat to affect the minds of both sides of a battle, but it could also aid in cultivating understanding.

    Hell, a high-level musician could even help lower-level individuals break through bottlenecks!

    That way, the Mortal Warriors in the Coliseum soon absorbed Viktoria''s melody, sensing some of this woman''s understandings.

    "Majestic!"

    "Splendid!"

    "Young Miss Frost is truly talented. She has already reached this level at such a young age..." One of the many musicians there praised, smiling in joy at hearing a prodigy of his profession ascending.

    Each spiritual professional had their pride and goals. Thus, it was natural for them to have a rivalry against others. But there was nothing like meeting someone better than you, a new talent in your profession.

    It could be a threat, but it could also be a new stimulus, a possibility for new creations to emerge. And that was good for everybody, even rivals orpetitors!

    So many musicians were there enjoying Viktoria ying her instrument, ''brutalizing'' her opponent, who was waiting for her turn to y.

    "Ah, every time I see Young Miss Frost ying, I feel that it is more of a shame that she is with that person..." A young man there eximed, feeling extremely envious of Lothur.

    "Don''t tell me! Before, I hated him for being with our goddess, but now, I hate him even more for him not being just useless..."

    "Yes, before, it would have been easier to get rid of him..."

    Young men began to discuss the matter in different parts of the Coliseum while Lothur listened to his wife ying.

    "Lothur, are you interested in learning music? I bet you would be great at that profession too." Annaliese said as she hugged one of her man''s arms.

    Lothurughed and said. "No. Although I agree with you, I prefer to leave my women''s professions to them."

    "Oh?" She found hisment overconfident as if he was saying that he would be better than them at everything if he so chose. "Are you saying that you can cook better than me?"

    "I''m saying that I''d rather eat your food, listen to Viktoria y, see the pictures painted by her, or the sculptures made by you." He answered sincerely.

    "Humph, I''ll take your word for it this time..." She pouted at him, turning her attention back to her sister.

    In that instant, Viktoria won the final of thispetition for musicians, taking the podium along with the second and third-ce winners.

    After a few moments, she was awarded the prize and left thepetition tform to the apuse of almost everyone in the Coliseum.

    With that, she soon arrived at her husband''s side with her usual calm expression but soon fell into his embrace.

    "Now all that''s left are the warrior matches in the individual and group fights." She remarked to Lothur and Annaliese, sensing the closeness of the end of this edition of the Province Conference.

    Hearing this, Annaliese clenched her fists and said. "I hope I don''t get in the way of you two too much."

    "Don''t worry, Anna. The grouppetition is not our focus." Lothur said, but without wanting to make her feel worse for it.

    Their chances were not great, so he did not even consider the possibility of his group winning.

    Was it Annaliese''s fault? No, it was the fault of the traitors in the Frost family. They had sabotaged two of the strongestpetitors of the group of 16 individuals from this family registered for the conference.

    Lothur and Viktoria did not know that Simon had set this up. Still, they both suspected that the situation of the two young men from this family who had to miss thepetition was no coincidence.

    So such a thing was responsible for their group having only three people and them being at a disadvantage in this grouppetition!

    "In any case, we''re hardly going to be able to improve our position much further," Viktoria said, looking at the current ranking of the tournament.

    [6th. Frost Family: 76]

    The Frost family had surpassed Houses Becker and Geissler, two powers that were in front of them previously.

    Seeing this, the people of Elke''s family did not feel too bad, as they managed to overtake House Geissler, maintaining their position.

    Since Lothur was very close to them, and that would mean House Frost could be too, they could notin about the present moment.

    It was a shame they did not raise their position more and try topete for the top three. But the families in the top three were powerful, with a generation of geniuses that only Lothur and Viktoria couldpete with.

    So they did not feel unfairly treated, and no one was grumpy in Elke''s family''s VIP area.

    But this situation was quite different for House Geissler, who had lost two positions and, with that, would win nothing and still risk losing possessions after this tournament!

    ''Shit!''

    ''Damned Lothur!'' Several people from that family had simr thoughts as the people from the Province Conference began to prepare the tform for the warriors'' fights.

    ...

    After a few minutes, all 13 youths who were going topete in the individual fights were profiled next to the fighting tform, eager for their matches.

    Lothur and Viktoria were there, for the first time, with a chance to fight each other.

    But as before, Lothur would start fighting in the first round, the round of 16, while Viktoria once again, by coincidence, was left out of the first few matches.

    Soon, this young man faced his first opponent, someone at level 11, a member of the Waldauer family.

    This person had a strange look in his eyes as if he was ready to attack his prey mercilessly.

    Viktoria saw this and warned her man. "Be careful."

    "Hmm, don''t worry." He kissed her before moving towards his ce under the gaze of that opponent.

    ''What''s going to happen now?''

    ...

 Chapter 346 Round Of Finals

    As he met his opponent, Lothur prepared himself psychologically for his most challenging battle ahead.

    He could already sense that this battle would be difficult just from the level of his opponent. But worst of all would not be this, but rather how problematic the oue would be.

    That individual was not strong enough to stimte Lothur''s Physique into action and make him significantly stronger.

    If he were strong enough, young Ritter would even rather lose this match and get beaten right there. After all, Viktoria would probably win this individualpetition, so this would be no problem for the Frost family. But, on the other hand, he would get stronger, and the chances of their group winningter would be more significant.

    However, this was not the case!

    On the other hand, Lothur''s opponent was not weak to the point that this young man had good prospects of victory. In fact, if he were to win, it would be narrowly.

    So this would be a difficult, tedious battle for Lothur because of his slim chance of getting anything good out of it!

    ''What the hell!'' He sighed as he saw the signal from the match referee, indicating for the two to begin. ''I''ll take it here as just good practice. The oue will be left for fate to decide.''

    So, while thinking about such things, Lothur ran at full speed, already throwing daggers in the direction of his opponent.

    He had a significant disadvantage when facing soul cultivators of higher levels than his. So, this silver-haired young man had to try to immobilize or keep that person''s hands busy as soon as possible!

    If he did not do such a thing, Lothur would have to deal with the troublesome spiritual attacks, which could even keep his distance from his opponent. And this would be terrible, considering his fighting style.

    As he moved, the young man from the Waldauer family, who had already faced Lothur in another match on this day, promptly moved to dodge the daggersing his way.

    He already knew Lothur''s fighting style and such a person''s unmatched speed. Thus, he had little difficulty dodging the first opponent''s attack, retreating a few meters.

    At the same time, he circted his energies into one of his spiritual techniques, starting to attack Lothur before such a person could get closer to him.

    ''You''ll see, you son of a bitch. I''ll take revenge for my defeat earlier!'' This young man had an unfriendly expression while red mes appeared on his fingers.

    With these mes, he made a series of movements with his hands, causing fireballs the size of .38 revolver bullets to fly toward Lothur.

    Ssss!

    Ssss!

    Lothur sensed that such a thing would happen and made a brief detour in his path while he had his ax swinging as if preparing to throw it.

    But then, the opponent started shooting at him with even more ming balls, making it difficult for Lothur to get close by just dodging such things.

    ''Damn it!'' He cursed such a person and then decided to change his strategy.

    In doing so, Lothur began to rotate his ax in front of his body, making it look like the propellers of a fan.

    With this movement, he began approaching his enemy as the burning balls disappeared into this spinning ax, which looked like it was on fire, but such mes did not reach Lothur.

    "Bastard!" The level 11 young man shouted as he realized his opponent''s strategy, not taking time to use another of his strategies to oppose Lothur.

    The mes on his fingers quickly spread to his fists, forming something that looked like a ming boxing glove.

    Lothur was already very close to him, so none of his other spiritual techniques could ward off such a person in time. Then, this young man chose his only alternative, to fight a hand-to-hand fight!

    That was not the ideal scenario since such a thing was his opponent''s specialty. But what could he do if Lothur was faster than him?

    Speed was essential in a battle, so those who did not have such a characteristic in their favor could only use what was left!

    Pow!

    Lothur finally got close enough to his opponent and prepared to dodge the ming punching his way while moving his ax.

    He leaned to the side and saw his opponent''s right fist pass beside his right cheek, feeling the burning temperature of those spiritual mes.

    Lothur then struck a blow with his ax as if ready to chop down the ''tree'' in front of him.

    But his opponent''s body was much more resistant than the force of his attack. So Lothur''s blow did not do much damage, even though it hit such an individual.

    "Bastard! I''ll kill you!" This person shouted in anger as he felt the blow on one of his shoulders, along with the small cut that appeared at the point of contact of the de of Lothur''s weapon with his skin.

    "Try it," Lothur said in defiance while already making a move with his free hand, using one of his daggers to sh toward the enemy''s abdomen.

    Upon hearing that and seeing his opponent attack, that young man made a terrible expression. He felt hatred for this person who had already humiliated him earlier and was now making things difficult.

    He then tried to step back to deflect the dagger in Lothur''s left hand while changing the mes in his right hand to attack this opponent.

    As he did so, he directed a ''jet'' of me toward Lothur''s face, using a significant portion of his energy to do so.

    Lothur felt a chill run through his body, something normal considering that that attack was powerful, on the same level as his constitution.

    Because of this, he put his two arms in front of his face, giving up attacking his opponent with his dagger so that he could better protect himself.

    Sssss!

    mes struck Lothur''s forearms, burning the silver hair he had on that part of his body.

    "Ahhhhhh!" Along with the smell of burninging from his arms, Lothur cried out in pain, feeling that those mes were much stronger than those of the formation that had hit him earlier.

    "How do you like that, you wretch?" The young man from the Waldauer familyughed, feeling he would win this fight.

    But then Lothur lowered his arms under great pain, with them still on fire. He then looked into that person''s eyes, trembling with rage.

    Lothur shouted an ''ah'' and jumped at the level 11 young man, his hands going towards his opponent''s neck.

    Lothur''s opponent saw this and backed away. Still, he identally tripped over the enemy ax, falling toward the tform as the enemy came at him like an animal.

    This person then moved his hands to defend himself, finding Lothur''s hands and holding them tightly while burning the rest of his energy to ''roast'' this part of the enemy.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    They both screamed simultaneously, one for the burns on his hands and the other for the hands trying to crush his own hands.

    ...

 Chapter 347 Flame Resistance

    When the two had their hands together, one making force to crush the other and the other trying to crush the one, Lothur had a decisive countenance on his face.

    He was using a lot of his Will to withstand those mes already burning deeply into his arms and hands while trying to break the enemy.

    At the same time, the young man from the Waldauer family had a look of fear on his face, feeling unbelievable pain in his hands and terrified by the look on Lothur''s face.

    His opponent looked like a beast!

    While the two were in this situation, grains of sand continued to fall from the top of the hourss, where there was still a little more than a quarter left for the match to end.

    At the same time, the audience was silent, appreciating how decisive and hard-working Lothur was, even against such a powerful opponent.

    Lothur was very strong and talented. Everyone knew that. But his Will to defeat those stronger than him was second to none of such characteristics.

    Many could give up in the face of pain and situations as problematic as the present one. After all, with so many talents and possibilities, he had the right to lose or not be good at everything.

    Everyone understood this, and no one would think less of Lothur if he gave up.

    But still, there he was, giving his all, facing his opponent with a look typical of hungry beasts, thirsty for their survival.

    Lothur was not there to lose. On the contrary, he would give his best as long as he had the conditions to do so. As such, even his enemies could not help but admire him and nod their heads in appreciation in his direction.

    However, while everyone saw that and heard the screamsing out of the throats of Lothur and his opponent, this young man saw a system message in front of him.

    [Abnormal temperature detected in the host''s arms...]

    [Activating emergency measures...]

    [The host''s arms were burned to the bone marrow for 1 minute and 32 seconds...]

    [Iron-grade me resistance acquired.]

    [Progress: 69%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 85%.]

    Upon seeing this, Lothur suddenly stopped screaming, while a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

    He was not counting on the system to help him at this crucial moment. He was just fighting to defeat his opponent. Because of this, as he noticed the burning in his arms begin to subside, he could not help but feel incredibly good.

    His opponent saw that Lothur had regained his spirits for some reason andmented in his mind. ''Monster!''

    Meanwhile, with each passing instant, less of Lothur''s arms and hands burned, and the harder his hands made against his opponent''s.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Such a person began to shout alone in even higher-pitched tones, startling all the people in the Coliseum.

    "What''s going on?"

    "Why is only he screaming? Why does Lothur look better?"

    People from all backgrounds shouted simr things, dubious as to what was happening to Lothur for him to withstand the pain of those mes and still hurt his opponent.

    On the other hand, Lothur was thinking about what had just happened, realizing something more about himself. ''Did the system give me this resistance because of the time I was exposed to those mes? Or is it an ability of my body, my Physique, to produce resistance after a certain amount of time?''

    Lothur''s second hypothesis was the correct one. His Physique not only made it possible to raise his attributes after recoveries from significant damage. It also could generate endurance whenever it was tested to a specific limit, to a given degree.

    Earlier, Lothur had been burned by the mes of a spiritual formation. But those mes had only injured his body for a short time, insufficient to stimte his Physique.

    But this time, he spent the time necessary to develop this resistance and soon began to feel the effects he should have noticed when he was poisoned the first time.

    The difference was that now he was unconscious, feeling and seeing everything in the present time!

    So even though his opponent''s mes were still acting on his body, Lothur was no longer feeling pain since such things could not burn him.

    He then saw how far his me resistance went.

    [Progress: 95%.]

    ''Almost, huh?'' Heughed in his mind as he saw the mes around his brutally burned arms and hands finally cease.

    In that instant, his enemy copsed in pain, with every bone in his hands broken!

    Lothur saw this and released his opponent, then stood up to look in the direction of the match''s referee.

    But at that moment, no one, not even the referee, said anything, just impressed by this young man''s resilience with two pieces of ''ember'' in ce of his forearms.

    [EVF: 699]

    Lothur saw his EVFs decrease, and then powerful energy circted through his body, quickly helping him recover from those injuries to his forearms and hands.

    The effects of this were immediate, with that part of his body beginning to regenerate, once again scaring people in the Coliseum.

    The match referee saw this and wasted no more time, quickly announcing young Ritter''s victory!

    So, under the eyes of tens of thousands, Lothur walked to his wife''s side as he saw more warnings from the system.

    [+1.2 in CON.]

    [+2.1 in WIL.]

    [+1.1 in PER.]

    [+0.2 in STR.]

    [+0.3 in DEX.]

    [+0.3 in AGI.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 28.2] [CON: 96.2] [DEX: 24.4] [AGI: 32.6]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 72] [WIL: 78.6]

    [EVF: 699]

    Lothur looked at his status with the points already added, feeling good about the oue of this match overall.

    At the same time he noticed this, Viktoria looked at his arms with concern while the opponents nearby looked at him as if they saw a monster.

    "Are you okay? Will you be able to recover fully?" She asked him as she touched her man''s waist.

    Lothur looked at her and saw the system screen, and pondered. ''I don''t know if I can train my me resistance with other opponents. So it doesn''t make sense for me to keep myself in this state just for a training possibility.''

    ''In that case, I''ll increase my Constitution a little more to protect myself from opponents of that guy''s level.'' He thought, considering that he could even raise his me resistance, but that would be unlikely given the possible opponents.

    On the other hand, it was always good to have cards up your sleeve, and he had already demonstrated a lot in thispetition. So keeping this skill, a secret would be the best thing for him.

    Not only that, but now that he had gained this skill, training and developing it would be easy!

    Before, he had no idea of the possibility, so not raising it in this ce would not be a problem.

    "Hmm, everything will be fine, dear." He replied to his wife with a smile as he saw his arms almost fully recovered.

    Simultaneously, the system screen showed the conversions for him.

    ...

 Chapter 348 The Winner

    [3.8 points added in CON for the cost of 76 EVF.]

    ...

    [EVF: 623]

    ...

    [CON: 100]

    As he finished feeling the changes in his body while standing in front of Viktoria, Lothur felt all the fatigue in his being go away. At the same time, his forearms and hands lost the strange sensation from earlier, which was still bothering him, even considering his recovery.

    Viktoria could see in her husband''s gaze that his spirit had improved dramatically in a matter of seconds and felt relieved.

    She was beginning to feel concerned for his well-being, slowly developing deeper feelings for this man who made her feel so good.

    Lothur was handsome, good in bed, provocative, and talented. So how could she not begin to have feelings for him when she was doing so many things with him?

    So, under the envious looks of many men in the Coliseum and some of those near them, Viktoria sat next to her husband, looking at him like a good wife concerned.

    Lothur, on the other hand, judged thest advance to be enough for him not to go through the previous ordeal again and to remainpetitive in this tournament.

    But he had something on his mind after the match against that young man who had already been carried off thebat tform by doctors. ''What else can I generate resistance from? Ice is one possibility. But are there others?''

    He could not think of anything now other than ice since that was the opposite of the mes he had just created a resistance against.

    ''Very well, I will try to find a way to awaken my ice resistance!''

    Lothur was the type who preferred to be safe rather than sorry. So now that he knew he could awaken resistance, there was no reason not to try.

    In the worst-case scenario, he would undergo painful training without the expected fruits. Then, at best, he would conquer his goals.

    So there was not much to lose, and he naturally put that goal in his mind.

    ...

    While the audience present in the Coliseum discussed Lothur, talking about theories about him, more battles took ce.

    In the round of 16 of the Province Conference, there were six matches, which soon developed, ending with the elimination of 6 of the 13petitors in the finals of the individual warriorpetition.

    So it was not long before a draw took ce, and Viktoria once again was the one to be left out of the matches, with her ce guaranteed for the semifinal.

    Competitors from the same family could notpete against each other unless it were the final, or there were no morepetitors from other families able topete.

    Therefore, no one would try to force her and Lothur to meet on thebat tform, so the Frost family opponents did their best to keep her from fighting.

    With that, soon the next matches were set, with Lothur again facing someone from the Frohberg family in this Sunday''s finals.

    Then the quarterfinals developed, with two of the three matches with the strongestpetitor winning and Lothur''s match being the only unusual one.

    He won, reaching the semifinals after much difficulty, in a match in which he gained no resistance to anything. He just managed to use his above-average speed and defense to defeat his opponent after a close fight.

    Finally, Viktoria would have to start fighting in this individualpetition for warriors, with this event approaching its end.

    ...

    "Viktoria Frost wins her match and moves on to the grand final of this warriorpetition!" The match referee announced to the entire Coliseum as Viktoria calmly walked off thebat tform.

    Her opponent was only one level below her, but that was enough for this woman to win without much difficulty.

    That might sound boring, her beating the strongest of thepetition easily. But such was life. From time to time, prodigies like her would emerge. Then what seemed very difficult to happen would happen, often even being somewhat trivialized.

    But when they first appeared, they had their way clear, with few of the same generation to stop them, always surprising with their impressive performances.

    As few among those tens of thousands of spectators had ever seen Viktoria in action, the Coliseum was festive with such a powerful disy of power!

    "Unbelievable! I didn''t think the difference between geniuses could be so great!"

    "It''s tough to believe. She can easily dominate her opponents who in other times would be winners of thispetition!"

    "Tsk!"

    "That bastard Lothur is fortunate! How can he have such a woman? It''s so unfair!"

    "I think it''s normal. How would someone like him be with any other?" A young woman rebutted thement of an envious individual.

    "But isn''t their rtionship a fake?"

    "Humph!"

    "You think that''s fake?" Someone asked as she pointed one of her hands toward where Lothur kissed Viktoria and again went to fight.

    Unfortunately for young Ritter''s fans, he would not get far this time, finally having been defeated in thispetition in Peters City!

    Lothur was not brutally defeated, nor did he end up much worse than his opponent. But in this fight, his opponent managed to keep his advantage and suffer less than him.

    In the end, the refereemittee of this match gave the victory in favor of thestpetitor from the Waldauer familypeting in this match.

    Unfortunately for the Duke''s family, even though that young man tried, he could not hurt Lothur as the patriarch wanted...

    In any case, a victory was a victory, and that man did not feel so bad since this was another point for his organization.

    As for Lothur, this young man was not down either, as he had the third-ce match to give another point to the Frost family.

    As for the prize, it would go to Viktoria anyway, so the result for him did not matter much in the end.

    So it did not take long for Lothur to win the third-ce match and Viktoria to defeat her opponent, bing the winner of thepetition for warriors!

    With that, the Frost family solidified their position in 6th ce, finally reaching a point where it was unlikely to change, either up or down.

    [6th. Frost Family: 81]

    The Koch family was ahead of them by a few points, but the hope of that organization reaching Anneke''s house was slim. After all, Lothur''s group was with one person less, and their opponents were as strong as possible.

    In any case, everyone was already more than happy with this position, which would guarantee several benefits to this decaying organization.

    So, with the individual matches over, the teams were soon in their ces just before the start of thest part of the Province Conference!

 Chapter 349 The End Of The Province Conference 1

    In the blink of an eye, the first matches of the team warriorpetition went through the first round.

    In this round, Lothur''s group moved up thebat tform since the teams had the means to neutralize Viktoria. So it made no sense to let them pass peacefully through to the semifinals.

    But even though the opposing teams had their ways against Lothur''s group, he, Viktoria, and Annaliese managed to get through the firstbat, beating their opponents.

    How had they done this with one less person and Annaliese on their side? Lothur and Viktoria had hurt their opponents whenever they could during the otherpetitions of this day''s finals.

    Because of this, several of their opponents had more injuries than they would have liked when they went up to face them in this first team-fighting match.

    That resulted in their first victory, which took them to the quarter-finals.

    Next, when they fought a group from the Frohberg family, Lothur''s team faced an extremely tough match where two people from each side were standing at the end of the fight.

    Fortunately for the Frost family group, themittee referees following that match gave the result in favor of their group.

    Thus, to the joy of the many ordinary individuals in the coliseum, Lothur''s group was guaranteed to continue fighting for two more rounds, the semifinals, finals, or third-ce match.

    The Frost family reached 83 points and was almost catching up with House Koch, which had 84. But if Viktoria''s family won one more match, even with a draw, it would move to 5th ce. After all, Anneke''s family had already been eliminated from thepetition. In contrast, the one point needed for the Frost family to draw woulde from a match yet to be yed.

    And with that, while Annaliese''s family members were cheering another victory, those of the Koch family were already sighing, knowing the risks of losing a position.

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 28.4] [CON: 100] [DEX: 24.6] [AGI: 32.8]

    [INT: 68.8] [PER: 72] [WIL: 78.7]

    [EVF: 623]

    Lothur saw his status and the slight improvement he had gained after thesest few matches, which had been quite demanding on his body.

    He had to protect Annaliese and stillbine his forces with Viktoria topensate for theck of a fourth member of this team. So his efforts had been great enough for him to get attribute points in these previous matches.

    On the other hand, Lothur was a bit lucky to face a young man with me-focused spiritual techniques once again, which helped him raise his resistance a bit more.

    [Iron-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 98%.]

    But since there were no otherpetitors with such techniques, he no longer expected to improve his me resistance further in thispetition.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    He looked at his women and said. "I think the next match will be our limit..."

    "Hmmm, it will be tough to beat the main group of the Waldauer family." Viktoriamented as she looked at the other side of the fighting tform, where the opponents were. "Anyway, I think we have a chance to take third ce. With that, we will already achieve the best possible position."

    "It''s just a pity we won''t get the Secret Realm slots from thispetition," Annaliesemented regarding the prize for this warrior grouppetition.

    The individual warriorpetition also gave the winner one spot in the Secret Realm, which would open in a few weeks. But such a thing was only one slot and only for the winner. In the case of this teampetition, there were two slots, and they could be given to anyone in the family who met the age requirements of the Secret Realm.

    So the prize was much better, which is why Annaliese could not help but regret this situation.

    That was particrly true since there would still be apetition at the Morning Star Academy with spaces for the Secret Realm. What did this mean? Well, the family that won those slots could not only choose two of their members to send to this event, but they could also do this with more people, provided, of course, that their youngsters won such apetition at the academy.

    In the end, a family could take up to twice as many young people to the Secret Realm as other local organizations. And this could make a big difference in the future of these organizations!

    After all, the Secret Realm was and of opportunity, with unique ces to advance the speed ofprehension and cultivation. Yet, at the same time, it was part of a battlefield full of resources lost in spatial rings or ancient caves.

    Hence, the relevance of these slots to the Secret Realm was not minor and could raise the status of a family not only in the province but in the entire Empire!

    "That doesn''t matter. We''ll get ces through thepetition within the academy..." Lothurmented before their group was called, and they set off for yet another battle.

    After that, they soon began moving around that tform. Viktoria used her spiritual techniques to try to hold the strongest enemies while Lothur and Annaliese acted together.

    At this part of the event, she could not do much against the remaining opponents. So Annaliese''s role was to support Lothur, helping him entertain the opponents.

    Their hope was for Viktoria to eliminate one of her opponents and help them.

    But this was not easy. Four opponents could use energy attacks and fight while keeping their distance from the Frost family group members. At the same time, only Viktoria could do that on this team of hers.

    Because of this, as much as Lothur could act against level 11 people if he fought against only such a person, he could not do it well in this situation.

    One person might even have difficulty getting rid of Lothur and escaping his incredible speed. But two of them fighting against them were fully capable of doing that.

    Because of this possibility, other fights from earlier had been quite tricky for Lothur and Annaliese. However, things only got worse for them in this semifinal!

    This time, before the match had even ended, not only Annaliese but also Lothur were eliminated from the match by the two individuals who were not suffering from Viktoria.

    Such individuals even suffered greatly and were then eliminated by Lothur''s wife. However, at the end of the match, two people from the enemy group were left standing to fight her, giving victory to that rival family of House Frost!

    Thus, the Frost family group lost the semifinal and would have to fight for third ce, a match that did not take long to happen.

    At the night''s end, House Frost finished in 3rd ce in the group contest, while Houses ssen and Waldauer came in 2nd and 1st, respectively.

    Thus, the final Province Conference ranking was released!

    ...

 Chapter 350 The End Of The Province Conference 2

    [1st. Waldauer Family: 131]

    [2nd. Frohberg Family: 110]

    [3rd. ssen Family: 105]

    [4th. Sommer Family: 91]

    [5th. Frost Family: 84]

    [6th. Koch Family: 84]

    [7th. Becker family: 77]

    [8th. Geissler family: 76]

    [9th. Baier Family: 54]

    [10th. Vogel Family: 51]

    ...

    [39th. Dohmen Family: 0]

    As soon as the ranking was updated, the tournament participants sighed, some in relief, others in disappointment.

    Everyone already knew the result of this ranking hours ago. But to see such a thing at the end of thepetition gave a sense of culmination, something that made many feel at this moment the changes that this tournament would bring.

    Even families that should be celebrating, such as the top three in thepetition, who would gain new power additions, could not rejoice.

    After all, as much as the Frost family had ced 5th, the feeling everyone had now was that Lothur and this family were the real winners of the Province Conference.

    When it all started, this family was in danger of losing much of their possessions and even some of their young talent. But in this instant, they had not only lost anything; they had moved up so many positions that they would win magnificent prizes.

    The prizes for thispetition said that the first three ces would receive prizes independent of their positions in the previous tournament. But the remaining positions did not give awards. Instead, prizes or punishments could be imposed on those over three positions above or below their previous positions.

    Since the Frost family had moved from the 15th position to the 5th, its prizes would be proportional to the number of positions it had advanced!

    That is because each family that lost several positions in this conference would lose some benefits. But someone would need to receive these benefits since the Empire would not take these possessions...

    Those were the ones who had moved up more than three positions in the current ranking.

    But the division of these benefits would be done by considering how far each family advanced.

    As no other organization couldpare to the Frost family in this respect, they would get the most significant share to be redistributed!

    So the people in the most festive mood were those in Annaliese''s family, who celebrated how much they had improved after Lothur''s participation.

    Simon was the only one in this family who was not so happy internally. He was finding himself further away from his dream of sitting in this organization''s patriarch position.

    But besides the Frost family, Lothur''s allies who had participated in or attended this event were also pleased since these results would make things easier for them.

    Anyway, in this atmosphere of the end of celebration for some and the beginning of celebrations for others, the coliseum audience saw the awarding of thepetition.

    The part of the awards that belonged to the families and their rights over taxes,nd, etc., would be taken care of on a more private asion, something for the sake of the Empire''s security. Thus, the only awards show to everyone were those of thepetitors.

    Those who had won their respective contests all day soon began to climb thebat tform, where a small awards stage had been quickly set up.

    The Duke of the province, along with some influential figures in his government and Peters City, were there, ready to greet the winners and award them their prizes.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Among them were several local patriarchs and also the Klossner coroner.

    So when Lothur went up to receive his three awards, he finally had the opportunity to meet the coroner Klossner, a person he intended to do business with.

    This young man went up on that stage and greeted the first people whom he did not know.

    But as he shook hands with one of the men, he felt this person testing him, applying too much force to the handshake.

    Lothur looked into this person''s face and saw that such an individual looked like someone else.

    "You will pay for what you did to my son, Lothur." The Baier patriarch said in a low voice while strangely smiling so that people far from them would not know of his threat as he greeted the silver-haired young man.

    Lothur understood who this person was and smiled back but said nothing, just waving and leaving for the next person there.

    Aiken saw Lothur in front of him and smiled, tapping this young man on the shoulder and congratting him. "Congrattions, Lothur. You had a splendid result and still helped the family!"

    "Hmmm."

    "Later, I''ll talk to Viktoria so she can take you to the family vault and pick out some prizes." He winked at Lothur as if he was trying to do this without Mabel knowing.

    Lothur did not refuse and went on his way, arriving in front of the province Duke.

    "You are quite a figure." The Duke said while clenching one of his fists behind his back. "You have no mercy against your opponents... You live up to your lineage."

    "Lineage?" Lothur''s eyes narrowed.

    This person could know nothing of his bloodline. So that could only mean that such an individual knew about the unknown origin of his predecessor.

    However, Lothur did not invest himself in the matter since he knew he did not have enough to demand an answer from the Duke. He then said. "When you have such decisive opponents, there is no choice but to be even worse."

    The Duke smiled and released this young man after handing over a small box with three pills, Lothur''s prize.

    Then, Lothur kept that in his spatial ring and greeted the person he wanted to meet.

    "Lothur, huh? You''ve helped the Frost family a lot. So if you need help one day, look me up." Coroner Klossner handed a paper card to Viktoria''s husband, smiling and tapping one of this person''s shoulders.

    "I have something I want to talk to you about." Lothur went straightforward, taking the opportunity to at least talk something to this person.

    "Oh?" That man was surprised, not expecting that this young man was already after him. "What''s it about?"

    "I have a business opportunity for you." Lothur smiled and said in a confident tone. "I will soon present a project to the Becker family and other noble organizations in the province. I will open the opportunity for all willing to participate in it."

    "We can discuss the detailster if you want to know more. But I will send an invitation to several locally influential people regarding this presentation anyway, so you can just attend this event if you prefer..." He finished while several people in the surrounding area looked at him in curiosity.

    Everyone there had a very acute hearing. So they could easily hear Lothur and find out he was making an offer on this ce!

    ''What business is Lothur talking about?'' Aiken frowned, not understanding whether this would be good or bad for his family, but also curious.

    As for Klossner, who was surprised at Lothur''s confidence and poise in proposing such a thing, heughed and said. "Very well. I will go to such a meeting. I am sure your presentation will not be disappointing."

    So Lothur greeted that person once again, quickly finishing talking to everyone there, receiving a few new threats before leaving to wait for Viktoria.

    Just like that, the Province Conference came to an end!

    ...

 Chapter 351 Pill Information

    After the award ceremony, Lothur made his way along with Viktoria and Annaliese to the Frost family estate with the other organization members.

    Many powers were watching him, so he and Viktoria could not simply leave for the hotel they were staying in.

    At the same time, because of the situation earlier, surely some people would investigate how they managed to get to the Coliseum. And with that, the risks of someone discovering the hotel room they were staying in were not small!

    Hence, they headed along with that group to the Frost estate, where at least enemies would be afraid to act openly given Mabel''s presence.

    But while they were doing this, Fritz was watching the carriages of that family drive away, tasting defeat again this week.

    Since his arrival in Peters City, he had collected failures in the face of Lothur,ing to this moment when he had to return to his family to report that all.

    "Tell our allies in this province to continue their ns against the Frost family." He said as he stood beside his carriage at the exit of the Coliseum. "I also want them to keep an eye on this Lothur and try to eliminate him if they get the chance."

    "Yes, young master!" One of the subordinates there said before leaving to settle these matters.

    Fritz then got into his carriage with a thoughtful expression on his face. ''We cannot weaken because of his. The second prince''s faction will not miss any opportunity to attack ours if we rush things!''

    ...

    Sometimeter, Lothur''s group was already at Viktoria''s residence, inside the Frost family''s estate.

    In that ce, Annaliese, Lothur, and Viktoria soon sat down on the sofa in the living room, rxing their bodies due to the physical and mental fatigue umted these days.

    Meanwhile, Lothur took the box with the pills he had won for winning threepetitions of different professions. He looked at one of them and gave it to Annaliese. "Use this."

    Spiritual pills or resources that could affect a person''s physical or mental attributes only had an effect the first time they were used.

    That was, of course, considering that the item was of the same rank as it had been used before.

    If it was a pill of the same type, but of a higher grade, this rule did not apply, and that same person could use it again.

    In practice, this meant that someone could use an Iron-grade Six Sense Pill, a Bronze-grade one once, and so on, up to the highest grade. But, of course, the same was valid for medicines, potions, and poisons that could affect attributes.

    That way, since the three pills he received as a prize were of the same type and grade, he could use only one anyway. Thus, he preferred to give one to Annaliese and the other to Elke.

    Viktoria had earned hers, and she would undoubtedly give the ones she would not use to the Frost family.

    Annaliese readily understood why Lothur gave it to her and did not question it. Instead, she just took the colored pill that had two stripes in its center from his hand and thanked him.

    Viktoria saw this and was pleased that her husband was so concerned about her family...

    On the other hand, Lothur got up from that couch and sat in the middle of that living room, not dying putting the pill he had just seen the features of into his mouth.

    [Awakening Pill] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Purity: 90%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: enriches the spiritual sense of the one who ingests it.]

    As he felt the pill melt, Lothur noticed as if a dense vapor had suddenly escaped each of his pores. Because of this, his senses heightened, and he felt like he had improved from a cold.

    His breathing slowed in frequency. His awareness of his surroundings improved, with him understanding better the position and shape of objects in his surroundings, even with his eyes closed.

    At the same time, he sensed Viktoria''s cultivation. Even without seeing her attributes, he could more or less estimate how powerful she must be.

    Along with that, his horizons expanded, and he noticed the presence of many people on that estate, even overhearing some conversations here and there.

    "Don''t do that... They''ll hear us!"

    "But you like it..."

    "It doesn''t matter. You know we''ll end up making noise!" He heard a couple talking.

    At the same time, people nagging nonsense about the previouspetition and local gossip came to this young man''s attention.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Hey, man, did you see what the young master did today? He''s a real animal!"

    "I would be too if I got into bed with that goddess..."

    "Hahaha."

    "Miss Viktoria''s ass is amazing. It''s big, round... Ah, I would give anything just to see her naked."

    "Tsk!"

    "Stop lusting after our young miss! Toads like you will never get even a glimpse of her!" An older woman''s voice made Lothurugh.

    But then, he managed to control his senses better and retracted his spiritual probing to where they were standing.

    It was interesting to have the ability to hear people at a distance and to keep one''s vignce at a maximum. But doing this right after increasing this ability was problematic, so he quickly tried to suppress such a thing.

    First, he had to get used to hearing everyone in the surrounding area before he could passively use this feature!

    And so the system showed him the status after a few minutes.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 28.4] [CON: 100] [DEX: 24.6] [AGI: 32.8]

    [INT: 68.8 -> 70]

    [PER: 72 -> 95]

    [WIL: 78.7]

    [EVF: 623]

    Upon opening his eyes and seeing this, Lothur understood why he had heard so many things, as this considerably increased his Perception.

    On the other hand, he saw his Intelligence attribute improve a bit and was pleased as it was not easy to raise this trait.

    ''That''s great!''

    ''With a higher Perception, my visual ability will naturally be amplified. At the same time, in addition to having more ease time in my professions, I will be able to improve my dodging when in battle.'' He pondered, extremely pleased with that.

    He then saw that Annaliese was still absorbing the medicinal power of the pill he had given her. At the same time, Viktoria seemed to have finished doing the same as him.

    She opened her eyes and looked at her husband, smiling. "How are you feeling? Better?"

    "Hmm, much." He smiled back. "That is a treasured prize."

    "Yeah... Anyway, what are we going to do now? Return to the hotel?"

    He was silent for a moment and then answered. "Let''s leave it to return to the hotelter. I want to look at the rest of the prizes I received and see if there is anything I can do now."

    "After that, we''ll leave." He felt it would be more difficult for them to leave this ce. But still, he would rather be off the Frost estate, minding his own business without depending too much on others.

    "All right."

    So he soon began to study what he had received.

 Chapter 352 You Are Being Very Suspicious

    While Lothur was studying his three spiritual professions with the books he had earned earlier, Mabel and Aiken were walking through this estate.

    The two had serious expressions on their faces as a group of Frost family guards apanied them.

    Each of these people had curious looks on their faces, not entirely understanding what was going on.

    But as soon as they reached the door of Simon''s house, they understood that something strange was about to happen.

    Pa! Pa!

    "Simon, open the door." Aiken roared, already knowing that his uncle was inside that house.

    After a few seconds, the door opened, and Tobias appeared, along with his father and mothering right behind, all with unhappy expressions.

    "Aiken? What''s up? Why are you here at this hour?" The patriarch''s uncle asked without understanding the situation, not even considering the possibility that he had been discovered.

    So, in this instant, he had an expression that made him look totally honest, as if he had never made a mistake in his life.

    But Mabel and Aiken had already seen too much suspicious behavior from this man on this day and on others to suspect that Lothur was telling the truth.

    At the same time, their investigations of this man had shown some disappearances of Simon that corroborated their suspicions.

    Aiken then said even though he did not like the situation at all. "Simon, I am removing you from the position of family elder as well as the position of head of security."

    "What?" Simon''s wife eximed in surprise, already beginning to show unhappiness on her face.

    On the other hand, Simon became extremely serious at this point, finally beginning to grow suspicious. "What are you talking about? What''s the problem?"

    "Besides losing your position, you will be under house arrest from now on," Aiken firmly said and then looked at the guards there. "Watch this ce, and don''t allow my uncle to leave or anyone other than his son and wife to enter."

    Everyone was surprised at this, and Simon was starting to turn red.

    "Aiken, what are you talking about? Why are you trying to do this to your uncle?" That man''s wife questioned in an already irritated tone.

    "Simon, you are being very suspicious in your actions," Mabel said in an icy tone, making that woman over there shut her mouth immediately. "You seem to be plotting against the Frost family... Admit your crimes now, and let''s settle this without further problems for the family."

    Simon clenched his fists, but there was nothing he could do now. With Mabel there, he had no chance of escaping.

    At the same time, for the time being, these people did not seem to be sure of his crimes. So reacting would be like shooting himself in the foot!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''How did they find out?'' He wondered but soon tried to calm himself down to make a move that would give him time and other chances to pursue his power project.

    Simon had lost the chance to be the family patriarch when his older brother died because, at that time, Aiken had just married Mabel, who was already very talented in those days.

    Because of Mabel, Aiken was chosen as the organization''s patriarch instead of Simon, creating a grudge that existed for more than a century!

    At first, Simon had been very jealous but thought to ept his fate. But then, 30 years ago, an opportunity arose for him to be part of a group with interests that converged with his own.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Since then, he had been working towards this moment, helping the enemies of House Frost to weaken this organization.

    But just when he was so close to achieving his goals, such a thing happened... It was truly a great misfortune!

    But 30 years of work could not be easily thrown away, and he knew this was not the end yet!

    ''Damn it! I have to ept this for the moment... But I''ll win in the end, wretch.'' He red at Aiken. ''Soon, my group will act against the family during the Secret Realm, so I won''t have to be humiliated for long!''

    He then said. "I am very disappointed in you, Aiken..." He looked at that man with a disgusted expression on his face. "If my brother were alive, he would be surprised at how his son has gone so far as to distrust his own family."

    Aiken clenched his fists as Mabel looked at that person and felt that he was even more guilty than they suspected.

    Simon continued. "But that''s fine. I won''t make it difficult for you. I know that my innocence will be verified in a short time."

    The guards in the surrounding area heard this and felt strange but appreciated that their former boss had epted this.

    At the same time, Simon''s son and wife had much to ask this man, but they saved their thoughts forter as they watched Aiken sigh in relief.

    This man had not yet given up that his uncle might be innocent, that such a thing might be a misunderstanding. Therefore, hearing that Simon was willing to cooperate made him feel much better.

    "Come on, do your job." The patriarch told the guards, who soon began cing formations over Simon''s body to seal off this man''s cultivation.

    Simon was much stronger than these guards, so them watching him when he had all his power was the same as nothing. Because of this, he had to have his cultivation sealed to stay under house detention.

    In this way, it was not long before Aiken and Mabel left that ce, with both of them feeling less worse about Simon''s possible betrayal but still worried.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in an extreme ce in Leopoldine, where ordinary people would shiver in fear just at the sounds of the swaying trees, a group was camping in the middle of that area.

    In this group, which had several spiritual beasts to pull the carriages there and more than a dozen people, the strongest sat around a fire, eating and drinking.

    Among them, no one was weaker than a Nascent Soul Transcendent, one level above Viktoria and Annaliese''s mother.

    They dressed like ordinary people, but some had scars or even ways of looking that would show that they were not ordinary, even if one could not sense their auras.

    Among them was a man about two meters tall, with silver hair and light skin, sitting in the central position where all the others seemed to be facing him.

    He had a smile on his face, dirt-soiled skin, and a scar on his nose, which did nothing to diminish his good looks. On the contrary, it only made him look more distinguished.

    "Boss, I have news of the brat Lothur." A man standing beside a tree with an eagle on his forearm said while holding a scroll.

    "Oh? What is it?" A woman next to that man, the so-called boss, asked in his ce, as he seemed interested in the fire in front of him.

    The person in question said. "It seems he has undone some of the seals on his body."

    "He''s a cultivator now!"

 Chapter 353 Aikens Deception

    Before leaving the Frost estate to return to the hotel, Lothur was called by the patriarch for a talk.

    This silver-haired young man had looked through the books he got today of the three professions before he was called by Aiken, having more or less understood what he could get out of them.

    He could not read this in one night and then master everything. But it was vital for him to do his reconnaissance reading to know how to prepare himself from now on.

    And with that, he was ready to leave this estate and get on with his business outside of this ce when he faced Aiken in this man''s office.

    "Father-inw, what do you want with me?" He asked after sitting down next to Viktoria on the other side of the desk where Aiken was.

    Aiken looked at his son-inw and questioned. "What were you talking about with Klossner? What is this business I don''t know anything about?"

    Viktoria looked at Lothur upon hearing her father''s question, knowing that he had to discuss his ns. Still, she also tried to understand how he would justify his ''betrayal.''

    Whether he wanted to or not, he was part of this family, and even if they gave him some freedom, doing business behind their back was a problem.

    At the very least, he had to include the family!

    Lothur was as calm as ever and answered his father-inw''s question. "It''s about a business I''m developing. I have yet to develop a prototype, so the business is still only in my ns without getting off the paper."

    "I want to bring people together to fund me on this project. So, in addition to other organizations I''ve already talked to, I''ve invited coroner Klossner to participate in this because I''ve heard he''s a wealthy man."

    "Fund your project? And why didn''t youe to talk to me about it?" Aiken asked, understanding more or less what Lothur wanted to do.

    It was notmon in this cultivation world for people to invest in other individuals'' businesses. That was particrly true if such a person was not a renowned noble with many connections or someone who would receive support from their own family.

    So for Aiken, it was bizarre for Lothur to look for supporters outside the Frost family. But, at the same time, it was disrespectful to do so without at least considering them, as seemed to be the case...

    Lothur promptly answered Aiken''s question. "The Frost family would not have helped me if I had asked for your support first. So I went after my contacts to solve my need."

    That was only one reason why Lothur had not gone after the Frost family before.

    For him, the main thing was that by going to talk to powers other than the Frost family, he could have multiple sponsors, thus diversifying his supporters.

    If he had talked to the Frost family first, the chances of that organization limiting him would not be small. But, at the same time, what would happen if he had only one backer in case such an organization fell?

    He did not want the Frost family to perish, but if it were impossible to save it, he would not hesitate to abandon it to save himself.

    In this situation, it would be terrible for him if all his ''eggs'' were in one ''basket!''

    Aiken frowned, knowing that, however true it might be, such a thing would only happen due to Lothur hiding his abilities. So it was rather unfair of him to use this excuse to justify hisck of respect for his family!

    "Still, you should have warned us..." He said in a low voice, speaking seriously to this young man in front of him, a little disappointed.

    Aiken had always defended Lothur from Mabel and even felt bad for this young man. So, seeing this fellow fail him on something so simple was rather bad.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Viktoria saw the expression on her father''s face and intervened, "But that doesn''t matter. I''m sure Lothur was nning to invite you to join this project, father." She turned to her husband and asked. "Isn''t that right?"

    Lothur smiled at his wife and nodded. "Hmm, it is true. If the Frost family would like to join the other organizations that will fund this project, I will be waiting for you with open arms."

    Aiken looked at Lothur momentarily, knowing this young man was a scoundrel. But he had nothing to do in that situation and asked. "Sigh... And what is this project about?"

    "It is a vehicle design independent of animal power as the main power supplier," Lothur replied. "I will present in a few days a miniature model that will be like the original vehicle that I intend to market. I will send you an invitation with the ce and date when it is all arranged."

    "Vehicle? An autonomous carriage?" Aiken''s eyebrows frowned, with him understanding what this was all about. ''No one has ever been able to produce something like this... The chances of sess are low.''

    But since he had practically forced the young man to invite him to this event, Aiken could not just give up on that and thank Lothur now. It would be shameful for him to act like that after his attitude moments ago.

    So he simply threw away his expectations and said. "Very well. I will see your presentation when the timees."

    After that was settled, Lothur departed that ce alongside his wife, satisfied that he could ce yet another organization as his funder.

    Then he and Viktoria disguised themselves and left towards the hotel they were staying at.

    On the way there, the two experienced difficulties due to the significant presence of people investigating Lothur and his morning move that had fooled dozens.

    But as Lothur had improved his perception and developed a bit more of his visual ability, he and Viktoria eventually found their way to their goal.

    So after arriving at their room, the two proceeded to take off their clothes and fall into bed, not long before filling that room with melodies and a distinctive aroma...

    ...

    The following day, Lothur and Viktoria woke up full of energy but soon said goodbye.

    She went to settle her affairs concerning the Frost family, in particr the results of the Province Conference. As for Lothur, he went directly to the Morning Star Academy to pursue his affairs there.

    However, instead of what used to happen when he went to the academy when he arrived this morning, Lothur was faced with crowds looking at him and murmuring things.

    There were groups of girls and boys at others who had opposite feelings about him.

    On the other hand, looks of hatred and envy could be seening from the direction of people who were part of the most prominent organizations in the province.

    In the midst of this, he met Annaliese at the entrance to the academy but did not have much time to talk to her and go to his and Elke''s room.

    Before he had a chance to do what had be his routine, an academy official emerged among the many young people staring at him at the entrance to that ce.

    "Lothur Ritter,e with me."

    ...

 Chapter 354 Moving Up A Sector?

    Upon hearing that person call him, Lothur immediately paid attention to the uniform worn by academy employees on that woman.

    Annaliese also noticed that person, who should be from Sector-6, since there were six stars above her name, above her right breast, on her clothing.

    "Who are you? What do you want?" Lothur asked this middle-aged woman, who had an excellent physical build.

    She looked at him calmly, showing she neither appreciated nor rejected Lothur. Instead, she just had a look typical of those experienced people on her face, not giving the slightest hint to that young man whether she was a friend or an enemy.

    "Someone wants to talk to you. Come with me." She turned and then started walking in the direction of Sector-6.

    Seeing that, Lothur looked at Annaliese, and she looked back at him. "You''d better go. That woman is probably just a secretary, but she can even kick you out of the academy if she so wishes."

    "Is that so?" He asked before setting off in the direction of that woman with curves proportionate to her 1.5 meters tall.

    Meanwhile, the youths in the surrounding area began toment on the situation since, unlike Lothur, noneckedmon sense and knew who that woman was.

    "The secretary of Sector-6? What does she want with Lothur?"

    "Who knows..."

    "Maybe he''s going to get kicked out of the academy for lying?" One of the young men who disliked Lothur thought aloud.

    "Idiot. He''ll probably get promoted from one sector to another." Another personmented on this, which was the most likely possibility to happen.

    Meanwhile, in one of the corners of that academy entrance, Merten was looking with pure hatred in Lothur''s direction as he felt his wound hurt.

    Merten had lost part of one of his arms to Lothur in the fight days ago. So this young man could not help but feel incredibly angry at the sight of this person.

    But worst of all, he could not do anything about his grudge since Lothur was a monster!

    ''Maybe I can take my hate out on that little bitch?'' He wondered, remembering that the Becker family was now no longer a friend of House Baier. So Elke was within his limits of action to hurt Lothur!

    ''Little bitch, you will suffer for rting to him!'' He made up his mind and left there with ns to act against Elke.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur arrived at a luxurious and prominent office in the central part of the academy, where that institution''s management was, but also Sector-6.

    In this ce, the middle-aged woman made him wait for a few moments until a tall and thin young man came to greet him.

    "Lothur Ritter, right? I''ve heard a lot about you recently." This man with ck hair and round sses said as he shook one of the hands of the young man in front of him, smiling.

    Over the past few days, several organizations hade to this man on Lothur''s ount. These powers wanted to know about young Ritter''s background within this institution or about the possibility of hiring him for missions.

    So he was not joking with Lothur in saying his previous words.

    But, on the other hand, when Lothur saw the individual in front of him, he found it a little strange since this person seemed so weak on the surface but had a considerable level.

    [Name: Luis Hellwege]

    [Cultivation: ???]<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    [STR: ???] [CON: ???] [DEX: ???] [AGI: ???]

    The young Ritter had already seen this person''s name on the metal te on the table that separated the two. So seeing the status simr to Mabel''s, he could not help but imagine that this was a Transcendent.

    "Are you the principal of the academy?" Lothur asked.

    This fellow nodded and said. "Yes, I am here for the time being."

    "What do you want with me? Why am I here?" Lothur was concise, getting to the point so as not to waste his time.

    That man smiled at the behavior of the young man in front of him and said. "Well, there are some problems we have to solve, no? I know it''s not your fault that you entered the academy through Sector-1 with ''outdated'' information, but we need to fix this. You need to regrize your registration."

    "On the other hand, continuing in Sector-2 and still having no ess to the spiritual area of the academy is not good. So we have to change that, don''t you think?" He asked in a friendly manner.

    This man was not friendly with Lothur because this young man had done well at the Province Conference. He was naturally good-natured and had a humble attitude.

    So much so that, apart from Lothur, who had the system tips, few in the province or Peters City knew that he was actually a Transcendent!

    He was low-profile and acted below the radar without drawing unnecessary attention.

    So even if Lothur were not a prodigy, he would still treat this young man with good humor.

    Lothur saw that in this individual and was sincere. "Is there a need for that? I''m fine, and I have ns that mightpete with what you have in mind."

    "Oh? Can you tell me about that?" Luis asked, not wanting to insist on something without at least seeing this young man''s side.

    There was a bureaucratic need for some of his issues with Lothur to be resolved. But he had several ways to resolve it without having to ''force'' this student.

    So, Lothur responded to this man''s friendly approach, "I don''t intend to pursue any of my professions deeply. I have some ideas in mind and wish to focus on them until they can develop without me. After that, I will use that to fund my life or whatever I wish to do in the future."

    "Is that so?" The director was serious, amazed since he had not imagined that Lothur had such a peaceful and calm goal.

    What Lothur had told him was not so different from a super genius saying that he wanted to live like a farmer, a quiet life, without developing his talents.

    That, at the same time, seemed incredibly disappointing and a waste, but also a noble, respectable goal.

    After all, so many individuals in this world wished for chaos and would dirty their hands with the blood of the innocent for the mere chance of ascension. So, someone with the possibility to do this actually wishing for a ''secluded'' life and not developing to the fullest could even be considerably appreciable.

    The principal of this institution became even more curious and asked. "Can you tell me more specifically how you intend to do this? Maybe I can help you with something."

    Lothur did not know, but the man in front of him knew the identity of his dreaded father. Because of this, he was interested in keeping this young man in front of him out of trouble, whatever his real goals might be...

    So Lothur soon spoke about his ns that he had already told dozens of people in Linn Province.

    "Have you ever thought about waking up in the morning, getting into a carriage without depending on a beast or beast, and driving yourself to the academy?"

    ...

 Chapter 355 Luis Decision

    After a few minutes of talking, Lothur exined his vehicle project to the principal of the Morning Star Academy.

    "I see... So that''s your n." That man thought the same as Aiken but was less courteous and asked. "How do you intend to make this work when so many have tried and failed?"

    "That''s a secret, right?" Lothur smiled. "But if you want proof of how it will work, I will present an event for my backers in a few days. You''ll be able to see my miniature there."

    Luis heard this and considered looking at such an event since even if Lothur was going to fail, it was a fact that this young man was exceptionally talented.

    Many 3-star and 4-star professionals had tried to produce something viable and failed, so this would not be the thing to diminish Lothur''s talent and potential.

    But Luis was still skeptical about the viability of Lothur''s project. He then asked. "So, is that your purpose? Do you want to develop this business and use it to live your life peacefully without further developing your skills? Don''t you think that''s too little for someone talented?"

    Lothur then said. "This is just one of my projects, probably the one with the most potential to shock the world in a short time. But I will do other things."

    "Anyway, I think I will develop my skills even after achieving my goals. But it will be something I will do slowly, without rushing, without having to give up doing some things."

    "I don''t aim to be a leader."

    Upon hearing this, Luis'' eyes sparkled, as these words had a special meaninging from Lothur to someone who knew what this man knew.

    "I see... You have no interest in leading or participating in power struggles." He muttered.

    After ignoring that, Lothur heard from that man. "So you don''t want to go to spiritual sses? Not even moving up a sector? Just to have time for your projects?"

    Lothur nodded. "Yes, I am here just to get a basic education. Otherwise, I wouldn''t even waste my timeing to the academy..."

    ''Well, he was reached pretty far, considering he was learning on his own.'' Luis thought about it, remembering the investigation he hadmissioned regarding Lothur after the ''emergence'' of this young man.

    ''On the other hand, the academy is not a public institution that tries to train people for the state. We are here to train cultivators because they pay us and are interested in it for themselves. So if one of our students isn''t interested, what can I do?''

    ''He''s the biggest ''aggrieved'' one, so that''s none of our business.'' He made up his mind, considering this more bureaucratic side.

    But then he remembered something and said. "Lothur, you will be able to attend Sector-2 sses and eventually proceed to Sector-3 by taking the exams, as before. But from the academy''s point of view, from now on, you belong to Sector-6."

    "What? What does that mean?" Lothur asked without understanding.

    "You will have a simr routine as before. But regardingpetitions within the academy and the missions you will be able to do, such things will no longer be limited by Sector-2." He said, turning back to a more rxed expression.

    As for Lothur, after hearing this, he did not know whether tough or cry. After all, as this would give him certain advantages, it also gave him some problems.

    For example, following this, he would be able to do missions of a higher degree of difficulty because of this change. But this also meant that whenpeting for Secret Realm slots, he would have to do so against people from Sector-6, not Sector-2!

    In other words, the difficulty of him getting one of the Secret Realm slots had just increased exponentially!

    ''Sigh... At least I''ll be able to prepare better by doing more difficult missions, and I''ll be able to improve my position in the student ranking.'' He tried to think on the bright side whilementing that he would have topete with Viktoria''s ss.

    ''Luckily, Viktoria already got a spot, so she probably won''t be participating in thepetition...''<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "It''s okay, I understand." He said after thinking for a few moments.

    Luis then said. "In any case, let''s take a new aptitude exam. We can''t stay with the incorrect information from before."

    Hearing this, Lothur did not make it difficult by trying to refuse, as he had already done after his week of exams to move up from Sector-1 to Sector-2.

    At that time, Lothur did not want to reveal his talent or abilities to keep the secret because of the Province Conference. But that asion had passed, and there was no longer any need for him to hide it these days.

    So, he soon began to be tested by Luis right there in that office, first passing a test regarding his talent level.

    His talent was still at the Green grade, something quite good from the provincial point of view.

    Someone with Green talent would hardly be an empire-level expert, but they would be influential within a province. Considering this, Luis thought Lothur''s talent was pretty good, although he suspected something was wrong, considering how good this young man was at so many different professions.

    ''I wonder if this is his bloodline. Does it cause him to have some facility beyond the normal to learn spiritual professions?''

    Bloodlines and even Physiques were things that had practically no limits. All sorts of abilities could arise from them, from those most useless to those of turning heaven and earth upside down.

    So this man did not doubt that Lothur''s genius was due to a bloodline ability.

    After thinking about it, he quickly assessed Lothur''s power, concluding that this young man was indeed at the 9th Transformation.

    ''His strength is a bit weak for someone at the 9th Transformation, but it is clear he has gone through a ninth spiritual cleansing.'' He considered as he noted the result of Lothur''s marrow test. ''Hmm, he must have a physical characteristic far superior to others of his abilities.''

    But then, while taking Lothur''s test, he noticed something about this young man that should not be there.

    ''Uh?''

    ''There''s a Soul Bone in his skeleton!'' His eyes widened, considering how surprising this was.

    Soul Bones were rare, and hardly a young man like Lothur would have the chance to obtain or even buy one of these. Since the Frost family itself did not have any of these user-free, he could not have received this from them.

    At the same time, Lothur''s father would not give something like that to this young man, so Luis was very curious about this fact.

    ''Was it a meeting of fate?'' He considered before failing to analyze Lothur''s bloodline and Physique.

    His assessment showed that Lothur had found a way to awaken both. But for some reason, he could not verify what the abilities of those two things were like, even considering it was possible to do that in other people...

    ''Is it the Soul Bone ability?'' He considered before recording everything he should in Lothur''s chart and finishing that procedure.

    "Don''t forget what I said. From now on, you will have topete as a student of Sector-6."

    "All right." Lothur was finally released, leaving that ce not knowing what was on Luis'' mind.

    ...

 Chapter 356 Lack Of Options

    After Lothur left Luis'' office, the man finished updating this young man''s file and sat in his armchair quietly, considering the situation.

    Lothur''s talent was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, there were people in Sector-6 with talents superior to his. As in the case of Viktoria, who had a Yellow talent.

    But even though he was not as impressive in this regard, nor as high level as most of the students in that sector, Lothur had some extremes far above average.

    He had awakened bloodline and Physique, something that not even Viktoria had. In fact, no student in this ce had.

    Most bloodlines and Physiques were unknown until the moment of awakening. The reason for this? Simple, most people in this world were children of fathers and mothers with different bloodlines and Physiques.

    So unless the father and mother had the same characteristics as close rtives, the bloodline and Physique of their offspring could be the same as the father''s, or the mother''s, or something new. And because of this, it could be tricky to awaken such a thing.

    But even if one knew someone''s bloodline, it might not be easy to awaken it due to the requirements. Some resources were scarce, while other conditions could only be essed through unique ces or experiences.

    So even knowing such a thing, it might not be easy to awaken one of these characteristics.

    And as the students in this institution were young people in their twenties at most, there was still the problem of these people''sck of experience in the cultivation world.

    With this, Lothur had two more special abilities than his opponents and was thus someone to watch out for.

    As for his Soul Bone, although excellent and hard to find, this was a ce full of nobles. So for someone who was now ''part'' of Sector-6, that was nothing too out of the ordinary.

    It was impressive that he did not ''have'' the support to get something like that easily. But not because he had one of those.

    Most students in this sector had at least one of these unique items, which would never draw the attention of this person''s greedy side.

    So even though he identified that Lothur had a skull Soul Bone, he would not put that above other factors.

    ''This fellow is bizarre...'' Luis looked at the table in front of him, seeing the papers and pens but not paying attention to such objects. How did he awaken these abilities? For that matter, how did he manage to cultivate so fast? Shouldn''t there be some seals on his body? I haven''t found anything.''

    ''Did someone approach him and remove the seals?'' He wondered but soon ruled that possibility out since not many who were stronger than Lothur''s father would be walking around these areas.

    If people like that weremon and still doing favors, the empire would be in danger in a heartbeat!

    ''Anyway, something is going to happen.'' His eyes sharpened. ''After this edition of the Province Conference, both sides in this situation will be looking for him!''

    ...

    As Lothur went on with his activities alongside Elke in Sector-2, in a part of Peters City, a redheaded woman had just stopped in front of a median residence.

    She was charming, as most women in the cultivation world were, even considering that she was only a mortal.

    At the same time, her curves were the kind that would attract the masses, even more so considering the tight dress on her skin, which did not hide much of her curves. But still, this outfit covered most of her body without showing more than it should, as it should be the elegant woman''s way of dressing.

    Her hair was tied up, and her ears and other parts of her bodycked the items she usually put on, leaving behind visible a few small holes.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    But some of the tattoos on her body could not be hidden, so if someone saw her now, they would see at least two of the many tattoos on her body.

    She saw that ce with a look that looked like someone returning to her parents'' home after a failed attempt at independence. But there was a little smile at the corner of her lips, something that would serve to fool the most irrational, those who would always try to believe the words of a regretful woman.

    ''Now, that is my only alternative. Go back home and live a peaceful life.'' She clenched her fists, knowing that this was her best alternative after all her experiences.

    She genuinely did not want to return home after the emotions she had experienced in the past few months. But after the fall of the Mouse Company, the end of business rted to that ce, and Kai''s disappearance, what could she do?

    She had nowhere to go. Her coins were gone. The people she knew were either fleeing, dead, or were people close to her family. So she could only choose to return to her children and husband after her experiences with Kai.

    Luckily, her husband would forgive her for the months of disappearance and ept her with all the problems she had recently acquired...

    But as she prepared to return to her old life, Suse saw the dust on the facade of that property, as well as all the closed windows. It was as if no one were living there as her husband had never left this ce like this in the past, and her children would always be around at this time.

    With these strange signs, she suddenly frowned and felt something was wrong and knocked on the entrance gate, expecting to find someone.

    Pa! Pa!

    She knocked a few times and also called out her husband''s name. "Otto! Are you there? It''s me, Suse!"

    After trying for almost five minutes, Suse saw the gate of the neighbor''s house open, and a middle-aged woman appeared, looking at her with an expression of surprise.

    "Suse?" Such a person dressed in a long dress eximed in surprise, not expecting to find this person missing just like that.

    Otto had suffered for months, hired several investigations, and even sought out his neighbors toment his difficulties in several situations since Suse''s disappearance.

    Because of this, this woman and other neighbors of his knew what he had been through and how long Suse had been missing.

    Therefore, everyone already thought that she had died. So, upon seeing this redhead, that woman almost let the nt pot she had in her hands fall to the ground due to her surprise.

    "Marita, it''s good that you are here..." Suse smiled at that woman and walked to her side. "Some things happened in my life, and I had to be away for a while. Do you know where my husband and children are? I''m exhausted, and I just want to find them now."

    That woman was not the least bit suspicious of the things Suse had gone through to be ''exhausted'' since Otto had not told anyone the things he had heard from Lothur.

    After all, who would want to be known as the husband of a woman who ran off with another and even started prostituting herself to please the other?

    That would be humiliating!

    So Otto had just followed Lothur and Elke''s advice in silence without saying anything to anyone.

    "About that..."

 Chapter 357 The Frost Familys Gains

    "About that, a few weeks ago, Otto was visited by two youths from the Morning Star Academy. After that, the other morning, he left the city, saying he would pursue his life elsewhere." This housewifemented to Suse, showing in her expression her doubts at the time this happened.

    But she, nor others who knew of the urrence, had judged him for leaving this ce without checking Suse''s condition. After all, everyone had already figured that she had died, so it was better for him to move on.

    However, with this woman right in front of her, this housewife could not help but feel bad for this mismatch of fate. ''He looked for you for months, but when you finally returned, he had already moved on...''

    ''Sigh!''

    ''What a cruel life...''

    As this housewife innocent of Suse''s actionsmented, this redheaded woman had a strange expression, feeling a bit of anger and doubt.

    ''How could he have left? Was he not after me? How can he abandon the mother of his children and just leave like that?'' She thought about it with her twisted mindset.

    But after silently thinking several negative things about her useless husband, who did not serve to satisfy her and was also this disappointment, she decided to put things aside. She had her own stories and had no other option at the moment. So ''tolerating'' this was something temporarily eptable...

    "Marita, I understand. He thought I was gone for good, maybe even dead. It''s my fault." Shemented in a tone that made her sound like a sorry-good girl. "Anyway, I need to find my family. All I want is for things to return to normal, even if he left like that."

    "Hmmm, I understand you." That woman nodded but had an apologetic expression on her face. "Unfortunately, when other neighbors and I asked where he was going, he didn''t tell us."

    "He onlymented that he would let fate choose his new home and that he just hoped he could raise his children in peace."

    Suse clenched her fists as she heard this, feeling her chance to return to a good life as a housewife slipping away from her.

    "You said he talked to students of the academy before he left. I wonder if that has any bearing on this unexpected change?" She managed to think about it in the few seconds she had after hearing the answer from that woman.

    "Maybe. But I have no way of knowing for sure."

    Suse said. "It doesn''t matter. Can you at least tell me what they looked like?"

    Hearing this, this housewife smiled. "Of course! That young man was so handsome. I honestly would never forget his face. He is..."

    ...

    While Suse was getting the description of Lothur''s refined appearance, Viktoria was with her father in the Linn Province government building.

    After the Province Conference ended, they had an appointment to receive the awards from thatpetition, making the proper formalities.

    So, after passing through that ce full of enemies, they did what they should since even if some groups had something against them, it was not the will of the emperor.

    The emperor no longer cared about political issues involving imperial session, as this was no longer his business. He was the strongest in the state and was ready to leave his position in no time.

    So how could he act petty to try to harm the Frost family that was no big deal in his eyes?<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Plus, as the leader of the state and someone who presided over the value of his own words, he would never allow a winner not to get what they deserved.

    Not to mention that not rewarding the Frost family could create a situation where even the enemies of the family would be uncertain about the future. After all, things might be good for them as long as the sovereigns saw them on their side, but what if their situation changed in the future?

    So even the enemies of this family within the province did nothing to try to hinder the transfer ofnd into the Frost family''s possession!

    Thus, in a matter of hours, Viktoria and Aiken received the papers that gave them the right tond previously from other organizations and privileges in terms of paying taxes.

    There was a deadline for such families to leave these areas and a time for House Frost to begin to be affected by the awards of this conference edition. But this was not long, and in a short time, this organization could have a territory 20%rger than the current one and have to pay minus 30% taxes!

    With this, they could make more cash and improve investments in their young talent!

    Viktoria followed this with her father and had a smile on her beautiful face as she took the papers confirming the transfer of property. But, at the same time, she could not help but pay attention to the date when they would have these possessions in their ''hands'' after the Secret Realm.

    "Well, it all worked out fine," Aikenmented to her in satisfaction, feeling one less weight on his shoulders.

    The family''s situation was still worrying. But now they could at least take some steps to strengthen themselves a bit instead of just trying to hold off their opponents.

    "Yes, in addition to our results, the Dohmen family has been demoted. Now Lothur''s allies, House Christen, will have a good chance to be appointed the new noble house." Shemented to her father, who had already heard about why Lothur had killed Oliver during the tailors'' match.

    "Hmm, I hope he can reach a deal with that family in the future." He said as they were already leaving to return to the Frost estate.

    At the same time, their enemies, particrly those who would have to renounce theirnd after the Secret Realm, were on the outskirts looking at them with hatred on their faces.

    "Just wait! The Secret Realm is just over there!" One of the several patriarchs who had had to sign the agreements in that ce today said in a low voice.

    But one of the most skeptical of them thenmented despondently. "Tsk! Even if our ns work out, what can we do about it? That family will have those privileges that belonged to us for the next few decades!"

    "Then the bastard who controls that family will be the only real beneficiary."

    "Damn it!"

    "All the fault of the ipetents handling the surveince of that family! How did they let uspete with that little monster?" An obese man questioned hispanions, feeling wronged.

    And so, as the Frost family began their ns for theing months, their enemiesmented, hoping that their future actions would at least lessen their recent losses.

    But some were already nning to act against Lothur since security in Peters City would diminish in theing days, as several families would return to their territories after today.

    With this, it was time for the local plots to return to normal, except that Lothur would be the new center of attention for these specialists!

 Chapter 358 Unexpected Meeting

    At the end of the day, Lothur ced the items he wanted to sell at the academy in the hands of the area responsible for such business, confident that the past problem would not be repeated.

    He also returned to his usual routine with Annaliese and Elke, having trained that redheaded girl, and started helping his sister-inw.

    Previously it was she who helped him, but now with the improvements he received after destroying the Mouse Company, Lothur was the one who could push Annaliese.

    Anyway, at the end of the day, when he was apanying Annaliese to the Frost family estate, suddenly, a person stopped in their way.

    At the exit of the Morning Star Academy, a red-haired woman whom Lothur already knew spotted him from afar and immediately recognized him.

    Despite simr appearances, Suse did not know if the person her former neighbor had described was the young man who had visited her earlier. But as soon as she saw Lothur''s face and hair, she immediately recognized him, knowing that it could only be this young man who had talked to Otto.

    After all, not many young men in this city were as handsome and distinguished as him!

    So she ran towards him, curious to know where her family was, but beginning to think that perhaps he had been responsible for the departure of her rtives.

    "You, wait a minute!" She shouted at him and Annaliese as she turned red at the thought in her head. ''He didn''t do it, did he? Why would he get involved in my affairs? What does that have to do with him?''

    Lothur looked in her direction and recognized her, promptly narrowing his eyes since he did not expect to see this person after the previous situation.

    "What do you want with me?" He asked in a serious voice.

    Lothur did not like being sought out in public by a prostitute he had met by chance during a mission. Even more so considering that Annaliese was on his side.

    So he was not friendly, going straight to the point to find out why this person was yelling at him to stop.

    Annaliese looked at this woman and found it a little strange that this person who had parts of her own body ''mutted'' by things she would never do to herself.

    The female body was magnificent. So why would someone as beautiful as that woman do such a thing? That is, the tattoos were covering relevant parts of her body!

    That had been Annaliese''s immediate impression upon seeing this woman before she began to worry due to the jealousy she naturally felt from others around her brother-inw.

    "Lothur, who is she?" Annaliese asked as she saw Suse stopping in front of the two.

    "I met this woman during a mission. Anyway, we are not connected." He defended himself without wasting any time.

    Suse heard this and asked. "Mission? That was a mission for you?"

    "Yes, and I didn''t do anything. I just knocked you out with a massage so no one would suspect that I didn''t do what I was supposed to..." He rified that so that he would not get into troubleter with his sister-inw.

    He could deal with Annaliese''s jealousy, but who would want to deal with that kind of problem when it could be avoided with an exnation?

    "So you told my husband of my situation? Was it because of you that he and my children left?" She turned even redder with anger, feeling hatred for this person.

    That was her and Otto''s business! Lothur had no rtions to try to interfere or say unnecessary things!

    So in her mind, this woman could not help but me this person for probably ruining her marriage...

    "So he took my advice to leave?" Lothur muttered as Annaliese tried to make sense of the situation. "Good for him. He looked pretty bad when I contacted him to deliver the results of my investigation."

    She clenched her fists tightly andined. "Why did you do that? Why did you manipte my husband to stand against me? That matter did not involve you!"<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Lothur then said, quickly clearing the doubts in his sister-inw''s mind. "Humph! Watch your mouth, woman!"

    "Your husband was worried about you being in trouble when you were behaving like a slut in Kai''s hands, even prostituting yourself!"

    "What?" Annaliese brought her hands to her mouth, shocked to discover that this beautiful woman in front of her had such a story.

    Lothur then continued. "Don''teining to me. I just aplished my mission. As for the rest, me yourself for putting yourself in that situation."

    "Shut up!" She shouted angrily. "You don''t know anything about me! You don''t know what I''ve been through!"

    "Hmm, you said you liked that life before." He looked at her with a provocative expression, smiling subtly. "You liked what was happening, even if part of you knew how wrong it was."

    "You abandoned your own children and husband to be a criminal''s bitch..."

    "Tsk!"

    "Now that he''s ''probably'' dead, you''re sorry." He spat on the floor, showing his disgust at dealing with someone like this woman.

    Annaliese was pale as she heard this, not imagining what kind of person could abandon her family to someone as dirty as Kai.

    "Go away. Don''t look for me anymore." Lothur said as he turned and took one of Annaliese''s hands.

    "Wait!" Suse said as her eyes were watery.

    She truly was a slut, but getting a moral lesson was not easy, especially because she was very fragile about the possibility that her lover had died.

    Suse was in love with Kai, so her current situation was quite depressing. Thus, Lothur''s words easily stirred the feelings of this mortal woman.

    "Tell me where he went. Then, maybe I can repair the situation!" She shouted as she walked beside the two.

    "I don''t know where he went, and even if I did, I wouldn''t tell you," Lothur said without looking into Suse''s eyes.

    Suse was the worst kind of woman there was. Not only had she fallen into Kai''s trap by her own choices, but she also wanted to pretend that everything she had done had not happened!

    Lothur might even treat her well if she were the type to make her own decisions and bear the consequences. But as someone who wanted to do her will and then act like a good girl, deceiving her husband, Suse did not deserve any mercy!

    So he drove Annaliese to her carriage, leaving Suse behind, not knowing what to do now that she did not even have a hint to go after her husband.

    Because of this, she had a breakdown, falling to her knees on the ground while screaming and crying, feeling how unfair the world was.

    She just wanted to live her life and enjoy strong emotions. So ending up in this situation where she had nowhere to go was heartbreaking and unfair...

    ''Damn it!''

    ''What have I done? I had everything in my hands. My life was guaranteed at Otto''s side!''

    She cried in the entrance za of that academy. At the same time, the students merely shunned her, only watching her without wasting their time with a hysterical mortal.

 Chapter 359 Houses To Buy

    After leaving the academy alongside Annaliese, she and Lothur went to the Frost estate, where it did not take them long to find Viktoria.

    They had arranged to visit houses around this city, so after the two found that woman, they immediately changed clothes and set off together.

    Lothur had the funds to finance a decent property for a few people, and their need for a safe environment had recently increased.

    So they could not leave this matter to be settledter and soon arrived at the ce Annaliese had arranged with an acquaintance of hers.

    They were in the same neighborhood where Lothur''s mistress of the poison art had an estate.

    There were many houses of 2nd stage cultivators in this city in such a ce, and the properties were stunning. Each of them had a unique model, which made the surroundings full of color and distinctive shapes.

    At the same time, the streets were of the best possible quality, with well-organized but also specially decorated streetlights, different from the rest of the city.

    In short, the neighborhood in question was of a higher standard than those where mere mortals lived.

    Lothur was already ustomed to passing through this area because of the times he had been to Elisabeth''s estate and did not stop to pay attention to the surroundings.

    He just focused his eyes on the house behind where Annaliese''s friend was waving to them.

    "Annaliese, First Miss Frost, Lothur." She greeted the three, smiling in a weing manner, especially at this young man. "Well, this is the first property I have to show you. But my family has four more houses with simr specifications to the ones Annaliesemented to me."

    "Then we can visit these ces today and in the next few days if you don''t appreciate this location."

    Lothur wanted a house with at least four bedrooms, five bathrooms, arge dining room, and a living room. At the same time, he would need a good kitchen for Annaliese to cook for him and space for future residents to practice their professions.

    A cultivator could easily train, read, cultivate, etc., on a mountain peak, snowing, with the sound of the winds in their ears. But it was much better to do any of these things in afortable ce, previously prepared for the kind of activity to be practiced.

    So he wanted to have about ten more rooms in his house just to develop training and study spaces for him and his wives, who would live together in the future.

    Finally, it would be interesting to have a pool for hot days, a whirlpool area, and a garden to harmonize with the outside environment and give them some privacy...

    On the other hand, such a ce could not be overly expensive, as Lothur''s current budget was limited.

    Therefore, there were not many options avable to them, and that woman readily made that clear before directing them to the interior of the first property.

    "This is a tropical style house, typically found in coastal regions." Then, she introduced the ce, which was quite different from what one might find in Peters City. After all, this city is far from the coast, so property in this style was quite unusual to see in the neighborhood.

    "This property is 434 square meters and has 35 rooms, including 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, 3 recreational rooms, 11 training rooms, 2 kitchens, and 4 areas." She introduced the empty ce, which still smelled of paint on the walls.

    "We have arge hot tub for up to 6 people, a swimming pool with a 30 square meter water mirror, and a beautiful garden. It is surrounded by a green wall, with tall trees to protect the family''s privacy."

    The three people apanied that woman through various rooms of that house that had two floors and several balconies with many natural light entrances.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    The ce was very well-lit, with a beautiful view from the main dining room on the second floor to the pool area and the property garden.

    Lothur liked the ce at first sight, but Viktoria and Annaliese seemed uncertain whether this could be their home.

    Obviously, Viktoria did not know that her younger sister was supporting her opinion and defending her own interests...

    The woman introduced the ce to them and then stopped at the upper balcony of this house, the balcony of the main bedroom, where there was a beautiful view of the forested area around Peters City.

    "Finally, this house is priced at 280,000 silver coins, with immediate delivery after payment and signing of papers." She said as she finished introducing this ce to this group.

    The cultivation world was very conducive to conducting business quickly. That was because there was no need for an institution to regte every agreement. Blood Contracts worked well to oblige one party to follow through with the other.

    So, unlike on Earth, in this ce, one could buy a house and move in the same day one visited it and decided to buy!

    Lothur was impressed by this kind of thing every time he heard it and even felt that he had been lucky to have started his business in the cultivation world, not on his troubled Earth.

    "So, what are you going to do? Following your parameters, that is our second most affordable property for sale now." She said, already thinking of the 3%mission she would receive from this deal.

    Lothur looked at his women but did not have to ask them. From theirments during the presentation of this ce, he was aware that neither of them would let him move on without at least looking at other houses.

    "Let''s look at the next one. We''re still undecided if this is the right ce for us to live..." Hemented as he smiled in defeat.

    He liked the beach, so he had found the stern design of this property attractive. But it was just a shame that his wives preferred the maind and ''convinced'' him to visit the second property.

    "Okay, the other one is at the end of that street. Then we can visit it right now." That woman smiled at them, knowing that the chance of her earning more would be greater if they chose a more expensive property.

    ''It''s always better when the wife apanies the husband in situations like this...'' She internally smiled as she looked favorably at Viktoria and directed them to the following address.

    ...

    ? After two hours of getting to know houses around that part of Peters City, Lothur and his wives returned to the Frost family estate without making a decision.

    They had even liked the second house they saw but were curious to see all the possibilities before deciding.

    With that, no deal was made for the day, and Lothur and Viktoria would have to sleep one more night in the hotel they were staying in.

    But neither of them was upset. Instead, one of them wanted to take the time to start already producing some basic formations. At the same time, the other had to prepare the move from her residence in the Frost family to their new home.

    So the two of them left Annaliese at the Frost estate and returned to the hotel they were staying at!

 Chapter 360 The Ritter Family Home

    The next day, Lothur and his women had a simr day to the one before, with him fulfilling his responsibilities as a man, training and studying, and the women apanying him for part of the day.

    Because of this, Elke reached level 6, while the other two women got their traditional Constitution boosts that had been helping them a lot in physical training.

    That was less significant for Viktoria, who focused much more of her training and cultivation on raising her soul power. But even she had been experiencing improvements in her Strength, Agility, and Dexterity because of her physical evolution.

    But besides these subjects relevant to their cultivation, Lothur finished learning the basics of medicine and intended soon to go out and see Doctor Snee''s assistant, Sofie, again.

    He learned the content in the books, but medicine was only really learned when in practice, as each patient could have unique reactions that would subtly change each case.

    Since any tiny change could be relevant in saving a life, young apprentices like Lothur needed some experience before bing 1-star doctors.

    No wonder medicine was considered one of the mostborious spiritual professions to master in the cultivation world!

    Anyway, after sses at the academy ended on Tuesday, Lothur went along with Viktoria and Annaliese, and Elke to visit the houses in Peters City.

    The day before, she had been unable to apany them due to a setback, but nothing had stood in her way today.

    Since, on this day, most of them already had some experience visiting houses and looking for what they wanted, their journey was much faster and more efficient.

    Choosing a ce to live without having visited several others first wasplicated. So as they passed the fourth property, those three could find what they were looking for, which best suited their future needs.

    Elke agreed with the points that each of them raised during the minutes of touring that their group had, also liking the fourth property visited since the day before.

    ...

    "This property is priced at 342,000 silver coins. We have the same rules for it, so you can have itter today if you choose it." The woman who had presented the houses to them so farmented with a smile.

    Lothur and his three women were more than satisfied with this 500 square meter with plenty of room for five people to live therefortably.

    "Let''s close the deal," Lothur said after seeing the look on that woman''s face, as his women smiled and nodded in agreement.

    He had 350,000 silver coins in his spatial ring, so soon Lothur handed the payment to that person, not taking long to start signing the papers of the deal.

    After an hour of reading and talking over some details, the deal was finalized, with that person handing over all the keys and documents of the ce and then leaving.

    So, the four young people there did not take long to open a drink and celebrate, with two already making their ns to move, one more immediate, the other more for the future. As for Annaliese, her intentions were only in her mind, so she did notment much on the subject, although she gave her opinion of what there should be there...

    Viktoria had already prepared her entire move from the Frost estate, so after some celebration and conversation, she asked Lothur. "Can we move now? Are we moving today?"

    "Hmm." He nodded in agreement, seeing no problem with that.

    "You can start now. In the meantime, I want to set up some formations on the outskirts of this property."

    Lothur knew the risk he would take in living alone with Viktoria in a house in Peters City. After all, as much as a hotel had problems, it was rtively easy for someone to hide in one of these. This, on the other hand, was not true for houses.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    They could even keep their location a secret for a while. But that was temporary, and when enemies discovered them, there would be no way for them to hide in a ce where only they would live!

    Since he had many opponents, Lothur promptly began to set up the formations he had made the night before and create new ones to ensure his home''s security.

    ''I think in the short term this house will be enough...'' He imagined a future where he would need more space, but he was satisfied with his current change.

    Viktoria began to organize the things she had brought in her spatial ring with the help of Elke and Annaliese. As for him, he continued to ''fit'' all the ''pieces'' of his security mechanisms together.

    Lothur nned sound formations to alert the residents of potential invasions, defensive formations for doors and windows, and offensive formations to deal with possible enemies. At the same time, he spread poison in certain parts of his residence and nted some poison medicines in his garden.

    ''I need a ''dog''...'' He imagined getting a beast to protect his residence, something fierce, preferably.

    But for the moment, that was impossible. So Lothur just stuck to his formations and poisons, which would be enough to frustrate enemies that dared toe to this ce.

    ''I am already learning what is necessary to be a 2-star professional. So, I will upgrade these defensive mechanisms in the future...''

    ...

    After workingte into the night to sort out his change of ce, Lothur and his women finished doing the basics.

    He had ced his formations and poisonous items in the vicinity of this ce, having, of course, warned them about such things so that they would not be affected.

    He also distributed his materials for each of his professions in different rooms of this property, where he would set up his study areas in the future.

    For now, he had to buy suitable furniture and tools, which he did not yet have, given his previous precarious situation.

    As for those women, before Elke and Annaliese left, they helped to decorate some of the rooms.

    But of course, they did not finish. This house was much bigger than Viktoria''s on the Frost estate. After all, this ce was for several people, not only for her. So, until they all moved out, parts of theirrge house would remain empty.

    But with empty spaces or not, when Lothur was alone with his beautiful wife, he did not miss the opportunity and soon ''inaugurated'' this house!

    This ce was huge, and the desire within both of them was no less. So, in the blink of an eye, the two ''walked'' around that property while having sex, ''marking'' each room in their unique way...

    ...

    While Viktoria and Lothur were having a great time in their new home in Peters City, the old head referee of thisst edition of the Province Conference arrived in the capital of Leopoldine.

    "Time to talk about it..." He muttered to himself as he looked at the vial with blood on his hands and then thought about who he would visit next.

    ...

 Chapter 361 A Bastard?

    After saying goodbye saying to his pupil to solve his obligation at the royal pce, the man who opened the Linn Province Conference departed for his destination.

    He had many questions in mind and knew that the person he was about to visit would be interested in what had happened in Peters City.

    He quickly made his way to approach such a person, using a unique method ofmunication to reach that individual.

    So he was soon in front of an old man with silver hair, eyebrows, and a beard of the same color, who was quietly meditating on a mountain at the moment.

    The capital of Leopoldine was huge, with several mountains circled by human constructions, some even with ''vertical cities'' on top of themselves.

    Because of this, it was not unusual forrge local organizations to have their own mountains with their headquarters on them.

    That was the secret headquarters of one of the local organizations, where this old man used to spend his time when he was not doing his main work.

    Seeing that man at the top of that ce, the person that Lothur saw earlier went to make a gesture of greeting but was soon stopped by the aura of the individual there.

    "You know there is no need for formality here..." A hoarse voice broke from the throat of such an elder, while the atmosphere in the surroundings seemed strange after he opened his mouth.

    It was as if his words were enough to influence the area in his surroundings!

    The man who led the Linn Province Conference then did not use proper treatment pronouns but answered why he was there. "I am here on ount of this. Can you imagine what it is?" He showed the vial with the blood of Lothur.

    That old silver-haired figure looked at it, and his eyes narrowed. "Whose blood is this? Why did you bring it here?"

    The newly arrived man smiled and exined. "Recently, I met a young prodigy in the ce where I was staying."

    "Oh? Are you talking about the Linn Province Conference? Has it already ended?"

    "Yes, you don''t know the results yet?"

    "No." The old man said in a tone that carried almost no curiosity. "I have left it for my sons to handle. If there are any problems, one of them wille to me."

    The individual standing then said. "Well, I found a young man with the same hair and distinctive appearance as the people in your family... I thought he might be one of your bastards."

    That man''s eyes opened wider as he slid one of his hands in the air and made that vial of blood float up to him.

    This man had many bastards around the world, most lost or perhaps hidden because of how dangerous it was to belong to his lineage. He had many enemies who did not dare to act against him but would act against his children to ''humiliate'' him somehow.

    Since this man disliked the idea of losing his children, even those who were bastards, he could not help but be interested in bringing another one of these to his side.

    Technically, a bastard was a child out of wedlock. But a bastard was not always abandoned by their father, as could be imagined by many.

    The cultivation world was huge, and people could have their casual adventures and then go their separate ways. Sometimes someone who had lived as long as this man would have countless affairs with women they had met on trips.

    But a trip could not stop for casual sex or a small romance!

    Because of this, many men ended up impregnating countless women on their journeys, sometimes never even finding out about their existence.

    As in this case, the old man in question had had several bastard children that he only found out aboutter, often at the death of these children to his enemies.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    But some of his bastard children, he had found them and brought them to his side.

    Because of this, upon hearing that from his old acquaintance, he soon became interested in knowing this seed that he had left somewhere...

    He opened the vial with Lothur''s blood and smelled it before tasting such a thing.

    Meanwhile, the other man continued. "This young man is magnificent. You need to see him in action. He seems to have no limits in terms of understanding. His ability to learn more than one profession with a simr level of perfection is impressive."

    Comprehension was rted to the Intelligence attribute. Because of this, people who saw Lothur in action thought that this young man had a very high talent or would not be good at many professions simultaneously.

    However, Lothur''s case differed from what these ordinary people knew. For this young man, his Intelligence attribute was only average for cultivators in general. Still, even so, he could learn so many professions simultaneously with the same sess rate.

    Why was this?

    It was because of the system!

    Lothur''s Intelligence would, at most, give him a high talent in one profession. So, what made what he did possible was not this attribute.

    As for how this happened, well, that was simple. When starting their cultivation journey, a cultivator would naturally have more affinity for certain things and less for others. The ones they had more affinity for, they could use their Intelligence attribute to master more easily.

    But the system had changed this by giving Lothur affinity with all the Natural Laws of this cultivation world!

    Because of this, he could use the same talent to learn several professions, achieving simr results in all of them.

    Did this mean that his Intelligence did not matter? It mattered a lot, but more for hisprehension speed and less for his learning ability.

    That was the exnation of Lothur''s anomaly, something that, unfortunately or not, these people did not know and therefore considered his talent to be greater than it should be.

    "Is that so?" That silver-haired man questioned, as his eyes narrowed, given what he felting from that blood.

    "That person is not a bastard of mine." He said after a few moments, making the standing man not understand the situation, considering the number of simrities between Lothur and this man.

    "He is not?"

    "No, but he has something in his blood that reminds me of one of my sons..." Such a person muttered while having a hard-to-read expression on his face.

    "That young man is probably my grandson."

    "Grandson? What?" That person was surprised. ''I didn''t think of that possibility! But there are so many potential fathers... Who will be this young man''s father?''

    That man might not have known, but the old man with the vial containing Lothur''s blood was more than aware of who that was about. ''So you had a son behind my back, Daemon!''

    He clenched his fists and turned a little red.

    ? "Pyke! Pyke!" He shouted twice to one of the many guards hiding in the vicinity.

    One of these men emerged from the shadows, and he ordered. "Bring that young man to me immediately!"

 Chapter 362 Fatal Mistake

    The other day, Lothur went on with his business at the academy, focusing on his studies and learning new information about this world.

    He was also raising his foreignnguage skills, sometimes helping Elke but also being helped by her.

    This woman may not have a greater natural talent than his. Still, she had been raised as the youngdy of a prominent local family. So her knowledge went beyond what the academy taught, something useful for her to use to teach Lothur.

    In any case, he had returned to his usual routine but was not yet ready to go out on missions. Not only because he could take more difficult missions now but because he had just started his time in his sector.

    So he first wanted to focus his time on mastering the theory taught in this sector and only then focus on going on missions and improving his position in the student rankings.

    With that, after hours of studying and training alongside Elke, even having met Annaliese for the same in the middle of the afternoon, he finished his business this Wednesday at the academy.

    As he did so, he looked at Annaliese and Elke''s statuses, which had significantly improved since the Province Conference.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 5 -> 6]

    [STR: 8 -> 10]

    [CON: 26 -> 39.5]

    [DEX: 10.2 -> 12.5]

    [AGI: 10.5 -> 12.7]

    ...

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 8 -> 9]

    [STR: 34.5 -> 35.7]

    [CON: 43.6 -> 55.3]

    [DEX: 37.1 -> 38.3]

    [AGI: 35.5 -> 36.6]

    Lothur was pleased to see how well they were doing, but he was not too invested in the matter and said goodbye to them. "Now I will go to Doctor Snee''s office to see if I can schedule something.... I''ll see youter."

    "See youter." Annaliese and Elke said, each going their separate ways soon after.

    With that, Elke quietly began to make her way toward her family''s estate, as she usually did since the academy was close to her home.

    However, as she peacefully walked along the local sidewalks, someone was cautiously pursuing her while wearing a white mask on his face.

    ''Why is this woman hiding her level?'' He wondered, noticing once again, as he had done in the past weeks, that he could not read Elke''s level.

    But that was not surprising. After all, how could the patriarch of the Becker family let his daughter expose her impressive new cultivation speed to everyone without protecting her?

    When Gomeric and Hilda realized how much this young woman was growing with her unique training with Lothur, they immediately arranged proper formation for her. Only then could they hide the secret about her inexplicable advances.

    Because of this, this ck-haired young man chasing Elke now had no idea she was no longer at level 2 but at level 6.

    And so, he continued with his doubt in mind but without thinking that this was for him to worry about.

    Everyone knew Elke''s talent was not the best, so she could not surprise him with abnormal strength!

    He was sure of that and soon put the matter aside to focus on what to do with his victim.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ''You and your family have decided to betray my house and the young master. So I will have fun with you and send whatever is left to that silver-haired wretch!'' He clenched his fists and followed Elke to a less busy ce.

    If Lothur were there, he would see the status of this person he knew well.

    [Name: Merten Baier]

    [Cultivation: level 6 (weakened)]

    [STR: 11.2] [CON:13.1] [DEX: 12] [AGI: 12.3]

    He then fired his trap in that area, causing Elke to jump towards the secluded alleyway there.

    With her movement, he chased after her, closing off her only escape route to finally confront this woman.

    "Uh?" Elke realized that someone was acting against her and frowned as she looked back and saw a man dressed in ck and white standing between her and the exit from that alley.

    Such a person had a weapon in his hand and was wearing an item that concealed his cultivation, as was the case for her.

    Merten was there to hurt Lothur through Elke, so it was evident that he would leave no clues that it was him behind this. Leaving hints would be bad as this could bring trouble to his Baier family and still set young Ritter against him.

    Merten only wanted to make Lothur suffer. So he did not need to show himself and generate so much trouble!

    With that said, Elke did not identify this strange opponent who appeared in her path and soon put up a defensive position to fight for her life if need be.

    "Who are you? Do you know who you are attacking?" She asked cautiously, promptly using her past to protect herself.

    One''s background was of paramount importance, and it would be foolish not to try to use it when problems beyond one''s capabilities arose. So it was obvious that Elke, like a good noblewoman, would use her family to scare off this strange enemy.

    But Merten was not the least bit concerned about this woman''s situation and said nothing, just walking towards her, intending to knock her out.

    He licked his lips under his mask, imagining it would be interesting to enjoy Elke''s beautiful body before ending her life.

    A pleasant smile formed on his lips as Elke realized that she would have to fight anyway in this ce.

    She then prepared a poison that Lothur had given her, afraid she would not be strong enough to defend herself or escape. Meanwhile, she slowly walked backward, always in a defensive position, while one of her hands with the poison was behind her back.

    When Merten moved faster, Elke dodged him with ease, doing so unconsciously as she hurled the poison toward her opponent''s face.

    Such poison was a pill that exploded into a cloud of poisonous powder, which, when breathed, could melt its victim''s respiratory organs.

    So she held her breath as she threw that at her enemy, then immediately prepared to run, not even realizing that her opponent was weaker than her.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The moment it all happened, Elke ran, and that thing hit Merten''s nostrils as he screamed in pain and felt something acidic in his nose.

    Elke was already running when he dropped his weapon and began to cough vigorously, breathing in more and more of Lothur''s poison.

    At the same time, he began to tremble in pain. He felt an unparalleled burning sensation through his body, barely able to remember what he was doing there due to his present situation.

    The poison Elke had was one of the newest developed by Lothur, so Merten faced something that could even endanger the life of someone at the 2nd stage!

    Because of this, in a matter of seconds, he felt his organs melting, dying after Elke escaped from him!

    Meanwhile, she looked back from where she had left, realizing what had urred.

    ...

 Chapter 363 Going To The Doctors Office

    When Elke finally realized how easy it was for her to escape her opponent, she realized her error in judgment. ''He was weaker than me? So he''s dead now!''

    Realizing this, she, who only wanted to dy her opponent while she fled to seek refuge, thought about the possible consequences and decided to return to identify her opponent.

    Killing someone for self-defense was not considered a crime from the point of view of imperialws. However, this did not mean that the dead man''s family would not seek their own justice!

    In this case, Elke knew that she had better identify her opponent and perhaps even loot his body tomunicate to her own family about the incident.

    So, in the blink of an eye, she stopped beside the motionless body of Merten, who by now was dead, with a lot of blood dripping from his nasal and mouth orifices.

    She first took off his spatial ring and then the mask covering his face, promptly identifying who had attacked her.

    "Merten?" She shouted without realizing it, seeing the expression of pure terror on this person''s body, which was still warm.

    ''Why did he try to act against me? Was it because of the previous things? Or because of what Lothur did to him during the previous tournament?'' She wondered but did not invest much into the matter, soon hurrying away from there to her residence.

    She took Merten''s body in her spatial ring so as not to risk attracting an investigation to that location, something that could lead the Baier family to her house.

    With that, it did not take long for this young redhead to arrive at her father''s office!

    ...

    "Elke, what happened? Why did youe in here like that?" Sitting opposite her husband, Hilda asked upon seeing her daughter''s worried and sweaty face.

    Gomeric and Heinz, that trusted servant of the Becker family, looked at the young redhead, frowning their eyebrows given the nervous expression on her face.

    "Merten Baier attacked me while I wasing back from the academy..." She was saying, but Gomeric did not wait for her to finish and stood up from his chair angrily.

    "What? How does he have the nerve?" He said in a tone full of anger, turning red as the other two formed deadly serious expressions on their faces. "Where is he? How did this happen? I will immediately fix this!"

    Elke then finished what she was talking about. "He attacked me in an alley nearby. But he''s already dead."

    "Dead?" Hilda got up from her seat and looked at Elke, wondering if she had done that.

    Heinz then thought. ''The youngdy must be stronger than him, considering Lothur crippled him in thatpetition... But why would she do that? Killing someone like that brat is not simple.''

    Elke nodded as she threw her spatial ring with Merten''s body to her mother. "He was using a formation to hide his cultivation. Because of that, I threw a poison that Lothur gave me at him, afraid that he was stronger than me. Then I ran away, but he was already dead before I noticed what happened."

    "Lothur''s poison?" All three muttered, readily understanding how that girl could have unwittingly killed someone who was not so much weaker than her.

    The three then analyzed Merten''s body inside that spatial ring, quickly noticing the damage that Lothur''s poison had done to that body.

    The body''s chest now had a pocket of blood in ce of his respiratory organs, which hadpletely melted away due to the action of the substance Elke had used.

    The three once again marveled at Lothur''s aplishments while thanking andmenting that such a young man had given Elke so much power.

    That was an item that could eventually save or give Elke time. But it was also a powerful weapon that could kill many people and bring trouble to this family.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    But they did not think about that for long since, at the end of the day, Merten had dared to act against Elke, and it was much better that he was dead than she was.

    At the same time, these people''s problems with the Baier family increased, with the emergence of a new grudge and reason for them to be on opposite sides.

    ''Baier family, huh? That is already out of bounds! How dare you people act against my daughter?'' Gomeric clenched his fists tightly, already beginning to think about how to deal with this problem.

    "Very well, Elke. Go rest and don''t worry about this matter. We will deal with whatever happens." Hilda said as she massaged her daughter''s back and asked her to leave.

    "But thank Lothur for his help," Gomeric said, liking that young man even more.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur had no idea what had just happened to one of his women.

    He had just entered Doctor Snee''s office to look for Sofie, who could help him start his practical activities as a doctor.

    "Lothur?" Doctor Snee saw that young man enter his office and smiled, remembering the things he had seen and heard over the past few days. "Haha, you were hiding very well, Lothur. I didn''t think you were so strong and talented!"

    Lothur saw this man and nodded in appreciation, asking immediately afterward. "Where is Sofie? I''ve already learned the basic medicine theory and want to start practicing alongside her."

    "What?" The smile on this man''s face froze after such words since only a few days had passed since Lothur received from him the theoretical materials of this profession.

    At the same time, considering how long it took just to read those books and that Lothur already had three professions in which he excelled, this man could not help but find such a thing strange.

    After all, would not that be an exaggeration? Before, he had thought that Lothur would learn his profession slowly. Still, after the Province Conference, Doctor Snee no longer thought it possible that this young man would find time for medicine.

    So, upon hearing that, he could not help but be extremely shocked!

    "Have you learned it? Do you want to practice your new knowledge?" He swallowed his saliva as he asked that young man, this time with a severe expression.

    Lothur smiled and nodded. "Yes. I learned what was necessary during the Province Conference, and now I want to start the practical part. Where can I find Sofie?"

    Doctor Snee was silent for a moment, shocked by Lothur''s confirmation. ''Will he be able to have a fourth profession? Has he not yet shown all that he is capable of?''

    This fellow considered that Lothur was not ying with his feelings and soon said. "Sofie is not here. She is treating ordinary people in a neighborhood of mortals in our city."

    "If you want to find her, go to the Sardine Mouth, near the creek south of..." He promptly gave the address of where that woman should be.

    After being advised by Doctor Snee, Lothur thanked him and said he would return to learn what was necessary to be a 2-star doctor.

    Then he headed towards where Sofie was supposed to be!

    ...

 Chapter 364 First Time Medical Practice

    Upon arriving in a humblemunity in Peters City, Lothur found himself in a neighborhood filled with ordinary, tiny houses, with arge concentration of people on the streets.

    In this ce where there were almost no cultivators, Lothur had no trouble looking for Sofie. He just used his spiritual probing after seeing with his visual ability the people with spiritual energy flowing in their bodies in the surroundings.

    Thus, soon Sofie''s status appeared before him, revealing where she was.

    [Name: Sofie]

    [Cultivation: level 8]

    [STR: 31] [CON: 33] [DEX: 34.1] [AGI: 30.2]

    Lothur saw this and a glow about 180 meters in front of him, where a little house of less than 20 square meters stood in front of a small street fountain.

    He proceeded on his way, avoiding the mud puddles in his path, and the animal dung around there due to the constant passing of animals in the surrounding area.

    The smell in the surrounding area was not the best either, totally different from the ce where he had just bought a property in this city.

    But Lothur had no problem passing through such a ce, and soon he was next to that little house searching for Sofie.

    Meanwhile, a dozen people from different organizations were watching him from afar.

    After the Province Conference had ended, the local families had already ced people to watch Lothur as he moved around Peters City.

    So several of these individuals belonged to local powers and were around to watch him for the hour.

    Acting against someone within Peters City wasplicated due to imperialws. So unless Lothur moved bizarrely or left this city, several of them would avoid having to act.

    At the same time, for the time being, Lothur''s biggest enemies were trying to understand better what he was and how they would best act against him. So most of these families were not thinking of attacking him any time soon, and these individuals were not there to cause him problems.

    But some of them would cause trouble indirectly!

    ''This guy didn''t spend the night at the Frost estate the day before... Instead, he went to look at a house for sale and then disappeared.'' Someone there thought to himself, considering that maybe Lothur had moved away from the Frost estate.

    But since he was not sure of that yet, he still had to investigate the matter further before reporting his family.

    On the other hand, not only enemies were there!

    The Frost family and Houses Christen and Becker had people watching Lothur, not only to help him in case of need but also to check what he was doing.

    Apanying an ally was just as crucial as spying on an enemy!

    Amidst so many watching him, Lothur entered that house after dodging many mortals, ignoring the people he had already noticed in the surroundings.

    "Excuse me... Please, I''m passing..." Hemented in a low voice, trying to understand why so many mortals were crowding into that tiny house.

    "Ahhh!"

    "How it hurts, how it hurts!" An old man''s voice reached Lothur''s ears as, little by little, he saw what Sofie was doing there.

    That violet-haired woman was sitting on a wooden stool next to a bed, where an old man, who must have been around 70 years old, was lying in agony.

    He was pale, while his frail and thin body shook with sweat dripping from his pores, looking extremely unwell.

    There were some open wounds around his body, with open fractures and several bruises around his stomach.

    Lothur saw this and understood the situation due to people''sments in the surrounding area.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "What a disgrace..."

    "The old man fell off his horse while working today, and the animal trampled him."

    "Ahh, how tragic. I heard he did this every day, but the animal got out of control with his fall, and it all ended like this."

    "Is there any hope?"

    "If a good doctor was willing to help, maybe... But Miss Sofie is still an apprentice... Sigh, hard to say."

    Lothur understood the situation and approached Sofie, not taking time to introduce himself to her as he stooped down beside her.

    "Sofie, it''s me, Lothur. I''m here about that matter." He said, managing to get the worried look off this beautiful woman''s face as she looked at him in surprise, not understanding the situation.

    "Lothur?" She looked at him uprehendingly. "What are you doing here?"

    "I have finished learning the basics of medicine and am here to begin my field practices." He smiled as he looked at her.

    Medicine practices in this world were usually done with mortals who could not afford proper treatment and subjected themselves to apprentices like Lothur and Sofie.

    Sofie was already at a rtively advanced level for someone at the 1st stage, but even so, she still did this kind of service.

    Since people like that old man did not have many alternatives, they epted to be the object of study of these apprentices for the chance to be taken care of.

    That was the current case, and as soon as Sofie understood why Lothur was there and got over her shock, she exined the patient''s situation to this handsome young man.

    "Lothur, this patient''s case is quiteplex for someone learning. So this will be a good initial experience for you." As she dried the sweat on her forehead with the sleeves of her clothes, she said she was a little nervous.

    These people were just strangers to her. But Sofie always felt nervous about attending to people in that man''s condition, as she was afraid of making her patients'' situation worse.

    Hence, she was pretty stressed when exining that old man''s situation to Lothur.

    "He had his two legs and his right arm trampled by a horse, so he has muscle injuries, fractures, and broken bones in those parts of his body. At the same time, some of his internal organs were severely injured by the animal''s kick..."

    Lothur listened intently to this man''s case while paying attention to that body in agony, using her visual ability to identify each problem cited by Sofie.

    She then asked. "Do you know what should be done in this situation?"

    "We must stop the bleeding in the internal organs and that exposed fracture." He said as he pointed to the broken knee at an odd angle from where Sofie was trying to stop the bleeding.

    Sofie nodded in agreement. "And then what?"

    "Then we have to repair his injured or crushed internal organs. We may need to do a transnt if our medicines don''t fix the situation." He saw that that old man''s liver was extremely bruised.

    There were certain medicines capable of regenerating injured tissue to a certain degree. So it was not impossible for a crushed liver, for example, to regenerate to a safe level after applying certain medicines to the patient''s body.

    The problem was that for this medical practice, there were not many resources capable of doing this...

    Sofie was impressed to hear Lothur''s analysis, seeing that he could easily analyze and choose a starting point for treatment, despite being an amateur.

    "Very well. I will begin the procedure while you watch what I am doing."

    ...

 Chapter 365 Hidden Problem

    After saying those words to Lothur, Sofie stopped the bleeding in that man''s body to prevent something worse.

    He was a mortal from this cultivation world, so his anatomy was not so different from that of earthlings. Thus, he could not afford to lose too much of his blood, or he would have weakened gas transport in his body.

    Then, before fixing the ''mess'' in his body, a doctor would have to prevent bleeding to ensure the integrity of the tissues in his body.

    That was not a difficult job for a doctor with spiritual cultivation, so Sofie quickly managed to stop the different bleeds in that body.

    In part, she used pressure to temporarily stop the blood from continuing to leave that body, but she also used some pills.

    The pills she used were different from those capable of promoting improvements in attributes or significantly transforming their users. Alchemists produced pills that had effects like the ones Lothur had ingested. But pills capable of preventing or provoking specific reactions were usually developed by doctors.

    Obviously, if an alchemist wanted to produce something like this, he would have the skills to do so. But there was no need for someone so specialized to be involved in this work. Doctors knew how to deal with substances and use their favorable properties to treat illnesses.

    So producing low-effect pills was not difficult for these professionals, and that was also why these resources had limited action and were usually not sold.

    Since she had produced those pills herself, Sofie used such a thing with the mortal in front of her, feeling the investment was worth it as she could train and learn with it.

    Anyway, Lothur saw the effect of the pills begin, noticing microscopics appearing around the blood vessels all over this person''s body.

    That took effect quickly, and in only 7 minutes, every millimeter of this man''s blood vessels was covered by it. Consequently, the ''open spaces'' were closed with other blood elements trapped in theses, stopping the man''s internal bleeding.

    Simultaneously, other medicinal substances began to bring that body into a unique state. Lothur noticed this not only because of the changes inside that organism but also due to the expression on the patient''s face.

    That old fellow slowly lost the pained expression on his face, became much calmer, and his breathing slowed down in frequency.

    Sofie then began the procedure to fix this person''s broken bones, using a type of massage that, if it were not for the pills from before, that fellow would be in agony.

    "Sofie, answer me one thing..." Lothurmented in a low voice as people in the surrounding area looked curiously at the situation.

    Even some children were standing around, watching Sofie work with a glint in their eyes.

    "What do you want to know?" She asked as she continued her work.

    "Once Doctor Snee did something simr on me to what you are doing now on this person... Why didn''t I get pills to relieve pain in that situation?" He questioned, feeling that his previous suffering might have been unnecessary.

    Hearing that, Sofie blushed a little and said. "That day, I forgot to buy the herb needed to produce the pill you needed..."

    It was not unusual for doctors in this world to only produce pills of this kind after seeing their patients. The reason for this? Simple, each patient, especially cultivators, has different needs, even when they have the same problem.

    So doctors generally tried to have as many medicines with them as possible to use them to the extent needed for each patient.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, one of the herbs Doctor Snee needed to produce something effective for him that day had run out the day before, and Sofie had failed to buy more. Because of this, in that previous situation, the doctor who attended to this silver-haired young man had told him that he needed shock treatment not to be crippled...<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    That was not entirely untrue since if Lothur had not received the treatment, his body could have healed in the wrong way and guaranteed him seque. Since the treatment could only be done without the pill to relieve the pain, that young man truly needed shock treatment.

    Lothur''s expression turned dark after Sofie''s words, but he did not me her or Doctor Snee. At the end of the day, a doctor could not be med for a patient''s distress!

    ''Damned Alric!'' He cursed in his mind. ''Good thing I taught you  a good lesson!''

    After thinking about it, Lothur returned his attention to the procedure Sofie was performing, correcting the position of bones and muscles in that body.

    "Uh?" He eximed in surprise when he saw that she had overlooked something.

    "What?" She heard him and questioned in surprise, interested in answering her junior''s questions.

    "Sofie, have you finished taking care of his right knee?" Lothur asked without saying what the problem was.

    "Yes, why do you want to know about it?"

    "Can I examine him on my own?"

    Sofie thought about it for a few moments, feeling that letting Lothur get his hands on it would be okay since this man''s case was not deadly, but it was not simple either. That is, he probably would not die, but he would hardly go back to the way he was before.

    Since his future would hardly change in case Lothur made a mistake, Sofie nodded and said. "All right. Let me see what you can do."

    Lothur smiled at her and sat down in her seat, this time with Sofie watching him as he did the treatment of that man.

    As he ced his hands on one of that patient''s knees, Lothur focused on the anomaly that Sofie had not resolved.

    ''That''s not anatomically interesting. If that part stays at this angle, he won''t be able to walk normally again...'' Lothur pressed his hands together, causing that man''s entire body to convulse and such a person to feel pain for the first time in a while.

    The people in the surrounding area were startled when that old fellow started to show signs of suffering again, taking steps backward and looking at Sofie.

    This woman, on the other hand, paid attention to what Lothur was doing, and because she saw no error in his movements, she did not stop him and continued watching.

    ''What is he doing? Why is he making this patient feel pain in a ce I have already treated?'' She wondered without understanding why since she thought she had solved all the problems there.

    The technique used by her, Doctor Snee, and now Lothur caused the patient a lot of pain only when applying it to irregrities that needed to be corrected. If there were no problems in the massaged part, the person would feel at most pressure in that region.

    Hence, it did not take her long to realize that there was something else to be corrected in that part of the patient''s knee, and Lothur was doing what she had been unable to.

    With that move of his, Sofie went into a state of contemtion, allowing Lothur to take the reins of the situation and continue treating that patient for parts she had not gone through yet.

    ...

 Chapter 366 Perfect Treatment

    Lothur fixed the problem of all the bones and muscles in the legs and in one of the arms of that old man, always using his visual ability to understand what his patient needed.

    The ability of his Skull Soul Bone was extremely useful in medicine. It was as if he instantly had every possible check-up that could be done on a body.

    He could see the internal organs, the skeleton, and the blood circting in the bloodstream and use his cultivator senses to measure heart rate, temperature, etc.

    Bybining his visual ability with the cultivator''s senses, Lothur could, in real-time, determine the situation of that body.

    And with that, he couldbine that patient''s unique information with his knowledge to use the best possible approach.

    Ordinary doctors did not have such advantages, so most had to rely on their probing, which was not as ''sharp'' on weaker and less experienced youngsters.

    Because of this, Lothur solved several of that man''s problems more easily and efficiently than Sofie, who did not have the same ''weapons'' as him to y this game. So, naturally, she had more difficulties, despite her superior experience.

    She noticed this and felt impressed with Lothur, considering how little time he had taken to learn this trade. Even more, he still put in some of his time to master other areas!

    ''This fellow...''

    But just as Lothur was about to start solving the internal problems in that old man''s organism, he stopped and looked at her. "That problem in his internal organs, I need your help."

    "Uh?" She eximed in surprise, not expecting him to say something like that. "What''s the matter? You were doing fine."

    Lothur was sincere. "Fixing the bones and muscle tissue in his legs and arm was easy. But his situation in the abdominal region doesn''t look promising..."

    Sofie could not see the organs of that old man like Lothur, but she knew that the situation of that individual''s stomach and liver was not good.

    Part of those organs was practically crushed, so the work on that part would be much moreplicated than what Lothur and her had already done.

    She then sat down on the other side of that body, standing in front of Lothur so that she could proceed with the treatment along with him.

    ''This is my chance to teach something!'' A slight arc formed in her eyes as she cleaned the abdomen area.

    She could not see, so she would need to cut into that man''s belly to understand the situation better and solve the problem.

    People in the surrounding area saw this and started to feel pessimistic, as it was never good to open a body.

    In this world, that was a bad sign of people who would die in a short time!

    Lothur understood what Sofie intended, but he did not think it was a bad idea. He could see everything inside such a person, but only by touching or acting directly in that area could they have a satisfactory result.

    Since he already knew that in this world, doctors could easily control the surgical ''environment,'' he did not bother trying to stop Sofie because of the people there.

    He just watched as Sofie cut into that man''s belly and used some tools to stretch the skin around the cut.

    "What do we do now?" She asked him.

    "We remove the blood and analyze the integrity of the organ." He replied.

    Sofie proceeded to do what Lothur had said until she saw the state of that old fellow''s stomach, who, by the way, was still awake.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    The pills she had given him were quite potent against pain. So since the pain of having his abdomen cut open was much less than that of having his bones ''modeled'' by a doctor, that old fellow was easily coping with the situation.

    "The good news is we can treat his stomach by cutting this part out and joining these two..." Then, she showed something that Lothur had noticed earlier.

    "The bad news is that his liver is almost entirely lost." Lothur heard this as that organ finally became visible for them to examine more closely.

    He saw her touching such a thing as if she were groping a breast without squeezing, using only her sensory abilities to feel that thing.

    "Are we going to need a transnt?" He asked as some people in the surrounding area started to leave the area, not very interested in the idea of the transnt...

    "Not yet," Sofie said as she thought of an alternative. "Let''s try to remove that destroyed part and leave the rest. Maybe his body can regenerate with some Mitotic Division eleration Pills."

    "Oh? You want to use the patient''s regeneration?" He remembered that he had read it somewhere.

    "Yes, staying with liver damage for a few hours won''t put his life at risk, and we''ll have a chance to fix the problem without having to do a transnt." She exined. "The medicines might kick in in the meantime and save everyone from a major headache."

    Lothur agreed with her opinion, learning the importance of medical practice.

    He knew the theory but was not used to the practice. So even though he had advantages like his visual ability, he did not know what the best approach to take was.

    In the previous situation, it had been easier because he had seen what Sofie could not and therefore did exemry treatment by taking control of the situation.

    But in this situation, it was different. It was not so simple to solve the problem of a vital organ, which was not enough for him to see the problem. He could even use this information to define a starting point, the treatment options. But without the experience, it could be difficult for him to make the best decision for the patient.

    So, despite her previous mistake, Sofie quickly turned the situation around and showed Lothur practical things, teaching him things that went beyond books.

    That old man spent the whole time apprehensive, in many moments terrified to hear Lothur and Sofie talking so coldly about his situation.

    Luckily he was feeling no pain, and the people in the surrounding area had diminished to the point that he no longer heardments about his imminent death.

    After more than an hour since Lothur''s arrival at that location, that old man was bandaged by Sofie and given thest medicines for that treatment.

    "We wille back tomorrow and assess your situation." She expressed before saying goodbye, quickly heading alongside Lothur to the next house she would visit.

    "I have someone else to see today. Do you have time for one more lesson, or will you stop here?"

    He nodded and said. "Yes, I''m curious to see more of you in action, hehe."

    "Don''t say that. I''ve hardly shown you anything new..." She said shyly.

    "That''s not true. Without you to guide me in a situation like that, I probably would have made a mistake."

    The two talked until they reached another humble house in that area of Peters City.

    So, after some more time, Lothur finished his second medical experiment and soon returned home.

 Chapter 367 Important News

    Two dayster...

    After the previous day, Lothur continued his routine at the Academy Morning Star, spending much of the day with Elke or Annaliese, also seeing Anneke and Reba. Later in the afternoon, he would meet up with Sofie to continue his medical training, and he would train in the evening with Viktoria before they had their fun and went to bed.

    His medical training had been developing with ease. Sofie herself had already concluded that in a short time, he would attend on his own mortals who agreed to be his guinea pigs.

    For this, someone would need to gain the recognition and trust of mortals. After all, nobody was obliged to receive medical treatment from strangers that nobody knew about their abilities!

    Usually, only through good practical results would someone have a chance of being called for care, that is, through a good result propagated by the patients.

    But since Lothur would have no difficulty in it. He had helped his first patient a lot, that old man who had already started walking again, despite no one expecting that. Because of that, some people who saw him in action were already requesting his services!

    Unfortunately, before he could do this, he needed Doctor Snee''s permission, and at the moment, this doctor had not yet done so because he was waiting for Sofie''s evaluation.

    Nothing much had happened in Lothur''s life or that of his wives and friends during these two days, so he was progressing slowly, preparing for the future.

    Today was already the eve of the date he had arranged with Frederik Calis, the young carpenter who was to produce the parts for the miniature vehicle Lothur had designed. So this young man had woken up full of energy and drive, going into another day of efforts in good spirits.

    ''Tomorrow, I will get Frederik''s work and start forming my vehicle...'' He thought of this as he said goodbye to Viktoria in the morning, heading towards the academy. ''That''s great! By next week I''ll be able to present my vehicle to potential investors!''

    Lothur had already nned every step regarding the construction of his vehicle, from where each formation would go to each type ofw he would need to program. So even though he did not even have those parts in hand yet, he felt he could put the parts together rtively quickly.

    So he already had the presentation of that innovation in mind, the most important thing he had done since transmigrating.

    This presentation was not just about revolutionizing transportation in Leopoldine or getting the funds to finance a quiet life for himself. That was about him getting solid contacts with this ce''s financial and war powers!

    He did not want to have to lead anyone or get involved in wars or threats. But he understood that trouble sought even peaceful and reclusive people. So he would not be the one not to prepare for difficult times using his connections!

    Hence, he already had in mind finding a venue for such an event and sending out the invitations to those he had already talked to and other potential allies.

    ''I''ll talk to Anneke about it.'' He thought about that woman. ''Her family lives in the shadows and knows much about the local powers. So she must have some useful information for me to find more people to invite...''

    He then saw the academy ahead of him and looked at its status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 30.2] [CON: 100.2] [DEX: 26.4] [AGI: 34.6]

    [INT: 70] [PER: 95] [WIL: 79.2]

    [EVF: 623]

    ''I''ve improved a bit in thest few practices... But today, I will progress a little more!!!'' He pondered as he considered the alchemy store he had scheduled to visitter with Elke.

    ...

    As Lothur began another day, the Baier patriarch was in his office listening to a troubling report.

    "... After that, he gave no further signs of life and had been missing for two days." A servant reported such a thing while talking about Merten. "We assume that he is already dead, patriarch."<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Upon hearing this, Alric''s father clenched his fists tightly, feeling the change of times.

    How long had it been since thest time someone other than Lothur had acted against this family?

    Decades!

    So, upon hearing another tragic piece of news, this man could not help but get serious. Even if Merten was not the most talented young man in the family, he was a nobleman with a future.

    But not only that, even if this man did not give a damn about Merten, how could he ept his family being attacked this way?

    That was very disrespectful!

    So he did not take long to give his orders. "Investigate the matter thoroughly! I don''t want other local families to think that anyone can mess with us!"

    "I will immediately deal with the culprits when the timees!"

    "Yes, patriarch!"

    The person from before left, while Alric''s father stood there with only thest servant waiting to speak with him.

    "Sigh!"

    "So, did you find out anything from that damned Lothur?" David Baier, level 15, asked the servant kneeling in front of his desk.

    The man who had been spying on Lothur for the past few days made a brief silence and replied. "Patriarch, I''m pretty sure that person and Viktoria Frost no longer live on the Frost family estate."

    "Uh? What are you talking about?" David questioned as his eyebrows drew together.

    Such a kneeling individual replied. "For three nights in a row now, that couple has not slept on the Frost estate. But, on the other hand, they have been spending much of their time on a property on the city''s north side."

    "Oh? Is that right?" That old fellow understood the situation, and a smile formed on his lips.

    Acting against Lothur inside the Frost family estate or the Morning Star Academy would be highlyplicated and dangerous. But, on the other hand, acting on public streets in Peters City had risks since there was plenty of room for escape and observers.

    But things were different for a property like the one the servant there had just spoken about. They could gang up on such a ce and hide their ouw actions more easily!

    That way, this old man who wanted more than ever to finish off Lothur could not help but be pleased with this information.

    "Very well, send some men to watch that ce," David said in a tone full of determination. "I want you to check for the presence of hidden specialists to protect them and also the best ways to attack the site."

    "When your group has the answers I need, we will attack the damn bastard!"

    "Yes, patriarch!" That servant dared not question his leader, and in the blink of an eye, he left that office to carry out the orders of Alric''s father.

    ...

    At the same time that David saw the opportunity to act against Lothur, other local powers had already received such information or were finding out about it now!

    Soon, several individuals were dispatched to the vicinity of that house, all seeking to investigate Lothur''s situation before moving.

    Unfortunately for them, they were bound to suffer something terrible!

    ...

 Chapter 368 Fear

    When it was night in Peters City, the cultivators sent by enemy families of Lothur and House Frost were already on the outskirts of this young man''s property, surveying the area.

    However, not only were they there!

    While Lothur and Viktoria''s house had none of them around at the moment, a man dressed in ck, with his face covered by a mask, approached the area from the shadows.

    This person had high cultivation by local standards but wore a formation disguise that made him appear much weaker.

    But this item did not hinder the powers of the user. So this man could use his abilities easily, quickly noticing each individual in the surrounding area.

    ''Hmm? Why are there so many people here?'' He wondered.

    The individuals in the surroundings were also using items to camouge their cultivations. However, the effectiveness of these items depended greatly on the cultivation level of those trying to observe their users.

    Since this person''s cultivation level was above the limit of the equipment used by the spies in the surroundings, this neer identified the levels of Lothur''s enemies.

    ''Several 3rd and 4th Revolution people...'' This fellow''s eyes narrowed beneath his mask. ''They are stronger than that Viktoria girl.''

    ''Why did she do that? Moving from the Frost estate was a dangerous pa...''

    This person was thinking about that when he noticed the many traps on Lothur''s estate.

    ''That boy is truly slippery!'' He internallyughed. ''There''s so much poison and offensive formations in that ce that it wouldn''t be surprising if one of those spies died if they tried to break in.''

    As he pondered this, trying to decide whether to wait for Lothur, deal with those people, or none of the above, another individual arrived in the area, drawing this man''s attention.

    This other person was also very well camouged in ck clothing, a mask on his face, and an item that hid his true cultivation.

    But just like this first person to identify the traps on Lothur''s estate, such an individual had a high enough cultivation to notice the spies in the surrounding area.

    ''Who are those? Why...'' He was considering when he noticed someone in the surroundings whom he could not tell the level. ''Who is that?''

    The two looked at each other from the shadows of the trees they were in as the lighting of Lothur''s estate outlined the surroundings outside the house.

    A few moments had passed since the two had arrived, but the tension in the surroundings was rising by the moment, with one side more or less understanding who the other was.

    "Are you here for Lothur too?" One of them asked the other while the many spies in the surroundings swallowed their saliva, startled by the voice that came out of nowhere in that ce.

    "Who is that? How can I not feel anything?" One of them asked softly to hispanion, with many of them asking simr questions to themselves.

    They were there to keep an eye on whether or not there were people behind the security of Lothur''s estate. So how could they not be shocked that out of nowhere, a voice emerged from that estate they had been watching for hours?

    Then a second voice came up. "So you''re here for him too..." The first high-level individual to arrive at this cemented as he showed himself to his opponent.

    The opponent also showed himself in the inner garden of that estate, separated only by the sides of therge pool there.

    "Are you part of his grandfather''s group?" The man sent by Lothur''s father asked, knowing that it was a possibility to justify someone like that person showing up in this ce.

    Lothur''s father and grandfather were enemies, so it was only natural that one side would try to use this young man to affect the other. In particr, while this fellow''s father wanted to hide him, the grandfather would bring Lothur over to his side to make this young man fight his own father!

    That was what one side would expect from the other, which made the tensions there rise even higher.

    "So you''re part of that ouw''s group..." Thest individual to arrivemented, already with one of his hands holding a weapon hidden in his clothes.

    The other individual was not slow. In the blink of an eye, he drew one of his weapons and attacked his opponent, both acting almost simultaneously.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ng!

    The two weapons shed as they came face to face, making shrill sounds from the point of contact between them.

    At the same time, a spiritual pulse broke from the impact point between the two, spreading to the surroundings, knocking out everyone below level 15 up to 200 meters from there.

    All the spies in the vicinity of Lothur''s estate saw the moment of impact between those two but did not have a chance to continue their work. Each of them lost consciousness after a few fractions of a second following the collision of the spirits of those individuals.

    Luckily for Lothur, this was a shock entirely of the soul, affecting only such a feature, reflecting no material damage that could damage this newly purchased house.

    ''Damn, this wretch is on the same level as me...'' The man sent by Lothur''s grandfathermented, feeling that he could not bring this criminal to justice.

    "Haha, looks like you guys got it bad today, huh?" The other sneered while remaining in dispute with such a person.

    "Humph!"

    "Your group will be defeated sooner orter. Tell that to that traitor, Deamon!"

    "Shut up, dog!"

    The two began to exchange some offense before they both sensed that someone was approaching the area, and they turned their attention to such an anomaly.

    "Who is that?" One of them asked the other, not even remembering the grudge between them anymore, shocked that someone could make it to that ce.

    The pulse from earlier would stillst a few minutes. Then anyone who approached the area and was below level 15 would naturally faint!

    On the other hand, if someone of level 16 approached there, they would have to realize such a person since that would be a threat close to their level!

    However, neither realized when such a person mysteriously entered Lothur''s house.

    Gulp!

    "Could it be a Saint?" The man sent by Lothur''s father questioned his opponent, feeling that it would be dangerous for both of them to stand there in front of this powerful neer.

    The other person looked strangely at the interior of that house, wondering if any being that powerful could appear there.

    ''Only someone at the 4th stage could easily fool my soul senses...''

    Then, the two heard the creak of one of the doors of that property, indicating that the mysterious person was approaching them.

    Upon realizing this, neither of them dared to stay behind to check who this anomaly was, quickly flying away without looking back.

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside Lothur''s house...

    "Why were so many people passed out in the surrounding area?" He muttered in a low voice as he opened the door to his recreation area, soon after observing the beautiful pool there.

    "Hmm? What are those bodies?" Lothur wondered as he noticed some of the individuals hiding on the outskirts of his property, several visible given how they passed out.

    ...

 Chapter 369 Gifts

    Seeing several bodies in a spot next to his property, Lothur quickly used his visual ability to locate each person who was supposed to be there to watch him; they all passed out.

    He used his medical knowledge to check the vital status of some of them, quickly concluding that these people would not wake up anytime soon.

    With that, he wasted no time and soon collected the spatial rings from each of these people and observed the faces of all of them.

    ''Were these people here to spy on me?'' He asked as he recognized some of his enemy family members in that location.

    Since he could not eliminate any of these people, nor would it be interesting for him to do so, Lothur restricted himself to stealing the 15 individuals there.

    Besides collecting the spatial rings from them, he left the bodies where they were. Then he returned from whence he hade, intending to stay away temporarily.

    It would be good to eliminate opponents, but it was better not to attract any significant problems. But, at the same time, something or someone had knocked out all these people and the others he saw passed out in his neighborhood, so it would not be good for him to push his luck.

    If he only stole, probably no one would suspect him, and he would be in profit. So Lothur quickly went back on his way, preparing to visit Elke.

    He had made an appointment with this woman to go out and visit some alchemy stores in this city in search of the pills he wanted. Meanwhile, it was time for him to learn something about this profession to use it to his advantage.

    Therefore, as he would not stay long at his residence, havinge there to pick something up, he was soon walking through the streets of Peters City, heading for Elke.

    But Lothur wasted no time and soon counted the gifts that someone had ''sent'' to him from ''heaven.''

    ''Not bad. I got another million bronze coins and almost 500,000 silver coins...'' He smiled as he saw that he had more than recouped his investment in that house in a matter of days living there.

    ''But the most important thing is those resources.'' His smile became more exuberant. ''Armor, weapons of various kinds, techniques, pills, medicines, in short, there''s a bit of everything here.''

    Previously, rarely did an opponent Lothur looted after winning have items valuable to him other than coins. So, usually, he would sell such hard-earned resources.

    But in this situation, those people''s belongings were so valuable to him that this young man could not help but see the advantages of him keeping such resources.

    Many of them could be helpful in his professions, and he could even learn new techniques!

    Thus, Lothur could not help but be happy with the results of this early evening.

    ''I''ll see what to do with these itemster.'' He thought about it when he finally saw Elke at the door of the Becker family estate, from where they would depart.

    "Why are you smiling so much? Did something happen?" Elke smiled back at Lothur as she asked him this, the two already walking on one of the sidewalks on the way to the stores they would pass.

    Lothur paid attention to that young woman who was already almost level 7 and began to exin the situation. "Today, when I went by the house to..."

    "What? That happened?" She questioned him after hearing the whole situation Lothur found in the surroundings of his new home.

    "Hmm, it happened. I was surprised too, but I took the opportunity." Heughed, imagining that this would pay for pills he might find on this walk with Elke.

    "But that''s too dangerous!" Elke said. "What are we going to do now? These people will me you and try to cause trouble for you!"

    "Then my situation is the same as before." Lothurmented, not the least bit concerned about such a thing.

    The enemies were in the vicinity of that estate, probably to attack him in the future. So even if they found out what he did, nothing would change.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    After all, was there any way his enemies'' will to kill could get any stronger? What difference would it make to him?

    On the other hand, Lothur had no idea how those individuals had ended up in the previous situation. But he was sure that such a thing had no rtion to him since he could not do so.

    That way, he was not worried and said. "Don''t overthink about it. They will probably be more afraid to act than you are now, Elke. So, for now, I''m safe."

    ...

    As Lothur talked with Elke and walked toward one of the local alchemy stores, what he was saying was actuallying true.

    After Lothur left his property, minutes passed, and some of those spies fled from where they were, still afraid of the previous situation.

    Because of this fear, those who first woke up left for their headquarters, not wanting to wait to see what the worst could be on that estate.

    As they did so, some noticed that they had been looted, but no one was angry.

    The enemies who had harmed them were so strong that each of them was quick to ept their losses, thanking heaven that their lives remained intact.

    But some were so terrified that they soon left to find their leaders and report what had happened.

    ...

    At the Waldauer estate...

    "Patriarch, while we were watching that ce, out of nowhere, two experts appeared. They faced each other, but we couldn''t understand the situation or their level. Only their spirit collision was able to take us down." One of the Duke''s family spies said in an agitated tone.

    The Duke of the province heard this and found the situation strange, not thinking it possible that either of the two individuals in that ce had been there for Lothur. But, at the same time, it was undeniable that few could bring down his subordinates so easily. Thus, this man could not help but worry.

    He clenched his fists and thought about what to do, unwilling to risk offending someone stronger than him without understanding the situation properly.

    "We will observe this ce calmly, but we will refocus our actions against Lothur outside Peters City." Hemented after a while. "I have heard that this young man constantly goes out to do missions for the academy before. So we will use one of those future opportunities."

    ...

    On the other hand, the Baier patriarch was unhappy about this, extremely angry about yet another defeat.

    "Damn you, Lothur!" He roared as he mmed one of his fists against the table in front of him.

    "What will we do now, patriarch? It might be dangerous to attack that ce..." One of that man''s subordinates said.

    "Never mind!" Alric''s fathermented. "We will act against that bastard one way or another! Then keep an eye on his damned house, and I''ll n how to handle this situation after that."

    "Yes, patriarch!" The men there said simultaneously, a little afraid and worried but relieved that the patriarch was no longer impulsive and still willing to investigate.

    But this man was truly frustrated, and if it were not for his fear of losing his own life, he would not have agreed to take that step back.

    ''Damn! Who could these people be in my way?''

 Chapter 370 The Emperor

    Meanwhile, in the capital of Leopoldine...

    In the imperial pce of this state, the publicly strongest man in the state was sitting on the most distinguished and highest throne in his imperial hall, watching some people bowing down below him.

    Some of these people were very simr in appearance to him, while others were more ordinary despite their high levels.

    There were also a dozen or so imperial guards around that throne hall, each at the 3rd stage, the weakest one there stronger than Mabel.

    Anyway, while everyone was in their positions in that glittering ce of high spiritual concentration, one of the emperor''s sons said to his father.

    "Your Majesty, the Province Conference of each of the subdivisions of our state has now been finalized. We have the results here to present to you." The Second Prince, officially the first in the line of session, said aloud while his brother, the Third Prince, stood beside him.

    As for the First Prince, well, he was a known criminal, rebel, and ouw with a wanted poster with the phrase ''just dead'' on it. So he obviously was not there and had long since been disowned by the emperor.

    "Oh? Is that true?" The old fellow asked, remembering some things he had heard before. "How did our vassals do? Any good seeds worth knowing?"

    The Second Prince then told the results of thepetitions under his charge. "Well, in the Province of..."

    After speaking for some time, that fellow passed the word to his younger brother after answering some questions from his father.

    The Third Prince, who had been in charge of the Linn Province Conference, among others, then said. "Imperial Father, thepetitions that I supervised..."

    He proceeded to summarize the conferences under his responsibility for his father, just as his brother had already done. But this fellow excluded most of Lothur''s aplishments from his ount, only quoting the basics so his father would not distrust him.

    It was not in his interest to allow Lothur to gain any kind of good impression from the emperor. So, the Third Prince preferred to hold Viktoria responsible for the unexpected result in that province.

    The emperor heard all this and showed no sign that he was disappointed or proud of his sons'' presentations that hid things from him.

    He had already heard the most important thing from his trusted subordinates, so nothing those two princes tried to do could affect him.

    "So the daughter of the Frost family did all this, huh? It looks like she inherited Mabel''s side of the family." The old fellow with a crown on his head said in a low voice, but everyone there heard him.

    Mabel was not an original part of this Empire. She came from a family in a neighboring state, a rtively powerful organization that, although not as strong as House Leopoldine, was more than most of the powers of this state.

    So it was not a surprise to this fellow who knew this to ''discover'' that Viktoria had done well and was magnificently talented. That was only the least he expected from a descendant of the Rios family.

    It was just a shame for House Frost that the Rios family was the reclusive type who did not involve themselves in the affairs of others.

    Such power could make even the princes of the Empire think twice about their actions against that organization. But if no one did anything outrageous against Viktoria, Mabel, and Annaliese, that power would not go out looking for trouble, even if those women asked for help.

    That was the only reason the Frost family had so much trouble, just from someone so well-born being part of that organization!<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Anyway, the individuals in that ce listened to the emperor. They agreed that Viktoria had inherited the talents of the Rios family, none of them being bothered by their current actions.

    None of them nned to act vigorously to the point where the lives of those three women would be at risk. For example, no one had tried anything extreme against Annaliese during the Province Conference, even though she was the most vulnerable of Lothur''s group.

    These individuals were willing to take risks but would never attract death to them, knowing that such danger would approach them if they dared. So even with the existence of the Rios family, no one there would change their ns.

    "Is there nothing else, Bastian?" The emperor asked his third son.

    The Third Prince hesitated as he realized his father wanted to hear about Lothur. "We have this young man from the Frost family who has helped a bit with that family''s results. But he is a lucky nobody. He doesn''t deserve your attention."

    "Is that so?" The emperor asked as the Second Prince looked at his younger brother with a smile on his face.

    He would not say anything about Lothur either since he was afraid of his father''s reaction. But he could not help but appreciate Bastian being pressured.

    "H... He''s a bit talented, but the luck factor helped him greatly, imperial father. I don''t think he would be a good seed for the family. He certainly couldn''t count on the same luck he did during thatpetition."

    "So that''s it?" The emperor sighed, feeling disappointed. "Then it''s a shame. Someone like him could help our family if he were skilled, not just lucky."

    The Third Prince chuckled ruefully. "That''s right. He would be perfect for the family, hehe."

    Meanwhile, the subordinates of the two princes in that ce were looking at each other, knowing that such a thing would be terrible. After all, if Lothur were to meet the emperor, what could happen?

    Lothur''s father was not to be trifled with, and he was certainly not friendly to this family. But, on the other hand, this family did not have good rtions with such an individual either, so it would be an unnecessary problem to bring Lothur to this ce.

    The ideal would be to eliminate him away from this ce and throw the me on a subordinate, as the Third Prince was trying to do with the help of families like House Strauss.

    So the emperor finished listening to all the reports regarding thepetitions that had just ended in his Empire and the changes that would soon go into effect.

    ''It seems the Frost family has gained a new lease of life with Lothur...'' After being left alone in his throne room, the old fellow thought about this in silence.

    He did not like the Frost family since his ancestor, who had reunited the independent regions and created the Empire, had failed to dominate that organization back then.

    After that, that organization had never been against the Empire, but the grudge of the members of the then-new royalty had remained and developed over the years.

    Because of this, that family had never helped House Frost and had even funded rivals of that organization, even though they had ''never'' acted directly against it.

    So, upon noticing that the Frost family had onest energy to continue this strange ''dance,'' the emperor could not help but rethink a few things.

    ''What will happen in case Lothur reaches my stage? Will that be a good thing for the Empire or not?''

 Chapter 371 Alchemy 1

    Meanwhile, Lothur and Elke had just arrived at the first alchemy store they had arranged to stop by.

    In this ce that looked like an earthly pharmacy, with many vials arranged on shelves, there was an intense smell of medicinal herbs in the air. That was so strong that one could distinguish this space from any other in this world just by the smell, as this could only be an alchemy store.

    Lothur watched that ce with interest, noticing that even during the night, there was a good movement of people buying pills or potions.

    "This store is owned by a foreign alchemist who has lived in Peters City for a few decades, Lothur," Elke exined to him a little about this ce. "They say he has no deep connection to any local powers, that he is a strange individual, focused only on his art."

    "But his alchemy skill is quite refined, and that''s why his store sells potions and pills as if it were water, and he is very respected in the province."

    "Do you think I can learn something from him?" He asked, trying to understand why Elke brought him to this ce before other establishments.

    "No." She smiled. "He could even teach you if he wasn''t an antisocial focused on alchemy. So, you''d better go directly to the local Alchemy Guild and buy your study materials there."

    The Alchemy Guild was another maind institution not focused on establishing war powers, as was the case with the Formations Masters Association. The purpose of this guild was only to teach and develop alchemy, providing the opportunity for new geniuses to ascend.

    Obviously, this was not gratuitous generosity, but such was life.

    In any case, Lothur could ess some primary resources in the guild to learn the basics of alchemy. Since Elke knew how talented he was at learning professions on his own, letting him learn this way, with all the freedom, would be best. So she referred him to this institution.

    Lothur understood this point from her, still learning themon sense of this world, which took a lot of work for him to learn, given how little time he had in this ce. But, on the other hand, he was always busy with his ns of getting richer and not dying, so now and then, he ignored thesemon things.

    "Hmm, okay."

    The two walked around that ce, with the silver-haired young man looking at thebels on the products on hand, noting that the vast majority of the items there were ssified as Iron-grade.

    There were also Bronze-grade potions and pills, but none of Silver-grade was in sight, as one would expect since there were no 3-star professionals in this province.

    With that, the two soon began to look for pills that might affect Lothur, focusing on those Bronze-grade ones, especially those with the potential to affect mental attributes.

    Lothur had already ingested two Bronze-grade pills, and his body was already at a level simr to that of 2nd stage cultivators. What did this mean? Well, Iron-grade pills or potions would have little effect on him.

    There was no resistance to Iron-grade pills after someone absorbed a Bronze-grade one. But if the two had the same purpose, then the body in question would be significantly affected by the Bronze-grade, and the Iron-grade that followed would have little effect.

    The same thing was true for the level of the body. If the body were mighty, resources of equivalent power would be needed to make a significant difference.

    Could an Iron-grade pill help a Spiritual Warrior? Yes, but not to the extent necessary for them to solve their problem.

    So Lothur and Elke did not waste their time looking at those Iron-grade items, quickly moving on to the Bronze-grade ones.

    [Body Recovery Pills] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Purity: 65%] [4 units]

    [Effect: recovers damage to the different tissues of a given body]

    ...

    [Blood Eyes Potion] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Purity: 72%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: induces a temporary frenzy in which the characteristics of the one using it are raised 100%.]

    [Side effect: temporary blindness after 24 hours of absorption sting from one day to a week).]

    ''Geez! That''s grave.'' Lothur wondered as he noticed the characteristics of one of the pills sold there.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    [Body Transformation Pill] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Purity: 42%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: can permanently raise one of the user''s physical attributes between 10% and 20%.]

    ''Oh?'' He saw that and opened his eyes wider, as something like that was extremely useful to improve one''s strength.

    10% to 20% might not seem like much, but that was something that could be bought without constant efforts in cultivation and training!

    Therefore, it was something extreme that would make the masses drool in desire for such a resource!

    But the price for this was not low!

    Gulp!

    "85,000 silver coins!" Lothur muttered as he paid attention to the price of such a pill.

    With that amount, a mortal man could live his entire life and still ensure the survival of his wife and child!

    So considering that most people in this world were mortals, Lothur could not help but be surprised at the price of the resource that was right in his hands.

    ''And it''s here like this, waiting for someone to buy it...'' He pondered as the thought of stealing that item passed far from his mind...

    Lothur was a talented formation master, so he could sense what was in the surroundings of this store and every vial with pills or potions.

    This ce was so protected that even someone like Mabel could not get away safely with trying to steal something!

    So this young man had already understood why there was not any confusion in that ce and why news of robberies was not frequent in this city.

    ''Cultivators are extreme indeed...'' He smiled. ''They leave behind a lot of traps, and whoever dares to do what they shouldn''t have to pay the cost with their own life!''

    As he pondered this, Elke found something and showed it to him. "Lothur, look at this pill. It is supposed to do a spiritual ''washing'' on the soul of the one who drinks it."

    "Washing?" Lothur turned to her, still holding the previous bottle in one of his hands, very interested in this other possibility.

    He then gestured to Elke, and she handed such a container to him.

    [Spiritual Bath Pill] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Purity: 60%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: decreases the impurities of the user''s soul, raising one or more of his mental attributes between 10% and 20%.]

    [Note: the host will undergo a 24-hour hibernation upon ingesting such a pill.]

    ''Hibernation?'' Lothur''s eyes narrowed as he noticed a resource that could do that for the first time.

    ''Usually, resources with such drastic side effects are apanied by extreme results.'' He pondered what he had already learned in his poison art, thinking it might be the same for alchemy.

    But considering how important it was for him to elevate his talents, Lothur did not hesitate to take this and the other pill he had found.

    ''200 thousand silver coins...'' He sighed as he added up the values of the two pills. ''Good thing those fools were willing to ''gift'' me early, or I''d be poor now.''

    ...

 Chapter 372 Alchemy 2

    After presenting himself to the cashier to pay for his chosen pills, Lothur came across a small group of young people watching him intently.

    There were boys and girls there, all about Elke''s age, that is, close to adulthood in this cultivation world.

    Each of them had their eyes focused on him. At the same time, some murmured among themselves, surprised to see this talented fellow shopping in this ce.

    That was a great store, but usually, prodigies like Lothur had people to do this kind of shopping for them, or they did not even need to buy anything. Often young talents like him would get resources equal to or better than what he had on hand from allies, family, or friends.

    So for some young people who did not know much about Lothur, seeing him make purchases was somewhat unexpected, especially considering that talented people had their own arrogance.

    But he was also famous, hated by many, feared by young people, and adored by the more superficial girls who only saw his refined appearance.

    So there was no way those low-level young nobles did not watch Lothur as if he were a celebrity.

    "Look at that. He''s going to pay 200,000 silver coins for two pills!" One young man muttered to his friend.

    "The way he spends is on another level..." A ck-haired young man said while making an ugly expression. "But it''s not for nothing that he is so talented. Spending like that, anyone can get there."

    "Hmm, he''s fortunate."

    Pills, potions, or any resources capable of permanently improving a cultivator''s powers were not 100% guaranteed. That is, they could affect the power of the one ingesting them by limited fractions, but that was only a chance of what could happen. But there were no guarantees!

    For example, the two pills that Lothur was paying for right now could affect his attributes by 10% to 20%. But that was only if the pills affected him!

    It could happen that a cultivator would take a pill with the same effects as those in Lothur''s hands, and nothing would happen. That was as if his body would reject it or the absorption of the medicinal power would fail.

    That, too, was connected to the purity of the pill. That is, a pill with 10% purity had a high chance of not affecting the body of the person who ingested it. On the other hand, a resource with 100% purity was certain to affect the given cultivator within its limits.

    So thements of those young men were somewhat unfair to Lothur, and one of the fans of that fellow there could not help but defend him.

    "Humph!"

    "As if pills could make people stronger whenever used..." A young woman with blond hair, 1.5 meters tall, said this while looking with disgust at those two. "If it were that simple, people Viktoria''s age and her resources would already be at the 3rd stage."

    The two realized their judgment error due to their resentment because Lothur was so much better than them and bowed their heads in shame.

    Another person then said. "But that''s not much for him. I heard that the winners of the Province Conference took 100,000 silver coins for each profession they won the 1st ce..."

    "Lothur came first in 3 different professions." Someonemented in the surrounding area.

    On the other hand, some women were paying attention to how Lothur was with Elke, not with Viktoria or even Annaliese, who was part of his wife''s family.

    "What is he doing with Young Miss Becker?" A young brte asked in doubt, not understanding the rtionship between those two.

    "They seem a bit intimate.... Look at the way she looks at him."<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Meanwhile, Lothur had already paid for the two pills, and one of the store employees was finishing removing the formations from the vials containing those precise resources.

    "Do you think spending that much on pills is a good idea?" Elke asked as she considered the matter further, remembering that the Frost family did not fund Lothur.

    It was customary for a noble family to invest in resources as he did. But for a family, it was no big deal to spend those amounts and run the risk of the resources not being effective, as could and did happen in many cases.

    But Lothur had a very limited portfolio, so investing in something that was not 100% guaranteed had high risks for him. Thus, this red-headed woman could not help but worry for him as she thought more about it.

    He chuckled at her but said nothing.

    The same was valid for poisons. Not every poison or poisonous training would have the expected effect. There were chances that such substances would fail.

    But even when the efficiency of the poisons he used was less than 15%, Lothur had experienced the effects of those resources he had obtained from plundering.

    Because of this, he had concluded that the system helped him whenever his body absorbed some substance, resulting in the resources always generating the expected effects in his body.

    So he wasfortable making the present investment, not worrying a bit about the remote possibility of failure!

    ''Tomorrow, Viktoria will take me to the Frost family treasury. Then I will probably get something else of relevance...'' He considered this in silence, already nning to ingest at that ce the pill in which he would go through hibernation.

    If he were unprotected for a few hours, he would do it in the most protected ce possible!

    "Don''t worry, Elke. I''ll be fine." Hemented with a smile on his lips when he finally received those vials and decided to leave from there.

    "Sigh..."

    "I hope so." Shemented as she walked him to the exit of that ce, trying to ignore thements of the people in the surrounding area. "Anyway, are we going to the Alchemy Guild now?"

    "Yes, I''m curious to learn about that ce and that profession," Lothur said, already putting in his ns to mix his professions to achieve the best possible result.

    ''I will use my medicine, alchemy, and poison art to help my women elevate their characteristics...'' He pondered as he walked beside Elke, feeling that he already had a good grasp on his poison art to use on these people.

    But he wanted to finish learning the basics of medicine and bing a 1-star alchemist before he tried anything.

    Improving at something was not always good. Sometimes raising one characteristic without considering others could create a problem that would be difficult to solve in a second moment.

    For example, having a Strength higher than Constitution would be a high risk to the cultivator''s life since they could get hurt by their own powers.

    Making the Strength higher than the Constitution was impossible to do naturally. But with the help of external items, a person could achieve this problem!

    That was also true for many other characteristics that went beyond attributes, so Lothur wanted to have more knowledge before he tried to manipte the physical conditions of his women.

    ...

 Chapter 373 Alchemy 3

    After a few moments, Lothur and Elke arrived at the ce where the local Alchemy Guild was located, a ce that had an even stronger medicinal fragrance than the previous store.

    This building looked like some modern universities where Lothur came from on Earth, with a stylish shape, many curves, and blending with nature.

    From a distance, the ce looked like a small piece of green nature in the middle of this city, with many trees and nts in its surroundings.

    Lothur and Elke followed a stone path until they entered the main hall of the Alchemy Guild, where dozens of people wereing and going. There were also people standing around, talking in groups, as students would do at their university before or after ss.

    On the other hand, arge reception desk was on one side of that area, with some people passing by and quickly making their way after receiving directions.

    Lothur saw the ce and was soon introduced by Elke. "The Alchemy Guild is like other non-military maind organizations present in Peters City. There is an area for alchemists'' businesses, with pills, potions, and most importantly, the ingredients needed to produce some items."

    The Alchemy Guild was like the Formations Masters Association, a regtor of the profession in Concordia. Because of this, resources needed to produce some special pills could only be sold in that organization.

    Of course, someone could rely on luck and find these resources in nature. But that would be by luck, and if someone wanted to buy such a thing, they would hardly find it in a ce other than the guild.

    The ck market was not very well regarded in this world. Organizations like this guild severely punished professionals who made deals outside the norm. So even if someone intended to live outside thew, this individual would not find it easy and, in many cases, would have to pay absurd amounts of money.

    But this was not only valid for ingredients. "Some rare techniques are also found in this organization, so if you follow this path..." Elke showed him the way from the location in question.

    She knew the local headquarters of the Alchemy Guild because there were people close to her within the Becker family who were alchemists. Since, in the past, she had visited this ce apanying some of these people, she knew how to show Lothur around.

    Lothur then asked after seeing a painting that talked about Gold-grade techniques. "Is that serious? Are there techniques of that quality in this ce?"

    Elkeughed at that question. "Of course not! Lothur, as I said, the Alchemy Guild is a continental organization. Thus, some of the resources you may hear about in this ce are avable for business in another branch of that organization."

    "Oh?" He realized the reality, but he was not disappointed. ''So that means that if I go to that branch, I might have the possibility of getting something like that!''

    He remembered something and asked. "Is it like that for the Formations Masters Association as well?"

    "Hmm, it is." She answered quickly while already taking him to another part of that ce.

    So, in a short time, Elke showed Lothur the basics of the ce. She showed him where he could find training rooms. Public library and a private library. The business rooms and everything one could find in a ce of learning and development.

    The guild also had a requirement that alchemists join this organization and pass a test to have the chance to act publicly as professionals in this field.

    So just as in that association, Lothur would have to pass examinations to be recognized as an alchemist and to receive ess to some areas of this ce.

    With this in mind, he picked up the date of the following exam for 1-star alchemists and then bought each of the books and ingredients needed to start learning this profession.

    After all that, he left Elke at the door of this woman''s residence before heading back to his estate, where he had left without looking back earlier.

    ''I wonder what happened? Those guys must have woken up by now, right?'' He wondered doubtfully. ''Viktoria should be home by this time, so I don''t think there''ll be any problems returning now.''<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ...

    After some time, Lothur entered the front door of his residence and found his beautiful wife meditating in the middle of the living room.

    Sensing Lothur''s arrival, Viktoria opened her eyes and smiled at him, thinking about what they had done the night before and feeling like continuing.

    But then she saw the look on his face and realized he wanted to say something. "What is it?"

    "You didn''t notice anything when you got here?" Lothur questioned his wife.

    Upon hearing this, this brown-haired woman frowned her eyebrows and stood up from where she was. "Realize something? What was there to perceive?"

    Lothur understood those men had left before she returned, but he decided to exin the situation to her anyway. "Earlier today, I passed by here and found a group of people from several different organizations passed out on the outskirts of our property. In fact..."

    Lothur exined what he had seen before entering his house when he had passed several unconscious people on the street where they lived. He also exined each thing he saw in the surroundings of his house, as well as the spatial rings he had looted.

    "Are you serious?" Viktoria asked him as she opened her mouth, shocked by it all. "You actually looted more than a dozen people stronger than me?"

    Lothurughed and showed the two pills he had bought. "I''ve even used some of the coins they gifted me..."

    Seeing the two vials in Lothur''s hands, Viktoria did not know whether tough or cry. Her husband''s audacity had no limits, but this also made her amused.

    On the other hand, the information that people were already watching their house confirmed her recent fears. ''Then we''ll soon have more problems...'' Viktoria sighed, feeling that the world would simply not give them the peace to enjoy the life of living alone on their own estate.

    "Can you imagine what caused the phenomenon in question?" He asked her after a while.

    Viktoria then turned her attention to that, recognizing that it was indeed a somewhat unusual phenomenon.

    ''Perhaps...'' She remembered the people from Lothur''s father, with whom she came into contact from time to time. "Maybe this is a Transcendents thing."

    "Transcendents?" Lothur''s eyes narrowed.

    "Yes, ording to my mother, when two Transcendents or stronger ones collide with each other, it is not umon for a ''collision'' of spirits to appear, which generates a spiritual pulse. Such a thing can cause temporary soul damage to those in the vicinity and generate something simr to what you told me." She exined to him.

    "So that''s it..." He understood what she said but soon considered the obvious. "Then why were two Transcendents facing each other in the vicinity of our residence?"

    The expression on Viktoria''s face became even more serious, but she did not think it would be a good thing to tell Lothur the truth right now.

    ''If he finds out who his father is, I''m sure things will only get moreplicated...''

 Chapter 374 Preparation For The Miniature Vehicle

    "Probably," Viktoria said, without telling any more details that would only bring trouble into their lives.

    ''Two Transcendents... Could it be a coincidence? Why were people like that facing each other around here?'' He thought about it, feeling that he should get stronger as soon as possible.

    With that in mind, he keeps the hibernation pill to consume the next day when he goes to the Frost family estate with Viktoria to receive his awards. And with that, he took no time to sit in a meditative position near where his wife was earlier and ingested the second pill.

    As he touched the bottle of that pill, he once again saw the characteristics of that resource.

    [Body Transformation Pill] [ssification: Bronze]

    [Purity: 42%] [1 unit]

    [Effect: can permanently raise one of the physical attributes between 10% and 20%.]

    He then had the system show him his status before putting that pill with two colored stripes in its middle into his mouth.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 30.2] [CON: 100.2] [DEX: 26.4] [AGI: 34.6]

    [INT: 70] [PER: 95] [WIL: 79.2]

    [EVF: 623]

    Seeing this, he closed his eyes and focused on the medicinal action of that pill, beginning to do what was necessary to absorb all that he could from it.

    As he went through the experience, Viktoria watched him for a while, not feeling greedy for Lothur''s pills.

    She had already tried pills of the same type and achieved significant improvements. So she was already resistant to the two pills her husband had bought today.

    But unlike many noblemen who received investments from their families and ended up ''wasting'' them, Viktoria had sessfully absorbed the medicinal effects of everything she had ever ingested.

    The purity of spiritual products was not the only relevant factor in this! Something like talent could also influence the absorption of resources!

    What did this mean? Well, people of superior talent were likelier to experience the positive effects of a pill with 10% purity than someone with inferior talent.

    Because of this, Viktoria reached level 12 at less than 20 years of age, something hard to find around the empire!

    So she did not watch Lothur because of that item, but rather because she wanted to see if she would feel or even see anything during his improvement.

    Lothur''s abilities were very mysterious, which made her curiosity jump every time she saw him in situations like the present one.

    So knowing that such a pill was the kind that took effect quickly, she did not even sit down to watch him, only to soon begin to see him trembling while making a strange expression.

    [Medicinal effect detected in the host''s neurons...] The system showed it to him, but being with his eyes closed, Lothur saw nothing.

    [Due to the evolution of the host''s neurons, the Dexterity attribute will receive a bonus...]

    [Bonus of 17% being distributed...]

    ...

    [DEX: 26.4 -> 30.9]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 30.2] [CON: 100.2] [DEX: 30.9] [AGI: 34.6]

    [INT: 70] [PER: 95] [WIL: 79.2]

    [EVF: 623]

    Viktoria saw the whole process of Lothur''s improvement but unfortunately could not feel anything, only having seen him suffering from the pill changing his body.

    She then saw him smiling as he opened his eyes and asked him. "Well? You must have seeded, right?"

    Lothur felt a little strange as he came out of his meditative state. Still, he soon regained control over his body, quickly beginning to feel his hand skills evolving.

    ''It seems my synapses have be faster, and the main effect was an increase in my Dexterity.'' He pondered as he noticed the sensation of moving his body.

    Considering this, he soon realized that he would have an easier time in some of his professions that depended on his skill with his hands and smiled in satisfaction.

    ''Very good!'' He looked at his wife and felt his ''appetite''e up strongly.

    Viktoria did not take long to understand what was on her husband''s mind and soon got into his game.

    ...

    The next day, Lothur had woken up full of energy, even though he had trained with his wife the night before, read some books, and even cared for her physical needs.

    But this was not surprising. After all, Lothur had one crucial thing to do today... Visit Frederik''s store and receive the parts for the miniature vehicle he had ordered earlier!

    So after taking care of his wife in the morning and eating breakfast, Lothur set off towards the academy, eager to fulfill his daily responsibilities and head off to that store.

    He had elevated his skills the night before, so this meant that his time as the developer of this world''s first independent animal power vehicle would be easier.

    On the other hand, he had already finished all the nning of what to do to assemble and make that miniature work. Hence, all that remained was for Frederik to hand him the materials.

    Therefore, he soon went on with his routine at the Academy Morning Star, helping Annaliese and Elke in the midst of his studies in the library of Sector-2.

    Due to his moments with Elke, this woman managed to advance to level 7 this morning, something happy for all of them since he soon intended to go out on missions again.

    But besides this, in the afternoon, he met with Reba. He practiced his poison art a little, receiving some advice from her and an invitation from Elisabeth.

    He also extended an invitation to this woman and their mistress, talking about the project he would present in the next few days.

    With this done, Lothur set off with Annaliese towards Frederik''s store, hoping that the young man had not been dyed and that he could finally begin his work.

    ...

    After walking for some time, Lothur and Annaliese arrived at Frederik''s small store, where they had passed weeks before.

    But before they even reached the entrance there, a dark-skinned young man they already knew was standing at the entrance there, looking from one side of the street to the other.

    "Johann?" Lothur asked with a smile on his face, seeing that this young man he had invited to do business with him during the test for 1-star formations masters had not forgotten.

    Johann looked at Lothur and was also pleased that such a fellow had not forgotten and promptly walked over to this local celebrity. "Lothur, you were hiding your skills a lot earlier. I did not think you were so good." He said in a sincere but also humorous tone.

    "You haven''t seen anything yet, hehe." The silver-haired young man was not modest as he greeted that fellow he wanted to recruit.

    So, while they were chatting casually, the three entered Frederik''s small store. With that, it was not long before they found that peculiar young man sitting in front of a series of refined pieces of something iprehensible.

    Lothur saw that and was the only one to understand that these were the parts of his vehicle. "Frederik, I am here for what we arranged earlier..."

 Chapter 375 Time For Presentation

    When Lothur announced his arrival to the young carpenter in that ce, that skinny fellow with arge lens in front of his right eye looked at him and the others.

    "You finally came, huh?" Frederik said this, curious to learn about what Lothur intended to make those parts work.

    Lothur had naturally told him to build the parts of the vehicle and the tools needed to assemble it. So Frederik had an idea of what parts went where and what the final appearance of this item would be.

    However, he still had no idea how it would move and the importance of some mechanisms. Thus, he was looking forward to when Lothur woulde to his store to assemble such a vehicle.

    "Finally?" Lothurughed. "I came on the day we scheduled..."

    "I finished that project two nights ago. If you had been curious enough to stop by, we would have had that vehicle ready by now." The malnourished fellowmented, surprising Johann, who was meeting him for the first time.

    As for Lothur and Annaliese, they had dealt with this fellow once before, so they knew he was the sincere type who got straight to the point. Then, neither of them was bothered by his speech.

    "Really? I would havee here earlier if I had known, but I was busy." Lothur said as he crouched down and took a closer look at the items developed by Frederik.

    ''Very nice...'' He looked at the embolus that Frederik had developed based on the blueprints he had drawn.

    By probing and seeing the attributes of such aponent, Lothur noticed the item''s excellent characteristics, which are necessary for his ns to work.

    ''Each piece built by Frederik is solid and has properties above what I expected...'' He looked at this strange young man at his side. ''It seems he is more talented in his profession than I expected.''

    He then spied on Frederik''s status.

    [Name: Frederik Calis]

    [Cultivation: level 3 -> 4]

    [STR: 1.7 -> 1.8]

    [CON: 2.2 -> 2.4]

    [DEX: 22.1 -> 24.5]

    [AGI: 1.8 -> 1.9]

    ''He has improved quite nicely in Dexterity in these weeks... It seems that working on the design of my vehicle has demanded quite a bit from him.''

    ''But it''s truly remarkable his talent for Dexterity. I wonder where thates from?''

    Physical attributes far above the Constitution value were a bit strange since that was the most important attribute. So Lothur knew that the chances of anyone training to the point of developing any other attribute more than this were practically zero.

    In this case, all that was left was external means or special abilities to justify a situation simr to Frederik''s.

    As Frederik continued to raise his Dexterity, this was probably not an external resource but a bloodline, Physique, or Soul Bone skill.

    In this case, Lothur could count on future improvements, something he highly valued!

    "Very good, you did a great job, hehe." This silver-haired young man said aloud, feeling quite pleased but also eager to begin his work.

    "Lothur, what is it? Is this the project you told me about?" Johann asked.

    Lothur looked at that young formations master and exined. "Johann, this is the miniature of my vehicle. Of course, it is a little different from what I will market in the future since we will have several types of vehicles, but it has the basics that there will be in all the others."<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Oh?" He tried to imagine what that would look like, but as someone with no experience in carpentry, he could not get far.

    Lothur continued. "I invited you here because of this. I want you to join me in the production of these vehicles. In fact, I will need a team of formations masters and more carpenters." He looked between Johann and Frederik as he said this.

    "So that''s it..." Johann understood the kind of deal Lothur wanted with him and did not refuse, quickly thinking about the conditions for this to work out.

    On the other hand, Frederik was a bit confused and asked. "Do you want to share my work with others?"

    "Sure. Will you be able to make a real-size version of vehicles like that daily?" Lothurughed as he asked that.

    "Daily?" Frederik realized his mistake.

    Even if he were many times more talented, he could not pull off something like that. So, really, he would need to work with other people to make this project happen.

    "I don''t know any good carpenters like me. So you''ll have to find them on your own." He said without modesty.

    All the carpenters he knew were average men. These individuals only knew how to brag about OK skills while wasting their time drinking and partying on nights and weekends.

    So he knew that he could not find anyone from this profession capable of doing what he did, even more so considering that this profession was not as organized as others.

    There was even an organization of carpenters, but it was more like a union and less like a teaching and development association.

    Lothur heard Frederik''sment and did not find it arrogant, as those words were true and sincere. "I know. I''ll find a way to get people like that with our future investors."

    Frederik epted this, feeling that as long as he could work alone, putting up with others doing the same as him would not be unbearable.

    But then he asked. "When will you assemble the parts? I want to see the result of weeks of work."

    Annaliese was also curious, so she stopped to pay attention to her man while Johann also looked at Lothur.

    Lothur then said. "It won''t be today. I have something to do, a final preparation before I start my work with these pieces. So I think it will take me three to five days to have the vehicle assembled and ready to be presented."

    "Oh? That''s not very long." Johannmented, while Frederik felt this would be an extremely long period.

    "Five days is too long. What will I be doing in that period?" The young carpenter questioned Lothur as he looked thoughtfully at this person, who he did not care if was a local prodigy.

    "Why don''t you start preparing to produce the bigger version of this here?" Lothur pointed in the direction of the parts of that vehicle.

    "Make arrangements for the tools needed to produce somethingrger, as well as the price of the items. With your experience on this first vehicle, I''m sure you''ve already noticed a thing or two about improving it and lowering our costs."

    Frederik felt that this was indeed the case and that he would need some time to adjust himself to produce the original size version of that vehicle. "Very well, just tell me where and when you will present this vehicle. I want to see with my own eyes it working without a beast or animal pulling it."

    "Hehe, I will. I''ll send out the invitations in about three days." Lothur said this before storing all his vehicle parts in a spatial ring.

    He then said goodbye to those two, who in turn went to settle matters concerning the things Lothur had said.

    Johann wanted to join Lothur since he had seen how talented the young Ritter was. Meanwhile, Frederik was eager to produce the different vehicle models he had heard from that fellow.

    So, with no one else knowing what these youths wanted, Lothur went to the Frost estate alongside Annaliese to receive his awards for helping this family at the Province Conference!

 Chapter 376 The Frost Family Treasure

    After arriving at the Frost estate, Lothur met with Viktoria. As soon as he said goodbye to Annaliese, he went beside his wife to the family treasury.

    "Lothur, my father will not be able to apany us, but he has already told me that you will be allowed to choose up to three items from our treasure." Viktoria said as she looked into his eyes, walking from his side toward the most important ce on this estate.

    The treasure of the Frost family was in the central area of this estate, where the strongest cultivators stood on guard to protect the heritage of this organization.

    The Frost family was one of the organizations currently existing in this area that had the longest time since its foundation. So some of their relics were truly legendary but also unknown to even the people of this family.

    A lot has happened since the founding of this family. They had moments of ups and downs that caused stories or artifacts to be lost. So there were things in that ce that even the Frost patriarch was unaware of the origin and its effects.

    It was like this for people from this family, but much worse for those not connected to this organization, who mostly did not even know about 20% of the items there.

    Because of this, Aiken had not made any restrictions on what Lothur could take as a prize, only a limit on the quantity of what he could take.

    "Is that okay with you? It''s only three." Viktoria repeated.

    "Hmm, that''s already more than I had imagined I would get." Lothurmented to his wife as he saw a ce that looked like arge tomb in the central area of this headquarters.

    "How much did you think you would gain?" She asked out of curiosity.

    "None."

    "Tsk!"

    "Stop seeing my family that way!" She eximed to him. "We would never do something so terrible."

    "What about you? How many did you get?" He asked.

    "I''m not getting anything. I''m satisfied with what I currently have." She replied, considering that her family did not have many things, most of the treasure items were very old, and she did not even know how to use them.

    What good would it do for her to take possession of them if it was not going to change anything? It would be much better to leave them there so that at least they could serve as historical artifacts in a museum without the risk of being lost...

    Lothur heard this and began to lower his expectations of this ce.

    He was thinking of something when the two arrived in front of the only entrance to that ce. "Viktoria, are you here for the prizes?" One of the guards in the surrounding area, a level 14 elder, asked this woman.

    "Hmm, my father said that Lothur could pick up to three awards for his performance at the Province Conference." She exined to that old fellow. "So we want to go in to pick them."

    The old fellow looked Lothur up and down but felt nothing from this strange fellow. Unfortunately, he could not do anything against the patriarch''s order, which had already reached him before Viktoria even left toe to this ce.

    "Very well, you will have 24 hours to choose something. After that period..." He was saying, but Lothur interrupted him.

    "Sir, 24 hours is too short. I intend to ingest a pill that will put me into hibernation inside this ce, and I need more time. How about 26 hours?" Lothur said, considering that this was the safest ce he knew of for him to be able to stay unconscious that long.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    "Pill? Why will you do that here?" That man narrowed his eyes as he looked more seriously at Lothur.

    "I made many enemies to help the family in thatpetition." Lothur used that to his advantage. "On the other hand, this pill might help me choose something more suitable for me. So I want to do it here, safely and with a chance to get the best from this ce."

    Lothur was being sincere. If he raised his mental attributes in this ce, then it would be certain that he would more easily choose an itempatible with himself.

    Hearing this fellow''s justification, this man, the Frost family treasure security leader, was silent for a moment. He felt there would be no problems since Viktoria would go along with Lothur.

    "Very well, I will give you the 26 hours. But if you have not woken up after that time, you will lose your opportunity to remove three items from this ce." He said firmly, not expecting thanks from Lothur and opening therge metal door behind him.

    Then, the two entered that dark ce, carrying torches in their hands and slowly following the narrow path in front of them.

    "This ce looks like it was made to scare people..." Lothurmented as he noticed the spider webs in the corners of the walls, uneven path, and the smell of wet dirt in that ce.

    Viktoria smiled at him and said. "But it''s obvious. The family treasury is not a giant vault with items stored on shelves... It is a hugebyrinth with traps and all kinds of artifices to distract and frighten those who dare to enter here."

    "So every noble who enters here has to deal with the ce as if he were on a test?" Lothur questioned his wife.

    "Yes and no." Viktoria said. "Not just anyone can get in here. To give you an idea, not even my father can assign a person to enter here by sheer will."

    "Uh? But wasn''t he the one who authorized me toe here?"

    "He rmended you, and after you earned the right to enter here, he gave the orders for the people rted to this ce to allow you to enter." Viktoria exined with a proud expression on her face.

    "Rmended me to whom?" Lothur''s eyes sharpened as he discovered new things about this family.

    She began to exin. "Our family had more than one Saint in the remote past. Precisely because of that, we have something called a Memory Crystal. That is an item that can contain part of the soul fragment of those experts who decided to leave something behind in this ce."

    A Memory Crystal could absorb parts of soul fragments from countless people to form something like a council that gathered the memories of each of these people. The result of that? The crystal could analyze whether or not a person was worthy of something and give a verdict on the prize or punishment that person deserved.

    In the case of the Frost family, this crystal could analyze whether someone deserved a prize and automatically gave permission for that person to enter the family treasury.

    "Anyway, my father rmended you to the Memory Crystal and reported your aplishments. After some time, the wills within the crystal decided that you could choose up to three items from this ce. So for you and I, who they have also approved, the defensive items here are off."

    This family''s Memory Crystal was connected to the family treasure. Hence, it could deactivate or activate the traps in this ce, which justified Viktoria''s earlier line about not even her father having the ability to authorize anyone to enter there.

    Viktoria continued. "So, people must prove good enough to get in here. But since we''ve already done that, we don''t have to go through any tests. We just have to worry about finding the remaining items from this ce and choosing what we want within our limits."

    "Oh? So it''s simpler than I thought..."

 Chapter 377 Valuable Resource

    After listening to Viktoria and understanding a little about this ce, Lothur followed in her footsteps for a few minutes until they reached the central area of this maze.

    "Lothur, where we are now, is about the shortest distance from the items left in our treasury after so many years." Shemented as she looked at the surroundings, where there were graves and small tombs on the sides.

    Everything was very dark, not only because of theck of ambient lighting but also because the construction itself was made of a type of ck material.

    Other than that, the noise of insects and small animals was particrly loud in that ce because the space there was a littlerger than the narrow passages they had passed through.

    Lothur looked at the surroundings and noticed some objects near the tombs and graves, imagining that the artifacts of this treasure had been buried with their former owners.

    "Are members of your family still buried here when they die?" He asked her in curiosity.

    "Some, yes." Viktoria nodded at him. "But only those who reach the 3rd stage have that right. Also, only those with Frost family blood can have the privilege since the Memory Crystal doesn''t allow outsiders."

    "I see..." He muttered before asking about what was in there. "You have entered here before, right? Do you know what''s in this ce? Are there any consumable resources?"

    Viktoria then answered him. "I''ve been in a few times, but I can''t say I know every item. There are things here that, at first nce, seem worthless, such as a piece of wood. But there is no guarantee that these items are not ancient artifacts that have been semi-damaged or degraded by time."

    "Since there is no relic specialist or appraiser in our family, as well as we have lost some of the records of this ce, I don''t know all the artifacts here."

    Relic specialists or appraisers were professionals in the same field of expertise who identified artifacts'' value, quality, and history, in general, characteristics.

    That was an extremelyplicated profession that required a high level of Intelligence because only by using the Natural Laws could one reach urate conclusions.

    So teaching this profession was somewhatplicated, with few willing to do it, as few had the minimum ability to do it.

    Because of this, a decadent organization like the Frost family would not have someone like this on their side!

    But this was not something extreme. There were less than ten such individuals in the entire empire!

    Viktoria then continued. "Anyway, there are some special nts that grow around here that can be eaten or used in products. But a single leaf or seed from them will be considered one of the items you are entitled to."

    "Are you sure you will want it? There are weapons here that are far more valuable than something so simple."

    "Let me see first." He said without rushing. "If it has no value, I''ll let the opportunity pass."

    Hearing this, Viktoria wasted no time and led the way to the little nts capable of growing in the darkness of this ce.

    But these were not typical nts that needed light to survive. Instead, these were spiritual medicines, living beings capable of surviving through the spiritual energy avable in the environment.

    As many experts above level 16 had been buried in this ce, the soil there was quite nutritious, and thews were well concentrated.

    Lothur and Viktoria did not know it, but this tomb had been built with a special type of block, capable of containing most of thews and spiritual energy within this ce.

    Since some of the spiritual energy andws of even a soul cultivator were stored in their body, over time, this ce had be ''richer'' with the ancestors of the Frost family.

    That enabled the growth of a few nts that could survive in environments devoid of light, such as this space.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Anyway, unaware of this, Lothur and Viktoria did not take long to get close to the little nts in question, which were not far from the center of thebyrinth.

    That was where the most powerful experts of this family had been buried.

    Upon arriving there, Lothur immediately saw the little creeping nts with purple leaves and red fruits growing around what appeared to be a small vegetable garden.

    ''It seems that the creators of this ce or the experts who came after them nted these things...''

    Like on Earth, life in the cultivation world did note up from nothing. It naturally had an origin. So, a ''hostile'' ce like this would not harbor any kind of life, and hardly anything would grow there if someone did not nt it.

    It was even possible for people to bring seeds to this ce in their shoes, and they would grow over time. But given the harshness of this space, few organisms would survive and grow.

    Besides, there were only nts in thisbyrinth in small ces made to harbor nt life. So Lothur was correct in thinking that.

    He then crouched next to one of these little nts and carefully approached it after receiving Viktoria''s consent.

    She would probably warn him to be careful if it was something poisonous. But since she did not warn him about the risk of touching it with his hands, he searched for that nt for the system to give him the information about it.

    [Night Breeze] [Rank: quasi-Silver]

    [Introduction: the Night Breeze is a natural herb from the far north of Concordia, an area near the Old Demon Spring, characterized by its intense darkness and presence of negativews.]

    [Feature: it can be used for the production of Silver-grade pills or potions, or consumed, generally having the effects: creating an affinity to darkness, improving Soul attribute from 20% to 40%, may or may not enhancing Intelligence between 15% and 25%, refines killing intent.]

    [Detail: can be consumed with resources of simr nature, with a chance of their effects and sess rate increasing by 5% due to synergy.]

    [Reminder 1: due to its action on the Soul, the one who ingests it will go through a state of temporary weakness and will not be able to use this attribute for 48 hours.]

    [Reminder 2: because it contains Natural Laws rted to death, there is a 5% chance that one who consumes it will die by ingesting it away from a suitable environment.]

    ''Fuck...'' Lothur opened his mouth in surprise as he noticed so much about this little nt that seemed like amon resource on the surface.

    Viktoria then listened to his question. "Dear wife, have you ever tried using these spiritual medicines?"

    She then answered. "No. We have an old agreement with a foreign organization that buys these fruits when we are willing to sell them. So when one of our members can harvest one of these and doesn''t want to risk ingesting them, we exchange with that organization."

    "So you don''t know what it is capable of?" He asked.

    Viktoria replied in an embarrassed manner. "No, we only know it is interesting for cultivators who follow evil cultivation. Since no one in our family has an affinity for it, we have never tried it."

    "Why? Are you interested in doing that?"

    ...

 Chapter 378 Overcoming Death

    "Yes, of course. Did you know that a single such fruit can raise your soul power, increase your talent, and improve your affinity for negative Natural Laws?" He said to her, informing his wife about things she did not know.

    Viktoria had studied many times more than Lothur, but she was only a person of about 20 years old. On the other hand, many of the critical books of the Frost family had been lost over the years of decay of this organization.

    So she naturally did not know about items like the fruits of those little nts, much less having the ability to identify such resources.

    She had a good talent, which enabled her to be an appraiser. But for this, she would have to find someone to teach her this profession, as it was not easy to learn alone.

    Lothur, on the other hand, had the system to help him, making it possible for an ignoramus like him to have the chance to teach Viktoria something.

    "What? Where did you get that from?" She asked in surprise.

    "Our partners in Lenz say that these fruits are useful for controlling demonic powers. They say they can create something like a tranquilizing mist with it, which can knock out demons without requiring a dangerous fight between the parties."

    Lothur heard this and pondered. "What do they give you in return for these fruits?"

    "A Silver-grade artifact of our choice."

    "Hmm, the value is close, but they are the ones who have an advantage over you. After all, that little nt is much rarer than an artifact of that quality." He said, noting how the Frost family had been deceived.

    "Why do you think that?" She questioned her husband.

    Lothur replied. "That nt is called..."

    After he told her the origin of that resource and about the hard-to-reach ce where it grew, Viktoria understood why a quasi-Silver-grade item was worth more than a Silver-grade artifact.

    Thinking about how the Frost family had followed such an agreement for centuries, she could not help but feel frustrated and betrayed.

    "So you think it would be interesting for me to ingest one of these?"

    Lothur said. "There is no need to have an affinity with that resource to ingest it. It will induce an affinity for such a thing. On the other hand, while promising, it does have its downsides..."

    After exining to her the slight chance of death and the problem of being unable to use her soul power for two days, Lothur saw Viktoria enter a state of contemtion.

    ''If I can raise my soul power, it will be worth it to go two days without being able to use my abilities...'' She pondered this while disregarding the possibility of death.

    Many resources had a slight chance of harming the cultivator who ingested them. After all, nothing came for free in this world.

    Dangers naturally apanied a grand prize!

    But ording to Lothur, this ce was ideal for them to absorb such a thing, and their chances of dying would be lower if they did it in this ce instead of outside.

    Lothur could feel the negative vibrations of this ce, which were precisely what made this environmentpatible with these fruits.

    So he already decided to ingest one with the Spiritual Bath Pill.

    Viktoria decided to do the same as him, knowing that she could also take up to three items from this treasure.

    Viktoria did not intend to use that right as she did not feel that the items in this ce would make any difference to her, who did not know how to recognize them.

    So the two sat down on cultivation cushions they had in their spatial rings and soon ingested their medicines.

    Lothur also ingested the Spiritual Bath Pill in conjunction with a little fruit of that nt, not taking long to fall into a trance-like state, somewhat different from Viktoria''s.<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    Viktoria had only ingested the little fruit from that nt. So her state was far less unconscious than his since the pill he ingested naturally caused hibernation in its user.

    But even so, since that little fruit could affect the Soul, anyone who ingested it naturally would temporarily lose their senses outside the body.

    Thus Viktoria felt her consciousness falling into a sea of darkness, where there seemed to be a storm brewing, without her having any of her powers to help her.

    She found herself alone in her fall, watching her life sh past her eyes in the blink of an eye, noting that this must be like dying.

    She was intelligent, so even though she felt fear and noticed how realistic this ''dream'' was, she could still reason and distinguish the Natural Laws influencing her being.

    ''Is this death?'' She asked herself as if she was trying to understand a puzzle that was difficult to analyze at first nce, but that became easier and easier the more she looked at it.

    But Lothur was facing something different from his wife!

    When he ingested the two substances together, he suddenly felt his heart beating strongly. At the same time, his eyes gradually lost their light.

    He even tried to open his eyes unconsciously. Still, even so, after a few seconds, all he could see was darkness, feeling cold and hearing the devilish rumbling of the winds of bad days.

    Thebination of sensations he felt in that instant reminded him of something... The day of his transmigration!

    ''Am I going to die again?'' He wondered as he saw nothing, feeling his heart beating hard against his chest.

    As Lothur''s panic reached its limit, his heart suddenly stopped beating, and his body slumped against the ground with almost no sign of life.

    At that moment, in Lothur''s deep subconscious, he awoke in a different ce, like a desert of ck sands, only submerged, with a gray sky and sepulchral silence.

    There was only water there, something that covered all the surroundings, and nothing else could be seen for tens of thousands of kilometers as if this was a terrible world. But this water went only to half an adult knee height, enough for Lothur''s fallen body not to bepletely submerged.

    "Hah... Hah..." He opened his eyes and lifted his body, breathing hurriedly as he ''woke up from death.''

    ''I didn''t die?'' Lothur wondered as he felt his own body but became momentarily distracted to pay attention to his surroundings.

    Then he suddenly expressed pain and brought his hands to his head, feeling a sharp pain in his head, as if his Soul Bone was trying to separate from him.

    "You''re taking too long!"

    A voice arose in Lothur''s mind, something extremely ancient but nostalgic to him.

    "You are wasting your time!" Once again, that voice arose in his head, causing this young man to look in confusion from one side of that ce to the other.

    "Look for the leaves, or this will be your end!" After those words were spoken, Lothur suddenly felt his body falling but soon came to a different scene.

    Such a ce looked like an abandoned battlefield, with rivers of blood still flowing, piles of corpses, dark clouds in the sky, and lightning of different colors on the horizon.

    In this ce, Lothur did not need much time and soon saw his own body next to those of Viktoria, Elke, Annaliese, in short, all the people he knew in the cultivation world.

    "Wake up before it''s toote!"

    ...

 Chapter 379 Dream?

    "Wake up before it''s toote!"

    After those words were spoken, Lothur felt a flow of energy passing through his pupils in a way as if the light had stopped working normally.

    "Wake up!"

    "Wake up!"

    Then, as he heard this call, his eyes suddenly opened, and his heart began to beat normally again.

    Meanwhile, he stood with his body rxed over Viktoria, arms resting on her legs and head in her abdominal region.

    She had her arms around his chest as she looked at him with a fearful expression, eyes red and watery.

    "Lothur!" She cried out as she saw his eyes opening, feeling his vital signs returning to normal.

    Viktoria had woken up over 3 hours ago and stayed all that time with Lothur in her arms, thinking he had died.

    Because of the thoughts in her mind, she was quite vulnerable at the moment, feeling her emotions running high.

    "Lothur, I thought I would never see you again!" She said as she squeezed his body, feeling she could no longer live without her husband, who took such good care of her.

    Without realizing it, she had fallen in love with Lothur. And in this situation, she realized her situation, so she did not hold back when she noticed that her lover was alive.

    "Lothur, I love you. I am totally yours~" She was saying things like that as she kissed his face and felt the surroundings of her eyes getting moister and moister.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was still slightly disoriented, given the previous situation, so he epted his wife''s affection without saying anything.

    ''What just happened?'' He wondered as he felt a strange sensation all over his body. ''What was that? What kind of hallucination was that I had?''

    He had fallen into a ce that seemed to be the home of death, the final passage that every living being would pass through before disappearing. But then he appeared in a different ce, an absolute hell on earth, where only cmities could be felt.

    Hence, he could not help imagining it was a hallucination.

    But as he thought of the voice in his mind, Lothur felt a chill run through his body, as if he had received great advice after making a series of mistakes.

    The feeling he had now was not so different from that a young man would have when caught in the act by an elder while doing something stupid.

    ''He talked about the leaves... But I''m already doing my best! I''m improving on different fronts to get the power needed to go after it!'' He continued to be confident in his ns until the system started filling his sights with message boxes.

    [Special substance detected in host''s bloodstream...]

    [Dark energy detected in the host''s body and soul...]

    [Host''s soul has been altered...]

    [Special substance altered host''s mental attributes...]

    [Counting results...]

    ...

    [Due to the iplete soul of the host, the system failed to distribute the bonus on the Soul attribute...]

    [Iron-grade darkness element resistance acquired...]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ...

    [Host''s killing intent has been improved. Now the host can disy Deadly Aura whenever he wishes.]

    ...

    [Deadly Aura] [Rank: Iron]

    [Description: ability able to induce fear in opponents equal to or weaker in Will than the host; it can be activated when feeling the urge to kill unconsciously or when purposely forcing your eyes and jaw to scare without the intent actually to kill.]

    [Feature: ability effective at distances of up to 10 meters from the host, making the victim feel fear and doubt himself.]

    ...

    [Night Breeze fruit promoted the host''s Intelligence by 17%.]

    ...

    [INT: 70 -> 81.9]

    ...

    [Spiritual Bath Pill promoted the host''s Intelligence by 14%.]<novelnext>  </novelnext>

    ...

    [INT: 81.9 -> 93.4]

    ...

    [Spiritual Bath Pill promoted the host''s Perception by 11%.]

    ...

    [PER: 95 -> 105.5]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 30.6] [CON: 100.3] [DEX: 31.3] [AGI: 35]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 105.5] [WIL: 79.3]

    [EVF: 623]

    Lothur saw all these messages and almost felt his head hurt with so much information in his sights, but it only made him happier.

    After whatever had happened in this ce, his talent, characteristics, and skills had increased significantly, enough to put a smile on his face.

    Therefore, after feeling the love of his wife for a few minutes, sighing that he had managed to improve his attributes, Lothur slowly recovered his state of mind.

    He had answered Viktoria''s ''I love you'' the way she had, but part of his being was still a bit disoriented, so he did not know what he had said.

    Lothur then questioned his wife after he felt better. "How much time do we still have?"

    Viktoria had already dried the tears on her face and looked at the hourss that had been marking their time. "One hour and two minutes." She said, surprising Lothur entirely.

    "What?" He eximed in shock. "I was in hibernation for more than a day?"

    To him, time had passed as if only a few seconds had passed. But in fact, he had spent an entire day in that state, the time needed for the two resources in his body to take effect.

    Viktoria nodded her head and said. "I thought you had died! Your heart wasn''t beating, and you were very pale!"

    "Is that so?" He understood why his body felt so bad right after he woke up. ''Good thing I have such a great regenerative ability and am already feeling almostpletely normal.''

    "Sigh..."

    "I''m sorry I scared you, dear." He said, bringing her into his embrace.

    "Hmm." Viktoria made a quiet sound as she smelled her husband''s manly scent and sighed in relief.

    "What did you get out of that little fruit?" He asked in curiosity since he could not see his wife''s attributes.

    "I improved 30% of my soul power, but I also elevated my talents slightly." She said after a few seconds. "Now, I should be close to the peak of the 3rd Revolution."

    "Oh?"

    Soul spiritual cultivation depended on five attributes, the four physical ones and the mental one, the Soul. The first four had equal weight, while thetter was twice as important to this type of cultivator.

    That differed from bodily spiritual cultivation, which depended only on the four physical attributes.

    Lothur already knew this, so he was not surprised that his wife had gotten much closer to level 13 by raising non-physical attributes.

    "Have you also gained an affinity for the dark element? What about your killing intent?" He questioned to see if his wife had achieved the same as he had.

    "I have not gained an affinity with the dark element. At least I don''t feel it." She answered his first question. "But my killing intent has improved a bit."

    "I see... That''s not bad. At least you are stronger now." He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

    Meanwhile, Viktoriaments the little fruits that her family has lost over the years.

    ''Even ignorance got in our way... Sigh, it''s no wonder we''ve fallen so far behind.'' She thought before questioning Lothur. "For that matter, how did you know all that stuff about that nt and its fruits?"

    ...

 Chapter 380 The Reality Of The Frost Family Treasure

    Hearing his wife''s question, Lothur pondered for a moment and said. "I just feel that."

    Viktoria listened to Lothur and observed him, noting that he was not lying. And as much as she was curious about it, she did not doubt that he had a magical ability to recognize artifacts.

    He was already so talented in so many different areas, so it was quite possible that he could sense a thing or two about whatever he touched.

    At the end of the day, everything that existed in the cultivation world had Natural Laws at its foundation, something that could be analyzed.

    Obviously, it was not an easy task to analyze this sort of thing. Still, there were people capable of doing simr things, whether because of their high cultivation or special ability.

    With that, Viktoria epted Lothur''s answer and no longer pressed him on the matter.

    "Well, you have already chosen the first of the three prizes you are entitled to. What do you want to see now?" Viktoria asked as she used her hands to point out a few ces in her sight where some of the artifacts in the area were.

    Lothur saw this, but since he needed to touch the artifacts to get the system''s hints, he did not tell Viktoria what exactly he wanted. "I want to analyze one by one the most impressive items avable in this ce."

    "I think we will find the most impressive items near the area where the oldest experts of this family are buried." He said.

    Hearing this, Viktoria made a strange expression. "I don''t know what use any of the items in that area are. One of them is just an old staff that doesn''t even have spiritual energies circting inside it."

    Artifacts were special items. When made, spiritual energy would circte within them as it would in a living being.

    Of course, this was far lessplex than would happen in a living being, but it was still something that cultivators could sense with some ease.

    So when an artifact lost its energy signals, it usually meant that they were no longer helpful and had ''died.''

    Since there were artifacts in this situation inside this maze, Viktoria promptly warned her husband about this problem so that he would not raise high expectations.

    "All right, I want to see them even if they are junk." He smiled.

    With that said, Viktoria wasted no more time and rushed to the ce where most of the strongest experts of this family had been buried.

    Their graves were in the noblest area of thebyrinth, where thews and spiritual energy were most concentrated.

    Arriving there, Lothur immediately paid attention to the ce that looked like a crypt, with some well-made tombs in the surroundings, each with items above where the dead were to rest.

    "Viktoria, are the most valuable items inside the tombs?" Lothur asked, remembering that some ancient individuals on Earth were buried with valuables.

    Some of these people believed in life that they would have to pay for passage to ''paradise'' by traveling on a barge to the other world. So many in the past and even some at the time Lothur left for this cultivation world practiced the custom of ''adorning'' their dead for the sake of their afterlife.

    He thought it might be like that in this world, so he asked the previous question.

    "Inside? Are you crazy? If the experts were buried with their artifacts, they would be destroyed by the dposition of the bodies stored there." Viktoria stated the ''obvious'' to her husband.

    The dposition of a cultivator''s body was not a normal process!

    Violent processes were involved in spiritual dposition, something that could damage thews present in artifacts.

    Therefore, whenever an expert was buried in a ce like this, the most valuable items the family decided to leave with the owner would be left outside the coffin.

    That was a way to honor the dead but also to protect their history through a valuable item of theirs!<novelnext></novelnext>

    Cultivators usually had their favorite technique, weapon, or item. As most of them spent most of their lives in thest stage of cultivation they reached before their death, at the end of their lives, they would have weapons hundreds, sometimes thousands of years old, by their side.

    So what better than something that had spent so much time at the side of such an expert to put on top of their grave as an ornament?

    Lothur understood this local tradition after Viktoria''s words, quickly choosing one of those ces to check the items.

    Some of these areas only had one item on disy. But in others, there was more than one, with the ''richest'' having three different artifacts.

    "All these ces are Saints'' graves, Lothur," Viktoriamented to him. "Some have more artifacts because their former owner died of old age, not on a battlefield."

    "Others ended up dying fighting and probably lost some of their most valuable objects before they were ''rescued'' by our people." She looked at where only one item was left, the staff she had mentioned earlier.

    That was the ce of the founder of this family, who had died over 8,000 years ago, fighting for his family in a chaotic time of the Ten Independent Regions.

    Lothur paid no attention to the founder''s grave, but Viktoria continued to speak. "Also, some of the artifacts from these experts have already been used by other family members over the years."

    "Some of them were lost or destroyed in battles, so the remaining treasures of our oldest ancestors are no longer numerous." She looked in the direction of where other individuals from her family were buried. "The younger ancestors are the ones who left the most items for us."

    "But the best items left by them must already be in the hands of people in your family or must have been lost, no?" Lothur questioned. "I wouldn''t doubt if your family had gone so far as to sell one or another of those artifacts..."

    She heard hisment and blushed, knowing that this had indeed happened when her father took over the family.

    As she was embarrassed by the humiliations of the Frost family, Lothur saw the information of the first artifact he touched.

    [Red Gauntlet] [Rank: Silver]

    [Features: the left-hand gauntlet has two abilities; gravitational attraction and repulsion.]

    After checking the first item, he moved on to the second, leaving to choose his artifacts when he had seen all of those items around him.

    [Space Belt] [Rank: quasi-Gold]

    [Features: can be used for short-range teleportation, using the power of the user''s soul or body controlling it.]

    [Detail: teleports to any point in space within 100 meters of the user if they are at the 3rd stage. 200 meters for the 4th stage and 500 meters if they are at the 5th stage.]

    ...

    [God''s Eye Patch] [Rank: Silver]

    [Features: continuously devours its user''s energy, helping to work on their stamina and spiritual power.]

    [Detail: it can increase the speed of its user''s soul-spiritual cultivation.]

    [Warning: it should not be used by a person who is exhausted or without soul power. Its use in such cases will lead to the user''s death.]

    ...

 Chapter 381 Choosing Prizes

    [Diamond Ne] [Rank: quasi-Gold]

    [Features: amplifies the wearer''s Soul power between 40% and 80% for 3 minutes, depending on the wearer''s level.]

    [Detail: the artifact needs to be charged with spiritual energy to demonstrate its best attributes and only works on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stage cultivators.]

    [Reminder: if the user does not have a strong enough Soul attribute, the increase in power promoted by the artifact may be too high for that being and kill him.]

    ''Interesting...''

    ...

    Lothur saw more than 15 artifacts in the central area of thatbyrinth until he arrived in front of the tomb of the founder of the Frost family, where there was only a wooden staff.

    There were more items in the Frost family treasury. But as they were scattered throughout thebyrinth and Lothur did not have much time left, he decided to look only at those older artifacts.

    Most of the unknown items were there in this area. So Lothur took the opportunity to look for the more notable items that the people from Viktoria''s family were ignoring.

    Since he still had another 15 minutes left, Lothur did not want to waste the trip and touched the staff in question, curious as to what that item was, which due to the wear and tear, looked like just a stick of a broom.

    [Elemental Staff] [Rank: Gold]

    [Features: such an item can only manipte the elements in a repellent way, with no possibility for the user to change its functionality.]

    [Detail: useful only when the power difference between the user and the opponentws is below 50%.]

    [Reminder: the artifact is partially damaged. Its original properties are temporarily blocked.]

    ''Gold?'' Lothur eximed in his mind, not believing that an artifact of this quality was hidden in this ce.

    But thinking about it, Saints were 4th stage cultivators, and Gold-grade items were 4th stage items. So, it was not that shocking to find it in this ce.

    In fact, it was strange that there were not more items of this quality in the graves of Saints!

    Lothur was momentarily silent and then looked at Viktoria. "Why aren''t there more Gold-grade items in this ce?"

    "More items? Are you telling me there are Gold-grade items here?" She asked as she looked at him in surprise.

    "Hmmm." Lothur waved the staff that looked like a stick of a broom to his wife. "This is an item of such quality. It''s just a shame that it is weakened due to the damage to its structure."

    Viktoria was shocked to hear such a thing, hardly able to believe that an item that seemed so useless was actually something so valuable.

    An average Gold-grade item costs a few million gold coins!

    That would make hundreds of millions of bronze coins!

    ''Is that piece of wood something so valuable?'' She wondered as she looked but saw nothing in that item.

    Artifacts like that were not necessarily easy to notice the quality of. Even if they had spiritual energy circting within them like living things, it could be tricky for someone of Viktoria''s level to distinguish that from something much simpler.

    At the same time, because that item was damaged, some of its magnificence had been lost, which made its evaluation much more difficult.

    "Are you sure about that? I don''t sense any spiritual energy inside that piece of wood, Lothur." She said to him.

    "Oh?" He looked at that thing, but the system still gave him the same information as before. ''It has no energy? So how does it work?''<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''But if the system said it can be used to repel elements, that must be true.'' He pondered, not understanding the situation for sure.

    Lothur was not a cksmith, an area hecked in understanding how artifacts worked. So, he could not specte on why that item was the way it was.

    But since he trusted the system, he said. "Why don''t you attack me with that water-jet blow of yours? Such a thing is supposed to repel the elements, so we''ll find out if it works."

    Viktoria listened to her husband and was surprised that he even understood how such an item was supposed to work. But then she remembered the rules of this ce and said. "Even if it works as you say, it won''t function. You first need to choose this artifact and then leave the family treasure for it to be your property."

    "As long as we are in this ce, the artifacts here are from the Memory Crystal, and no one will be able to control them."

    "Even my mother has already failed to control one of these items here." She finished saying that, thwarting Lothur''s test attempt.

    "Sigh..."

    He sighed upon hearing that.

    Viktoria then put aside the question of whether or not that item was a Gold-grade one since Lothur had already said that such a thing was damaged. She then answered his other question. "About Gold-grade items, there may have been more in the past. But they were probably chosen by my ancestors and eventually lost in battles."

    The current generation of the Frost family knew little about the older artifacts in their treasury. But this had not always been so!

    At some point in the past, Viktoria''s ancestors knew about every item in this ce and definitely strove to earn the right to enter there and take possession of such things.

    Eventually, they would fight in this great world, die and lose their items to enemies, or sometimes push such artifacts to the limit.

    But, of course, many years had passed. So, various items may have passed through the hands of various cultivators and, at some point, lose their attributes.

    "So that''s it..." Lothur understood the situation and put such a thing aside to make his decision regarding the two artifacts he had to choose.

    ''Well, this item looks pretty impressive. So I won''t leave it here in this dark ce.'' He looked at the staff in his right hand, confident in the system that such a thing would work even without having an energy signal in its structure.

    He then looked at the other items in the surroundings and found two of them to be a match for Viktoria and Annaliese.

    "Dear, I want you to use your two options to get that ne and that eye patch." He indicated each of those artifacts.

    "Oh? Why is that?" She asked, curious as to why he wanted those things.

    "The eye patch can raise the speed of its wearer''s soul cultivation. So I want you to give that to Annaliese." He exined. "On the other hand, the ne is an emergency item that, if charged with energy, can temporarily increase much of your soul strength."

    "You should stay with it."

    "What? Is that really true?" She looked at the two items she previously thought were high-value decorative artifacts from her ancestors.

    They were even in good condition, indicating that few people had used them in the past.

    Each time someone who had one of this family''s treasured items died and such an artifact was recovered, it was not buried with its most recent owner. Instead, it would be returned to the grave of its original owner.

    So every item that Lothur touched in this ce had already passed through many hands, which contributed to Viktoria''s surprise.

    As she looked at those two things with uncertainty, he made up his mind about hisst artifact.

    ...

 Chapter 382 Leaving The Family Treasure

    ''The Red Gauntlet looks interesting, but I will eventually get a simr ability when I learn soul cultivation...'' Lothur pondered this point.

    An external item could sometimes give its user abilities equal to abilities that higher-level cultivators could exercise.

    Not everyone had promising cultivation talents, so items like this were a means for weaker people to protect themselves and even challenge stronger ones.

    Of course, this was not a viable means since items of this kind were costly, that is, for the few.

    Anyway, items with abilities like this existed, and, of course, they had their advantages to justify their price. After all, what good would it do to spend millions of coins on something identical to that developed with the power increase itself?

    Hence, external items could give special abilities to weak people, but they also had their advantages.

    For example, that gauntlet could be used by someone as weak as Lothur. Still, it would have an effect many times greater than the natural ability of a 2nd stage cultivator.

    A natural ability simr to this in a 2nd stage cultivator would, at most, serve to attract small objects. But, on the other hand, such an artifact could attract or repel even a bull, even if used by a 1st stage cultivator!

    But Lothur did not want to take an artifact that had an ability he could acquireter, considering he had few options here.

    If he could take whatever he wanted, he would not hesitate to take such a gauntlet and all the other items he saw. But since he had to choose only two and had already taken one, he could only give up the Red Gauntlet.

    ''I''ll take you!'' He picked up the Space Belt, the quasi-Gold artifact capable of teleporting the user over short distances.

    Such an item was fascinating to have the ability to save its user''s life by using this as a method of escape. At the same time, in a surprise attack, this could y a key role innding a decisive blow at a vital point of a dangerous opponent.

    Because of these possibilities, Lothur chose an artifact that could be worn as part of his attire without drawing too much attention.

    "Very well, I have already chosen my items, Viktoria." He looked at his wife and saw her with the two items he had suggested in her hands. "What do we do now?"

    She saw the belt on her husband''s waist and the staff in one of his hands. "If you have already chosen, we will return. There is no need to do anything else. When we leave this ce, the Memory Crystal will undo its connection to these items, and we can use them in any way we prefer."

    "So that''s it?" He started walking beside her, feeling satisfied with his gains with the Frost family but also rxed that he had not had to face any tests in this ce.

    How ridiculous would it not be for him to have to pass a test when he had already been rewarded for his actions?

    So, in the blink of an eye, the two passed through therge gate they had passed about 26 hours ago, finding the same elder as before standing there.

    "Oh? Have you finally returned? I thought I would have to force you out." Such a personmented as he looked at the two of them intently.

    He could not sense anything from Lothur, but he recognized some of the artifacts with this young man that he had no idea what they were for.

    Since he did not know the value of those things and could not sense Lothur''s improvements, he just ignored this young man who probably wasted the chance he had.

    Thus, this individual focused on Viktoria, who had significantly raised her powers in that ce.

    "What?" He stood up from where he was sitting, feeling shocked by the unbelievable level increase of this beautiful young woman. "What happened? How did you improve so much in this ce? I thought you weren''t going to choose anything."

    This man had seen Viktoria enter the family treasury three times in the past. She had only taken out one item each time, although she had a chance for more.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Two of them had been the Soul Bones she had in her body, and another had been one of those little fruits, which she had given to her father to trade...

    So seeing this woman has changed so much and still with two other artifacts in her hands, that man could not help but question her.

    Viktoria thenmented. "I will report back to my father. I have some updates on this ce to give him, but first, I need to get some rest."

    This man frowned, noting that Viktoria looked tired, even though her powers had increased so much.

    He stopped questioning her and said. "Very well. Go and get some rest. In any case, it''s good that you took advantage of the opportunity..."

    With that, the two departed, quickly making their way toward Viktoria''s old home within the Frost estate.

    ...

    Upon arriving at the house in question, the two quickly began to analyze their items.

    Viktoria was going to give the eye patch to Annaliese, as Lothur had suggested since she was not selfish. But still, she would test that item to get a realistic feel of the magical abilities her husband had promised.

    On the other hand, Lothur was trying to understand his two new artifacts. He tried to understand the staff first but soon gave up since he could not feel anything from it either.

    He then tested the belt at his waist, trying tomand it to do what he wanted.

    As he did so, he felt a special connection with that thing forming, quickly making him feel as if a sphere of energy had enveloped a space up to 25 meters from him.

    ''Oh? Is that how it works?'' He was surprised to notice that that item did not require him to infuse his energies into it directly.

    When he put the belt around his waist and tried to connect to that artifact, the thing immediately started sucking in his energies.

    Such a thing did not need to suck energy directly from the soul. Instead, it could do this with the energy in Lothur''s muscles, which made it possible for anyone with the ability to cultivate to use this artifact.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, he was too weak. By his estimation, he could only make two teleports within that range before he was exhausted.

    ''It seems this is truly an item to use at decisive moments...'' He understood such a thing but did not regret it since it was useful.

    ''Now all that''s left is you... How will I test you?'' He bitterly smiled as he looked at his Gold-grade artifact.

    "What will we do now?" Viktoria asked as she checked the two items in her hands, noting that Lothur had gotten everything right.

    Since she had been pleased with his thought of giving the best item for cultivation to Annaliese, who was less talented than she was, Viktoria felt warm, wanting to have fun with him.

    "I guess we''ll have to spend the night here, won''t we? You are weakened, so it will be dangerous to return to our house." Hemented, sighing at having to sleep on the same property as Mabel.

    ...

 Chapter 383 Beginning To Assemble The Vehicle

    Viktoria felt that it would indeed be dangerous for them to return to her property while she was so weakened.

    Fortunately, her weakness concerns her soul powers, not her physical ones. Thus, she could do everyday things and even fight as a bodily warrior, as was the case of Lothur.

    Of course, she could also do other things with her little body...

    Lothur noticed this and smiled after sighing at having to spend a night in this ce.

    "Get some rest first... In fact, find us something to eat. How about calling Annaliese toe here? In the meantime, I want to start taking a look at one of my projects." He said to her, feeling his stomach rumbling because he had not eaten in over a day.

    Soul cultivators could use some of their energy to nourish their physical bodies. That was aplicated process that would develop over levels. Still, someone like Viktoria would be able to get well even after a day or two without eating.

    However, for someone unable to do the same, as was the case with the current Lothur, going without eating was somewhat problematic.

    Not only did he risk running out of nutrition, but his strength could even be weakened temporarily.

    That was not enough to ''risk'' his level or anything like that. But it would have results on his strength so that he would feel almost as if he had a cold.

    Then, after this situation inside the Frost family treasury, Lothur craves to eat while feeling a subtle weakness in his athletic body.

    Since Annaliese cooked much better than Viktoria, he did not miss the chance to suggest to his wife that she call that youngdy.

    Viktoria knew the differences in cultivation between her and Lothur and was not surprised that, at the moment, he wanted food more than her naked in bed...

    Therefore, she did notin to her husband and promptly did what he suggested. At the same time, he turned his attention to the items inside his spatial ring.

    While Viktoria did what he had ordered, Lothur pulled out the items needed for constructing his miniature vehicle, preparing to begin assembling such a thing.

    The vehicle he had designed for Frederik to create the different parts of was different from the final versions of the cars he wanted to market in this world.

    Such a miniature consisted of the vehicle''s chassis, the wheels, the engine, the gears needed to run it, and something to protect the parts.

    He had not invested in a miniature identical to his designs since, besides this being an unnecessary expense, he would not need such parts.

    The idea was to produce something that could be used to prove that his project was possible to realize so that he could get funding from the local powers.

    Hence, Lothur''s miniature, when assembled, would not look like a special carriage or chariot. On the contrary, such an item would look more or less like a kart.

    The reason for this?

    Simple, Lothur needed something that could hold a certain amount of weight, but that was notrge enough to require arge investment on his part.

    People in the past on this continent had tried ideas simr to his but failed because their vehicles were too weak to handle the weight they normally carried. Thus, he needed something capable of supporting such weight to demonstrate that his project differed from those that had failed.

    On the other hand, he needed to demonstrate the vehicle''s functionality, which could not be done by an item much smaller than a kart.

    In this way, he began to inscribe or add formations to those different parts of his presentation vehicle, beginning to give shape to such a thing.

    ''That''s not a difficult job at all...'' He pondered as he did his part. ''The formations in this vehicle are to rece the necessary processes in the engine and electricalponents that don''t exist in this world.''<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''But the mechanical part is the same as one would find in an ordinary Earth car.''

    While he was doing his work, Viktoria and Annaliese were already chatting in the kitchen of that house, making the dinner he was hungry to eat.

    With that, after almost an hour from the moment he began his work, Lothur stopped when he had finished cing the wheels andponents connected to the engine on the chassis.

    He had just smelled Annaliese''s sweet food ''calling'' him and did not waste much time finishing the formation he was working on.

    That was delicate work and patience, so since he was starving, he left it to continueter.

    After putting those items into his spatial ring, he could satisfy his hunger.

    ...

    After a few hours...

    After eating with Annaliese and Viktoria, Lothur taught his sister-inw about the item he had chosen for her.

    In such a situation, Viktoria had given that item to her sister. Still, even considering the skill of that artifact, Annaliese had not liked the idea of wearing an eye patch.

    However, after some conversation, Lothur and Viktoria had convinced her to at least wear it when she went to sleep or was at home to stimte her cultivation speed.

    That was not as extreme as wearing such a thing 24 hours a day. Then, she epted the proposal of the two, having started to use that item after Lothur''s exnation.

    This way, Lothur rested in that house while reading alchemy books until his wife called him to bed.

    On this asion, he had some fun with her for a while until they were both exhausted and went to sleep.

    So, in this instant, they were sleeping peacefully in Viktoria''s room, cuddled together, unaware of what was approaching them.

    Outside that Frost family estate, a man in dark clothes, a mask on his face, was floating in the air, looking in the direction where the two were.

    He then looked elsewhere, sensing Mabel''s spiritual fluctuations, quickly noticing that this woman was sleeping with her husband.

    ''Very well. If I act quickly and without causing amotion, I''ll be able to get the boy and leave before she realizes it.'' So this person considered, before flying off in the direction of where Lothur and Viktoria were, using the breaches in the security of that property to break in with some ease.

    The Frost family was not currently in good enough condition to have strong enough defenses to stop someone at this man''s level. Hence, even if something was there to make life difficult for people like him, it could be ''bypassed'' by someone as careful as him.

    So, in the blink of an eye, this individual entered Viktoria''s house, quickly making his way to the room where she and Lothur were embracing each other.

    ''Tsk!''

    ''Looks like you have a good life, after all...'' The individual in question considered before making a few signs with his hands, and spiritual energy condensed into something flowing towards that bed.

    At that moment, Lothur opened his eyes!

    ...

 Chapter 384 Elemental Staff

    When Lothur opened his eyes and saw someone in that room besides himself and Viktoria, he immediately moved to pick up the staff in his spatial ring.

    He barely thought it through at that moment. Still, he knew that picking up his ax would not make any difference against that opponent, that the system immediately showed him the status.

    [Name: ****]

    [cultivation: ???]

    [STR: ????] [CON: ????] [DEX: ???] [AGI: ???]

    Since he already had the Space Belt around his waist, in case something went wrong, he could still teleport with Viktoria to another room in this house.

    With that, that staff that looked like a stick of a broom appeared in his right hand, almost at the exact moment that the enemy''s spiritual attack was about to hit him and Viktoria.

    Viktoria also awoke from her sleep as she sensed something was wrong, and it did not take long before she noticed the figure of that masked man.

    Such a person was trying to trap the two in a giant ''spirit hand,'' a spiritual ability useful for kidnapping weaker individuals.

    That was very effective for trapping and carrying targets and could silence and even camouge the spiritual fluctuations of the one being held.

    Knowing this, Viktoria frowned as she tried unsessfully to act to defend herself and Lothur.

    Just as that giant hand was about to grab them both from that bed, Lothur lifted the staff and saw such a thing touch the semi-transparent hand that was grabbing him and Viktoria.

    When that object came into contact with the enemy''s ''attack,'' Lothur and Viktoria saw a magnificent thing happening.

    Therge hand made of spiritual energy and Natural Laws crumbled. That was simr to what would happen to ashes from a sheet of paper after they were touched by something minimally capable of scattering them.

    Like ashes crumbling, that spiritual hand powdered, causing the blue glow of such an ability to fade little by little in that room.

    At the same time, the masked man and the two youths opened their mouths in surprise.

    ''What? How can that be?'' Viktoria asked, knowing that such a man was stronger than her mother, so it should be impossible for something like that to happen.

    On the other hand, that Transcendent, who knew many more things than Viktoria, did not take long to understand what had just happened before him. ''My attack wasn''t strong enough, so this thing undid it? Impressive! And to think he would have something like that.''

    Gulp!

    Lothur realized the enemy did not look too shocked and decided to run away.

    He tightened his arms around his wife''s slender little body and immediately used the belt at his waist, choosing a ce for him and her to teleport.

    Zum!

    Before that individual even made another attack, the two disappeared from that bed, teleporting to the exit door of that house.

    The man in question opened his eyes wide as he noticed how slick Lothur was, hardly believing that such a young man had two such unique items.

    ''You hid well, huh?'' Heughed, running towards where Lothur had arrived after using that belt for the first time.

    But upon arriving at such a ce, he saw Lothur using it for the second time, the most such a young man could achieve at his current level.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria took advantage of the slight advantage they had to shout for help just when they reappeared several meters ahead of that ce.

    "Help! Help! Invasor!" Her voice was loud enough to be heard outside that property.

    "Tsk!"

    "Lucky brats!" That manmented his ignorance of Lothur''s means and wasted no time, running from there as fast as he could.<novelnext></novelnext>

    He was stronger than Mabel, but he had no intention of getting into trouble with this woman or the Frost family. Thus, since he had failed in his mission to kidnap Lothur, he would first retreat to avoid trouble for his side and only then think of something to do about itter.

    ''See youter...''

    As such a person flew away, Lothur finally noticed that he was free from the pursuit of that mysterious man and sighed in relief.

    "Sigh!"

    "And to think we were attacked in this ce..." Hemented in a low voice. "If we were in our home, we would have nothing to do against him."

    "Hmmm." Viktoria agreed, feeling the difficulty of the times in which they lived.

    But before they could talk more about it, Mabel appeared in that ce, dressed in her pajamas but holding a weapon in one of her hands while having an angry expression.

    "What happened?" She asked as she looked at her daughter, who had screamed loud enough to wake this woman up.

    But before Viktoria could exin anything, Mabel realized her daughter''s situation. "Are you stronger? But why does your condition seem down?"

    "About that..." She did not answer her mother at first, talking about what had just happened.

    Mabel noted that, indeed, an invasion was more relevant than a small advance by Viktoria and soon began to order the guards of this estate to scour for invaders.

    She went to circle the area, but the trespasser had already fled far away, so neither she nor any men on that estate got any information at this moment.

    Aiken also appeared in that ce and approached his daughter to talk to her.

    "Vicky, what happened? Why do you look weakened?" He asked, noticing that he could no longer do anything about the invader and that it was time to worry about this other thing.

    "I ingested something in the family treasure that made me raise my strength. But thates at the cost of temporarily being unable to use my soul." She answered her father''s questions.

    "What? But that''s very negligent!" He said. "How long are we talking about?"

    "A couple of days."

    "Sigh, so it''s worth it..." He felt it was not that bad. "But what resource is this? I don''t know anything from that ce that can be consumed, except..."

    "Yes, I ate one of those special fruits." Viktoria stated to her father, shocking that man.

    "You what? Why did you do that? That item is for dealing with demons..."

    "It seems we have been tricked, father..." Viktoria said, just before exining to this man about the things she had learned from Lothur.

    She could even doubt this young man''s words before. But after testing the effects of one of those little fruits, the artifacts he pointed out to her and Annaliese, and seeing his two artifacts in action, she could not doubt him.

    And with that, she exined to her father about the items she and Lothur had picked up, emphasizing that he had evaluated several artifacts in that ce and still used two of them to save them both just now.

    "Sigh..."

    "So that''s it." Aikenmented for all he had lost without knowing about the actual situation of the family treasure. Still, he could not help but thank Lothur for revealing the truth when it was not toote.

    Mabel heard all that from afar and was impressed, but she did not want to give Lothur the taste and returned to her home after noticing that there was nothing else for her to do.

    "Lothur, thank you for protecting my daughter and helping the family again." Patriarch Frost said humbly. "If you have something to ask me, don''t hesitate. I will do my best to help you."

    ...

 Chapter 385 The Date Of The Presentation Of The Vehicle

    After receiving Aiken''s thanks, Lothur tried to see if he could get anything more from the family treasury. Still, the Frost patriarch only promised to indicate his name in the future.

    Unfortunately, the Memory Crystal needed time to give new prize rights to people who contributed to the family. Since Lothur had just gotten three, which was rarely given to people like him, he would be unable to receive approval for some time.

    After finding this out, Lothur told Aiken that he did not need anything since Viktoria was his wife and he had acted for himself in and out of the Frost family treasury.

    He, of course, reminded this patriarch that he would soon be presenting his project, but he did not want to ask for financial help.

    Lothur was proud and would not borrow coins from such a person or anyone else. He had his business and skills. Then he would do his best to carry out his ns, obtain resources and develop himself without asking for help.

    In this way, it was not long before he and Viktoria returned to this woman''s house within the Frost estate. There, they would quickly go back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that they would not be surprised for some time.

    ...

    Two dayster...

    After the previous situation, nothing else had arisen to threaten Lothur and Viktoria for the remaining time she needed to regain her strength.

    Meanwhile, Lothur had taken the time to form much of his vehicle, havingpleted about 80% of it by now.

    But he did not just do this in these two days. On Sunday, he spent the day working on his professions, studying a little more alchemy and training his techniques.

    He also took care of Elke and Annaliese, as he had done with Viktoria during this period, helping them get closer to advancing levels.

    At the same time, Lothur had helped the Becker family with the formation of the workshop that would produce his special gloves, having trained some of the tailors in that organization.

    With that, after finishing another day at the Morning Star Academy, Lothur looked at his status as he was going to settle the matter of the event he would be presenting his vehicle.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 30.6 -> 32.6]

    [CON: 100.3 -> 101]

    [DEX: 31.3 -> 33.1]

    [AGI: 35 -> 37]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 105.5]

    [WIL: 79.3 -> 80]

    [EVF: 623]

    ''When will I advance to the 2nd stage? My average physical attributes are already above 50...'' He pondered this, having no idea when this would happen since he could not see the status of Spiritual Warriors.

    Lothur had already concluded that he could only see the status of people of the same stage as him, so for now, he could only wait for his advancement.

    But this young man felt he was getting close to the long-awaited moment to be a 2nd stage cultivator.

    He then decided to check the status of Elke and Annaliese, the two apanying him on this appointment,ter this afternoon.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 35.7 -> 37.5]

    [CON: 55.3 -> 65.5]

    [DEX: 38.3 -> 40.1]

    [AGI: 36.6 -> 38.4]<novelnext></novelnext>

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 6 -> 7]

    [STR: 10 -> 13]

    [CON: 39.5 -> 53.3]

    [DEX: 12.5 -> 15.4]

    [AGI: 12.7 -> 15.6]

    ''Elke is almost advancing to level 8...'' He smiled as he looked at the slender body of this young redhead whilementing that he could not see the mental attributes.

    If he could observe such a thing, he would probably notice some improvement in Annaliese''s soul cultivation due to the eye patch.

    But there was nothing for him to do in that situation but sigh. He had no idea what he would have to do to be able to decipher that kind of information.

    "Lothur, what will the presentation of your vehicle be like? For that matter, when will we be able to see it?" Elke asked, causing this man to lose his train of thought and smile at her.

    "You will find out about that the day after tomorrow, hehe." He said as hemented on presenting his vehicle to potential investors.

    Lothur had gotten Annaliese''s help to find a ce in this city where he could present his unique vehicle.

    Such a ce was at the local racetrack, where nobles usually went to ce bets on horse races or races with simr beasts.

    Lothur had paid over 100,000 bronze coins to rent the ce for a day. Still, considering the area''s security, quality, and characteristics, he thought it was worth it.

    So he already had the ce and the date when his vehicle would be presented to the public. That would be at noon the day after tomorrow.

    After hearing this, Elke pouted at him, feeling it was a shame that he was so annoying and did not want to show them his vehicle.

    The three arrived at a local store that sent out unique invitations. Lothur intended to pay for this establishment to send the letters to the potential investors he wanted to invite.

    "Hello, good afternoon. How can I help you?" A young man recognized the distinguished figure of Lothur and promptly went to attend to this famous prodigy.

    "Hmm, good afternoon. I want to hire this store''s services to send out invitations for a certain event I will be hosting." Lothur went straight to the point, ignoring the stares of the women in the area.

    "I see. How many people are we talking about here?"

    Lothur then handed a list of names and addresses to that young man.

    On that list were the names of several patriarchs of organizations in Linn Province, some local bourgeois, all very important individuals.

    There were the names of Gomeric, Aiken, August Klossner, the patriarch of the Christen family, but also the names of Frederik, Johann, the two families Lothur had met in Lewerenz, etc.

    Each invitation was extended not only to the people these letters would be addressed to but to up to five people from the family of the invited individual.

    It was in Lothur''s interest to attract as many investors as possible, so, of course, he would not turn down the coins of smaller organizations.

    That is, he was not trying to get the support of Johann''s family, for example. But if House Teusen wanted to participate by contributing coins, who would he be to refuse such generosity?

    Hence, Lothur was not being too restrictive in his orders, intending to attract a rtively sizeable group of people to his presentation.

    But of course, he was not inviting any families with hostility towards the Frost family or who had already acted against him.

    The young attendant of that store read the names and addresses on that list, finding it impressive that Lothur wanted to invite so many important people to something.

    He then said. "We can send the invitations, but since some of these organizations are not in Peters City, it will cost a bit to do the service."

    "How much are we talking about?"

    "Fifteen thousand bronze coins."

    "That''s not a problem." Lothur ced the coins in front of that individual, quickly settling the matter and leaving that store with the promise that his guests would receive their invitations in time.

    Thus, he returned alongside those two women to his estate, where he intended to finish his vehicle!

 Chapter 386 Again In Search Of Information

    After settling the matter of the notifications to some nobles and wealthy people in the province, Lothur spent some time on his estate finishing his vehicle.

    He had already done the easier parts at the beginning of his work on this object, so the part he did this evening was one of the most difficult. But as he had everything nned, already had some formations, and his attributes were high, he managed to finish his vehicle more than a day in advance.

    When Lothur finished, he did a little test to check that everything was working and not to embarrass himself during his presentation.

    With this test, he noticed some problems but nothing serious. He had just forgotten minor details that would make a difference in drivability but were not crucial in his project.

    Therefore, after writing down what he needed to do, he left to finish his vehicle the next day, then went to work on his other skills.

    He still had to train his medical skills with Sofie, while he would have to train with Viktoriater before they went to bed. In this way, he could not settle these details that day.

    ...

    The next day Lothur went on with his usual routine with Annaliese and Elke, but in the middle of the day, he went in search of Anneke to talk to this former teacher of his.

    Upon meeting her, Lothur soon escorted this woman to her room in the local dormitory, where he continued with his previous advances to make this woman his.

    However, he had not yet managed to ''get into this woman''s clothes,'' so nothing more serious had happened when they stopped.

    "What do you want today? Or were you after me just to try to get your hands on my body?" Anneke asked Lothur while standing below him and with a smile on her face. "Maybe that''s what it''s about?" She showed him the letter she had received this morning.

    Lothur quickly saw that such a letter was from the service he had hired the day before and was pleased that the store did its job so quickly.

    "Also." Hemented. "Do you intend to go? How about talking it over with someone powerful in your family? Some patriarchs will be at this event, so you can use this to attract your elders."

    "Really? So you want to use me to get closer to my elders?" She asked.

    "Obviously, I do." Lothur was direct. "Why wouldn''t I use my contacts in the best possible way? And your family could gain a lot by allying with me."

    Upon hearing this, Anneke smiled, sensing how confident this former student of hers was.

    Even if Lothur was impressive, he was just a person who had limitations and would one day cease to exist. So, could he be so relevant to a millennial organization, as was the case with this family?

    That is, as long as they were not careless and unlucky like the members of the Frost family, an organization like theirs would hardly cease to exist. As such, the Koch family was much bigger than Lothur, and Anneke could not help but smile at him for that.

    "You are quite confident. Are you sure you''ll be able to live up to expectations?" She questioned him.

    "Of course, or I wouldn''tmit to speaking to so many nobles at this event." He said, without exining further since Anneke knew who those nobles were since she had helped him by referring some families to him.

    Lothur did not know several of his guests. But he had invited them anyway because he wanted as many organizations as possible in hiswork of influence!<novelnext></novelnext>

    Hence, he depended on help, mainly from Anneke, who was part of a local organization focused on observation and the best information about local powers.

    Anneke knew most of the people who could attend his event, which gave her enough to try to attract the interest of her family leaders.

    Lothur''s event could go wrong, but if it went right, it would be the beginning of the society of several organizations in Linn Province. And even if some of those powers were not so relevant, together, they would be enough to move the attention of the Koch family.

    She then said. "I will see what I can do for you. But I won''t promise anything. Perhaps I can only get the youngdy of my family to attend such an asion."

    Lothur was already satisfied with that and said. "That will be enough."

    "What else do you want to talk about?" She questioned him in curiosity.

    "I was thinking of visiting the local Demon Hunters'' Guild soon..." Hemented as Anneke became more interested in what he had to say.

    The local Demon Hunters'' Guild was located inside the Seraphim Church, in the sacred temple of this city.

    Since to be a demon hunter, one would have to join this institution, Anneke immediately thought that Lothur wanted to join this great organization.

    The Church was highly acimed throughout the continent, holding the central faith of the poption of Leopoldine and several other states on this continent. Because of this reality, this organization was very strict with its members, even for those who did not preach their faith.

    Knowing this, she wanted to hear what kind of doubt he had this time.

    "... I want to know if there is a possibility that this organization has information about those leaves that I am searching for." He stated his doubt.

    "So that''s what it''s about..." She sighed as she realized he still wanted to go after something so dangerous. "Sigh, probably. The Church is one of the biggest institutions on the continent, so I doubt they don''t have one piece of information or another."

    "But essing that information is not easy." She was honest. "I am not able to use my family''s means to find out whether or not the Church has information about it."

    "Then you will have to be part of the church to find out whether or not it can help you."

    "Be part of the Church? I was just thinking about being a demon hunter." Lothurmented as he made a strange expression.

    Sheughed upon hearing this and said. "Demon hunters are external members of the Church, for the most part. But these external members only learn the basic techniques for eliminating demons. Thus, if you start this journey, you will probably have to join that organization as an internal member sooner orter."

    "And only then will you gain ess to the information you seek within such an organization."

    ...

 Chapter 387 Daytime Kidnapping

    "So I will have to do that?" Lothur muttered as he considered such a thing necessary for him to achieve his goals and avoid the worst he had seen in the previous ''dream.''

    "Yes, they are very good at keeping information, so neither my family nor I can help you get what you want," Anneke told him.

    "I see..."

    After talking about this matter, Lothur and Anneke spent a few more minutes together, with him noting her cultivation level once again.

    She had recently advanced to level 8, but Lothur was disregarding her good cultivation speed because of what would happen soon...

    ''Don''t worry, Anne. You won''t be far behind Elke and Annaliese...'' He smiled at that thought and said goodbye to that beautiful woman before continuing to train his poisonous skills with Reba.

    ...

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 45%]

    Lothur saw the system warning just after he finished training with his senior in the poison art. He was pleased with his progress, even considering that such a thing was getting slower.

    However, he had another of his resistances on his mind and asked that green-haired woman. "Ba, can you point me to reliable cultivators with techniques or skills that create mes? That is, special ces with mes will also do. It doesn''t have to be a cultivator per se."

    Hearing this question from her junior, Reba finished putting on her clothes after getting out of the poisonous tub she was training in with Lothur and said. "mes? Why do you want to face someone capable of disposing of mes?"

    "I need to train a trait of mine that is in a bottleneck..." He said, not lying at all.

    The progress of Lothur''s Iron-grade me resistance was at 98%. So he wanted to raise such a thing to Bronze-grade ssification and perhaps gain some benefits for going through such an advancement.

    He knew there were special regions where he could train his me resistance, but he did not know their location. At the same time, there was a possibility that he could use unique resources to help in this, but although he had searched, he had yet to find any of them.

    Since Reba was one of the women he knew who had the most knowledge regarding body training, he was questioning her on this subject.

    She listened to his response and said. "So you want to train a me-rted trait... Well, a reliable cultivator with that ability, I don''t know of any. But why don''t you produce a formation capable of expelling mes and use that the way you want?"

    "Uh?" Lothur opened his mouth and eyes wide, not believing that he had overlooked such a possibility. ''It''s true! I can do that!'' He felt embarrassed for the first time in a long time, noting that he was so overwhelmed with so many things going on at once that he had ignored this.

    He was not sure if he could develop a powerful enough formation at the moment to train such a trait after reaching Bronze grade. But at least raising his stamina to that rank he was sure he was capable of.

    After that, he would need to be a 2-star formation master, someone who would necessarily need to have 2nd-stage soul cultivation. However, since he did not have that for the moment, it would be a while before he could develop formations useful for training resistances above the Iron grade.

    ''In any case, if I apply this idea to the element of darkness, I believe I can develop something useful for that other resistance...'' He pondered, already putting it on his ''agenda'' to produce these formations and then begin special training for his resistance.

    He then smiled at Reba, making this beautiful womanugh as she realized that although talented, Lothur had his ws.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "It is as the saying goes, ''in a cksmith''s house, the skewer is made of wood...''" He remarked to her.

    Sheughed, but after a while, she said. "Anyway, if you are still interested in ces or resources that can help you with this, look at the Sector-6 quests. There you will find quests that will take you to ces with what you are looking for."

    "Is that right? Thanks..."

    With that settled, Lothur said goodbye to this woman and continued his responsibilities at the academy until mid-afternoon.

    He then said goodbye to Annaliese and Elke as he left the academy to buy some alchemy and medicine ingredients at local stores.

    ...

    After some time shopping in the central area of Peters City, Lothur was leaving thest store when he suddenly began to feel like he was being watched.

    He noticed there, with his visual ability, several of the spies from his enemy noble families. Still, these individuals did not cause his current feeling, so he stopped at a corner without moving. Lothur was not being able to find anything to justify this feeling in his being but was the type to trust his instincts.

    So, he prepared to teleport if necessary while he already had the Elemental Staff in one of his hands.

    ''Who is this? I can feel that someone is watching me, but I can''t find the bastard.'' He looked from one side of the street to the other while spies from local families also looked at him with concern.

    None of them felt what Lothur felt, but they all noticed something was wrong, or he would not have stopped so suddenly and picked up that ''stick of a broom.''

    They could not feel anything from the artifact in one of Lothur''s hands. Still, these people could determine that he was preparing for something.

    ''I wouldn''t be surprised if he climbed on that thing and started flying...'' One of the individuals who hated Lothur the most thought about it.

    Some female demons in this world had a habit of flying on artifacts that looked like brooms. Since everyone considered Lothur''s talent demonic, this man could not help but make the joke in question in his mind.

    At the same time as the spies there found Lothur''s behavior strange, the person responsible for all this was also surprised.

    ''It looks like he managed to sense something...'' A man dressed in ck, mask on his face, thought about this as he camouged himself with his bloodline skill.

    ''Sigh, it looks like there''s nothing to do. I''ll have to take him from this ce anyway.'' This man considered, as he felt he would have to cover his tracks by knocking out the people in the surrounding area.

    He decided what he had to do, then released a fraction of his will, causing a pulse to start from his being and spread about 30 meters away from him in all directions.

    After such a thing appeared, almost everyone in the surroundings suddenly fainted. At the same time, such a person did not even have a chance to realize that Lothur was different. He acted so fast that before the time needed for a person like young Ritter to fall to the ground after fainting, he already had that body in his hands.

    In this situation, the enemy acted so fast that Lothur did not even have a chance to teleport!

    ...

 Chapter 388 Interrogation

    When he was already in the enemy''s hands, Lothur tried to escape. Still, that person''s spiritual energy had covered his entire body, preventing his belt from functioning normally.

    At the same time, since this opponent was using much more force to hold him down than the Elemental Staff could handle, such a thing did not act to help its owner either.

    "Damn it!"

    "Who are you? Why are you attacking me again?" Lothur asked as he struggled against the giant spiritual hand holding him.

    At the same time, that individual was flying upwards, quickly moving away from Peters City to avoid being noticed by local experts.

    That man heard Lothur asking that and noticed the young man using everything he had to push the spiritual fingers enveloping him.

    ''Again?'' This person heard this and realized that the person sent by Lothur''s grandfather must have acted before him.

    Upon realizing this, the person sent by Lothur''s father sighed in relief, thanking his own luck that such a young man had somehow escaped that opponent.

    As he sighed, he could not ignore the brutal capacity of Lothur''s body.

    ''What a solid body! He must have a constitution almost as powerful as that of newly advanced Transcendents!'' This person was shocked by Lothur''s body''s quality, which gave this young man unusual abilities.

    Lothur was trapped by a giant spiritual hand, but he had found a way to push those fingers back a little and lessen the grip on himself.

    It was only a pity for this young man that his opponent was not taking it hard, and with just a thought, such a hand squeezed harder.

    "Don''t worry. I am not your enemy. The person who attacked you before was not me, so don''t confuse our goals." He said since he did not n to keep Lothur for long.

    "It wasn''t you?" Lothur questioned. But since this man''s status was very simr to the other man''s, he could not be sure if that was true.

    Anyway, he was already in the hands of this person and asked. "So what do you want with me? Since you are not my enemy, why did you kidnap me?"

    "I will do a little test with you and collect some answers. After that, I will release you." The man sent by Lothur''s father answered sincerely, trying not to be rude to this young man to avoid trouble.

    Lothur''s father did not want this young man brought to him. Instead, he just wanted to know how his son had gotten rid of the seals on his body, as well as to get a sense of the current situation of young Ritter''s body.

    At the same time, warning this young man about possible trouble would not be a bad thing, so this man was also there to give the silver-haired young man a word or two of advice.

    This kidnapper flew around for a few minutes, ignoring Lothur''s questions and asionally talking about minor matters.

    So they arrived at the side of a waterfall, about 70 kilometers from the center of Peters City.

    At this ce, this Transcendentnded on a rock overlooking a cliff. He ced Lothur on the ground after tying the arms and legs of this young man who could try to escape.

    With this, he took some equipment from his spatial ring. Then, he began to assess Lothur''s physical condition, taking this young man''s blood and doing other procedures.

    Such a person''s equipment could measure things that Lothur had never realized could be analyzed. He had not experienced this even when he met the principal of the Morning Star Academy.

    "What are these tests? I''ve never seen anything like this before." Hemented as he noticed a device measuring the thickness of his right forearm skin.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The man in question smiled from beneath his mask but did not answer. ''That is the wonderful technology of the ancient powers of the Three Great Lakes Region.''

    The technology of the powers behind those areas in the past was very advanced. But after their fall, such technologies had either been destroyed or lost, which greatly hindered the Leopoldine family''s progress in this regard.

    However, one group had found some of these technologies and managed to continue where those extinct powers had left off, producing things like the ones this man had.

    So it was natural that Lothur would not have seen such tests in traditional organizations in this state, which were centuries behind the discoveries of those extinct people.

    Lothur''s father had discovered such heirlooms left behind in the Three Great Lakes Region and had gotten people to develop such technologies. So his group had considerable powers!

    The man continued smiling for a while until the results of Lothur''s physical analysis began to appear on the equipment he had with him.

    ''Quasi-Yellow Talent... Body cultivation of 9th Transformation... Bloodline awakened... Physique awakened... Skull Soul bone... Sealed Soul... Resistance to poisons... Resistance to the element of darkness... Resistance to mes...''

    "Phew!"

    ''There''s a lot of stuff here, huh?'' He found out many things about Lothur, being surprised at how much this young man had aplished being just a Mortal Warrior.

    ''Well, his soul is still sealed, so the main seal has not been undone. As for the others...'' He looked at Lothur before asking. "What happened to your guardian? Was she the one who made you able to cultivate?"

    "Guardian?" Lothur remembered the woman who had lived and cared for his predecessor before he came to this world. He then used the memories of that individual and said. "She died before I began to cultivate my body. At that time..."

    He quickly described the situation before his arrival, not bothering to exin to that person things about himself since he was at risk in this ce.

    The kidnapper in question might have said he meant no harm to him, but Lothur could not be sure. And since he was too weak to do anything, he could only cooperate and cling to the hope that such a person had not lied to him.

    Hence, he did not try toplicate things and soon finished answering his kidnapper''s first questions.

    "How did you start cultivating?"

    "It was after an ident. I felt my body change at that time. Then from then on, I awakened a super-regeneration that helped me to elevate my features."

    This man already knew this, as he had investigated Lothur''s situation before kidnapping this young man.

    "So no one helped you? No one approached you and did something strange?" The kidnapper asked, trying to remove the doubt about anyone having somehow helped this young man.

    If that were the case, it would be best for their group to take this young man away from Peters City and reseal his features.

    But if Lothur had undone the seals by himself, nothing should happen. If he were talented to that extent, there would be no point in trying to restrict him. But not only that, in this case, he would have gotten his ''freedom'' on his own, so they would not act against this.

    "No. I just felt different after I woke up from that incident." He said, which, in fact, was not a lie.

    "Now tell me about your situation with Viktoria and the Frost family..." The questioning continued for some more time.

    ...

 Chapter 389 Hints About His Origin

    After having several of his questions answered by Lothur, the kidnapper understood a little more about the young man''s situation.

    Lothur had be a cultivator by ident and, after that, discovered his creativity, which led him to develop something that the young man himself called a ''car.'' Such a vehicle required various skills, so he started learning spiritual professions and running for ways to get stronger.

    Because of this, all the recent things in Lothur''s life had happened, and he had gotten himself into so much trouble.

    This man understood all this and ignored Lothur''s invitation to join the event that would take ce the next day.

    ''So he found his purpose after an ident and is now running after it, huh?'' Such a man looked at the surroundings, feeling that nothing had been forced on the son of his leader.

    Daemon''s biggest concern was that his son would get involved with the cruel cultivation world and end up being forced to take on responsibilities because of him. So this man had sealed off many of Lothur''s characteristics and was trying to give this young man a chance to live a peaceful life.

    Because of this, he sent this subordinate to check out Lothur''s history and find out if everything had been natural or if someone had forced things on this young man.

    If Lothur had on his own undone the seals on his body and were going his own way, then he, Daemon, would not stand against his son and would let him free. But if someone were trying to y games with him by involving his son, this man would deal with such an individual and put the previous seals back on this young man.

    This man with Lothur knew this and was relieved to find that the young man in front of him had not been manipted by anyone but had suffered the chance of fate.

    But although the life of cultivators was often cruel, it was also vibrant. So he could not deny the magic of being able to walk this unparalleled path.

    Therefore, knowing his leader''s son had begun to cultivate was a joy to him!

    Meanwhile, having a purpose was one of the essential things in a man''s life. Then, finding out that Lothur wanted to develop such a ''car'' and live peacefully through the profits of this creation had also been a great thing to hear.

    Lothur wanted to live in seclusion, something this man knew Daemon would approve of. In this way, the young man''s purpose was also not bad, and even resembled that of the man who was also just trying to live his peaceful dream...

    "Your dream is not bad..." Hemented to the young man sitting in front of him.

    "Hmm, are you sure you don''t want to see my project tomorrow? You will get one of my vehicles in the future, so why not be my partner before then? I bet you have lots of coins." Lothur said this, inviting his kidnapper to do business with him.

    That man in ck closed his eyes and smiled at this fellow who dared to propose business in this situation.

    "How can you be so sure? Do you think that someone capable of flying needs a strange carriage like the one you described?"

    "Of course!" Lothur stated. "Or do you fly on all everyday asions? Do you go flying when you wake up in the morning and go to a coffee shop? I know there are cities in our state that don''t allow flying."

    "On the other hand, think about this. One day you will take your wife to dinner. Are you going to do that by flying? No, you will go in a luxury carriage. Then why don''t you drive a car to your wife yourself? She''ll love it!" This young man did not miss the opportunity to make his propaganda.

    But despite his shamelessness, Lothur was correct. Experts did not need means of transportation like the one he intended to market. But they still used it because it was more suitable in many everyday situations to have an option like that and not have to use their skills all the time.

    Specialists had to be prepared to fight opponents at any time. So, would it not be a big problem if they constantly ''threw away'' their energy in unnecessary situations?<novelnext></novelnext>

    That man listened to Lothur''s propaganda and noticed that this young man knew how to make some analogies. Still, he was not there to help Daemon''s son''s business.

    "Who knows in another day..." He said before talking about something more serious. "I''ve heard about your regenerative abilities. Does thate from your Physique or Bloodline?"

    "Uh? You think I''m going to say something that important?" Lothur had realized that such a man would not harm him. Then, he obviously would not talk about his secrets that such a person had not yet discovered.

    That man smiled from under his mask and said. "I speak of this because neither your father nor your mother has natural abilities simr to this one of yours. So it is somewhat unexpected that you have something like that."

    "Hmm? Father? Mother?" Lothur finally realized why his kidnapper was so kind to him.

    "Yes, I am an envoy from your father. I am here to check on your situation." This man was sincere since it was Daemon''s wish that Lothur knew of his existence.

    Lothur was silent after hearing this, surprised at this situation since he had never expected that his predecessor''s family would one day seek him out.

    This earthling''s predecessor did not know his own family, so the present Lothur did not expect ever meeting them.

    Since he also felt no desire to seek out these people, even at this moment, he did not make any inquiries regarding this family to that kidnapper.

    "I see..."

    But in this situation, Lothur could not help but feel a little strange as he remembered his family on Earth.

    He usually did not think much about his life on Earth since he had many problems and emotions in this cultivation world. But that did not mean that he did not care or had forgotten.

    That was just how the human heart worked. When oveing something, one would not forget it but would be able to live with oneself without thinking all the time about what one had lost.

    But now and then, thoughts rted to it woulde into one''s mind, like now when Lothur felt a bit empty and lonely.

    That Transcendent saw the empty look on Lothur''s face and sighed, feeling that this young man must be so disappointed in these people and could only show such an expression.

    Come to think of it, Lothur had had a difficult childhood, having that arrogant personality but no good characteristics other than his appearance to fall back on. Without a father or a mother to help him, he probably suffered from living in a world where high-level looks could rarely change people''s destinies.

    So this kidnapper felt sad and sorry for this young fellow, who had only recently begun to live minimally well.

    "Don''t worry, kid. Your parents may not have been with you these past few years, but they think of you daily. It''s just that for you to be with them would be to have a life as a criminal, which would probably have led to your death by now." He said in a sighing tone.

    "Your father and mother are mighty and feared. So be a little proud since your impressive genese from both of them!"

    ...

 Chapter 390 Abandoned

    Upon hearing that, Lothur looked at that kidnapper and found it strange that such an individual was attributing his good qualities to these two individuals. But he said nothing since he could not risk being recognized as a ''trespasser.''

    His predecessor''s father seemed minimally interested in his son, so it would not be good to risk publicly assuming that he was not the original.

    Maybe that could get him into serious trouble!

    But Lothur noticed the fact that this person knew his predecessor''s original family, and from the previous words, these people were quite relevant.

    "Is that so?" Lothur questioned as his expression returned to normal. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

    The kidnapper of this young man misunderstood Lothur and said. "Don''t me them. They are protecting you. Do you know what your life would be like if they hadn''t left you? You would be a criminal, live on the run, and everyone would try to kill you."

    "Sigh!"

    "Anyway, now that you know they are influential and have many enemies, you should watch out for some troublesome people."

    "Oh?" Lothur ignored the previous sentences and focused on this important part.

    The man sent by Daemon then continued his words. "We didn''t know that your grandfather had found out about your identity, but recently I was in a sh with one of his men."

    He significantly looked at Lothur. "That must have been the same individual who attacked you before me."

    "Grandfather? What is the situation here? Are you two enemies?" Lothur did not understand how this family of his predecessor worked and could not help but question.

    "More or less..." The manughed bitterly from beneath his mask. "In any case, it is crucial that you do not get caught by your grandfather, Lothur. Unlike your father, who gives you the freedom you currently have, that man will not allow you to do what you want."

    "He will try to manipte you into somehow getting my leader out of his hiding ce, and then problematic things will happen..."

    "In any case, your grandfather will try to send more people after you, so be careful. They will try to kidnap you like I did today."

    "And how do I do that?" Lothur questioned in an indignant tone.

    If he could get away from a Transcendent so easily, he would not even be in this ce!

    "Hmm, that is indeed a problem. You won''t be able to act to escape someone of my level if they are determined to use their powers against you, as I did." He said as he brought one of his hands to his chin and thought.

    After a few moments thinking about it, he handed Lothur a formation. "This teleportation item can take you to a certain location. Use it only in cases of extreme necessity when you have no other options. The ce it will take you is not simple, so you don''t want to use it casually."

    "Oh?" Lothur smiled upon hearing this, as he wanted a powerful item of this type on his side.

    His Space Belt was only a short-range item, useful in battles, not escape against such a stronger opponent. So this item was just something that this young man wascking in this moment of great challenge that he was experiencing.

    "Hehe, thanks for it." He thanked, while already looking at the ropes wrapped around his body. "When will you release me? For that matter, when are we going back to Peters City?"

    "Back?" Daemon''s envoy asked in surprise. "I''m not going back. I will release you, and you must make your way back."

    "What? But you brought me here! Do you, by any chance, want to force me to use this formation immediately?" Lothur questioned indignantly.

    This person could have approached him and called him to go to a shop. But this individual kidnapped and brought him to this remote area where he could not even see Peters City.

    So this silver-haired young man felt that it was only fair for the enemy to release him somewhere other than this.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The kidnapper turned his back on Lothur and said before leaving. "I''ve checked the whole area up to here. So as long as you are quick, there will be no danger."

    "No danger? Are you crazy? Do you know how many enemies I have?" Lothur said as he thought of the thirsty ''wolves'' of Peters City, who must be salivating to chase him.

    "You are your father''s son. Make your own way!" That man''s voice reached Lothur''s ears while such a person had already disappeared over the horizon.

    "You bastard!" Lothur cursed as he felt anger at this person who wanted to throw him into trouble.

    But since he was worried about his own life, Lothur soon left that ce, starting to run towards Peters City.

    The envoy of Lothur''s father had left some tracking instruments to help this young man locate himself since he had left him in a ce that such a young man might not know where it was.

    Because of this, Lothur quickly found his position in rtion to Peters City and began his journey back, which should be around 50 kilometers.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I''d better get ready to fight...'' He sighed, thinking of his lost hours and potential dangers on his way back.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Peters City, the enemies on Lothur''s tail had already awakened from the effects of the previous pulse.

    These people quickly began to search for where this young man had gone, to get him back on the watch of their families as soon as possible.

    Because of this, more than just the individuals watching Lothur had begun searching for him throughout this city.

    ''Where is this damn brat?'' One of the many individuals behind the young Ritter wondered in doubt, being in this situation for the second time in a matter of days.

    ''Could it be that someone is protecting him from the shadows? Every time he goes to do something in secret, is this person knocking us out?'' Another person doing her job wondered, feeling that perhaps her family would have bigger problems dealing with Lothur.

    ''I have to inform the patriarch. That fellow is bizarre and is hiding something!''

    ''Come to think of it, the fact that the biggest families in the province are against him is strange... Why do they focus so much on this young man? Viktoria is much more talented than him, and I don''t see anyone after her.''

    One of the women searching for Lothur considered this. She wasmitted to reporting her doubts to her family, a minor noble house, who were only against this young man given its alliances.

    ...

    After some time, Lothur had already crossed half his way back to Peters City when he finally came across cultivators.

    To his misfortune, these were not insignificant individuals who would not care about him. But instead, people who had enmities and issues to settle with him!

    "Lothur Ritter, what are you doing? By any chance, an evening stroll?" A ck-haired young man asked the person in front of him while maliciouslyughing.

    "Don''t you know that the valley is dangerous at night?" Another individual questioned as he began to move to block Lothur''s path.

    ...

 Chapter 391 No Easy Alternatives

    As Lothur came upon the three men who had quickly surrounded him in that forested part of nearby Peters City, he noted the statuses of all three.

    [Name: ***]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: ??] [CON: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    ...

    [Name: ***]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: ??] [CON: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    ...

    [Name: ***]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: ??] [CON: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    ''Shit!''

    ''Three people stronger than me...'' He pondered as he continued to hold tightly onto the Elemental Staff but also prepared to use the Space Belt in case of need.

    It was not a problem for Lothur to deal with one such individual at a time. After all, this was real life, not a tournament that limited the devices he could use.

    But facing three at once would often be more problematic. That''s because they could supply each other''s weaknesses, prevent him from acting at the best moments, and still team up to attack him simultaneously.

    So his current situation wasplex. Not only that, this young man could even risk attracting more people to his position as he would have to fight and flee from these individuals.

    He then said. "Are you sure you want to stand in my way? If you guys back off now and punch yourselves in the face until you pass out, I''ll pretend it didn''t happen."

    "Tsk!"

    "Damn bastard! You''re too cocky to talk to us that way!" The weakest one shouted while the veins on his forehead trembled considerably.

    "It seems that Viktoria has been giving him confidence... Tsk! But with a body like that, it wasn''t for nothing. Even a fool like him would feel great!" The strongest one there said, teasing Lothur by talking about this young man''s wife.

    Lothur was no fool. So he temporarily stayed silent, even though internally, he already nned to teach a lesson to the one who dared to talk about Viktoria in front of him.

    Where Lothur came from on Earth, men who desired the wife of others ended up seven feet under the ground. Thus, he would not be the one to approve or ept this kind of humiliation.

    "What family are you from?" He asked, to remind himself well that he would have to look it upter.

    The three young men had symbols on their clothing and artifacts, but since Lothur did not yet know the emblems of all the provinces'' powers, he could only question such a thing.

    "Oh? Wondering who will kill you?" The one who had not yet said anything asked as he smiled in satisfaction upon ''noticing'' that the enemy was already beginning to ept his own fate.

    Lothur did not answer and prepared to run from there when the enemy began to attack him. ''I will use one of my belt''s teleports when they least expect it and run after that.''

    ''My speed is probably higher than theirs, so I''ll be able to escape from those people.''

    The strongest of those three family members passing by the ce said proudly. "Know that those who will kill you are from the Vogel family!"

    ''Vogel?'' He stored this information in his mind and saw the enemies attacking him,unching several spiritual blows.

    With the blows of these three individuals, Lothur saw several shapes appear in his surroundings, condensing semi-transparent objects that wereing toward him.<novelnext></novelnext>

    One of them was a giant spinning scythe, slicing toward his neck, making soul-crushing sounds for the weak.

    On the other hand, a series of greenish des were slicing at him, like a horizontal rain of des focused on his back.

    Finally, the weakest of these individuals produced several roots that came out of his feet and moved like snakes toward his position.

    Lothur waited for the right moment and activated his space belt, jumping in the blink of an eye to a new position, 25 meters ahead of his previous position.

    When he did this, he immediately surprised his three opponents, particrly the strongest of them, who had his back on him.

    "What?" The three wondered as they realized that Lothur had simply disappeared, and their blows were heading toward the void.

    But then, they all turned their necks in the direction of where Lothur had just appeared, where he wasted no time and started running towards Peters City.

    "The bastard''s getting away! Get him!" The leader of this group shouted as he turned to run in pursuit of Lothur, beginning to feel nervous.

    He thought this might be his big chance to contribute significantly to his family. However, Lothur had easily gotten out of that vulnerable position, making this person feel bad.

    Since iming his own negligence would not change the situation, he started running with everything at his disposal, even using his soul power to strengthen his Constitution.

    Unfortunately, even though they all did this, he and hispanions still could not ovee the difference in positions with Lothur within a few seconds.

    Thus, these individuals soon began a several-minute chase that would not take long to get more people''s attention.

    "Hey, isn''t that Lothur, the son-inw of the Frost family?"

    "Yeah, looks like that''s him."

    "He''s being chased by people from the Vogel family..."

    Some mercenaries on the outskirts of that valleymented simr things as they watched the chase unfold.

    But to Lothur''s misfortune, more than one group of enemy family cultivators noticed his situation!

    "Lothur is outside the Peters City security boundary?"

    "Isn''t there anyone apanying him?" Some of these people wondered as they cautiously checked the situation.

    ''If there is no one, this is our chance!'' One woman pondered the matter, feeling that even if she could not beat Lothur alone, alongside the many individuals there, it would be possible.

    Since, for her, the very fact of helping to put an end to Lothur would be enough for her to be rewarded and congratted, she soon suggested it to one of her acquaintances in the area.

    "Peter, let''s team up against him. If we can kill Lothur, we will solve one of the problems in our families'' alliance."

    "Oh? That''s not a bad idea..."

    These two agreed while Lothur''s more than ten enemies watching him run away from those three individuals also decided to participate.

    None of them were stronger than the level 12 man leading those individuals from the Vogel family chasing Lothur. But since there might not be time for them to call for reinforcements and together they could give the enemy a lot of trouble, they were already running against him!

    Lothur realized that more people were getting into the chase of those three from the Vogel family and felt that oveing this situation would not be easy.

    ''What do I do? If I use the Space Belt one more time, I will run out of energy and have to be at the mercy of the enemies'' wills...''

    ''On the other hand, it wouldn''t be good to show my bloodline ability to so many people without me having the chance to eliminate them before they leak information...''

    Lothur felt his sweat dripping down his body, staying in this troublesome situation where he had no easy alternatives.

    ...

 Chapter 392 Unfair Battle

    After a few moments of being chased by more than a dozen people, Lothur was only 5 minutes away from Peters City when there was not much left to do.

    In that instant, his various opponents were already close enough to him tounch attacks with a reasonable margin of sess.

    And the result was no different. When these people realized they could affect Lothur with their techniques, they all began attacking him,unching blows from all possible directions.

    ''If I teleport now, I''ll run out of energy soon after, so there''s no point.'' Lothur thought about this as he felt several blowsing toward him.

    With that thought, he clenched his hands firmly on his Elemental Staff, ready to use such a thing as hisst resort.

    Fighting with it earlier would be risky for him since he could end up drawing people''s attention when he was in an even worse position than now. That is, where he was at the moment, he could already see Peters City and was not far from that city''s security area.

    In this way, fighting at this point was more advantageous since he could more easily reach that city and get at least enemies not casually attacking him in the streets.

    That might even happen, but since many would be afraid to break the Leopoldine family rules, the number of opponents would undeniably be fewer.

    So, while in this problematic situation, Lothur moved into the air and rotated his body before falling into a position front to front the blowsing his way.

    In doing so, he surprised all his pursuers. Still, before anyone could say what an idiot he was for trying to stay behind, they saw the tip of his staff touching one of their blows.

    Arge ice spear about to pass through Lothur began to shatter immediately upon being touched by that artifact of his.

    When this happened, the person who had thrown that weapon of spiritual energy could hardly believe his eyes at seeing his attack disappearing.

    He had not used all of himself in this attack since there was no guarantee that his attack would kill Lothur instantly. But that was enough to kill a level 10 cultivator!

    However, that spiritual attack crumbled away like melting snow touching a hot te.

    Meanwhile, Lothur did not stop there, starting to move his staff, making such a thing revolve around him to protect his body from the opponents'' attacks.

    Each of Lothur''s opponents saw this and did not ept it. They moved in his surroundings and began to attack this young man with even more force, this time from different directions.

    They wanted to overwhelm not only the weapon in Lothur''s hands but also this young man, who could not simultaneously protect his body at every possible angle.

    In this way, the attacks going in Lothur''s direction became more uniform, surrounding all sides of him as he sweated to protect himself.

    ''This weapon is perfect for protecting me from soul cultivators, but my physical abilities still need to improve...'' He thought while he had a pained expression on his handsome face, feeling some remnants of enemy attacks injuring parts of his body.

    He was doing his best to protect his vital parts. Thus, less important areas of his body were suffering from enemy attacks that he could not undo in time.

    Hence, several trails of blood could already be seen by his fists and feet while he felt different parts of his body burning.

    "Ouch!"

    While Lothur was trying hard not to scream in front of his enemies, these people had incredulous looks at him, sensing how monstrous that artifact was.

    "How can that be? How can there be something capable of doing that?" One of the level 12 people attacking Lothur could not understand the artifact in their enemy''s hands.

    At the same time, a woman there thought. ''That''s not right. If we keep attacking him like this, we''ll only use up all our energy reserves.''<novelnext></novelnext>

    She then shouted. "Stop wasting your energy. We won''t be able to eliminate him like this."

    "What? Then how will we do it?" Someone asked without understanding if this person wanted to simply let Lothur go, and they gave up this great opportunity.

    The same woman then said. "Use your energies to promote your physical features temporarily. Let''s fight a close-range battle against him!"

    "Oh?" The faster ones quickly understood that that woman felt Lothur''s artifact would only hinder them if they used their elemental techniques against him.

    So they stopped spending their energies on long-range attacks and turned their attention to promoting their physical characteristics.

    Everyone there knew that Lothur had apelling body capable of withstanding the worst of even the strongest cultivators there. So they had to elevate their physical characteristics and gather around to beat him up!

    Then, it was not long before they stoppedunching attacks in Lothur''s direction and began slowly approaching him with armed fighting stances.

    "You are a rascal..." Lothur muttered as he looked toward the woman who had suggested such a thing and prepared to switch hisbat mode.

    Unfortunately, the Elemental Staff was damaged and could only do what he had already aplished in this ce. Otherwise, Lothur could easily deal with all these people using other abilities of this weapon.

    But since he could not do anything about this for the moment, he decided to use such a weapon in ce of his ax. This item was quite powerful and could hurt if used as a weapon like that.

    Since escaping from there would be difficult, he prepared himself for the worst!

    ''Luckily, they have expended more than half of their energy, so I won''t have to face a ridiculously strong group...'' He pondered, noticing the first of them advancing against him,ing with an armed fist against his face.

    Noticing this, Lothur dodged this opponent''s fist with some ease but moved his left hand in such a way as to make the Elemental Staff head towards that person''s testicles.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The individual in question howled in pain as he fell to his knees in front of Lothur.

    But neither Lothur nor his opponents paid any attention to this first person. Right after the poor fellow fell to his knees on the ground, two new individuals attacked their target.

    Then three people attacked as Lothur tried to act against those two. After that, four started attacking him.

    In this situation, it did not take long for Lothur to take blows from different enemies, starting to suffer more than he was making those people suffer.

    He fought bravely in that ce for a few moments, sweating amidst the blood dripping from the various wounds that had already appeared on his body.

    At the same time, half of the opponents fell not only because of injuries from the fight but because Lothur drove them to exhaustion, even when he could not knock some of them down.

    ''That wretch is a monster!'' One of the remaining young Spiritual Warriors thought to himself while breathing with his tongue out.

    But even though he was almost out of energy, he was confident that, alongside his temporary allies, he could kill Lothur!

    So the remnants of this battle continued until Lothur could no longer do anything and fell unconscious to the ground while three of them were still standing!

    ...

 Chapter 393 The Time Before The Calamity

    When Lothur fell unconscious to the ground, there were already spectators on the outskirts of that area, people who had seen the chase from earlier unfold.

    More than 40 people were already in that area, silently watching the situation, shocked at Lothur''s abilities and the tragic end that awaited him.

    "That truly is a great shame..." A bearded mercenary standing on a tree branchmented to hispanion. "He managed to defeat most of these people, but he will still die in the end."

    "Yes, it is a shame that a prodigy like him must die after such a battle... But people will not forget his struggle here." The old gentleman next to that bearded individualmented, already imagining the stories people would tell about Lothur very soon.

    Several people had seen how Lothur had defeated several Spiritual Warriors on his own, even without using any soul techniques, as his opponents could.

    The battle there frankly was to go down in local history. Such a thing deserves to be retold by the generations toe to show the youths just how impressive some prodigies could be.

    Lothur would die, true, but such was life. If he were not to die, he would be an expert in the empire, but like him, many fell every day.

    That would be an inspiration and a warning to the next generations!

    ''Is he really going to fall in this ce? How can that be? Get up!'' A young Lothur fan, who was returning from her resource harvest nearby, thought to herself as she looked at his wounded body.

    "He fought like a worthy man." A female warrior dressed in leather armor, soiled with blood, said as she observed Lothur''s opponents around him. "It seems he was still hiding his powers at the Province Conference."

    "But it''s a disgrace. Now he will die." A person near that warriormented, seeing how the still-conscious individuals looked at Lothur.

    "Bastard!"

    "He''s finally fallen!" Two of the three remnantsmented in exhausted tones, shocked at how far Lothur had managed to get after running away and fighting so many of them.

    The level 12 man, the leader of the Vogel family group, whom Lothur had first encountered, was among these three and said. "He was a monster, but now he will die in my hands."

    He then strolled toward Lothur, dodging the unconscious bodies of his temporary allies to get close to his opponent.

    The other two there were weaker than this person, so they abdicated the honor of taking the life of such an enemy that half or more of the province''s powers wished for his death.

    Meanwhile, as they prepared to watch the end of Lothur, the system was working, as always.

    [Super Regeneration activated.]

    [Consuming all EVF points...]

    In that instant, Lothur''s skin glowed in a golden light as his wounds and bruises healed rapidly.

    At the same time, his body began to tremble amidst countless ck dots beginning to be expelled from his skin.

    The young man from the Vogel family stopped in his tracks as he saw Lothur''s body trembling, sensing something wrong but also shocked.

    ''Is he still conscious?'' He wondered, not being able to believe that someone could take being beaten as badly as Lothur and still have as much willpower.

    ''Your will to live is incredible. But you''re already working overtime.'' He clenched his fists around a sword, preparing to cut off Lothur''s head.

    Meanwhile, inside Lothur''s head, the Skull Soul Bone was ''melting'' over parts of the bones in his head.

    The Skull Soul Bone he had was not the kind that had reced every bone in that part of Lothur. No, it had reced only a fraction of it. Because of this, there were still bones to be reced.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Because of what was going on in young Ritter''s body, a process of Soul Bone evolution began in his head, causing such a thing to rise in level and upy new spaces.

    In the midst of this, due to the terrifying pain of evolving a Soul Bone, even unconscious, Lothur began to groan in pain.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The people in the surrounding area were startled by his sudden scream, some even taking steps backward as they felt terrible feelings in their beings.

    Simultaneously, Lothur''s two enemies, who were still conscious, looked at that body and worried.

    "Maybe we''d better finish him off at once." One of themmented as he picked up his weapon, a bit traumatized given what Lothur had managed to do in this ce.

    Lothur should be badly injured, barely able to move. But because of the fear this person already felt from such an opponent, he would rather be safe than sorry and kill the enemy as quickly as possible.

    "That''s right. We can''t allow him to use that demonic regeneration skill of his!" The woman who had suggested the previous fight mode, still standing, said this in concern as she remembered Lothur''s aplishments at the Province Conference.

    Unfortunately, before she could attack Lothur with her remaining allies, she noticed what was happening to him and shouted.

    "Shit!"

    "He''s advancing levels!"

    The two young men paid attention to the ck spots leaving Lothur''s body and parts of his skin glowing in a strange gold.

    "How can that be? Shouldn''t he already be at the peak of the 1st stage? How can he have a marrow cleansing now?"

    Marrow cleansing usually only happens to 1st stage cultivators or after using unique resources to temper the body.

    Hence, since they thought Lothur could not go through that process currently, one of these individuals could not help but be surprised at the possible advancement of this enemy.

    But this could not be considered an ordinary advance. Besides the fact that Lothur already had a Soul Bone, which could also be purified, he was a body cultivator who would always go through this procedure when advancing levels!

    After the beating he took from the group of Spiritual Warriors, the system activated his Physique, generating a benefit that caused him to rise to more than one level in a matter of moments!

    In this situation, he slowly began to scream less, letting the people there know that he was either losing consciousness or getting used to the current sensations.

    Lothur''s enemies did not want to y with this situation and finally attacked his body, with one of them using a sword to cut the enemy''s neck.

    Swooish!

    At that instant, Lothur opened his eyes and saw several messages from the system. But before he had a chance to pay attention to these, his eyes turned blood red.

    Simultaneously, red patterns appeared around his eyes, while the blood on his face seemed to dry up to make room for such tattoos.

    A pentagram appeared on his forehead and began to circte, along with the emission of a negative aura to the surroundings, something sinister, charged by a dark, suffocating element.

    "Prepare to die, you vermins!" Lothur shouted while still on the ground, feeling the de of a sword near the back of his head as he saw his new status.

    ...

 Chapter 394 Swift Revenge

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 9 -> 11]

    [STR: 32.6 -> 49.7]

    [CON: 101 -> 202.2]

    [DEX: 33.1 -> 43.7]

    [AGI: 37 -> 60]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 105.5]

    [WIL: 80 -> 84.1]

    [EVF: 623 -> 0]

    As Lothur tried to ignore his new status, the de of the sword touching his neck broke as he moved his arms to give a boost and stood up.

    Lothur''s three enemies, who were still conscious, were surprised by his sudden recovery, all with expressions of pure terror on their faces.

    That was not just because of their enemy''s frightening recovery but because they all felt a terrible sensationing from this young man''s body.

    It was as if the source of all their fears had been released inside that young man, making them feel fear just by looking at Lothur.

    That was particrly true for the rotating pentagram on the forehead of the silver-haired young man, which seemed to carry the symbol of death.

    The three were already exhausted, but they could feel the suppressive forceing from that enemy, which seemed to be limiting their cultivation!

    "Damn it!"

    "Run!" The woman who had incited most of these people to act against Lothur screamed as she felt that only death would await them there.

    ''Hell!''

    ''Why do we defy this demon?'' One of the two men, someone at level 11, trembled in fear, trying to turn to run away from Lothur.

    But the three of them could notpare themselves to Lothur right now!

    [Name: ** Vogel]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 12]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 57] [CON: 58.1] [DEX: 57.2] [AGI: 58] [SOU: ???]

    ...

    [Name: ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 11]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 53.9] [CON: 55.1] [DEX: 54.6] [AGI: 54.1] [SOU: ???]

    ...

    [Name: ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 11]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 54.8] [CON: 56] [DEX: 54.9] [AGI: 55.3] [SOU: ???]<novelnext></novelnext>

    Because they had exhausted their soul strength and were physically tired, the recovered Lothur was superior to them in every way.

    But not only that, Lothur''s lineage ability was naturally good at suppressing even people stronger than him. So at this point, none of these people were lucky. They all fell under the deadly judgment of young Ritter!

    Gulp!

    The people watching the fight in the surroundings felt goose bumps on their backs as they sensed the ominous feeling Lothur had just emitted.

    And seeing the red misting off this guy''s fingers and the terrifying killing intent that had made the surroundings darker, many did not want to wait for the fight to end.

    As they felt cold sweat dripping down their bodies, the smarter ones began to run in fear of Lothur targeting themter.

    It was known to all that leaving witnesses in situations like this was never good. So they had assumed the worst, that Lothur would use his advantages to eliminate them all!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''What an absurd risk!'' One of them was still trembling with fear, already running far away, afraid that Lothur woulde after him in theing days.

    ''I''ll have to spend some time away from Peters City and not tell anyone where I was today.'' This person and others made up their minds about simr things, afraid that even if they ran away sessfully, they would end up attracting Lothur.

    So while Lothur''s three still-conscious enemies screamed as they felt their vitality vanishing from their bodies, dozens of people left that area without looking back.

    Lothur also sucked the vitalities from each of the unconscious bodies in his surroundings, taking the lives of all those who tried to take his life.

    He did this for several minutes, feeling extremely enraged, even considering his advance.

    That was the first time he hade so close to losing his own life, so the feeling he had in his heart was ufortable. He felt terrible as if he had narrowly awakened before an irreversible cmity.

    Thus, he absorbed the vitalities of those bodies while shaking with anger, feeling the veins in his forehead and head quiver with his nervousness.

    In the midst of this, Lothur unconsciously killed all the nt beings within a radius of about 40 meters from where he stood, leaving a trail of darkness behind.

    This darkness turned into a strange me, degrading the life in these nt organisms and withering them until they became simr to the ''dehydrated'' bodies in their surroundings.

    [EVF: 708]

    When he finally saw the system message about all the added EVF points, Lothur calmed down and realized all the evolution he had been through.

    ''I have moved up levels and have now reached the 2nd stage... Uh? Now I can see the status of people at this stage!'' He thought about this as he realized that the system had, for the first time, made a differentiation between soul and body cultivation.

    But he still could not see mental attributes. Therefore, he could not notice Soul''s value.

    As Lothur realized his new situation, he suddenly noticed a difference in his vision. ''Uh? What is it? It is as if I have suddenly changed the lenses of ''my sses''...''

    Lothur had worn sses in his past life, so he knew what it was like to have his eyes used to one lens and switch to another with higher specifications.

    As his Skull Soul Bone had evolved, thus elevating its ability, he immediately felt his vision improve significantly, simr to the abovementioned situation.

    [The Silver-grade Demon General''s Skull Soul Bone was upgraded to quasi-Gold grade.]

    Lothur suddenly saw the notification from the system regarding his Soul Bone, which had just been significantly improved. And as such, the ability that such a thing gave him also improved.

    [All Seeing Eyes] [Rank: Near-Gold]

    [Progress: 94%]

    Previously the progress of his All Seeing Eyes was at less than 10%, so after the step advancement, such a thing had jumped significantly!

    Oh? That must be because of the benefits brought by stage advancement...'' He remembered that during stage advancement, the body and soul of the cultivator passed through this process would more easily absorb the unrestricted Natural Laws in nature.

    Because of this, Soul Bones could evolve along with their users, which justified why cultivators valued these items.

    Lothur then was very pleased with these and other gains that he would realizeter, but he wasted no time and began to collect the spatial rings from his enemies.

    But he did not bother to clean up the area where he had acted since many people had seen him and fled. So, as much as he wanted to hide things, his work would not make much difference there.

    Therefore, he just collected the corpses to dispose ofter, leaving the affected terrain behind and soon departing to Peters City.

    This time, due to his more urate visual ability and higher physical characteristics, he was faster and had an easier time moving to his goal!

    ...

 Chapter 395 Difference Between Soul And Body Cultivation

    More than three hours after Lothur was supposed to arrive home, he entered through the residence''s main door, finding Viktoria waiting for him.

    She was not too worried since this woman knew that her husband might be dealing with matters rting to his spiritual professions. But, at the same time, it wasmon for Lothur to arrive home at unruly hours.

    But still, because of the asion a few nights ago when they were visited by a Transcendent, this woman could not help but worry about her man.

    "Lothur, you..." Seeing him enter the house''s main hall, Viktoria jumped up from the sofa and went towards him. Still, in the middle of her movement, she stopped as she noticed differences in her husband''s appearance.

    Lothur had changed clothes and cleaned the blood on his body after he finished collecting the spatial rings from his enemies. So there was no way Viktoria could tell he had fought. But his face and the fit of his clothes looked different.

    After advancing all the body transformations of the first stage, a soul cultivator would stop undergoing significant physical improvements since their improvements would be focused on the soul. So while people above level 9 might undergo improvements in terms of appearance, such a thing was not significant.

    Since Viktoria only knew the spiritual progress of soul cultivators, she did not think that Lothur would undergo physical improvements since he was already at the 9th Transformation. But seeing him somewhat different, even without sensing his cultivation level, she realized that something had happened given this change.

    "Did you consume any resources that improved your physique, or did you advance?" She asked those the only possibilities that could justify a change in appearance.

    After reaching the 2nd stage, soul cultivators usually only improve in appearance when they level up a stage or by consuming unique resources. Then, this brte woman soon thought of these two possibilities to justify the change in Lothur.

    Lothur seemed to have improved the quality of his frame as a whole, with slightly more attractive skin and nicer angles, but his breathing and gaze seemed to have changed.

    In short, he seemed calmer, more attractive, and more mesmerizing, as one would expect from a predator.

    He answered his wife. "I have advanced a stage..."

    Upon hearing this, Viktoria was happy for her husband, giving him a hug and a kiss before turning her attention to trying to clear up some of her doubts.

    She knew that Lothur only cultivated his body, so the rules of soul cultivation did not apply to him. "How are you feeling? Have you noticed any improvement regarding your spiritual power?" She asked in doubt.

    When a soul cultivator reaches the 2nd stage, they undergo six maturation processes that nourish their soul. That would eventually give rise to a core when such a person reached the 3rd stage.

    That was the main change in a cultivator during the 2nd stage. Therefore, Viktoria could not help but wonder what happened in a body cultivator like Lothur.

    Would he have his iplete soul altered to some degree? Or was everything different?

    Lothur then answered his wife. "My spiritual power has not changed."

    In the cultivation world, spiritual power was confused with physical energy for 1st stage cultivators. But for people above that stage, one thing was connected to the Soul attribute and the other to Constitution.

    A soul cultivator like Viktoria would depend on the energies stored in their soul, that is, spiritual power, to fight. When this ran out, all they would have was the energy in their bodies to fight hand-to-hand battles.

    That was the situation for cultivators who followed only the bodily path, like the present Lothur.<novelnext></novelnext>

    So his spiritual power had not risen, but his energy had significantly increased due to the bonus of him advancing through his Physique and Super Regeneration skills.

    "But I feel a great improvement in terms of vitality in my body and physical quality," Lothur said, speaking of what had improved.

    A cultivator''s life force was directly rted to their Constitution. Hence, body cultivators like Lothur were little affected in terms of spiritual quality, having, instead of a more refined soul, a more capable body.

    A soul cultivator''s body could be enhanced by his soul only temporarily. Because of this, cultivators like this had lower life expectancies than their peers who followed body cultivation. At the same time, individuals like Lothur could rely on their characteristics 100% of the time.

    Even if Lothur were totally exhausted, the value of his Constitution would not change. That meant that even when passed out, he could not, for example, be hurt by someone with a Strength of 50, while his Constitution was over 200.

    That person with a Strength of 50 would be exhausted before they could hurt someone with a Constitution of 200.

    On the other hand, someone with soul cultivation could use their Soul to strengthen, for example, their Constitution of 50, raising it to 150. But this would onlyst as long as they had spiritual power. After being exhausted, such a cultivator would revert to a Constitution of 50 and be vulnerable to anyone with Strength close to that value.

    Soul cultivators were most vulnerable when they were not using their spiritual power. That was like an individual who would be vulnerable when taking off their armor!

    That was the advantage of not going through an improvement in terms of spiritual power and soul maturation.

    So a body cultivator did not go through six revolutions to form a soul core. Instead, they would go through six more spiritual cleansings, strengthening their life force, bone and muscle quality, and everything rted to the body.

    Lothur exined how he felt to his wife, teaching her a little about the differences between soul and body cultivators.

    After doing that for a while, he told her about what had just happened, from his kidnapping to what he had done after moving on.

    "What?" She stood up from where she had sat next to him, totally surprised at all that her husband had done in thest few hours.

    ''One of his father''s men contacted him?'' She felt unsure but also fortunate that a man from her husband''s father had contacted him, not someone sent by his grandfather.

    ''If it were someone from that man, Lothur would probably be in the empire''s capital now, and the family situation would worsen considerably...'' She thought about the consequences of having her husband involved with the capital''s problems.

    The Frost family already had their own problems concerning the current state political game, even though they were not involved in such matters. So things would hardly improve for that organization if Lothur became one of the pieces in the political chess of the powerful in that city.

    On the other hand, she could not ignore the problem in which Daemon''s subordinate got Lothur involved.

    ''He has killed several local nobles, and there are many witnesses...'' Viktoria sighed, feeling that times kept getting more troublesome for them.

    "What do we do now?" She found herself at a dead end and asked her man.

    ...

 Chapter 396 Seeking Help

    "There''s not much to do. Let''s focus on our ns, strengthen and develop our skills andwork of influence." Lothur said, knowing that the path he had decided to take only depended on his sess rtive to these things.

    Problems woulde along the way, but he could not change his strategy, as it was useful in good or bad situations.

    So, to the risk of someone from his grandfather showing up and to the problems his actions against those nobles, his response could not be any different.

    To be stronger and more influential, thus driving away or scaring off enemies!

    They could not run away, nor did they have a magical answer that would change everything from one moment to the next. Then, they could only cling to what they had at the moment.

    Viktoria understood her husband and sighed. "What will we do if these spectators spread about your abilities to the whole province?"

    "They probably won''t do that." Lothurmented, feeling that the mixture of his Mortal Aura and bloodline ability had frightened those people enough for them to think twice before talking about him.

    "I unconsciously activated my abilitying from the evolution of my killing intent at that moment. So, because of that, those people are probably hallucinating the possibility of me going after them."

    "Then they must already be fleeing Peters City or going into seclusion, with their mouths closed to leave no trace that they have seen me."

    The Mortal Aura not only frightened enemies but also ''showed'' its user how people felt when affected by it. Because of this, Lothur knew that some of those individuals had even shit themselves with fear as they fled where it had all happened.

    Because of this, he was confident that most would not talk about the subject, even though he could not be sure of that.

    "In any case, this shouldn''t spread to the point where the whole city finds out about what happened." He said in a sighing tone. "On the other hand, there''s not much we can do about it now. If someone spreads something, we won''t find out and be able to act until the damage has already been done."

    "That''s right..." She sat back down, feeling a little bad since it was terrible not being able to do anything to prevent trouble.

    He then said to his wife. "Leave that aside. Tomorrow I will present my vehicle, and that will attract allies to our side."

    "Do you really think so?" She asked since, like Annaliese and Elke, Viktoria was in the dark about Lothur''s miniature vehicle. "Have you finished your project?"

    "I''ll finish it now." He stood up and prepared to do so.

    He had identified some minor problems earlier. So before starting the nightly training of his professions and physical skills, Lothur had to do this.

    Viktoria was surprised that her husband had not finished yet, but she was still confident in him. She already had a lot of confidence in his abilities, so she just smiled and did not stop him from going to do his work.

    ''I also have to practice my professions...''

    ...

    While Lothur was doing his work, the families who had lost their nobles this night had already been notified of their disappearance.

    Those who were keeping an eye on Lothur and trying to locate him after the previous kidnapping were the first to find out that something had happened in the vicinity of Peters City.

    They still did not know if this was rted to Lothur, but due to the search for this young man, they found the ce left by him.

    That area had been partially destroyed, with all the nt organisms having withered away within a few meters of where Lothur had been.<novelnext></novelnext>

    There they found the blood trails and symbols of the items of the nobles that had fallen in the area and worried.

    ''Someone has advanced a level in this ce...'' An investigator thought of this as he passed through the area and studied the scene.

    The impurities from Lothur''s body had remained in the area, so this person from the local Peters City guard realized an important piece of information.

    ''It makes no sense for a low-level cultivator to have advanced here. Thus, that was done by someone at the 2nd stage, but...'' He frowned. ''Who would leave so much impurity behind after a breakthrough? Could this be a body cultivator?''

    Thinking about it, this person could not immediately associate such information with Lothur since this young man was supposedly someone at the 9th Transformation. Since it was normal for people like that not to show maniption of spiritual energy, one could not corrte this ce with him.

    No one knew whether Lothur was a body or soul cultivator!

    But still, this was important information!

    ...

    "Legist Klossner, please help me!" A mature woman, an old acquaintance of this man, knelt in front of him in his workroom at the local government headquarters.

    August saw this and felt embarrassed that someone he knew was doing this out of the blue and tried to lift the woman up by taking one of her arms.

    "Please, Regina, don''t do this. What is the reason for you to humiliate yourself like this?" He asked this beautiful woman, who at the moment was pale, sweating profusely.

    She answered in her agitated voice. "I just saw that young man, Lothur, in action. Please, coroner, help me. I heard that you know him, don''t you? I saw him do something terrible, and now I fear for my life."

    August was surprised, considering that such a woman was not weak but someone at level 12. But, at the same time, she was just a local mercenary who had never been involved with the affairs of the nobility, let alone Lothur.

    So how could she be terrified of a young man weaker than herself just because she had seen something?

    She continued as tears trickled down her eyes. "I saw this Lothur fighting against more than a dozen cultivators with strengths simr to mine. He... He... Gulp..."

    "Him?" Coroner Klossner''s eyes narrowed as he could not help but be surprised that Lothur had fought so many strong opponents and still survived. ''I wonder what she saw? Could it be that he was still hiding his strength in the final of the Province Conference?''

    "He killed them all cruelly, coroner Klossner." She said, doing this to this man because she had helped him in the past and considered that he would return the favor by helping her in this time of trouble.

    Regina had been feeling extreme fear since she saw Lothur activating his bloodline. At every moment, she felt like shadows were watching her, and she could not rx, even hours after the incident.

    She had thought about running away, but considering how difficult it would be to rebuild her life elsewhere and opportunity through this man, she wanted to try to solve the problem.

    "He''s a monster! He had defeated most of those people but had fallen. Then he magically recovered, to the point that even the weapon of one of his opponents broke when it hit his skin!"

    "After that, he did something strange that scared everyone, and I felt as if he had exterminated the souls of those people!" She eximed to Klossner, quickly narrating some of the previous events to this man.

    "Is that so?" He asked in interest, remembering that the next day he would have an asion when he would be with Lothur.

 Chapter 397 Before The Event At The Hippodrome

    The next day...

    Upon waking up in the morning, the first thing Lothur did was look up his wife''s status.

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 12 -> 13]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 55.7] [CON: 90] [DEX: 58.7] [AGI: 57.7] [AM: ???]

    After noticing her status once again and remembering those he had seen the night before, he understood the practical effect of cultivating the soul without focusing on the body.

    ''From the looks of it, the Soul attribute of soul cultivators is far above those physical ones. That''s why they have higher levels but are so ''ordinary'' in terms of physical abilities.'' He thought while understanding why previously he was already able to affect Viktoria''s body, even though he was many times weaker than her.

    "Sigh..."

    ''I''m still weaker than Viktoria if I don''t consider my Elemental Staff.'' He sighed after a while but already aiming to surpass his wife soon.

    It was good that she was powerful, and he wanted to make her even stronger in the future. But Lothur would prefer him to be the strongest, for him to protect his wife, not the other way around.

    So as he watched her beautiful face in the morning, he was nning for their future, considering what he would do today and had done the night before.

    ''I''ve already prepared the formations to train my Iron-grade resistances, so I''ll do thatter after settling my affairs for the day.''

    ''On the other hand, I''ll leave it until tomorrow to continue my medical training so I can study a little more alchemy tonight...''

    Lothur continued nning his day until Viktoria woke up, and they prepared to leave.

    Viktoria would have to settle some Frost family business that morning so that she could apany Lothur to the event that would take ce mid-afternoon at the local hippodrome. Thus, she would not have time to do anything with him in the morning, and soon after a quick shower, she left for the Frost estate.

    Lothur, on the other hand, had to follow his routine at the academy and quickly went to where he would meet Annaliese and Elke.

    ...

    After Lothur ''reviewed'' Elke and Annaliese, these two women promptly noticed the differences in him and soon after heard what had happened.

    Like Viktoria, both were surprised but also fearful of the trouble that mighte to him after that situation.

    But with their conversations, they had understood that they could only do their best to get stronger for the time being and turned their attention to what was in their power.

    Elke apanied Lothur in Sector 2, while Annaliese continued her activities in Sector 4, where she would soon take the tests to advance to Sector 5.

    Her strength had dramatically increased since she began to have fun with Lothur. Furthermore, the theoretical content was rtively the simplest for a cultivator to achieve regarding the sector ascension test. So with her new cultivation speed, Annaliese was close to reaching the requirements necessary for this advancement.

    Anyway, after searching for quests in Sector 6, following Reba''s rmendations, Lothur managed to leave that ce to go to Annaliese and Elke.

    He diverted on his path many individuals who wanted to approach him in that ce, something that had frequently been happening in this academy.

    Some wanted to be his friend. Others just wanted to create connections with someone as talented as he was. But some had resentments and wanted to either cause trouble or provoke young Ritter.

    Among them were people from the Baier and Waldauer family.<novelnext></novelnext>

    But on this day, with his visual skills that had recently advanced, he easily sidestepped those problems so as not to bete to go to his appointment.

    "Are you ready?" Elke asked when she saw Lothur arriving at the main exit of the academy, where she and Annaliese were already waiting for him.

    Lothur was still in his academy student clothes. Still, since he and his group would have some time at the hippodrome before the start of their vehicle presentation, he would leave to change in that ce.

    "Hmm, shall we go there?" He nodded and looked at the two, indicating the carriage of one of them that was waiting for them nearby.

    They then entered that carriage and traveled for the next few minutes to one end of Peters City, where the local hippodrome was located.

    At the same time as they were moving, Viktoria, Frederik, and Johann were also making their way to that ce, alone or with people from their families.

    ...

    All those closest to Lothur were leaving for that ce in a hurry to arrive before the most important guests.

    Meanwhile, one of those important people was watching the exit of the Morning Star Academy at this very moment, looking where young Ritter had left.

    "That young man seems to have changed somehow..." The Transcendent behind that institution muttered to himself, noticing that Lothur looked different from the day before.

    The academy principal had been watching Lothur daily because of what he knew about this young man''s past but also because of how talented young Ritter was.

    So for him to notice the changes in Lothur''s appearance and behavior had not been so difficult.

    ''I wonder what he has done? Maybe I should approach himter?'' He pondered this as he thought about the event Lothur had invited him to join.

    He then rose from his armchair and called his trusted secretary, leaving after putting on his coat.

    "Let''s see what he has to present us..."

    ...

    Meanwhile, all of Lothur''s guests were already moving to the local hippodrome, from the more important ones like Elke''s father to the less relevant ones like Jacob''s father, this young man from Lewerenz.

    Due to the unusual movement of several influential individuals in the province, as well as the warning from the local hippodrome management, the Duke was aware of the Lothur event.

    Because of this, he was standing next to his son and themander of the local guard, talking about what that troublesome young man might be up to.

    "This brat has gathered several people who are on the fence about the dispute over the imperial session... Could he be trying to lead something against our faction?" Themander of the local guard questioned, feeling a bit worried.

    The Duke''s son, Martin, then said. "That must not be the case."

    "Hmm, but it doesn''t change the fact that this asion is somewhat strange." The Duke felt it was disrespectful of Lothur not to invite him if it was not against him. "Is there any way you can send one of our people to this event? I want to know everything this brat intends by hosting an event for so many relevant cultivators in the province."

    Hearing this from his leader, the guardmander said. "It''s not impossible. The management of the hippodrome owes me some favors. So putting one of my men in the ce as an official of that location shouldn''t be that difficult."

    "Oh?"

    "Then just do it." The Duke said, as his eyes sparkled in interest. ''Depending on what he''s nning, I''ll use that as an excuse to take action against that bastard.''

 Chapter 398 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 1

    By this time, Lothur had arrived alongside Elke and Annaliese at the Hippodrome.

    They were met by a group of employees of this ce, most formally dressed women, almost like stewardessesmonly seen on Earth.

    In addition to the dozen or so employees who were there to attend to the guests and the guards, Lothur''s group found various food and beverages in the main ceremony hall.

    That ce had several tables for people to sit at in different groups, a small stage on one side, and arge table with the snacks in question.

    The ce seemed quite suitable for this situation, with the luxury expected from such a ce.

    Everything was tasteful, from the curtains on the windows to the light fixtures on the ceiling, but of course, matching the style of environment this establishment was trying to sell. That of a country estate, where races and bets could be made, while the business could be discussed in ces like this.

    Lothur approved the ce as he noticed all this while Annaliese and Elke were already grabbing some snacks.

    "So, did you make it?" Frederik''s voice came from the entrance of that hall, where this young man had just arrived after showing his invitation to the guards of this estate.

    Lothur turned with those two women and saw that fellow dressed the way he was thest time he had seen him.

    But it did not matter. Frederik did not need to dress well to prove his skills, so Lothur did not bother about that.

    He replied. "Yes, for the moment, it''s perfect for what we need."

    Lothur was not so negligent as to think that he would not have to adjust his design when he went to produce different vehicle models than the kart he made this time. So there was work to be done before cars became popr in this world.

    But with his current skills and the kart results, young Ritter was confident that, unlike the formations masters who had failed to try to do the same thing as him, he would seed!

    Frederikughed in satisfaction at this, then quickly ignored Lothur''s group to grab something to eat and find a ce to sit.

    Soon after, Viktoria, Aiken, and an elder from the Frost family arrived at this hall almost at the same time as Johann''s group.

    Johann could not bring the patriarch of his family since, even though Lothur was involved, that man did not value young Ritter much. But still, the wife of the patriarch of the Teusen family was there to apany this event.

    When she saw the Frost patriarch, this woman was not surprised. After all, even if Aiken was powerful by Linn Province standards, Lothur was from that family, so his presence was expected.

    Hence, after greeting this old acquaintance, this woman sat quietly somewhere, not expecting much of what Johann had promised.

    This young man approached Lothur and said. "I am sorry that I did not bring anyone else from my family. But I believe we can do much, even in this situation."

    Lothur nodded, already knowing that Johann would embark on this journey at his side.

    Then the most important guests began to arrive.

    First were the patriarch and matriarch Becker, who were apanied by their number one subordinate, Heinz.

    Next, Lina and Amelie, from the Christen family, arrived with a man Lothur did not know but who must be more important than them since he was stronger than both.

    With the end of the Province Conference, this family had already been nominated as a recement for House Dohmen. So, it was only a matter of time before they became another local noble organization.

    With that, seeing the arrival of these representatives from other relevant families in the province, the Teusen matriarch could not help but change her behavior.

    "Johann, why didn''t you tell me that so many important people would being?" The Teusen matriarch asked her nephew as she began to behave better. "If I had known, it would have made your unclee with us!"

    "I didn''t know who wasing either..." Johann said in a low voice, just before opening his mouth in surprise as he saw the following two groups arrive.

    At that moment, Anneke arrived alongside three beautifuldies representing the Koch family. At the same time, the principal of the Morning Star Academy walked through the entrance door, quickly looking for a ce for himself and his secretary.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Oh?" Aiken was also surprised to see that man, whom he hardly saw, but knew that he was not so different from Mabel. ''It seems that Lothur has more respect and influence than I...'' He internallyughed.

    The academy principal was also surprised to find so many important people there. He even opened his eyes wider when he saw coroner Klossner arriving with his people shortly after.

    August was a friend of the Frost family, so this coroner soon approached where Aiken, Viktoria, Annaliese, and that elder Frost were.

    "Aiken, it''s good to see you again..."

    They greeted each other as thest guests of this asion arrived.

    Lothur greeted Jacob, that young man''s family, and the other family he had met in Lewerenz when he passed through that city alongside Elke.

    Eventually, three other groups settled in, two from bourgeoisies and one from a medium-sized noble family, simr to House Teusen in terms of power.

    When everyone had settled in, the hall was over 70% full, but only one family had not sent representatives.

    "You should visit your mistress more, Lothur..." A purple-haired woman said to him while having Reba at her side.

    Lothur looked at Elisabeth and saw her status.

    [Name: Elisabeth Vogel]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 69.2] [CON: 86] [DEX: 73.1] [AGI: 72.9] [SOU: ???]

    "I''ll do that soon..." He said softly before asking. "Mistress, what is your rtionship to the Vogel family?"

    Reba then told Lothur not to annoy their mistress. "Hey, what are you asking? My mistress left that family a long time ago. So don''t talk like that!"

    "Oh?" Lothur realized he had forgotten that. "That''s right, I''m sorry, hehe."

    "Why do you ask about that?" Elisabeth asked.

    "Nothing much. I recently ran into some members of that family, and they treated me badly. I just remembered that you have the samest name."

    "Oh? I see. They really are scum..."

    With that, after talking to his mistress, Reba, and people from the Formations Masters Association, Lothur walked up to the stage in that area and asked for silence.

    "Okay, almost everyone is here, so it''s time for us to get started with this event." He looked from one side of that ce to the other, taking advantage of the silence to make his presentation once again.

    "As most of you know, I have a project for a vehicle independent of animal or human power, which people will be able to use to get around."

    "That means of transportation will be called a car, and it will be the main focus of the Ritter Motor Company."

    "Today, you are all here not only to see the prototype of this vehicle in action but also to have a chance to buy shares of the Ritter Motor Company."

    "This is the beginning of the auction of the shares of such apany!"

    ...

 Chapter 399 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 2

    Upon hearing Lothur''s opening words, more than half the people in that ce were surprised by what he had to offer. That was because the idea of an auction of apany''s shares in this world was notmon.

    Some families even joined together on infrequent asions to form joint ventures. But this usually involved two or three powers, and there was no chance of such an auction happening.

    As such, those who had not yet had a chance to talk with Lothur were surprised by the unusual business model he wanted to propose to them.

    "So we will have to buy slices of thatpany? Is that it?" The young master of the Christen family, sitting next to Lina and Amelie, asked.

    "Yes. Anyone who wants to buy my vehicles in the future can do so from the Ritter Motor Company. So what I am proposing here is not the sale of vehicles in advance, but of part of thatpany." Lothur said.

    One of the council members of the Formations Masters Association then questioned Lothur. "Has thispany of yours already started the business? Where is it? What exactly are you selling us?"

    Lothur looked at that old man, the person who had approved his entry into that association with the freedoms he wanted. "Thispany does not exist yet. I will create thispany alongside my future partners, and then we will start to produce the vehicles together."

    "What?"

    "So this is how he wants to do business?"

    "Tsk! Very clever indeed. He won''t take any risks by doing that..."

    The people in that hall began toment to each other, speaking in low voices between their groups, making some people look at each other.

    "This we already expected..." Hildamented to her family, knowing that Lothur only followed business models like this.

    The Morning Star Academy''s principal was interested in how Daemon''s son operated and was silent.

    "Why would we do that?" A representative of one of the noble families invited to this asion asked.

    Lothur then looked at such a person and replied. "For the profits, of course. In a few moments, I will prove to you what my vehicle is capable of. After that, I want you to think about its value. The potential of my cars, and whether or not it would be good for your families to have a share in the profits of thispany."

    "But just to be clear, today I will sell only 49% of the Ritter Motor Company. After the partners approve the agreement, we will need a capital contribution to start operations."

    "Capital contribution?" Jacob''s father asked in doubt.

    "Yes, what I am doing today is selling rights. But eventually, thepany will need investments, and each partner will have to add amounts equivalent to their share of thepany."

    "For example, I will have 51% of thepany. So if we need 50 million bronze coins for this business to start its operations, I will invest 25.5 million. Meanwhile, someone with 10% of thepany will have to put in 5 million bronze coins."

    "And so on." Lothur finished his exnation about this.

    Patriarch Frost, who was hearing about Lothur''s business model for the first time, then said. "Let me see if I understand. Even if I buy 10% of yourpany today, say for the value of 1 million bronze coins. Those coins have nothing to do with thepany''s investments. Just the 10% of it?"

    "That''s right." Lothur nodded to his father-inw, removing the doubt from several people there.

    "This is a deal he has no chance of losing..."

    "That fellow is ingenious! No wonder!"

    "But then again, that''s not bad for us either. I mean, he will have the biggest share of thepany. So his investments will be the biggest." Linamented among her family members. "So if his business doesn''t work out, he will also be the biggest loser."

    Elisabeth listened to some of thements in the area and became interested in her disciple''s project. "Where is this prototype you talked about? I want to see what this ''car'' is capable of."

    The people there agreed with her and soon became silent again.

    Lothur smiled at his poison art mistress and took a few steps to the side.

    However, before he presented his prototype vehicle to these people, he noticed a strangeness in one of the employees of that establishment.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Because of his visual ability, Lothur easily identified the quasi-Bronze-grade formation around that man''s neck, which clearly hid such a person''s cultivation.

    Lothur had already noticed that all the employees of this ce were mortals. Thus, he stopped what he was doing upon noticing this strange individual who had just entered that area.

    "Who are you?" Lothur asked in a solemn tone, surprising the people there who had not noticed anything and were waiting to see his car.

    "Me? Sir, I work here." That man said in a shy tone, pretending to be a worker at this hippodrome.

    "Lothur, what''s the matter?" Viktoria stood up from her chair and asked her husband.

    The silver-haired young man then picked up his Elemental Staff and said. "Reveal yourself now, or I will destroy your cultivation!"

    "What? Destroy one''s cultivation?"

    "A cultivator? A prator?" The people there realized the problem but were unsure if Lothur was delusional or if that was really the case.

    The academy principal was able to perceive the formation in the body of that man dressed as a waiter since he was a Transcendent. With that, he could not help but be impressed with the abilities of that student of his academy to perceive something so difficult to notice.

    ''It seems that Lothur has profound abilities... Could it be his Soul Bone?''

    That man dressed as a waiter took a step back, feeling slightly more nervous. But as someone at level 13, with years of experience as a spy, he did not flinch and tried to act.

    "You must be getting confused, sir. I''m just doing my job."

    "Tsk!"

    "Don''tinter." Lothur ran toward that person, in the blink of an eye, appearing behind his back, surprising everyone with his speed.

    "So fast?" Not only the Duke''s spy but all the people there, including his wives, were shocked by Lothur''s speed.

    But it was not for nothing. With his current attributes, particrly the Constitution, the most important for speed, he could bepared to a Transcendent who was using only the power of their physique.

    So, everyone was surprised at this demonstration of power by young Ritter!

    ''What happened? Why is he so fast?'' Patriarch Frost and Becker, as well as the academy principal, wondered the same thing as they stood up.

    Lothur was not only acting against a prator. He demonstrated his powers to potential allies to convince them to want something more than just business together.

    So he acted firmly against that prator, giving a decisive blow to the back of the man''s head with his staff.

    After that, such a person fell unconscious on the ground, already with his cultivation damaged due to Lothur''s merciless blow!

    "Unbelievable!"

    "I didn''t think young Lothur had reached that level..."

    "It seems that he has improved a lot recently."

    "Yes, it''s not for nothing that he is doing business with such relevant people..."

    Some of the less relevant people theremented among themselves, while the stronger ones remained silent, reassessing Lothur.

    After doing so, Lothur tied up that man and then used his spatial ring to summon the kart on that device, revealing such a thing to the people there for the first time.

    ...

 Chapter 400 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 3

    When Lothur revealed the kart to the people in that hall, Frederik immediately jumped out of his seat and ran to that item.

    Seeing the final product he had helped to develop, he could not stand still and soon stood next to the kart, trying to make sense of this thing.

    That was simr to what he imagined it would look like considering his imagination of how the constructed parts would fit together. But there were a few differences here and there, and what''s more, seeing something finished was very different from imagining what an item would look like after the final production phase.

    ''So this is what it looks like? Seeing it this way, it looks like something promising!'' He saw the small steering wheel there and felt curious about how this thing would move.

    Other people besides Frederik also got up from their seats, looking in surprise at that item, but for different reasons.

    Lothur''s three women in that ce were curious to see that vehicle move. Meanwhile, the formations masters in the area could sense many formations on it, noting that such a thing could not be a fraud.

    Whether it worked or not, they would still find out. But already at this instant, they realized that there was an intricate structure behind this special vehicle called a car.

    The Morning Star Academy principal was also curious since, even though he was not a formations master, he was the most capable of analyzing such a thing. Thus, while observing Lothur''s project, he was curious to see such a thing working.

    Lothur noticed that some of his guests were surprised by Frederik''s movement and smiled. "This is Frederik Calis, a young carpenter who helped me produce most of the parts of this prototype."

    "Oh?"

    "This young man did such a thing?"

    "Unbelievable!"

    "Hmm, even if we cannot say for sure the value of this ''car,'' we cannot deny that the carpentry work on it was very well done."

    Several people theremented among themselves about how talented Frederik must be in terms of carpentry.

    Considering that no one there knew this young man before this asion, these guests were quite surprised at the partner Lothur had found.

    "So, how does that work?" Reba asked as she also stood, interested to see that item working.

    Lothur smiled and was quick to remove Frederik from near that vehicle and then get inside it. "I will show you..."

    Lothur had notified the management of the hippodrome regarding his interest in using a ''carriage'' inside that hall to ess the racing area of that property.

    Therefore, that location had ess to his area of interest. All he had to do was open the doors on one side of that hall for him to be able to drive his kart there.

    "Well, driving this vehicle is simple." Lothur began to exin after settling into that kart and drawing someughter from Elke and Annaliese. "This is just a prototype, so don''t think our final cars will be as simple or ufortable as this one."

    "But the logic will be the same." He then pressed a button next to the steering wheel and said. "This vehicle works from spiritual energy instead of the motor power of animals or other beings."

    "So this vehicle has a device that continuously absorbs spiritual energy from the surroundings and stores it for future spending. Then, you will not have to worry about giving themand for part of the vehicle to do that work."

    "But there is a limit to how many kilometers you can drive with a car, considering the charge of the device, the spiritual energy addition factor, and, of course, the consumption."

    After these words of his, the vehicle began to emit noise from the rear, where Lothur had chosen to ce the engine of it.

    All the people following his words kept looking at that thing with interest, all standing up, full of curiosity.

    Lothur then exined. "This button I just pressed is to turn on and off the engine responsible for the driving force of this vehicle. After you press it, just follow these steps..."<novelnext></novelnext>

    He then began to show those people the brake, elerator, and clutch pedals.

    Unfortunately, Lothur did not know how to make a model with automatic transmission, so he went with the idea of a manual one anyway.

    After showing these people the pedals and how they worked, he exined the gearshift, parking brake, steering wheel, and mirrors.

    He gave these people an introduction to the essential items in a typicalnd car, enough for these cultivators to know what they needed to get started.

    Since everyone there, except for Frederik, had high cultivationprehension, it was not difficult for them to learn Lothur''s driving instruction manual in just 30 minutes of exnation.

    After this introductory presentation, Lothur finally did what everyone had been anxiously waiting for.

    He released the parking brake, put the gearshift into first gear, and slowly released the clutch.

    Upon doing so, the kart began to move slowly at first. Still, when Lothur began to press the elerator with his right foot, such a vehicle began to move faster and faster.

    "WOW!"

    "It really can move fast!"

    "Unbelievable!"

    "Has he managed to solve the problems of independent animal power carriages?"

    The people in that hall went from there to the outside of the building they were in, where they could see the entire horse racing track.

    To them, it was phenomenal to see something like that, capable of carrying a cultivator like Lothur with such speed.

    It must be said that cultivators were not low-weight beings. No, as one''s body quality increased, it was as if the density of every fiber in their body increased as well.

    So someone with a body as powerful as Lothur''s could not be light. That''s why those people were impressed by the kart in question since it could have so much speed and still carry so much weight at once!

    "It truly is off the charts..." The academy principal stood next to the other people watching Lothur doing a fastp.

    He was only going 50 kilometers per hour. Still, considering that carriages of this world could rarely get close to that, this was already an awe-inspiring speed for these people.

    As they watched Lothur and talked about it, this young man was enjoying himself as he had done very few times in this world.

    Lothur had loved to drive when he was on Earth. So to have the chance to do this in this world was not trivial to him.

    That was enough to make his blood churn a little and make him feel good.

    "Hehehe, not bad." He shouted as he drove as if in a street race, something he had only done in simtors in his past life.

    But even though he was in a different body, Lothur''s senses were better than ever, and he did very well in this first demonstration of his vehicle.

    He drove only twops until he decided to stop and use his strategy to win over the people in that group of spectators.

    ...

 Chapter 401 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 4

    As Lothur left his vehicle and his guests approached where he had parked, the establishment employees were somewhat nervous.

    Lothur had struck one of them only a few minutes ago and made that person faint in the middle of that hall.

    They had been shocked at one of them being attacked so brutally by that man, but since that group of cultivators was around, they had all remained silent. They remained in their ces, fearful but not crazy enough to show any sign of displeasure to people so much stronger than they were.

    When Lothur acted, he ran so fast that none of these people could see him moving. To them, in an instant, the silver-haired young man had gotten angry with one of them, grabbed a weapon, and the next moment was already striking the back of that man''s head.

    With such monstrous speed, how could any of these mortals stand against Lothur?

    As such, after all the cultivators in that hall had left to follow Lothur''s demonstration, these people began to put out their feelings.

    "How could this have happened?" One of the women said this while having her hands over her mouth.

    "Did he kill this person?"

    "No, he is still breathing. But I''m afraid his injury is serious..." An old man said as he tried to analyze the situation of that poor fellow.

    "By the way, who is that? I didn''t know there was someone new..."

    "Hmm, it seems Elias had some problems and couldn''te today..."

    Some less sensitive ones started talking about the more rational points, while others tried to rescue that man''s life.

    "What do we do? That personmitted a crime by attacking one of us like that."

    Another person said. "But if we get that person out of here, we can do something against that Lothur''s will..."

    "Damn it!"

    "What are you guys talking about? There''s nothing for us to get involved in. Leave that man and inform the boss what happened. As for the rest, that''s not our problem!" The head guard of this ce said this to these people flirting with danger.

    On second thought, the people there sighed, some wishing the man good health to ovee the situation Lothur had put him in. But they did not like to risk their jobs or lives for the sake of strangers, so even the most sensitive of them abandoned that spy after a while.

    However, one of them did not fail to leave from there to notify their superiors about what Lothur had done!

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur and his guests were outside that hall, where none of that workers could be without his permission.

    Lothur had demanded that all employees working at the hippodrome today wear earplugs not to hear the content of his conversations. So apart from that spy, everyone was wearing those items earlier, so they had no idea why Lothur suddenly attacked the enemy.

    They also did not know the content of the conversations of Lothur and his guests, much less the idea of how the kart worked.

    Without this information, those people could only leak things about something strange moving, which was not enough to worry Lothur.

    Anyway, while he was reassured about these workers and the spy from earlier, Lothur had just seen thest of his guests stop beside him on that dirt track.

    "You want to test it?" He asked for everyone there to hear him.<novelnext></novelnext>

    As his words finisheding out of his mouth, Lothur saw each person expressing interest.

    Lothur''s project looked like a toy in the eyes of some of these people. But it was something extremely functional that could be fun, as they had already seen him enjoying himself. At the same time, the curiosity to know something new and even test a potentially sessful business was not small, and everyone there wanted a little taste of it.

    Lothur already knew this and precisely why he had not raced anymore, simply to leave enough energy in the ''battery'' of the kart for these people to test such a thing.

    He knew he had to win the hearts of these people to get their coins. Hence, there was nothing better for him to do than to give at least one person from each organization there a chance to ''y'' a little with his vehicle.

    Then they would understand the project better, have a more meaningful connection to the product being developed and understand a little more of its power.

    That is, cars were not just a means of transportation but a fun item that could be used for entertainment and touring, with many possibilities.

    Some people would simply fall in love with the sensation of controlling one of these, which would lead to the adoration and loyalty of many to specific vehicles.

    It was like that on Earth, and Lothur knew it could also be like that in the cultivation world. So he yed his role of ''dealer,'' letting these people try it the first time for free, only to get hooked ande back to him for the product.

    "I want it," Annaliese shouted to Lothur, interested in being the first to try it.

    But contrary to what one might expect, Lothur refused her request. "Anna, I''ll let you, Viktoria, and Elke test this outter. So, for now, let my guests try this first."

    The three women were a little disappointed to hear that since they were all curious about what it felt like to drive that thing. But they understood that Lothur''s focus there was not to please them but to sell his business to these people.

    Those individuals were satisfied and then looked at each other, silently deciding that the strongest would try first.

    In this way, everyone there made room for the Morning Star Academy principal, who, on this asion, was not hiding his soul cultivation.

    Lothur saw no problem with this since Transcendents should have their riches. But, even more, this man was behind the academy, so his situation was not simple.

    "Principal, do you need any tips? Or do you remember everything?" Lothur asked as he made room for this man to enter the kart.

    That man shook his head negatively and said. "There''s no need... But I must say, I am shocked by what you have created. I don''t know if it will be as good as you promised, but for now, you seem to be seeding in beating your predecessors."

    "Congrattions."

    "Hmm, you''re wee." Lothur smiled before he saw that person sitting in the kart without much difficulty, despite the small space of that vehicle.

    Everyone there made an effort to pay attention to this man''s movements without getting carried away by the odd appearance of an adult sitting on that thing that looked like a toy.

    But since everyone was eager to do the same as the principal, they just focused on following the man''s movements without error.

    Luis did not have the same skill as Lothur. But he got all the procedures right until he slowly let go of the clutch. After this, he began to drive slowly, unable even to reach half the speed of the silver-haired young man.

    After only a minute, Luis no longer looked like the academy principal, and the desire to try such a thing on the people there increased substantially.

    ...

 Chapter 402 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 5

    ''Haha, this is fun!'' Luis thought as he finished his firstp around that dirt track, feeling the wind on his face, almost as it did when he was flying.

    While enjoying the experience, he did not ignore the positives of Lothur''s project.

    ''This ''car'' seems to have a lot of power, unlike those failed projects that could only move small things. At the same time, it is very easy to pilot.'' He pondered this question.

    ''I learned it in just a few seconds of experience, but that is due to my cultivation and talent. However, I am sure that even a mortal can learn it after a few hours of training...''

    ''This truly has the potential to rece the carriages in our city!'' His eyes sparkled as he slowed down the speed of the kart he was in, following Lothur''s request.

    At the same time, Elke''s father''s eyes were gleaming in interest, noting some of the possibilities that Lothur''s project would bring. ''Not only does this vehicle seem quite simple to master, but it also seems easier to move within the city. It is also faster than most carriages, which will be hugely advantageous for my family to use for ovend transportation of resources between cities!''

    Meanwhile, Reba had a different thought in mind. ''That sounds very promising. I wonder if, with this, we can get rid of the animal feces around the city.''

    On the other hand, Jacob''s father was thinking about the possibility that Lothur had told his son about earlier. ''With something with such tremendous strength, we could produce transportpanies and favor travel not only for cargo but also for people between cities in the province...''

    ''That has a lot of potentials!''

    He thought this, but many others had the same idea in mind, feeling that Lothur''s words of creating something revolutionary were not entirely misced.

    No, if Lothur''s kart could be adapted into arger version, then the transportation situation in the province or even the empire could changepletely!

    Even the matriarch of the Teusen family, who was not so capable in terms of finding opportunities for her family, had noted Lothur''s valuable project as something crucial to her organization.

    "Johann, what is your rtionship with this Lothur? Do you have any way to get any leverage with him?" She asked this young man.

    "Hmm? I have..."

    As he went on, that woman''s turn to try out the kart came, and she left him talking to himself as she ran close to Lothur.

    By now, several of the people there, including Aiken, August, and Gomeric, had already tested and approved Lothur''s design, all very pleased with their experiences.

    Lothur answered a few questions from those who had already ''yed'' in his kart. In contrast, the others tested such a thing so that all the organizations represented there would taste this item''s potential.

    But this did not take long, and soon Lothur put away his prototype vehicle, then returned with his guests to the previous room.

    Finally, the time hade for him to auction off parts of his futurepany!

    ...

    As everyone settled into the hall they had arrived in earlier, the silence in that room became ''deafening.''<novelnext></novelnext>

    Each person was thinking hard about what they had just experienced and witnessed. So they had a lot to consider since it was almost time to get to the moment they would have to talk about values.

    With that, apart from the chewing noise from the table where Annaliese was devouring some dishes, no other relevant sounds were spreading through that area.

    Lothur noticed this and was silent for a few moments as well, reviewing his n to get coins from these people.

    ''I have no experience with this kind of situation. But I believe an ordinary auction will work for me to get a lot of coins from these people...'' He looked at his mistress regarding the poison art and then at the Teusen matriarch.

    He looked over to where the representatives of the two Lewerenz families were. ''On the other hand, even if some of them can''t be my associates, they can partner with us.''

    ''We will need a lot of people to make my mobility project possible, so there will be no shortage of services for these smaller forces... Hmm, that will be good for keeping them in my sphere of influence.''

    After pondering for a few moments the amount he had deemed fair to start this auction, Lothur began to speak. "Well, you have had a brief experience with my project and heard what I intend to do and the business models I will follow. So it''s time to talk about what matters."

    "I will sell 49% of the rights to the Ritter Motor Company in 49 rounds, each auctioning off 1% of thispany." He said as the people there frowned but remained silent.

    "Each organization that chooses to participate in this auction may acquire a maximum of 10% of the Ritter Motor Company. So don''t insist in case one or the other of you has greater economic power than the others. I will not change my rule."

    Lothur did not want just 2 or 3 of those organizations or people there to buy that fraction of hispany. To do that, he wanted to raise the number of rounds to the said number and limit the weight one of those people could secure within thepany.

    He chose to do that and still keep 51% of thatpany simply for him to be the controller of it. He did not want to have to depend on the votes of his partners to approve or not approve certain acts. Then, he would keep the most significant fraction of the Ritter Motor Company.

    But this would not go against his ns to live a life of few responsibilities. He wanted to have control of thispany only in special cases when he wanted something badly. In everyday situations, he would let the management team deal with bureaucratic matters.

    "Anyway, to begin with, the first round, the first 1% to be auctioned, has a starting value of 100,000 silver coins, with a minimum increase of 10,000."

    When Lothur finished saying these words, Frederik and Johann were shocked by his boldness. That was particrly true for this carpenter, who knew it had cost only 10,000 bronze coins to produce that ''miniature.''

    ''That''s a daylight robbery!'' He thought to himself, looking at Lothur with a silly expression. ''Even therger version of that vehicle would cost something between 30 and 50 thousand bronze coins, already considering the work of the professionals involved.''

    ''But he wants to charge 1 million bronze coins for 1% of thepany? Does that mean he believes hispany is worth 100 million before it even gets off the ground?'' Frederik had his mouth wide open right now.

    But that was only the initial offering price, something that was far from the average final price that thispany would earn on this day.

    Since the experts there had somewhat different views than this young carpenter, it did not take long for the first of them to ept Lothur''s initial request and give their bid.

    "110,000 silver coins!"

    ...

 Chapter 403 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 6

    The first to bid in the auction of the Ritter Motor Company shares was none other than Gomeric, Elke''s father, who was very interested in doing business with Lothur.

    He felt that Lothur''s project was worth much more than this young man had initially asked for, so he did not hesitate to make his first bid.

    Unlike Frederik, he and the other local experts in that hall were thinking far ahead into the future, to an extent beyond that of such a young man. They had already lived, for the most part of them, a few centuries and knew how valuable something was through time.

    The Ritter Motor Company would be the first to produce vehicles independent of external driving forces. Not only that, they might own it, so none of them found Lothur''s request high.

    There was a significant advantage in being the first in a business of this kind. Then if they took advantage of the opportunity, their families could achieve great sess in the future!

    So, soon after Gomeric made his initial bid, the others in that ce also made their bids.

    "120.000!" Elisabeth joined in the bidding.

    "130.000!"

    "150.000!" Aiken shouted, barely letting Gomeric raise his starting bid.

    ...

    "250,000 silver coins!"

    "280.000!" The Morning Star Academy principal was not slow to ce his bid. He raised the price of the first 1% of the Ritter Motor Company to almost three times Lothur''s initial asking price.

    At this point, Frederik, Johann, Annaliese, and Elke, the people there who did not understand business so much, could not help but be impressed.

    ''If this keeps up, Lothur will get more than 10 million silver coins today alone!'' Annaliese thought about it in silence, impressed with how sessful her brother-inw would be in this deal with local leaders.

    At the same time, Elke was more than happy, feeling that with this, Lothur would finally fulfill the agreement with her mother, generating something positive for the Becker family.

    With Lothur increasing his value as a man and also a son-inw of that family, the chances of Gomeric epting him and giving Elke''s hand to him would surely be greater. With that, this woman could not help but be happy at this auction, feeling that after today it would not be long before she would be moving in with him and Viktoria.

    "350.000!" Said Coroner Klossner, one of the wealthiest men in Peters City.

    He was someone aware that he would not beat the families there if he waited for the auction to develop. Such an auction would be increasingly disputed as it neared its end.

    After all, those who had not got a slice at the beginning would have no alternative but to do their best to secure something for themselvester.

    On the other hand, extraordinary powers could bid higher than people who had made their wealth individually. That is, August might be very rich in the province, but he was only one. Meanwhile, the Christen family, for example, had no one individually richer than him, but together, this organization outbid him.

    To secure his share of the business of this uingpany, August was willing to go a long way in the first round of bidding!

    But he was not the only one who was thinking that way!

    "360.000!" Elisabeth said.

    She knew nothing of the business model Lothur was about to develop. But she was not dumb and knew what potential that thing had.

    This woman had driven Lothur''s kart and seen how exciting it was to drive it. But, at the same time, she noticed that moving a car was much more practical than a carriage.<novelnext></novelnext>

    With that in mind, she would not miss the chance to get at least 1% or 2% of this business from Lothur since coins mattered a lot to any cultivator in this world.

    ''If I can be a part of this business, it can generate coins that will make a difference for my future advancement without hindering me in my profession!'' She thought.

    ...

    After a few more bids, the first 1% of the Ritter Motor Company was sold for 420,000 pieces of silver to Klossner, the coroner.

    Only Elisabeth had fought him all the way, but she had given up in the end, thinking that this man would not bid so much in the next round.

    And just as expected, after some more time, Elisabeth bought the second 1% of Lothur''s vehiclepany, this time for the price of 430,000 silver coins.

    So time began to fly in that hall, with all the families there bidding, interested in making their positions within the Ritter Motor Company.

    Some would be unhappy that they could not get what they wanted, while others would have to stay out of thispany. But all were somehow satisfied, as this was the beginning of something that would revolutionize the empire and their lives.

    Just by being present at this unique moment in local history, they would have unimaginable future advancements!

    Meanwhile, Lothur was the happiest, finally obtaining the substantial funds to live his life and start his most ambitious projects.

    With this day, he would rise out of poverty and reach the heights he longed for to get closer to his dream life.

    ...

    While Lothur was doing business, the Duke of the province had just received amunication from the management of the local hippodrome.

    He was waiting to hear from his spy to find out what Lothur was up to with so many experts from the province.

    Unfortunately for this Transcendent, the news that reached him had nothing good, not even a hint regarding young Ritter''s ns.

    "Duke, my spy was supposedly held hostage by Lothur Ritter after he was brutally attacked!" Themander of the local guard said this in a tone that showed how offended he was. "Supposedly, the bastard has destroyed my subordinate''s cultivation!"

    "What?" Duke Waldeaur rose from his armchair in one leap, already with a dark-as-night expression on his face, disbelieving Lothur''sck of respect for him.

    "What happened? How could he identify our man? And how did he do it? Did you, by any chance, send someone weak to that ce?"

    "No, Duke. I sent a 2nd stage, 4th Revolution cultivator to spy on that bastard." The guardmander replied as sweat dripped down his face from his nervousness.

    This man''s strength he sent was not so different from his own. So he could not help but feel strange at the moment, considering what that meant.

    ''Has Lothur reached that level already? Can he already defeat people of our level in just fractions of a second?'' That man wondered as the Duke tried to think of something. ''How did he achieve such a feat in such a short time?''

    "Shit!"

    "Send a group of men to the hippodrome and capture Lothur Ritter immediately!" The Duke shouted angrily. "Hemitted a grave crime. Now let him pay for the consequences."

 Chapter 404 The Ritter Motor Company Auction 7

    Sometimeter...

    "820,000 pieces of silver!" Gomeric shouted as he tried to win thest 1% at the auction of the Ritter Motor Company, trying to achieve an interesting slice of thatpany.

    After hours since the start of bidding on this asionmanded by Lothur, 48% of thepany that this young man would develop in theing days had already been auctioned.

    Of this slice of the Ritter Motor Company, the subdivision so far was as follows:

    * 9% to the Frost family

    * 2% to Elisabeth

    * 4% to August Klossner

    * 1% to Jacob''s father''s family

    * 3% to the Teusen family

    * 7% to the Becker family

    * 10% to the Morning Star Academy

    * 5% to the Christen family

    * 6% to the Koch family

    * 1% to a bourgeois family from Peters City

    Due to this subdivision, the principal of that local academy was no longer bidding. At the same time, the Frost patriarch had also stopped, as he could notpete with the hungry ''wolves'' who wanted more shares.

    He was still entitled to another 1% of thatpany, but since he already had 9%, Aiken did not think it would be worthwhile to dispute thatst slice. The nine times he had won had cost him 4.59 million silver coins, with an average price of 510,000 silver coins.

    Since the current bid far exceeded the price he had paid so far, Aiken had chosen to stay out of thisst contest.

    As for the others, most of the people there had already given up on thisst round of bidding, as the price was already too high for many of them.

    Almost all of them had reached the limit of what they could spend in the short term. So onlyrge families that still wanted to improve their positions had the power to continue.

    That was the case only for the Becker and Koch families!

    The young Miss Koch then said. "850.000!"

    Hearing the determined tone in thisdy''s voice, Gomeric felt irritated as he looked at her, sensing the audacity that the younger generation had in challenging someone like him like that.

    "You..." He was about to say, but Hilda suddenly used one of her hands to grasp her husband''s left forearm and then shook her head.

    ''You''d better not spend more than you can afford on this...'' She looked at Lothur and then at Elke. ''Our girl''s children will be entitled to his 51%, so we needn''t despair over so little now.'' She pondered, looking at her husband significantly.

    Hilda did not want to depend on Lothur to secure the entire future of the Becker family. She preferred that her family could grow independently, while she would only use her contacts to get opportunities.

    Obviously, it would be good if Lothur generated positive consequences for the family and was valuable to them. But she preferred not to depend on him and wanted her family to buy as many shares of the Ritter Motor Company as possible.

    However, this would only make sense if they did not have to sacrifice themselves for only 1%. Thus, in this situation where her family would already benefit in some way from Lothur, she stopped her husband from ''wasting'' the family coins.

    ''Anyway, even though these coins would probably go back to our family in the long run, we need them in the short term too. So we have to stop here.'' She showed her husband to sit down, giving him a more or less particr impression of what was on her mind.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''You don''t think it''s worth it?'' Gomeric did not understand but sat down, waiting to talk to his wife about itter.

    Meanwhile, the women standing next to Anneke were all smiles, seeing they could acquire thisst slice of Lothur''s vehiclepany.

    "Hehe, congrattions, little sister!" One of them said to the young Miss Koch, the daughter of the patriarch of that local organization.

    Anneke was delighted, too, congratting her friend. "Now we just have to find a way to justify the amount spent on this to your father, haha." She said as she patted that youngdy on the back.

    After hearing that, the ''little princess'' of the Koch family swallowed her saliva dry, remembering that she had bought up to this point 6% of Lothur''spany for the price of 3.9 million silver coins. With this final victory, that figure would be 4.75 million, more than the Frost family had paid for their share of 9%.

    Only the Morning Star Academy had spent more on this asion, having promised Lothur 5.1 million silver coins!

    Anyway, Lothur was not long in announcing the end of the bidding round, ending the auction sale of his firstpany in this cultivation world.

    "... With that, we end this auction." He said with a broad smile on his face, the expression of someone who had just won 22.52 million silver coins.

    But not only was he like that, but Frederik was in total disbelief after everything he had witnessed in this ce.

    ''He just sold 49% of something that doesn''t even exist for 225.2 million bronze coins!'' This young man thought as he considered the price of a vehicle.

    Frederik used thest few days between the end of his work and this day to study how much material he would need, as well as the adaptations necessary to producerger parts. So he had a good idea of the cost of production and how much ordinary carpenters would charge to do the necessary work.

    ''With that amount, we could develop thousands of units!''

    ''Hell!'' He felt a shiver run down his spine, imagining that he could let his imagination ''run'' wild with so many resources at his disposal.

    As for Johann, he was happy that his family had gotten a slice of this business, while at the same time, he was eager to start working with Lothur.

    "Well, with this auction decided, you will be able to make the payment now or within 24 hours. But we will only sign the Blood Contracts once the coins are in my hands." Lothur said, moving on to the final part of this negotiation, making official what had been dealt with so far.

    "If you have the coins with you, we can discuss thepany''s formation immediately."

    Hearing that, those people looked at each other. None of them had prepared to spend so many silver coins aftering to this event.

    But some of them had coins of different ''levels'' with them.

    "I don''t have 5.1 million silver coins with me, but I have 510 crystals. Will you ept?" The Morning Star Academy principal said this, speaking of this, which was the most important currency of exchange in the cultivation world.

    Spiritual crystals were not typically exchanged for coins because of how valuable they were in cultivation and how scarce they were. So they were not often used as currency. But they were, on average, trading at a rate of 100 for every 1 million silver coins.

    Lothur heard this with surprise, while people in the surrounding area were surprised that this person was willing to take these unique things to make a payment. "No. Spiritual crystals are too valuable, and I don''t have the strength to have all this with me. I prefer gold coins. Or better yet, we can subdivide the promised value into coins of different grades."

    "Oh?" Aiken eximed and then said. "I have the promised amount subdivided between crystals, gold, silver, and bronze coins. Are you interested?"

    "I also have..."

    "Me too..."

    "Same for me." They all agreed with Aiken''s speech.

    ...

 Chapter 405 Time For Payment

    Upon hearing from the people in that hall that they had a way to make immediate payment by subdividing the promised amounts into different types of coins, Lothur was quick to ept.

    He needed coins of all kinds to do business, pay his daily bills, buy resources, etc.

    So he soon epted the offers from the people there, receiving about 70 million bronze coins, 7.8 million silver coins, 760 thousand gold coins, and 120 spiritual crystals.

    With these coins in hand, Lothur stored them in his spatial ring and, before long, began to sign Blood Contracts with the people in that ce.

    Signing these things was not difficult. So in less than an hour, all the contracts that had to be signed were confirmed, finalizing the sale of 49% of the Ritter Motor Company to those people present.

    With this done, Lothur wasted no time and soon began to talk about the matters necessary for thepany to begin operations. "Well, since that''s decided, we need to talk about the formation of the team needed for this project to work."

    "I need formation masters, cksmiths, carpenters, and the ce and materials needed for the initial development of these vehicles. Then, in a second step, we will need stores to market our product."

    The people who had entered into an agreement with him looked at each other, with several of them looking at Lothur and then at the people who had not gotten any share of thispany.

    Lothur understood the problem and exined. "We need partners to do some of these functions, so I suggest we use the people here who have not been able to join our association."

    "Oh? And why can''t we do that on our own?" The Teusen matriarch asked, not caring much about those who had failed in this ce.

    Lothur then answered sincerely. "Some families and people who have associated themselves with Ritter Motor Company have no knowledge required for the development of my products. That is not the case with the Teusen family, who certainly have much to add. But some here cannot do certain operations."

    "So I ask you, is it worth it for these people to give up their main activities to focus on something they have never done?" He did not give her time to answer and said. "Of course not. My project is promising, but it will take time for it to mature."

    "Then we need other organizations to provide certain services we will need."

    That woman understood his point and no longer questioned him, making room for Lothur to continue with his exnation.

    "Also, first of all, we need to set up a local transportationpany and a driving school."

    Driving was fun, but the richest and most noble would always have people to drive for them, even when they had the skill to do so. That was part of the high society way of life, something much more significant in this cultivation world than on Earth.

    So Lothur did not need anyone telling him that his vehicles would be driven massively by mortals.

    But mortals, unlike talented cultivators like the people in this hall, would need dozens of hours to learn to drive a car or other type of vehicle. Since this would be a profitable business, Lothur wanted his group to take over this space even before cars became famous worldwide.

    As for the transportationpany, this was to facilitate the urban mobility of people in Peters City and generate cash for them. But it could also introduce this product to the local powers, who would eventually be the first to consume it.

    Once cars became popr in Peters City, it would be a matter of time before the Ritter Motor Company took over the entire empire and exploded in profits and production.

    Since he needed all kinds of knowledge and people to run those twopanies, Lothur wanted to use those who already knew about his project.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I propose we sign agreements with those families who have not be our partners. That will guarantee they will provide essential services to our operation and not leak information."

    That said, the different people there understood Lothur''s point, and no one disagreed.

    On one side, some people had achieved nothing due to ack of resources topete with the major economic powers in that room. On the other were those people who wanted to keep this business secret.

    So they soon began to discuss who should be responsible for what, with everyone more or lessing to an agreement that was good for the various parties there.

    Apart from Lothur, one of the happiest about everything was Aiken since, with this situation, he felt that his Frost family could somehow better connect to these powers from today on.

    With more connections, the pressure on his shoulders would eventually lessen, and House Frost could achieve a better future!

    ''Lothur is really helping our family a lot...'' He sighed, already imagining Mabel''s expressionter when he told her everything.

    On the other hand, Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke were very proud of their man for the absurd amounts of coins he got in one afternoon and how he handled this operation.

    He was not unfair to anyone, but he was very clever in getting advantages even when he ''gave'' something in return.

    That was a big plus for a leader, something they would all like him to be, although he always refused the idea of bing the ''center of attention.''

    And so, when it was evening in Peters City, the auction and negotiations concerning the Ritter Motor Company ended, with each party leaving that hippodrome.

    However, as they calmly left the area in their respective carriages, a group of more than 100 guards from the province government force was stationed surrounding that ce.

    Several beasts and carriages could be seen outside the hippodrome, with many men armed to the teeth and looking unfriendly at whoever was leaving there.

    ''What''s going on?'' The Morning Star Academy principal wondered from inside his carriage, sensing many auras of 2nd stage cultivators among those guards.

    On the other hand, seeing that group of men sent by the Duke, Aiken more or less understood the situation and frowned. ''Are they here for Lothur? So that person was one of Chris'' men?''

    Lothur was in one of thest vehicles leaving that area. Still, he soon saw the group ahead, blocking the carriages'' passage.

    Then, when the enemy group also noticed him, their leader, who had sent the man from earlier, clenched his fists, finally being able to deal with this individual.

    ''Finally!''

    ''They took hours in that ce, but at least now we can end this bastard''s life!'' He stepped forward and then shouted. "Lothur Ritter, surrender peacefully and ept the consequences of your vile actions!"

    ...

 Chapter 406 Using The Emperor

    When he heard the leader of that group speaking those words, Lothur immediately understood the reason for this circus around the exit of the Hippodrome.

    ''So it was a person from the Duke who was trying to spy on me...'' He looked in the direction of themander of the local guard, sensing how shameless these people were.

    Not only did they want to meddle in his business, but they also wanted to punish him for trying to stop their action against him!

    Meanwhile, Viktoria and Annaliese, also in his carriage, were watching the situation outside that area, where many guards were stationed.

    "Lothur, what are we going to do?" Annaliese asked, worried about what might happen.

    "Let''s try to talk to them." He said as he got up and left that carriage.

    In the midst of this, Viktoria saw that several of the carriages that were leaving that ce before theirs had stopped, with their partners turning their attention to this situation.

    "What''s going on here, guardmander?" Gomeric asked as he left his carriage after Elke''s requests.

    Already outside that estate, the city guardmander looked at the Becker patriarch and said. "This is not a matter involving the Becker family. So, you have nothing to worry about."

    "Oh? What about me?" Aiken also left his carriage, interested in solving this problem.

    He was Lothur''s father-inw, so even if he did not have an economic interest in protecting this young man, he would be there to help right now.

    But with everything that had happened in thest few hours, all those local experts were interested in keeping Lothur alive and well. After all, he was the future of the Ritter Motor Company!

    Therefore, not only did Aiken and Gomeric leave their carriages in support of Lothur, all the people leaving that Hippodrome did the same.

    ''This Lothur business will bring a lot of resources to the academy in the future. I won''t just watch these idiots get in the way of my organization''s future victories...'' The Morning Star Academy principal thought to himself as he left his carriage.

    The Morning Star Academy was an institution under the control of the imperial family. But each province of the empire had its own academy. As a result, these institutionspeted with each other, generating good prizes for students and academy leaders.

    When an academy was doing well, producing many prodigies for the empire, the principals and some of the professionals in those units could be rewarded immensely. After all, they were partly to me for the sess of their students.

    These professionals taught and created the study and training environment that young people needed. They got the materials, opportunities, and good assignments. In short, those things to the growth of cultivators.

    So even when one of these individuals, as in the case of this principal, was not directly involved with the students in his academy, they had their merits.

    The imperial family knew this very well and rewarded those professionals who gave the best results with resources and status promotions within the empire.

    Everyone had their ambitions. Everyone needed coins and influence, so without exception, individuals in this man''s position tried to strengthen their connections and positions, to better themselves.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Luis was doing this by buying 10% of the Ritter Motor Company, securing a new source of ie for the academy, which could result in extra resources to nurture more prodigies.

    But before taking the reins of the matter, this man remained silent to see how Lothur would handle the situation.

    Meanwhile, the local guard men were beginning to feel strange since, in the short time between the previous surrender order and now, many experts voiced on Lothur''s behalf.

    Not everyone wanted to wait to see Lothur try to solve his problems on his own. Hence, severalte 2nd stage cultivators were there to speak on his behalf. And because of how strange this seemed, considering that Lothur did not have influence until recently, these people could not help but form strange expressions on their faces.

    ''What''s going on here?'' One of these guards thought about it as he looked at coroner Klossner, who was also standing there trying to talk to the guardmander.

    August had been convinced of Lothur''s potential even before seeing and driving this young man''s vehicle today. He had already heard how strong the young Ritter was, but he also had proof of the integrity of that woman''s words when he saw such a young man acting against the Duke''s spy.

    So he, who also had his ambitions, would not let his newly formed alliance with such a promising young man go down the drain without at least trying to deal with the matter.

    "Commander, what is the meaning of this? Don''t tell me that the Duke is trying to force himself against young Lothur?" He eximed to that individual, who was stunned by so many people siding with that young criminal.

    "Coroner Klossner, why are you speaking on behalf of this little delinquent? He destroyed the cultivation of a good man. How can this be the Duke''s fault?" That guard leader shouted, trying to make it sound like Lothur was to me for everything and that he was the voice of justice.

    But then, Lothur reached outside that area and said, as he stood just a few meters from those enemies. "What you actually mean is that, after you sent your spy, you want to condemn me because I protected myself. My crime is that I acted against an enemy who wanted to harm me, who invaded a private ce..."

    "I wonder, does the Duke of the province have no shame?" He asked in a tone of teasing. "Does the Duke Waldeaur have no respect for the emperor? Does he know that the rules of the empire say that anyone who feels threatened within a private property can act against the enemy?"

    "Or are you guys saying that self-defense no longer exists? Maybe the rules have changed?" Lothur continued to talk provocatively, looking from one side of that area to the other, smiling at the enemy.

    Lothur might not have the best ofmon sense, considering that he did not know much about the customs of this cultivation world. But he had read all kinds of books in Sector-1, where almost all the empire''sws were avable for students to learn.

    Because of this, he knew perfectly well that he could act against that man from earlier, which is why he destroyed such a person''s cultivation without hesitation.

    He did not know who was behind that man and when the problem woulde to him. But he was fully aware that the enemy could not act within thew against him just because of this.

    As for acting in other ways, his opponents already had reasons to do so. Thus, this young man would not be the one to hold against these nuisances who thought he was someone to be trifled with.

    And with that, he made all those Duke people temporarily silent, unable to say anything because of the shameless man who had just used the emperor against them.

    ...

 Chapter 407 Getting Out Of Trouble

    After a time of silence, the guardmander retorted to Lothur''s words. "Don''t y dumb. You are not on an estate..."

    Lothur did not let that man finish speaking and said in a higher tone than his opponent. "Of course I am. I paid to rent the Hippodrome, so during the contract period, this ce was at my disposal."

    "The contract I signed with this ce specified very well that only my guests could enter the area and how the employees should behave." He said, still smiling provocatively. "So when I saw that spy, I just did the same thing that any frightened person would do in their house..."

    "I protected myself!"

    "Bullshit!" That man said in anger. "If you were scared, how could you have managed to act so cruelly with the enemy? Have you no shame in your face, Lothur? You were strong enough to destroy his cultivation! Then you could have reacted differently!"

    "From the emperor''s point of view, it makes no difference." Lothur insisted. "Even though one can protect oneself, one who feels threatened on ''their'' property has the right to kill the invader. So I guess just destroying someone''s cultivation, under those circumstances, is not a crime..."

    "Unless, of course, the Duke intends to rebel and show the emperor that he no longer follows the rules of that dignified sovereign." He said, with a look that was irritating his enemies more and more.

    ''Damn bastard!''

    ''Is the scumbag going to use the emperor''s name to get himself out of trouble?''

    ''Slippery bastard!''

    "Lothur, be a man and admit your mistakes!" The guardmander said between his teeth, which were firmly pressed against each other at this instant.

    "Hahaha, very funny." Young Ritterughed. "Are you sure you don''t want me to hand over my head on a silver tter to you either?"

    But as the enemies showed their irritation in their ugly expressions and fighting intent, Lothur became severe and asked. "Now tell me, will you or will you not get out of my way? If you are going to rebel against the imperialws, say so! I don''t have time to waste on you!"

    "You bastard!"

    "Son of a..."

    Several of those people muttered simr things, with some taking steps forward, feeling pure hatred of Lothur for ''counter-attacking'' them so well.

    They knew that everything Lothur had told them was true, that such a young man could have done anything by perceiving a spy in that ce. After all, the emperor could not allow otherwise, or it would be the same as encouraging enemies to spy on him and his subordinates.

    The matter of acting against spies was so severe that if someone could identify one of these spying even in public, such a person had the right to act.

    When someone sent a spy to do a job, that person or organization was itself epting all the risks and had no one toin to.

    Suppose Lothur took this matter to the imperial family. In that case, all these people and even the Duke could be punished to some degree.

    Therefore, they could not help but feel angry and frustrated that Lothur had the calmness to use this now instead of getting nervous and making some mistakes.

    Meanwhile, the guard''smander was highly embarrassed but knew he could not do anything against Lothur in this situation. With so many people in the surrounding area speaking on behalf of this young man, witnesses to send this problem to the imperial family, he could only ept his defeat.<novelnext></novelnext>

    With that, after a few seconds of looking with anger at Lothur, this man reluctantly opened the passage for carriages of the Hippodrome.

    "We are returning to the barracks!" He shouted, turning to leave that ce as quickly as possible.

    At the same time as that, Lothur''s associates in the surrounding area sighed in satisfaction at how he handled everything and that the problem was over quickly.

    None of them had needed to intervene more significantly, nor had Lothur made mistakes that would bring problems for all of themter. So after a few moments, when they repeated goodbye, the people there returned to their carriages and soon went their separate ways.

    The Morning Star Academy principal was one of those who happened to be quite pleased. ''It seems he is talented at creating and negotiating things and knows when to avoid a fight...'' He thought this in his carriage, standing next to his secretary.

    "Put someone to keep an eye on Lothur when he is inside the academy." He ordered his secretary. "I want someone to help him in case any students stronger than he tries to cross the line."

    "All right."

    ...

    As everyone returned to their residences, Lothur and Viktoria dropped Annaliese off at the Frost estate. Then they went to her home on the north side of Peters City.

    ''Starting tomorrow, I have to put part of my day into dealing with the affairs of the Ritter Motor Company.'' Lothur thought about this as he moved along with his wife.

    He had already arranged with his group of partners and future partners how everything should start. First, they were going to get where the factory would be built. This design would be done by him and Frederik, who knew most about what would be needed to facilitate the production of the vehicles.

    At the same time, some groups of Lothur''s associates were going to start gathering formations masters, cksmiths, and carpenters to join the production. Of course, they would not be many since the initial production would have to be moderate. But still, the group had agreed to get at least twenty 1-star professionals and five 2-star professionals from each profession.

    With this, they would have to order all the materials needed to produce the vehicles, which naturally needed better resources than those used in the previous kart.

    But Lothur''s group would also have to create management for the Ritter Motor Campany, develop the transportpany, and create the driver training school.

    All this needed a lot of coins, so each of the partners in thispany would already have to make an initial investment in the next few days. But Lothur and his partners would still calcte this after seeing these initial points.

    Since all of this could be done in a matter of days, Lothur was already anticipating that in a short time, he would start teaching the formations masters of hispany.

    He would make all these professionals sign Blood Contracts to ensure these people''s integrity, and no one would take his ideas outside the Ritter Motor Company.

    Since he was the only one who could teach these things at the beginning of everything, he was already preparing to put some of his time into thispany.

    ''But that will be good.'' He smiled. ''With the number of people thispany will have, we can have our first vehicles in less time than it took Frederik to create the parts for that kart...'' He felt excited just before he arrived at his home with Viktoria.

    ...

 Chapter 408 Training Resistance

    Upon arriving home, Lothur quickly made his way to his training site, where he had prepared to stimte his resistance to mes and darkness.

    Viktoria did not stop her husband and went about her own business, as she felt she could not falter or he would leave her behind.

    So, a short time after the previous troublesome asion had ended, Lothur was already without clothes in the middle of a training room, where several devices with formations were in his surroundings.

    These things that looked like fire extinguishers usually found on Earth, half yellow and the rest ck, were around where Lothur was sitting, following circr lines that he had drawn. On them were the formations he had produced, following Anneke''s advice.

    After he was ready to begin, Lothur activated the formations on the yellow ''extinguishers,'' beginning the operation of these things that had the opposite effect to the simr items seen on Earth.

    As the spiritual energy from the surroundings began to ''nourish'' the formations on these cylindrical items, slowly orange mes began to pour out of their ''mouths.''

    At first, these mes barely reached Lothur, nor did they stimte him. But within moments, they increased both in temperature and size.

    He knew exactly his current endurance level, so these formations naturally spewed mes strong enough to hurt him. Because of this, within minutes of sitting there with those ''extinguishers,'' Lothur began to feel pain, with the hairs on his arms, chest, and back beginning to burn.

    There were no ''mouths'' of the ''extinguishers'' directed at his face, so the hair on this young man''s head was ''safe.'' Anyway, he did not even care about this, as he expressed his pain on his face without making the distinctive sounds of moments like this.

    With that, after some time under the effect of these formations, which differed from cultivator mes, which were usually much more powerful, Lothur''s resistance was finally stimted!

    [Abnormal temperature detected in the host''s upper body...]

    [Activating emergency measures...]

    [Iron-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 99%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 100%.]

    When he felt a burning sensation at the nape of his neck, where the base of human cultivation should be, Lothur began to notice chills and sweat all over his body.

    Simultaneously, the feeling of medu cleansing began to intensify in his being, along with his Super Regeneration kicking in to resolve his burns.

    In this way, Lothur would spend the next few seconds feeling these various sensations until the impurities driven to leave his body stoppeding out of his pores.

    [Bronze-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 0%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 49.7]

    [CON: 202.2 -> 203.9]

    [DEX: 43.7]

    [AGI: 60]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 105.5 -> 106.6]

    [WIL: 84.1 -> 85.8]

    [EVF: 708 -> 699]

    Feeling much better, Lothur opened his eyes and sighed as he noted his slight improvements in status.

    He then turned off the formations that were still emitting mes in his direction, which at the moment, could no longer hurt him due to his qualitative evolution.

    He could only develop Iron-grade formations as long as he did not have soul cultivation. So the limit of the yellow ''extinguishers,'' and also the ck ones, was to stimte resistances of the same ssification.<novelnext></novelnext>

    As Lothur was not going to waste time doing something useless, he returned to his position to train his other resistance after drinking water.

    It was time for the element of darkness!

    Unlikemon elements, the darkness did not directly attack the body of humans or simr living beings. Instead, it targeted the soul, which would lead to death in normal situations.

    The darkness was directly associated with Natural Laws concerning spiritual death, soul dissipation, and rted variations. Hence, its action on cultivators with an affinity to it was focused on this more spiritual part of cultivators.

    Lothur did not really understand the logic behind his resistance to darkness since part of his soul was ''iplete.'' But since the system had already shown him the information about his resistance to this element, he knew that somehow he would get improvements by training this characteristic of his.

    So he did not hesitate for long and soon activated the formations capable of expelling a dark mist, which soon entered his body like a sponge absorbing water.

    He felt a strange sensation in his being when this happened, simr to what one would feel when escaping from a near-death situation.

    But it did not harm Lothur''s fleshy body, leaving his cells and the like to move towards a small part at the back of his head.

    There, this dark source of such an element began to condense under Lothur''s small spiritual organ, forming a sort of protective cover over it.

    Lothur felt shivers run through his body and involuntary tremors as this happened. He noticed that something there seemed to have started pulsating and absorbing that ck energy every few moments.

    Since his resistance to the element of darkness was low, soon the system detected ''soul death'' approaching him, and this young man''s resistance began to work to prevent the worst.

    [Darkness detected seeping into the host''s soul...]

    [Starting emergency measures...]

    [Darkness Iron-grade resistance.]

    [Progress: 2%]

    ...

    [Progress: 6%]

    Then sessive notifications began to appear, but Lothur saw nothing while his eyes were closed.

    However, given the sensation he felt with each progression of his resistance to the element of darkness, he knew that he was slowly improving.

    At the same time, he was slowly raising the potency of the formations in his surroundings, something he would not leave at the maximum, as he had done with the mes.

    His resistance to Iron-grade mes was already high, not far from the peak. But his resistance to the element of darkness was so small that it was almost as if he had no such thing.

    Hence, Lothur was naturally holding back, with ns to gradually increase the power of the ck ''extinguishers'' in his surroundings.

    ...

    After almost 2 hours of training his resistance to darkness, Lothur had made incredible progress!

    [Darkness Iron-grade resistance.]

    [Progress: 81%]

    He had never improved this much in one go, but after pondering about it, this young man realized why.

    [EVF: 699 -> 499]

    ''EVF points can be used not only in Constitution but also in Soul. Thus, since I can constantly ''wound'' my soul through these formations, I can continuously work on my resistance to the element of darkness.'' He pondered.

    So far, Lothur had never used formations to train, these things that could continuously use Natural Laws to ''attack'' him. Instead, he had only used regr poison master training, which involved natural resources and their maniption.

    But resources ran out, had to be constantly prepared, etc. So he could hardly raise so much of his poison resistance in one go.

    ''However, a training that can do that with poisons is not easy to make, nor cheap...''

    ''I''ll have to study to see what''s most worthwhile...'' He pondered before sighing as he had no capabilities currently to produce something of Bronze-grade ssification.

    ''For now, I will continue training with Bronze-grade poisons produced by Ba.'' He rose from his seat and prepared to go training with Viktoria.

    ...

 Chapter 409 Surprise In Different Houses

    Meeting his wife in another room of their house, Lothur was already dressed in fighting clothes and with his ax in his hands.

    He did not intend to fight with the Elemental Staff since, with this artifact, he could ignore the spiritual effects of his wife''s techniques. But his purpose in training with her was not simply to win but to stimte his physique.

    Since it was much better to suffer when that was the goal, he would naturally face Viktoria at a disadvantage and be pushed by her. So he had his ax in hand, a different one than the one he had used when he was at the 1st stage.

    [One-Headed Ax] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Feature: increases the user''s attack power by 18%.]

    [Reminder: it weighs 3,000 Newtons.]

    Lothur had earned this ax after defeating one of his many 2nd stage opponents and keeping this item instead of selling it at the academy.

    He had sold there many times before and earned silver and bronze coins and several merit points. But for some items, he would simply keep them, even considering his previous poverty.

    That would not change much from now on since Lothur could not use many items at once, and he would rather have coins on hand than unnecessary artifacts.

    Therefore, even though he had be a millionaire cultivator by local standards, this young man would not change that much just because of this.

    As he stood face to face with his wife, who was finishing meditating, Lothur looked at her status and noted her small improvements.

    ''She''s not far from level 11 of body cultivation...'' He smiled. "Very good!"

    Hearing her man''s voice, Viktoria opened her eyes to look at his handsome face. She smiled at Lothur and asked. "You want to fight again, right?"

    "Hmmm." He nodded, remembering that he had promised to surpass his wife''s abilities quickly.

    "Then I''ll make you suffer a little more for saying such clueless things to me." She joked as she prepared to ''dance'' with him.

    "I''m looking forward to it..." Lothur teased, winking at her.

    Meanwhile, she moved to attack him by surprise, using her soul to temporarily raise her Constitution and surprise Lothur.

    "Oops..." He moved, easily dodging her.

    "You''re truly fast. I''ll give you that." She grew more serious but was pleased to see Lothur acting so well at the start of this match. "But you need to learn new techniques. Although the mastery you have reached in your current techniques is excellent, they are still too simple."

    "I know that." Hemented.

    Meanwhile, the two were moving around thatbat room, with her moving from using her soul to strengthen physical attributes to fighting as an actual soul cultivator.

    Lothur continued. "But it''s difficult to find good techniques for body cultivators like me around here. I would need permission to the third level of the Innumerable Scrolls to find something like that."

    Lothur only had ess to the first two floors of the Innumerable Scrolls. So he was limited to that institution''s most simple Iron and Bronze-grade techniques.

    Most of the techniques there were for soul cultivators. In other words, there were few techniques there that body cultivators could fully master, so he did not have many options.

    "Hmmm, that''s right..." Viktoriamented as she tried to think of something to help her husband. "Maybe we can raise your position with today''s agreements and advance to the third floor."

    "Oh? That''s not a bad idea."

    ...<novelnext></novelnext>

    While Lothur and Viktoria were training on their property, several families around Peters City were discovering today''s aplishments of their daughters or matriarchs.

    That was the case with the Teusen family. Its matriarch had just arrived at their headquarters after traveling to an area 50 kilometers from Peters City.

    She was not apanied by Johann, as that young man was living in Peters City due to his studies at the Formations Masters Association.

    So when she met up with her husband, this woman was alone but with a satisfied expression that such a man could hardly see on her face.

    "What happened?" He smiled at her as he noticed she wanted to tell him something.

    As she watched her husband resting in a leather armchair, looking tired, the Teusen matriarch animatedly said to him. "Valentin, I have made an incredible deal for the family! I bought 3% of apany that will start producing a special kind of chariot that doesn''t need animals or beasts to pull them!"

    "What?" Upon hearing such a thing, that man suddenly got up from his seat, feeling that some rascal had tricked his wife. "You did what? How much was that? Where was that, Monika?"

    She then answered him. "I paid 1.35 million silver coins for the 3% of the Ritter Motor Company, apany to be developed in Peters City. I did that in that appointment that I should attend this afternoon..."

    She was about to exin, but her husband''s expression was getting uglier and uglier when he interrupted her, feeling the boldness of the people who had disrespected his family. "What nonsense!" He shouted angrily. "People don''t respect our family anymore, and someone even tries to trick us!"

    "I can''t take that! I have to make these scoundrels pay for manipting my wife!" He said this as he left his office. At the same time, Manika stayed behind without being able to exin the situation to him.

    "Wait, Valentin. It''s not what you think! I wasn''t tricked!" She shouted as she ran. But since her husband was much stronger than her, this woman lost sight of him in a short time.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''What do I do now?'' She pondered as she became angry that she had married such a temperamental man who could not even hear everything she had to say.

    ...

    At the same time that the Teusen family was facing the current problem, the leader of House Koch was standing in front of his daughter and Anneke with an extremely dark expression on his face.

    "Repeat what you just said..." He said in a low voice to his foolish daughter, who had spent almost 5 million silver coins on a project that, whenever anyone tried, failed.

    That woman then said in a low voice. "I paid 4.75 million silver coins for 7% of the Ritter Motor Company..."

    The gray-haired man on the other side of the desk where they were sitting around clenched his fists upon hearing this once again. "Exactly. You paid that for something that doesn''t even exist... Something that always went wrong..."

    This man then closed his eyes, asking the Holy Seraph to give him strength in this moment of such disappointment.

    But his daughter was quicker than Manika and exined to her father. "It''s not like that, father. I know very well the history of attempts by formations masters to produce a special carriage like the one I am talking about. But Lothur''s product is different."

    "It really works!"

    ''Lothur?'' This man''s eyes narrowed as he identified the scumbag who had manipted his precious daughter.

    Then Anneke said. "It is true, patriarch. The young miss herself has tried out the ''car'' Lothur invented. It works and can carry even 3rd stage cultivators with ease."

    "3rd stage?" That man''s eyes widened at that information.

    ...

 Chapter 410 Trouble?

    After hearing her father''s questioning, the young Miss Koch replied animatedly. "Yes, father. A 3rd stage cultivator participated in the Ritter Motor Company auction."

    Anneke nodded and said. "From the family''s information, he must be the current principal of the Morning Star Academy."

    "Oh?" That patriarch opened his mouth in surprise, not expecting that such a local expert, whom so few people knew, would be involved in the same business as his daughter.

    She then said. "He bought 10% of the Ritter Motor Company for the academy, father. So I don''t think my judgment was wrong, or not only he and I would be wrong. Several relevant people in the province would also be, as the examples of the Frost and Becker patriarchs and the coroner Klossner."

    "Even Klossner is involved in this?" This man made an even more surprised expression, noting that what his daughter had done was not just an expensive prank or been tricked.

    For so many relevant people to be involved in this so-called Lothur project, what he had presented had to be truly impressive.

    "How many crystals did these families pay for it?" He asked in curiosity to gauge how relevant those experts had assessed Lothur''s project.

    "In total, Lothur managed to raise over 22 million silver coins, patriarch," Anneke reported, shocking this person.

    Twenty-two million silver coins were already almost 10% of the Koch family''s annual ie!

    Yet this family had several estates, hundreds of members, thousands of subordinates, and many businesses throughout the province and empire.

    As such, it was pretty shocking that only 49% of apany that did not even exist had been auctioned off for that amount!

    ''Unbelievable!'' He thought silently, just before being even more surprised.

    "But we will have to make a financial contribution in the next few days..." His daughter said.

    "What?"

    "Lothur said to prepare us to invest up to 1 million bronze coins in the next few days so he can start his operations." She exined.

    That man did not understand it, but Anneke soon exined the business model that Lothur had presented to them.

    After hearing everything, that man had his reservations. Still, since so many local experts had epted Lothur''s rules, he was giving this young man a vote of confidence for the time being.

    On the other hand, he was anxious to get to know Lothur''s vehicle and only did not leave immediately to go to this young man''s house because it was already the middle of the night.

    But the next day, he would pass that ce where he and all the local noble powers knew Lothur was living.

    But not only was he thinking about it!

    Lothur had not yet let Annaliese, Viktoria, and Elke drive his kart. He had left it until the other day when he would no longer have lines of potential associates to present such a vehicle.

    Unfortunately for him, he did not know what awaited him!

    ...

    While noble families in the province reacted in different ways to their rtives'' deals with Lothur, the bourgeoisie that had participated in that auction celebrated.

    The bourgeois families that had participated in the Ritter Motor Company auction knew that they would not be able topete with therge organizations on that asion.

    So they had associated among themselves, with coroner Klossner or with Elisabeth.

    Because of this, some of these organizations that already had good rtionships with these two people, or with each other, had gotten smaller fractions of the Ritter Motor Company than Lothur had sold.

    For example, the family that had allied with Elisabeth had ''bought'' from her 45% of the 2% she had won in the previous auction. As for the two families that had partnered with August Klossner, they bought 33% of that coroner''s 4% together.

    Because of this, someone like him had gotten a more significant fraction of the Ritter Motor Company than, for example, the Teusen family, a local noble house.<novelnext></novelnext>

    On the other hand, two local bourgeois families with no connections with those two experts had joined together. They bought 1% of Lothur''spany.

    Due to these victories of these powers, their leaders soon started celebratory parties at their properties, making some Peters City neighborhoods vibrate for hours into the night.

    ...

    The next day, when the sun was slowly rising over the horizon...

    Lothur awoke to feel light rays illuminating the interior of his room, which at the moment was quite messy due to his and Viktoria''s previous night.

    Winning coins was as exciting as winning money on earth, so the two of them celebrated with each other quite a bit after their previous training.

    With that, upon waking up this early morning, Lothur had a satisfied and rxed look on his face as he felt his wife''s body embracing him.

    But just as she was rousing from her sleep, before they had a chance to get excited again, a shout came from outside that property.

    "Lothur! Open the door!"

    "Little bastard, return my wife''s coins that you ensnared!" Patriarch Teusen''s voice fully awakened Viktoria, while Lothur''s eyes opened significantly, with him looking in the direction from which that voice wasing.

    Viktoria and Lothur then raised the upper parts of their bodies and looked at each other with strange expressions.

    "I wonder what happened?" The corners of her lips slowly formed a funny expression without her understanding this unusual start to the morning.

    "I don''t know. Let''s just ignore him." Lothurmented, but since he was already awake, he decided to get up to eat something.

    Viktoria followed him, not rushing to pay attention to this morning''s problem.

    ''Well, he came this time of the morning because he wanted to... Now let him wait until we ''wake up''...'' She thought as she followed her husband into the kitchen.

    Meanwhile, outside that estate, the Teusen patriarch and a dozen men from that family were waiting for Lothur.

    He knew that many formations were on their way to invade that estate and that many people were watching them in the surrounding area.

    The observers from the local families would not give up on Lothur so easily. So many 2nd stage cultivators were around.

    Since the Teusen family was not involved in these local affairs, these men naturally had no way of knowing whether those people were enemies or guards of Lothur.

    Hence, the patriarch of this family decided to wait for that young rascal who had tricked his wife.

    He and his group had traveled all night to reach this ce, but as 2nd stage cultivators, it was not much spending a sleepless night and waiting upright. Even more so considering how offended they felt about ''losing'' coins to Lothur.

    So they were standing there, shouting for Lothur, while getting the attention of this young man''s neighbors, some wealthy individuals from Peters City.

    "Damn, what''s going on?"

    "Do you know what time it is? Am I trying to sleep here!" One of Lothur''s neighbors opened his bedroom window across the street and shouted at those people on the street.

    But when such a cultivator saw the group of people there and the people disembarking from carriages, he turned pale and ran into his room.

    At that moment, the Koch patriarch and people from the Becker and Frost families had arrived at that ce!

    ...

 Chapter 411 Shame

    At that moment, when Lothur''s neighbor fled to his own room, the group shouting in front of that estate saw the visitors arriving there.

    Patriarch Teusen promptly frowned as he saw Patriarch Koch arriving beside his daughter and Anneke. But not only them but also Annaliese and Elke, who were with some elders from their families, with that young red-headed next to Hilda.

    Hilda had not tried Lothur''s kart the day before. Thus, she had decided to apany her daughter on this visit to that young man''s estate now in the morning.

    As for the elders of the Becker and Frost families, they were there in curiosity since they had heard from their respective patriarchs about the deal with Lothur.

    Then nearly a dozen 2nd stage cultivators appeared at the door of Lothur''s estate, shocking the first visitors arriving there.

    Patriarch Teusen remembered his wife saying more powers had attended the auction the previous afternoon. So he soon understood that these people were there for the same reason he was.

    "Patriarch Koch, matriarch Becker, are you here to seek justice for what Lothur Ritter did yesterday?" He asked, feeling that with the help of these people, he could easily get revenge on the enemy, even if the people watching the area were bodyguards of that young man.

    However, he got a different answer than he expected. "No. I am here to test Lothur''s vehicle." Hildamented.

    The Koch patriarch said something simr. "Me too. My daughter did business with Lothur the day before and bought 7% of thatpany for our family. So I''m here to learn about the amazing product this young man has created."

    Hearing this, each person in the Teusen family group looked strangely at the situation, squinting as their eyes narrowed.

    "Are you here to meet him?" That level 15 individual asked, still red from the humiliation of his wife being fooled by Lothur. "What are you people talking about? Aren''t you here to seek justice? How can your families be interested in a lie?"

    "Lie?" Hilda smiled. "Patriarch Teusen, don''t tell me that your wife didn''t exin the situation to you?"

    Patriarch Koch was silent as he saw that man''s reaction. He felt that if not for his usual calmness and the fact that he had heard everything from his daughter and Anneke, he would do the same as this man.

    "She told me that she bought 3% of the Ritter Motor Company, a fraudulentpany that doesn''t even exist yet and intends to produce independent animal-powered carriages... Do you guys believe that?" He questioned.

    The people who had just arrived put their hands on their faces, feeling shame for this man.

    But then Elke defended her man''s integrity. "Don''t talk nonsense, patriarch Teusen. Lothur is very serious in everything he does, and his vehicle works."

    "Your wife, Lady Monika Teusen, has tested the vehicle for herself."

    "But not only her, patriarch Frost, my father, coroner Klossner, all of them and more local experts have tested Lothur''s test vehicle." She said, with pride but also with a slightly teasing tone. "So tell me, do you think Lothur fooled all these experts? Do you really think that if he were a fraud, he would have made so many coins the day before?"

    Hearing Elke''s logical words, that patriarch felt a little irritated that a young woman like her would talk to him like that. But he could not deny that there was a sense in her words.

    Come to think of it, he had not allowed his wife to exin the situation adequately, and she had even asked him to wait.

    Unfortunately, at that moment, he was so angry that he had just gone on his way, aiming to recover his coins and bring justice to his family.

    "Patriarch?" As Valentin pondered the situation, Johann arrived at that ce, interested in testing the kart.

    "Young Johann?" The other individuals in that family identified him. "What are you doing here?" Someone asked.

    "I came to see if Lothur would let me test his kart. Unfortunately, only the matriarch got the chance yesterday, so since we''re partners now, I''m here to try that..."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Anyway, did youe to do the same?" This young formations master started to get disappointed, seeing the number of people there who would probably stand in his way once again.

    ''Damn!''

    ''With this many people here, how will I test the kart?'' He clenched his fists, hearing ame excuse.

    "Of course!" Valentin smiled, trying to disguise the redness on his face. "After hearing from my wife, I came running to Peters City to meet young Lothur and that kart, hehe."

    The people there looked at this province expert with embarrassed looks, but this man did not care. He had already embarrassed himself in front of many people, so he could only keep some of his respect for his family''s young generation!

    Thus, the tension around the entrance to Lothur''s estate slowly eased, with more than two dozen people waiting for him there.

    After almost 30 minutes of waiting, Lothur finally opened the door to his house and saw all those people waiting for him on the street.

    The various groups, murmuring among themselves, stopped what they were doing and looked at Lothur.

    "What is it? Why are there so many people here this morning?" He asked. "Don''t you people have anything better to do in your lives?"

    But the people there were not annoyed by this, and the patriarchs soon approached Lothur.

    "Lothur, I could not be at your event the day before. But after hearing from my daughter about you and your ideas, I couldn''t help bute early to visit you." The Koch patriarch said this just after Anneke introduced this man to her ''friend.''

    Lothur greeted such a person, interested in having a good rtionship with this family due to their specialty.

    Then he remembered something. "By the way, who was yelling earlier?"

    "Cough! Cough!"

    "He''s already gone..." Valentin Teusen said while making a slightly different voice than before. "Anyway, I am here to meet you too, young man. My wife and young Johann have said amazing things about you."

    ''Did I?" Johann wondered quietly.

    "Really?" Lothur smiled, understanding that this man must be the same as earlier. But since the Teusen family was focused on the art of inscribing formations, he ignored the earlier cries. "Hehe, I''m happy with that, then."

    "Come on,e on in, everyone." He invited them in after noticing Elke and Annaliese standing around and understanding what everyone wanted by visiting him this morning.

    As those people entered Lothur and Viktoria''s estate, the spies in the surroundings of that ce were all at a loss to understand the situation.

    "Why did so many relevant peoplee to this young man''s house early now?" One of them muttered, not understanding how so many things had changed overnight.

    Yesterday morning Lothur was just a young prodigy with a future ahead of him. But now he was someone who had somehow done business with prominent people and was now even being visited by people of the caliber of the Koch patriarch!

    They could not help but be amazed!

    ...

 Chapter 412 Lothurs Strategy

    While observing the surroundings of Lothur''s estate, the observers sent by the enemy families of this young man in the province were trying to understand the situation.

    They could even see what was happening inside Lothur''s estate at this very moment. But nobody there was able to hear the conversations in that ce.

    They were 2nd stage cultivators, people strong enough to ignore most of the Iron-grade formations and poisons on that estate. That is, due to the number of these items there, it would not be easy for them to break in, but they could observe the area easily.

    However, listening was something that was beyond their capabilities. That was because, for them to hear what was being discussed inside the Ritter estate, the sound waves there would have to reach them. But because Lothur had made sound shuffling formations, such things did not leave his property.

    As a result, even though they were one level above Iron-grade formations, these Spiritual Warriors could not hear anything Lothur was talking to anyone in that ce!

    Precisely because of this, this silver-haired young man did not bother to show off his kart to his guests in the leisure area of his estate.

    There, after he finished receiving all his visitors, Lothur put aside his watchers and showed everyone the kart he had in his spatial ring.

    He stopped it next to the swimming pool on his property, where there was room for him to drive, going back and forth with this ''miniature.''

    When he presented his vehicle, the observers sent by his enemy families were curious. Still, they had no way to answer any of their questions just from what they saw.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s associates who wanted to try out such a vehicle asked him their questions as he again exined how to use the kart.

    Only this time, instead of using himself to demonstrate how this item works, he used his wife, giving Viktoria a chance to have some fun with it.

    Viktoria, as well as the other women of Lothur, were not happy to be forced to test the kart in this ce instead of the horse racing track of the previous day. But since they all understood the current situation, none of themined.

    So Viktoria tried to enjoy the experience of being in control of her vehicle, demonstrating to those people new to this device how to use it.

    As for Elke and Annaliese, the two eventually tested the kart just before the Koch and Teusen patriarchs had their own time, as well as Hilda, the Becker and Frost elders.

    Since there was no great space on that Lothur estate, the amount of time each person had to test the kart was small. Nevertheless, in less than 40 minutes, everyone there, including Johann, got a taste of what it would be like to drive a car.

    "Amazing!" Johann said as he left that little creation of Lothur while all the elders in the surrounding area had thoughtful expressions on their faces.

    That was particrly true for the Teusen patriarch, who hade to this ce thinking that his wife had fallen for a scam.

    ''It really works!'' He thought to himself, seeing the possible implications of such a ''car'' and the Ritter Motor Company.

    ''Damn it!

    ''I should havee! If I had been in Monika''s ce, we wouldn''t have been left with only 3%!'' Hemented in his heart that his family could have had something more relevant than what they got yesterday.

    To Valentin, the Ritter Motor Company was a sess case even before it was developed. Thus, it would only be a matter of time before thispany would ''explode'' in sales and give incredible returns to its shareholders.

    Therefore, it would have been much more interesting for him and his family if they had gotten more at yesterday''s auction.<novelnext></novelnext>

    That was also the thinking of the Koch patriarch!

    ''That ''car'' is something revolutionary.'' This man thought while Anneke wasmenting to the Young Miss Koch about how much fun it was to drive a kart.

    ''This here will surpass the carriages of our world. So it won''t be long before only ''cars'' will be seen on all the streets of Concordia''s cities!''

    ''At the same time, only the Ritter Motor Company has the project to develop the ''car,'' which may take years or decades to be studied by other powers on the continent...''

    ''In other words, we have a bigpetitive advantage against anyone in that sector!'' That man smiled, feeling that while 7% was not bad, it was not as good as the 10% of the Morning Star Academy.

    "Lothur, your project is excellent, and yourpany will definitely be a sess case. But tell me, will you sell more slices of Ritter Motor Company in the future?" An elder from House Becker asked the question that everyone wanted to know.

    As the people there stopped talking, Lothur answered. "Yes, I intend to diminish my position in the future, but I will do that only when the Ritter Motor Company has already dominated at least the empire."

    "And even if I don''t remain thepany''s controller, I intend to keep my veto powers in case my partners decide something that harms thepany itself..." Hemented.

    That is what someone in his position should be looking for. Start apany, raise capital with an initial offering, and then use the future appreciation to make even more profit by selling more slices of one''s own position. And, of course, retained the privilege of vetoing measures approved by the board of shareholders, even when they were no longer the controller.

    Lothur was no fool and did not want his life to be all about his creations. So he would not be the controller of hispanies forever. He would do this only in the beginning, before the different yers in the market well evaluated thesepanies.

    Then, he gave this extremely positive news to these people who, more than anything, wanted to have a little more of the Ritter Motor Company''s shares.

    "Hehehe, I understand. That''s natural..." Patriarch Koch said, already beginning to n what to do for his family to be the one that would eventually have a more relevant position within thatpany.

    Then patriarch Teusen asked. "When will we make the initial investment you quoted?"

    "In the next few days. I will start seeing with otherpany shareholders how much we will need at that moment. Then, I will send the proposal to your respective organizations when we have the approximate number." Lothur said.

    None of them questioned the fact that they still had to put more of their coins into this project, even after giving millions of silver coins to Lothur. These people knew the potential of this project and were grateful that this young man wanted to work with them.

    Lothur could have benefited so far, but he could have done well even if he had only acted with one power or another. That is, he would not have needed to make an auction of hispany to so many different powers.

    But he had done so, which had created relevant opportunities for each of the families involved in that auction. In this way, there was indeed a sense of gratitude for those people towards Lothur!

    With this, each of the representatives of the local families there was more interested in the welfare of the silver-haired young man, already more or less beginning to see themselves as dependent on each other.

    If Lothur fell, they might not fall. But they would definitely lose a chance for growth that might never return!

    ...

 Chapter 413 Spiritual Crystals

    After hearing from Lothur what would happen next, most of those 2nd stage cultivators who went to his residence to meet the kart left with ns in mind.

    They were mainly busy people, leaders, or pirs of their organization. As such, they were individuals who could not stay there for long and left as soon as they had resolved their most important questions.

    Given the small area of that estate, there was no way for them to better understand the kart inside Lothur''s property. So even if this young man left his vehicle at their disposal, the interest of those people would not keep them there.

    Some would stay longer if they were in an area like the hippodrome the day before. But since this was not the case, almost all of them left Lothur and the young people present behind as they departed.

    Thus, in the blink of an eye, only Lothur, Viktoria, Annaliese, Elke, and Johann had stayed on that property.

    But even Johann would not stay there for long, only having exchanged some information with Lothur, arranged a meeting for the two to settlepany matters and left.

    "Looks like you got yourself quite a deal, eh?" Annaliese tapped one of Lothur''s shoulders. "Last night, I thought things were going well. But with these patriarchsing to you early in the day, it will be a matter of time before you be the biggest influence in the province."

    Lothur smiled at his sister-inw''s humorous tone. "Most of the powers of the province are in the factions that are enemies of us. So that''s practically impossible."

    Elke sighed and said. "In any case, the Ritter family became relevant overnight and also had considerable funds. So what do you intend to do now?"

    "For now, I will just take care of starting the Ritter Motor Company while continuing my routine at the academy and training my professions. These funds I''ve obtained are good, but besides having to invest in thispany, I need to n before I make expenditures on cultivation and other things..." He was saying, but he remembered that he now had spiritual crystals.

    Since he could not use this kind of resource, which was useful in strengthening cultivators'' souls, Lothur nned to let his women use it.

    Elke and Annaliese could not use crystals until they reached the 2nd stage. So, for the time being, they could not use the crystals. But Viktoria could immediately cultivate that option.

    "But I intend to let you use the crystals I won at this auction to strengthen your souls." He offered, seeing the surprise in the eyes of the three women.

    Their families even had crystals, and some of the critical members of their forces made use of them in cultivation. But since these were scarce items and these organizations could not earn many, even prodigies like Viktoria had no easy ess to such resources.

    To get a sense of reality, Viktoria, the number 1 genius of Peters City, had ess to only two spirit crystals a month!

    So for these women, Lothur''s 120 crystals, or 40 each, would be a gift of gigantic proportions.

    Spiritual crystals were not just alternative ways to cultivate. Using them was a way to obtain power with great ease. There was almost no risk that using them would destabilize a cultivator''s cultivation base. And there was no difficulty for someone to transform the energy in one into soul power.

    In fact, as long as a cultivator above level 9 was given time, such a person could absorb the full power of a crystal without waste. This power would be fully transformed into points for the Soul attribute, giving its user an almost immediate quantitative increase.

    Those three women knew all this and more about spiritual crystals. So they were all aware that these crystals would transform into powers for them in a matter of a few weeks!

    "Are you sure about that?" Viktoria questioned her husband. "Isn''t it better to invest this in your business or save it for the future? You already help Elke and I much more than we can thank you for..." She spoke of Lothur''s unique ability...

    Annaliese blushed a little upon hearing this, as Lothur was greatly benefiting her too.

    It was just a shame that Viktoria thought that the improvements in her sister came from consequences concerning the Soul Bone that Annaliese absorbed and also from the God''s Eye Patch.

    He then said. "No, you''d better use it. I will always risk being robbed if those crystals stay with me."

    Crystals were precious because of their scarcity and special effect. So in a world where even prodigies like Viktoria had trouble getting many of these, there would undoubtedly be many cultivators, even 3rd stage ones, who would act for 120 of these items.

    As long as no one knew about them, maybe Lothur would be safe. But since people from the hippodrome the day before might have seen something, this silver-haired young man would rather not risk too much.

    With Viktoria and those women, it would not be safe either. But if they absorbed those crystals, something that could be done quickly, everything would be fine.<novelnext></novelnext>

    They would no longer have this valuable resource on their hands, and they would gain essential power for their futures!

    So even though those crystals were worth a lot, Lothur did not hesitate to offer them!

    "With them, you can temporarily improve your cultivation speeds." He finished his words while already handing Viktoria the crystals.

    "Oh? All right then." She stored that in her spatial ring, nning to start using thatter.

    "Annaliese, you should be advancing stages soon, so I''ll give you your crystals now." He handed 40 crystals in a small cloth pouch to his sister-inw. "As for you, Elke, I ask you to wait. Then, when you reach the 2nd stage, I will give you these items."

    After these words from Lothur, Elke did not think it was unfair. She just nodded and thanked him for his generosity. At the same time, he noted the statuses of these two women.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 7]

    [STR: 13 -> 14.5]

    [CON: 53.3 -> 63]

    [DEX: 15.4 -> 16.9]

    [AGI: 15.6 -> 17.1]

    ...

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 37.5 -> 38.5]

    [CON: 65.5 -> 74]

    [DEX: 40.1 -> 41.4]

    [AGI: 38.4 -> 39.4]

    ''Anna is not far from reaching level 10. So in three or four days, she should be there already... But Elke will take a couple of weeks.'' Lothur considered in silence, knowing that these cultivation speeds of his women were excellent but unimpressed.

    He was already used to his own reality, so none of this would attract his attention!

    With that settled, Lothur, Elke, and Annaliese said goodbye to Viktoria, with this woman promising that she would go to the academy with them the next day.

    The three then rode in a carriage to the Morning Star Academy while some of their observers went to tell their leaders what they had seen.

    Lothur was nning something strange, and these powers could not just stand by!

    ''Hmm, I feel like I should buy some defensive formations for my house using those coins...'' Lothur sensed that danger was near and pondered over this in silence.

 Chapter 414 Influence

    After a few hours at the academy, Lothur had already noticed that he was now closely followed even within this institution.

    But this time, instead of being some enemy of his, this person seemed to be watching Lothur''s back while he went about his routine at the academy.

    Lothur realized this when this individual stopped people who clearly intended to stand in his way and bother him on three different asions.

    This person acted subtly, getting in the way of these young people who wanted to get in Lothur''s way to disrupt his time in this ce. These people did not realize that this was to protect young Ritter. Still, for someone with a visual ability like his, this silver-haired fellow readily saw the pattern.

    Someone was trying to clear the stones from his path so he could follow his course without unnecessary trouble!

    As someone who wanted to live away from the ''spotlight'' and with less responsibility, this was great. Lothur could not help but appreciate the gesture!

    ''This guy must be from the academy...'' Lothur imagined this as he walked towards Annaliese, walking side by side with Elke.

    [Name: ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 13]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 58.9] [CON: 60.1] [DEX: 57.5] [AGI: 58.3] [SOU: ???]

    ''Not bad...''

    ''It is just a pity he only seems to be ''easing'' my way inside the academy.'' Lothur smiled. ''I wouldn''tin if two or three more such individuals started doing that job for me.''

    As he thought about this, Elke said. ''When will we be doing our missions again? After I started improving my skills, I''m learning faster, so I don''t feel it will take long for me to progress to Sector 3."

    After hearing this, Lothur took his thoughts off what his allies and business partners could do for him. He looked at that little redhead next to him and said to her. "I think the middle of next month."

    "At the moment, I cannot, for I have to settle the initial affairs of the Ritter Motor Company. To teach how to produce my glove for the Becker family tailors. And deliver a batch of products to the tailors'' shop that introduced me to this profession." He said as he punctuated all his current responsibilities.

    But that was not the only reason he wanted to wait a little longer. In Lothur''s opinion, Annaliese and Elke would be on rtively closer levels after this period, so they could go out on missions together.

    Elke, of course, could notpare to Annaliese at this period when one considers only physical attributes. But since she was more susceptible to Lothur''s unique ability than Viktoria''s younger sister, this young man was aware that her advances would be faster.

    With that, he also wanted more time to pass so that they could act together on future missions.

    ording to what Lothur had already learned at the academy, the highest-level missions could only be done by factional groups. So he naturally wanted to form a group with these women, improve side by side with them, have more time with them, and protect them.

    Anyway, this was the time that Lothur thought was necessary for Elke to reach the level needed for her to at least be able to be present in the missions he intended to take in the near future.

    But with his current financial power, he would not stop arming his women with defensive items to supply their weak points.

    He then looked down at Elke''s belly and smiled. ''Regardless, I can finally prevent myself from the worst nightmare of all.''<novelnext></novelnext>

    Lothur had practically finished learning the medical theory for 1-star professionals the night before. He only needed to put such a thing into practice for a few more days to receive that ssification officially.

    But Lothur had reached a level in medicine that he was already able to prevent pregnancies, using some alternative means from Earth and also from this world.

    Because of this, Lothur could not help but be happy that he would no longer have to worry about having an unwanted child!

    ''As long as none of them got pregnant until yesterday, I''ll be fine.'' He continued to smile as he spoke to Elke.

    "... Then, when I''m done with that, we can pick up something to do together." He finished hisments just before they met Annaliese in a garden at that academy.

    After they met, the three of them made their way to a training site at that institution, where they trained together daily, with Lothur pushing the two of them.

    As they made their way to the said location, Annaliese remembered something and asked. "By the way, when will you join my sister''s faction? After everything that happened at the Province Conference, no one can stop you from joining her faction, even if other people could interfere with something."

    Lothur heard this and understood that he would indeed have no problem joining his wife''s group. Since he already had status as a student of Sector 6, he also thought it was appropriate for him to join that faction. "As long as they ept Elke, we''ll do thatter."

    "Hmm, my sister will certainly make things easier for Elke." Annaliese stated, knowing that as much as there were more people with influence in Viktoria''s faction, the young Miss Becker should not be left out with this woman''s support.

    "But I warn you in advance." Annaliese said as she remembered that her brother-inw was very problematic regardingmon sense. "The academy requires that to join a faction; any student mustplete a team mission. Except that the team isn''t necessarily the one the students would like to have..."

    "Uh?" Lothur wondered at that.

    Elke then remembered that she had to discuss this with Lothur and exined it to him. "The academy requires all students applying for a certain faction in a given month must join a team and go out on a mission."

    "That mission must bepleted without casualties, or none of those students will be allowed to join any faction for at least six months."

    "Only after that would these people get a second chance."

    Annaliese nodded and said. "That is the test to have a chance to join any faction. Only after it do those subdivisions within the academy have the power to make it easier or harder for you to join them."

    Factions were critical to the Morning Star Academy. So this institution highly valued these subdivisions of students and participated in the process of joining new members of each of these factions.

    The reason for this? To create a sense of teamwork and belonging so that new generations would have the ability to help this institution in times of difficulty.

    It was good to train talented cultivators. But if these individuals left the academy and never looked back, then this institution had no merit.

    Training someone who, from time to time, made themselves avable to help in some way or even put their strength to help in times of difficulty did make a difference.

    Influence!

    That was the objective that this institution sought when using this practice!

    ...

 Chapter 415 Unwilling

    "Then we''ll have to do a team mission..." Lothur muttered, thinking about how inconvenient that was. "Do we even get to choose the mission?"

    Annaliese then answered him. "No."

    "The academy will give a mission considering the strength of the group being tested. And it cannot be changed since the academy already considers the students'' safety in any kind of mission. So the test they pass is something possible toplete following the institution''s requirements."

    "We will have to team up with people we don''t know andplete a surprise mission without fail..." Elke muttered to him, simplifying the situation they would be in when trying to join a faction.

    "Hmm, that will be tricky." He said as he understood how this faction membership worked. ''With my strength and history of enemies, the mission my group will receive will have a higher level than the academy will judge...''

    ''Considering how susceptible most people are to coinage, I don''t doubt that my enemies will be able to set a trap mission for me.'' Lothur''s eyes narrowed.

    He was somewhat skeptical of situations like this. So he would not be the one to think that everything would turn out as expected. On the contrary, unusual problems would certainly arise in his turn, and he would have to prepare for whatever stood in his way!

    "Why do you think that? On ount of your enemies?" Elke asked him.

    "More or less that... Sigh. In any case, let''s guard ourselves and keep getting stronger. Once some more time passes, the enemy will be totally out of date regarding our powers." Hemented that before they entered an area where the missions he wanted to do alongside these two in the near future were.

    But before they could discuss some of those alternatives, their group overheard two women talking about something important.

    "Soon, we will have thepetition for the Secret Realm slots... Ah, I''m looking forward to that day!" A blonde girlmented to her friend while clenching her fists in determination.

    "Hmm, each sector will have a representative in the Secret Realm. So there are six spots avable..." The other said, remembering that the Sector 6 slot was open. "Since Viktoria already got her spot, thepetition in Sector 6 will be fierce."

    "True." The blonde girl nodded. "But more importantly, the three most advanced sectors will give Soul Bones to those who get the Secret Realm spot."

    Hearing this, Lothur remembered thispetition that would take ce at the Morning Star Academy in a few weeks. ''I have to get the Sector 6 slot.'' He clenched his fists and felt he would have to improve a lot in the remaining days until thatpetition.

    As in the Province Conference, some artifacts were not allowed in the battles of this studentpetition. That was because, just as in the local noble powers tournament, this selection gave opportunities to the best.

    It was impossible to do this if students had items simr to the Elemental Staff since such a thing was a purchased resource, not a test of individual strength.

    So Lothur knew that he would have to earn his ce in the Secret Realm without his main weapon of the moment, which would put him in a tough situation. After all, there were cultivators at the same level and even stronger than Viktoria in Sector 6.

    She was considered a favorite because she could fight those stronger than her. But Lothur was not unaware of the difference in level that existed between her and other cultivators in that sector.

    Thus, he was naturally worried and had in mind to prepare for this event that was not far away.

    "Anna, you will have to strive for the Sector 5 spot, and you from Sector 3, Elke." He said, already considering that by the time of thepetition in question, he and Elke should be in Sector 3.

    As for Annaliese, this woman had already managed to advance from Sector 4 to 5 in the previous days and wouldpete with the people in that part of the academy for such a spot.

    The two agreed, one wanting to just apany Lothur, while the other also wanted her first Soul Bone.<novelnext></novelnext>

    With that talked over, the trio left after seeing some missions to do in the future, going to train their skills with each other.

    ...

    Later in the afternoon, after settling his affairs at the academy, Lothur stopped by a few stores to buy items for his training and the defense of his property.

    He had resources to spare at the moment and knew of the predators who would love to finish him off as soon as they got the chance.

    So before he went home, he had bought several ''toys'' to entertain potential enemies who might dare to enter his property.

    But not only that, Lothur knew that the Transcendent sent by his grandfather might still show up to bother him, so he was not ying it lightly.

    He had been using his visual ability at all times, always staying away from paths that crossed local specialists and always prepared to teleport in case of need.

    Because of his previous level increase, now, instead of being limited to two teleports using the Space Belt, he could do that five times!

    At the same time, the limited space of 25 meters that he had before had been increased to 50 meters, something that could help him much more in an escape.

    Because of all this, Lothur was better prepared, and unlike the day Deamon''s man caught him. With that, today, he returned home without any problems!

    Upon arriving home, this young man soon began to set up his home''s offensive and defensive formations, as well as spread poison in certain spots.

    He had spent about one million silver coins and six million bronze coins to buy these items, but he felt the expenditure had been worth it.

    All the formations he bought were Bronze-grade, with almost 100% efficiency. As for the poisons, their purity was above 90%.

    With a smile, he ced such items in their ces while his opponents watched him from afar.

    Some of them were justputing Lothur''s unusual routine, but others were a bit more nervous due to the orders they had.

    ''This fellow is setting up new protections in his house...'' A tall, strong man thought as he remembered that his patriarch had given him the order to steal Lothur''s kart.

    Several local powers already knew about the experiments Lothur had had over the past 24 hours alongside local experts. So while some were more interested in finding out what he was nning, others no longer had the patience to wait and wanted to act.

    The family of that tall, strong man was one of those with no more patience to deal with Lothur, so seeing him act like that, such a person could not help but think that it was better to act now!

    If Lothur finished putting those formations and poisons all over that property, he and his group would have a hard time invading this ce after today!

    Hence, while trying to protect himself, Lothur unwittingly stimted an enemy attack!

    ...

 Chapter 416 Beginning Of The Attack

    The tall, strong man then waved to his cronies, people from his family, and other local powers.

    There was arge alliance between the Frost family and Lothur in this province, many of these individuals being part of the third prince''s faction.

    Those families want to act to stop Lothur and unravel the mystery of the kart. Hence, several individuals watching him in that ce are ready to act together.

    Upon seeing the signal from one of them, almost half of the 40 individuals watching Lothur took their weapons and ran toward the walls of that estate.

    They knew that such a ce was full of Iron-grade formations, which, however not deadly dangerous to them, could cause trouble. That was particrly true considering that Lothur had already armed some of the Bronze-grade formations there.

    So they would have to fight their way through before they had a chance to force young Ritter to hand over that strange mini carriage and also deal with him.

    Just as they began to act, Lothur stopped what he was doing and held up the Elemental Staff, noticing that his many watchers were finally acting.

    ''So it''s finally today?'' He wondered, seeing that the local powers'' patience with him had ended soon after the Province Conference ended.

    He then used his movement technique and positioned himself where his attack formations would not hit him, and the defensive ones would deal with possible enemy attacks.

    That was a good chance for him to test the security measures he had developed for his home. So even though he had the chance to hit those people using the Elemental Staff, Lothur wanted to let them think they had a chance against him to see how to improve his house.

    ''Level 12, 13, and 14 people...'' He watched the statuses appearing in front of him, noting the importance that local leaders already gave to him. ''Let''s see how many of them will reach me without suffering serious damage.''

    As he thought about it, the first enemy to enter the Ritter estate set foot where he should not have.

    Immediately after that, andmine-type formation exploded in that ce. It caused the cultivator not to understand the situation as he became destabilized.

    Formations were easy devices to identify as long as one was a formations master or saw it being set up. But once one of these was working, it would be almost impossible to distinguish without a person having a profound knowledge of inscriptions.

    That was one reason why it was tough for someone to identify people using items that camouged the spiritual cultivation of other beings.

    Because of this, although that man and all the 20 or so individuals jumping over the wall of Lothur''s estate at the time knew that there were formations there, they had no idea how to protect themselves.

    They only knew that there were many of them around because of the strange feeling they had in their souls when looking in the direction of his house.

    Formations were difficult to detect after they were activated. Still, when many of them were in a ''small'' space, especially when they were of the dangerous kind, it wasmon for cultivators to feel something as if it were a threat.

    That was like what happened in nature. There were beings with warning colors to ward off potential enemies. The Natural Laws of this world also worked like this. A dangerous ce would give a feeling of insecurity to those who entered it, to warn the weaker ones to stay away from there.

    Sensing this, the people trespassing on Lothur''s property knew there were many formations and poisons inside it. It was just a pity that they had greater wants to deal with this young man and had to act in the darkness of their ignorance.

    So while the first of those individuals went off bnce, feeling pain in his left leg, more individuals suffered simr reactions as they stepped into Lothur''s ''minefield.''

    On the other hand, some of those people triggered different formations, some that drove nails in their direction, while others med.

    Sssss!

    Swooish!

    The observers who had not moved continued in their positions, watching those individuals testing the defenses of Lothur''s house.

    They had no orders to act, so this would be a good chance for them to assess the current situation of the Ritter residence!<novelnext></novelnext>

    With that, the invaders circted their spiritual techniques, forming shields and barriers around them while protecting their bodies.

    Some of them had acquired minor injuries from thendmines that had caught them by surprise at first. But since those explosions had been weak, none had been seriously injured.

    With this initial development, they finally began to attack in Lothur''s direction while some shouted.

    "Lothur, surrender peacefully, and we can end this with some mercy..." One of those individuals said threateningly, feeling that the advantage was in his group''s favor.

    Lothur then pretended to be afraid. "Nonsense! If I surrender, you will finish me off!"

    "Tsk!"

    "Brat, it''s better to have a quick and painless death than to suffer, as we will make it happen if you make things difficult!" Someone from that group of invaders shouted as heunched a spiritual blow against Lothur.

    Such an attack formed a hand of spiritual energy, departing from that individual''s fist and heading toward the chest of Lothur.

    But before such a thing came dangerously close to him, the defensive formations in that ce went into operation!

    One formed a sizeable transparent wall a few meters in front of where Lothur was standing. It looked like a of threads so small and colorless that it did not even seem to exist.

    But when the attack and other types of spiritual blows were about to pass through that region of space, that wall deformed, like stic fabric, as it received weights falling on it.

    That was one of the Iron-grade formations of that property, so after a few seconds, it exploded due to the opponent''s blows.

    However, that was not the only defensive measure of this property, but the first of five. With this, other defenses were raised, simultaneously in which the surrounding formations acted against the enemies.

    Puff!

    One of these formations spread the poison that Lothur had prepared in one of the areas there, creating a purple and green smoke screen.

    When that appeared, all the individuals, inside and outside that estate, except for Lothur, put their arms in front of their noses.

    "Poison!" One of them shouted as he recognized this product of the profession that Lothur seemed to be one of the greatest local prodigies.

    Even iron-grade poisons could diminish their strength or perception of reality if they were careless. So, these people did not underestimate such a thing. Instead, they all tried to protect themselves while taking steps backward.

    ng!

    The mechanisms of one of the defenses that Lothur had prepared armed themselves, and when three of those individuals looked back, it was already toote.

    At that instant, a trap, simr tomonnd mousetraps, was triggered. When that happened, arge bar with several piercing des fell into their bodies.

    "Oh, shit..." One of them screamed at the sight of that, feeling that it would defensively hurt as much as it was not the biggest problem there.

    ''What the fuck is this? Where did this bastard get these traps from?'' One of them wondered, having to understand how these defenses he had never seen worked.

    ...

 Chapter 417 Time To Deal With The Invaders

    The three individuals attacked by Lothur''s giant trap felt the speed of that item. Unfortunately, it came down so fast that these people did not have time to use their spiritual techniques to protect themselves.

    Instead, they put their hands and arms in a defensive position above their heads to protect themselves. When they did this, they were all pierced in those parts of their bodies as they felt their knees weakening, unintentionally kneeling on the ground.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" All three cried out, with one feeling very weak in the face of this physical attack, which was more than they could handle without the support of their soul power.

    The first of them to weaken, someone at level 12, fell to the ground, quickly fainting due to the significant cuts on his arms and hands. And with that, he left an even more dangerous situation for those other two.

    "Damn it!"

    "The damn thing has all kinds of tricks!" One of the two felt the cuts on his hands, but he was focused on holding that bar full of piercing des to avoid the worst.

    Given the way that trap seemed to work, this man and the still-conscious individual next to him knew that if one of them fell, that item would win. When that happened, their bodies would be pressed by that piece of equipment against the ground, while such a thing would pierce them.

    That would be equivalent to guaranteeing their death, so even though they felt a lot of pain in their arms, those men had to endure the situation.

    "Ahhh! Come on! We can do it!" The stronger of the two said this, trying to encourage his partner as he finally managed to direct parts of his soul power into his body.

    The other individual was also trying to do this, not being able to say anything but cries of pain as he struggled in this situation.

    ''You people underestimate me...'' Lothur pondered as he saw those people pushing up the bar of the ''mousetrap.''

    At that moment, as the defensive barriers of his home protected him and the environment from enemy attacks, darkness began to spread to the surroundings.

    Lothur had nted formations in the traps around his residence simr to those he had used earlier to train his resistances. So when one of them activated, darkness began to float toward those most vulnerable individuals, threatening their souls.

    "Damn, that''s darkness? How can he use that?" One of the individuals around shouted in surprise, feeling the terrifying power of the ck smoke.

    Those were only Iron-grade formations, so this darkness would not be able to devour and kill the souls of those 2nd stage cultivators. But besides the fact that they could weaken such people, even more, this was a characteristic rarely seen in humans.

    Usually, darkness was the spiritual element of demons, and humans like them did not have much affinity for it. On the contrary, typically, humans use the weaknesses of this element to deal with those fearsome beings.

    So, seeing Lothur using formations with this element, these people felt fearful, not because he might be a demon, but because this element was hazardous.

    Demons were known for their strengths beyond the ordinary, and their main element was darkness.

    Being able to manipte such an element to some degree was something that only the most talented and capable were able to do. Ant that shocked these people.

    That was particrly true for the observers who had not acted and were continuing their work outside the Ritter estate.

    ''So he can make formations that manipte even the darkness...'' One of those individuals wrote down such information to pass on to their leaderster.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s first opponents fell on that ce, just where one of the traps was. There, those individuals were negatively affected by darkness, forced to use their soul forces to protect that part of themselves.

    Unfortunately for them, while protecting their souls, they weakened to the mechanisms of the ''mousetrap,'' both falling after a few moments in that disadvantageous position.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The two cried in horror as they felt those des piercing their bodies and blood oozing from their wounds.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Bastard!" A level 14 cultivator, one of the strongest in the group invading this estate, shouted angrily. "You coward. Fight like a man!"

    "I am." Lothurughed. "It''s just that you are not man enough for me to show my strength!"

    "You bastard! I''ll kill you!" That same individual shouted this, strolling as he tried to protect himself from thendmines and poison in the air.

    "Try!" Lothur challenged that person once again as he saw mes, poison, des, and various traps acting against the remaining 16 opponents.

    "You have decided to enter my property forcibly. Then be ready to die!" This young man said, trying to frighten these enemies a little more. "Weak people who think they are good enough to invade a ce they don''t know deserves to die!"

    Some there were humiliated by Lothur''s words. So, they put more of their strength into defending themselves from the formations and mechanisms in the area and counterattacking it all.

    As time passed, more of the formations on Lothur''s property were losing their effects or breaking, while more enemies fell.

    By the time more than 15 minutes had passed since the invasion began, only six enemy cultivators were left standing, and Lothur''s formations had all stopped working.

    The Bronze-grade ones would only need time to function again, in a sense, time to recharge their energies. But the Iron-grade ones had been destroyed by the enemies, along with the many security mechanisms in the area.

    "Bastard... Hah... I want to see who... Who will stand in our way... Now... Hah..." One of the individuals left in this invading group said in a tone that showed that he had worked hard.

    Of those remaining, half were level 14 cultivators, and the rest were level 13. But even though they were the strongest of those who invaded this residence, they were all sweaty, with wounds all over their bodies and blood marks on their clothes.

    Inside that property, only Loyhut was without a scratch on his body, as up to this moment, he had not moved from his starting position.

    Lothur smiled at those individuals and used one of his hands to call them against him, moving his four fingers toward himself, teasing them. "Exhausted people like you are no big deal."

    "Tsk!"

    "Damn you!"

    "The bastard has a lot of guts!"

    "Let''s kill him, folks!" One of them shouted as he ran at Lothur, causing his colleagues to start attacking in the same manner.

    When they moved, Lothur gave them some time, waiting for them to get closer to him while holding his Elemental Staff.

    ''I won''t need to use you today...'' He thought, but he did not want to put his weapon away in case any outside enemies were waiting to attack him by surprise.

    As for the Space Belt, as much as it would be useful in a battle like this, Lothur judged that it would not be worth showing these people its abilities.

    With that, he only used his speed when those six individuals got close enough to him that they could hit him.

    At that moment, he showed the difference in physical terms between him and soul cultivators who were only at the 2nd stage.

    Pow!

    ...

 Chapter 418 Ending The Invasion

    As he moved quickly, in the blink of an eye, Lothur appeared behind one of his opponents, a level 13 man.

    He saw that such a person''s Constitution was only 61 and struck a hard blow to the back of this person''s head, using his staff in ce of his ax.

    Lothur''s staff motioned as if it were about to hit a baseball, slightly turning from the bottom to the top, while such a young man moved it with both hands.

    With that, the staff struck the defenseless man''s head, and a sound simr to baseballs being hit reverberated through the area.

    Simultaneously, such an individual was thrown forward while already screaming and bringing his hands to the back of his head, feeling a terrifying pain.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Lothur''s strength had already passed the 50-point mark, and he had the Elemental Staff, which was an extremely tough weapon.

    Since this young man''s enemy was already exhausted when he struck such a person, the level 13 cultivator felt this blow significantly!

    If he were in good condition, a 50-point blow would, at most, cause slight pain in a 60-point body. But since he was already exhausted, with injuries all over his body, and worn out mentally, this attack from Lothur was much worse than it should have been.

    That person felt a great pain in the back of his head,ing with the sensation of nausea and fractured bones. At the same time, as he crashed into a wall, he mmed his body against it, feeling unable to move.

    Everyone in the surrounding area saw this in the split second that Lothur acted, shocked at how extreme this young Spiritual Warrior had be in such a short time.

    Lothur''s victim had not died, but with a single blow, this young man had managed to knock that opponent out of the fight!

    Everyone there realized this and, of course, noticing how fast Lothur had moved before the attack, finally began to feel afraid that they had entered that property.

    "Shit!"

    "A thousand demons! He was hiding his powers!" One of those individuals shouted as he turned to run away.

    The other four also felt the sensation of making a deadly mistake and facing death.

    Some were open-mouthed, feeling that they had made a big mistake in thinking that the formations of this estate were the worst thing they would encounter in this ce.

    "That''s not what was supposed to happen!" One of them raised his weapon as he saw Lothur moving against him, knowing it would make no difference to try to run away.

    Lothur was much faster than all of them and was in his best fighting condition. That way, trying to run away would be futile, and that person was ready to fight for his life.

    "Don''t think you''ll be able to kill me easily, Lothur!" He shouted as he used what looked like a curved-ded sword to strike his opponent''s chest.

    Lothur saw this and merely dodged, just before once again using his staff to attack one of his opponents, this time striking that person in his Adam''s apple.

    When his weapon struck that area, the opponent, who had a determined expression, immediately changed the outline of his face to that of a person in absolute pain.

    He brought his hands to his neck, feeling as if that part of his body had been obliterated, unable to emit any distinguishable sound.

    All he could do as he fell backward to the ground was a strange grunt, indicating his deep unhappiness.

    But Lothur did not waste much time on this person. All his opponents had very close Constitution values, so he wanted to finish them off as quickly as possible.

    He then turned to the next opponent, someone at level 14, the strongest he had ever faced with a chance of victory since he arrived in this world.

    Such an opponent was already trying to run away, so Lothur acted to stop him, hitting one of his knees and making him roll on the ground in pain.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    As such a person struggled against the ground, the young Ritter leaped up and flew at his opponent, directing one end of his staff at one of such a person''s eyes.

    When it hit its target, Lothur felt the sensation of piercing an opponent''s head after destroying an eye, using his two hands on his staff to press it down hard.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

    That person cried out in pain for only a few seconds since, as soon as Lothur''s staff hit his brain, he stopped reacting, being brutally killed in that chilling manner.

    The remaining individuals there cursed their luck at that sight as they jointly tried to attack the young Ritter.

    But everything they would do from then on would be futile. Exhausted and fearful because of what had already happened and also because of Lothur''s Mortal Aura affecting them, they had no chance.

    When he took his staff from the corpse''s head, Lothur immediately took action against the rest of his opponents, knocking them unconscious after only a few seconds ofbat.

    All the observers outside that estate watched this with concern, frightened by how skillfully Lothur had defeated such strong cultivators.

    It was true that those people were exhausted. But even weakened, they should not end up in such passive situations against this young man.

    During the Province Conference, Lothur already had a body that could be considered stronger than those people''s. They knew this. But he was not that fast, and, more importantly, his attacks would not be able to hurt even one of these exhausted men!

    Because of this, these people were scared, feeling that he had already grown more prominent than they could handle without movingrge contingents!

    ''Fuck!''

    ''How can that be? He defeated all of them?'' One of the individuals there, taking note of everything he saw, felt a chill, noting that he would be better off running to his family to report this.

    That was the kind of event that could not be passed on in a message or letter. No, he and others there had to run to recount what had happened to their leaders personally!

    And so, more than half of those observers left after seeing Lothur finish off his opponents, leaving only four individuals observing the area.

    However, these people would not be there for long!

    When Lothur realized that some of the invaders on his property were still alive, he felt it was time to absorb their vitalities. With that in mind, he used his visual ability to locate the enemies in the surrounding area and give them an ultimatum.

    "Two cultivators who are at the 4th Transformation and two at the 5th. Are you going to stay and fight, or will you leave?" He asked as he looked in the direction of those individuals.

    Lothur did not want his opponents to find out about his bloodline ability, so to use it safely, he would have to scare these people away.

    To ensure his goals, he directed his Mortal Aura at those individuals and prepared to attack, making them believe that he would attack them any second now.

    "Shit!"

    "Lunatic!" Those people clenched their fists and backed away in fear.

    ...

 Chapter 419 Severe Reactions Approaching 1

    After realizing that the enemies had fled the outskirts of his estate and no one else was watching the area, Lothur quickly gathered the bodies there. He took them to one of the training areas inside his residence, nning to do what should be done inside.

    Then, although there were no longer any people in the vicinity, he did not start absorbing the vitalities of those people right away. First, he went back to manipting the formations he had bought, thinking of the man his grandfather had sent earlier.

    Lothur did not want to be seen absorbing the vitalities of those individuals still alive. Still, he also did not want to be surprised by that Transcendent. Then, he ''recharged'' the Bronze-grade formations that had stopped working and finished installing the ones he had bought today.

    That was a quick job, so in about 10 minutes after thest of his watchers had escaped, he finished setting up the defenses of his property.

    ''Good that no one saw me doing this...'' Lothur sighed as he returned to the interior of his house. ''Now the next enemies whoe here won''t know what kind of defensive measures await them.''

    Part of the reason for Lothur to scare off the enemies was to get them away from his property so they would not know how the formations of his house wereid out. That was also part of his ns. Upon finishing that, he went to absorb those people''s vitality points.

    They had trespassed on his property, so this silver-haired young man had every right to end their lives. As for problems that mighte after him, well, they would be no different than the ones he already had, so he was not worried.

    He just was not happy that he was forced to show some of his current strength to his enemies, something he would rather keep for himself and his allies.

    But that was life. He wanted things to be smooth and favorable, and he strived for that, but still, he had setbacks like this.

    Then he could only deal with the consequences of this by bing stronger and increasing his connections!

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 50.9] [CON: 203.9] [DEX: 45.2] [AGI: 61.1]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 106.6] [WIL: 86]

    [EVF: 499 -> 1,143]

    After a while, Lothur saw his new status, satisfied by the amount of EVF points he had absorbed after that invasion.

    At the same time, he had collected the spatial rings from all those enemies, collecting a small fortune that would previously have made him very happy. But in this situation, after the auction of the Ritter Motor Company, Lothur could only be somewhat content with the valuables he had gained.

    ''3 million bronze coins and 400 thousand silver coins... Not bad...'' He smiled, feeling that the items in those rings were more valuable than the coins. ''There are some useful things here for Elke, Anna, and Viktoria.''

    ''Hmm, actually, I might be able to help Anne, Ba, and Sofie too.'' He looked at the items and resources he had collected this night.

    Some of these women were just his colleagues, but Lothur was not against helping those close to him. He, of course, preferred to give priority to his women, but he was not the type who would forget his friends andpanions.

    Hence, by getting so many resources valuable to them and having so many coins at his disposal, the young Ritter remembered those women.

    "Sigh..."

    "Time to clean up the mess." He looked at the dried corpses inside that training area and remembered the blood around his property.<novelnext></novelnext>

    With that, Lothur soon began cleaning up his house, making a fire in his backyard, a ce Viktoria would soon run over when she got home and noticed the ck smoke in her yard.

    "Lothur?" She asked beforeing across the pile of bodies already on fire in that part of their house.

    Lothur turned around and saw his wife, expressing that he had no choice but to do that.

    "Some of our watchers broke into the house and died..." He briefly summarized what happened.

    After finding this out, Viktoria was surprised that so many people suddenly decided to attack this ce, but also somehow aware that all this was not so far from reality.

    ''It looks like yesterday''s business took immediate effect... Those enemies are very worried!'' She pondered before starting to help her husband sort out the ''dirt'' on that fire.

    ...

    While Lothur and Viktoria were trying to carry on their routine after that previous situation, this young man''s enemies were already aware of everything.

    Not only those who had not lost men this day. But also, those who had had their subordinates killed by Lothur and his formations were already aware of what had happened.

    Some learned about it through their subordinates and allies, basically through the people who had watched and fled from that ce after the conflict was over. But others, who had not been contacted to find out how Lothur had acted, found out about it through the deaths of their men.

    Relevant cultivators in these local organizations had items that stored their vital status. So when one of them died, it did not take long for the information to reach their organization''s headquarters.

    In this way, several families in the province were on alert, feeling the loss of their experts!

    ...

    "Hell!"

    "How can that be? How can damned Lothur be so lucky?" Patriarch Baier was almost tearing his hair out, feeling the pressure of being an opponent of Lothur.

    He had just discovered that not only had the level 12 and 13 cultivators he had sent to observe Lothur gotten nothing concerning the kart. They had also been mysteriously killed!

    Considering that these people were already relevant individuals in this family, this man was more stressed than ever.

    "That person is stepping out of bounds, patriarch." A level 14 individual said this, very concerned about the situation. "In this current situation, we only have two alternatives. Attack with everything we have or forget what happened and try to make peace."

    "But considering how much we''ve acted against him, I think the second possibility is out of the question..."

    The patriarch heard this from the supreme elder of this family and clenched his fists tightly. "We must strike while we still have a chance to defeat him before the worst happens!"

    ...

    At the same time, the Vogel family, who had not acted against Lothur today but had received the news from one of their watchers, was already thinking of acting.

    This family had not ordered their men on the outskirts of Lothur''s estate to act against him because of amunication dy. Had it not been for this, this family was supposed to have participated in tonight''s attack!

    Considering that this noble house wanted Lothur''s downfall as well as prevent the rise of an alliance between this young man and the powers involved in the previous day''s negotiation, they could not hesitate. Therefore, it was time for this family to n to act vigorously against him!

    "Call a meeting with our allies!" The patriarch of this family said firmly right after discovering what had urred. "We have no time to lose. Lothur is out of control, so we must act promptly!"

 Chapter 420 Severe Reactions Approaching 2

    As Lothur''s enemy families began to n to act vigorously against him, the allies also discovered relevant things about that day!

    Not only enemies were watching Lothur. Some of his allies, as in the case of the Becker family, were watching over this young man to help him in case of need.

    Because of this, news of the invasion of Lothur''s property soon reached the ears of the leaders of organizations friendly to this fellow.

    These powers had many interests concerning Lothur''s creations, so they were very concerned about young Ritter''s welfare!

    ...

    On the Becker estate...

    Gomeric had received the recent news with a mixture of concern and happiness.

    He was pleased that Lothur was strong enough to contain such troublesome threats with as much skill as one of the observers had described him. But with power came greater responsibilities, which naturally carried the danger that worried this man.

    "Those local families didn''t let that go unnoticed." Hemented to his wife and his right-hand man, Heinz. "Lothur is bing stronger and more influential. If they wait to act, it will be like waiting for their destruction."

    Heinz nodded affirmatively. "By now, the local powers should be preparing for vigorous action, patriarch."

    Hilda worried, considering her family''s business affairs and Elke and Lothur''s situation. "We can''t let that happen. Lothur is too important for the future of our family!"

    "If these bastards do something against him, the family may not recover from that in the future!"

    Gomeric agreed with Hilda and ordered. "Heinz, put one of the elders to follow Lothur''s steps and help him if he needs to escape."

    ...

    At the same time, coroner Klossner had a severe expression as he stood in front of the Linn Province Duke, talking about young Ritter.

    He had already discovered what had happened today and was worried about what the Duke might do. So he hade to this ce to talk to Chris Waldeaur about Lothur, maybe find a way to end the disagreements between the two.

    "Duke, we''ve known each other for a long time, right? Have I ever tried to harm you?" August asked such a Transcendent.

    Chris shook his head negatively. "No, you never did." He said, trying to understand what this old acquaintance and a fellow worker was getting at.

    The Duke of the province was an office of the nobility, which gave the right to the most significant portion ofnd in the province and therefore control over localws and forces. But there were envoys from the imperial family to act in all spheres of power of this state around its territory.

    Usually, they dealt with more bureaucratic matters, with the management of important cities and the execution of some services, such as investigating the causes of local deaths.

    August and Chris were co-workers because they served the same province, only in different spheres of responsibility. But they were not boss and subordinate, much less could it be said that the status of one was much higher than the other.

    Chris definitely held a higher position, given his family and cultivation. But considering only his duties within the province, he would receive almost the same respect as the head of the Medical Forensic Group of the local Coroner''s Office.<novelnext></novelnext>

    If the emperor received them simultaneously, he would give both individuals the same treatment and importance!

    Because of this, the two individuals treated each other almost equally, except for using the appropriate terms and following the rule of the etiquette of the empire.

    August then said. "Then listen to me one more time. I know that the Waldeaur family is in the faction of the third prince. But try not to get involved with Lothur Ritter. I fear those against this young man will not have a promising future."

    Hearing this from his old acquaintance, this person he even considered a friend, the Duke opened his mouth and frowned. "What? Are you serious?" He stood up from his seat and began to feel irritated.

    "Do you know how many defeats my family has had by him? Are you asking me, the stronger side, to give up? Are you crazy, August?"

    Coroner Klossner fully understood how absurd his request was, but with his knowledge, he could not help but insist. "Chris, Lothur is a genius. I don''t speak of cultivation since that is already somewhat obvious, considering the Province Conference that just ended."

    "His genius is in other areas."

    "He is an incredible inventor who can revolutionize the entire empire!"

    Chris already knew this since his men had reported the odd item that even made local patriarchs go to Lothur''s house early in the morning just to get a little taste of it.

    But he did not think it could be more important than a joke or a hobby. To him, the relevance of that item would not be significant enough to revolutionize anything.

    So he could not help but doubt the words of his old friend and make a strange expression.

    August understood well what this man must have been thinking and said. "Do not doubt what I am telling you. I did not give millions of silver coins to Lothur out of kindness, nor will I help him out of pity. I did it because he may be as relevant as some of the state''s leaders in the future."

    "So unless you wanted to insist on a disagreement with someone who may alone have more influence than the third prince, I advise you to stop, my friend." August stood up, preparing to leave after those significant words.

    Chris was silent upon hearing that, knowing that it was a big mistake to think that the public members of the royalty were the most influential people in the empire.

    No, the most influential and powerful people in this state were individuals that very few people knew, great cultivators and magnates. These were the backers of the imperial family, people who did not have the imperial forces but, with their resources, could easily form an army capable of brutalizing the empire.

    Some of these people had so much power that even the princes had to be respectful in front of those people. Due to his high cultivation, only the emperor could be at the same table as them!

    As he pondered over his friend''s words about the possibility of Lothur bing one of these people, the Duke could not help but be worried.

    ''How can that be? Lothur is the son of an ouw. He is a descendant of...'' He considered how strange it would be if someone with young Ritter''s identity became as influential as August believed possible.

    With that, this man, who was already furious that his allies had lost several essential cultivators to Lothur on this day today, could not help but fall into reflection.

    He knew that his allies were probably nning a massive attack against Lothur at the moment. But without being sure whether coroner Klossner had gone mad, he would not act!

    ''Better I observe the situation for a little longer...''

 Chapter 421 Exploring The Academy

    ? The next day...

    After the previous day''s incident, Lothur continued with his routine of training his professions and his body. But since he had no soul cultivation, he had finally reached a bottleneck in two of his professions.

    Lothur needed the spiritual part of cultivation necessary to develop his skills and products to elevate his characteristics regarding inscriptions and tailoring. Because of this limit that he would eventually feel in his poison art, medicine and alchemy, he would not be able to continue evolving in these areas.

    At least not until he had solved the problem concerning his soul.

    Since he had already learned as much theory as he could without knowing what it felt like to use his soul for these activities, he would not be able to learn more. Even if he continued to read the theory and had the understanding necessary to learn, it would not be enough.

    It was like learning to swim from a book without having the chance to enter the water.

    So without being able to experience the practice of adjusting his theoretical knowledge with the reality of his body in practice, Lothur had reached these bottlenecks.

    Now he would have to put his studies of these professions on temporary hiatus and naturally focus more of his time on other activities.

    And with that, he was already beginning to train more with his wife to try to raise his other physical characteristics besides Constitution.

    He had already done this the night before and felt that his progress was bing faster.

    His progress was only not faster than his wives,'' as they experienced much more significant improvements than he did on a daily basis...

    Anyway, when he woke up in the morning, Lothur took care of his wife before the two of them went to get ready to go to the academy together, something Viktoria had promised she would do today.

    As they dressed in their room, Lothur asked. "How is your progress with the crystals I gave you?"

    Hearing this, Viktoria turned back as she buttoned her shirt. "Very well. I have already absorbed two of them."

    Lothur was pleased by this information, imagining that she would improve her powers quickly because of these crystals.

    ''Very good!''

    ''That will bring her pretty close to level 14...''

    With that, it did not take long for the two to leave for the academy, soon meeting Annaliese and going on together under the eyes of the students who envied or hated them somehow.

    ...

    After the morning sses, it was the noon break at this educational institution. With that, Lothur and Elke set off toward Sector 6.

    The Academy Morning Star was huge, simr to a town, with buildings for teaching, training, stores, etc. There was a little bit of everything there, including areas for the factions in this institution.

    Since this ce was subdivided into sixrge sections, and the leaders of each of these sections were students from Sector 6, the headquarters of these subdivisions were precisely in this area of the academy.

    Sector 6 was in the center of this buildingplex, between the first five sections around this ce, positioned as if they were the points of a pentagram.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Each tip of the pentagram had its areas of influence, where the necessary structures for local living were, such as stores, ssrooms, libraries, cafeterias, bathrooms, and squares.

    That could be seen in all sectors, as one would see in a town where stores and services could be found all over the city. But just as in such cities, the best services were in the center, in the noble part of the area.

    That was where the academy''s management was, as well as where the most talented and powerful students were taught.

    The academy dormitory was not far away either since it was a sizeable triangle-shaped building, between Sector 1 and Sector 5, with one of its entrances in Sector 6.

    Lothur already knew this area because he had to fulfill his current responsibilities in this sector. Because of that, he quickly made his way to the Faction Vige in that central area of the academy.

    This ce was not far from the dormitory, between there, Sector 5, Sector 4, and the core of this area.

    These were where most of the students involved in factions were, so it made sense that the vige was in this position.

    With that, Lothur and Elke were soon in this ce that looked like a condominium of houses usually seen in cities in that earthling''s homnd.

    There were several trees in the streets there. They were so tall and leafy that someone walking down the street would think this was a vige, not the interior of an academy within a city of over half a million inhabitants.

    Lothur saw the symbols on houses that looked like mansions, some better than others, with more or less movement, and heard Elke talking about those ces to him.

    "Lothur, that''s the headquarters of the Draconic Feathers faction." She pointed in the direction of one of thergest buildings on that street, the faction led by members of the Waldeaur family.

    Lothur saw some familiar faces in the vicinity of that ce, but he did not stop on that ount. Instead, realizing the reality of that ce, he became somewhat curious. "Elke, are there more than just factions here? Why do I get the impression that some of these subdivisions are here to serve the others."

    He had just seen people from different factionsing and going from other buildings in the surrounding area. Some ces even looked more like stores than faction headquarters.

    Elke then exined to her man. "Some factions are tiny. So they provide services to other factions to get more missions and resources."

    "On the other hand, there are those factions that specialize in spiritual professions. For example, Green Feathers is a faction of alchemists and poison masters. Thus, they provide their service to factions that need help from the items of these professionals in exchange for participation in missions."

    He then asked her. "And why don''t these professionals join those factions that can do this? Wouldn''t it be simpler for them?"

    That red-headed woman replied. "In a sense, yes. But it''s not so simple. These factions are not just groups of people who do missions together and earn merit points. They are groups with simr affinities, who often have ambitions that only in such factions someone could achieve those cravings."

    "For example, Green Feathers enables its members to learn advanced points of alchemy and poison art, stimting the development of these professions in its members. That is something that doesn''t happen in othermon factions. At the same time, this faction would go to great lengths for something rted to these two professions, while others would not go that far for simr things."

    "So an alchemist or poison master could have many advantages in that faction, while they would just be a cultivator with different skills in others." She finished exining.

    "I see..." Lothur muttered, realizing the logic behind these micro-organisms within this institution.

    Then, the two passed in front of the headquarters of thergest faction of this academy, Angelic Feathers!

    ...

 Chapter 422 The Strongest In The Academy

    Angelic Feathers'' mansion was thergest in that area, almost twice the size of the secondrgest property there, Draconic Feathers''.

    Angelic Feathers was enormous, with over 300 students in its ranks, all of them students from Sectors 4, 5, and 6. At the same time, the leaders of this faction were almost as strong as local patriarchs, people who would soon be the leaders of their own organizations upon graduation.

    Most of the students in Sector 6 were between levels 10 and 12. But monsters past level 12 existed there.

    Most of these individuals were leaders of their own factions, the strongest of all being at level 14, the current leader of the Angelic Feathers.

    But this person was no more talented than Viktoria, as some might think. Despite the difference in level, this woman was about five years older than Lothur''s wife and therefore had such an advantage.

    In any case, she was not the only cultivator stronger than Viktoria in that faction, as there were people in that group who could surpass Viktoria.

    Lothur watched that ce filled with Spiritual Warriorsing and going, surprised at so many powerful cultivators there.

    "This group ispelling..." He muttered after whistling in appreciation. "Can Viktoria''s grouppete with this one?"

    Elke then said. "Viktoria''s faction has far fewer members, but they are all talented and havebat power above their cultivation levels. That''s not something seen in other factions."

    "Angelic Feathers, for example, has many members who are only Mortal Warriors."

    "On the other hand, this faction has excellent connections. In contrast, Ice Feathers has problems concerning the Frost family."

    "I see..." Lothur continued watching that ce until he saw a woman with white hair, and golden eyes,ing out of that mansion, apanied by three other high-level cultivators.

    [Name: ****]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 66.6] [CON: 71.1] [DEX: 69.6] [AGI: 68.6] [SOU: ???]

    "Is that the leader of this faction?" He asked his woman.

    Elke saw that beautiful white-skinned woman dressed in a pink outfit with lips as red as cherries.

    "Hmm, that''s the leader of Angelic Feathers, Larissa Carstensen."

    "Carstensen? Where is this family from? Why have I never heard of it?" He asked in surprise as he saw that beauty staring back at him.

    "The Morning Star Academy doesn''t only ept nobles and subordinates from the nobility of the province. It epts people from outside those social circles as well. It''s just that there are few slots for outsiders topete, and most of the individuals who get these slots are very talented cultivators. So, even they are not well known outside Sector 6."

    "As for this organization, the Carstensen family is not a province noble power but a bourgeois house." She said, exining the basics to Lothur.

    House Carstensen was not exactly a power of that province but an organization based between two subdivisions of the empire. Since there were no limitations regarding the origin of students from this academy, there was no problem for someone with such a background to study there.

    Anyway, powers like the family of this young leader were able to send members to academies like these from time to time. Of course, it was not easy since they did not have the privileges of the nobility. Still, since some of these organizations were as rich or even richer than noble houses, it was not impossible either.

    As suspected by Lothur, the most powerful in the empire were not those known organizations or individuals. But instead, economic powers kept themselves aloof from most of the local political games.<novelnext></novelnext>

    These economic powers had all the means necessary to stimte the talent of their members, considering their local limitations. So good seeds would emerge from time to time among them.

    That was the case with Larissa, this woman who was not as talented as Viktoria, but she was not that far removed from Lothur''s wife in that regard.

    "So that''s it..." Lothur muttered just before that woman came closer to him, recognizing him.

    "Are you Lothur Ritter?" She asked in her angelic voice, which seemed to reverberate as if harps were ringing when she spoke.

    Lothur smiled at her, noting that in terms of beauty, she would only lose to Viktoria of all the women he had ever seen in this world. "That''s me. And you?"

    "My name is Larissa Carstensen. It''s a pleasure to meet someone as prominent as you, Lothur." She gave one of her hands for him to shake, smiling back at this man.

    Meanwhile, the youths apanying this woman, two men and a woman, were looking at Lothur with strange expressions on their faces, totally ignoring Elke''s presence.

    But Elke was not paying attention to them either. Her eyes focused only on Larissa.

    Lothur waved one of this woman''s hands and heard her asking. "You must be here to join one of the factions, right? So why don''t you join my faction? I will not limit you in any way."

    Hearing this, Lothur smiled, showing his perfect teeth to those people. "What about my wife? It would be a great betrayal for me to join a faction opposing hers..."

    The two sides made a momentary silence after those words until Annaliese appeared, running towards them. "Hey! You hyenas, leave my brother-inw alone!" She shouted at the opposing group.

    Annaliese might be weakpared to those people, but she had enough courage to talk to them because of her sister.

    Larissa and her followers looked at Annaliese, saying nothing to her as they moved again.

    "Think it over, Lothur. It will be more interesting for you to be around people who can help you." That white-haired womanmented as she walked away and waved one of her hands at him. "Viktoria is already your wife. What new thing can she add to your life?"

    With those words, she left while herpanions began to question.

    "Elder sister, why do you want to bring Lothur into our faction? He will join Ice Feathers." The only woman besides Larissa in that group asked in curiosity.

    But Larissa knew things that these three were yet to find out. "Lothur made a big deal two days ago concerning something that could interest even my family." She told them, causing them to open their mouths in surprise.

    "Are you serious? Why haven''t I heard any of this?" One of the two men asked, not believing that Lothur could do something like that.

    "Yes, he made a few million silver coins selling a project that hasn''t even gotten off the paper yet." She replied, talking about what she had heard from her observers and local contacts.

    Her family had rtionships with several noble powers in this province, so it had not been difficult for her to get urate information about Lothur''s automobile project.

    She did not know the most critical details of Lothur''s car. Still, Larissa knew he had seeded in creating an independent animal-powered carriage!

    Considering the potential of such a thing, this woman could not help but feel the advantages of approaching young Ritter!

    ...

 Chapter 423 Entering Ice Feathers 1

    "Millions of silver coins?" The woman following Larissa asked in surprise, not believing that an individual like Lothur had done something like this at his age.

    By the standards of this cultivation world, someone around 20 years old earning millions of silver coins in a business was simr to a person of the same age on Earth amassing 1 million dors.

    It was not impossible. Some could do it. But it was extremely rare, something less than 0.01% of the poption could achieve.

    So Lothur''s achievement was quite impressive, something that made those three young men look in the direction of where Annaliese was taking him and Elke at the moment.

    "That''s really impressive..." One of the men muttered as he remembered how popr rumors about Viktoria marrying a good-for-nothing were until weeks ago.

    "And what do you want with him, Larissa?" This same individual, with ck hair and with a full mustache, asked their faction leader.

    This beautiful white-haired woman looked away and said. "I want to connect with him to get a piece of this business. If he joined our faction, it would be easier for me to get it..."

    "But there are other ways."

    "Hmm, you wanted him to join us?" That woman in that group, with brown hair just like Viktoria and Annaliese''s, asked.

    "Yes, wouldn''t it be nice to have someone like that in the family we are going to raise?" This level 14 cultivator asked.

    Like these other people, Larissa was not part of the nobility, and her family was a bourgeois power. But there were benefits in the nobility that interested these people. So they had an interest in forming a noble organization together.

    They could form their organization and rise to the nobility because their families were not interested in showing themselves, but they did not limit their members. But, on the other hand, every individual who wanted a job done in this world without having to do it themselves needed at least the means to get others to perform that service for them.

    Houses like Larissa''s family sometimes used their connections with other powers to do this. But in other cases, they let their members start new organizations to serve them somehow.

    That was one of the two ways a noble house came into being, so powerful families started branches of themselves in areas farther away from their core.

    As for the advantage of doing this? Simple, not everyone in a family has a chance to lead, have the best resources, etc.

    By creating an organization and using her contacts to develop it and elevate it to nobility, someone like Larissa could get a good position and resources with rtive ease.

    That, of course, would not mean that she could not continue to grow within the Carstensen family. On the contrary, she could use a new organization to grow faster and achieve what was necessary to go further within her original family.

    That was the advantage of someone talented like her doing such a thing, which justified not only her but prominent figures from doing this.

    An example of someone who had done the same thing this young woman nned was the father of the current Duke of Linn, the creator of the Waldeaur family.

    That man was part of a more prominent family. Because of his talent and connections during his time at the academy, he had gotten what was necessary to start his organization. Decadester, that organization was recognized as a noble family, having then achieved the highest position of nobility within a province during his son''s generation.

    As for that man, after long enjoying the position of Waldeaur patriarch, he had returned to his native home and significantly improved his position.

    Of course, he had done a solid job, so today, the Waldeaur family was in the sphere of influence of that power, and he still received dividends from his creation.

    That was the goal of Larissa and these people!

    So considering the potential that Lothur''s vehicle project had, this woman wanted him to be associated with her so that her journey would be shortened.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Anyway, the three agreed that Lothur could add a lot if he were as talented as everyone was sayingtely. And if that project Larissa had discovered were really as important as she thought it was, it would be well worth having him on their side!

    "Still, I think he will join Viktoria''s faction. In fact, he should be going to start the procedure regarding that right now." The second strongest said, feeling that their efforts would be futile.

    "It''s true, Larissa. We can''tpete with his wife..."

    She heard that and said. "We''ll see. Anyway, even if he doesn''t ept, we''ll find a way to bring him over to our side."

    "Coins are what push cultivators to the limit."

    ...

    While those individuals were talking about Lothur, this fellow arrived in front of Ice Feathers'' mansion.

    Upon arriving there, Annaliese promptly introduced this ce to him. "Lothur, this is my sister''s faction. That is the home of faction number 2 of this academy, which with less than half the cultivators of the number 1, we canpete for good missions for our members."

    "Hmmm." Lothur nodded his head, noting that this was indeed true.

    Although there were fewer people there than at Angelic Feathers headquarters, and this ce was much smaller, it was a fact that the average quality of the cultivators was higher.

    Except for Annaliese, who, by the way, was almost at the 2nd stage, everyone there was a Spiritual Warrior.

    Lothur saw this through the system and the visual ability that could show him the people through the walls of that mansion.

    So Annaliese introduced the mansion to him and Elke. "Our faction consists of quest hall, membership rank, administrative office, trading office, vault, and misceneous rooms."

    "Here, we do not focus on teaching our members, but the misceneous rooms can be used for either training, theoretical teaching, or group nning."

    Factions wererge groups with simr purposes. But within these groups, there were smaller subdivisions. After all, it was impossible to go on a mission with all the faction members at once...

    Hence, there were several groups in factions like these, which needed spaces to discuss strategies and things like that.

    "Ranking?" Lothur questioned.

    "Oh, right. The academy has a ranking, right?" Annaliese looked at Lothur and exined. "So, we just replicate that ranking only with our members. We use that to define the relevance of members for missions and the like."

    "Oh? That''s it then..." Lothur looked at the ranking and saw his wife''s name in 1st ce, while Annaliese''s came a little lower, 124th.

    Then he and Elke followed Annaliese until they came across an old acquaintance, Viktoria''s best friend, Karen Hum.

    Seeing that beautiful woman he had not seen in ages, Lothur looked at her status and saw that Karen had improved one level.

    ''Level 11, eh? It looks like I''ve outssed you, hehe.''

    ...

 Chapter 424 Entering Ice Feathers 2

    [Name: Karen Hum]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 11]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 51.9] [CON: 55.6] [DEX: 52.8] [AGI: 53.4] [SOU: ???]

    Lothur observed the status of Viktoria''s best friend, noting the improvements this blonde woman had undergone since he hadst seen her.

    As he had surpassed her in some ways, Lothur felt good to see this person while experiencing the difference between him and people he did not get into bed with.

    Due to Elke, Annaliese, and Viktoria, he usually could not notice how impressive his cultivation speed was. But when he was in the presence of people like Karen, he felt he was ''walking'' through this world faster than his ''nightmares'' thought.

    That woman also noticed the improvements in Lothur, even though she could not fathom this fellow''s powers. "It is good to see you again, Lothur." She smiled at him, knowing that her friend had already entirely given herself to this man.

    But noting how handsome, distinguished and talented he was, she was happy for her friend and even a little envious...

    She would not find it impossible to be in the same bed as her friend''s man!

    "I couldn''t see you at the Province Conference because I was working out some problems with my family, but I heard you did very well..."

    She chatted with him for a few moments, sometimes entertaining Annaliese and Elke, but focused on that handsome silver-haired man.

    This woman belonged to a family from outside the Linn Province, so she had naturally attended the Province Conference from her homnd, not this area. That was why she had been absent during that significantpetition and only recently returned to the Morning Star Academy.

    "... Anyway, are you here to enter Ice Feathers?" This blonde woman asked after some time talking with Lothur''s group.

    "Yes, I think it''s about time we joined a faction." He said to her.

    But then Karen looked at Elke and said. "We will have a problem regarding Young Miss Becker. She''s still in Sector 2, so she won''t pass the faction requirement."

    "Don''t bother with that. We will move up a sector before officially entering this faction." Lothurmented, already knowing that such a thing would be a problem.

    He and Elke were preparing to do missions to gather the merit points needed to take the sector ascension exam. So, for them, this would not be a problem.

    He had responsibilities as someone in Sector 6 and would have no problem joining that faction. But he still had to ascend from the sector as he had done so since that had been his initial wish. Because of this, Lothur puts himself in the same situation as Elke.

    Karen understood this and said no more on the subject, not taking more time to exin what would happen to them. "Viktoria told me you wereing here today to join our faction. So I will begin the procedure with you."

    Lothur smiled upon hearing this, understanding why this woman hade to them and realizing that this was not a coincidence. "All right. What do we have to do?" He asked as his group followed this woman''s footsteps up arge central staircase in that mansion.

    Karen then exined. "To join a faction, two procedures need to bepleted. The first ispleting a team mission, which happens once a month."

    "So everyone interested in joining a faction in a given month must participate in this mission that always happens on the first weekend of every month." She said as they realized they would have just over a week for such a mission.<novelnext></novelnext>

    She continued. "This mission needs to bepleted without casualties. Otherwise, everyone involved is blocked from joining a faction for six months."

    Lothur and Elke nodded, already knowing these rules. They then listened. "With that missionpleted, any student in that group will be able topete for the faction slots they chose by participating in the faction''s selection process."

    "And what will we have to do about this selection process?" Elke asked.

    Karen then said. "You have to meet some requirements. First, you have to be at least enrolled in Sector 3 and be a warrior. After that, you will have to go through an interview, a friendly match with a senior in the faction, and receive approval from at least half of our council members."

    "Interview? Council?" Lothur repeated those words, curious to understand the workings of this faction.

    Annaliese then said. "Lothur, the faction has the ordinary members, fighters, and council members. These subdivisions are to facilitate mission allocation, group formation, and subdivision of responsibilities within the faction."

    "Normally, we don''t have to act like an organization from outside the academy, but at certain times ofpetition, we need to act like one. So there is a need for a hierarchy for us to best face our opponents."

    Karen nodded. "The council is the highest rank someone in our faction can reach below the leader position. It is responsible for approving new members, administration of essential matters, and paperwork rted to missions.

    "It isposed of 12 members, all students from Sector 6, with the cultivation of at least 2nd Revolution."

    Annaliese then said. "You will have to go through an interview and then fight one of them. That way, they will decide whether or not you are worth adding to the faction."

    "Fight against 2nd Revolution cultivators?" Elke asked, thinking that would be too demanding. "How am I going to do that?"

    "Don''t worry. The council members always fight using power equivalent to that of the candidates. So the fight won''t be unfair." Karen said, reassuring that redhead as she directed them to the council, where Viktoria had ordered her to take these individuals.

    Viktoria had confidence that Lothur could aplish the mission that the academy would pass on to his group. So, she already wanted to arrange for him and Elke to join this faction.

    Right after the mission that would take ce in the next few days, they could immediately join this faction without her having to return to this ce just for this.

    She was a busy woman who could not be at the academy every day!

    Karen said this to Lothur and Elke just before opening therge doors of the central hall of this mansion, where a group of 12 people was already waiting for them.

    Upon arriving there, Lothur immediately saw a group of 8 women and 4 men sitting around two simr tables shaped like arches.

    Between these two arches was a space the size of a wrestling mat, where the youths to be interviewed and tested usually stood when facing this council.

    Everyone in that room looked at Lothur''s group after Karen opened the doors, with that woman and Annaliese moving away from them. One went to one of the seats around those tables, and the other to wait beside her sister.

    With that, Lothur and Elke walked to the center of that area.

    ...

 Chapter 425 Entering Ice Feathers 3

    When the two of them stood in the middle of that area between the two tables and the gaze of those many people, the silence was present as Lothur looked at his wife.

    Viktoria was sitting at a small table opposite the door to that hall and between two ends of those arc-shaped tables.

    Lothur winked at her and asked. "What are we going to do here, dear?"

    The people in the surrounding area heard this and did not like it very much since they respected Viktoria a lot and did not like anyone talking to her like that.

    That was particrly true of the men there, Viktoria''s admirers, that pursued her until a good-for-nothing came along months ago and married her.

    The expressions of those people turned ugly. Viktoria saw this, but even though she knew that perhaps her husband should be more formal in this ce, she could not correct him. She loved him and needed this man in a way that she would no longer feelfortable trying to control or restrict him.

    So she replied. "You can introduce yourself to the council members and state your goals here. We will continue after that."

    Lothur smiled and looked at the people in the surrounding area.

    "Well, my name is Lothur Ritter, I am the husband of your leader, and I am here to join the Ice Feathers. As for my goal, well, it is to use this group to gain ess to the most important missions of the academy."

    The people in that group of 12 individuals opened their mouths in surprise at Lothur''s honesty.

    It was expected that in a situation like this, the person in his position would try to hide that goal and say nice things. For example, he should say he wanted to join them because of their affinity, to fight side by side with the members of that faction and grow together with it.

    But Lothur had gone straight to the point without nice words.

    "What? How dare you?" One of those men there questioned Lothur as he rose from his seat, irritated.

    "You just want to use our faction?" One of the women gave Lothur an ugly look as Karen hid her face with her hands.

    "Of course. It would be too much work to create my faction. So I''ll join one that exists to enjoy the benefits of it." He was sincere. "I will do that while helping my dear wife improve the situation of her faction."

    "Oh? And how do you intend to do that?" Another man asked while making a disgusted expression at Lothur. "Are you saying you can do something that even First Miss Frost didn''t do?"

    "I can."

    "Arrogance!"

    "First Miss Frost, I''m sorry to say this, but that man is unpleasant!" The same person asking that question said that as he looked at Viktoria. "I feel he has no affinity with the group and will only bring discord to the faction."

    Viktoria was silent, watching in her husband''s direction and wondering why he was making things more difficult.

    Lothur smiled and took his eyes off that student, then looked into the eyes of each of the beautiful women around that circr area. "Do you want a capable member or a little friend to y with you? What difference does it make if I''m not saying the pretty words you want to hear? This faction will be about 50% stronger with me alone."

    The 12 individuals there looked at Lothur and frowned, feeling that they had not yet seen all the arrogance of this person.

    "Apart from my wife, none of you canpare to me..." Lothur said in a low voice, making everyone there start to turn red.

    Even the beautiful women who were very appreciative of his appearance were starting to get irritated.

    As for Lothur''s three women, they were open-mouthed, seeing how this guy irritated people of different personalities.<novelnext></novelnext>

    He continued, speaking for everyone there to hear his voice. "Tsk! Even if you all joined together, you wouldn''t be able to match me."

    "No wonder my dear wife has to train so hard! She has allowed herself to be surrounded by a bunch of weaklings who don''t understand a cultivator''s priorities!"

    "Tsk!"

    "Shut up!" One of those men there could no longer contain his anger and mmed hard into the table in front of him as he rose from his seat.

    "How dare you disrespect the entire council? Who do you think you are?"

    Another individual added. "Don''t think that just because you are the husband of the faction leader that we will ept your unreasonable words!"

    "Take back your words, Lothur!" One of the more angry women said as she picked up her weapon to teach this troublesome individual a lesson.

    While Elke looked from one side of that ce to the other, trying to understand the situation, Viktoria had her face resting on one of her hands, embarrassed. But since she knew that Lothur could indeed defeat all these people, she did not stop him.

    As for this man, he was smiling at these angry people, enjoying seeing that he could dominate these people with strength.

    Lothur''s goal was to irritate them and force them to act against him so that he could quickly gain the respect of the group and not have to deal with future questioning.

    He wanted to have a quiet time in this faction without constantly dealing with people in his way. So to do this, he would show the difference between him and them so that these people would understand that he was not just the husband of the faction leader.

    He was just as strong as Viktoria and demanded the same respect!

    And there was nothing faster than a fight to achieve his noble goals!

    "Come on!" Lothurughed at the people around him, making provocative gestures and indicating for them to attack him.

    By now, Elke had moved away from him, while even Karen was standing, looking strangely at Lothur as he indicated for her to join the battle as well.

    "All of you shoulde. It won''t be good if someone is left out and my strength is questioned." He said in a provocative tone.

    Karen felt slightly irritated by this, trying to understand what was Lothur''s problem. But since Viktoria seemed to be allowing all this, she did what that man indicated.

    Meanwhile, the other council members took their weapons and prepared to attack Lothur using their physical abilities since they were not allowed to fight with their spiritual abilities there.

    Lothur knew this, which was why he was not with his staff in hand, knowing he could deal with 12 Spiritual Warriors using only his powerful physique.

    "After I beat all of you, your group will unanimously approve the entries of Elke and me into this faction." He said, making it seem to these people that this was a bet.

    "If you beat all of us, I will make it a point to walk tenps around the academy naked!" One of those men, filled with anger and resentment, said this out loud just before he moved to hit Lothur.

    The others took the opportunity and acted as well, several targeting different points of this opponent while closing off Lothur''s escape routes.

    Lothur did nothing. He just stood still, waiting for the first blow to hit his body.

    ...

 Chapter 426 Entering Ice Feather 4

    When the first blow struck his body, Lothur barely felt any pain, only the contact between his skin and his opponent''s fist.

    But still, as the enemy was shocked by how hard Lothur''s face was, this young man did not move and waited for the attacks of the other opponents.

    The people attacking him realized something was wrong. Still, they remained confident, using their logic that 11 more individuals would attack him, and he would eventually suffer.

    The second one attacked, and then the third experienced the same thing as the first two, hitting an iron body so hard that their hands hurt.

    Simultaneously, the fourth individual tried to kick Lothur in the chest right after leaping into the air, as he felt he could at least move his enemy.

    But Lothur remained motionless, smiling in front of his opponent, who did not have enough to hurt his body.

    Lothur used his defensive technique since just because he had a powerful Constitution did not mean he would ept enemy movements without doing anything.

    But even if he did not activate this technique, which happened to give a bonus on his natural defenses, as any technique of its kind would do, these people still would not be able to get far with it.

    Then the fifth, sixth, and seventh opponents also hit him, thest two simultaneously, while they were already starting to feel nervous.

    They had all stood up to face Lothur after the previous provocations. So it would be humiliating if this young man did not even move to face them!

    In this way, they began acting more vigorously against Lothur, simultaneously attacking to destabilize him.

    Even Karen tried to hurt Lothur by kicking one of his arms, but the result was worse than she expected.

    "Ouch!" She expressed pain as she jumped backward, feeling like she had hit a steel bar with her shin. ''The bastard is hurting us even without acting!'' This blonde shouted in her mind, irritated by Lothur''s behavior towards her, who had always been nice to him.

    Then one of the men there, who was quite irritated with Lothur, made his move simultaneously as a ck-haired woman was trying to hit the back of their opponent''s head.

    This man stopped less than 2 meters from Lothur and then used his right leg to kick in the direction of his opponent''s testicles.

    Lothur saw this, and his expression changed, noticing his opponent''s right foot going towards his jewels. ''That''s off limits!'' He finally moved!

    When Lothur moved, that man momentarily smiled for at least getting his opponent out of the starting position.

    However, his happiness did notst long!

    In a split second, Lothur positioned himself in a favorable spot and kicked diagonally toward the chest of that brown-haired opponent.

    Pow!

    Crack!

    The moment that part of Lothur''s body hit the enemy''s chest, cracking sounds came from such a council member''s bones.

    Almost simultaneously with that noise, everyone noticed that person howling in pain. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    Pa!

    In sequence with those sounds, hended near the door of that hall, drawing the attention of everyone there and in other parts of that mansion.

    Even Viktoria got up from her chair upon seeing this, noticing that Lothur had gone heavy on that opponent, who was already coughing up blood and losing consciousness.

    "No way!" One of the other men in the hall shouted in surprise, barely able to believe that Lothur could do so much damage to one of them with one blow.<novelnext></novelnext>

    If he could do that to one of them, he could do it to all the rest!

    To make matters worse, Lothur was not even using a weapon, something that everyone there knew he used when he fought for real!

    In other words, he was still taking it easy!

    "Unbelievable!"

    "He must have broken several of Mark''s ribs!"

    "What a monster! He wasn''t that strong at the Province Conference!" One of the women acting most actively against Lothurmented in amazement.

    She had thought that Lothur still had the samebat proficiency back then, during the Province Conference. So she was willing to act even though she knew he was a good fighter.

    Back then, Lothur could already fight people of their level. But he had great difficulty and usually had to fight people like that separately.

    Several of them simultaneously could put him in danger, so this woman and others there had made the mistake of thinking the current Lothur was the same as in those days ofpetition.

    "Bastard!" Lothurmented as he looked at the nearly unconscious man slumped near the door, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. "That was to teach you to respect me, you worm. Think stupid thoughts again, and it won''t just be that you will suffer!"

    Lothur had no problem fighting opponents, suffering injuries, and still maintaining cordiality. For him, an injury caused by friendly training or even a challenge was not enough for grudges to form.

    But a low blow like that was uneptable.

    As such, even taking this situation as just special training to dominate those people, with no intention of creating hostilities, he was irritated by such a person''s behavior.

    Those 11 individuals heard Lothur''s words and felt ufortable continuing, afraid of irritating this person and ending up worse off than Mark.

    They were all talented cultivators in their families and had good positions in this faction, which gave them much to be proud of. But they were not warriors who had faced several near-death situations, as Lothur had.

    Not only that, the determination and personalities of these individuals were much weaker than that of young Ritter, who had already died once and knew how valuable the chance to live and cultivate was.

    Lothur was attached to his life, to what he had conquered, and was eager to achieve his goals to enjoy life. So he was naturally intimidating to these people who lived quietly, confident in their positions.

    In this way, with only a few seconds of confrontation, Lothur broke his opponents'' will. When he turned around, ignoring that bleeding man, some of those people had already put away their weapons or were retreating their auras.

    He saw it in their faces and body positions, feeling good that he had resolved this situation quickly.

    "It looks like no one else wants to fight me here..." He muttered, but everyone there listened to him. "Does that mean you have lost? Admit your defeat. We won''t stop until every conscious person speaks the words."

    Annaliese and Elke watched Lothur dominating this council with their mouths open while feeling funny sensations through their bodies.

    Viktoria was almost intervening in the situation, but then the people in that ce slowly gave up on this confrontation that they would not win anyway.

    "I give up." Those words came out of each of the mouths there, one by one, until each one felt an invisible weight fall on them, returning depressed to their seats.

    ? ''Very good. I won''t have to deal with insubordination for a while...'' Lothur rxed, finally walking to his wife''s side.

    ...

 Chapter 427 Resolution

    After almost everyone had returned to their seats and someone left to help poor Mark get help, Lothur stopped beside his wife and massaged her face.

    "What are you doing?" She asked him as Lothur stood with his back to those frightened people, who were still sweating due to this young man''s dominant way of presenting himself.

    Lothur smiled at Viktoria and said. "I just showed them that I will not enter your faction through the back doors just because you are my wife. From now on, I will be your shadow, number two here."

    "It''s good that they know that and don''t bother me with envy, resentment, andck of respect for me because they think I''m only here because of you... But in a way, that is true." He turned to those people there and spoke up. "I am only here because of my dear wife. Otherwise, I would probably join Angelic Feathers."

    "This morning, I met Miss Larissa Carstensen, who invited me into her faction with the promise that I would haveplete freedom at her side."

    "What?"

    "That woman did that?" Karen asked, while the other people there were also surprised.

    Getting into Angelic Feather was easier than Ice Feathers, even though one was above the other in the faction rankings. However, it was by no means easy to join Larissa''s faction, let alone receive her invitation, with guaranteed freedoms.

    So this was a testament to Lothur''s merits, something that showed more about him to these people.

    ''Considering that monstrous strength, it''s not impossible...'' One of the women in that council pondered this, figuring that Lothur must be in the top 10 of the academy in terms of strength.

    On the other hand, Viktoria heard that and looked significantly at her husband, not at all pleased to find out that her rival was trying to approach Lothur. "Did she make you such an offer?"

    "It is true, sister," Annaliese spoke before Lothur. "When I was going to meet my brother-inw, I encountered that woman trying to probe him. Lucky I didn''t allow her to try any more of her games against him!"

    Viktoria and Larissa were old rivals in Sector 6, for both had faced each other several times, not only in battles but all kinds ofpetitions, from individual ones to those of faction.

    And even though Larissa''s family was not an enemy of House Frost, they were also not a friendly power. On the contrary, they had constantly pressured the Frost family into not-so-advantageous deals.

    Therefore, Viktoria did not like that woman, one of the few with a simr level of beauty to her in this city.

    Lothur then said. "Yes, she greeted me earlier and made her offer. But I did not betray you, dear. I came here, and here I am in your faction."

    Viktoria clenched her fists, not liking this situation at all, Larissa''s tant disrespect towards her. ''She did that to provoke me!'' This brte beauty clenched her fists, annoyed at her opponent''s move.

    Then Lothur turned his attention back to the matter of the Ice Feathers members'' council and asked those individuals. "Anyway, are there any other questions you want to ask? Or are you fine with the arrangement of things?"

    Most were silent upon hearing that, averting their gazes, while the braver few looked meaningfully at Lothur.

    "You know you are not yet part of our faction, right? You''ll have to go through the mission the academy will pass on to the novice group in the next few days." Karen said this after a few seconds of silence in that area.

    Lothur replied. "Sure, I know I''ll not be a member of this faction before then. Why the question?"

    "I''m just saying, so you don''t equivocate yourself." She said in a softer tone, sighing, while still feeling pain in one of her shins.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''He got strong too fast.'' She looked silently at Lothur, seeing this young man smiling beside Elke and Annaliese, with a serious Viktoria sitting behind him. ''He shouldn''t have spiritual cultivation until months ago, but he''s totally outgrown me...''

    ''He''s almost as strong as she is!'' This blonde looked at Viktoria.

    ''Is that person''s lineage?'' Karen thought of Lothur''s father but also of her mother, who was not the least bit inferior to her husband when it came to talent.

    Karen''s family had deeper contact with the people of Lothur''s father than Viktoria. In fact, it had been through this woman that young Ritter''s wife had gained contact with Daemon''s group.

    Hence, she knew a little more than Viktoria, and through that, she could not help but ponder Lothur''s talents and abilities.

    This young man was in the dark about this woman''s thoughts, and soon after talking a little with his wives and some of the council members, he finished his business there.

    He and Elke would not yet be able to get involved in faction affairs nor have ess to the special missions avable to this group. But everything was arranged for their entry to be made official in a little over a week.

    They would only have to fulfill the academy''s mission, and then they could start acting as members of the Ice Feathers!

    With that decided, they said goodbye to Viktoria alongside Annaliese, leaving to return to their business within this academy.

    Annaliese had lunch with them and said goodbye to the two to return to her sses in Sector 5. At the same time, Lothur and Elke went to study in one of the libraries in Sector 2.

    ...

    In thete afternoon, Lothur and Elke were walking towards the exit of the Morning Star Academy, intending to go to the Becker estate.

    At the present moment, the young redhead holding one of his hands had a wide smile on her beautiful face, eager for what Lothur was going to do.

    After weeks of getting involved with him, Elke finally heard from Lothur that he wanted to talk to her parents to ask them for their consent.

    Lothur thought he had gathered what was necessary to talk it over with Gomeric without offending the man because he already had a wife.

    Moreover, Lothur did not like the fact that others did not know about his rtionship with Elke since many people thought she was free to be anyone''s bride. At the same time, getting Gomeric''s approval would make life easier for both, as well as nning the future they wanted to have.

    So Lothur had decided to use the end of this day to talk to his father-inw and regrize his situation with Elke.

    That was why Elke was so happy, smiling at everyone on her way to her family''s estate.

    The two did not take long on their way, and soon they were at the door of the patriarch''s house, waiting for that individual, who was alreadying to wee them.

    "Elke... Lothur?" Gomeric looked at this young man, whom he quite approved of. "What are you doing here? Is there a problem?"

    ...

 Chapter 428 The Request

    Hearing Gomeric''s question, the two looked at each other before entering that residence, where Hilda was behind her husband.

    Lothur then said after shaking one of Patriarch Becker''s hands. "Patriarch, I have an important matter to talk about with you. So why don''t we sit down?"

    "Oh?" Gomeric became more interested, thinking that such a young man was probably there to talk about business, maybe even a new product.

    Lothur was a genius, after all!

    He smiled and led the way toward one of the living rooms of his residence.

    But this man''s wife was somewhat more sensitive and readily realized what this was all about after a brief nce at her daughter.

    ''So he''s finally taking that step...'' She was pleased, smiling subtly, liking that Lothur had not taken too long toe and talk to them about it.

    She knew that he could not ask for Gomeric permission until he had proven his worth as an alreadymitted man, who naturally had to be very good. After all, someone already engaged had to be more impressive than someone single to get the consent of a woman''s family!

    But Hilda also judged that Lothur could not take too long toe and talk to them, since in a way that would be disrespectful to the Becker family.

    It was one thing if she had given him time until this moment to prepare himself to be someone more valuable. But, it would be another if he kept dying the conversation even after reaching a good enough ''size''!

    Then she grinned and nodded to her daughter, giving that young woman confidence that her mother would be on her side when Gomeric heard the truth.

    Anyway, the four soon sat around a luxurious living room, where several red and white curtains covered therge ss windows that overlooked a beautiful part of Peters City.

    "So, Lothur, what is this visit all about?" Gomeric asked as he settled into an armchair across from where Elke and such a young man were sitting on a sofa.

    Hilda was standing next to her husband, a little anxious for this moment.

    Lothur then went straight to the point. "Patriarch, you know Elke, and I get along very well, right? And I wish the best for her."

    "Yes, of course." Gomeric said innocently. "You are great friends. I always say that, don''t I, dear?" He looked at Hilda as that woman nodded. "You''ve even saved her life and helped her get stronger... You are already like part of the family, Lothur. You don''t need to say those words. We understand you."

    Lothur smiled. "Well, it seems that you will see no problem with what I have to propose..."

    Gomeric frowned his eyebrows, but since he thought Lothur was not interested in women, he continued listening intently, trying to understand what this was all about. "Patriarch, I am here to ask for your approval for Elke and me to be engaged."

    "Uh?"

    "What?" Hilda pretended surprise while Gomeric turned pale, wondering what Lothur''s words meant.

    "What did you say?" He slowly asked, feeling drops of sweat dripping down various parts of his body.

    Lothur said. "Elke and I love each other, patriarch. So I want to marry her and, if possible, have the approval of you and the Becker family."

    Gulp!

    Gomeric turned pale as he understood that he had not made a mistake. Lothur was indeed proposing a marriage, which meant that such a young man did not ''cut to the wrong side''!<novelnext></novelnext>

    If that was the fact, then all this time, all of Elke''s intimacy with Lothur was that of a woman with a lover, not a ''jolly'' friend!

    Thinking about what this meant and what might have happened, Gomeric began to get angry, feeling that he had been tricked.

    "Lothur, what are you talking about? How can there be anything between you and Elke?" He said aloud as he rose from his seat, his face as dark as night. "What is the meaning of all this? Weren''t you a homosexual?"

    "Homosexual?" Elke repeated that word, finding her father''s ideas strange. "Impossible!"

    "What did you say?" Gomeric looked at his daughter as if he had just seen her say the worst things a daughter could say to a father.

    Elke bowed her head in shame while Lothurughed bitterly.

    Luckily, Hilda was on their side. After her initial performance, she soon stood between those young people and her angry husband.

    "Honey, let''s take it easy here. They are just two youths in love..."

    "In love? Hilda, this boy has deceived us! He yed the homosexual to gain our trust and win over this foolish girl!" He growled, forgetting all the good that Lothur represented.

    No father would like to have their beloved daughter taken away by a rascal like Lothur!

    Consequently, this man was beginning to boil with anger, feeling that he needed to teach Lothur a lesson and show who was the boss of this house!

    Lothur then said. "Patriarch, I don''t know why you think that of me. I don''t know any other man more masculine than me... Cough! Uh, the fact is that I have nothing to do with this misunderstanding."

    "Elke and I love each other and have been together from the beginning with that interest in mind."

    "That''s right, father!" She regained some courage and stood up to defend her cause. "Lothur and I love each other and wish to live together! That is why he is asking your permission."

    "I want you to approve it too, father. It would make me the happiest woman in the Linn Province."

    "Elke..." Gomeric said this between his teeth, feeling disappointed that his daughter would ept being a man''s second wife. ''What a disappointment! Where did we go wrong?'' He wondered, trying to understand how things hade to this.

    "Honey, don''t overthink it," Hilda murmured in one of her men''s ears. "Lothur may already be married, but his wife is the most beautiful in the city! Elke is not being wronged at all!"

    "On the other hand, don''t let your feelings get the better of you. There is no one better than Lothur for Elke! Not only is he very talented and has many good prospects, but he can also make her stronger!"

    "Feel Elke''s level! She is almost at the end of the 1st stage! Do you think this would be possible without Lothur helping her?" She squeezed one of her husband''s arms as she convinced him, trying to make this man''s rational side ovee his emotional one.

    Gomeric clenched his fists, hearing everything his beloved wife had told him but also considering the words of Elke herself, who seemed to be being honest.

    ''Is she really going to ept this humiliation? Is she happy?'' He wondered as he saw the flushed face of his only daughter, who at the moment seemed determined to convince him of this crazy idea.

    After a minute of deep thought, he sighed deeply and asked Lothur. "What about Viktoria? What will this rtionship of yours be like? Will the First Miss Frost ept it? How will you two live?"

    ...

 Chapter 429 Matter Resolved

    Upon hearing Gomeric''s questions, Lothur promptly replied. "Viktoria sees no problem in my rtionship with Elke. She has known about everything for some time and has never tried to act against it. As for how it will be, I''ve already nned everything..."

    Gomeric made an ugly expression, noticing that Lothur had nned this whole action and acted weeks behind his back while thinking about how to lead poor Elke on the wrong path.

    ''Bastard, smartass!''

    "... I already have a house big enough for us to live together, and most importantly, I no longer live inside the Frost family''s property. So you won''t have to worry about Elke joining that family."

    "I am also creating my own family, which will be behind the Ritter Motor Company. That way, there is no worry for you to worry about where Elke will go."

    "Finally, I am strong enough to protect her." He gestured as he finished speaking, noticing that Gomeric was angry. Still, such a man could not say anything to him.

    Everything Lothur had said was true. That man had even checked the information regarding the departure of this young man from the Frost family.

    At the same time, the Ritter Motor Company was something he could not ignore. Elke joining Lothur''s family meant she would have rights to thatpany. In other words, the Becker family could somehow benefit from what Lothur was asking for.

    Since Elke herself wanted this and seemed happy about it, it would be like putting the good and the bad together!

    Hence, even though he did not like this situation, feeling tricked by Lothur, Gomeric could not refuse this young man''s request.

    This man clenched his fists in frustration, sensing the terrible feeling a father would feel when they knew their daughter was leaving home.

    "Sigh..."

    "So you thought of everything..." He muttered as he sat back in his seat. "I can give my approval for your union. But I need assurances that my daughter will not be harmed by being a second wife."

    Elke and Hilda looked at Gomeric while Lothur understood what this man wanted.

    Gomeric said. "We need to know how far you are willing to go to secure Elke''s position in your family and the future of the children you may have. For example, how many percent of yourpany would you give her?"

    Lothurughed bitterly and said. "I think..."

    "What are you talking about, father? How can you be so shameless to say something like that?!" Elke asked offendedly, seeing her father demanding a dowry for her.

    "Be quiet, Elke. I am doing what is best for you." Gomeric did not even look at his daughter as he kept his eyes on Lothur.

    On the other hand, Hilda looked at her husband, knowing that this was the right thing to do, but it was also somewhat awkward for her.

    Lothur took one of Elke''s hands and said. "All right, you would already have rights in my family anyway. So your father''s request is not strange."

    "But..."

    Lothur smiled at her and then answered his father-inw''s question. "I will give Elke 3% once I sell more fractions of thepany. Since she won''t have that fraction until then, she won''t need to put resources out of her pocket into thepany until then."

    "I will do the same with Viktoria and any other women I marry until I sell more shares of that organization."

    After these words from Lothur, Gomeric was satisfied, thinking that however little 3% was, Elke was only one person. Meanwhile, the Becker family had only 7% but had many members and subordinates.

    In other words, with this promise, Elke and her children would have a guaranteed future and perhaps even be able to help House Becker through this!<novelnext></novelnext>

    In this way, this man no longer pressured Lothur, although he was still somewhat grumpy given the surprise he had just received.

    As for Hilda, she was happy that everything worked out in the end and soon approached Lothur and Elke to hug them and wish them good luck in their rtionship.

    "So, when will you two get married?" She asked, as her husband stood silently looking at them.

    Lothur looked at Elke and said. "I guess after we graduate from the Morning Star Academy, right? By then, we will have solved some problems in our way, and things will be calmer."

    "Hmm, I guess that''s not a bad idea." She agreed, considering how fast their speed of advancement was within that institution.

    But Hilda and Gomeric thought that the deadline was too long!

    "What? Why wait so long?" She asked the two.

    "It won''t be that long..." Lothur said. "I believe it will happen in a year at most."

    The two realized their mistake, as Lothur was not normal at all and would definitely graduate in a short time within that academy.

    ''That''s right. He''s a prodigy...''

    With that said, things were settled for them to get married after leaving the Morning Star Academy, within a year at most.

    Only after that period could Lothur take Elke to live with him and Viktoria and make her part of his family.

    In the end, Hilda was already looking forward to her daughter getting married. She suggested many details for the wedding, things Lothur did not pay attention to. Only Elke had participated in that woman''s decisions, while those two men practically just listened to the two talks.

    After a while, they had dinner while talking about the future, with Gomeric still ufortable but no longer protesting.

    At the end of the evening, Lothur left the Becker estate, heading back to his home in a hurry, knowing the dangers he had in walking locally in the middle of the night.

    He was never alone recently, as there was always one watcher or another apanying him. But with the local dangers and the strength of his enemies, this young man would spend no more time than necessary exposing himself.

    So he ignored the individuals apanying him on his way back to his property and quickly went to meet his wife, who was already waiting for him at this time.

    ''Time to rx a bit after this stressful night...''

    As he was moving, the Transcendent sent by his grandfather was in the vicinity, following him from afar. But this individual did not seem so interested in acting at the moment, being preupied with the different situation he had just encountered.

    ''Why are so many strong cultivators by the province''s standards following him?'' This person wondered as he saw level 14 people following Lothur.

    Level 14 was already close to the level of local patriarchs. So this man who had spent thest few days away from Peters City could not help but find Lothur''s current situation strange.

    He had left because of the Frost family, which had started looking for him after the failed attempt at action against Lothur inside that family''s estate.

    Therefore, upon returning to this ce, seeing the different situation, and remembering what he had experienced the first time he visited Lothur, this man could not help but hesitate.

    ''I wonder if this is rted to the same person who scared us that day...'' He thought of the individual who had made him and Daemon''s envoy run away from Lothur''s estate earlier...

 Chapter 430 Tranquility And Business

    When he first came to this city to contact Lothur, this envoy of Daemon''s father had faced the envoy of that ouw at the Ritter estate.

    On that asion, someone who had ignored the effects of the sh of auras of two Transcendents had appeared on Lothur''s property and frightened the two experts.

    Due to the memory of that powerful being, this individual soon suspected that the changes regarding Lothur''s observers were connected to such a person.

    After all, what else could justify the presence of people of a simr level to that of local patriarchs watching over Lothur? How could this young man be so relevant?

    Lothur was not that strong and did not have the political influence to cause such a reaction!

    So this man from the capital of the empire hesitated to act on his target at the moment, deciding first to observe this young man''s situation before moving.

    ''I was away for a few days. So I''ll observe his situation for a while to ensure there''s nothing dangerous for me before I act!'' He made up his mind as he watched Lothur enter the house where Viktoria was cultivating in waiting for her husband.

    ...

    Two dayster...

    After Lothur asked Gomeric for this man''s approval of his and Elke''s engagement, this young man had two quiet days in this city.

    He trained with his women and had fun but he also worked hard at his responsibilities. For example, this silver-haired young man delivered some items to the tailor store that had taught him such a profession, which he was to do at the beginning of this new month.

    On the other hand, Lothur participated in the work concerning the development of the Ritter Motor Company. He worked alongside some of his partners to arrive at an initial investment figure that each shareholder would have to make for thispany to get off the ground.

    With this, this afternoon, he was already on his way to meet with his partners'' representatives tomunicate the amount that each party would have to contribute to thepany.

    ''I have finished teaching the Becker family tailors how to produce my glove. So from now on, I will have more time to work on my vehicles...'' Lothur pondered this as he headed to the meeting ce he had arranged with his partners.

    Lothur had arranged to meet his partners'' representatives at Frederik''s store, which, although notrge and luxurious, was private enough for them to discuss business.

    The Ritter Motor Company did not yet have a headquarters, as thispany needed the initial investment to gain such a thing. Thus, the meeting in question would be in a simpler ce until the first factory was built.

    Lothur pondered these questions, eager to begin work on his vehicles alongside the individuals who would soon be helping him.

    And seeing Frederik''s store not far from him, Lothur spied his status once more before entering that ce.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 50.9 -> 52.7]

    [CON: 203.9 -> 204.4]

    [DEX: 45.2 -> 47]

    [AGI: 61.1 -> 62.9]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 106.6]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [WIL: 86 -> 86.6]

    [EVF: 1,143]

    He was pleased to see his status, liking his progress, but even happier that his women were advancing rapidly because of this.

    After these quiet days, Elke and Annaliese advanced again, the first reaching level 9 and thetter advancing to the 2nd stage.

    Because of this, Annaliese had begun to absorb the spiritual crystals that her man had given her while Elke was preparing to do the same very soon.

    Lothur was also nning to use his professional skills to help his women in theing days, so his family''s strength would continue to increase rapidly.

    ''Things are going as they should... We will continue to evolve until Friday, and then I will leave with Elke for the group mission that the academy will pass on to us.'' He pondered this in silence. ''At this rate, we''ll make it to thepetition for the Secret Realm spots as the favorites in each sector!''

    With that positive thought, Lothur entered Frederik''s store, promptly running into several youths he had not yet met.

    His partners in the Ritter Motor Company were important people, extremely busy individuals. So almost none of them attended, having instead sent people they trusted.

    Among these were some individuals from Sector 6 of the academy, children, or close rtives of Lothur''s partners.

    There was Viktoria, representing the Frost family, Elke from House Becker, Anneke and the youngdy from the Koch family, and several other members of the local nobility or bourgeoisie.

    "It looks like everyone is already here." He looked from one side of that ce to the other and saw that Frederik was in the back of the store, working on something.

    He closed Frederik''s store and soon began talking business with his partners'' representatives. "Well, let''s not waste too much time. The Ritter Motor Company needs 80 million bronze coins to start its operations. So I hope each of you has brought enough coins. I want toplete some business after I leave here, then I need those coins."

    "What? 80 million?" Jacob, who was there representing his father, questioned in surprise, finding the initial amount Lothur wanted incredible.

    Even Viktoria was impressed by the figure Lothur quoted since that equaled more than 30% of what he had received days ago for thepany''s auction.

    "Isn''t that a lot?" Miss Koch asked in doubt.

    Lothur then exined. "No. To buy and develop the ce where we will develop our first cars, we will have to spend 18 million bronze coins."

    "In addition, we will have to hire a few dozen professionals after that ce is built to develop our cars for some time before we can profit. That will cost around 5 million."

    "The most expensive will be the materials for both the cars and the production of the parts for the cars. That will cost around 30 million bronze coins." He said, mentioning the amounts needed for those most needed parts.

    "What about the rest?" A representative of the local bourgeoisie and coroner Klossner asked in doubt.

    Lothur looked at such a person and said. "The remainder will go toward the formation of thepanies supporting the Ritter Motor Company."

    Lothur and his partners had agreed to leave it up to those of their partners who did not get slices of that vehicle manufacturer to develop these side businesses. But even if others were to lead these initiatives, the Ritter Motor Company would be responsible for 50% of the investments of these powers.

    This Lothurpany would profit by selling cars, teaching people to drive, creating transportationpanies, etc. In short, thispany was a partner in these other smaller businesses that would teach and do transportation services in the future.

    Therefore, even if other people were to lead these businesses, the Ritter Motor Company would need to invest in them.

    And for that would go the missing difference toplete Lothur''s initial investment request!

    ...

 Chapter 431 Influence Shown

    After understanding why the Ritter Motor Company needed so much capital just to start its operations, those people were silent for a few moments, considering the situation.

    ''80 million bronze coins... I will have to contribute 800,000 bronze coins or 80,000 silver coins.'' Jacob thought about it, as his family owned only 1% of thispany.

    On the other hand, the secretary of the Morning Star Academy principal, who was representing him, considered the 10% that this institution had in Lothur''spany. ''We will have to spend another 800 thousand silver coins...''

    ''That project is costly!''

    ''But he will have to put in 4.08 million silver coins... So that must be really necessary.'' She looked at Lothur, this young man who owned 51% of thispanying out of the paper.

    Viktoria then said. "All right, here are the coins concerning the Frost family."

    Lothur received 720 thousand silver coins from his wife soon after receiving 560 thousand from Elke.

    Everyone there had prepared to make an investment of millions when they were called upon, so no one there had left it until a second time to make the payment.

    Lothur soon had the 80 million bronze coins in his spatial ring, including his share, which he wouldter hand over to his partners to make the necessary investments.

    Frederik saw all that while working on something, bing anxious to ess those resources that would be bought with that amount.

    ''Soon, I will be able to produce one of these vehicles in its original size...'' He imagined with a smile on his face.

    Lothur did not know what was in the mind of his chief carpenter, so he said to his partners'' representatives. "Well, that''s all for today. I will hand these resources over to the people and organizations responsible for developing the different areas in ourpany."

    "But in a little more than ten days, we should already have the factory site partially finalized and the start of activities."

    The eyes of those young people there opened as they glowed in anticipation.

    Reba then asked, standing there as a representative of her mistress. "Will that be so fast? How long will it take before the first vehicle is produced?"

    "Yes, it will be fast. We have already found where this factory will be built, and the construction service is easy to get. Then we just have to wait for the time needed for making the walls..."

    Buildings on this world were not so different from those on Earth. Of course, there were differences concerning spiritual energy and powerful resources that could be used to construct special buildings, super-strong buildings, etc. But since Lothur was creating a factory, not a headquarters, the construction time depended basically on the weather.

    If it rained, it would take longer because the concrete area would take more days toplete. However, if the weather were good, it would take only the minimum time for the cement and otherponents to dry.

    Since Lothur and his partners were going to hire many builders to finish the construction of the factory quickly, the time gap was minimal.

    ''It''s very convenient not to have to depend on regtors, authorization from environmental agencies, etc...'' Lothur thought about this as he remembered the problematic Earth.

    He then said. "After the factory is ready, I will take a few days to teach the formations and procedures to our professionals working on it. But, on the other hand, we must have a period to test the vehicles and correct possible mistakes."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "So I would tell you not to expect too much from us before a month... But after that, our first car could be ready anytime."

    Building a car was quick and rtively simple. He and Frederik had only taken time to do their responsibilities as they had no previous help or experience.

    But with the many employees in that factory and the experience the two had already gained and would improve uponter, it would be much faster to produce new vehicles in the future. This was true even considering the difference in size between the miniature and the original version.

    Anyway, a little over a month was not much time for any of those people. So none of them were disappointed but very interested in this day when their dream woulde true.

    That was particrly true for Miss Koch, who had tried out Lothur''s kart at the previous horse-racing stomp.

    ''I will be able to drive my carriage... Car to wherever I want!'' She thought about it before saying goodbye, smiling in satisfaction.

    Anneke followed her young miss after saying goodbye to Lothur, scheduling something for them to do over the next few days.

    The other individuals left back to their families or those they had represented in this ce. It was time for them to pass Lothur''s words on to this young man''s true partners!

    Eventually, Lothur thought about going to Innumerable Scrolls. Still, when considering that he would only have his influence recognized locally after theunch of the Ritter Motor Company, he put that idea aside. He knew he needed new techniques, but he would only get ess to the third floor of that store if he had a more impressive talent or more influence locally.

    Since he could not so easily increase his talent and his influence would take a while to be recognized, he did not want to lose time by going to that ce. Instead, this young man went towards the Cultivation House to buy some materials and train a bit.

    He was a member of that organization, so he had discounts on the price of the unique training rooms there.

    It was interesting to train in that ce at least once a week. Hence, soon Lothur went next to Annaliese, with Elke and Viktoria returning to their families.

    ''A little more and I will be an alchemist...'' Lothur looked at his sister-inw, feeling that he would soon be able to help each of his women.

    "Anna, have you started absorbing the crystals I gave you?" He asked on his way to that ce.

    "Yes, I managed to absorb the first one..."

    The two continued talking while the Transcendent, watching Lothur from afar, had a curious expression on his face.

    ''What was that meeting about? Was it about that gathering from days ago at the local hippodrome?'' He wondered about this information he had alreadye into contact with after investigating the changes in the surroundings of Lothur.

    He had found no sign of anyone stronger than himself being watching Lothur, so he was much more at ease in taking action against this young man. But upon discovering these unusual dealings of young Ritter, he felt he needed to study this fellow further before acting.

    ''I think I shouldmunicate with his grandfather... This matter seems to involve more than I can assess.'' He concluded, remembering that even the Morning Star Academy principal was on Lothur''s side.

    In this way, without realizing it, Lothur prevented a dangerous approach from happening through his growing influence rted to car production in this cultivation world!

 Chapter 432 Attempted Business

    The next day...

    In the middle of his routine at the Morning Star Academy, Lothur suddenly had a surprise in his day.

    After leaving Anneke''s room, where he had stopped by to chat with his former teacher, Lothur ran into Larissa at one of the exits from the academy dormitory.

    When he saw her, he greeted her with a nod. Still, that woman seemed interested in talking to him, heading toward him with a serious expression.

    "Are you busy right now? Can we sit down and talk for a moment?" She asked him without courtesy, getting straight to the point.

    Lothur expressed his surprise on his face, but since he had no reason to refuse this beautiful woman''s request, he agreed to hear what she had in mind.

    "Yes, I have about 10 minutes free now. What''s this about?"

    Before she answered his question, Larissa pointed in the direction of the dormitory, and Lothur understood that she wanted to talk to him in her room.

    He smiled and then started to follow, not taking long to realize that the people in the surrounding area were looking at him even more hatefully.

    ''These people here are very jealous...'' He thought. ''Every time I walk with a beautiful woman, dozens of hateful nces are cast in my direction!''

    ''What fault do I have if the beauties of this city keep attracting themselves to my person?'' He wondered as his enemies thought of things slightly different from what Lothur judged.

    Some were actually jealous of Larissa, others jealous that young Ritter was so lucky in life. But most were just showing the hatred they felt for Lothur and for the very position they were in.

    It was hard enough to act against Lothur these days, but if he were allying himself with that woman, then things would only get harder!

    As such, the students watching these two could not help but be irritated!

    ''What is he doing with Miss Carstensen?'' Caroline Waldeaur wondered upon seeing this after leaving her room in that academy dormitory.

    She initially liked Lothur since this fellow put the Frost family to shame and also had a refined appearance. But after losing to him at the Province Conference, she had begun to feel bad about this fellow.

    And considering how much she knew about her family''s recent troubles with Lothur, she was naturally concerned about the possibility of this person approaching House Carstensen.

    Others in the surrounding area kept an eye on Lothur. Still, this young man had no idea about this and soon entered Larissa''s room in one of the best spots in the academy dormitory.

    "I didn''t know you were staying here..." Lothurmented as he observed that ce that looked better than a small luxury apartment. "But now I can understand a bit of why that is."

    Larissa smiled at him and said. "My family is not in Peters City, so I need a ce to stay. Luckily the amodations at the academy are very tasteful."

    "For some, yes..." Lothur joked, seeing what the difference in status could give someone.

    She did not continue the subject and answered Lothur''s earlier question. "As for a reason for this conversation, well, I heard that you signed up for the test for new members of Ice Feathers. Is that true?"

    Lothur stopped watching his surroundings and ignored the sweet feminine smell of that room. He then sat in front of that white-haired woman around a small ss table. "Yes, Viktoria is my wife, after all."

    "Hmm, that makes sense." She did not insist on making him change his mind. But she was not willing to give up her goals.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Anyway, I still have things I want to talk to you about."

    "Oh? About what?"

    "Ritter Motor Company."

    Hearing those words from this woman''s mouth, Lothur was silent for a moment, looking into her eyes and wondering where this person had heard of thispany.

    Only his business associates and future business partners knew the name of thispany, so it was a surprise to Lothur to hear it from this woman''s mouth.

    On the other hand, he was no fool and knew that the origin of a person like this could not be simple. That way, her means must have been excellent, and thinking about it, considering the number of people involved in this project, finding out this information would not be that difficult.

    "What do you want to know?" He asked, not wanting to waste time questioning her about how she had obtained such information.

    "Lothur, don''t think the worst of me. I was not spying on your meetings with local leaders. It''s just that my family has a bit of influence with some of these powers, and I got information about it without asking for it." She said so he would not think the worst of her.

    "I see... Some of those families or people have obligations to your organization." Hemented in a low voice.

    "Not just one." She smiled and then got to the point she wanted to address. "My family will already benefit in some way from yourpany because of those families and people who are associated with you. So I''m not here to talk about my family and you but about you and me."

    "Miss Carstensen, I am a married man..." Lothur joked, knowing that she was not talking about that.

    Larissa was not bothered by Lothur''s flirtation and said. "I am very interested in joining your society. But, unfortunately, I didn''t get a chance to be invited to the auction a few days ago, so I hope I get a second chance."

    Even if Lothur had invited her, she probably would not have gone to the auction in question. But after what this young man had tasted at that hippodrome, this woman could not ignore this budding enterprise.

    As for Lothur, he would not invite someone like this woman in those days. After all, besides not knowing her, the history of the Carstensen family was tooplicated for someone like him to read correctly.

    He then said. "Really, that is an unfortunate mismatch... Anyway, in the future, I will sell some more shares of the Ritter Motor Company. Still, the current shareholders will have a preference in the auction. However, I may open the possibility for other individuals and organizations to join the auction."

    "In the future? When?" She asked, interested to know how much she could enjoy if she became one of his partners.

    "When thepany reaches the entire empire, and I no longer need to have control over it to make this business work." He said, wiping the smile off this beautiful woman''s face.

    "But that''s too far away!" She said, realizing that by this point, most of the growth in Lothur''spany would have taken ce, and the investment would no longer be so good to make.

    It would certainly be an excellent business to generate dividends, but not to get a significant future appreciation, as she had wanted. So Larissa was somewhat disappointed to hear Lothur''s words.

    "Think about it. Isn''t there another possibility? I''m willing to pay a lot to own some fraction of the Ritter Motor Company." She said as she clenched her fists.

    Lothur saw this across the table, seeing the way she was sitting on the other side of it, and thought about what to do.

    ...

 Chapter 433 Stacking Connections

    Noticing that Larissa was a bit nervous, showing anxiety about getting business with him, Lothur considered what to do with her to take advantage of the situation.

    ''For now, I don''t need coins since I have enough to pay my bills in the short term.'' He was silent as he looked at this woman''s beautiful face. ''But one of the main points of the Ritter Motor Company and the cars I will produce is not about coins, but about connections.''

    Lothur knew that in this world, for someone to be sessful in cultivation, they naturally needed coins. With these resources, they could buy all kinds of things to facilitate their cultivation, defensive and offensive items, techniques, in short, everything relevant to one''s growth.

    So coins were naturally essential to him.

    But this was not all, much less the main reason for him to start a business with several partners. After all, if it were only coins, he could easily achieve this by selling parts of his organization to just one or two powerful families in the province.

    However, Lothur did not just want this. He also wanted allies, people, and organizations that could be in his influencework and help him in different ways.

    As such, he considered how much help this woman could offer him if she became one of his partners.

    ''I don''t know if this will connect me to the Carstensen family, but having her on my side is certainly a way for me to ess that organization. But, on the other hand, she herself is quite talented and certainly already has a good influence in the province.''

    Larissa already had a cultivation level close to that of patriarchs of lesser noble organizations in the province. So he thought that she might already have a good influence locally was not an exaggeration!

    Not only that, this woman, just like Reba, was close to finishing her activities in Sector 6 and graduating. So she could leave her student life in a short time and start something more relevant in the province.

    Then he had to consider what the addition of this person would mean in his ns. "What exactly do you have to offer? Oh, right, I''m not talking about coins, although that will have its relevance."

    She understood that he wanted to know how this business deal would benefit him in ways other than financially. "Well, you will have someone who can introduce you to people inside and outside the province and speak for you in the Carstensen family. At the same time, I n to create my own family after the Secret Realm, so you will have that organization as an ally."

    "Create your own family?" Lothur asked in surprise upon hearing that.

    "Yes, I already have several of my fellow members in Angelic Feathers interested in joining my family after they graduate from the academy." Shemented on that relevant fact. "Remember those three who were with me that other day? They will all be part of the family I intend to create."

    "Oh?" Lothur was pleased to hear that since, from what Larissa was telling him, the family she would create would already be born quite powerful. But then he touched on another subject. "Do you intend to participate in the Secret Realm?"

    "Yes, of course. That''s the only reason I haven''t graduated yet." She said to him, looking at him with interest.

    "Are you already guaranteed a spot?" Lothur questioned her, already thinking about what might happen very soon.

    "No, even though my position in my family is not bad, and they have spots in this event, I was still left out of the chosen group." She said, more or less understanding what he was getting at.

    "Are you asking this because you think you will take my spot?"

    Lothur smiled, nodding positively. "Unfortunately, they transferred me to Sector 6. So I''ll have to get that spot."<novelnext></novelnext>

    She looked at him earnestly upon hearing that, knowing that Lothur''s chances against her would be slim but that it would make no difference to try to demotivate him. "Hehe, very well then. I hope to meet you during thepetition."

    "Hmmm." He nodded, knowing she was not taking him seriously, but wondering how surprised she would not be in the future.

    Then Lothur returned to the main subject. "It''s not impossible for us to do business." He smiled and exined. "You don''t have to worry about the Secret Realm slots. I''ll manage that on my own. But I hope you won''t be too disappointed about losing the slot to me and damaging our business."

    She looked at him cautiously and said with sincerity. "That wouldn''t happen even in that scenario you''re imagining."

    "Well then, hehe." Lothur continued. "So I can propose a deal on 3% of the Ritter Motor Company."

    "How much will you want for that? I can pay 50% above the average amount for 1% the Koch family paid for their fraction." Larissa stated her financial limit at the moment.

    Lothur showed one of his index fingers to her, waving it negatively. "Let''s not talk about the coins right now. I want to rify that if we make a deal, I will sell you 3% of thepany, and you will have the same responsibilities as the shareholders who participated in the previous auction. But you will have some different rights and duties."

    "What are you talking about?"

    He replied. "You will have no voting rights, and I will have your voting rights until I hold a new auction to sell more fractions of thepany."

    She knew that he wanted to have control of thispany so that he could lead without bureaucratic and political problems at the initial moment of thepany. Since she was not against that, she epted it without difficulty.

    "But you will have to contribute to all the scheduled investments, including the recent one, which has already happened." He brought up this point that she was not yet aware of but that she saw no problem.

    "All right."

    Lothur continued. "More importantly, you will have to pay a fee for this fraction of Ritter Motor Company that will equal 30% of the lowest bid value of the auction I will hold in the future to sell more fractions of thepany."

    Hearing this, Larissa noted that she would pay quite a bit for this fraction, much more than the families who participated in the previous auction that Lothur held at the local hippodrome.

    ''This will be costly, but I will probably have my own family to pay for it by that time. And I will pay much less if I agree to it now than if I wait to join this society only in the future.'' She sped her hands together, feeling that this deal would still be good for her even if Lothur were a vile fellow who was making her bleed.

    ''If the Ritter Motor Company dominates the empire, something very likely to be achieved in a short time, the profits will be unimaginable...''

    After a while in silence, she said. "All right. I agree to those terms."

    With that decided, it was not long before the two signed an agreement simr to the ones this young man had made earlier. But with the caveats, he would continue to have 51% of the vote until that promised asion.

    In the end, the two said their goodbyes, each going their way to solve their problems!

 Chapter 434 The Ice Feathers Mission

    After Lothur and Larissa''s negotiations, a few more days passed, and it was finally Friday, the time for him and Elke to depart on the mission of the Morning Star Academy!

    After thest few quiet days without many problems, the time hade for them to leave on the group mission necessary to join the Ice Feathers faction.

    Precisely because of this event that they needed toplete, Lothur and Elke were at this moment in the academy''s mission hall, where the group of candidates for faction ces were.

    In one of the special areas of the hall, more than 50 people were crowded in front of a mural. Each of the missions of the groups of faction rookies was in this ce.

    ording to the academy rules, people interested in joining different factions could not do missions together. So each faction could send candidates to participate in their own missions published there in that area.

    Each faction would have to send at least four candidates to be able to do their mission, or if this were not met, the candidates would have to wait until more people joined them.

    As such, there were students there interested in joining more factions besides Ice Feather.

    Lothur and Elke realized this when they saw the mission posters on that wall, which had prominent symbols in their titles with the name and shield of the faction that fit such missions.

    ? ''It seems that only the most important factions can send candidates to be tested on a regr basis...'' Lothur saw that there were only missions for the top five ranked factions.

    Meanwhile, Elke was paying attention to what was on the poster regarding the mission for newbies trying to enter the Ice Feathers.

    [Ice Feathers]

    [Finn Mountains Quest]

    [Description: the group of students interested in joining the Ice Feathers faction is toplete a mission of investigation and, if possible, solve the problem at a farm in the Finn Mountains area.]

    [Farmers in the area have reported problems with animals and beasts and the appearance of noises in the middle of the night in certain sensitive spots. Investigate this point and report back to the academy any findings.]

    [The academy rmends that if sessful in discovering the source of the problem, and subsequent notification to academy management, await our orders.]

    [Warning: area with reports of the appearance of evil beings!]

    [Duration: from 2 to 10 days; the academy will not give missing sses to students on this mission during this period. But any students interested in this will have to make up for the lost time on their own.]

    [Rewards: approval by the academy for students to join the Ice Feathers faction; 2,500 merit points for the group; 200,000 bronze coins for the group; 1 Bronze-grade pill for each group member.]

    ''Finn Mountains?'' Lothur also noted the details on that poster, remembering that he had already done a mission in that area, that time alongside Annaliese.

    The Finn Mountains were arge portion ofnd in the Finn Province territory, with exciting spots for training and cultivation for 2nd stage cultivators.

    In it, there were several hazards and wilderness areas where natural resources grew away from humans, which could be an advantage for these students, who were usually between the end of the 1st stage and the beginning of the 2nd.

    But given the size of the Finn Mountains, there were not such dangerous areas in some locations, and then there were considerable threats in others.

    Considering this, Lothur was not sure how dangerous this mission would be, considering only the information avable on the mission poster.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Anyway, after a few minutes in front of that mural, the young people began to disperse from there, gathering ording to their factions of interest far away from each other.

    The group on the mission to join Viktoria''s faction had four other people besides Lothur and Elke, three women and one man. Of these people, one of the women was at the same level as the redhead next to the young Ritter. In contrast, the rest of the people were already level 10 cultivators.

    Only Lothur was level 11, and even without knowing it, each of them gathered around him, already putting him in the position of leader of the mission.

    Everyone there knew Lothur because of his recent achievements but also because he was Viktoria''s husband.

    They wanted to join this woman''s faction. So everyone there knew about Lothur even before he became so famous locally.

    On the other hand, as they were on trial to join Ice Feathers, most did not belong to local noble powers. It would not make sense to associate with an enemy or rival.

    Neither the Frost family rivals would try to approach Viktoria''s faction, nor would she ept them into her group in case one of them tried anything of the sort.

    Because of this, none of these people had previous intrigues with Lothur to stand in his way, and they readily epted the idea of himmanding them.

    Lothur realized this and did not like it. "I know you people want me to lead this mission, but I have no interest in that. I am a talented fighter in different areas and probably someone who attracts attention as a ma does..." He realized he was only saying nice things about himself and changed. "Cough! Cough! Uh, I''m not so good at leading people. It will be better if one of you is in charge of that."

    "But..." Some of those peoplemented, feeling that it would not be appropriate.

    Elke then said. "Then how about letting me lead? I don''t have the strength, but Lothur will back me up."

    The four people there, Theresa, Annelie, Julia, and Benjamin, heard that and looked at each other, not thinking that would be bad.

    Elke was a noblewoman, the daughter of a patriarch, someone who had received an excellent education. Then, even though she was not as talented in cultivation as everyone thought, she certainly knew the theory necessary to proceed on a mission of this kind.

    And with Lothur supporting her with his skills, none of them could question her.

    That way, they were quick to ept Elke as the group''s leader and then began to talk about what mattered to them.

    "We have to leave tonight. So each of you had better be ready by sunset." Elke said, looking at those four individuals, two of them members of the bourgeoisie, one from a minor noble family, and one a subordinate of that noblewoman.

    The four soon said they were ready to go and with carriages avable for the journey.

    "Well then, let us travel in two carriages," Elke ordered since it would not be good for each of them to go in a different carriage. "You three will go in one, and Lothur, Julia, and I will go in another." She spoke, indicating that that weaker woman would go with the two of them to ''bnce'' the strength of the groups.

    Those youths epted, and then the only man there asked. "What do you expect from this mission? I heard that its difficulty depends on the strength of the group..." He looked at Lothur.

    Everyone understood that he meant that the mission would be more difficult because of Lothur, getting a little worried about failing and having to wait another six months to join a faction.

    Lothur smiled bitterly upon hearing that and said. "Well, it won''t be easy, but I think we can do well... I''m a little stronger than thest time the academy measured my strength."

    ...

 Chapter 435 Enemies Ahead

    "Most importantly, I won''t have several limitations that I normally have, so I think everything will be fine." Lothur said what was not a lie but also hid part of his reality.

    He knew he would probably have trouble on this mission because of his various enemies. But besides not having much to do to avoid these threats, he thought he could handle it.

    On the other hand, he needed these people to at least leave to do the mission with him and Elke since the academy required a minimum number of members per team. So he would not scare these people with hisplex reality just at this moment!

    Anyway, the four young men listened to him and believed that Lothur must have his means, which the academy probably did not know about. After all, having cards up one''s sleeve in such a world was crucial.

    With that, after some conversation about minor details of this mission, they said their goodbyes, arranging to meet in an hour at the academy''s exit.

    Lothur and Elke went to say goodbye to Annaliese, who was still going about her own routine at the academy.

    As for Viktoria, this fellow had already done that in the morning, so he would only see her again when he returned from this trip.

    ''Viktoria has advanced her body cultivation recently, and Annaliese has risen to level 11 of soul cultivation...'' Lothur pondered this after seeing his sister-inw.

    He then noted his and Elke''s status before going to meet his group.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 55.7] [CON: 205.1] [DEX: 50] [AGI: 65.9]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 106.6] [WIL: 87.3]

    [EVF: 1,143]

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Cultivation: level 9]

    [STR: 21.8] [CON: 105.6] [DEX: 24.4] [AGI: 24.5]

    ''Very good. With these statuses, Elke will be safe against opponents and blows from people at the beginning of the 2nd stage.'' He was pleased with this woman''s progress because of their training and fun.

    ''And even if someone stronger than thates along to threaten her, her armor and weapons will help her protect herself.'' Lothur remembered the items he had given her after thest time he collected enemy spatial rings.

    His eyes then shifted, and he watched in the direction of the many high-level observers in the surrounding area, and he clenched his fists. ''If you get in our way, I will show no mercy.''

    After making several of his watchers shiver unconsciously, Lothur met up with his group.

    With that, they quickly split into two groups, setting off in two carriages in the direction of the Finn Mountains, which were just over a night''s ride away from Peters City.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Due to their situation, Lothur did not get a chance to have some fun with Elke during the trip. Instead, he was preparing to spend the night training and studying alchemy and medicine, those two professions he had less mastery of at the moment.

    Julia had seen it all and noticed that Lothur was much more talented than the province''s people thought.

    ''He seems so skilled in those two professions, but he didn''t even show them when hepeted at the Province Conference...'' She tried to disguise her gaze at him, feeling that Lothur was terrific.

    Elke noticed her groupmate''s interest in her man. Still, she tried to concentrate on her own cultivation, which she needed to focus on to avoid bing so distant from Annaliese and Viktoria.

    ''My physical strength will eventually be on the same level as those two because of our method to get stronger... But the soul power of the two is advancing at a rapid pace while I can''t evolve due to my cultivation stage.'' She pondered before managing to focus her attention on herself.

    ...

    As Lothur''s group moved through the narrow pools ofnd in Linn Province, their enemies were positioned not far from those two carriages.

    After days since the incident on his estate, part of the powers that lost their people to Lothur''s formations and brutality were finally acting!

    The patience of some of the Peters City powers with Lothur had already ended with this young man''s recent plots. With that, arge coalition had formed to act against him.

    Because members of these powers were studying at the Morning Star Academy and had a way of finding out about Lothur''s mission, these organizations had not attacked him before.

    They wanted to use this opportunity to act vigorously against Lothur, putting several high-ranking men in the middle of such a person''s path.

    As nned by people like the Baier family leader, 40 2nd stage cultivators were waiting for Lothur''s carriage about 50 kilometers from Peters City.

    In that ce, rocks as big as houses blocked the narrow dirt track, surrounded by the dense woods of this part of the side forests of Peters City.

    On the outskirts, hidden in branches of the tallest trees in the area, were the various experts who wanted the end Lothur''s life this night.

    Among them, even level 15 patriarchs were there, each eager to finish off the young man who had already shown himself to be much worse than Viktoria.

    But unlike Viktoria, Lothur could have no right to be so talented since he did not have the protection of the vengeful Rios family!

    As such, they would not fail to act against this troublesome fellow, and since he was crazy enough to leave Peters City, they would use everything at their disposal on this day!

    It was just a pity that the Duke of the Province, a Transcendent, had not agreed to join this group... But they had tried to convince such an expert!

    "I''ll finally be able to wash the hatred from my heart!" Patriarch Baier muttered to himself as he waited for the carriages of Lothur''s group alongside his allies.

    Hearing that, Patriarch Vogel could not help but agree. In addition to having caused several problems for his family, Lothur had still allied himself with a renegade like Elisabeth.

    ''Today, I will make him feel what a powerful poison is!'' This man clenched his fists, feeling excited to finish this problem that was even distracting his family''s attention from House Frost.

    House Frost had been acting quietly ofte, trying to make new partnerships to better leverage their gains at the Province Conference. Thus, even in this, Lothur was getting in the way of these organizations, and some of the experts there wished to kill him mainly for this.

    ''The second prince''s faction is starting to pressure our group, so we have to get back in control of the situation as soon as possible!'' Patriarch Frohberg thought to himself as he saw the lights of the carriages lighting formations of Lothur''s group illuminating the path where they were waiting.

    With that, it was finally time for these local leaders to deal with the most prominent recent threat to the local bnce of the province!

 Chapter 436 Emergency Measures

    As Lothur''s group was traveling through the forests adjacent to Peters City, suddenly, the front carriage stopped, bringing the one where he and Elke were to a halt shortly after that.

    When this happened, Elke, who was meditating with her eyes closed, opened her eyes in surprise since it was not in their ns to make any stops at this time.

    Only an hour and a half had passed since they had left Peters City, so they were far from reaching their goal.

    Lothur also stopped paying attention to his books to look out of that vehicle while using his visual ability to check the surroundings.

    "Is something wrong?" Julia, their travelingpanion, asked as she looked from one side of the windows of that carriage to the other, not understanding the reason for this unexpected stop.

    Lothur then said. "There are enemies ahead blocking the way."

    "What?" Elke and Julia asked simultaneously, both getting worried, with one more or less understanding of what that meant. Yet, at the same time, the other was experiencing such a situation for the first time in her life.

    Lothur exined further as he stored his books in his spatial ring. "A group of 40 cultivators is watching us from the outskirts while a rock blocks the path ahead..."

    "They are here for me." He saw the status of Alric Baier''s father, readily recognizing his enemies.

    [Name: David Baier]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 70.1] [CON: 81.4] [DEX: 71] [AGI: 70.9] [SOU: ???]

    "40 people?" Julia asked, thinking it an exaggeration but quickly bing willing to help him. "Lothur, if you want our help..."

    "No, they are 2nd stage cultivators. You better not get involved in that." He said as he prepared to leave that carriage.

    "Spiritual Warriors?" That woman turned pale as Elke began to get worried about her man.

    Lothur then said. "Don''t worry. I will talk to them and sort this out. But, in the meantime, stay here."

    ''Talk to them?'' Julia could not believe it, but she and Elke could only ept that.

    The two knew that Lothur was much stronger than them, and if they tried to get involved, they would only get in his way. So even knowing the situation was not good for him, the two stayed behind, fearful of what might happen.

    Lothur left that carriage, already manipting the system to turn some EVF''s points into Constitution''s, fearing the power of those individuals would be enough to kill him.

    ''Looks like I''ll have a tough fight here...'' He noticed that besides David Baier, six more level 15 Spiritual Warriors were around, along with fifteen level 14 individuals and the rest, level 13 men.

    All of them were pretty strong, armed, and looking maliciously in his direction.

    In this situation, Lothur could no longer keep his EVF points!

    [50 points added in CON at the cost of 1,000 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 205.1 -> 255.1]

    ...

    [EVF: 1,143 -> 143]

    Immediately upon doing this, Lothur felt somethingpelling run through his body, as if he were being electrocuted.

    But this time, he had acted so decisively that the effects on himself became visible even to the people around!

    At that moment, as he felt his level rising, Lothur seemed to have a powerful energy source moving inside his body, his skin glowing in a golden color. At the same time, tiny sparks were leaving his body, making him look like a child of thunder.

    The young men in the carriage in front of Lothur''s carriage saw this as they left that vehicle to understand the situation and did not need to hear anything from him. On the contrary, they immediately understood that something was wrong and would only get in the way of this silver-haired person, who, at the moment, was shining like a small star.

    ''What is happening to him?'' The Transcendent watching Lothur saw this and was in doubt, curious to know what kind of art the son of Daemon was practicing.

    The other individuals in that area also saw Lothur''s condition and felt something was wrong.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "What''s going on?"

    "I don''t know. Maybe he is using some technique?"

    "It seems he has realized why we are here and is preparing for the worst, using everything at his disposal." One patriarch thought about this as he watched Lothur with his eyes narrowed.

    ''It seems that he is really dangerous... He was still hiding something in the end!'' Such a person clenched his fists, seeing that his families were right not to give this fellow any more time.

    As Lothur''s enemies began approaching him,ing out of their ''hiding ces'' to stand face-to-face with those chariots, he saw his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 11 -> 12]

    [STR: 55.7] [CON: 255.1] [DEX: 50] [AGI: 65.9]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 106.6] [WIL: 87.3]

    [EVF: 143]

    He saw his status as his clothes became soiled with the impurities leaving his body.

    But now Lothur had no time to pay attention to this and continued with his clothes, which contained Bronz-grade armor that protected his vital organs, except his head.

    On the other hand, he was already holding tightly to his Elemental Staff as he prepared to use his Space Belt.

    ''The Elemental Staff allows me to destroy up to 50% stronger attacks than my body power. That means it will help me deal with spiritual attacks worth up to 382.65.''

    ''Hmmm.''

    ''That will probably put me in a position to fight these people.'' He pondered as he stopped and looked in the direction of the stronger enemies, who, at the moment, had stopped on top of the rock in the middle of that narrow dirt road.

    ''That staff again...'' The Transcendent flying over the area continued to stand still, watching what Lothur would be able to do.

    He could not let this young man die there since it was in the interest of Daemon''s father to take Lothur to the empire''s capital. But this envoy was curious to see that young man fight, so he did not decide to act immediately.

    ''I will see some of his prowess... If he can save himself from this situation on his own merit, I''ll give him a chance to spend a few more days with his little girlfriend before I take him to his grandfather.'' He thought as he looked in Elke''s direction.

    Meanwhile, Lothur finally said. "I see that some leaders of the province cannot handle the idea of me leaving and havee to say goodbye..."

    "Or am I mistaken?"

    "Tsk!"

    "You really are a brave brat!"

    "Humph! You''re talking nonsense before you die!" David said this, ring furiously at Lothur, feeling that today was his day to avenge his son''s humiliation.

    He and the other enemy experts there noticed the smell of impurities on Lothur''s body and noticed that he had advanced. Naturally, they were curious to understand how this fellow had done it. Still, since the goal of everyone there was to eliminate him, none of them touched on the subject.

    They just looked at each other, having one more reason to kill this person without any more second thoughts.

    "Brat, today you will die! Don''t try to stop us with words. That will be the end of you!" The patriarch Vogel said as poisonous clouds began to depart from his hands.

    At that moment, several of these enemies attacked in Lothur''s direction while this young man looked at them motionless.

    Then...

    ng!

    ...

 Chapter 437 Unexpected Result

    Just as the first enemy attacks were about to hit Lothur, a man holding arge sword appeared from the surrounding area, attacking the first of these aggressions.

    The same happened for several other attacks simultaneously as 14 figures appeared in the area from behind Lothur''s carriages.

    Lothur''s allies in the Ritter Motor Company already knew this fellow was leaving Peters City. So they promptly put people behind him to help him in case of need.

    Because of this, 14 individuals between levels 13 and 15 appeared at this ce after the enemies brutally attacked in Lothur''s direction!

    The enemies realized that Lothur''s allies were acting simultaneously with them and became more serious. It would naturally be more difficult to act with these people there!

    But while many of these individuals were frowning, Lothur disappeared from where he was after using the Space Belt.

    "Where did he go?" Someone shouted, leaving aside the envoys from the Becker, Frost, Christen, Koch, and Teusen families and some bourgeois powers from Peters City.

    But before these people could identify where Lothur had gone, they heard the sound of breaking bonesing from a local patriarch.

    Crack!

    At that instant, Lothur had appeared behind that level 15 opponent and swung his staff with all the force he had to hit the back of this person''s head.

    Lothur''s attack was so swift and decisive that his opponent could not react in time and suffered from the young Ritter''s merciless blow!

    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Such a person was thrown in the opposite direction to Lothur''s movement, feeling severe pain in the base of his head.

    Lothur''s attack had not been strong enough to threaten this person''s life since such a patriarch''s Constitution was superior to young Ritter''s Strength. But since the difference was not great and that staff was tough, that man felt the blow.

    Blood began to flow from the wound on the back of his head,ing from his fractured skull. Meanwhile, that man''s head began to hurt, with him feeling temporary mental disorientation.

    "What?" Lothur''s opponents in the surroundings noticed how brutal he had acted, realizing that his strength could not be underestimated.

    ''Damn!''

    ''How much was he hiding?'' David Baier wondered, feeling a little nervous for the first time in this ce since Lothur''s blow seemed like it could hurt even him.

    Lothur''s first enemy suffered because he was unprepared, something that would not be repeated. These men knew this but could not help but respect a little more that young man, who had already reached the level capable of frightening them.

    On the other hand, Lothur finally realized that he would have help in this fight, seeing in that dark ce some of the elders that his allies had ced to watch him.

    He then nodded in the direction of one of those men but did not ignore the opponents in the area. That way, he soon continued with his ns, starting to run around the area, looking for mistakes from his opponents for him to attack them.

    "How quick!" One of the patriarchs there said in surprise, seeing the speed with which Lothur was moving, something genuinely frightening.

    "Unbelievable!"

    "The bastard is a genius!" People in the enemy groupmented loudly as Lothur''s allies looked at him strangely.

    They were wide-mouthed and wide-eyed, not understanding where all that speed, which surpassed everyone''s there, wasing from.

    Not only that, Lothur was already so fast that even the Transcendent watching the situation from the skies was frowning.

    ''What the fuck is going on?'' He wondered as he saw a figure circling the battlefield. ''Is he faster than my eyes can follow?''<novelnext></novelnext>

    But as a Transcendent, this man soon used the power of his soul to strengthen his physical attributes and reach far enough to spy on Lothur.

    Young Ritter''s movements slowly became more evident to that man in the skies, revealing his footsteps as he dodged enemy attacks and tackled them.

    ''Incredible!''

    ''His speed has reached such a high level! Is that the ability of a cultivator focused on the body path?'' This expert from the empire capital wondered, feeling Lothur no longer needed his help.

    Lothur was fighting in that ce, but with such superior speed to his opponents, this young man could run away, and none of them would catch him. He was there because he wanted to be, which was enough to put many doubts in the minds of those patriarchs and local elders.

    With this, while attacking his strongest opponents, leaving the weakest to his allies, Lothur quickly managed to destroy the hopes of these people.

    He was not strong enough to put the lives of these patriarchs at risk right now, but he was strong enough to efficiently protect himself from these people!

    They could not even hit him, so how could they dare to think of killing him?

    Elke and the other members of Lothur''s team watched all this in silence from their carriages, proud and also shocked by this person''s strength.

    To most of them, Lothur was just a talented student. But seeing him on this night, they were seeing a person who had already reached the level needed to protect himself from leaders of local organizations.

    That was no small thing, something that generally only faction leaders in the Morning Star Academy could achieve!

    As such, they were even more respectful of this man who was just trying to make a mission to join Ice Feathers.

    Pow!

    Lothur delivered another blow to the back of one of his opponents'' heads. But this time, he did not manage to damage the opponent''s body as much because such a person had used his soul power to strengthen his body.

    But another of Lothur''s opponents, David Baier, was now kneeling, ten meters away from this young man, in agony while his hands were on the back of his head.

    Lothur had just attacked him. But instead of strengthening his body, like the young Ritter''s most recent victim, this patriarch had made an elemental shield around his body, using one of his techniques.

    Since such a thing depended on the action of a spiritual element, Lothur''s staff had bypassed David''s defenses and hit this man''s unprotected head.

    As a result, he was in agony, angry at his slippery opponent.

    "Lothur, you son of a bitch!"

    "Come back here and fight like a man!"

    But Lothur did the same as the other individuals in the surrounding area. He ignored the angry shouts of that man while acting against his opponents alongside his allies.

    Because of this, in just 10 minutes ofbat, the previously outnumbered group overcame their disadvantages and made their opponents lose their wills.

    No one had been killed, but the side with the numerical advantage was slowly bing weaker, with several people injured by Lothur''s actions. Then, soon, someone took a step back and decided to retreat!

    ...

 Chapter 438 Returning To The Journey

    ? When the Vogel patriarch moved away from the confrontation site and put away his weapon, the people fighting in the surroundings slowed their pace, noticing that this was a sign of retreat.

    Neither side wanted to have a deadly battle with the opponents, who were part of the relevant powers in the province.

    All Lothur''s enemies wanted was to eliminate this young man, so they did what was necessary while trying to fend off those pesky opponents. But as they realized that they were heading for defeat, having no chance to endanger the life of such a person, they recognized that it was not worth continuing.

    Lothur''s allies also did not want to take the matter to the point of no return, and at the least sign that the opponents wanted to stop, they also slowed their pace.

    The only one who was not so happy about everything was Lothur since he knew that these powers would continue to bother him. But he also backed off, going to the side of his allies, knowing that even if he continued, he would not aplish much there.

    He needed to raise his Strength a lot to be able to injure these opponents seriously. But on the other hand, although he already had good allies capable of protecting him, his rtionships had hardly reached the point where these men would kill for him.

    Even considering the more than a dozen enemies injured and unable to continue fighting, hardly any of them would perish. Since he was not going to aplish anything by continuing, Lothur epted the end of this confrontation that way, without saying anything to keep the battle going.

    "Let''s retreat." Patriarch Frohberg said this while giving Lothur an ugly look.

    All of that man''s allies agreed while still looking at their opponents, holding their weapons.

    But slowly, they put away their offensive items as they stared at their enemies.

    Lothur then took advantage of this little time he had with some of the local leaders and said. "I advise you to stop watching me and plotting against me. If you change your attitude from today, we will not be friends. But I will note to your doors to take revenge in the future." He tried a peaceful approach.

    "Oh? Are you threatening us?" David Baier asked as he looked at Lothur''s face, positioned so that everyone there could see that the injuries on his body were bothering him a lot.

    He was standing, but his position was strange, like that of a sick man trying to look strong.

    Lothur looked into the eyes of that opponent and said. "I am. It''s up to you to go through this madness without reason and take the consequences or back down."

    Every one of those 40 people felt terrible hearing this, as they were being threatened by a 20-year-old who, not long ago, was just an insect in their eyes. Not only that, the worst of it was that they knew that Lothur actually had the potential to be able to carry out his threats!

    After his words, all these people were silent, hating him for a few more folds, knowing they could not do this easily.

    They were not acting against Lothur because this young man was handsome, talented, and annoying. It was because their faction wanted him gone, and they followed orders.

    Of course, there was a little bit of resentment caused by the killing caused by Lothur against groups of these families. But although relevant, this was the least of it in the whole situation.

    Since they could not do much, these people could only curse Lothur in their minds.

    "If you don''t do this, I will have no mercy. There won''t be a second chance." He said as some of his Mortal Aura escaped from his body.

    ''We''ll see!'' David Baier thought quietly, considering that the Third Prince faction had people far stronger than them.

    Just because they had failed did not mean that their superiors would fail!<novelnext></novelnext>

    So Lothur could still die, and they could all be safe and free to enjoy the benefits that woulde with the fall of the Frost family.

    Because of this, several there were not so afraid of Lothur as to go along with what he wanted.

    Lothur''s allies viewed the situation with interest, noting how threatening Lothur was against his opponents, not at all shy about making promises and deciding things without talking to them.

    But in the heat of the moment, everyone understood that a young man like him could say more than he should. In this way, no one caught his attention as they stood on guard to leave this area.

    Some of them would still keep an eye on Lothur''s group, but others would return to Peters City since the biggest threat to this young man had already passed.

    These local powers were the ones that Lothur''s allies wanted to prevent from doing anything against him. But, since even patriarchs had failed this night, these people already knew their ally would be free of these problems for a while, at least.

    Lothur was also aware of this. Soon after the enemies started to leave the area, he thanked the strongest elders who hade to help him, promising to visit their families in the future.

    Then, after one of the strongest there used his techniques to destroy the stone in the path in front of the carriages, most of them left, leaving those youngsters almost alone.

    Only Lothur knew that some of them were still watching him from the surroundings while his five missionpanions got out of the two carriages to talk.

    "Wow!"

    "That was amazing, Lothur!" One of the women said to him, feeling excitement after all the previous fear was gone.

    "You are powerful! I couldn''t even see your movements during the battle." The level 10 young manmented, still pale after having seen the confrontation of local experts.

    "Yes, I thought you would die, to be honest. But I''m d I was underestimating you." Julia said as Elke hugged Lothur, happy with his performance.

    But she soon smelled a strange smelling from inside his clothes and pulled away.

    "Haha, I forgot about that." Lothurmented, moving away from the group to clean himself up nearby.

    Those peopleughed at the situation, but each wanted to know how he had advanced without even needing to meditate.

    Lothur had just walked while shining like a star, looking like a son of thunder, as he advanced in level. They had seen this, so they were curious to know what kind of forbidden art Lothur was using.

    "Elke, you are pretty close, right? What happened earlier?" Julia asked their group leader.

    Elke shifted her gaze to where her man had gone to change and said. "I don''t know... Anyway, let''s clear the track ahead. It''s time to set off back on our mission." She made them look in the direction where several small stones had been left after the attack by Lothur''s allied specialist.

    Hence, they put the matter aside and quickly did that service until Lothur returned, already clean and dressed in new clothes.

    Then their group returned to their journey, with the coachmen trying to forget the previous battle and focus on the road ahead.

 Chapter 439 Beginning Of The Mission

    While Lothur''s group was once again moving through the forests of that part of the province, the Transcendent keeping an eye on him, continued to follow this group.

    But unlike earlier, when he had promised to give Lothur a break if this young man managed to save himself on his own, this man was now rethinking this.

    He did not believe Lothur could escape him if such a young man used all his skills. The difference in cultivation between him and those local leaders was not slight, after all.

    But still, he remembered very well thest time he had seen Lothur trying to run, and he could not help but worry, given how much this young man had improved in such a short time.

    ''He wasn''t so strong and fast that day that I failed to catch him...'' He pondered this, feeling something must have happened after he left Peters City. ''Did he find some special resource? Or did someone from Daemon''s group help him somehow? Considering their technologies, I wouldn''t doubt anything...''

    ''Hmm, but if I kidnap him now, I won''t be able to see more of him in action to make a better judgment about him.'' He thought about this mission that Lothur and that group had to do.

    That could be an opportunity for this Transcendent to see Lothur using other abilities and assess his strength and possible secrets.

    Considering that he would keep an eye on everything and could act if Lothur showed a new improvement, he decided to follow his promise and wait.

    ''I will give you the time until youplete this mission. After that, it will be time for you to meet your grandfather!''

    ...

    Hourster...

    When the sun had risen over the horizon, Lothur''s group was arriving in the vicinity of the vige where they would begin their mission.

    As the carriages of that group were finishing their way to that vige, the young students of the Morning Star Academy were waking up from the little sleep they had had that night.

    But some woke up with strange expressions, exposing the difort of sleeping in a carriage that had traveled along a dirt road in terrible condition.

    Lothur noticed this as he woke up and noticed the plight of Julia, who did not have as high a Constitution as his or Elke''s and had therefore suffered much more from the journey.

    ''The roads in this ce are not ready for my cars...'' He thought about that point, noting that he would have to deal with this issue once he returned to Peters City.

    ''We will have to prepare the streets of Peters City for cars andrger vehicles, but also build at least one road between that city and another nearby. Only then will we be able to have our transportationpany running smoothly without maintenance problems arising frequently.''

    He smiled at the thought of building tolls since he would not simply allow anyone to travel on his roads without paying!

    ''Those who choose to take their chances off the roads will suffer from wear and tear on parts and will have to pay even more dearly with the maintenance of their vehicles...'' He smiled, feeling how good it felt to be on his business side. ''By all means, I will win!''

    "What?" Elke saw the smile on Lothur''s face and asked in a low voice.

    He kissed her forehead and said. "Nothing. I was thinking about some adjustments I will have to make in my organization when we return to Peters City..."

    "Or rather, maybe I should send a message to our allies to take care of it as soon as possible." He looked in the direction of one of his watchers, who certainly had a method ofmunicating with the powers in Peters City.

    So he waited to do that until the carriages of their group arrived at the vige in that area of the Finn Mountains.

    Lothur greeted his colleagues in the other carriage, and when they went to a local coffee shop, he made his way tomunicate with one of those observers.<novelnext></novelnext>

    That person promised to send his message to the Becker family, assuring them that such a house would pass on his concern to their other associates.

    With that, young Ritter ate breakfast alongside his group without any further thought of the Ritter Motor Company and began to turn his attention to where he was.

    The vige they had just entered was near the central area of the Finn Mountains, where the problem they were supposed to investigate was happening.

    This ce had almost no strong cultivators, so when their group arrived, most of the 200 or so locals began to pay attention to them.

    But of the few cultivators there, one of them soon had gone to where they went to eat to talk about the mission his family had created in the Morning Star Academy.

    "Ladies, gentlemen, are you here at the behest of the Morning Star Academy?" A level 7 individual asked while looking at those youths.

    Those three people looked at each other and then focused on Elke, showing that man who was the boss there.

    Elke then said. "Yes, we are here on behalf of the academy. We must investigate the area because of some strange phenomenon involving the animals and beasts in the vicinity."

    After hearing that from that level 9 woman, the man, who appeared to be in his middle age, blond, slightly overweight, and tall, sighed in relief.

    "Sigh!"

    "I''m d you are here." He said, looking at Elke without caring that the one who seemed to be the weakest of the group was actually the leader. "The situation at my family''s farm is not good at all. The animals refuse to work, they are getting sick frequently, and some spend the whole day sleeping!"

    "Only during the nights, when everyone should be sleeping, do they be more active. But we can''t do anything even then since we always hear strange noises from the mountains where the animals graze."

    "Since everyone is afraid to go and see what it is, we are without producing food, while we are slowly losing our animals!" He said in a nervous tone, the natural thing to expect from a man worried about the fate of his home.

    "To make matters worse, the beasts in the area are more active and violent than ever... I don''t know what''s going on." He ced his right hand on his forehead, showing these youths the scratching wounds on his forearm.

    Lothur saw it using his visual ability, quickly noticing that these were no ordinary bruises.

    There was a slight dark aura about them, something that, were it not for the man''s cultivation, would probably have threatened his life by now!

    Lothur could see this not only because of his visual ability but also because of his medical knowledge.

    "Was that injury caused by the beasts in the area?" Lothur asked, drawing that man''s attention to him.

    Such a person looked at Lothur, who looked like only a mortal. But given his distress, he did not bother to answer the question of that group''s servant. "Yes..."

    "What happened to the members of your family afflicted by this? Did any of them die?"

    "No. But they have been in aatose state since they were injured... Why do you ask that?"

    ...

 Chapter 440 Possible Culprits

    "So that''s it..." Lothur put one of his hands to his mouth, imagining that that dark aura was probably eating away at these people''s lives. "It looks like something is plotting against these animals and beasts. That is the reason for the unusual behavior of these beings."

    "Oh?" The five individuals around Lothur showed interest, not doubting this young man, even if they had not yet essed any information.

    The farmer from these areas of the Finn Mountains looked at this group strangely, not understanding how these people could make assumptions from a mere injury. But since they all seemed to ept such a theory, he said nothing, just watched these young people cautiously.

    Lothur continued. "There is a dark aura in his wound, which indicates that the beast or beasts responsible for these cuts are affected by some kind of evil aura..."

    There were no beasts with the ability or affinity for evil elements in this world. Therefore, all the young peopleing from Peters City knew that an ordinary beast could not have caused what Lothur was saying.

    Unlike humans and other beings who could have evil attributes depending on their birth circumstances and life experiences, a beast or animal could not experience the same. They were beings with innate affinities with elements contrary to darkness and evil things.

    Hence, if one of them came into contact with something like this, it would be like a disease that would eventually lead to their death if not dealt with in time.

    Light and darkness could not be brought together when a soul had a preference for one of the element types. That is, a soul with no affinity for either, under exceptional circumstances, could even stand thebination of both. But this would be impossible if such a soul had a preference for one of the two.

    The union of the two types of elements in a being with a clear ''preference'' would usually destabilize the soul. In other words, the soul of that being in contact with these elements of a very opposite nature would eventually meet its demise.

    That was the basics of spiritual theory, which all those young people and even that humble farmer were aware of. In this way, they all understood Lothur''s words, even though they did not see this dark aura.

    "I can''t see anything..." Juliamented as she looked at the arm of that man who was at the moment looking at himself with concern.

    "It''s natural. I can only see it because I have a special ability that allows me to see more than the eye can see." Lothurmented without giving further details of his powers. "In any case, some evil must be manipting these beasts and frightening the animals."

    As beings with an affinity for elements contrary to darkness, animals were quite sensitive to it and became agitated when something rted to it happened near them.

    Because of this, domestic cats and dogs in this cultivation world would be the first to notice something when a bad ce or troublesome person was around them. And because of this, even in this world, human beings have domestic animals, as was the case on Earth.

    That was also why the animals on this man''s farm were agitated!

    ''So that''s it?'' This farmer was surprised by the analytical ability of this young man who looked like a mortal. ''You can''t judge anyone by their appearance... What an eye-opener!

    Lothur continued. "Considering it, there must be spectres, evil cultivators, dark elves, underworld beings, or demons around acting against these beasts."

    Gulp!

    "Demons?" Everyone there, especially that farmer, who lived near where this was happening, asked loudly, drawing the attention of everyone inside that coffee shop.

    When that absurd word was said aloud, everyone stopped what they were doing, putting their tes of food and conversations aside to look in awe at that group.

    Lothur realized that everyone was terrified and said. "We are just telling a story. It''s not what you are thinking, haha."

    After a few sighs of relief from the people there, Lothur looked at the six pale people near him and said in a low voice. "It''s probably not a demon. I just cited all the possibilities that exist to justify the situation."

    Spectres, evil humans, dark elves, underworld beings, and demons were the only organisms capable of controlling evil elements. These were the only beings that could be born without the affinity with elements opposed to darkness and evil.

    Certain humans even had an affinity with light, for example, but this was a special event, not true for all cultivators, as was the case with beasts. So, beings like this could have all kinds of attributes, including those not so interesting to show in public.

    Of all these kinds of beings, demons were by far the worst.

    Evil humans were just depraved beings who, as bad as they were, had the same weaknesses as humans. That is, the ways of killing one were the same as those used against other people.

    Spectres were beings rted to fallen souls and possessed many physical limitations, making it much easier for those around to protect themselves from them. That is, such beings could not live far from their birthce or possessed body. So it was rtively easy to avoid, as long as one kept their distance.

    Dark Elves were a variation of the Elves, those beings naturally connected to positive, light elements. They were the opposite of these beings, born to counter the ''heaven chosen ones,'' the Elves loved by mother nature. Due to this reality, despite their affinity with the evil and dark, these beings hardly ever got involved with beings of other races, but also from outside the Ancestral Region.

    As for beings from the underworld, these organisms lived between the threshold of life and death. They were special organisms that could not be ssified as ordinary living beings but were not spectres either. These beings could live in the most hostile environments of this world, but in general, they were not numerous and lived in very remote points of this world.

    Because of this reality, none of these beings were as terrifying as demons, and these people could not help but prefer either of these options.

    "So what are we going to do?" The young man next to Lothur asked him as he imagined how problematic it would be to handle this mission if a demon was behind the problem in this area.

    "Well, we will visit the ces where the strange phenomena are happening. Then, we will do our investigative work and send the report to the academy." Elke answered in Lothur''s ce.

    This fellow nodded in agreement, feeling he could find out more if he saw the location in question or at least one of these beasts.

    He and his group then looked at that farmer, who at the moment was much more scared than before and did not like having to go show them the area at all.

    Gulp!

    But since that was his only alternative, he quickly began to pray to the Holy Seraph to protect him as he began to lead these youths into the area of the phenomena.

    ...

 Chapter 441 Investigation

    After a few minutes, Lothur''s group paid for breakfast at the previous establishment and headed towards the area of the previous man''s farm.

    They walked through the hilly terrain of that vige for a few kilometers until they arrived at a farm the size of four ser fields.

    This ce that had a hilly terrain, like the surrounding area, had some crops following the contour lines of the area, but also an area with animals.

    There were animals simr to cows and chickens on this property, beings that gave milk and eggs for the owners to consume and sell. But there were also animals that handled loads on this property, from those used to pull carriages to those that did various services, such as taking and bringing messages or protecting the area.

    But when he arrived at the area where the animals were kept, Lothur was soon faced with the strange situation of this farm.

    Instead of finding the ''cows'' eating grass on the uneven ground in the area, they saw these and other animals lying in different parts of the terrain.

    These beings were not dead but looked exhausted and had strange looks on their heads that told everyone they were not well.

    Lothur and his group mates saw this and soon approached the beasts in the area, trying to probe their situation.

    "The dark aura I saw on Sir Seizer''s arm is present in all these animals." Lothur said as he crouched down near a being that looked like an ox,pletely brown withrge, sharp horns.

    Upon hearing that, those five individuals avoided touching such a thing for fear that they might be contaminated.

    But Lothur was bolder. After activating his defensive technique as a precaution, he touched it between the animal''s eyes, curious to see if he could glimpse its information through the system.

    Lothur knew that he could not check the characteristics of humans by touching bodies, as he could when he checked materials of different types. But he still tried, hoping the system would work with an animal.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, nothing came up. Not even the status of the being, since this was an animal, not a beast capable of cultivation.

    However, his visual ability was there to help him however he wanted, so he immediately began to look through the body of this beast.

    ''Its organs are dying from malnutrition, which can be exined by the fact that it is not grazing, as Sir Seizer said...'' He noted that the problem with those animals was all about dark aura, which should be affecting their souls and mental functionality.

    One of those women then said while analyzing another animal. "It looks like something is trying to manipte them..."

    "Yes. Those animals were not injured like the humans on this estate." The level 10 young man, servant to one of the nobles there, said as he noticed that each animal he had checked had simr marks near their heads as if they were tattoos.

    Lothur also noticed this on the ox he was checking, curious to know what that could mean. ''Could it be an evil cultivator?'' He wondered about that possibility.

    Of all the possible culprits, humans were the ones who were most likely to plot strange things like this.

    But they could not be sure of that with only the evidence they had seen so far, so they were open to all possibilities.

    "Is there anything you can do to cure these animals?" That farmer asked after a while, watching the group of students.

    None of those five students knew how to do that, so they were silent as they looked at Lothur, the only one with skills that could solve biological problems.

    Julia and Elke knew that Lothur was a doctor. In contrast, the others there were aware that he was an excellent poison master, two professions useful in removing problems from bodies.

    Lothur was silent for a moment, looking at the animals in his surroundings. "Yes and no."

    "What do you mean?" Seizer did not understand the meaning of Lothur''s answer.

    This silver-haired young man exined to him and his group. "I can help you keep the bodies of these animals healthy. But as for the problem afflicting them, I cannot do anything about it. The most I can do is try to solve the problem causing this and hope they recover on their own."

    Lothur had no soul cultivation, meaning he could not use spiritual energy outside his body, even though he was a 2nd stage cultivator. At the same time, he was prevented from advancing his professions to the 2-star rank, which also prevented him from having the minimum necessary to try at least.

    "The same is true for you and those affected by this aura. The most I can do is give you resources to keep your bodies healthy and hope that your souls can survive this darkness."

    Lothur had an affinity and resistance to darkness. Still, as far as he knew, it only protected him from that element. So without further knowledge or experience, he really did not know how to help this farmer.

    "It can''t be..." Seizer muttered in disbelief, fearing the worst woulde to his family.

    "I''m sorry." That young man said as he continued to check his surroundings, trying to find some clue.

    "Have you identified anything that leads us to the location of this being manipting the animals in this area?" Elke was also searching for tracks but had found nothing so far.

    "No."

    "Me neither. It seems that these animals leave no useful traces behind."

    All they saw in the surroundings were identical tracks, impossible to tell apart to the extent that they followed the enemy''s path.

    There was no darkness in the tracks, although these bodies were exuding the aura that Lothur could see.

    With that, there was nothing to be followed for the hour, and soon Elke gave her order. "We will spend the day and night on this farm. We''ll see if anythinges up in the meantime. If nothing appears, we will follow these animals once they be active, as Sir Seizer said they do every night."

    Upon hearing this, Seizer swallowed his saliva, not the least interested in participating. "Well, I will leave you free to do whatever you wish. Meet me at the house if you need help or any assistance." He pointed to arge wooden house at one end of this farm.

    Lothur and hispanions understood that such a man was afraid and just smiled, feeling that it was better this way.

    With that, they continued to investigate the animals and the surroundings for the next few hours, but without much sess in finding clues that could lead them to the enemy.

    In the meantime, Lothur produced several pills for the humans and animals on this estate, something to help nourish their physical bodies.

    Time passed, and the sun had already changed position a great deal, being almost on point when Lothur''s group returned from a break to continue investigating the area.

    ''With nighting, it''s likely that whatever is happening to these beasts will get stronger.'' Lothur pondered as he recalled that darkness and evil elements were more powerful at night.

    ...

 Chapter 442 Following Animals

    Lothur and his group had guessed that the problem with these animals was some being trying to manipte them in some way.

    That was being done through some kind of evil art, which weakened during the day and grew stronger at night.

    Perhaps because of this, during the day when this evil art was weakened by day, those animals were in a lethargic state, the typical sign of those under the control of others at ''rest'' time.

    At night, when such art was at its strongest, they would be fully under the control of the enemy and demonstrate the more energetic behavior Seizer had described.

    Lothur knew all this since he had been studying darkness and evil ever since he achieved resistance to an element of this nature. So when he returned from his brief afternoon training with Elke, he soon began to pay attention to those animals.

    While he and his group mates waited for some reaction from the animals, in the middle of the grazing area of these beings, the employees and residents of this farm were watching them from afar.

    "Aren''t they afraid? Are they going to spend the night in that ce?" An old man with white hair and a beard asked hispanions as he saw the group of six people waiting for the night.

    "They are powerful cultivators... Not normal people like us." A woman said this just after making some religious symbols with her hands, praying for the Holy Seraph to protect this ce and those young people.

    "They are bold." A teenage boy said as he remembered the first and only time he had dared to get close to those animals in the middle of the night after the strange phenomenon started.

    On that fateful asion, he had seen strange shadows near the animals and noticed the strange way they looked at him as if they were nning his death.

    He also remembered the noise of the surroundings, from the wind through the trees to even the small insects in the area. Everything seemed hostile that day as if something terrible was about to happen.

    It had made him tremble with fear and run away from this area, and he had not returned to this ce during the nights since then, even moving to the vige nearby!

    "They will regret it if they stay here." That young man said but soon left to return to the vige while there was still natural lighting on the way there.

    The rest of the people there did not observe Lothur and his group for long either, having left that farm or locked themselves in the house to wait for the night''s end.

    Seizer was one of thest to leave, wishing Lothur and the others good luck before leaving.

    At that moment, when this fellow locked the door to his house, Lothur and the others finally saw the sun finish disappearing over the horizon as night came to this ce for good.

    After this, 30 minutes passed, and slowly the animals in their surroundings stopped behaving as before, ''recovering'' their moods.

    They were rising from where they were lying and falling as if they were waking up from a bad night''s sleep when they would have to feel the worst of a hangover that was difficult to deal with.

    Lothur and hispanions saw this and became alert, noticing that these animals seemed to be watching them.

    "The dark aura on them got stronger," Lothurmented to his partners. "They must be under the control of the one responsible for this situation. Stay alert. They maybe lead us to it or to a trap."

    The five nodded in agreement as they already had their weapons in hand, prepared to defend themselves in case of need.

    With that, after a few more minutes, when the said beasts had fully ''recovered,'' they began to follow a strange pattern, running around Lothur''s group for a fewps.

    Even considering how the area there was sloping and difficult for these animals to move, they ignored such things and circled that group thirteen times. When they finished thestp, they moved in a line toward the opposite side of the farmhouse.

    Elke then ordered her people to follow these animals. They then followed a formation where Lothur went in the front, the two weakest in the middle, and the level 10 youths covered the right, left, and bottom.

    They followed the animals for a few minutes, leaving the pasture area of this farm until they reached the adjacent woods, where Seizer had reported the problems with the local beasts.

    Beasts were animals capable of cultivating, with intelligence much closer to that of humans than of other animals. Because of this, it was difficult for beasts to approach human areas like these without good reason since, despite being special, they were not treated much better than animals.

    Humans saw beasts as more evolved animals, instrumental beings to have in their forces for work of the most varied kinds.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Ultimately, these beings still had delicious meat, capable of fascinating the pte of even the most demanding.

    Thus, beasts avoided contact with humans, and for these beings to appear for no reason near a farm like this was rather strange.

    This group knew this and had already investigated the area during the afternoon. Still, unfortunately, no beast had appeared for them to investigate further.

    So when they again returned to that location, but this time saw some beasts appearing, they could not help but be surprised.

    "2nd stage beasts?" One of the women in the group eximed, not expecting to find such powerful beings around this weak human vige.

    Lothur saw the status of these beings, who were basically like him, with just physical characteristics.

    [Finn Mountain Angry Ox]

    [Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 63.9] [CON: 65.1] [DEX: 61.5] [AGI: 62.3]

    ...

    [Finn Mountain Giant Red Hen]

    [Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 60.9] [CON: 66.6] [DEX: 63.5] [AGI: 62.9]

    He saw the statuses of each of the beings in the area, several of whom were looking in the direction of his group with strange looks.

    Lothur and hispanions could not tell for sure if these beasts were offended by their presence there or if they were pleased.

    ''Could it be that the one controlling them is trying to lure us in?'' Lothur thought about that possibility.

    2nd stage beasts like those could not speak like humans. So there was no way they could try tomunicate. However, they had strength on their side!

    Lothur then stepped forward and said to his group. "We will keep following them. If one of them shows itself hostile against us, I will finish it off."

    They knew that Lothur was stronger than level 10 beings and was focused on physical strength. So, everyone was confident that he could easily handle these beings and did not hesitate to follow him.

    While they were doing this, the Transcendent, watching Lothur, also nearby, looked in the direction of a cave underground where those beasts and animals wereing and going.

    ''There''s something wrong here...'' He felt a chill on his back as if he predicted that something threatening was lurking in that ce.

    But by the time he realized what was necessary, it was toote for him to act.

    Lothur''s group had already entered that ce!

    "Damn it!"

    ...

 Chapter 443 The Worst Possible Enemy

    It was toote when the Transcendent realized something terrible was in that cave. Lothur and the others were already further away than he could go in time to stop them.

    He found himself in a problematic situation, not knowing if he could save the grandson of that important figure, and panicked as he flew toward the danger.

    "Damn it!"

    "How could something like that happen?" He muttered as Lothur''s weaker observers also acted, rushing to where they had just sensed something threatening.

    Unfortunately for those 2nd stage cultivators and the Transcendent, just as they were about to enter the cave Lothur entered, arge stone fell on the entrance.

    In the blink of an eye, that ce shook as if a strong earthquake was happening nearby, causing the rocks of the mountainous terrain to pile up in front of that single entrance.

    Those men had to stop as they ran towards it, frustrated that this setback had stood in their way.

    But the Transcendent had already identified the threat inside that cave and felt that this was an act of the being in there!

    ''If it did that, it must be more intelligent than it should be...'' His face turned pale as he thought of the possibility that Lothur might be facing.

    Many in the capital could wish Daemon''s son dead. But that was not the case with Lothur''s grandfather, even considering that man had problems with his son.

    This Transcendent knew that, and that''s why he was nervous about the possibility of Lothur perishing right in front of him!

    "Work with me!" He shouted to the cultivators who had stayed to watch Lothur. "If we don''t act fast enough, they will all die!"

    "There''s a damn demon inside that cave!"

    Gulp!

    When such a word was quoted, all those men in the surrounding area felt sweat dripping from their pores, fearful of these beings that were so difficult to kill.

    None of them was a demon hunter, so knowing that one was so close did not please them. Even more, their job was to protect Lothur, so failure was not an option, or both they and their families would lose a lot.

    So these men could not help but feel bad about the situation and soon started working with that specialist.

    At least they were not alone!

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside the cave Lothur had just entered with his group, the beasts and animals had dispersed through secondary tunnels when they reached a certain chamber in this area.

    From there, they sensed something had happened outside this cave, which would probably make it difficult for them to leave this ce.

    But when they reached that dark ce, lit only by a few torches on the walls, they came across a strange creature that had taken all their attention to it.

    This being looked like a human child of about 10 years old, but with blue skin and a small horn in the middle of its forehead.

    Its teeth looked like knife edges, and its mouth was a littlerger than a human''s, with a side opening that showed all the teeth in its mouth.

    Meanwhile, its red pupils showed these six youths exactly what he wanted at the moment.

    Human blood!

    "A demon!" Julia screamed in shock as she correctly identified this disgusting creature, which had a terrible smell escaping from its mouth.

    The others were also frightened to see such an individual, a being that could get stronger by devouring humans like them.

    Considering everything they knew about demons, from how terrible they were to how difficult it was to eliminate one, even Lothur felt ufortable.

    They were standing in front of something that could kill them!<novelnext></novelnext>

    But as Lothur watched this individual, he realized that the first demon he was facing was no ordinary one.

    Unlike what was expected from an ordinary demon, this individual was not so bloodthirsty and did not attack them immediately.

    Seeing the creatures it had lured into itsir, this little demon smiled in satisfaction as it silently watched these people.

    Lothur paid attention to this and put this first impression together with the sound of falling stones a few seconds ago.

    ''He deceived us!'' The silver-haired young man concluded correctly, identifying that such an organism was quite intelligent and controlled.

    Self-control and intelligence were precisely two attributes that were easy to use to judge a demon''s ranking among its peers!

    In other words, this demon in front of them had an excellent lineage!

    ''It probably started manipting the animals and beasts in the area to lure humans to it...'' Lothur already had his staff in his hands, standing in a defensive position in front of his group. ''Realizing that the humans in the area were weak, it didn''t kill anyone, but it did enough for stronger cultivators toe to it.''

    "What a dreadful creature! It did all this to bring us here, to devour us!" Lothurmented to hispanions.

    Hearing that, the five became even more fearful while that beingughed louder, enjoying seeing its dinner identifying the current situation.

    "Hahahaha, you''re not bad at all, human!" The creature said in its strange voice, which had negative vibrations capable of scaring even experienced old men.

    Demons had their ownnguage. But since that one was of a good rank within the demon lineage hierarchy, it had learned the humannguage even though it was pretty young.

    That was also why it spoke a bit slurred, swallowing some sybles so that its speech became even more terrifying.

    The five youths next to Lothur felt goosebumps in their bodies at the voice of this being and began to feel even worse as if mental and spiritual blocks were being imposed on them.

    Demons were the natural predators of humans. Hence, from the appearance to even the voice of these beings, each of their attributes frightens and diminishes the wills of humans.

    [Unknown Demon]

    [Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 60.9] [CON: 66.6] [DEX: 63.5] [AGI: 61.9] [SOU: ???]

    Lothur looked once again at the status of this opponent, noting how quiet he was in front of this group, which was rtively stronger than him.

    But that was only natural for a demon. These beings had unusual regenerative abilities that could recover even severed heads!

    Every demon had weird regenerative powers and was considered by ordinary people to be semi-immortal beings!

    Because of this, each of these beings was highly confident since they knew that few humans knew how to defeat them, and for them, it was very easy to kill beings of the human race.

    So that being was confident while looking at Lothur''s group trembling with fear, with this young ''mortal'' in front of everyone, on guard, much more emotionally controlled.

    ''Is this a mortal? Is he hiding his cultivation?'' The demon in question, who looked like a child, but was much older than all those young people in front of it, thought silently. ''And why isn''t he feeling as much fear as the others? Has he, by any chance, ever fought someone of my kind?''

    As this creature thought about Lothur, he said to thosepanions of his simultaneously as his eyes glowing due to his visual ability. "There is a secret exit behind where it is. So I want you to run away while I hold it back."

    "Don''t look back and notify the academy of the situation!"

    "Go!" He said as he ran at the enemy.

    ...

 Chapter 444 Start Of The Fight

    As he ran at his opponent, Lothur used his defensive and movement techniques, quickly getting close to his enemy.

    Since the opponent was much weaker than him physically, when Lothur moved, the demon could not keep up and was taken by surprise.

    Pow!

    Lothur used his Elemental Staff to hit this demon hard in the face, throwing it to the other side of that chamber of about 70 square meters.

    "Ahhhhhhhh! Worm!" The demon screamed in pain as it felt how brutal Lothur''s attack had been, as it felt several bones in its skull fractured, with blood dripping from its nose and mouth.

    At that instant, the four youths in Lothur''s group rushed toward where the demon had been earlier, following young Ritter''s orders without dy.

    They were all fearful about their survival, so they would not stay behind after Lothur ordered them to flee.

    But Elke was hesitant, worried about her man. So she moved a little slower as she wanted to stay behind.

    "Go, Elke. Obey me!" Lothur shouted at her as he saw his enemy falling after mming its back against one of the walls of that cave.

    She clenched her fists upon hearing this, and tears streamed down her eyes. But after a few seconds, she departed from there, following the escape route the demon had created for itself.

    It had already nned to lure stronger humans to this ce, devour them, and then escape before powerful people or people capable of killing it got there.

    That''s why it destroyed the main entrance to this cave after Lothur''s group entered it!

    But it could not expect that its enemies would use its escape tunnel!

    "You bastard! Do you think you''ll be able to stop me? Dream on!" This demon stood up from where it fell as the wounds on its face healed, leaving behind only a light ck smoke around its face.

    Then this creature opened its hands, and something simr to ck mes appeared. It looked at where Lothur''spanions were trying to escape. Then, it moved its hands, hurling dark energy balls against the escape tunnel.

    Lothur saw this and frowned, feeling that this must be part of this demon''s evil art, charged with the kind ofw and element that had affected the animals and beasts earlier.

    He moved in front of the demon''s throws, dancing with his staff to counter the enemy''s movement.

    Lothur moved his staff in front of his body and tried to strike the first ball of dark energy, hoping to dispel it.

    When the dark energy touched the staff, instead of disappearing, as one would expect given the level of that individual and Lothur''s, it ''deflected.'' Then it went right into young Ritter''s ''unprotected'' chest.

    "Hahahaha, idiot, you think I don''t feel this artifact of yours? Unfortunately for you, that is not an elemental blow!" That creature of great sensory ability said this, already running towards Lothur to attack while its opponent was distracted.

    At that instant, Lothur realized that his opponent had attacked him with a special kind of energy imbued only withws, something designed to strike only the soul.

    He then clenched his fists and tried to stand firm, focusing on the enemy, to stop it in that spot and give his allies time.

    ''I have to hold that demon until they contact one of my watchers!'' He continued in front of the secret exit of that ce, moving against the other balls of dark energy going against him.

    Lothur endured each attack, feeling such a thing entering through the pores of his skin and seeping into his body, unable to defend himself.

    That was not the dark element he had resistance to, so such an ability was not helpful to him at this time.

    But for some reason, Lothur did not feel much difort from it, as he had expected when the first enemy attack hit him.

    Because of this, when the demon came to his side and attacked with a kick to his chest, the young Ritter defended himself skillfully, stopping his opponent''s leg with his hands.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Lothur caught the demon''s right heel and then lifted it in the air until he swung it from side to side, mming this opponent''s body against the floor and the cave''s stone walls.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The demon cried out in pain as it felt Lothur''s attacks, feeling its bones breaking and regenerating again and again.

    ''What is happening? Why is my ability, Sudden Darkness, noting into effect?'' The creature asked itself amid its moment of difficulty.

    Every demon had an innate ability, something that eventually, upon their death, had a great chance of bing the ability the Soul Bone gave to its user.

    In the case of this demon, the ability in question involved the maniption of a type of Natural Law rted to degradation and corruption. Such a thing could range from being used to degrade the mental structures of a being and manipte it to creating mes and physical attacks capable of striking at the soul of its targets.

    But to this demon''s misfortune, in addition to having an iplete soul, Lothur had the system on his side, which was not long in showing signs.

    [Malicious energy infiltration into the host''s body detected...]

    [The malicious energy tempered the host''s soul for 1 minute and 2 seconds...]

    [Triggering emergency measures...]

    [Affinity the destructive Natural Laws reached...]

    [The host''s soul reached the purity necessary for promotion...]

    ...

    [Failed to distribute the bonus of advancement regarding the number of affinities of the host''s soul.]

    [The host soul is iplete.]

    Lothur saw this as he beat the demon he was facing, happy and, at the same time, annoyed at losing another bonus to his soul because of his current situation.

    But he did not have much time to think about it since his opponent was really troublesome.

    Lothur might be stronger than this individual, but with each passing moment, he continued to spend his finite energy. Meanwhile, the demon in question had almost infinite stamina, which would give it an advantage if the fight continued for a long time!

    Because of this, Lothur could not keep the fight in this situation for long and soon tried to eliminate his opponent.

    "Die, bastard!" Young Ritter pierced the skull of that strange creature, causing part of the demon''s brain toe out through its cracked head.

    Lothur continued to beat such a being with his staff for a few moments, destroying that creature''s head and heart.

    Unfortunately, none of this had any effect. When Lothur stopped beating it to check if the opponent had died, its frightening regeneration showed how terrible demons could be.

    "If you can''t die like this, I only have one alternative left!" Lothur said this as he saw the little smile at the corner of that creature''s lips.

    With that, he activated his bloodline, showing something surprising to that being!

    ...

 Chapter 445 The Abilities Of A Monarch Demon

    When Lothur activated his lineage, the red pattern around his eyes appeared. At the same time, his pupils became that same color, simr to that of the enemy.

    But when the pentagram appeared on Lothur''s forehead, along with the red mist escaping from this young man''s fingers, it gave his opponent an ugly look.

    "That..." Its mouth dropped open in surprise. It felt like a being of a higher hierarchy than it had appeared in the surroundings, making it feel a little afraid and restricted.

    This demon had never felt this in its decades of life, so upon seeing Lothur using his bloodline, this creature hesitated while parts of its body were still recovering.

    ''I''ve seen this somewhere before...'' It focused on the pentagram on Lothur''s forehead. Still, it could not remember exactly where it had seen it nor the meaning of that.

    This young demon was not low-ranking in his race. On the contrary, it was a Monarch demon that was hierarchically below only those Emperors. Therefore, it could be considered a noble within the demon species!

    Unfortunately, even though it had various abilities and great intelligence, something natural to find in a Monarch demon, this being did not remember much of its past. That was because it had lost some memories before being brought to this mountain.

    It had been left in this ce by one of its vassals months ago after they had escaped from what had caused its memory loss. But weeks ago, its servant had been forced to leave this ce before they had a chance to recover the memories of this young noble demon.

    Because of this, it could not fully remember something so crucial even though it was standing in front of such a symbol.

    But still, its instincts told it that such a person was dangerous!

    "Bastard! You''re not normal!" It shouted as it jumped backward while making a position simr to Lothur''s, causing a dark mist to leave its hands.

    In this way, it activated all its bloodline power, which every demon awakened right at birth, without needing an awakening, as was the case with humans.

    That was the basis of its innate ability, somethingpelling that gave beings like it the ability to fight against higher-level opponents.

    So even though Lothur was scary, it would not simply try to run away from this ce, and soon it was ready to fight for its life!

    Sudden Darkness!

    Suddenly, the dark mist from its hands spread to the surroundings, causing all the light inside that chamber to be extinguished.

    Lothur realized this and did not move, continuing to make his red mist travel toward his opponent''s body.

    "I don''t know how to kill you, but you will suffer!" Lothur said this, noting that his opponent''s ability was insufficient to hit him.

    He had developed a resistance to the Natural Laws behind the opponent''s ability, so the pressure upon him was not working.

    On the other hand, no matter how much the opponent had managed to slow down his speed of action a bit, such a dark fog could not stop the red one!

    It was as if something superior had suddenly run into the inferior, trying to stop it. Such a thing hindered it but did not totally stop it from moving.

    The demon felt this, and sweat began to form all over its body, with it feeling fear for the first time against a human.

    ''What''s wrong with him? Why does his aura seem worse than mine?'' This creature wondered as it felt Lothur''s Mortal Aura stirring its feelings.

    It then became desperate and began to use everything at its disposal.

    Beings of Darkness!

    It activated one of its secondary abilities, causing several dark warriors to emerge from the walls and floor of that chamber.

    A demon ssified as a Monarch did not have a greater number of spiritual abilities than one of lower ssification. But it had more intelligence in using such a thing in different ways, so it could expose movements that seemed toe from totally different origins.

    These beings flew towards Lothur, attacking him as if they were people, while the dark element in the fists of these creatures tried to corrupt that young man''s body.

    [Iron-grade resistance to the element of darkness.]

    [Progress: 81%]

    ...

    [Progress: 83%]<novelnext></novelnext>

    Lothur smiled as he saw this, noting that his opponent was finally using elements against him.

    But as much as he wasughing, Lothur was suffering as well, since as much as he had affinities and resistances, that did not take away from the pain of training.

    So as he was being attacked on multiple fronts, this silver-haired man slowly began to show pain in his expression as he struggled to hit his opponent.

    He could only use his lineage skill once a day. Then it would be problematic if he missed the chance to affect the demon in front of him before it went into hibernation mode.

    The demon saw this but did not feel a bit better.

    As much as Lothur was indeed being pressured, so was this creature!

    Lothur''s lineage ability could suppress those in his surroundings, making such beings feel less control over their abilities and also body.

    In this situation, the demon Monarch in front of Lothur could barely move to hurt its opponent with more of its abilities.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!" It shouted in frustration, trying what it could to affect Lothur.

    With that, it spat in the direction of its opponent''s face, sending an extremely stinky, brown substance toward the young Ritter''s face.

    Such a thing was disgusting, but worse was its speed, making it look like a revolver bullet.

    Lothur saw this and tried to move away. But the enemy''s ability also restricted him, so he could not defend himself in time!

    Puff!

    Such a thing hit one of Lothur''s cheeks, and he felt disgusted as he realized that the thing had slightly cut his skin.

    "Son of a bitch!" Lothur felt even more anger at his opponent as that projectile fell to the crumpled ground since his skin was already too tough to be wounded like that.

    ''Damn it!''

    "Human, I admit that you are good. But what can you do to me? Your ability won''t kill me!" That creature shouted, confident in its out-of-bounds endurance.

    "That''s what we''ll see!" Lothur shouted, smiling mischievously. "But know that your skills will not be wasted, demon. When I remove your Soul Bone from your corpse, I will take such a skill to its peak."

    Lothur did not know if this would happen when using his bloodline skill. Still, he was speaking nheless, trying to irritate his opponent.

    "Tsk!"

    "We''ll see who will give the powers to whom!" That creature shouted, feeling outraged that such a human would covet its Soul Bone but also humiliate it, a Monarch demon.

    ''If I had my memories, none of this would have happened!''

    ''Damn you, bastards of the Seraphim Church!'' It pressed its teeth together, remembering those demon hunters chasing it earlier.

    Unfortunately for this being, it could not resist the sh with Lothur for long, and eventually, that young man''s red mist hit it.

    When this happened, it lost control over its own abilities as it began to shake vigorously, feeling the pain of having its vitality sucked away.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    Less and less audible screams spread throughout that chamber as the body of said creature shriveled as it was ''dehydrated'' by Lothur''s lineage ability.

    As the demon''s bodynguished, Lothur watched it in anticipation, cheering for that creature to die since he would not be able to use that ability again for the following hours.

    ...

 Chapter 446 Torture

    After a few moments, Lothur received the system warning regarding the addition of EVF points to his status.

    [EVF: 143 -> 209]

    He did not find it strange to note that only the normal value of his opponent''s Constitution could be absorbed, considering the vitality of that being that was something quite special.

    Lothur''s bloodline ability worked by absorbing the vitality of his targets rted to those beings'' Constitution. But demons'' unique regeneration and abnormal resistance were rted to a hereditary ability, not to their bodily capabilities.

    Lothur did not know this, but he more or less realized such a thing when he finished absorbing those EVF points.

    Then, as the red mist, the only one remaining in this ce, disappeared, Lothur''s eyes returned to normal as he focused on the position where his enemy was.

    Lothur knew that it had somehow affected his enemy, but he was not sure he had seeded in killing this being.

    Demons escaped the rules usually valid for other living beings. So Lothur would not rush into thinking he had beaten his opponent before he felt the enemy''s Soul Bone showing.

    When a demon died, a special reaction would happen, and the mortal remains of the demon would condense a Soul Bone with all the ability of that being''s bloodline.

    Lothur paid attention to this, but surprisingly, no such thing happened!

    When all the red mist from the area disappeared, and the light from the few torches illuminating the cave showed the surroundings again, the human saw the creature squirming.

    The demon was still extremely dehydrated, as if it had lost water and all of its body fat.

    Its bones were more visible than ever. It was so thin and frail that even the movement of its strange heart could be seen when watching it.

    "Hell!"

    "It''s still alive!" Lothur muttered, hearing the grunt of that creature.

    "Damned human..." The demon spoke in a shallow tone while expressing a lot of pain. "You will pay for this..."

    However, even though it had survived, that creature was not doing well.

    As he had sensed earlier, Lothur''s ability was not simple. Such a thing could not kill it, but it absorbed almost all of its physical abilities!

    Lothur could see this from the strange status of this creature.

    [Unknown Demon]

    [Cultivation: level 10 (weakened)]

    [STR: 0.55] [CON: 0.6] [DEX: 0.57] [AGI: 0.56] [SOU: ???]

    This creature''s super regenerative ability and natural endurance were narrowly keeping it alive. But Lothur''s ability had eaten away almost all the strength it had built over decades of cultivation.

    Since this demon''s ability could not raise its body''s capabilities, it was alive but unable to recover the damage it had suffered.

    Thus this demon was now weaker than an ordinary mortal. Unless it was nourished with human blood or special resources, it could not recover!

    The creature itself realized this when it noticed that it was not getting any better. So its hatred for Lothur was at an unimaginable level.

    Lothur sighed in relief that this being was no longer so dangerous. He then walked over to the side of where the demon was lying, stooping down as he looked at the creature''s ugly face.

    He grabbed its neck and squeezed hard. "Tell me how to end your life. Then, I will be able to end your suffering, demon."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Dream on! Do you think I''m an idiot?" It grunted, feeling a lot of pain throughout its body, but also because of Lothur''s grip.

    If Lothur wanted to, he could crush this creature''s neck with a handshake. So the mere way he was touching this fragile creature was hurting it significantly at the moment.

    "Are you sure about this? I will torture you until I find a way to kill you." Lothur cruelly said as he looked into the creature''s eyes, emitting his Mortal Aura. "If I fail, eventually I will take you to a post of the Seraphim Church, and they will kill you anyway. Why not die now? At least there will be no suffering, and your Soul Bone will be mine, the one that deserves it."

    "Fuck you!" The demon retorted.

    "Very well, you asked for it." Lothur did not hold back any longer and squeezed hard on the enemy''s neck until all its bones broke.

    Then, as such a creature regenerated, he began to crush all its bones slowly, making the demon scream in agony.

    It might have incredible regenerative abilities, but such a creature was still capable of feeling pain. After all, this was a significant ability to prevent one''s end.

    In this way, that creature of high hereditary rank soon howled in pain, undergoing Lothur''s merciless torture.

    ...

    While Lothur was taking action against that demon, the young men who had escaped earlier faced trouble!

    After following the escape path built by that demon, the four youths who first left that chamber came across several beasts and animals near the end of the escape tunnel.

    Since these were beings controlled by a demon, when they smelled these humans, each one started to act against the four youths!

    They attacked them as if they were face to face with the worst of their enemies, attacking with killing intent while exuding the dark aura from earlier.

    The four youths realized they would have to fight for their lives and began to battle on that spot, activating their spiritual techniques and acting as best they could.

    They were stronger than their opponents from a spiritual point of view, as soul cultivators were even better than those physical-focused beings. But the numerical advantage was in those creatures'' favor, and if just one of them managed to injure them, everything would go from bad to worse.

    So when the fight started, things were not easy at all for these humans, who knew they could not make a mistake or they would die there.

    So they fought for a few seconds against more than 20 beings until Elke reached that spot, still with tears streaming from her eyes.

    When she saw the situation, she became angry with those beings, feeling the urge to take out her frustrations on those opponents in her path.

    Without thinking much about what to do, she jumped against one of those beasts with a sword in her hands, that purple weapon that was her primary weapon.

    Just as she was about to hit the ground and be brutally attacked by that beast that looked like an ox, Elke''s teammates feared the worst.

    "Elke!"

    "Look out!"

    They shouted, imagining this woman had gone crazy to act carelessly against level 10 spiritual beasts!

    However, while they feared watching that ox destroy the beautiful redhead''s body, she pierced one of that creature''s eyes!

    Then, even though she was hit by one of the beast''s horns, she was not even injured, only having been thrown upwards.

    "I have a robust physique. Then leave me to defend you from their attacks, and you kill them!" She shouted as she floated in the air, already preparing to attack again.

    ...

 Chapter 447 Lothurs Situation

    "Okay!" One of the women in this group shouted as she noticed that Elke was not hurt.

    With that, the other three became more confident in their actions, beginning to act with her as they attacked those beasts and animals more efficiently.

    Swooish!

    Elke once again moved her sword against one of those beings, striking in front of one of her allies, giving her space.

    With that move by Elke, the level 10 young man used his spiritual art to trap that bird in a sculpture of earth.

    Desert Coffin!

    He clenched his fists and made those earth walls of the sculpture press against such a being.

    With that, Elke moved quickly to help her next ally, disying a speed simr to that of Lothur, surprising those beasts immensely.

    She was so fast that she could help her four allies in time for them not to get hurt and still open up opportunities for them to mortally attack their enemies.

    Due to the abilities of Elke and the rtively efficientbination of the group, they managed to kill more than two-thirds of these beings in the blink of an eye.

    With this done, they wasted no time fighting the rest of the opponents and left this ce, heading for the exit of this mountain.

    They left through a different ce than they had entered, so it took them a few moments to locate themselves. But as cultivators who had studied about the province and had valuable equipment with them, they soon found a way back to the previous vige.

    "You go to the vige and send requests for help to the academy and the Church!" Elke shouted to her group mates as she found her way back to the cave entrance they had passed through earlier.

    "Some people were chasing our group to help Lothur. So I will go back to talk to them and ask for their help."

    "Okay!" They shouted in agreement, without questioning the group leader since they feared the demon from earlier.

    Most likely, that creature would kill Lothur after a while. Then it would be stronger and could endanger all humans in the vicinity.

    Therefore, it was imperative to get reinforcements and not waste time with unnecessary questioning.

    So Elke separated from the four of them, heading for the ce that had been destroyed earlier.

    ...

    On the other hand, at the ce where the demon had prepared explosive devices to close the entrance to that cave...

    By now, the specialists there had managed to open a passage to the cave''s interior!

    After more than 15 minutes of working together, those Spiritual Warriors and the Transcendent had found a way to dig an entrance through those hard-to-crack stones.

    Everyone was extremely nervous when this happened, feeling that it might already be toote for them to save young Ritter.

    The young man''s allies were trembling at the possibility that the Ritter Motor Company could not get off the ground and all their ns would go down the drain.

    On the other hand, the Transcendent was afraid of what Lothur''s grandfather and even this young man''s father might do to him since he had an obligation to save such a person in this situation.

    Considering that he was much weaker than both of these people, he was pale and sweating in fear as he ran in front of everyone into the interior of that cave.

    However, as they moved, these people soon heard strange cries of paining from inside one of the cameras in that cave, sensing something strange.<novelnext></novelnext>

    The screams were not like those that humans would emit when in agony. On the contrary, such a thing sounded like a special kind of grunt, masked by negative energies and an iprehensible hatred.

    These cultivators made strange expressions and continued on their way, arriving at where those noises wereing from secondster.

    But when they reached thatpartment, they all opened their mouths in shock to find only Lothur and the demon, with thetter suffering at the hands of young Ritter.

    Lothur was slowly torturing the creature that had the size of a 10-year-old human child.

    But despite its size, this creature looked extremely old, full of wrinkles, malnourished and fragile skin, totally different from what they had thought a few moments ago.

    They had felt an intense negative feeling seconds ago. Still, when faced with this situation, the terror emitted by that demon was no longer the same. Now it seemed to feel more fear than to impose such a feeling!

    Amidst their silence, Lothur realized that someone else was there with him and the demon.

    "Uh?" He turned around on his back and saw a group of 5 people, 4 of them he already knew, but one stranger, someone dressed entirely in ck.

    Given this person''s cultivation, he realized that this was probably one of the individuals who had acted against him over the past few weeks.

    "You? Who are you?" He stopped torturing the demon and made a defensive stance while holding this being''s neck with one of his hands.

    The people there continued with their mouths open while that expert watched the situation cautiously.

    ''Something happened here!''

    ''That demon seemed much stronger a few minutes ago!'' He felt that Lothur had probably done something that had finished that being off.

    He was not a demon hunter, but this man knew that the techniques of these hunters did not leave demons like that. So he could not help but wonder what Lothur had done.

    The demon had not died, which in itself was not good. But this being seemed so weakened that this man could not help but be impressed and curious.

    ''Does he have some kind of secret art that can do this?'' He wondered when he finally decided to answer young Ritter.

    "Easy, kid, I''m here to help you." He said, making a hand signal for Lothur not to think the worst of him. "I sensed that this Monarch demon was in this cave, and I ran here to try to help you deal with it..."

    "I just didn''t expect it wouldn''t be necessary."

    Gulp!

    The people there swallowed their saliva, finding Lothur somewhat abnormal, seeing how he held that creature as if he were holding an ordinary animal.

    "Lothur, what were you doing with it? Can''t you kill it?" One of those men asked.

    "Oh, about that, I was torturing it to make it tell me how to eliminate it. I want the Soul Bone from this creature, but it is too tough." Lothur said as he swung that body around and looked into the eyes of the creature.

    ''Did he want to break the demon''s will and make it deliver such a secret?'' The Becker family elder there thought about it, noting that Lothur was somewhat strange.

    The Transcendent then said. "That is natural. A demon will never hand over such information to anyone, Lothur. But if youe with me, I will find someone to kill it and give you the Soul Bone."

    "How about that? Come with me to meet your grandfather, and everything will be fine."

    ...

 Chapter 448 Escaping

    "Grandfather?" The people in the surrounding area muttered to themselves, wondering what Lothur''s grandfather could be to send a Transcendent to keep an eye on this young fellow.

    At the same time that these people were theorizing about Lothur''s mysterious past, this young man identified which side that person belonged to.

    His father''s side seemed to really want his freedom since the man Lothur had met earlier had freed him after a brief conversation.

    But ording to that person, his grandfather''s side would not do the same, and in this instant, he could not help but believe that this was the case.

    "So you are here because of this person..." Lothur said aloud while keeping his guard up against that man. "Are you here to capture me? What is the reason for this? What is the problem between those two? And why do they want to involve me in all this?"

    That Transcendent then said. "It''s not quite like that. I came here because I thought you were in danger... But, in any case, I dare not meddle in the affairs of your father and grandfather. That is something you should discuss with them."

    "I''m only here to take you safely to your grandfather. How about this? We can solve this demon problem, and you absorb its Soul Bone before we get to your grandfather." This person with his hidden identity suggested.

    The demon heard that and did not like it at all since it felt like such a human could really find someone to kill it.

    "Human, don''t believe him. This person is trying to capture you! Who knows what he actually wishes to do with you..." It said in its chilling voice, feeling difficulty speaking because of the tightness in its neck.

    "Shut up!" Lothur said to this creature as he squeezed harder on its neck.

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    Young Ritter then looked at that man and said. "What if I don''t want to go now? I''m in the middle of a mission and have some important business to take care of in Peters City. How about we set up a meeting for about six months from now? I''ll be less busy then."

    The Spiritual Warriors there looked at each other, watching as Lothur tried to negotiate with that expert who seemed to be only trying to help him.

    But even if that man did not seem like an enemy, they could not help but consider that it would be better for Lothur to continue in Peters City during this period.

    "It''s only six months... That goes by in the blink of an eye." One of them said in a tone to defend the silver-haired young man''s wishes.

    But as much as six months was not long, the Transcendent could not usemon logic in this matter.

    ''His grandfather ordered me to take him away as soon as possible... But at the same time, Lothur is a box of surprises. If I wait six months, he may find a way to escape or even go to his father before he meets the right person.'' He pondered in silence until he made up his mind on how he should proceed.

    "Lothur, you will get everything I promised regardless of whether it will be for good or for bad. But if you rebel, I will bind you and take you by force to your grandfather." He prepared himself for action as he said those words.

    "What''s it going to be? Will you travel with me like a normal person? Or will you prefer to go as a prisoner?"

    Gulp!

    The people in the surrounding area felt the atmosphere be tenser inside that cave, with Lothur and the Transcendent looking at each other intensely.

    Lothur already had the teleportation formation he received from the Transcendent sent by his father in hand and said. "If you don''t ept my proposal, you will be left with nothing."

    "We''ll see!" Heughed as he said this and flew toward Lothur, using most of his strength, unlike what he had done before.

    ''This time, you won''t escape because of my carelessness...'' He was thinking about this when Lothur activated the formation he had in hand, causing a strange force toe into action under both his and the demon''s body.

    The space around them distorted, and a fracture in space appeared at their backs, drawing the attention of everyone there.<novelnext></novelnext>

    When such a fracture appeared, Lothur felt him and that creature being pulled by an invisible force, leaving that ce in the blink of an eye.

    "No!" That Transcendent lost his smile, seeing that Lothur still had such a radical alternative.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Someone from his father contacted him!'' He felt a chill run down his spine, predicting that he would get a heavy punishment when he returned to the empire''s capital.

    At the same time, as Lothur and the demon disappeared from the area and that spatial fissure began to close, the Spiritual Warriors were even more shocked.

    A teleportation formation was a high-level artifact that would be rated no lower than Silver-grade. So finding out that Lothur had something like that with him was no small piece of information.

    They still had not learned everything about that guy!

    At that instant, Elke came running through the hole these men had made moments ago.

    "Lothur?" She shouted as she entered there, drawing the attention of those who had just seen the disappearing spatial fissure.

    "Lothur? Where is Lothur?" She asked in a more concerned tone, noticing that the cultivators in the area seemed shocked by something.

    Luckily for Elke, one of her family members was around and soon approached her to talk about what had just happened.

    On the other hand, the Transcendent was standing in front of where Lothur and the demon had disappeared from, clenching his fists tightly, totally frustrated.

    ''I must return to the capital and report everything that happened!''

    He then was the first to leave there, leaving Elke and the 2nd stage cultivators talking about the previous events.

    Elke discovered that Lothur had defeated the demon and felt relieved about the previous matter. But at the same time, she was worried as she considered his position.

    ''I wonder where he went?'' She thought about this as she returned to the vige alongside the elder of her family.

    ''My family will certainly investigate where he went, so I can do nothing now but continue the mission.'' She looked back and saw the farm.

    ''If he can return to Peters City by the third Monday of the month, we can sessfully join the Ice Feathers faction.'' She stuck to what she was doing, trying to control her worry.

    ...

    While Elke was deciding what to do, Lothur and the demon had just arrived at a different location from the previous cave.

    Now they were in a rainforest, a forest full of tall nts, with vegetation covering the sunlight in some parts of the area but not hiding all the local exuberance.

    At the same time, the smell of salt in the air was significant, something Lothur readily identified.

    "Are we in the Three Great Lakes Region?" His eyes widened in surprise as he discovered the location that the previous formation had brought him.

    ...

 Chapter 449 First Enemy During Exploration

    Upon identifying where he was, Lothur became more alert, fearful of where he had arrived.

    If this was indeed the Three Great Lakes Region, as he thought, then his situation was somewhatplicated. After all, this was an area dominated by high-level spiritual beasts by the empire''s standard.

    In this case, even empire-level experts could meet their demise if they were careless in these areas.

    Lothur knew this since this involved the history of Leopoldine, how this state had been formed, and the importance of this area to the empire, the focus on the early sectors of the academy.

    So he was soon on guard, using his visual ability to scan the surroundings, trying to find a safe way away from there.

    He was in the middle of a forest, where there seemed to be nothing but vegetation for dozens of meters in all directions.

    At the same time, there was an extensive mountain range at the bottom of that area, where a gigantic rock separated that portion ofnd from the ocean.

    Considering that he would not get anywhere following that direction, Lothur found his way west, cautiously walking while holding the demon.

    This creature had already realized where it was and was also quite worried.

    Besides the humans who were part of the Seraphim Church, some races of beasts were capable of killing demons. So finding itself in this dangerous ce, which was supposed to be full of 3rd stage beings, it feared that it would meet its end.

    ''Damn you, human!'' It looked at Lothur with hatred. ''You could have run anywhere, but you came straight to this dangerous ce!''

    "I hope you die before I do." It said in its painden voice.

    "Tsk!"

    "You are a pest, demon," Lothurmented without looking it in the eye. "I saved your life. Do you know that? If I had gone with that Transcendent, I would have your Soul Bone in no time."

    "You don''t know that!" The creature eximed. "That human could trick you, kill you and take my bone for himself! Humans are like that. I''ve seen such a thing happen hundreds of times."

    "No. I read that expert''s heart and saw that he was telling the truth. He would help me." Lothur said, surprising this creature, who also knew that the previous Transcendent was being sincere.

    The demon then stopped trying to fool Lothur and looked at the surroundings. "Forget it... You don''t know what''s best for you. In any case, what are you going to do now? You will probably meet your end the moment the first beast of this ce appears."

    "So why don''t we make a deal? You give me some of your blood, and I''ll ally myself with you in this ce."

    "Fuck you," Lothur said in a teasing tone. "Do you think I''m stupid? You will kill me the first chance you get. By absorbing my powers, you will be much stronger than before!"

    "No, I''m being sincere."

    "Forget about your ns." Lothurughed. "I will find a way to kill you and increase my powers by absorbing your Soul Bone."

    "And anyway, I can handle this ce even without you or your Soul Bone," Lothur added confidently.

    "When you are about to die, I will ensure you don''t forget your choice as I devour you." It said, trying to scare this hard-to-handle enemy.

    "Maybe I''ll find one of those beasts capable of killing demons in this ce..." Lothur muttered, scaring that being and making it keep quiet.

    Beasts could not absorb Soul Bones, so naturally, they had no interest in such artifacts as humans would have.<novelnext></novelnext>

    They valued such items since they could use them for trading for things that might be valuable to them. Lothur was confident that if he could find a beast that could speak and kill such a being, he coulde to terms with such with it.

    Hence, he remained optimistic about his current situation as he walked through the woods, with one of his hands holding the demon and the other holding the Elemental Staff.

    He managed to follow this way without significant problems for about 40 minutes until he came across the first being in this area.

    A four-meter tall red bear, as wide as an earthling car, was lying in a nearby cave, dozing beside a beast carcass.

    Lothur saw the status of this being and noticed that this was a Transcendent beast, the first with such strength he had seen in his life.

    Because of this, he felt sweat dripping down his body while certain parts twitched vigorously, making him fearful of even letting out a fart.

    ''What damned luck!''

    ''How did Ie across an expert right when I arrived at this damn ce?'' The silver-haired young man wondered as he moved more carefully in the opposite direction of that cave.

    The demon with Lothur identified that creature and wanted to make some noise to get its attention since such a bear could not kill it.

    Unfortunately, Lothur was holding it so that it could neither escape nor make a noise. So all its attempts were futile.

    Crack!

    But suddenly, the sound of breaking twigs came a few feet behind Lothur''s back, drawing the attention of this young man and the lying bear.

    ''Damn. Who did this?'' Lothur had not seen anyone else in his surroundings, so he turned back, trying to identify the cause of his bad fortune.

    But as he looked back, he found nothing, only a tiny stone in the position where a tree branch had broken and made the previous noise.

    "Shit. It''s going to think it was me!" The silver-haired young man felt his blood churning and began to run, afraid of what that level 16 beast might do to him.

    Unlike Lothur''s ordinary enemies, beasts had no soul cultivation, only body cultivation. So they could not use long-range attacks like those of soul cultivators.

    Beasts could even attack from afar, but that would be a physical attack, simple, like throwing a stone or something like that.

    Thus, the scenario for him in that ce was terrible and hopeful.

    It was terrible because he could not use the Elemental Staff to destroy the enemy''s blows, and he would still have to withstand an attack power possibly higher than his Constitution, which could kill him.

    But he was hopeful as the enemy could not use ingenious spiritual tricks to harm him, and the pursuit could be more even. After all, Lothur was rtively fast, and the opponent could not quickly increase and decrease its speed through soul maniption.

    That way, there was room for him to try to escape, and he soon ran at full speed, making the demon in one of his hands feel the strong gaseous discement through his body.

    While that being could barely see his surroundings properly due to Lothur''s extreme speed, that bear noticed them and started running after those who dared to attack him.

    "Damned human! How dare you invade my territory?" It shouted in a spiritual voice, something that 3rd stage beasts could do.

    ...

 Chapter 450 The Only Alternative

    Upon hearing the scream of the bear chasing him, Lothur did not look back. Instead, he continued on his way to escape from that area, using the trees to distance himself from the giant creature.

    The red-furred bear identified the ''causer'' of the previous noise by running at high speed while using the branches of the trees in that part of the forest to move.

    ''A human and a demon?'' That beast saw those two as it ran towards Lothur, using the terrain as 3rd stage spiritual beasts could not fly like humans.

    After all, flying without wings required the ability to control spiritual energy outside the body, something only soul cultivators could do.

    With that, that grand creature used its four legs to pursue its opponent, exposing its incredible speed and frightening Lothur.

    ''How could it be? How can a being that size be so fast?'' Lothur wondered as he realized the enemy was getting closer to him.

    From what Lothur could sense, the speed of that beast was about 25% faster than his, which should mean that its physical capabilities were superior to his by that proportion.

    Realizing this, Lothur felt a little afraid since he did not have many EVF points at his disposal. If the opponent were too brutal, not even his super-regeneration or Physique ability would save him.

    He could die facing this opponent!

    ''What am I going to do now? How do I get myself out of this situation?'' His thoughts sped up, and he saw that his opponent was already a few dozen meters away from him.

    "Human, you will pay for invading my territory!" The creature expressed its feelings, feeling extremely offended at having itsnd vited by that human.

    Beasts were territorial animals, who would be aggressive simply because another being, be it animal or not, invaded their domain.

    Without the consent of a beast such as this bear, any being weaker than this bear should avoid entering its territory. They should always prefer tomunicate with such an individual before doing so.

    Lothur had not done this, and his power could be considered rming because of his extreme speed, a mark of powerful human cultivators by the standard of this area. So he could be considered an even more significant threat, which was why that creature pursued him even more violently than it usually would.

    Having an insect in your domain was bad, but having a snake capable of stinging and hurting you was terrible.

    Hence when it got close enough to its opponent, that bear used its capabilities to try to stop Lothur.

    It swung its giant front paws and used its ws to knock down a thick tree branch. Then it leaned on its hind paws and threw such a thing in the direction of where Lothur was about to jump.

    "Shit!" Lothur saw that big branching toward him and jumped up, moving to deflect the enemy''s attack.

    "Senior, this is a misunderstanding! I did enter your territory by ident!" He shouted as he managed to dodge the enemy movement narrowly.

    But the bear paid no heed to that human''s words and leaped toward Lothur, making an offensive move to tear its opponent''s chest.

    "That will be your punishment!"

    Lothur hurled the demon in his hands at his enemy, causing such a being to use its own ws to slice that frowning creature.

    "A mere demon in that pitiful state... Tsk, that''s nothing to me!" It looked at Lothur again as that young man tried to move and buy time.

    It would not do for him to attack, as this creature''s skin was too tough for someone with an attack power as small as his to do any damage. So Lothur kept his weaknesses to himself and said. "Senior, please listen to me. I teleported to a nearby location, not knowing where that formation would bring me. That''s the only reason I''m here!"

    "Nonsense! You were aiming at my possessions!" The bear urged as it shed toward Lothur''s throat while this young man moved as best he could to dodge.

    "I''m serious! I was fighting that demon when a Transcendent attacked me." He said, feeling the enemy''s ws getting closer and closer to hitting him. "At that moment, I used the teleportation formation that a person gave me. That''s the only reason I came to your territory!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    Swooish!

    Just as one of that bear''s ws was about to cut one of Lothur''s arms in half, he acted quickly. He teleported dozens of meters ahead, where the demon was lying.

    "Damn it!" That creaturemented that after regenerating its wounded body, Lothur picked it up again and started running away.

    "Uh? You''re full of tricks, human!" The bear turned around and chased after Lothur again, noting that this was not such an easy opponent to catch.

    "But how long before you use all your cards up your sleeve?"

    Lothur heard that and stayed silent, searching the area for other Transcendent beasts.

    ''If I don''t run away from it, I''ll die anyway. Then I may put it in conflict with another beast in the area.'' Young Ritter considered this as he moved, using his visual ability to find other powerful beings in the area.

    He knew he might end up in the worst situation if he came across another powerful beast allied with that bear. But since such a creature did not even need help to eventually catch Lothur, this young man preferred to take his chances.

    At worst, he would be caught and killed, the only difference being time.

    Since there were many powerful beings in thisrge region, Lothur soon found another being of level 16.

    "I found it!"

    Zum!

    He teleported again using his Space Belt''s ability, spending another fraction of his energies and increasing his distance from the enemy.

    The red bear saw Lothur disappear from sight at the crucial moment for the second time and became even more irritated as it left its territory to enter that of its neighbor to the south.

    Lothur ran toward arge bird that was hanging around near its nest, screaming as he ran away from his pursuer.

    "Help!"

    "It''s out of control!"

    The bird felt the three creatures entering its domain and looked intensely in their direction, identifying the human, beast, and demon.

    "Moomo?" The bird looked at its neighbor, not understanding how this red bear would enter its territory without courtesy because of two weak beings.

    This bird was not sensing Lothur''s cultivation, and by now, this young man was much slower due to his fatigue. But, on the other hand, the demon in one of his hands was an insect to that beast, so it looked at its neighbor, fearing that the human''s words were correct.

    Maybe Moomo had been contaminated with something and started behaving strangely, so it could even be risky for that bird''s territory to have it there.

    Thisrge bird, which looked like an eagle, only more than 1 meter tall, with white feathers and a ck beak, jumped out of its nest toward that red bear.

    "Moomo, what do you think you are doing? Do you think I will simply ept your aggression?"

    ...

 Chapter 451 The Only Way To Survive

    Hearing its neighbor''s scream, the red bear finally realized its enemy''s strategy in pitting it against that eagle.

    "Damned human! You think you''re going to stop me just because that old eagle is in my way? Dream on!" It said as it ignored that white birding towards it while attacking Lothur and the demon again.

    "Damn it!"

    "Stupid bear! I already said I didn''t try to invade your territory! I was taken there without choice!" Lothur shouted as he realized that such a creature would keep attacking him, even if it would create openings for that eagle.

    "Who are you calling an old eagle, Moomo?" The eagle shouted in an irritated tone, ignoring Lothur''s words as it looked intensely at that bear.

    "Shut up, old eagle!"

    "That human who brought me here. So don''t bother. I''m not aiming for your territory. Once I get his carcass, I will leave." The red creature eximed as Lothur used the Space Belt to deflect his opponent.

    "Bullshit!"

    "You''re using me as an excuse to invade this noble bird''s territory!" Lothur shouted as he appeared dozens of meters in front of Moomo.

    "Bastard!" The eyes of that great beast turned red with hatred as it ignored the white bird to run after Lothur.

    That was already getting rather annoying for it. Every time it was going to end its opponent''s life, such a person escaped like that.

    At the same time, not only was Lothur consuming his energy while using all his methods to deal with this creature. This bear was also getting tired since, to be able to stop this young human from escaping, it had to work very hard.

    Since it was already in another creature''s territory, it was starting to feel more nervous. After all, it would be at risk if it spent too much energy in this ce.

    It might be a little stronger than that eagle, which was why it was talking that way. But that could quickly change depending on how things developed.

    "It''s been a while since I''ve eaten human flesh... But today I will, you worm! Just wait. I''ll roast your body and use your bones to clean my teeth!" It said, constantly using its paws and ws to cut the ground in front of him.

    Seeing how Moomo was ruining the surroundings where it lived, the old eagle could take no more and attacked its neighbor with a high-pitched scream.

    By opening its beak and making its throat work, this level 16 creature produced a powerful sound attack in the direction where Lothur, Moomo, and the demon were.

    Lothur realized this in advance, given his visual power. So he promptly teleported away when he sensed that this eagle was getting ready to attack.

    When he did this, the demon felt relief that it had not been attacked by it, looking away and seeing the bear attacking them, bringing its front paws to its head.

    Unfortunately for these two, the eagle did not intend to allow them to leave. As Moomo tried to endure the sound it produced, it flew toward the two humanoid beings.

    Winged beasts were much faster than thosemon ones. So even though it was the same level as Moomo, a little weaker than that bear, that eagle was much faster and soon caught up with Lothur and the Monarch demon.

    "Damn it!" Lothur saw that and whined, feeling that it would do no good for him to try to run away since doing that a few more times would exhaust him, and he would end up in that same situation.

    In this case, since his n had failed, he stood to try to deal with this terrible situation!

    "Senior, have mercy!" He shouted as he felt the ws of this creature piercing his back and carrying him high above.

    Such a creature carried Lothur at the highest speed he had ever been. Still, he could not enjoy the moment as that beast was carrying him higher and higher.

    "No..." He muttered as he realized his situation until that eagle made a spinning motion and hurled him high into the air.

    "If you survive this, I will give you a chance to speak." That old beast said as it prepared to return to where the bear was recovering from that sound attack.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Shit!" Lothur shouted once again as he tried to position himself above the demon''s body, intending to use it as a buffer from his fall.

    Steel Body!

    He also activated his defensive technique as much as he could, preparing to use the Space Belt once more to lessen the damage to his body.

    ''I can use three more teleports before I be exhausted...'' He considered this quickly. ''On the other hand, I can''t do much to slow down my body speed, so even if I don''t fall face-first into the ground, I''ll get hurt when Ind somewhere.''

    His fall was very high, a few hundred meters. Hence, it would not be possible for young Ritter to teleport from his starting position to the ground without suffering the effects of gravitational eleration.

    In this case, the only way for him to save himself from this fall would be to use two of the three teleports to decrease his eleration gap and get close to the ground at a lower speed.

    With this in mind, he did the best he could and began to use this artifact at his waist to save his own life.

    Zum!

    ...

    As Lothur was doing that, the eagle had already reached the ground, standing face to face with the red beast that had offended it earlier.

    "Old eagle, why did you do that? You know we are not enemies!" The bear said while having its ears stained with blood, given this eagle''s unexpected attack.

    "You should learn to respect your elders, Moomo." It said while looking at such a bear seriously. "On the other hand, you shouldn''t be so hard on that human. Didn''t you see who he is carrying?"

    "The demon? What about it?"

    "It''s a Monarch demon, a noble of the demon race, idiot!" The bird said as it shook its head. "I heard that a few weeks ago, the region leader had a problem with a group from the Seraphim Church chasing some demons..."

    "Oh?" That red being opened its big mouth in surprise, finally connecting the dots.

    But before it could say anything else, Lothur and the demon finally teleported onest time, with that young man choosing a position to nd'' in one of the trees there.

    When he appeared in that spot, his elerated body made him continue on his way, going instead to the ground, towards the trunk of that tree.

    The demon was already in front of Lothur''s body, and the moment the shock happened, such a creature suffered by having several parts of its body crushed.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" It shouted before passing out.

    Soon after, Lothur also screamed, feeling several of his bones fracturing, with the muscles in his body suffering minor injuries.

    "Ahhhhhhhhh!"

    Lothur felt as if something had burst inside his body, and his vision turned red, simultaneous with blood beginning to flow out of his eyes, mouth, ears, and nose.

    At that moment, he felt one of the worst sensations since his arrival in this world. Although terrible, his injuries were not enough for him to lose consciousness. Then he felt everything there was to feel, groaning in pain as he trembled over the crushed body of that demon.

    The two creatures oversaw this, watching to see if the young human would survive.

    ...

 Chapter 452 Relief

    As Lothur began to squirm on the ground in front of those two beasts, the system notified him regarding the consumption of EVF points.

    [Super Regeneration activated.]

    [Consuming all EVF points...]

    The little over 200 points of that attribute were quickly brought to 0 as his regenerative ability went into action.

    When this happened, since his EVF score was rtively lower than necessary for him to heal fully, his recovery started with his internal organs.

    This young human''s abilities slowly regenerated his injured organs and fractured bones. But, at the same time, his outermost injuries regenerated more gradually.

    But even so, when Lothur''s outermost wounds started to recover, those two creatures realized this and were startled.

    "What? How can that be?" The red bear questioned aloud, not understanding how a human could have such an impressive regeneration ability.

    Such a thing was not as impressive as the regenerative ability of demons. But still, it was enough to shock even beings of that species.

    And that was what happened when the creature that had been used as a pillow for Lothur''s fall awoke from its previous state.

    It had suffered much more than Lothur, but this demon had a higher regeneration rate than its captor. As such, it recovered enough to assist part of such a human''s recuperation.

    "That..." The demon could hardly believe how the human on top of its body was recovering. ''Damn it! I can''t allow that...'' It thought about devouring Lothur.

    Unfortunately for this creature, just as it was moving to rip a chunk out of Lothur''s body, the great eagle near them used its ws to pull it away from the human.

    "Do you think we will allow this, demon?" That old eagle asked in a serious tone. "Your species is as much an enemy of ours as that human''s."

    "Tsk!" The creature did not like this, but since it could not do anything against these beasts, it epted its fate and remained silent.

    The eagle turned to the bear and said. "It seems that this human has excellent skills... I don''t know how he is doing this, but I promised he could talk if he survived. So give me that face and let him talk, Moomo."

    This big bear had already forgotten about the previous problem and was interested in seeing more of this human, so it saw no problem in doing so.

    Its anger had already subsided, and with Lothur''s performance, plus the story of that demon it was curious about, it could not help but go along with that eagle''s ns.

    So they continued to watch Lothur recover as this young man began to feel the pain diminishing as the many injuries he had earned in this ce healed.

    Such injuries did not fully activate his Physique ability. Still, he was starting to get some bonuses for suffering so much from that fall.

    [+2.8 STR.]

    [+12.8 CON.]

    [+2.5 DEX.]

    [+3.3 in AGI.]

    [+1.3 in WIL.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [STR: 59] [CON: 267.8] [DEX: 53] [AGI: 69.7]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 106.6] [WIL: 88.6]

    [EVF: 0]

    When he saw this, Lothur still felt some pain throughout his body due to the not regenerated wounds.

    But the level of pain he was feeling at the moment was tolerable.

    So he soon remembered what he was doing and looked around, searching for the demon and the enemies that had left him in that situation.

    It did not take him long to find the two giant creatures near where he was standing, with the demon trapped by the eagle''s ws.

    Lothur remembered the enemy''s promise and sighed in relief.

    "You almost killed me..." Hemented in a low voice as he stood up and began to change his clothes.

    His clothes were soiled with his and that demon''s blood. Since that creature already stank even when it was not bleeding, Lothur could not stand that smell on his clothes for long and did what had to be done.

    Lothur was not sensing a strong fighting intent from the two beasts right now, although he did notice how the two were prepared to chase him. But since this young man did not intend to run away, he rxed a little as he did that.

    "What do you have to tell us, human?" The eagle remembered that Lothur was trying to justify his entry into this ce.

    "Sigh..."

    "I did not enter its territory willingly." Lothur pointed to the furry creature sitting a few meters in front of him. "I was in the Linn Mountains hours ago when a human Transcendent attacked me. At that time, I had just defeated that demon."

    The two creatures looked at the Monarch demon and thought that probably the one human who attacked Lothur was after that creature''s Soul Bone, something valuable to humans.

    "After that, I used a teleportation item I received from someone in the past. By luck or bad luck, it brought me here." He finished dressing.

    "An item you received from someone?" The white-feathered beast asked, finding such a thing curious. "Who gave you that item? Few humans would put an escape device aimed at this ce."

    "I don''t know him. He was supposedly representing my father, but I don''t know the identity of either of them." Lothur was sincere.

    Beasts could easily read the hearts of humans and determine whether they were speaking the truth. So it made no sense for him to lie in front of these two creatures stronger than he was.

    "Your father''s representative?" The bear looked at the eagle, trying to imagine what that meant.

    Some humans lived in these areas. Some even had very high positions in the hierarchy of the region. But since these two usually did notmunicate with them, they had no idea who Lothur''s father might be.

    If this young man had known Daemon''s name, he could have made those two creatures identify his origin. But since he did not know and these beings did not know that man personally, they could only doubt the origin of this young man.

    ''He must be someone strong, anyway.'' The eagle was thankful for Lothur''s regenerative ability since it would not want to have to deal with a vendetta from the humans who lived in the area.

    Even the weakest human in that group was stronger than it. So whoever Lothur''s father was, that person was a danger to both of them!

    "Hmm, I see..." It said as it ced one of its wings on the back of that big red-haired beast. "Well, I guess it''s okay, then. But you should be careful and always warn of your passage when entering a beast''s territory."

    "We''re protective about our territories, so you''d better avoid unnecessary trouble, kid. But don''t worry. I can draw a map with themon areas of this forest for you." This eaglemented before throwing the demon''s body in Lothur''s direction.

    "After that, you can go on your way."

    ...

 Chapter 453 Directions

    Lothur was a little impressed to notice the change in the behavior of those beasts, but he did not question them. If these beings stronger than him were going to let him go, that would be better.

    The great eagle saw him waving in its direction and began to draw on the earth with one of its ws. "We are in the Three Great Lakes Region, specifically near the final ridges of this area."

    "We are here." It marked an ''x'' near the easternmost side of the map it was drawing. "As for your Finn Mountains, it should be at that point." It indicated a location quite a distance from the ''x.''

    "How do I get away from here? I would like to return to Peters City." Lothurmented as he paid attention to what that bird was doing.

    It answered him. "I don''t know where that city is, although I have heard of it. But if you follow this path..." It drew themon paths it knew in this great forest. "You will be able to avoid most of the beast territories nearby. Then you at least won''t get into trouble like the one before often."

    In this way, it spent the next few minutes telling Lothur the basics about the area, about the beasts he might or might not encounter on his way, the territories to watch out for, etc. Of course, this eagle gave no in-depth details. Still, what was necessary for this human to travel minimally aware of the local dangers, it made sure to teach him.

    But since even it did not know about everything regarding this area, this white-feathered beast''s exnations did notst long.

    "Anyway, with someone of your abilities, you should be able to get out of our Great Lakes area in about 20 days. After that, just look for some human city and ask members of your species for help."

    "20 days?" Lothur''s eyebrows drew together since that was far more than he had to return to Peters City and aplish his previous mission.

    He hadplete confidence that Elke and his teammates would finish the previous mission with the disappearance of this demon who was now with him. So, this fellow wanted to return to Peters City as soon as possible andplete the requirement to join Viktoria''s faction.

    "Isn''t there any way I can do this faster? I have an appointment in less than ten days in Peters City, and I need to be there."

    "Ten days? Impossible." The red bear said. "Even if you run day and night at your maximum speed, it would take three days just to leave our forest. But, of course, that''s considering you would not have any problems on your way, something pretty hard to aplish, to be honest."

    "Yet, you don''t even have the capabilities to move at that speed for that long in a row... So you''d better forget about it." The white eaglepleted its furry neighbor''s speech.

    "That..." He clenched his fists, unconsciously strangling the demon in one of his hands.

    "Ouch!"

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I didn''t think I would be sent so far away!'' Lothurined in his mind, not knowing what to do in this situation.

    "Isn''t any human group in this area to help me?"

    The eagle and the bear looked at each other, and then one said. "There are, but we don''t know how to find them, nor would we dare approach their ce. They are stronger than us."

    After hearing that furry creature''sment, Lothur did not press them, only sighed in defeat. ''I guess I''ll have to do what I can and try my luck...''

    ''Tsk!''

    ''That''s if I don''t get into trouble in this ce.'' Heughed at his luck, remembering that he was in an area filled with beings like those two.

    The eagle watched Lothur in silence, sensing that such a human was like them, focused on body cultivation, not soul cultivation.

    They could sense this from Lothur''s extreme speed coupled with the fear of them that he felt and had disyed a few moments ago.

    If Lothur was a soul cultivator with such speed, he should have killed them with a swing of his sleeve!<novelnext></novelnext>

    But Lothur had fled with all his might and even suffered considerable damage that had not fully healed, even considering his regenerative power.

    Considering this, this experienced creature would not mistake Lothur for a soul cultivator.

    With that, it suggested. "It will be impossible for you to achieve what you desire at the moment. But if you are lucky, you may get some help to ease your way."

    "What does that mean?" He looked at that creature with interest.

    "In one of thekes following the path I taught you, there is a ce suitable for body cultivators. If you can get there, you may experience some physical improvements after a few hours under the effects of that... The problem will be just getting there." It said.

    "Will I, by any chance, have to go through a beast''s territory?"

    "Not just one." The big bear said, knowing what that eagle was nning. "If I were you, human, I wouldn''t go. You will die if you have to face the beasts on the way there."

    The eagle and that bear were talking about a special ce for beasts nearby, where these beings could get stronger depending on their levels.

    Such a ce was no longer so beneficial for them as to make them want to risk themselves. But for someone as weak as Lothur, such a ce contained relevant opportunities.

    That''s why that eagle mentioned it to him.

    But like all wealth, the ce in question was protected by some individuals stronger than these two, who enjoyed the benefits of the area. Because of this, the risks of a journey toward such a ce were not small!

    "So that''s it..." Lothur bowed his head, thinking about the matter.

    It was not worth risking his life so that he could join his wife''s faction. But perhaps it was worth doing so if such an action would provide him with an opportunity for advancement.

    Since he was already in this ce, he decided to at least look the ce over before he decided to risk everything to achieve such a thing.

    "Tell me about this ce. I might be interested." The human said, surprising those beasts that already thought he would give up the idea.

    The eagle then exined a few things to Lothur until he heard enough to leave from there.

    "What about this demon? Do you know anything more about it?" The bear asked before Lothur began to get ready to leave.

    "No. I found it in a cave in the Finn Mountains. Then, after I defeated it, I came here, as I told you."

    The two beasts looked at each other, thinking it unlikely that such a demon was rted to the problem the area leader had faced weeks ago.

    The distance between the two areas was not small, so the possibility of this demon having a connection to such a thing was small.

    ''Maybe it''s not it...'' The eagle thought, regretting that it would get no prize for locating such an individual.

    Meanwhile, the demon was looking away from that area, remembering the chase it had endured before reaching that cave.

    ''Why are these beasts asking about this? Do they suspect something?''

 Chapter 454 Bad News

    After the previous conversation, Lothur departed that area under the gaze of the two beasts.

    The big red bear stayed for some time in its neighbor''s territory. Then, when Lothur had finally disappeared from its sight, it said goodbye.

    But as it was leaving, the old eagle suddenly asked it. "Don''t you find all this strange, Moomo?"

    "What are you talking about?" This furry fellow turned around and questioned in doubt.

    The bird said. "This human does not emit any spiritual fluctuations and does not seem to be affected by our auras."

    Spiritual beasts released their auras during their sleep. So it was extremely ufortable and challenging for lower-level beings to be around them in a situation simr to Moomo''s earlier.

    They also did this duringbat, so the eagle in question noticed that Lothur seemed unaffected by any of this.

    "Even without being restricted by your aura and not giving off any threatening sensations, he managed to put you on alert, provoking you to chase him..." It said, as its eyes narrowed, seeing Lothur from afar due to its superior sight to that other beast.

    "He may have made a mistake..."

    "No." It did not let it finish and said. "He''s too capable to make a mistake like that."

    "Then what do you think?" The bear, who was not smart, questioned.

    "I don''t know. But it''s bizarre..." This eagle looked at its surroundings, sensing that the situation was not simple.

    ...

    Sometimeter...

    When it was night in the Three Great Lakes Region, Lothur and the demon had already traveled several kilometers from their previous position. Now they were heading towards the firstke in this area, near where they were.

    He had decided to at least ''look'' more closely at the kind of challenge he would have to achieve the breakthrough possibility that the eagle had told him.

    In this way, he had already avoided several beast territories on his way there and was now at his rest stop.

    ording to those beasts, on the path he would follow, there were some ces he should not be careless since the beasts were more active and more territory upied. But in others, like the one he was in at the moment, there were more tranquility ces, and he could stop to rest and even train.

    Obviously, these ces were not simply forgotten spots in the forest but the vicinity of the areas of more powerful beings, which naturally kept a lot of trouble away.

    But there was danger everywhere in this region, so Lothur would rather take his chances ''under the wings'' of one of these beings than in other ces. So many there could kill him anyway...

    When he finished training and saw the notifications from the system, he immediately started eating so as not to stay in the area for too long.

    [+0.4 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.2 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.1 in CON.]

    [+0.2 in DEX.]

    [+0.3 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 59.7] [CON: 268.3] [DEX: 53.6] [AGI: 70.3]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 106.6] [WIL: 88.7]

    [EVF: 0]<novelnext></novelnext>

    After seeing his status, Lothur looked at the demon and smiled, remembering that he had raised his resistance to the element of darkness to the limit of Iron-grade because of this being.

    [Iron-grade resistance to the element of darkness.]

    [Progress: 99%]

    He was only one step away from improving his resistance qualitatively, which would give him a promotion bonus in his Perception.

    So this man also had in mind to look for things that could help him raise that resistance in this area, as such a creature had already assured him that it would not help him.

    The demon realized that attacking Lothur with the dark element earlier had only helped this human be stronger.

    It was very perceptive and quite intelligent. So to it, it had not taken much to notice enough to convince itself to no longer attack this human in that way.

    And even if it wanted to, in its state, it would take a long time before it would produce something strong enough to help Lothur raise such resistance. So even this man was not pushing it about it.

    ''The ce I am in is hazardous, but it has all kinds of special resources...'' He thought about it positively. ''I will try to get in touch with as many nts and fruits in this ce as possible while I am here.''

    ''Maybe I''ll find things useful for my purposes!''

    While he was thinking about his ns for this ce, someone was watching him from the shadows without emitting any distinguishable aura.

    ''Fate is tough to read...'' The owner of a pair of red eyes thought silently from her position.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Peters City...

    By now, the news sent by Elke''s group had already reached this city, alerting the academy and the local post of the Seraphim Church.

    Because of this, the whole city was on alert since it was unusual for this Church outpost to send men outside its domains.

    Many of Concordia''s demon hunters were totallymitted to the Church''s functions. Thus, most of them lived in seclusion within these posts and rarely went out to fulfill Church functions.

    Hence, on this day, when a dozen such individuals left the local post in Peters City, the whole city was on alert that there might be demons around.

    The Church posts that sent members to hunt demons were usually those closest to these threats.

    So, soon, the whole city was discussing the matter, while people were bing more reclusive, going out less on the streets.

    But not only the local poption was paying attention. But the academy''s top experts were also moving since one of their missions had identified a demon in the Finn Mountains.

    That was an institution that prized the welfare and safety of its students. So naturally, it could not stand idly by with the threat to its students in that mountainous region.

    That was particrly true for the principal of the academy, who had already left for that location to help resolve the matter.

    ...

    "What? Lothur and his group ran into a demon?" The people on the Ice Feathers council found out about such a thing from one of the academy staff.

    When she heard that, Karen opened her mouth in shock, she readily thought about her friend who was in love with Lothur and the group she and her family connected to.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Damned luck!'' She ran from where the academy employee had given them such news, going to mail some letters.

    ''I hope nothing happens, or we''ll have several problems in theing months!''

    ...

    Meanwhile, at Angelic Feathers headquarters...

    Larissa had just heard about the rumor already going around Peters City and could not help but turn pale at such a thing.

    She had just made a deal with Lothur, so she would have many of her ns messed up if something happened to this guy.

    With this in mind, she went out to find Viktoria and try to understand what was going on and the risks to Lothur!

 Chapter 455 Drastic Change

    After a while, Larissa was at one of the Frost family posts in Peters City, where Viktoria usually worked with her family.

    Viktoria rarely went to the academy. She was very talented and had many responsibilities in her decadent family. So unlike Larissa, who lived away from her family and had fewer responsibilities, this wife of Lothur spent less time at the Morning Star Academy.

    However, she was well-informed of the issues circting in the city and the academy. Thus, even though she was not in that ce, Viktoria was already aware of the problem encountered by Lothur''s group.

    When Larissa met with her, Viktoria was not surprised and got straight to the point.

    "Are you here because of this demon?" She asked as she met with that beautiful white-haired woman across a table.

    Larissa affirmed and said. "Do you know anything more than the rumors are saying? Have you heard from Lothur?"

    "Why do you want to know about my husband?"

    Larissa saw that Viktoria was not happy to see her asking about Lothur and smiled. "You shouldn''t worry about that. I''m not that kind of woman."

    "Really? I wouldn''t know..."

    "Anyway." Larissa closed her eyes and made a neutral expression. "I''m here because I''m worried about the rumors. Will Lothur be okay? I just did business with him, and I hope he lives long enough to bear fruit for me."

    "I don''t know." Viktoria was honest. "Lothur is not a demon hunter, so if he met with one, he wouldn''t know how to kill it. But my husband is very resilient and has his means of escape."

    "Are you sure about that?" That woman expressed uncertainty and concern in her gaze.

    "I have no way to be sure. I wasn''t there when it happened..." Viktoria closed her eyes and thought of Lothur, worried but confident that he would return.

    News of Lothur''s departure with the demon had not yet reached this town. However, Elke had found out about it right when young Ritter escaped from the previous Transcendent. So Viktoria was still in the dark about that fact and the dangers her husband might face for having used an escape device given to him by a Daemon man.

    She would be more worried if she were aware of this!

    That region Lothur was now in was far worse than a mere 2nd stage demon!

    ''With a body as strong as his, he should be fine...'' That brown-haired woman thought to herself while remembering her husband''s many abilities.

    Viktoria had to admit, Lothur was hard to kill!

    "I wouldn''t worry if I were you. So many people are already allied with my husband and wish for his well-being. So even if he is in trouble, he will certainly have many supporters to help him in a short time." She said to Larissa as she stood up and pointed the way out to this opponent.

    "I can say the opposite as well." Larissa stood up and said. "He has many enemies who wish to kill him and will not miss the opportunity to act in this moment of difficulty."

    Viktoria could not counter such words, as she remained silent before leading that woman to the exit.

    Upon getting rid of that person, she promptly arranged her things at that location and ran to her family''s estate, intending to ask her mother for help.

    Mabel did not like Lothur. But recently, this young man had made several contributions to the Frost family that she had seen no choice but to iste herself so as not to stress herself daily.

    Lothur helping the Frost family was a bit strange to her, who had criticized him so many times in the recent past.<novelnext></novelnext>

    She did not feel good about it all and was letting her husband and daughter deal with the issues involving him.

    But even knowing this, Viktoria could not hesitate to ask her mother for help in this moment of difficulty.

    Lothur would probably be fine, but she wanted Mabel to be at least more proactive in acting favorably toward him!

    ...

    While Viktoria was going to talk to her mother, the Duke of the Province had already found out about the events in the Linn Mountains and during Lothur''s group''s departure to such a ce.

    ''He has already reached that level...'' This man thought to himself at the seat of the provincial government, feeling that his friend Klossner''s warning was probably right.

    He had heard of the failure of the local powers, who had even sent patriarchs to try to finish off Lothur the night before. So even without proof that this young man''s car would be as revolutionary as Klossner imed, this man no longer doubted it so much.

    Lothur was around 20 years old, but he was already so strong that he could fight local patriarchs and ensure the retreat of a group like the one that had attacked him.

    Had he had help? Yes, but that could not overshadow his performance!

    This man knew this and was naturally concerned about how far Lothur could get in a few more weeks.

    And now, with the information that Lothur had encountered a demon, this man was not as hopeful as some of his local allies were. Instead, he was already considering the possibility that young Ritter might get a Soul Bone because of this!

    He knew that Lothur was not a demon hunter. Still, if such a young man were lucky, it would not be impossible to negotiate with someone with the necessary skills to kill a demon to deliver him that bone!

    And with that, things would only get worse for Lothur''s enemies!

    ''I feel that something bad will happen to my family if I stand against him...'' He clenched his fists and called to his son. "Martin,e here. I have something for you."

    A few momentster, that level 15 man walked into his father''s workce and asked. "What is it?"

    "I want you to ry a message to our family members and subordinates. If Lothur Ritter returns alive to Peters City, I don''t want anyone from our forces antagonizing him. At the same time, be prepared for us to move away from the faction of the third prince." He said as he thought about what was best for his family.

    Politics were not so different in this cultivation world from what Lothur had seen on Earth. People on opposite sides could change sides as fast as the blink of an eye!

    As long as conditions changed, someone would abandon whatever boat they were in to ensure their survival!

    There was no eternal loyalty!

    But still, Martin was shocked to hear his father''s orders, unable to answer this individual for some time as he stared at the Duke in silence.

    "How will we do that?" He asked after a while, knowing it was not easy to leave a faction.

    The Duke said. "Start the talks with the faction of the second prince. But make it clear that we are only willing to join them if they do not require us to fight against Lothur and his interests!"

 Chapter 456 Unwanted Encounter

    A few hourster, Lothur and the demon had gone a few miles further and reached the halfway point to the firstke in their path.

    They were once again standing in amon area of this forest, not belonging to the territory of any beast.

    He was already in an area filled with more powerful beings. So the frequency of organismsing and going there was much less than in other parts he had passed.

    Lothur and the demon had encountered several 2nd stage and even some 1st stage beasts in this region they were passing through. Beings like that existed in this area. After all, those 3rd stage beasts had subordinates and families.

    These weaker beings usually lived within the territories of their respective leaders, which was one of the reasons why these beasts were so protective of their areas.

    Because of this, Lothur and the demon also had not faced any problems after following the advice of the two previous beasts.

    They had traveled up to this point without entering any beast''s territory, which had avoided a problem for them with both the stronger and weaker beasts.

    Because of their experience there, they had noticed beasts of the most diverse types on their way up to this point. But not only that, but they also saw the density of beasts per square meter of this forest decrease with every kilometer they approached that firstke.

    So, by now, the two were much more alert than before!

    The demon itself was afraid, as it did not want to run into any being capable of eliminating it.

    ...

    "Hey, give me something to eat!" The creature that looked like a strange child said this to Lothur as it saw this young man eating a fruit that looked like a mango.

    "Do you need to eat, demon?" Lothur looked at it in curiosity as he sat in front of this creature on top of a fallen wood log.

    "Of course!" That blue-skinned creature said while grimacing. "I am a living being like you, you bastard."

    "I''m not so sure about that..." Lothur muttered since he did not know many things about how demons lived. "What happens if I leave you without food?"

    ''I won''t die, but I will get weaker, and my regeneration will take longer to happen!'' The creature thought quietly, not wanting to tell Lothur this, and ended up spurring this human to torture it even more.

    "The bad smell you sense will intensify if I don''t eat at least twice daily." It said, which was indeed true.

    Lothur did not like this and asked. "What do you eat, demon?"

    "Anything that humans and beasts eat." It said as it smiled, hoping it could taste something after hours without making a meal.

    "Is that so?" Lothur looked at the peel of the mango he was finishing eating. "Eat that."

    "Tsk!"

    The creature did not like it but did as Lothur ordered since it needed to eat something to suffer less at the hands of this person.

    While the demon was doing this, suddenly, Lothur heard the trees in the surrounding area moving differently than when the wind blew them.

    But before he could even look in the direction of the neer, such a creature looked at him and the demon and said. "How unusual. It''s not often you see such a striking pair around these areas."

    Lothur looked in the direction of a giant toad and saw this creature''s status, opening his mouth in shock.

    [Stone Lake Transparent Toad]

    [Cultivation: level 17]

    [STR: ???] [CON: ???] [DEX: ???] [AGI: ???]<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Nascent Soul Transcendent?" The demon let a few mango peels fall from its mouth and eximed in surprise while seeing this creature.

    Lothur continued with his mouth open, seeing this being that looked like a rounded house, full of ck stripes across its dark green body.

    "That... Senior... Gulp!"

    "To what do we owe the honor?" Lothur discovered a way to express himself while keeping his guard up, afraid of this opponent.

    The toad then opened its big mouth and let a tree branch fall from its lips while its long, pink tongue quickly ran into the vicinity of these two.

    ''Is it going to eat us?'' The silver-haired young man worried, but that was only for a short while.

    Just as it was about to touch him and the demon, that tongue stopped, and the two beings felt the stench of it.

    Meanwhile, the toad''s eyes narrowed as it looked at the two. "Monarch demon and a human with no spiritual cultivation... That''s not right. You probably captured it, or its hatred for you wouldn''t be so intense."

    "No,e to think of it, you caused its condition. Then you must be hiding your strength." It said in its spiritual voice as it sensed the characteristics of those two bodies.

    ''He has awakened bloodline and Physique...'' After another second, the creature thought about it, noting that Lothur was quite impressive for someone without cultivation.

    "Human, what are you doing here? Why do you have a demon with you?" It asked out of curiosity.

    This creature had a territory in the surrounding area. But when it returned from its mating time, it saw these two beings in thismon forest area and decided to approach.

    Seeing such a highly-ranked demon walking practically unescorted in such a ce was unusual. So it could not help but covet Lothur''s possession!

    Lothur swallowed his saliva again and said. "Senior, we are just passing through. We ended up in this ce identally, so we are looking for a way out."

    "As for this creature, I captured it some time ago and am in search of someone capable of killing it and delivering its Soul Bone to me."

    "Of course, I will find a way topensate this benevolent being who agrees to help me."

    "Oh? You want someone to kill this creature for you?" The toad found it curious since, even for beasts, this creature had its value. "What do you have to offer?"

    "I have plenty of resources where Ie from. So I will buy anything that this being who helps me this way desires!" Lothur said this without thinking it through, afraid of this creature.

    "Really? Are you going to do that?" This creature did not know how Lothur would do this, but it felt it was true. "Why don''t you change your mind? If you give me this demon, I will give you safe passage to your goal."

    Lothur frowned, while that demon did not like this ''suggestion'' either since the chance of it dying at this toad''s ''hands'' was higher than that of the young human.

    "Lothur, don''t ept that!" It said in nervousness. "That creature won''t help you. There''s no sense in trusting anyone!"

    "Hmmm?" The creature released its aura over that little demon''s body. "Quiet, abominable creature!"

    The creature''s breath hit Lothur''s nostrils, but he remained still where he was, not knowing what to do in this situation.

    He could not run from a creature as powerful as that!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I can only risk it!'' He clenched his fists and said. "Senior, it''s not impossible. But since the cost will not be small, I have one more request to make."

    ...

 Chapter 457 Agreement

    "Oh?" The great beast was pleased to hear Lothur being so ''understanding'' with him. "What do you want? There aren''t many things I won''t be able to get in this ce, haha..."

    Lothur saw this toad retracting its stinking tongue and expressed relief in his expression. "I have heard that there is an area near theke ahead that has opportunities for body cultivators like me. So, if possible, I would like the senior to ensure I get in and out of that area."

    "So that''s what you''re talking about..." The giant toad said as it looked intensely at Lothur, discovering that this young man was not hiding his cultivation.

    ''He''s a body cultivator?''

    Meanwhile, the demon was sweating with fear. "No, don''t do that! Lothur, this toad is not a good thing. I bet it won''t help you and will still try to steal me away!"

    "The best thing for you and me is to run away now while there''s still time!"

    Lothur looked at that creature calling him as if they were partners and made an expression of refusal. ''Are you mad? That creature can kill me in a split second!''

    ''In front of such terrifying beings, it is best to surrender and cooperate!'' Hemented his current weakness but could not help but follow this, which was his only path to survival.

    "Demon, don''t provoke me." The giant toad looked at that blue being, feeling immensely offended.

    It had even thought of approaching these two and taking the demon at the slightest sign of disagreement with the human.

    Depending on Lothur''s behavior, it would not only rob such a person but also kill him.

    But this toad changed its mind after seeing Lothur being so cooperative, full of skills and characteristics valued by beasts, and willing to make a trade.

    It would not do its fame as a Nascent Soul Transcendent any good to steal from a young man who wanted to make a trade it could fulfill.

    It had a territory close to where Lothur wanted to go, and it also knew the other beings that dominated the surroundings of the nearbyke. So it could ease this human''s way without losing much.

    In this situation, the toad felt offended by thements of that disgusting being.

    Lothur then said, trying to lessen the tension there. "If the senior will help me with this, I promise not to make trouble, and I will leave this demon in your custody withoutint."

    The toad stopped staring angrily at that demon and looked at Lothur, bringing itsrge head closer to this young man while one of its eyes was right above this human.

    As it did so, the red eyes in the distance, watching these two beings, narrowed. ''What is he thinking? Is he really going to do that?''

    But this person did not act, as she saw that creature''s heart quiet, with no indication that he would attack.

    "Very well, human. I''ll help you with that." The toad turned away from Lothur, letting him breathe. "But don''t expect too much. I will only clear the way for you regarding the other beasts that may attack you for wanting to get into that area."

    "Whether or not you will get any benefit there and whether you will survive will depend only on you and your luck."

    "Not everyone is predestined."

    Lothur clenched his fists and epted such a thing since he had no choice in this situation. "All right. As long as the senior clears the way in and out, I appreciate it."

    "I can do that." It jumped forward while gesturing for these two to follow it toward that ce. "But that ce is dangerous. The area is hostile even for us beasts with an affinity for it."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I myself have no idea how dangerous it can be for a human... But, on the other hand, other beings were used toing and going there, and I won''t be able to apany you inside."

    "My size is too big." Itughed since it had already made the most of the benefits of that special area. "So someone might challenge you or attack you for whatever reason."

    "Hmm, I''m fine with that," Lothur said as he ran with arge fraction of his strength to keep up with this creature.

    The toad was just moving normally. But Lothur had to run with more than two-thirds of his strength with that demon in his hands to travel side by side with the toad.

    "You are not weak, human." The toadughed. "You must have one of the strongest bodies among humans in the vicinity."

    "What? Really?"

    "Yes, your level is not low. But you are no match for them. Each of them has such strong souls that even though they have weak bodies, they can defeat Transcendent beasts with ease." The creature spoke of some of the humans it knew.

    ''Speaking of which, I think you remind me of someone...'' It looked away, but since it had never seen Daemon without a beard, it could not immediately remember where this feeling came from.

    ''I hope it''s nothing.'' It shook its big head as it tried to push the thought regarding that human away.

    Daemon was so strong that he could defeat that toad with a snap of his fingers!

    "In any case, the humans who live around here are powerful. But that shouldn''t be a surprise..." Itmented, thinking of this group of humans who had invaded the area and taken over the region''s leadership over 100 years ago.

    "Senior, can you tell me about this ce we are going to? I''ve only heard of it from an eagle and bear nearby." Lothur asked.

    "Eagle and bear? Well, there''s no one powerful like that nearby, so they probably don''t live near that ce." It said before exining. "But that ce we''re going is an old humanoid sea beasts'' graveyard."

    "What?" Lothur did not understand such information.

    The toad said. "In the remote past, this area of the threekes was a single body of water, which covered the entire region we are in until it reached the sea by the Hollow Stone."

    "In short, at that time, there was no forest here but aplex water environment with various kinds of living things. Among them, one of the tribes of humanoid sea beasts lived around."

    "This group in question created something near where thiske we are going to is, where they kept the bodies of their most powerful and renowned tribe members. Because of that and the time that has passed, the area has be somewhat special."

    "Not only are there resources left by that tribe as a tribute to the dead, but the site itself is special, with different attributes condensed into wells, the ancient graves of those dead."

    Lothur listened to all this carefully, impressed to discover such a story.

    "So we beasts use this ce to temper our bodies, find useful resources, and even mate." It said without embarrassment. "Supposedly, the area is good for that, too, hehe."

    "Is it?" Lothur asked as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "And why is the senior willing to help me? Won''t the other beasts think it''s bad that I use the area?"

    ...

 Chapter 458 Arriving At The Special Place

    Hearing Lothur''s question, that giant toad said without looking at him. "As I said, just because someone has ess to that ce doesn''t mean he will get something. Not everyone ispatible."

    "On the other hand, even though everyone will always have their interests and there is a chance that you will get something there, that doesn''t mean that I and others will miss out on something. Members of our species do not easily ess some parts of that ce. So if a human like you can ess those areas, we won''t lose anything."

    "Ultimately, everything in that ce is contested. So only those worthy of the opportunities and resources will prevail." He said.

    Beasts respected strength above all else!

    When a stronger being emerged and showed dominance, most of these creatures would agree to submit to that individual and ept their leadership withoutint.

    Of course, these were not blind creatures who would give eternal loyalty to their superiors. On the contrary, as long as they were the strongest, these superior beings would have the loyalty of the inferior ones without much trouble. But if such individuals showed weakness...

    Well, even a glorious tribe leader could be a dish for their subordinates!

    Because of this way of life, beasts saw no problem in a worthy beinging to their home and using some of their special ces.

    They would even be annoyed if this neer entered their home and took the food out of their children''s mouths. But in someone like Lothur only being willing topete for resources and eventually getting them, well, that did not irritate them.

    But they also would not simply give people like Lothur a chance to submit to such challenges. Instead, that sort of thing was given only to those with merit, respect, or great strength.

    In Lothur''s case, everything would be different as a beast would speak for him.

    "I see..." Hemented to that giant toad, realizing that he would not have that much trouble as long as he made his name among these beasts.

    The demon was silent as it listened to all that, wondering what to do to escape this situation.

    But with its current strength, it would be impossible for it to escape from Lothur or that toad.

    ''What do I do?''

    ''I have to find some way to get stronger fast!'' It thought. ''Maybe such a ce could have some useful resource for me?''

    Lothur then asked. "What about this demon? What do you intend to do with it? Do you have any beasts in the vicinity capable of killing demons?"

    That blue creature was startled by this question and looked at the giant toad.

    That house-sized creature answered the human. "Yes, but not in thatke we are going. An acquaintance of mine can do that, but it lives near the thirdke."

    Upon hearing this, the demon felt a shiver run down its spine, discovering that it could die faster than it had thought.

    "Lothur, I''ming with you, OK? You''re not going to leave me with that beast, are you? If you do, your return under its watch won''t happen!" This creature said in a low voice, only for it and the human holding it to hear.

    Lothur looked at this creature, knowing it was nning something, but could not help but silently agree.

    There were no guarantees for him that the toad would keep its promises until the end. So taking the demon with him was the best he could do.

    The toad continued its speech. "As to what I''m going to do with it, well, I''ll probably trade its Soul Bone for something. We''ll see..."

    ...

    After some more time running through the dark woods of the Three Great Lakes Region, Lothur''s group reached one of the shores of that first greatke on their way.

    Upon arriving there, he and the demon were faced with a beautiful sight. The main thing there was theke, sorge that one could not see all its limits.<novelnext></novelnext>

    This body of water embellished the area, reflecting the starry sky and bringing the thermal bnce that made night and day in the area pleasant.

    At the same time, the shores had different kinds of nt and animal organisms, which made the surroundings somewhat magical at this time of night.

    "That..." Lothur opened his mouth as he saw the colorful shores of thiske.

    Special trees lightened the darkness with their glow, revealing many beasts lying and sleeping in the surroundings.

    "Those are some of my neighbors." The giant toad spoke as it looked toward arge rock that stood on the part of the shore of thiske. "Let''s go this way, quietly."

    "Some of my neighbors who are awake further ahead will clear your passage, kid."

    "OK," Lothur said, soon afterward keeping his words to himself as he moved silently around the area, looking at those beasts.

    Several of them were at level 16, but they were only the underlings of beings of the same level as the great toad leading the way.

    Lothur noticed this as he looked to a rock in the distance, where some beings at the same level as the toad were looking in his direction.

    ''Unbelievable!'' He thought to himself. ''I thought Peters City was not so weak... But the difference between a strong ce and that area is gigantic!''

    ''I wonder what the level of the capital is? The imperial family should be led by someone as strong as the humans in the area, right?''

    But then, as his thoughts wandered, Lothur heard the spiritual voice of one of those creatures.

    "Waloon, what are you doing with these two? Why are a human and demon with you here?" A giant dark green lizard asked as it looked at that toad.

    The other level 17 creatures watching the surroundings of the ancient shrine of the humanoid sea beast species also watched this group, finding the presence of a demon there curious.

    Beasts did not like demons, but since that specimen was so weak, none of them paid much attention to this creature.

    The giant toad then exined. "Haha, I made a deal with this human regarding the possession of this little demon. So I am paying my debt."

    "Guys, let this human enter the Immortals Well. He is willing to take a risk and prove his talents by entering this underwater cave."

    Everyone there looked intensely at Lothur, impressed that such a human had captured that demon and still made a deal with this toad.

    They could feel that the demon was not in its natural condition. So it was not hard for them to associate this with Lothur and then determine that he must be talented.

    On second thought, they were also curious about the arrangement of Lothur and this toad since it was undeniable that the demon was more useful to the human there. That way, one would expect him to refuse to make any kind of exchange or even be nning to ''run without paying.''

    "Is this true? Did you give up this demon? Aren''t you going to fool one of our own, human?" A monkey, over 5 meters tall, asked Lothur this while its muscr body cast a shadow over the human and the demon.

    Gulp!

    ''What a powerful creature!'' Lothur could not help but admire it, noting it must be one of the strongest in the surrounding area. After all, it had thumbs and could fight almost the same way as humans but using a giant body of a beast.

    As such, it could not be underestimated!

    "Yes, of course..."

 Chapter 459 Entering The Immortals Well

    "Yes, of course. I wouldn''t dare lie." Lothur said humbly, fearful of angering one of these creatures that could kill him with a stab.

    He was giving up the demon in his hands to survive and have this opportunity. After all, his chances would be nil if he thought about dangerous things.

    But he might as well try to negotiate with that toadter since this creature had no use for a Soul Bone, and he was willing to pay dearly for such a thing.

    The beasts there heard him and realized that he was not lying, believing that such a human was not trying to deceive one of them.

    These beasts were not friends, but they were concerned about maintaining the integrity of their possessions, something they could only do together. So they naturally had concerns about the giant toad in front of Lothur and the demon.

    They also would not be greedy about the Soul Bone that Waloon would soon gain since everyone there had simr powers, and only one could benefit from it.

    With that, they looked at each other and agreed to Waloon''s ns.

    "Very well, human, we will allow you to pass." The great monkey looked at Lothur and said so. "But once you enter the Immortals Well, your life and death will depend on your own abilities."

    "Don''t me us if you''re not a match!"

    "Fine," Lothur said, wanting to escape these beasts as quickly as possible.

    "But I will give you a warning. You are not allowed to steal what has already been taken by any beasts inside it. At the same time, we will not forgive you if you kill one of our own!"

    Lothur nodded, indicating that he understood.

    But before he entered the well near the big rock those beasts were standing on, he looked at the toad and said. "Senior, I hope you don''t mind me taking this demon with me."

    "Hmm, no problem." That beast replied as it began to chew on some leaves. ''Other than you looking sincere, even if you change your mind, there will be no escape for you if you try to challenge me in this ce, human.''

    The other beings there saw no problem with that either and made room for Lothur and that creature to enter the Immortals Well.

    "Human, just jump in and then swim to the bright spot. When you get there, you will be inside the Immortals Well, the ce of your interest." A 6 meters long snake said this as Lothur looked at the 4-meters radius hole in front of him, at the highest point on that rock.

    There was what looked like a totally dark pit in a way that Lothur did not know exactly how many feet the drop would be, nor what was on the walls and the lowest point.

    For some reason, his visual ability was not working well when he tried to assess what was inside that ce.

    ''Is it because of how special the area is?'' He wondered. ''That must be it! If this ce can affect my body, I bet it''s on a level above my Soul Bone.''

    Considering that this was a ce protected by 3rd stage beasts, he did not immediately jump in as he pondered this opportunity.

    "Just go!" The great monkeyughed and pped Lothur with the back of one of its hands, pushing the human and the demon into that cavity.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

    The two screamed as they felt the air on their faces and smelled wet dirt during their fall into that dark well.

    "Damn you!"

    ''Son of a...'' Lothur cursed that beast as he felt his heart beating faster.

    But he would not have much time to think about it as he plunged face-first into the water, getting a little disoriented at first but soon locating himself.

    Looking at the surroundings of where he had fallen, Lothur immediately searched for the bright light they had quoted to him.

    When he saw something shining in the distance from where he was, he attached the demon to his body and began to swim toward his target.

    ...

    Meanwhile, outside the Immortals Well.<novelnext></novelnext>

    When the great monkey had given that little ''encouragement'' to Lothur, everyone thereughed momentarily, wondering how cowardly that human was.

    But asughter spread through the surroundings, suddenly, that monkey froze the expression on its face as it felt something wasing for it.

    Gulp!

    "Shit!"

    Before it and the others could do anything, a gigantic spiritual hand, more than 30 meters wide, descended from the skies onto their bodies, pressing them firmly against the ground.

    "Ouch!"

    It and the others felt pain as their bodies were crushed against the hard walls of that great stone.

    In sequence, as the spiritual hand continued to press them, a woman dressed in ck, with only her red eyes visible, appeared floating over the area.

    "Bold!"

    "You beasts could challenge him if you wanted to, but I will not allow you tough at him!" She said this, frightening even the soul of these creatures who understood well the power difference between them and her.

    Gulp!

    "Senior, please have mercy!" The giant toad said as its tongue was out of its mouth.

    "We didn''t mean to, senior. We like that human..." The snake said, feeling that it had to side with Lothur for them to save themselves from something worse.

    "Yes, that''s why we let him and that... That being, enter our area together." The monkey replied in a way that was conducive to not angering this woman.

    She then said. "That''s just why you were still alive!"

    "Very well, I will give you a chance since you have some merit." She closed her eyes and suggested. "Send juniors of your choice to make life difficult for that silver-haired young man in that ce of yours."

    "Oh?" The beasts there found it strange, but some understood the meaning of this woman''s words.

    ''She wants to temper him?''

    She turned to the giant toad and gave herstmand. "If that young man offers you a deal on that demon''s Soul Bone, you must ept."

    "Yes, senior!" The toad said, regretting that it hadughed at that expert''s prot��g��.

    Powerful beings were peculiar and could act for things to which people normally would not give that much importance.

    In this woman''s case, she did not care if these beasts gave Lothur a good beating. That was part of a cultivator''s life. But if theyughed at him, as they indeed did, she would be highly offended, as she ended up being.

    These beings had lived for a long time, so they were not dumb to debate with her. Instead, they simply epted hermands to ease the situation.

    "All right, I''m counting on you." This red-eyed woman said, before disappearing from the area, along with the spiritual hand from before.

    After sensing this, the beasts were still slumped in the surroundings of thatrge stone, looking up at the sky.

    One of them then muttered. "She''s not even afraid of Daemon... So what would stop her from killing us?"

    Gulp!

    "Divine Soul... Who among them could be offended?"

 Chapter 460 First Challenge

    Meanwhile, inside the Immortals Well...

    Lothur and the demon had just reached the bright spot indicated by one of the beasts outside this ce.

    There, this silver-haired young man realized that there was an underground area where he passed under a rock, which appeared to be the connection of connected tubules.

    As he passed under this rock, he came upon an area that looked like a sizeable hollow cavern, where the water he was in ended in a small pond.

    He emerged with the demon strapped to his body and was able to breathe again while looking at the surroundings with curiosity.

    The cave this area was in was surrounded by white stones, which glowed in such a way that everything there was illuminated.

    Lothur noticed this, and his eyes narrowed as he grew ustomed to the area''s brightness.

    The demon had inferior abilities to Lothur, so it did not take long to get used to the brightness and look carefully at the surroundings.

    From where they stood in that small pond inside the cave, it could see some corridors starting from the walls opposite its position and nts in the surroundings of that area.

    ''That...'' It focused its attention on a small flower at one of the most extreme points of that wall, hidden by part of the bright walls of that cave.

    ''That is the Winter Breath, a medicine capable of enriching the spirituality of the one who consumes it with the element of ice!'' The demon recognized such a thing.

    Demons were quite sensitive beings due to their above-average talents. Combined with the fact that this was a noble within the demonic hierarchy, this fellow tied to Lothur could quickly identify items of value, as it had already done with this opponent''s staff.

    ''I don''t know if this will restore all my powers, but I can definitely get something!'' It held back its smile, waiting to consume that and surprise Lothurter.

    While this creature was thinking about this, the silver-haired young man got used to the brightness of this area and observed everything there with his visual ability.

    ''I can''t see through those cave walls...'' He noticed this again, not knowing what he might find if he followed through any of those tunnels.

    But then, Lothur looked at the surrounding vegetation, realizing they were not ordinary nts but medicines.

    As with animals and beasts, nts that could cultivate were called medicines. So Lothur easily realized that these organisms could be helpful to him.

    He had already been paying attention to nt organisms in his movements through this forest region. But so far, he had note across anything of value, most of the nt life in the vicinity being just uncultivated nts.

    When he saw this ce in front of him, this young man soon opened a smile on his face, ready to put his luck to the test.

    He left that small pond and quickly changed his clothes into a dry set while keeping the demon by his side.

    "Where do you think you are going?" Lothur saw this creature approaching one of the little nts there and shouted.

    "I''m looking at the area." The demon replied in a low voice, without looking toward the item it was interested in.

    "You are not here to look at the area or explore anything. I will do that. You are only here because I can''t kill you, demon. So don''t think we''re partners." Lothur coldly said before he picked up his staff and moved.

    He forced such a weapon toward the demon''s knees, causing the creature to fall backward. Then this fellow made another move, striking that creature''s head with one end of his Elemental Staff.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The demon cried out in pain, noticing that Lothur would not take it easy on it just because they were ''together'' on this journey.

    "Don''t underestimate me, demon. You will again suffer at my hands in a few more hours." Lothur muttered as he thought about the period he would still have to wait until he could use his bloodline ability.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''Damn it!''

    ''Stinky human! I''m still going to kill you!'' The creature was furious, remembering how hateful Lothur could be.

    Seeing Lothur in front of more powerful creatures had made it see a bit of the less dominant side of this young man. But now, in this ce, away from those beings who could kill him in the blink of an eye, young Ritter was putting his ''ws'' out again!

    Lothur saw the hateful expression on the blue creature''s face andughed before going ahead with his ns, touching each of the little nts in that area.

    [Hidden Duscle] [Rank: qausi-Silver]

    [Introduction: the Hidden Duscle is a natural herb from the Central ciers of Concordia, an area near the Frozen Origin, characterized by its intense coldness.]

    [Feature: it can be used for the production of Silver-grade pills or potions or consumed, generally having the effects of tempering the soul with an elemental affinity for ice; improving the Soul attribute by 20% to 40%; may or may not improve Intelligence by 15% to 25%; improves understanding of ice element-based techniques.]

    ''Wow!''

    ''That''s really valuable!'' Lothur smiled as he realized that the first item in his path had great value to his women.

    Annaliese and Viktoria trained techniques based on the water element. So their affinity for the ice element should not be slight. Hence, if he took such a thing, he could most likely help them in some way.

    He then decided to pick that little semi-transparent nt, which looked like a piece of ice sculpture in the shape of a nt.

    If not for his special eyes, Lothur knew that he would probably not even notice such a thing there, as should be the case for the beasts of this ce.

    ''How did they leave something so valuable at the entrance of this ce?'' He wondered as he tried to pluck that nt out of the ground.

    But in doing so, Lothur saw the problem behind why this resource was still there. It was not because of the ignorance of the beasts of this area!

    The moment he acted, a solid icy wave of energy circled his body, pressing down on him as if a hand was trying to crush him.

    "Uh?" Surprised by such a thing, he used the Space Belt to escape.

    As he did so and appeared next to the still recovering demon, Lothur''s eyebrows frowned as he looked at that strange thing in front of him.

    ''What is it?''

    He saw a sort of ice cocoon still in formation where he was just now, something that had gone into a state of pause and shortly afterward started to disappear.

    The demon saw this andughed in its mind. ''Idiot!''

    ''To remove one of these nts, you must have an affinity with them, or the spirits in this area will not allow you to do so without passing their test!''

    ''These nts are only still here in this exposed ce because there is no creature in this area with an affinity to the elements of these nts in front of us.'' It thought as it considered letting Lothur have his defeats before it took what it was interested in in this area.

    However, Lothur would not give up such a useful resource easily and soon thought of something to get that thing!

    ''I''ve rushed a bit now, but that doesn''t mean I''m afraid of a bit of cold. Time to test my current capabilities!''

    ...

 Chapter 461 Competitors

    After psychologically preparing himself, Lothur again advanced against that little nt that looked like a thin ice sculpture.

    This time he was prepared to receive the counterattack of the will that had acted against him in the first moment.

    Hence, the moment he tried to pull that nt out of the ground, an icy fog again covered him, trying to suffocate him in an icy grip.

    The demon saw this from its position and watched what Lothur was trying.

    ''Is he trying to force himself?'' Its eyes narrowed. ''Does he think he''s going to get the approval of the spirits of this ce just because he wants to?''

    ''Impossible!''

    ''The only way to get it is to have the affinity that you clearly don''t have!''

    It decided to continue watching Lothur''s actions in anticipation of seeing this fellow injure himself under the spiritual attacks of the will protecting the resources in that ce.

    It could have taken the chance to try to harvest the medicine that interested it, but watching Lothur suffer was more important to it at the moment.

    ''If you get weak because of this, I might get stronger than I was a short time ago, sooner than I expected.'' A smiling expression appeared in its eyes and mouth.

    Unfortunately for this creature, while Lothur was being pressed by a hand of ice formed by the will in that ce, the system appeared to help this young man.

    [Abnormal temperature detected in the host''s body...]

    [Triggering emergency measures...]

    [40% of the host''s body was frozen to the bone marrow for 1 minute, 11 seconds...]

    [Iron-grade ice resistance acquired.]

    [Progress: 59%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 75%.]

    Lothur saw this as he began to feel less pain around his body, easing the muscles in his mouth and jaw as he let out a sigh of relief.

    Surprisingly, withstanding an ice-based attack was many times harder than withstanding mes!

    As such, he had suffered quite a bit in that period needed to activate the system reaction.

    Fortunately for Lothur, his Will and Constitution were already quite high. That made it possible for him to survive the test of will in that area without screaming too much or risking death.

    Since the area was of a high level, it did not take long for his resistance to the ice element to rise in quality!

    [Progress: 99%]

    ...

    [Progress: 100%.]

    When he felt a burning sensation at the height of his neck, the base of human cultivation, Lothur noticed chills and sweat all over his body.

    Then the cloying sensation of cleansing medu began to intensify in his being, along with his Super Regeneration kicking in to resolve his most severe wounds.

    In this way, Lothur spent the next few seconds feeling these sensations until the impurities driven to leave his body stoppeding out of his pores.

    [Bronze-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 3%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 59.7]

    [CON: 268.3 -> 271.1]

    [DEX: 53.6]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [AGI: 70.3]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 106.6 -> 111.5]

    [WIL: 88.7 -> 91.2]

    [EVF: 0]

    When it saw this, the demon''s eyes almost fell from its face because of how open they were to the shocking scene in that ce.

    Lothur had, from one hour to the next, been undergoing a marrow cleansing while he felt less and less pain from the will attack in that area.

    Simultaneously, with each passing moment, the attacks on him seemed to weaken, as if the will was slowly losing interest in him.

    "What''s happening here?" It wondered, terribly rmed.

    But when it was toote, it looked at the resource it intended to pick upter and ran in that direction, afraid that Lothur would continue acting strangely.

    ''That bastard! He''s out of control! If I don''t do something now, I will die!''

    Pow!

    Unfortunately for this blue creature, when Lothur saw the progression of his ice resistance stop at 32% and the suppressive effects on him vanish, he immediately acted.

    Art of Tearing Down Trees!

    Lothur moved his staff as if he had an ax in hand, hurling it toward the demon''s waist.

    The staff violently spun as it left Lothur''s hands, meeting that being''s waist in the blink of an eye.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    The demon screamed as it felt that thing hit it so hard that its body was cut in half, even considering that it was not a sharp weapon.

    "You don''t learn, demon!" Lothur somberlymented as he exhaled his Mortal Aura, starting to get angry.

    Just when this young man terrorized the demon, the first beasts sent by the high-level beings in that previous stone appeared there.

    There were other beasts within this area when Lothur and the demon arrived there. But they were further into this cave, following the tunnels there.

    Hence, when the first 2nd stage beings started to stick their heads out of that pond, they were the first beasts in this ce that Lothur had seen so far.

    But the first ones there, who were excited about the opportunity given by their elders, suddenly felt that something was wrong.

    They should get in the way of a human that was training in this ce. But when they got there, they first saw this human splitting a demon in half while exuding a powerful killing intent.

    That was enough to scare these beings a bit!

    ''What is wrong with this person? Why is his aura so cold?'' A 3 meters tall monkey, a member of the race of that brown-furred being Lothur had met earlier, wondered.

    A ''small'' toad, the size of an ordinary earthling car, looked at Lothur and felt cold as if this person was a walking fountain of ice.

    ''Is that the same person that my boss talked about? Why does he look so dominant? Isn''t he a humble, shy human?'' It realized that its leader''s descriptions needed to be more reliable.

    Not only did these creatures look at Lothur, but this human also looked in the direction of the smallke there, realizing that many creatures had appeared out of nowhere.

    His eyebrows drew together. ''Are they purposely trying to make things difficult for me? What bastards! I didn''t do anything against them!''

    But Lothur did not even try tomunicate with these iing beings. He knew that 2nd stage beasts could not speak humannguage and just went back to his job of harvesting that medicine.

    The demon would take a few moments to regenerate, so he had time to pick that up before one of these beings tried to meddle in his affairs.

    This time, Lothur met no resistance, as he had gained recognition of the will in the area through his resistance to the ice element.

    In the blink of an eye, he had that little nt in his spatial ring, ready to continue testing those nts one by one.

    Unfortunately for him, almost all the other nts there were weaker organisms or ipatible with him and his women. So he left it there so that the creatures in this ce would notin about him being too greedy.

    That was until he touched that flower that the demon hoped he would not find.

    ...

 Chapter 462 Entering The First Tunnel

    [Winter''s Breath] [Rank: Silver]

    [Introduction: the Winter''s Breath is a natural flower from the Central ciers of Concordia, specifically the Frozen Origin, the home of the densest and most potent Natural Laws concerning low temperatures.]

    [Feature: it can be used for producing Silver-grade pills or potions or consumed. In general, it creates an affinity with the elemental to ice, improves Intelligence by 20% to 40%, and improves understanding of techniques based on the ice element.]

    [Detail: if the one consuming it already has an affinity to it, there is a 1 in 10,000 chance that such a person will awaken an innate ability connected to the ice elemental.]

    ''Oh?'' Lothur opened his mouth in surprise at finding something so valuable in this ce.

    He looked at that little flower that the demon wished to ingest and thought he had found something crucial for one of his women to awaken some innate power.

    Neither Viktoria nor Annaliese had awakened the Physique or bloodline. So by finding an item that could increase the chances of something of the sort happening, Lothur could not help but see the immense value of that to him!

    ''When I return, I will do a test to judge which of the two has the greatest affinity for this element. Then I will give it to the one who does best in this test!'' He made up his mind before using some strength to pull that flower from the ground.

    When the demon saw Lothur storing such a thing in his spatial ring, it almost vomited blood, feeling that young Ritter was doing it on purpose to hurt it.

    ''You bastard!''

    ''You will pay me, Lothur!''

    But before this creature could cause any problems, one of the newly arrived beasts looked at Lothur with blood in its eyes, targeting this human''s things.

    These beasts had no affinity with the ice element, so they could not take those nts, some of which they could not even see. But seeing Lothur harvesting such resources, some had be interested in these items.

    After all, as much as they could not use such cultivation alternatives, this did not mean that there was no value in these things for them. On the contrary, bartering items between beasts was the mostmon type of trade in this world, so every resource had its value.

    Since those were not low-level medicines, those strongest to notice what Lothur was doing could not help but set their eyes on this young man''s stuff.

    ''Hehe, this human is coveting things he doesn''t have the power to protect...'' A grand, ck- and white-furred bear thought to itself as it remembered the things its leader had told it.

    The high-level beasts of thiske were not sure what Lothur''s forces were like, but they had a good idea.

    Lothur had given up running from the toad of earlier, meaning that he was weaker than these local high-level creatures. But at the same time, he had managed to keep up with that giant toad as it moved.

    Because of this, those creatures knew that Lothur''s strength should be between the beginning and the end of the 2nd stage.

    Some of those creatures, such as the leader of that bear''s tribe, had assumed that Lothur had cultivation near the middle of the 2nd stage. As such, they had sent subordinates between levels 12 and 15.

    Precisely because of what it had heard from its leader and considering its own power, that level 14 bear looked at Minos with greed.

    ''Human, hand over your things! These medicines now belong to me!'' It opened its mouth and roared, unable tomunicate effectively but too clear in its actions for Lothur to be confused.

    This silver-haired young man turned around and saw that level 14 creature. He quickly understood that such a bear was challenging him, probably over his resources.

    ''Challenging me?''

    [Painted Bear]

    [Cultivation: level 14]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [STR: 169.8] [CON: 178.1] [DEX: 168] [AGI: 163.9]

    ? ''This creature is powerful, but it won''t be able to beat me!'' He looked at that being and thought about fighting.

    But as he saw that bear running towards him, before he acted to attack it, Lothur saw that two other beasts were beginning to act against him.

    One was a level 13 colored snake, and another a level 14 toad, a dangerousbination for him.

    ''I can''t fight those creatures!'' He realized this immediately. ''As much as they can''t kill me easily, if they put pressure on me and all three attack simultaneously, they could even finish me if they so desired.''

    He was not sure of those creatures'' intentions, but he would rather not take any chances.

    With that in mind, Lothur grabbed that demon by that creature''s neck and ran, heading toward one of the tunnels, shocking those beasts.

    ''What? So fast?'' The confident ck and white bear thought about it in surprise, not expecting that such a human could actually escape them like that.

    The other two beings still tried to chase Lothur. Still, since this young man''s body was the most powerful there, he managed to escape from them temporarily.

    ''He''s really fast...'' The toad remembered the words of its boss.

    The snake then narrowed its eyes and pondered. ''But will he be able to ovee what lies ahead?''

    All these creatures had entered this Immortals Well at least once or twice before. Hence, they knew the ce well and the challenges one had to face following each of the tunnels avable at the entrance to that area.

    In the case of the tunnel Lothur had chosen, there was the area of the Death Pools!

    ...

    ''Looks like they stopped chasing me for some reason...'' Lothur looked back and began to slow his speed.

    Meanwhile, the demon being dragged by Lothur realized that the ce they were about to enter was not simple.

    ''This?'' The creature''s eyes narrowed as it feltfortable energying from the area ahead.

    Lothur could not see what was ahead, as his visual ability was restricted to the area he was in. But he noticed a negative sensation as he came out of that tunnel and entered an area a little darker than the previous one.

    But since he had an affinity for the element of darkness, as he entered there, Lothur did not feel as bad as the beasts chasing him earlier had thought he would.

    He, yes, was feeling ufortable. But this was not suffocating for him, who already had an almost Bronze-grade resistance to this element.

    But even though he was feeling better than his opponents wanted him to, Lothur came upon an area filled with dark pools within that cave. At the same time, the shadows in the surroundings in that ce seemed to stare at him, challenging him.

    Lothur focused on that area and tried to get a better look at what was there, slowly noticing that there was nothing in the shadows looking at him. Still, some beasts were in the area, inside the pools.

    ''What is it?'' He tried to understand the situation when he suddenly felt something approaching him.

    ...

 Chapter 463 Training

    Sensing something approaching him, Lothur used his movement and defense technique simultaneously, trying to dodge whatever wasing at him.

    In doing so, he managed to dodge what wasing from his back, but soon after, he felt that the same thing wasing from another position, still on his back.

    ''What the fuck!''

    ''What is that?'' Lothur realized that no matter how much he moved, such a sensation would return as if what was behind him was not in a fixed position.

    Still, whenever he turned away from that sensation, something dark seemed to move through the surroundings, indicating that something was attacking him.

    The demon could sense the surroundings better, even considering his momentary fragile situation.

    The will of this ce is much more proactive than the previous one. It attacks by the mere fact that someone approaches the area...'' It observed the pools there, the ces where the real benefits of this ce were.

    These pools were ancient tombs of experts of the ancient race of humanoid sea beasts that had lived nearby. In particr, this ce was the eternal resting ce of those most resentful, killed in tragic ways.

    Not all the resentful people with a great desire for revenge would die and be spectres. Some would leave a negative mark wherever they were forced to have eternal rest.

    Because of how the dead who were forced to be buried in this area died, the special pools that grew there many years after they were buried had bad vibes. Such a thing affected that entire special chamber, not just the dark pools where some beasts were meditating.

    Lothur could not perceive the same things as that demon out of sheer ignorance. But he more or less understood that such an area was not normal, and even without doing anything, he was taking risks there.

    ''Shit!''

    ''What should I do?'' He asked himself as sweat dripped down his body. ''I feel this thing will affect me significantly if I get hit.''

    Without finding his answer, Lothur continued moving around the area, using his movement technique to the best of his ability. At the same time, some of the beings who were there to hinder him arrived in the area.

    Some did not want toe to this ce, as they felt they could disturb Lothur and fulfill their duties in other parts of the Immortals Wall. But others already knew this ce and saw no problem starting their missions immediately.

    Among them, a dark horse, which had ck mes in its mane and tail, appeared in the area, running towards Lothur.

    ''Haha, let''s see who''s faster, human!'' That creature imagined as it used its speed, its strong point, against the silver-haired young man.

    "Damn it!" Lothur saw that being joining whatever was testing him in the area and cursed that creature.

    That horse was fast, and considering the troublesome situation he was already in, it did not take long for Lothur to feel his body''s first signs of exhaustion.

    [+0.2 all physical attributes.]

    [+0.2 in AGI.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.1 in CON.]

    The system showed Lothur''s gains from ''training'' his movement technique, and this young man began to understand why the local beasts so valued this area.

    That was not only a ce with exciting resources for cultivation. It was also a ce with high-level training conditions!

    ''That... Is it for that?'' He didn''t quite understand the meaning of that thing chasing him, but he thought the beasts in the area definitely used this ce as a training ground.

    With that in mind, Lothur became much more optimistic about this strange ce. Still, he did not stop worrying about that horse and other beasts that had gathered against him.

    It was even promising that he could train his skills, but his energies were limited, and he could not deal with these creatures for long.

    Hence, he soon became more serious and began to attack and defend himself using his other skills.

    Mortal Aura!

    Lothur expressed his previously evolved killing intent, using the dark surroundings to try to impose some fear on those beasts.

    But that was not enough to make them back down since everyone there had been painfully tempered, and it would not be such a thing that would make them give up without at least trying.

    However, even though such a thing was not so helpful the moment, Lothur suddenly saw the progress bar of such a skill improving its position.

    [Progress: 3%]

    ''Oh? It seems that this ce is positive for this skill...''

    ''Perfect!''<novelnext></novelnext>

    So he continued using his Elemental Staff as if it were an ax, using his defensive technique simultaneously as the Art of Tearing Down Trees and the Cross Walk.

    He could not beat those beasts by hitting them, but dodging was not good enough for this silver-haired young man.

    Therefore, he took the opportunity to show these creatures that he was not afraid to attack and that it would not be easy for them to get in his way.

    While doing this, he trained his skills.

    ...

    ''Damn!''

    ''That human is too tough! How can he be so strong having such a small body?'' The dark horse from earlier wondered as it was finally standing still, looking at the young fallen human in front of it.

    After several minutes of attacking him, it and itspanions finally managed to hit Lothur''s body.

    But to their surprise, when they hit Lothur, they all felt as if their bodies had encountered a resistant stone.

    Lothur''s skin was so tough that those who attacked him felt more pain than this victim!

    "Ouch!"

    Still, Lothur was feeling pain. Taking blows from so many opponents after he had already run out of energy after running and fighting in the area for so many minutes was not easy at all. It had hurt him considerably.

    Luckily, his constitution was not weak, and even though he felt pain, he was not seriously injured.

    ''Good thing they look tired too...'' He looked in the direction where the beasts that had acted against him in this ce were standing, watching him.

    Meanwhile, he saw more warnings from the system.

    [+0.3 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.3 in STR.]

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.1 in CON.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 60.6] [CON: 271.8] [DEX: 54.1] [AGI: 71]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 111.5] [WIL: 91.4]

    [EVF: 0]

    He saw his status, but soon after, he felt the attack of the strange thing in that area hit him after a long time of him dodging such a thing.

    It passed through the middle of his body like water flooding a cloth, leaving a dark trail around his abdomen.

    Lothur looked down at his body and found it strange, then quickly dropped the demon and ran towards one of those dark pools for some reason.

    He acted on pure instinct, jumping without thinking straight into one of those ck waters, where no beast was at the moment.

    The demon saw this and took the opportunity of being free to run into one of those pools.

    Pow!

    ...

 Chapter 464 How To Kill A Demon

    As it was running towards one of the dark pools in that area, the demon suddenly took a blow to the head and fell unconscious to the ground.

    A red tongue returned to the mouth of the creature that had attacked that little blue being, a 3-meter-tall toad.

    ''Stay calm, demon. The boss will obtain your Soul Bone in no time. There is no need for you to despair.'' This creature smiled, pleased to be able to help its leader observe this being''s belongings.

    While the demon felt its head slowly regenerating from the toad''s relentless attack, Lothur was already inside one of the dark pools in the area.

    After being hit by the thing that was chasing him earlier, this young man felt a strange urge to enter that ce of dark water.

    But after jumping into it, he felt as if he had been tricked by something, feeling as if his body had fallen into a bottomless can, not into the pool he had seen.

    As he suffered from these effects, the strange liquid in that cavity, filled with a dark substance, began to form what looked like hands, pulling him down.

    Grunts wereing from inside that pool as if creatures from the underworld were trying to pull him down, making this young man feel like he was falling.

    ''Damn, what''s happening?'' He wondered as he felt the world spinning, with the surroundings bing darker and darker, and he felt the dark aura in his body getting stronger.

    ''What an urge... What an urge to vomit!'' He clenched his belly and made a fetal position.

    "You covet our power..." A whispering voice, sounding like the mixture of several voices, dered in one of Lothur''s ears.

    "You defile ournd, you damned freak..."

    "You are not worthy..."

    Lothur felt his body being held by many hands, which increasingly pressed down on him as they took him down.

    Meanwhile, he suddenly began to lose consciousness, slowly passing out.

    ''Damn it...''

    ''I can''t... Keep... awake...'' He tried to force himself, but his mental characteristics had to improve for a long stretch for him to be able to endure such a thing.

    Meanwhile, the system was active, as always, working to direct its host.

    [Intense darkness detected in the host''s surroundings...]

    [Detected strange aura trying to invade the host''s consciousness...]

    ...

    After some time, Lothur fell unconscious, returning to a dream world, where he met with a voice he had heard before.

    ''Your strength is still insignificant...'' The voice that sounded old and nostalgic said this in a tone that indicated it was slowly fading away.

    ''If you keep dying your progress, you will die next time!''

    ''All our work will be wasted!'' He shouted a little louder, again showing Lothur a red world covered in blood and terrible things.

    ...

    Suddenly, Lothur felt something extreme in his subconscious, and his heart beat strongly. It makes him open his eyes suddenly, almost entirely at the bottom of that pool of dark liquid.

    As he did so, the darkness trying to lead Lothur to his death suddenly released him, as if he was trying to escape from something deadly dangerous.

    But it was toote. When this silver-haired young man awoke, his Mortal Aura,bined with his resistance to the dark element, began to suck in all the darkness in his surroundings.

    [Bronze-grade resistance to the element of darkness.]

    [Progress: 30%]

    ...

    [Progress: 33%]

    ...

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Iron]

    [Progress: 75%]<novelnext></novelnext>

    ...

    [Progress: 77%]

    Suddenly, the system warnings appeared in Lothur''s vision, showing how much these two characteristics of his had evolved while he was unconscious.

    But as he sucked in the darkness in his surroundings, Lothur felt these two characteristics rapidly increasing in level, as if he had found the best nutrient to nourish himself.

    He realized this and pushed even harder, bing 100% focused on this action he had started without really understanding what was happening.

    ''That was the second andst time you were saved...'' He thought about those words that had popped into his mind out of nowhere, even if he had not heard them earlier.

    Feeling a bad feeling, that of being helpless and weak, Lothur clenched his fists but did not let it get in the way of his opportunity.

    As he sucked all the darkness from that area into his body, the grunting sounds from that pool diminished. At the same time, the remaining spirits there seemed to be slowly fading away.

    As this happened, the dark surroundings became more and more transparent as the strange liquid there turned into something like water.

    Feeling his breathing beginning to be negatively affected by being submerged for so long, Lothur stopped focusing on that thing and swam to the top of the pool.

    "Hah... Hah..." He popped his head out of the water, surprising all the beasts watching him.

    But he was not bothered by those beings nor the demon tied up on a toad''s tongue.

    Lothur just checked his progress.

    He was no longer feeling the bad sensation from earlier,ing from the dark aura that had entered his body. At the same time, his Mortal Aura reached 90% progress, while his resistance to the dark element stopped at 53%.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Lineage: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 60.6] [CON: 271.8] [DEX: 54.1] [AGI: 71]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 111.5 -> 119.6]

    [WIL: 91.4 -> 92.1]

    [EVF: 0]

    ''Hey, what happened to that pool? Why did it be transparent?'' One of those creatures wondered.

    They used these pools to remove the impure negative energies from their bodies, which entered them during their training. In doing so, they not only got rid of the dark energy that invaded their bodies but also got promotions for enduring the whole process there.

    They were beings with an affinity for elements opposed to darkness. So when training with such a thing, they suffered a lot, something beneficial for their physical training.

    By getting rid of those energies, their physical progress was much more intense than someone like Lothur.

    Since their training mode involved returning the darkness they had absorbed into the area, these beasts could not help but find it strange that Lothur had absorbed such a thing.

    But the demon had understood everything Lothur was doing and began to feel increasingly afraid of this being.

    ''If this continues, he will be able to kill me even without help!'' This creature trembled with fear as it thought of one of the few ways to kill a demon!

    These were creatures based on negative Natural Laws, with a great affinity for elements geared towards that nature. So, to eliminate them, there were only two methods!

    Use negative Natural Laws to absorb the very Laws present in the bodies and souls of these beings, or use positive Laws, such as the light element, to disintegrate its negative Laws.

    Considering what Lothur had just done, this demon pondered the possibility that this person would eventually develop an ability capable of killing it!

    That would be the worst of all scenarios for it, and soon it was much timider than before, choosing to keep quiet and avoid irritating Lothur.

    ...

 Chapter 465 Retarded

    As he took his attention off the system and looked at the pools in that area, Lothur was tempted to take in more of that darkness. But as he saw the creatures around those areas staring at him intensely, he realized that it would not be easy to do that with them there.

    No matter how fast he went, Lothur could not absorb the darkness of one of those pools moving, and those beings would not wait for him to ''absorb'' the entire area. Not only would that take away their opportunity to train today, but it could even damage the area permanently.

    They could even allow him to have done that in one of the pools since no one knew he was capable of something like that. But now, there was no possibility that these beings would ept him doing such a thing in yet another pool.

    Since they were more numerous and stronger than him, Lothur had no choice but to retreat temporarily.

    He looked at the demon on a toad''s tongue. He gestured toward that opponent, indicating to return this blue creature to him.

    The 3-meter-tall toad looked at the silver-haired young man and did not act immediately, remembering that it had to get in the way of this human''s life. But its boss had not said anything to it about taking custody of this demon.

    Another beast who was in one of those pools before Lothur got there then opened its eyes upon awakening and paid attention in front of it.

    "Hmm? What''s going on here?" It, a 3rd stage beast, a ck lizard the size of an earthling bus, asked in its spirit voice as it saw the situation in front of it.

    Unlike Lothur, these creatures took dozens of hours to recover from training in this area. So this being was not up to date with recent news and did not understand how there could be a human and a demon in this shrine of the local beasts.

    Lothur saw that creature looking at him ugly as if it was imagining that he had invaded this ce, and now these lesser beings were chasing him for it.

    Thinking how difficult his situation would be if he faced all the beasts there, Lothur immediately used the Space Belt.

    As he did so, he appeared next to the toad holding the blue creature and easily caught the demon, surprising that beast that was a little bigger than an earth car.

    "What?" The lizard in one of those pools saw Minos acting and was impressed, jumping from where it was towards that group of beasts.

    "Stop him!" It shouted as it saw Lothur looking in its direction, already with the demon clutched in one of his hands.

    But just as this creature was about to strike him, Lothur used the item at his waist, teleporting to one of the two tunnels there.

    Each chamber of the Immortals Well was connected. Thus, Lothur simply followed the corridor he had not yet passed, hoping to find another helpful area for his progress.

    As he disappeared from the area, the weaker beasts there cursed their luck as that giant lizard fell on top of them.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''We''ve gone wrong!'' The toad thought something simr to its colleagues, suffering the consequences of Lothur''s unexpected move.

    But other than the pain they felt in that instant, none of them were sorry about Lothur''s escape. Besides the fact that there were more beasts in the different parts of this area, they knew that they could not catch this young man due to his speed.

    So all that was left for them to do was to stay there and recover their injuries and fatigue in those pools!

    ...

    After leaving the previous chamber, Lothur ran for almost a full minute inside that tunnel until he noticed a bright spot ahead.

    As he did so, he noticed that the demon seemed quieter than before, but he did not try to find out why. This creature was probably depressed by Lothur''s sessive advances as it fell further and further behind.

    With this in mind, Lothur smiled as he entered a chamber of bluish illumination, where he immediately found a ce that seemed quieter than the previous one.<novelnext></novelnext>

    As he stopped in front of the entrance to that tunnel, he found several snowmen standing around the bluestone walls of that chamber.

    Each of them had evil stares on their heads and red eyes that seemed to watch those who entered there.

    Lothur noticed that besides him, there was a beast ''sleeping'' in one of the blue pools at the end of that area, and another standing between the pools and that entrance, camouged with its own fur.

    That one was an all-white, one-tailed, level 14 fox, a magnificent beast of 1.4 meters tall.

    It was lying on the ground, positioned so that the ice in that area seemed to be camouging it from those snowmen.

    ''That human...'' The fox who was there, also to hinder Lothur, identified this target of its andmented that he hade to this ce just as it was approaching one of those pools.

    In this chamber were pools that could improve physical attributes simply by someone meditating in them without needing further testing.

    Meditating in one of these pools would be simr to absorbing a special resource and waiting for its results.

    The only problem was that to enter one of them; they would have to ovee the guards in the area to protect these ancient graves.

    This fox had not gone after Lothur immediately because it had found a way to reach one of those pools without risking fighting those snowmen. But to its misfortune, just when it realized its n might work out, that silver-haired young man arrived to hinder it.

    It wanted to trick those creatures into not identifying it. But with Lothur there, this would be impossible to happen, and it would naturally be forced to fight!

    As such, it could only curse Lothur in its mind!

    Lothur, on the other hand, had no idea what was in that beast''s mind. He looked at those snow creatures and thought that the purpose of this ce was to challenge such things.

    With this in mind, he stepped forward and released his Mortal Aura, causing darkness to surge in his surroundings as negative waves came out of his being.

    The fox looked back and felt the negative feeling emanating from Lothur. Still, what bothered it the most was how idiotic this person was.

    ''Retard!''

    ''Now they will all attack us!''

    At that instant, all the snowmen began to tremble, looking in Lothur''s direction as they slowly disconnected their bodies from their positions.

    Lothur saw this and smiled, thinking that these creatures would help him pass the test of this ce and get more advances.

    ''I don''t know their strength, but it shouldn''t be enough to threaten me since these creatures weren''t even noticing this fox...'' He thought to himself as he looked toward one of his opponents and threw the demon at that figure.

    ''Shit!''

    ''I''ll still return all of this to you, Lothur!'' That creature closed its eyes and pressed its teeth together just before one of those things punched toward its belly, throwing it in the opposite direction from where it came from.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    ...

 Chapter 466 Reinforcements In The Finn Mountains

    As the demon''s body flew against one of the rocks in the walls of that area, with one of those snowmen already chasing it, Lothur began to act.

    Of the eight snowmen protecting this area, one went after the demon, another three went after the fox, who was noticed because of Lothur''s act, and the rest went after him.

    These creatures paid no attention to the fact that the fox was of a higher level than the silver-haired young man they were attacking. As the one who showed hostility to this space, Lothur was their primary target, so more snowmen were searching for his head!

    He did not worry about that, considering it was just part of the challenge of this ce.

    Lothur moved against the four snowmen attacking him while his Elemental Staff was in his hands.

    When he got close enough to one of those creatures, Lothur turned his weapon against the creature''s head, hitting it quite hard.

    Pow!

    Upon striking the red-eyed snowman''s head, Lothur could see that his artifact could disintegrate these creatures, noting that these beings depended on elementalws to function. However, due to the different strengths between him and these beings, he could inflict no more than a bit of damage on their bodies.

    The ce where the Elemental Staff touched that being melted a little, but only enough for that snowman''s cheek to be a little deformed. It was not something that would finish that being''s structure in a single blow.

    ''Oh?'' Lothur was not discouraged and thought that as much as these creatures were stronger than he thought, probably peak 2nd stage cultivation, he had a way to act against them.

    He could not defeat them in one attack. But he could slowly degrade the defenses of these beings!

    ''I will destroy their bodies and eventually defeat them!'' He smiled and moved, evading the kick of one of those other three individuals attacking him while the other two threw ice rocks in his direction.

    As Lothur tried his best to evade the enemy attacks and began to focus his attacks on the legs of one of them, the white fox was beginning to struggle.

    It was doing very well before Lothur''s arrival. Still, now with this change, it had no alternative but to protect itself against these beings of simr strength to its own. So it was naturally grumpy.

    ''Bastard!''

    ''You will pay me for this!''

    Unlike Lothur, it did not have a way to destroy the bodies of this creature. It could only do its best to drive them away and perhaps find a chance to reach the pool area, where these snowmen could not enter.

    Thus, it once again began to fight these snowmen, whom it had faced twice in the past.

    Unfortunately, on those asions, it had only faced two of these individuals at a time since it had alwayse to this ce in a group with other beasts. But now it had to fight three of them alone, even though it had never won there when it had fought only two...

    Pow!

    One of the snowmen kicked toward its belly, trying to put an end to this beast''s will.

    But this creature was not so weak or dumb to wait for the enemy attack. It jumped back and used its tail to counterattack the enemy, causing it to retreat a few meters.

    Its attack power was several times higher than Lothur''s, so it could make ''life'' much more difficult for these creatures trying to finish it off.

    That was totally different for the demon facing one of these beings, this blue creature who did not even have the strength to defeat a human without cultivation...

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Its cries became a symphony to those fighting there, to the point that even the creature meditating in one of those blue pools opened its eyes, not understanding what was happening.

    ''A demon?'' That beast, a yellow crocodile, narrowed its eyes at the sight of such a creature. ''Why is someone like that here?''

    ''There''s also this human...'' This level 16 beast looked at Lothur fighting four snowmen, ignoring the white fox it already knew well.

    However, even though it was curious to know how these creatures had entered this shrine of local beasts, it soon returned to its meditation.

    Even for a level 16 beast, it was not easy to get into this ce and enjoy the benefits of these pools. Thus, no matter how much it wanted to do something about these beings, it would only leave its pool when it finished its cultivation!

    None of those three individuals suffering at the hands of the snowmen noticed this yellow crocodile opening and closing its eyes. They just continued their cunning battles.

    ...

    On the morning of the day after Lothur''s first encounter with the demon, the reinforcements requested by Elke''s group finally arrived in the mountainous area they were in.

    After more than 15 hours since Lothur''spanions had escaped from that cave where they had found the demon, they continued their investigative work under Elke''smand.

    Even with reinforcements in the area, they had their mission to aplish, something that had been made immeasurably easier with the departure of Lothur and the demon.

    The demon was the one causing the phenomena on the animals on that farm that they had been investigating the day before. So when it was taken by Lothur to a ce so far away from that area, its connection to those beasts and animals was lost.

    Because of this, the beasts and the animals on this farm were already beginning to recover, while the employees of this ce fed them with the resources left by Lothur.

    "What are we going to do, Elke? Our mission will be over by the end of the day, and we can already return to Peters City." One of the women in the group asked as they rested in a part of the farm.

    To finish this mission, they had to make sure there was nothing else strange left behind, that the demon was the only cause of everything, and that once it was gone, everything would go back to normal. Thus, they remained there for now. But after this day, there would be nothing more for them to do, so that person was already thinking about their return to their city.

    There was the matter of Lothur, who they knew was missing, but who might be able to return somehow. So this woman wanted to know if they would wait for him for at least a few days or already return.

    Elke understood that woman''s doubt and knew the others also wanted to return to Peters City.

    Lothur was much stronger than all of them, so it would not make much difference for them to wait for him. But, on the other hand, in Peters City, they could continue their studies and training much better than they could here.

    With that in mind, she said. "Let''s finish our investigations and return. I am sure Lothur will find a way to return in the ten-day period we have to finish the mission."

    The others nodded in appreciation to her, hopeful that all this work would not be lost because of Lothur''s absence.

    They would not me this fellow since he had saved their lives with the previous action. But still, if Lothur werete, they would have to wait another six months to join a faction!

    ''I hope he''ll be okay...'' Elke thought about it as she looked toward the mountain, where the Peters City specialists were investigating the area.

    ...

 Chapter 467 A Bit Of Peters Citys Past

    At the spot where the demon had appeared, several peak Spiritual Warriors were on the outskirts investigating the terrain in search of the traces of what was there.

    Most wore simr clothing, typically worn by demon hunters, members of the Seraphim Church!

    But not only were these individuals out there, but experts from Peters City and the director of the Morning Star Academy were also in the area.

    "There really was a demon here." One of the men from the Seraphim Church said loudly, with a severe expression on his face. "And it wasn''t of amon lineage. I can see from how it  was living that it has high intelligence."

    Everyone there understood the meaning of those words, and their eyes sparkled with the possibility of tracking down a high-ranking demon.

    The Soul Bone of this creature would be extremely valuable to any of them!

    As much as Lothur had teleported to a ce that none of them had any way of knowing where it was, the creature had lived in this cave and reached this ce somehow. In other words, it was not impossible to track its movements and, who knows, even find where it came from or even identify other demons.

    Hence, even knowing that the creature defeated by Lothur was probably out of their reach, these Peters City experts were investigating the ce thoroughly.

    As for the Transcendent who had made Lothur escape, he was already far away from there, returning to the empire''s capital to report his failure.

    Only Lothur''s allied Spiritual Warriors who saw that situation had stayed behind to tell some of what they saw to those people now there.

    ''Lothur has probably teleported himself to the area where his father is...'' The academy''s principal thought about this in silence as he analyzed the traces of the brief fight in that cave. ''I wonder what will happen next? Will he return to the academy? Will he join his father''s cause?''

    This man knew Daemon more than other people in Peters City. So his thoughts about Lothur differed from those who knew little about this young man''s background.

    But he had simr concerns as other people who did or did not know these facts since he was investing in the Ritter Motor Company.

    "Principal, what can we do? We don''t know where Lothur might be... He may well have been taken to a dangerous ce." One of those men associated with Lothur asked while their group was a little further away from those who knew nothing of such a business.

    Hearing this, the principal of the Morning Star Academy looked at that old fellow and said. "There''s not much we can do in this situation. Lothur is out of our reach..."

    "But..."

    He did not wait for that person to say more and said. "For the rest, let''s continue with our ns. Maybe he''s already working out a way to return, so if we dy because of that, we''ll all be in trouble."

    ''That''s right...''

    That one and others thought the same thing, sighing in disappointment that there was nothing they could do but continue waiting for news.

    That was extremely frustrating, but with no clues or means of investigating the formation used by Lothur, they had no hope of finding a way to get more involved in the matter.

    Therefore, some continued investigating the area for a while longer, interested in the traces of the demon, while others slowly withdrew.

    "Principal Hellwege, are you leaving already?" The leader of the group of demon hunters saw Luis preparing to leave and approached him.

    Luis turned around and saw a man with a horizontal scar on the forehead, very muscr, questioning him. "Yes. Since there are no signs of danger to my students here, there is no further reason for me to stay in the area."

    "We could use your help..."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "No. I am not a demon hunter and have my responsibilities at Morning Star Academy." He refused that person''s request.

    That brown-skinned man smiled upon hearing that and said. "In the past, your academy was more receptive to our cause, principal... Unfortunately, it seems that the current administration no longer has demon hunting as a priority."

    Luis looked silently at that person, remembering that, indeed, the academy had been quite active in demon hunting in the past.

    This academy had a name connected to the cause of these individuals, rted to the founding of Peters City and the downfall of a demon leader who lived in the area long ago.

    Luis knew this, but the emperor had no interest in getting mixed up in church affairs these days. So he obviously would not do such a thing, risking his job and his life.

    "We cooperate with the Church and its demon hunters. But the province is free of these creatures now, and your group can deal with them independently."

    "Is it?" That man asked before returning to his group without pressing the matter further.

    Luis continued watching him for a few seconds before leaving that cave and looking thoughtfully at the bluish sky of that area.

    ...

    After an hour of hard work in the blue cave from earlier, Lothur finally reached the point where he could knock out the fourth of his opponents!

    He had fought bravely in that ce and gained several training benefits, having seen the system warnings a few times during that time.

    Lothur had done his best to destroy the legs of his opponents made of snow during this period. That had been tricky work, which had to be done slowly, given how weak his attacks werepared to the bodies of these beings.

    But because of the Elemental Staff, Lothur eventually managed to defeat the first of his opponents, leaving that being practically immobile.

    That snowman could still move using its arms and attack Lothur with snowballs as powerful as cannonballs. But without legs, they were much more harmless, so the silver-haired fellow''s battle had be lessplicated with the fall of this first opponent.

    He could repeat the same with the second, having made his life easier after this and not having to use all of himself to fight the remnants. Because of this, he managed to fight for an entire hour without exhausting himself, dodging his opponents and attacking their legs.

    On the other hand, the demon had spent the entire interval suffering at the hands of one of the snowmen. In contrast, the fox had defeated one of its opponents.

    But this beast had been deeply wounded, unlike Lothur and the demon that could regenerate itself. Because of this, it was almost fleeing the area as it was no longer in fighting condition.

    Lothur saw this as he finished his fourth opponent and felt he would have problems if this beast ran away.

    ''I don''t have the energy to deal with two or three of these individuals. One at most.'' He pondered as he noticed that beast suffering.

    He then decided to help that creature, hoping to get an ally to defeat at least the two snowmen around the fox.

    If only the demon''s enemy remained, the chances of both he and the fox gaining ess to the blue pools in the area without problems would be great!

    ...

 Chapter 468 The Way Of The Mighty

    When Lothur moved to attack one of those snow creatures, the fox thought at first that he would get in its way. But soon, it realized the human was helping it.

    ''What? Why is he doing this?'' This white creature wondered, but without stopping moving to dodge the attacks of one of the snowmen.

    The other snowman in its vicinity had already taken its attention away from it to confront Lothur.

    This young man was already ruthlessly going against its weak points!

    The fox could not destroy the snowmen''s bodies as Lothur could. But it could damage them in a way that they temporarily slowed down. So it had defeated the third of these beings. Because of this, those two were already partially degraded and with lowerbat prowess than at the beginning of the fight.

    Lothur had noticed this and seen weak points in his opponent''s body, quickly searching for them with his Elemental Staff.

    When he hit one of those points on his opponent''s right knee, Lothur not only caused that creature to stoop as it stepped in a false step but also caught the fox''s attention.

    ''Is that how he defeated the others?'' It thought that if it worked together with Lothur, it might get better results.

    So, as its opponent was attacking it, it jumped towards Lothur, looking as if it was going to attack this human.

    Lothur promptly turned away when he noticed this movement, finding this beast acting strange.

    But soon, he realized what the purpose of this fox was!

    Swooish!

    The ws of one of that beast''s paws cut the air with its movement, heading toward the knee that the Elemental Staff had just created structural weaknesses.

    When its ws touched that body of snow, cracks immediately appeared where Lothur had attacked earlier.

    "Oh?" The silver-haired young man opened his mouth in surprise, noticing that the creature wished to work with him.

    "All right, let''s defeat them!" He said before moving against the other snowman that the fox had just escaped when it went to attack that opponent of his.

    With that, he would soon alternate with that beast fighting those two snowmen. He would weaken the knees of those creatures, and the fox would increase the weak points in the knees of the two, increasing the cracks.

    That went on for 10 minutes until the snowmen''s knees could no longer take it, and they copsed to the ground.

    When this happened, Lothur and the fox looked at each other and immediately started running to the blue pool area.

    The snowman dealing with the demon realized they were running practically free in that ce and abandoned its brutalized opponent to chase after them.

    Fortunately for those two, even though they were almost exhausted and wounded from the previous fights, they managed to reach the safe area because of their position advantage!

    As the two entered that area, the snowman left standing stopped its movement and turned its back to them, looking back at the demon.

    ''Oh, no...'' That creature saw that and whined, not taking long to return to the nightmare of a life it had been having since it met Lothur.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    As the screams of that demon made their presence felt in the area, Lothur and the fox looked at each other and nodded as if in gratitude for each other''s cooperation.

    ''You''re not so bad, human.'' This white beast looked at him and nodded. ''Even though you are a bit dumb, you don''t have a bad heart.''

    Meanwhile, Lothur realized that beasts could be reliable and even act as partners, noting that it would not be terrible to have such apanion. ''Can I get some beast to follow me after this ce?''

    The two were quite happy with the situation but were feeling terrible physically. As such, even with many thoughts in mind, satisfied that they had made it that far, they both soon entered poolsmensurate with their sizes.

    While the fox fell into a meditative state, Lothur rxed on thefortable waters of that pool, feeling a refreshing sensation spreading throughout his body.

    ''Ah, this is really good...''

    He then looked at his status, with all his progress during thest hour of battles.

    [+0.8 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.4 in AGI.]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [+0.1 in WIL.]

    [+0.1 in CON.]

    [+0.4 in DEX.]

    [+0.6 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 62] [CON: 272.7] [DEX: 55.3] [AGI: 72.2]

    [INT: 93.4] [PER: 119.6] [WIL: 92.2]

    [EVF: 0]

    He had used his techniques quite a bit in this ce, having suffered to defeat four of those creatures alone and two of them alongside the white fox. So the benefits of this ''training'' had not been small!

    ''Hehe,ing to this ce wasn''t bad...'' He imagined this, feeling icy energy entering his body and heading toward his skull as he fell asleep.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in one of the central areas of the Three Great Lakes Region...

    A man with silver hair and a beard of the same color was sitting in front of the mainke in the area, sipping a hot drink while enjoying the beauty of the area.

    From there, he could see the mountain range that separated Leopoldine from the ocean, as well as much of the vegetation that covered almost that entire area, a beautiful view to have in the morning.

    Meanwhile, behind him was an old town in the area, ''abandoned'' since the time of the Leopoldine family''s conquest but which still had things somewhat advanced by the standards of this state.

    "Lord Deamon, we have information that Lothur teleported to the area the previous day. He is currently training in one of the beast''s areas of our territory." A man on his knees behind young Ritter''s father said this, reporting the message they had received from the red-eyed woman.

    "Oh? He used the item Josef gave him faster than we expected." A person next to Daemonmented this in a low voice.

    "Who''s keeping an eye on him?" Daemon asked.

    "The Miss." Such a person said after swallowing his saliva.

    ''The Miss'' was someone who had once been a part of this group but was no longer. But now and then, she participated in some actions and even coborated with them, like in this case.

    On the other hand, she had faced Daemon more than once, so her status was somewhatplicated, and that man did not know how his leader might react.

    Daemon heard that, took another sip of his drink, and closed his eyes as if he was just enjoying its taste.

    "Whatever. Let her do as she wishes." He said after a while.

    "Don''t you want us to seek out Lothur? Since he has be a cultivator, we can teach him a few things and make him one of us." The man next to Daemon said.

    "No," Deamon replied without hesitation. "Lothur is free to decide his own fate. If we meet one day, it will be by chance."

    "But won''t he be in danger?"

    "I have already given him this opportunity to grow stronger. I hope he will use it and no longer have to run away as he has done now."

    "I will not open any more doors for him," Daemon replied. "With this opportunity toe here, I am paying for all the years of absence in his life."

    "From now on, let him go about solving his own problems!"

 Chapter 469 Evolution

    Six hourster...

    After hours of sleeping inside one of the pools in that blue chamber, Lothur was still unconscious. Still, his body had regenerated all the previous wounds.

    Also, while he was sleeping in that pool, with his entire body submerged, a dark red liquid was oozing out of some of his facial orifices.

    Traces of blood could be seen in his nose and ears while his eyes glowed as if they were on fire, and his eyelids looked as if they would melt at any moment.

    Simultaneously, his entire face was sweaty and flushed to the extreme. Meanwhile, his skull Soul Bone was changing due to that special liquid in Lothur''s surroundings.

    If one were there and could see through the skin, such a person would see Lothur''s skull Soul Bone taking more space from his skull and pulsating as if it were a heart. But not only that, but such a thing was glowing in shades closer and closer to golden, leaving its silver behind.

    [Detected amount of energy and substancepatible with Skull Soul Bone needed toplete its advancement...]

    The system notified Lothur, even though he was unconscious.

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: quasi-Gold]

    [Progress: 94%]

    ...

    [Progress: 98%]

    ...

    [Progress: 99%]

    When the progress bar reached 100%, a golden glow and halo appeared above Lothur''s head as this young man trembled in pain, bringing his hands to his face.

    At that instant, the Soul Bone in his skull stopped growing, turning into an utterly golden bone.

    Along with this, his eyes shone even brighter, receiving the changes of such an evolution and reaching an extreme saturation point.

    One of the beasts in that pool area, the yellow crocodile, opened its eyes upon noticing this new disturbance in its meditation and saw what was happening.

    "What?" It eximed in surprise upon noticing such a human in that state but with no chance to do anything about it.

    Just as it was getting ready to check on Lothur''s condition, this still, unconscious young man had his eyelids totally burned off by aser that shot out of his eyes!

    Such a thing was extremely red and hot, immediately piercing the bluish stoneyer above where Lothur was standing.

    That creature saw this and stood with its mouth open, noticing that such a human was not normal.

    ''Who is he? Why was he allowed in here?'' It took its eyes off the two small craters on top of that area after theser in question had disappeared.

    But as it looked into Lothur''s exposed eyes, it frowned as it saw this fellow''s eyelids slowly beginning to grow in ce of the burning.

    ''Monster!''

    ''He''s like a demon!'' It got out of its pool, feeling that Lothur was too dangerous to be left beside it.

    This crocodile activated its ws and opened its mouth slightly, showing its razor-sharp teeth, as it slowly walked towards Lothur.

    But as it did so, trying to approach that human, the white fox from earlier appeared in front of it.

    "What are you doing, Ice?" The crocodile asked in themon beasts''nguage.

    "I ask you the same, Vleedat! What do you intend to do?" The level 14 fox questioned, barking at this level 16 crocodile.

    "That human is dangerous! Didn''t you see what he just did? Someone like that deserves to die before he bes uncontroble!" It said as it stepped forward and made that fox jump back.

    "No!"

    "You can''t do that..."

    Before the fox could exin the situation, that yellow crocodile looked at it and closed its mouth before shaking its head and throwing that white being away in one move.

    ''As if I have to justify myself to an inferior being!'' It thought about it as it set its eyes on Lothur again, noticing that this human''s eyelids had already fully regenerated.

    ''He really is dangerous!''

    ''I must kill him, or he will be worse than a demon!''

    He jumped up and motioned to bite toward Lothur''s neck, prepared to decapitate this opponent.

    But when this beast made this move, Lothur felt a chill throughout his body and opened his eyes.<novelnext></novelnext>

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 62 -> 71.3]

    [CON: 272.7 -> 286.4]

    [DEX: 55.3 -> 66.4]

    [AGI: 72.2 -> 79.4]

    [INT: 93.4]

    [PER: 119.6 -> 120.9]

    [WIL: 92.2]

    [EVF: 0]

    He immediately saw that his eyes had improved during these past six hours and his body also benefited from this opportunity.

    When a Soul Bone evolved, the parts of the Spirit Body would be stronger, generating benefits not only for the soul but also for the fleshy body.

    As for his eyes, Lothur noticed their evolution immediately as he opened his eyes with the sense of danger he had just felt.

    As he looked ahead and saw the creature''s teeth approaching his head, he saw the situation as if time was passing more slowly. At the same time, he promptly found a weak spot in his opponent''s mouth and acted.

    Just when that crocodile thought it would cut Lothur''s neck with its movement, it suddenly felt two hands preventing its movement.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Lothur shouted as he positioned himself to hold his opponent''s teeth with his hands, preventing its jaw from closing.

    ''What?'' The creature realized what was happening and did not understand how this fragile human could withstand its bite.

    To do that, Lothur would have to have a Constitution almost as strong as its, a level 16 creature!

    But Lothur still had slightly less power than this being, and without dy, he acted to get rid of this creature.

    He felt a burning sensation in his eyes and focused on a slight wound in one of the creature''s teeth.

    Immediately aser beam slightly weaker than the previous one shot out of his eyes, turning Lothur''s entire vision red.

    But since the focus of his Soul Bone ability was to ''see'' things well, he could see perfectly, even in this situation.

    With that, Lothur was not hindered by such a thing as he prepared to propel himself in the opposite direction of this beast after his attack.

    "Ouch!"

    "Bastard!" That yellow crocodile screamed as it felt pain in its mouth, opening it wide enough for Lothur to escape its grasp.

    Simultaneously, Lothur jumped further away from that creature, falling into the outdoor area where those pools were.

    As this happened, the snowman that had abandoned the demon to go after the unconscious white fox looked at him and started running toward its new target.

    Lothur felt like ''rxing'' once more, feeling full of energy. So he activated his newly acquired ability once again!

    Poof!

    As the redser beam passed through the middle of the creature''s forehead, that body part melted, and the snowman fell to the ground!

    ''What?''

    [All Seeing Eyes] [Rank: Gold]

    [Features: increases the host''s field of vision; x-ray vision; spirit vision; soul vision, andser vision.]

    [Progress: 0%]

    ...

 Chapter 470 Affinity

    Seeing the system''s message boxes, Lothur immediately realized why his visual ability had improved so much from one hour to the next.

    ''So it has advanced to Gold-grade ssification!'' He was pleased to see this, as he understood why hisser vision was so strong as to destroy that snowman with such ease.

    ''With the increase in the quality of my Skull Soul Bone, a new characteristic of it has been released. Since the powers rted to the Soul Bone have a lot of rtion to body and soul power, even without a strong soul, I can express pretty strong attacks!''

    The Elemental Staff was also a gold-grade item, but it was damaged. And even in that state, it could make an early 2nd stage youth able to defend against those at the end of the same stage, as Lothur had done earlier.

    Something of that rank and that was not defective would be even more powerful!

    His Soul Bone gave him a new offensive abilitymensurate with his physical power, which made it possible for him to take down that snowman so easily!

    ''Great!''

    ''Now I have a way to at least surprise my powerful opponents and cause them a little pain.'' He smiled, knowing that he could not rely on this ability at all times but that it could help him quite a bit if used well.

    At the same time he was moving and thinking about it, the crocodile that was feeling toothache right now saw him from those pools and shook with anger.

    "Damned human! You''re going to pay me for this!" It shouted, preparing to chase after Lothur.

    Lothur ignored this yellowish creature and looked at the demon and fox, who were close to each other.

    The fox was unconscious but without wounds on its body. Meanwhile, the demon was again regenerating itself, being extremely tired from the torture it had been sufferingtely.

    Lothur saw the two and took the demon first but decided to take the fox with him as well.

    He had the impression that the crocodile had been responsible for this white creature not being in one of the pools but being hurt there near the demon. So he decided to ''save'' its life by leaving through the second tunnel in that area.

    When they entered that corridor, some beasts were passing by to change cameras and saw him.

    Since they were part of the group sent by the level 17 beasts outside the Immortals Well, they were there to hinder this human, and as soon as they saw him, they decided to act.

    "Get him!"

    "Attack him!"

    "Look, the damned thing has kidnapped one of us!"

    Roars and sounds of the most varied kinds resounded amid that tunnel without Lothur knowing what they were shouting since he did not speak the beastnguage.

    But since he was so much faster and tougher than everyone else there, he passed between those beasts, dodging most of their blows and enduring the few that hit him.

    Since these creatures had attack powers of less than 200, none of the few that managed to hit him could cause Lothur pain.

    However, they would soone to grief, being in the middle of that Transcendent beast''s path!

    "Damned human!" The yellow crocodile appeared inside that tunnel, running toward where those five beasts that had stood in the middle of Lothur''s path were.

    "Oh, shit!" One of them eximed in itsnguage, seeing that fellow running at them without slowing its speed.

    ...<novelnext></novelnext>

    While those beasts were suffering and the crocodile was being hindered by them, Lothur reached a new camera of that area.

    But unlike the previous ces, this one seemed less special, with many nts in the surroundings and many beasts collecting resources.

    There were also green pools among some of the vegetation there, with beasts meditating in them. But what was most striking about this ce was its size, which was more than four timesrger than the previous chambers Lothur had entered.

    The Immortals Well had five chambers, which one could enter through the initial tunnels of that area where Lothur had arrived or through the tunnels connecting each tunnel to the others.

    Lothur was in the third, but also thergest of all, where those beasts usually got their best resources when they had the chance, of course.

    Getting resources from this precious area was not easy. Someone would have to be a match for the resources, and even when one was lucky enough to be so, they would also have the strength to protect their belongings.

    After all, with others in the vicinity, beings willing to take things from others, only the strong could keep their belongings!

    Lothur soon realized this as he noticed several groups of beasts trying to collect medicines while others were already fighting for the right to keep their resources.

    ''It''s a pity that those level 17 beasts forbade me to covet those beasts'' items...'' He looked at the beings battling there.

    However hard it would be for him to fight off several of these creatures, Lothur was fully confident in his abilities to steal and run!

    But since he was forbidden to do so, he soon looked around with his visual ability, searching for ''empty'' ces where there were medicines not disputed by these beasts.

    While doing this, some beings noticed that he was carrying the white fox and started looking at him strangely.

    Mortal Aura!

    Lothur immediately activated his ability, knowing that these creatures were thinking the wrong thing about him but preferring to scare them off than to have to fight them.

    As he did this and some of the creatures moved away from him, the fox in one of his hands suddenly shivered and opened its eyes.

    ''Huh? What happened?'' It looked from side to side, feeling pain but also disoriented.

    Lothur saw this and released it, continuing his movement as he nodded at it.

    ''Human?'' It looked at Lothur disappearing among the vegetation in the area and realized that he had helped it in some way but also survived the attack of that crocodile.

    ''He really survived? Unbelievable!'' This white beast thought this in admiration.

    But realizing where it was, it did not take long to put its thoughts regarding Lothur aside and focus its attention on this ce.

    ''The main chamber? I think I''d better try to find somethingpatible with me than go back to that ice chamber.'' It thought before it began to sniff around for something with an affinity to it, leaving aside the pools in the area.

    The pools that were expert tombs were only useful to those with affinities to them. Since this creature had no affinity for the pools in this green area, the most it could do was look for medicines there.

    Lothur did not know this, so he nned to enter one of the unique pools in this area, even though he did not have an affinity for them.

    But before doing so, he hid the demon among the vegetation near him and began to touch the nts and fruits there, looking for items useful both for him and for his women.

    ...

 Chapter 471 Counterattack

    While Lothur was touching each of the medicines he found with his visual ability, the demon looked at these nts and fruits and searched for something for itself.

    It had not yet given up on running away from Lothur. The opposite of that, after seeing this enemy absorbing the darkness of that previous pool, this creature had be even more decisive in its convictions.

    If it did not find a way to escape, that is, get stronger and reach the minimum necessary to escape from Lothur, it would die at the hands of this person!

    So even with all its suffering up to this point, it was still faithful to its beliefs and searching for resources to regain its strength.

    ''In the other chamber, I couldn''t do anything against you, Lothur. But that was thanks to that damned snowman!'' It thought about it silently as it surveyed the surroundings of where the silver-haired young man had dropped it.

    ''However, in this ce that doesn''t have those damned beings, when you get into one of those pools, I''ll use that chance to prepare a surprise for you, you bastard.'' It clenched its fragile fists.

    ...

    An hourter...

    After much searching of the area, Lothur had found four interesting items, one Bronze-grade, two quasi-Silver, and one Silver. One of them matched Elke, while any type of cultivator could use the others.

    In addition, he found several good-quality medicines. Still, none of them werepatible with him or the people he knew.

    Since there were beasts in the area, he avoided taking more than necessary, satisfied with his gains on this ce.

    But to harvest one of these resources, Lothur had to develop a unique resistance to the wood element.

    When he tried to harvest one of these medicines, Lothur''s body suddenly began to turn into the wood, while little nts grew out of his skin.

    He had felt the strangest sensation of his entire life at that moment. Still, after more than 2 minutes of suffering, the system appeared to notify him of a new resistance.

    Because of this, he now had a Bronze-grade wood resistance, and he once again received a small promotion in terms of Perception.

    [PER: 120.9 -> 131]

    Other than that, he had a few fights against beasts in that area, beings interested in the medicines he had collected.

    But after little ''training'' with these individuals, he had escaped with that demon to the area of the green pools, where he could experience thetest offerings of this area.

    Before entering one of the pools, Lothur tied the demon to a tree, so this creature would not escape unless helped by some beast.

    After this, he began his meditation, preparing himself for possible improvements in his physique that this beast sanctuary might end up bringing him.

    But while things were going well for Lothur, for the first time, this demon had achieved one of its ns!

    After staying in the vicinity of this arboreal ce for over an hour, much of the time with Lothur fighting or identifying resources, it found some medicines helpful.

    Not only had it found resources that matched its qualities, but this creature had also collected three fruits from two different nts.

    It had stored these items inside its body, in the special storage these beings usually had in their horns.

    Demons, especially those of high demonic rank, were either privileged beings or cursed by mother nature, depending on who was analyzing them. Because of this, they had some advantageous characteristics for their survival, such as spatial storage.

    Because of this, it had managed to hide these medicines from Lothur, and when it realized this human had fallen into an unconscious state, it immediately did what it had to do.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Still tied up in that ce where Lothur had put it, this demon made its spatial storage release a fruit that looked like a plum. It appeared above its face and immediately opened its mouth at an angle of more than 110 degrees, showing its terrible teeth.

    ''Finally!'' It celebrated as it felt the energy from that item coursing through its body, slowly recovering the damage that Lothur''s bloodline had done to its body.

    Such a thing was so significant that it felt like it wasing back to life, feeling its energy jump overnight to the point where it felt like screaming.

    Its dehydrated and malnourished body began to recover. Still, before the effects of that first medicine were over, the demon acted to maintain its previous appearance.

    Demons could manipte their own regenerative powers!

    This ability was most refined in beings of good rank, as was the case with this individual. So if one of them wanted to keep a wound open, they could do something like this.

    This demon, who looked like a human child, used its ability to maintain its previous appearance to fool Lothur with it.

    ''Hehe, let''s see what happens next, human.'' It looked in Lothur''s direction and smiled in anticipation. ''Keep getting stronger... The one who will benefit from this at the end of the day will be me!''

    ''In the meantime, I''ll let you believe you''re in front of me using my n''s most secret skill!''

    That was indeed a secret skill known to few humans, even among demon hunters.

    After all, this skill had its best effects on Emperor demons, those beings able to blend thoroughly between human groups and remain unrecognizable.

    So it did not take long for this creature to ingest the second medicine, advancing its recovery, not caring about the medicinal effects of that on its body.

    Medicines could be used in different ways, depending on the type of medicine but also the circumstances of the one using it.

    In this demon''s case, besides these medicines beingpatible with its body and soul, the overall quality of its body was superior to those items, and it was injured significantly. For this fact alone, even if those medicines were the kind used to promote one''s physique, it would first serve to recover that physique before promoting anything.

    Since it was easier to recover something one already had, those medicines did not have any adverse effects, nor did they take any time to give results on this Monarch demon.

    Some beasts in the surroundings of that area sensed that something was happening but did nothing against it. Besides the fact that this creature was tied up, they had no orders to take possession of Lothur''s demon.

    On the other hand, they had no way of sensing much of the changes in that creature''s body, so they were too in the dark to do anything about its improvements.

    That way, hours passed in that ce, and soon Lothur awoke to see messages from the system, some that were somewhat different.

    ''That feeling...'' He realized something as he saw the system updating him.

    [The host''s body spent 8 hours submerged in a green fountain...]

    [Multiple affinities strengthened...]

    [Affinity with positive elements increased...]

    [+ 10% progress on all resistances with positive affinities.]

    [+ 10% in all mental attributes.]

    ...

 Chapter 472 Intelligence Evolution

    [+ 5% on all physical attributes.]

    [Affinity with wood, ice, poison, and mes created a unique ability, One With Nature.]

    [One With Nature: an ability that connects the host with living nt life in the vicinity. It enables that user to use part of the nt organisms'' senses within a certain range.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 75.4] [CON: 301] [DEX: 70.4] [AGI: 83.8]

    [INT: 102.7] [PER: 144.1] [WIL: 101.6]

    [EVF: 0]

    ...

    Lothur saw his status appearing and showing his advancement. He then saw his various resistances that were affected by the advancements of this experience.

    The only resistances that had not been positively affected by this had been those for poisons and darkness, which were elements based on negative Natural Laws.

    He viewed all this in an extremely satisfied manner, seeing how he had improved after only sleeping for half a day in that green pool.

    ''I have improved my Intelligence significantly...'' He noticed the sensation in his body as if he was deciphering some truths of this world''s nature just by breathing.

    Because of this feeling, even though the numerical value of his Intelligence had not increased much, he realized that it had probably changed in quality.

    His Intelligence had now evolved, and his talent was now Yellow-grade, the same level as Viktoria''s!

    ''On the other hand, I gained a new skill...'' He felt that part of the strangeness he was noticing in his being right now was because of this new Affinity with nt organisms. ''I wonder how that works?''

    He then looked at the nt where he had tied that demon, which was still there, looking in his direction.

    As he looked at that nt, Lothur felt his vision getting blurred, getting closer to that nt organism.

    Then...

    He felt a pleasant sensation of the illumination that the green stones of that area provided to the nts there, feeling the pleasant feeling of being nourished by light.

    But he did not stay at it for long and soon frowned as he felt the nt was telling him something that had happened while he was unconscious.

    ''Did the demon consume some resources?'' He pondered this as he returned his attention to his body. ''Well, I expected something like that. After all, I didn''t let it free while collecting things out of inattention...''

    Lothur smiled and clenched one of his fists into the water of that green pool, feeling that he could already use his bloodline ability again.

    More than 24 hours since itsst use had passed. So he was ready to absorb more EVF points any moment now!

    [Unknown Monarch Demon]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 71.9] [CON: 86.6] [DEX: 73.5] [AGI: 77.9] [SOU: ???]

    He saw that the demon had not only recovered from all the injuries caused by Life Devourer, but this creature had also gotten stronger and increased in level.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''Get a little stronger, demon. I''m out of EVF points, and I can''t kill any of those beasts...'' His eyes sharpened before he stepped out of that water and put on a few pieces of dry clothes.

    As he did so, Lothur set the demon aside and looked at some beasts watching him from the surrounding area.

    He had suddenly started to feel the urge to train his techniques, something he judged to be because of his evolution in terms of talent.

    ''Maybe I should do that in the next area?'' He wondered, feeling that some of those beasts were a little ''shy'' because of his disy of power earlier when he arrived there.

    Amid his doubts, he decided to use his new skill once more, this time to try and understand this area a little more.

    As he did so, he knelt on the ground and felt his consciousness spread out into the surroundings as if he were simultaneously on several nts.

    After a few minutes...

    ''Uh? Doesn''t the area ahead have pools like the ones I''ve seen?''

    ''Is it an area where some items left by the humanoid sea beasts in that area are mostly?''

    ''Harder fights and challenges?''

    Lothur sensed what those nts had already noticed from the peopleing from that next chamber in that area of the Immortals Well.

    With that in mind, he gave up fighting the beasts in the surrounding area and went towards the demon, untying it and then immediately leaving from there as he dragged it away.

    The demon held on tightly not to react to this human, believing it could return all its humiliation and painter.

    ''Just you wait, you bastard. I''ll slowly devour you!'' It clenched its fists and stared hatefully at Lothur''s feet. ''I''ll add all the powers you got into my strength, and then I''ll kill those damned beasts!''

    ''I will turn this ce upside down and eventually cut off the head of that damned human who chased me!'' It remembered its escape months ago when it and its servant had passed through this area before heading for that previous cave in Finn Mountains.

    Lothur knew nothing of what was on this demon''s mind and soon reached the next section, where this time, he was faced with what looked like a bluebyrinth.

    But upon arriving there, he came face to face with two beasts he had seen earlier, the yellow crocodile and the lizard from the first chamber, two level 16 beings.

    The two were waiting for him in this ce since there was no other alternative to enter this chamber besides going through a narrow passage between the tunnels that led there and the beginning of thebyrinth.

    These two beings then looked in Lothur''s direction and smiled oddly, already knowing who this human was but still willing to teach him a lesson.

    "Human, you narrowly escaped earlier." The crocodile said, not regretting how it had acted but pleased that Lothur had survived.

    It had heard from one of its tribe members in that area that a high-level human had threatened the beasts of thatke because of Lothur. So if it had killed that human, it probably would have pissed off someone it could not.

    In that way, it had been quite relieved to fail and was no longer so aggressive, though it still demonstrated wanting to hit Lothur.

    "You run well." The other added, aware that Lothur was there legally, but they had permission to beat up such a human.

    Lothur stopped as he saw those two creatures in front of him and smiled as he looked at the demon. ''Since you are stronger, I will make you suffer and help me with those two...''

    ''A living shield is not bad!''

    He then said to those creatures. "Very well. I was already looking for a training partner, so I''ll use you two."

    His Elemental Staff appeared in one of his hands while he continued to hold the demon''s neck with the other.

    Lothur made a defensive stance and prepared to train his techniques with these creatures.

    ...

 Chapter 473 Training

    The two beasts looked at Lothur''s confidence and did not like that.

    They knew this ce was special and that whoever entered there would reap great rewards if they survived. They had experienced the best of what this ce had to offer when they were weaker and had more points for improvement.

    Only the benefits they were used to were far less than what Lothur had gained so far. After all, normally, beasts, and even humans, only had one or two elemental affinities, which greatly limited the opportunities for those who entered this ce.

    At the same time, having an affinity for something was not so simple. Not everyone with an affinity for wood, for example, had the same level ofpatibility!

    Therefore, the effects that each one who entered the Immortals Well suffered were different and, on average, were lower than what Lothur had already achieved.

    Considering this, neither of the two creatures judged that Lothur''s advances so far had been tremendous, and naturally, they were curious to know the reason for his confidence.

    "Training? You are arrogant." The yellow crocodile said before leaping towards Lothur with its mouth open.

    But while it seemed to want to bite Lothur, its big tail was moving in a way that, for those who knew its fighting style, it was obvious what its true purpose would be.

    Seeing that fellow acting against Lothur, the lizard did not stay back and showed its sharp ws, leaping up to sh toward this human''s vital organs.

    They knew they should not kill Lothur, or they might incur the wrath of a Divine Soul Transcendent, someone who could kill them with a snap of her fingers. But that did not mean they would not fight in seriousness!

    They had both heard from the lower-level beings in the Immortals Well about what the great level 17 toad had seen in Lothur. ording to that creature, his body should be as strong as that of low-level Transcendents.

    That way, since those two creatures were low-level Transcendents, they would userge portions of their strength to teach Lothur a lesson!

    "Human, don''t me us for this. Fate is against you!" The lizard said as it shed the air in a diagonal motion toward Lothur''s chest.

    Swooish!

    When he saw these two grandiose beings approaching him, Lothur held his position and defended himself using the ''two weapons'' he had in hand.

    He threw the demon against the lizard''s ws, allowing this creature to have its body torn apart by the enemy''s attack. At the same time, he used his Elemental Staff in one of his hands to strike the crocodile''s jaw.

    "Naive!" The crocodileughed and closed its mouth before mming its tail toward Lothur''s body with force.

    "Oh?" Lothur saw that almost instantly after the crocodile made it clear that such a thing was its actual move. ''I was sensing that there was something wrong... So that was it.'' He pondered the new sensations he felt after his Intelligence advancement as he began to fight.

    As he could no longer defend himself with his staff, Lothur moved his free arm to protect his torso while activating his defensive technique.

    Steel Body!

    Pow!

    That creature''srge, yellow tail struck him full on, pushing Lothur''s body back a few meters, but failing to knock him over.

    "Huh?"

    The two beasts simultaneously eximed while ignoring the screams of the fearfully injured demon.

    Lothur removed his arm from the front of his body and finally grabbed his Elemental Staff with his two hands, showing those two creatures that the attack had not been a big deal.

    The Steel Body could increase the defensive power given naturally by the Constitution of its user by 10%. So Lothur''s defensive power was actually over 330, something that gave him enough to withstand blows from those level 16 creatures.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''It looks like that crocodile didn''t advance to that level long ago...'' Lothur''s eyes narrowed as he felt a slight pain in his arm, but nothing significant that would make him lose his attention in battle or take time to recover.

    The pain level he was currently feeling was simr to that felt by an amateur after their first day at the gym. But, of course, in Lothur''s case, that pain was concentrated in his left arm, the left side of his back, and his left chest.

    But that was no big deal for someone who had been beaten to a near-death state several times in the recent past!

    So Lothur justughed at his enemies and activated his movement technique, running at them.

    Cross Walk!

    He moved quickly, but the two creatures were not low-level, so they had no trouble seeing him moving.

    But still, they were impressed, noticing that Lothur was faster than them!

    A cultivator''s speed of movement was directly rted to their physical condition. Since Constitution was that attribute, not Agility, Lothur was swift moving!

    Art of Tearing Down Trees!

    Lothur appeared in front of one of those two and attacked with his Elemental Staff, imitating an ax to attack that giant lizard''s head.

    When it saw this, the lizard could not react in time, as its Agility narrowly lost to Lothur''s Constitution.

    Pow!

    That weapon struck the top of that creature''s head, which was a little smaller than that of the yellow crocodile, but without doing much damage.

    ''Uh? That''s it?'' The lizard opened its eyes as it noticed that Lothur''s attack power was an embarrassmentpared to the incredible speed and defenses he had.

    But thinking about it, it made sense that such a human had weaknesses, or he would be too dangerous for the leaders of thiske to allow him in there.

    Thinking about it, this lizard understood everything. ''So that human is training him with us? Tsk! That''s a shame, but we can''t do anything about it...'' Itmented in its mind, but as inferiors, they had to ept the decisions of the stronger.

    If its job was to humiliate itself by training this human, so would it do not to attract the wrath of a Divine Soul cultivator!

    "Let''s work together. Another way, we won''t be able to defeat him!" The lizard said to the crocodile.

    "True. We can''t lose to him, so we''ll have to work as a pair!" This creature did not like that but had to opt for it.

    It was better to fight alongside this lizard and beat the human than to lose to such a small and strange person!

    Thus, the two soon began tobine their attacks more efficiently, little by little learning how to do this in pairs and putting even more pressure on Lothur.

    Lothur saw no problem in this and continued moving around the area to dodge enemy attacks but also to find gaps to attack.

    He no longer needed to use an ax to train his primary offensive technique, so he was using these opportunities to train such a thing even if he could not hurt those beings.

    Thus, their fight soon progressed, while some 2nd stage beasts reached the area to observe everything, convincing themselves of what they would have to do next.

    ...

 Chapter 474 Mastery Increase

    ''That human is really impressive! No wonder the boss spoke on his behalf with the other elders!'' A 3-meters tall toad thought to itself as it watched Lothur fighting those two creatures.

    It, as well as five other 2nd stage beasts that had arrived at the entrance of that ce in the middle of the fighting, had stopped to observe the situation without getting involved.

    They knew that Lothur did not have that much attack power to hurt them and that their job was to make life difficult for this human. But they were all standing still, just watching the fight go on since it would not look good for them to get involved in this fight.

    Not only would this be an unnecessary move since two level 16 beasts were already facing Lothur, but it would also be disrespectful to those Transcendent Beasts.

    Beasts had great pride, and after those two had already allied themselves against Lothur, they would not ept the help of those 2nd stage beings.

    And it really would not help. Lothur was faster than all these individuals. Thus, the most significant risk would be that the fight would be more difficult for the two in case these weaker beasts took up more of the space they had to fight.

    That way, the six creatures of different species stood at points at the entrance to that chamber, watching the fight unfold.

    This battle was not the bloody kind that would make spectators shiver and watch the fighters destroy each other. Lothur was not gaining easily recognizable injuries, and those beasts were just tiring themselves out with their movements. But still, this was a beautiful battle to watch because of the movements of each party involved in it.

    The lizard and the yellow crocodile were level 16 beasts, stronger than these observers. Because of this, their movements by themselves were enough to inspire these lower-level beasts.

    But Lothur also showed impressive refinement in his movements, which were bing better and more efficient as the fight continued.

    "Is it just me, or is the human getting stronger as he fights?" A level 14 colored snake asked the others while noticing that Lothur''s blows seemed to be getting calmer.

    A brown-haired monkey continued to watch Lothur dodging his opponent''s attacks and counterattacking. It said. "It''s not just your impression. I''m noticing that too."

    "Yes, his strokes are getting better." A bear agreed. "They are getting faster when he moves. They are hitting more precise points more efficiently when he attacks. At the same time, every time he defends against an attack, the angle of his joints and the timing of his defense is getting better."

    "It is as if he is refining his skills, the same way we polish a rough piece of diamond into a beautiful jewel." A winged, lizard-like creature with only two legs and ck leather said this as its eyes shone.

    And indeed, Lothur was polishing his skills, slowly raising the quality of his movements as he fought these beasts.

    ''I seem to be raising theprehension of my techniques...'' Lothur realized this as he sweated, feeling pain in his muscles from the asional blows he received from the opponents.

    Swooish!

    He dodged the ws of the yellow crocodile''s front right paw while using the Elemental Staff to brace himself against the ground and change his movement.

    Pow!

    Lothur spun in the air and hit the top of the giant lizard''s head with his feet, causing the creature to feel his movement a bit and duck.

    Lothur did not stay still in that position and jumped backward, doing a 360-degree spin in the air until he hit the ground.

    As he did so, he suddenly felt the urge to make a certain movement and grabbed his staff with both hands before throwing it at the yellow crocodile.

    ''Uh? What is he doing?'' The crocodile saw that piece of wood that looked like a stick of a brooming at its body and did not deflect, knowing that it could not hurt it.

    Meanwhile, the giant lizard saw this strange movement of Lothur and jumped toward this human, feeling it was an opportunity to attack without giving him a chance to defend himself.

    After minutes of fighting, these beasts had be tired, even more than Lothur, and were beginning to feel more pain from his movements. So, upon finding this person without that item that could hurt it, this creature attacked him decisively in an attempt to end the conflict.

    Unlike the yellow crocodile that had fought Lothur earlier, this lizard had no idea that young Ritter could useser vision. So it thought that in this situation, its opponent was actually defenseless in front of it!

    ''That''s for the previous kick, human!'' It thought, shing with its ws toward Lothur''s chest.

    When he saw this, Lothur narrowed his eyes and moved one of his hands as if calling out something.

    After his gesture, the Elemental Staff suddenly shook in the air. Then, before it even hit the yellow crocodile, it slowed down its speed until it stopped midair and returned to the way it hade from.

    ''What?'' That yellow beast eximed in surprise upon seeing this.

    Vuup!<novelnext></novelnext>

    But the lizard saw nothing of this, and when it least expected it, the staff hit it in its weak spot!

    When this happened, the creature about to hit Lothur expressed pain in its head and grunted, having that part of its body hit by a surprise blow.

    It then fell from its jump, losing range of its opponent. At the same time, its muscles contract in a way to bring it into a defensive position regarding that lower part of its body.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''How did this happen?'' It wondered amidst itsmentations.

    Meanwhile, the Elemental Staff that had just struck that beast flew up again, heading toward one of Lothur''s hands.

    ''Oh? Now I can do that?'' This silver-haired young man wondered as he felt one of his new abilities, something he had just gained due to a mastery breakthrough!

    After tens of minutes fighting those two beasts, he had finally achieved the necessary understanding of his techniques to advance his mastery over them.

    They were only techniques of the lowest possible quality. Hence, even as a low-level cultivator, Lothur had achieved such a thing with his talent that surpassed the 100-point mark!

    With this, he soon saw the system showing him each of his advances and the increase in his gains from physical training.

    The results of training depended on how well he trained, so as he improved his movements, his results also improved!

    [Art of Tearing Down Trees] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Master]

    ...

    [Steel Body] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Master]

    ...

    [Cross Walk] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Master]

    ...

    [Assassin Code] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Master]

    ...

    [+2.2 on all physical attributes.]

    [+1.9 in AGI.]

    [+0.5 in WIL.]

    [+0.5 in CON.]

    [+2.1 in DEX.]

    [+2.2 in STR.]

    ...

 Chapter 475 New Skills

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 79.8] [CON: 303.7] [DEX: 74.7] [AGI: 87.9]

    [INT: 102.7] [PER: 144.1] [WIL: 102.1]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur saw his status with his improvements, feeling a good feeling of progress as he tried to understand his new abilities.

    He was not a soul cultivator, so he could not control his body''s spiritual energy outside of it. But that did not mean he could not do things out of the ordinary!

    Techniques for soul or body cultivators depended on Natural Laws. And these, the more deeply one understood them, the more extraordinary one''s achievements would be, whether a soul cultivator, a body cultivator or both.

    Because of this, even without being able to use energy to create spiritual attacks, creating objects, and special attacks with his powers, Lothur could do other things, like attract his own weapon via his understanding of certain types of Laws in this technique.

    That was the case with such an art. After he achieved the Master level, he connected himself more deeply to his weapon and moved it as if it were an extension of his body.

    Weapons could ''connect'' to their owners because of something called Spiritual Leak, an effect present in humanoid cultivators.

    That basically involved the ''loss'' of small fractions of that organism''s aura, something that happened without interruption and could not be reset, no matter the level of that individual.

    From this aura constantly leaked from cultivators, artifacts, in general, could ''connect'' to these beings and have their ownership imed by them.

    Because of this, once his understanding of the Laws regarding the Art of Tearing Down Trees elevated, Lothur immediately connected to his weapon.

    But it was not only in this technique that he improved and gained new abilities!

    Like a curious person, upon feeling the strange sensation in his body, Lothur tried to do things differently.

    He activated his movement technique and went towards the yellow crocodile, surprising it with his move.

    When Lothur moved, his speed created a mirage effect, making it appear that two of him were moving, the real him and his afterimage.

    The crocodile did not expect this and was confused, not knowing who the real Lothur was, as this man quickly approached it.

    Steel Body!

    Lothur clenched one of his fists tightly and felt as if his right arm muscles, tendons, and bones were being covered by metal before he punched this being in the jaw.

    Pow!

    As he did so, he felt his defensive technique bing useful to attack for the first time, increasing his attack power by more than 15%.

    With that surprise blow from Lothur, that crocodile was pushed back a few meters as it felt pain in its jaw, grunting iprehensible things to the human there.

    "You bastard! You will pay me!" The crocodile yelled as it jumped forward with its mouth open, trying to bite one of this human''s arms.

    But when he saw this, Lothur quickly threw a series of daggers he had hidden in his clothes at the demon, who was getting up after finishing recovering from injuries from earlier.

    The daggers made curves as they made their way to the demon, showing something that seemed impossible for those beasts there.

    When it stood up and tried to put up a defensive position against its enemies, the demon was suddenly hit from behind by three heavy daggers.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Then, as it felt pain, it felt its body being thrown in the direction of the crocodile.

    "Oh, shit..." It screamed again, feeling the terror of being constantly used by Lothur against these Transcendent beasts.

    Before the violent bite of that being could hit Lothur, he saw the demon''s body falling into the open mouth of the yellow crocodile.

    Lothur smiled and moved back, letting that beast chew the fetid body of that blue creature.

    The smell of demons was not only terrible for humans, but it was also awful for spiritual beasts!

    As such, in that instant, the crocodile felt the most disgusting thing in its entire existence oozing from its razor-sharp teeth.

    "Damn, I''m going to puke!" It felt goosebumps run down its spine and shouted this for everyone there to understand it.

    With this shout, Lothur''s fight with these beasts finally ended, as one suffered from an urge to vomit, and the other squirmed, feeling its privates aching.

    Lothur saw this and sighed, satisfied with his intense training with these level 16 creatures.

    ''Not bad...''

    ''Not bad at all!'' He looked down at his fists, feeling that with this advance in mastery, he was reaching the level of the strongest in Peters City.

    ''I''m probably still no stronger than level 16 humans, but beasts of that level probably can''t threaten me anymore.'' He judged this, considering that humans had powerful advantages in fighting against beasts of the same level because they had soul cultivation and manipted energy outside their bodies.

    ''But I judge that I am not so far below people like Mabel...'' His eyes narrowed as he thought of his hateful mother-inw.

    Lothur then clenched one of his fists. ''If that curse troubles me in the future, I don''t know if I will be able to hold on just because she is the mother of my women.''

    But then he noticed the beasts looking in his direction and turned to them. "Are you guys going to want to continue this here?" He made a fighting stance toward the six individuals watching him.

    The six swallowed their saliva and took steps back, averting their gazes so Lothur would not think the wrong thing of them.

    Lothur understood that they did not want any trouble with him and smiled before walking over to the side of the vomiting crocodile to wait for the demon to unite into one body again.

    The demon''s regeneration ability was fantastic, a level higher than what Lothur currently had.

    This young man recovered very quickly, but if his brain or heart were destroyed, he would die and would not be able to recover.

    That did not happen with demons!

    They recovered even when these important parts of their bodies were destroyed!

    But this had a cost!

    Power like that did note for free. Every time a demon recovered from high-level damage, like what had just happened there, it became less rational and more aggressive.

    That was one of the reasons why low-talented creatures of this race were so violent. They usually suffered more because of their low talents and became that way!

    Lothur slowly realized this with this creature in front of him, who was bing increasingly irritable with him, even considering how calm this Monarch demon was.

    ''Save your hatred forter, demon.'' Lothur looked it in the eye andughed as he stepped on the chest of this ''defenseless'' blue being. ''Let''s see if you can improve your constitution before I absorb more EVF points.''

    So, when that creature was whole again, he soon made his way toward the inside of that maze in front of this entrance.

    ...

 Chapter 476 Beginning Of The Labyrinth

    After entering thebyrinth of the fourth chamber of the Immortals Well, Lothur proceeded slowly on his way, taking one step at a time while having the demon in front of him.

    Even after the qualitative advance that his Skull Soul Bone had undergone, Lothur''s unique vision was still not working perfectly within this area.

    He could see more than he was able to earlier. But still, he could not see very far ahead in this maze. So, as a precautionary measure, he walked slowly, using the demon as a shield.

    ''Why does it have abyrinth in a ce that should serve as a tomb for the ancient dead experts of the race that lived here?'' Lothur wondered as he walked through corridors wide enough for beasts asrge as the ones he saw inside the Immortals Well to pass through with rtive ease.

    The area he was in was so wide that it looked more like a city street than a maze corridor.

    Looking to the sides, Lothur saw that these walls were just the typical mix ofpacted earth and rock for most of this ce.

    ''Uh?'' He realized something as he observed this ce for about 10 minutes, walking around with the demon there. ''This ce was excavated and not built?''

    Lothur noticed that the adjacentnd seemed to have been built by digging up the ground and not by building walls. In other words, this ce had most likely been ''opened'' by individualster than the race that used this ce as a sanctuary in ancient times.

    ''If it was someone who built this ce...'' He sped his hands more firmly over the Elemental Staff, considering the hypothesis that such individuals responsible for it might have left traps there!

    ''It makes sense now!''

    ''No wonder such a reliquary exists with so many opportunities! Some cultivators have actually altered it!'' Lothur pondered as he felt his doubts were being answered.

    Lothur had judged this ce to be very strange and unique. After all, as much as it could happen that a locality had more than one valuable opportunity, it was somewhat umon.

    And even if this ce was of a low level considering the limits known to cultivators, it was still strange to have several such opportunities in a ce developed by the chaos of nature.

    But it would not be so strange if all this had been manipted by something or someone!

    ''If someone created this, what''s the purpose of it all? Just to create a way to help 2nd stage cultivators?''

    1st stage cultivators would not be able to survive in this ce. Hell, even 2nd stage cultivators could have a tough time there, like the case of the fox who had only survived the snowmen attack because of Lothur''s help. But on the other hand, the benefits of that ce should be minimal for 3rd stage beings.

    That was what Lothur had concluded after noticing his advances in these many hours since that ape had pushed him into the Immortals Well.

    So he thought that part of the purpose of this ce was to train 2nd stage beings. But whether there was a deeper reason for it, he had no idea.

    ''Is there some kind of answer in this ce?'' He became more curious as he moved deeper into thisbyrinth.

    However, Lothur could not continue with his theories in mind for long. When he and the demon had walked for about 15 minutes from their starting point, they found something in their way.

    As they came upon a dead end of thebyrinth, Lothur and the demon were surrounded by creatures made of earth, which looked like a mixture of skeletons and golems.

    They appeared in fractions of seconds from the walls of this ce and quickly surrounded the only exit there to prevent these invaders from escaping theirnd.

    At the same time, a specific item that Lothur had not yet noticed but that the demon was watching was suddenly taken over by one of thergest of these beings.

    "Grrrg, aa!" This earth being, who was holding what appeared to be a marble, said in an iprehensiblenguage.

    Lothur had not yet noticed that item. But upon hearing such a creature saying something, he immediately focused his attention on the sphere that looked like a small universe full of luminous points amidst the darkness.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''What is it?'' He felt nothing from that artifact, as he observed such a thing with his visual ability.

    But as he looked at the demon and saw that this creature seemed interested in it, Lothur concluded that it must be valuable.

    ''This demon is not of low rank and has certainly outlived me...'' He figured that the knowledge of this being was not to be despised next to that of an ignorant person like himself.

    He then let go of that blue creature''s neck, preparing to fight the earth beings, whom he could not decipher cultivation by the system and visual ability alone.

    ''They must be like the snowmen from earlier...'' Lothur put on his fighting stance, preparing to act.

    Seeing the earth beings beginning to move against them, Lothur immediately moved, releasing some of his Mortal Aura as he used his techniques.

    When he did this, the demon immediately looked in Lothur''s direction with a bit of fear. But considering that this human had not done anything yet, this creature tookfort in the thought that the human did not know of a way to defeat it for good.

    It then prepared to act and steal that unique item that could help it greatly in its journey of power.

    ''If I get this, I will be able to strengthen my weaknesses greatly!'' It thought as it jumped against one of the earth beings in front of it.

    But as the demon moved, the human surprised it immensely by firing hisser vision toward one of those earth creatures.

    The moment Lothur''s eyes turned red and a scorching intenseser shot out of his eyes, one of those creatures had its head melted intova by this human''s skill.

    Gulp!

    ''What?'' The demon dodged one of the enemy''s attacks and looked at Lothur, incredulous at the power this person had achieved.

    It had not yet seen this ability of Lothur''s as it was unconscious when the young Ritter used such a thing a few times earlier. But seeing that, this creature felt it was underestimating its opponent and despaired.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''If this continues, he''s going to kill me!''

    ''No! How can this be happening? I am a demon, a member of the Jal family!''

    ''I am Vurach Jal!

    ''How can a Monarch demon face something like this?''

    As this creature despaired, looking at Lothur and feeling fear, the most powerful earth being of those watching them saw that the demon was too distracted and acted.

    "Kratk!" Such an individual mmed hard toward the demon''s head in the blink of an eye crushing this creature against the ground.

    Lothur took the chance and attacked the primary opponent there with his Elemental Staff.

    Pow!

    ...

 Chapter 477 The Labyrinth

    As he mmed hard into the head of the main opponent in that ce, Lothur saw that being looking in his direction as it turned its earthen face away.

    While still having one of its feet on the crushed body of the demon, that brown creature, thergest in the area, moved against Lothur, trying to deliver a punch on this human about to hit its head.

    But as it moved and the other beings ran towards it, Lothur used the belt around his waist and teleported behind where that thing was looking at him.

    As he appeared there, the silver-haired young man''s eyes glowed fiery red before twosers shot toward the back of the creature''s head.

    Simultaneously, his attack with the Elemental Staff continued to move toward the creature''s body.

    Pow!

    When such a thing struck one of the being''s arms, it suddenly let the dark gem in its hands fall, at the same time as its head melted intova.

    These earth beings, even the strongest, were much weaker than the Transcendent beasts that Lothur had faced earlier. Because of this, their bodies could not take as much, and hisser was enough to take out even the strongest of these opponents.

    Lothur immediately ran towards the dark gem when he saw it falling from the hand of one of those beings, intending to keep such a thing for himself.

    But before he could do that, the weaker beings in that area suddenlyunched attacks in his direction, while some of them seemed to start merging.

    ''What the fuck?'' Lothur looked at one of the beings there merging with another and transforming into a creature simr to the one he had just killed.

    Not only that, the instant such a being formed, a hand of earth suddenly grew out of the corpse falling beside that dark gem.

    Then, that hand quickly grabbed the gem and threw it in the direction of the first being to finish its fusion.

    As that creature took the dark gem in one of its skeletal earth hands, all the others there finished fusing and momentarily stood still around Lothur.

    The two bodies of the creatures he had just killed then began to degrade like melting water, heading toward the bodies of the four creatures around him.

    ''Oh, shit...'' Lothur more or less understood the situation.

    For this silver-haired young man, this should be a reaction to the emergence of someone stronger than should be in such a ce. He probably initiated amand for these beings to merge and form an opponent worthy of him to prevent him from obtaining that item.

    ''I''ll probably have to defeat all of them, or I won''t be able to get that thing...'' He looked at the demon''s body regenerating and then back at those creatures.

    ''Not for less! Because of this ce, those beasts said that if I died or something bad happened, it wouldn''t be their fault!''

    ''This ce really has enough strong stuff to kill someone like me!''

    With that, he put the idea of casually using hisser vision ability aside for the moment, feeling that this would not be good for him at the beginning of the fight. These creatures could absorb parts of the other''s powers and fuse together. So he would have to find ways to destroy them without expending as much of his strength as when he used such a skill.

    "Damn! That is going to be tough!" He held the Elemental Staff with his two hands as if he were holding an ax.

    Meanwhile, Lothur had his face in a position where he could see the four opponents around him.

    When the first of them began to attack in his direction, he moved to deflect while attacking the one behind him.

    The other three began to attack at that instant, starting what would be a difficult fight for young Ritter.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ...

    Meanwhile, outside thatbyrinth...

    The beasts that had fought Lothur a few moments ago had just finished recovering from their pain.

    "That human''s recovery speed is extremely high..." The yellow crocodilemented to the lizard beside it, noting that Lothur had recovered and started thebyrinth challenge well before them.

    "It''s awe-inspiring... But will he make it far in that ce?" The lizard looked into the eyes of its distant cousin as the other beasts there were waiting for them to enter thebyrinth.

    Thisbyrinth was one of the most challenging chambers in the Immortals Well. It had a series of challenges for those entering, which, depending on the luck of the individual entering, could be more or lessplicated.

    The more endless points someone inside thisbyrinth found, the more challenges capable of killing even low-level Transcendents would stand in their way.

    Because of this, no one from around thiske had ever managed to get to the end of thebyrinth.

    The crocodile thenmented. "I don''t think so."

    "No matter how fast and smart he is, he will fail. In fact, that is what will prevent him from seeding here. If he runs away from some challenges or even cheats, the problems ahead will be more difficult, and he will either die or have to give up."

    This ce seemed to have a shared intelligence. When a being part of thebyrinth faced an opponent, it would transmit its results to the others ahead. If the individual challenging thebyrinth had run away or had not fairly defeated their opponents, the challenges became more difficult.

    That was the case that had just happened to Lothur. He had tried to defeat the enemy leader, to get the dark stone, without defeating the other beings there. Because of this, his challenge had be moreplex, and every test he would haveter on would be harder than it should be just because of this!

    That was the big problem with thebyrinth, which was why nobody, not even level 16 beasts, had ever conquered this ce.

    Fortunately for the beings that entered thebyrinth, escaping from it was not that difficult. As long as one gave up fighting and focused their strength on running, the beings in the area would not chase them for long.

    Because of this, those who entered there could escape if they so decided.

    But those who tried their luck to the end had only one fate...

    Death!

    "Sigh..."

    "Let''s see. I''d like to find out what''s beyond the fifth corridor." The lizardmented.

    The beasts in thiske sorted the area by corridors from the beginning of thebyrinth. Since the strongest had only gone as far as the fifth corridor, no one knew what existed beyond that level.

    "How far do you think he can get?" It looked at that yellow being, thinking of gambling.

    "I don''t know. Probably the third, fourth at most." The crocodile said.

    Beasts loved to bet, so they each looked into each other''s eyes, and that biggest being there said. "I bet he won''t make it past the fourth."

    "All right, I say he''ll make it to the fifth." The lizard said before beginning to negotiate with that being what would be at stake in that bet.

 Chapter 478 Demonic Beings

    In the capital of Leopoldine...

    In the corner of that city, the Transcendent who had lost sight of Lothur was standing in front of that young man''s grandfather, having just told of his previous failure.

    "You did what?" That old figure asked in disbelief. "Are you telling me that child managed to trick you? Do you have the nerve to tell me that, Erhard?"

    "That... He had a teleportation formation, yu..." He was saying this while lowering his head in front of this man.

    The man with silver hair and a beard looked at this kneeling individual and interrupted him. "Excuses!"

    "How did it take you days to find that out? If he had such a thing with him, he was supposed to have used it ages ago! But no, only after days of being watched by you did he do this!" Lothur''s grandfather said in an irritated manner. "If you had tried to act decisively, as Imanded, nothing said would have happened, Erhard!"

    "Why did you do that? I entrusted this mission to you! But now Lothur is in the hands of his diabolical father!"

    That man clenched his fists and mustered the courage to speak in his defense. "Forgive me, but I had to watch Lothur. He is very stran... Cough! He is exceptional. I was trying to understand him and his abilities to pass this information on to..."

    "You didn''t have to do any of that, Erhard. Your job was to bring him to me!" Lothur''s grandfather clenched his fists in frustration. "I could observe those abilities on my own. But now..."

    "Tsk!"

    "Go to the Elysium Estate. You will pay for your infractions in that ce for one year." He turned and started walking away, eager to meditate and calm his mind.

    Erhard heard that and stood still for a moment, staring at the ground as his eyes fluttered and he felt cold sweat dripping down his back.

    "Elysium..."

    Gulp!

    He remembered this was the most dangerous outpost of the organization he belonged to, near the border of this empire with one of its enemies, Utral, a state to the north.

    ...

    The other day...

    After hours of challenging the skeletal beings of earth, Lothur finally defeated the four creatures that had formed from fusions of the other beings in that dead end.

    Because of this, he was pretty exhausted by the time he finished the fight and had some wounds on his body.

    Those individuals had power simr to that of level 15 beasts, so together, they managed to bruise Lothur''s body a bit.

    On the other hand, he had usedser vision twice more, so his exhaustion was even more intense than it would be after an ordinary fight.

    In any case, while gasping for breath, Lothur smiled, satisfied that he could defeat these creatures and finally have the dark gem in his hands!

    [Celestial Gem] [Rank: quasi-Gold]

    [Characteristics: this item can contain the demonic aura released by demons and refine it into pure demonic energy, capable of being absorbed by beings with affinity.]

    [Detail: this gem cannot be used to contain the demonic aura of a demon of a level higher than 18.]

    [Reminder: pure demonic energy can negatively react if there is no affinity of its consumer with negative Natural Laws. It can cause ordinary beings to transform into demonic beings.]

    ''Demonic beings?'' Lothur read that and looked in the direction of the demon, who was hatefully staring at him.

    ''Damned human. You can keep the Celestial Gem for now, but eventually, it will be mine!'' This creature thought about it, already imagining being able to use the aura it naturally lost as a nutrient for its powers.<novelnext></novelnext>

    Lothur then asked this creature, who was aching to finish regenerating one of its legs. "What are demonic beings?"

    "Don''t you know?" The demonughs teasingly.

    But seeing Lothur showing it some food, it felt that if it did not tell this silver-haired young man what that was, it would be forced to watch him eat without having the chance to do the same.

    "Tsk!"

    "Ignorant human. Demonic beings are beings that have lost part of their essence and have be ''mixed'' demons. For example, if humans became demonic beings, they would still be human. Still, their soul would be altered so that they would start behaving like a demon."

    "One would lose control of part of one''s emotions from time to time, horns would grow all over their body, and their cultivation would slow down. But, on the other hand, their vitality would increase, and they would gain some of the regeneration of demons."

    It smiled. "Of course, they would still be humans, so they could still be killed without someone using demon hunter techniques."

    "They would just be more violent and difficult humans to kill."

    "Really? Is there a lot of that around?" Lothur handed some fruit to that creature while eating others.

    "No, but they are more numerous than us, demons." That blue being said as it received the fruits from Lothur. "Hmm, uh, usually most of them are low-level beasts with no talent."

    "Those beings have no affinity for demonic things and are less intelligent than most capable of cultivating. So they are the majority of demonic beings."

    "Is there anything else I need to know?"

    "No, that''s all." The creature said while smiling internally. ''The main point of demonic beings is that they are umtors of demonic energy.''

    ''Once one of them appears, that being will slowly increase its demonic energy, and when it dies, unlike demons, they leave that energy behind.''

    When this happened, these beings would leave valuable things for demons to absorb and get stronger, or they would help contaminate even more beings.

    That created problems for humans and other races while creating opportunities for demons of all hierarchies.

    Lothur did not know that and did not insist on asking this creature more.

    ''When I arrive in Peters City, I will seek information on the post of the Seraphim Church regarding this and also demons.'' He made up his mind to do this as soon as possible so as not to be unprotected against beings like this in the future.

    Lothur then improvised a ne with that dark gem and threw it in the demon''s direction. "Wear this."

    After Lothur did that, that creature looked at the human with wide eyes, not believing what had just happened. ''Is he really going to let me walk around with that? Is he crazy?''

    But Lothur had something different in mind...

    ''This creature can only use this gem if it''s around its body, so it can''t hide it anywhere.'' He pondered possible hiding ces or spatial storages that being might have with it.

    ''Eventually, I will ''harvest'' the demonic energy this gem produces!'' He kept his expression unchanged as he thought about strengthening himselfter.

    Lothur had affinities to negative Natural Laws. So the chances of him turning into a demonic being were slim to none.

    He was also quite confident in the system, so he was willing to allow that creature to walk around with such a gem.

    So after Lothur and the demon finished eating and resting in the area, they soon made their way back to the end of thebyrinth!

 Chapter 479 Earnings

    More than a day passed in the blink of an eye...

    In thest few hours inside thebyrinth, Lothur and the demon had traversed three entire corridors, finally reaching the fourth corridor, where they were at the moment.

    On their journey to this ce, they encountered dead-end paths six times. On each of these asions, one had to fight hard to get rid of his opponents, while the other suffered a little more.

    The difficulty they had in each encounter with strangebyrinth beings was initially the same as that which Lothur had faced after merging those earth beings earlier. Still, the difficulty gradually increased with each level.

    However, not on all of these asions did Lothur encounter enemies protecting items of value. On three asions, he and the demon only had to fight and suffer against opponents who had nothing of use to them.

    On the other asions when they defeated their opponents, Lothur got three items, two of them of quasi-Gold-grade and one of Silver-grade ssification.

    One of the quasi-Gold-grade items was a sword capable of creating spiritual blowspatible with the water element. The other of the same quality was a beast bone, which, ording to the system, could be an ingredient to produce items with an affinity for the earth element.

    Such a thing could be used for pill production, cksmithing artifacts, or even formations.

    Finally, thest item was a red crystal with something called fire essence.

    Lothur had not used any of these items so far. He kept all of them in his spatial ring to understand how to use themter.

    But still, he was pleased that he had gotten more items in thisbyrinth.

    Thebyrinth was huge, and each level of it had several dead ends, where most of the problems, like the ones Lothur had already encountered in this ce, were.

    Attacks could also happen on the correct paths and on the way to dead ends. Because of this, many items from thisbyrinth had not yet been collected, even considering how long it had existed and how many beings had passed through it.

    But some dead ends had already been searched, as in the case of the three ces where Lothur and the demon only fought without getting items as prizes.

    And so, when it was morning over the Immortals Well, Lothur and the demon were sitting around a fire inside thatbyrinth, in one of the corridors of the fourth level of the ce.

    This ce strangely replicated the surface illumination but without vegetation or bodies of water to keep the temperature stable. Because of this, the temperature there had significantly varied in thest few hours, forcing Lothur to build a fire to warm his water that had frozen in the morning.

    As he watched his metal bottle being heated by the fire in front of him, Lothur noted his improvements in thest 24 hours.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you, makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 79.8 -> 88.3]

    [CON: 303.7 -> 308.9]

    [DEX: 74.7 -> 85.8]

    [AGI: 87.9 -> 94.2]

    [INT: 102.7]

    [PER: 144.1]

    [WIL: 102.1 ->103]

    [EVF: 0]

    ''I have improved my strength significantly in thest day...'' Lothur had a focused look on his face, not expressing his personal satisfaction but also showing that his situation was not bad.

    ''No wonder that eagle said I could be able to get home sooner if I could get in here!''

    ''Actually, the benefits of this ce are so intense for 2nd stage cultivators that my speed will increase enough for me to return home in time!''

    But while thinking about that, Lothur looked at the demon and checked its status, just so he could keep up to date on that creature''s strengths.<novelnext></novelnext>

    [Unknown Monarch Demon]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 71.9 -> 73.1]

    [CON: 86.6 -> 89.2]

    [DEX: 73.5 -> 75.5]

    [AGI: 77.9 -> 80]

    [SOU: ???]

    Lothur''s eyes narrowed when he saw this. ''This creature has either found some way to get stronger or hasn''t yet received the full benefits of having ingested the three medicines.''

    ''Whatever...''

    ''It''s under control. As long as it does not exceed the limit of my abilities, I will let it continue to improve its strength.'' Lothur drank the water that had finally melted, while that creature ate some banana peels.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I can''t feel the strength of that damned thing, but I fear his cultivation speed is greater than mine!'' That blue being thought about it until it heard noisesing from the beginning of the corridor they had just finished a few minutes ago.

    The two then looked in the direction of that corridor. They saw several beastsing, with the yellow crocodile and the level 16 lizard leading the group.

    "Oh? Have you gotten here already?" The crocodile asked loudly to Lothur, feeling that it would lose its bet with the lizard at its side.

    "It looks like they''ll be able to make it to the fifth corridor..." That creature looked at the yellow being beside it and made a strange expression that was supposed to be a smile.

    "Uh? Will you want to fight again?" Lothur looked at those beings and asked.

    The crocodile then said. "No, not today. We''ve done enough before, so let''s leave it for the future."

    "Same for me. You have already proven yourself to us, so we don''t need to keep wasting time on this." The lizard said to Lothur, surprising this young man.

    "Is that so? And what are you going to do now?"

    "The same as you, I suppose. Challenge the next level of thebyrinth." The lizard said, curious to see if Lothur could reach the sixth level.

    The fifth level was already within Lothur and the demon''s reach, so that beast did not doubt that they would achieve that feat only conquered by Transcendent beasts.

    "By the way, what took you so long? Haven''t youe here before?" Lothur asked, not understanding why it would take such strong beings like them so long to reach him.

    The crocodile answered him. "That''s because thisbyrinth is special. When you enter it once, even if you already know the right path, you are forced to follow the same path as your first attempt. But not only that, you must fight the same challenges as before, only on an even higher level."

    The lizard added to itspanion''s line. "Because of this, in addition to having gone through as many difficulties as you have, we are forced not to get new resources until we can ovee our previous limits."

    "Is that so?" Lothur was surprised to hear that. ''Bute to think of it, that makes sense. After all, this ce must have been built to train cultivators...''

    On that ount, it was almost impossible for a being who performed poorly their first time there to make it beyond the fifth level of thebyrinth!

    "But the next level changes everything." The crocodile said. "In the fifth corridor, you have to face some scary beings capable of merging all the powers of those individuals you fought against in the first corridors."

    "That changes everything in battles!"

    Every being has its weaknesses. So by merging several strengths, it could be easier for an organism to hit a weak point of its opponent.

    So that was thebyrinth level that even the strongest beasts in the area could not ovee!

    ...

 Chapter 480 Challenging The Fifth Level

    "That sounds reallyplicated..." Lothurmented to those beasts, feeling that the prizes ahead would be even more impressive considering this difficulty.

    He then asked. "How far have you gone? What about those 2nd stage beasts?"

    The lizard then said. "Our limit is the next level. As for them, even though they are weaker than us, reaching the fifth corridor is not that difficult for them."

    The crocodile added. "The problem with the fifth corridor is that we can''t get past it on the first try, and every time wee back, it gets harder. So for us, it''s almost impossible to get past that level, while it''s not hard for them to get this far, even though they have inferior strengths to us."

    "But not only that, since they have different levels and take different tests than us, their test is a little lessplicated..." The creature next to the yellow crocodile said. "It''s just a shame that none of them made it through that corridor the first time."

    "Now that they are already in such a situation, only if they be Nascent Soul Transcendents will they have a chance to ovee that barrier."

    "Oh? Then why haven''t any of those leading beings in the area ovee that barrier?" Lothur asked.

    "Because beings of that level can''t enter thebyrinth because of their size." The crocodile replied. "Some can''t even get past the initial well you fell through earlier."

    "Consequently, none of us can get past that ce... At least that is what has always been the case."

    ''I see... That ce must not have been purposely made to make beasts like those in the area reach the end of thebyrinth.'' Lothur pondered this after hearing those creatures'' exnations.

    ''Well, I can''t afford to waste time here, so I mustplete thebyrinth on my first attempt.''

    With that in mind, he soon put out the fire from earlier and went from there beside the beasts about to challenge the fifth level.

    But Lothur did not go to their side to partner with them and use this to ease his way through thebyrinth. It was impossible to make groups in this ce and defeat opponents in one''s way by fighting together.

    When one tried to do such a thing, thebyrinth beings judged this as trickery and naturally increased the difficulty of the tests. In other words, this was an excellent method to decrease one''s chances!

    So neither Lothur was pursuing this, nor were the 2nd stage beasts apanying those two Transcendent beings with them because of this!

    Everyone knew that fighting their opponents cleanly and without cheating was the easiest way to seed. With this, everyone soon went on with their purposes.

    Some went along the same paths together, while others ventured along different routes since most were forced to choose the path they had taken on their first attempt.

    Only Lothur and the demon, who was making this journey for the first time, could choose their path without being limited.

    Since Lothur already knew that those beings had not chosen the right path, after all, none of them had passed beyond this level, he chose the path of least choice.

    Thus, in the blink of an eye, Lothur and the demon lost sight of the various beasts they had encountered earlier.

    Not only that, it did not take long for them to encounter their first challenges!

    ...

    Pow!

    "Ouch!"

    Lothur moved quickly, leaving his afterimage image behind, the front of a metal dummy, while his body was already on its back.

    When he found his ideal position to attack, Lothur used his defensive technique to concentrate part of his strength on his left shin. Then he kicked one of the dummy''s knees with great force.<novelnext></novelnext>

    With this done, Lothur hit that part of thest of his opponents at this dead end, causing the creature to go off bnce.

    Unfortunately, even though he was already very resistant and managed to attack his opponent, Lothur could not help but feel pain because of his movement.

    He felt an intense pain in his shinbone. At the same time, the muscles in that area of his body seemed to have been crushed because of how hard, and resistant the opponent''s leg was.

    Luckily this creature,posed of a mixture of several types of elements, could not hurt Lothur with most of its spiritual attacks. So this being only had its robust body, which was slowly losing its characteristics due to the attacks of the young Ritter.

    As Lothur faced hisst opponent, sweating profusely, with several bruises all over his body, the demon suffered the worst of what it could suffer in this ce.

    It technically should not have made it this far into thebyrinth, as its strength was low for it to challenge beings from this area. But still, it had reached the fifth level of this ce because of Lothur''s help.

    That was considered trickery, so this creature was facing stronger and stronger opponents, individuals who were even more powerful than Lothur''s opponents!

    Because of this, at present, only its brains and internal organs could be seen in that area near where Lothur was standing as its enemies crushed it.

    Vuup!

    Lothur ignored the plight of his hostage and attracted the Elemental Staff away from him into one of his hands before leaping at the individual falling in front of him.

    When such a weapon reached his hands, he immediately struck out toward the cracked neck of this being, which he had already weakened in thest few minutes of the fight.

    Crack!

    When that weapon hit the weak point Lothur had created in that metallic being, cracking sounds reverberated from that shock point while the being lost the sparkle in his eyes.

    In this way, the leader of those opponents who were facing Lothur, who had the item from this point of no exit in its possession, finally fell!

    Seeing this, Lothur did not miss the opportunity and promptly took the ck vial shaped like a triangr pyramid, which had fallen from the hands of this destroyed being.

    [Dark Essence] [Rating: quasi-Gold]

    [Characteristics: this item is a condensed nutrient for powers based on negative Natural Laws and elements of the exact nature.]

    [Reminder: dark essence can corrupt its user if they have a high affinity for positive elements and Natural Laws. It can drive them insane and even increase the chance of cultivation deviation in the future.]

    ''Oh?'' Lothur saw this and pondered the difficulty of thebyrinth, judging that it would be good to use this and another of his prizes in this ce.

    With that, he looked at the demon suffering at the hands of 3 opponents, who were ignoring him since he had beaten his own opponents and only then taken possession of that item.

    ''These beings will only cause problems for me when I try to get the demon out of the area... Since they are stronger than the others I have faced, I had better do that after I have absorbed such a thing.''

    He then sat in a meditative position and took that ck vial and another weak one, a spherical and orange one, and prepared to ingest them.

    When he did this, he immediately began to feel the changes in his body, as if he had drunk a rxing, extremely pleasurable remedy.

    ...

 Chapter 481 Bonus

    [Dark Essence detected in the host''s body...]

    [The host''s body has a high affinity for the detected substance...]

    [Beginning absorption and distribution of the bonuses to the host...]

    The system notified Lothur a few minutes after he swallowed the liquid that was in the small triangr pyramid-shaped vial.

    And not long after the first warnings, which Lothur did not see because his eyes were closed, the subsequent warnings were presented in the traditional system message boxes.

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Iron]

    [Progress: 91%]

    ...

    [Progress: 95%]

    ...

    [Bronze-grade darkness element resistance]

    [Progress: 54%]

    ...

    [Progress: 56%]

    ...

    While Lothur was feeling the effects of the evolution of his skills, a strong dark aura was condensing over his body, making the crushed parts of the demon''s body tremble.

    It was unconscious, but the demon sensed something threatening was near it.

    As the darkness in Lothur deepened, reaching a new level, the demon''s sense of despair was also slowly increasing.

    If the demon were awake now, it would probably lose itsst hopes against Lothur. At that moment, young Ritter''s ability behind the demon''s fear finally advanced!

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ...

    [Progress: 8%]

    But his resistance to the dark element did not advance in quality since it was difficult to reach the Silver grade when two powers were benefiting from the same source.

    [Bronze-grade darkness element resistance.]

    [Progress: 94%]

    ...

    [Progress: 96%]

    After a few minutes of feeling a pleasurable sensation, but also filled with coldness, Lothur opened his eyes and felt such characteristics of his stop at 67% and 99%.

    [Host soul affinity with the darkness element increased by 100%.]

    ...

    [PER: 144.1 -> 151]

    Lothur saw his advancement in terms of Perception generated by the quality advancement of his Mortal Aura skill, which always came with a spiritual evolution capable of improving this attribute.

    Seeing these considerable improvements, Lothur felt he could not contain himself and immediately drank the contents of the other vial, the one with the Fire Essence.

    When he did this, unlike the cold and pleasant feeling from earlier, he felt intense heat, as if he were on fire. But although strange at first, this sensation was not so bad, and after a few minutes, Lothur felt rxed, as if he had entered a sauna.

    [Fire Essence detected in the host''s body...]

    [The host''s body has moderate affinity for the detected substance...]

    [Initiating absorption and distribution of the bonus to the host...]

    Lothur had me resistance, so the Fire Essence was useful for him to refine his ability.

    As the darkness of moments ago dissipated utterly, giving the demon some peace, orange mes appeared around Lothur''s body, but without touching his clothes.

    It was as if the air above him was on fire without damaging the surroundings.

    In this state, Lothur had the Fire Essence purifying his body and soul, improving some points of his being.

    [Bronze-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 11%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 19%]

    ...<novelnext></novelnext>

    Lothur''s Fire Essence was of an inferior quality to the Darkness Essence. However, since this silver-haired young man had two characteristics that could be influenced by darkness, his results were less significant in each of thempared to his me resistance.

    Hence, after almost an hour of absorbing the Fire Essence, Lothur underwent another qualitative evolution process, achieving the Silver grade for that resistance!

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 0%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 1%]

    With the termination of the Fire Essence in young Ritter''s organism, the progress bar of his me resistance stopped increasing when it was at 5%.

    [Host''s fire affinity increased by 150%...]

    ...

    [PER: 151 -> 162]

    ...

    [Due to the advances in affinity and me resistance, the host''s ability, One With Nature, was improved by 33.33%.]

    Opening his eyes and seeing his status, Lothur felt that his spiritual professions would benefit greatly from this ''journey'' of his.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you, makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 88.3 -> 90.1]

    [CON: 308.9 -> 310]

    [DEX: 85.8 -> 88.5]

    [AGI: 94.2 -> 96]

    [INT: 102.7]

    [PER: 162]

    [WIL: 103 -> 104]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur felt full of energy once again upon seeing that and picked up the Elemental Staff shortly after he stood up and ran towards the demon''s opponents.

    Laser Vision!

    Sss!

    The moment he acted, Lothur immediately attacked one of the heads of those creatures that had simr peak 2nd stage powers.

    When such aser hit that head, the metallic being immediately stopped moving, as its strickenponents melted.

    Simultaneously, Lothur hit one of the knees of another opponent, trying to take them down as quickly as possible.

    In doing so, he unbnced that metal dummy and threw his staff toward the third opponent.

    After moving that way, Lothur held with his arms the arms of that falling creature that had suffered the blow on the knee.

    "Stay calm. It will all be over soon!" Lothur muttered into one of that creature''s ears while his eyes glowed brightly in a red hue.

    Once again, he used hisser vision, this time aiming at the demon''s third opponent, who was trying to dodge the staffing toward it.

    With this quick action, in a matter of seconds, Lothur used up more than half of his strength but managed to knock out two of the three opponents that were left.

    The metal figure in his arms watched Lothur''s every move but could do nothing. Lothur''s arms were too stiff for it to be able to undo the grip generated by the flesh arms of that silver-haired individual.

    In this situation, Lothur puts some pressure on his opponent by using his memories of Earth time, using his arms and legs to immobilize and crush this creature.

    He could not destroy it with this alone. Still, he could damage the creature''s structures, which wouldter enable him to destroy it with his ordinary powers.

    When he reached the maximum damage he could do without hurting himself by squeezing that dummy, Lothur let go of it and pushed towards the regenerating demon.

    Such a metallic creature fell on top of the gathering and regenerating organs of that blue being and crushed them again before turning to try to act against Lothur, its new target.

    When that creature managed to get up, the Elemental Staff flew into one of Lothur''s hands, and he set his fighting stance, and the smile on his face broke out.

    "Come, metal creature!"

    Following those words, the two moved toward each other, bringing this fight quickly to an end after a few minutes of movement.

    With that, Lothur would eventually move on alongside the demon to find new challenges until they reached thest point of this fifth level of thebyrinth!

 Chapter 482 Turning Point

    Hours after facing the metal dummies, Lothur and the demon finally reached thest being on their way to finishing the fifth level of thebyrinth.

    After their entire journey through this level of thebyrinth, they had fought three times, of which, only once, had Lothur obtained a prize, something of a Silver-grade ssification.

    Fewer individuals from theke above this area had had the chance to reach this point of thebyrinth. But precisely because this was the correct path to the next corridor, there were fewer challenges, and the few that existed mainly had been taken by beasts.

    So by taking the ''hint'' left by the previous beasts that followed different paths, Lothur had made his path easier but also given up more resource opportunities from this ce.

    As for the demon, Lothur was slowly rethinking about letting this creature follow at his side, as this demon''s opponents were getting too strong for him to help it!

    Lothur''s opponents had yet to reach a level simr to the Transcendent beasts he had fought earlier. But the demon''s opponents had already reached that level and would probably get stronger as he continued to advance.

    So as he saw this new threat ahead of him and the demon, Lothur watched this blue creature cautiously, wondering what he could do.

    ''It is still improving, but its enemies are getting stronger and stronger... At a speed that I can''t keep up with.'' Lothur considered this before the opponent in their path began to move.

    ''If I leave it behind at the level it is at, this creature will be able to escape... So I can''t do that.''

    ''On the other hand, if I absorb its powers once more, it will probably be too weak and continue here.'' He considered that alternative as the right one. ''With that, either I''ll be able to get it back when I finish thisbyrinth, or some beast will take possession of it.''

    ''That will work too. That creature belongs to the giant toad. That way, no other beast will covet it.''

    The demon noticed Lothur''s fixed gaze on it and became concerned. ''What does this human want? Why is he looking at me like that?''

    But then, the only opponent in front of them this time, a colorful one made of abination of elemental variations, made the first move forward.

    With this move, the demon took its eyes off Lothur, sensing that this human was up to something but that it should not be something for it to worry about right away.

    It then looked in the direction of the being with a wooden trunk, legs of ice, a head on fire, arms of the earth, and small poisonous des on its fingers. But, on the other hand, this creature''s feet had a dark mist on them, as if they were a strange kind of shoe.

    This creature was starting to run towards these invaders, moving faster and faster, demonstrating feats closer and closer to those of 3rd stage beings.

    Lothur looked at this being and felt that all this difficulty was only in his way because of the demon and quickly made up his mind about what he had to do.

    If the demon was getting in his way, it was time for him to get rid of this creature!

    So, as he saw his opponent approaching them, Lothur used one of his hands to grab the demon''s neck, holding this creature with its back to him.

    "Hey, what are you doing?" The blue being questioned Lothur as it felt that, and a shiver ran down its spine.

    Lothur then said in a chilling tone. "Demon, time for you to hand over these powers you have umted to me!"

    "What? How do you know?" The creature turned its face to look at Lothur as it tried to liberate itself from the right hand of this silver-haired young man.

    Unfortunately for it, its strength was no match for Lothur''s!

    [Unknown Monarch Demon]

    [Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 74] [CON: 90.1] [DEX: 76.6] [AGI: 81.3] [SOU: ???]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you, makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]<novelnext></novelnext>

    [STR: 93] [CON: 310.5] [DEX: 90.1] [AGI: 98.5]

    [INT: 102.7] [PER: 162] [WIL: 104.5]

    [EVF: 0]

    "How? Why can''t I get loose?" It cried out in despair as it realized that its strength, even after it improved significantly since entering the Immortals Well, was not enough for it to do anything against Lothur.

    But to its utmost despair, the irises of Lothur''s eyes suddenly turned red. At the same time, tattoos of the same color appeared around his eyes, following all the way to his forehead.

    The demon trembled with fear when it saw the red pentagram forming in the middle of Lothur''s forehead, feeling that it would lose everything it had conquered.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''No way!'' Itined in its mind but could not scream since Lothur was practically crushing its neck.

    Meanwhile, the creature in that area kept moving against them, and Lothur looked at this other opponent with doubts as to whether or not it would be able to affect it.

    Even with doubts, he went ahead with his ns and finally made red mist begin to leave his hands.

    The moment this happened, the demon convulsed while being held by Lothur''s right hand, as the creature about to attack him suddenly freaked out and tried to retreat.

    However, as it tried to get out of Lothur''s reach, that creature felt intense oppressioning from this human''s body and could not dodge his attack in time.

    When it least expected it, it was surrounded by red mist. That held it tighter and tighter and made it feel its foundations being eroded at a frightening speed.

    Amid the already traditional movement of Lothur, something unlike anything that had ever happened before urred at that moment!

    As he held the demon with one of his hands and watched this creature lose its vitality and be more dehydrated and skeletal, a system warning came up.

    [Special form of dark energy detected...]

    [Secondary ability went into sync with the host''s bloodline...]

    Mortal Aura!

    Suddenly, this ability activated without anymand to do so by Lothur, causing minor dark marks to appear amidst his bloodline ability.

    When this happened, Lothur''s already powerful bloodline seemed to temporarily be much stronger. But then, the demon''s weakened eyes suddenly fluttered in much greater fear than before.

    Before, it was ''just'' afraid of losing its powers and bing weakened. But as it felt that terrible sensation, it felt itself in mortal danger!

    ''No!''

    ''This can''t be happening!'' It despaired, but there was nothing it could do.

    When it realized the gravity of the situation it was in, the demon felt the negative Natural Laws of its body being quickly absorbed by Lothur!

    Unfortunately for it, once it realized this, Lothur''s eyes zed over, and he began to push to increase the intensity of what was happening.

    ''That...''

    ''I can kill it?'' A big smile appeared on Lothur''s face, and he squeezed his opponent''s scrawny neck tighter.

    At the same time, a ck vortex appeared on his body, along with the red mist escaping from his hands.

    "Time to die and hand over your Soul Bone to me, demon!"

    ...

 Chapter 483 Lothurs Decision

    Slowly, the creature in one of Lothur''s hands felt the end approaching it as its sights slowly darkened in the face of death.

    During this, it saw over 200 years pass in its mind, recalling things it had forgotten due to previous events.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I failed in my mission, lost my memories, and now I''m going to die to this abomination!'' It recognized the feeling it had felt the first time it had encountered Lothur and understood why this young man was so powerful.

    ''Now the emperor...'' Unfortunately for it, its consciousness vanished before it had a chance to repent further and think about that individual it was previously serving.

    As Lothur felt the life of the demon in front of him fading away, he continued to smile devilishly. But as he thought about what had happened this time, that he was in contact with something during the activation of his bloodline, he stepped forward to test something.

    Getting close enough to the other enemy''s body, Lothur used his left hand to touch that being. He was curious to see if he could cause another warning from the system by doing this.

    And without being let down, Lothur achieved his goal, seeing the system informing him of new possibilities.

    [Special forms of energy detected in the host''s range...]

    [Secondary abilities of affinities and resistances of the host came into sync with the host''s bloodline...]

    After that, that creature that had already lost much of its energy due to Lothur''s bloodline stealing its vitality felt the base of its being beginning to fade away.

    As this happened, new warnings from the system made it clear to Lothur what was happening.

    [Host''s affinity for the ice element increased by 15%...]

    [Host''s affinity for the darkness element increased by 11%...]

    ...

    [Host''s affinity for poisons increased by 13%...]

    He saw each of his affinities with elements increasing.

    Next, the progress bars of his resistance increased!

    [Bronze-grade poisons resistance.]

    [Progress: 45%]

    ...

    [Progress: 51%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 5%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 7%]

    ...

    [Bronze-grade ice resistance]

    [Progress: 42%]

    ...

    [Progress: 49%]

    ...

    [Bronze-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 11%]

    ...

    [Progress: 22%]

    ...

    [Bronze-grade darkness element resistance.]

    [Progress: 99%]

    ...

    [Progress: 100%]<novelnext></novelnext>

    Of all his resistances, the only one that advanced in quality was the one for the darkness element, which was already at its limit.

    For this resistance, Lothur felt that the source of Natural Laws was not only the strange being created by thisbyrinth but also the demon''s body.

    As such, he gained a new qualitative advance in resistances, reaching 1% progression to Silver grade in that resistance!

    The Mortal Aura benefited from this as well. Still, it did not rise so much that Lothur ''dreamed'' of another qualitative advance.

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Progress: 72%]

    ...

    [PER: 162 -> 170.3]

    ...

    [EVF: 0 -> 320]

    Finally, Lothur felt that his bloodline ability had sucked out all the vitality of the demon and the being in thebyrinth, and he released those two bodies.

    One of them broke into infinite pieces as it fell to the ground, totally petrified. It lost its previous state without its burning head or the dark mist at its feet.

    As for the other being, it had finally died, and no sign of life remained in its skinny and dehydrated body. But there was a strange sensation within it, something that Lothur immediately recognized as the formation of a Soul Bone!

    A Soul Bone formation was unique. First, it sucked in all the demonic energy and the remaining Natural Laws in the demon''s body. Finally, it fused the demon''s bloodline and special characteristics into one of its bones.

    Lothur watched this process happening in front of him while using his visual ability to identify the bone forming in the demon''s right leg.

    That Soul Bone about to form would be a right fib bone!

    ''Great!''

    ''I don''t have that bone yet!'' He sighed in relief, realizing that such a creature would not form a skull bone, something he already had.

    Meanwhile, that being''s right fib was glowing brightly. At the same time, its yellowish outlines turned colorful, as was the case with Soul Bones.

    It was no longer a normal demon bone. Instead, in a few moments, it had be an item of very high value, capable of giving a new ability or power bonus to the one who absorbed it.

    In return, the demon''s entire body shook as it lost all its foundation base, in a few moments turning to dust, leaving only that colorful bone behind.

    Lothur saw this and clenched his fists, feeling that he should absorb this Soul Bone and leave it to resolve the situation with the giant level 17 toadter.

    ''If it wants to kill me for ''stealing it,'' I''ll have enough strength to protect myself or run away. But, on the other hand, if it agrees to trade, I will pay it back for this great opportunity.'' Lothur pondered, feeling it would be fair to reward that being, even after he had already gotten what he wanted.

    Running away without paying for what he got would not be fair. Lothur had that in mind and intended to thank this ce''s beasts. But if they decided to kill him, he would have no choice but to run away.

    Anyway, that was a subject for another time, so Lothur quickly went ahead with his ns and went towards the newly formed Soul Bone, which was glowing on the ground in front of him.

    He ignored the item the other creature had left behind and ced one of his hands on that colorful bone!

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will rece the fib bone in the right leg. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones, with the ability called ck mes. It also increases by 5% all physical characteristics and 10% all mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it.]

    Lothur saw this and was pleased, feeling that he could further improve just those characteristics that were most difficult to raise.

    With that, the system soon presented him with the option to absorb this Soul Bone!

    [Absorb Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone?]

    ''Yes!''

    In that instant, the Soul Bone glowed before it disappeared, being sucked up Lothur''s right leg, disappearing from the area and positioning itself over his right fib.

    In the blink of an eye, any resistance that might have been there because of the demon''s willpower in that bone disappeared, as the system was on Lothur''s side to help him.

    The Soul Bone began to fuse with that fib, taking the ce of themon bone, to build the second contact between Lothur and his spirit body.

    This part of the process was not pleasant, so soon Lothur began to tremble in pain, using his best to resist the experience.

    But since he had experienced it before, he did not feel so terrible this time.

    The feeling of having his bones crushed and rebuilt was highly ufortable. Still, the worse was that his uncultivated soul was also connected to such a thing in this process.

    Feeling his soul beginning to inte uncontrobly, Lothur could not help but form an ugly expression on his face, trying hard not to scream.

    ''I almost forgot how much it hurts!''

    ...

 Chapter 484 Results

    After some time of Lothur sitting in a lotus position near the end of the fifth corridor, the absorption of that Soul Bone finally came to an end.

    [Fib Soul Bone sessfully fused with the host.]

    Lothur saw the system message as he opened his eyes, feeling a little dizzy after the painful experience of fusing with the Soul Bone.

    But as had happened before, the moment it was all over, he felt great relief as his Super Regeneration skill helped him recover. Still, he would need to meditate for a while to regain his energy since, unlike thest time he absorbed a Soul Bone, he did not advance in level this time.

    But Lothur was delighted with his gains, which were soon in his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 97.7] [CON: 326] [DEX: 94.6] [AGI: 103.4]

    [INT: 113] [PER: 187.3] [WIL: 115]

    [EVF: 320]

    Lothur did not pay much attention to his status and immediately tried to check the skill he had gained from that Monarch demon''s Soul Bone.

    [ck mes] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Characteristics: ck mes is a mental ability capable of showing itself in physical form through dark mes. They can erode mental structures and diminish the reasoning of the victim. It also has soul maniption abilities. Ultimately, it can be used for mind control.]

    [Progress: 0%]

    He looked at the system''s message boxes, remembering that such a demon''s ability seemed like the ck mes. Such an ability showed itself through a dark aura. It was able to manipte beings, as it had done with the beasts and animals near that farm.

    Lothur then tried to control such a thing, following his feelings to activate the ability of his new Soul Bone for the first time.

    ''Unlike my Skull Soul Bone, which presents its powers through my eyes, this other one shows itself through my hands...'' He felt an icy sensation in his hands and a me-like ck mist slowly emerging from his fingers.

    "Hmmm, so that''s how it is," Lothur muttered after sessfully activating such a thing and holding it for a few seconds.

    He felt the thing could not cause material damage, even though it looked like ordinary mes. But if such a thing came in contact with the body of someone with less mental powers than his, it would do great damage.

    It would not kill if the difference were not ridiculouslyrge. But it would damage the victim''s intelligence and make them more susceptible to the orders of the user of the ability.

    In short, this was a way to enve weaker opponents!

    ''But that must have a time and distance limit...'' He sensed this. ''If I get too far away from the one under the influence of the skill, my victim may get out of my control. That should also be true if I go too long without infusing more ck mes into that body.

    ''Hmm, that''s not bad. Considering that this Soul Bone is only ranked Bronze grade, it should improve when it reaches the quality of the other one..." He muttered as hepared his two Soul Bones.

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Grade: Gold]

    [Progress: 0%]

    ...<novelnext></novelnext>

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze]

    [Progress: 0%]

    The quality of a Soul Bone depended mainly on the lineage quality of the demon that generated it. That determined how powerful and significant the benefits such an item would bring to the one who absorbed it.

    But the bone''s rank depended on the cultivation level when that demon was killed. That is, a higher-level demon would generate higher-ranked bones, which would unlock more power already in the immediate post-absorption moment.

    However, that did not mean that these higher-ranked bones would be better. That was because their quality depended on the lineage of those demons that generated it. And a low-ranking demon would naturally not generate good-quality bones, regardless of its cultivation level.

    That could easily be seen in the case of Lothur''s bones. One of them, when he absorbed it, was in the Silver grade, and the other in the Bronze grade. But even so, while thetter bone already gave him a mind control ability, the former only gave him a vision ability.

    As useful as it was, the ability to see through things and see auras and spiritual energy could notpare to controlling an opponent of even the same level!

    That was the qualitative difference rted to the hierarchy of the demon who generated the Soul Bone!

    As such, Lothur was not disappointed. On the contrary, he was pleased that he could have the Soul Bone of a Monarch demon that was only Bronze-grade.

    This bone could develop with him and one day reach a high rank, unlocking other abilities for him!

    On the other hand, as he stopped to think about what had happened at that end of the fifth corridor of thebyrinth, Lothur could not help but sigh after learning a new fact about himself.

    "Sigh..."

    ''I can''t believe I could do that the whole time...'' He regretted that he had wasted countless chances to absorb more than just the Constitution points of his opponents who died to his bloodline.

    As had happened earlier, when he was in direct contact with his opponents'' bodies, Lothur could stimte their affinities and resistances to get in sync with his bloodline. From this, these characteristics of his could also be strengthened when the bloodline ability was active!

    He did not know this before because he had never tried it. But now he had learned, and he could not help but wonder how much he had lost through his ignorance andck of curiosity.

    ''But it doesn''t matter...''

    ''If I had taken another path, I might not have reached this point where all these opportunities came my way.'' He thought about this before preparing to meditate for a while to continue with thebyrinth challenge.

    But before he closed his eyes to meditate, he picked up the item that the maze-generated enemy had left behind and the heavenly gem.

    The demon was gone, but the tiny dark gem, which looked like a universe, was left behind since it was not a part of that being.

    Lothur had left it to get the demon''s energy, so he quickly picked it up and used the system to absorb that form of energy.

    As expected, he did not suffer an adverse reaction, and it soon helped him improve the progress bar of his new Soul Bone from 0% to 15%.

    Then he saw what the enemy generated by the maze had left him.

    [Dragon''s Tooth] [Rank: Gold]

    [Characteristics: tooth capable of raising physical attributes between 40% and 80%.]

    [Detail: this tooth can be used by beasts of any race to strengthen themselves by consuming the item. Beings of other races can also use it, but only those of at least 4th stage can use it.]

    [Reminder: consumption of this item by someone who is not a beast and is below level 18 leads to death.]

    ...

 Chapter 485 The End Of The Labyrinth

    After reading that, Lothur was surprised to discover an item, he could not use and would require so much of him.

    ''It looks like this is no good for me... It would take too long for me to be able to use it.'' He thought before storing it in his spatial ring along with the other resources he collected.

    After that, he began to meditate to recover the energy spent with his bloodline to destroy the demon and the other enemy.

    In this way, Lothur would spend the next two hours meditating in that ce, undisturbed by any being, be it thebyrinth or the beasts challenging that level.

    Most of those beasts had never evene close to where he was, so they would not be the ones to disturb Lothur in those hours!

    But when he awoke from his state and opened his eyes, young Ritter wasted no more time in that ce and headed towards the sixth level of thebyrinth, thest of this challenge.

    ...

    Walking through the sixth level of thebyrinth, as Lothur no longer had the demon to serve him as a living shield, so he was moving carefully.

    In the first few meters he had already passed, he was the target of traps on more than one asion, where spears, poison, and even fire had been thrown at him.

    Luckily for him, he resisted most of these things and only had to dodge the spears that were not so fast as to worry him much.

    His Perception was rtively high, and his Agility was not so bad, which enabled him to dodge such things when he was surprised.

    But there were no ''forgotten'' items on the path he had taken so far, so other than his staff in his hands, Lothur had not touched anything there for the moment.

    But as he walked slowly and felt the surroundings with his Perception, Lothur was little by little sensing that he would encounter something powerful soon.

    ''There is something further ahead...'' He could not see much ahead due to the fog. But his senses told him something was waiting for him on the other side of the fog curtain.

    He sped his hands around the Elemental Staff and decided to follow this path toward the other side of the mist.

    As he put one of his feet forward, an ancient, hoarse voice came from that ce.

    "You... What are you doing here?" This extremely deep voice reached Lothur''s ears, making him feel shivers throughout his body. "How did someone of your type get here? It''s not possible that the beasts in this area..."

    As it was saying something, the owner of the voice behind the mist in that area stopped and looked at Lothur more closely, feeling something strange deceiving its senses.

    ''That... What is that?'' This creature made one of its pawse out from behind the fog and wrap around Lothur''s body.

    Lothur saw this and could not react in time, quickly getting caught by that paw that looked very much like that of a giant eagle.

    Gulp!

    ''What the fuck is that? What kind of creature is it?'' Lothur shivered as he noticed that he could not see the status of this being, which meant that it was probably not ordinary.

    That being, with tworge hind legs, two tiny front legs, a giant greenish body, arge head, and razor-sharp teeth, brought Lothur close to its eyes.

    ''That... What''s with him? His body looks like one of those cursed beings, but his essence looks different!'' This creature realized that Lothur was not the original owner of this body and hesitated.

    If this were the original owner of this body, this creature would kill him without a second thought. But since that was not the case, the beast needed more time to think.

    ''It''s as if his chaos has been removed and reced by something peaceful and stable.''<novelnext></novelnext>

    Finally, Lothur could get a better look at what was holding him down, shocking him incredibly, as that being looked a lot like a tyrannosaurus rex!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''A fucking dinosaur!''

    ''How could such a creature exist here?'' He wondered in his mind while his eyes and mouth were wide open.

    "Who are you? What do you want in this ce?" Lothur shouted after a few moments.

    That creature felt no corruptioning from this human''s voice, noticing that this small fellow was truly frightened by its existence.

    It noticed that Lothur was not precisely what it had thought at first and calmed down a bit, cing this young man on the ground in front of it.

    When this creature did this, it moved its front paws and made all the fog in the area disappear, revealing its whole body and surroundings.

    Where it stood was arge circr area, surrounded by ice walls, like a dome, protecting this area, thest point of thebyrinth.

    The dinosaur stood in front of what looked like a throne, where a humanoid skeleton rested, still dressed in noble garb and with various items on its body.

    On its side was a small glowing crystal ball, which was projecting the realistic creature in front of Lothur.

    ''That...'' Lothur noticed that what had just caught him was actually not a being itself but the projection of something that was elsewhere.

    ''Is it that strong?''

    This young man had never heard of an ability of this level, so he could not help but think it was enormously powerful.

    The dinosaur realized that the fellow in front of him had understood something and said. "Kid, as you realized, I''m not here. But don''t try to fool me. I am still alive and can kill you from where I am."

    "In any case, I will answer your question before we continue. I am the former mount of the creator of this ce, who you can see behind me." It pointed with one of its front paws. "When my master was about to die, he created this ce and left me the mission to wait for someone capable of reaching this ce."

    "I waited for a long time for that one, but for some reason, no one came for thousands of years. Eventually, I decided to depart and leave this projection of mine behind."

    "Now you are finally here..." It said, feeling that it could fulfill the premise it had made to its master.

    Beasts could live much longer than humans at the same level as them, so most of these beings lived to see their masters die and fulfill theirst wishes. So, this being was a bit emotional, despite the time that had passed.

    ''Thousands of years?'' Lothur thought to himself, quite impressed by this information. ''What kind of cultivator had such a powerful beast as his mount?'' He looked at the skeleton there.

    "Now, what happens?" This young man managed to muster up the courage to ask.

    The creature looked into the eyes of this little being and said. "Now I will test you. If you pass my test, I will tell you the purpose of this ce and send you to a ce nearby."

    "And if I fail?"

    "If you fail, you will die."

    ...

 Chapter 486 The Challenge

    Lothur was used to the idea of others wanting his head, as well as the problem of taking risks every time he tried to conquer something.

    That was the way of life for cultivators, so he did not feel bad upon hearing that projection''s words.

    "What will this test be like?" He asked in curiosity, willing to continue with the challenge.

    The creature looked silently at Lothur for a moment and asked. "What do you long for in this ce? Why have youe here? I can sense that not many humans are around, and beasts dominate the area."

    "What do I long for? Nothing much, to be strong enough to protect my family and my own peace. I''ve been trying to live like a normal person for some time now, but trouble keepsing my way... That''s how I ended up here." He said sincerely. "Other than that, I met this ce through a beast. I wanted to return to my city as soon as possible, but my strength was not enough. That''s why I''m here, to get stronger."

    ''Really?'' It looked with its big brown eyes at Lothur, interested in this being with so much potential, but who just wanted to live away from the spotlight, peacefully. "How did you get this body?"

    Gulp!

    Lothur took a step back in surprise, not expecting such an intimate question as that. ''Does it know about me? How is that possible?''

    As Lothur expressed panic on his face, that creature said. "Body and soul are entities that can be separated further in cultivation, but at first, they are one. In that way, they necessarily have to share the same characteristics and foundations."

    "You, on the other hand, are an anomaly. Your body has apletely different imprint than the soul that inhabits it." Its eyes narrowed as it lowered itsrge head closer to Lothur. "Even more, your soul seems iplete, yet you live. That shouldn''t be possible unless some special possession ritual happened and gave you control of this body."

    There were methods of changing bodies in this world. These wereplex methods; they required high-level cultivators and rare resources for the possession ceremony. However, some had ''good'' margins of sess and were famous means for experts to extend their lives.

    Strangely enough, body and soul had different limits on how far they could go. But souls could not live away frompatible bodies, so some high-level experts in this world used this alternative to dy their deaths.

    Obviously, this did note without cost!

    In any case, this dinosaur knew that someone could steal the body of another being, and this was even more likely considering the situation of Lothur''s body.

    Since it was impossible for a soul to continue existing in that state unless a unique technique was applied, this being was confident in its theories!

    After some time in silence, Lothur decided to speak the truth since he could not escape this creature anyway. "I... I don''t know. One day, I simply woke up in this body with the memories of the one who was here before me."

    "Oh? You don''t remember?" This creature thought it was not impossible, considering that the chances of failure of possession methods were always above 50%. ''It is possible...''

    "But what do you remember? What was your predecessor like?"

    Lothur replied. "A useless person. He was incapable of cultivation, was an arrogant jerk who depended only on his good looks, and had no intelligence at all, despite his great anger..."

    "He caused me trouble for quite a while. Luckily I managed to eliminate all his remaining will."

    "Hmmm." The creature turned away from Lothur again, knowing all that was true, considering the heartbeat of this silver-haired young man. ''Someone must have put some seals on the predecessor, or he couldn''t be useless.''

    ''It was probably the creators... They are quite idiotic.'' He thought Lothur was not so bad and could carry the mission this ce held for the one who passed the test.

    "What do you think of the demons? I can see that you have killed one of them."

    Lothur was surprised by this but said. "I think the same as anyone of my kind. A good demon is a dead demon."

    "I want toplete my spirit body, so eventually, I will kill more of these opponents."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Hmm, you are right. Every demon gets better when it bes a Soul Bone." It shook its head and indicated the center of that area to Lothur. "Very well, I can see that your personality will not be a problem. Then the main part of the test will begin in a moment."

    "That was already the test?"

    "Of course, if there were no affinity between us, you would already be dead, haha." Itughed in its spiritual voice. "Anyway, your test will be to endure 24 hours of training with me."

    "In this period, I will use strength equivalent to 50% stronger than yours, and you will have three 15-minute times every 6 hours to rest. In addition, you will not be able to eat, sleep, or anything else."

    "You win the test if you are still breathing at the end of the 24 hours."

    Lothur clenched his fists upon hearing this and expressed the seriousness on his face. ''It won''t be easy!''

    "What do I get if I can stand the challenge?"

    The creature was already in its position of where the fight would begin and said. "You survive. You get one piece of information. One of the items on my master''s skeleton, and I will send you to spend 24 hours in the training chamber of thisbyrinth."

    "Training chamber?"

    "It is what the beings in theke above consider to be thest chamber of the Immortals Well. That ce cannot be essed through the corridors you passed through earlier."

    "Although there is a path to it, it only leads those beasts to the traps. There is nothing in that ce where the local beasts have already passed. The training chamber is avable only to those whoplete thebyrinth." It said in its elderly voice.

    "I see." Lothur took his staff and held it firmly with his two hands.

    He looked at that creature and judged that he could only hold it for the next few hours.

    ''After that, I will stay 24 hours more in this ce and then leave for Peters City.''

    ''I can''t weaken now after all that''s happened!''

    Noticing Lothur''s posture, the creature was silent for a moment, curious to see how he would fare. ''Considering his regenerative abilities, the chances of him surviving to the end are more than 30%...''

    ''Not bad!''

    "You can start whenever you wish." Itmented, allowing Lothur to make the first move of the challenge.

    With those words, Lothur did not want to wait long and immediately activated his techniques, running toward his opponent.

    When he did this for the first time after adding his new Soul Bone, Lothur immediately noticed the differences in his body.

    ''That feeling...'' He felt the lightness in his body, but also something profound, which he could notice, but could not ''release.''

    ''What is it?''

    ...

 Chapter 487 Passing Challenge 1

    Lothur felt something like an unreachable itch that seemed to want to show itself but was still too ''shy'' for it.

    But he had an idea of what it was, even though he still had no in-depth knowledge of the subject, and this was his first time feeling it.

    ''Is that my spirit body?'' He wondered as he felt his two Soul Bones warming up gently. ''Are they trying to connect because I''m using both abilities simultaneously?''

    At that moment, Lothur used his first Soul Bone to observe his opponent and try to predict its movements by moving its spiritual energy. At the same time, he had ck mes covering his hands, causing such a thing to extend through the Elemental Staff.

    He definitely could not control the projection in front of him. But if it could even minimally cause any damage to his opponent, it would already do some good.

    Beasts were not known for their high mental capabilities but for their physical ones. So, just because the opponent was powerful did not mean that its mind was invulnerable!

    With that in mind, Lothur tried to ignore the feeling in his right leg and head and continued with his n of action, moving quickly, intent on attacking.

    He probably could not beat this opponent. But not attacking would be a waste of the opportunity for him to refine his offensive skills fighting someone more powerful.

    So since the opponent had left the possibility for him to initiate the challenge, he would not just run away and defend himself!

    Art of Tearing Down Trees!

    He used his offensive technique along with the Cross Walk, leaving afterimages behind while moving diagonally toward the creature''s neck.

    The dinosaur saw this andughed, feeling that its opponent was somewhat daring to think he could attack it in such a simple way.

    "You could give me a good fight if your strength came from your soul, not your body. But since that''s not the case, that''s too simple for me!" It said aloud, seeing Lothur''s tricks without taking them seriously.

    Then, as the silver-haired young man leaped to strike it, this creature used one of its front paws to move toward Lothur''s body.

    Pow!

    That paw,rger than Lothur''s body, struck him as he attacked, touching first his staff and only then the rest of his body.

    Anyway, the shock was strong enough to change the expression on Lothur''s face and throw him in the opposite direction as if he were a cannonball.

    Crack!

    Strange sounds reverberated from that area, with as many rocks cracking as Lothur''s bones fracturing.

    "Ahhhhhh!"

    He opened his mouth as he hit his back on the wall there and eximed in pain, feeling the weight from that paw.

    ''Bastard! It really did use 50% power above mine!'' He felt the difference in powers, noting that the creature had reasonable control over its own strength but also that it could hurt him quite a bit.

    Lothur looked in the direction of one of that creature''s front legs, and the dinosaurughed as it realized the problem.

    "That? You think that can affect me?" It swung its paw, where a little ck me had appeared on top of it.

    When it hit Lothur, that creature''s paw hade into contact with the ck mes on the Elemental Staff. Consequently, it was now in contact with that ability of the young Ritter.

    Those mes did not simply disappear when it swung its paw, but they diminished in intensity after entering the body of this projection.

    "Uh?" The great Tyrannosaurus Rex stopped looking at Lothur and looked toward its chest, feeling that dark energy moving through its body. "That''s a good ability, but it won''t defeat me or diminish my strength..."<novelnext></novelnext>

    "The opposite of that, it just pisses me off!" It shouted as it jumped against Lothur while that young man frowned and gave a way to disengage himself from that wall.

    Laser Vision!

    Lothur used this alternative to avoid suffering from another immediate blow as he tried to get back to the ground.

    When twosers shot out of Lothur''s eyes towards the beast projection''s head, Lothur sensed danger and dodged.

    "Now that''s strong. I''ll give you that!" The creature managed to escape and looked back to where theser fired by Lothur had hit the top of the dome.

    At that spot, two holes with a radius of 5 centimeters, more than 3 meters deep, appeared amidst the vapor from within them.

    ''That''s not so far from the power of my projection...'' This creature thought to itself, impressed by Lothur''s abilities. ''It seems that one of his Soul Bones is already well developed...''

    "You are fortunate, brat!"

    Lothur saw that and could not help but disagree. ''What kind of luck is that? What''s the point of having a strong power but not being able to hit your opponent? It only makes sense if it can help me win!''

    So he and the dinosaur soon began to dance, with Lothur dodging in the best ways possible while dealing with the asional blows he suffered.

    The opponent was doing what it promised, so even when it hit Lothur, this young man did not suffer unreasonably. Of course, this silver-haired fellow felt pain and suffered damage to his body, but it was not enough to knock him out.

    Amidst all this, his Super Regeneration was doing its best to keep him going and not have to remain with the same injuries until the end of the fight.

    ''If I use my EVF points, I won''t aplish anything since it will probably attack harder after my advances.'' Lothur thought about this after more than an hour of fighting.

    He felt his clothes soaked with sweat and the stench of blood in his body reaching his nostrils. ''Then I''d better cautiously use these EVF points to regenerate my worst injuries slowly.''

    ''Only then will I be able tost 24 hours!''

    "What? Just over an hour has passed!" The dinosaur said this in a teasing tone, seeing the tired look in Lothur''s eyes. "Don''t tell me you''re giving up?"

    "Tsk!"

    "Who''s giving up?" Lothur moved and made his afterimage appear, once again trying to deliver an asional blow to his opponent just to train his offensive abilities.

    "Hahaha, that''s the spirit!" That creature jumped up to deflect Lothur''s attack.

    Following its spinning jump, this being directed its hind legs towards Lothur''s body, preparing to kick this opponent.

    Pow!

    "Ahhhh!"

    Lothur took a blow to his back and flew opposite that dinosaur''s movement, rolling like a barrel, before finallying to a stop near one of the walls in that area.

    "Lothur, I''ll give you a hint." The creature said. "If you don''t get stronger quickly, you will be surrounded and killed."

    "And most importantly, don''t contact the Seraphim Church. They won''t like you, haha." It closed its eyes andughed, imagining what it had felt earlier when Lothur killed the demon.

    ...

 Chapter 488 Passing Challenge 2

    This creature had sensed how Lothur had killed the demon earlier, using his bloodline and one of his affinities, darkness, to absorb that creature''s base Natural Laws.

    Since it knew that such beings among demon-hunting humans hardly existed, this dinosaur already imagined that the Seraphim Church would see Lothur as an enemy.

    This organization had a monopoly on the human method of ying demons, so Lothur having this ability without at least swearing allegiance to them would already be a problem. But while the weaker ones in that institution had no way to perceive the difference between Lothur''s body and soul, he could easily end up attracting the attention of someone capable of that.

    If this happened, this tyrannosaurus rex was sure that the Church would make an enemy of Lothur and kill him, even though this young man''s case was not so simple.

    Not everyone was willing to take risks like this beast in such a chaotic world.

    The mysterious one was scary, and it was better to kill an innocent than to risk allowing danger to run wild!

    Lothur heard the words of that creature and frowned, not understanding why the Church could want his death.

    "Why? Isn''t one of the purposes of that organization precisely to protect humans from demons by hunting these beings? Why would they stand against someone who can kill demons as I can?" He asked as he continued to move so as not to suffer from his opponent''s blows.

    The creature moved its body so that it bit in Lothur''s direction, continuing this test even amid this dialogue. "You will eventually find out. But don''t be in a hurry to do so."

    "Sometimes being ignorant saves you and avoids a lot of trouble... So don''t want to rush things so much."

    It did not think it would be good to put extra weight on Lothur''s shoulders by giving away the information it had about his situation. If this young man wanted to live in peace without being in the spotlight, it would be much better not to know anything, or it might very well get in his way.

    Or worse, it could hasten his death!

    So it was better to keep Lothur in ignorance for the moment and give him a chance to go unnoticed while he was still weak.

    "In any case, you don''t need the Church to learn how to kill demons. You are already fully capable of doing that. And even if you want information they might have, there are ways to get that sort of thing without getting involved with them."

    "That is, of course, if you want to take my suggestion." Itughed. "If you don''t mind dying, go ahead. In no time, someone stronger than my real self will show up to take care of you, hahaha."

    Gulp!

    Lothur could feel that the true body of the projection in front of him was much more potent than this opponent of his. That way, he swallowed his saliva in fear, trying to understand what kind of trouble would be behind this warning.

    ''Is it my bloodline ability? Is it too abominable?'' He thought, considering that being able to absorb the powers of other beings was somewhat frightening.

    With that in mind, he and the dinosaur continued to fight until he managed to make it through the first 6-hour cycle, finally getting a few minutes of rest.

    ...

    [+3.4 in all physical attributes.]

    [+2.2 in AGI.]

    [+0.8 in WIL.]

    [+0.8 in CON.]

    [+3 in DEX.]

    [+3.1 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 104.2] [CON: 330.2] [DEX: 101] [AGI: 109]

    [INT: 113] [PER: 187.3] [WIL: 115.8]

    [EVF: 320 -> 220]<novelnext></novelnext>

    Lothur saw his progress over thest 6 hours of training with that dinosaur, as well as the EVF points that were gone for him to be able to recover from the damage to his body.

    He could live with those injuries and let his body regenerate them on its own without spending those points. But if he did that, he would not recover in time to continue fighting for the next 18 hours against that beast.

    Hence, he spared no effort and did what was necessary to ensure a good fighting condition, regenerating his body while drinking a water bottle.

    Meanwhile, the dinosaur watched its opponent, noting Lothur''s phenomenal recovery abilities. ''It seems his chances are greater than just 30%...''

    It saw no problem with this and liked that the first to arrive at this ce was already someone with the ability to ovee this challenge.

    So Lothur''s minutes of rest passed, and the two returned to their ''dance.''

    When Lothur made his first move, that projection noticed that its opponent''s powers had subtly increased, and its eyes narrowed.

    ''Oh? You managed to evolve in the short time you had to rest? Phenomenal, it''s no wonder your people are so troublesome!''

    He then increased his speed and attack power, surprising Lothur with a blow to the back that hurt even more than the previous ones.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Lothur hit his face on one of the stones that formed the dome of this ce, screaming in pain.

    "Why did you increase your strength? That was over 50% more power than mine!"

    "You''re too naughty to say that, Lothur. Your strength clearly increased!" The beast loudly said whileughing. "For that, I will also raise my strength in the same proportion. If you cannot keep up with me, me only your own weakness!"

    "Tsk!"

    Lothur clenched his fists and did his best to shake off the rocks where his body had crashed, returning to the center of the battle area in the blink of an eye.

    ...

    The next day...

    While Lothur was with that beast on thest level of thebyrinth, the other beings that had entered the fifth corridor of thebyrinth had already given up their challenges and left that ce.

    But the yellow crocodile and the level 16 lizard were at the only exit from there, curious to know if Lothur had given up or managed to advance the corridor that limited them.

    "What do you think? Did he advance to the next corridor, or has he given up before us?" The lizard asked.

    "He probably gave up..."

    "Hmm, so where''s my payment?" That lizard showed one of its paws to the crocodile beside it for it to pay for its bet.

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Are you going to run from the bet now?" That fellow''s eyes narrowed.

    "Run? Me?" The crocodile said proudly. "I haven''t lost to you yet. If he has made it to the sixth corridor, you will also have made a mistake, and our bet will be worthless."

    "Nonsense!"

    "I clearly won!" The lizard did not like that and eximed in anger, feeling that it would be fooled by this yellow creature. "Are you going to pay me or not?"

    "Tsk!"

    The crocodile started walking toward the exit of that ce, interested in returning to its home.

    "Bastard!"

    "I knew I couldn''t trust a damn crocodile! You yellow worm!"

    "What did you say?" That creature turned and looked at its distant cousin. "Repeat it if you have the guts!"

    ...

 Chapter 489 Last Day In The Three Great Lakes Region

    When the great crocodile spoke in irritation, its opponent did not back down and called it a yellow one-eyed creature.

    With that insult, that creature jumped toward its opponent, angrily attacking this shameless green being that was jerking it around.

    "You bastard, you''re just a tadpole!"

    "Fuck you, you yellow bastard!"

    The two exchanged various offenses as they were estranged.

    One of them tried to bite the other with its razor-sharp teeth, and the other used its ws to cut the hide off its opponent.

    As the two began a fight that wouldst for hours, the weaker beasts passing in the vicinity cursed these two beings for impeding their passage.

    ''How will we get in the way of the human if they are fighting and preventing our passage?'' A toad thought to itself, sighing that those two beings stronger than it had started this senseless dispute.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Peters City...

    Lothur''s women were already beginning to worry about his disappearance, considering several days had passed since the incident in the Finn Mountains.

    Amidst their anguish, they were training hard, with Annaliese and Viktoria even having advanced in level these days due to the spiritual crystals left by Lothur.

    Because of these items, the stronger of the two had reached level 14, while their younger sister had reached level 12.

    Elke had also improved in thest few days. But without the possibility of absorbing the crystals given to her by Lothur, she had not have had such fabulous results as these two.

    In any case, she was apprehensive about her man''s disappearance, even considering all the activities that she had been doing to upy her mind.

    Among these activities, she, Annaliese, and Viktoria were taking care of Ritter Motor Company matters almost daily. After all, besides being Lothur''s women, they were members of families with significant shares of thatpany.

    And that was what the three of them were doing this morning in one of the outermost parts of Peters City.

    "That''s the ce, First Miss Frost." A middle-aged man said this as he showed a piece ofnd the size of four ser fields to her and the other two. "I am sure this ce can be used for what you have asked me for."

    The Ritter Motor Company already had the site of its future factory, and men from the associated families of Lothur were slowly building it.

    But the Linn Paving Company was yet to be developed and needed a ce to begin operations.

    The three women from Lothur were doing just that right now!

    Elke looked at the surroundings and said. "This ce looks good. We might be able to build something near our factory."

    "Yes, besides, if the local government doesn''t make it too difficult for us, we can even build a small road in the models Lothur has already told us between those ces."

    When he had ryed the message to the local powers about the pavingpany that would need to be developed, Lothur had put the basic model of the roads in his message. Because of this, these women knew what he wanted and were advancing the service so that they would have a way to test cars on the local streets when the first one was ready.

    The streets of Peters City were not so bad that the cars would need constant repairs because of potholes and irregrities. The roads between cities were the ones that were so bad. But in the city, even with good quality streets and avenues, there was a need for signage and minor repairs.

    So they would still depend on local changes for the best movement of their vehicles.

    "We''ll look at thatter." Viktoria said before using some of the Ritter Motor Company reserves, she picked up the day before to pay that salesman.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur had finally survived the 24-hour dinosaur challenge, being at this moment agitatedly breathing as he was slumped on his back on the ground.

    He had a proud smile on his face, and even though he was pretty sweaty and had several injuries that would take him a while to recover from, he was pleased that he had made it this far.

    The results had also been great, so he could not help but look at his status with joy.<novelnext></novelnext>

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 13 -> 14]

    [STR: 104.2 -> 123.7]

    [CON: 330.2 -> 342.8]

    [DEX: 101 -> 120.2]

    [AGI: 109 -> 125.8]

    [INT: 113]

    [PER: 187.3]

    [WIL: -> 118.2]

    [EVF: 220 -> 0]

    He had used all of his EVF points to recover in thest few rests, which made his progress to this point possible.

    At the same time, on thest of his rests, he had managed to raise his level, having again undergone a marrow cleanse.

    The dinosaur could not see Lothur''s attributes, but it knew that this young man was getting stronger and stronger and said. "Very well, you have an impressive physique and have reached the end of my test."

    "Now, you may choose one of the items on my master''s body."

    Lothur looked in the direction of that sitting skeleton, seeing with his visual ability a total of three items that should be powerful artifacts.

    But then, the creature said. "But before I send you to the training chamber, I want to give you the information I promised earlier."

    "Information? What''s it about?" Lothur sat with his legs crossed, still agitatedly breathing as he regained his breath.

    The projection in front of him sat on the ground and began to speak. "This Immortals Well was not simply manipted by my master to help low-level beings be stronger. My master found this ce at that time, and upon realizing it had special characteristics, he decided to use it to create his challenge."

    "That challenge would be the test of preparation for someonepatible to gain the minimum necessary to carry out a mission." It said in a serious tone.

    "It was meant to test the skills needed for that special mission. If someone did not have what was needed, they would naturally be barred, killed, or fail to reach this ce and fight me."

    "What mission?" Lothur questioned.

    "To fight against the Demon Emperor''s interests!" It said as it looked up at that ce''s ceiling, imagining where its body was.

    Just like beings of all other species, Demons had some sort of organization of things between them, even considering all their chaos. And as such, leaders would rise among them from time to time, unite them around one purpose, and bring tragedy to the other races of this world.

    The Demon Emperor was someone like this, a being who was supposed to have been born in the time of this beast''s master and was predicted to bring cmity again to the continent.

    As a great enemy of demons, the master of this creature had left behind a method of training and preparing someone to pursue his purpose.

    The eradication of this cursed species!

    ...

 Chapter 490 Difficult Mission

    Eradicating the demon species would not be easy. These creatures were very skilled in their regeneration and could live much longer than beings of other races. That is, while the few specialists who could eliminate them had a short time to act against them, these beings could torment different generations.

    They knew very well how to hide. When needed, they disappeared from the world for millennia, sometimes long enough for some specialists to die of old age.

    Because of these special characteristics of demons, even in low numbers and even considering the long history of hostility they had with other beings, they still existed in this world.

    So even though the number of demons to be killed for this purpose to be achieved was not so great for Concordia''s killing scale, this was a high number of dead demons for someone to achieve in life.

    Precisely because of this, to ''shorten'' the path of the one pursuing this purpose, this person would have to specialize in different aspects and be a true cultivation genius. Only then, with various skills, affinities, resistances, etc., could this being be able to hunt and kill many demons.

    That is why the tests and opportunities in the Immortals Well were so good but, at the same time, so difficult for most beings to take advantage of.

    They were simply not designed for ordinary individuals but for the few monsters that could appear on this continent!

    Anyway, Lothur understood about such a mission and asked. "What information were you going to give me anyway? Was it about this ce?"

    "No." The projection said. "It''s about the Demon Emperor."

    "To fulfill the mission left by my master, you will have to n and eventually seed in killing the Demon Emperor. The information I have is about when and where you will be able to start."

    "Huh?" Lothur did not understand that, but he soon heard the exnation.

    "You should not look for it before you be a Saint..."

    "Uh, if that never happens, you should just ignore the mission and live your life. I''m sure someone else will reach this ce in the future..." It said, trying not to put so much weight on Lothur''s shoulders. "But if you achieve that feat, that will be the time for you to start looking for it."

    ''4th stage?" Lothur wondered to himself, feeling how high the threat level was. Even if it were at level 18, he would be in such danger that just looking for that being would already be so problematic for him that it would be better to give up.

    The creature continued, ignoring Lothur''s open mouth. "As for where, you can start your search between Norid and Rablus. Supposedly, demon leaders are often seen between those two states."

    Norid and Rablus were empires in the northern part of Concordia, states so far from Leopoldine that Lothur had never heard of them.

    "Supposedly?" Lothur frowned his eyebrows.

    "Yes, supposedly." The creaturemented. "The number of reports of demon encounters between these two states is somewhat high. And I must tell you, those are not weak ces."

    "They border the Ancestral Region."

    "As such, the reports are not of weak beings but of mighty demons!"

    He looked away and sighed. "But since no one knows exactly where the demon headquarters is, we assume it is near these two states."

    Lothur understood the problem and no longer questioned that being, having just stood up to go to the side of the skeleton of that dinosaur''s master.

    But that creature added something else in its words for this young man to understand the drama of this mission. "Anyway, know that the demon leader of this era is not young, and this time its kind may end up defeating the other races of this world if they were not fought urgently."

    Demons were very talented beings, but their cultivation was rtively slow. For example, the demon that generated the most recent Lothur Soul Bone had decades of life, and yet the cultivation at only the beginning of 2nd stage, even though it was pretty talented.<novelnext></novelnext>

    These beings had long maturation intervals, in which they hardly developed at all. After that, there would be periods of sudden development, usually associated with the period when their savagery would get stronger, and they would devour more of the human flesh.

    Special resources could strengthen them quickly in the short term, but this damaged their foundations even more than would happen with pill-dependent humans, for example. Thus, these beings only used this possibility in troublesome times when their lives were at stake.

    Beings like this got stronger and stronger as they got older. They did not have the problem of mere mortals who had their peak in the middle of their life and had to deal with the decay that woulde afterward.

    So the Demon Emperor was at its peak, while the beings who knew about it were mostly approaching or even already in the decay stage!

    Lothur heard that and looked at that beast, feeling something in his mind as if this threat was not strange. ''Is that it? Is that what the system is for?'' He wondered, thinking about the remote possibility that the purpose of the system was to fight the Demon Emperor.

    But the system obviously would not answer him about that sort of thing, so Lothur soon returned his attention to the items on the skeleton right in front of him.

    "All right. I''ll remember those points." He said to that dinosaur.

    After that, Lothur put one of his hands on the first of the three items, a golden ring with a red stone, which was on the right index finger of that skeleton.

    [Golden Finger] [Rank: Gold]

    [Characteristic: this ring can create ayer on the finger that the wearer of it chooses to ce it on.]

    [Detail: when activated, the finger chosen by the wearer bes the Golden Finger, which is so tough that it can bring the finger''s strength to the same level as the wearer''s body power.]

    Constitution was almost always the highest physical attribute of all since the other attributes were basically measures of how efficient that being''s own body mastery was.

    That is, if someone had a higher Strength than Constitution, that individual would end up in a lot of trouble if they used everything they had.

    That was basically a guarantee of injury from one''s own attack!

    So Constitution was almost always the primary attribute, and having one''s attack power raised to the level of it was no small thing!

    Lothur liked that item but made sure to check out the others just to ensure he would not miss something better items in this ce.

    [Transcendental Ne] [Rank: Gold]

    [Characteristics: this ne imposes elemental resistances on the wearer''s body.]

    [Detail: it can protect the wearer''s body from elemental attacks of up to 100% of the wearer''s power. It can also indicate the location of elemental fluctuations of the wearer''s choice.]

    Lothur saw that and soon understood that this should have been useful in demon investigation and fighting for someone without his characteristics.

    ''No good for me...'' He thought before touching the third item while being watched by the Tyrannosaurus Rex projection.

    ...

 Chapter 491 Promise

    [Remorseful de] [Rank: Quasi-tinum]

    [Characteristics: this sword has part of a spectre''s essence within it as its core, so it shares characteristics with that being.]

    [Details: it can purify or eliminate spectres, but it is also a weapon capable of inflicting incurable damage on demons up to 100% stronger than the sword user.]

    Lothur saw the details of this weapon and was open-mouthed, shocked at the first thing he had ever seen or touched that had the name ''tinum'' in its rating.

    Obviously, being strict, this was a Gold-grade item. But it was so far above other items of this grade that it deserved to be one level above it.

    Since this level was closer to the tinum grade, Lothur could not help but be moved with this item.

    ''Quasi-tinum... That should do a damned bit of damage when used against demons.'' He imagined this as he yed with that sword a bit.

    But even if one side of him wanted to make him choose it, his reason would not allow him to ignore the other characteristics of the others.

    Something was not necessarily better just because it had a higher rating. As long as there were differences in usability andpatibility, a lower-quality item might prove to be the most suitable.

    That was the situation with the Golden Finger, which, despite only being a Gold-grade item, could give Lothur something hecked. But, on the other hand, the quasi-tinum-grade sword could do nothing new for him, despite how impressive it was.

    With that in mind, Lothur could not help but choose that ring after much resistance.

    "I will take that item." He showed the golden ring to the dinosaur projection.

    Upon seeing that, the creature there was somewhat surprised to see Lothur choosing that item, not the sword. ''It seems he understands more of the remnants left by my master than he seems to...''

    "Well, are you ready to move on to the next chamber?" It asked without questioning this fellow''s motivations.

    Lothur ced the ring on his right index finger and nodded to that beast. "I am ready."

    "Very well. I will now send you to the training chamber, where you will have the next 24 hours to train before I send you out of it." It said as it pressed its two front paws against each other without touching them.

    A dark hole slowly opened up in the middle of them, and it said. "Good luck. If we get the chance one day, I would like to see you in person..."

    With these words, this being did not give Lothur a chance to ask or say anything else. Instead, it immediately caused this young man''s body to be sucked through that hole, sending him into space to the side of that area.

    Lothur did not think it was bad and just remained silent, seeing that this projection was not the type to talk more than necessary.

    He kept what information he could about this ce in his mind, along with the being''sst words.

    He was curious to meet that dinosaur, as well as to question it about other beings of its species. But he had not had the opportunity this time and could only wait for fate to give him another chance to hear something about these beings.

    But Lothur''s priority was to take advantage of the opportunities of this ce and leave in the direction of Peters City in order as soon as possible to return to his ns with the Ritter Motor Company.

    Immediately after falling out of the hole that sucked him into a ce surrounded by white mist, quite clear, he focused his senses and prepared to train.

    That was the training room of the Immortals Well, the area where the Laws and elements of all this remnant of the humanoid species of sea beasts that had lived there in the past were most concentrated.

    Because of this, any being that entered there and had the chance even to stand still, breathing the surrounding air, could achieveprehension improvements in their techniques.<novelnext></novelnext>

    But if this fortunate being took the opportunity to train, their benefits would be much better!

    Lothur did not need to hear about this from anyone. Besides the ce''s name indicating the obvious, he had already been to a ce simr to this, only of a lower level, when he had been in Lewerenz.

    ''Great!''

    ''I will improve my understanding of my techniques and have physical advancements beyond normal by training here!'' He smiled as he checked his surroundings, which were empty.

    Then Lothur stowed his non-essential items in his spatial ring and soon began training, not wanting to waste time from the limited hours he would have there.

    Cross Walk!

    ...

    A few hourster, outside thebyrinth...

    The two level 16 great beasts had just finished their hours-long battles in that ce,ing to a draw when both were already severely wounded and gave up this senseless fight.

    But that had not happened because of brotherhood consciousness or any other nonsense. On the contrary, in the middle of their conflict, one of the beasts in the area informed them that Lothur had not yet left thebyrinth.

    Some beasts had been watching the corridors connecting thebyrinth with other chambers in the Immortals Well to cause trouble for him. Thus, some beings in this ce knew that Lothur had been missing since he had started the challenge of thebyrinth.

    When one of those beings decided to see why Lothur was taking so long to finish that ce, it came across the fight between the two Transcendent beasts and gave the information that finalized their conflict.

    "Did he really do it?" The crocodile wondered aloud, not believing this, what should be the most likely possibility behind Lothur''s disappearance.

    "Maybe he died..." The other said, but sincerely wishing that Lothur had aplished that feat.

    As much as they themselves were not going to benefit from it, perhaps Lothur had the hint for them to make it to the next level of thebyrinth. And at worst, they would at least be able to learn about whaty ahead of their limit.

    As such, both beasts wished Lothur sess in this regard, and when they left from there, they headed straight for where the main beasts of thiske were supposed to be.

    "What about our bet?" The lizard asked halfway down the path for them to inform their leaders of the situation.

    The other Transcendent said. "If Lothur died, I lost the bet. But if he''s still alive, we both made a mistake."

    "Hmm, I can ept that." This lizard shook its head, feeling that this was not unfair.

    The white fox that had partnered with Lothur earlier heard this and felt terrible, thinking it would be a great injustice for someone like that fellow to die in this ce.

    The Immortals Well had its dangers, and beasts asionally died there. But talented beings did not usually perish in this ce because besides having good talents to take advantage of opportunities, they usually knew their own limits.

    Considering how it judged Lothur, this white beast was hopeful that the silver-haired young man had reached the end of thebyrinth!

    ''If you are alive, I will give you a ride back to your city.'' It thought to itself silently as it sat down in front of the exit of thebyrinth.

 Chapter 492 Time To Go

    Hourster, near the end of the time Lothur had in that training ce...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 14]

    [STR: 140.1] [CON: 351] [DEX: 135] [AGI: 143.9]

    [INT: 113] [PER: 187.3] [WIL: 130]

    [EVF: 0]

    ...

    [+8.1 in all physical attributes.]

    [+6.2 in AGI.]

    [+2.1 in WIL.]

    [+2.1 in CON.]

    [+7.1 in DEX.]

    [+7.8 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 14]

    [STR: 156] [CON: 361.2] [DEX: 150.2] [AGI: 158.2]

    [INT: 113] [PER: 187.3] [WIL: 132.1]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur saw thest of his progress in this ce when he had less than 10 minutes to finish his time.

    He had made the most of this area capable of promoting the results of ordinary living creature training, having reached an outstanding level considering his previous strengths.

    By the time he reached this region, Lothur was at about a little more than a third of the value of his current physical attributes, except for his Constitution. As such, his abilities had increased significantly. Now, he judged that he would be able to make his journey back to Peters City in the time remaining for his mission.

    Noting how much he had progressed in this location, Lothury down on the ground and rxed for a few moments.

    He sighed in satisfaction, waiting for the moment he would be sent out of there.

    ''Now I will settle the matter of the demon with that toad, and then I will leave back for Peters City.'' He clenched his fists, wondering how his women were.

    But Lothur did not just think about that. Considering how strong he was now, if one of his enemies in Linn Province proved too bold against him, he had enough power to act.

    He was still not as strong as level 16, Soul Core Transcendent, soul cultivators. Still, he was already close to them and could not be easily threatened.

    There were not many of these individuals in Peters City. So, his path was finally less ''tumultuous,'' and he could achieve his short-term goals more easily.

    With that, the remaining time came to an end, and soon another hole appeared in that space, this time sucking Lothur out of it and back into thebyrinth.

    But young Ritter had no chance to talk to the previous tyrannosaurus rex projection. Instead, that creature sent him straight to thebyrinth''s entrance, from where Lothur could easily find his way out of the Immortals Well.

    ...

    Zum!

    As Lothur fell from the ceiling above the entrance to thebyrinth, he hit the ground face-first, not having time to see who was in the vicinity.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''That fellow...'' He thought as he closed his eyes and felt a little pain on his face.

    He could not fly, and since his body''s power had some rtion to its weight, a fall, even from a low height, could cause pain in people like him.

    Obviously, if he had prepared himself, this would not be a problem since his defensive technique could absorb all the damage generated by gravitational eleration. But the dinosaur from earlier had acted without giving Lothur time, and he ended up in this situation.

    Fortunately, that was no big deal. Afterughing to himself, Lothur looked at his surroundings, noticing that he was not alone.

    "Fox?" He asked as he saw the white creature he had met earlier before being attacked by the yellow crocodile.

    "Au! Au!" It barked at him as it approached Lothur, wagging its tail swiftly.

    "So you were waiting for me?" He asked as he surmised that such a thing must be the only reason this creature was standing there alone, doing nothing.

    ''Human, did you make it?'' It asked, but Lothur could only hear barking.

    "Hmm, I know, I know." He bent down and massaged this creature''s head, sensing that this beast was not bad.

    Though wild, it was not unreasonable, and it remembered that they had fought side by side. And from the looks of it, it was grateful for his help, so Lothur could not help but recognize its value.

    "Au! Au!"

    After a few moments besides that creature, Lothur indicated that he was leaving and moved on to leave this ce.

    He walked to the smallke within that area, from where he could ess thergeke, which gave ess to the well he had been pushed into.

    But in the middle of his way to that ce, suddenly, that fox bit his clothes and pulled him in a different direction.

    ''Not that way. That''s the entrance.'' It barked, but Lothur did not understand.

    "Why are you pulling me? I''m trying to get back to where I came from. I''m not going to stay in this ce anymore." He said to this creature, trying to get back on his way.

    Since Lothur was faster than that beast, he easily managed to get rid of it and swim toward the well from which he hade.

    When he got there, he saw that it would not be easy to climb back up, but he thought it was not impossible to climb the walls of that well.

    ''I think I can do it!''

    ...

    30 minutester...

    Lothur finished climbing the well he had been pushed down earlier, reaching the top of therge rock where the strongest beasts in the area had been days ago.

    Upon reaching there, he came across only one of these beings, a giant snake that was resting in front of the entrance to the Immortals Well.

    "Uh? Human? What are you doing here?" That creature was very perceptive and immediately noticed the sound of water dripping from Lothur''s clothes.

    "What am I doing?" That young man said awkwardly. "I just finished my time here. I''m leaving."

    "Oh? But why did youe through the entrance? This ce is tooplicated to leave." The snake said, before indicating with its head one of the banks of theke, about a kilometer away. "There''s the exit. Everyone is waiting for you there."

    "Uh?" Lothur looked in that direction and saw a white fox lying in the sand, looking in his direction while standing next to various stronger beasts.

    Noticing his mistake, he turned a little red. Still, since he had already found the location of the giant toad, he immediately ran in that direction to finish his business in this area.

    As he did so, the red-eyed woman with a body covered in ck clothes saw this and was pleased that Lothur had left that ce alive.

    She could not see through that ce, as was also the case for the beasts and humans in the area. So she did not know what had happened to Lothur in thest few days.

    But still, considering the opportunities the area held, it was pretty likely that he had gained some significant improvements in his strength.

    ''He must be 30% to 40% stronger.'' She imagined that Lothur would perform simrly to the beasts in the area.

    As for human results, neither she nor Daemon''s group could infer anything about that. For some reason, beings above level 17 were prevented by a strange force from entering that ce.

    But even without knowing more about the area, she was confident that Lothur could have benefited from the opportunity created by Daemon and her.

    ...

 Chapter 493 Before Leaving

    After seeing that Lothur was all right, that woman felt that she had fulfilled her purpose and left the area without leaving a trace of her presence there.

    Meanwhile, that silver-haired young man ran to the side where the great toad and the other strongest beasts in that area were gathered.

    "Oh? Why are youing from the rock?" One of them asked while the othersughed, right after they had heard what the level 14 white fox had told them.

    Lothur felt like a fool in front of these beasts and said. "It doesn''t matter... I am here to thank you for the opportunity and to pay for what I received here."

    "Pay? You don''t have to worry about that." The big brown-haired monkey said, sensing that the woman from before might attack them if they demanded some kind ofpensation. "Everything in the Immortals Well belongs to those who conquer it by their own efforts."

    "We merely opened the door for you..." Another of themmented in a low voice.

    Then the great toad asked. "What about the demon? What happened to it? Did it escape from you?"

    "If that happened, we''ll have to get together as soon as possible to capture it..." The yellow crocodile murmured beside the lizard from earlier as the two looked impressed at Lothur.

    They had told everything they had experienced inside the Immortals Well to these beasts. Because of this, they were standing there, waiting for Lothur.

    But when the fox arrived before the silver-haired young man, they all found out that Lothur had finished thebyrinth and was about to leave.

    So besides getting rid of paying the previous bet to that being next to it, that crocodile was curious to know what had happened and was worried about the demon.

    Lothur then answered the giant toad,ughing in a humorless manner. "About that, hehe, I eventually found a way to kill it. Since I needed to be stronger to get through thebyrinth, I absorbed that Soul Bone..."

    "Oh?"

    "Huh?"

    "You killed it?" Several of those beasts were surprised to hear that since they knew that Lothur should not have been able to do that days ago, or he would not have allowed that creature to live for so long.

    That toad was slightly surprised by this, but it did not feel so bad about this ''loss'' since the senior from earlier had already made it give up on having good gains with that demon.

    ''It looks like I''lle out losing on this one...'' It pondered until Lothur pulled something out of his spatial ring that caught the attention of everyone there.

    "Senior, since I promised it would be yours after fulfilling your promises, I will return something of value to you to make up for the lost value." He showed the item in his hands to these beasts. "That is a Dragon''s Tooth, something that can help you raise your strength quite a bit."

    "What?"

    "What is it?"

    "Dragon''s Tooth?"

    "How powerful!"

    All the beasts there realized the rich energy of that item and widened their eyes as they approached Lothur.

    The most impressed one was naturally the level 17 toad, to whom Lothur gave that item.

    Gulp!

    "Are you serious, kid? I won''t give it back if you go through with it!" It roared while almost drooling in front of Lothur.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Hey, hold on. Let''s talk about this..." One of those level 17 beasts shouted, stopping Lothur from speaking. "That thing is too much for just one of us. I believe we can split it, right?"

    "Yes, I think so too." The great monkey said. "That is too much power for just one. Let''s split it."

    The toad found itself surrounded by eyes interested in its tooth and red at those beings. "How are you all so shameless? Weren''t you just saying now that you don''t need rewards? What''s that now?"

    "Nothing. You know we were talking in rtion to that young man. Not you!" The snake atop that rock earlier got there after feeling a powerful spiritual fluctuation from Lothur''s hands.

    Lothur bitterly smiled as he saw the situation developing and said. "Well, I can''t use that, so I''ll leave it to you. But since the senior was responsible for bringing me here, you guys should at least let it absorb these powers in the first ce."

    "It''s not like it''s going to absorb all this power at once and be able to take on everyone here..." He said, trying to help that toad so that this being would not face a war over that tooth.

    His idea was to give it only to the toad. Still, seeing that these beasts were already coveting that tooth, Lothur suggested something to try to keep the beasts in harmony.

    That item was too powerful to be absorbed in a short period by a single being, so splitting it up was not such a bad idea.

    Considering this, that creature had to give up achieving dreams it had not even thought it would have the chance to achieve and epted Lothur''s proposal.

    "If you go along with what he suggested, I won''t fight." The grating toadmented while the other beings thought that this was better.

    Everyone there would love to have the chance to absorb that on their own. But whoever had possession of the bone would eventually end up attracting the interest of the others.

    At the same time, they already knew each other well enough and were not the only powerful beings in the area!

    So it was better to share among themselves rather than risk self-destruction or attract attention from other powerful beings in the Three Great Lakes Region.

    They agreed among themselves, and as soon as Lothur handed that item to the great toad, most of those level 17 beasts left, running towards a ce where they intended to hide with it.

    Only one level 17 beast stayed behind to say goodbye to Lothur, for it was the weakest of these beings and had been left responsible for it.

    "You were very kind with your offer, human. That makes up for anything." This creature said aloud, extremely pleased but also in a hurry to get his chance to absorb some of that as soon as possible.

    "What do you intend to do now?"

    "I''m going to leave. There''s nothing left in this ce for me, and I''ve got enough to try to make my journey." Hemented before looking in the direction from which the giant toad had departed.

    ''That fellow... It had promised to guide me through the rest of the area, but now...'' Lothur shook his head as he noticed that he was alone in this return of his.

    But then, the fox beside the beings left behind stood up and barked at him a few times.

    "Au! Au!"

    "Hmm? What does it want?" He asked the Transcendent beasts in front of him.

    "It asked if you don''t want it to help you to return to your city." The level 16 crocodile said to Lothur. "It may not be as strong as you, but it can outrun humans of a higher level than yours."

    "Oh? It wants that?" Lothur was surprised and smiled since that would not be a bad thing.

    ...

 Chapter 494 Beginning Of The Journey Back

    Beasts were beings with great physical capacity, which went beyond their attribute values.

    That is, just like demons, beings with the special characteristic of regeneration, beasts had their unique traits. In their case, resistance to physical exercise was their hallmark, which put them at the forefront of all kinds of physicalbor.

    For example, a beast with the Constitution value ''x'' would have simr characteristics to a human with the same ''x'' value. But it could stand to fight for much longer with a human of the same power as it, or even walk, fly or run, for much longer than such a being.

    That is why beasts and animals were used as the main driving force for vehicles and mounts for humans across the continent.

    As such, even though Lothur had a higher Constitution and speed value than that fox, its help would be of great value to him.

    He would, at most, be able to maintain his maximum speed for a few minutes, while if he ran with less than his capabilities, he would still have to stop every 2 or 3 hours.

    On the other hand, the beast could handle moving at almost the same speed as he could, but it would not have to stop much, only once per day of the journey!

    So having that beast as his temporary mount would be enough for Lothur to save about a full day of travel.

    They would still have to make stops to eat and rest, but with the help of this fox, Lothur could use more of his time to train instead of just rest.

    The crocodile then said. "Yes, it said it would give you a ride to your ce."

    "But won''t it be dangerous? It''s only at the 5th Revolution. With that level of power, the local leaders in the area I''m going to will probably try to capture it." Hemented, looking at that crocodile as he nodded to the fox.

    "That''s right..." The level 17 beastmented as it looked at that white being that was small next to it but was still bigger than Lothur.

    They exined Lothur''s words to that beast, making it realize the trouble it would have if it went on to that ce.

    But it had already promised to help him, so it did not want to back out now.

    "I''m willing to go anyway. At worst, I''ll stick around him for a while until I can get back safely." It said in itsnguage, making those other beings listen to her and then trante to Lothur.

    "Well, I will help you as best I can while you are with me." Hemented, satisfied with that.

    When the fox heard this, it immediately lowered its body beside Lothur, indicating for him to climb on its back.

    He saw that and climbed on without any problems, quickly finding a way to getfortable on top of this furry beast, which was even bigger than a horse.

    "What about its family? Won''t they miss it?" Lothur naively asked.

    "Family?" The Transcendent beastsughed upon hearing that, feeling Lothur could only be making a joke.

    Beasts did not have as firm ties to their close rtives as humans did.

    Beasts, for the most part, were animals capable of cultivation. So they shared the reproductive characteristics of the animal breeds they belonged to.

    Some take care of their young ones in the first days after birth, while others do nothing, just give their genes to these offspring.

    Due to this wild nature, this adult fox would have no problem leaving without talking to anyone.

    At most, the local leaders would need to know of its departure so that the beings in its tribe would not think it had been kidnapped or something of the sort.<novelnext></novelnext>

    But making it clear to these beings that it would leave on its own was enough, so there was no need for further concern.

    Lothur saw that he had asked an unnecessary question and shut up, feeling it was time to leave.

    "Well, if there''s nothing more to be said, I''ll be on my way..."

    But before he left the area, the level 16 lizard asked. "Human, what did you find after the fifth corridor? Is there any way to make our journey there easier?"

    Lothur looked at that creature as he saw the other beings watching him intently. "The hint I can give you is to get an affinity with most of the elements in that ce. That is, something that makes you able to take advantage of the best of each chamber."

    "What? But that''s impossible!" The yellow crocodile said as it found that too difficult.

    Few beasts were born with such affinities. In fact, ordinary beasts did not have these capabilities. Only dragons and unique beings like these had such ability!

    "But that''s what''s needed." He did not lie. "Without it, being at the sixth level of thebyrinth would kill you, even if you could get past the fifth level."

    "At this level, you can''t give up. And that creature... Hmm, I don''t know if I can talk."

    Upon hearing that, the creatures in the surroundings were shocked, noticing there was something of a very high level in that ce.

    "Is that dangerous even for someone at my level?" The level 17 beast asked.

    "Yes. I can feel your strength. But I couldn''t estimate the opponent''s within the sixth level." Lothurmented, knowing that this being could not get there, but it still would not be paired for dinosaur projection if it did. "It''s a real monster!"

    Gulp!

    Those beasts felt frightened by this information since none of them expected that there would be such a powerful creature so close to them.

    "Are you serious?" The lizard asked after swallowing its saliva.

    "Hmm, I wouldn''t lie about that..." He said as he looked away to the horizon ahead. "Well, that is all. Now it''s my time to leave."

    After saying that, he indicated for the white fox to start moving forward in the direction, he knew led out of this Three Great Lakes Region.

    The bear and eagle he had first encountered in this region had taught him a route out of this area, which he could follow without entering any beast territory.

    So he departed that area without further dy while the beasts there stood thinking about his words, regretting they were not as talented.

    "Will we ever see him again?" The crocodile asked the lizard beside it.

    "Who knows... Anyway, I think we will hear from him sooner orter."

    So Lothur began his journey that wouldst a few days, leaving that area without finding his father or trying to find the Transcendent who had given him that teleportation formation.

    He hadints to make but also questions to ask when he arrived there. But after so many opportunities, he no longer felt irritated and thought it best just to return to Peters City without getting involved in bigger trouble.

    His father''s and grandfather''s groups seemed to be even stronger than he could handle. Still, he would undoubtedly already be influential among them. So as not to end up limiting himself, he kept his curiosities about himself in the back of his mind as he traveled on the back of that fox.

 Chapter 495 How To Regret

    Two dayster...

    After departing from the firstke further east in that region, Lothur and Ice hade a long way, having passed the secondke and being in the vicinity of the third at this point.

    This region was quiterge, so the moment they left the area, their journey to Peters City, near the center of Linn Province, would be faster.

    So the two of them had traveled a long distance, having stopped to rest four times. During that time, they did their biological activities, the fox rested, and Lothur trained.

    They had run into trouble on two asions so far. Still, with Lothur''s speed and strength, he had escaped having to fight level 17 beings or beat Transcendent level beasts.

    Lothur had made some minor improvements in those days, butpared to the progress he had made inside the Immortals Well, these were pretty minor and not worth much attention.

    But he had returned to studying his professions, having used some of his time on Ice''s back to continue his studies.

    At this moment, he and Ice were standing not far from thestke on their way out of this region, eating around a small fire.

    There, in one of the free areas near the territory of powerful beings, the great white fox was eating some of the vegetation while Lothur was grilling some vegetables.

    Unfortunately, they could notmunicate, so silence was making a presence in the surroundings, with only the natural noise of this forest area reaching their ears.

    But in the middle of the pause in their journey, Lothur suddenly saw with his visual ability some beings approaching from a distance.

    These were two gigantic rhinos, each at least 5 meters tall with bodies almost as wide.

    They had white horns above their mouths, and their grayish hide shone faintly, making them look quite attractive despite their great bodies.

    ''What magnificent beasts...'' Lothur looked at them and thought that their attack power must be majestic, considering the size of their bodies and that sharp horn on their heads.

    ''Beasts like that would be useful for carrying heavy loads, but also valuable...'' He imagined the usefulness of those beasts from a human point of view, as one would expect from someone like him.

    Since the level of those beings was not so frightening to him, Lothur continued eating quietly next to Ice, who had not yet realized the problem.

    [White Horned Rhino]

    [Cultivation: level 16]

    [STR: ???] [CON: ???] [DEX: ???] [AGI: ???]

    He saw the simr statuses of those two beings, still unable to see how strong 3rd stage beings were. But Lothur was certain that the attributes of those beings were not that different from those of the crocodile and lizard.

    Even considering each race''s special characteristics, these beings should not have a fighting proficiency much different from those two.

    Beasts of different species and the same levels could show great distinctions in battle. Some would be faster, as in the case of birds and lynxes. Others would have more impressive offensive powers, like rhinos and elephants, and so on.

    In the case of the fox next to Lothur, its focus was a bit of speed coupled with the ability to subtly distract its opponents with its all-white body.

    Anyway, Lothur knew the basics of this and just warned hispanion.

    "Hey, Ice, keep an eye out." He gestured toward the trees, indicating to this creature that something was approaching.

    By the time this fox noticed this, those two rhinos had already noticed the presence of these two there and started running, interested in these strangers near their territory.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "Oh? A human?"

    "There''s also a fox..." The othermented to itspanion as the two passed through arge bush and met with the two travelers.

    "How strange... We don''t often see humans with beasts around these areas." The stronger of the two stepped forward without fear of Lothur, who was not emitting any powerful sensations and asked Ice in themonnguage of the beasts. "What are you doing with this human, fox? Did someone capture you and hand you over to him?"

    The beasts of this ce did not have much of a sense of mercy and usually would not mind the death of beings of other races, even more so when it was individuals they did not know. But they did not like the idea of a human dominating other beasts and liked to cause trouble for people like that, especially beast tamers.

    So, seeing Ice with Lothur, they both thought about causing trouble for this person, even if they did not even know Ice.

    "No. I am helping him return to the human area. So we are traveling together, senior." It said in a shy tone as it spoke to that being of a higher level than it.

    "Oh?" The two looked at each other, curious about this situation.

    "What are you two talking about?" Lothur asked immediately, annoyed that these creatures were not speaking hisnguage.

    The two rhinos looked at each other and smiled in their own ways.

    "It told us that you captured it!" One of them said in an irritated tone as it red at Lothur.

    "How dare you, human!"

    "This is our area! Beings like you are not wee here!" The other added as it moved towards Lothur, already intending to strike a blow at this frail being meters in front of it.

    "Uh? Are you crazy?" Lothur realized these creatures were deliberately trying to start a fight with him. "If you want to fight me, all you had to do was talk..."

    Before he finished speaking, Lothur moved, surprising those two beasts considerably.

    Body shape mattered a lot when it came to speed. So two beings with identical physical attributes but different bodies would have different movement speeds.

    Whether onnd, in the air, or in the water, this would make a big difference. And since the characteristic of these beasts was to haverge bodies, even with physical attributes superior to Lothur''s, neither of them could keep up with him when he moved!

    The moment he activated the Cross Walk, Lothur surprised the two beasts and was soon between them, behind the tail of one and in front of the horn of the other.

    He circled his defensive technique, strengthening his entire body, and then used his bare hands to grasp the tail of one and the horn of the other rhino.

    "What?" The two beings shouted at the same time, with both unable to move.

    With the Steel Body technique activated, Lothur''s stamina was higher than the power of both of these beasts. So both of them were surprised that they could not move normally because only one fragile human was holding them.

    Lothur knew he could not stay in this situation for long, or it would tire him. So he let go of both creatures by jumping up and heading for the top of one of them.

    As he did this, one of the creatures suddenly began to move forward while the other went backward almost uncontrobly.

    With this opportunity, Lothur activated his ring, Golden Finger, and one of his fingers became that color as he pressed it against the top of the rhino head he was on.

    "Stop this nonsense now, or I will seriously injure you!"

    ...

 Chapter 496 Fear

    That thick-skinned creature that Lothur was standing on suddenly felt a bad feeling in its being when Lothur''s golden finger made its head bleed slightly.

    In this area of the Three Great Lakes Region, this beast was one of those that had the best defensive characteristics. Because of this fact, this level 16 individual creature had not seen its blood for a long time!

    The other rhino understood what its species mate was going through since it itself had seen its own blood more than 30 years ago when its father beat it up.

    In that situation, it immediately realized that human was dangerous and could hurt them.

    "Hey, slow down a bit, human. We''re just ying!" The individual held hostage by Lothur shouted. "Isn''t that right, Sacle?"

    The other rhino was silent, looking at the surroundings, at the situation at hand, the escape route, and the fox near it.

    ''What do I do? If this human has such a strong body, his soul cultivation must be tremendous! Even the boss might not be okay if it has to face this person!'' It felt a little afraid, but even considering that the best alternative in the face of this danger was for it to surrender, it was still thinking about running away.

    Not everyone had what it took to wait for the strongest enemy to choose their fate!

    Lothur realized this and released some of his Mortal Aura while giving one more warning to that creature. "Don''t try to run away. If I want to, I can reach you before you reach my travelingpanion!"

    "Damn it, Sacle! What are you doing? Just admit right away that we''re wrong!" The one with the head over the game shouted angrily, not liking itspanion''s cowardice.

    Surrendering to a stronger enemy was not necessarily something to be proud of. But trying to run away from a problem that it itself created, well, that was the opposite of honor and pride. It was something to be ashamed of, the way of cowards!

    Amid this situation, the white fox was surprised at the attitude of these beasts, but it had not despaired. Unlike these idiotic creatures, it knew Lothur''s strengths well.

    ''In the blink of an eye, he can teleport to where I am and deal you a decisive blow, you beast!'' It thought, remembering what it had seen of Lothur since they set out from the vicinity of the Immortals Well.

    When they least expected it, Lothur made his move, using the Space Belt to appear near Ice, his finger already prepared tond a blow on that rhino.

    Lothur made this move, and the individual with the bleeding head felt relief but did not want to wait to find out what would happen. The moment it felt free, it moved to start running away from there, regretting trying to y with this person.

    As for itspanion, it shivered at the sight of Lothur''s sudden movement, but since the speed and reaction time difference between the two was great, this creature could not move in time!

    Lothur strengthened his movement by using his Steel Body technique to strengthen the arm that the Golden Finger was on. At the same time, he sped up his movement to do as much damage as possible.

    Pow!

    In the blink of an eye, the attack hit its target, with one of Lothur''s fingers hitting hard against his opponent''s belly.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" The creature screamed in pain before only making sounds for beasts to understand, falling to the ground in agony as Lothur almost went off bnce from his finger getting stuck in that body.

    ''You''re really heavy!'' He nted his feet on that creature''s body and jumped backward, disconnecting himself from the falling rhino.

    Lothur noticed that his movement had hit one of this rhino''s weak points, which was why he could defeat it with one blow. But his blow had not been severe enough to endanger his opponent''s life.

    That was because Lothur had already realized that a level 17 beast was watching him from the surroundings, and he did not want to punish that creature excessively. Therefore, just an exemry lesson was enough to put an end to the problem created by those two without further irritating others.

    Beasts and humans were not so different on this point. Some weaker beings could end up spoiling their closest ones. But powerful beings, almost without exception, did not like to interfere when one of their own suffered small defeats.<novelnext></novelnext>

    That served to temper the personality and will of these individuals, as well as to correct ws that could lead to their death in different situations.

    In the vision of these beings, it was not bad for one of their own to be beaten and deeply ashamed after not being avenged. That was infinitely better than alwaysing out on top in small situations and bing overconfident when one could not.

    Lothur realized this when he saw the creature watching him as he moved, even considering that such a being could probably stop him from hurting that beast.

    So when he returned to Ice''s side, he immediately looked off into the distance toward where that expert should be. "Is it a member of your tribe?"

    The creature was silent for a moment but answered Lothur after a few seconds of observation. "Ah, yes, it is my son."

    "Son?" Lothur looked more closely at the giant creature over 20 feet tall, which fortunately was standing still at the moment.

    Ice looked at Lothur in concern, not knowing what the situation was.

    "Well, human, I thank you for your mercy and for teaching my son this lesson." The creature said after seeing Lothur staying silent, knowing that the two rhinos had caused the situation and this human had basically defended himself and his fellow beast.

    "Oh?" Lothur became less tense upon hearing those words, but he was still prepared to run if necessary.

    "But I have a few questions for you. What are you doing here? Are you, by any chance, part of Daemon''s group?"

    Lothur heard his father''s name for the first time and guessed that this must be the individual who led the group of humans in this region. Of course, he could not stipte whether this was his father, but he judged that such an individual was part of this group.

    "I am just passing through, leaving the region to return to human territory." He said sincerely before concealing some of the truth. "As for that group, doesn''t my appearance remind you of anyone?"

    Lothur did not know his father''s position in this area or whether he looked like such a person. But it was verymon for sons to share simrities with their fathers, even more so in the cultivation world, where the strength of some genes was greatly intensified.

    So even though he did not know much about Daemon, this fellow used those words to ''improve'' his position.

    That level 17 being now had to wonder if there was anyone like him in that Daemon guy''s group. Even if there was not, judging by Lothur''s strength, it was likely that he was from that group, someone''s son.

    That was enough for him to pass himself off as one of Daemon''s men!

    Gulp!

    ''That...''

    That creature took a step back, sensing that Lothur did look like one of those people...

    Daemon himself!

    ''Is that his son?'' The leader of the rhinos of the thirdke wondered as it looked at Lothur and noticed how simr this young man''s silver hair was to Daemon''s.

    ''What is he doing here? Is Daemon around?'' The rhino looked from one side to the other, fearing to irritate that person who was at level 18.

    ...

 Chapter 497 Back To Peters City

    Upon identifying Lothur as Daemon''s son, that creature that had already met with the leader of the group of humans in the area a few times did not even consider turning against this young man.

    Even the most powerful beast in the Three Great Lakes Region, level 18, had be Daemon''s mount, so it would not be it who would dare rebel against such a monster.

    ? Lothur realized something was wrong and narrowed his eyes, noticing the fear in his opponent''s behavior.

    But he chose to remain silent despite his curiosity, lest the other side discovers that he had no significant rtionship with such a group.

    "Senior, I have a business to attend to. Is there a problem if I leave now?"

    ''Is he asking me this because he feels offended? Is he thinking of taking revenge on us?'' That beast remained silent, staring open-mouthed at where Lothur was standing.

    Lothur had already climbed on top of Ice and was preparing to leave the area after asking that question.

    Since the level 17 being did not answer him anything for more than a minute, this young man clenched his fists and decided to leave, giving the order for Ice to run.

    After seeing the movement of the human and fox, that rhino felt that it would not have another chance to defend itself and shouted. "Hey, human, don''t take the situation the wrong way. It was just a misunderstanding! Lord Daemon doesn''t need to hear about it the wrong way!"

    "How about I report to him myself and resolve the situation?"

    Lothur saw that being looking and following him and said. "Fine by me."

    "Sigh!"

    After those words, the creature sighed in relief and stopped running after Lothur and Ice, feeling that if it sent some gifts and showed its respect, the problem would end all right.

    Powerful beings could ept that even their children were beaten to learn some valuable lesson. But Daemon was the area''s leader, and disrespect from the beasts in the area to his family would be a crime.

    That could cause problems it could not handle!

    Lothur had no idea what was in that being''s mind and just wanted to get away as fast as possible since he still had no confidence to face beasts at that level.

    But the reaction of that beast had given him some hints about his predecessor''s father!

    ''That creature seemed frightened... Plus, it acted as if I had direct contact with this Daemon fellow.'' His eyes sharpened, with him thinking about the possibility of that being ''his'' father''s name.

    ''If he is ''my'' father and is the leader of the area, then probably this opportunity I got was because of him...''

    "Hmmm, if I meet him one day, even if he''s not my real father, I''ll have to thank him!" He muttered, already far from the previous area, as he felt the wind messing up his hair.

    ...

    A dayter...

    Lothur and Ice had finally left the Three Great Lakes Region area and entered the human territory of Linn Province.

    They had no more problems making their way through that forest area dominated by beasts as with each kilometer to the west, the beings there were weaker.

    So, at this point, Lothur and his furrypanion had just entered the first human area on their way, a townrger than a vige, where they nned to stop for an hour or two.

    But when they arrived there, Lothur immediately attracted the attention of most of the local citizens because he was riding a high-level 2nd stage beast.

    Beasts of this strength were rarely seen in the human territory in Leopoldine. When they did appear, they usually apanied powerful cultivators.

    So when a fellow who looked like a mortal appeared riding one of these in this remote ce, the few local cultivators came out of their homes and work to observe this strange duo.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "My goodness! Look at the size of this creature!" A girl younger than Elke, saw Lothur passing in front of her property and eximed to her friends and subordinates in the area.

    "It is a marvelous beast."

    That girl''s father came up behind her after sensing the cultivation of this beast so close to his residence.

    He was at the same level as Ice, so he had an advantage over this fox when it came to battle.

    Considering the value of such a beast, he and other local cultivators could not help but covet Lothur''s mount.

    Young Ritter saw this and readily understood the situation he was in.

    "For those thinking what they shouldn''t, know those who dare will die. I will give them no chance to apologize and eliminate them without mercy!" He said so that people several blocks away could hear him.

    "Oh? You are really arrogant!" An old man said this as he stepped out of the shadows of his house, just a few meters away from Lothur and Ice. "You should be more careful, kid. Just because you have a powerful beast with you doesn''t mean you can despise others!"

    "Hmmm." The girl from before nodded in agreement and asked aloud. "How much do you want for this beast? I will pay you 500 thousand silver coins."

    Lothur looked in that person''s direction and felt she was offending him and Ice. Five hundred thousand silver coins were not enough to buy a 5th Revolution beast. After all, this creature was not far from bing a Transcendent beast!

    But this time, Lothur did not say anything. He just let his Mortal Aura speak for him.

    He spread darkness in the surroundings and stimted fear in everyone up to 200 meters away from him.

    Gulp!

    In that instant, dozens of cultivators felt as if there was a monster hiding in that handsome young man''s body, something that would truly kill them.

    ''How can it be? What kind of training left someone like that?'' The old man from before wondered, feeling a solid murderous intenting from Lothur.

    ''My goodness! He must have killed thousands of people by now to reach such a high level regarding killing intent!'' The father of the girl who made the previous proposal thought to himself as he turned pale.

    But he was quick to force one of his hands to cover his daughter''s mouth to prevent this girl from causing trouble for them.

    They had felt that sensation from Lothur. So this young man obviously had cultivation!

    Since he was on the back of a level 14 beast, it was obvious that his strength was not small and that he would really eliminate anyone who stood in his way.

    With that, the people in this town mostly did not move, with a few individuals just watching Lothur and Ice from afar.

    ...

    Hourster...

    By now, Lothur and Ice had traveled almost all the way between the previous town and Peters City.

    After passing through that ce, they had gotten a map to direct them to Lothur''s city when some idiot chasing them had fallen into the trap of this fellow.

    So they had traveled all the way there, avoiding human city and trouble, being only minutes away from the Morning Star Academy, where Lothur had responsibilities to fulfill.

    Only one hour was left before the deadline for his mission ended!

    ...

 Chapter 498 Finishing The Mission

    As Lothur entered the streets of Peters City, he immediately faced the same reaction as in the town he had passed when he left the Three Great Lakes Region.

    People in his path came out of the buildings on the streets he was passing on Ice''s back, seeing this strange and powerful beast running with him on its back.

    But although cultivators from various parts of the city began to watch them and wonder where that beast wasing from, many identified Lothur easily. Therefore, no one tried to approach him to bid on his mount or try to attack him.

    Those in this city who might attack Lothur and Ice already knew of his recent aplishments. That is, the situation days ago when he was going to the Finn Mountains and blocked the action of several local leaders who tried to kill him.

    So no one like that would casually try to act against him at this point, even more so considering that he now seemed to have one more ally.

    But soon, some people who had previously been watching Lothur noticed his return after his disappearance in the Finn Mountains.

    After days of being missing, some members of young Ritter''s enemy families were already considering the possibility that he was dead!

    Then, when some saw him alive and well, they opened their mouths in shock and tried to understand the situation.

    "That... Isn''t that Lothur?" A level 14 individual, passing near the path of that silver-haired fellow, questioned aloud, even though he was alone.

    In another part of Lothur''s path to the academy building, Caroline Waldeaur saw Lothur from afar and frowned.

    ''Is he back?'' She wondered, not liking this sight in front of her at all.

    She had more information regarding Lothur''s situation in the Finn Mountains than other people in this city.

    Lothur had disappeared alongside a demon, but now, he was back alongside a 5th Revolution beast!

    What did this mean? He had possibly be stronger after absorbing the Soul Bone from that creature and then conquering this white beast.

    That was what her father feared the most!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I have tomunicate with my father about this.'' She clenched her fists and ran toward the local government headquarters.

    ? She knew that the Duke of the province would give up the faction he was in now if  Lothur showed himself alive.

    But not only did some of Lothur''s enemies notice his arrival, but allies also noticed him on top of that white-furred beast.

    "Lothur? Are you back? What happened?" An elder of the Becker family asked as he saw and started running beside young Ritter.

    Lothur looked at that level 13 person, someone who had fought beside him when the group of local leaders attacked him along with his group going to the Finn Mountains.

    "Yes, I''m back now. But anyway, I''ll talk to my alliester, so I''ll tell you what happened to you when we''re all together."

    "OK." That person replied before leaving in the direction of his family''s headquarters to notify his leaders of Lothur''s situation.

    Lothur then continued on his way until he arrived at the Morning Star Academy, where he was narrowly denied entry due to his beast and the time.

    It was alreadyte afternoon in Peters City, and themon activities at the academy were already finishing, to return only the next day.

    But luckily, Lothur managed to enter the gates of this institution and run to the mission hall, where he had a few minutes to finish his mission in time.

    On the way there, several students leaving after a day of sses at the academy began to look in shock and awe at the young man on top of the white-furred fox.

    "Hey, isn''t that Lothur? I thought he was dead!"<novelnext></novelnext>

    "The damned thing is tough to kill!"

    "Hmm, a bad pot doesn''t break!"

    "But what about this beast? I feel incredibly threatened by it..."

    "This damn bastard is too lucky! He survived and even got a mount!"

    Amidst the many murmurs in the surroundings, Lothur managed to get in front of the quest hall, where he had to separate from Ice, as that creature would not be able to enter that building.

    Lothur stopped and looked at the surroundings as he got off his mount. "If anyone here thinks funny with it, I will skin your bodies while you are still alive!"

    Gulp!

    The students of this academy already knew that Lothur was not someone they could easily mess with and promptly took his words to heart.

    Meanwhile, some of the Angelic Feathers faction members in the surroundings realized that Larissa''s ally had finally returned.

    "He''s more arrogant than before..." The second strongest woman of that faction saw this as she was leaving the mission hall next to one of her faction mates.

    "I wonder what happened? A 5th Revolution beast like that is not easy to get." That level 12 fellowmented, curious but also pleased about it.

    Larissa had made a deal with the family she would create with the Ritter Motor Company. So since this fellow, as well as other high-level members in Angelic Feathers, were going to form this family with that woman, Lothur getting stronger was a benefit to themselves!

    "I don''t know. Let''s talk to Larissa to see how we move forward..."

    Meanwhile, after scaring the academy students away from approaching Ice, Lothur quickly reached the reception desk where students could deliver their mission results.

    "Hello, I want to finalize a collective mission of my group." He said as he stood before a beautiful mature woman, who promptly identified him.

    "Lothur? Lothur Ritter?"

    "Yes, that''s me. Is there a problem?"

    She watched him with her mouth open, remembering that the academy principal gave a lot of importance to this young man and talked about him with his closest subordinates daily.

    Since she and anyone else in this academy would have to warn that man about Lothur''s return, she could not help but be surprised to see him in front of her.

    "It''s nothing. What mission are you talking about?" She asked as she opened the agenda of missions about to be finished.

    "A group mission that was supposed to be the test for students trying to get into factions. I had until today to deliver my group''s results." He said as that woman flipped through the sheets of that agenda, finding the record of that mission.

    "Oh, yes, it''s here. Miss Elke Becker''s team... Well, your group leader has already given the mission''s results, so you don''t need to worry about that." She smiled at Lothur as she saw the message there.

    "Uh? What do you mean?" Lothur wondered. "I thought this mission could only bepleted with all team members present. Since I wasn''t around, I thought that was still iplete."

    "That should be the case." She nodded and showed it to Lothur. "But the principal epted the termination of the mission when Miss Elke Becker handed in her results..."

    "You can now go ahead with the procedures for joining the faction you have chosen."

    ...

 Chapter 499 Important Information

    Upon hearing the words of that academy official, Lothur immediately understood his situation and sighed as he closed his eyes and rxed a little.

    He had run in a great hurry since he had arrived in the Three Great Lakes Region, taken many risks, and barely invested his time in things that were not crucial to his return. All this so that he could return in time to aplish this mission relevant to him, Viktoria, and Elke.

    Upon discovering his haste had been futile, he did not feel disappointed but sighed in defeat while also rxing that he had finally reached his destination.

    "So that''s it..." He muttered as he turned away and waved to that woman in thanks.

    "Wait a minute. You should go to the principal''s office. He''s looking for you."

    With that woman''s warning, instead of returning to Ice''s side to go after his women, Lothur went to the academy principal''s office to resolve that man''s doubts.

    ...

    Meanwhile, outside the academy''s mission hall, Ice was surrounded by a hundred youths, but none dared to approach it.

    That was so because of Lothur''s unfriendly warning and the beast''s power, which was frightening to most of these cultivators.

    Beasts basically had only physical powers, at least for most of them. But the case of these beasts and body cultivators like Lothur were not identical.

    Anyone could sense a beast''s cultivation very easily because they, although they could not use spiritual energy outside of their bodies, gave off sensations of danger with their spiritual aura.

    Every being had this aura, but that of some beings was more chaotic, making it easier to perceive. That was the case with beasts, which was why any cultivator would know the level of an ''ordinary'' beast like Ice.

    Since most of the students in this academy had strengths below level 12, no one in the surrounding area showed more courage than they should.

    But that did notst long until Annaliese appeared there, having just noticed the disturbance in the surroundings of the academy as she was getting ready to leave.

    As she approached that crowd and heard somements with her man''s name, she realized that Lothur had returned and ran to where Ice was.

    "A 5th Revolution fox? How did he get that?" Annaliese muttered, but unafraid of that creature.

    She approached that fox, attracting its gaze, and soon after noticing her man''s scent on this creature, she asked people in the surrounding area. "Are there any beast tamers here?"

    The people in the surrounding area began to speak more quietly, while the few beast tamers around felt doubtful about helping Annaliese.

    They knew this woman was Lothur''s sister-inw, so what she had in mind would probably be okay. But still, most of them were just 1-star professionals. Thus, they were not sure if they could handle this beast.

    Ice looked deeply at Annaliese, realizing that the soul of this human in front of it was not weak for the level she was at, level 12.

    ''What does she want?'' Ice wondered, seeing how Annaliese seemed to be assessing it as she smiled.

    "Second Miss Frost, what do you want? I must say that your brother-inw has forbidden us to go anywhere near that beast." A beast tamer said this after considering that this would be quite an opportunity for him to approach such a powerful beast.

    But still, he had to first appear to be being forced to approach Ice!

    "Never mind. Do you think my brother-inw will cause trouble for me?" She said as she looked in that person''s direction. "Come over here. I want tomunicate with it."<novelnext></novelnext>

    Beast tamers could use their techniques tomunicate with low-level beasts who could not yet speak humannguage.

    That was a necessary skill for taming creatures when they were at their weakest. So every beast tamer knew how to do this, and for this, Annaliese wanted one of these professionals to help her.

    That person approached Annaliese and Ice with a fearful expression on his face but pleased internally.

    He then asked. "What do you want to know?"

    "Ask it how Lothur is doing. Where he has been thest few days and if he has seen other women." She said in a low voice.

    That beast tamer looked in surprise at Annaliese, noting how dedicated this sister-inw was to keeping her brother-inw from betraying her sister.

    He then began tomunicate with that beast, first gesturing to indicate that he just wanted tomunicate and then touching its head.

    "Second Miss Frost, this beast said it is a friend of Lothur. They fought together..." After a while, he told her all the answers he got from exining who Annaliese was to that beast and getting its cooperation.

    Unfortunately for the students in the surrounding area, that individual said the basics about Lothur and Ice only for Annaliese to hear.

    At the same time, Ice only talked about ordinary things regarding Lothur''s trip since it did not know much about that and knew it was not good to talk much.

    But that was enough for Annaliese to be able to find out that her man had not been with any other woman in thest few days.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur was already face to face with Luis, level 16, the principal of this academy.

    "Lothur, what happened? Where have you been thest few days?" He asked after greeting this young man and noticing that his associate''s posture looked much better than weeks ago.

    Lothur decided not to talk about everything he had aplished but to tell the truth about the basics. "To summarize, after a Transcendent tried to attack me in the Finn Mountains, I used a teleportation device that took me to the Three Great Lakes Region."

    "After that, I found a way to return and avoid the powerful beasts in that ce as much as possible."

    "What?" Luis asked in surprise, not because of Lothur going to that region since he already expected such a thing. But because it seemed that the young Ritter had managed to avoid the many dangers of that region that hardly 2nd stage people could get back.

    "How did you manage this? Did some high-level human help you and get that beast for you?" Luis asked, already knowing about the beast that had entered the gates of his academy with Lothur on its back. "Did you meet with Daemon?"

    Lothur''s eyes narrowed, realizing that this man knew about Daemon.

    "Who is Daemon? Is he my father?" Lothur asked.

    Realizing he had said too much, Luis calmed down and sat back in his chair, watching Lothur for a moment, wondering what to say. "I don''t know. I just know that the human leading this area is named Daemon. Why do you think he might be your father?"

    "A Transcendent beast in the area told me I looked like that person." Lothur said, interested to know what this man was hiding from him.

    ...

 Chapter 500 Unable To Learn

    "Really?" Luis asked, probing Lothur''s situation.

    He knew Daemon and knew that if that man did not want Lothur to meet him at the moment or even know about him, it would be best to avoid giving information to this young man.

    At the same time, as the academy principal and Lothur''s partner in the Ritter Motor Company, this man was interested in keeping this young man out of trouble.

    So he decided to keep Lothur in the dark about such a person, even though he knew who Daemon was to this young man. "Well, I don''t know. He is a notorious criminal in our state, someone you should avoid all kinds of contact with, Lothur."

    "If you didn''t find him in that ce, then I advise you not to seek information about him, or it might bring trouble for you." He made a serious expression. "Daemon is not his real name, so you will not be able to find his origins if you go after this person. You will only be marked by his enemies, people who might try to bring trouble to you."

    "Not his real name?" Young Ritter frowned, a little disappointed by this.

    He wanted to research such a person to find out what kind of trouble he would be dealing with. That is, he wanted to know who his grandfather was, the person who was after him, and how dangerous it would be to get involved with such an individual.

    "So I won''t be able to find my grandfather''s identity through this man''s name?" He asked Luis.

    Luis swallowed his saliva, noticing that Lothur was already facing problems with that person. "Has someone from your grandfather gone after you? Tell me a little about that."

    He knew who Lothur''s grandfather was, Daemon''s father, who held an extremely high position within Leopoldine. But first, he had to know how much this young man knew so he would not get into trouble by saying what he should not.

    "Yes, the previous Transcendent who made me run away from the Finn Mountains was someone sent by him. He wanted to take me to that person." Lothur said, not knowing that his grandfather was Daemon''s father, as he was still unsure if his progenitor was that person.

    "Hmmm, I understand..." Luis said as he brought one of his hands to his chin. ''So he wants to meet with Lothur... How troublesome.''

    ''Well, you should be careful. Everyone involved with Daemon''s group is powerful, capable of turning the heavens upside down." He said after a moment''s thought. "So even though I don''t know him, I can already tell you that you won''t have a good time around this person."

    "Is that so?" Lothur said, considering that such an individual should be at least level 17, or this level 16 man would not be so careful when talking about him.

    "Anyway, those are big problems, but I believe you now have better tools to defend yourself, no?" Luis changed the subject. "You must have gotten stronger after days of traveling around that ce, no? You even got yourself a 5th Revolution beast. That''s no small thing."

    "Hmm, I am a little stronger, but that fox is not mine. It''s just apanying me for a while until I get a chance to send it safely to that ce." Lothur was sincere. "Anyway, I really am better prepared and now intend to use as much of the Ritter Motor Company as possible to keep me away from these threats."

    "Hmm, thatpany has been growing quite a bit." Luismented on some recent facts that he has received contact. "I heard that the factory is already over 50%plete, and it will be finished in another week so we can start our activities."

    "Really? What about the pavingpany?"

    "It is also developing. We have already bought the factory site and passed on the management of it to one of the associate families, House Christen." The principal said, showing a less worried expression as he talked about their business.

    The business around the Ritter Motor Company had been developing smoothly, with each of the Lothur associates extremely pleased with their progress.

    Each of them was given important roles that would be essential to Lothur''s cars when they became popr in this world.

    Some powers were focusing on formation, others on cksmiths and carpenters. At the same time, some houses were looking afterpanies secondary to the Ritter Motor Company, as in the case of this pavingpany, and the driver training school.<novelnext></novelnext>

    That was arge project with many fronts, so however many partners there were, they were all managing operations that would be vital to the business.

    It was crucial to keep the partners happy, and Lothur was doing well so far!

    So Lothur listened to this and a few more details from Luis until this director had another appointment, and they said their goodbyes.

    With that done, young Ritter returned to where he had left Ice, interested in going to Viktoria''s faction to finish his entry into that group.

    ...

    "Lothur!" Seeing her man leaving the mission hall, Annaliese immediately ran into his arms and hugged him tightly.

    "Hmm, it''s good to see you again, Anna. Did you miss me?" He smiled as he smelled the sweet scent of his sister-inw.

    "Yes, you have no idea how much..." She said, feeling bad that she could not kiss him in that ce since there were still people in the vicinity of Ice.

    "Don''t worry, I''ll spend a few hours with you today, and we''ll work out any problems..." He whispered in one of her ears as he saw the beast tamer standing next to Ice.

    "Who is that? Why is he near this fox?" He asked Annaliese after that woman calmed her heart a little and dried the tears that dripped from her eyes.

    She answered him. "That beast tamer helped me talk to that beast."

    "Oh? A beast tamer?" Lothur looked at that student and remembered that he needed to learn that profession to better deal with beasts.

    That student saw Lothur looking at him and felt a little afraid, not liking his position. But before he could pull back from there, he heard. "What do I need to be a beast tamer?"

    "Uh? Do you want to be a beast tamer? Don''t you already have too many professions to learn one more?" He asked in surprise, knowing how difficult it was for someone to maintain more than one profession since he himself had two.

    But in Lothur''s case, as far as this beast tamer knew, he had three, and now he seemed to want to learn the fourth!

    This was incredible!

    But still, he responded after seeing Lothur nod in the affirmative. "To be a beast tamer, you must learn a soul technique that canmunicate with beasts through mental waves. As for the rest of the training, this is like any other profession. You study the books and learn the characteristics of each beast..."

    Hearing this, Lothur sighed in disappointment, knowing that, at least in the short term, he would not be able to learn this profession because he could not use soul techniques.

    ''It really is a shame...'' He thought before thanking that person and leaving from there at Annaliese''s side.

    ...

 Chapter 501 Only Competing?

    After leaving the front of the quest hall, Lothur went to the factions area on Ice''s back, with Annaliese sitting behind him, hugging his waist.

    "Where is Elke? Why didn''t shee to me?" He asked, curious.

    "Elke is settling something between the Becker family and the Ritter Motor Company, so she left the academy early today." Annaliese answered him before adding. "My sister is also dealing withpany matters today, but when she finds out about your return, she wille without dy."

    "Hmm, I see." He said before remembering her status.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 11 -> 12]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 38.5 -> 50.6]

    [CON: 74 -> 114]

    [DEX: 41.4 -> 43.9]

    [AGI: 39.4 -> 51.1]

    [SOU: ???]

    "Congrattions on your level advancement, Anna. I imagine you''ve improved your soul strength quite a bit over this period." He said, realizing that she had not improved her physical attributes that much to justify a level increase.

    That is, she had increased her soul strength so much that her level had gone up, even with rtively ''small'' improvements in terms of physical attributes.

    Annaliese smiled upon hearing Lothur''s words and said. "Yes, after you disappeared, I spent much time absorbing the spiritual crystals you gave me. So I have already managed to absorb 25% of them."

    "Hmm, very good!"

    "My sister has also leveled up in this period." She began to update her brother-inw. "She has reached the 5th Revolution of soul cultivation, having already absorbed almost half of the crystals you gave her."

    "As for Elke, she''s almost advanced to the 1st Revolution, so she hasn''t started absorbing those crystals yet."

    "Is that so? I am happy for you. But I have also improved a lot in that period, so it is good that you have achieved these aplishments."

    So far, Lothur had only realized that he could help women weaker than him be more physically powerful. But recently, he had begun to think about a problem rted to his strange ability.

    That is, he could help women be stronger, and the greater the difference in Constitution, the better the bonus for the woman. However, this had to have a limit to what could be ''eptable.''

    After all, the day coulde when the difference in Constitution would be so high that the bonus would be ''x'' times greater than that person''s own Constitution value. What would happen in that situation?

    Because of his sessive advances, he had begun to think about this problem beginning to affect his women if they did not get stronger quickly.

    As such, knowing that they were getting stronger was very good for him, as it kept him from finding out if his theories about this were correct.

    As long as they became stronger, whether, in terms of soul cultivation or body cultivation, they could benefit physically and maintain good Constitution values. So even soul cultivation advancement was good, and he was doubly happy with this information.

    With that in mind, he and Annaliese arrived at the site of the factions in the academy, in the small vige of the mansions of these groups.

    Upon arriving there, the many 2nd stage students of the academy soon began to stare at Lothur and Annaliese, noting the return of this tough guy, but also his beast.<novelnext></novelnext>

    "I see you have survived yet another challenge..." An angelic voice emerged among the dozens of young people watching them heading for Ice Feathers'' mansion.

    Lothur readily identified that voice and looked at Larissa, this white-haired woman. "It''s not so easy to kill me, haha. So yes, I''m back to disrupt my dear colleagues in Sector 6..."

    "Hmm? What do you mean?" That woman''s smile froze, with her finding Lothur a little more aggressive than before.

    "It''s not a big deal. I would just like to tell the students in Sector 6 that you should give up going to the Secret Realm." He said with a confident smile. "It would be good to avoid any kind of unnecessary embarrassment."

    "Oh? Are you that confident?" Larissa''s eyes sharpened as she looked at Lothur and then at the beast below him. ''He must have gotten stronger in that period, but I''m at the 5th Revolution.''

    On the other hand, Lothur had Larissa''s status in his eyes.

    [Name: Larissa Carstensen]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 70.9] [CON: 75.4] [DEX: 72.7] [AGI: 73] [SOU: ???]

    ''She must have between 300 and 400 Soul points to be at level 14... In this case, even if she uses all her power, the damage she could do to my body would be small if one considers my defensive technique.'' He assessed how difficult it would be if thepetition for the Secret Realm slots took ce today.

    However, he still had a few days until the academy''s internal tournament, when he would have topete with students from Sector 6 for the spot and Soul Bone that this institution would give to the contest winners.

    "I am. How about you?" He asked this associate of his. "We still have about four weeks until then... Will you be able to dance with me then?"

    "I am the one to say that, Lothur." Larissa wanted the top position in this contest as much as she wanted a partnership with this fellow. So she was not willing to give up, nor would she even deliver such a thing to him without at least trying.

    That''s because the Secret Realm did not lose to the Immortals Well that Lothur had gone to in the Three Great Lakes Region!

    In fact, such a ce could be considered even richer, a ce left by the founder of Peters City after he and his allies defeated the demon Morning Star, who lived in this region in the past.

    ording to stories from people who had entered and survived the Secret Realm, there was an inheritance rted to that demon in this alternative space.

    Unfortunately, no one had ever managed to reach the endpoint of the Secret Realm, and until today, everyone only had hints that there was something of great value in that ce.

    So many dreamed of entering the local Secret Realm to obtain this, or even the ''normal'' items, which would be enough to improve the life of any of these students.

    Thepetition for ces to enter the Secret Realm itself already gave a Soul Bone as a gift, so it was not hard to imagine how valuable the opportunity to enter it was!

    "Will you be prepared to face me in a month?" She asked. "If you are and beat me, so be it. But for now, I say you haven''t reached that teau yet."

    "Hehe, if that''s what you think, let''s just leave it at that." Hemented as he smiled and ordered Ice to continue on his way to Ice Feathers'' property.

    The other Sector 6 students in the area stared at this, many of them feeling offended by Lothur and Larissa, as the two indicated that no one else could stop them.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''These people are very arrogant!'' The leader of Draconic Feather, level 13, thought quietly.

 Chapter 502 This Again?

    Lothur had no idea what other people were thinking of him and was soon in front of the Ice Feathers headquarters, where several council members were standing in the doorway watching him.

    Ice drew a lot of attention from 2nd stage cultivators, so when they entered the area of the faction mansions, all the strongest faction members there hade out of their headquarters to observe who it was.

    Then upon arriving in front of that ce, Lothur saw the faces of the people who had once challenged him and lost humiliatingly.

    "Hmm, everyone is here. That makes it easier." He looked at those people and saw that even Karen was over there. "Well, I''m here to make my entry into Ice Feathers official. You guys can help me with that, right?"

    While most of those people alternated their gazes between Lothur and Ice, Karen looked at him strangely.

    She knew that he had gotten something from a Transcendent sent by Daemon. Hence, her curiosity about what happened to Lothur in thest few days was more significant than Annaliese''s.

    ''What happened to him? Did Daemon help him and still give him this beast? ''But why? Why would he do something like that?'' She wondered as she watched Lothur and Annaliese descend from Ice''s back.

    "Lothur... What about this beast? Isn''t it dangerous?" One of the women of the council of that faction asked as she saw the great fox lying in front of that mansion.

    "No, as long as you don''t attack it, it won''t do anything." He said. "That''s what a Transcendent beast told me... But maybe it was lying."

    Gulp!

    Some of those people who were already about to pet Ice backed away upon hearing Lothur''s words.

    Heughed but said nothing. He just continued on his way beside Annaliese to enter that building.

    Then, one of the young men humiliated before said. "Lothur, we already epted your situation weeks ago, but to enter the faction, our leader must sign your entry papers. That way, there is no point in you demanding anything from us today that she is not here..."

    "Hmm, papers? That''s for the academy to make my entry into the faction official, but there''s no need for that between us. I want to see the missions and information of this faction immediately." He said.

    Factions also had books regarding cultivation and other areas of knowledge that were as or more valuable than those of the academy itself.

    Why is this? Simple, these groups were made topete, and some even became institutions or pirs ofrge organizations. So these factions needed to have ways of making their members stronger and smarter beyond what the academy could do.

    As such, each faction had its library and information relevant to cultivation but also to life in the empire''s society.

    Lothur was someone who had always valued knowledge from the moment he arrived in this world, so he could not hesitate to want ess to such things.

    "That..." One of those people looked at the others, feeling in a tricky situation since the faction rules said they could not follow such orders from Lothur.

    "Lothur, the rules created by Viktoria say we can''t do that. Thus, you can''t do that until she epts you as part of us." Karen told him to avoid another of these people having to take a chance on him.

    Annaliese then said. "Come on, folks. You know this discussion is pointless. My brother-inw will get it done anyway, so what difference does it make to you to make him wait?"

    The people there ignored Annaliese, and one of the men, someone who did not like Lothur at all, said. "Wait for your wife''s order, or we will have to stop you today."

    "You?" Lothur smiled upon hearing that man''s somewhat aggressive tone.

    Previously they had not used their soul powers properly to confront Lothur. So some felt confident they would not have as much trouble as they had if they had not been limited.<novelnext></novelnext>

    And in this situation, where he seemed to be demanding something from them, some of the more spiteful youths decided to stand in Lothur''s way.

    He had that beast, but so what? Was he going to use it to destroy the headquarters of his own wife''s faction? They could not believe it.

    So Lothur had only his powers left, which should not be enough for them to suffer much if they used all their abilities.

    Lothur then asked. "What are you nning? Fight me? Again? Are you really pursuing that?"

    "What? Didn''t you already beat us once? So what''s wrong with beating us again?" One of the level 11 men there said in a teasing tone. "If you beat us, no one will stop you from doing what you wish."

    Lothur looked at them and said. "If that is what you wish, attack me. Then, when you are all exhausted, I will take what I am pursuing and go my way."

    He then opened his arms after asking Annaliese to step aside without even taking the Elemental Staff since these people were too weak to hurt him.

    Karen noticed this and frowned, not liking what this could mean.

    "I''m not going to fight. I think this is a pointless, silly fight." Shemented as she walked away to the same spot where Annaliese was standing next to Ice.

    "Tsk!"

    ''What a coward!'' One of the women there who was most annoyed with Lothur thought of this as she looked at Karen, feeling that this woman being Viktoria''s right hand was an offense to her.

    Then those opponents of Lothur activated their techniques, as they positioned themselves in his surroundings to prevent him from escaping, acting in concert as they had nned.

    "Attack. I won''t do anything this time." Lothur smiled as he gestured with his hands, making those youths even angry.

    ''Bastard! You''re confident, so let''s see how you handle this!'' One of the men made spiritual roots emerge from the ground, running towards Lothur.

    While his opponents made their spiritual attacks appear in the surroundings, the first one to manage to attack Lothur activated the main part of his ability.

    "Devour, spirit roots!" He shouted with a smile on his face, imagining Lothur falling exhausted to the ground after a few fractions of a second.

    Ice saw that and considered that all these humans must be idiots. ''Why are they doing this? Don''t they know Lothur''s real strength?''

    But this fox could not deny that these humans were rather funny to look at and took advantage of the situation to have a fewughs.

    It was used to the peace it had in its vige and some asional fights. So within a few hours of seeing Lothure across several groups of humans who always strangely approached him, it could not help but find it all amusing.

    Meanwhile, Lothur felt that little thing trying to consume his energies. Still, even without activating his defensive technique, he did not suffer even a little from it.

    So he just stood there, waiting for the rest of the blows, with a smile on his face.

    ...

 Chapter 503 Domination

    Pow!

    Bang!

    Puff!

    Several attacks from the youths in Lothur''s surroundings hit his body. Still, this silver-haired fellow just held his position, untouched.

    Those individuals then began to feel a simr sensation to the one they had felt weeks ago, that of being totally dominated by the opposing side.

    Only to their shock, this time, Lothur did not even need the help of the mysterious weapon he had in his possession. He just epted their blows, without even moving his eyelids.

    ''Damn it! What is going on? How can his body resist all our attacks?'' One of those youths who hated Lothur the most and wanted to act against him wondered.

    Meanwhile, the others were already sweating, even though Lothur had not moved to attack them.

    ''What''s with this bastard? He is capable of all this... Could it be that he was ying weak before?''

    ''But how can he be so strong? With such stamina, he''s probably already stronger than Viktoria!'' One of the attacking women thought about this as she paled at the possibility that her thoughts were true.

    Viktoria by herself was already such a monster that even Larissa had to admit to being relieved that she was not participating in thepetition for the Secret Realm slots. Then Lothur proving to be as powerful or more powerful than his wife was even more shocking.

    After all, unlike Viktoria, who had grown up with a reputation as a local prodigy, and so everyone knew her, Lothur was a stranger who hade out of nowhere.

    But things that were mysterious and new always brought fear to others so that other more perceptive women were thinking simr things, noting their mistakes.

    On the other hand, Karen saw her theories proving true. Still, even though she had not been involved in this, she was a bit worried. ''That level of physical stamina... He probably reached the 4th Revolution, or he wouldn''t be as capable.''

    ''How did he do that? What kind of resources did Daemon give him?'' Karen was practically biting her nails, but she did not dare to investigate further.

    Daemon was dangerous, and Lothur was no longer easy to deal with, as she was seeing now and hearing recently.

    But unlike this blonde woman, the brown-haired woman beside her was smiling dazzlingly, extremely pleased with her man''s advances.

    Lothur had left it to tell of his experiences to all his womenter in his residence. Still, even without knowing how much he had improved, she could get a good sense just from the current situation.

    "Lothur is probably almost as strong as my father by now..." She muttered beside Ice as this beast looked at that fellow acting.

    After enduring several attacks from Ice Feathers'' council members, Lothur felt that he had already broken those people''s will and decided to act.

    ck mes!

    Immediately upon activating the ability of his second Soul Bone, ck mes surged around Lothur''s hands while a terrible aura spread from his body to the surroundings.

    The moment such an aura spread, everyone in the surroundings, including Ice, suddenly trembled, taking steps backward due to the terror growing in their hearts.

    "Ahhh!" One of the women against Lothur screamed in fear, not understanding where that feeling hade from.

    She could see that it was from Lothur. Still, she could not imagine how such a handsome and seemingly ordinary man could hide that feeling inside him.

    Several youths there thought the same as they frowned and swallowed their saliva.

    But they did not have a chance to think much when Lothur appeared behind one of the two men in his vicinity, cing his hands on the man''s head.<novelnext></novelnext>

    When this happened, spittle gulping sounds could be heard from a distance from that ce with each of those people thinking that Lothur was about to kill his opponent.

    The most frightened of all was precisely that young man, who at the moment was seeing the surroundings through the dark mes above his head.

    "Damn it!"

    "Don''t do that! We don''t have such enmity for that!" He shouted in desperation while the others were paralyzed with fear.

    But Lothur just smiled, letting his ck mes finish off this fellow''s few mental resistances to his skill.

    "Come on... Don''t worry. I''m just showing you what will happen if you rechallenge me." Lothur said in a low voice, but everyone there heard him well.

    After those words, that desperate young man stopped squirming as Lothur held his head.

    In sequence, his eyes became ck, and his body stopped moving strangely, beginning to act like a puppetmanded by someone.

    He put one of his knees down and lowered his head so as not to look at the man in front of him. In this situation, his mouth moved as he said with difficulty.

    "Ma... Mast... Master..."

    Lothur bared his teeth as he smiled in satisfaction, seeing that his mind control worked on humans to the point that he could enve them.

    ''The only problem is that level 11 people, like him, I couldn''t dominate inrge quantities... Only one has hardly spoken about what I ordered...'' He thought as he looked at the person on his knees in front of him.

    He had a mental connection with those under his domination through the ability of his second Soul Bone. So he did not need to speak or gesture what this ve had to do.

    The people there saw that and realized that Lothur was dominating that 2nd Revolution cultivator, something unimaginable to them.

    These were two of their academy colleagues, both of them being high-level students. But still, one of them had such abilities above the others.

    ''How can that be? Is this monster really in the same academy as us? How did the academy allow this?'' The other young man saw how his great friend was overwhelmed, as if he no longer had any will of his own.

    However, he would not have much time to feel bad about the situation in front of him. Lothur soon gave an order for that subordinate to act on his behalf.

    "Beat him until he screams, ''I am a pig'' ten times," Lothur said for them to hear.

    Immediately after Lothur''s voice ceased, that dark-eyed fellow stood up and looked in the direction of his friend, who was looking at him with a strange expression.

    He did not expect that Lothur would actually do something like this!

    The others thought about moving to immobilize Lothur''sckey, but he promptly warned them. "Anyone who wishes to get involved should know that you will eventually force me to act against more of you..." He showed his hands, still with ck mes on them.

    Gulp!

    This ability of Lothur''s did not turn his minions into stronger beings than they really were. So that level 11 fellow was no stronger than the independent version of him. As such, if more of these youngsters attacked, young Ritter intended to make more soldiers.

    He knew it would not be easy to create more ves at that level, but since those individuals did not know his limits, he used this to scare them.

    And it worked very well. After such words, everyone backed away, repenting for defying Lothur!

    ...

 Chapter 504 Changing Positions

    "I am a pig!"

    "I am a pig!"

    After some time of the battle, the young man under Lothur''s control managed to make his friend start crying as he shouted the words necessary to save himself.

    The two were at the same level, and those who knew them knew that the difference between them was not great for one to be able to defeat the other like that.

    But since one of them did not care about pain, only about the purpose of fulfilling his master''s orders, the individual under Lothur''smand got the upper hand in the battle and eventually reached the present moment.

    After more than two minutes of suffering, saying the phrase amidst his cries, the young man of level 11 finally said, ''I am a pig'' for the tenth time.

    In that instant, without Lothur worrying about ordering his ve, that individual stopped beating his opponent and returned to his master''s side.

    Annaliese watched this with her mouth open, surprised at her man''s new skill.

    ''That must be the ability of a Soul Bone...'' She thought, knowing that her man had no other way to get something like that.

    Unlike the people there, she knew quite a bit about her man''s powers. Thus, concluding it was easy for her.

    ''But I wonder how he got that? By the way...''

    As Annaliese fell into her thoughts, the youths who had tried to stop Lothur earlier just wanted to get out of there, afraid they would end up like that ck-eyed fellow.

    Lothur looked at them and asked. "Does anyone else object to me going ahead with my ns in this ce?"

    None of them said anything. They just shook their heads negatively.

    "Very good. Someone should show me the way. I''m anxious to get what I want here."

    After looking at each other fearfully, those people sighed in relief when Karen took the initiative to do this job on everyone''s behalf.

    "I will."

    "Hmm, very well then, you can lead the way." He looked at her and smiled, then immediately started walking towards the interior of that mansion.

    But just as Karen was already directing him and Annaliese, one of those women asked as she pointed toward the ck-eyed fellow kneeling near Ice. "What about him?"

    Lothur looked back and said. "Don''t worry about him. He will live and regain his freedom after a while..."

    "I guess."

    Annalieseughed at this while Karen shook her head negatively.

    "Where do you want to go first, Lothur?" She asked to try to steer this fellow away from further unnecessary trouble.

    "Let''s go to the library area. I''m curious to know what kind of information you keep here."

    But then Annaliese said. "It''s not a big deal. You shouldn''t expect much."

    "Hmm, that''s true." Karen nodded positively. "The information we have here is useful for cultivators but not so much for people who need ess to secrets and special information like you."

    She judged that Lothur needed special information because he was already powerful. With his abilities, it would not be anything to affect him negatively for him to need to know about them. But, on the other hand, opportunities to make him stronger would already be rare in the province.

    But she was wrong about Lothur''s interests. He did not want anything very specific or high-level. He just wanted information he did not already have.

    ''As long as I find some hint of what I''m looking for or hint of a growth opportunity, I''ll already be sessful.''<novelnext></novelnext>

    A growth opportunity for Lothur was not necessarily getting an advancement. That could be a simple business opportunity!

    As such, it was something that even the most basic information could help him with!

    ''I also need to get information regarding demons and beings rted to the demon world.''

    ...

    After some time, Lothur figured out what he could acquire back from Ice Feathers'' information.

    With that in mind, he took the documents and books he considered most important and left the academy alongside Annaliese, nning to start those readingster.

    It would take him a while to finish reading that faction''s contents. Still, he was satisfied that some of his questions could be answered from that information.

    But now that he had settled some more pressing matters at the academy, he made his way to his home, where he hoped to find his other women and associates.

    He had already been identified by the men from the families associated with him at the Ritter Motor Company and had drawn a lot of attention upon his return to Peters City. So Lothur already expected that his associates would go after him if he did not go to them.

    That would not be bad for him, since he really wanted to get up to date on hispany''s business by talking to all those people, and also deal with new relevant topics.

    So he tried to ignore the many looks from locals in his direction as Ice carried him and Annaliese to his property.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the office of the Duke of the Province...

    Caroline had already told her father about who she had seen earlier, and this man had already sent his son Martin to sort out the changing sides of the Waldeaur family.

    But while waiting for his son to act, this man was already personally trying to take the initiatives to improve his position by talking to his old friend, the coroner Klossner.

    August and Chris were at this moment face to face in that office, one with a serious but clearly happy expression, while the other looked somewhat nervous.

    "August, your earlier words have not yet proven to be true at all. But I already feel that such a boy really has the potential to be a major local influence." The Duke said with sobriety in his tone and expression. "Because of that insight of mine, I want to ask you to help me intercede on my behalf."

    "My Waldeaur family did nothing serious against Lothur, and even when we acted against him, we were just following orders... It wasn''t personal." He gestured, defending his cause.

    "Hmmm, I understand your side..." That associate of Lothur said this, knowing that in this world, people rarely acted out of personal problems and were always able to change sides... "But I must tell you, it will be difficult for you to get a position like mine, of his ally. So I won''t promise anything of the sort."

    "It doesn''t matter." Chris said,ughing, "As long as we''re not branded as enemies, I''ll already be grateful."

    ''Well, that I think can be done. After all, you did not participate in the previous attack, and from what I''ve heard, Lothur intends not to pursue even those who did participate but who are willing to stop antagonizing him.'' The coroner considered this information that had recentlye to him.

    "Sigh!"

    "Anyway, it''s awe-inspiring... A 5th Revolution beast. I don''t have one of those in my family myself." The Dukemented, feeling respect for Lothur''s means or even luck.

    Luck was also an essentialponent in a cultivator''s life. So it would not be this individual who would belittle Lothur''s achievements because of this element!

    "Hmm, that''s truly great." The coroner agreed. "Anyway, I''ll go for it. I intend to go talk to him to understand what happened..."

    "I''ll see if I can speak on your behalf."

    "Thanks!"

 Chapter 505 Trouble

    Later that evening, Lothur had met with his wife and Elke at his estate and spent several minutes talking with the two.

    He told them about where he had been for the past few days and the opportunities he had received at the Immortals Well.

    While talking about these opportunities, Lothur did not miss the chance to hand them some of the resources he had acquired during his days in the Three Great Lakes Region.

    He gave the Hidden Duscle to Annaliese since this medicine had attributes that would make more of a difference to her than to Viktoria. As for this woman, Lothur gave his wife the Winter''s Breath since this medicine could give the one who consumed it the chance to awaken their bloodline or Physique.

    Since Viktoria would make better use of it, being naturally more talented than Annaliese, Lothur gave such a thing to her in anticipation of increasing his family''s earning margin.

    He also gave Annaliese a sword of quasi-Gold ssification, capable of creating spiritual blowspatible with the water element.

    As for Elke, Lothur promised her to produce a Gold-grade artifact from the quasi-Gold-grade beast bone he had obtained.

    Such an item was of no use to Elke as it stood, but it was precious, even more so if it was used to produce something.

    They would have to find a good 3-star spiritual professional to do this, something quite difficult to get in Linn Province since the only Transcendents in this ce had no professions.

    But even if it were aplicated job, it would not be impossible for them to find someone capable in the empire''s capital. So Elke was not disappointed to receive that instead of resources already useful to her.

    Besides, she was already quite happy that Lothur had returned well so that in itself was already perfect for her.

    With that, after eating together and talking for almost 2 hours, Annaliese and Viktoria went to different training areas of that house to absorb those medicines.

    Meanwhile, Lothur took Elke to one of the rooms in the house and spent almost an hour with her in bed, caring for his woman''s physical needs.

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 9 -> 10]

    [Body Cultivation: level 9 -> 10]

    [STR: 32.9]

    [CON: 105.9 -> 118.7]

    [DEX: 33.9]

    [AGI: 34.2]

    [SOU: ??]

    After finishing his fun with Elke, Lothur faced a situation simr to the one he had had with her several weeks ago.

    Soon after receiving the benefit of having sex with Lothur, Elke felt the ssic symptoms of a breakthrough and ran to the bathroom so she would not have to do so in his presence.

    Lothur was not disgusted with his woman and congratted her since she could now begin the cultivation of her Soul attribute with the crystals he had to her.

    Because this was an event of great importance to her, Elke was not as embarrassed as she wasst time, feeling quite hopeful about her new journey within the 2nd stage.

    As she moved forward, Lothur realized how much she had improved all at once after having sex with him and the reaction she had had at that moment.

    Elke had had no problems during sex, but after such an experience, he noticed that she had experienced pain as she received the bonuses for that.

    With that vision, he immediately realized that women with Constitution values much lower than Elke''s would probably suffer and even risk death if they had sex with him.

    Hence, as he watched her go through thest marrow cleansing that soul cultivators went through in a long time, he thought back to his adventures with Anneke.<novelnext></novelnext>

    ''Damn!''

    ''Anneke is only at level 7. Her Constitution should be around 22 points right now. If I do something with her as I am, it would probably give her a Constitution advance of over 80%...''

    ''That would kill her!'' He thought about it, noting that he had gotten so strong that he had already lost his freedom to do as he pleased without realizing it.

    He was not sure of his theory, but if he tried it, he would see that he could indeed kill or even cripple someone like Anneke.

    Up to just over a 50% bonus at one time, the woman receiving Lothur''s ''blessing'' would suffer but would not be at too high a risk of permanent damage. But after that, the odds would be against that person. If she were lucky, she would have her cultivation crippled by such a significant one-time advance.

    With that thought in mind, he could not help but regret it, noting that he would have to give up his adventures with Anneke and any women much weaker than him.

    ''I don''t know if that''s a good or bad thing.'' He thought. ''If I hadn''t ''ventured out'' while still weak, I would run the risk of not being able to have sex with anyone elseter in my life!''

    Gulp!

    ''That would be terrible!'' He felt sweat dripping from his neck as Ice watched him through the gaps in the curtain covering the window of his room.

    ''What happened? Did something scare him?'' This white fox wondered. ''Did that weak human threaten him somehow? But how is that possible? She is so frail and weak...''

    ''Hmm, maybe women are terrible like that?''

    As this beast tried to understand human interactions, suddenly, its ears twitched, and it felt the hairs on its tail twitching.

    It then put these thoughts aside and turned around to see what it was.

    Immediately after it did so, someone knocked on the gate of Lothur''s house.

    Pa! Pa!

    ''Hmmm? An enemy?''

    ''Tsk! Very well, human. I''ll protect you while you breed!''

    Ice then jumped over the Ritter estate''s front wall, flying over that residence''s entrance gate, until itnded on the side of the street, where three carriages were already parked in front of Lothur''s house.

    Several cultivators between levels 13 and 15 were crowded near the entrance gate of Lothur''s residence, all well-dressed and with smiles on their faces.

    When it saw this, Ice thought the worst, imagining that someone like Lothur must have many enemies, and these people were probably there to deal with him.

    "Au! Au!" It raised its head and howled twice, making the weaker civilians passing nearby fear due to this beast''s powerful intent.

    "Oh? A 5th Revolution beast?" Gomericmented upon seeing this creature, stepping forward from his wife to take a look at this creature.

    "Is that the beast of Lothur?"

    "Magnificent!"

    "A gorgeous specimen!" Coroner Klossner, who had just arrived there, said this as he got down from his carriage.

    Then one of the subordinates of a local bourgeois family, who did not know Lothur well enough, stepped forward and asked his leader.

    "Master, do you want me to immobilize this beast?"

    ...

 Chapter 506 Meeting Allies

    When one of those local high-ranking men heard his subordinate asking that and stepping forward to Ice, he turned red and shouted. "Are you crazy? That''s Lothur''s fox! Do you want to cause trouble for the whole family?"

    The others in the surrounding area looked at that man with curious expressions, seeing that this person was crazy enough to want to provoke Lothur like that.

    Lothur was not a monster who would scare people of their level, at least not when they were his allies, not enemies. But still, everyone knew that young Ritter had some special abilities and was not easy to deal with.

    Soing to his house and threatening his fox was a terrible way to meet him!

    That individual turned red with embarrassment as he took that correction, retreating behind his leader to get out of the spotlight of everyone''s attention.

    Meanwhile, Ice was watching them cautiously, with its tail pointed high, as it watched these individuals getting in the way of Lothur''s breeding moment.

    For beasts, this was a time of utmost importance when they did not want to be disturbed, whatever the problems.

    Moreover, breeding was a time of vulnerability for some of them. As such, that creature was naturally more defensive towards Lothur after hearing that fellow''s previous minutes with Elke.

    "Au! Au!" It howled, trying to tell those humans to leave the area and that they were not wee.

    "What does it want?" Hilda asked, thinking this beast was a bit confused about standing against them.

    "Hmm, it''s hard to say... Unfortunately, we have no beast tamer to do the trantion." Gomeric said, not knowing that if there were someone like that there, he would end up finding out about things he would not like.

    But luckily for those individuals and for Ice trying to threaten them, soon after hearing its howls, Lothur had dressed and set off for the door of his house.

    He had already seen those individuals through the walls, so he went to stop his travelingpanion from unnecessarily attacking those people.

    "Lothur!" Viktoria''s father, who was already there, saw this fellow open a part of the gate of that house and smiled, seeing that his son-inw was still alive.

    "Hmm, good evening, everyone." Lothur waved to those people while gesturing to Ice that everything was fine and it should go rest.

    Ice looked at Lothur and made a disappointed expression, upset that this individual had stopped his ritual to deal with these people.

    ''I''m still too weak! I can''t go home alone, and I still can''t even defend Lothur''s territory while he is reproducing...'' It jumped back inside that estate, somewhat saddened.

    Lothur and the others did not know what was in that white creature''s head, and soon each party greeted each other, with all of them very pleased.

    They had been doing business for the Ritter Motor Company for the past few weeks. So now that Lothur had returned well from his disappearance, everyone was relieved, with only the great future ahead of them on their minds.

    "Lothur, it''s good to see that you''re okay!" Gomericmented as he pped one of his hands on one of the young Ritter''s shoulders, having already epted the idea of his daughter having a rtionship with this married fellow.

    "Hmm, will you tell us what happened? Your disappearance was quite sudden, and we even thought you had died." After they all entered that estate, August Klossner said as Lothur closed the gate.

    There were formations there capable of keeping things spoken secret, so Lothur did not take long to answer them, speaking a little of the truth but without exining everything. "I was taken to the Three Great Lakes Region, and in that ce, I got someone to kill the demon I took from the Finn Mountains there."

    "Luckily, I got a tradeable item and traded it with that beast for the Soul Bone generated by that demon. Eventually, I absorbed it and started my journey back."

    "Three Great Lakes Region?"

    "You managed to make a trade with a beast?"

    Some of those people questioned in low voices, feeling it was all rather fantastic.

    "What did you trade for the Soul Bone? I heard that demon was pretty smart..." Viktoria and Annaliese''s father questioned in curiosity.

    "I don''t really know. It looked like a tooth, except it was about the same size as me." He said, trying to sound ignorant concerning the Dragon Tooth.

    The people there tried to think about what kind of being would have such arge tooth, but none came to the right conclusion.

    There were several beasts in Concordia with such significant body sizes for one of them to have such arge tooth. Hence, it was not easy to guess this just from the hint that Lothur had given them.

    Then one of the members of the local bourgeoisie asked. "Did you get this fox in that ce?"

    "Hmm, it and I have fought side by side in a few situations, so the beast with whom I traded that tooth for the Soul Bone allowed me to bring it with me, with the promise that one day I would return it." He improvised a bit.

    "So that was it..."

    "Anyway, I''m back, and I don''t intend to leave Peters City until we start production of the first Ritter Motor Company vehicles."

    Hearing Lothur''s sweet words made everyone there feel better until one of them, the Teusen patriarch, said. "We will be able to start that by the end of the month. We already have several formation masters standing by to start production."

    "Hmm, that''s also true for the carpenters." Someone in charge of such a group said that.

    "Very well," Lothur said. "When we have everything ready to start, I will begin developing the first models alongside these men. Then, once we get the final version of each model, we will start mass production."

    "By that time, the driving school, the transportationpany, the pavingpany, and the first of our stores have to be ready, or we won''t be able to get the business off to the best possible start."

    "Yes, we are aware." Some of themmented.

    Minos said. "I want the first of our vehicles to be driving around the streets of Peters City by the start of the Secret Realm. Then I expect none of you to bete in your responsibilities."

    ''Secret Realm?'' Everyone there knew when that was, and as close as it was, they did not despair as there was enough time to do their respective responsibilities.

    With that talked over, some of them stayed around for a while longer, even getting a chance to see Elke after she finished her advancement to level 10 and congratte her on it.

    But most soon left that residence, with Lothur keeping only the most powerful of his alliance behind to talk.

    Among them, August was standing next to Gomeric, Hilda, and Aiken.

    The coroner then asked the young Ritter as he sat in the living room along with the others. "Lothur, I heard about your experience leaving Peters City days ago... Is what you told the local leaders true? Do you intend to forget about past problems regarding those who stop bothering you?"

    ...

 Chapter 507 Frozen Conifer

    Lothur heard coroner Klossner''s question and remembered the situation from days ago when he had fought alongside some allies against leaders of local powers.

    In that situation, he had been ambushed, with several individuals ready to assassinate him.

    Fortunately for him, those people were no longer capable of endangering his life at that time.

    But even with all his improvement in strength, Lothur thought nothing of taking revenge on those people, going after each of those involved.

    In that situation, he had not suffered in the fight against them, nor had his family and close ones been affected.

    He wanted to live in peace, preferably not being forced to fight constantly or having to lead. So pursuing revenge now that he was stronger would go against his goals, which were far above the priority of eliminating those opponents no longer dangerous to him.

    With that in mind, Lothur said. "Yes, that was true. It still is. If those people and others no longer bother me, I will not pursue past issues against them."

    "I have my own issues to worry about, so I will not get involved in the problems of people who are not trying to harm me."

    "Oh? Is that true?" Gomeric asked, liking that.

    As Lothur''s ally and someone with no interest in instabilities rted to the cycle of revenge, he would prefer that this young man deals with such matters in the manner of the elders.

    Elders would typically try to appeaseplicated problems using business deals, sometimes marriages, and other mechanisms used to avoid wars.

    Of course, sometimes, an experienced and strong cultivator would choose to take a matter to its ultimate consequences. But in Lothur''s situation, many would prefer to use the advantage of force and alliances to pressure opponents into epting disadvantageous deals.

    That was like putting the useful and pleasant together for Gomeric.

    If, on the one hand, this would avoid a local war, on the other, it could bring good business for all of Lothur''s friendly powers!

    Lothur nodded affirmatively. "Yes, I have no interest in pursuing anyone who is not getting in my way. I will only act if one of these powers insists on annoying me, endangering my family and friends, or trying to impede the progress of my business."

    "Otherwise, even a littlepetition I would ept, as long as the opposing side doesn''t use dishonest methods."

    Aiken was impressed with Lothur''s response, although he did not like it so much since he had a lot of resentment toward the local powers that had hurt his family badly over the years.

    He wished to return all the trouble he had put up with until recently. After all, who would not feel somewhat vengeful after suffering for centuries?

    But he understood that, rationally, Lothur''s decision was the smartest.

    Could killing an enemy eliminate problems permanently? Yes, if that enemy was the ultimate opponent. Otherwise, if someone supported that person, a bigger or stronger enemy could turn their eyes on the killer of their representatives.

    In this situation, a vengeful cycle could begin, bringing more and more powerful opponents to Lothur, preventing him from living in peace and perhaps taking advantage of opportunities.

    Negotiating ''peace,'' on the other hand, could prevent more powerful beings froming after him and even ensure that he would only have to deal with those he already knew for a significant period of time. In other words, he would have the bonus of dealing with weaker beings while he was at the beginning of his ns, the best time for peace.

    War had its benefits, but only those prepared could reap the best fruits!

    Aiken judged that his son-inw was still far from reaching that level, so even with his background, heprehended Lothur''s positioning.

    ''That''s not bad. He''ll be able to create a home for Viktoria and Annaliese, and who knows, even for the Frost family in case something bad ever happens to Mabel and me.''

    After this matter, August Klossner left Lothur''s estate satisfied with his associate''s position, feeling that young Ritter''s destiny was indeed to be a great influence.

    Something that the great influencers of this world had inmon was precisely the ability to know when to give up something and go on to a new path without excessively regretting their losses.

    The bad investment was a lesson, but nobody was obliged to go to the grave with it or even to cheer for its sess!

    It was better for the investment to work out, but if it went fail, patience. After that, it would be time to change strategy and add new knowledge of how to avoid mistakes.

    Lothur seemed to have this, and that fellow was ready to talk to some of his local contacts, enemies of this silver-haired young man, people who, like Chris, did not want to go against this him for eternity.

    Gomeric and Hilda also left after a while, taking Elke back home since she was not yet married to Lothur, and staying there would give curious souls the wrong idea.

    As for Aiken, he waited a while longer to see his two daughters, who rushed off to test their powers as soon as they finished absorbing the previous medicines.

    ...

    "Unbelievable!"

    "Anna really has changed a lot! She doesn''t even look like that girl who liked to roll around in cultivation!" Aiken said this as he watched his daughter perform the moves of the Frost family''s main technique.

    He could tell she was progressing a lot recently just by her cultivation alone. Still, seeing her smooth movements, he could not help but open his mouth in shock.

    Annaliese was demonstrating slightly superior skills to his, even considering the difference in experience and cultivation!

    ''I wonder what happened? Recently she has been getting powerful, and even her talent seems to have increased...'' He thought as Lothur looked at his sister-inw''s status.

    p����d��-��?�ͨ���.�㨮�� Unfortunately, only the attributes he could not see, the mental ones, had changed. So Lothur could not quantify Annaliese''s gains.

    But when Viktoria moved to demonstrate her gains, Aiken and Lothur immediately opened their mouths in surprise to see her doing something totally new but very powerful.

    Viktoria closed her eyes and waved her right hand in and out, moving from near her torso to farther away. When she did this, the air pushed out by her hand seemed to freeze, as the ''vacuum'' zone behind her hand formed a small vortex.

    As this small vortex formed, spiritual energy began to gather about it, while the air in that training area of Lothur''s house lost much of its warmth.

    ''Ice? How is that possible? Viktoria has no techniques based on this element...'' Aiken realized it was not a technique, but a skill!

    Gulp!

    As he opened his mouth, seeing his family''s bloodline for the first time, an ice sculpture simr to a coniferous tree appeared from the vortex in front of Viktoria, emittingpelling energy.

    It gave off such an icy feeling that even Aiken, level 15, felt as cold as if he had entered a cold room when it finished forming.

    Hell, even Lothur, with his Bronze-grade ice resistance, unconsciously put his arms together as he felt the icy sensation it emitted!

    ...

 Chapter 508 Useful Information

    When Viktoria activated her bloodline ability for the first time, her tree-shaped sculpture froze much of the surroundings.

    Such a thing even caught the attention of Ice, who was beginning to sleep outside that house.

    The moment the walls there began to freeze, this white-haired creature opened its eyes and jumped toward the room Lothur was in.

    ''What is that?'' It wondered as it stopped beside the wall separating the training area''s interior from the property''s backyard.

    But as it probed that sensation briefly, Ice realized that Viktoria had worked out a way to awaken a powerful source of ice within herself, something quite powerful.

    There were several types of bloodlines and Physiques and their ssifications. For example, Lothur had a support-type Physique ability, which ''only'' gave him bonus powers after he took physical damage. But despite its amazing ability, he could not use it in a fight to defeat an opponent.

    After all, this was only an auxiliary ability.

    But Viktoria''s bloodline skill, as unimpressive as the one from Lothur''s Physique, was more useful inbat because it was an offensive skill.

    Ice realized this when it noticed that on the first activation, Viktoria had managed to practically freeze that training roompletely, while the ice sculpture seemed ready to do more.

    Lothur noticed this too and sighed in relief that they were in a training room made for this kind of situation beyond the ordinary.

    At the same time, Aiken had taken Annaliese out of that ce to keep her from suffering from the intense cold generated by the coniferous tree sculpture in front of Viktoria.

    But he was feeling it all and even more than Lothur was, smiling in happiness at seeing his daughter''s ability activated.

    ''That must be the Frozen Conifer!'' He thought about it as he wrapped Annaliese in a special nket.

    He had never personally seen his family''s bloodline being activated. But Aiken knew its name and a few attributes of this powerful bloodline that had made his family powerful in the past.

    Anyway, the Frozen Conifer was one of the condensations of powersing from the ice element, which could be used in many ways.

    Each element had some form of condensation, a level higher than ordinary elemental control. That is, someone capable of using an element could only use normal techniques and activate the element from their own body and soul when in battle. But someone capable of condensing power into a special form could use the element ice from the surroundings without having to expend their own strength.

    Because of this, someone capable of disying one of the forms of elemental condensation could use a much wider variety of actions with their innate skill!

    In Viktoria''s case, even without using any skills from her bloodline, just by showing it to the world, she was able to attract so much of the ice element to her that it froze the room she was in!

    That could already be considered so strong that even Annaliese, at her level 12, had not withstood the temperature of the training room!

    At the same time, Lothur felt his resistance to the ice element goes up by 2%!

    ''Unbelievable!'' Lothur thought, seeing that blue and white sculpture glowing. ''The possibilities of that ability must be immense!''

    On the other hand, Viktoria was wide-eyed, looking at the sculpture in front of her chest, feeling a pleasing sensation in her body.

    ''A bloodline rted to the ice element... I always thought my innate ability would be water rted, like the family techniques...'' She was thinking, but suddenly her eyes widened.

    In that instant, she thought about the possibility that her techniques would be useful inbination with her bloodline.

    With that in mind, she activated one of her techniques, one that she could condense water into the atmosphere and throw it in powerful jets.

    She then danced to activate her technique while that ice sculpture apanied her.

    In the blink of an eye, when AIken had just returned to Lothur''s side, Viktoria created arge ice stone instead of gathering pockets of water in her surroundings.

    But this ice stone was different. It could easily be manipted by Viktoria, almost as if it were not ice but a malleable jelly.

    However, as soon as she used some of this mass of frozen water to direct it with her hands towards one of the walls there, she and her watchers were surprised.

    When it hit the wall, the stone made a hole the size of its body and went through that, heading towards the pool at the back of Lothur''s house.

    The rest of the wall began to freeze from that hole, slowly cracking and beginning to fall away.

    Meanwhile, the pool in Lothur''s house froze entirely to the point where the grass in the surrounding area froze, turning into countless small pointed des.

    "That..." Aiken walked towards that already half-fallen wall, seeing what had happened outside this house.

    ''This technique should at most cause damage by hitting its target. But now Vicky has managed to destroy the wall and affect the whole thing...'' He wondered what would have happened if Viktoria''s target had been a living being instead of a wall.

    ''Even if a person survived her shot, that victim would freeze to death!''

    Viktoria and Lothur realized this as well, while Ice''s fur stood on end. If it had not deflected the frost projectile thrown by that woman in time, this beast would have met its end!

    ''As expected from a condensation of the ice element!'' That creature looked at Viktoria, seeing that woman''s eyes glowing in a bluish hue due to her bloodline.

    But after this disy of power that destroyed part of her house, Viktoria took a deep breath, concentrating on deactivating her bloodline ability.

    She was thrilled with her awakening but knew she could not train something so powerful in her home. So she soon retracted her aura and focused on training this in another location, where she could keep her abilities secret without destroying her surroundings.

    ''I''ll have to go to the Cultivation House in the next few days...'' Viktoria thought before finally turning her attention to her father and Lothur, especially her husband, who had given her this opportunity.

    "Thank you, Lothur!" She walked over to him and hugged him.

    Lothur hugged her, congratting this woman on her achievement.

    "Congrattions, Vicky, soon you will be able to rece me and lessen the strain on the family." Aiken said, smiling as he ced one of his hands on her left shoulder.

    Viktoria nodded to her father, knowing that she had responsibilities to fulfill and would have to report her findings about her bloodline to the familyter.

    Aiken knew the name of his family''s bloodline and some of its characteristics. But that was only the basics. He had nothing that could help him awaken the bloodline of other family members.

    So any information Viktoria could get about her bloodline could help the family awaken more of its members!

 Chapter 509 Quiet Life

    While Lothur and Viktoria were trying to return to their routine after Annaliese and Aiken''s departure, the few local enemies who still wanted his head were already aware of his return.

    Among them, the most stressed of all was patriarch Baier, who hated Lothur the most and was furious that this opponent he alone could no longer handle had returned alive.

    He was currently on his estate alongside some local allies, nning what to do now that his more violent actions had failed.

    "Now the Frost family has someone else for us to worry about..." One of those menmented, putting Lothur and Viktoria on the same footing.

    "That doesn''t change anything. We were nning to act against this family during the Secret Realm. So neither of them will be around..."

    "Uh? What do you mean? Lothur isn''t guaranteed a spot in the Secret Realm."

    "Of course he does. Do you think someone like him won''t be able to win thepetition at the Morning Star Academy for one of the spots for that ce?"

    After those words, the individuals gathered at Patriarch Baier''s residence opened their eyes, realizing that this was indeed a good point. Lothur was using items to promote his strength in the situation of days ago. But his speed and strength were undeniable.

    He might not be strong enough to handle them without those auxiliary items. Still, to fight academy juniors, well, he could be considered a monster.

    "Yes,e to think of it, he must be the favorite in the contest!" Alric''s fathermented in satisfaction, feeling that their n to affect the Frost family would work well in Lothur and Viktoria''s absence.

    Since he and the others felt that weakening the Frost family would be one of the steps to harming Lothur, everyone there felt more hopeful for their eventual revenge against that fellow.

    Now what mattered was no longer even following the ns of the third prince''s faction and harming the Frost family. Instead, what mattered was to return all the defeats their families had recently suffered to that fellow!

    ''Let''s act as soon as possible while his strange ns do not proceed!''

    ...

    After Lothur hadmunicated with all his local allies on the day of his return to Peters City, a week passed quietly in this city.

    During this period, he attended the academy regrly, studied hard in that institution in the mornings and early afternoons, and continued his rtions with Elke and Annaliese.

    Because of this, they had both advanced in terms of soul, and Annaliese had even evolved the level of her body cultivation.

    But their advancements, as well as what Viktoria also had, were rted more to the spiritual crystals they had received from Lothur than to their ''activities.''

    Their ''activities'' helped, but not so much that Annaliese rose from level 12 to level 14 in just one week.

    But this was how spiritual crystals worked in this world. As long as one had ess to them and was talented enough, absorbingrge amounts of energy and getting stronger was simple.

    Unfortunately or not, most cultivators in this world had low talent. While some could achieve almost 100% efficiency in absorbing these items, most could not even achieve 10%.

    On the other hand, few people had ess to this kind of item at these women''s cultivation stage. So it was rare to see someone raising their level as quickly as Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke were doing.

    To get an idea, the entire Linn Province produced about 20,000 spiritual crystals annually. But of these, Lothur had given 120 to his women for them to simply absorb.

    That would be considered a great waste in the view of local leaders, who would surely use these same crystals to create new arms for their factions.

    For example, thete leader of the Mouse Company had created his group with less than a third of the value that Lothur gave his women!

    In any case, the local leaders were not surprised by the improvements of these women since most of them had found out that Lothur was now a millionaire.

    But some students at the Morning Star Academy were beginning to think it unfair that people connected to a monster like Lothur werepeting for ces in the Secret Realm.

    So even though he had not had any problems this week, Lothur had heard a lot of buzzes and had been questioned by teachers and professionals in the academy.

    But he always ignored these people, and when he left the academy in the afternoon, he forgot about matters unrted to the production of his cars.

    In the afternoons, Lothur would take care of the affairs of the Ritter Motor Company, which would finally have its factory delivered at the end of the next day.

    He had also been following the development of the auxiliary institutions to his automobilepany, participating in the necessary investments, and discussing the business models.

    He was the only one with the earthly experience to know of some mechanisms to increase profits or improve the structure of the business. So he had to participate in a little bit of everything.

    But at the end of the day, Lothur still found time to train in his spiritual professions, which helped him finally reach the peak of the first star in each of his professions.

    With that done, he nned to spend Sunday producing things for his women to consume and enhance their features. He had alreadybined his medical, alchemy, and poison master skills to produce items that, inbination, would greatly help his women.

    All hecked was the time to produce such items and the ingredients, which he had already ordered and would arrive next Saturday.

    Apart from these things Lothur had been doing, he was also fulfilling his responsibilities as a man and training his techniques at least three times a week.

    That helped him reach level 15, the 6th Revolution of a Spiritual Warrior, a level he was not far from it when he left the Three Great Lakes Region.

    Finally, Ice had been living quietly in Peters City, with Lothur feeding her Bronze-grade medicines daily.

    But unlike humans, who could get stronger quickly in many different ways, beasts were slower in their evolution. So that creature was still struggling to reach level 15.

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 165.7] [CON: 363] [DEX: 161.5] [AGI: 167.5]

    [INT: 113] [PER: 187.3] [WIL: 134.5]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur saw his status as he left his estate in the morning, heading towards the academy, no longer being pursued by local observers.

    After this week since his return, Lothur no longer had to worry about having people watching his movements and following him from a distance 24 hours a day.

    The local powers that had heard his warning during his trip to the Finn Mountains or even heard from August that he wanted peace had withdrawn their men from Lothur''s proximity. Meanwhile, his still enemies did the same for different reasons, not wanting anything with him before the Secret Realm.

    As such, while riding on Ice''s back, Lothur quickly arrived for another day of study at the academy.

    ''Ah, I can live quietly like this withoutining...'' He closed his eyes and sighed.

    But that would notst long!

    ...

 Chapter 510 Shocking

    Just after Lothur sighed as he prepared to enter the Morning Star Academy building with Ice, suddenly, two powerful auras appeared in the surroundings.

    Lothur had good senses, so he promptly stood on alert as the hairs on his arm shivered.

    "Uh?" He looked at the surroundings, where he felt the aura closest to him simultaneously as his hands moved.

    One of them prepared to pick up the Elemental Staff that Lothur had already summoned from his spatial ring. At the same time, the other made an offensive stance, prepared to activate the golden ring on one of his fingers.

    Ice noticed something strange with Lothur''s behavior and moved, even though it did not know who, how many, or where the enemies were.

    "Who''s there? Come out. I know there are two of you chasing me!" Lothur shouted as he noticed two people hiding while flying at low altitude, in a position that, due to the angle of vision of this young man and Ice, neither could see them directly.

    But since Lothur could see through things, he had readily identified the position of the two Transcendents watching him.

    Both were at level 16, and, like Daemon''s men and this individual''s father, their bodies were covered by ck clothing.

    The two were surprised to be noticed and looked at each other.

    "Looks like he got us, huh?"

    "Hmm, he''s better than that idiot said. No wonder he got away with it!"

    These two were the recements for the one sent by Lothur''s grandfather earlier, who were there to get him to the empire''s capital.

    If they could do that, of course...

    Lothur could not say for sure where these people were from. Still, judging from the situations he experienced, he did not think it likely that these people were from Daemon''s group. After all, he had spent days in the Three Great Lakes Region, and no one had triedmunicating with him.

    In this case, it only made sense to consider that these were his grandfather''s men!

    With that in mind, Lothur said. "Go away. When I want to visit the capital, I will see this person. Until then, I don''t want you people bothering me constantly."

    "Oh?" One of them opened his mouth when he realized that this young man seemed to know their origin.

    Since they did not want to waste any time, even though they had just started their investigation, the two decided to act once and for all after hearing that.

    "Brat, if you know who we represent, then just give up ande with us. That will prevent pain and humiliation." The man said.

    The woman thenplemented as the two finally stopped hiding andnded about 50 meters from Lothur. "If you surrender, we can travel as teammates and even teach you a bit... There is no need for you to be our prisoner."

    Meanwhile, the people in the surroundings of that street were already starting to look strangely at these people, seeing Lothur and Ice showing intention to fight in that ce.

    ''What are they doing? Don''t they know that they are in the middle of the city? Are they really going to fight here and risk attracting trouble to themselves?'' A mortal thought as he hurried his steps to avoid being involved.

    At the same time, some cultivators and students of the Morning Star Academy were looking with wide eyes in the direction of those people.

    Two of them were Transcendent cultivators, people rarely seen on the streets of this city!

    Not only that, the two seemed to be trying to kidnap Lothur in daylight!

    ''What happened?''

    ''Why are there people of that level trying to frame him?'' Anneke saw Lothur leaping off Ice''s back from afar as this beast showed its sharp teeth to its opponents.

    At that instant, Lothur answered the lines of those two. "If you want to catch me,e! I want to see what two Soul Core Transcendents can do!"

    "Oh? Are you sure about that? We won''t be as gentle as the fool who came before us." The man said in a thicker tone, releasing his cultivation pressure in Lothur''s direction.

    Ice immediately sensed this and could no longer move. But Lothur remained calm, feeling nothing different.

    With that, he did not wait to be attacked and promptly used his Space Belt, disappearing from Ice''s left side and appearing on that man''s back.

    At the same time, one of Lothur''s fingers was alreadypletely golden when he appeared there and pointed it at the middle of that man''s back.

    ''You will probably survive...'' He thought about it, not wanting to attract trouble but aware that it would not change his situation much.

    Even if he did not kill anyone, it was inevitable that more trouble woulde after him because he was willing to demonstrate more of his skills in order not to be kidnapped.

    Anyway, the two individuals were surprised by Lothur''s movement, but while that woman jumped back, that man waspletely lost.

    Lothur was fast, and bybining this with the surprise factor ofing up behind this individual, he could prevent his opponent from escaping.

    In the blink of an eye, one of Lothur''s fingers prated that man''s back, destroying even the Bronze-grade armor that this person was wearing.

    Gulp!

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Immediately after feeling Lothur''s fingering, that man dressed all in ck screamed while losing contact with his lower body due to young Ritter''s blow!

    Lothur already had a Constitution many times higher than that of a level 16 soul cultivator, so since that individual was unprepared and the Golden Finger raised its user''s attack power to the level of his Constitution, that man suffered a vicious blow.

    Lothur pierced this opponent''s back with a finger and destroyed one of the bones in this person''s spine, damaging his nerves!

    As such, while screaming madly in pain, that person slowly began to fall towards the ground, not feeling his legs.

    But Lothur did not want to stop there. He had already conquered bigger problems by the time he decided to act. So he thought it would be worth buying himself as much time as possible by taking action against that woman too!

    If she escaped unharmed, the news would reach his grandfather faster than he wanted. So hurting her would buy him time!

    As Luis appeared at the entrance to the academy, worried about the sensation he had just felt, Lothur fired aser beam in the direction of that woman''s right shoulder.

    Laser Vision!

    Lothur''s eyes turned red, and soon afterward, two scorching beams of energy shot out, startling everyone in the surroundings.

    "What?" That woman screamed as she felt the terror of that attack, which was enough to hurt her seriously. ''How could that be? He should have just enough power to fight against Spiritual Warriors!'' She thought as she felt her shoulder pierced by something scalding.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    She screamed in pain, losing control over her thoughts as she fell to the ground head-on, causing everyone in the surrounding area to be shocked.

    In just a few seconds, a student of the Morning Star Academy had knocked down two Transcendents!

    ...

 Chapter 511 Ordinary Humans

    When that woman fell to the ground crying in pain, with a hole in one of her shoulders, with blood squirting from there, everyone in the surrounding area was amazed at the development of the situation.

    From mortals passing by in carriages or walking on the sidewalks to the students and staff of the academy, everyone was open-mouthed and a little pale.

    No one expected that two Transcendents would attack Lothur overnight in broad daylight. But to watch him being attacked by these experts and still turn the result in his favor in a matter of seconds was even more shocking.

    Hell, Lothur was just a mere student of the Morning Star Academy!

    But still, that was the situation in front of them, something undeniable!

    Luis looked strangely in that young man''s direction, wondering how he had achieved such power after only a few days in the Three Great Lakes Region.

    ''What kind of ce did Daemon take him? Are there such gigantic opportunities in that area? At that level of attack, Lothur can already be considered as strong as me!'' He realized the size of the difference between him and Lothur suddenly diminishing.

    In truth, Lothur was not stronger than this man. After all, the strength capable of defeating those two individuals was not normal. One came from an artifact, something the young Ritter could not always count on, while the other came from his Soul Bone ability.

    Although a Soul Bone skill was a real power, this was not something that Lothur could use constantly. That is if the enemies were on alert and had used their strength to protect themselves or dodge his attacks, his potential to defeat them would be much lower.

    He might still be able to wound them, but if his opponents struggled, they could deflect enough blows for Lothur to exhaust his own strength. From then on, until he regained his energy, this young man would not be capable of using his Soul Bone ability and even artifacts that demanded his energy.

    Without these abilities, Lothur''s physical strength was equal to that of a level 14 person, so he could not be considered as strong as a level 16 person.

    Luis knew this, but he could not help but put this young man at the same level as him since, in the early stages of a battle, this young man really had as much or more power than he did.

    As he thought about this, he overcame the initial shock of seeing Lothur''s powerful attacks to approach this young man and those two experts.

    "Lothur, are you okay? Do you know who they are?" He asked.

    Lothur finally sighed as he realized that those two would not be able to act against him for a while, while he felt exhausted by those three moves.

    He used the Space Belt, activated the Golden Finger, and fired hisser beam. That had used up more than 60% of his strength.

    But Lothur had a lot of power for someone of his level, and he did not look so bad on the outside.

    Then, as the curious people crowded into the area now that there was no more danger, Lothur said. "Yes, I''m fine. But I don''t know who they are. Only that they are representatives of my grandfather."

    "From your grandfather?" Luis asked in surprise, stopping his movement to look at Lothur.

    In the midst of this, a local guard watching the whole thing stepped forward and went toward the man lying in agony, who had his spine broken.

    Gulp!

    "Hey, what do you think you''re doing?" Luis shouted at that guard as he realized that such a person intended to remove the mask from such a person''s face.

    "Senior, these people have broken the rules of the empire. So I will arrest them while they are incapacitated." That guard said as more men from the local guard arrived to see what was forming that crowd.

    ''Arrest? Is he crazy?'' Luis decided to take control of the situation, afraid he would bring too much trouble to this city if he let these people deal with it.

    He looked at Lothur and said. "Go to the academy and continue with your activities. Later I will call you in my office."

    Lothur heard this and was disappointed, feeling that he could not loot the bodies of those two since Luis would probably take care of the situation. "Okay."

    So this silver-haired young man went toward his furrypanion, who was quite startled by those two Transcendents.

    But Ice was also pleased to see Lothur defeating two level 16 humans. ''That was really amazing!''

    Meanwhile, Luis looked at the guards in the surrounding area and said. "I will take care of the situation of those two with the Duke, so you guys can rx."

    Those people no longer wanted to have to arrest two Transcendents anyway, so they immediately epted this expert''s orders.

    One of the guards then began to organize things on that street. "Come on, people, the show is over! Time to get back to minding your own business!"

    Slowly, the mortals and students of the academy, most of the curious people there, began to leave,menting on the matter, still with expressions of surprise.

    That was particrly true for those who knew Lothur best, such as the cases of Anneke and a woman from the Angelic Feathers.

    ''If he can use that kind of power in the confrontation against Larissa, there will be no hope for her...'' That Larissa ally thought as she clenched her fists in frustration.

    Lothur had brought good news for them with the Ritter Motor Company. But he was also slowly bringing trouble and disrupting the ns of Larissa''s group.

    So that woman ran towards her faction''s mansion, interested in finding her leader and telling her what she had seen as soon as possible.

    ...

    A few hourster, Lothur was on his way to the Ice Feather mansion, where he was slowly reading the documents and books from Viktoria''s group''s collection.

    But in the middle of his way, with many people watching him more than ever, Larissa came up to confront him.

    "Lothur, how did you get that? A few weeks ago, your strength was not enough for you to defeat 2nd stage cultivators. How can you now defeat a Transcendent with one blow?" She asked in a slightly agitated tone.

    She prided herself on being the strongest in the academy, and the number one ranked student in that institution. But Lothur was starting to make her feel like she had someone chasing her. After noticing that he might have overtaken her, she decided to talk to him.

    Lothur saw the nervousness in his ally''s gaze and smiled. "What kind of silly question is that? What cultivator gives away their secrets like that?"

    She clenched her fists tighter and said. "You are hiding something. It''s not possible for an ordinary human being to be able to grow so fast!"

    "That''s right. I''m not ordinary..." He smiled as he approached Larissa and ced one of his hands on one of her shoulders. "Anyway, you shouldn''t be so stressed. Tomorrow is the big day when the Ritter Motor Company factory will be ready!"

    ...

 Chapter 512 The Decision Of Two Experts

    Upon hearing Lothur''s words, Larissa somehow calmed down a bit, even considering that her big goal, the Secret Realm, was starting to get further away from her.

    "Tomorrow? But that''s just the factory. It will still be a while before you start the vehicle production." She said.

    "Hmm, but starting tomorrow, the professionals directly rted to vehicle production and I will produce cars daily. Some might work." He said with a smile on his face. "Since some cars will be ready before others, we will have some ready to run in a few days."

    "Really? But won''t you start producing them only when you have all the models ready?" She asked.

    Lothur answered her. "No. As soon as we have the first model ready and the connected business of producing cars ready, I willunch the first vehicle."

    Lothur nned to firstunch an ordinary passenger car, useful for people going to work or moving around the city with friends or family.

    He would use such a model to attract the attention of the wealthy public and sell his first units.

    Soon after, he intended tounch the local transportationpany, which would make trips between cities in the province and even around Peters City.

    Through this, he intended to poprize independent animal-powered vehicles, showing the potential of his ''creation.''

    From then on, it would only be a matter of time before vehicles for carrying heavy items, among others, would appear in his stores!

    With this, Lothur intended to sell his vehicles even before the Secret Realm, which would take ce in 39 days.

    Larissa could not help but get a little anxious about this and felt her stress subside a bit.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was looking at her status.

    [Name: Larissa Carstensen]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 70.9 -> 71.7]

    [CON: 75.4 -> 75.9]

    [DEX: 72.7 -> 73.5]

    [AGI: 73 -> 74.2]

    [SOU: ???]

    ''Anyway, you shouldn''t worry about me... Even Annaliese might try to challenge you atpetition time if things continue as they are.'' Lothur thought about this in silence, considering how fast his women were growing.

    Lothur had concluded that improving a cultivator''s physique so quickly would make ''room'' for rapid soul growth. Because of this, in his theory, Elke, Viktoria, and Annaliese were growing faster than they should, even using crystals.

    Students from different sectors could challenge people from lower sectors topete for the Secret Realm slots. So Lothur considered that even if Larissa challenged people from lower sectors, she would still have difficult opponents to ovee.

    Elke had already moved up to Sector 3 during the weeks that Lothur was away, and Annaliese was in Sector 5.

    There was a chance that Larissa would try to challenge one of them so as not to lose her chance to go to the Secret Realm. Hence, Lothur was curious about what would happen because of his ''intervention.''

    ''I want to see what will happen, hehe.''

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the provincial government headquarters...

    Luis was standing next to Chris Waldeaur in front of the two who hade from the empire''s capital to kidnap Lothur on orders from his grandfather.

    After taking them from that previous street, Luis had led them out of the city, trying to escape the local forces and allow those two to escape. But in his attempt, he was stopped by the Duke, who was curious to know who was openly acting against the emperor''s words.

    With this situation, Luis had been forced to return to this ce alongside the Duke and was now standing in front of those two injured individuals, with Chris suspecting his involvement in all this.

    p����d�� ��?�ͨ�|,�㨰�� "It''s not what you''re thinking. It''s just that these are men that we cannot reveal their identities nor arrest them. They represent a person we can''t mess with!"

    "Oh? Who is that person?" The Duke asked, not knowing about Lothur''s grandfather, although he did know about Daemon, a famous ouw.

    Luis hesitated for a moment and then said in one of Chris''s ears. "Those are men..."

    At that instant, he muttered the person''s name in a differentnguage than humans usually spoke to prevent the ''walls'' from hearing what he had to say.

    After he heard Luis, the Duke opened his eyes wide, understanding the why of many things, including discovering Daemon''s identity.

    ''So that''s why... He actually is that person!''

    Gulp!

    He looked at the couple in front of him and felt the sensation of almost having arrested that person''s envoys.

    "But what do we do now? If he wants Lothur to go to the capital, we should act together with these two, not send them back..." He said in a much thinner tone than that of moments ago.

    Luis shook his head negatively and said. "Are you crazy? Do you want to get involved in these people''s affairs? The best we can do is to stay out of it, allowing these two to return and deal with their own failure."

    "If we reveal their identities, we will be forced to help them and still be involved in all this. But if we leave them as they are and release them, we are just two experts giving freedom to colleagues for the courtesy of our years of cultivation!" He said in a whispering tone.

    The Duke realized that he would indeed have a lot of trouble if he got involved in this matter and that it was better to let them deal with Lothur.

    If he were directly ordered for that person, he would have no choice but to act. But until then, it would be much better to feign ignorance!

    With that decided, he looked at Luis and nodded in agreement, ready to follow the academy principal''s ns.

    "But it''s imposing the level Lothur has reached! He can already seriously injure people at our level!" He put one of those two on his back and flew next to Luis.

    Luis nodded and said. "Lothur is a cultivation genius, more talented than his father. He will definitely be a Saint in the future!"

    "You expect all this from him?"

    "Hmm, with his talents and personality, as well as the Ritter Motor Company, he has all the requirements. It''s only a matter of time before that happens."

    The Duke regretted not realizing this early enough, but without ''crying'' too much over spilled milk.

    At least he would not be pursued by Lothur. He thought so.

    "In any case, we can''t leave those two like that..." The Duke looked at the injuries of those two and felt that they would attract trouble anyway if they left them like that.

    "Let''s give them cellr recovery pills before we leave them. Then, after that, they''ll be able to recover and return to the empire capital."

    "OK!"

    Just like that, two local specialists flew through the skies of Peters City, but only one other person in this entire city noticed them carrying those two.

    That person was none other than Mabel!

    ''Why are they doing this?''

 Chapter 513 Near Catastrophe

    When Mabel sensed with her spiritual sense what the other Peters City Transcendents were doing, she immediately frowned and stood up.

    She was cultivating in the training chamber of her home. Still, upon observing the movements of those two men and noticing something strange, she decided to go after them.

    Mabel could not sense all of Peters City with her sense, so she often watched the movements of only the local leaders, focusing on the two Transcendents.

    Of course, she also watched her husband and her two daughters when they were not with Lothur.

    She felt a great disgust for him, so she would always stop watching any people who were with Lothur just so she would not have to feel the presence of her son-inw.

    Because of this, she did not know about the things Lothur did with her daughters, but she also had not noticed the attack from earlier.

    News of the event would still spread locally to the point of reaching her. Thus, all she knew was that two of the strongest local leaders were flying together with two bodies on their backs.

    These two bodies were not weak, so she immediately flew off in the direction where they had left moments ago.

    Mabel was faster than those two individuals, so even though she was starting at a disadvantage, she managed to catch up with them just as they had finished putting pills in those two mouths.

    p����d��-��?�ͨ�|���㨮�� At that instant, Luis and Chris were starting to fly back to Peters City when she saw them.

    ''Uh? They didn''t notice me?'' Her eyes grew even sharper, not understanding how these two experts had not noticed someone at the same level as them so close to them.

    She had hidden as she noticed their escape route, but at no point had Mbel thought she would not be noticed since they were also supposed to be monitoring her movements.

    ''Are they so distracted as not to notice me? Unbelievable, if I were an enemy, I would have been able tounch a deadly dangerous attack at point-nk range!'' She watched the two of them leave without looking back, then immediately looking toward the two Transcendents on the ground.

    Mabel realized that they both had pills melting in their mouths, slowly beginning to make their bodies recover.

    Since she did not have much time until they awoke, Viktoria and Annaliese''s mother rushed to the two''s side and quickly took off their masks.

    "What?" She jumped backward as she identified where these people were from.

    ''What is going on here? Why are people from the Secret Guard here in Peters City? Don''t tell me that old man is looking for trouble in this ce?'' She wondered before covering back the faces of the two and running away from there in a hurry.

    ...

    Half an hour after Mabel''s departure...

    The two envoys of Lothur''s grandfather awoke and had already taken new pills to recover more of their bodies.

    Even the man who had had his spine significantly damaged to the point that he could not stand before had managed to regenerate it enough to run.

    But finding themselves in that ce, the two could not ignore what had happened and the significance of it all.

    "Someone helped us." The womanmented in a somber tone. "Someone in Peters City found out where we came from and probably saw our faces..."

    "Hmmm." The man nodded in agreement, concerned. "They didn''t want to get involved, so they abandoned us here."

    As much as they were helped, neither of them was happy. Why was that? Not only had they failed in their mission, but they had had their identities revealed to someone else!

    They belonged to a force called the Secret Guard, which, as its name implied, was secret, and the identities of its members were a secret known only to its leader.

    These men of the Secret Guard also had roles within the Empire''s forces, so the identity of one of them beingpromised was a big problem that could lead to the failure of many missions.

    Consequently, those two were more concerned with this problem than with the failure to kidnap Lothur.

    Lothur was already very strong, and they could not be med for misinformation regarding this young man''s powers. But the other problem, well, they had nowhere to run!

    "Damn it!"

    "What are we going to do now?" He asked hispanion.

    "Sigh!"

    "Let''s go back to the capital and see what happens... In any case, it''s not our fault if Lothur defeated us and someone took advantage of the situation to discover our identities."

    ...

    While those two were leaving the province and Lothur was going on with his business, before the opening of his factory, Elisabeth was in her residence, teaching her students.

    This poison master who had taught Lothur the poison art already knew the situation of her first pupil and was eagerly awaiting the day he could advance to 2-star rank.

    Meanwhile, she continued her business as a local poison master, leaving the affairs of the Ritter Motor Company to her allies and focusing on teaching her other three students.

    Just at this moment, all three were standing there in front of her, finishing having their questions answered by this experienced local cultivator.

    Unlike on Earth, where the most normal thing was to teach theory and leave practice with less importance, in Concordia, professors used only the practice.

    Each student was responsible for reading the theory on their own to learn a spiritual profession.

    When a student had the theory up to date, the master would appear to teach them the practice and take exams to measure how far their pupils could train alongside them.

    Moreover, masters would only answer their disciples'' questions without wasting time exining things that anyone would find in books.

    So this woman was finishing answering these three questions. At the same time, one of them had a smiling expression on her face, another an ugly expression, and the only man there was neutral.

    Reba was pleased about the things she had recently heard from Lothur, whom she had brought to her mistress. But, on the other hand, her rival was angry, as Lothur was showing impressive signs, overshadowing even the one she hated the most.

    Since Rosa wanted more than anything to be Elisabeth''s first and most important disciple, the seceding of Lothur and even Reba was only getting in her way.

    As for the third student there, he had nothing against Lothur, nor was he concerned about Rosa and Reba''s dispute. So he focused on his future as a poison master, gathering the answers to his questions.

    But amidst this, Reba suddenly showed strange behavior, bing more serious and then getting off bnce.

    "Ba?" Elisabeth asked as she stood up and saw her student falling.

    At that instant, a dark mist began to escape from Reba''s Poison Body, and the three people in her vicinity realized the problem.

    "Her Poison Body is getting out of control!" Elisabeth shouted unconsciously.

    At the same time, the two young people there turned pale with fear, knowing that when such a thing happened, Peters City itself could be in danger!

    ...

 Chapter 514 Public Calamity

    The Ancient Poison Body was a type of Physique that was extremely powerful and useful to the progress of poison masters to the peak of cultivation and understanding of the poison art.

    But not only was this Physique mighty, but it also had its downsides, which endangered not only its owner but all those in its vicinity.

    That Physique was the kind that external resources could stimte. In the case in question, it could be stimted with poisons through its owner''s regr training in poison art or other situations.

    That is, while ''normal'' people like Lothur used poisons to gain traits of affinity with the element but did not umte substances in their bodies, Reba did the opposite. Each time she trained, her Physique absorbed more poisons, and the poisonous substance in her essence became more powerful.

    That was also why the Ancient Poison Body was so powerful, but that was why Elisabeth''s two students were pale with fear.

    From time to time, the concentration of poisons in that Physique would reach such high rates that its owner would go into hibernation mode to get used to what was developing in themselves. At the same time as this, much of the umted poison in this body would escape from it, releasing a hazardous, poisonous mist.

    Reba might not be extremely powerful or a local high-level poison master. But at her level 11 and having already trained with poisons for almost ten years, the poisonous mist starting to escape from her body was not to be underestimated.

    It would hardly threaten the life of a cultivator and poison master like Elisabeth. Still, for young people like those two, that was deadly dangerous!

    "Mistress..." Rosa cried out in fear as she felt her knees trembling.

    Elisabeth realized that those two were in mortal danger and struck a blow in their direction, aiming at a window behind them.

    "Run as far away as possible!" She shouted as the two made pained expressions before they were even hit.

    In sequence, two bodies flew out of that property, passing through the ss windows and falling outside that property.

    As they fell outside that house, the two felt the shards of ss prate several different parts of their bodies, but they had no time to mourn their pain.

    Immediately upon realizing they were temporarily out of danger, they gathered their strength to leave.

    "Damn it!"

    "This time, it will be even worse than thest time!" Rosamented to her colleague, clenching her fists in anger, already aware that with each ''st'' of Reba''s poisons, the level and scope of the threat grew more powerful.

    She began to run towards her home, while her colleague felt she should ask the local leaders for help.

    ''Reba''s Poison Body can expel a fog capable of reaching hundreds of meters from its owner...''

    ''Last time she experienced this, the concentration of the fog was strong enough to kill people up to 200 meters away from her... This time, I imagine that will double or even triple!'' He felt cold sweat dripping from his body, afraid of what might happen.

    Last time, Elisabeth had managed to predict when the poison ''explosion'' would happen, and only a few vigers from the ce she chose had died.

    But currently, Reba''s situation hade weeks earlier than predicted, and she was in the middle of a city of over half a million people.

    Considering that she was much stronger, this colleague of hers could sense the worst happening, with thousands of dead emerging in this city in a matter of hours.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''I have to warn the local leaders... If the mortals are not retreated in time, in two hours at most, we will have people dying in several areas of the city!'' He continued on his way toward the local government headquarters.

    Perhaps as luck would have it, it all started in a wealthy neighborhood of Peters City, where most of the people in the vicinity were cultivators.

    But still, that was not a good thing since most of the local cultivators were weaker than Reba.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    In other words, they were at serious risk of death!

    ...

    Meanwhile, the first powerful cultivators in Peters City realized something was wrong as people ran through the central streets of that city.

    No one had died so far, but people from various parts of the city could already see a purple haze spreading over the northern part of the city.

    At the same time, while running through the local streets, Rosa''s colleague shouted to everyone in his path that a catastrophe was about to happen.

    That quickly brought several 2nd stage cultivators into the streets, with the most curious following in the direction of Elisabeth''s residence.

    "What''s going on?" Gomeric questioned aloud while standing next to some elders of his family.

    "I don''t know... We''ll see what it is. But I have a bad feeling about it." Hildamented while she was also with her husband.

    ...

    Meanwhile, patriarch Baier was in his residence, looking at the situation and remembering that there was a ''time bomb'' in Peters City.

    ''That woman... Did she really keep that girl around during this dangerous time? Is she out of her mind? Does she want to create a catastrophe?'' He wondered as he nned to move with some of his elders to resolve the situation.

    "What shall we do, patriarch? That woman has broken her promise, and now Peters City is under threat." One of those elders asked.

    Elisabeth had made an agreement with local leaders that these people would allow Reba to continue living, even considering her Physique. Following her agreement with them, she was going to take that girl away from the city whenever the poison ''explosion'' was going to happen.

    At the same time, she would take responsibility in case the worst happened and would handle her disciple herself...

    With that in mind, Alric''s father said. "We cannot have any mercy on that girl today. Her existence puts the whole city and our families at risk..."

    "Then we will end her miserable life if that woman does not have what it takes to do so!"

    ...

    On the other hand, the Duke of the Province was already in front of Elisabeth''s house, knowing everything that was happening.

    "Elisabeth, I''ming in." He said, remembering the first time this had happened when that poison master had attacked several people who tried to enter her property after sensing Reba''s awakening.

    "Chris, what do you want here?" She asked in a worried tone, knowing that this day would not be easy.

    After all, she did not know how to stop the poisonous ''explosion,'' and she had made a mistake in predicting the date of that fact.

    So she was feeling bad at the moment, but she was not willing to simply kill this young woman for not being able to predict the correct date.

    "You know why I am here. We can''t allow this to develop. Do you want us to pile up bodies in the city streets tomorrow? Are you crazy?" The Duke asked in a serious tone, so loud that several people in the surrounding area shivered.

    ...

 Chapter 515 Sacrifice Needed

    "Maybe we have a chance to stop the worst from happening. I''ve been studying new methods to do that..." Elisabeth shouted while she already had the defenses of her house activated. "You should at least let me try, Chris!"

    The Duke heard this and was not convinced. "Elisabeth, you have told me this several times in the past, and you have never shown proof that you can help this girl!"

    "Now that the situation has reached this point and you can no longer fulfill our agreement, it''s time to give up."

    "Give up? You''re really too cold! This is a life we''re talking about!" She said indignantly.

    "No, we''re talking about thousands of lives." The Duke said, making an ugly expression on his face.

    He did not like the situation either since he had nothing against Reba. He even thought that having someone from his province with such a powerful Physique might help him somehow.

    If Reba could control her powers, the day mighte when she would be a great expert in the empire.

    As much as this would be very good only for her at first, specialists almost always generated benefits for their homnds.

    Whether it was the protection theyter guaranteed or the resources they sent to residents of such areas.

    An expert might not care about the city they were born in. Still, if he sent resources to his rtives residing in that ce, it would undeniably benefit the ce. After all, people consumed, and by receiving valuable resources, they could also be local experts.

    Not everyone was talented enough to take advantage of the opportunity and travel further into the fantastic world. Some would use resources and only achieve enough strength to lead forces from their homnds.

    And so, territories and people like Chris would benefit when some local prodigy like Reba appeared in their areas of dominance.

    Hence, he would prefer to her living and be a contributing citizen to local development.

    Unfortunately, the Ancient Poison Body wasplicated to control, and between the risk of having a cmity in his city and the small chance of her developing, he preferred to avoid the worst.

    "Elisabeth, you couldn''t keep your promises. Now it''s time to back off and give up." He said as local experts began to arrive at that ce. "I know it''s a great misfortune to lose a disciple, but we must cut off the hand, so we don''t lose the whole body!"

    "Regret all you want, but make the right decision, or this day could worsen for everyone involved!"

    At that moment, several local patriarchs were already there, among them Elke''s father, Aiken, and his wife, Mabel, the patriarch Baier and the leader of House Vogel. In addition, several experts at the final part of the 2nd stage were there, but also the Morning Star Academy principal.

    "We must break into this woman''s house and do what we must before the worst happens." Alric Baier''s father loudly said while he had weapons in his hands.

    "Yes. The whole city is at risk if we don''t do something in time..." A person from another local noble family said this. "Look at that. That girl''s poisonous mist has already reached the entire block we''re on."

    Mabel looked at her husband and said. "There are no alternatives here. This girl is only at the 2nd Revolution, and her poison ''st'' is already so powerful..."

    She and everyone there could feel that even level 13 cultivators could be severely poisoned if they came into contact with that mist.

    That was rather impressive, considering that she had just reached level 13.

    So if she kept getting stronger, without a method to control that process, one day she would even threaten Transcendents.

    When that happened, a city like Peters City would be entirely annihted without her even making an effort!

    That was uneptable!<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>

    "If we don''t stop this, the damage will be irreparable and unstoppable in the future!" Viktoria and Annaliese''s mother said thoughtfully, not liking having to deal with Reba''s sacrifice but sure of what had to be done.

    "Sigh..."

    As Aiken sighed, Luis had simr thoughts to the other Transcendents in the area. ''Poor girl... If she had been born in another state, she might have had some means of survival. But in Leopoldine, where the profession of poison masters is somewhat underdeveloped, there aren''t many possibilities for her here.''

    Some professions could be better developed in areas with great affinities to them. For example, the poison art could be developed more easily in a forest with a significant presence of poisonous vegetation.

    There was not much of this in Leopoldine, only poisonous nts that grew far apart from each other.

    In other Concordia states, however, there were those areas that had forests the size of Linn Province, full of organisms with poisonous powers.

    In these ces, the profession of poison masters could be developed to the limit.

    However, this ce was far away from any of such ces on this continent, so Reba had little hope.

    Hence, someone shouted when more than 50 locally powerful cultivators were already surrounding Elisabeth''s house. "Elisabeth, we will give you 2 minutes to leave or deal with your student. After that period, we will invade your house and deal with even you!"

    "Humph!"

    "For I want to see who of you dares to endure my poisons!" She shouted.

    Patriarch Vogel, the leader of Elisabeth''s family of origin, then said. "I will take care of this woman''s poison. The rest of you can focus on immobilizing her and killing that girl."

    Hearing that, Elisabeth felt hatred for that person as she looked at the girl in her arms, beginning to lose hope.

    The seconds began to tick by quickly as she tried to think of something.

    When there were only 10 seconds left until her time was up, something came to her mind, and she shouted. "Wait a moment. Just listen to this before you attack!"

    "Oh? What is it?" Patriarch Baier asked, sensing that such a woman was about to give up.

    She then said. "Reba is very good friends with Lothur Ritter. Are you really going to kill his friend without giving him a chance toe here? I propose that someone goes in search of him and brings him here. If he agrees to sacrifice her, I will no longer object!"

    ''Lothur?" Several people there thought of the figure of the silver-haired young man and felt goosebumps in their bodies, remembering that now Lothur was even capable of defeating Transcendents.

    Considering that alone, even the Duke of the province had to think carefully before acting against Reba since he might provoke someone capable of killing him!

    ''Damn it!''

    ''She''s friends with that bastard?'' Patriarch Baier thought about it as he felt hatred for that fellow.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s allies in the Ritter Motor Company looked at each other, knowing that they had to consider his opinion before doing something against a friend.

    Lothur was not easy to deal with and could create as much chaos as Reba''s venomous ''explosion'' in this city!

    ...

 Chapter 516 Warning

    "Lothur? You have got to be kidding us, Elisabeth! What does he have to do with your disciple''s situation? Can he do anything to stop the situation?" Patriarch Baier questioned, feeling that this would only worsen the city''s situation.

    He normally would not be bothered by a few mortals dying in an incident involving a local cultivator. After all, those were easily reced.

    However, Reba''s threat could harm thousands of mortals locally, which would already affect families that depended on local trade, such as House Baier.

    But not only that but he was also concerned about the thousands of 1st stage cultivators that existed in this city, which further affected the bottom line of local families.

    Thus, not only he but other local leaders there were not even thinking about harming Lothur for Reba. On the contrary, they feared losses for their families and did not want to have to involve young Ritter in all of this.

    That would onlyplicate the resolution of the problem and create more damage to the noble powers of this area!

    "Haha, am I kidding? Then break into my house and kill my disciple and me! I want to see what will happen to you when Lothur finds out about it all!"

    "Don''t forget that I am his mistress!" She shouted, not liking having to use her position concerning Lothur to scare the others but doing it anyway, for Reba''s sake.

    Hearing that, almost everyone in the vicinity of that house from which the deadly dangerous mist generated by Reba''s body was spreading reacted by contorting their faces.

    "Do we have to do that?"

    "If no one says anything to him, wouldn''t that be an immenseck of respect?"

    "Lack of respect? He''s just a child who has just learned to walk on his own!"

    "But that child can already kill us..."

    Gulp!

    The proud elders on the outskirts shut their mouths, with some swallowing their salivas and others considering the situation they had gotten themselves into.

    "I''d better go after him," Hildamented aloud. "I know more or less where he should be at this time, so it won''t take long to get him here."

    "But..."

    "But are we going to let that happen? I mean, we are the local leaders! If we ept that situation, then from now on, wouldn''t we have to ask his permission every time we have a problem to solve?" An enemy of Lothur asked.

    Gomeric nodded for his wife to go ahead with her ns and said to the person who had just asked a question. "If you don''t like how things are shaping up, you have two alternatives. Leave Peters City or challenge young Lothur."

    "If you dare not take either path, you should just shut up and ept the change in times."

    After those harsh words, everyone there was silent, with Mabel making an ugly expression depending on her son-inw''s answer. At the same time, Chris did not like consulting someone else to decide anything for his territory.

    But they both already knew about Lothur''s most recent aplishments and could not do much about it.

    ''Hmmm, thatplicates everything.'' Luis thought as he considered that letting Lothur get involved really would not be simple.

    They could just act, but Lothur had the emotional factor to get in the way of him making the best decision for everyone.

    But even he could not do anything about it, and as Lothur''s partner, he had to consult that young man before making any decisions.

    "All right, people, let''s wait for what Lothur has to say regarding this matter." The Duke sighed after a few moments and decided to order the situation. "Please, help me to retreat the non-essential personnel and maintain a security perimeter."

    "But Duke of the Province..."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Chris looked at Patriarch Baier and said. "If you want to challenge Lothur and that woman, go ahead. But I won''t get involved in it."

    "Tsk!"

    ''Damned coward!''

    ''If we all united, Lothur wouldn''t be a threat!'' Alric''s father thought to himself as he clenched his fists in pure hatred.

    Anyway, with Chris''ment, Elisabeth finally sighed in relief, feeling that Lothur would not let these people kill Reba.

    ''Now we just wait...'' She looked at the unconscious young woman beside her, unsure how this day would end.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the site where the Ritter Motor Company factory had been built...

    Lothur was at this moment with some of his women on site, taking part in the final preparations for the inauguration of this facility.

    Almost everything had been taken care of for the start of operations. Still, there were a few details necessary for the good efficiency of those who would work there that was still to be finished.

    But all in all, the ce was already able to start operating and was only not doing so because the workers who would operate there would only starting the next day.

    Atst, amidst the ample space of their first factory, Lothur stood next to Viktoria and Elke as some men from a local buildingpany introduced the site to them.

    "Mister Ritter, it wasn''t easy to follow all your instructions, but we managed to finish it in time." An old man with a hat on his head and papers in his hands said this while smiling.

    He had been paid handsomely to leave all the work his family''s buildingpany was developing in order to be able to build this factory. However, what he gained most from doing business with Lothur was not coins but the experience of developing something new.

    Lothur had been the first to ask for a series ofpartments in this construction that facilitated several professionals working simultaneously. Since this man and some of his family members were not stupid, when they had finished building this, they had put the models from there in their memories to draw inspiration for new types of instations.

    So this man was very pleased as he showed the finished ces to Lothur and those two.

    "Hmm, I''m sure they are," Lothurmented as he saw some men finishing painting the surroundings, but with everything essential ready to wee people there.

    Viktoria and Elke were impressed with how quickly this work had been finished, but they were also wondering how their man would use this ce.

    In their view, it was just a big empty facility inside, with many strange mechanisms on the floor and even in the ceiling.

    But Lothur had ns for using every part of this factory, already intending to produce what was needed in conjunction with the men who woulde tomorrow to install the useful tools for car production.

    He had nned for weeks everything he was about to start, so he just needed to put all these things into practice!

    But while they were touring the premises of the Ritter Motor Company''s number one factory, Elke''s mother arrived at that ce shouting.

    "Lothur!"

    "Lothur, something terrible has just happened. Your friend Reba is in mortal danger, and Elisabeth is asking for your help at her residence!" She said this after seeing young Ritter standing next to her daughter and Viktoria.

    ...

 Chapter 517 I Am Different

    Upon hearing Hilda''s scream, Lothur immediately frowned and looked into his mother-inw''s eyes. "What?" He questioned.

    At the same time, Viktoria and Elke were also startled by this unexpected warning, the two forming worried expressions without even noticing.

    "What''s going on, mom?" Elke asked as she took a step forward toward that woman.

    Hilda said. "It''splicated... In short, Reba''s situation is sensitive, and not only is she in danger but all of Peters City." She looked at Lothur. "Your mistress has asked you to be notified, so you will run to her house immediately."

    With those words spoken, Hilda only had time to see Lothur saying goodbye to Elke and Viktoria before he disappeared from the surroundings without leaving a trace.

    Young Ritter was already so fast that he could cross Peters City in a matter of seconds, so it would not be those people noticing his departure!

    Hilda was impressed to see this but soon had her attention distracted by her daughter.

    "Mom, what''s going on?" Elke asked.

    Viktoria then said to Hilda. "Tell us about it on the way to Elisabeth''s house..."

    "No." Hilda looked at her daughter and ordered. "You can''t go, Elke. It''s too dangerous for someone at your level to go anywhere near that area."

    "What? What do you mean?"

    After that, Hilda would briefly exin the situation to her daughter while Viktoria had already left, more or less understanding the problem.

    ...

    Lothur quickly crossed Peters City, from a remote point on the south side of this city, the location of his factory, to the north side, where the neighborhood of his home, but also Elisabeth''s, was.

    Arriving there, Lothur immediately noticed the poisonous fog clouding three blocks around Elisabeth''s house, already more or less understanding that there was a problem with Reba.

    He already knew about the Ancient Poison Body and some of the implications of this Physique of Reba. As such, by connecting the dots, he realized that the risk his friend was taking was associated with the poison ''explosion.''

    As he moved, the system issued him notifications.

    [Bronze grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 61%]

    ...

    [Progress: 62%]

    ''Hmm, looks like the level of that poison ''explosion'' is really scary.'' He thought. ''Even with such a strong Constitution and Bronze-grade poison resistance, I am suffering...''

    Resistance to any element depended first on the constitution of that living being. After all, it did not make sense to have a resistance lower than the Physique''s capacity since that element would not be able to cause damage to the body for it to be stimted.

    So for the poison expelled by Reba''s body to reach the level of even stimting Lothur''s resistance to poisons, it would have to be a poison so potent as to endanger Transcendents!

    So Lothur was naturally impressed!

    ''Probably only those above level 15 in this city can withstand that for a few minutes without risking death... So only the local leaders should be around her.''

    Even if Reba''s poison was so strong as to be able to affect the bodies of Transcendents, that did not mean that someone below that level, for example, would die immediately upon being contaminated. No, this could even happen if such a person spent too much time exposed to it. But in order to do so, that individual would need to be poisoned for quite some time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The level of poisoning necessary for Lothur''s resistance to being stimted was just enough to cause suffering, not necessarily to kill!

    But even so, just from this information alone, Lothur could already imagine that people weaker than level 15, for example, would be at significant risk. As such, only the strongest in that city could be around Elisabeth''s house!

    ''They are probably the ones who want to kill Reba to prevent the local citizens from suffering...'' He thought a few seconds before he appeared at the door of his mistress'' house.

    There, some of those people from earlier were still surrounding that poison master''s property.

    Others had left to evacuate some of the poption of that neighborhood, while some were circling the area to prevent curious onlookers from approaching.

    The worst thing about the poison mist released by Reba was that it did not emit a bad feeling, as was usually the case with poisonous substances.

    So unless someone knew that this mist was deadly dangerous, it was impossible to predict what it could do before someone was exposed to it!

    In any case, Lothur came across the leaders of the Baier, Vogel, Frost, Waldeaur, and Becker families there, as well as the principal of the Morning Star Academy.

    "What''s going on here?" He asked, making those people turn to him.

    "Lothur, how nice of you toe." Aiken said this, leaving his wife''s side to speak to his son-inw. "We have a big problem. Reba, your friend, is putting the entire city at risk, and we don''t have many alternatives here..."

    "We have to sacrifice her." The leader of House Vogel said that, but without looking at Minos to avoid drawing too much of that fellow''s attention to himself.

    Minos saw that after that person spoke, the others were silent as if they agreed with him. "Let''s not do anything until I go in and see her situation."

    "What if there are no alternatives?" Chris asked, looking at that fellow as the coroner Klossner stood beside him.

    "If there is no alternative? Have you ever thought about getting her out of the city? Why do you just want to kill her?" He asked as he looked at the Duke of the Province.

    August Klossner then exined the situation to the young Ritter. "Lothur, it''s not that simple. The Ancient Poison Body releases this poisonous mist during its qualitative advancements. But its owner''s skin bes even more dangerous than that mist when that happens."

    "So if this mist is already dangerous to us, imagine how bad it wouldn''t be to touch it..." The Dukepleted his friend''s speech.

    In normal situations, Reba''s body was already poisonous, and she had to be careful about touches from other people on herself or from herself on others.

    To give an idea, besides poison masters, only 2nd stage cultivators could touch her hands without being poisoned.

    As for sexual intercourse, Reba had never been able to do that because the few times she tried, her partners always lost consciousness after touching their organs to hers.

    Because of this, she still had her hymen intact, and besides rubbing up against other people who died soon after, she had never even kissed on the tongue!

    But during the poisonous ''explosion,'' everything would get worse, and she would be dangerous even for Transcendents like Chris and Mabel.

    If it were not for this, they would actually do what he suggested, take Reba''s body out of there and take it to an uninhabited area.

    That had even happened in the past, when Reba went through her first poisonous ''explosion'' when Elisabeth did this and dayster made a deal with these local leaders regarding her disciple.

    Lothur understood the problem and said. "Don''t worry about it. I am not like you. My body will withstand it."

    After those words, Lothur went toward the door of Elisabeth''s house.

    ...

 Chapter 518 Affinity

    Upon entering Elisabeth''s house, Lothur did not wait for her to disarm the traps on the way. Instead, he just used his skills and moved to avoid drawing attention to any of them.

    Elisabeth saw this fellow entering the first room of that house and did not worry much about her traps but about the poisonous mist that was much more concentrated inside this ce.

    "Lothur, are you okay? Are you not feeling sick? This misting out of Reba''s body is hurting even me." Shemented, with a pale expression on her face.

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 69%]

    ...

    [Progress: 70%]

    Lothur saw the progress bar of his poison resistance rapidly increasing as he approached Reba''s room.

    He then said. "Don''t worry, my ability to withstand poisons is not low, and my current body can handle plenty of that here."

    She saw that he did not look that bad and was also relieved because of how magnificent Lothur''s poison resistance ability was.

    "Sigh..."

    "What are we going to do? I can''t control Reba''s poisonous ''explosion,'' and I can''t stop the people outside from doing something against her either." This woman said when Lothur was finally already in the office where that woman had copsed minutes ago.

    He saw his colleague''s body lying on the floor, stomach upturned and skin purple due to the process going on in her body at the present moment.

    Lothur then crouched down beside Reba and moved to touch her.

    Seeing that, Elisabeth widened her eyes and jumped against Lothur, quickly throwing him in the opposite direction.

    "Are you crazy?"

    Lothur felt no pain as his head hit the opposite wall, just feeling the soft body of his mistress on top of him.

    "No, I have to touch her to try to find a way to solve this problem."

    "But that''s impossible! Even I could be mortally poisoned if I carelessly touch her body now!" Elisabeth lectured her student.

    "I think it will be different if I do that, mistress," Lothur said. "I''m feeling my resistance to poisons increasing while I''m around Ba."

    [Progress: 72%]

    "But that''s not enough for me to get significant improvement all at once. So I believe that by touching her body, I''ll be able to improve faster and, who knows, find a way to avoid a catastrophe."

    "That..." She once again remembered how quick Lothur was to get used to poisons during some training he did under her tutge.

    But she was still unsure if he could handle that and proposed. "It is hazardous for you to touch her body without at least being sure you can survive. So I won''t allow you to go near her unless you can handle it here." She picked up from her spatial ring a poisonous stone.

    Upon seeing that, Lothur immediately identified the poison normally used to test a poison master trying to advance to the 2-star rank.

    Lothur then readily agreed with Elisabeth.

    He knew he could not be considered a 2-star proper profession in any profession. After all, to achieve that, one would have to have the ability to manipte spiritual energy outside their body.

    He could not do that, so he could not do the same as Elisabeth, for example.

    However, Lothur did not need to be able to make poisonous portions or items to pass the test for 2-star poison masters!

    All he needed to do was to withstand the poison used in that test, something he knew he could achieve!

    "All right, I''ll try..."

    She didn''t immediately give Lothur that poison and questioned. "Are you sure about that? That poison will not only affect your body. It will also erode your soul."

    "I am willing to risk it." He said, confident in his ability to resist.

    Elisabeth hesitated a bit but eventually gave that item to Lothur when it had been more than a minute since he had walked in there.

    She knew that the local leaders would not give much time even to Lothur, so she did what she could to avoid killing Reba without trying another alternative.

    When he picked up that poison stone, Lothur immediately scratched one of his wrists, where there was already the 1-star poison master symbol.

    As he did so, he felt a burning sensation in that area. He immediately sat in a meditative position in front of Reba''s body, trying to deal with the ''attack'' of that substance.

    His body was resistant, so it took a while before Lothur noticed the progress bar of his resistance moving faster. But it eventually happened!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 75%]

    ...

    [Progress: 78%]

    He closed his eyes and began to feel nauseous as he seemed to have lost his footing and began to float.

    Meanwhile, the system was issuing warnings.

    [Noted the presence of poisonous substance eating away at the host''s soul...]

    [Bonuses umted due to the inability of the host''s soul to absorb them will be burned to protect the host''s essence...]

    Five minutester...

    [Due to the degradation of the invading substance, the host soul increased its affinity for poisons by 65%.]

    ...

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 84%]

    ...

    [Progress: 89%]

    [All poisonous substance in the host''s organism has been neutralized. As a result, the host''s resistance to poisons has increased significantly.]

    With thatst warning from the system, Lothur finally opened his eyes and felt the difference in having his affinity increased.

    The progress bar of his resistance did not influence his worldview much. It only helped him quantify how close he was to a qualitative advance. But affinity changed everything for him.

    When he opened his eyes and saw the umted messages from the system, Lothur immediately noticed something different in the fog in the surroundings.

    ''Hmm? What is that?'' He noticed it as if he felt an attraction toward it.

    With that feeling, as Elisabeth watched in awe as the 2-star poison master''s tattoo settled on one of Lothur''s wrists, he inhaled the air from the surroundings as if it were a drain sucking in water.

    The poisonous mist in the surroundings made its way toward Lothur''s lungs at an impressive speed, slowly decreasing in density within that house.

    "What?" Elisabeth wondered aloud.

    But amidst her astonishment, Lothur felt exceptional, absorbing all that poison as if he were drinking water after days of drought.

    Meanwhile, his resistance to poisons was improving!

    [Bronze-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 93%]

    ...

    [Progress: 95%]

    ...

    [Progress: 97%]

    By the time the progress bar reached 98%, Lothur had absorbed all the fog from inside Elisabeth''s house and even some of that which had escaped through the windows in the surrounding area.

    In that instant, he lost ''contact'' with the poisonous mist since his range was not so great.

    He opened his eyes and saw Elisabeth with a wide mouth and eyes staring at him, impressed with Lothur''s ability to absorb so much poison without even looking bad!

    "Unbelievable!"

    ...

 Chapter 519 You Shouldnt Be Here

    ''How is he doing this? That amount of poisons could even intoxicate me!'' Elisabeth eximed in her mind, noticing for the first time that her pupil already had a higher resistance to poisons than she did.

    Lothur had no idea what was on his master''s mind. As he finished absorbing all the mist in the surroundings, he stopped to look at Reba before deciding how to proceed.

    ''I have absorbed the poisonous mist in the surroundings, but she will continue to expel this thing for longer...

    As much as this is very helpful to me, I don''t think this will be quickly resolved if I wait for the poisonous ''explosion'' toe to an end.'' He pondered, seeing that Reba''s skin was still purple.

    With that, he looked at his mistress and said. "Now that I have proven my skill, I will proceed with what I intended earlier, all right?"

    "Hmmm." Elisabeth nodded, curious to see what Lothur would try and if he would show any reaction to trying to touch Reba''s body.

    With that done, Lothur did not hesitate and ced one of his hands on Reba''s right arm, immediately being contaminated by it in a way that even he was surprised.

    "Uh?" Lothur saw the hand that touched Reba''s arm turn purple almost instantly after his touch, making him feel numbness in that part of his body.

    ''Unbelievable!

    What a powerful poison!'' He eximed in his mind before seeing the progress bar of his Bronze-grade poison resistance rise.

    [Progress: 99%]

    ...

    [Progress: 100%]

    When he saw this message, Lothur immediately felt something moving in the depths of his being, making him feel like vomiting.

    He immediately got up from Reba''s side and went to the bathroom of his mistress''s estate to vomit up a few mouthfuls of almost ck blood.

    Elisabeth saw this and was not too concerned, for as she ran, Lothur''s hand had quickly returned to its natural color, and that was not the sign of ordinary poisoning but the sign of qualitative improvement!

    As such, instead of being worried, this woman smiled hopefully.

    ''Is his resistance rising to Silver grade? If so, he might have a chance of touching Reba without taking serious risks!'' She waited for that young man to finish going through his qualitative advancement.

    Then, she said. "Lothur, I''m going out to let the local leaders know that the situation is under control. But, in the meantime, do whatever is necessary. I believe you can solve Reba''s problem now that you have gone through this breakthrough."

    After those words, Elisabeth left that estate, satisfied, figuring that the problem was solved.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur finished cleaning himself up and saw his advancement through the system message boxes.

    [Silver-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 2%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 165.7]

    [CON: 363 -> 375.9]

    [DEX: 161.5]

    [AGI: 167.5]

    [INT: 113]

    [PER: 187.3 -> 199.9]

    [WIL: 134.5 -> 136]

    [EVF: 0]

    Seeing his improvements, Lothur clenched his fists and felt more powerful, twice as confident in facing that powerful poison that was first able to scare him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Let''s see what happens now...'' He rushed to Reba''s side and didn''t take long to try to touch her body.

    This time, as one of his hands, brushed against Reba''s skin, Lothur''s hand did not turnpletely purple. Instead, only the points of contact between his body and hers suffered such a thing.

    Meanwhile, the progress of Lothur''s resistance to poisons continued.

    [Silver-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 5%]

    ...

    [Progress: 7%]

    ''I''m much morepatible with it, but far from being able to touch her to the point that I am left unaffected...'' He thought before cing his second hand on one of Reba''s arms and watching the progress of his resistance double in speed.

    ...

    Meanwhile, outside Elisabeth''s estate...

    This poison master had just shown himself outside her home, drawing the attention of all the local leaders in the surrounding area.

    "Elisabeth, what''s going on? Where is Lothur?" Gomeric asked, worried about his son-inw and partner.

    The others were also curious, especially after realizing that the poisonous mist from Reba''s body was no longer leaving that house.

    Elisabeth then said, while having an expression of relief on her face. "Lothur is taking care of Reba. He can neutralize her poison and should be able to prevent this catastrophe."

    "What?"

    "What has he done? How is it possible that he can do that when one of the most talented local poison masters could do nothing?"

    "Is that true? Is Lothur managing to solve the problem?" The Duke of the Province asked, while his mouth hung open in surprise.

    He thought having Lothur around was just aplication for everyone who wanted to avoid a cmity in this city. But who knew? This young man was actually saving everyone by getting involved in the sacrifice of a talented young woman.

    Lothur''s mistress then said. "He could use his own abilities to absorb the poisonous mist inside the house. After that, he could withstand touching my disciple''s body without suffering much."

    The people there looked at each other, incredulous at Lothur''s ability to resist poisons.

    "Can he do that?" Luis wondered aloud, realizing this associate hid his strength from his allies.

    By that time, Viktoria was around to hear all that and sighed in relief, knowing that her man would not have to take any chances on that poison master''s ount.

    ''He must be taking advantage of the situation to make himself stronger.'' Lothur''s wife thought to herself, deciding not to wait for him there since everything would probably be fine. ''I''ll go back and tell Annaliese and Elke about the situation.''

    ...

    Inside Elisabeth''s house...

    Lothur saw the progress bar of his poison resistance reach the 35% teau as his progress began to slow down at increasing speed.

    By now, he could touch Reba''s body without purple spots appearing in the contact zones between them.

    However, as he did so, Reba''s purple skin was beginning to be less and less purple, with the normal color of her skin slowly returning to its usual shade.

    In the midst of this, she began to move as if awakening from a deep sleep, moving some parts of her body while her eyes went from side to side.

    While all this was going on, something normal for the poisonous after-st of Reba''s Physique began to happen!

    Her body began to get hotter while sweat began to trickle down her pores. At the same time, specific muscles rxed, while her nervous system seemed to have entered a somewhat special state.

    When Reba woke up and looked at Lothur, she could not even remember what had happened. She just looked at him as if she was seeing thest man in the world who should cool the heat in her body.

    Gulp!

    "Lothur, you shouldn''t be here..." A part of her consciousness screamed while she still had some control over herself.

    But that would notst long!

    ...

 Chapter 520 Solving The Problem (18+)

    After waking up and seeing Lothur in a somewhat unique state, Reba could not contain herself and jumped on him.

    Lothur was much stronger and faster than her, able to dodge and even pull her body off him. But he did nothing, curious to see what this woman wanted to do against him.

    However, it wouldn''t take long for the young Ritter to figure out what it was, opening his eyes in surprise.

    Once she was on top of Lothur, Reba immediately ran her fingers towards the buttons of his clothes, trying to undress him. At the same time, her breath reached his nose as she opened her mouth to try to suck on her friend''s masculine neck.

    Gulp!

    Lothur felt a shiver run through his body, not from Reba''s sexual advance but from the venom of her tongue, which promptly made him shiver.

    That was painful, but his resistance to poisons had already significantly evolved. As such, as he continued to see the progress bar of his resistance to poisons improving, Lothur felt less and less pain with Reba''s touches.

    Amidst this, his kinky side couldn''t ignore the situation, and slowly Lothur''s ''little friend'' woke up, making Reba feel the dragon sleeping in his pants.

    "Ahh~ Finally someone who can hold my body~" She moaned as she brought both of Lothur''s hands to her breasts.

    [Progress: 40%]

    Lothur ignored the system messages and began acting in concert with Reba to remove his and her clothes.

    In the blink of an eye, the two of them were fully naked in the middle of Elisabeth''s office, with Reba intoxicated, horny as she always felt when she beat the poisonous ''explosion.''

    "You are so handsome... And big." She smiled at him before lowering herself down until she was on her knees in front of Lothur.

    In sequence, Reba took Lothur''s rod with both hands and then licked him erotically.

    As she did this and felt that herpanion was well, Reba''s body realized she could go all the way, and she naturally prepared herself for this...

    As her insides increased in size, her little sister began to salivate intensely to receive young Ritter''s rod.

    Her ''little bell'' began to emit small shocks, making her wish to resolve her ''itch'' with her friend''s rod.

    "Oh..."

    Meanwhile, Lothur groaned with satisfaction, feeling that woman was giving him one of the best oral sexes of his life.

    [Progress: 46%]

    Lothur couldn''t take that for long and soon moved,ying down and bringing Reba''s body on top of him.

    "Ahhhhhh~"

    Upon feeling young Ritter''s tongue on her little sister, Reba cried out in pleasure, immediately reaching an orgasm, melting all over Lothur''s face.

    ''How much sexual tension were you suppressing?'' Lothur wondered, smiling at his venomous artpanion.

    With that done, Lothur soon positioned himself above Reba and ced the dragon''s head between her legs at this woman''s cave entrance.

    He saw only desire in her eyes and slowly ced that ''weapon'' inside Reba''s body, destroying her hymen and slowly turning her into an actual woman.

    "Ahhhhhhh~"

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhh~"

    Heavenly moans would depart from Reba''s mouth for the next two hours, but no one except her and Lothur would hear these sounds.

    Elisabeth knew how her disciple woke up after the poisonous ''explosion.'' Hence, she guessed that Lothur would end Reba''s fire...

    With this, she activated the sound istion formations in her residence to protect the privacy of the two.

    Also, because of this, they would stay longer doing that than one would expect for the situation they were in.

    But Lothur would solve Reba''s every sexual frustration, giving her everything she had dreamed of for the past few years.

    ...

    Outside Elisabeth''s house...

    All the poisonous mist generated by Reba''s poisonous ''explosion'' had already disappeared from the surroundings, and the local leaders were quiet.

    But almost all of them were still outside Elisabeth''s residence, waiting for Lothur toe out of there and exin what he had done.

    Only then could these people be confident that he could take care of her in the future and avoid a catastrophe.

    But in the midst of this, these people were somewhat curious as to why Lothur was taking so long.

    "Elisabeth, what''s going on? Why hasn''t Lothur left yet? It''s been over two hours since the fog stoppeding out of that house, but they''re still there..." The Duke of the Province asked.

    Elisabeth knew more or less what must be going on since she had left in the first ce so as not to stop the two...

    She saw the others looking at her and said. "Lothur is stabilizing Reba''s condition so that more fog doesn''t spread through the city...<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Anyway, I''m sure the two are almost done, so let''s wait a few more minutes."

    The people there did not like this vague answer. Still, they epted it since everything indicated that a catastrophe would not happen in Peters City.

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside Elisabeth''s residence...

    Lothur and Reba had just finished their physical activity, noting the improvements in their bodies due to this time together.

    [Silver-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 65%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 165.7] [CON: 375.9] [DEX: 161.5] [AGI: 167.5]

    [INT: 113]

    [PER: 199.9]

    [WIL: 136 -> 138]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur saw his status and how much he had progressed in his resistance to poisons, which had fully stabilized at 65% in the middle of his activities with Reba.

    After this, her body became harmless to him!

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 11]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10]

    [STR: 53.9]

    [CON: 57 -> 73]

    [DEX: 54.9]

    [AGI: 55.2]

    [SOU: ??]

    Lothur saw Reba''s physical improvement as she was in pain from the forced addition of attribute points.

    Her body had evolved overnight due to Lothur, so she naturally felt bad after the rtionship ended.

    "What''s wrong with me?" She asked herself, feeling pain but also feeling stronger. "Why do I seem stronger now? What happened?"

    He looked at her and finished dressing. "You have your ability. I have mine...

    I can make my women physically stronger after sex."

    Hearing this, Reba put aside her pain and looked incredulously at Lothur. "Is that so? So that''s why... Is that why Annaliese is so much stronger than before?

    Tsk!

    That bitch..." She said that but soon remembered that Elke, who was also hanging out with Lothur quite a bit, was much stronger than she should be, considering her talent and age.

    ''So she''s been proving that too...'' This woman imagined, still naked.

    She smiled at him and then said. "Lothur, thank you for what you have done. You have no idea how much you have helped me."

    He nodded at her, knowing she was not talking about the catastrophe he had prevented.

    "Anyway, what do we do now? I think I got you into trouble."

    ...

 Chapter 521 Before The Opening

    Upon hearing Reba''s question, Lothur promptly answered her, shaking his head negatively. "No, the opposite of that. You have given me more than you realize."

    "I have?" She imagined something perverted and blushed.

    Lothur did not want to remove the strange thoughts from this woman''s mind and just went on with that subject. "Shall we go there? I will talk to them with you by my side to settle this situation once and for all.

    From now on, I don''t believe you will go again through poisonous ''explosions'' like the one earlier..."

    "Why do you think that?" She asked as she dressed to apany him.

    He replied. "Because with my ''help,'' you can increase the quality of your body, and the chances of an uncontrolled evolution happening will be less.

    At the same time, I can resist your poison. If I am wrong and it all happens again, I will be able to neutralize the situation the same way I did today before you ''attacked'' me."

    "Oh? All right, then. I''ll trust you."

    Then the two left Elisabeth''s house to meet the local leaders outside that property.

    ...

    Upon opening the door to the garden of that house, Lothur immediately caught the attention of the individuals awaiting the resolution of the situation.

    "Uh? Is that youngdy up already?" One of the patriarchs of local organizations wondered aloud.

    Gomeric saw that and smiled, feeling this was actually not a surpriseing from someone capable of creating a car. "Haha, as expected!

    Lothur actually neutralized the situation."

    Hilda nodded as she smiled, pleased to see that the worst had been avoided while already seeing the positive bnce for Lothur because of this situation.

    More people would discover Lothur''s relevance to Peters City and the province.

    He had saved the city in a situation where few in this ce could do anything about it. Not only that, as the savior of Reba''s life, he would likely have the loyalty of this talented poison master, someone who had good prospects ahead due to her powerful Physique.

    "Lothur, how is Reba''s situation? Is she really okay? Is there no imminent danger?" One of young Ritter''s allies by way of the Ritter Motor Company was the first to ask him something.

    Lothur looked at that person, noting that some individuals in the surrounding area had left. "Yes. I took care of the situation, and now Reba is far from experiencing a situation like that in the short term.

    Anyway, I can take care of her Ancient Poison Body whenever something strange happens, so you don''t have to worry about her anymore."

    "Are you sure about that, Lothur?" Luis asked as he approached the two, having already noticed that Reba''s body was indeed stable.

    Mabel and Chris had already noticed this as well. So while one of them quickly departed, the other paid attention to what this young man had to say.

    "Yes, at the moment, I doubt that there is any poison master or even poisonous substance in Linn Province capable of affecting me. So I am confident about my ability to solve this." He said, without giving further details of his abilities to these people.

    These people could even assume that Lothur''s poison resistance had already reached the Silver grade. But them knowing this was no big deal for this young man since they had no way of knowing that his other resistances had also reached this grade!

    After several days after his return from the Three Great Lakes Region, Lothur had achieved methods of raising his resistance to the elements of wood and ice.

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 2%]

    Because of this, he currently had far superior abilities than he had ever shown to these people, with his secondary abilities all being stronger.

    His Soul Bones were also slowly maturing along with him.

    So while those individuals looked at each other, recognizing Lothur''s abilities again, this young man still held a few cards up his sleeve against local leaders.

    Unfortunately for his enemies, they would not even get the information about his poisonous abilities, as they had left upon realizing that the situation would not be drastic for Peters City.

    "Young Ritter is exceptional!"

    "It''s no wonder the people in the Formations Masters Association regard him highly!

    Those old men actually must know something!" One individual muttered in a low voice, remembering that high-ranking members of this force in Peters City had been advising acquaintances not to get into trouble with Lothur.

    Meanwhile, the Duke of the Province asked. "Lothur, what happens now? How do you intend to keep an eye on Reba?"

    "Well, we are quite close, so I will check her condition daily... Unlike our mistress, I can see how close her body is to ''explosion'' poisons."

    This was no lie from Lothur. After advancing his poison resistance to Silver grade and improving his affinity, he realized that he could now do what he told these people.

    He continued. "So if she gets close to that previous situation in the future, I will ensure that she stays close to me and take the necessary steps to get the situation under my control."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Is that it? And what do we do now?" Aiken questioned his son-inw.

    "Well, I guess we can just leave, no?" Lothur smiled. "The problem has been solved, and everyone here has responsibilities to fulfill."

    These people agreed, and soon after saying goodbye, they left, following different directions.

    With that done, Lothur also said goodbye to Reba and Elisabeth, who had a lot to talk about.

    "Mistress, I..."

    "You don''t have to tell me. I can already imagine what happened between you two."

    ...

    The next day...

    On this day, Lothur would finally begin the activities of the Ritter Motor Company. However, this would only happen from noon on.

    But still, today, he did not go out to the academy but stayed at home, with Annaliese, Elke, and Viktoria staying with him as well.

    He was going to use the moment to apply some of his skills to these women to make them more powerful and able to train at a higher level.

    His skills as a 1-star professional had already reached his limits, and his resistances were simr to that of 3-star professionals. So there was no longer any risk in him making mistakes with his women, and he could only benefit them by doing something.

    So before he even found time to have fun with each of them, Lothur applied special treatment to them!

    Soon, he could see the improvements in all three women, with no chance of noticing their mental improvements.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 11 -> 12]

    [Body Cultivation: level 10 -> 11]

    [STR: 43.9 -> 48.2]

    [CON: 170.8 -> 175.3]

    [DEX: 45.3 -> 50]

    [AGI: 45.3 -> 50]

    [SOU: ???]

    ...

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 59.1 -> 63.9]

    [CON: 181.2 -> 186]

    [DEX: 53.1 -> 59.2]

    [AGI: 60.2 -> 64.1]

    [SOU: ???]

    ...

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 12 -> 13]

    [STR: 69 -> 72.5]

    [CON: 190.7 -> 192.1]

    [DEX: 72.3 -> 76.4]

    [AGI: 71.9 -> 74.9]

    [SOU: ???]

 Chapter 522 Inauguration

    Seeing his women''s new ratings, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, happy for them and himself.

    Making those around him stronger was also a pleasurable thing to do.

    Since he loved these three women, he couldn''t help but feel good about being able to help them!

    "Now I am at the 3rd Revolution..." Elkemented after finishing her breakthrough, feeling the power even stronger than her mother''s.

    Elke was about 18 years old but had already surpassed a local matriarch.

    That was impressive!

    But she knew she owed her advances to Lothur. After jumping for joy at getting another advance, she went into his arms and kissed him fervently.

    Annaliese and Viktoria had also improved, with Lothur''s wife also managing to advance in terms of physical power, while her younger sister only improved her overall attributes.

    All in all, they were all stronger and thanked their man without dy.

    Only Annaliese held back since Viktoria still didn''t know what she and Lothur were doing...

    "Lothur, what do we do now?" Viktoria asked him, knowing there was still time until the factory''s opening.

    "Let''s stop by the academy. I want to pick up some quests to do in the next two weeks." He said, already nning what to do during the days he would have before thepetition for the Secret Realm slots.

    During that time, he would have to deal with the affairs of the Ritter Motor Company. But during the nights and weekends, Lothur intended to focus on doing quests to raise his name in the ranking of the Morning Star Academy.

    He had promised Elke he would have his name at number one when he left that ce. So that was what he would pursue now that he wouldn''t have so much opposition in the province!

    Currently, his name was at position 2,517, a far cry from the ideal position for someone of his skills and prestige.

    So they left that residence for a quick stroll through the academy, attracting attention as always since he and his women were impressive and envied within that institution.

    ...

    When 15 minutes had passed since noon, Lothur and those three finally arrived in front of the Ritter Motor Company factory.

    All of Lothur''s associates and several family members of these people, essential individuals in Peters City, were there for the inauguration.

    Because of the number of specialists, carriages, and people in that area, local guards were stationed nearby.

    At the same time, the Duke of the Province was there, even though he was not an ally of Lothur.

    "This ce looks really different..." Hemented to coroner Klossner, looking at the front of the factory.

    The Ritter Motor Company had signed agreements with Chris''s government so that through its subsidiaries, it could develop services essential to the better functioning of its activities.

    Because they needed permission to alter local streets, build roads, and much more, thispany had to rte to the local government.

    The Duke took advantage of this situation to be there and see some of what Lothur was developing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Yes, Lothur said that this facility has things that have never appeared on our continent." Augustmented to his friend as he watched Lothur, Elke, Annaliese, and Viktoria descend from a carriage.

    The four were well-dressed as if they were going to a party, not a factory.

    But these were appropriate attire for the situation since hardly anyone in front of that factory was dressed otherwise.

    In any case, as soon as they arrived there, the conversations in the surrounding area diminished in frequency.

    When Lothur and his women arrived at the entrance gate, he climbed onto a small pnquin and spoke to those people. "My associates, friends, and fellow Peters City residents, today we will happily begin the journey of the Ritter Motor Company towards the transportation revolution in Concordia!

    With the opening of this nt, we will begin a process of evolution that will take everyone involved, whether owners, employees, customers, etc., to a new level.

    We will create new jobs and enable trade between cities and provinces never before imagined due to transportation difficulties.

    Amidst this, we will enrich the society involved in the project!"

    With Lothur''s beautiful words, the people in front of that factory apuded him, overjoyed with his promises.

    Even the Duke was pleased since, as much as he was not a partner in the Ritter Motor Company, he could benefit significantly from the existence of thispany. After all, this automaker needed authorization to operate, critical resources for vehicle production, and many other things that his family could get involved in.

    As such, he was also smiling amidst the dozens of people there.

    Mabel was standing next to her husband, observing what her son-inw intended to do that was drawing the attention of so many local experts.

    But she was one of the few there with a neutral expression.

    "Come on, my love. Smile a little!" Aikenmented to her. "If this venture of Lothur''s works out, our family will take off, and we will no longer have to subject ourselves to the things we have gone through in the past decades."

    "If he seeds, of course..." She muttered, still suspicious that something rted to carriages could solve her family''s problems.

    But even though she was pessimistic, this woman followed her husband while he and many others were already apanying Lothur for a visit to this facility.

    Lothur then took on the role of guide for these people. "Well, this main entrance, as you can see, is where our storage of ready-to-deliver vehicles will be located." He gestured, indicating that ce that looked like arge parking lot in front of a square building they were walking to.

    When they entered that building, those people were faced with over 400 workers inside the factory, individuals subdivided by their functions and uniforms, represented by five different colors.

    Lothur then exined. "As you can see, the factory is already operating. In fact, the Ritter Motor Company''s activities began 2 hours ago, with the first group to arrive here starting their work mainly in the carpentry and forging area."

    The most time-consuming items to produce to create cars were precisely those rted to the professions of carpenters and cksmiths. Therefore, even without the certainty that the models designed by Lothur would work, the areas of the factory rted to these two professions were already in full operation.

    Lothur and his staff needed items to test and make mistakes and then develop products of eptable quality.

    Hence, he presented this ce in operation to his associates and guests.

    "In this area, we will produce the wooden parts that will go on our cars..." He said as he passed through an area where the flow of employees was greater. "Further ahead, you will find the forge, where the heart of my vehicles will be developed." He pointed to that area as he walked to such a ce.

    Thus, Lothur would introduce every part of this ce to those dozens of people, showing the basics but what was necessary for these people to understand how serious this business was.

 Chapter 523 Near Death?

    After presenting his factory to the people who attended the inauguration of the Ritter Motor Company''s operations, Lothur would spend the rest of the afternoon working there.

    His wives went to settle the affairs of thepanies secondary to vehicle production, which were also getting off the ground to make changes in this society.

    Meanwhile, each person would return to their properties to deal with matters directly or indirectly rted to the moment they lived.

    ...

    Later that day, at the provincial government office...

    Chris had returned from the Ritter Motor Company nt and came across his son waiting for him at his ce of work.

    "Martin? What''s up? Is there a problem?" He asked as he looked at the worried expression on that fellow''s face.

    "Father, I did what you ordered... But now I''m afraid trouble ising our way." That once confident fellow said without a hint of courage in his voice. "We are now officially out of the third prince''s faction. As for the second prince''s faction, he has not yet epted our request."

    "Oh? Is that finally settled?" The Duke felt satisfied since, to have a good rtionship with Lothur, he needed to keep his distance from those looking for trouble with young Ritter.

    "Yes... How can you be satisfied with that? The third prince feels betrayed by us! He will try some retaliation!" Martin said as he stood up angrily.

    "Humph!

    He can''t do anything openly while His Majesty is alive!" Chris said confidently.

    "But that won''tst long!" Martin eximed. "His Majesty shouldn''tst another year. By that time, someone like the third prince, who has the upper hand in the contest for the throne, will manage to inherit the emperor''s position, and we will be defenseless!"

    "Hmm, I''m not so sure about that." Chris'' eyes narrowed as he remembered something Luis had told him. "In any case, I believe Lothur will bring a revolution to Leopoldine before that happens.

    So we are safer than you think."

    "But...

    The third prince will not wait for His Majesty to die to do something about it..."

    "Let him try."

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Baier family headquarters...

    The patriarch of that family had received notification of Lothur''s deeds in the middle of the day and had naturally cursed that fellow a dozen times.

    But at the present moment, he was standing in front of an envoy of the third prince and was naturally well-behaved, smiling at the Transcendent from the empire''s capital.

    "So that''s what happened..." That member of the imperial guard sighed, feeling that things had happened too fast, and now his mission would have to be canceled.

    After the third prince''s men had repeatedly failed in their mission to eliminate young Ritter, he sent a subordinate to try to deal with Lothur personally.

    Unfortunately, upon arriving at that ce this afternoon, this Transcendent discovered that his target was already stronger than him.

    Since he was not dumb, he simply sighed and decided to abort his mission to not end up in a worse situation than those sent by Lothur''s grandfather.

    "Senior, what do I do now? Does His Highness have any new orders?" David Baier looked at that Transcendent sitting before him with a gleam in his eyes, hoping that this man would change his previous misfortunes and still give him a chance to redeem himself.

    But David would be disappointed. "The only thing you and the rest of the faction members should look out for is the situation of House Waldeaur."

    "Uh? What about the Duke''s family?"

    "They are no longer members of our faction. Duke Chris has asked his family to withdraw from our group. He is now part of the neutral forces vying for the imperial session." That man said with a disgruntled expression on his face.

    Other powers had also done the same, but only the Duke''s house was relevant enough for the third prince faction to feel the loss.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    So he said. "Do not involve this family in any more talks and try to change the position of our spies and allies.

    It would also be advisable to change any ns under that family''s knowledge."

    "What? Did they do that?" David asked, feeling shocked at such sudden information. ''Why would Chris do that? Could it be because of the formation of the Ritter Motor Company?

    But how? Lothur is just an idiot with powers!

    One person can''t change anything in the province!

    He, at most, can protect himself!''

    "What about Lothur Ritter?" He asked as he saw that man''s expression, which told him all about the Duke''s madness.

    Hearing that name, the Soul Core Transcendent sighed and said. "I don''t know. I can''t do anything against him if he can defeat two individuals of the same level as me.

    Then I must return to the capital and see what His Highness intends."

    He could not send a letter to the third prince since the second prince was on his younger brother''s tail, intercepting every message that reached the capital.

    So to ensure the safety of the information sent, the third prince''s men did not send letters and only delivered important messages personally.

    David knew this and did not question that man about it.

    ''Damn!

    So that miserable bastard will gain a few weeks of peace!''

    ...

    The next day...

    The imperial capital of Leopoldine had a sunny day this Friday.

    But even though the weather was good, in the area of the second prince, the mood was not so warm at the moment.

    This prince, us Leopoldine, level 17, was face to face with one of his most trusted subordinates, who had relevant information about the emperor.

    "Your Highness, His Majesty''s situation seems a bit strangetely." That man said while informing his leader right after finding out that this person discovered some losses he had recently. "He''s been frequently disappearing, making the men of his guard act more conspicuously than ever...

    I don''t know. I feel that His Majesty is nning something."

    "Huh? Is my father being careless because he is doing something strange? Is that what you''re telling me?" us asked with an expression that was hard to tell if it was one of happiness or sadness. "Do you think his time is running out, and he is trying to fulfill onest wish?"

    "I do, Your Highness." That subordinate said, feeling bad since the emperor was an important pir of the imperial family.

    He would prefer the emperor stay alive, even if he passed the throne to one of the princes.

    Unfortunately, even powerful experts had to die one day!

    This man had chosen his side long ago when the first prince rebelled against his father and fled after a series of crimes. So even with his preferences, he would act to facilitate us'' journey to the throne, so he was on this individual''s side.

    us felt less bad about his recent losses after hearing this. "Very well. If nothing goes wrong, we can take over state leadership after our next move."

    "Is your highness sure about that? I mean, this is Daemon we''re talking about... If we get involved, we can''t return, and the consequences will be drastic." That man said, remembering that fellow he feared as much as the emperor.

    "If we don''t take our chances, I''ll never be able to get over my little brother!"

 Chapter 524 Close To A Breakthrough?

    At the Stauss family headquarters...

    At this instant, Fritz, level 12, was guiding the second prince of Leopoldine through his family''s mansion, where this level 16 individual was to meet with the Stauss patriarch.

    Lars Leopoldine had a serious expression as he walked through the halls of that estate, upset by the setbacks his faction had been facing in the Linn Province.

    Leopoldine had ten provinces, and this prince had support in each of these areas. However, Linn Province was the 5th most powerful province in the empire. Because of this, the losses that Lars had recently been experiencing there were bothering him.

    Not only had he failed to eliminate Daemon''s son, but his ns to overthrow the Frost family had all failed, and now he had lost almost half of the families he had in that province.

    Among them, the most important of all House Waldeaur, the ruler of those areas.

    As such, this fellow had been having terrible daystely and could not be in a good mood.

    "Your Highness, I am sorry for our failures in Linn Province, but I believe our family can serve you to regain dominance over that area." Fritz said while ashamed of his time in Peters City when he had failed in all his ns and even his subordinate, Kai, had perished.

    But the prince there had already learned a hard lesson from this situation and would no longer use the help of these people to solve the problems rted to Lothur.

    If he wanted to solve it, he would have to act himself!

    "Don''t worry, young master Stauss. I will send some of my men to Peters City and end all this." He said to that fellow.

    "That... Then everything will be settled." Fritz smiled bitterly. "But anyway, how is His Majesty? I hope he is doing well, Your Highness."

    "My father?" Lars asked as he remembered the information he had recently received regarding the emperor. "He''s not doing well, from what I''ve heard. He hasn''t agreed to meet with any of us for a few weeks now and has been acting strangely...

    Sigh!

    I think my father is preparing for his departure."

    Upon hearing that, Fritz felt a little bad since the emperor''s death would undeniably weaken Leopoldine.

    The emperor was the strongest person publicly in the state, who would act to keep the peace and scare off the powers within and without it.

    As for the powerful in the shadows, these would rarely show themselves and usually prefer to see some chaos than act to interfere in situations that few would influence them.

    So even though the death of the emperor would also serve the rise of the faction of the victorious prince and the powers connected to the victor, it also had its negative side.

    It would mean temporary weakness for the whole empire. At the same time, the internal situation would be more agitated due to the rise of someone not supported or feared by all.

    Amid this, Fritz couldn''t help but think of Daemon. ''When the emperor dies, that wretch might show himself more and even act against the imperial family!

    He just doesn''t do that on His Majesty''s ount, but once the emperor meets his end...''

    "Gulp!

    That''s terrible, Your Highness. I hope nothing bad happens to His Majesty, and he still lives long enough."

    "Me too." The third prince said, not lying, but not being entirely sincere.

    His father''s death would benefit him. But it was undeniable that it would make him face challenges he had never had to deal with before. So he had mixed feelings about it.

    ...

    On the other hand, in a remote part of that city, two individuals Lothur had seen before arrived at a secret post of the force they belonged to.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But as they arrived there to report to their leader, these individuals were surprised with an unexpected piece of information.

    "What? Do you guys fail? How is that possible?" A level 17 cultivator looked at those two and questioned them incredulously.

    "Unfortunately... So we are here to report our failures to our leader.

    But why are you here in his ce?" The woman asked.

    That expert looked at the two Soul Core Transcendents before him and said. "Our supreme leader is in seclusion. After you left, he felt something different and left me here to take charge of the situation while trying to understand that feeling."

    "Oh? Is that true?" The man asked while that woman had her eyes wide open.

    "Is he close to a breakthrough? Maybe he can be a Saint..."

    But that Nascent Soul Transcendent shook his head negatively. "Impossible.

    If it were so simple to advance to the 4th stage, many Saints would exist in our state. But there are less than ten individuals at  that stage in all of Leopoldine..."

    There were Origin Saints in Leopoldine. These were the true masters of this state, whomanded from the shadows thergest organizations, including the imperial family itself.

    In the distant past, the Leopoldine family had formed their state and be the dominant power in this area. But this did note without a little help from an emerging power of that time.

    This power had been created by an individual fleeing his home state and wanting to live in seclusion with his family. He then gave some help to the Leopoldine family leader of the time, facilitating the achievements that this family wouldter reach.

    After that, this family settled in the new state called Leopoldine, staying behind the imperial family and rarely showing themselves to the world.

    Time passed, and this family had given rise to four other organizations, a little weaker than their own, but also powers that lived in the shadows of this state.

    One of these families was House Carstensen, from which Larissa came.

    In addition to these houses, one more power had reached the 4th stage and also chose to live in the shadows to avoid the dangers of being known as ''rich.''

    The best thing one could have was to have power, resources, and still the freedom to be able to roam the world with no one having any idea of the good things they had to wish harm or try to take away those things from them.

    So as much as many would choose fame or even be the center of attention, there were not a few who thought like Lothur.

    In this way, six families lived in Leopoldine''s shadows, moving most of the local powers to their best interests when necessary.

    But even these stronger powers of Leopoldine had no extra Saints. So the idea of reaching the 4th stage as something that could be easily achieved was a dream.

    Knowing this, that level 17 man did not believe in the advancement of his leader!

    "Don''t get your hopes up... If he gets a new understanding, that will already be good. But a breakthrough now would be almost impossible."

    After hearing that, those individuals sighed.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s grandfather was silently meditating in the underground while the spiritual energy in that chamber he was in was condensing in the surroundings.

    The ce was so chaotic that the energy in the surroundings seemed to have taken the form of a whirlpool capable of destroying everything it touched.

    Fortunately, this ce had been built by 3-star professionals and could withstand even the cultivation of someone at the peak of level 18!

 Chapter 525 Unforgivable Betrayal?

    Two days after the opening of Ritter Motor Company...

    In the middle of the day, Lothur, Elke, and Viktoria were busy dealing with the academy''s affairs, the factory, and the side businesses of Ritter Motor Company.

    Their days were busier than ever, but they still found time to do their things, cultivate, eat, train, rest, etc.

    But amid all this, Annaliese had been unable to keep up with these three for the past few days.

    During this period, she had constantly been feeling a bit weak and not well enough to fulfill all her daily activities.

    Because of this, today, she had not gone to the Morning Star Academy, having stayed at home.

    She hadn''t had a chance to talk to Lothur earlier today, but not only that, she had a doubt in her mind and decided not to say anything to him.

    So instead of calling him toe and check on her situation, she had sent a servant to fetch Lothur''s colleague, Doctor Snee''s disciple, Sofie.

    Just a few minutes after noon, that violet-haired woman arrived at the Frost estate.

    "Annaliese, it''s me, Sofie." This 1-star doctor, currently at level 9, arrived at the door of the Second Miss Frost''s house and introduced herself after knocking there twice.

    Upon hearing that, Annaliese, still lying on her bed, shouted. "Come in. The door is open."

    Sofie did as she was allowed and was soon beside that beautiful brown-haired woman, who was a bit pale, with her eyes closed due to the headache she was feeling.

    "Annaliese... What happened? You look terrible!" Sofie stooped down and immediately grabbed her medical equipment to examine this woman''s body.

    "I don''t know. Lately, I''ve felt a little sick, like I''m infected with something.

    I feel constantly nauseous, I have headaches, and my strength has recently weakened.

    Sometimes I even feel pain when I''m..." She was about to say something she shouldn''t and stopped there because it wouldn''t do for anyone but Elke and Reba to know what she was doing with her brother-inw.

    But Sofie was a talented doctor, so by associating Annaliese''s lines and symptoms, she more or less understood what this Miss Frost wanted to tell her.

    "Are you having sex with someone at the 1st stage?" Sofie asked without winding up, knowing that people of that stage could not copte without a pregnancy risk.

    That''s right. She suspected Annaliese was pregnant!

    Gulp!

    That woman looked straight into Sofie''s eyes and shivered. "You can''t tell anyone about this!"

    "Rest assured. As a doctor, I never give information that a patient passed on to me to others." This woman said sincerely, a little curious, of course, but wanting to know that to rule out the possibility of an illness.

    Cultivators could get sick. It was something scarce but possible.

    Also, because it was difficult for a cultivator''s immune system not to solve problems on its own, it was extremely difficult to resolve diseases in this kind of people.

    Therefore, Sofie naturally preferred that Annaliese was just pregnant.

    Every pregnancy had risks, but over 95% of the cultivators'' women and babies survived birth in Concordia.

    Naturally, it would be better to be pregnant than sick!

    However, Annaliese was no ordinary person, and her giving away her virginity outside of marriage could be a big problem and embarrassment for the Frost family.

    Annaliese took a deep breath and said. "Don''t tell anyone, but yes, I had sex with someone at the first stage."

    "Uh?"

    "Recently, he advanced to 2nd stage." She turned her face sideways, embarrassed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Sofie''s eyebrows drew together. "That person wouldn''t be... It wouldn''t be Lothur, right?"

    Annaliese was silent upon hearing this, as Sofie remembered that her medical colleague had been studying something called contraception pill, even when his wife could handle the risk of pregnancy on her own...

    "Annaliese..."

    "What? What difference does it make who it was?" She asked embarrassedly.

    "But..." Sofie was shocked but realized that she couldn''t get into a patient''s personal affairs like that.

    Annaliese was her friend, so she had questioned her a little more than she would with an ordinary patient. But still, she couldn''t go too far into it and soon silenced herself.

    "I''m sorry for insisting, Annaliese... In any case, there is a great risk that you are pregnant.

    He had been developing a contraceptive pill when he was studying medicine with me. Still, from what he told me, that would only serve to prevent conception after consuming that."

    "I know..." Annaliese said, knowing this since he had exined it to her when he gave her some pills to take daily before her stage advancement.

    Sofie continued. "But that wouldn''t work if you were already pregnant. Your body would stop the pill he made and your energies from destroying the fertilized ovum..."

    When a cultivator became pregnant, her body would change so that some abilities would be suppressed. For example, the ability to destroy gametes that any 2nd stage or stronger cultivator would have would simply stop working during pregnancy.

    Because of this, cultivators could not prevent a pregnancy in progress by means of this ability.

    There were other methods of doing this, but the cultivator herself could not use that method to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

    Sofie then said. "Then I''m afraid you are already a few weeks pregnant, Annaliese."

    Gulp!

    "And what do I do now?" She asked fearfully.

    "Hmm, first, I will collect some of your blood and run some tests to confirm this. Anyway, I must not be wrong.

    From the 6th week of cultivators'' pregnancy, it is expected that they feel their strength beginning to diminish.

    That is a natural mark of ours, which serves to avoid exposing ourselves to danger.

    As this is already happening to you, your pregnancy is well advanced. Thus, there is nothing more we can do to stop it..."

    There were external methods of terminating a pregnancy in Concordia. But every doctor in this world vowed not to stop a cultivator pregnancy after the 6th week because, after that, that being would already be considered a potential cultivator, not just cells in the mother''s body.

    Since there were few cultivators in this world, practically every state abhorred non-spontaneous abortions of cultivators.

    Sofie knew this and agreed not to prevent such an advanced gestation.

    Annaliese clenched her fists, knowing this would be a big problem for her and Lothur.

    "In any case, you should talk to him... And also with your sister as soon as possible. In a short time, your belly will grow, and people will notice.

    That is, of course, if you are pregnant." Sofie said, with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.

    Hearing this, Annaliese brought both hands to her eyes, afraid of her sister''s reaction when Viktoria found out about such a betrayal.

    ''What do I do? My sister will want to kill me, and my mother will probably hate me...'' She thought amid her despair as Sofie examined her.

    Amidst this, she couldn''t help but hug her belly.

 Chapter 526 He Will Be A Father

    After Sofie visited the Frost family estate, Annaliese spent the whole day at home, thinking about what her friend had told her.

    Everything indicated that she was pregnant. All left was for Doctor Snee to analyze her blood to confirm her situation.

    Because of this, she spent the whole day without seeing Lothur, trying to prepare herself to give him the shocking news that he would soon be a father!

    The pregnancy cultivators depended on the cultivation level of the mother, mainly. But even so, it was nothing absurd to the point that a cultivator would pass through ten years of gestation.

    That would vary from weeks to monthspared to the pregnancy of mortals.

    So in less than 20 months, Lothur could meet his first offspring!

    But Annaliese wouldn''t tell him anything until Doctor Snee confirmed her situation to Sofie. Hence, she stayed home, making excuses to all her family so she wouldn''t have to go out.

    ...

    The other day in the morning...

    "Sofie, I have finished analyzing that blood sample you handed me earlier." Doctor Snee said this as he left hisb, curious as to why his student had asked him to examine the blood sample of someone without identification.

    "That sample isn''t yours, is it?" He seriously asked.

    Noticing the look on her master''s face, Sofie made a serious expression and denied it. "Of course not, master. That was a sample from a friend.

    She thinks she is pregnant, and I collected it for you to analyze..."

    "Is that so?" Doctor Snee smiled as he looked at his student''s belly. "Well, your friend is pregnant. So you should advise her to tell her parents and the future daddy, haha."

    "I''m not the one who is pregnant!" She spoke aloud before thanking her master and leaving to talk to Annaliese.

    ...

    After dealing with the Academy business, having finished moving on to Sector 3, Lothur dealt with his factory business in the afternoon, beginning to assemble his first vehicles.

    The first parts were getting ready, so he had already been starting the assembly process to test whether his theories regarding therger versions of his cars were correct.

    As such, his job had been mainly to assemble cars alongside his employees and to inscribe the proper formations on each part of the vehicles.

    He was not yet teaching his employees how to do this job, as he preferred to firste up with the correct ''equation'' and then pass this knowledge on to these people.

    They would obviously sign Blood Contracts with Lothur since he would not hand over vital information to people who were not deeplymitted to him.

    In any case, his work had been going smoothly, with no more local problems for him or his friends.

    With that, besides attending to the needs of his wives in the morning, Lothur ''visited'' Reba after finishing his daily business at the factory.

    Following this, he left with Ice to do a new mission at the academy, something he had been doing daily in the evenings.

    He and ice were swift. Even when they had missions dozens of kilometers away from Peters City, these two could get there and back before dawn.

    Lothur didn''t need as much sleep at his current level, so he had been doing this without much troubletely.

    Because of these missions, he had not been training so much, as these ''small'' exercises were enough to strengthen him.

    And so he went about his busy day in Linn Province.

    ...

    The day was slowly dawning in Peters City when Lothur passed the first entrance to this city on Ice''s back.

    He went straight to his residence to take care of his wife''s morning needs, not a bit tired for it...<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, when he arrived at his property, Lothur found Annaliese sitting on the curb waiting for him.

    He found this strange, and his eyes narrowed, not understanding why Annaliese was there at that time of day.

    It was not dangerous for her to be there at this time since she was quite strong for the level of the local experts. But still, this situation had never happened before, and added to what had been happening to her recently, he was worried.

    "Anna, what''s wrong? Why are you here so early? Did something happen?" He asked after jumping off Ice''s back and stopping in front of his sister-inw.

    He saw Annaliese''s little face contorting as if she was going to cry and was silent, watching her jump to hug him.

    "Loth... Lothur..." She stammered as her saliva got in the way of her speech.

    "Calm, you can speak calmly, Anna." He massaged her back, trying to calm her down. "Whatever it is, we can work it out. You just need to talk to me."

    Gulp!

    "I... I''m pregnant." She said, causing the young Ritter to go silent as his movements stopped and his eyes opened significantly.

    "What?" He asked after a few moments when Annaliese was already anxiously watching him.

    "I just found this out yesterday afternoon. I''m pregnant, Lothur! I''m already over seven weeks!" Tears dripped from her eyes as she felt lost. "What are we going to do now? My sister will want to kill me!

    My mother too!"

    Lothur was still shocked by the information, but he gathered strength and said. "Don''t think about it. We''ll resolve the situation, and nothing will happen."

    "How can it not? I betrayed her! I gave away my purity out of wedlock!"

    "That doesn''t matter. We will get married one day, and you just gave yourself up to your man. What''s wrong with that?" He said, massaging her face.

    "But Viktoria won''t ept it!"

    "We don''t know that, Anna. She''ll probably be upset, but I don''t think she''d hate us."

    "But what about my family? My father and mother will think I''m a slut!" She said, seeing how devastated her family would be by this news.

    "No matter. I won''t allow anyone to mistreat you.

    Plus, when we tell them, I will ask for your hand in marriage, and everything will be settled!" He said.

    "But... But... Do you really want to have that?" She looked into his eyes.

    Annaliese had given everything a lot of thought, and after the initial panic and her fears still in her heart, she was only sure of one thing.

    She wanted to be the mother of Lothur''s children!

    So even though she was there questioning him, she was already sure of what she wanted and just wanted to know if he would support her and form a family with her.

    She could never willingly prevent the generation of this child, her and Lothur''s innocent child, who deserved a chance.

    Not only that, this child would fulfill her love for Lothur!

    "Yes, I do." He smiled at her before squeezing her tighter and kissing her.

    Amid this touching moment, Ice didn''t understand what had been said. Still, it smelled the scent of Annaliese, which made it understand everything.

    ''A child? So Lothur is going to be a father?'' Ice smiled in its own way.

 Chapter 527 Civilized Conversation 1

    Afterforting Annaliese for a few minutes, Lothur took her into the house, feeling a not-so-good feeling at having to reveal everything to Viktoria.

    But he went through with it, surprising his wife by arriving home next to Annaliese so early in the morning.

    "Lothur?" Viktoria came out of her quarters and went into the living room to wee her man, dressed in a red sweater.

    But seeing Lothur and Annaliese finishing taking off their shoes at the front door, she frowned and looked at the two without understanding what was going on.

    That had been the normal time Lothur had beening home for the past few days. But Annaliese being there was something out of the ordinary.

    Besides, since Viktoria''s younger sister had been indisposedtely, she couldn''t help but question. "Anna, what are you doing here at this hour? Has something happened?"

    Gulp!

    Annaliese looked down and felt her tears trickling down her eyes.

    Lothur saw Viktoria step forward to embrace her sister and close his eyes temporarily. He then said. "Uh, Viktoria, Annaliese, and I have something to tell you..."

    "And it couldn''t wait untilter? By the way, why does Anna look so sad? What kind of thing did you do, Lothur?" Viktoria looked at him as her sister cried silently, being hugged by her.

    "Hmm... About that..." He was about to say, but Annaliese stopped him.

    "Sister... I made a mistake... Lothur and I, actually... Both of us..." She tried to tell but couldn''t take the pressure and started crying even more.

    Viktoria found this strange and looked at Lothur.

    "Annaliese is pregnant." He said at once, shocking his wife immensely.

    Upon hearing this, Viktoria''s eyes almost popped out of her face as she turned to look incredulously at her sister.

    But she didn''t understand it all at once and had another shock when she heard her husband''s voice once again.

    "I am the one who got her pregnant."

    Gulp!

    Annaliese stopped crying and looked at her sister, feeling she would attack her after Lothur said such a thing so casually.

    "What?" Viktoria turned pale but focused her strength to stand, looking at Lothur while no longer feeling her sister in her arms.

    Lothur was not good at revealing the truth about things he was hiding and simply said the basics. "We have been having an affair since you and I had our first time. Actually, Anna and I started having an intimate rtionship before you, and I even got to know each other better...

    Anyway, it seems I got Annaliese pregnant before I developed the birth control pills I told you about."

    "Lothur..." Viktoria said this between her teeth, pressing them against each other as she clenched her hands. "Lothur!

    What did you say you did?"

    She jumped at him as she tried tond a punch on her husband''s body.

    Viktoria loved this man and was jealous of him, so even Elke, who had been in his life before her, asionally gave her negative thoughts.

    Upon hearing that he had been having an affair with her sister, she couldn''t help but lose control and attack her husband.

    "How did you have the nerve? Have you been putting your filthy hands on any more women?" She asked as she attacked him with all her might, reinforcing her fists with her soul power.

    But even then, Viktoria was still a bit slower than Lothur, so he dodged almost all of her blows.

    Lothur would not let his wife attack him over this issue. As such, he was defending himself appropriately, deflecting and even countering her fists.

    But, of course, he would not use much of his strength to hurt her.

    "Besides you, only Reba had a chance to do that with me." He said, answering the questions of not only Viktoria but also Annaliese.

    "What?" The two eximed simultaneously, not expecting that he had been with that poison master.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "You did what, you rascal?" Viktoria felt her blood rise in her eyes, wanting to teach her husband a lesson.

    Lothur said. "Dear, don''t be like that. I never lied to you. I just didn''t tell you everything to lessen the burden on your conscience..."

    "Damn you!

    How dare you? You selfish pig!" She became angrier upon hearing this.

    "Lothur, is that true? Did you have sex with that poisonous woman?" Annaliese asked, not liking that at all.

    "Yes, the situation from days ago was only resolved because of that... Since then, I''ve been treating her body, so the same thing doesn''t happen again."

    "What? You did that on ount of that?"

    "You should have let her die!" Viktoria growled, feeling that would be a better oue for her.

    "Don''t talk nonsense. Reba is my friend, and I wouldn''t let someone like that die on my watch." Lothur didn''t like hearing that and decided to take action against his wife to show her who was the boss in the house.

    Lothur was very good with his women and gave importance to almost everything they said. But make no mistake. He did not see himself as an equal to them. He could have several women, but they could only have him.

    That was his mentality, the mentality of most men in such a polygamous society.

    As a polygamous man, he was the head of this household, not his women!

    "Viktoria, stop this nonsense immediately!

    I saved Reba, and she will be part of our family. As for Annaliese, she is also my woman, and we will soon live together." He said more seriously as he appeared at his wife''s back to immobilize her.

    "Lothur! I will not have you bringing women into my house!" She screamed as she felt her arms being immobilized by him, trying to use her bloodline to make him back off.

    Lothur felt the ice from Viktoria''s bloodline freezing his arms, which would only serve him as nourishment.

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ...

    [Progress: 2%]

    ''That''s it?'' He smiled, considering his resistance was already enough to withstand blows from 3rd stage cultivators.

    But Viktoria hadn''t gotten there yet, so his bloodline would naturally have a hard time affecting Lothur''s body!

    Viktoria realized this as he squeezed her, slowly knocking her out.

    "When you wake up, we will talk about this civilly..." Those were thest words Viktoria heard before she passed out in her husband''s arms.

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 8%]

    Annaliese watched all this in shock and asked Lothur as she saw her unconscious sister. "Why? Why did you do this?"

    "I should let her destroy the house because of something that can''t be changed?" He asked as he sighed, picking up his wife''s unconscious body and heading toward their room.

    "But..."

    "Anna, I have never lied to any of you about what kind of man I am... I, at most, omitted some facts about things you already knew I was capable of doing.

    That was for your good, so you wouldn''t have to constantly stress over something you already knew." He said seriously. "As for that, I merely want to talk about it without hurting anyone. So I took control of the situation."

    ...

 Chapter 528 Civilized Conversation 2

    After controlling his women, Lothur sat for a few minutes at one end of his bed, with Viktoria lying there and Annaliese sitting in an armchair across from them.

    Slowly Viktoria was waking up, and Annaliese was bing nervous again.

    Lothur noticed this and sighed before asking. "Can we talk like adults now? Or are you going to attack me again, Viktoria?"

    Viktoria had already awakened when he asked her questions and was temporarily silent.

    After two minutes, she said. "How dare you deal with all this as if it were nothing, Lothur? You had sex with another woman, and you even got my sister pregnant!

    Do you see nothing wrong in all this? You could have at least told me earlier that you were having an affair with Annaliese and told me when you did it with Reba!

    But no, you kept it all from me, and now you want me just to ept it all!"

    Lothur said nothing, allowing her to say everything she had in mind.

    Then, after a few moments of speaking ill of Lothur, Viktoria turned to Annaliese, disappointed. "And you, how could you? You could have told me, but you hid it too!"

    "Sister, I was afraid.

    First, you and Lothur didn''t get along, and I fell in love with him... At that time, I thought nothing would happen between you, and I was also afraid that I would tell you something and it would end up in our parents'' ears.

    Then things happened so fast...

    In the blink of an eye, we had been hiding the truth for a long time. It would no longer make any difference.

    Any time I tried to tell you something, we would end up in the same situation." Annaliese said, crying.

    "Still, you could have told me something before you got pregnant!" Viktoria insisted, also with tears in her eyes. "You only decided to tell me the truth when it was toote, and you couldn''t hide anything anymore!"

    "That..."

    "Viktoria, we did it for a good reason. If we had revealed something, your parents could have discovered everything, and the situation would have beenplicated.

    I was weak, and if your mother had found out at the time, maybe I wouldn''t be here now.

    Would you prefer that?"

    She looked at him angrily, feeling like saying yes, since she was furious at the moment. But she said nothing as she loved him enough not to talk nonsense like that.

    "My mother wouldn''t know anything. Do you think I would tell her everything? Do you think I''m crazy?"

    "But you did that when you two started your things, sister. Don''t you remember that anymore?" Annaliese asked, referring to when Mabel had beaten the crap out of Lothur.

    Hearing that, Viktoria looked seriously at Annaliese, remembering that was why Lothur had left the Frost family estate and demanded his freedom.

    She obviously wouldn''t do something on purpose to hurt Lothur. Still, she was frank and knew she was in danger of letting this information slip.

    "Sigh... What do we do now?" She asked after thinking that she had no alternatives and would simply have to live with it.

    Annaliese looked at Lothur, and he said. "We will keep it secret from your parents for now. Let''s leave it to inform them about it after the Secret Realm.

    Now your mother can still cause trouble for me..."

    The two looked at each other, but since it wasn''t long before the Secret Realm, about a month, they didn''t disagree with his idea.

    "And how is this going to work here? I don''t want to see what you two are up to..." Viktoria asked in an embarrassed manner.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lothur smiled at these words. "Don''t worry. Everything will be as it has been before. The difference is that you know everything, and in a few months, we will live together and have a baby..."

    When he spoke that word, Annaliese hugged her belly while Viktoria looked at her sister''s belly, sighing.

    She had no desire to have a child. Still, knowing that Lothur had impregnated Annaliese, Viktoria couldn''t help but feel a little jealous.

    Anyway, the trio would spend the rest of the morning talking about it, leaving the academy business aside for the moment.

    In the afternoon, each of them would return to their duties rted to the start-up of the Ritter Motor Company together with Elke, who would also find out about everything.

    But unlike Viktoria, Elke, who already knew everything about Annaliese and Lothur, would not be so shocked by the pregnancy of this other woman.

    She would be a little jealous, but nothing that would make her argue with Lothur or even Annaliese.

    However, she also learned about Reba, getting a little upset with her man but not losing control over her emotions.

    At the end of the day, Lothur would take care of his women to soothe their hearts, doing so separately, of course.

    ...

    One weekter...

    After the previous dramatic situation, Lothur and his women slowly adapted to the new routine, knowing that there was one more of them and a baby on the way.

    Since Lothur fully satisfied them,cking nothing, they had all easily gotten used to everything, even more so considering their current responsibilities.

    The Ritter Motor Company and its subsidiaries have developed a lot these days, with the pavingpany starting operations and the transportpany beginning to develop.

    This transportpany already had its locations where the buses would stop within the city and the main station where the buses would be.

    All that remained was for the personnel to be trained to keep the operation viable and the vehicles.

    But for this, thepany was waiting for Lothur to finish developing the first vehicles so that the driving school could start training local drivers.

    In any case, a lot had happened in thest few days, with Lothur and his associates have spent another 30 million bronze coins to continue developing their operations.

    Amidst this, he had failed alongside his men at his factory in developing his cars dozens of times until he had reached a version close to ideal for marketing.

    Because of this,tely, those people in Peters City rted to the Ritter Motor Company were happier and happier, looking forward to the big day when they would have their vehicles.

    To stimte the poption''s desire for his products, Lothur had already nned and promised that each of his partners would be entitled to a car when the first vehicle was sessfully developed.

    That would make 11 cars start circting Peters City, a number good enough for the entire local poption to notice the existence of these vehicles.

    But at the same time, the minibusses, smaller versions that Lothur would firstunch, would also already begin operating along with delivering these cars to his associates.

    So without having had any problems in thest few days, everyone was busy and anxious about the future, not having much time for personal problems.

    But Minos and his wives had found time to strengthen themselves and maintain their routines during those days after Annaliese''s pregnancy was discovered.

    In this way, precisely on this day, 08/09/490, Concordia''s first car would be ready!

    ...

 Chapter 529 The First Car

    Early this Tuesday afternoon, Lothur and the Ritter Motor Company''s formation masters finished production of the first wless car!

    They had just finished the assembly of this vehicle and were looking at the thing with pride in their eyes.

    The thing was bigger than a four-seat carriage and had a shape never before seen in Concordia.

    It had four wheels, an extended front end that was over 1.5 meters long, and about 90 centimeters high, followed by a cab that was 1.6 meters high, with a wheelbase of 1.7 meters.

    The rear was not extended, only 40 centimeters long, and the trunk was of the straight type, without protuberances.

    At the front of the car, tworge objects that appeared to be cone-shaped were positioned at the uppermost ends, the ce of the frontnterns.

    At the rear, square objects, painted red, were positioned at the side ends, halfway up the rear.

    Concordia''s first car had four doors and a model somewhat reminiscent of the Earth vehicles of the 1960s.

    Lothur even had more modern models in mind. Still, due to theplexity of producing these models in present-day Leopoldine, he had opted to make something simpler.

    In any case, the engine and steering-rted parts were superior to those in a 1960s car. As a result, its heart would look more like that of a car from the 1990s, with some parts that would even only be found in the 2000s.

    The windows of all four doors could open with a simple touch, while on its center panel was a vehiclemunication formation.

    Formations of this type were not umon in Leopoldine, but usually, only cultivators above level 10 would have items of this type.

    But they were not that popr with even the strongest people, as they had rtively small ranges.

    For example, hardly anyone could find amunication formation capable of transmitting and receiving audio of simr items in different provinces of Leopoldine.

    However, Lothur had developed a new type of transmitter and receiver for his vehicles.

    Each of his vehicles would have this special device, which repeated the waves sent and received between each of the formations in the cars.

    The consequence of this? The cars could be used as walking antennas, which would necessarily increase the range of each formation as long as many cars were produced and spread around the ce.

    These formations would act as signal repeaters, and only the specific formations would receive the desiredmunications.

    Thus, Lothur intended to give his vehicles extra utility and increase their attractiveness!

    Moreover, Concordia''s first car would not have many more special items. Other than what was necessary to make a car run, seat belts alone attracted attention.

    Other things like leather seats and even a sunroof were not entirely new ideas at Concordia.

    Anyway, the car in front of those people was red, an eye-catching color to fulfill young Ritter''s initial purposes.

    "Lothur..." Elke looked at him and spoke this with a twinkle in her eyes, wanting to ask him something. "May I?" She indicated in the direction of the car.

    Lothur understood that his wife wanted to be the first to drive, but he could not allow that.

    As much as the notion of driving between the kart and the car was not so different, the experience was not the same. Since Lothur did not want his first vehicle to be damaged in a crash, he refused her request.

    "I''m sorry to everyone who wants to test the car now. It differs slightly from the kart, so I will drive it." He looked at her and then at his women and the Ritter Motor Company associates in that ce.

    "However, I will be driving it for four people at a time, so you can understand what it is like to ride in a car." He smiled and gestured. "After you all have a little experience, I will teach you the differences between a kart and car driving and then give you a chance to go for a ride."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The eyes of virtually everyone in the area zed over, with Lothur''s women getting into position first to test drive the car with him.

    He saw his associates giving up their turn for him to take them and promptly let his women into that car.

    Reba was also there since her mistress was an associate of Lothur''s, and she was apanying her to this event.

    Since the car had an extra seat, she also got in with the other three.

    Viktoria went in the front passenger seat next to Lothur. On the other hand, Annaliese was behind her sister, on the side of the right passenger door. Elke was in the middle, between Annaliese and Reba.

    Lothur put on his seat belt and looked at those women through the center rearview mirror of the cabin. "Did you put your belts on?" He smiled.

    They all nodded, too eager to have trouble with each other at the moment but also to say anything.

    Lothur then started the vehicle and put the gear in the starting position before finally releasing the parking brake.

    When he did this, the car slowly started to move. Lothur was a bit careful as he was also trying out something rtively new.

    He knew how to drive and had done very well in karts. But this first car was a little different from the cars of the time when Lothur lived on earth. Hence, he was careful with that machine in the first few moments, trying to master it before driving more daringly.

    However, it would not be long before he would raise the speed of his vehicle and make all his women open their mouths and let out excited sounds, full of happiness.

    It was fun to ride in a car!

    The sensation could not bepared to riding in a carriage, not only because of the greater mobility of this vehiclepared to that one but also thefort, speed, etc.

    Lothur himself could not contain himself on this first contact and smiled broadly, slowly increasing his car''s speed on that factory''s test track.

    Meanwhile, his partners, employees, and people authorized to be there had smiles on their faces, impressed by the first independent animal-powered vehicle.

    Some still had doubts about the capability of this vehicle since a kart and a car had very different needs.

    But when they saw Lothur in action, driving over 70 kilometers per hour on the test track, they were all convinced that the car could fulfill all its promises.

    The most satisfied among all these people were Lothur''s partners, especially the leader of the Frost family, who had one of thergest shares in thispany.

    Aiken had a wide smile on his face as he sped his hands in excitement, feeling eager to test drive the first car but even more eager for the day when his family would reap the dividends of the Ritter Motor Company.

    ''From now on, we will be able to do so much more for the youths in the family!'' He thought to himself just before Lothur finished his firstp.

    So the next two hours would be Lothur''s time to let everyone get a taste of a car, followed by teaching them about driving it.

    The people from the driving school were there to learn and then teach the others.

    The rest of the day would be just that for most people, while everyone who finished could not contain their emotions, waiting for the day when they could drive cars outside the factory.

    But that would not take long!

    In theing days, Lothur and his employees will continue the production of cars of the first sessful model!

 Chapter 530 Cars? 1

    Four days after the development of the continent''s first car waspleted...

    In thest few days, the Ritter Motor Company continued its operations rted to the development of the different models of vehicles designed by Lothur.

    From the first vehicle to be developed wlessly, Lothur would make three other models on the same basis. That is, except for the exterior design of the cars, they would be basically identical in terms of engine, transmission, etc.

    Obviously, some of them would be designed to be more powerful and hold more weight than others. So there were also some distinctions at the heart of these cars. But this was not enough to make such a big difference that the men of Lothur needed to develop these cars from scratch.

    Because of this, with the previous sess, the Ritter Motor Company now had four different models, and some employees were already producing these vehicles daily.

    By now, the factory could produce one model of each type daily. As the first model had been produced daily since itspletion, it now had five units in the factory yard.

    The other three models, hatch, sedan, and pick-up, had been produced in their respective quantities on these days: three, two, and one.

    So there were currently 11 units in the yard of the Lothur nt, each in different colors.

    But only 60% of the Ritter Motor Company''s staff had participated in the building operations of these vehicles. The remaining personnel focused on creating the minibusses, which neededponents and had different needs than ordinary vehicles.

    And on this very day, the first minibus would be ready before the Lothur partners'' car delivery ceremony!

    ...

    "Incredible!"

    "So that''s a minibus?" The Lothur associates formed a line at the minibus entrance, amazed at this fellow''s ''creation.''

    A bus was totally different from a car!

    Unlike having only four wheels and being the size of arge carriage, a minibus was the size of a three carriage with six wheels.

    It was almost 2 meters high from the ground, 1.8 meters wide, and 8 meters long. It had many side windows that made the view of the passengers wide and a small staircase at its entrance, through which Lothur''s partners were passing.

    When going up the minibus'' stairs, those people would find themselves at the bottom of the vehicle, where the entrance and exit turnstile were.

    At the entrance, there was a ce for one person to sit, the collector who would regte the entry and exit of people using the service to be offered by this means of transport.

    Passing through the entrance, one woulde to an area with six rows of chairs, two on each side, and a central aisle.

    Lothur told the people who arrived there where he was, behind the driver''s area. "This minibus can hold 24 people seated and 12 standing if it is used only within the city.

    Behind me, you can see the driver''s area, which is very different than what you can see in cars. So the driver will be adequately trained to drive this vehicle in theing days.

    Next to the driver is the security guard''s chair." He showed with one of his hands the chair facing back towards the front of the minibus. "Each vehicle will have a security guard to maintain order inside it, preventing people from entering without paying or crimes from happening inside it."

    Those local leaders heard that and nodded their heads, understanding that this was necessary.

    Aiken then asked. "Lothur, that such a minibus seems perfect for transporting people... When can we expect our transportpany to start? We will start operations with how many vehicles like this?"

    Lothur replied. "When we have five vehicles like these, we can start our operations."

    He and his staff had set up six stopping points in Peters City. One is in the city''s center, and five others are about 10 kilometers from this post at different points around that city.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He continued. "So since we will be able to produce one of these a day starting tomorrow, we will need another four days before we can deliver the minibusses to the transportpany."

    "Oh? What about intercity travel? When will we start that operation?" The leader of the Becker family asked his son-inw.

    "When we produce a real bus. These will be more than twice the size and capacity of these minibusses. But that will take a few weeks...

    Not to mention that we still have to build the Peters City bus station and also the one at the first destination, besides the road, of course..." He said, looking at the Duke, who was there because of the need for his approval for several of these ns to happen.

    The Ritter Motor Company and its subsidiaries could develop all their services only with Duke''s approval. Among them, the road service had already been negotiated, and the family of the province leader would have 10% of the road profits and 30% of the stations'' earnings.

    In return, the Duke would give thend needed to build the stations and highways necessary for this operation.

    The Duke would also earn 5% of the profits from the public transport operations within Peters City through these minibusses that would start operations.

    As such, upon hearing all this, Chris was delighted with his current position and also with Lothur''s ns going from paper to reality.

    Gomeric also smiled, already making a profit with Lothur in the glove business and now close to starting to get the returns on the investments made in the Ritter Motor Company.

    "Anyway, I won''t show you how to drive this vehicle. It is much bigger and less easy or fun to drive than a car.

    So I''ll just teach the instructors at the driver training school, and anyone who wants to test this out will have to sign up for sses at thatpany." He smiled as he showed everyone there the way out.

    No one was disappointed to hear this as now it was finally time for them to get their cars!

    The Ritter Motor Company had 11 partners, counting Lothur. So the 11 cars in the yard of thispany would immediately be delivered to the leaders of the organizations associated with it.

    Aiken, Gomeric, Elisabeth, August, Luis, and the other partners, went into the factory yard smiling, eager to take their cars home.

    Halfway there, Lothur said. "Those who will use these cars only in the city won''t have to worry about their autonomy. But if anyone here decides to venture out, I would advise you to stop every 150 kilometers for your car formations to recharge its batteries."

    Those people just listened to him and nodded that they understood what should be done.

    After that, Lothur assigned the cars that would go to each person. "Today, you cannot choose much since these cars are only gifts.

    I will distribute the cars from those with fewer units, giving them to those organizations withrger fractions of mypany.

    So whoever gets their vehicle and wants to trade, I won''t mind. That will be up to you.

    But if anyone here likes a model they didn''t receive, just order with the store.

    Naturally, you will have to pay."

    Those people understood the basics of business to know that partners or owners could not just consume theirpany''s resources for free. Even if the coins woulde back to them, they had to pay to keep correct ounting records and avoid unexined losses.

    So Lothur began distributing his vehicles!

    ...

 Chapter 531 Cars? 2

    As the only membership representative in that ce who had 10%, Luis, or the Morning Star Academy, won this world''s first pick-up!

    Several individuals in that ce felt envious of him since it was the coolest car in the view of several men. But Luis didn''t agree to trade it with anyone, so he and his secretary soon got into that car after getting the keys from Lothur.

    Following the Morning Star Academy, the organization with the most fractions of the Ritter Motor Company was the Frost family, with 9%, followed by the Becker and Koch families, with the same 7%.

    Aiken was given one of the two sedans, with Gomeric preferring an SUV and leaving the other sedan to the patriarch of House Koch.

    The young master of the Christen family, who came next with 5%, preferred an SUV, leaving the three hatch models to be distributed among the powers after his.

    August and his partners, who had 4% of thispany together, took another SUV and soon got into a ck car, where the Duke also got in for a ride with his friend.

    The matriarch of the Teusen family was the one who was there, so she chose to take one of the three hatches since she thought a smaller car was nicer.

    Johann sighed when he saw his leader choosing that car, but he could not do anything if his preferences were so different from those of the woman.

    Even though he was upset, he got into the car to have fun with her, leaving the factory right behind August''s car.

    Elisabeth also liked the hatch model and soon got into one of those cars with Reba, heading towards her estate with her three disciples.

    Jacob''s family,ing from Lewerenz, stayed with an SUV, leaving thest hatch for a group of Peters City bourgeoisie.

    As for Lothur, he got the first car to be produced to perfection, getting into that vehicle together with Viktoria, while Elke was with her mother and father in another car and Annaliese with Aiken and Mabel.

    "Shall we go for a walk, dear?" Lothur asked as he sat in the driver''s seat, eager to show his car around the city and draw attention to the Ritter Motor Company store.

    That store would not open today, as it had no vehicles to disy. But tomorrow afternoon, four new cars will be ready to be disyed in the store.

    With that, the day after tomorrow, the store would open for business, and those wishing to have a car could start cing orders!

    "Yes!" Viktoria said excitedly, already wanting to take that steering wheel and drive.

    Lothur would be the first, but he had promised to let her drive for a while after they got hometer. So she was naturally anxious.

    Anyway, all 11 vehicles soon left that factory, following the streets made by their pavingpany, leaving this outer area of Peters City, all going downtown.

    ...

    After a few minutes, the 11 vehicles left the outer edges of Peters City and entered the more central area, where the highest poption density of this ce was.

    When those cars appeared on the streets, pedestrians immediately began to look at these strange carriages, impressed.

    "What is that?"

    "It looks like a carriage... But where are the horses?"

    "No beasts?"

    "My goodness!" An elderly man jumped backward at the sight of one of those vehicles going over 60 kilometers per hour, a speed that was hard to achieve with animals within the city.

    "Hey, did you see that?" A teenager shouted to one of his friends across the street, both looking toward where a white car was going.

    "Yes. But I didn''t see the beasts... How does it move?"

    "I don''t know. Maybe the beasts are inside it? From the looks of it, that thing has a long front projection where it could fit some small animals."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Impossible!

    What beast could work in that small space and still generate such power?" An old man near those two eximed, looking to where Luis'' car had just turned around a corner.

    Meanwhile, Luis stopped in front of the entrance to the academy, where at the moment, dozens of students were gathering since this was the departure time after the end of the day''s sses.

    He and his secretary got out of the white pick-up and admired this vehicle for a few seconds in front of the entrance to the academy.

    But because it was so shy, it didn''t take long for a crowd to form around that vehicle, with someone asking those two.

    "Hey, secretary, principal, what''s this? How can it move without animals?" An academy official asked as he looked at therge wheels of that car, which were almost the height of his legs.

    ''What a beautiful thing!

    Where do I get one of these?'' This person wondered the same thing everyone else in the area was wondering.

    Luis saw that teacher and said. "That is a car, something produced by the Ritter Motor Company. It doesn''t need animals to move. It is independent of animal work."

    "What?" Larissa, who was leaving the academy, shouted upon hearing that, understanding that the cars promised by Lothur had finally been released.

    ''Damn it, Lothur!

    I''ve been away for a week to solve some problems with my family, but then youunch your cars?'' She wondered, interested in how she would get hers.

    She still had no rights in Lothur''spany like his other partners did. So young Ritter had not made a car for her.

    Anyway, upon seeing that beautiful white car, Larissa put aside her frustration with Lothur to admire the beauty of it, wanting to get hers at the Ritter Motor Company store.

    "Principal, is the store open for orders?" She asked, helping several students in the area understand they could get one of these at that store.

    Luis already knew about the deal Lothur had made with Larissa since all the other partners in the Ritter Motor Company knew about it. He then answered her. "The store opens the day after tomorrow."

    People looked at each other in doubt about where that was, but soon the principal''s secretary cleared up the doubt of everyone there. "The Ritter Motor Company store is located..."

    As that woman gave the address of such a ce, a member of the Baier family turned pale upon hearing that.

    "Ritter? From that damned Lothur Ritter?" A level 11 man muttered, feeling this would be terrible for his family, who were still nning things against Lothur.

    He didn''t understand much of what was in front of him. But just at a nce, he could tell that it wouldn''t be long before the streets of Peters City filled with vehicles like those!

    What would this mean?

    That Lothur and his allies would get rich from this product!

    That would be terrible for young Ritter''s adversarial powers, as was the case with the Baier family!

    ''Damn!

    Is that what the damned thing was doing?

    I must run to the family and tell the patriarch about it.'' He thought as he ran from there, doing the same thing that several other family members were doing right now.

 Chapter 532 Cars? 3

    In front of the provincial government headquarters, in the Peters City core...

    A ck SUV stopped in front of the stairs of that building, where many local guards were stationed.

    When this strange vehicle stopped there, the guards immediately found it strange. They moved towards the car since that was the area where only staff carriages were allowed to stop.

    Without identifying who was inside the car, they naturally reacted as if it was some enemy.

    "What''s that?"

    "I don''t know... Maybe a new weapon in the shape of a carriage?" Some guards muttered among themselves while the citizens on the side streets and sidewalks watched that car with interest.

    That was true even for the people in carriages stopped nearby or passing down that street.

    "That..." A coachman opened his mouth as the young master inside that carriage narrowed his eyes, looking at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

    "What the hell is that? Who made it?" this young nobleman stepped out of his carriage to admire the ck car across the street.

    But then, while this nobleman from another province of Leopoldine was considering proposing a purchase offer for that ''unique'' thing, Chris and August got off the car together, alongside some rich local men.

    "Hahahaha, riding in a car is great, August!" Chris Waldeaur said aloud, smiling in satisfaction, already nning to buy a few units for his family.

    He was wealthy and liked each of the cars presented by Lothur. Hence, he already had it in mind to order at least a few cars of each model for his family in the next few days.

    He liked the pick-up model best, but he would not hesitate to buy the other units because of his children and wife.

    August listened to his old friend andughed too. "Yes, I''ll let you drive it a bit to get a taste, but don''t dent it, or I''ll have no mercy!"

    The three rich men next to these two, already outside the car,ughed too, letting Chris be the next to drive but eager for their chances.

    "Where will we go now? I wish I could show this car to my family." One of the three fat old men said this. "I n to order about five cars just like that in the next few days, but I want to show it to my kids."

    The others had the same intentions, so they soon agreed they could stop by their family''s house while driving the car.

    While they were sorting this out, one of the guards in the vicinity, who had been silent upon seeing the Duke getting down from that car, asked. "Duke of the Province, what is it?"

    The Duke turned around and saw the head of the guard at the seat of government. "Pyke, that four-wheeled object in front of you is a car. It is the main product of the Ritter Motor Company."

    "Ritter?" All the guards in the area heard this and understood who was behind this strange thing.

    Amid their surprise, Chris''s son, Martin, appeared open-mouthed at one of the windows of that building. "Is that the car?"

    "Yeah, haha." Chris looked into his son''s eyes as if to say, ''I was right.''

    Martin was not stupid, so he immediately understood why his father had abandoned everything he had done in the past decades to not stand against Lothur.

    But the shock he felt seeing that independent animal-powered vehicle was too great for him to think better of such things.

    Now he just wanted to get in that car and ride it!

    "Dad, can I take it for a ride? I want to see what it''s like." He said before jumping out the third-floor window.

    But before Martin evennded on the ground, Chris said. "Of course not!

    I''ll only be able to go for one ride myself. That''s not my car, don''t forget that."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "But..."

    "Martin, don''t think too much about it. We will have some of these cars in our family in a few days. So just wait a little while." Chris said before the young nobleman across the street asked them.

    "Duke Waldeaur, what is a car? Where can I get one of these?"

    Upon hearing this, Chris and the other people in the surrounding area looked at that ck-haired young man, realizing he was one of the sons of the second-strongest family in the neighboring province south of Linn.

    Because of this, they soon introduced that four-wheeled object to the level 12 young man.

    They did all this under the gazes of dozens of people in the vicinity, all surprised by the appearance of a car.

    ...

    Meanwhile, near the Frost family estate...

    Aiken was driving one of the sedans produced by Lothur with his wife by his side and Annaliese in the back seat next to one of the patriarch''s trusted elders.

    Lothur''s father-inw was smiling as much as he had on his wedding day with Mabel, fascinated by the car he had gotten.

    A sedan was the best kind of car to race, and hell, Aiken had sped some of this car through the emptiest streets and felt the thrill of controlling a vehicle like this.

    As such, he was enjoying himself as he had seldom done in the past and could only be happy with this car!

    Meanwhile, the old man sitting behind him was happy too, wondering when he would get the chance to drive this little beauty and looking forward to the Ritter Motor Company store opening.

    He was already nning to buy a pick-up and a sedan for himself!

    Annaliese also smiled wildly, eager for Lothur to give her a car.

    As for Mabel, this woman was a little pale at the moment, totally shocked by the creation of Lothur, who, until recently, she thought would fail in this endeavor.

    But now, feeling the power of this thing called a car, she couldn''t help but notice her son-inw''s sess and realize how wrong she was about him.

    ''It really works!

    And to top it off, it''s quite fun and pretty!'' She thought to herself as she gripped the top handle on the side above her door with one of her hands.

    Not only was she enjoying the ride alongside her husband, but she also loved the hatch model and was already imagining driving one of these herself, one red, her favorite color.

    Because of this desire, she felt strange. After a long time of hating Lothur, loving something he has developed.

    It was as if, out of nowhere, the heavens were proving to her how wrong she was, how unfair she had been to her son-inw, who, to be fair, should be called a genius and acimed in any family.

    But she had mistreated him and now felt terrible having fun and wishing she had one of Lothur''s cars.

    "Sigh..."

    ''Now there''s nothing to do... I''ll ask Aiken to buy some cars for our family and try not to be so hateful to Lothur anymore.'' She sighed just before Aiken parked inside the Frost estate in that family''s seat.

    In doing so, the same thing that would happen in every other ce where cars would stop this day would happen there!

 Chapter 533 Cars? 4

    Soon, all of Peters City would be talking about the 11 cars created by Lothur due to the few minutes of walking by the people who left the Ritter Motor Company factoryte this afternoon.

    People like Elisabeth, the matriarch Teusen and the young master Christen had not strolled much in the city center, where Luis, August, and Gomeric went. But the actions of these people around the residential neighborhoods of Peters City would also do a glorious job of spreading the word for Lothur.

    Everyone in town would talk about it for the next few hours, but not everyone would have seen the glorious cars. However, with people cruising around with their cars even in quiet, residential neighborhoods, most people in Peters City would know someone who had actually seen these vehicles.

    With the words of reliable people, even those who had not seen the cars at first would believe in the idea of an animal-powered independent vehicle.

    And with that, as some people took to the streets searching for one of these vehicles to observe, many others would begin to n a visit to the Ritter Motor Company store!

    ...

    In front of Lothur''s house...

    In this noble ce in Peters City, where most of the people were wealthy individuals, merchants, spiritual professionals, and young noblemen, Lothur had parked his car in front of his house.

    He and Viktoria were quite excited and went indoors to have fun, leaving that car for their neighbors to admire.

    But while they were ying with each other, Ice was outside their residence, watching that vehicle.

    As a spiritual beast, Ice didn''t understand the human fascination with vehicles like that SUV in front of its house. But upon noticing many people approaching something that belonged to Lothur, it had immediately positioned itself to defend that strange object.

    The people approaching Lothur''s vehicle would be wary of her noticing this powerful beast. Still, her presence there was not at all necessary.

    Everyone in the area knew whose house that car was parked in front of. And knowing about the owner of that car, these people wouldn''t dare cross the line with someone capable of hurting Transcendents.

    Rumors spread fast, and everyone in this city knew about that situation in front of the Academy Morning Star a few days ago, and that young Ritter was the creator of these little beauties.

    So no one would risk pissing off someone who could develop their cars very soon!

    "Amazing!"

    "It''s so beautiful!"

    Some rich people in the surrounding areamented as they looked at Lothur''s car without touching it.

    "Lothur owns that car? I saw the academy principal''s pick-up earlier and thought that car was morepatible with someone with his personality..." A bourgeois, Lothur''s neighbor, said while ignoring Ice''s presence.

    A young noblemanmented. "I heard that Lothur gave up that car as only one of his had been produced. He gave that car to the partner in the Ritter Motor Company with more fractions of thatpany after him."

    "Oh? You seem to know quite a bit about the Ritter Motor Company business." Someone in the vicinity, interested in buying one of those vehicles,mented.

    "But of course. My Uncle August has a car, too, and he told me about it." That fellow said proudly.

    "So when will we be able to buy one of those?" Someone in the crowd of rich people asked.

    "The day after tomorrow."

    ...

    Meanwhile, at a local restaurant...

    "Man, have you seen the cars made by the Ritter Motor Company?"

    "Yes, they are amazing! I''m already counting my coins to get ready to buy one of those." Another person said, standing around a table where several people were sitting, drinking, and eating.

    "How much do you guys think one of those will cost?"

    "Well, a carriage and two horses cost 80,000 bronze coins, already factoring in the costs of a few years of feeding the horses. So a carriage should cost more than 100,000 bronze coins."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "100,000? That''s pretty expensive..." Some individuals around that table expressed disappointment, imagining they could not afford enough to buy a car.

    ...

    On the other hand, in a wealthy local family...

    A young student from the Morning Star Academy entered her father''s office with a wide smile on her face, saying aloud. "Father, have you heard the recent news? Lothur has finally surpassed the continent''s formation masters and created independent animal-strength carriages!"

    "What? How can you believe a rumor like that?" The old fellow took his eyes off the documents in his hands, which updated him on some recent relevant facts about thest few months he had been in seclusion.

    "Father, how can you doubt my intelligence like that? I didn''t hear any rumors. I saw with my own eyes several cars driving through the streets of Peters City today!" The level 12 woman said, interested in getting some coins from her old man to buy a car. "The academy principal, the Duke of the Province himself, and several local leaders were riding in cars earlier today!

    They said that the Ritter Motor Company store would open in two days... So I want you to take me there to buy some cars!"

    "Cars? Ritter Motor Company?" The old man frowned, totally out of touch with thetest facts.

    He looked at the papers before him and felt a bit of anger since none of it talked about such grandiose achievements.

    Creating a vehicle independent of animal power should be a feat aplished over time, with many individuals involved. So how had something like this not been noticed by his subordinates?

    ''Damn it!

    I need to change my organization''s methods, or I''ll be left in the dark about the current reality!'' He stood up before saying to his daughter. "Take me to this Ritter Motor Company and this Lothur guy."

    "That''s..."

    "Just do as I say, Selena. Don''t you want one of those cars?" He looked at her strangely, seeing this woman acting as if something was wrong.

    "It''s just that Lothur belongs to the Frost family... They won''t wee us."

    ...

    At the same time, at the Baier family headquarters...

    Alric''s father had just heard disturbing news from several of his subordinates from the Ritter Motor Company.

    "Did he manage to do that?" He asked his men again, pale at the thought of what that meant.

    "Yes, patriarch. Not only that, but from the rumors we''ve already heard around the city, it seems that he will open his store the day after tomorrow and already have at least a couple of thousand orders...

    All the nobles and wealthy people in the city are interested in buying cars for their families."

    ''Cars? Is that the name of those things?'' David wondered as he felt the weight of knowing about his enemies getting a business with so much potential.

    If there were a thousand carriages, the Ritter Motor Company would already earn at least 600,000 gold coins from those orders alone on opening day.

    The 49% Ritter Motor Company had cost Lothur''s associates about a little over 2.2 million gold coins. In other words, on the first opening day, they could collect more than 13% of the total value that Lothur had ced on hispany at the auction of its fractions!

    Some investments had been made in the previous weeks for this day to be possible. But those amounts would not even reach half of the value Lothur collected on that auction day.

    Hence, still, the Ritter Motor Company store could soon collect more coins than its initial auction value!

    Thinking about this, David couldn''t help but fear for the future of himself and the third prince''s faction!

    "Shit!"

 Chapter 534 First Orders

    The second day after the 11 Ritter Motor Company cars left the factory...

    After much buzz with the emergence of the first independent animal-powered vehicles, many people in Peters City moved to the opening day of the Ritter Motor Company factory.

    Rumors had already spread about the location of such a store throughout the city and the possibility that anyone with coins could order their car.

    Some of the best carriage salesmen only sold their items to chosen customers. In other words, it was not enough to have coins!

    But Lothur would not distinguish where the coins paying for his vehicles woulde from, so anyone could secure a vehicle for themselves!

    With these circumstances, early in the day, in front of the Ritter Motor Company store, a crowd of over 3,000 people was already on the side streets, waiting for it to open.

    The store in question, located in the central part of Peters City, had a floor area of 1,000 square meters, muchrger than it would need to disy four cars.

    But the Ritter Motor Company store would soon be selling other types of vehicles, so naturally, it needed considerable space.

    However, even considering the vehicles to beunched, this ce would also be where car owners could bring their properties for periodic maintenance and repairs. So there was arge workshop at the back of the store, a ce that was still enclosed and without many employees but already ready to operate.

    In any case, the factory store was a tall building, 5 meters high, with only one floor and a facade covered mainly by ss that could be seen through.

    Because of this, while the crowd was outside the bars of that store, everyone could see the four cars avable inside the sales hall.

    That was making some individuals'' hearts beat faster, with them wanting to ce their orders and then receive their cars.

    Amid this, Lothur and his associates arrived at the front of the store in their 11 cars, slowly making their way through the crowd as local guards cleared the way for them.

    The employees at the store immediately opened the entrance gate, allowing the convoy to pass through, making the crowd even louder.

    "Finally! They''re finally opening the store!" A nobleman from the Waldeaur family shouted to his families and friends standing in line to buy his car.

    The employees of the store and the local guards had already been organizing the ce since early morning. As such, there was a line to enter the store to avoid a riot and keep the situation orderly.

    Since the local guards were participating in this and this was Lothur''s store, everyone had obeyed the rmendations and stood in line without trying to get in front of other people.

    Even people from the Duke of Province''s family were there!

    The Duke was going to buy vehicles for his family. Still, the cultivators who were members of House Waldeaur had their freedoms and their resources. So many of them wanted to buy their cars so as not to depend on those vehicles that would be shared among all.

    Even though Chris was in August''s car with this man''s associates, many wealthy members of the Waldeaur family were there.

    The same was true even for the other local noble houses!

    In that line, people from the Becker family, Frost, Christen, and Koch, Lothur''s associates, were there to get their cars, even if their families would buy vehicles for everyday use.

    But also, there were the leaders of the Frohberg, ssen, and Sommer families, who were not associates of Lothur but had given up their position against him after the incident with the two Transcendents.

    They and many members of their families were there to shop!

    "Patriarch, what car do you intend to buy for yourself?" A level 14 elder asked the level 15 individual in front of him.

    "I liked the pick-up model the best. It suits me a lot." The ssen patriarch said this while continuing to look ahead, where ten people stood in his way.

    Among those ten people, a man at level 15, but wearing something to cover his cultivation from the others, dressed in a hood that hid his face, was near the beginning of the line waiting nervously.

    ''I hope no one will stop me from getting a car...'' The patriarch of House Vogel, still Lothur''s enemy, thought as he waited his turn.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He was Lothur''s enemy, but he wanted to buy some cars for his family!

    But little did he know that Lothur didn''t give a damn.

    Did this person want to buy cars and make a profit for him?

    This patriarch wanted to be dependent on the Ritter Motor Company to pay for maintenance, repairs, driving school, and more?

    Great!

    More profit for Lothur!

    With that, young Ritter, along with his associates and family, soon opened the factory store, inaugurating this organization that would shock Concordia in no time!

    As soon as the various gates for people to enter opened, the line began to move. Still, only 100 people at a time would enter that facility.

    Anyway, upon entering the presentation hall, those many noble and wealthy locals were confronted with the four vehicles on disy and their prices.

    To their surprise, cars were cheaper than carriages!

    A car was more expensive than a carriage without the animals or beasts that would be the driving force. But there would be no use for such a thing without something to pull it. So when considering the price of carriages plus animals or beasts, cars were cheaper!

    [Hatch: 64,999 bronze coins]

    [Sedan: 69,999 bronze coins]

    [SUV: 74,999 bronze coins]

    [Pick-up: 79.999 bronze coins]

    The first individuals to enter the store faced the prices of the vehicles written on their windshields, most smiling in satisfaction.

    "Haha, the price is kind of not bad!" Chris said this as he stood by the side of the gray pick-up there.

    He had entered the store along with the first customers, so he was quite pleased as someone who didn''t know about the prices of the vehicles yet.

    "How do I order some cars?" The Duke asked before one of the several employees there approached him.

    "Duke of the Province, pleasee with me. I will collect your data and initiate the purchase order." A beautiful, mortal woman said this.

    "How is that?" That Transcendent asked.

    She replied. "We will make a record to make it easier for the Duke toe to the store in the future... Also, some details on the cars may vary depending on the buyer''s choice. So we''ll have a little chat to sort that out."

    "Oh, that sounds interesting..."

    "But how many cars would the Duke be interested in ordering today?"

    "About 20. I want 4 of each model..." He said while several other people did the same thing as him.

    With that, within moments of opening, soon over 100 cars had been ordered!

    ...

 Chapter 535 Time For Competition

    While the store staff attended to the first dozen or so customers, and others were watching, walking in, and feeling the sensation of being in a car, Lothur was with his wives.

    They were watching everything from one side of the vehicle presentation hall, smiling, seeing their businessing off the paper and already starting to make a sess.

    "Lothur, how will we do to deliver all the vehicles that are ordered?" Elke asked. "I mean, I think we will easily reach a thousand orders today alone... So if we only produce four cars a day, it will take us 250 days to deliver just the orders ced today.

    In the meantime, there will certainly be people from outside Peters City who will order vehicles as soon as they find out.

    That''s without considering those locals who didn''te here today..."

    Viktoria and Annaliese looked at Lothur, waiting for his answer.

    He then said. "Well, that production rate will increase. It''s just that many of the factory employees are working on several projects simultaneously.

    They are not focused on just producing these cars.

    So once we develop a few more vehicle models, the daily production rate will increase quite a bit." He said, remembering the buses, trucks, and agricultural vehicles he had in mind.

    "In any case, the nt, with its current personnel, can produce up to 20 vehicles a day, regardless of type." He considered the area, amount of tools, and personnel in that ce. "Then we will be able to decrease the wait time a lot."

    "Still, some people will have to wait a few months to get their vehicle..." Annaliesemented.

    "Not exactly." Lothur disagreed, shaking his head negatively. "Our store requires payment for at least half of the vehicle at the time of order and the other half upon delivery. So if the orders are high today, we can immediately start the second factory and hire and train the new employees.

    So in less than a month, we could more than double our production."

    First, he wanted to ensure people liked his vehicles before making heavy investments in the Ritter Motor Company. But when the number of orders was so high that it would take years for some people to have a chance to receive their car, he would set up factories all over the province!

    He could also create unique product lines for each model to optimize each station''s output.

    Anyway, Lothur had several ns in mind, so he wasn''t worried about not being able to meet the demand.

    His wives understood what he had in mind and went back to watching the many orders being ced in that area.

    Everyone was pleased, be it those store employees, the car buyers, Lothur''s partners, and this young man''s family.

    Even though they had to pay for part of their vehicles in advance, practically everyone was happy in that area!

    "How long will it take for me to receive my cars?" One of the local patriarchs asked, full of anxiety.

    "From 1 to 4 weeks, sir." One of the attendants in that area said, making that person less smiling.

    Lothur had directed his employees to give a more extended deadline for the delivery of cars so that customersingter would not have to hear even more extended deadlines than that.

    They could deliver vehicles as early as the next day, but it would be better to hold those cars until next week and ensure everyone waited a bit. That way, those who camest would feel that the production dy would not be too bad for them.

    On the other hand, in the meantime, Lothur and his men would be able to increase the daily production rate and make investments in expansions.

    Since everyone who ordered cars there today would hear about it, there would be fewerints, and people would ept the deadline since it was not much, considering that almost everyone there was a cultivator.

    After more than a hundred people entered the store, Lothur and his wives left to go to the academy.

    Today thepetition for ces in the Secret Realm would finally begin, so even Viktoria, who would not participate in this little tournament, was interested in attending the academy.

    ...

    When it was already 10 a.m., the arena of the Morning Star Academy, a ce where students usuallypeted against each other in everyday challenges, practically all the students were already there.

    They were there to watch the event, as was the case for most of the thousands of students at this institution, or to participate.

    Each sector had apeting spot for its students to try their luck. Still, many would simply give up because they had no hope of passing thepetition or surviving the Secret Realm.

    The Secret Kingdom was a home of opportunity, but like any such ce, it was hazardous!

    Not everyone who went returned, so it wasn''t so interesting for weak and low-talent people to covet it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Anyway, thepetition for ces in the Secret Realmsted three days and was a bit simpler than the Province Conference since only fighting skills were tested at this event.

    As such, thepetition model was simpler. The students in each sector would just fight each other until there was onest one standing, the one who would win the appropriate prizes and the spot in the Secret Realm.

    The winning students could win Soul Bones for sectors 4, 5, and 6. So many individuals in this ce were excited, shouting in the stands of this 8,000-person arena.

    In this atmosphere, Lothur, Viktoria, Annaliese, Elke, and Reba, who had joined them earlier, arrived topete or watch the event.

    Because of her situation with the Ancient Poison Body, Reba would not be allowed to participate in the Secret Realm, so she could only attend this event that would mark her graduation.

    For students in Sector 6, like her and Viktoria, after thispetition, they would graduate from Morning Star Academy, ending this journey in their lives.

    Only Lothur, who had a special condition within that institution, would have to continue studying there longer.

    But even he would not take long since he could graduate by finishing his activities in Sector 4.

    Lothur was already in Sector 3, so this would not take long to happen!

    Anyway, he, Annaliese, and Elke would participate in thepetition that would begin in a few moments.

    After arriving in that lively arena, they quickly said goodbye to Reba and Viktoria.

    With that, Lothur looked at his status and that of the two who would bepeting in sectors 3 and 5.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 177.1] [CON: 378.9] [DEX: 182.9] [AGI: 178]

    [INT: 113] [PER: 199.9] [WIL: 143]

    [EVF: 0]

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 63] [CON: 268] [DEX: 65] [AGI: 66] [SOU: ???]

    ...

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 74.4] [CON: 270] [DEX: 70.9] [AGI: 74.5] [SOU: ???]

    He saw how strong they already were and was satisfied, feeling that there was a great possibility that the two would join him in the Secret Realm.

    ''Very good, only Larissa will be a risk to them!''

    ...

 Chapter 536 Tournament Start

    After Lothur saw the statuses of his two women, they arrived at thepetitors'' area, where everyone was watching for them.

    But although everyone was somewhat shocked at how hard Annaliese and Elke hade to this event, everyone was watching only Lothur on behalf of the Ritter Motor Company.

    As expected,ing from his factory store, Lothur had driven his red SUV to the academy and parked it near the teachers'' and students'' carriage area.

    Since it would still take days before people unrted to him would get their cars, the envy of these students was high up there.

    Amidst everyone watching him, Lothur saw Larissa approaching him beside her associates.

    "Lothur, I''m waiting for my car, you know." That white-haired woman said while having a questioning look on her face.

    Lothur remembered his agreement with this woman andmented. "Larissa, it''s not quite like that. You know very well that our agreement would not give you the same conditions as the other associates... In any case, you can buy your vehicle at the store and get it in a few days."

    "A few days? I went to the store earlier and heard that the cars will take a few weeks to be delivered!" She said, indignant. "Were you going to make me wait?"

    "Yes, because I treat all my customers the same way." He was short and blunt.

    "Anyway, congrattions on the creation of the cars, Lothur. They look fascinating." One of Larissa''s associates in the family she would create after she graduates from the academy said this with a smile on his face.

    "Hmm, we will have several models in the future, so you will see a lot more..."

    "I wonder..."

    "Good luck in thepetition." The woman next to Larissa said. "I''ve heard that you''ve recently raised your position in the student rankings a lot and improved your faction''s score...

    I imagine you are very well-prepared."

    Lothur was now among the 500 students with the most merit points in the Morning Star Academy''s ranking. Because of how much he had recently improved, everyone was saying he would soon rise to the top of this ranking.

    At the same time, the score gap between Viktoria and Larissa''s factions had narrowed quite a bit recently, although Angelic Feathers was still in the first ce.

    Lothur smiled upon hearing thatment and said. "I want to take over first ce in the academy rankings before you graduate... It would be no fun to achieve that after the strongest students leave the institution."

    "Oh?" Larissa opened her mouth in surprise. "Then you''ll have to work hard. Our names will be removed from the rankings in less than two weeks when the Secret Realm opens."

    "Hmm, I know that." He said, looking into her white eyes.

    Larissa clenched her fists but said no more. "Well, good luck in thepetition. I didn''te here just to let you take that Soul Bone easily. So get ready to face me."

    Lothur said nothing soon after seeing that beautiful white-haired woman leaving.

    [Name: Larissa Carstensen]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14 -> 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 71.7 -> 73]

    [CON: 75.9 -> 77.1]

    [DEX: 73.5 -> 75.2]

    [AGI: 74.2 -> 75.9]

    [SOU: ???]

    He looked at Larissa''s level, noting that she should have significantly increased her soul power due to her cultivation advancement.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''She must have used some special resources to strengthen herself... I heard that recently she was traveling outside the province.'' His eyes narrowed.

    Thus, he turned to his women, soon leading them to the area where they would find out who they would fight first.

    The tournament for the Secret Realm slots had a few matches predetermined by the academy management. But if someone wanted to challenge a student, even if he was from another sector, it was possible to do so.

    But none of the three were interested in that and just got on with waiting for their predetermined matches.

    "Good luck in your fights," Lothur said to those two, knowing that it shouldn''t be hard for them to win their respectivepetitions.

    Annaliese wouldpete in Sector 5, but she already had superior strength to that of students from Sector 6. As for Elke, she was going topete in Sector 3 but with a strength simr to that of cultivators from Sector 6.

    At first, they should win their matches easily!

    They each went to their area, with Lothur going to the Sector 6 student seats with everyone watching him, feeling no one could beat him.

    ...

    Sometime after the fights began, each sector had already featured several battles by the time Lothur took thebat stage.

    By then, Annaliese and Elke had easily defeated their first opponents, with even Larissa having already fought and won.

    But everyone was waiting for young Ritter''s first fight, curious to see if he would demonstrate any new moves.

    He was like a Transcendent among the students, so everyone wanted to see him fight!

    Unfortunately, when Lothur stepped onto the fighting stage, his opponent didn''t even offer to do so, giving up the match without trying.

    Lothur epted his opponent''s withdrawal without insisting on fighting, which could happen in thispetition.

    The audience was disappointed with this result, but nothing could be done in this situation. Lothur was a monster who had defeated two Transcendents, so besides Larissa, no one else would have the courage to stand against him within the academy.

    Lothur, on the other hand, kept the promises he had made recently and didn''t go out to seek revenge against young descendants of families formerly his enemies.

    He just kept waiting for his turn to fight, little by little having to take the stage and then receiving victory by his opponents giving up.

    Inter matches, something simr would happen to Larissa, Elke, and Annaliese. After seeing them fight, many would lose hope of defeating them.

    ...

    Later that day...

    When thest match of the day urred, Lothur, his two women, and Larissa were still ''alive'' in thepetition when they left the academy to return home.

    The matches would only ur during the afternoon of the three days ofbat.

    Thus the four of them went on to pursue their interests, with some of them already nning more exciting matches the next day.

    That was the case for Elke and Larissa, who nned to improve things a bit for the spectators!

    However, Lothur and the rest of the people would only find out about this the next day.

    Anyway, Lothur would not stop training and having fun with his women this day, temporarily leaving the factory business aside.

    For the moment, he wanted to focus on thispetition and secure his ce in the Secret Realm and the Soul Bone that Sector 6 would give to its winner!

 Chapter 537 Challenge

    The next day, the Ritter Motor Company had already counted 1,400 cars ordered the day before. However, since it would continue to be open Monday through Friday, more orders were expected for this Tuesday.

    The store employees had collected almost 50 million bronze coins the previous day, an amountrge enough to develop a new factory that was evenrger than the first!

    Viktoria, who already knew about Lothur''s interests, as soon as she received these updates early in the morning, went out to start the Ritter Motor Company expansions to ensure the delivery of vehicles from the buyers.

    But it would not take her long to settle these matters. At midday, the second and penultimate day ofpetitions for ces in the Secret Realm would begin, so she would return to the academy to follow that.

    While she was dealing with her family''s business, Lothur, Elke, and Annaliese were cultivating or training, preparing for this second day.

    Yesterday they had hardly fought at all, as manypetitors were weaker than them and would obviously give up against them. But today, with fewerpetitors left, they were hoping to face stronger and braver people who might give them some trouble.

    Consequently, instead of going out to solve problems at the Ritter Motor Company, they continued training in their homes!

    ...

    In the middle of the day, Lothur and his women moved into the Morning Star Academy, prepared for another day of fighting.

    None of them were too eager for the matches, but they all had their minds set on winning and securing their spots in the Secret Realm.

    So upon arriving at the academy, they ignored the looks of the students who were wronged for having to study at the same time as them and went to their respective areas.

    The matches would soon begin, with Elke being the first to take the stage for the battles.

    "Competitor Elke Becker passes this match by forfeit of her opponent!" The match referee, one of the teachers from Sector 3, said loudly, announcing the result of her first match on this second day of battles.

    But instead of stepping down from the stage of battles at the end of her match, Elke surprised everyone with a challenge!

    "Referee of the match, I wish to challenge student Erich Baier of Sector 4." She said aloud while pointing toward a level 11 young man, the favorite of that sector, to get the Soul Bone and a spot in the Secret Realm.

    When Elke''s words finished being spoken, all the students in that arena immediately looked at Erich, who was somewhat pale at the moment.

    This fellow knew about Elke''s current level, which was higher than his. But he had never considered that this person would try to challenge him.

    Elke was very different from Lothur. She showed no hostility or sense of revenge against the people in her surroundings. So the strongest member of the youngest generation of the Baier family was surprised to be challenged by her.

    On the other hand, the match''s referee saw this as normal since Elke''s current power was too great for the students of Sector 3.

    Since the challenge was something that allowed students from different sectors to do what she was attempting, he quickly epted the challenge and said. "Competitor Erich Baier, you have been challenged, and by the rules of thepetition, you have no choice.

    Will you fight, or will you withdraw from thepetition?"

    Gulp!

    ''Shit!'' That young man clenched his fists, but since the difference in level between him and Elke was only two levels, he stood up from where he was, determined to fight for his spot.

    If Elke won, by the rules of thepetition, she would have to continue fighting in the Sector 4petition and could no longer challenge anyone. But if she lost, he was the one who could no longer be challenged, so as the strongest in Sector 4, he would be practically guaranteed the Soul Bone and the spot in the Secret Realm.

    With that in mind, he would rather suffer a little to defeat Elke, who had gotten too strong too fast and shouldn''t have a solid cultivation base, than just give up!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "I ept the challenge!" He said as he ran to that fighting spot.

    Lothur and Annaliese saw that and smiled, seeing that Elke was no fool and wanted the Sector 4 Soul Bone for herself!

    Meanwhile, Larissa had Elke''s action in her mind, the alternative she would have if she could not beat Lothur.

    Unlike people who lost in challenges, those students defeated in predestined matches had the opportunity to make a challenge after their defeat.

    That was not something that was well-regarded among the students and teachers of the academy. Still, it was a possibility to sharpen thepetition and give talented losers a chance.

    With this in mind, she looked in Annaliese''s direction, imagining that this would be her only chance if she lost to Lothur...

    Anyway, after a few moments, Erich was on the battle stage 20 meters away from Elke, looking at this level 13 woman, extremely concentrated since he knew he couldn''t fail her.

    Besides not being able to fail to not lose the match, he could not be distracted since thispetition allowed thepetitors to use enough power to win. In other words, she could end up seriously injuring him and not even be punished by the academy!

    The Secret Realm was even more dangerous for these students, so it was natural that rules to protect students from this would not exist!

    With that, when the referee signaled for the fight, that man barely heard anything, just continuing in his position, waiting for his opponent''s movement.

    Elke, on the other hand, paid attention to her opponent. When she noticed he would not start attacking, she smiled, seeing she would win easily.

    ''Does he think he can defeat me by holding off my attacks?

    Naive!

    I haven''t shown my speed in public yet!'' She thought, watching her opponent without moving.

    Because of Lothur, she had an extremely capable body, which made her faster than all the Spiritual Warriors in this city, except for Viktoria, Annaliese, and her man.

    So the moment Elke acted, everyone in that ce, except for the few who knew about her speed, opened their mouths in shock.

    When she moved, that fellow with only 56 attribute points in Constitution saw his opponent disappear from his front.

    Then, while Erich was in the dark about what Elke was doing, she directed part of her soul power to her Strength, nning to defeat him with a single punch.

    Due to thisbination, Elke generated a Strength simr to the value of her own Constitution, far exceeding what that young man could take even with all his defenses up.

    Pow!

    When Elke appeared at his side and kicked him in the stomach, Erich felt extreme pain and then copsed, with some of his organs already crushed!

    Meanwhile, his body flew off the fighting tform, signaling the end of the match.

    ...

 Chapter 538 Lothurs Match 1

    Everyone saw the result of Elke''s match, but they were shocked at how strong this descendant of the Becker family had be.

    ''How is this possible?'' Caroline Waldeaur thought to herself, open-mouthed. ''Just a short time ago, Elke was a 1st Transformation cultivator! How could she have be so strong and have such a stable foundation?''

    Meanwhile, Caroline''s great friend, Nora, level 10, had her fists clenched, feeling envious of that woman who was likely to take the Soul Bone from them,petitors in Sector 4.

    ''Damn! Why are the women rted to Lothur so strong?'' Nora wondered as she looked at Erich, unconscious but with blooding out of his facial cavities.

    Meanwhile, after announcing the battle''s oue, the match referee went to Erich''s fallen body, concerned about this young man''s condition.

    Erich was only a level 11 cultivator, while Elke was level 13 and had clearly gone heavy on her movement.

    So he would soon look in the direction of the academy director, who was also watching the event, expressing that thispetitor''s situation was serious.

    The academy doctors then rushed over, making the other House Baier students tremble in fear of what might happen to the strongest descendant of the youngest generation of that family.

    "He... He''s dying!" One of the doctors said as he noticed that the organs in the region that Elke''s foot had touched were all liquefied, totally crushed.

    Luis got up from his seat and went to the side of Erich''s unconscious body while Lothur watched from afar with his visual ability what had happened.

    ''That was a pretty strong kick...'' He praised his wife in his mind, seeing that unless a 3-star doctor showed up in the next few minutes, Erich would die.

    Luis looked at Elke, who was alreadying down the stairs of thebat stage and sighed.

    He didn''t like losing students, even more so in the middle of an academypetition. But this tournament allowed deaths, so there was nothing he could do to penalize Elke for that.

    As he stared at her, the Baier family members shouted, calling for justice.

    "Murderer!"

    "Elke, you slut, you will pay for this!"

    "Teachers, punish this woman! She did it on purpose. I''m sure she did it on purpose!"

    Lothur looked in the direction of the boldest people among those students, emitting his Mortal Aura as ck mes appeared in his hands.

    He then jumped from where he was until he reached the person who called Elke a slut, causing the ability of his second Soul Bone to invade that person''s body. ''You will pay for talking such nonsense...''

    As Lothur silently dominated that person, Luis appeared beside him, preventing him from doing anything else.

    But Lothur had already done what he wanted and returned to his ce in silence.

    After a few moments, Erich died, and the stands of that arena went into a convulsion, with everyone fearing to fight Elke, this woman who did not know how to control her own powers.

    But it wouldn''t be long before the fighting would continue, and something shocking would happen once again.

    When one of the Baier family members went to fight for Sector 3 after winning his match, he immediately challenged anotherpetitor from this family.

    The people in the arena didn''t quite understand what was happening. Still, after his opponent epted the match, the two fought for over 20 minutes, brutally attacking each other.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The individual who had called Elke a slut fought bravely, and even though he was not the strongest, he managed to kill his opponent before falling unconscious due to the severe damage to his body.

    In the end, instead of a winner, the challenge match had two dead, a significant loss for the Baier family!

    Everyone more or less would me Lothur for this. Still, without proof of how he could have done such a thing, many would just talk about the coincidence of that young man being touched by him doing such extreme things after that.

    Only those who knew Lothur best, his wives and the youths of the Ice Feathers council, would understand what had happened.

    ...

    Byte afternoon, many matches had taken ce, and now in each sector, less than 50 students were left topete in the final part of this short tournament.

    However, in thest battle of the day, coincidentally, Lothur and Larissa, the two strongest in the academy, would face each other!

    When the draw showed who should fight, the two looked at each other, and without dy, they took to the battle stage, causing the whole arena to fall silent.

    That was the battle everyone was waiting for to remove their doubts about thepetition''s winner for the vacancy in Sector 6.

    Many felt Lothur was stronger than Larissa, for he had beaten two Transcendents. But some thought he only got this result because his opponents were taken by surprise.

    Larissa had prepared well to fight him and, already at the beginning of the battle, would try to protect herself as much as possible from the speed and power of Lothur''s fists. So many expected a more even battle, with a chance for either of the two to be the big winner.

    "You can''t beat me that easily, Lothur," Larissa said to him as she stood on the other side of the battle stage, waiting for the match referee''s signal to begin. "You can''t use your weapons and support items. At the same time, you don''t have the element of surprise on your side. Then I will win!"

    "Really?" Lothurughed, knowing that facing her without his many support items would not be easy but that he had the advantage. "Let me see how much of your will is here to help you! I assure you that mine is enough for me to acquire that Soul Bone!"

    With those words, Lothur activated his Soul Bone abilities, causing his hands to appear covered in ck mes while his eyes glowed. At the same time, the Mortal Aura appeared once again, emitting a sensation that would make anyone below level 17 feel threatened.

    Larissa felt it but kept her guard up while the match referee trembled, looking at Lothur as if he were in the presence of a monster.

    He then signaled for the match to begin, not wanting to be around that silver-haired fellow for too long.

    With this signal, Larissa immediately activated her techniques and Soul Bone, causing a sort of glowing green armor to appear on various parts of her body.

    At the same time, the spiritual energy in the surroundings condensed into several small, jagged fish, which seemed to be in a sea, circling her surroundings, waiting for her orders.

    Lothur saw this and waited no longer, starting to move as he fired the first shot of hisser sight at one of Larissa''s shoulders.

    Ssss!

    A red beam of concentrated, burning energy shot out of his eyes, quickly making its way toward the body of the beautiful white-haired woman.

    The surroundings of the arena breathed tense at that moment, seeing the beginning of what would be the most hotly contested, high-level battle in this city in a long time!

    ...

 Chapter 539 Lothurs Match 2

    When the burning beam of light shot out of Lothur''s eyes, Larissa barely had time to move, only making a defensive motion with her arms.

    She did this, causing a screen of green energy to appear in front of her, like a sheet of steel to protect her.

    That was Larissa''s Soul Bone ability, which could project shields around her body, with the power limited by her soul force.

    Because of this, the moment the red light hit that thing, it didn''t melt immediately but was only gradually eroded.

    Larissa realized that even with her soul powers, she couldn''t withstand Lothur''s blow and moved to deflect it while keeping that shield upright.

    Sss!

    She moved a few inches before Lothur''sser beam went through the thing, missing her right shoulder only to ''graze'' the skin on her upper right arm.

    Larissa expressed pain as she fell to her left side, already manipting her energies to undo her previous shield and strengthen her spiritual armor.

    Meanwhile, she ordered the various energy fish in her surroundings to attack Lothur, hoping to make at least this associate of hers feel some pain.

    Lothur saw that his first move went wrong and ignored the energy fish with sharp teeth approaching him. He stopped near Larissa and moved one of his open hands, striking horizontally toward her face.

    He had one leg in front, the other a little behind, supporting him to move his arms, making palm strikes with his open hand.

    His hands were covered in the ck mes of his Soul Bone ability, and each time he moved his hands, the air seemed to shift, creating pressure in the opposite direction.

    Vuup!

    He made the second move and made the air move in such a way that when it missed its target and hit the wooden floor of that tform, the wood where it hit cracked!

    Gulp!

    Some onlookers saw this and opened their eyes wider, seeing how powerful a palm strike from Lothur already was.

    If only the air moved by his fists could damage the floor of the fighting stage, then how powerful wouldn''t his punch be?

    After three movements, Lothur formed a palm of dark mes that flew in the direction of his movements along with the disced air.

    Sss!

    Larissa saw this and tried to move on the ground to dodge Lothur''s merciless attacks.

    Meanwhile, the energy fish created by her finally reached Lothur, biting his body in several parts.

    However, Lothur''s skin was so tough while the Steel Body was active that these energy beings couldn''t even scratch him!

    Only Lothur''s clothes were being ruined by these creatures, as they were not tough enough due to the rules of fighting.

    On the other hand, Larissa could not regret her waste of energy on those creatures unable to hurt Lothur. All she could do now was move as best she could to avoid the opponent''s attacks.

    Lothur''s palm strikes were very strong, and with those ck mes, she knew that if hit, she would somehow be doubly weakened.

    ''Damn!

    I didn''t expect that!'' Shemented, feeling that it was a shame. After being the strongest in the academy for so long, she had found someone she couldn''t beat!

    She had tried hard to prevent Lothur from surpassing her, but his strength was abnormal. His body was so strong that she could not hurt young Ritter, even using all her soul power.

    To achieve this, someone would have to be at level 16, a level Larissa was far from reaching!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In this situation, she realized she could not beat this opponent, no matter how hard she tried.

    He was faster, tougher, and more agile, and his every attack could hurt her. Thus, as she lost energy, Larissa slowly began to slow down, being hit by Lothur''s first full blows.

    "Ahhhh!" She let out a cry of pain after 4 minutes of fighting, feeling some of her bones cracking as the dark energy in the form of mes invaded her body.

    Realizing this, she put all her attention into protecting her mind, leaving her fleshy body vulnerable.

    Gulp!

    ''So that was it...'' She broke into a cold sweat as she realized Lothur''s skill of maniption, which was trying to corrupt her mind and make her obey him. Through this, she understood the situation of the Baier familypetitor who had killed a family member and then died from his serious injuries.

    Amid this situation, Lothur increased the difficulty of the fight for Larissa a bit and stopped attacking her from afar to get closer to this woman and strike her body.

    He stopped in front of her without her even preparing to defend or retreat and punched in the direction of her belly, ready to end this fight.

    Pow!

    Lothur made a quick move, but less potent than Elke''s, just enough to knock his opponent out.

    Larissa lost all attention to the dark energy trying to eat away at her mental structures. Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth, and blood poured out of it.

    Almost immediately, she lost consciousness, beginning to fall toward the ground.

    Lothur had won the match!

    "Wow!"

    "Lothur really is a monster!"

    "Yes, I don''t think even the principal is at his level!"

    "He could easily be considered the strongest in the province!"

    Students who liked Lothur, partly because of the cars, began to chat simultaneously, quickly raising the noise around that arena.

    Meanwhile, he stopped his opponent from falling to the ground just before the match referee dered his victory.

    "Contestant Lothur Ritter wins this battle and remains inpetition for the Soul Bone and the spot in the Secret Realm of Sector 6!"

    With that settled, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, one step closer to achieving his goals in thispetition.

    He then left Larissa with the high-level members of Angelic Feather, preparing to return home and get ready for the next day.

    With that settled, by the end of tomorrow, he could get stronger by absorbing another Soul Bone!

    ''I just hope this Soul Bone isn''t one of the ones I already have...'' He thought to himself as he walked towards his women.

    But seeing Annaliese and Elke, he sighed. ''Well, even if it is a bone I already have, I can exchange mine with one of the ones they will get.''

    So Lothur, Annaliese, and Elke would soon join Viktoria, then leave for their home to continue training.

    But not only that, tomorrow the Ritter Motor Company transport business opening would ur in the morning, something they had to attend.

    For his best preparation, Lothur would not go on a mission tonight but would only focus on caring for his women and training his skills!

 Chapter 540 Local Transportation 1

    The other day in the morning...

    When the sun rose under Peters City, Lothur, his wives, and the Ritter Motor Company associates were already at the factory.

    Yesterday afternoon the fifth minibus to be produced was finished. With this, they could already inaugurate Peters City''s interurban minibus transportation today!

    That would be the second service offered by the Ritter Motor Company, something to poprize independent animal-powered vehicles once and for all, practical and cheap enough even for mortals.

    Practically, only cultivators would have these transportation items, called cars, as ordinary mortals could hardly get enough coins to buy automobiles.

    However, it was in Lothur''s interest to put an end to the animals in the streets of Peters City, those beings that defecated and urinated in the local streets, polluting the surroundings.

    In Lothur''s mind, he envisioned a city without these problems, with more efficient and faster transportation.

    Beasts would still exist on the city streets. Still, given the above-average intelligence of these creatures capable of cultivating, having them in the cities would not be a problem, as was the case for animals.

    Hence, he exined to his associates how even ordinary mortals might be able to use this service.

    "Minibusses will be seen all over Peters City in a short time. For now, there will only be five vehicles, but by the end of the month, I n to have 20 units circting the city and 3 more stops.

    Through these vehicles, local citizens will be able to cross the entire city quickly andfortably for the small cost of 1 bronze coin." He said, setting out the minimum price to be paid by each user of this service.

    But this bronze coin would not just be for a person to take one of the minibusses, and then when they have to take another, pay again. No, when getting on a minibus, a user of this service could stay on it until the stop in Peters City central station instead of getting off at the first point of the route. Then, inside the station, this person would not have to pay to catch another minibus, whatever his destination.

    Users of this service would only have to pay for the service again if they got off before the central station.

    But Lothur already had something else in mind to help, but also encourage ordinary people to use these means of transportation.

    "We will also create an option to buy useful minibus tickets in advance." He gestured as he spoke to his associates. "At the city''s central station, service users will be able to buy small formations for 50 bronze coins. These formations can be reloaded and used in ce of conventional coins.

    With them, one of our minibus users will be able to take two minibusses out of the station on the same day for only one bronze coin."

    Upon hearing this, the individuals who understood the subject the least frowned, and one of them asked Lothur. "What will be the advantage for us to do that?"

    "Some citizens will be more resistant to opt for our transportation service as they will have to go back and forth daily to their destinations, which can cost them a lot. So this will make it easier for people like that to ess this service.

    But not only that. Because these tickets will be paid for in advance, we will have the coins of these service users in hand before they even use our minibusses."

    Having other people''s money in your hands was always an advantage since you could work those resources and keep the profits generated by them. In return, the owners of those resources would only have the same amount deposited.

    That was one of the ways banks made money on Earth, and Lothur could not fail to make this option avable to local citizens to help him get rich!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Those dubious people understood the benefit of doing this, thinking this could result in exciting profits for them.

    Like those to beunched now, each minibus costs 99,000 bronze coins. At the same time, they would have to have a security guard, a conductor, and a driver to make the service possible.

    The security guard had to be a cultivator, so his pay would have to be higher than that of the conductor and the driver.

    The cost of this service for each vehicle, for one year of operation, for example, would be about 230,000 bronze coins, considering these people''s sries and the vehicle''s price.

    If each minibus ran every day of the year, then the minimum daily amount collected for the service to make sense would have to be at least 630 bronze coins. In other words, 630 people would have to pass by one of the vehicles or the station daily for the operation to exceed the investment already in the first year of business.

    Each minibus had room for 36 people to travel simultaneously. In other words, a minibus would have to make about 18 trips a day, at full capacity, to exceed this mark already in the first year of operation.

    The people there with Lothur had no in-depth knowledge about investments. Still, they were very good at the four basic operations and at handling currencies. So by doing this math, they all quickly realized that for the cost of one bronze coin and the early payment discount, they could quickly profit from this business.

    After all, these vehicles could make over 40 trips a day around Peters City, and plenty of people would undoubtedly opt for transportation.

    Those who had not yet gotten a car or could not even order one would want to try this transportation option!

    With this, they could achieve higher than invested numbers in less than a year, and realizing this, they were more than satisfied.

    They talked to Lothur for a few moments, clearing up some doubts, while most talked about their future results and how rich their families would be by being partners with this young man.

    After more than an hour in that ce, Lothur said. "Well, now we will start the operation of the transportationpany. To do this, I will ask each of you to get into the vehicle of your choice.

    I want the citizens to see you get off at points and around the city to help poprize the service."

    Lothur''s associates were fine with this, as they wanted to experience riding theserger vehicles. So, soon, they and the people who came with them for the inauguration of this service got on the five minibusses.

    Lothur also got into one of these alongside Viktoria, Reba, Elke, and Annaliese, intending to get off in front of the Morning Star Academy.

    Currently, their transportpany has one central station and five points around Peters City. But these five points were just ces with the preparation for minibusses to stop without disturbing the traffic.

    But the minibusses could stop at some ces along their way between one of these points and the central station, depending on the needs of some of the service users.

    Among these stopping ces was the Morning Star Academy, where Lothur wisely wanted to show the students there this transport option.

    So the five minibusses left the Ritter Motor Company''s yard, where eight other parked cars were waiting to be delivered to their owners in theing days.

    ...

 Chapter 541 Local Transportation 2

    After a few minutes, the five minibusses of the local transportpany were already circting the streets of Peters City.

    Since this was the service''s debut, they did not simply go to the central station, from where they would daily take to the streets not long after daybreak. Instead, as they left the Ritter Motor Company, these vehicles went to the five different points around the city from where they would begin their service.

    From these points, they would stop at a few locations in the middle of their journey toward the central station, introducing this service to the local poption.

    Along their way, little by little, each person inside these vehicles would get off them, doing what Lothur wanted.

    ...

    In front of the provincial government headquarters...

    One of the minibusses from Lothur''s transportpany, an all-red vehicle, the same color as all the minibusses that would run in Peters City, stopped in front of this ce.

    This time the guards nearby and the citizens walking on the sidewalks were not entirely shocked as when the first car had stopped there.

    Now everyone already knew of the existence of the Ritter Motor Company and its products, so they immediately understood where this type of transportation came from.

    However, the people nearby obviously looked interested in that different model of ''car,'' finding it a bit ugly but curious to see the interior.

    Amidst the gazes of more than two hundred people, August Klossner stepped out of the vehicle next to a local bourgeois, both smiling.

    The minibus was veryfortable, gave a different user experience from cars, and was convenient. It was easier to ess than a car and greatly shortened the travel time within the city.

    Even considering the stops this type of vehicle had to make on its way, it still cut the time of a trip by carriage or animal by half!

    But when riding by carriage, animal, or on foot, a person would always have some stress given the low quality of the carriage or the effort they would naturally have the other two ways. So besides the time saved, one would also not have to stress oneself physically and psychologically by using this means!

    Those individuals got off the minibus talking about it.

    "Hahaha, this minibus proves a great experience for only a bronze coin!"

    "Yes, it''s veryfortable... Not to mention that the view in it is different because of the height of the ground. You can enjoy the trip much more than in a car!"

    The two chatted aloud as they walked toward the local government headquarters.

    At that moment, no one in the surrounding area ''dared'' to get into that vehicle, still unsure about it.

    But from those twoments, it seemed that this was a service for anyone to hire for the price of just one bronze coin, something that everyone in the city had.

    ''Can you ride in this ''car'' for the price of a coin?'' One of the guards nearby wondered, feeling like getting into that minibus.

    Unfortunately, each minibus only stopped for 30 seconds outside the points set up by the transportpany, so when the first ones mustered the courage to try to move in, the doors closed, and that vehicle started moving.

    ''Next time I see it, I''ll get in it!''

    Several people in the area thought of this, having seen some notices on the sides of the minibus.

    Each vehicle had information on its sides and rear, whereby citizens uncertain about that vehicle and service could understand what it was all about.

    Because of this, even though those two had exined almost nothing about the minibus, several people near the provincial government headquarters understood what it was about.

    ...

    At the same time, in front of the entrance to the Morning Star Academy...

    The red minibus that Lothur and his four women had entered had just arrived there to drop off these five.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The same that happened in front of the provincial government headquarters and other ces around Peters City happened there, with several people watching the minibus passengers getting off it.

    "Hey, make sure it''s not another kind of car!" Someonemented aloud, surprised to see another type of ''car'' just a few days after the previous release.

    "But that one is much bigger..."

    "Yes, ordinary cars can only carry 4 to 5 people, but this one..."

    "Wow, will they sell that too?"

    "Who knows..."

    Comments came up as Lothur smiled before exining aloud to everyone. "This is not a different kind of car, but a minibus.

    It is used to transport many people at the same time. But it will not be for sale, as mypany will make it avable for the local people to use for only one bronze coin!"

    "What?"

    "One bronze coin? How can that be?"

    "Damn, my family spent over 4 million coins on the previous cars!"

    "Is the Ritter Motor Company tricking us?"

    Lothur heard some negativements, but he didn''t care. "Anyone who wants to understand more about this, go to the central station. It is located..."

    He gave directions to the station, which was not far from there, making it easy for those people to learn how to better understand this service.

    At the central station, there were already people in ce to correctly exin every detail of the local transport service that was being inaugurated that day.

    All one would need to do to find out how this service option would function was move there and ask one of the many agents their questions.

    With this information, most students began to disperse, heading towards this central station to learn more about this service.

    Today they still wouldn''t have ss because it was thest day of thepetition for ces in the Secret Realm, so while it was still morning and there were no fights to watch, most of them headed to that ce.

    Lothur saw this next to his women and was pleased, feeling that soon the five vehicles of his transportpany would have their fillings reached.

    "Lothur, you are a genius..." Rebamented as she noticed dozens of students moving to the ce he indicated. "You have created something that will change our entire society. You will be so rich that you will have nowhere to put your coins."

    Lothur''s three other women smiled at these words while he had a mysterious expression on his face.

    ''There are always ces to put coins...'' He thought about this, as he considered one of his actions that he was doing in secret, even from his allies, something that would be made possible by his vehicles being poprized in Concordia.

    But even his wives didn''t know that yet, so he talked about something he intended to do to use his many coins that would soon start pouring into the Ritter Motor Company. "Soon, I will start hiring people to join the Ritter family. I intend to create my army to perform tasks in our ces and keep our peace."

    "Oh? That sounds exciting." Reba said, while Annaliese and Elke, the most anxious about it, felt anticipation.

    Viktoria was the quietest of all and asked. "When will you do this?"

    "After the Secret Realm, when we have plenty of resources to pay for the formation of a small army." With those words, they headed toward thepetition arena, where the third and final day of fighting would soon begin!

    ...

 Chapter 542 Another Challenge

    After a few minutes, the middle of the day arrived, and eachpetitor on thisst day of fights moved to their respective areas.

    The arena stands were a bit empty today, as many students enjoyed themselves in the local minibusses or learning about this new service.

    But regardless of how crowded the arena was, the people involved in thepetition would continue with the fights as soon as the referee gave the signal, which didn''t take long to happen after the sun was high in the sky.

    Lothur saw Larissa appearing in that venue ofpetitors and immediately considered what he had already predicted would happen.

    ''She''s going to challenge someone from Sector 5... Probably Annaliese.'' He narrowed his eyes, looking toward that white-haired, white-eyed woman.

    Larissa could not challenge Elke, as this young redhead was fighting against opponents from Sector 4 as she had already challenged someone from that sector. But since she was the strongest among the remainingpetitors, it would be useless for the young Ritter''s associate to try to challenge her.

    At the same time, it would be shameful for her, one of the strongest in the academy, to try to challenge someone from Sector 4. The ''right'' thing to do in this situation was for her to challenge someone from Sector 5, preferably the favorite from this sector.

    That was Annaliese, this woman at level 15, the same level as her.

    Larissa noticed Lothur''s gaze in her direction, seeing he had already understood her ns.

    She looked away, feeling ashamed but sure that this was the right way, for a Soul Bone and a ce in the Secret Realm was worth any kind of shameful act.

    ''This is your fault! You shouldn''t have beaten me if you didn''t want me to use all my alternatives!'' She thought in her own way, attached to her goal.

    So the day''s first matches would take ce, with Sectors 1, 2, and 3 soon determining their temporary winners, which could change depending on possible challenges.

    When it came time for the final fights in Sector 4, Elke could get through all her opponents without a problem, with no one wanting to fight her.

    She had earned a reputation at the academy as an uncontrolled person who could not moderate her strength. Because of this, her opponents feared dying in the same way as the man from the Baier family and let her keep the Soul Bone and the spot in the Secret Realm for the winner of this sector.

    But Elke did not immediately receive her prizes. Although she had no chance of losing them, as with the winning students of Sectors 1, 2, and 3, all the prizes were given out together at the end of the day. So she would have to wait until then!

    Finally, the matches for the youngsters in Sector 5 began, with Annaliese having to face some bolder opponents since, unlike Elke, she had shown nock of control over her own strength.

    But she was at level 15, a cultivation level that only three other students in the entire academy had reached in the history of this institution. In this way, she won her fights after a few blows, taking the strongest position in Sector 5!

    However, when the matches in Sector 6 were about to begin, Larissa climbed onto the battle stage before the match referee called the firstpetitors of this sector to fight.

    "Match referee, I am here to challenge Annaliese Frost from Sector 5. I want the spot and the Soul Bone she is entitled to!" She roared, causing many teachers and students watching thepetition to look at her strangely.

    As much as she was allowed to make this challenge, this was an act considered ugly and petty by practically everyone in this ce.

    It was one thing for someone like Elke to win her match and then challenge someone stronger, but it was quite another for a losingpetitor to challenge someone theoretically weaker than them!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The first demonstrated their bravery, desire for victory, and oveing, something beautiful and encouraged everywhere. The second was showing the behavior of a bad loser, someone willing to lower themselves and put aside their honor to achieve their goals. That was not very well regarded in this society!

    The referee of the Sector 6 student matches looked at Larissa in an ugly way and asked. "Are you sure about that, student Carstensen? That will go on your record, and people will never forget it."

    Larissa knew this and clenched her fists. "If I weren''t, I wouldn''t be here, referee."

    That man closed his eyes and turned his face away. Then, after a moment of disappointment, he announced. "Well then,petitor Annaliese Frost, you have been challenged and have the choice of giving up your spot and Soul Bone or fighting to keep them. Which will you choose?"

    Annaliese looked at Larissa with her eyebrows almost together, feeling random shame for this woman she had once respected so much. "I will fight, of course!" She said aloud before standing up and leaping toward the fighting stage.

    With that, allmentary in the surrounding area ceased as people began to sense this would be a more exciting battle than that of Lothur and Larissa.

    Lothur was much stronger than Larissa, so their fight had been a bit ''unfair'' and unbnced. But the strengths of the Angelic Feather leader and Annaliese were more or less simr.

    So it was expected that they would have a more even match!

    Annaliese red at Larissa, into those eyes that in the past she had dreaded looking directly into them, and said. "I hope you won''t regret thister, Larissa. Your prestige won''t be the same after I defeat you."

    Larissa could sense that her opponent''s level was no different from her own, so she said. "Let''s see. The way I see it, I''ll just win a Soul Bone and a spot to a great ce... What is there to regret in that? I''ll just have to eliminate someone as strong as me. There''s no dishonor in that!"

    "We''ll see if it''s really like that!" Annaliese said, feeling good that she was finally not entirely dependent on her sister.

    The match referee looked at the two and realized they were both in their seats. Then as he looked at the support referees, who helped prevent irregrities and determine winners in case of draws, he started this match.

    "Begin!"

    With that permission, the two activated their techniques as they began to move through their surroundings.

    When Annaliese left her position, everyone realized that, like Elke, her speed was impressive, indicating that her physical strengths were probably abnormal, like those of that redhead.

    Larissa frowned as she realized this, noting the simrity between Annaliese and Elke. ''Why do these two look so simr in this? Are they using the same training method?''

    But she didn''t have time to think about that at the moment, and soon only the battle in front of her was on her mind.

    With that, she began acting a little differently than she had already done against Lothur, slowly aiming to erode her opponent''s strength.

    In doing so, Larissa realized something after a few moments since the beginning of the fight!

    ...

 Chapter 543 Results

    As she began to fight Annaliese, Larissa soon realized that her opponent was weaker than she should be, considering her soul fluctuations.

    ''Uh? What''s happening? She emits an aura almost as strong as mine, but her spiritual attacks seem less powerful...'' This white-haired woman used her soul power to dodge her opponent''s blows, escaping taking Annaliese''s harsh blows.

    Annaliese demonstrated a lowerbat level than her aura said she could achieve. But still, Larissa had to be careful, or she would suffer at the hands of this brown-haired woman.

    But as Larissa was thinking, Annaliese really was demonstrating abat proficiency below her level.

    Not only that, but as she moved swiftly, using her techniques to end the fight quickly, Annaliese was getting increasingly tired.

    Viktoria, Lothur, and Elke saw that and promptly realized what the problem was.

    ''The pregnancy!'' The three of them thought about this hypothesis, as all of them were aware that this circumstance diminished the strength of women and made them tire more quickly.

    Annaliese was aware that she was not fighting as well and was naturally rushing to end the fight before she got too tired.

    ''Damn it! Larissa is stronger than I had imagined!'' She thought inwardly, sweating as she moved to attack and dodge her opponent''s blows.

    Larissa was not capable of injuring Lothur''s body with her spiritual attacks. But she was fully capable of doing so against Annaliese!

    Hence, Annaliese had to be careful against her opponent without being able to fight in ultra-offensive mode, as Elke had done previously.

    If she were hit by one of Larissa''s blows, the fight would be over for her!

    But the same was true for Larissa. Even though her opponent was slowly weakening due to fatigue, she had a powerful Constitution capable of causing considerable damage to the Angelic Feathers leader''s body.

    The audience noticed this as they watched a well-bnced fight, with both parties hitting but suffering from their opponent''s blows.

    Pow!

    Annaliese threw a punch toward Larissa''s chest but narrowly missed, hitting this woman''s shoulder.

    Larissa made a pained expression after some of her spiritual armor broke, and the attack hit her. Still, she stood her ground as one of her techniques pinned Annaliese''s legs with what looked like twigs.

    ''I can only beat her if I prolong this battle!'' This white-haired woman thought to herself, trying to pull away from her opponent once again.

    She then leaped backward, once again moving to the sides of thisbat area, as Annaliese used her strength to break free of the roots holding her down.

    She broke those things made of spiritual energy and once again moved towards Larissa while her clothes were drenched with sweat and her breathing was breathless.

    "Hah... Hah... Hah..."

    Amid her movements to catch Larissa, Annaliese felt something strange in her stomach, like a sudden urge to vomit.

    ''No! Not now!'' She shouted in her mind, realizing she was about to experience one of those moments when she would get nauseous and get sick.

    Even female cultivators suffered from the side effects of pregnancy. So it wasmon for even women at Annaliese''s level to experience nausea, headaches, mise, unwellness, and weakness.

    Sometimes these symptoms would intensify without prior ''warning,'' and a woman would have a few moments or even a whole bad day.

    Annaliese began to feel that in the middle of her fight against Larissa!

    "Ahhhh!" She yelled as she stopped running towards Larissa and put her hands on her head, leaning her body forward.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Almost instantly, Larissa realized her opportunity and prepared herself for the final blow of this fight!

    "Now!" This white-haired woman shouted, causing several razor-sharp-toothed fish to emerge from her surroundings and ''swim'' toward Annaliese.

    Lothur realized his woman could not bear to continue the fight and clenched his fists, feeling sorry for Annaliese for missing this opportunity.

    Then, just as Annaliese was about to vomit and suffer from Larissa''s attacks, a staff fell in front of her body, causing the first of these energy beings to disappear.

    "Oh?"

    Several people in the arena opened their mouths in surprise, seeing someone interfering with the battle.

    Just then, Lothur used the Space Belt and appeared next to Annaliese. "Match referee, my sister-inw quits this match."

    That man on thebat tform looked at Lothur and then at Luis, who was in one of the board seats in that arena.

    Luis nodded to him, and he dered the result. "In this challenge, Larissa Carstensen beats Annaliese Frost and takes the spot in the Secret Realm and the Sector 5 Soul Bone!"

    With those words, the crowd in the area went into a convulsion, talking about how good the fight between those two had been, imagining that Larissa had managed to do Annaliese some harm, so this woman had to give up.

    But some people paid attention to Lothur''s action, curious to know what exactly had happened and what Annaliese''s nausea meant.

    Larissa was the most interested in this since she had done nothing to provoke such a reaction in Lothur''s sister-inw.

    ''What happened?'' She wondered, watching Lothur taking Annaliese on hisp and feeling awkward as if this was not the right way for her to conquer her goals.

    She wanted to beat Annaliese on her own merit, not by a withdrawal from her opponent!

    ''Is she sick?'' That possibility popped into Larissa''s mind, but she wouldn''t find out if that were really it on this day.

    With the result of Larissa''s challenge, thepetition for the Soul Bone and the Sector 6 spot continued. Lothur soon took the stage and won by forfeit or knockout.

    Since no one could beat him, he soon beat all the remainingpetitors and became the winner of thepetition for Sector 6.

    Some challenges would follow, with people taking the ces of the winners of Sectors 1, 2, and 3, something encouraged by Larissa''s attitude.

    Then the academy principal took thebat stage to announce the winners and hand out the awards to these people.

    "Well, this cycle, we''ve had some surprises and unexpected attitudes from some of our students... Anyway, the cultivation world doesn''t care about fairness, and only the winners have the space to voice their opinions.

    With that said, I end thispetition and congratte the six young talents who won with their own merits their ces in the Secret Realm." He said, smiling as he gestured. "Now, please, Elke Becker, Larissa Carstensen, and Lothur Rittere up on stage to receive your Soul Bones."

    With those words, the entire arena shook in anticipation. Many there were eager to see the first Soul Bones of their lives, wondering how strong these students would be.

    Lothur was already a monster, so everyone imagined he would only be more extreme with this award.

    The three took the stage almost simultaneously, soon after seeing Luis summon three brilliant and beautiful Soul Bones from his spatial ring.

    ...

 Chapter 544 A New Soul Bone

    When the three shiny bones appeared before the three, Luis presented them to those youths. "To the winner of Sector 4, I have a Bronze-grade Demon Lord metacarpal Soul Bone."

    He indicated a white, blue, and red bone to Elke, which was quite small, but its size would not make anyone despise it.

    How good a Soul Bone was not rted to its size. The size of the bone was only rted to the part of the human body it could fit into.

    Elke knew this and was naturally pleased to receive this award.

    Then Luis presented Larissa with her prize. "To the winner of Sector 5, we have a Silver-grade Demon Lord skull Soul Bone."

    Larissa saw that green and yellow bone and promptly received it, a little regretfully, since the remaining bone with Luis was better than hers. In any case, she still didn''t have a skull Soul Bone, so she didn''t show much of her displeasure.

    "For the contest winner for Sector 6, we have a Silver-grade General demon rib Soul Bone." He showed a ck and gold bone, which was the entire right side of a human''s ribs.

    Lothur saw that and smiled, satisfied with the initial grading of something that wasn''t even a little difficult for him to get. "Hmm, thanks for that, hehe." He told Luis right after he picked that up and put away the Secret Realm medal.

    Each of the other winners of the Secret Realm slots was given a medal like Lothur''s, something they would need to enter the Secret Realm.

    As all the winners celebrated in their own way, Lothur looked at the characteristics of that bone.

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will rece the entire right side of the ribs. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones, with the ability over gravity. It also increases by 10% all physical characteristics and 20% all mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it.]

    ''Oh? That will be very useful for me, hehe.'' Lothur celebrated, extremely pleased.

    Anyway, with the handing over of those Soul Bones and the Secret Realm medals, the academy principal soon ended the event, reminding everyone in the stands that tomorrow''s sses would be back to normal.

    Before the three with Soul Bones left, he said. "You three,e with me. I will watch the surroundings while you absorb these bones."

    The three readily epted since absorbing Soul Bones without capable watchmen around was dangerous.

    At the same time, the principal of the Morning Star Academy always did this with the winners of hispetitions that gave this kind of prize. So none of the three would have any contrary thoughts about it.

    So, in the blink of an eye, the four of them went to a location in the center of the academy.

    ...

    The three youths didn''t talk much when they arrived at Luis'' training ce. They just stood apart from each other and sat on cultivation cushions.

    Luis stood watching them from afar while keeping part of his attention on the surroundings of that building to prevent strangers from approaching.

    As he did so, he saw the difference in how Lothur absorbed Soul Bonespared to the other two people there.

    ''Uh?'' Luis opened his mouth as he saw the Rib Soul Bone simply enter Lothur''s body as if there was no resistance on the part of the demon''s will to fall under that young man''s control.

    ''How is that possible? Is he so good that the demon surrendered to him without even wanting to test him?'' Luis wondered, ignorant of things that stronger beings, like the dinosaur Lothur encountered earlier, knew and could sense.

    Amid this, Lothur was in pain, feeling the natural pains of creating yet another part of his spirit body but trying hard not to show it since he was anxious to increase his powers.

    ...

    While Lothur, Elke, and Larissa absorbed their Soul Bones, Viktoria took Annaliese to her home, fearful that trouble would emerge if she took her to the Frost estate.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Unfortunately for her, when Annaliese fell onto thebat tform, someone from the Frost family realized something was wrong and ran to Mabel and Aiken.

    After hearing what had happened, they ran to Doctor Snee''s house and got that man to go after Annaliese together.

    After hearing that Viktoria had taken her to her own house, they went alongside Doctor Snee to Lothur''s house, where his wife had arrived with Annaliese just a few minutes ago.

    Pa! Pa!

    "Viktoria, open the door!" Mabel shouted, knowing she could not enter without being careful in Lothur''s estate since all kinds of formations and poisons were scattered around the surroundings.

    Viktoria was tending to her sister in one of the rooms of that estate when she heard her mother''s voice and immediately felt her spine creep up, considering what might happen.

    Gulp!

    ''What do I do?'' She wondered, but nothing came to her mind except letting her parents in to find out Annaliese''s situation.

    She was worried about her sister, so this was no time to lie and leave her parents in the dark!

    She soon went towards the front door of that residence to allow those people to enter.

    "Where is your sister? Why didn''t you go home?" Mabel asked as Doctor Snee ran ahead along with Aiken, heading toward the interior of that house.

    Viktoria answered briefly. "Anna is just tired, so I brought her here... She wanted to see Lothur after he absorbed the Soul Bone he won, so she didn''t want to go home."

    "Tsk! You need to think a little more about yourselves and less about him!" Mabel said before entering the room where her youngest daughter was lying down, quite nauseous from headache and colic.

    Doctor Snee was already checking Annaliese''s situation when he noticed something peculiar.

    ''Hmm? That...''

    ...

    As Doctor Snee discovered Annaliese''s pregnancy, Lothur felt a chill run down his spine as if some trouble was approaching him.

    But he tried to ignore that, going through the final part of absorbing that Soul Bone, which had practically finished forming another part of his spirit body.

    After a few moments...

    [Rib Soul Bone sessfully fused with the host.]

    Lothur saw the message from the system as he opened his eyes, feeling a little dizzy and his eyesight blurred.

    But then, a force surged within his being, pulling the spiritual energy in the area into his body. Finally, he opened his eyes and began to feel his strength returning.

    At the same time, his status appeared before him, showing how much his attributes had improved!

    He hadn''t changed his level or increased his talent rating. But with this Soul Bone, his attributes had jumped significantly, and now he had a new ability!

    ...

 Chapter 545 Improvements

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 197] [CON: 417.5] [DEX: 203.6] [AGI: 198.2]

    [INT: 135.6] [PER: 239.9] [WIL: 172.7]

    [EVF: 0]

    When he opened his eyes, Lothur saw his status as he clenched his fists, feeling his current powers.

    As he looked at his fists and felt that incredible sensation, it didn''t take him long to see the information regarding his third Soul Bone.

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 0%]

    ...

    [Gravity] [Rank: Silver]

    [Characteristics: ability rted to the user''s Will. With it, the user can manipte the surroundings up to 100 meters away from him, attracting or repelling things or even increasing or decreasing the effects of gravity within his domain.]

    ''Will-rted ability?'' Lothur frowned, not expecting something like this.

    He would much rather have his abilities be rted to his Constitution...

    But he was not disappointed, knowing that he had a considerably high Will and could increase it even more in the future.

    For now, the improvements in terms of attributes would be enough for him!

    ''Well, it''s not so bad...'' He figured, as he activated this skill for the first time, and watched a grate on one side of that cultivation room begin to spill over, as he manipted the gravity there with his mind.

    Luis had already expected Lothur''s ability to be one of this type, considering that Soul Bone had originated from a demon capable of controlling gravity.

    What impressed him was that Lothur absorbed that Soul Bone in half the time he expected, so fast that Elke and Larissa were still halfway through their absorptions.

    But even these two could be considered well above average regarding skills. So Lothur''s achievement was even more impressive!

    ''How is this possible? He absorbed that bone like it was nothing, as if the Soul Bone was already his before he started the whole process.'' Luis thought about this as he watched his associate stand up as he tested the new ability.

    Suddenly, Lothur made the gravity in his surroundings work so that his body slowly began to float in the air!

    "Hehe, that''s not so bad." Hemented aloud, reveling in floating for the first time.

    He couldn''t use that to fly since it would be tiring. But this had been a useful experiment for him to discover that he could lift his weight with this ability.

    ''I can probably influence gravity in the same way for several people at my level...'' He pondered before stopping ying and looking in Luis'' direction.

    Walking up to the academy director, Lothur said. "Principal, thank you for watching over me these few minutes...

    And this Soul Bone is really unique! How did you get it?"

    "It was from a former student..." Luis said, still looking with interest at Lothur. "Some academy students, even after leaving this ce, leave orders to their families that what was earned here will be returned when they die.

    A student who was here 50 years ago and won this bone died three years ago. Recently his family handed over these three bones that I used as the prize for thispetition."

    That was not an umon tradition in this world. Many individuals left their wishes to be fulfilled after their deaths.

    Usually, the wishes were fulfilled because they only entrusted theirst wishes to peoplemitted to fulfilling the promises through Blood Contracts.

    Even if those three bones were precious, someone had still delivered them to this academy!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "So that was it..." Lothur understood a little more about the cultivation world.

    But he did not intend to make any promises. So after exchanging a few words with Luis, he continued waiting for Elke.

    Elke had a higher Constitution than Larissa''s, while her Soul power was lower, but not that much. Adding these two attributes together, she would have an advantage over the leader of the Angelic Feathers. Because of this, her absorption of the Soul Bone would be faster than that of Lothur''s associate!

    After only 40 minutes since Lothur finished his absorption, Elke opened her eyes, showing signs of a breakthrough!

    Lothur immediately looked at her status.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 13 -> 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 71.4] [CON: 293] [DEX: 74.6] AGI:75.6] [SOU: ???]

    As impurities left Elke''s body, Lothur and Luis could see the genuine smile on her face, revealing how amazing she was feeling at the moment.

    But in a few moments, she would show off her new ability, one capable of manipting liquids at will, something associated with her Soul power.

    When she activated it, all the impurities leaving her pores stopped contacting her body, flying toward one of her hands but not touching it.

    In a few moments, all her impurities gathered into a dark ball below her right palm, which smelled terrible but wasn''t spreading, given Elke''s control.

    But this was not simply a useful cleaning skill. If Elke wanted to, she could use this ball of impurity to shoot projectiles capable of hurting level 15 cultivators!

    Luis knew this better than Lothur, so he was naturally more impressed to see this skill in action again.

    Meanwhile, Elke looked at Lothur and smiled, feeling like hugging him. But first, she used her energies to destroy that ball of impurities before she approached him.

    Then, as she exined her ability to her man and heard from him about his own, Larissa finished absorbing her Soul Bone.

    [Name: Larissa Carstensen]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 11]

    [STR: 80.3] [CON: 84.8] [DEX: 82.7] [AGI: 83.5] [SOU: ???]

    Lothur saw that woman''s status but could not feel for sure how much she had improved due to his inability to see the mental attributes.

    At the same time, unlike him and Elke, Larissa would not demonstrate her new ability after she finished absorbing her Soul Bone.

    Before leaving, she would merely thank Luis and say goodbye to Lothur and Elke.

    Lothur and Elke were not bothered by this and soon after left, heading towards his house to see Annaliese''s situation and show their improvements to the rest of his family.

    ...

    Meanwhile, the transport serviceunched earlier in the day had already fallen to the likes of the local poption!

    After the service wasunched this morning, with young Ritter''s associates inaugurating the minibusses around Peters City, thousands of people had already passed through the central station.

    There, they learned about the peculiarities of this service, with many people already buying formations that could cheapen the use of this service.

    At the same time, already in the afternoon of this day, Lothur''s minibusses were running almost constantly at full capacity.

    At first, only cultivators rode them to experience an autonomous animal-powered vehicle. But gradually, even mortals began trying this service that would soon change the local reality!

    But Lothur would only find this out after a night of headaches...

 Chapter 546 Im Going To Kill You

    Heading to his estate alongside Elke, Lothur parked his red SUV in front of his house a few minutes after leaving the academy.

    However, when he and Elke got out of that car, they soon lost their smiling expressions as they felt Mabel''s aura and her shouting at Annaliese.

    "What have you done, Annaliese?!" Mabel''s voice reached Lothur and Elke''s ears, making this redhead shiver and retreat a few steps in fear.

    Lothur frowned, promptly using his visual ability to see through his property''s walls and notice the problem.

    Doctor Snee was standing next to Viktoria and Annaliese in the room where Mabel and Aiken were red with anger, with this woman shouting all sorts of things at her youngest daughter.

    So it was pretty obvious that the problem of it all was Annaliese''s pregnancy!

    "Elke, go to your family home. I must solve some problems with Viktoria and Annaliese''s family." He said to her, feeling it was better to have as few people as possible in that ce.

    Elke had no rtion to the problem at hand, so it was best he sent her home to avoid her suffering any consequences of the problem within that residence.

    "That..." She looked at him, wanting to stay to celebrate with him. But noticing the seriousness on Lothur''s face, Elke clenched her fists and reluctantly epted.

    "Then good luck... The Frost matriarch seems pretty angry. I hope she doesn''t cross the line." She said to him before hugging him and kissing his cheek.

    "Hmmmm."

    "Good luck."

    After those words, Elke quickly moved toward her home while Lothur stood outside that residence for a few moments, preparing himself to face the problem.

    No one could sense his aura, so even though he was there, Mabel did not notice his presence as she sermonized Annaliese and Viktoria to listen.

    ''Sigh... Time to face that viper.'' Lothur sighed before heading towards the interior of his house.

    ...

    Inside the room where Viktoria had brought her sister, Annaliese was at this moment pale, with tears on her face as she listened to her mother talking about all sorts of things.

    Mabel was disappointed to find out that Annaliese had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. No, hell, this girl had gotten pregnant outside of even an engagement!

    To make matters worse, she was hiding the identity of the dirty man who had done this to her, even though her parents were demanding an answer.

    So even the normally calm Aiken was upset, filled with bitterness that his youngest daughter had done something so wrong.

    "How could you do that, Anna?" He asked in a lower tone than his wife but speaking loud enough for his voice to reach the neighboring houses.

    Doctor Snee stood in the corner of that room with an ugly expression, not wanting to remain in the middle of a family argument but with no option to leave since Annaliese needed his assistance.

    On the other hand, Viktoria was pale and embarrassed as her parents alsomented negatively about her hiding things from them.

    Amid this, Lothur entered that room, slightly startling Mabel and Aiken, who did not notice his arrival for obvious reasons.

    "Hmm, good evening, everyone," Lothur said. At the same time, he had a bitter smile on his handsome face, walking past Mabel and Aiken but without looking those two in the eye.

    He sat down next to Annaliese, and those two looked at him, saying nothing for the first time in thest 15 minutes.

    "Lothur, do you know what is going on with Annaliese?" Aiken was the first to speak after the momentary silence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Doctor Snee looked at Lothur and frowned, noticing how this man had sat next to Annaliese. ''It can''t be...''

    Gulp!

    While that doctor was suspicious of the situation, Lothur went straight to the point to try to resolve this without further ado. "Yes... To tell you the truth, father-inw, I am to me for what is happening to Annaliese."

    "What, but how would that be possible?" Without thinking much about it, Aiken asked, trying to understand how Lothur could be guilty of something...

    But Mabel was no longer expecting anything good from her son-inw and promptly realized the meaning of Lothur''s words. "What did you say?" She cried.

    "Anna and I have known each other for some time now... This baby she is expecting is mine."

    Aiken turned pale white at hearing such words, while Mabel turned even redder, clenching her fists so hard that the sounds of her bones cracking could be heard throughout the room.

    Annaliese looked at Lothur, embarrassed, while Viktoria looked away, also not feeling well about the situation.

    Only Doctor Snee was not showing his feelings out of control, watching everything with interest in this family drama.

    "What did you say, you bastard?" Mabel shouted, taking slow steps toward him.

    Aiken then said. "Lothur, this is no time for you to make bad jokes! This is impossible! Annaliese would never do that, would you, daughter?"

    "That..." Annaliese turned her face away from her father.

    Mabel was already confident that Lothur was the child''s father and shouted at him before attacking him. "I''ll kill you, you bastard!"

    Lothur saw that woman punching toward his face and promptly activated the Space Belt, jumping to a position farther away from that woman.

    Mabel was not like the two individuals he had defeated. Besides being a bit stronger in terms of Soul strength, this woman would give him no chance to hit her with his Laser Sight while she was defenseless.

    With her powers active, she could easily defend herself against him and still press him!

    Lothur was aware of all this and wanted to avoid being in the range of his violent mother-inw!

    "You are going to kill the father of your future grandchild? Are you crazy?" Lothur said, already noticing that woman changing her movements to move toward his new position.

    "You deserve to die for not only defiling one of my daughters but doing this to both of them!" She said this, furious.

    Amidst his attacks and temporary escapes from Lothur, Aiken was very disappointed. Still, as the leader of a decaying family that needed the help of the Ritter Motor Company, he had no choice but to put his ego aside.

    He then moved toward Lothur and Mabel as those two were already fighting outside the young Ritter''s estate.

    "Honey, let''s talk the matter over calmly!" He shouted, trying to help Lothur at least escape the worst in front of that angry woman.

    "Aiken, how dare you to have the audacity to side with that little imp?" She brandished, still trying to reach that silver-haired fellow.

    "We need Lothur. You can''t kill him, Mabel!" Aiken shouted, feeling bad but sure that he had to defend his family''s interests before his own pride.

    With those words, he attracted some of his wife''s attention.

    ...

 Chapter 547 Tense Resolution

    ?

    "Are you saying that for you, all this is okay? That bastard took away the purity of our two daughters! He even got that fool pregnant!" Mabel said in an irritated tone as Lothur turned away from her using his new ability.

    He activated his gravitational control and pushed her body away from him. At the same time, he took advantage of Mabel''s momentary distraction to grab the Elemental Staff from its spatial ring.

    Mabel saw all this and made an even uglier expression than before, seeing that Lothur was challenging her.

    "Honey, let''s talk the matter over. Lothur is the leader of the Ritter Motor Company and the hope of the family. We can''t just throw it all away because of that! It would be like giving up everything without good enough reasons!" Aiken shouted, taking the rational side of this matter.

    Lothur then said, angry as well. "If you keep attacking me, I will strike back from now on!"

    For Lothur, it would be good for him to take a beating from Mabel and improve all his physical characteristics. But his pride would prevent him from simply epting to be beaten again by this woman.

    Instead, he would stop Mabel and even threaten her with his skills and equipment rather than keep quiet and ept the beating he deserved.

    Aiken knew Lothur was much stronger than ordinary people using his weapons and skills, so naturally, he didn''t want his son-inw to fight with his wife. "Mabel, stop it immediately! Are you trying to disgrace the image of the entire Frost family? Let''s settle this inside the house!" He shouted.

    Mabel continued to use her strength to counter gravity, trying to push her further away than she already had, pressing her teeth against each other, filled with hatred.

    More than a dozen people were already on the outskirts of Lothur''s house watching this, including Ice, who was enjoying the movements of those two.

    This beast knew that human Transcendents were much stronger than beasts at this stage, so the mere fact that Lothur had beaten such beings in the Three Great Lakes Region did not guarantee his victory here.

    Ice wanted to see young Ritter''s current abilities and how exciting a fight against that Transcendent would be.

    Unfortunately, Aiken was in the way of this white creature''s interests, following everything from the backyard of Lothur''s house.

    ''Tsk! Those humans are too peaceful.'' It thought to herself, putting its head down to go back to sleep as it realized Mabel was lessening her fighting intent.

    Lothur''s neighbors also sighed in disappointment, including some observers from this ce, members of enemy forces who kept some surveince ''away'' from him.

    They all wanted to see a fight happen, and those who hated him wanted Mabel and Lothur to kill each other.

    But for them, the voice of reason spoke louder, ending this conflict before it became destructive.

    Mabel, Lothur, and Aiken returned to that estate. At the same time, Annaliese, Viktoria, and Doctor Snee were still in the same room as before, worried.

    As they entered that estate, Mabel began discussing the matter aloud. "You bastard, what do you intend to do to make up for the humiliation of our family? Now that the damage is done, my daughter will have her reputation ruined, and no one else will want to marry her!"

    "Why would Annaliese marry someone else? Of course, she will be my wife!" Lothur said, instigating that woman''s hatred.

    "You wretch... That''s all you wanted, right? You want to ruin our family''s reputation, bring us to our knees and be our ''savior'', while we lose the entire history of our home!" Mabel shouted furiously, seeing Lothur''s ''plots.''

    "You really do have a poisonous tongue, viper!" Lothur snarled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He didn''t like Mabel at all, and hearing these unfounded usations against him, he couldn''t help but get angry.

    Lothur had left the family because of this woman and wanted no rtions with them. He was only helping the Frost family because of Viktoria and Annaliese since he himself didn''t care about the downfall of that house.

    "Bastard! It looks like you''ve learned how to respond after a few months out of the family, huh? Do you think you''re big enough to challenge me now?" She walked toward him, wanting to p Lothur in the face.

    Aiken intervened once again and said. "Mabel, let''s try to discuss the matter here, shall we? Lothur did what he did and is willing to take responsibility. That''s good."

    He then looked at Lothur. "But you acted behind our backs and did things you shouldn''t have with your own sister-inw... That needs to be repaired!"

    Annaliese and Viktoria were already in the room where the three were discussing. At the same time, Doctor Snee listened to everything from the side, feeling great tension just by being there.

    "Annaliese is a grown woman, father-inw. She can make her own decisions, and nothing can bemented on about that." Lothur didn''t like what he was hearing, as if he had to pay for something for simply being with his sister-inw. "Viktoria is the only one who has to like or dislike something here, but she has already epted everything. So we have nothing to talk about in this regard."

    "What are you saying? Aren''t you going topensate the family for this great shame, Lothur? You are letting me down like this!

    You know that all the family has at the moment is a name. Yet you throw it in the mud and don''t intend to do anything to make amends for it?" Aiken said as his wife watched her son-inw hatefully.

    "It is no shame to the family that the two sisters share the same man. On the contrary, it is a great honor!" Lothur said seriously. "I am not someone who has no right to do that. And if anyone says anything, let''s cut off whatever heads need to be cut off.

    I don''t owe anyone in this city anything.

    And if anyone dares to spread rumors against my family, only the end awaits them!" Lothur shouted loud enough for his neighbors to hear him.

    "What do you intend to do topensate for this situation?" Mabel insisted.

    "I am going to marry Annaliese and bring her into my home. That''s all I have to do." He replied, not wanting to give these people anything, as his wife was not an object he needed to pay to take ownership...

    "You bastard!" Mabel shouted, but this time she didn''t try to attack him. She just looked at him hatefully, showing in her gaze that all herments about him were right.

    She might have been wrong about Lothur''s talent, but his personality was just as dirty as she thought!

    Aiken didn''t like this at all, but considering the current situation at the Ritter Motor Company, he put the matter aside after some effort.

    With that settled, the two departed that estate after some time, leaving Annaliese and Viktoria with Lothur.

    As for Doctor Snee, this man left after hearing from Lothur that he would take care of Annaliese''s situation.

    That way, Lothur finally had a chance to sigh and reunite with those two women to tell them about his improvements after absorbing his new Soul Bone.

 Chapter 548 Trucks

    ?

    One weekter...

    After Mabel and Aiken''s quarrel with Lothur, the days passed without any big news in Peters City.

    Their allied powers had not talked about the rumor of Lothur and Mabel''s quarrel that had spread locally. Still, even the enemy powers of this young man were not badmouthing Annaliese around this city.

    All that was circting was that, for some internal reason, the Frost family leadership and Lothur had had a heated argument in the vicinity of young Ritter''s estate.

    In any case, the daily increase of vehicles from the local transportpany, the deliveries of the first cars ordered, and some projects rted to the Ritter Motor Company were attracting more attention from the local poption than these rumors.

    After these days since theunch of Lothur''s transportpany, seven more minibusses had joined the fleet running around Peters City.

    The demand for this service had grown exponentially in the days that had passed, with practically every vehicle from thispany running around Peters City at full capacity.

    Many citizens had adopted this transport option after learning about the service for the first time, thousands having already purchased tickets capable of giving two trips for the price of one.

    Because of this, the Lothur station had already collected over 100,000 bronze coins in thest few days, just from people who had deposited their coins in these tickets, the formations that the young Ritter had presented to his partners.

    At the same time, the minibusses collected more than 150,000 bronze coins in the normal mode.

    But as ordinary citizens began to spend less time moving around the city and picking up the habit of riding the minibusses, the first cars were finally delivered.

    The men of the Ritter Motor Company had been striving to increase the rate of car production these past few days, with fewer people developing vehicles and more assembling the ones alreadyunched.

    Because of this, production of those four car models, which should have been only 28 units in those seven days, reached the 83-unit mark, plus the eight vehicles made earlier this week.

    So, in addition to the 11 cars from the Ritter Motor Company partners, 91 more units were already circting the streets of Peters City!

    On this day, 114 vehicles were already circting the streets of Peters City, enough for even people from outside of Peters City, who normallye there to visit or do business, to find out about the cars.

    These people would be the ones to spread the rumors of independent animal power vehicles outside of Linn Province soon, which would boost Lothur''spany.

    But for now, these vehicles were responsible for a revolution in Peters City, as this ce was being transformed to suit these vehicles.

    Due to the needs and facilities of the cars and minibusses, everyone in this city now wanted their streets changed by the Lothur pavingpany.

    With this, construction work was spreading throughout this city, with families and the local government itself paying for thispany to make the necessary adjustments.

    At the same time, the previously unemployed mortals in this city no longer existed. All the mortals avable for hire without Lothur having to steal employees from other businesses were now working for him in some way.

    Most were providing services for the pavingpany, which was not only renovating the local streets but creating the province''s first roads.

    Buses were already being developed to start intercity operations in theing months. Thus, the development of the local roads was developing at a rapid pace.

    Amid all this, the local driver training school had begun operations, charging a thousand bronze coins for the course required to learn to drive the cars.

    Thousands of people had already enrolled in this institution, where they could learn to drive their own cars.

    All one would need to do would be to notify the instructor of the day their car would be delivered, and the lesson would be applied immediately.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Cultivators could learn this quickly, but mortals would first have to study for a few weeks at the driver training school before they could touch thatpany''s own car.

    Anyway, the Ritter motorpany''s operations had been developing for theunch of their following product, material transport trucks.

    Lothur had nned three types of vehicles for logistics operations. One was arger, bus-sized version that could be used for intercity trips with higher cargo volume. The other would be the size of a minibus for trips between cities, but also internally, with a little less load but still with significant capacity. Finally, the third vehicle would be the size of a pick-up truck, useful for small deliveries within cities.

    These three vehicles only needed to be adapted from their alternative versions. Therefore two of them were alreadyunched today, while only therger version of the trucks would have to wait longer to beunched.

    ...

    [Van: 129,999 bronze coins]

    [Small Truck: 159.999 bronze coins]

    The Ritter Motor Company store customers came across the two new models being sold.

    Some of the new vehicles produced by the Ritter Motor Company were already driving around the city this morning, recing the traditional carriages of the Frost and Becker families, the chosen ones.

    Each of these two families had obtained a model of each of these new vehicles and was already using them to transport resources within Peters City.

    These two families worked in various sectors of the local economy, in particr mining. So both had materials to be delivered around the city and used these vehicles from the beginning of the day to participate in their deliveries.

    Many citizens had already seen these models and sought information concerning these great vehicles.

    Just such a group of people interested in the second of these vehicles were evaluating the small truck at this moment.

    "Wow! 160,000 bronze coins is no small thing but huge!"

    "Yeah, check this out. Its cab is 2.5 meters high! It must be amazing to drive one of them." Someone who had experienced driving cars said this, full of expectation.

    "It''s more expensive than a wagon, but from what I''ve heard, it can carry twice as many resources and much faster."

    "Plus, it has this amazing design..."

    Several people crowded around to see the two new vehicles, with some local nobles already cing their orders, not epting to be left behind in local progress.

    Soon independent animal-powered vehicles would dominate this province. So everyone wanted to get their models as soon as possible so as not to be left behind in the race for development.

    Because of this, more than 100 vehicles, counting the two typesunched on this day, were ordered in the first part of the day.

    Amidst the orders and constant inflow of coins at the Ritter Motor Company store, a customer asked one of the employees.

    "I heard from Lothur once that he would produce vehicles to help farmers on the ntation... Can you tell me if this will happen?" A woman this young man had met in Lewerenz asked, surprising that employee.

    "About that..."

 Chapter 549 Secret Project

    ?

    "About that, the Ritter Motor Company is developing farming machine models. But they differ greatly from cars, buses, and trucks. So it will take some time before they areunched." The attendant answered, drawing the attention of other customers shopping there.

    "Farming machine?" A local nobleman became interested, "What''s that about?"

    The young woman from Lewerenz answered in ce of that store attendant. "These machines are simr items to the Ritter Motor Company vehicles but will be useful in nting and harvesting. ording to Lothur, they could make farming much easier, increasing the area nted and the families'' returns."

    "Oh? That sounds promising!"

    "Yes, that would revolutionize farming throughout Leopoldine! With machines like that, I''m afraid we could greatly increase the number of acres nted, using the number of people we currently have!"

    "Girl, isn''t it possible for me to ce my order for the agricultural machines already?" An old individual there to buy cars asked, interested in putting his name first on the waiting list.

    Other people there showed interest in doing the same since virtually every family in Linn Province had some involvement in the farming business.

    "Unfortunately, we can''t make reservations for a vehicle we don''t even have information about yet..." That womanmented as more and more customers started talking about it.

    Such was themotion of these people that one of the store managers had toe out of his office to exin to the customers.

    "Dear customers of the Ritter Motor Company, don''t worry. We will have more detailed information about the farm machinery in 1 month. At that time, we will have a probable date for theunch of these vehicles." A middle-aged man said.

    The customers shopping there were not happy to hear such a thing, but with no alternative, they could only conform and continue to buy their cars or trucks.

    ...

    Mid-afternoon...

    Lothur had left the academy to go and settle some matters rted to his recent ventures.

    First, he stopped by the Becker family headquarters. He received some coin pouches totaling 1 million bronze coins, the first result of the sales of his special gloves.

    After this, he bought some materials for his routine training and production of pills, potions, and some poison mixtures.

    Then he stopped by the factory of the Ritter Motor Company to check the progress of his personnel in the production of vehicles and the development of new products. Currently, the production of cars is increasing little by little. In the next five days, Lothur expected his factory to reach the daily mark of 15 cars, 2 minibusses, and 2 trucks.

    As for farming machines, they were being developed, but the progress of Lothur''s staff was at less than 10% on those projects he had designed.

    Only the developments of the bus and therger truck were to be finished in a short time, as they were already more than 70% progressed.

    Lothur then moved on to hispany''s second factory. This ce was still being built, but construction was advanced, and the people who would work there were already being trained at the first factory.

    When this second location was ready, Lothur''s group could quickly begin vehicle production at this second location!

    After settling these less problematic matters, Lothur went to the Koch family headquarters, where he had something relevant to do now.

    ...

    "Mister Ritter, the patriarch is waiting for you this way." A guard said to Lothur as he directed him through the interior of the Koch family estate.

    Lothur quietly followed that man, saying nothing as he was there for one of his most important ns that were in progress.

    He continued his way through the basement of that area, reaching the top level of the Koch family headquarters, a cepletely made on his orders for something revolutionary in this world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    About 100 meters below ground level was ample space, about 500 square meters, with low general lighting, so the ce seemed to be in shadow.

    There wererge formations in the ceiling that kept the venttion there adequate for humans to stay indefinitely, all piping for the water troughs and the bathrooms.

    There were eight bathrooms in the surroundings of thisrge square space, which was mostly subdivided into 400 small 1-meter-squarepartments and a few corridors.

    In each of these 1-meter-squarepartments was a table, a chair, and the necessary formations for the operation that would develop to its full potential in this ce in the future.

    Lothur walked through this area, observing the realization of his interests as he followed the level 14 man guiding him.

    He finally arrived at where the Koch patriarch and some of the men of this family were working at this very moment.

    [Car 45, Becker family: hello, patriarch, we have a problem with the store selling gloves in Lewerenz]

    [Car 09, Gomeric Becker: send a group to Lewerenz...]

    [Car 99, August Klossner: ask the Hond Province coroner''s group for equipment...]

    [Car 102, Chris Waldeaur: send people to the Baier family and make it clear that we are severing rtions with those bastards...]

    Several voices emerged from around the side cabins where Lothur had just stopped, near where the Koch patriarch stood, waiting for him.

    "Lothur, I learned about theunch of the trucks.... It looks like these vehicles will be sessful as well." Patriarch Koch said, smiling.

    "Yes, it is as expected." Lothur greeted that man before going straight to the subject of his visit. "So, how is the development of our spywork?"

    With the release of vehicles withmunication formations and useful transmitters to increase the range of such items, Lothur would not waste the opportunity at hand.

    He had promptly made a deal with the Koch family weeks ago without telling any other allies, initiating the n to spy on the local leaders.

    The Koch family specialized in doing things like this, so Lothur had chosen these people to help him develop these operations that could give him ess to crucial information.

    On the other hand, the Koch family loved the possibility of starting this initiative, with their patriarch and members readily agreeing to sign Blood Contracts with Lothur ording to his demands.

    Because of this, this family built this ce and began to spy on the first individuals to receive their vehicles.

    The Koch patriarch then said. "So far, we haven''t had any problems. We haven''t heard anything worrisome either...

    But I must say, your idea was genius.

    With the poprization of cars, it won''t be long before we have relevant information from every family in the province and maybe even the empire!"

    Information was worth gold, and whoever had it usually held the reins of the situation, usually being the dominant power.

    By agreeing to subordinate themselves to Lothur, this family had chosen to be the power holder within this state, something that could easily prevent or cause revolutions if they so chose!

    Lothur knew the potential of this and smiled. "No wonder I am selling my cars even to my enemies..."

 Chapter 550 The Secret Behind Lothurs Espionage

    ?

    Lothur nned to facilitatemunications throughout this province and even the continent by having formations in each of his cars.

    The day wille when every human city will have cars. From this day forward, the Ritter Motor Company would controlmunications for the entire continent, as everyone would want to use this handymunication option.

    There were no long-range means ofmunication in Concordia. Because of this, even high-level cultivators had to move and send representatives or letters tomunicate with people at a distance.

    But not only was the Ritter Motor Company offering to create a massivework, but it would also make it possible for ordinarymunication formations to integrate thework of its cars.

    A person with amunication crystal could connect that item to the formation responsible for transmitting and receiving signals in their car with their mobile item. Through this, even if this person was not in their car, they could still use themunication system created by Lothur''swork.

    And with this, Lothur was practically forcing the people of this world to use his system, which he had designed to continuously send messages to the destination and the intelligence and espionage center of his forces.

    Lothur nned to watch all influential people, potential troublemakers for him and his allies. Through this, he intended to achieve dominance over those around him to the point where he would finally have peace.

    Once he was aware of everything, no one could surprise him, and everyone could genuinely fear him. At that time, his peace could be achieved!

    The Koch family knew what Lothur wanted, and for the moment, they were just keeping an eye on the few customers who had already received vehicles from the Ritter Motor Company.

    There were still many more cars to be produced before this medium became popr, so there was not much work for this organization.

    Also, because of this, they were paying close attention even to the conversations of their allies.

    However, since they started this monitoring service only two days ago, nothing has turned up so far. But even if it had, Lothur had already made it clear that these people should try to solve minor problems on their own by warning or acting against an opponent.

    He should only be alerted if one of these problems was big enough to destroy his peace.

    Anyway, such work might be against partners'' ethics, but Lothur didn''t give a damn. Spy work had to be done against even allies because those, too, could make mistakes and cause problems.

    Less unintentionally, an ally could make a slip that allowed an enemy. In this case, keeping watch even against allies could prevent big trouble!

    One of the men watching themunications then asked Lothur. "Senior Ritter, how do we prevent people from discovering this possibility? I mean, eventually, powerful experts from the empire or even the continent will have their own cars. At that time, someone might find out."

    "That''s impossible," Lothur said. "The information transmission system in my vehicles''munication formations is the kind that sends information to specificponents. So each formation has a particrity that makes it unique and unmistakable.

    However, mymunication system is not as simple as sending something to a single destination connected to a number. Instead, it emits waves that can reach anywhere within the area withwork ess. However, only devicespatible with this signal can receive the message.

    The device to which the person is sending a message has the receiver capable of deciphering the message, while most others cannot.

    Therefore others are unable to receive the message.

    But the devices in this post are different from all the others. They can read messages sent to any device.

    It''s as if there are only ordinary devices outside of here, and every device inside this intelligence center is a universal type."

    Lothur paused for a moment to breathe and finished. "The point is, as long as one of these specialists doesn''t get in here, people can''t suspect this because only our devices have anything to indicate our guilt."

    "So that''s how it is... That''s quite ingenious." The Koch patriarch said, surprised at Lothur''s ability to develop things that did not exist in this world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The man who asked the previous question sighed in relief, feeling that their risks would be less if that were true.

    Lothur sighed and said. "Anyway, these formations also have destruction inscriptions to avoid people watching my codes...

    Are there any other questions?"

    "That''s all for now." The Koch patriarch said with a smile before shaking one of Lothur''s hands and directing him to the exit.

    Lothur said goodbye to those people and soon departed, leaving the Koch family headquarters, this crucial ce, but one that only he and a few people knew about.

    Not even his women were aware of his espionage ns!

    Amid his departure, leaving that estate in his red SUV, Lothur thought. ''This is not only for my peace, for the possibility of me living away from the focus, but also for the greater good.''

    He remembered the visions he had already had, the voice telling him to move faster or he would regret it bitterly in the future.

    This spying could help him a lot regarding things rted to the system, the Lost Tree, and the purpose of the system, which he was still not sure about.

    ...

    Two dayster...

    While the Linn Province was experiencing the rise of cars, news about the independent animal-powered vehicles appearing in Peters City had already reached other provinces in Leopoldine.

    In one of the province''s neighbors, where Lothur lived, the talk of the moment was of such carriages, carriages without animals or beasts, already circting in Peters City.

    In the Engl Province, thergest city in the area, just over 700 kilometers away from Peters City, was one of the localities where the subject had already reached practically all of its inhabitants.

    From the young to the old, from mortals to cultivators, from the poor to the rich, women and men of this city had heard about the infamous car.

    That was the most talked about in the local streets, where people mored that it was just a rumor, but many discussed how long it would take for the cars to reach this ce.

    But the richest and most powerful in the city were already aware that the rumors were not unfounded, and those independent animal-powered vehicles had finally been developed!

    That news hade two days ago, and today, the Duke of the Province was standing next to a local merchant who had recently passed through Peters City.

    "... I''m telling you, Duke, cars are the most amazing things you can imagine!" A middle-aged, fat, bearded man said, smiling in delight as he imagined that he would receive his three pick-ups in no more than a month. "I have already ordered some cars from the Ritter Motor Company, and I advise the Duke to send someone to Linn Province as soon as possible.

    I hear that special cargo vehicles will beunched and revolutionize our state''smodity trading families!"

    The Duke of Engl Province frowned as he heard that.

    If everything this man was saying was true, then he could lose a lot of resources if he wasn''t quick enough!

    "If you are serious, I must go to Peters City immediately!"

 Chapter 551 Visitors

    ?

    Two dayster...

    On Sunday morning Peters City dawned in a somewhat different mood than usual.

    That was not only because it was the eve of the opening of the Linn Province Secret Realm, an event that naturally brought experts from all over the province and even some individuals from the capital to this city. Something else had suddenly brought many more people than one would generally see to the opening of the Secret Realms.

    The Secret Realm was something vital that existed in some Leopoldine provinces, and even powers from outside a province would show interest in these ces from other areas of the empire.

    Hence, it was natural that people from different parts of Leopoldine would have some interest in the matter.

    However, as important as it was, opening a Secret Realm was a recurring event that could be followed several times during an expert''s lifetime. So many people just sought information about who entered and who left these ces without closely following the event''s progress.

    Therefore, the Peters City guards soon realized early in the morning that something was up, as more specialists and people from unexpected ces were entering the city.

    This morning, carriages from various cities of nearby provinces of Linn Province arrived in this city at dawn. In them, most of the passengers were high-level Spiritual Warriors, but there were even Transcendents in some of them!

    That was not at allmon, and soon men were knocking on the door of the Duke of the Province, bringing urgent news.

    ...

    In front of Lothur''s house, a Koch family car had just parked there.

    Pa! Pa!

    "Senior Lothur, we have urgent information!" The man who had just climbed down from a ck SUV shouted, bringing information about the arrival of specialists from outside the province this morning in Peters City.

    Lothur looked at his status as hey next to Viktoria before getting up to attend to that person.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 197 -> 208.5]

    [CON: 417.5 -> 421.3]

    [DEX: 203.6 -> 214.2]

    [AGI: 198.2 -> 209.1]

    [INT: 135.6]

    [PER: 239.9]

    [WIL: 172.7 -> 179]

    [EVF: 0]

    He opened the auxiliary gate of his garage and asked. "What is it? Why are you at my house so early?"

    "Senior Lothur, people from various parts of the empire are arriving in our city." That level 14 man said in an agitated tone. "More people than we expected for the opening of the Secret Realm are arriving... We fear something is about to happen."

    Lothur frowned, not expecting something like this early in the morning. "Come in."

    He and that man went inside his house, where Annaliese was still asleep in her room. Still, Viktoria was already up to see what the situation was.

    "What is it?"

    The elder looked at Lothur to see if he could say things rted to espionage in front of that woman.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But since that was just information, Lothur saw no problem and nodded positively for this man to speak.

    He said. "At least twice as many experts as expected for the Secret Realm are already in the city. Among them, Transcendents and two Dukes of Provinces have already been seen among the new arrivals!"

    "What? How is that possible?" Viktoria eximed. "At other times, only a few Transcendents from the imperial family woulde for the opening of the Secret Realm!

    Other than them, only Spiritual Warriors apanying youths who are going to enter the Secret Realm woulde to Peters City!

    Then howe even Dukes are here?"

    That man said. "I don''t know. We only know about their arrival." He looked at Lothur, indicating that they didn''t know anything because these neers didn''t have cars, and the car owners didn''t know anything yet.

    Lothur understood that many things limited him from being able to know everything at all times and said, indicating something he knew this man would understand right. "I think you guys should see the Duke of the Province. He will probably find out what is happening quickly."

    ''He wants us to pay attention to the Duke? He and his people will probably say something using themunication formations in their cars...''

    "In any case, let all our allies know, so they''ll be on alert. Tomorrow I will leave for the Secret Realm, so you will be without my help for the next few days...

    You''d better get ready for trouble." Lothur said, thinking about the week ahead.

    The Secret Realmsted a week. That was the time it took between the opening of the entrance to this ce and the closing of it.

    Anyone who entered there could leave within that period, but Lothur intended to stay as long as possible.

    However, beyond that week, one would be stuck in that region of space until it opened up again several years in the future. Therefore, no one entering there would n to stay longer than necessary since the ce itself was pretty dangerous.

    That man understood Lothur''s orders and promptly left to settle these matters.

    Lothur looked at Viktoria and sighed, "Trouble is on the way. I can feel it."

    "What are we going to do?" She asked. "We will enter the Secret Realm tomorrow morning... Annaliese and our allies will have to handle our affairs while they will be without our support."

    "Don''t worry. Even in my absence, my allies will not be helpless." Lothur smiled at her before picking her up on hisp and running back to his room.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Duke of the Province''s house...

    Men from the Waldeaur family guard were already at Chris'' door when Lothur had just heard the news from a member of the Koch family.

    This man had just woken up and had a sleepy expression, something that even Transcendents could have.

    "What''s the matter with you people? Is there a problem?" He asked after opening the door for his guards and going back inside the house, heading for the kitchen.

    "Duke, several patriarchs from out-of-province families passed through the city''s entry posts minutes ago. Among them, two Dukes from the empire have also arrived." One of the men said.

    The othermented. "But they did not arrive with the envoys from the capital and the escorts of the youths with vacancies for the Secret Realm."

    "What?" Chris looked back in surprise, finding it strange that fellows hade to his territory without warning him of anything.

    It had been over 50 years since he hadst seen another Duke, and on that asion, they were all in Leopoldine''s capital. Thinking about how repeating this was, this man lost his sleepy expression and said. "Take me to these people. I want to know what brings them to my city!"

    But the Duke wouldn''t even have to go far to find out what was happening.

    As he dressed and left the house, before he even got into his car, two luxurious carriages pulled up in front of his estate, with two Transcendents descending from their vehicles to watch open-mouthed in his direction.

    "Is that such a so-called car?" One asked aloud, seeing the first vehicle independent of animal power he had ever witnessed!

    ...

 Chapter 552 Experts Interested In Cars

    ?

    When Chris saw those two Dukes looking at his beautiful car, impressed, he stopped momentarily, thinking of a possibility.

    ''These people didn''te here for the Ritter Motor Company cars, did they?'' His eyes narrowed.

    "Chris, is that what''s called a car? The so-called independent animal-powered carriage?" One of the two Transcendents asked as he walked toward the Duke of Linn Province''s pick-up.

    He and his group had arrived in Peters City a few minutes ago. But so far, they had not seen any cars running in that city since it was very early.

    The sun had just risen over the local horizon, and only a few individuals were on the streets, none of them car owners.

    Even the few cars circting in Peters City now were on the city''s inner streets, away from the busy avenues where carriages from outside usually pass.

    The minibusses of the local transportpany were inside the central station at the time of these people''s arrival. So Chris''s car was the first one they had seen!

    Chris and some of his men looked momentarily at those people admiring the pick-up as if it were an otherworldly object.

    Then this man said. "Yes, that is one of the model cars the Ritter Motor Company sold... But leaving that aside, Marius, Leonard, what are you doing here? Why did youe to my city without telling me first?"

    Marius, a level 16 man with ck hair and a bulging mustache, said, still looking at the car. "Chris, how can you say something like that? That way, it even sounds like we are not wee in Linn Province..."

    "Yes, it is a great disregard." The other man, also level 16, blond and without a beard or mustache,mented. "Can''t wee to your city unannounced?"

    "I''d rather not." Chris was short and blunt. "Why would you peoplee here on the eve of the opening of the Secret Realms of your provinces?"

    Not all of Leopoldine''s subdivisions had Secret Realms. But the territories of these two men did, and the opening of those ces would ur on the same day as in Peters City.

    "That''s not so important to keep us from solving our own problems," Leonard said. "I''ve seen several Secret Realm starting and ending. There''s usually nothing of relevance to us Transcendents."

    "Yes, each youth who manages to return takes, on average, a few decades to be able to absorb all their gains..." Mariusmented. "So there is no need for me to attend all the openings and closings of the Secret Realm of my province."

    "Sigh... Anyway, we are here to meet the cars and trucks of the Ritter Motor Company." Leonard finally answered Chris'' question.

    "So that''s it..." That man sighed, noticing that his suspicions were the reason behind these three experts'' visits.

    "How do we go about getting one of those?" Marius asked.

    "Simple, you can go to the Ritter Motor Company store and pay for your orders... In a few weeks or months, you will be able to receive your cars."

    "Orders?" Marius repeated that word.

    "Weeks or months?" Leonard frowned, not liking at all what he had just heard.

    They were prestigious Dukes of Leopoldine. How would they have to wait for weeks to get their cars? That was disrespectful to them and also to the empire!

    "Who is behind this Ritter Motor Company, Chris?" Leonard asked. "I want to talk to this person to get my vehicle more easily."

    "Yes, let''s not wait weeks to acquire ours!" Marius agreed.

    Chris bitterly smiled and said. "I don''t know if it is a good idea for you to approach this person with those thoughts. He''s pretty hard to negotiate that sort of thing..."

    "Oh? Just tell us who he is. We''ll work it out for ourselves." Leonard said confidently.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Well, his name is Lothur Ritter. He''s a 20-year-old young man, the greatest genius of the local generation of the Morning Star Academy."

    "Lothur Ritter?"

    "Never heard of him." The two looked at each other, not recognizing that name.

    Only a few people in the empire capital and local forces in Linn Province knew about Lothur.

    Naturally, these two did not know him and thought it would be easy to deal with a 20-year-old.

    "It doesn''t matter. Let''s talk to this junior and get him to deliver our cars faster." Leonard said, looking at Marius and seeing this man agreeing.

    "Where can we find him?"

    "At his house... At the Morning Star Academy and at one of the stations associated with Ritter Motor Company." Chris said, letting these men get themselves into trouble.

    "All right, let''s go talk to this young man!" So the two left from there shortly after that.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at a local hotel...

    Some mening from the empire''s capital to apany the Secret Realm of this province were staying at this ce in the central part of Peters City.

    But as individuals who kept themselves informed about the ces they passed through, these people had already found out about local news concerning independent animal power vehicles.

    Information about this had not yet reached the empire''s capital, but upon arriving in this city in the middle of the night, they soon found out about it.

    Whenever they arrived in a ce, these people sent their subordinates to find out about important things happening locally.

    So when they heard rumors around the city and passed by the Ritter Motor Company store, which was open 24 hours a day, the servants of these Transcendents soon brought them the information about the cars and trucks.

    Because of this, the three imperial family members sent to apany this event were now talking about the infamous cars.

    "Do you think this is true? It may work well in the short term but maybe is fragile and disposable..." One of the men said this, a little skeptical about the cars.

    "I don''t know." Another said as he considered the information his servant had passed him. "My servant went to the Ritter Motor Company store and heard from one of the employees that there is currently a waiting list of 8,000 orders for the cars. As for the trucks, the waiting list is already 1,000 orders ahead of anyone ordering one today."

    "With so many orders ced, which have to be done with the payment of half the purchase price at the time of ordering, I doubt this is a scam." The third of them said, considering the hundreds of millions of bronze coins Lothur''spany had already collected.

    These resources were so impressive that they in themselves gave validity to Lothur''s business, even if his cars were a great uncertainty in the minds of these people.

    Considering this, these specialists from the capital soon concluded that they also needed to get to know this Lothur Ritter and send information to the family about him.

    Even in the capital, not everyone knew about young Ritter''s identity, much less the Third Prince''s actions against him.

    That was the case for these men, who would soon search for Lothur to talk about the car business in the province and Leopoldine!

    ...

 Chapter 553 Escaping The Conversations

    ?

    As the newly arrived Transcendents in Peters City were going after Lothur, the young people from outside the Province who would participate in the Secret Realm were already in that city.

    The Secret Realm of Linn Province didn''t only have openings for citizens of this territory. It had 9 slots for locals: 6 slots for the Morning Star Academy, 2 slots for the family of the winning group of the team fights of the Province Conference, and 1 for the winner of the individual fights of thispetition.

    Besides these slots for people from Linn Province, the Secret Realm also had room for 6 more people, which the imperial family chose ording to their preferences.

    Currently, the Leopoldine family had chosen six prodigies from their empire, two of them from their own royal house and four youths from different noble families of the empire, from provinces that didn''t have their own Secret Realms.

    The Secret Realm had a limit on how many people it could receive in each edition, something its observers had realized when trying to send more people there.

    When anyone beyond the 15th person tried to enter that ce, that person would be expelled and suffer a lightning punishment, something that even Transcendents would prefer to avoid.

    Therefore, only 15 slots were distributed, and besides the nine local youths, six individuals hade from different parts of the empire for this event.

    The six were staying in the same hotel in Peters City, where normally, these young prodigies used the opportunity to meet and even make deals.

    Young prodigies were the future of their families. So every opportunity to get together could generate future benefits and opportunities.

    But not only that, they were about to enter the notorious Secret Realm, a dangerous ce where people like them would be in constant danger.

    Therefore, it was also interesting to get together to find people with affinities and form teams!

    Because of this, they were in the same ce, and when they met early this morning, they soon heard unexpected information about the local situation in Peters City.

    "What? Are you telling me that someone finally developed a vehicle independent from animal force?" A young formation master, level 14, who had heard about several failures regarding this, asked in surprise the young woman in front of him.

    The woman, who was supposed to be the same age as Elke, level 14, nodded and said. "As my group arrived earlier, we saw what the local people call a car. Then I said I heard the rumors about these carriages in the coffee shop I passed by beforeing here."

    The bodyguards of this woman and the other individuals in the hotel meeting hall were also talking about this, as surprised as their masters.

    "I saw that pick-up car earlier. It is an imposing vehicle!" One of the men said. "I''m nning to buy one for myself soon."

    "Yes, but I liked the SUV model the most. It looks nicer to drive..."

    Some of them had already gone to the Ritter Motor Company store to bring more information to their young masters, so they knew a little more about the existing car models.

    Meanwhile, the young men of the imperial family had strange looks on their faces, as they had never heard about any of this from their family.

    The imperial family should be notified about this kind of thing. But still, the local vassals of House Leopoldine seemed to have forgotten to do this service!

    Naturally, the two were somewhat angry about this!

    One of them said. "We must warn the family to send members and question the Duke and the local patriarchs. There are already dozens of cars driving around the streets of Peters City, and none of this has reached the family elders'' ears!"

    The other agreed and asked. "So what should we do locally? We will enter the Secret Realm tomorrow morning, so we won''t have time to pressure the local leaders."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Let''s go see this Lothur Ritter guy. He must have somehow pressured the local leaders to keep the information from leaking out to us."

    "But..." The other thought that made no sense since anyone in this city could easily see the cars going locally and get the information out.

    But his cousin was stronger than him, and this level 15 fellow simply agreed to follow the orders of that peak 2nd-stage youth.

    ...

    After a few minutes since the departure of the Koch family man who had practically woken him up, Lothur received a message about what the more-than-expected arrival of experts for this day in Peters City was all about.

    Knowing what was behind the unusual movement of specialists in this city, Lothur immediately left his home next to Viktoria and Annaliese so as not to be disturbed.

    He had no interest in receiving Transcendents and patriarchs of noble families from other provinces in his house demanding to receive cars more quickly.

    These people should stop by the Ritter Motor Company store and ce their orders. He didn''t have to waste his time on a matter his people could handle!

    With that, when those people arrived at his house, there was no one there but Ice, who was trying to advance to level 15 with some pills prepared by Lothur.

    As for Lothur and his wives, Annaliese and Viktoria went to the second factory of the Ritter Motor Company, and he left the city to carry out an academy mission, something he wanted to do before going to the Secret Realm.

    In thest few days, Lothur had done several missions and improved his position in the student rankings, having reached rank number 91.

    Unfortunately, he was still far behind Viktoria and Larissa, who was at the top of that ranking. So even though he had finally managed to elevate the Ice Feathers faction to the number one spot, surpassing the Angelic Feathers faction, he failed in his promise to his associate.

    After this day, Larissa would enter the Secret Realm, and her name would be removed from the student rankings the day after her return.

    To take the opportunity of many people wanting to bother him in Peters City, Lothur intended to do some missions and try to ovee the 5,000 merit point difference between him and her.

    That way, no one would find him in Peters City this morning or even during the afternoon as he raced to get as many merit points as he could.

    ...

    Mid-afternoon...

    The Ritter Motor Company store had finally received the Transcendents from outside the province, who had given up on talking to Lothur.

    They had looked everywhere for him, but strangely enough, he seemed invisible, and no one had any idea where he was.

    To the misfortune of these people, Lothur had several local organizations on his side, as well as the espionage of the Koch family, who had warned their allies how to behave towards these people.

    With no other alternatives, these people couldn''t help bute to this ce to get to know the cars better, but with no chance of talking to him and gaining some preference.

    Most outraged were the imperial family''s young men, who felt that Lothur was being very disrespectful to the powerful Leopoldine family.

 Chapter 554 Eve Of The Opening Of The Secret Realm

    ?

    In the middle of the night, Lothur was finishing hisst mission, which, added to the others he had aplished this day, would give him 3,000 merit points.

    Unfortunately, he would not achieve his goal of surpassing Larissa and his wife in time for the Secret Realm.

    But with that score, he should be able to break into the top 10 of the Morning Star Academy student rankings, which wasn''t bad considering how little time he had had to aplish this feat.

    In any case, in a week, when the students in Sector 6 had their names removed from the student rankings, Lothur would be in the first ce, achieving the promise he had made to Elke months ago.

    For that reason alone, he was not so dissatisfied with himself as he finished off the group of criminals he was hunting.

    Since he had little time to do missions, Lothur had chosen to chase wanted men in the province, or rather, to bring justice against some criminal groups.

    Because of this, he had just finished soaking up a few hundred EVF points after attacking the main outpost where most of his targets were.

    Unfortunately, he could only use his bloodline ability once a day, and with the other groups of men he encountered earlier today, he just eliminated them without being able to absorb their powers for himself.

    After weeks of not using his bloodline ability, Lothur used it against thesest people in his path tonight, using his knowledge gained from his time in the Three Great Lakes Region.

    After that trip, he discovered that he could steal some of his targets'' characteristics to improve his affinities and resistances as long as he touched their bodies while absorbing EVF points.

    He made sure to repeat what he had done with that demon inside thebyrinth, where he had eventually encountered the tyrannosaurus rex.

    And with that, the system showed him each of his advances.

    [Silver-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 65% -> 72%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 7% -> 10%.]

    ...

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 8% -> 15%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 2% -> 3%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade resistance to the element of darkness.]

    [Progress: 1% -> 2%]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 208.5] [CON: 421.3] [DEX: 214.2] [AGI: 209.1]

    [INT: 135.6] [PER: 239.9] [WIL: 179]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [EVF: 0 -> 1,524]

    In addition to these gains in terms of powers, Lothur collected over 10 million bronze coins from his opponents. In addition, he got more than 40 spatial rings with resources useful to 2nd stage cultivators, in addition to those items useless to him, such as ordinary clothes and food.

    Lothur discarded the items he couldn''t make a profit selling, leaving the food for the beasts in the forest he was in to eat before leaving from there.

    ''I couldn''t reach my goal in time, but my rank will not be so low after my actions...'' He thought to himself. ''Besides, I managed to get rid of having to talk to a bunch of boring experts who don''t know how to wait.''

    "Hmm... Actually, my day was well used." He smiled as he ran quickly toward Peters City.

    Lothur had traveled to the farthest ces in this province, but with his speed, he could return to Peters City for the opening of the Secret Realm.

    With no time to rest, he ran through this territory from one side to the other, traveling smoothly through the local forests, unnoticed by most of the beings in his path.

    ...

    At dawn in Peters City, the city was already in a festive mood as the Secret Realm was about to open.

    The Secret Realm would open in the city''s main square before the Academy Morning Star.

    Because of the easily essible location for the local poption, many people were already on the outskirts of this ce at dawn, waiting for the arrival of the 15 young prodigies to enter that special dimension.

    For some of them, this would probably be theirst time on this side, as there was always one or another death among the group of young people entering that area.

    That increased the excitement of the people following this event from afar, which had no image transmission but a ranking.

    Each youth that entered the Secret Realm had a medal with them, giving them ess to that dimension and sending results to a formation outside that dimension.

    This formation picked up results from the owner of that medal, such as level improvements, powerful objects in its vicinity, but also the vital status of its owner.

    Through the transmission of data like this, people in Peters City could follow the development of the Secret Realm, waiting for the winners to return.

    It was not umon for the survivors to return with many resources, level improvements, new techniques, and sometimes even with awakened Physique or Bloodline abilities.

    After the return of these youths with such significant improvements, it was usually only a matter of time before new powers would emerge, families would change the direction of their ns, and leadership changes would ur.

    It wasn''t enough topletely shock the empire and change the power scheme of a province in the short term. Still, it was enough to change the lives of the families connected to these youths.

    As such, members of families, subordinates, and mortals connected to these youths about to enter the Secret Realm were already there to follow the event early.

    When Elke left her home in the car she had bought for herself, she soon encountered hundreds of people near her hatch, having to go slowly toward the academy''s entrance.

    ''How crowded...'' She opened her mouth in surprise, this being her first experience regarding the opening of the Secret Realm.

    But since the Duke of the Province had made proper preparations for this event, guards on the streets cleared the way for the cars and carriages arriving in that square to pass.

    Because of this, even slowly, Elke and otherpetitors arriving there eventually managed to park next to the academy area.

    So, time went on, and as more people arrived to crowd the surroundings of the central square, 14 of the 15 young people arrived, soon positioning themselves for the opening of the Secret Realm.

    The local leaders were also there, waiting for this important event for their families to begin.

    But several powerful individuals were there just to see young Ritter, who had sessfully avoided them the day before, but now had nowhere to hide before the Secret Realm!

    In this atmosphere, Lothur appeared at the academy''s entrance after delivering his results to the area responsible for the missions.

    He moved quickly, and while everyone was thinking about his absence, he appeared near Viktoria and Elke, smiling at the two.

    "Lothur Ritter!" A few people called his name at the same time.

    ...

 Chapter 555 Entering The Secret Realm

    ?

    The Transcendents from outside Linn Province, be they Dukes or envoys from the Leopoldine family, immediately identified this young man, even though they didn''t know him by sight before.

    They had all heard of Lothur''s refined appearance, long silver hair, and absence of spiritual pressureing from him. So upon seeing him next to Viktoria and Elke, it was not the least bit difficult for these men to identify him.

    The same was true for the high-level Spiritual Warriors bodyguarding the six young prodigies from outside the province who were to enter this Secret Realm.

    They were far away from their young masters, who were profiled near where Lothur had just stopped.

    But still, they shouted out in surprise the name of young Ritter along with their young masters, oveing even the noise of the crowd waiting for the Secret Realm to open.

    ''That refined appearance...'' One of the three Transcendents from the empire''s capital looked strangely at Lothur.

    "Hey, doesn''t this Lothur guy look much like that wretched Daemon?" Another of them asked just for their group to hear.

    "Now that you mention it, he does look like the bastard!" The third of them clenched his fists, seeing many simrities in Lothur and Daemon''s appearance.

    The Dukes also realized that Lothur looked like someone famous in the empire, but they didn''t connect the dots right away.

    Lothur was young, and Daemon''s appearance in his youth was not the one most remembered by people in this empire. After all, his greatest achievements were aplished when he was already an expert.

    Consequently, for those who were not as close to the case as those members of the imperial family, it was not so easy to associate young Ritter''s appearance with that of Daemon in the first ce.

    Lothur ignored the people on the outskirts of that square watching him from afar and only noticed the youths who would participate in this event along with him.

    Two of them had refined appearances, silver eyes like his own, with two hair colors, a mixture of white and silver.

    He then asked. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don''te near me. I prefer women..."

    "What?"

    "Tsk!"

    "How dare you say we are interested in you like that?"

    The two felt outraged at Lothur''s insinuation and humiliated, while some of the women who would be attending this eventughed at hisment.

    Luis was standing there next to the Duke of the Province, preparing for the event to begin. Lothur''sment hadn''t been loud enough for everyone in the square to hear. Still, the academy principal and Chris had heard it and couldn''t help but bow their heads and cover their eyes with their hands.

    Those were two members of the imperial family!

    Even knowing young Ritter''s past, which was by no means so simple that he had to fear those two, Lothur himself didn''t know about his past. So he was teasing those two of great status even though he didn''t know he was not a supported individual.

    "You wretch, do you know who we are?" The stronger of the two asked.

    "Who?" Lothur asked.

    Moreughter spread through the area until the Secret Realm finally began to show signs of its opening!

    The Secret Realm was not a region of space controlled by local experts but something that opened and closed at roughly simr time intervals.

    Sometimes it could vary a few days more or less than people expected the moment of its opening to be, but usually, it happened within the expected date.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In any case, as the Secret Realm gave signs that it was close to opening, even when it was early orte, the local leaders were able to prepare to send the 15 young people at the right time.

    Just at that moment of shame for the two members of the Leopoldine family, a great glow appeared in the skies above that square.

    Silence immediately formed in the surroundings, with each person looking at the phenomenon with interest, even those who had seen it several times before.

    To them, the phenomenon might not be a big novelty, but it was always nice to see the remnants of a powerful 4th stage cultivator''s power.

    The creator of that Secret Realm was supposed to be someone of that range of strength, so the many 2nd stage individuals there, and the few 3rd stage ones, couldn''t help but look at it with interest.

    Even the Dukes who would have to wait to speak with Lothur couldn''t help but admire it.

    In the middle of the opening of it, the tform where the 15 youths with medals hanging from their necks stood suddenly began to form golden structures,ing from the ground and covering that ce like a roof.

    But it was semitransparent, and every observer in the surrounding area could see the 15 youths, who were surrounded by beams of energy and light at that moment.

    It was as if they were being covered by cocoons, while the conditions inside that ce became extreme amidst the intense brightness there.

    At that moment, as two individuals had just appeared above that area, floating Peters City and looking in Lothur''s direction, they sighed in disappointment.

    "We''ve dyed a bit. It''s toote for us to take him now." A person fully dressed in golden armor said to the one next to him, someone in red female armor, with the same symbol on it that was on his armor.

    She said. "No problem. Either he will die in the Secret Realm, and we won''t be needed here anymore, or he will survive, and we will arrest him in a week.

    In any case, we will aplish our mission against the delinquent Lothur Ritter."

    As the two individuals, both level 17, looked in Lothur''s direction, he and the other youths within that bright area disappeared while the ce they were in returned to normal.

    The other Transcendents in that square didn''t notice the arrival of these two and just did the same as the mortals and other cultivators in that ce, looking towards the formation screens on the medals of those youths.

    Fifteenrge screens containing the vital status, resources collected, battles, in short, containing all kinds of useful information of each of the youths now within the Secret Realm were spread out in that square.

    In addition to the 15 screens, arge ranking was positioned on what looked like an obelisk, disying their overall results.

    The Secret Realm was not apetition. But those who stood outside watching saw the event this way, many even cing bets on the results.

    The mostmon bets were on who would die and the position of each person participating in the Secret Realm in the overall ranking. But various other bets and disputes took ce rted to this event.

    For example, some people bet on the day of death for each youth that entered the Secret Realm. Sometimes even the families of these youngsters would bet, and because of this, they would ask their youngsters in advance to kill some opponents within that dimension.

    That could bring considerable results to these powers, something that moved not only the province but various parts of the empire.

    So even without the possibility of directly watching the event, many of those people were still there to follow the numbers of the Secret Realm!

    ...

    Meanwhile, the 15 youngsters were teleported to 15 different positions within the Secret Realm, which seemed to be just another empire forest.

    However, it wouldn''t be long before they realized this was no ordinary ce!

 Chapter 556 Dangerous Area

    ?

    In a ce with dense woods but good natural lighting, Lothur found himself far away from Viktoria and Elke, who had been standing next to him just moments ago.

    None of the other young people who were supposed to enter the Secret Realm were around him either, something he realized as he scanned the surroundings with his visual ability.

    In his initial moment of observation, Lothur opened his mouth as he realized what was in his surroundings.

    Not only did all the nts there haverge amounts of energy within them and were practically sentient beings, but many powerful organisms were in the vicinity, not far from him.

    Even level 17 beasts were around, greatly surprising the silver-haired young man.

    Lothur took his Elemental Staff and positioned himself defensively, preparing himself in case any of these creatures approached him.

    ''This ce is full of powerful beings!'' His eyes narrowed, seeing many status screens appearing in front of him. ''What is the meaning of this? Why would there be so many powerful beings in a ce where young people from the academy are sent?

    That doesn''t make sense! If that''s how it is, everyone sent here should die yearly!'' He shouted in his mind, trying to understand how this ce worked.

    But as he watched the beasts within a radius of 5 kilometers away from him, Lothur saw a group of tiny beings, the size of rabbits, approaching him.

    This group wasposed of little green men, naked but with small weapons in their hands.

    The weakest was at level 14, while a few were at level 16, leading this tiny army of a hundred individuals.

    ''What the fuck is this?'' He wondered, not knowing which species those beings belonged to.

    Then, when they came within the domain of Lothur''s 3rd ability, Gravity, he circted his energies through the Soul Bone responsible for that.

    Immediately, the gravity in their surroundings increased, pressing down on everything in his vicinity while small rocks began to crack.

    The green beings sensed this and slowed their speeds, looking up with hateful looks on their faces.

    "Kill!"

    "Kill the invader!" Their leaders shouted in their ancestralnguage, drawing Lothur''s attention to thisnguage he was still struggling to learn.

    But Lothur didn''t need to understand the meaning of his enemies'' words perfectly to know that it was not a good thing. So he immediately made ck mes appear in his hands, using his 2nd ability.

    Lothur moved around the surroundings, throwing balls of dark energy in the direction of those beings, intending to corrupt them with the ability of his 2nd Soul Bone.

    Those creatures realized his attacks were not simple and tried to dodge as best they could while restrained by Lothur''s gravitational ability.

    But for some of the weakest of them, this was impossible. While they were practically unable to move, some were hit by Lothur''s diabolical mes.

    "Ahhhh!"

    Screams arose but soon ceased as Lothur dominated against some of these tiny creatures.

    Getting some allies against these opponents, Lothur moved toward the strongest ones there, leaving the rest to fight his ves.

    He changed his use of the Gravity skill and used a force of attraction against those enemies in his surroundings while holding the Elemental Staff.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The level 16 enemies were being drawn to him, but they were not standing still. Instead, they skillfully used their weapons to prepare counterattacks when they collided with Lothur.

    Unfortunately for them, this would never happen. When he was about to collide with those little men, Lothur used the Space Belt and teleported to a different position.

    He appeared behind those individuals when they stopped flying towards him and promptly swung his staff in their direction.

    Lothur''s attack was already so strong that it could severely wound even level 16 creatures with powerful bodies, such as spiritual beasts. So when his staff hit the bodies of these little men, they felt their tiny bones being broken and organs liquefying.

    Some died so quickly that they didn''t have a chance to scream in pain, but others were stronger and showed their anguish in front of that man.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

    Beasts on the outskirts of that area heard from a distance the sounds of pain from those creatures, realizing that some battle was going on nearby.

    One of those beasts, level 17, looked toward where Lothur was standing and frowned, noticing the person they had been created to face finallying to this ce.

    ''Finally, someone strong enough has arrived in the Secret Realm.'' That beast thought to itself, unable to measure Lothur''s strength, but knowing that he must be a small monster, or he wouldn''t be sent to this ce.

    The Secret Realm was like arge pizza, with several slices representing different difficulty levels for those who arrived there.

    There were 20 slices on thisrge ''pizza,'' and the slice where Lothur was was the highest level, where the most powerful beings of this ce were.

    The Secret Realm, being divided into levels, led those entitled to enter it to the slices that best suited their level. That is, a young talent would not be taken to a ce with no challenges or without items applicable to them. Instead, they would be taken to a ce where they could die but also had possibilities for them to advance significantly.

    Lothur was the strongest of this entire group that had just entered the Secret Realm, so he was in this ''slice,'' a ce that, since the creation of this space, no one had ever reached.

    That beast knew this because the strongest ones there were like guardians of the other creatures and therefore knew the purpose of this ce.

    Precisely because of this, when it saw Lothur, this level 17 beast did not immediately go to him.

    Unlike the ignorant beasts and creatures of that area, who only thought that beings like Lothur were a risk to theirnds because they took their resources, the leading beasts of this space only fought when challenged.

    But because this creature would not act against him did not mean he was not in serious trouble!

    As he finished exterminating the group of little green men, Lothur felt several level 16 beings approaching him, noticing that his actions were drawing attention from the surroundings.

    ''Damn it! Why are there so many powerful beings near me?'' He wondered before he started running from there to avoid these creatures.

    His speed was faster than most of the level 16 beasts, so after a few moments, Lothur managed to get away from most of them, losing sight of the little green men from earlier.

    p��nd��---no��?1,��o�� As he moved, he saw several energy fluctuations in herbs and fruits in his path, noting arge amount of medicine there.

    But he was still being chased and decided to run a little further through that area, trying to find a ce where he wouldn''t be chased all the time.

    In the middle of this, he suddenly received a notification from the system!

    ...

 Chapter 557 New Fallen Scroll

    ?

    [Fallen Scroll from the Lost Tree identified near the host...]

    [Host, find the scroll toplete the collection of prizes regarding the second leaf absorbed!]

    [Hint: the scroll is within a 1-kilometer radius of the host.]

    Lothur opened his eyes wider as he read such messages, feeling an incredible sensation after so long since he had absorbed what was inside the leaf that Viktoria had as a ne.

    It had given him the ability that allowed him to begin his cultivation journey in this world and had also given him advances in attributes.

    Consequently, upon discovering that one of these items was nearby, Lothur couldn''t wait to find it and get the enhancements he would be entitled to after touching it!

    ''Where is it? Where are you?'' He stopped running and looked at the surroundings, using his visual ability to try to identify some objects simr to the one Viktoria had.

    However, such a thing was in a considerable space, a ce filled with spiritual beings capable of ''blurring'' his analysis, so it was by no means easy for him to identify it.

    While searching, he slowly began to look for ces that might have secret entrances, the underground, where he thought there were likely tunnels that could lead him to the right ce.

    As expected, many tunnels were nearby, but Lothur could not tell which one was the best to follow at this early point.

    ''Maybe I should fight some of the stronger beings here? 3rd stage beings canmunicate with me, so maybe I''ll get useful information from them!'' He pondered, seeing that level 16 beings practically surrounded him.

    "Human, are you here to rob us? Where did youe from?" One of them asked.

    To these beasts, the appearance of beings of any race different from those already existing in that area was a sign of a threat. That was particrly true in the case of Lothur, who had just killed an entire battalion of natives in the area.

    Unlike the guardian beast of the area, they did not know the purpose of this ce. And since no one had ever been there before, Lothur''s presence was like an rming sign of the beginning of the end for them.

    Therefore, a battalion of these beings, with different races present, were already in Lothur''s vicinity, targeting him with negative intentions.

    Lothur observed them and said. "Beings from this Secret Realm, I am here in search of something simr to this." He picked up a leaf from the ground and showed it to those creatures. "That is all I desire. I promise I won''t do anything against you if I can get it.

    As long as no one attacks me, of course."

    The beasts heard this, and as much as most there did not understand what he was talking about, some more or less had an idea of what he wanted.

    Those beasts, aware of Lothur''s interest, pressed their jaws together, ring at that human in ugly ways.

    "You might as well say you want our lives, too, you miserable bastard!"

    "If you want that, you''ll have to fight!" Another beast said, outraged at Lothur''s request.

    That leaf was revered among them. It was like the symbol of a religion. Something worshipped among the strongest in this ce.

    So how could they simply hand over its location to this unworthy neer?

    Plus, they had a prophecy that said terrible things would happen once someone possessed that leaf, so naturally, they were quite afraid of losing control over it.

    "Is that so?" Lothur frowned his eyebrows. "Well, I would rather not have to fight, but if you court death, I will do you the favor of sending you to the other world."

    Dark mes appeared in Lothur''s left hand as his eyes turned red. His right hand spun the Elemental Staff as if it were a fan.

    At the same time, the pressure in his surroundings was high, and even those level 16 creatures were feeling an unusual heaviness in their bodies as they shivered at the darkness brought by Lothur.

    "You''re like a demon, damn you!"

    e��glesn?��el "Abomination. We will never allow you to remove our symbol from here!"

    The stronger ones shouted hostile words, feeling that even though they had numbers on their side, they would have trouble dealing with this invader of their territory.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lothur no longer gave those creatures any choice and decided to act, first firing hisser sight at one of the strongest ones there, aimed at the heart of that enemy.

    The being that looked like a sizeable blue-furred wolf saw the beam of red lighting toward its heart but didn''t have time to react in time.

    It simply expressed its surprise as it tried to jump back. But just as it was about to move, the powerfulser from Lothur''s eyes pierced through its body, melting its heart and other organs.

    Simultaneously, Lothur used the Space Belt again and appeared behind another level 16 beast, attacking with everything he had towards the middle of that creature''s back.

    The Elemental Staff was tough, and given his physical ability, he managed to imprint enough force on this weapon to go through that beast''s skin.

    The beast made a shrill sound of pain as it felt something go through its back and hit its heart, losing control over its great body.

    The beasts in the surroundings saw two of their strongest leaders falling in front of that human. But they did not retreat but rather began to move against Lothur, more confident that he should be eliminated.

    Lothur once again teleported, this time without his weapon in his hands but with both hands on fire.

    He appeared on top of the head of a creature that looked like a mammoth and ced both hands on top of that head, letting his ability infiltrate his opponent''s body.

    Unlike humans, beasts didn''t have much protection for their souls. Because of this, it was much easier to manipte one of these creatures than a human.

    Therefore, even though he was of a lower level, Lothur immediately made that beast lose control over its consciousness, turning it into a ve of his in a matter of seconds.

    "Kill everyone in my path." He ordered as he moved again, this time without teleporting, as he had already spent half of his energy just to incapacitate three of those Transcendent beasts.

    There were still some in his surroundings and the many Spiritual Warriors. But the strongest had been neutralized, and he now had a powerful ally!

    In this situation, Lothur pointed one of his hands at the Elemental Staff and drew that weapon to himself, causing it to leave the trembling body of the beast that no longer had any hope of surviving.

    Two other level 16 beasts saw all this and were feeling extreme hatred for Lothur as they attacked this human''s ''fragile'' body, trying to get revenge.

    "Die!"

    "You will pay for what you have done, damned human!"

    The two shouted as they attacked the young Ritter.

    Lothur saw this and just activated his defensive technique, causing his defenses to rise by more than 10%.

    When the tail of one of the creatures that looked like a snake hit him, he simply continued standing where he was while using his left hand to grab his opponent''s body.

    "Damn it!" That green serpent shouted angrily, unable to retrieve its tail.

    Simultaneously, Lothur''s other opponent pped, only with the little human''s body between its giant hands, intending to crush him.

    Lothur stood motionless to the attack of that orangutan-like being, stopping the enemy''s movement with the hardness of his own body.

    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The snake screamed in agony as it felt the blow from its ally hitting the tip of its tail.

    But before one beast could be estranged from the other, Lothur dropped the staff in his right hand and moved the great tail of that creature using his two hands.

    He swung it from side to side, mming that creature''s body against the ground and the surrounding trees, even using it to attack weaker enemies nearby.

    Many 2nd stage beasts began to fly due to Lothur''s blows, while the 3rd stage beasts narrowed their eyes, fearing this powerful opponent.

    At this rate, they wouldn''tst long against this human!

    ...

 Chapter 558 Warning

    ?

    After 15 minutes of intensebat with the level 16, 15, and 14 beasts in the area where he was searching for the leaf of his interest, Lothur finally defeated thest of them.

    As Lothur did so, he was sweating considerably, breathing heavily, as he felt his heart pounding in his left chest like he hadn''t felt in a long time.

    He had worked hard to defeat his opponents to the point that he had thought he couldn''t take all those beings oppressing him at some point in the fight.

    But he remained inflexible in fighting the various races of beasts in this ce, slowly defeating these creatures until this moment.

    eaglesnov?1,��o�� Now he had several bloodstains on his clothes, more from his opponents than his own, but he had some wounds all over his body.

    In a battle like that, it was tough toe out of it unscathed, even when you won!

    Most of Lothur''s opponents died in battle for him, but some managed to escape while others sacrificed themselves for them.

    Othersy unconscious on the outskirts, waiting to find out if they would be killed by him right now or if they would have a chance to live after this confrontation.

    Lothur could see the statuses of the beings still alive, but he pretended he wasn''t seeing most of them since they were weak beings that wouldn''t give him any glory if he killed them. But he chose one of those creatures to interrogate.

    He strolled through the broken bodies in that area, not caring to step on the brains of his opponents, making his way to his goal.

    He passed the body of the beast he had enved earlier, which had died, of course, and now looked like a brutalized carcass, bones showing how much service it had.

    Lothur didn''t even blink to look at it and simply stooped down beside a fallen beast breathing hard.

    "I know you are alive. Don''t pretend to be dead to me." Lothur said in a low voice so that only the two of them could hear his words. "If you do not obey me, I will kill all the other beasts still alive in the surrounding area."

    "What do you want?" That level 16 creature, the only one of that level to survive up to this point, asked, full of bitterness over its current situation.

    Lothur got straight to the point. "Simple, tell me something that might help me find the object of my interest. If you do, I will not kill the survivors and set off toward it without seeking revenge for what you did."

    ''Seek revenge?'' That creature wondered, feeling wronged. ''We are the ones who should seek revenge!''

    But it was wrong in its thinking. Any side in a conflict could seek revenge, including the victor. After all, not every conflict was initiated willingly, so sometimes, the winner was initially the oppressed side...

    In any case, as a loser, this creature did not see things from a just point of view but rather one that took preference from its side. Unfortunately for it, a loser had no right to express their nonconformity!

    Either it acted, or everyone in the vicinity, including some of its descendants, would die.

    At the same time, if this young man sought such revenge, he might even eradicate some of the beast tribes that attacked him today!

    To avoid a catastrophe, it had to make a different decision!

    ''In any case, we would need all our strength to beat him, so I may as well send him to where our strongest warriors are!'' It made up its mind before saying. "Very well, I will tell you how to get to where we keep the sacred object.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As long as you keep your promise."

    Lothur didn''t need to y games and nodded at that creature, showing that he wouldn''t waste his time there if he got what he wanted.

    "Okay, the Golden Leaf is on thest level of thebyrinth. Thebyrinth is an underground area with an entrance 500 meters in that direction." It indicated with one of its blood-stained feathers. "There, you will find the entrance to a cave, where there is a small altar. That''s the ce you have to enter."

    "Abyrinth?" Lothur looked in the direction the beast pointed in, sensing that this creature was not lying to him.

    He turned his back to it, thinking of leaving, but before he did, that beast that shouldn''t live much longer told him. "But human, let me tell you something first."

    "Oh? What is it? You are already dying... Do you want to waste your energy on me?" Lothur asked.

    That beast wanted to scare this human a little in itsst moments in this world in an attempt to help those inside thebyrinth. So it said. "It doesn''t matter. I will only tell you this. This ce was built in the remote past to hold something evil, somethinging from far away to desecrate thesends.

    The Golden Leaf is what keeps this evil trapped. If removed from here by someone like you, the worst could happen, and its consequences could reach even to where you came from."

    Lothur knew some of the histories about Peters City, the Morning Star Academy, and the Secret Realm. He had been studying it at that institution for some time and had ess to privileged information from the Koch family.

    Because of this, Lothur was aware of the founding of Peters City by a demon hunter who, alongside his group, defeated a powerful demon leader.

    Morning Star had been a demon who had had its tribe in the area where Peters City now stood. But after one of its trusted demons razed a vige, it attracted the attention of a powerful human group.

    This group had hired and paid bounties for demon hunters to clean up the area and avenge the vige, something that had ended when the one who was to found Peters City appeared in this region.

    But demons were tricky creatures to kill. Demon hunters used various techniques to seal off possible remnants when eliminating one.

    Sometimes the demon didn''t die entirely, and it managed to keep a reserve ''alternate consciousness'' waiting for a host.

    That was not a simple ability to use, but some of these high-ranking beings in the demon world could do things like this even after generating a Soul Bone!

    The Secret Realm was created for two reasons. One, the motivation that only the weak knew was to train and give an opportunity to young talents. But the main motivation for this ce to exist, which only the strongest knew, was to keep the seal on the area where Morning Star had been killed!

    That was an old piece of Peters City, where the city''s founder had folded the space to keep it intact and prevent Morning Star from emerging again.

    Lothur knew this, so he was not surprised by the words of that beast.

    He then said. "Don''t worry. I am prepared for the consequences."

    After those words, he no longer listened to that being in his final moments and set off toward the ce that the bird had indicated to him.

    It was time for him to enter thebyrinth in front of him!

 Chapter 559 The Situation Of The Other Youths

    ?

    As Lothur passed through the entrance to the cave that the winged beast had warned him about earlier, he came upon arge tunnel that led underground.

    This tunnel had no artificial lighting, and what little lighting there came from the cave opening through which Lothur had entered.

    However, due to the length and depth of thisrge corridor he was walking down, the ce was getting darker and darker as he walked down there.

    Luckily, Lothur had a phenomenal visual ability, able to ignore the visibility problem.

    He might not see anything normal in the dark. Still, by observing the spiritual fluctuations in things in his surroundings, he could distinguish living beings from inanimate ones.

    Because of this, Lothur was moving quickly toward the end of that tunnel, where he could already see some kind of construction different from what one would expect to find inside a cave.

    ''That''s a monster maze...'' He thought of this as he identified several creatures around an area built in the shape of abyrinth, in which, if he walked through, he would reach a flight of stairs to the lower levels of that ce.

    Lothur looked down and saw that there were at least two others below the first level of the maze, and the beasts in those ces seemed to be stronger, though less numerous.

    ''Hmmm, I must defeat many of these creatures to achieve my abjective here.'' He realized what he would have to go through and why the beast from earlier had informed him about this ce without any significant problems.

    It would be difficult for him to ovee this ce and reach his purpose!

    Thus, Lothur headed toward the beginning of thatbyrinth.

    ...

    While Lothur began to struggle underground in one of the mostplicated areas of the Secret Realm, Viktoria was in another high-level area.

    She wasn''t as strong as him, but she was one of the strongest of this group that entered the Secret Realm. So she was in one of the area''s most difficult ''slices''!

    But unlike Lothur, she was not as threatening to the beings in her surroundings. As such, even though she had already attracted some fights, Viktoria had not been surrounded by as many opponents as her husband.

    eaglesnov?1,��o�� She had only faced her first challenge after finding a resource of interest to her and trying to collect it.

    Anyway, at the moment, she was resting atop arge tree where few beasts could easily find her.

    ''I wonder where Lothur and Elke are?'' She wondered as she ate some fruit. ''I hope I can find them and team up with them over the next few days...''

    The Secret Realm sent the 15 young people who had the right to enter it to different locations, where they could face challenges of their levels. But all this space was connected, and the weakest individual had the chance to enter the most dangerous area.

    That was obviously not easy to happen, as most would die before reaching that ''slice.'' But if one could withstand the challenges, getting to where Lothur was was not impossible. One would only have to follow the path of the strongest beasts and beings in the area.

    Viktoria knew this, and so she intended to find Elke and her husband to form a team.

    Working as a team was the best way to survive and get results in the Secret Realm. Hence, it wasmon for young people who entered there to try to find their friends and allies to circte this ce together.

    They all wanted the best possible resources and opportunities. But this could only be found in the most challenging ces in the Secret Realm, where one could hardly survive alone.

    But in teams, one could strengthen the other''s weak point, and all could achieve even better resources than they could by fighting alone!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    After recovering, Viktoria made her way through the area she was in, fighting whoever came her way and picking up whatever item caught her eye. But her focus was to get out of there and go to other, stronger areas.

    ...

    On the other hand, Elke was already moving through the ''slice'' she had arrived in, a lessplicated area than Viktoria''s.

    But although she knew that joining Lothur and Viktoria would be a positive for her, she felt that she would need to improve her strength a bit before attempting something like this.

    She was the weakest of Lothur''s women in this ce, who would take serious risks if she tried to reach him without strengthening herself first.

    Before trying to find him and Viktoria, she was already cultivating in a cave where she had arrived, using a resource she had collected only a few minutes ago.

    She was at level 14, while Viktoria was at level 15. So as not to risk too much, she would only go after those two when she advanced to another level!

    ''I am not far from my advancement, so I will stay here for another two days or so before I leave for Viktoria.'' Elke thought about it as she meditated.

    ...

    But by the end of the evening of the first day of the Secret Realm, some of the young people who had entered it had already gathered.

    Some had roughly equivalent strengths, meaning they had been taken to locations closer to each other.

    After investigating the area they were in and probing, some of the groups formed before the Secret Realm even began had already gathered in this special ce.

    That was the case with the group of the two members of the imperial family, who were together with a young noble from a family from a different province than this Secret Realm.

    The three of them had already killed several groups of beasts on their way and were preparing to go towards the more advanced ''slices'' of this space.

    In particr, the strongest of the group had some bold ns in mind!

    "Let''s go in search of Lothur Ritter." He said to hispanions. "I want to teach the bastard the difference between him and us."

    "That..." The imperial family''s other young man was not as sure about this as his stronger cousin and hesitated.

    But their noble ally said. "Lothur is just a genius in Peters City... Him having created the cars is not enough to make him stronger than us."

    "Yes, the damned thing at most may have the privilege of having a voice to negotiate with us, but he won''t be a match for the three of us together!" The strongest of the three said, eager to teach that arrogant fellow a lesson.

    He knew that Lothur was a good warrior since he had investigated this fellow in the hours he had since his arrival in Peters City and the beginning of the Secret Realm. But he was not like the locals, who had low-level spiritual techniques, talent, and skills.

    He was a prodigy from the Leopoldine family!

    On the other hand, the young nobleman allied with these two members of the imperial family also had an interest in acting against Lothur.

    ''The family bet on his fall to the penultimate day of the Secret Realm...'' This ck-haired young man thought to himself. ''We must catch up with him and overthrow him on this day!''

 Chapter 560 The Situation In Peters City

    ?

    Meanwhile, outside the Secret Realm...

    It was already evening in Peters City, but thousands of people were still watching the situation around the central square in front of the Morning Star Academy.

    eaglesnov?1,��o�� No young people had died so far, a record, since in previous editions of the Secret Realm, someone would always die on the first opening day. But not only this was stirring the spirits of the individuals following this event.

    The situation for somepetitors was also somewhat different from what one would normally see in other event editions.

    For example, Lothur had collected nothing so far. But he had beaten at least 50 level 16 beasts, 300 level 15 beasts, and 500 level 14 beasts. These were astounding numbers that not even the most powerful youths who returned from the Secret Realms in other editions would have the chance to expose.

    And because of this killing, which was not followed by resource absorption or item collection, everyone was curious about what Lothur was doing.

    Usually, a young man like him would fight for the right over resources. But he was not demonstrating standard behavior. Instead, he just looked like a killing machine, creating rivers of bodies on his way inside the Secret Realm.

    That was scaring Lothur''s enemies in Peters City a bit!

    ''What is this person doing?'' One of the Baier family members thought to himself as he watched for more deaths of powerful beasts entering Lothur''s numbers. ''Is he trying to show his strength and make us fear him even more?''

    "Tsk! Arrogant wretch!"

    But others were not so concerned about it.

    Gomeric looked at the ranking of the Secret Realm, where Lothur was second only to Elke, who was surprisingly in first ce at the moment.

    Most young people who tried out for the Secret Realm were looking for each other to team up with or hunt down opponents. So only she was actually looking for resources to get stronger at this first moment.

    Because of this, she was in the first ce, while the one with the highest number of kills at the moment was behind her, followed by Viktoria and Larissa.

    Gameric was pleased that his daughter was getting better and was not so worried about Lothur.

    Whatever he was trying, it had to be for a good reason. Lothur was not the type to act unnecessarily. If he was doing this, he must have had something in mind that could benefit his allies, like this man.

    But while Lothur''s allies had only doubts about what he was after, many of those who didn''t know much about him was changing their bets because of his strange attitude.

    For many bettors, if Lothur was risking so much fighting such strong beasts, the chance that he would die was greater, so many were already cing bets on his death.

    That was moving all of Peters City since he was not someone ordinary but the creator of the Ritter Motor Company and the local cars!

    ...

    Meanwhile, the two Nascent Soul Transcendents were watching the preliminary results of the local sky, interested in Lothur''s attitudes.

    "What do you think he is doing?" The man asked the woman next to him.

    "Hmm, well, I can''t be sure. But I believe he is in for some kind of challenge or searching for something specific. That alone would exin him fighting so many opponents in such a short time." This level 17 woman said, watching the constant changes on the screen showing Lothur''s results.

    But while the two were watching this, someone nearby finally noticed their presence and approached them.

    "Imperial Guards!" Luis said as he approached those two.

    "Principal of the academy, what do you want?" The man in armor with the Leopoldine family symbol asked in a curious tone.

    Luis promptly replied. "I am curious about the presence of two noble warriors of the empire in this city... Are you in search of something? Can I help you in any way?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That woman looked at Luis and didn''t hide what she wanted since no one in this city could stop her and herpanion. "We are here under an imperial edict to capture Lothur Ritter."

    "What?" The principal of the Morning Star Academy questioned in iprehension.

    "Lothur Ritter is a criminal wanted by Her Highness Lars Leopoldine. We are here to bring him to imperial justice."

    "How can this be? Lothur is a genius who invented the first car! How can he be wanted for anything?" He questioned, more or less knowing the motivation of these people but asking anyway.

    The level 17 man said as he closed his eyes. "We need no greater reason than His Highness''s words. If he returns, we will send Lothur to the imperial prison."

    ''Imperial prison?'' Luis thought about it, as he turned pale with concern for young Ritter.

    The imperial prison was where high-level criminals and traitors to the empire were held to pay for their crimes or await imperial justice.

    That ce was full of 3rd stage criminals, people from various backgrounds, some even from outside the empire, those who tried to take advantage of the possibilities of this weaker ce.

    Some of those who tried this failed despite being powerful cultivators by local standards.

    Because of the number of people trying to parasitize weaker states on the continent, the emperor built that ce centuries ago.

    Now foreigners and a few Leopoldine natives lived there, which, truth be told, was hell on earth.

    The jailers usually had no control over the inside of the prison. They just kept the ce impossible to escape from without worrying about maintaining the internal order of the prison.

    So even keeping a criminal there waiting for justice could be considered a sign of a death sentence!

    That was what worried Luis!

    "The imperial prison is a bit much, don''t you think?" He asked.

    "We don''t have to think anything, principal. We''re just carrying out our orders." The woman said to him in a warning tone.

    "Know that we have the authorization to arrest along with this Lothur any who stand in our way." The man added, causing Luis to back away.

    ''Damn it!'' He thought about it as he turned away from those two, feeling that he had to inform the rest of Lothur''s allies.

    But not only that, as principal of the academy, he was a direct subordinate of the Leopoldine family. So he had to at least try to intervene in this situation to prevent things from getting out of hand and young Ritter being sent to that terrible ce.

    If Lothur were to enter the imperial prison, chances are he would never get out again!

    So Luis rushed in to try to sort this out, while the rest of the powers acting in Peters City had no idea of the risk Lothur was taking!

    But if some powers acting in the dead of night knew this, they would celebrate the future downfall of young Ritter.

    That was the case for some allies of House Baier, who were about to start a joint action with this family.

    "Everyone in ce? Our ns will begin at dawn." Someone from the Vogel family said this inside his car,municating with his allies around Peters City.

    "Yes, we will destroy the Frost family before sunset the next day!" Another voice emerged from within that vehicle through themunication formation...

 Chapter 561 Night Movements

    ?

    Meanwhile, at the Koch family intelligence center...

    [Car 123, Vogel family: get our men in position. We''re going to attack the damned Frost family early in the day!]

    [Car 99, Vogel family: patriarch, our internal allies in the Frost family are in a position to free Simon Frost. He will start the rebellion inside enemy headquarters before dawn].

    [Car 123, Vogel family: very well, let''s get ready to annihte the damned!]

    Upon hearing this troubling conversation, the watchmen of this post frowned, noting the big trouble that was about to befall their allies.

    "Patriarch, we must alert the Frost family immediately!" One of the men responsible for listening to conversations of the local leaders said this loudly, drawing the attention of those who were not listening to that exchange of information.

    He said. "The Vogel family and their allies will act against the Frost family before dawn! There are infiltrators in that house who will incite a rebellion to weaken the family before the enemy attacks!"

    Hearing that, the leader of the Koch family frowned, worrying about the situation of this ally of theirs within the Ritter Motor Company, feeling that he had to do something to prevent the worst.

    He then ordered. "Inform all our allies about this information!

    Have the Becker, Christen, and Teusen families put their men on alert and move into the vicinity of House Frost headquarters.

    Alert our men as well.

    Before dawn, we must be ready for battle!"

    "Yes, patriarch!" Some men shouted before leaving to take this information to their allies and their people.

    On the other hand, someone from the intelligence center was already trying tomunicate with patriarch Frost.

    [Intelligence Center: Patriarch Frost, are you there? Here is elder Mats from House Koch].

    That elder''smunication appeared to the people outside his cabin, indicating that man''smunication with Aiken.

    [Car 05, Frost family: elder Mats, what''s up? Something happened?]

    At this point, Aiken was going to bed with his wife when he suddenly heard hismunication formation, which was connected to his car, ring.

    He then answered it, sitting on the side of his bed while Mabel rubbed some cream on her beautiful legs.

    He heard the voiceing from the crystal in his hands. "Patriarch, we have just intercepted some strange moves by our enemies. The allied families of House Vogel are preparing tounch an attack against your family!"

    "What?" Aiken shouted in surprise, not expecting something this sudden.

    His family was experiencing a difficult situation, considering their glorious past. But since Lothur showed himself at the Province Conference, things had only improved for this family.

    As such, Aiken had never been as rxed as he was now, and receiving this information was like taking a cold shower while waiting for warm water to fall from his shower head!

    Mabel frowned her eyebrows and looked at her husband, who was already turning pale with worry.

    "Patriarch," The voice on thatmunicator continued. "Not only will they try to attack your family, but infiltrators in your family will also try to start a rebellion on Simon''s side to weaken you... That way, I would advise you to act quickly and prevent the worst!"

    "Simon?" Mabel clenched her fists, noting that such a man had not given up his absurd ideas even after months of detention.

    Aiken heard this and felt angry, noting that his family still had infiltrators and how far it had decayed to the point that the members themselves would act to bring it down.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    This was a real shame!

    But he gathered his strength to act quickly and said. "Thank you for the information. We will act immediately!"

    With that said, Aiken and Mabel quickly changed clothes, grabbed their weapons and armor, and then quickly headed toward where Simon was being held.

    "Let''s kill the bastard!" Mabel said, full of anger.

    "Take it easy, dear. First, we have to let the infiltrators try to rescue him. Only then can we eliminate all the scum within our family." Aiken said, feeling the urge to kill like never before in a long time.

    Since they weren''t sure who was against them, neither alerted more people in their family.

    It was a risk not to be prepared with all their strength for what was about to happen. But Aiken thought it was an even greater risk to continue to have enemies infiltrating their house!

    ...

    While Aiken and Mabel were moving, the Christen and Teusen families were already aware of what would happen. They were already moving their men to join the House Koch group in this city.

    The Becker family had just received word of this, and Gomeric was already alongside a small battalion, preparing to move towards the headquarters of House Frost.

    Not only was he allied with the house of Lothur''s wife because of the Ritter Motor Company, but he also owed this family a favor as they had handed him the head of the man behind the servant who had attacked Elke months ago. So he was the most proactive in gathering forces to act in defense of the Frost family.

    Some of his men would not leave for the Frost estate until near dawn when the battle was to take ce. After all, they could not easily move through the city without drawing attention from their enemies.

    But a smaller group, which was apanying Gomeric at this moment, was already heading toward Viktoria''s family headquarters.

    He could not move all his men, but if no one were around to support the Frost family, that house would fall in the face of all the opponents about to attack!

    Anyway, he and Hilda were moving along the secret paths of Peters City, both focused on finishing off these local enemies of Lothur.

    "Young Ritter allowed these families to live with us without the risk of extermination, but they don''t want peace. They want chaos." A high-ranking elder of the Becker family said this next to those two.

    "If that is what they want, we will give them a taste of defeat!" Gomericmented, feeling like destroying these opponents.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Baier family headquarters...

    Unlike House Vogel, which had cars and wasmunicating through the devices the Koch family group spied on, this other family had none of these vehicles.

    Just because of this, the information had not leaked out through them!

    In any case, responsible or not for that leak, this family was acting to attack the Frost family at dawn together with their local and out-of-province allies.

    Besides the Baier family, three other noble houses from Linn Province and two groups sent from the empire''s capital would participate in theing massacre.

    Because of this, while gathering his men for this critical day, the Baier patriarch was quite happy, feeling that he could finally return all the humiliation of his family because of Lothur.

    ''Just you wait, you bastard! If you return, you''ll find this family ruined!'' David thought to himself, knowing that Lothur probably couldn''t take revenge since Nascent Soul Transcendents were in the city to arrest young Ritter.

    That was why he and his allies were nning to act now!

 Chapter 562 Imminent Attack

    ?

    A few hourster...

    Lothur had gone through almost the entire first level of thebyrinth he had entered earlier, having killed several beasts on his way.

    At the moment, he was in front of the stairs that would take him to the next level, where he faced thest opponents on his way.

    He was pretty exhausted, with blood from several beasts covering his clothes so that he stank profusely.

    At the same time, his breathing was agitated, and due to the various wounds around his body healing, he barely noticed the odor in his surroundings.

    Meanwhile, he saw the system warnings regarding his improvements in this ce.

    [+10.2 in all physical attributes.]

    [+7.2 in AGI.]

    [+3 in WIL.]

    [+3 in CON.]

    [+9.5 in DEX.]

    [+10.1 in STR.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 228.8] [CON: 434.5] [DEX: 233.9] [AGI: 226.5]

    [INT: 135.6] [PER: 239.9] [WIL: 182]

    [EVF: 1,524]

    Seeing this, Lothur was satisfied since his purpose was not to get stronger through fighting but to reach the leaf that should be somewhere underground.

    ''That''s good. The more I improve before I absorb what''s inside that leaf, the better my result will be after that happens.'' He smiled amid his meditation, trying to recover.

    As he did so, he thought about what he had seen so far. ''In any case, this is not a ce with prizes...'' His eyes narrowed.

    During his entire traversal through that level of thebyrinth, Lothur had found no nts or other objects that might be valuable to him. Besides the many beasts, the defensive and offensive formations in various traps in his path were the only things eye-catching.

    These might be useful for him to gain new inspiration, but they were not resources to absorb.

    Because of this, Lothur realized this ce only made it difficult for invaders like himself to enter without leaving behind items of value.

    But ces like this usually had no prizes anyway. People could be fooled by this because, in ces like these, many would die and leave their items along the way, which could be mistaken for prizes. But themon thing to happen was that only the item being protected had any significant value.

    The rest of the stuff would depend a lot on how many people had already died entering such abyrinth, something that, to Lothur''s misfortune, had never happened there, so there was nothing for him to collect.

    The Secret Realm had many resources. But they were mainly in the form of medicines, precious items formed by nature, and resources left by the dead.

    Since the ''slice'' that Lothur was in had never hosted anyone before him, thatst option was not avable to him!

    "Sigh..."

    "But it doesn''t matter." He muttered. "As long as I get that leaf, I''ll gain bonuses on my physical and mental attributes, and I''ll still be able to acquire a new trait.

    That will be good enough for this passage through the Secret Realm!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With that said, he finished recovering and set off for the second level of thebyrinth, where he would soon realize that there were more levels in this ce than he had seen from the first level.

    Also, the beasts of the second level were stronger than those of the first, something that insanely made him more serious.

    Lothur tightened his fists on his weapons and set off for a few more hours of battles underground in that area!

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Peters City...

    At this point, the night was nearing its end, with daylight slowlying to brighten this region.

    Amidst the nearness of daybreak, forces of the Baier family, Vogel, and his allies were already in ce around the headquarters of House Frost, preparing for an attack.

    Several carriages were positioned at the sides of the streets in that part of the city as if they were just parked, something normal to see around this city.

    At the same time, men from these families, disguised as ordinary citizens, were strolling along the nearby streets as if they were just returning home after a day''s work.

    Others were in nearby establishments, talking in low voices, as customers in these ces would do any day and time.

    Peters City was a city of over half a million people. Consequently, people were moving through the local streets at almost every moment of the day.

    Furthermore, amid the Secret Realm event, many tourists were in the city, further elevating the movement around the city.

    To give you an idea, even though it was pretty early orte, depending on your perspective, the central square in front of the Morning Star Academy had at least a couple of hundred people following the event!

    Precisely because of this, these people intended to attack the Frost family during the Secret Realm!

    One of these groups around the Frost family headquarters was watching the street movement, worried about possible interference.

    In an attack like this, there were groups with different responsibilities. Some would attack at the first moment, others would act after the invasion was established, others would defend, and others would watch the surroundings.

    One of the men of the watch groups noticed the tranquility in their vicinity andmented to his colleagues. "The south side is practically deserted."

    "Yes, I also have a simr view of the north side." Anothermented, sensing that the heavens favored their leaders'' ns.

    In another group of this alliance of Lothur''s enemies, one inside an estate in the vicinity of the Frost family, the men and women there were alsomenting on the timing of the attack.

    "It looks like we won''t have any problems." The leader of that groupmented to hispanions. "There don''t seem to be any unforeseen events to get in our way."

    "Is everyone ready? We will start the attack in 60 minutes." A woman looked at the hourss with the time remaining for the joint attack to begin.

    Each group that would be responsible for breaking through the defenses of the Frost estate had hoursses to mark the time of the attack.

    They would attack simultaneously to weaken the Frost family as much as possible, opening up spaces for their leading warriors to enter the conflict to fight their main opponents.

    And so, the leaders of the families about to attack the headquarters of House Frost were also positioned near that ce.

    They were underground since this was the only way so many powerful cultivators could hide their soul fluctuations and avoid alerting their targets.

    They were in tunnels their families had built in the past weeks, one of them even leading into the interior of the Frost estate, made by the members infiltrating those forces.

    David Baier, together with some high-level members of this family, was in this tunnel, eager to spill Aiken''s blood.

    Next to him, the Transcendent sent by the Stauss family was calmly waiting for the moment to fight with Mabel, who was the only concern of this group.

    "We just have to wait for our infiltrators to release Simon, and we will start the attack right after the rebellion in the Frost family begins," David said, seeing that it wasn''t long before that would happen.

    The infiltrators in that family would act when it was less than an hour away.

    Considering this, those people should already be moving to free Aiken''s uncle!

    ...

 Chapter 563 The Infiltrators

    ?

    While the various enemies of the Frost family were already waiting for the attack to begin, two of the infiltrators into Viktoria''s family were on their way to where Simon was under house arrest.

    A man and a woman were walking through the inner streets of the Frost estate, dressed as servants of that family, showing no spiritual fluctuations.

    To any unsuspecting person who saw them there, they would look like two mortals without any cultivation.

    But not only that, given how long they had served this family, anyone in this ce would be in doubt even if someone were to point a finger and name them as traitors.

    One of them had been in this family for more than 40 years!

    Even the woman, the youngest of the two in this organization, had been living and serving this family for 15 years.

    But not only that, both had served the family with excellence over the years, often delivering better results than requested.

    As such, anyone would give the benefit of the doubt to these people if they were used of treason or of being infiltrators into this family.

    However, both were in this organization to assist outside interests in manipting or destroying this family.

    The Third Prince''s interest was to have the Frost family on his side. He wanted to do this by overthrowing Aiken and putting Simon, someone favorable to him, in power. But if that was not possible, this imperial throne contender was willing to destroy this lineage!

    That''s why he had invested in this ce for decades, and now his ns were finally maturing!

    These two had been ced there by the prince, and amid Lothur and Viktoria''s absence, the opportunity that the Secret Realm brought, those two would free Simon to fulfill their purpose there.

    "What do you think of this n?" The woman asked herpanion, feeling a little nervous about their group''s n.

    They knew about Lothur''s origin and the characteristics of this young man when he joined the Frost family. But in a matter of months, he had changedpletely, had be powerful, and hade up with revolutionary ideas.

    That was rather impressive!

    Because of this, such a woman was a bit suspicious about the actions of their group, something that would irritate Lothur immensely.

    That man knew that his associate''s concern was not misced, but he was confident in their leaders'' ns. "Although Lothur really is a monster, he has no way to do anything against us. If he survives the Secret Realm, he will have two Nascent Soul Transcendents on his trail!

    In a matter of days, he will be in the imperial prison, where he will either die or stay there for the rest of his life!"

    The imperial prison was a terrible ce not only because of the strength of its inmates and the fact that they lived practically free inside that impossible-to-escape ce.

    The focal point of everything, and what was responsible for that ce being impossible to escape, was that it was impossible to cultivate inside it.

    The imperial prison had powerful formations that made the ce''s interior practically barren of spiritual energy.

    It wasn''t to the point where there was nothing of spiritual energy there, but it was a minimal amount that was barely enough for a 3rd stage expert to regain their powers after casting one of their techniques.

    That wasn''t enough for someone to cultivate and continue their spiritual progress.

    Without the possibility of cultivating, no inmate would evene close to achieving what was necessary to breach the defenses created by Gold-grade formations, the strongest in the entire empire.

    ording to rumors, even the emperor, supposedly the strongest man in the empire, would have difficulty escaping from there if he were one of the inmates.

    Therefore, once Lothur entered there, this man was confident that young Ritter would no longer progress spiritually and, if not killed by the other inmates, would spend the rest of his life in prison.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Ritter Motor Company would still exist to annoy Lothur''s enemy families. Still, without the presence of its leader, the other associates could be convinced not to seek revenge.

    Thus, this man felt that their organization''s problems would be minimal.

    "I hope that''s right..." That woman said as she viewed Simon''s residence. "The way Lothur is, and considering the wealth he would have in the future if he manages to escape the two Transcendents, that will be the end of us."

    "You worry too much." The man said, smiling, for he was sure of what would happen next.

    The battle would certainly have its risks, but everything should be fine as long as they survived today!

    ...

    As those two moved into Simon''s house and other allies of theirs positioned themselves around the Frost estate, this man was anxiously waiting for the moment to act.

    Besides four people from the empire capital who were infiltrating this family, he had his son, wife, and half a dozen relevant elders who preferred him in Aiken''s ce.

    Apart from his closest rtives, the others would not fight him if they had no chance of winning and would continue to ept the weak Aiken as patriarch. But if this man had the necessary outside support, these were people willing to start a rebellion on his side.

    He kept himself informed through his son and wife. So he was aware of what was about to happen and the position of those favorable to him within the Frost family.

    Hence, even with his cultivation sealed, this man was smiling while sitting on the couch in the living room of his home, as he felt hisst minutes as an inmate of his own home.

    ''Aiken, Aiken, Aiken... You didn''t want to be on the side of progress, so you can''tin about what''s about to happen.'' He wickedly smiled. ''You chose that. It was your decision.

    Now I can only remove you frommand of the family to save our lineage.''

    "Sigh... I hope you and my brother get together in hell." He clenched his fists, feeling the urge to achieve ultimate power within this family rising to his head.

    Improving his status was not so different from improving his level. As such, the feeling was delightful!

    His son and wife came down from their rooms to wait for this moment beside him, both of them already with their armor and weapons, while Simon''s wife had a spatial ring with items for her husband to use.

    "Finally, that day hase, dad!" Viktoria and Annaliese''s cousinmented as he patted his old man on the back. "After today, we will get rid of the damned Lothur, control the family, and still be partners in the Ritter Motor Company!

    Fate is on our side!"

    Simon smiled, seeing how the actions of his enemies were slowly getting on his side to secure his future as the patriarch Frost.

    "With me in power, the family will return to the position of glory from centuries ago!" He remarked to those two as they waited for the people who would release him.

    Amid this, Mabel and Aiken were listening to them from one of the rooms in that house, both wearing spiritual cloaking items to prevent others from noticing their spiritual fluctuations.

    Due to the content of thements, the two were red with anger, wanting to spill the blood of this family of three.

    ''Just one more moment...'' Mabel sped her hands, waiting for whoever would release Simon.

    ...

 Chapter 564 Turnaround

    ?

    While Mabel and Aiken were ready to act, the man and woman about to free Simon arrived at this man''s house as if nothing strange was happening.

    They usually went there to bring supplies to this family since they had to deal with such matters daily as servants of House Frost.

    Because of this, when the two entered that house, at first, Mabel and Aiken just frowned, thinking that they were there by coincidence.

    The guards on the outskirts of that residence did not suspect anything either, allowing them to enter without difficulty.

    After entering, it didn''t take long for them to move toward where Simon was smiling in anticipation of his freedom.

    The man said in a low voice. "We must act quickly. The allies of our group are already waiting for the moment to begin the attack. We must incite the mes of rebellion urgently!"

    The woman began manipting the formation sealing Simon''s cultivation while this man asked. "How are our inner allies? Ready for whates next?"

    "Yes, his supporters within the Frost family just need to see you free, and they will join the rest of us." That manmented as he saw the three residents of that house smiling with the good development of their affairs.

    Hearing that, Mabel clenched her fists as Aiken narrowed his eyes, noting that these people were the enemies they had been expecting.

    ''Are there still more infiltrators?'' He thought angrily, noting the number of enemies within their property.

    Mabel realized this as well but no longer held back.

    In a sh, she went towards those people, appearing behind the woman about to release Simon.

    "What?" The man in front of Simon, informing him about the situation in this family, was surprised that Mabel appeared there.

    Simon and his family members also opened their eyes in shock at this change in events before Aiken appeared behind that man who looked like a mortal.

    "Shit..." The woman about to release Simon said in a low voice as Mabel crushed her neck.

    She was a cultivator and not a mortal. But still, she was only at level 12. In the face of Mabel''s overwhelming power, this infiltrator into House Frost met her end in a few moments!

    "Worms, you''re all going to die!" She said as she let go of the body of that woman dressed as a servant, looking at the other people there while Aiken was already overpowering that man.

    He was a little stronger than the dead woman at Mabel''s feet. But still, he was at level 14, weaker than Aiken, who was at the peak of level 15.

    Thus, this man faced difficulties withstanding Aiken, who had acted unawares against him and alreadynded a blow on him.

    Aiken quickly removed the mobility of one of that man''s legs with his initial blow and was now trying to overpower him on the ground.

    Simon paled as he realized their situation, still with his cultivation sealed, unable to do anything.

    But he managed to shout to his wife and son. "Run!"

    "Humph! Do you think you have the right?" Mabel asked coldly, tired of these people who continued to have dangerous ideas against their family even after being caught in treason.

    She then moved, throwing two blows, one in the direction of Simon''s wife, the other in the direction of the son.

    Since these people had conspired with Simon, they had no salvation. Even if they were both fragile in front of her, this woman would have no mercy on their souls.

    And with that, as those two feared the end, crying out for Simon''s name, their bodies were crushed by Mabel''s attacks, signaling the end of their existence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Simon saw this and screamed with all his breath as tears of blood began to flow from his eyes.

    He fell to his knees on the ground but was faced with the power of a Silver-grade formation; he had no chance to free his cultivation and try to do something about the situation.

    Mabel did not pity this traitor, nor did she expect him to deliver the location of the infiltrators in this family. So after showing the end of Simon''s wife and son, she took him by the neck, looking into his eyes as she strangled him.

    "That''s your end, worm."

    Those were thest words Simon heard before he died at Mabel''s hands, having departed this world extremely disappointed and full of bitterness.

    As his body fell to the ground, a small glowing dot momentarily appeared below him, falling to the underground of that area...

    No one in the surrounding area paid any attention, setting Simon''s lifeless body aside.

    Mabel looked at the other man, already practically immobilized by Aiken, and used her spiritual pressure to finish overpowering that opponent.

    "Tell me who the other infiltrators in the family are, and I will release you alive." She said in a tone charged with a desire to kill as Aiken went to her side.

    He said. "Make the right choice. My family and allies know your faction''s n to act against us through a rebellion and invasion. Then we will not be defeated. It is your group that will be exterminated today.

    But you don''t have to die with all of them!"

    That man felt suffocated not only by Mabel''s cultivation pressure but also by his discovery.

    He couldn''t help but shiver in fear as he thought more about it.

    ''Even if he is lying, Simon is dead! Without him, the Frost family nobles will not rebel and be able to rally against the invasion about to happen.

    In this situation, my chance of dying will significantly increase, and even if I survive, the losses from this event will cost me punishment from my family!'' He concluded that he could lose less if he epted the deal these people had for him.

    "Very well, I will tell you who they are as long as you assure me I can leave this ce alive!" He said with difficulty.

    "We promise." The two said simultaneously, signaling that they would not break their words.

    That man saw that and felt he had no choice but to follow through with this so he could live. "There are other infiltrators in that family, but they are not many. They are..."

    That man quickly delivered the identities of each person ced within that family by powers from the empire''s capital.

    After hearing that, Mabel immediately left from there, heading towards the likely locations of those people, something this man also gave them.

    As for Aiken, he looked disgustedly at that man before making a final decision about that person.

    "I will release you, Mark, if that is your name. But before that, leave your cultivation behind!" That man said angrily, feeling his calm personality cooling a few degrees as a de of ice appeared between his fingers.

    Then, as that person trembled with fear, pale to the extreme, Aiken ripped the spiritual nd from the base of that man''s head, not killing him but crippling him.

    "Nooooooooooooo!"

    ...

 Chapter 565 Eve Of Battle

    ?

    After a sharp scream came from inside Simon''s residence, the guards nearby, surprised by Mabel''s sudden departure, rushed into the house.

    Immediately upon entering there, sensing that something wrong was happening, they saw four bodies on the floor, and that man on his knees in front of Aiken, weeping copiously.

    He was in a lot of pain, but what was worse was the fact that his enemy had just destroyed his spirit nd.

    Without this part of his being, he could no longer absorb the Natural Laws and spiritual energy, as well as being unable to use the powers of his soul.

    Even though he had cultivated for centuries, he had now lost everything and would be no different than a 1st stage cultivator, unable to use spiritual energy outside his body.

    The guards saw the situation there and opened their eyes wide, hardly able to believe what was in front of them.

    Aiken practically stepped on his uncle''s body!

    Not only that, Viktoria''s father had always been a peaceful, calm person. So to see him around so many bodies was surprising.

    "Patriarch..." One of those men said after swallowing his saliva.

    Aiken finally looked at those people, feeling that he had to move quickly to raise the defenses of the Frost estate.

    "Keep up with me. The family is about to be attacked by enemies!" He shouted as he grabbed his weapon and left from there.

    The guards followed him, ignoring those bodies and the crippled, crying man.

    But they were still curious, and one of them asked. "What is going on, patriarch? Why were Simon and his family killed?"

    "Simon was nning to rebel and start something that would make it easier for the forces right now in the vicinity of our headquarters to attack us." Aiken was straight to the point. "Mabel and I found that out earlier, and that''s why we acted, killing those people and eliminating the infiltrators in the family."

    "Infiltrators?" More than one person asked.

    "Yes, there were four infiltrators in the family minutes ago. But now one of them is crippled, one is dead, and Mabel must be killing the rest right now." He said. "Anyway, forget about it. I want you guys to immediately alert the rest of the family to prepare for battle.

    We have less than 20 minutes until the moment of confrontation!"

    Gulp!

    Those men epted Aiken''s orders without further question, feeling their hearts beating stronger but also a little more respectful towards him.

    Finally, this man had taken a more proactive attitude and was acting strongly to secure the future of this family!

    They still wanted to know more about Simon and the others, but amid a threatened outside attack, they could not dy on ount of people who were already dead!

    ...

    In another part of the Frost estate...

    Mabel had just killed the other two infiltrators on this estate. She was now standing before the elders who would join Simon after his escape.

    They were gathered with the two dead men at Mabel''s feet, so they were pale with fear at the sight of this woman and those two bodies.

    "Matriarch..." One of them muttered in a low voice, realizing that Mabel was fully aware of what they nned to do.

    This woman narrowed her eyes but did not act against them. Her family was about to be attacked. She could not start an internal problem just at this moment!

    She decided to give these people a chance to die defending this house!

    "Simon is dead, and so are his son and wife." She said. "All the infiltrators are eliminated, and Aiken is gathering our warriors to face a threat about to fall upon us.

    You have only one option now, fight for your family and defend our headquarters!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    We will solve any problems after this day is over!"

    They received this information in different ways, some relieved, others resentful, because they didn''t believe in the family improving with Aiken and Mabel in power.

    The Ritter Motor Company had given the family space, another chance for it not to decline any further and to breathe a little. But this did not change the fact that the family still had many enemies that could destroy them at any time.

    To avoid this organization''s downfall, they thought supporting Simon was the way to go. Unfortunately, with his death, the risk that this house would meet its end had gone up a few notches!

    But there was nothing they could do about it. Simon was dead, and there was no longer any chance of a rebellion happening inside this ce.

    In this case, in order not to perish at Mabel''s hands, those men epted that they would have to fight on Aiken''s side once more.

    With this decided, they set off at Mabel''s side to protect the headquarters of this family!

    ...

    At the same time, in Lothur''s house...

    Annaliese, the young pregnant woman, had just woken up after a member of the Koch family knocked on her door, bringing urgent news.

    She was sleeping more heavily than ever, so she had not heard the calls in hermunication formation.

    That''s why she had a sleepy expression on her face as she woke up when the sun was still rising over the horizon.

    "What''s up? Why are you here at this time of the morning?" She asked in a strange tone, her throat dry.

    "Second Miss Frost, the family is about to be attacked. Everyone is moving to stop the invasion!" That person said, a little nervous after calling for Annaliese in front of that house for thest 20 minutes.

    By this point, the battle was pretty much in the offing, following what they had heard from the Vogel family cars.

    "What?" Annaliese went pale upon hearing that, feeling that she had to move to protect her family.

    That person did not know about her pregnancy, and so he was there precisely to encourage her to join the battle.

    Annaliese might be young, but everyone in Peters City already knew that she was as strong or stronger than her own father.

    She could help a lot in thebat about to take ce!

    "The Frost family allies are already moving in, so the Miss can join one of those groups." He said, eager to get going from there.

    "Really? Has my family already been warned? Do you think we have a good chance of winning?" She changed her expression.

    "Yes, we warned almost everyone hours ago. As for victory, we think the odds are on our side."

    "Hmm, that''s good to hear." She rxed. "I won''t join the start of the confrontation. Have someone notify me when the worst is over. I will visit my family after that."

    "What?" That man opened his mouth in surprise, unable to believe that someone so strong would omit herself just now. "But why?"

    "I am out of condition to fight. I would only get in the way of the battle." She said, running her hands over her belly as she returned inside the house to rest.

    After that, that man stood there for a few moments before deciding to return to his position so as not to miss the battle about to take ce.

    The odds were really in favor of the Ritter Motor Company forces, so he wanted to fight for the chance to plunder the bodies of his enemiester!

    ...

 Chapter 566 The Great Ambush

    ?

    When the hoursses of the groups that would start the invasion of the Frost family had finished, they were all more or less nervous.

    That was not only because they were preparing for an action that could take their lives. But because of the non-development of the rebellion inside the headquarters.

    They were waiting for that rebellion to invade the enemy outpost more easily and have better chances for victory and survival.

    But no sign of Simon''s rebellion reached these people outside the Frost family headquarters. Therefore, many couldn''t help but get anxious, feeling that they would have to act against this family the hard way.

    After a few seconds past the time they should have started their attack, the first groups began to move, as there was no alternative ahead of them.

    They could not retreat, as this would spoil months of ns and alert the enemy forces of their interests. In this case, it was better to take a little risk now!

    "Attack!"

    "Attack with everything you''ve got!"

    "Kill the bastards in your way!"

    The leaders of these groups around the Frost family estate shouted to their men, encouraging them in this early day and battle.

    More than a hundred low-level 2nd stage cultivators began to move against the Frost family walls, with weapons in their hands and spiritual techniques being activated.

    Amidst the initial movement of these men, the leaders of the families involved in this attack, within a tunnel that led directly to an alternative entrance to the Frost estate, moved as well.

    They had no visual confirmation that the rebellion was not happening since they were underground and could not see the situation on the surface. But no noise that they expected toe from that property was reaching them.

    So as they moved toward the interior of that property, these men and women had ugly expressions on their faces, not understanding who had made a mistake.

    "David, I think the Frost family has managed to predict the movements of our infiltrators." The Transcendent who was there to stop Mabelmented, thinking about that possibility.

    "Damn! The fight will be much harder then!"

    "But even so, we still have several advantages in our favor!" David said, feeling that they couldn''t stop this attack and that they had a good chance. "Even if they did discover the rebellion, that was undoubtedly short notice. After all, 4 hours ago, our infiltrators reported that everything was fine for their action.

    So I doubt the Frost family forces are prepared for this early morning!"

    House Vogel''s patriarch was also there and agreed with his ally. "Let''s take action. The battle will be a little more difficult, but we have the advantage!"

    After this man''s words, this group of the strongest enemies of House Frost about to fight that day finally arrived at where their tunnel led.

    When they arrived, they immediately ran into a battalion waiting for them, with Mabel there to face them.

    David Baier saw that and frowned, seeing some of the men who were supposed to be standing next to Simon on that woman''s side.

    "Traitorous bastards!" He shouted upon seeing them as Mabel red at the Transcendenting from the capital.

    "It seems that high-level forces desire my family''s downfall, uh?" She asked as she looked at that individual before making her threat. "For I expect those forces to withstand the pressure once my family wins today. No longer will we be peaceful as before!"

    "Humph! You talk a lot for someone in your position, Mabel Rios!" That level 16 man said in an arrogant tone before setting off towards her.

    At the same time, the other individuals in that group, people at levels 14 and 15, went towards the elders Mabel had brought with her, some of them former supporters of Simon, who had indicated this ce to her.

    "Where is Simon?" The Vogel patriarch asked his opponent, someone, who was supposed to be his ally on this day.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That man continued battling with this former ally and said. "Simon is dead, and so is his son and his wife. All the insiders in the family are finished."

    "What? How is that possible? A few hours ago, everyone was fine!" That man eximed as he attacked his level 14 opponent, oppressing that man but not threatening his life for now.

    "I don''t know. The fact is that Aiken and Mabel finalized our ns before they developed, and now we have no more reason to join you."

    "Oh? Where does your confidencee from?" That man frowned, attacking a little harder.

    "Your families will be wiped out before dawn. You shouldn''t have underestimated the damned Lothur!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, outside the Frost estate...

    Just as the first groups that would attack this ce were about to achieve their goal of clearing the way for the strongest elders to storm this ce through the walls, suddenly, enemies appeared in the vicinity.

    People from the Becker, Christen, Teusen, and Koch families appeared from inside the nearby houses, attacking with everything they had toward their backs.

    That was unexpected by all these enemies of House Frost, and at that moment, none of the more than a hundred people attacking the walls of that ce could react in time.

    In fractions of seconds, half of those men about to break down the defenses of Viktoria''s family were killed by the attacks of Lothur''s allies.

    Simultaneously, the strongest individuals in the group of Baier family allies nearby saw this with shock and were about to act. However, before they could even move, members of the Frost family appeared over the walls of this estate, attacking.

    Led by Aiken, theyunched attacks against the strongest enemies in the vicinity, preventing these people from saving theirrades from being ughtered.

    "Shit! It''s a trap!"

    "Fall back! I said, fall back!"

    Shouts from several people around that grandiose estate erupted in the surroundings, waking up people who lived nearby for this day that would be one of the most shocking in Peters City''s history.

    But amidst these people''s discovery that they had fallen into the trap of the opponents they nned to exterminate, more fighters appeared in the streets of that area.

    Entire battalions of some of Lothur''s associated powers appeared from a little further away from where the first of them were.

    But regardless of their distance, they were within range of their enemies and soon beganunching attacks to make life difficult for these daring people.

    That would lead to an unprecedented massacre in that part of the city, eliminating the lives of many local leaders and relevant envoys from powers outside this province.

    The Third Prince''s group hoped to wipe out their enemies in that city today, but all they would achieve would be to drive that province away from thempletely.

    After today, no allies would be left for him in Linn Province. There would only be powers friendly to Lothur, the real winner of this conflict!

    However, the battles would not stop with the great ambush in front of the Frost estate.

    At the headquarters of Lothur''s enemy families leading this attack, men from the Koch family were already preparing to do something shocking, which they knew their leader would greatly appreciate!

    ...

 Chapter 567 Too Late

    ?

    In front of the Baier family headquarters...

    In this ce, the heart of this noble family, a group of 15 men from the Koch family, was in the vicinity of this ce, intending to attack.

    They were few, and the strongest of them was only at level 14, weaker than the leader of the organization they intended to attack. But in this day and time, this would not be a problem for them.

    This ce had be virtually unprotected, with David and the strongest family experts attacking the Frost headquarters!

    There were a few level 14 and 13 cultivators on that estate at the moment, and the family''s defenses were up.

    After all, in situations like today, families like this typically take such precautions.

    But considering everyday situations, that was the same as being defenseless, even more so for this group about to attack this ce!

    "Everyone in position?" One of the strongest of that group asked, standing in position around that estate next to a weapon with offensive formations aimed at the building in front of him.

    The other members of House Koch there agreed, immediately after that, beginning to arm their weapons to destroy the defensive barriers of that ce.

    "Get ready!" He shouted, no longer caring to be heard. "One... Two... Three... Fire!"

    At that instant, five different cannon-like weapons fired toward the outer walls of the Baier estate, marking the beginning of this attack.

    As the cannonballs of more than 70 centimeters in radius fired at those walls, noise spread throughout the vicinity, alerting the neighbors and the Baier family.

    Unfortunately, soon after the cannon noise, the walls protected by formations began to break in the face of the cannonballs!

    "Enemy attack!"

    "Quick, get your defenses up! Prepare your weapons!"

    Shouts arose from inside the Baier family headquarters, where the weakest were pale with fear, and the strongest was already sweating in awe at what this meant.

    They would have a difficult time there today. Surviving would not be simple at all. But to be attacked like this while their leaders were attacking the Frost family was a terrible indication!

    ''This is an ambush! The patriarch and the elders are under serious risk!'' One of the strongest elders left behind to guard the ce trembled with fear at the possibility of the family being erased from existence after this day.

    Gulp!

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Vogel family headquarters!

    Just as was happening at the Baier family headquarters, this ce was under attack.

    Some members of the Koch family were there with Elisabeth, Reba, and the other two disciples of this woman, there to participate in the destruction of this family.

    The Vogel family was one of Lothur''s and House Frost''s enemies and acted today to end young Ritter''s interests. As such, like the other organizations in Linn Province acting on this day, they were marked for death!

    As Elisabeth was someone who had issues with this family, a maverick who would love to see the end of her blood rtives, she could not help but help her associates and take revenge.

    In the past, her parents had been killed by the patriarch and some of the most important elders of this family in an internal power struggle. Elisabeth had sought justice and tried to bring honor to her family but had been discredited, cast out of the family, and forced to watch her parents'' enemies destroy their legacy.

    As such, she had sworn that she would no longer be a member of the Vogel family, that she would never again help this family, and if she had the chance, she would destroy it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The chance she had been waiting for had finally arrived, so she was there to help the members of the Koch family attack this ce without suffering significant risks from the poisons of this organization.

    Beside her, her disciples were there to help herplete her revenge, knowing what she had been through in this cruel family.

    In particr, Reba, currently at level 13 of soul and 12 of body cultivation, was eager to have the blood on her hands of those who dared to act against Lothur''s interests.

    Because of him, she was still alive and had also gained more control over her abilities that scared even Transcendents.

    With these abilities, after the cannons of the Koch family destroyed the walls of the Vogel family, she was the first to move towards the interior of that ce, absorbing much of the defensive poison of that property.

    Elisabeth acted immediately afterward to help her disciple clear the way for the Koch family men, with her two other disciples trying to help them in any way they could.

    In the midst of this, the Vogel family elders left behind were pale, seeing Reba managing to neutralize their defenses practically single-handedly.

    Poison masters were not as good at fighting as other spiritual professionals. They depended heavily on their poisons for this.

    So by having their primary weapon neutralized and face-to-face with enemies at the same level as them but with betterbat proficiencies, most already feared their demise.

    "Run! Run while you can!"

    "The enemies are too strong for us!"

    "Yes, if we run away, some of us may survive. They can''t chase all of us!"

    Shouts broke out among those fearful people, as several of this family''s guards died at the hands of the Koch family members attacking this ce.

    ...

    Other attacks like those on the Baier and Vogel family were happening in Peters City, along with therge ambush outside the Frost estate.

    Because of the various battles around Peters City this morning, it didn''t take long for the various powers, unaware of the ns of Lothur''s allies and enemies, to discover what was happening.

    Even the people following the Secret Realm rankings in the Morning Star Academy za put aside the young people''s progress in that special ce to pay attention to the local news.

    In particr, the Duke of the Province, the visitors who wanted to get their cars faster, and those two individuals in that city to arrest Lothur were the most impressed by everything.

    After today, things for this province would change, with this territory taking Lothur''s good side.

    The news was flowing fast, so the forces in this ce soon discovered that Lothur''s enemies had made a big mistake that day. Some of those people would even have their families wiped out!

    Some who received this news would send people to try to stop the confrontation. Yet, by the time the news spread, the consequences of the acts of several local forces were already definite.

    The damage had already been done, and by the time the imperial guard managed to do something, more than 80% of those who decided to attack Frost House today were dead!

    Amid this, two of the three local noble families acting against Annaliese''s house were wiped out just before the imperial guard reached their headquarters!

    And so the two envoys of the Third Prince were boiling with rage, noting that even in the Secret Realm, Lothur was causing havoc to their young master''s ns!

    "Bastard Ritter! You will pay for this!" The level 17 man clenched his fists and said, looking at the formation that showed Lothur''s situation within the Secret Realm.

 Chapter 568 Shocking Start Of The Day

    ?

    Two hours after the start of the day...

    At this instant, the streets of Peters City were filled with people, with manying and going from the general quarters of some local families.

    These people were not allowed to enter these ces, obviously. But they crowded in front of these properties to see if the rumors were true.

    Two families had supposedly been wiped out on the morning of this day. At the same time, another had lost more than 80% of its members and had only been saved because Transcendents from outside the province had offered help in ''time.''

    In any case, the survivors of this family were all low-level cultivators, the strongest of them being only a 30-year-old, level 11 man.

    All the elders of this family had supposedly died either in their headquarters or the Frost family headquarters, where the worst massacre urred.

    ording to the news, more than 400 people had died near that estate, almost 100% of them 2nd stage cultivators.

    But some survivors there, like the Transcendent who had faced Mabel and some low-level 2nd stage men, had managed to escape, badly wounded.

    Because of this news, much of the local poption, mortals and cultivators, were on the streets earlier in the day to talk about and try to witness this morning''s tragedy!

    ...

    At the Peters City central station...

    Several minibusses were leaving crowded from there, while the boarding tforms were full of mortals who wanted either to go to work or to the vicinity of the devastated properties this morning.

    Many people were there intending to go home after following the Secret Realm scoreboard all night. But, at the same time, some tourists wished to try out this local service.

    Amidst these people there, the Spiritual Warriorsing from the empire''s capital with the young people participating in the Secret Realm were there to experience this service.

    They wanted to go to the front of the Frost estate while taking the opportunity to experience this service.

    But arge number of people there this morning surprised them.

    "Damn! Why is everyone taking the minibusses here? They could just walk!" One of these menmented among his group.

    "There''s nothing to do. Lothur''s minibusses are a fever among the locals... Besides, after such news, the bloodthirsty crowds would hardly let the opportunity to witness anything pass them by."

    "True..."

    "At any rate, I am impressed by all this... I didn''t expect that in action against the Frost family, the one who would be the winner would be just that family."

    "It''s shocking. I heard that several of Lothur''s partners in the Ritter Motor Company acted simultaneously to exterminate those people trying to destroy the Frost family."

    "How did they do that? Did they have an informant among their enemies?"

    "Who knows... Anything is possible."

    "Regardless of how they did it, the fact remains that Lothur and the Frost family achieved an impressive victory that morning!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, in front of the Baier estate...

    This ce was surrounded by at least a thousand or so heads, people curious to see if the rumors about this family''s end were true.

    Those who arrived there with curious expressions would soon be more serious as they witnessed a half-destroyed ce with many bodies in the surroundings.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Blood could be seen on the inner streets of this ce, which were no longer hidden from the people on the street due to the copsed outer walls.

    While the smell of blood surprised the young people in the surroundings who had never experienced the battlefield and the killing, Chris Waldeaur, the Duke, was walking there together with some colleagues and elders.

    In particr, Coroner Klossner was standing next to his old friend, walking and observing the situation of this headquarters that would no longer have nobles to inhabit it.

    This morning, the noble House Baier had been exterminated!

    All the family''s warriors, including the patriarch, had died either on the Frost estate or in this ce.

    Apart from them, the men of House Koch had exterminated all the other people of this family in this ce, even the young master, who was no longer the same since he suffered at the hands of Lothur.

    Chris and August saw the body of young Alric with arge cut on his chest and sighed when they saw the expression of terror on the face of this poor low-level cultivator.

    They hadn''t expected that things would develop this way for this day!

    Neither expected the attack against the Frost family would happen today. August was not part of the Third Prince''s faction before, and Chris, although he had been, thought that the attack would only happen at the end of the Secret Realm.

    But the forces of that prince had moved their ns forward to now to avoid trouble.

    Chris couldn''t talk about anything he knew. He had signed a confidentiality agreement before leaving the Third Prince''s faction. But even with that, that member of the imperial family had decided not to risk it and to advance his ns.

    In any case, even though he knew that something would happen against the Frost family at one time or another, the Duke had no idea that Aiken''s forces would have such a quick and decisive response!

    Several of Lothur''s allies had acted simultaneously that morning, attacking several posts and finishing off many enemies before the local forces could stop the conflict.

    The empire''sws prohibited acts like the ones this morning. Hence, the Duke of the Province, as protector of this territory, had an obligation to stop conflicts from developing. But by the time Chris heard the disturbing news this morning, most of House Frost''s allied forces had already retreated after finishing their targets.

    As the one who had been attacked in the first instance, House Frost would not have much of a problem since one would have the right to defend themselves or kill those who invaded their territories. But the allies of that family who acted against enemy headquarters could have it.

    Therefore, the Koch family and those who acted on their side finished their affairs quickly and fled, leaving behind this city in doubt about who had wiped out those two families.

    So the two saw that family''s situation, sensing the power of influence Lothur had achieved, as well as the synergy of his associated families who had acted so effectively today.

    "It seems that Lothur has prepared well to go to the Secret Realm..." Chrismented to August, seeing that many of the Baier family''s possessions were still there.

    Since the Koch family''s goal was to exterminate this noble house, its members had only killed their targets and left.

    August thenmented. "Yes. And from the speed of their reaction, I believe he must have spies in the enemy forces...

    I didn''t expect that."

    "Well, I can''t say today''s action or Lothur''s behavior is unfair," Chris said. "He gave the local powers previously opposed to him a chance to live in peace, without seeking revenge... But they insisted on attacking his allies. So one can''t say that was unfair."

    "It''s just a little shocking."

    "Quite."

    "What do you intend to do now?" The coroner asked.

    "I don''t know... First, let''s go to the Frost family. I want to talk to Aiken and Mabel to understand the situation better."

    ...

 Chapter 569 Arrest

    ?

    As the Duke of the Province and August departed the Baier family for House Frost, the Transcendents, Dukes of other Leopoldine provinces, were on the outskirts, observing the situation.

    They were still in Peters City to monitor the Secret Realm and the return of Lothur. But upon hearing about the shocking events of this morning, the two could not help bute to the streets to observe the damage done by that young man''s faction.

    Both were amazed at the destruction this morning, something hard to see happening in the empire in such a short time.

    Families were destroyed asionally, and watching powers meeting their end was not so difficult as to make the Peters City event unprecedented. But these things happened after weeks, months, and years ofbat or decline.

    Hundreds of experts and more than one family disappearing in a matter of minutes was not normal to happen!

    With that, both Dukes were shocked by this event they had never witnessed before.

    One observed the situation on that now ownerless estate and asked the other. "Don''t you find that strange?"

    "What? What do you mean?"

    "From what we''ve heard, the factional allies of the Third Prince in this city were the ones who initiated the attack on Frost House. And they intended to do it by surprise... But even so, the ones who acted by surprise were Lothur''s allies."

    "Oh? Thinking about it that way, it is a bit strange. Did Lothur''s group know that the Frost family would be attacked?" That individual understood his colleague''s line of reasoning.

    "Probably... But how did he do that? I thought the Third Prince''s allies had Blood Contracts preventing them from saying dangerous things."

    "That''s a good question. Maybe he has his own means. I hear that the Koch family is very close to him."

    Those two continued talking, having left from there to see the situation at the headquarters of the Vogel family, that power that had also been wiped out this morning.

    Upon arriving at that ce, the two saw the bodies of many elders with poisoning marks, something strange to see in poison masters.

    "Uh? How is that possible?" One of them eximed. "Those poison masters have been poisoned to death!"

    The other one paled as he realized that those were 2-star poison masters. To die from poisoning, they would have to suffer from Silver-grade substances, only produced by 3-star poison masters.

    Someone of that rank could endanger even Transcendents, so immediately, the two were careful not to touch anything in that ce.

    The crowds near that property were also watching out for Reba''s poison, which had killed more than a hundred people that morning.

    ...

    Sometimeter, at Elisabeth''s house...

    At this moment, a group of imperial guards had just arrived, intent on arresting Reba for this morning''s atrocities.

    Unlike the other people who had acted against the headquarters of Lothur''s enemies this morning, Reba had been the only one to leave any trace of her actions.

    But that wasn''t entirely her fault for her foolish negligence. Her poison was somewhat different from that of ordinary poison masters. Because of this, soon, the men beginning their investigations into what had happened in the Vogel family realized a potent poison that only someone with the Ancient Poison Body could produce.

    Through this, they were there to take this woman!

    "Reba, surrender now, or we will invade this ce!" One of the leaders of the imperial guard in that city, level 15, shouted, threatening everyone in that house.

    The imperial guard was present in every city with more than 200,000 inhabitants in the empire. However, it did not act as ruler of these areas but as protector and enforcer of the Emperor''sws.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    So the Peters City group was acting this morning to try to control that city''s situation, maintain order, and prevent the state from losing more of its families. In the midst of this, they would also seek to enforce justice!

    Elisabeth had overlooked that her disciple''s poison was indistinguishable, something she had never realized since it had never been her intention to cover her tracks in actions like today''s.

    So she was feeling terrible right now for having put her disciple in this situation without even realizing it.

    ''Damn it. I put Ba in danger because of a personal matter!'' She was pale with nervousness as she heard the door of her residence being mmed.

    Reba was standing next to Elisabeth and the two disciples of this level 15 woman, a little scared to tell the truth but not ming her master.

    She was the one most used to her Physique, so she should be the one to know her characteristics and take necessary actions to protect herself.

    So she med her dumbness andck of attention for this situation.

    "What do we do?" The young man there asked, sensing that Reba had no escape. "If Lothur were here, we could do something about it... But with him in the Secret Realm, it will be difficult to deal with."

    "Yes, Reba had better surrender herself, and we should get help from the allies at the Ritter Motor Company. There''s no point in us just standing around here." Rosa, the rival of that young woman with the Ancient Poison Body, suggested.

    Reba clenched her hands when she heard this, but she couldn''t fight back at the woman''s words. She then said. "I''ll do it!"

    "Ba, wait!" Elisabeth said nervously.

    "No, mistress, I have to do it. Rosa is right. There is no point in us just standing here. That may even generate implications for you." Reba refused to listen to her mistress, heading toward the exit. "I know this will be risky, but I trust that you and the rest of the Ritter Motor Company will do something to help me. So I''m not worried."

    "Ba..."

    "That..."

    While that young man and Elisabeth felt bad about it, Reba said aloud to the people on the other side of that house. "Imperial guards, this is me speaking, Reba. I wille out and surrender, so please don''t attack."

    "Very well, I guarantee that you will not be attacked." Themander of those men shouted as he indicated for his men to put down their weapons but maintain their guard.

    Then the main door of Elisabeth''s residence slowly opened, and a green-haired young woman came out, her hands raised above her head.

    "Reba B?ttger, on behalf of His Imperial Majesty, you are under arrest for the murder of 102 members of the Vogel family." He said aloud before three men dressed in strange equipment approached her.

    They were carrying armaments capable of neutralizing potent poisons, something sent by the imperial family for situations like these.

    The three individuals quickly ced several items on Reba''s body, covering her mouth and hands, handcuffing her, and sealing her cultivation with a formation on her neck.

    A poison master could produce poisonous substances all over their body. Still, their main production areas were their hands, mouth, and genitals.

    The poison produced by other areas could be easily avoided by touching them using ordinary gloves.

    Thus, they arrested her and soon put her into a carriage to take to the local detention of the imperial guard.

    "Commander Voigt, what will happen to her?" Elisabeth came out of that property and questioned anxiously.

    ...

 Chapter 570 Argument At The Frost Estate

    ?

    After hearing Elisabeth''s question, that imperial family subordinate looked at her usatory, knowing that this woman had probably fought on Reba''s side. Unfortunately, he had no proof of this and could not arrest this poison master.

    He then said dryly. "Reba will stay in Peters City for a few days. Then, when she is found guilty of the destruction of House Vogel, she will be sent to one of the prisons of the empire."

    Elisabeth clenched her fists upon hearing that, while those two youths beside her were somewhat moved by it.

    The young man was shocked, fearful for Reba''s safety since she was not weak and therefore would have to be sent to one of the high-level facilities, that is, a dangerous ce. As for Rosa, she was pleased, feeling this was her chance to get rid of her rival finally.

    ''With this, I won''t have to worry about you anymore, hehe.'' She imagined taking the ce of Elisabeth''s foremost disciple.

    Soon those people from the imperial forces in that city disappeared from the vicinity of Elisabeth''s estate. Meanwhile, this woman ran to her car, intending to seek help from her associates at the Ritter Motor Company.

    ''Reba is one of Lothur''s women, so it will be in his interest to rescue her from these people!'' She thought, leaving her other two disciples behind, already driving through the streets of Peters City.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Frost family estate...

    This ce had at least about three thousand people in its surroundings at the present moment, curious people watching the streets outside this headquarters dirty with the blood of hundreds of warriors.

    At the same time, many corpses stilly around. After all, little time had passed since the situation at this ce had developed.

    With this, the mortals and cultivators watching the area had a chance to see the bodies of several important figures locally being carried off by the Frost family men.

    Meanwhile, guards from the Becker, Christen, and Teusen families were on the outskirts taking care of perimeter security while their leaders were inside the inner area of this headquarters.

    Unlike the family headquarters that House Koch had practically obliterated, this ce had not had its outer walls torn down or suffered considerably from the battle.

    There were traces of what had happened for several blocks inside that property, as people had fought there. But this was not damage that would concern a family the size of House Frost after an attack of the magnitude of today.

    So as people who didn''t know how everything had developed, such as Chris Waldeaur and August Klossner, entered, they were somewhat surprised to see the state of this ce.

    From what they had heard, a Transcendent had fought in this ce with Mabel and several high-level Spiritual Warriors. But still, the ce looked fine, with only a few fallen tree branches in the streets and minor nicks and cracks in structures here and there.

    At the same time, the men of the Frost family seemed to be collecting only the bodies of enemies, which indicated this family had either had no casualties or few of them.

    That was impressive!

    Chrismented to August as he headed toward where Aiken and Mabel should be. "The Frost family not only countered the enemy attack well. They ughtered their opponents."

    "Yes, that is a shocking result," August said, surprised, for the men of the Koch family had not warned him.

    Not all of Lothur''s associates had received themunication from the Koch family. Some of these powers had no guards or armies, only a few cultivators of relevant power.

    So to avoid risking the integrity of these weaker groups, the Koch family left them aside and favored therger families in their society.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The Morning Star Academy had not been notified either since Luis could not act in concert with the rest of them. He was an envoy of the imperial family, not a local leader!

    Anyway, those two soon arrived where Mabel and Aiken were together with Gomeric, Luis, the patriarchs Teusen and Christen, and some of the high-level elders of the Frost family.

    Luis had just arrived, while the rest of those people had been there since the end of the battle, as they had actively participated in the conflict.

    Chris and August saw the wounds all over the bodies of most of those people, each of them dirty with blood and dust, with tired expressions on their faces but victorious sparkles in their eyes.

    "Patriarch and matriarch Frost, what happened here?" The Duke went straight to the point, questioning those he was obliged to question.

    Aiken looked at that man, whom he had previously expected to join in an attack against his family. But, surprisingly, things had changed considerably, and now this person was no longer on the Frost family''s enemy''s side.

    He replied tiredly, summarizing everything that had happened without reeling. "The Third Prince''s allies attacked us with force. But luckily, we were able to discover the enemy''s ns minutes before the attack by infiltrators in my family.

    After that, we quicklymunicated with our allies and got enough support to prevent the massacre of my family."

    Chris understood how these people had found out that an attack would happen since he knew about the infiltrators in the Frost family. That''s why he fully believed Aiken''s words, not suspecting this family hadmitted crimes on this day.

    If they were attacked, they had the right to defend themselves and exterminate their enemies. But if they had nned to ambush those people, there was room for them to be tried for infractions of the imperialws.

    But the evidence favored the Frost family, who had acted in the vicinity of their own headquarters.

    That was evidence enough that the side that had been exterminated had been the one with hostile intentions, contrary to the emperor''sws.

    But after he and August congratted that local leader on the swift action and cursed the offenders a bit, someone not far from there shouted to Mabel and Aiken.

    "Humph! What about what happened at the headquarters of the Vogel and Baier families? They werepletely annihted!" One of the Transcendents sent by the imperial family to apany the Secret Realm said aloud.

    Another person thenmented. "The defense of the Frost estate is not against the rules. A person has to defend what is theirs. That is everyone''s right in the empire. But what about the innocents in those two families? They were brutalized without having done anything!

    You havemitted serious crimes, Mabel, Aiken!"

    After those words, the other two Dukes of Leopoldine in that city to buy cars also arrived there, curious to know how everything had happened and how it would end.

    At the words of those people, Mabel finally lost her patience and said. "What does this have to do with us? Do you have any proof that we did anything against the headquarters of these families?

    We were fighting in this ce against people who are part of your faction, you bastard!

    Uh? What are you going to say now? If you talk shit using us, I hope you also assume what the Third Prince''s group did!"

    ...

 Chapter 571 Time To Take Over Enemy Possessions

    ?

    When everyone heard Mabel''s harsh words, silence spread to the surrounding area, with some men there swallowing their saliva in nervousness.

    The Third Prince was indeedmitting an infraction by nning the downfall of a family without the emperor''s permission. But few people would have the courage to say he should be punished for his actions.

    Also, the very fact that these people were present while Mabel was speaking ill of the Third Prince could be considered negatively. So even though they didn''t say anything, most people there were bothered because of her bold statements.

    So one of those Transcendents sent by the imperial family naturally reacted negatively. "Humph! Mabel Rios, you are arrogant!

    How dare you talk about His Highness like that? Do you really think that just because your Rios family is powerful, we will ept any kind of unfair usations?"

    The other added. "Tsk! She is trying to escape responsibility for the massacres of this day! His Highness has no bearing on the demise of any family today!

    Your House Frost or your allies did this, Mabel!"

    The principal of the Morning Star Academy then said. "It''s useless to keep using one side or the other... Without proof, it won''t lead anywhere."

    "Yes." The Duke of Linn Province said, trying to lighten tempers. "We should calm down and investigate the situation before we make usations...

    The only fact we are sure of is that several local and out-of-province families tried to act for the end of House Frost and were stopped. As for the massacres at these headquarters, we really can''t me the Frost family for that."

    "Tsk!" One of those men didn''t like to see this former ally of the Third Prince saying this, feeling that this was a traitor.

    Aiken then said. "We acted in defense of our family. That''s rather obvious. So if you have no more business to discuss here, I ask you to leave my property."

    Those imperial family men clenched their fists, but this state took private property very seriously.

    Only with an order from the emperor or indicative of a crime against the empire''sws could one organization invade the headquarters of another without suffering implications for doing so.

    In this case, they could only leave there since they could not prove that the Frost family and their allies had destroyed those families.

    But amid their departure, one of them said, thinking of Reba. "We will return."

    After the departure of those subordinates of the imperial family, the Dukes of other provinces who were in that city by the cars left as well, not having much to talk to those people.

    Lothur''s allies continued talking with the Frost family and the Duke of the Province for some more time, settling necessary matters after a conflict like today''s.

    After a while, Chris left just before Elisabeth arrived in her car, quickly running to Mabel and Aiken.

    Seeing these two and her other allies through the Ritter Motor Company, she got right to the point. "The imperial guards have arrested Reba! We must act to rescue her!"

    "What?" Gomeric asked in surprise, not expecting this development.

    "What are you talking about?" Luis questioned that woman, noting that they would still have problems concerning this for some time toe.

    Elisabeth said. "Reba''s poison is very striking and unique. That is why the imperial guards realized she participated in the attack against the Vogel family headquarters... Now she is under arrest and will possibly be sent to an empire prison!"

    Everyone there understood the situation, sensing that this would be a problem. If Reba opened her mouth to get rid of the crimes she hadmitted, the Third Prince faction could find a way to punish almost all of them.

    Even taking over their Ritter Motor Company business would not be totally impossible!

    Obviously, this would not be simple since Lothur had made thispany to be dependent on him in terms of who could learn and talk about his methods. But in his absence, or instead, in his death, the Blood Contracts would lose validity, and things could change!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As such, Reba''s situation could greatly influence those people!

    Those people looked at each other, feeling the problem upon them, trying to find a solution.

    But they could not simply eliminate Reba, or they could risk their rtions with Lothur.

    They already knew that Lothur could be arrested when he left the Secret Realm, but no one there thought this was his end. They had been surprised by him in the past and would not give up their hopes in him so quickly.

    They would have to pursue a strategy that didn''t involve eliminating Reba!

    "Well, I''ll talk to my friends at the local imperial guard post to see what we can do," Luis said before leaving.

    "We can send people to pressure the imperial guards and investigators." The leaders of the Teusen and Christen familiesmented the same thing.

    Gomeric then said. "Someone in the capital will judge that matter. Then I will send an elder there to defend Reba''s cause before the emperor."

    That said, Elisabeth watched all those leave, standing next to only the Frost family members.

    Aiken looked at her and sighed. "I''m sorry for Reba''s situation... We caused her trouble."

    "No, that is my fault. I was careless in my revenge." That poison master said in a mncholy tone.

    "Anyway, thank you for your help. After today, the family will be able to act with fewer restrictions. So if you need anything, just ask. We will help you in any way we can." Patriarch Frost said before Mabel showed her ''ws.''

    This woman said. "Now that the Baier and Vogel families are finished, we must act quickly and take their businesses andnds.

    They attacked us, so we have the right to im the right to absorb the enemy''s possessions."

    That was a custom of Concordia. When an organization was attacked and won the conflict, it had the right to im the enemy''s possessions.

    Even inplicated situations like this family''s, the victor would always take something of great value back home, even when the imperial family tried not to give them everything they were entitled to.

    Mabel knew that many forces opposed her family in the empire, so she wanted to be quick about it!

    She ignored Elisabeth and looked at the elders of her family. "Get a battalion ready. We will take the possessions of these two families until the imperial family decides what we can keep and what we have to give up."

    She departed from there with the elders, leaving Aiken and Elisabeth, who soon also parted, going their separate ways to solve their own problems.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a forest near Peters City, a dozen injured and tired people were standing at one point in that ce, resting and recovering.

    Among them, only one person was at level 16, and all the others were level 15 cultivators.

    These were the only survivors of the attack on the Frost family headquarters this morning!

    ''Damn Frosts!'' The Transcendent sent by the Third Prince thought to himself, filled with hatred for this morning''s failure. ''Just wait! This defeat will not be over! We will return today''s day with interest and correction!''

 Chapter 572 Rebeccas Situation

    ?

    A few more hours passed, and it was already evening in Peters City.

    At the end of the day, practically the entire city had already gotten used to the idea that, as of today, two local families would no longer exist, and another one would probably lose its position.

    At the same time, only those associated with Lothur Ritter would have a chance to prosper locally since practically all the remaining families in this province were allied with or favorable to him.

    But even though they were already getting used to this new reality, discussions regarding today''s events were still happening in the city, especially in the square where the poption had been following the Secret Realm.

    After more than a whole day of Secret Realm, the first death had taken ce, and the event''s ranking had changed a few times.

    Some of the youngsters had increased levels in the period, while Lothur continued the ''meaningless'' killing from before.

    As the event developed, more people became interested in standing around the za before the Morning Star Academy, discussing this event and the local happenings.

    Among the people hanging around nearby were the two level 17 Transcendents, waiting for Lothur''s return to arrest him.

    "When the bastard returns, I will make it a point to beat him until he loses consciousness!" The man said, clenching his fists in anger, for they could not act against the local powers for today''s events.

    The two favored the Third Prince, and their faction had lost badly with today''s events.

    As such, they were angry and wanted to hurt Lothur in any way they could.

    Since they could not act against these families since they were not there on the emperor''s orders, they would do so against Lothur once they took his freedom!

    "Yes, we will do that." The woman said, in agreement with herpanion. "But let''s not get careless. Lothur will probably get stronger if he doesn''t die in the Secret Realm.

    So let''s neutralize him before then and put the sealing formations on his body without letting him escape or surprise us."

    "Oh? Do you think that will be necessary?"

    "I don''t know. But it''s good to be safe." She said. "Lothur is a little box of surprises and has already irritated His Highness enough.

    It would be best if we secured his downfall before anything else."

    "Hmm, that makes sense." The man put in, putting his anger aside so as not to underestimate Lothur.

    He then picked up a formation on his spatial ring and asked. "Then we can use that. That way, we will guarantee his imprisonment even if he bes stronger than us."

    The woman didn''t like hearing the ''bes stronger than us'' part. Still, seeing that formation capable of seizing even level 18 cultivators, she epted that man''s suggestion.

    ''That way, we will ensure he is arrested!''

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the imperial guard detention in Peters City...

    In this instant, Reba was being held in one of the cells in that ce, where there was no one but her at the moment.

    It was notmon for prisoners to be kept for a long time in ces like this. Either they were sent to an empire prison or released after a few days in ces like this.

    As such, she was lying on one of the beds there without having to bother with other people, waiting for what would happen next while thinking about Lothur.

    But just as she was staring at the ceiling with the figure of that silver-haired man in her mind, the guards of this post came to her cell and started to open it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Reba B?ttger, you have been found guilty of the downfall of the Vogel family and sentenced to 500 years imprisonment in the Imperial Prison for your evil deeds on this day.

    This order takes effect immediately, so you will be sent to your new home!" Themander of this post read Reba''s sentence, causing this woman to stand up and look at him with a pale expression.

    The Imperial Prison was the ce where only Transcendents were sent. So her being directed to such a ce was a horrible sign!

    "No! That''s not fair!" She shouted, feeling wronged. "Normally, someone in my position wouldn''t have to suffer such punishment!"

    "True." That stronger man over thereughed. "But you refused to reveal your aplices in the Vogel family attacks and how the other two local noble families were attacked. So the jury found you guilty of all the empire''s losses this morning.

    But we can lessen your sentences if you agree to talk." He suggested once again.

    It was useless to try to torture this woman. The poison produced by her body was so strong that if 2nd stage people tried to cut her skin, electrocute her, or injure her internal organs, the poison woulde out of her body and poison those in the surrounding area.

    That was how terrible the Ancient Poison Body was!

    That''s why these people couldn''t torture Reba to get the information they wanted to harm Lothur''s allied families!

    Reba would not give up her mistress and all of Lothur''s allies. So she sped her hands together, feeling herself in this terrible situation of suffering the consequences of everything that had happened today.

    ''I can only hope that Lothur keeps getting stronger and gets enough influence to rescue me before it''s toote...'' She thought, holding on to this young man, who had proven himself capable of many things, giving her onest hope.

    So, she soon refused once again to talk about it, annoying the guards nearby, who soon put her into a carriage to send her to the Imperial Prison, which was in the southwest of Leopoldine, near the border with Asken.

    As she settled into that carriage, she heard thest warning from those men. "Are you sure you won''t talk? Otherwise, we will send you now, and in less than two weeks, you will be in the Imperial Prison.

    You won''t be able to escape from there or escape dying there..."

    "Fuck you!" She cursed him, prevented from spitting in that man''s face because of the formation around her mouth, which merely allowed her to speak, drink and eat.

    That man smiled hatefully and said. "Well, good luck. You''ll need it!"

    "I''ll tell you the same. Once Lothur leaves the Secret Realm, you will be the first one he will look for."

    That man was not bothered by this, knowing that Lothur would be keeping this womanpany in the Imperial Prison before long.

    "Haha, your hopes are on him? I hope you won''t be disappointed..."

    With that, the carriage with Reba departed Peters City in the dead of night without the local powers knowing what had happened.

    Everyone thought she would have more time in Peters City, so no one moved in time to try to stop it from happening!

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside the Secret Realm...

    At this moment, Lothur had just finished resting after oveing the second level of the maze and was walking toward the entrance to the third.

    As he did so, he immediately saw that only two others were on the way to the end of this underground area after the third level.

    ''So I only need to get through three more mazes, huh?'' He looked down in anticipation before running towards the first monsters in his path.

 Chapter 573 Temporary Alliance

    ?

    While Lothur continued his underground adventure, Elke was at this very moment moving toward other areas of the Secret Realm, finally in search of him and Viktoria.

    After spending much of the first 30 hours inside the Secret Realm collecting and absorbing resources, this woman had raised her level.

    She was currently at level 15 in soul cultivation and level 13 in body cultivation, having achieved a simr power to those stronger people who had entered the Secret Realm the day before.

    Having achieved her initial goal in advancing levels, Elke was running around the dangerous Secret Realm, searching for traces of herpanions.

    She knew how the Secret Realm worked. It sent people to ces where their strengths would be simr to the challenges in their paths. But from that ce, any of them could go either towards weaker areas to hide or towards stronger ones to look for more significant advances.

    She was sure that Viktoria and Lothur were in stronger areas than her own, so she began to travel the path to where the stronger beasts were after her advances.

    She had no way to track Lothur and Viktoria within the Secret Realm directly, but by following the path of the stronger ones, she knew she could get close to them.

    With that, she was already fighting the native beings of this ce on her way, but whenever possible avoiding them.

    There were beasts within the Secret Realm that were simr to those in Linn Province, but there were those beings from outside this area that would not be found even in all of Leopoldine.

    After all, this ce had been created long ago when what would be the empire was a cluster of independent territories.

    Supposedly, the powerful remnants of a powerful demon''s passage from this world were sealed in this ce, but part of the beings there were the ones who kept the seal working.

    They would mercilessly kill anyone who approached the sensitive areas where some of the remnants of the Morning Star generals were.

    So some of the creatures in this ce were quite aggressive, and avoiding them might be one of the best strategies for these youngsters in the Secret Realm.

    As someone who knew a little bit about this, Elke was trying to avoid trouble on her way, not lusting after everything that existed in this ce, as some more greedy people would do.

    ''I have to find Lothur and Viktoria soon... Only then can we benefit together!'' Elke pondered, feeling many auras filled with darkness in the surroundings, guarding precious things and death.

    ...

    In another part of the Secret Realm...

    Viktoria was at this instant running away from a set of spectres after picking up a Gold-grade weapon she had just found near some remains.

    After cing that item in her spatial ring, this woman saw half a dozen spectres appear in her surroundings and promptly started running.

    She didn''t want to deal with these hard-to-fight creatures, so she was doing her best to escape them.

    But as she did so, she became increasingly stressed about the situation. ''What''s wrong with them? Why do they keep chasing me? Don''t spectres have quite limited areas of action? How can they go so far?''

    As she wondered, those creatures flew after her,unching mental attacks, intent on knocking Viktoria out and possessing her body.

    That was more than she could handle alone, so this brown-haired woman struggled to run through that forested area where many other dangerous creatures were nearby.

    In the middle of Viktoria''s escape attempt, she suddenly stepped on a spot where she thought there was ground but found herself falling towards the bottom of a hidden hole.

    When this happened, she paled at the thought that she had fallen into a death trap, feeling her body falling for several meters.

    However, as she screamed from the fright, Viktoria realized that there was no trap, only a hole that led underground in that area.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She then used her techniques to stop her fall, creating an ice spear and then ramming it into the horizontal walls of that hole.

    After this quick movement, Viktoria slid down that wall until she reached the bottom of the hole, a different ce than one would expect to find when falling down a well.

    There was a well-built floor, simr to the sidewalks of Peters City. At the same time, the side walls had torches illuminating the surroundings.

    In this ce, arge statue stood in one of the corners of this square underground area, from which there were four corridors on each side of this area.

    This statue seemed to represent a human, but the sensation it gave was not familiar for humans but for demons.

    Seeing this, Viktoria was a little distracted, immediately associating it with Morning Star and its tribe members who lived in the Peters City area in the remote past.

    But amid her thoughts, she heard a voice. "What a coincidence... You''re here too, huh?"

    Viktoria turned around and saw a beautiful woman at the same level as her, with long white hair and fair skin. "Larissa! What are you doing here?"

    "Tsk! I ask you the same thing! I was walking down one of these corridors... I just didn''t expect to find you here."

    Viktoria finally looked at the corridors on the opposite side of that demonic statue, noticing the paths of that ce.

    But in doing so, she finally realized that the spectres from earlier were no longer after her.

    "I was running away from a group of spectres when I fell into this hole." She pointed to the hole above the central part of that square area. "Anyway... Do you know what this ce is about? There is no record of it in my family."

    Those young people who returned from Secret Realms described what they saw and found in such ces, helping their families understand what an alternative space like this was like.

    Because of this, some families even had maps of the Secret Realm, even though the founder of Peters City and his men had not previously mapped that area.

    But due to the small amount of time that the Secret Realm was open and the number of powerful beings in this ce, it was quiteplicated topile much information about it.

    Many who discovered ces like that died or kept information about those areas only for their families. So Viktoria had no idea what that was all about.

    "I don''t know either," Larissamented, looking at the statue of that ce. "But I do know that other ces like this, with demonic statues, are ancient demon dens.

    In the old days, the Peters City area was dominated by a powerful demon. So as a headquarters, such an area had all kinds of structures rted to the home of these creatures, including underground escape tunnels and secret chambers."

    The battle that led to Morning Star''s death had not destroyed the grounds of the former demon headquarters. It had ruined the most exposed structures, which had turned into a giant forest after so long. But the underground of this area was almostpletely intact!

    The founder of Peters City had had no interest in destroying these structures and had simply sealed this entire area within his Secret Realm, preserving these structures from the Morning Star tribe.

    Viktoria knew a little about that and looked thoughtfully at her rival. "Larissa, I know we''re not friends. But how about we temporarily ally ourselves? We can explore this ce together until we get out of here."

    "Oh? You would do that with the person who took away your sister''s chance toe here?" That white-haired beauty asked.

    "Sigh... Maybe that was for the best. With Anna''s pregnancy, it was better for her to stay in Peters City.

    Anyway, do you want to ally with me or not?"

    "Hmm, let''s do it once before our history at the academy ends."

 Chapter 574 The Fourth Level Of The Labyrinth

    ?

    After a few more hours, the Secret Realm finally reached its third day!

    Viktoria and Larissa were working together in that underground area while Elke was traveling through the forests of the Secret Realm, heading for the home of the strongest in this ce.

    Meanwhile, two more youths died here, resulting in financial losses and gains for the gamblers following the results of this event.

    Amidst all this, Lothur had finally passed the third level of thebyrinth and was now nearing the entrance to the fourth and penultimate level on his way to his goal.

    He looked at his status there and saw some improvements since thest level.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 240.2 -> 257.7]

    [CON: 439 -> 443.5]

    [DEX: 245 -> 259.9]

    [AGI: 237.9 -> 248.8]

    [INT: 135.6]

    [PER: 239.9 -> 244.1]

    [WIL: 189 -> 193.5]

    [EVF: 1,524 -> 725]

    But not only his attributes had evolved in those days. The monsters present in the levels of thebyrinth had elemental abilities that had helped him raise his elemental resistances and affinities in those hours of effort.

    [Silver-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 72% -> 88%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 10% -> 17%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 15% -> 21%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 3% -> 6%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 2% -> 3%]

    He had encountered several spectres on thebyrinth level that he had just ovee and destroyed these beings. Luckily, some helped him raise some of Lothur''s resistance to the element of darkness.

    After that, the creatures in Lothur''s path became a little fearful, for dealing with spectres was a hard thing that even the local beasts found tricky and kept their distance.

    In any case, he had beaten them and eliminated most of the beings in his path, in some cases even collecting body parts from these beings, which had value to someone like him.

    ''Time to enter the penultimate level...'' He pondered before setting one of his feet in that ce, where he had already noticed several level 17 beings, stronger on average than those he had faced at thest level.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Seeing the first of these beings getting closer and closer to him, Lothur couldn''t help but think about how difficult thest level of the maze would be.

    ''Maybe I have to face some level 18 being...'' He considered before swallowing his saliva.

    Lothur was already quite strong currently, but he was not confident in defeating someone of level 18.

    He had only managed to ovee the previous level because he had used his EVF points to recover and absorbed more from the beasts he had faced in the previous hours.

    Because of this, he thought he could ovee the fourth level of thebyrinth, where he would once again have the chance to use his lineage ability.

    Through this, he intended to recover his injuries and reach the end of this challenge on the way to one of the leaves he was searching for.

    But beating someone at level 18, even with the help of his regenerative and lineage skills, would not be easy!

    He could rely on his Physique ability, but would a beast that beat him to the point where he activated his Physique allow him to recover?

    It was unlikely!

    In a situation where his Physique ability was activated, his enemy would probably kill him before he had a chance to recover. In that case, he couldn''t count on that ability in this ce!

    Lothur then left this in his mind for him to sort outter and focused on the creatures in his path, alreadying at him with their ws and teeth ready to hurt him.

    These were level 17 creatures, so he had to be focused on facing them!

    Deadly Aura!

    He activated his ability to reduce the courage of his opponents as ck mes appeared in his hands and around the Elemental Staff.

    Lothur''s eyes shone brightly, and then he fired at one of those creaturesing at him, intending to kill the intruder in this area.

    After this shot, he used the Space Belt to teleport to the back of one of those opponents, a creature that looked like a giant ant.

    With this move, as he appeared behind this individual, Lothur immediately directed his staff into the middle of the being''s body as if this weapon were a spear.

    Those beings were surprised by Lothur''s blows since they had no information about this opponent who had killed or knocked all the opponents in his path unconscious.

    With no information about him other than the feeling that he was dangerous because he had reached this level of the entirebyrinth, these creatures were shocked by his strength.

    Lothur''sser vision was already so strong that after the previous shot, the beast he had aimed at had already died from it!

    At the same time, after he hit the middle of the ant''s body, the creature felt malicious energy invading its body, as it felt as if something was trying to push it away.

    But Lothur''s strength with the Elemental Staff was still too low to do anything like this to these creatures, so this ant had only felt a slight difort from this physical movement.

    What really worried it was the dark energy already degrading its mental structures. At the same time, its fear of Lothur increased with its proximity to the Mortal Aura user.

    Then, Lothur used one of the skills he used least.

    One With Nature!

    When he activated this skill, Lothur immediately felt his connection to the nt beings in the area, who were few but present in almost every corridor of thebyrinth.

    That was not an offensive ability. But he was not using it to attack his opponents but to find his way to the end of thebyrinth.

    That was something Lothur had done in previous mazes, avoiding beasts waiting in dead-end paths, always following the right path, eventually leading him to the end of whatever level he was at.

    So while he put some of his attention into figuring out the way to the end of that area, he kept fighting the beasts in the surrounding area, moving after letting that ant suffer a bit from the ability of his second Soul Bone.

    Gravity!

    When one of the beasts was about to hit him, Lothur activated hisst Soul Bone skill, having seen it with his special vision in advance, and raised the gravity in his surroundings.

    That beast was pressed against the ground, narrowly missing its move against Lothur, while this young man moved into a defensive position to hold off the movements of the other opponents.

    His defenses were stronger than the attack of each of those beings, so he didn''t get hurt much. Soon after, he found spaces to weaken the initial group of enemies.

    Assassin Code!

    So Lothur would proceed through the fourth level of thebyrinth, facing beings at level 17, shocking each one of those beasts that didn''t expect that someone so strong would appear to challenge them after so many years.

 Chapter 575 The Local Situation

    ?

    The next day...

    As another day began, signaling the halfway point of the Secret Realm event, Peters City dawned with the takeover of the Baier and Vogel properties by the Frost family!

    In the dead of night the night before, Mabel and men from the Frost family invaded the headquarters of the annihted families, taking control of these areas under observation by the Imperial Guard.

    They did not invade the outpost of the local family that had attacked them but had not been exterminated because survivors had the right to keep their possessions.

    Since imperial guards were near that property to protect those survivors from potential attack, House Frost could not act without getting into serious trouble.

    In any case, acting against the properties left behind by the Vogel and Baier families was enough, and by the dawn of this new day, Peters City would find out about the new ruler of those areas.

    Even without the officialization that they were the new lords of thends and businesses of these two families, House Frost took everything that was to be taken from these families.

    The cars of the Vogel family were already on the Frost estate for the use of its members. At the same time, letters had gone out from Peters City to all the former business allies of these two families, indicating that they should do business with Aiken from now on.

    And with this move, Viktoria and Annaliese''s family now had most of the food and mineral production in Linn Province, withnd that practicallypeted with House Waldeaur.

    The Duke had already discovered Mabel''s actions in the dead of night, but he could do nothing about it. It didn''t matter if he or others in his family would worry about this family losing relevance in the province because of this. They could do nothing, as they would both risk angering Lothur and could not act without a position from the emperor.

    That was also the case for the members of the imperial guard stationed in Peters City, who was quite irritated by this bold move.

    ...

    In the center of Peters City, the streets were full of peopleing and going, with bars and restaurants, meeting and talking ces, crowded with people talking about the recent news.

    "Did you pass in front of the Baier property earlier today?"

    "No, but I heard that the Frosts are around there..."

    "Not only that, all the Baier family symbols were destroyed or burned at dawn and reced with the symbols of House Frost!"

    "Hmm, I heard that Matriarch Mabel hasmanded a general cleansing of the Baier family headquarters, taking the values and titles of that nobility to the Frost headquarters."

    "Soon, the Frost family will be thergest in the province!"

    Comments broke out around a business establishment in that part of the city, with several people talking about it.

    ...

    In another area of the city center, in front of the Morning Star Academy, where people followed the Secret Realm results, Annaliese had just parked her car.

    After she put her feet out of that red SUV, the crowds immediately began to stare at her, some swallowing their saliva, others murmuring in low voices.

    "I heard that Second Miss Frost didn''t participate in the battles... It seems that this is rted to that rumor about her..."

    "Hey, are you crazy? Lothur is the strongest in the city! If it gets to him that you''re talking about this, you''re finished."

    "Hmm, it''s not good to talk about such things." Another person added. "In any case, her family didn''t even need her help.

    I heard that few Frost elders died inbat, and even then, most were supposedly traitors to the family."

    "Yes, House Frost lost virtually nothing!"

    "Anyway, I heard Annaliese is going to take over the business of one of these two families and Viktoria that of the other... Is that really true?" A local noblewoman asked her friends, not far from where that woman of Lothur was walking.

    Another nobleman, a Duke family member,mented on this. "Probably. At her current level, she is already stronger than some local patriarchs... But, at the same time, if her rtionship with Lothur is as good as they say, she''ll probably get something to please him."

    "Tsk! What a lucky girl!"

    "Ah, I wanted to be favored by him too..."

    Some envious womenmented among themselves, while Annaliese didn''t know what so many people were talking or thinking about her. The only thing on her mind at the moment was to see how the Secret Realm ranking situation had developed from the end of the previous afternoon to now.

    She hadst heard about itte the previous afternoon, having spent the rest of the time cultivating and training her techniques. So, before going to her family to see how things were developing, Annaliese stopped to observe this.

    As she got close enough to see the results of the overall ranking and those of Lothur, Viktoria, and Elke individually, she stopped and analyzed the situation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the overall ranking, the situation was as follows:

    - 1st Elke Becker: 485

    - 2nd Larissa Carstensen: 369

    - 3rd Viktoria Frost: 316

    - 4th Constantin Leopoldine: 299

    ...

    - 8th Lothur Ritter: 199

    ...

    - 15th Boris Huwe: 19

    The Secret Realm''s overall ranking score depended on level advancement, opponents killed, spiritual fluctuations of items collected, etc. Thepetitors'' medals could analyze everything that exhibited spiritual fluctuations and had an equivalent score.

    Through this, those outside the Secret Realm could get an idea of how the youngsters within that space were doing and thereby bet on the results of this event.

    She saw this and remained curious about what Lothur was trying to do, unconcerned about Viktoria and Elke.

    People died within the Secret Realm, but usually, young people not far from level 16, as should be the case with them, hardly ever returned from that space. So Annaliese was rxed about the situation of those two.

    As for Lothur, she wasn''t worried about his safety. Only about losing the opportunity to be in the Secret Realm and not advancing in level.

    He was getting stronger. She was sure of that. But he wasn''t collecting resources, something essential for anyone in that ce.

    ''What is he doing?'' She wondered as she looked at the screen that showed more detailed results from Lothur.

    [Lothur Ritter] [Cultivation Level: ???]

    [Status: alive] [Deaths: 896]

    [Gathered items: 0]

    [Explored Area: 6 square kilometers]

    [Strongest adversary: Nascent Soul Transcendent Beast]

    [Weakest adversary: 4th Revolution Spiritual Warrior Beast]

    Meanwhile, Elke''s results were quite different from Lothur''s.

    [Elke Becker] [Cultivation Level: 15]

    [Status: alive] [Deaths: 97]

    [Gathered items: 23]

    [Explored Area: 32 square kilometers]

    [Strongest adversary: Soul Core Transcendent Beast]

    [Weakest Adversary: 3rd Revolution Spiritual Warrior Beast]

    Annaliese sighed, imagining that Elke was walking the path to reach Viktoria and Lothur while he was standing somewhere, probably with a problem in his surroundings.

    ''I hope he fixes whatever it is quickly, or he''ll miss his chance!'' She sighed before turning and leaving that square to meet her parents.

    Her situation with them was not the best, but she was prepared to help her family at this decisive moment!

 Chapter 576 Preparing For The Future

    ?

    At the Becker family headquarters...

    The members of this family were very pleased with Elke''s initial performance in the Secret Realm. But the focus of the experts in this house was currently on the situation in Peters City.

    After the actions of them and Lothur''s allies on the second day of the Secret Realm, the history of that city would follow a new path, one that would probably have the Ritter Motor Company at the center of it all.

    The members of that family knew the risk that Lothur would take by leaving the Secret Realm, as well as possible retaliation that could catch up with them in the future. But what had happened could not be changed, and now they could only take advantage of the circumstances to prepare for the future.

    As associates of the Frost House and partners in the Ritter Motor Company, they would not pass up the opportunity to try to absorb some of the business left behind by the two now-destroyed families and that other one in decline.

    The Frost family would take what they had best from the Baier and Vogel houses. That was undeniable. However, the imperial family would never give that much power to a single local organization. So the most likely thing to happen soon would be for the imperial family to distribute some of the business of those two families and the other nearly exterminated organization to other local powers.

    The possibility of a new empire family being allocated to that province to take care of this or the imperial house itself taking over these businesses andnds would be negligible. So this family and other allies of Lothur were already moving to im as much business andnd for themselves as possible.

    Even the Duke of Province''s house sent people to the capital to handle the matter!

    Meanwhile, Gomeric and Hilda were meeting with their most important family members.

    "The Frost family was quite quick to act, but the imperial family will not allow them to keep all those possessions." One of the elders there in that meeting room said.

    "But is that the case? With Viktoria and Annaliese in their ranks, the Frost family can already be considered a powerful noble house in the empire. They could easily absorb thosends and businesses and easily control everything."

    "The question is not whether they could do it... His Majesty won''tst much longer, and in light of the rise of a new emperor, he is unlikely to make such a tough decision to give so much power to House Frost.

    He will most likely give as little as possible to Aiken and Mabel and redistribute the rest among other local families.

    Maybe thosends and businesses will even be prizes of the next Province Conference."

    "It''s not difficult for that to happen..."

    "Yes..."

    Gomeric listened to those elders and said. "Regardless, the province''s future lies with Aiken''s family and ours. With Lothur on our side, it will be a matter of time before we have Transcendents among us."

    Hilda agreed with her husband, feeling that Elke could be the person who would initiate the evolution of the family.

    "We only have to worry about Reba''s situation currently... The damned imperial guards have already sent her to the Imperial Prison." Hildamented after a few moments, putting aside those promising matters.

    With those words, that ce became silent, with the people there able to feel each other''s breathing.

    Gomeric sighed and said. "Our envoys to the capital will try to resolve this as well... Unfortunately, these men of the imperial guard acted too quickly. But let''s not lose our hopes in saving her."

    They knew Lothur was in danger of being sent there in the next few days. But they hoped that he would escape the envoys of the Third Prince.

    And since escaping from the Imperial Prison was impossible, even if Lothur was arrested, Reba would probably die or never leave there with him.

    In this case, they were most worried about Lothur escaping and Reba being imprisoned, with this young man going after her, creating gigantic trouble!

    ...<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    While other local families were discussing ways to meet the recent challenges, the leadership of House Koch was acting as they had been for the past few days.

    They kept an eye on the local leaders while staying below the radar.

    Meanwhile, they had already found out about the two level 17 envoys waiting for Lothur on Luis'' ount and were seeing what they could do about the situation.

    Unfortunately, they couldn''tmunicate with Lothur while he was in the Secret Realm, so they couldn''t warn him in advance of the problems he might have after leaving there.

    At the same time, they couldn''t help but sigh at young Ritter''s actions within the Secret Realm, not having improved so far, even though he was in a ce with so many opportunities.

    No one in this family doubted Lothur''s talents. Still, without advancing levels, he would probably face problems he couldn''t handle leaving the Secret Realm!

    That could ruin all their ns, so the core of that family couldn''t help but worry.

    In that intelligence center that Lothur had visited earlier, the patriarch and the supreme elder were talking said at this very moment.

    "What do you think?" The old guardian of that organization asked the patriarch Koch.

    "I don''t know... Someone who created this here wouldn''t waste his time on something trivial." The patriarch said. "Either Lothur is in trouble, something possible given his talents, or he is searching for something important.

    Knowing him, I doubt this is a waste of time."

    "Hmm, Lothur has never let us down in the past, so he probably has something in mind if he hasn''t fallen into a trap." The old supreme elder agreed. "But will he outwit the two Nascent Soul Transcendents? They won''t falter like other enemies our superior has faced in the past."

    "That is a question to think about... In any case, if Viktoria and Elke return from the Secret Realm, they will y important roles in Peters City. Many of Lothur''s ns can be realized with the resources they will have.

    So still in his downfall, we must stay true to the Ritter family. That will bring maximum benefit to the family!"

    Lothur nned to create an army to develop the Ritter family so that he would no longer have to fight or act for his interests.

    Only then could he achieve the peace he desired to live with his women!

    That was not something that needed his presence to happen. As long as Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese used the many coins from the Ritter Motor Company for this, they could achieve these ns.

    Considering that Lothur had thergest shares of the Ritter Motor Company''s profits, these amounts would easily exceed the value of entire families in a short time!

    So even with him in the Imperial Prison, it would still be valuable for this family to be his subordinate!

    ...

    And so, as local leaders discussed the future with or without Lothur, another day passed, and young Ritter was finally about to enter thest level of thebyrinth.

    However, before doing so, he advanced a stage, bing a Soul Core Transcendent!

    ...

 Chapter 577 How Strong Are Transcendents

    ?

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Cultivation: level 16]

    [STR: 279.9] [CON: 455] [DEX: 280.2] [AGI: 281.3]

    [INT: 135.6] [PER: 244.1] [WIL: 200]

    [EVF: 1,229]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 15%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Bronze -> Silver]

    [Progress: 5%]

    ...

    [Demon General''s Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 40%]

    Lothur saw his status and all of his Soul Bones with his new advancements.

    Only the fib bone had evolved qualitatively with this cultivation stage advancement. But they had all benefited from Lothur reaching the 3rd stage.

    Their skills, in general, would be stronger from now on, while the skill of the fib bone had evolved a degree higher. Now it had not only had each of its features strengthened, but a new ability had emerged for Lothur!

    From what Lothur could sense, ck mes could now not only mess with the minds and feelings of its targets. It could also even target non-corporeal beings, such as spectres!

    He would still need to encounter beings of this nature to better test his new abilities. Still, at the present moment, he already had a notion that he would have some power over these beings.

    But immediately after advancing to the 3rd stage, Lothur felt his understanding of his techniques advance, finally reaching the peak of each of them.

    [Cross Walk] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery Level: Grandmaster]

    ...

    [Steel Body] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Grandmaster]

    ...

    [Art of Tearing Down Trees] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Grandmaster]

    ...

    [Assassin Code] [Rank: Iron]

    [Mastery level: Grandmaster]

    As Lothur reached peak mastery over his techniques, he now felt much stronger, as the bonuses of the techniques increased with greater mastery over them.

    When a person''s mastery level over a technique increases, that person will be able to use thews more easily and effectively, achieving much better results.

    As such, if he activated all his techniques now, Lothur could generate a more capable defense, achieve more incredible speed than his attributes allowed, and attack more creatively and with greater force.

    At the same time, as much as training in these techniques would not promote further improvements inprehension, he could have more significant results in his physical training.

    Having reached the peak of those techniques, he could now bring his body up to the level needed to unleash its full power!

    So Lothur smiled to himself, clenching his fists as he prepared to enter thest level of thebyrinth.

    From where he stood, by using his visual ability, Lothur could see where the leaf the system wanted was and the enemies in its path.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Unlike the other levels of thebyrinth, there were not many beasts there. The opposite of that, this was level with the smallest number of beasts, only about 30 opponents.

    However, they were much stronger than those Lothur had faced so far!

    At the same time, thisst area was not sorge, unlike the other levels of thebyrinth, which were grandiose and full of dead-end paths with beasts in position. Moreover, it didn''t have many dead ends to make it difficult for anyone to get there.

    A being able to reach this level would no longer need to go through so many tests.

    As such, the area in front of Lothur had only a few corridors leading to the other side, where all the protective beasts of the area were waiting for him.

    Lothur then saw for the first time the physical attributes of 3rd stage opponents!

    [Scarlet Snake]

    [Body Cultivation: level 17]

    [STR: 420.8] [CON: 432.1] [DEX: 428] [AGI: 433.9]

    ...

    [Giant Yellow Scorpion]

    [Body Cultivation: level 17]

    [STR: 429.9] [CON: 478.5] [DEX: 438.4] [AGI: 463.1]

    ...

    He saw several of those level 17 beings until his eyes noticed the status of the strongest one in that ce, the highest level being Lothur had ever seen.

    [Royal Red Toad]

    [Body Cultivation: level 18]

    [STR: 539.3] [CON: 578] [DEX: 548.3] [AGI: 553.2]

    Gulp!

    He already knew it would be hard to win in this ce. Still, seeing the attribute points of that giant dark red toad with devilish eyes focused on him, Lothur couldn''t help but hesitate.

    Even considering all his techniques and skills, Lothur wasn''t sure he could defeat that creature!

    ''I didn''t think the difference would be so great...'' He thought as he stood still, watching the beings behind thest corridors of thebyrinth.

    Everyone there had already noticed Lothur''s presence on this level, but they were in no hurry to go to him. If he wanted to face them, he would have to go through thest corridors, where some of the few traps in this ce were.

    The giant toad saw Lothur standing there and thought about this strange human, ''Is he going to give up? Well, it will be better for him if he decides to do so... Otherwise, he will die at my hands!

    But I must admit that this human is quite capable. Getting here must not have been easy for him.''

    While this creature was thinking about this, the leaf that Lothur was searching for was behind it at the end of that area.

    There, a colored metal leaf was on what appeared to be an altar, floating on a rock, while several torches illuminated the surroundings.

    Behind it, on the final wall of thatbyrinth, was a statue of a being that looked like a human, but only a few beasts from the Secret Realm knew about its identity.

    Lothur didn''t care about this statue and finally decided to enter the first corridor between him and those beings, even though he knew the traps there.

    When he did this, mes immediately appeared in his surroundings, trying to burn him.

    But his elemental resistance protected him while being stimted by it.

    The same would happen for every step he took in those corridors on his way, being attacked by several different elemental forms, most of which he already had resistance to, while others he would gain there.

    In any case, Lothur''s defense level was not low, and even though those attacks were potent, they at most stimted his body to generate resistance to the elements that he did not yet have.

    Finally, after more than an hour of strolling through that final part before his opponents, Lothur crossed this area full of traps.

    When he was ahead of those dozens of opponents and the leaf behind, Lothur tightened his fingers around the Elemental Staff and pondered what he should do.

    He felt the Space Belt shaking and decided to take a chance, taking that item and absorbing it without having to defeat all those creatures.

    ''Maybe I can steal them without any more trouble!'' He thought, before disappearing from his spot and emerging near that item, behind all those beasts.

    ...

 Chapter 578 Peaceful Option

    ?

    As Lothur appeared behind where those beasts were, just 1 meter away from that gap, he had a smile on his face, wondering if he could steal it so easily.

    All the beasts noticed his movement and narrowed their eyes, seeing how shameless this human was to try to steal from them like that.

    Simultaneously, the level 18 beast had already moved and was about to attack Lothur!

    However, he slowly changed his expression in the meantime as he realized something would prevent him from reaching it so easily.

    The moment he tried to stretch his hands towards the item, he suddenly felt a shock as he touched an invisible barrier there.

    "What?" He shouted in surprise as the giant toad attacked him with its tongue so fast and so strongly that Lothur couldn''t help but shiver at it.

    "Damn it!"

    At that instant, Lothur tried to escape with the Space Belt, but the big toad screamed at him. "Not so fast!"

    With that shout, Lothur felt a great pain in his ears, unconsciously bringing his hands to his ears to protect himself.

    Pow!

    "Ouch!"

    After a few milliseconds, Lothur felt his body being hit by that powerful attack, feeling pain all over his body.

    But the difference between his defense and that frog''s attack was not considerable. He was not seriously injured by that first move in the battle about to unfold.

    In the meantime, Lothur''s body finally crashed into one of the walls of that ce, and blood appeared at the corners of his mouth.

    The toad saw this and lowered its tempers. "Human, if you can''t defeat me, you will never be able to get anywhere near that item.

    This barrier was created so only I can authorize someone to ess what is there.

    Without me recognizing you or dying, you will never be able to get your hands on that leaf!"

    Lothur realized the problem and tightened his fingers on the Elemental Staff while his Super Regeneration resolved the damage done by that creature.

    Before he went forbat with those beasts, he stepped out of the crater he was in and asked aloud. "Then how about this? Give me ess to that item, and I''ll leave without causing any more trouble.

    I promise to the heavens that I will not use my skills to hurt any other beast in this ce after this."

    "Humph! Presumptuous!"

    "He thinks he''ll beat us!"

    "Arrogant human!"

    Several creatures shouted in displeasure, as the great toad looked cautiously at Lothur. "If I authorize you to do that, I might as well kill all the beasts in this Secret Realm too...

    If what that item sealed is released, the entire Secret Realm will perish in a matter of days!"

    "Uh? What are you talking about?" Lothur asked, not understanding the worship of these beasts over this item.

    Lothur thought of these scrolls sought by the system only as ancient artifacts capable of passing on powers, abilities, and maybe techniques. So he didn''t give that much importance to it beyond what he would give to something capable of making him stronger.

    But these beasts acted as if a cmity was rted to it, something he didn''t quite understand.

    That beast decided to answer Lothur, as it didn''t think it was impossible that this human could defeat it. "Human, let me tell you something before we fight. If you want what is here, you must know the consequences of removing it from this Secret Realm."

    "Or? I''m listening."

    "Very well, this item is made of a precious metal that can store and suppress things of an extremely high level. That could be used for storing a powerful technique or even a specter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    My master, the creator of this Secret Realm, used this item to suppress the remnants of the main demons that lived in this area thousands of years ago, trapped in this alternate space.

    So it is the presence of this artifact here that prevents demons like Morning Star and his followers from resurfacing and leaving this Secret Realm to victimize the continent.

    If this item is removed from the area, the person who removes it will be cursed, and thest remnants of the demons sealed in this space will recover and possess new bodies.

    Once this happens, all the beasts of the Secret Realm will be devoured by them to strengthen them. Then, in sequence, they would leave that space and destroy your city, province, and even empire." The toad said in an extremely solemn tone.

    It paused for a moment to breathe better and asked. "Are you sure you want to release this evil? Because of this, your death and the death of all those you love could happen in a matter of days.

    The Secret Realm itself would be destroyed, and your city would lose its ce. So I ask you once again, will you really want this? Is it worth enough to you to risk so much?"

    Lothur did not expect to hear such things from that creature and remembered the item Viktoria wore around her neck. ''If it is only the material that matters, without what is inside this item, would it still work the way these beasts talk?''

    He then said. "Beasts of the Secret Realm, I wish no harm to those in this incredible space. I have only acted so far to defend myself and achieve my goals.

    However, this leaf is vital to me, and I will not give it up, no matter what story is rted to it. But there is one thing you do not know. I have no intention of taking that leaf away from here."

    "Uh? What are you talking about?" One of the level 17 beasts didn''t understand, feeling Lothur was ying with them.

    If he didn''t want to take what was there, why was he acting so decisively against them?

    The giant red toad also thought it was strange but waited for Lothur''s response.

    "I just want to touch that thing. After that, I will depart from this ce and leave it here."

    "What would you gain by just touching this item?" The great toad could no longer remain silent, asking what his heart demanded.

    Lothur answered with sincerity. "As you said, this material can store things of extremely high level. What I want is precisely to absorb what is inside it.

    As for the carcass, I don''t care what happens to it. You can continue to use it to suppress the remnants of demons sealed in this area after my action."

    "Can you do that?" The creatures there asked.

    They knew that extremely ancient item had something inside it, but none of them, not even their master, could ess that.

    "Yes, I have done that with another such leaf. That''s why I''m so strong at my age..." He didn''t lie. "In any case, I can guarantee that all I want is what is inside that item. I won''t do anything else against your interests after that.

    Hell, if you agree to give me what I want, I might even give you another of those carcasses."

    "Do you have other such material with you?"

    "Not with me, but with my wife, who also entered this Secret Realm," Lothur said, trying to avoid a fight with these creatures.

    From the blow he had received from the great toad, he knew that he would have little chance of winning if he had to fight them all!

    The level 17 beasts had little chance of hurting him individually. But together, they posed a significant threat to him.

    But still, he felt that he could handle them if it were only them.

    The problem was that they were not alone!

    That level 18 beast was there to disrupt his ns!

    With this in mind, he used a more peaceful alternative to get what he wanted in this ce!

    ...

 Chapter 579 Going In Search Of The Wife

    ?

    After hearing Lothur''s proposal, some of those beasts were moved by his words, wondering if his ns would work out.

    No one there was sure whether the leaf they worshipped would continue to function the way it did if Lothur absorbed what was inside them. But they could not deny that they preferred not to fight the human before them.

    Lothur, having reached this ce, was already proof of his great strength and abilities. But they had seen their leader hitting this human with much of its strength and this silver-haired young man coping without furthermotion.

    In this case, a fight between them would not be at all simple, and many were at risk of death if they faced him.

    But not only these level 17 beings were thinking about this. The level 18 toad itself was cautiously thinking about Lothur''s proposal.

    It was not afraid of this human. In fact, it was confident of winning, even if the enemy had some chance of survival and many of its people were to die inbat.

    But getting an item simr to what they had pleased it greatly.

    Unlike the weaker ones in this ce, it knew those leaves were precious even with nothing inside and would be even more helpful to it than something with stored powers. That was because, while it could not ess what Lothur said he could, it could put things inside such leaves.

    Utilizing this, it could leave this ce once the opening time of the Secret Realm was over and collect some specters that bothered it.

    After that, if this item worked without what Lothur wanted to absorb, then it could use such a thing to reinforce the seal on this Secret Realm.

    Thinking about these things, this beast could not deny that there were advantages for it if it followed Lothur''s n.

    Obviously, there was a risk that either Lothur was lying about only wanting what was stored in it or that the item would not work the same way after absorbing such a thing. So it needed something more to ept this offer that was not bad at all.

    The level 18 toad said. "Very well, I have a counteroffer for you, human.

    Prove that without what you want, it works as we wish, and I will give you ess to this one.

    The Secret Realm will still be open for 72 hours, so you have that time to use your wife''s item and prove that fact."

    "How am I going to prove that? I don''t even know where my wife is... Is there any way you can help me find her? Unlike some of you, I can''t fly." He asked, feeling strange about following this n.

    If he was going to fight there, he was sure he would either die or win in a day or so. So he had less than 48 hours to aplish what this beast proposed or return to this ce to fight and get what he wanted the hard way.

    Going along with this proposal had its risks, but given the slim chance of the victory he thought he had, Lothur decided to go along with it.

    The beast said. "Since there is a possibility that we can benefit from this move, I will send one of my subordinates to apany you.

    I don''t know who your wife is, but I can sense much of the Secret Realm, and I know that most of the humans still alive are in the 16th most powerful ''slice'' of this space.

    Currently, we are in the 20th ''slice,'' so you only have to travel for 3 hours until you reach that location. From there on, it will be up to you to find your wife."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lothur listened to that information and associated it with what little he knew, feeling that it shouldn''t be too difficult for him to reach Viktoria after that.

    The Secret Kingdom should be less than 100 square kilometers in area. So if there were 20 spaces, each should be around 5 square kilometers, not too much for him to investigate.

    His visual ability had significantly improved after his stage advancement, so Lothur judged that he had a good chance of identifying where his wife was after a brief investigation.

    "All right, who wille with me?" He decided to leave immediately, looking at that group of level 17 beings.

    The giant red toad pointed to a winged insect and ordered. "Apany this human to the 16th slice and help him find who he is looking for." It said, using anguage Lothur did not understand. "Try to test her item on the 18th ''slice.'' If it fails, run away immediately and send a warning.

    I will close this ce down to ensure he never gets what he wants!"

    "I''ll do my best, boss!" That creature replied, before following close to Lothur, indicating that it would lead him to such a ce.

    Lothur soon climbed onto the back of that brown creature, soon after holding on to its exoskeleton as it flew away at great speed.

    Lothur was faster than this creature but couldn''t fly and had to travel in not-so-interesting ways. At the same time, he didn''t know the Secret Realm, and one way or another, he would be limited by the speed of his guide.

    As such, he epted this creature''s ride without caring about the difference in speed between the two.

    That insect was following the orders of its leader and didn''t bother to have Lothur on its back, quickly making its way out of this underground area.

    In the blink of an eye, it passed through thebyrinth levels where Lothur had passed earlier, those now devastated ces.

    Not all the beasts on the way had died, as Lothur had not followed endless paths through the levels of thebyrinth he had passed. At the same time, even some beings on the path he made were still alive since this young man had not been concerned with ensuring the death of all his opponents.

    He wanted to reach the end of thebyrinth as quickly as possible to get the leaf that the system had identified. Therefore, when he did not use his bloodline skill, several very injured beings were left alive behind.

    This insect saw this and caught the attention of these creatures, who soon began looking at them strangely.

    ''It can''t be...''

    ''Don''t tell me that this human beat even the boss?''

    Some of them, not so injured as to not understand the situation in their surroundings, wondered, feeling that this was very shocking.

    That insect and Lothur ignored those beings in the surroundings and soon left that underground area.

    Having done so, the insect flew with everything it had toward the ce its leader had indicated!

 Chapter 580 Desperate Situation

    ?

    While Lothur was moving with that insect, Viktoria and Larissa were underground in the previous area, from where they had made their way together.

    They had advanced far into the underground constructions of this area and had gained several artifacts and resources in the meantime.

    Because of this, both had improved their attributes, with Viktoria and Larissa having advanced in body cultivation once in this period, the former having reached level 14 and thetter level 12.

    Both were at level 15 of soul cultivation, close to advancing to the 3rd stage.

    But just when they found items that they both felt could advance them to a stage in this final part of the underground constructions in that area, they were faced with many opponents.

    They had faced beasts and escaped from specters in these underground tunnels they had been following for dozens of hours. But at no time before had they been surrounded to the point where they saw no option but to fight for survival.

    That was the situation for the two of them currently, both surrounded by strange beasts and 3rd stage spectres.

    Viktoria was sweating while maintaining herbat pose, with her back to Larissa, who, besides being sweaty and with the same serious expression as her ally, had some wounds here and there.

    Both of them had simr items on their belts, artifacts that they strangely could not store in their spatial rings, but they thought they could generate many benefits to them.

    While their backs were to each other, both had their techniques activated and were counter-attacking the enemies in their surroundings as best they could.

    Normally, human cultivators, due to soul cultivation, had an advantage over beasts, which only had body cultivation. But because of the spectres, beings focused on mental attributes, manipting the beasts in the surroundings, this advantage of the two was not being asserted.

    As much as level 15 humans like them were stronger than level 16 beasts, both suffered considerably from the group of level 16 beasts manipted by the same level spectres.

    Luckily, the difference between them wasn''t gigantic in terms of strength, so even at a numerical disadvantage, the two held their own in the fight.

    Unfortunately for the two of them, this situation had alreadysted 30 minutes, and they were exhausting themselves faster than their opponents.

    As such, with each passing minute, the distance between those creatures and them diminished, further increasing the pressure on their shoulders!

    "Damn it!"

    "At this rate, we won''t get far in this ce," Larissa said after hearing Viktoria''s curse, who was naturally very frustrated to find herself in this passive and desperate situation.

    "They are already 20 meters away from us... In less than 15 minutes, they will reach us." Viktoria said amidst her somewhat breathless breathing.

    Larissa''s body cultivation was less impressive than Viktoria''s, so this woman''s fatigue was much more intense, and her breathing more agitated.

    But she could still speak in a way that herpanion could understand her. "We have to kill as many of them as possible in the meantime. Otherwise, we will be finished off by these creatures, and those items will be worthless!"

    "How will we do that? Those damn spectres are simply too powerful!" Viktoriained, feeling that the worst was about to happen to her.

    She was normally very confident in herself and in her abilities. But she lost hope after being oppressed for dozens of minutes and barely being able to change the situation in her favor after using everything she had.

    She was sure she would die right there if something didn''t happen in the next few minutes!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Thinking of the worst, she couldn''t help but regret that she had insisted on going deeper into these underground constructions.

    If she had given up earlier and returned to her n to find Lothur, she might have escaped this deadly situation!

    On the other hand, Larissa understood what was going through the mind of her temporary ally, not only because her situation was even worse than Viktoria''s but because her previous ns were toe to this ce alone.

    If she had done that, she would be dead by now!

    She then said. "I don''t know. We can only do our best and hold out as long as possible.

    Others who entered the Secret Realm with us are probably in the vicinity. If at least one of them gets here, we''ll have a chance to turn the situation in our favor!"

    That was not a bad thought. Larissa had entered this ce on purpose, but Viktoria had arrived there identally. The same could happen to other young people in the Secret Realm, and curiosity could lead them to the ce where those two were.

    If that happened, this white-haired woman was sure that she and Viktoria might be able to escape from this ce!

    Viktoria sighed upon hearing this, feeling that the chances of this happening were unlikely, given howrge the Secret Realm was.

    "Sigh..."

    ''I wonder what Lothur is doing?" She asked herself, feeling the enemies'' attacks beginning to wound her beautiful body as they advanced dozens of inches by the minute.

    ...

    Meanwhile, not far from where Viktoria and Larissa were fighting in the underground, three peak-level 15 youths were moving about, running after two other humans.

    After meeting up with a group that had just collected valuable resources, this group led by one of the Leopoldine family members sent to this Secret Realm had started this chase against the natives of Peters City.

    They were much stronger than their opponents, so after a short time, they practically surrounded those two, who had used the beasts in the surroundings tost longer on the run, but still had not managed to escape.

    When their situation reached a point where they felt it wouldn''tst long, one brandished loudly, crying out for mercy.

    "Please don''t kill us. Just take what you want and leave!" The strongest said, feeling bad for being forced to hand over the item that could guarantee their advance.

    But those three had no ns to free their opponents and justughed as they saw the desperation in the eyes of those two.

    "Insect, you chose to run away moments ago instead of delivering your items to your superior. Now bear the weight of your choices!" The strongest of the three said this before striking with everything he had toward his opponent''s heart.

    When he did this, he smiled, feeling incredible as he pierced his opponent''s left chest with an energy de. "Die!"

    As his twopanions killed the second enemy and he watched his opponent fall at his feet, suddenly, a monstrous shadow appeared above the area.

    ...

 Chapter 581 Quick Domination

    ?

    While one of those young men from the Leopoldine familyughed as he looked at the corpse at his feet, the other two turned their faces upwards, looking in the direction of where a giant insect had just appeared flying over that area.

    Immediately the two realized the level of that creature, Nascent Soul Transcendent, the strongest creature they had ever encountered since their arrival in the Secret Realm.

    "Shit!" One of them said without realizing his mouth was moving, alerting their leader to look up at the sky.

    Soul cultivators like them were stronger than beasts at levels close to their own. But a creature like that was far more than they could handle!

    As such, as he looked at the being flying just over two hundred meters above them, that member of the imperial family couldn''t help but lose the smile on his face.

    ''How is that possible? In this area, there shouldn''t be beasts of this level!'' He shouted in his mind, afraid to run from there and attract that creature''s attention.

    The other two continued to stare at that insect until one saw something moving on the back of that level 17 being and frowned.

    "Someone is riding that beast!" He said to his twopanions as he prepared tounch a counterattack any moment if it was necessary.

    The other two were also prepared to do the same and flee afterward and were surprised to see the person above that insect.

    But after 10 seconds of watching those two beings in the air, trying to understand who was on top of that beast and what they wanted, these three young men finally saw that insect decreasing its altitude.

    When it got only 20 meters away from the ground level, Lothur jumped off the back of that beast,nding in the middle of where those three were standing.

    "Oh? Are you guys here?" He asked these young men, looking at that individual he had teased before he departed for this Secret Realm.

    Immediately upon noticing this was Lothur, those young men looked at him more strangely, not only for thepany of this all-silver-haired individual. They had interests in jointly acting against young Ritter, so they couldn''t help but have wicked thoughts upon seeing this person there.

    Nis Leopoldine, the strongest of the three, frowned and asked. "Lothur, how did you get this beast? And what are you doing here?"

    "That''s none of your business. Who do you think you are?" Lothur used his visual ability on those in his surroundings, seeing that they were all moving their energies to attack or flee.

    Because of this, he also prepared himself, even though he didn''t consider these people dangerous to him.

    Then, as the tension between them increased, the level 17 beast said. "Lothur, I have already brought you as far as I should. From now on, I will wait for you until you get what you came for."

    "Hmmm." Lothur looked at that beast and nodded affirmatively.

    "When you are done, just call me, and I will be back."

    With those words, that insect departed, leaving only those four humans behind.

    Lothur turned his attention to those people on his way to where Viktoria was supposed to be, noting the bodies in the surroundings and the blood of the victims on the weapons of those three.

    He then said. "I was no friend of these people. In fact, I have been their enemy in the past. But as a member of the same province, I feel I cannot let their deaths go unnoticed.

    Hand over all your resources and destroy your cultivations. I will let you live after that."

    "Tsk!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Arrogant!"

    "You really think you''re big, huh?"

    Those threemented, feeling much better now that the level 17 beast had left the area.

    Without it there, they were much more confident in acting against Lothur, despite their doubts about what he was doing next to that creature and their previous conversation.

    "Lothur, you shouldn''t have let that beast go, being alone among us, haha," Nis said, smiling wickedly. "Today, I will make you pay for what you did earlier!"

    "So you will choose this path?" Lothur closed his eyes momentarily, smiling.

    After this question, he realized that the spirits of his opponents were high and that they would not back down, nor would they obey him. So he immediately made his Mortal Aura and ck mes appear simultaneously with Gravity.

    When he activated these abilities, immediately those three felt great fear of him. Still, also their movements are restricted by an invisible force.

    Lothur then raised one of his arms toward Nis, immediately following by throwing a ball of dark energy.

    "Since you are unwilling to obey, I will turn you into ves."

    The ck mes were stronger than ever, so after hitting the first of those three peak level 15 youths, that fellow was immediately overwhelmed by Lothur.

    The other two saw this but could do nothing. They were both filled with fear and paralyzed by the ability of Lothur''s third Soul Bone.

    So besides crying out in fear, they didn''t move and soon suffered the same fate as Nis, having that dark energy enter their bodies and then bing Lothur''s ves.

    All this had happened in less than two minutes after the beast had left!

    Lothur saw these humans kneeling in front of him andughed. "You could have escaped this fate, but you will die fighting for me since you are disobedient.

    Come on, my ves, lead the way to Viktoria!"

    After his words, Lothur had those creatures follow the underground path of that area through one of the entrances he had already identified nearby.

    He had already identified his wife''s aura not far from there, so he was soon running through the tunnels of that area by getting those three to follow in front of him.

    At first, Lothur couldn''t sense his wife''s situation, given her distance from where he was standing. But after entering the underground area of the ce, he immediately realized that many beasts and specters surrounded her and Larissa.

    Noticing this, he increased his speed and took the lead of those three, moving quickly through the corridors and chambers on his way.

    Viktoria and Larissa had not defeated all their opponents on their way. So as he passed through these ces, Lothur basically ran over all the beings and traps in his path, destroying everything like a war tank passing through a crowd.

    After less than 3 minutes since his entry into that underground area, he arrived where several level 16 beasts and spectres were threatening the lives of those two exhausted humans.

    ...

 Chapter 582 Dealing With The Problem

    ?

    When Lothur arrived where Viktoria and Larissa were almost passed out, only two meters away from the many beasts and spectres in their vicinity, all the creatures there looked in his direction.

    Not because of his presence, since Lothur did not disy such a powerful aura without activating the abilities of his Soul Bones and his bloodline. But because of those three ves of his running through the tunnels after him.

    But seeing Lothur there, those creatures immediately turned part of their attention to him, feeling strange, for an opponent that could not be fathomed was very dangerous.

    Lothur saw that Viktoria and Larissa were fine, although bruised and exhausted. So he moved, determined to act to end this situation quickly.

    As he moved, he fired aser beam toward the beast''s head nearest him, killing that creature by melting that part of its body.

    Instantly, the level 16 spectres in the vicinity, horrid and cruel semi-transparent beings, looked at him uglily and began to move in his direction.

    Lothur could exterminate them by letting them invade his body, as he had done months ago when he was with Annaliese in the Finn Mountains.

    But he preferred to test the evolution of his second Soul Bone, the ck mes ability!

    So, as he moved to stand next to Viktoria and Larissa, ck mes appeared in his hands, and soon after, pulses began to rise from them.

    When these pulses that only spectral creatures could feel started, all the spectres in the surroundings began to suffer as if they were feeling shocks through their bodies.

    The beasts in the surroundings got out of control of these beings but continued to act violently, feeling their instincts.

    Because of this, when the three ves of Lothur arrived in that final chamber of this underground area, they immediately considered these beings as enemies and began to fight.

    The three of them could ignore pain, unlike these beasts. So being powerful soul cultivators, they soon began to push those creatures in a way that Viktoria and Larissa hadn''t been able to until then.

    "Uh? Those three... Why are those three with Lothur?" Larissa breathlessly asked as she leaned on Viktoria to keep herself from falling.

    Viktoria could see the situation more clearly and also knew her man well. So she understood what was happening immediately. "They are not with Lothur. He is controlling them to fight on his behalf."

    "That..." That white-haired woman opened her mouth in shock, seeing that Lothur could do such a thing even against people almost as strong as her!

    ''Has he reached that level?''

    Viktoria then smiled and asked. "Lothur, have you advanced a stage?"

    Viktoria could feel that Lothur was faster. His abilitiesing from his Soul Bones seemed more refined, and his appearance looked slightly different, a sign of a marrow cleansing.

    Lothur confirmed the suspicions of this brown-haired woman. "Yes, I am currently a Soul Core Transcendent!"

    "What?" Larissa was shocked once again, feeling surpassed by this man.

    As for Viktoria, she didn''t mind being surpassed by her husband. But, the opposite of that, she was delighted and couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear as she finally rxed.

    "Congrattions on your breakthrough, and thank you foring to our rescue." She said, sitting down where she was.

    Meanwhile, the spectres in the surroundings had finally stopped moving. At the same time, half of the previously agitated beasts had died at the hands of those three fearless men.

    They had been considerably injured in this confrontation with these creatures. However, they were still fighting to ensure the end of all enemies there.

    Lothur stopped paying attention to those two women and focused on the spectres suffering for his ability.

    ''Time for you to ept your new master!'' He said in his mind as the ck mes brought those beings into his domain.

    Some of them were still trying to rebel, but after a few seconds, they were all practically in Lothur''s hands for him to do whatever he wanted.

    When they were all controlled, suddenly Lothur felt something strange, like a mental connection with these spectral beings.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Uh?" His eyebrows drew together as he felt the pain and remorse of those creatures.

    Amidst this, he could feel some of what was in the minds of these beings.

    ''The gate... Broken is... The gate... is...''

    ''Release them! Release the... Evil us... Freedom...''

    ''No... They are in us...''

    But those creatures'' feelings and thoughts were chaotic, full of regret and hatred, unable to answer the doubts in Lothur''s heart.

    The only thing he could feel was that there was something wrong with these spectral creatures, which should have some mental capacity to maintain even slightly sensible thoughts.

    These creatures looked broken, iplete, or even damaged. Naturally, this made Lothur immediately think that something was wrong.

    He tried tomunicate with these creatures and make them speak more clearly, but he didn''t have much sess. Even when these spectres became his ves, they continued to emit iprehensible sensations to Lothur.

    After more than a minute of trying to understand the situation, Lothur finally gave up and made those creatures enter his body.

    [15 level 16 spectres detected in the host''s body...]

    [Exterminate?]

    ''Yes!''

    "Atchim!" He sneezed hard while a white, dense vapor, full of energy andws, left his mouth, glowing brightly as if on fire.

    Larissa and Viktoria saw that for the first time and opened their eyes wide, seeing how Lothur had exterminated so many of these beings so quickly.

    ''How is that possible?'' Lothur''s associate wondered.

    But when she felt what wasing out of Lothur, she immediately tried to absorb it!

    That white mist, although it looked disgusting because it came out of him, was the condensation of all those beings'' remaining understanding before they were annihted!

    Since spectres were beings of only mental attributes, this was highly positive for soul cultivators like her and Viktoria.

    Only Lothur couldn''t absorb that because of his current situation.

    ''It seems that higher level spectres can release useful things to cultivators when exterminated...'' Lothur realized this as he saw those two women starting to cultivate to recover.

    During this moment, he sighed and stored his doubts in his mind to resolve them in the future.

    As he looked at the beasts in the surrounding area and his ves, Lothur saw that two of them had died, and only the strongest, a young man from the Leopoldine family, was left to face thest beast.

    He saw that fellow in front of that remaining beast and did not hesitate!

    Laser Vision!

    Two red light beams came from Lothur''s eyes, pierced the chest of that ve, and then struck the body of the remaining beast in that area, killing two in one movement.

    With this attack, the battle there was finally over!

    ...

 Chapter 583 Catching Viktorias Leaf

    ?

    At the end of the battle around Viktoria and Larissa, Lothur saw these two cultivating to recover, then looked at the result of their short struggle.

    Around that underground chamber, several bodies of mutted beasts were piled up here and there, especially at the entrance to this chamber, where those knocked down by Viktoria and Larissa were.

    But most of them had died when Lothur and his ves arrived, so there were beasts'' bodies, pieces of limbs, and blood all over that dark area.

    Other than that, Lothur could feel demonic energy flowing in a statue, something he immediately associated with the items Viktoria and Larissa had with them.

    ''That is...'' His eyes narrowed, noticing that those items were somehow rted to the demons that inhabited such an area in the remote past.

    ''Hmm, that''s probably some kind of crystal capable of nurturing demons. I can feel something hiding in that statue, where those two things should be.'' He saw where Viktoria and Larissa had taken those items from and focused on that statue, which had a strikingly negative spiritual fluctuation, like the demon he had killed.

    Thinking about this, Lothur frowned and activated his bloodline ability as he brought his hand close to what should be the neck of that statue.

    The red mist spread out from his hand, and red tattoos appeared around his eyes and forehead.

    When Lothur touched the neck of this statue, he immediately felt something strange, simr to a spectre but different from these beings he had dominion over.

    This was a much more vivid sensation, which contained much more understanding than a normal spectre could have.

    So Lothur immediately associated that with his knowledge and identified the spiritual remnant of a powerful demon!

    ''Is that what those beasts said they are afraid of?'' He frowned, feeling that this was really scary.

    He would fear it if he didn''t have many skills and characteristics that protected his life from that kind of being!

    Fortunately for him, he was different, and as he touched that statue, Lothur felt the desperation of that remnant as he absorbed the understanding and cultivation affinities of it.

    ''I don''t know who you were, but you will help me pave my way, demon!'' He said in his mind as a smile formed on his face.

    In the midst of this, the system showed him some relevant messages!

    [Special form of dark energy detected...]

    [Host''s secondary ability got in sync with his bloodline...]

    Mortal Aura!

    At that moment, the demon remnant trembled in fear as it felt its negative Natural Laws being quickly absorbed by Lothur!

    [Special forms of energy detected in the host''s range...]

    [Secondary abilities of affinity and resistance of the host came into sync with the host''s bloodline...]

    [Host''s affinity for the ice element increased by 25%...]

    [Host''s affinity for the element of darkness increased by 31%...]

    ...

    [Host''s affinity for poisons increased by 43%...]

    He saw each of his affinities with elements increasing.

    Next, the progress bars of his resistances increased!

    [Silver-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 93%]

    ...

    [Progress: 98%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 20%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 31%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 25%]

    ...

    [Progress: 33%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 9%]

    ...

    [Progress: 15%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade resistance to the element of darkness.]

    [Progress: 5%]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ...

    [Progress: 33%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 15%]

    ...

    [Progress: 21%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 5%]

    ...

    [Progress: 35%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 40%]

    ...

    [Progress: 68%]

    ...

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 35%]

    ...

    [Progress: 44%]

    ...

    [PER: 244.1 -> 269.9]

    Lothur saw many of his features improving, slowly feeling that being within the statue in front of him had vanished from the world, just as the demon of some time ago had.

    He had annihted that ancient creature!

    Realizing this and that there were others in this underground area, Lothur could not help but regret it, for he would not have time to check each of these areas and absorb something vital to him.

    Anyway, when he finished destroying that remnant, he turned his attention to cing it around Viktoria''s neck.

    After watching her intently for a minute, Viktoria opened her eyes, feeling a little better after absorbing a fraction of the spiritual energy in the surroundings.

    Her brief cultivation wasn''t enough to restore her energy reserves. But she had managed enough to get out of her exhausted state of moments ago.

    Larissa also got simr results and opened her eyes almost simultaneously as Viktoria.

    "Thank you for saving us, Lothur." She said while Viktoria was already hugging her husband, feeling the body heat of this man.

    "Haha, no need to thank me. I came here because I need something that is with Viktoria... It was just a coincidence everything that just happened."

    "Good then..." That brown-haired woman said to her husband, grateful for that coincidence. "Anyway, what do you want?"

    "That ne on your neck." Lothur briefly exined his interest. "I have secured a deal with a Divine Soul Transcendent Beast for something I believe will help me immensely. Toplete that, I need that leaf on your ne, Viktoria."

    "Oh? You need that?" She was surprised, for although she had that item with her daily, as a prize she had received in her family''s treasury years ago, neither she nor anyone else knew its importance.

    She and the rest of her family knew that it was valuable to their ancestors. But they had no idea of the usefulness of such a thing other than as something decorative.

    Hearing that her husband wanted it, she was curious but did not hesitate to give it to him.

    Lothur had already done many things for her family, and anything he would do with it would probably bring her better results than keeping such a ne.

    So, upon receiving that item, he smiled and looked at the two. "What are you going to do now? I intend to settle my affairs with these beasts, something that I don''t know how long it might take and where you cannot get valuable items or resources.

    But I won''t bother taking you if you want to apany me."

    Hearing that, Larissa was the first to respond. "I intend to absorb the contents of this crystal, so I don''t intend to follow you."

    Lothur nodded to her and looked at his wife.

    Viktoria said. "I also intend to absorb the crystal I got, and I don''t know how long it will take for that to happen. So I will stay behind, Lothur."

    "OK. Then I will leave. If you want to stay here, feel free. All the beings on the way here are dead, so this area is pretty safe now."

    "Hmm, thanks for that." The two said before Viktoria remembered Elke.

    "But Lothur, before you go on with your ns, I think it would be interesting for you to find Elke and take her with you or leave her here. It will be better for everyone that way."

    "Oh? I''ll do that!" Immediately after that, he departed, looking for other humans in this area.

 Chapter 584 Catching Elke

    ?

    After some time moving around where most of the young people who entered the Secret Realm were, Lothur realized that Elke wasn''t around and headed to the next lower-level area.

    He would spend the next 3 hours looking for her in that ce, using his visual skills to the maximum to identify his wife''s position.

    Just as he was beginning to get nervous about Elke''s situation, Lothur found her calmly eating in the middle of the forest.

    He then checked her status through the system''s message boxes.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14 -> 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 12 -> 13]

    [STR: 71.4 -> 99.9]

    [CON: 293 -> 345]

    [DEX: 74.6 -> 98.8]

    [AGI:75.6 -> 102]

    [SOU: ???]

    "Elke?" He said in a loud voice, drawing attention to that young redhead about to start eating the meat from the skewer she had just taken from the fire in front of her.

    Immediately upon hearing Lothur''s voice, Elke looked up at him, rising from where she was sitting on the carcasses of the opponent she had defeated minutes ago.

    She smiled at him and dropped the skewer in her hand to run to him.

    Lothur smiled at her, seeing she was doing very well on her own, unlike Viktoria, who had had a hard time at Larissa''s side.

    "Elke, you are much stronger! Congrattions!" He said as he hugged his woman.

    "Hmmm, I focused on finding itemspatible with my level during the first few days of the Secret Realm and got resourcespatible with me... I was lucky." She said as she smelled her man''s scent.

    "Very good. Anyway, now I am in a hurry, and I would like to know if you want me to take you to Viktoria or if you would prefer to apany me?" He said before exining himself further. "The ce I''m going won''t have any resources for you, and I don''t know when I''ll be able to be free to help you. As for Viktoria, she is at Larissa''s side and will be clearing the area ahead in search of more resources."

    "I want to go with..." She was about to say, but Minos interrupted her. "Think it over, Elke. Viktoria is almost advancing to the 3rd stage. So going with her might also benefit you to reach that level.

    It would be nice if we were all at that stage when we leave."

    "Oh? Have you advanced to the 3rd stage? Are you already a Transcendent?" She opened her mouth in surprise, not expecting that but also not shocked by the information.

    "Hmm, and I n to advance to a new level very soon, hehe." He said, smiling.

    She understood, and so as not to fall behind nor suffer through ''training'' with Lothur, she decided to stay away from him for a little longer within the Secret Realm.

    "All right. Take me to Viktoria. I''ll stay by her and Larissa''s side until you find us, or we return to Peters City."

    Hearing this, Lothur took his woman in his arms and departed, running with all his speed toward the ce he had left Viktoria and Larissa hours ago.

    ...<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    After leaving Elke, where Viktoria and Larissa were still meditating while absorbing the energies of the crystals they had obtained, he set off for where he had met the young men of the imperial family earlier.

    As he stopped at that spot, he looked toward the sky and called out for the insect from earlier. "I am ready. I already have the item!"

    A minute of silenceter...

    "Are you with the item? Quick, let''s go to area 18 to test this!" That creature appeared in flight, quickly approaching Lothur.

    When it got close enough to this young man, it saw Lothur jumping on its back and settling on top of it.

    With that, it was soon heading to the area its boss had assigned for them to test the theory that that item could be used without what Lothur intended to absorb.

    "That item differs from ours but seems to have simr fluctuations." That insect said, seeing and feeling the item in Lothur''s hands. "Let''s see if it works."

    "Hmm, I''m looking forward to it. How exactly will we test it?" Lothur asked, curious.

    "That''s simple." The beast said. "If this item is like the one we have in the Sacred Altar, then its very presence will cause the sinister aura in the area we will boil with rage.

    That will stimte specters and weak beasts in the surrounding area to be more agitated and try to attack us."

    "Oh?" Lothur opened his mouth in surprise, remembering Viktoria and Larissa''s situation moments ago. ''Several beasts and spectres surrounded them... Not for nothing, so it wasn''t just because of what they had gotten, but because of Viktoria''s ne.''

    In fact, of all the people entering the Secret Realm, Viktoria had been one of the few who had encountered extremely violent spectres and beasts at various times, even when in areas of low affinity with beings of darkness.

    She had had a difficult journey, second only to Lothur''s. All because of the item she had earlier on her neck, which was now in the hands of her husband.

    Knowing this, Lothur breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his wife would probably be safe from now on and that he would be able to follow through with the deal with that level 18 beast.

    "Then it will be all right. When I found my wife, she was surrounded by many of these beings." He said to that insect.

    "Let''s see if that works in the ce we''re going. That ce is a little special, so things might work a little differently there." That beast said while flying at great speed.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the square in front of the Morning Star Academy...

    That ce had been bustling for the past 6 hours when three of the most promising youths had perished.

    Of those three, two were members of the imperial family. As such, the envoys of House Leopoldine were naturally unhappy while the crowds discussed theories of what might have happened.

    They knew that at the time of the three''s death, Lothur, Viktoria, and Larissa were nearby. But since none of the three had collected the belongings of those young people after their deaths, it was not so simple to tell how those deaths had happened.

    At the same time, those youths had killed several powerful beasts and sustained numerous injuries before dying.

    But some were suspicious of Lothur, even without proof. That was because, before one of those young men died, young Ritter had supposedly killed two enemies, which had gone into his recent killing record.

    As such, the entire city was in themotion over these events, but also over Lothur''s advance and the end of his senseless killing.

    Many observers were changing their bets for thest days of the event, while others were preparing for the end of the Secret Realm and the actions that would happen with the end of this event!

 Chapter 585 Ancient History

    ?

    Hourster...

    It was already night in the Secret Realm when Lothur and the level 17 insect finally reached their destination.

    Upon arriving in the 18th most powerful area of this space, the two immediatelynded near an area that appeared to be a giant graveyard.

    There,rge graves were among other small and medium-sized ones, in a very well-organized area where no trees or vegetation were growing where it shouldn''t be.

    It was a space that seemed to be preserved by someone, even though it had long since been abandoned.

    Lothur realized something strange about the area after seeing it from afar, and uponnding there, he couldn''t help but ask. "What''s up with this ce? Why does it look so well cared for and new?"

    "In this area are the remnants of some of my master''s allies and friends, who died in battle and epted the mission to protect this ce in the afterlife."

    "What?" Lothur opened his mouth in shock, not expecting to hear something so unbelievable. "How is that possible?"

    "All those buried in this area were at least Origin Saints. Beings of that cultivation stage, even dead ones, can affect the space in which they were buried.

    In the case at hand, these seniors may be dead, but the power of their bodies is what has kept the demons sealed in this area unable to resurface for over 10,000 years." This insect said in a toneden with reverence. "In a way, they, in death, are still fulfilling their mission to fight against Morning Star''s forces."

    Lothur''s mouth hung open upon hearing that, sensing the difference in power from the cultivation stage he was at to that of the humans buried there. "That''s impressive!"

    "Indeed it is." The beast shook its head, even more respectful of these beings than Lothur since it had cultivated for over 10,000 years and reached only half of the 3rd stage. Meanwhile, the humans buried there had all reached the 4th stage!

    This is why he and all the beasts in this space were very respectful of these beings, with the weakest of them capable of manualbor, keeping this area free of vegetation and other organisms.

    Lothur understood this and said. "But this is strange... From what I know, demons, for the most part, cannot rise from the ashes after forming a Soul Bone. But from what I see in this ce, many of the dead demons here could do it.

    Why? Why didn''t the creators of this Secret Realm exterminate these beings?"

    The beast sighed as it led Lothur to the center of that area, walking through the proper corridors, not daring to touch those graves. "That''s because most of the demons are low-ranking. But at least a dozen Emperor demons were in this ce when my master acted with his friends and allies."

    "What?" Lothur stopped and eximed in shock. "How? Why were there so many like that? How could they be together? Are Emperor demons not born leaders? How would they gather around someone?"

    Typically speaking, what was expected when more than one being with high abilities emerged was that they would battle to dominate alone and supreme over other beings. So Lothur was naturally shocked to find that there were that many such demons in this ce!

    The insect could understand this human''s shock since its master had been very shocked to find out about the Morning Star tribe at that time.

    "It is really strange. But Morning Start was a monster. You know that every demon has its own innate ability, right?"

    Lothur shook his head affirmatively, and that beast continued.

    "So Morning Star''s ability was a mighty one, capable of surpassing that of ''ordinary'' Emperor demons by arge margin. Through this, it dominated other demon tribes, creating its own dark empire over 12,000 years ago."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''So it was its ability... Its Soul Bone must be pretty valuable.'' Lothur wondered.

    "In any case, it was unlucky that my master discovered it in this area just over 10,000 years ago. At that time, my master wasn''t strong enough to defeat the Morning Star tribe but was strong enough to go unnoticed and escape alive.

    A little over two centuriester, he returned with a group and exterminated all those beings." It said proudly.

    "What about the Soul Bones of those Emperors? If they were all killed here, I imagine many high-quality bones were created here, right?" Lothur asked.

    "Yes, 13 Soul Bones of Emperor demons appeared in this ce after the Battle of Gods and Demons. Of those bones, all of them were absorbed by either the master or the master''s surviving followers.

    I heard that one of these followers died and had been buried in the Secret Realm, but I can assure you that even if it was once here, it is no longer. We never found this Soul Bone, so I believe some young human who came here in the past found it if that wasn''t just an unfounded rumor."

    It sighed as it stopped in front of thergest tomb in the area. "As for the master, I know he died shortly after creating this Secret Realm, but something prevented him from joining his followers. So I don''t know where his Soul Bones might be."

    "So that''s it..." Lothur sighed as he saw therge golden grave in front of him.

    On it was written the following name.

    ''Steven Peters.''

    The insect said. "This should be my master''s resting ce. But it is empty. In any case, this is where we will test your item.

    When talented demons like Emperors die, their will has a high chance of being left behind at the ce of their death.

    Where this graveyard is, three Emperor rank demons died here at that time. They are the ones that the master''s allies andpanions are sealing."

    "What about the others?" Lothur asked.

    "Most of them are sealed by that leaf at the end of thebyrinth we came from. But two others are sealed by demonic statues, a creation of demons to punish offenders within their own n.

    The master and the survivors of the Battle of Gods and Demons used these items left by the demons to seal those demons who died in the spaces we couldn''t build good seals."

    ''So that was it? I absorbed the characteristics of an ancient demon Emperor?'' Lothur frowned, thinking that what he had absorbed was very little for a being with so much talent and who had even fought Saints in the remote past.

    "Hey, that must be wrong. I saw one of those statues, and its power, while impressive, was fragile for a demon like the ones you speak of." He said.

    "About that, those remnants are sealed by 20 such statues. So the power you would feel from one of those is only a fraction of the power of that remnant." The insect said, ending Lothur''s doubt.

    But then, this beast changed its tone. "Anyway, let''s get down to business..."

 Chapter 586 Success

    ?

    "ce that ne on the tomb in front of you, human. This ce is where my master should rest and the spot that should be the strongest in the seal if he had been buried here." The beast said. "He was not buried here, so this is the weakest point.

    If your item works, we will soon be surrounded by Nascent Soul Transcendent spectres and beasts manipted by them."

    "OK," Lothur said, seeing no problem facing some spectral beings.

    That insect noticed the absence of fear in this human, even though it itself was not so sure it would be safe to stay there.

    It and the other powerful beasts of the Secret Realm didn''t understand what exactly was happening in this ce. There shouldn''t be so many spectres, even considering the ughter of millennia ago.

    But the Secret Realm was full of these shadow creatures, and some of them could even threaten level 17 beings like it. So what they were about to do there was dangerous, and this insect was nervous.

    As Lothur was about to ce it on Steven Peters'' grave, it asked. "Aren''t you afraid? If this item works, we will have to flee immediately." It wanted to know this human''s ns before there was no turning back if it really worked.

    Lothur noticed the creature''s nervousness and said. "Rest assured. I am the nemesis of all spectres and demons!"

    An awkward silence came after Lothur''s words as the skies seemed to grow darker and the temperature in the surroundings decreased.

    The insect said nothing more. Instead, it just braced itself as it watched Lothur ce that item above its master''s tomb.

    When Lothur dropped that ne on top of the tomb, terrifying sounds immediately arose in the cemetery''s surroundings as if something in the depths of that area was in agony.

    The mere presence of this artifact began to agitate the many spectres and the remnants of demons in the area.

    In a matter of seconds, several spectral creatures appeared in the surroundings, with their hideous bodies and extremely deformed faces.

    Their screams were strange, the kind that no living being could replicate but that was capable of alerting any living soul.

    Lothur and the insect immediately looked away from that tomb, seeing more than two dozen level 17 creatures appear in the area, staring at them uglily.

    "It seems that this item does indeed work!" That creature was satisfied with this but also eager to get out of there.

    The fact that it worked was great, as its group could do business with Lothur and gain something new to strengthen the seals over the Secret Realm. But this meant that now it and Lothur would be pursued by creatures capable of killing them!

    As soon as it realized what was happening, it made up its mind and said. "Human, take the item. Let''s leave immediately."

    But Lothur said. "We''d better take care of them while they are here. If we take them to the underground area where we are going, their people will be in greater danger than here."

    "If we stay here, we will die!" The insect said in an agitated manner.

    Lothur smiled and activated his second Soul Bone ability.

    Dark mes!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When those dark mes appeared, Lothur immediately made every spectral being in the area look at him.

    None of those beings could see the insect beside Lothur anymore. All that was in their ''hearts'' was this human emitting energy that frightened them all.

    These beings had their senses and naturally cherished their freedom. As such, the moment they sensed the aura of someone who wanted to dominate and enve them, they considered Lothur a danger to their existence.

    After looking deadly at him, more than a dozen spectres flew toward him, making the insect beside Lothur tremble with fear.

    "Damn it! Human, what shall we do now?"

    "Stay where you are. I will annihte them." Lothur said, standing in the same position, waiting for these beings to try to possess him.

    These spectres did not know what he was capable of, and their natural instinct was to control others through possession.

    When they saw this being who at the same time threatened them but also had no spiritual fluctuations, these spectral beings soon began to enter his body.

    Lothur did nothing at first, making the system take longer to annihte those creatures so he could draw as many of them into his body as possible.

    The insect watched this with wide eyes, trembling with fear, as it saw the human beside it being invaded by 15 spectral beings.

    But just when it thought this human would lose control of himself and be an enemy, Lothur sneezed before white mist, rich in energy andws, left every pore of his body.

    That mist was so intense that for more than 15 seconds straight, it kepting out of Lothur''s body until the surrounding 20 meters away from him waspletely covered by it.

    ''What?'' The beast didn''t understand what was happening, but it realized that one way or another, Lothur not only exterminated the enemies that entered his body but frightened everyone else in the surroundings.

    Even the demonic remnants in that area stopped getting agitated as if fearing the person present in that graveyard.

    After a few more seconds, Lothur opened his eyes and looked at that beast, showing that he was still the same.

    "Now we can leave. They won''t chase us, and your people can use this ce to grow stronger." He smiled, feeling that this waspensation for the deaths he had caused.

    Lothur had nothing against these beasts from the Secret Realm. In fact, after hearing the history of this ce, he even felt sympathy for them. So he exterminated these spectral beings both to ease his path and to help these beings in some way.

    He didn''t feel sorry for what he had done. But he was fully capable of helping these beings and was not againstpensation.

    So after his words, he took Viktoria''s ne and climbed on the back of that insect that was still shocked by the events.

    "How did you do that? I''ve never heard of anyone who can annihte spectral beings like that!" It said after it left there, returning to the area it had departed from earlier.

    "I don''t know. I was born that way." Lothur replied, smiling, for in a way, that was true. "By all means, fly fast. I want to absorb what''s in the leaf of thatbyrinth as fast as possible."

 Chapter 587 Evolution

    ?

    At the beginning of the next day...

    The Secret Realm was already on its sixth day when Lothur and the insect he was with entered the previousbyrinth.

    At this point, of the young people who had entered this space, 7 of them had died in these days, and only 8 were left alive.

    Of those 8, all had achieved either soul or body cultivation advancements. At the same time, apart from Lothur, they all had obtained artifacts and resources that could raise their ranks after this event.

    As such, the overall ranking of this event had changed somewhat since the first few days, with Elke finally losing her first-ce position.

    Lothur maintained his position at 8th ce in the ranking, not having improved much, even with his earlier advance.

    He didn''t care about that anyway, and it would make little difference to his life what the people in Peters City were thinking of him now.

    As he entered that dark area filled with powerful beasts, all that mattered to Lothur was to reach the end of thebyrinth and finally get what he was interested in.

    The Fallen Scroll that the system wanted so badly!

    So when he reached thest level of thebyrinth and came across the beasts from before, among them the level 18 toad, he immediately said.

    "Here it is. This is the other leaf I told you about. It works as it should. You can ask your subordinate."

    The giant toad narrowed its eyes and picked up that item Lothur had just thrown in its direction, seeing the simrities of it to what it had there.

    Then the insect next to Lothur replied. "That''s right, boss. Such an item works just like ours, even without what this human intends to absorb from ours."

    "Oh? So you''re really going to want to stick with the previous arrangement?" The giant toad liked that, interested in this deal as much as Lothur.

    Unlike Lothur, what was inside was useless to it, who could not take things out of that leaf nor probe what was there.

    So making this deal with Lothur would not take anything away from it. The opposite of that, it would give it things it didn''t have and keep others under its control.

    It was the perfect deal!

    "Yes. I want to get on with it right away." Lothur smiled, walking toward that being.

    "What do you need to absorb what''s on that leaf?" The great toad asked as it looked at the leaf it was holding, feeling that it could use this not only to strengthen the seals of this space but to store spectres there.

    If it could absorb spectres with this item, it could create a consciousness for the leaf and, through this, create a seal guardian!

    This toad''s will would control such a guardian, which could greatly facilitate the work its master had left for it.

    If it seeds and develops two guardians with these leaves, the next time the Secret Realm opens, it could finally leave this ce to live its life!

    That was its goal, to fulfill its master''s mission but also to return to Concordia!

    Lothur answered it. "All you have to do is remove the protection on this leaf. Then, I can absorb what''s on it without even touching it."

    "Very good!" It moved, making some strange movements to disarm the formation that only it could disarm.

    After a few seconds, the protective barrier of that item disappeared, and not only Lothur but everyone on that level of thebyrinth felt the ominous aura about that ce increase more than ten times.

    The toad said. "That''s what that leaf is sealing. That''s Morning Star''s aura!"

    Morning Star''s aura was so tenebrous that ordinary cultivators, like most of them, could not even perceive the auras of the other demons sealed in that area.

    Lothur realized this and noted that even with his abilities, he probably couldn''t erase the traces of this creature if it came back to life right now.

    He asked. "Are you sure it won''t get loose? I feel like I''m facing an angry dog that thinks it''s caught on a rope but is actually loose."

    The toad nodded its head and said. "Its remnant is stuck. Rest assured. But it''s not good for you to take too long. That barrier I disarmed also serves to protect us."

    Lothur clenched his fists and got close enough to that leaf for the system to notify him with the same message as when he hugged Viktoria months ago.

    [Second Fallen Scroll of the Lost Tree sessfully collected...]

    ''What ability will I gain this way?'' He wondered as he closed his eyes momentarily.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Does the host wish to absorb this second singrity this instant?]

    As he opened his eyes and saw that, he immediately turned away from that sheet and gave the order to the system.

    ''Yes!''

    [Beginning the absorption of the second part of the seven singrities...]

    [Scroll sessfully identified...]

    [The baptism process will begin in 3... 2... 1...]

    A buzzing sounded in Lothur''s ears.

    Simultaneously a red light that only he could see spread in his surroundings, little by little encasing him in what looked like a sphere of light.

    Meanwhile, he felt as if he had suddenly be drunk, with his consciousness floating and part of his reason wavering.

    The red light from before prated his skin, making Lothur look at himself, terrified.

    This state did notst long. He soon began to feel an unparalleled pain in the middle of his back, where if he could see, he would see his spine glowing red, likeva.

    This was exactly the same as what had happened to him the first time. But it would soon develop into something different, with the red glow on his spine changing into something more internal within Lothur''s being.

    If he could see what was happening to him now, he would see his iplete soul on fire as it grew in size.

    This was painful, so soon he was screaming in agony while the many beasts in his surroundings looked at him with strangeness in their eyes.

    "What''s happening to him?"

    "I don''t know... It must be because of what he set out to absorb..."

    The beasts started talking among themselves while the giant toad looked intently at Lothur, forgetting the defenses of that empty leaf.

    "Ahhhhhhhh!"

    Lothur''s situation wouldst hours.

    After a long time in that state, he saw the message he had been waiting so long for from the system.

    [Absorption of the second singritypleted!]

    [The host''s body and soul were considerably changed after merging with the second scroll...]

    [Increased bone quality identified...]

    [Increased muscle quality...]

    ...

    [Increased host soul affinity with the Lost Tree...]

    [Increased quality of the host''s soul...]

    [The host''s soul has been restored to its full state!]

    Lothur saw this message and opened his eyes, forgetting the pain he had felt until milliseconds ago.

    ''What? Is my soulplete? Now I can cultivate it?'' He wondered in shock.

    [The host''s bloodline has been strengthened.]

    [Spiritual baptismpleted...]

    ...

 Chapter 588 Awakening

    ?

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16]

    [Body Cultivation: level 17]

    [STR: 335.9] [CON: 637] [DEX: 347.5] [AGI: 348.8]

    [INT: 271.2] [PER: 539.8] [WIL: 400] [SOU: 2.0]

    [EVF: 1,229]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 31%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 59%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 78%]

    Upon seeing these messages, Lothur cracked a big smile as his Super Regeneration made his pain from moments ago quickly disappear.

    Meanwhile, a dark substance was starting to emerge from his body, a mark of his advancing body cultivation level.

    But all that was on his mind at the moment was his soul cultivation, which had finally been unlocked, and now he could cultivate that part of his being!

    Thinking about his soul cultivation, he immediately ordered the system to convert his EVF points into Soul attribute points.

    [40.9 points added in SOU at the cost of 1,227 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 2 -> 42.9]

    ...

    [EVF: 1,229 -> 2]

    ...

    Immediately upon proceeding with this operation, Lothur felt pain again, causing his soul to inte considerably in seconds.

    Once again, the beasts in the surrounding area realized his predicament as they began to sense Lothur''s cultivation level for the first time.

    His soul power seemed to be skyrocketing, something that impressed them that he could endure without fainting.

    But after seeing all that Lothur was capable of, these creatures no longer doubted him.

    They would watch Lothur for a while longer until the sounds of agony from his mouth finally ceased.

    When he finally felt his cultivation stabilizing, Lothur slowly rose from where he was lying, looking down at himself. Amidst this, he was trying to get used to the feeling of his soul, which he had never felt before.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Now he had a soul as strong as one of someone at the 9th Transformation. But because of his physical characteristics, his soul cultivation would appear to be simr to that of someone at level 16.

    This was because the soul was connected to the body. When one managed to activate it, usually something that happened in the 1st Revolution, such a person could use both the power of their physique to strengthen the soul and that of the soul to strengthen the physique.

    Usually, people during the 1st Revolution would have average physical power equal to their soul power. And since it became easier to cultivate the soul after reaching the 2nd stage, people usually used soul power to strengthen their bodies if needed.

    But Lothur was a freak who had physical power greater than soul power. So his soul benefited from his physical power, which is why his soul level seemed higher.

    But with his current soul power, he couldn''t do much.

    Not only because of its weak valuepared to his physical characteristics but because he had no soul techniques.

    Anyway, Lothur was more than happy with his current situation, having recovered the iplete part of his being!

    Because he already had three parts of his spirit body due to his Soul Bones, he was not unable to use his soul power.

    Through his Soul Bones'' abilities, he could use his soul power in conjunction with his physical powers!

    Thinking of this, Lothur immediately tried something new.

    He tried to utilize his visual ability using his physical and soul characteristics.

    When he inserted his soul power into his eyes, he felt his visual ability immediately evolve.

    The spiritual energy within the beasts in that area seemed more noticeable than before, his vision seemed to reach a more significant distance, and he could see through things more easily.

    To get an idea before he could see through two levels of thebyrinth he was in. But currently, with just the addition of his soul power into the equation, he could easily see through three levels.

    His senses had also improved considerably. Before, he would only know someone''s level through system information and would have no idea how strong certain opponents were.

    But now, even without the help of the system, he could sense the cultivation of those in his surroundings and, through this estimate, how strong someone was.

    He couldn''t see the attributes of someone at level 19 or stronger. But Lothur was sure that if someone like that appeared near him, he could more or less estimate how many times stronger than him that being was.

    In this moment of contemtion, Lothur suddenly looked at the altar where the leaf he had absorbed the powers inside of ity.

    When he did so, the young Ritter immediately realized what he had been unable to see earlier.

    Several auras were circting below the area beneath the metal leaf, each extremely powerful.

    They were moving in a way as if they were attacking something, preparing for something.

    His eyebrows narrowed, and he said. "The sealed demons in that area are trying to break the seal."

    "What?" The level 18 toad and some of those level 17 beings eximed.

    "What are you talking about, human? Can you see them? Were you sessful in absorbing what was in our sacred item?" That toad urged.

    "Yes. I advanced levels because of that... Anyway, if we don''t do something, I''m afraid that the demons sealed in this area will manage to awaken from their current state. What can we do to stop them?"

    Those beings were silent for a moment, fearing this would happen, as it would mark the end of this Secret Realm and all lives here.

    "The only alternative I know of would be to use that item... But if we do that, we won''t be able to reinforce the seal in area 18. If that happens, we will still face problems anyway." The giant toadmented in a terrible tone.

    But Lothur then said. "Use this leaf here, then. I will take care of the seal of this area 18 on my own. I guarantee I can handle what''s there, but I can''t promise the same with what''s here."

    Only three remnants of demons were in that area of the graveyard that Lothur had passed earlier. Meanwhile, there were 8 of those beings in this ce!

    That toad didn''t know if Lothur could keep his promises. Still, with no alternative, it decided to go through with it, jumping in front of the altar and beginning the addition of this new item over the old seal that was there.

    ...

 Chapter 589 Strengthening The Seal

    ?

    As he stopped in front of the altar in that area, with the barrier deactivated, the great toad stood on its two hind legs. Then, it put its two front feet together and started the formation left by its master.

    One Thousand and One Souls Formation: Activate!

    As it did so, ck and white energy surged from its front feet, surging from there towards the altar. At the same time, the metallic leaf that was already there before glowed intensely.

    Amid this, the ck and white energy made an infinity symbol around that item, slowly moving it from the meeting of the ends to the rounded parts of the infinity.

    At the same time, the toad spat the second leaf in that direction, bringing it to the opposite position of the other leaf toplement the seal.

    This seal had been created by its master and embedded in a formation etched into this being''s body so that only it could manipte the seal.

    Through this formation, one could strengthen the seal''s defenses. But it was impossible to weaken it on purpose, much less free what was there.

    So, while it used its best to put another defensiveyer on that ancient seal, all the creatures in the surroundings were calm, knowing that this move had no risk of weakening the seal.

    Lothur watched everything with his visual ability, noticing that the remnants of the demons immediately realized what was happening and started trying to escape with more force.

    But it was useless. Its previous action had not weakened the seal and was slowly evolving stronger with the addition of that new barrier.

    Seeing that the problem in this area would probably be avoided, Lothur focused on observing that formation''s structure, learning several useful things for his journey as a formation master.

    As he was learning, the new leaf connected with the previous one and emitted a powerful pulse before slowly taking up its position next to the item Lothur had spent days struggling to reach.

    When it finally got in sync with the other leaf, the remnants of the demons in that area and every being in thebyrinth realized the shocking change of this simple addition.

    The seal had grown ten times stronger overnight, and even the creatures outside it began feeling pressure on themselves.

    The giant frog jumped further away from that thing, feeling that if it stayed too long near it, it might end up being absorbed by the seal!

    "That..." It closed its big mouth, at a loss of words to describe the terrible sensation it felt

    But it was quick to reactivate the defensive formation on the altar to protect those leaves and the beasts there from that sensation.

    Meanwhile, Lothur focused on the altar, seeing that while the demons had moved considerably away from their escape, those two leaves seemed to want to merge.

    ''What is that?'' He wondered, seeing energy around the leaves distorting as one tried to touch the other.

    But something seemed to be missing, and they couldn''t take the final step to join together while they were alone.

    ''Are these leaves some kind of puzzle? Can they and what''s inside them connect somehow?''

    But nothing that would answer his doubts arose from his questions.

    Lothur then looked at those beasts in the area, already feeling that the pressure from moments ago had greatly diminished due to the movements of the great toad.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Well, no more worries for the moment. The seal has gotten much stronger, and those remnants will not be able to escape this ce on their own. You can rest assured." He said, but it wasn''t necessary. Everyone there felt it.

    "And what are you going to do now?"

    "Well, first, thank you for agreeing to do this business with me. It has benefited me significantly."

    "We benefit more, in a way." That level 18 being said. "Those demon remnants would probably be able to escape this ce in a decade or two. But with this deal, I believe that they won''t be able to escape even if they reach their full potential as remnants.

    The entire Secret Realm is safe because of this deal."

    "Hmm." Lothur nodded, before saying. "Well, now I will go to Area 18 to do what I promised. Does anyone here want to apany me? I can do it alone, but if anyone wants to make sure of what I will do,e with me."

    Hearing this, the great toad said. "This time, I will go with you. The area is more secure than ever, and none of the young humans who entered the Secret Realm with you have a chance of entering here."

    This Divine Soul Transcendent said to its subordinates. "Stay here and observe the area. I will return as soon as possible."

    After those words, it looked at Lothur and said. "Shall we go? Now that you''ve leveled up, you can probably join me for a run, right?"

    "I could do that before," Lothur said before turning and running toward the exit of thatbyrinth.

    When he did that, all the level 17 beasts in thatst level of thebyrinth saw him disappear from the area.

    His speed was so high that only level 18 beings could keep up with his movements!

    That toad saw this and smiled, then took off from there to catch up with Lothur.

    However, this great being would soon realize it would not be easy to catch up with this human, who could already be considered stronger than it.

    So, it and Lothur would run for a little less than an hour until they reached Area 18, where the young Ritter would have to wait for 8 minutes for the toad after arriving in that cemetery.

    When the great level 18 being arrived, looking at him strangely, even sweating, Lothurughed and asked. "Can we get started?"

    "Damn it! How strong have you gotten? How can you have surpassed me in the blink of an eye?" That toad questioned, full of doubt in its mind. ''What was inside that leaf? Was that valuable?

    Damn, if I knew how to absorb that, I could be a Saint!''

    Lothur said. "Yes, it''s not for nothing that there are so few of those in the entire continent. Anyway, since you''ve arrived, let''s get started.

    The Secret Realm should be over in less than 5 hours, so I''d like to settle this soon so I can go find my women."

    That beast did not object and soon saw Lothur positioning himself near the tomb of the creator of this ce.

    ...

 Chapter 590 Sudden Change

    ?

    As he positioned himself near the tomb of the creator of this Secret Realm, Lothur smiled mysteriously before joining his two hands together as if he was about to say a prayer.

    However, he was not going to do such a thing. Instead, he would use his soul power in conjunction with his physical power to activate his lineage ability in this way for the first time.

    The great toad felt something terrifyinging from Lothur and jumped away, leaving that graveyard in one leap.

    ''What is it?'' It wondered as it slowly saw a red shadow appearing behind Lothur.

    Simultaneous with the escape of that level 18 beast, the patterns that normally appeared on Lothur''s face appeared in the same way as always, with his eyes turning red and a pentagram appearing on his forehead.

    But instead of a red mist leaving his fingers, as it normally happens, a red silhouette began to form behind him.

    This silhouette first appeared with its legs, arms, and torso, without its head. But in a second instance, this relevant part appeared, while some traces on it became clear for beings at a distance from that graveyard to see.

    A pair of shiny horns covered by ck inscriptions were on this creature''s head. In the middle of this silhouette''s forehead was a crystal pentagram, glowing in a deep red that would make anyone in the vicinity feel afraid of this glow.

    Lothur continued with his hands joined, but the silhouette behind him raised his arms vertically, with his palm facing the sky.

    When he made this movement, red mes appeared all over that graveyard, especially in the tomb in front of Lothur, where the weakest point of the seal about this ce was.

    Lothur looked in the direction of where the remnants of the demons there should be and saw that they had all turned away from the weakest point of the seal, fearing it.

    He then made his red mes devour the remnants of the corpses in that graveyard, which gave this seal strength to continue standing.

    Once he broke the seal, nothing else would stand in his way, and he could deal with these three remnants!

    The toad saw what Lothur was doing but could do nothing. All that was in its mind at the moment was an absurd iprehension about how this human could do this.

    It didn''t have as powerful sensory abilities as its master. But it was a powerful level 18 beast, so it could tell what Lothur was doing was not simple.

    Those mes could burn even the soul remnants of powerful demons!

    Those demons had been Saints in life. Now, they were dead, and their remnants had only a fraction of their greatness. But even so...

    In front of Lothur, they were no more than children hiding behind a flimsy door!

    It was just a pity that to break through that door, Lothur would have to destroy the remnants of the human elders who had for so long protected this ce after their deaths.

    ''Sigh... At least now they will be able to rest in peace.'' It thought as it watched the red sea in that graveyard.

    At the same time, the spectres that had fled earlier slowly disappeared from the surroundings, burning in red mes for just looking in the direction of the silhouette behind Lothur.

    Beasts in the surroundings, even beings at level 17, were watching in his direction with wide eyes, feeling as if the day of final judgment hade.

    In front of that disy of absolute power, all beings in the surroundings could die with just a thought from him!

    ''Who is this? Why is there such a monster in the Secret Realm? Where did hee from?''

    These questions arose in the minds of beasts while they were paralyzed with fear.

    ...

    While Lothur was acting to ovee the barriers in that graveyard, Viktoria, Elke, and Larissa were looking in his direction from where they were now.

    They were in area 17, a stronger area than the one he had left them hours ago.

    But even though they were several miles away from Lothur, they were all looking in his direction with wide eyes, feeling the terrible sensationing from that graveyard.

    Gulp!

    "What is that?" Larissa wondered while Viktoria and Elke were thinking the same thing.

    ''That''s Lothur''s ability!''

    ''But why is she so much stronger?'' Viktoria wondered as Elke asked herself her own questions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Has he seeded in his ns?''

    Besides them, the other young people in the Secret Realm were also shocked, even those in Area 16 watching toward where Lothur was acting, feeling fear.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the za in front of the Morning Star Academy...

    "How is this possible?"

    "How did Lothur raise his score so suddenly? For that matter, did he advance twice?"

    "That must be wrong. If Lothur advanced twice, he would already be a Nascent Soul Transcendent, at the very least!"

    People were discussing the sudden change that had just happened in the Secret Realm''s overall ranking.

    In thest few minutes, Lothur suddenly moved from the 8th position in the ranking and reached 1st ce!

    - 1st Lothur Ritter: 4,999

    - 2nd Viktoria Frost: 1,236

    - 3rd Larissa Carstensen: 1,110

    - 4th Elke Becker: 959

    ...

    - 15th Boris Huwe: 19

    This is how the ranking looked after the recent change brought about by Lothur.

    Amidst the discussions in that ce, the Nascent Soul Transcendents there to apprehend Lothur couldn''t help but worry about what was happening.

    "Has he reached our level?" The man asked the woman.

    "Possibly. That alone would exin such a high score." She said, with concern in her voice.

    "Then we must prepare ourselves. He will leave the Secret Realm in a few hours, and if we are not ready, he can escape."

    The woman agreed. "If he escapes from us, the empire will face the greatest crisis in its history. Alongside Daemon, he could destroy the local order!"

    The two immediately began assembling their formations, items that the emperor had paid dearly to use against invaders from his state, individuals at the same level as him, level 18.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the Three Great Lakes Region...

    A woman dressed entirely in ck was eating roasted fish from a fire in front of her while alone in one of the most dangerous areas of that region.

    But she was not alone inck of choice. After all, a powerful Divine Soul Transcendent would notck options to apany them.

    She was alone by choice, and when she felt something strange, she couldn''t help but scream at herself.

    ''That feeling...''

    "Lothur!" Her eyes opened suddenly, shaking vigorously with the fear of what might happen from now on.

    "Damn it, I have to talk to the damned Daemon!" She left her campfire and flew off in the direction of where that man was supposed to be.

    ...

 Chapter 591 The Awakening Of The Seed Of Evil

    ?

    Meanwhile, in a camp in the middle of the most troubled area of the Three Great Lakes Region, Lothur''s father''s group was hanging around in what they usually called their headquarters.

    But from one hour to the next, the leader of that group looked to the west and frowned, making an ugly expression and drawing the attention of all his subordinates.

    "Chief, what is it? Did something happen? Any trouble on the way?"

    Several people in the surrounding area asked, all on alert due to this change in expressions of their leader, who normally did not show his emotions on his face.

    "Something has happened to Lothur. He has managed to ovee all the seals on his body and soul and is now exposing his bloodline power as much as he can!" He said in a somber tone.

    "What?"

    "How is that possible?"

    "If that is the case, I fear that a cmity is close to happening to him."

    The people closest to Daemonmented as they sensed that times were about to change.

    "If that is the case, we must act more quickly, or our ns may be disrupted." Daemon''s right hand in this group suggested, concerned.

    Amidst this, the men on the outskirts of the camp began to go intomotion, not because of this but because of the aura approaching them.

    "Alert! Someone powerful ising this way!"

    Shouts spread from the outskirts to the center of this camp, soon drawing the attention of the leader of this group.

    But Daemon had more or less expected this, and when he focused his attention on the person approaching them, he said. "What do you want here, Fabienne?"

    Fabienne, level 18, Daemon''s former wife, said. "I am here on Lothur''s ount. He''ll be in trouble if he doesn''t go into hiding very soon!"

    Daemon knew, said, andmented. "What can I do? I gave him the best I could give him to protect himself. But he decided to go down this dangerous path... Now that''s out of my, no, our control, Fabienne."

    "So you''re not going to do anything for our son?" She shouted as she released her terrible aura to the surroundings, causing all those experts in Daemon''s group to raise their guards.

    Lothur''s mother was so strong that only Daemon, one of the strongest Divine Soul Transcendents Leopoldine had ever seen, could fight her!

    Even if everyone else in that area united against Fabienne, they couldn''t beat her and would still risk dying inbat!

    Daemonughed and said. "I care about him. After all, he has my genes. But he is an adult now and is making his own decisions. I never tried to interfere with his freedom. I just tried to give him a peaceful life.

    If he didn''t want a peaceful life, now I can only wish him luck in what he is doing.

    But I will try to send someone to notify him of what might happen from now on."

    "That''s it?"

    "That''s all I can do." He said, aware that the threat Lothur posed to some of Concordia''s powers was too great for a 3rd stage cultivator to do anything about it!

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a distant Leopoldine empire, there was a gigantic temple in that state''s capital, where a grandiose seraph statue was built for anyone in that city to see.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In this ce, on the top floor of one of the towers there, an elderly man with white hair and a long beard was peacefully meditating while keeping watch over his surroundings.

    If Lothur saw this man, even without knowing him, he would immediately identify the High Priest of the Seraphim Church, who was dressed in a golden robe with the symbol of this organization on his left chest.

    While meditating, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked in Leopoldine''s direction, feeling a terrible sensation that reminded him of his days as a demon hunter.

    "That energy..." He muttered before standing up and squeezing his wrists.

    His secretary noticed his agitation and immediately appeared near him to take whatever orders her leader would give her.

    "Katrin, notify the elders and the Supreme Pontiff. Someone marked for death has appeared in southern Concordia. I will investigate the matter immediately!" He said in a toneden with seriousness before disappearing from the area as if he had never been there.

    Gulp!

    "I will do my best, High Priest!"

    On the other hand, in an area even further away from Leopoldine, near the northern end of Concordia, a being that already knew Lothur also noticed his awakening.

    There, in that area of dense forests and the presence of powerful beasts, the Tyrannosaurus Rex that Lothur had met through a spiritual projection noticed the young man''s situation.

    He opened his eyes, awakening from his sleep, and looked south. "Lothur, eh? You seem to have recovered... Hmm, I don''t know if this will be good or bad for you.

    Now you will be investigated and pursued by powerful people!" It muttered, feeling that it was a little too soon for that to happen.

    Its soul projection had met Lothur only a few weeks ago. So that human was probably still too weak to stop the threat of the Saints who would now seek him out!

    Thinking about this and this young man''s potential, this being couldn''t help but get serious for a moment, trying to imagine if Lothur would die as expected or ovee all possibilities.

    Amid its thoughts, a being near where it was standing noticed this creature''s mood change and asked. "What''s wrong?"

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex looked at that orange-feathered being, which seemed to be on fire and had extreme heat in its body, and said. "Something important is about to happen in the southern region. An acquaintance of mine is about to be pursued by powerful forces from the maind."

    "Oh? What crime did hemit for that? And why do you care?"

    "I believe he may be an ally if he survives... In any case, hemitted the crime of being born!"

    "That..." That being frowned its eyebrows and narrowed its eyes. "You''re not saying that... But how is that possible? How would you care about that being?"

    Gulp!

    "Because he is strange. He has total control over himself and doesn''t know what he is." That Tyrannosaurus Rex said.

    "But he is a..."

    "Yes, he is.

    He can be considered this abominable being, the fruit of the greatest sin in this world.

    Lothur Ritter has the seed of evil in his body! He is a half-breed of human and demon!"

 Chapter 592 Mental Attributes

    ?

    While totally ignorant of what was happening around Concordia, Lothur was finishing absorbing the remnants of the demons in that graveyard.

    Those creatures had been mighty in life, but their remnants were only a fraction of their former greatness.

    In front of young Ritter, with his ability to devour life and absorb attributes, they didn''t have much to do but await their demise.

    The level 18 toad saw this as Lothur burned the auras in that graveyard, be they of humans and beasts buried there, remnants of demons and spectres.

    Everything there burned along with Lothur''s targets as he finished purifying this area where no more beings of darkness would be around from now on.

    Amid this transformation nearingpletion, as the beasts in the surrounding area looked at Lothur with fear, he saw the system messages signaling his sess.

    [Host''s affinity for the ice element increased by 30%...]

    [Host''s affinity for the element of darkness increased by 39%...]

    ...

    [Host''s affinity for poisons increased by 51%...]

    He saw each of his affinities with elements increasing. Next, the progress bars of his resistances are at new heights!

    [Resistance to Gold-grade poisons.]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 48%.]

    ...

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 55%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 21%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade resistance to the element of darkness.]

    [Progress: 40%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 40%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 71%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 92%]

    ...

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 59%]

    ...

    [PER: 539.8 -> 550.1]

    Seeing thatst message from the system, he smiled as the red mes in that area diminished, with the silhouette behind him slowly disappearing.

    He looked at the surroundings of that graveyard using his visual ability and noticed that no remnants of those creatures remained.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With that, he sighed, finally ending his business with these demon remnants from the Secret Realm and his deal with that beast.

    Lothur knew that two demon remnants were still trapped in the statues scattered around the Secret Realm. Unfortunately he had only a few hours to stay in that ce before he was sent back to Peters City.

    His bloodline ability needed at least 24 hours to recover, so he couldn''t do anything against these remnants in the time he had.

    He turned and looked toward where that toad was and made a sign of farewell, indicating that his work was done and he would leave.

    Lothur did not want to waste his time with this beast. He now wanted to join his women to help them as best he could in the three hours or so that remained until the event in the Secret Realm was over for them.

    He then ran toward where he was feeling the auras of those two, smiling as he immediately realized that Viktoria had advanced in her soul cultivation!

    ''She has be a Transcendent... Larissa has achieved that too.''

    While Lothur was thinking about this, the giant toad finally got up the courage to enter the area of the old cemetery, where there was now only an area covered by ashes.

    ''I don''t feel anything...'' This creature thought, noticing that its eyes and senses had not fooled it moments ago.

    ''What a terrifying being! He annihted the remnants of those demons without any difficulty!''

    Gulp!

    ''Good thing I made a deal with him! If he had used that ability on me, I would have died in thebyrinth!''

    ...

    Less than 20 minutester, Lothur arrived near where Viktoria, Elke, and Larissa were standing.

    When he arrived, he surprised all three, not because of his sudden arrival but because of the aura they now felting from him.

    Because of this, Viktoria and Elke were highly shocked, for they knew better than anyone that Lothur could not emit spiritual soul fluctuations!

    Lothur emitting this meant only one thing!

    "Lothur, can you cultivate your soul now?" Elke was the first to ask, smiling from ear to ear as she approached him next to Viktoria.

    Viktoria asked. "Lothur, what happened?"

    Lothur smiled at the two as he saw Larissa watching him from further away, only with much more respect than before in her manner. He said. "I found something that solved my problems. Now I can cultivate my soul."

    "You can cultivate your soul? But you''re already doing that." Larissa said. "You are already a Soul Core Transcendent!"

    "Hmmm." He nodded at her.

    "So what is your level of body cultivation, Lothur?" Elke asked in curiosity.

    "Nascent Soul Transcendent."

    All three opened their mouths, for he could already be considered a Leopoldine expert at that level.

    He was still not among the strongest, especially considering those behind the shadows, which few knew of existence. But he could already be considered relevant for his strength alone, even if one were to disregard his aplishments with the Ritter Motor Company.

    Lothur saw the expressions on their faces and said. "But you have also made important advances. Viktoria and Larissa, congrattions on reaching the 3rd stage."

    He then looked at Elke''s status, seeing something new that he had never noticed.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 13]

    [STR: 108.9] [CON: 347.5] [DEX: 107] AGI:109.3]

    [INT: 47.7] [PER: 43.5] [WIL: 102.2] [SOU: 258.9]

    ''Uh?'' He saw not only Elke''s Soul attribute but also her mental attributes, for the first time noticing all the attributes of a cultivator!

    ''What was missing for me was soul cultivation. Through the sensation I feel with my soul probing, I can also get the information for the mental attributes?'' He realized what was behind it, surprised but also pleased.

    With this information, he could better work on his women''s talents and weaknesses!

    ''That''s great!'' He smiled before saying. "Elke, you''re still quite a ways short of advancing to the 3rd stage, but I want to use the remaining hours to get you closer to that stage.

    So I want you three to follow me. I''ll find some valuable resources quickly!"

    After these words from Lothur, the three women came out of their states of astonishment to follow him, searching for resources not only for Elke to be stronger but also for them.

    And so they would spend their time in thest hours of the Secret Realm!

 Chapter 593 Return

    ?

    In the square where the Secret Realm data stood, thousands of people were in the surrounding area, many barely having more than 30 centimeters of their own space due to the number of people there.

    In the next few minutes, the Secret Realm was supposed to shut down and expel all the young people who had entered there a week ago.

    As such, the local poption was there to apany the triumphant return of the young participants in this edition, especially Lothur, the creator of the Ritter Motor Company.

    In thest week, the numbers of thispany had improved significantly, and now more than 200 cars, 20 minibusses, and ten cargo vehicles were running locally.

    During this, Lothur performed best at the Secret Realm event, finishing first overall.

    So many of his fans and customers were there to wee him back, while many others, such as Seraphim Church of Peters City post members, were there to invite him into their organization.

    Several other powers that did not demand exclusivity from their members wanted to enlist Lothur in their ranks, as many representatives of maind organizations were there as well.

    Finally, some local nobles and cultivators close to Lothur in some way were there to wee him, especially the members of House Frost, Becker, and Koch, who were very close to him, Viktoria and Elke.

    These people wanted to see him again after these days in the Secret Realm, but they were also there to warn him.

    That''s because, while this crowd was waiting for the arrival of the eight survivors of this event, two Nascent Soul Transcendents were around the stage from where the young people were supposed to arrive.

    They had several formations activated over that space, guarding the area without letting people approach.

    The surrounding mortals and irrelevant cultivators had no idea who they were. Still, Lothur''s powerful allies knew these two were there for him.

    As such, these closest allies of Lothur wanted somehow to warn him of these two dangers in the surroundings, even considering the low probability that this would be useful to him.

    Meanwhile, the Transcendents in this city were watching the situation cautiously.

    Luis was standing next to the Duke of Linn Province, looking on in anticipation of hismuniqu�� with House Leopoldineing to fruition before the worst happened.

    On the other hand, Chris was in doubt for the first time about his decision to leave the Third Prince''s faction.

    Meanwhile, the Transcendents Dukes of other Leopoldine provinces in Peters City to buy cars were awaiting the situation''s oue, curious about Lothur.

    They knew that the probability of that young genius escaping was negligible. But considering how strong the people locally thought Lothur was and the advances he had made in the Secret Realm, these two wanted to see for themselves what this man would do when confronted by those two experts.

    Amid this, the Transcendents who the imperial family had sent to apany the two young men who had entered the Secret Realm had already departed back to the capital, confident that their superiors would deliver justice.

    Minos had probably killed those two, but since two Nascent Soul Transcendents were there to arrest him, he would pay for his crimes one way or another.

    There was no need for them to stay behind!

    So while the ignorant crowds kept the noise in that area high, the local and out-of-province experts were tensely awaiting the return of the eight survivors.

    Annaliese was one of those most concerned people there!

    ''Lothur, please be careful...'' She wondered as she stood next to the white fox that had been living on the Ritter estate since bringing young Ritter from the Three Great Lakes Region.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Currently, Ice was at level 15, not far from advancing to the 3rd stage because of the resources it had been receiving from Lothur and his women since arriving in Peters City.

    But at the moment, all that was on this beast''s mind was worry, for Lothur was in great danger from those two high-level humans.

    Although weak, this beast was brave and willing to fight for the freedom of that human it loved most of all!

    ''When they attack him, I will make my move.'' It thought, considering that Lothur was very strong and that those two would have a lot of work against him.

    If they were distracted, considering how weak the body of humans waspared to that of beasts, it felt that it could disrupt the ns of Lothur''s enemies!

    Amidst the different thoughts of the many individuals in the surroundings of that square, the hourss that marked the time of the Secret Realm finally reached the point that marked the end of the event!

    In that instant, the thousands of people there fell silent, focusing on the tform from which the 15petitors who had entered the Secret Realm had departed earlier this month.

    The level 17 Transcendents looked at each other, increasing their concentration as they checked that all their Gold-grade formations were working.

    If one looked closely into the eyes of the two, one would see traces of agitation and even a little fear, for even they were subject to the rumors.

    Around Lothur was a mythical haze that would make anyone doubt themselves by standing against him.

    Would he perform a miracle and once again escape, turning the situation in his favor?

    That was the question the two of them had in their hearts while controlling formations capable of even holding level 18 cultivators.

    Logic said no, but being up against someone who had contradicted logic several times, these two were naturally cautious!

    Amidst their thoughts, eight spatial distortions appeared on that tform within the area under the influence of the formations controlled by these two envoys of the Third Prince.

    The first to appear had been the weakest and worst in the event.

    One of them even looked scared when he arrived there as if he was about to be attacked by an opponent.

    The others were calmer, but all shared traces that they had been in battle and were tired from this week-long event.

    Then Elke appeared in that area, smiling as she felt her cultivation closer to level 16, but still in the 2nd stage.

    She had advanced in body cultivation to level 14 but was still a bit short of reaching level 16 of soul cultivation. In any case, she had obtained resources that wouldst for months in her hands and could certainly help her advance.

    In particr, this woman had obtained an item through Lothur that had increased her talent. So upon arriving at that ce, she couldn''t help but smile as Viktoria and Larissa appeared at her side.

    Finally, Lothur appeared in the middle of that group with a calm expression. Yet, soon his expression changed due to the terrible situation he found himself in.

    His visual ability was activated, so as soon as he reached that square, he realized the powerful suppressive forces upon him!

    ...

 Chapter 594 Result

    ?

    When he saw he was in that situation, Lothur immediately tried to take action as he left his expression of satisfaction for sessfully returning from the Secret Realm to be serious.

    He immediately activated his Soul Bone abilities, causing his eyes to turn scarlet red as the gravity in the surroundings changed to repel those forces trying to suppress him.

    Aser beam shot out of his eyes, heading towards one of those two individuals controlling the formations over that area.

    That attack was so strong that if someone at level 18 was hit by it without being prepared, even someone so strong could die at Lothur''s ''hands!''

    Simultaneous to that attack, Lothur tried to use the Space Belt to escape that area.

    Unfortunately, in trying to do so, he could only teleport to the edge of the barrier over the area where he and the other youths who had entered the Secret Realm were.

    ''Shit!'' Heined in his mind before moving to use the Golden Finger in an attempt to break that first formation in his path.

    In doing so, Lothur was not slow to use his soul power to strengthen his physical attributes and improve his chances of destroying that thing.

    And so, he managed to make a small crack after his third attack!

    Crack!

    "What? What''s happening?"

    The young people under those formations trying to oppress them eximed, finally realizing their situation and seeing Lothur acting.

    Viktoria and Elke went pale as they realized the problem, noting that this had to be the stuff of someone targeting Lothur since no one else there was so strong that formations of that quality needed to be used.

    Viktoria looked at the two individuals putting their strength into those formations and identified their armor.

    ''Imperial families? Damn, these people must be men of the Third Prince!'' She thought, concerned, as this was the man who most desired Lothur''s death within the Leopoldine family.

    While the youths within that area noted the worrying circumstances of his return, the two level 17 Transcendents were shocked at the strength disyed by Lothur.

    He had narrowly missed reaching the level where he could destroy these formations and threaten them!

    "Unbelievable!" The woman said as she felt the energies in her body being sucked up by the formation she was controlling.

    Her partner was also putting a lot of himself into it, but not only that, he was pale seeing Lothur creating cracks in the formation he was controlling.

    He was not afraid that this silver-haired young man would destroy the barriers he and his partner had set up. But seeing how strong Lothur had be, he couldn''t help but feel a chill in his body, feeling that the Third Prince faction had narrowly missed making a mistake of no return.

    If they had taken longer or sent weaker people, Lothur would probably have be too strong!

    "The wretch is a monster! How can anyone grow so fast?"

    "He must have found something of extreme value in the Secret Realm... The bastard is fortunate!" The woman said as she continued to focus on oppressing Lothur.

    They were expending their energies to arrest Lothur. Still, this young man was doing much more, slowly losing his fighting condition.

    He already had a staff in his hands, attacking those semi-transparent walls falling on him with a force that would seriously hurt level 18 cultivators.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But in this situation, he at most was slowly damaging that first formation oppressing him, doing so at a speed that he would be exhausted before destroying it.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, those were Gold-grade formations. At most, his level, affinities, and resistances could bepared at Silver-grade. He would have a chance if it were the other way around, but that was not the case.

    Seeing this ''human'' was beginning to weaken in the face of these enemies, Ice took advantage of the fact that they were very preupied and focused on Lothur and jumped towards the man, intending to distract him from the young Ritter.

    Annaliese saw this and thought about acting. However, Mabel was already at her side, holding both arms of her youngest daughter.

    "No!" This matriarch said, not because she wanted to see the end of Lothur but because she knew they could not stand against envoys from the imperial family.

    As much as the Third Prince was her enemy and she wished for his death, she could not rebel, or it would furtherplicate the Frost family''s situation.

    "If I don''t do something, Lothur will be taken away!" Annaliese shouted, feeling the worst feeling in the world.

    "If you act, you will be taken with him, and the whole family will be annihted in weeks," Mabel coldly said while using much of her strength to hold her daughter, who was currently not that much weaker than her.

    Amidst this, the people in the surrounding area, people from outside the province, and local leaders had their mouths hanging open, watching this unfold with apprehension.

    On the one hand, it was impressive to see the level that Lothur had reached. Still, on the other, it was a cold shower to see the one who would soon be the local leader being oppressed in this way.

    Lothur''s allies were frustrated, unable to do anything while their leader was attacked.

    ''Damn it!'' Gomeric closed his eyes, very upset.

    The Leopoldine family was powerful not only because of the emperor, a level 18 cultivator. But because of their support from the ''shadows,'' from powers that even had level 19 cultivators.

    As such, even if Lothur were already a cultivator capable of countering someone like the emperor, rebelling would still be risky.

    That''s why no one but Ice acted!

    ''Die!'' That white fox screamed in its mind as it tried to bite the level 17 human''s waist.

    Lothur saw that from inside the area under the action of those formations and was nervous, feeling bad that he couldn''t use his bloodline ability at the moment.

    If he could, he was sure he would end this in a heartbeat and kill those two!

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t do anything about it and only watched as he fought against those formations when that man defeated that white beast with a p.

    Pow!

    Ice was thrown opposite from where it jumped, still alive but unconscious and seriously injured.

    "Silly beast. I will send you to the same hell as your master since that is what you desire!" That man said before using parts of his strength and throwing that creature''s body to where Lothur was.

    After that, Lothur finally reached his maximum and could do nothing more to counteract those formations!

    ...

 Chapter 595 Departure

    ?

    ''Damn it!'' Lothur felt his consciousness failing as his sights darkened.

    He looked at Viktoria and Elke, who were scared to death as they also tried to attack in the direction of those cracks in the first formation above them.

    But they were too weak to do anything about it and could not even increase the size of the cracks already created by Lothur.

    He saw the nervousness in her eyes and signaled to them not to worry, for he would find a way to survive and even escape.

    "Wait for me..." He said in a subtle tone, slowly fainting.

    But before he fell into the darkness of his faintness, Lothur saw Ice next to him, quite wounded, and threw a pill he had with him into this creature''s mouth.

    ''This will save you...''

    Those were thest things Lothur thought before his energy ran out, and those formations knocked him out.

    When that happened, the formations controlled by those two Nascent Soul Transcendents quickly concentrated only on Lothur and Ice, leaving aside the rest of the youth who returned from the Secret Realm.

    Such formations created a silver sphere of energy around Lothur, something that not only blocked the powers of those already chained within that sphere but also prevented people outside from probing their situation.

    Only the controllers of the formations had this ability. Because of this, no one but them and the young people who came from the Secret Realm had any idea that he had achieved powerful soul cultivation in that ce.

    ''The damned thing gave us a lot of trouble!'' The woman thought while she was sweaty and tired.

    Luckily, now that Lothur was in prison and with his body and soul cultivation sealed, there would be no more difficulties for her and herpanion in escorting young Ritter to Imperial Prison.

    That mannded next to hispanion on the tform where the young men who had entered the Secret Realm were, standing around that silver sphere.

    "Hey, what do you think you''re doing?" Viktoria was the first to react, shouting against those two who dared to arrest her husband.

    Elke stood beside her with her fists firmly clenched, ring at the two of them.

    Meanwhile, Larissa did not understand what was happening, finding this action of Nascent Soul Transcendents against Lothur somewhat unexpected.

    ''What''s been going on thest few days?''

    The level 17 woman looked at Viktoria as the crowd fell into sepulchral silence. "First Miss Frost, I will forgive your insolence, for you have just returned from the Secret Realm, and this is still your husband, after all.

    But don''t you dare raise your voice to us! We are fulfilling an imperial edict!"

    ''Imperial edict?'' Elke thought, along with the thousands of people who were still ignorant of it.

    "What? What are you talking about? When we left for the Secret Realm, there was nothing like that against Lothur."

    "Hmm, luckily, your husband entered the Secret Realm moments before we arrived in Peters City." That man answered Viktoria''s questions while being impressed with the quality of the young people who returned from this event.

    It was true that more people than usual had died in this event, even some young people thatmon sense said should not die, given their above-average qualities. But even so, if one include Lothur, three Transcendents had returned from this Secret Realm!

    This was an impressive number, as it didn''t normally happen!

    At most, talented and lucky young people returning from Secret Realms would have items with them that would pave their cultivation journey to the 3rd stage in the future.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    So not only these two envoys from the Third Prince but all the experts from Peters City and outside this province there at the moment were shocked by Larissa and Viktoria''s auras.

    ''That must be Lothur''s doing...'' The Duke of Linn Province thought, judging the only possibility considering the known facts.

    At the same time, he and others in the surrounding area couldn''t help butment the downfall of the young local genius.

    If he had had the chance to stay there a few more months, he would probably have reached a level where neither these two nor the imperial family could act against him.

    But now that all this had happened, Lothur was finished.

    The Imperial Prison was dangerous because of its inmates but lousy because of the impossibility of getting stronger through resources or free spiritual energy in the air and earth. As such, Lothur would die or spend the rest of his days in that terrible ce!

    "Sigh... It''s a shame he ended up like this. I wish I''d had the chance to convince him to deliver my cars early." One of the Dukes still there to contact Lothurmented to his colleague.

    "Don''t worry about that. Maybe we can convince the Frost girl." The other Duke there pointed in Viktoria''s direction. "In Lothur''s absence, she will be the controller of the Ritter Motor Company."

    "Oh? That''s not a bad alternative..."

    As conversations spread in the surrounding area, with many already considering Lothur out of the local political game, some even considering approaching Viktoria, the two envoys of the Third Prince decided to leave.

    "Let''s go to the Imperial Prison." The woman said to herpanion, eager to leave Lothur in his new home before they finally returned victoriously to the capital.

    When they arrived in the capital, having fulfilled the wishes of the Third Prince, they would surely be rewarded for their meritorious services!

    But before they left, Elke asked them. "Where are you taking them?"

    "To the Imperial Prison, youngdy. This man hasmitted serious crimes against the empire. He is a dangerous person." The woman said, noticing Lothur''s aura in that poor naive soul. "Forget about him. You will never see him again."

    "It''s impossible to get out of the Imperial Prison." The man added, before floating next to his colleague, soon after taking off from there while carrying the semitransparent silver sphere where Lothur and Ice were.

    Elke clenched her fingers tighter while Annaliese was held by her mother, and Viktoria held back from acting.

    But they all trusted that Lothur would return, so the words of these people wouldn''t keep them from their hopes.

    ''One day, all this will be returned, Third Prince!'' Viktoria thought before those two carrying Lothur and Ice disappeared into the skies.

    Meanwhile, above Peters City, a crack appeared in the air, and a hand appeared from there.

    Just then, an old-looking man dressed in clothes from the Seraphim Church appeared there, looking at this ce from which he had felt the feeling that he was after.

    ''Uh? A Secret Realm... So the dreadful creature was in it.'' He thought as he scanned his surroundings.

    ''I''m not sensing anything. The strongest ones in the surroundings are those two carrying two prisoners... It is not possible that either of them is the one I am looking for. He wouldn''t lose to two such weak beings.

    But I don''t feel his aura anywhere. Why is this so?

    I''ll find out the old-fashioned way!'' Then he opened a spatial crack into the Secret Realm of that area!

    ...

 Chapter 596 Trouble In The World

    ?

    Meanwhile, inside the Secret Realm...

    The beasts and creatures of this ce were already returning to normal after the days of the event that had just ended.

    If one were to enter there now, one would see a much more peaceful ce, with weak beastsing out of their hiding ces while the stronger ones returning to their resting areas.

    Beasts slept a lot. That was their way of cultivation. So instead of meditating, as a human would do to grow stronger, these beings would fill their stomachs with energy-rich food and sleep until they used all that to grow stronger.

    Also, because of this, these creatures had slower cultivation than humans and could live much longer as well.

    Some of the beasts from this Secret Realm had existed for more than 10,000 years, but of that lifetime, they had spent at least 70% of it sleeping.

    That''s why beings from the time of Peters City''s founder still existed in this ce, even considering the overall low cultivation level of these beings.

    So after the Secret Realm event was over, these beings were already returning to their usual routine, which did not involve battles or intrigue.

    The creator of this space had ced only trusted beings there and left a well-defined hierarchy behind.

    When there were no people there to endanger the seals over this space, they would live in an orderly manner, each tribe taking care of its responsibilities without unnecessary conflict.

    Some would rebuild and help recover what had been lost to the humans who had entered there. In contrast, others would maintain the integrity of certain areas, such as the statues in the underground.

    Because of this, some of these creatures were already moving in teams to repair sites damaged by recent battles, while others had the job of breeding.

    To maintain the poption over the years, the weaker beasts of this ce had to reproduce at each opening of the Secret Realm to recover the lives lost.

    It would take time for the stronger beings killed during the event week to be reced, but it would eventually happen one day.

    And upon arriving at this ce, the Saint immediately noticed several signs of creatures from this ce mating.

    He ignored it because he knew that when creating a space like this, people like him had to put in all sorts of things to maintain the spiritual quality of the area.

    Without living things to maintain nt life and make development cycles happen, a ce like this would be a barren wastnd after a few generations!

    He focused on finding the strongest ones there, leaving aside these creatures trying to rent what had been cut down.

    He looked toward a sizeable red toad and heard what that being was talking about with some kind of little green men.

    "Chief, we can''t get into that area to check the statues." One of those little green men said while looking at a being resembling a mountain near it. "The damn spectres are in great numbers in the tunnels below."

    "Sigh... Those creatures are getting worse with time." The head of this Secret Realm said in a worried tone. "With each event, the number of spectres has been increasing. If this continues, we will have problems in a few generations."

    The spectre problem was a real thing. Generations ago, there were only a few known spectres about this space. However, from a few decades to now, the number had jumped and was not far from reaching a figure that would make it difficult for these beings from this Secret Realm to continue their activities.

    "That must be the stuff of humansing in here." A level 18 beast that looked like an orangutan monkey said. "Every time humans die here, new spectres appear."

    "Hmmm, there is something wrong in that world. The dead are not fulfilling their path in the reincarnation cycle." The great toad sighed, not knowing what to do.

    At that instant, the Saint arrived where these beings were, not far from where Viktoria had fallen days ago.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He listened to the conversation of these beings and said. "It seems that this problem is not only local..."

    "What?"

    "Who are you?"

    Immediately those beings realized the presence of this high-level human, startled by his sudden appearance.

    The most frightened of all was the level 18 toad, for that old man had the same level as its master thest time it saw him!

    Gulp!

    ''Level 20!'' It eximed in its mind, seeing a Heavenly Saint.

    The Heavenly Saint looked at that creature and said. "The wheel of reincarnation is broken. When beings above average die, they will form spectres to terrorize the world.

    This is the stuff of the damned demons who want to dominate our great world!"

    "Uh? Is that true? But if it is, the whole world will end! Spectres are terrible to fight against, even in low numbers..." One of the beings in the surrounding area said.

    "It is a catastrophe... Anyway, if you want to prevent the emergence of these abominable beings, avoid killing humans above the 4th Revolution. Above that, humans have enough willpower to generate spectres." He said, knowing this was not his purpose there, but saying it nheless because it was his job to fight against beings based on negative elements.

    "Anyway, I''m here searching for someone who recently passed through this ce." He said, not identifying himself to these low-level beings. "He should be powerful and recently showed terrifying power.

    I want to know everything he did here and what he looks like."

    "What?"

    "Is he after that human?"

    "Wow! That human was strong, but I didn''t think he would attract a great Saint!"

    The High Priest heard that and made an ugly expression. "Human? You are mistaken. The one I''m after is an abominable creature. He is a hybrid of demon and human."

    "It can''t be!"

    "That''s not possible! He hasn''t devoured a single creature from this ce! Furthermore, he strengthened the seal over the area and annihted three remnants of Secret Realm demons!" A level 17 beast, the one that had apanied Lothur when he searched for Viktoria, said this.

    Meanwhile, the level 18 toad closed its eyes, feeling it made sense.

    ''So that was it... Not for nothing did I feel like I was standing in front of a predator at that moment. He''s actually the ultimate predator! The enemy of all races, able to steal powers from everyone in his path!''

    But even though he identified Lothur as a hybrid of demon and human, this toad couldn''t help but say. "Senior, I don''t doubt your intentions and words. But this person who was here is very different from what the legends say.

    He was very calm and even negotiated with us. I don''t see how he could be this chaotic being, capable of devouring his own parents."

    ...

 Chapter 597 Journey To The Imperial Prison

    ?

    The Saint realized several of those beings didn''t know what that toad was talking about, but the strongest ones there seemed to agree.

    ''How is this possible? Did this freak try to trick them into thinking something?'' He wondered, for these creatures really did not behave like Lothur.

    He then said. ''It doesn''t matter if he was more or less chaotic. If he is as you say, that is even worse. An abomination like him with the ability to control himself is even worse because he can hide and blend in with humans.

    So answer me once and for all what he was like and how to find him!"

    That toad could do nothing against this being, so it did not intend to resist his questions, even considering that Lothur had done it a favor.

    ''I wish him good luck, but...'' It thought before saying to that Saint. "Senior, the young man who was here..."

    As the great toad was about to speak information that would possibly lead Lothur to his end, suddenly, the sky of the Secret Realm turned dark and strong winds began to rise.

    A terrible feeling arose in the surroundings, and all the beings in the Secret Realm stopped what they were doing to prostrate themselves.

    Meanwhile, the level 20 Saint frowned, realizing his mistakes.

    Not only had he been distracted by the spectres and remnants of demons he could sense in the surroundings, but he had taken too long in the creation of another Saint!

    Secret Realms were extraordinary. Not just anyone could enter one of these, even if they had spatial maniption skills, as was the case with Saints.

    When someone created a Secret Realm, part of his will was left behind to make the rules of that realm count.

    Precisely because of this, after staying too long in this Secret Realm that he considered being low-level, that man from the Seraphim Church had unwittingly awakened the remaining will of that ce!

    To his misfortune, the will of a Secret Realm could grow stronger as its creator grew stronger.

    Even in death, that was valid!

    ''Damn it! The bastard who created this Secret Realm was a Supreme Saint?'' That man felt several dangerous forces approaching him as terrible lightning formed in the sky.

    With that, that man quickly opened a new spatial crack, determined to leave this Secret Realm, a ce where he could be seriously injured if he lingered any longer!

    He left for Peters City in anger, feeling that his search would be much more difficult without the crucial information the toad was about to give him.

    ''Damn it! Now I''ll have to go after him by investigating those who left this ce.'' Hemented, knowing that finding his target without more information could cost him much more time than if he had seeded.

    ...

    Two hourster...

    While that Saint appeared in Peters City to investigate the whereabouts of Lothur, the two imperial guards were already far away from that city.

    Not only were they able to fly very fast and cover great distances in a short time. They were members of the controlling force of that state, which had outposts all over the empire.

    After flying to the border of Linn Province with another province of the empire, they arrived at one of the imperial army''s bases, where they could use the teleportation formation there to quickly move towards the Imperial Prison.

    So they were in that ce right now, waiting for the formations to finish activating in order to leave for Lothur''s future home!

    Lothur was still unconscious, but Ice had recovered after digesting the pill this human had thrown in its mouth earlier.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    While those two were waiting for the teleportation formations, one could see a beast in the underground room of that barracks trying to free itself from the silver sphere that enveloped it and the human on its back.

    "Damned humans! Free us!" Ice screamed in its bestialnguage, trying to destroy the barriers of that formation, trapping Lothur and it.

    But with its cultivation sealed, it could do nothing even if it had the strength to escape!

    That silver sphere was able to contain the sounds from within itself, so those outside it were not hearing any of the sounds produced by Ice.

    A guard at that post ignored the agitated fox inside that sphere and said. "Seniors, the teleportation array is ready. You can leave now."

    "Finally."

    "Send us directly to the Imperial Prison." The woman said as she entered the formation area, which looked like a square room with ss walls and a floor with several metal circles.

    "Unfortunately, the Imperial Prison formation is having some problems, seniors." The controller of the teleportation formation made a bitter expression and said. "We can send you to the Cavaliere''s post."

    Cavaliere''s post was a distance from the Imperial Prison that was simr to the distance of this post from Peters City.

    "Is that so?" The level 17 man whined but didn''tin. "Very well then. We''ll just have to fly for a few more minutes."

    And so they disappeared from that area, traveling quickly to Cavaliere''s post.

    The teleportation trip was fast. It could be done in less than 10 seconds between the point of origin and the destination.

    So soon, those two would arrive at that other imperial army base, from where they would depart not long after towards the Imperial Prison.

    ...

    Meanwhile, a group of high-level cultivators wasing towards Leopoldine under orders from the Supreme Pontiff of the Seraphim Church.

    This legion basically consisted of Transcendents led by some Saints, men of the Seraphim Church going towards the ultimate enemy of humanity, a hybrid of demon and human.

    The Church took the threat of these beings very seriously, so after feeling the sensation generated by Lothur hours ago, these people were already moving to neutralize this threat.

    But they were not the only ones moving!

    While the Church was moving, Lothur''s mother gathered the necessary allies to find him and direct him to a safe area.

    They couldn''t fight head-on against the forcesing for Lothur, but they had full confidence in finding a ce to hide him.

    Lothur''s father would not help her with this. He would only send someone to his son to inform him of the risks he was currently going through.

    So the only one actually helping Lothur in this instant was Fabienne, a member of the demon race of Emperor bloodline, level 18.

    And soon, she found out about her son''s seizure by people from Leopoldine''s imperial family!

    "Let''s go to the vicinity of Cavaliere!" She said into amunicator with her subordinates and allies as she traveled to a demon site in that state. "Some of my men destroyed the Imperial Prison''s teleportation formations days ago. So I want men avable to fight halfway between the prison and the army post at Cavaliere!"

 Chapter 598 Demon Ambush

    ?

    Sometimeter...

    The two imperial guards carrying Lothur and Ice finally left the Imperial Army barracks in Cavaliere, heading south, where the Imperial Prison was located.

    This time they were apanied by two more men responsible for entering and registering new prisoners from the Imperial Prison.

    The Third Prince already intended to imprison Lothur in the Imperial Prison, so for some days now, these two men had been waiting for the arrival of the guards with this enemy in Cavaliere.

    The Imperial Prison was a special ce that few could ess due to the many restrictions required for its operation.

    Only authorized personnel could get close to the ce, and they were the only ones who had the means to enter.

    Anyway, they were flying at great speed, following a rtively short path for them. At the same time, they had the silver semi-transparent sphere with Lothur and Ice trapped inside.

    As they flew silently, Lothur made a pained expression as his eyes moved beneath his eyelids.

    After a few breaths and coughs, with some blood dripping from his mouth, he opened his eyes, showing exhaustion and pain as he did so.

    ''Uh? Where am I? What happened?'' He saw that he was flying and immediately began to look around for where he was, who was in his surroundings.

    As he did so, he remembered what had happened when he left the Secret Realm.

    ''Damn it. I''ve been caught!'' He clenched his fists as he couldn''t move inside that sphere, both because of the items limiting his movements and Ice''s presence there.

    He saw this fox and sighed in relief that it was still alive.

    To Lothur, Ice''s action had shown how loyal it was to him and that he could always count on this beast.

    So he couldn''t help but thank it. "Thanks for trying, mate."

    Ice still didn''t understand humannguage, so it only showed concern in its eyes, feeling that they would meet their end at the end of this journey.

    ''What are we going to do?'' That was the meaning of the look on its face.

    Lothur could not read minds but knew what his fellow beast wanted to ask.

    "I don''t know. First, I have to recover. Then, if I can activate my bloodline again, I''m confident we can free ourselves from this situation." He muttered as he felt that he would have to wait at least another 16 hours or so before he would have a chance to try such a thing.

    But as he was thinking about this in frustration, he suddenly saw something in the distance that caught his attention.

    He may have had his strength saddled, but his visual ability was still working.

    In his current state, he couldn''t use the maximum of what he had, much less theser ray. But he could see better than cultivators of his level, so he was the first of this group to notice something in the way.

    ''Uh? What''s that?'' He saw a shadow hidden in a tree, while several simr ones were in the surroundings, forming a geometric figure he knew well.

    ''A pentagram? Is that some kind of formation?'' Lothur frowned and immediately controlled his emotions to avoid attracting attention from these four individuals.

    After a few more seconds, suddenly, a woman appeared in front of that group, floating above the area where the pentagram was.

    She had a beautiful face, white hair, red eyes, and lips in a pulsating red that contrasted greatly with her snow-colored skin.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Her contours were extraordinary, with both her lower and upper body measuringrge but totally in bnce with the rest of her body.

    She looked perfect!

    Because of this, Lothur immediately ced her at number 1 among the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

    ''Who is this?'' He wondered, looking at Fabienne.

    Fabienne ignored her son and looked at those four men. "Please, please help thisdy... Demons are chasing me!"

    Immediately those four stopped flying, looking at that beauty while all of them, including the only woman there, felt mes in their bodies ignite.

    They all looked lustfully at that woman, unaware she was a demon!

    Emperor demons were no different from humans in their appearances. Everything about them was made so that they could integrate into humanmunities and hide perfectly.

    To understand how terrible these beings were, even a member of the Seraphim Church, a demon hunter, would have a hard time identifying an Emperor demon just by its appearance.

    If the Emperor didn''t show its demonic mark and its abilities, it was impossible to identify them!

    Precisely because of this, upon seeing that seductive, hard-to-take beauty, those individuals did not doubt that this was just a helpless beauty running away from demons.

    Her clothes were torn, and there were some mud and blood stains on her arms and legs, with a demonic aura around them.

    Because of that, these four immediately believed her story and put up their defensive positions to prepare for the nearby demons.

    "Where are they?" The level 17 man asked, while the others felt a little fear in their hearts, for if a level 16 woman like that was running away, that could only be an awful sign for them!

    Fabienne was using one of her abilities to lower her cultivation level to level 16, but even if all four of them were level 17 cultivators, fighting against demons capable of endangering Soul Core Transcendents was a risk for cultivators who didn''t know how to kill demons!

    This was the case for the four of them, so they were a little afraid to hear of demons nearby.

    Fabienne looked at them silently for a moment, seeing that she couldn''t just kill those people. Without one of them being alive to deactivate those formations around her son, she would have difficulty freeing him.

    Since this was a crucial moment when he had to escape as quickly as possible, she couldn''t fail to get his freedom in full as quickly as possible!

    "This way." She pointed away. "They areing in that direction. I found them finishing devouring a human vige, and unfortunately, I drew their attention."

    One of those four clenched his fist, feeling that at least one of them should make their way to the Imperial Prison while the others solved this problem.

    Lothur being arrested was important to the Third Prince. But at the end of the day, this young man was only a ''human.'' However, one demon capable of threatening that woman''s life was enough to throw the entire empire into chaos!

    They had to act, even amid their mission!

    That man looked at hispanion and said. "Take Lothur and that beast to the Imperial Prison. We will apany this littledy to deal with these demons."

    ...

 Chapter 599 Rescue

    ?

    The moment she heard that, the woman clenched her fists but did not refute herpanion''s words.

    She did not want to leave them there to face demons alone, but the Imperial Prison was not far away, and as long as she left Lothur nearby, some imperial guard could take him inside.

    "OK. I''ll go, but I''ll return as soon as possible." She said while the other three had serious expressions, feeling anticipation and fear for what might happen next.

    Then, as they floated a few feet above ground level, that woman flew with Lothur and Ice in the direction of the Imperial Prison, following the direction they had been in earlier.

    That beautiful woman who had appeared before them indicated a different direction from the Imperial Prison. So as the human flew down a path that passed above the demon trap, Lothur''s mother directed the three Transcendents in the direction she had indicated.

    "This way."

    The three began to fly after her shortly after that.

    However, that would notst long!

    After 10 seconds, a scream came from where that woman was making her way!

    "Aaagh!"

    With that noise, not only those three but Fabienne herself looked back, showing fear.

    When they looked at where that woman was flying with Lothur and Ice, they saw a pentagram formation appear around her, creating a special cell of dark energy.

    Simultaneously, chains bound her wrists and heels. At the same time, a deadly aura seeped into her body, causing her to convulse and scream in pain.

    She was a powerful level 17 cultivator. However, the demons around the pentagram formation were all level 16 beings, enough to control that formation that could subdue even level 18 humans.

    When they sensed that demon formation, those three men in front of Fabienne immediately looked at the trees in the surrounding area and saw five level 16 demons, all of them Monarch demons.

    "Damn it!"

    "Damned demons! They got one of us!" One of the men said as he saw so many well-ranked demons in front of him for the first time in his life.

    The smartest of them saw that and was surprised.

    When demons of the same rank behaved so subtly, it usually happened because of the presence of at least one higher-ranked demon in the vicinity!

    "Shit, a damned Emperor demon..." The man who had participated in Lothur''s apprehension in Peters City was saying when Fabienne finally showed her ws.

    One of her hands turned into a razor-sharp w, and it went through the man''s back, killing him in one motion that went right through this human''s body.

    He couldn''t even cry out in pain, feeling it piercing through his heart and looking down in iprehension.

    Fabienne pulled her w back, a hole too big for a human hand to fit through where this man''s heart should have appeared.

    Blood poured in significant quantities just moments after the attack causing this person''s death!

    The other two Nascent Soul Transcendents saw that and felt cold on their backs, noticing that this beauty was actually a wolf dressed as a sheep.

    "Damn it!"

    "An Emperor demon!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The two shouted, feeling how unlucky they were to find a being as rare as this in their path.

    In this moment of discovery, Lothur was open-mouthed, noticing that that beautiful woman was actually a demon.

    He already suspected that she was rted to those demons in the surroundings somehow, but she could just be a human being controlled.

    So finding out that she was actually the leader of those beings surprised him!

    ''She killed that man so easily... What level is that?''

    Lothur could not see or feel Fabienne''s cultivation while his forces were sealed within that energy sphere.

    Thus, he could only estimate that she was stronger than the people who defeated him in Peters City.

    Amidst his thoughts, with Ice by his side, fearing their end for these demons, the woman controlling the formation imprisoning Lothur felt her control over herself fading.

    ''Damn... I''m... Losing... My... Min.'' She felt her eyes closing as if she was falling asleep, feeling a lot of pain as she lost control over herself to that demonic formation.

    Meanwhile, Fabienne killed the second enemy, finally showing her level 18 cultivation to the survivor who would have no chance of escaping from that ce.

    "I cursed you, bloody demon!" He shouted in awe before attempting to flee through the skies, flying as fast as he could while using formations to distract his enemy.

    But Fabienne was not to be underestimated, and even though she was a level 18 demon, she had simr strength to early 4th-stage humans!

    So he wouldn''t be sessful in his escape attempt, much less be able to hurt this woman!

    During the final moment of this attack by Fabienne, her subordinates acting against that remaining human, finally managed to control her.

    Once she was under their control, they immediately made her disarm the formation trapping Ice and Lothur, slowly making the seals on them disappear.

    After a full minute, that woman''s body was still trapped by the pentagram formation, but Lothur and Ice finally found themselves released from that item that had trapped them earlier.

    In this situation, they both fell to the ground while Lothur was too exhausted to fly.

    The two did not make any sudden movements, nor did they try to flee immediately after noticing that they were free. They were inside a demonic formation, surrounded by creatures that, even one of them, would give them trouble.

    But five of them were nearby, enough for even Lothur to be cautious.

    However, while the two of them were feeling tension, suddenly, those five beings in the surroundings knelt almost simultaneously.

    "Young master." They said together, making Ice look at Lothur, and that young man looked at those creatures with wide eyes and mouth.

    "What?" He shouted in amazement after another second while the woman was still trapped in the middle of that demonic formation.

    Amid Lothur''s astonishment, one of those creatures, simr to the demon he had killed months ago, pointed to the sky, from where Fabienne was returning with the head of the man who had tried to escape.

    "Young master, we are men from your mother, Fabienne Vazrath. We are here to rescue you. You are in great danger!" One of those beings said, further shocking Lothur, who immediately forgot reality and began to think of several things.

    ...

 Chapter 600 Discovery

    ?

    "Mother?" Lothur opened his mouth in shock, not expecting to find the mother of his predecessor now. ''That woman is my mother? But wait a moment. She''s a demon. How can that be?''

    But then he remembered the conversation he had had with Viktoria months ago when he first heard of the creatures hated by everyone in this world.

    ''Is this body a hybrid of demon and human?'' He swallowed his saliva, understanding his situation even before those demons exined the problem.

    ''It''s not for nothing that my bloodline can steal the powers of others! This is actually that devouring ability that they say these beings can use against demons, humans, and beings of all kinds!''

    His eyes narrowed a little, and he thought about the system. ''But the system can''t be because of my origin... And it probably changed the way my powers work.

    Hmm, what is the purpose of the system other than what it says? I don''t believe my body''s situation is a coincidence.''

    But amidst Lothur''s thoughts, Fabiennended beside him and Ice as this white-furred creature tried to understand the situation.

    "My son, you must flee immediately. The Seraphim Church will hunt you down now that you have awakened your powers." She said as she saw her son again, this time being able to approach and hug him.

    Lothur let that woman hug him, with some doubts in his mind. But he did not be emotional just because she was the mother of this body he was using.

    "Seraphim Church? Will theye after me because I get my soul power back?" He asked.

    "Exactly. Your father and I put several seals on your body so you wouldn''t show yourself to the world and have a normal life. But unfortunately, things got out of the way, and now extremely powerful people wille after you." She said after releasing Lothur''s body.

    The creators of hybrids like Lothur were highly emotional about them to the point of even sacrificing themselves for them.

    A father or mother of a demon-human hybrid and the close followers of these beings would never be able to raise their hands against these dreadful creatures.

    This was what made them so terrible, as it often allowed these beings to develop quickly at their weakest moment.

    So these demons would not raise their weapons against Lothur and be willing to risk being persecuted by the Seraphim Church just to try to help him!

    ''So that was what was preventing me from cultivating my soul...'' Lothur understood this relevant point about himself.

    "In any case, you must run away, my son." Fabienne grew more serious. "Go south to the farthest point of Asken. You will eventually find a tribe of demons who owe me favors. They helped you get to Demon Ind, the home of the demons.

    You will be safe there!"

    "Demon Ind?" Lothur had never heard of such a ce, but he knew demons would also hunt hybrids like him. "Wouldn''t that be more dangerous?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "No, as long as you don''t show your bloodline skills, the demons will think you are a high-ranking demon, Emperor, like me. You will be protected as long as you look like me." Fabienne advised. "But you should avoid cultivators at the 4th stage. They will be able to realize what you are if they probe you deeper. So be cautious and discreet.

    It would also be interesting if, on the way there, you raise your power to the 4th stage. That could create a defensive barrier over your aura and really hide you from Saints."

    Lothur understood her advice, keeping it in his heart. "And where is this ind? For that matter, how would the members of the Church find me if I don''t go to that ce?"

    "Demon Ind is in the South Sea, at the south pole of our world. That is a tough ce to get to, where the few humans who have ever gone have died and have not had the opportunity to return.

    That''s where the main demonic base is, not in northern Concordia, as many think." She gave this crucial information to him. "The strongest demons live there. At least, that''s how it is while their ns don''t seed."

    "ns?"

    "We don''t have time for that." She said before answering Lothur''s other question. "The Seraphim Church members will not stop searching for you until they find and kill you. Not only are you an abomination that threatens everyone, but you are also the only one who can generate a Diamond-grade Soul Bone.

    Someone like me can only create a tinum-grade Soul Bone, so demon hunters will hunt you with much more voracity than me.

    And for them, it will be effortless. Unlike me, who can contain my demonic aura even using my abilities, you can''t do that when you devour the powers of your prey.

    When you do this without proper safeguards, they will sense your direction and direct their investigations of your whereabouts closer to you!"

    Lothur had a shocked expression on his face, not expecting that he could generate a Soul Bone of such quality. But upon hearing that danger would surround him only when he activated his bloodline, he felt that his life was not as much in danger as that woman was saying.

    At the same time, he remembered the information he had about the Imperial Prison, something he had learned from the Koch family documents.

    ''As far as I know, the Imperial Prison is covered by Gold-grade formations, capable of blocking Saints'' senses.'' He pondered, not knowing if it would even be advisable for him to flee to Demon Ind, where powerful, hard-to-kill enemies would surround him without him being able to use his bloodline.

    ''If I use my bloodline inside that ce, I believe no one can track me through it. And many powerful prisoners will be there to give me their powers.'' He considered, feeling it was worth the risk and seeing if his thoughts were correct.

    He now had soul power, so he could already be considered a 2-star formations master. Confident in his abilities and the resources he had picked up from the Formations Masters Guild over the past few months, he was confident that he could check this out without taking any chances if he were in that ce.

    He then said to his mother and the demons in the surrounding area. "No, I don''t think I will live long following that n. On this ind, I can be surrounded by enemies wishing my death if they recognize what I am. Plus, I have a n that I want to test before that."

    "Oh? What n?" Fabienne asked.

    ...

 Chapter 601 Plan

    ?

    "You said I release something easy to trace and recognize when I use my bloodline, right?" Lothur asked.

    "Yes."

    "So when I''m not doing that, I''m invisible?"

    "Not entirely," Fabienne said. "An average person couldn''t use the sensation you release when you are not using your bloodline to track you. But a Saint near you would recognize what you are, even without knowing your position by their senses.

    So they could identify you if they were near you, even if you don''t use your powers."

    "But away from me, it would be impossible for them toe to me as long as I don''t use such a thing, right?" He insisted.

    "That would be the case... But what is your n?"

    "I have another question." He still did not answer his mother. "Are there areas that I can use my abilities without this feeling you speak of reaching my enemies? When I got my soul back, I was in a Secret Realm. But that ce is not totally separate from the outside world.

    But the Imperial Prison contains formations that can contain spiritual energy outside of itself. It probably also works by preventing an insider from feeling the power of people outside of there and vice versa."

    "Oh?" Lothur''s mother understood what he was getting at. "Do you want to go to the Imperial Prison to use your bloodline ability safely?" She asked as she gave the matter some serious thought.

    The demons in the surrounding area understood Lothur''s thought and started talking among themselves as well.

    "Is it possible..."

    "Formations like the one in that ce prevent internal and external spiritual fluctuations from exceeding the boundaries of each part."

    "Yes, it wouldn''t make sense that such a ce would be so good at containing prisoners if their fluctuations could be felt from the outside... If it weren''t, then their cronies would probably have invaded that ce by now."

    "That makes sense. Some men in that prison are supposed to be high-ranking people in states as strong or stronger than this empire."

    Lothur''s mother then said as this young man listened to all that, "Your theory must not be wrong. A Secret Realm doesn''t contain internal spiritual fluctuations to itself. Some of them go beyond the spatial barriers of these regions and reach the continent.

    This prison has formations that trap those fluctuations, so using your bloodline inside probably won''t signal your position to enemies. But why would you stay in that ce?

    Even if you can hide and use your ability, you will never be able to escape there. Plus, the emperor and his family will try to kill you."

    To Fabienne, Lothur was like other hybrids of humans and demons.

    These hybrids before Lothur were not able to absorb the powers of cultivators in the same way as this young man. Instead, they had to literally devour the bodies of their victims and then slowly absorb their powers, using spiritual energy from the surroundings to consolidate these new powers.

    In short, this had to be done through spiritual meditation, something difficult to aplish in a ce practically barren of energy!

    Hence, in this woman''s view, Lothur would never achieve much in that prison and would be in the hands of people dangerous to him.

    He said. "I have my own ns. I feel that running away toward Demon Ind will only cause me more trouble, and it would be much harder for me to get stronger...

    Anyway, I n to use this remaining person to secretly take me there.

    Suppose I enter the imperial prison using a different name. In that case, I can use this situation to forge my escape and direct those people in search of my head away."

    "Oh? That sounds like a good n." A level 17 demon said, sensing that his young master was very clever.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "So you want to enter as an ordinary prisoner in the Imperial Prison, directing whoever is after you away from Leopoldine..." Fabienne did not hate this n, feeling it would be less dangerous for Lothur.

    He couldn''t have a great future in the Imperial Prison, but there he should be fine, considering his current strength. Meanwhile, the Seraphim Church men could investigate his disappearance and move on to other states.

    She and her men could create tracks leading the Church away from Leopoldine, and in the future, when she bes a 4th stage demon, she could break into that prison and free him.

    She thought about it and said. "Very well, I agree with your n. I will help you forge your escape. But how do you intend to get into that ce without causing suspicion? It won''t be easy to do that."

    Lothur had already recovered some of his strength after ingesting some pills. He walked over to that pentagram formation, which was controlling that level 17 cultivator.

    He saw her status.

    [Name: ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 17]

    [Body Cultivation: level 12]

    [STR: 95] [CON: 110.9] [DEX: 95.2] AGI: 95.6]

    [INT: 141.7] [PER: 143.5] [WIL: 122.2] [SOU: 928.9]

    Immediately after seeing the status of his enemy, Lothur activated one of his abilities, causing ck mes to appear in his hands.

    He then floated towards where this woman was under the influence of these formations and ced one of his hands on her forehead.

    Those mes entered that woman''s body and, considering her current situation, quickly eroded her mental structures to bring her under Lothur''s control.

    After a few moments, having convulsed a bit, that woman''s eyes gained a subtle trace of darkness as Lothur finished conquering yet another ve.

    Currently, his mental attributes were too strong for this woman to withstand his domination, so in less than two minutes, she became his ve to obey him.

    The demons in the surroundings followed Fabienne''s signaling and deactivated that demon formation, freeing that woman to test if Lothur could control her.

    "Master!" Immediately after that, she knelt at Lothur''s feet, showing him her inferior position.

    "I want you to take me to the Imperial Prison and register me as Kaiser Krause, an outside invader of the empire." He ordered before taking a potion capable of changing the colors of his hair and eyes.

    After this, his eyes and hair became ck as night, enough to make him considerably different and drive away curious onlookers.

    Fabienne liked what she saw, noting how prepared Lothur was for this n he had juste up with. "Okay, fes, let''s create a fake escape route!"

    "Okay!" Those demons began to alter the remnants in the surroundings while Fabienne bid Lothur farewell.

    "My son, you must go now." She smiled at him. "But don''t worry, one day I will return to free you from that bad ce!"

    Lothur said nothing, and after his new ve took a special ID from one of the dead men and put on a mask, she flew off in the direction of the Imperial Prison, leading the way.

    ...

 Chapter 602 In Hell

    ?

    While his mother was building Lothur''s fake escape route, he quickly arrived near the Imperial Prison following that level 17 woman.

    Arriving in the vicinity of that ce, he immediately ordered that woman to stop in a nearby forest where Leopoldine''s border with Asken was.

    He looked at Ice and said. "You must stay here. The ce I am going is dangerous, and if you are with me, I will not be able to pass myself off as someone I am not." He gestured to it, trying to make it understand.

    Level 15 beasts were not intelligent enough to learn humannguage, but they were quite intelligent. They could more or less understand what was happening in their surroundings even though they lived among humans without knowing thenguage.

    Facial expressions and other forms ofnguage were helpful for these creatures to understand their surroundings.

    Ice wasn''t sure what it was hearing, but noticing Lothur''s gestures and tone of voice, it thought he wanted it to stay behind waiting for him.

    After 5 minutes of listening to him, it nodded to him, confirming that it understood that it should wait for him in that forest.

    Meanwhile, it had several bottles of potions, pills, and some medicines with it, things that Lothur had acquired or produced for his furrypanion.

    Lothur was not going to leave this beast helpless. With these resources and the time he would be in this prison, he intended that Ice would have a means of survival and still be able to level up.

    So he said goodbye to this white creature, following that woman with a mask on her face and dressed entirely in ck.

    The members of the Imperial Prison dressed so as not to reveal their identity, which was necessary for them to carry out their duties without major problems.

    In addition, the way they essed the prison was rather special, the kind where a single one of these men had great ease in cing and registering a new inmate without anyone knowing.

    This was a system to protect the members of this force from retaliation, which worked well in normal times as few people knew the identities of these people.

    Unfortunately for the system designed by the Leopoldine family, the woman now enved to Lothur was one of the few in the empire who knew how this worked and the identity of these men.

    She was a great expert, one of the strongest in the empire, and trustworthy. But as she fell into Lothur''s hands, these good characteristics were now against this state, making it possible for this fellow to enter the Imperial Prison without much restriction!

    After reaching the area where only members of the force behind this prison could pass, that woman disarmed the formations in her way little by little, without attracting attention.

    After arriving at an administrative building that was outside the prison building but within the security area, she immediately registered Kaiser Krause, using the date ten days ago.

    Kaiser Krause, an invader of the empire, would be under arrest in this unit while awaiting trial for his crimes, which could take decades to happen.

    The empire had no qualms about giving sentences to those in this ce waiting for justice, as everyone there was dangerous to the integrity of the state and would be better off kept there.

    The possibility of the trial was just something for other relevant people to see and consider that there was justice and the possibility of an innocent person being released if strange things happened.

    Lothur had heard that ve girl''s exnation of how things worked in this ce on the way there, so he was reassured about his stay there.

    After that ve had done everything she was supposed to, she looked at the young ck-haired man with formations on his neck, wrists, and heels and waited for orders.

    "Finish what you are doing and go north," Lothur said. "No one will ever find you. You must end your own life when you reach a point where it is impossible for them to track you and find your body."

    She nodded, indicating that she understood and would do what was necessary to fulfill her master''s wishes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Before that, destroy all your items."

    After those words, Lothur looked at the building that looked like a grand ck cube in the distance, which had only a strange aura about it.

    Due to the formations in that area, the vicinity of that building was so barren that nt life could not develop there. Hence, a ck sand desert spread for miles around.

    At the same time, the weather in the surrounding area was always close, with gray clouds over that prison, a little cold, and strong winds in the surrounding area.

    Lothur was finally near the entrance to this prison, where a creature 20 feet tall, with human arms, ox legs, and horns as big on its head as swords, stood at the entrance, waiting for him.

    Such a creature was at level 17 and had a killing look in its eyes, the kind that would frighten even experienced experts.

    It said nothing when it saw Lothur. It just disyed its bloody aura while making noises with its bull mouth.

    It opened and walked sideways while Lothur walked calmly to the door behind it.

    His ve stopped in the middle of the path and watched for a few moments before leaving just as Lothur was about to walk through that door, from which there was no return.

    "Human, as of today, you are nobody. You no longer have a name. You are nothing more than a number. 2023. That is your identification inside the Imperial Prison." A being other than the ''gatekeeper'' of that prison said as it weed Lothur into a small room.

    Such a creature looked like a rat the size of an adult human. It had gray fur and sses over its eyes, with a cigar in its mouth.

    The rat said to other strange beings in the vicinity. "Take off his formations and allow this fool to enter his new home!"

    With that said, the unique beings who cared for the inmates entering this ce moved against Lothur, taking off the formations sealing his cultivation, not afraid of him trying to escape.

    In this area, apart from these special beings who were strangely only powerful in this space devoid of energy andws, everyone else was weakened due to the spiritual poverty of the surroundings.

    Because of this, none of them feared that Lothur would act, and they soon released him, making this young man feel how terrible this ce was.

    ''Hmm, now I understand... That''s why this ce is so bad.'' He thought, frowning his eyebrows. ''Without energy andws, one has to avoid using their abilities here at all costs. If they do, they will be weakened against others!''

    And with that in mind, he entered the Imperial Prison, finding a ce very different from a prison.

    In such a ce, the inmates lived free, while the inner area of this square building looked like a small city, withrger buildings on the sides and smaller ones near the center.

    At the top of this area, a glowing sphere illuminated the whole area, enough for one to see this mostly red and gray ce.

    Upon seeing this strange ''city,'' Lothur was momentarily silent as an old man approached him.

    "Wee to the City of Darkness, young man. You are in hell now, young man. How do you intend to survive here? I advise you to join a group quickly, or you will perish!"

    Lothur did not look at that being and said. "That''s where you''re wrong, old man. It is not I who am in hell. It is you who are in hell with me!"

    ...

 Chapter 603 The City Of Darkness

    ?

    "Oh? Are we the ones stuck with you?" That old manughed at Lothur, thinking this naive person was unaware of reality.

    He then moved one of his hands toward Lothur''s right ear, nning to send this sucker away in one blow.

    However, he underestimated this level 16 young man. Lothur stopped this person''s hand by holding him by the wrist in the middle of his movement.

    "What do you think you''re doing, old man? Do you want to know hell before everyone else?" He asked as he red at that man, who already had a pained expression.

    "Aaah! Let me go, you bastard! Do you know who I am? Do you know where Ie from?" That man realized that Lothur was much stronger than he looked and immediately resorted to a new strategy.

    "What difference does your origin make, old man? You are inside the Imperial Prison." Lothur squeezed one of that man''s wrists harder, drawing the attention of some people passing by in the vicinity.

    The interior of the Imperial Prison looked like a town in the shadows, a negative ce full of doom.

    But there wasmerce and people working, something necessary to keep the prisoners alive because they needed food since they could not cultivate.

    At the same time, since the empire had no control over what happened inside this ce, the inmates had naturally instituted an order to survive this ce and have something to do in their time in prison.

    Some of the weaker ones offered services using professional skills. Others managed to use the few items that the imperial family allowed into the prison to produce things of greater value and then sell them.

    So, as much as this was a prison, there was movement there simr to that of a city, with groups gambling, people working,ing, and going through the streets.

    At the same time, some were watching what was happening around the area, something necessary for the local leaders to maintain their positions.

    Some factions within the Imperial Prison gathered around powerful figures who could guarantee the survival and even the quality of life of weaker prisoners.

    With these groups, there were internal disputes. As such, there was a need to observe what was happening around the city through observers such as some on the outskirts of that entrance area.

    Some of these observers saw that the neer was not weak and seemed a bit aggressive and was soon intently watching him from the shadows of the buildings in the area.

    "My family may note here because they don''t know where I am, but I''m part of a powerful faction here, brat. If you mess with me, you''ll soon have more than a dozen peak cultivators looking for your head!" The old man said, not getting tired of threatening Lothur.

    "For I am waiting for them, old man," Lothur said, squeezing that man''s wrist harder until his bones broke, emitting the sound of it for dozens of meters, making everyone on that street look in his direction.

    "Hey, what''s going on?"

    "Looks like the old man tried to get close to this new guy and got in trouble, haha."

    "Well done! Finally, one who isn''t immediately oppressed! The damned heads deserve some defeats!"

    "But will he survive?"

    Some of the weaker ones in the areamented in low voices among themselves, particrly favorable to Lothur, as not all of them were part of the factions in this ce.

    The weaker ones, in many cases, had difficulty entering these factions or even did not do so due to unfavorable conditions for them. As such, they were the ones who suffered the most in the Imperial Prison, those who were below the pawns of the leaders of that ce.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Meanwhile, one of the observers in the area, a member of the same faction as that old man, frowned and clenched his fists angrily.

    ''You bastard! You''ll pay for this!'' He thought but did nothing immediately.

    He could sense that Lothur was stronger than him and would demand more powerful members of their faction for them to take revenge on this arrogant young man. So he took no chances and immediately set off toward his leaders to notify them of the emergence of this problem!

    Meanwhile, Lothur decided not to kill that old man on his way.

    ''My ability will recover in another 12 hours.'' He felt that as he looked at the surroundings silently, still crushing that man''s wrist. ''Then it will be better if I make a group of powerful mene to me at the end of that period. That way, I will be able to harvest a good crop.''

    After thinking about it, Lothur chuckled subtly before throwing that old man away and using his visual abilities to find somewhere to hide.

    Now it was time for him to make them think he was afraid and create the situation he needed to aplish his goal!

    ''I''ll set my trap.''

    ...

    As Lothur moved around the outer sides of the City of Darkness, in the most central area of this ce, a group of people wasughing and drinking in a room where many naked women were dancing.

    There were men and women in the Imperial Prison. After all, the difference in genders did nothing to diminish a person''s potential danger to Leopoldine.

    Some of the stronger men used their advantages to oppress weaker women, making them stay under their domination and perform jobs that were hard to swallow.

    This was terrible for these women, but it also made this environment so depraved and bloody that one would kill at any moment, and it was not umon for bodies to appear in the local streets.

    In this ce, a man drinking and with two women sitting on hisp was looking at a girl in a cage in one of the corners of that area.

    He had ascivious smile on his face and was breathing like a predator craving his prey.

    His lips were as red as blood, matching his armor of the same color.

    As he looked at that green-haired beauty, one of hispanions drinking alcoholughed and said. "Boss, we must wait for the Thousand Poison Weed to take effect. Before then, anyone who touches that woman will die from poisoning.

    Even Divine Soul cultivators would be in danger of being weakened by touching that woman." That man said before looking with desire at that woman and licking his lips.

    Meanwhile, the green-haired young woman couldn''t help but fear her situation, feeling that her end was near.

    ''Lothur...'' Reba thought as she was chained inside that cell, not knowing what to do to escape the clutches of those people. ''If things continue, I will kill myself before they touch my body.''

    But while she was thinking about that, suddenly a man rushed into that ce and said. "Boss, a new inmate has just entered the city!"

    ...

 Chapter 604 Plans For The Future

    ?

    "He wounded the subordinate of the me Faction and seemed quite strong and young." The man who had just entered that ce said this hurriedly, notifying his leader about the neer, someone who might be interesting for this group.

    "Oh? A neer has arrived making noise?" The strongest man in that group looked at the one who had just arrived.

    "The me Faction is not weak. If he acted against one of them, he''s likely to be hunted down very soon." One of the men there with the leader of that groupmented.

    "Yes, in that case, he will either die quickly or join another group like ours... If we want him on our side, we must act quickly."

    The man who brought the information then said. "I don''t know if it will be easy to approach him. Right after acting against the subordinate of the me Faction, he fled the area very quickly...

    The guy is speedy, in a way that I couldn''t identify where he went."

    "Is that true?" The group leader became even more interested in Lothur, considering that this subordinate was a level 17 cultivator and few were capable of moving so fast that he could not identify their movements.

    "Yes, and he alsomented before acting against that person, indicating his preference not to join anyone... I don''t know, boss. I feel that the rookie is arrogant and hard to deal with."

    The leader of this group liked to break the will of people like that, so knowing this, he was doubly interested in Lothur. "All right, Oliver, Luca, I want you two to deal with this person and get him to join my faction."

    The two level 18 men in that ce, enjoying the women next to their boss, stopped what they were doing after hearing that order.

    After picking up their equipment from the surrounding area, they set off to investigate Lothur''s whereabouts.

    Meanwhile, that man was left alone with the women in that ce, from where Reba would soon see the depravity of these people, feeling disgusted.

    ...

    While Lothur began his journey inside the Imperial Prison, Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese had already returned to the Ritter estate after the Secret Realm ended.

    Many people had tried to approach them soon after Lothur''s capture. But they had ignored everyone, and after meeting with their allies, they had tried to find ways to find out more about his situation and how to rescue him.

    The Ritter Motor Company people were not optimistic about any action to rescue Lothur. But some of them had ns and were following the alternatives they had to try something.

    But these were actions that could not be taken or have immediate consequences. So after talking with their partners, the three returned to Lothur''s estate.

    There, Viktoria and Elke updated each other on what had happened in the past week, using Annaliese''s help to learn more.

    They also talked a bit about their experience in the Secret Realm.

    After sorting this out, they were all depressed but knew they couldn''t stay in this situation forever!

    Viktoria stood up from the couch in the living room and clenched her fists. "I believe Lothur will do his best to escape his enemies. But in the meantime, we can''t stand still. He wanted to build a powerful force after the Secret Realm.

    So let''s use the Ritter family resources to form ranks of warriors and build what he wanted!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Annaliese and Elke agreed, feeling that this could even help them rescue Lothur!

    Not only that, the Ritter Motor Company business was very important to him, so building these forces would be a way to ensure that thispany would continue to belong to him.

    "When do we start? For that matter, where do we start?" Elke asked.

    Viktoria said. "We will take a portion of the profits to which the Ritter family is entitled from the Ritter Motor Company''s cash box. With those funds, I will create the Ritter family guard."

    When a family was born, it depended on three ways to obtain warriors.

    The first was the most obvious, though members of that lineage. But House Ritter didn''t have enough people for that, so it couldn''t rely on it.

    The second was through allied forces, who would lend their forces for the payment of the borrowed men''s wages.

    Usually, families made this alternative possible to help subordinates build their own families and facilitate the domination of other territories, which could benefit them.

    Finally, the third and most affordable alternative was to hire mercenaries. This option had one major downside, theck of loyalty, but as long as one had enough coin, assembling an army could be done quickly.

    Viktoria wanted tobine the second and third methods to form the Ritter family guard.

    "I will talk to the partners of the Ritter Motor Company to make some men avable to help us organize the Ritter family. In the meantime, I will hire 300 mercenaries around the province."

    "Hmmm, that sounds good," Annaliesemented. "With our strength and situation of the Ritter Motor Company, I believe it will be easy to attract people interested in joining our family."

    But while they were talking, someone suddenly knocked on their property''s door.

    They all looked at each other upon hearing that knock and soon turned their attention in the direction of the entrance, curious.

    Viktoria took the lead and approached the entrance, where Annaliese''s car was parked.

    There, an elderly-looking man stared intently at her car as he waited for these people.

    ''This city has several units of this thing... What is it? Where did thate from?'' The High Priest of the Seraphim Church looked at that red SUV strangely, putting aside his great worries momentarily as he waited for those people.

    But as soon as Viktoria and Elke appeared in front of him, he put aside those vehicles that anyone visiting Peters City would see around the entire city to focus on those two.

    "Misses, I hear you have just returned from the Secret Realm, no? I wanted you two to tell me about what happened there. In particr, I want to know about the young man who used an incredible ability near the end of the event." He said.

    ...

 Chapter 605 Questioning

    ?

    After leaving the Secret Realm, this man recovered from his previous situation and began his investigations regarding Lothur. After hours in this city, he had heard about the young people who had returned from the Secret Realm, especially those who lived in Peters City and had not yet left this ce.

    He decided to investigate these people to see if one was the hybrid of human and demon and to gather information about the one he was looking for.

    He had already met two youths this afternoon, but none of them were that abomination, much less knew what such a being looked like.

    Apart from Viktoria and Elke, everyone else in the Secret Realm had thought that the one behind that feeling was one of the beings native to that space. So none of them suspected Lothur and did not answer this man''s questions for him to already have young Ritter as a suspect.

    Hence, this man had arrived at this residence where two of the people he was looking for were.

    ''Neither of them is the one I''m looking for.'' He thought, finishing scanning the bodies of those women.

    Viktoria noticed the symbol of the Seraphim Church on this man''s clothing and found it strange.

    "We didn''t see who was behind this phenomenon, so we can''t say much about it. It just seemed very unusual... I imagine the one behind it is very strong."

    "Hmm, he must be." That man said. "He''s not human, after all. So I would advise you not to go near that feeling if you feel it again. I''m sure he was one of the 15 young people who entered that Secret Realm, so he might be one of the eight who left..."

    He said not only to warn these women of the danger Lothur posed and for them to stay away from other youths who entered the Secret Realm. This man''s goal in saying these things was to probe whether they were hiding or lying about their answers.

    He would immediately arrest them and bring them in for questioning if they expressed suspicious reactions upon hearing his words.

    If this were not the case, he would only ask a few more questions, for even someone at his level had to be careful when acting on this matter.

    He was a powerful Saint, but if he crossed the line, his Church could face problems with beings from all over the continent.

    Most races were against hybrids of demons and humans. Still, there were rules about handling the matter and the necessity to prevent demon hunters from victimizing innocent people.

    No one wanted a half-breed to roam free, but the different races of this world didn''t want their innocents suffering at the hands of the hunters either.

    A huge societyy behind these demon hunters'' rules, so even this Saint had to be careful acting against the mere youth of Peters City.

    Hearing that, the three showed shock, not expecting to hear that Lothur was not human.

    "What?"

    "This being is not human?"

    They asked simultaneously, while Saint could see that they were genuinely surprised by this.

    ''It seems that they are not part of his support group... Otherwise, they would know about his situation.'' That old man thought as he felt disappointed.

    One of the most terrible things about these half-breeds was that they easily won the hearts of their creators and their supportwork.

    From this, they got protection and a means to develop quickly and safely.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But a member of a half-breed''s supportwork would always know about their master''s situation and would hardly show shock when hearing about their master''s circumstances.

    "Yes, he is a terrible hybrid of demon and human..." He said in a sighing tone. "Tell me some of what you experienced in the Secret Realm. After that, I will release you."

    Viktoria was the most prepared of the three to lie before this elder and soon calmed her heart.

    "About that..."

    As she spoke, telling most of what had happened in the Secret Realm, since Larissa would surely be sought out by this man and tell the truth, Elke and Annaliese had several thoughts in mind.

    ''So that''s why...'' Elke thought. ''It makes sense that he is talented and progressing quickly.''

    ''Will my baby be like him? Or will it be like me?'' Annaliese wondered.

    But even full of doubt, none of the three would feel fear or disgust for Lothur just because of this information. They were already deeply connected to him, so this fact alone would not be enough to keep them away from him.

    At the same time, even though he was a fearsome hybrid of a demon and a human, he had never behaved like the half-breed propagated by the legends.

    So, after some time of Viktoria speaking, Elke joined this wife of Lothur in talking about the Secret Realm, saying nothing that couldpromise her man.

    But they had no choice but to mention his name, for that man himself would ask questions regarding him since the young Ritter had been arrested soon after returning to Peters City.

    "So this Lothur, why was he arrested? For that matter, are you hispanions? Has he ever shown any suspicious attitude?"

    Elke said. "We are hispanions. But for us, Lothur has always been a kind person who protects his own at any cost and someone who likes peace.

    You can ask anyone who knows him. Lothur''s life goal was to rx without engaging in battles or seeking conquests by leading organizations."

    "Hmm, unfortunately, problems have prevented him from living in peace in recent months," Annaliese confirmed Elke''s words.

    This old man had already heard such a thing earlier from another person he had talked to, and for that reason alone, he did not have Lothur as his prime suspect for the moment.

    But thinking about how peaceful this young genius, creator of the cars, seemed to be, he couldn''t help but remember what the beasts of the Secret Realm had told him.

    ''They said that the half-breed was much more peaceful and reasonable than the legend of this cursed being... But it can''t be that someone like that wants to live in peace!'' He felt strange just thinking about that possibility.

    ''That would be like saying that a fish doesn''t want to live on water! It''s absurd!''

    With that, he still wasn''t putting Lothur as the prime suspect, but he was interested in following up with this young man to answer his questions.

    As he finished with those three, he thought about the missing names. ''Now I have one more person in this city to investigate before thest three names left that right after the Secret Realm ended.''

 Chapter 606 Movements In Leopoldine

    ?

    While the High Priest of the Seraphim Church was taking action in Peters City, Lothur''s mother moved separately from her subordinates in Leopoldine.

    After creating a scenario of Lothur''s escape, this woman''s men immediately began their northward journey, creating the escape route for that young man.

    They could do this alone, so Fabienne quickly separated from them to focus on improving her son''s chances of survival once he left the Imperial Prison in the future.

    For all she knew, the Seraphim Church should already be investigating Lothur''s situation, as they were the most interested in ending him. However, there were eight possibilities from that organization''s point of view for the one they were pursuing.

    Until they were investigated, no one could with certainty say that Lothur was the damned half-breed hated by everyone in this world.

    So as someone who had information about the Secret Realm from each of the provinces in this state and kept up to date on Leopoldine''s news because of her son, she was moving into the Hond Province.

    The Hond Province was where Leopoldine''s most powerful noble families and the empire''s capital were.

    From there left, 4 of the 6 youths from outside the Linn Province had entered the Secret Realm, of which 2 had returned alive from that ce.

    They should be returning to their homes by now, so she was quickly moving to intercept them.

    Her goal was simple, to finish them both off and create escape trails to split the Church''s search!

    Lothur''s situation would still be the most problematic, given how he had left Peters City and fled Transcendents. But such a thing would give him some breathing room once he left the Imperial Prison in the future.

    That was the goal of this woman, who was very proud of her son''s will and determination but also furious at Daemon''s ability to refrain from helping their son.

    ''Daemon, you pay me for this!''

    That was what was on her mind as she moved.

    ...

    While Fabienne was thinking about him, Daemon was moving through the shadows of Leopoldine, preparing for his actions against the imperial family of this state.

    Several of his men were also moving to bring chaos to this state, among them the person who had gone to Peters City to warn Lothur about what would happen.

    Unfortunately, this person had arrivedte in that ce, and the men of the imperial family had already taken Lothur.

    With that fact in hand, such a person immediately used the high-levelmunication formation he had to speak to his leader.

    "Chief, I am in Peters City."

    The voice of that person who had met Lothur in the past to give him the teleportation formation that took him to the Three Great Lakes Region sounded in the crystal in Daemon''s hands.

    Daemon looked at that item as he stood on a tree branch, resting next to three other men.

    "Where is Lothur? Did you warn him of what is about to happen?"

    "No, when I got here, Lothur had been taken into custody by imperial family guards. It seems that the Third Prince has armed himself against him..."

    The three men beside Daemon looked at him in surprise, not expecting Lothur was going to be taken by the people of that family.

    At the moment, there should be Saints in search of Lothur''s head, so for an instant, they had forgotten that this young man had problems with the local imperial family, given his connection to Daemon.

    Daemon heard that and clenched his fists, seeing the Third Prince''s face in his mind, nning to teach this fool a lesson.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "But I have some good news..." The voice said.

    "What is it?"

    "The Church already has someone in Peters City investigating him. But they don''t yet know the identity of Lothur. Perhaps Miss Fabienne can free him and take him to Demon Ind."

    "Hmm, that''s really not bad news..." Daemonmented before giving some orders.

    "Alright, since my son has a small chance and being harmed because of me, let''s create a small distraction in the capital. Attack our enemies and show everyone what happens to those who defy me!"

    ...

    When it was dawn in Peters City, the High Priest of the Seraphim Church finished his investigations in that city.

    After verifying that all the young people he had met in Peters City were humans and did not know about the half-breed, he promptly left that ce to search for the remaining survivors of the Secret Realm.

    He now had three suspects, one who was heading for the Imperial Prison south of Leopoldine and two who were supposed to be heading for Hond Province.

    Since Hond Province was closer to Linn Province, this man was moving to that ce, interested in checking those two out.

    If neither of them was the half-breed, everything would be easy for him, for only Lothur would be left to be associated with such an abomination.

    But as he moved, he was alreadymunicating with his peopleing to hunt the hybrid of a human and a demon.

    "To alling to Leopoldine, I have good news." He said into themunicator connected to themunicators of the Saints leading the hunt groups.

    "Oh? What are they? Have you found him?" One of those men asked while the others stood silently waiting for the High Priest''s answer.

    "No, but I only have three suspects. The good news is that this half-breed is young and weak. His strength must be between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 3rd stages, much weaker than we had thought."

    "That''s really great!"

    "With such a small cultivation, it will be easy for us to conquer this Diamond-grade Soul Bone!"

    "The Supreme Pontiff will be extremely happy with that! Perhaps he can advance to the 5th stage after absorbing such a Soul Bone!"

    Those various Saints sent their thoughts through theirmunicators.

    Throughout the history of the Seraphim Church, they had fought against hybrids of humans and demons a few times. However, these beings were usually a bit stronger than Transcendent Soul Core level individuals when they revealed themselves.

    Half-breeds of humans and demons were extremely chaotic and violent. Still, their survival instincts were excellent, and it was unusual for them to show themselves through their bloodline power when they were weak.

    Usually, the people of this Church only discovered them early on because of the killing these hybrids caused, not because of their spiritual fluctuations, as in Lothur''s case.

    So this time, they had thought they were up against someone powerful.

    They were all satisfied when they found out they were wrong, seeing that their task would be much simpler!

    The High Priest then said. "Let''s discuss thister... For now, I''m going to the Hand Province. One of you who is closest goes to the Imperial Prison, where one of the suspects had been sent.

    Let''s settle this quickly!"

 Chapter 607 Movements In The Capital

    ?

    When it was already morning in Leopoldine...

    In the capital of this state, news of the deaths of the specialists who were to take Lothur to the Imperial Prison had already reached the groups of the Second and Third Princes.

    The operation had been ordered by the Third Prince, Lars. Still, us Leopoldine was aware of everything, so he had soon been notified of the failure of his younger brother''s ns.

    But contrary to what one might imagine, us was not at all happy about Lars'' failure. After all, as much as those two level 17 elders who went to Peters City had sided with the Third Prince, they were relevant members of the Leopoldine family at the end of the day.

    That family would feel their deaths!

    Meanwhile, not only those two had died. Even two members of the Imperial Prison who were previously waiting for those two at the Cavaliere post perished as well.

    Thus, after receiving this news this morning, he could not help but express his displeasure as he spoke to his men.

    "So the damned Lothur escaped? How could that have happened? He shouldn''t have the strength for it, or he wouldn''t have been arrested in Peters City." us questioned his advisors while still dressed in his sleeping clothes, having been awakened by such news.

    One of the imperial guards from us'' faction then said. "Our groups are moving to begin investigations, Your Highness. But for the moment, we have no idea. Those formations that arrested him should be powerful enough to hold even His Majesty..."

    "Hmm, only someone from outside, controlling our men, could have released him."

    "So someone powerful intervened in escorting this group to the Imperial Prison?" The prince asked, not liking that at all. "Who would do that? Daemon?"

    "It''s possible."

    "But that would be risky... He would have to leave his post and show himself in a rtively dangerous ce." One of the men with the Second Prince said, thinking that much more was toe if it was Daemon''s doing.

    That man would not risk so much just to save his son!

    "But thinking on the bright side, if this is Daemon''s doing, it could mean that our ns in the Three Great Lakes Region will have a better chance of seeding."

    "Oh?"

    ...

    In another part of the imperial pce...

    Lars had also been awakened by his men with the news of the death of 4 Nascent Soul Transcendents of his family the night before.

    Since Lothur''s arrest was his n to hurt Daemon and end this enemy who had imposed several defeats on him, Lars was many times more furious than us!

    "Doom! I curse your name, Lothur!" He shouted as he smashed the furniture in the living room of his residence.

    Meanwhile, three of his most trusted men stood in that ce, well-dressed in their armor, while they had terrible looks on their faces.

    The family had lost a lot of power in a single night!

    "Your Highness, what shall we do? That was probably a move by Daemon." One of the three said, worried. "If that is the case, I believe he will soon attack the capital... We must prepare ourselves."

    "Hmm, Daemon said that when he returns, he would turn this city upside down and not forgive his opponents..." Another of them remembered.

    Hearing that, Lars clenched his fists, feeling terrible about losing Lothur and still being at risk of facing Daemon after this sudden weakening of his family.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    To make matters worse, his father was in seclusion, and no one knew how long the emperor would take to return.

    Some said he had chances to advance his cultivation a little further, even without changing levels. Perhaps this would give him a few more years of life in this world, but there were no guarantees.

    Thinking about how this family could face Daemon without the Emperor, Lars felt fear once again, something that hadn''t happened since the departure of the First Prince.

    He then said. "Start investigating the matter urgently! In the meantime, send orders for our top experts to return to the capital. We are in a state of emergency as of now!"

    "Yes, Your Highness!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the imperial throne hall, Emperor Leopoldine''s younger brother, the Supreme Elder of this family, was receiving this news in his role as temporary regent.

    "So they died, huh?" He said in a worried tone. "Is that Daemon''s thing? But why would he do that now? I thought he wouldn''t get involved with us while my brother was alive."

    "That had been the promise..." One of the higher-ranking imperial guards said as he stood alone with the Supreme Elder in that important ce. "But Daemon was always fickle. Hard to predict his movements. Maybe he changed his mind."

    "I don''t know. Despite everything, Daemon is very much like his father. He was always someone who could follow through on his promises... Maybe it was someone else."

    "Who would it be? I don''t see anyone else in the entire empire with the ability to stop this group and rescue Lothur Ritter."

    "Hmm, we don''t know the strength of Lothur''s mysterious mother. That could have been her doing!" The emperor''s younger brothermented, worried if this meant that her group would act against their family.

    That guard frowned and worried, "What would we do if it was that person?"

    "Hmm,municate with the Jansen family. I will see if they will help us in that matter." He said, indicating one of the houses that lived in Leopoldine''s shadows, but was a power many times stronger than the imperial family.

    Gulp!

    "I will do that urgently!"

    ...

    While the powers in the capital were moving, Lothur counted the minutes to the moment he could finally reuse his bloodline ability.

    After an entire night of hiding, no one had found him because of his difficult-to-track speed.

    Because of this, he had enough time to use his visual ability and knowledge of formations to study the formations of this city.

    He now knew more or less how they worked, and even though he had no idea how to escape at the moment, he now had enough to confirm his theories.

    If he used his bloodline ability there, only those inside the Imperial Prison would feel the worrisome spiritual fluctuations that could draw the attention of powerful cultivators in Concordia!

    With that, he was confident in going ahead with his ns, waiting for the moment when his ability would finish recovering for him to show himself to the enemies looking for him around this city.

    ''Just a little more... I will soon dominate this ce!'' He thought, tracking the movements of the people in the surrounding area, prepared to move once more and maintain his unknown position.

 Chapter 608 Challenge

    ?

    After moving for thest time, Lothur was increasingly reaching a point where he would have to show himself.

    This city was notrge, and the group searching for him was slowly increasing the efficiency of their investigation, narrowing his spaces more and more.

    Amidst the pressure from this group, Lothur had already realized that more local powers were trying to find him, which had been hindering him from moving in thest few hours.

    Luckily he would only have to wait a few more minutes before he could use his bloodline ability once more. When that happened, he would quickly change his circumstances in this Imperial Prison.

    While trying to move to continue dying his enemies, he had in mind to clear this area, considering that everyone there was either a criminal or an invader. It would be difficult for those behind these people to identify him and even avenge the deaths of these opponents.

    This was the Imperial Prison, a ce that held those who should no longer be released on the continent, those who were marked to be forgotten.

    There were no alternative records, and the only way to identify an inmate was through the institution''s ledger, which could easily be destroyed in case of need.

    At the same time, the imperial family usually did not make public the prisons made of the men and women sent there. As such, many of the families and organizations behind these inmates did not even know they were imprisoned in Leopoldine.

    Lothur wanted to use this to his advantage andmit this crime ''without'' victims!

    But while he looked at this ce as if it were arge harvest field, a group finally managed to intercept him.

    He suddenly stopped running as he came across two level 18 cultivators, men dressed in different armor but with the same symbol on their right chest.

    "Rookie, join us. This is the only chance for you to survive the me Faction." One of the two went straight to the point without introducing himself or asking Lothur''s name.

    The other said. "Otherwise, even if we don''t get in your way, the me Faction will reach you in a matter of minutes. They have already surrounded the entire area in your surroundings. Therefore, your escape attempt is futile."

    "Oh? You want to recruit me?" Lothur smiled while holding the Elemental Staff in one of his hands.

    The Imperial Prison was strange indeed. Those who looked after this ce did not remove the items on the bodies of the inmates.

    Because of this, those inside this ce had their spatial rings, weapons, armor, etc., everything they brought here from their ces of origin.

    "This is your only chance, kid. But don''t worry, joining us will be a great advance for you. You will have beautiful women and resources to entertain your time in this city!" The first to speak eximed.

    "That sounds interesting... What about an escape? Are any of you or another faction nning that? I''m not interested in staying here long and would love to get together with like-minded people." He lied, trying to buy time.

    "Escape?"

    The two looked at each other, seeing that this young man was a fool, despite being so strong.

    One of them then exined. "Kid, forget about it. It''s impossible. Some residents are well-ced people in families that even have Saints in their ranks.

    But still, we are imprisoned... Do you know why that is?"

    The other replied. "Besides the Gold-grade formations of this ce are excellent in what they propose, this prison was built on a special area. Here, the Laws and spiritual energy were already behaving strangely even before these walls were built.

    Those behind this prison just used that to their advantage to build this ce that is impossible to escape!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "So unless you miraculously manage to be a legendary Sage, forget about leaving this ce, kid. Even a Saint would have trouble leaving this area!"

    These words surprised Lothur, as he had not expected the Imperial Prison to be this terrible.

    "Only from outside this ce could a Saint break in and rescue someone. But without the identification of us prisoners, even family members searching for some of the inmates here wouldn''t be able to get to where their family members are."

    "Haha, the damned emperor is very lucky to have such a wonder at poor Leopoldine!"

    "It looks like you guys aren''t from the empire..." Lothur muttered as he sensed more and more people in his vicinity.

    Due to his circumstances, he could no longer continue with his escape n and soon saw the me Faction leader appearing near where he was.

    "We finally caught you, rat!"

    "You ran away longer than we expected, but now you''re finished!"

    Two of the three men who appeared there first, each level 18, said to Lothur, ignoring the members of the Wildflower Faction for the moment.

    But the third of them, the leader of the me Faction, focused on these two that could get in the way of their goals there.

    "What do you want here? Will you stand against me?" Such a person, who had the highest statuses Lothur had ever seen, asked in a chilling tone.

    The two individuals sent by the leader of the Wildflower Faction were weaker than this man but not weak enough to fear their end for facing him.

    One of them thenughed. "Karlo, that depends on this boy. We of the Wildflowers don''t want any trouble with you of the mes. But we will help this boy escape if he is wise enough."

    "Humph! His fate was sealed when he dared to hurt one of my men!" Karlo, leader of those men on the outskirts, made his intention toward Lothur clear. "Death is what awaits those who disrespect me!"

    The other sent to recruit Lothur smiled bitterly, looking at this young man. "What''s up, kid? What''s it going to be? Will you choose life with us or die alone?"

    Lothur stood between those five strongest people in the vicinity as he felt another dozen level 17 cultivators a little farther away from him and smiled, looking at the ground.

    "Die alone? Who is going to kill me? You?" He decided to mock them and draw the ire of many there.

    "No one in this den of disgusting rats is capable of doing that. I dare all of you to try!" He opened his arms, finally looking at those people while releasing some of his Mortal Aura.

    At those words from Lothur, Karlo moved, directing an attack at his opponent''s heart with his sword.

    "Die!"

    After that, the golden de of that weapon pierced through Lothur''s chest!

    ...

 Chapter 609 Making A Name For Yourself

    ?

    When the de of that weapon pierced Lothur''s left chest, everyone in the surrounding area thought that the situation was over.

    Some even thought they had overestimated this neer, while others felt anger that someone so weak had challenged them.

    But after the leader of the me Faction withdrew his sword from Lothur''s chest, feeling victorious, the expressions in the surroundings quickly changed.

    The leader of that faction himself lost the calm look on his face while the two men who had tried to recruit Lothur frowned.

    As heughed, Lothur took off his shirt, revealing his wounded chest with a 10-centimeter-long cut across his chest and down his back.

    While showing no pain, he demonstrated to all those people his insane regenerative ability!

    Super Regeneration!

    The tissues affected by his opponent''s blow quickly recovered, closing that wound internally and externally in less than 5 seconds.

    It happened so fast that the people in the area couldn''t help but feel that something was wrong with Lothur.

    The leader of the me Faction said in shock. "What? Impossible! You are only a Soul Core Transcendent!"

    "Hahaha, you alone don''t have enough to threaten my life!" Lothur shouted. "Bugs, all of you,e at once or run away, for I will kill you!"

    At his words, the people in the surroundings tightened their fingers on their weapons as they circted their energies.

    Lothur''s words before he was attacked had not provoked many reactions from them, who did not believe in his ability to react. But seeing what had just happened and hearing his provocation again, those people became serious, feeling that if they did not act, they would not be able to kill him!

    "The wretch is a monster!"

    "It''s not for nothing that he acted grandly by entering our city!"

    "Fes, let''s unite to kill the bastard!"

    "If we do nothing, I feel that we really are in danger of being killed by the son of a bitch!"

    "Wildflowers, what are you going to do?" Karlo shouted, feeling that he needed help from these people. "That little demon doesn''t seem friendly to your people... Will you let him live when you know he''s not friendly to you and is still so monstrous?"

    Those two level 18 cultivators clenched their fists and red at Lothur.

    Their leader wanted to recruit this young man. Still, in addition to refusing their offer, this young man had clearly shown dangerous intentions for the future of their group.

    "Damn it, brat! You chose this path. Don''t forget that!" One said as he circted his energies and prepared to attack, while the other was already flying in Lothur''s direction.

    With those words, more than 15 people between levels 17 and 18 went towards Lothur, some flying close to him, some running, and some sending long-range attacks.

    But all of them and a few less brave ones were already within Lothur''s range, making this young man very happy as he felt his bloodline skillfully ready to be reused.

    Without further ado, Lothur once again used his soul power in conjunction with his bloodline ability, showing these people something simr to what he had already done in the Secret Realm.

    When the red silhouette and mes of the same color appeared in Lothur''s surroundings, each of those people felt that they had made a great mistake in acting against this young man.

    Some of them even noticed the monstrous feelinging from Lothur at that instant, realizing he was no ordinary human.

    ''What is it?''

    ''How can someone contain so much power inside himself?''

    ''This is wrong! This shouldn''t be possible!''

    ''This boy is not human!''

    Some of them tried to back away upon sensing Lothur''s inhuman powers. Unfortunately for them, it was already toote.

    When the activation of Lothur''s bloodline ability ended, the bodies of those men began to burn in red mes.

    Terrifying screams woulde from there, along with that terrible feeling, which would spread throughout the interior of the Imperial Prison in the next few seconds.

    Amid this moment when each inmate would fall silent and look in their direction, Lothur stood with open arms, digesting the cultivationprehensions of those people along with their vitalities.

    After 20 seconds, even the level 18 experts were consumed by the mes, not leaving corpses behind!

    Thus, the system would soon show him his advances, putting a broad smile on Lothur''s face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Gold-grade poison resistance].

    [Progress: 6%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 78%.]

    ...

    [Silver-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 66%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 25%]

    ...

    [EVF: 2 -> 2,616]

    The amount of EVF points absorbed was equivalent to the sum of the Constitution-associated vitalities of Lothur''s victims, so even though they were powerful cultivators, they couldn''t deliver many EVF points to their killer.

    Soul cultivators were focused on the Soul attribute, so their bodies would never have as much power as Lothur''s. Thus, even more than a dozen could not generate such an impressive harvest.

    In any case, while people in the surrounding area looked in panic in his direction, Lothur ignored it and immediately converted EVF points into points for his Soul.

    He could face a level 18 cultivator without his bloodline skill and even fight a group like that briefly. But without such a thing, he risked eventually perishing to groups only a little stronger.

    Now that he had acted so drastically, he could only raise his level or risk facing death head-on in this ce.

    [87.2 points added in SOU at the cost of 2,616 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 42.9 -> 130.1]

    ...

    [EVF: 2,616 -> 0]

    As he felt the size of his soul triple, Lothur felt a massive migraine, and his legs weakened, causing him to bend his knees and almost fall.

    But he held on as his soul cultivation level improved significantly, approaching level 17. But this would not be enough for him to be a Nascent Soul Transcendent.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16]

    [Body Cultivation: level 17]

    [STR: 335.9] [CON: 637] [DEX: 347.5] [AGI: 348.8]

    [INT: 271.2] [PER: 550.1] [WIL: 400] [SOU: 130.1]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur saw his status after his powers consolidated, and his condition gradually returned to normal.

    ...

 Chapter 610 Lothurs Next Steps

    ?

    After feeling his bloodline ability deactivating, Lothur smiled as he saw his soul power much stronger than before, seeing that the pain of moments ago was well worth it.

    He hadn''t improved his soul cultivation to reach level 17, but he hade very close to it and felt he would reach it the next day when he could use his bloodline again.

    With his increased power, he would now be much stronger than before, and hisbat proficiency would allow him to fight level 18 opponents more easily.

    Without his bloodline skill, he would have had trouble facing all those opponents from moments ago before this improvement passed. But now, Lothur was confident that if the same group stopped him, he would have a much easier time!

    All his skills and techniques would work better on opponents like that, which made him confident of staying the next few hours, unable to use his maximum skills.

    ''I destroyed the leaders of that me Faction...'' He smiled mischievously. ''I guess that gives me the right to take that group for myself, right? I''ll use them in my time here.''

    He decided on that before collecting the spatial rings left behind by his enemies.

    He quickly got weapons, resources, armor, techniques, crystals, and many coins with these items.

    Lothur had all the resources he had previously acquired while in Peters City, minus the ones he had spent to invest in hispany and buy resources for himself. So he still had a value of about 600,000 gold coins with him.

    However, by adding the coins from those men in the surrounding area, his wallet had doubled in value, even considering just the coins!

    He had also obtained crystals, reaching 100 crystals in his wallet, a high amount for a person at his level.

    But even though he could use such a thing in his current situation, Lothur would not do this because he could strengthen his soul through the EVF points. So he would rather keep those hard-to-get items for his women to strengthen once he returned to Peters City.

    But with those people''s techniques in mind, Lothur was interested in learning his first soul technique, something he didn''t have yet.

    ''I''ll do thatter...'' He thought as he left that area, going in search of the people of the me Faction.

    He had left no one alive behind, so he would have to find this ce for himself!

    ...

    As Lothur began his search, the major factions in the Imperial Prison were already on alert.

    Moments ago, a terrifying spiritual fluctuation had made every person in this ce feel goosebumps all over their bodies.

    Even people at the peak of level 18 in this ce had felt such a thing, a clear threat even to them.

    As such, groups were already moving through this city to investigate what had happened and track down the person responsible for it.

    Among these local leaders moving, the head of the Wildflower Faction was, for the first time in a while, leaving his routine of depravity to deal with a serious matter.

    The feeling he had felt moments ago was terrible. But what worried him most was that the fluctuations of his two strongest allies had vanished overnight.

    He knew they were both dead. But he needed to see the site of their deaths to believe this nonsense fully!

    How could a novice who had just entered the Imperial Prison cause the deaths of two level 18 cultivators?

    Therefore, he was moving around, with anger in his eyes, interested in the head of this person that moments ago he wanted to recruit to his group.

    Other local leaders wanted the same thing, even considering that Lothur had such a frightening ability.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    They lived inside the Imperial Prison, where those who exhausted themselves were permanently weakened because even cultivating with crystals there was very difficult.

    It wasn''t impossible; if one had the time, one would eventually regain strength. But this was something that would happen outside in a matter of minutes, and inside this ce, even with crystals, it would take months.

    Thus, everyone was confident that the culprit for all this was exhausted, and they were already moving, confident they could finish off this brutal opponent.

    In the blink of an eye, a dozen peak level 18 cultivators were on the outskirts of the ce where Lothur had acted.

    Upon arriving there, they found a cepletely burned down, with only ashes left behind.

    Even the buildings in the surrounding area had been totally consumed by the red mes of Lothur''s bloodline skill!

    "This..."

    "How could that happen? How could someone be so powerful?"

    "Hey, isn''t the one responsible for this a novice? What level is he at?"

    "Boss, he should be a Soul Core Transcendent." One of the subordinates next to their leader replied.

    "Impossible!" Another level 18 manmented. "To do that, he had to be at least a Divine Soul Transcendent!"

    "Hell, if we weren''t here, I''d say the one responsible for that had been a Saint!"

    A few individuals agreed, shaking their heads, while the leader of the Wildflower Faction viewed the surroundings, not even finding the remains of his men.

    ''Damn it. They''ve been destroyed!'' He clenched his fists tightly, shaking with rage.

    Amid his fury, someone asked him. "Hubert, your men died here, right? So what are you going to do?"

    He looked at another local leader, one of the Six Sovereigns of the City of Darkness.

    This ce had six major factions that controlled the lives of everyone who entered the Imperial Prison, each of them men who were at the peak of the 3rd stage and had been in this ce for decades.

    The oldest of these men had been in this prison for 200 years and could be considered the strongest and most respected locally.

    If Lothur saw him, he would notice the highest attribute points of his life, with the strongest reaching an incredible 1,500 attribute points!

    If he had to face such a person, he would have problems!

    The strongest one he had faced earlier had 970 Soul attribute points, something impressive but which couldn''tpare to that person''s particrs.

    The other city leaders couldn''t see this man''s status, but they knew the difference between him and the rest of them.

    Therefore, Hubert looked at that man who had asked him such a thing with respect. "I will kill that person, senior Arno."

    Arno heard that and closed his eyes, forming a wide smile on his face. "Hmm, you''re right to wish him dead. He is a horrific hybrid of demon and human, so he needs to be killed, or we will all perish!"

    ...

 Chapter 611 Beginning Of The Hunt

    ?

    Gulp!

    "What?"

    "He''s a half-breed? How can he be?"

    The people there were shocked by this revtion, not expecting toe across a creature as heinous as this in such a ce.

    Some doubted Arno''s words, but as someone who had supposedly fought demons for over a thousand years before falling into this ce, he was sure that his earlier feeling was not incorrect.

    Lothur was a terrible being, and all lives in this ce were at risk!

    But Arno was still uncertain whether or not the ability of a half-breed would work in this ce.

    ''Why would he do that here? His ability shouldn''t be of much use in a ce like this... It would only draw unnecessary attention.'' He pondered as people in the surrounding area began to n to unite against Lothur.

    "If Senior Arno says so, we must pursue him as soon as possible!"

    "Yes, the damned thing is a danger to the order of things inside the Imperial Prison!"

    "He needs to die. That''s a fact. But who''s going to take the risk? Half-breeds are extremely difficult to fight against.

    They have the cultivation speed of humans but the vitality of demons. They can awaken their own bloodline with ease and learn techniques with immense ease.

    This young man has already killed several of ourpanions. How are we going to fight him?" Someone more concerned asked.

    Arno said nothing, thinking it made sense to think that way.

    He himself was uncertain if their group could kill this creature that was even harder to kill than demons.

    ''I''ll let those fools attack first and deal with him when he is at his weakest state.'' Arno thought to himself, as those who had lost theirpanions there made up their minds to join the attacks, even though it was dangerous.

    "I will join the hunt! That bastard killed my brothers, so, of course, I will finish him off!"

    "I''ve heard that half-breeds of humans and demons can generate a Diamond-grade Soul Bone. That will be the opportunity for one of us to get such a thing!" Another person said, knowing that many there were aware of this and would all vie for such a resource once Lothur was killed.

    But for the moment, since he was alive, no one there saw themselves aspetitors. On the contrary, for them, killing Lothur was a priority, and they would act as allies as long as this young man was breathing.

    If they could kill him, that would be a problem for the future, not the present moment.

    "Yes, we must unite to kill him and get that Soul Bone."

    "Senior Arno, please guide us in this hunt!"

    Arno heard that and smiled. "Very well. For those who don''t know, killing half-breeds differs greatly from killing demons.

    Unlike demons, half-breeds do not rely entirely on darkness to survive, so trying to destroy that elemental base will not kill him.

    The only way to destroy a half-breed is to destroy their soul after destroying their Physique!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    All beings had their souls in some part of their bodies. But that part of living beings could be contained even in the smallest unit of the organism, within the micro-organelles of their cells.

    In the case of a human, this would not help much because, without a heart and other parts of the human body, such a person would die because their regeneration was too slow and their lives depended on their bodies.

    But in a hybrid or a demon, this was just perfect. Even if their bodies were destroyed to the point that only cells remained, they could still regenerate and survive.

    Against a demon, the only way to solve this would be to destroy that being''s elemental base, something quite difficult to do.

    Against hybrids of demons and humans, even destroying the elemental base would not result in their death. The only way to do this would be to destroy the Physique, not the body, but the ability rted to the body.

    The Physique not only gave an innate ability to its owner. It also ultimately protected the soul of its owner.

    So to destroy the soul of a creature with such ease of regeneration, one would have to destroy this defensive barrier before reaching the soul and eradicating it.

    Until then, it would be impossible to guarantee the creature''s death!

    As for how to destroy a Physique, that was not a simple task, but it could be done by pushing the owner of that Physique to the limit of its use.

    In other words, they had to drive Lothur to despair and make him use everything he had while they crushed him!

    If they did this, they would eventually achieve the destruction of his Physique and have the chance to exterminate his soul.

    The people in the surrounding area knew what destroying Physique meant, and after Arno''s words, they began to prepare.

    "I''ll call my men, and my group will begin the search for this half-bread in no more than an hour." One of them said before several others said simr words.

    Thus, a chase had been arranged in that ce, something that would lead to immense trouble for Lothur in no time!

    As these people began to move, he reached the headquarters of the me Faction.

    ...

    "Friends of the me Faction, your leaders are dead. You are now under newmand!" He arrived at this ce speaking loudly, interested in taking this organization''s resources.

    At the same time, he wanted a ce to train while recovering his bloodline skill.

    After collecting several soul-skill-focused techniques, he wanted to learn at least one or two of them that werepatible with him.

    His techniques focused on his body were not impressive and had low ratings. But some of the techniques he had just collected even had Gold-grade ratings, and he couldn''t help but look forward to learning them.

    His soul was still weak, but it would be much stronger when he left this ce. As such, having good soul techniques would help raise his power even higher in the future.

    With that, it wouldn''t take long for him to dominate that ce, where he would use the ability of one of his Soul Bones to enve the strongest in the surrounding area.

    Lothur''s reign of terror was just beginning!

 Chapter 612 Troubling The Churchs Situation

    ?

    While Lothur began his bloody journey in the Imperial Prison, Fabienne had already arrived in the Hond Province.

    As an Emperor demon, this woman had great spiritual senses and could track enemies much more efficiently than humans at the same level as her own.

    In this way, even though there was a Saint behind the young men she was going after, this woman was ahead of the men of the Seraphim Church.

    She already knew exactly where to look for them, so she had made her way to the vicinity of one of the big cities in this province, where those two noblemen were supposed to pass.

    The two belonged to different powers, but both families were from the same city. So as young people who had traveled together, they would return to this ce together since traveling the roads of the empire always had its dangers.

    Knowing this, after arriving near that city, Fabienne quickly positioned herself in a forest that was on the way to reach this ce for thoseing from Linn Province.

    There she was at this instant hiding in one of the trees, cautiously scanning the surroundings for her targets.

    ''They will probably pass through here in the next few hours.'' She thought, considering the distance of this ce from Peters City and the mounts of the group in question.

    ...

    At the same time that Fabinne was waiting for her prey, the High Priest of the Church was already near the city from which those two young men he was searching for were supposed to return.

    For thest few minutes, he had just been traveling through the skies of the empire, not having noticed anything about the recent activation of Lothur''s bloodline within the Imperial Prison.

    The young man''s theories had proven to be valid, and all the spiritual fluctuations within that prison were kept for only the inmates to feel.

    With that, people outside such a ce, such as the men of the Church around this state, were in the dark about Lothur''s situation.

    Amid his ignorance, this Saint thought, ''My targets will arrive in this city in the next few hours. I will wait for them near their properties...

    Hmmm, everything is developing well. We will settle everything by next morning at the rate things are going.''

    He smiled, considering that one of his Church groups was already near the imperial prison to investigate Lothur Ritter''s situation.

    Unfortunately for this man, he was still in the dark about young Ritter''s circumstances, how he had escaped and was already ''out'' of Leopoldine at this instant...

    But it would not take his group long to find out about this!

    ...

    An hour after the High Priest of the Seraphim Church arrived in that city in Hond Province, the men going to visit the Imperial Prison found out about Lothur''s escape.

    Upon arriving there, the men of the Church didn''t even have to investigate much and found themselves with the Leopoldine family investigating Lothur''s escape site.

    From there, several men from the local imperial family leftments indicating what should have happened.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It appeared that a rescue party had saved Lothur from the terrible fate of entering the Imperial Prison just moments before his arrival. After the death of all the men of the imperial family, young Ritter and his cronies seemed to have fled northward.

    Upon finding out about this, the group leader formed an ugly expression, sensing that Lothur would be the most suspected of being such a half-breed, and immediately gave the orders to his men to begin the pursuit of this young man.

    "Let''s split up from now on. I want you guys following any leads rted to this Lothur." That Saint said as he and his people floated hundreds of feet above where the Leopoldine family investigators were. "If any of you locate him, do nothing. Wait for reinforcements!"

    That half-dozen people smoothly epted their superior''s orders and would soon split up, flying off in the directions where there were tracks of Lothur, something created by the demons of this young man''s mother.

    Meanwhile, none of the men of the imperial family had noticed the movements of these specialists from afar and just continued their investigative work in that area.

    Unfortunately, they were only at the beginning of their investigations and had no idea how Lothur had escaped.

    Some men had even checked the situation in the Imperial Prison. Still, no one with Lothur''s characteristics had entered that ce, and all the members of the group that was escorting him had already been reported dead.

    The woman who had helped Lothur enter the ce had died a few hours after her colleagues. But these people would never find out that she had not died chasing him but following his orders not to leave a body behind.

    So there was no suspicion about his entering that prison!

    With that, one of the few men in that area investigating Lothur''s escape couldn''t help but worry.

    ''His Majesty will be furious when he finds out about all this...'' This man, who was neither in Lars'' faction nor in us'', thought, sensing that a storm would form very soon in the empire!

    ...

    As gray clouds began to cover the skies over Leopoldine, Fabienne had seeded in her ns and was traveling north at this very moment!

    After ambushing the group of two nobles returning home, she had not killed anyone because she could not make it look like these young men had been killed or that anyone had acted against them.

    Her action was to make it look like they were on the run, so she skillfully knocked out all of them, including the guards escorting them, and then began her journey northward.

    Also, after using her skills, she made one of the two nobles write two letters to send to their families, indicating their interest in traveling through Concordia after the Secret Realm.

    ''With these actions, I hope the Church will waste some of its time investigating these two.'' She thought about how relevant it would be to buy time for her son.

    ''Anyway, I will travel to the Ancestral Region and abandon these humans there.'' Her eyes narrowed. ''They will never be able to return to Leopoldine, and that will give me some time to cultivate.''

    "Hang in there, Lothur. I will rescue you as soon as possible!" She muttered in mid-flight as she had that group on top of a giant bird flying beside her.

    As an Emperor demon, it was very easy for her to hide her origin and dominate beasts as if she were an ordinary human!

    This way, she could travel discreetly alongside a mount and create tracks to entertain her opponents now and then!

 Chapter 613 New Techniques

    ?

    While the men of the Seraphim Church moved and Fabienne and her men made life difficult for these demon hunters, the local imperial family was also acting on Lothur''s behalf.

    After orders from the Supreme Elder of this family, one of the emperor''s men quickly traveled to the northwest of the empire, near the border of this state with Cesha and Utral.

    In this area was located a range of mountains and dense forests with the presence of powerful beasts.

    Because of these unique features in the whole empire, there were no cities for hundreds of square kilometers in this area. It was also a ce of difficult ess for people from the empire as well as from neighboring states.

    But precisely in one of the mountains of this remote area was the most powerful hidden family of this state, the house behind the local imperial family!

    This was the home of the Jansen family!

    There, the Nascent Soul Transcendent sent by the Supreme Elder had just arrived at the first post, where men of the Jansen family watched the surroundings.

    "Elders, I request passage as the empire faces trouble. We are at risk of being attacked by Daemon, his son, and his wife. The Supreme Elder has sent me here to discuss this with the watcher Rudolf." That level 17 man said reverently, looking at the leaves in the surroundings but aware that people were watching him.

    Hearing that, a level 18 man observing this area and hispanions were silent for a moment.

    One of them then said. "Daemon and his family are not the kind of threat that concerns us. Your family should handle this without our interference, House Leopoldine''s member.

    We are not your bodyguards, don''t forget that."

    "But... Senior, we are at a crucial moment... Lothur Ritter is growing too strong, and he even escaped from our men, even with the Five Seals Formation containing him!

    We fear he will be a Saint and a problem for the state." That man increased his state''s fears a bit, trying to get the attention of these Jansen family men.

    The Jansen family had Saints in its ranks and was the most powerful family in the empire. But it did not easily allow Saints to emerge within that state.

    When someone reached the peak of level 18, they would usually try to probe that person and see if they would leave the empire, join one of the powers with Saints in such a domain, or they should be killed to avoid chaos.

    A very powerful society lived in the underworld of this empire, moving Leopoldine''s most important decisions behind the scenes and ignoring everything else.

    For them, all that mattered was their peace, that their interests would not be harmed, and their position would not be exposed.

    Therefore, troublemakers were very frowned upon by them!

    "As far as we know, Lothur Ritter desires peace as much as we do. But your family members continually persecute him." Those words did not fool such an outer guard of the Jansen family. "Member of the Leopoldine family, we don''t like to interfere in your state, but your dispute for the position of the emperor is getting out of hand.

    Since you are here, let me give you this warning. If you draw any more attention to yourselves than you are doing now, we will choose the next sovereign for ourselves."

    Gulp!

    "We will do our best to improve, senior!" That man said firmly, worried. "But as for Lothur, doesn''t his action of creating the cars worry your organization? That will attract people from all over the continent to the empire."

    "Not at all. Those cars are nothing more than new carriages. It won''t be something like that that will attract our enemies." That person said, before returning to his previous silence, making it seem like he was no longer there.

    The Leopoldine family man clenched his fists in frustration, feeling that he and his family members would have to endure the hard times on their own.

    ''Now all that remains is for us to join our forces and prepare for Daemon!''

    ...

    A few hours had passed since Lothur had taken over the me Faction.

    At this moment, he was still at that group''s headquarters, finishing learning the second soul-focused technique he had decided to learn.

    Luckily for him, some of his opponents'' techniques were based on the elements he was strongest in and would match perfectly with his characteristics as a hybrid and his Soul Bones.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Cruel Underworld] [Rank: Gold]

    [Mastery Level: Adept]

    [Description: with the darkness of your soul, overpower the fallen and create an army of the dead. Increases the user''s Soul and Will effects by 25% while using.]

    ...

    [Omnipotence] [Rank: Gold]

    [Mastery Level: Adept]

    [Description: with your mastery over physical and soul, be unbeatable for ten breaths and show your opponents the terror of an all-powerful being. Increases the user''s Strength, Soul, and Will effects by 25% while using.]

    [+1.8 in all physical attributes.]

    [+0.5 in SOU.]

    [+0.6 in WIL.]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16]

    [Body Cultivation: level 17]

    [STR: 337.7] [CON: 638.8] [DEX: 349.3] [AGI: 350.6]

    [INT: 271.2] [PER: 550.1] [WIL: 400.6] [SOU: 130.6]

    [EVF: 0]

    Lothur finally saw his subtle advances after learning those two techniques and raising his mastery of them to the second level.

    With his current Intelligence, he could do this in a few hours of training, so he had easily reached this level in these two techniques without even fighting once.

    However, this young man was looking forward to battles with his new skills, which he felt would not take long.

    After dominating the faction he was in at the moment, his ves, dominated by the ck mes, who controlled things there for him, had already notified him of the enemies surrounding him.

    For now, no one had attacked, but the tension near where he was standing little by little increased, and more powerful enemies arrived to torment him.

    He had nowhere to run after all he had done, and so he continued to train, waiting for the start of the battle that would surely take ce there sooner orter.

    His bloodline skill still needed more than half a day to recover, so he couldn''t rely on it. As such, he was focused on raising his understanding of those two soul techniques as much as possible.

    ''If I ovee this challenge before me, everything will be easierter!'' He clenched his fists, certain of his strategy to dominate this ce.

    ...

 Chapter 614 Beginning Of The Fight

    ?

    Three hourster...

    As mid-day arrived bit by bit, more than three dozen specialists between levels 17 and 18 were already on the outskirts of the me Faction, blocking off possible escape points for Lothur.

    Some of the City of Darkness specialists were still gathering their strongest men to face Lothur with everything they had, so the other men searching for his head had not yet decided to start the attack.

    He was an abomination that would by no means be easy to eliminate. So as people who could die easily, they were preparing as best they could to exterminate him once and for all!

    Arno was already standing there watching the situation, together with his men, a little worried.

    Some of those men who had arrived there first wanted to attack Lothur immediately and take advantage of his weakness after the previous battle to assassinate him quickly.

    But when they got there, they discovered that he had not been exhausted in that battle and was in his peak state.

    That was very strange, but no one there had time to think much about it. So the first to arrive there suspended their attack to wait for their allies.

    Arno was among those men who first arrived there and had waited for thest few hours for the rest of the men who would attack Lothur soon.

    Standing next to his men, he exined his ns. "Since everyone is already here, let me be clear. Our goal is to kill the half-breed of human and demon in this ce. But we can''t be stupid!

    Let these fools here attack first and take the biggest risks. Then, only join the fight to the best of your ability when the damned hybrid is already exhausted!

    Our goal is the Diamond-grade Soul Bone, not to save these bastards'' lives!"

    With those words from their leader, those people agreed, feeling that their lives would be at less risk and their chances of obtaining that Soul Bone would be greater.

    If that happened, maybe their leader could reach the 4th stage, and such a faction would finallypletely dominate the City of Darkness!

    They had no expectations of escaping this ce, so the best they could dream up for themselves was to lead this ce!

    As these men agreed to Arno''s n, a few more Transcendents arrived on the area''s outskirts,pleting the number of experts the local leaders wanted on their side at the beginning of the attack.

    More than these numbers they thought would make no positive difference to them.

    The leader of the Wildflower Faction then said. "My group is ready to fight!"

    "Mine too!"

    "Same for mine!"

    Several leaders indicated they were ready until Arno got into position and shouted in Lothur''s direction. "Damned half-breed, surrender peacefully and ept your death. You are surrounded, and you can''t beat all of us!"

    Upon hearing that, Lothur opened his eyes, finally putting his meditation aside to prepare forbat.

    He knew the odds were against him, but he had several weapons in his favor, and since he was in a ce where he couldn''t run, he had no choice but to fight.

    He then did not use a cowardly attitude and stood up from his seat, determined to do battle and show these experts his true power.

    The young Ritter walked towards the entrance of the me Faction alongside his ves, 5 Nascent Soul Transcendents.

    The weaker members of this faction, who were not under the control of the ck mes, saw this and swallowed their saliva, fearing to be involved in this situation.

    Soon, Lothur was standing in front of the headquarters of that faction, seeing the nearly 40 people in the surrounding area giving him ugly looks.

    "Tsk! The damned thing looks like us..."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Despite being an abominable creature, he looks great!"

    "The legends are true. These creatures are beautiful to more easily deceive their prey." A womanmented as she saw Lothur''s handsome face,menting that he was something so terrible.

    If he weren''t, she would have fun with him...

    As whispers spread to the surroundings, Lothur said. "You people... I have nothing against you. Are you really going to choose this path? Those who leave here now, I will forgive you and not hunt you down."

    The people in that ce were silent after his words, some hating him even more for his arrogance, others noting how fearless he was in making threats in this situation.

    Then the leader of the Wildflower Faction shouted. "Don''t listen to his words. He is clearly an enemy of every living thing in this ce! We must kill him, or he will kill us!"

    "Yes! The devil will try to deceive you with his tongue, but his intentions are one.

    Carnage!"

    Lothur narrowed his eyes, but he did not expect these people to back down, so this situation did not surprise him.

    Immediately his ves positioned themselves to fight while he prepared himself.

    "For let me warn you onest time. Even in greater numbers, do not think that you are safe. I assure you, at least half of you will die in the next few hours because of this." He said as the surroundings became darker with the appearance of a dark foging from his Mortal Aura skill.

    Some of the weaker ones there felt fear after he activated this ability, but they stood firm in their positions.

    Then, as one of them ordered the attack to begin, Lothur acted decisively to reduce the opponent''s numbers already at the beginning of the battle.

    Laser Vision!

    The first thing he did was to activate this secondary ability of his first Soul Bone, causing aser beam to prepare to be fired from his eyes.

    He then teleported behind one of his opponents using the Spatial Belt before that shot wounded his opponent.

    But Lothur did not aim at the head nor at the heart of his target.

    His intention there was only to incapacitate his opponents so that he could absorb many EVF pointster. So his first blow was aimed at the right lung of his enemy.

    "Aaaaaaaaagh!"

    With that first strike, that level 18 man cried out in pain as he fell with a serious injury that would surely take him out of this battle.

    The others noticed Lothur''s antics and felt coldness through their bodies. But they didn''t back down, finally initiating their powerful waves of attacks.

    He teleported once more before activating his Golden Finger, hitting yet another opponent in the back, breaking that person''s spine in one strike!

    "Aaaaaaaaagghhhhhhh!"

    Then, he positioned himself and activated one of his soul techniques!

    Omnipotence!

    ...

 Chapter 615 Omnipotence

    ?

    When he activated this new technique, Lothur immediately made a golden pulse start from his body, turning his surroundings into his domain, where he was all-powerful.

    His soul was weakpared to those of the people in his surroundings. But his technique was special, and he would be invincible for the next ten breaths, even though he was much weaker than everyone else there.

    Everyone within his domain would be restricted for the next ten breaths, and they couldn''t hurt him with their attacks.

    In a way, this was a defensive technique, even considering its ability to be used offensively.

    Lothur was no fool, and as soon as he activated this technique, he moved to attack the strongest in the area, knowing that he would take no chances in the short time he had.

    Unfortunately for many there, his speed was extreme, and ten breaths were enough for him to hit more than ten people!

    As he moved in his first breath, Lothur saw those people forming terrible expressions as they felt the awful sensation of being under his dominion.

    He then used the Elemental Staff in his hands and attacked with everything he had two enemies close to each other.

    Using his physical techniques, he brutally acted against those two, severely bruising the abdomen of one and breaking one of the other''s arms.

    "Aaaaagh!"

    They both screamed in agony, feeling doubly bad in this situation where they could do nothing to defend themselves or attack this all-powerful opponent.

    Lothur''s eyes glowed a deep red once again, and again he fired at a level 18 opponent, taking one more person out of the fight, but without killing him.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    Golden Finger!

    For the next five breaths, he would use his physical abilities, his Soul Bones, and his artifacts to wound 8 enemies, 7 of them at level 18 and 1 at level 17.

    Gravity!

    The ability of his third Soul Bone was particrly powerful while he was using Omnipotence, even more so since this ability was rted to his Will, one of his strengths.

    Because of this, most of those people felt under pressure, finding it harder to move and even more vulnerable to him.

    ''Damn it!''

    ''That wretch has learned one of my techniques!'' One of those men realized that Lothur had probably acquired such a thing from his dead subordinates earlier.

    But noticing that, he was much more annoyed and shocked than before because Lothur had easily learned such a technique, having already reached the second mastery level of it!

    He himself had not achieved this feat, so he could not counterattack this damned hybrid in front of him!

    Arno saw Lothur''s movements and took advantage of the situation to analyze the strength of this strange specimen.

    Lothur was much stronger than he had thought earlier and strangely did not seem tired at all from the action earlier when he had used his bloodline.

    But even as he noted these positives, this man also noticed weaknesses in his target.

    ''Keep spending your energy, half-breed. Soon this will give me your Diamond-grade Soul Bone!'' Arno clenched his fists, seeing a glorious future ahead of him.

    Another three breaths passed, and Lothur managed to act against four more people, finally showing his Dark mes on 3 of these 4 individuals.

    They were all Nascent Soul Transcendents, so he took advantage of the little time he had left under the effects of Omnipotence and made a few more ves.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The other ves he had made in the me Faction were in the surrounding area following his orders, but as long as the Omnipotence was working, they wouldn''t be able to act in the same way as his enemies were being hindered.

    Anyway, when there was only one more breath left before his time was up, Lothur finally activated his second soul technique, draining his strength even further.

    Cruel Underworld!

    When he did this, the darkness in the surroundings due to his Mortal Aura intensified. At the same time, he felt a pain at the base of his neck, feeling his attributes increasing once again. Still, he was already almost out of energy to continue.

    Due to a new technique using his energies, he began to feel extreme pain while blood began to flow from his facial orifices.

    However, even in pain, Lothur did not stop. Instead, he continued with his technique, finishing its activation.

    When this happened, the ck mist in the surrounding area condensed into ck bodies that looked like shadows.

    Those shadows came out of the ground below that area, emitting crackling sounds, showing those individuals something they had never seen.

    "That technique..."

    "What is it?"

    Techniques based on the element of darkness were not well-liked by much of society, so those who learned such techniques did not always show them in public.

    At the same time, someone having such a technique did not mean they had trained in it. In some cases, people would defeat enemies possessing such techniques and keep them to sell in the future.

    This did not always happen, and techniques like this could easily be forgotten in the spatial rings of their owners.

    Because of this, no one in the surrounding area knew where Lothur''s technique came from, as no one in this prison had ever demonstrated such a thing.

    But even though it was the first time everyone there had seen such a thing, they quickly understood how it worked!

    In a fraction of a second, 15 shadows appeared from the ground in that area,ing directly from some corpses buried there.

    When someone died in the Imperial Prison, something that happened frequently, they usually didn''t have their bodies sent out of that ce.

    As such, the assassins themselves usually buried the bodies of their enemies right there!

    "The wretch is using the remnants of the dead in the area to fight against us!" Arno eximed, feeling that this would make the fight a bit more difficult, as the darkness element was tough to fight against.

    The dark element was extremely efficient, and its techniques usually didn''t require much spiritual energy.

    Precisely because of this, these techniques rarely required much energy to maintain after their activation, a problem for these men facing Lothur.

    So when thest breath of time Lothur had run out, his allies and enemies finally began to fight without his direct involvement.

    Lothur saw his injured enemies on the outskirts, unable to fight, retreating, while he himself knelt down, extremely tired.

    He looked at the shadows and his ves fighting those many enemies and tried to predict what would happen in this ce.

    ''My allies are weaker and cannot stop all my enemies.'' He clenched his fists as he forgot the pain in his body and the blood dripping from his facial orifices.

    ''I will have to rely on my Physique today!'' He pressed his teeth against each other. ''If I am lucky, I will survive and dominate this ce. Otherwise, that will be my end!''

    ...

 Chapter 616 Collective Beating

    ?

    After 5 minutes ofbat, over half of Lothur''s allies had been wiped out by opponents in the surrounding area.

    But to do this, Lothur''s many enemies had taken severe losses!

    While Lothur''s allies were weaker than his opponents, each was fearless, felt no pain, and feared no death.

    Consequently, even fighting against arger group with higher-level enemies, they had done quite a bit of damage!

    No deaths among Lothur''s enemies hade from this confrontation. But more than half of the nearly 40 initial enemies were already on the outskirts in no condition to fight, seriously wounded.

    Only 14 individuals remained when only the shadow beings created by Lothur moments ago were still there to fight with him.

    Lothur had made an effort to keep fighting in the meantime, even though he was exhausted, moving around and evennding a few blows on his opponents.

    But with the difference in levels and numbers, he and his beings of darkness soon were in a passive situation.

    They were surrounded while their opponents were attacking from almost every possible angle, little by little reducing their space of action.

    Lothur saw this as the shadow beings around him became more and more transparent, and the shield they created around him weakened.

    ''Shit! They won''t be able to take the next blow!'' He clenched his fists and prepared to only defend himself from now on.

    Just defending himself would not eliminate his opponents, nor would it help him much in this ce of doom. However, since they were all in the Imperial Prison, the one with the greater physical attributes would have the advantage once they were exhausted.

    Even exhausted, Lothur would be the strongest and no longer be threatened by these people when they got tired!

    Therefore, since he had practically no strength left to attack, he intended to defend himself until the enemies had little to do against him!

    He put up a defensive position, protecting his head and vital organs, and waited for the end of this wonderful soul technique he had managed to learn.

    Momentster...

    Crack!

    The defensive barrier around him and those shadow beings cracked and exploded a few millisecondster.

    When it did, those shadow creatures finally disappeared for good, leaving their creator defenseless for the first time since this battle began!

    Seeing Lothur alone, with no other allies in the vicinity, those 14 remaining enemies stopped to stare at him for a moment, impressed.

    Even though he was weaker than them, Lothur had endured so much because of his hybrid characteristics!

    ''The wretch was very good indeed...'' Arno thought, wondering what skill Lothur would leave for the Diamond-grade Soul Bone. ''But now it''s over!''

    "Attack with everything!

    He won''t hold out for long and will soon form a Soul Bone!" Arno shouted to those individuals, each sweating profusely, some more injured than the others but still with the energy to continue.

    With those words from the strongest of them, those people regained some of their focus lost throughout the battle, looking to Lothur with interest in what only he could provide them.

    The best Soul Bone that a human could absorb!

    So they all concentrated their forces, creating humanoid silhouettes of spiritual energy, a useful way to create pressure on things and people.

    They wanted to destroy Lothur''s Physique, so there was nothing better than to crush him to destroy that part of him!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the blink of an eye, 14 colored silhouettes appeared around Lothur, each of them making simr movements, moving hands upwards, creating pressure on where he was.

    Each person there had this ability and used the elements they had the most affinity for to create such a reaction, whereby they could crush weaker or even stronger opponents.

    Together they could even act against a level 19 cultivator when they were at their best!

    Thus, even though they were tired, all of them together could impose immense pressure on young Ritter, causing him to scream in agony just moments after this ''beating'' began.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    Lothur screamed with everything he had, as he had his arms above his head, trying to withstand the pressure generated by those 14 spirit hands on top of him.

    As he did so, the system warned him that various elements were trying to destroy his body, finally noticing the usefulness of his resistances.

    If it weren''t for his many high-level resistances, he would have died about five times already in thest 20 seconds!

    However, with his abnormal characteristics, Lothur was just feeling great pain, as every muscle and bone in his body seemed to be crushed and rebuilt.

    But his enemies'' attacks were too strong to give Lothur time for his resistances to strengthen in this situation.

    Up to a certain limit, one''s resistance would always be stimted and get stronger. But beyond that, their body couldn''t take it, and only if they had time to recover could they undergo an improvement.

    But in that instant, nothing good woulde of it, only the excruciating pain that was rapidly increasing.

    Meanwhile, blood began to flow from each of his bodily orifices, while his own skin turned red as if it was going to explode.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    As he felt as if his body would break into countless pieces, three parts of Lothur''s body began to glow strongly.

    Lothur''s skull, one of his fibe, and his ribs began to glow brightly, causing colored parts to appear around these areas of his body as if they were pieces of armor.

    As this happened, everyone in the surrounding area frowned, seeing Lothur''s notplete Spirit Body showing itself.

    "The wretch already had 3 Soul Bones!"

    "Tsk! And even with just that, he can already disy some of the Spirit Body''s powers!"

    The Spirit Body was something that cultivators could form by equipping their soul with 10 Soul Bones. Legends said that its owner would be immortal when it was fully formed.

    But many characteristics were associated with the Spirit Body, such as raising each of its owner''s uniquenesses, and could make them faster, stronger, tougher.

    In a fight, even someone with an iplete Spirit Body could, if they were lucky, use such a thing to protect themselves or counter-attack, bing much stronger just by showing it off.

    Seeing that Lothur had just done this in this extreme situation, those men in the area couldn''t help but be impressed.

    Arno clenched one of his fists and said. "Don''t weaken! That is thest defensive barrier he has. Once we defeat it, his death will be in our grasp!"

    With those words, Arno brought those people back to Lothur''s ''beating''!

    ...

 Chapter 617 Overcoming The Spirit Body

    ?

    With Arno''s encouragement, quickly, the men brutally attacking Lothur regained some of their focus lost over thest few moments of the attack.

    They were getting increasingly tired of attacking the ursed half-breed in front of them and beginning to worry about the post-battle when they would be weakened in this terrible ce.

    But at the thought that they were not far from destroying their enemy and that a Diamond-grade Soul Bone could appear at any moment, they put all their attention back into destroying this opponent.

    As they increased the pressure on Lothur''s body, seeing how resistant this young man was, he screamed with force, making his miserable situation reach hundreds of meters away.

    Blood was already dripping from his body orifices and his skin as a whole, which had already torn in countless ces.

    But the internal situation of Lothur''s body was much worse than the external one. Due to the immense pressure on him, several of his veins had burst, and several bleeding points spread throughout his body.

    He could barely see at the present moment, while his sense of bnce was partly lost.

    He didn''t fall because his body held him upright due to the great pressure preventing him from moving anywhere.

    The pressure from the enemies came from above and from every possible direction!

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    Amid his suffering, Lothur could not even think straight, only feeling the brutality of his opponents, little by little feeling as if this moment had no end.

    Time seemed to pass differently when one was in misery. It was as if the forces of nature were favorable to suffering, and when one was in pain, their time perception would be distorted in a way that they would feel suffering longer.

    Lothur clearly perceived this in his suffering, as his Spirit Body ineffectively tried to protect him.

    But the power of the sum of his enemies was too great for his iplete Spirit Body to save him, so little by little, this protection of his began to crack as if his Soul Bones were going to break.

    This didn''t happen all at once, but gradually, with him feeling the pain of having his bones crushed, but strangely his nerves remained intact during the whole process.

    When the first of his three Soul Bones could not withstand the pressure, it exploded into countless pieces, destroying the surrounding area of that fib bone.

    The injured men who were watching the situation in the surrounding area saw that and swallowed their saliva, seeing the pitiful state of the enemy, who was still standing.

    "The wretch is a monster!"

    "I didn''t believe they were so dreadful... But the legends are true! Half-breeds cannot be allowed to live!"

    Several of those men disabled by Lothur earliermented as they saw the near end of that young devil.

    The attacking men also noticed how terrible this creature could be. Still, their satisfaction at gradually seeing his end overcame all their feelings, and they kept pressing him.

    Boom!

    Lothur''s ribs exploded, showing his internal organs to everyone in the surrounding area, indicating to the curious onlookers watching the battle from afar that he could not be a human.

    No human could withstand such injuries and still remain alive!

    "What the fuck is that?" A level 17 man in the distance thought about it, not understanding what the local leaders were up against.

    "Maybe he''s a demon?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Impossible! Demons don''t look like us!"

    "The legends say that Emperor demons are indistinguishable from humans... Maybe he is a demon of that rank."

    Some people began to discuss the possibility that Lothur could generate a tinum-grade Soul Bone, which existed in tiny numbers even in all of Concordia.

    But in a ce like the Imperial Prison, such a thing had appeared...

    Many soon began to look forward to Lothur''s death and the subsequent formation of a tinum-grade Soul Bone!

    One of these men looked in the direction of the local leaders, most of them severely injured and the others very tired.

    ''Maybe it''s time we changed the power configuration of the City of Darkness!'' That person clenched his fists, preparing to get involved in this situation.

    But others had the same thing in mind!

    ''Tired and injured... They won''t be able to withstand our pressure! If we revolt, we can dispute that Soul Bone between us after we kill them!''

    The major factions of the Imperial Prison had underestimated Lothur despite all their preparations. This young man had been far more resilient than they expected and had hurt several of them.

    Now, near his end, he had weakened them enough to encourage those waiting for an opportunity!

    Even if he couldn''t generate a Soul Bone, many people around the City of Darkness would already try to rebel against the factions that ran this ce.

    Practically exhausted and badly injured, these otherwise terrifying men were now not so scary!

    Therefore, even level 17 men looked with predatory eyes at those peak level 18 cultivators!

    When the third Soul Bone of Lothur was about to explode, those men pressing him could no longer keep their focus on him and began to worry.

    "Guys, if we keep exhausting ourselves, we will be defenseless against the worms in the surrounding area." One of the still-breathing local leaders said as he rapidly decreased the use of his energies against Lothur.

    Arno was the one who had the most energy at this moment among those people, but he was still getting more and more exhausted. He had already used up more than 70% of his energy at this point!

    As such, he clenched one of his fists as he felt the enemies approaching like hyenas, ready to steal the fruit of his efforts.

    ''Bloody worms! They are a bunch of good for nothings, and yet they covet what belongs to me?'' He pressed his teeth together, feeling terrible, so close to seeing the end of Lothur.

    Amid this moment, when they all quickly decreased the pressure on Lothur''s surroundings, worried about those approaching them, his third Soul Bone exploded.

    BOOM!

    When this happened, Lothur''s head split open, revealing the inside of that part of his body, as he finally fell to the ground, with no more pressure on himself to keep him standing.

    But at that crucial moment when he no longer had his Spirit Body to protect him and with a little work, anyone in the vicinity could kill him, Arno shouted.

    "Protect the damned half-breed! If he dies and forms a Soul Bone, everyone will be everyone''s enemy! None of us will have a chance to survive against these vermin!"

    ...

 Chapter 618 Only Chance Of Survival

    ?

    When Arno shouted those totally absurd words if spoken moments ago, those 13 individuals together with him around Lothur couldn''t help but express their anger.

    They were so close to getting the Soul Bone that Lothur would generate, but at thest moment, these ''hyenas'' had shown themselves.

    As intelligent people who knew that the formation of the Diamond-grade Soul Bone would generate discord among themselves, they could not allow such a thing to be formed!

    If that happened, the unity between them would weaken, allowing these ''hyenas'' to beat them and be the only ones to gain something from it all.

    They refused to die for the sake of others, so if they couldn''t have the chance to absorb Lothur''s Soul Bone, they would rather such a thing didn''t even form!

    ''That little devil can''t get any stronger, even with his devilish regeneration.'' One of those level 18 men still standing, thought to himself. ''So even if he recovers after a while, we can put him in that same situation whenever we want!''

    That was in the minds of these 14 people, each feeling that it was worthwhile to take a step back, reorganize things in the City of Darkness, and only then kill Lothur.

    When they came to attack him earlier, they all knew the risks of other boarders turning against them. But none of them expected that Lothur would be so strong and resilient as to have taken more than half of them out of the fight.

    To kill him, a group of nearly 40 Transcendents of levels 17 and 18 had almost had to bepletely exhausted!

    With that, even though frustrated at being prevented from getting what they wanted so close to their goal, these men stopped their actions against Lothur and turned their backs on him to protect him.

    Arno looked over to where some of the strongest in the surrounding area were watching them thirstily and said. "To the ''hyenas'' in the surroundings, let me tell you that if you proceed with your current intentions, we will kill you all.

    We are indeed tired, but before we die, I guarantee we will take some of you!"

    The other side said nothing and kept watching them, particrly the young Lothur, badly injured but strangely still alive.

    One of Arno''s allies then shouted. "For you more foolish people, remember that this creature recovers quickly. Once he recovers, we will need the same strength we used to push him to the limit again...

    Will you be able to do that? Without us, it will be impossible for you to obtain this Soul Bone!"

    Some in these groups of ''hyenas'' hesitated at the thought of this, but then one of the more proactive ones, willing to rebel, shouted. "Friends, don''t listen to these dying men. All they want is to keep their power inside the City of Darkness!

    Are they saying we can''t kill this little devil in the future? Well, we will kill him now! I''m sure we can do it!"

    ''True! As much as we don''t have the same capabilities as these men at their peaks, the demon will take a while to fully recover.

    Before that happens, he will still be weakened for all of us to attack!''

    Simr thoughts spread to the surroundings, with some who had hesitated moments ago bing more confident of their rebellion.

    "Shit!" Arno cursed in a low voice, feeling they could not leave this ce peacefully.

    The other 13 individuals realized the same and prepared to face the ''hyenas'' in the surroundings, looking at this destroyed area where nothing of the old me Faction had remained.

    Only rubble and bodies could be seen in the surroundings, where the many ''hyenas'' were hiding, preparing to attack.

    The men who were allied with these 14 individuals and who was seriously injured had already left the area when they noticed these people approaching, so these 14 cultivators were alone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Lothur was slowly recovering from the situation earlier. However, without EVF points to recover quickly, he could only depend on a slower recovery.

    But his recovery was still quite fastpared to that of humans, to the point that while those people were talking and preparing to fight, his Soul Bones were already rebuilding in his body.

    Soul Bones were items of demonic origin connected to the body and soul. So even if they were destroyed, if their owner didn''t die, they could recover as many times as necessary!

    Thus, even though Tenur''s three Soul Bones had exploded earlier, they were all already recovering, just as would happen to a demon''s body after it was crushed.

    "Attack!"

    Amidst Lothur''s gradual recovery, the many level 17 cultivators in the surrounding area could no longer take the strain and began to run at the group of 14 individuals.

    With a shout from one of them, his group''s confrontation with the local leaders began, causing these men to face the worst threat of their lives!

    Even though each of them was much stronger than the opponents in the surrounding area, they were exhausted and would notst long against them!

    Thinking of the risks they would face in the next few moments, these people couldn''t help but curse these ''hyenas'' as they prepared to use their remaining power.

    With that, they ran or flew at their enemies, while Arno stayed behind to protect Lothur''s body and ensure they remained allies.

    Arno was the strongest and least exhausted of them, so he was the most reliable in ensuring the integrity of Lothur''s body.

    Not only that, he was the best chance for Lothur''s body to recover enough that even these people wouldn''t have a chance to kill him.

    When Lothur''s recovery reached that point, there would be no more conflict because it would be impossible for these people to kill him without the help of these local leaders.

    That was their goal in this fight!

    Boom!

    "Aaaaaaagh!"

    Soon the shouts and sounds of battle intensified in the surroundings, with some of Arno''s allied men suffering at the hands of their opponents, but several rebels suffering much more, with some even dying.

    This would continue for the next few minutes, escting to such a level that even Arno would have to flee with Lothur''s unconscious body to separate some of the enemies.

    Arno also had an interest in avoiding the deaths of his allies since, if Lothur continued to recover, sooner orter, he would need the help of these stronger men to again break through the half-breed''s defenses.

    So he did not intend to betray his allies now but to buy time for all of them!

    ''Damn it! We hurt the damned thing badly, and now his recovery is too slow!'' He thought as he flew off with a few dozen enemies chasing him.

    ...

 Chapter 619 Bad Omens

    ?

    While carrying Lothur, Arno had to guard him for much of his way to his faction''s headquarters.

    He was the strongest cultivator in the Imperial Prison and the one who had stood against Lothur who was in his best condition. But with less than half of his avable strength at the moment, the more than 20 level 17 enemies chasing and attacking him were enough to bother him greatly.

    But even in front of this group, he managed to move and reach his headquarters, where more members of his faction were in the vicinity to help him.

    "Attack the damned chasing me!" He shouted as he saw his people on the outskirts, watching in his direction with strange expressions.

    Everyone in that faction knew what Arno was doing until a few moments ago. But they didn''t expect him to return to this ce with the hybrid of human and demon still alive!

    They even expected their leader to return while being pursued since they faithfully believed he would be with the Diamond-grade Soul Bone.

    But those chasing him were weaker than the ones they had prepared for, and Lothur was still alive!

    "Boss, what happened? Why is the damned hybrid still breathing?" One of the stronger men in the surrounding area asked Arno.

    "Those damn worms have rebelled against us sovereigns!" Arno shouted as he entered his faction''s protective area. "Several of our allies were badly wounded when these worms prevented us from killing the half-breed.

    So we had to back off our ns to avoid a carnage that would only benefit them!"

    Upon hearing that, the men in the area understood the problem and cursed the names of the mothers of those enemies in the surrounding area.

    One of them then eximed. "Come on, you bastards! Fight to exterminate the vermin opposed to our ascension!"

    "Yeah!"

    Several shouts broke out from that group before those men flew toward the enemies approaching that location.

    Meanwhile, Arno took Lothur''s body to the most protected spot in that location, where he would keep it safe while things didn''t get better.

    ''Come on, half-breed. You just need to finish recovering your Soul Bones...'' This man felt anxious, thinking Lothur''s recovery was taking too long.

    However, considering the level of injuries Lothur had just sustained, his recovery happened at the average speed of recovery for a hybrid of human and demon.

    Amid his recovery, Lothur was dreaming once again of a destroyed world filled with bodies, blood, and darkness.

    This ce he had seen a few times before was a little different this time, without the presence of the voice he had heard more than once.

    Under his feet was a tombstone, the only thing in dozens of kilometers that was not covered with blood or bodies.

    On that tombstone was written a text he could not understand and a big name unmistakable to him.

    ''Lothur Ritter.''

    Upon seeing this and opening his eyes meaningfully, Lothur began to feel pain in his head, chest, and right leg, quickly driving him away from this terrible ce.

    ''What''s with this ce? Is this a system thing?''

    ...<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    As Lothur slowly recovered in the City of Darkness, Peters City became ustomed to his absence.

    The local powers continued to perform their duties, and most locals continued with their routine while more cars appeared on the local streets with each new morning.

    The Ritter Motor Company was slowly increasing its supply of vehicles while the families behind thepany were doing their best to improve their numbers.

    Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke were already running behind the formation of the Ritter family''s military force while everyone in this city was still in the dark about Lothur''s ''escape.''

    But amid this, as night was developing in this city, on the Frost estate, something strange was ''brewing.''

    In the former home of Simon Frost''s family, that ce abandoned after the ughter prior to the battle of that fateful day when the family''s forces had defeated their many local opponents, darkness filled the surroundings.

    The ground where Simon, his son, and his wife had died had a negative aura concentrating over it. At the same time, the spiritual energy in the surroundings seemed to vibrate with this darkness from there.

    If one were to get any closer to that ground at the entrance to Simon''s house, one would feel a chill in one''s soul while a crackling sound spread through the surroundings.

    From there, strong feelings of resentment and the will to kill would depart, little by little consuming the life in the surroundings, causing the nts around that house to die.

    As the night developed, this phenomenon would grow stronger, slowly maturing something terrible in that ce.

    Fortunately for the living on this estate, such a thing would be temporarily neutralized and even weakened when the day came.

    But unfortunately, this would not happen permanently, and with each passing night from now on, the darkness in this house and elsewhere around the Frost estate would intensify!

    ...

    As a new day dawned, the inhabitants of Peters City and particrly of the Frost estate were still ignorant of what was happening in that ce.

    Meanwhile, after hours since the previous day''s beating, Lothur had finally recovered enough for all his Soul Bones to return to their previous condition and his Spirit Body to recover.

    Lothur was still unconscious, slowly recovering from the injuries of the previous day''s beating. However, with his Soul Bones recovered, Arno didn''t miss the opportunity to end the rebellion in the City of Darkness.

    Once he was sure of young Ritter''s situation, Arno publicly disyed his body, even allowing the many rebels to attempt to act against this unconscious subject.

    Several tried, noting that Lothur''s recovery was indeed magnificent and that only level 18 cultivators could hurt him enough to threaten his life.

    Because of this harsh reality, the many rebels were forced to give up the insistent fight that hadsted for hours.

    At the end of it all, the strongest in the city was still alive, but everyone was more or less exhausted, and to keep fighting without the chance to get a Soul Bone was ridiculous, so each side retreated after Arno''s action.

    One side still wanted to kill the other, but with no major reasons and everyone needing time to rest, things settled down locally.

    In this temporary peace, Lothur would continue to recuperate while he had been left in an inner cell of Arno''s faction.

    There he would spend his next few days!

 Chapter 620 Worry

    ?

    As Lothur recovered in the Imperial Prison, hours passed, and slowly night wasing to Leopoldine.

    But amidst the darkness of night taking the space of daylight, several experts were moving around this state in search of their enemy.

    The men of the Church of the Seraphim were scrambling to follow the tracks left by Lothur''s mother''s subordinates and those she herself had left behind.

    Some were already out of Leopoldine, but others were still investigating this territory for clues about their targets.

    They had three suspects who were hybrids of demons and humans, so they were following every possible lead.

    But they were not focused on finding out much about the past of these youngsters.

    As much as there might be relevant things, most likely, what they would find out would be of little help or even a waste of time.

    One might think it would be easy to decipher who was the true half-breed among the three since the nobles Fabienne had kidnapped were nobles with known fathers and mothers. Even if one or both of them were dead, people knew them and thought they knew the origin of those two.

    But things were not so simple. One of the spouses could lie and have had an affair with a demon and brought a hybrid home.

    Anything was possible in this world, so since the three were on the run, all three had been treated as suspects.

    But undeniably, Lothur was the greatest suspect of all since few knew his origin.

    The men of the Church already knew that Lothur was Daemon''s son and that this man was a human, but no one knew about his mother''s situation, which was a big warning sign.

    On the other hand, Daemon did not look like the typical father of a half-breed, which also created doubts in these Church people.

    For all this, they preferred not to ce their suspicions on just one of these young men and were subdividing their forces equally in the search for the three!

    ...

    After the time that had passed since the end of the Secret Realm, the Supreme Pontiff of the Seraphim Church had finally joined the search for Lothur.

    At this moment, he was standing next to the High Priest, updating himself on the matter.

    "So the three of them are on the run, huh?" That level 21 man, the strongest in the Church, asked as he finished listening to what the High Priest had just told him.

    They were both standing in a small makeshift camp in the middle of a forest, where that man longest pursuing Lothur had stopped to eat after more than 10 hours of searching.

    The High Priest nodded affirmatively, looking at the strong, blond man in front of him.

    "One of them is the one we are after, and the others are probably being taken by force by allies of the damned half-breed." The Supreme Pontiff said, certain of his theory.

    "But how do we resolve this situation? Those helping the damn half-breed seem to be very good at what they are doing... So far, my group and I haven''te up with anything useful that could deliver who the real one is."

    The leader of the Church nodded and said. "That''s demon stuff. Probably a damned demon Emperor is taking it to their headquarters north of the continent...<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    It will be hard for us to reach them. These people have many ways to escape and act against us.

    Not to mention our strange times, which may help this escape even more."

    Hearing his leader sigh, the High Priest couldn''t help but feel bad, momentarily putting aside the subject of a low-level half-breed to think about his organization''s big problem.

    For a few decades now, powerful demons have been appearing more and more frequently on the continent, with various Monarchs and Emperors moving in strangely.

    Normally demons lived in seclusion and would asionally leave their territory to hunt humans, satisfy their hunger and get enough to cultivate until they advanced in level.

    This created chaos, but it was controlled, and hardly an entire society would be put at risk.

    Obviously, this could strike anyone, so themon people and cultivators were afraid when a demon appeared in their territory. But it wasn''t something that would threaten the entire human species.

    But for a while now, demon sightings had been reported all around Concordia, and these creatures didn''t seem to be seeking nutrients but rather on missions.

    They were not killing randomly; even near humans, they avoided causing great carnage that would draw too much attention.

    Since there were no reports of this happening in the past, these Churchmen were naturally very concerned!

    "I hope they are not after the Seven Singrities..." The High Priest said in a low voice, remembering the legends about an ancient Tree that had given birth to seven entities in the remote past of this world.

    ording to the legends about this Tree, it had arisen along with spiritual energy andws, created the entire cultivation base of this ce, and turned the first mortals into cultivators.

    At the same time, a great danger struck this world, almost wiping it out. But at the crucial moment of this catastrophe, one person had killed the seven carriers of the singrities and absorbed all their powers into himself.

    From the union of the seven powers, a supreme warrior had emerged, defeated the dangers, and stabilized the situation so that peace and prosperity returned to this world.

    Eventually, that person disappeared, and the Seven Singrities were reported lost in this vast world.

    To this day,rge organizations persecute such remnants of the Lost Tree.

    ording to some of the stories, only by absorbing one of the singrities could one ovee the catastrophes of the 5th stage and one-day approach immortality.

    These men knew these stories, and if these demon movements were because of these things, then a shocking future awaited the entire continent!

    Therefore, as they talked about the matter, they couldn''t help but worry about the safety of their continent!

    The Supreme Pontiff then said. "I hope that''s not it. The current leader of the demon tribe is said to be even stronger than me, so if he gets a single one of these singrities, we will face a cmity!"

    After those words, the two went back to eating without speaking, trying to let the matter die down and regain their focus on the pursuit of a half-breed.

    If a demon with one of the singrities was bad, a loose half-breed wasn''t much better!

 Chapter 621 Costs Of Regeneration

    ?

    Two dayster...

    As the Church continued their search, slowly leaving Leopoldine behind, Lothur was almost finished recovering inside the Imperial Prison.

    His recovery had never taken this long to reach this moment. Still, he had also never suffered this much at opponents'' hands.

    Thest time he suffered serious injuries was when Mabel beat him. But that had been nowhere near the more recent sufferings of this young man, who had even had to recover from the explosion of his Soul Bones.

    As such, his recovery, although quick, had taken longer than at other times.

    However, it would all be worth it when he awakened!

    When it was already noon, almost three days since the previous incident, Lothur opened his eyes and saw his status while in a dark cell in the basement of a building.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physiqur: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16 -> 18]

    [Body Cultivation: level 17 -> 18]

    [STR: 337.7 -> 506.6]

    [CON: 638.8 -> 1,277.6]

    [DEX: 349.3 -> 454.1]

    [AGI: 350.6 -> 561]

    [INT: 271.2]

    [PER: 550.1]

    [WIL: 400.6 -> 420.6]

    [SOU: 130.6]

    [EVF: 0]

    When he saw his new physical attribute points, Lothur immediately ignored his surroundings and enjoyed seeing his status so high.

    He had increased his level significantly!

    With this advancement, he was now at the peak of the 3rd stage, and upon realizing this, he couldn''t help but smile in joy.

    ''That terrible moment was really worth it, haha.'' Heughed internally, wondering what his enemies from earlier would think upon discovering their mistake in letting him recover.

    ''I don''t know why they didn''t kill me, but I thank those responsible for that!

    I will take the opportunity and kill all those bastards!''

    He clenched his fists, remembering the pain of having his Soul Bones destroyed.

    Thinking about it, he surveyed his body to see if there were any problems with his bones, but he would soon realize that they were as before, and his abilities were just waiting to be used.

    Activating his visual ability, he immediately looked at the ce where he was, a cell that could seal the soul cultivation of those inside.

    Realizing this, he smiled, for this could have prevented him from leaving three days ago. But now that he had changed considerably, getting out would be easy for him!

    He saw that there was nothing else in that underground area, just adder and a short corridor outside his cell.

    ''They took my spatial rings, the Elemental Staff, the Space Belt, and the Golden Finger.'' He noticed the things missing from his body.

    "Tsk! You took this from me, but I will take much more from you!" He muttered, feeling his bloodline ability ready for another activation.

    He then looked across the building he was in and saw the strongest enemy he had identified days ago.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Arno was in a cultivation room at this very moment, trying to regain his strength from the situation he had previously experienced.

    Unfortunately for him and all the other inmates in this prison, Lothur had greatly increased his strength while the strongest in this ce were exhausted and would take months to recover.

    Noticing his situation, Lothur smiled even more just before he decided to start his revenge.

    He approached the bars of his cell and ced his two hands on two parallel bars.

    When he did this, the guard watching the door area, a few steps above where Lothur was standing, finally realized that he was standing and thought about running to alert his leaders.

    Unfortunately for him, as he tried to run, he felt a great force on his body, forcing him to lie on the ground.

    Gravity!

    Lothur activated his younger Soul Bone ability on that individual, preventing him from leaving.

    At the same time, he had already bent the bars he was holding enough for him to pass through them without difficulty.

    With that, he was out of that cell in the blink of an eye while his opponent felt the pressure of his Gravity.

    "Damned half-breed!" That person said with difficulty as Lothur walked toward the stairs.

    Lothur was not bothered by this, and ck mes appeared in his hands.

    Immediately when those mes appeared, Lothur could feel that they had strengthened greatly, a reflection of his increased level.

    But he didn''t stop to analyze this at the moment and just used this ability to overpower that level 17 man, turning him into a ve.

    After doing so, this ve of darkness began to guide the silver-haired young man, who didn''t look so young at the moment.

    As Lothur came out of that underground ce, he passed an area with a mirror and could not help but look at himself and wonder.

    His silver hair reflected the time that had passed since he had consumed the previous pill and the situation he had gone through, being beaten almost to death. Because of all this, the medicinal effect of the pill that had changed the color of his hair had worn off.

    But the most striking thing was not his hair but his aged appearance!

    At the present moment, Lothur looked even older than his grandfather!

    His face was dry. Several wrinkles could be seen around his eyes, and the glow of youth that he had previously had been lost.

    Seeing this, he noticed the cost of his previous regeneration!

    Lothur had no EVF points to support that regeneration, so his body had used its vitality to recover all the damage it had suffered.

    Even with a level advancement, he could not regenerate such a thing.

    Thinking about his vitality, he immediately opened the system panel that showed this information.

    [Host life expectancy: 40 years]

    Previously its life expectancy should have already been around 1,600 years due to his cultivation stage.

    But even so, such a thing had fallen so far that he had just over 20 years left to live!

    ''It seems that when I have no EVF points, my vitality will be consumed...'' He pondered this, soon understanding why this had not happened before. ''Hmm, if I''m not mistaken, it didn''t happen the other times because the higher the damage, the higher the regeneration cost.

    Before I was fragile, so it was easier for my ability to recover my body. But now I have a high-level body that demands a lot of vitality...''

    "Sigh, that''s not a problem. Once I advance a stage, I will recover my vitality." He muttered.

    Lothur also had the option of using EVF points to improve his vitality. But he didn''t want to use that, as he preferred to focus on turning those points into Soul attribute points.

    With that, he quickly walked back towards his enemies in this building, slowly overpowering those who got in his way towards Arno.

    ...

 Chapter 622 Time For Vengeance

    ?

    As he made his way to Arno, Lothur left no enemy behind.

    He would not allow any of those people to run away from him after all that had happened, so while those many enemies inside that building were trying to attack him or run away, he was fighting them with his powers.

    Against some, it would be enough for him just to use his Gravity, but for others, he would have to actively control them using the ck mes.

    One way or another, he was overpowering everyone in his path, making them, against their own will, apany him to the top floor of this building.

    Even walking slowly, he and more than 40 people would arrive at that ce in no time without Arno or some of the stronger people around him realizing the problem.

    They were trying to recover from the fight of days ago, so they were too focused on their recovery to notice what was happening within their own faction.

    When Lothur kicked open the door that separated him from these people, they were all taken by surprise!

    Boom!

    When they heard the noise of the door being destroyed in one kick, all five men next to Arno in the cultivation room opened their eyes with ugly expressions on their faces.

    But when they saw that silver-haired, aged-looking person, they all swallowed their saliva, feeling they knew this individual from somewhere.

    "Half-breed!" Arno shouted as he noticed all his subordinates dominated by Lothur in the surroundings, while the different appearance of this being did not fool him.

    "What?"

    "That''s the damn half-breed?"

    "But how did he escape from that cell?"

    Those men and Arno wondered, already standing, as they circted their energies.

    They were weakened but not totally exhausted to the point that they had nothing to do against Lothur.

    As such, they prepared to fight!

    However, while maintaining a defensive position, Arno couldn''t help but turn pale, sensing Lothur''s new cultivation level.

    ''How is that possible? Did he advance in level in that ce after being beaten? That''s absurd!''

    The others would also think simr things after a few moments, each of them shocked at the recovery, advancement, and power that Lothur was now emitting.

    This elderly-looking young man watched them intently for a few moments and smiled. "I have you to thank. I wouldn''t be at this level now if it weren''t for you.

    And from what I hear, it''s also because of you that I wasn''t killed, huh?"

    Lothur had made those men under the effects of the ck mes reveal why he had not been killed.

    In possession of this knowledge, he couldn''t help but thank these people for bringing him to this moment.

    However, Lothur was not merciful!

    "But you have made a grave mistake, my friends. Standing against me in the first ce was the worst choice you ever made! Now you must die to pay for what you did to me!" He shouted angrily, as red marks appeared little by little around his face.

    His silver eyes turned as red as blood, while red mist appeared in the surroundings, gradually forming a demonic silhouette behind Lothur.

    As it appeared, he said in a loud voice. "Get ready. I will devour the power of each of you!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    The six men, still out of his control, clenched their fists as they felt a very strong oppressioning from that silhouette behind Lothur.

    They were not exhausted and had some power to counterattack or flee. But in the face of this oppression, none of them could move a single muscle!

    Arno paled as he sensed this, noting that he would soon fail in this ce, where he had been the most powerful for decades.

    ''No! It can''t be! I can''t die here!'' He pushed himself as hard as he could, trying to use his two Soul Bones to escape from there.

    Unfortunately for him, Lothur had already seen those bones days ago, and the current oppression was particrly greater in Arno.

    Lothur wanted those bones for himself, so he would not allow this man to escape!

    ''Too bad one of them is a skull bone, something I already have...'' He thought as he felt the first lives in the surroundings being consumed by the red mes and the system beginning to issue updates regarding the EVF points absorbed.

    The weakest in Lothur''s surroundings were the first to be consumed by these mes that reached as far as 100 meters away from Lothur, reaching even people outside that building.

    But even those level 18 individuals would notst long and would soon agonize in pain as they were burned to death by those mes of blood.

    It wouldn''tst long, and soon Arno would be thest human standing in that ce, with over 70 people having been extinguished from that world by Lothur''s horrible soul ability.

    With Arno, Lothur had had to be more careful not to harm the Soul Bones of this man, one of the few in that prison who had such things.

    Soul Bones were really hard items to find, so even in a ce full of 3rd stage cultivators, few there had such demonic traces.

    However, even though he had been careful during Arno''s extermination, this man didn''tst much longer than the others, and after a minute of suffering, most of his body had been burned until only a few handfuls of ashes remained.

    The only part that remained were the ones where his two Soul Bones were, the skull and one of his legs.

    From these two pieces of flesh, two colored bones would detach, revealing a skull bone simr to the one Lothur already had and another left femur bone.

    Lothur saw this and even ignored the total EVF points he had absorbed in this situation.

    [EVF: 0 -> 5.358]

    He then directed that skull bone into the spatial ring he had already recovered and immediately drew the left femur bone into one of his hands.

    As he touched it, the system showed him its characteristics!

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Feature: once absorption begins, it will rece the femur bone of the left leg. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones with Golden Armor ability. It also increases by 15% all physical characteristics and 20% all mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it.]

    Lothur saw this and smiled, then immediately started absorbing this Soul Bone while he had already given the order to the system to turn as many EVF points as possible into points for the Soul attribute!

    [Absorb Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone?]

    ''Yes!''

    With Lothur''s order, soon, the fusion process began!

    ...

 Chapter 623 New Ability

    ?

    This time the fusion of the Soul Bone with Lothur''s body and spirit went much more smoothly than at other times.

    This was not only a reflection of his strength that already put his body on the same level as the bone he was absorbing. It was also a reflection of his Soul power, something that was previously iplete.

    Now with that power fullyplete and the fact that he already had three Soul Bones, meaning that his Spirit Body was already stronger than in the past, the Soul Bone absorption had to be easier.

    So he didn''t feel the same pain as at other times, and the whole absorption process had been even faster!

    With that, after a few minutes in the headquarters of that now destroyed faction, Lothur opened his eyes and felt the improvements that bone brought him.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 18]

    [Body Cultivation: level 18]

    [STR: 582.6] [CON: 1,469.2] [DEX: 522.2] [AGI: 645.1]

    [INT: 325.4] [PER: 660.1] [WIL: 504.7] [SOU: 371]

    [EVF: 0]

    ''Still at the same level... However, I''m probably close to advancing to the 4th stage.'' He smiled, feeling that he could regain his appearance soon and more, get enough to hide from Saints.

    As his mother had told him, once he became a Saint, 4th-stage cultivators could not identify him even if he stood before them.

    Only by using his bloodline ability could someone trace his position, but even with that, it would be difficult to find him after he moved.

    Knowing how important this advancement would be for him to live in peace once he returned to Peters City, Lothur couldn''t help but look forward to level 19.

    But he knew it would still take him some time to achieve this, so he quickly focused on the present moment, asking the system to show him this new skill.

    [Golden Armor] [Rank: Silver]

    [Characteristics: ability rted to the user''s Soul. With it, the user can transform Soul power into armor capable of covering the entire body and increasing the user''s defenses twice as much as if he was using Soul power directly to strengthen his constitution.]

    [Progress: 69%]

    Seeing this, Lothur immediately activated this ability, making a spirit armor gradually appear over his body.

    After a few moments, every part of his body, including his eyes, was covered by an extremely dense and beautiful golden armor.

    However, when it finished activating, all of it began to disappear, as if it were deactivating itself. But this was not happening. Instead, the armor was merely bing transparent.

    As it turned invisible, its spiritual fluctuations disappeared, and besides the user himself, no one else could notice it around his body.

    Lothur realized this and imagined that he could use this ability well in the future.

    ''This is very good. I will be able to use it continuously in times of uncertainty, and no enemy in my vicinity will be able to hurt me with a surprise attack...'' He considered.

    ''My Soul is still weak, but I''ll fix that while I''m in this ce... Once I leave here, this ability will be powerful!''<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    After standing in that ruined ce for some time, where a lot of ash was piled up in the surroundings, Lothur stopped contemting his own powers and looked at that area.

    As he did so, he noticed many people watching in his direction, but he was not bothered by these people. No one in this city could stand up to him at his current level.

    With that, it was time for him to actually dominate the Imperial Prison!

    He had suffered at the hands of some powerful local leaders, so now he intended to visit each of them.

    He smiled at the thought of the terror he would put these people through and opened his eyes, activating his visual ability. When he did so, he saw each of the inmates of this ce as he looked for the strongest spiritual fluctuations.

    As he did so, he soon identified each of the four leaders of thergest factions of this ce still in existence.

    When he saw his third one, Lothur suddenly noticed an aura he knew near that person.

    "Reba? How is that possible? What is she doing here?" He wondered, seeing this woman trapped inside a cell.

    After that, he took off in that direction!

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Wildflower Faction...

    Reba was still trapped in the same ce as before, but her fears had changed considerably from days ago.

    Before, she was fearful about what the men of this faction would do to her. But with the incident involving Lothur, each of the strongest of this faction had exhausted themselves considerably and no longer had the strength to venture out with her.

    Not only would their lives be at risk if they tried anything with her, as they were weak, but these men were also not interested in worldly pleasures. All that was on their minds was to regain their spiritual strength to kill the half-breed and fight for the Diamond-grade Soul Bone.

    Therefore, each of them was cultivating diligently right now, and even with chaos spreading outside that building, they were not aware of Lothur''s awakening.

    But Reba was feeling the terrible spiritual fluctuations spreading throughout this city and couldn''t help but look fearfully in the direction of where something seemed to have just happened.

    ''What''s with this ce? Who could be responsible for this?'' She wondered, ignorant of her man''s presence in this ce.

    But while she was thinking about that, Lothur appeared in front of that building with an ugly expression on his face.

    He had already seen the condition of some of the women in the surrounding area, so he couldn''t help but worry about Reba''s situation.

    "Fucking sons of bitches!" He said loudly, causing his voice to spread throughout the entire City of Darkness.

    Amidst this, his Mortal Aura surged intensely, causing the darkness in the surroundings to intensify as those nearby began to feel fear.

    At the level he was currently at, Lothur could make even the strongest people in this city piss themselves in fear with his Mortal Aura!

    But he didn''t simply stand still and soon stormed into that ce without stopping for anything, soon reaching the room where the strongest of that faction were standing near Reba''s cell.

    "I''m going to kill all of you!" He said as he made each of those men open their eyes and see him there.

    Gulp!

    "Lothur?" Reba noticed the tone of this elderly man''s voice and questioned in iprehension.

    ...

 Chapter 624 Quick Deaths

    ?

    "Lothur?" Reba asked as she looked strangely at that person who seemed to be close to his death.

    Even with a totally different appearance, Lothur''s voice was still unmistakable to her.

    Lothur looked at her and nodded, indicating that it was himself, after all.

    The men in the surrounding area heard this but had no time to pay attention to such a thing. The fact that Lothur was there was something shocking to them, which indicated that something wrong had happened in Arno''s faction.

    "Half-breed, where is Arno? How did you get here?" The leader of that faction questioned as he circted his energies.

    Lothur looked at those people andughed maliciously. "He is dead."

    After speaking this, he made a golden armor appear over his body, taunting the people in the surrounding area with the Soul Bone previously belonging to Arno.

    "Bastard!"

    "Impossible! How did he do it?"

    Some of those stronger men in the surroundings wondered, not understanding how Lothur had managed to recover and advance in level to achieve the feat of killing Arno.

    "Humph! I was preparing to absorb your powers, worms, but since you were oppressing my woman, I will kill you now!" Lothur snapped his fingers, beginning to walk toward those men.

    But Lothur''s steps were not easy to follow, and after one of them, he appeared in front of the strongest of that faction.

    ''None of them have a Soul Bone. How sad...''

    Then, without using any technique, Lothur moved one of his hands toward the heart of that individual.

    Without any difficulty, his hand entered the body of that person who had less than 150 Constitution, reaching his heart in less than a breath.

    That man had barely seen Lothur appearing in front of him when he felt his heart in one of Lothur''s hands and looked into the silver eyes of this creature in terror.

    "Abomination..."

    That was all he could say before Lothur ripped his heart out of his chest!

    Upon seeing that, all the men in the surrounding area wanted to flee. Unfortunately, they were very weakenedpared to Lothur.

    If it weren''t for this, they would either be able to fend off his first attacks or have the possibility of trying to run.

    Unfortunately, after all they had done days ago, they could not do anything to save themselves from the terrible fate ahead of them!

    Gravity!

    Lothur pressed all these men with his third ability, causing them to remain motionless where they were.

    This ability depended on Will, but no one there couldpare to Lothur in this regard.

    So even though they were powerful level 18 warriors with good mental attributes, these men were in Lothur''s hands to decide their fate!

    After another breath, he took another step and appeared before another person. With this individual, he made his ck mes erode his mental foundations, quickly driving him insane.

    The ck mes could dominate through mind and soul. But they could also degrade one''s mental structures until that person went mad.

    Lothur made this man go so far that after only 10 seconds, he was already self-geting and screaming mad.

    Then he crushed another man''s neck, leaving thest survivor trembling with fear.

    But he would not forgive such a person, and after the deaths of all three of these individuals, he would use gravity itself to crush the body of that fourth opponent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''Die!''

    He thought as he watched that body rapidly turns into a ball of flesh and blood.

    Reba saw this carnage and was open-mouthed, for although she could not sense Lothur''s level from where she was, she knew that these people were level 18 cultivators.

    Lothur was suddenly stronger than they were!

    That was impressive!

    "Lothur, you have advanced in level? How is that possible? This ce shouldn''t allow something like this to happen!" She said while feeling weakened due to the situation she had been experiencing for the past few days.

    The men of this faction intended to use her body, but while waiting for the pills they had taken to take effect so as not to be poisoned, they had kept her locked up in a cell for all these days.

    Because of this, she had been for days in a cell that she could barely stand up in and where she had barely been fed.

    She was weak, with pains in various parts of her body, so she had a weakened tone, even though she had not suffered the terrible fate at the hands of those men.

    Lothur looked away from those four people and looked at Reba. "It''splicated. But the fact is that I am now a Divine Soul Transcendent for both my body and my soul."

    "Soul? You can cultivate your soul now?" She didn''t know that since she hadn''t participated in the Secret Realm.

    "Yeah." He walked to her side and quickly used his brute strength to open that cell, ripping open a small metal door.

    Reba saw this man''s strength once again and was impressed, and couldn''t help but smile at him.

    "But what about your appearance?"

    "I lost some of my vitality to achieve this feat... Anyway, that will be resolved when I be a Saint." He surprised her once again.

    For someone from Peters City like Reba, bing a Saint seemed beyond her standards. So hearing Lothur talk about it seemed like something far away, even considering that he was already at the peak of the 3rd stage.

    Gulp!

    "Saint? Sigh, it looks like you''ll be unreachable even with your special ability..." She sighed, imagining that one day she, Elke, Viktoria, and Annaliese would be left behind as the difference between them would be too great.

    But Lothur had something different in mind.

    "Ba, I didn''t expect to find you here. But since you are, I will help you get stronger as I did with the rest of the family in Peters City.

    The Secret Realm helped us a lot..."

    "And how will that be?" She looked into his eyes, feeling her heart beating faster.

    Heughed as he saw what was on her mind. "Before that, you will absorb this Skull Soul Bone. I just got it and noticed you don''t have one like that yet."

    Considering how valuable a Soul Bone was, she was surprised to hear such a thing.

    "Soul Bone? Wouldn''t it be better if you absorbed it yourself?" She questioned him.

    Of all the women in Lothur, Reba was the one who had joined him most recently and, therefore, the most ignorant about his abilities.

    Heughed and said. "I already have the bone corresponding to that one... And don''t worry about Elke, Annaliese, and Viktoria. They all already have at least one Soul Bone."

    ...

 Chapter 625 New Sovereign

    ?

    Upon hearing Lothur, Reba still hesitated momentarily, given how valuable any Soul Bone was. But she eventually sighed and epted his kindness.

    "All right... But will I be able to absorb it in this ce?" She asked him, uncertain about that.

    Lothur said. "Yes, others here intended to absorb my Soul Bones after they killed me... So it is possible. But that will probably take longer than usual."

    "So what do we do about it?" She asked him.

    Reba had no hope of leaving such a ce. This was the Imperial Prison, after all. But still, she didn''t know what Lothur''s ns were, and she preferred to wait for his decisions so that she wouldn''t get in his way and could also keep up with him.

    "I have something to do, and after that, you can absorb this bone while I protect you.

    But before that..."

    Lothur then took Reba''s body in his arms, feeling an almost uncontroble urge to possess this beautiful woman.

    He hadn''t done anything for days, and after his great regeneration, every cell in his body screamed for it.

    "Lothur..."

    "Don''t worry about my powers. They won''t hurt you." He said tofort her. "As much as I have grown much stronger since thest time we were together, I achieved a greater mastery over my physical abilities after I gained my soul power.

    Now I can control how much I pass to you when we are having fun."

    Previously Lothur had no control over his ability to make his women stronger through sex. But he felt that everything had changed after he absorbed thest leaf in the Secret Realm.

    So even if his Constitution had grown significantly, his women would not be in danger by having sex with him.

    Reba smiled at him and kept her thoughts to herself, pretending that was the problem...

    ''He''s still Lothur, no matter how different his appearance is.'' She thought, considering how this man looked now.

    Lothur looked like an elderly man not far from death. However, the traces of his youth were there, and if one looked closely into his eyes, one would notice what he had once looked like.

    After they arrived in a room, Lothur left the darkened ce, and Reba closed her eyes before beginning the dance they would do for the next few hours.

    Things would be a little awkward at first, but soon she would loosen up, getting wet with his movements and eager to reach her limit...

    ...

    After many moans circting throughout the Wildflower Faction headquarters, Lothur and Reba finished their warm reunion.

    As he did so, he looked at her status and saw the improvements she had made.

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14]

    [Body Cultivation: level 13 -> 14]

    [STR: 95.5]

    [CON: 305.2 -> 363.4]

    [DEX: 99.5]

    [AGI: 100.6]

    [INT: 184] [PER: 109.1] [WIL: 125.2] [SOU: 150.5]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Meanwhile, Reba was sleeping peacefully for the first time since arriving in the Imperial Prison.

    Lothur noticed that the difference between them had grown significantly. Still, he judged that she would certainly grow stronger with the Soul Bone and the days they would be together in this ce.

    "Keep sleeping. I have some business to take care of, and I''ll be backter." He said in a low voice before leaving her in the room of the former leader of that faction.

    After doing so, Lothur stopped in front of the door of that room and closed his eyes.

    After a second, he reopened them as darkness floated around the silver of his eyes.

    A great oppressive feeling spread through the surroundings as ck mes began to cover much of that building.

    There were still people there. But not because these people were too stupid to risk staying in such a dangerous ce, but because Lothur had been using his Gravity ability to prevent these people from escaping all the time since he entered there.

    As such, the people still inside this ce quickly fell under his control without difficulty.

    In the blink of an eye, more than 50 cultivators between levels 16 and 17 in that ce had ck mes in their eyes, totally enved by Lothur''s second ability.

    "Protect this ce with your lives."

    That was all he said before he left that faction, determined to settle his affairs in that city as soon as possible.

    In the next few minutes, Lothur would raid thest three factions in the City of Darkness that he had not yet visited.

    There were more groups in this ce, but these were the only ces with peak cultivators and that were previously considered the greatest local powers.

    He knew that their leaders were exhausted and, in the short term, would not be a risk to him. But to be sure, Lothur preferred to trap all these people close to him and gradually kill them as he recovered his bloodline ability.

    At the same time, with these individuals under his control, this city would finally be under hismand for him to do whatever he wanted!

    ...

    At the end of that day, Lothur appeared in the center of the City of Darkness with three people at his side, each with ck mes floating in their eyes.

    When they appeared in the central square of this ce, Lothur rang arge bell there, which marked time for the residents, ringing every day at noon.

    However, this bell was also a way for the local leaders to gather the strongest people in this city to dere changes.

    When it rang outside the usual time, everyone in this town would have toe to this ce because they could have their lives significantly changed.

    So, after waiting for only 10 minutes in that ce, Lothur saw the central square of the City of Darkness fill up.

    When he felt enough people for his announcement were there, he showed himself next to those three individuals.

    "Inmates of the Imperial Prison, citizens of the City of Darkness, you are under new administration from now on!" One of those people controlled by Lothur''s mes of darkness said loudly.

    "Kaiser Krause, your new leader!" Another of the former rulers of that city said loudly, indicating Lothur.

    After those words, everyone in this city looked up at the top of the bell tower where those people were standing, judging that Kaiser was the half-breed behind the recent atrocities.

    When they saw the eyes of this silver-haired old man, everyone in this town understood that their lives were under his control.

    But even if they hadn''t realized it themselves, they would understand it after Lothur''s demonstration of power.

    When he introduced himself, Lothur showed all these people his Mortal Aura and Gravity, making those in the central square of this ce bow as they sweated in terror.

    ...

 Chapter 626 Surrender Or Die!

    ?

    When Lothur opened his mouth to speak, everyone in that ce kept their mouths shut, fearing they would meet their end if they dered anything.

    Lothur said to everyone there, "Starting today, 50 people will die every day. Only those who swear eternal loyalty to me and ept with an open heart the darkness of those beside me will have a chance to survive.

    Don''t cling to futile feelings and hopes. You are all mine to do with as I wish. There is no hope of salvation, prisoners.

    Tomorrow I will kill all the Divine Soul Transcendent cultivators in the City of Darkness, and after that, those predestined to die will be chosen  randomly."

    Everyone in that ce felt the weight of those words, finding it highly unfair that things were like this, but unable to speak anything in front of Lothur.

    These people knew that if they spoke any things, they could be killed in the blink of an eye!

    ''Damn it. We''re in a damned ughterhouse! That half-breed is going to devour us all!''

    ''What do I do? He can certainly overpower us with brute force, so is there any point in resisting him?''

    ''Better to be a ve to the darkness than a corpse!''

    ''Tsk! These are lies. He will kill us all anyway!''

    ''The only salvation is to unite against this abomination!''

    Several people in that ce were actively thinking about what to do, some against it and others in favor of surrendering to Lothur.

    But before anyone could decide what to do, he said smiling, "But I have good news for those who surrender wholeheartedly. I will lead you out of this ce! I promise you that!"

    "Tsk! That''s impossible!" Someone shouted, no longer able to stand this situation. "Guys, don''t believe the words of the fucking half-breed. If we ept him, we will all be killed and devoured by him!

    Our only chance is to unite against..."

    That level 17 man was speaking, full of courage to warn the hundreds of people in the surrounding area, when suddenly a redser pierced his body.

    Unfortunately, Lothur had miscalcted, and when he fired such a thing, it destroyed that level 17 man''s body, making his body disappear as soon as the redser touched it.

    But not only that, but when that attack hit the ground, it melted a few cubic meters of soil in the surrounding area, turning that intova.

    The people in the surrounding area saw this and opened their eyes significantly, seeing the power of the half-breed.

    Gulp!

    ''What? He... He just melted the ground with one attack?''

    ''That...''

    ''A cultivator at the peak of Nascent Soul had been wiped out that quickly?''

    The people in the surrounding area looked palely at that spot, seeing the ashes of that man spreading out into the surroundings as those closest to that spot moved away from there.

    Lothur himself was staring silently at that ce, surprised by his powers.

    ''I didn''t expect that to happen...'' He bitterlyughed, noting the difference between the before and now of the Laser Vision.

    He had targeted only one of that man''s shoulders so as not to kill him. But his attack had been so strong that that man''s entire body had been incinerated until only ashes remained after only a few milliseconds.

    The ground itself had melted with his attack, something Lothur had never seen before!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But he did notment the loss of the EVF points that woulde from that man and said. "That is the fate of the rebels."

    With those words, he flew from that ce toward the Wildflower Faction headquarters, interested in giving Reba the skull Soul Bone so she could start absorbing it.

    Halfway there, he looked at those level 18 men flying behind him and smiled.

    Two of them had a Soul Bone!

    In the entire Imperial Prison, there were four Soul Bones before Lothur''s arrival. These bones were in three leaders of the biggest local factions.

    Lothur already knew this, so he kept these men to kill them when he recovered his bloodline ability the next day.

    As for those bones, he could only absorb one of them once again.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, one of those two men had a left femur Soul Bone, just like the one he had absorbed earlier.

    The other was a right humerus bone that he didn''t have yet!

    Anyway, soon, he would arrive at that building where he would live from now on next to Reba.

    When she awoke an hourter, this woman would finally begin her slow absorption of that skull Soul Bone.

    Meanwhile, Lothur would train his soul techniques after collecting all the resources from the more than 100 cultivators he had stolen before returning to this ce with them under his control.

    None of these people''s other techniques would catch his attention much, so he wasn''t very interested in learning new techniques.

    And in a way, he didn''t need many techniques. Soon he would have 5 Soul Bones with five special abilities.

    One day he intended to have all ten bones that a body could hold, which would give him enough skills that he wouldn''t need techniques!

    Then his focus would be to reach the peak of the few he already had, and if one day he came in contact with something very unusual, then try to learn something new.

    With the beginning of Lothur''s training, the City of Darkness would be under tension for the next few hours, with some gathering to decide what to do and others waiting for the ughter he had promised.

    They didn''t have to surrender right away, so for the time being, no one would do that.

    ...

    While Lothur was training in the City of Darkness, Daemon''s group was moving through the empire''s capital.

    After preparing themselves enough, it was finally time for them to attack their enemies'' headquarters!

    As the group leader, Daemon was standing in one of the alleys of this city, looking at the imperial pce, where he had old memories that were not so good.

    There his mother had died and left him without any support, while his father gave him no attention.

    But even though he remembered these sad memories, Daemon was not about to attack this ce because of this.

    His motivation was another, to take advantage of the emperor''s absence to get revenge on the idiots who thought they could hurt his son!

    "Come on, you bastards! Time to attack those brats!" He said to his men over amunicator.

    ...

 Chapter 627 Revelation

    ?

    Upon receiving Daemon''s orders, the men in his group immediately moved, beginning their attack on the imperial pce.

    More than 15 Nascent Soul Transcendents appeared on the outskirts of that estate, attacking the defensive barriers in their path with tools that did not exist in the entire empire.

    These were weapons that had been developed using the technology of one of the most difficult enemies the Leopoldine family had faced in the past!

    Because of how advanced that group had been in the past, Daemon''s team found it very easy to destroy the enemy defenses.

    When the first and mostplicated barriers were broken down, Daemon showed himself close to his men, making the experts in the surrounding area shudder at the sight of him there.

    "Damn it!"

    "Daemon! How dare you return?" A level 17 cultivator from the imperial family shouted, not believing that this person had returned while the emperor was still in this city.

    Thest time he had caused chaos in this city, Daemon had said that he would not return until the emperor died.

    Daemon was very strong, but the emperor had ways of dealing with him, so everyone thought this criminal would keep his word.

    But little did they know that Daemon had only said such a thing because his son was about to be born then, and he knew that he would have some of his attention diverted in the short term.

    The old emperor was also already at the end of his life, so putting his ns on hold would not be bad since it would be easier for him to achieve what he wanted once this old man died.

    But Daemon hadn''t wholeheartedly promised not to return here at the moment, so he wasn''t bothered by someone shouting against him.

    He simply advanced towards the interior of that pce, causing chaos on his way while waiting for no one.

    He knew that the old emperor would notice his passage through this ce in a short time and woulde to confront him. So he wanted to aplish his goals there as quickly as possible!

    Given how strong his subordinates werepared to the members and subordinates of the imperial family, they alone could entertain the strongest ones in the surrounding area.

    Soon, Daemon and his right hand split up inside that property, heading toward their targets!

    ...

    "What? Daemon is attacking us?" The second Prince heard this and immediately paled, remembering thest time he had seen that man.

    "Yes, we must protect you in a safe room, Your Highness. He will probably try to act against us!" One of us'' bodyguards fearfully said this to him.

    They had expected some reaction from Daemon because of Lothur''s arrest, but attacking them was something dire, and these people couldn''t help but fear for the prince''s life.

    Daemon was almost as strong as the emperor, so if he caught up with them, there would be nothing they could do to defend this local heir!

    Hence, one of them was already carrying the Second Prince to a safe room while the others activated defensive measures on the way.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lars Leopoldine was also being moved by his men to safety, pale from his fear of Daemon.

    He feared this person would one day return and take everything he had. Precisely because of this, he had nned against Lothur, who could one day be as strong as his father and increase the danger to Lars'' interests.

    But by failing, Lars would be attacked even without Lothur in his possession!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That was the worst, so he was doubly disappointed!

    And as he expected, Daemon went in search of him before anyone else on that estate!

    Appearing at the Third Prince''s mansion, Daemon immediately took out the guards in the surrounding area and then destroyed the defensive formations there with a silver glove in one of his hands.

    Seeing thising his way, Lars almost lost the strength in his body, facing this man head-on for the first time.

    Previously he had just watched his father dealing with Daemon, but this criminal was there for him this time!

    "Damn it, Daemon! What are you doing?" He shouted as he noticed that there wasn''t much else in his enemy''s way, and he would fall into his hands one way or another.

    Daemon had a cold smile on his face and said. "What am I doing? This is the punishment you deserve, Lars. When you act against the weaker, isn''t it natural for the stronger to go out and seek justice? That''s the oldest rule there is!"

    "Bullshit! Lothur has escaped! How can I be responsible for anything?" Lars brandished, feeling wronged for suffering the consequences of a failed n.

    "And just for that, I''m not going to kill you," Daemonmented as he finally got past thest few defenses around where Lars was standing.

    As he realized this, the men there to protect the Third Prince swallowed their saliva, breaking into a cold sweat.

    One of them then said. "Daemon, don''t do this, or His Imperial Majesty will pursue you to the end! Take the opportunity he gave youst time!"

    "Tsk! Shut up!" Daemon moved one of his hands towards that man, and immediately after that, that man was thrown away while dark energy pressed him against the wall he crashed into.

    "Aaaagh!"

    "Daemon, think about it. This is the family we''re talking about here!" Another of Lars'' bodyguards tried a more peaceful approach. "His Majesty has made it clear more than once that he would not ept his children fighting! Will you disregard those orders?"

    "I am free for me to do what I want! I''ve be stronger than the old man!" Daemonughed as he disyed his cultivation pressure that was much stronger than that of several years ago.

    "Lars, you acted against my son not out of fear of him joining me but out of fear of the old man choosing Lothur as his heir. That''s why I''m going to teach you a lesson today!" Daemon said, looking uglily at his younger brother.

    Daemon was actually the First Prince of Leopoldine, the emperor''s son who had incredible talents but was uncontroble since childhood.

    His name was Daniel Leopoldine, but when expelled from his family centuries ago, he earned the nickname Daemon, a reference to his uncivil actions and chaotic, demon-like attitudes.

    Few people in the entire empire knew about this, as it was a great shame for the imperial family.

    Because of this, Lars feared Lothur, the son of the one who had been the first heir of the empire, someone the emperor seemed to have strange interests in.

    Even after expelling him from the imperial family, the emperor had always given Daemon a chance, even with all his crimes.

    For all this, Lars had acted against his nephew.

    Unfortunately for him, this time, he had gone too far!

    "Daemon..." He swallowed his saliva as he saw his older brother approaching.

    ...

 Chapter 628 The True Purpose

    After looking fearfully at his older brother, Lars didn''t take long and soon screamed in pain, feeling his brother''s power.

    Daemon didn''t intend to kill this person so as not to anger the old man. But he would leave Lars incapacitated for at least a few months with that day''s action.

    Lars had crossed the line with Lothur, and now that young man had no home to call his own, for the Church would persecute him for the rest of his life.

    If he had not been arrested in Peters City, Daemon''s men would have been able to warn him of what would happen, and they could have moved him to the Three Great Lakes Region and kept him safe there.

    But with Lothur''s arrest, he had been exposed and forced to flee alone, with no chance of returning, as the Church would control that state''s borders from now on.

    If he wanted to return to this ce in the future, the Church would understand!

    So Lothur''s life now was to flee across the continent, and at least in the short term, he could not return home!

    ''Lars, that''s for getting in the way of my son''s life for months!'' Daemonnded more and more blows on his level 16 brother''s body, causing that man''s screams to reach the remotest depths of this imperial pce.

    But this memorable beating would notst long. After only four minutes since his reunion with his brother, Daemon saw his teleportation formation signaling its activation.

    "Sigh... Time to go." He dropped Lars'' bloodied body and prepared to leave.

    At that instant, an old man with silver hair like his appeared in that ce, ring at Daemon.

    "Old man, the next time I visit you, it will be at your funeral."

    Those were Daemon''sst words before he disappeared from the area without the emperor being able to do anything against him.

    As powerful as he was, the emperor was not omnipotent and had his limitations.

    Acting against an already activated teleportation formation was difficult, so he just watched his eldest son depart the area helplessly.

    "Daemon!" He shouted so that the entire imperial pce shook at his voice.

    Unfortunately for the imperial family group, at this instant, all of Daemon''s men had already left after aplishing their objectives there.

    As the old emperor roared, one of his trusted men appeared near him with an ugly expression on his face. "Your Majesty, I fear I bring bad news..."

    "Worse than Daemon''s visit? What is it?" That man looked at that level 18 elder, the same as him and his eldest son.

    The Supreme Elder of that family closed his eyes and said. "The damned Daemon distracted us well this time.

    His goal here was not to scare the princes! While he was confronting Lars, one of his men stole the Blood Crystal!"

    "What?" The emperor opened his eyes wide upon hearing this, for the Blood Crystal was a mineral loaded with power that, ifbined with a suitable weapon, could even help produce a tinum-grade item!

    The imperial family of this state did not have a decent weapon, but rumors said Daemon and his group did have one of those!

    After thinking about it, the emperor couldn''t help but be shocked by this information that could change his state!

    "Damn it! How did you people allow this?" He shouted at that man, not understanding how after a few weeks since he had gone into seclusion, so many things had gotten out of hand for something like this to happen.

    "Well..."<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That old fellow soon began to exin to his leader the family''s concerns about Lothur, the death of experts, and the princes'' mistakes in their movements.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Daemon and his group reappeared at an altar in the Three Great Lakes Region, all of them with smiles on their faces.

    "Did you make it?" Daemon looked at that man who had stormed the imperial pce next to him.

    Everyone else looked at him, too, as he smiled mysteriously.

    But after a moment, a red stone, the size of a human head, appeared in his hands, and the surroundings began to be chaotic due to that violent energy.

    "Hehe, are you doubting my stealth skills?"

    After seeing that, each person took a deeper breath, feeling that their ns could advance a few more steps with that thing.

    ''If our theories are right, even high-level Saints will have to be careful against the bearer of this weapon...''

    ...

    The next day...

    News of Lothur''s escape had finally reached Peters City, where the local powers tried to continue their affairs in his absence.

    With this news, some did not know whether to celebrate orment such a thing, as doubt about Lothur being a half-breed would increase with his escape.

    If he was in prison, the people of the Church could easily tell whether or not he was that dreadful creature. If he wasn''t, then if one day he returned from that ce, everything would be fine.

    If he were, he would die, and they would no longer have to worry about the matter.

    But while some were disturbed by his escape, the women of Lothur were happier than ever to find out about it.

    If he had escaped, he would find a way to find them again sooner orter!

    With this in mind, at the beginning of this new day, they went ahead with their ns, starting the hiring of mercenaries by the Ritter family.

    Outside the second factory of the Ritter Motor Company, a ce still under construction, hundreds of mercenaries from all over the province were there to participate in this asion.

    The news that the Ritter family would be hiring had spread throughout the province quickly, and many people interested in getting full-time jobs hade to this ce.

    Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese were in the courtyard of that ce around a small camp when one of them gave the order for the men to open the gates to that ce.

    With that, the filtering of possible candidates for the first members of the Ritter family army finally began!

    This process would not be so demanding, but not everyone who wanted to could join the Ritter family.

    By the end of that afternoon, Viktoria would have the first group of Ritter family soldiers under hermand!

 Chapter 629 Another Skill

    ?

    Meanwhile, in the Imperial Prison...

    Lothur had just regained his lineage ability and was finishing absorbing his fifth Soul Bone after raising his Soul attribute with the EVF points he had absorbed today.

    The bone he had absorbed was a humerus of a General demon, Silver-grade, which had an ability rted to the me element.

    However, when he opened his eyes after absorbing this Soul Bone, all that was in Lothur''s mind was the level advancement he was experiencing now!

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 18 -> 19]

    [Body Cultivation: level 18 -> 19]

    [STR: 582.6 -> 670]

    [CON: 1,469.2 -> 1,689.6]

    [DEX: 522.2 -> 600.5]

    [AGI: 645.1 -> 741.9]

    [INT: 325.4 -> 374.2]

    [PER: 660.1 -> 759.1]

    [WIL: 504.7 -> 576.9]

    [SOU: 519 -> 596.9]

    [EVF: 4.442 -> 2]

    As he felt the significant changes arising in his body, Lothur noticed each of his Soul Bones emitting strange sensations, some burning, others freezing.

    At the same time, his Spirit Body seemed to want to show itself once again, bing much more solid thanst time.

    Noticing this, Lothur felt his abilities were somehow evolving and merging, but this feeling didn''tst long.

    When the Spirit Body calmed down a bit, he began to feel his Soul Bones again separately as they evolved.

    Soul Bones could evolve on rare asions. But one of them was precisely the stage advancement when a cultivator would experience a significant increase in spiritual energy andws.

    With this, the progress bars of Lothur''s Soul Bones began to advance as each increased in size, reaching parts they hadn''t previously.

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 40% -> 55%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 71% -> 95%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver -> Gold]

    [Progress: 92% -> 8%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 69% -> 89%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver -> Gold]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Progress: 78% -> 1%]

    When his Soul Bone improvements stopped, Lothur felt a great relief in his body as his bones stopped changing internally in his body.

    He then quickly regenerated himself from the situation caused by this development, smiling as he stood up from the floor where he was sitting earlier.

    As he did so, he looked at the skill he had just gained from his new Soul Bone.

    [Prometheus mes] [Rank: Gold]

    [Characteristics: ability rted to the user''s Soul. With it, the user can manipte the me element to form scorching warriors and varied forms of attacks based on the same element.]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ''mes, eh? I believe this can be used as a soul-focused technique, in this case, one rted to the me element. Hmm, not bad.'' He smiled, knowing that as much as it was nothing extraordinary, it would be worth a lot to someone with as few techniques as he had.

    He then decided to test such a thing for the first time, soon circting his energies through that bone in his right arm.

    When he did this, mes quickly appeared from his body as if he were a source of this element.

    Meanwhile, what little of that element was free in the surroundings disappeared from where it was while being stolen by him to strengthen what he was about to show this city.

    Then, as the City of Darkness decreased in temperature in the farthest areas of Lothur, with any candles and fires going out, an orange silhouette appeared behind him.

    Quickly this silhouette took on a humanoid form, with a head that shone so brightly it looked like a small sun.

    Those close to Lothur began to feel extreme heat, as clothes and papers began to catch fire just because of their proximity.

    Lothur noticed this and immediately deactivated the ability to prevent arge fire from starting there.

    His soul was still weakpared to the rest of him. But he could identally set fire to the surroundings of the Wildflower Faction headquarters, which could spread throughout the entire City of Darkness.

    ''Impressive!'' Lothur smiled, quite liking this new ability.

    But after setting it aside for a moment, he soon checked his other bone that had evolved in quality.

    By improving from Silver to Gold, this bone would certainly give him some good surprises!

    [Gravity] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 8%]

    Upon activating the ability of his third Soul Bone, Lothur immediately noticed something different in the sensation he had when circting his energy through that rib bone.

    He pursued the strangeness and tried to change how he activated the ability, slowly generating a different effect of increasing or decreasing the pressure of gravity on those around him.

    As he changed his way of using this bone, he focused all his attention on one point, creating a concentrated area of gravitational energy.

    Immediately upon forming this, things in the surrounding area began to fly toward it.

    First, small artifacts flew out, but soon chairs and furniture were flying into it, trying to form a bigger and bigger cluster of things.

    Lothur realized the usefulness of such a thing and soon deactivated this ability, very pleased with this improvement.

    ''That''s quite an offensive development for this skill! If my Will keeps increasing, the day wille when I can destroy an entire city with just this!''

    As he finished analyzing the effects of his advancement on his Soul Bones, Lothur turned his attention to the fact that he was now at the 4th stage.

    He was now a Saint!

    But this didn''t mean that he would just get a new title or that his attributes had increased.

    The main characteristics that improved in cultivators after stage advancement could not be measured in numbers, so those values of his attributes hid his current reality!

    A Mortal Warrior would only have physical abilities. Still, upon advancing a stage and bing a Spiritual Warrior, they would gain the ability to activate elemental techniques and form energy attacks.

    When Spiritual Warriors evolved and became Transcendents, they would gain more control over their energy and understanding of the Natural Laws and would be able to fly and better use all of their abilities.

    But when a Transcendent advanced and became a Saint, they would gain spatial controls, which naturally greatly elevated their position as cultivators in this society!

    Knowing this, Lothur soon tried something different...

 Chapter 630 Origin Saint

    ?

    Trying to focus his skills and cultivation understanding into his hands, Lothur moved them slowly, distorting the space around them.

    However, as he tried to do this, he felt a restriction upon himself, with something preventing him from performing to the fullest of his current abilities.

    He looked from side to side and realized that this something was the formations of this prison.

    "Tsk! It looks like there''s still some way for me to go before I get over this."

    He used his visual ability and looked at the many formations in that ce, understanding more about them than before. Still, even now, he could only decipher them by 88%.

    To try something effective against them, he needed to understand them 100%.

    Stopping for a moment to think about his situation, Lothur sighed.

    ''Very well, I''m not far from achieving that. I believe that in no more than a month, I can achieve what is necessary to ovee these barriers.''

    With that, he walked from where he was standing, a courtyard away from where Reba was cultivating, heading towards her.

    He regained his appearance and raised his vitality to a new level.

    [Host life expectancy: 4,000 years]

    So Lothur had a smile on his face going to see how Reba looked, being even more handsome now than when he had been imprisoned in Peters City.

    When he reached her, he ignored the many men controlled by the ck mes in the surroundings and saw that she was still absorbing that skull Soul Bone.

    ''At the rate, she is absorbing it, it will take her another three or four days or so to finish. Hmm, that''s not bad. After that, I''ll have her absorb that other bone...''

    He did the math, noting that that would be enough time for him to prepare for his escape from this ce.

    Having be an Origin Saint, he would no longer have to worry about people at the 4th stage realizing who he was.

    Now he could unconsciously control the space in the surroundings of his body so that the demonic energy part of himself that escaped from him would bepletely absorbed into the vacuum.

    Thus, unless he wanted to show himself, no Saint could see him as he really was!

    Only a Sage could do this since such people could fully connect to space and simultaneously have their minds in several ces.

    But there were so few who could advance to the first levels of this legendary stage that Lothur was not the least bit worried about being identified by someone like that.

    After checking on Reba, he walked out of that Wildflower Faction building, leaving over a hundred ves behind to keep her safe.

    As he left the security perimeter of that ce, Lothur saw many inmates looking at him in a startled manner, noting how he was now a Saint, not just a Transcendent.

    Everyone in this city had sensed when he had absorbed the vitalities of 50 men minutes ago and then quickly raised his Soul power before absorbing another Soul Bone.

    As such, this entire city was aware that he could continue strengthening himself in this ce while consuming their lives as he pleased.

    Thus, the ce was in a sepulchral silence, with people inside their residences sweating coldly, fearing to be the next to join Lothur''s ughter.

    As he walked through the empty streets of this ce, the people closest to him were thinking about what to do.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I must surrender!'' A level 17 woman thought to herself, considering that before, when he was a Transcendent, Lothur was already a monster. So now he should be many times worse!

    On the other hand, a middle-aged man nearby was looking through the gaps in a wooden window at Lothur, feeling the immense cultivation pressure of this being.

    ''He''s gone through two level advancements!'' This man was very experienced and was already almost at level 18. As such, he had noticed that not only Lothur''s physical cultivation had advanced.

    ''This being has a body cultivation at the same level or higher than his soul cultivation!'' His eyes were so wide open that they looked as if they would fall off his face at any moment.

    ''And he already has five Soul Bones! If he keeps evolving, no one will stop him in a few months!

    I have to join him! Even as a ve, I will have a better future!''

    And even people with no hope of Lothur actually opening the way for them out of this ce were thinking of surrendering to him.

    Their lives were already in his hands anyway, so it would be better to serve him alive than to be nutrients for him!

    So as Lothur walked through the streets of the City of Darkness, many people began toe out from where they were hiding to prostrate themselves and pledge their allegiance to him.

    Lothur would watch this with interest but would say nothing for a moment.

    When it was close to dusk, and hardly anyone in this city had been undecided about bing his ve, he gave a fewughs that spread throughout the area.

    "Very well, you have made the right decision. But I don''t have room in my group for all of you." He said as he floated away while making his Gravity and Mortal Aura pressurize everyone in the surroundings of this ce.

    "There are over a thousand of you here... That''s too many. If we all leave this ce, the observers in the area will notice my departure. So those who want to join me will have to be the best.

    I will only take 100 of you!"

    "How do I be one of those, Your Excellency?" A red-haired woman asked.

    Cruel Underworld!

    Lothur moved his hands and formed a seal, quickly activating one of his soul-focused techniques.

    Then he caused the entire City of Darkness to be darker, as terrible sounds spread throughout the surroundings.

    From the ground of this city, hundreds of skeletons and remnants of the dead quickly emerged from the depths of that area.

    There were level 18 bodies there and several level 17 individuals, but the majority were level 16 shadow creatures.

    Lothurughed once again and said. "If you want to join me, you must prove yourself. The first test I will use is this. Beat my creatures of the shadows!

    Those who are still standing after 24 hours will have a chance to continue in this selection!"

    After that, he saw the fear in the eyes of many people who knew that these creatures felt no pain and would only stop when they were totally destroyed.

    "Begin!" Lothur gave no one a chance to think about what to do, starting a widespread battle that would spread to almost every part of this city.

 Chapter 631 Second Phase Of Lothurs Selection

    ?

    The next day, the streets of the City of Darkness were in tatters after hours of fighting between the prisoners and the creatures of darkness summoned by Lothur.

    Almost all of the boarders had fought in the previous hours, with those who defeated their opponents have had to expend almost all of their energy on that confrontation.

    Lothur''s creatures did not kill those who failed but rather eliminated them from the survivalpetition.

    Now that they had lost, they would join the group that would turn nutrients for Lothur!

    Lothur had watched a good portion of the confrontation but had also used some time to continue training his soul-focused techniques.

    Soul Bone skills didn''t need to be trained, and since he didn''t need to cultivate with crystals, all he had to do was train his only two soul techniques.

    Besides, he didn''t need to do anything else to strengthen himself currently!

    Therefore, he used some of his time to improve his professional skills.

    If he were to take a test now, Lothur could no longer be considered a 1-star professional. Now he would be a 3-star!

    Spiritual professionals needed understanding and soul cultivation. Lothur already had both, and with his free time in this ce, he had read enough material to elevate several of his professions.

    As such, he was beginning to prepare to repair the Elemental Staff, this defective weapon that he had been using for quite some time.

    He didn''t have the resources within that prison, but once he got out of there, he intended to repair that weapon and raise its level a bit.

    Even in his current capabilities, this weapon was greatly useful to him!

    ...

    After the end of the 24 hours that Lothur had given to the inmates of the imperial prison, he once again imed a few dozen lives while being watched by the victors of the first test.

    Those people were still silent, watching the red mes fade near where Lothur was, fearful about the future.

    They didn''t know if this creature was just ying with them, but they would try their best to get as far as possible in all this!

    So, while watching Lothur, they remained motionless and silent, waiting for him.

    On the other hand, Lothur was experiencing some relevant improvements and could not help but be distracted by these people temporarily.

    He looked at his resistances at their new levels.

    [Gold-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 35%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 11%.]

    ...

    [Gold-grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 6%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 88%]

    ...

    [Silver-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 61%]

    ...

    All of his resistances were improving as he absorbed the lives of his enemies. Still, some were evolving more slowly due to how little affinity most people had with them.

    In any case, he had evolved some of his resistances to the Gold grade and had naturally undergone a spiritual cleansing.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 670] [CON: 1,689.6] [DEX: 600.5] [AGI: 741.9]

    [INT: 374.2]

    [PER: 759.1 -> 810.5]

    [WIL: 576.9]

    [SOU: 596.9 -> 763.5]

    [EVF: 4,999 -> 1]

    ''Hmm, another three days or so and my Soul power will reach a level equivalent to the strongest in this ce...'' Lothur looked at his status, satisfied. ''I believe I will have to ovee that to be able to escape from this ce through the gaps in these formations.''

    The insiders of this ce thought that a Saint could, at most, only break into this ce. To escape from there, they thought a Sage would be necessary. So no one had any hope of leaving this ce before Lothur arrived.

    But Lothur didn''t think that way since he was a formations master.

    If he was not a formations master, perhaps he really couldn''t dream of leaving this ce before reaching level 22. But since he was, he could use his knowledge to escape this ce more easily.

    After considering this for a few moments, he looked at the people in his surroundings and smiled mysteriously, seeing the fear of those people.

    "More than 350 of you are left in this dispute. Unfortunately, that''s still too many for me to take with me, so I''ll give you the next three days to fight each other in a great Battle Royale!

    Fight!

    Thest 100 left standing will have the grace to be my subordinates and leave this ce with me!"

    With those words from Lothur, it didn''t take long for those people to start.

    Some would run for cover, while others would gather in groups since there was room for more than one of them to be victorious.

    One way or another, battles would soon rage once more through the streets of this city, generating sounds of agony, explosions, and more.

    Lothur would watch this for the opening moments of the confrontation, smiling as he saw this great event.

    It was a shame that such a thing could only be watched by him. If it was in Peters City, he was sure thousands of people would pay to be able to watch.

    Violence ran in the blood of most of the races of this world!

    But even he would not spend much time watching such a bloody fight.

    Before turning his attention to his ns for escape from this ce and further training, he created some more creatures of darkness, giving the order for them not to let anyone die.

    Those who lost their fights and were on the precipice of death should be rescued and taken to where those waiting to die by his hand were.

    Lothur would not waste the EVF points that these people could provide him with!

    In any case, contrary to what many thought, he was not just ying with them. Those 100 left at the end of it all would actually get a chance to join him!

    ...

    While Lothur''s ns for the City of Darkness unfolded, Reba continued to absorb her skull Soul Bone peacefully.

    Simultaneously, the guards of the Imperial Prison outside this ce continued their work as usual, without the slightest sign that something terrible was happening there.

    Such creatures didn''t care what the inmates were doing. For them, even if all the inmates died, nothing would change.

    Since those sent to prison were not expected to return from this ce, there was no reason to watch them.

    Hence, those creatures continued their work, protecting the surroundings so trouble would not approach this ce.

    Any danger in their service woulde from outside this ce, so their attention was in the opposite direction from where Lothur was acting!

 Chapter 632 The 30 Magnificent Items

    ?

    Meanwhile, in the imperial pce of the Leopoldine family...

    In this ce, Emperor Leopoldine was standing before two of his sons, furious about what he had heard in thest few hours.

    From what he had heard, these princes were acting behind his back to harm Lothur for weeks while he was trying to bring his grandson here.

    The emperor''s goal was not to make Lothur''s life difficult because of Daemon''s background but to see if this young man was worth caring for and joining the imperial family.

    As much as this sovereign had issues with Daemon, many of his decisions contrary to Lothur''s father had been to please the people in his family and protect the empire itself.

    As a father, he was inclined to put his hand on Daemon''s head, considering that he had his share of the me for how this fellow had grown up.

    Therefore, he did not see Lothur as a problem to be avoided, as his sons thought. Instead, he saw his grandson as someone with whom he could make amends for his mistakes with Daemon.

    Finding out that these sons of his had tried to eliminate Lothur and send him to the imperial prison angered this man to the core.

    Even more so now that Daemon had acted against him just for the sake of it!

    "You yed your little games against Lothur, and now we''ve lost the Blood Crystal!" He shouted at those two fools.

    "At the same time, we lost relevant family members, and we don''t know what happened to Lothur!

    Do you understand the trouble you have caused!?"

    Those two continued with their heads bowed while one of them, Lars, was sitting in a wheelchair, still too injured to walk by himself.

    While usmented that he was getting this lecture without almost having done anything to Lothur, Lars gathered his strength and answered his father.

    "But imperial father, maybe Lothur is a damned hybrid of human and demon! The Church is in pursuit of him!

    Perhaps my action was the right one! If he really is this abomination, what could have happened if we hadn''t made the Church''s work easier?

    He could have walked into the family and devoured us!"

    "Tsk! sphemy!" The emperor did not like what he heard. "How dare you? Daemon may have many faults, but he would never mix our roots with that of demons!

    Don''t be ridiculous! That was probably something from one of those noble families! They are always trying to strengthen themselves to take our position!"

    The emperor believed his words because the idea of a human, especially his son, mating with a demon was simply unptable to him.

    What kind of being would lie down with a predator? That was madness!

    As much as there were such madmen in the world, he preferred to believe that his eldest son had not stooped so low.

    It seemed more likely to him that a power-hungry nobleman would do this!

    Daemon had never shown any interest in leading the empire, so he didn''t have enough to do something so disgusting for power.

    Anyway, the people in the surrounding area were silent at his words, feeling that there was reason in them, but unable to conclude anything about it.

    Maybe Lothur was not a hybrid, but he had a 33.3% chance of being one!

    So until news from the Church assured them that he was not a hybrid, they would keep their doubts in their hearts.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Now you have made us lose the Blood Crystal! Do you know the danger the empire is in without that item?" The emperor followed with his sermon. "That is one of the 10 Impable Jewels, which are only below the 5 Immortal Crystals and the Six Singrities!"

    In all of Concordia, there were about 30 items of magnificent properties, which could range from conferring powers to the person who carried them or even being used to make up weapons of the highest level.

    These items were practically indestructible and dated back to the origin of the continent. They had passed through the hands of powerful cultivators throughout history and had be sacred amulets or cursed items.

    In the case in question, the Blood Crystal was one of the 10 Impable Jewels, ranked 21st on the list of 30 items of the top artifacts on this continent.

    They were second only to the Immortal Crystals and the Six Singrities, which were necessary to achieve immortality, ording to legends.

    As such, the value of that item was not small, and the loss of it would be felt!

    The Leopoldine family had had this thing secretly for centuries, and even their greatest allies did not know that they had such a thing.

    But if the news that they had it with them got out, then even their allies would put pressure on them!

    At the moment, that was what bothered the emperor!

    And those princes couldn''t help but turn pale upon hearing what had been stolen.

    "It can''t be..."

    ...

    Hours passed, and another night arrived in Peters City...

    While most of the people of that city were going back to their residences to have dinner and go to sleep, the local mood was somewhat gloomy.

    With each passing day, the situation on the Frost estate had been getting worse, and the members of this family had slowly be more cautious during the nights, even if they still didn''t know what was happening.

    But while they felt only the most superficial sensations of what was about to happen, in the residence of Simon''s former family, things were somewhat different!

    There the darkness was much more intense than anywhere else near this estate.

    But just on this day, what was developing in this ce took a step further towards its emergence.

    Suddenly a dark, semi-transparent silhouette appeared from the ground below where Simon had been killed.

    If Lothur were there, he would understand immediately what this was.

    It was a spectre!

    But not only that, this was the spectre of Aiken Frost''s own uncle, Simon!

    However, as much as he was taking his spectral form, this grotesque-looking spectral being was not yet 100% ready.

    He was a chaotic creature who didn''t think straight and only had the will to kill in his mind. But still, his instincts were not bad, and when he realized his situation, he quickly hid himself inside that property.

    His goal was revenge, but before that, he needed to finish his evolution and leave this ce.

    ''Kill! Kill!''

 Chapter 633 The Spectral Attack Begins

    ?

    Two nightster...

    At midnight on this day, it was silent on most of the streets of Peters City while much of the local poption was sleeping as usual.

    In the city center, there were still a few people here and there, some chatting in bars, others working cleaning the streets, the parks or even doing surveince work.

    But these were few individuals, and for the most part, they didn''t make any noise.

    However, while they were working, many couldn''t help but look up at the sky and feel goosebumps.

    This night was particrly cold, even though this was not a time of year when it was cold locally.

    One of the imperial family guards at this city''s post was watching the street in front of this building and couldn''t help butment to his shiftmate.

    "It''s really freezing today, isn''t it? I can''t even remember thest time I felt so cold..."

    The other man had a cup of hot drink in his hands and couldn''t help but agree. "Yeah, it''s freezing... But that cold, I don''t really know, but I have a bad feeling.

    I feel like something dreadful is going to happen."

    ...

    Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Frost estate...

    Outside this estate, all the streets were totally darkened, while something seemed to prevent the streetlights from working properly.

    The guards of this family were in position watching the area but were unable to activate the formations of those streets. They were merely waiting for the day to return to make the necessary repairs.

    But while these few people around this ce held their positions, protecting themselves from the intense cold that was nowing, the darkness of the night was mixing in with a dark fog in some spots around this property.

    In these ces, something simr to what had been happening in Simon''s family home was developing, with spectresing out of the ground, rising from the bitterness and resentment of the dead around this ce days ago.

    However, what was happening around this ce was notparable to what was developing inside Simon''s house.

    There, this man''s spectre was fully formed, having just reached its peak!

    Amidst the changes generated by his strong resentment, this spectral creature had reached level 16!

    ''Kill! Kill!''

    He thought in his chaotic manner but with a clear focus on revenge and killing.

    Feeling that he had reached his peak, this creature connected with the other spectres in the vicinity of this estate, an ability of the strongest over the weakest among these beings.

    As the only Transcendent spectre in the area, this creature naturally was the leader of all the level 15, 14, and 13 beings appearing in the surrounding area!

    When he did this, the creatures hiding in the shadows looked in his direction and readily epted his orders.

    Within moments, they were flying toward the interior of the Frost estate, ignoring the physical barriers in their path.

    They then targeted the men around this property, good targets to possess and add to their forces.

    Amid this nightly action, Simon''s spectre left the house where he was born and flew toward the residence of the patriarch Aiken Frost!

    With his movement, dozens of family members would notice something wrong happening as they felt a powerful evil force surrounding that property.

    But the spectres'' movements were challenging to counterattack and were swift so that few could act against them in time.

    By the time the first cries of rm went up around that estate, these evil spirits had already invaded several family guards!<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    With the first of these men invaded by spectres, they soon began to chaotically attack those who had no darkness themselves.

    And so, cries of terror and pain began to rise up in the middle of this ce.

    It was all beginning. This was the beginning of the terror of the Frost family!

    ...

    "Aiken, something is wrong!" Mabel said to her husband as she felt a terrible feeling in her heart.

    She was getting ready to go to bed with him but suddenly started to feel a horrid sensation and stopped while still standing beside their bed.

    Aiken was going to ask what it was. Yet, he immediately noticed darkness approaching them and swallowed his saliva, noting that this was by no means simple.

    Even before any other words were spoken, Mabel was already dressed in her battle armor, and he was putting on his.

    However, before they left their room to go after the problem, the leader of the problem came to them.

    When they saw a horrible-looking specter appearing in their room, the two felt chills in their bodies, noting that this creature was at level 16.

    At the same time, it had a strong murderous intent against them!

    The two put up defensive positions, circting their energies as they prepared to fight.

    "Aiken, run away. This creature is too strong for us to handle!" Mabel said, pale, for as much as she was not far from level 17, she was still at the same level as that creature.

    Her soul was strong, but that being had only mental attributes, something challenging to counter.

    She had little chance of beating him, but Aiken had none! If he stayed there, it would be his end!

    Simon''s spectre knew well who was the strongest and the weakest there, and as a being that strengthened itself from its targets, he immediately targeted Aiken, the easiest for him there!

    "Shit!" Both Aiken and Mabel screamed at the same time, seeing that creature flying toward him.

    Aiken tried to do something, to run away and defend himself but against a level 16 opponent there was nothing a level 15 cultivator like him could do.

    Mabel even tried something to stop the spectre from reaching her husband, but it was futile.

    She had powers that could be used against this being, unlike Lothur, who had no soul power before and could only rely on his abnormal abilities. But even though she had the means to act, this was not so simple, and she failed.

    Unlike what she would have to do against a living person, against a spectre, Mabel had to use only Soul power, focused on annihting the spirit of the spectre.

    This could be done, but first the cultivator would have to bind the spectre so that they could focus their forces on crushing it.

    That was the problem!

    Spectres were beings without a body, which could even pass through solid objects. So hitting them was not easy!

    Their bodies would only be more corporeal if they were trapped in a special spiritual formation, something that could not be done as quickly as the attack of one of them.

    That''s why Mabel missed as that creature entered her husband''s body!

    "Mabel..."

    "AIKEN!!!" She screamed desperately, watching her husband fall under the control of that creature of darkness!

    ...

 Chapter 634 Beginning Of The End

    ?

    As she desperately cried out her husband''s name, Mabel flew to him in fear, feeling she might lose the most important man in her life.

    As tears formed in her eyes, she saw the expression on his face change significantly as his level of soul cultivation rose.

    A strange smile appeared on his face, and then he struck out with a sword in her direction.

    Aiken''s golden sword transformed into a ck de charged with dark energy. At the same time, his armor underwent the same transformation due to the spectral aura taking over his body.

    Amidst this, she momentarily made the mistake of approaching him in desperation and was struck by his blow!

    "Aaaagh!"

    Aiken''s sword struck one end of her waist, damaging part of her armor and injuring her body.

    While this was happening, the specter was rapidly consuming Aiken''s spirit, using it to strengthen itself while having a corporeal body to use.

    His mentality was still chaotic, but as he grew stronger, he became more aware of some things.

    He slowly realized why he hated these people so much and felt he should kill them.

    ''I will make one kill the other!'' This creature managed to form that phrase in his thoughts as he frantically attacked Mabel''s body, eager to kill her or for her to destroy the body he had possessed.

    He could go from there and possess other bodies, but what about Aiken?

    Besides the fact that he was quickly having his spirit consumed, something as painful as being devoured while conscious, if the spectre left his body before his spirit was fully devoured, his life would still depend on his fleshy body.

    If he were seriously injured, even if he survived being spiritually devoured by Simon''s spectre, he would still die!

    This was perfect for this spectral creature and his mission of revenge!

    Mabel knew how spectres acted against their victims, for beings like this had long existed in this world. As such, she couldn''t help but worry as she tried to dodge it.

    ''What do I do?'' She was sweating cold, feeling that she was at a dead end. ''If I do nothing, the spectre will devour all of Aiken''s spirit. But if I do, I could seriously injure my husband.''

    The current situation was indeed dire. Any alternative would create further suffering!

    Because of this, as she decided to act, tears ran down her eyes, for she knew that her husband''s chances of survival were practically nil!

    ''I''m so sorry, darling.''

    She was heartbroken, but unfortunately, her husband was already lost. If she let the spectre stay inside his body for too long, it would only create an even bigger problem for her and everyone in this city.

    Including her daughters!

    A spectre was limited to a certain area where they were born. But as they got stronger, the more area they could move in.

    If this spectre reached level 17, there woulde a time when all of Peters City would be under his grasp, and Viktoria and Annaliese would be in danger.

    To avoid this, this woman swallowed the sadness of having to act against her husband and raised her weapon, a silver spear.

    Sacred Art!

    She pointed her weapon upwards, and as the side walls and ceiling cracked, several colored spears appeared in the surroundings while the silhouette of a fairy appeared behind her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    This silhouette was twice Mabel''s size and glowed in an intense golden color, capable of repelling darkness in the surroundings.

    The spectre inside Simon didn''t have ess to all his memories, so when he saw this, he immediately sensed this woman''s distinct origin.

    This was dangerous for him!

    If he were in his spectral form, such a thing would be hard to hit him, for he had enviable moving skills. But inside a body, he was an easier target to reach.

    But he had no fear. He was ready to sacrifice himself as long as he aplished his purpose!

    So he controlled Aiken''s body and used the man''s techniques.

    Waterbody!

    Aiken joined his two hands together and activated his main technique, using the powerful mental energies of the one controlling him.

    Even though he was only a level 15 cultivator, he used powers equivalent to his wife, level 16!

    With this, the spiritual energy in the area condensed into his surroundings, forming spiritual water while this became armor for his body.

    Meanwhile, his sword covered itself with this water, along with the appearance of several drops in his surroundings.

    After a second, such drops flew rapidly toward Mabel while her spears approached him.

    With this move, a crucial battle for this family''s fate would quickly begin, raising the spirits around this estate to a level that would be hard to miss around this city!

    Meanwhile, hundreds of people from this family were fighting among themselves, most not understanding why their friends and rtives were rebelling and attacking everyone in their path.

    In this way began the chaos of the Frost family, the beginning of the end of this ancient noble house!

    After that night, it would no longer be as great as it had been, even at its worst!

    ...

    Amidst the screams of terror and sounds of battle, Annaliese and Viktoria soon would realize that there is something wrong in their family and leave the Ritter family estate toe to this ce where they had lived for years.

    Along with them, several of Lothur''s allies in the Ritter Motor Company would also show up, rounded up by the Koch family spies.

    "What''s going on?" Luis, the academy director, saw the chaos around the Frost estate alongside Chris, the Duke of the Province, and expressed concern.

    "That... Spectres possess those people!" That level 16 man said, expressing strangeness on his face.

    Viktoria clenched her fists and felt the spiritual fluctuations of her mother and father.

    Annaliese also sensed that the two were fighting and, without dy, set off toward their residence, fearing that one would kill the other.

    And so, those many individuals in the surrounding area would soon invade that property to help the Frost family.

    Regardless of who that family was, if it fell to the spectres that day, all of Peters City would be in danger!

 Chapter 635 No Time To Mourn

    ?

    When Viktoria and Annaliese left ahead of the group, Elke wanted to do the same and help as much as possible.

    However, as she was about to move, Gomeric and Hilda stopped her.

    "Mother, father, what is the meaning of this?" Elke asked without understanding as she saw most people in the surrounding area scattering to the outskirts of the Frost family headquarters.

    Gomeric then said. "Not so fast, Elke. Those two are heading toward greater danger on that estate. People at our level can''t go there!"

    "But..."

    "Elke, the Duke of the Province, Miss Larissa, and the academy director are already going with them. That''s already more than enough to stop that threat. We wouldn''t make any positive difference." Hilda said to her daughter.

    As residents of Peters City, they had an obligation to stop what was happening so that it would not spread to their homes. But they didn''t have to get involved with the biggest dangers of that day!

    So Elke stayed behind while Viktoria and Annaliese joined the battle.

    Halfway to their parents'' residence, they faced several spectres that had already invaded the bodies of dozens of guards at the estate.

    Simon''s spectre wasmanding these beings, so it was obvious they would not allow help to reach Mabel anytime soon.

    This could signal the end for him, hindering his revenge. So he had already ordered all his inferiors to defend his position against powerful people!

    Viktoria and the people in her group fought their way through, crushing the enemies trying to stop them.

    Annaliese and Viktoria knew that once possessed for a few moments, cultivators would have meager chances of survival.

    Therefore, killing their opponents was the best way for them to make it difficult for these negative spirits.

    "Viktoria, go ahead. I will hold off these enemies." Annaliese said as she felt that her mother and father were showing increasingly worrying signs.

    Hearing this from her younger sister, Viktoria clenched her fists, feeling frustrated by these beings in the vicinity. But Annaliese should be able to hold them off for a few moments while she and the rest of the group of Transcendents arrived at the ce where the worst was happening.

    "All right, but don''t try so hard!" She said before flying off in the direction of her parents'' residence.

    Larissa, Luis, and Chris passed Annaliese quickly, following Viktoria to where Mabel and Aiken were.

    These three were not so concerned about Annaliese, who was already very close to reaching level 16. Instead, they were worried about the situation of Mabel and Aiken, who were showing worrying spiritual signs.

    Mabel was getting weaker and weaker, while her aura showed that something was wrong, preventing her from doing all she could against Aiken.

    This man was possessed, and these people could feel it even from a distance.

    Thinking of the misfortune that could happen that day, they hurried on, sensing that significant losses would victimize the Frost family today.

    ''Sigh... Those poor girls.'' Luis thought to himself as he looked at Annaliese and then at Viktoria.

    But soon, their group reached the interior of Mabel and Aiken''s residence. This ce was alreadyrgely destroyed by the battle of the two.

    Upon seeing the plight of that couple, these individuals reacted as Viktoria did, standing momentarily still as they saw how Aiken and Mabel looked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Aiken had the sclera of his eyespletely ck while a ck fog left his body. At the same time, several injuries fatal to level 15 cultivators were all over his body as he continued to move against his opponent.

    Simultaneously to this, Mabel was also seriously injured. Her armor was soiled with her own blood. Meanwhile, her aura was greatly weakened so that these people knew that once she stopped fighting, she would fall into a deep sleep state.

    That is, if she survived this confrontation!

    Viktoria was devastated to see her father and mother in this situation, understanding that this was not their fault but the spectre that had possessed her father.

    And precisely because of this, she was doubly worse off, for the chances of her father surviving this day were practically zero.

    Tears streamed down her eyes as she watched yet another sh of those two, flying at high speed as they tried to press each other.

    Larissa then said. "Let''s immobilize the Frost patriarch! That''s our only alternative to trap the spectre inside him!"

    Luis and Chris readily agreed and moved to the surroundings of those two, already using their skills to their fullest from the start.

    Sensing more enemies against him, the spectre within Aiken''s body intensified its attacks onest time in an attempt to ensure that Mabel would perish at the end of this fight.

    If he was going to fall to these people, he at least wanted to ensure that those responsible for his death would perish in this ce!

    "Viktoria, help us stop him!" Larissa shouted to her former rival, snapping her out of her momentary state of shock.

    Viktoria swallowed her sadness dry and moved to join those three and her mother.

    Sadly, sometimes one has to make difficult choices in life. It was not always possible to save everyone, and on this day, Viktoria had to choose to save her mother!

    She and the other three Soul Core Transcendents were soon around Aiken, using their abilities to immobilize him, trying to trap the invading spirit in his body.

    Amidst this, thest remnant of Aiken''s soul was consumed by that creature, raising his soul power a little more.

    At that moment, Aiken had finally died!

    Meanwhile, those in the surrounding area felt such a thing but had no time to mourn.

    If they didn''t take care of the situation quickly, the enemy had chances to advance and reach level 17!

    Mabel then shouted. "Let''s trap him in Aiken''s body. Then we can arrest him with a sealing formation."

    If he left Aiken''s body, it would be harder to confront him, even if he didn''t advance. At the same time, outside a body, he could at any time possess someone else.

    Since Aiken was already dead, it was better to continue keeping Simon''s spectre inside him. If they were sessful in this, they could use arrays to seal his soul cultivation.

    It would be tricky for them to kill this creature that was showing signs that it would advance to level 17, so in the heat of the moment, when they didn''t know how to resolve the situation, her suggestion had been the best.

    ...

 Chapter 636 Is This The End?

    ?

    Everyone agreed and soon began spiritually pressuring Aiken''s body, making him move with difficulty while he could no longer activate his techniques.

    Soul Seal!

    Every cultivator knew how to create spiritual seals that could affect living beings somehow.

    These seals were not as good as those of sealing formations. Still, they were useful for temporarily trapping things, sealing the cultivation of a weaker individual, etc.

    So they all focused their best on sealing Aiken''s body to prevent what was inside it from getting out.

    Viktoria was the second to ce her seal, right after her mother.

    Quickly Larissa, Luis, and Chris did the same before they repeated, doubling the number of seals on Aiken''s body.

    While this was happening, this man screamed under the control of the spectre, trying to get out of his body, knowing that this could get in his way a lot.

    But when all parts of his body had seals on them, he had no way to escape anymore, and soon he was in the range of those people to arrest him.

    Mabel had not been slow, and before the pressure on her husband''s body was over, she quickly ced two seal formations on him to ensure that the bad thing inside him couldn''t do anything else.

    After her move, the three Transcendents beside Viktoria and Mabel sighed, having noticed at thest moment that the creature had advanced to level 17.

    "Spectres are really terrible..." Chrismented to Luis, feeling how the creation of Simon''s spite and hatred had evolved just by consuming the soul of the body it had invaded.

    "What will we do now? I doubt we''ll be able to eliminate a Nascent Soul Transcendent spectre."

    But while Larissa was thinking about it with the two of them, Viktoria paid no attention to any of that as she saw her mother plummeting from where she was floating, already unconscious.

    "Mom!" She shouted as she stopped Mabel''s body from crashing to the ground.

    However, she received no response as she noticed that her mother was worse off than she thought.

    The three nearby saw this, and while one of them watched Aiken''s motionless body, the other two approached Viktoria.

    Luis checked Mabel''s situation quickly and unwittingly showed a worried expression.

    Gulp!

    "Her situation is not good. Her soul was wounded in this battle, and her body is pretty worn out... If we don''t get high-level help for her, she won''t survive!" He said regretfully, as he did not expect this woman to survive.

    He himself didn''t know anything that could help her. All he knew was that, at the very least, Viktoria would need to look for 3-star or more skilled doctors or even Gold-grade medicines.

    Anything less would do this woman little good!

    Viktoria heard this and shed even more tears, fearful of losing both father and mother.

    Amid this, the creature in Aiken''s body formed a smile on his face as he enjoyed the magnificent sight in front of him.

    ...

    Meanwhile, the battle on the outskirts of the Frost estate raged on, with most of the spectres inside bodies being killed along with their hosts.

    But as the battles subsided, Annaliese held many survivors trying to get to Aiken to help him escape.

    Because of this, the not-so-challenging mission for her reached another level, and she was aching to stop them from getting any further.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    She was already quite sweaty, with dirt stains on her clothes and a little blood here and there.

    Amid this, help was slowlying her way from the battles ending on the outskirts of this estate.

    However, it would note as fast as this woman would like!

    While fighting, she felt a great pain in the pit of her stomach, and blood trickled down her legs.

    When she felt this, she cried out in intense pain, no longer able to focus on these creatures to fall to her knees on the ground.

    Tears formed even more in her eyes, and she brought one of her hands to her belly.

    "NOOOOOO!"

    At that moment, she felt as if she had lost everything and no longer bothered about the enemies approaching her or even passing her to go to where Aiken was.

    "Shit! Protect Annaliese!" One of the Koch family men in the surrounding area shouted as he saw this woman''s plight from Lothur.

    Meanwhile, several menunched attacks against those creatures threatening her life, doing their best to protect her and stop the advance of those beings to where Aiken and Mabel were.

    But even though she was saved at thest second from what could have been her death, Annaliese was too devastated to give thanks.

    She would cry like a child for a few moments, and even when one of the doctors she trusted most began to examine her, she would still be terribly unwell.

    Doctor Snee tried to do something to help Annaliese and her baby, but when he realized this person''s situation, there was nothing more for him to do.

    He looked at his assistant and shook his head negatively.

    Annaliese and Lothur''s baby had already been lost!

    Sofie looked at Annaliese and felt terrible before looking up at the stars under the sky and thinking, ''What a terrible night for the Frost family... Will that be the end of them?''

    ...

    Hours passed, and the light of day slowly took the space of the darkness of night.

    Amidst yet another dawn for Peters City, this city would begin this day quietly as the terrible news of what had happened the night before spread.

    Around the Frost estate, many of the buildings there would dawn destroyed, with various signs of the previous battle along with the blood of the dead.

    That night not only dozens of spectres had been eliminated in this ce, but more than 200 people from the Frost family had perished along with these creatures.

    Among the dead, Aiken Frost, the family patriarch, had died to the strongest enemy.

    The survivors of the family were only a few individuals, mostly servants. Still, they were all terribly frightened by everything that had happened and very seriously injured.

    With the events of this night, even former enemies of the Frost family would mourn the tragic incident that victimized this legendary local family.

    Amid this, the strongest elders of this family quickly passed the duties of Aiken to Viktoria, the strongest in the family and the only one conscious to ept the position.

    Even in the worst time of her life, having lost her father, with her mother and sister unconscious, Viktoria would have to lead the remnants of this family towards a new destiny!

 Chapter 637 Back To The Imperial Prison

    ?

    While some of Lothur''s women were experiencing challenging problems in Peters City, he had used his bloodline ability once again, the third since the beginning of Battle Royale.

    With this one more activation, he had already killed over 500 Imperial Prison inmates!

    He still had a few hundred individuals left to decide their fate, but with thepletion of thisst absorption of powers, he would finally put an end to the battles that had been upying the City of Darkness.

    Finally, he would have the 100 strongest individuals who had survived this difficult selection to join his forces!

    So, having finished absorbing the powers of his enemies and going through yet another spiritual cleansing due to the advancement of yet another one of his resistances, he headed towards the central square of this ce where the winning interns were already waiting for him.

    [Gold-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 1%]

    On his way to those people, he saw how his resistance had stabilized at its new rank before looking at his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 688.9] [CON: 1,689.7] [DEX: 621.5] [AGI: 759.8]

    [INT: 374.2] [PER: 839.9] [WIL: 580.9] [SOU: 1,211.9]

    [EVF: 0]

    He had improved his Soul power a lot in the past few days, but it still hadn''t been enough for him to reach level 20 of soul cultivation.

    Considering this experience, Lothur was already aware that the difference between the 4th stage levels was even greater than he had thought before his breakthrough.

    However, he was not surprised. The strongest enemy he had faced in this prison had an even stronger soul than his current one. So he had a long way to go to be a stronger soul cultivator.

    In any case, his skills rted to this attribute improved significantly, and Lothur couldn''tin too much.

    So he was by no means dissatisfied when he arrived in the central square of the City of Darkness.

    At that ce, the 100 people who had won the Battle Royale were already kneeling on the outskirts waiting for him.

    Everyone there could feel how strong the Soul power of this hybrid had be in only three days, and they thought it would not stop in the short term.

    Because of how easy it was for Lothur to raise his soul power, some of the more skeptical ones before slowly began to believe he could escape from this ce.

    And with that thought, the desire to subordinate themselves to Lothur had risen many times over!

    They were trapped in the Imperial Prison, where they would possibly spend the rest of their lives. If he could get them out, even if he were a hybrid of demon and human, it would be worth serving him and having all the possibilities of the outside world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Just the fact that they could cultivate outside this ce again would be good enough!

    On the other hand, those thirsty for power in this ce couldn''t help but wish to join Lothur when they saw how talented he was.

    The legends said that hybrids of demons and humans were everyone''s enemies. But the truth was that if one of these were even remotely civilized enough not to attack their own group, many around the world would be willing to join such one.

    Many enemies would stand in the way of people associated with such beings, but if he were not weak, as was currently the case with Lothur, many would love the opportunities of someone so powerful and talented.

    Among those 100 individuals, at least 10 of them were genuinely happy about the opportunity they were about to receive!

    ''Next to him, I might be a Saint and still get revenge on the bastards who put me in this ce!'' One woman thought, considering the 90 years she had lived in this City of Darkness.

    ''This will be my chance! Next to a hybrid, I will certainly have opportunities to absorb the Soul Bones of the demons he kills and has no interest in!'' A middle-aged man on the threshold of level 17 thought, remembering that Lothur already had 5 Soul Bones and would certainly try toplete the set to have a Spirit Body.

    There were two ways to obtain Soul Bones. One by fighting demons and killing them and the other against powerful humans who had these bones.

    However, the second option was somewhat more difficult to achieve since there were few such humans, and most of them were strong and scattered around the entire continent.

    As for hunting demons, as much as there weren''t many, there were tribes of demons around the continent. If strong enough people investigated them, surely finding a few of these beings would not be as difficult as fighting humans with good bones.

    Lothur then said to those people, smiling in satisfaction at seeing them ready to subordinate themselves to him. "Congrattions, you are the 100 strongest of the survivors of this city! Rejoice, from today, you will be subordinates of someone destined for the peak of cultivation!"

    As Lothur spoke, the mes of his second Soul Bone were circling the surroundings, quickly going towards the interior of each of these people.

    These mes would not drive them mad, as they had done to others in the past, much less destroy or damage the souls of these 100 people.

    By entering the bodies of these men and women kneeling in the surroundings, the ck mes of Lothur merely corrupted the greedy part of them, removing certain virtues and forcing their loyalty to their new master.

    They would not lose their rationality and could still have their own desires, but this could not conflict with their loyalty to Lothur.

    At the same time, each of them had a new ambition, to reach the peak in order to better help their master!

    Lothur''s goal was still to live in peace one day without worrying about worldly matters. So the priority of these 100 new ves would be to make that dream a reality!

    "Master!" They all said after a few seconds, while their eyes had a new trace of darkness and genuine smiles appeared on the faces of the few still not-so-happy ones.

    Lothur then gave his first orders to these people. "My people, scour this city and gather up all the items of value you can find. I want you to sort them out and count the quantity of each thing considering its type and quality.

    Bring them to me when you have all these items."

    "Yes, master!" Those people replied before a small group of them got together and sorted out exactly how they were going to divide up to do this job.

    Lothur watched them for a moment, seeing how each of them seemed 100%mitted to him.

    ''It''s working well... That''s good. I think stimting their greed was good. It will make them think on their own ande to conclusions about things that I alone wouldn''t consider if I were totally controlling them.'' He considered, feeling that he had made the right choice.

    With that in mind, he decided to go to Reba, who should be finishing absorbing her first Soul Bone.

    ...

 Chapter 638 Lothurs Promise

    ?

    Upon arriving at the ce he had left Reba absorbing that skull Soul Bone, Lothur saw her opening her eyes right after she finished absorbing that.

    Thus, he saw her status with all the improvements rted to absorbing that bone.

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 14 -> 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 14]

    [STR: 95.5 -> 115.5]

    [CON: 363.4 -> 433.4]

    [DEX: 99.5 -> 121.5]

    [AGI: 100.6 -> 120.9]

    [INT: 184 -> 239]

    [PER: 109.1 -> 131.1]

    [WIL: 125.2 -> 150.2]

    [SOU: 150.5 -> 185.5]

    Seeing that, Lothur was pleased that Reba was advancing her soul cultivation level anding closer to advancing her body level.

    As weak as she was now, she could quickly be stronger by his side by absorbing the other Soul Bone he had with him and also through their time together.

    In any case, Lothur had no interest in using Reba''s powers. All he wanted was herpany and for her to be well. So the difference between the two would never be a reason for him not to be interested in helping her.

    He wanted her to get stronger so she could stand up for herself and be able to go deeper into certain things along with him, but there was no need for her to move at the same speed as him.

    So when he saw her, he smiled and hugged her, offering his congrattions on this relevant breakthrough!

    "Congrattions, Ba. You are now one step closer to bing a Transcendent." He said as he felt this beautiful woman''s soft, warm body.

    "Thank you, Lothur." She said as she was happy as ever because, in addition to the advancement, she had obtained her first Soul Bone and, of course, ability.

    Also, due to the first connection with her Spirit Body, she felt that her control over her Physique had evolved significantly.

    It was still not enough for her to say out loud that she would no longer lose control over her poisonous abilities. Still, it was enough for her to realize that one day what had happened in Peters City would no longer be a problem.

    That was why she felt so good as she slowly moved her lips to Lothur''s, kissing him intensely, joyfully as a few times before.

    Lothur felt this woman''s joy as her fingers unbuttoned his shirt, quickly indicating her intention.

    She had noticed that he had advanced a step while she was absorbing that Soul Bone, but she said nothing to him. All she had in mind was to have sex with her man, who had not only helped her a lot but had also regained his youthful appearance and was now even more handsome than before.

    Lothur was not slow in his movements either, and in a few moments, the two were without clothes, going to one of the beds in that former Wildflower Faction headquarters.

    There they would mix their fluids for the next few hours, taking things much further due to Reba''s strengthening.

    ...

    [CON: 433.4 -> 496.2]

    ...

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 14 -> 15]

    [STR: 115.5] [CON: 496.2] [DEX: 121.5] [AGI: 120.9]

    [INT: 239] [PER: 131.1] [WIL: 150.2] [SOU: 185.5]

    At the end of the long animalistic sex session with Reba, Lothur saw this woman''s status and noted her advancement.

    After they had rested for a while, he took her for a bath.

    As they drank wine and chatted happily, Lothur decided to tell Reba some of his ns.

    "Ba, I n to escape from this prison soon."

    "Uh? How will you do that? Isn''t it impossible to escape from here without reaching the Sage stage?" She asked as she looked at him with a ss of wine near her lips.

    He smiled and said. "Others would need that, but not me. I believe that once I be a Celestial Saint, I will achieve that feat."

    Gulp!

    "Celestial Saint?" She couldn''t help but think how absurd Lothur''s cultivation speed was.

    He had already told her about the fact that he was a hybrid and exined how he could get stronger by absorbing the powers of his victims.

    As such, she was aware that he still had a few hundred people in this ce to steal the powers from, so she didn''t think this feat would be impossible to achieve.

    But still, level 20 was a far cry from her reality, and she couldn''t help but take a deeper breath as she considered that Lothur would get there in no time.

    "That''s impressive..." She said while having a touch of mncholy in her voice.

    Lothur understood what was wrong and said. "Don''t worry, Ba. I am so strong because I have 5 Soul Bones. You saw how much better you got just by absorbing one, right? Each one of them elevates all of your characteristics.

    You absorbed only one... But I went through these changes five times! Can you imagine the cumtive effect of this?

    So that''s why I can reach this level!" He ran one of his hands over her face. "Once you be stronger, your growth naturally elerates."

    What Lothur was saying might sound absurd since most cultivators took longer and longer to advance in level. But this was because the amount of energy they would need to convert to change their attributes increased dramatically with each level.

    But the amount of energy one could convert into attribute points grew with each level. That is, with each level, the growth of cultivators became faster.

    For example, if a person could improve 1 attribute point per day at the 1st stage, then at the 2nd stage, they could increase 1 + y. At the 3rd stage, 1 + y + x, and so on.

    So even if it took him longer to raise his level, the cultivation of someone like Lothur would increase faster than that of someone at Reba''s level.

    Reba understood Lothur''s point and knew that the differences between them would eventually diminish if she had the right opportunities.

    He said. "One day, I will make sure you have the 10 Soul Bones that your body can absorb. I promise you that!"

    She smiled upon hearing this nonsense. Who in the world could say such bold words?

    But she didn''t doubt that he would try and thanked him.

    "To prove it, I have one more bone for you to absorb, Ba." He said as he revealed that other bone he couldn''t absorb. "Tomorrow morning, I want you to start absorbing it. It should take about two more days to finish absorbing this bone, so you better get started soon.

    I''ll advance my ns for our escape in the meantime."

    ...

 Chapter 639 Conversation

    ?

    She looked at that bone and clenched her fists, determined to get stronger and one day try to return the gesture to Lothur somehow.

    There were countless ways to return good gestures. So even if she couldn''t give Soul Bones to him, she could do other things to please him.

    "Thank you, Lothur. I will do my best not to waste this opportunity." She said as she stored that bone in her spatial ring.

    "But how will we escape? And what will we do after that?" She asked after taking another sip of wine.

    He then said. "About that, I will open a passage through those formations. No one will notice us if we are fast enough.

    As for what we will do afterward, we will return to Peters City.

    Currently, I can no longer show myself in public, but I want to settle some things there and put some order in the Ritter Motor Company.

    After that, I want to fulfill a promise I made some time ago." He remembered the soul fragment that had given him his first Soul Bone in payment for a mission he had left for Lothur to fulfill when he was strong enough.

    Previously he had nned to leave to solve it as soon as he reached the 3rd stage. But things had gotten out of his control, and he had been sent to this ce where magnificent opportunities presented themselves to him.

    Then he had easily advanced through the 3rd stage, and now he would do this mission as a Saint, not as Transcendent as he had nned.

    "Some time ago, when I was near Lewerenz with Elke, I found an inheritance from a powerful cultivator. He asked me to search for his family when I became stronger.

    If it still existed, it would be my duty to pass on his inheritance to them and ensure they could enjoy it. Otherwise, it would be mine.

    Now that I am a Saint, I am confident to go to the northern region and start the search for this family. So I intend to leave soon in search of it."

    Reba did not yet know of such a story, but heirlooms like these were not umon to appear.

    Experts usually created heirlooms to pass on their wealth and knowledge and to mark their own passage through this vast world.

    Even the most influential people would one day die, so leaving something behind was a way to stay ''alive,'' at least through the memories and deeds of their heirs.

    As much as it wasn''t easy for a person to find one of these, there were many stories of people who had the same luck as Lothur.

    "Well, I hope you seed..." She said. "And that it doesn''t take long. I wille and wait for you in Peters City."

    Reba could also no longer show herself to the public once she left the Imperial Prison. After all, she was supposed to be locked up in such a ce...

    She could even have a normal life if she left Leopoldine, but for the time being, she had no such intentions.

    For the rest, she did not expect to travel alongside Lothur since he had be too strong for her to apany him without causing trouble for him.

    No matter how fast her progress was, she would be a burden to him from now on.

    So she would rather wait in Peters City for his return, where perhaps she could participate in something at the Ritter Motor Company and help him somehow.

    Lothur smiled at her. "I''ll try to be as quick as possible. Anyway, you and the others will be fine in Peters City while I''m gone.

    I will take 100 criminals trapped in this ce with us there. I intend to leave them under yourmand."

    "What?" She asked in surprise, as she still knew nothing about it. "Won''t that cause problems? These are pretty powerful cultivators... They might draw a lot of attention."

    "No, I intend to create the Shadow Guard once we return to Peters City. All these men will be members of that unit, and only you, Viktoria, Elke, Annaliese, and the Koch family will know about them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    In the meantime, they will remain invisible and only act on themand of you four."

    "Koch family?"

    "Hmm, you will understand that in the future. For now, just understand that they now work for me, and my cars are not just means of transportation."

    "OK."

    After that, they continued talking for a while longer, with Lothur telling this woman about his experiences in the Secret Realm.

    He didn''t know about the confrontation the Frost family had faced during the Secret Realm since he hadn''t had time to talk to his men in Peters City. But Reba knew about such a thing as she had participated in the actions of that day, which had caused her arrest.

    As such, she told Lothur everything on this asion when they were quietly talking and drinking.

    Upon hearing this, Lothur had been somewhat surprised but pleased at how effective his spywork had proved to be in such a situation.

    ''In the future, our actions will be even better. For now, we have few vehicles in cirction, and they are only in Peters City, basically.

    But eventually, the whole empire and even other states will have my vehicles... At that time, we will spy on all the strongest in those ces!'' He smiled internally, extremely pleased.

    After this conversation, the two would have more fun, going to bed soon after, where they would spend hours ying until they fell asleep.

    ...

    Early the next day...

    Lothur and Reba woke up together this morning, both with their own ns for today.

    She would start absorbing the Femur Soul Bone while he had another group of people to absorb their abilities.

    Lothur then noted Reba''s status while eating breakfast served by his ves.

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 115.5] [CON: 555.9] [DEX: 121.5] [AGI: 120.9]

    [INT: 239] [PER: 131.1] [WIL: 150.2] [SOU: 185.5]

    After seeing this and finishing his breakfast, Lothur kissed Reba and then left for another area of the City of Darkness, where his hostages were waiting for him.

    When he arrived at that ce, everyone waiting for him trembled with fear, knowing what was about to happen.

    Lothur chose a certain number of people, favoring those with stronger constitutions to give him his first powers.

    A few momentster, screams woulde from that ce as he absorbed not only the vitality of these people but their understanding of cultivation, resistance, and affinities.

    In this way, he would achieve another breakthrough in resistance this morning!

 Chapter 640 Difficulties Getting Help

    ?

    Meanwhile, in Peters City...

    As a new day dawned, the mood in this city was still bad even after more than 24 hours since the end of the Frost family''s Night of Terror.

    The subject was still being talked about in every corner of this city, as many locally relevant people had suffered on that fateful day.

    Annaliese, Mabel, Aiken, and a dozen relevant elders in the Frost family, several of who had died or were seriously injured. At the same time, the rise of a new leader, Viktoria, was no less relevant than the deaths of such a tragedy.

    The local poption, mostly mortals unable to cultivate, loved stories like these and couldn''t help but explore the topic whenever they had the opportunity.

    Meanwhile, the local leaders were trying to get back to their routines.

    ...

    At the headquarters of the Frost family, this ce no longer had anyone living at the moment and was surrounded by men from the imperial guard stationed in this city.

    After the catastrophe of two nights ago, the nobles and subordinates of the Frost family had left this ce for good due to the tragedy that had happened there.

    Spectres were difficult beings to fight against and even more challenging to ensure their extermination.

    At the same time, few understood exactly how a spectre arose, so because of what had happened there, there was no way that the members of this family could have the confidence to continue in their ancestral home.

    The local leaders also didn''t know what to do with this ce other than surround it with men and turn it into a forbidden ground within this city.

    As such, several observers were on the outskirts watching the area, not only to prevent anyone from entering there but also to observe if more spectres would appear there.

    Meanwhile, the survivors of the Frost family were living in a temporary camp built in the parking lot of one of the Ritter Motor Company factories, where Viktoria had taken them.

    In that ce, she was leading the family as best she could.

    Viktoria was devastated by the deaths of her father and Annaliese and Lothur''s baby. The fact that her sister had lost consciousness after such a loss and her mother was in aa had also been worrying her.

    However, this woman had always been strong and had been enduring the situation while trying to reorganize her family.

    When things had calmed down, she would hold a funeral for her father and take her time to mourn. But she couldn''t do that for the moment and was mindful of the responsibilities that had suddenly fallen into herp.

    At the present moment, she was with the strongest surviving elders of that night in the main tent in such a camp.

    Everyone in the surrounding area had ugly expressions on their faces, with dark circles under their eyes and other signs ofck of sleep on some of them.

    The only one who didn''t look so bad was Viktoria, given her cultivation. Still, her tone of voice gave away her emotional state to anyone who heard her now.

    "Matriarch, we have sent letters to the best doctors in the empire. Now we can only hope for responses..." One of those men in charge of getting Mabel a doctor said this.

    Viktoria knew that these men were doing their best, and she didn''t me them for not getting a doctor yet. It wasn''t easy to do that, as there were few 3-star doctors in the entire empire.

    On the other hand, there was no guarantee that any of these would take the job, as the Frost family had few friends and many enemies throughout the empire.

    So she looked at that person and asked. "What about the Rios family? Have you sent any letters to them?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "The Rios family? No, matriarch. Unfortunately, we lost themunication formation of the former Matriarch Mabel Frost during the previous confrontation." That man said, feeling as if everything was against them.

    "Then, I want someone to send a letter to the Rios family headquarters in Lenz. Inform my grandparents of what happened here and my mother''s condition." She ordered, hoping that her mother''s family would help somehow.

    The Rios family was quite vindictive, so there was hope, even though that power was so reclusive to the point that the Frost family could never count on her support.

    With that matter temporarily settled, one of the men there to talk about the situation of the spectre possessing Aiken''s body stepped forward and said.

    "Let us contact the post of the Seraphim Church to ask for support in resolving the problem at hand, matriarch." That middle-aged man, level 15, said. "Many Churchmen are in pursuit of something, and others are guarding the empire''s borders.

    So it may take longer for them to send someone to help us.

    I alsomunicated with the imperial family, but they are facing some internal problems and have not given us a deadline to send someone to exterminate that thing."

    One of the biggest concerns of these people currently was the situation of Simon''s spectre inside Aiken''s body. For the moment, he was trapped inside the Frost estate, with several formations sealing off his cultivation and movement, as well as several watchers.

    But he was frightening to most people in Peters City, and the local powers craved his extermination.

    As such, looking for people to help them achieve that feat had been one of Viktoria and her people''s priorities.

    This was particrly true as only then could she recover her father''s body and then give him a proper farewell and subsequent rest.

    Unfortunately, many things were against them!

    She closed her eyes as she heard that man''s words, regretting her powerlessness to resolve this matter alone.

    ''If Lothur were here, maybe he could solve everything by himself...'' Shemented as she wondered where he might be at the moment.

    But Viktoria did not me him, nor did shement for long, for her man''s situation could be considered even worse than hers.

    He was on the run from the majestic Seraphim Church!

    Viktoria clenched her fists and said. "Keep putting pressure on the Church and the imperial family. Only they can help us by sending people capable of eliminating what is inside my father''s body."

    The people in the surrounding area agreed, and soon some of them left to carry out the orders of their new leader.

    With the departure of some, only three people, two men and a woman, remained with Viktoria.

    She looked at Doctor Snee and asked. "How is my sister doing?"

    "Annaliese is not in danger of death... But the weight of losing her baby prevents her from waking up." That man said, feeling bad that he couldn''t help more. "I cannot awaken her, but rest assured. She will be fine.

    You can give her more time or use whatever doctor you can get to treat your mother. Surely she will awaken after a while or with the support of someone more capable."

    ...

 Chapter 641 Future Of The Ritter Family

    ?

    After hearing Doctor Snee''s words, Viktoria closed her eyes, imagining how sad it would be for Annaliese to wake up. Losing a baby was not easy for a woman.

    But at least Annaliese was in no danger, and Viktoria sighed in relief despite her worry.

    "Thank you for your assistance, Doctor Snee." She said after a brief moment of silence.

    "Don''t thank me. I hardly did anything." This doctor said, feeling bad for his inability to help this family.

    With that said, he would soon depart from there, leaving Viktoria and a few of the few remaining elders inside that tent.

    She looked at the only two people there, the most influential within her family after her. "Elders, I have a proposal for the family. That is the only way for us to ovee this misfortune and flourish."

    "What is this about, matriarch?" A gray-haired woman asked as herpanion stood by watching Viktoria in curiosity.

    "Merging the Frost family with the Ritter family."

    "What?" The two said at the same time, not believing what they had heard.

    Viktoria exined the situation to them. "Elders, I know you are proud of the Frost name. I am too. However, we must recognize the situation we are in. Today we don''t have a home to call our own, we have lost many members, and we don''t have enough to maintain our operations.

    We have to hand over part of our operations to allies, or we have to give up certain things to continue with all we have. In any case, we cannot continue without giving anything up.

    I am Lothur''s wife and part of the Ritter family. My sister is too, so the best thing for everyone would be for us to merge these two families."

    "Lothur? Matriarch, rumor..." The man was about to say, but Viktoria interrupted him.

    "Lothur is not a half-breed! Do you think I wouldn''t know if he was one? Lothur''s problem is that he is Daemon''s son, and the princes hate him for it.

    That''s what''s behind his arrest and escape!"

    Those two heard this and were surprised, as they did not know this information. Even Mabel and Aiken were unaware of it, as Viktoria was the only one within the Frost family aware of it.

    But even without anyone else to back up their words, those two believed it.

    ''It makes sense!''

    ''That''s why so many people from the capital tried to act against him!

    Indeed, he has such an origin!'' The woman thought to herself while judging that Lothur could not be a hybrid, or disaster would have already happened in that family.

    Not only had this not happened by his hands, but he had even helped them on several asions.

    If it had been that legendary creature, he definitely wouldn''t have been able to take it, and at least the most powerful people in this family would have perished at his hands!

    Viktoria realized that those two took her words seriously and continued what she was saying before. "If the Frost family bes part of House Ritter, we will have the support of someone who has 50% of the profits of the Ritter Motor Company, and our rtions with the partner powers in thatpany will be even better.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    I am developing the House Ritter army, so we will have these men to support the Frost family.

    But not only that, if we subordinate ourselves to the Ritter family, we wouldn''t be the first to do that!"

    "Who did it first?" The woman questioned, looking in disbelief at Viktoria, for she knew of no such move.

    Viktoria replied. "The Koch family subordinated themselves to my husband weeks ago. I don''t know what he used to encourage them to do this, nor the function he passed on to them, but he told me that this family was part of House Ritter, and I couldmand them in his absence.

    I have checked it out on a few asions since the end of the Secret Realm, and I can say that they really are my husband''s subordinates."

    The two elders were open-mouthed upon hearing this, considering that the Koch family had a better position than they had until a few weeks ago.

    This was a house favored by the imperial family, one that few dared to initiate confrontations without profound motives.

    "If that''s true, it might be worth it..." That level 15 womanmented to the man.

    That man looked at Viktoria and asked. "Matriarch, can we think about this for a while? I feel it is too important a matter to be decided without considering all the implications."

    "But of course. Just don''t take too long, as we urgently need to get organized.

    In my husband''s absence and weakened as we are, who knows when our former enemies will strike again..." She said before those two promised to return to her in no more than two days with their answer.

    With that settled, she left and headed towards the ce she, Annaliese, and Elke had bought the day before the disaster over the Frost family.

    They had already managed to recruit 150 mercenaries between levels 12 and 15 for the Ritter family. As such, they had bought a new property for that family, one where they intended to develop their headquarters.

    Such a ce was outside the urban perimeter of Peters City, in a part of the forests surrounding that city.

    As she was already a Transcendent, Viktoria quickly arrived at this ce, where many men were working to build the underground headquarters of this family in the middle of the forest.

    She, her sister, and Elke knew that Lothur was a fugitive from the Church, so they had made the decision that their headquarters would need to be secret.

    That is why the men of the Koch family were building this underground ce, where they intended to be able to receive their husband without too much trouble in the future.

    Upon arriving at this ce, she met with Elke and saw the area''s development, noting that the men were making rapid progress.

    The Koch family was interested in moving their intelligence and observation center to a more secret location, away from their headquarters. So they were very focused while working in this area.

    With more and more vehicles circting the streets of Peters City and some even being shipped out of that city, they knew they would need to expand their operations and take on greater concerns than they already had.

    And so the location where the Ritter family would be headquartered was growing by 2% or 3% per day, moving quickly towards delivering this ce.

 Chapter 642 Fulfilling His Purpose

    ?

    In the blink of an eye, five days passed...

    During this period, things remained pretty much the same in Peters City while Viktoria waited for some help from the Rios family, the Leopoldine family, or the Church.

    Unfortunately, none of them had answered her requests for help so far.

    Meanwhile, her mother grew weaker every day, and Annaliese continued in a deep sleep, with no signs that she would awaken in the short term.

    Viktoria had been enduring the anguish of not being able to do anything for them and was focused on the merger of the Frost family with House Ritter, something the elders had epted after considering their options.

    As such, they were currently working together to form that family while their headquarters was still under construction.

    Amid this, news of what had happened to the Frost family in Peters City had reached the ears of the princes vying for the emperor''s throne.

    Both had not been focused on that ce more recently because of the problems rted to Lothur and Daemon. But when they received this news, they were both shocked at what had happened in this city because of the way everything had happened.

    It was worrying that so many spectres had suddenly appeared in this ce!

    But beyond this concern, Lars was fine with the loss of the Frost family. Now he would no longer need to be involved in driving it to its destruction.

    As it was now, this house would hardly recover!

    On the other hand, us had not actively acted against the Frost family, so he had nothing to celebrate for the fall of that family. On the contrary, he was even regretting it, for this house had stood in his younger brother''s way on several asions in the recent past.

    Even though some members of the imperial family wanted to do something to help solve the spectre problem in Peters City, they couldn''t at the moment.

    Several of their high-level experts were moving in to try to recover the Blood Crystal that Daemon had stolen, so there weren''t enough people to be sent to Peters City.

    The Emperor himself was busy with that and hadn''t even heard about the recent events that victimized Viktoria''s family.

    ...

    While Daemon and his people were working to obtain their tinum-grade weapon with the Blood Crystal, the Rios family headquarters in the kingdom of Lenz, the news involving Mabel had just reached her father and mother.

    "What? Mabel is seriously injured after facing a spectre that possessed her husband?" Viktoria and Annaliese''s grandmother asked in surprise upon hearing such a thing.

    "Yes, madam. Viktoria is asking for the family''s help so we can try something to save Mabel." A subordinate of Mabel''s parents said as the two listened to this information with concern.

    They were concerned about Mabel, but she had made up her own mind about her fate and refused to return to her home on several asions.

    As such, her father and mother would not simply act to help her unless her life was not at risk.

    Mabel''s father, a level 19 man, then asked his subordinate. "How serious is her situation? If they can resolve it by seeking help in Leopoldine, we will not move."

    "It looks like they need 3-star doctors to save Mabel." That man said, going over what hade to him.

    "Then ignore them. Let her family find a doctor in that state and solve their problems." Mabel''s father said, feeling that Viktoria could solve that problem alone.

    But Mabel''s mother had a less icy heart than her husband''s, despite her frustrations with their third daughter. So she said. "Helmut, go to Peters City. I want you to observe her situation, and if you judge that they will not be able to solve her problem, you should intervene.

    At that time, save her life and bring her here."

    "I will do my best, madam." That man left soon after.

    As he was alone with his wife in the living room of their residence, Mabel''s father looked at her and asked. "What do you intend by this?"

    "I will save our daughter if the family she has adopted cannot do so. At that time, she will have to return to us and fulfill her original purpose."

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the Imperial Prison...

    After the past few days, Lothur had be very strong and had reached level 20 of soul cultivation!

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 701.8] [CON: 1,690.2] [DEX: 640.1] [AGI: 769.9]

    [INT: 374.2] [PER: 865.9] [WIL: 582] [SOU: 1,881.8]

    [EVF: 2]

    With his improvement in terms of attributes and study regarding the formations in this prison, he had reached the 4-star rating for his profession of formations master!

    Having reached this level the day before, Lothur had spent much of thest 24 hours nning how to escape from this ce.

    Thus he had concluded that he could finally leave this ce in no more than three more days of preparation!

    All thanks to his progress in absorbing the vitalities and powers of the enemies that remained in this ce besides his ves.

    Because of this, he had improved his affinities and resistances a little more.

    [Gold-grade poisons resistance .]

    [Progress: 69%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 41%.]

    ...

    [Gold0grade ice resistance.]

    [Progress: 31%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 14%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 5%]

    Unfortunately, as he advanced these characteristics, his progress with 3rd stage people became slower. He needed to use more powerful cultivators to nurture his characteristics faster!

    Anyway, in this period, he had practically reached the peak of progress for his Mortal Aura skill at the Silver grade.

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Silver]

    [Progress: 98%]

    Other than that, he had reached the Master level of mastery in his two soul techniques, which greatly elevated hisbat proficiency using them.

    However, he had no capable opponent in this ce, so he stillcked someone to test these techniques'' new limits.

    Anyway, Lothur was very satisfied with his days in this ce. After finishing another nning period for his escape, he decided to go to his men to let them know how everything would happen.

    Reba was to finish absorbing her Soul Bone by the end of the next day, so he intended to prepare all these people before spending some time with her on the eve of her escape.

    So, as he sent his thoughts to the 100 survivors in this ce, they rushed from where they were to him in the blink of an eye.

    ...

 Chapter 643 All Ready

    ?

    As he faced his 100 ves, the only ones standing in this prison, Lothur felt the awe and wonder in the hearts of these people.

    They still had part of their freedom to think for themselves, so some naturally couldn''t help but feel a little afraid of him.

    He had reached level 20, but what if he wanted to advance further by using them as his next victims?

    But most there were more confident that they would not be used in the same way as the hundreds of inmates of this prison who died at the hands of Lothur.

    Which was better? To have the highest level possible alone or to have a slightly lower level but several helpers?

    As much as being the strongest possible was preferable in many situations, not having anyone to work for you would force you to do everything yourself.

    So even specialists usually had helpers to fulfill less difficult tasks in their ces as they preferred not to waste their time getting involved.

    Several people there felt that they were the people who would do the missions that Lothur had no interest in doing, so seeing him at level 20, they were not at all concerned about their safety.

    The opposite of that, in general, they were thrilled, as they would have a better future as their master grew stronger.

    Lothur then said. "Get ready. In the next few days, we will leave this ce once and for all. I already have everything prepared, and I need you to move ording to my ns."

    Upon hearing this, these people felt anxious, for most had been there for decades and had long wished they could cultivate in the outside world once again.

    "What should we do, master?" A middle-aged man asked.

    "I will manipte the space once we leave the area protected by the formations of this prison. At that time, all of you should move as close as possible to me and contain the spiritual fluctuations within your bodies.

    I will make our group invisible to the guards of this prison as we reach one of the forests near this area." He saw that these people fully agreed with this and would follow his words without difficulty.

    Lothur continued. "After that, we will pass two ces before we go to Peters City. One is in a forest near where we are, and the other is near the capital of Leopoldine."

    "Near the capital?" The oldest of those people asked. "Master, would it really be good for us to do that? The risk of being noticed in that area will be very great."

    Lothur replied. "It is worth the risk. I heard a rumor before I came here that in this ce, there is something that interests me a lot. If I obtain it, I will be even more powerful!"

    Risks without good reason would always make people question the actions taken by their leaders andrades. But if there were a great prize behind such a thing, then few would question it!

    The man who asked understood the great purpose behind this visit to such a dangerous area and said no more.

    "After this, I will leave you in Peters City under the control of my women. I intend to leave afterward on a trip to the north, so I won''t be able to take you all with me. At most, I can take one or two to assist me in some matters."

    "Please, master, let me serve you on this trip." A woman stepped forward and asked, being the quickest to try to take advantage of this opportunity.

    The others in the surrounding area clenched their fists upon hearing her offer herself so readily, cursing their slowness.

    Lothur then said. "I will decide that before I leave Peters City. But I warn you that I will not necessarily take the strongest of you but rather those who could best help me on the journey...

    That''s all for now!" He said as he felt Reba would finish absorbing her second Soul Bone a little earlier than he had anticipated.

    After sensing this, he disappeared in front of these people, momentarily leaving them still on their knees in the surrounding area while no one else was among them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ...

    Upon returning to Reba''s side, Lothur saw the final part of the absorption of that Soul Bone, noticing her Spirit Body bing stronger as her attributes rose.

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 15]

    [Body Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 138.6] [CON: 595.4] [DEX: 145.8] [AGI: 145.1]

    [INT: 286.8] [PER: 157.3] [WIL: 180.2] [SOU: 222.6]

    After a few moments, she finished absorbing that bone, and her attributes stabilized at those new values.

    Reba was still at level 15 in both soul and body cultivation. However, Lothur was satisfied with her progress, as she was now at about simr values for her attributes as his other women.

    Only her Constitution was a little higher since she and he had been having fun in this prison while the others were out of Lothur''s reach.

    But in a short stint in Peters City, he felt that he could easily fix this and leave them with more or less simr values in this characteristic.

    In any case, even though she didn''t advance in level, Reba was at the peak of the 2nd stage and would probably advance before Lothur said goodbye to her once again.

    That was good enough for him!

    As soon as she opened her eyes, he went over to her smiling to hug her and say a few more words of congrattions.

    But before he could say anything, she felt his cultivation. "You have advanced again? Impressive!"

    "Well, I have advanced, but I will probably stay as I am for quite a while.

    When I leave the Imperial Prison, I won''t be able to use my bloodline casually, or I will draw the attention of powerful enemies... So you''d better get used to it. I''ll stay with the current cultivation for a certain period." Heughed as he yed with her little waist.

    Reba smiled at him and joked. "Good... If you keep advancing, even our world can''t handle you. Just imagine the world dying because of you?"

    "It wouldn''te to that..." He said before directing his lips to hers and taking her on hisp.

    Reba didn''t resist, happily epting Lothur''s fierce advance, eager to celebrate their improvements a little.

    She then ran her hands down the buttons of his clothes and her own, helping her man with what he was starting.

    ...

    After hours of fun with Reba and the preparation of his men, Lothur was finally ready to begin his escape from the Imperial Prison!

    With mid-afternoon approaching, he and his people were just waiting for nightfall to begin!

 Chapter 644 Escape From The Imperial Prison

    ?

    As night fell in the region where the Imperial Prison was located, Lothur and his people were standing by at one end of the City of Darkness.

    In that ce, all the 101 people with Lothur were in their vicinity as they watched this man.

    Lothur was at the moment watching the sky outside through the thick walls of this prison, waiting for the best conditions for escape.

    The sunset was almost over, and the darkness of night was quickly covering the skies.

    As he watched this, he said. "Get ready. In less than five minutes, I will begin opening the breaches over the formations about this ce."

    Everyone increased their concentration even more upon hearing this, sweating in anticipation of this escape.

    Reba was the only one who was not nervous as she waited for her man to act, smiling in satisfaction.

    Besides being about to return home to Lothur''s side, she had this afternoon advanced a level and reached the 3rd stage of soul cultivation!

    With her two Soul Bones, she could also now easily control over 80% of her Physique, and situations like the previous one in Peters City would no longer be out of her control.

    While she was very content watching Lothur waiting for his moment to act, he saw what he wanted and moved!

    The moment the darkness in the surroundings of the Imperial Prison reached its maximum, Lothur began to manipte the space in his surroundings as he prepared to use his formations skills.

    Lothur was merely going to inscribe something over those formations, something that would open a ''doorway'' for him and his group to pass through without alerting the guards of that unit about the formations of this ce being corrupted or broken.

    In a sense, he was rewriting the code of those formations in his way, creating a new ''key'' to that ce, something only he could ess in the way he was about to do.

    As he did this, his cultivation pressure was making his men sweat, feeling a great weight on their bodies and cultivations.

    Everyone had been waiting for this, so none had been surprised, and they were managing to keep their consciences upright.

    If they fainted, no one would carry them, which would end their journey!

    Fortunately for them, Lothur had above-average skills when it came to formations, and within minutes he was able to reprogram these formations.

    As he was finishing, the gigantic barrier that existed over this space opened a ''door'' for them, through which its characteristics would not affect those who tried to pass through at the time.

    Lothur realized he was ready and said, indicating the wall in front of him. "Come on,e through here!"

    After his words, space distorted at hismand, making what looked like a portal appear in that wall over 30 meters wide.

    Those 101 people saw Lothur''s space maniption skills working for the first time and slowly began to move into that portal that would get them through that dense wall.

    Reba was the first to go in there, seeing how strange Saints'' spatial maniption abilities were.

    Saints could travel through space because of their spatial maniption abilities. But that didn''t mean that one of these individuals could open a door in one ce and instantly travel to another on the other side of the continent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    That was something the Saints could not do!

    What Saints could do with their spatial maniption skills was to traverse things, shorten distances, and use small, short-range portals to reach things instantly.

    For example, Saints could open portals like the one Lothur opened and go through walls as thick as that prison.

    They could travel through the vacuum of space, where they could not easily be noticed, and increase their movement speeds above what they could traveling through ordinary space.

    Finally, for things rtively close to them, they could manipte space in order to reach those things easily. For example, a Saint at a banquet could be sitting at one end of the table and, using their spatial abilities, picking up a bowl from the other end without stretching his arms or asking for help.

    However, thistter ability could only be used for things in short range. So they could not travel long distances using it. At most, they could have better control over their position and those of things within a few dozen meters of them.

    Hence, when passing through the portal created by Lothur, Reba didn''t simply pass through that wall and appear outside the prison. She entered inside the wall, where she would have to take a few steps to reach the other side.

    The wall was over 13 meters wide, but she and the others would only have to walk 5 meters to reach the other side, given the distortion created by Lothur.

    As she watched what it was like inside those walls, others from her group entered there, quickly filling the ce that had enough space to hold all of them very close together.

    Lothur was thest to enter there, maintaining the situation of the formations in that prison and closing the passage he had just passed through to open the passage out of prison.

    He said. "I won''t be able to hide you right away as we leave this wall. So as you go through this portal, you must keep a low profile while we all go through, and I will put the formations in this ce the same way they were before.

    You will be without any protection, but that is only for 1 minute. After that, I will be able to lead you out of this ce through the vacuum of space."

    Those people nodded, indicating that they understood what they had to do.

    With that, the first of them passed through thatst passage out of the Imperial Prison, taking their chances for the next second that they would be fully visible to anyone looking in their direction.

    As they passed through that portal, one of them saw the night of the continent after decades trapped in the City of Darkness, feeling the searing of the night and the smell of wet soil.

    He smiled as he noticed all these sensations and the spiritual energy in the surroundings, which was unaffected by the prison formations.

    ''Ah, finally!'' He closed his eyes as he positioned himself beside that long wall on the side of the prison they were escaping.

    The others did the same, barely breathing so as not to cause a disturbance that would draw the attention of the observers of that prison.

    At the same time, everyone was controlling as much of their cultivation as possible.

    After 60 seconds, Lothur finally joined them and closed the passage through that wall after making the formations in that ce work as before.

    With that done, he muttered as he distorted the space in the surrounding area, covering up all his men.

    "Time to go!"

 Chapter 645 Catching Ice

    ?

    As Lothur''s group began crossing the area observed by the Imperial Prison watchmen, a white dot in the darkness moved at high speed through a nearby forest.

    At the same time, half a dozen humans were chasing this being, running, advancing with weapons in their hands, exposing their peak level 15 cultivation.

    "Attack with everything!" One of them shouted, eager to capture that beast.

    "It is close to advancing and bing a Transcendent beast! If we obtain it, we can sell it for a high value on the ck market!" An elderly-looking man said, thirsty for the coins he would earn from capturing that white fox.

    Besides being a powerful specimen, it was a breed that was difficult to find in the empire.

    Its value would not be low!

    So those men chasing Ice increased their pace, attacking its path, trying not to hurt it but to impede its escape routes.

    This chase had alreadysted almost 40 minutes, and it was slowly getting slower due to its exhaustion.

    Feeling this, Ice couldn''t help but curse its luck but also its mistake for having unwittingly indicated its presence to these humans.

    It had spent most of the time it was in this ce waiting for Lothur, cultivating the resources he had left for it.

    But then, two days ago, it had saved the life of a woman who was about to be killed by other beasts in this area...

    If it hadn''t been for its good heart, the person who had revealed its presence in this forest would never have brought this trouble to it!

    Thinking about it, this fox couldn''t help butment, afraid of where it would end.

    ''Why did I do that? Now all these greedy humans are attacking me!'' It thought as it felt the blows of its opponents passing closer and closer to it.

    Ice jumped to dodge one of the attacksing toward it, but as it did so, one of its pursuers finally reached it andnded a kicking blow on its belly.

    That didn''t hurt Ice, but it propelled it against arge tree trunk, where the other hunters quickly joined in a formation to stop it from moving further.

    "Au! Au!"

    It barked, making a sad sound that spread for hundreds of meters from where it was standing, trying to move but unable to do so in the face of several opponents of a simr level to it, stopping it.

    "Beast, give up! You belong to us now!"

    "But rejoice, at least you won''t be turned into barbecue. I bet your meat is delicious." A rtively young man said this, licking his lips.

    The one who had kicked Ice then joined hispanions, increasing the pressure on Ice and causing it to gradually lose consciousness.

    Ice began to feel its vision dimming and wailed. ''Damn... I... I won''t... Make it...''

    But as it saw its surroundings getting darker and darker, seeing less and less of the smiling expressions of its enemies, suddenly things changed.

    From one hour to the next, the expressions on those faces changed from satisfaction to sheer terror!

    Ice didn''t understand this amid its near-faint. Yet, each of those hunters had felt it when tremendous pressure reached them, preventing them from moving every single one of their muscles.

    Even their spiritual energy was moving more slowly inside their bodies!

    ''What is it?'' One of them wondered, feeling short of breath as his lungs did not move.

    While these people were trying to understand what was happening, Lothur appeared beside arge group, not far from those people and Ice.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "Trying to hunt my friend, huh?" He coldly asked while clenching his fists.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t use his bloodline ability on those people, or he would cause trouble for himself. But he was feeling a great urge to do so and cruelly eliminate every one of these fools.

    He then increased the gravity pressure on those people even more, making them forget theck of oxygen in their lungs to showing in their eyes and veins of their faces the pain they felt.

    But as the pressure on their bodies rose, they remained motionless, unable to move their muscles to show the pain in their expressions.

    They felt their muscles being crushed by the immense pressure Lothur was making them endure while their bones began to crack.

    But all this happened little by little.

    Lothur wanted them to suffer as much as possible because they thought they could act against Ice.

    Sounds of bones breaking spread out in the surroundings after a few moments, as slowly Ice understood the situation, feeling less pressure on itself.

    It was almost fainting, but with Lothur''s action, it had stopped being oppressed by its opponents.

    Its breathing had improved while its soul had escaped the powerful spiritual pressure of moments ago.

    Not having much against it, it breathed in gradually, regaining the light in its eyes.

    ''Lothur!'' It felt the powerful cultivation of his soul. ''He has be a Celestial Saint! Incredible! As expected of Lothur!''

    A momentter, the bodies of those men were totally crushed, turning into balls of flesh that no one could identify.

    Lothur united them into one meatball and finally stopped acting against them, leaving behind that meatball for the beasts of the area to devour once he left.

    His ves silently watched it, imagining that such a beast must be their master''s pet.

    ''How absurd! Mere Spiritual Warriors were acting against our master''s pet!''

    ''Who did they think they were? Do they think they can go against a mountain while they were small stones?''

    Some red hatefully at the meatloaf as Lothur moved closer to Ice.

    Reba followed him, soon stooping down beside this white-furred beast, seeing how it had suffered alone.

    Lothur then ced a pill in Ice''s mouth before massaging the top of its head.

    "You are about to advance a stage. Well done, Ice. Now you can go wherever you want once we return to Peters City.

    But anyway, don''t worry about anything else. I''ll take you to our home now."

    Ice more or less understood what Lothur was saying, even though it was not yet able to speak thenguage of this human.

    But it wouldn''t be long before it would gain that ability!

    After absorbing the pill that Lothur had recently refined, this magnificent creature overcame thest barrier preventing it from advancing!

    In a few moments, it would reach level 16!

    ...

 Chapter 646 Going In Search Of Another Leaf

    ?

    After 5 minutes of standing in that forest near the Imperial Prison, Lothur''s group finally saw Ice stabilizing its cultivation at level 16!

    With this breakthrough, it reached the understanding necessary to learn to speak.

    "Thank you, brother Lothur!" It said in a feminine voice, full of gratitude for this human.

    "Hmm, now that you have advanced, let''s leave. I have things to take care of." He said, indicating for his group to get ready to move towards their next goal.

    Everyone began to move closer to Lothur after his words while he was already manipting space so his group could travel through the vacuum of space.

    Ice saw the surroundings changing as Lothur controlled the space nearby, for the first time experiencing the abilities of a Saint.

    "Can brother Lothur do that now?" It asked in a low voice, catching Reba''s attention.

    Reba smiled at it and said. "With what Lothur is doing, we can travel invisibly to other people below the 4th stage."

    "Is that true?"

    "Yes, and that''s not the main thing. As we travel through the vacuum, the distances are greatly shortened. A path that would have been 100 kilometers bes a journey of less than half that distance by traveling through it."

    "That''s really amazing!" It said with its eyes shining.

    Lothur then finished what he was talking about and said. "Two of the strongest of you will carry Ice. I will take Reba."

    Reba and Ice were the weakest of the group and would naturally move more slowly.

    Lothur quickly picked up his woman and made her hold onto him while leaning on his back, with hands on his shoulders and legs around his waist.

    Two men at the threshold from level 17 to 18 picked Ice up and put it on top of their heads, making this big beast feel a little ashamed of its size and for getting in their way like this.

    But soon, Lothur and these people began to move quickly through space, even faster than the Transcendents who had brought him to the vicinity of this prison.

    Unfortunately, they did not have teleportation formations like those deceased members of the imperial family. So it would take much longer for this group to get to Peters City than the less than 24 hours it had taken that group to get Lothur there.

    "Where are we going?" Ice asked as it felt the advantages of moving through the vacuum of space.

    Not only were distances shortened, but there were almost no particles to hinder their movement.

    Even at high speed, Ice was not feeling its fur moving with the discement of the particles in its path.

    Luckily Saints could manipte the space so that only the gas necessary to breathe was present in the surroundings, just enough so the group would not suffocate as they moved around.

    Lothur replied. "We are going to Hond Province, specifically the secondrgest city in the province, where the headquarters of the Welzel family is."

    "What exactly are we going to do in Welzel?" Reba asked.

    She had not yet talked about it with Lothur.

    He answered. "That family supposedly has something that affects me. I''ll quickly check it out, and then we''ll leave."

    "Really? Not for pure revenge?" Reba remembered that members of this family were associated with the Third Prince''s group against the Frost family.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He smiled and said. "Even if I wanted to avenge the Frost family, I couldn''t. That would only show my position to everyone..."

    "I see..."

    ...

    As Lothur''s group moved toward the secondrgest city in Hond Province, Fritz Stauss was in that city for business.

    Fritz was part of Lars Leopoldine''s faction. That is, he was from the same group as the Welzel family.

    Havinge to this city on his father''s orders, he was at the moment in the headquarters of this family, a grand mansion almost asrge and magnificent as a pce.

    In the residential area of this mansion, he was in a beautiful living room, where there were some games typically famous in this empire, but also a cheerful decoration, full of items that mixed the natural and the artificial.

    Pictures were here and there, while at a coffee table, there were some food and drinks, and the people there were set on armchairs or sofas.

    On one of the sofas in this ce, Fritz was sitting next to the young master of the Welzel family, Leon, the level 16 heir of this family.

    "Leon, His Highness is currently facing some problems, so we must adjust some of our ns," Fritz said as the ck-haired, level 16 man watched him with a solemn expression.

    "Your family has failed so badly in Linn Province, and now our whole group is being hurt because of one person," Leon said, looking at the ipetent person talking to him.

    The subordinates of both men were in the area and couldn''t help but re at each other after those words.

    Fritz clenched his fists, knowing that as unfair as it was to put all the me on him, he had indeed failed against Lothur.

    Because of his failures, Lothur had grown up with no one to stop him and had gone so far as to encourage Daemon to steal the Blood Crystal while the Emperor was away.

    If their group had acted faster, the emperor would not be in seclusion at that moment, and Daemon would have had a harder time obtaining that crystal!

    Considering it, several allies like Leon judged that the Stauss family''s mistakes in managing the situation in Peters City had greatly hurt their group.

    With the loss of the Blood Crystal, Lars'' group had been held most responsible for this within the Imperial family. As such, they were losing some of the elders'' support.

    At the same time, as the families allied to Lars had already done many things against us'' group, they couldn''t abandon their ''ship'' now.

    So they had to bear their losses and deal with the situation!

    "Leon, that''s not fair. For all we know, Lothur might be a half-breed. His abilities are far above mine. If you were me, you would have failed too." Fritz said, using that excuse to try not to sound like aplete ipetent.

    "Maybe, maybe you are just a good-for-nothing," Leon dryly said as no one could say for sure whether Lothur was that or not. "But now that the milk is spilled, we must try to move quickly.

    I suggest we set our sights on Linn Province again, but I will be in charge of everything this time."

    "Linn? Why? Lothur''s allies now dominate that ce." Fritz said.

    Leon smiled. "Why would it be but for the cars? He created that, but he can''t enjoy it. We will take his business and use it against us'' group!"

 Chapter 647 Enviable Skills

    ?

    Two days had passed...

    Lothur and his group had traveled a long distance since they left the Imperial Prison.

    At the present moment, they were already in Hond Province, quickly approaching the secondrgest city in this central Leopoldine territory.

    In the meantime, nothing out of the ordinary had been reported to the imperial family. For all intents and purposes, the Imperial Prison remained intact as it had always been.

    The biggest escape in the history of this state would go unnoticed, and only in the future would the new inmates of that unit realize the problem.

    As such, for the moment, nobody in this state was investigating the escape of 102 people from that imperial unit and the death of all the other inmates.

    The main forces of the empire were still searching for Daemon''s group, while the groups of princes were trying to act after their recent defeats.

    Some people from these groups were still doing this in the city Lothur was approaching, preparing for the next steps in their ns.

    ...

    "Very well, I want you to wait for me here. I will be quick in what I intend to do."

    Lothur told his ves, and especially Reba, while their group was standing in a forest next to the city, that he would make thisst stop before going to Peters City.

    Most of those people epted his orders without question, but Reba approached and hugged him, saying apprehensively. "Be careful. If anyone notices your cultivation, I''m afraid..."

    "Don''t worry." He smiled at her. "When someone reaches the 4th stage, Ba, that person will be able to control their powers to the point of being able to hide their own cultivation."

    As he said those words, the spiritual fluctuations around him disappeared, and he became like a mortal in a split second.

    Just as he could hide what he was using his spatial abilities on his body, he and any other Saint could do the same to hide their soul cultivation!

    All those people watched what he had just done, noting how dangerous the Saints'' abilities were.

    ''Hmm, with the existence of abilities like that, we must always be vignt and not despise anyone who looks like a mortal...''

    Several people thought simr things.

    If they didn''t know Lothur, many felt they could easily despise him because of theck of spiritual fluctuations in his body.

    Knowing how big a mistake this would be, they couldn''t help but swallow their saliva and feel they needed to be more humble and cautious.

    Reba sensed that and felt reassured. "Then I wish you good luck."

    "Don''t worry. I''ll be back quickly. In the meantime, try not to leave this area. I''ll leave something in the surroundings to keep people away, but that won''t work if you wander around."

    That said, he soon set off toward the city less than 15 kilometers away from this forest.

    ...

    Upon entering the secondrgest city in Hond Province, one of the fivergest in the entire empire, Lothur had no difficulty due to hisck of cultivation.

    Also, given his spatial maniption skills, Lothur had entered that city without passing through the local guard posts, merely invading the city.

    Appearing on a busy street at one end of that city, he took advantage of the early evening to make his way to where he sensed the strongest people.

    He had never been to this ce before, so he didn''t know the area, much less know what the local powers based in this city were.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    But he judged that the Welzel family was the strongest locally, so he put the ce with the highest concentration of local experts in his focus.

    ''Such a ce is really rich...'' He thought as he moved around.

    ''There are Nascent Soul Transcendents in this city.

    There are several level 17 cultivators. I bet there is a level 18 cultivator or more here.''

    Lothur was impressed. Thergest city in Linn Province had merely three Soul Core Transcendents. But in the secondrgest city of this province, there were almost 10 level 17 cultivators and more than 30 level 16 cultivators.

    With this information, he realized the difference in power between the provinces of this state and imagined the power of the imperial family and those behind this organization.

    ''There are probably organizations with Saints at the same level as me in Leopoldine. Is Larissa''s family one of them?'' He remembered this young ally of his was a member of a family that lived in the shadows, and few knew of their existence.

    Considering this, Lothur couldn''t help but be curious about why these families lived like this.

    Leopoldine had no resources or spiritual energy density rich enough for 4th stage cultivators.

    Without resources from outside, people at Lothur''s level couldn''t raise their soul cultivation!

    It was even possible to improve their body cultivation, but that wouldn''t raise the power of people with Soul attribute as powerful as Lothur''s.

    From knowing the shorings of that state and now imagining the level of those powers in Leopoldine''s shadows, this silver-haired young man couldn''t help but wonder why.

    ''I''ll see about thatter... Time to see if what Anne told me was really true.'' He made his way toward the interior of a grand estate in the city''s center.

    As he came across that ce that looked like a pce, he went towards one of the outer walls of that ce, where few were paying attention at the moment.

    Then he went through the wall, quickly invading that property without difficulty.

    However, even inside that headquarters, the system gave no warning of the proximity of another leaf.

    Lothur frowned and tried to look at the strongest person on that property at the moment.

    Identifying a group with some level 17 cultivators gathered in a business room, he immediately moved there.

    He was unnoticed as he walked the halls of this property and, whenever necessary, manipted the space to get closer to the room he was interested in.

    ...

    In the room that Lothur was quickly approaching, the young master Welzel was reuniting with Fritz, continuing with the ns they had begun to draw up days ago.

    No n could be approved after the idea came up. They had to go through the hands of the official nners of these groups, especially to be approved by their faction leader, Lars.

    But after only two days, the details of young master Welzel''s n had been thought through and approved by Lothur''s 2nd uncle.

    As such, Leon and Fritz were meeting again tobine their actions in Linn Province!

    "All right, let''s prepare to take the Ritter Motor Company from those bitches of the finished Frost family!"

    ...

 Chapter 648 Domination

    ?

    "Oh? Bitches of the finished Frost family?"

    As six people, four from Fritz''s group and two from the Welzel family group, were sitting around that business room, a chilling voice reached the ears of these people.

    Each of them felt the hair around their bodies stand up as their thoughts stoppedpletely to focus on this intruder.

    They all turned their faces in the direction of where Lothur was finishing crossing a wall.

    They saw how the space was distorted around him and momentarily ignored Lothur''s silver hair and unmistakable face.

    They each paid attention to that ability only Saints or stronger ones could expose!

    ''A Saint?''

    ''How can that be? Where did this experte from? What does he want with us?''

    As the deformation of the space over that wall disappeared, those people were already pale, looking at Lothur, not knowing what to do.

    Leon was open-mouthed, totally lost amid this situation. In front of the Saints, Transcendents like them were nothing more than insects!

    There was nothing they could do, and if this person intended to kill them, they were already dead!

    ''Who is that?''

    But Fritz clearly understood who this person was, and so he was trembling much more than the others in that room.

    ''Lo... Lot... Lothur!" He said in a low voice while pointing one of his fingers at the young man with a solemn expression on his face.

    "What?"

    "How can that be?"

    "Then he really is a half-breed!"

    "Damn you, Daemon!"

    Lothur ignored thesements and made his Gravity skill put pressure on all of them.

    Instantly they all shut their mouths, feeling the immense weight on them, without even being able to move their vocal cords.

    "What were you guys talking about, the Frost family? Why did you call it a finished family?" Lothur questioned Leon as they felt pain in their bodies, afraid they would be crushed at any moment.

    The pressure on Leon eased enough for him to speak, but he said nothing, too afraid.

    He was nning to act against Lothur, against a Saint!

    So he was sure he would die, and he couldn''t let Lothur''s question go unnoticed.

    "Speak!"

    But Lothur''s voice had a power that the young master Welzel''s fears could not keep him silent for long.

    While breaking into a cold sweat, he said with difficulty but without blurring his words. "The Frost family was almost annihted days ago. Most of their strongest members died or were seriously injured after many spectres appeared in the surroundings of their headquarters."

    "What?" Lothur frowned his eyebrows much more. "Who of importance died?"

    "Aiken Frost, some high-level elders..."

    "What about Viktoria and Annaliese?" He came closer to Leon and held this fellow''s neck.

    "Your wife is fine. But Annaliese seems to be in aa, as does Mabel." Leon said with difficulty, given the tightness around his neck.

    Lothur let go of him as he looked down at the ground, a little bewildered, feeling the weight of this tragedy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    He had no idea that something like this would happen in his absence!

    ''There is something wrong with this world!

    Why have spectres suddenly appeared at Frost headquarters? Previously there was no sign of such creatures there.'' He remembered the sensations he had already felt in that area.

    ''Is this rted to the battle during the Secret Realm?'' He nced back at Leon while clenching one of his fists.

    ''Damn it! Every time someone dies, a spectre will form? It shouldn''t be like this. One grudging soul or other forming spectres wouldn''t be strange but at this amount... There is something wrong with the Laws of this world!'' He realized the big problem behind the various spectres he had already faced.

    Lothur pressed Leon again. "And you called my women bitches? Are they who you were talking about?"

    Leon didn''t dare tell the truth this time.

    But it didn''t matter. He had talked about the Ritter Motor Company.

    The only women in the Frost family who could lose control of thatpany were Viktoria and Annaliese.

    Lothur then red at Leon and the people there, feeling furious that these people coveted what was his.

    At that moment, Fritz tried his best to say something but could not. However, Minos looked in his direction and eased his pressure as he squeezed Leon''s neck again, intending to go all the way.

    "Lothur, don''t do this!

    If we die here, it won''t take long for the leaders of the Church to return to the empire to hunt you down!" Fritz said, feeling that this was their only chance to survive this creature.

    "The Church?" Lothur maliciouslyughed as darkness appeared in the surroundings, along with ck mes.

    Hellish sounds from the mes reached the ears of these six men as they felt an indescribable chill.

    Lothur''s silver eyes turned ck as night, and each of them saw the figure of death in this person.

    "Let the damned Churche! What can they do against me?" Minos shouted, as his level 20 cultivation scared these people.

    Not long ago, he was at level 15 but had so easily reached that level!

    Sensing it, some of those men pissed themselves in terror.

    ''We''re all going to die!''

    Gulp!

    A secondter, ck mes invaded all of those people''s bodies, overpowering them without difficulty.

    Meanwhile, spatial barriers glowed in the surroundings of that business room, preventing all the spiritual fluctuations from spreading to the rest of that property.

    Lothur was silent for a moment as he looked at these people, feeling like killing them without much thought.

    But then he said. "You will meet a fate far worse than death. I will not kill you today but enve you for the rest of your miserable lives.

    Before I kill you, I will use each of you to degenerate your families, to wreak havoc on those rted to you!

    You will bring disgrace to Lars Leopoldine''s life!"

    Lothur clenched his fists tightly, crushing any barrier preventing him from dominating the hearts of these people.

    In the blink of an eye, darkness had overpowered these six people, Lothur''s first infiltrators into Lars'' forces!

    He then spoke his final words of domination. "In the end, I will drink the blood of the damned members of the imperial family with your skulls!"

 Chapter 649 Stolen Item

    ?

    After easily overpowering each of those six people, Lothur didn''t want to linger any longer than necessary there as he felt worried.

    He looked at the son of the patriarch of this family, who should be the person with the best information in this group. "I am in search of an important artifact for me. It looks like a sheet of metal, and many on the continent are searching for a few versions of this thing.

    I heard that your family has one of these. Is this true? Where is it?"

    Leon heard that and immediately bowed his head to answer his master. "Sorry to disappoint you, my master, we no longer have this Singrity. We had this item stored in the family vault a few decades ago. It was our most valuable item.

    However, an incident involving one of our most important members developed here at that time, generating several human losses for us and the loss of this leaf.

    After that, it disappeared, and we never got any trace of what happened to it."

    "It was stolen by this person?" Lothur frowned.

    "Probably. We''ve investigated his whereabouts for years, but all we know is that he left Leopoldine heading north." Leon said, as his eyes narrowed and the edges of his jaw stood out.

    He felt ashamed of that incident but much more angry at the person behind it, one of his uncles.

    "I see..." Lothur shook his face and sighed, seeing that getting one of those items would not be easy for him.

    ''When Anne told me about the Welzel family, she also said that the imperial family had two of those leaves... Is it really true?'' He paused momentarily, closing his eyes and remembering old conversations with her.

    Anneke had gotten information to him about these leaves and told him to avoid looking for them, given the level of danger they posed.

    Thinking about how iplete the information about the Welzel family''s item was, he immediately pondered the possibility that the imperial family might not have any either.

    ''Could it be that her informants purposely misled her?'' He opened his eyes as he realized the possibility behind it. ''That would make someone looking for those items go against those families and show themselves.

    Maybe other people looking for those leaves are watching for movements like that?''

    He then asked Leon and Fritz. "Do you know if the imperial family has any of these leaves?"

    "Impossible to say for sure. We don''t know much about other families'' high-level items.

    Even House Leopoldine didn''t know what we had until we lost that Singrity." Leon said, making Lothur look even more serious.

    Fritz agreed. "And if it had, given how valuable that is, the families behind House Leopoldine would probably be the real owners of it."

    ''Makes sense. I wonder if the information Anne got wasn''t a trap of one of those families. They want to catch people looking for these items to extract information from them?''

    Lothur thought about what he would do if he wanted to improve his information about these items if he were in the shoes of one of these families.

    With that in mind, he decided not to look for the local imperial family for now.

    There was a high probability that the Leopoldine family did not have what he wanted, and there was still trouble awaiting him.

    Since he could no longer casually show himself in public, he preferred not to get into trouble with powers with experts at his level that might expose him.

    He and his mother''s group had gone to a lot of trouble distracting the high-level staff of the Seraphim Church for him to blow it over some dubious information.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    ''I will first settle my affairs in Peters City and fulfill that promise. If the family of that fragment no longer exists, I will gain some new Soul Bones to strengthen my family.''

    Lothur had no interest in absorbing some of those bones, as he already had half the number of Soul Bones he could have and wanted to be more selective about the quality of the next ones he would absorb.

    As of now, he had no interest in absorbing Soul Bones from demons below the Monarch rank!

    There were no such bones with the ones that fragment had left for him to pass on to his rtives, so if those people didn''t exist, he intended to give them to his women.

    "Very well, watch the movements of the imperial family and anything involving me you must do your best to avoid problems for my family.

    For the rest, you can maintainmunication with the Koch family. They are my subordinates."

    "Yes, master!" Those people said simultaneously, moments before Lothur disappeared from that ce and the surroundings returned to normal.

    The spark of darkness within their bodies would be less intense, but they would remain under Lothur''s dominion.

    Noticing that he had left, Fritz asked. "What will we do now? If we continue with our ns, we will harm the master. But if we change everything, we will cause Lars to be suspicious."

    Leon agreed. "That can''t happen. The master wants us to spy on the imperial family, so we must maintain our position in the Third Prince''s faction."

    "What do you suggest?" Another man asked Leon.

    "We will continue with our ns. But we will forge an incident before our forces reach Peters City." Leon suggested, indicating that he would be willing to kill people from his own family and allies to fake his intentions and purposes.

    "That''s a good idea. How exactly will we do that?"

    ...

    Lothur quickly left that Welzel family city, returning to his group''s side in one of the adjacent forests within moments.

    Everyone was waiting for him exactly as he had left them minutes ago, without facing any problems.

    "Let''s go." He said, a little agitated in his manner. "I didn''t get anything in that ce. But we have trouble in Peters City."

    "Trouble? What''s wrong?" Reba asked.

    "Spectres. Spectres attacked the Frost family, and several important people died." He summed it up in one sentence before he started to move, already with Reba in his arms.

    The people were already carrying ice, and everyone else was running through the space distorted by Lothur.

    "That... But that''s terrible!" Rebamented in a disbelieving tone, shocked at how unlucky this family was.

    ''They were almost destroyed several times in the recent past, but after they seemed to have ovee everything, they suffered at the ''hands'' of spectres?''

    "It''s really bad," Lothur said in a solemn tone. "Anyway, let''s not make any more stops. Let''s move directly to Peters City."

 Chapter 650 Playing

    ?

    Two days after Lothur''s passage through the Welzel family city...

    On Leopoldine''s border with Utrary and Cesha, a group of three Saints from one of those states were traveling toward the target that had appeared to them days ago.

    These people belonged to arge family from Cesha, in search of their young master, who had disappeared without a trace 97 years ago.

    However, in thest few days, not only the sign of this young master''s soul had suddenly disappeared, marking his death, the sign of one of his items had reappeared!

    After 97 years of no signals, the tracking device in that man''s things had left its ''invisibility'' and signaled its position.

    Where was it?

    Such a thing was moving through Leopoldine, heading towards the northeastern part of this state!

    This group knew that their young master was dead, but they traveled as fast as they could to find out where their young master had been all these years, how he had died, and who had his things!

    "Who would have thought Karlo was in this damned state all this time..." One of the three said, regretting that his young master had fallen into such a weak ce.

    "I wondered how he remained invisible to us for so many decades... The patriarch even sent investigators to the northern continent, thinking he had been taken there."

    "But all this time, he was so close to us." The strongest of them, level 20,mented in a crestfallen manner. "But we will avenge Karlo. As much as we failed him in life, we won''t make the same mistake in death!"

    "Yes!"

    "We will avenge the young master''s death!"

    They continued to move through the vacuum of space, going toward the trail being emitted by one of their young master''s items.

    "Just be careful of their fluctuations. I have heard that there are strong families in this empire that live secretly in thesends. So avoid drawing attention."

    "OK."

    ...

    Two more days passed...

    After four days of traveling, Lothur and his group finally crossed the border of Linn Province!

    By now, they were flying towards Peters City, not far from where they were.

    Arriving in the vicinity of this ce, Lothur told his group to slow down their speed and altitude.

    "We''re going tond in that forest near the city. I want your group to stay in that area for now so we don''t attract attention." He said to those 100 fugitives from the Imperial Prison.

    He then stopped manipting the space in his surroundings, making his entire group appear to the world as they were about tond in the vicinity of that forest.

    However, when Lothur stopped manipting the space in the surroundings, he suddenly realized that several humans were building something near where he hadnded with his group.

    ''What is it?''

    He wondered as he looked in that direction, seeing an underground headquarters that had not existed there weeks ago and was by no means small.

    But as he watched and his men stood silently waiting for his words, he saw some spiritual fluctuations in that ce he already knew.

    ''Elke?'' His eyebrows drew together, and he couldn''t help but wonder what she was doing there.

    "Wait here. I will see something further on."

    Reba clenched her fists, wanting to keep up with him, but didn''t say anything in time when he had already disappeared from this group.

    Ice sat on the ground after getting off those who had carried it there and breathed in the air of that forest. ''Ah, home atst.''

    ...

    As he approached the group working in a nearby underground construction, Lothur immediately canceled his aura, put a mask on his face, and a hood to hide his hair.

    He then walked towards the entrance of that ce, where several armed men were standing around as if they were merely camping in the area.

    But inside thergest tent of that camp was the entrance to the underground headquarters being built there.

    "Hey, to the north. Someone is approaching." One of the mercenaries hired by Elke, Viktoria, and Annaliese shouted, drawing the attention of hispanions in the surrounding area.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Then three men ran toward Lothur, sensing that he was only a mortal and that it would be easy to stop him.

    "Hey buddy, this is our camp. You can''t just walk in as you please..." One of the men said this as he tried to grab one of Lothur''s arms.

    But as he was about to reach for this moving target, this person felt something supernatural acting on his body and strangely fell to the ground as he felt like a rock had fallen on top of him.

    The other two already near Lothur felt forces acting on them and either fell like that other one or were thrown far away.

    Quickly several of the warriors in the surrounding area realized that this person was powerful and started running towards him, already with weapons in their hands.

    But as Lothur walked to that ce rtively slowly, Elke sensed that something was happening and climbed several flights of stairs until she reached the entrance to the future Ritter family headquarters.

    When she arrived outside in that forest, she immediately saw all the men in the surrounding area lying on the ground, struggling even to breathe.

    "Who are you?" She shouted at Lothur without identifying him. "Why are you acting against us?

    Lothur looked at Elke and saw her status.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16]

    [Body Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 218.3] [CON: 387] [DEX: 210.4] AGI: 219.1]

    [INT: 57.7] [PER: 45.5] [WIL: 137] [SOU: 310.9]

    Immediately after that, he was silent, grinning from beneath his mask.

    He was happy for his woman''s progress in his absence, but he said nothing, nning to surprise Elke.

    ''Come to me!''

    With that thought, he reached out to the 100 fugitives from the Imperial Prison, causing them to move toward him.

    Within seconds of encountering this man acting against her group, Elke became increasingly fearful, noticing that his power was not simple.

    Some of the strongest cultivators in Peters City were in her group, but no one in the area was a match for this man. Not only that, he alone could immobilize them without even moving!

    "Miss Elke, what are you..." The patriarch of the Koch family finally caught up with Elke,ing out from inside that building.

    But when faced with that situation, he immediately swallowed his saliva dry and shut up.

    A second after he and three other allies of Lothur in the Ritter Motor Company appeared outside the main tent of that camp, 100 men appeared on the outskirts.

    They circled the area, some on the ground while others floated in the air.

    Seeing and feeling the strength of these people, Elke''s group almost fainted in terror, seeing 100 Transcendents, some even at the peak of level 17.

    "That..."

    "How can that be?" Gomeric began to feel his whole body trembling, not believing that such an impressive force had surrounded them.

    Gulp!

    ''Who is that? Why are they here?'' Elke no longer questioned, feeling that they were lost if the intentions of the newly arrived group were evil.

    But then Reba arrived in that ce along with a white fox, spoiling Lothur''s game.

    He saw Elke looking in the direction of these two and sighed.

    "Elke, I''m back. Did you miss me?" Lothur said in a cheerful tone as he took off the mask over his face and the hood over his head.

    "Lothur!"

    ...

 Chapter 651 The Truth About Lothur

    ?

    Tears streamed down Elke''s face as she ran up to Lothur, feeling her heart beating faster.

    Her breathing rose, and her face flushed, but even with tears in her eyes, her features indicated nothing but happiness and relief.

    When she heard Lothur''s voice right in front of her, all the worries in her heart faded away, reced by the joy of being able to touch him and know that he was all right.

    For weeks she, Viktoria, and Annaliese had no idea what he was doing. All they knew was that the great Seraphim Church was hunting him.

    For all they knew, he could be anywhere, injured, alone.

    Upon seeing him strong and well, all these worries copsed simultaneously, and she began to cry inconsbly.

    Lothur didn''t say much to her, massaging her soft little body while smelling the sweet scent of her red hair.

    Reba watched this in silence as Lothur''s men in the surrounding area stopped the earlier formation their master had told them to use.

    Gomeric, the Koch patriarch, and other elders of the allied families in the Ritter Motor Company heard Lothur''s words and sighed in relief.

    This monstrous group was not their enemy!

    But before wondering if Lothur was the monstrous creature the Church was hunting, they all stood momentarily silent and open-mouthed, feeling this young man''s cultivation.

    ''Celestial Saint...''

    Gulp!

    Several Adam''s pommels went up and down, with virtually everyone who already knew Lothur there wondering the same thing.

    ''How?''

    But the more intelligent ones would slowly let the initial shock wear off to consider the obvious.

    ''Is he really a half-breed of demon and human?'' Gomeric wondered. ''But how is that possible? Lothur was always so calm! He never showed any sign of that chaotic, murderous creature!''

    While he and others were thinking about this, one of Reba''s acquaintances in the area asked her.

    "Reba, what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be in the Imperial Prison? Did the imperial family happen to release you?"

    "No, I escaped from the Imperial Prison. We all escaped."

    "Uh? All of you?"

    "But that should be impossible."

    Hearing that, the Koch patriarch was about to say. "Don''t tell me that..."

    Lothur then replied while having Elke with her face glued to his chest. "After I escaped from the clutches of the imperial family members, I used one of them to put me inside the Imperial Prison and keep the people of the Seraphim Church away from my real location.

    After a while in that ce, I became stronger, and a few days ago, I opened the way for my group to leave that ce."

    "But... Shouldn''t it be impossible to cultivate inside that ce?" The leader of the Koch family did not understand how Lothur had achieved this feat.

    Lothur saw the expression of doubt on that man''s face and smiled. "Because others can''t, doesn''t mean I can''t."

    With those words, everyone in the surrounding area fell silent, clearly understanding its meaning.

    Gomeric looked at the men and women in the surroundings. "Are they all Imperial Prison inmates?"

    "Yes, they are my subordinates now," Lothur said, making Elke look him in the eye.

    "That..."

    "There are 100 Transcendents here!" Patriarch Koch looked at the surroundings, frowning as he saw those people watching the area.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "What do you intend to do with them? Take revenge?" Elke asked, making everyone momentarily look in their direction.

    But Lothur showed no such interest. "No. At least not now. I cannot deny that I have benefited greatly from the actions of Lars Leopoldine''s group.

    On the other hand, I intend to fulfill that mission I received near Lewerenz."

    "Oh? You intend to travel north?" She immediately remembered the ce where she had almost died at the hands of one of the Frost family infiltrators.

    "Yes, after I settle some matters locally." He looked at the people there and finally asked. "What are you people doing here?"

    Gomeric said with a smile on his face. "Lothur, this is the future headquarters of the Ritter family. Viktoria and Elke have been developing this ce for the past few weeks...

    It will be ready in a few more days."

    "My headquarters?" He heard that and smiled, enjoying the movement of his women.

    "Not only that, those men in the surrounding area are all our family members now," Elke said.

    Lothur looked at the men pressed to the ground by his ability and deactivated it, smiling as he gestured to them.

    "Sorry about that. I was testing you, haha."

    None of those men expressed dissatisfaction upon hearing his excuse, as they felt overjoyed to discover how strong their patriarch was.

    Their leader was already a Saint!

    How many Saints were there in this empire? Very few!

    "Very well, since this is my headquarters, I will leave my men here." He looked at the surroundings and ordered. "From now on, you will stay in this ce to defend it and take orders from my woman."

    "Yes, master!"

    "For now, help the workers finish building this ce. I will leave now, but when I return, I want to see this ce ready to start its operations."

    Once again, the 100 people eximed as they understood and began to move toward the interior of that construction.

    Seeing this and hearing the word master, the local leaders surveying the construction alongside Elke realized that these individuals were not merely allies of Lothur.

    ''Master?''

    "Are they your ves?" Elke asked in a low voice.

    "Hmm, then you can rest assured. They are 100% loyal and us and would die if ordered to do so." He winked at her.

    Then Lothur looked at Reba and Ice. "You two need to stay here. You both shouldn''t be around here, so if you are seen around the city, it will indicate what happened..."

    "I know," Reba said, imagining this would be her new home.

    Ice nodded its head without saying anything. It preferred such a ce more than the urban area of Peters City!

    With that settled, Lothur once again hid his cultivation and called those local leaders to apany him.

    "What shall we do now?" Gomeric asked him.

    He and all the others were still holding the fact that Lothur was a hybrid in their minds. But they were all going along with what he was indicating.

    Not only because they didn''t feel that Lothur was a threat to them but because they also had no choice. They were already associated with the young Ritter, and this fellow had returned with great force.

    At the same time, even if the Church was hunting him, Lothur was now at a very high level. They couldn''t tell for sure if the people in that organization would be able to do anything against him.

    In that case, it was better to simply stay on his good side, even knowing his terrible reality!

 Chapter 652 Good News

    ?Proxy Connection Failed!

    Proxy Connection Failed!

    Proxy Connection Failed!

    Lothur then answered Gomeric''s question. "I want you to get all the associates of the Ritter Motor Company together.

    I want to meet them to talk about the future tonight.

    Arrange for everything to take ce at my family''s headquarters."

    "Should I tell them that you have returned?" Elke''s father asked.

    "No. Let them think it will just be something nned by Viktoria and Elke." Lothur smiled. "But don''t worry, I just want to keep my presence in this ce a secret. So it''s best not to speak my name unless it''s indispensable."

    "OK. I will do that immediately." Gomeric said before running back to Peters City.

    Lothur''s group was walking quietly toward that ce, so some of them went together with Gomeric to start sorting this out quickly.

    Being alone with Elke and some members of the Koch family, Lothur manipted the space around them, making them invisible.

    Only he was visible at that moment as he walked through that forest, and his cultivation disappeared again.

    "So? How is the development of our projects?" He asked Patriarch Koch as that man looked from one side to the other at the spatial distortion he was in.

    "Uh, eh, we''re doing fine." He said without looking at Lothur. "The Ritter Motor Company''s vehicle production has elerated quite a bit in your absence.

    So between cars, trucks, and buses, we already have over 500 units running around the province and even 3 units running outside the province.

    Most of those units, just over 350, are in Peters City."

    "Oh? The second factory is ready?"

    Elke nodded affirmatively. "Yes, so we are managing to deliver 50 vehicles a day now."

    "Perfect!" He smiled. "By the time I return from my trip up north, I want my vehicles to run all over the empire.

    At that time, I can take a vacation in peace."

    "Do you still wish that?" Patriarch Koch asked, curious if this young man really wished to live quietly, away from trouble as he had always said.

    It was one thing for Lothur to say that before when no one knew what he was. But with the knowledge of his terrible origin, this man could not help but doubt Lothur''s peaceful interest.

    Lothur looked at him and stated. "Yes, that is my life goal. To live in tranquility beside my women, without worrying about leading or anything else.

    Making a family shouldn''t be bad either."

    Nothing but sincerity had been said, and that man stood silently watching Lothur along with his family members.

    "We will work towards that, sir." He said after a moment.

    Lothur then asked. "Are more people joining my vehiclemunicators?"

    "Yes, our work is increasing substantially." Patriarch Koch said.

    "Good. You guys should move your base of operations to my family''s headquarters. It will be easier to protect you there."

    They talked some more about these things, at various times quoting things that Elke didn''t quite understand what they were about.

    So they would soon arrive in Peters City, where, to everyone in the surrounding area, Lothur was just a mortal walking alone toward his goals.

    The group apanying Lothur would be shocked to experience the feeling of being invisible, with Elke, in particr, being stunned as they passed the bodies of people in their path.

    ''Saints really are entities of another level!'' The Koch patriarch was also aghast at the capabilities of their leader.

    When they arrived in front of his house, where Viktoria was supposed to be, Lothur gave the Koch patriarch a spatial ring.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    "There are enough resources in it to build 4 new Ritter Motor Company factories and increase the number of people working with your group.

    Use them for that."

    Patriarch Koch took that and probed the spatial ring, finding rivers of coins and even crystals in it.

    "I will do that immediately!" He said.

    After that, Lothur stopped beside his house, where he made sure no one was looking, and let those people go.

    With their departure, he proceeded to the interior of his house, going through the walls from there next to Elke.

    ...

    Inside Lothur''s house, Annaliese was in one of the rooms with her mother, both unconscious since that fateful day.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria was standing next to a man she had recently met after hearing that he had healed some people in Peters City.

    The night before, she had heard about this traveler passing through Peters City, who had attended some local nobles and caught her attention.

    Since she had not yet heard back from either her mother''s family or the empire''s capital, she had used this opportunity to try to bring someone in to resolve the situation of her mother and sister.

    Therefore, this man was examining the two at this very moment.

    "What about them, Doctor Helmut? How are they doing? Can you wake them up?" She asked as she saw that man sitting in a chair next to Mabel.

    He had already examined Annaliese and had just finished probing Mabel''s body.

    He closed his eyes and scratched one of his forearms. "Annaliese''s situation is not worrying. She will wake up even if we do nothing. The only problem is that she will be shaken up and will need monitoring.

    But your mother''s case is more serious, Miss Viktoria Frost. I alone could not take care of her. I would need to take her to my master or wait for him toe here. But..." He hesitated.

    Viktoria understood that waiting for this doctor''s master toe to Peters City might not be the best thing, and she immediately realized she would have to send her mother to this person.

    But doing that would not be so simple. After all, she could not simply hand over her mother to a stranger.

    "So..."

    Seeing the look on Viktoria''s face, Helmut realized he would get what he wanted without difficulty.

    However, just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard Elke''s voice.

    "Viktoria, can you hold on a moment? One of the most renowned doctors in the empire has just sent us a message. He will be here in Peters City tomorrow." She said, just before entering that room.

    "Elke? Is this serious?" Viktoria looked at her and was not surprised such a woman was there instead of where she was supposed to be.

    Helmet heard that and frowned his eyebrows. "Miss Viktoria, I advise you to make up your mind quickly. Your mother''s situation is serious, and we can''t wait for long."

    But Viktoria would rather wait for a day than send her mother away, "I will wait until tomorrow. If the doctor Elke said cannot help me, I will follow with you and my mother to your master, Doctor Helmut."

    Upon hearing this, this man quietly clenched his fists but expressed a smile. "Well then, I will return tomorrow."

    As he left, Lothur was watching him through the vacuum of space.

    ''That man... He clearly could wake Mabel by himself.'' Lothur''s eyes sparkled, noticing that such a person was hiding his own abilities.

    ''What does he want?''

    ...

 Chapter 653 She Got What She Deserved

    ?

    When Helmut left the Ritter residence, Viktoria looked at Elke as they walked back into that house and asked. "Who is this doctor? Will he be able to help my mother and sister?"

    "I think so... He is a Saint," Elke said as her lips arched, showing her beautiful teeth.

    "Saint?" Viktoria frowned, staring at Elke.

    But then she heard someone else standing there in the doorway of her residence.

    "I''ll take care of everything now, dear..."

    When Lothur said this, Viktoria immediately looked in the direction of the main hallway of this residence, thinking she had imagined her man''s voice.

    But as she looked at that man, she immediately realized she was not imagining anything.

    He really was there!

    "Lothur!" She shouted as she ran toward him, seeking his arms.

    Lothur smiled and felt his wife''s body. "You missed me, huh? Don''t worry. I will take care of you from now on."

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16]

    [Body Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 229.9] [CON: 411] [DEX: 235.8] [AGI: 235.1]

    [INT: 384] [PER: 189.1] [WIL: 203] [SOU: 467.9]

    Lothur looked at his wife''s status and noted that she should reach level 17 of soul cultivation in no more than a few days.

    Considering that he was now there to take care of her needs, this could happen faster, and she might even be able to advance the level of her body cultivation!

    ''Viktoria is really talented...'' He thought as he felt his clothes getting wet where Viktoria was supporting his face.

    "Lothur, you don''t know what we had to go through in your absence..." She said as she copsed into her man''s arms.

    "We were so worried about you... But still, we were doing our best to continue training and developing the Ritter family as you wanted." She said, sobbing. "But then several spectres appeared on my family''s property.

    My father died that day, but I couldn''t even give him a proper rest because I didn''t have enough power to get rid of the spectre in his body.

    My mother is badly injured, and Anna has been in a deep sleep since she lost her baby..."

    Lothur heard this and closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

    "I see... So she has lost the baby."

    Lothur was sad to hear that, but he couldn''t help but worry more about Annaliese''s mental state.

    He wanted to have that child, but for a father, it was not so easy to connect with an unborn child. For the mother, it was something totally different, so the weight of the news for Lothur did notpare to what Annaliese must feel.

    That''s why he worried twice as much about her!

    "Don''t worry. I''ll sort everything out now that I''m here." He said in a low voice. "Shall we take a look at the two?"

    "Hmm..." She nodded as she wiped the tears from her face.

    With that, the three of them went to the room where Annaliese and Mabel were.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When they got there again, Lothur immediately saw the situation of the two women with his visual ability.

    Annaliese did not have any worrisome problems in her body. She just needed some encouragement to ovee the mental barrier in front of her.

    In a way, her state was simr to a creature trying not to face a problem, forcing itself into hibernation mode.

    As for Mabel, her case was more serious. She had several internal injuries, her own soul powers were destabilized, and some of her spiritual nerves were broken.

    Spiritual nerves were structures through which a cultivator''s soul power circted within their body.

    The importance of this spiritual part was extreme since cultivators needed to direct their energies to different parts of the body when doing activities.

    For example, the activation of techniques usually urred through the hands, where cultivators usually used weapons or controlled their techniques. So if one lost the spiritual nerves of the hands, a cultivator might be unable to reuse that technique after the trauma.

    Not only that but to fly, run, to do various other things, spiritual nerves were needed.

    If one didn''t want to live as a mortal, preserving these structures was essential!

    A single broken one could already turn a cultivator into a cripple!

    Seeing this, Lothur didn''t say anything at first but couldn''t contain his thoughts. ''That''s really sad, but considering the kind of person you were, I''m not sure you didn''t deserve this...

    It''s just a shame that Aiken died. Of the two of you, he was the only one who didn''t deserve that.''

    Lothur had already heard from Elke exactly how the battle that day had happened and how Aiken had fought Mabel while possessed by a spectre.

    He sighed and said. "I can awaken Anna immediately. As for your mother, her case isplicated."

    Viktoria clenched her fists as she felt a tightening in her heart. "Lothur, please help her. If not for her, for me." She begged.

    "It''s not that I don''t want to help her. It''s that some of her spiritual nerves are broken... I''m sorry to say, but I doubt she will be able to use several of her abilities in the future."

    "It can''t be..."

    "That is if there is no way to restore those nerves." Lothur only had medical knowledge to the degree of 3-star.

    There were no methods of regenerating spiritual nerves for doctors up to that level.

    But without knowledge beyond that, he didn''t rule out the possibility that one day he might achieve enough to help his mother-inw.

    "But even if there is, I can''t currently do anything about it. It''s above my knowledge." He said without letting his resentment for Mabel get in the way of his judgment.

    "So what can you do for her?" Elke asked as Viktoria went nk, unable to say anything.

    "I can solve her other problems. End the risks to her life and wake her up. But that will take a few days.

    I have to produce several pills and potions for her, things that, at the moment, I don''t have the ingredients with me."

    Viktoria then stepped forward and said. "Thank you, Lothur. That''s enough for now. If you can restore her spiritual nerves one day, that will be perfect, but saving her life at the moment is crucial."

    "Hmmm." He nodded before folding up the sleeves of his shirt and sitting in a chair.

    He then began to write everything on a piece of paper.

    "Here are the herbs, nts, and minerals needed for your mother''s treatment. Look for these and bring them to me." He said as he handed that paper to Viktoria. "Try to prioritize what is at the top of the list. Those are ingredients needed to end the risk of death."

    ...

 Chapter 654 Wake Up!

    ?

    Upon receiving that list that contained over 20 names, Viktoria immediately recognized some of them. "We have some of those ingredients, but they are in my family''s old headquarters."

    "Uh?" Lothur still didn''t know that they had abandoned such a location.

    Viktoria exined. "After that day, we left that area. There seems to be a negative aura there, and we are afraid of more spectres appearing there.

    After that battle, we left the area without taking everything around there."

    "I see..." Lothur then said. "No problem. I will go over there and clean up the areater. After that, the Frost family can even return to live there."

    "That..." She hesitated and then plucked up the courage to say. "Lothur, I merged the Frost family with the Ritter family. When our family headquarters is ready, I was thinking of taking them there."

    Hearing this, Lothur opened his eyes more significantly, looking at his wife in silence.

    ''Who would know, huh? From son-inw to the leader of the family... I didn''t see thating.'' He thought, remembering how low his status was months ago, how he had left the family and started living on his own.

    But now, this family he once belonged to was part of his own organization...

    Lothur couldn''t help but contemte this great irony by looking at Mabel.

    ''This woman will curse me when she finds out about this.'' He bitterly smiled.

    "I see. It makes sense that you would do that." Hemented, feeling there was no point in preventing this from going further.

    "Well, if that''s the case, let''s take care of Annaliese first. Without those resources, I can''t do anything for your mother, so I''ll have to wait until I have at least the first three on the list." He said as he walked to the side of the bed where Annaliese was lying.

    She wore a white dress, which made her look less pale.

    But her dehydrated, whitened lips did not hide her internal situation, where she was in constant pain in her nightmares.

    ck mes!

    Suddenly, Lothur ced one of his hands above Annaliese''s forehead, and ck mes appeared on his fingertips.

    He ced his fingers against the top of Annaliese''s head and then muttered.

    "Wake up!"

    The dark mes oozed inside her body, quickly reaching her most important mental structures, which were making it impossible for her to leave her nightmare.

    In her nightmare, she saw and saw, again and again, different ways of losing her child. Since she had lost consciousness days ago, she had been experiencing the painful sensation of seeing her child with Lothur dying.

    In some nightmares, she simply lost the baby in her belly. In others, he was born and died soon after, always tragically and prematurely.

    Each time she survived whatever cmities were upon them, always standing back to see or feel her lifeless little one.

    ��?��m It was eating her up from the inside out!

    But just as she was going through this torturous experience again, her nightmare''s surroundings began to disappear, as ck mes covered everything there.

    "Wake up!"

    This voice repeatedly came up in her mind, little by little increase in volume.

    At first, she paid no attention to it, too disoriented for that.

    But each time the sound increased, she slowly left her disorientation to pay attention to that sound.

    "Wake up!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    Hearing it almost so loud that she would have to bring her hands to her ears, Annaliese suddenly opened her eyes, breathing a little agitatedly and breaking into a cold sweat.

    "Lothur!"

    That was her first word as she lifted the top of her and shouted.

    Viktoria and Elke saw how quickly Lothur had made Annaliese wake up and took steps backward, impressed.

    Lothur looked at this woman and sat down beside her on that bed, still with one of his hands on her head. "Anna, I am here." He said in a low voice next to one of her ears.

    Hearing her man''s voice once again, she looked back and saw one of the sides of his face, feeling much less bad because he was there.

    "Lothur... Lothur..." Tears dripped from her eyes, but she couldn''t help but think of the baby she would have with him.

    "Breathe, Anna. Breathe." He said, making her follow his orders. "We will deal with anything. Now you must breathe calmly and then eat something."

    She continued to cry so badly that her whole body was shaking.

    But strangely, her body did asmanded, and as she breathed, her agitation gradually subsided.

    Lothur took some fruits from his spatial ring and said. "Eat."

    She unconsciously did so while trying to tell him everything that had happened.

    "Lothur... I... I killed our little baby... I put myself at risk, and he was the victim." She said as she ate, feeling a tightness in her heart that could notpare to anything in this world.

    "It''s not your fault, Anna. You were facing evil creatures. You were trying to save your family. That''s a noble gesture!"

    They would talk about this for the next few minutes while Annaliese regained some of her strength by eating, and they would talk about what had happened.

    Viktoria and Elke would try tofort Annaliese along with Lothur until a few minutes after her awakening, she was less inconsble, with the tears on her face slowly drying up.

    "What about father? What about mother?" She looked at the surroundings and worried about them.

    "Our mother will be fine. Lothur just needs a few resources, and he will get her out of danger." Viktoria said, leaving to discuss the details with her sister when she was better.

    But she couldn''t hide the truth about their father...

    "As for our father, unfortunately, we couldn''t get the damned spectre out of him, Anna." Viktoria lowered her face, curving her lips downward as her eyes filled with tears.

    Hearing that, Annaliese felt her heart leap in her chest and begin to beat harder.

    "It can''t be..."

    They would wail together for a few more moments until Lothur stood up from the bed where Annaliese stilly and said.

    "Anna, your situation is stable now. I would suggest you eat well and rest. But now I intend to go to your family''s estate to solve the problem there.

    It may be important for you to apany me to face the ce and ovee the problem. I intend to finish off the creature inside your father''s body and bring his body back for you to prepare your farewell."

    Viktoria and Annaliese looked at Lothur and immediately agreed that they wanted to participate.

    Even though they were hurt by everything that had happened, they wanted to at least see the end of that damned spectre and get their father''s body back!

    ...

 Chapter 655 Say Your Name!

    ?

    After hearing what Lothur wanted to do, the three women immediately agreed to apany him to the former headquarters of the Frost family.

    They then proceeded toward that ce through the vacuum of space without calling attention to their movement.

    For all intents and purposes, Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese were still at their and Lothur''s home.

    However, the four quickly arrived at the ce currently surrounded by dozens of local growers.

    As they passed the group of lookouts on the outskirts of this facility, Lothur immediately noticed the signs of the battle that had taken ce there.

    He promptly sensed the darkness of this ce, noticing the creature inside Aiken''s body, but also spectres forming in the shadows.

    "There really is something wrong here..." He said to his women. "More than two dozen spectres are forming here. If I didn''te here today, in no more than two weeks, they would fully form."

    "What?" Viktoria asked in surprise, not understanding how that was possible. "How? How is it possible for so many spectres to appear in the same ce?"

    Annaliese and Elke were also full of doubt in their minds, for what they had learned at the academy diverged with the current reality about these spectres.

    Unlike Viktoria, they were still studying at the Morning Star Academy and had been reading the spectre-rted texts from that ce.

    They knew perfectly well that the formation of spectres was something special and extremely difficult to happen.

    Lothur said. "I don''t know... It seems that there is something wrong with our world. It''s as if the wheel of reincarnation is broken."

    Most people in that world believed in reincarnation.

    Because of this belief, a whole theory talked about how more or less this happened, the minimum requirements to reincarnate, and how this reincarnation should be.

    The most famous theory was that of the Seraphim Church, which said there was a wheel of reincarnation.

    This wheel was like a water wheel. Souls came to it after death like a flow of water. Some part of this flow would manage to enter thepartments of the water wheel and, after passing through some stages, would return pure to the world.

    On the other hand, some of the flow would not be able to enter one of thepartments of the water wheel. These would pass right under it and continue to exist in some form in the physical world.

    For the Church, these represented the spectres, soul fragments, or even immortals!

    In any case, the reincarnation wheel should be able to receive the majority of those with the capacity to start the cycle of reincarnation, and only a small part should remain in the second group.

    However, from the number of people dead in this ce and thoseing back in the form of spectres, this rule was not working well!

    "That..."

    "But that would be terrible!" Elke said in a tone full of dread. "If that''s true, we''ll all be spectres someday!"

    "Hmm, it really is a gigantic problem..." Lothur said.

    But that was just his theory, not something he was sure was the problem.

    "But I can handle these creatures, so let''s not think too much about that problem for now. That''s still something far away from us." He said, just before his group arrived at where Aiken was trapped.

    Upon arriving there, Lothur saw several formations around the cell where this man''s body was being held.

    Annaliese immediately felt her eyes filling with tears as she came across her father''s body, feeling how unfair everything that had happened was.

    Lothur manipted the space in the surroundings as his women looked at that man who had an ugly look on his face.

    But the spectre of Simon somehow was happy, with a wide smile on Aiken''s face.

    When Lothur had finished forming a space where he could act without drawing attention from the people in the surroundings, he finally appeared beside his women to that spectre.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    When Viktoria and Annaliese appeared, Aiken shifted his gaze and focused on the two.

    Their sudden appearance was strange, but the chaotic creature inside Aiken''s body could not reason well enough to notice the danger.

    All he saw were these two that he still wanted to kill somehow!

    He had killed Aiken, but wouldn''t it be amazing if he used this man''s body to kill his daughters?

    He smiled mischievously as his hands clenched the bars of his cell.

    Lothur noticed the murderous intent of this creature and left the side of his three women, walking toward that cell.

    He deftly disarmed the surrounding formations, drawing that creature''s attention but also opening gaps for him.

    Just as Lothur was about to reach that cell, Simon used Aiken''s body, disying a level 17 cultivation, to try to attack in the direction of Viktoria, who he thought was the strongest there!

    "Hmm, take it easy, horrible creature."

    Suddenly, a hand squeezed one of his feet as he floated in the air, trying to fly towards Viktoria.

    Pow!

    Then, in the next second, Lothur used Aiken''s body like a big hammer, mming it against the ground.

    "Aaaagh!"

    A cry of pain broke from Aiken''s throat as his head heavily collided with the ground.

    While Simon''s spectre didn''t understand how Lothur could be so strong and shifted his focus from Viktoria to him, the young Ritter grabbed him by the neck and lifted him until their eyes were at the same height.

    "Spectre, speak your name!" ck mes appeared in Lothur''s fingers, prating Aiken''s body.

    The moment these ck mes entered that body, Simon''s spectre immediately felt threatened and tried to flee.

    "Trying to run away?" Lothur saw this with his visual ability and squeezed Aiken''s neck tighter.

    When he did this, he increased the pressure on that body so much that Simon''s spectre felt as if an extremely dense wall had taken the ce of Aiken''s skin.

    He mmed against this wall and achieved nothing before the ck mes finally reached him.

    At that instant, a diabolical sound came from inside Aiken, even though the man didn''t open his mouth or move his vocal cords.

    A secondter, the noise ceased, and the look on Aiken''s face changed.

    "Si... Simm... Simo... Simon..." He opened his mouth and said with great difficulty.

    "Simon?" Viktoria and Elke heard this and clenched their fists.

    There was no way for them to tell for sure whose specter each spectre that had appeared on this estate was. Their soul powers were different from those in life, and their appearances were monstrous.

    Hearing that their uncle was behind it all, they both felt more hatred for this person, who had betrayed their family in life and then victimized them in death.

    "Bastard!" Annaliese said as she stepped forward and shouted. "Lothur, kill him. Make him suffer as much as possible!"

    ...

 Chapter 656 Purifying the Area

    ?

    "I already nned to do that," Lothur said, looking into that creature''s eyes.

    Then, as Viktoria clenched her fists and felt a lump in her throat, and Annaliese stared hatefully at her father''s body, Lothur''s eyes turnedpletely ck.

    His silver irises and even the sclera of his eyes had be ck as night.

    Meanwhile, mes of death surged around Simon''s spirit, beginning to burn everything left of him in this world.

    Simon immediately began to cry out in pain when he saw the darkness in Lothur''s eyes, emitting indistinguishable sounds, making even the spectres in formation around that property cringe.

    When Lothur had overpowered him, he regained some more of his memory and understood more of who he was, where he was, and what he had done.

    As he thought about it, he only felt more for, remembering that his wife and son, as well as his ns, had been destroyed, and that would never change.

    He wanted to get revenge, but there was nothing he could do in front of the death bearer slowly executing him.

    Simon couldn''t be sure that Mabel would die and Viktoria and Annaliese would certainly stay alive.

    Next to this creature that was even worse than he was, few things could put them at risk.

    So as his spectral body slowly burned, his agitated screams were a demonstration not only of the torturous manner in which he was murdered but of his great disappointment.

    Lothur slowly watched the spectral body inside Aiken''s corpse shrink in size, staring at him without any mercy.

    ''That''s right, Simon, you have failed at everything you have done. You are a failure. Doesn''t it bother you to be so useless?'' He thought about it as he noticed the creature''s great disappointment.

    Given the fact that, at the present moment, Simon was a ve of Lothur, his thoughts reached the creature''s mind, making him feel terrible.

    After a few moments of mental and spiritual torture, finally, every trace of Simon''s forbidden existence had been erased by Lothur''s mes!

    When this happened, the look on Aiken''s face froze, and the stillness of death came over his entire body.

    Lothur realized there was nothing more of a spectre there and quickly closed Aiken''s eyes before setting him down respectfully.

    "He is dead. Simon will never cause trouble for your family again, Viktoria, Anna." He sighed, looking at the corpse of his father-inw.

    Despite everything, Aiken had never been a problem for Lothur, and he even respected this man.

    ''Rest in peace, Aiken Frost.''

    He then turned away from Aiken''s corpse, letting Viktoria and Annaliese finally look at that body without the hatred of the spectre that had inhabited there earlier.

    They both shed tears once again, finally with their father''s body to send him to his eternal rest.

    After some mncholyments and much weeping, Viktoria took a coffin from her spatial ring and stored her father''s body.

    "We will have a proper funeral for our father when our mother awakens." She said to Annaliese as she hugged her sister.

    "Hmmm."

    Seeing that, Elke squeezed her breasts as she hugged her own arms, feeling bad for those two.

    "What now?" She asked Lothur.

    "Now, I will purify this area," Lothurmented before moving away from her a little.

    He circled his energies and then made a hand seal, causing the spiritual energy in the surroundings to stir as he changed its stationary situation to quickly enter the ground.

    Cruel Underworld!

    The surroundings of the entire Frost family headquarters suddenly began to move as if the ground was shaking.

    "Hey, what''s going on?"

    The men on the outskirts of that ce felt that something big was about to happen.

    Thinking of what had happened to the Frost family, many immediately felt sweat dripping down their bodies as they reached for their weapons.

    Amidst the widespread fear of many of the onlookers in this ce, the shadow creatures in the vicinity of this estate sensed a great change there.

    Suddenly, something was calling to them, empowering them to finish their formations but also connecting them to him.

    ''Creator!''

    ''The creator is calling us!''

    Some of these lost souls immediately left their positions, going to where Lothur was underground, without showing themselves on the surface.

    This went on for a few moments until, within the area manipted by Lothur, several of these creatures began to rise from the ground.

    "What?" Elke eximed in surprise as she noticed Lothur''s soul technique, seeing over 20 shadow warriors appearing in their vicinity and kneeling at the young Ritter''s feet.

    Viktoria and Annaliese put their tears for Aiken aside and looked at what was happening, seeing an army of shadows forming near their man.

    "What is that?" Viktoria asked.

    Lothur continued making a hand seal and said. "All these shadow soldiers would form a spectre on this estate for the next few days.

    But now I am going to purify all of them."

    "That... But several of them are 3rd stage beings! Are you saying we would have to face dozens of Transcendent spectres if you weren''t here?" Viktoria opened her mouth in shock.

    Lothur shook his head, indicating that would be about right.

    His technique strengthened these creatures, but most of them could easily reach level 16 if no one stopped them.

    Anyway, with that answer, the three of them stood with their mouths open as they watched those creatures finish forming and then advance toward Lothur''s body.

    Momentster, as smoke billowed from his body as if he were a huge chimney, the auras of those creatures disappeared forever.

    Without any resistance, they were all eliminated as they tried to enter Lothur''s body and were mercilessly erased by the system.

    After a full minute, smoke finisheding out of Lothur''s body, and he opened his eyes, feeling the good feeling of finishing a job.

    "All right, this property is cleared. You can re-upy this ce anytime you want." He said to Annaliese and Viktoria.

    "Lothur, thank you." Viktoria and Annaliese finally wiped away their tears and approached him, simultaneously hugging him.

    "How should we use this ce?" Viktoria asked. "I thought it would be better if we took all the Frost family personnel to our headquarters."

    "About that, let''s keep only the main forces in that ce. Let''s leave this ce as our front headquarters. It will be easier to hide that way." He suggested before looking in the direction of the Frost Family Treasury.

    ...

 Chapter 657 Information

    ?

    "Now it''s time for you to get the medicines, Viktoria," Lothur said, confident that all the dangers in there had been eliminated. "I intend to stop by your family treasury and pick up the valuables we left behind on that previous asion."

    Viktoria and Annaliese heard that and nodded, soon leaving to scour the surroundings of that estate.

    Elke decided to help them and went after them, leaving that space controlled by Lothur to move through the abandoned headquarters.

    Virtually everyone near this area was people of the Ritter Motor Company''s sphere of influence, so there was no problem for them to show themselves there.

    Lothur had not allowed them to freely move when he entered there with them moments ago because there were dangers in the area, and he didn''t want to risk having to show himself.

    But with everything finalized, nothing in the surroundings could endanger them.

    Lothur then looked at the treasure of this family once more and quickly reached its entrance.

    There, he paused for a moment, looking at therge entrance door that he now realized had something entirely different than when he had entered it.

    As he looked at this thing, he noticed that the consciousness of the Frost family treasure was there.

    Not only that, it seemed to want to show itself to him.

    So he didn''t simply walk into that ce to collect everything in his path in readiness.

    He looked up at the top of that entrance and saw a crystal shining in a greenish light.

    Then he listened.

    "You have cultivated for a long way since thest time you were here, young man." A voice that sounded like a mixture of many people speaking said, but only Lothur could hear it.

    "You have once again done something amazing for our Frost family even though you have received so little from us. Boy, thank you.

    From now on, we, the Frost ancestors, recognize you as the patriarch of our family!"

    With those words, an energy flow shot from that glowing thing into Lothur''s body.

    Noting that it was not something evil to him, Lothur epted it, curious as to what it was all about.

    [Arge amount of information trying to connect to the host''s memory...]

    [Does the host agree to absorb this information?]

    Lothur did not hesitate, ''Yes.''

    Then he closed his eyes and saw several old scenes, receiving generations of ancient knowledge, things he would learn at the Morning Star Academy if he went back there, but a lot of other information already lost in the river of time.

    ''Singrities, huh?'' He opened his eyes and understood why the Frost family had one of the leaves he was searching for, understanding the name these people gave it and the danger they posed.

    The Frost family was an ancestral power even older than the Leopoldine family. Their history goes back to the remote past when great wars between humans and demons urred across the continent.

    In particr, thest great war between these beings and humans had a great deal of Frost family involvement, with the Frost family being given the task of protecting one of the items sought by the demon leader of the time.

    Another family to be given this task had been a noble house annihted by the Leopoldine and Welzel families a thousand years ago.

    The Singrity that the Welzel family had lost decades ago had been the possession of this other ancient noble house for a thousand years.

    The other Singrities had been hidden in other ces around Concordia, among those ces, Secret Realms, ces that were harder to get to.

    But these Frost ancestors only know who had been left with the responsibility of hiding each leaf on the day of the task division and had no idea where each organization had taken them afterward.

    So Minos had no idea how to use this information to locate the next leaves.

    But he now knew that Leopoldine''s imperial family had virtually no chance of owning one of these leaves.

    However, Lothur had finally understood more about what the system was searching for!

    He wasn''t sure how urate the information he had received about the origin of the Singrities was since even the Frost family had received them long after their appearance. But by the theory of the seven experts who decided to hide these leaves, Lothur had discovered that the demons could release a supreme being trapped in the Lost Tree through them.

    By the theory of the seven experts, the Lost Tree was an ancient sarcophagus where an abominable creature was trapped.

    Hundreds of thousands of years ago, this tree had borne the fruit of something terrible and had been consumed by a rising demon. By consuming the tree''s fruit, that being had supposedly reached the peak of cultivation and became immortal.

    Massacres and terror struck this world, with every species being threatened by the being''s destruction.

    Then a group of mighty beings emerged and gathered against this immortal, fought an epic battle that had practically destroyed the world as it was, and created newndforms, inds, and continents.

    But even that group had been unable to defeat the immortal demon.

    On the threshold between life and death, the warriors sacrificed their powers to manipte the Lost Tree, separating the seven parts of the fruit consumed by the demon and trapping him inside the tree.

    He was still immortal but trapped, and as long as the Seven Singrities were not used to free him, the world would be safe.

    Generations and generations after, others took it upon themselves to protect those leaves and ward off the threat of that abominable creature''s resurgence upon the continent.

    However, everything had changed since the Frost family''sst Saint!

    ''If I''m not mistaken, some group is behind the decay of the families that were supposed to be hiding those leaves.'' He immediately thought of the hypothesis of those remnants of the Frost ancestors.

    ''Hmm, I wouldn''t be surprised if the demons behind this have changed their strategy. Maybe they are...'' As he was thinking of something, Lothur suddenly opened his eyes and realized the incorrect information he had received from Anneke.

    "Is that something from those behind these things?" He wondered as he clenched his fists.

    ''System, what would happen if someone interested in these Singrities found out I have them? Is there a method for them to be extracted from me?''

    He asked, thinking about the possibility of that being a trap not for people with information about the leaves but for people with their essence.

    At that moment, the system, for the first time, informed him about something important.

    [Analyzing the host''s question...]

    [ess authorized!]

    [Responding to the host...]

 Chapter 658 Plans Unchanged

    ?

    [Responding to the host, yes, the Singrities already absorbed by the host can be stolen if you are killed.

    As part of supreme power, the Singrities are indestructible. Once the host dies, they will all reappear in this world.

    Using the correct devices, one can contain the Singrities before they spread worldwide and thus gather them back into a single body.]

    Lothur clenched his fists upon hearing this, noting that there were still considerable dangers about him, even at his current level.

    ''What is the Lost Tree?'' He asked.

    [Information ess denied. Please, host, increase your level to ess this information.]

    ''What is the system''s purpose?''

    [Information ess denied. Please, host, increase your level to ess this information].

    Lothur sighed upon seeing this and bitterlyughed. ''It looks like I don''t have enough yet... All right, I''ll get it eventually.''

    Meanwhile, the energy of the remnants of the Frost family was gradually diminishing, while the glow that Lothur had seen earlier was fading.

    Seeing this, Lothur decided to ask a question before they fell asleep. "Did other patriarchs know about this that you showed me?"

    "Those who have reached your level knew." That voice did, but now it sounded much more distant and low. "Unfortunately, our geniuses were killed over the years, and for over 800 years, no one had received this.

    Boy, do your best. Make sure that other family members who reach your level learn about it.

    What is inside you is not safe..."

    With thosest words, the remaining consciousness of these ancestors disappeared, returning to its state of hibernation.

    Lothur frowned at thosest words. ''If they noticed what I have, others will notice it too.''

    He clenched his fists and understood why that thing wanted him to rally strong people to his side.

    ''I have to reach out to strong allies to help protect what''s in me, eh? Relying on Transcendents is too dangerous.

    Not only for themselves but for me, since someone like that would talk more easily than a Saint.'' He readily understood why these Frost ancestors did not pass on this information to Transcendents.

    With all this knowledge, Lothur had a few more worries on his shoulders, but his ns were still the same.

    He still thought it necessary to go and settle his promise to the remnant of the soul that had given him his first Soul Bone.

    If that being''s family no longer existed, he could easily use those Soul Bones to quickly strengthen his women.

    On the other hand, even if that family still existed, he could have a good training period and use that to strengthen himself.

    As much as he wanted a peaceful life, he needed to get stronger, and Leopoldine would no longer be enough for him to do that.

    He needed to move to a more bustling region, as was the case in northern Concordia.

    Demon hunting was another interesting alternative, as he still had 5 Soul Bone slots in his body. So even a trip to Demon Ind was not out of Lothur''s ns.

    For the moment, he couldn''t use his bloodline, or he would attract attention from troublesome experts. So only training, absorbing resources, and Soul Bones could make him stronger quickly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>

    However, even with all this in mind, Lothur still ced the Ritter Motor Company as one of his most important actions.

    He no longer needed to act directly on it, but as long as his cars spread across the continent, he could spy on more people. And so he could get the information he needed to be able to round up the other Singrities or even protect himself from those wanting to round them up to free that abomination.

    That way, even with the information he didn''t have before, his previous ns were still the best!

    ''I''m going to collect all the resources from that Frost treasure and give them to my women and the strongest men I could get in the Imperial Prison.'' He thought as he moved through that dark maze.

    ''I will fix those damaged, so my family will have some good weapons in a few days.''

    He also nned to fix the Elemental Staff, so since he would be staying in the vicinity for some time to fix that, it would be good to take advantage of the situation to fix all those damaged weapons from that treasure trove.

    There were several Gold or quasi-Gold grade artifacts in that ce, high-quality items for the level of his people.

    ...

    While Lothur was collecting what was of value inside the Frost treasure, Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese had already drawn the attention of the observers in that area.

    Moments ago, they had felt as if spectres would reappear on this property and a great battle would break out there.

    However, just as quickly as they had appeared, the creatures of darkness vanished, causing many in this ce to look on, not understanding.

    Then, amid the chatter of people trying to understand what had just happened, they noticed Annaliese, Viktoria, and Elke moving through the area.

    None of them had seen them going in there, so immediately, some of them moved over to them to understand the situation.

    "Ladies, what happened? How did you get in here without passing us?" A man from the Duke of Province''s family asked as men from House Frost itself, House Koch, and other families friendly or allied to them watched them.

    Viktoria, her sister, and Elke continued collecting the medicines Lothur needed while the strongest of them said. "Don''t worry about it. I have found a way to destroy the spectres of this ce.

    Moments ago, we could use this to annihte everything negative in the area."

    "What? Is that true?" An imperial guard asked.

    "Hmm, after we teleported here, we even managed to deal with the spectre inside the body of the Frost patriarch," Elke said, creating a little story for these men.

    "That..." Those men were shocked to hear this. They had been worried that no one was getting help to solve the local situation for days.

    But then they just solved everything like that.

    It was surprising and strange!

    But they were mostly not suspicious of these women. So they gave them a temporary vote of confidence.

    As for teleportation, that was no big deal, so none of them thought much about it.

    However, they all sighed at the thought that the area was safe, feeling much better that the great danger in this ce had been neutralized.

    With this, they could go back to living normally, and eventually, the city would no longer be under as much stress as it had been recently!

    Soon after talking with these three, they returned to their posts to let everyone know what had happened.

 Chapter 659 Doubts

    ?

    A few minutes after the spectres around the Frost estate were finished...

    "What? The spectre in Aiken''s body has been eliminated?" Upon hearing this from one of his men, the Duke of the Province rose from his chair. "How?"

    "We don''t know, patriarch. But Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese teleported to that area, and by the time we realized them, the spiritual fluctuations of that spectre were gone." One of that man''s subordinates exined.

    "Annaliese? Wasn''t she in a deep sleep?"

    "Uh?" That man opened his mouth as he noticed this fact, something he had not bothered to question even himself earlier.

    He was so shocked by the sensations he had felt around that property and the sudden appearance of those three on the Frost property that he had forgotten that detail.

    ''Indeed, Annaliese should not have been with Viktoria and Elke!''

    "That... I can''t exin. But it is a fact that she was beside those two, patriarch. She must have awakened from her previous state." He said as he regained hisposure.

    At these words from this subordinate, Chris was silent, with a serious expression on his face. ''Is that why?''

    He had already received a report that Gomeric wasmunicating with associates at the Ritter Motor Company, and something seemed about to happen.

    Chris still needed to find out more, but he felt that these strange movements of Gomeric and now this was connected.

    "All right, call coroner Klossner. I want to talk to him about it."

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Morning Star Academy...

    Luis had just watched Gomeric leave his office when the news about what Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke had done reached him.

    As the Duke of the Province, he immediately connected one thing to another.

    ''They probably have something fundamental to reveal to us...'' He thought, also considering that Annaliese''s awakening was rted to this.

    "It looks like things in Peters City will change once again," Luis muttered as he looked out the window of his office, seeing the center of the academy, where the ranking of the students was.

    At the top of the ranking was the name of Lothur, who had not yet been removed from the academy''s list of students.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Seraphim Church post in Peters City...

    In the local temple of this Church, low-ranking members of this institution were taking care of the local affairs of this organization.

    In every city above 200,000 inhabitants on the continent, there was a Church post, where there would usually be some demon hunters to support the local forces when these creatures appeared.

    At the same time, the Church had its beliefs and was a religion with hundreds of millions of followers.

    Not everyone in this world believed in the existence of something greater. Still, everywhere believers were willing to follow the words left behind by these divine entities.

    So, besides demon hunters, there were people in ces like this to teach the word, and lead services and ceremonies.

    A few dozen people were in this ce to keep all this going.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Like every human group, there was a leader taking care of things rted to this group.

    He had just received the information about the sudden action of Viktoria''s group!

    "That''s strange..." The Priest of this postmented to some of hispanions, not understanding how Viktoria had solved such aplex problem so suddenly.

    The Church had not been helping the local forces at all, but make no mistake, the people of this post were genuinely concerned and wanted to solve the problem of the local spectres.

    Unfortunately, the Church experts in the empire were troubled and could not do much to help them in the short term.

    But upon finding out that everything had been resolved, this Priest couldn''t help but wonder.

    "Where did Viktoria get help to resolve this situation? She even awakened her younger sister." Hemented.

    One of the men in the room where the Priest was working nodded and said. "We have to keep an eye out. Although they have not shown anything suspicious about Lothur, there is a risk that he is a hybrid.

    Any movement of theirs should be watched. Any moment now, he couldmunicate with them and give away his position."

    "Yes, let''s put someone on their tail. Since the spectre problem is solved, let''s watch them more closely. That way, we can somehow help our leaders in the hunt for these three suspects."

    ...

    While the local powers in Peters City were dealing with the recent news in their own ways, Lothur had gathered with his women again.

    After they had separated, they gathered the medicines avable on that property and returned to their home in this city.

    He moved through the vacuum of space so as not to attract anyone''s attention, returning to that ce where Mabel was waiting for her treatment.

    Upon reviewing his women, Lothur said nothing to them about what he had just discovered with the awareness of the Frost family treasure. He merely handed Viktoria a spatial ring and another list for his women to work through.

    "Here are ingredients I need to repair some of the artifacts of the family treasure.

    With this, we can have over a dozen Gold-grade and quasi-Gold-grade items in a few days." He said, making the three of them look at that list which contained several rtively precious minerals.

    It would not be cheap, nor easy to repair items of that quality!

    "Where will we find that?" Elke asked.

    Viktoria then said. "If we don''t find it at the cksmiths Guild and the Formations Masters Association, we''ll have to send people out of the province."

    Hearing that, Lothur agreed with his wife and said nothing. But he couldn''t help thinking about the Formations Masters Association.

    Back there, they had weed him with several benefits and few demands, counting on his future support. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do that now that he was wanted.

    ''It''s a shame, but the benefit I received was more ess to information rather than resources... In a way, they didn''t lose anything.'' He thought about it without regret.

    If he could, he would help them. But since he could not, he would leave the matter behind without guilt.

    "All right, take care of it. In the meantime, I''ll start producing the pills and potions for Mabel that I can make with these ingredients." He said before heading toward a room made for his alchemy training.

    Viktoria still had to buy some medicines listed by Lothur, so after his words, she left that ce next to Annaliese and Elke with the purpose of going after those things he wanted.

 Chapter 660 Espionage Results

    ?

    Later that day...

    As he finished producing a potion and some pills, Lothur did not wait for Viktoria and Annaliese to return from what they were doing. He immediately made Mabel swallow the potion and one of the pills he had prepared to get her out of mortal danger.

    Neither of these two medicines would wake her up at the moment. They would only begin the regeneration of some of her more severe injuries.

    After medicating her, he wrote a letter. He left it under a pot of pills, telling Viktoria and Annaliese to give that medicine once every 6 hours to Mabel.

    Then he left from there, quickly moving to the Koch family headquarters.

    ...

    Upon arriving at the underground base of the Koch family, Lothur immediately came across dozens of people working in this area of espionage.

    With the increasing number of cars driving around Peters City, more and more people were using themunication units of their vehicles to connect with theirmunication devices.

    Because of this, the signal from Lothur''swork reached even some farms near Peters City, and practically all the local powersmunicated using this option.

    He heard several messages as he walked through the ce, smiling as he heard some of the voices of his allies and former enemies.

    Upon arriving where the Koch patriarch was, Lothur put that aside and settled into this man''s office.

    "How are my associates behaving? Will they alle to the meeting I will hostter?" He asked as he stopped manipting the space in his surroundings and surprised that man.

    After opening his mouth and almost jumping backward, the Koch patriarch took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

    He said. "Yes. It seems that everyone will being to meet you. They have heard about what you have done next to your woman, so they are quite curious and believe that one thing is rted to the other."

    This man had no indication that Lothur was on the Frost estate. But considering how easily everything had been resolved, it was the only exnation.

    Lothur figured it would be like this and said. "Well, I''ll be in Peters City for a few days, but I n to leave on some business very soon. So I want to get everything in order before then."

    "Do you intend to stay away long?"

    "I don''t know. I have to investigate something, and there is a possibility that I may have to lend a hand to a group..." Lothur said, but without going into the details about what he would do. "In any case, I''ll be weeks to months away from here. A long time considering our progress speed."

    "Hmm, it is indeed quite a long time." Patriarch Koch said this when he suddenly remembered a few things. "Speaking of which, I have some updates for you."

    "Oh? What''s this about?" Lothur immediately showed interest as he rxed over his armchair.

    "After you escaped from the people who arrested you here in Peters City, the news reached the imperial family. But even before they could react, Daemon, the biggest criminal in the empire, acted in the capital, stealing a valuable item from that family." He said this with a serious expression, but which contained a discreet smile, given what he had discovered.

    "When this news broke, our group identified a conversation between Miss Viktoria and her good friend, Karen."

    Lothur listened to this intently, not bothered that his wife was spied on.

    "They talked about that, but also about Daemon''s rtionship with you! In fact, he is your father and is His Imperial Majesty''s eldest son!"

    Upon hearing this, Lothur immediately frowned his eyebrows and couldn''t help but open his mouth.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "What?" He eximed unconsciously, barely able to believe that he was actually the emperor''s grandson.

    Lothur did not know this, but considering all the troubles he had been through, he did not doubt that this was indeed true.

    "It seems that you are the grandson of His Imperial Majesty." Patriarch Koch confirmed what he had just spoken.

    "That..."

    Lothur looked at the table between him and the Koch patriarch, reviewing various pieces of information he had in mind.

    ''So the old man who wanted to kidnap me months ago was the emperor? I almost got it wrong! He was probably going to send me to the Imperial Prison at a time when I wouldn''t be as lucky as I was!'' He thought, feeling a chill run down his spine.

    But that was not the only thought going through Lothur''s mind at the moment. ''Why didn''t Viktoria tell me any of this? If I had known that, I would have taken some extra care.''

    He knew he had enemies in the empire''s capital. Still, previously he judged that the motivation of these people was not as deep as preventing a possible heir from ascending or even a rtive from causing shame to the great imperial family.

    For powers of this magnitude, their image was critical, so eliminating a hybrid like him, the son of the biggest criminal in the empire, made a lot of sense.

    If he had known this, Lothur would have taken many precautions that he didn''t because he thought his opponents didn''t have such strong motivations against him!

    ''Viktoria... You deserve a spanking.'' He thought about what he would do to herter.

    But luckily, everything had turned out well for him regarding the Leopoldine family.

    So he asked. "What is this treasure about? Did you guys hear anything about it?"

    "No. The imperial family kept it secret, but it must be very valuable. I heard that the strongest of the imperial family and His Imperial Majesty himself are hunting Daemon in the Three Great Lakes Region." Patriarch Koch said.

    "Is that so?" Lothur''s eyes sparkled at those words. ''Perhaps I will pass by this ce before heading towards my mission.

    If that treasure is valuable, I will take it for myself! That will be the price for the many troubles you all have caused me!''

    With that, he would talk with his subordinate for a few more moments, hearing about other pertinent information, but nothing as great as what he had heard first.

    As it was getting dark, he left that ce, heading back to his home in Peters City.

    ...

    "Lothur, where were you?" Upon seeing her husband again, Viktoria was the first to ask, having already gotten some other medicines and minerals that he had requested earlier.

    Looking at his beautiful wife, Lothur didn''t say anything right away.

    "Elke, Annaliese, I will take care of youter. Now you should go and prepare for the meeting with the local leaders. I have some matters to settle with Viktoria." He said as he headed toward his room, without giving them room to question him.

    One kept ncing at the other, but it wouldn''t take them long to obey Lothur.

    So Viktoria soon went to her room...

 Chapter 661 Inauguration Of The Headquarters

    ?

    After 2 hours inside his and Viktoria''s room, Lothur finished what he was doing with his wife.

    Viktoria was currently lying naked on therge bed of the two of them, restlessly breathing as shey on her stomach.

    Her body was sweaty as her fluids and Lothur''s dripped from her little flower, so stimted that it twinkled continuously.

    She could barely feel her legs at the moment due to the intense activity she had just finished. At the same time, her beautiful buttocks were very red, a sign of the several ps it had taken.

    But in Viktoria''s eyes was only happiness and relief that was hard to describe.

    All she wanted now was to sleep and rx in this delicious feeling!

    Unfortunately, her husband hadmitments, and she would have to attend at his side.

    "Come on, time for you to get ready, Viktoria," Lothur said while already under the shower.

    "Wait a moment..." She said in a low voice, blushing. "I can''t move my legs right now."

    Lothur lewdly smiled and then used his Gravity to help Viktoria get to where he was.

    "Can you use your abilities like this?" She asked him. "I think that must be the first time anyone has used their Soul Bone for that."

    Heughed at thatment and quickly began to help his wife clean herself up.

    "I''m sorry I didn''t tell you about your father. I thought not speaking would protect you from getting involved with that dangerous family..." Viktoria said after a few moments of silence.

    "Hmm, but don''t do that anymore." He said, already understanding his wife''s motives well, given their earlier conversation.

    "I promise I won''t hide anything anymore." She swore.

    The two continued talking and washing each other''s bodies for a few minutes until Viktoria regained some of her strength in her lower limbs.

    Being able to walk on her own, she quickly left the shower and put on her clothes, a beautiful light blue dress, which hid how sexual her body could be but retained the elegance of someone of her status.

    But Viktoria was so beautiful that she would look great, even badly dressed.

    So after Lothur buttoned his shirt, they left for the Ritter family headquarters.

    Only Mabel stayed behind, still unconscious but breathing peacefully, already out of danger.

    ...

    While Lothur and Viktoria were moving, almost all the associates at the Ritter Motor Company were already at the entrance to the new Ritter family headquarters, which had been finished a few minutes ago.

    The mening from the Imperial Prison were powerful, and by applying their strength and speed to finish this construction, they quicklypleted what was missing.

    When Lothur''s first guests arrived, all 100 fugitives from the Imperial Prison were already in the vicinity, guarding this unit.

    Not surprisingly, everyone who arrived there for thest few minutes would look at these cultivators in shock, wondering where so many experts hade from.

    Some even wondered if somerge organization was taking over the Ritter Motor Company.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    However, seeing Elke and Annaliese waiting for them in therge hall, these people soon realized that this couldn''t be the case or such women wouldn''t be so rxed.

    Some people there already knew about Lothur, so others soon realized that it was not just these two women who were rxed and dismissed more worrying thoughts.

    As people arrived, they went to these two women to speak with Annaliese, saying their words of regret for all that had happened.

    Everyone knew that she had also lost her baby besides losing her father.

    Annaliese listened to people from the Koch and Becker families, from her own home, the Frost family, from the Teusen and Christen houses, but also from the director of the academy, Luis, and some local rich people.

    Coroner Klossner had been the one who had most sincerely mourned Annaliese''s losses since he was an old friend of Aiken''s and couldn''t help but deeply regret how that man had died.

    In addition to these people, Larissa and her friends from her academy days, who were now part of the family she had created since her graduation, were also there.

    She had acquired part of Lothur''s stake in thispany in a different way than everyone else there, but even with different rights from these people and families, she had also been invited.

    She and her threepanions were looking at the surroundings, wondering what would happen.

    "Hey, isn''t Reba over there, the poison girl who should be in the Imperial Prison?" A woman from Larissa''s group asked herpanions, indicating to the young woman next to Elisabeth.

    The others in her group looked and saw that beautiful woman who was as well-dressed as everyone else in the vicinity.

    This was a business meeting, but everyone there was very well dressed, in g attire, simr to what one would see at a party or celebration.

    But in a way, this was a celebration. After all, the Ritter family headquarters was ready!

    As such, various snacks were arranged on tables around that area, with many tables for people to sit and eat while chatting.

    Larissa was sitting around one of those tables and looked at Reba, sensing that what was about to happen there was much more relevant than she had thought.

    "It''s really her... And Annaliese has awakened from her unconscious state. Meanwhile, the spectre problem has been solved." She muttered, sensing that the improbable would happen.

    ''Is Lothur here?''

    But soon, Larissa''s doubt would be answered!

    When only Lothur and Viktoria were left to arrive, these two passed through the entrance of this headquarters, through the vacuum of space.

    Then Lothur stopped manipting the surrounding space after seeing that everyone was there, showing him and Viktoria to everyone in that area.

    When the people there saw Lothur and Viktoria appearing on the small stage in the entrance hall of the headquarters, slowly, everyone there stopped talking and looked in their direction.

    A secondter, Lothur showed off his soul cultivation to everyone there, showing them how much he had changed in the time away from this city.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I''m back!" He said, breaking the sepulchral silence that almost made the breaths in the surrounding area noticeable.

    ...

 Chapter 662 Revelation

    ?

    With Lothur''s impressive presentation, the people in that hall were still silent, some with open mouths, some with wide eyes, but others with closed eyes, processing this change.

    Everyone there knew that Lothur had fled from the imperial family and was being persecuted by the Seraphim Church.

    Seeing him so strong and in this city, they were sure he had deceived the Church and was the half-breed being hunted.

    No one could raise their powers as quickly as Lothur had done!

    Only a dreadful creature could achieve such an impressive feat!

    Seeing him there after weeks away from this city, everyone was thinking about this relevant fact and what it meant to them.

    ''He really is a hybrid...'' Luis thought to himself, understanding why some of Daemon''s actions, but also Lothur''s strengthening speed.

    ''He''s already a Saint... A Celestial Saint!'' Larissa considered, clenching her fists tightly as she looked into the silver eyes of her ally.

    Some people in the surrounding area showed fear in their expressions since even though they had known Lothur for ages, knowing what he was put a lot of pressure on their shoulders.

    What if he turned on them? What if he decided to devour them?

    That was a concern that couldn''t help but cross their minds.

    Gulp!

    The Frost family members were the most worried, feeling that their family was indeed lost.

    Even if Lothur was very strong, what future would they have alongside the enemy of the world?

    ''Damn it! Our two heiresses have fallen into the clutches of this creature!'' One of the Frost family elders thought of this as he bowed his head, feeling like crying.

    The misfortune upon them was no small matter!

    It was as if they were cursed!

    ''Perhaps our ancestors havemitted a horrific crime? Otherwise, how could we go through so much trouble?'' Another member of the Frost family wondered while sighing.

    But there were those in this ce who were not so bothered by this.

    No one but them knew that Lothur was really the hybrid who had been being persecuted by the Church. Besides, he was now a Saint and had abilities that enabled him to hide and move easily around the continent.

    Lothur also didn''t seem as chaotic as the legends about half-breeds imed. On the contrary, he seemed much more peaceful than many pure cultivators!

    Hell, how many young masters in Lothur''s position wouldn''t do abominable things?

    But there were no such stories about Lothur!

    Even though he was so strong and talented, he had never brutalized ordinary people, spared enemies who pursued him and could live without engaging in conflict for weeks.

    Considering his excellent rtionship with some local powers and his women, some people there genuinely saw no problem in Lothur''s origin.

    For the members of the Becker and Koch houses, the truth about Lothur could actually even be considered a positive fact, for it meant that his limits were few!

    He had the potential to be on top of the world!

    Also, some people there knew that Lothur could make his women stronger; seeing Viktoria at level 17 only made them more certain about their positions.

    Viktoria had advanced soul cultivation after her moments with Lothur earlier!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "How?" Luis was the first to manage to leave his state of contemtion and express something.

    Lothur looked at his old principal and said. "Well, I''ll exin it to everyone at once.

    I am a hybrid of human and demon. I didn''t know that until a few weeks ago when my mother, a demon Emperor, rescued me from the hands of the Leopoldine family people.

    After that, she informed me of how the Church would persecute me. Knowing this, I decided to hide in the Imperial Prison while she forged my escape.

    I spent most of that time there until I escaped a few days ago with those 100 Transcendents in the vicinity and also Reba."

    Everyone remained silent at these words from Lothur, shocked by the truth, even though they already knew that was the only exnation.

    Lothur continued. "Then let me assure you of that. I am not a danger unless you rebel against me and my family.

    Although I am this creature that everyone says is the enemy of the world, I don''t see myself as the legends say. I don''t feel the demons'' thirst for power and still wish to live in peace.

    I only wish to strengthen myself to protect the ones I care about and continue to enjoy the gift of life.

    So those of you worried about that, rest assured. I''m the same as before, only a little stronger." Heughed as he gestured.

    "What about the dangers upon us? Lothur, you know that the entire continent will be against us. How can we be reassured?" Larissa asked as several people looked at her in awe.

    Lothur answered reassuringly. "That won''t be a problem. No one but you knows who I am, much less where I am.

    Unless one of you brings it up to those who shouldn''t, my situation will be protected, at least in the short term.

    In the meantime, I don''t intend to stand still!" He clenched his fists tightly and circted his energies in a way that everyone in the surrounding area felt tension.

    Some felt drops of sweat dripping down their foreheads and backs, while others took deeper breaths.

    The next moment, as everyone felt pressureing from Lothur, his Spirit Body appeared, showing them five colored bones connected to each other by beams of light.

    ''Spirit Body!'' Larissa said as she stood up from her chain, seeing someone with so many Soul Bones for the first time in her life.

    In her Carstensen family, the strongest one was said to have only 3 Soul Bones!

    But not only that, she could feel that the origin of those bones was not simple, and they were all Gold or Silver-grade.

    The other people in the surrounding area with simpler origins than hers were even more shocked, understanding why Lothur was so powerful.

    ''He already has half of the Spirit Body formed!'' Coroner Klossner thought in amazement.

    Most there didn''t even have a Soul Bone, but in front of them was this person.

    Lothur said. "As you can see, I am missing 5 Soul Bones. I intend toplete my Spirit Body, so I will not stay long in Peters City.

    That will remove any danger about you being associated with me.

    On the other hand, I can still get much stronger, so I invite you to continue this journey by my side!

    The Ritter Motor Company will grow much bigger, and I will be here to support you.

    The world will eventually ept us when I am too strong to be stopped!"

    ...

 Chapter 663 Expanding Operations

    ?

    With Lothur''s words about his ambitions and ns, everyone in the surrounding area fell silent, wondering what might happen.

    They knew they had no alternative but to stay on his side. After all, they had alreadye a long way as his ally. To stop being so now would make no difference to those who would stand against Lothur if the truth about him became public.

    At the same time, they had room to grow quickly alongside him and could do so in rtive safety.

    For all intents and purposes, Lothur was not in the empire and was only a suspect. If it stayed that way, their journey would be smooth.

    And while he would have to hide and live in the dark, they were the ones who could enjoy the many benefits of being at his side, being his partner in the Ritter Motor Company.

    These were good advantages and opportunities that no one there could ignore.

    ''If he is going to leave and stay away, we will be safe to continue our business in the short term...'' Larissa thought.

    She did not feel that Lothur was a danger to their lives because of his nature. What she did find troubling was his staying in this city, or even empire, something that, as time passed, would increase the chances of attracting the attention of someone challenging to deal with.

    Hearing that he would be left searching for Soul Bones, something hard to find in Leopoldine, she was sure he would spend a lot of time away.

    ''And if hepletes his Spirit Body, even if he decides to return and live here, at that time, we won''t have many dangers under us.''

    "Hmm, the chances are more favorable than negative." Shemented to her fellow family members.

    "That''s what it looks like..."

    "But when will we have our fraction in the Ritter Motor Company made official?" One of them asked Larissa.

    They could only benefit from being on Lothur''s side if they were receiving their profits along with the otherpany associates. But the young Ritter had made an agreement with Larissa that she would only actually have her shares in thispany when they were going to diminish their position in a new auction.

    She looked in Lothur''s direction and said. "I will ask him when we can talk privately."

    Meanwhile, the people sitting around the other tables in this area were also talking among themselves, seeing the positives of being on Lothur''s side.

    Everyone there knew that there was no way they could stand against him now. But even without considering the threat of betraying a Saint, they had several reasons to stay connected to him.

    Lothur let those people talk among themselves for a while, while Viktoria was already sitting with his other women, all of them watching her anxiously.

    They also wanted to reach level 17, but they wanted to sleep with their man much more!

    So the four soon agreed among themselves how they would divide up to upy Lothur''s free time in theing days.

    Lothur ignored the conversation of these four and said to the people there, "Anyway, that was the truth about me and some of the goals that I wanted to talk to you about today. But I have something about the Ritter Motor Company to talk about.

    I brought a lot of resources from my recent time in the Imperial Prison, but I also know that the car store has been selling more and more.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    So I want to expand our operations and create several factories around Peters City.

    In addition, I want to open car sales stores in major cities around the empire. Once we have 10 factories up and running, I want to have at least 10 stores in 10 cities up and running."

    Upon hearing about the Ritter Motor Company and the expansion of its operations, the people in the area immediately put their previous conversations and thoughts aside.

    There was nothing better for them than to talk about the profitable Ritter Motor Company!

    "Why don''t we open some factories in other provinces?" Patriarch Teusen asked.

    Lothur looked at that man and said. "Because my men splitting up between this ce and other cities wouldn''t be interesting. That would increase the chances of local and outside powers discovering our true situation.

    So let''s keep all the factories in Linn Province for now. In the future, we will review this."

    One of the controllers of the Ritter Motor Company paving business stood up and said. "I suppose we''ll have to move into those cities too, right? We must prepare the streets and connect our current roads to these cities."

    Currently, all of Peters City was prepared for the movement of Ritter Motor Company vehicles, and fewer and fewer wagons, carriages, and people riding on animals were seen on the streets.

    On the other hand, there were already more than 150 kilometers of paved roads outside this city. The construction of these roads that would connect the province''s major cities continued to advance daily.

    The pavingpany group was not yet making a profit. Still, they were slowly approaching the day when they could collect coins from the motorists who needed to use these roads.

    As such, as vehicle production increased, more coins were being allocated to this group, and the man behind it was already interested in expanding their operations outside the province.

    Lothur agreed and said. "Yes, but not only the pavingpany must start its projects in the cities where we will open stores. The driver''s school, the transportationpany, and all our groups should do the same.

    Start preparing for this. Send people to the main cities of the empire. Before I leave, I want you guys to have agreements to start your operations in at least five cities."

    Everyone in the surrounding area agreed to this, looking forward to the development of the Ritter Motor Company.

    Talking about this subject, many even forgot that a half-breed was leading them, and soon the conversations in the surroundings became more optimistic, with them talking about the expansion of theirpany.

    Lothur came down from the stage in this area and began to talk individually with his allies while the people there ate and drank.

    In this way, the critical meeting they hade to earlier quickly turned into a party celebrating the expansion of the Ritter Motor Company.

    But as Lothur chatted with his allies bit by bit, Larissa finally got her chance and asked. "When will you be holding a new Ritter Motor Company auction? I am looking forward to my shares being entirely my own."

    Hearing that, Lothur looked at her and thought for a moment.

    ...

 Chapter 664 Future Auction

    ?

    "We are not far away. Depending on how our men develop their conversations with leaders of other provinces in theing days, I may even hold a new auction before my departure." Lothur said.

    "Oh?"

    "If we get many cities willing to host our operations, then we will have enough attention from powers to notice our potential.

    At that time, I''ll be able to get rid of a little more of my share in the Ritter Motor Company."

    Lothur did not intend to own the majority of hispany''s shares forever. He just wanted to maintain a position that would give him veto power and choices when necessary.

    He did not need to own more than 50% of thispany for that!

    With the Frost family bing his and the Koch family already being his subordinate, he had 64% of thispany in practice, even disregarding Larissa''s 3%.

    As such, even if he reduced his position by selling 13% of hispany in a new auction, he would still have the majority of the votes and decision-making power over thepany.

    Considering how much more valuable the Ritter Motor Company was todaypared to when Lothur got all these partners, he could get a lot of coins for developing hispany inside and outside the empire.

    This could help him greatly in expanding his espionagework!

    Hearing Lothur''s words, Larissa was immediately pleased because, at this time, her position in the Ritter Motor Company would be confirmed, and more, she would have a chance to bring the Carstensen family into thispany.

    If she did this, she could improve her position within that family before she even grew with the organization she had created in Peters City.

    "How will that happen?" She asked.

    Lothur immediately understood what was on Larissa''s mind and smiled. "Don''t worry. I won''t get involved. I will let Viktoria handle the auction. She is my wife, so she controls the Ritter Motor Company in my absence.

    No one will see a problem with that."

    That was a good answer, and those who heard it were reassured.

    "Very well. I will wait for the next auction." Larissa said in a satisfied tone. "When you are ready, I will invite my Carstensen family. Is there a problem for you?"

    "Not at all." Lothur smiled.

    For him, the stronger and richer the families that would participate in the next auction, the better it would be, as the bids would be higher.

    With that said, this great meeting would soon be over, and the local leaders would return to their homes to put Lothur''s words into action.

    That same evening, several envoys from local families would set out for the main cities of the empire!

    In particr, they would begin their attempts to negotiate in the provinces that their leaders had already been to Peters City in search of cars before the start of the Secret Realm.

    As car fans, they would probably wee the operations of this group more easily!

    ...

    The next day...

    Most of the Koch and Frost family were no longer operating around Peters City.

    Most of their men were already living in therge headquarters of the Ritter family, where the espionage headquarters of that group was, but also the many Transcendents of that family.

    However, the weakest of these two families could still be seen around Peters City.

    The Koch family would still maintain their old headquarters as a front, while the weaker of the Frost family were slowly returning their operations to their old headquarters.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    With that location having been purified the day before, there was no longer any danger in their continuing there, so quickly, Viktoria''s family group returned to their native home.

    Meanwhile, Lothur and his women had returned to their home in this city, where they still had to remain to keep up appearances.

    There Lothur had taken care of Annaliese and Elke the night before, hardly getting any sleep to be with his women...

    Luckily he no longer needed to rest like ordinary people, and this had not been a problem for him.

    Both had gained a lot from this, but only Annaliese had risen her levels, finally bing Transcendent, as had her harem sisters.

    After a long night, these women slept peacefully, something they had not done for weeks because of their many worries.

    With Lothur there to care for them, they slept as they had rarely done.

    When they awoke in the morning, he was already working in his training areas, having already produced more medicines for Mabel and administered them.

    He had also already begun to repair some of the damaged items in the Frost family treasury.

    So when Viktoria, the first to wake up, went to him, she found him working on some Gold-grade armor, shirtless, beating his own hands against that item.

    "Good morning, Lothur." She said, still a little sleepy.

    "Morning, dear. Did you sleep well?" He asked as he corrected the problems in that armor.

    "Hmm, how is my mother? Have you taken care of her today?"

    "Yeah, she''s not bad. She should wake up in a day or two." He said.

    Lothur could force Mabel''s awakening as he had done with Annaliese, but he had no reason to bring that woman back so quickly!

    Therefore, he was letting the medicines do the work of recovering her and making her awaken.

    She was no longer in danger anyway, and waking up today or in two days would not affect her condition.

    Viktoria heard that and sighed in relief. "I will finish getting the ingredients you asked forter. I hope that will help us."

    "Hmm, go at your speed." He said before stopping and looking toward the exit of this house. "The man who came here yesterday before I arrived ising here now."

    "Uh? Doctor Helmut?" She asked, knowing Lothur had overheard her conversation with this man the day before.

    "Yes, but be careful with him. He was lying to you yesterday. I feel he could have taken care of your mother and Annaliese." Lothur said as he looked thoughtfully at Viktoria.

    "He seemed intent on taking Mabel''s body to this master of his... I don''t know. As much as I''m not against it, he tried to trick you." He said, for that could have affected his wife.

    If it had only been for Mabel, he wouldn''t have cared.

    Hearing that, Viktoria became more serious. "Then I will make him speak what he seeks!"

    But before she could leave toward the door, Lothur stopped her. "Don''t do that. He''s stronger than he looks. He is using something to hide his cultivation.

    Although he looks like a Soul Core Transcendent, he is already at the Divine Soul."

    "What?"

    ...

 Chapter 665 Observation

    ?

    "And what does someone like that want with us?" Viktoria eximed.

    "I don''t know."

    After these words from Lothur, the sound of someone knocking on the gate of their house reached her ears, and Viktoria looked in the direction of where that man was.

    After sighing deeply, she clenched her fists and went towards that man to answer him.

    "Good morning, Miss Viktoria Frost," Helmut said right after she opened the gate for him. "How are you? I heard that your sister awakened from her condition yesterday... Is that true?"

    "Morning," Viktoria said, controlling her dislike so as not to draw this man''s attention.

    Lothur could deal with him, but it would be better not to force her husband to act.

    Then she said. "Yes, fortunately, Annaliese woke up yesterday shortly after you left."

    "Then that must not have been the doctor''s thing the other Miss said, right? Are you still determined to wait, or will you apany me with your mother to my master?" He asked, feeling that he still had a chance of getting Mabel to Lenz.

    But Viktoria would let him down. "The doctor my friend said yesterday arrived early. He came by in the middle of the night and already medicated my mother.

    In a few more days, she will wake up."

    "Uh? Is that true?" His eyes narrowed as he didn''t believe any of it.

    He had spent the entire night watching this ce. How could a doctor have walked by in the middle of the night?

    "Can the Miss tell me what his diagnosis was? Since he resolved her situation, I am curious to learn about what I can still not treat."

    Viktoria said, somewhat saddened. "My mother had part of her spiritual nerves broken... So she will be left with seque for the rest of her life.

    But at least the other damage to her body is not fatal, and after medication, she is no longer in danger."

    Upon hearing this, Helmut almost jumped backward, for this was indeed the problem he had identified in Mabel.

    ''A doctor really was here! But how? I was watching the area the whole time since my departure yesterday.''

    "So that''s it... It really is a pity. I''m afraid even 4-star doctors can''t fix this. I''m sorry for you." He said, sighing.

    He was sorry that his masters'' daughter had suffered from this, but since she was no longer in danger, he could leave without further worries.

    He sincerely wanted to take her back to the Rios family, for only that family could seek something to try to save Mabel''s spiritual nerves. But since she was no longer in danger and Viktoria would not allow him to take Mabel easily, he would first prefer tomunicate with his leaders.

    "So that''s it... Well, since I am no longer useful, I bid you farewell. But congrattions on your advancement. Your mother will be proud when she awakens."

    "Hmm, goodbye."

    With those words, both sides went in different directions, with Viktoria even more curious than earlier, as that man had not insisted, even with his hidden intentions.

    ''What did he want?''

    Meanwhile, Lothur was watching in the direction of that man, but he soon moved out of his reach as he left Peters City.

    ''Could it be someone from her hometown? I heard she came from a powerful family from a state stronger than the empire...'' He wondered as he continued working on the Gold-grade item in his hands.

    ''Sigh... It doesn''t matter. He can''t do anything against me."

    ...<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Later that morning...

    After leaving Peters City, Helmut immediately picked up a high-levelmunicator and initiated a call with his leaders.

    Thismunicator only worked for a few seconds, and the call cost was very high for both the one initiating the call and the one who would answer.

    But it could keep in touch with people as far away as a few thousand kilometers.

    Helmut sat down on a rock and watched the greenmunicator in his hand while the formation there made noises as if gears were inside that crystal.

    After a few moments...

    "Helmut, what''s up?" A female voice came from that item.

    "Ma''am, Mabel is out of danger. Viktoria somehow managed to find someone capable of helping her."

    "Oh? That''s not bad. Then return here." Mabel''s mother said.

    But then Helmut exined. "Ma''am, the way Viktoria got help was very strange. I would like to investigate further. In addition, Mabel had some broken spiritual nerves.

    Do you wish to do something more about her?"

    Hearing that, Mabel''s mother clenched her fists and was silent for a second.

    Then she said. "That''s a shame to hear. I''ll see what I can do here, but for now, leave her there. Until I get something, it wouldn''t make any difference to take her away from her daughters.

    However, you can investigate the situation further. I expect your return in a few more days."

    "OK."

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, two days passed without trouble reaching Lothur''s group.

    His people were moving around the empire seeking partnerships with leaders of the major cities in the other provinces while he and his women quietly lived in Peters City.

    Due to the activities and training of Lothur and his women, Annaliese and Elke raised their body cultivation, one reaching level 16 and the other 15.

    Meanwhile, Mabel''s treatment had developed well in those days, with Lothur having prepared thest pills and potions she needed after Viktoria finished gathering all the ingredients he had listed.

    After undergoing these medications over these two days, Mabel''s condition was much better, with almost all the wounds on her body having recovered.

    The only thing that had not yet improved and would continue to do so were her spiritual nerves, which Lothur could not fix.

    Anyway, after Annaliese had given her mother her first round of medication this morning, she remained in that room watching Mabel, hoping to see her awaken.

    Mabel''s eyes were moving from side to side while the fingers of her hands were moving.

    Her breathing became slightly more elevated, making Annaliese feel the anticipation as she approached the bed where Mabel was.

    Then Mabel''s eyelids pressed down a little harder before she suddenly opened her eyes.

    "Aiken..." She opened her mouth and mumbled before she started repeatedly blinking as her eyes got used to the brightness of that room.

    "Mom..."

 Chapter 666 Waking Up In The Midst Of A Nightmare

    ?

    "Annaliese..." Mabel looked at her daughter and noticed she was not home. "Where are we?" She asked in a somewhat weakened tone.

    Even though she was almost fully recovered from her healing injuries, she was quite weakened after days without eating and a long time in aa.

    Annaliese felt her eyes watery and knelt beside her mother''s bed. "Mother... Mother, we are in the Ritter family home. We had abandoned our property because of the spectres in that ce."

    "Spectres?" She opened her eyes more meaningfully. "And Aiken?"

    "Fath... Father died. We extinguished the spectre inside him, but it was toote." She said with heaviness in her heart, barely able to speak properly due to mucus forming in her airways.

    Hearing the confirmation of what she already knew, Mabel remembered the fight of days ago, when she had felt that creature had evolved after consuming all of Aiken''s soul.

    She closed her eyes, and tears dripped from them.

    "Where is your sister? What happened after that?" She asked with her eyes still closed, feeling her heart beating faster.

    "She is here. She''s fine." Annaliese said before turning her face toward the door and shouting. "Viktoria, our mother is awake. Come over here!"

    As Viktoria headed over there, Annaliese briefly summarized what had happened after Mabel passed out. "After the end of the battle that day, Viktoria led the family out of our old headquarters and merged our family with House Ritter.

    Eventually, Lothur returned stronger from his escape and eliminated all the spectres in our old house. He was the one who healed you, Mother."

    Upon hearing such a thing, Mabel opened her eyes and saw that her youngest daughter was not deceiving her.

    ''Lothur who saved me?'' She felt extremely ashamed to hear this.

    But the pain of losing her husband and waking up from days in aa was too great for her to think much about it now.

    At that instant, Viktoria appeared in the doorway of that room, running to where her mother was still lying.

    "Mother!"

    "Viktoria, thank you for caring for the family in your father''s absence. I''m sure you did your best." She said as she saw her eldest daughter, confident that this girl had had a hard time.

    "Hmm..."

    "So, tell me how your father''s funeral went. Unfortunately, I couldn''t attend." She said with sadness in her voice.

    "We haven''t done that yet, mother. We were expecting you."

    "I see... Then we will prepare for everything to be done. Your father deserves a big funeral and then to be buried in the family treasure." She said as she straightened up in that bed, feeling a bit of difficulty in doing so.

    Noticing such a thing, she frowned and looked inside herself, feeling that the energy in her body was not moving correctly.

    Then she noticed that she couldn''t send her soul force to her hands and part of her legs.

    Noticing this, she felt her heart beating faster and readily understood that she was crippled.

    Mabel could still use her soul in many different ways, but she could no longer transfer her powers to essential parts of her body for activating techniques.

    Even though she couldn''t bepared to a mortal at the moment, herbat proficiency should be more or less simr to that of someone like that, even though she was at the peak of level 16.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Realizing this, she closed her eyes and sighed.

    Viktoria saw this and immediately exined. "Mother, Lothur said some of your spiritual nerves have broken. For now, he can''t do anything for you, but he has promised to keep trying to find a solution."

    Mabel smiled upon hearing this, knowing that this promise was of no value since there was no way for spiritual nerves to be regenerated. "Then I thank him..."

    But then she realized a problem. "But shouldn''t he be on the run? That... Don''t tell me he''s the hybrid wanted by the Church?"

    When she said that, Lothur appeared in that room, looking significantly into her eyes.

    His level 20 cultivation was fully on disy, making Mabel stop looking at her daughters to pay attention to him.

    Viktoria and Annaliese looked at Lothur in surprise and listened to him.

    "Mabel, I hope you will keep this a secret. After all, I saved your life, cleaned the Frost family headquarters, and still eliminated the spectre inside your husband''s body." He said in a solemn tone, looking at that woman he didn''t like at all.

    Gulp!

    ''Celestial Saint!'' She shouted in her mind, feeling the terror of Lothur''s soul power.

    ''How? How is that possible? He didn''t have any soul cultivation before!'' She looked at him with wide eyes and open mouth, totally incredulous.

    "Lothur, my mother will not betray you." Viktoria moved closer to him, feeling that this was unnecessary.

    "I hope so. For we would all be harmed if she does the opposite of that." He said, looking at that woman.

    If she hadn''t had her future ruined and hadn''t just lost her husband, Lothur would honestly beat the crap out of her and take revenge for everything that had happened.

    But he couldn''t do that to this woman after all she and his women had been through.

    "I understand... I know you have no reason to trust me, Lothur, but I would never talk about something that could harm my daughters." She said as she looked at him, feeling less weakened now that such a colossal problem had arisen before her.

    At that moment, her survival instinct had kicked in, and she could only do her best to at least save her daughters from the persecution of the Seraphim Church.

    ''After everything that has already happened, there is no way we can disassociate ourselves from you.'' She thought, considering the baby growing in her daughter''s belly, and sighed.

    However, looking at Annaliese''s body, she realized this woman was no longer pregnant.

    ''I see... Anna has lost her baby.'' She didn''t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

    What woulde of his and Annaliese''s mixed bloodlines?

    But as she thought about what her daughter had gone through, she couldn''t help but grieve for Annaliese, for this girl had certainly significantly suffered from her loss.

    "Don''t worry, Lothur. All I want now is to stay by my daughters'' side and bury my husband."

    "It will be better for everyone," Lothur remarked before leaving there, returning to his work.

 Chapter 667 Funeral Of Aiken Frost

    ?

    After Mabel woke up, Lothur let his women and this person spend some time together to discuss everything that had happened.

    He had already prescribed all the pills and potions she had to take, and Viktoria knew what she had to do. As such, he would not need to interact with her anymore.

    Anyway, over the next few hours, Viktoria and Annaliese would update Mabel on the Frost family situation, who had survived that day, how they now belonged to the Ritter family, and some ns for the future.

    After talking about the death of Annaliese''s baby and returning to the subject of Aiken, she decided to schedule the funeral and burial of the former Frost patriarch for the next day.

    After their conversation earlier, they separated to make the funeral arrangements that wouldst only a few hours until their final burial and farewell to Aiken.

    ...

    By the morning of the next day, the main powers of Peters City had already received notice of Aiken Frost''s funeral when the gates of this family''s headquarters opened.

    As the gates opened, the first group to arrive entered that ce, where all the family members in the surrounding area were dressed in ck, most of them silent.

    As they approached the house where Aiken and Mabel lived, Gomeric and Hilda walked slowly beside Elke, all of them with their heads bowed.

    Arriving in front of that house, they entered quietly, finding the living room of that residence without the typical furniture there, reced by flowers on the sides and the coffin with Aiken in the center.

    As they looked around, they immediately saw Annaliese and Viktoria standing near Aiken''s coffin, where Mabel also was.

    But this woman was in a wheelchair, showing everyone that her situation was not simple.

    "Matriarch Mabel, I am sorry for your loss..." Gomeric and Hilda said their words of regret before exchanging a few words with Aiken''s widow.

    They were happy about her recovery, but there was no way they could congratte her during her husband''s funeral...

    As for the doubt they had in their hearts, they would keep that to themselves. It was not within their rights to ask about Mabel''s situation!

    However, contrary to what it seemed, Mabel would not need the wheelchair forever. This was a temporary measure because of how much she had suffered in the battle against Simon''s spectre.

    Some of the spiritual nerves in her legs had broken, and it would take her some time to get used to walking without the use of spiritual energy.

    But just as a baby would learn to walk even without having cultivation, this woman could also relearn how to do that.

    "Thank you foring, Hilda, Gomeric. That means a lot to us." Mabel said while holding a ck handkerchief in one of her hands.

    Just as Gomeric and Hilda were about to say their words to Viktoria and Annaliese, a few more people arrived.

    First came some recent allies of the Frost family, but also old friends of Aiken, like the coroner Klossner.

    But soon, all the partner families in the Ritter Motor Company would be represented by at least one person.

    However, not only old friends and recent allies came. By mid-day, the Duke of the Province''s group arrived at the ce.

    "Matriarch Mabel, we have not been close for most of the years. However, I regret the way Patriarch Frost died.

    Knowing that someone like him, who fought so hard for his family, died like this makes me really sad.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    I hope you can forget our old grudges and ept my condolences." Chris said as he bowed his head, sincerely angry at how things had turned out for this family.

    For a long time, he had wished for the downfall of the Frost family. But it had fallen when he had changed sides and became friendly to this family.

    But not only that, the way the Frost family had fallen was not in anyone''s favor!

    Spectres were natural enemies of the living, so the tragedy of the Frost family was to be mourned even by enemies of that family.

    Mabel no longer had the energy to maintain rivalries and epted wholeheartedly the words of Chris, who had helped her that day against the spectre controlling Aiken.

    "Thank you for your words."

    Meanwhile, people in the surrounding area gathered in groups, talking about Aiken, that day''s battle, and some even talking about the future.

    But no one was touching Lothur''s name since he had forbidden them to speak his name unless it was really necessary.

    Lothur was not there for Aiken''s funeral. However, he followed everything from his residence, still working on the items of the Frost family treasure.

    So he watched as Mabel made her farewell speech before Annaliese and Viktoria also said their final words to Aiken.

    They promised to do their best to develop and protect the family, bring in new members and fight against spectres.

    It was not the purpose of the Frost family. Still, after what had happened, they were determined to prepare themselves against the spectres'' threat.

    Even people unrted to the Frost family and the Ritter Motor Company, such as the Duke, felt that they really needed to prepare for the spectral threat.

    What had happened in this ce was a warning to everyone. They needed to prepare!

    If they closed their eyes to the spectral problem, sooner orter, they might experience something equal or even worse than this family''s problem!

    After the words and promises of Aiken''s rtives, the funeral drew to a close, with the group wooing his coffin to the entrance of the Frost family treasury.

    From that point on, only family members could enter, so the guests slowly dispersed at this point as dusk slowly brought the night with it.

    The Frost family members would enter that ce and bury Aiken''s coffin without much dy, all three of the women closest to him unable to stand the moment and crying as they saw dirt covering his coffin.

    After an hour, the group that went in returned when it was already evening, and they slowly returned to their homes.

    "Where will you stay?" Mabel asked. "I would like you to return to live with me in your father''s house."

    Viktoria and Annaliese looked at each other, and then the older one said. "We can do that. When one of us is not with Lothur, we will stay here at night with you, mother.

    When he leaves for his journey, we will both live here. What do you think of that?"

    Mabel epted that and smiled subtly at her girls. "That''s perfect."

 Chapter 668 Powerful Visitors

    ?

    Hours had passed, and a new day had dawned in Peters City.

    After the funeral of Aiken Frost, the family slowly returned to normal this morning, looking again at their business and operations.

    This family lost quite a few relevant people in the incident weeks ago. But with the merger with the Ritter family, this group was receiving support from the Koch family to keep their properties in order.

    As such, even though weakened, this family had not lost any bargaining or business power, and there was plenty of work for its members to upy their minds.

    Viktoria and Annaliese had many things to do, while Mabel needed to regain her mobility.

    As the day began, everyone was soon busy doing something, working for things that would benefit Lothur.

    He was also acting for the good of his people, and just before midday, he showed up at his headquarters with some equipment he had fixed.

    His group of ves was already gathered in a hall to hear his orders when he arrived there.

    "I have 10 Gold-grade equipment that I will leave in the vault of this facility," Lothur said to his 100 ves while some of his subordinates and allies in the surrounding area listened to him.

    "Those of you who reach Divine Soul cultivation can take one of these armaments and use it temporarily. If any of you advance and we don''t have equipment for everyone, those with nothing will be able to challenge those with such equipment.

    If they lose the battle, they will lose their equipment to the winner, simple as that." Heid down that new rule.

    Hearing that, those 100 individuals readily epted it almost all of them were delighted, for then it would be better not only for the lower level ones to have the opportunity but for the organization itself.

    Lothur''s allies and subordinates in the surrounding area heard this and were interested in it.

    Gold-grade equipment was items made for Saints. So Transcendents carrying such a thing would be very important for the empowerment of these people.

    "Patriarch, what about Silver-grade equipment?" One of Lothur''s subordinates asked.

    "Good question." Lothur looked at that person and said. "I have some Silver-grade items that I will also release to you. But it will take another day or two.

    As for those items, anyone who reaches Soul Core cultivation canpete for the right to use them.

    For simplicity''s sake, the other rules for the Gold-grade items will apply to these Silver-grade items."

    As people in the surrounding area began to talk about this, with some ves feeling that these Silver-grade items would be theirs in the short term, Lothur suddenly looked up toward the ceiling.

    "What is it, patriarch? Is something wrong?" A member of the Koch family near Lothur asked.

    Lothur frowned his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes.

    At this instant, he saw a group of Saints flying to Peters City!

    "Stay here. I have something to take care of." He said before

    disappearing, moving at great speed, and going through the ceiling of that ce.

    Everyone there stopped their conversations at that movement, looking from side to side in doubt.

    ...

    Seconds after disappearing from his headquarters, Lothur appeared at the front of the group heading for Peters City.

    When he manipted space and appeared above that forest, the three travelers immediately stopped their flight, knowing that this was a Saint like them.

    They hadn''t expected to casually encounter a Saint in one of Leopoldine''s weaker provinces. Still, it wasn''t aplete surprise to them either.

    Leopoldine had high-level powers that lived hidden, so the possibility of people like this being around the empire was high.

    Coming across this silver-haired person, they immediately frowned, realizing the simrity of this man to some people from the local imperial family.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Who are you? Why did you appear in our way?" The strongest of the three said, on guard, as he felt this person was not weak.

    The way Lothur had appeared in front of them could not be considered simple. Not every Saint could manipte space that way. Only the strongest and most talented could do it at the speed young Ritter had just done.

    Lothur watched them in silence for a moment and then asked. "I am the one who asks you that. Who are you? What do you want in this ce?"

    Lothur saw the status of the strongest of these men.

    [Name: ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Culture: level 15]

    [STR: 201.9] [CON: 225.9] [DEX: 211.2] AGI: 209.6]

    [INT: 211.7] [PER: 193.5] [WIL: 222.2] [SOU: 3,128.9]

    ''That''s a pretty powerful Soul...'' He frowned, but as his eyes shone, he saw that this individual only had one Soul Bone.

    The other two also had Souls stronger than Lothur''s, between 2,300 and 2,600.

    So Lothur decided to make these people talk!

    While looking at them seriously in silence, he pointed one of his hands toward them and made the gravity change, causing their bodies to be the focus of gravity.

    Pressure surged from every angle, and these men realized Lothur''s advantage.

    His Gravity depended on the Will attribute, but in that respect, none of them couldpare themselves to him!

    "That..."

    "What is that? What absurd power!" One of the two level 19 men eximed.

    But then the level 20 leader looked closely at Lothur and finally saw 5 Bones glowing around his body!

    "What?" He opened his mouth as he noticed Lothur''s Spirit Body with already 50% of itself formed.

    ''How can that be? That bastard has 5 Soul Bones!'' He eximed in his mind, seeing what Lothur wanted him to see.

    ''And they are not simple bones! That bastard is a demon hunter? How can he be? What would such an aplished hunter be doing in this ce?''

    Feeling that he might get into trouble if they stood against this man, the group leader finally decided to speak up.

    "Demon hunter, we are not here to cause trouble. We are in search of something that belonged to our young master.

    He recently died, and someone brought one of the items in his spatial ring to this city ahead.

    We believe that this person is rted to our young master''s death, so we want to find them and interrogate them."

    "Oh? Spatial ring? That was brought to this city?" Lothur muttered before asking. "Answer me just one more thing. Who is the person who is holding this ring? Can you show me?"

    That man did not understand the reason for Lothur''s question and merely pointed in the direction of the Koch estate, particrly the Koch patriarch.

    "Hmm, so that''s it..." He muttered, remembering the ring he had given that man days ago.

    ...

 Chapter 669 Prometheus Flames In Action

    ''So they''re after me... I probably killed their young master inside the Imperial Prison.'' Lothur realized the problem and was momentarily silent.

    But then he said. "What are you people going to do with this person?"

    Those people observed how defensive Lothur was about this and immediately came to the conclusion that they could not be sincere.

    "We just want to find out what happened to our young master." Their leader said in a low voice.

    "That won''t do," Lothurmented, tightening his fingers behind his back. "Why don''t you guys go back where you came from? Your young master is dead and cannot be brought back. Nothing will change that."

    One of the three did not like to hear such a thing and showed his irritation. "That''s impossible! Even if we don''t get the truth now, more people wille looking for it!

    Senior, I advise you not to get involved. Even this entire state is at risk if we don''t get our answers."

    "Oh? Are you threatening me?" Lothur looked directly into that person''s eyes, causing him to immediately stop that approach.

    The Celestial Saint of the group stepped in front of hispanion and said to Lothur. "Demon Hunter, you are strong, but there are three of us. On the other hand, even if you can defeat us, our family will not stop.

    The opposite of that, if we die seeking revenge, the whole family will turn against this empire!"

    "Really? You shouldn''t threaten me like that..." Lothur''s eyes sparkled, slowly turning red. "Well then, let me tell you this, I killed your young master and gave his item to that man you seek.

    So? What are you going to do?"

    "You? Impossible!"

    They refused to believe it, for their young master would never get involved with someone so much stronger than him.

    On the other hand, it was somewhat obvious that Lothur was trying to protect the person they were looking for.

    The three then prepared to attack, feeling they would have no chance to talk to this Celestial Saint.

    However, Lothur was faster!

    Laser Vision!

    The activation of Soul Bone skills was much faster than that of techniques.

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur''s eyes turned as red as theva of an erupting volcano, shooting toward the strongest of this group.

    Such a thing happened too fast, and that man had almost no time to dodge.

    But like a Celestial Saint, he managed to change the position of his body enough for the attack to miss his heart to hit his shoulder.

    "Aaagh!"

    But such an attack was still brutal to take!

    The moment he was hit, theser beam pierced through his left shoulder, leaving behind in his shoulder a hole capable of containing a closed fist.

    "Fucking bastard!"

    The other two shouted as they turned away from their leader, noting how monstrous this attack was.

    If it were against them, they would be dead now!

    Their luck was that there was someone stronger than them there that Lothur was prioritizing assassinating.

    But Lothur would not go easy on these other two. The moment after his first attack, his 5th Soul Bone glowed, and several ming spears appeared in the vicinity of those men.

    Prometheus mes!

    He manipted his new ability, forming spears of me and then distorting the space to make them fly under those three men.

    When they realized this, these two men tried to protect themselves because those spears were too fast for them to dodge.

    However, just when they thought they would be hit, a golden shield appeared beneath them, forming arge cocoon covering them all.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The man with a hole in his shoulder appeared between them, putting his hands up as he tried to keep his shield upright.

    "Quick, attack him!" He said.

    Seeing that, Lothur pressed that shield with his Gravity skill, pushing his spears even harder.

    But as he did so, one of the Origin Saints appeared behind him, already holding a sword ready to sh toward his neck.

    Lothur moved one of his hands toward that de, quickly reaching for it and preventing such a thing from striking him.

    As he did so, the other Origin Saint appeared there and attacked his chest with an axe.

    "Die!" He shouted as he made that move.

    As he and hispanion, being held by Lothur, watched this opportunity unfold, young Ritter stood still.

    When that weapon struck him, it deformed the invisible defenses on Lothur''s body, causing the two of them to change their expressions as they noticed that there was invisible armor on this man''s body.

    More than 90% of the power of that attack was lost when that weapon overcame the defenses of one of Lothur''s Soul Bones and hit his body.

    "That''s it?" He asked as he felt that merely scratching his skin.

    "Impossible!" The man who had attacked said as his eyes trembled.

    Lothur maliciouslyughed, and ck and orange mes surged from his body as if he were a bomb.

    When this happened, the mes spread several meters away from him, reaching the two Origin Saints.

    "NOOO!"

    The group leader shouted upon seeing this, finally removing the pressure caused by Lothur and the me spears.

    Unfortunately for those two, it was already toote!

    By staying within range of Lothur''s body, they suffered terribly from thebination of his two abilities.

    The Prometheus mes destroyed their physical defenses, and the ck mes prated their bodies, quickly beginning to erode their minds.

    The ck mes were still Silver-grade, so it would be impossible for Lothur to control these men as his ves. However, he could corrupt them enough for his orange mes to degrade them more easily.

    "You shouldn''t havee to this ce!" Lothur said before making a hand seal.

    Omnipotence!

    As soon as he activated his soul technique, he started a pulse from his body, creating a domain in his surroundings.

    The next moment, Lothur crossed the space and appeared behind that Celestial Saint.

    When he appeared there, Lothur quickly formed a giant of mes holding a sizeable orange axe.

    He wasted no time and immediately attacked that level 20 man with everything he had.

    "Die!"

    The opponent realized that Lothur had suddenly be much stronger and faster and trembled as he tried to re-establish his defenses.

    ''Damn it! What is that Soul Bone?'' He wondered as Lothur''s attack and his defense collided.

    For an instant, Lothur''s attack stopped, but then...

    BOOOOM!

    ...

 Chapter 670 Time To Avoid Trouble

    ?

    While holding his defenses, slowly noticing the me axe of that orange creature oppressing him, the Celestial Saint facing Lothur felt a warmth in his body.

    Taking some of his attention away from Lothur for an instant, he looked down at his body. He suddenly saw orange mes rising in his surroundings.

    Gulp!

    Lothur maliciouslyughed upon seeing that. "Hahahaha, that''s a good bone! Feel the power of a field skill!" He shouted at his opponent while making the very air in the surroundings catch fire.

    "Shi..."

    Unfortunately for that man, the affinity of Lothur''s powers with the me element was very high, and he knew several ways to use the abilities of thisst bone he absorbed.

    One of Lothur''s current abilities was to make everything in his surroundings catch fire.

    The air itself had many molecules capable of helping him in this purpose, and by connecting his understanding with this ability, he easily put mes on that man hiding behind a shield.

    The weaker parts of this Celestial Saint''s clothes and armor quickly melted away as he screamed in pain from the mes trying to melt his body.

    Amid this moment, his defenses crumbled, and Lothur''s attack continued its path.

    "Thank you for training with me!" Lothur said before the me axe went through that body, ending this opponent''s life.

    With one blow with all of Lothur''s power concentrated, he managed to eliminate that Celestial Saint!

    Thus, the level 17 Transcendents in the vicinity of that camp saw thest move of that battle from their leader, as they were extremely impressed with the level of power of those Saints.

    "Unbelievable!"

    "I didn''t think Saints were so terrible!

    That Origin Saint''s attack could have killed someone at the level of his sword ally!" A middle-aged manmented as he remembered how Lothur had suffered absolutely nothing from that attack that had hit him.

    Meanwhile, Reba saw the end of that battle, and the tightness under her heart eased along with the long sigh that came after Lothur defeated hisst opponent.

    Those closest to the battle had seen everything that had just happened as they were under the area where Lothur was manipting space.

    But no one in Peters City had seen or felt anything!

    Lothur''s abilities were awe-inspiring. With the help of One With Nature, he had made the very nt organisms in the surrounding area block much of the spiritual fluctuations in that site.

    So when he slowly descended from the sky with those three corpses, Lothur had no worries about the people in Peters City.

    The only thing that worried him now was the threat these people had made.

    ''Well, that will bring trouble, but better trouble in the future than now.'' He narrowed his eyes. ''Before I attract attention from powerful enemies, I need to get more allies in the Ritter Motor Company.

    With the development of my spywork, I can help the local forces to counterattack these people''s families.''

    "Lothur, who were these Saints? What did they want?" Reba asked as some of their men approached him.

    Lothur quickly collected the spatial rings of these three and said. "These people are from outside the empire. They were after me..."

    Then he looked at Reba and said. "Get the patriarch Koch. I need him to bring the spatial ring I gave him days ago.

    There is a mark on that item that I didn''t realize early."

    Lothur was a formations master, but that didn''t stop there being others better than him in this world!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    But now that he knew such a ring had some tracking device, he would destroy it for everyone''s sake.

    Reba immediately returned to headquarters while Lothur was already checking what was in those men''s rings.

    He collected all the resources and saw that these rings had unique inscriptions next to their storage code.

    ''That''s really clever... Instead of leaving the inscriptions around the ring or on some item, the formations master behind this put a line of code in the ring''s own code, and it focused on signaling the position of this.'' He realized why he hadn''t noticed this before.

    ''But apparently, that doesn''t work in an area like that of the Imperial Prison.'' His eyes sparkled.

    He looked at one of the Nascent Soul Transcendents near him and said. ''I want a special room to be built in my headquarters. It should function in the same way as the Imperial Prison."

    "That..."

    "How will we do that?" Some of them wondered.

    Lothur suggested. "Use the Stauss and Welzel families. Have our infiltrators get the information on how the Leopoldine family built that ce."

    Those men kept that in mind before Lothur asked them. "Will any of you be wanted by your families or groups?"

    Most of those people said no since they had been gone for too long, and many did not belong to grand organizations that would avenge the death of their men.

    Several of them were people who traveled around the continent in small groups, sometimes working as mercenaries. So few of them had anything topromise them on.

    But some of them indicated that they could draw people in.

    "I was part of a mercenary guild in Utrary..."

    "I was part of a n in Cesha..."

    "I left my parents and siblings in Thasan..."

    At least a dozen of these people informed Lothur about the possibility of peopleing after them.

    Lothur frowned but asked before worrying further. "Of those of you who can attract people here, how many can attract Saints?"

    Most of them remained silent, but three men and a woman indicated to Lothur that there was a risk of Saintsing after them now that they were no longer in the Imperial Prison.

    "Very well. I want you three to return to your organizations urgently and regrize your positions. Only return here once there is no longer a risk of a Sainting after you."

    With that order, soon four people took off flying from there, not long before they were out of young Ritter''s territory.

    "And what do we do with these corpses?" One of the others in the vicinity asked.

    Lothur looked in Ice''s direction and said. "Give Ice the body of an Origin Saint. That will help her get stronger.

    The other two will stay in my spatial ring. I''ll see what I do with them in the future."

    Bodies of experts were usually stuffed with spiritual energy andws in the first few months after their death. Only after a few years would this essence be lost when it returned to nature.

    So for beasts, fresh expert bodies were not so different from medicines and resources!

    Soon Ice would receive one of those bodies while Lothur looked at the Soul Bone of one of those Saints.

    ...

 Chapter 671 The Path To Platinum-Grade

    ?

    The Soul Bone in Lothur''s hands was a pelvis bone, demon General, Gold-grade, and when absorbed, it would generate an ability.

    This was a good bone for someone who had never absorbed others or even only had one or two. But for someone like Lothur, this was no longer an interesting Soul Bone.

    Looking at that colorful bone, Lothur immediately decided to give it to Elke, his least talented woman.

    With his departure from Leopoldine due to take ce soon, it would be difficult for Elke to keep improving at the same speed as the others, given her low natural talent.

    To help her out, he decided to give her that bone!

    ''It''s important that the women behind the Ritter Motor Company are powerful.'' He thought before he set off to work it out.

    ...

    Hourster...

    After Lothur had given the pelvis Soul Bone to Elke, she quickly focused on absorbing it.

    As it was much easier to do this outside the Imperial Prison, this had not taken days to finish, and in just one afternoon''s work, Elke had managed to sessfully fuse with her new bone.

    Seeing her finishing, Lothur immediately left what he was doing in his residence and went to her.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 16 -> 18]

    [Body Cultivation: level 15 -> 17]

    [STR: 319.6] [CON: 843.1] [DEX: 308.6] AGI: 320.7]

    [INT: 86.6] [PER: 68.3] [WIL: 210] [SOU: 479.9]

    Seeing his woman''s improvements, Lothur smiled in happiness.

    More developed Soul Bones could elevate the attributes of those absorbing them more significantly.

    This was a Gold-grade bone, so naturally, Elke had benefited dramatically!

    However, as much as she was now a Divine Soul Transcendent concerning her soul cultivation, Lothur knew that his woman could not be casuallypared to such cultivators.

    She had this high soul cultivation not because of her Soul attribute but because of her Physique.

    There were cultivators with Soul attribute up to 4 times higher than hers at level 18, so Lothur knew that Elke would have to be very careful, and some of his level 17 ves were much stronger than her.

    But seeing her open her eyes and smile at him, he didn''t speak of this immediately.

    "Congrattions on advancing a few levels, Elke." He hugged her as he said that. "From now on, you will be able to defend our family and your parents more easily, haha."

    "Hmm, thank you, Lothur." She said with her eyes watering, thrilled for this fabulous journey alongside this man.

    If not for Lothur, she would probably still be a Mortal Warrior in Sector 1 of the Morning Star Academy.

    However, currently, she was already practically finishing his studies at this academy and was already the highest-level cultivator in the province!

    "Don''t thank me. You don''t have to do that." He said, looking into the little eyes of this beautiful woman. "However, you must be careful and not push yourself unnecessarily.

    Whenever possible, use our men. Those fugitives from the Imperial Prison are here to be used and not just be stuck in that headquarters.

    You and the others should focus your time on getting stronger and leading the Ritter Motor Company.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    You should only worry about fighting when the situation is desperate enough that you have no other choice."

    She heard this and immediately epted her man''s rmendation.

    "Now, show me your new skill." He became less serious, curious to see Elke''s skill in action.

    She smiled like a child about to present her new toy and turned away from Lothur.

    "The ability of this bone is fascinating, Lothur. It is called Celestial Light. It is based on the light element, somewhat strange if you think it came from a dark creature."

    Lothur heard this and said. "Hmm, it is indeed strange, but it can happen. The elements of darkness and light are opposites and usually neutralize each other. However, the essence of an organism can contain both natures.

    It is an imusible thing to happen, but just as there are four-leaf clovers, there are beings capable of controlling two opposing elements."

    This was the same for mes and water, among others.

    Elke continued. "In any case, I can manipte the light element and form various types of attacks and even defense with this ability."

    Her hands glowed in an extremely intense white as she spoke while silhouettes of the same color appeared in her surroundings.

    First, she made a huge shield in front of her body, making several circles and inscriptions appear in the surroundings.

    Then she showed a silhouette simr to the one Lothur could form with the Prometheus mes.

    ''Hmm, her ability should be simr to mine but focused on the light element.'' Lothur concluded as he saw thews in the silhouettes around Elke.

    Elke couldn''t see it, but Lothur could clearly see what was behind those shapes.

    Whenever a cultivator activated a technique and formed something spiritual, thews behind that power would inscribe themselves into their powers, forming their objects and powers of interest.

    In a way, this was like the inscriptions of a formation.

    However, soul cultivators did this unconsciously with their cultivationprehension.

    Even the weakest cultivator did this without realizing it, and Lothur slowly realized this.

    ''If I wanted to stop a formation, it would be enough to change their inscriptions... Could I do the same with an opponent''s techniques and skills?'' He wondered.

    However, he would never use his woman as a guinea pig to find that out.

    "All right, Elke, I''ve seen enough." He smiled at her as he approached her. "Your skill is outstanding. So keep working hard to raise its traits, and it will be even stronger in the future."

    "Hmm." She smiled.

    "That skilles from a Soul Bone that belonged to a Celestial Saint. So I imagine it is close to advancing in quality and bing a tinum-grade bone.

    Then you must focus on advancing your cultivation. Once you be an Origin Saint, the powers of it will rise significantly." Lothur advised her.

    Elke felt anxious upon hearing this, clenching her fists as she felt the urge to train.

    "I will do my best!" She promised.

    After that, the two turned their attention to their local problems, with Lothur going to the academy and Elke to one of the Ritter Motor Company factories.

    ...

 Chapter 672 Shareholder Change

    ?

    After a few moments, Lothur arrived at the office of the Academy Morning Star principal.

    Appearing suddenly in that ce, Lothur naturally caught the attention of Luis, who was finishing reading some documents.

    "Lothur!" Luis eximed as he got up from his armchair and looked at the young Ritter.

    Lothur had his back to him, looking out the window of this office while looking at the obelisk in the middle of the academy.

    "My name is first in the rank, eh? It looks like I kept my promise to Elke." He smiled as he muttered that.

    Luis heard thatment and said. "After the Secret Realm ended, we removed the names of most of the students in Sector 6 from the student rankings, which caused your name to rise to the 1st position.

    We didn''t know if you would return one day, so we haven''t taken your name off there yet."

    Lothur closed his eyes and said. "Now you can do that. It is best to avoid any association of you with me."

    "I see... It makes sense." Luismented. "I''ll do it before dawn. Don''t worry about that.

    But Lothur, I know you are very strong now, but you still have many things to learn here. You stopped your studies so soon before graduating. If you want, you can take all the material you need and finish your formation.

    I''m sure you could finish this at your current level in a day or two."

    Lothur heard that and looked at Luis before sitting in one of the chairs there. "Thanks for the offer, but that won''t be necessary."

    After absorbing what the ancestors of the Frost family had left for the future patriarchs of the family, Lothur had not only learned a little more about the past and the purpose of Viktoria''s ancestors. He had gained a great deal of knowledge about this world, about cultivation, and had even learned newnguages.

    As such, he didn''t need to learn from this institution anymore.

    "Anyway, I didn''te here just to get my name off your student ranking."

    "Oh? What''s this about?"

    Lothur looked seriously into Luis'' eyes and asked. "I must assume that your boss is the emperor, my grandfather, right?"

    "So you found out about it..." Luis sighed before answering truthfully. "Yes, that would be the case.

    But it is not that simple. As much as the academies around the empire have their leaders appointed by the emperor, they are not part of his army or anything like that.

    The resources of each academy are theirs for their principals to decide where to put them. So don''t worry, the Ritter Motor Company coins didn''t increase the imperial family''s ie." He said, considering that was the problem.

    Lothur smiled and said. "That is not what I am most concerned about. What I want is for your allegiance to shift from the emperor to me.

    The old emperor has tried to act against me in the past, but what worries me most is his heirs. One of them may be the empire''s leader soon, and I don''t like that someone with such a significant position in mypany is a subordinate of theirs."

    "So that''s it..." Luis sighed. "I don''t know what to do about that, Lothur. It wouldn''t do for me to swear loyalty to you. When the emperor or a new emperor wants, he can remove me from my position and put someone else in."

    Lothur already imagined this and put some papers in front of Luis. "I know that. Then I want you to sign this here."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Luis looked at the Blood Contract simr to the one he had signed with Lothur, marking that Morning Star Academy owned 10% of Ritter Motor Company.

    But this contract had some differences. In it, the academy gave up the right to vote in anypany matters and was only entitled to receive parts of the profits.

    Lothur didn''t really care where his coins went. What really bothered him was having his enemies have decision-making rights within hispany.

    But there was a use in there that said that if Luis was removed from his position, the academy should sell half of its position to the Ritter family for the cheapest cost of shares in thatpany.

    ''That will make it impossible for the emperor or his recement to remove me from my position...'' Luis read that, seeing that Lothur wanted to avoid his enemies within the Ritter Motor Company.

    But as someone who couldn''t refuse, he immediately agreed and signed the Blood Contract, annulling the previous one and enforcing these new rules.

    Lothur smiled after resolving this. "Very well, that was all, principal.

    Take good care of the academy in the future. It would be good if this ce develops to be a supplier of talent for ourpany.

    It will be good for Peters City, the province, and the empire."

    "I will do my best," Luis said just before Lothur disappeared from his office.

    ...

    After Lothur and Luis'' previous meeting, four days passed in the blink of an eye.

    In those days, Lothur warned his allies about the battle with the previous Saints and exined the danger the empire would be in very soon.

    Everyone should prepare for tense times and use their resources wisely.

    However, with envoys from the local powers sending positive messages regarding their actions in other provinces, not only negative news was reaching these people.

    Lothur had already announced that within a week, he would hold a new auction of shares of the Ritter Motor Company, opening up the opportunity for various powers from within and outside the empire to participate.

    News of his cars was already reaching states neighboring Leopoldine, so even foreign powers who wanted to participate in this bid would have a chance to be his allies.

    Several letters were already being sent to Leopoldine''s strongest families and to foreign merchants with good contacts.

    In them, the management of the Ritter Motor Company announced that they would sell 20% of thepany at the auction a week ahead.

    With the academy''s voting rights lost, Lothur had increased the fraction he would sell.

    Anyway, all his allies were excited about this, as this action would greatly enhance their positions. But not only that but with more allies, they could even lessen future foreign pressures on them!

    And so the Ritter family had been preparing for this new auction, with their core members growing stronger each day as they were ''trained'' in different ways by Lothur.

 Chapter 673 Arrival Of Experts

    ?

    In the blink of an eye, six days had passed...

    The Ritter family had developed considerably in the past few days, with all the women of Lothur experiencing level advancements.

    Elke had advanced only once and reached level 18 of body cultivation. However, all the other women of Lothur had experienced at least 2 advancements.

    Reba and Annaliese were currently at level 17 in both of their cultivations. At the same time, Viktoria had reached level 18 in soul cultivation and was at level 17 in body cultivation.

    They had benefited tremendously from their man''s days in Peters City!

    However, in two more days, Lothur would be leaving Peters City to begin his journey that had no end date.

    But with what he had left for them, they were all confident of getting stronger even in his absence.

    So on the eve of another Ritter Motor Company auction, they were all quite happy and looking forward to the future.

    This was particrly true for Viktoria and Annaliese because, in these days, their mother had finally regained her movements and was walking again.

    Her situation was irreversible at the moment, but at least she could be independent!

    That was already very good!

    So, as they prepared for the auction that would take ce the next evening, high-level visitors began to arrive in Peters City!

    ...

    It waste in this part of Linn Province, and the movement of vehicles in the region''srgest city was intense.

    Many people drove their cars between their jobs and their homes, while the minibusses of the local transportpany filled the streets of this city with as many people as possible inside each one.

    Currently, more than 50 minibusses are attending the local poption. However, even with this number, demand was still far from being met.

    But this was no small thing. Peters City had a poption of more than 500,000 inhabitants, and most of them were mortals without the cultivation or purchasing power to own cars!

    But amid the cars and minibusses, one driving along the main avenue of this city would see two other types ofrger vehicles, buses and freight trucks.

    The provincial roads were not yet 100% ready, but they already led to small towns in the vicinity of Peters City.

    Because of this, the powers that already had their trucks were using these vehicles to transport their resources to the limits of these roads, where they distributed their items the old-fashioned way while there were no more roads.

    The trucks were speedy and carried many items in a single unit driven by only one person. So it was worth the trouble!

    In addition, the local transportpany was already taking people interested in traveling to other cities in theirrger buses, which already had stop points in 5 cities in the province.

    And so, upon arriving in their carriage in this city, a group sent by the Duke of Sachs Province could not help but stand silently, admiring the scenery.

    "There are so many vehicles in Peters City..." The daughter of the Duke of that province said this while standing next to her brother, along with her parents, inside that carriage.

    Her father was looking determinedly at those vehicles circling the main avenue, looking forward to the day when his city would also be like that.

    ''We must get at least a small share of the Ritter Motor Company. Thatpany will be veryrge in the future.'' This level 17 man thought to himself, confident that his family needed to participate in this grandpany.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The Duke''s eldest son, level 15, thenmented after his sister. "Not only that, the local streets are totally different from the streets in our city. You see, there are no dirt streets, much less streets with irregrities."

    "But our streets will be like that too, dear." The Duke''s wife said. "Your father has already agreed to wee thepanies associated with Ritter Motor Company to our city.

    From what the envoys of thatpany have said, they will begin construction in our city after this auction."

    "I''m looking forward to it." The level 13 young woman said with a smile on her face.

    As this group arrived at the center of Peters City via the main avenue, several other carriages like theirs were passing by.

    Each of the empire''s provinces had been notified about the Ritter Motor Company auction.

    Because the news of the vehicles created by Lothur had already reached the entire empire, noble families from all the provinces were arriving in this city to join the asion.

    But not only were noble families arriving in Peters City to join the next day''s auction, but envoys from the imperial family itself were also arriving through the local skies.

    A few dozen meters above this city, 5 Transcendents were standing by, watching the movement of vehicles on the local streets, each smiling.

    "Your Highness, it looks like we''ll be able to earn many coins very soon. The family will reach a new level." A Nascent Soul Transcendent said this with a smile on his face as he congratted us Leopoldine.

    With Lars'' recent defeats, including a massacre his group had suffered in the past few days, us was getting closer and closer to reaching the top position within the Leopoldine family.

    His subordinates were already confident of his victory and ascension as the new emperor once His Majesty returned from the hunt for Daemon and the Blood Crystal.

    Therefore, they would soon have the fractions of the Morning Star Academy to use as they pleased.

    Unlike Lars, they did not want to take over the Ritter Motor Company but to use the academy to increase their position within thatpany.

    That''s why they were there!

    us smiled and said. "Before we celebrate, let''s go see Luis. We will soon be recing him, so I want to know exactly the status of the Ritter Motor Company."

    "Yes, first, we have to get better informed."

    The men in his group agreed before they quickly flew off toward the academy.

    As they did so, another group arrived at that ce through the skies, stopping momentarily to analyze the movement of vehicles in this city.

    "So those are the said cars?" A level 18 woman asked her guard, looking intently at these marvelous things moving on the ground.

    "They look very nice." The man dressed in silver armor, at the same level as this blond woman,mented, interested in these things. "The family will certainly be thrilled to get a slice of that business, Miss."

    "Well, let''s take a closer look at it. We''ve traveled a long way around this ce. Let''s see if someone will let us test these vehicles." She said, quickly heading down toward that city.

    Following them, several other groups would arrive through the skies of Peters City until a space deformation appeared over there!

    ...

 Chapter 674 Eve Of Auction 1

    ?

    The space above Peters City vibrated, and then a group of three people appeared there,ing out of the vacuum of space.

    "Ah, how long has it been since I''ve been to this ce? About 2,000 years?" An elderly-looking man with long hair and no beardmented right after seeing this city.

    A man dressed as a butler behind him then said. "Almost 3,000 years, sir."

    "That''s right. Back then, I was still an aimless traveler." This level 19 old manmented, looking at this city and noting the significant changes it had gone through.

    Next to him was a beautiful young woman wearing a lovely red dress, matching her hair of the same color.

    But although she looked young, this woman was at the same level as her father, level 19.

    "Father, are we going to buy thispany for our family? Those cars look really interesting." She said, but she wasn''t disregarding the Ritter family. She just felt that this power couldn''tpare to her family.

    "It won''t be that easy, haha." The old man smiled as he took his eyes off this city and looked ahead, where another group of simr strength to his had just arrived.

    He thenmented to his daughter. "It looks like the Jansen family will also be joining the auction..."

    "Uh?" She looked in that direction and saw the heir of the Jansen family, a man of the same age as her, level 19, apanied by an elder of the same level.

    "Haas families?" That young master looked toward the three and promptly identified their origin.

    His advisor and bodyguard then said. "Our Asken neighbors will also be participating in the auction...

    I expect a few of them will be here by tomorrow."

    "Hmm, Asken is even bigger than our state, and even if there aren''t that many high-level powers there, there are still at least half a dozen families like ours in that ce." Young master Jansenmented.

    His advisor nodded and said. "But if they are here, we will probably have representatives from Lenz, Cesha, Utral, and Utrary as well. Our neighbors are pretty hard to leave behind."

    That brown-haired man narrowed his eyes and said. "We will try to achieve as much as possible in this auction. In the meantime, be prepared, Tobi. A battle for thispany is not out of possibility."

    "Hmmm."

    ...

    As night came on and specialists from all over the empire and other neighboring states of Leopoldine arrived in Peters City, Helmut was still in that city.

    After the days since Annaliese''s recovery, this man had been shocked several times.

    First with Mabel''s awakening but then with the rapid cultivation advances of Elke, Annaliese, and Viktoria.

    In a matter of a few days, they had all significantly raised their soul cultivations!

    He still didn''t know what was happening, but he had decided to stay in this city longer to observe the Ritter family.

    But amid his observation, news of the Ritter Motor Company auction had spread.

    After finding out about the chance to be a partner in thispany, which seemed very lucrative, he promptlymunicated with Mabel''s parents about this event.

    Mabel''s parents had agreed to participate in the auction, and at this moment, Helmut was standing in front of Mabel''s only cousin, there to negotiate on behalf of the Rios family.

    "Mister Jonas, how was the trip? It is good that you arrived on time." Helmut said to the level 18 man, who was apanied by two other people of the same level.

    Jonas Rios, brown hair, tall and strong, a few centuries older than Mabel, nodded to that subordinate with a smile on his face.

    "There were no problems on our trip. This Leopoldine area is truly quite weak. Anyway, how are things locally? I bet several high-level powers areing in for the Ritter Motor Company auction, right?" He asked.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Helmut immediately agreed. "Yes, even Saints are arriving in this city. By my count, at least five families of powers simr to our House Rios'' will be in this city for next night''s auction."

    One of the men in Jonas'' group heard this and frowned. "It won''t be easy for us to get a share of thatpany."

    "Hmm, it''s a good thing I brought lots of gold coins and crystals.

    Otherwise, we wouldn''t even stand a chance." Jonas sighed.

    "But what about the Frost family? We should approach them and try to buy their holdings directly from that family. There will be nopetition for us if we follow that n."

    "Oh?"

    Everyone looked at that man interestedly.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Morning Star Academy...

    "Your Highness, I didn''t expect you toe here personally," Luis said while standing in front of us.

    Meanwhile, the prince was sitting in the chair of the principal of this institution.

    us smiled and said. "Luis, you have done a good job here. Acquiring 10% of the Ritter Motor Company was a genius move, so you won''t be treated badly in the future."

    Luis heard this and soon understood that this prince probably wanted to rece him. "Actually, my deal with Lothur was not as amazing as you imagine, Your Highness.

    Lothur has a grudge against the imperial family because of Lars'' repeated actions."

    "And what does that have to do with it?" us asked without understanding.

    "We actually own 10% of the Ritter Motor Company, but we have no voting rights. We are only entitled to thepany''s profits and participation in investments.

    Besides..." He ced the Blood Contract he had signed with Lothur on the table in front of us, showing this prince that things would not be as simple as he would like.

    Upon seeing that, us and his men looked at that sheet of paper. They immediately changed their smiling expressions.

    "What? But this is outrageous! How could you sign such a bad contract for our family?" us stood up from his seat, angry at this man.

    "It was that or nothing, Your Highness. Lothur is very vindictive, so there were no options here." Luis said sincerely before advising. "In fact, if I were you, I would not try to participate in tomorrow''s auction.

    Lothur''s wives haven''t forgotten how Lars'' men took him. They will definitely not ept your entry into the auction."

    "Oh? And who do they think they are?" us closed his fist and mmed it against the table before him. "I am their ruler! What choice do they have? This is my state. If they don''t ept our rules, then they should leave.

    Not the other way around!"

    "Your Highness, let''s go to this Ritter family!" One of us'' guards said. "I want to see if these girls are bold enough to stop us from anything!"

    The others agreed before us made up his mind to go from there to Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese.

    Luis watched this in silence. He could say something and advise them otherwise, but it wouldn''t do any good. So he remained silent.

    A fool would do something stupid even when warned not to!

 Chapter 675 Eve Of Auction 2

    ?

    As the night progressed, many interested in the next day''s auction were already aware of the arrival of many groups in this city.

    Even Saints had been sensed arriving in Peters City, and precisely because of this, several of the nobles of the empire were already gathering in the hotels and restaurants of this city.

    These people were experts with centuries of experience. They were not stupid to think they alone could get into the Ritter Motor Company with so many interested people in Peters City.

    ...

    In a hall of a local hotel, a group of 5 Transcendents was gathered around a table.

    There were a few tes of food and sses of wine.

    However, none of these well-dressed men and women were paying attention to their tes.

    "Folks, I have gathered you here because, with so many envoys from the major powers of the empire and even from outside Leopoldine, we will have no chance of getting into the Ritter Motor Company if we are separated." A level 17 man, a patriarch of arge family in the empire, said this to these people.

    "Well, I propose an alliance between our houses. Let''s pool our resources and acquire a fraction of the Ritter Motor Company!"

    Everyone there immediately agreed with this man''s suggestion.

    Another nobleman then said. "But what would this partnership look like?"

    The strongest one there said. "We wille together in apany that will control our fraction in the Ritter Motor Company.

    In that group, we will have to choose a leader to represent our interests within thatpany. Still, we will divide the profits and responsibilities equally."

    "Will that work?" A woman asked.

    "Yes, part of the Ritter Motor Company''s shareholders already do that. Someone named August Klossner seems to have managed to buy 4% of thispany by allying with the wealthy local merchants.

    That was long ago when thepany hadn''t evenunched its cars yet. Now we can do the same as that person to achieve our goals here." He said, confident that this auction would be much more crowded than the first one.

    ...

    Simultaneously to this meeting in that hotel, in a restaurant, another group was meeting for the same purpose.

    "Duke Meyr, Bartels, Schedl, we have no alternative but to get together to contest the bids in the Ritter Motor Company auction." One of the dukes of Leopoldine said solemnly. "Even the Jansen family is in Peters City, so we will be left out of this magnificent deal if we don''t have a lot of capital on hand."

    "My family has a lot of gold coins... Do you think we can''t get a fraction for ourselves?" One of the most ufortable with this idea said this.

    "I don''t doubt it. But I believe that to get a mere 1% of the Ritter Motor Company, any one of us would have to use all of our families'' resources.

    What will we do after that? How will we fulfill our responsibilities?" That person asked, looking into the eyes of the man who asked him that. "Are you willing to see your family go bankrupt? The Ritter Motor Company will not distribute its profits in the short term. They are focused on expanding their operations."

    "That..."

    The men in that group had nothing to say against that, feeling that every slice of the Ritter Motor Company would be hugelypetitive to get.

    "I agree with you. Let''s form a partnership to get into thatpany."

    "But how exactly will that work?"

    "Well..."

    ...

    "What? You want to buy my family''s shares of the Ritter Motor Company?" Gomeric rises from his armchair upon hearing a business proposal from a group of nobles of the empire.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    In his meeting room at the Becker family headquarters, six patriarchs of families from various provinces of the empire were sitting there in the vicinity for this conversation.

    Hilda was together with some of the trusted men of this family, attending this meeting requested by this group 1 hour ago.

    The strongest man of that group, level 16, leader of the newly formed alliance of their families, smiled and said. "Gomeric, we have a great proposal for you, haha.

    At thest Ritter Motor Company auction, the founder collected about 22 million silver coins for 49% of thepany. That''s just under 4.5 million bronze coins per 1%.

    We are here to offer you 70 million bronze coins for 4% of the Ritter Motor Company.

    Your family would still own 3% of thispany, so we believe this would be a very good deal for all of us."

    Upon hearing those words, Hilda and Gomeric were open-mouthed at the proposition from these people.

    If they epted this, they would profit over 50 million bronze coins!

    For an investment of a few months, this was a significant return!

    However, neither of them was foolish enough to ept that immediately.

    "Patriarchs, at the moment, we have been advised by the management of the Ritter Motor Company not to negotiate our shares. We won''t be able to talk about it until after the auction is over." Hilda said, pushing those people away from their goal there.

    "Are you sure about that?" Another person there asked. "We may not keep our offer after the auction..."

    "We are willing to take the risk. In any case, we are delighted with our position and have no intention of disposing of it now." Gomeric smiled.

    While those people refused to give up this business easily and made theirments trying to convince the people in this family, Elke entered that room unannounced.

    "What''s going on here?" She asked, surprising those people with her powerful level 18 aura.

    ''Divine Soul Transcendent?'' Those people there to negotiate with the Becker family were quiet momentarily, staring intensely at this red-haired beauty.

    "Elke, how nice of you to return. These people are here to negotiate our holdings in the Ritter Motor Company." Hilda said to her daughter, causing those people to frown.

    "Elke?"

    "Elke Becker?"

    Those men knew who Elke was and, as such, couldn''t help but swallow their salivations upon discovering that this girl, who wasn''t even 18 was already at level 18.

    ''How is this possible? What are they giving this girl?''

    ''Does the Becker family have someone that strong?''

    Gulp!

    Elke already knew what was going on there, as she had been called by her parents moments ago. But she pretended to have just found that out and said. "So that''s it... Please, focus your coins on tomorrow''s auction. The Ritter Motor Company will not ept any side trades of our holdings the day before the auction."

    "That''s..."

    These people knew that Elke was part of the controlling family of the Ritter Motor Company and finally gave up on this attempt.

    "Well, I hope to see us again soon." One of those men said that as he smiled bitterly. "I expect the Becker family remains open to talks. We will be back with a new proposal in a few days."

    "We will wait for that." Gomeric smiled.

 Chapter 676 Eve Of Auction 3

    ?

    Meanwhile, in front of Lothur''s house...

    "Viktoria! Open the door. We are here with His Imperial Highness, us Leopoldine!" One of the Second Prince''s guards'' men shouted as he knocked on this woman''s door.

    After leaving the academy, they quickly came to this ce to contest Lothur and Luis'' agreement.

    That was an unptable contract for them. How could they ept those ridiculous conditions without doing anything about it?

    So this group was there to renegotiate.

    us had an ugly expression as he clenched his fists and waited to see these people who dared to trick the imperial family.

    But instead of Viktoria, the one who appeared to attend them was Annaliese.

    "Oh? So us Leopoldine is in the city?" Annaliese red at the prince just after opening the door to her home, ring at the prince in an ugly way.

    us'' guards and advisors couldn''t pay attention to this girl''s audacity in addressing the prince when they noticed her level 17.

    "What? Nascent Soul Transcendent?" All of them, including us, eximed almost at the same time.

    "That''s impossible! How can this girl be at that level?"

    "Annaliese Frost, tell us what you did! How did you reach this cultivation?"

    "Humph, us, tell your dogs to shut their mouths." She said in an irritated manner.

    The Leopoldine family was behind much of the disgrace of House Frost.

    Ultimately, Lars was responsible for the attack that spawned all the deaths around the Frost estate and eventually gave rise to the spectres.

    She couldn''t me spectres for losing her child, but she could do that against the Leopoldine family!

    "Frost girl, watch how you speak! You are standing in front of His Highness us Leopoldine!" us'' maternal grandfather, over there in that group, said this out loud, annoyed at this girl''s manners.

    She clenched her fists andughed at those words. "Just because of the support you have from the shadows, I won''t finish you all off here and now.

    But make no mistake. If you anger me, I will still beat you until you no longer dare to speak those words in front of me." She narrowed her eyes even more. "Don''t think my family will forget all you have done against us!"

    "Annaliese!" us stepped forward and then said. "I will ignore your insolence today. But don''t think your cultivation level gives you the right to talk like that!

    However, let''s talk about another matter. Lothur Ritter forced Luis to sign an outrageous agreement. I want to renegotiate it! I don''t ept the conditions agreed upon between those two."

    Annaliese heard this and understood why these people had so much courage to go to this estate.

    "Renegotiate? Find Lothur and talk it over with him. I can''t, and even if I could, I wouldn''t change a thing." She said, smiling, "But I don''t think you would have the courage to do that..."

    "Don''t be ridiculous!" us shouted. "Lothur is missing. Where could I possibly find him? Viktoria should have the power to help me solve this in his absence. Then bring her here!"

    "Lothur is the controller of the Ritter Motor Company, and only he can alter agreements signed with Blood Contracts. Viktoria, at most, can represent his interests. But she can''t renegotiate signed contracts." Sheughed.

    "Only if Lothur died would that change... But I will tell you this, his soul sign is pretty strong, haha. I don''t think that''s going to happen anytime soon."

    "If that''s the case, how will this auction happen? How will his controller''s holdings be auctioned off without his presence?" One of the men in that group asked.

    "Lothur left a permit for us to do that before the Secret Realm. Anyway, if that''s all you want, leave. I don''t want to see you on my doorstep."

    "Tsk!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It doesn''t end here!"

    Before they left, she smiled and said. "By the way, don''t bother trying to participate in tomorrow''s auction. The Leopoldine family is not wee at the Ritter Motor Company."

    As they stared hatefully at her, Annaliese returned to her house, mming the door in these people''s faces.

    As she returned to Lothur''s side, Annaliese sighed, feeling better for having treated those people in such a way.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was watching in the direction of those people, especially the level 17 man with silver hair just like his.

    ''I didn''t think one of you woulde to my door...'' Lothur felt the darkness of his powers leaking from his body as his irises turned red.

    His desire to kill these people was extreme, and he had almost done it a few times in thest few moments.

    But he held on tightly not to do so.

    When Annaliese came to where he was, Lothur left without giving her a chance to talk about these people.

    "Lothur?" She looked to where he had left, wondering what he would do now.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Frost estate...

    At this instant, almost the entire core of what had remained of this family was gathered in arge hall, where there were several armchairs at the sides of that area.

    At one end of this area were two oversized chairs where Mabel and Aiken normally sat.

    However, at the moment, Viktoria was sitting next to her mother while the group of visitors was standing in the center of that area, where several elders were in the side armchairs.

    In front of them, the envoys of the Rios family had just introduced themselves to the people who did not know them there.

    Mabel knew them very well but said nothing, watching the people from her family to see what they wanted with them.

    "... Viktoria, congrattions on achieving your current cultivation. You are even more talented than your mother and can achieve great things in the future." Jonas said this, seeing how beautiful his cousin''s daughter was.

    Looking at her, he couldn''t help but praise her beauty. "Besides being talented, you are also gorgeous. Haha, you should go to Lenz in the future. You will be able to meet people who deserve to be by your side there.

    I''m sure you''ll be able to forget your husband''s runaway when you meet the right person."

    Viktoria continued to stare coldly at these people, not liking what this man was saying at all.

    Then when he finished speaking, she said. "Jonas Rios, don''t call me by my first name. You can call me Matriarch Ritter or Frost if you prefer.

    As for my husband, I suggest you be careful before talking about him. I have no intention of forgetting him.

    She ignored Helmut, who was there with this group, showing her that the Rios family was behind this person.

    Jonasughed bitterly and said. "We are here for the Ritter Motor Company. Our families have a very special connection, so I am here to further strengthen our ties.

    We want to buy part of your shares in thispany!"

    ...

 Chapter 677 Eve Of Auction 4

    ?

    "So that''s it..." Viktoria smiled as she understood what these people wanted.

    But as she remembered her and her family''s recent needs, she couldn''t help but let out a fewughs, feeling even her eyes getting watery.

    "So, let me get this straight..." She said, stillughing, drawing Mabel''s attention to her unusual behavior. "You want to buy our shares of the Ritter Motor Company... You came to our city to participate in the auction..."

    "Hmm, that''s right," Jonas said while looking strangely at Viktoria.

    "So that''s it! You sent people to us for the Ritter Motor Company shares, but when I asked your family toe over and help my mother, you ignored me."

    Her smile stopped, and she began to p her hands.

    "Bravo! Bravo, Rios family! I''m impressed!"

    Hearing that, everyone from the Frost family in the surrounding area felt terrible, looking at those people as if they were nothing more than profiteers.

    The Rios family members were silent momentarily, unable to find words to be used as a shield.

    Mabel closed her eyes and sighed, regretting that her family behaved in such a way in front of her daughter.

    She knew that they would not help her casually since the way she had left had not been well-resolved. But she didn''t have to go through this with her daughter!

    Helmut stepped forward and said. "Not quite, Miss..."

    "You keep quiet in your corner!" Viktoria increased her tone as she pointed one of her fingers at this person.

    Jonas sighed and took a step in front of Helmut. "I see we won''t aplish anything here... So I''ll say goodbye.

    Mabel, it was good to see you again."

    With those words, they turned and walked out of that hall in everyone''s eyes.

    "That''s right, go away! And don''te back here! Your Rios family has no room in this house! Do you hear me?"

    Viktoria stood up from her armchair, shouting in the direction of those people.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a luxurious hotel in Peters City...

    us and his group had returned to where they were staying after their terrible meeting with Annaliese.

    At this moment, us was red with rage, angry to the core of his soul, feeling that he had to do something against this woman and the Ritter Motor Company.

    Unfortunately, so many specialists were interested in thispany that he could do nothing, even if he were the emperor.

    As for Annaliese, she was already strong enough to defend herself against this group, and even if she wasn''t, she still had Viktoria on her side.

    Everyone in this city knew Viktoria was currently the strongest in the province with her level 18 soul cultivation. In addition, she had control of the Ritter Motor Company and could be considered one of the most influential women in the empire.

    Thinking about this, us couldn''t help but be furious without being able to find a way out of this problem.

    "Shit!

    What will we do to fix what happened today? That damned thing disrespected me!" He yelled at his men.

    But none of them had solutions in mind.

    As they stood in silence, suddenly, one of the walls in the living room where they were standing distorted, and they all realized that a Saint wasing.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Gulp!

    "Who will it be? Could it be the Jansen family?"

    But to the misfortune of these people, a silver-haired man emerged from that spatial distortion!

    "Lo..." us opened his mouth in shock and promptly recognized Lothur.

    But before he or anyone else there could say his name, Lothur pressed them down, immobilizing their bodies.

    "Leopoldine family, eh?" He looked at that man who had hair like his own but shorter. "I didn''t think I would find one of you here... Well, it''s not bad, it makes my job easier.

    Now I don''t have to go to the empire''s capital to get back at you."

    us heard that as he broke into a cold sweat, noting that Lothur was much stronger than everyone thought and was probably the abominable creature everyone felt.

    Considering that alone, he was already trembling with fear!

    It was no different for his men, and each was sweating coldly, almost pissing themselves with the terror of falling into the hands of this abominable creature.

    "Lo... Lot..." The prince tried to say something, and Lothur lessened the pressure on him.

    "Lothur, please don''t do this. We are from the same family! Plus, I never did anything against you! Everything that happened was between you and Lars!"

    us said in a low voice, noticing that Lothur had already manipted the space in that area to block any signalsing from there.

    Lothurughed as he walked through that living room. "Maybe it is true... How would I know? In any case, innocent or not, ''Uncle,'' it makes no difference.

    Now that you are here, there is no reason for me not to use this opportunity."

    Gulp!

    "What are you going to do? Killing me would draw too much attention." us said, looking at Lothur, already hopeless but still attached to his life.

    "Oh, I''m not going to kill you. Since you are currently ahead in the race for the throne, I will allow you to be the emperor and serve me!" ck mes appeared on Lothur''s hands as he maliciously giggled.

    "us Leopoldine, from this day forward, you and your men will be my ves. Work to dominate the imperial family and serve me!" Lothur said as he had one of his hands under us'' head.

    us and his men were mere Transcendents, so in a few moments, Lothur dominated them, making them bend their knees in their surroundings.

    "Master!" They all said at once.

    Lothur beamed upon seeing this. "Work with Fritz Stauss and Leon Welzel to bring Lars down. After that, you will be under themand of my women, Annaliese, Viktoria, Elke, and Reba."

    "Yes, master!"

    "Hmm, besides..." Lothur''s eyes sparkled. "Tell me about your family''s treasure that Daemon stole."

    "That would be the Blood Crystal, master," us replied immediately. "It is one of the 10 Impable Jewels, one of the 30 Magnificent Items."

    "Oh?" Lothur heard this, and immediately part of what he had learned from the ancestors of the Frost family came to his mind.

    Before, he didn''t know what these 30 Magnificent Items were all about, but currently, he was aware of the value of each of them!

    With this information, Lothur was more determined than before to go after Daemon for this Blood Crystal.

    His eyes sparkled at the possibility in front of him. ''With this item, I can create a tinum-grade artifact!''

 Chapter 678 Beginning Of The Auction

    ?

    After the brief visit to us Leopoldine, Lothur would return to his residence quite pleased to find that something so valuable was in the hands of such weak people.

    If he could locate Daemon, it would be as easy for him to obtain one of the most powerful artifacts on the continent as it would be to take candy from a child!

    And to locate Daemon, he would only need to follow in the footsteps of the emperor, whom us was already contacting to help him.

    So the night in Peters City would be a pleasant one for Lothur, with him once again enjoying his time with his women, rxing while helping them grow stronger.

    At dawn, the day of the second Ritter Motor Company auction would rise quietly, with no clouds over the city, with a beautiful blue sky to brighten the day for the local people.

    ...

    With the arrival of the Ritter Motor Company auction day, the local streets would be even more agitated not only by the delivery of 40 more new vehicles, which had been happening every morningtely. Besides the daily vehicle deliveries, thest ones sent to participate in this event would arrive in the city this morning.

    Some powers from the empire and neighboring states werete in arriving in Peters City. Still, all the organizations aware of the Ritter Motor Company auction had sent people to this city and were already represented here.

    With the arrival of thest groups of experts, the high-end hotels in Peters City were packed, and the most acimed restaurants were busier than ever.

    The local poption was already discussing the presence of so many specialists in Peters City, noting the importance of cars to the maind.

    It might seem that cars would not be relevant in the cultivation world, but that is nonsense. In a society like this, anything that made life easier for the poption had a lot of potential.

    Coins could pay for crystal mining, so any business with good chances of returns was exciting for powers to get involved in.

    This might be the cultivation world, but most people couldn''t travel through space, fly, have grandiose space storages, etc.

    Most were low-level or people who didn''t even have cultivation!

    For these, vehicles that could speed up the transport of resources and even people made a lot of difference.

    Those who didn''t understand this in Peters City noticed this morning when they saw powerful people walking through the local streets as if they were ordinary individuals.

    Transcendents rarely seen in this ce before could be seen and felt around the city, while even Saints were in high-end hotels.

    As dusk was setting in, everyone in the city was already talking about the event that would take ce in the next few hours, wondering what would happen for Peters City and the empire in theing months.

    There were many theories, but everyone had in mind that after today, everything would change.

    And so the poption was even more excited than those who would actually participate in the auction.

    But by nightfall, carriages and cars would soon start heading to the auction site, the second factory of the Ritter Motor Company.

    ...

    In front of the second factory of the Ritter Motor Company, thousands of people were crowding the surrounding area, watching the arrival of escorts of experts for the auction.

    It was quite noisy on the streets adjacent to that factory, even considering its rtively remote position in Peters City.

    But it did not matter whether this factory was in the city''s center or on one of its edges. With the news that the auction would take ce there, thousands of curious onlookers had already appeared on the site early evening.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    When the first carriages and cars of people who would participate in this event began to arrive there, the ce was already packed with people.

    Gomeric saw this from his car, driving his Pick-up into the parking lot of that factory.

    "Today, the Ritter Motor Company will make history, baby." He remarked to Hilda, imagining that after today such apany would be a continental institution, like the Formations Masters Association.

    Considering where they had started and how much time had passed, they couldn''t help but smile in satisfaction.

    "It really is a great moment..."

    As Gomeric''s carriage drove past the entrance to the factory, a carriageing right behind him was stopped by the factory employees.

    "Please identify yourselves." One of the men controlling the entry of vehicles there questioned as he stopped beside the vehicle.

    "Don''t you know who we are, boy? Do you think you can stop us like that?" A guard from that group of nobles questioned in a harsh tone as several other vehicles waited behind that one to enter the factory parking lot right there.

    "I''m sorry, gentlemen. But we cannot allow groups who do not identify themselves to enter.

    Anyone with the intention to bid and with the ability to work off debts can join the auction. Still, we don''t want curious people joining the auction.

    So we need everyone to identify themselves here." He shouted, even considering that there were Transcendents in this carriage.

    Upon hearing the exnation of the man stopping them, one of the nobles in that carriage soon identified himself, noticing that there were already carriages with Saints behind them.

    "We are from the family..."

    Soon, several such groups stopped at the entrance to this factory, identifying themselves and gradually raising the number of carriages and cars parked in the parking lot ahead.

    As more and more vehicles arrived, the first to arrive followed the path of a red carpet that led to arge entrance hall of the factory building.

    In this hall of about a thousand square meters, several tables were distributed around the area. At the same time, a small tform was set up in front of which was arge ss wall.

    This 10-meter high and 25-meter long ss wall overlooked one of the vehicle assembly areas where many tools, car parts, and machines could be seen.

    On this ss was the inscription: ''Riter Motor Company, transport solutions.

    On the sides of this area were several doors, some leading to stairs, others to the area just behind this room, and the vehicle parking lot.

    Upon arriving there, most people would stop for a moment to look through that ss. Still, as more and more specialists arrived, many would take the opportunity to see old acquaintances again.

    All the families with Transcendents in the empire had sent representatives, but many powers the size of the Becker family were also represented.

    With that, the area was filled with over 200 people in the blink of an eye.

    When the factory gates finally closed at 8 pm, Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke appeared to start the auction!

    ...

 Chapter 679 Presentation Of Plans

    ?

    When Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke appeared on the small tform in that area, everyone stopped their side conversations to pay attention to them.

    For a moment, some would pay attention to their beauty, but the general focus of the people there would be on the soul cultivation of these three.

    Many already knew about their situations, but others were only now discovering the level of the current leaders of the Ritter Motor Company.

    Viktoria stepped ahead of her sister and Elke and stood behind a small bench there in the center of the tform.

    "Good evening, everyone, and wee to the second Ritter Motor Company auction!

    For those of you who don''t already know how things will be, I''ll summarize this before we talk about our purpose and then move on to the auction.

    Today we will sell parts of the Ritter Motor Company that are part of the holdings of the founding family, House Ritter. More precisely, we will sell 20% of thepany in 20 offers of 1%.

    Those who manage to buy fractions of ourpany will be our partners after today and will have a share in the profits and duties.

    This means that if we ever need coins, everyone must contribute ording to their position.

    If one cannot honor their position, then that person or family would have to dispose of their position by notifying House Ritter and demanding a new auction."

    She looked seriously at where the Rios family people were standing and said. "As such, be clear that we will not ept secret negotiations of our shares. We will only recognize new members from auctions controlled by our family, so secret negotiations are forbidden."

    Hearing this, the nobles who had visited the Becker family the day before didn''t like this and asked. "Why? That would only drive us away from the Ritter Motor Company!"

    Viktoria looked at that person. "For the sake of our partners. For the best operation of thepany.

    We need to have an affinity with the people whoe in here. But not only that, our shareholders deserve to be protected.

    So if anyone wants or needs to divest themselves of their positions, they will have to start a new auction, and Ritter Motor Company should get 50% of the profits from the sale of such a position."

    Everyone began toment among their groups after those words, which surprised even some of Lothur''s former partners.

    But in the contract of these people, it said that for them to dispose of their positions, they would have to follow the rules dictated by House Ritter. Thus, even though there was no paragraph exining what Viktoria had just said, they knew they could do nothing about it.

    But this measure would only affect those who decided to sell their position. Someone who held it would benefit from such a thing because a sale like this would generate more coins for thepany to invest or distribute as profits.

    Those who had no interest in disposing of their positions heard this and were naturally pleased.

    Larissa was there with her Carstensen family and was happy and satisfied that she had negotiated with Lothur before today and already had her position secured.

    "That''s not bad. That''s just part of the profit. Anyone who needed to sell their shares would still make a nice yield." Shemented to the envoys of her family.

    Those people remained silent, looking at Viktoria, not caring about this rule since it would only affect former shareholders who decided to sell their positions.

    For those who had nothing in thispany, it would not affect them. And even when some of them managed to buy parts of thispany, most of those there did not intend to dispose of their positions in the future.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    As such, most of those there to participate in the auction onlymented on the matter without having their interests diminished.

    Viktoria then moved on to the next subject. "Anyway, that is something you must consider before joining the bidding.

    The 20% that will be sold today will be to create new Ritter Motor Company factories, stores in 6 major cities in Leopoldine, and the necessary structure for cars around these locations.

    Paved streets, signage, roads, vehicle stores, repair stores, driving schools, etc. We will invest all the capital generated here today to develop ourpany in these cities.

    But following the internal policy of the Ritter Motor Company, all shareholders must contribute amounts proportional to their positions.

    Simply put, if we raise 100 million coins, 50% would be from the Ritter Motor Company, and the other 50 million would be an investment from House Ritter. We will have 28% of thepany at the end of the auction, so that would mean that each 1% would represent about 1.78 million coins.

    Then each of our partners would have to make the equivalent contribution to their shares."

    With these words, Viktoria got the attention of all the former partners, showing them that they should prepare their pockets!

    "We will not be able to increase our position today. I believe that thepany will raise a lot of coins, and we will need all of our contribution power to make that investment." August Klossner said to his partners.

    They agreed with him while several other Lothur partners began to calcte how much they would need to raise after today.

    On the other hand, the future partners there soon realized that they would have to spend far more than they had thought they would do today.

    But that was not a problem. The Ritter Motor Company model seemed very fair to each one involved.

    "That Lothur really was a genius." The young master Jansenmented in a low voice to his travelingpanion, regretting that someone like that was missing.

    "Hmm, thepany he created not only has a fantastic product. It has rules that would make it difficult for a lot of problems to arise."

    In another corner of that area, one of the Saints from outside Leopoldine then told his group. "This is a goodpany. The controllers are focused on growing their business and follow fair management models."

    "Hmm, let''s buy it." That man''s daughtermented, feeling even more confident about it.

    But then, a level 19 man from another group rose from his chair and asked. "Miss Ritter, I have questions that I would like rified.

    Does the Ritter Motor Company intend to stay only in Leopoldine now? What about other states? What are your ns regarding it?"

    Everyone who was not yet part of thispany wanted to know about this and naturally paid attention to what Viktoria would say.

    She looked at that expert and dered. "About that, we will expand outside the empire. But for now, we can''t even meet Peters City''s demand, so how will we look at other states?"

    ...

 Chapter 680 Very High Initial Value

    ?

    Those outside Linn Province were surprised by Viktoria''s response.

    Young Master Jansen rose from his seat and asked. "What would Peters City''s current demand be? What about its production capacity? Can you inform us about that?"

    This information could raise many of these people''s spirits to buy parts from the Ritter Motor Company, so there was no reason for Viktoria to hide it.

    She smiled and said. "Currently, there are 35,000 sales contracts of vehicles of various types to Peters City organizations. If we count the orders from outside the city and the province, the number of vehicles we have to deliver passes 60,000.

    On the other hand, we can produce up to 100 vehicles a day. Then, It would take us several years to meet the demand in the province alone with our current production. So as you see, there''s no way we can look at other states in the short term."

    "60,000... That''s tens of millions of gold coins in profit alone!" Someonemented to his group.

    "If that''s true, when the Ritter Motor Company reaches the other provinces of the empire, that number could multiply by more than ten times!"

    Several people in the surroundings of this great hallmented, raising the spirits by several levels.

    "That''s why..." One of the Saints in that area understood why these people wanted to share this magnificent business with others. ''They really can''t afford to have thispany all to themselves. They could only get enough to fulfill this demand by sharing it with many others.''

    Meanwhile, the man who had first asked about the Ritter Motor Company''s ns for other states sat back in his chair, pleased to hear that. ''That''s just the car business. I heard the driving school business is even better than car production.''

    To produce cars, Lothur, and his people needed to spend a good part of what they raised to pay the production costs. But in the driving school, they only had to pay the teachers'' low sries.

    The profit margin at these schools was very high, and since every car owner would need to learn or pay for his people to learn, the demand for it was not low.

    The Ritter Motor Company also didn''t market their minibusses, so transportation within cities would be a monopoly of thispany.

    Considering these alternative businesses, this person and others were graced with the potential returns they would have within this enterprise.

    Young master Jansenmented to his fellow traveler. "This is a good business. Let''s buy it no matter what the price."

    Asments about this spread around the surrounding area, the Koch patriarch smiled happily, imagining his spywork would soon increase exponentially.

    ''It looks like they''re all going to contest... That''s perfect!'' He felt as he imagined Lothur was extremely pleased with how things were developing.

    Viktoria then continued. "So, for now, we will focus on Leopoldine. But we will look outside the empire when we produce over a thousand vehicles a day.

    Speaking of that, I have to tell you something important. The founder of the Ritter Motor Company decided before his departure that all our factories need to be in the Linn Province, so even when we leave the empire in the future, we will still produce in this province.

    It cannot be changed in the future."

    ''That must be to preserve their control over thepany...''

    ''It''s not bad... They want to turn this ce into their headquarters. It makes sense.''

    ''One really needs to have the core of his business where they can act to preserve it... This Lothur was no fool.''

    Again these people epted such a thing as a good measure that would be important for the best development of thepany in the future.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Then Viktoria asked for silence by making a gesture before moving on to the most important part of the auction.

    "That said, I believe the most important thing had already been discussed. So let''s move on to the auction itself.

    Previously in the first auction of the Ritter Motor Company, we sold each 1% share of thepany for an average value of about 4.59 million bronze coins. However, at that time, we hadn''t evenunched our vehicles and didn''t know what the demand would be like.

    Thepany has grown a lot since then, and we will grow a lot more with the investment to be made in theing days.

    So the starting bid for the 1% share will start at 1 million gold coins, with a minimum increase of 100,000 gold coins."

    That was almost 21.8 times the average sale value of the first 49% sold at the first Ritter Motor Company auction.

    Hearing that, those people who had tried to negotiate with the Becker family opened their mouths in shock, hearing more than 5.7 times the amount they had offered this family!

    "1 million..."

    "... Gold coins?"

    Large families like the Duke of Linn Province only made a profit of a few hundred thousand gold coins a year. But just the initial bid of thispany already represented a few years of their profits.

    That was a salty figure for most organizations trying to do business there.

    "I''m d we got together. My family would not achieve anything in this auction alone." One of the Dukes of Leopoldinemented to his group of allies formed the night before at a local restaurant.

    Even higher-ranking powers were impressed by how much the Ritter family valued theirpany, momentarily falling silent as they did the math.

    ''But that''s worth it... We''re talking millions of gold coins in profit if we can just fulfill the current demand for vehicles.'' One of the Saints thought as he narrowed his eyes. ''Even if that profit is divided by 100, each fraction would still have hundreds of thousands of gold coins in profit already upon entering thispany.

    That''s just considering the size of the business in Linn Province... But what about when it''s the size of the empire?''

    ''It''s worth it!'' The young master of the Jansen family remained determined. His family was much more prosperous than ordinary powers in the empire, but still, this amount had impressed him.

    Luckily he could afford a debt of this greatness.

    Viktoria then said. "You will have 24 hours to raise the funds to pay for your bids, so think about that as you join the bidding.

    With that said, I''ll start the bidding for this second Ritter Motor Company auction!"

    "1.1 million gold coins!"

    The first bid was instantly ced, starting the race of the powers there for thatpany.

    ...

 Chapter 681 The First Night Sale

    ?

    Right after Viktoria authorized the bidding, Chris Waldeaur was the first to bid.

    The Duke of Linn Province had not been able to be a partner with Lothur before, as he was an enemy at the time of the first auction. But today, things were different, and he was focused on getting a slice of his city''s vehicle manufacturer.

    Like many there for the auction, Chris knew he would not get far alone. So he had already allied with all the local powers that did not already have shares in the Ritter Motor Company aiming for this moment.

    "1.2 million!"

    But the people there would not allow 1% of the Ritter Motor Company to be taken so easily.

    Many were gathered in groups simr to the Duke of this province.

    "1.3 million!"

    "1.4 million!"

    ...

    "2.8 million!"

    In less than 1 minute, the amount more than doubled the initial asking bid, and the number of participants also fell along with it.

    Right at the beginning of the auction, in addition to Chris'' group, 11 other groups joined the bidding for the first slice of Lothur''spany. But slowly, some groups silenced themselves, re-evaluating how far they could go.

    But Chris would not give up, as he judged the first sale would be one of the cheapest for anyone who bought this night.

    "3 million!" He shouted, upping the bid by 200,000 gold coins in one go.

    "3.1 million!" The leader of an alliance of Dukes of Leopoldine bid higher.

    "3.2 million."

    ...

    "4.4 million!"

    At this point in the auction, most people in the hall of this car factory were silent, watching three groups vying bid by bid for the first 1% being sold today.

    None of the groups were from families with Saints. Also, they all were empire forces.

    For the moment, the biggestpetitors were standing outside the auction, watching how far the people there were willing to go and how much they would need to buy the Ritter Motor Company.

    ''Apparently, we will have to spend at least 5 million gold coins to be able to win one of the bids.'' Young master Jansen thought to himself.

    But on another table in that area, a beautiful woman at level 19 thought this amount would be even higher. ''6 million... With that amount, we can surely get some purchase.''

    The Rios family people were also waiting for their moment to join the auction, while the groups that had already dropped out of that first 1% were reassessing their positions.

    "We must contribute at least 5 million gold coins to get anything here." One of the leaders of the groups newly formed the night before said to his allies around a table.

    "Then each of us will have to fork out about 1 million gold coins..." One of them muttered, feeling this would be quite a high cost for his family.

    He even had those coins since his family had existed for more than 600 years and had been umting good results for most of that span. But still, it was a significant amountpared to what his family had saved.

    "No, we will need much more. After all, don''t forget that half of the amount raised today will be an investment by the Ritter family." A woman recalled that fact.

    "So if the average collected today is 5 million gold coins for every 1%, half of that will be invested by the Ritter family.

    So for every 1%, we must have another 1.78 million gold coins. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The right thing to do would be to consider that we will need to gather around 1.4 million gold coins each."

    Hearing this, the most worried man in this group clenched his fists and asked. "Is it worth it? My family has just over 3 million gold coins avable."

    "Certainly!" The group leader stated. "But I wouldn''t advise those with less than 2 million coins to do that. Is anyone here in that situation?"

    "No..."

    As they talked, one more person dropped out of the first 1%petition, and only Chris and one more group were vying.

    "4.9 million gold coins!" Chris said this a little louder, using a handkerchief to dry the sweat on his forehead.

    "5 million!" The other disputing shouted, feeling as pressured or more than Chris.

    "My friend, let''s stop here. Why don''t you try the next auction?" Chris asked before raising his bid a little higher. "5.2 million!"

    Viktoria looked at the group of Dukes in one of the messes in the area and said. "Duke Waldeaur bid 5.2 million gold coins. Any higher bids?"

    She started counting while the men in that group looked at each other, moving their heads negatively.

    For that amount, they would rather wait for the next 1%!

    When Viktoria finished counting to 3, she looked at the group of that former enemy and said with a smile. "Very well, the first 1% of the night goes to the patriarch of House Waldeaur for 5.2 million gold coins!"

    With those sweet words, the men and women around the table where Chris stood jumped up from their seats, shouting in joy.

    Finally, they would be part of the Ritter Motor Company!

    "Hahaha, finally! We''re finally partners!"

    As they celebrated, people in the surrounding area watched them for a moment, seeing their happiness.

    This was especially true for Lothur''s groups of partners, such as Gomeric''s group, Elisabeth, Coroner Klossner, and the others in the area.

    For them, this auction was extremely positive.

    After all, with just this amount to start, they had already realized their positions had appreciated in value about 100 times!

    Some had paid more for their shares in the Ritter Motor Company, but there were people there making almost 12,000% profit!

    Some were smiling even more than the people in the Duke group, extremely happy to be on Lothur''s side.

    Elisabethmented to her allies. "Folks, you better get your coins ready. We have 2% of the Ritter Motor Company. We will need more than 3 million gold coins very soon."

    Gulp!

    "3 million?" One of the wealthy Peters City''s citizens asked her, feeling this would be an exceedingly high amount for his small family of merchants.

    He only profited about 10,000 gold coins a year...

    Elisabeth''s other two partners didn''t profit much more than that either and put their smiles aside to ponder whether they could keep their positions.

    "I only have 450,000 gold coins in my family." One of them said before the others talked about what they had.

    Unfortunately, the value of their possessions came to only 1.9 million gold coins!

    ...

 Chapter 682 Different Solutions

    ?

    "1.9 million? Is that all we have?" Elisabeth fretted upon hearing about it.

    If that were the case, they would have to sell part of their position!

    Even though the profit from this would probably be exciting, none wanted to get rid of their positions.

    "My family has always invested most of our savings in our business." One of them said, trying to make these people understand his dilemma. "We generally keep less than 15% of our profits... That''s why I only have a few hundred thousand gold coins."

    "Same for me." Another of themmented in a sighing tone.

    "So what are we going to do?" Elisabeth asked. "The way I see it, we have two alternatives here."

    "Two? What are they?"

    "One, we sell half of our position. That sale would give us enough coin to make the mandatory investment that the Ritter Motor Company will soon require of us. But that would mean we would lose a lot of our position.

    The other alternative would be for us to sell part of our properties, businesses, and valuable resources."

    They all looked at her with wide eyes but said nothing immediately.

    Meanwhile, Gomeric was worried about this investment as well.

    His family owned 7% of the Ritter Motor Company, so he would have to invest more than 12 million gold coins!

    "Honey, how much will we be able to put into thepany?" Hilda asked her husband.

    Gomeric was silent for a moment, doing some calctions. "We have 5 million gold coins, considering everything we have raised in thest few months from the trade of Lothur''s gloves and our crystals."

    The Ritter Motor Company had hardly distributed its profits so far.

    They had done so only once when Viktoria had gathered coins to build the Ritter family military group and its headquarters.

    But for that, she had distributed only little over 40 million bronze coins, or just over 400,000 gold coins.

    The Becker family had earned only a little over 28,000 gold coins, nothing significant for this moment.

    So even though thepany had made arge profit in thest month, since it received half the value of the car sales upon purchase, even without delivering the vehicles, none of the partners had received any significant amount of these profits.

    "Then what will we do?" Hilda looked at her husband seriously. "Are we going to sell some of what we have?"

    "No. Let''s talk to him." He looked into her eyes, indicating who he was saying. "Let''s try to get the Ritter Motor Company to distribute some of its profits before discussing sales."

    "Oh? Would that work? As far as I know, the amount customers pay when ordering their cars does not make a significant profit. Most of that first payment serves to pay the cost of production.

    Our profits only reallye in at the time of delivery of those vehicles."

    "I know." He said. "But over 400 vehicles have already been delivered to their owners. And we have a small profit margin from paying for the orders in advance.

    I believe we could collect almost 1 million gold coins if he agrees to distribute thepany''s profits."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "It would still be a long way from reaching the amount we need." She sighed.

    While the Becker family group was considering this, the coroner Klossner''s group hade to an alternative conclusion of the problem.

    One of the traders in that group then said to his concerned colleagues as new bids came in. "Why don''t we sell a fraction of our position? We need less than 2 million gold coins to pay for our obligations, but we would profit more than that if we sold 1% whole."

    "Are you suggesting we sell a fraction less than 1%?" August Klossner asked.

    "That''s right. How about this, instead of having 4%, we could have 400 parts of the Ritter Motor Company. And we could sell 1 part at a time of our position.

    However, our obligations would decrease for every part we sold of our position. So we can sell 80 fewer parts, meet our obligations, take some profit, and protect as much as possible of what we have in thispany." That merchant said.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s other partners were finding different methods to achieve the obligations they would soon have.

    "What if we simply find people to join our partnership?" Someone in a group of local merchants suggested.

    Their group had only 1%, but even so, they would not be able to hour their position, and if they had to sell it, they might lose their share in thispany.

    Then they need to consider an alternative.

    The people in his group looked at him intently, and he exined. "ording topany rules, we cannot sell our position to others. However, we can find people to join our society."

    "How would that be different from selling our position?" One of the three men in that group asked, not understanding.

    "Let me exin it another way. In theory, our 1% belongs to Marvin." This ck-haired man with a beard and mustache said, pointing to one of them. "In any meeting or business of the Ritter Motor Company, you and I, Frank, have no right to participate because it is Marvin who has the agreement with Lothur.

    So Marvin cannot pass his position to others without the approval of thepany''s controllers. However, there is a loophole here." He smiled and exined. "In the same way that we have made agreements with Marvin for the right to profits rtive to his 1% share, we can add more people to our group.

    Then Marvin would still be Lothur''s partner, but we could have more partners in our group. They would have no rtionship with Lothur and the Ritter Motor Company. They would only be entitled to the profits and obligations with us."

    "Oh?" Those two men understood what this local merchant wanted.

    They all saw a great alternative in this and soon went back to drinking in glee.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur wasughing from his house, watching the many thoughts of his associates who were trying to find ways out of this problem.

    ''The minds of these people really work best under pressure...'' Lothurughed. ''They practically developed the foundations of the mary market on Earth without any prior knowledge due to the stress of not having enough coins to honor their positions.

    That''s really magnificent to see!''

    He was not against the ideas of those people, so he was not going to tell Viktoria to try to get in the way of these men.

    His old partners deserved some ease, so as long as they didn''t break the rules of their contracts, he wouldn''t act against them.

    ''I will allow them to dilute their positions by reaching out to new partners, and I will try to prevent them from selling their positions in the short term. We''d better open our stores outside the empire before a new auction urs.'' He imagined as he watched another fraction of hispany being sold, this time for 5.3 million gold coins.

 Chapter 683 New Ownership Composition

    ?

    In the blink of an eye, the first 5% sold on the night already had their new owners.

    1% belonged to the Waldeaur family and their allies, 1% to a family of some Leopoldine nobles, 2% to the group of Dukes of the empire, and finally, thest 1% to the Carstensen family.

    Larissa''s family had won thest 1% to be auctioned, having pledged a value of 6.2 million gold coins.

    Otherrge families started bidding on this auction, so slowly, the price was going up.

    But the auction didn''t stop there. As soon as Viktoria finished speaking and started another round of selling, the powers with Saints already started giving high increases in the bid price.

    "3 million gold coins!" The level 19 woman next to her father said this as she raised one of her hands.

    "4 million!" The young master Jansen raised a million at once, aware that many people there would participate in the auction as long as he did not reach high values.

    It was in the interest of others there to bid closer to everyone''s limit, so the envoy from the Rios family shouted. "5 million!"

    "I''ll pay 5.5 million gold coins!" The Carstensen family was focused on getting at least 3% of the Ritter Motor Company and bid again.

    With such high values being reached so easily, the people at the tables in the surrounding area were silent, contemting the bids of these high-level powers.

    Those who had already achieved something sighed in relief, while those who had not achieved anything could onlyment.

    Unfortunately for several groups there, 6 million was more than they could muster.

    One would have to worry about the investments that woulde after this auction, so at least eight groups had been left out of the Ritter Motor Company for inability to honor future investments.

    "6.2 million!"

    As more powers bid, slowly with the voices bidding diminishing in quantity, one of the empire''s nobles who had gotten nothing was looking in the direction of the Becker family.

    "We must find a way to do business with that family." He said to his fellow alliance members.

    "But how? Viktoria has already said that no parts of the Ritter Motor Company will be allowed to be sold outside of auctions like this." One of the people around that man''s table said.

    "Yes, but it will be impossible for a family like theirs to hour their investments. They have 7% of thispany! That will force them to invest more than 12 million gold coins!

    I refuse to believe that they have all that. So they will have to do business in the next few days."

    A red-haired woman asked. "What will we do then? Do you have a n?"

    "No. We will talk to them and other old partners of the Ritter Motor Company. Let''s understand how they intend to hour their investments.

    I doubt they will all diminish their positions. Some have too little to think about it."

    While they were discussing, another slice of the Ritter Motor Company was sold, this time for the price of 6.9 million gold coins.

    ...

    After a few minutes of astronomical bidding, 15% of the Ritter Motor Company was sold, with an average price of 6.5 million gold coins.

    Thest 10% had been sold to just four organizations:

    The Rios family.

    The Carstensen family.

    The Jansen family.

    Anotherrge family of Leopoldine''s shadows.

    Larissa''s family managed to set up their 3% position, while the Jansen family had gotten 4% of the Ritter Motor Company. Mabel''s birthce got 2%, with thest winner also getting a slice of it.

    By the time the auction reached this point, those who had not yet gotten what they wanted were getting more nervous, raising their bids even more ridiculously.

    "6 million gold coins!" Someone shouted after Viktoria authorized another round of bidding.

    "6.1 million."

    "7 million!" The same person said loudly, looking at a group that waspeting with him.

    Only three powers were leftpeting fiercely in this auction, all from outside Leopoldine.

    The Rios family was still interested in the auction but was waiting for some wealthier ones to spend their coins to increase their position in thest two auctions.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Meanwhile, the powers of Asken, Utrary, and Cesha werepeting bid by bid.

    "7.1 million!"

    "7.5 million!"

    When the auction reached 8 million, the highest value of the night, thepeting men almost exploded, given their tension, before epting their defeats.

    "Alright, another 1% fraction of the Ritter Motor Company is up for auction, this time for the price of 8 million gold coins for the Herbig family of Asken!"

    More celebrations broke out in that hall while the high-level groups who had not yet gotten anything were getting nervous.

    But time would pass quickly, and in thisst part of the auction bidding, the 8 million range would be normal.

    After 10 minutes, thest remaining 1% would be auctioned off and sold to a foreign power that promised to pay 8.3 million gold coins.

    When the auction came to an end, the Ritter Motor Company had a new shareholderposition!

    28% Ritter family

    9% Frost Family

    10% Morning Star Academy

    7% Becker Family

    5% Christen Family

    7% Koch Family

    1% Jacob''s father''s family

    2% Elisabeth Family

    3% Teusen Family

    4% August Klossner

    1% Peters City bourgeoisie

    3% Larissa

    1% Waldeaur family

    1% Nobles of Leopoldine

    2% Dukes of Leopoldine

    2% Rios Family

    3% Carstensen Family

    4% Jansen Family

    2% Secret Family in Leopoldine

    2% Herbig Family

    2% Utrary Family

    1% Cesha''s family

    When mentioning the new shareholderposition to everyone there, Viktoria didn''t take time to remind them of the time they had to pay the promised amounts tonight but also to talk once again about the investments to be made.

    That evening the Ritter Motor Company had secured 140 million gold coins, 70% of which were to be paid in bronze, silver, and gold coins and the rest in crystals.

    70 million would be the investment that the Ritter family would make, so the new and old partners were to invest over the next few days 2.5 million for every 1% they had.

    When Viktoria finished the auction, all the people there quickly left the Ritter Motor Company factory in a hurry to get the coins in question.

    This was particrly true for the houses Becker and Christen, but also the Morning Star Academy and the merchant groups allied to Elisabeth and August Klossner.

 Chapter 684 Farewell

    ?

    After the auction ended, Viktoria, Annaliese, and Elke returned to Lothur''s house with doubts in their hearts.

    None of them needed to exin what had happened when they met him. They knew that he had followed everything from this ce.

    He smiled at them and said. "That was a good auction... But you are worried about how our partners will make their investments, right?"

    "Yes, especially our family," Annaliese said, thinking of the weakened Frost family.

    "Don''t worry about the Frost and Koch families. Since they are already subordinates of our House Ritter, we will naturally make up whatever iscking for them toplete their investments." He said as he handed over a spatial ring with almost 10 million gold coins inside it.

    Lothur had collected many items in the Imperial Prison that, if sold, would generate many coins.

    He had not previously given all these items to the Koch patriarch, only the coins he had collected in prison.

    "What about the other families?" Elke asked.

    "Let them find their resolutions." He smiled. "I''ve heard some of the ideas from groups of our former associates. They have already found interesting ways to solve the problem, so you don''t have to worry.

    Besides, these many people who have not been able to join ourpany will not give up so easily. They will stay here for a few days to find a solution to join us. So one side will end up helping the other."

    "Are you sure?" Viktoria asked him.

    "Certainly. Don''t worry about it. Focus your attention on what matters. With those coins you''ll get in the next few hours, it will be time for us to build about ten more factories in the province and hire a few thousand professionals.

    There are few skilled people to work for us in the province, so you will have to hire people from outside.

    And then there are the businesses that we will open around the empire... Sigh, it really is a lot." He smiled at them, relieved that he wasn''t leading all this.

    He would be leaving soon, so taking care of all this hassle would be these women''s responsibility!

    That said, theyughed and soon went to get something to eat, satisfied with today''s sale.

    In a single night, they had raised an amount that, even considering the entire province, there was not much local wealth to generate the value of the Ritter Motor Company.

    Winning coins were good anywhere, so soon they would celebrate for the rest of the night!

    ...

    Two days passed quickly...

    In those two days, Lothur had remained on his property most of the time. Still, he had talked with some local leaders and former partners of the Ritter Motor Company.

    After coaching them in the right direction, the families most concerned about the amounts they would have to invest in the Ritter Motor Company began meetings with out-of-province powers to talk business.

    They would solve their financial problems by finding new partners, partners of their own, but not of the Ritter Motor Company.

    In a sense, what the old partners in Lothur would create to solve their problems was the concept of Earth-holdingpanies, which controlled other enterprises.

    They could not sell their shares of the Ritter Motor Company. Yet, they hadplete freedom to share their responsibilities and rights.

    Lothur could not interfere with how, for example, the Becker family would distribute their profits in the future. That was Elke''s parents'' problem!

    And so the Holdings had been born in Leopoldine, with even the Morning Star Academy having joined this new movement.

    The imperial family owned the academy, but even that family did not have as many coins as the academy needed.

    Therefore, Luis had already negotiated half of his liabilities with groups of nobles of the empire in the two days since the auction.

    The Becker family, the Christen, Teusen, and several other former Lothur partners did the same in those days, quickly approaching the amounts they would have to pay.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    By the end of the week, the Ritter Motor Company would have to have 210 million gold coins at its disposal to increase its presence throughout the empire, but everything was developing nicely for that to happen, despite how absurd that figure was.

    With everyone who came to Peters City for the Ritter Motor Company auction somehow managing to connect to that organization, no major problems happened locally.

    Many thought a battle over the Ritter Motor Company would happen. Yet, with so many high-level powers involved with thepany, no partners had done anything.

    But some of the most powerful were looking at the former partners of thatpany, in particr House Ritter, with sharp eyes.

    Everyone agreed that things needed to continue the schedule created by the Ritter family, as well as several of the protocols made by people in that family.

    But some people had their eye on power with the highest position within thatpany.

    Good controllers or not, this family held something of greatness that no power could buy, not even the magnificent Jansen family!

    So all eyes were on the Ritter family, and as much as nothing had happened so far, if Viktoria and her people made a mistake, things wouldn''t stay that way for long!

    ...

    By sunset, Lothur was alongside his women and the men of the Ritter family in their secret headquarters.

    Finally, it was time for him to leave for his journey, and he said goodbye to everyone.

    In front of him, his wives were a little downcast, as they did not know how long he would be away.

    However, they were allmitted to doing what was best for the Ritter Motor Company and to upying their minds with the affairs of thatpany while he was traveling.

    But they were also determined to get stronger!

    This was especially true for Viktoria, who had advanced to level 18 in her body cultivation the night before.

    In front of these women, Lothur advised them. "You will lead the family from now on, so be careful. These new partners will try to pressure you, so be careful with your actions and keep our old members united around you.

    The contracts we have signed will prevent these powers from acting against you physically, but they will try to pressure the other partners, change the shareholdingposition, etc.

    But the pressures will be less as long as you do what we have nned and generate some returns.

    From time to time, distribute some profits to please these people.

    In the meantime, try to get stronger and be Saints. That will help more than anything else."

    They all nodded upon hearing their man''s words.

    "As for the rest of you, work hard to help them."

    "Yes, master!"

    Lothur ignored these many Transcendents and looked at Ice, who was standing around listening to him as well.

    "Ice, I will go to the Three Great Lakes Region. Do you wish toe with me, or will you stay here?"

    "I wish to stay." She said, as she found it much more fun and promising to remain part of the Ritter family.

    "Very well, if I find your acquaintances and tribe members, I will tell them you are well."

    After those words, Lothur left, disappearing into space.

 Chapter 685 Bad Omen

    ?

    Two days after Lothur departed from Peters City...

    After leaving his women, Lothur traveled quickly through Linn Province, soon reaching the border of that territory with that of the Three Great Lakes Region.

    He had already received the information from us regarding how to track down the Emperor, so he was going directly to this old fellow.

    Given his travel advantages, Lothur would only need a few more hours to reach his initial destination!

    ...

    While Lothur was moving closer to the Leopoldine family group, Daemon''s group was currently in the ruins of that area of the Three Great Lakes Region.

    After fleeing the imperial family weeks ago, they had gone into istion while their most renowned formations masters and cksmiths worked with the Blood Crystal.

    It was not easy to produce a tinum-grade weapon, even more so considering the level of the people involved. But the technologies of the people who lived in this area thousands of years ago were very advanced, and everyone in Daemon''s group believed they could produce such a weapon.

    So all the forces of this group were in the vicinity of this property, holding positions to defend the ce if necessary.

    Daemon was among the men at one of the front posts, meditating while surveying an area of his group''s encirclement.

    "They are closing in on us. How is our progress?" Daemon asked his people.

    "We''re at 75%, boss. We need more time." A voice came from themunicator ahead of where this man with silver hair and a beard stood.

    ...

    At the same time, in another part of this superb forest, the Emperor''s group was standing at this instant around a fire where some skewers with fish were grilling.

    "Daemon''s group can''t be far away. Their tracks are getting stronger and stronger." Sitting next to the old emperor, one of the strongest men in the group said this while holding a mug in one of his hands.

    The emperor was drinking a hot drink, and upon hearing this, he narrowed his eyes. "We need to locate him as quickly as possible. If that damned Daemon manages to develop a weapon from the Blood Crystal, the whole empire will be in chaos."

    His fear was not his eldest son using a tinum-grade weapon to take over the empire, destroy his family, etc. No, Daemon had never shown any interest in leading.

    The problem was who Daemon would target with a tinum-grade weapon!

    The Jansen family and other powers from the shadows of Leopoldine!

    Daemon was very talented, but from a young age, he had always beenzy about training, sses, the idea of leading, etc. The only things that made him work hard were those that had to do with his dead mother.

    He would bemitted and work hard when something rted to her came up.

    Hell, when he did this, few in the entire empire, including families living in the shadows of this state, couldpare to him.

    When he acted like this as a child, part of the Leopoldine family elders saw in Daemon the empire''s future, someone with the potential to be a Saint.

    Unfortunately for them, Daemon''s focus was not on the state...

    He would have the power to kill Saints with a tinum-grade weapon even though he was only a Transcendent!

    As such, Emperor Leopoldine couldn''t help but worry about his group''s dy.

    "We will increase the scope of the search." One of the level 17 elders in the group said seriously.

    While the stronger ones around the emperor were talking about this, someone weaker, there to support the group, ran up to near the emperor and announced.

    "Your Majesty, we have news from Peters City."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The emperor took his focus off the fire before him and looked at that man, indicating for him to continue.

    "The Ritter Motor Company recently held arge auction and raised 140 million gold coins. Even the Jansen and Carstensen families joined the auction and bought parts of Lothur Ritter''spany."

    Hearing that, the men in the surrounding area, still muttering things about Daemon and the Blood Crystal, stopped to look at that man.

    "140 million gold coins?" The emperor asked. "Are you sure about that? Aren''t they silver coins?"

    That was an astonishing amount!

    How could the emperor so easily believe that apany created a few months ago had been sold for that amount?

    "I am sure, Your Majesty. His Highness us Leopoldine''s group sent that information directly from Peters City." That imperial guard responsible for that kind ofmunication with the rest of the family stated before adding. "Also, the women of Lothur Ritter have leveled up their cultivations considerably recently.

    Viktoria is currently a Divine Soul Transcendent."

    "What?" The old elders of the imperial family stood up, shouting in shock.

    One hundred forty million gold coins was an absurd amount, but Lothur''s cars had their potential. However, cultivation was not easy, and it took many years for even promising talents in the empire to reach this cultivation level!

    But Viktoria had reached this cultivation in just a few months!

    Everyone there, even the old emperor, made ugly expressions, feeling that if this was true, there was something going on in the Ritter family.

    "Has us'' group reported anything else?" The emperor asked.

    "No, just that we will have to honor the position of the Morning Star Academy with a few million gold coins..."

    That was a problem, but given the problems this man had in mind, he couldn''t be bothered with coins at this point.

    "That''s bad..." He closed his eyes and muttered. "I feel that dark times are approaching us.

    Cultivators do not increase their strength so suddenly without magnificent opportunities arising." The old man said in a deep tone.

    As someone who had experienced many things in his long life, he and some of his elders knew that opportunities of this level did note out of nowhere.

    The world had its rules. Bnce was the key to everything!

    A great good would only arise together with a great evil.

    A great opportunity would only arise if a great danger, something terrible, were approaching.

    Many thought the appearance of a valuable resource was a blessing, but experts like them knew this was not true. A valuable resource appearing in a ce was the same as a mark of chaos, a sign that veryplicated problems would arise around the site of the emergence of such a resource.

    As such, after the old emperor''sment, all these men felt their worries rise.

    But not only they thought this.

    A shadow high up in a nearby tree couldn''t help but consider the same.

    ''Is it really? Am I a bad omen?''

    ...

 Chapter 686 Time To Grow Up

    ?

    ''Is it really? Am I a bad omen?'' Lothur asked himself soon after meeting the emperor''s group, hearing that man''sst lines about the dark times approaching them.

    Lothur was no fool. Considering how he hade into this world and what he had seen so far, he knew that something terrible would happen in the future.

    But upon hearing his grandfather''s speech, he immediately put himself in the ce of the valuable resource that would appear in a ce before a catastrophe.

    The world had its rules, that which brought all things to stability.

    Valuable resources existed, and people could get stronger quickly without it being a sign of the end times. However, it was not just anyhow and anywhere that this could happen.

    The Peters City area, for example, was where usually only the most capable, of the most talented, had a chance of making it to the 3rd stage. That was the limit of the area.

    So the level of resources that came up there was associated with that, and a person from the area could quickly get close to that limit without causing strangeness. However, anything higher than that was a bit strange.

    Viktoria had hardly left the province, but in a matter of months, her cultivation had jumped from the beginning of the 2nd stage to the end of the 3rd.

    This was an unjustifiable increase in cultivation by the standards of even the empire!

    Even the Jansen family, the most powerful in the entire state, had no way to help its most talented members advance so fast.

    So the emperor''s concern affected not only his men but Lothur himself.

    He clenched his hands and pressed his lips together, feeling the urgency to get stronger andplete his goals.

    ''If the family of that soul fragment no longer exists, my women could easily reach the 4th stage by absorbing these Soul Bones...'' He thought as he looked at the ring where those bones were.

    ''With their support, I can act more freely and worry less. The same will be true for the Ritter Motor Company...'' Lothur narrowed his eyes, eager to take the Blood Crystal and leave towards the north of the continent as soon as possible.

    At that moment, the emperor rose from his seat and said. "Let''s keep going! We must find Daemon as soon as possible and stop him from bringing chaos to the state!

    Dark times are approaching, so let''s keep as much trouble away as we can!"

    The men in the emperor''s vicinity agreed, quickly rising to depart from that temporary resting ce.

    Lothur would soon follow them, turning his attention to finding the tracks of Daemon''s group.

    ...

    As Lothur moved through the shadows of Emperor Leopoldine''s group, three more days passed.

    Traveling with a certain destination was fast, so much so that Lothur had reached the Emperor''s group in less than three days. But getting to something one doesn''t know where it is wasplicated, so they were still searching for Daemon''s group.

    In the midst of this, most of the powers associated with the Ritter Motor Company had already made their deposits regarding the mandatory investment of the partners.

    The new partners who joined thepany through thest auction were the first to pay. They were the most resourceful and had paid their pledges even before Lothur left Peters City.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Viktoria and her harem sisters had sold the items left by Lothur and helped the Frost and Koch familiesplete their investments in recent days.

    Then, following the formation of several partnerships between Lothur''s former partners with powers that had not ced themselves in thepany at thest auction, several of Peters City''s powers deposited the amounts needed to honor their positions.

    With that, by the eve of the end of the period these groups had to gather their coins; the Ritter Motor Company had almost 200 million gold coins avable for Viktoria and her people to allocate!

    She and her harem sisters were determined to make the Ritter Motor Company dominate the empire, so their group''s heavy investments were already being made!

    ...

    In one of the six provinces where the Ritter Motor Company would soon be expanding its operations, over 500 people were walking through the local streets with many posters in hand in the province''srgest city.

    While some were cing posters under the doors of many of the ordinary residences in that city, others were distributing them on the city''s main streets while announcing what they had in hand.

    "Job opportunity! I said, job opportunity!" A man standing in a central square of this city shouted, smiling. "We are hiring mortals! No joke, we''re hiring ordinary people!"

    As he shouted, two other people were handing out flyers to citizens passing by, many looking at them strangely.

    This was not amon practice in the empire. But precisely because of this, everyone who passed near such people would look in their direction, and many would ept their pamphlets.

    A middle-aged man received such a thing and opened the hiring poster, reading what was there.

    ''Job opportunity!

    Come to South Square on the 14th at noon. The Ritter Motor Company will hire up to 10,000 people!!!

    Don''t miss the opportunity to earn up to 1,000 bronze coins monthly!''

    That man''s eyes widened as he read a thousand bronze coins, more than two times what a normal mortal could earn from their jobs in this city.

    As someone who didn''t have much time before his old age came and he would soon stop working, he immediately identified an opportunity that could change his future!

    ''Is this really true? If it is, I will join it immediately!'' He rushed home to warn his children and rtives that everyone should take advantage of this opportunity.

    While this was going on in the main cities of the provinces where the Ritter Motor Company would expand its operations, in ces like the Cultivation House, that continental institution present in the empire, other types of announcements from thispany were already on hand.

    The Ritter Motor Company needed many mortals to work on building roads, factories, and buildings that didn''t require the involvement of cultivators. But it also needed spiritual professionals to join in the production of vehicles.

    So in the buildings of the Cultivation House around the empire, thousands of posters for hiring spiritual professionals were already pasted next to the main missions of this institution in Leopoldine.

    With the resources avable, Viktoria, Elke, Annaliese, and Reba were already hiring throughout the empire!

 Chapter 687 Reunion

    ?

    Three days passed as job opportunities at the Ritter Motor Company popped up all over Leopoldine, making even people who had never heard about cars learn about thispany.

    In those three days, Lothur had followed the Emperor''s group closely but also investigated Daemon''s whereabouts on his own.

    Unfortunately, the Three Great Lakes Region wasrge. It contained several natural barriers that made even the investigative work of a Saint difficult.

    Because of some of these natural and other artificial barriers, Lothur had not been able to observe very distant ces and had been having to check the areas within his reach bit by bit.

    He was not a professional investigator, so even though he was much stronger than the people in Emperor Leopoldine''s group, he investigated almost the same area as these people these days.

    So he followed them, letting these local experts lead the way for him.

    Amidst this, he saw some of his old acquaintances from this region near the emperor''s group.

    ...

    ''Toad?'' Lothur looked at the level 17 creature that had led him to the Immortals Well earlier.

    Noticing that creature and other beasts wereing to his grandfather''s group, Lothur frowned, wondering what was on these creatures'' minds.

    ''Tsk! Idiots! Are you going to try to defend your territories against these people?'' Lothur formed a frown and immediately set off in the direction of those beasts to avoid the worst.

    Not only would it be harmful to him for those beasts to get in the way of the Leopoldine emperor''s group, but he also didn''t want those beasts to die for anything there.

    One way or another, they had helped him in the past!

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur moved from where he was watching the emperor''s group and appeared before those beasts.

    As he did so, Lothur felt the first of those beings moving into the position of the imperial family group crash into his body before the rest of the group stopped because of his appearance, jumping backward.

    "Aaaagh!"

    Arge level 18 ape shouted as it fell backward onto the ground, feeling as if overnight, a hill had appeared in its path.

    Meanwhile, the big level 17 toad looked at Lothur wide-eyed, identifying this young man from months ago.

    "Lothur!" It said in one shout.

    Luckily, Lothur was manipting the space in the surrounding area, so this shout would not reach his grandfather''s group.

    The other level 17 and 18 beasts also identified Lothur, remembering this young man who had passed through the area not long ago.

    "Lothur? What are you..." One of them was about to ask when it noticed the cultivation level of this human.

    "Saint?"

    Gulp!

    "Celestial Saint!" A snake eximed, not believing what its instincts were telling it for the first time in its existence.

    Lothur smiled at them and exined. "It''s good to see you guys. But I can''t let you go through with it. The people ahead are investigating someone for me, so I don''t want you to get in their way."

    Those beasts were still shocked by Lothur''s soul cultivation. Most of them continued to watch him intently, saying nothing.

    But the great ape that had collided with Lothur got up from the ground and looked at him. "They work for you? But those are enemies of Lord Daemon, your father. He has ordered us to act against that group."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Oh? You are under Daemon''smand?"

    "We have no choice." The great toad replied. "Daemon is the strongest in the area. And from what we hear, he is finishing building a tinum-grade weapon, so we cannot stand against him."

    "I see..." Lothur closed his eyes and then said. "Well, I''m not going to do anything against him. But he has something of interest to me. I intend to take it and leave, so don''t interfere with that group''s investigation."

    "But..." The great ape felt bad hearing that since it would pit Daemon against them.

    "Don''t worry about the old man. When I take what I want from him, he will understand it wasn''t your fault... How could you stop a Saint?" Heughed.

    As those beasts looked at him in admiration or at the ground feeling strange for being stopped so easily by him, Lothur said.

    "By the way, I have a gift for your people. In fact, it''s two gifts."

    "Oh? What''s this about?" The big toad asked.

    Lothur then pulled the two Saints'' corpses out of his spatial ring.

    "These two bodies. You can divide them and strengthen yourselves. I have no use for them, so don''t stand on ceremony."

    The eyes of those creatures bugged out at the sight of those two corpses, one of them even being of a Celestial Saint like Lothur.

    ''He killed someone of that level?'' The great ape swallowed his saliva, seeing that Lothur''sbat proficiency had not diminished even though he had be so strong.

    But neither could deny the desire to at least devour a part of those bodies!

    Even though they were human bodies, small for these beasts'' appetites, these two bodies were loaded with energy and cultivation understanding.

    This was no ordinary snack for them but two enormous medicines!

    Even the biggest of them, the size of Lothur''s house, couldn''t bear to eat even half of one of those bodies before it had to go into seclusion for a few years!

    Even though they were so smallpared to their size, those two corpses could help their entire group!

    "Lothur... I don''t know how to thank you for that." One of those beasts said after a few moments, its mouth salivating.

    "Hmm, it''s really a great chance for us... Thank you, Lothur."

    After several thanks, one of them asked. "By the way, how is Ice?"

    "About it, it''s fine. It became a Transcendent beast some time ago." Lothur answered sincerely. "When I came here, I asked if it wanted toe back, but it preferred to stay on my people''s side.

    But it said hello to all of you."

    With that said, they would chat for a few moments while Lothur would walk beside them toward theke where these creatures lived.

    He had already ced a tracking device on the emperor''s group, so separating from them for a while would not hinder him.

    As they headed back to the area where they would soon devour those corpses, those beasts talked to Lothur about Daemon and Fabienne, things they had discovered after his departure.

    Unfortunately, they did not know where Daemon was at this instant, so they could not help the young Ritter in his hunt.

    But it didn''t matter. Soon the emperor''s group would find Daemon''s hiding ce!

 Chapter 688 Imminent Battle

    ?

    While Lothur was standing beside the beasts of one of thekes in the Three Great Lakes Region, one of Emperor Leopoldine''s investigators encountered Daemon''s group!

    The moment he noticed the ruins that the ancestors of the Leopoldine family had attacked the powers based there centuries ago, this level 17 man immediately called his group over there.

    "Your Majesty, I believe I have found Daemon''sir!" The voice of one of the high-level elders of that family reached the emperor through a short-rangemunicator.

    The moment he heard this from the crystal-like item in his hands, the old emperor quickly looked in that man''s direction and said. "Let''s go ahead, attack the ce under Daemon''s control with everything!"

    "Yes, Your Majesty!"

    Two dozen cultivators from that group eximed simultaneously.

    The time had finallye for them to confront the cursed Daemon and retrieve their precious item!

    They all quickly flew to the spot where the investigator had discovered part of the ruins where Daemon''s group was hiding.

    In the blink of an eye, their group gathered around that spot and, without dy, began their attack!

    The weaker, level 16 men controlled the group''s offensive formations and soon began firing on that property.

    Leopoldine''s emperor''s group was no fool. They knew that there were certainly magnificent formations around that ce!

    Before they used their powers, they would unload their weapons under Daemon''s headquarters!

    So the first of these weapons fired, throwing a green beam in the direction of this ce.

    As everyone in this group was circting their energy, preparing forbat to begin, a bluish, semitransparent barrier appeared under that area.

    BOOM!

    But still, as defense and offense collided, a powerful explosion erupted in the vicinity, alerting everyone up to a few miles away of what would happen in the next few moments.

    Daemon saw this and stopped meditating on the outskirts of his property, opening his eyes and looking in the direction of where his old man''s group was already attacking them.

    "Get ready! The old man is here!" He shouted to his staff, already standing in front of one of the boundaries of the defensive barrier under the area.

    "Damn it! Boss, the emperor is furious!" One of the men closest to Daemon shouted this when he saw the face of the old emperor, who was green with anger at the moment.

    "It''s only natural... We stole the most valuable thing he had."

    Daemon turned to someone else and asked. "How is our progress? Do we already have our weapon? Our defenses are good, but it seems that the Leopoldine family formation masters have had major advances in their formations. We won''t be able to stand being under attack for long."

    One of the men in the development area of Daemon''s group heard that and shouted to his leader. "Our progress is at 95%. Chief, we need more time.

    We will focus the entire staff to finish everything, but we won''t be able to do it in less than an hour!"

    "An hour? All right, I''ll get that time for you." Daemon said in a determined manner. "But don''t dy! After an hour, we''ll have to run away, or we''ll crash here!"

    Gulp!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Daemon''s group was strong. He had a greatposition, and each of the men and women in his group was armed with quality equipment, a little better than those of the imperial family.

    However, the emperor''s group had more quality. After all, the Leopoldine family was a millennial power with countless favorable conditions for their talents to grow.

    The family might not be as advanced in terms of technology, but their numbers of warriors and the levels of these individuals were higher than Daemon''s.

    So as capable as they were, this group from the Three Great Lakes Region didn''t have enough to take on the Emperor head-on and be able to stop them for long!

    If they took too long, they would have to give up their project and run away!

    The people in Daemon''s development group understood this and soon began to focus on their project even more.

    Either they would finish the production of this tinum-grade weapon, or it was the end of decades of their project!

    Amid this, various elemental forms of attacks were hitting the barrier above them, little by little creating points of tension and small openings.

    The emperor''s group saw this and held their positions, preparing for the invasion.

    "They will try to use the Blood Crystal somehow, so be careful. That thing will be tough to fight against if Daemon''s people have managed to create something that at least uses a fraction of its powers!" The emperor shouted amidst the explosions in the surrounding area.

    ...

    Hearing the noisesing from the direction of the emperor''s group, Lothur finally realized that something was up and stopped talking to the beasts from earlier.

    "Guys, time for me to leave. I don''t know if we''ll see each other again, so this is goodbye." He said as he looked with a smile in that direction.

    "Good luck, Lothur. I hope you achieve what you seek. If we can help you one day, we definitely will." The big level 17 toad said as he chewed on something.

    After those words, he saw Lothur disappearing from that area.

    Lothur moved through space, heading towards the ce where the emperor''s group was attacking the forces of Daemon''s group with everything.

    When he got there, he saw therge barrier over those areas and the weapons of his grandfather''s group, feeling the power of both parties.

    ''Gold-grade, eh? It won''t be easy for me to ignore those defenses and invade the area.'' He smiled bitterly, noting that his father''s defensive items were of great quality.

    If given time, he could find a way to manipte those barriers, as he had already done in the Imperial Prison.

    But he judged that he wouldn''t have that kind of time, or rather, there was no point in him worrying about it. The weapons of the Emperor''s group were also Gold-grade. If he waited a few minutes, those defenses would fall, and nothing else would be in his way!

    Seeing this, Lothur stood still, flying above that area as he watched the defenses of Daemon''s group weaken little by little.

    He saw his old father''s face for the first time and noticed the simrities between the two.

    But Lothur didn''t care what blood ties he had with these people. He just had a little curiosity in his heart.

    As an earthling in this cultivation world, he didn''t feel attached to these people. All he wanted was the Blood Crystal, something he intended to use to strengthen the Elemental Staff!

 Chapter 689 Theft

    ?

    Sometime after the emperor''s group started their attacks, the cracks in the barrier around those ruins were sorge that they stretched for tens of meters.

    As the decisive moment awaited approached, both the Emperor''s group and Daemon''s group were in fighting positions, just waiting for that barrier to break.

    Both sides were nervous, with the experts sweating as they imagined the problem ahead.

    Did Daemon''s group already have the tinum-grade weapon?

    Would the emperor''s group victimize how many of Daemon''s group?

    Both sides had their own concerns.

    But amidst these people, the emperor fixed his eyes on his eldest son while Daemon also looked at him, knowing he would have to face his old man.

    Then...

    BOOM!

    After thest attack collided with the dense barrier over that area, the cracks on it reached such a level that the spiritual structure of it could no longer hold.

    At that instant, the barrier exploded as if made of ss, sending small fragments in endless directions.

    Both sides of this conflict about to begin were already prepared for this, with their spirits high above.

    As the small fragments of the barrier passed through them without hitting them, both sides flew into each other, leaving no room for either side to oppress the other and get gaps.

    Daemon collided his sword with his father''s, floating in the surroundings while their auras were at their peak.

    "Daemon, how dare you steal from me?" The old emperor shouted at his son, looking into this man''s eyes.

    "Old man, you are already near the end of your life... Isn''t it natural for me to take my inheritance?" Daemon teased.

    "If you want an inheritance, you''ll have to kill me first!"

    Meanwhile, Lothur ignored the fight and looked toward the interior of those ruins in search of the Blood Crystal.

    Immediately upon doing so, he saw a red glow in the basement of that building, where several formations masters were trying to connect that thing to a weapon.

    Lothur watched with interest the inscriptions used by these people, noting the innovative methods of the Daemon group''s formations masters.

    ''It is not for nothing that they are such a strong group and feared by the empire. In addition to having great cultivation bases, they have formations masters capable of producing codes far superior to most of those I''ve seen in Leopoldine.''

    Lothur couldn''t help but praise the abilities of these people to use such great techniques to create codes for their formations.

    Even though they were 3rd stage people, he was getting close to sessfully building a tinum-grade item!

    Normally this would not be possible, but given the Blood Crystal''s quality, they could achieve such a feat!

    All the otherponents of that weapon being produced would be Silver-grade, but when it was sessfully connected with the Blood Crystal, its abundant and special energy would raise the whole to a much higher level.

    ''But that''s also a waste... I can''t let you guys waste something so valuable.'' He thought to himself, certain that he could produce something much stronger using the Blood Crystal.

    As a level 20 soul cultivator, Lothur was a 4-star formations master, one of medium to high-level, by the way.

    As such, he could certainly manipte the other items of a Gold-grade weapon and its formations to produce an item close to the Quasi-tinum grade, which would match that treasure best!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Seeing that they were 98% away from achieving the formation of that weapon, Lothur moved through space in the blink of an eye traversing the battlefield around those ruins.

    When he arrived in the underground room where half a dozen formations masters were working on that weapon, he didn''t hesitate to show himself.

    As he appeared there, Lothur immediately used his Gravity skill, causing everyone in the area to fall to the ground due to the force weight of their own bodies.

    "Aaaaahg!"

    At that instant, the formations masters screamed in surprise, losing control over their techniques as the space around the formations gs destabilized.

    The Blood Crystal was too powerful for just one of those people to manipte, so when their group lost control over what they were doing, that jewel immediately rejected the inscriptions on it.

    It glowed intensely, and then all the items forcefully connected to it exploded, being sent away burning in red mes.

    Boom!

    "No!" one of the men in that underground location shouted as his eyes fluttered, ignoring Lothur due to the terrible shock at having the fruit of days of hisbor destroyed like this.

    It was already so close to them reaching their goal. It was really frustrating.

    "My friends, do not despair. An artifact of this level can only reveal its greatness in the hands of someone powerful." Lothurmented as he walked over to the Blood Crystal. "Only someone capable can recognize the true value of something like this."

    Lothur summoned the Elemental Staff from his spatial ring and picked up that jewel with one of his hands, viewing its characteristics through the system screen.

    As he smiled, the people there saw him doing something amazing.

    As the Elemental Staff floated around Lothur''s waist, the Blood Crystal slowly moved closer to his belly high while golden inscriptions appeared on the surroundings.

    The space above these two objects distorted as Lothur manipted the space without using formation gs.

    Meanwhile, his eyes were glowing brightly, his hands with orange and ck mes on them, manipting something semi-transparent, made from the mes of two of his Soul Bones.

    Lothur ced inscriptions on those two artifacts without using objects from formations masters!

    However, what shocked the surrounding formations masters the most was not Lothur''s ability to manipte the Natural Laws without using special artifacts, but how he was stealing their techniques!

    While inscribing his rules on those two objects with one of his hands, with the other, Lothur was holding one of the most important books of this group.

    "Hey! That''s stealing!" Someone unconsciously shouted as he saw Lothur''s lines of code quickly creating a sphere of golden lines that pushed those two items to merge.

    Lothur smiled upon hearing this, but he was not simply stealing them. The opposite of that, he was improving the technique created by that group to produce a tinum-grade weapon!

    "See how a tinum-grade weapon is made, my friends!" He smiled brightly, watching the glow on the crystal increase as his inscriptions ''tied'' the staff and crystal together.

    The strongest of those formations masters opened his eyes wide as he saw that, noting Lothur''s progress jumping from 10% to 50% and then to 75% in the blink of an eye.

    ''Is he going to make it?''

    Gulp!

    ...

 Chapter 690 Darkness Scythe

    ?

    The golden glow of Lothur''s inscriptions became so intense that everyone around that underground chamber shielded their eyes for an instant, thinking that it was going to explode.

    However, as everyone prepared for the spiritual shock of that weapon, still under the effects of Lothur''s Gravity, the glow began to diminish significantly.

    Looking toward the staff and crystal, one of those level 17 formations masters swallowed his saliva, and his eyes widened.

    As others did the same, feeling parts of their bodies tremble, a new weapon appeared from the fusion with the Blood Crystal!

    The crystal could no longer be seen, but from its fusion with the Elemental Staff, a weapon in a whole new shape appeared in that underground chamber.

    At one end, this weapon still resembled Lothur''s staff, but with a ck metallic body embossed with lighter shades of ck, which gave the impression of being mes.

    Going further up the handle of this weapon, little by little, the ck of the weapon gave way to orange until the middle of the handle becamepletely red, where part of the Blood Crystal could be seen lodged.

    However, the weapon did not end there. Following a little further down the handle, one would see the major change this weapon had undergone, where in ce of another end simr to the first was now the connection of the handle with a curved de.

    This de was by no means small and was half the size of the handle itself, originating from the Elemental Staff.

    On it, there was also an embossing on its shining silver de, following the same pattern of mes as on the underside of its handle.

    Lothur saw it and smiled satisfyingly, quickly touching his creation.

    [Darkness Scythe] [Rank: tinum]

    [Description: This item can manipte the elements in repellent ways and create attacks based on the element of darkness, corrupt souls, and spectres.

    When infused with its users'' spiritual energy, it activates a secondary ability, River of Souls.]

    [Feature: increases the user''s attack power by 100%.]

    ...

    [River of Souls] [Rank: tinum]

    [Description: This ability shows itself in the form of a water wheel of darkness, which the user can use to force the reincarnation of lost souls as spectres.]

    Upon reading all this about this weapon, Lothur was amazed!

    Weapons normally had no secondary abilities, even if they were of the highest level.

    Abilities were characteristic only of living beings or unique natural artifacts, like the magnificent items of this world and Soul Bones.

    The fusion of the Elemental Staff with one of the unique jewels of this world has given rise to such a powerful ability!

    Reading this, Lothur was fully aware that the characteristics of this weapon had a lot to do with his own abilities because he had produced it.

    He moved it around, familiarizing himself with the weapon.

    ''Incredible! It''s very light!'' He smiled, feeling immensepatibility and desire to infuse his ck mes into that item.

    Meanwhile, all those men in that room were watching Lothur''s scythe move, feeling chills in their souls as they saw it.

    They all had already realized who he was and his current shocking level of soul cultivation. But producing that weapon was an even more incredible feat!

    Gulp!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "What are you going to do?" One of them asked in fear.

    Lothur stopped what he was doing and looked at that person. "Nothing. I thank you for collecting that crystal for me. Now my weapon isplete. Goodbye."

    With those words, he left that ce with a smile, crossing the ruins'' walls and soon arriving outside, where the battle between the emperor and Daemon had taken a new turn in thest few moments.

    As Lothur produced his weapon, both sides on the battlefield realized that the Blood Crystal had been sessfully fused into something!

    Sensing that, as Daemon moved to grab his weapon, Emperor Leopoldine did the same to prevent anyone from using such a weapon.

    But just as the two were about to enter the area''s ruins, they both noticed Lothur leaving from there with a terrifying scythe in one of his hands.

    The two immediately stopped to look at him, who was not hiding now.

    "Lothur!" They both shouted as they recognized this young man.

    "Thanks for the gift, guys. Now I have some business to attend to. I hope you will still be alive when I return. We will talk then." Lothur smiled at the two before spinning his scythe in the air and striking out in the direction of the two.

    "Shit!"

    Daemon and the emperor realized the intent of this shameless young man, and both of them circted their energies to evade Lothur''s attack as quickly as possible.

    As they did so, two ck des broke from the Darkness Scythe, making everyone on the battlefield feel cold in their souls as they looked with shock at that.

    That was a terrifying blow!

    ''Is that the power of a tinum-grade weapon?''

    Some wondered as they saw such attacks slicing through the space fabric towards the emperor''s and Daemon''s bodies.

    Lothur disappeared from the area as his attacks to ward off those two took their courses, no longer dying and setting off towards the north of Concordia.

    It was finally time for him to leave Leopoldine and fulfill his mission!

    As he moved, those two dealt with Lothur''s attack, suffering to survive but escaping the worst.

    When that happened, the battle between the two sides was totally thwarted, and the people there no longer had any reason to keep fighting.

    Both sides looked to where Lothur had fled, searching for traces of this young man who had not shown his soul power by showing himself to his grandfather and father.

    Daemon clenched his fists, and his father looked at him, sighing. "It looks like we''ve both been tricked, hahaha."

    "If he had asked me, it would have been fine, but this ungrateful son simply stole my tinum-grade weapon!" Daemon didn''t like that at all.

    The Emperor, on the other hand, was delighted. Nothing better than Lothur taking that weapon away from Daemon!

    With this, he would no longer worry about his eldest son causing chaos in the empire. As for Lothur, this young man had never been one to deliberately cause trouble, so with that weapon in his hands, the emperor was not so concerned.

    The emperor liked his grandson''s personality a lot!

    Then, heughed at Daemon''s misfortune, looking at where his grandson had disappeared, greatly relieved.

 Chapter 691 Leaving Leopoldine

    ?

    The Emperor''s biggest concern about the Blood Crystal was Daemon getting his hands on a tinum-grade weapon that would basically put him at the top of the empire.

    But without that weapon, Daemon would still have to hide around ces like this, and Leopoldine''s stability would be guaranteed.

    He would still prefer to have the Blood Crystal in his possession, but this item had already been used to form an extremely powerful weapon, and he could not take it from Lothur.

    The emperor could onlyugh at the situation and feel some relief.

    Lothur, at least, was on the run, trying to escape the Seraphim Church, so he would not be staying in Leopoldine to bring chaos here.

    As the emperorughed, Daemon had an ugly expression on his face, having been hindered by his son at thest moment.

    But with his fight against his father having been stopped, it didn''t take him long to gather with his people and leave that ce, fleeing.

    As they did so without being pursued, he heard from one of his subordinates. "Chief, Lothur is now a Celestial Saint."

    "What?" Daemon looked at that master of formations.

    "It seems he has epted his nature and is rapidly bing stronger..." One of the men close to Daemonmented.

    "The encounter with Fabienne must have been quite revealing for him..."

    ''So that''s it...'' Daemon sighed, understanding that he had no chance of stopping Lothur now. ''But what is he up to?''

    ...

    By the next day, the Emperor of Leopoldine was back in his capital city.

    With the teleportation formations around his empire, it had been easy for him to return to his home.

    Upon reaching this ce, he immediately received more news about the Ritter Motor Company, which at the moment was expanding its operations throughout the empire.

    Hundreds of thousands of people were about to be hired by thispany around the empire, something quite shocking.

    "So they''re going to use those coins to expand their operations..." Lothur''s old grandfathermented to his assistant right after hearing all that Lothur''s women were doing. "That''s good. I don''t see a problem with these cars driving around my empire.

    I have heard that they are more efficient than wagons and chariots, so perhaps we can improve the performance of our state as a whole with this enterprise."

    "Your Majesty is not concerned about the size of thispany?" His secretary asked, narrowing her eyes. "There are foreign powers in the Ritter Motor Company."

    "No." He smiled, but he wouldn''t tell anyone other than those who already knew that Lothur was in the empire and now had a tinum-grade weapon.

    He had probably nned that whole auction days ago and left mechanisms for Viktoria and the others to keep control of the Ritter Motor Company.

    As long as Lothur was in charge of thatpany, the emperor would not be worried about outside powers within thergestpany in his state.

    "The Ritter Motor Company could revolutionize our state in no time." The emperor muttered, thinking of Lothur''spany''s recentlyunched agricultural machines.

    Several vehicles specially designed for working in the fields and even mining were already being sold in Peters Ctiy''s store. With the expansion already started by Viktoria, more units of these special vehicles could soon be delivered to change agriculture and mining in the state.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    This could generate more wealth and power for the empire!

    "So don''t hinder the operations of thispany. It must be protected." The emperormented before leaving that woman behind.

    ...

    Meanwhile, on Leopoldine''s border with Lenz...

    At this instant, Lothur was flying through the vacuum of space, quickly moving toward the north.

    However, not having the same possibilities as the emperor, such as teleportation formations, the young Ritter was still traveling through Leopoldine.

    Fortunately, the border of that state with Lenz was just ahead of him, where he could already see several observers on both sides of the border.

    Some of them were from the families behind these two states, powers interested in maintaining border control. But Lothur soon identified several men from the Seraphim Church over there.

    ''They are still watching the area to be prepared in case one of us returns...'' He remembered what he had heard from his women about the disappearance of two other participants from the Secret Realm of Linn Province.

    Thinking about this, he remembered his mother, who was supposed to be behind these disappearances.

    ''When I be stronger and learn a little more about the situation on the continent, I will activate my bloodline ability to indicate to her that I am no longer in the Imperial Prison. That will make her stop what she is doing.'' Lothur made up his mind.

    He had no feelings for Daemon and Fabienne because they were the parents of his predecessor. However, this demon Emperor had helped him significantly, and he had a lot of gratitude for her.

    Lothur knew she was probably taking great risks moving those two young people across the continent, so he didn''t intend to leave her in the dark forever.

    He couldn''t activate his bloodline ability for now since he didn''t know what the situation on this continent looked like, much less the full powers of the Seraphim Church and other powers that might target him.

    The Church was the one who was effectively pursuing him, but perhaps more powers, perhaps even stronger than the Church, were keeping an eye on this organization''s pursuits!

    Lothur would not immediately signal his position to his mother to avoid dying prematurely.

    With this in mind, he crossed the border between those two states, having no difficulty in leaving Leopoldine.

    As much as there were observers on both sides of that border, none of them had Saints watching the area. So he merely watched them for a moment and then entered Lenz, the homnd of Mabel, a powerful state neighboring Leopoldine.

    Lenz was a bit stronger than Leopoldine to anyone looking at both states from afar. But due to the existence of stronger powers lurking in the shadows of Lothur''s home state, both states had simr strengths.

    In Lenz, powers with Saints in their leadership effectively ruled the state in daylight, but most of the local organizations had powers simr to those in Leopoldine.

    Knowing this, Lothur flew on through this state with no intention of stopping to investigate or learn about the area. He was not a tourist, and hardly anyone in the kingdom could stop him from continuing his way.

    His goal was the former Grapia Kingdom, a state that no longer existed but that the Koch family had managed to locate where this area was.

    It was further north, where Rablus was today, where coincidentally, the Tyrannosaurus Rex projection had told him to look for the clues left by the demonic leaders!

    ...

 Chapter 692 In Search Of Information

    ?

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex Projection that Lothur had met at the Immortals Well had given him a mission to exterminate the demon race!

    He could not do this against Fabienne and the demons who had helped him, for he was not an ungrateful person. But he wouldn''t mind exterminating all the other demons in this world.

    The origin of his body didn''t matter at all to Lothur. He cared about surviving, getting stronger, protecting his women, and having the chance to live in peace.

    He wanted this, and he would do everything in his power to achieve it!

    Knowing that Grapia was where the Rablus empire was today, Norid''s neighbor, he would not waste his time in the middle of his path. He nned to travel to that location and, at most, stop to rest, eat and gather information until he reached that state.

    From there, he would begin his investigations regarding the family of that soul fragment and, in the meantime, if he had the chance, chase demons.

    So he soon ignored the special creatures, cities, andnds in his path, interested in stopping only when it was appropriate.

    ...

    Lenz was not a state with arge territory. This kingdom had less than a third of the area of Leopoldine and a poption of about half that of its neighbor to the south.

    The average strength of the inhabitants of Lenz capable of cultivation was level 12, slightly above the level of Leopoldine, where few knew of the existence of powers in the shadows of the state and thought this to be a much weaker empire than it was.

    But because of the exposure of the greater powers of Lenz, the services in that state were much better than those in Leopoldine, where one would have to have contacts with the families living in the shadows to be able to find 4-star professionals.

    But in Lenz, it was not like that. Anyone with coins and crystals could hire powerful professionals since thergest families in the state did not prevent their professionals from selling their services.

    Lothur had realized this after a full day of traveling through the kingdom, having seen a few cities quickly as he traveled towards thergest city on the northern side of the kingdom.

    He had already stopped to eat and rest in local forests, where he had had no problems so far. But as he approached the northern border of this kingdom, he nned to stop at arge city that he had decided to visit before he even left Peters City.

    He was not far from reaching this area, and as he flew through the vacuum of space, he could already see such a ce from afar.

    ''Time to get a little more information.'' He thought to himself, slowly lowering his speed and decreasing his altitude.

    The information from the Koch family, one of Leopoldine''s powers that had great information inside and outside the empire, was only basic and talked more about the neighboring states of the empire.

    Information about ces like Norid and Rablus was almost non-existent, and to identify where the Grapia Kingdom was, that family had taken a lot of time researching and buying information throughout the empire.

    Therefore, Lothur intended to stop at the major cities on his way to collect more information.

    From what many thought, the 5th stage was practically legendary, and there had been no reports of cultivators of this greatness for a long time.

    But in the middle of the 4th stage, Lothur couldn''t help but imagine that several Sages must be around.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    After all, he had only 5 Soul Bones, and he was a Saint. There certainly should be people with more bones, and the umted bonuses of those people undoubtedly exceeded his!

    It was true that much of his advancement hade from his Bloodline and Physique skill. However, many talented cultivators around the continent had had much more cultivation time than he had.

    Lothur had only been in this world for a few months. Still, he had already seen people advancing rapidly through the cultivation ranks even without his help.

    Larissa was a good example, who had advanced to level 16 at the age of only 26, using only her talent, luck, and the resources provided by her family.

    There were certainly more talented people than her in this world, so when adding the possibility of Soul Bones, Lothur was almost sure that several Sages were hidden around the continent.

    He was no longer afraid of Saints, so the information he wanted was very much connected to those who should be the actual peak cultivators of Concordia!

    When hended in a grove not far from that great city of Lenz, Lothur had in mind to seek information about the highest-level powers of this continent.

    He left the vacuum of space and followed to the city ahead, a ce a littlerger than Peters City but from where he could sense the auras of even level 20 Saints.

    He immediately hid his soul cultivation level as he approached one of the entrances to the city, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention.

    Since his level was so high, he could end up attracting unnecessary trouble without even doing anything!

    So while ingesting a pill to change the color of his hair and disguise his appearance, Lothur soon looked like a level 17 Transcendent, enough not to attract the local experts but also not to be ignored.

    He passed through the city''s entrance and soon made his way to the center of this ce, ignoring the differences of this city to Peters City.

    The ce was quite busy and seemed richer than Peters City. Still, due to the number of wagons and carriages on the streets, the home of the Ritter Motor Company looked better when viewed from afar.

    There was no more smell of manure on the streets in that city, and the noises of thatpany''s vehicles were much softer than those of animals.

    But despite the ''backwardness'' of such a city concerning that, Lothur was not bothered and was soon in front of the local Cultivation House building.

    ''If there is a power capable of giving me the information I want without hindering my path, that is the Cultivation House.'' Lothur looked at the building that looked like the one in Peters City.

    That was a continental organization present in most of the Concordia states. Besides this organization, only the Seraphim Church, guilds, and associations of spiritual professionals were of simr sizes.

    But only the Cultivation House was essible to anyone with the coins and the interest to trade!

    With that, Lothur entered that building without further ado, heading straight for the area where informants sold their knowledge.

    ...

 Chapter 693 Information 1

    ?

    "Sir, is there something I can help you with?" An attendant from the informant area came up to Lothur, smiling as she ignored the other people in the area waiting for service.

    A Nascent Soul Transcendent was quite privileged in this society!

    Lothur did not look at that woman as he observed the surroundings and said. "I want information about the Continent. Regarding states stronger than Lenz, high-level powers one should be wary of when traveling north."

    Every Cultivation House had a section like this for people to sell their information.

    Not always would the person interested in buying information deal directly with the informant behind it, as one might think. Sometimes these people sold their information to the Cultivation House, and someone who wanted ess to it could hire the services of this institution.

    Unfortunately, the Cultivation House had no integratedwork across the territory. They shared the same information only internal to a province or a kingdom where it was, depending on the distances.

    As said before, there were no long-distance means ofmunication remotely efficient in this world, so anything integrated only worked in the short range.

    Because of this, upon arriving in this sector, one would have to go through the primary service that this woman was doing with Lothur to be directed to the official or part of the area with that kind of information sought.

    "I see..." She muttered as she listened to Lothur.

    After looking at a clipboard in her hands, she immediately directed this customer. "Sir, please apany me to room 17."

    Lothur followed this woman to the indicated room and was soon left there waiting for someone to attend to him.

    After a few minutes inside that room that had virtually no decoration, with only an iron table and a ''U'' shaped seat, someone opened the door.

    "I hear you are in search of high-level information. Is that true?" A middle-aged man walked in without looking at Lothur, but as soon as he sat across from this young man, he stopped for a moment to observe this talented young man.

    One could improve their appearance as they got stronger in this world. But it was hard to hide the marks of age, so seeing this youthful appearance of Lothur and feeling the level 17 cultivation, that Cultivation House official soon realized that this was probably a prodigy.

    ''Nascent Soul Transcendent and so young... Where does this boye from?'' He wondered, as there was no information in the Cultivation House about someone so young and powerful in Lenz. ''He must not be from the kingdom... Is that why he is seeking this kind of information? Is he someone traveling the Continent?''

    As this man had many things on his mind, Lothur said. "I suppose so. I want to know about the most relevant powers on the Continent, particrly those north of the Continent. I''m on a trip to Rablus, so I want to know who to avoid so I don''t get into trouble that''s hard to deal with."

    "Rablus? That''s a long and dangerous journey." That man eximed, surprised to meet someone traveling to such a ce.

    In Concordia, most states had the same rank as Lenz and Leopoldine. Obviously, there was a power ranking that put some ahead of others. Still, the difference between most of these domains was not shing.

    However, in the north of the Continent were the most powerful states that were significantly out of line with most one could find.

    In the far north was the Ancestral Region, where fantastic beings ruled their area in seclusion, but it was also close to where some said the headquarters of the demons were.

    Whether or not some of the rumors were true, the northernmost part was much stronger than the southernmost part of the Continent!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The man serving Lothur then opened a book he had brought with him, leafing through it until he reached the part where it had the information this customer wanted.

    "Well, where do we start?"

    "Talk a little about the worst I can find in Utral and Cesha. I''ll go through those states before I reach Rablus." Lothur suggested.

    "Very well, Utral and Cesha are more or less like Lenz, sir. They are states in which Saints dominate the high-level powers that run those territories.

    In general, Origin Saints are the most prominent forces in those groups, but some Celestials exist in those states.

    In particr, there are reports of a sighting of a Supreme Saint in Cesha 300 years ago. We cannot verify this and give certainty, as it may have been someone from another state passing through the area.

    All we know is that organizations with Celestial Saints run this state. But we can''t rule out the possibility that there are specialists of that level there."

    Lothur had never seen a Supreme Saint before, but given the difference between Celestial and Origin Saints, he felt that a Supreme would be difficult for him to endure, even with all his characteristics.

    Hearing that information, he immediately decided to be more cautious when he passed through Cesha.

    "Moving on, Utral and Cesha can be considered more powerful than the kingdom of Lenz. Besides this report of a Supreme Saint in Cesha, there are more Saints in these two states than here.

    This is especially true for Cesha, which borders Rablus. It can be considered a stronger and more difficult ce to travel to. But at your level, this should not be aplication.

    Your journey would be moreplicated when entering Rablus. Unlike Cesha, this is where there are frequent sightings of Supreme Saints, but not only that, between Rablus and Norid is said to be the headquarters of demons.

    There are several cases of demons told by demon hunters from this state, so the problems of your journey should be concentrated when entering your destination state."

    Lothur heard that and remembered Fabienne, who had told him that the demon headquarters was on Demon Ind, not in this area further north of Concordia.

    ''There is probably a demon outpost in that area to distract attention on the maind...'' He pondered silently, considering looking for some of these creatures after finding the soul fragment family.

    The informant then continued. "But there must be some problems in Rablus. We recently heard that many specialists from the Church had left their headquarters in Norid and are in Rablus, hunting a hybrid.

    So you can expect a much more chaotic journey entering that state."

    With this information, Lothur was sure that either the group of Fabienne''s subordinates or this woman was maintaining ''his'' escape route through this state to keep the powerful Church away from Leopoldine.

    ...

 Chapter 694 Information 2

    ?

    ''So the Church headquarters is in Norid, and they are in Rablus ''chasing'' me...'' Lothur thought as that man leafed through therge book on the table between them.

    "What about Sages? Are there Sages in this region?" Lothur asked after a moment, making a funny expression.

    That manughed upon hearing the curiosity this young man had in mind. "If there are Sages around the continent, we know nothing about them. Saints can manipte space and hide much about themselves and their positions, so Sages can do much more.

    Who knows, maybe there is one of them listening to us from afar right now."

    This manmented without ill intentions, just casually considering a remote possibility. But Lothur knew better than this Soul Core Transcendent about the possibilities of Saints, so he judged Sages much more seriously.

    Sages should be able to bend space and create their own domains, where only other Sages could find them but where only the chosen of these domains could enter them.

    In a way, these were like Secret Realms, only much more developed and totally under the control of their creators.

    Thinking about this, Lothur sighed, imagining that many such people could live hidden away on the continent.

    Tens of billions of living beings of various races exist in this world. Among them, tens of millions were capable of cultivation and spiritual growth.

    It would be hard not to find a single expert sessful in transcending level 21!

    If there were no Saints throughout practically the entire continent, Lothur might doubt his theories. But since there were several of them, even in ces like Leopoldine, he couldn''t help but imagine that several Sages were hiding around this world.

    "So you have no information about them? A pity, that was a curiosity I had." He smiled at that man.

    "Is there something else about Rablus that I should be concerned about?"

    "Yes." That man said before turning his eyes back to the book in front of him. "Further north of Rablus is the beginning of the Ancestral Region. That area has the presence of several powerful spiritual beings of non-human races, hostile to humans.

    So I would advise caution when approaching the northernmost area. There probably lie the greatest dangers of Rablus."

    Humans practically dominated Concordia.

    Humans controlled about 60% of these continentalnds and were the race with the most members capable of cultivating spiritual energy in this world.

    The other 40% was divided between various races. Still, most of this non-human dominated area was precisely in the Ancestral Region, an area further north on the continent that covered 3 entire states and parts of 3 other states.

    Other areas around the continent were part of the territories of beasts and other beings, but these were scattered irregrly, unlike this areapletely dominated by non-humans.

    Lothur didn''t know much about the Ancestral Region. Yet, he was aware that the descendants of the soul fragment that gave him the mission to search for his family were hybrids of humans with the Ancestral Folk.

    So there was a possibility that he would have to enter that area!

    He then asked. "I believe you do not have the information I am searching for, but is there any possibility that a Cultivation House post in Rablus has information about groups of hybrids of humans and Ancestral Folk?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Few of the Ancestral Folk would agree to have sex with humans. But they did exist, and so hybrids of the two races had existed since ancient times.

    "Certainly. The Ancestral Folk are very traditional and don''t ept hybrids. So at our organization''s headquarters in Rablus, there must be news about groups of hybrids." This Transcendent stated.

    This post didn''t have the information Lothur wanted about the soul fragment family, but the headquarters of the Cultivation House was in Rablus, a state where the northernmost part bordered the Ancestral Region. So there was undoubtedly information about it in posts of that organization in such a state.

    ''I''ll stop by the Cultivation House again when I get to Rablus.'' Lothur pondered silently, figuring it would be a good thing for him to start looking for the fragment''s family with the hybrid groups that that organization probably knew about.

    He had the name of that soul fragment, so when he arrived in Rablus, he also intended to look up that name.

    Anyway, with this not-so-in-depth information, but better than he had before he passed this ce, Lothur soon paid the coins due for this service.

    Having thanked the person who attended him, he soon left, intending to buy some items in this city and then continue his journey to the northwest.

    ...

    Lothur would find no problem in his shopping around the northernmost city of Lenz that he had stopped.

    He had merely stopped by an alchemist''s resource store and bought some ingredients and books.

    He had nothing in mind at the moment to do with this. Still, he wanted to continue raising his rank as a spiritual professional, particrly in alchemy.

    Among all the professions, the ones that could help him the most were formations and alchemy. After all, through them, he could strengthen his group, creating pills, potions, and formations capable of strengthening their souls and bodies and providing training experiences.

    His skills as a formations master were already at a reasonable level, so Lothur''s focus now was on raising his knowledge in terms of alchemy.

    Having made his purchases in thatrge city, he left without drawing local attention, noticing several members of the Seraphim Church nearby but not bothering to act against them.

    He understood the side of the people in that organization. Besides the fact that it was really a big concern that someone like him existed, they could get a Diamond-grade Soul Bone if they killed him!

    Hell, Lothur himself would pursue a hybrid if he had the chance!

    So he understood the motivations of his enemies and wouldn''t just go around killing every member of this organization he saw in his path.

    That would be foolish and would only draw these people investigating him towards him, something he didn''t want.

    So Lothur merely ignored even one of the level 19 Saints of the Church in this state and went on with his journey, not taking long to start flying through the vacuum of space.

    That way, he would cross the border from Lenz to Utral, one of the empires bordering Leopoldine.

    It was not in his interest to stop in Utral but in Cesha to obtain new information, so for the next few days, he would travel without stopping in cities like the one before!

 Chapter 695 Sensible Action

    ?

    A week passed after Lothur passed through Lenz.

    Lothur continued traveling and training on his way, having already passed through Utral and crossed the border of that state with Cesha. But for now, he was still traveling through this empire bordering Rablus.

    In the meantime, the supply of the Ritter Motor Company had developed considerably around Leopoldine, and tens of thousands of workers had already been hired.

    Road construction work to connect thergest cities in the empire was slowly beginning. In contrast, work on local streets had already begun in the six cities where thepany would expand its operations.

    The stores and businesses to support the vehicle operation were also already being built in these cities.

    Simultaneously, thousands of low-level spiritual professionals, just what the Ritter Motor Company needed, were already moving into Linn Province.

    Unlike the hiring of ordinary people taking ce in the very cities where these people had obtained the job opportunity information, for expert cultivators, their opportunities were in Linn Province.

    As such, many were already moving to Peters City to apply for jobs in the factories being built right now!

    ...

    In Peters City, the city woke up each day busier than the day before.

    Cars, minibusses, buses, and trucks were delivered daily to their owners, increasing the flow of vehicles through the city and decreasing the local presence of carriages and wagons.

    By now, more than 800 vehicles were circting locally!

    But the increasing movement was also rted to the movement of people looking for opportunities, tourists interested in cars, and new members of the Ritter Motor Company.

    After thest auction, each of the powers from outside the Linn Province, or even Leopoldine, was already sending permanent members to stay in this city.

    As such, each of those families and groups was building outposts locally.

    Simultaneously, with the news of the second Ritter Motor Company auction and hiring happening all over Leopoldine, those who didn''t know what was happening in this province previously had finally found out.

    Many noble and wealthy youths were putting Peters City in their interests recently, curious to see the advancements brought about by Lothur''s cars.

    Therefore, the city was full of curious young people. Many of them have already started driving school sses just to have the opportunity to drive cars, while others rode the local minibusses daily.

    While the curious were arriving in Peters City daily, some of those interested in the jobs at the Ritter Motor Company were already arriving in the city.

    Due to the increasing number of applicants, the two Ritter Motor Company nts established reception and testing facilities for these people.

    The criteria of thispany were not high, as there was no need for people with high talent and ability to create cars. But not just anyone could join thepany.

    Those who came in looking for a job were gradually guaranteed their ce or appointed to return when they met the minimum criteria.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria was leading the city and province in a new direction!

    ...

    Viktoria had been talking to local leaders about forming a new group for the past few days.

    In their time of great need, the Seraphim Church had not provided any help to the Frost family. So she and several others in this city were determined to no longer be dependent on this power!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They needed to create their own group capable of hunting down and eliminating spectres!

    At this moment, Viktoria was meeting with the Duke of the Province, the principal of the Morning Star Academy, and the patriarchs of the Becker and Koch families.

    In that office in one of theirpany''s two factories, she was sitting behind her desk, facing these people.

    "If everyone agrees, I think it''s time to start the Spectre Hunters Association. I propose that each power involved send up to 10 people to permanently handle the association''s affairs, as well as contribute 100 gold coins monthly per person sent." She said in determination.

    Not only the powers behind these people but also the houses Teusen, Christen, and various smaller powers in Peters City had indicated intent to participate in forming this group.

    Everyone in this city feared spectres and couldn''t help but worry about the future.

    The Duke of the Province agreed. "We don''t know what might happen in the future, but a battle in the vicinity of the city is not out of the possibilities in the near future. At that time, we would face two cmities, that of the living and then that of the spectres."

    Everyone agreed, knowing that they urgently had to form that group.

    "Very well, my family will contribute the 10 men." Gomericmented in a serious tone. "With this group, we can prepare for the difficult times ahead, but without taking our focus off the Ritter Motor Company.

    These people we will send will care for what is necessary for us."

    Others agreed, and some were already thinking about what they should do to make the group capable of containing threats.

    "We need to get demon hunters." The academy principalmented. "As much as it is not the specialty of these people to deal with spectres, they usually have more effective techniques against such things than ours. People like that can certainly help us a lot."

    "That''s a good idea. But how would we get demon hunters for our group? They are all from the Seraphim Church." Patriarch Koch asked.

    Viktoria then suggested. "It won''t be easy for us to get good demon hunters in their prime. But what about those older ones who don''t want to risk so much anymore? For people like that, coins for their family might be the most valuable thing there is."

    "Are you thinking of bribing them?"

    "Not bribe, convince them to change sides. Let''s simply make offers that are impossible to refuse to experienced demon hunters and bring them into our association." Viktoria replied.

    They continued talking about the formation of this group while, from afar, someone was watching them intently.

    On top of a local building, a level 19 Saint, the only one left behind in this city, was keeping an eye on the affairs of the leaders of the Ritter Motor Company.

    On one side of the city, Annaliese was looking after recruiting new employees from the future factories. On the other, Elke was going through the new factories already under construction, checking on the daily progress of their personnel.

    But at the moment, this man was watching where Viktoria was.

    ''Spectre Hunters Association, eh? It looks like the local powers are pretty worried about it.'' That man frowned his eyebrows, but he did not judge this action unnecessarily.

    As someone experienced, he knew that the emergence of spectres had been increasing throughout the region!

    The action of Viktoria and some associates of the Ritter Motor Company was more than wise!

    ''Maybe I should try to get involved with this group...''

 Chapter 696 Foreign Threat?

    ?

    While things in Peters City were heating up, with the Ritter family leading local efforts in various directions, things were quite different for power from Utrary.

    In a family north of that state, the death of three of their Saints had already scared the entire family and turned their people''s attention to Leopoldine.

    Someone in Leopoldine powerful enough to kill Saints had appeared, and they could not ignore it!

    The three of them were only on a trip to investigate what had happened to the young master of this family, a Transcendent. But such a thing had led to the death of even a Celestial Saint!

    This was something uneptable, and such a family was already moving to give a response.

    ...

    In the capital of Utrary, a group of 12 powerful people were gathered in arge luxurious hall, where some armed men were standing around.

    At the most important point of the pce, a woman with a beautiful gemstone tiara was sitting on a golden throne, looking at her vassals.

    "Everyone is here, so let''s get started." She said as she casually looked at those people, in general, Celestial Saints.

    But besides her, three people in that group of 12 were one level up, at level 21!

    "I called all of you here at the request of patriarch Jung." She indicated to a red-haired man of the same level as hers standing there a few steps ahead.

    Everyone looked at one of the queen''s most powerful vassals and waited to hear what he had to say.

    "Go ahead, present your concern, patriarch Jung."

    Hearing his queen''s orders, Philipp Jung thanked her and looked at the men and women of this group of vassals.

    "Old fellows, I am here to bring my concerns to your families. Recently three of my Saints were killed in Leopoldine."

    Immediately after those direct words, everyone there became more serious, noting that this was not just any conversation that would lead nowhere.

    Patriarch Jung''s intentions were not peaceful!

    "Before that, my son, Karlo Jung, had been missing for decades. But then, one of his items resurfaced in that state. As my men went after that item in an attempt to find out what had happened, they were brutally killed.

    From the signal sent by the formation containing their vitalities, I can tell that all three of them, including a Celestial Saint, were killed mercilessly by someone stronger." He said in a deep tone, showing his concern for these people.

    "So I''m not here to ask you to help me avenge my people but to warn you about the possibility that Leopoldine gave birth to a Supreme Saint!

    This state has always brought us bad feelings, but before, they were just low-level idiots doing their silliness. However, if they now have Supreme Saints, their actions can affect us.

    Therefore, I propose we deal with them before they deal with us."

    Some of these people knew nothing of what had been happening in Leopoldine since their state was stronger than this neighbor, even considering the high-level powers in its shadows.

    But one of those leaders there already knew about many things happening in Leopoldine!

    One of them was a partner in the Ritter Motor Company, with 2% of it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    This person, a level 20 woman with brown hair and ck eyes, narrowed her eyes as she saw this threat to her investments.

    She said with a bitter smile on her beautiful face. "Patriarch Jung must be joking. There are no Supreme Saints in Leopoldine. Perhaps you are interested in creating a war for revenge? Don''t forget that our neighbor''s powers are enough to cause losses to our families."

    "Nonsense! I wouldn''t have to do that!" That man looked at such a woman with an ugly expression. "Not to mention that we are much stronger than them! If we act quickly, we can neutralize them before bigger threats hit us."

    "Not without first losing some of our strongest men." She said in a higher tone than that man.

    Even though he was a Supreme Saint, she had no fear of him.

    She then turned her back on him and looked at the queen. "Your Majesty, if the state is in danger, I will keep all the promises made by me and my ancestors. But I don''t see any dangering from Leopoldine.

    As far as I know, Patriarch Jung sent people to a state not allied to the kingdom alone. So he must bear his losses alone. My family will not participate in any action against Leopoldine before that state assaults our powers and borders."

    "Matriarch Josten!" Karlos'' father said as his eyes trembled with anger.

    The queen looked at Maya Josten, one of her most loyal vassals, who had never failed to protect the state, even when her life might be in danger.

    "Matriarch Josten, don''t you consider the murder of three of our experts an action against us?" The queen questioned her, while each person in that group had their own thoughts about it all.

    Maya replied. "No. For all we know, this may not even be rted to Leopoldine. After all, Supreme Saints haven''t appeared in this state in tens of thousands of years, and no one can stop experts like that from passing through our states, not even us.

    Who can assure us that it was a power from Leopoldine that acted against these three? The person who did this may be far away from this empire now!

    And ultimately, Patriarch Jung did what he did withoutmunicating his intentions to us, acting out of his own interests. I will not stand for it. I will not lead my people into a senseless war because of his mistake."

    Those words were wise, and the queen herself couldn''t help but think about the things raised by Maya.

    As Patriarch Jung simmered with anger at Maya, one of the other Supremes there said. "How about that? Let''s watch Leopoldine and strengthen our borders with that territory. If we get any worrisome signs from our neighbor, we''ll reconvene to address the issue."

    Most there agreed to this, and the queen followed through with this rmendation, indicating for her vassals to return.

    But the queen was smarter than these people thought, and as Maya was leaving, she said. "Matriarch Josten, stay a little longer. I want to talk to you alone."

    "With me? What''s wrong, Your Majesty?" Maya returned closer to this woman while everyone else had already left.

    The queen dismissed her men, and when she was alone with Maya, she asked.

    "Maya, were your previous words on ount of your sincere opinion about what is a risk to the state, or was it to protect the Ritter Motor Company?"

    Maya''s eyes opened wider as she realized that the queen knew this.

    "Yes, I am aware of your agreements, Maya. Then tell me honestly your motives for saying those words." She said seriously, looking deep into her vassal''s eyes. "You do know that the founder of thispany is possibly a hybrid, right? Are youfortable supporting someone persecuted by the Seraphim Church?"

    ...

 Chapter 697 Enemies?

    ?

    "As far as we know, he is just an ordinary human," Maya answered the queen''s inquiries. "And currently, the one leading thepany is his wife, Viktoria Frost.

    My family is also just an ally of this group. It doesn''t mean we are supporters of this Lothur. So even if he is a hybrid, we have no rtionship with him."

    "Are you confident of that?" The queen looked more closely at the person in front of her.

    Maya nodded.

    She honestly did not believe that Lothur could be a hybrid. After all, creatures of that type were very violent and chaotic. There was no way that a person who seemed as rational and calm as he was could be such a dreadful creature.

    If Lothur were such a creature, there would probably be stories of entire families disappearing in Peters City during his stay there. However, there were no such cases.

    And that significantly removed his new business partners'' suspicions about his nature.

    Seeing the confidence in Maya''s eyes, the queen felt that this woman was not taking a gratuitous risk with this.

    "I see... So you are confident in this Ritter Motor Company business? Does it really have potential?"

    Maya replied with a smile. "I believe it does. I don''t know if we will one day have thatpany''s vehicles all over the continent. Still, they will circte all over Leopoldine and the neighbors of this empire.

    Maybe someone will be able to copy the business at some point, but we will already have a great advantage when that happens.

    One way or another, there is a big market across the continent, and the Ritter Motor Company alone leads that business."

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Cesha...

    After days of traveling, Lothur was in the central area of this empire, resting at this very moment in a local forest.

    As he finished his training session, something he had been doing once every 2 days, Lothur looked at his status and saw his training progress since his escape from the Imperial Prison.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 701.8 -> 830]

    [CON: 1,690.2 -> 1,705]

    [DEX: 640.1 -> 795]

    [AGI: 769.9 -> 905]

    [INT: 374.2]

    [PER: 865.9 -> 880]

    [WIL: 582 -> 660]

    [SOU: 1,881.8]

    [EVF: 2]

    Seeing these numbers, Lothur smiled as he devoured the piece of meat in one of his hands.

    ''Excellent. I''m improving rapidly.'' He thought. ''In a few weeks, I will reach level 20 of body cultivation.

    Unfortunately, I don''t know how much I need to improve to reach level 21.''

    "Uh?"

    As he was thinking, suddenly Lothur heard someone approaching him and immediately looked in the direction where noises of leaves being stepped on wereing from.

    His eyes sparkled, and he saw a group of 5 people moving towards him, 2 women and 3 men, each with smiles on their faces.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    They were all Transcendents, between levels 17 and 18, and were dressed in armor, armed with different types of weapons.

    ''What do they want by approaching a stranger like that?'' Lothur wondered.

    He was hiding his cultivation so as not to attract powerful Saints.

    Since he was traveling through a state with reports of Supreme Saints, Lothur preferred not to call risks and was demonstrating cultivation of only level 18.

    With this level, he could keep most problems out of his way without running into any being who thought they were powerful and decided to stand in his way when he looked like a mere mortal.

    Looking like a mortal had its advantages. Being underestimated opened up many possibilities!

    But all the time, being disrespected and having low-level creatures trying to stand in his way was notfortable, so Lothur did not hide all his cultivation.

    ''They want trouble with me?'' He got up from where he was sitting and closed his eyes.

    "What do you want by approaching me like this? Is that a deration of war? Do you want to fight?"

    Lothur''s voice spread through the surroundings, reaching the ears of these people.

    Hearing him, the men and women near his position changed their smiles, looking among themselves, less sure of what they were about to do.

    "Did he see us?" Someone asked in a low voice.

    "He looks strong... He''s standing in the middle of the Arcroft Wilds, even without equipment or people." One of the two level 18 cultivatorsmented.

    This ce they were standing in was called the Arcroft Wilds. These were dangerousnds in the central region of the Cesha, where there was even the presence of Saint Beasts.

    This was an area of great opportunity, but it contained extreme dangers for people of only 3rd stage traveling alone.

    "That''s true..."

    "What do we do, boss?" A level 17 man asked that level 18 person.

    "Let''s surround him and test him." The one level 18 woman replied in ce of herpanion, feeling that such a person would not talk to them now that he had figured them out.

    "OK!"

    They all said simultaneously, moving through the surroundings to approach Lothur from different directions.

    They were already close to Lothur, so in a few seconds, they were all surrounding the ck-haired young man traveling through these forests.

    Lothur had been taking pills daily to alter his appearance. After all, he was a wanted man of the Seraphim Church.

    When he saw these people surrounding him, Lothur kept holding the piece of meat in his hands, wondering if it was worth it to give up his moment of rest to teach these people his ce.

    But he decided no, and went back to eating.

    Pow!

    A powerful attack formed above Lothur, with a huge hammer falling on his body, moving with such force that one could see the air being disced by the weapon''s movement.

    Lothur didn''t even look at this attack and took a step to the side, dodging it in time to avoid being hit by such a thing.

    He bit into the meat in his hands and felt a sharp aura approaching his body, from which a level 18 woman threw several spiritual des in his direction.

    Lothur then stepped to the side so fast that the woman momentarily thought he had teleported.

    However, that had not happened, and the level 17 woman realized this clearly as she used her Physique skill, which blocked the space in her surroundings, capable of preventing escapes through the gaps in space.

    ''That''s an interesting skill.'' Lothur looked toward a ck-haired woman, seeing her on bent knees while having her hands joined in a seal.

    Then a giant fist approached from one side of him.

    Pow!

    "Hold it!" That level 17 man shouted as he used his Physique skill, Colossal Body, to strike Lothur.

    ...

 Chapter 698 The Reason

    ?

    "Nonsense, that''s nothing," Lothur muttered as he looked at that fist and finally decided to act.

    To him, these people were moving like children trying to challenge an adult. But as the ''adult'' there, wasn''t Lothur obligated to teach them a lesson?

    So, Lothur would educate them!

    He picked up the six-inch bone in his hands and used it as a weapon, cing it in the front of his body against that fist.

    A secondter...

    "Aaaaaaagh!"

    The level 17 man felt as if a needle had been shoved between his fingers and screamed in agony.

    Then, as the people in this group began to look strangely at Lothur, not understanding how he could be so skilled, he lifted one of his legs and brought it down under the ground.

    Everyone looked at him as he stomped hard on the ground. Yet, an instantter, their expressions turned ugly as they realized the problem.

    When Lothur''s foot touched the ground, cracks immediately sounded in the surrounding area as pieces of soil began disconnecting from the ground.

    Suddenly, several ces where these people were on the ground began to fly due to the immense force that had hit them!

    "What the fuck?!"

    "What? How can that be?"

    One of the two people flying in the vicinity saw almost everyone in their group getting off bnce and losing control over their abilities for a moment as they were thrown high into the air.

    ''That... He destroyed the entire terrain with a single stomp?'' The woman trying to block the space in Lothur''s surroundings momentarily lost control of her ability and looked at him with fear.

    "Not so fast," Lothur said, activating gravity and pressing everyone against the ground, making those flying in the surroundings feel like someone had suddenly ''clipped'' their wings.

    They felt their bodies getting heavier and could do nothing as they fell faster and faster.

    "Damn it!"

    "Aaaaaagh!"

    Again, cries of pain came from the surroundings, but this time from more than one mouth, as each of those 5 people felt their bodies being pressed against the ground.

    The level 18 woman felt the power level of this opponent, and her eyes fluttered, as she had never seen someone able to move so fast, have so much strength, and yet such a powerful skill being only at the 3rd stage.

    "You... Are you a... A body cultivator?" She eximed in difficulty, feeling that only that could exin such strangeness.

    Lothur didn''t answer. He just made ck mes appear in one of his hands, causing each person to feel goosebumps running through their bodies.

    "No!" The level 18 man desperately shouted as he saw Lothur approaching the woman of the same level as him. "Senior, we didn''t mean to hurt you. We were just testing you!"

    "Testing me?" Lothur stopped and looked at that man. "At your level? Are you mad or just seeking death?"

    "Neither!" The level 17 woman with skills over space shouted as she tried to look at Lothur while on bent knees.

    "Senior, we are only in search of an ally. We attack you to test your strength!" Another person shouted, causing Lothur to look at him strangely.

    "Nonsense! Thieves act the way you attacked me. What kind of fool looks for an ally by attacking him with deadly attacks?" Lothur made an ugly expression, feeling that these people insulted his intelligence.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "But it was a test, senior!" The strongest of the group cried, in a nervous tone, for given the situation, Lothur could kill his entire group in a matter of seconds.

    Lothur closed his eyes briefly and looked at that man, "For ept my ck mes into your heart. If you speak the truth, I will not kill you today. Otherwise, you will all perish here."

    The people in that group finally became silent while that level 18 man clenched one of his fists, afraid of what Lothur would do to him.

    But with no choice, he epted. "Fine. As long as it''s just me, I''ll ept your ck mes."

    Lothur continued standing where he was as that man''s body flew towards him due to Gravity.

    Having this person under his grip, Lothur looked into the green eyes of this man and saw them quickly turn ck as night.

    "What is your purpose in attacking me?" He asked as he looked at the people in the surroundings with a smile.

    "Answering to the master. We would invite you to join our group if you were strong enough to survive. We are about to travel north, where a newly advanced Origin Saint is causing chaos.

    We have news that The Grey Eagles will be attacked by this newly advanced man, the leader of The Bears."

    The Bears and The Grey Eagles were two mid-sized sects in Cesha. Both powers had level 18 leaders and 3rd-stage specialists.

    Since both groups were near each other, in an area with no high-level powers in the empire, a confrontation over disputes ofnd, business, and people was natural after one of them advanced to the 4th stage.

    This group had heard about this confrontation days ago from an informant, and they knew that if they moved fast enough, they could either join the confrontation of the two sects or participate in the loot.

    In either case they could win. Hence, they were moving towards such a confrontation.

    But finding this strong cultivator on their path, they had decided to take a chance to test him and, who knows, maybe strengthen the group with another powerful Transcendent.

    "We wanted one more ally before continuing our journey north. That could be you, master." That man said in a subservient tone.

    The others heard this and looked wide-eyed at their leader, seeing how easily Lothur had controlled him.

    "Oh? What if I wasn''t strong enough?" Lothur realized that there was a second alternative.

    "If the master weren''t strong enough, you would certainly die facing us. We would steal your things and continue our journey after that."

    Gulp!

    "Oh?" Lothur smiled as he looked around, significantly frightening these people.

    "It looks like you guys actually wanted to kill me, huh? What do I do with you now?"

    The level 18 woman felt cold through her body and begged. "Please don''t kill us! We''ll do anything you want!"

    "Yes! Yes!" The man with a piece of bone stuck in one of his hands eximed. "Senior, we can direct you to where these sects will face each other. We are one of the few who know about the confrontation about to take ce in the north!"

    "And why would I be interested in that?" Lothur questioned.

    "Because both leaders of those sects have Soul Bones! When one of them dies, and the other is weakened, we can kill the winner of the conflict and have 2 bones in our hands!"

    ...

 Chapter 699 Rarity In Concordia

    ?

    "Soul Bones, huh?" Lothur muttered upon hearing what moved these people.

    There were few Soul Bones on the continent, even though this ce and demons had existed for countless years.

    Soul Bones could be damaged!

    As had happened to Lothur before, his bones had been destroyed when he was very close to dying in the Imperial Prison. They only recovered after that because his Physique was special and could regenerate.

    When these bones fused with a body, they became part of it, so naturally, they suffered the effects of their owner''s bloodline and Physique.

    So Lothur, as well as other hybrids, had the ability to regenerate their bones when damaged.

    However, this was something that no one else could do but them!

    Hence, over the generations, as new bones would emerge from dead demons, others would degrade, and some woulde to their end.

    As these bones passed from person to person, they tended to weaken and reach the day when they would be destroyed!

    But the opposite could also happen. While stronger bonessted longer than weaker ones, a talented person could take a bone several advances, as Lothur had already achieved with his own.

    This not only improved the level of the bone''s powers but also restored some of its structures and increased its durability.

    However, more people with Soul Bones would not go far in cultivation than those who would reach the peak. As such, most bones would eventually be wasted, weakened, and destroyed.

    Also, some bones would not form parts of the Spirit Body but would be pure energy capable of strengthening the one who absorbed it, as had happened to Annaliese.

    So, even if the history of humans and demons facing each other was countless years old, and the bones had a chance to umte, few people had these wonderful items on the continent.

    There were certainly a few hundred thousand people out there with these bones. Still, these individuals were scattered worldwide among billions of people.

    At the same time, most of these bones were low-level and damaged or weakened.

    Not only that, most people could not feel Soul Bones parts of a Spirit Body. Only a few individuals, like Lothur, had the ability to see other people''s bones.

    Therefore, finding a Soul Bone in humans was as tricky as finding a demon!

    Information about those with these little beauties was extremely rare and valuable.

    Upon hearing the words of these people, Lothur changed his expression. Even if these bones were not good for him, they certainly would be for his women!

    For people with few bones, any Soul Bones would make a lot of difference!

    "Very well, I will let you live," Lothur said, easing the pressure on each of those five people. "You will take me to that expert confrontation to the north, but you will not receive any of those Soul Bones. That will be your punishment."

    The leader of that group sighed as he had his neck released by Lothur, wondering how things might have been different if they weren''t so confident in their own abilities.

    "By the way, if what you''ve told me is a lie, I will kill all of you," Lothur said as he threw some dirt on his fire and prepared to leave.

    As they caught their breath, the people in this group watched as Lothur quickly finished preparing to leave.

    After a minute, he ordered them to lead the way, then began to follow through the forest, following in their footsteps.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Previously Lothur had been on his way to Rablus without caring which path he took, unlike this group of five people who were immediately diverting the territories of dangerous beings in their path.

    Seeing this, Lothur felt the advantage of having a guide.

    In his travel days, he had fought a few times against creatures that attacked him for passing through their territories.

    But the strongest one he had encountered was only level 19.

    There really weren''t many Saints in this state, and even those that existed, most of them were low-level.

    Luckily for Lothur, he had encountered only these beings, and it was quite easy for him to get where he was without many dys and disturbances.

    But not having to face anyone was much better. He didn''t always want to train his skills, so having someone to guide him was somewhat interesting.

    "After I get these two Soul Bones, you will guide me to the border with Rablus. You will only be free after that."

    The people in the group listened and didn''t object. The border with Rablus was not far from where they were going. But they were happy to hear that this person would not stick around where they had their business and lived.

    A monster like that was better off living far away!

    ...

    As Lothur''s group traveled to the north of Cesha, in this area, there was arge sect that lived in the mountains of arge forest.

    It was only 20 kilometers away from a medium-sized city, only slightly smaller than Peters City, where its members could easilye and go to acquire resources and live their lives.

    This was thergest organization in the area, the dream object of countless young people from that city and nearby viges who wanted to be great cultivators and part of this force.

    The sect had the strongest and most talented warriors in this area and was behind the defense of the territory, having already fought against demons, criminals and even participated in a war in defense of Cesha two thousand years ago.

    This organization was deeply connected to this province and held a leading position locally.

    But precisely because of this position, opposing forces were looking from the shadows at this sect, desiring its fame, prestige, respect, resources, and talents.

    Sometimes for one to grow, another would have to decline.

    Naturally, they had many enemies andpetitors!

    And just one of them, a man full of greed and desire to have what was not his, was watching this ce from the top of another mountain, only a few miles away from such a sect.

    "Sam, these are thest moments of your The Grey Eagles. How do you feel about that? Happy about your journey here?" A tall, muscr man dressed in a bearskin coat asked loudly, looking directly at the group in front of that other mountain.

    There, a man dressed in feather armor stood with his eyes closed, standing in front of a group of warriors from his sect.

    "The fight hasn''t even started yet, Malte. We don''t know what the oue will be." Sam shouted as he opened his eyes and looked at his old rival, whom he had beaten so many times in the past.

    ...

 Chapter 700 Battle Of Rivals

    ?

    "Hahaha, are you kidding? Still looking so arrogant, Sam?" Malte shouted as his Origin Saint aura exploded. "I am a Saint! You''re just a Divine Soul Transcendent. Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"

    "We haven''t fought yet. And I''m not that far from your level, Malte. Don''t forget that I''ve always beaten you, even when you had a small difference in your favor." The white-haired, serene-looking elder said with no fear in his voice.

    Both groups facing each other were quite powerful, generally counting Transcendents among their men.

    The only Saint there was Malte, the leader of The Bears sect.

    Malte clenched his fists as he heard his rival''s confidentments, mainly looking at Sam but asionally ncing at one of the women near the leader of The Gray Eagles.

    That blonde woman was Sam''s wife, whom these two rivals had been vying for her favor for over 150 years.

    One of the reasons that Malte was there today was precisely her, who he thought had been his greatest loss during his years of disputes with Sam.

    He wanted the power of The Gray Eagles. He wanted to kill Sam and steal his Soul Bone, something he knew this person had since they had both gotten their bones practically together. But what he wanted most of all was to take that woman for himself!

    Whether she liked it or not, he intended to absorb Sam''s Soul Bone at the end of that day and then fuck her!

    He had worked hard to get to this day, and as he looked at that two full of determination in his heart, he mischievously grinned, bursting intoughter that spread over several square miles.

    "Good! Good, good that you are confident! Seeing the desperation in your eyes when I kill you will be very rewarding!" Malte shouted as he raised his weapon to the sky, indicating his men the moment to act.

    "Attack! Kill the bastards in your path! Don''t leave a single one alive!"

    "Ahhhh!"

    Immediately after Malte gave the orders, more than 50 people on his side began to run and fly toward the enemies, who were a few miles away from them.

    At first, Malte did not run with his men, waiting for the right moment to shock his opponents.

    As a Saint, he could manipte space... How could Sam defend himself against him?

    Perhaps the difference in terms of spiritual energy that each could use was not so tremendous, and Sam really was sure that the fight was not decided. But there were considerable differences in terms of skills between a Saint and a Transcendent!

    Confident in his victory, Malte let his opponents run against his men, even seeing the lovely Corinna joining the fight.

    Both running sides raised their weapons, activating their techniques and skills, quickly turning that great forest into a battlefield.

    As the first of theirs crossed paths and shes began among about 100 people, Malte immediately manipted space and appeared behind Sam.

    "Attacking from behind?"

    Malteughed and continued his attack. "And what''s in that? Would killing you from the front make any difference?"

    "Coward! Even at a higher level, you dare not fight like a man!" Sam shouted as he activated his Soul Bone skill, causing countless ice feathers to appear on his body, shooting them in various directions soon after.

    "I could defeat you that way, but I''d rather kill you quickly, you damned worm!" Malte became much more serious as his eyes and entire body turned red.

    "I won''t follow your rules today, Sam. Goodbye, old rival, this is the end!"

    With those words, Malte moved much faster than he usually could, leaving smoke wherever he passed, as if he were a chimney.

    As he did so, red mes arose from his body, burning many of the ice feathers flying into his body.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    The surroundings of the two became scalding hot, preventing any others from joining in this confrontation of the two.

    "You bastard!" Sam finally became more nervous, noticing that Malte''s ability had changed. "You''ve raised the quality of your Soul Bone!"

    But Sam felt an arm hugging his waist before he heard a response, while another surged around his neck.

    "Die!" Malte shouted in Sam''s ear as he stepped out of the spatial distortion he had just used, putting all his strength into holding his opponent while fully activating the evolution of his bone.

    With this movement, his body turned into a massive bonfire, raising the temperature in his surroundings even higher as Sam''s clothes melted.

    Sam screamed as he felt this, using as much of his bone as possible to counteract fire with ice.

    Unfortunately, this was not an ideal match for him!

    As much as the resistance of ice to fire was not small, fire''s natural enemy was water, not ice.

    Given the qualitative difference between his bones and the level of soul cultivation, Sam was at a great disadvantage, noticing an inability to counterattack his rival for the first time in his life.

    "Wretch, if you''re going to kill me, I''ll do it to you too!" Sam shouted amid his agony and changed his strategy.

    Suddenly, the ice covering his body was gone, and Malte''s mes reached Sam''s body much more easily.

    Malteughed as he saw this, but soon after, his smile changed as he felt an icy edge poking at his chest.

    "You..." He shouted, still holding Sam but feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen.

    "Deplorable, son of a bitch!"

    "Malte, this is your end! Are you going to kill me? I''m going to kill you too!" Sam yelled as he focused all his strength to branch the ice de inside Malte''s body from the one he had created with all his strength to prate this Saint''s body.

    "Nooo!" Corinna screamed as she saw her husband''s situation, seeing Sam''s skin on fire while blood dripped from Malte''s mouth.

    Both were badly wounded, but one strongly held the other, attacking with everything they had.

    "Malte!"

    "Sam!"

    BOOOOM!

    A few momentster, arge explosion erupted between the sh of these two, causing the fighting still going on in the surrounding area to stop momentarily.

    Several bodies were already piling up in the surroundings after minutes of fighting, but there were still ten or so people fighting in that forest.

    However, both sides stopped to watch their leaders, noting that the survivor would decide the oue of the fight.

    Corinna looked with tears in her eyes toward that explosion. She saw the smoke from the explosion gradually revealing one silhouette standing but almost fallen and another lying on the ground.

    "Hah... Hah... I did it!" A weakened voice came from the person standing as he held a colored bone in his hands, ignoring the injuries all over his body.

    ...

 Chapter 701 Late

    ?

    When Corinna saw the weakened and pale face of the person standing, her eyes stopped moving, and for a moment, she felt her heart stop.

    As tears formed in her eyes, her knees lost strength, and she copsed.

    In that instant, she saw the worst scene of her life. Malte was standing, breathing, and holding Sam''s Soul Bone, while this man''s bodyy on the ground, dead.

    Those on the battlefield realized the oue of this confrontation and expressed either happiness or deep fear.

    If one of their leaders died, it meant that one side would have the upper hand in the confrontation, and the other would be in despair very soon!

    Sam''s subordinates felt terrible for their leader, but none moved to avenge him. The right thing to do was to flee as fast as they could!

    Malte was certainly seriously injured, but he was still standing with a free Soul Bone in his hands. If he sessfully absorbed it, that would be the end of The Gray Eagles sect!

    As someone approached Corinna to take her away, Malte looked toward this woman and did not pursue her.

    He was also not bothered by the enemy elders starting their retreat. With that bone in his hands, his priority was to absorb it.

    After that, his life would certainly be safe, and he could do whatever he wanted with all these fools!

    He manipted the space in his surroundings and departed from there, going to a safe ce where he could absorb his new Soul Bone.

    "I''ll be back!"

    ...

    Two dayster...

    After traveling quite far north of Cesha, Lothur''s group had finally arrived in the province where The Gray Eagles sect was located.

    Leaving a forest in the vicinity of thergest city in that province, their group quickly made their way to that city on their way to the sect that was supposed to be at war.

    However, they immediately heard the rumors circting recently upon entering a tavern.

    "What a great misfortune... The viinous Malte brutally murdered the patriarch Sam, and now the whole province is in danger of falling into the hands of a tyrant." An old man drinking next to two other old menmented on this.

    One could feel the negativity in the air in that tavern. Besidesmenting on rather depressing things, practically everyone there had deste expressions, showing how sad they were about Sam''s death.

    But not only this made them sad.

    "Sigh! The Gray Eagles are finished. I hear that the tyrant Malte is attacking the sect headquarters... They may even have already been wiped out."

    "What a terrible day, my seraph!" A man closed his eyes and said this, looking up. "Could this be the beginning of a bloody period for our province?"

    The Gray Eagles sect had been an important symbol in this society, seen as a defender of peace and responsible for the province''s stability.

    But with the death of its leader and the strengthening of Malte, now The Bears sect was attacking the headquarters of The Gray Eagles with all its might.

    It was said that Malte had absorbed Sam''s Soul Bone and was now unstoppable within the province!

    In this case, this was the beginning of the end of The Gray Eagles sect, but also of the peace and tranquility of this province!

    A new ruler was about to rise to the most relevant position of this northernmost territory of Cesha!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    When they heard this, Lothur''s guides immediately frowned, noticing they had taken too long.

    Now the enemy was probably too strong for them to handle!

    "It looks like he managed to absorb that bone faster than we thought..." The leader of these guides said in a low voice, feeling fear.

    If Lothur didn''t get those bones, what would happen to them?

    But hearing those things, Lothur had not lost interest in those bones.

    From what he had just heard, news that this Malte had absorbed a Soul Bone would soon spread. What did this mean?

    Well, strong people with few bones would definitely look to him to hunt him down!

    As said before, it was not easy to tell if a person had one of these bones unless one had unusual abilities, as in Lothur''s case.

    So if one was not strong enough to have Soul Bones, the best thing to do would be not to talk and not to let anyone know about it.

    Some might have a little more freedom about it in small, weak ces, but it was definitely not something that could be talked about openly.

    Powerful people could being toward Malte at this very moment!

    "Let''s go to that person," Lothur told his group. "It would have been better if we had arrived earlier, but since everyone knows this man''s riches, he is already dead."

    Lothur would not go out killing people in his path just because they had Soul Bones. But this group had brought him to this ce to get two bones that would be left without owners. So he became interested in these things.

    Even though he had no enmity with Malte, he wanted to collect these bones.

    He could even give up if it were something that could get him into trouble since expert killings could trigger extremely negative reactions that would even affect someone like him.

    But this person had made the mistake of allowing such rumors to spread. Now he could only bear the terrible consequences of being someone publicly known as a Soul Bone bearer!

    Should Lothur simply let other expertse and collect these bones?

    That was a big NO!

    "What do you intend to do?" The level 18 man asked him.

    "Nothing much, just what others will try to do if they had the chance." He said, not knowing where to leave, indicating one of them to do it soon.

    One of them promptly did as he should and took the group''s lead, with all the others soon following behind that person.

    As they traveled toward the headquarters of The Gray Eagles sect, all 5 of them looked in Lothur''s direction with curiosity as to what he would do.

    They intended to fight a weakened Origin Saint. However, the opponent they would now have was an Origin Saint in his best state and with two Soul Bones!

    Could Lothur beat someone like that?

    ...

 Chapter 702 Initiating the Reincarnation Cycle

    Chapter 702 Initiating the Reincarnation Cycle

    Within minutes of that group leaving for the headquarters of The Gray Eagles, they arrived above that headquarters, from where shouts broke out, sounds of mes and destruction mingling with those sharp sounds.

    The smell of something burning was strong in the surroundings as a column of smoke rose from that ce into the sky, staining the beautiful blue sky of this sunny day.

    When they arrived, the six immediately noticed that The Bears sect group was still taking over this ce.

    "That..." The level 18 woman looked toward a certain part of that organization and frowned.

    Lothur looked in the same direction and saw through the walls, noticing a woman being raped by a level 19 Saint.

    [Name: Malte ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: level 15]

    [STR: 249] [CON: 259] [DEX: 240] [AGI: 250]

    [INT: 389] [PER: 399] [WIL: 495] [SOU: 1,998]

    Lothur did not know Malte, but since that was the only Origin Saint in the vicinity, someone with 2 Soul Bones, he immediately identified such a person.

    The ck-haired young man narrowed his eyes, seeing the most despicable thing in the world in front of him.

    What Malte was doing had no exnation or forgiveness!

    Seeing this, he closed his eyes for a moment, and when he realized that there were no other Saints in the vicinity, he moved.

    Lothur manipted space and appeared much closer to that headquarters under attack, showing his panions'' that he was a Saint!

    "Malte of The Bears sect. You have be a powerful Saint, yet you still force yourself against a Nascent Soul Transcendent woman... You are a disgrace to those of the same level.

    Very well, ept your punishment."

    As a me giant appeared behind Lothur, striking out in the direction of the many men ravaging the surroundings of this headquarters, he used his bare hands and opened a spatial crack.

    After stretching one of his hands across this crack, Lothur touched Malte''s shoulders and pulled him from where he was, bringing him out of that headquarters.

    Upon sensing this, Malte quickly put on his trousers, suddenly losing his ''animus'' to defend himself against the enemy who had just threatened him.

    level seemed to be only level 18.

    Lothur closed his eyes for a moment and felt the darkness in the However, Lothur was much stronger than he was, and Malte could not escape being ''dragged'' like that.

    He looked at Lothur and immediately felt a shiver run through his body as the two Soul Bones emitted something simr to the cry of an inferior creature in front of its superior.

    "Who are you? Why are you acting against me?" Malte asked, knowing that this person could not be underestimated, even if his level seemed to be only level 18.

    Lothur closed his eyes for a moment and felt the darkness in the surroundings, which would surely bring new misfortune to the survivors of this ce and the people of the nearby cityter.

    At that instant, Lothur took his weapon from his spatial ring and said while everyone was still alive felt the level of the Darkness Scythe.

    "Who I am doesn''t matter. I have only one purpose, to be stronger and make sure that a particr nightmare doesn''te true.

    Malte of The Bears, don''t be a total scumbag in your next life. This is the end of the line for you."

    As he said those words, Lothur moved the scythe, spinning it as if it were a fan propeller.

    As he slowly walked forward, darkness departed from that weapon, forming a ck water wheel carrying a terrible energy that emitted awful sounds.

    "Thank the heavens. I will send you directly to your second chance, even though you don''t deserve it.

    That''s the River of Souls!"

    The skies turned dark, and several spectral sounds appeared up to a kilometer away from Lothur.

    The living in the surrounding area were pale with fear as they saw creatures of darkness rising from the ground, many of them of levels 17 and 18.

    Given how strong many spectres there were, the victims of this ce, but also the doom makers of The Gray Eagles sect, trembled with fear at the thought of being there without knowing that so many spectres were in the vicinity.

    Gulp!

    ''We were almost killed! If we lingered here any longer, those creatures would have destroyed us!'' A Soul Core Transcendent thought to himself, scared to death of these creatures.

    Even Malte looked at the surroundings in astonishment, shocked by the number of spectres there, something he had not felt moments ago.

    However, he was more afraid of Lothur than of any spectre there, for as these creatures of darkness walked up to the ck waterwheel, this young man approached him. With each step closer to Malte, the young Ritter seemed to be bigger to this man, who could not even move his legs due to the restriction on him.

    ''Damn it! Who is this monster? Why can''t I move?'' He felt his heart beating faster, but all his skills seemed to have disappeared in the face of his opponent''s ability.

    But it was not for nothing. This was a tinum-grade ability originating from the Blood Crystal!

    There was no way this man''s Silver and Gold-grade bones could counteract the suppression generated by that weapon!

    A ck cloak appeared over Lothur''s shoulders, as he looked like the bringer of death to everyone in the area, especially those 5 who had dared to attack him.

    As he walked to Malte, the spectres entered the River of Souls and turned into nothing, finally disappearing from this world and beginning the cycle of reincarnation.

    Lothur stopped spinning his scythe and finally struck out toward Malte, making a single blow towards the chest of this trembling man as he stared at him wide-eyed.

    "Mercy..."

    But there was no mercy. In the blink of an eye, the Darkness Scythe struck Malte''s body, piercing him as if his skin was no big deal.

    But the spiritual blow of this weapon was much worse than the physical one.

    As Malte''s body turned into two diagonally separated pieces, his soul was thrown out of his body, making him see the very end.

    ''No!''

    He wanted to scream, but he couldn''t. All he could do now was watch his own end as he slowly floated towards the River of Souls.

    Lothur only needed to activate the River of Souls once, and everything else would happen automatically until all the souls he sent to the water wheel. Only after that would it stop and slowly dissipate.

    Knowing this, Lothur ignored Malte''s despairing m, gesturing toward him in pleading for mercy, and picked up the two Soul Bones detaching themselves from that corpse.

    When a person died, the Soul Bones in his body would separate from the rest of him, so there was no great need for one to manually remove these bones.

    Lothur quickly took the two in his hands, noting that their quality was not bad, although they were not good enough for him.

    ...

 Chapter 703 Delivery to Peters City

    Chapter 703 Delivery to Peters City

    ''Two bones of demon Generals, one Silver-grade and the other Gold-grade.''

    Seeing their characteristics through the system, Lothur immediately decided that he would have to send these bones to his women.

    If one of them absorbed one of them before advancing to the 4th stage, she could raise the quality of one of them from Silver-grade to Gold-grade. As for the other one, it could also be boosted, even though it had no chance of reaching tinum grade just with that advancement.

    ''I will use these people.'' Lothur looked in the direction of the five who had brought him there, all of them staring in shock at the ck water wheel near him.

    By now, most of the spectres in the area had been fully absorbed by the River of Souls and disappeared from this world.

    They were all forced to begin reincarnation under the Darkness Scythe''s powers!

    At the same time, Malte''s soul was already about to climb the water wheel with no hope of escape.

    Sam''s widow managed to get dressed and leave the interior of that headquarters to see what was happening.

    She had tears of blood streaming down her face as she saw the fate of her executioner being set.

    ''You are dead! You''re dead. I don''t need revenge anymore!'' She shivered as a strange smile formed on her face.

    As some people in her sect looked at her and saw traces of blood running down her legs, feeling anger at her inability to protect her, Corinna did something that caught everyone''s attention.

    Swooish!

    As everyone looked at the River of Souls, a sound of a de cutting the air sounded from Corinna''s position before hitting something soft.

    "Cough! Aaagh! Cough!"

    Immediately as one of the two women in Lothur''s group of guides looked in the direction of that woman who had been raped, she opened her eyes in shock.

    "She... That woman..."

    "She killed herself?" The level 18 woman asked aloud as she saw the blood squirting from Corinna''s neck as she held a de near the wound.

    Lothur narrowed his eyes as he saw that. ''What a shame... But after what happened here, she has the right to die as she chooses.

    At least she can reincarnate and not continue wandering this world as a horrible creature.'' He thought as he saw Corinna''s soul following the flow of the River of Souls.

    He could save her if he wanted to, but there was no reason to, so Lothur controlled the scythe in his hands and made the water wheel spin faster, speeding up the process.

    By now, all the men of The Bears sect killed by the Prometheus mes had entered the reincarnation cycle, and only the survivors of The Gray Eagles were left behind.

    Several were lying on the ground, too injured to do anything else. But some were looking in the direction of the ability of the Darkness Scythe, watching with tears in their eyes the end of Corinna.

    As Sam''s wife, they all respected Corinna. But knowing what had happened to her and how she had done the most challenging thing for cultivators to do, suicide, many there felt a massive weight in their hearts.

    "Matriarch..." One man muttered as he had tears dripping from his eyes.

    ''Time to end all this.'' Lothur thought, watching thest souls pass through the River of Souls.

    Amid the unexpected end to this conflict, Lothur''s guides looked at him again, but this time much more fearful, having seen his shocking abilities.

    "What shall we do?" One asked in a low voice as Lothur finished what he was doing.

    "What do you mean? Do we have any alternative?"

    "But we have disrespected a Saint. A Saint far more powerful than the sect master of The Bears."

    "And what difference does it make that he is a powerful Saint? We were in his hands before, so it didn''t change anything."

    They argued among themselves until Lothur finished his work,pletely purifying the area.

    No spectres were left behind, and all the souls of the dead passed through the water wheel of darkness.

    When he finished his work there, Lothur did not bother to collect the spoils of war. He simply looked at his guides and indicated them toe to him.

    Gulp!

    "Senior..." The leader of these people said in a tremulous tone, with 100% of his free will, since Lothur was not manipting the darkness in his heart.

    But Lothur stopped him from continuing and ordered. "I have two Soul Bones that I want you to take to my women. One of you will guide me to the border of this state with Rablus, and the others are to travel to the Linn Province in Leopoldine.

    You should go to Peters City and give these bones to Viktoria Frost. Oh, right, give this letter to her too."

    As he spoke, Lothur quickly wrote a note saying that the Gold-grade bone should be given to Elke and the Silver-grade to Annaliese.

    The characteristics of these bones suited the two best. Also, among his four women, these two had the lowest mental attributes.

    Lothur wanted to bnce the talents of his women, so he would not simply strengthen the strongest of them and leave the others behind, vulnerable.

    Those people looked at Lothur strangely, seeing someone willing to give up Soul Bones for the first time in their lives and still sending them to other people.

    "Senior, may I ask you why? Why don''t you just absorb those bones? And why trust us?" The level 18 woman asked.

    Lothur shook his head, indicating that this was a good question. He bones? And why trust us?" The level 18 woman asked.

    Lothur shook his head, indicating that this was a good question. He answered it. "I have something to do and don''t know how long I will be gone. However, it will be important for the people you will deliver these bones to absorb them as soon as possible. So I will let you make this delivery.

    As far as absorbing them, these bones don''t attract my attention.

    Unfortunately, they are not what I am after."

    They listened to this in silence, not knowing what to say.

    But then, Lothur narrowed his eyes, and ck mes appeared in his hands. "I will control you while you make this delivery.

    I do not trust you, so until that is done, you will be my ves."

    Those people took steps back, seeing that their fate would still be in Lothur''s hands, even if they went their separate ways.

    "But don''t worry, if you do everything I have ordered, once you deliver these bones and my women absorb them, you will be free again."

    After saying this, Lothur quickly infused the ck mes into each of the five, bringing them under his control.

    With that done, he selected the weakest person to guide him to Cesha''s border with Rablus, setting aside the strongest to travel to Leopoldine.

    "Now go. Take it as fast as you can, but take the time to get to Peters City safely." Lothur said before bidding those people farewell.

 Chapter 704 A Different Reality

    ?

    Meanwhile, in a ce far away from where Lothur was...

    In and where no life grew, the soils were as ck as the night sky, and dark fog covered part of the surroundings, hiding part of what existed there.

    In the middle of this area, a stone pce, the same color as everything in the surroundings, was hidden beneath the shadows in a ce where there was neither day nor night.

    There, a being sitting on the central throne of this pce suddenly opened his eyes while feeling a very particr spiritual fluctuation.

    "This feeling... Who did that?" This creature caused all the spiritual energy in the surroundings to go into agitation as its eyes narrowed and its dark, semi-transparent body vibrated.

    "Your Excellency? Has something happened?" Upon seeing his leader''s unusual reaction, a creature dressed in armor and armed asked.

    "Someone artificially started the cycle of reincarnation of a group of people and spectres." He said to one of his men on the outskirts. "Go, search for that being! He must have in possession one of the magnificent items."

    "Yes, Your Excellency!"

    Several of them shouted simultaneously before disappearing from there.

    Meanwhile, that creature rested his head on one of his fists, looking ahead of him and seeing the distance of this ce while his head was awkwardly tilted 90 degrees to the side.

    ''Is someone trying to interfere with my ns?''

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Rablus...

    There was a small vige in the northwest of this state, not far from the beginning of the Ancestral Region area, near the border with Norid.

    In this ce, a group of people were gathered in a small hut, with nervous looks on their faces but also somber tones in their voices.

    "What are we going to do? Recently the number of people dangerous to our miss has increased greatly in numbers in both Norid and Rablus."

    "Times are changing... The high-level powers are bing more agitated."

    "Even the damned demons are putting our ns at risk!"

    "Sigh... Previously we could hide easily, but now our scope for action greatly diminishes. What will we do if this continues?"

    "We don''t have much to do. We can only wait for the young miss. As long as we buy her time, she will be stronger and take us to the top of the world!"

    While they were talking in that hut, silence spread over this ce where about 50 houses existed.

    But even with so many houses avable, less than 10 of them were upied.

    Strangely enough, some unupied houses seemed to have been suddenly set aside. If one walked into one of them, one would see ces with clothes and dishes in closets, tes, cutlery, and sses waiting to be washed in the sinks.

    It was as if these ces had suddenly been abandoned by their owners, while nobody else cared about the situation of these houses...

    But a stall was full in one part of this vige, with several beings waiting to be ughtered!

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, three days had passed since Malte''s death.

    After traveling by the side of a level 17 woman controlled by his ability, Lothur crossed the border from Cesha to Rablus!

    In doing so, he ordered that woman to return to the side of her group, which was traveling to Peters City.

    Now that he was in his destination state, he intended to continue his journey alone. That person could no longer help him, so they had separated hours ago.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Having started the final part of his journey in search of the family of the soul fragment he had met in Lewerenz, Lothur immediately searched for arge city, interested in more information.

    Now in Rablus, he would surely find a ce with more information than those he had passed.

    ...

    "Ah... Demons have attacked another vige. What a great tragedy."

    As he entered a tavern in the first city of Rablus he stopped, Lothur frowned upon hearing this casualment, not expecting to already arrive in a ce hearing from demons.

    "That''s life, old man. These creatures will cause chaos as long as there are no hunters strong enough to kill the demon leaders." A young manmented to that elder while he was dressed in the robes of the Seraphim Church.

    "Sigh... Unfortunately, our state is close to their of these creatures. As long as this is the case, news like the end of Pinecross Vige will keeping up." Another eldermented. "Every 20 years, we have a massacre of great proportions.

    Nothing out of the normal so far..."

    Several sighs sounded in the surroundings as people dealt with yet another massacre that had recently be news.

    ording to news reports, demons had attacked Pinecross Vige and exterminated a group of over 500 people.

    This news would shock poptions to the south of the continent so that many would consider migrating because of the fear of something like this happening to them. But in Rablus, sightings of demons were moremon than anywhere else on the continent, and the empire''s poption was used to the news.

    Nobody liked this, but without the possibility of oveing these problems, what could they do but try to live their lives?

    Should they flee their state and leave the territory to the demons?

    Leaders of the various powers behind this state refused to do this, which on the other hand, motivated many ordinary people to continue living in this empire, given the opportunities to serve ns, sects, families, and associations of the most varied kinds.

    For everything, there was a price!

    To have opportunities that they would not have in weaker states, tens of millions of people had be ustomed to the dangers of living in this dangerous domain!

    Lothur immediately realized this as he entered that tavern.

    ''It seems that the action of demonic groups is very developed in this state.'' He watched some of the people talking about it in the surrounding area, interested.

    If he came across one of these creatures...

    But then someone spoke to him, distracting him. "Sir, what''s it going to be?" A young woman with full breasts asked as she stopped before Lothur, waiting to collect the order from this handsome ck-haired man.

    Lothur looked at this woman of abundant measurements and said. "See me a soup."

    After a few moments, Lothur''s order arrived, and he ced a bag of coins on his table, indicating for that woman to sit down.

    She looked at Lothur strangely and said. "Look, I''m not going out with you just because..."

    As she was about to reject yet another one trying to get her into bed, Lothur interrupted her and said. "Miss, don''t get me wrong. I want your advice, not something else, although I am tempted to." He smiled.

    "Advice?" She opened her eyes wider, surprised. "What kind of advice?"

    Lothurughed and said. "I am in this city for the first time. I would like information about the location of some organizations. Why don''t you take the day off to guide me?"

    She checked Lothur''s coin bag and saw that in it was the payment for the soup and 10 gold coins, an absurd amount for a bonus.

    ...

 Chapter 705 Reality Of The Cultivation House

    ?

    "I can do that. But why me? You could pay anyone else." She had her fears about strange people, demons, and assassins who were constantly the source of news around this city and others in the empire.

    Lothur then said. "I just arrived in this city, but while walking down the main avenue, the smell of the roasted meat from this tavern caught my attention, so I came straight here before looking for a guide.

    Seeing you, I immediately decided you would be the best possible guide... It will certainly be pleasant to tour this city alongside a beauty like you, Miss."

    "So it''s because of my beauty?" She said as she showed her perfect teeth to Lothur. "Very well, I will see what I can do, but I make no promises."

    "OK."

    "Wait for me here."

    After a while, Lothur finished eating his soup, and the beautiful attendant with beautiful nice curves returned to him.

    "OK, I''m ready. Where do you want to go?" She stopped in front of Lothur''s table, dressed differently from moments ago.

    Now instead of the apron and work clothes she was wearing, she had put on a beautiful light green dress with a lovely neckline, which also did not hide her legs.

    "By the way, my name is Natali."

    "Pleasure, Egon." Lothur smiled at her.

    "So, what is your first destination? What are you looking for?"

    Natali didn''t have high cultivation. She was only a Mortal Warrior, level 8. So she couldn''t feel the gigantic difference between her and Lothur and was naturally treating him as an equal.

    Lothur answered her. "Take me to the local Cultivation House."

    "Cultivation House, huh?" As they both walked out of that tavern, she was chatting with Lothur. "Are you after some kind of mission? Are you a mercenary, Egon?"

    "Not exactly. I''m just after some information."

    "So what do you do for a living? Are you some kind of warrior?"

    Natali was quite talkative, so as she directed Lothur to the Cultivation House, she went the whole way talking to him, asking things to understand who he was, but also talking about herself.

    She was a young woman in her prime, 21 years old, and already at level 8.

    She didn''t have a bad talent!

    Unfortunately, she was from a humble background and had to work hard to pay for her studies at a local academy.

    With the work offered by Lothur, she could pay for weeks of her expenses, so she couldn''t help but be curious about him.

    After listening to various answers, some true, others invented by Lothur, they arrived at the Cultivation House.

    This was the first city Lothur was passing in Rablus. But already in this southernmost part of this empire, he could see that the local quality was far superior to what he had found in Cesha and Lenz.

    But it was not for nothing. Living where monsters constantly appeared, this poption had to either be stronger than average or find ways topensate for possible weaknesses!

    There were several Saints in this city, particrly in the building of the Cultivation House that Lothur had just entered.

    Upon arriving there, Lothur went directly to the information area.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    "Senior, what do you want in our humble post?" Someone went over to meet them, quickly assigning a room for both of them to wait for the person who woulde to speak with them.

    Natali saw this and thought it strange, as normally, one would have to face lines in the Cultivation House to do anything there. But Lothur had been immediately directed to a room while several others were still waiting their turn to be attended to.

    But she didn''t ask anything right away. She stood silently watching; something strange to her that if any of her acquaintances saw her like this, they would know she had something on her mind.

    She only didn''t speak when she had something important on her mind!

    Lothur did not notice this woman''s curiosity and merely waited in silence for the official of this post.

    After only two minutes, someone dressed in the uniform of the Cultivation House, with a symbol of his position within this ce, appeared there to meet them.

    Immediately upon seeing that man, Natali opened her eyes wider, seeing a 3rd-grade membering to attend to Lothur.

    The Cultivation House had its hierarchy. Besides there is a distinction between official and member; the former were usually just mortals, and thetter cultivators; they also had an internal ranking ording to cultivation.

    A 1st-stage cultivator would be a 1st-grade member, while a 2nd-stage cultivator would be a 2nd-grade.

    There were other ssifications ording to the type of work each one did. Still, Natali knew that any 3rd-grade member had great importance within the Cultivation House.

    "Senior, what do you need?" That man greeted Lothur politely as he sat down with these two on the opposite side of the table.

    ''Senior?'' Nicoli nced at Lothur out of the corner of her eye, realizing that this man next to her was not insignificant like her.

    Lothur ignored the doubts in Natali''s heart and asked that Cultivation House member. "I have a name that I would like to search for information rted to it."

    "What name?"

    "Mathias Scheidemann. He has been dead for many years but was a demon hunter, a peak Transcendent before his death." Lothur spoke about the soul fragment he had met in Lewerenz.

    "A demon hunter? I don''t know if we have information about that person here, but if we don''t, we definitely have it somewhere." That man flipped through the book he had brought, heading toward the demon hunter part.

    "That''s good to know... Is there any way you can send out amuniqu�� through your posts seeking this information?"

    "Hmm, if we don''t have ess to that information, I will do that, senior." Before falling silent, that man spoke and focused on the list of names he had found.

    Every demon hunter who became a Transcendent sooner orter entered the catalog of experts registered by the Cultivation House. This was not only because they usually had Soul Bones and were very strong, but because in a ce as dangerous as this state, having contacts with people like this was important.

    Sooner orter, an organization might need the help of many of these professionals!

    Knowing where to find them, contacts, and other information was crucial.

    That''s why the Cultivation House had been buying information about demon hunters since ancient times.

    Sometimes they didn''t have news of the death of one of these demon hunters, so these names remained in their current information. But even when one of them died, this organization didn''t get rid of their information until they knew the exact status of their Soul Bones.

    Since bones were extremely rare and valuable, anyone with several of them was kept under observation even after death!

    As long as it was not confirmed that new owners had reached these bones, the Cultivation House would continue to search for information about such a person in the hope of finding their bones!

    ...

 Chapter 706 How To Find Them

    ?

    "Found it!" After some time searching for the name said by Lothur, the 3rd-grade member attending, he eximed upon finding such a name.

    Upon finding it, he immediately infused some of his spiritual power into that book, causing Mathias'' name to shine brightly.

    A flow of information coursed through his body and reached his brain.

    He then began to speak. "Mathias Scheidemann, a 3rd stage demon hunter from the ancient Grapia Kingdom. His name became known almost 5,000 years ago. ording to rumors, he had more than 5 Soul Bones thest time he was seen inbat.

    However, he was expelled from the Seraphim Church after bing involved in a love affair with someone from the Ancestral Folk. After that, he joined the Real Army of Grapia and participated in the war that eventually destroyed Grapia."

    The information the Cultivation House had regarding the man behind the soul fragment that Lothur met was just basic. But it was still much more than this young man had.

    ''So that''s why he left his family...'' Lothur wondered.

    A man had to work to pay his bills!

    Experts needed a lot of resources to keep advancing, get good items for their family members, etc.

    Demon hunters usually received financial support, with resources and many more from the Seraphim Church, while they had a lot of freedom of where and how to act.

    Apart from some extreme situations, in general, a strong demon hunter like Mathias could even stay away from the Church for years without a problem.

    But by being expelled from this organization, this man had ended up in a situation where he had to join a new force, one that limited much of his freedoms.

    A war broke out as soon as he joined the royal forces of Grapia. The rest was history.

    "Five Soul Bones?" Natali eximed upon hearing it, shocked that there were people like that in the world.

    "Yes, he was a good demon hunter, miss." That man was also impressed.

    It was not easy to achieve that feat!

    "But among demon hunters near the 4th stage, it ismon for them to have at least 4 bones. But there are reports of such people with 6, 7, even 8 Soul Bones!" He said with a gleam in his eyes, looking at that woman.

    "But that''s terrible. Are there such people? They must be invincible!"

    Lothur heard that and was momentarily distracted. "Actually, no. Talented demon hunters don''t ept just any bone. Many will not absorb new bones to strengthen themselves unless it is a bone from a well-ranked demon.

    So certainly the stronger ones are further behind in the number of bones than others of lesser talent who will absorb any bone theyy their hands on."

    Soul Bones could not be removed. The only way for one of them to separate from a body and spirit was from that person''s death. So as they grew stronger and filled parts of the Spirit Body, demon hunters became more selective.

    This was why it was so difficult to find people with aplete Spirit Body in this world.

    Even those who made the mistake of absorbing lower quality bones until their 7th or 8th bone would eventually not absorb the missing bones until they found well-graded bones or were close to their deaths.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Upon reaching theirst years of life, these hunters would try to absorb any type of Soul Bone andplete their Spirit body in an attempt to increase their life expectancy and test the legend that said people like this became immortal.

    But even doing this with low-quality bones was not easy. After all, there were 10 spaces in the human body. Upon reaching 8 or 9 spaces used, one would have few options left.

    It could happen that the missing bones would be a rare, hard-to-find type. In that case, even finding a low-quality one would be difficult.

    The only option for a demon hunter in this situation would be to find a hybrid of humans and demons.

    In addition to generating the best possible bone in terms of quality, the hybrid would generate a bone that was missing for such a human!

    "Is that so?" Natali asked.

    The officer of the Cultivation House agreed. "Indeed. By getting more bones, one naturally bes more demanding."

    Lothur looked at that man and asked. "I would like to know if there is any information about that person from Ancestor Folk who got him kicked out of the Church."

    That man looked again at the book before him and saw a secondary information option about that man.

    "All there is here is that he lived for 3 years with this Ancestral Folk woman and then separated from her to join the Royal Army. There is no information about her here, so I would advise you to look for that in one of our posts closer to the Ancestral Region or the Seraphim Church.

    This person motivated a rare expulsion of a demon hunter, so there is probably a file on her at the Church headquarters.

    In one of our posts near the Ancestral Region, you can search for Ancestral Folk women expelled from their tribes for getting involved with humans.

    You might be able to find information that connects to this man doing this. There certainly aren''t many cases of such women in the period that Mathias was expelled from the Church."

    Upon hearing that, Lothur epted that man''s advice and paid for the service regarding this information.

    Leaving the Cultivation House, he stopped in front of this ce and said to Natali. "Now, I would like to stop by the Formations Masters Association and also the local Alchemy Guild."

    She heard that but asked. "Egon, who exactly are you? Why did those people at the Cultivation House treat you so well when normally that doesn''t happen?"

    "I can tell you that, but only if you give me something in return..." Lothur grabbed her waist and brought her closer to himself, looking into Natali''s cherry lips.

    Natali looked into his eyes in silence for a moment, feeling goosebumps run through her body.

    Even though his appearance was slightly altered by the pills he had been taking, Lothur was still extremely handsome. And even though such a young woman was used to being flirted with by handsome and powerful young men, Natali couldn''t help but feel nervous about him, a little turned on by the mystery and looks of this man.

    She swallowed her saliva and let go of him, taking a deep breath. "We have to go in a few more ces, don''t we? Let''s not get lost in our daydreams."

    She walked in front of him, going towards one of those ces, while Lothur smiled and watched the swaying of her bountiful hips.

    ''But I want to get lost in these ''daydreams''...''

 Chapter 707 No Future Case (18+)

    Hourster...

    The night was falling, and the movement in the city where Lothur had stopped was gradually slowing down as the end of the day approached.

    Shifts were starting to happen around the city as some went to rest and others focused on their responsibilities.

    But in the midst of this, Lothur was doing something he hadn''t done in several days together with the beautiful Natali.

    After traveling around this city searching for materials and books to improve himself, Lothur hade to the ce he was currently with Natali on the pretext of eating with her.

    However, as he went to the hotel room he would be spending the night in; his ns changed a bit when Natali realized that she would not be having dinner now, but would be Lothur''s ''dinner''...

    But as much as she was a little reluctant to give herself to a man she had only met a few hours ago, this beautiful woman could not resist the young Ritter''s charms.

    As she allowed herself to be kissed by him, her body became a sea of burning mes.

    She would probably go mad if she didn''t go all the way with it.

    So Lothur had gotten what he wanted, tasting a new vor.

    Natali was not a virgin. She had her experiences. But as much as some preferred the purer ones, Lothur didn''t think having fun for a few hours with someone experienced was bad.

    Since he wouldn''t be taking her with him and probably wouldn''t see her again, wouldn''t it be better if she already knew what to do in this brief diversion of theirs?

    And hell, Natali was a fantastic sex partner!

    Even though she was weak, she seemed to have a motor working in her hips and moved in a way that could drive ordinary men crazy.

    Her body was amazing, with her big boobs and round buttocks, big enough that they didn''t fit in Lothur''s hands.

    As he tried her on, young Ritter quickly blessed her with his hose, helping to douse the fire of this lustful body.

    Just at that moment, they were finishing another round of ''blessings'' from Lothur, with Natali receiving the magical liquid from this young man.

    "Ahhhh~ It''s so good~ It''s so warm~" Natali eximed as she stopped moving her body on top of Lothur, feeling his whole rod inside her.

    Meanwhile, her breasts almost suffocated Lothur, squeezed against his chest.

    Lothur smiled as he held this woman''s waist with both hands and felt his little brother being squeezed by the inner walls of Natali''s flower.

    His face was sweaty, but this was not his sweat, but Natali''s, this fiery woman who was dripping with sweat but still had a vivacious look on her face.

    One could tell she was enjoying all this even more than he was!

    The look on her face was the same as the poor, hungry soul thirsting for something it hadn''t had in a long time!

    "For someone who refused so much, you''re really enjoying this, huh? You are a naughty girl, Natali." He murmured to her, smiling as he ran his hands over one of her buttocks.

    Lothur bit his lips and then pped that part of Natali''s body.

    Pa!

    "Ahhhh~"

    Natali shudderedpletely, feeling the muscles in her body twitch as she came once more.

    "Egon~ You''re too big~ In this way, I can''t..." She said as she gasped and let out heavenly sounds.

    Heughed and stole some of her breath, warmly kissing Natali.

    "Mmmm~"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    After doing so momentarily, Lothur lifted her, disconnecting their bodies. Positioning her next to him, he stood up and moved on top of her.

    Lothur squeezed one of those beautiful breasts with one of his hands and asked. "Do you want more, Natali? Do you still have ''gas'' to go on?"

    She said nothing but moved her head up and down while looking at the long, thick rock in Lothur''s groin.

    She had never been with someone like him before!

    Lothur''s skills were far above average, as were his measurements.

    For a hard-to-please woman like her, being with Lothur was like reaching the peak!

    Not knowing when she would have another chance to experience these emotions, she could only give herself totally to him!

    Lothur smiled as he saw the ''hunger'' in her gaze and lowered his face until he was close to her left nipple.

    Taking his eyes off her, he sucked on that beautiful breast, making Natali close her eyes and clutch the bed sheets with her hands.

    While sucking on one of the biggest boobs he had ever seen, Lothur positioned his little brother at the entrance to Natali''s cave and let it slide down that wet path.

    "Ahhhhh~"

    ...

    In the middle of the night, Lothur and Natali finished their wild sex session, having reached their climaxes so many times that they had both lost count of how many times it had been.

    When they finished, Natali did not notice the ssic symptoms of advancing cultivation due to the ''blessing'' Lothur usually gave his women.

    Lothur was now fully capable of controlling himself to give what he decided on, so he limited the effects of having sex with Natali and helped her only to reach the peak of level 8.

    He could help her more than that, but he didn''t want to draw attention to his ability, and he didn''t think a more significant advancement would help her much. That is, as an ordinary person who would no longer have the chance to be with him, having a stronger body cultivation would not help her much in her journey.

    When he finished having fun with her, he got out of bed and quickly washed up before getting ready to leave.

    Natali was sleeping peacefully on the bed, so Lothur merely left a letter and a spatial ring for her before moving on with his ns and leaving this city.

    Their affair of a few hours would have no future, so it was better not only for him but especially for her if, by dawn, he would be long gone, and one would not have to say goodbye to the other.

    ...

    At dawn, Natali woke up with a smile on her face, slowly reaching for Lothur with her hands while her eyes were still closed.

    But realizing she wasn''t reaching him, she opened her eyes.

    "Egon?" Asking and not hearing an answer, she promptly stood up, feeling her sleep pass instantly.

    She felt a little nervous, and her heart began to beat faster. She knew they had no future together. Egon was a great cultivator, a rich person with good prospects. But still, she wished she could say goodbye to him.

    Like it or not, this short passage of Lothur in this city would mark this woman for the rest of her life!

    She felt her eyes getting watery and sighed. But soon she saw a letter with a spatial ring next to the bed.

    ''Natali, this was a good experience we had. I hope you won''t be sad, but I have to leave.

    I don''t know if we''ll ever meet again, so I left some things for you in this ring. This will help you grow up but also get closer to me.

    Maybe we''ll meet across the continent if you be an expert one day.

    "Egon..." Tears welled up in her eyes after Natali finished reading that.

 Chapter 708 Testing A Theory

    Two dayster...

    After leaving Natali, Lothur made his way north, heading towards the border between Rablus and Norid.

    He now had ns to enter one of the outposts of the Seraphim Church and get information about that soul fragment, as well as seek more information from outposts of the Cultivation House further north.

    No longer interested in passing through cities until he reached the vicinity of the Ancestral Region, Lothur followed the path of the forests of that state.

    On this journey, after meeting Natali, he returned to train in some of his professions, including that of poison master.

    As he could not casually activate his bloodline ability and improve his affinities and resistances by stealing it from others, Lothur had not been able to improve his rted characteristics since leaving the Imperial Prison.

    Thus, he had bought several items to train on this trip, things to poison master and formations master, which could be used to train his resistances.

    With that, he had been doing 8 hours of travel, 4 hours of training, and 4 hours of rest, then repeating the cycle.

    Because of this, he had already improved his resistances a little in thesest two days of travel!

    ...

    [Gold-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 69% -> 81%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 41% -> 50%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 31% -> 45%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 14% -> 25%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade darkness resistance]

    [Progress: 5% -> 11%]

    Finishing another training session, Lothur looked at his most advanced resistances before looking at his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 860] [CON: 1,707] [DEX: 840] [AGI: 960]

    [INT: 374.2] [PER: 880] [WIL: 670] [SOU: 1,881.8]

    [EVF: 2]

    ''Not bad... I think I can reach tinum -grade in two or three of my resistances before my advancement to the 5th stage.'' He smiled, knowing that this would be a great advantage for him.

    Having resistance to anything of tinum grade was the same as being resistant to Sage attacks!

    Obviously, this wouldn''t give one invulnerability to all Sage possibilities, but it would give Lothur important protections that could save his life when facing someone of that stage.

    This could be the difference between dying and resisting and having the chance to regenerate and activate his Physique ability eventually.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    Knowing this, Lothur did not underestimate the importance of developing his resistances and affinities, training his professions to the limit.

    But as he contemted his status, suddenly, Lothur heard a battle noise approaching his position.

    He put aside his system and looked in the direction of these sounds, quickly peering through the trees to get a closer look at the confrontation unfolding in his vicinity.

    Four Divine Soul Transcendents fought intensely over there, bringing the battle to where Lothur stood.

    Seeing this, Lothur again noticed the inscriptions that appeared during the activation of techniques.

    The same did not happen for Physique, bloodline, or Soul Bone skills, but it happened for any kind of technique.

    Noticing these inscriptions simr to the rules he wrote on his formations for them to work, Lothur narrowed his eyes and decided to do a little test.

    ''Since you came to me, then don''t me me for this...'' His eyes glowed, and he began to move his hands through space, manipting something.

    Immediately attempting to manipte the inscriptions of one of the techniques in use by one of those fighting men, Lothur decided to simply erase them.

    He didn''t know if he could only see them or if he had any chance of altering them. So was there a better test than erasing them?

    As he made his moves, he managed to erase some of the inscriptions but soon felt like something was stopping him from continuing.

    ''So I can''t erase everything?'' He asked himself as he saw that man under his maniption form a strange expression on his face as he saw the structures of his technique disappearing just when he thought he would hit his opponent''s chest.

    At that instant, the enemy realized the problem of the person trying to kill him and immediately attacked in the direction of that person''s head.

    "Die!"

    "Shit!"

    Swooish!

    A de cut through the air, and soon after, a head split in half, revealing that person''s brain to the world.

    Lothur saw that and decided to try something else on another one of those people. ''I can''t erase everything, but erasing a few key codes already gives me the power to disrupt one of those people''s techniques...

    What would happen if I inscribed something into their technique?''

    Looking at the two men who suddenly got the numerical advantage in the confrontation, Lothur immediately chose one of the two when he saw one trying to end the confrontation.

    He erased something in that man''s technique and inscribed something new, smiling.

    The next moment, that man''s great spiritual sword, heading towards his opponent''s back, trembled momentarily before red mes surged from its body.

    "Aaaaagh!"

    That man holding it screamed in pain as he felt his hands being burned by mes powerful enough to injure him.

    Since he had no resistance to mes, this man immediately faced a very tricky problem!

    One could withstand enemy attacks, even when those attacks were focused on his weaknesses. But against an effect of his own technique, one would have all his defenses open to it!

    Seeing the man about to deal him a mortal blow, that remaining individual against these two frowned and did not miss the opportunity.

    He immediately used his axe and split his opponent''s burning body in half!

    "Die!"

    One more body fell to the ground of that forest while Lothur watched the remaining two.

    ''Hmm, I can change the rules of those techniques, but not only that.'' He stood up as he thought of something, and a secondter, a sword appeared in his hands, exactly like the one of the man who had just died.

    ''By trying to manipte them, I can also learn them without any effort!''

    At the thought of that, Lothur used a part of his soul power and made several swords like that appear above where those two remnants were, in a single instant raising his understanding of them to Master level.

    Then, the two could only tremble in fear as they saw swords like the one of that man killed a moment ago fall on their bodies.

    Screams arose from their position,sting only a few moments before the two died under Lothur''s technique!

 Chapter 709 Development Plans

    ?

    Five more days passed...

    After testing his theories with those four previous men, Lothur had seen several battles like that one and done more tests.

    Now he knew what he could do when trying to manipte thews of techniques of people weaker than him.

    This was a good ability for him to learn different techniques without paying, but it would not give him much of an advantage in battle. Against people of the same strength range, Lothur judged that such maniption would not work.

    One way or another, for him, any extra ability, even if it didn''t generate great returns, was a good thing.

    Better to have this possibility than to have nothing!

    After understanding better about this, he stopped doing his tests and went back to focusing on the training of his techniques and resistances.

    Lothur continued to train his body techniques, especially the new ones he had learned, as they could help him improve his physical attributes.

    At a point in his journey when he could not get stronger because he could not use his bloodline skill, nor had he had any chance to be beaten to use the Physique ability, this was the only way he could get stronger.

    But he had yet to achieve any qualitative breakthroughs in his resistance, having only reached the peak of his resistance to poisons.

    Unfortunately, the stronger the resistance was, the harder it was to train it to advance to a higher level.

    Thus, he had been making less progress as the days went by. But he didn''t mind. Training and getting stronger was something he did in the spare time of his trip, not the focus of what he was currently doing.

    That was why, upon arriving in the central area of Rablus, Lothur was focused on continuing to travel through that state, heading towards where he nned to act against the Church.

    ...

    As Lothur traveled through Rablus, the Ritter Motor Company''s business was taking off in Leopoldine.

    After several days of his departure, many of the workers hired from around the empire had already started their work in their home provinces, but also in Linn Province.

    Streets and avenues in the six cities that would soon host Ritter Motor Company stores were already being altered with proper signage and paving.

    Meanwhile, the roads from these cities were advancing by 20 kilometers a day, with more than 200 kilometers of roads having already been built outside Linn Province.

    But that was just the progress made by staff outside thepany''s home province of Lothur!

    Things had progressed much further in Linn Province in this period, with local roads having reached 300 kilometers paved.

    In addition to the roads, the new factories were progressing rapidly, with the most advanced of them 40%plete.

    After so many days since Lothur''s departure, over 1,200 new vehicles had been delivered, significantly changing the movement of cars and minibusses around Peters City recently.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria and the other women of Lothur were working for thepany''s future!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>

    ...

    After the start of the expansion of the Ritter Motor Company''s operations, Viktoria finally decided to set up a headquarters for thepany.

    Previously, the affairs of thepany were handled at the first factory, and there was no office space for thepany''s management.

    But with thepany''s operations growth and the number of employees dealing with more bureaucratic matters, the need to have a special ce had arisen.

    As such, Viktoria had already sent the order for such a ce to be built days ago, and the building of Ritter Motor Company was already nearingpletion.

    She was standing in front of such a ce right now, a five-story building in the central area of Peters City, entirely covered by ss on its facade and with a giant sign with a symbol of a car and thepany''s name inside it.

    Seeing this ce, she smiled and said to her men. "Very good, it is turning out as we imagined."

    "Miss, we will finish the construction in 1 more day. After that, we can furnish the whole building for operation in three days." One of the men in charge of the construction team said while holding a clipboard.

    "OK, continue your work." She said before leaving alongside three people, one of them her secretary and the other two men who were there to update her.

    Halfway to the first Ritter Motor Company factory, she said. "You two can talk."

    "Miss, we have a problem with the roads between the Ganz and Hassell provinces. An area between these provinces is dominated by beasts who, unfortunately, have not epted our proposals." One of the two men said.

    Viktoria had nned the roads around these six provinces to not only connect some cities within their own provinces but to connect to other provinces as well.

    Her goal was to create a connection that would enable a person in one of these cities to take their car, travel through the six provinces, and eventually drive to Peters City.

    Powerful cultivators would never use cars to make this trip. Still, buses with ordinary people and trucks with raw materials and food could undoubtedly use this option!

    This would more easily integrate these cities into Peters City, something she thought was important for thepany''s progress.

    "Is that so?" Viktoria frowned. "Don''t worry about it. Continue with the original ns. I''ll send someone to sort it out."

    She looked at her secretary, a level 16 woman who had been in the Imperial Prison months ago.

    Understanding Lothur''s wife''s gaze, this ve of his immediately moved to the Ritter family headquarters to select people capable of solving this problem.

    If beasts were causing trouble for them in that area between provinces when they tried to solve their problems peacefully, then they would solve it the hard way!

    While that woman moved to resolve that matter, Viktoria continued with those two men, listening in on other matters.

    The number of orders had increased by more than 20,000 units after thepany''s expansion began, a reflection of the powers outside the province that had found out about the cars.

    Others already knew about the vehicles from Lothur. Still, with no expectation of these wonders reaching them quickly, many had not traveled to this province to ce their orders. But now that thepany was showing signs that it would be different, the Ritter Motor Company was quickly gaining new customers!

 Chapter 710 The Occupations Of Lothurs Women

    ?

    At the Ritter family headquarters...

    Between Lothur''s women, Reba cared for this ce and looked after her husband''s many ves.

    As someone who couldn''t show herself in Peters City, she had been taking care of this ce, training hard not only to decrease her distance from the others but also to help the people in this group.

    Several former prisoners of the Imperial Prison were close to advancement, so since she had plenty of free time, she had been training with those closest to advancement.

    After days of doing this, putting together training and the resources the family had to nurture them, three people advanced to level 18 and eight to level 17.

    At this moment, she was talking to some of those ves close to advancing when suddenly someone appeared at that secret estate''s entrance, drawing the watchers'' attention.

    But no one moved. Such a person was part of the group and followed the protocols to approach the area and enter the facility.

    Momentster...

    "Miss B?ttger, we have a problem between the provinces of Ganz and Hassell. Miss Frost wants us to send a group to solve a problem with beasts in the area that are making things difficult for thepany''s ns."

    "Oh?" Reba frowned but then turned to one of the men near her and said. "Get Alois and Elmar. They will form a group with 8 Nascent Soul Transcendents and set out to solve this problem."

    With those orders, a few men soon moved to start forming that group.

    ...

    In another part of Peters City, Elke was meeting with representatives of the partners of the Ritter Motor Company at a local restaurant.

    As leaders of a multi-partner firm, the women of Lothur had been finding ways to satisfy their partners and give them more predictability about their actions.

    On this particr day, she met with more than 30 people to tell them about something she had recently thought of for them.

    She raised a ss of wine at the end of a long rectangr table and asked for silence.

    "Alright, everyone, let''s talk about serious things now. We recently decided to propose some internal rules for thepany, and I want to introduce some of them to you now."

    Some of her subordinates then started distributing documents to these people while Elke continued.

    "The Ritter Motor Company has a lot of potential to develop, but we know how important it is for our shareholders to see results or feel the effects with coins.

    As such, in the next 3 months, we will start distributing dividends to shareholders, which should happen twice a year and should not exceed 40% of our profits."

    Upon hearing the idea of receiving parts of thispany''s profits, some immediately smiled, while others less keen on it frowned.

    One of them asked. "Miss Becker, wouldn''t it be wiser to use all the profit to reinvest in thepany? I believe there is a better chance of a return for everyone that way."

    Elke looked at that person and answered the question of some others there. "We will allocate 60% of the profits for that, which will not be a small amount.

    But we will create a mechanism for investments in thepany for those who want their coins to remain within thepany. We will introduce that a few weeks before the first profit distribution."

    She saw the most concerned people''s expressions improve a little and add. "In addition, the Ritter family and some other partners will decrease their positions in the future. Then we will get more resources to invest in thepany in a future auction.

    Also, with the new factory stores around Leopoldine, we will umte a lot of coins from new orders, enough to continue expanding our operations rapidly."

    As the Ritter Motor Company received half the value of the vehicles sold at the time of order, this gave them enough capital to invest in new factories, personnel, and material.

    Otherpanies in this world would have to invest everything at the beginning and only sell the product when it is ready. But Lothur''spany was selling their products and even had a small profit margin before they started producing their products!

    Therefore, Elke and the others werefortable distributing parts of their profits twice a year.

    After thesest words, the still, slightly worried men smiled in satisfaction, seeing that more coins would go into future auctions, but not only that, the Ritter family might lose control over thepany in the future.

    That was excellent for several of these representatives of powers outside the Linn Province and Leopoldine!

    ...

    While Elke exined some newpany rules to the partners, Annaliese was with the group of spectre hunters in Peters City.

    After the decision to create this group was made, the families involved in it assigned the people and coins that had been asked for earlier.

    Annaliese had made herself avable to lead these people, for she wished to hunt and ughter spectres above everyone.

    As their headquarters had been quickly built over the past few days, she and the members of the Spectre Hunters Association were at this very moment at the headquarters of their newly founded organization.

    With only 180 members, her group was not that strong, but it was slowly growing!

    With the resources they had at hand, some people from this group were already traveling around the empire in search of Church posts where they could find older demon hunters.

    But on this day, one such man from the Church''s port in Peters City showed up at this association''s headquarters after hearing a generous proposal.

    Thus, at the present moment, Annaliese and the group of strongest people in that group were in a room receiving such a person.

    Looking at that level 15 demon hunter, Annaliese asked. "Mr. Gregor Wahl, the proposal you heard is indeed true. We will pay 300 gold coins monthly to demon hunters at your level who join our group."

    People at level 15 usually received between 150 and 200 gold coins per month of work. Therefore, the proposal of this newly formed association was quite generous for someone already at the end of his life, as was the case with Gregor.

    Upon hearing the confirmation of this brown-haired young woman, old Gregor continued with his serene expression and asked. "Is the purpose of this group to hunt spectres? What will be my role in joining you?"

    "Yes. And you would train our people and, if necessary, help us kill spectres that get in our way or are reported around our area of operation.

    For now, we will only operate near Peters City, as our group is small. But we intend to expand our operations to the entire provinceter this year."

    "Is that so? Then I agree to join you..."

 Chapter 711 Order Delivered

    ?

    Another week passed...

    While the operations of the Ritter Motor Company were going on under themand of the women of Lothur, five people appeared flying over the vicinity of that city, rapidly approaching their destination.

    All five of them had eyes covered in darkness and disyed a certain negative aura that would make anyone strong enough to understand that they were not in their normal state.

    But they were all quite powerful by the region''s standards and retained enough of their free will to speak and behave in a less suspicious manner.

    "So this is Peters City?" A level 18 woman questioned in a low voice, looking at the most amazing city she had ever seen.

    This ce was not fantastic to her for its level. In fact, even with the many experts attracted to the Ritter Motor Company, this ce was still pretty weak. What made a good impression on that woman and all herpanions were the paved and signposted streets, where strange vehicles drove around the city.

    Already from far away from the city, they all noticed these vehicles, seeing how it was a city that already had at the moment almost 2.6 thousand vehicles in cirction!

    "Those things... Where did those thingse from?" The level 17 woman who had guided Lothur to the border with Rablus several days ago asked while looking at the ce where they wouldnd in the next few moments.

    "I don''t know... Let''s aplish our mission first, and then we''ll see about that." The group leader, level 18, said in a low voice, seeing a ce next to the city for them tond.

    Usually, cities did not allow flight over their area. Since Peters City even had a level 19 Saint stationed there, the group leader preferred not to take any chances of angering the local powers.

    He then led his people tond and walk the streets of this city, going in search of Viktoria Frost.

    Along the way, they carefully watched the vehicles passing through the streets, in particr the minibusses, which even ordinary people entered.

    But what caught their attention most was arge truck carrying an agricultural machine, which was leaving a local factory to start its journey into the countryside.

    Watching the huge thing moving very slowly in the early morning, they stopped in front of a new building in the city center, which had a name that made them shiver.

    ''Ritter Motor Company.''

    This was written on the top of the building, inside arge drawing of a vehicle simr to the model they had seen most around the city.

    Immediately sensing that the name Ritter was connected to their master, they moved toward the entrance of that building.

    In that ce, only the low-level guards of Lothur''spany were in the surroundings, watching the area as they had been doing since the opening of the ce.

    It was still very early, so hardly anyone was working yet, but at the sight of those five Transcendents approaching from there, the two men stepped forward and exined.

    "Seniors, working hours have not yet begun. Please returnter for visits or meetings." One of the two said.

    But they would not stop at that, and the level 18 woman said. "We have something urgent to attend to with someone named Viktoria Frost. Please take us to her."

    "Miss Frost?" The two eximed, wondering that Transcendents like them wouldn''t seek Viktoria out casually.

    It had to be something important!

    One looked at the other and nodded affirmatively before stepping forward and saying. "I can take you to the Ritter residence, where Miss Frost should be. But whether she will receive you, that we cannot guarantee."

    "That''s good."

    ...

    A few momentster, the group arrived in front of the old house where Lothur had lived with his wives since leaving the Frost family.

    As they called for Viktoria for almost two minutes while being watched by several observers from member families at the Ritter Motor Company, the front door of this property opened.

    A beautiful young redhead opened the door and looked at them strangely until she focused on the eyes of the five, noticing something simr to the eyes of the 100 people Lothur had brought back from the Imperial Prison.

    Before she even asked who they were, she let them into her residence, leading them inside the house where Lothur''s upgraded formations would shield a conversation from them.

    "Well? Lothur sent you?" Elke asked those people as Annaliese walked over to that ce, scratching her eyes.

    "Elke, who is it?"

    But then, as Annaliese reached the entrance room of the residence, she had her answer answered by the leader of those people.

    "Ladies, our master sent us here to deliver something to Viktoria Frost. Please, can you bring her to us?"

    "Viktoria? Did Lothur send you to deliver something to her? You have no message from him?" Annaliese asked.

    "Our master hasn''t given us any message apart from the ring we are supposed to deliver to Viktoria." The level 18 woman replied.

    Elke and Annaliese looked at each other momentarily, curious about what this was all about.

    But then, as they fell silent, Viktoria and Mabel came out of a training room where Mother was watching her daughter''s progress.

    Mabel was practically unable to use her powers, but she had been advising her daughters and Elke as well.

    Even though she had not reached a great level like theirs, Mabel had spent much more time at the 3rd stage than they had.

    Anyway, she was there because there was no point in her staying away from her daughters and being in the old Frost family home when Lothur was not in the city. So she had been living in this house since his departure to the Three Great Lakes Region.

    Viktoria saw those five strange people and asked, having already heard part of their conversation. "What do you have for me?"

    Looking at Viktoria, all those people felt that this was the woman they were looking for, the one they would deliver the valuable ''package'' sent by Lothur.

    "Miss Viktoria Frost, our master has sent this spatial ring to you." The strongest man among them threw a silver ring toward Lothur''s wife, making her look at the thing at low speed with curiosity in her eyes.

    Catching it easily, Viktoria quickly probed what was on that ring.

    Immediately upon doing so, she opened her eyes in surprise, noticing two Soul Bones.

    She then sensed that there was a note there and immediately summoned it.

 Chapter 712 Progress

    ?

    "Dear wife, how are you? Missing your man?

    I know you must be, but today I''m not sending you this message to talk about what you miss most...

    These two Soul Bones my ves have just delivered to you are things that I have recently obtained, and I want Annaliese and Elke to absorb them. They are morepatible with such bones, so please don''t feel jealous..."

    Viktoria read Lothur''s entire letter aloud, down to where it specified which bone should go to whom.

    With her words, Elke and Annaliese were soon grinning from ear to ear, eager to increase their powers with these bones.

    Mabel listened to all this with her mouth open, for the first time in her life seeing such an absurd situation where Soul Bones were handed out like this.

    Viktoria sighed when she saw that Lothur had not mentioned anything about his trip, figuring he would stay away for a long period. Otherwise, he would have warned them of something.

    She tossed the matching bones to Elke and Annaliese and said. "Go. Absorb them immediately. Every advance we can make is important for the family and our interests."

    The two immediately agreed to this, knowing that their ns depended heavily on the results of the Ritter Motor Company and their levels.

    Until they were strong enough, they would be vulnerable to the many high-level powers interested in recing them at the helm of Lothur''spany.

    None of young Ritter''s new partners knew he was behind the recent auction and did not intend to leave thepany in the short term. So they could not count on their fear of their man!

    So the two quickly made their way to therge cultivation room of the residence, where they promptly began absorbing those bones.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria saw those men and women still in her residence and asked. "What about you? What are you going to do now?"

    "We will wait. Our master said he would release us after wepleted our mission.

    We believe that will happen when the twodies finish absorbing their Soul Bones." Their leader said. "When that happens, we will stay in the city for a while, but then we will return to Cesha."

    "Cesha?" Viktoria and Mabel decided to use these people from outside the empire to ask questions, something they could neither refuse nor lie about, given their current situation.

    ...

    Hourster, Annaliese and Elke were in the final part of the absorption of their Soul Bones!

    After several hours of striving to fuse these bones with their Spirit Bodies, the two had passed the crucial phase and were nearing the end of the process.

    Annaliese was a bit weaker than Elke, so she was a bit behind her harem sister.

    When Elke showed the signs that she was close to finishing this absorption, Annaliese would still take a few minutes to reach this crucial moment of her journey.

    Then, as Mabel watched the two, she saw Elke finishing absorbing that bone and undergoing a new spiritual marrow cleansing!

    ''She''s advancing!'' Mabel eximed in her mind, seeing beside Viktoria that Elke was increasing her level.

    But Elke was not only advancing the level of her body cultivation. Her soul cultivation was also rising, reaching level 19!

    The bone previously belonged to Malte had fused perfectly with her Spirit Body, bing a new part of it and dramatically increasing her attributes.

    If Lothur were to see her at this moment, he would see Elke demonstrating physical attributes superior to his own for the first time!

    Her mental attributes also improved greatly, but she still had a great journey ahead of her, for she was to be the Saint with the weakest Soul in this entire world.

    Opening her eyes, Elke immediately realized this as she felt various features of her body evolving.

    But while she was feeling this, Annaliese reached the final part of her Soul Bone absorption, not advancing her body cultivation but achieving it regarding her soul!

    At that moment, Annaliese became the third Saint of the Ritter family, while the Silver-grade bone previously belonging to Sam evolved to Gold-grade!

    As nned by Lothur, as soon as she advanced a step, Annaliese took that bone to a new level, further enhancing the bone''s powers.

    She opened her eyes and felt her new powers, smiling in satisfaction, for with this, she could more easily achieve her current goals.

    Viktoria and Mabel saw Annaliese''s expression and sighed, seeing how far this girl hade in such a short time.

    She was now a Saint, the strongest of the Frost family!

    The only downside was that, just like Elke, she had advanced her soul cultivation because of the joint power of her body and soul. Thus, she had a weak Soul attribute, which greatly needed to be improved.

    ''We must get spiritual crystals for Elke and Anna to quickly improve their soul powers.'' Viktoria thought as she watched those two rise from their cultivation cushions.

    Elke rushed to the shower to wash herself. At the same time, Anna did not do the same since the advancement of soul cultivation did not generate the extraction of impurities from cultivators'' bodies.

    "Big sister, I passed you atst," Annaliesemented with a smile on her face as she stopped next to Viktoria.

    Viktoria didn''t take thisment to the negative side and smiled. "We''ll soon change that."

    "Will we really?" Annaliese teased confidently.

    "Now I think we can fight on the same level, Anna," Viktoria said before turning her back on her sister, heading back to where those five people should still be waiting.

    "Anyway, I''ll see how I can help you raise soul power faster." Shemented in a more serious tone. "Now that you''re a Saint, your ability to absorb spiritual energy must have greatly increased.

    So I think starting a seclusion to increase your soul powers is good for you and Elke. We''ve already made a lot of progress recently... This might draw unnecessary attention from our new allies.

    If anyone decides to move for now, it would be bad for us because your souls are weakpared to ordinary Saints''." She said halfway, making both Elke taking a bath and Annaliese understand and agree with her point.

    "OK."

    "And what do we do about these five?" Mabel asked her eldest daughter.

    "Let them do what they want. Lothur certainly wouldn''t allow them toe here and deliver that to us and then harm us." Viktoriamented, trusting her husband.

    Soon those five people would leave that residence while Annaliese and Elke would go into seclusion at the Ritter family headquarters!

 Chapter 713 Encountering Powerful Creatures

    ?

    By the end of the next day...

    After days of traveling through Rablus, Lothur was already in the northernmost portion of that state, near the border with Norid and the Ancestral Region.

    In thest few days, he had made some progress in his resistance and fighting some Saints, especially 4th-stage beasts.

    But he had not achieved any breakthrough in resistance or cultivation.

    His life had not been in danger either because even though there were Supreme Saints in Rablus, most of the local 4th stage cultivators were low-level ones.

    It would not be easy to find one of them wandering around in the local forests!

    At this moment, Lothur was about to reach one of his goals in this area, the Seraphim Church outpost.

    This church post was in the next city, less than 50 kilometers from where he stood in a forest, preparing to enter the first city he would stop in since leaving Natali.

    But as he finished preparing, Lothur suddenly felt a strange energy moving through the area and stopped what he was doing to look in its direction.

    ''That feeling...'' He looked and saw three creatures moving in tandem, two at the 4th stage, one at the 3rd, level 18.

    After seeing the horns on the heads of those blue-bodied beings, Lothur''s eyes opened so wide that they almost fell off his face.

    ''Demons!'' Lothur shouted in his mind, recognizing the appearance of these abominable creatures.

    He immediately hid all his cultivation when he noticed what these creatures were and put his things away in his spatial ring, quickly putting his interest in those three.

    He then looked at the strongest of those creatures with the system.

    [Unknown Demon **]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 1,001] [CON: 1,256] [DEX: 999] [AGI: 1.051]

    [INT: 824] [PER: 890] [WIL: 800] [SOU: 3,512]

    Seeing this, Lothur opened his mouth in shock, noticing that creature''s power.

    ''Damn, they''re too strong for me to take them out!'' He clenched his fists, seeing that these creatures outssed him in almost everything.

    But noticing that the difference between the strongest demon and the second strongest was not that great, he readily realized that the level 18 being must have a good ranking.

    ''That''s a Monarch demon!'' Lothur''s eyes shone as he looked at that level 18 being.

    [Unknown Demon **]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 18]

    [Body Cultivation: level 18]

    [STR: 669] [CON: 770] [DEX: 710] [AGI: 725]

    [INT: 994] [PER: 990] [WIL: 1,000] [SOU: 749]

    Demons were special creatures that naturally had very close body and soul cultivations. Because of this, one would never encounter a demon with physical attributes far inferior to mental attributes.

    That was also one of the reasons why they had such great body resistance, and their regeneration was so good.

    Seeing that weaker but clearly more talented creature, Lothur clenched his fists, wishing for the Soul Bone that creature would form.

    He felt that all three ''walking bones'' would give him much power if he could absorb them.

    Unfortunately, he was too weak to obtain those bones by himself now!

    ''If I use the Darkness Scythe, I''ll probably be able to kill one of them, even without using my bloodline ability...'' But I''m not sure about killing all of them.'' He considered, imagining that a fight against this group would probably have great risks to his life.

    With that in mind, he decided to follow them from afar for a moment while he thought about what to do.

    ''I can''t miss this opportunity! I have to find a way to keep an eye on them!'' He thought, imagining it would be difficult to reencounter creatures like this on his journey.

    Soon Lothur returned to working on his memories of Earth, remembering surveince drones, which could help him if these creatures didn''t realize it.

    But when he thought that he would have to demonstrate formations masters skills while following those creatures, he put that idea aside, imagining that he would be in too much danger attracting those beings.

    Then a light went on in Lothur''s mind, and he thought of his ability, One With Nature.

    ''Maybe I can follow them with nt consciousness? As long as they pass through forests like this, I can ess their movements!'' He stopped chasing those creatures, letting them drift away until they were out of range of his observation.

    At that instant, Lothur closed his eyes and moved with his hands until he touched both of them on the ground, activating his ability.

    Suddenly, while his eyes were closed, Lothur felt as if his senses had increased a thousandfold in a single instant. Even with his eyes closed, he began to see a glowing forest in his mind.

    Circting his energies and connecting to the conscious treeswork, Lothur followed the spot where he had seen the demons and quickly found them again, seeing their real-time position.

    ''Perfect!'' A wide smile formed on his face as he felt he could use this to locate demons once he became stronger.

    But not only that, if he utilized this when he found more information rted to the soul fragment and his family, he could more easily locate the remnants of that family or find out if they had perished.

    As Lothur smiled, circting his powers and not being able to hide his level 20 soul cultivation, he heard a voice reach his ear while his eyes were still closed.

    "That''s an outstanding skill, boy."

    Hearing this hoarse and powerful tone, Lothur put his smile aside and immediately opened his eyes, looking in front of him, where a man with white hair and a beard was standing on a tree branch.

    Lothur promptly noticed the symbol on this elderly man''s clothes and realized he belonged to the Seraphim Church!

    "Who are you?" He made a defensive stance, knowing that someone like this person would quickly be an enemy if he found out who he was.

    [Name: ***]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 16]

    [STR: 280] [CON: 350] [DEX: 298] [AGI: 305]

    [INT: 694] [PER: 790] [WIL: 700] [SOU: 3,980]

    ''Almost a 4,000 Soul power? This wretch is really strong!'' Lothur swallowed his saliva, sensing that this was a strong demon hunter with several Soul Bones.

    However, this was also a hazardous person for him!

    The old manughed when he saw Lothur''s reaction and said. "Don''t worry, your skill, or your support, is what I want. Kid, work with me to kill those demons, and I''ll let you have one of their bones.

    What do you think of that? With your tracking skill and my group, we can eliminate those three demons in a few weeks!"

    ...

 Chapter 714 The Relevance Of Lothur

    ?

    "By the way, my name is Sebastian Von Hardenberg."

    Upon hearing this name, Lothur readily recognized the number 4 of the Seraphim Church, Sebastian, The Tyrant, who had in his record the deaths of more than 50 demons.

    This old man should be a few thousand years old and was an ancient demon hunter who had his name spread all over the continent, known among humans as a hero and among demons as a killer.

    "What''s your name, boy?"

    "Liam Mandl." Lothur said, still keeping his guard up but showing less fear of that man.

    His worry was at its peak, but he could not show too much fear of this person, for it was strange for humans to fear members of the Church so much.

    Besides, this man had just suggested an alliance to him, so even with fear, Lothur had to appear more rxed.

    "Liam? Where did youe from, Liam? Why have I never heard of you before?" The old man approached Lothur as he asked.

    "I am from a small family living in seclusion south of the continent.

    In normal situations, no one from my family woulde this far, but after finding a soul fragment that gave me his inheritance, I decided to leave to carry out the mission he had left behind."

    Lothur told this to make his lie more feasible and to decrease the suspicions that the old man might have about him.

    ''A fragment? So that''s why your level is so high at such a young age?'' The old man from the Church thought, assuming that the fragment had helped this young man advance quickly.

    "So you''re not from the Church? But you know how to hunt demons? Who did you learn it from?"

    "From the soul fragment. He was a demon hunter." Lothur did not hesitate to speak the truth.

    "So that''s it... What was the demon hunter''s name? Maybe I knew him."

    "Mathias Scheidemann."

    ''Hmm, the name is not unfamiliar to me, but I can''t fully remember where I heard it...'' The old man closed his eyes and believed Lothur''s story.

    "So, Liam, what will it be? With this ability of yours, you may encounter those creatures in the future, but it will take time for you to be strong enough to defeat them on your own.

    Maybe by that time, someone like me, with a strong group, will have eliminated those three...

    What would you prefer?"

    Lothur knew this and quickly decided on this proposal.

    "I can join the elder''s group. But can I really take one of the bones? How many people are in your group elder? Won''t they see a problem with that?"

    Hearing these questions, Sebastian looked at Lothur and answered him truthfully. "Besides me, five more people are part of my group.

    But you shouldn''t worry so much about the number of Soul Bones to the number of demon hunters, Liam. There is no guarantee that these bones will be the kind that any of us already have.

    Some of ourpanions may not bepatible with what these three demons form.

    What''s more, who can guarantee that those creatures won''t team up with other demons? Sightings like the one you had today happen with some frequency in this area. I myself know that there are at least 10 more groups like that within the Rablus empire.

    If they were to meet up with just one more of those groups, we''d have a lot more bones at our disposal."

    That made sense. Lothur himself could no longer absorb five types of bones. Hence, the probability of him finding a bone ipatible with him was rtively high and would increase with each new bone absorbed.

    This old man was very strong, and so should be his group allies. In that case, the chance of them having the same number of bones or more than Lothur''s was not small!

    At the same time, Soul Bones did not only vary in terms of bone type, quality, and power rating. They also had different affinities, which might or might not be interesting for one to absorb.

    For example, the bone Lothur had sent to Elke had an affinity for mes, while Annaliese''s for ice.

    Annaliese had a bloodlinepatible with water and ice, and naturally, bones with simr abilities would have stronger and more positive effects on her body. Meanwhile, bones with me-rted abilities would weaken some of her strength.

    As for Elke, both types of bones could make her stronger, as her affinity was not with either of those two elements, and she would be strengthened by whichever one she absorbed.

    Of course, now that she had absorbed the bone with me ability, it would be better for her to go that route, but before doing that, her possibilities were vast.

    In that case, the chances of a group of 7 people having a disagreement over 3 bones would be slim.

    "OK, I''m willing to join your group if you help me find information about this soul fragment," Lothur said. "He left me a mission to find his family; if I don''tplete it, I will suffer severe punishment.

    Since you belong to the Church, it will be easy to get the information I need."

    "That can be done." Sebastianughed, pleased to find a promising young man like Lothur.

    Lothur''s strength did not draw much attention. Sebastian could sense that this young man''s soul was not particrly powerful for someone at level 20. But he had no one in his group with such good tracking skills.

    He had just spotted those demons a day ago and had been chasing them from afar ever since. But just like Lothur, he didn''t feel he could beat them, as well as he would have a hard time gathering his group while keeping those creatures under observation.

    Demons were very sensitive to spiritual fluctuations, and someone close enough to them to keep watch on their position could easily give away their position by trying to send messages through formations or even beasts.

    So it would be difficult for Sebastian to follow those creatures if he had to move away from them to gather his team or even take his time to n an attack.

    But with someone like Lothur on their side, they could put those creatures aside temporarily, gather their team, n the attack, and then go out hunting without haste.

    That was the importance he saw in this ck-haired young man, which made him valuable to their team!

    With that, they soon set off side by side, leaving the demons aside to go to the city in the vicinity of that area, where there was a Church post.

 Chapter 715 Getting To The Name

    ?

    Later that same day...

    Lothur and Sebastian arrived in the city in the vicinity of the area where they had spotted the three demons.

    This ce was not far from the forest they had passed, and in the blink of an eye, the two were moving through the local streets, quickly approaching the Church temple.

    Every city on the continent that exceeded a certain poption would have a temple like the one they were going to. And from each ce, one could ess a range of possibilities within the Church.

    Members like Sebastian could achieve rtively quick and far-reachingmunication with people in other posts, something difficult for other organizations to do.

    But the Church was so well-organized and wealthy that even if it did not have far-reachingmunication capabilities, given itswork of temples, one could send a message to one temple, which would send it to another, following that path until it reached its destination.

    Even if this was a message to be sent to the other side of the continent, in less than 3 hours, someone like Sebastian couldmunicate with whoever he wanted!

    In addition, there was countless information at each Church post, libraries ofmon information, special techniques for killing demons, etc.

    Arriving in front of the Church building in this city, Lothur saw how simr this ce looked to the temple in Peters City and imagined that all the buildings of this organization around the continent were simr.

    "Liam, do you want toe with me and learn a bit more about the demons while I get your information and talk to my group?" Sebastian asked as he prepared to enter that ce.

    Lothur looked at the Church temple, a bad ce for him to be, where there could even be formations that could identify him as a hybrid.

    He promptly refused. "No, since you''re going to get this information for me, I want to use this time to go to the local Cultivation House to get some information and then make preparations for our pursuit.

    You can send someone to notify me when the group is assembled or deliver the information about Mathias to me."

    "Is that so?" He was not suspicious of Lothur.

    It made sense for ''Liam'' to search for information in the Cultivation House to try to solve his mission as quickly as possible, something that would make anyone feel a certain pressure on themselves.

    A debt between cultivators was not a simple thing. Being in debt to someone was like being held at gunpoint.

    It was notfortable at all!

    "Very well. As soon as I have the information you requested, someone will find you and pass on what I get here.

    The group should take longer to assemble, as several of mypanions are not here but at the Church headquarters." Sebastian said before leaving for that ce without bothering what Lothur would do now.

    Lothur saw that man disappearing from his sight and sighed. But soon, he set off towards the local Cultivation House, a ce he had spotted while Sebastian guided him to this Church temple.

    ...

    After paying for information at the local Cultivation House, Lothur found out more about Mathias'' possible family.

    He had followed the rmendation of the man who had attended to him and Natali earlier and sought information about Ancestral Folk women who had been expelled from their tribes in Mathias'' time.

    Searching for this information about these women who were expelled from the tribe between 5 and 4 thousand years ago, the official of the Cultivation House found 4 names for Lothur.

    Only 4 women of the Ancestral Folk had been rted to humans and expelled from their tribes then. The Cultivation House had no information about what had happened to them after their expulsions. Still, ording to that official, those expelled from their tribes usually lived not far from the Ancestral Region.

    There were those who were said to be expelled from their tribes and then started traveling around the continent, sometimes deciding to settle far away from their homnd. But most of these people stayed nearby, where their rtives could visit and help them, while their children could grow up near their homnd.

    The Ancestral Region had natural effects on descendants of the Ancestral Folk that could greatly help the development of these people. Staying away from such an area could very well mean the end of some bloodlines.

    Then there were hybrid tribes bordering the Ancestral Region, particrly in the westernmost part of the Petha Empire, thergest state in the northern region of Concordia, neighboring the eastern Ancestral Region.

    This ce was the friendliest in the north of the continent to hybrid tribes, but it also bordered the Ancestral Region.

    Lothur listened to all this in a little over an hour of conversation, managing to narrow down the search area he would have to spend further on.

    With that settled, he bought some resources locally and soon settled in a high-level cultivation room of that Cultivation House tower to wait for Sebastian''s report.

    ...

    Two dayster...

    While still in seclusion in a special room on the top floor of the local Cultivation House tower, Lothur received someone at his door, an envoy from Sebastian.

    "Senior Liam, the elder sent me the information you wanted." A female voice came from the other side of the door of the cultivation room where Lothur was.

    Immediately upon hearing that, Lothur rushed to the door and opened it, seeing a beautiful level 18 blonde woman waiting for him in the hallway.

    In her hands was a book, which Lothur considered to contain the information he wanted.

    He took it without ceremony, soon entering that cultivation room to search for the information he wanted.

    That woman watched him intently but said nothing. Since this was a friend of Sebastian''s, someone in the 4th stage, she would not question him for his manners.

    Lothur quickly flipped through that book, noticing that this was a catalog with the history of several demon hunters from Mathias'' period.

    He quickly skimmed through many pages until he came to the part of the names beginning with ''M'' and then searched for the surname of that soul fragment.

    ''Mathias Scheidemann.''

    Lothur finally found that individual''s name and started reading the 20 pages of information about the soul fragment he had met in Lewerenz.

    Most of the content there spoke of Mathias'' achievements, how he had entered the organization, his merits, and some relevant facts about his journey.

    Buting to thest two pages about Mathias, Lothur saw the part that interested him, where it said that after bing a Nascent Soul Transcendent, that man had achieved his 5th Soul Bone, but also his expulsion from the Church.

    During a mission in the Ancestral Region, while hunting demons with his group, Mathias met an Ancestral Folk woman named Verna.

    ...

 Chapter 716 Hunters Group Reunited

    ?

    Months after meeting Verna during his mission alongside the demon hunter group, Mathias was spotted meeting this woman in a rather suspicious manner.

    Soon after, Verna''s tribe found out about her taboo rtionship with Mathias, and her angry parents went to the Church headquarters, demanding the organization take responsibility for his actions.

    To avoid getting involved in a diplomatic problem with that tribe of the Ancestral Folk, the Church dismissed Mathias, walking away from the problem and leaving everything to the two involved.

    After that, thest information the Church had from him was that he had left to live with Verna north of the old kingdom that had existed in that area in his time.

    Reading this, Lothur got what he wanted, the name of Mathias'' wife, who he was to seek out for a descendant in the area further west of the Petha Empire.

    He closed his eyes and sighed, closing the book in his hands.

    ''If his family has perished, in less than 2 months, I may already be back in Leopoldine.'' Lothur pondered. ''But even if they are alive, I can quickly solve my mission.

    Human descendants and Ancestral Folk are probably talented... By absorbing the Soul Bones I''m carrying, they''ll probably have enough power to solve their own problems and live well on the continent.''

    Lothur''s mission stated that he had to ensure that these descendants would be able to use Mathias'' heritage.

    But that was vague. That is, one of these descendants could use the bones given to Lothur and then decide to enter the Ancestral Region to seek revenge.

    If that happened, not even Lothur could protect them, and even if he could, was it really his responsibility to protect someone from their own stupidity?

    In Lothur''s view, the condition left by Mathias was for him to help the descendants of such a demon hunter in case they were threatened with death or destruction for old troubles.

    If one of those descendants decided to cause chaos because of the bones, Lothur judged it would not be his responsibility.

    Hence he believed he could quickly solve any problems with these descendants if they still existed.

    Lothur clenched his fists, feeling anxious as he thought about it. ''I''ll sort it out after this hunt. If all goes well, I''ll be able to raise my cultivation a bit with a new Soul Bone!''

    Thinking about it, he looked at the woman from the Spiritual Church and tossed that book back to her.

    "Thank elder Sebastian for me." Lothur smiled at her. "And thank you foring to me. This information will help me a lot."

    "You don''t have to thank me, senior." She said as she put that book away in her spatial ring. "Anyway, the elder ordered me to tell you to finish your preparations in a week at thetest. The rest of his group is already aware of the elder''s n and ising to the local temple."

    "Is that so? Then I will present myself in front of the church temple in a week." Lothur said before that woman took her leave, and he returned to his training.

    ''Time to raise my attributes and resistances a bit!

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur''s training days in the Cultivation House passed,ing to an end after a week of his seclusion.

    After seven days of training almost non-stop, Lothur had achieved some improvements and finally advanced to tinum grade in two of his resistances!

    At this moment, he had just finished his training and was getting ready to go join Sebastian and his group when he looked at his status and resistances through the system with the current values.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 1,000] [CON: 1,720] [DEX: 1,080] [AGI: 1,100]

    [INT: 374.2] [PER: 999] [WIL: 740] [SOU: 1,881.8]

    [EVF: 2]

    ...

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 2%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 1%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 98%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 81%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 60%]

    ...

    Seeing this, Lothur clenched his fists in satisfaction, having managed to raise two of his resistances after much investment and training, which had generated a magnificent bonus to his Perception.

    But he didn''t think he could raise the quality of his ice resistance in the short term, as he had less affinity for this element than for the others. Not only that, it was a more challenging element to get resources for than mes and poison.

    Anyway, being stronger than before and close to advancing to level 20 of body cultivation, Lothur was doing very well with his characteristics when he set off to meet Sebastian''s group.

    In a few seconds, he covered the short distance between the local Cultivation House and the temple of the Seraphim Church, arriving at that ce where he readily sensed the auras of Sebastian''spanions.

    This was a powerful city where there were several Saints. But everyone in Sebastian''s group was level 20 Saints, and they were together with this man inside the Church.

    Lothur looked through that building with his visual ability and saw part of the high hierarchy of this grouping from an organization that wanted him dead.

    ''It seems that the Church has several Celestial Saints... I did not expect that.'' Lothur pondered moments before Sebastian and five other people, four men and one woman, appeared in front of him at the temple entrance.

    Sebastian was the strongest of the group judging by his attributes. Still, the difference between him and the weakest was only 700 Soul points and less than 20 points in physical attributes.

    He was probably close to reaching level 21, while the weakest one there should be a novice at level 20 of soul cultivation.

    He pointed at Lothur and said, with a smile on his face. "Everyone, this here is Liam. He''s the young man I told you about and will join us in hunting down those damn demons!"

    With that said, everyone greeted Lothur, not imagining that he was a hybrid of humans and demons, without underestimating him, given the tracking ability he seemed to have.

    After hearing the names of each of them, Lothur said. "I didn''t expect the group to be so strong... Aren''t there rumors that the Church is chasing a hybrid?"

    ...

 Chapter 717 The Strength Of The Church

    ?

    The only woman in Sebastian''s group understood Lothur''s question and said. "Indeed, we are after someone like that, but our best investigators are already chasing the suspicious trails.

    The rest of us can''t stop cultivating or looking for ways to strengthen ourselves."

    The Seraphim Church had 20 level 20 cultivators, with the strongest being the High Priest. Above them was the Supreme Pontiff, currently at level 21.

    But just because the Supreme Pontiff was the only publicly known member of the Church at that level didn''t mean there weren''t more.

    The Church did not function like a normal organization. The spirit of the Seraph recognized the Church leader, and until that person died, he could not be reced, even if people stronger than him came along.

    It was also like that for the position of High Priest.

    Therefore, if any elder reached level 21 or even higher, they would still be below the position of these two.

    But once at level 21, they would cease to act publicly and be ghost members of the Church, a group that only acted in times of great need.

    The goal of each in this group before Lothur was to grow stronger, not to rece one of those two men, but to reach the requirement to join the ghost group.

    So as much as the Church was searching for the hybrid that had appeared in Leopoldine, not all of their experts were hunting it, and it was more valuable for these people to hunt well-ranked demons.

    By killing the hybrid, they would only get one bone for their leader.

    Any Soul Bone from Emperor demons or hybrids should be offered to the Church leader for him to absorb. Only if he could not have such a bone would that resource pass to the second in session and so on.

    So none of these people would have the chance to absorb this bone, and as much as they wanted to help their leader be stronger, they didn''t even know where such a hybrid was.

    As such, they preferred to let the Church''s level 20 investigators do their job while they focused on other relevant things.

    Hybrids or no hybrids, demons still existed worldwide, and their primary job was to hunt these creatures down!

    Sebastian said. "Don''t underestimate us, Liam. Even in our absence, the Church can deal with this hybrid. Once he is identified, not even if he is stronger than us will he be able to survive."

    "Is that so?" Lothurughed.

    "Yes, if you want to, you still have a chance to join us... Think about it, with your skill and our strength, we can kill dozens of demons in a few years and raise our strength a lot."

    Lothur nodded and said nothing more on the matter, realizing that the Church''s forces were stronger than ordinary people thought.

    There was no record of all the current members of the Church in a ce like the Cultivation House.

    That organization did have a catalog with the names of demon hunters, but from what Lothur had seen and knew, that was only for hunters up to level 18.

    Above that level, someone like him would not be able to hire the Cultivation House to get information about these demon hunters.

    There was probably a record of these beings, but it should be iplete and out of date, and even if it had some names, it was certainly something the Cultivation House would not sell.

    The responses of this group and Sebastian warned him well of the strength of this organization!

    ''I''ll have to watch myself. If I act arrogant after absorbing a new bone, I still have a good chance of bing easy prey for the Church.'' Lothur pondered as he heard the group deciding to leave.

    Soon they left that city and headed for the forest where Lothur and Sebastian had spotted the demons days ago.

    There, they stopped and gave Lothur space to demonstrate his skills.

    One With Nature!

    Lothur didn''t hesitate to use his skill, showing his rtively weak soul cultivation for someone at level 20.

    From Sebastian''s point of view, Lothur''s strength had hardly increased after days of seclusion. After all, his Soul attribute remained the same.

    ''Hmm, he''s not that talented. He was lucky to get the help of an expert and reached this level... Well, it''s not bad. At this level, he''s already an expert and has an outstanding support skill.'' Sebastian considered, but he couldn''t help but wonder what Lothur was doing not to have improved even 1% of his strength after 9 training days.

    But soon, Lothur would open his mouth to talk about the demons, and Sebastian would put his thoughts aside.

    "I found their tracks. We''ll have to go about 20 kilometers and then stop again so I can analyze their route again. Please apany me."

    Lothur went ahead of these people, and they followed him, eager to see where this would lead them.

    Everyone there could feel how Lothur''s skill worked, so no one doubted his capabilities.

    On the other hand, although eager to find the demons and kill them, none of them were in a hurry or thought they could reach these creatures quickly.

    With nine days to spare, the demons could be anywhere within a radius of tens of thousands of square kilometers.

    If they were lucky, it might take a few days for them to find their targets. But if they were unlucky, it could take even more than a whole month!

    Lothur''s skill was fantastic, but he depended on nature to function. Somewhere demons could enter a city, and their tracks would be harder to follow.

    But this group would not blindly follow Lothur all the way. They were experienced demon hunters who knew this state well and were aware of news and information that this young man was not.

    When his skills failed, they would take action to get Lothur back on ''track'' and go in pursuit of these dreadful creatures!

    ...

    Thus, the group''s first three days of searching would pass in the blink of an eye, with them traveling a long way after leaving the previous city.

    After leaving the border of Rablus and Norid further north in the empire, they moved through the northern region of that state, but in an easterly direction.

    By the route of those creatures, they hadn''t stopped at a single city until the ce where Lothur had managed to analyze. But from what the trees and vegetation where he was standing told him, the 9 days gap from his group to the trio of demons had shrunk, and now they were only 5 days apart from these creatures.

    They were moving faster than the demons, so eventually, they would reach their targets!

 Chapter 718 Sincere Intentions

    ?

    Seven dayster...

    At this moment, Lothur and his group were inside the Ancestral Region that was further north of Rablus, near one of the kingdoms of that famous area in Concordia.

    This was not a good ce for them to go far, but given the fact that they were in the outermost part of the Ancestral Region, the dangers were not so great for them.

    Thest few days had been quiet for the group. After all, they were powerful, and there weren''t that many beings powerful enough to put them in danger in this area.

    And even if there were, why cause trouble for a bunch of Saints just by following someone''s tracks?

    So at the present moment, the group was standing around a campfire, eating while giving Lothur time to rest a bit.

    The constant use of his ability drained his energy, so at least twice a day, he needed to stop to eat and meditate.

    But their search results had been very good so far, so the whole group was satisfied, confident that they would catch up with their opponents.

    At the journey''s beginning, they could not even notice demon tracks.

    These creatures, the more talented and stronger they were, took much more care when near densely popted areas, especially near the Church''s home state.

    So in the vicinity of the Norid border, where they had set out, they would never have been able to begin their search for those three demons without Lothur''s skill.

    But following this young man for days through the forests of Rablus, the group finally reached a point in their journey where they noticed some tracks left by powerful demons.

    This reaffirmed Lothur''s ability and that it would be worthwhile to continue following him!

    While he was meditating, those people took a moment to eat something and also rest.

    Two of them watched the surroundings while the rest talked in low voices and ate.

    "From what Liam said, we are only 2 days behind those creatures. That means we''ll soon be able to catch up with them." The only woman in the groupmented while holding a cup of tea in one of her hands.

    "It also means we might encounter several demons very soon." The third strongest man in the group, a redhead with a scar on one of his cheeks,mented, punctuating this concern.

    Their organization believed that the demons'' headquarters was in a part of Rablus. So as they moved about, some of them could not help but imagine that those creatures were heading for such a ce.

    If that was the case, big trouble could be ahead of them!

    "I wouldn''t find it strange," Sebastianmented. "From the route these creatures have taken they are going somewhere to deliver something or someone.

    They''ve bypassed all the cities on the way, but also viges. Also, they went on their way without causing unnecessary disturbances, something that may indicate their concern not to attract trouble."

    "Is it the Transcendent demon you saw, elder?" One of these men asked. "If he is a Monarch, that would exin a lot. Perhaps they are escorting him to his tribe."

    Demon Monarchs were like the nobility of demons, while Emperors were like royalty. One of them being escorted by Saints was perfectly usible.

    "That may be, but they may also be doing other things. These demons don''t fool me." The second strongest of the group said. "They are in search of the Singrities. There''s no doubt about that. So this group might check out a piece of information rted to one of those Singrities!"

    "Oh? That''s possible..."

    At that instant, Lothur finished his meditation and caught the final part of these experts'' conversation.

    "Singrities, huh? I heard that a noble from a state in the southern region once stole one of these items and fled to this northern part of the continent." Lothur said, trying to see what information he could get from these people.

    "From the southern region?" The woman frowned.

    "That''s not strange," Sebastian muttered. "In the distant past, there was a great battle against demons in that area. ording to legends, the Seven Singrities were divided among the powers that won the battle and then protected for countless years.

    Part of those powers left the southern region to join the strongest states on the continent, while others may still be hidden to this day..."

    "But it is a surprise that you know about the Singrities, Liam. Most of us only discovered it after many merits within the Church." The third strongest of the group remarked, impressed.

    "How far do you know what these things can do?" The woman questioned him.

    "Not much. I only know of the legend that one can create a supreme warrior by uniting all Singrities and that negative creatures seem to have a special kind of attraction to them." Lothur said, speaking a little of what he knew but without expounding all of his knowledge.

    Sebastian nodded and said. "Actually, the demons want to create, or rather recreate, the ultimate warrior and rule this whole world.

    That''s why we must kill every one of them, absorb their Soul Bones and protect humanity, Liam!"

    Lothur noticed the emotion in Sebastian''s words, that these people were reallymitted to fighting demons.

    They were not just greedy people in search of the Soul Bones. They hated those creatures to the point that they would still hunt them down even if there were no bones.

    Amidst the gazes of those people, Lothur could see some bitterness, anguish, and hatred, marks of those who had probably suffered from these creatures.

    Many demon hunters were former victims of these creatures, people who had loved ones, friends, andpanions killed or even devoured by these creatures.

    Being a demon hunter was much more than killing demons for their Soul Bones. That was a difficult profession, full of dangers, and one that usually meant premature death for most who attempted it.

    For one to be a sessful demon hunter, the desire for revenge, the hatred for what had already happened, and for not being able to do anything at the time had to be great!

    Just greed for Soul Bones would not get someone far in this profession.

    Lothur felt a bit of admiration for these men, noting that things in this world were moreplicated than one might judge.

    They didn''t want to kill him just for his Soul Bone!

    Obviously, that was a big bonus that could not be ignored. But their fear and concern for hybrids was real, just as it was for demons.

    Lothur sighed but did not disagree with Sebastian. "Anyway, shall we continue our pursuit? If we''re lucky, we might kill some demons in the next few days."

    "Haha, that''s the way to talk, kid!" Sebastian improved his tone, getting up from where he was to leave.

    "Alright, fes, time to move on! Liam, please begin."

 Chapter 719 Sebastians Determination

    ?

    A few more days passed...

    At this moment, in an area between the Petha Empire and Rablus, in an area bordering the Ancestral Region, there was a small camp in a hidden corner of this area, between tworge mountains.

    The vegetation in the area was dense, with many trees reaching a height of over 100 meters, casting great shadows over the surface.

    Just where this camp was, the shade of the trees protected the ce from the light rays of the day, making the area permanently dark, as if only night existed there.

    But creatures of various kinds lived on this dark surface, crawling from side to side, while the cooler temperature of this part of the forest would be something that would bother most of Concordia''s living beings.

    Furthermore, few beings would dare to pass through this area, as each mountain was said to be the domain of powerful beasts, which made the surroundings somewhat dangerous.

    But that was what made this ce such a good site to camp!

    In this camp, only six individuals were around, one watching the surroundings while the other five were together in a hut.

    These five were sitting under the green carpet that covered the floor of that hut, while only a small wooden table, the high of an adult human''s knee, stood between them.

    On one side of the table were three individuals, one of them sitting closer to the table and the other two a little behind him.

    Meanwhile, the remaining two individuals were sitting at different corners of this square table.

    "Did you bring what you were looking for?" One of the five individuals asked, looking at the one in front of him, ignoring the two individuals behind this young man.

    "No. The information didn''t lead us to what we were looking for, just new information." The blue-skinned, hostile-looking level 18 youth said in a calm tone. "I believe this may help your group locate this Singrity, so we brought it here."

    After nodding to his men, this demon made them take out a scroll which he soon passed on to these two Saints of this camp.

    When the other demon of this camp took that scroll and opened it, his eyes widened significantly.

    "If this is true, we will be able to reach a new Singrity in no time!" He said to his teammate, feeling that this would help them.

    The other demon there rxed a bit and said. "Arthrel, if this gets us to one of the Singrities, we will all gain a lot from the Demon Emperor when he awakens!"

    "Hmmm." That Divine Soul Transcendent smiled, agreeing. "But let''s take it easy. The activity of the damned members of the Seraphim Church has greatly increased in this state recently.

    There is news that a hybrid has emerged, and they are hunting down this abomination."

    "Oh? A hybrid?" Those two eximed almost at the same time.

    They were usually focused on their work concerning the Singrities investigation, so falling a few weeks behind on other matters was not unusual.

    One of them said. "That''s terrible to hear. But even though more Church experts are keeping an eye on this region, they''re more focused on the damned hybrid, not us.

    So let''s let them eliminate this aberration while we collect one more Singrity for our leader."

    Hearing that, one of the level 20 guards of that level 18 demon clenched his fists and thought to himself, ''If we get that Singrity, it will be the third one the supreme leader will have! We''ll be halfway to awakening!''

    "What are you going to do now? Return to the Demon Ind? Recently some of our envoys in the southern region were eliminated... Why don''t you move there to strengthen our search in the area?" The strongest one there, level 21, asked this level 18 individual.

    "Southern region? I have orders to work in the northern region. Unless themand on Demon Ind sends different orders, I will continue in the area doing what I''ve been told."

    "Ehat a pity... In any case, we will soon receive a newmuniqu�� from headquarters. Maybe there will be new orders for you."

    "Is that so? I''ll wait for that then."

    While they were talking in that tent, a group was watching them near the camp.

    Nine kilometers away, a young man with ck hair was looking toward that hut, his eyes shining as he saw through the vegetation.

    "They are just ahead. There are six demons, one Divine Soul Transcendent, one Origin Saint, three Celestial Saints, and one Supreme Saint. There is no one else in the surroundings." A ck-haired youth said to the rest of his group.

    Immediately upon hearing this, the six people around him, looking at the surroundings, turned their faces to Lothur, somewhat shocked at the number of high-level demons around.

    "A Supreme Saint?" Sebastian looked at Lothur and questioned, feeling that their chances would be much lower if that were the case.

    The woman of the group then asked Lothur. "Liam, can you tell the quality of their bloodline?"

    One of the old men saw the bitter expression on Lothur''s face and said. "Boy, to tell their lineage by their appearance is very simple. The more human-like and the less chaotic the way of behaving and the spiritual fluctuation itself, the better the quality of the demon''s lineage."

    Hearing that, Lothur quickly answered that woman''s question. "I believe there are two Monarch demons, and all the others are Generals."

    "Who are they?" A man asked.

    "The strongest and the weakest," Lothur said, knowing that was a problem.

    When he formed a Soul Bone, it certainly wouldn''t be bad if the strongest one was a demon who reached level 21 cultivation. That would make his bone Gold-grade, maybe even quasi-tinum-grade!

    But as long as he was not killed, he would be much moreplicated to put down precisely because of his hierarchy within the demon world!

    Everyone in the group became even more serious, wondering what to do about it.

    "If we continue, there is a high chance that at least half of the group will die in confronting these demons." The third strongest of the group got straight to the point.

    "But in return, those of us who survive may have six new possibilities, two of them being Soul Bones from Monarch demons." He added. "Besides, we would be able to stop these creatures'' ns and protect countless lives."

    Sebastian clenched his fists and said. "I don''t know what you think, but I''m willing to continue. Not only that, if I die, I want you, my friends, to have my Soul Bones."

    ...

 Chapter 720 Surprise Attack

    ?

    At Sebastian''s determined words, everyone looked at this old fellow.

    They all lost at least one person to the damn demons and became so strong because of their desire for revenge.

    They had gone through countless troubles in their lives, given up many things, and made many sacrifices to get where they were, all to eliminate the creatures that had more than once victimized them.

    To die at the hands of a demon was terrible, but to see someone important to you eaten alive by a demon was far worse.

    The person who died like that suffered, but eventually, their suffering woulde to an end with their death. The same was not true for the witnesses of such tragedies!

    They carried these horrible memories for the rest of their lives and suffered even when they won.

    Nothing could change what had already happened, so many of these men continued to feel pain until the day of their deaths.

    But they also did not want to die at the hands of these creatures. They wanted to kill as many of them as possible and one day die a natural death.

    Their purpose in life was to eliminate demons, so dying at their hands would be rather sad for all of them.

    But soon, one more agreed with Sebastian''s determination.

    "Same for me. I honestly don''t want to die, nor absorb the bones of any of you, my friends. But rarely do we get the chance to meet a group as strong as this.

    Today we can make history and disrupt many of the demons'' ns! So I''m willing to take my chances and leave my bones to the survivors in case I perish inbat!" The third strongest of the group said with a smile on his face.

    Lothur said nothing, seeing that these men would not give in to the fear of death. They would not give up, so he was already preparing to do his best to eliminate those creatures.

    After two more of them agreed to continue, he said. "I have a n. If it works, we can weaken this Supreme Saint, but you must trust me."

    They all looked at Lothur, wondering how the weakest of them could have anything in mind for the most terrible enemy of all.

    "What do you have in mind, Liam?"

    Lothur said. "You will have to trust me. I can''t tell you, but I''ll make the first strike. What you need to do is focus the instantbat starts on this strongest demon and prevent him from dodging my attack.

    After that, we can split up to face the other opponents... I can take care of this Divine Soul Transcendent demon, and you can take care of the others.

    Whoever finishes off their opponent should team up to eliminate the opponent who has the most advantage against our allies. That way, I believe our survival rate will be higher."

    "Aren''t you going to give us the details?" The second strongest of the group asked. "Then why would we take a chance with your n?"

    Lothur looked at that person and said sincerely. "For I am the only one who will take a risk by doing this. You will only make the initial attack focused on this demon."

    The woman looked at Lothur with her eyes narrowed and asked. "Why do you want to risk it?"

    "I want the bones of those demons." Lothur smiled at her. "In particr, I want the bone of that Supreme Saint demon. Then I am willing to risk my life to deal a fatal blow to him."

    "And you can do that, Liam?" Sebastian looked at him more closely, doubting.

    "I can if he doesn''t dodge. If he does, I can''t guarantee anything."

    Sebastian was silent for a moment and then said. "Very well, I promised you that you could choose one of the bones for joining the group. But if you strike a blow that weakens this demon, I give you my word that I will not prevent you from taking his bone.

    If his bone does not match you, you can take the weaker demon''s bone. What do you think of that?"

    Lothur smiled. "That''s fine with me."

    No one there challenged Sebastian''s decision, and one of them asked. "So, how do we start?"

    "We move and attack without holding back," Sebastian said, looking at each of these people and nodding to them confidently. "Let''s kill these bastards!"

    With that said, they manipted the space, disappearing from the area and flying towards the hut where the enemies were.

    They were a very small distance away from these demons. When these creatures sensed that someone had entered their space of influence, the group was practically at the camp.

    The moment they reached that ce, the six members of the Seraphim Church left the vacuum of space already attacking, directing their attacks to where the level 21 enemy was.

    "Enemy attack!"

    "Fucking demon hunters!"

    The demons in that tent and also the one watching the area noticed the enemies and promptly changed their expressions, getting up from where they were to prepare for a deadly fight.

    All of the enemies were powerful warriors by Church standards, so even though he had his advantages, these demons would not underestimate these humans.

    As they did so, the more talented ones there narrowed their eyes while making ugly expressions.

    They had been acting in this ce for centuries, but they were suddenly found today... How was this possible?

    Only the highest-ranked demons acting in the north of Concordia knew about this ce, and they did not conduct operations in the area so as not to attract attention.

    Thinking about it, the two Monarchs felt that there was a very big problem. Maybe a new Church expert could track them down!

    "Damn it! We have to kill all of them or our ns might be jeopardized more than we imagined!" The weakest demon said as he jumped out of that hut to dodge the enemy attacks.

    But the attacks were focused on the strongest of them, and this demon promptly realized that, noticing how he was with limited space to act.

    "Are the damned trying to kill me?" He eximed angrily, feeling like crushing these people and drinking their blood to show them their ce.

    How dare they threaten him without at least bringing a squad of demon hunters from the ghost group? That was a disrespect to his figure!

    But each of these demon hunters'' attacks was deadly or at least could seriously injure these creatures, so this strongest demon was not willing to face them casually.

    He activated his ability and counterattacked, causing the winds in the surroundings to strengthen so that it seemed as if a storm would arise there.

    Soon they seemed more like sharp des than anything else, destroying that entire hut and countering the enemies'' blows.

    While sustaining this initial counterattack, suddenly, the level 21 demon sensed someoneing up behind him and frowned.

    ''There''s one more?''

    At that instant, Lothur appeared holding the Darkness Scythe while having his Omnipotence technique activated and his ck mes covering part of his weapon.

    "Die!"

    ...

 Chapter 721 Lothurs Advantage

    ?

    "Die!" Lothur attacked with almost all his strength shing horizontally toward the back of that level 21 demon.

    As he attacked, his Gravity was taking effect, restricting parts of that Supreme Saint''s movements, while he put arge part of his Soul power under that attack.

    That demon had the highest attributes in the entire area. However, his Constitution was still less than the sum of Lothur''s Soul and Strength under the effects of Omnipotence.

    If that hit him, he would be seriously injured!

    Even with a Soul of almost 5,000 points, that creature could be injured by a blow of less than 3,000.

    It all depended on his inability to dodge!

    But not only that, that was the Darkness Scythe, a tinum-grade weapon attacking a, in theory, Gold-grade body. It had characteristics that surpassed the demon''s body and were naturally a danger, even without considering all of Lothur''s abilities.

    Everyone in the surroundings realized this when Lothur appeared on the back of this creature, attacking him, feeling the pressure of such a well-ranked weapon.

    "tinum-grade?"

    "What?"

    The people in Lothur''s group eximed in shock as they kept up their attacks, trying to hold the pressure on the level 21 demon so it wouldn''t escape.

    Lothur''s Gravity was very strong, but it only hindered this demon a bit, as his Will was far superior to this young hybrid''s. Meanwhile, the demons were all trying to keep up.

    Meanwhile, the demons moving away from that now-destroyed tent were also shocked to feel the level of the weapon in Lothur''s hands.

    "This wretch has a weapon made from one of the 30 Magnificent Items!" The level 18 young demon eximed, easily realizing the origin of the Darkness Scythe.

    "Shit! Vallmirath is in danger!"

    One of the level 21 demon''spanions in this camp eximed in nervousness, seeing the scythe''s terrible deing inches away from Vallmirath''s back.

    The most worried of all was naturally Vallmirath himself.

    ''Who''s that bastard? I''ll eat you, you motherfucker!'' He eximed in his mind, circling his defenses, for he was past the point where he could dodge Lothur''s attack.

    Swooish!

    "Aaagh!"

    At that instant, the cruel de of Minos'' scythe sliced through that creature''s back, easily passing through its skin and into its bones.

    The dark energy around the scythe moved through that demon''s body, eroding the negativews, the only way to eliminate a demon.

    The creature felt great pain and screamed in agony, doing its best to get away from Lothur and that shocking weapon.

    "Wretched human! Who do you think you are?" He asked as he looked back, feeling that he could not heal this wound in the short term.

    If he escaped from this ce, he would surely have ways to recover from even a wound of this severity, as Lothur had failed topromise his integrity in one attack. But in the midst of a battle that would surely ensue, he had no chance of recovering from that for the time being.

    Lothur realized he could no longer do much against this creature and promptly prepared to move away.

    As orange mes appeared behind him, forming a huge silhouette, his eyes glowed a vibrant red, and then aser beam shot towards that creature.

    The giant originated from the Prometheus mes pped that creature where it was, making it fly for a few meters until it mmed its body against one of the trees there.

    "Aaaagh!"

    He shouted more, but not because of the injuries generated by thosest movements of Lothur, but because of the wound of the Darkness Scythe.

    Lothur ignored that and moved to the side of his allies, where that creature couldn''t hit him so easily.

    "You had a tinum-grade weapon? Why didn''t you tell us?" Sebastian questioned, but without looking at Lothur, turning his attention to the group of demons in fighting positions on the outskirts.

    Lothur said aloud. "It was bad, but to protect my belonging, I felt it best not to speak of it. We are allies, but there was no way for me to tell what your reaction would be if I had said that before."

    That was sensible, and everyone there epted Lothur''s justification without a problem.

    "Anyway, guys, let''s kill the wretches!" The second strongest of the group felt more confident in eliminating this group of demons.

    Not only had Lothur''s weapon already given them a great advantage, but it could still help them a lot in thebat ahead!

    With that in mind, they changed their positions and split up to face the demons there.

    There were six demons to ''7'' humans, but the strongest opponent was injured, while Lothur could single-handedly take care of the weakest with some ease.

    That would leave the confrontation with 5 demons against 6 humans.

    Knowing this, the two strongest promptly teamed up to finish eliminating the strongest and most dangerous demon in the area, with each of the others taking charge of the 3 level 20 demons and the level 19.

    The demons knew what the enemies would attempt and, to protect their leaders, tried to disrupt the enemy ns by attacking from the direction of different opponents.

    They would not simply allow the humans to dictate the pace of the confrontation!

    One of the level 20 creatures jumped towards Lothur, intending to eliminate this person and take the Darkness Scythe from his hands.

    "You are unworthy of this weapon!" He shouted as he attacked with various metallic artifacts, which seemed to move under his mental control.

    "You will produce a Soul Bone with a great skill, demon!" Lothur shouted,ughing as he looked into the eyes of that creature that would easily scare ordinary people.

    Golden Armor!

    Lothur circted his energies and made one of his Soul Bone skills cover his body with armor, leaving not a single piece unprotected.

    When one of that demon''s attacks hit his body, Lothur''s conjunction of Constitution plus Soul through that armor stopped the attack before it even touched his skin!

    But Lothur would not counterattack this creature, for following his enemies'' ns would never give him an advantage.

    He used his opponent''s momentary distraction and manipted space, appearing near the level 18 demon trying to escape.

    "Tsk! Shit!" That level 20 creature eximed as it looked back to see Lothur smiling as he appeared in front of the level 18 demon.

    "Time to die, awful creature!" Lothur muttered as he cut through the space in front of him with the Darkness Scythe, ignoring his surroundings as he stalked toward his opponent''s neck.

    "NOOO!"

    ...

 Chapter 722 Honorable Way To Die

    ?

    When Lothur tried to decapitate the head of the fleeing weaker demon, one of the level 20 demons charged toward him with great force, trying to prevent the worst from happening.

    While screaming at the sight of his young master in danger of being eliminated, that creature activated his special ability, causing countless blue rays to emerge from his body.

    Arge beam formed in the air, rushing towards Lothur at lightning speed, giving him no chance to dodge.

    When it hit, Lothur was inches away from hitting the level 18 demon''s neck and eliminating him.

    "Aaaaaaaagh!"

    He screamed out loud when he felt that, but he continued to hold the Darkness Scythe, pressing his teeth together while ignoring the pain throughout his body.

    That was an attack with the power of over 3,500 Soul Points!

    However, Lothur activated his defensive ability, and much of his powers were directed toward his defenses.

    Although he didn''t have a strong enough defense to sessfully ignore it and was in excruciating pain, he wouldn''t be in danger of dying from one of these attacks.

    Lothur tried to ignore this pain and red hatefully at the creature in front of him, who was looking at him with evident fear.

    He kept moving his scythe as he saw the system warnings.

    [Iron-grade lightning resistance acquired.]

    ...

    [Iron-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 99%.]

    ...

    [Bronze-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 89%.]

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, his elemental lightning resistance surged and went to Gold grade, with 3% progress!

    Lothur''s Super Regeneration kicked in and immediately began consuming his vitality to regenerate the wounds generated by that creature''s lightning.

    After noticing this, the level 18 demon looked at Lothur with even wider eyes, seeing the worst opponent he could face in front of him.

    "Motherfucker!" He eximed as he tried to move to defend himself from Lothur''s deadly attack.

    But for this creature, at this moment, all of Lothur''s allies finally managed to impose their nned formation, beginning to entertain the remaining 5 demons.

    With no one to save him from this individual with better offensive attributes than his own, this creature of demonic nobility saw his end sh before his eyes.

    The de of the Darkness Scythe shed through his neck, giving him no time to feel pain and decapitating him in a single instant.

    The ck mes were imbued in this attack, while Lothur also used the Mortal Aura to totally annihte the darkness behind the regeneration of that being.

    "You are the second Monarch demon to fall by my hands!" Lothurughed in satisfaction as he saw the life in that creature fading into its darkness.

    The demon''s eyes were still wide, but soon, they became opaque before his entire body glowed with the beginning of the formation of his Soul Bone.

    This demon had died!

    Confirming his victory by seeing the formation of that Silver-grade Soul Bone, originating from a Monarch demon, Lothur turned his attention to his surroundings and activated one of his techniques.

    Swords Rain!

    He activated one of the techniques he had learned by manipting thews behind other people''s techniques, promptly making over a thousand des appear from the side where the demons were trying to get away from his group.

    At the same time, Lothur made the seals of another technique and, without dy, activated the Cruel Underworld!

    While that colored bone near him was still forming, darkness spread over the surroundings, with various creatures of darkness rising from the ground.

    Terrible sounds arose in this area, where humans and demons fought, as Lothur''s army of spectral creatures formed.

    With an area that had already witnessed the deaths of countless creatures, there was a lot of resentment left behind there!

    "What the hell! What''s wrong with this ce?" One of the demons, sweating to face his higher-level opponent, shouted, noticing several of them looking in his direction.

    The Seraphim Church staff saw this and were not bothered by Lothur''s dark techniques and abilities.

    As much as this element was said to be cursed, there were several demon hunters in the history of the Church who had an elemental affinity with darkness.

    The current Supreme Pontiff himself had, but he did not use this element because he thought it was impure.

    Demon hunters generally had an elemental affinity with light, which could counteract and exterminate the darkness of demons and thus kill them.

    For these experts, the fact that Lothur had negative abilities was not enough for them to distrust him.

    As long as he used these powers to fight these malicious beings, it really did not matter what he used!

    When they saw the creatures of darkness, many of them level 19, rising in the surroundings, they promptly used more of their powers to end the confrontation.

    The way things were developing, they would have a chance to beat this group and do so without casualties!

    As the first Soul Bone to form that night finished solidifying, Lothur collected it and sprinted toward where the level 19 demon was fighting, intent on helping eliminate another creature.

    He had already used up 85% of his powers, but he still had enough to help the weakest demon hunter in Sebastian''s group eliminate that creature.

    "This is the end, you bastards! We will still exterminate all the demons of this world, you dreadful creatures!" Sebastian smiled more confidently as he provoked the strongest demon, whom he and the number two of his group were facing.

    "If we''re going to be exterminated, we''ll take some of you with us, damn bastard!" That creature shouted while feeling immense pain from the wound caused by Lothur.

    Even though he was badly injured and constantly suffering from the light of those two opponents who were purposely targeting the wound on his back, he demonstrated magnificentbat proficiency.

    He was so strong that even though seriously injured, he could impose a high-level battle with two peak Celestial Saints!

    With his words, he used everything he had left to give his final attack, knowing he would not escape butmitted to eliminating some of these demon hunters.

    If he was to die, then at least he could take down some of the strongest demon hunters in this world!

    "Die, inferior creatures!" He shouted as his skin turned pale, and a typhoon, so strong as to shake the rocks on the two mountains to the side of that area, arose in his surroundings.

    ...

 Chapter 723 The End Of The Battle

    ?

    With the level 21 demon''s final attack, all the battles going on in the surroundings of that area were imperiled.

    His final attack was so strong that all the trees for hundreds of meters were cut into countless small pieces while the wind des indiscriminately attacked everyone there.

    Even his allies were not spared, having their bodies sliced by thisst attack.

    The humans in Lothur''s group also suffered from this enemy move, with all of them having to raise their defenses immediately lest they perish without resistance.

    Those closest to that level 21 demon suffered the most and soon emitted sounds of agony, feeling the severe injuries caused by the enemy''s desperate action.

    Lothur saw this and swallowed his saliva, noting that this would probably be the end of the battle, but his group would hardlye out of it unscathed.

    The level 21 demon''s attacks would not kill the remaining demons, but those creatures were already practically exhausted, and the group of Churchmen would only need to deal one more mortal blow to each of them for Soul Bones to form.

    Whoever survived that moment would get the long-awaited bones from such a group!

    However, Lothur was satisfied with the end of the fight, as he would survive to absorb at least one of those bones!

    Unlike his teammates, he had demon-like regeneration. He quickly began to recover as he suffered wounds from those air des.

    When the end of the typhoon of chaotic winds came, apart from blood marks and cuts on his clothes and armor, no wounds were in sight on Lothur''s body!

    The same was not true for the group of elders of the Seraphim Church!

    When the level 21 demon''s attack lost its effect, and he fell to the ground with no more strength to continue, Sebastian continued screaming, now missing one of his arms and with half of his right leg cut off.

    But he had not suffered the most. Beside him, the second strongest of the group was no longer breathing, having suffered a powerful mortal blow to his chest and lost several of his organs.

    The second weakest of the group from the Church lost his head to the final attack of that creature, having had his body brutalized to the point that he looked like a crushed piece of flesh, not a human body.

    The other three survived with medium-degree injuries, but the only woman in the group had lost one of her hands and had almost all of her body with small cuts.

    She was covered in her own blood, barely able to stand.

    "Damn you,m demon!" Sebastian saw the state of his group and cursed the creature with no more strength to resist.

    Lothur saw this and moved. "Elder, the rest of the group is exhausted. Let us quickly eliminate these creatures."

    Appearing next to the level 21 demon, Lothur did not allow Sebastian to spend his remaining energy on this opponent. He moved his scythe and decapitated his fallen opponent on the ground!

    Swooish!

    By having his head cut off, that creature finally lost his life, starting to glow soon after with the formation of his Soul Bone.

    Sebastian saw this but understood what ''Liam'' had in mind.

    Everyone was exhausted, but he, the strongest among the survivors, was the only one who could quickly kill all the other demons.

    Lothur could try, but since the others were not exhausted like the level 21 demon, he might not be able to defeat them all.

    To prevent this from happening, Lothur acted against the already exhausted demon, saving Sebastian''s strength for those remaining creatures.

    Noticing this, even with a pained and angry expression, Sebastian moved towards the demons who were regenerating their bodies.

    As he did so, the bones of the two Church experts began to glow and separate from their corpses.

    Lothur saw it and sighed, seeing the resurgence of 11 Soul Bones in those bodies, 3 of them from Monarch demons, 5 from Generals, and 3 from Lords.

    Besides those bones, soon all the demons there would meet their end, forming new Soul Bones, 2 from Monarch demons and 4 from Generals.

    For the first time, Lothur saw so many bones in front of him!

    Some of these bones he already had in his body, but others he had spare space to absorb them!

    As he sighed in relief, Lothur suddenly looked up and saw in the direction of one of the mountains, where a beast was looking in the direction of his group.

    Noticing the cultivation of that creature, he immediately said, "We have to get out of here. A powerful beast has its eyes on us. If we try to absorb these bones here, they will try to kill us and steal them from us."

    Beasts could not absorb Soul Bones, but these were valuable barter items!

    Any creature, able to absorb them or not, would value Soul Bones!

    Knowing this, Sebastian gathered the bones of his two dead men and stored them in his spatial ring to divide among his peopleter.

    He took the bones of the dead demons there and said to Lothur, "Choose two, Liam. You did a lot in the battle, and if not for you, perhaps even more of us would have died."

    None of the survivors questioned their leader, and the less wounded soon collected the bodies of their two deadpanions.

    Lothur looked at those bones and regretted that the bone of the level 18 demon was a skull, one he already had.

    Fortunately, the level 21 demon''s Soul Bone was one he didn''t have yet!

    After taking the bone he had already chosen before thebat started, Lothur looked at the remaining 4, choosing the one he didn''t have either.

    Lothur wasn''t sure whether or not he should absorb this bone, but he would rather have a Soul Bone with him like this than one he couldn''t absorb.

    He intended not to absorb it right away and to study the possibility of giving that bone to one of his women. But if he encountered any difficulties on his way, he would not hesitate to absorb it.

    Having chosen his two bones, Lothur stored them in his spatial ring, just as Sebastian did with the others.

    "Time to go, guys," Sebastian said to his group before taking a potion to regain some of his strength.

    Lothur did the same before saying goodbye to the group. "Friends of the Church, until next time. I will now be on my way to settle an old quest."

    "You''re noting back with us? Are you sure?" One of the survivors questioned. "It will be safer that way." He looked sideways, indicating the problem.

    ...

 Chapter 724 New Soul Bone

    Chapter 724 New Soul Bone

    "Hmm, I''m afraid I''ll have to take my chances. I have an urgent mission toplete. But depending on how things turn out, we may see each other again in the future." Lothur smiled, for the meaning of his words was quite different from what these people understood.

    "Good luck," Sebastian said before watching Lothur leave. Soon after, his group left in the opposite direction as Lothur.

    With the departure of both groups, not only one creature was looking at where such a battle had taken ce.

    The two strongest in each of the mountains surrounding the ancient demon camp were watching where Lothur had gone.

    ''There is no point in taking action against the people of the Seraphim Church... But this young human, hehe, he takes risks because he wants to!'' One of them thought before leaving to follow Lothur''s tracks.

    ...

    An hourter, Lothur managed to leave one end of the Ancestral Region and arrived in a mountainous area between Rablus and the Petha Empire.

    Here, he immediately searched for a cave. When he found an empty and inconspicuous ce, he quickly set up his formations and traps, determined to absorb the highest-rated bone in his spatial ring.

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Characteristic: Once absorption begins, it will rece the left tibia bone. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones with the ability to control winds. It also increases all physical characteristics by 50% and all mental characteristics by 45% of the one who absorbs it.]

    Seeing this information, he clenched his fists and immediately ordered the system to start absorbing.

    [Absorb Monarch demon tibia Soul Bone?]

    Yes!

    As he gave thismand to the system, Lothur felt the long, colorful bone leave his hands and float to the bottom of his left leg, where thest Soul Bone of that leg would join.

    Each leg could hold up to two Soul Bones, so this leg would reach its maximum capacity with this absorption. In the future, any bones associated with the left leg would no longer serve Lothur.

    It quickly stopped where Lothur''s left tibia was, glowed intensely, and began integrating into the young hybrid''s body and Spirit Body.

    The stronger the Spirit Body became, the faster the process of absorbing the Soul Bones. It also became less painful.

    This was a matter of kinship!

    A human''s body would not bepatible with a Soul Bone the first time it was absorbed, so it would be extremely painful to absorb the one.

    A hybrid''s body was much morepatible, so any hybrid could absorb Soul Bones faster and with less pain than a human. But even they were not sopatible before the first absorption.

    But as he began his 6th Soul Bone absorption, Lothur quickly felt that piece of the level 21 demon''s power merges into his being without much difficulty.

    As this happened, Lothur sensed the darkness that remained in the bone and identified the demon''s remnant.

    Even after the Soul Bone was formed, demons had a way of returning to the world of the living. Of course, it was not an easy process, and the demon would revive without full strength.

    But such a demon could leave a remnant either at the ce of their death or in their bone to try to dominate the one who absorbed it or to possess others who passed by the ce where they had died.

    Lothur had not used his bloodline ability to kill this creature, so he had left the remnant of this level 21 being behind.

    But things were different now!

    As difficult as it was to destroy a demon remnant, by entering Lothur''s body through that soul bone the rest of that level 21 demon''s existence had made a grave mistake.

    "Oh? Are you trying to dominate me? I''m sorry to tell you that you will be food for me, demon.'' A mysterious smile appeared on Lothur''s face as his bloodline ability came into y inside his body.

    ''Very well, help me improve the quality of my bones! Your darkness has a lot of potential in me, dear demon!''

    Immediately after thinking this, Lothur felt the demon''s spiritual fluctuation tremble as red mes surrounded him inside his body, quickly consuming his qualities.

    With this remnant burning brightly, Lothur soon felt his first breakthrough!

    After months of his Mortal Aura stagnating at the same level, it suddenly reached 100% and began to advance from Silver to Gold!

    [Mortal Aura] [Rank: Silver -> Gold]

    [Progress: 98% -> 15%]

    But it didn''t stop there. All of his other bones began to absorb the characteristics of that remnant, increasing their progress bars.

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Reward: Gold]

    [Progress: 55% -> 61%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver -> Gold]

    [Progress: 95% -> 5%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 8% -> 14%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver -> Gold]

    [Progress: 89% -> 0%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 1% -> 7%]

    With two advancements in his Soul Bone qualities, Lothur immediately felt the impurities leaving his body while his Perception strengthened.

    [PER: 999 -> 1,151]

    While feeling this, only 10 minutes after the start of the tibia bone absorption, Lothur felt his surroundings'' senses increase in size.

    Noticing more areas around him, he suddenly frowned as he saw guests approaching his position.

    ''Did you follow me?'' He looked over to where two Supreme Saint beasts were rapidly approaching his cave.

    Outside his cave, two beasts he had seen earlier looking toward his group began to slow down, searching for the exact spot where he had hidden.

    But these were powerful beasts, and when they looked in the direction of this cave with various formations around it, they immediately realized where their target was.

    "Let''s work together." One of them said, knowing the ''human'' had at least two soul bones, and since they both had simr strengths, it would be best if they didn''t fight each other.

    "Hmm, let''s share the spoils as best we can." The other agreed before they both attacked the ce where Lothur was, confident they could break down the defenses he had set up!

    Thus, for the next few seconds, the two would alternate their blows against Lothur''s defenses, gradually creatingrge cracks in the primary barrier protecting the entrance to this cave.

    Lothur was aware of this, but he remained focused on his absorption. Only when he finished absorbing the bone would he be able to defend himself against these creatures!

    ...

 Chapter 725 Supreme Saint

    Chapter 725 Supreme Saint

    As the two creatures finished destroying the protection Lothur had put up earlier, the now silver-haired young man opened his eyes just 2 minutes after their arrival.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 20 -> 21]

    [Physical Cultivation: Level 19 -> 20]

    [STR: 1,560] [CON: 2,580] [DEX: 1,680] [AGI: 1,710]

    [INT: 543] [PER: 1,669] [WIL: 1,102] [SOU: 2,729]

    [EVF: 2]

    Opening his eyes, Lothur immediately saw his status updated.

    After absorbing the Gold Soul Bone, he immediately advanced to level 21 of soul cultivation, increasing his characteristics so much that he felt his muscles tearing.

    Lothur stood up from the ground, ignoring the two creatures that had just entered, and let out a great roar of satisfaction, followed by augh.

    He felt the advancement of his two Soul Bones, which had reached the Gold grade and now had new properties.

    He felt that his Golden Armor was greatly strengthened and immediately activated it, causing his body to be covered by it before bing invisible.

    Then, ck mes with a silvery glow in their maw appeared in one of his hands, causing even those creatures in front of Lothur to tremble.

    These were beasts, but even though they were level 21 creatures whose strength was focused on physical cultivation, they couldn''t help but narrow their eyes as they looked at Lothur''s power.

    One was a 5-meter tall monkey with a super-muscr chest, which was as shiny as a diamond.

    The other was a 4-meter ming bird that looked very menacing at first nce.

    But when this bird saw Lothur''s ck mes, it could not help but hesitate for a moment.

    Lothur looked at them and said, "Since you came all this way, let''s test my new skills!"

    Then he moved, surprising these creatures with his speed, which was almost as fast as theirs.

    "He''s fast!" The monkey jumped at the reflex of being attacked and managed to evade Lothur, considering he had superior physical attributes to the young ''human.''

    Lothur frowned as he missed the first move of this battle and found himself under the attack of the bird''s mes.

    "Die!" It shouted as it spat fire in Lothur''s direction, putting aside its hesitation to kill him.

    He clearly had some Soul Bones in his body and, more importantly, no support.

    Lothur put his arms in front of his face and faced the mes, quickly realizing the new ability of the Golden Armor.

    As the Phoenix''s searing mes struck him, his armor glowed, creating a surface over his body. Then, the mes attacking him reflected off his body in a new direction!

    Ssss!

    "Aaaaaagh!"

    The great monkey did not expect this, and suddenly, the mes of his temporary ally struck his body mercilessly.

    "Damn it! Can you do that?" The bird shouted angrily, realizing it had failed to harm its target but also hurt its ally.

    After reaching the Gold grade, the Golden Armor skill gained a new feature. It could now reflect some of the attacks that hit it!

    But like a mirror, the ''information'' that hits a certain point on the surface would not necessarily return in the same initial path.

    Lothur quickly understood how this ability worked and had the enemy''s attack redirected toward the great monkey.

    Gravity!

    He activated his other Soul Bone ability. The orange creature opened its eyes wide, feeling the desperation of its body being pulled towards such an opponent.

    "Shit!" It shouted, flying quickly toward Lothur''s hand, which was covered in ck mes.

    Lothur smiled as he felt part of the creature''s body touch his hand and immediately poured his mes into the burning body.

    "Aaaaaaaaagh!"

    The phoenix screamed in pain, for besides attacking the mental part of its targets, the ck mes now had a new ability. It could burn forever until its target waspletely eliminated.

    The phoenix felt this and soon lost control of its mes, trying to counter the darkness that was quickly eating away at its mind and body.

    Seeing the two beasts in agony, Lothur decided to end it all to ease their suffering.

    [Storm] [Rank: Gold]

    [Characteristics: Ability rted to the user''s soul. It allows the user to manipte the wind element to create powerful storms that can make every particle in the air turn into des.]

    [Progress: 88%]

    Lothur saw the system showing him his new ability from the bone he had just absorbed.

    Storm!

    When he activated it for the first time, Lothur felt his surroundings suddenly change. The inside of the cave, which had been so quiet a moment before, changed instantly as a strong wind swirled around It increased exponentially, quickly causing a green glow to appear in the air and small des to appear, flying and destroying the his body, circting faster and faster.

    It increased exponentially, quickly causing a green glow to appear in the air and small des to appear, flying and destroying the sidewalls of the area.

    At that moment, Lothur imagined that he had be the center of arge garbage disposal in a sink. In a single instant, everything around him was utterly shredded, cut into such small pieces so quickly that even he could not fullyprehend what had happened.

    In one instant, a huge monkey suffered from the orange mes of itspanion, and the phoenix lost its shine in the darkness of the ck mes. In the next second, both mes were extinguished, and their bodies turned into a paste simr to the minced meat you could buy at the butcher''s shop.

    Even their bones werepletely destroyed!

    But that wasn''t all. As Lothur''s ability weakened a bit, the cave began to emit cracking sounds and began to copse!

    "What?" Lothur was amazed at his own powers.

    The description of his new ability hid much of its power!

    From that moment on, Lothur ced it at the top of his list of most destructive powers.

    With Storm, he could even destroy mountains and cities if he wanted to!

    Not only that, but he could even create a defensive barrier of des around himself and use this technique to destroy enemy attacks, just like the level 21 demon had done when he was attacked by Sebastian''s group earlier.

    Unfortunately for demons, their abilities only showed their full potential when they turned into Soul Bones!

    ...

 Chapter 726 Good results?

    Chapter 726 Good results?

    "Unbelievable!" Lothur muttered as he walked out of that cave, seeing the stone walls of that ce crumbling, leaving aside the meat of those creatures.

    Unfortunately, he hadpletely destroyed those bodies and could not use them for much. The only use would be to save it to make some kind of food, but Lothur didn''t like it, nor did he know how to cook it.

    As much as he liked good food, cooking was not for him.

    But this was a revtory experience for him!

    ''My abilities have increased greatly in power!'' He thought to himself, noting that part of that destructive power of the winds was a consequence of his advancement in terms of Soul power.

    Not only was the skill awe-inspiring, but he now had far superior characteristics than before. He had not even needed to use his tinum-grade weapon and had eliminated 2 Supreme Saints without much effort.

    Thinking of this, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, already flying towards Petha Empire.

    Now that he had absorbed this bone, it was time for him to continue his journey searching for Mathias'' family with Verna!

    Due to his new powers, particrly his speed, which had increased by 50%, Lothur soon reached an area of the Petha Empire where he knew that if he continued traveling in a northeasterly direction, he would reach human cities.

    He then stopped in arge forest and activated his skill, One With Nature, looking for tribes and small viges where Ancestral Folk hybrids lived.

    His ability was much stronger now that he was a Supreme Saint, so Lothur could now investigate a muchrger space than before.

    But on this first attempt in Petha Empire, he got nothing.

    Lothur moved again after that failure, now traveling north, following the border of that state with the Ancestral Region.

    ...

    Three more days passed...

    While Lothur was investigating the area further west of the Petha Empire, his women were doing very well in Linn Province.

    Almost all of Lothur''s women had advanced in levels in thest few days, reaching the 4th stage in at least one of their cultivations.

    All of them were at level 19 of body cultivation right now, while only Reba was at level 18 of soul cultivation.

    Also, Elke was at the peak of level 19 soul cultivation and, in a few days, could reach level 20!

    With the resources left by Lothur for them to cultivate, but also the great advantage they had by having bodies very resistant to training, they could train much more than others. Not only that, their training always yielded results, as their abilities and potential were unbnced.

    In general, a cultivator would have as a limiter their body. To be stronger, they had to raise either their spiritual understanding or their stamina to train harder.

    But when one had a body much stronger than all the other characteristics of oneself, then training became easy, and it was a mere job of trying to raise their other characteristics to the same level as their body.

    Precisely because of their Constitutions, these four women were advancing smoothly, still far behind where Lothur had left their bodies when he left.

    But they were fast approaching the day when they would have more or less simr physical attributes.

    In the meantime, they led the forces of the province, in particr the Ritter Motor Company.

    After thest few days since Elke and Annaliese''s breakthrough, when they had absorbed their new Soul Bones, much had happened locally.

    Yet another Ritter Motor Company factory had beenpleted and started operating. At the same time, the factory stores and driving schools in the six cities around the empire had also beenpleted.

    They had not yet opened their doors, as there was still work to be done internally in those cities, but also, the roads were far from reaching the level needed for cars to be delivered there.

    But with a new nt, the number of vehicles delivered per day in Peters City had increased once again.

    With that, another 3,000 vehicles had been delivered in thest few days since Elke''s breakthrough to level 19, generating over 2 million gold coins of profit in just a few days.

    But things were improving frantic in Peters City, and tomorrow, another new factory would start its operations.

    With already more than 500 kilometers of roads in the province, all the major cities in the area were now connected to Peters City.

    With them, toll service came into operation, along with the start of bus routes and intercity transportation service.

    ...

    In Peters City, Annaliese and Elke were still in seclusion to raise their soul cultivations.

    Reba was also focused on improving her strength at the Ritter family headquarters, as she was the weakest of the Lothur women.

    In the midst of this, Viktoria was the only one who was dealing with the partners of her family''spany.

    Of all of them, her advancement had been the least ridiculous, as she had the best talent and the strongest Soul force without considering the ridiculous advancements of Elke and Annaliese. So when she became a Saint days ago, many people already expected it to happen.

    Since then, she had continued to operate the Ritter Motor Company, trying to give her harem sisters space to grow and strengthen themselves with the crystals she had been supplying them with.

    Just at this moment, she was at the Ritter Motor Company headquarters in downtown Peters City, where several of the partners from outside the empire were there for talks.

    In that business room on the top floor of the headquarters, an Origin Saint asked Viktoria. "Where are the otherdies? I heard that even though they are not Lothur Ritter''s actual wives, they have the same rights as you..."

    Viktoria looked at the person she knew who had been trying to influence thepany''s partners not to side with her and said, "They are in seclusion. Thepany has great potential, so the dangers ahead will be challenging.

    To prepare us for potential problems, they are focused on raising their cultivation forces."

    "Is that so? I understand thedies'' desire to be stronger. It ismendable. But thepanyes first. If they''re not willing to focus on thepany, they should let other people take up their duties." This person said. "This cannot harm us, partners."

    "Oh?" Viktoria made a dismissive expression. "Mr. Gale, thepany has made a profit of 4 million gold coins in thest month. And with each passing week, the volume of our profits increases.

    Do you think this is bad? By thepany''s estimates, we will pay 140,000 gold coins for each fraction of thepany in a few weeks.

    If that figure holds for the next year, that means we will pay about 300,000 gold coins a year for every 1% of thepany.

    That''s without considering the new factories'' effects on our bottom line. Do you really think thepany has been mismanaged?"

 Chapter 727 Patriarch Kochs Strategy

    Chapter 727 Patriarch Koch''s Strategy

    While Victoria was dealing with the new members of the Ritter Motor Company, things were a bit hectic at the Ritter family headquarters.

    As the number of vehicles circting not only in Peter City but also in various ces in the province, the number of citizens joining themunication formations of these vehicles increased.

    An ordinary citizen with few resources would normally only be able to usemunication formations in areas the size of Peters City. Beyond that, they would be hampered by the limitations of themunication formations.

    But with Lothur''s cars, even an ordinary citizen couldmunicate with people up to a few dozen kilometers away from the city.

    As a result, the number of people using themunication formations of their vehicles had greatly increased, significantly raising the difficulty of the Koch family''s work.

    There were already more than two thousand workstations in the headquarters, which were located at the lowest level of the area, waiting for new employees who would soon arrive.

    Meanwhile, more than a thousand people were there, spying on the more than 5,000 vehicles in the province.

    Not everyone used theirmunications arrays simultaneously. Hence, the number of people working there was more than enough to spy on that number of vehicles.

    But the Koch patriarch who ran the operation thought he would soon need more people and workstations, so he was expanding the area.

    As the new cars spread across the province, more people woulde under his watch.

    Not only that, but the more cars that were delivered, the more important people would receive their vehicles and naturally need to be watched.

    Most of the people who bought cars were ordinary Mortal Warrior cultivators who were irrelevant to this group. For the time being, this group focused on people in the 2nd and 3rd stages.

    These people had decision-making power or might know relevant things and make the mistake of saying the wrong thing through themunication formations of their cars. Therefore, this post was watching such people with more focus.

    The number of such people with vehicles had been steadily increasing, making this underground ce increasingly noisy, with many people silently listening to the conversations of others.

    {Car 923; ****: Hey, pick up our son from the academy!}

    {Car 345; ****: Don''t push me, woman. I''m working!}

    {Car 1,235; ****: Hey, handsome? Are you ready to see me tonight?}

    {Car 2,564; ***: Hehe, isn''t your husband home?}

    {Car 4,322; ***: Hey, we have to put pressure on the Ritter family. These women can''t be in charge of thepany for long...}

    Various conversations sounded around this location as the many listeners there took note of relevant facts and cataloged the conversations they were watching.

    Meanwhile, in his office, the Koch patriarch analyzed some of the reports from his men.

    Every 12 hours, he would receive updates on the conversations that had taken ce in the previous hours, something he felt was necessary to build the power of this family.

    Not only did they have ess to conversations with negative intentions against their leader''s family, but they also had ess to much more, likepromising things that could be used the way they liked.

    With ess to certain information about thousands of people in that province, this ce gradually built up dossiers on many people whom emissaries of the family could eventually visit.

    If a nobleman made things difficult for them, they could simply present what they knew and try to change things in their favor without violence!

    Threats and ckmail were what kept the powerful people of the empire in line!

    And so, while no one knew what the Ritter family was up to, the file ofpromising information on people in this city was slowly growing.

    Meanwhile, in the empire''s capital...

    Much had happened in the weeks since Lothur had changed the situation for some Imperial Family members and their allies.

    With two of Lars'' key allies acting for the good of Lothur, the Third Prince''s group had suffered considerable defeats in recent weeks.

    A powerful group he had sent to Peter''s City to take over the Ritter Motor Company had been wiped out. At the same time, several more of his subsequent ns had failed miserably.

    Things had been so drastic for Lars that he had already suspected enemy spies in his group and had barely left the Imperial Pce recently.

    This had made it difficult for us to take action against him, who had tried to eliminate this younger brother for good.

    But even though he had failed to eliminate one of Lothur''s greatest enemies in Leopoldine, us hadpletely outmaneuvered his brother in the race for the position of heir to the Empire!

    He had finally gained enough support from the family elders to be named Crown Prince.

    Not only that but after the emperor''s return from hisst journey, he was recognized by his own father. Now, it was only a matter of time before he rose to local leadership!

    Amidst all this, a disturbing rumor was spreading through the Leopoldine family!

    ...

    At the Leopoldine Imperial Pce, the strongest elders of the family stood around the emperor''s residence, all with serious expressions.

    There was a line of experts leading to a room from which the sounds of women''s cries could be heard among the men''s conversations.

    Inside this room, the old emperor was lying on arge bed, half of his body covered with silver sheets, while his appearance was pale.

    In front of the bed, some women dressed in ck were crying, letting their tears flow while avoiding looking at this man.

    Next to the bed where the old emperory, two silver-haired youths knelt down beside him, both with serious expressions on their faces.

    "Father!"

    "My children, my time ising." The old emperor said, feeling quite weak. "I won''tst much longer, so listen to what I have to say."

    The old emperor was already very old, almost at the limit of his life expectancy. If one could see how much time he had left, they would see that it was not even weeks!

    He had not advanced a single step in hisst attempt, and now his life could not be extended any further!

    Cultivators could live normally until theirst days. Still, when their life expectancy became less than a few days, most would suddenly lose much of their strength and quickly fade away.

    This was what happened to the emperor, who two days ago had seemed as healthy as he had ever been in recent years but had suddenly fallen ill and could not even get out of bed.

    Everyone there knew what was about to happen, and the mourning for his departure could already be seen in the terrible expressions of the people there.

    "My children, do not stand against one another. I feel that the empire''s future will beplicated after my departure. This is not the time for you to confront each other." He said with difficulty before looking at his second son.

    "us, rule wisely. My state is in your hands now."

    Lars clenched his fists and pressed his lips together but said nothing despite his displeasure.

    "As for you, Lars, help your brother. Forget your quarrel. Now is the time to unite for the good of the family."

 Chapter 728 Pacific End

    Chapter 728 Pacific End

    Two more days have passed...

    On this day, the 13th of the twelfth month of the Great Silence Calendar, year 490, Otto Leopoldine, level 18, died!

    At the beginning of the day, the empire''s capital dawned in silence, the sky filled with gray clouds. The weather was a bit chilly, which was unusual for this time of year, which was usually warm and sunny.

    While the weather was not helping, the news of the emperor''s death spread throughout the city, worsening the local situation and ruining the mood of the nobles andmoners.

    The emperor was a vital person for the state, and not even the supporters of the princes wanted to see him go so soon.

    They wanted their chosen ones to rise to power, but if it happened at the wrong time, the state could be weakened, and all sorts of problems could affect their families.

    The emperor was a pir that supported the configuration of the powers of this state, the lifestyle of the leaders of these powers, and also the state''s peace.

    Once he was gone, many things would certainly change!

    The sessor would establish a new order, but not only that, without the same trust the emperor had, groups would move on their own and make the first years of the new emperor difficult.

    Greedy powers would have more courage to show their ws and act, while those who supported the family could change their rules, support, etc.

    In short, instabilityy ahead for any sessor who woulde to power in theing days.

    This made the mood in this city even worse, as the many local experts became more serious due to the dangers they might have to face in theing days and months.

    Amidst this, the sadness of losing a symbol of power in the state was not slight!

    Many revered the figure of the emperor. Many loved him!

    The murmurs of this part of the poption would soon raise the local funeral mood as nobles began to arrive in the capital for the imperial funeral.

    ...

    At the pce, us was with the most important elders of the Church, attending to the affairs of his father''s funeral and burial, as well as his ascension.

    ording to local rules, a new ruler coulde to power seven days after the previous emperor''s funeral.

    That was too little time for such an important change. us'' group and the most important elders were already talking about it.

    "Your Highness, we must choose a new crown. We already have some models in mind, and our designer will present them to you soon." Someone there, an ally of us, told him.

    ording to local tradition, each ruler had his own crown and symbols. One could not wear his predecessor''s crown, which should even be buried with its owner.

    While us was thinking about this, someone entered the room and asked for privacy.

    When all the old men had left, he looked at the woman who had entered, his mother, the empress.

    "Already talking about the session, us? Your father just died, and you are already thinking about taking over the state?" His mother asked him, holding a handkerchief to dry the tears on her face.

    "That''s why I have to be quick. My father is dead, and someone has to keep the empire stable. What can I do if that''s my responsibility?" He asked.

    "But it wasn''t as if we didn''t already know Father''s time wasing. He lived long enough."

    It was not a tragedy that someone as old as the old emperor had died. He had not died tragically but peacefully with his family, dying because he had reached his limit.

    The imperial family had known for months that the old emperor could fall ill at any moment and die quickly. Only a breakthrough could save him. Thus, Otto''s death came as no surprise.

    But it was a sad event that the whole imperial family felt that morning. us himself felt a lump in his throat, but things were as they were.

    Of course, he felt he should rule in his father''s absence, but the darkness in his heart was even more decisive. As he prepared to ascend the Imperial Throne, he nned to eliminate his younger brother.

    Lothur cared nothing for the imperial family feuds, but Lars could not stay alive!

    As the young knight''s ve, us would do his best to murder his younger brother!

    "Sigh... I''m sorry, son. I guess I''m just too stressed." The empress sat down in a chair and felt her eyes be even more tearful.

    "He was still conscious in the wee hours." She murmured, having been thest to see old Otto conscious. "He died muttering about Lothur Ritter."

    us'' eyes narrowed when he heard his master''s name. "What did he say? Anything that made sense?"

    "No." She shook her head, smiling through her tears. Despite everything, Otto had gone peacefully, smiling before he stopped breathing.

    "He said something strange. He said he was seeing Lothur and that his grandson was calling him." She answered her son''s questions. "He said he would be fine. He said goodbye and wished we would meet one day again in a new life.

    He believed he would be reincarnated..."

    As his mother began to cry even more as she recalled these things, us remained silent, trying to make sense of it all.

    ...

    Soon, the hours would pass, and the envoys from each province summoned to the capital that early morning would arrive at the Imperial Pce to join the emperor''s goodbye.

    At the end of the same day, Otto''s body would be carried in a golden coffin through the city streets, watched by more than 300,000 people who crowded around the funeral procession.

    At the end of the procession, Otto''s body was buried in the local mausoleum, where members of the imperial family wereid to rest after their deaths.

    Fortunately for the people of the imperial family and this city, Otto left no spectre, dying peacefully from the exhaustion of his vitality after a long life.

    He left the world in peace with no regrets or grudges, ending his life cycle.

    He had been born, grown, reproduced, aged, and finally died. With this journeyplete, it was time for him to return to the world in a new form!

    Much was about to change in Lothur''s homnd!

    Meanwhile, he was meditating near where there were signs of Mathias'' family.

    ''Hmm? Why did I see that guy''s face?'' Lothur opened his eyes as he finished meditating, remembering his grandfather''s face for some reason.

    Meanwhile, the Darkness Scythe was glowing in the area where the Blood Crystal was, even though it was inside his spatial ring without him using it.

 Chapter 729 First Hybrid Village

    Chapter 729 First Hybrid Vige

    When he came out of his meditation and remembered his grandfather, Lothur felt strange for a few moments, but he soon put it aside.

    He was already quite close to the first vige where hybrids of the Ancestral Folk and humans lived in this area of the Petha Empire.

    After recovering from the training he had done there, he ran to the area a few kilometers ahead, and with his vision, he could already see a small area built on a mountain where a stream was born.

    There, several people were engaged inmon activities, washing clothes, cooking, and working on various objects, where children yed, and elders watched the surroundings.

    From what Lothur could see, most of them were rtively weak peoplepared to him, with several Spiritual Warriors and almost all of the elders being Transcendents. But there was one Origin Saint.

    That power level no longer impressed Lothur, but he did notice how much stronger these people werepared to those from further south on the continent.

    This small vige had enough power to take over the entire Linn Province before him emerging there!

    Upon realizing this, Lothur understood why the soul fragment had advised him not toe to this area until he became a maind-level expert.

    If the soul fragment''s family still existed, judging by the strength of this vige, he might have problems with even 4th-stage powers.

    ''Well, let''s see if you''re here...'' He thought to himself as he passed through the vige entrance and appeared in the central area of this ce, where 30 houses were built in an area of about 5 square kilometers.

    Appearing there, even though he had unusual abilities to hide his presence and movements, Lothur immediately attracted the attention of the strongest in the vige.

    The Origin Saint, in particr, looked at him from his house and felt that no matter how much this person emitted no spiritual fluctuation, he was not ordinary.

    "Hey, human, what are you doing here? This vige is not for you to enter!" A Nascent Soul Transcendent said as he shouted at Lothur, frowning.

    Lothur looked at this person, 2 meters tall, with greenish hair, greenish-golden eyes, pointed ears, and feminine features, and immediately recognized the first hybrid he saw.

    There were two kinds of hybrids in this world. Those directly resulted from the taboo rtionship between two beings of different races and those who were the children of hybrids.

    There was a notable difference between the two, with the direct fruit of the taboo having much more purity of lineage than their offspring.

    Lothur understood what the creature was talking about, for he knew the Ancestral Language. But he did not immediately answer the question of this strong man dressed in strange clothes.

    Lothur observed the surroundings of this ce and noticed the presence of some beings of pure lineage, no humans, but 3 members of the Ancestral Folk and 1 beast.

    Most of the hybrids with the Ancestral Folk were made with humans, but there were cases where beasts also helped to create these taboo fruits.

    From what Lothur could see, the humanoid beast was probably the father of one of these creatures.

    Some beast races could naturally change shape and take on humanoid versions of themselves. So such a thing was quite possible.

    Anyway, the main elder of this tribe finally appeared near where Lothur was standing, his guard up as he looked at this ''human'' in silence.

    He immediately apologized for the harsh words of one of his vige members. "Senior, I am sorry for this junior''s words. He cannot recognize true experts, so forgive him."

    Lothur stopped observing the area and looked at the man, a member of the Ancestral Folk.

    "You are the first of this race that I know of. I did not expect to find a male Ancestor Folk here." Lothur muttered.

    The man was not offended, for the reality of the Ancestral Folk and the cases of taboo had created a stereotype that only females of this race mixed with beings of other races.

    But the truth was that just as many males as females in the Ancestral Region went to bed with those who they shouldn''t. Women, however, could not escape their fate, for when they became pregnant, they carried the proof of their sinful deeds for all to see.

    Men, on the other hand, did not have the same problem...

    Therefore, it was much easier for Ancestral Folk men than for women to have their adventures in the human world and have a few bastards across the continent.

    They would be kicked out as soon as their bellies started to grow, while men rarely left their tribes for that reason.

    The level 19 elder said. "Some of us choose to live with our children, senior. But really, it''s not something you see very often."

    "Hmm." Lothur nodded, finally exining to these people why he was there. "Anyway, I''m not here to talk about trivialities. I''m looking for someone and his descendants."

    "Oh?" The elder felt slightly relieved, but he was still unsure what Lothur wanted there.

    Humans were less opposed to mixing their genes with Ancestral Folk, so unlike those individuals, they didn''t ostracize or persecute hybrids as much. Still, there were those who opposed the practice of race mixing, and theymitted terrible acts against ces like this.

    "I am looking for an Ancestral Folk woman named Verna. She had an affair with a human named Mathis, a demon hunter, about 4,500 to 5,000 years ago. They had children before he left and never came back. I am here for those children."

    Hearing the details, the more than 200 members of this vige who watched Lothur in silence, many near their homes, sighed in relief. No one there knew those names, so this ''human'' would probably have nothing to keep him here.

    This elder looked at Lothur for a moment in silence and said, "From so long ago? Senior, I have a feeling that it will be difficult for you to find them. Even I was born only 2,000 years ago. So I don''t know these names, and I doubt anyone here has heard them before."

    Lothur made an ugly face. "Can you give me any clues about them? Maybe how to find other viges like this one. I promise you. I''m not interested in trouble. The soul fragment of this demon hunter helped me a lot in the past, and I am looking for them to help them if they still exist."

    Hearing Lothur''s sincere words, the elder did not doubt him, felt the heartbeat of this ''human,'' and saw that he had no reason to lie.

    "About that..."

 Chapter 730 More Enemies

    ?

    "By the way, there are three more viges like this if you go north. Maybe you''ll find what you''re looking for in one of them, but I wouldn''t be surprised if you don''t." The level 19 elder exined. "Some hybrids live their lives in the human world.

    Since the people you are looking for are from a long time ago, they may have lived in our region but may have already left.

    And, of course, there is the possibility that they are no longer in our world." Hemented on this part in a lower tone.

    Ordinary Saints could live up to 4,000 years. But if a person were lucky enough to find some valuable resources at that stage, living three times as long wouldn''t be impossible.

    However, such cases were rare, and most Concordia experts either raised their cultivation level to live longer or died when their aging reached its peak.

    Even though the Ancestral Folk were a very talented race, only a few of these purebloods reached the 5th stage, so this level 19 elder couldn''t help but think that Verna and her children had already died.

    This young expert''s hope was probably the descendants of Verna and Mathias'' children.

    Lothur did not think that this possibility was terrible, and when he heard this old man, he just nodded, indicating that he understood these possibilities.

    "Dead or alive, I just need to find them to know what happened toplete my deal with the soul fragment. Anyway, since they are not here, I will continue north. Thank you for the information."

    With that, Lothur walked away, disappearing from the sight of the half of the vige still watching him, surprising those who still didn''t understand why their leader was so respectful to him.

    Noticing how quickly Lothur had left, the level 19 old man paled.

    ''Sage? Is he a Sage?'' He swallowed his saliva at the thought of that possibility, which might exin why Lothur was so fast.

    Only human Sages would have physical attributes as high as those of high-level Saint beasts!

    ...

    Two more days passed...

    Arriving near the second vige where he would stop to continue his search for Mathias'' descendants, Lothur noticed several spectral creatures in the area.

    Noticing that there were even level 20 spectres nearby, Lothur didn''t hesitate to use his abilities against them.

    Before vanquishing them, hebined his Mortal Aura with his ck mes, overwhelming these creatures.

    Lothur had never seen such powerful spectres before, so he was very curious to see what one of these 4th stage beings looked like.

    He immediately ordered all of these creatures toe to him, a few hundred meters away from a vige of about 400 people.

    Even the strongest of these creatures could not resist Lothur''s power. Within minutes of the young man noticing them, they were all gathered around him.

    Lothur sat on a rock with the Darkness Scythe resting on his legs. He looked at the weapon while wiping its beautiful de with a cloth, radiating his powerful level 21 presence to these creatures.

    "What is your purpose?" He asked the stronger ones there, knowing that the weaker ones could hardly speak with so much chaos in their minds.

    But the stronger ones must be different, or so Lothur believed.

    "Our purpose, master?" The strongest spectre, level 20, asked, trembling under Lothur''s control. "Our purpose is to bring the master to the peak of cultivation."

    "Before you became my ves, what was your purpose?" Lothur rephrased his question.

    The creature said with some difficulty, but not enough for Lothur not to understand. "Singrities."

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes narrowed when he heard that. "Why? Why do you want Singrities?"

    "Our old masters want them. They can bring back the Demon Emperor."

    With that answer, Lothur stopped asking questions for a moment as he looked into the eyes of the semi-transparent creature.

    ''So that''s it! Specters really work for demons!'' But he frowned at the thought, not understanding something. ''But how? How did the demons learn to control all these creatures? And could it be that they are behind the rise of so many spectres in recent times?''

    Lothur already knew what the demons wanted the Singrities for, but he had no idea that the problem of the spectres of this world was connected to these creatures.

    "Besides..." This creature couldn''t stand Lothur''s dominance and felt it should say something more to protect its new master. "The Shadows Castle is searching for the bearer of this weapon, master."

    Lothur narrowed his eyes. "Shadows Castle? What is that?"

    "The Shadows Castle is a group of high-ranking spectres who work directly for the Demon Emperor. That is all I know, master."

    Hearing this, Lothur clenched his fists and stored his scythe in his ring, sensing that someone might discover him if he kept it outside a protected area for too long.

    ''It seems I have more enemies than I thought.'' He realized he had to be more careful, even if he was a Supreme Saint.

    If there were level 20 creatures who did not know everything about this Shadows Castle, then this ce must have even stronger spectres, maybe even level 22!

    In that case, Lothur did not want to attract any Sage spectral monsters!

    With this concern in mind, he gave up on giving these creatures a second chance through reincarnation and ordered them to enter his body.

    Secondster, the many spectres between levels 17 and 20 entered his body and were destroyed by the system, while white smoke came out of Lothur''s body.

    Due to their number, he would stand there for 4 full minutes, extinguishing the corrupted existences of those creatures of darkness.

    When he finished, Lothur stood up and looked at the vige ahead of him, noticing several hybrid creatures looking in his direction.

    Some were already moving, having seen the most impressive thing of their lives.

    ''Are they going to attack me?'' Lothur sighed at the thought of such a possibility, imagining that things would be moreplicated for him in this vige.

    But when the first pointy-eared hybrids stopped near him, the creatures immediately surprised Lothur.

    "Thank you for saving our vige, dear expert! Please ept our invitation ande to our vige to feast!" The strongest of them, level 20, shouted in an emotional tone.

    ...

 Chapter 731 New Information

    ?

    "Huh?" Lothur was surprised by the words of the strongest of this group, his mouth open in wonder for a moment as he saw the difference in treatment from the previous vige to this ce.

    "I see... Those creatures surrounded you?" He asked this Celestial Saint in a low voice.

    "Yes. Unfortunately, this situation has been happening for the past 500 years." The vige chief further ahead said. "Ever since a big battle happened here, our vige has been facing problems with spectres.

    Fortunately, we have some artifacts from our ancestors that have kept the inside of the vige safe from these creatures. But whenever we needed to leave the vige, it was a big problem to go through this area full of spectres."

    "So that''s it." Lothur controlled the space around him,pletely erasing the traces of his level 21 aura. "Very well, I ept your gesture."

    The surrounding men smiled upon hearing this. It was always nice to please experts, even more with someone who had practically solved their vige''s problem without being asked.

    "Senior, this way." Their leader led the way before asking.

    "Senior, may I ask your name? Are you a demon hunter?"

    Until the formation of the Peters City Spectre Hunters Association by Lothur''s wives, only demon hunters were known to kill spectres.

    Lothur replied. "My name is Evan. But I''m not a demon hunter. I''m just skilled at killing creatures like this."

    "That''s impressive!"

    "A trait of a true genius!"

    Several of themmented, praising Lothur.

    But they were sincere, for they had never seen a spectre-killing skill as good as his.

    Lothur controlled these creatures and then eliminated every one of them.

    It was shocking!

    "Anyway, since you havee to me, I have a few questions I would like answered." Lothur took the opportunity to talk about the subject that had brought him here in the first ce. "I am looking for the descendants of an Ancestral Folk woman, Verna. Between 4,500 and 5,000 years ago, she had children with a demon hunter named Mathias.

    Do you know anything about them? Thest name of these hybrids should be Scheidemann."

    The group that walked to the vige next to Lothur mumbled the names he mentioned, most of them unfamiliar.

    But the tribe leader said. "Senior Evan, I will try to help you with this. I don''t know any of those names, but some of our elders have much more experience than I do. Perhaps some of them know something."

    The vige chief was the strongest and not necessarily the oldest. Unlike the previous vige, the one leading this ce was not an Ancestral Folk man of pure lineage but a hybrid of the younger generation, a talented young man of 800 years.

    Lothur nodded to this person, seeing that some people there looked much older than this fellow.

    But he already had a bad impression and thought he would once again fail to achieve his goal.

    When they arrived in the vige, some people thought it strange that their leader was guiding a person without spiritual fluctuations. Still, since they were experienced people, no one said anything. The vige chief was powerful and intelligent. Their leader must have had his reasons for being kind to this visitor.

    When he arrived at the main house of this vige of 40 households, the vige chief politely gestured and called out. "Elders, this man, Evan, is seeking information. He has just helped us with something vital, so I would like someone to help him with his questions."

    After a moment of silence, a 2-meter-tall old man, amon feature of the Ancestral Folk, appeared at the entrance to this residence and looked in Lothur''s direction.

    "Evan? What do you want, young man?"

    This elder was at the same level as the vige leader, but unlike the young man next to Lothur, he was an Ancestor Folk man of pure lineage.

    Lothur greeted this elder, who seemed to be much older than the previous vige leader, and said, "I am looking for..." He briefly summarized what he had already told the men who had invited him to this vige.

    "So that''s it..." The old man sighed before turning and calling Lothur inside. "Come with me."

    The vige leader said. "Senior Evan, in the meantime, we will prepare a feast in your honor."

    Lothur agreed and soon found himself in a small living room of the residence where three more elders, like the old Ancestral Folk man, lived.

    "Verna... I remember that name." The level 20 old man in front of Lothur muttered, trying to remember the facts of that time better.

    He was just a Saint who had never had the opportunity to consume resources to increase his vitality, so he was less than 4,000 years old. However, he was an elder over 3,000 years old who had lived in the same time period as Verna and her children.

    "Hmm, now I remember better." He said after thinking for a few moments. "In fact, I knew that name, Verna. As a child, I heard about a woman of my tribe who hadmitted the taboo that I would eventuallymit myself.

    At the time, she had gotten into trouble after entering the Ancestral Region after being exiled centuries before." He said slowly, remembering the facts of that time.

    He remembered this because the news had caused a great uproar in his and Verna''s tribe. Her family was still alive at that time. When they found out that she had suffered at the hands of the royalty of the Ancestral Region, the leader of the tribe at that time, her father, had died of anguish.

    After the death of their strongest elder, instability struck the tribe, marking the childhood of the man now standing before Lothur.

    "I don''t know what happened to motivate her to enter the Ancestral Region after being banished, but she didn''t fare well after that. The royal forces hunted her, and, as far as I know, she was badly injured.

    I don''t know if she managed to escape, but even if she did, she certainly didn''t live long after hearing this news.

    So I''m sorry to tell you this, but she must be dead."

    "I see," Lothur said, happy to finally know something about Verna. "What about her children?"

    "I don''t know about them. There has been no news of young people with that surname you mentioned getting into trouble in the Ancestral Region. In my lifetime, there have only been three incidents between hybrids and the pure blood of my people, and none of them had thatst name.

    So either they died prematurely, or they made the wise decision to stay away from that ce." The elder said, unable to help Lothur in this matter.

    ...

 Chapter 732 Shocking Level

    ?

    "So Verna must have died? Is that so? There''s no way she could havested any longer?" Lothur insisted, noting that he could only get more clues to this family''s whereabouts by insisting on her name.

    "That would be impossible. As far as I know, Verna was only a high-level Transcendent when she was involved in an incident with the royalty of the Ancestral Region." The Elder said, certain of his theories. "So she was already rtively old when she got involved in that trouble. After that, even if she found valuable resources, her fate wouldn''t be good.

    At most, she could recover a little and live for a while longer. But it would be impossible for her to be a Sage.

    In that case, she must have died some time ago."

    "Do you know why he entered the Ancestral Region after being banished from it centuries ago? I mean, for someone who has been away for so long, something must have happened for her to agree to risk entering the area again." Lothur said.

    The elder thought for a moment. It was not easy to remember things from over 3,000 years ago, from when he was just a young boy.

    "Hmmm, maybe something happened to her and her family." He murmured. "I can''t tell you for sure what her motive was. Her family didn''t talk about her in the vige, although they still loved her.

    When her father died, everyone knew it was because of the news about her. After all, he was fine, but when he heard that the royal forces were pursuing his daughter, he quickly fell ill.

    But even then, his family never mentioned her name or made any announcements about her. So there are many possibilities behind this."

    He hesitated for a moment but finally said, "But as someone whomitted the same sin as her, I would only return to the Ancestral Region in two cases."

    "What would those be?"

    "One, if I had news that my family members were in danger." He pointed with his finger. "Two, if my children or new family needed something that I know is in this region and it can be used to save the life of one or more of them.

    So if you want to know what I think of her action, I would say something has happened to her family of hybrids." The elder finished his thought. "The family she descended from was doing well before her action... If I were you, I would search for her in other regional hybrid viges.

    In particr, look for an incident about three thousand years ago involving hybrids and an Ancestral Folk woman. Maybe that will help you find her."

    Lothur agreed with the elder, judging that this was indeed the most likely reason behind Verna''s move.

    ''I will do that. I''ll look for such incidents in the next vige I pass.'' He was thinking about it when he noticed something. "Isn''t there any such information in this vige?"

    "No, this vige was founded 2.5 thousand years ago by an Ancestral Folk woman. I came here 150 years after her, so I''m sure we don''t have the information." The elder replied, making Lothur sigh.

    If he knew exactly where Verna and her children had lived, he could use his ability, One With Nature, to try to understand what happened to them.

    With this ability, he could feel everything that the vegetation in a given space had felt and even see things that had happened centuries ago.

    But there was no point in using it without knowing what the spiritual fluctuations of the people he was looking for were like, let alone where they had been.

    It would be much more tedious and time-consuming than following what he had already done.

    With the information from this elder, he could only rely on the knowledge of people like this person to get closer to Mathias'' descendants, or at least the truth about them.

    After hearing all of this from this elder, Lothur left the residence of the vige''s Ancestral Folk elders to join the people who had weed him earlier.

    Soon, a great feast would be held in his name, marking the end of the threat of the area''s spectres and the beginning of a new era for this vige.

    When they heard what he had done, the other vige elders thanked Lothur once again and ate and drank with him.

    One of them even approached him and gave him a pendant from another nearby vige, a ce that this person said was even older than this vige and where he would have a better chance of getting his questions answered.

    With this in hand, Lothur would leave this vige at the end of the day and head north, where the oldest and most powerful viges of hybrids in the Petha Empire were located!

    ...

    As Lothur traveled through the Petha Empire, news of a recent massacre between the borders of Norid and Rablus began to circte.

    An entire vige was reportedly found abandoned, with signs of battle and many dead from some sort of creature.

    A few days ago, when demon hunters investigated such a ce, they found signs of the most terrifying creature in the world!

    A hybrid was behind such a massacre!

    With such news, the already worried people of Rablus, where the Church was supposedly hunting a hybrid, were now aware that there really was a hideous creature traveling through their state.

    Amidst this, the Seraphim Church was agitated by the newsing into their headquarters, not quite understanding what was happening.

    They were following the tracks of the cursed hybrid that had appeared in Leopoldine, but out of nowhere, a vige that such tracks did not evene close to had been massacred by such a creature.

    Were they really hunting one hybrid? Or were there two hybrids on the continent?

    With this shocking possibility, the Church''s ghost group was about to go into action for the first time in a long period!

    ...

    At the headquarters of the Seraphim Church in Norid...

    "Elder, wee back."

    A group of level 21 men was kneeling in front of arge open coffin in which a skinny person was standing in front of this urn, dressing.

    His skin was extremely pale, and his lips were bluish, like a corpse''s. But his heart was beating in his chest, faintly, but still, beating as it would for living beings.

    "Two hybrids, huh? You woke me up just in time. With these two Diamond-grade bones roaming the continent, I''ll be able to reach the 3rd Catastrophe alongside one of those old men!" He said in a low voice, looking at the tombs in front of him in arge crypt.

    If Lothur were there, he would be shocked to see someone with over 9,000 Soul attribute points!

 Chapter 733 Changes In Leopoldine

    ?

    One weekter...

    Much had changed in Leopoldine since the death of Emperor Otto Leopoldine days before.

    After the official period of mourning, us Leopoldine ascended the Imperial throne and became the new ruler of the Empire, with the support of most of the Imperial family, as well as the shadow followers of that house.

    Like the Jansen family, the families that lived in Leopoldine''s shadow did not care who was in charge. Everything was fine for those powers as long as that person was not against them.

    Thus, us faced no major obstacles in the days following his father''s death.

    Not only that, but with the help of the young masters of the families Stauss and Welzel, he had gained ess to his younger brother!

    Eight days after the death of the former Leopoldine Emperor, Third Prince Lars was found dead in his residence!

    No one knew what had happened, as there were no signs of battle or invasion on his estate. But the fact was that Otto''s third son had been found dead, probably poisoned.

    The Imperial Family was already ''investigating'' the case and vowed to avenge the Third Prince...

    But in private conversations throughout the state, everyone knew who was responsible for this death.

    In any case, with Lars already dead and us in power, no one wanted any trouble with the Emperor over this.

    And while everyone was talking about this death, us had already taken his first initiatives as Emperor, initiating a series of measures in favor of the Ritter Motor Company.

    ording to the new Emperor, thispany and its vehicles would change everything in the state. Therefore, it should be protected and promoted.

    He had already created a tax exemption for the Ritter Motor Company and introduced a new imperialw that required Dukes throughout the empire to cedend to thispany.

    Also, Linn Province was given special status, and new imperial army posts were already being built in the area to support thepany''s operations.

    These and many other impressive measures in favor of the Ritter Motor Company had already surprised the whole state, but especially the powers of Peter City!

    ...

    In Peters City, the Duke of the Province had just held a meeting with his trusted men and was now standing next to Coroner Klossner, discussing the most talked about topic of the day.

    "This is really impressive... It seems His Majesty wants to increase his profits from the Morning Star Academy." The local Duke said, knowing that several of the new rules created decreased the collection of taxes and coins for families of Dukes like his and did not only affect the imperial family.

    In this case, these recent measures had the potential to actually increase the Leopoldine family''s ie if, of course, they could absorb the future profits of the Morning Star Academy.

    "But this will be good for us in Linn Province," Augustmented to his friend. "My group will save at least 100,000 gold coins in just one year with these tax exemptions His Majesty has introduced.

    As far as I know, the Ritter family should get a much higher bonus and will save about 5 million gold coins in taxes because of these measures."

    The Ritter family had alreadypletely absorbed the Frost family and all of their operations. As such, some of those coins that would go to taxes were on ount of Victoria''s family operations.

    But August was already considering the Ritter family''s immense profits from their vehicle business, which was making the rounds in more cities across the province every day.

    With more than 8,000 vehicles, including cars, buses, trucks, and farm vehicles, circting throughout the province, thepany''s profits were growing exponentially.

    Another factory had beenpleted in recent days. Finally, Peters City was connected by paved roads to the first capital of another province!

    With this connection, Ritter Motor Company trucks were already traveling out of the province to make deliveries of new vehicles outside of this area.

    Until a few days ago, this was not the case, and anyone purchasing vehicles in Peters City from outside the province had toe to this ce to pick up their vehicles. But with thepletion of this road, cars have finally started to be sold in that capital, and slowly, some cars are already being dispatched to this city.

    Minibusses and other vehicles were already traveling on the paved roads to start various operations in that city.

    "Good thing we are in the Ritter Motor Company!" Chrismented to August, pleased he had gotten his share of thepany in time.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the Ritter Motor Company headquarters...

    Viktoria was presenting promising data to some of her business partners.

    With 4 factories focused on vehicle production, their output had already reached 250 vehicles per day.

    Meanwhile, with the opening of thepany''s new branch outside the province, the number of orders had suddenly skyrocketed in recent days, reaching 150,000 orders in the queue.

    More than 80,000 new orders had been ced in the city where they started operations, resulting in a collection of more than 34 million gold coins.

    With these funds, Victoria was already nning to hire more people and start building new facilities for thepany to raise the bar for its operations.

    Upon hearing these results, all of her most demanding partners, even those who usually picked on her to try to diminish her influence, were pleased with the numbers and the speed of thepany''s growth.

    Victoria sighed and said, "With the recently implemented tax exemption, we expect our profits to increase between 15% and 20%. Therefore, we will soon reevaluate our expectations for thepany''s first profit distribution."

    Everyone there heard this and nodded with a smile. No one worried about the future distribution of profits and was happy about the tax exemption.

    Victoria then cited new results. "In addition, with the start of operations in Stock City, we expect to reach a profit of 1 million gold coins from the driver training school and our minibusses by the end of the month."

    This was perfect for these people!

    In Peters City, these parallel business operations, which they barely had to invest in to run, were already generating over 4 million coins per month.

    As such, this was an extraordinary result that could help thepany expand to other states in the near future!

    "Excellent!"

 Chapter 734 Demanding Answers

    ?

    Meanwhile, on the border of the Ancestral Region and the Petha Empire...

    After passing the vige where he learned of Verna, Lothur continued his journey north, passing another hybrid vige where he was unsessful in his search.

    He continued his journey after this failure, finally arriving this morning near thest hybrid vige in the state. Now, he would either get a useful clue, or he would be in trouble!

    Arriving at this ce, Lothur encountered no troublesome creatures to save another vige from danger. On the contrary, he found a stable ce where there was even a Supreme Saint like himself.

    This was thergest vige of all the ces he had passed, and it almost looked more like a town than a vige.

    The area where these beings lived was guarded, and before Lothur entered it, he was stopped by a group of guards.

    "My name is Evan. I am looking for information that I believe your group might have." Lothur said right after one of the guards asked him what he wanted there.

    "And why do you think we will let you into our territory just because you think we can answer your questions? Why should we help you, human?" A hybrid who didn''t like outsiders asked in a hostile tone.

    Lothur looked at this pointy-eared, green-skinned fellow, whose physical contours made it clear that he was not a hybrid of an Ancestral Folk and a human but probably a mixture of an Ancestral Folk and a beast.

    He didn''t have much to say against those words and smiled. "You''re right. You don''t have to answer anything. You don''t owe me anything. But we can do business."

    "Humph! We don''t need anything from you, human. We''re doing fine!" The creature said, not knowing Lothur''s level since the now ck-haired young man was hiding his aura.

    Lothur stared at this level 20 being for a moment while sensing a level 21 aura in the vige.

    "I propose a fair exchange and speak to you respectfully. But if that doesn''t work, we''ll have to settle this the hard way." Lothur''s eyes narrowed as he stopped manipting the space around his body.

    Immediately after changing his tone, Lothur''s shocking aura appeared, showing these beings that they were standing before a Supreme Saint!

    Lothur was no bum that they could treat like that!

    As he showed himself to these people, Lothur saw them change their posture, clearly bing more afraid of him as they raised their defenses.

    "Is that a threat?" The guard from before asked aloud, a little afraid of Lothur but ready to fight if necessary.

    Lothur didn''t like that and closed his eyes for a moment.

    When he opened them again, a giant of orange mes appeared behind him.

    "If you do not give me the information I desire, I will extract it in my own way."

    As Lothur finished saying this, the Supreme Saint of this vige appeared from the side of her people and noted the power of this ck-haired youth.

    At first nce, Lothur''s soul did not appear to be that strong. Still, upon seeing him, this level 21 woman immediately felt a chill run through her body as if she were facing a predator.

    Then, the gravity suddenly changed, and all the level 19 and 20 men around felt their bodies copse without them being able to do anything about it.

    Only the level 21 woman remained standing, but she felt great pressureing from Lothur''s body.

    "Young man, let''s calm down a bit." She said, trying to avoid an unnecessary confrontation with this person.

    She could fight him, and as much as her senses told her it would be hazardous, her rational side told her that she had the advantage. But was fighting someone for information really the best thing to do?

    Her group wasn''t going to give information to just anyone who showed up near the vige and asked for it. But she had to listen to what that person wanted to know first before deciding if it was worth fighting and risking chaos for her entire vige.

    Unlike her hybrid juniors, this Ancestral Folk woman had lived more than a millennium longer than the eldest there and had too much experience to prevent her from acting without thinking.

    "What exactly are you looking for?" She asked when she saw the Prometheus mes in the form of a giant behind Lothur.

    Lothur looked into the beautiful woman''s eyes and got right to the point. "I am seeking information about a woman of your people named Verna who had children with a demon hunter named Mathias about 4,500-5,000 years ago."

    "Verna? Mathias? I''ve never heard of these names." She replied, feeling that he was looking for information that was not important to her vige and that it was not worth fighting with him. "But if you want to talk, I''m willing to listen. Just deactivate your ability. I have no reason to fight you, human."

    Lothur immediately followed this rmendation before changing his question. "What about the surname Scheidemann? Have you ever heard of it?"

    As the two walked to a house in the vige, the level 21 woman answered him. "Scheidemann? That name is not unfamiliar to me..."

    "Oh? Do you know anything about people with that name? The descendants of Mathias should have such a surname."

    Ancestral Folk and humans had the same tradition regarding family names, and it was customary for children to inherit their father''s surname.

    Lothur added. "By the way, about 3,000 years ago, Verna was involved in a problem when she returned to the Ancestral Region. I believe it was motivated by some trouble in her family. Do you know of any incidents involving hybrids during that period?"

    As they settled into the living room of the vige elder''s residence, this woman immediately poured Lothur some tea while she tried to remember better.

    She was 3,800 years old and had seen many things in her life. Even with an excellent memory, remembering certain things would take her a while.

    "Hmm, Scheidemann... I think I heard that name when I left the Ancestral Region 2,800 years ago." Shemented in a low voice as she looked at the cups on the table between her and Lothur.

    "I don''t know what happened after that, but 2,800 years ago, I heard that surname when I arrived in this vige. At that time, someone with that surname was involved with the imperial family of the Petha Empire, and the entire area where this vige is located was surrounded by experts from the Imperial forces hunting for that person."

    ...

 Chapter 735 Another Clue

    ?

    "The imperial family?" Lothur asked the old woman with an interested expression.

    "Yes, someone with that surname was involved in an incident with someone from that family back then. I don''t know what happened, but it is a fact that the Imperial forces persecuted that person then."

    The imperial family of the Petha Empire did not look down on hybrids. But that didn''t mean they worshipped them and would never see a problem with their actions!

    Depending on what a hybrid did, the imperial family of such a state would persecute them, just as they would humans who broke their rules.

    "Can you tell me more about this?"

    "I don''t know many things, young man. But that persecution led to several battles near where we are now, and those shes certainly caused some casualties.

    I remember hearing that some of my people even took part in the incident, thus weakening this state''s rtions with the Ancestral Region in the following centuries." She sighed, remembering how difficult the first years after the expulsion from the Ancestral Region had been.

    "The Petha Empire has always been friendly to hybrids. But it was a dark time for us when we had to hide even from the Imperial forces.

    Things only got better a few centuriester. Coincidentally, things got better after the former emperor died."

    "Oh?" Lothur''s eyes narrowed. He liked to hear that.

    To him, it meant that if Verna and Mathias'' family was behind this report, then the imperial family of this state might know what happened to them after that time.

    "After that, I can say that this family is dead." She said, looking into Lothur''s eyes. "Whether these people survived or had children, I don''t know. But they definitely gave up their family name."

    She remembered this because the time she had arrived at this ce had been very remarkable for her.

    She was pregnant at that time and had gone through many difficulties because of that incident. As a result, she paid attention to many news reports at that time and noticed that this family name had disappeared after a new ruler came to power.

    Since then, the same person had ruled the empire, and the imperial family had never mentioned that name or the incident again, which was strange.

    Usually, powers like the imperial family used such cases to remind their subjects and vassals to follow the rules or historical cases could repeat themselves. But strangely, this case had disappeared from local history, and a few centuries after the incident, the whole state seemed to have returned to normal, as if it had never had any problems with these hybrids.

    "It makes sense..." Lothur pondered as he scratched his chin, imagining that a change of surname would protect possible survivors.

    "Well, I want to stay in this vige for a few days to investigate something." He said as he got up from his seat and threw an item at the woman.

    When she looked at it, she immediately recognized the item as belonging to an old acquaintance of hers.

    "Where did you get this?" She asked in surprise.

    "I met a person who gave it to me a few days ago after I passed through a vige like this. He told me I could use it to get to this vige." Lothur replied, assuaging any concerns she might have had.

    "That... Then why were you acting like that earlier?" She frowned.

    If Lothur had shown it from the beginning, the previous situation would never have developed.

    "I nned to use that, but one of your men didn''t let me finish introducing myself when he arrogantly rejected me. Why would I use a peaceful approach with someone like that?" Lothur said, dissatisfied with that person''s behavior earlier.

    The woman said nothing when she heard that. Some hybrids of Ancestral Folk were arrogant in front of humans.

    ...

    After leaving the house of the vige''s main expert, Lothur stopped in the center of the area and sat down near arge tree.

    He then activated "One With Nature," causing his powerful level 21 aura to show itself to everyone in the vige.

    His ability kicked in, bringing to his mind various information about things that this tree had once witnessed as he traveled through its memories, going back in time.

    Lothur thought it would not be worthwhile to investigate an area he was not sure these people had been through. He didn''t even know what they looked like, so it would be foolish to search for them without even having the ce where those people had passed.

    But since he knew there was a high chance that those people had passed through the vicinity of this vige, he immediately decided to "go back in time" to see what had happened there.

    If he was lucky, he could get the information about what happened to Verna''s children and this woman.

    As he did so, the people of that vige soon noticed Lothur''s powerful investigative skill and were shocked to sense something like that.

    ''This is a very good skill...'' The woman who answered his questions thought to herself, seeing something in Lothur she had only seen in some of the Ancestral Folk members.

    The Ancestral Folk had the closest lineage to nature in this world, so some of its members had highpatibility with nature to feel or even see what trees, small creatures, and animals could tell from their experience.

    Seeing a ''human'' with such a characteristic was a surprise to this expert, but when she felt the spiritual fluctuations of Lothur''s powerful Spirit Body, she understood why he had such an ability and gave off a feeling of being a superior being.

    She couldn''t tell how many Soul Bones Lothur had, but from the strength of his Spirit Body that seemed to support him, she could estimate that he already had more than 60% of that full essence.

    ''He''s a demon hunter, probably a very talented one!''

    ...

    For the next few days, Lothur would continue to use his abilities and delve deeper and deeper into the past of that area.

    It wasn''t easy to process the memory of the vegetation, so it had taken Lothur most of the time until now just to go back 2,800 years.

    But this morning, he had finally managed to do so and was now calmly analyzing what the vegetation in the area had witnessed back then!

    As he moved through the memories of the vegetation, like skipping the boring parts of a video, he came to a critical point where a battle was developing.

    When he noticed this, his eyebrows drew together, and he returned a few moments from that memory to see the beginning of that incident.

    ''Could this be it?''

    ...

 Chapter 736 Coward

    ?

    Lothur saw in his mind how this area was 2.8 thousand years ago when suddenly a group of 3 people with battle marks on their clothes came into the vige.

    Two of them had pointed ears but also human features, while the third, a woman, looked a little less like them, with much sharper Ancestral Folk features.

    This woman looked extremely old, missing an arm, and looked exhausted, not from battle but from her own life.

    When they flew into this vige, the three seemed hurried and worried about something, probably asking for help.

    But in this memory, they did not seem to have received any such help from the vige elders. On the contrary, they were turned away while everyone in the vige hid in their homes.

    Lothur could not hear what these people talked about, but judging by their expressions, way of speech, and actions, he did not need to hear to more or less understand the situation.

    While being pursued, these creatures thought of hiding there but were rejected, probably because the people of that vige did not want any trouble with the enemies of the three.

    After being rejected, they tried to escape, but a group of human cultivators surrounded them before they even left the vige.

    A battle ensued, resulting in the destruction of several houses around the vige and the death of one of the two hybrids.

    The other two survived, but the surviving hybrid, badly wounded, was captured, while only the Ancestral Folk''s woman managed to escape.

    She was distraught when this happened, feeling pain not from the deep wounds in her body but from the tragedy of the day.

    But from what Lothur saw and felt from the aura that such a woman emitted, she had been strong enough to run away to try to save the hybrid in the future.

    If she escaped, she could have a chance to save the hybrid. But if she fell in there with him, it would be the end of them all!

    After her escape, the group of humans headed east, leaving the area until Lothur no longer saw anything rted to them.

    ''If that''s Verna, it looks like she survived her passage through the Ancestral Region about 3,000 years ago... Hmm, she probably went to that ce on behalf of one of those two.

    She probably tried to save them from trouble but failed.

    Lothur thought about what he had just seen and concluded that he would have to go to the capital of the Petha Empire to solve the mystery of Mathias'' family.

    But he had a feeling that if the one in his vision was Verna, she had probably died shortly after the battle he had witnessed.

    One of the two hybrids, probably her son, had died, while the other had been captured. The chance that Mathias'' entire family had died long ago was very high!

    Depending on what he could achieve by contacting the imperial family, his mission would be over, and he could return to Leopoldine.

    When he opened his eyes and got up from where he had been working for over a week, Lothur saw a few people around watching him, but he didn''t bother to talk to anyone.

    He just moved and left without looking back.

    ...

    Two Days Later...

    On his way to the capital of the Petha Empire, Lothur had been involved in arge battle the day before, which had been caused by a dispute between beasts in the area.

    He joined the conflict with no choice but to fight the creatures who clearly had no respect for his existence, killing one Supreme beast and seriously wounding another.

    However, due to the number of creatures fighting on this asion, Lothur had suffered a bit to eliminate the trouble caused by the 7 Supreme beasts.

    The injuries he had suffered were not serious. However, he still spent a lot of energy defeating his opponents and healing the injuries on his body.

    Therefore, he was still standing at the ce where he had fought, meditating in the middle of an area where several corpses were scattered over hundreds of square meters.

    But as he stood there with his eyes closed, Lothur suddenly felt a strange mental fluctuation and opened his eyes.

    "Oh?" He opened his mouth to see a creature simr to the projection he had encountered in the Immortals Well!

    ''A dinosaur! I didn''t expect to find something like that here!'' He immediately identified the creature, which looked like a giant chicken with scales and hostile attributes.

    Seeing the human looking at him, the dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, stopped where he spotted Lothur and considered what to do.

    But before he could make up his mind about whether to leave or fulfill his mission, Lothur stood up and asked, "Hey, where did youe from? Why are you here?"

    This was a level 21 creature, but it didn''t want any trouble with a being capable of killing all those beasts in the area. So this creature did not answer Lothur right away, raised its head, and let out a shrill scream.

    ''Trying to call for backup? I haven''t even done anything!'' Lothur shouted in his mind as he put his hands to his ears, realizing that this creature was more cowardly than its appearance suggested.

    "Hey, don''t do that. I only killed them because they dragged me into their conflict!" Lothur flew toward this creature, but the dinosaur immediately began to flee the area, fearing that he would fall to this "human" in the same manner as those he had followed.

    "Elder, I am being chased by a human! He killed all our targets. Please help me!" This creature shouted as it fled, flying so fast that the gap between him and Lothur only widened.

    Lothur just wanted to ask this creature a few questions as he seemed to be from the same tribe as the dinosaur that had tested him in thest level of the Immortals Well. But seeing his reaction, the young man with ck hair gave up on the idea, feeling that he would let fate bring him into contact with such a being.

    ''What a coward!'' He thought to himself as he stopped and let go of the beast, smiling as he shook his head negatively.

    He looked in another direction and saw arge mountain in the distance, which he knew was the capital of this state.

    Seeing that ce, he didn''t hesitate. He manipted the space around him, traveling toward the mountain, which was tens of kilometers away from where he was.

    As he disappeared from the area, arge eye appeared above where he had left, staring intently at his spiritual path.

 Chapter 737 The Relevance Of The Saints

    ?

    Momentster, Lothur arrived at the capital of the Petha Empire, arge city that was located in the central area of this state.

    Arriving at one of the entrances to the city, Lothur did not hide his aura as he made his way to the central area of this ce.

    As a level 21 expert, he found no difficulty entering the empire''s capital and soon got a guide to take him to the imperial pce.

    Lothur''s goal was to find out what the imperial family of this state did with Mathias'' children and rtives, as only people from that ce could answer his questions.

    Arriving in front of a grand pce in the middle of the city, a beautiful building on top of a hill, Lothur dismissed his guide and went to one of the official entrances of this ce.

    ''Several Saints... I can feel more Saints in this city than anywhere else I''ve been.'' He considered as he walked towards his target, where imperial guards were already staring at him. ''The local imperial family must be mighty. But I can certainly do business here!''

    Lothur had yet to sense Sages in any of the ces he had passed through on this continent. This had been making him think that these cultivators were probably hiding or even living in the shadows of the world.

    With as many Saints around the continent, as he had seen recently, there would undoubtedly be a few Sages here and there.

    The 5th stage was practically legendary, but it was still known and even had a ranking. So, wasn''t it reasonable that the people at the top of cultivation were in seclusion, trying to get stronger?

    For Lothur, that was the case!

    Perhaps there were Sages all over the states he passed through, but he was almost sure these experts did not casually move about in the daylight. In that case, he had a chance to bargain with the local imperial family, which should be run by people of his cultivation stage.

    Confident of this, he stopped before the entrance, where several level 19 and 20 guards were looking at him, and introduced himself. "Friends of Petha Empire, my name is Evan, and Ie from the south. I would like to meet with Her Majesty to attend to a matter."

    Lothur had used pretty much the same introduction when arriving at thest hybrid vige. However, having his Supreme Saint aura on his side from the start made a big difference!

    As much as he was a stranger and this family had no obligation to wee him, there was no way to casually ignore experts.

    One of the guards there then said, "Senior Evan, wait here. We''ll see what we can do for you."

    This state was powerful, but still, less than 10 Supreme Saints of this state had their names known to experts of the imperial family.

    Of those names, 4 were from this family, so Lothur appearing there seeking talks with the empress would not make these men reject him.

    As strange as it was for the state leader to wee a stranger into their home, it wasn''t strange when that person was an expert at the same level as this leader!

    Someone at level 21 could bring great business or disaster to countless lives in the empire.

    Hearing that answer, Lothur smiled and waited outside that pce while one of the men there moved in a hurry.

    ...

    Inside the Imperial Pce, the empress was in the middle of a meeting with some of her vassals to discuss the administration of the state.

    Whoever was sitting in the emperor''s chair had to constantly meet with local leaders, the powerful and wealthy cultivators, to discuss the state''s future.

    The situation of the cities, the results of agriculture, mining, and taxes, all this and more were relevant to the ruling family, and they naturally had to steer their vassals in the direction that would best benefit them.

    To do this, events like this afternoon''s were necessary, even if an emperor or empress did not like it.

    However, amid a debate, an imperial guard suddenly rushed into the area, not disturbing the person expressing his opinion but attracting several nces.

    "Your Majesty, there is a Supreme Saint at the pce entrance who wants to see you. What should we do? Ah, the chief asked me to say that this person is young, very young." The guard said close to one of the empress'' ears.

    When the empress heard it, her eyes widened with interest.

    Supreme Saints were very important to her, and she would certainly wee this visitor if she had some free time and one of her men to talk to this person first.

    But the fact that Lothur was young gave a conversation with him much more importance and urgency!

    Saints werepelling people on the continent who actually ruled and fought for thesends.

    Sages were definitely the ones who chose the most important customs andws of their territories, but they would never deal with the little things like running an empire or anything like that.

    The small day-to-day responsibilities that kept a ruler or patriarch busy for most of the year were not relevant things to distract a Sage. Therefore, the Saints were the ones who were actually seen in power throughout the continent.

    Thus, anyone at the end of this stage was quite old and experienced.

    A young Supreme Saint was a rarity, someone who would be nice to have on one''s side, whether powerful or not.

    ''A young Supreme Saint... That''s a rarity! One in a billion!'' The empress stopped listening to the people in her imperial hall and thought about this visitor. ''If that''s the case, he''ll probably be a Sage in the future.

    Receiving him might allow me to increase my influence in the Council of Elders.''

    "Very well, my subjects, let''s take a break. I have just received an important message and must take leave for a moment." She said loudly, smiling warmly at the people there. "Please take your time to have a drink and something to eat. We will talk againter."

    With those words, the beautiful empress, a mature-looking woman with a shapely body and ''ample'' measurements, ck hair, and a height of 1.7 meters, left this ce next to the previous guard.

    "You, go back to your post and ask someone to escort this man to my office. I will wait for him there."

    "OK, Your Majesty!"

    In the blink of an eye, the guard disappeared, and the local leader quickly went to where she was about to receive Lothur!

 Chapter 738 Agreement With The Empress

    ?

    Less than 5 minutes after Lothur arrived at the imperial pce of the Petha Empire, he was at the door of the office of the empress, the most important woman in the state!

    The Petha Empire did not currently have an actual emperor, but rather an emperor consort, the husband of the empress.

    This state followed the imperial lineage, and men had precedence over women in the line of session. But the previous emperor had only had daughters, so the first of these women had risen to power.

    But there was a long local tradition of women sitting on the imperial throne, and the current local ruler, Jil Von Weber, reigned supreme without much opposition.

    Anyway, when Lothur heard the empress'' secretary authorizing him to enter Jil''s office, he soon entered the ce and found the empress sitting behind a desk, looking at him.

    She wore a beautiful green dress with silver details; her aura was the strongest he had ever felt.

    [Name: Jil Von Weber]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 21]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 18]

    [STR: 750] [CON: 815] [DEX: 766] [AGI: 775]

    [INT: 788] [PER: 826] [WIL: 991] [SOU: 7.781]

    ''This is an incredible difference to me...'' Lothur saw this person''s level and was naturally surprised, realizing that the path to level 22 was longer than he thought.

    This woman was powerful!

    "Your Majesty..." He unconsciously made a gesture of greeting to this person, recognizing the difference between them.

    "Please, young Evan, don''t do this. We are all Supreme Saints here, aren''t we?" She said, smiling, showing Lothur her beautiful teeth but also her dimples.

    "Sit here. Let''s talk." She pointed to the ce in front of her, where there was a beige upholstered chair with some golden details.

    "Hmm," Lothur quickly followed her lead,plimenting her as he sat down. "Your Majesty is indeed wonderful, as rumor has it. How fortunate I am to meet you today."

    She smiled when she heard that, for Lothur was as attractive, if not more than she was. "You tter me. You should be careful aboutplimentingdies like that, Evan. A handsome and talented young man like you is hard to resist."

    Lothur smiled before getting straight to the point, not wanting to invest in any deeper flirtation with this woman.

    Her husband must be a monster!

    "In any case, Your Majesty, I am here for information and am willing to negotiate anything for it."

    "Oh?" Her earlier smile faded, but Jil''s expression remained interested. "Tell me what you want to know. Depending on what it is, we can make a deal."

    Not everything could be negotiated, even with someone as young as this fellow seemed to be!

    Lothur sat down and said. "About 2.8 thousand years ago, the imperial family persecuted a group of hybrids and an Ancestral Folk woman. One of these hybrids was murdered on the northernmost border of the Ancestral Region.

    I am looking for information regarding these people. By the way, they had the surname Scheidemann."

    Upon hearing this, the empress'' good-humored expression gradually lost its beautiful contours as she became somewhat serious.

    She asked him in a less casual tone. "I see... Young Evan, why do you want to know about this? This is an ancient event, isn''t it?"

    Lothur nodded and said. "Some time ago, I had the opportunity to receive the inheritance of a man named Mathias Scheidemann. He left me a mission to find his family and, if possible, help them. He couldn''t do that in his lifetime, so I''m here."

    ''An inheritance?'' She frowned, but it made perfect sense. "What would you have to do if you found them?"

    "Give them what Mathias left, help them for a while, and then I would be free to go. I would return to my homnd if they were no longer in this world. I am not on a mission of vengeance." Lothur replied sincerely.

    With experts of that level, it was best to always tell the truth.

    Jil realized there were no lies in Lothur''s words, and right after thisst answer, she fell silent for a moment.

    Looking into Lothur''s eyes, she said. "I have information about these people, this family. But it will not be free, young Evan."

    "What do you want to tell me about that?" Lothur asked with interest, finally feeling that he would get something better than small traces.

    "This is relevant information for me, so it won''te cheap. I want you to sign a Blood Contract with me regarding your support for my family and me." She said, thinking of the young man''s future. "Today, you still have a long way to go, young Evan. But everyone can see how talented you are.

    So I will sell you this information for the price of a promise. If one day you be a Sage, I expect you to assist me when I need you or ask for your help.

    This is the price for the information you desire."

    Lothur was impressed to hear that, but what this woman asked of him, though simple at the moment, was very valuable.

    No one knew for sure how many Sages there were in the world, so the assistance of someone of that level would be precious.

    But as someone who was interested inpleting his mission, Lothur saw no problem in making a promise for the future.

    "OK, I can do that." He agreed and quickly got the woman to start writing down the terms of this agreement on a special piece of paper.

    She wrote very fast. In less than 2 minutes, Lothur was reading the sheet already signed by Jil.

    There were no tricks in Jil''s words, so Lothur left his signature on that special paper, confirming his agreement with the ruler of this domain.

    With that, Jil kept her contract with Lothur and gave him a specialmunication crystal.

    "This crystal contains a tinum-grade formation that can connect us no matter how far away you are." She said, smiling with satisfaction that she had gotten this deal with Lothur. "Keep it. One day, I will send you a message, and you muste to me when that happens."

    Lothur saw no problem with that and soon put the crystal away in his ring, interested in studying such a thingter.

    "About the Scheidemann family, well, where should I start?" She said in a low voice, talking to herself.

    "Hmm, let''s start at the beginning. 3.1 thousand years ago, a hybrid named Milo Scheidemann arrived in this city..."

 Chapter 739 The Truth

    <h4>Chapter 739 The Truth?</h4>

    "After arriving in my city, Milo soon gained fame among nobles and part of the lower court of the time," Jil remembered her youth when she was just an heiress and had freedoms that she now sorely missed.

    "He was very good at what he did, a special kind of body art that could help people with problems, body aches, physical conditions, etc. He was not a doctor, but with his skills, he helped locals as much as doctors.

    Soon, he met my younger sister, who had a back problem from birth and always suffered from severe pain that even prevented her from exercising.

    When she met someone who could relieve her pain without drugs, she naturally loved Milo."

    As Jil spoke, Lothur more or less understood what had happened. "I see... He got involved with your sister."

    "No, that''s not what happened." Jil bitterly smiled. "On the contrary, Milo was always respectful towards her. When she insinuated herself to him and ordered him to do shameful things, Milo respectfully refused.

    Unfortunately, my little sister was not an easy person to manage. Perhaps because of her suffering, she eventually developed a very ''strong'' personality."

    The empress closed her eyes and said shyly. "So Petra ordered her men to arrest Milo, drugged him, and ended up having sex with him... When our father found out, he was furious. How was his beloved youngest daughter going to get married after this? How could we justify to her future husband that she was no longer a virgin?

    Petra Von Weber was betrothed to a prince of Rablus at the time, an arranged marriage, of course, but one that was part of the actions such states needed to maintain their power and status on the continent.

    Such marriages were somon in this world that half of Concordia''s royal and imperial families were rted by blood!

    Hence, Petra''s father could not ept what had happened.

    "My father would never abandon his own daughter, never give up on strengthening his ties with Rablus by marrying my sister to the third prince of this neighbor of ours.

    Then he had Milo arrested and publicly used him of seducing Petra and finally raping her."

    "That..." Lothur was shocked!

    Cases like that were very rare!

    Usually, it was men who ''messed up'' the world by doing things they shouldn''t do with all kinds of people.

    "Then why wasn''t he killed?" He asked doubtfully, not caring about the plight of this family.

    He had no sympathy for the family of Mathias'' soul fragment, much less for the ways of the Von Weber family.

    But it was strange that Milo had not died after such an usation.

    Jil opened her eyes and exined. "Because despite her problems, Petra loved Milo. When she found out that he had been arrested and would be executed for ''raping'' the youngest princess, she told our father that if he went that way, she herself would tell her future husband everything she had done.

    Afraid of turning his alliance with the Rablus family into a negative rtionship, my father gave in to my sister''s threats and did not execute Milo.

    My father staged a mock execution and killed Milo''s younger brother in his ce."

    Mathias and Verna had not had 2 children but 3. Thest one was born after Mathias left, so Lothur had no idea there was a third.

    "That didn''t end well, and Milo''s mother eventually found out what had happened.

    Having lost one son and having the other imprisoned, she tried countless things to free him. But she failed at all of them until one day, 3,000 years ago, she disappeared and did not return until about 100 yearster."

    By this time, Verna had concluded that she could not save her eldest son or even avenge the death of her youngest. So, she returned to the Ancestral Region to get something.

    "I didn''t know it then, butter, we found out that one of our trusted men had betrayed us and made a deal with Verna. As long as she brought back a potion of the Life Liquid from the Ancestral Region, he would help her and her middle son rescue Milo.

    The bastard did indeed betray us, and when Verna sessfully returned from her journey 2.85 thousand years ago, Milo was reported missing.

    My father could not allow him to go free, so a great persecution of the hybrids began, resulting in the recapture of Milo and the murder of his second brother.

    After that, we never heard from Verna again until you came to me today." She said, solving the mystery of what had caused Mathias'' wife to venture into the Ancestral Region and be hunted by the Von Weber family.

    "She probably died after that day," Jil said quietly, showing the shame she felt about the whole thing. "She was badly injured when she saved Milo and wasn''t supposed to survive much longer. Fighting my father''s men, she surely lost what little she had to live for a few more years."

    "So that''s what happened..." Lothur sighed, feeling that this was unfair to Mathias'' family, who were not to me for anything that had happened.

    They were victims!

    "And after that? Did their family name disappear because the family was finished? Did Milo die?" Lothur asked the most important question.

    "No." She denied it and looked into ''Evan''s'' eyes. "2.8 thousand years ago, my father died suddenly after falling ill.

    Some of us still believe that it was the fault of the damned traitor who freed Milo, who sessfully escaped our pursuit. But to this day, we are unsure what caused my father''s death.

    Anyway, with his death, I came to power.

    When I became empress, I freed Milo and asked him to forgive everything that had happened. I made him sign an agreement promising never to seek revenge against my family, and I advised him to change his name.

    I told him to run away to the south and start his own family there and try to forget my sister."

    "That... That was very generous of you." Lothur said, but the truth was that he would have preferred it if Milo had just died and Mathias'' line ended with such a person.

    With this answer from Jil, he was back at the beginning of his investigation!

    ''Shit!''

    But while he was unhappy, Lothur listened. "Back then, I used an excuse to bring my sister back to the empire and then imprisoned her for almost 400 years, even though I ruined my rtionship with the Rablus family.

    But I did it to clear the name of the Von Weber family, and even though my neighbor pressured me, I kept my sister locked up while I erased all records of Milo and what had happened. Before I released her, I investigated his situation myself. I found that he had found his way and added a new surname."

    She smiled as she remembered how well Milo had turned out and started his own family. "I don''t know what happened after that, but he was already known as Eduard Jansen back then."

    ...

 Chapter 740 The 5th Stage

    ?

    "What?" Hearing Milo''s chosenst name, Lothur stood up from where he was and looked at Jil with astonishment on his face.

    "Jansen? Are you sure?" He asked in a louder tone, for the strongest family in Leopoldine had exactly that surname!

    The Jansen family was descended from someone from northern Concordia who supposedly went to the area where Leopoldine would be born centuriester to live in seclusion, in peace.

    ording to many organizations in the area, this family seemed to be hiding from something from the beginning, but no one knew for sure what it was.

    Thinking about it, Lothur immediately thought that it all made sense and understood why a mid-level power in continental terms would be hiding in that weak state.

    Virtually every state on the continent had Saints, and they acted openly. But in Leopoldine, things were different, and the Saints of the area acted like Sages, acting from the shadows, in seclusion, and away from the material world.

    She confirmed what she had said. "I''m sure he added thatst name. I was an Origin Saint at the time, so there was no way I could be wrong.

    Whether this Jansen family is his creation, I can''t say for sure. But I hope it is. Milo deserves it."

    "Have you heard this name before?" She asked with interest, for thest time she had looked up Milo was 2,200 years ago.

    She did not know what had happened to him after that, so this woman was naturally curious.

    When she had looked for Milo, she only wanted to know if he was well or if he had died. After discovering that he had recovered from his years in prison and had be a high-level Transcendent and married, she returned to her home and never mentioned his name again.

    "Don''t worry, my sister Petra died 180 years ago, and no one else in my family knows about him," Jil said, reassuring Lothur.

    "Yes, I have heard this name in the south of the continent. There is a family in Leopoldine that goes by that name, and they are the strongest in the area." He said, knowing that if this woman wanted to investigate, she would easily find out.

    "Oh? If they are descendants of Milo, then he was very sessful." She smiled in satisfaction.

    Jil felt terrible about the whole story. Soon after Petra had met Milo, she had also heard about him and talked to him several times.

    Jil had a good impression of Milo and thought well of him. After her family had gone against Milo and his people, she suffered a lot and felt terrible for centuries.

    She was naturally happy when she heard that things might have turned out well for him.

    She continued to smile and said. "If they are rted to Milo, I believe you will be able toplete your mission easily."

    Lothur clenched his fists and smiled. "Yes, it will be easier if they are indeed Milo''s descendants."

    He sat back down and took a deep breath, thinking about his long journey just to find out that one of his partners at the Ritter Motor Company was very likely rted to that soul fragment.

    ''Who knew, huh? If that''s really the case, then a real member of that family just barely missed out on Mathias'' inheritance.'' He thought about it, considering that this former demon hunter''s ce of inheritance was exactly in the state influenced by such a family.

    While Lothur thought about it, Jil felt less guilty about what had happened to Milo''s people.

    She had already ''buried'' the bad feelings she had for what her father and younger sister had done back then. But as she talked about it, she felt the weight of it all again.

    Fortunately, Lothur gave her some good news, and she could almost feel a sense of relief.

    Talking about it after so many years had been difficult, but it was also great for her. After keeping it in her heart for so long, revealing it all to someone was liberating!

    She closed her eyes as Lothur remained silent, suddenly feeling something strange inside of her.

    ''This feeling...'' Her eyes opened wide, and she felt her cultivation move as her understanding of the world changed.

    Lothur also felt something and looked at this woman, narrowing his eyes at the reaction inside her body.

    "You... Are you evolving?" He opened his mouth when he noticed the spiritual energy suddenly shifting around Jil''s body.

    Jil looked down at herself and felt what had held her back at level 21 for centuries.

    "Thank you, Evan. You''ve helped me a lot." She looked at him gratefully. "I guess we''ll have to part now. I''m going into seclusion to try to make a breakthrough.

    You don''t need to wait for me, for now, that''s all we need to talk about. I''d like to hear about this family if fate brings us together again.

    Good luck on your journey."

    Jil hurriedly disappeared to the sacred ce of her family, where an old man in such a ce just opened his eyes when he felt somethinging out of her.

    Lothur felt the aura of a Sage for the first time, and naturally, a great fear grew in his heart.

    He could hide from Saints with ease, but not from Sages!

    When he realized that one had just awakened, probably to help Jil in her advancement, he immediately left the area without looking back.

    ...

    A few momentster, Lothur appeared 50 kilometers away from the Von Weber family''s imperial pce, sweating profusely and looking extremely pale.

    ''Damn it, is this the aura of a Sage?'' He wondered as he had felt such a strong power surge through the pce moments ago that he thought he would meet his end there.

    Considering the more than 7,000 power points of Jil''s Soul, Lothur immediately thought this other aura was over 10,000 points!

    That was a level of power he could not risk attracting, or else he would be eliminated without having a chance to regenerate his body!

    So he had fled without hesitation, lucky that Jil had weed him and that no one from the imperial family had started a hunt against him.

    However, as he flew south to continue his escape from the capital, a spatial rift suddenly appeared in front of him, and a sizeable greenish-brown w emerged from it.

    "I found you, young hybrid!" A voice reached his ears, making Lothur feel even more terrified as he realized that the thing had suddenly enveloped his body, leaving him no room to escape.

    "Oh, shit!"

    He was pulled into the spatial rift in a single moment andpletely disappeared from the area!

    ...

 Chapter 741 Reunion

    <h4>Chapter 741 Reunion?</h4>

    Feeling himself grabbed by something, Lothur had nothing to do as he was dragged through the spatial rift, leaving the previous area in the blink of an eye and appearing in apletely different area.

    Unlike the green forests of the Petha Empire, the area he was dragged through had almost no vegetation, being a gray, soot-filled area.

    Upon arriving at this new ce, Lothur saw arge mountain with a trail of smokeing from its top and realized that there was probably a volcano there.

    ''Where am I?'' He asked himself, as he was unfamiliar with this area.

    But Lothur had not paid attention to his surroundings for long when he noticed therge creature that had dragged him to this ce.

    "Lothur, you have grown up fast."

    Hearing a familiar voice, Lothur turned to face a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex, evenrger and more ferocious in appearance than the projection he had encountered in the Immortals Well.

    "You..." Lothur was surprised but also relieved, feeling that this being was not an enemy hunting him.

    However, he couldn''t help but be shocked not only by the sight of this creature but also by its cultivation level.

    [Name: ***]

    [Cultivation level: 22]

    [STR: ??] [CON: ??] [DEX: ??] [AGI: ??]

    "Are you... Are you a Sage?" Lothur opened his mouth to ask.

    The massive creature beside him opened his mouth as if smiling and said. "Yes, I became a Sage some time ago. Since my projection in the Immortals Well was made when I left the area and has not been updated since then, it did not fully show you what I am."

    Such projections constantly sent information back to the main body. But the reverse was not true, and the projection would only know things about the being from when it was created.

    The only exception was the vital status of their body, which would continue to support their existence as long as they were alive. Once they died, the projection of someone like this beast would naturally disappear.

    "This... Well, congrattions on reaching the 5th stage. That''s impressive." Lothur sighed, but he could not stop looking at this beast.

    This was a creature over 10,000 years old!

    Beasts could live longer than humans because their strength was concentrated in their physical characteristics.

    This being was not impressed and said. "Don''t say that. You are approaching my level. You will be a Sage if you absorb a few more Soul Bones."

    This dinosaur could sense that there were "only" 6 bones in Lothur''s body. If this young hybrid added 4 more bones, he would surely reach level 23 andplete the formation of his Spirit Body.

    This would certainly not be easy to aplish, considering the difficulty in findingpatible Soul Bones. But it could be done, and by that time, this young man would be one of the strongest in the world!

    Few known Sages were at level 23 and above, and not even creatures like this Tyrannosaurus Rex know of much of other Sages.

    Theoretically, there were five levels for Sages, but almost all known Sages were at the first two. The rest were so difficult that most died in the 2nd level.

    Hence, this dinosaur couldn''t help but get excited about Lothur''s current level and how far he could go by "only" absorbing 4 more bones. If they were lucky, the young man could reach such a level in a few months!

    At that time, this creature and his people would have a great help in the fight against the demons!

    Lothur heard this and said nothing about the future. Instead, he asked. "Did you find me because of that Tyrannosaurus Rex from earlier? The one that got away?"

    "Yes, that subordinate was chasing a group of creatures you killed. When you went after him, he called me out of fear that you were an enemy." He said,ughing at the previous situation.

    Without meaning to, Lothur had shown himself to this beast and even helped him eliminate some troublesome creatures.

    "Lothur, how about joining me? Let''s hunt demons together." He suggested.

    This being still followed his master''s will to hunt demons.

    When he noticed that Lothur was near an important breakthrough, he couldn''t help but be interested in hunting with this young man.

    Humans and hybrids had a great advantage in cultivation over other types of beings. With just one Soul Bone in their hands, they could advance in a matter of hours, whereas ordinary beings would need hundreds of years to achieve the same!

    He needed a strong partner with the potential to follow his mission of destroying demons, so helping Lothur be stronger could quickly produce such a person!

    "Oh? How could I hunt with you, elder? I am so weakpared to you that I fear I would die facing the kind of enemy you will attract." Lothurmented.

    "Don''t worry. I''ll help you from the shadows, showing you ces to go and hiding so that 5th-stage demons don''t get in the way of our ns."

    "5th stage demons?" Lothur wondered. Such demons would create tinum-grade Soul Bone!

    The quality of a Soul Bone could be affected by the demon''s cultivation stage, yet it depended more on the purity of its lineage. A 5th stage demon would only reach that stage if it had an Emperor bloodline, so the bone it produced would naturally be tinum-grade.

    A tinum-grade bone would not only provide more advanced powers, but when one absorbed it, the bonus that woulde from absorbing it was much higher than that of a Gold-grade bone.

    To give you an idea, one could be 80% to 160% stronger after absorbing just one of these bones!

    Therefore, they were much more valuable than any other type of bones, and Lothur could not help but be interested in these existences of the highest demonic level.

    If he could absorb such bones, it would be perfect!

    "Then I am interested. But I have to take care of something. I''m not in such a hurry right now since this is under control in the short term. But I must resolve it before I go on a longer hunt." Lothur said.

    "Very well. How about this? I have a Soul Bone in mind that will suit you very well. Why don''t we go get it now, and then you go solve such a problem? I''m sure you''ll be able to solve it quickly after absorbing that bone."

    ...

 Chapter 742 Gifts Before The Hunt Begins

    ?

    Upon hearing the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Lothur immediately agreed and began to follow him through the volcanic area.

    "One of my groups is investigating some demons in the Norid area, and we can lead you to tinum-grade Soul Bones." The beast said as it moved. "I can''t guarantee that for sure since I don''t know what kind of bones they will form. But we can try. What do you think?"

    "Good. I don''t have any tinum-grade bones yet." Lothur said, observing the surroundings of this ce. "By the way, where are we?"

    "To the west of the Ancestral Region." Therge Tyrannosaur Rex said. "No tinum-grade bones? What grade are your bones?"

    "Gold-grade."

    "That''s not bad. But from now on, you''d better set aside bones of that quality." The beast said, giving Lothur good advice. "You must have bones of demon Generals and Monarchs, right? That is very good for the first bones, but thest bones cannot be of that quality.

    The ideal set for thest four bones would be one from a Monarch, two from Emperors, and thest one from a hybrid." He did not know of any other hybrids besides Lothur, so he said with a sigh. "It may be impossible for you to get thest one, but you can get an extraordinary final set with 4 bones from Emperors!

    So let''s focus on that, okay? No more bones from Monarchs or lower."

    Hearing that, Lothur agreed but couldn''t help but be curious. "Are there people with hybrid soul bones on the continent?"

    Like the bones of demons, the bones of hybrids could be passed down through generations if they were not destroyed.

    There had been a long history of these dreadful creatures, so it should have a bunch of this quality on the continent.

    "Hmm, there must be about ten experts with bones of this quality on the continent. But all of them are Sages, members of high-level forces on the continent, and their Spirit Bodies are between 80% and 100% formed."

    In other words, stealing the bones of someone like that would be virtually impossible!

    "At the same time, only these people and a few of their followers know that they have these bones, so don''t think about stealing anyone''s bones, young Lothur. Killing demons is the best way for everyone."

    "Hmm, absolutely." Lothur did not argue.

    As they talked, they came to arge cave near the volcano, an extremely hot and dangerous ce.

    From time to time, hugeva drops would fall in the vicinity. Even a Saint could die in that area if you were not careful!

    When they arrived at this cave, the Tyrannosaur Rex showed Lothur some of his subordinates in the area but soon took him to where some of his most precious things were.

    As someone who had been working to fulfill his master''s mission since leaving the Immortals Well, this dinosaur had eliminated a few dozen demons on his journey here.

    As a result, it had umted several Soul Bones over the years!

    "Before I heard from you through my projection, I never kept Soul Bones for long, young Lothur. Whenever I met dedicated demon hunters, I would give them these bones to help them in their quest against demons.

    I have never sold a bone, for to me, they are weapons in the fight against demons that should be distributed to those who have the will to kill these ugly creatures.

    So I cannot give you much. But I have collected these three bones since I learned of you." He said as he showed Lothur three bones in perfect condition, obviously never having been absorbed by anyone.

    The creature said. "When I collected them, I didn''t know you already had so many bones in your body, haha. But I want you to keep them. Use them to strengthen your team."

    This dinosaur did not know about the Ritter Motor Company or the family that Lothur had created. But any expert would have people at their side, so he naturally assumed that this young man had people following him who could absorb these bones.

    Lothur saw this, and his eyes lit up, for all these bones were Gold-grade and from Monarchs!

    They would be perfect for his women!

    Reba already has two of these bones, but Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese have none. Lothur looked at the bones in silence but with a delighted expression on his face. However, the bone he recently saved would serve Reba.

    Feeling that he could help all his women, Lothur immediately thanked the dinosaur.

    "Senior, thank you for your support. I will not let you down on our journey against the demons. I promise you that!"

    The dinosaur liked Lothur''s words and said. "Good words, boy! Keep the bones. When you go to settle the matter you mentioned earlier, find good, trustworthy people to absorb them.

    It is not bad to have capable helpers."

    Lothur quickly ced the bones in his spatial ring before he saw the creature preparing to leave.

    But before that, he remembered something and said. "Senior, I have a serious matter to discuss with you."

    "What is it?" The Tyrannosaur Rex looked at Lothur in surprise.

    "Since we will form a partnership against the demons, I must tell you about something I recently discovered. Are you aware of the problem of the spectres?"

    The creature shook his head positively. "Yes, many of these creatures are terrorizing Concordia."

    "But they are not doing it randomly, senior. I recently learned that they are doing it for the Demon Emperor, to collect the Singrities and bring him back!"

    "What?" The beast shouted so loudly that creatures hundreds of kilometers away heard his scream and all the energy in the area became chaotic.

    "Something called the Castle of Shadows is moving for the Demon Emperor''s sake. I recently dealt with some spectres who warned me that beings from this group are after something I have."

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex''s expression did not improve upon hearing this, but he asked. "What do you have?"

    "This." Lothur showed the Sage the Darkness Scythe, the item created by the fusion of the Blood Crystal with the defective weapon of this beast''s former master.

    Upon seeing this weapon, the dinosaur understood why the spectres were interested in Lothur and looked at it as if it were a sacred weapon left for them by a God.

    ''In the darkness, there muste out the light!'' He remembered the words of his master and was thrilled to see this artifact capable of changing everything about the terrible reality of this continent!

    ...

 Chapter 743 New Destinations

    ?

    "Put that away, Lothur." The giant dinosaur said shortly after seeing the young hybrid''s tinum-grade weapon in front of him. "This weapon emits an extraordinary fluctuation that Sages like me can feel. If you use it for a few moments, you won''t get into much trouble, but if you leave it outside your spatial ring for more than a minute, you''ll get into trouble.

    Keep that in mind, and avoid using it if you don''t have to. If you have to use it, do it quickly."

    Lothur immediately followed the beast''s advice and stored his weapon in the spatial ring.

    With that done, the Tyrannosaurus Rex said. "About this Castle of Shadows, I have never heard of it. But I have a feeling that it will be difficult to deal with it. Spectres are very troublesome creatures.

    So, let''s concentrate on the demons. If the spectres are helping the demons, we will have to deal with them sooner orter. Until then, you''d better put that threat aside and focus on what''s closer to us.

    Unlike spectres, demons can help you grow stronger!"

    Lothur agreed and asked. "So what do we do now? Where is the bone you spoke of?"

    The dinosaur led the way out of the cave while answering him. "That bone has not yet formed, of course. As you know, I''ve been fighting demons ever since I left the Immortals Well.

    That''s why I have observers all over the northern region, where the demons'' headquarters are supposed to be.

    Among these observers, I currently have three groups on the trail of the Emperors. The bone I told you about is being watched by my teams."

    "Oh? How do you know for sure that they are demons?" Lothur asked.

    Demons of the Emperor lineage had bodies just like humans. There was nothing visually about them that would indicate their true nature.

    Lothur had already seen this when he met Fabienne. The only way a normal person could recognize her is by seeing her use her powers, revealing her demonic nature. But without using them, she seemed as human as Viktoria and Elke.

    The Tyrannosaurus Rexughed. "Lothur, it''s reallyplicated to see the true face of these creatures. But just as I can see what you are, even when you hide, I can see what these creatures are."

    "Is that so?" Lothur understood and felt that it made sense.

    After all, he was a hybrid of a demon Emperor and a human, but a Sage could still notice him. A pure demon Emperor should be easier to detect.

    When he thought about it, he also felt an urgency to be a Sage because only then could he protect the truth about himself from the strongest in this world.

    If he became a Sage, he could hide perfectly and even use his lineage ability without worrying about attracting enemies!

    With this in mind, he clenched his fists and decided to assassinate one of these demon Emperors.

    "How are we going to get this bone? How exactly are you going to help me?"

    The magnificent creature replied. "I will not go with you. I will watch you from afar, or beings stronger than we intend to face wille your way.

    The 5th stage demons do not always watch their juniors. They rarely do unless it is someone critical in the demon tribe. However, they are always looking for the movements of experts at my level.

    So all I can do is tell you when to attack one of these creatures. You will have to fight for yourself."

    "OK. What do I do now?" Lothur wondered, eager to go.

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex stopped in front of Lothur, a short distance from his cave, and said as he shed the space with his ws. "I will send you close to where two of these creatures are.

    I will watch them from here for a few days to see if any Sages are watching these two. If not, I will send you a signal to act.

    My men will help you identify the demons, but they cannot fight alongside you. But the demons are Saints like you, so I believe you have a chance to defeat them."

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex had been working on the tracks of these creatures for several years. It was not easy to find such creatures!

    Like Lothur, they could hide very well. If someone powerful enough to understand what they were didn''t look directly at them, they could easily go unnoticed.

    In the same way that Lothur had visited the imperial family of the Petha Empire and managed to escape without being identified as a hybrid, several Emperors had managed to move about the continent in secret.

    But for creatures focused on finding such beings, like this dinosaur, who had resources and personnel to keep an eye on different parts of the state, finding them was more likely to happen over time.

    It wasn''t sure that you would eventually find them just by looking. But by making an effort to seek out information and news, by having people spread out over several powerful states, more areas would naturally be watched, increasing the chances of seeing one of them in action.

    The dinosaur in front of Lothur had identified 15 demon Emperors in his lifetime and had recently encountered 2 of those 3.

    He had identified those two a few days before Lothur had passed through the Immortals Well, and since then, he had been analyzing their situation to see how he could act.

    Someone at his level could not simply move to kill these demons, or it would draw too much attention. So, this dinosaur''s current job was to confirm the demons'' identities, check how dangerous it would be to act against them and use his many contacts to send demon hunters to kill them.

    All of this work wasplicated and took time to produce results. Luckily for Lothur, this creature had been ''saving'' these ''walking bones'' for him, so he hadn''t sent anyone to ''collect'' them yet.

    Seeing that Lothur understood what he had to do, the dinosaur said. "Now go. Kill these two creatures. If we''re lucky, at least one of their bones will benefit you."

    In the next instant, Lothur jumped into the spatial rift created by the beast and quickly arrived at apletely different ce, this time in an area he knew.

    ''Norid...'' He immediately identified the area, as he appeared nearly 3 kilometers high, above a famous mountain range of this state.

    From there, he saw a human city not far away and immediately flew closer to the ground, nning to wait for the moment to act there.

    But just as he reached the city, Lothur heard a rumor.

    "Ah, a whole vige has been devoured by a damned hybrid!" A woman shouted at the door of an inn, where several people were standing in line with fearful expressions and bundles of clothes on their backs.

    The terrible news had spread throughout the state, and many people from smaller towns and viges were migrating torger cities for fear of being the next to be devoured.

    Hearing this and seeing how crowded this city seemed for its size, Lothur frowned.

    ''A hybrid? Is there another like me?'' His eyes narrowed, and he became extremely interested!

    ...

 Chapter 744 Accelerating The Plans

    ?

    When Lothur heard the rumor about the actions of a hybrid like him, he immediately became interested in the opportunity to kill someone like him and obtain a Diamond-grade Soul Bone!

    A bone of that quality, and one of a type that the hybrid''s killer did not yet have, was extremely valuable to him!

    If he killed the two demon Emperors, absorbed at least one of those bones, and went after the hybrid, he could have 8 Soul Bones in an instant!

    If he was lucky with the Emperors, he could even reach 9 bones!

    Thinking about this, Lothur could not help but feel his heart beat faster as he swallowed his saliva in anticipation.

    ''I must hunt this creature down!'' He thought to himself as he walked and listened to the many local rumors.

    Apparently, the creature that was like him was wreaking havoc between Norid and Rablus, killing entire viges without bothering to draw attention to themselves.

    Upon reflection, Lothur immediately felt that this creature had already reached his cultivation stage, or it would not have acted so openly.

    Below the 4th stage, hybrids were considered weak. Not only could they advance by killing less because they were weaker, but they could also evolve faster.

    Normally, below this stage, these creatures would keep their thirst for power in check and not createrge massacres to announce their existence.

    But as they became Saints, these creatures required increasingly ridiculous amounts of sacrifices, Soul Bones, and resources to keep climbing to the top. As a result, their traces became more obvious, and they attracted attention even when they didn''t want to.

    ''But even if this one is a Saint, Sages must already be looking for them.'' Lothur quickly realized that if he had found out about this hybrid casually while walking through a city, then the demon hunters should have had this information for a long time.

    Considering this creature''s bone''s value, Sages would surely be keeping an eye on the region, creating a dual problem for Lothur.

    On the one hand, he would have to be more careful from now on, as he could be mistaken for the creature wreaking havoc on the northern continent. On the other hand, he could lose that Diamond-grade bone if he took too long.

    Not only would humans hunt this creature, but even demons would move to kill and eventually destroy this high-quality bone!

    ''I''ll have to go against the old dinosaur''s ns.'' He clenched his fists before using his sight to search for the demonic creatures.

    Earlier, Lothur had not known how the beast was sure his targets were Emperors. But it wasn''t because the young man didn''t know how to identify them, but rather because he knew howplicated it was, and he also didn''t know what the abilities of that Sage beast were like.

    However, he had already seen the essence of Emperors through Fabienne and was confident that he could identify someone like that with his Gold-grade vision.

    While searching for these creatures, he moved to a less crowded ce in this medium-sized city, hiding his aura as best he could.

    It was not an easy task to find these creatures, even with his ability. After all, this ce was not small, and of course, such demons were very good at camouging themselves.

    Choosing an empty and inconspicuous spot, Lothur sat down on the ground before using one of his unique abilities.

    One With Nature!

    Using his soul ability, he searched for information from the nts around this city, using them to extend his senses.

    He could easily find those demons waiting for the dinosaur people toe to him. But since Lothur didn''t want to wait, he searched for them by himself, in hard mode.

    After doing this for 3 hours straight, Lothur was already feeling a bit tired when he suddenly saw something that caught his attention.

    ''Huh? Those two...'' He sharpened his focus as he looked in that direction and saw two individuals sitting on the porch of a house, drinking tea and chatting quietly.

    Demon Emperors were excellent at imitating human manners. Some even seemed harmless, and even if one told their neighbors and friends that they were demons, people would not believe it.

    Not only that but even if the truth of such a being were revealed, a friend who heard it might even be inclined to think that even if it was a demon, it might be a good being.

    After all, personal experience was often worth more than rumors and legends.

    Besides, if there were good and bad humans, couldn''t the same be true for demons?

    But things were not that simple. An Emperor who lived in peace was just as dangerous as one who acted for the good of their supreme leader.

    The power of such a creature was terrifying, and they could easily strengthen themselves by eating powerful humans. Perhaps one of them was extremely peaceful with weak humans, but powerful beings might be on their radar.

    After all, even if demons strangely wanted to go against their instincts and the demonic hierarchy, they would still be dangerous to the human world. They could lure other demons to where they were, and to stay out of trouble, they could sell information and more.

    But even in the remote chance that one of these creatures had a ''pure'' heart and no longer acted like a demon, Lothur wouldn''t care.

    ''Innocent'' or not, demons were holders of what he needed most!

    Some might find it sad or wrong that the hungry lion devoured the innocent zebra. But for the lion, or for Lothur, ''eating'' their prey could save them from starvation or a precarious situation.

    Lothur didn''t care if these two were demons like his mother or the worst creatures in the world. When he saw them, all he saw in his eyes were two Soul Bones that could make him stronger and save him from a horrible death.

    Sure that they were indeed demons, Lothur did not hesitate and moved towards them!

    ''Two 4th stage demons, huh? It won''t be easy, but I must eliminate them! Otherwise, I might die before Iplete my mission with the Jansen family!''

    Lothur didn''t run but walked calmly to where those beings were, knowing that he couldn''t alert them or his ns might fail.

    ''I don''t know if there are any Sages in this city. But I must take my chances. If I don''t act inside the city, I will lose any advantage of a surprise attack.'' He thought, resolved.

    ''I will take my chances and kill these creatures. I''ll deal with any problems that arise after that!''

    ...

 Chapter 745 Quick Action

    ?

    Arriving across the street where those two Emperor demons were having tea in a small estate, Lothur stopped momentarily.

    Neither of the two demons could notice him since he was hiding and not showing any suspicious behavior.

    But Lothur knew this would notst long with his next move!

    He wanted to attack without further ado!

    But first, he saw the status of those two creatures.

    [Unknown Demon **]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 21]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 19]

    [STR: 1,001] [CON: 1,356] [DEX: 1,099] [AGI: 1,081]

    [INT: 1,124] [PER: 1,000] [WIL: 1,150] [SOU: 3,912]

    ...

    [Unknown Demon **]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19] [str: 440

    [STR: 940] [CON: 1,170] [DEX: 999] [AGI: 1,060]

    [INT: 1,024] [PER: 990] [WIL: 1,000] [SOU: 3,412]

    ''I can easily eliminate the level 20 demon. Theplication will be this other one.'' Lothur thought to himself as he set his target.

    With that in mind, he no longer stood still and used his abilities to leap towards the estate, invading it as he pushed his body through the walls.

    Once inside, Lothur immediately drew his Darkness Scythe and shed at the heart of the strongest creature.

    The two Emperor demons suddenly realized that their senses were alerting them that something was wrong, and both paid attention to their surroundings, noticing a Supreme Saint approaching them.

    "A hunter?" One said as he saw Lothur''s body make its way through thest wall to where they stood.

    But the stronger demon, a woman, frowned and looked directly at Lothur''s weapon.

    "A tinum-grade weapon! Damn it, get ready to fight, Igalloch! This bastard is here to kill us!" She said as she shoved the table in front of her to the ground, which immediately turned to dust.

    The level 20 male demon narrowed his eyes and prepared to fight.

    After years of living there, he hadn''t expected them to be attacked like this, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the city.

    Didn''t this demon hunter fear destruction and innocent victims?

    "Die!" Lothur shouted as he swung his scythe in the direction of the level 21 creature.

    Swooish!

    But even though she had been distracted earlier, the woman subtly deflected Lothur''s blow enough to keep the scythe de from piercing her chest.

    "Aaagh!"

    But Lothur''s de still reached her shoulder, cutting until it hit the bone!

    She screamed in pain and felt the wound, which would not heal in a short time. She formed a hateful expression as she looked at the ck-haired man.

    "Damned hunter! I''ll kill you!" She said as she jumped towards him, her dominant hand aimed at Lothur''s face.

    The scythe was not a very closebat weapon. If the opponent of the wielder of such a weapon were too close, it would lose its usefulness.

    Gravity!

    Lothur activated one of his special abilities, immediately forcing the two demons to feel their bodies slightly differently.

    The demon attacking him had a higher Will than his, so it only missed her move when he dodged. But the level 20 demon felt the weight on his body and couldn''t move, feeling the horror of being unable to do anything.

    "Shit!" He said with his mouth closed, as he couldn''t even move his lips now!

    Mistaking his move, the woman hit a wall instead of Lothur, instantly turning the thing to dust.

    Lothur saw this and narrowed his eyes, seeing that this was the woman''s special ability.

    "You''ll make a good Soul Bone, demon!" He dered with a smile, already activating one of his techniques.

    Omnipotence!

    Unlike humans, demons could not use special techniques. Everything powerful about them was their innate ability that they could use right after birth, their super regeneration, and their ability to grow stronger by devouring others.

    But when it came to artificial methods of bing stronger, humans were second to hybrids!

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur felt his Strength, Soul, and Will increase by 25%, making his Gravity even more terrifying to those creatures.

    ck mes and darkness erupted from his body, spreading across the area until they reached those two bodies.

    Meanwhile, the entire house they were in began to copse as that woman''s ability continued to take effect, destroying everything that touched her body.

    Even under the pressure of Gravity, she could still reveal her ability, unlike her ally, who had easily fallen to Lothur.

    "If you touch me with your weapon, you will die, hunter!" She found a way to say this to Lothur while dozens of people around the estate watched the situation unfold.

    In particr, half a dozen Supreme Saints in this city turned their eyes in that direction, noticing this sh of experts.

    ''But those two... They... Are they demons?'' One of the old men who had interacted with those two creatures the most wondered in amazement as he felt the demonic energy emanating from those bodies.

    Under the threat of Lothur, there was no way they could hide their true nature!

    But even after hearing thisment from the level-21 woman, Lothur smiled as he killed his position, pressing down on the two and letting his darkness dominate the surroundings of the three.

    "Maybe I don''t need to do this," Lothurmented.

    In the next instant, the sound of a de prating flesh was heard in the now-destroyed area.

    "That... You!" The woman tasted blood and looked back to see herpanion using his own skill to pierce her body.

    "Aaaaagh!"

    She screamed in pain as she felt herpanion''s arm, now in the shape of a sword with ck mes on it, prate fully into her body, going through her back and out her left breast.

    As she felt the pain, the sword-shaped man''s arm quickly disintegrated and turned to dust.

    Lothurughed when he saw this, and his enemies hugged each other.

    ''Ah, this skill is perfect...'' He looked into the woman''s eyes, longing for the Soul Bone she would form.

    Seeing that she was quickly losing her strength from her ally''s deadly attack, Lothur did not hesitate and pointed the Darkness Scythe at them with an outstretched arm.

    In a single motion, he severed both of their heads without risking the structure of his tinum-grade weapon!

    Swooish!

    Two heads rolled, and the two mighty demons that Lothur had once feared to face alone fell dead before him!

    ...

 Chapter 746 The Beginning of the Battle

    <h4>Chapter 746 The Beginning of the Battle?</h4>

    Lothur easily killed those two demons, which made him surprised at himself.

    From thebinations of his attributes, techniques, and skills, he knew he had a good chance of facing creatures with the attributes he had seen earlier and defeating them fairly quickly.

    But to kill two powerful Saints so quickly for the first time was a bit of a shock, and Lothur couldn''t help but think about how much he had grown to reach this moment.

    As he watched the two bones form before him, he stowed his Darkness Scythe in his spatial ring, a weapon he still relied heavily on to kill creatures like this without using his bloodline.

    As he did so, Lothur noticed several Supreme Saints like himself approaching him and frowned.

    ''Have theye only to observe or to try to take what is mine?'' He asked himself, quickly storing the two bones in his spatial ring as soon as they were formed.

    As he did so, the dust and darkness around him dissipated, revealing the wreckage of the area and himself, while no signs of those demons could be seen in the area.

    Lothur immediately hid his cultivation, knowing that he couldn''t just leave without being followed, and nned to try to make these people think twice before making a mistake.

    Some of these people were stronger than him, but without knowing how strong he really was, it would be a mistake to act against him!

    However, mistake or not, the world was made of risks, and now Lothur had 2 precious Soul Bones, one tinum-grade and one Quasi-tinum-grade, in his special ring!

    ''At least there is no Sage...'' Lothur saw those people surrounding him, all level 21 Saints, but there was no sign of any level 22 experts in the area.

    The dead demons had not chosen this ce at random. If there were Sages there, they would be easily spotted and killed!

    As for whether someone from this level was looking in this direction, Lothur could not be sure.

    "That... You... Are you a demon hunter?" One of those people, an old man with white hair and a beard, asked as he looked at Lothur with narrowed eyes.

    The other people, 3 men, and 2 women, raised their guards and looked at Lothur with mixed emotions.

    On the one hand, they were grateful to him for what he had just done by identifying and killing those demons. This was a work for the good of the city, for the good of humanity!

    On the other hand, they were all greedy for the two Soul Bones he had just collected.

    "Young man, give us these bones, and we will let you go!" A woman with a mature body and ck hair said as she spoke thicker than the previous elder.

    "We will let you live to tell the tale of what you did here. But these bones will stay with us!" A strong and tall man said, showing Lothur that there was no chance for them to talk.

    "Will you fight for these bones?" Lothur also became more serious, taking a fighting stance, prepared to face these people.

    Unlike what he had done with those demons, fighting these humans would be much moreplicated. Besides the fact that they were more numerous and stronger than those creatures, Lothur did not have the advantage of being able to take them by surprise.

    Victory against this group would note without a hard fight!

    After his unnecessary question, Lothur did not wait for an answer from these people and immediately activated hisst ability, using arge part of his power.

    Storm!

    Disregarding the civilians and innocents around him, Lothur activated his best Soul Bone ability, causing the weather around him to change drastically.

    Strong winds suddenly surged around his body, quickly forming razor-sharp des as they spread out in all directions.

    The surrounding buildings were the first to suffer, being destroyed bit by bit as the whirlwind of des destroyed everything in its path.

    Realizing the power of this opponent''s first move, these men and women immediately protected themselves with their techniques and skills.

    This was a very powerful blow that could injure their bodies if they were not careful!

    However, as powerful Supreme Saints with soul attributes even superior to those of Lothur and even the female demon from earlier, they were not in mortal danger.

    Realizing this, Lothur did not hesitate to flee after this initial attack!

    He immediately manipted the space around him and flew through the vacuum of space in the direction of the Ancestral Region, where he knew there would be many dangers.

    If those humans decided to follow him, they would all be in trouble with him!

    Lothur did not expect the Tyrannosaurus Rex to intervene on his behalf. All he had in mind was to evade these enemies by putting them in mortal danger.

    He had his Super Regeneration. But did these humans have something like that? Maybe what could kill them wouldn''t be enough to eliminate him!

    "Damn it! That fucking hunter is thinking about running away!" The first of them to notice Lothur''s action shouted, finishing off the air des that had already destroyed four blocks of this city.

    The others did the same and soon began a chase after Lothur, slowly diminishing the advantage he had gained in the initial moment.

    Lothur was very fast indeed. They were impressed by his physical prowess. But he still lost against them, for they had far more soul power than he did to feed their bodies and reach even higher speeds than he did.

    The difference between their speeds was not great, so for the next 30 minutes, one would run away while the others would chase him.

    But after those minutes, one of them finally caught up with Lothur and struck his body with force and precision!

    Pow!

    A colossal fist formed in the air and struck Lothur''s front so fast that he had no chance to dodge.

    When Lothur felt this blow hit his face, he howled in pain for the first time in a long period, lost control of his body, and flew until he crashed into arge rock.

    "If you don''t give us those bones, demon hunter, we will extract them and the others in your body!" Said one of the men from this group, who were already on the outskirts of Lothur, ready to finish his race.

    They had intended to take only the bones of these two creatures. But now, angry, they would take nothing less than all the bones of Lothur!

    "Then prepare to die, for I will destroy you, fucking wretches!" Lothur rose in pain before the Darkness Scythe appeared in one of his hands.

    River of Souls!

    ...

 Chapter 747 Everyones New Enemies

    ?

    Activating the Darkness Scythe skill, Lothur released his Mortal Aura and Darkness mes as he spun his weapon, forming a wheel of darkness as the six enemies felt their spines chill.

    "Wretched! He has a damned tinum-grade weapon!" One of the two women shouted as she realized what gave this Saint the confidence to face them all.

    Lothur had his skills. He was swift and had several cards up his sleeve that he could use in a fight. These humans could sense that, but his soul was much weaker than the weakest one''s soul there.

    With them together, these people were confident that they could eliminate him!

    However, with this weapon, everything could be different!

    "Tsk! Very good, hunter! But that''s still not enough! That just turned apletely unbnced battle in our favor into a contest where both sides could suffer." A tall blond man said, still willing to go to the end.

    He had a soul of nearly 5 thousand. Why fear Lothur just because of this weapon? Hell, if he could get a single Soul Bone from that hunter, he could get close to level 22 or even advance!

    Any risk was worth it when such a good prize was at hand!

    They all agreed on this point and immediately formed huge hands that pressed against Lothur, knowing they would have to squeeze him.

    Lothur felt the weight of these people''s powers and gritted his teeth, feeling the veins in his entire head tremble as he did everything he could to direct the River of Souls towards them.

    His Spirit Body then transformed, revealing something semi-transparent with six extremely dense and powerful bones.

    The six bones glowed, and the hands that were beating Lothur lost some of their advantages, retreating a bit with the appearance of this part of him.

    After seeing this, one of the women was impressed, noticing the immense quality of this Spirit Body.

    ''Incredible! Six bones and some of them are of great quality!'' She was impressed to see its power, which even managed to decrease their pressure.

    Not only that, but as Lothur''s Spirit Body withstood the pressure, the River of Soul began to take effect, causing several creatures of darkness to emerge from the ground in the surrounding area.

    The men of this group felt that if the darkness of this water wheel touched them, they would not end well!

    They immediately sprang into action, forming barriers around their bodies as their pressure on Lothur became more cautious.

    But as this was happening, Lothur looked to the north and narrowed his eyes to see a group of level 21 creatures in what appeared to be a vige.

    He shifted his energies and circted his powers through his eyes, causing them to glow bright red.

    Laser Vision!

    Two red beams shot out of his eyes a secondter, targeting one of the women there, the weakest of the group.

    This woman quickly moved to defend herself, reducing the pressure on Lothur.

    Already prepared, Lothur activated another of his abilities, forming a giant of mes behind him.

    "Explode!" He shouted as he charged at two other individuals.

    As he did so, Lothur saw a weakness in the enemy formation and promptly manipted space, leaving behind the terrible wheel of reincarnation that was already causing the souls of fallen beings in the area to enter the River of Souls.

    "Shit!" One of the men who had not been attacked cursed as he saw Lothur use his tricks to evade them once again.

    "He won''t be able to do that for long. Let''s move on!" He said before leaving the area in pursuit of Lothur, this time certain that this fellow would not be able to escape again.

    Everyone in the group shook off Lothur''s blows and left the wheel of reincarnation behind, once again following his tracks north.

    With their impressive speed, they caught up with him after 10 minutes of chasing and attacked him mercilessly.

    "Fight, coward!" One of the men shouted as he moved a huge de and shed at Lothur''s body.

    Lothur moved his scythe to meet the blow, sensing what was right behind him.

    ''I''m going to fall over there...'' He thought before a metallic sound came, and he felt pain in his arms.

    In the next instant, his body flew in the direction of his opponents'' movement, destroying trees in his path until he stopped in the middle of a tribe of beasts!

    His opponents were so focused on attacking him that they had no idea where they were taking him!

    As they approached Lothur to press him once more, they all momentarily stopped as they felt 4 powerful auras rising in the surroundings.

    "This..."

    "Humans! What do you think you are doing?" A terrifying voice arose in the area as Lothur and the people around him looked in its direction.

    A secondter, a gigantic body the size of a small mountain, covered in ck scales and withrge wings on its back, emerged from a cave in that tribe.

    Lothur looked at this creature and smiled, noting that its physical attributes were nearly 4,000 points!

    But this was a special creature that possessed unique powers beyond its immense physical strength.

    When the other dragons of the tribe appeared near the six of them, they did not wait for an exnation but immediately opened their mouths and spat terrible mes at them!

    Sssss!

    "Shit!" One of the humans shouted as he sensed the big trouble they had gotten themselves into.

    Without realizing it, they had entered the Ancestral Region. They encountered a tribe of dragons, one of the most troublesome races in the area.

    Seeing the attacks of these creatures, they all thought the same thing!

    ''I have to run away!''

    They had attacked a tribe of dragons, which meant that they would be hunted, and if they killed one of these creatures, they would attract even more dangerous beings, the Sages!

    But even these Supreme Saints would be dangerous for them, for they had very powerful abilities!

    Lothur thought the same and did not want to face the mes of these creatures, so he immediately focused his strength on fleeing the area.

    As they flew away, these people kept looking at Lothur, running in the same direction as him, still unwilling to give up those wonderful Soul Bones.

    And so, an even bigger chase began, with humans chasing Lothur and dragons chasing them all.

    As they ran or flew, all of these creatures exchanged blows, fighting as they tried to either escape or eliminate their targets.

    Everyone was everyone''s enemy, and soon, Lothur''s ns began to take effect as his Super Regeneration ability kicked in while these humans and beasts grew tired and bruised.

    ''It''s time for me to retreat!''

 Chapter 748 1st Catastrophe Sage

    <h4>Chapter 748 1st Catastrophe?Sage</h4>

    Sensing more room for an escape attempt, Lothur looked at the two enemies chasing him, a dragon and a human and activated his two main techniques.

    Omnipotence!

    Cruel Underworld!

    Combining these two techniques, he increased his power a bit, and in a few moments, several fallen creatures in the area came to serve him!

    Lothur had ns for these creatures that were chasing him, while he had not used all of his powers when he was most vulnerable.

    If he had acted then, he would have had a lower chance of sess, as his enemies would have been less worn down.

    From the beginning of this hunt, the goal was to find a way for him to absorb one of those two bones and raise his level. He couldn''t do that without temporarily escaping the sight of those beings, so he hadn''t used all of his until he thought he wouldn''t have the best results.

    But now, after more than 2 hours of battle, with the enemies already quite wounded, tired, and even scattered, he was confident to make his main move!

    Against only the two strongest enemies, he raised a group of a dozen dead creatures, all at the beginning of level 21!

    "Fight these bastards!" He shouted as he sent the creatures of darkness at them, causing the two creatures to give him ugly looks.

    But Lothur would not wait to see the oue of this confrontation, knowing that the rest of the dragons and humans were nearby and could find him quickly.

    He fled the area and searched for a good cave where he could have at least 5 minutes of peace.

    When he found such a ce, he erased all his tracks and promptly hid, already holding one of the two Soul Bones in his hands.

    Unfortunately, the two Emperor demons had formed the same type of Soul Bone!

    This was a rare situation, but it could happen.

    Fortunately, it was a bone that Lothur did not have yet.

    Lothur quickly chose the bone from that female demon, knowing that her skill was the more impressive of the two.

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Feature: Once absorption begins, it will rece the right pate. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones with the Dposition skill. It also increases all physical attributes by 95% and all mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it by 100%.]

    [Absorb Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone?]

    ''Yes!''

    Lothur smiled as he gave the order, quickly closing his eyes and ignoring the ten enemies in the area that were slowly approaching his location.

    Immediately after hismand, the right pate flew to his right knee, glowing brightly before quickly entering his body and beginning to fuse with themon bone.

    The process this time was even faster than Lothur''sst Soul Bone absorption, even considering the higher quality of it.

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur felt his pate bone bing something different, something that would give him a lot of power!

    He once again felt the will of the demon in that bone, the remnant of the soul it had left behind when it died from the blow of the Darkness Scythe.

    ''Thank you for leaving this behind!'' Lothur quickly absorbed it, giving the demon no chance to take his heart and reappear in his body.

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 61% -> 75%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 5% -> 23%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 14% -> 31%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 0% -> 19%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 7% -> 24%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 88% -> 99%]

    Lothur could feel all of his bones progressing a bit along with his mortal aura.

    However, for the time being, they were not improving in quality. They were just approaching new levels.

    Five minutes after the absorption of these bones began, Lothur felt a sudden surge of power in his body, and any pain he felt during the process subsided.

    His wounds finished healing, and his tired aura from earlier grew stronger, this time reaching a new level!

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 21 -> 22]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 20 -> 21]

    [STR: 3,360] [CON: 5,160] [DEX: 3,600] [AGI: 3,660]

    [INT: 1,059] [PER: 3,255] [WIL: 2,213] [SOU: 5,322]

    [EVF: 2]

    A huge crack appeared from within his body, and Lothur felt as if the world had changed, and a vortex of energy formed above where he stood.

    In this area of the Ancestral Region, tens of thousands of creatures sensed the birth of a Sage in this direction!

    All of Lothur''s enemies suddenly looked toward the cave he had entered, sensing an indescribable power emanating from that area.

    Not only the Saints but even the Sages sensed Lothur''s progress.

    But even at a critical moment, Lothur quickly collected the bonuses from leveling up, gaining new advancements in his affinities and the advancement of his bones!

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 75% -> 95%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 23% -> 46%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 31% -> 53%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 19% -> 47%]

    ..

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 24% -> 51%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold -> tinum]

    [Progress: 99% -> 5%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 2% -> 8%].

    ...

    [PER: 3,255 -> 3,525]

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur''s entire cultivationprehension skyrocketed, and his techniques that had not yet reached the Grandmaster level suddenly reached thest phase of mastery.

    Feeling this, Lothur opened his eyes, and an extensive smile appeared as a red glow returned from the center of his being.

    "You bastards, Seraphim Church, I''m back!" He shouted as he stood up, and without hesitation, he activated his bloodline ability, causing a giant of blood to surge out of his body.

    After a long time, red marks appeared around his face again, and Lothur felt every creature within 5 kilometers of him fall under his control.

    "Now you are all my food!"

    Lothur reached the ultimate control of his ability, and outside of that space of up to 5 kilometers from him, no one else could sense his powerful ability!

    Thus, the most powerful ability on the continent was back, now with no restrictions!

 Chapter 749 Very Satisfied

    <h4>Chapter 749 Very Satisfied?</h4>

    The moment he activated his bloodline, Lothur felt the lives of over 20 creatures in the area under his control, taking their fates into his hands.

    He had only 10 enemies there, but these other creatures in the area were witnesses he could not leave behind.

    As someone merciless, Lothur spared no one and, in the blink of an eye, made his bloody energy reach everyone in that area, sucking their vitalities and all their cultivationprehensions.

    One of the humans closest to that cave where a red giant had emerged trembled at the sight of Lothur''s silhouette, feeling the true terror of being against a Sage.

    Not only was this a Sage, but also a hybrid who could steal everything they had.

    ''My Seraph, who have we provoked?'' One of the old men thought to himself, shivering in pain but unable to move his body as a cloak of red energy circled him.

    Meanwhile, even the people farthest away from Lothur felt a cloak of red mist over their bodies, sucking what they had like a parasite trying to kill them.

    "Shit!" One of the women managed to scream, but her whole body was shriveling in the midst of it, losing the beauty she had to turn her into a mummy.

    Not only were the humans suffering, but the four dragons were madly trying to escape from there.

    But the aura restricting them was so terrible that even special creatures of powerful bloodlines and body features were achieving nothing.

    They ousted the humans, and after 20 seconds since the activation of Lothur''s bloodline ability, they were the only ones in the area still alive.

    All others, innocent or not, perished, leaving no bodies behind.

    They turned to dust, leaving only their rings and Soul Bones!

    Of the six humans, 5 had at least one Soul Bone, while one had two of these special artifacts.

    After the deaths of these humans and the innocents in the area, the dragons could not hold on for long and also met their end.

    In the midst of this, Lothur saw his characteristics improve significantly.

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 2% -> 20%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance]

    [Progress: 1% -> 19%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade -> tinum-grade frost resistance]

    [Progress: 98% -> 13%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade -> tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 81% -> 5%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade -> tinum-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 60% -> 1%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 3% -> 45%]

    ...

    [PER: 3,525 -> 4,215]

    ...

    [EVF: 2 -> 31,259]

    Seeing his improvements, Lothur smiled in satisfaction, ordering the system to distribute these points in Soul power.

    [1,041 points added in SOU for the cost of 31,230 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 5,322 -> 6,363]

    ...

    [EVF: 31,259 -> 29]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 21]

    [STR: 3,360] [CON: 5,160] [DEX: 3,600] [AGI: 3,660]

    [INT: 1,059] [PER: 4,215] [WIL: 2,213] [SOU: 6,363]

    [EVF: 29]

    Seeing his status with such high values, Lothur finally heaved a sigh of relief, feeling that the danger to him had just greatly diminished.

    With so many tinum-grade features, the Darkness Scythe, his 7 Soul Bones, and such attributes, he could now hide even from Sages, use his bloodline ability freely, etc.

    Thinking of this, he clenched his fists, feeling excited.

    But still standing in that area, he decided to look up in the system the new skill he had acquired.

    [Dposition] [Rank: tinum]

    [Characteristics: skill rted to the user''s Soul. With it, the user can dpose all kinds of material by touching it with any part of his body or even with his spiritual fluctuation.]

    [Progress: 8%]

    ''That''s really a great skill, not only offensive but also defensive.'' Lothur thought to himself, imagining the wonders he could do using it.

    But besides Dposition, his recently acquired skill, Storm, had evolved to tinum grade, and now it could do much more than before.

    If Lothur wanted to, he could now even send destructive storms for hundreds of kilometers. He could create a destructive phenomenon capable of hitting entire states if he wanted!

    This was the true power of a Sage, which could not be measured in numbers!

    Lothur quickly saw this through the system screen, but while he did so with satisfaction, he suddenly felt a strange sensation and looked south.

    ''Sages?'' When he activated his sight skill, he immediately saw several 5th-stage cultivators approaching him.

    ''I must have attracted their attention during the battle earlier...'' He quickly understood that this had nothing to do with when he used his bloodline ability.

    Now, he could use it without worrying about alerting Sages to his position!

    However, in the battle against the demons and then the escape from the humans, any Sage who looked at Lothur would have noticed that he was a hybrid!

    ''Before, I would have been afraid, but now I will just go on my way.''

    Quickly realizing the problem, Lothur moved and opened a spatial rift to an area far away, near the center of Rablus.

    As he disappeared from the area, the nowpletely gray surroundings of that ce revealed themselves to the world. Still, there was nothing there to indicate where the cause of all this destruction had gone.

    ...

    When he passed through the previous portal and arrived in Rablus, Lothur had his hair in its original color and felt safe enough to show his true appearance in public.

    Without as many worries as he had recently, he looked at his spatial ring, which contained the six Soul Bones he had just acquired and six Gold-grade spatial rings.

    ''I now have 10 Soul Bones for my family.'' Lothur looked at one of his hands and thought. ''But 3 of them are not suitable for my women. They are only Soul Bones of Lord demons.

    Lothur currently had 1 bone from an Emperor demon, 4 from Monarch demons, 2 from General demons, and 3 from Lord demons.

    He thought that the 7 bones could be absorbed by his women without hindering them too much in their journey, even if some of them were from General demons.

    But the 3 mostmon bones would no longer serve them, who would soon have 3 to 5 Soul Bones each.

    ''I will give these to the Koch, Becker, and Frost families. They will each receive one of these bones.'' Lothur decided before looking at the spatial rings and realizing how much wealth he had umted.

    ''Oh? Not bad...'' He smiled and finished his brief analysis before returning to his previous interest.

    ''Time to go after the hybrid!''

 Chapter 750 Common Enemy

    <h4>Chapter 750 Common Enemy?</h4>

    As Lothur moved through Rablus, a group of Sages was already investigating where he had destroyed his enemies minutes earlier.

    Within moments of his departure, 10 Sages were already there, having identified a hideous creature in the area.

    None of them had sensed Lothur''s bloodline ability, but all of them had noticed strange traces of the battle that had taken ce nearby.

    Seeing the strange state of this part of the Ancestral Region, a man dressed in the robes of the Seraphim Church knelt on the ground and picked up the ashes of some of those who had died there.

    A person also from the Church, with a soul power of nearly 15,000, saw this andmented to the other experts in the area. "There is no doubt about it. A hybrid of human and demon was here."

    A member of the Ancestral Folk, who was also there because of the being that gave him an uneasy feeling,mented solemnly. "And it''s not just a hybrid anymore. The damned thing is a Sage hybrid! He has performed a miracle and be the first of its kind to reach our cultivation level!"

    Those words caused everyone there to be worried. Never before had a hybrid gone this far before being identified and killed.

    However, everyone there could sense the spatial fluctuations in the area, indicating that such a being had just fled.

    Unfortunately, they couldn''t track where such a being had gone.

    A level 22 dragon continued with a terrible expression and said. "We cannot allow this creature to grow stronger. If it stays alive, it will dominate and destroy the entire continent in a few years!"

    "Yes. We must stop everything we are doing and focus 100% on finding and eliminating this creature." A being from another race in the Ancestral Regionmented in support of the dragon''s idea.

    "But what about the demons? They are getting bolder and bolder. If we focus everything we have on this hybrid, we will open the door for the demons to further their ns." Lothur''s Tyrannosaurus Rex friendmented.

    He had sensed that Lothur had killed the two demons and was furious that the young man had not waited.

    Even a 5th demon was watching him at that moment of the fight!

    Fortunately, most of these Sages could only travel short distances through space, and those who saw the fight in this ce needed an hour or more to travel from where they were to this ce.

    This might sound like a lot, but most of these experts had crossed the entire continent after noticing something strange happening near the ce they were observing.

    In other situations, Lothur''s actions would not have attracted the attention of so many experts. But with the second hybrid across the continent, many experts from different states were keeping an eye on the states with the highest chance of hiding the hybrid.

    Thus, upon seeing Lothur''s rash action, this beast moved.

    By ''a long shot,'' his ally had managed to advance and escape without confronting these sages!

    ''Lothur, what are you doing?'' He asked himself.

    One of the Sages answered the beast''s question. "Demons, if I were them, I would be more concerned about this hybrid than their ns. From what I have sensed, this creature still has 3 Soul Bone slots. The demon leaders should be worried. They are the target of this abomination!"

    "Yes, even the demons will have to stop what they are doing or risk extinction." Another Sage backed up, feeling it wouldn''t hurt their races so much to put aside the hunt against the demons.

    Tyrannosaurus Rex didn''t like that at all, but he didn''t say anything. He could not convince these creatures that Lothur was not the danger but the demons.

    As for the other hybrid, he knew nothing about it. Until now, he thought that the rumors of a hybrid traveling through Rablus and Norid were about Lothur or misinterpreted actions of demons.

    "We will form a temporary army." The strongest of the Church there suggested. "We must eliminate this creature as soon as possible, or the world as we know it will end. Therefore, I propose that our emissaries meet in the capital of Rablus in two days to begin operations."

    As they spoke in the middle of the area devastated by Lothur''s bloodline ability, a semi-transparent creature of hideous appearance peered a few kilometers away.

    But this was no ordinary spectre. It was at level 22 and could move freely across almost the entire continent!

    ''That artifact was here...'' He thought to himself, feeling a mixed feelings.

    On the one hand, finding a concrete trace of the artifact that threatened his group''s ns was good. On the other, it was terrible to find out that such a strong group would now hunt down the person who possessed such an artifact.

    How could he steal it in front of so many experts?

    It would be a big problem!

    While this spectre was worrying about this, a little farther away from this area, a level 22 Emperor demon was also looking at where Lothur had gone.

    ''Damned hybrid! You killed my two emissaries, and now you''ve reached my level.'' He clenched his fists, feeling a great desire to kill this abomination.

    He also wanted to kill and destroy the Soul Bone of Lothur. If one of the humans in this group killed this creature and absorbed its Soul Bone, it was almost inevitable that such a person would be the strongest in the entire world!

    A Diamond-grade Soul Bone could generate a bonus of between 160% and 320%!

    Since Lothur was already at the 5th stage, the possibility of the bonus being near the upper limit was very high!

    If a level 23 Sage absorbed such a Soul Bone, it would not be impossible for them to reach level 25!

    This high-level demon trembled at this thought and immediately activated a quasi-Diamond-grade artifact from his group. "Boss, we have trouble in the north of Concordia. A Sage hybrid of demons and humans has just appeared. We need forces on the maind immediately."

    "What?" A shocked voice came from the other end of the line. "Are you serious? You mean this being has advanced so quickly?"

    "I''m not sure. There were rumors that there might be 2 hybrids on the continent. Considering the difference in scale between the recent news we have and this one I saw, I believe there is a high chance that this is not just a rumor.

    There is more than a 90% chance that we have two hybrids traveling through Concordia!"

    "But that''s too bad! If one of them meets the other, we will have a disaster!"

 Chapter 751 Favorable Developments for Lothur

    <h4>Chapter 751 Favorable Developments for Lothur?</h4>

    Five dayster...

    As demons, humans, beasts, and various other races began to hunt Lothur across the continent, sending their top experts, the Ritter Motor Company opened its 2nd and 3rd branches across the empire!

    With construction progressing rapidly across the empire and an ever-increasing amount of coining into thepany, their operations across Leopoldine were bing more and more effective.

    Not only that, but while the current expansion is focused solely on the empire, the more Lothur''s cars begin to travel the local roads and other cities, the more exposure thepany would have to foreigners.

    People from practically all of Leopoldine''s neighboring provinces were already aware of the wonders called cars, and the number of orders was growing much faster than expected.

    Linn Province was the most attractive ce in the empire these days, with many visitors heading to Peters City to see the model city of the Ritter Motor Company business.

    With new factories beingpleted and daily production reaching 400 units, even cities outside Leopoldine were getting their first cars!

    To make more coins, the Viktoria-led group had introduced a preferential option, whereby anyone wishing to take delivery of their vehicle early would have to pay a bonus of between 20% and 40% of the purchase price.

    As a result, the rich and hastier got their cars and took them to other states, generating even more revenue for thepany.

    ...

    "Wow, can you believe it? In the blink of an eye, we reached 500,000 orders!" Viktoriamented to her harem sisters as she rxed on a couch in Lothur''s first house, hunched over from a long day''s work.

    The other three women of Lothur were still in seclusion, gathering as many crystals as possible to increase their strength.

    Since there had been no major problems with them leaving their seclusion recently, they continued their internal training, only stopping when they needed to eat and rest a bit.

    At that moment, Elke and Annaliese were there with Viktoria, eating and chatting with Lothur''s wife, while Reba was at the family headquarters.

    "That''s really impressive, big sister," Annaliesemented with a smile. "With these numbers, we''ll be able to reach every province in the empire in no time."

    "Hmm, as a matter of fact, I have already started a new expansion targeting the remaining provinces where we have not yet started our work. With thepletion of some work in the two cities we recently started, we can focus on other areas." She said with her eyes closed but with a smile on her lips, as it was rewarding to lead the expansion of thispany.

    Thepany''s high-level partners were a real pain in the ass. But even though she had to deal with some of them almost daily, Viktoria couldn''t help but be satisfied with how things were going.

    If everything went ording to her ns for the next few months, by the middle of next year, Leopoldine would have cars driving around all its major cities. Also, the Ritter Motor Company''s affordablemunicationswork would finally cover the entire empire!

    When that happened, it would only be a matter of time before various parts of the continent would be reached by thework designed by Lothur.

    Viktoria was happy to think about how amazing that would be. Still, the people of the Koch family were even more excited because it would give them great power over the empire and, eventually, the continent!

    If that happened, Lothur would be ahead of everyone in knowing the ns of those who used hiswork.

    ...

    While Peter''s City experienced another busy day with tourists and residents enjoying themselves in their cars or on intercity transport, the empire''s capital was a bit quieter than expected for the beginning of a new ruler''s government.

    After the many exemptions for the Ritter Motor Company and the Linn Province, the new emperor received virtually no opposition, contrary to what might have been expected. On the opposite, despite the initial surprise, considering that most of the empire''s high-ranking power and purchasing power were Lothur''s partners in one way or another, they had greatly appreciated this action that would benefit them.

    Not only that, but the Ritter family had recently be a noble family of the state after Emperor us Leopoldine recognized Lothur as such.

    Some might find this strange, as young Ritter was a fugitive wanted by the Church. But without confirmation that he was a demon-human hybrid, no one could say this state supported an abomination.

    With the Ritter family bing a noble power and an alliance with House Leopoldine bing known to the state, the society of Lothur was safer to continue in this state than before.

    As such, us'' subjects were naturally very fond of his leadership, and even Daemon, who had always been a problem for the state, had not moved yet.

    Many believed that he would bring chaos to the domain, but after so many actions in favor of his son, this man had not acted.

    Not only that, but after a long time, there were no longer any bounties on his head, and he had been pardoned for all his crimes.

    Daemon was aware of all this but did not want to return to the imperial family. He had lost interest in acting against his younger brother, who seemed to have lost his former essence and be a ve to Lothur.

    Daemon was not like the other people of this state. He could see that his second brother would never do such a thing if something weren''t going on. Considering how strong Lothur must have be by now, he wisely realized that us was no longer his enemy because of his son.

    Not wanting to interfere with Lothur''s ns for Leopoldine, Daemon was living in seclusion in the area of the Three Great Lakes Region, where one of the beasts had recently entered the 4th stage.

    But while the interior of that state had handled the Ritter Motor Company''s actions very well, making room for thepany''s development, things had not been so simple outside of that state.

    As more people learned about the Ritter Motor Company and its product, more orders, and tourists arrived in Peters City. Aside from the powers already associated with thepany, several others found Lothur''s venture unsavory.

    What was happening in Leopoldine was awful to the powers in the neighboring states!

    Unknowingly, Viktoria was attracting trouble for herself and everyone in Leopoldine!

 Chapter 752 Justification

    <h4>Chapter 752 Justification?</h4>

    In Ashen...

    South of Leopoldine was one of thergest states in terms of area and poption in Concordia.

    In this magnificent ce, considered the strongest state in the southern region, Saints lived in the daylight and were known for their deeds in this area.

    Unlike Leopoldine, where no one knew the number of experts and few knew their identities, this ce had several famous Saints, and the number of experts was of public knowledge.

    Anyone who looked would find information about the total local strength.

    That made this state one of the strongest regarding the number of Saints in the entire continent. Even though it was in the southern region, the weakest in Concordia, it had hundreds of known Saints.

    Just one of the many powerful organizations in this state was currently dealing with a matter that had recently arisen.

    In a business room of arge headquarters hidden in a forest, a dozen well-dressed people with powerful auras were gathered in a 50-square-meter room decorated with paintings and nts.

    At one end of the table, a goateed and balding man had a reflective expression while his hands were sped in front of his face.

    "House Elssler intends to bring this Ritter Motor Company to our state." This man said in a solemn tone, speaking of their greatest rival. "We cannot allow that. If it happens, they will pass us without allowing us to catch them upter.

    That will be the end of us in the Emerald Valley!"

    The people around the rectangr table in this room stood with even more solemn expressions.

    They had heard of Lothur''s cars weeks ago when they discovered the number of gold coins their enemies had spent on a deal in Leopoldine.

    But as the weeks passed, the number of cars in Leopoldine had increased considerably. Not only that, but the number of people talking about the cars and the number of coinsing into Viktoria''s hands through the various car-rted side businesses had reached increasingly impressive numbers.

    With such growth, even high-ranking officials from suchnds kept an eye on Leopoldine and followed thepany''s development with interest.

    The speed at which the Ritter Motor Company was growing was incredible! If it continued at its current pace, even the major cities of Leopoldine''s neighbors would be dominated by automobiles within a few years.

    As much as the cars themselves could do no harm, the currencies generated by this business could give a lot of power to people, families, and organizations, which could cause a lot of problems for other powers.

    In the case of this group, their main rival would have enough resources to develop, overtake, and, if they wanted, eliminate them from the game!

    This was worrying!

    One of the women there listened and said. "The rise of the automobile is unstoppable. Now that tens of millions of people know about this business, we can''t just destroy it. That would bring too much negative karma upon us, and we would have too many enemies.

    On the other hand, it will not be easy to enter the Ritter Motor Company. As far as I know, thest auction had an average cost of 7 million gold coins per fraction of thepany.

    If there is another auction, more families will try to enter thispany, so I wouldn''t be surprised if the minimum amount to buy a fraction of thepany reaches 30 million.

    Even high-level powers would have trouble meeting such expenditures and the following investments!

    "That would be an expensive and risky deal for a small part of thepany..." Someonemented.

    But then a young-looking guy, blond and thin, suggested. "We cannot destroy the Ritter Motor Company or enter thepany by traditional means. We are left with two options. Destroy the Elssler family, which would be difficult for us, or encourage other powers to take over thepany."

    "Oh?" An old woman looked at the man with interest.

    It would be impossible to destroy the Elssler family. If they alone had that ability, they would have destroyed this house by now!

    They could not persuade the other powers of their state to destroy this family because it was a noble power that followed imperialws. The rivalry between the two houses would never lead the local imperial family to help one destroy the other.

    However, the Ritter Motor Company was a foreignpany favored by the Leopoldine family and would bring greater benefits to the powers of this state, which owned most of thispany.

    Thispany had an excellent business and would certainly leave Leopoldine to enter other states like Ashen in the future.

    It would not be so challenging to put the local powers against Leopoldine and the current management of the Ritter Motor Company!

    "What exactly are you proposing?" The man at one end of the table asked the blond.

    "Very simple, patriarch. Let''s take the Ritter Motor Company." The level 20 blond guy smiled. "As far as we know, the founder of thispany is missing after being reported as a possible hybrid.

    Let''s spread the word that he is indeed a hybrid! What should we do against the creation of a hybrid?"

    "Destroy it?"

    "Yes, but we can''t do that in this case. Then let''s convince the powers of our state to take over the Ritter Motor Company along with their allies!" The blond man said in a louder tone. "We cannot allow the creation of a hybrid to go this far under the power of his family.

    Then I propose that we destroy the Ritter family and take thispany from Leopoldine''s power!"

    If they raise the g that Lothur is a hybrid, the people of Leopoldine itself would be in favor of outside powers taking over thispany and destroying the Ritter family.

    Not only that but powers from different states would have a justification to attack Leopoldine and take over the Ritter Motor Company!

    In normal situations, one state could not just invade another or start a war without reason. This continent had been around for a long time, and many wars had been fought, to the point that there were treaties all over the continent to prevent further wars.

    One state could not openly try to invade another state for small things. But if it had a reasonable justification, even destroying all the ruling families and taking their possessions would not be frowned upon by the continentalmunity!

    With this strategy, this family had an excellent justification for taking over their rivals'' businesses and profiting from war results!

    The people in this room liked this; they felt they would get a significant return if they brought this opportunity to the imperial family.

    "Excellent! Let us do as Elder Timm suggested."

 Chapter 753 Preparing for War

    <h4>Chapter 753 Preparing for War?</h4>

    One weekter...

    In a few days, many things had happened around Leopoldine, and troops from at least 3 states were already approaching the borders of this domain!

    For the past few days, rumors had been circting in Asken, Utrary, and Lenz that Lothur Ritter, the founder of thepany that had rocked Leopoldine, was actually a hybrid of a human and a demon.

    Powers throughout the states were rmed by this news, and many viewed the situation in Leopoldine, where the Ritter Motor Company seemed to have won over even the imperial family, with great concern.

    Knowing that few people in these states were favorable to Lothur''spany, the calls for action against the events in Leopoldine quickly influenced the major local powers.

    Within a few days of discussion, these states had authorized action against Leopoldine, and tens of thousands of men were already on the move.

    What was the group''s goal? Eliminate the root of evil in Leopoldine, destroy the Ritter family, take control of the Ritter Motor Company, and use the cars for the good of mankind!

    This was a war of all against Leopoldine, and as the days went by, more and more supporters appeared!

    Meanwhile, terrible news reached Leopoldine''s greatest powers.

    ...

    In the capital of the Leopoldine family empire, the emperor had already received news of foreign actions directed against his state and his master''spany.

    Therefore, he had the most important men in his army and some noble powers of his state in front of him.

    "Prepare for war. We will be attacked from all sides in no time". us Leopoldine said in a solemn tone to the various Transcendents in the imperial throne hall.

    "Warn our leaders who live in darkness. We cannot keep their peace any longer. Either they move, or this threat may even eliminate them."

    The men in the room heard this and gritted their teeth. They clenched their fists, never have imagined that they would one day reach this terrible point.

    Some of the men left immediately after hearing us'' words, eager to get those messages out as soon as possible.

    "Warn the Ritter family as well. We need their strength now. They can no longer hide in the darkness."

    "Ritter family?" One of the imperial army generals there heard this and frowned. For him, Lothur''s family only consisted of three women.

    But Elke and Annaliese had not appeared outside the Ritter estate for weeks, and Viktoria, though very strong, would not be enough to make much of a difference.

    But then the emperor surprised his men. "The Ritter family currently has over 100 Transcendents in addition to the wives of Lord Lothur Ritter. They are stronger than our Imperial Army!"

    The people in the hall opened their mouths in amazement when they heard this, not expecting this newly formed n to be so powerful.

    us knew this because he had been in contact with some of Lothur''s men whom the ck mes also controlled. Knowing this, he could not help but send a call to this organization, which would soon face mighty enemies.

    The emperor then gave his finalmand. "Finally, issue an imperial decree. From today, the People''s Army will be open to mercenaries and civilians. We will give supplies and daily payments to those willing to protect the state by our side!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Jansen family...

    Emperor us Leopoldine did not even need to send people to warn the most powerful family in his state.

    By the time the troops led by Saints had begun to march against Leopoldine, the Jansen family had already realized that trouble was approaching them.

    Experts from such a house were already traveling through Leopoldine to join the resistance, while the family leaders held their ground, waiting for the right moment to act.

    The leaders of House Jansen were very strong but also very old. They lived in seclusion, trying to make new breakthroughs to live longer, but it was not easy.

    But in these challenging times, the family patriarch did not hesitate to go to the family shrine and awaken his ancestors.

    "Elders, we have problems that I''m afraid I can''t solve alone." The level 20 family patriarch, a man who looked like any other human being, said while kneeling in front of a cylindrical stone that served as the door to a cave. "Please stop cultivating. Otherwise, the family will be destroyed in a few weeks."

    After the patriarch''s stern words, a sound arose inside the cave, deep in the basement of the Jansen headquarters.

    The cylinder moved sideways while smoke came from the area that had been sealed until a few moments ago.

    Meanwhile, as he saw an intense light emanating from that ce, the patriarch heard the sound of stomping.

    "What have you gotten yourself into, boy?" A female voice asked in a calm and gentle tone, as a mother would speak to her son upon seeing him return from the street in trouble.

    The patriarch bowed his head to the woman, who was his father''s great-aunt and said. "Elder, Leopoldine has changed a lottely, and great innovations have appeared to revolutionize our state. Unfortunately, our neighbors covet our technologies, and tens of thousands of experts are moving right now to destroy us and take what we have achieved."

    "Leopoldine?" A male voice came from inside as three silhouettes emerged from the area where white smoke obscured the view of what was there.

    "That is the name of the state created by one of our vassals, brother." Another man replied.

    "Oh?"

    "It looks like you got us in a lot of trouble, huh?" The woman remarked, just before she appeared at the cave entrance, and revealed her appearance to the ''young'' patriarch.

    Looking at the appearance of these elders he had never seen before, the patriarch noticed that they looked pretty old, but what was most striking about the three siblings were their pointed ears, a feature long lost among the family members.

    These were the grandchildren of Mathias and Verna, the children of the creator of the Jansen family, who had managed to escape his tragic life with the help of Empress Von Weber!

    The three of them were the eldest of the family but also close to the lineage of Mathias and Verna, all three at the peak of level 21, cultivation even higher than the one their father had reached before his death.

    The strongest had a soul with just over 8,000 attribute points, an impressive strength for someone who had grown up in Leopoldine.

    "Very well, let''s see what we can do, young man. We do not have many years of life left, but we will try our best to protect our father''s legacy." One of them ordered the patriarch to stand up.

 Chapter 754 The Hybrid’s Trails

    <h4>Chapter 754 The Hybrid''s Trails?</h4>

    Two dayster...

    A group of Sages was currently traveling around Rablus, searching for the traces of the hybrid that had acted in the Ancestral Region days ago.

    Days after the group of experts was formed, dozens of Sages were moving around or observing the northern region of Concordia, looking for possible clues to the 5th stage hybrid''s whereabouts.

    Not only were humans, beasts, and Ancestral Folk working together, but even spectres and demons were acting without worrying about hunting or being hunted by their historical enemies.

    Even though they did not work side by side, both sides knew and epted the presence of their enemies in their vicinity for the sake of eliminating the hybrids.

    One of the groups of demons and spectres had even encountered a group of humans and beasts, and nothing had happened!

    But as strange as it might sound, it wasn''t thatplicated.

    Spectres and demons were frowned upon by many races and were mortal enemies of humans. Beasts did not have such a terrible rtionship with demons, but they absolutely hated spectres. The Ancestral Folk, on the other hand, had no problem with either race. Blessed with spiritual energy and light, the members of the Ancestral Folk were so powerful against dark creatures that they hid from them.

    Humans were the ultimate enemies of demons because they could absorb Soul Bones. However, the members of the Ancestral Folk were terrifying beings who could cause great harm to demons, even at a low level.

    However, thisplex rtionship onlysted until the end of the 4th stage. From the 1st Catastrophe on, these beings lived rtively in "harmony."

    They would not eat together as friends or meet to talk. But at such a stage, demons and spectres were rational enough not to cause unnecessary carnage.

    Of course, if a group of humans could kill a demon at the Sage stage or if a group of beasts could kill a spectre at such a stage, they would do so. But if they were equal in strength, they would have no problem epting each other''s existence.

    Things had worked this way in this world for thousands of years, and there were reports of various high-level beings working together with their natural enemies to hunt down abominations.

    So it was not so strange that these high-level beings were hunting Lothur!

    After all, he was amon enemy, strong enough to make these beings work ''together''!

    As they did so, they quickly approached one of the hybrid''s tracks!

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a forest near southern Rablus...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 21 -> 22]

    [STR: 3,360 -> 3,450]

    [CON: 5,160 -> 5,725]

    [DEX: 3,600 -> 3,700]

    [AGI: 3,660 -> 3,750]

    [INT: 1.059]

    [PER: 4,215 -> 4,520]

    [WIL: 2,213 -> 2,380]

    [SOU: 6,363 -> 7,015]

    [EVF: 29 -> 0]

    Lothur opened his eyes and saw the improvements he had just made by using some of the EVF points he had umted over the past few days to increase his Constitution and Soul.

    With another evolution in terms of cultivation, he reached the 5th stage of body cultivation, underwent another spiritual marrow cleansing, and the progress of his Soul Bones advanced.

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold -> tinum]

    [Progress: 5%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fibr Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 65%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 71%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 67%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 70%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 12%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 15%]

    Seeing the progress of his bones getting closer and closer to a qualitative change, the tinum grade, Lothur smiled as he used his first skill, seeing the benefits of his progress.

    With the bone behind his sight reaching tinum grade, Lothur could now see the naturalws of this world in the things closest to him.

    Noticing this, something he had only seen in techniques until recently, Lothur furrowed his brow as he thought of something.

    ''Could I use this to create life?'' He smiled, wondering how strong he must have be to even consider it.

    Lothur smiled, knowing that it was impossible at the moment. Even if life in this world had its rules, as did the formations, he still had a weak soul.

    Seeing something and thinking to go to a level that could give him the power to create was very impressive for the current him. Even if he couldn''t create anything right now, the knowledge that he might be able to do so one day satisfied him immensely.

    Lothur put aside thews of trees, rocks, and small insects in the area he was in and continued to test his visual abilities.

    He could now see things up to 100 kilometers away from him!

    By seeing through things and having such a long-range, he could spy on those around him and be much more vignt.

    But as he grew stronger, so did his senses.

    With such a high level of Perception and his abilities that could work passively, Lothur could even find targets to observe without making any effort.

    For example, now, with this ability at its current level, he could travel and follow clues, but if something happened in his vicinity, his senses and ability would make him aware of it, even if his purpose was otherwise.

    It was as if he was a quasi-omniscient being in a space up to 100 kilometers away from him!

    In addition, hisser vision had greatly improved and became much more destructive.

    Finally, he had gained a new visual feature that could be linked to his One With Nature ability and help him track targets!

    With this in mind, Lothur immediately used such an ability to continue his search for the second hybrid.

    ''Let''s see if I can find you, damn it...'' Lothur thought as he activated his first Soul Bone ability with One With Nature.

    As he did so, he noticed some Sage demons approaching from the same area he was going!

    ...

 Chapter 755 Team

    <h4>Chapter 755 Team</h4>

    ''Sage-level demons...'' Lothur noticed some trouble approaching his location.

    However, he soon noticed that these creatures were not heading toward him but to a ce close to where he was.

    ''These are level 22 and 23 demons. I can''t just attack them, thinking I''ll get their Soul Bones.'' He thought to himself as he moved in the same direction as such creatures.

    As he moved, Lothur suddenly felt something different, and his eyes twitched.

    "Damn it!" He muttered as he noticed a terrible sensationing from about 80 kilometers to the south. ''The damned hybrid is close, but these creatures are heading for it!''

    Realizing the problem, Lothur immediately rushed forward.

    ...

    Meanwhile, a group of 4 demons of levels 22 and 23 was on their way to the location of one of the hybrids they were chasing.

    After several days of Lothur''s advancement to the 5th level, the 5th stage beings of this world had worked hard to find and eliminate the hybrids.

    But while Lothur could hide his tracks with rtive ease, the same could not be said for the other hybrid weaker than him.

    The group of demons had just located the other hybrid and were moving toward him at high speed, intent on killing and eliminating his entire existence, including his Soul Bone!

    These demons had a slight advantage over the humans due to their alliance with the spectres. But there were Sage humans nearby, and if they dyed, a battle for the Soul Bone of such a creature would happen.

    The demons were powerful, but even they would have trouble against the various experts nearby!

    "Let''s do this cleanly and quickly." The group leader, a creature with nearly 9,000 points of Soul attribute, said to hispanions. "Once his Soul Bone is destroyed, we''ll go back and look for the other hybrid''s tracks."

    Another demonmented. "But we cannot fail. We can only rx a little if one of the hybrids has their Soul Bone destroyed. We''ll have too much trouble if one gets hold of the other''s bone."

    They all agreed, their spirits already high.

    In a few moments, they would face this creature!

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a cave near the border of Rablus and Cesha, a blue-haired, fair-skinned individual with a refined appearance and aesthetic shape was meditating in that dark area.

    But he was not there by choice. Strangely enough, many high-level cultivators had appeared on the continent, and it was dangerous for him to move around.

    As a demon-human hybrid, this Origin Saint faced many problems to keep strengthening himself!

    He had even been forced to go into hiding again, something he hadn''t done since he was a Spiritual Warrior.

    With his freedom restricted, this human-looking and extremely attractive creature could not help but feel irritated.

    ''Damn it! Why is this happening to me?'' He wondered. ''These damned humans seem much more aggressive and afraid of me than my parents told me,'' he thought.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t ask anyone for advice. When he turned 40 and reached the peak of the 3rd stage, he devoured his parents and all his followers to reach level 19.

    Unlike Lothur, ordinary hybrids literally devoured the bodies of their victims. But after doing so, they had no immediate improvements. They had to sleep and meditate for some time equal to the amount of power they had ingested.

    Thus, several decades older than Lothur, this creature was severely hampered by the actions of his fellow race mate, who had been causing him trouble.

    He was stuck in his current situation with no one at his side to advise him or provide him with food.

    However, as he stood in the cave with his eyes closed, this creature suddenly sensed something strange and opened his eyes.

    Looking back, he saw a tall, handsome man dressed in ck armor with stunning silver hair appear in his cave.

    "I found you," Lothur said in a low voice as he looked at the creature for a moment.

    Looking into Lothur''s eyes, the hybrid immediately understood who this person was.

    "You... You''re like me!" He swallowed his saliva and immediately realized what this neer wanted with him.

    "You''ve made good progress, creature. Now be nice and be my next Soul Bone!" Lothur used his Gravity skill, and the body of this other hybrid floated toward his hands.

    "Shit!"

    The hybrid promptly tried to use all his strength, causing Lothur to see him escape his gravity and appear a few meters away from him.

    "Oh?" Lothur opened his eyes wide. ''What did he just do...''

    Lothur was shocked. What this creature had done was not like a simple escape!

    Realizing this, Lothur took his Darkness Scythe from his ring and tried something.

    He moved through space and appeared behind the hybrid, not hesitating to use his weapon to split the creature''s body in two.

    But when he touched the creature''s shoulder and sliced it in half diagonally, Lothur saw the creature reappear dozens of meters ahead of him, intact.

    "What a fantastic ability!" Lothur said as he realized the power of this creature.

    To the eyes of an ordinary person, it would appear that this creature had simply ''jumped'' and escaped from Lothur.

    But to Lothur''s eyes, this creature had clearly reversed time to recover from that blow, then temporarily stopped time to run to his new position.

    To ordinary people, it would simply appear in a new position after being attacked, as if it had used a life-saving device and escaped the worst at thest moment.

    However, his true ability was time!

    "Time! Your ability is perfect for me!" Lothur said, feeling twice as interested in killing this creature and absorbing his Soul Bone.

    "Shit!" The hybrid shuddered in fear as he realized Lothur had easily understood his ability.

    Never before had he encountered someone capable of understanding his special power so easily.

    Knowing the origin of one''s powers was the starting point for finding a way to counter such a being effectively!

    After realizing his opponent''s ''trick'' and knowing that demons were nearby, Lothur did not hesitate to activate his own special ability.

    Life Devourer!

    Lothur circled energy through his bloodline ability and promptly spread his red aura over a distance more significant than the creature could travel by stopping time.

    Unfortunately, for this hybrid, there was a limit to how much time it could stop time.

    Unable to escape the space under the effect of Lothur''s innate ability, he was soon trapped under the pressure of that ability, desperate as he felt something begin to suck at his being!

    "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

 Chapter 756 Diamond-Grade Soul Bone

    ?

    This hybrid cried out in despair as he felt someone worse than him doing what he had done to many others!

    He had struggled for many years to hide from his many enemies and had gone to great lengths to absorb the powers that had brought him to level 20.

    But now he saw everything he had built being stolen by this being even worse than him, who had not only a higher level but also more soul bones and a more deadly ability!

    Seeing all his work go down the drain, he shouted so loudly that the demons in the area realized there was a problem with their target and rushed even more.

    Meanwhile, Lothur felt that this creature''s cultivationprehension was enriching his characteristics.

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 20% -> 30%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 19% -> 29%]

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 13% -> 24%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 5% -> 17%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 1% -> 14%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 45% -> 78%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 5% -> 16%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold]

    [Progress: 65% -> 99%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold -> tinum]

    [Progress: 71% -> 1%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold -> tinum]

    [Progress: 67% -> 0%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: Gold -> tinum]

    [Progress: 70% -> 2%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 12% -> 22%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 15% -> 25%]

    ...

    [PER: 4,520 -> 5,355]

    ...

    [EVF: 0 -> 1,292]

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur saw several of his bones change in quality, and his Perception changed as his physical and mental quality evolved.

    Even though it was only a level 20 hybrid, this creature had an excellent Constitution for Lothur and could provide an exciting value in EVF points.

    Seeing that, Lothur just smiled as he watched the creature disappear, not bothering to use those points right away since they wouldn''t increase his power by any significant amount.

    But with that action, Lothur had almost aplete set of tinum-grade skills, with only Gold-grade ck mes left!

    All of his skills improved significantly, bing more efficient in their use of energy, but also gaining new characteristics.

    While Lothur felt the wonderful feeling of these improvements, he had already noticed the demons quickly approaching him.

    He couldn''t just run away while the creature''s Soul Bone was still forming, so he stayed in his position.

    He knew he was in trouble, so he immediately made the seals of one of his most important techniques, Cruel Underworld!

    When he activated it, the ground shook for tens of kilometers as beings of different levels and body shapes appeared.

    There were not many 5th-stage cultivators in the world. Still, throughout the history of Concordia, many people have been at that level.

    Even in this area, a corpse of a level 22 cultivator rose from the ground, along with several level 21 beings.

    Meanwhile, Lothur was holding the Darkness Scythe.

    Now, he had no reason to hide it. In this problematic situation, he would have to use everything at his disposal to keep the bone!

    As the creatures of darkness appeared in this area, the four 5th-stage demons appeared around Lothur and attacked him with what they had.

    Gravity!

    Lothur activated his newly-acquired skill, and two of the creatures immediately pressed against the ground while the other two felt the restriction of this skill.

    But while the weaker ones screamed in pain as they felt their bones crack, the two level 23 demons saw the evolution of Lothur''s skill.

    Suddenly, several stone fragments broke off the ground and flew at them at high speed, entirely under Lothur''s control!

    "Damn!" One of the creatures screamed as it looked at Lothur in horror. "Has he reached that level already?"

    The strongest of them had nearly 9,000 Soul attribute points, but he was impressed with this opponent!

    At that moment, when the demons realized that it would not be easy to destroy the bone near Lothur, the first Diamond-grade Soul Bone to appear in this world in a long timepleted its formation!

    As the bone formed, a colorful glow of every color of the visible spectrum emanated from the object, forming a beautifully colored bone in a shape Lothur had not yet used.

    A left humerus bone, approximately 26 centimeters long, appeared a few meters before Lothur, shining as brightly as a small star in the sky.

    At that moment, demons under the influence of Lothur''s ability, as well as various humans and spectres in the vicinity, looked in the direction of where this young hybrid was standing in front of a Diamond-grade bone.

    Everyone swallowed their saliva as they realized the direction they should go, feeling nervous as the most precious thing in the world appeared in that ce.

    This was an ownerless bone, so everyone immediately looked at it with greed, wanting it for themselves instead of trading it with others.

    Immediately, the humans distorted space to that area while the beasts flew at high speed, and the spectres there approached Lothur because of the Darkness Scythe.

    Amidst this, all the creatures rising from the groundpleted their formation and moved to the outskirts of Lothur.

    A high-level battle was about to ur on this border between Rablus and Cesha!

    The oue could determine the fate of Concordia!

    ''Levels 22 and 23 enemies... They must be the strongest on the continent.'' Lothur thought to himself as he saw the many enemies trying to get close to his bone, noticing at least three dozen Soul Bones on those bodies, some of them from Emperor demons.

    Not a single one of them had a Diamond-grade bone!

    But even so, with some humans having up to 15,000 attribute points of Soul power, Lothur knew this situation would beplicated for him.

    Not only would he have to fight for possession of the Diamond-grade bone, but he would also have to fight for his life.

    These people would definitely try to kill him!

    Under normal circumstances, they could not tell that he was a hybrid because of his ability to hide. But he had killed the previous hybrid while several of these people were looking in his direction.

    There was no way he could fool these people!

    Knowing this, Lothur immediately activated his Golden Armor before activating Storm, creating powerful winds to stir up the surroundings.

    And so began the devastating battle that would ruin the entire border between these two states and draw the attention of the entire continent in a matter of days!

    ...

 Chapter 757 Battle for the Soul Bone

    <h4>Chapter 757 Battle for the Soul Bone</h4>

    Storm!

    Lothur immediately unleashed one of his most destructive abilities, forming giant windmills that destroyed everything in its path.

    The forest area that had just been there was suddenly ripped apart by powerful winds of over 500 kilometers per hour, destroying all the trees up to a few kilometers away from Lothur.

    These des immediately sliced the four demons near Lothur, while the first humans and Sage beasts to arrive there found this barrier of des in front of them.

    "Does he think this will keep us out?" An elder of the Seraphim Church asked aloud before huge wings appeared from his back.

    In the next instant, several feathers flew from his back toward Lothur, shattering the super vortex around this area in one fell swoop!

    Swooish!

    Realizing that his skill could not withstand such a blow, Lothur immediately changed his position and tried reaching the Diamond-grade bone before him.

    "Not so fast, damned hybrid!" One of the strongest demons managed to regenerate his body and jumped at the item, intending to destroy it.

    The surrounding humans felt a chill in their souls as they realized these demons'' intention, and one attacked such a creature.

    They could even unite to hunt down and kill Lothur. But regarding this Soul Bone, they were mortal enemies!

    "Out of our way, demon!" A muscr, elderly-looking man flew through space and hit his target before such a demon hit the Soul Bone.

    Soul Bones were fragile artifacts before they were absorbed!

    Immediately after it was formed and left without an owner, such a bone could be shattered with the power corresponding to its level.

    In the case of this Diamond-level Soul Bone, any attack by these Sages would destroy it, as it would only improve in quality once it was absorbed. Once that happened, its characteristics would develop along with its owner''s power, and it would be even stronger than such a human.

    The presence of these demons, even the weakest of them, was a great threat to this bone!

    While some humans looked at the demons and started to act against these creatures for the good of humanity, one of the level 23 Sages appeared behind Lothur and surprised him.

    "This is your end, creature!" The man from the Church said as he ran his hand up to one of Lothur''s shoulders, preparing to ce an infinite seal on this body.

    Lothur immediately looked back, his new ability already activated.

    Dposition!

    As the level 23 Sage reached Lothur''s body, he narrowed his eyes and felt a terrible sensation crawling up his arm.

    "Shit!" He screamed and promptly used his other arm to sh at his right hand!

    Lothur didn''t miss the opportunity and swung the Darkness Scythe against that body, hitting him in the chest.

    Swooish!

    "Aaaaaagh!"

    The first human scream rang out in this now deste area, devoid of vegetation and so destroyed that the stones of a nearby stream had turned to dust.

    Some of the humans saw that Lothur''s vicious blow had hit one of the strongest elders there, and they were worried, for with a weapon of that quality, he could seriously injure even the strongest of them.

    "Damn it! We must get that weapon out of his hands!" A level 23 spectre shouted to hispanions as they flew across the battlefield on their way to Lothur.

    At that moment, all the Lothur skeletons in the area were fiercely attacking the level 22 and 23 beasts and humans, making it difficult for many of them to get close to Lothur or the Diamond-grade Soul Bone.

    But some, like the spectres, had unusual abilities and were quickly closing in on these two targets.

    Lothur saw this as he looked to the side of the bone he was trying to approach, using the Golden Armor to withstand the various long-range attacks that hit him.

    Laser Vision!

    His eyes glowed brightly before firing a scalding ray that burned the air itself, traveling as fast as lightning in a storm.

    With no time to dodge, the man who was approaching the ownerless bone in the area felt something pierce his body at the level of his heart.

    "Cough!"

    He didn''t even scream as he fell to the ground in mid-flight, mming face-first into the ground and quickly creating arge crater in the area.

    Lothur had killed the first of these enemy Sages in one fell swoop!

    With a single nce, he cut down a man with over 9,000 Soul attribute points, killing the first opponent of the day!

    Everyone around realized this and became even more determined to kill this person with extraordinary abilities, fearing that if he continued to grow, all would be lost.

    Who could stop him once he reached level 25? But reaching that level was quite possible if he absorbed that Diamond-grade bone!

    "Shit! Demons, we can''t fight each other before we kill this bastard!" One of the humans fighting one of these creatures said.

    The demon looked to the side and saw a level 23 spectre attacking Lothur.

    ''Maybe he can''t stand my ally...'' He thought to himself, confident in the mind control abilities of this creature that had over 7,000 points of each mental attribute!

    At that moment, everyone on the battlefield saw the level 23 spectre enter Lothur''s body as the young man stood only two meters away from the Diamond-grade bone.

    While some felt their hearts beat faster, expecting an adverse reaction to this abomination, Lothur''s eyes suddenly moved to the sides of the other two level 22 spectres.

    "You should not havee here, spectral creatures," Lothur spoke as white smoke began to rise from his body, and the level 23 spectre''s aura vanished from this world forever.

    Without doing anything, Lothur had killed a level 23 spectre, something even the strongest humans in this ce could not do!

    ck mes!

    ck mes appeared in Lothur''s hands, and a momentter, they spread everywhere, reaching the two level 22 creatures.

    Lothurughed for a moment and then gave his orders. "My ves, obstruct my strongest opponents!"

    "Yes, master!" To the surprise of everyone in the area, the two spectres that were Lothur''s enemies a moment ago suddenly changed sides and attacked people from the human group!

    "Shit! That wretch really has a lot of skills! He must be close to forming his Spirit Body!" One of the level 23 demons shouted in hatred but also in fear.

    If they did not act together to stop Lothur, they might not have another chance to do so in the future.

    The other demon said. "Very well, humans. Let''s call it a truce. Let''s kill this damned hybrid first!"

    Hearing this, Lothur didn''t hesitate to use his new Prometheus mes ability, creating a gigantic explosion while stretching one of his hands toward that beautiful colored bone.

    As he did so, blue mes erupted from his being, burning everything in their path as the surrounding air became as scorching as a high-level forge.

    At that moment, Lothur touched the Soul Bone in front of the terrified eyes of all those Sages!

    ...

 Chapter 758 Power Explosion

    ?

    [Absorb Hybrid Humerus Soul Bone?]

    Yes!

    When Lothur gave the order for the system to absorb the bone, everyone in the area felt something wrong growing in their bodies as they saw the bone glow and move toward his left arm.

    "Damn it!"

    "That damned thing is trying to absorb it right before us!"

    Some of the beasts shouted, seeing Lothur''s audacity.

    But the humans of the Seraphim Church were too frightened to scream.

    The speed of the Soul Bone entering Lothur''s body was frightening!

    Seeing how quickly the bone was getting under Lothur''s skin, the humans in the area immediately attacked him with everything they had.

    Lothur felt great pain throughout his body as he absorbed such a bone, and due to the circumstances he was in, he could not move. Thus, he stood still while his Golden Armor, the two-level 22 spectres, and the creatures summoned by his techniques were the only things in the area that could protect him.

    When the first enemy attack hit him, his invisible armor revealed itself, glowing brightly as a burst of energy shot from the point of contact toward the enemy attacking him.

    Boom!

    Everyone in the area saw that if they attacked Lothur, they would risk some of their own powers attacking them back.

    Seeing this and fearing the worst, the strongest Church elder there shouted. "Everyone, let''s destroy the bone he''s absorbing. Strike at the same spot with everything you have! If we don''t, we will all die in less than 4 minutes!"

    No one doubted the words of this human, as the beasts, demons, and humans in the area immediately focused on Lothur and began to press on his left arm.

    If the bone was absorbed, it would gain Lothur''s ability to regenerate; even if it was destroyed, it could regenerate. But until itpleted its fusion with the young Ritter, it would still be vulnerable. Once destroyed, there was nothing it could do!

    Lothur felt the number of attacks increases under his body as the spectres and skeletons around him tried to get in the way of the enemy attacks.

    Unfortunately, they were not strong enough, and more than half of them perished instantly.

    But when he was attacked, Lothur stood his ground as he absorbed the bone and saw his resistances kick in to protect his body.

    Most of his resistances were tinum grade, so the attacks of several of these creatures did not even affect the young Ritter''s body and defenses!

    But these were very strong attacks, and soon, his resistances began to rise.

    A crack suddenly appeared in his golden armor while these creatures were breaking into a cold sweat, trying to destroy Lothur''s left arm.

    Lothur withstood the enemy''s attacks very well. But even though he was slowly developing his resistance, Lothur still didn''t have all the elements on his side, and the soul forces of these creatures were simply too strong.

    The mental pressure they put on him was too much, and even his tinum armor broke after one and a half minutes of continuous attacks.

    Lothur''s expression became even more pained as he felt the hurt from the absorption of the Soul Bone and the enemy attacks that were rapidly destroying his skin.

    Even though Lothur was using almost all his soul power to strengthen his body, he was still limited to less than 12,800. But his strongest enemies had stronger soul powers than that, and several of them were attacking him simultaneously!

    Suddenly, Lothur heard a strange sound from his left arm and turned pale.

    ''Damn it! If I don''t do more than defend myself, I''ll lose this bone.'' He thought.

    But his situation was not that simple. Any movement that threw his being off bnce could cause the absorption of the bone to fail. If that happened, the bone would be lost!

    But seeing that he had no alternative, Lothur subtly moved his hands, forming a seal of one of his techniques.

    Omnipotence!

    Activating his most advanced technique, Lothur felt his total defensive characteristics rise to nearly 14,500 points.

    Gravity!

    He activated one of his abilities, using much of what he had to create several meteors in the sky, drawing them in the direction of where he and his opponents were.

    "You are powerful, hybrid, I admit that! But today is your end!" The strongest of the Church shouted, pouring what little energy he had left into his lightning attack.

    The rest of Lothur''s enemies did the same, finishing off the silver-haired young man''s remaining allies.

    As Lothur''s abilities showed themselves almost simultaneously, with blue and ck mes exploding around him, strong winds cutting through the area again, and meteors falling over the area, his left arm could no longer hold.

    Almostpletely destroyed, only the bones of that arm could be seen as everyone in the area realized that Lothur was only seconds away from seeding in his intention.

    But at thest moment, to sessfully absorb the bone and receive the bonuses that woulde from it, arge crack suddenly appeared on the colorful bone in his arm.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    Lothur screamed in pain as he felt his opponents'' attacks hurt him at a speed that exceeded his recovery and defensive abilities.

    He tried to use the Darkness Scythe to deflect the enemy''s attacks. Still, only a few of the enemy''s attacks were deflected.

    Unfortunately for him, many enemies surrounded him and unleashed all of their power on him.

    Crack!

    As everyone watched the bone crack, Lothur''s heart leaped, and his eyes trembled as he looked at the bone.

    Boom!

    In a single instant, the bone stopped cracking. Then, it exploded into countless fragments, releasing an energy pulse that spread for hundreds of meters along with colorful dust.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

    This time, Lothur was the one who cried out in despair as the best Soul Bone this continent could produce vanished before his eyes just as he was about to absorb it.

    Everyone around saw this with relief. If the situation were either Lothur absorbing the bone or them destroying it, then everyone there would prefer this one, even if such a bone was precious to many of them!

    Seeing the bone destroyed and feeling exhausted, those Sages stopped attacking Lothur.

    They wanted to kill him, but with the situation everyone in the area was in, that was basically impossible.

    Having used everything they had to destroy the bone and withstand Lothur''s many attacks, it was time for them to retreat!

    But when Lothur noticed this, his eyes were red with hatred, and he made a terrible expression to threaten all those beings.

    "I will not forget what happened here today, you bastards! You owe me a Diamond-grade Soul Bone!" He said as he saw those beings running away.

    "I will kill each one of you. I''ll start with you four!" He flew at the fleeing demons.

    ...

 Chapter 759 Skills of the Darkness Scythe

    <h4>Chapter 759 Skills of the Darkness Scythe</h4>

    After using all of his EVF points to recover from his injuries, Lothur immediately flew toward the fleeing demons.

    These were four 5th-stage demons, all from the highest hierarchy. If they formed Soul Bones, they would be more valuable than the bones Lothur could get by killing one or two of the fleeing humans.

    Unable to pursue all of his enemies as they retreated from the battlefield, Lothur decided to follow these creatures, flying with his Darkness Scythe in his hands.

    He had a terrible look, furious at what had just happened.

    That Diamond-grade Soul Bone was simply too valuable to him!

    Everyone who had participated in the previous battle was exhausted and would be taking serious risks if they stayed behind to try to kill this hybrid.

    If only they had the strength to threaten Lothur, they would have chosen to stay and fight, even if it was too risky. But weakened to the point where they could not ovee his mighty defenses, there was no way these people could stay near him.

    They had to retreat to recuperate or risk death and help the world''s most hideous creature grow stronger.

    But even though they could not aplish their goal of killing the two hybrids, these experts made sure that one hybrid would not absorb the bone of the other. This was a victory even for the demons.

    Therefore, the four of them were currently trying to escape the area without looking back. But there was no way they could do that without realizing that Lothur was getting closer and closer to them!

    Using his EVF points, Lothur felt much less exhausted than these creatures. After only 10 minutes of chasing, he caught up with them and immediately attacked the strongest in his path, bringing the Darkness Scythe down on his opponent''s chest.

    "Damned hybrid! I''ll kill you!" The demon screamed as he felt the weapon de approach his chest.

    He subtly dodged, but even though he escaped Lothur''s killing blow, the demon saw the darkness around the weapon escape it and reach his body.

    After seeing this, another demon jumped at Lothur, using his special ability to manipte various metallic objects, sending them flying at his target like a rain of spears.

    Lothur simply spun his weapon, creating a sort of rotating shield before him.

    As these elemental attacks hit Lothur''s weapon, they immediately melted and disappeared.

    Gravity!

    Lothur activated his ability and immediately drew the demon towards him, causing a certain fear in the surrounding area.

    When Lothur drew that body and spun the Darkness Scythe, a water wheel of darkness appeared next to him, along with a dark river.

    But when he activated the Darkness Scythe for the first time after reaching the 5th stage, Lothur suddenly realized something different and focused on that sensation.

    ''As expected... You can only use all the powers from anything if you have a power equal to or higher than the item''s.'' He smiled as he felt an attractive effect from those demons and the River of Souls.

    The River of Souls had an additional function, but it could only be activated with the power of a 5th-stage cultivator.

    It could devour the darkness in the domain!

    Darkness was behind the terrifying nature of demons, and something that destroyed it was the worst enemy of these creatures!

    Sensing the River of Souls, they all trembled with fear, judging they should return to their escape. Unfortunately, the pressure of Gravity and the pull of the power of the Darkness Scythe prevented them from doing so!

    "Wretch!" One of the creatures shouted as he charged at Lothur, realizing that this was their only option now.

    Either they killed the user of the Darkness Scythe, or they would die!

    But as one of the two level 22 demons flew closer and closer to the water wheel of the River of Souls, Lothur activated his Dposition skill.

    When his opponent''s attack hit him before he could do any harm to Lothur, part of the demon turned to dust, and that level 23 demon howled in pain as he felt part of his body being destroyed.

    Unlike what normally happened to demons who lost body parts without having their base element erased, this creature could not regenerate the part of his body that Lothur had dposed!

    The Dposition was special. It was designed for maximum destruction, and there was nothing that could not be destroyed by this ability as long as it was within Lothur''s limits.

    Faced with a level 23 demon that wasn''t even 50% stronger than him, Lothur seriously injured this opponent without even trying!

    However, seeing the opportunity to have this level 23 creature so close to him, Lothur did not miss the opportunity tobine Mortal Aura, ck mes, and Darkness Scythe.

    Bybining them to attack the creature''s body, he struck one of the demon''s shoulders with the sharp tip of his de.

    The creature had managed to avoid the worst, but he was still hit and felt Lothur''s darkness enter his body.

    Little did this demon know that one of the abilities of the Darkness Scythe was to corrupt souls, just like the ck mes.

    When the powers of his enemy infiltrated him, this demon felt as if something had taken control of his nervous system and immediately stopped moving of his own volition, paralyzed.

    Unfortunately for Lothur, this being''s will was so strong that he could not fully corrupt the demon to use against the other demons. But paralyzed, this demon was finished.

    Realizing it would be worthless as his temporary ally, Lothur leaped into the air and kicked the creature hard in the stomach, sending the demon hurtling toward the River of Souls.

    With this move, he sent the first two demons tumbling into the wheel of darkness, where once they entered, there was no return for any creature!

    As they felt their bodies being corroded by the surrounding darkness, the level 23 demon and a level 22 demon saw the despair of death before them.

    They had reached a very high level in the demon world. But in the face of this ability of a tinum-grade weapon made from the Blood Crystal, they were weak and could only scream in terror in theirst moments!

    The other two demons tried to do something to stop this, but Lothur also moved against them, interested in taking the four bones these creatures could form.

    "You took my Diamond-grade bone. Now give me your tinum-grade bones!" Lothur said as his eyes glowed dark red.

    Unfortunately, he could not use his bloodline ability at the moment and would have to waste the attributes of these demons on the River of Souls.

    The River of Souls could even consume the soul remnants of creatures like this, so the Soul Bones that these four would form would not be the same ones that had helped Lothur before.

    In the blink of an eye, the first two bones would appear at this ce!

    ...

 Chapter 760 Unusual Situation

    <h4>Chapter 760 Unusual Situation?</h4>

    After seeing two of his partners turn into Soul Bones, the level 23 demon still standing felt a deep hatred for Lothur but an even greater fear of those bones being absorbed by him.

    "Let''s destroy the damned bones!" He said to the still-standing level 22 demon, determined to limit Lothur''s ability to grow stronger.

    But seeing this, Lothur immediately used the water wheel of darkness to cover the two bones and hide them in the River of Souls.

    Gravity!

    He covered the Darkness Scythe with his gravitational ability and connected the body of the level 22 demon to his weapon. Immediately, a strong gravitational force caused the demon to attack one of the Soul Bones to lose control of his body.

    Exhausted, he could not shake off the opponent''s movement and promptly felt his body fly toward Lothur.

    "Shit!"

    The other shouted as he noticed this but continued to attack the water wheel of darkness.

    But as he threw weak blows at his level in that direction, Lothur extended some of his spiritual energy and covered the entire water wheel.

    When the level 22 demon flew toward him, Lothur''s energy covered that particr form. When it was hit by the final attacks of that demonic creature, all of his attacks disintegrated before it even reached that tinum-grade skill.

    Seeing this, the remaining level 23 demon trembled as hemented his and hispanions'' misfortune.

    "Nooooo!"

    Swooish!

    Meanwhile, the second demon''s body finally got close enough to Lothur, and he moved his weapon, slicing the creature''s body in half in one fell swoop!

    Using the Darkness Scythe, Lothur destroyed the essence of that being, marking the death of another 5th-stage demon!

    But he did not rx as the creature''s corpse fell into the River of Souls, glowing as it already formed a new Soul Bone. Lothur looked at the remaining demon as he slumped to the ground, too tired to do anything.

    "This is just the beginning, creature. Soon, I will send all yourpanions to the same ce you are going." Lothur said before disappearing and reappearing behind the human-looking creature.

    In a single instant, he moved his weapon and decapitated the level 23 creature with ease.

    With this blow, the battle against the demons was finally over!

    "Hah... Hah..." Lothur took a deep breath as he watched thest two Soul Bones of the day form while the River of Souls degraded every remnant of those demons.

    A minuteter, the four tinum-grade Soul Bones of the Emperor demons were in a spatial ring of Lothur.

    Unfortunately for the young Ritter, none of these bones would fit into his body. Not only did he not have room in his skeleton for 3 of the 4 Soul Bones, but thest one had an ability that did not interest Lothur.

    He thought it would make more sense for Viktoria to have that ability.

    He did not want just to absorb bones to increase his powers at any cost. He wanted the best powers!

    Once he reached 10 absorbed bones, he could no longer change or add anything to himself, so he was much more selective than before.

    Finishing his business there, and with no intention of absorbing the bones in his hands, he looked north with hatred in his eyes. ''I will hunt demon hunters in the future, damned Seraphim Church. That Diamond-grade Soul Bone you stole from me will be collected!''

    With that in mind, Lothur did not hesitate and opened a portal away from there while using his own energy to change his appearance.

    Once again, he would have to hide!

    ...

    While Lothur returned to Leopoldine toplete his mission and see his women again, the powers of that state were already gathering to face a threat against them.

    At the emperor''s request, the entire state began to move to defend itself against the outside powers moving against its borders.

    A great war could begin at any moment, as the enemies were less than a day away from reaching this territory.

    For this reason, temporary military camps were set up all over the empire, where noble, civil, and imperial forces gathered to defend the state.

    If you went to the big cities of this state now, you would find a rather strange situation, with a greatck of specialists in these cities.

    But that was only natural for the current situation of the state. Everyone above level 16 in Leopoldine was in some camp on the many borders with other states.

    Even the members of the Ritter family had been forced to move from Peter City to the outskirts of Linn Province, which was in the mostplicated situation at the moment.

    Viktoria, Elke, Annaliese, and even Reba were divided into two groups around that province, one near Lenz and the other near Ashen.

    But even outside their headquarters, these formerly reclusive women were still hiding their strength, using thest moments of peace before the war to strengthen themselves further.

    Besides them, almost all the powers of Peters City, from the Becker family to the Waldeaur family, were with their strongest specialists around a defensive belt of the province.

    The only power that didn''t follow that was House Koch, which continued to keep watch over the many Ritter Motor Company vehicles that roamed the province.

    As such, Peter City seemed to be somewhat devoid of experts at the moment, with only low-level personnel.

    Not even a 3rd stage cultivator had stayed in this ce to maintain the local defense!

    But then, a spatial crack opened above this city, and a ck-haired, brown-eyed young man appeared above the area.

    Looking at this ce and realizing that none of his women were there, not even his many men, Lothur frowned.

    He was already in no mood for what had happened to him more than an hour ago. Faced with this strange situation, he could not help but feel annoyed.

    "What the hell is going on?" He wondered as he ignored the many cars and buses that passed through the main streets of Peter City.

    Using his skills, Lothur soon spotted his family''s headquarters and went to the Koch patriarch, who was there at this very moment.

    ...

 Chapter 761 The Bones For Victoria And Rebecca

    ?

    "What''s going on here? Where is everyone?" Lothur''s voice popped into the head of the Koch patriarch in the underground of a forest near Peters City, where the headquarters of the Ritter family was located.

    Immediately upon hearing the voice, the middle-aged man rose from his chair in surprise. He looked back to where Lothur''s voice hade from.

    As he did so, he saw his boss crossing the wall behind him.

    "Lothur!" He eximed in surprise, a smile forming on his lips.

    But seeing the worried expression on his leader''s face, it did not take long for this member of the Koch family to open his mouth, remembering theplicated situation the whole empire was in.

    "Lothur, something terrible has happened. High-level powers from Ashen, Lenz, and Utrary dered war on Leopoldine and the Ritter family a few days ago. They say that the Ritter Motor Company is a creation of a hybrid, and they will destroy our family and all of its supporters.

    Currently, the troops of these three states are very close to our borders. So all the state experts are already at the borders preparing for war."

    "Are my women doing the same? Where are they?" Lothur asked, worried about their safety.

    "Yes, Elke and Annaliese are at the province''s southern border, while Viktoria and Reba are in the north."

    Upon hearing this, Lothur did not stay to talk and immediately manipted space, opening a portal to the north, where he intended to help his weakest women.

    Lothur needed no one to inform him of the strength of his women. As someone who knew the most significant opportunities they might have had during his absence, it was rather obvious for him to say that Elke and Annaliese were the two strongest in his family at the moment.

    With that in mind, he made his way to those most in danger, reaching the northern border of Linn Province in no time.

    Upon arriving there, Lothur immediately used his One With Nature skill and his special vision, quickly finding several camps in the area.

    ''I found you!'' He realized where they were and immediately flew to a tent where only his darkness-controlled men stood guard.

    Even as they prepared for war, Lothur''s women maintained their seclusion, and their cultivation was still a secret to the empire''s forces.

    But Lothur soon saw the current state of his women.

    [Name: Victoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 19]

    [STR: 1,060] [CON: 1,210] [DEX: 1,070] [AGI: 1,090]

    [INT: 384] [PER: 268] [WIL: 950] [SOU: 880]

    ...

    [Name: Reba Boettger]

    [Sould Cultivation: Level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 19]

    [STR: 1,010] [CON: 1,240] [DEX: 1,010] [AGI: 1,020]

    [INT: 286.8] [PER: 232] [WIL: 670] [SOU: 830]

    ''Hmm, Viktoria was pretty busy while the others were cultivating in seclusion.'' He immediately realized what had happened, the only possible exnation for the most talented of them all ''falling behind'' in cultivation.

    But that no longer mattered. With the 14 Soul Bones avable for his family to absorb, 5 from Emperor demons, Lothur knew Viktoria''s dy would be reversed.

    Upon entering the tent where she and Reba were meditating, Lothur immediately did something to bring them back to reality withoutpletely disrupting their cultivation.

    Sensing something was wrong, Viktoria and Reba felt goosebumps on their bodies and opened their eyes.

    Coming out of the meditation state was not something you could do anyway. But when one''s senses told them to end their meditation, they could quickly escape such a state without any danger.

    Viktoria and Reba opened their eyes, looking for the problem that had made them feel strange. Still, instead of finding a crisis, they saw the man they loved in their tent.

    "Lothur!" The two shouted as they rose from their positions, smiles on their faces.

    Seeing them smiling at him, Lothur did not hesitate to show them 5 Soul Bones, rushing to hand over the bones of Elke and Annaliese.

    "Viktoria, Ba, we don''t have time now. So start absorbing the bones. Viktoria, I can only give you two bones at the moment. So topensate for the smaller number I will give you, you will be left with 2 bones of Emperor demons." Lothur said, not interested in talking to his women about the difficulties they had faced in his absence.

    The two were shocked to hear and see what was in Lothur''s hands, especially the quality of those bones.

    "Lothur... This... How?" Reba asked.

    "We will talk about that in the future. For now, take these bones." He said and gave Viktoria the two bones that came from Emperor demons.

    On the other hand, Reba received 1 bone from an Emperor demon and 2 from Monarch demons.

    He looked at the beautiful green-haired woman and said. "Start your absorption with the Emperor demon Soul Bone. It will take you a little more work, but your strength will increase more significantly."

    Theoretically, the order of absorbing the Soul Bone was irrelevant, as the order of the factors did not change the result. However, whichever produced the most significant results could make a big difference in helping these women be stronger faster.

    Concerned that a battle might ur there in his absence and endanger the two, Lothur advised Reba.

    The two knew of the danger around them and that Lothur would probably have to go to Elke and Annaliese. So they did not make it difficult for him and returned to their meditative states, this time both with tinum-grade bones in their hands!

    Seeing this, Lothur did not hesitate to leave the tent and look at the 30 people around it, all kneeling in his presence.

    Lothur was an alchemist, a poison master, a formations master, and a doctor. Not only that, but he had already increased his knowledge and skills in all his professions to the 5-star level.

    So when Lothur saw these many Transcendents, he did not hesitate to throw a bunch of pills, potions, and poisons at them.

    "Use these to strengthen yourselves, my soldiers." Hemented as he watched these individuals take the cultivation resources he had developed during his travels in the north.

    Pills and the like were not as good at increasing a cultivator''s strength as Soul Bones. However, for those who could not absorb bones, these resources were what could best help them.

    Knowing this, Lothur had been producing these items for weeks, knowing that one day he would return to Leopoldine toplete his mission and see his women again before allying himself with that Tyrannosaurus Rex to fight the demons.

    As someone who cared about the safety of his women, Lothur would not leave them without good supporters in his absence.

    After handing over those resources that could increase his men''s strength faster than Soul Bones could, Lothur didn''t hang around any longer and opened a space rift, heading for the southern border of Linn Province!

 Chapter 762 The Bones for Elke and Annaliese

    <h4>Chapter 762 The Bones for Elke and Annaliese?</h4>

    Upon arriving at the southern border of Linn Province with Ashen, Lothur immediately began searching for Annaliese and Elke, once again finding his women easily.

    For the current Lothur, finding people in the province was something extremely simple. While investigating the area south of the province, Lothur had even identified a few groups of demons. But focused on delivering the bones he had to his wives and fulfilling his mission, he ignored them and quickly made his way to these two.

    When he got close enough for the system to show him their status, Lothur immediately saw how strong the two strongest of the family were.

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 20]

    [STR: 1,400] [CON: 1,710] [DEX: 1,400] [AGI: 1,390]

    [INT: 130] [PER: 250] [WILL: 820] [SOU: 1,150]

    ...

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 20]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 19]

    [STR: 1,050] [CON: 1,460] [DEX: 1,200] [AGI: 1,210]

    [INT: 197] [PER: 255] [WIL: 670] [SOU: 1,400]

    ''Impressive!'' He thought. ''With these attributes, these two will pass me in almost everything after absorbing the bones I have for them.''

    Unlike Lothur, who hadn''t had the chance to absorb so many high-quality bones in a row, nor had he had the chance to build up his strength before absorbing his bones, his women had be strong enough to change a lot after this moment.

    He estimated that his women would be between 4 and 6 times stronger after they finished absorbing their respective Soul Bones.

    If that happened, their numbers would be impressive!

    They would probably reach level 22 or even level 23!

    While imagining how far they could go, Lothur did what he had already done with Viktoria and Reba and woke them up.

    "Lothur!" They said as they opened their eyes to see their husband standing there.

    But once again, Lothur already had several Soul Bones in his hands, 2 from Emperor demons, 2 from Monarch demons, and 2 from General demons.

    He wanted them to share equally and did not miss the opportunity to tell them so.

    "Elke, Anna, let''s not waste any time. I want you to take the highest quality bones first and leave the lowest quality bones forst. Let''s build up your strength before worse trouble hits us." He said and let three bones float in front of each of them.

    Seeing the quality of these bones, Annaliese opened her mouth in shock to ask. "How did you get so many bones?"

    "Now I am a Sage, Anna." He said, smiling. "If you want to reach that level, absorb this quickly."

    Elke and Annaliese looked at each other like children about to open their presents and did not hesitate to return to their meditative positions, this time with the tinum-grade bones in hand to begin their absorption.

    Seeing this, Lothur did what he had done where Viktoria and Reba were, setting up some defensive formations in the area before going to his men to give them the resources they needed.

    "Absorb these resources and increase your harvest. Transcendents will be of no value to my family after this day." Lothur told them all.

    "Yes, master!" They said, genuinely happy, for this was an excellent opportunity for all of them, something they had never dreamed of.

    As these men took in what their master had seen fit to give them, Lothur quickly found an Origin Saint near where his family''s tent was and moved.

    Upon reaching this person, Lothur covered his face with a mask, changing the color of his hair and the shape of his clothing.

    Appearing behind the person, he asked. "Saint of Leopoldine, do you know where the strongest of the Jansen family is?"

    Gulp!

    The man swallowed his saliva as he felt the power of the aura behind him and realized that person''s cultivation.

    "1st Catastrophe Sage!'' His eyes opened wide as he broke out in a cold sweat.

    "Jan... Jansen Family?" He mumbled as he stuttered. "Senior wants to know where the strongest of this family is?"

    "That''s what I asked."

    This man was part of one of the few Leopoldine powers that lived in the shadows. So, it was clear that he knew where these people from the Jansen family were.

    The Jansen family were the true leaders of this state,manding the local forces in this dire situation the empire was in.

    But even though he was afraid and loyal to the Jansen family, this man could not lie to a Sage!

    If the Sage wanted to do something bad to the Jansen family, then the state would be finished. But he alone could not stop such a person. With or without his help, this Sage would find that family.

    The man said to save himself and try not to make things worse. "Senior, please don''t do anything bad to the Jansen family. They are good people who are just trying to live their lives peacefully."

    "Just tell me where the family leaders are."

    "They are scattered all over the empire. The three strongest of the family lead groups here on the border with Ashen, another with Lenz, and another with Utrary."

    With these words, Lothur realized he couldplete his mission by talking to one of these Jansen family members and confirming whether or not they were rted to the soul fragment.

    "What is their strength?" He asked so that he could look them up more quickly.

    "They are Supreme Saints, senior."

    With that answer, Lothur once again used One With Nature and his sight to search for all the Supreme Saints within a radius of up to 100 kilometers from him.

    Within 10 minutes, Lothur found 4 such individuals in that area, near where two of his women were.

    Noticing the pointed ears of one of these individuals, Lothur frowned, sensing that this was one of Mathias'' descendants.

    He cut through the space and quickly appeared near such a person, causing all the Supreme Saints in the area to look at each other and change upon noticing his arrival.

    Some of them had been sent from Utrary to watch the enemy leaders.

    The moment Lothur arrived and realized that they were enemies, he killed them so quickly that the people in that group of Jansen family elders could only hear the sound of leaves moving as heads fell in the area.

    But the strongest person in the empire there realized what the neer had done something, and he immediately looked at this person who surpassed him in every way.

    "1st Catastrophe Sage..." He muttered when he saw Lothur looking at him.

    But while everyone in the camp feared this newly arrived expert, Lothur suddenly surprised everyone there.

    "Supreme Saint of the Jansen family, I am here in the name of Mathias Scheidemann, father of Milo Scheidemann. Do these names mean anything to you? Don''t worry. I''m not an enemy but a friend." Lothur got straight to the point, making the old man open his mouth in shock, not expecting to hear these names from anyone other than his younger brother or sister.

    ...

 Chapter 763 Chance of a Breakthrough

    <h4>Chapter 763 Chance of a Breakthrough?</h4>

    "Mathias Scheidemann?" Hearing that name, the grandson of the soul fragment that had helped Lothur at the beginning of his journey, this man could not help but feel as if he had been electrocuted.

    He had heard that name from his father''s mouth only once, shortly before Milo''s death. On that day, such a man revealed to his children the truth about his family and why they had to hide in Leopoldine.

    That name had been passed down among the most important members of the Jansen family as a curiosity about their origins, something the most important of the family learned when they became Saints.

    But even considering the several generations of heirs of this line, less than 100 people in the entire history of this family knew about this surname. And of those people, fewer than 20 knew it in the present day.

    "How is that possible?" The Supreme Saint asked as he looked at the young Sage before him.

    Lothur no longer had any doubts that the Jansen family was indeed a family of Mathias'' descendants. Not only did he see it in this man, but he could feel a different sensation within himself.

    Feeling the good sensation of being close topleting an important mission, he said. "I found the legacy he left behind. Then he gave me the mission to find you and help you for a certain period.

    Hearing this brief exnation, the pointy-eared elder looked at Lothur for a moment in silence, feeling that this was the truth.

    Ande to think of it, there was no other exnation. Lothur was so strong that he could kill everyone in that camp with a few thoughts if he wanted to!

    On the other hand, there was no reason why an emissary of Mathias would want to harm them. That old demon hunter had practically abandoned his family, and neither side had ever spoken or seen each other again until both sides perished.

    After a moment of thought, the old man sighed deeply and led the way to Lothur. "Please, let''s talk in a morefortable ce."

    In no time, they were inside the most luxurious tent in the area, while several members of the Jansen family and other high-ranking officials of the empire stood on the outside, curious about Lothur.

    Inside the tent, Lothur sat on a chair in front of this descendant of Mathias while the old man poured him tea.

    "How should I address the senior?"

    "Just call me senior. In the future, you should treat me that way and refer to me as ''he'' when speaking of me to others, allies or not." Lothur said, thinking not only to hide in the short term but to do so more thoroughly when he had solved his problems.

    The old man did not question Lothur''s request and asked. "How did the senior meet my grandfather?"

    "I met his soul fragment by chance. He tested me and saw that I could try toplete the mission of finding his rtives. He told me that he could not help his family in life, so he wanted to make up for his absence by helping them in death. He left 5 soul bones for your family."

    Hearing this, the man in front of Lothur shuddered, for one of the few things that could help his family grow stronger was Soul Bones.

    He and his brothers were hybrids, but with over 75% of their bloodline being of human origin, they had the ability to absorb Soul Bones just like the human side of his family.

    But they weren''t demon hunters, and they weren''t the kind of experts who would hunt other people''s bones.

    In Concordia, some followed the rule of respecting the wealth of others. That is, they would not fight over a given resource unless that resource had no owner. If it did, those people would just ignore it.

    This elder and his brothers followed such a tradition, especially considering their father''s background. As people who had grown up in hiding, they were cautious in their actions so as not to attract the attention of the people who had "destroyed" Milo''s life.

    But without being demon hunters, without being willing to kill people for their bones, this man and his brothers had very few opportunities to absorb Soul Bones.

    Even though they were very old and could use it to advance quickly and live longer, none of them thought it would be easy. After all, bones without owners were very rare, and Lothur''s attitude was notmon at all.

    In the opinion of the man who saw Lothur show him five bones, 99% of the people who could have epted Mathias'' mission would have been tempted by those bones.

    "Are you serious?" He stood up, his eyes wide.

    If this was serious and he could share these bones with his brothers, they would all have a chance to move forward and be Sages!

    Lothur knew this and smiled. "Yes, haha. If you want a hint, I would take this femur if I were you. I don''t know what your other family members'' strengths and characteristics are. Still, by absorbing this bone, you will ascend to my level."

    This Supreme Saint could sense that this bone was indeed the mostpatible with him, and he followed Lothur''s rmendation and took this bone for himself.

    But first, he looked into Lothur''s eyes and asked. "Senior, please take these other 4 bones to my siblings. They are around Leopoldine to protect the empire. But if they have the chance to absorb these bones, they can also try to advance to the 5th stage."

    Thinking about how the Saints in his family thought about new cultivators at this level, he bowed his head and swore. "I assure you that we will never turn against the elder. After we settle the current war, we will serve you forever!"

    Hearing this, Lothur was naturally pleased. He smiled as he stood up and said. "Don''t worry. I already nned to go to your brother and sister after meeting you.

    As for those enemies, just hold them off in case theyunch an attack in my absence. Since they decided to attack this state, I will personally punish them."

    The pointy-eared individual didn''t quite understand the reason behind Lothur''s words, but since he thought that it had to do with the mission Mathias had handed down, he didn''t think much about it. "All right. I''ll do my best, senior!"

    With that, the hybrid would soon begin to absorb his Soul Bone while Lothur flew through space toward where the other descendant of Mathias was closer to his location.

 Chapter 764 Shocking Reality

    <h4>Chapter 764 Shocking Reality?</h4>

    Five hours after arriving in Leopoldine, Lothur would meet thest of the three siblings, Mathias'' grandchildren.

    After delivering the Soul Bones to this family, Lothur had not yetpleted his mission. ording to Mathias, he had to protect this family and make sure they could use the inheritance for the next 5 years.

    But that didn''t matter to Lothur. Now that he had given the Soul Bones to these three, it was only a matter of time before he would be free of the responsibility Mathias had given him. Besides, as a partner in the Ritter Motor Company, he would have to act for the good of this family and the empire anyway.

    When he finished that afternoon, Lothur immediately began to act for the good of his people''s victory in the war against the outside powers.

    He had three Soul Bones left, so he did not hesitate to send them to his people: one to the Becker family, one to the Koch family, and thest to the Frost family.

    With them, Lothur also sent messages with orders to his people, including Emperor Leopoldine, telling them what to do in the war.

    They were not to kill their enemies. But Lothur warned them that they would soon receive powerful supporters and not to worry, even though this did not make much sense at first nce.

    To help his group buy time, Lothur created powerful storms around the empire''s threatened borders, making it impossible for even Supreme Saints to act.

    Such storms wouldst for hours, long enough for those with Soul Bones to absorb and do what they were supposed to do.

    Meanwhile, Lothur moved to the Three Great Lakes Region, one of the empire''s most secluded and safe ces.

    ...

    Arriving in the forested area he had left thest time he was in Leopoldine, Lothur saw the ce where he had tricked his father and grandfather and sighed.

    He had just heard that the old emperor had died after his departure. Though they were not close and Lothur did not value blood ties, he could not help but mourn the man.

    He had not expected one of his enemies to die so suddenly!

    Sighing as he stopped near where Daemon''s group''s headquarters had been, Lothur was soon spotted by someone.

    Sensing a powerful presence in the area, a level 19 beast rose from where ity in the ruins and looked at the level 22 creature with a gaping mouth.

    But the huge red-haired ape''s expression changed to a smile when it sensed something it already knew. "Lothur?"

    Even though he muttered it under his breath, this beast caught the young Ritter''s attention and made him look in his direction.

    Seeing the beast he had encountered in this area before entering the Immortals Well, Lothur immediately understood why this creature had reached level 19.

    "Oh? It looks like you used the advantage of eating the corpses well, huh?" He asked as he floated towards the beast.

    Sensing that Lothur''s level was far above his own, the great ape lowered his aura to zero and bowed his head to Lothur.

    "Yes, Venerable One. But only I managed to be a Saint. The others either reached the peak of the Transcendent stage or raised their cultivation levels from Nascent Soul Transcendents to Divine Souls." He said with a tone of respect.

    Lothur was already a Sage! He was a whole step ahead of that beast''s level!

    This was such a huge difference that it was not wrong to say that the difference between them was like heaven and earth.

    Understanding what had happened to his beast friends, Lothur asked. "What about the humans in this area? What happened to them? Did they fight?"

    "No, not at all!" The big beast said, afraid that Lothur would think his friends had done something against Daemon''s group.

    "Senior Daemon has been the leader of this area for a long time. We have great respect for him. So we don''t fight." He said, but the truth was that they were very afraid but also grateful to Lothur.

    "And he and his group are still here." He said as he looked eastward and pointed with one of his fingers. "I think one of them ising this way now."

    Lothur looked in that direction and saw a silver-haired maning that way.

    Realizing that it was Daemon, Lothur did not move, ready for the first conversation with his father in his life.

    When he got close enough to his son, Daemon stopped and sighed, feeling the powerful aura emanating from the young body.

    Lothur was about 20 years old but already a Sage!

    ''The mixture of demon and human bloodlines is really powerful.'' He thought to himself. ''It is not for nothing that humans fear them so much.''

    "Lothur, what are you doing here?" He asked in a neutral tone, neither fearing nor respecting the Sage before him.

    Lothur looked at Daemon and said. "I will live in this ce for an hour. The damned Sages of this continent are hunting me. I will go into seclusion to repay themter for what they have done to me."

    "Sages of the continent?" The big beast asked.

    To him and Daemon, Sages were nothing more than legends. They knew that such people existed, but thest of the Sages who had spread their name across the continent had long since passed away.

    Most of these experts lived in seclusion, and when they acted, they did so using their spatial abilities to erase their traces. Thus, few knew of their movements or existence even when they fought or left their ''caves.

    When they heard that some of them were after Lothur, they couldn''t help but be surprised.

    "But at your level, you must already be one of the strongest on the continent, right?" The beast asked.

    Lothurughed at the creature''s ignorance, helping his friend and father see the world as it was. "I am still fragile. The strongest I faced was a 2nd Catastrophe Sage. And that guy only had 9 Soul Bones, and none of them were Diamond-grade bones. But I know several Soul Bones of hybrids are on the continent..."

    Daemon was very intelligent and did not need to hear the rest of his son''s words to guess what he was about to say. "So there are Sages with formed Spirit Bodies and at least one Diamond-grade Soul Bone."

    Lothur looked at his father and said. "Someone like that should have a 3rd or 4th Catastrophe cultivation. Someone like me at 1st Catastrophe wouldn''t stand a chance against them."

    At the 5th stage, a cultivator''s vitality increased with every disaster they overcame. As a result, Sages could live much longer than Saints, and some could even reach 50,000 years of age without using any special resources.

    The umted cultivation of these beings was extreme, and Lothur could already perceive the strength of the monsters lurking on the continent.

    He might be freer now, but he was still not far from danger!

    ...

 Chapter 765 Plans

    ?

    Lothur wanted to take back what his enemies had taken from him earlier, a Diamond-grade Soul Bone. However, to do so, he would have to have the strength to defeat Sages even stronger than those he had faced.

    Thinking more about it now that he was out of danger, Lothur was able to estimate the strength of the people who were supposed to have the best bones in the world. As such, he wouldn''t overestimate his situation, and that was why he was in this remote ce.

    If he hid there, he could improve his strength a little more. In any case, he only had seven bones. He could still absorb two bones and save thest space for a Diamond-grade bone.

    However, he would first have to investigate the type of Diamond-grade Soul Bones that existed. Unlike when the hybrid died and formed a missing bone in the one that killed it, these bones already had defined shapes.

    Not just any bone could be absorbed by Lothur!

    So before absorbing new bones, he had to be careful, or he might soon have no room in his body for any bones of that quality!

    ''I''ll wait for Viktoria and the others to return from the war with my ''food,'' and I''ll order them to get this information for me.'' Lothur thought to himself as Daemon, and that beast stared at the impressive world of Concordia''s high-level specialists.

    "Then you need to go into seclusion..." Daemon muttered. "But how exactly are you going to do that? With your capabilities, wouldn''t it be better to travel around the continent?"

    Lothur looked at Daemon and understood that he was talking about his ability to devour the power of others. "Yes, I''ll do that. But first, I''m going to raise my soul power a little. Then I''ll hunt demons to do what you have in mind.

    But now it will do me good to stay hidden in this area for a while. There are many Sages looking for me around the continent, and I''ll soon have some great helpers. They will help me a little in this time of seclusion.

    When I''ve achieved my goals, I''ll hunt demons on Demon Ind."

    "Oh?"

    Unlike many on the continent who didn''t know about the demons'' home, Daemon was aware of Demon Ind since Fabienne had told him about it a long time ago.

    Demon Ind was a distant territory to the south of this world, a ce slightlyrger than Leopoldine but totally dominated by demons, where many frightening creatures existed.

    ording to Fabienne, more than 8 million demons lived there among many dark races.

    Going to such an ind was definitely a great danger for even Sages!

    But Daemon knew it would probably be the best ce for Lothur to grow stronger and help humanity even more.

    Even though he had given birth to a terrible creature together with Fabienne, Daemon didn''t hate humans. On the contrary, he hated demons, especially those of low rank, who couldn''t control themselves and were extremely dangerous.

    Even though he had been in a rtionship with an Emperor demon for years, he sincerely preferred these creatures dead!

    "Do you need anything now? I''m not strong enough to help you now, but I can still do many things, kid." He said, willing to help Lothur and watch the rise of a truly invincible warrior.

    As Lothur''s father, Daemon wanted to see this young man reach the peak of the world!

    Upon hearing this, Lothur looked not only at Daemon but also at that level 19 beast. "Indeed. While I was watching the borders of Linn Province earlier, I saw some groups of demons in this territory."

    "Do you want us to hunt them down for you?" The beast asked.

    "I want you to seize them. You don''t have to kill them. Just collect the groups of demons I''ll show you and bring them to me." Lothur replied.

    "Won''t that get you into trouble?"

    Lothur said to his father. "No. These are weak, 3rd stage demons. So no Sage will be looking out for them, especially if you were the one hunting them."

    "But at your level, does it make a difference to hunt demons like that, Lothur?" The red-furred beast asked.

    "In normal situations, I wouldn''t care about them at my current level. But they''re within my reach, and I can give their bones to people in my group. So bring them to me."

    Lothur quickly gave the location of three groups of demons around Linn Province before watching the two leave, going to gather their own teams to carry out this mission.

    Being alone in those ruins, Lothur knew he didn''t have much to do at the moment since he didn''t know how to meditate to raise his soul cultivation.

    Even if training could raise his physical attributes, these improvements were practically insignificant for the current him.

    He would even train daily to keep getting stronger, however slowly. But with the chance to produce things to raise his family''s strength, Lothur felt that his time would be better used if he focused on helping his group grow stronger.

    With the number of resources Lothur had gathered on his journey here, collecting spatial rings and things in his path, he could produce many useful things for his people.

    With this in mind, he soon crossed the space of the ruins in front of him and found an excellent ce to produce his resources in peace.

    ...

    While Lothur used his skills as an alchemist while entering seclusion, the beast groups from earlier and Daemon set off from the Three Great Lakes Region.

    Meanwhile, to the north of that area, Viktoria was finishing absorbing the second of the two Soul Bones that Lothur had given her.

    Opening her eyes and feeling her new strength, Viktoria realized that she was now no longer a Saint but a 1st Catastrophe Sage!

    Having reached level 22 in soul and body cultivation, she felt the power she now had and noticed her surroundings much more easily.

    The difference she felt in her being was so great that she could hardly believe she was still a human!

    Sensing everything in her surroundings, she quickly realized that Reba had also be a Sage but was still absorbing thest of her 3 bones.

    But as she sensed the men around her tent, she was much more surprised, noticing the Transcendents who had earlier been between levels 16 and 18, now between levels 18 and 20!

    Noticing this, she smiled as she imagined that this was Lothur''s doing. She then paid attention to the border where she was, noticing the enemies to the northing from Lenz.

    "Time to work."

    But just as she was about to leave her tent, one of Lothur''s men knelt down in front of her with a letter in his hand.

    ...

 Chapter 766 Victory Day

    <h4>Chapter 766 Victory Day</h4>

    Picking up the letter held by one of Lothur''s men, Viktoria quickly read through it and realized what her husband wanted.

    ''So we should take these enemies to the Three Great Lakes Region?'' She asked herself, understanding that Lothur nned to consume these people in his own way.

    Aware that he could grow stronger this way, Viktoria didn''t feel bad about it and immediately looked in the direction of her mother''s family estate.

    She told her men before she left. "Maintain the security perimeter of this area until Reba finishes what she''s doing. After that, you will all need to join us in the fight."

    Everyone agreed while Viktoria had already cut through the room and made her way to the most advanced outpost of the imperial forces nearby.

    In the blink of an eye, she was next to the leading forces in the area, where another Sage like her was standing by.

    "Elder Jansen, congrattions on reaching the 5th stage." Viktoria congratted the man, knowing that Lothur had given him a Soul Bone, which had helped him raise his level.

    The elder Jansen also knew about Viktoria from another letter from Lothur that had reached him and was not surprised to find another Sage in this area.

    "That''s nothing, miss. Your progress is much more significant than mine." He said in a good-natured tone while everyone in the area looked at Viktoria in admiration of the level she had reached.

    She didn''t mind the looks or thepliment and said. "You know what he wants, right?"

    "Yes, he was unequivocal in his words. We should defeat the group of enemies, but without destroying them. Anyone above the level of Nascent Soul Transcendent must be brought to him alive."

    Viktoria nodded. "Hmm, then let''s act, Elder Jansen. I don''t see any Sages in the group ahead of us, so I think we can finish this matter before the end of the next day."

    If they agreed, it wouldn''t be long before they started dealing with the enemies, hiding their auras as they searched the area.

    Reba should be done in a couple of hours at the most. So it would be doubly good for them to start now so that they would have the data they needed to act together in another two hours or so.

    When Reba woke up, they would have maximum power on their side, and it would be difficult for the opposing group to withstand them, even if there were Sages hiding on the other side!

    ...

    Meanwhile, on the border of Asken, Elke and Annaliese finished absorbing the 3rd of the bones they had received from Lothur, ending their seclusion.

    As in the other area, a member of the Jansen family was nearby and had already finished absorbing his Soul Bone, having advanced to level 22.

    He had received Lothur''s orders and was already investigating the enemy grouping from Asken, preparing for when Elke and Annaliese could join him in battle.

    But while he was alone, this level 22 man was careful to cover his tracks and quietly investigate the powerful grouping from the south.

    ...

    The situation was quite different on the westernmost border of Leopoldine, where the state''s border with Utraryy.

    There were no envoys from the Ritter family or women from Lothur in this area. The only one in the area who had received help from the young Ritter was the eldest elder of the Jansen family, who had just absorbed her 2 Soul Bones and became a 1st 1st Catastrophe Sage.

    With Lothur''s orders and some of the strongest men in her family at her side, this woman didn''t hesitate to begin her ns as soon as she left her state of meditation.

    After a quick analysis of the enemy forces, sheunched a surprise attack,pletely destabilizing the enemy grouping from Utrary.

    "My entire group! Attack! Attack now!" She gave her orders after her first move while using her spatial maniption skills to throw the unconscious bodies of her targets into their camp.

    She didn''t need much power to take down the opponents of level 19, 20, and 21. She only needed a simple touch, and most of these people would pass out.

    But while she was doing that, her men in the area soon began a major battle against those between levels 16 and 19, fighting to eliminate the weakest while only trying to take the strongest.

    There were even level 20 Saints in their group, so they weren''t at a disadvantage even though the enemy group was muchrger.

    With the help of a Sage, even with fewer people on their side, this group quickly gained the upper hand!

    ...

    Four hourster...

    After the actions for the good of Lothur began, the borders of the empire were ame with the movements of the local forces against foreign enemies.

    With the awakening of Annaliese, Elke, and Reba, Leopoldine''s party had gained three new Sages, including two level 23 ones!

    Annaliese and Elke had benefited so much from the bones Lothur had given them that they had surpassed his cultivation in every way!

    By evolving so much and bing 2nd Catastrophe Sages, the two women had teamed up with one of the Jansen family elders to defeat around 200 opponents between levels 19 and 21 easily!

    Since there were no Sages on the opposing group''s side in this battle, the group of three quickly defeated the enemy forces to the extent they had 2 hours ago. At that moment, two of them were carrying the unconscious bodies of 300 enemies to the Three Great Lakes Region, while another had gone west to help in the battle at the border with Utrary.

    The same thing had happened at the border with Lenz. Before the day was out, two of Lothur''s four women were near the border with Utrary, where Leopoldine''s greatest losses had urred that day.

    With Elke and Reba side by side with the elder Jansen, the group quickly defeated their enemies in this area and began their retreat to where their leader was waiting for them.

    The enemies of Leopoldine''s three neighbors were confused by their results in today''s battle, but they would soon realize the change that had taken ce in this state and change their strategies.

    In the meantime, more than 800 living enemies have fallen into Lothur''s hands!

 Chapter 767 Improvements And New Orders

    ?

    Upon meeting his women and Mathias'' descendants, Lothur promptly thanked them for following his orders to the letter.

    Knowing what Lothur would do with these kidnapped victims, his wives didn''t take their time and let him do what he had to before they sought his affection.

    The three Sages of the Jansen family gathered happily together. It was great to be on a new level, increase their vitality, and see their siblings achieving the same!

    As they gathered, making room for Lothur''s wives and him, this silver-haired young man soon activated his bloodline ability.

    By doing so, the space around him waspletely under his control. No one outside could sense what he had just started.

    With that, Lothur didn''t hesitate and was quickly watching as his ability sucked out the vitality and characteristics of the unconscious people in his surroundings.

    The system showed him his improvements.

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 30% -> 34%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 29% -> 33%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 24% -> 30%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 17% -> 23%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 14% -> 17%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 78% -> 93%]

    ...

    Most of those bodies turned to dust in the blink of an eye, while Lothur''s EVF points rose significantly.

    Most of these people were high-level Transcendents and low-level Saints. There were few Supreme Saints around, so his results were not as gigantic as they would have been if he had acted against high-level Saints or even Sages.

    [EVF: 0 -> 59,536]

    Even so, 800 people were a huge number of people. Even though most of them were many times weaker than Lothur, they provided him with high value together!

    [1,984 points added in SOU for the cost of 59,520 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 7,015 -> 8,999]

    ...

    [EVF: 59,536 -> 16]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 3,450] [CON: 5,725] [DEX: 3,700] [AGI: 3,750]

    [INT: 1,059] [PER: 5,355] [WIL: 2,380] [SOU: 8,999]

    [EVF: 16]

    Seeing his status, Lothur noticed the red mist around him decreasing in density while the surroundings werepletely devastated, with no bodies, no vegetation, and nothing alive. Only dead things, empty ofws and without essence, remained behind.

    But he didn''t care about the destruction his ability caused in the surroundings. Seeing his soul power approaching the level at which he could advance to level 23, Lothur was more than satisfied.

    ''At this rate, I''ll be able to reach level 23 before I absorb my next Soul Bone... Perfect. I''ll be able to build up a bit of strength to make better use of the bonus from the future bones I''ll absorb.'' He thought to himself, already looking in the direction of where his women were.

    In doing so, he stopped manipting the space around him and finally walked over to them, checking their status.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23]

    [STR: 5,997] [CON: 8,339] [DEX: 6,854] [AGI: 6,911]

    [INT: 1.125] [PER: 1.456] [WIL: 3.827] [SOU: 7.997]

    ...

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,388] [CON: 5,009] [DEX: 4,430] [AGI: 4,512]

    [INT: 1,590] [PER: 1,109] [WIL: 3,933] [SOU: 3,643]

    ...

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 5,047] [CON: 6,197] [DEX: 5,047] [AGI: 5,098]

    [INT: 1,433] [PER: 1,159] [WIL: 3,348] [SOU: 4,148]

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23]

    [STR: 7.996] [CON: 9.767] [DEX: 7.996] AGI: 7.939]

    [INT: 743] [PER: 1,428] [WIL: 4,683] [SOU: 6,568]

    His wives had made good use of the opportunity to absorb several Soul Bones in the space of a few hours.

    By adding the bonus of one bone to the other, they had easily increased their attributes by 5 to 6 times!

    Lothur was happy to see these excellent attributes because now he could count on his women. He could go hunting with them without worrying about putting them in danger.

    There would always be a danger. But the strength of these women was equal to or greater than his own!

    Thinking about how much stronger his family was, Lothur said with a smile on his face. "Congrattions on your progress. We are all Sages now. But don''t getcent. As much as we have be legends to most of the people on this continent, there are still those who would easily destroy us with one look.

    You need more Soul Bones, and I need enemies willing to challenge the family."

    "You want us to hunt for you?" Viktoria realized that Lothur couldn''t move around the continent casually, as his situation was delicate.

    "More or less. I want you to focus on resolving the current tensions over the empire. Those enemies who are interested in the Ritter Motor Company will be good nourishment for me." He said seriously before looking at the spatial ring that held everything those 800 or so bodies had left behind.

    "Not only for me but for our people. Those individuals who just died for our cause left behind countless resources and 15 Soul Bones. None of these bones arepatible with people with our characteristics. But they can be used to strengthen our men."

    They were all interested, as they had family and friends who would like to help if given a chance.

    Viktoria and Annaliese had one person in mind: their mother, Mabel.

    But they didn''t want to talk about that right now because they knew their husband had too many things on his mind to mention that woman''s name.

    "So I want some of you to watch the war with these Jansen family elders. But I want two of you to spread out throughout the realm. There must be some groups of demons hiding around Leopoldine. Kidnap them and bring them to me. No matter what level or demonic hierarchy. They are all useful to me."

    When he said this and saw his women nodding, Lothur looked at the three siblings and said. "As for you, order some of your men toe here and build something in the ce I destroyed. Let''s camouge the area."

    "We''ll do our best." The three said before leaving, leaving Lothur and his women behind.

    As they stood alone, his wives gave him a different look, and Elke soon asked. "When do we start following these orders?"

    "Tomorrow." Lothur smiled before leading one of the women to a ce in the underground part of the area.

    The other women smiled, but they all looked forward to their chance to be with him!

    It was time for a passionate reunion between them!

 Chapter 768 Enemy Moves

    ?

    Hours after tending to his duties as a man, Lothur saw something strange happen to him for the first time on his journey!

    [CON: 5,725 -> 6,081]

    After having sex with all of his women, Lothur realized that doing so with those who currently had a higher Constitution than he did gave him results simr to those he had been able to produce with them before.

    After caring for Annaliese and Elke, he improved that attribute a bit and was naturally very satisfied.

    Considering the amount of Soul Bones his wives still had to absorb, they had a good chance of maintaining this attribute above his own in the future.

    It was time for him to benefit from his women''s power after helping them for so long!

    But Lothur''s other two women had experienced the usual effects of having sex with him and had received their husband''s blessing, raising their physical quality a bit.

    Lothur spent the night taking care of them, and by dawn, they had all left the Three Great Lakes Region to begin the mission he had given them earlier.

    Annaliese and Viktoria had left with the elders of the Jansen family, who had already brought some men from their families to help Lothur in the area. These two women and the three brothers went to different borders of Leopoldine to prepare to protect the state and eventually get more "food" for Lothur.

    Elke and Reba went to work in the interior of Leopoldine, looking for demons, the same work that Daemon''s group and the one with the level 19 beast were doing at the moment.

    With all his women gone, Lothur quickly helped some of the men there to build his retreat, giving them special potions and pills.

    These were not his subordinates, but since it would take time for his people to reach this ce, and he had to protect the Jansen family anyway, he used some of the resources he would give to his people to help these men be stronger.

    But there were already people of the Ritter, Koch, Becker, and Frost families moving into the area, knowing that Lothur had the resources to help them.

    Soon, the forces of Linn Province would change significantly because of Lothur''s actions!

    ...

    While Lothur once again focused on creating mechanisms to strengthen his people, within Asken, the powers of that state were already rmed by the disappearance and death of hundreds of their troops.

    That state had more than 5,000 people moving to Leopoldine, but 3,000 went to that state through Linn Province and the rest through other areas.

    But suddenly, this afternoon, many of their men died at the border of Linn Province, which was extremely unexpected, considering that there were even high Saints in such a group.

    With the disappearance of the strongest and weakest of this group from this world, the capital of Asken was soon in an uproar as the state''s top men went into an emergency meeting.

    "What the hell happened? How can our men die so easily on the border of that province?" The emperor asked aloud as the people in the area broke into a cold sweat, many of them turning pale.

    One of those responsible formunicating with this group opened his mouth. "We don''t know, Your Majesty. The group we sent to Linn Province perished withoutmunicating or asking for reinforcements.

    My group believes the enemies were so powerful that our envoys couldn''t withstand the pressure and were eliminated before they even asked for reinforcements."

    "If that''s true, we have to consider the possibility that there was at least one Sage on Leopoldine''s side..."

    "Maybe the Jansen family managed to move up a level?"

    "It is possible. Those three old people have been at the peak of their powers for centuries."

    Several experts, most of them Supreme Saints,mented at the same time the emperor was as red as a tomato, furious at losing so many of his strongest subordinates and vassals.

    However, this was just the tip of the iceberg!

    "Very well, prepare more groups." He ordered. "I will call the elders. Let''s see what Leopoldine will do if it only relies on three newly promoted Sages!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, something simr to what happened in Asken''s capital happened in Lenz and Utrary, where rulers were learning the consequences of the actions of the Sages created by Lothur.

    With losses almost as great as Asken''s, Utrary and Lenz were in tension, especially thetter state, the weakest of the main territories acting against Leopoldine.

    Precisely because it was the weakest, Lenz was already moving to contact its allies not yet involved in the war against Leopoldine and that state''s hybrid, as it had no Sage to rely on.

    Most states in this world had Sages in seclusion, especially the sovereign powers of territories. But Lenz was one of only two states, along with Leopoldine, that didn''t have Sages until recently.

    On the other hand, while Lenz was searching for its allies who had ess to Sages, the sovereign family of Utrary was already moving to awaken its elders!

    The leader of this state was currently in a crypt in the basement of her pce, in front of two shiny, well-polished urns that didn''t even have a speck of dust on them.

    On her knees, this level-21 woman cried out to her ancestors for help.

    "Elders, my state is at war with an unexpected enemy. We recently lost thousands of our men suddenly." She said as she felt the aura of those beings hovering more and more chaotically behind the doors of their urns.

    "I am afraid that the enemies have Sages acting for them. Since I don''t have the strength to fight such people, I ask the elders to intercede. Otherwise, I fear that the state will be destroyed and taken over by the darkness of our enemies."

    As she begged, there was a sudden cracking sound, and the lid of one of the urns in the crypt opened.

    In an instant, two magnificent auras appeared, and soon, the entire capital of Utrary was shaking.

    "All generations really are the same... It looks like someone''s trying to intimidate our juniors, old Patrick."

    "Humph! Our family is not to be bullied! We''ll see who these vermin are plotting against us!" A powerful old man with a Soul power of over 12,000 said this as he looked at the young woman kneeling in front of the urn he had just left.

    After more than a thousand years in seclusion, he and his wife were leaving this ce for the first time!

 Chapter 769 Cautious

    <h4>Chapter 769 Cautious?</h4>

    After two days, Lothur''s men returned with more hostages to feed on, helping him to improve some of his characteristics.

    His resistance to the Lightning element had increased to tinum grade, and he had improved his Perception a bit more during those days. However, apart from increasing the value of his Soul attribute, Lothur hadn''t increased his cultivation level, even though he was close to a breakthrough.

    Daemon''s group and the level 19 beast from earlier returned these days, having sessfully hunted down the demons Lothur had indicated.

    Thanks to these creatures, Lothur''s Soul Bones had also improved in their progress, with the bone responsible for the ck mes reaching the tinum grade.

    After delivering 9 demons to Lothur and helping him eliminate them all, Daemon''s group and the previous beast were again sent to other areas of the empire, this time without specific demon locations.

    But their mission was still the same. To find such creatures, kidnap them and bring them to Lothur.

    Meanwhile, many men from the Koch, Ritter, Becker, and Frost families had arrived in the Three Great Lakes Region and been given opportunities by Lothur.

    A few of them had been able to absorb the inferior Soul Bones that Lothur had umted. Still, they most had achieved breakthroughs through the pills and other resources he had produced.

    About 300 people had received these opportunities in the past two days, most of them level 15 Spiritual Warriors or level 16 Transcendents.

    After receiving these opportunities, even the weakest of them were able to advance at least one level.

    Of the 300 people who arrived here in the past few hours, none of them would return to their posts with a cultivation level below level 16.

    But some exceptional cases, like Elke''s father, had advanced their cultivation much higher than most of these people, reaching level 17 or 18. In this man''s case, he had be a level 17 transcendent.

    However, the Koch patriarch had reached level 18 after absorbing two Soul Bones, which Gomeric had not done because he had given one of his bones to his wife, Hilda.

    In any case, the group of 300 that had set out from the Three Great Lakes Region had people between levels 16 and 18, much stronger than those who had arrived there before.

    As a result, the empire''s forces had been greatly strengthened in the past few days, something that could scare not only the enemies of the state but also its allies!

    ...

    Peter''s City...

    This city was currently home to some of the families who were Lothur''s partners in the Ritter Motor Company but who came from states currently at war with Leopoldine.

    As partners of a cursed creature, the families of thispany, who came from Utrary, Ashen, and Lenz, had naturally been forced to flee their home states after the start of the troop movement against Leopoldine.

    As associates of Lothur, these groups moved to the city where the headquarters of the Ritter Motor Company was located, the only business they had after being expelled from their states.

    But most of the stronger men from these families moved around the empire, while the weaker ones remained in this ce, maintainingmunication with their people.

    At this very moment, one of the men from an Ashen family was using a high-levelmunicator to talk to one of the Saints in his family.

    "Elder, it''s bizarre what''s happening. Suddenly, many people left the city two days ago and then came back much stronger!" An elder from Peters City said this while holding a crystal.

    The person on the other end of the line couldn''t see the elder''s face, which had an ugly, somewhat incredulous expression. But from the tone of his voice, it was obvious to him the man''s troubled feelings.

    "The battlefield is strange too. The Saint on the other end of the line said. "Suddenly, Sages appeared in our group. Lothur Ritter''s women have an impressive level of power. I still get goosebumps when I think about their aura!"

    "What is going on, old man? How is it possible for the local forces to grow so strong so fast? Did they discover a treasure mine or something?" The man in Peter City asked, not understanding the situation.

    Make no mistake, he and the Saint on the other end of the line were not sad. On the contrary, the sudden development of the local forces would favor them. However, this was not natural, and they wanted to know this progress''s source.

    "I don''t know. We''ll look into it. For now, I''ll watch my post and try to find out what''s going on. But in any case, let''s take advantage of the good winds and eliminate our enemies."

    "Yes, we''ll do our best!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, on one of the borders of Leopoldine, a man appeared hundreds of meters above the ground, looking at the area with a strange expression.

    Seeing the signs of battle around him but no signs of bodies or the deaths of the strongest men in his state, he was surprised.

    ''What exactly happened here? Did these people take our men, hostage?'' He asked himself but felt it didn''t make sense.

    Either way, this was a sign that demonstrated the enemies'' power in Leopoldine. These people who were victimizing their state were so strong that they could kidnap their opponents and take them elsewhere.

    Knowing that the same thing was happening on other borders of Leopoldine, this high-level man knew that at least four sages were operating in such a state.

    Even though he was level 23, it wouldn''t be easy to deal with four Sages, even if they were all level 22!

    With this in mind, he decided to be cautious when investigating this ce.

    ''I''ll see if I can find those Sages. I don''t see any of them in this ce right now.'' He looked around the area where Annaliese was standing.

    As someone of a simr level to this man, Annaliese could easily hide her presence from him!

    ''They must be near the empire''s capital or the Jansen family''s territory... I''ll start there!''

    Having made up his mind, he opened a spatial rift and set off in the same direction as other Sages from the states that the actions of Lothur''s people had victimized.

    As old and experienced experts, most were cautious enough not to act rashly. Almost all of them wanted to investigate before doing anything more dangerous.

    With no enemy troops around Leopoldine, the state was at peace while these experts conducted their investigations.

 Chapter 770 5th Stage Secret

    <h4>Chapter 770 5th Stage Secret</h4>

    Three dayster...

    While Sages from different states traveled around Leopoldine searching for 5th-stage cultivators, some of Lothur''s women had made progress on his orders.

    After days of traveling around the state looking for demons but also for information, Elke had sent a notification to Lothur the day before about the Diamond-grade Soul Bones from Concordia''s history.

    There weren''t many such bones throughout history. Few demon-human hybrids had been born during the chaotic rtionship between humans and demons. As such, there were few bones from these creatures.

    But many of the hybrids killed over the previous millennia had been well known in their time, with various stories about them and the hunt for them unfolding.

    As much as it was in some people''s interests to hide some of what had happened, given how ramified information about it became in their time, no one achieved their purpose in hiding everything about the appearance of these bones.

    So even after just a few days searching for information rted to these bones, Elke had already discovered what kind of bones half of the continent''s Diamond-grade Soul Bones were.

    She didn''t know which organizations these bones belonged to at the time, let alone where to look or who they were with. But she was already aware of what part of a body these bones would join when fused with humans and hybrids.

    She sent this information to Lothur, also informing him that some of her contacts were already looking for information about the other bones together with Reba. In a few more days, he could have the final information.

    In the meantime, Reba, Daemon''s group, and the level 19 beast had found a few more groups of low-ranking demons around the empire, sending some more of them to Lothur.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the Three Great Lakes Region...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 3,500] [CON: 6,081] [DEX: 3,740] [AGI: 3,810]

    [INT: 1,059] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 2,380] [SOU: 9,850]

    [EVF: 12]

    Lothur looked at his status and saw some of the improvements he had made recently due to the help of his men hunting demons and enemies around Leopoldine.

    Every day, he had been activating his bloodline ability and raising his affinities, resistances, and the progress of his Soul Bones.

    From time to time, he also trained some of his techniques to improve his physical strength, but as he had been much more focused on helping his group, he hadn''t had much time for that recently.

    One way or another, with the information he had received from Elke recently, he was very satisfied, as he knew what bones not to add to his body in order to one day have a chance of obtaining one of these Diamond-grade ones.

    Once he had the information on all these bones, he could go back to hunting high-ranking demons toplete two or one of the three possibilities he had left.

    ''When the war around Leopoldine is resolved, and I have all this informationpiled, I''ll go and find the Tyrannosaurus Rex so we can get back to our demon-hunting mission.'' Lothur thought to himself, imagining a trip to Demon Ind.

    At his current level, he could still benefit greatly from the demons present on the continent and the human enemies who woulde to challenge him. However, it would be very difficult for him to get the bones he wanted before the Diamond-grade bone across the continent.

    As such, if he wanted to absorb new bones, Lothur would have to go to the ce where 5th-stage demons lived!

    ''I''ll find that guy and then set off for that ind. Going after the leaves of the system will be tough in the short term.'' He pondered as he saw the ashes of some of his enemies on the outskirts of the area where he had just shown off his bloodline ability.

    For Lothur, the thing that could give him the most benefit was the system leaves. But there were two problems with him going after these leaves.

    The first was that the chance of him finding them was slim due to their rarity and the fact that these leaves could only be felt from very close to them. It would definitely be easier for him to find 5th-stage demons with useful bones for him to absorb.

    The second was that these items were the rarest in this entire world, and those behind them were definitely the strongest in the world!

    With the knowledge he currently had about the strength of this world''s experts, Lothur was wary of running into level 24 and 25 Sages if he went looking for these leaves.

    As such, he wanted first to raise the number of his bones and significantly improve his attributes before continuing with this work.

    Finally, having finished what he had just done, Lothur looked at the Silver and Gold-grade Soul Bones in his surroundings and collected them to pass on to his men.

    On leaving the underground area where he was, Lothur soon came across a group of low-level Transcendents outside the estate.

    Lothur''s men could not leave their posts simultaneously toe to this ce to receive this man''s blessings. As such, every day, a different group came here.

    Seeing the group of men who had arrived there hours ago and some of whom had already used his pills, Lothur chose the strongest and most relevant to hand over the Soul Bones of the demons he had just killed.

    "Take advantage of this opportunity. After that, I won''t help you again for a while."

    All those people thanked him again, especially those chosen to absorb those Soul Bones.

    Everyone there already knew what Lothur was. But knowing him for a long time or even realizing that he wouldn''t act against them, they were all thrilled to serve him.

    Having finished his business with these men, Lothur didn''t stand still, and soon, he moved off into a deserted area of that great forest region, sensing that he was approaching an important moment in his journey.

    The 5th stage was not normal. When one reached Sage cultivation, they would face spiritual catastrophes that would test them and bring them benefit or harm.

    Why could Sages live so much longer than Saints?

    It was because Sages had to ovee the catastrophes in front of them!

    Those who didn''t ovee them died, while those who did gained a lot of vitality!

    And just that day, Lothur sensed that he was about to face the first of the five catastrophes he might have to face in his life!

 Chapter 771 Moment of Vulnerability

    <h4>Chapter 771 Moment of Vulnerability?</h4>

    The 5th stage was exceptional. From a natural point of view, it was impossible to achieve this cultivation. In a way, the Sages escaped the rules of normal living beings in this world.

    For example, Lothur could see the rules behind the existence of living beings and inanimate things. His powers could affect entire regions, and he could kill hundreds of thousands of people at once if he so chose.

    This was all very extreme, and it could only be achieved with the help of external resources because reaching the 5th stage through cultivation was impossible. Only by using Soul Bones, magnificent items, pills, potions, special resources, and so on, could one achieve such powerful cultivation.

    As something that was achieved artificially, being at the 5th stage had its dangers!

    Just as a cell that escapes the body''s control will eventually be attacked by everything the body has, a being that has reached the 5th stage in this world will be rejected by it.

    There were only two ways for a person in the 5th stage to continue living in this world. The first was to endure the five disasters that might befall them during their time at the 5th stage. The second was not to move and hide in special urns that could negate certainws behind this world.

    The second option was the most popr, not only because it made life easier for Sages but also because it didn''t interfere with their cultivation.

    The first alternative, on the other hand, was the most interesting. Once it was ovee, one would gain many years of vitality, improve one''s talent, and no longer have to deal with catastrophes until one ascended to the next level. However, the price for all this was to endure something that could kill you!

    The disaster didn''t have a set time to reach Sages. Once they reach a certain level, they may experience thisplicated situation at anytime. It could happen right after a Saint ascended to the level of a Sage, or it might not even happen while that person was at that level.

    Some people advanced quickly and managed to avoid some disasters.

    This was the case with Elke and Annaliese, who skipped level 22 and started their Sage cultivation at level 23.

    In short, because of these characteristics, there were few Sages on the continent, and few people could maintain cultivation at this difficult stage.

    On that day, Lothur sensed that the first catastrophe of his life wasing, and he prepared for it by going to a ce far from where he was so as not to harm his people.

    He came to the top of a mountain that separated the Three Great Lakes Region from the sea east of Concordia.

    From there, he could see the great continent where he lived on one side and the majestic blue sea that stretched for countless miles on the other.

    The oceans of this world were quite dangerous. It was said that one could only go as far as 200 kilometers into the sea without much danger. Moreover, one had to be prepared to face challenges that could kill even Sages, and one had to be aware of the risk of never being able to return to Concordia.

    But Lothur didn''t care about that at the moment and just looked at the dangerous and beautiful sea for a moment before he sat down with his legs crossed and began to meditate.

    Hours would pass with him in this position, waiting for what woulde.

    But then, Lothur felt a beam of energy cut the sky to his head irregrly, making a long journey in about a second.

    As he felt a strong current run through his body, he expressed pain but remained focused to endure it as long as he could.

    The first of the five disasters was very famous. Level 22 cultivators were tested by 22 thunderbolts to pass the world''s first challenge for cultivators of that stage.

    But these weren''t ordinary lightning bolts you might see in a storm. These were special hardships that could melt Supreme Saints with the first of 22 strikes!

    With each new bolt of lightning, however, the destructive power of this tribtion increased, raising the mortality rate of this hard-to-pass test.

    But Lothur''s skin was thick, and he had a strong will. When he felt some body parts go numb, he stood firm to withstand the next attacks.

    While he was going through this difficult time, the sky above him, which had been blue on this sunny day, closed in with gray clouds after the first of the lightning strikes.

    The spiritual energy of the area changed, and all the beings in the area felt the presence of death there.

    For beings below the 5th stage, that ce immediately became the most dangerous ce in the world, and none of them would stay there unless they were forced to.

    For those in the 5th stage, that ce was a glimpse of something they wanted to avoid but would have to experience sooner orter.

    Considering how high the level of this event was, living beings hundreds of miles away would notice a strange phenomenon happening at this remote point on the continent.

    ...

    While Lothur was enduring the first of his catastrophes, something that would be twice as hard for him as it would be for ordinary people due to his physical cultivation, some of Leopoldine''s enemy specialists had already realized his situation.

    One of the men allied with Lenz, who had agreed toe and search Leopoldine for Sages, was watching the northern side of Linn Province when he suddenly looked to the east.

    ''This feeling...'' The level 23 thought to himself as he looked at the area where Lothur was.

    He sensed a catastrophe in that area and had the confirmation he needed to say that there were indeed Sages in Leopoldine.

    ''Good! Not only have I confirmed that there are indeed Sages here, but I also have the location of one of them, who will be very weak soon!'' The manughed after understanding Lothur''s situation.

    Catastrophes were not easy, and those who didn''t die during them would be weakened after it and need some time to regain all their strength or even get stronger.

    They didn''t take long, but one would still need to spend a few hours in seclusion using various recovery items to return to their peak after surviving such an ordeal.

    In the meantime, between the end of the tribtion and the cultivator''s full recovery, they would be vulnerable to other people at that stage!

    Knowing this, this man at level 23, who had never experienced tribtion before, was moving westward, just like another person who had experienced tribtion in that province was doing at that moment.

 Chapter 772 Decisive moment

    <h4>Chapter 772 Decisive moment?</h4>

    Meanwhile, at the peak of the hill where Lothur had chosen to face the heavenly rays...

    At that instant, smoke billowed from the top of that mountain while the trees, undergrowth, and any other life there could no longer be seen for dozens of meters away from Lothur''s body.

    Everything had been destroyed by the bursts of spiritual power hitting his body, but also the energy emanating from his body.

    After 15 sts, Lothur no longer had any clothes on his body, and all his skin looked cracked like dry soil. Blood dripped from his facial orifices, and even with his eyes closed and his breathing under control, one could easily tell that Lothur was in a critical state.

    The lightning bolts he had endured so far were not simple!

    Each one was stronger than thest, but even the first in this series of attacks would be enough to injure newly advanced level 22 people.

    Sensing that the 16th attack wasing in a second, Lothur contracted every muscle in his body and endured yet another electrifying wave without screaming, doing his best to withstand it without having his cells destroyed.

    When the 19th attack formed in the air a minuteter, two Sages were already in the vicinity of this area, looking in Lothur''s direction with interest.

    They both narrowed their eyes as they sensed that their target was about to sessfully pass through the first catastrophe, something extremely difficult to do.

    The 5th stage catastrophes were like a Russian roulette. Many of those who ''yed'' this extreme ''game'' would lose their lives.

    In fact, more than 40% of the Sages died when facing the first catastrophe, and more than 70% died when facing the second!

    But even if Lothur seeded, it didn''t matter. After going through the first catastrophe, it would take him a day or two to recover.

    These men thought that it was more than necessary for them to deal with Lothur!

    However, they didn''t know about Lothur''s special power!

    While enduring the 20th lightning bolt, Lothur had already noticed the arrival of visitors in the area.

    ''Are they here for me? Tsk! I hope they don''t regret it when they see that what doesn''t kill me makes me stronger.'' He thought to himself, confident in his Physique''s ability.

    Lothur didn''t know how much the bonus would be for going through this situation. But he would definitely get something, as he was truly between life and death.

    He was in such bad shape that his Super Regeneration couldn''t close the wounds on his body, and his Spirit Body was showing itself to protect him.

    But even in such bad shape, he could think rationally and cautiously, see visitors in his surroundings, feel his own characteristics rising, and n for the future.

    ''Six more Soul Bones... You''re really kind to bring them to me.'' As he prepared to withstand the 21st attack, his resistances and affinities were rising.

    This was particrly true of his elemental lightning resistance and affinity. However, as much as the form of this catastrophe was electric through lightning, there was every element mixed in. There was even darkness there, and Lothur could feel it all improving, or rather purifying.

    [tinum-grade poison resistance]

    [Progress: 39% -> 44%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance]

    [Progress: 38% -> 46%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance]

    [Progress: 34% -> 37%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance]

    [Progress: 30% -> 32%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade darkness resistance]

    [Progress: 26% -> 30%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade lightning resistance]

    [Progress: 3% -> 41%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 21% -> 25%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 5% -> 7%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 6% -> 11%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 5% -> 15%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 8% -> 12%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 25% -> 29%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 28% -> 31%]

    After achieving the feeling of the 22nd ray descending towards him, Lothur barely had any strength left in his body despite the improvements taking ce within his being.

    But still conscious, even immobile and practically powerless to demonstrate his mental firmness, he made the two Sages watching him feel goosebumps on their bodies.

    ''Is he smiling?'' One of them wondered as he waited for the final attack of this tribtion, waiting for the moment when he could act and quickly end this person''s life.

    But when this person and the other level 23 Sage looked at Lothur in anticipation of the final moment of this catastrophe, they both felt that he wasughing, even though he hadn''t changed his facial features at all.

    What they felt went beyond what their eyes could see. They could feel Lothur''s will, and at that moment, he was much happier than they were, people who faced 7 Soul Bones that were practically free to collect...

    Strangely, they both became defensive, and even the one who wanted to interrogate Lothur a few moments ago changed his mind and decided that the best thing to do was to attack him mercilessly.

    Finally, the 22nd attack struck Lothur''s body and fell upon him with such force that even those two Sages who were more than 20 kilometers away from him felt a powerful wave of energy pass through them, destabilizing them.

    At that moment, Lothur''s seated body could no longer stand it and fell to the ground, falling onto his back as his breathing stopped briefly.

    But it onlysted a second. As his back touched the ck ground at the top of the hill, Lothur''s heart began to beat strongly again, so loudly that even beings more than 50 kilometers away felt as if a drum had been beaten.

    After noticing this sound, the two Sages quickly cut through the space and attacked Lothur''s body with their fists and palms while he was still weak.

    "Die!" The two shouted together, moving quickly through space as they brought their attacks closer to Lothur''s fallen body.

    As they did so, time seemed to change how it passed, as if everything had suddenly slowed down as they tried to get closer to their target''s vital points.

    Then, with deadly, dangerous attacks inches away from reaching his body, Lothur suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils wholly red and red patterns growing across his face.

    "Give me your life force!" A terrifying voice came from Lothur''s throat as his two hands grabbed the heels of the two men.

    ...

 Chapter 773 Decisive Action

    <h4>Chapter 773 Decisive Action?</h4>

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 3,500 -> 4,200]

    [CON: 6,081 -> 7,297]

    [DEX: 3,740 -> 4,488]

    [AGI: 3.810 -> 4.572]

    [INT: 1.059 -> 1.599]

    [PER: 6,280]

    [WIL: 2,380 -> 2,899]

    [SOU: 9,850]

    [EVF: 12 -> 0]

    When his opponents hit him, Lothur was barely hurt because his physical attributes had been significantly increased as he endured the 22 rays of his tribtion.

    Meanwhile, he instantly activated his bloodline ability, making those two Sages stronger than him feel the pressure of the Life Devourer.

    Seeing Lothur''s eyes change color and sensing the demonic energy in his body, the two level 23 Sages immediately realized that their opponent was not human.

    Noticing that he wasn''t a demon either, they turned pale as sheets of paper, terribly shocked that such a being was in this ce.

    Not all of the continent''s Sages had awoken from their seclusion to hunt down the hybrids reported before. Some organizations were not so up to speed on the subject, while some of these elders were not demon hunters. In other words, they were people disconnected from the major opponents of Lothur.

    That was the case with these two!

    Once they understood what Lothur was, they were both immensely worried, not only because they were within this creature''s reach but because he was probably generating the changes in Leopoldine.

    If they didn''t escape this ce in a few years, Lothur could bring chaos to this continent!

    "Shit!" One of them shouted as he tried to escape.

    But being trapped by Lothur just like the other level 23 Sage, this individual could not escape and soon felt his powers and features being devoured by his enemy.

    Lothur saw his features improving, seeing how beneficial it was to deal with strong people like these two.

    But even absorbing their powers, Lothur only obtained 3,900 EVF points, not enough to improve his current self.

    [EVF: 0 -> 3,900]

    As the bodies of these individuals turned to ash, six Soul Bones appeared from them, floating in the air as Lothur finished absorbing their features.

    Seeing the quality of these bones, Lothur didn''t get too excited but promptly stored them in his spatial ring to distributeter.

    ''Time to move.'' He looked around the mountain peak he was on, aware that one of the catastrophes of the 5th stage would attract a lot of attention.

    Also aware that there should be several enemy Sages around Leopoldine, he decided to leave the Three Great Lakes Region this afternoon to help his group.

    He still wanted to get stronger and reach level 23 before starting his journey alongside the Tyrannosaurus Rex. But before that, he still had to resolve the conflicts around this state.

    ...

    After Lothur left that area of the Three Great Lakes Region, other specialists around Leopoldine would soon appear there, searching for the Sage who was experiencing one of the catastrophes.

    Unfortunately for these groups, he was long gone by the time they arrived, and there was no trace of where Lothur had gone.

    Some of these Sages even scouted the area in search of Lothur and came across his men nearby. But there were no Saints among these individuals, so none of these experts connected them to the one behind the previous phenomenon.

    Even though Lothur had been there and had one of his groups stopped in that area, they hadn''t caused any problems for his people by leaving without warning them!

    So, while Lothur began his search around the empire, these Sages did so in the Three Great Lakes Region, dying their meeting.

    ...

    After several hours since the previous post-catastrophe confrontation, Lothur had ced several special formations around Leopoldine, by which he could connect his powers to them and easily keep an eye on these locations.

    With more free time to develop his formations, he was applying some of his current understanding of the world with thend monitoring items.

    While doing this, Lothur found more of his family and handed over the Soul Bones he had with him, creating some more Saints for Leopoldine.

    He also found one of his women inside Leopoldine and spent a little time with her before leaving her with some defensive and life-saving items.

    With that done, Lothur would continue his purpose of covering this state with surveince items, not to watch everything that happened in this state but to have more practical methods of finding demons and enemy groups infiltrating the empire.

    He already had a spy service run by the Koch family, keeping an eye on the domain. However, enemies who came to this state for whatever reason would not use themunication formations of the Ritter Motor Company cars.

    This was aplementary action to that of the spy center at the Ritter family headquarters, something only he could do due to his unusual special abilities.

    Most Sages had one profession at most and usually didn''t have as many skills as Lothur. This gave him a great advantage over the others, most of whom were only warriors and limited to where they were.

    ...

    So three days passed quietly while Lothur''s men followed his orders, and he finished setting up his observation points around the empire.

    The enemy''s actions in Leopoldine had lessened in intensity after one of the catastrophes of the 5th stage had urred in that area, and the enemy had be aware of the presence of a powerful local Sage.

    At the same time, due to the small number of demons traveling through the domain, thest of them had been gathered by the groups sent by Lothur and were waiting for their moment to be exterminated.

    Lothur hadn''t encountered any enemy groups during those days, as he had been concentrating on building up his observationwork. But that afternoon, he finally finished what he had been doing and prepared to return to the Three Great Lakes Region to see his people and begin to truly resolve the current war.

    Having finished resting after cing hisst formations in that state, he sliced through space and returned to his area.

    Arriving there with his aura covered, Lothur surveyed the surroundings and realized that the Sages who hade to this ce had already left.

    Using his visual abilities, he observed the surroundings and noticed some items left behind by the 5th-stage enemies.

    ''Tsk! Too bad for you that I''m a 5-star formations master. None of that works against me.'' Heughed as he deactivated all the items left behind by his enemies.

    After that, he soon found a suitable ce and activated his One With Nature skill and his visual skill, connecting them to the formations he had scattered across the realm!

 Chapter 774 High-Level Encounter

    <h4>Chapter 774 High-Level Encounter?</h4>

    Hours after Lothur began using his skills in conjunction with the formations around the empire, he found the first targets for himself and his people.

    Since these targets weren''t the Sages he was looking for but groups of enemies who had entered Leopoldine''s borders through ces not guarded by Lothur''s people, he did nothing immediately.

    Lothur simply kept the location of this first group in his mind and turned his attention to finding the foreign Sages.

    As he continued to do so, he would soon find signs of them in a particr area near the border of Utral.

    Sensing the location of these individuals in that ce, Lothur opened his eyes from where he was, a strong murderous intent flowing through him.

    He stopped using his abilities and looked in that direction, seeing the final enemies he and his people would have to face to end the war.

    Once they eliminated the enemy soldiers infiltrating the empire and these Sages, the enemy forces would have no choice but to retreat and seek a different approach to the war.

    Either they would reach out to stronger allies and raise the level of the conflict, or they would have to give up their intentions and tell the world that they had merely invented an excuse to take over the Ritter Motor Company.

    Either way, the low-level people would no longer be involved in the confrontation. Leopoldine could return to business as usual, with the Ritter Motor Company safely expanding.

    During this brief period of confrontation and tension in the empire, Lothur''spany operated normally. However, it was undeniable that the threats to thepany were hindering its operations and its creator''s ambitions.

    Thinking that in the worst case, only he and the strongest of the state would face problems after dealing with these groups, Lothur was satisfied.

    ''Time to act!'' He got up from where he was and didn''t hesitate to open a spatial rift, from which he left hours after his arrival.

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur arrived at one of Leopoldine''s borders, with his enemies still in Linn Province.

    Emerging from a spatial rift near the border with Lenz, Lothur immediately recognized one of the Sages he had created.

    "Miss Jansen, apany me. We will have a battle soon." He flew away as he spoke, just so that the level 22 woman could hear him.

    Hearing Lothur''s voice, the woman descendant from Mathias was unsurprised and understood what she had to do.

    "Where are we going?" She asked, anxious to sort this out and, if she survived, return to her seclusion.

    "Let us take your brothers and two of my women first. There''s no need to maintain your posts on the borders. Let''s end the war." Lothur said confidently, making the woman clench her fists in determination.

    "Okay."

    With that, the two quickly disappeared from the area, arriving in the blink of an eye at another border of the empire with their enemies, still in Linn Province.

    ...

    Two hours after realizing the location of his enemies, Lothur was reunited with the three Jansen siblings, Elke and Annaliese.

    He had instructed Viktoria and Reba to search the empire for two groups of infiltrators to capture and bring to the Three Great Lakes Region.

    Meanwhile, he and this group were flying to the Leopoldine border with Utral!

    Lothur looked at the people in his party andmented. "The enemy group has 5 Sages, three of whom are at the 1st Catastrophe and two at the 2nd Catastrophe. In other words, their strength is simr to ours in terms of cultivation level.

    But don''t make the mistake of thinking we''re at the same level as that group. Some of us have extremely powerful body cultivations that affect our soul cultivations. So the enemies have much stronger souls than us, Elke, Annaliese."

    "So what should we do?" The young redhead asked, confident in her abilities but aware that Lothur was the smartest one there and that she should follow his rmendations, not just because he was her man.

    He said. "The enemy group is powerful, and I alone won''t be able to stop their escape with my abilities. So, your task will be to stop the three weakest and eventually pressure them until they fall within my sphere of influence.

    Considering yourbined strength, the five of you should be stronger than these three weaker Sages."

    "Senior Ritter, do you intend to deal with the 2nd Catastrophe Sages alone?" The only woman among the three descendants of Mathias asked with an astonished look on her face.

    She knew that Lothur was strong and was about to reach level 23. However, the 2nd Catastrophe Sages were truly powerful and could have souls of more than 17,000 points.

    This was a crucial difference in the power of Lothur''s soul, and all the siblings knew it.

    Lothur said to this woman. "Yes, I just need to get them close to me, and I''ll do whatever it takes to defeat them. You''ll just have to work with Elke and Anna to keep the others from escaping and bring them into my sphere of influence. I''ll take care of everything else."

    The three of them already knew what Lothur was, but they didn''t know exactly how his powers worked.

    However, they knew they could not underestimate this young man, and considering that this hybrid was their friend and not an enemy, they would not betray him.

    Lothur had not only given them Soul Bones that had potentially saved their lives and given them breakthroughs. He also solved the problems of the Jansen family.

    As such, the three of them were very grateful to Lothur. As soon as they heard his confirmation, they looked at each other and nodded their heads positively.

    "Okay!"

    With that, they finally arrived near where Lothur had sensed the presence of the enemy Sages earlier.

    As Lothur had expected, they had moved on but were still nearby. After a short search of less than 15 minutes, he found them in a camp near the border of Cesha.

    Knowing their location, Lothur and his party quickly surrounded the enemies who had suddenly appeared in the area but did not attack immediately.

    The Sages of at least three states there noticed the powerful experts surrounding them and immediately raised their guards.

    "It seems that the Sages of Leopoldine havee to us..." The strongest one theremented, looking directly at Elke, the strongest in terms of soul power there.

    ...

 Chapter 775 Sages Battle (1)

    <h4>Chapter 775 Sages Battle (1)</h4>

    "What are you doing here? What is your purpose in invading Leopoldine?" One of the men from the Jansen family there was the first to say something, questioning the obvious.

    Hearing this, one of the strongest men there looked at the Jansen family expert and ignored him. "It''s not strange that three of you are at the 5th level. Those old siblings were expected to reach our level one day.

    But what about the rest of you?" He looked mainly at the women of Lothur, who were at level 23, even though their soul powers were weaker than those of the level 22 men in his group.

    He insisted, speaking in a louder tone. "Where did youe from? How did you manage to reach these levels at such a young age? And more importantly, what are you doing in Leopoldine?"

    If it were Viktoria who was there, this person and the others would recognize her as Lothur Ritter''s wife and the controller of the Ritter Motor Company. But these others had been in seclusion for months, and few foreigners could connect them with thepany their states wanted.

    As for Lothur, with his altered appearance and hair color, no one there could tell that he was the founder of thispany and the alleged hybrid.

    The elder of the Jansen family saw his question being ignored and clenched his fists, ring at the Sages at the 2nd Catastrophe.

    Lothurughed and said. "The dead don''t need to know. I hope that with your deaths, your families will not make the mistake of continuing to defy us!"

    As he said these words, Lothur moved and activated his Storm ability, focusing on the area around him to prevent enemies from escaping.

    Simultaneously with this activation, he crossed the space and appeared among the enemy Sages, surprising them with his boldness.

    "You bastard! Are you underestimating us?" One of the two level 23 Sages looked at Lothur angrily and attacked him, forming several spiritual spears around him and charging at this enemy.

    But Lothur didn''t want to risk a prolonged battle that might draw the attention of the enemies hunting him, so he sped things up, manipting space while his hands went to the heels of those two Sages.

    Lothur had such high affinities and resistances for his level that he could control space so easily that the two level 23 Sages were shocked.

    When they felt their heels being wrapped by Lothur''s hands, they both looked at that part of their bodies, which had already turned pale, in astonishment.

    As good as the special abilities of Soul Bones were, and as much as they contributed to a cultivator''s martial prowess, they weren''t the best abilities in this world.

    The best skill one could have was the ability to manipte space, which everyone had at a high level, but only a few could develop to a high level.

    Soul Bones could help refine these abilities with their absorption bonuses, and once refined to a certain level, such an ability could give one such control over the battlefield and the enemies that its user could be almost invincible!

    That''s why the two of them shuddered at how easily Lothur could manipte space, afraid not only of what might happen in this battle but also of what this guy would be if he were allowed to develop further.

    "Shit!"

    "You really are a monster. I didn''t expect that!"

    They both shouted simultaneously, the stronger one already activating his ultimate skill as he was pulled through the spatial crack to where Lothur was.

    This level 23 man activated his Infinite Void ability, which could destroy everyone in the area, including his teammates.

    Feeling the special fluctuation of this ability, which came from a tinum-grade Soul Bone from an Emperor demon, everyone there except Lothur changed their expressions and became more serious as they tried to retreat.

    Confident in Lothur, his two women and the three descendants of Mathias hesitated only for a second before looking at each other and moving against the three enemies trying to escape.

    Meanwhile, Lothur smiled as he closed his eyes and felt the special power of this enemy''s Soul Bone.

    "This is a good skill... I hope the bone is a match for me." He murmured as he opened his eyes, and red patterns quickly formed on his face.

    At that moment, the two Sages appeared at Lothur''s side, both held by their heels as if they were two swords pointed lightly at the ground.

    But their position gave them a better view of the red giant behind Lothur, a creature with an extremely frightening demonic form.

    It had horns on its head, a terrifying look on its face, and macabre symbols that made one shudder.

    Like a devouring ability, this red giant was the enemy of life; anyone in its presence would feel the threat to their lives and the powerful restrictions imposed by such a being.

    Using his best skill, the strongest Sage realized this, and for the first time in his existence, he noticed someone capable of stopping the Infinite Void!

    Not only did his ability stop, but while Lothur''s bloodline ability showed itself, that other ability regressed!

    "No! This can''t be!" This person shouted while his level 23 ally paled as he realized what Lothur was.

    "So that''s why. That''s why you all advanced! You submitted to this creature!" The other shouted with hatred, seeing that Lothur was a damned hybrid of human and demon and that these women and the three siblings had sumbed to him.

    All the others there trembled with more fear than before when they realized what Lothur was, already breaking into a cold sweat as they tried to escape the area.

    "Trying to escape? I don''t think so." Elke appeared in front of one of them and activated her highest level Soul Bone''s ability.

    She stood before the man and delivered a powerful palm strike to the chest of the individual trying to fly away.

    The moment she hit him, Elke made him jump in pain. However, an instant after his body changed shape and began to move toward Lothur''s red mist, something strange happened.

    The soul of that individual left his body and flew uncontrobly towards where Lothur was.

    "What?" One of the other two men watched in amazement.

    Annaliese also watched her harem sister and smiled, seeing how special Elke''s most refined ability was that she could now temporarily remove the souls of her targets from their bodies, rendering them defenseless.

    Seeing this, the brown-haired woman didn''t want to be left behind and used her own tinum-grade Soul Bone, joined her hands into a seal, and then made a portal appear behind the other shocked Sage.

    This portal seemed to be made of water. In fact, it looked like the entrance to a pipe.

    Annaliese''s enemy looked back and saw it as he felt an unparalleled attraction between his body and it, gradually ceasing to fly forward and being pulled back.

    "Shit!" He realized that once inside, he would be hurled at high speed towards the ce where Lothur was, and he felt death approaching.

    ...

 Chapter 776 Sages Battle (2)

    ?

    While two of the three level 22 Sages faced the fearsome powers of Elke and Annaliese, thest was in a much worse situation.

    Surrounded by the three siblings of the Jansen family, there was no way that such a level 22 Sage could resist three opponents of the same level as him!

    Even if this individual was already close to advancing to level 23, against the three siblings who had centuries of experience fighting together, he didn''t stand a chance.

    Before he even tried to challenge the storm of des created by Lothur on the outskirts, he was already suffering at the hands of those three descendants of Mathias.

    Using only their techniques, the three quickly made that man scream in pain as he got closer and closer to entering the space of influence of Lothur''s bloodline ability.

    Noticing this, he shouted louder, enraged at being faced with this terrible situation!

    "Damn you, Jansen family, you''ll pay for the crime youmitted by allying with that creature!" The man found a way to say these words amid the wave of pain in his body. "The continent will be your enemies, you bastards!"

    However, the three weren''t worried about empty threats like that. Lothur was about to advance to level 23, and with the strengthening of their group through this war, few could stand up against them.

    Feeling more confident than ever, none of the three gave that man any importance. On the contrary, they put more of their powers to use, finally throwing him toward where Lothur was finishing killing the two level 23 Sages.

    Meanwhile, Lothur felt his characteristics improving, getting closer to the Diamond grade.

    However, achieving this level of quality was very difficult. In a way, the Diamond grade represented the 6th stage, a level never reached before!

    So the closer he got to it, the slower his progress would be, and even high-level bodies like those of Sages wouldn''t be as good for him to take more significant steps.

    With all his characteristics already at the tinum grade, Lothur wouldn''t be able to make any qualitative improvements that day.

    But his EVF points would go up a little more.

    [EVF: 3,900 -> 10,900]

    ...

    [363 points added in SOU for 10,890 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 9,850 -> 10,213]

    ...

    [EVF: 10,900 -> 10]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22 -> 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,200] [CON: 7,297] [DEX: 4,488] [AGI: 4,572]

    [INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 2,899] [SOU: 10,213]

    [EVF: 10]

    At that moment, Lothur looked at his status and felt the difference this improvement had made, taking his soul cultivation to the next level.

    Feeling that as the red mist around Lothur disappeared, Elke and Annaliese cheered up, seeing their man getting stronger.

    The three elders of the Jansen family felt almost the same satisfaction, seeing that they were right to choose to follow young Ritter.

    ''This guy will one day reach the 5th Catastrophe!'' One of the three siblings thought to himself, feeling reverence at seeing the emergence of someone with so much potential.

    Lothur was a hybrid, and no one knew how far and fast hybrids of demons and humans would go since, throughout history, no one had ever seen one of these beings go so far.

    But even though he was a hybrid, Lothur was still surprising the siblings, especially as his actions and temperament were unlike those described in other beings of his race.

    Lothur was calm, rational, and not particrly bloodthirsty. What''s more, the way he stole powers from others was also different from what happened with hybrids, something that made him less diabolical.

    Those three siblings didn''t feel bad aboutmitting the crime of supporting him and being supported by Lothur.

    As such, seeing him getting stronger, they couldn''t help but feel good!

    "Congrattions, Lothur. You''ll quickly pass us again." Elke approached him when she saw that it was no longer dangerous to do so, ignoring the Soul Bones of those individuals forming where their bodies had disappeared.

    Annaliese said something simr, and Lothur smiled, feeling that this was good, but it also had its problems.

    ''Now I might have to face another one of those catastrophes at any moment...'' He thought internally, seeing the great problem of cultivators of his stage.

    By leveling up, Sages would already have it in their minds that they might have to face another catastrophe at any moment!

    But even with that in mind, he said. "Thanks for your words, guys. But now we have to move."

    As he said this, he picked up the 11 Soul Bones that had formed in the surrounding area, few in number, but most of them of excellent quality.

    Not everyone had the chance to absorb many bones in their lifetime. In fact, apart from demon hunters and important members of Concordia''s most powerful forces, most Sages had less than 4 Soul Bones.

    Because of this, most of them usually had more than 10,000 years of cultivation and usually only absorbed their bones after reaching the 4th stage, when cultivation became more difficult and the bonus of the bones more significant.

    This was the reality of the strongest on the continent, which is why Lothur only obtained 11 bones from 5 Sages that day.

    But with these 11 Soul Bones, Lothur obtained 2 Emperor demon bones, 7 Monarch demon bones, and the rest General demon bones.

    These were Soul Bones of the highest quality!

    But once again, none of these tinum-grade ones were a match for him!

    As he moved with his group away from that area, back towards the Three Great Lakes Region, Lothur told them. "Of those bones I collected, most of them are no good for our family, Elke, Anna.

    Only two Monarch demon bones will do for Viktoria and Reba. The others we''ll have to distribute among our people."

    Hearing this, Annaliese thought of her mother and said. "Lothur, can you consider my mother''s situation? If you can cure her of her situation, she can certainly absorb some of these bones."

    Elke was silent when she heard this, knowing that Lothur had promised to see what he could do for the woman, but he wouldn''t be so generous to Mabel as to not only cure her but also give her so many bones.

    Lothur looked at Annaliese in silence for a moment, thinking hard about the woman''s situation and the history they''d had so far.

    ...

 Chapter 777 Mabel’s Punishment (1)

    <h4>Chapter 777 Mabel''s Punishment (1)</h4>

    Mabel''s situation was delicate. Not even 4-star doctors could cure her, something Viktoria and Annaliese had already tried to do after reaching the 4th stage.

    But since Lothur had reached 5-star and was probably the greatest doctor/alchemist on the continent, the brown-haired girl couldn''t help but consider the possibility.

    If he healed her and gave some of those bones to Mabel, she could quickly be a Saint!

    Listening to his woman''s request, Lothur closed his eyes briefly and thought about Mabel''s situation.

    "Maybe I can change some things about your mother''s situation, maybe even cure her problem." He said as they flew back towards the Three Great Lakes Region.

    "But I won''t give her arge amount of Soul Bones all at once. If she wants, I''ll give her one Soul Bone this time, and the others she''ll have to hunt herself or earn the necessary merit."

    Annaliese heard this and didn''t mind. As long as Mabel could control her own powers, even if Lothur didn''t give her any Soul Bones, it would be okay.

    "All right. That''ll be enough." She said. "Then I''d like you to leave this tinum-grade bone for her." She said, indicating the one that would benefit her mother the most but also bepatible with Mabel.

    Lothur couldn''t deny his woman and agreed, even considering his negative feelings toward Mabel.

    ''Mabel, you will pay me back for everything you''ve done. Don''t think that it will be easy for you.'' He thought as he handed over the bone Annaliese had asked him for.

    Then he looked at the Jansen siblings, the strongest in this state after him and his women.

    These three would certainly be of great help in their absence in Leopoldine, so Lothur didn''t hesitate to give each of them a Gold-grade Soul Bone.

    "These bones arepatible with you and will help you reach the 2nd Catastrophe. Absorb them when we reach our destination."

    The three siblings took the bones and ced them in their spatial rings, very grateful to Lothur.

    "But don''t thank me. The cost of these bones and your next advance will be the surveince of this state to keep trouble away, especially from the Ritter Motor Company." He said, seeing the grateful looks on the faces of the three.

    They were going to do it anyway, so they said promptly.

    "We''ll do our best, senior! We won''t waste this opportunity!"

    Soon, they would arrive in the Three Great Lakes Region, where, after a few hours, Viktoria and Reba would return with thest infiltrators in Leopoldine, a group of 1200 people.

    Lothur would have to wait a few hours before he could use his bloodline ability again, so in the time remaining, he ordered his two weakest women to absorb their new Soul Bones.

    Viktoria and Reba received the bones from the Monarch demons and then went into seclusion to absorb them, as did the three siblings of the Jansen family, who had started a few hours earlier.

    Meanwhile, Lothur ordered Elke and Annaliese to go to Asken to deliver the results of the war to the people of that state and to give them an ultimatum.

    If they continued to send enemies, they and the other Sages of Leopoldine would attack enemy territories directly instead of just defending themselves against invaders!

    Viktoria and Reba were to go to Lenz as soon as they awoke, and he was already nning to travel to Utrary to see the situation there for himself.

    But he would only do that after he had dealt with thest of the enemies waiting to die by his skill.

    For now, after giving his orders and seeing his women either begin their seclusion or leave, he went to Peter''s City himself!

    It was time for him to take care of Mabel!

    ...

    Arriving in Peters City, Lothur quickly distributed his remaining Soul Bones to his men of the Ritter family and the leaders of the Becker and Koch families.

    He then quickly searched for Mabel and found her on his property within the city, where he had moved after leaving the Frost family months ago.

    Mabel seemed to be cooking while maintaining a neutral expression and wearing a dress that entuated her curves.

    Despite having centuries more experience than Viktoria and Annaliese, Mabel had a youthful appearance that would make any mortal think she was actually their older sister, not their mother.

    With a beauty that rivaled Viktoria''s, this woman was still capable of shaking the mentality of the men in this city, even without trying.

    But Lothur was different. As he watched his mother-inw sway from one side of the kitchen to the other, he didn''t get carried away by how beautiful or hot Mabel was.

    He remembered all too well how he had suffered at this woman''s hands, how she had humiliated him and even beaten him.

    Even after all of this woman''s misfortunes, he still felt she deserved to suffer a little more to finally pay for what she had done to him.

    Unfortunately, his situation wasn''t easy. How could he punish a woman who was practically crippled? Besides, she was the mother of his women. He could do something without making his women sad if only she were whole and on his level. But given her circumstances, he couldn''t even do that.

    When he entered the kitchen, he watched her for a few moments until Mabel realized she wasn''t alone and jumped backward, knocking a pane of ss to the floor.

    "Ahh!" She let out a small cry when she saw Lothur standing there before she sighed and deeply breathed.

    "I didn''t expect you toe here." She said softly, looking at the shards of ss on the floor.

    But Mabel had a conscience despite everything that had happened. As bad as she had treated him for a long time, she regretted it now and felt ashamed whenever she was around Lothur.

    Lothur sensed this, which made him even angrier because then it would be harder to justify anything he did to her.

    But determined to punish Mabel in some way before healing her, he decided to ask her. "Do you want to regain your powers? Do you want to put your nerves in order? I can do that now. But the treatment won''t be easy."

    Hearing this, Mabel immediately became more interested because what she wanted most at the moment was to regain her strength and start cultivating again.

    "Yes, I want to recover. I''m willing to go through anything to do it." She said with a very determined tone.

    "Then follow me," Lothur said as he walked to another part of the house.

 Chapter 778 Mabel’s Punishment (2)

    <h4>Chapter 778 Mabel''s Punishment (2)?</h4>

    Entering one of the many rooms of the residence, Lothur stopped in front of arge bed and turned to Mabel.

    "Take off your clothes."

    "Huh? Is that necessary?" She asked, feeling something strange in her being.

    There were medical treatments that really required one to undress. But when she saw Lothur standing next to the bed, she thought something was wrong.

    But then Lothur told her something important. "Of course. My method of healing you is the same one I used to raise the physical characteristics of Elke, Annaliese, Viktoria, and Reba.

    Have you ever wondered why they were able to increase their strength so quickly, even before absorbing the Soul Bones I gave them?"

    Mabel''s eyes narrowed, and she became more serious. She had realized a long time ago that her daughters had improved their physical strength very quickly months ago.

    At that time, they had started doing things with Lothur that they shouldn''t.

    Thinking about it, she blushed with shame when she looked at Lothur and saw he wanted to do the same with her!

    "Are you joking? Lothur, I''m your mother-inw! An engaged woman! You must be out of your mind if you think I will do this to you!" She said, feeling quite offended.

    "Really?" Lothurughed. "This is the only way I know how to help you. Only by evolving your body will you have a chance to regenerate the broken nerves.

    Under normal conditions, you could enhance your physical characteristics by absorbing Soul Bones. But without the ability to control spiritual energy, you have no alternative." He said, showing the woman the harsh reality she was in.

    As he did so, Lothur let her feel his level 23 aura, something many times stronger than Mabel had reached.

    When she noticed her cultivation, she immediately realized that if he couldn''t heal her, no one else could.

    How many 5-star doctors were there on the continent? As far as she knew, zero!

    There weren''t even any legends about people reaching that level in medicine.

    Only Lothur had reached this level.

    ''He could be bluffing...'' She stared at him silently, thinking the obvious.

    Maybe he could heal her in another way, but he just preferred to do things this way to humiliate her. Or maybe he couldn''t heal her at all and was just lying to use the opportunity to make hermit a sin of no return.

    No matter how dead Aiken was, he was still her husband. To have sex with another man would be a betrayal of the memory of the father of her two daughters!

    Then Lothur said. "When you recover, you can absorb the tinum-grade Soul Bone that Annaliese got for you.

    I won''t give you any bones unless you try hard, but I can''t limit your daughters or you. Depending on what happens from now on, it wouldn''t be impossible for you to reach our cultivation level if you recover and absorb the right bones."

    To punish her, Lothur needed her to agree to go through this!

    Otherwise, he couldn''t do what he had in mind.

    Nevertheless, he didn''t hesitate to undress in front of her and show Mabel the dragon that had won the hearts of her two daughters.

    Lothur was gifted. His little brother was the type that would have made any man in his position proud.

    As a woman who had only seen her husband''s rod in her centuries of experience, it was strange for Mabel to see one so much bigger and rigid.

    She put both hands to her mouth to hide her surprise as she gazed at that masterpiece.

    Mabel didn''t want to admit it, but she really liked the look of Lothur''s baseball bat.

    In thest years of his life, her husband hadn''t fulfilled all the responsibilities a married man had. He was stressed, weaker than her, and always busy.

    Aiken had gone years without touching Mabel intimately!

    He went to bed with her, but in bed, they only slept. Even when Mabel cuddled Aiken''s little friend, it didn''t ''awaken'' like it had when they were young...

    So Mabel hadn''t experienced asting, pleasurable, intimate rtionship in years and couldn''t help but feel strange at the sight of Lothur.

    ''No wonder. The two of them had to deal with something like this.'' She swallowed her saliva, ashamed that she couldn''t stop staring at Lothur''s pair of balls and rod.

    Seeing her standing there saying nothing, Lothur used a fraction of his power and made the clothes on Mabel''s body turn to shreds, falling to the ground instantly, revealing that naked, mature body.

    Mabel was as beautiful as Viktoria in terms of look. But her body was even more beautiful than that of her two daughters, with more developed proportions.

    Her breasts were fuller, her hips wider. But like Annaliese and Viktoria, there wasn''t a single imperfection on this woman''s beautiful white skin.

    "Aaah!"

    She screamed when she realized what had happened to her clothes and immediately used one of her hands to cover her sweaty little sister and one of her arms to cover the pink nipples of her breasts.

    "Lothur! How dare you!?" She asked, even more embarrassed.

    "Make up your mind, Mabel. Either you do this, or you give up on recovery." He said as hey down on the bed.

    She clenched one of her fists, still in her position, and asked. "Do my daughters know about this? Do they know what you n to do to their mother?"

    "No. But if you want them to know, I can tell them."

    "No!" She cried as she took a step forward, many things running through her mind.

    "Lothur, do you swear that this will cure me?" She asked, feeling that there was more benefit than harm in this.

    Inside, she felt terrible for Aiken, but her body and her instincts told her to go on.

    How could they not say that? A cultivator''s survival instinct would always make them feel that the best decisions were those that would improve their chances of survival.

    What could be better than regaining her strength and absorbing Soul Bones in this situation?

    Besides, she had been suffering without action for years!

    "Yes, I really can heal you. It won''t be something we can solve in an hour. But you could be cured in a day or two, depending on your strength..." He said, looking at her hips and thinking about how hard he should fuck her.

    She took another step towards the bed and begged. "Lothur, I''ll do it. But I beg you never to tell my daughters. I don''t want them to know about the sin their mother willmit."

    "Of course." He said before he saw her take thest step and climb onto the bed, no longer hiding her body.

 Chapter 779 Mabels Punishment (3) (18+)

    ?

    When Mabel climbed into bed, she did not approach Lothur.

    With shame on her face,pletely flushed, shey down on the left side of the bed, no longer covering her breasts and pelvis but motionless, not knowing what to do.

    Even though she had done this countless times with Aiken over the centuries, Mabel felt like a virgin about to lose her virginity at that moment.

    Lothur saw this and admired her body for a moment before moving towards her.

    He showed no mercy, and his first touch was to one of herrge breasts, which, by the way, had stiff nipples.

    As he took hold of Mabel''s left breast, he squeezed her nipple a little while she closed her eyes so as not to see what was happening.

    But even with her eyes closed, Mabel couldn''t resist and moaned softly.

    "Ahh~"

    Lothur didn''t give Mabel time to get used to it, and in the blink of an eye, he had his mouth around that nipple, sucking on it as if he were breastfeeding.

    With his other free hand, he didn''t hesitate to follow Mabel''s forbidden path and reach the cave from which Viktoria and Annaliese had once emerged.

    Considering how long this cave had been ''closed,'' Lothur expected to encounter some ''difficulties'' on his way. But when his fingers touched it, one of them slipped quickly due to how lubricated it was.

    "Ahhhh~"

    Another moan came from Mabel''s mouth as her flower released so much nectar that the sides of her thighs were already wet.

    If Lothur were to look, he would see strands of nectar running down her ass and wetting the sheets.

    "How naughty you are, Mabel. A few touches, and you can''t stand it..." He muttered, embarrassing his mother-inw even more.

    But as Mabel clenched her jaw and tried to stop moaning, Lothur suddenly took one of her hands and led it to his little friend.

    When he touched that rock-hard, hot, throbbing piece of flesh, Mabel couldn''t stand it anymore and opened her eyes while forming an ''o'' with her lips.

    At first, she almost forgot that she had done this to herte husband countless times. But after a second of holding the pulsating piece of meat, she came to her senses and ran her hand down the length of Lothur''s little brother.

    As she pressed it down and saw the head of Lothur''s little brother, she paid attention to its shape, color, temperature, and even its smell.

    As she thought about all this while having one of her nipples sucked, and her little sister touched, she felt a desire she hadn''t felt in a long time.

    Seeing how interested she was in his rod, the young Ritter changed position, moving this woman''s body quickly so she could do the forbidden things on her mind.

    There was nothing better than letting her fall into depravity alone!

    The guilt she would feel in the future would be far greater!

    Finding herself on top of Lothur, her ass in his face and her face in his baseball bat, Mabel hesitated momentarily, feeling she shouldn''t.

    But when Lothur ran his tongue over her little flower, Mabel almost lost control of her own body and reached her first climax in many years.

    As her legs trembled considerably and she became much wetter, she no longer had the mental strength to hold back and stuck out her tongue, bringing it to the head of Lothur''s little brother.

    As she touched this part of her son-inw, she quickly began to lick it as if she had the best lollipop in the world, enjoying the sensation of licking this piece of flesh.

    But soon, she opened her mouth wider and put that long, hot rod in her mouth, making shameful sounds from her mouth and throat.

    Slurp!

    Slurp!

    Lothur sensed this and smiled, ying with Mabel''s little sister while massaging those perfect buttocks in front of him.

    After a minute in this position, he wanted to fuck her more than ever and soon changed the position again.

    This time he had Mabel lean against the headboard with her ass facing him while she was on all fours.

    From his position, he could see this woman''s beautiful ass and her flower, the perfect sight for men like him.

    Lothur then positioned the dragon''s head at the entrance to the cave and pressed down on that part of Mabel''s body with his rod so that she couldn''t help but get nervous.

    Mabel had done a lot to her son-inw in the past few minutes. However, when it came to this moment, she couldn''t help but think about what she had already done and what she was about to do.

    From her point of view, getting naked with another man, especially her son-inw, was already aplex betrayal. But having sex with him was a much higher level of infidelity.

    However, she decided to do this to recover from her illness. Once she was cured, she would forget everything she would do with her son-inw in the next few hours and return to being a widow who honored her husband.

    ''I have lost myself, darling. If it weren''t necessary, I would never do this.'' She said as she closed her eyes and bit her lower lip.

    Her expression was so lustful that no one watching her now would ever think that this woman felt so guilty inside.

    At that moment, she felt Lothur''s rod enter her cave and couldn''t stand the pleasure of feeling something fill her again.

    "Ahhhhh~"

    Another moan came from her mouth as she focused on the sensation of her little sister''s inner walls being widened by Lothur''s burning piece of flesh.

    But that wasn''t all. For the first time in her existence, this woman felt someone reaching down to the bottom of her cave and filling every space there was to fill.

    And hell, as painful as it was at first, she couldn''t deny the sheer pleasure of it!

    For women, the nerves that made them feel pleasure were located around their genitals. In this case, anything that could have thergest surface area in contact with her entire organ naturally increased the chances of her being satisfied.

    With a tool the size of Lothur''s, Mabel feltplete for the first time, ecstatic to the point that she had already forgotten her previous thoughts seconds after being prated by him.

    "Ahhhhhh~"

    As she moaned uncontrobly, she took one of her hands to her little sister and began to y with it while Lothur violently prated her.

    And so he began to punish her, taking away any honor this woman could have, driving her to depravity, and making her do things she would be ashamed of for days or even weeks.

    He couldn''t hurt her physically. His women wouldn''t like that at all. But mentally, he could destroy her so that even his women would be in the dark!

    ''Oh, I''m going to enjoy every moment with you, my dear mother-inw...''

 Chapter 780 Healing! (*)

    <h4>Chapter 780 Healing! (*)</h4>

    Hourster...

    After some time of intense fluid exchange with Mabel, Lothur had brought her to climax a dozen times while blessing his mother-inw''s body almost as often.

    Each time Lothur had poured his fertile fluid into Mabel''s womb, she had received the spiritual baptism that young Ritter''s women usually received before they grew stronger.

    Due to Mabel''s ecstasy at experiencing the ultimate pleasure, they continued their activity for hours, still ''dancing'' in the same room as before, connected in a way that no son-inw and mother-inw should be.

    By now, Mabel was on top of Lothur, moving her hips intensely as she squeezed her son-inw''s rod, giving him pleasure but feeling so much more.

    Meanwhile, her womb was so full that a yellowish-white fluid was constantly oozing from her flower, while she felt as if her belly was full.

    However, this was not a constant feeling. As Lothur''s magical fluid filled her womb, Mabel could feel her body constantly absorbing it.

    As she moaned in pleasure, thinking only of reaching the next climax, her body felt doubly good as it absorbed the unique energy in her partner''s seed.

    By absorbing it while her body was breaking down what was in her womb, special energy was healing old wounds in her body while improving the structures of that body.

    When Mabel started that day of sex with Lothur, her Constitution was 110. Still, with the blessings controlled by her lover, she had already reached 858!

    This had already raised her body cultivation from level 11 to level 15. Meanwhile, her soul cultivation had also increased by one level after her body had improved so much!

    Luckily, Lothur was now a Sage, and he had destroyed the impurities that had left Mabel''s body four times in those hours before they even came out of her pores.

    On the other hand, Mabel was fortunate. The control Lothur now had over his ability was perfect, and he could give hispanion as much advancement in attributes as he wanted.

    Already knowing the limits of how far he could go without damaging the woman to the point where they would have to stop, he had given Mabel just enough.

    Moreover, he shared his energy with her, helping her endure sex with him indefinitely, which was why she had made it this far without exhausting herself.

    Anyway, with her improvements, her nerves had already begun to regenerate, and Mabel was beginning to feel better.

    However, given the severity of what had happened to her, only by reaching the body cultivation level of an Origin Saint, level 19, could she fully regenerate her spiritual nerves!

    As such, there was still a long way to go, and Mabel continued to move on top of Lothur, drenched in sweat, with a lustful expression on her face, with no intention of stopping.

    After years of not experiencing sex, a lifetime of not experiencing the ultimate pleasure of being filled by someone the right size, and the sensation of doing what she wasn''t supposed to do with her son-inw, she wasn''t going to stop!

    Even if being with Lothur didn''t make her feel any better, Mabel wasn''t going to stop what she was doing!

    Having reached this point, she looked at Lothur''s face as she moved on top of him and lowered her upper body.

    She hesitated a little but soon brought her lips close to his, feeling the sensation of kissing one of the few men she couldn''t do that to in this world.

    "Mmmmmm~"

    ...

    While Lothur and Mabel were having intense sex in Peters City, Annaliese had no idea what was happening when she entered Leopoldine''s neighboring empire to the south, Asken.

    Next to that brown-haired woman was Elke, both there to carry out their man''s orders to deliver an ultimatum to the imperial forces of that state.

    "Anna, what do you think Lothur will do with your mother? He and she have a terrible track record... I feel a little ufortable thinking about him helping her." Elkemented as the two saw the capital of Asken ahead of them, where they would arrive in a few moments.

    Hearing this, Annaliese felt a little nervous but said. "I know. I feel the same way. But I''m confident that Lothur will heal my mother for Viktoria and me. He''s much stronger than her now, and it wouldn''t make sense for him to act against her".

    "I hope so... She''ll soon be stronger by absorbing the Soul Bone that''s with you. It''s just a shame that she has to start with such a high-quality bone. She could progress more easily if she had more bones to absorb before this one." Elkemented.

    "Don''t worry, Viktoria, and I will find a way to get more bones for my mother. And even Lothur will do it. Do you think he''d rather give all his bones to strangers?" She smiled. "Even if he''s unwilling toplete my mother''s set rapidly if he gives her a single bone for every group of demons we kill in the future, it will be enough for her to grow stronger."

    "That makes sense. Come to think of it, if Ms. Mabel gets as strong as us, we''ll have someone trustworthy to run ourpany in Peters City." Elke thought about it and saw that it wouldn''t be bad if Viktoria and Annaliese''s mother became as strong as them.

    She didn''t think the same of her parents since they didn''t have such high natural talents as Mabel.

    Mabel had be a Transcendent decades ago with virtually no help from Lothur and only a Soul Bone she received from her Rios family.

    Meanwhile, that young woman''s parents were only Spiritual Warriors before Lothur''s help.

    Since more powerful cultivators relied more on their intelligence to move forward and protect themselves from things like catastrophes, Elke thought that Mabel would be a better protector of Peter City and her family''s business than her parents or anyone else.

    While discussing this, the two arrived in the Asken capital, where they immediately flew into the main courtyard of the local imperial pce andnded there without any courtesy.

    "Friends of the Asken family, we havee from Leopoldine to negotiate peace between our states," Annaliese spoke first while she and Elke released fractions of their auras to draw the attention of their enemies, but without crushing or destroying them.

    ...

 Chapter 781 Acting in the Name of Peace

    <h4>Chapter 781 Acting in the Name of Peace</h4>

    When Annaliese and Elke appeared in a courtyard of the local imperial pce, dozens of Asken family guards and specialists immediately sensed the enemy Sages'' arrival.

    The emperor himself sensed the presence of his enemies and moved with his strongest men, sensing that the end was near.

    ''Damn it! What happened to my elders?'' The leader of this state, a level 21 Supreme Saint, quickly appeared in this area along with more than 20 experts from his family when he saw those two beautiful women standing in the middle of the courtyard.

    How young!

    That was the first impression everyone had when they saw those two beautiful women, young but with a terrible aura that only the elders of this continent would have.

    A high elder of this family saw them, and, considering their words, he imagined that the family''s ancestors had died and they were there to deliver the news and threaten them.

    This white-haired, white-bearded old man of level 21 clenched his fists and stepped forward. "Ladies, are you here to take over our state?"

    Elke looked at the old man and said. "No, you''re the ones who attacked our state with the idea of taking it. We don''t behave like that, going into foreign territories and causing chaos."

    Everyone in the area remained silent, feeling the provocation of Elke''s words but knowing they couldn''t defend themselves.

    "So what do you want?" The emperor stepped forward as well.

    He was afraid. But if Elke and Annaliese decided to kill them, then he and everyone else there were already dead.

    Even if there were Sages in this state who were stronger than their ancestors, they wouldn''t be able to defend them against such strong and close enemies.

    Knowing this, the man didn''t cower and kept a confident expression as he tried to talk to the enemy.

    Annaliese replied. "We want you to sign a peace treaty with us and not to attack Leopoldine territory for the next thousand years. That''s all."

    "And if we don''t sign?" The supreme elder asked, already expecting that there would be some terrible conditions for them if they didn''t do what those women wanted.

    "Then we will attack your state personally. Not only us but all our allies." Elke said with an icy look on her face.

    Everyone in the courtyard felt the sweat on their bodies freeze at Elke''s words, knowing that if they were attacked by Sages like her, they wouldn''t evenst for weeks.

    A single Sage like that could bring chaos to an entire empire!

    Not only that but aside from the fact that they didn''t have anyone from their family capable of defending their state, these men knew that even if they got some foreign support, it wouldn''t protect them from these people.

    With that in mind, they soon considered signing this treaty with these women, who, by the way, didn''t ask much of them, considering they themselves started the war.

    And as much as they found the speed of their progress strange, questioning how they had achieved it wouldn''t help them at the moment.

    Talking to them about it would be terrible. Considering that talking to the Church was something they could only do when these women were far away!

    But even that would be dangerous. Any kind of action on their part, other than submission, might result in counterattacks they couldn''t withstand!

    ''Damn it! We''re in trouble!''

    ...

    While Elke and Annaliese were in Asken, a few more hours passed, and Viktoria and Reba finished absorbing their new Soul Bones.

    With her 6th Soul Bone, Reba reached level 23 in soul and body cultivation.

    With her 5th Soul Bone, Viktoria had reached level 23 of soul cultivation and was still at level 22 of body cultivation.

    Both of them had be much stronger after absorbing the Soul Bones of Monarch demons that Lothur had given them earlier.

    After that, and having Lothur''s order to go to Lenz, the two had already left the Three Great Lakes Region.

    On the other hand, the three siblings of the Jansen family had also reached level 23 in their soul cultivation and ended their seclusion.

    After that, one of them stayed in the Three Great Lakes Region, the others went to the capital of Leopoldine, and thest one went to Peters City to keep watch for the time being.

    Meanwhile, thest of Lothur''s enemies gathered remained in the Three Great Lakes Region, waiting for the moment when he would ughter them.

    ...

    While Viktoria and Reba were on their way, Lothur and Mabel had finally taken a break from what they had been doing for thest 12 hours.

    After washing their bodies to remove the intense smell of sex from them, the two were eating in the house''s kitchen, both very hungry.

    Lothur had supported Mabel throughout their activities, so he had also exhausted himself during the day with his mother-inw.

    As for Mabel, she had never had so much sex in her life and naturally needed the nutrients from the feast she had prepared for them in thest few minutes.

    Mabel was an aplished cook! She was very good at what she did, and even Lothur couldn''t deny the quality of his mother-inw''s cooking.

    While he tasted a 3rd stage beast rib, he saw the status of this woman.

    [Name: Mabel Rios]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 18]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 16]

    [STR: 79] [CON: 1,251] [DEX: 82] [AGI: 87]

    [INT: 210] [PER: 250] [WIL: 130] [SOU: 680]

    Seeing how much her Constitution had improved, he said. "After we''ve finished eating, take a rest. We''ll resume our activities in 3 hours. That should be enough for you to recover a bit."

    "All that?" Mabel asked, not intending to seem like she wanted to get back into bed with Lothur immediately, but seeming anyway.

    Lothur heard this and saw her blush as he saw the guilt in his mother-inw''s eyes. Mabel had done everything for him that day!

    She had even tried anal for the first time in her life!

    He knew she had loved every second of it. But because she had enjoyed it so much, she felt doubly guilty for everything she had done.

    By asking that question as if she were unhappy with having to wait another three hours to feel it again, she gave voice to the part of herself that wanted to indulge in depravity.

    Realizing this for herself, Mabel felt her heart beat faster and lowered her head in shame to look at Lothur.

    He smiled subtly and said. "Your nerves are halfway recovered. But to continue your treatment, we must let the recovered part of your body ''rest'' and ''solidify'' with its new forms.

    That means we can''t continue the treatment for another three hours. But that doesn''t mean we can''t fuck." He looked at her lips with a hungry expression. "We can return to what we were doing, but it won''t do your body any good."

    Gulp!

    Understanding what he wanted, Mabel dropped her cutlery on the table and finished her meal.

    She paused for a second to think about what to do, then closed her eyes and, in a single movement, appeared at Lothur''s side, sitting unceremoniously on hisp.

    "All right. If we continue, maybe I''ll be better prepared for the hours of treatment toe. It will certainly help." She said softly before wrapping her arms around him and bringing her lips down to his for a passionate kiss.

    After all they had done, it would not make a difference to stop now... And as long as the treatment wasn''t over, she wanted to feel that sensation for as long as possible!

 Chapter 782 Mabel’s recovery

    <h4>Chapter 782 Mabel''s recovery?</h4>

    After a few hours, Mabel and Lothur were going to rest once again from their ''tiring'' treatment. By that time, this woman had a Constitution value of 1,951 points.

    She was now at level 18 in soul and body cultivation, not far from progressing in both parts of her essence.

    More than 75% of her spiritual nerves had already recovered, and she only needed one more session of treatment to finish her recovery.

    Finally, while Mabel rested to endure the next session, Lothurmunicated with his people using the Ritter Motor Company''smunicationswork.

    ...

    "Lothur, things in Ashen have developed well. The local leaders have epted our conditions." Annaliese said to Lothur, using one of the many vehicles their people had taken to different parts of the province to increase theirmunicationswork.

    Before Lothur arrived to join the war, the local powers had been using the possibilities they had to increase their efficiency in the brewing war.

    With cars capable of increasing the speed at which information was passed on, they had positioned many cars around the province, almost as if they were antennae.

    Lothur heard Annaliese''s warning and said to her. "Very well. Hold your position near the border. I want us to have people in ce to deal with possible rebellions from these states while we stabilize things.

    I''ll finish treating your mother, and then I''ll make a quick pass through the Three Great Lakes Region. After that, I''ll settle the peace in Utrary, and then it''ll be time for us to leave."

    "Okay," Annaliese said before hanging up hermunicator.

    On the other hand, Viktoria, also connected, had heard all this and was delighted with Lothur''s words.

    "And you, Viktoria? How were things in Lenz?" Lothur asked his wife, looking at the othermunication crystal in front of him.

    She answered. "Reba and I had a few situations to deal with here in Lenz. Even though it''s the weakest of our enemies, this state has strong allies. But luckily, we were careful and didn''t threaten them too much.

    Their allies ended up epting a non-aggression treaty despite the threats made by the royal family of Lenz.

    But we will have problems in the future because of this. I don''t think these people will be okay with everything that''s happened."

    "Okay. Then hold your position for now. In a day at most, we''ll get together to leave for the north."

    "And my mother? How is she?" Viktoria asked a little anxiously.

    "Don''t worry, she''ll be fine. In another five hours or so, I''ll leave and let her stay in Peters City to rest. Before we leave for the north, we''ll stop here. You and Annaliese can see her before we leave."

    "All right."

    With that said, Lothur ended his call with Viktoria and would soon spend an hour producing resources for his people while Mabel finished resting.

    At the end of that hour, she would show up at the training site where he had been staying for thest few minutes, looking forward to more of what they had been doing for over a day.

    So, once again, Lothur would take his mother-inw to the pinnacle of pleasure, making her do crazy things in bed that would stay in her mind for a long time.

    ...

    [Name: Mabel Rios]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: level 19]

    [STR: 79] [CON: 3,304] [DEX: 82] [AGI: 87]

    [INT: 210] [PER: 250] [WIL: 130] [SOU: 680]

    After finishing baptizing Mabel''s womb for thest time and seeing the ssic symptoms of advancement, Lothur looked at this woman''s status and saw her strength stabilizing at a new level.

    While he was doing this, she was breathing heavily, naked on the bed, soiled by the two of them, totally sweaty, and with her little sister so pink it looked like it was on fire.

    An expression of sublime joy was molded on her beautiful face while her hard nipples rose and fell with her breathing.

    She was exhausted. However, the sensation of fully recovering her spiritual nerves and having climaxed just moments ago was excellent, and she couldn''t help but feel perfect.

    Looking at her, Lothur said. "Congrattions, you''re 100% recovered. Not only that but with a body as strong as the one you have now, any training you do will immediately give you significant benefits.

    If you want my advice, before you absorb the Soul Bone that Anna will give you, take some time to train your other characteristics. As strong as your body is now, you''re not used to this level, and you won''t be able to use all the power you should have.

    Train to resolve this and get the best possible result from the Soul Bone that Anna has for you."

    "All right." That was all she managed to say before falling asleep, no longer able to stay conscious after so much effort over thest almost two days.

    Seeing her fall asleep, Lothur quickly cleaned himself up and put on new clothes, setting off from this ce back to the Three Great Lakes Region!

    ...

    Sometimeter that same day, Lothur activated his bloodline ability and absorbed the lives of thest hostages his women had collected for him.

    Having collected 99,000 EVF points, he converted most of them into Soul points, raising this attribute by 3,319 points.

    Having also improved his affinities and resistances a little, Lothur looked at his status as he saw some low-ranking Soul Bones among the ashes of his many dead enemies.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,200] [CON: 7,297] [DEX: 4,488] [AGI: 4,572]

    [INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 2,899] [SOU: 13,532]

    [EVF: 21]

    Looking at his status, Lothur clenched his fists, feeling the sensation of getting stronger, but also eager to absorb his 8th Soul Bone. When he did, his attributes would improve significantly!

    However, none of the bonesing from some of the many bodies in that area were of interest to him, many there being Silver grade, not even having reached Gold grade.

    These bones wouldn''t even be good for his subordinates to absorb!

    But sure that there were people weak in his forces who would be happy to have such things, Lothur collected them before leaving, this time heading for Utrary!

    ''Time to put an end to this war.'' He thought as he opened a spatial crack that would take him to that empire to the west of Leopoldine.

    He headed in that direction, arriving in one of Leopoldine''s strongest enemy states!

 Chapter 783 Evaluation

    <h4>Chapter 783 Evaluation?</h4>

    After a few minutes, Lothur was over the capital of Utrary, where he could sense many Saints in the area, especially some Supreme Saints, something he had only seen in the north of the continent.

    He paused for a moment over the city and considered the level 22 and 23 Sages who had recently attacked Leopoldine on behalf of the Empire''s enemies.

    ''Considering the number of Saints and Sages that were here before, the northern states must have level 24 cultivators...'' He thought as he considered that despite the good level of Saints in this ce, thergest cities in the northern region still outnumbered this capital in the southern region of the continent.

    Considering that the density of experts reflected the number of Sages and their strength, Lothur used the local reality to estimate the number of enemies he might encounter on his way across the continent.

    ''There should be a few dozen Sages between levels 22 and 23 on the continent. But just over a dozen of them should have reached level 24. Beyond that, I believe their number can be counted on the fingers of one hand.''

    Considering that he had never seen a Sage with a full set of Soul Bones and that the 10th bone was usually the best, Lothur imagined that these Sages with formed Spirit Bodies were three to four times stronger than level 23 Sages. This meant that they were somewhere between level 24 and 25!

    As for the legendary level 26, the 5th Catastrophe, if there were only one person at that level, it would be a lot, so Lothur wasn''t worried about there being someone at the peak of cultivation in the continent.

    Throughout history, no one has ever reached that level. The closest had been the Demon Emperor, who had absorbed the power of the 7 Singrities in the distant past. But even he had failed to reach that level.

    Even if Concordia''s technologies had improved greatly from then to now, achieving such a feat would still be extremely difficult.

    Knowing this, Lothur ignored the possibility of an enemy of this level while he made a simple analysis of this capital,paring the strengths between the regions.

    ''If I go north, I''ll have to be careful. I think the people above level 24 won''t be interested in getting the bone I could form, but I''d better be careful anyway.'' He decided before heading to arge pce in the city''s center.

    Several local experts had already sensed Lothur''s presence in this ce and were standing on the outskirts of the nearby buildings, looking up to the sky as he descended as if he were a messenger of destruction arriving in this city.

    All the Saints there felt a chill in their souls as they sensed the spiritual fluctuationing from Lothur''s body, which was not only a reflection of his level of soul cultivation but also the presence of the bones in his being and a little bit of his innate abilities.

    Different beings gave off different sensations.

    A snake would give the impression of an evil being, while a bird of the same level would give a less negative but strong feeling, like the winds.

    Even though he didn''t have a soul as strong as that of the recently deceased main elder of this state''s imperial family, Lothur radiated such an intense sense of danger to everyone there that the difference of a few thousand Soul points did not make him weaker than such elders in the eyes of these local experts.

    "I''m here in the name of Leopoldine," Lothur said as he hovered over the highest point of the building and looked down at the people there. "Ie with the word of peace or destruction. Make your choice."

    As he spoke, Lothur manipted space, forming a domain around the pce,pletely separating that area from the rest of the city.

    Seeing this ck-haired person''s ability to manipte space, everyone there saw how terrifying this person could be and how easily he could destroy their capital in a few moves.

    ''Can he do that in just one move?'' The empress thought to herself as she looked at Lothur, feeling both fear and regret.

    One of her vassals had asked the imperial family not to give in to temptation and threaten the Ritter family and their supporters. But even knowing that there was no proof that the creator of the Ritter Motor Company was actually a hybrid of human and demon, she had given in to her greed for what thispany could provide.

    Facing an enemy who could take her life and the lives of all the high-ranking elders in her state, she couldn''t help but regret it.

    The empress then prostrated herself, touching her head to the ground as she humbly eximed: "Senior, please forgive us for our insolence! We were blinded by greed andmitted heinous crimes! Please spare us. We will no longer dare to raise our weapons against Leopoldine!"

    The rest of the Saints saw and heard their leader, and then they too dropped to the ground and prostrated themselves, knowing there was no alternative.

    Without their elders, this state was vulnerable to forces with Sages in their ranks.

    And even if some of them were close to advancing to the next stage, it was never guaranteed that one would reach the next stage just by being close to it. Even if all of them who could try to advance to the 5th stage managed to do so in the next few months, they would still be far behind this man who was staring at them this afternoon!

    As such, they had no choice but to ept their defeat in the war against Leopoldine!

    Seeing the reaction of all those Saints and their words simr to the empress'', Lothur smiled in satisfaction, seeing the advantage of power and feeling how good it felt to be the strongest in the area.

    These people had plotted against him, initiated actions, and done things to destroy his image. But in front of him, they trembled with fear and couldn''t help but humiliate themselves, fearing death and the punishment he could give them.

    He could kill them to show the world what happened to those who defied him. But that would draw too much attention. After all, this was the highest-level people of an empire!

    If all those people died, other states would take notice of Utrary''s situation, and they might inform their Sages about strange things in the area.

    So even though they had conspired against him and sullied his image, Lothur wouldn''t kill them. After easily defeating them, he would release some of his darkness and show them the path to liberation.

    ''From now on, you are my new ves. Work hard for me, my people.'' He said in their hearts, easily dominating these people''s bodies and souls, marking them as his vassals, just like the current Emperor Leopoldine and many others.

 Chapter 784 Fatherly Advice

    <h4>Chapter 784 Fatherly Advice?</h4>

    After dealing with Utrary and ensuring that the leadership of that state would no longer be a problem for Leopoldine and the Ritter Motor Company''s ns, Lothur returned to the Three Great Lakes Region.

    In the meantime, hemunicated with his women around Linn Province on Leopoldine''s borders with Lenz and Ashen.

    With everything settled regarding the enemies who had started the recent war against Leopoldine, Lothur called them back to the Three Great Lakes Region to prepare for their journey across the continent.

    They would still pass through Peter''s City to take care of a few things, but that wouldn''t take long, and soon, they would embark on the most dangerous and decisive journey of their lives!

    Before they left, they would take advantage of the temporary peace around them to rest a bit and enjoy each other''spany.

    ...

    A few dayster...

    Lothur and his women were still in the Three Great Lakes Region, taking a ''vacation'' as they prepared to head north to Concordia.

    But after a few days in this ce, they had already talked about all their recent exploits but also had a lot of sex, from which they all benefited greatly.

    Meanwhile, they took time out every day to train, something they hadn''t done for a while since they started fleeing their enemies or preparing for war.

    Amid this, they received daily reports on their forces, which were stabilizing after the recent opportunities for advancement provided by Lothur and the end of the war.

    Lothur had already released the three Sages of the Jansen family to move around the state as they pleased, but at least one of them should keep an eye on the local situation to ensure the best for his family''s interests.

    On the other hand, the partner families of the Ritter Motor Company were stronger than ever, and now virtually all the powers associated with the Ritter family had Saints in their forces.

    Leopoldine''s own imperial family had strengthened and gained new allies within the state, opening the way for Lothur''spany to grow smoothly throughout the empire.

    Anyway, as the days went by, more and more positive information reached them, and they felt more and more ready to act again and strengthen themselves.

    On the 8th day of their vacation, Daemon returned from his demon hunt with some of the beasts of that area.

    ...

    Seeing his father in front of him, but also some of the strongest beasts of the area, Lothur continued to cut logs for the firece in his house in the forest area.

    Daemon had recently advanced to the 4th stage after working for his son and was currently at level 20.

    The beasts there couldn''t benefit from Soul Bones, but with the resources Lothur had given some of them, more than 5 creatures of this area had also managed to reach the 4th stage and be Saints.

    All of these recently advanced beasts were there with Daemon, several of them thanking Lothur for the opportunities he had given them.

    "... Lothur, we''ll do our best to keep an eye on Leopoldine. If demons appear here, we will act together with the local forces and take their bones to the Ritter family to decide who they will go to." A sizeable red-furred monkey, level 20, said while kneeling before Lothur.

    After seeing Lothur waving to these creatures, Daemon, his silver hair and beard swaying in the wind, asked. "What are you going to do now? Hunting low-level demons or human enemies won''t do you much good at your level. You''d have to ughter many of them to get good results, but that would attract a lot of attention."

    "Yes, I won''t go afterrge groups of low-level beings. In fact, I only did it recently because it was a war, and I had a justification for doing so without attracting so much attention." Lothur said as he chopped wood with an axe.

    It wasmon for those who were sent to war to die. He had found an excellent situation in Leopoldine before and had taken the opportunity to strengthen himself.

    But Lothur had no interest in decimating cities and states to be stronger.

    Then he continued. "In a few days, I''m going to stop by Peters City and give the people there some orders. The Ritter Motor Company is mature enough, and I want it to raise more funds to enter the neighboring states of the empire.

    With the provincial families bing my subordinates, even if I reduce my stake in thispany, I''ll still have control over it."

    "Would you like to order a new auction? Sounds like a good idea. With more resources, yourpany will quickly leave Leopoldine and be a continentalpany." Daemon said, already aware that his son had ns to use thispany to dominate the continent.

    "After that, I''ll head north. I have a friend waiting for me so we can hunt high-level demons. I''ll take Anna, Victoria, Ba, and Elke with me and begin my crusade.

    I won''t stop until I''vepleted every one of their Spirit Bodies and my own as well." He said, showing the beasts and his father his goal.

    Having expected Lothur to do such a thing, Daemon wasn''t surprised. But he advised him.

    "Be careful on your journey to Demon Ind. I know you will go there sooner orter, but don''t underestimate the demons. I know you have powerful abilities, and you may feel invincible. But there are special demons.

    Remember, not all Emperor demons are the same. Some only carry out missions outside of their country. But some actually lead their forces.

    The terror level of their abilities ispletely different... Have you ever wondered why the demonic threat still exists even though there are powerful humans on the continent, even humans with full Spirit Bodies?" Daemon asked him seriously.

    Lothur stopped what he was doing to look at his father, who knew more about demons than he did because of the years he had lived at Fabienne''s side.

    "I''ll be careful." He said. "Thank you for your concern. But I know how terrible they can be. So much so that I do not intend to go to Demon Ind until my women and I have added at least one more bone to each of our bodies."

    "Good. That''s good. But before you go, find your mother. Even though she and I aren''t together anymore, she cares a lot about you, so you should go see her and help her." Daemon said. "She will also be able to help you with information, maps and much more. Fabienne is much more capable than her level alone would suggest."

    Lothur heard this and kept it in his head.

    Soon, he would say goodbye to his father and those beasts to join his women and return to Peter''s City!

 Chapter 785 The Growth of the City

    <h4>Chapter 785 The Growth of the City?</h4>

    The next day...

    After deciding to leave the Three Great Lakes Region and end his vacation, Lothur gathered his women and traveled to Peters City, arriving there a few minutes ago.

    Upon arrival, the three immediately saw Peters City from a different perspective.

    Previously, they had been too busy to observe this city carefully and see specific details.

    But this time, they were carefree enough to see this ce and notice the small local changes that had already transformed this city.

    Besides the obvious increase in the number of local experts in the city due to Lothur''s help, the ce seemed to be flourishing.

    The city''s poption of 500,000 had been growing steadily since the Ritter Motor Company began operations.

    Walking through the city, one could see construction in almost every neighborhood, and many facilities were being renovated to amodate not only the vehicles that already filled the streets but also the increased number of residents.

    Peters City currently had 640,000 inhabitants, while there were more than 7,000 vehicles in cirction, including cars, minibusses, trucks, and otherrger vehicles.

    The Linn Province currently has more than 13,000 vehicles throughout its territory, allowing anyone to send audio messages anywhere in the province with few resources.

    Meanwhile, another 5,000 vehicles had already been delivered to the rulers of other provinces within Leopoldine, especially the first two Ritter Motor Company factories.

    More than six Ritter Motor Company factories were in constant operation in the province, which could easily be seen in the city of Lothur and his family. There were already more than 40,000 people working directly or indirectly for thepany, enough for one to notice thepany''s growth in recent weeks.

    Wherever you went in this town, you could see people wearing the uniform of one of thepany''s factories, the driving school, the tollbooth, the provincial or municipal transportationpany, the paving or signalingpany, etc.

    Severalpanies were involved in the creation of Lothur, which made this city a kind of general headquarters for the young Ritter''spany.

    Noticing this for the first time, he and his family couldn''t help but sigh at how far they hade in such a short time.

    In a matter of months, they had gone from juniors at Morning Star Academy to "owners" of the city and province.

    But when they arrived near their residence, Viktoria and Annaliese immediately noticed their mother and put aside their city.

    Lothur said to them. "You should go and talk to her and spend some time with her. We leave tomorrow night, and I don''t know how long we''ll be gone... Take the opportunity to say goodbye. In the meantime, Ba, Elke, and I will take care of some things concerning ourpany."

    Annaliese and Viktoria agreed and soon separated from the rest of the group.

    Reba looked at Lothur and asked. "What are we going to do?"

    This woman was no longer wanted in this state, so she could show herself in public again since the imperial family had published the news of her release weeks ago.

    From the point of view of everyone in the state, she hadn''t escaped from the imperial prison, but had been released because the charges against her had been dropped.

    Finally, Lothur looked at the green-haired beauty and said. "Let''s stop at the headquarters of the Ritter Motor Company first. I''ve already told my men that all the partners should be in thepany today, so they should be expecting me by now."

    With that, they set off for thepany''s headquarters, the most beautiful building in the city''s center.

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Ritter Motor Company...

    On the top floor of this mirrored building, arge meeting room with an oval table and several luxurious chairs stood in the center of the area. At the same time, pictures of vehicles and otherpany products were on the room''s walls.

    But the ce, usually empty and little used, was currently full of people, with representatives from all of Lothur''s partners present.

    A total of 42 people were present, half standing, the other half sitting, waiting for the person who had called this meeting to arrive while they chatted among themselves.

    Half of them were from the province powers talking to each other, while the other half were either from other Leopoldine provinces or from other states. They talked to each other, looking strangely at the people from Linn Province every few moments, for they had suddenly increased their forces in thest few days.

    Representatives of the Becker, Koch, and Frost families, and even the Morning Star Academy, had leaped from the end of the 2nd stage or the beginning of the 3rd stage to the beginning of the 4th stage in their cultivation!

    But as ridiculous as these advances were, only a few publicly known people in Peter City had received Lothur''s help. Most of the people who received his help were the men of the Ritter family, who didn''t like to be seen in public.

    Aside from these individuals, less than sixty people from these four local powers had actually received support from Lothur, aside from the powers he had enved, such as the imperial family.

    In addition, he had helped strengthen the Jansen family, but that family had been very strong before, and few knew how much it had improved recently.

    In any case, the situation of these people was strange to most of them, and they couldn''t help butment on it among themselves.

    "How did they do it?"

    "They owe us an answer. We''re allies. We need to know how they were able to improve so much and still end the war that was about to take ce."

    "Yes, it was all bizarre. One day, we were preparing for war and the possible defeat of our forces, and then, within weeks, some of our partners became much stronger, and war was no longer an issue."

    The people of this second factionmented to each other in low, dark voices about much of what had happened recently.

    Even though they were involved in the war, most of these powers, who were neither Lothur''s subordinates nor close to the Jansen family, knew very little about what had actually happened in recent weeks.

    They knew that the enemies had lost important forces and were less bold and that there was a high probability that the war was already over. But the details of how this had happened were something few knew.

    Amid these mutteredments, the other group was talking about other things, but they all had smiles on their faces because the winds were blowing in theirpany''s favor.

    "We currently have more than 500,000 orders to deliver..." Gomeric told the Duke of the Province, sensing that thepany''s profits would soon be passed on to its partners.

    Thinking about the amount of coins that would be generated and the ever-increasing number of vehicles produced each day, Chris smiled at Gomeric and looked forward to the future.

    "As our operations mature, it will only be a matter of time before our families receive new advancements..."

    As he said this, everyone in the room stopped talking as they saw the wall on one side of the room distorted, and three people appeared there.

    ...

 Chapter 786 Lothur’s Goal

    <h4>Chapter 786 Lothur''s Goal?</h4>

    When Lothur, Reba, and Elke appeared in that ce, everyone was silent, especially since they weren''t hiding their 2nd Catastrophe Sage auras!

    But everyone there couldn''t help but look at the young silver-haired man, who not only had an aura twice as strong as those two women but also had all the characteristics of the creator of thispany.

    Those who didn''t already know him, representatives of families from other Leopoldine provinces and families from other states, immediately realized who Lothur was.

    At the same time, as they recognized him as the genius behind thispany, they all felt nervous because, given his cultivation level, he could only be what many used him of being.

    A hybrid of human and demon!

    Gulp!

    While some trembled with fear, the people of Linn Province, who were already used to Lothur, all stood up to greet him, bowing their heads without exception.

    Lothur smiled at his old acquaintances, seeing some he had recently helped and others he hadn''t seen since thest Ritter Motor Company auction.

    But when he saw the surprised or fearful expressions of some of his newer associates, he quickly opened his mouth to speak about the situation.

    "Well, some of you are new and don''t know me. Let me introduce myself. I''m Lothur Ritter, founder and majority shareholder of the Ritter Motor Company.

    Don''t be afraid of me because of my nature and my powers. I won''t act against you or threaten you. You''re already my partners, so we''re in the same boat...

    Anyway, I''m here today to give you some good news. As my wife promised, in a few days, we will be paying out the first dividend from ourpany.

    The first dividend will be worth 450,000 gold coins for every fraction of 1% of thepany. This means that powers like the Becker family, who own 7%, will receive 3.15 million gold coins." Lothur said, gesturing as he brought smiles to some of the faces there, slightly changing the expressions of those most worried about their situation.

    "In addition, we will hold the third auction of shares in the Ritter Motor Company, selling 15% of thepany."

    When Lothur said this, the people there immediately became more interested in it than in his reality. Many wanted to increase their positions even before the dividend announcement he had just made.

    "When will this happen?" One of the Rios family representatives asked.

    "About a month. You should talk to Mabel Rios about it. She''ll control thepany when my wives and I leave soon." Lothur was sincere, showing these people he didn''t intend to stay long.

    ''15%, and in a few weeks... It looks like the Ritter Motor Company will be without a controller.'' One of the people there thought he liked that.

    But then Lothur said. "As for this auction, my family will only be selling 7% of thepany. The rest wille from the holdings of the Morning Star Academy, the Koch, Becker, and Frost families.

    I would also like to announce that my family has recently allied with these powers and House Jansen. Thus, we will still have 50% of thepany''s votes even after the auction, which will keep us in the control of thepany."

    After Lothur''s words, the representatives of these powers immediately confirmed what he had said, showing thepany''s partners that nothing would change in its direction.

    Only new partners could join them, and more resources would be avable for the Ritter family to expand theirpany''s operations.

    Realizing this, some of those most interested in the auction became more solemn, realizing they would still have to abide by the Ritter family''s decisions, even if they disagreed.

    With a majority of votes, the Ritter family could do whatever they wanted. Even hurt their other partners!

    The strongest powers there didn''t like that, so they couldn''t help but be annoyed when they heard that this auction wouldn''t change the problem.

    They wanted control of thepany, but not only that, they wanted Lothur out of their business!

    "Senior Ritter, what is your interest in the Ritter Motor Company? I doubt that someone of your caliber needs coins. Even though thepany is huge and has a lot of potential, those coins would be useless to someone like you.

    What do you really want? Why don''t you resign your position and take your family to live in seclusion away from all eyes? You could keep a minority stake in thepany and still guarantee the future of your house." One of these men had the courage to say what half the people in the room wanted to say.

    On the one hand, it was a very sensiblement. On the other, it showed the ignorance of such a person, who had no idea of the Ritter Motor Company''s potential with the Koch family''s espionage.

    Only Lothur and the Koch family knew thepany''s real purpose, so many people looked at him curiously to find out why he wouldn''t leave thepany and live his life in peace.

    Lothur looked at the man and said. "The Ritter Motor Company is not stable enough for me to relinquish control of it.

    As my creation, I want to see it rise to the top and be the greatest institution on the continent. I won''t give it up until it does."

    His answer was good enough for many there to ept.

    Who wouldn''t want their creation to be the best and most important in the world?

    Even if not everyone appreciated this noble goal, it was easy to understand.

    At the same time, Lothur''s words opened the door to those who were interested in one day getting rid of the Ritter family at the top of thepany. So even the least happy people in the room couldn''tin about his answer.

    Then, someone asked as the people in the room looked at each other, more satisfied than dissatisfied. "Senior, where are you looking now? I assume it was you who stopped the war and saved us all, right?"

    With that question, everyone who didn''t know that Lothur was behind the end of the war realized that he was the only exnation for the things that had happened in thest few weeks.

    Not only that, but they realized how important Lothur was to thispany, for without him, it would probably be in the hands of the enemies by now!

    He said. "I''m going away to hunt demons with my wives. However, when I return, I''d like to see the Ritter Motor Company dominate at least the continent''s southern region.

    If that happens, I''ll give my partners some prizes. So do your best, haha." He ended the meeting with this encouragement for these people to help him expand thepany, which he felt was necessary for him toplete the system''s mission.

 Chapter 787 Time to Go

    <h4>Chapter 787 Time to Go?</h4>

    After leaving the Ritter Motor Company headquarters, Lothur would meet with the Koch family at the Ritter family headquarters, where he would introduce his women to his family''s espionage business for the first time.

    Lothur would give the Koch patriarch, the leader of this operation, several orders. Among them, he would say that once this group had managed to spy on the entire empire and started spying on neighboring states, they should look for information about the Seven Singrities.

    Lothur didn''t expect to find anything in the short term. Still, as the Ritter Motor Company grew out of Leopoldine, he thought that information about it might show up. Since he didn''t intend to return to Peters City anytime soon, this order had to be given now so the group wouldn''t miss anything from the start.

    In addition, he would give several other orders about specific items, demons, spectres and about how the group should handle information about these creatures.

    Lothur would personally deal with these creatures on his journey, but he would not leave his people unprepared.

    After a long conversation with the Koch patriarch, Lothur and his two women went to the estate where Viktoria and Annaliese were with their mother.

    ...

    Arriving at the estate, Lothur, Elke, and Reba found Mabel recovered for the first time and couldn''t help but notice how radiant she looked.

    Mabel didn''t just look stronger. She looked transformed!

    The sparkle in her eyes and the energy she exuded werepletely different from weeks ago when she was living like a widow waiting to die.

    Seeing this, Elke and Reba were a little surprised but felt that it must be due to her recovery and progress.

    ''Lothur must have given her a Soul Bone after healing her condition.'' They thought, imagining that this was behind Mabel''s current level.

    Meanwhile, Annaliese and Viktoria were very happy for Mabel, who was now much more rxed about traveling with Lothur and leaving her in Peters City.

    "Are you leaving already?" Mabel asked as she looked at Elke and Reba, trying not to look at Lothur as things that shouldn''t be on her mind were tempting her while she was around the young man.

    "Hmm, we''ll just spend the night in the city and start our journey tomorrow," Elke replied.

    "Have you taken care of everything you need to take care of?" Annaliese asked.

    "Most of it," Reba said.

    "Then this is better left to you, mom." Annaliese handed Mabel an Emperor demon Soul Bone, tinum-grade, what Lothur had given her.

    "You should train for a few days at most and then take this bone without further ado. As interesting as it might be to dy the absorption, it could be perilous. For as much as the Soul Bone can give you greater benefits the stronger you are, going without it can weaken you." Viktoria advised, feeling that her mother had better absorb it as soon as possible.

    As far as she and Annaliese were concerned, her mother didn''t need to make much progress with this first bone they gave her. As their journey progressed, they were sure to get new Soul Bones.

    When they had more bonespatible with Mabel''s Spirit Body, they would find a way to send them to this woman!

    Even though she wouldn''t have a great bonus now because she had very weak characteristics, they thought it would be best for Mabel to absorb this bone as soon as possible.

    Mabel smiled at her daughters as she stored the bone in her spatial ring, determined to do it soon. "I will train for another week. The results of my training have been perfect, so I want to continue. After that, I''ll absorb it as you say."

    With that, the group there would soon split up inside that residence, each going off to prepare in their own way. Eventually, the night would fall, and Mabel would host a feast for this family, taking the opportunity to be with her daughters for thest time in who knew how long.

    Mabel was sure she would hear from her daughters asionally. But even then, it could be months before she saw them again, something that had never happened until this day.

    In the middle of this special evening, she tried to ignore the sensation in her body because of Lothur''s presence, feeling a little guilty after everything she had done.

    She couldn''t deny that she had enjoyed every second of it. And her body screamed with joy, so much so that no one could imagine her great guilt.

    Even though she looked radiant and delighted on the outside, Mabel was in an unprecedented dilemma between feeling good about her pleasure with Lothur and feeling bad about betraying her daughters and her husband.

    As the hours passed and the silence of the night set in, she would have to try hard not to think about what Lothur must have done with those four women and also try hard not to get carried away by the sensation in her body.

    ...

    The next day...

    Lothur had taken care of all his women''s needs the night before, while Mabel had barely resisted the temptation to try to watch them or even get close to him.

    Lothur couldn''t imagine what his mother-inw had been through that night, and when he got up in the morning, he simply ignored her as he went to the kitchen to eat his breakfast.

    Lothur thought Mabel was beautiful, but he had no big fantasies about her. He''d done what he''d done to her because he wanted to punish her, and hell, he could get as rough as anyone with a beauty like his mother-inw.

    But he didn''t want to make her one of his women, so he just treated her like his mother-inw when he found her in the kitchen in the morning.

    If he knew how terribly Mabel felt for being so attracted to him, Lothur would actually smile in satisfaction, for that was what he was looking for.

    After a fewments among themselves and the awakening of his four women, it wouldn''t be long before Lothur, and the four of them left to take care of theirst business in the city before their departure.

    Later that day, they would make some rmendations to Mabel about the management of the Ritter Motor Company until it was finally time for them to leave for the north.

    At the end of the afternoon, Lothur, his four women, Mabel, and the most important members and allies of the Ritter family stood at the entrance to the family headquarters to bid farewell.

    Elke said goodbye to her parents, while Reba said goodbye to her mistress, Elisabeth. On the other hand, some important people in the city wished Lothur good luck, while the Frost family said goodbye to Annaliese and Viktoria.

    "I hope youe back stronger, my daughters. But don''t worry about me. I''ll be fine." Mabel said before looking at her son-inw. "Lothur, take care of them. They''re all I have."

    With that, Lothur nodded to his mother-inw and looked at his women. "Shall we go?"

    With their confirmation, he opened a spatial rift to one of the northernmost borders of the empire. He was soon on his way with his women, finally leaving.

 Chapter 788 Towards the Tyrannosaurus Rex

    <h4>Chapter 788 Towards the Tyrannosaurus Rex</h4>

    After leaving Peters City, Lothur and his four women reached the Leopoldine border with Cesha, from where they nned to head north in search of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

    Arriving at the Cesha border, Lothur said to his women. "From now on, we must travel carefully.

    There were no enemy Sages in Leopoldine, but in the area ahead, ''many'' 5th-stage cultivators must be investigating me.

    So let''s avoid using our Sage abilities so as not to attract unnecessary attention."

    "Is that really necessary? We''re already so powerful together." Reba said, imagining her man being overly cautious.

    "Yes, it is necessary. As far as I know, 2nd Catastrophe Sages like us don''t even haveplete Spirit Bodies. But I''m aware that there are such people on the continent, including cultivators with Diamond-grade Soul Bones."

    "Is that serious?" Annaliese asked worriedly.

    "Hmm, and then there are those beings of non-human races who can reach the peak of cultivation without using Soul Bones. So we have to be careful. No matter how strong we''ve be, there are still beings capable of killing us on this continent." Lothur said seriously before making a rmendation.

    "Then hide your level of soul cultivation and change your appearance. It''ll be better that way so as not to attract curious people who are interested in me."

    The people behind him didn''t know that the human-demon hybrid who had reached the 5th stage was Lothur Ritter. But those beings certainly knew that this young man from Leopoldine was considered suspicious and missing, so having the women of such a person at his side without hiding their identities could be a problem.

    The four understood Lothur''s concern after a few words from him. They soon changed their appearance, hiding their auras, causing them to diminish until they reached the peak of level 20.

    The area they were going to had the strongest publicly known level 20 and 21 beings, so it wouldn''t be appropriate for them to have a level 21 cultivation, or they wouldn''t avoid attracting the attention of worried Saints.

    With that done, Lothur said. "Now, let''s fly on our way. Manipting space is something we should avoid.

    Saints usually only travel through the vacuum of space when they know the area ahead or when they are on the run. Hence, it would be weird for people like us to do that."

    They heard this and nodded, indicating they understood and would not manipte space unless necessary.

    With that settled, they looked at each other and took off, flying at low altitude, heading north.

    Even though they were flying and not using their spatial maniption skills to travel faster, they were flying at the maximum speed of level 20 Saints. As such, their speed was not small, and if they kept up the pace, they could reach the entrance of the Ancestral Region in a few days.

    As they flew along the southernmost side of Cesha, Viktoria asked. "Where do we go first? You want to hunt demons, right? Should we start looking for them on the way?"

    "We''ll hunt demons, and if we see any on the way, we''ll take care of them. But my goal now is to find an ally I made before. I want to find him because he has more information about the demons in Concordia than I do". Lothur replied, thinking of the level 22 dinosaur.

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex didn''t know anything about Demon Ind, nor was he strong enough for Lothur to need him as an ally right now. However, he had been observing the continent for much longer than young Ritter had and had information that could be very useful as this young hybrid began his journey.

    Lothur wanted to kill some high-ranking demons and get new bones for himself and his women on the maind before going to Demon Ind. So, someone like that dinosaur could have a positive effect on his journey.

    At the same time, as much as he didn''t want to deal with the leaves of the system in the short term, he still wanted to look for information about them in secret. That was something else the dinosaur could advise him on!

    Thus, even though he could hunt demons, Lothur wanted to find this beast before continuing his ns.

    "Is this the beast you mentioned?" Elke asked.

    "Yes, that''s him. He''s been on a mission against demons for a long time. He''ll be very useful to us." Lothur said.

    "What about the spectres?"

    Lothur looked at Annaliese. "We will look for information about them, but they''re harder to find. And I don''t have much information about such beings."

    Thinking about these goals, Reba wondered. "Wouldn''t it be better if we split up halfway through our quests? That way, we''ll cover more ground and reach our goals faster."

    The other three looked at Lothur and he said. "Yes, we''ll do thatter. But I want us to stay together until we get a little stronger. When that happens, we''ll split up to investigate more ces simultaneously."

    Unlike him, the women of Lothur were utterly vulnerable to spectres of their level or higher. Also, looking at the 5th stage, there were ''many'' level 23 Sages on the continent. Since they were at the bottom of that level, he felt it would be more dangerous for them to travel separately in the short term.

    However, once they became stronger, he saw no problem with it. It would be good for him as well as for them.

    Aside from that, the group would continue to travel without muchment after entering Cesha, quickly making their way through this state where no one would bother them in the short term.

    ...

    After a week of traveling, the group of Lothur and his women hadpletely crossed Cesha and were already close to reaching the core of Rablus territory, one of the strongest states in the northern region.

    Since they had not faced any battles during these days, the group had noticed that several groups of Sages were exploring the areas around their path.

    However, being stronger than those Sages, they had managed to pass them unnoticed.

    As they traveled, they heard various rumors about the emergence of hybrids on the continent and how the coalition of Sages had already exterminated one of these creatures and were hunting down the second.

    Except for the 5th-stage experts, no one on the continent knew the level of the hybrid that was still being hunted. All ordinary people knew was that the battle that had taken ce weeks ago on the southern border of Rablus had been over the soul bone of that dead creature.

    Only experts knew that it had also been a confrontation with the other hybrid.

    Meanwhile, the demon hunters had scaled back their actions against these creatures and wanted to destroy the hybrid. As a result, groups of demons that had been hiding throughout the continent began to appear more frequently in the northern region of Concordia.

    When Lothur discovered this, he was pleased, but he had not yet acted, believing that he could hunt these creatures more safely with the help of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

    So he made it his goal to catch up with this dinosaur before he began his hunt!

 Chapter 789 Worries

    A few dayster...

    While Lothur and his women were traveling through the northernmost part of Concordia, his Tyrannosaurus Rex friend was in the Ancestral Region.

    After Lothur had revealed himself to the world weeks ago, he had met the young man''s enemies to find out what had happened and what they would do, then returned to his mission.

    He had chosen not to follow the hybrid''s trail, not only knowing that Lothur posed no threat but also confident that the other level 22 and 23 Sages on the continent would take care of the other hybrid.

    As someone who was focused on the mission his master had left him to fight demons, this creature continued to focus on that, gathering information and observing relevant groups of these creatures.

    He had heard what had happened between Lothur and the Sages hunting the hybrids weeks ago, but he still hadn''t moved either for or against the young Ritter.

    As much as he had allied himself with Lothur, he couldn''t help him in such aplicated situation and with so many experts after the young man.

    But this dinosaur hoped that Lothur was well and growing stronger. Not only that, but part of his current job was to help this guy because, after seeing everything the young Ritter was capable of, this beast was sure he could end the demonic threat to this continent!

    So, while Lothur wasn''t dealing with the threats against him, this dinosaur had been watching his enemies from his tribe''s position in the Ancestral Region.

    The Ancestral Region was not only home to the Ancestral Folk. These northernmostnds of Concordia were home to countless races of powerful beasts, including the dinosaur tribe.

    However, each of the beast tribes in this area was special, which is why few humans or even demons dared to enter the area.

    ...

    "Cykad, what are you doing? Why aren''t you with the rest of our region''s experts hunting down the damned hybrid?" A level 21 elder asked the Tyrannosaurus Rex lying on a branch.

    "Elder Rannoss, there are already more Sages after this hybrid than necessary." Cykad, the Tyrannosaurus Rex of the creator of the Secret Realm of Linn Province, said with respect to the elder who was weaker than him.

    Even though he was stronger, he couldn''t disrespect this elder and other Saint-stage elders of this tribe. Although he was a member of the species, he had spent much of his life away from this ce when he apanied his master in the past.

    When he returned a few thousand years ago, he had been weed back into the tribe because of his power. Still, the greatest elders of this ce had never considered him to be a genuine member of the dinosaur tribe.

    From the point of view of these elders, Cykad was a tamed beast and would always be grateful to the human who had tamed and "domesticated" him. His goal was clear: to fulfill the mission left by a human, which waspletely different from the dinosaur tribe''s goal of raising their tribe to the top.

    Thus, even though he had be a Sage in recent years, Cykad still didn''t have a very good position in the tribe, even though he was the current leader of the Tyrannosaurus Rex Legion.

    The dinosaur tribe was made up of various dinosaur races. Of its 20,000 or so members, just over 700 were Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Cykad was the only one of that race in this generation to have reached the 5th stage.

    Even so, the other Sages of the tribe, from the Velociraptor, Allosaurus, and Gigantosaurus races, didn''t see him as a reliable dinosaur and only gave him a prestigious enough position to lead the tribe''s little more than 700 Tyrannosaurus Rex.

    But Cykad had no problem with that, and he genuinely respected the order of things set by his stronger 5th-stage colleagues in the tribe.

    "I''m not needed to hunt this hybrid. On the other hand, the demons have been roaming the continent very freely. Aren''t you worried about that? Even if they are hunting the hybrid as well, those horrible creatures are our enemies! We can''t turn a blind eye to them just because other threats are on the continent!" Cykad said sternly, unhappy with Concordia''s current situation.

    Weeks after the search for the hybrids had begun, the groups hunting Lothur had be increasingly concerned, to the point where they had even begun to cooperate with the demons in their search.

    All of the demon hunters, including the low-level ones not involved in the current continental situation, had been called back to their headquarters to let the demons hunting Lothur go free.

    Hell, the demons seized the moment to go after not only the hybrid but also old targets, some continuing their journey to strengthen themselves in thesends.

    Aware of what was happening, Cykad couldn''t help but worry.

    "Sigh... This is a necessary evil, Cykad. As terrible as demons are, they are limited by the samews that govern us and all the other races of our world.

    And in a way, they are a creation of our world. There must be a reason for such creatures to exist.

    But we cannot allow a human-demon hybrid to live!

    It is an abominable creature that Heaven hates, and if allowed to evolve, it could do terrible things." The elder said in a worried tone, obviously willing to ept the demons operating on the continent to end the hybrid that his tribe and several others wanted to exterminate.

    To that end, he and many others were willing to sacrifice countless lives of lesser beings to ensure the end of Lothur.

    Once he was gone, they would return to normal and face the demons, their old enemies.

    But Cykad wasn''t as certain as Rannoss. "Is that right, elder? The demons are trying to bring the Demon Emperor back to life. If that happens, he''ll be even worse than a hybrid..."

    The Demon Emperor was not only a high-ranking being but also a symbol of power, a symbol of what a demon with the Seven Singrities could achieve.

    If such a creature returned to the world, chaos as great or greater than what a hybrid represented could befall this entire world!

    Rannoss made an ugly face and said. "Nonsense. It''s impossible for that to happen again. And even if it does, we have 4th Catastrophe Sages scattered across the continent, unlike when the Demon Emperor first appeared in our world.

    And we''ve seen what a Demon Emperor is capable of. But we''ve never seen it with a hybrid!"

    "I hope you''re right, elder. Otherwise, we''ll be in trouble."

    With that, Cykad stopped debating with the elder and returned to silently observing his targets.

 Chapter 790 The State of the Coalition

    <h4>Chapter 790 The State of the Coalition?</h4>

    Meanwhile, the coalition of hunters against Lothur,posed of humans, demons, beasts, and members of the Ancestral Folk, continued to scour the continent for their target.

    Only a few weeks had passed since Lothur''s appearance and the great battle for the Diamond-grade Soul Bone that had taken ce on the southern border of Rablus.

    Since then, Lothur''s group of enemies, including those who had fought him that day and many others, had been searching for him.

    But finding a Sage was not as easy as one might think!

    To think that it would be easy to find Lothur because of the recent situation Leopoldine had been through was foolish.

    That''s because at least three wars were going on around Concordia right now, and at least two dozen young prodigies had advanced several levels to the 5th stage in a matter of weeks or months.

    As unusual as cases like these, simr to the women of Lothur, were, they did happen.

    Talented people appeared. Soul Bones and the 30 Magnificent Items existed. When some of these individuals and artifacts came into contact, fantastic things happened, and rapid progress was made.

    At the same time, because of how fantastic these people''s journeys were, there was usually a lot of chaos around them, and wars would easily break out because of them, sometimes leading to great massacres.

    What happened in Leopoldine recently was rare, but it had happened a few times in Concordia''s history.

    That wasn''t enough to indicate the presence or involvement of a human-demon hybrid in that situation.

    Not only that, human-demon hybrids had an unprecedented thirst for blood. Even though they were part of Emperor demon''s bloodline, they couldn''t help themselves when they were around powerful beings who could feed them.

    They could even control themselves around enemies who were often superior or weaker than them. But against those of a simr level, they felt such a desire to devour such organisms that they could hardly keep allies alive.

    ording to themon logic of the Sages of Concordia, a hybrid should have devoured Lothur''s women if it had anything to do with the recent incident in that area!

    For this reason, and because several events in Leopoldine were not entirely beyond the logic of this world, the recent situation there had escaped the attention of several of these Sages.

    For these people looking for Lothur, he must have been hiding or looking for Soul Bones to continue strengthening.

    In this case, letting the demons roam freely across the continent was a strategy to lure this target so they could capture him!

    ...

    On the border between the Petha Empire and Rablus...

    Here was one of the temporary outposts of the coalition group, where a few Sages maintained a position to ry information from their men nearby to other groups like this across the continent.

    Communication was an issue in Concordia. Evenrge organizations using high-level devices and consumingrge amounts of crystals couldn''tmunicate with their people all the time.

    To facilitatemunication, the coalition against Lothur had divided into two types of groups around the continent as their investigations progressed.

    The first was the actual investigators, who were scouring the continent for information or signs of Lothur. The second was outposts like this one in the Petha Empire, where the men in the camp would receive information from their allies nearby and pass it on to other outposts like this one.

    This way, if one group found concrete evidence of Lothur''s location, they could quickly alert all their allies and move on to the enemy.

    After the previous confrontation, the level 22 and 23 Sages realized they needed numbers on their side, as Lothur was tough and would not be easy to kill.

    So now they wouldn''t act against him without at least a good number of them gathered to deal with Lothur!

    To prevent deaths among them and the enemy from getting new bones from powerful demons, the coalition did their best to prepare to destroy him the next time they encountered him.

    But even after weeks of searching for him, with more than 40 Sages of different races searching for him in most of the states of this continent, the group still hadn''t achieved any great results.

    The members who remained in these temporary camps were the ones who felt the dy in finding Lothur the most, and they began to think about a dangerous possibility.

    "What if the damned hybrid has already reached the 3rd catastrophe?" One of the three Sages in this small camp asked his two partners, somewhat pessimistic about what they were doing.

    "Impossible. This hybrid would have to devour several 1st and 2nd Catastrophe Sages to reach that level. But recently, only nine Sages of those levels died on the continent, and none of them were demons." One of the twomented, his feet on the ground at this frightening possibility.

    "But he could have grown stronger by killing small groups of Saints..." The same man who had raised such a possibilitymented.

    "He would have to kill many small groups of Saints, and it would take him a few months to absorb all that power. So it''s not possible that he has already be a Sage of that level." The third agreed with the second but didn''tpletely rule out the possibility. "That''s a concern, though. If he has the freedom to act towards his goals for much longer, this could be possible in the future."

    "So what do we do?" The same man who had asked the question questioned, knowing that level 22 and 23 Sages wouldn''t stand a chance against level 24.

    "We only have the alternative of calling the supreme elders of our forces." The strongest of the three said, thinking of humans with full Spirit Bodies and beings from other races who had already reached level 24.

    Cultivation beyond level 23 was tough, and not just because of the disasters that became more deadly, the stronger one became. The world had its limits in terms of spiritual energy, naturalws, and spiritual pressure.

    For someone to cross the barrier from level 24 to 25, or from 25 to 26, the difficulty increased exponentiallypared to the difficulty of going from level 22 to 23, or from 23 to 24.

    The world had its limits, and cultivators suffered from different restrictions that prevented them from progressing to the peak. This became more apparent as one reached higher levels andpleted their set of possibilities.

    As such, experts of this level were verymitted to their seclusion and were not bothered by their juniors unless the world was under threat of destruction!

 Chapter 791 Reaching The Goal

    To understand the situation of a level 24 or higher cultivator, imagine a street that has a drainage system, but under certain circumstances, it could be flooded.

    For example, one of the drainage points might be full of garbage and other things that prevent it from absorbing all the water that reaches it. As a result, after a heavy storm, it might be blocked and unable to absorb the water.

    Cultivators felt something simr to this situation when they reached level 24. There was water or energy for them to absorb, but for various reasons, which they didn''t understand, they couldn''t absorb that spirituality to progress.

    Without someone to ''clean out'' the ''garbage'' on them that prevented them from absorbing that ''water,'' they couldn''t move forward even though there was something to absorb.

    Not only that, like a flooded street, once the garbage was removed at one or more points and the drainage channels were cleared, the water could quickly drain away and no longer flood the street.

    In other words, there was a limit to how far they could go without exhausting this world, which made each of these high-level cultivators much moremitted to their seclusion than anyone else.

    Not just any situation would bring the world''s strongest out of their seclusion. Even the appearance of a hybrid wouldn''t be enough for these experts toe out of their seclusion.

    They had no way to absorb the bone of someone like Lothur, so hardly any of them would move for him unless someone like the young Ritter decided to massacre the entire continent.

    But these cultivators were the ultimate protectors of the continent. If someone like the Demon Emperor were to appear, they would definitely not allow the world to be destroyed or taken over by these creatures.

    As much as weak beings were of little importance to these experts, and most of the people in the world were like that, even the smallest insects could interfere with the fate of nature in this world.

    One or two stray insects wouldn''t be missed. But if all the worms and small creatures suddenly disappeared, even the peak cultivators would face huge problems.

    The experts at that post knew that they had these elders as their ultimate weapon, so they didn''t despair even if their group was dyed in finding and eliminating the damned hybrid.

    "Anyway, if he gets stronger, the elders will interfere when he starts massacring our world. So we just have to be careful until he makes the mistake of alerting our elders." The strongest of the three said, reassuring hispanions.

    ...

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s party had finally reached Rablus'' border with the Ancestral Region!

    Lothur remembered where the Tyrannosaurus Rex had taken him before. He didn''t know exactly how to get there, but he knew it was in the Ancestral Region. Using what he had seen and felt in that ce, he could use his One With Nature ability to find his way there.

    So, the moment he and his women arrived in the area, he immediately began to search for information about the ce that could lead his group there.

    After a few moments connected with the awareness of the special vegetation of this area, much stronger and more spiritual than what he could find in other areas of the continent, Lothur got his answer.

    Opening his eyes and rising from where he had been sitting, he said to his women. "Let us move on. We''ll reach his tribe in about six hours. It''s not far from here."

    "Are you sure he will be in this tribe, Lothur? We must be careful. This is the Ancestral Region!" Viktoria said as she worriedly eyed the area they were in.

    But that was the natural reaction of people entering this region for the first time.

    The Ancestral Region was legendary to most people in this world, and academies all over the continent spread the word about the dangers one would face if they entered this area, which was home to mighty beasts.

    The Ancestral Region was not friendly to humans. With several races that could easily cultivate to the 4th stage in this territory, even humans in this cultivation realm would have to be careful in this area.

    At the same time, even the vegetation in this area could be aggressive and dangerous to those who didn''t know the area.

    Some beings had to devour others in order to survive or even be stronger!

    If they came into contact with one of them, even if a group like theirs was peaceful, they could still face countless challenges along the way.

    And even if they were Sages and not Saints, there were undoubtedly several Sages in this area, and they weren''t entirely safe.

    Viktoria had no problem entering this ce to go to an acquaintance who would be waiting for them at a certain point. But going to a tribe of powerful beasts without knowing their ally was there was dangerous.

    Lothur looked at his wife and said. "If he''s not there, we''ll find people who can tell us where he is. In any case, I''ve been there before, so his men will recognize me. Rest assured, at our level, few beings would dare to challenge us, even considering the 5th-stage elders who live in the area.

    Just to be sure, let''s raise our level. In this area, people in the 4th stage would hardly dare to do what we are doing, so let your auras return to normal."

    They quickly did as he said, but their appearance remained altered.

    Then they flew through the area at high speed, this time using the speed of level 23 Sages, moving so fast that the many living beings in the area didn''t even notice them.

    As they traveled north, the trees in Lothur''s path seemed to clear a path for him and show him the way to go, helping him avoid tribal territories and 5th-stage expert sites.

    By doing this for a while, Lothur''s party would be noticed by the Ancestral Folk''s observers when they were close to the dinosaur territory. However, since they were much stronger than the Ancestral Region observers, they could get close to the tribe they were interested in without dy.

    When Lothur got close enough to the core of the tribe to sense all of the dinosaurs there, he used his abilities to search for the being he was interested in, seeing that there were few Sages there at the moment. Even so, there were some individuals he would rather avoid!

    "Elke and Annaliese, I want you to go deep into this area and look for elder Cykad. He''s the friend I''m looking for and is in his tribe now."

    ...

 Chapter 792 Finding Cykad

    ?

    Lothur said to his two strongest women. "There are elders in this tribe who might be able to identify me. So you two should go to Cykad and talk to him about me. He will understand what needs to be done and wille with us.

    The two didn''t question their man, and after nodding in agreement with what he had said, they moved toward the interior of the area where dinosaurs of various types and sizes lived.

    The area where Lothur and the other two women were standing was the edge of this tribe, where no one was watching at the moment. So, the three of them stayed where they were, not taking any time to get used to the area.

    Viktoria and Reba were naturally nervous to be in this legendary ce. Still, Lothur calmly built a small fire as if he were in the backyard of his house.

    Meanwhile, Elke and Annaliese entered the area under the observation of some 4th-stage dinosaurs and immediately alerted some beings to the arrival of specialists.

    Even though they were weaker, some of the first ones to notice them didn''t hesitate and moved to prevent them from approaching the core of their tribe without first justifying themselves.

    "Humans, stop! What are you doing in our territory?" A level 21 dinosaur, the first to see them, appeared in their path and spoke Concordia''smonnguage.

    That dinosaur wouldn''t have used themonnguage if they were low-level beings. He would have used his ownnguage because it was the duty of those who entered foreignnds to know the localnguage.

    If one didn''t, that was their problem!

    But before Sages, even this proud beast of his race had to show some modesty.

    Annaliese and Elke didn''t want any trouble, so when they heard that first dinosaur that had appeared in their path, they both stopped.

    Elke said. "We''re looking for Cykad, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. We have business with him."

    "Cykad?" This dinosaur and other observers in the area heard this and were surprised because this Tyrannosaurus Rex was a guy who rarely received visitors.

    Even when he did receive visitors, these beings were never of the same level or higher than him. They were always weaker beings who were part of hiswork of influence outside the Ancestral Region.

    For people stronger than Cykad himself toe to this ce, something had to be going on.

    "Is this about the hunt for the human-demon hybrid?" One of the elders asked, knowing that such a guy was shamefully not participating in the hunt with the rest of the experts of his level.

    Annaliese replied. "More or less. We have some concerns inmon with him. Please, could you take us to him? We mean no harm to your tribe. We simply wish to speak with the elder Cykad."

    Cykad was not well-liked within the tribe for his recent decisions, so if someone could help him change his mind, some would be sincerely grateful.

    The tribe''s goal was to reach the pinnacle, not to be destroyed by a threat like the hybrid. So everyone who could be used to hunt the Hybrid should be on the move. If someone could convince Cykad to do this, it would be good for the entire tribe, as another Sage would be on the lookout to prevent someone who could harm this tribe in the future from developing further.

    With this in mind, the 4th-stage observers felt it would be no problem to let these human womene into contact with Cykad.

    "Wait here. Some of us will notify Cykad, and he''lle to you if he''s interested." One of them said.

    They would not let two level 23 Sages they didn''t know into their territory just because they said they weren''t there to cause trouble.

    As powerless as they were to stop them, some of their elders who were standing by to protect the tribe were already aware of the arrival of these two humans and were keeping a close eye on them.

    If they dared to invade the tribe or do anything dangerous, even if they were 2nd Catastrophic Sages, they would be in trouble!

    ...

    Meanwhile, inside the tribe...

    Cykad was monitoring some of his groups around Concordia, who constantly sent him information about the demon groups around the continent.

    He had the location of 45 high-ranking demons, Generals, Monarchs, and a few Emperors. In addition, he was personally monitoring the movements of the Sages, who had left the demon headquarters after the deaths of the four individuals who had confronted Lothur earlier.

    But amid his observations, one of his subordinates suddenly rushed into his cave.

    "Boss! 5th stage humans have just arrived at the tribe and are looking for you!" A 4th-stage Tyrannosaurus Rex entered the ce where Cykad was standing, having rushed there after being told by one of the elders that he had encountered Elke and Annaliese a few moments ago.

    Upon hearing this, Cykad took his eyes off whatever he had been doingtely and looked at his man strangely.

    ''Human Sages?'' He asked himself, a look of doubt forming on his dinosaur face.

    "What are you talking about? Why would humans of that levele to me?"

    "Boss, two human women arrived in our territory a few moments ago, iming to have something to discuss with you. One of them said that she had concerns inmon with you." That creature with the dark scales said.

    ''Common concerns?'' Cykad wondered.

    The Sages'' concern at the moment was the existence of the hybrid, Lothur. But he wasn''t worried about that. What worried him was the rise of the Demon Emperor.

    Thinking about that, he narrowed his eyes, wondering if these human women had confused his concerns or if they were worried about the demons moving freely across the continent.

    "Did they say their names? Where are they?" He asked with interest as he put aside what he was doing, curious toe face to face with these human women.

    "No. But they are standing on the south side of the tribe. The elders who were watching that area stopped them there."

    "Okay, I''ll go to them." He said as he took the lead from his man and moved quickly.

    As his leader moved, this 4th stage Tyrannosaurus Rex shouted. "But be careful, boss. They''re 2nd Catastrophe Sages!"

    Cykad heard this, but more curious than worried, he made his way south of his tribe''s territory, eager to meet these humans who were after him.

    Given his speed, Cykad would reach the ce where Annaliese and Elke were waiting for him in less than 10 minutes, seeing two women of Lothur but not recognizing them, as the difference in level in their favor allowed them to hide certain features on their bodies.

    "Elder Cykad, it''s good to finally meet you..."

 Chapter 793 Meeting

    Chapter 793 Meeting

    Listening to Elke, Cykad narrowed his eyes, seeing this woman and the other woman for the first time. But from that woman''s words, she had already heard about him from someone else.

    "How do you know me, miss?" He asked as the surrounding onlookers continued to observe them.

    "We have a mutual friend, someone who is concerned about the demons on the continent," Annaliese said before asking. "Elder, do you have somewhere we can talk in private?"

    "Demons?" He was surprised to hear that these people were there on behalf of someone with simr concerns to his own.

    He already knew they had said they had simr concerns to his, but he was still surprised. After all, who among his acquaintances could be worried about the demons on the continent now?

    With a 5th stage hybrid loose, he was obviously the center of attention.

    And how could he not be? A hybrid was terrifying, even if it wasn''t at the 5th stage!

    Cykad himself hadn''t disobeyed his master''s orders because he knew that Lothur was different from the others. But he understood the concern of the experts on this continent, who knew nothing of this young man and thought only of the terror that such a being could represent.

    So, to find someone other than himself concerned about demons amid the hybrid threat was somewhat unexpected to Cykad.

    ''Who would this person be?'' He asked himself, but being full of curiosity, he said. "But of course. Please apany me."

    He led the two to his area within the tribe, where he and the Tyrannosaurus Rex trained and maintained their operations.

    This ce was a little far away from where most of the dinosaurs in this tribe lived, but that was exactly why it was the perfect ce for him to go and talk to these two. No elders would bother them there.

    As they moved on, the elders who had stayed behind in the area where Annaliese and Elke had been stopped couldn''t help but sigh in disappointment at not being able to listen to their conversation anymore.

    ...

    "So? Who exactly told you about me? I can''t think of anyone with simr concerns to mine." Cykad said after they entered an area where he knew not even the strongest elder of his tribe would be able to hear their conversation.

    He had thought of Lothur''s name on the way to this ce. But in his opinion, the young hybrid would not trust others with the truth about himself. That would be very dangerous.

    Somewhat curious about who could have sent these women to this ce, he couldn''t help but wonder about their identity.

    "We are here for Lothur." Elke wrote this in the sand before quickly erasing it with her feet.

    "What?" Cykad shouted, not expecting Lothur to trust humans.

    "He and the rest of our group await you outside the dinosaur tribe. We''re ready to unite against the demons around Concordia." Annaliese said, making the creature look at her with wide-open eyes and mouth.

    Gulp!

    "Are you serious? Who exactly are you?" He asked doubtfully, not expecting Lothur to have such powerfulpanions.

    "We are his women," Elke said proudly.

    "Oh? But you''re already on that level... How did that happen? Did he trust you even when he was weaker?"

    This guy had no idea that Lothur could make his women stronger. So, the idea that they had be stronger because of this hybrid was very strange to him, and he could only imagine that they were already strong before they met the young Ritter.

    But that would be extremely strange because these women still had room in their Spirit Bodies, and surely the bone that Lothur could generate would be precious to them.

    "He strengthened us when we were weaker than he," Elke said, surprising the beast.

    Annaliese didn''t mind the dinosaur''s surprised expression and asked. "But then, elder Cykad, what will you do now? He wants to hunt demons so that we can increase the number of Soul Bones in our bodies. When we get stronger, we''ll search for the demons'' headquarters."

    Upon hearing this, Cykad left his state of surprise, shook his head, and then focused on what was right before him.

    "Take me to him. I have the location of some demons that can easily give him the strength to be more powerful and relevant Soul Bones." He said, a little anxious to join Lothur and begin the hunt of his master''s enemies.

    ''If these women were at level 23, Lothur must be at that level or higher.'' This Tyrannosaurus Rex couldn''t help but be eager to join this group to hunt demons.

    With them, he could quickly put an end to the lives of many demons relevant to the Demon Emperor''s ns!

    On the other hand, Cykad knew how Lothur could absorb the characteristics of his enemies, having seen the young man do it to the Monarch demon he had vanquished in thebyrinth of the final level of the Immortals Well.

    This Dinosaur knew that not only could he help Lothur obtain Soul Bones, but he could also help him increase his affinities, resistances, and the quality of his bones, which would strengthen the young Ritter even if such a young man didn''t absorb any of them.

    With that in mind, he wanted to see Lothur as soon as possible!

    Hearing this and seeing how excited that old beast seemed to be to see Lothur, Elke, and Annaliese smiled, and one of them said. "Let''s go see him. He and the rest of our group are waiting for us nearby."

    "Are there more of you?" Cykad asked.

    "Yes, there are four of us," Elke said, pleasing the beast by imagining the small battalion Lothur had created.

    ''He has done well. Gathering these women and strengthening them was a masterstroke. Now he has very reliable helpers.'' He imagined that Lothur had brought them to his side to prepare for the future and not for other things...

    With that said, the three of them quickly left this part of the dinosaur tribe and returned to where Elke and Annaliese had separated from the rest of their group.

    When they got there, Cykad smiled with satisfaction at seeing the young Ritter after weeks of worrying, seeing how much stronger the boy had be in such a short time.

    "Haha, you look better than I thought." He said as he approached Lothur and the two women standing anxiously near the blond young man sitting on the ground.

    ...

 Chapter 794 Destinations

    Chapter 794 Destinations

    When he saw Lothur again, Cykad breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling better after the weeks of worry he''d had.

    If Lothur had died, he would have lost an important ally in the fight against the demons, someone who not only shared the same goal as him but also had great talent.

    As much as Cykad didn''t move to help Lothur, he worried and thought about what his ally should be, hoping that one day he would return so they could continue their hunt.

    Looking at Lothur, the dinosaur couldn''t help but smile.

    "Hmm, it''s good to see you again, Cykad." Lothur got up from where he was while Reba and Viktoria looked at this huge creature before them, seeing the ally their man had made.

    "Well, I''m here to do what I promised. Are you ready to hunt demons?" Lothur asked, eager to get started.

    Cykad said excitedly. "Of course I am! I''ve been looking for this for longer than you can imagine, young man!

    I have the location of several groups of demons, including some high-ranking ones who can even help you with useful Soul Bones for you or your women."

    Lothur''s eyes lit up, and he asked. "Where are they? I''d like to hunt them down right now."

    "I understand your haste, but we can''t do that," Cykad exined. "My friend, some human Sages are letting demons loose on the continent so that you will make the mistake of hunting them down to strengthen yourself.

    If we go after the strongest ones at the beginning of our journey, we''ll not only attract the attention of all the demons around Concordia but also the humans and high-level beasts who are looking for you."

    A hybrid could strengthen itself by devouring the bodies of living creatures, using resources like humans and beasts, and absorbing Soul Bones. Therefore, there was nothing better for such beings to use to strengthen themselves than demons.

    Thus, the Sages of the continent searching for Lothur''s tracks ignored the demons'' movements to force him to show himself when hunting these creatures.

    Knowing how tempting these creatures could be to someone with space in their Spirit Body, Lothur''s enemies kept an eye out for some high-level demons that roamed the continent.

    "Oh?" Lothur wasn''t shocked to hear this, as it was a strategy that made perfect sense to the group hunting him.

    "Then what can we do? If we can''t hunt them, what can we do?" Reba asked.

    But then Cykad smiled. "Who said we can''t hunt them? I just said we can''t start with the strongest ones that are being watched the most.

    However, several other demons of lesser rank and cultivation are currently operating around the continent without being observed. I have the location of several of them, which we can use to strengthen him a bit more and better prepare for the ones that really matter." He said, pointing at Lothur.

    Lothur understood this Tyrannosaurus Rex''s n and didn''t think it was a bad one. Even if he couldn''t absorb the Soul Bones that these less relevant demons would produce, he could still strengthen himself with them, which was better than nothing!

    "But Cykad, I''d like to ask you to help me find someone as well." He said, remembering what he had discussed with his father before leaving the Three Great Lakes Region. "I want to find my mother. She helped me, and maybe because of her, I''m still alive. Hence, I want to find her and help her."

    Cykad hated demons and obviously wanted this race to end. But as much as he disliked Lothur''spassion for one of these demons, he couldn''t help but like his request.

    Lothur was a hybrid of human and demon, beings usually known for their cruelty, usually capable of devouring their own parents when they reached a certain level. So young Ritter''spassion and concern for Fabienne''s well-being was a better sign than it might seem.

    It confirmed that he was different from the other hybrids!

    Even though he would have preferred to eliminate all demons, Cykad epted Lothur''s request. "I can help you with that. I may already have her location. I just need her information to find this if one could change one''s appearance or hide one''s aura.

    After hearing this, Cykad promised Lothur to give him a result as out."

    "Hmm..." Lothur nodded before telling him what Fabienne was like, about her level and her aura, things that could not be changed even if one could change one''s appearance or hide one''s aura.

    After hearing this, Cykad promised Lothur to give him a result as soon as possible. However, since this depended on his men finding out for him, it would still be a few days before they would know if they had her location.

    In any case, even if they didn''t have her, Cykad promised to help Lothur find her, and as soon as he had the information, he would help him get to Fabienne safely.

    Once that was settled, they decided to leave this demon-free area to finally begin their journey.

    Lothur added another important point to his ns in the middle of their movement.

    "I also want to take care of the spectres." He said to the dinosaur as he ran through the forest alongside the creature and the four women. "Remember I said spectres were after my weapon?"

    "Yes, you mentioned a castle of shadows..."

    "Well, I want to deal with that problem as well. Spectres and demons are side by side, pursuing the same goal. If we''re going to fight one, we have to deal with the other, or nothing wille of it." Lothur said seriously. "Then I want your people to search for at least 4th stage spectres.

    I want to use them to get to the strongest of these forces and find their headquarters."

    "All right," Cykad said.

    Finding information about this castle and high-level spectres would be difficult. But finding traces of 4th-stage beings wouldn''t be soplicated.

    Since Lothur had a weapon capable of destroying them and was already at the 5th stage, Cykad wasn''t afraid of the spectres the young hybrid would face.

    Certainly, the creatures Lothur wanted to deal with were within his reach, which meant that the risks for him would be less now than they would have been before the young Ritter reached the 5th stage.

    So they continued south, heading for the first of Cykad''s targets, a group of low-level 4th-stage demons that were not being watched by either humans or demons.

    But as they moved, a group of beings from the Ancestral Region were already following in their footsteps, silently stalking them!

 Chapter 795 Sudden Battle

    Chapter 795 Sudden Battle

    After flying through the Ancestral Region with his women and Cykad for some time, Lothur suddenly felt something and stopped moving.

    Not expecting this, his fivepanions continued to fly for a few meters until they stopped when they saw that he had stopped.

    "Lothur?" Annaliese muttered, not understanding her husband.

    But when Cykad opened his mouth to ask, Lothur''s face suddenly twisted, and his aura became ten times darker.

    "What do you think you''re doing? Get out of where you are!" With a loud shout, Lothur sent shivers down the spines of all beings below his level for dozens of kilometers while thunder rumbled not far away.

    At the same time, the spiritual energy in the area concentrated around him as five individuals appeared and flew towards him at high speed, being pulled against their will.

    "Aaagh!"

    "Shit! He''s got us!"

    The five shouted in surprise, losing their camouged positions around the area as they felt the power of Lothur''s Gravity.

    Lothur was so strong with his Soul Bones that only a handful of level 23 Sages or a level 24 Sage could currently face him.

    With a great will that few on the continent could match, he could influence almost any being that stood in his way!

    As the five were drawn to Lothur, his eyes lit up. Before firing aser of power, he spread the corrosive energy of histest skill through the surrounding spiritual energy.

    The strongest of the five, level 23, noticed this and opened his eyes wide as he saw the death of this intruder''s powers.

    ''Damn it! If this hits us, we''re finished!'' He thought as he used his own powers to try to reverse the situation.

    As he flew towards Lothur, the strongest of the five suddenly grabbed the air as if it were cloth, supporting himself and escaping the gravitational pull of his opponent.

    Reverse the World!

    He opened his mouth and shouted as his hands glowed, and he continued to hold the air as if it were cloth.

    Immediately after the first few moments of that pointy-eared guy''s loud scream, the surrounding space moved, and everyone in the area saw something incredible.

    "What?" Viktoria shouted as she saw the sky and earth invert while the world seemed to have suddenly stopped functioning properly and turned upside down.

    Lothur felt it, losing control of all his targets.

    "Tsk!"

    Frowning, he clenched his fists and didn''t hesitate to activate another of his abilities, using something that would work even if his senses weren''t working perfectly.

    Storm!

    A cyclone of wind arose around him, quickly forming des of air and energy that sliced through the surroundings as if they were nothing, destroying trees, rocks, and everything in their path.

    But before this destructive attack could threaten the lives of those individuals, the second strongest of the group of five moved to attack, throwing a punch into the air so hard that space itself began to crack!

    Crack!

    ''If you were demons, that would be a great skill!'' Lothur thought to himself as he watched the des of his storm break in half while space vibrated so strongly that none of those des could destroy anything else after that blow.

    In the midst of this, Cykad finally came out of his initial state of shock to see what Lothur had noticed in the surroundings and started fighting.

    When he noticed members of the Ancestral Folk there, he broke into a cold sweat and shouted. "Stop it! Stop it! We''re not enemies!"

    "You''re not? That crazy man almost killed us a moment ago!" One of the five, a beautiful level 22 woman, shouted at the Tyrannosaurus Rex while pointing at Lothur.

    She didn''t like to admit her inferiority to others. But this ''human'' had so much power that even she, a noble of the Ancestral Folk who had already reached the 5th stage, could notpare to this single ''human.''

    It must be said that the members of the Ancestral Folk tribe were beings who were much more spiritually in tune with the rules of this world than humans. They were so talented and powerful that they were the only ones that even demons avoided, for even weak youngsters of this race could kill powerful beings of the demon race.

    With the light abilities that the members of this race possessed, it was easy for them to wipe out the darkness of an individual!

    In addition to the ability to manipte the element of light, they also had special abilities, just like humans, demons, hybrids, and beasts.

    However, even the weakest of the ancestral races would be born with an awakened ability of at least Silver grade.

    But a noblewoman like that level 22 woman, who could reach the 5th stage, was born with much more refined abilities!

    Even at level 22, she was sure she couldpete with mon'' level 24 Sages. But in front of Lothur, she felt the terror of this guy''s power and couldn''t help but fear him, feeling that even the five members of her group would have a hard time facing him.

    "Dinosaur, what are you doing with these people? Are you betraying our tribe?" Another one of those beings from the sovereign race of the area asked in a threatening tone.

    Lothur heard this and clenched his fists. "You followed us quietly and saw that we were only leaving the area, but you still act as if we are enemies...

    If you want to invent an enemy to fight, then fight!"

    "No!" This dinosaur felt that if he didn''t stop this, the Ancestral Folk would hunt down his group, and any chance they had to hunt demons in peace would be over.

    "Elders, we will only hunt our enemies outside the Ancestral Region! My friends have onlye to me to gather us together, and then we will leave together!" He shouted as he saw the two sides of the conflict move.

    Lothur''s women were already at his side. At the same time, these individuals held weapons in their hands, glowing as the element of light contrasted with the darkness in the young Ritter''s hands.

    But they didn''t stop at just one dinosaur''s scream.

    Both sides ignored the Tyrannosaurus Rex''sments and attacked each other, setting up a confrontation between Light and Darkness.

    But no matter how strong the light of these creatures was, Lothur was too powerful for them to ovee with only the weakness of darkness on their side.

    With the help of his women, Lothur, though attacked by several of these people, felt only his defenses and personal traits working in defense of his being.

    In the midst of it all, the system revealed itself.

    [Abnormal conditions detected in host''s arms, back, and abdomen...]

    [Emergency measures initiated...]

 Chapter 796 Creation of Life

    Chapter 796 Creation of Life

    [Iron-grade light resistance acquired.]

    [Progress: 89%.]

    While Lothur''s women were forced away from him by just two of the five enemies who had suddenly appeared in that ce, the other three attacked him with all the light they had.

    Upon seeing Lothur using ck mes a few moments ago, those individuals immediately changed their strategy to destroy this ''human.''

    As a ''human'' who relied on Soul Bones, if a single one of those bones were destroyed, Lothur would be in a terrible state. However, as difficult as it was to do this, there was a rtively easy way to go about it. That was by counteracting the essence of a given Soul Bone present in that body!

    It wasn''t easy to do this, as one would have to have a very high elemental affinity towards the nemesis element of the one behind that Soul Bone''s powers.

    At the same time, Soul Bones usually depended on more than one element to function, which made the process even more difficult.

    But the bone responsible for Lothur''s ck mes was different. It was a mass of practically pure darkness!

    If they used their light together, those three could affect this Soul Bone!

    As much as a being could coexist with light and darkness in their body, that was true for the power of one''s soul, not necessarily their bone.

    If your bone could not coexist with the opposite element it was based on, it would naturally implode, injuring its user and ceasing to exist!

    The Ancestral Folk were the ones who had the most knowledge about this, and when those three noticed Lothur''s power, they immediately took this path to defeat him.

    Lothur''s four women were powerful, but unlike Lothur, who had a set of tinum-grade bones, those women had Silver, Gold, and tinum-grade bones, something far inferior to what he had. As such, even though they were on the same level as him, none could stand up to the powerful members of the continent''s most talented race.

    Just two of those individuals were enough to separate them from Lothur and prevent them from helping him while he was being attacked mercilessly by those three.

    Even the dinosaur couldn''t do much for him at the moment, as he was frozen in ce, pressed down by the auras of those creatures of higher rank than his.

    One of the reasons the Ancestral Folk were so strong and had the whole region under their wing was because of their gic superiority to the other beings in the area.

    Through this superiority, they could use a mere nce to make a beast like Cykad unable to move!

    This wasn''t possible if the beast in question was stronger than the one using this ability. Yet, as Cykad was the weakest in the area, he "Lothur..." He muttered between his teeth, very apprehensive.

    [Silver-grade light resistance.]

    had fared badly in this situation.

    As such, he could only watch as Lothur was mercilessly attacked by the three strongest members of the enemy group.

    "Lothur..." He muttered between his teeth, very apprehensive.

    [Silver-grade light resistance.]

    [Progress: 3%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 28%]

    While being attacked by the three, Lothur let his Super Regeneration protect his body, while he didn''t counterattack the three.

    Lothur merely left his ck mes active, trying to look like someone who was doing his best to protect himself from enemy attacks.

    He was doing so well that his ownpanions watching him couldn''t help but fear for him, afraid that the light of these individuals would destroy the darkness in Lothur.

    But he was letting them attack him, feeling a new characteristic being born within his being.

    ''Do you think your light is going to destroy my tinum-grade Soul Bone?'' Lothur smiled. ''It could happen before, but with a 70% formed Spirit Body and all the bones at tinum grade, my body is as strong as armor. Only something of Diamond grade could put me at risk like that!''

    As he thought about it, he saw thews behind these creatures'' light power more and more clearly, understanding how they worked and how he could use them.

    [Gold-grade light resistance.]

    [Progress: 1%.]

    ...

    [Progress: 11%]

    Suddenly, the system changed its messages, and a big smile formed on Lothur''s lips.

    [Affinity with darkness and light led to the creation of a unique ability, the Miracle of Life.]

    [Miracle of Life: It can be used to heal, treat, regenerate, and create life. It can also be used for the opposite.]

    Feeling something new rising up inside him, Lothur stopped pretending and startedughing loudly, making the three beings attacking him change their expressions to look at him more attentively.

    "Ancestral Folk, thank you. You''ve not only given me a new capacity but also a new skill." He said to everyone in the area as he stopped using ck mes and made a white glow appear in his hands.

    Seeing this, the strongest of Lothur''s enemies in the area narrowed his eyes, feeling a bad sensation.

    Immediately after this change, white mes appeared in Lothur''s hands, and all three felt something sucking at their essences as they directed their light at their target.

    "Damn it! The bastard''s absorbing our light!" One of them shouted as he severed his connection with that attack, seeing that Lothur was only getting stronger as he was attacked.

    But Lothur had already stolen enough of these beings'' light to reach 60% progress in his resistance to light. Not only that, when he used the Miracle of Life for the first time, he stole part of their essence and now had something in his hands that he couldn''t absorb.

    Noticing this, he immediately used his creativity and created life!

    "From the union of darkness and light, death and life, stand up and breathe, my children!" He said aloud as he ced his hands on the ground.

    A few momentster, roots and earth moved rapidly, creating two small creatures inside a cocoon.

    The members of the Ancestral Folk there saw this with wide eyes, badly wounded by Lothur''s blow, but much more shocked to see something so forbidden happening in front of them.

    Gulp!

    Just as one of them was thinking of stopping it, the two cocoons broke, and something moved inside them.

    "It can''t be!"

    As one of them shouted this, a feline paw appeared out of the cocoon before a small being with a cat''s body, a kitten, appeared there, looking at itself without really understanding what was happening.

    Then, looking at its creator along with its brother, the creature immediately changed the lost look on its face, welding a long meow as it jumped towards Lothur.

    "Meow!"

    But this was no simple meow. When the two creatures did that, everyone in the area, including Lothur''s women, felt as if lightning had struck, while the tension in the area increased several times.

    As cute as they were, those two furry creatures seemed to bring death with them!

    ...

 Chapter 797 The Powers of Lothurs Creations

    Chapter 797 The Powers of Lothur''s Creations

    "Abomination!" One of the strongest members of the Ancestral Folk cried out to Lothur as he felt the intense pain of having part of his elements stolen by the enemy.

    ording to ancient legends, it was possible to create life after reaching the 5th stage and fulfilling certain conditions. However, this life would be almost 100% without a soul, just the outer carcass.

    A being created in this way would do things that someone with a soul would never do, which was terrible for the world as a whole.

    If told to kill, such a being would do so indiscriminately. It wouldn''t look at babies and think about sparing them. It would think only of fulfilling its given mission, and it would kill everyone in its path.

    But apart from being iplete in this sense, these creations were perfectlypatible with living beings simr to them in the sense of reproduction. Thus, an age-old question arose: what would result from the reproduction of an artificially created being and a naturally born being?

    These creations could reproduce with natural beings, which made everything problematic, as they could easily mix their characteristics with those of other races, leading to unimaginable problems.

    There were countless negative implications to this subject, and that''s why the Sages had not created life since ancient times.

    That was considered a huge taboo!

    But Lothur had created two little creatures as soon as he could, not hesitating to bring two abominations into the world.

    Those kittens beside him were not normal! As cute and small as they were, they had fantastical powers that newly created beings shouldn''t have!

    Humans had to grow up and endure many challenges before they reached the point where they would be as strong as Sages. Power didn''te to them without a lot of effort and learning opportunities.

    But these two creatures were already born with power, even though they hadn''t had any effort or chance to learn the ways of this world.

    As a result, even Lothur''s dinosaur ally couldn''t help but stare in awe at the two little fur balls.

    But while these creatures stared at him, Lothur quickly imparted some of his knowledge to them, something any Sage could do with a mere touch.

    As he did so, Lothur told them both. "Eliminate my enemies."

    With thismand from their creator, the two didn''t hesitate to move. They crossed the space so quickly that the three creatures who had just attacked Lothur didn''t see the two kittens appearing on their backs.

    As they were startled to see the speed of these monstrous creatures, the kittens'' eyes changed, and they looked at those three so coldly that they could feel a chill in their souls.

    But these little creatures weren''t just watching. As Lothur''s creations, they had some of his traits to a lesser degree.

    Sharing some of the Life Devourer but also the ck mes, these creatures had been born with a special ability, the Soul Eater.

    When they appeared behind their creator''s targets, they looked directly at the essence of those three individuals and saw a bright pile of different colors floating around their bodies.

    They subtly opened their small mouths and licked their lips, their mouths drooling.

    ''You shouldn''t have acted against our creator!'' One of them said in his target''s mind, making him look even more terrified.

    Gulp!

    ''Can they think? Not only that, but can they transmit their thoughts?'' The Ancestral Folk member looked at the creature that turned into a trail of light as it flew toward him, feeling helpless in front of the kitten.

    The legends said that these creatures were incapable of thinking... But Lothur''s creations were clearly capable of it!

    What did that mean? Were they even worse than the abominations described in the legends? Or were they not?

    Whether it was a good thing, it was something these beings didn''t have to worry about. Being attacked so quickly by those kittens, two felt their chests pierced.

    But instead of blood, they realized they were losing something else.

    It was their soul!

    By losing blood, one would gradually lose consciousness. But by losing parts of their soul, they would not only be unable to move, but they would also see everything happening while feeling as if someone was devouring them bit by bit.

    It was the worst feeling a living being could feel, something that two of these individuals had to deal with quickly in theirst moments in this world.

    Lothur''s creations were one level weaker than him. However, with their special characteristics and weakened enemies, they managed to kill two of the first three targets in a matter of seconds.

    Seeing this while using his visual ability, Lothur understood a little more about these creatures while smiling at his opponents'' mistakes.

    Aside from seeing that these creatures had a little bit of each of his abilities, Lothur also noticed that although the creatures his creations were concerned about didn''t have souls, they had that part within them.

    Their souls were small, like the souls of babies, but they were in their bodies!

    Not only that, as they devoured the souls of those Ancestral Folk people, their souls slowly grew stronger, increasing in size, brightness, color type, and so on.

    ''Incredible! They have a whole new power, but it''s obviously mainly derived from two of my abilities...

    But their eyes can also see things that mine can, and their bodies are very refined.

    It seems that when I create life, I can create new abilities with different ''blends'' of my abilities.'' He watched them exterminate the third and fourth targets and felt that he could use his new ability, Miracle of Life, to create a variety of ''weapons'' and vary how much of his powers would be inherited by each.

    Thinking about how useful this could be for him to use against the many enemies he had on the continent, he carefully watched the actions of the two kittens while smiling.

    Meanwhile, the two cats killed thest of the five members of the Ancestral Folk who had followed their creator earlier, ending this incident while being strangely watched by their creator''s women and also the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

    Gulp!

    "This shouldn''t have happened!" Cykad couldn''t stand the silence any longer and said it out loud, fearing not only for these creatures but the entire Ancestral Folk tribe.

    "Yes, but they attacked us first. If they had chased us, they would have seen what Lothur is sooner orter." Elkemented, feeling that they didn''t have much of a choice.

    It had to happen sooner orter!

    ...

 Chapter 798 First goal

    Chapter 798 First goal

    "Miss Elke is right. Better to kill these bastards early than give them a chance to harm our creator." One of the two cats, now with a full belly, said this childishly, causing everyone there to look at her with wide eyes.

    The other cat ignored the behavior of these people and said. "My creator, we must leave. If we stay, the members of that race will catch up with us. We''d better go through one spatial rift and then another to throw off any possible investigators."

    Lothur''s creations were far more intelligent than anyone could have expected. They didn''t have many things on their minds and could easily focus on the problem at hand.

    When they had finished eliminating these creatures, all they could think about was the danger the group would be in if they dyed their escape. With this in mind, one of them had already devised a n to distance his creator from this ce and make himself ''inessible'' to the investigators who would be there in a few minutes.

    Hearing that, Lothur agreed. "Let''s move on to our previous destination."

    "But what about them?" Cykad asked, feeling a bit scared.

    "Don''t worry about them. They''re not what you think." Lothur said before opening a spatial rift for his group.

    They all moved towards him when he did, while the two cats quickly climbed onto Lothur''s shoulders and sat down.

    Lothur looked at them and decided to give them names.

    "From now on, you will be called Smoke and you Blood." He said, naming them after the colors of the fur of these two adorable animals.

    One had dark red fur, the color of wine, while the other waspletely gray.

    The two creatures loved to be named. After Lothur''s words, they rubbed their little bodies against their creator''s face in gratitude.

    Meanwhile, they quickly reached a ce hundreds of kilometers away from where they had dealt with the members of the Ancestral Folk.

    Arriving in that area, Lothur once again opened a spatial rift, this time in a direction indicated by Cykad, to where he knew one of the groups of demons unobserved by humans, beasts, or 5th-stage demons would be.

    Doing so without dy, in less than ten minutes, Lothur had led his group out of the Ancestral Region and into the interior of the Petha Empire, where it would be almost impossible for the Ancestral Folk to reach them.

    Arriving there, Lothur looked around and remembered thest time he had passed through this state when the local ruler was about to advance to the 5th stage.

    "Where are we going, Cykad?" Lothur asked.

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex looked around, sensing where exactly Lothur had brought him. After a moment of silence, he answered. "Let''s head north. There''s a group of 4th stage demons in an area about 2 hours from where we are."

    Meanwhile, the two kittens looked around, scanning the area for enemies.

    Their defensive instincts regarding Lothur were excellent. Even withoutmand, they scanned the area for their creator.

    If they saw something, they would act!

    But as the group began to move north, they stood on Lothur''s shoulders, sensing nothing rming on the path Cykad had indicated.

    Reba then asked the beast leading the way. "Elder Cykad, why aren''t these demons being watched? Wouldn''t it be in the interest of those searching for Lothur to watch all demons? After all, they can all be used to strengthen him."

    Cykad continued to stare ahead but answered the woman. "It is not that simple. Unlike us, the beings who are after Lothur don''t know how his abilities work. For these Sages, the young Ritter would have to devour his enemies and spend weeks absorbing their powers.

    At Lothur''s level, he would need to devour a surreal amount of low-level beings, or a small amount of powerful ones, to be stronger.

    These Sages keep an eye on these two extremes. They''re watching for powerful demons that can give Lothur a lot of power at once, and they''re also watching for news of possible massacres.

    As for the middle ground, they simply can''t monitor that many beings at once.

    Since Lothur is less likely to go after these demons because they wouldn''t make interesting bones for him, these Sages only focus on the strongest."

    There weren''t many Sages on the continent, and some still had to investigate Lothur''s possible tracks. If they relied solely on observations of possible disasters or hunts that he might have created, they might lose him altogether.

    Hybrids could also be stronger through cultivation!

    If Lothur was hiding in a cave and meditating, he could still grow stronger and be a greater threat to the continent.

    Because of this, some Sages in the coalition against him had to search for his possible locations to avoid this possibility.

    And this, of course, reduced the number of demons being watched!

    "Not only that but after Lothur''s persecution began, the powers of the continent stopped hunting demons, which gave this tribe more courage to increase the number of these beings running around the continent.

    I have a location of more than 40 groups, but I''m sure the number of demon groups in the northern region alone is more than 200. No one is hunting them, and they are seizing the moment to pursue their hidden goals.

    With the hybrid threat in our world, few are watching the demons.

    In the case of the first groups we will attack, they won''t be watched by anyone but my people." He finished speaking, sure of this.

    Cykad had been studying and observing groups of demons for months. Recently, he had increased the number of groups under observation exponentially and noticed that several groups, like his, had stopped looking for demons to go after the hybrid.

    He himself had run several tests, approaching these groups with no intention of acting and without drawing the attention of his targets after noticing that no one was watching them.

    He could have done so with rtive ease if he had wanted to act and kill those demons!

    Everyone in Lothur''s group listened to these words, confident in what Cykad had done so far.

    Even though Cykad wasn''t as strong as they were, he was much more experienced, and his tips were better than acting in the dark.

    So, the group flew north, hiding their cultivations to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

    Flying at the maximum speed of level 20 Saints, two hours after arriving in the Petha Empire, they finally arrived near the group of five demons Cykad had chosen for Lothur to begin his journey.

 Chapter 799 No! Jesus!

    Chapter 799 No! Jesus!

    A few dayster...

    After encountering the first group of demons selected by Cykad, Lothur''s group acted quickly against these creatures, eliminating them in a matter of seconds without drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.

    These were only 4th-stage demons, so none of the Soul Bones they produced would be of any use to Lothur or his women.

    As such, those bones were kept for the Ritter family, while only Lothur could improve his attributes by using his skills on those targets.

    After that, the group continued with their ns, going after three more groups in the following days, killing a total of 20 demons between levels 19 and 20.

    With around 20,000 EVF points umted in those days, Lothur had already transformed them into more than 666 Soul points, slightly improving his power.

    His affinities, resistances, and progress to his Soul Bones were all improved during these days. However, after killing the low-level demons, Lothur didn''t achieve any significant advancement.

    In any case, he now had 20 Soul Bones in his spatial ring, and his Soul power had improved somewhat.

    However, as they continued to deal with another group of demons, an important piece of information for the group reached them!

    ...

    "Oh? So that''s her?" Cykad asked one of his men via spiritual transmission, then ended the call, surprised by the warning he had just received.

    "It looks like we found your mother, Lothur," Cykad said as he put down hismunication crystal and spoke of the information he had just received.

    "Where is she? Is she all right?" Lothur asked, wanting to repay what Fabienne had done for him as soon as possible.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s women were also interested in Fabienne, the mother of their man and an Emperor demon.

    They had always treated demons as enemies to be exterminated. But Fabienne''s situation was different. She was Lothur''s mother and somehow more able to rte to humans than other demons.

    To get to the point where she could have sex with a human and have his child, Fabienne had to be very different from those like her in the demon world.

    Because they expected this from their man''s mother, these four wanted to meet her.

    Cykad replied. "She is well. She''s not far. She''s currently in Norid territory, south of that area, near the border of Thasan."

    The group was currently in Rablus, having left the Petha Empire earlier because the second of their targets in that state had approached an area under observation, forcing them to move to this state further south.

    Since Cykad had plenty of exciting targets for Lothur to eliminate without putting their group in too much danger, they had simply moved on, not giving this ''defeat'' too much importance.

    In any case, they were only a few hours away from the area where Fabienne was supposed to be.

    "Oh? Let''s go right now." Lothur got up from where he sat next to his women near a campfire in the middle of the forest.

    It was night, but none of them needed to stop to sleep at the level they were at.

    When they heard their creator and saw his women preparing to leave, the two cats left their observation posts around the area and joined Lothur before he began to move west.

    "What are you going to do, Lothur? What are you going to do with your mother?" Cykad asked with some interest.

    "My mother may have saved my life. Without her, I would probably have been found by the people of the Church after the Secret Realm of Linn Province.

    Besides, even though she''s an Emperor demon, she''s still young and at a low level.

    So, to pay for what she did to me, I''ll help her be stronger. After that, I''ll let her go her own way. As long as she doesn''t go against my goals or act against my people, I won''t persecute her."

    Hearing this, Cykad, who already knew how Lothur had made these four women so strong from their conversations over the past few days, made a strange expression as he looked at the women and then at him.

    "You don''t intend to..." He muttered, making it clear to everyone what he had in mind.

    Even Lothur''s women looked at him in anticipation of his answer, anxious to know if he wouldmit another sin and consume a ''meat'' he shouldn''t...

    Lothur narrowed his eyes and said in a defensive tone. "No, Jesus! No! What are you thinking? How can you think that about me? I have other ways to strengthen her.

    I don''t have to sleep with my own mother!"

    Lothur''s women sighed when they heard this, while the Tyrannosaurus Rex smiled bitterly.

    "I don''t know, Lothur, I wouldn''t judge. There are far worse things others would do in your ce." The beast said.

    Lothur shook his head and said. "I can strengthen her by stimting her potential with pills and natural resources... Anyway, I''ll help her with that, but whether she takes the chance or not is up to her.

    Demons also don''t absorb resources as quickly as humans, so she won''t be very strong quickly. It will only be enough for her to live among humans for a while."

    Lothur''s mother was an Emperor demon who was still at the Transcendent level when hest saw her. But even though she was a being who could hide very well, until she became a Saint, she would be quite vulnerable to human experts.

    Once she became a Saint, it would be even easier for her to hide and live in society.

    Lothur wanted this for her, his way of repaying her for the life he had received from her.

    The Tyrannosaurus Rex didn''t like that he had to let what Lothur wanted to happen, but if this young man left only Fabienne alive, it wouldn''t change his ns too much.

    If only one demon was left in this world after their action, it would be impossible for the demon race to rise again!

    Even demons needed two genders to reproduce. Moreover, a demon who gave birth to a hybrid would never be able to conceive again, so Cykad continued to lead the way without worrying too much about Fabienne.

 Chapter 800 Strong Connection

    Chapter 800 Strong Connection

    Hourster, Lothur''s group would reach the area of the Norid empire near the border with Thasan.

    Arriving in this area, Lothur took the group''s lead by using his investigative skills, something he had been doing for the past few days whenever his group got close to their targets.

    With a skill as good as Lothur''s, their group could review their targets'' locations in real-time and check for possible enemies without causing a disturbance.

    Cykad''s men had helped the group a lot over thest few days, but it was also because of Lothur''s skill that they had managed to reach this ce without facing any problems since leaving the Ancestral Region.

    So, after Lothur had investigated the area for a few minutes, he would find his mother''s group not far from where he had stopped to investigate, finally leading his people to where Fabienne was.

    Fabienne''s group was camped near ake, and only two of the demons in her group were watching the area.

    Arriving there with his group, Lothur changed his appearance back to his original one, immediately attracting the gaze of these two low-ranking beings in the demon world.

    Seeing who was there, the two demons on guard had smiles on their faces and promptly knelt down when faced with their leader''s son.

    "Lothur!" They said simultaneously, remembering the day they had rescued this young man from envoys of the Leopoldine family who were taking him to the Imperial Prison.

    When they spoke Lothur''s name simultaneously, Fabienne and the rest of her group immediately woke up from their rest or their meditations.

    After leaving her tent, Fabienne saw her son''s face again after months of worry. However, she also noticed his group, which contained not only humans but also three beasts.

    The other members of her group observed the rest of the group with some uncertainty, unable to say for sure the level of cultivation of these beings.

    With everyone in Lothur''s group hiding their cultivation, there was no way these 3rd and 4th stage beings could probe their strength!

    But Lothur''s group could easily tell the strength of these beings, while young Ritter could see his mother''s status.

    [Name: Fabienne Vazrath]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 19]

    [Body Cultivation: level 18]

    [STR: 825] [CON: 910] [DEX: 864] [AGI: 848]

    [INT: 944] [PER: 774] [WIL: 692] [SOU: 999]

    "You''ve leveled up since thest time we met," Lothurmented as he looked at Fabienne.

    Fabienne looked at Lothur, already aware that he had managed to escape from the Imperial Prison, or there wouldn''t have been so many reports of hybrids on the loose on the continent.

    Monarch hierarchy asked while looking toward Lothur''s women and the dinosaur.

    She walked to his side as she said. "That doesn''tpare to what you''ve achieved. Congrattions on bing a Sage, Lothur. You make me very proud to have given birth to you."

    "And who are these, young master?" One of the demons of the Monarch hierarchy asked while looking toward Lothur''s women and the dinosaur.

    Judging by the position of the two cats on Lothur''s shoulders, it was obvious that these red and gray fur balls were his beasts.

    Lothur then introduced his group. "This Tyrannosaurus Rex is a friend of mine who helped me a lot on my journey. As for these humans, they are my women."

    With that said, they each introduced themselves, saying their names and greeting Fabienne one by one.

    Fabienne wasn''t surprised that her son had gathered so many women, but she was pleased they had all reached the 5th stage.

    Together, they could face this world and stand a chance of survival!

    "You make a beautiful family. I''m d you''re together." She said to the girls before looking at Lothur and asking. "But I''m curious about these two adorable creatures. I get an awful feeling from them."

    The others there felt the same way, even more negatively affected by those cats than by the great beast in Lothur''s group that looked at them as if he would attack them at any moment.

    Lothur looked at one of the two creatures andughed. "These are my creations, Blood and Smoke. I created them."

    They didn''t quite understand what Lothur meant. His words to almost all of them meant that he had been taking care of these kittens since they were born...

    But Fabienne was different from the rest of her group. With a high-level lineage and being the one with the highest cultivation among the demons in her group, she could sense that Lothur''s words had a deeper meaning.

    ''Did he really do that?'' She wondered as she looked at one of those cats, thinking of the taboo that even demons avoidedmitting.

    But as a sinner herself, she could not judge her son.

    "Are you sure about them?" She asked him.

    "Of course."

    "Then that''s what matters. Nothing else matters if they won''t harm you and your group." She said with a sigh of relief.

    But then she changed the subject. "So, what brought you here?"

    As the mother of a hybrid, Fabienne was ready to give her Soul Bone to Lothur whenever he decided to absorb her powers!

    The same was true for the group of demons under hermand, who had decided to do so on the day of Lothur''s birth.

    Lothur then said. "I am here to help you. You saved my life back there, so I think I should help you get stronger."

    "Don''t worry about that, Lothur. My purpose is for you to be as strong as possible. You don''t have to do anything for me." She said as the demons in the area nodded their heads in agreement.

    Themitment of these beings to the hybrid they had helped to protect and create was so great that Cykad couldn''t help but be impressed, seeing for the first time some of the legends about these beings.

    ''Hybrids are so terrible that they are able to affect the lives of those around them before they are even born.'' Cykad thought as he looked at Lothur.

    ''Those who see a hybrid being born will never be able to turn against it. Once you watch the birth of such a creature, you will be bewitched to live only for the hybrid and be ready to sacrifice yourself for it at any time.''

    Seeing that the legends were not untrue; on the contrary, they portrayed things as they were, this dinosaur took a deep breath and noticed the strange determination of these beings.

    Seeing this, he didn''t even feel like killing these demons. They had already lost their essence and would do whatever the hybrid they had helped to create decided!

    ...

 Chapter 801 The Significance of the Demon Emperor (1)

    <h4>Chapter 801 The Significance of the Demon Emperor (1)</h4>

    After hearing his mother''s words, Lothur insisted. "Even so, I''ll give you some resources that can help you. It''s effortless for me. I''ve collected many items over the past few weeks, and with my skills, I can easily use them to make pills and potions."

    "Really? I don''t want to stand in your way." She told him, still thinking he didn''t need to give her anything.

    Lothur ignored his mother''sment and said. "I will producepatible resources for you in the next few hours. In a day at the most, I''ll have enough resources to keep you busy for a few months. After that, I''ll go back to my ns."

    Fabienne was interested in thisst part of Lothur''s speech and asked. "What exactly are your ns? Maybe I can help you in some way."

    Lothur''s women and the Tyrannosaurus Rex looked at Fabienne and did not doubt she could help them. As a high-ranking demon, due to her lineage, she surely had information they didn''t have.

    Lothur thought the same and came straight to the point. "Hunt demons. My women and I need more Soul Bones to increase our strength. At the same time, I can profit greatly from hunting demons. That''s why we''re hunting groups of those creatures on the continent."

    When they heard this, none of the demons in Fabienne''s group felt strange about Lothur saying that he hunted beings of their race. It was expected, and none of them minded.

    Even though they were demons, from the moment they had decided to participate in the birth of a hybrid, they had abandoned their origins and became traitors to their race.

    If they returned to Demon Ind or were identified as the creators of a hybrid, they would be killed without hesitation!

    What''s more, as fanatical worshippers of Lothur, they were willing to do anything to please him, including dying.

    How could they care about the possible death of other demons?

    "So that''s it..." Fabienne understood, seeing that her son was doing what he was supposed to do.

    In Lothur''s situation, he had two types of interesting targets. Humans with many Soul Bones and demons. Both sides could provide him with bones, but it was easier to achieve this against demons. After all, humans with multiple bones usually had a lot of power.

    Since he had been hunted by many humans all over the continent, it was also best to go after demons, as this would keep him away from some of his enemies.

    So Fabienne advised him. "Lothur, if you''re going to hunt demons, you have to watch out for groups of General demons of the Sniffer type."

    "Sniffers?" Elke asked, never having heard of this sub-ssification before.

    Cykad exined. "Among demons, there are sses, subsses, and even professions. Most demons are mighty beings in terms ofbat, so we have the idea that there are no creatures of this race that engage in non-violent activities.

    But this is a fantasy. There are doctors, cksmiths, and alchemists. In short, there''s a little bit of everything among the demons. They are scarce on the continent, but they do exist."

    Fabienne nodded and said. "Sniffer demons are born investigators. They have very refined skills that can lead them to precious things.

    Currently, the Demon Tribe Command is searching for the awakening of the Demon Emperor, and several sniffers are on the continent searching for the Seven Singrities.

    These sniffers are looking for them. So, if youe across a sniffer, it''s almost certain that a powerful elder is watching their group.

    Even some elders in our tribe may not be watched. But the sniffers certainly are.

    For the tribe, the awakening of the Demon Emperor is more important than the death of a hybrid!"

    With these words, Fabienne managed to silence the entire group while Cykad saw that his suspicions were real.

    While the beings on the continent thought they were using the demons as bait for Lothur, the demons used the opportunity to get closer to their goal.

    They''ve been after these singrities for a long time, but now, for the first time in an extended period, their many enemies aren''t stopping them from moving forward with their ns!

    "Considering the current situation on the continent, there must be a dozen sniffers looking for traces of the Seven Singrities," Fabienne added.

    "And how do we identify these sniffers?" Cykad asked.

    "There are only sniffer demons among the General demons. So that''s the first clue. But they usually have bestial bodies with big noses and special horns all over their bodies.

    Despite their sub-ssification, they can track more than just scents. They can pick up sounds, mental fluctuations, and much more with their body structures. Their weakness is that they can''t fight, so they always have several warriors with them.

    They''re also not intelligent, so a high-ranking demon will always bemanding them," She exined.

    With this information, Cykad stored it in his mind, something he would use to choose his group''s following targets.

    But avoiding them wouldn''t be possible for long!

    ''If these creatures are after the singrities, I''ll have to watch them. Maybe one of them will lead me to the other singrities.'' Lothur thought to himself, imagining that he couldn''t avoid them, given his own goals.

    Then Reba asked a question. "Why does the Demon Tribe want to bring back the Demon Emperor? I''ve heard that the Demon Emperor was a tyrant among the demons.

    He unified the demon tribes, which must have been very important to you, but he also took away the autonomy of various groups and turned the leaders into subordinates. From what I''ve heard, it wasn''t just non-demons who suffered during his journey through our world."

    She and the rest of the group had been talking about the Demon Emperor since the beginning of their journey.

    Lothur had a lot of information due to the knowledge he received from the Frost family''s ancestors, while Cykad also knew a lot of things.

    Seeing that this group knew a little about the history of the demons, Fabienne smiled, for while it was admirable how much they knew, it was only a small part of the tribe''s reality.

    "It''s not that simple. Before the Demon Emperor, we lived in several tribes that fought each other and didn''t see each other as demons but as different groups of demons, just like you humans.

    But with him, that changed. We stopped being separate and realized that we were one race. We united around his figure, and in a few decades under hismand, we advanced from living in huts to creating cities even more advanced than human ones.

    He changed our technologies and ways of life so that even though we lost some of our freedoms, we didn''t mind. We were more powerful than ever before!"

    ...

 Chapter 802 The Significance of the Demon Emperor (2)

    <h4>Chapter 802 The Significance of the Demon Emperor (2)</h4>

    Before the Demon Emperor, the Demon Ind was a forested area where various tribes, such as animal tribes, lived in separate groups using the most inferior and rudimentary technologies.

    They lived by hunting the animals and beasts of the ind, as well as the sea creatures that asionally appeared alive on their shores.

    Eventually, humans exploring the seas would catch up with them. They would be food for the demons when they arrived on the ind.

    But most of the demons rarely left Demon Ind, and they didn''t understand much about where these humans, who were so good for them to devour, came from. Only a tiny fraction of those who left the ind made it to the maind alive to wreak havoc in thosends and be much stronger.

    In short, the demons lived isted in that ce, in the dark about various possibilities.

    Then, one day, an Emperor demon came into contact with the Lost Tree and used its power fruit to reach a new level and be the strongest of the race.

    He did this in Concordia after being exiled from his tribe.

    The one who would one day be known as the Demon Emperor created his own group on the continent. Then, when he reached a high level for his time, he returned to the ind, where he eventually started a revolution that united all the demons around him.

    After that, everything would change for the demon race. From that point on, the demons would see the continent as a big "box" of food, where they would go on expeditions to make meals and be stronger.

    Those who werepatible with some human technologies learned several things and, in a few centuries, revolutionized Demon Ind.

    But the more they grew, the more they wanted!

    This eventually sparked a sense of unity among the various races of Concordia, leading to the formation of the alliance that would eventually seed in defeating the Demon Emperor and separating the Seven Singrities.

    After understanding a little from thements of Fabienne and some of her subordinates, the women of Lothur realized why this individual was so dangerous.

    Demons united were strong, while separated were weak!

    "So that''s it..." Viktoria muttered, seeing that many of Concordia''s problems wouldn''t exist without that individual.

    "But if he reappears in our world, expect nothing less than chaos and destruction." Fabienne became more serious. "The Demon Emperor reached a very high level before his powers were separated. He''s definitely not dead, and if he''s reunited, he''ll be much harder to stop.

    What happened thousands of years ago has not been forgotten. The tribe''s actions will be more aggressive and difficult to counter once he returns.

    At that time, the tribe will once again seek supremacy."

    "Supremacy? They want to take over the continent?" Annaliese asked worriedly.

    So far, she and her group only knew superficial things about demons and the Demon Emperor. They didn''t know what this tribe''s ns were and what they would do once they achieved their goals.

    Fabienne shook her head negatively and smiled bitterly at them. "The Demon Emperor''s n was much more ambitious.

    ording to him, there was one level beyond the 5th Catastrophe of a Sage. If the most talented of our tribe devoured all the humans in Concordia, some of us could break through that limit even without the Seven Singrities or other magnificent items."

    "What?" Viktoria opened her mouth to shout. "But that doesn''t make sense. What would they use to strengthen themselves if they wiped us all out? Like it or not, we are beings that should be valued among the demons. If we disappear, they will no longer be able to devour us to quickly strengthen themselves."

    This was a question that the Demon Emperor''s own generals had asked back then, trying to understand the logic of their leader''s ambitious n.

    Fabienne and herpanions understood Viktoria''s question, but the Demon Emperor''s ns didn''t stop at Concordia.

    The white-haired woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What if there is life beyond the sea?"

    "Oh?" Lothur and everyone in his group understood what that meant and opened their eyes and mouths with even more interest.

    She continued. "I can''t say for sure how true what I''m about to say is because it''s not in any of the tribe''s records. However, some disciples of the Demon Emperor''s generals have spread a certain rumor that the supreme leader of the race, after reaching the peak of cultivation, said that he felt something.

    ording to them, after raising the race as high as Concordia could take us, the Demon Emperor''s ns were focused on the oceans. He wanted to explore the mysterious seas of our world and perhaps reach ces where other forms of life existed."

    "Is that possible?" Lothur asked in a grave tone.

    In tens of thousands of years of recorded history, there had been no reports of humans attempting to explore the dangerous seas of this world and returning alive after traveling a certain distance.

    For the people of Concordia, those who did not return met their own end.

    But never in all of history had anyone publicly hypothesized that any of these beings had actually reached newnds.

    So even Lothur couldn''t help but wonder if there really was anything beyond Concordia and the nearby inds of this continent.

    For the people of this continent, the world was finite, and beyond the continenty only stormy waters, where one would encounter extreme spiritual phenomena that could threaten the lives of even the strongest experts.

    No one had ever written in a book or recorded a hypothesis that there was something beyond.

    "I don''t know," Fabienne said. "But the tribe has ns for the sea. Right now, the navy is one of my people''s most developed areas.

    Although we''ve learned a lot from the humans, our ships are currently among the most advanced in the world. Also, many of the tribe''s most renowned experts are working together to develop useful artifacts for naval exploration.

    So, I believe that at least the goal of exploring the seas after conquering the continent is real. Beyond that, I can''t say. Perhaps the disciples of the Demon Emperor''s generals used an excuse to justify their own interests."

    With that, Lothur''s group fell silent for a moment, each looking at the other, each pondering the implications of all this.

    But asplicated as it was, they had learned from Fabienne some important points to pay more attention to.

    The Demon Tribe wanted to bring back their supreme leader and then try to exterminate the human race to raise the level of various demons. What was beyond that didn''t matter. What mattered was the threat that this tribe posed to the world and to humans in particr!

 Chapter 803 Worries

    <h4>Chapter 803 Worries?</h4>

    After hearing what Fabienne had to tell them, the people in Lothur''s group were naturally more worried about the continent''s future.

    Previously, only Cykad had such concerns, while Lothur and his women only wanted to be stronger.

    Of course, they knew demons were troublesome and could have disturbing goals. But they hadn''t expected these creatures actually to want to exterminate humanity!

    So, after Lothur had isted himself to produce the cultivation resources he would give to Fabienne, his women, and Cykad gathered some distance away from the young Ritter''s mother''s people to discuss the matter.

    "This is all very serious!" Annaliese said in a low voice as she looked at therge Tyrannosaurus Rex. "What are we going to do?"

    Cykad had a solemn expression, as worried as Annaliese and the other three. "I think we should continue with our ns.

    I probably won''t be able to follow you all the way, but I''ll at least help you achieve your goals of getting stronger in thesends.

    Once you''re strong enough to go to Demon Ind, I''ll try to gather allies here in Concordia for a possible war."

    Hearing this, Viktoria said. "The most important thing now is not to get carried away because of the dangers. This demonic goal didn''t start yesterday or today. It''s been their n for thousands of years.

    So when you think about it, nothing has changed. This is still the same reality as before. The difference is that we are strong, and with the knowledge of it, we can prepare ourselves.

    Let''s continue our hunt so that Lothur can grow stronger and we can get new Soul Bones for ourselves and the rest of our friends. Once we have fully formed Spirit Bodies, we can deal with any problems."

    They nodded their heads in agreement.

    The group''s ns had already been to exterminate the demons. The difference was that now they would do it to protect themselves, whereas before, they just wanted to be stronger.

    But while they agreed that their ns were basically the same as before, Reba asked a question. "What about the spectres? Unlike demons, they''re easier for Lothur to deal with. Wouldn''t it be more interesting for us to solve that problem before we go to Demon Ind?"

    Spectres might be just as difficult to deal with as demons. Not only that but with the ability to possess and the characteristics that are difficult to counter, these creatures could greatly assist the demons in their goals.

    Thinking about how Lothur had an advantage over these creatures, Reba felt they should immediately divide their attention to look for demons and spectres.

    They wanted to do something like this but focused more on demons, while only Cykad''s subordinates were working on finding spectres.

    Not only that, while Cykad''s subordinates werepiling the locations of spectres, they were only doing so with ''low'' level spectral beings.

    "That''s true." Elke agreed with Reba. "I''m sure that even 3rd Catastrophe spectres wouldn''t be able to do anything to Lothur. Hunting them could be a way to weaken the demons."

    Hearing this, Cykad narrowed his eyes and looked to where Fabienne and the whole group of demons were gathered near Lothur, where this young man demonstrated his alchemy skills, and the two kittens were protecting him.

    Cykad asked. "Do you know what your tribe expects or wants from the spectres? Lothur told me the spectres are working towards the same goal as you, demons."

    After hearing this, most of the demons there didn''t understand what Cykad was talking about, but Fabienne looked at him differently, seeing that Lothur''s group wasn''t so misinformed.

    The rtionship between demons and spectres was a secret that only high-ranking demons in the tribe knew about!

    She thenmented. "Before the Demon Emperor had his powers separated and his essence trapped in the Lost Tree, he damaged the Reincarnation Wheel, exacerbating the problem of spectres in our world."

    Spectres existed long before the Demon Emperor. However, thousands of years ago, only one in 200,000 evil souls would be a spectre after death. After such a creature''s deeds, the ratio had changed from that to the current one, where practically every dead person with a grudge would be a spectral creature.

    This wasn''t the case from the beginning, and it had progressed slowly over the years.

    But in this generation, the emergence of spectres after death had finally reached its peak, which was behind the current continental crisis in the face of these creatures.

    "Since then, the leaders of the demon tribe have been using the spectres as our allies, using them to create chaos and distractions, but also to search for the Seven Singrities," Fabienne said.

    "Is that true?" A lower-ranking demon asked in surprise.

    Fabienne knew all this because she was a noble in the demon world. With a lineage of the highest purity, she was in the demon world what the 0.1% of nobles on this continent were in the human society.

    Even at a low level, she would have crucial information about her tribe that other demons would never have ess to!

    But she didn''t know everything, and there was a lot of information about the current ns of the demons that Fabienne was in the dark.

    "Yeah." She said to her subordinate.

    With this confirmation, not only that demon but also several others were a bit surprised.

    Before the Demon Emperor damaged the Reincarnation Wheel, demons, and spectres didn''t get along so well.

    To say that they were enemies would be an exaggeration. Still, they had a lot of rivalry, just like people from different sects might have with each other.

    So, it was a surprise for these lower-ranking creatures to discover that their tribe had done such a thing.

    "Anyway, the spectres are helping with the Demon Emperor''s resurrection ns. But you should be careful with them. Spectres are difficult to deal with. And as far as I know, they will y an important role after the Demon Emperor''s resurrection.

    ording to my information, they will be crucial for dealing with the strongest humans when our elders absorb their powers."

    Hearing this, Cykad imagined that these creatures would probably dominate the minds of humans or human allies in the war that might be unleashed after the Demon Emperor''s resurrection.

    With that in mind, he broke into a cold sweat and immediately grabbed hismunication crystal to send orders to his men.

    After having ess to so many risks for his world, he couldn''t wait any longer to try to change the position of the humans and the beasts in all of this.

    ''I must learn the location of the strongest spectres on the continent and begin to gather evidence. Lothur is only one person. If I can''t convince more beings to join us, we''ll have problemster on!'' He thought about this as he prepared to send out new orders to his people!

 Chapter 804 Back on the Hunt

    <h4>Chapter 804 Back on the Hunt?</h4>

    After Cykad had isted himself for a while, he would finish sending out all themuniqu��s to his men scattered throughout the northern region of Concordia.

    Not only would they have to locate and map the spectres, but they would also have to gather evidence of the creatures'' actions.

    At the moment, Cykad could do nothing to gather a force to defend Concordia. The enemy of the maind forces at the moment was Lothur, so any contact he tried to make in the short term would end in more trouble for everyone.

    But things could be very different once Lothur grew stronger and headed for Demon Ind.

    With Cykad doing this with an eye to the future and Lothur''s women trying to focus on cultivation while he finished what he was doing, hours would pass in the blink of an eye.

    With the end of the night, a new day would dawn, and once the day was half over, the young Ritter would finish his hours of alchemical production.

    As he finished producing thest of the resources he would leave for his mother, he took a deep breath and realized that everything was as he had nned.

    He said, drawing the attention of those watching him. "These are tinum-grade pills and potions. They are possibly the most valuable on this continent.

    With them, all the elements in the body of the one who consumes them will be strengthened by between 80% and 160%. But all the understanding regarding this world of the one who absorbs just one of them will also jump by a simr proportion.

    It would not be an exaggeration to say that a Saint could reach the peak of this stage with these pills."

    Upon hearing this, Fabienne''s subordinates were impressed by how far Lothur hade, and they believed him entirely as they could feel the medicinal power of these resources.

    Fabienne wasn''t too worried about how far she would get, but since her son wanted her to take these pills, she would do her best to take advantage of the opportunity.

    When she received them from Lothur, she thanked him. "Thank you for this, Lothur. I hope to show you the results of these pills and potions one day."

    "Hmm." He nodded at her and prepared to leave. "What are you going to do now?"

    "I will find a peaceful ce to watch you from a distance." She smiled at him motherly.

    Lothur then said. "You should look for Daemon. I don''t know about your rtionship, but he cares about you. He asked me to help you before I left on my journey."

    Hearing this, Fabienne was surprised. "He did?"

    Daemon and Fabienne had a long history. Having known each other for decades, they had lived together for a long time until one day she became pregnant.

    As beings who had alreadymitted a great sin just by venturing out sexually together, the primordial taboo was no big deal to them. On the contrary, they had be even happier and more in sync after the pregnancy.

    However, things changed shortly after Lothur''s birth when they considered what they wanted for their son.

    As a hybrid, Lothur would only have a short time before he showed the bloodlust typical of these beings. Once that happened, there would be no turning back for him, and he would likely die pursued by demon hunters.

    Not wanting that for Lothur but disagreeing on how to help him, the two lovers quarreled and finally parted before the young man was sent to Peters City with someone they both trusted.

    Since then, Fabienne and Daemon had been like cats and dogs, battling many times over the years.

    When she heard Lothur''s words, Fabienne was taken aback and couldn''t help but smile subtly.

    "I will think about it. Now go, don''t hesitate with your ns. You''ve got too many enemies to keep talking nonsense to me."

    With these words from his mother, Lothur left the area with his group, heading for another of his demonic targets, the one closest to where they were.

    "We have two targets in Norid that aren''t being watched. As far as I know, there''s no sniffer between them, so we shouldn''t have any problems." Cykadmented to Lothur.

    "This is good. What about the spectres? Were you able to talk to their people?" Lothur asked.

    "So they heard us?" Cykad wasn''t surprised to see Lothur nod in agreement. "Don''t worry, my people are already searching for them. I''ve assigned more beasts to the task and raised their level of concern about the spectres. We should have some relevant information in the next few days."

    At the moment, finding spectres on this continent was not as difficult as one might imagine. Although cases like the one in Peters City months ago were still rare, the appearance of spectres in forests and small towns was alreadymon.

    If one looked hard enough, it wasn''t difficult to find reports and cases of demon hunters involved in the extermination of some spectral beings.

    With that in mind, the group moved on to their next target without worrying that they weren''t going after it themselves.

    Trusting in the people of Cykad, Lothur, and his women focused on continuing their demon hunt!

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, three more days would pass...

    Lothur and his party defeated three more groups of 4th-stage demons in those days, leaving Norid and returning to Rablus after the second of those three groups.

    With a few more Silver and Gold-grade Soul Bones in his spatial ring, Lothur was now a few miles from his women and approaching a group of Saints camped in a forest in Rablus.

    With more than 30 Soul Bones in his ring, he and his people had no reason to keep umting these things.

    Their journey was dangerous, and they could face a deadly battle anytime.

    With such valuable things for their forces to prepare for the future, they had decided this afternoon that Lothur should find a group to send these bones to Peters City.

    After fleeing the area where he had exterminated thest group of demons they had dealt with, Lothur left his people to rest and moved towards this group he had spotted.

    Once there, he didn''t give them time to realize who he was or that there was a neer among them.

    Appearing amid this group of Saints, Lothur marked them with his ck mes, took over their hearts and minds, and made them his ves.

    With this group dominated, he soon ordered them to take a spatial ring to Peters City with the Soul Bones he had collected so far.

 Chapter 805 Fun Thwarted

    <h4>Chapter 805 Fun Thwarted?</h4>

    After overpowering and ordering those Saints, Lothur quickly saw them off in a southerly direction.

    Watching them move, Lothur sighed, imagining that his men in Linn Province would soon be much stronger.

    As for why he hadn''t created new life forms to take the Soul Bones he had gathered here to Peters City instead of sending these people, that was because it wasn''t easy to create life.

    Lothur didn''t want to send the two cats he was still observing. On the other hand, to create life, he needed something for the foundation of these beings. He needs to take life from other living beings along with part of their elemental affinities to create new possibilities.

    In short, he couldn''t create life from nothing, even with his ability. Something would always need to be provided, like an initial push necessary for a cyclical movement to begin.

    Without stealing what he had stolen from three Sages of the Ancestral Folk earlier, Lothur wouldn''t have been able to create life.

    However, if he had such a thing at his disposal, he could create all kinds of existence within his spiritual and creative abilities. If he wanted to make a cat or a dog, a tree or a bacterium, in short, he could create basically anything.

    But Lothur had chosen not to target people who had nothing to do with him just so he could produce more artificial beings.

    As useful as these beings could be to him, Lothur preferred to have only a few of them for the time being while he better understood the behavior of those two cats.

    So, he had opted to simply dominate the minds of a few humans.

    With that done, he returned to his group, which would rest for the next few hours nearby to wait for the time to return to their hunt.

    Ever since they had started this journey, the group had had specific moments when they would sit still, usually meditating or training.

    They couldn''t move at all times, as this could cause disturbances that would eventually attract the attention of the Sages behind him. On the other hand, Lothur''s bloodline ability only worked once every 24 hours.

    Since it didn''t make sense for them to stay too close to their targets until he could absorb them, the group spent most of their time standing around as they would for the next few hours.

    But they already had their next target in mind, and in another 16 hours, it would be time for them to move again!

    ...

    Ten hourster...

    After finishing training some of his techniques, Lothur looked at his status, seeing his physical values had changed subtly.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,485] [CON: 7,380] [DEX: 4,698] [AGI: 4,750]

    [INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 3,000] [SOU: 14,678]

    [EVF: 25]

    For the current him, any noticeable improvement was tough to achieve with ordinary training. Even with values that differed greatly from each other, he would have had to train for many months to bnce them out, a long time for him.

    But even so, Lothur always trained when he could because it was a part of his life that he had be ustomed to doing, and he did it whenever he could.

    But he didn''t just train every day. Alongside his women on this journey, there hadn''t been a single night since this trip had begun that they hadn''t enjoyed themselves in their favorite way...

    Ignoring his status and looking over to where two of his women were chatting amid their rest, Lothur smiled, imagining that he could have fun with them for the next few hours.

    Getting up and walking over to them by a fire, Lothur ignored the starry sky that night, thinking of pitching their tent and spending some quality time with Elke and Reba.

    However, just as Lothur was about to invite them, suddenly, the two small cats nearby watching the area sounded a warning signal.

    "Someone is approaching our location." Blood said for everyone in the group to hear.

    Annaliese and Viktoria immediately stopped meditating when they heard that, while Cykad opened his eyes, waking up without difficulty.

    Beasts meditated in their sleep since they couldn''t use cultivation techniques. But the sleep of these creatures was extremely light, and any disturbance in their surroundings would attract their attention.

    Awakening to the high-pitched voice of that shady creature created by Lothur, he immediately heightened his senses to catch a glimpse of his surroundings and understand the problem.

    As Lothur''s group and his women began to raise their spirits, the Tyrannosaurus Rex suddenly improved his expression and said. "Everyone, this is one of my men. Someone of my race ising here. He''s not an enemy."

    "Oh?"

    Everyone''s spirits immediately dropped as Lothur''s kittens returned closer to their creator.

    As expected, a few secondster, the group saw a dinosaur of the same race as Cykad arrive, a level 20 creature half the size of the Tyrannosaurus Rex next to Lothur.

    "Boss!" The creature shouted as soon as he saw Cykad. "I bring important news!"

    "What news? Why didn''t you call me through themunication crystal?" Cykad asked as the people in his party watched the level 20 creature intently.

    He answered without beating around the bush. "My crystal was destroyed. While looking for spectres, I came across a group of these creatures. Just as I was about to leave the area and send the message to the boss, one of them noticed me and tried to possess me.

    Luckily, I could escape, but I lost mymunication item in the process."

    "Spectres? Are they around?" Lothur asked.

    "Yes. A few hours northwest of here, flying at my maximum speed. There''s a group of seven 4th-stage spectres where I left from." The beast replied, looking at Lothur, aware that this creature was a close friend and ally of his leader.

    "That''s good."

    "If they haven''t left yet, we''ll be able to deal with the first spectres of this journey," Annaliesemented, while the others felt they needed to get to this group as soon as possible.

    "Lead the way. I want to see those disgusting creatures." Cykad ordered, ready to face some of the worst enemies beasts like him could face.

    And it didn''t take long for the weaker dinosaur to lead Lothur''s group to the ce he had fled from.

    Carried by Cykad, even though he was leading the way to the group, he would see the ce he had fled from again just over 30 minutes after contacting his superior.

    Having traveled at the speed of a Sage for the first time in his life, the beast would soon fall ill as he approached where those beings had been hours before.

    As he vomited and the group scanned the area in search of their targets, Smoke said. "My creator, I can smell these creaturesing from the south, 100 meters from where we are. There are 10 of them, a little more than the beast told you."

    ...

 Chapter 806 Consciousness

    <h4>Chapter 806 Consciousness?</h4>

    Upon hearing the small animal''sment, every being in the group immediately looked in the direction he had pointed, sensing that the spectres were indeed nearby.

    Using the system, Lothur saw that they were all Saints, between levels 20 and 21, a strength close to what the level 20 dinosaur had warned them about.

    As for their numbers, there were a few more of these individuals, but the dinosaur might not have seen all of them, and no one there thought he had made a deliberate mistake or anything like that.

    Immediately upon seeing these spectres, their strength, and their numbers, Lothur moved, distorting space and appearing in the middle of the area where they were.

    Cykad, his tribe''s junior, and Lothur''s women saw this and didn''t apany him, knowing that even at levels higher than those creatures, they might have problems if attacked by the strongest ones there.

    The dinosaur tribe''s junior saw Lothur''s move and swallowed his saliva, a little tense at the thought.

    Along with Lothur, there were only his two creations, Blood and Smoke, both extremely calm on the young Ritter''s shoulders.

    When the three of them appeared in the middle of the area where those high-level spectres were gathered by ake, all those creatures looked at them as if they saw ghosts.

    "That..."

    "Who are you?"

    These hideous-looking creatures, with distorted, truly macabre faces, shouted in terrifying voices, capable of scaring the most sensitive with only their tone.

    It was night, and the powers of these dark beings were at their peak. But someone suddenly appeared among them, and they all sensed a bad omen.

    This was especially true when they looked at the two adorable creatures on Lothur''s shoulders, which gave these spectral beings a deadly, dangerous feeling.

    Lothur was no fool, and he immediately noticed that the eyes of some of these spectres were directed at Blood and Smoke rather than at him.

    "Can you devour the spirits of these spectres?" Lothur asked them, feeling that this should be the case.

    "We can devour the spirits of all life forms, my creator. It makes no difference to us whether they are humans, Ancestral Folk, beasts, nts, demons, or spectres. Our ability works on everyone indiscriminately." Blood replied without hesitation.

    "That is very impressive." Lothur smiled. "No wonder those spectres are trembling with fear. Anyway..."

    Suddenly, Lothur clenched one of his hands, and dark mes appeared in it before a barrier of simr mes appeared around where he and these creatures were standing.

    Feeling threatened by this level 23 Sage, these spectres wanted to flee, but if they tried to pass through the barrier of mes on their way, they would suffer the same fate of being stopped in their tracks.

    Not only that but when Lothur moved, they barely had time to understand what he was doing before they all felt the darkness of the young man enter their spectral bodies.

    Within less than a minute of his arrival, Lothur saw those beingspletely change their expressions and positions, gradually kneeling before him.

    "Master!"

    They said simultaneously, with no fear left in their minds.

    If their master wanted to destroy them, they would be destroyed with a smile on their faces!

    Seeing these spectres that could think as well as low-level humans, Lothur didn''t destroy them right away. He looked at the strongest of them and asked.

    "Where is the Castle of Shadows?"

    "I don''t know." The creature answered truthfully.

    "Does anyone here know?"

    "No, master." They all said almost at the same time.

    Lothur was not surprised, as he had questioned a level 20 spectre in the past and had not gotten the answers he wanted.

    He changed his questions. "What are you doing in this area?"

    One of the strongest of the group replied promptly. "We are looking for powerful people. We have orders to possess the bodies of 4th-stage humans and search for the Seven Singrities."

    "Are there any other groups like yours that you know the approximate location of?"

    Another spectre said. "We know of three other groups. But they are like us, ignorant of the master''s questions."

    Lothur imagined that would be the case, but there was something else these creatures didn''t know. Not only did each group have the ability to know the location of other groups of spectres, but they were food for Blood and Smoke.

    With his questions answered by these 10 beings, Lothur smiled and said to the two small ones on his shoulders. "Absorb them. I want to see what happens when you deal with spectres."

    Smoke looked at the kneeling creatures and licked his lips, seeing a feast before him.

    Meanwhile, Blood swallowed her saliva, grateful to her creator for offering them this meal.

    Without dy, the two moved to the strongest spectres, targeting the best they could absorb there.

    These creatures were conquered, while the two little cats had no trouble beginning to suck away their resistance.

    But as Lothur extinguished the mes that covered the area, allowing his group to see what was happening, Blood suddenly looked at him and asked.

    "My creator, can you give them back their freedom? It is not interesting to eliminate them when they are this way. I want them to fight for their lives."

    Not only did Lothur hear this, but even his women and Cykad heard Blood''s words.

    ''That... She wants to ''conquer'' her own food?" Annaliese wondered.

    ''Is it too shameful for her to devour harmless enemies?'' Cykad saw something he had never heard about these creatures.

    ''She has a conscience! As cruel as she is, and as much as she wants her enemies to suffer to save themselves while she devours them, she still takes no pleasure in eating harmless beings!''

    As small as that seemed, it wasn''t. Creatures whocked the essence that prevented them frommitting certain atrocities, who would simply serve simple purposes, were hazardous.

    In the situation they were in, the artificial creatures of legend would do whatever Lothur ordered without question.

    But these cats preferred to have fun with their food, a sign that they had personality and wouldn''t just do anything.

    They wouldn''t take action against weak vermin who didn''t try to defend themselves. That is, from what Cykad could see of this behavior, there was a possibility that these cats wouldn''t attack low-level beings because it would be very annoying for them to have no resistance.

    If this really were a sign of consciousness, then even if they were artificial creatures, Lothur''s creations wouldn''t be as terrible to this world as this dinosaur thought!

    Hearing this, Lothur saw no problem and quickly allowed these spectres to do as they pleased.

    ...

 Chapter 807 The Smoke And Blood Advantage

    ?

    After releasing the spectres, Lothur saw the creatures leave their docile state and suddenly be nervous and aggressive again.

    As this happened, Blood and Smoke became noticeably more satisfied and attacked them again, this time with much more ferocity concerning their food.

    Aside from the ability to devour souls, these two creatures only had physical attributes. But even though they had no other means to deal with their opponents, it wasn''t necessary. With a speed that only level 22 beasts would have, these two were several times faster than those 10 enemies that only had mental attributes.

    However, even though the spectres were based on mental attributes, they didn''t give them any advantage against Blood and Smoke. Because they were made from the essence of the Ancestral Folk members and the powers of Lothur, these creatures were as strong mentally as they were physically.

    Not only that, but their innate ability protected them from mental attacks!

    When one of these spectres tried to attack Blood while this one was sucking the soul of a stronger spectre, the other simply passed through the cat''s body without hitting him.

    "Huh! Do you think you can possess me?" Blood looked at the creature with disdain and finished "sucking" the existence of a level 21 spectre.

    Meanwhile, Smoke had already absorbed the powers of his first target and moved when he saw some spectres trying to escape.

    He smiled and opened his mouth wide, letting it expand for a moment before biting down on the three trying to escape.

    If a spectre attacked them, it would pass through their bodies as if they were nothing. But if one of those creatures bit or even swallowed one of the spectres, those souls wouldn''t be able to escape from inside those bodies!

    The moment he swallowed three of these terrifying creatures, Smoke felt them struggling in his mouth, but he didn''t care. He just swallowed them,pressed the size of their souls, and sent them into his stomach.

    Their special ability was quite amazing. It worked both inside and outside their body. Even though they didn''t actually have to devour their enemies to absorb their souls, they could do so whenever they wanted.

    Given the hunter nature of these two creatures, they were very fond of using their hunting abilities and then swallowing their prey!

    Seeing that half of this group of spectres had fallen before these two kittens, the people of Lothur''s group watched them closely.

    Cykad and the junior of his tribe were the most impressed when they saw how effective these cats were against the spectres.

    It was true that Blood and Smoke were stronger than the spectres, as they were one level above the strongest of those beings. However, ordinary beasts, or even beings of many other races at the same level, would have a hard time dealing with spectres.

    Some wouldn''t even be able to eliminate these creatures!

    But Blood and Smoke seemed to have been created to oppose the spectres of this world. They were like the archenemies of these cursed beings!

    "They are born spectre hunters." The junior of the dinosaur tribe said in a low voice, attracting the attention of Lothur and Cykad as the women there watched thest three spectres being attacked.

    "Lothur, what are you going to do with those two? Letting them fight the spectres might be the best thing for everyone." Cykadmented.

    Lothur replied. "Yes, that seems to be the case. I think I''ll send them on that mission, but for now, I want them to stay with us.

    I want to know exactly how they grow up, and more importantly, I can''t let them deal with the spectres alone. Despite their fantastic abilities, they can''t control their opponents'' minds and get on their own the information I want.

    So I won''t let them go. If I do, we might run the risk of them eliminating the spectres that could help me."

    "That makes sense. But even on our side, I think they''ll be able to do much against the spectres." Cykadmented, agreeing with Lothur.

    He was sure that many spectres around the continent had no direct rtion to the Castle of Shadow and that they wouldn''t hunt those creatures down because of their low level. So even keeping Blood and Smoke on their side for the time being didn''t mean they wouldn''t be used to deal with the spectral threat.

    Once Lothur went to Demon Ind, he could leave one or both of them on the continent to hunt and kill spectres of whatever level.

    Through these two, the continent could be saved from the spectral threat!

    Lothur didn''t need these two to deal with spectres. So when they found the home of the strongest spectres, they could split up without any problems.

    At the thought of this, Cykad couldn''t help but cheer anxiously, imagining that the living beings of Concordia still stood a chance against the demonic threat.

    He didn''t know how far ahead the demons'' ns were. Still, he did know that his group had ways of disrupting or even preventing these demonic ns froming to fruition!

    So he watched Blood and Smoke finish eliminating their enemies, both cats going belly-up as they returned to Lothur.

    Seeing the situation of his creations, Lothur asked. "How are you? Can you handle another hunt? Or do you need time to digest these spectres?"

    Blood replied. "I think we can go after one of the three groups of spectres the enemies had given the creator. There are still a few hours before your bloodline ability can be used again, and we''ll digest these spectres while we move towards one of these groups."

    Cykad heard that and suggested it. "We should do that, Lothur. From now on, we''ll hunt spectres whenever you can''t use your bloodline, and when you can, we''ll go back to hunting demons. That way, we can move forward with our ns."

    "OK. Let''s go after the group of spectres closest to us, then." Lothur said, preparing his group to leave and continue their hunt.

    Before they left, Cykad sent that junior back to the investigative work he had been doing previously. Meanwhile, Lothur watched the two kittens, curious to see how much they would improve from the five spectres they had each devoured.

    He looked at their statuses.

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,029] [CON: 4,101] [DEX: 4,035] [AGI: 4,051]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,599] [SOU: 2,692]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,030] [CON: 4,099] [DEX: 4,034] [AGI: 4,055]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,599] [SOU: 2,728]

    As his creations, Blood and Smoke had practically identical attributes, with small differences rted to the souls of the members of the Ancestral Folk they had absorbed.

    But as they were yet to digest that day''s meal and had only devoured those individuals, they were still very simr to how Lothur had created them at the beginning of level 22.

    Before, Lothur hadn''t paid any attention to their status, but now he wanted to see what difference digesting the spectres would make to these cats!

 Chapter 808 Improvements And Plans

    ?

    Three dayster...

    After Lothur let Blood and Smoke exterminate the first group of spectres of their lives, they set off as Cykad had suggested.

    When Lothur could use his bloodline ability to devour the abilities of demons, the group would go after these creatures. When he was incapacitated, the group would head for the locations of the groups of spectres they had information about.

    At this point, young Ritter would question these creatures about other groups of spectres and the Castle of Shadows before allowing Blood and Smoke to do their work.

    In this scheme of things, not only had Lothur improved some of his attributes during these days. Blood and Smoke had raised their soul powers considerably, showing Lothur their true potential.

    ...

    The group was now standing near its next demonic target, in a forest in the Petha Empire, where the sky was clear and the day was burning that morning.

    But the group was waiting for thest few minutes for Lothur''s bloodline ability toe back with their ns and approach the group of creatures nearby.

    While Lothur was waiting for the moment to attack, he observed the two small cats in front of him and their new attribute values.

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,099] [CON: 4,221] [DEX: 4,115] [AGI: 4,179]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,650] [SOU: 3,412]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,100] [CON: 4,215] [DEX: 4,122] [AGI: 4,180]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,680] [SOU: 3,521]

    After days of observing the digestion of Blood and Smoke, Lothur realized that these creatures he had created had more simrities to him than he had imagined.

    The innate ability of these beings gave them the ability to absorb one of their targets'' attributes, Soul. In Lothur''s case, he could do this with the Constitution attribute. But like their creator, Blood and Smoke had the same percentage of use in rtion to the points they absorbed.

    But they had the great advantage over their creator of being able to absorb Soul points, those that normally cultivators and spiritual beings had in greater value.

    Their disadvantage over their creator was that Lothur could absorb Soul Bones, while these little cats couldn''t do the same.

    In any case, after observing them constantly these days, Lothur already had a good idea of how Blood and Smoke''s powers worked and how strong they could be in the future.

    These two were the weakest of his group at the moment, but once they were freed to go spectre hunting, they could quickly raise their powers and be powerful!

    With this in mind, Lothur was gradually bing more confident about creating new artificial creatures in the future.

    But for now, he was focused on his mission to eliminate as many demons as possible before attracting the attention of enemies.

    As he continued his hunt alongside his women and Cykad, their targets became stronger and harder for them to take down without causing amotion.

    Having already taken down several groups, it wouldn''t be long before they reached the groups of demons watched by enemies, which would increase the difficulty of their mission.

    The downside was that they would soon have countless enemies to face and flee from. But there was a bright side. These targets being watched could form interesting Soul Bones for their group to absorb!

    What''s more, their situation with the spectres was basically the same as it had been a few days ago. After attacking three new groups of specters, they managed to locate another five new groups, but nothing major.

    But as far as the spectres were concerned, their situation was better from Blood and Smoke''s point of view. No one was observing 4th stage spectres on the continent, so all the groups they could find could be interesting targets with little chance of danger to them.

    Aware of this, Lothur nned to raise the power level of his furry friends to level 23 before taking any chances with demons being watched by groups hunting him.

    While considering the strengths of his feline friends, Lothur suddenly felt as if something had changed inside him and took his eyes off the two cats.

    "I''m ready." He said quietly to his group, drawing their attention to the action about to unfold.

    "Okay!"

    The four women and Cykad said so simultaneously, already circting their energies to apany Lothur on yet another demon ying.

    Lothur didn''t need the help of these five individuals to kill 4th stage demons. However, these teammates had been important for him to increase the degree of security of what he did every time he acted against demons.

    In other words, Lothur could hide his aura and his ability to use Life Devourer. However, he had to get to the demons and start his action before he could do that. It was precisely at this point that his group took part in his actions.

    Lothur''s women and Cykad acted together to camouge the area where he would act just a few moments before he acted, enough for no one but the demons to see him moving, but not enough to leave space for escape for the demons.

    They were acting against beings theoretically unobserved by others. But they couldn''t be 100% sure about that.

    This action could help them camouge Lothur''s movement because, as much as some Sages knew his aura, hardly anyone knew the auras of Annaliese, Viktoria, Elke, and Reba.

    As they had done several times in recent days, the four women and the great dinosaur moved together, camouging the surroundings of the area where this morning''s five targets were.

    Two seconds after their movement, Lothur distorted space, moving almost instantly from his position to the middle of the area where the demons were.

    They clearly realized that someone was moving against them. But it was toote. With Lothur too close to them and all the surrounding space blocked by twoyers of spatial distortion, these demons had nowhere to run, nor could they call for help.

    Lothur didn''t trifle with them and promptly activated his bloodline ability, showing these creatures the ultimate predator of their race before eliminating them, absorbing their vitality and understanding.

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 66% -> 67%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 64% -> 65%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 60% -> 61%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 58% -> 59%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade resistance to darkness.]

    [Progress: 60% -> 62%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 61% -> 62%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 43% -> 44%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 28% -> 29%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 31% -> 32%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 36% -> 37%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 33% -> 34%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 44% -> 45%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 47% -> 48%]

 Chapter 809 Clues

    In the blink of an eye, a whole week had passed...

    Lothur''s group had followed Cykad''s ns and hunted demons and spectres during these days, having umted many new Soul Bones and made good progress concerning Blood and Smoke''s strengths.

    Lothur had also improved the progress of his bones and resistances a little more, having experienced slightly more significant improvements in recent days, given the strength of his targets.

    As their hunt progressed, the group went after stronger and stronger creatures. Consequently, the points Lothur had been absorbing were increasing every day, and his progress was elerating.

    However, just as their opponents were getting stronger, more difficulties wereing to Lothur and his group''s way, and they had to be more cautious in their actions.

    They had encountered some groups of demons with sniffers in theirposition and had naturally avoided them, moving on to the following groups.

    Groups with sniffers could be interesting for them to attack or pursue in the future, as they could lead them to the Seven Singrities. But for now, Lothur merely wanted to get stronger and wasn''t interested in getting involved in great dangers.

    But in addition to these groups with sniffers, the group had to give up making attacks twice this week because enemies were watching their targets.

    Previously, none of Cykad''s targets were being watched by groups other than his own. But after exterminating several groups of demons over thest two weeks, they had noticed this change.

    They didn''t know yet whether this was an effect of their movements or whether these observers had other purposes unrted to them. But it was a fact that they had lost two groups because of this and had only managed to eliminate 5 groups of demons in thest seven days.

    In any case, they weren''t left with nothing to do. With Blood and Smoke improving with each group of spectres they devoured, the group had used most of their time to hunt down these spectral creatures.

    And they had been very sessful at it!

    In 7 days, the group had hunted down 16 groups of 4th-stage spectres, a phenomenal number!

    But in addition to the improvements these beings made to Blood and Smoke, the group finally got some information about the Castle of Shadows!

    ...

    In a forest on the east coast of the northern region of Concordia...

    On top of a hill, a group of 5 humanoid beings and 3 beasts were standing around an area overlooking the vast sea to the east but also the mountains to the west.

    There were few trees, a beautifulwn in view, and a small fire at the top of the hill, where someone was roasting vegetables while one of the women in the group handled them, sometimes throwing some seasoning and water in there.

    Meanwhile, three women were meditating in front of the beautiful sea, and arge beast was sleeping under one of the few trees in the area, not far from everyone.

    While two balls of fur yed with each other, rolling around on the grass, a young man with blond hair was currently staring at them.

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,250] [CON: 4,400] [DEX: 4,280] [AGI: 4,310]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,780] [SOU: 5,610]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,300] [CON: 4,450] [DEX: 4,350] [AGI: 4,440]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,790] [SOU: 5,790]

    ''Not bad. They quickly doubled their Soul attribute by devouring some 4th stage spectres... If they continue like this, in another three weeks, they can reach level 23 in soul cultivation.'' Lothur thought to himself, seeing that his feline friends had finished digesting thest group of spectres they had attacked this morning.

    Considering how many spectres were still in their way, it would be rtively easy for those two little ones to raise their strength even further.

    Previously, their group had information about the location of five groups of spectres. But in attacking and exterminating these groups, each had given them the locations of 2 others, excluding repeated locations.

    The other groups they had attacked had also given them the information of 8 others, one of which they had already attacked.

    But before pursuing the remaining 7, Lothur''s group had a new target!

    Thest group they had attacked had given them something quite different from what they had achieved so far.

    ording to the leader of that group of spectres, they would meet a spectre sent by the Castle of Shadows this afternoon to receive new orders!

    Because of this, Lothur and his group were standing on this hill, resting, waiting for the moment to go to the meeting ce with this creature of the highest level, probably the 5th stage.

    The meeting ce was not far from where they were, so the group was quietly waiting for dusk in this location.

    Thinking about this and how beneficial it might be for his cats and for himself to meet a high-ranking spectre, Lothur clenched his fists, taking his eyes off those cats to look at his own status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,530] [CON: 7,500] [DEX: 4,740] [AGI: 4,800]

    [INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 3,050] [SOU: 16,599]

    [EVF: 26]

    ''If I can reach the location of the Castle of Shadows, my ns might progress faster.'' Lothur imagined, thinking of using the ck mes to turn enemies into allies.

    ''It will be fascinating if I can trick the demons with the spectres and get to the location of the Seven Singrities...'' He smiled.

    While he was thinking about this, Lothur saw the luminosity of the surroundings diminish, noticing a glow on the horizon, marking the beginning of the end of the day.

    When she saw this, Annaliese, who was preparing something for the group to eat, looked at Lothur and asked.

    "What will we do after this meeting? Your bloodline ability should be back to normal by now, shouldn''t it?"

    He looked at her and said. "After we''ve eaten and met that spectre, we''ll go where his information takes us.

    The spectres can help us significantly in our hunt if we act against them first. So let''s leave the demons aside for now."

    Dealing with 5th-stage beings could take them much further, even if these beings weren''t as useful for strengthening Lothur as the demons were.

    But with them on his side, he could get several things that might make it easier for his group to reach some Soul Bones relevant to them.

    So, as soon as night fell and the group had eaten, they set off from that ce to meet an important spectre!

 Chapter 810 Night Encounter

    Chapter 810 Night Encounter

    After some time, night had fallen, and darkness had reached the part of Concordia where Lothur''s party was.

    They had moved cautiously to the ce where the spectre encounter would take ce and was already standing near where the 5th-stage spectre would meet its 4th-stage subordinates.

    But knowing that their target would be checking the area for its men, the people in Lothur''s group were not exactly at that location but somewhere in the distance from where they could quickly reach the spectre on sight.

    Thus, the group hid near a concave piece of beach, bordered by two small hills at the ends of that strip of beach, with ck rocks covering the end of the hill that was in contact with the sea and trees covering the upper part.

    Everyone there was hiding their auras while camouged among the trees, watching for the ce where the meeting would take ce, the strip of beach in this desert area.

    As they did this in absolute silence, with most of them asionally looking at the sides of the forest behind the beach, ignoring the sea, Smoke suddenly saw a white glowing from the sea.

    "Creator." He called out in a low voice, drawing the attention of everyone in the group to him.

    When they saw the small, gray-furred cat pointing to the sea, everyone''s expression changed as they saw the spectre they had been expectinging from the sea.

    "That..."

    "Coming from the sea? How?" Cykad asked, curious as to what such a creature could be doing in the sea.

    There were only a few inds around Concordia. What''s more, most of them were far from the coast and difficult to reach.

    As for the ones near the coast, none of them were close to this area, so Cykad was naturally curious as to where this creature came from.

    ''What does that mean?'' He wondered as Lothur watched the creature with only mental attributes.

    ''Level 22. Well, at that level, we''ll be able to fight it easily.'' He thought as he took a closer look at the hostile-looking spectre, but not so uglypared to lower-level creatures of this type.

    Seeing it slow down as it reached the beach where no one was waiting for it, Lothur''s group saw the moment to act, and everyone there moved simultaneously.

    As Lothur''s women moved around the side of the man, Cykad and the two kittens moved more slowly, allowing the strongest members of the group to act first.

    Lothur manipted the space, and before the spectre even realized it had been trapped, young Ritter appeared a few feet behind the creature.

    "You..." The level 22 spectre turned and saw Lothur, immediately sensing that this was no ordinary human.

    Even though it couldn''t sense Lothur''s level, the way this person had distorted space was too refined for an ordinary being.

    This was definitely a Sage of a higher rank than his own.

    Knowing that only its men were supposed to know where it would be tonight, it quickly realized that this group killed the 4th-stage spectres it would meet there that night.

    "You acted against my men, huh? Well? What do you want?" It asked, seeing that it was surrounded, noting that it wouldn''t be easy to escape and that some of those in Lothur''s group looked quite dangerous.

    Looking at the two cats of the same level as it, the spectre was curious why such a strong group was there for it when everyone on the continent was searching for the human-demon hybrid.

    But before it could express its thoughts, it saw Lothur smile and then noticed a hand grabbing its back,ing from a crack in the space.

    "No!"

    That was all it could say as its eyes widened at the sight of that hand, covered in ck mes, touching its back.

    In the next second, it would wriggle significantly, making horrible sounds that would have reached tens of kilometers from this location if it weren''t for the sound barriers Lothur''s group had created.

    Dealing with a level 22 spectre was much more difficult than dealing with level 20 and 21 creatures, like most targets Lothur had dealt with over the past few days. Still, after 15 seconds of fighting, the creature lost to the young Ritter, no match for the being that had attacked him.

    "Master!"

    Seeing the high-level spectre kneel before Lothur, the two small cats smiled in anticipation of devouring the being that alone could provide them with the value of an entire group of 4th-stage spectres.

    As the others in the group watched the spectre with dread, Lothur asked. "Answer me. Where is the Castle of Shadows?"

    "Answering the master, the Castle of Shadows is located on a small ind in the Dark Sea, 280 kilometers east and 69 kilometers south of where we are now." He replied promptly, causing the people in the group to open their eyes in surprise as they realized that this group was actually based in the sea.

    ''This... Dark Sea? Isn''t that the sea where thick fog covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of sea? Is there an ind there?'' Cykad was surprised.

    The Dark Sea was located off the east coast of Concordia. It was famous for its special characteristics, which made it very dangerous and mysterious.

    Several parties had identally entered the ce and never returned. But as one might expect, adventurers searching for answers had also tried their luck there. Unfortunately for these adventurers, the few who returned alive were never the same, having lost their minds.

    Thus, the Dark Sea remained a mystery to the continent''s powers and a part of the sea to be avoided at all costs.

    Knowing the history of this sea area, Cykad wasn''t surprised that the spectres were in control of it.

    Come to think of it, that dark and dangerous ce was a perfect home for these creatures!

    Lothur smiled as he finally heard a satisfactory answer and asked. "What are your powers like?"

    "To answer the lord, we are few but not weak. The lord of the castle is currently a Sage at the 4th Catastrophe. He is the strongest and the only one at that level.

    Besides him, we have 10 elders at the 3rd Catastrophe, 24 elders at the 2nd, and 49 elders at the 1st Catastrophe. There are no lower-level beings in our house."

    Gulp!

    Blood heard this and couldn''t help but swallow her saliva, opening her mouth slightly as she couldn''t help but drool.

    "All that?" Elke murmured, feeling that this was a bit more than they could handle now.

    ...

 Chapter 811 Problem

    Chapter 811 Problem

    After hearing the spectre''s answer, everyone in Lothur''s party was a little impressed by the number of Sages in the Castle of Shadows.

    All in all, between the 1st and 4th Catastrophes, there were 84 Sages in such a force, several experts that certainly exceeded the number of any force on this continent!

    Even though Lothur had immunity to spectres, he was a bit impressed and took a step back in his ns.

    ''There is even a level 25 spectre... I can''t deal with someone of that level.'' He thought to himself, imagining that the soul power of someone like that must be several times his own.

    His skills definitely wouldn''t work against such a spectre!

    ''Besides, their numbers are pretty high. If I go alone, I''ll have problems, but I definitely can''t take my women with me while they''re at their level.'' He looked at them before turning his attention to the two kittens.

    ''Blood and Smoke would be the only help I could count on right now. But they would probably be easily destroyed by these level 24 and 25 creatures.''

    Thinking about all this, he closed his eyes and sighed. "We''re not going to the Castle of Shadows yet. It''s too dangerous, and we don''t have the power to do anything against them."

    "Then what will we do?" Cykad was also afraid, especially because he didn''t know there was such a powerful group of spectres in this world.

    Considering how vulnerable beasts could be to spectral creatures, he was the most frightened of all.

    He knew the group couldn''t do anything about the problem now. They really were weak. But he couldn''t help but feel anxious about solving this problem, which could greatly facilitate the demons'' ns to destroy Concordia.

    Viktoria looked at that spectre and suggested before her husband spoke. "Why don''t we use this one to bring others to us?

    We definitely can''t risk going to the Castle of Shadows. But these high-level spectres, at least those at the 1st and 2nd catastrophes, must constantly leave that ind.

    If we have the information about where they''re going, we can gradually dominate this organization from the outside."

    As everyone looked at Viktoria, Lothur smiled in agreement with his wife.

    "This is the only thing we can do now. We''ll continue our journey hunting demons and 4th-stage spectres while he returns to this spectre ind to work for us.

    With his help, we won''t be able to defeat the 3rd and 4th stage spectres, but we can learn about the demons, secret locations of these creatures, and much more." Lothur said with a sigh.

    Seeing that the people in his group agreed with him, he looked at the spectral creature and asked. "What did you want to do here today?"

    "I was going to give orders to a group of subordinates to travel south and find another group of our 4th-stage spectres. I was going to initiate one of our people''s ns to possess some members of the imperial family of Ashen."

    Everyone in the group narrowed their eyes when they heard this.

    "Why would you do that?" Lothur was also surprised by this move.

    "Recently, the imperial family of this state lost its only Sages. Also, our allies from Demon Ind have already reached four of the Seven Singrities, and it will only be a matter of time before they have all seven.

    The Castle of Shadows is preparing to implement an old n of us spectres together with the demons."

    The people in this group didn''t need to hear anymore to know what this was all about!

    The Castle of Shadows wanted to possess important people all over the continent, probably to prevent a possible primary defensive action before the great war between the living beings of this continent and the creatures of darkness began!

    With infiltrators within the main forces of this continent, the group working for the return of the Demon Emperor and thepletion of his ns would be able to do much to diminish the chances of Concordia''s humans and beasts.

    With that in mind, Lothur gave an order. "Now, I want you to return to the Castle of Shadows and act as if your encounter with those 4th-stage spectres went well. I want you to act as if everything is going well for thepletion of these spectres'' ns."

    "Okay, master."

    "Also, from now on, I want you to inform me about the departure of the 1st and 2nd Catastrophe spectres from your ind to the maind. I want to know where they''re going whenever possible.

    You must also inform me of any other such ns to possess relevant people from the states surrounding Concordia." He ordered and asked the creature to analyze some things he had in mind.

    "I will do that, master. For now, I can only inform you that besides my group, which was supposed to meet me today, two other groups are already acting to possess important members of the ruling families of Thasan and Utrary.

    Those who gave these orders arrived on the continent weeks before I did, so our 4th-stage spectres must already be moving through these states."

    Everyone was rmed to hear this!

    No matter how weak the leaders of those states might appear to them now, these were individuals who could significantly affect the lives of tens of millions of living beings.

    The presence of spectres infiltrating these families could make it easier for demons to devour humans and be much stronger!

    Most people were weak, but if one gathered the people of an entire state, even 5th-stage demons could benefit greatly.

    For example, imagine a state with 50 million people, with an average Constitution of 10. This meant that if Lothur were the one to act against them, he would receive 500 million points, which could provide him with more than 16 million Soul points.

    Lothur didn''t know the limit of cultivation in this world. Yet, he knew that the Demon Emperor''s level 26 must be far from it. Otherwise, the group of 4th Catastrophe Sages from thousands of years ago wouldn''t have been able to fight him.

    Therefore, the human poption of one state alone could probably produce 200 to 400 peak Sages, individuals between levels 25 and 26.

    This was terrifying!

    If the demons could sacrifice a single state, they might be able to muster enough power to destroy the rest of the continent!

    Aware of this, Lothur, his women, and Cykad broke into a cold sweat upon hearing this urgent information.

    They had to act immediately!

    ...

 Chapter 812 Ritual

    Chapter 812 Ritual

    There shouldn''t even be a dozen level 24 Sages in the world right now. Therefore, the threat of hundreds of them appearing in a short period was gigantic, and even Lothur, someone with impressive abilities, couldn''t help but feel a little afraid.

    Even if these demons could eventually be killed, once there were so many of them at a high level, human life on this continent would most likely be wiped out in no time.

    A single one of them could cause quite a stir, so if even the majority of them were prevented from acting because of him or his allies, even a ''small'' group of 10 or 15 peak demons would be enough to wipe out states.

    "We need to get to those states immediately." Hemented, worried.

    "Spectre, do you have the location of the spectre groups in those states? Or rather, do you have anything to help us find these groups in these two states?" Elke asked.

    The spectre was silent for a moment, but when he saw Lothur''s eyes on him, he answered. "I do not know the location of these groups. Normally, we find our subordinates and give them orders. But we don''t have their location in real-time.

    We only know it when we''re about to meet them because they go to where we''ve arranged to meet them.

    But as much as there is no way to locate these spectres, there is a method that the master can use to attract the attention of groups."

    "Oh? What''s that?" Lothur asked with interest.

    "Through a spectral signal, something that can be done using the element of darkness to call the dead back to earth." He said.

    The people in Lothur''s group didn''t quite understand, for only he had an elemental affinity with the darkness that was developed to the point where he could perceive certain possibilities.

    The element of darkness was behind creatures like spectres and demons, as well as other challenging races in this world. Not only that, but darkness was behind thews of death itself.

    Normally, when someone dies of natural causes, the elements in their body would weaken considerably. Then, the free darkness in the sky and on the earth would gradually take over their body.

    When they finally died, that darkness was what set the wheel of reincarnation in motion, increasing their chances of ascending to a transformation.

    The more darkness a body and soul could umte, the greater the chances of sess in this process. For this reason, higher-level cultivators had a better chance of being reborn than weaker cultivators, and it was rarer for high-level cultivators to form spectres.

    Sess in this transformation would lead to the purification of the soul and the rebirth of that being at some point in the future. Failure would cause them to "cling" to the darkness and be a spectre.

    The element of darkness was not necessarily evil. It could create hideous creatures, but it was part of the process of life and death, part of the structure of this world.

    But it was because of this element''s properties that it could be used to link the dead and the living, to increase the chances of failure in the transformation, and thus to increase the chances of the creation of spectres.

    Using this element to summon the dead was a basic ritual of the spectres, a way for them to gain more followers and powers.

    Lothur didn''t know much about it but understood how to do what that creature had just suggested.

    "If the master does this, I guarantee you that many spectres will approach your position. Only the leaders of the Castle of Shadows can do this, and every spectre can be stronger if near the ce where the ritual takes ce.

    So many will definitelye to your position if you do this." He said.

    This ritual was a way for the spectres to increase their numbers, but not only that, to increase their strength.

    There were two ways for a spectre to be powerful after its formation. The first was by possessing bodies and using them to umte spiritual energy and increase the power of their souls. The second was to absorb the power of other spectres!

    However, the second way was not as simple as the first. After their formation, spectres could hardly be threatened by others, even those of a higher level.

    Cannibalism between these beings was only possible before the spectre was fully formed, that is, during these creatures'' natural or artificial creation.

    For example, before Simon Frost''s spectre formed in Peters City, it had been developing for weeks until it fully awakened and began to act. Before that day, an already-formed spectre that found him could devour his essence and be stronger!

    This was the natural way of cannibalism. But there was an artificial way, which was the ritual the spectre mentioned earlier.

    In this ritual, a high-level master would initiate it to force the creation of spectres. In this way, they would create different essences that could be spectres or food for others.

    The second option was the most interesting from the Castle of Shadow''s point of view. As such, any spectre that sensed such a ritual taking ce nearby would move to try to devour some of the essences being created.

    "But won''t that attract very powerful spectres to my position?" Lothur asked the being.

    He wanted to prevent the worst but didn''t want to alert the master of the Castle of Shadows to his actions.

    "If the master uses all your power to perform the ritual, then yes, that would attract the attention of the strongest spectres, even on the other side of the world." That spectre was sincere. "But if the master limits your powers to create a ritual that can only interfere with early 4th-stage spectres, then at most, you will attract the attention of spectres within a radius of 300 kilometers from your location."

    That made sense. After all, something that could affect those at the beginning of the 4th stage would require less than 3% of Lothur''s current power.

    That fraction of his power alone would hardly alert creatures far away from where he would perform such a ritual.

    At the same time, high-level creatures had high-level things to worry about. Thus, a simple ritual practiced rtively often by powerful spectres over time would hardly attract the attention of beings beyond the space mentioned by that spectre.

    With that in mind, Lothur epted the risks and said. "All right, we''ll do it." He looked at his women and Cykad.

    As they took deep, anxious breaths, Lothur looked back at the spectre andmanded. "Now go. Do everything I''ve told you."

    As Lothur''s ve, he had ways of finding him or sending information to the young Ritter. So, without receiving anything more from him, the spectre returned to his home, towards the sea.

    Lothur and his group wouldn''t be there much longer and would soon be on their way to those two states!

 Chapter 813 Spectral Formation

    Chapter 813 Spectral Formation

    Two weekster...

    After Lothur''s party had left the meeting ce with the 5th-stage spectre, they had left for the future the hunt of groups of demons across the continent and traveled to Utrary.

    Since they were more concerned about the spectral threat in Utrary and Thasan, the group traveled as fast as they could to that area in the southern part of the continent, of course, without using their Sage abilities so as not to attract unnecessary attention.

    But even though they were traveling in a hurry, the group had encountered two groups of 4th stage demons on their journey, and Lothur had naturally eliminated them since they didn''t take up much of his time.

    They weren''t interested in hunting demons now, but those who got in their way would naturally meet their end.

    In addition to these two encounters with demons, the group had passed through three groups of 3rd and 4th-stage spectres, all of which had been exterminated by Blood and Smoke.

    And so the party had reached Utrary this morning, but they continued their journey westward to the border between Thasan and Utrary, where Lothur nned to stop.

    These two states shared a long border. Not only that, but they weren''t enormous, and the two capitals were less than 500 kilometers apart.

    With this in mind, Lothur intended to perform the ritual suggested by the 5th-stage spectre between the two states, where he would have a chance to attract spectral creatures in both territories!

    If this worked, he could eliminate his most worrisome targets of the moment in one fell swoop!

    ...

    As dusk fell on the bordends between Thasan and Utrary, Lothur''s party finally reached where he nned to perform the macabre ritual to attract the spectres.

    Arriving at the border of these two states, the party stopped in a hilly area where there weren''t many trees but ratherwns that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    Arriving at the top of a hill, Lothur looked at the darkened surroundings, where an ordinary person would be frightened by the intense darkness. He felt that this was the best ce for him to do what he intended.

    "I will perform the ritual here." He said to his group while Cykad swallowed his saliva, feeling unsure about the whole thing.

    He had nothing in mind to stop the threat to the monarchical families of these two states, so he wouldn''t suggest that Lothur not do the one thing they knew could help them. But still, he didn''t feelfortable with all of this and couldn''t help but keep his distance from the young Ritter at this point.

    "Do you need help?" Viktoria asked him while the other three women looked at Lothur as if to say the same thing.

    "No. Just hide your auras and positions on the outskirts of this area. Stay at least 300 meters from where I am." He said, knowing that only he could perform this ritual. "The same goes for you two, Blood and Smoke. If you stay by my side or don''t hide your auras, the spectres we are trying to attract will be scared away froming here."

    "Okay, creator!" The two replied simultaneously, moving along with Lothur''s women, making their auras disappear as they positioned themselves at different points around the area.

    Noticing that he couldn''t see his people''s positions or feel their auras, Lothur felt ready to begin his work there.

    Even though he had never performed such a ritual before, being a Sage capable of creating life and seeing the rules behind techniques and things in the cultivation world, Lothur had a good idea of what he had to do.

    After reaching the 5th stage, he spied on many people''s techniques. With so many methods of using thews of this world to transform spiritual energy into special things, he had already created a dozen techniques of his own.

    He quickly created one in this situation while thinking about what he needed to summon the fallen souls who had failed to reincarnate but had not yet begun their spectral formation.

    He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them as ck mes covered them and his hands.

    Suddenly, five fires of ck mes erupted at different points around him while a pattern began to form on the grass of the hill where he stood.

    Lothur brought his hands together and made a finger seal, causing the energy in his surroundings to expel all the positive elements from around him while concentrating on the negative elements in his surroundings.

    Suddenly, the mes around him increased in intensity without any more of his powers being poured into them, while the shape of a demonic pentagram appeared on the grass there.

    Impure Reincarnation!

    Lothur bent down and struck the ground, immediately causing dark clouds to cover the sky, while strong winds formed in the area, causing Cykad and the women in the group to shiver.

    Then, terrible sounds that seemed toe from the depths of the underworld rang out in the area, seeminglying from every possible direction, while spiritual pulses emanated from the area where Lothur stood.

    As he controlled the ritual, he could feel different points of darkness forming in different parts of the area as the ritual began to produce results.

    The summoning of the spectres had begun!

    Lothur focused on one of these points of darkness and understood a little more about the spectral problem in this world.

    Currently, there are two types of spectres in this world. Those who were formed from souls that failed to reincarnate when the wheel of reincarnation was still working, and those who died after this essence of the world stopped working.

    Before the wheel of reincarnation stopped working, some beings failed to reincarnate. However, failure in this process did not mean immediate spectral transformation.

    It was a process that could be influenced by factors individual to the dead being and external factors rted to the ce where they died.

    Given the number of requirements for a spectre to form, a soul could transform into a spectre hours after their death or millenniater.

    Therefore, even in the current situation of this world, not every dying being would immediately form a spectre.

    Thus, even though there was a problem with arge number of spectres appearing in Concordia at present, there were many more souls waiting to form spectres than there were spectres already formed.

    If one were to perform the ritual that Lothur had just begun, that being would be able to begin summoning many spectres with rtive ease, as many souls were waiting for such a moment.

    As he began his ritual, he sensed more than 100 essences in the area, which had surely witnessed the death of countless lives over the years.

    Lothur could sense that some of these essences were from weak beings. Still, more than half of them were from Saints, which was impressive, considering he had only used 2% of his power. Yet, so many powerful essences answered his call.

    Then, while he was bringing these essences into the space under the mes of darkness, Lothur suddenly felt someone approaching the area.

    ''So quickly?'' He opened his eyes in surprise.

    ...

 Chapter 814 Banquet Time

    Chapter 814 Banquet Time

    Not only did Lothur sense someone approaching the area, but everyone in his party sensed something.

    Cykad was the most frightened by everything that was happening. Still, even so, when he sensed a Saint approaching the area, he couldn''t deny the efficiency of the method.

    Viktoria looked to the south and saw a spatial distortion created by a low-level Saint. ''That''s not a spectre.'' She worried, imagining the possibility of troublesome peopleing to this ce.

    A Saint was no big deal, but if an ordinary person could sense Lothur''s ritual, then maybe some Sage in the area would too!

    That would be worrying!

    Elke and Reba also looked worriedly at the spot where a middle-aged, blond man had just appeared and was flying towards Lothur.

    But Annaliese had a different thought in her head, remembering what had happened to her family months ago.

    ''A possessed body?''

    Blood and Smoke sensed what was inside this neer and immediately realized that this was no ordinary human but a body possessed by a spectre.

    Many spectres on the continent didn''t live in their supernatural form but in bodies that they could cultivate more easily, live in the human world, and strengthen themselves more easily.

    Bodies also gave them freedom. That is, when a spectre was formed, it was confined to a certain area near the ce where it was formed. But by possessing a body, no matter what level it was, these creatures could transcend those limits and go wherever they wanted!

    And that wasn''t all!

    When a low-level spectre was formed, in addition to the many limitations on how far they could go, these creatures also had another level of limitation, which was their rationality.

    Low-level spectres were extremely chaotic and could only follow their instincts. But by possessing a body, these beings could stabilize their thoughts and act rationally!

    Because of this, spectres of all levels would try to possess living beings, especially people who were capable of cultivation.

    When Lothur saw the possessed person arrive at this ce, he wasn''t surprised by the shape of the spectre, but he couldn''t help but let out a long sigh.

    To him, it was obviously a possessed body. But for people below the 5th stage, it would be impossible to tell. In fact, even Sages could be fooled by these creatures.

    Thinking about it, Lothur couldn''t help but wonder how many possessed bodies there were in the relevant powers on the continent.

    ''What a problem...'' He thought as he closed his eyes while he sensed several other individuals arriving in the area, all of them spectres or possessed bodies.

    The ritual Lothur had initiated was special. Only creatures with a strong elemental affinity to thews behind spectres would be able to sense what he had initiated.

    Thus, it would be very difficult for humans or beasts to sense what was happening there, and any human body that moved in Lothur''s direction would surely be possessed by a spectre.

    Even demons, beings with a great elemental affinity for darkness, would have difficulty understanding this ritual.

    Knowing how this ritual worked, Lothur wasn''t worried about non-spectral beings approaching him.

    "Elder..."

    As more and more spectres and possessed bodies arrived on the outskirts of the area, the neers approached where Lothur was, kneeled down, and recognized him as an elder of the Castle of Shadows.

    No one was surprised to see a humanoid body under the control of the ritual. This could be an elder possessing someone important, a rare urrence but possible.

    At the same time, even if they didn''t feel anything to indicate that Lothur was possessed, these creatures wouldn''t question his identity. After all, only 5th-stage spectres were capable of initiating such a ritual.

    Humans couldn''t withstand the elementalbination necessary to initiate the ritual!

    The only known type of soul capable of having the necessary affinities were those of high-level spectres!

    As such, everyone there recognized Lothur as a superior and bowed their heads without hesitation, trying to please him so that he would let each of them eat at least one of the spectres in formation.

    All of the arrivals were Saints between levels 19 and 21. But even though Lothur only used 2% of his power, that was enough for them to increase their strength from 14% to 38% when devouring those spectres in formation!

    That might not seem like much, but if a level 19, Origin Saint, devoured 3 of those forming beings, it could get enough to reach the peak of level 20 in just one night!

    This was the power of the spectres, something that made them as dangerous as Lothur and his group thought they were!

    Knowing what these creatures wanted, Lothur smiled and looked subtly in the direction of Blood and Smoke.

    ''Those two are incapable of devouring those spectres in formation...'' Lothurughed, wondering what he had to do.

    "Eat, my friends! Grow stronger toplete our ns!" He said as he opened his arms, making the creatures very happy.

    Little did they know that the young Ritter only wanted to "fatten them up" to feed Blood and Smoke better!

    With Lothur''s permission, these spectral beings did not stand on ceremony. In an instant, they split up, the strongest going to devour the more powerful spectres in formation, following the hierarchy of power.

    The women of Lothur saw this and watched in horror as the powers of these creatures increased significantly in a matter of seconds.

    Cykad was the most frightened by this, but knowing that Lothur was in control of the situation, he wasn''t so afraid of these 30 spectral creatures around the young Ritter.

    He then said in the young man''s mind. ''Lothur, two of these possessed bodies are members of the royal families of these two states. What do you want to do with them? If you kill them, the spectres will realize what we''ve done and try to attack these houses again.''

    ''Oh? They were that far along with their ns?'' Lothur clenched his fists when he heard that, worried, of course. ''Very well, I''ll subdue these spectres and make them work for us in secret. We''ll only eliminate the others.''

    With that settled, by the time the spectres had consumed more than two-thirds of the essences summoned in the ritual Lothurmanded, his ck mes were secretly dominating the possessed bodies in the area.

    Blood and Smoke saw Lothur''s signal as the other spectres finished eating and moved away, finally free for the greatest feast of their lives!

    Without waiting for the creatures to realize it was a trap, they attacked the two strongest in the area.

    ...

 Chapter 815 Inside the Enemys Plans

    Chapter 815 Inside the Enemy''s ns

    In the blink of an eye, Blood and Smoke devoured more than half of the spectres that had appeared in the area as a result of the ritual performed by Lothur.

    Lothur had helped them prevent some of these creatures from escaping, but Blood and Smoke were powerful enough to deal with a group of level 20 and 21 spectres.

    By the time they acted, the weakest spectres in the area had already increased their levels to be level 20 creatures. The level 20 ones had also improved, and only the level 21 ones were unable to advance, as it was actually more difficult to advance to the 5th stage.

    In any case, their killing had been quite clean and quick, as they filled their bellies five minutes after their creator''s approval.

    The only spectres left alive from this encounter were those with human bodies. Each of them had a role of varying importance in human society and in the spectres'' ns, so Lothur kept them alive after turning them into his ves with his ck mes.

    They didn''t know how deep the spectres had already gone into their ns in these two states. But at least they had been able to intervene before something worse happened.

    With those individuals under their control, they could now counterattack the spectral and demonic threat in those two states!

    As Blood and Smokey down to rest after their big meal, Lothur looked at the five individuals kneeling before him and asked.

    "Are there others like you in Thasan and Utrary who have note to this meeting today?"

    "There are. Besides us, there are at least ten other bodies possessed by spectres simr to us." The strongest man there, a Prince of Thasan, replied without dy.

    A member of the royal family of Utrary agreed. "Some of my allies were probably beyond the reach of your ritual, master."

    As they opened their mouths, Cykad and the women of Lothur left their hiding ces and came to his side.

    "So there are more of these individuals..." Cykad muttered.

    "Will we have to do another ritual like this?" Reba asked.

    "No. We can simply use these possessed bodies to draw these others to us." Viktoria answered in front of her husband.

    And that was what Lothur had in mind. But before he told them what to do, he had a few questions in mind. "What are you doing in Thasan and Utrary?"

    "Master, we are currently increasing our influence andying the groundwork to rule these two states. The Demon Emperor''s men shouldn''t take long to gather all the singrities. So we''re preparing the ground for his resurgence on the continent." Said one of these creatures, confirming the fears of Lothur and his people.

    Another possessed body said. "We nned to disrupt the local forces and even use them to sabotage the movements in defense of this continent. If all went well, this would be ourmand base during the war of domination."

    "Oh?"

    "That''s terrible!"

    "They''re way ahead of the humans. While the humans are hunting Lothur, they rapidly develop their ns." Viktoriamented in an annoyed tone, seeing the human folly.

    The human Sages thought they were using the demons to locate Lothur. But the truth was that they were in the demon trap and in danger of extinction!

    With this in mind, Lothur sighed, seeing that he would have a lot of trouble before he could find peace, and gave his orders.

    "Very well. When you return to your posts, I want you to act more or less ording to the ns of the spectres who ordered you to move to these two states. But whatever happens, you must inform me as soon as possible."

    "Okay, master."

    "Also, I want you to find or send those possessed bodies to me. That will be your most urgent task." He said seriously before gesturing for those beings to return to where they came from.

    They were among the strongest of the previous batch and had improved by between 20% and 40%, which was very good but not so impressive that anyone would have suspected their sudden strengthening.

    Lothur wasn''t worried about their departure and soon turned his attention to his huntingpanions.

    "What do we do now?" Elke asked.

    "First of all, we must deal with the spectres possessing relevant human bodies in these two states," Lothur replied. "So until we sort that out, we''ll have to stick around."

    "But that will take a few days or weeks to sort out." Viktoria looked at Cykad. "Do you have any groups of demons under observation by your staff nearby?"

    "There''s a group in Rablus. We can go back and forth from that group''s position there in about 20 days. I believe that one of the groups of spectres we would move against earlier is in the vicinity too." He replied.

    Lothur''s group currently had 7 locations of 4th stage spectres groups, while they had 9 locations of 4th stage demon groups that didn''t have sniffers among their members.

    But most of these groups were in the northern region of the continent, from where they would have to travel for days or weeks just to reach these positions.

    They didn''t want to be far from Thasan and Utrary before resolving the situation in these two states, so the group couldn''t go after most of these groups.

    "Let''s go after these demons and spectres." Lothur said to his group. "After we return and solve the problem in those states, we''ll go after the remaining groups that we can attack without attracting too much attention.

    Then it''ll be time to take a few more risks against the Sages!"

    With that said, the group soon left the ce, hurrying to get out and return to this location.

    ...

    Ten dayster...

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,480] [CON: 4,755] [DEX: 4,510] [AGI: 4,650]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,999] [SOU: 6,510]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 22]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,550] [CON: 4,800] [DEX: 4,600] [AGI: 4,630]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 3,020] [SOU: 6,731]

    Having finished eliminating the group of spectres they had followed for two days after dealing with a group of demons three days ago, Lothur looked at the status of his two creations.

    Seeing how strong these two were getting, he felt that they would reach level 23 of soul cultivation after they eliminated the 6 groups of spectres and 8 groups of demons they had in mind at the moment.

    They would certainly have more opponents in the near future. But those that were already in their ns would be enough for the two felines to advance to level 23, the minimum for them to get involved in the dangers that Lothur nned to get involved in soon.

    So, seeing their progress, he was satisfied and said to his group. "Let''s head back. Those spectres must already have the location of our targets in Thasan and Utrary!"

    With that said, they once again set off, returning to those states to resolve the problematic situation there.

 Chapter 816 The Car Revolution

    Chapter 816 The Car Revolution

    Another ten days passed in the blink of an eye...

    While Lothur and his women traveled with Blood, Smoke, and Cykad, things were better than ever for the Ritter family in Peters City.

    Months after their leaders left, the family had received more than 60 Soul Bones sent by three groups of Lothur''s messengers during that time.

    These more than 60 Soul Bones had helped the Ritter family to be much stronger and increase the strength of their allied families, those closest to them, which were at their side of the operations inside and outside the Ritter Motor Company.

    Through these Soul Bones, the Koch, Frost, Jansen, and Becker families had increased their strength, with between 2 and 5 people in each family benefiting from these bones sent by Lothur.

    Individuals who had recently be Saints with the help of the resources given by Lothur on his previous trip to this province had once again strengthened themselves and reached the high level of the 4th stage.

    Among those who benefited the most was Mabel, who now had 7 Soul Bones in her spirit and had reached level 23 in both soul and body cultivation!

    As the representative of Lothur''s interests and the current controller of the Ritter Motor Company, that woman had absorbed 3 new bones from those that had arrived at the Ritter family headquarters, thus reaching this level of power.

    And under hermand, the Ritter Motor Company was bigger than ever!

    With the third auction of Ritter Motor Company shares held a few weeks ago, thepany had raised 270 million gold coins for the 15% of thepany previously offered by Lothur.

    In addition, the old partners made a new round of investment after the auction, bringing an additional 135 million gold coins into thepany.

    With 405 million gold coins in hand, Mabel had already ordered the construction of 10 new factories and started to expand thepany towards Lenz and Utrary.

    With all of the Leopoldine provinces already having factory shops and Ritter Motor Company-rted businesses in their main cities, it was time for thepany to focus on expanding outside of the empire.

    As such, Peters City became increasingly important, growing more and more as thepany became more relevant andrger.

    ...

    In Peters City...

    The city''s poption had now surpassed 900,000. Still, even so, construction didn''t stop around it, with new homes, businesses, and industries springing up locally.

    Meanwhile, the number of Saints in this city had increased beyond the number influenced by Lothur. Now, more than 400 cultivators of this stage live there, along with 3 Sages.

    One of these Sages was, of course, Mabel, while another was one of the Jansen siblings who had been helped by Lothur earlier.

    As the strongest family in Leopoldine and one that should be protected, Lothur had ordered that some of the bones he had sent be given to this family.

    As a result, this family now had five Sages in their ranks, with one of the two new individuals havinge to this city to help protect the power core of the empire and his family.

    With the recent auction of the Ritter Motor Company, the Jansen family had increased their position within thepany. As such, they were eager to protect this ce by holding a position at thepany''s headquarters.

    Due to the local presence of these specialists, high-level professionals from all over the empire and even neighboring states came to this city to set up shop and provide the services that 5th-stage specialists required.

    That''s why the number of Saints in this ce has increased so much recently!

    However, while many high-level cultivators were taking care of their business in the city center and many ordinary workers were developing new areas of the city, things were a bit hectic at the Ritter family''s headquarters.

    In the underground building next to the city, more than 15,000 people were working to monitor the organization''s spywork.

    In the months since Lothur''sst visit, 25,000 new vehicles had been delivered, and there were now more than 40,000 vehicles of various types circting throughout the empire.

    With so many cars circting the empire,munications in the state had gone through the roof. Now, anyone couldmunicate with someone on the other side of the state cheaply.

    This revolutionized the entire state to the point that the major local forces had reced their old methods ofmunication and were now using the Ritter Motor Companywork tomunicate with their men across the state.

    As a result, tens of thousands of calls came in daily for the Koch family-led group at this outpost to follow up on, which is why so many people were working there today.

    But with so much informationing in, this busy ce was getting increasingly important information!

    At the moment, nothing very relevant to their leader had reached them, such as information about demons and the Seven Singrities. However, thanks to the Koch family''s espionage, Lothur''s allies had wiped out several groups that had attempted to act against their interests in recent weeks.

    Not only that but with information from various powers, they could predict the best time for newmercial actions, new business niches for their people to develop, locations with the greatest potential returns for certain businesses, etc.

    The possibilities were endless!

    Through this and the allied forces of the Ritter family, Leopoldine gradually left its former position as one of the weakest states on the continent and became relevant for the first time in a long time.

    If the expansion into the new states was done well, they could have critical information about their neighboring states in no more than a year!

    By then, it would finally be time for them to help their leader with truly important information for Sage-level people!

    But with all this growth, the Ritter Motor Company had obviously attracted the attention of some of the major forces on the continent, such as the Cultivation House and the Seraphim Church!

    With so many coins at their disposal and a growing number of experts in Linn Province, the continent''s greatest powers couldn''t stand idly by!

 Chapter 817 Advances

    Chapter 817 Advances

    While the Ritter Motor Company was attracting the attention of the continent''s powers for its lucrative business and gradually expanding into new states, Lothur and his group had finally returned to the border between Thasan and Utrary.

    After a week since theirst stop to deal with a group of spectres, the group returned to such an area to deal with the possessed bodies on the loose in these states.

    Arriving the morning before at the borders of these two states, their group didn''t have to wait long before they receivedmunication from Lothur''s ves in that state.

    Receiving the locations of each possessed body from these two states that had not yet been dominated by the ck mes, Lothur, and his women set off the previous afternoon to sort it out.

    Searching for the strongest first wouldn''t take them long to finish their preventative action in these states!

    In just 5 days, the group would meet each of these beings, with Lothur overpowering them and giving new orders to his ves.

    No problems had arisen in those days, and the whole operation had gone smoothly, with no demons or more powerful spectres noticing what was happening in Thasan and Utrary.

    With that done, Lothur obtained 10 new ves in those states, individuals who would be his eyes and ears in secret in those areas.

    Having sorted this out, he returned to his previous ns, intending to eliminate the 6 groups of spectres and 8 of demons he had information on before looking at 5th stage creatures.

    The moment for him and his group to take a risk and attract the attention of their pursuers wasing!

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, a whole month would pass!

    In the meantime, Lothur and his group would travel through the northern region of Concordia, going after the 14 groups they nned to eliminate before proceeding with the most dangerous part of their journey.

    None of Lothur''s ves in Thasan, Utrary, or the Castle of Shadow had been heard from in thest month, so he and his group had focused entirely on the mission of dealing with the 14 groups.

    Although these groups had been scattered throughout the northern region of Concordia, in just one month, Lothur and hispanions had reached 12 of the 14 groups, eliminating almost all of them!

    This morning, the group had attacked thest group of 4th-stage spectres they had nned to attack, and now they were standing on a mountain in the Petha Empire, preparing for a new attack.

    Theirst two targets were in this state, so the group intended to finish their hunt for 4th stage creatures in the next few days.

    But while waiting for the right moment to act, Lothur observed the statuses of Blood and Smoke, these kittens who had finally advanced to level 23!

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 5,077] [CON: 5,449] [DEX: 5,199] [AGI: 5,272]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 3,419] [SOU: 8,399]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 5,129] [CON: 5,523] [DEX: 5,209] [AGI: 5,459]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 3,533] [SOU: 8,525]

    Having devoured many level 21 spectres in recent weeks and even the souls of some demons, Lothur''s two kittens had improved not only their soul powers but their physical attributes.

    To use their ability, they needed to connect with their targets somehow. But to do this, they had to move, and so they ended up exercising and improving their bodies.

    Seeing them at this level, Lothur knew they were still weakpared to ordinary level 23 cultivators. They had recently advanced and also had a lot of their powers in their body cultivation. But even so, they had be strong enough for him to take them with him to hunt 5th-stage demons.

    Simr in features to Lothur''s women, the two little cats had reached the minimum for him to risk them inbat.

    Happy with this, Lothur looked at his own status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,680] [CON: 7,600] [DEX: 4,900] [AGI: 4,980]

    [INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 3,200] [SOU: 18,950]

    [EVF: 2]

    Seeing his status, Lothur clenched his fists, feeling that he was not far from level 24 in soul cultivation. However, it would cost him the equivalent of between 50 and 100 level 21 demons absorbed.

    That was no small feat!

    Each group of demons he had attacked so far had between 3 and 8 members.

    Demons, even when they followed the orders of their superiors and had rational beings among their group members, found it challenging to work together inrge numbers.

    Most demons worked in small teams to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

    Thus, even though he was very close to reaching the 3rd Catastrophe of the 5th stage, Lothur would still have to deal with many 5th-stage demons or go against 5th-stage beings to achieve it.

    If he needed 50 to 100 level 21 demons to advance, he would need 20 to 50 level 22 demons or 10 to 25 level 23 demons to advance.

    Knowing how much each creature was ''worth'' to him, Lothur knew he could achieve another breakthrough in just a few weeks!

    ''If I can do this before I absorb my next Soul Bone, I''ll have a great breakthrough when I absorb my 8th bone.'' He thought to himself, eager despite the danger he would face in theing weeks.

    Then he looked at the people in his group and said. "Let''s finish this part of our journey. I want to go after the first group of 5th-stage demons in no more than a week.

    It''s time to get us some bones!"

    Listening to Lothur, his four women looked at him with determination in their eyes, eager for new bones but also prepared for this moment.

    They had been preparing for months for the day when they would hunt high-level creatures.

    Even though they knew that they would be in great danger from now on, they were already psychologically prepared for what was toe!

    Blood and Smoke were also prepared, eager to deal with any creature, human, beast, demon, or spectre that stood in their leader''s way.

    Only Cykad was a little more apprehensive about all of this butmitted to the mission his old master had left him, he would lead this group, even though he was the weakest of the bunch and aware of the dangers ahead.

    ''If I have to die, so be it. I''ve lived long enough.'' He clenched his ws before getting up and heading out with the rest of the group, searching for thest rtively safe targets they could hunt.

 Chapter 818 5th Stage Targets

    Chapter 818 5th Stage Targets

    Six dayster...

    After going after thest two groups of demons in the Petha Empire that the group could hunt without getting into trouble, Lothur and his people had finally finished their hunt for 4th-stage creatures.

    Of course, this didn''t mean they wouldn''t eliminate any beings of that stage that got in their way. Still, after thest group they had dealt with the day before, they wouldn''t go after any more beings of that stage.

    With that, Lothur had made some new ves the night before and sent thest Soul Bones he had collected to his people in Peters City.

    He was aware that hispany had attracted continental attention, for even in the northern region, and even as they traveled through the forests, their group had recently heard the word "car" as they traveled.

    Even withoutmunicating with his people in Peters City to find out how things were going there, Lothur and his women were aware that theirpany was developing and attracting attention.

    So he didn''t hesitate to send thatst bit of help, something to help his people deal with the pressure they must have been under while the five of them were gone.

    With that done the night before, they rested in the Petha Empire for the next few hours, waiting for the moment when Lothur''s bloodline ability would work again.

    For some reason, Lothur''s bloodline ability had never improved in terms of its limitation, which bothered him a lot. But not knowing what might be behind it, he did what he could, using his gifts to his advantage and protecting himself when he was ''vulnerable.''

    Aware of the dangers he and his group would face if they started hunting 5th-stage demons, he didn''t want to start until he could use 100% of his powers.

    But that wouldn''t be long!

    That afternoon, Lothur and his sevenpanions would finally make their way to the first of their targets, a group of three 5th-stage demons located in Rablus, near the border of the Petha Empire.

    ...

    Hours after his bloodline ability was 100% operational, Lothur and hispanions had left the Petha Empire and entered Rablus.

    Upon their arrival, Elke immediately asked. "How do we deal with this group? Since Lothur''s pursuers are watching him, our previous approach won''t work."

    Cykad had been thinking about this for thest few weeks and nodded positively to Elke. "Yes, we have to act differently. I''ve given it a lot of thought, and I think we have two courses of action against these 5th-stage targets.

    The first, and less risky, is to attack the demons quickly and give Lothur room to use his ability without initiating a direct confrontation with the onlookers. They probably won''t move, as our group is powerful, and they will surely try to get reinforcements. The reinforcements will take some time to reach us, so we can get the first 3 bones rtively easily.

    The problem with this method is that after we carry it out, all the groups of 5th-stage demons will change their behavior, and their watchers will be more numerous and powerful. This means that our next targets will be moreplicated for us to deal with and seed."

    "What about the second method?" Reba asked.

    "In the second method, we attacked the observers of these demons simultaneously as Lothur''s action," Cykad said seriously. "The problem with this method is that we will attract the same attention as in the first method, which will increase the difficulty of our future actions, but we will also have to take more risks from the first of our targets. At the same time, we will have to eliminate humans and beasts that will be missed when the Demon Emperor is resurrected."

    Lothur said then. "The Demon Emperor will not be easily brought back to the world. So until he reappears, all those against us, humans, spectres, beasts, demons, etc., are our enemies.

    When he finally returns to this world, then that''s the time to worry about preserving potential allies. Until then, I think it''s best to use everything at our disposal to reach a level where we can prevent his resurrection."

    Lothur''s speech sounded like he would side with this group if the Demon Emperor reappeared. But inside, he knew that if that happened, he would probably die before the Demon Emperor''s resurrection!

    After all, he had absorbed two of the Seven Singrities, and for the Demon Emperor to return to this world, the demons would have to find a way to take those singrities from him.

    That would mean his death!

    But Lothur was confident in his ns to grow stronger and reach a level where these creatures would no longer be a problem for him. So he wouldn''t tell his women or his group that there was a possibility that he wouldn''t be in this world to face the Demon Emperor at their side.

    He added. "Besides, there''s a big advantage to taking action against them first. We can obtain the Soul Bones of the humans who are observing those demons and souls strong enough for Blood and Smoke.

    Since they''ve turned against me, let them face the consequences of their actions!

    Time to pay for their sins!"

    Cykad didn''t like taking Soul Bones from other living beings. To him, the best way to get bones was to kill demons, not humans.

    He saw the humans as his allies in the fight against the demons, even considering the foolishness of some humans in letting the demons roam free on the continent.

    He knew that if this group failed, they would one day need humans, beasts, and the Ancestral Folk to deal with the demonic and spectral threat. So, he preferred to avoid doing what Lothur had in mind.

    But he wasn''t a fool incapable of making a difficult decision!

    Even if he preferred another way, he knew Lothur was crucial to stopping the demons. So even if he disagreed with what the young Ritter had just said, he couldn''t go against an alternative that he himself had realized was one of the few they had.

    "So you prefer the second method?" He asked Lothur.

    "Yes, that''s what we''ll do. I''ll deal with the demons, and the rest of you should deal with the onlookers in the area. If possible, let Blood and Smoke kill the weaker targets. The stronger ones try to force them towards me. I''ll take care of them." Lothur replied, giving orders on how to proceed from now on.

    With that, everyone in the group epted his orders, and even Cykad was determined to follow these ns to the letter.

    The group continued to move through the forest as they felt different, already observing from a distance where some spiritual fluctuations of their interest were.

    Within minutes, this group would finally make its first high-level move!

    ...

 Chapter 819 Plan of Attack

    Chapter 819 n of Attack

    Arriving 5 kilometers away from their targets, Lothur''s group slowed down, first noticing the positions of the 3 demons they were about to attack.

    The only ones in the area that weren''tpletely hidden were the demons. They even camouged their auras, but that wasn''t enough to hide them from Lothur.

    He could easily detect their demonic aura!

    Sensing those level 22 individuals from a distance, the group was already observing them.

    However, level 22 and 23 observers were in the area, all of whom hid their positions and auras. Lothur''s group couldn''t easily sense these stronger ones because the way they hid their auras was very effective against cultivators like those in his group.

    However, not only could they sense the level 22 individuals, but they also knew that these individuals were there because of Cykad''s subordinate dinosaurs. Many of these creatures had helped them immensely on their journey. In particr, the group they were about to attack had been under surveince for weeks, and the Tyrannosaurus Rex subordinates had already noticed the signs left by the Sages observers.

    No matter how well these observers could hide their cultivation from Cykad''s men and the demons themselves, as one of the Tyrannosaurus Rex groups had been following these demons for months, sooner orter, signs would always appear to watchful eyes.

    Not only that, but these three demons had been moving around a lot in the past few months, not just standing still in one ce. This movement had allowed Cykad''s group to notice certain signs that there were other 5th-stage individuals in the area besides the demons.

    As for how Cykad''s group had done this without being noticed, well, actually, they had been noticed. The problem was that, at the current moment, the observation of 4th-stage beings on the continent didn''t attract anyone''s attention.

    The dinosaurs were allied with the search for the human-demon hybrid, so a group of them observing demons was no stranger to these creatures.

    The same was true for the observers in the area, who didn''t think dinosaurs would have anything to do with a hybrid. To them, the presence of dinosaurs watching the demons until a few hours ago was something rted to the search for the hybrid.

    Because of this, these groups had been able to keep an eye on their targets while keeping a safe distance from these creatures, so Lothur''s group knew they had enemies hidden in the area where they were moving.

    But as much as the people in Lothur''s group couldn''t sense the auras of the people hiding nearby, he could clearly see them with his visual abilities.

    When he stopped running alongside hispanions, Lothur immediately identified two level 23 Sages and two more level 22 near his targets.

    He also saw the stats of these individuals!

    The strongest had a Soul strength of just over 19,000 points, while the others had between 10,000 and 13,000 points in this attribute!

    They were not weak!

    But even though practically all of them had a much higher level of this attribute than Lothur''spanions, he wasn''t worried. After all, most of hispanions had a high level of physical power, something they couldbine with soul power.

    And these humans in the area watching the demons didn''t have that!

    With their enemies having physical attributes ranging from 900 to 2,000, the women of Lothur, Blood, and Smoke had a good chance of defeating them even without the help of the team leader.

    ''Elke and Anna, I want you two to do everything in your power to throw the 2nd Catastrophe individual toward where I will act. You must not hesitate. This enemy will get away from you if you don''t do as I say. Don''t give him any openings.'' He said into the mentalmunication of his group.

    ''Cykad, help Blood and Smoke. Don''t try to fight the opponents directly. Just help these two cats. They will deal with two of the 1st Catastrophe cultivators.'' He said, looking at the three of them, especially therge level 22 beast over there.

    ''Finally, Victoria and Ba, you must also force the strongest 1st Catastrophe man against me.'' He pointed in the direction of the target he was talking about. ''This should be easy for the two of you together, so when you''re done, help yourpanions in greater need.''

    With that, they split up, Lothur''s allies moving first while he watched them, waiting for the right moment to act.

    ''Time to test my luck.'' He thought as he saw that his group had positioned themselves in the area, and it was showtime.

    He looked back at the level 22 demons, creatures with almost 5,000 points of Constitution, the attribute he could absorb with his bloodline ability.

    But when Lothur looked at these creatures, all he could think of was their bones. If one of them was a match for him, he could quickly change his powers.

    However, his enemies, be they demons, spectres, or humans and beasts, had made a big mistake against him!

    They thought that Lothur was alone!

    If he were alone, Lothur would have a great chance of getting useless bones every time he killed a demon since he already had a set of 7 Soul Bones.

    However, none of Lothur''s enemies knew that he had 4 human allies with 15 Soul Bone slots in their bodies.

    Even without the repeated bones they needed, he and his women could absorb about 8 bones from different body parts. Their chances of getting something to strengthen themselves by killing a single group of demons were much higher than their enemies thought!

    With this in mind, Lothur moved with a smile on his face, appearing among the demons in an instant, terrifying not only those creatures but also the four nearby humans who were watching the group.

    After appearing there and attracting everyone''s attention, Lothur didn''t hesitate to activate his bloodline ability, forming a huge cloud of smoke behind him, while the surroundings up to 5 kilometers away from him became his domain.

    In that space, every creature would have its fate in Lothur''s hands, allowing him to decide life and death.

    "You!"

    "Shit! The fucking hybrid!"

    The demons and the humans in the area shouted the same as they sensed Lothur''s ability and realized how far he hade in thest few months he had been hiding.

    ...

 Chapter 820 Platinum-Grade Soul Bones

    Chapter 820 tinum-Grade Soul Bones

    Upon realizing who had appeared among the demons, the four humans watching this group of demons opened their eyes wide as they shivered.

    But while they were shocked by the powerful spiritual fluctuations emanating from Lothur''s body, seeing how much stronger he had be since thest time people had seen him, his allies were already in action.

    "Damn it, we need to call for reinforcements!" One of them said as he picked up hismunicator.

    They stood no chance against Lothur alone. They could all sense it from the mental fluctuation of his bloodline ability.

    Hell, even when Lothur was much weaker, many level 22 and 23 Sages acted together against him and failed to eliminate him. So it wouldn''t be these four who could aplish such a feat!

    Knowing that the only thing they could do at that moment was to call for reinforcements, they all moved with that in mind, ignoring everything else around them.

    But just as they summoned theirmunication crystals from their rings, powerful spiritual blows formed near them, drawing their attention to something other than Lothur.

    "What?"

    One of the level 22 men looked back, and two women, acting in concert against him, suddenly appeared before him and struck him in the stomach.

    He had no chance to defend himself. Under Viktoria and Reba''s direct attack, the man fainted as his body was thrown towards Lothur.

    Even though he was a level 22 cultivator with even stronger soul power than the two, they had a huge advantage over this unprepared man when they used their soul power to increase their Constitution and Strength.

    By surprising him by appearing there and approaching him so quickly, the two were able to hit him while he hadn''t raised any of his defenses.

    These two knocked him out with their first move by hitting him with Strength greater than his Constitution!

    "Hell! Who are you?"

    Another level 22 Sage shouted as he saw his ally flying in the direction where Lothur was already absorbing the lives of the three unfortunate demons.

    Unfortunately for this individual, his opponent was Blood, that little red cat who liked to y with her food.

    Appearing on this guy''s back, she used her paw to smack him, inflicting a non-fatal but extremely painful cut on this guy.

    "Aaaaagh!"

    He screamed in pain, almost at the same time that Smoketched onto his own target''s back and tried to suck the soul out of this level 22 individual.

    Cykad yelled. "Don''t y with them. We need to kill them fast!"

    He immediately moved in andnded a blow on Blood''s opponent, trying to knock the human out.

    Seeing all this, the level 23 human, a demon hunter from the Seraphim Church, turned red with rage when he realized that humans and even beasts were colluding with a hybrid!

    This was the height of absurdity!

    "Traitors!" He shouted as he tried to fend off Elke and Annaliese''s attack, which was already too close for him to dodge.

    But even though he was stronger than them, he had underestimated their abilities!

    When Elke''s palm hit him, the man felt as if his soul would leave his body, something that didn''t defeat him in a single move but eroded more than 70% of his attention and defenses as soon as it hit him.

    Unfortunately for the level 23 Sage, Elke wasn''t his only opponent!

    Even though the young redhead couldn''t defeat him with her blow, Annaliese was at her side, working against him simultaneously.

    While the demon hunter felt terrible about the blow from Elke, a water portal appeared behind him and pulled his body in with great force.

    "Fucking sluts!'' He shouted as he tried his best not to fall in the face of the enemy''s movement, gradually being pulled back but managing to temporarily counterattack the thing so as not to be easily thrown.

    Ancient Poison Body: Purple River!

    Seeing it from a distance, Reba activated her innate ability and formed a poisonous vortex that flew towards that body, something so terrifying that it could even affect level 24 Sages!

    Reba''s poisonous ability was no easy matter!

    Even when she was a Spiritual Warrior, Transcendents felt threatened because she couldn''t control her powers.

    But now that she was fully capable of doing it, her fighting proficiency had increased even more, and she could affect those of higher levels than hers!

    Feeling that poisonous attacking towards him, the level 23 Sage broke out in a cold sweat as he turned pale.

    If he were hit by it, he would die!

    In trying to dodge, he made a severe mistake and finally suffered the worst that the ability of one of Annaliese''s Soul Bones could cause.

    "Aaaaaagh!"

    He screamed in despair as he felt his body being elerated towards where Lothur was finishing absorbing the vitalities of his targets.

    At that moment, the three demons standing there a moment ago had already had their bodies turned to dust, leaving behind three beautiful Soul Bones, each of them tinum grade.

    Lothur could already see that he couldn''t absorb any of these bones by looking at their shapes, but two of his women certainly could!

    That was better than nothing!

    Thinking that he would be stronger with the EVF points he had already gained from these demons and was gaining from the two humans within his reach, Lothur was satisfied with this day.

    ''Maybe I''ll have some luck with the bones of one of those two.'' He thought as he finished eliminating the level 22 human thrown at him first and began to degrade the life of that level 23 guy.

    Meanwhile, the progress of his bones, affinities, and resistances was increasing!

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 72% -> 75%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 69% -> 72%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 65% -> 68%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 63% -> 66%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 69% -> 75%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 66% -> 69%]

    ...

    [Gold-grade -> tinum-grade light resistance.]

    [Progress: 60% -> 2%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 53% -> 57%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 39% -> 45%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 42% -> 47%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 45% -> 50%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 43% -> 48%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 53% -> 57%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 54% -> 58%]

    ...

    [PER: 6,280 -> 6,799]

    ...

    [EVF: 2 -> 18,400]

    ..

 Chapter 821 Increasing the Difficulty

    Chapter 821 Increasing the Difficulty

    Seeing these improvements, Lothur quickly converted his EVF points into Soul points as much as possible while his bloodline ability slowly dissipated with the end of life of thest of his targets.

    [613 points added to SOU at a cost of 18,390 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 19,650 -> 20,263]

    ...

    [EVF: 18,400 -> 10]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger.]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: Level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: Level 22]

    [STR: 4,680] [CON: 7,600] [DEX: 4,900] [AGI: 4,980]

    [INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,799] [WILL: 3,200] [SOU: 20,263]

    [EVF: 10]

    As his characteristics stabilized at new levels, Lothur naturally felt the incredible sensation of bing stronger.

    But he didn''t pay much attention to it. As the system showed him the data of his improvements, he looked at the Soul Bones of the two human bodies that had just turned to dust.

    The two humans who had just been thrown at him were demon hunters with 7 bones each.

    As soon as Lothur''s bloodline ability eliminated their bodies, their bones separated from those existences and fell to the ground, emitting powerful spiritual fluctuations.

    Even the first bones absorbed by a cultivator, which were usually of poor quality, could improve greatly over the course of their user''s cultivation. As a result, even these bones could emit powerful spiritual fluctuations that wereparable to those of tinum-grade bones.

    When the 14 bones appeared near Lothur, his women looked in that direction and saw the result of their first battle with satisfaction.

    They were helping Blood and Smike finish off their targets, preventing them from running or screaming. But with the battle almost over, they were all safe enough to pay attention to things other than their targets.

    Cykad sighed at the sight of his group''s victory, which had been easy for them but surely the only time it had happened.

    After today, the groups behind the demons and humans killed there would change their protocols. The next time they attacked, their enemies would be more numerous, and the battles would be more difficult.

    ''I hope you can raise your level as soon as possible.'' He thought about this while looking at these bones, hoping that as many of them as possible would be useful to this family.

    While that dinosaur was thinking about it, Lothur quickly collected the bones and divided them into those that came from Emperor Demons and those that didn''t.

    Seeing their shapes, he already knew that of the bones from those humans, there were two that werepatible with his women but none that werepatible with him.

    Bybining them with the bones produced by the demons, he had a total of four bones that werepatible with his women, considering only their shapes and quality.

    ''Let''s see their characteristics...'' He thought as he touched the first of these four bones and quickly analyzed it.

    A minuteter, Blood and Smoke had finished their targets when Lothur opened his mouth to announce.

    "We have obtained three soul bones that can be absorbed by you. Viktoria, Reba, and Elke, you''ll be the first to raise your powers." He said while indicating to whom these bones would be useful.

    Unfortunately, thest of the four bones was not spirituallypatible with Anna''s powers. Even if one of them could be absorbed by her, it wouldn''t bring her as many benefits as apatible bone. Therefore, Lothur would not rmend that his women absorb such a bone.

    But getting bones for three of them was already very good. This will probably not happen again in the future, and from now on, it will be much more difficult to find at least onepatible bone.

    Finally, Lothur gave the bones to his women and said. "Let''s go. We''ll find a ce for you to absorb these bones while I recover my innate ability. We''ll fight again tomorrow!"

    They soon left, fleeing the area that would soon be visited not only by demons but also by humans and beasts.

    ...

    While Lothur and his women hid and began to absorb their bones, what had happened earlier quickly became news to those hunting for the demon-human hybrid.

    The earlier group had been unable to make any distress calls before they were eliminated. However, the humans and the alliance of hybrid hunters checked on their groups every 24 hours to prevent them from suddenly disappearing.

    When that group stopped sending their signals 5 hours after the incident, a group of investigators went to the ce where they had beenst.

    Now, three level 23 Sages were at the ce where four humans and three 5th-stage demons had been eliminated hours ago.

    When they noticed the characteristic signs of that area that had been generated every time the hybrid had been seen in action over the past few months, they did not doubt what had happened there.

    "It was him. He''s finally moving!" The only beast in the group, a giant, six-meter tall, ck-furred, very muscr ape, said, sensing the time had finallye for his alliance to act.

    "Yes, but apparently he''s much stronger." A white-haired old man dressed in the robes of the Seraphim Churchmented, noting that those whom Lothur had targeted had died easily without showing any reaction.

    This could only mean that he was much stronger now!

    Hearing it, thest Sage there said. "We must warn all of our groups. They must return from their hunts and join ourrades who are watching the high-level demons on the continent.

    The enemy will act again. So we must be ready to destroy him if he dares to show himself to our allies!"

    Everyone there agreed.

    But before they left the area, the beast asked. "But we must be careful of the demons. I sense that someone powerful from that race hase to this ce before us.

    It must have realized we''re using its people as bait for the damned hybrid."

    The stronger man narrowed his eyes, for that wasn''t his only concern. ''This demon that was here is not normal. I''ll have to warn the Church about him. Maybe we''ll have to call one of the founders.'' The man thought, a little worried about the aura left in this area, which belonged to a level 24 demon, a type of being that had not been seen on the continent for thousands of years!

 Chapter 822 3rd Catastrophe

    Chapter 822 3rd Catastrophe

    While the two humans and the high-level beast were leaving where Lothur and his group had acted earlier to alert their alliance, the demons were acting.

    In a cave hundreds of kilometers away from where Lothur had acted, a group of four level 23 demons were on their knees before a man who had just reached them.

    If one looked closely, one could see that half a dozen human and animal corpsesy unconscious nearby, as if they had been knocked down by something.

    But this was no surprise to the four demons with their knees touching the ground, for the being in front of them was a powerful 3rd Catastrophe Sage!

    "Senior, to what do we owe the honor?" The leader of that group of demons asked, but without looking at his superior''s face.

    If Lothur had been there, he would have understood why these creatures treated this ordinary-looking man.

    While the Soul strength of the four demons ranged from 15,000 to 25,000 points, the one standing in front of them had a little over 40,000 Soul attribute points!

    That being, with his eyes closed and his back to those lower-level demons, said. "The hybrid has begun to move. It''s looking for bones that arepatible with its body. So be prepared. You and the others might be its targets very soon."

    None of these demons were surprised, but they couldn''t help but feel a little annoyed that one of the elders of the strongest group of demons in their tribe had moved.

    These old experts only acted when it was for the good of the Demon Emperor!

    If this guy was in front of them, it meant that something was wrong.

    The level 24 demon, who looked like an ordinary human from a distance, just like the four, opened his eyes.

    "Just be ready. I''ll be watching." He said, just before he disappeared.

    ''Hybrid, huh? It looks like the Demon Emperor chose you. Who knew you''d be our vessel?'' This guy smiled devilishly, delighted to find someone who emitted the ''scent'' of the Seven Singrities.

    ''Good! When I find you, it will be time for the Demon Emperor to reappear in Concordia!''

    ...

    Eight hours after the previous attack, all the high-level demon groups and their observers around Concordia began to move.

    One moment, Cykad''s subordinates were watching 10 groups of 5th-stage demons, and then, in a few hours, everything changed, and the 10 groups became 5.

    At the same time, they were all moving at speeds beyond normal, and all the Tyrannosaurus Rex that had been observing these creatures lost sight of their targets.

    Cykad''s subordinates were desperate at this point, already sendingmuniqu��s to their leader without understanding what was happening.

    But whatever it was, they could no longer help the dinosaur next to Lothur!

    Now, their targets were missing, and as far as they could tell, they could no longer be observed by the 4th stage beings.

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, Cykad received a dozen calls from his people.

    But while he waited for his group to act again, he wasn''t surprised by what his men had to warn him about.

    As expected, the demons and humans reacted to their group''s move!

    "Sigh... Things are going to get a bit chaotic from now on." He muttered, but his concern was somewhat contained.

    By now, Lothur''s three women had finished absorbing their new Soul Bones, greatly increasing their strength!

    Lothur wasn''t far from Cykad at the moment, but he was watching them closely, seeing all the improvements they had undergone after absorbing their new bones.

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23 -> 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22 -> 23]

    [STR: 6,582 -> 13,164]

    [CON: 7,575 -> 15,150]

    [DEX: 6.644 -> 13.288]

    [AGI: 6,768 -> 13,536]

    [INT: 2,544 -> 5,088]

    [PER: 1.774 -> 3.548]

    [WIL: 6,292 -> 12,584]

    [SOU: 5,828 -> 11,656]

    ...

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23 -> 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23 - > 24]

    [STR: 7,318 -> 13,904]

    [CON: 9,029 -> 17,155]

    [DEX: 7,318 -> 13,904]

    [AGI: 7,392 -> 14,044]

    [INT: 2,120 -> 4,028]

    [PER: 1,715 -> 3,258]

    [WIL: 4,955 -> 9,414]

    [SOU: 6,139 -> 11,664]

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23 -> 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23 -> 24]

    [STR: 7,996 -> 16,791]

    [CON: 9,767 -> 20,510]

    [DEX: 7,996 -> 16,791]

    [AGI: 7,939 -> 16,671]

    [INT: 743 -> 1,560]

    [PER: 1,428 -> 2,998]

    [WIL: 4,683 -> 9,834]

    [SOU: 6,568 -> 13,792]

    Seeing how much they had improved with these new Soul Bones, Lothur clenched his fists, imagining his next advance.

    He would probably pass the 45,000-point mark in his Soul attribute when he got his next bone!

    Imagining how strong he would be by then, Lothur felt excited about his women''s progress, even though they still had a long way to go in terms of their souls.

    The three women''s cultivation was so high because of their physical attributes that could also influence their soul cultivation.

    They couldbine their soul powers with their physical ones and be able to fight level 24 opponents now that they were like that. However, if they were caught out by a mental skill or technique, for example, that wasunched by someone at level 24 with ''normal'' cultivation, they would be in trouble!

    With a Soul attribute of the same value as that of some level 22 Sages, they still had a lot of growing to do.

    In any case, with their current bodies, they were as resilient and powerful as early 3rd Catastrophe beasts!

    That in itself was very good!

    Lothur then congratted his women.

    "Congrattions, Viktoria, Elke, Ba. With this breakthrough, we''ll be able to work together much more safely. Now, I want you to familiarize yourselves with your new features. We''ll be back on the hunt in the next 15 hours."

    With that advice, the three of them took their time to get to know their new abilities a little better while Lothur, Annaliese, Cykad, and the two kittens watched.

    Blood and Smoke had also improved after absorbing the souls of these two level 22 Sages. However, they had only gained 400 points in their soul attributes, nothingpared to the progress of these women.

    "What will we do when they are ready? Things will be harder than before." Annaliesemented, having already overheard Cykad''s conversations with his people.

    "Well..."

 Chapter 823 Time for the Most Important Attack

    Chapter 823 Time for the Most Important Attack

    Hearing Annaliese''s question, Lothur thought about it and said. "Well, there''s nowhere to run. Now it''s kill or be killed. So we''ll continue with what we were doing before.

    It will be a little more difficult to find our next targets and defeat them as well. But it''s the only way to go. But look on the bright side: no matter how difficult the next attack will be, the number of bones we''ll find will be far greater than what we achieved in the earlier action.

    Maybe a single attack will be enough for you and me to reach our 8th bone!"

    Annaliese understood this. After all, as the groups of demons and their observers grew in size, more bones would appear in their eventual victory.

    The problem would be to defeat as many opponents as they now had.

    ording to Cykad''s men, the groups they had located earlier had joined other groups before disappearing.

    So the next time they went into action, they would probably have to deal with 15 or 20 Sages between levels 22 and 23 who would be waiting for their attack in the previous modus operandi.

    That would make it harder and more likely for them to lose!

    Cykad sighed as he heard Lothur''s words, but even though he feared for the future, he knew this was an important step for his group in dealing with the demonic threat.

    But he wasn''t as afraid as he had been at the beginning of this journey.

    After months of traveling with Lothur and the four women, Cykad had obtained many resources manipted by the young Ritter. As a result, he had advanced his level much more easily than he had expected using normal methods.

    He couldn''t deny the great advantage of traveling with Concordia''s best alchemist!

    Even though Cykad had only recently reached the 5th stage, the months he had spent at Lothur''s side had already brought him close to level 23.

    Because of the improvements he''d made so far, he wasn''t so afraid of the future.

    Still, he knew he wouldn''t be able to apany this group for much longer.

    "Lothur, I''ll take part in this attack we''ll make after you''ve recovered and we''ve found our next target. But after that, I will no longer apany you.

    Unfortunately, the gap between us is widening faster than I can improve." He said seriously.

    "Are you sure? As long as you stay by my side, it won''t be impossible for you to reach the 3rd Catastrophe at the end of our journey." Lothur said.

    "I know. Your pills and potions are wonderful." Heughed. "But I''m afraid the risk is too great.

    Don''t get me wrong. I''m not afraid to die. I''ve lived long enough. But I made a promise to my master, and I want to live to see the day when the demons are extinguished."

    "Is that so? Well, you''re free toe and go. But if you want to join my group again one day, you''re wee."

    "I know." He said, grateful for Lothur and his dedication to demon hunting. "But make no mistake, I will not stand still. I will try to prepare the continent for the future. I hope we won''t need an allied army to defend Concordia. But if the dayes when the Demon Emperor sets foot on thesends again, I''ll have an army ready to fight."

    "Do that. Better safe than sorry." Lothurmented with a subtle smile, wishing the beast good luck.

    A few more hours would pass, and once Lothur''s women were done getting to know their new traits, he would spend some time with each of them.

    Since they had increased much of their Constitution attribute, Lothur would once again benefit greatly from having fun with his women.

    ...

    Three dayster...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 4,680 -> 5,190]

    [CON: 7,600 -> 10,500]

    [DEX: 4,900 -> 5,350]

    [AGI: 4,980 -> 5,400]

    [INT: 1.599]

    [PER: 6,799]

    [WIL: 3,200 -> 3,550]

    [SOU: 20,263]

    [EVF: 10]

    At this moment, Lothur was flying alongside his group, heading towards a group of demons they had located this morning.

    Over thest few days, they had spent most of their time looking for traces of where the targets they had lost track of had gone.

    By finding the tracks of one of these groups, they were finally heading towards them to attack the next group of 5th-stage beings!

    But in those days, Lothur had significantly benefited from the quality time he''d had with his women, having substantially raised his Constitution with their help.

    Having also found some time to train amid their investigations, he had improved all his other physical attributes, something his women had also managed to do during those days.

    Cykad had also improved his strength a little, and only Blood and Smoke hadn''t changed much since Viktoria, Reba, and Elke progressed. Their primary strengthening mechanism was souls, but their group hadn''t attacked anyone recently.

    In any case, they were gradually evolving their physical abilities as they had to move around and train with Lothur and their creator''s women.

    In general, the group was stronger than ever, and everyone there felt ready for the attack that was about to take ce!

    From what Lothur had achieved with his skills, the enemies this time were in much more impressive numbers than before.

    Instead of a group of 3 or 4 demons between levels 22 and 23, as was the configuration of theirst targets, the group they were heading towards now had 8 demons, most of them at level 23.

    Considering the number of these creatures, Lothur expected to find more than 10 Sages from the coalition hunting him across this continent.

    That meant his next target had something like 20 level 23 beings, a high number, simr to the one he had faced months ago when the Diamond-grade Soul Bone had been destroyed just moments before he absorbed it.

    That was impressive! However, he wasn''t alone this time!

    "Guys, we''re close to reaching our targets." He said this to his group in a different tone from the previous attack. "Be careful. That goes even for you three, Elke, Viktoria, and Ba. You are far from vulnerable, and today, we will face more enemies than ever.

    They will try to kill me but don''t think there will be any danger to you. So fight with caution, and don''t worry about helping me by sending your opponents in my direction.

    Today, as long as we can escape with the Soul Bones that the demons I attack will generate, it will already be a great sess."

    Hearing Lothur''s solemn tone, everyone agreed, aware that they would have to fight more selfishly today, defending themselves and eliminating their enemies as far as possible.

    And so, the group would split up to begin the day''s attack!

 Chapter 824 Great Battle of Sages (1)

    Chapter 824 Great Battle of Sages (1)

    Minutes after they had split into three, Viktoria followed at Annaliese''s side, Elke with Cykad and Reba with Blood and Smoke, all giving the signal for Lothur to act.

    Mentally listening to the messages from his women, who had already positioned themselves near the groups of observers on the outskirts of where the demons he was about to attack were located, Lothur moved.

    Once close to his targets, Lothur quickly determined the exact locations of his opponents, as well as their levels and numbers.

    As Lothur had expected, the number of demons was only 8 individuals between levels 22 and 23, with constitutions between 6,000 and 9,000 points.

    But the humans, beasts, and even the Ancestral Folks who were watching the demons were more numerous and stronger than he had expected.

    With 15 people in the area, all of them at level 23, the humans and Ancestral Folk people in the area had souls between 17,000 and 27,000 points. As for the beasts, their constitutions were between 7,000 and 10,000 points, something impressive, the strongest in that regard that Lothur had ever seen outside of his family.

    But even with these numbers, this alliance against Lothur hadn''t deterred the young Ritter from taking action that day.

    At the signal of his women, already positioned near the opponents he had chosen based on the weaknesses and strengths of hispanions, he moved quickly, manipting space and appearing near the demons.

    However, unlike thest attack, Lothur could not appear among his targets and immediately use his bloodline ability. This time, his opponents were already waiting for him and had set up a Space Stabilization Formation nearby, something capable of preventing someone like them from manipting space and appearing among them.

    But Lothur managed to get very close to his targets, about 200 meters ahead of them, immediately drawing their attention to his arrival.

    "He''s here!" One of the demons, the first to notice the hybrid''s arrival, shouted as he looked into Lothur''s eyes.

    "Haha, time to kill you, you bastard. You will no longer terrorize ournds!" A human shouted as he approached Lothur, not expecting to find allies nearby.

    Lothur heard severalments shortly after he stopped before his targets and smiled as he saw the demons'' confidence in the formations they had ced in the area.

    Not only were there things that could prevent someone like him from getting close to the demons manipting space, but there were also barriers that could prevent him from killing those demons easily.

    But Lothur was a great formations master himself! Nothing like that could stop him from achieving his goals!

    Showing off his inscription skills to everyone in the area, Lothur quickly manipted the demonic formations, immediately making everyone in the area see how forbidden his skills were.

    "He''s terrific! He has to die!" One beast opened its mouth to spit venom in Lothur''s direction, while several others in the area revealed their positions to attack or approach the location of the hybrid they wished to eliminate.

    However, just as the group of 15 beings nearby began to move, 7 enemies appeared in their path!

    In front of arge snake beast that opened its mouth to spit venom at Lothur, a green-haired woman appeared, smiling while carrying two kittens on her shoulders.

    "Not so fast, little worm." Reba opened her mouth as a bubble of poison formed in front of her hands, causing horrible sensations to the snake and all beings in the area.

    "What?"

    "Who are they?"

    "Shit! 3rd Catastrophe Sages!"

    The surrounding people shouted in shock, not expecting the hybrid to have allies, let alone such powerful people.

    Everyone there could sense the level of those individuals, especially Reba, Viktoria, and Elke, who were clearly at level 24!

    As much as their souls didn''t seem to be very strong, to reach that level, one would have to have impressive characteristics, so immediately after the appearance of these women, everyone in the area became more serious, realizing that dealing with Lothur wouldn''t be easy.

    It would be extremely difficult!

    While the snake in front of Reba trembled at the venom this woman was producing, Elke began to take action against some of the strongest in the area.

    Being the strongest of Lothur''s female group in terms of Constitution and Soul, she didn''t hesitate to try and take down the first of her opponents in the area.

    Knowing that she couldn''tpare to the spiritual abilities of the Ancestral Folk in this ce, she decided to use a simple strategy.

    By using all of her soul power to enhance her physical attributes, Elke increased her speed, strength, and endurance even more, attributes that she already possessed and which, by the way, were superior to all beings in the area.

    She was aware that if she was hit by a spiritual attack from one of her opponents, she would have problems. But if she used her physical characteristics to move around the battlefield and hit her targets hard, her chances of sess would not be small!

    In the worst case, she''d miss, or her strikes wouldn''t be effective.

    With that, she moved around the area so quickly that her opponent didn''t see her approaching until he noticed someone entering his safety zone and kicked him in the abdomen.

    The Ancestral Folk man didn''t even have time to show his anger at the betrayal of Cykad and these humans as he made an ugly face and tried to defend himself.

    But as much as he had raised his guard as soon as he saw Elke near him, he couldn''t fully defend himself!

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    The moment he was hit, some of the people around heard for the first time a level 23 Sage, a member of the Ancestral Folk, screaming in pain after a single move from his opponent!

    Viktoria heard the scream of Elke''s opponent and didn''t want to be left behind, so she quickly used the same strategy as her harem sister against her targets.

    Between physical and spiritual abilities, spiritual abilities were definitely better because the cultivator who used them could keep their distance from their targets and hurt their minds, souls, and essence without exerting so much physical effort.

    However, it was precisely because of these advantages that few beings other than beasts worked so hard on their physique, and of course, physical movements were the great vulnerability of great soul cultivators.

    Viktoria knew this well, having witnessed Lothur''s growth up close, as he had always used his physical advantages to fight those with souls much stronger than his own.

    Being faster than the opponents in the area, she could dodge their spiritual blows and eventually attempt physical collisions that would injure them.

    Pow!

    She moved against a level 23 human, appearing so close to this woman that the barrier forming around that woman''s body broke with Viktoria''s movement, exposing the face of this demon hunter to Lothur''s wife.

    "Damn it!"

    ...

 Chapter 825 Great Battle of Sages (2)

    Chapter 825 Great Battle of Sages (2)

    "Damn it!"

    Some of this group shouted simr things, seeing their target so close to them but at the same time so far away, as these 7 creatures allied with Lothur were there to support him.

    Meanwhile, with only 15 seconds since Lothur''s arrival, he had finally destroyed all the demon formations in the area, frightening these creatures beyond what they had expected.

    "Was that all you had? Sorry, it didn''t work." Heughed as he moved, ready to eliminate his targets and quicklyplete his mission there.

    "Hell! Is he that strong?"

    "How can that be?"

    "He overcame the strongest formations of our forces!"

    "Fuck! Our information about the abilities of hybrids is outdated! It seems that he''s much worse than we imagined!"

    These demonic creatures said simultaneously, breaking into a cold sweat as they saw Lothur appear in their midst with a devilish grin on his face.

    These demons had already warned their superior about the sudden appearance of Lothur and his women in the area. But now that he was among them, they couldn''t help but feel afraid, full of anticipation for the arrival of the one who could save them.

    But Lothur didn''t want to waste any time. As soon as he arrived in the middle of the area where those beings were, he demonstrated great strength by activating his Gravity and preventing everyone from fleeing.

    With the eight demons in his domain, he activated his bloodline ability and formed a sinister silhouette on his back made of reddish mist that emitted powerful fluctuations.

    All the demons in Lothur''s domain realized that he was not ordinary when they felt the restrictive power of this ability and immediately understood that if they were touched by it, they would die.

    But with Lothur''s Gravity and now his bloodline ability suppressing their strength, they saw their situation with despair.

    Some even tried to use their abilities to escape the area but failed. As their natural predator, Lothur''s ability not only had restrictive properties but also nullified the powers of demons up to 100% stronger than Lothur within its domain.

    That was what made it so powerful: its ability to virtuallypletely nullify the powers of those within its reach!

    Sensing this, one of the weaker ones there cried out for help, asking for the humans and beasts nearby, but mainly his elder.

    "Help! This monster is going to kill us!"

    "Save us! If it devours us, it will grow stronger!"

    "Please, elder! Intercede!"

    The humans and beasts in the area heard all that but could do nothing to help the demons.

    Lothur''s allied group wasn''t enough to stop the 15 Sages from acting, but those who could would never try to get close to him right now.

    Everyone could feel how terrible Lothur''s ability was and how everyone would die if that silhouette''s reddish mist touched them.

    Until Lothur had finished using his ability, none of them would dare approach that area!

    These demons were alone!

    ''So this is how you devour the power of others.''

    Suddenly, a spatial distortion appeared a few hundred meters above where Lothur''s group was.

    After arriving there, the level 24 demon looked with interest at where Lothur and eight demons were standing.

    ''I could try to save them, but this skill is a bit problematic to counter.'' He thought, abandoning his tribe members without mercy.

    He narrowed his eyes and smiled discreetly. ''Besides, as the chosen one of the Demon Emperor, I doubt you''ll be able to use it for long. I will act after you have lost control of it!''

    Ignoring Lothur''s allies around, he looked with satisfaction at the creature that smelled like two of the Seven Singrities.

    ''With you, we''re only one Singrity away from bringing the Demon Emperor back to the world!'' He clenched his fists.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s women and theirpanions began to face more difficulties. With no room to act against the hybrid, everyone there turned their attention to them, making it more difficult for them to act.

    After the first blows of Elke, Reba, and Viktoria, they seriously injured 5 of their 15 opponents. Still, they would need something more to eliminate them from the battle.

    However, while they were looking for that, the other 10 opponents increased the difficulty of the battle, reducing their space to work and preventing them from attacking their opponents with any force.

    ''Lothur will finish what he''s doing in a few moments...'' Viktoria, the one with the best perception in the area, was thinking when she suddenly noticed something disturbing and looked up.

    Gulp!

    ''3rd Catastrophe demon?'' Her eyes opened wide as she noticed the man watching Lothur with a satisfied look.

    "Shit! Reba, you should do it now. Don''t bother with us. We have antidotes!" She shouted at the green-haired woman, determined to eliminate the enemies by poisoning them.

    Reba''s innate ability was outstanding. In fact, she was thest weapon of this group of women.

    Considering the presence of this enemy, Viktoria thought it was worth using her now, even if Lothur''s ns didn''t count on it.

    She didn''t want to poison those people either, as it would disrupt Blood and Smoke''s meal and might reveal the identity of some of them to possible survivors.

    But in this situation, Viktoria was more concerned with her husband''s existence than with them causing trouble for the rest of her people in Leopoldine.

    Hearing her harem sister, Reba moved to avoid an enemy attack, nced to the side, and saw the pale expression on Viktoria''s face.

    She hadn''t noticed the level 24 Sage in the area yet, but if there was something in the area that could frighten Viktoria so much, it was enough for her to obey the brown-haired woman''smand.

    She swallowed her saliva and took a deep breath, letting her powers unrestricted for the first time in a long period.

    As she did so, a green glow suddenly appeared in her surroundings, forming a holographic energy flower in front of her.

    It rapidly formed, emitting pulses and exhaling a special pollen.

    When a fraction of this pollen reached the ground, a 50-meter radius around it dposed as if the dposition process had elerated a thousand times in a single instant.

    "What?"

    "Damn it, that''s the Ancient Poison Body!"

    The surrounding experts sensed it and understood what Reba''s power was.

    Even the level 24 demon looking at Lothur nced at Reba momentarily, seeing someone dangerous in that small group of the hybrid.

    "Maybe I should eliminate this group of women first?"

 Chapter 826 Great Battle of Sages (3)

    Chapter 826 Great Battle of Sages (3)

    Looking at the women of Lothur and seeing the allies of the coalition against the hybrid raising their defenses in the face of Reba''s ability, the level 24 demon moved.

    ''I would leave you for these humans and beasts in the area. But since you''re so dangerous, I''ll take care of you first!'' He moved, moving through the space while aiming at Reba first.

    Seeing this, Elke understood Viktoria''s order, and without hesitation, she manipted space and appeared in the path of that level 24 demon''s blow, putting all of her power into her Constitution while raising her arms in front of her face as if they were shields.

    When that elder appeared in front of Reba to mercilessly attack her, instead of hitting the beautiful green-haired woman with his fist, he hit the arms of a red-haired woman.

    Pow!

    "Aaaaaagh!"

    Even if she used everything she had, Elke''s defense level was inferior to the demon''s power. In a single collision between her arms and one of the creature''s fists, she howled in pain as she felt both arms broken in several ces.

    Meanwhile, she was thrown away from where she had appeared next to Reba, feeling the power of a level 24 demon that actually had attributesmon to beings of that level.

    As the demon looked in Elke''s direction with a smile on its face, Viktoria appeared behind it and did the opposite of the redhead, attacking the demon''s back with everything she had.

    The demon didn''t even bother to react. Sensing Viktoria''s power level, he stood still, using his powers to withstand the brown-haired woman''s kick.

    "Not bad. Even though you''re weak, you have something interesting." He felt a part of the hit area freeze.

    Unfortunately for Viktoria, this demon''s special power waspletely focused on brute force. His body was powerful, and all of his physical tributes received bonuses when he used this ability.

    To give you an idea of how terrifying he was, if he were a Soul Bone, he would give his user a 100% bonus to physical attributes during his activation!

    His brute strength was so great that he could transform his body into an imprable armor, allowing him to withstand even the attacks of those stronger than him.

    If he moved while using this ability, he could seriously injure even those who were 100% stronger than him.

    Viktoria and Elke didn''t stand a chance against such an opponent!

    Seeing that his party would be wiped out if he didn''t buy some time, Cykad crossed the space and stood between Viktoria and the demon.

    Just as the dinosaur appeared in front of Viktoria, the demon attacked with the back of his hand, aiming for the face of Lothur''s beautiful wife.

    But all he struck was the torso of the great Tyrannosaurus Rex, sending it flying away in a single motion, badly wounded.

    "You are very quick to defend yourselves." Hemented, but Viktoria had already shifted position, breaking into a cold sweat as she tried to ignore the pain in one of her feet.

    ''How can that be? I almost broke my foot when I kicked him in the back!'' She eximed in her mind, frightened by the creature''s power.

    But the movements of Viktoria, Elke, and Cykad were enough to buy Reba some time.

    Just as the level 24 demon was about to act against her, the energy flower exploded, causing a poisonous fog to spread through the area, capable of severely affecting even a 3rd Catastrophe Sage.

    "Shit! Use all your healing potions!" One of the Ancestral Folk members present shouted when he saw that even with the intervention of the level 24 demon, they couldn''t escape the power of the Ancient Poison Body.

    Even that demon flinched at Reba''s move, for even though he was much stronger than her in terms of brute strength, Reba''s poison could ovee even his defenses.

    ''Very good! No wonder that creature left you alive. You can really help him a lot.'' The demon thought as he brought one of his hands to his nose and moved away from where Reba was standing.

    But as much as he had to watch out for that poisonous mist, it didn''t mean the battle was over, and Lothur''s group had won.

    This was just one more problem for him to deal with if he wanted to eliminate his target''s followers!

    As soon as he saw the 15 observers in the area suffering from Reba''s poison and the worst of that ability beginning to wear off, the demon struck again!

    While he moved against Reba, Annaliese, and Viktoria, thest ones in fighting condition, Lothur finished eliminating the eight demons.

    Almost all of his resistances had improved after absorbing the characteristics of those demons, and all of his bones were evolving and getting closer to bing Diamond-grade bones.

    However, it would still take a long time for him to reach that level, as the diamond grade was the highest and very different from the tinum level.

    Anyway, seeing the EVF points at his disposal, Lothur immediately turned them into Soul points.

    [EVF: 10 -> 52,115]

    ...

    [1,737 points added to SOU at a cost of 52,110 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 20,263 -> 22,000]

    ...

    [EVF: 52,115 -> 5]

    Before the red mist disappeared from his surroundings, Lothur nced at the eight Soul Bones nearby and saw two with shapes that matched two of the three empty spaces in his Spirit Body.

    Curving his lips into a smile, Lothur suddenly noticed something special around one of those bones and quickly approached it.

    When he saw a dark glow surrounding the bone, his expression changed to one of shock.

    ''A remnant... The demon that created this bone managed to survive my ability?'' He narrowed his eyes and became more serious.

    The demons there had clearly died for him, their essence consumed by his bloodline ability. But now he felt the remnants of a demon in that bone, something that shouldn''t happen.

    ''Interesting. I think this demon''s ability could be useful for...'' He was thinking about this as he put the bone away in his spatial ring when he felt a terrible sensation approaching him.

    Sensing someone attacking him, but also the powerful poison of one of his women, Lothur distorted space and appeared dozens of meters away from where he had ''fought'' the demons, having no chance to collect the other bones.

    "Hybrid, you truly have impressive power. But your journey ends here. It is time for you toe with me." An older voice reached Lothur''s ears as he saw what had happened in the moments he had focused on devouring the life force and traits of the eight demons.

    Looking around the battlefield, Lothur saw his four women lying in different ces, all badly wounded, still breathing, but not far from death.

    Cykad was even worse off, having lost a leg and currently unconscious, as were half of the fifteen people who were there for him.

    Those still conscious were trying to counteract the poison in their

    bodies and naturally weren''t paying attention to their surroundings.

    ''Fuck!'' Lothur looked at the level 24 creature and saw that such a person had ruined his ns.

 Chapter 827 Escape

    827 Escape Looking at the battlefield, Lothur formed an ugly expression on his face and then looked at the status of the opponent who had caused the downfall of his group.

    [Unknown Demon]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 24]

    [STR: 16,100] [CON: 20,500]

    [DEX: 17,994] [AGI: 18,055]

    [INT: 6,125] [PER: 15,456]

    [WIL: 18,995] [SOU: 40,297]

    ''Damn it! That''s a real monster!'' Lothur trembled with fear at the sight of those attributes, aware he would have little chance of doing anything against that demon.

    But even in front of such a strong expert, he felt like beating him up because no one had ever provoked him so much before, beating up his entire group.

    Aware that he would have little chance of damaging the creature or even escaping from there using traditional powers, Lothur immediately began using the Miracle of Life as he saw the creature attacking him.

    The demon appeared next to Lothur and tried to pin down its target, not at all interested in killing its superior''s chosen one.

    But Lothur attacked him, covering his fists with a strange energy capable of dposing things.

    He smiled at the sight of his target''s attack but didn''t bother to defend himself.

    ''Your other ability could hurt me a bit. But those other abilities of yours are nothing to me.'' Heughed as he felt the spot where Lothur had reached him itch.

    Seeing this young man''s audacity in attacking him, he decided to teach Lothur a lesson by pping him in the face.

    The moment Lothur felt the creature''s hand hit him in the face, he thought he would faint from the pain as he flew in the opposite direction of his opponent''s movement.

    Several of his facial bones fractured, but unlike what had happened to his women, Lothur didn''t suffer as much from the enemy''s blow.

    Not only did the demon take it easy on Lothur, but the hybrid''s body had a much higher regenerative capacity than those of the women.

    With resistances and affinities close to Diamond grade, Lothur could take a beating much more easily than his women, even though she had superior physical attributes to his!

    "Aaagh!"

    He shouted as he prepared his attack, aware that he wouldn''t seed if he tried to act against that creature when he was far away from the demon.

    But as Lothur had expected, the demon would not leave him easily. Before he even hit his back against one of the nearby trees, the demon appeared behind him, this time attacking him from behind.

    "Aaaaagh!"

    Lothur howled in pain as he was kicked in the opposite direction from where he was falling while two small creatures hiding in the surroundings watched him.

    "I need you alive, but you deserve a beating for all the trouble you''ve caused, hybrid. But don''t despair too much. You won''t suffer for long. You''ll soon fulfill your purpose!" Heughed, crossing the space and appearing behind Lothur once again.

    This time, he didn''t kick Lothur''s body. He grabbed his target by the neck, squeezing it as he held the young man in agony. But even in extreme pain, young Ritter could still understand the situation he was in well enough to try to escape.

    The demon looked at Lothur''s face and smiled before throwing him to the ground, causing the area to copse beneath his feet.

    "How do you like being looked at from this angle? I bet you''ve never been subdued like that before, huh?" Heughed as he looked down, seeing the young man in agony lying on the ground between his legs.

    But Lothur found the strength to move his two hands to his opponent''s heels and say with difficulty. "I won''t fall so easily, demon. Glimpse the Miracle of Life!"

    As he said that, the demon realized his target''s move, feeling like a parasite was rapidly sucking away his strength.

    He widened his eyes at the sight, realizing how dangerous the hybrid could be.

    "Maybe I should just remove what I want from your carcass here and now!" He moved his two closed fists towards Lothur''s chest, striking with much more force than before.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    Lothur couldn''t take that blow and let go of his opponent, immediately feeling the demon jump backward, ''fleeing'' from him so as not to have his essence stolen.

    By now, Lothur was severely wounded, with many broken bones, open wounds, and a lot of blood running down his body.

    But even so, he made a hand seal and issued the call for new creations to hear him.

    "Born of darkness,e to your master''s call!" He ced one of his hands on the ground, immediately drawing that demon''s attention.

    When the demon felt a very special energy condensing near where Lothur was standing, he felt a chill run down his spine.

    ''Does he still have something to do?'' This level 24 creature thought as he saw that he couldn''t make it easy for his superior''s chosen one, or he might even get seriously injured.

    When he saw apletely ck creature of darkness appear next to Lothur, he didn''t hesitate to move against such a target.

    At that moment, two lights, one gray and the other red appeared in that area and quickly approached Lothur.

    ''Creator, let''s go.'' Smoke said to Lothur, finally seeing the cue for them to rescue the young Ritter and flee the area.

    Lothur ignored the ck-furred pit bull he had created with the darkness he had stolen from the level 24 demon and looked at his two cats.

    ''Why aren''t you hurt? Where were you?'' He asked them as the two cats moved through space, escaping from the level 24 demon while that creature fought with the pit bull created by the Miracle of Life.

    ''When we saw that demon, we knew we could not defeat him. Our only alternative was to hide and ensure you could escape if you had the chance.'' Blood replied.

    ''Fortunately, the dog created by the creator has the same origin as the demon. Even though it''s weaker, it can still hold him off for a few seconds.

    That''s all we need to get out of that monster''s reach.'' Smoke added, aware that they had narrowly missed the end of their entire group.

    Lothur listened to all that and sighed, still in great pain but feeling guilty for not being able to do anything for his women and Cykad.

    He didn''t me Blood and Smoke for saving only him. In such a situation, the only chance these two had had to be taken and quickly realized. Otherwise, they would really meet their end!

    Lothur knew he could do nothing for these people if he were dead, not to mention that they would no longer be of any value to the demon.

    Escaping while they were left behind seemed wrong, but it was their only chance to survive!

    With that in mind, Lothur sighed and imagined that he had to absorb the bone in his spatial ring as soon as possible.

    ''Sigh... Unfortunately, I''ve lost the other bonepatible with me.'' Hemented, remembering the bone that had been left behind along with the other six.

    Everything had happened so quickly that he hadn''t had time to think about gathering those precious resources.

 Chapter 828 8th Soul Bone Absorbed

    828 8th Soul Bone Absorbed While Blood and Smoke led Lothur away, the level 24 demon finally killed the creature created by his target after suffering a few bites from the pit bull.

    ''Damn it! That wretch has such extreme power?'' He looked at the bloodied body of his opponent while he could no longer feel Lothur''s spiritual fluctuation in the area.

    Even though it was one level weaker than him, the pit bull that Lothur had used to buy time had been created based on the strengths of this level 24 man.

    He had some strengths that could cause problems for this demon, forcing the creature to be careful with that ck-furred dog.

    But even though he had to be careful, the level 24 demon only needed 25 seconds to kill his opponent.

    Unfortunately for him, that was enough time for Blood and Smoke.

    ''There were still two rats hiding in the area...'' He clenched his fists, regretting that he had not noticed Lothur''s two creations.

    ''They were probably simr creations to this animal.'' The demon looked at the ughtered dog on the ground. ''To hide from me, they probably had a high elemental affinity for light... Hmm, they must have been created from the bodies of members of the Ancestral Folk.''

    After thinking about it, the demon understood the whole situation and sighed because he had lost his target.

    "Guys, I need reinforcements. The bastard I chased escaped with a Soul Bonepatible with his body." He said as he took a high-levelmunicator from his spatial ring.

    A few seconds after he spoke, a voice from the other side reached him. "Is this serious? How did he get this?"

    "It was an oversight on my part. That bastard has a lot of abilities. But I think I''ve seen everything now. As much as he will probably get stronger, it won''t be enough for him to challenge all of us." He replied.

    "But what guarantees you that he will show himself again? Now that you''ve shown our goal of capturing him, he''ll hide."

    "No. I have an ace up my sleeve." He said as he looked at Lothur''s women, whose bodies he had already brought closer to him, using his strength to keep them from dying.

    "I believe I have things of value for him. He wille after them after he absorbs that bone."

    "Oh? Okay, we will send a group of elders to you. Hide for the next few days."

    "I will wait." He said before using one of his hands to make the seven Soul Bones that had formed in the area appear there.

    Then he closed his hands and destroyed the seven tinum-grade bones while some of the human Sages in the area looked at him ugly.

    But this creature wasn''t there for them, and they weren''t there for him either.

    Since the hybrid had fled, no one else there had any reason to stay!

    ...

    Hourster, Blood and Smoke had stopped running, ensuring that their tracks would not be easily traced by their enemies.

    09:50

    Arriving in a sparsely popted area of a forest in Lenz, they led Lothur into a cave, where they immediately manipted the surrounding space to disguise their presence.

    "Creator, everything is ready for you." Blood said as she looked at Lothur, who had recovered considerably from the level 24 demon''s blows during their escape.

    But Lothur was still weakened and had pains here and there in his body.

    However, he was fully capable of absorbing the Soul Bone in his spatial ring!

    Eager to go after his women, Lothur picked up the bone and saw the system warning.

    [Emperor Demon Radius Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Feature: Once absorption begins, it will rece the right radius bone. It will be one of the 10 Soul Bones, increasing mental attributes by 115% and physical attributes by 130%. Its user will gain the skill called Nirvana.]

    [Absorb the Emperor Demon Radius Soul Bone?]

    ''Yes!'' Lothur replied without dy as he saw the standard Soul Bone absorption process begin, with the bone quickly entering his right arm.

    Since he already had a 70%plete Spirit Body, absorbing this Soul Bone wouldn''t cause him pain orbor.

    It was just absorbing another essence.

    With several bones closer to bing Diamond grade, when the new bone entered Lothur''s Spirit Body, such an essence would be quickly dominated.

    But this time, he noticed something that hadn''t happened to him for a long time.

    ''Remnant of a demon, huh?'' Lothur remembered the sensation he had felt earliering from that bone.

    ''Nirvana... This must be rted to some kind of second chance. That''s why you''re still here.'' He realized it, even though he hadn''t yet seen the system showing him the characteristics of this ability.

    But as the superior there, even though that remnant was almost as strong as his original self, Lothur destroyed it again.

    In doing so, he immediately felt the bone losing any restraint it had to fully bond with him. From then on, absorbing it would be much more straightforward, while Lothur would begin to feel the benefits of this absorption.

    [Radius Soul Bone sessfully fused with the host.]

    Lothur saw the system''s message when he opened his eyes just over two minutes after starting to absorb it.

    At that moment, he felt as if he had be a different person, with power pulsing through his body in a totally different way than before.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Lineage: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 25]

    [Body Cultivation: level 24]

    [STR: 11,937] [CON: 24,150]

    [DEX: 12,305] [AGI: 12,420]

    [INT: 3,437] [PER: 14,598]

    [WIL: 7,632] [SOU: 47,300]

    [EVF: 5]

    Seeing his status with new values, Lothur clenched his fists as he stood up, full of the desire to return to where that demon had attacked him, take revenge for all that, and lead his women to Demon Ind.

    ''With my level having reached this level, I''ll be able to deal with anyone! Even a level 25 being won''t be able to kill me with my current situation!'' He thought confidently before looking at his new ability, but he was already nning to go on the hunt.

    [Nirvana] [Rank: tinum]

    [Characteristics: Nirvana is a physical-spiritual ability. It can be manipted to change the fate of those marked by death, preventing the end or even giving a new start to those already without salvation.]

    [Progress: 35%]

    ...

 Chapter 829 Investigating the Whereabouts of the Companions

    829 Investigating the Whereabouts of the Companions  "Blood, Smoke, let''s go back," Lothur said to his two remainingpanions, eager to return and deal with the demon that had nearly killed him.

    "But already? Wouldn''t it be good if we used a different strategy? The demon will use your women as hostages to lure you out, creator." Blood said as she looked into Lothur''s silver eyes.

    "Yes, he''ll probably do that. But if I don''t go after him, he''ll use them to force me to go to him. So I have no escape. I have to go back and face the wretch. That''s the only way out." Lothur said, worried for his women.

    Mentally, he wasn''t a hybrid who would be ready to leave everything and everyone behind. Lothur was incapable of leaving his women in the hands of that creature, even though they would probably advise him not to follow them to protect himself.

    Blood and Smoke were still learning this. But with Lothur''s words, they understood that they couldn''t suggest that their creator abandon those four.

    "So, how do we act?" Smoke asked. "He knows you''ll get stronger before youe after him. He''ll probably prepare to receive you, creator."

    "Yes. But I have no choice." Lothur sighed, wanting revenge but knowing that his situation wasn''t that simple.

    If he tried to strengthen himself, i.e., absorb the powers of demons and search for his 9th bone, that creature would threaten him with the lives of Reba, Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese.

    Lothur''s only option was to go after the demon if he didn''t want to lose his women!

    He said. "Let''s return to that ce and find out where the enemy went. At my current level, there aren''t many things that can get in my way. So I''ll fight alone. You wille with me to rescue my women."

    With that decided, the two cats climbed onto their master''s shoulders without question.

    Lothur then distorted space, disappearing from such an area in the blink of an eye.

    ...

    An hourter...

    At the same ce where the previous battle had taken ce, a bathtub-sized chunk of space suddenly distorted, and Lothur walked through it.

    Once there, Lothur activated his sight power and looked around, immediately noticing that none of his former enemies were there. Neither his women nor Cykad, something he had expected to see when he arrived in such an area.

    So Lothur didn''t hesitate to use his One With Nature ability andbine it with his visual ability. In an instant, he was able to get information about beings up to 300 kilometers away from him.

    With his level increase, his abilities had doubled or tripled their powers!

    All of his abilities had greatly improved!

    Blood and Smoke watched their creator''s new abilities with open mouths, seeing a river of information flow through Lothur''s eyes in a matter of seconds.

    ''It looks like the bastard is hiding from me... He''s nning something.'' Lothur realized he couldn''t follow a trail back to the level 24 demon.

    That demon had used his spatial abilities to flee the area without a trace, just like Blood and Smoke had done earlier.

    So, in order to find his women, Lothur would have to search for that creature slowly. But the demon could be anywhere!

    He could be in Rablus, or in Norid, or even the Petha Empire, ces close to where Lothur was. But he could be in Leopoldine, Thasan, Utrary, in short, anywhere on this continent and even beyond.

    Lothur made an ugly expression when he felt it wouldn''t be easy to take revenge and save his women.

    ''Since I can''t do much for them in the short term, I''ll save Cykad.'' He thought to himself.

    Lothur had seen the level 24 demon leave Cykad behind. But this beast had not stayed there and died. He had been taken by the Sages of the coalition who had been hunting the young Ritter, probably to answer for his betrayal by allying himself with a hybrid.

    Realizing it, Lothur immediately began searching for the Sages who had been in the area earlier.

    They also used their spatial abilities to leave the area. However, unlike the level 24 demon, these beings hade to this ce earlier without using space to hide their movements. After all, they had been following the demons'' tracks for days or even weeks.

    That indicated they had left traces along the way, things that Lothur could use to locate them.

    ''All right, let''s see where I''m going with this.'' He thought after finding the first tracks and starting his investigation.

    Lothur was not a born investigator. But with his skills, verifying information had be extremely easy.

    That was quite different from finding someone without tracks. With tracks, he could check them, find possible escape routes, and even signs of enemymunication that might indicate where his current targets might have gone after the previous battle.

    With his incredible speed and scope, it would take only four days for Lothur to find a likely trace of Cykad''s location!

    ...

    Arriving near a camp where several members of the continent''s defense force against hybrids were stationed, Lothur ignored the surrounding barriers and entered the area without ceremony.

    Since the strongest in the area was only a level 23 peak Sage, Lothur didn''t bother entering the camp and went straight for his targets, using Gravity to pressure all the beings in the area.

    With his Gravity appearing even before those humans and beasts understood who he was, Lothur walked through the center of the camp while everyone there felt their bodies bepletely immobile.

    It was as if they had lost control of their bodies.

    ''What''s going on?''

    ''What is this power?''

    Some of those who didn''t have their eyes turned in Lothur''s direction wondered, unable to see or perceive him as even their mental probing was blocked.

    Lothur nced quickly at the humans in the group, but none of their Soul Bones caught his eye. So he cut to the chase.

    "What happened to the Tyrannosaurus Rex that was next to me a few days ago?" He asked as he looked at the strongest of the about 20 individuals who were looking in his direction.

    ''That aura... It can''t be!'' One of the three strongest Sages looking at him felt a chill in his soul as he saw that the hybrid was right before him, but he had already surpassed his previous limits by far.

    Unlike the level 24 demon, the members of the coalition hunting Lothur hadn''t seen the bone he''d taken with him when he''d fled the battlefield days before. They''d seen the demon destroy the bones of the creatures the young Ritter had killed, so many had no idea he''d escaped with something so valuable.

    But seeing him there with apletely different power, the stronger Sages easily understood that Lothur had taken a step closer topleting his Spirit Body.

    Now, he was beyond the reach of ''ordinary'' experts like them!

    Lothur heard only silence as he stared at these stronger men and then smiled mischievously. "Won''t you tell me? As much as none of your bones match me, I have people who can absorb them. Besides, my two friends here are starving..."

 Chapter 830 Information

    Chapter 830 Information

    "Hybrid, if you''re here to kill us, do it quickly. We''ll never help you..." The strongest man there spoke, even though he was afraid to die. But before he could finish, Lothur interrupted him.

    "Do not misunderstand me. I can take the information I want from you. I''m just giving you a chance to cooperate." Lothur said, smiling at the man.

    "If you can do that, why didn''t you do it in the first ce?" Another asked, full of hatred for the creature before him.

    There was a long history between the creatures of this continent and the hybrids. Many have suffered greatly at the hands of these terrible creatures throughout history. So, of course, the chances of an enemy side trusting Lothur were very slim.

    But Lothur was now more than ever aware that the demons and their ns were going better than anyone believed, and there was a great chance that this continent would soon have to unite against the demons.

    He was only one and couldn''t be everywhere. Even if he seeded in his ns, he couldn''t defend thesends if he was hunting on Demon Ind.

    With that in mind, Lothur didn''t want to kill these men who couldn''t hurt him. Moreover, he wanted to try to warn them without making them hate him even more.

    He said. "I want to ally myself with you." He said, making all the men look at him in disbelief, not believing that a hybrid would have the courage to say such absurd words.

    Lothur continued. "I have never ughtered innocent people. I''ve always acted against enemies with my own life or the lives of mypanions in mind. You can easily verify that. My concern and real enemies are demons, who can strengthen me with their Soul Bones.

    It should be the same for you. You must know that a 3rd Catastrophe demon recently appeared on the continent, right? He was after me because of the Demon Emperor''s resurrection ns."

    ''Demon Emperor?'' Some people there couldn''t help but listen to Lothur''s concerns, even though they believed this hybrid was not good.

    Perhaps he really had no interest in dealing with innocents these days. After all, at his level, it wouldn''t make sense to massacre innocents to strengthen himself. It was much more practical for him to find a group of ten or so demons, kill them, and maybe find thest few bones he was missing.

    But that didn''t mean he was a friend or potential ally of the living beings of Concordia.

    ''Absurd! We would never ally ourselves with you, aberration!'' One of the strongest there thought to himself, even considering his preupation with the Demon Emperor''s affairs.

    Lothur didn''t expect to change these people''s minds in one meeting and said. "Take this message to your people. Those who do not attack me from now on, whether equal to you or stronger than you, I will not consider them enemies and will not attack them.

    But since you can''t trust me on this day, I''m sorry, but I''ll have to use my powers against you. But don''t worry, I''ll just take the information I want and leave."

    After saying this, dark mes exploded from his body and covered the entire camp area, reaching all the bodies of the Sages in that ce in a single instant.

    With that done, Lothur quickly made the men answer his questions and discovered where Cykad might have been taken.

    Lothur had arrived there thinking he might find Cykad, but the moment he entered the camp, he already knew that such a dinosaur wasn''t there.

    However, Lothur hadn''t wasted his time there. Armed with new information, he had work to do.

    After hearing the answers to his questions, he withdrew his ck mes from the men and tried to start a new rtionship with these beings.

    He still felt hatred for those who had destroyed his Diamond-grade Soul Bone, and he still had ns to steal one of the Diamond-grade bones from the Seraphim Church. However, Lothur no longer saw everyone in the coalition hunting him as enemies to be eliminated.

    With the demonic threat growing by the day, he wanted to save as many specialists as possible for a possible war against the demons on the continent.

    After removing his ck mes from these men, women, and beasts, he left without harming them, shocking some of them, for they knew how ''nourishing'' they could be to Lothur.

    ...

    After a few hours, Lothur was already searching for the information he had received from the group of hybrid hunters when he suddenly felt someone was trying tomunicate with him.

    Lothur couldmunicate with some of his ck mes-dominated ves if both he and the other side trying to talk to him used all their strength to establish mentalmunication between the two sides.

    That couldn''tst very long, let alone work over long distances.

    However, after Lothur''s advancement to level 25, his range had increased significantly, and his 5th-stage ves could more easily establishmunication with him.

    As he moved to analyze the new information, Lothur sensed something and stopped to check what it was.

    ''Master, it''s me.'' He heard the voice of the 5th-stage spectre he and his group had encountered weeks ago on a beach on the continent''s east coast.

    Remembering the mission he had given to many of the spectre groups, Lothur narrowed his eyes and imagined something problematic would happen.

    ''What is the problem?''

    ''I have two things to tell the master. First, something will happen in Ashen in the next few weeks. A group of high-level spectres would travel to that state to help my men, who should be there if the master hadn''t eliminated them.''

    ''Oh?''

    ''Second, I have information that something big is about to happen. The leaders of the demon tribe are beginning to move, and some of their representatives are expected on my ind in a few weeks. I think they may have found a new singrity.''

    ''That is very worrying.'' Lothur thought and ended themunication shortly afterward.

    "What is it, creator?" Blood asked, seeing that something had changed.

    And indeed, Lothur''s ns had changed.

    "Blood and Smoke, I want you both to go to Ashen. Something is about to happen, and powerful spectres will go to the capital of such a state. I want you to absorb these creatures and then return to me. In the meantime, I intend to find Cykad, and when you join me, we''ll go to the Castle of Shadows."

 Chapter 831 A Terrible Situation

    Chapter 831 A Terrible Situation

    Following Lothur''s orders to Blood and Smoke, the two cats separated from their creator and traveled south to Concordia.

    At the same time, Lothur headed to the information about Cykad to rescue hispanion before heading to the Castle of Shadows.

    It would have been better if Blood and Smoke had gone with Lothur. But at the moment, neither of them was strong enough for that. Therefore, the young Ritter wanted to let them grow up a bit more in Ashen first.

    Given their current level and goals, they would probably grow enough in theing weeks.

    Then, it would be time for him to deal with the Castle of Shadows and deal a fatal blow to the demons'' ns!

    As both sides moved, three days would pass.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a forest in the south of the continent, a man sat in a lotus position in the middle of a dark area where several cells could be seen lying around.

    In these cells, some beasts and humans were bound, with chains on their wrists, heels, and necks, most of them with depressed expressions, those seen on those who have already given up on life.

    You couldn''t see their pallor because of the mist over their bodies, but they would look close to death if examined by a doctor.

    But that was to be expected! They all had serious injuries on their bodies, and what prevented them from getting worse was the chains around their bodies that glowed when a special energy entered their bodies.

    In some of these cells were Lothur''s four women, stuck in different cells but very close to each other.

    Elke had been hurt the most and was sleeping while Reba, Annaliese, and Viktoria were awake.

    "What might have happened to him?" Reba asked in a quiet voice to Viktoria, who was closest to her.

    "I don''t know. But he must have escaped. Maybe Blood and Smoke helped him somehow." Viktoria said, remembering those two hadn''t participated in the previous battle against the level 24 demon.

    "I hope so. But what will happen now? I''m afraid it wille after us." The green-haired woman said with a sigh, unsure if this was a good thing.

    She wanted to see Lothur again, and most of all, she wanted to escape the clutches of the level 24 demon who probably wanted to devour her.

    As a high-level human, her body would be very nutritious for demons!

    On the other hand, she didn''t want to risk Lothur''s life.

    She didn''t know if he had obtained another Soul Bone, but even if he hadn''t, as long as he put them aside for a while, he could make great progress in no time.

    The best thing for Lothur would be to leave them behind and get on with his business!

    Viktoria thought like Reba and sighed when she heard her harem mate''s weak words. "He''lle after us, even if it''s dangerous for him. So don''t worry too much. We can''t influence the situation anymore. All we can do now is wait."

    "But what about this ce?"

    "This must be a high-level demon outpost." The brown-haired woman narrowed her eyes as she looked at the other beings in that ce. "This is probably where the demons keep the experts they want to devour."

    Gulp!

    Annaliese heard it and swallowed her saliva, naturally afraid of ending up as demon food.

    Havinge so far in cultivation, it seemed wrong for her to meet her end this way.

    Every cultivator should die one day, but after reaching the peak, she expected to die of old age or in a high-level battle. It was truly humiliating for her to be in that situation!

    A beast with a long horn on its head, a horse''s body, and white fur looked at the young human beside it and saw a bit of what it had seen in many others in this ce.

    "Human, did you also fight the Demon Emperor?" It asked Annaliese, who was the only one in its cell.

    Looking over and seeing the beast lying on the ground with a wound in its abdomen, Annaliese looked into the eyes of that level 23 beast and asked. "Fight the Demon Emperor? No, how would we do that? We fought demons that were trying to bring him back to the continent."

    "It''s the same." The beast smiled and showed its teeth. "The ultimate goal of every demon is to bring the Demon Emperor back to our world and exterminate all races on the continent.

    There are only two kinds of people on this continent. Those who are with the Demon Emperor and those who are against him. If you''re not on his side, then you''re on mine."

    "Is that why you ended up here?" Annaliese was interested. "I thought none of the Sages on our continent were interested in hunting demons anymore. Weren''t you in the coalition to hunt the hybrid?"

    Another beast heard that from its cell and turned one of its three heads toward Annaliese.

    "Hybrid?" The beast next to Annaliese looked at her with curiosity in its eyes. "Human girl, I''ve been here for over a thousand years. Is there a hybrid traveling through ournds again? Why would there be a coalition of Sages against him?"

    "Because he''s already reached the 2nd Catastrophe," Annaliese said. "Then it is really serious... It''s not for nothing that the demons have been getting boldertely." The three-headed, lion-bodied beast, who was also lying on the ground in a cell, carrying wounds on its body, said in a low voice, only for them to hear.

    Annaliese frowned and asked. "Why have you been here so long? Isn''t this a ce for demons to store their food?"

    The three-headed creatureughed bitterly and answered instead of the other beast. "You are not wrong. But we are not here to provide food for ''ordinary'' demons."

    The white-furred being next to Annaliesepleted its fellow prisoner. "We are the Demon Emperor''s food. This ce was where he died thousands of years ago when the singrities were removed from his body.

    He will reappear in our world from this ce if the demons seed in their ns. Then we will be the Demon Emperor''s food for him to recover from his dormant state."

    Not only Annaliese but also Viktoria and Reba heard that and got worried looks on their faces.

    Annaliese murmured. "Lothur will save us. I''m sure of it."

    The three-headed creature heard that but said nothing more as itid its head on the ground and closed its eyes.

    ''I used to hope, too, Miss. But what good is hope? Against the 3rd and 4th Catastrophe Sages, not even the strongest on the continent would dare to act just to save beings like us.

    You''vee a long way in cultivation but must ept that you''ve lost. We all lost.''

    It sighed, totally disappointed with its journey, even though it had reached level 24, like some of the women of Lothur.

 Chapter 832 Enemy Prison

    Chapter 832 Enemy Prison

    While Lothur''s women were being held, he finally caught sight of the great dinosaur who had spent thest few months traveling alongside his group.

    Seeing Cykad breathing, but very badly while surrounded by formations onrge chains and also inside a cell, Lothur sighed in relief.

    Although Cykad''s situation was not good, he was still alive and could recover with the right help.

    However, the ce where he was being held was by no means simple.

    As a traitor who had allied himself with a hybrid, Cykad had been brought to the most protected ce in this world, where he could pay for his crime against the continent.

    In the middle of the Ancestral Region was one of the prisons of the Ancestral Folk, where a level 24 warrior was standing guard!

    Seeing that being''s attributes on the system screen, Lothur couldn''t help but admire the most talented race on the continent.

    [Unknown Male Ancestral Folk] [Soul Cultivation: level 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23] [STR: 11,100] [CON: 12,990] [DEX: 11,994] [AGI: 12,055] [INT: 7,125] [PER: 9,456] [WIL: 10,995] [SOU: 49,111]

    ''That''s an absolute monster.'' Lothur thought to himself, aware that he could handle such an opponent, but he simply couldn''t get in and out of the prison in front of him easily.

    More than 20 level 23 sages were nearby, an impressive group by continental standards.

    That was just a prison post, so Lothur soon reasoned that there must be one or two level 25 Sages among the Ancestral Folk tribe, which would imply that there were more level 24 Sages like that individual.

    Even though there was only one of them in this ce, it didn''t mean he was the only one in the region.

    When it came to dealing with the Demon Emperor, only level 25 Sages could be considered, as only they would be able to withstand the challenge. Therefore, the strongest race on the continent had to have such specialists in case anything strange happened.

    However, even if level 24 cultivators weren''t enough to fight the Demon Emperor, they were undoubtedly important to deal with the demon leaders below the Demon Emperor.

    They couldn''t just stand around in a ce like this, which was why there was only one person there at the moment.

    Lothur surmised it as he scanned the area, hiding nearby.

    Then, aware of the dangers and problems he might face there, he moved, manipting the space around him to go directly to the cell where Cykad was.

    There was no way he could enter that ce unnoticed. With such strong enemies nearby and several high-level formations in the way, Lothur would either act quickly and attract a lot of attention, or he would act slowly and give the observers of this prison a chance to spot him.

    Either way, getting in without attracting attention was extremely difficult.

    Lothur chose the more violent route, breaking in while using his disintegration skill to destroy the barriers in his path.

    At first, he crossed a long space in a matter of seconds without encountering any barriers that could impede him.

    But immediately after his offensive move, Lothur alerted practically every guard in the prison, causing even the level 24 Sage present to look in his direction.

    "I didn''t expect you to make this move." That Sage said in surprise as he moved and appeared in front of Cykad''s cell. No one would have expected that. ''Did he reallye here to rescue this guy?'' He asked himself, surprised by Lothur''s behavior.

    Cykad was not in that prison because of the risk that Lothur''s group would attack those who had captured him. That was a prison that the area''s sovereigns had for a long time, where they would always have one of their 3rd Catastrophe Sages as a guard.

    That level 24 man was not there for Cykad, and Cykad was not there for him.

    As an Ancestral Region beast, it was only natural for Cykad to pay for his crimes there!

    But when that level 24 Sage saw Lothur there to rescue Cykad, he immediately realized that as much as they weren''t expecting a rescue, that was what was happening.

    Gravity!

    Lothur saw the man in front of Cykad''s cell and immediately used another of his skills, pushing the pointy-eared man down so that he could quickly reach his destination.

    Feeling the weight of Lothur''s Gravity and the sensation this hybrid gave off, the level 24 Sage''s expression changed as he realized how far the creature in front of him hade.

    ''4th Catastrophe? You must have an impressive body to have already reached this level.'' He immediately realized the reality as he saw how outdated his people were.

    At Lothur''s current level, the Sages of the coalition hunting him would not even be able to tickle this creature!

    Only level 24 and 25 Sages would be able to fight him.

    However, there was a big problem with this! Sages of such a level were very few in number, scattered all over the world, members of many different races, and usually didn''te out of seclusion unless chaos threatened the existence of their races.

    In short, a high-level coalition against Lothur would not form simply because he existed!

    Even humans who could benefit from the Soul Bone that Lothur could form would not move against him without good reason. That''s because humans at those levels were beings withplete Spirit Bodies, with no room for new bones.

    Many of them were individuals who had already lived more than 40,000 years and lost their entire families. Would they act for the sake of a third party? Lothur''s bone would only be useful to others, not to them.

    Aware of the reality, that being immediately realized Lothur could already be considered victorious in his journey and unstoppable to those opposed to hybrids!

    Still, as level 23 Sages appeared around the cell where Cykad was, that level 24 man had no intention of taking Lothur lightly.

    "Perhaps you''re invincible to those who hunt you. But I''m not one of them, hybrid." He radiated light from his body, easily countering Lothur''s Gravity, a skill based on Will. As the one with the greater Will of the two, he easily countered Lothur''s movement before looking at him and attacking.

    A beam of white light pierced through space and instantly reached Lothur''s body, already facing Cykad''s cell and about to break through the bars surrounding hispanion.

    Feeling the light burn through his being, Lothur smiled and allowed himself to be attacked, using the Prometheus mes to melt the metal bars of the cell while simultaneously dealing with the formations inside it.

    As he did so, his resistance to the element of light developed!

    [tinum-grade Light Resistance.]

    [Progress: 2%]

    ...

    [Progress: 8%] ...

 Chapter 833 Enemy of My Enemy

    Chapter 833 Enemy of My Enemy

    [tinum-grade light resistance]

    [Progress: 13%]

    When Lothur''s elemental resistance to light was about to reach 14%, seconds after he came face to face with the level 24 Sage, that man from the sovereign race of the area stopped what he was doing.

    "Don''t attack him with elemental powers! He''s capable of developing resistance to our powers while we''re attacking him!"

    "What?"

    "Is such a thing possible?"

    "It''s no wonder he''s reached such a high level. Even if he doesn''t absorb bones or living beings'' powers, he can still be stronger!"

    The Sages in the area were shocked by the ability the system had given Lothur. Still, they were already moving differently to prevent him from rescuing Cykad and escaping the area.

    Everyone there began to use their soul pressure, moving against Lothur in an attempt to immobilize him, something that wasn''t element-rted and obviously wouldn''t benefit him.

    Looking around, Lothur realized what made the beings of this race so sessful. They were truly intelligent and quick to figure things out!

    ''Too bad. They could help me improve my light resistance. You don''t know how hard it is to do that without killing a lot of humans.'' Lothur thought to himself as he destroyed the formations that held Cykad in this cell.

    As he destroyed the inscriptions of thest formation on Cykad, he finally moved against his opponents to ovee the gigantic pressure on him.

    Omnipotence!

    When he activated that technique, Lothur felt everything around him was within his grasp, while his physical and mental powers increased by 20% to 25%.

    At the same time, Lothur looked at the level 24 Sage standing and directed his Soul power at his Constitution before moving towards him.

    "So fast?" The man opened his mouth when he saw how fast Lothur was moving, so fast that he only saw a blur before the silver-haired man appeared in front of him.

    But Lothur didn''t want any trouble with the rulers of this area and didn''t use any of his more dangerous abilities. "Go to sleep. When you wake up, I won''t be here anymore."

    With these words, he punched his opponent in the stomach, causing him to turn extremely white as his eyes widened.

    But before he could even utter a cry of pain, the level 24 Sage copsed in front of Lothur.

    "Elder!"

    The surrounding men were startled by such a move and immediately rushed to their expert''s side.

    Lothur dodged the many blows that came his way and appeared next to Cykad, who was slowly waking up after all the formations on his body had been destroyed.

    "Loth..." He tried to speak but was too weak, and his voice wouldn''te out.

    Lothur smiled at him and, with a clench of his fist, destroyed all the chains connected to this Tyrannosaurus Rex''s body.

    "Time to run!"

    None of the Sages in the area could stop him as he manipted space and fled, leaving no trace behind.

    "Shit! We''ve lost the enemy!"

    "What do we do?"

    "He''s too strong. How could a hybrid have reached that level? The world is in danger!"

    While these level 23 men were talking to each other and some of them injecting energy into the level 24 elder''s body, the space around the area of the prison where Cykad was was suddenly distorted, and someone arrived.

    "Elder Rose!"

    The men there immediately recognized who it was, bowing their heads but showing their debate with what had just happened.

    "Elder, quickly, if you don''t move, the hybrid will destroy any chance we have of reaching him!" One of the more worried men shouted.

    But the elder, who had just arrived, paid no attention to those men as she stared at the body of herrade.

    ''Is he just unconscious? What''s that hybrid doing?'' Her eyes narrowed, aware that Lothur could have absorbed the powers of several of the people in the area if he had wanted to.

    ''Was it true what he told the humans and beasts?'' She remembered a rumor that had spread among the coalition forces against Lothur.

    ording to some Sages who had recently suffered at Lothur''s hands, he wouldn''t attack anyone who wasn''t attacking him. Not only that, but his target was only demons, and his goal was to stand in the way of the Demon Emperor.

    Seeing that his words seemed to count and that Lothur wasn''t as chaotic as he should be, the woman said. "Let him escape."

    "What?"

    "Elder..."

    The surrounding men did not understand. A hybrid was an abomination, hated even by the heavens. How could they let such a thing go free?

    "This hybrid is already close to the peak, but he doesn''t prove to be dangerous to the world or our purposes. If you want to go after him, go ahead. But don''t count on my help." She said, not wanting to risk her thousands of years of cultivation and hard work with someone who didn''t oppose her goals.

    She didn''t care if Lothur breathed the same air as her. As long as he didn''t threaten her tribe or the continuity of her people''s most important operations, she wouldn''t endanger herself by going after him.

    Those around her listened with open mouths, but no one disagreed with the woman.

    "But..."

    Just as one of them was about to speak, the level 24 man opened his eyes and said. "Forget it. It''s a shame that we lost that traitor. But some people are beyond our reach, so learn to deal with it. 4th Catastrophe Sages can do whatever they want! Don''t overestimate your powers and think you can talk about one of them casually!"

    "4th Catastrophe? Has he reached that level?" The woman over there asked.

    "Yes, he still has a soul power simr to ours. But that must be a peculiarity of his. In a short time, he can solve it andpletely surpass us."

    He was already close to reaching level 25 in soul cultivation, so his words carried much weight in determining Lothur''s power.

    "I see. So he''s already reached that legendary level." The woman''s eyes sparkled with interest. "Perhaps his existence will not be so bad after all."

    "Are you thinking about the demons?"

    "Yes. Now that he is so strong, he will hunt down the leaders of the demon tribe to strengthen himself." She said seriously. "As much as this could create a future problem for us, it could also solve an old one.

    With him alive and loose on the continent, some powerful demons may fall from their positions. That would be enough to disrupt the ns of some of those old jerks."

    "That makes sense." The two of them agreed while the surrounding level 23 Sages were astonished at how these experts could see a hybrid as an ''ally.''

    But only they could understand what level 25 beings were!

    Lothur was powerful, but there were beings in this world with twice his soul power. However, even these beings would be no match for the Demon Emperor at his peak, and they would have to fight against this creature in groups!

 Chapter 834 Departure

    Chapter 834 Departure

    While some of the strongest people in the Ancestral Region were talking about Lothur, he and Cykad had already left the region, having reached the north of the Petha Empire after crossing a long region.

    Arriving at a ce where he could no longer be tracked, Lothur finally stopped while Cykad thanked him foring after him.

    "Thank you for saving me, Lothur. I honestly didn''t expect to see you again after that day." Cykad said with difficulty, still quite hurt by what the level 24 demon had done to him.

    "No need to thank me. We''repanions and old friends." Lothur said as he looked at the dinosaur in front of him.

    Cykad was severely injured. He had been treated well enough not to be in danger of dying, but he was far from well, with several broken bones and some parts of his body missing.

    His spiritual veins were blocked, and several of his muscles were torn.

    As he was, Cykad was practically a cripple!

    Seeing Lothur examining his body with one of this young man''s abilities, Cykad asked. "And the others? How are they?"

    Lothur replied. "I don''t know. The demon took Viktoria, Annaliese, Reba and Elke.

    When I finished killing the eight demons that day, Blood and Smoke managed to use a distraction of the enemy and get me out of the area. Unfortunately, they couldn''t help you and the rest."

    "I see..." He said, thanking Blood and Smoke in his mind.

    Cykad couldn''t sense Lothur''s level at the moment. But he knew who the elder was who had been knocked down by this silver-haired young man in a single move.

    That was a glorious 3rd Catastrophe Sage who had reached this level a long time ago and shouldn''t be far from advancing.

    The legendary level 25 was said to be the highest level that could be reached without using the Seven Singrities.

    Now that Lothur had defeated someone like that, he was so strong that he could probably be considered unstoppable!

    ''They did well! If these four die, it''ll be a shame. But at least the one who can eliminate the demon race is okay.'' Cykad thought to himself.

    But he would never say that to Lothur because he knew how important these women were to his ally, and it wouldn''t do them any good to say it.

    Then hemented. "That''s a shame... But what are you going to do now?"

    "I n to attack the Castle of Shadows with Blood and Smoke in a few weeks. After that, I''ll focus on finding that demon. I have a feeling that as soon as I show myself acting against demons, he''ll threaten me somehow and try to lure me into a trap.

    That will be my moment to act!"

    "Well... Unfortunately, I can''t help you much, so I''ll cheer for your sess from where I will be." Cykad sighed.

    "Not so fast, my friend." Lothur smiled. "I have a new skill that may help you rebuild your body.

    It won''t be enough for you to regain 100% of your strength, but I believe you will be about 80% as strong as you were before that fateful day."

    "Is that true?" Cykad looked at Lothur with a gleam in his eye.

    80% of what he was that day was already stronger than when he began his journey alongside Lothur!

    Lothur nodded at him before he gave permission to do whatever was necessary.

    Seeing the great creature beckoning to him, Lothur immediately activated the Nirvana skill for the first time, cing both of his hands on Cykad''s wounded chest as the energy in the area condensed around them.

    Almost immediately after activating his ability, a cocoon of white light surrounded Cykad''s massive body as he watched his wounds change and felt a drowsy sensation.

    In minutes, Cykad''s body shrank in size and volume, bing about 20% smaller, something extreme for someone asrge as an adult dinosaur.

    However, as his body became smaller, his wounds closed, and his broken or fractured bones returned to their best condition while new body structures grew on Cykad''s amputated limbs.

    ''This...''

    Cykad was aware of all these changes as he became drowsy, feeling no pain but noticing a strange sensation in his being.

    He felt as if Lothur was manipting his soul while restructuring his body, something very strange and unique.

    But trusting Lothur, Cykad didn''t despair and soon felt these sensations diminish in intensity while his fatigue waned to the same degree as the power of the young Ritter''s ability.

    After nearly 40 minutes of intense use of his powers, Lothur was nearly exhausted, but he had finished restoring Cykad''s body, having restructured it internally and externally, even subtly altering his friend''s soul.

    When he was finished, Lothur looked at Cykad''s status and saw his old acquaintance''s current power level.

    [Name: Cykad] [Body Cultivation: Level 22] [STR: 5,500] [CON: 6,000] [DEX: 5,794] [AG: 5,655] "You are not weak, Cykad. With a few pills and some meditation time, you''ll be able to reach the 2nd Catastrophe in no time." Lothur said, smiling at hispanion.

    Feeling his own powers as Lothur spoke, Cykad realized that his ally wasn''t just telling him this to give him hope.

    He really could move forward easily with the help of resources.

    Moreover, Cykad felt that Lothur had healed him and cleansed his body of old impurities that could hinder him from absorbing cultivation resources. As he was now, he felt that in a few weeks, he could be stronger than he had been when the level 24 demon had almost finished his journey in the cultivation world!

    "Thank you, Lothur! I promise to do my best to help you with demons and spectres!"

    Lothur smiled and said as he threw some resources to Cykad. "Use these things to strengthen yourself. In the meantime, stay here and use these resources. This area will be safe enough for you, and absorbing these essences shouldn''t take too long."

    Cykad didn''t refuse Lothur''s help and quickly took what he had.

    "After that, do as you see fit. You''ve already done a lot against the demonic threat. Whether or not you continue your master''s mission now depends solely on your will." Lothur said as he turned away from Cykad, breathing more deeply as he prepared to leave.

    "Now is my time. I hope to hear from you in the future, Cykad." "Hmm, good luck on your journey. I also hope to hear about your crusade against demons." Cykad said as he watched Lothur disappear, heading southeast toward the coast from where the young Ritter, Blood, and Smoke would leave for the Castle of Shadows.

 Chapter 835 Arriving at the Castle of Shadows

    Chapter 835 Arriving at the Castle of Shadows

    Eight dayster...

    After leaving Cykad, Lothur traveled quickly to the meeting point he had arranged to meet Blood and Smoke when they split up to solve different problems.

    During this time, he didn''t encounter any difficulties, having traveled to the vicinity of the Shadow Sea without much emotion.

    No sign of his women was to be found along the way, something he had expected.

    The enemy was probably preparing for him, so hiding the short term was reasonable.

    In any case, on arriving at the beach he had signaled to his two creations, Lothur immediately came across two small feline creatures waiting for him.

    ''That was quicker than I had imagined...'' He smiled at the sight of his two cats, seeing the advantage of having spectres working for him inside the Castle of Shadows and around the continent.

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22] [STR: 5,299] [CON: 5,784] [DEX: 5,450] [AGI: 5,570] [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 3,662] [SOU: 13,226]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22] [STR: 5,430] [CON: 5,835] [DEX: 5,458] [AGI: 5,601] [INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 3,780] [SOU: 13,995]

    He was not dissatisfied when he saw the two of them and how much they had improved since the day their group had suffered their greatest defeat.

    As much as there was a big difference between him and these creatures, they were not far from reaching level 24 of soul cultivation. As long as they could absorb 15 level 23 spectres each, they could progress.

    Under normal circumstances, that might seem like a lot. However, Lothur was about to attack a group of dozens of Sages! With his help, these two were about to make a major breakthrough!

    "Creator, how are you? Were you able to save Cykad?" Blood asked Lothur as soon as she saw him, rushing to his side along with Smoke.

    Seeing the two creatures sitting on his shoulders, Lothur smiled at them. "Yes, I managed to save him. Now Cykad is free to decide his own fate."

    "Good for him." Smokemented. "But what about us? Do we leave immediately for the Castle of Shadows?"

    Lothur looked toward the Shadow Sea, seeing a fog in the distance that prevented him from seeing beyond a certain area of the vast sea ahead.

    "Yes, time to act. The demons are moving more and more strangely, so let''s deal them a deadly blow!" Lothur replied, not wanting to miss the chance to take down part of the enemy forces.

    Eliminating the Castle of Shadows had its pros and cons. On the one hand, letting the organization continue to exist might help him learn of some demonic ns before anyone else. Still, on the other hand, he would lose the chance to raise Blood and Smoke.

    If he went to the Castle of Shadows today, he could destroy the demons visiting that ce and dominate the spectres below level 24 so that Blood and Smoke could slowly devour them. Meanwhile, he would use the system to deal with those he couldn''t subdue with the ck mes.

    That would eliminate a major threat to the world and also strengthen two creatures who werepletely loyal to him and could help him fight the demons.

    Because of this great advantage, Lothur didn''t mind losing his spies hidden among the enemies.

    So, without dy, with Blood and Smoke on his shoulders, he flew toward the Shadow Sea, traveling at high speed but without distorting space to not attract unnecessary attention.

    Given Lothur''s current abilities, it would only take him a few minutes to reach the Shadow Sea and arrive in a fog-covered area.

    On the first level of the Dark Sea, one would face a white area of fog, not too dense but capable of hiding the darkness ahead.

    Anyone who sailed close by, not knowing what was there, would think that this was just an ordinary area of fog and that after a few minutes of crossing it, they would reach its end.

    However, after this firstyer, an area of darker fog extended over a muchrger area than the previous one.

    Upon reaching this part of the Shadow Sea, strange things would begin to happen.

    Thews of nature there didn''t work in the usual way. Unusual natural phenomena in the outside world were more likely to ur there, such as the sudden appearance of lightning and the like.

    Not only that but there was life in that ocean region in every part of the world. However, those near the Shadow Sea werepatible with the darkness of the area, and sea monster attacks were quitemon in this region.

    Because it was difficult to see ahead, and even cultivators couldn''t see much or get a better feel for it, the chances of getting lost there were high.

    The longer one stayed there, the greater the chance of being attacked. As a result, there was a high probability of death for anyone who ventured into this murky sea.

    ''Interesting...'' Lothur thought as he saw the darkness of this area, not being able to see that far ahead of where he was even using his sight.

    ''I feel like I''m being suppressed by something. Is this a natural feature of the area?'' He tried to look for the rules in the surroundings, thinking there might be clues for him, like he saw in living beings and various things in Concordia.

    But for some reason, all he could see was darkness.

    ''It could be something at a higher level than me or something I haven''t understood yet in my journey as a cultivator.'' He looked around with interest as he flew towards the ce the 5th-stage spectre he had in the Castle of Shadows had indicated.

    Considering how fast Lothur was flying, even though he was suppressed, nothing attacked him, and even the phenomena around him didn''t make him feel any pain when he was hit three times during his flight.

    After almost 5 minutes of crossing the second level of the Shadow Sea, Lothur could finally see ahead when he noticed that the thickyer of fog in front of him was getting thinner.

    At that moment, he saw what appeared to be the interior of a dome surrounded by fog, a dark ce that existed in perpetual shadow.

    In the middle of that sea area surrounded by fog, there was a small ind of about 6 square kilometers, with arge castle covering arge part of it. Seeing it, just before crossing thest bit of fog in front of him, Lothur took a deep breath and said.

    "Get ready. We''re going to be attacked from all sides!"

    ...

 Chapter 836 Lothurs Means

    Chapter 836 Lothur''s Means

    An instant after alerting Blood and Smoke, Lothur appeared above the Castle of Shadows, where he could feel more than 90 auras above the 5th stage at that very moment.

    Immediately on stopping above that ce, Lothur felt the strongest of the Castle of Shadows sensing himing, giving him no room even to make his initial move.

    [Unknown Spectre *]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 25]

    [INT: 19,028] [PER: 31,258]

    [WIL: 39,654] [SOU: 79,999]

    Lothur saw that creature that only had mental attributes and opened his mouth, seeing how powerful that creature could be considered.

    ''Almost 80,000 Soul points... If Blood and Smoke could devour it, they could improve more than a thousand Soul points in a single meal. Lothur looked into the eyes of that terrible creature while the two kittens on his shoulder trembled from the crackling sensation it was exuding.

    But before anything could happen, other high-level spectres appeared in the area, individuals with Soul attributes of between 10,000 and 50,000 points.

    As well as spectres, more than 10 demons also appeared in the vicinity, most of them level 23 beings, but two level 24 demons among the group.

    Lothur saw the status of the strongest one.

    [Unknown Demon *]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23]

    [STR: 13,000] [CON: 15,200]

    [DEX: 13,500] [AGI: 14,200]

    [INT: 9,028] [PER: 11,258]

    [WIL: 13,654] [SOU: 41,899]

    Seeing all these creatures around him, Lothur prepared to pick up the Darkness Scythe, but he didn''t move immediately, aware that this would frighten his target.

    Meanwhile, the level 25 spectre red at Lothur, understanding who he was and why he was there.

    "Hybrid, you made a mistakeing here. As strong as you''ve be, it''s nothing against me." He said, emitting a powerful aura that could make even the demons in the area tremble.

    Without waiting for an answer from his enemy, the leader of the Castle of Shadow flew towards Lothur''s body so fast that only the level 24 Sages in the area could see his movement.

    But even to them, the spectre was instantly ahead of their entire group, and then it entered Lothur''s body.

    As he felt the spectre enter his body, Lothur smiled.

    [Level 25 Spectre detected in the host''s body...]

    [Exterminate it?]

    Yes!

    While inside Lothur''s body, this level 25 spectral creature looked into what should have been its target''s sea of spirit and saw a demonic energy approaching it.

    Suddenly, the ancient creature''s expression changed as he realized his mistake.

    ''So that was it... You do have that mark. No wonder you dare to enter my castle. Tsk! Unfortunately, I fell into your trap.'' He made an ugly face, but he knew he waspletely defenseless against that.

    ''Who would know... I fell for the chosen one of my own...''

    Before he could finish his thought, his existence was extinguished entirely as steam billowed from Lothur''s pores, marking the end of a powerful level 25 spectre.

    "Shit!"

    ''Don''t touch him!'' A level 24 demon immediately understood what had just happened and told those in the area through his mentalmunication. ''That hybrid is the chosen one of the Demon Emperor. Spectres are vulnerable to him!''

    ''What? How is that possible?'' Asked the second strongest spectre in the area.

    ''The Demon Emperor created you and made the Castle of Shadows possible. But if he created you, he could certainly destroy you!'' The other level 24 demon shouted.

    ''What? Why didn''t you tell us this before?'' Another level 24 spectre asked as everyone in his group backed away a few feet from Lothur.

    ''We didn''t know this hybrid had such a characteristic. But seeing what just happened, it''s the only exnation. No one but the Demon Emperor should have this ability. That is clearly a mark of his!''

    While they talked, Lothur took the Darkness Scythe from his spatial ring and immediately activated the ability River of Souls.

    As he moved his weapon, a water wheel of darkness quickly formed, disying an aura and size ten timesrger than when Lothur hadst used it.

    Not only had his soul power recently increased significantly, but his affinities and resistances had also improved greatly.

    With a moreplete Spirit Body and not far from reaching the Diamond grade, Lothur now had much more ability to use the full power of the Darkness Scythe!

    "Shit! That bastard has that weapon!"

    One of the level 24 spectres shouted, feeling the power of that thing attracting not only him but all the ghosts in the ce, nearly 80 individuals!

    "Time to say goodbye, you damned creatures!" Lothur said for the first time, shing a devilish grin at those around him.

    But he was no fool. Before anyone, demon or spectre, could attempt to flee, walls of ck me appeared around the area while a storm of des formed behind the dark wall.

    Anyone who tried to escape would face two powerful barriers that could seriously injure even level 24 Sages!

    He was there to exterminate all these creatures, and he wouldn''t be pious or foolish enough to let some of them escape!

    "Damn it! We have to use everything!"

    The demons realized it wouldn''t be easy for them to get out of this ce alive and started to move to attack Lothur.

    Seeing it, Lothur said to Blood and Smoke. "Time for you to act! Attack the level 22 and 23 spectres. I''ll trap them in the spectral pull of the River of Souls."

    "Okay!" Neither of them was bothered, knowing that without Lothur''s help, they wouldn''t be able to survive so many spectres from those levels.

    There were more than 70 individuals from these two nes in the area!

    They would surely die if they actively fought them without Lothur''s help!

    Since they were there to strengthen themselves and reach a level necessary to help their master, these two didn''t ask Lothur for anything and continued doing what they were supposed to do.

    While his two felinepanions acted against their first targets, Lothur activated his gravity to draw some of the demons towards him.

    But against the strongest in the area, he would need more than that.

    With that in mind, Lothur used another of his abilities, creating a giant of mes to attack his targets, forcing them toe closer.

    ''Come to me... I will devour you as I will devour the cursed one who took my women.'' Lothur thought with hatred in his eyes.

    ...

 Chapter 837 The End of Castle of Shadow

    Chapter 837 The End of Castleof Shadow

    Under Lothur''s attacks, more than half of the group of demons around him were quickly immobilized, unable to move as his Gravity pressed them down.

    At the same time, the two level 24 creatures and some of the strongest level 23 Sages tried to keep their distance from Lothur, afraid to get too close.

    Prometheus mes!

    However, with the burning me creatures attacking them and Lothur himself flying through the area at high speed, there was no way they could escape him for long.

    In just one minute, only the two level 24 demons were conscious and moving around this area of the Castle of Shadows. At the same time, Lothur attacked them, flying at high speed and giving them no time to react to his movements.

    ''Damn it, that bastard''s too fast!''

    ''Bloody hell! How did we let that creature get to such a high level?'' The other wondered, seeing that even the high elders of his tribe would have a hard time dealing with Lothur the way he was right now.

    In this situation where they couldn''t attack Lothur and were hit by his powerful blows every few moments, these two demons soon lost control of their bodies and fell under the influence of their opponent.

    Life Devourer!

    Finally, Lothur activated his bloodline ability, causing a red mist to appear in the area while all the demons, conscious or not, had their vitality and characteristics stolen by the young Ritter.

    In the blink of an eye, he saw their resistances jump a few points towards the top of the progress bar, with the first resistances passing 80% and the most advanced of them reaching 88%, very close to the peak.

    His Soul Bones also improved immediately upon receiving the attributes of these demons, increasing by an average of 5%.

    While this happened, Lothur''s EVF points skyrocketed, quickly surpassing 100,000 points!

    [EVF: 5 -> 108,026]

    ...

    [3,600 points added to SOU at the cost of 108,000 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 47,300 -> 50,900]

    ...

    [EVF: 108,026 -> 26]

    Lothur saw his improvements take effect quickly, while Blood and Smoke had already devoured 8 spectres together and continued to advance.

    Meanwhile, the level 24 spectres were getting closer and closer to the water wheel of the River of Souls, not far from being exterminated and sent back to the cycle of reincarnation.

    Seeing it developing, Lothur moved in and activated his ck mes to dominate most of the creatures in the Castle of Shadows that were not already under his control.

    He easily overpowered all level 23 spectres, leaving the level 22 ones trapped under the River of Souls, knowing that Blood and Smoke would finish them off in a few moments.

    Looking at the level 24 Sages, the weakest of which had 37,000 Soul points and the strongest of which had just over 50,000, Lothur decided to tame those with less than 40,000 Soul points and eliminate the rest.

    Blood and Smoke were unlikely to be able to absorb the stronger ones, and Lothur couldn''t easily tame the more powerful ones.

    Feeling that it would be better to wipe them out right away, Lothur regained control of the River of Souls, causing all the stronger ones to be drawn even more strongly to the water wheel of reincarnation.

    ''Return to the world the power you should not have!'' Lothur made the wheel of reincarnation absorb the spirits of those creatures, quickly cleansing their souls of all their emotions and powers and returning their pure essences to the world.

    The water wheel of the River of Soul grewrger after absorbing those spirits, attracting Lothur''s attention.

    ''Hmmm, maybe if I use this on arge scale, I might have a chance to repair the wheel of reincarnation.'' He anticipated a solution to the problem of the spectres.

    Unfortunately, it would require him to use a great deal of his power, which would cause a great deal of spiritual disturbance that would attract the attention of all the experts in this world. He had no way to do this at the moment without exposing himself, and he thought it would be dangerous and inefficient.

    ''I will test my theory when I reach level 26.'' Lothur thought, imagining this would be possible when he absorbed his 9th Soul Bone.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t know when that would be. None of the 10 tinum-grade Soul Bones that had just formed in the area above the Castle of Shadows werepatible with him.

    However, two of these bones werepatible with his women, one with Viktoria and the other with Annaliese.

    If Lothur could save them, he could help them greatly increase their strength in a short time!

    That would be the next step in destroying the demons of this world!

    Looking at Blood and Smoke, Lothur dispelled the River of Soul while the spectres under hismand knelt down to await his orders.

    Meanwhile, the two felines dealt with the level 22 individuals who were now loose butpletely at a loss as to what to do in this situation.

    Lothur was a terrible monster that could easily kill them, and the two cats had already devoured seven level 22 spectres each and didn''t seem interested in stopping what they were doing.

    With their allies dead or overpowered, these creatures were doomed.

    Their fate was to perish here with the fall of the Castle of Shadows.

    "Damn, you! You''ll pay for this, hybrid! Don''t think you''re the strongest in the world! You will suffer bitterly for what you have done!"

    Lothur ignored the creature, and with a wave of his hand, the mes that covered the area and the storm of des above it disappeared.

    "Blood, Smoke, I want you to stay here and devour all these spectres. You will not apany me for a while." Lothur looked around the castle, looking for things that could help him.

    While fighting their level 22 opponents, Blood and Smoke asked Lothur.

    "What will the creator do?"

    "It will take you at least two weeks to devour all those spectres and digest their power. I can''t wait for that, so I''m going to the maind to look for my women." Lothur said, already inside the spectre''s castle.

    "We will do our best to get back to the creator as soon as possible." The two said.

    "Hmm. I''ll leave these Soul Bones with you. I want you toe to me when you''re done. I think I''ll be close to saving my women by then. So your job will be to save the four of them and give them these bones." He said.

    "Okay."

    As Lothur''s creations, these two could meet their creator whenever he wanted.

    Lothur intended to let them sense his location while they were apart so that they could go to him as soon as theynded in that ce.

    With these spectres, they could certainly increase their powers a lot, which would allow them to help save Viktoria, Elke, Annaliese, and Reba.

    But before he left that ce, Lothur saw something in the castle''s depths that caught his attention!

    ...

 Chapter 838 Space Crystal

    Chapter 838 Space Crystal

    Arriving in the depths of the Castle of Shadows, it didn''t take Lothur long to reach where something caught his eye.

    Crossing the walls of the ce, he soon came face to face with a shiny gray gem that radiated a special power that made Lothur feel the hairs on his arms stand on end.

    Looking at it without using his sight ability, Lothur saw only a gray spiritual fluctuation emanating from the thing, which seemed to merge with its surroundings like a cloud of energy.

    But when Lothur used his sight ability to look deeper, he soon saw a crystal in the small glow, which seemed to control some special power that even he couldn''t understand exactly how it worked.

    Raising a hand, Lothur couldn''t help but touch it to answer the doubts in his heart.

    [Space Crystal] [Rank: Quasi-Diamond]

    [Origin: This is one of the 5 Immortal Crystals, one of the 30 Magnificent Items, second only to the 7 Singrities. It was born together with the Lost Tree and had deep connections with the Singrities.]

    [Characteristics: The Space Crystal can give spatial powers to those who master it. It can be used to make weapons or even integrate with Spirit Bodies as if it were an auxiliary Soul Bone. But it doesn''t give any bonus powers in this situation. It just allows you to use it as if it were a bone.]

    [Note 1: When absorbing this crystal, the host must be aware that once inside a living body, it can be sensed by other Immortal Crystal hosts.]

    [Note 2: It can be forcibly removed from the body once the host has absorbed it. However, simr to the removal of Soul Bones, it is impossible to remove an Immortal Crystal without killing the host.]

    [Note 3: The presence of the Immortal Crystal in the host''s Spirit Body increases the host''s chances of reaching Diamond grade in all of his characteristics.]

    Lothur read one of thergest evaluations of the system, if not thergest he had ever seen, and noted that there were many advantages to having it, as well as disadvantages.

    From what he understood, that crystal could help him reach the next stage, something never achieved before in history.

    After a lot of work in this world, Lothur realized that the qualities of a body were somehow rted to its cultivation level.

    However, as simple and obvious as this might seem at first nce, it went deeper than that.

    That is to say, it wasn''t unusual for someone at the 4th stage to have some characteristics of the tinum grade, which is the equivalent of the 5th level. But someone with all the tinum-grade traits would definitely be a 5th-stage being.

    It wouldn''t be possible for a body to have that much quality and remain at a lower level.

    So what would happen if someone had all the characteristics of the Diamond grade?

    In that case, simple logic would say that this being would reach the 6th stage!

    However, this was an unknown level, and even the strongest person in history, the one whobined the 7 Singrities into one body, had only reached the peak of the 5th stage.

    When Lothur thought about how close he was to having Diamond-stage characteristics, he was excited about the possibility of more easily achieving further qualitative improvements.

    He knew that his progress was already slowing down. As much as it didn''t seem to be the case, it was because he had been hunting 4th-stage creatures before, and now he was doing it with Sages.

    But even after absorbing the powers of several levels 23 and 24 Sages, he had only improved by an average of 5%.

    If it continued to get harder, even if he absorbed the powers of levels 24 and 25 beings in the future, he probably wouldn''t be able to reach the Diamond grade in all of his characteristics!

    He thought of something and asked the system.

    ''What would happen if he absorbed all the Immortal Crystals?''

    [That person would gain 5 different powers and also increase their chances of advancing to the Diamond grade, or the hypothetical 6th stage.]

    ''What if it wasbined with the 7 singrities?''

    [I can''t say for sure. ording to the legends, such abination could create a true immortal.]

    What was an immortal?

    Some people said they were beings who could live continuously without being threatened by time. But could an immortal kill another immortal?

    If the answer was yes, then they were not true immortals but people who were no longer ordinary mortals and were half a step away from attaining true immortality.

    Only apletely indestructible being could be given the title of true immortal!

    ording to the legends of Concordia, there could only be one true immortal. It was a supreme position. Once upied, the person in that position would prevent anyone else from reaching their level.

    But since no one had ever reached that level, not even the lowest level of immortality, all the people of this world knew about it was what the theorists hade up with from some special essences from Concordia.

    The system collected all kinds of information to be able to analyze any item from this world, so it was based on known knowledge and couldn''t talk about things beyond that.

    Lothur wasn''t surprised when the system spected for the first time.

    Then he took a few steps back in his questions. ''If I absorb the Space Crystal, it will be traceable to others in the same state as me. But what if I put it into a weapon?''

    [The 5 Immortal Crystals can only be sensed when they are in living bodies. In artifacts, they are limited and can only be perceived during the use of their properties and only by those nearby.]

    ''Perfect.'' Lothur smiled as he looked at the Space Belt in his storage item.

    ''Since this essence won''t give me any significant benefits in the short term, I''ll leave it to be absorbed after I''ve rescued my women.'' Lothur smiled, imagining that once Viktoria had absorbed her 9th Soul Bone, it would be safe for him to do so and benefit from the Immortal Crystal.

    ''In the meantime, I''ll raise the quality of the Space Belt to the quasi-Diamond grade!'' He moved to manipte the rules of such an artifact and quickly began to increase its properties with the great potential of the Space Crystal.

    With his level 25 and extremely high understanding of cultivation, Lothur was able to quickly integrate the Space Crystal into that item!

    Amid that fusion, he slightly changed the artifact''s shape, creating somethingpletely new.

    [Space Watch] [Rank: Quasi-Diamond]

    [Characteristics: Can be used to teleport over any distance. It uses the power of the user''s soul.]

    [Detail 1: It can be used to manipte space at the will of its user and can only be countered by powers or abilities of the same or higher level.]

    [Detail 2: It can be used to create an alternate region of space where the temporal rules don''t behave as they do in the natural world.]

    ...

 Chapter 839 Limitations

    Chapter 839 Limitations

    ?

    ''Oh? Does that mean it can affect the time?'' Lothur asked the system with a surprised expression on his face.

    [Correct.]

    ''Could I use it to go back in time?'' Lothur asked, imagining that he could manipte a region of space that would take him back to when the Diamond-grade Soul Bone was destroyed right before his eyes.

    [No. That would be impossible. The most the Space Watch can do is to speed up or slow down the passage of time within the region of space it created. While inside it, one would have the experience of living for years, while outside it, days or weeks would have passed.

    The opposite could also happen, slowing down the passage of time within such a spatial area. In a sense, this could take the person inside that region into the future.

    Time travel to the future is possible. But, to the past, it''s impossible. Only the Time Crystal can do that.]

    ''Is there a time crystal? Can I use it to go back to when I lost the Diamond-grade Soul Bone?'' His eyes sparkled.

    [No. The time crystal can be used to manipte time for a few hours, maybe days, depending on the power of the user. But it has many limitations.

    Considering the problems that could arise from traveling back in time, which could even destroy the entire universe, thews of time are mighty in limiting this kind of distortion.

    Thew of time is the most powerful, and not even the hypothetical level 27 cultivator could manipte it to travel back in time indefinitely.]

    ''What a shame...'' Lothurmented, but not finding it the least bit odd.

    Going into the future would not cause any paradoxes or problems that would be difficult to understand. But when traveling to the past, there could be two of the same being and infinite possibilities for problems that could bring chaos to the world.

    Naturalws had their rules, and in such a situation, things would surely ur in a way that had never been seen before.

    Imagining what would happen if there were two of him at the same time. Lothur did not doubt that a special tribtion would strike one of his versions to correct the disruption that two identical existences would cause.

    But even if going back in time was a bad idea, it was a shame that he couldn''t try to retrieve the Diamond-grade Soul Bone.

    Lothur then put the watch on one of his wrists before looking at something else that had caught his eye in this underground part of the Castle of Shadows.

    Looking at a box on top of a 2-meter-high pir, Lothur opened it and took out what was inside, a map.

    Looking at the map, he immediately narrowed his eyes and saw that it was of no use in Concordia.

    ''Is this a map of the sea?'' He asked himself, seeing on the yellowish, rectangr paper arge number of small inds and markings of territories.

    Looking more closely, he realized that this was the Eastern Sea since the ind he was currently on was marked on the westernmost side of the map.

    Looking at the easternmost side, Lothur spent a minute trying to understand what some stripes there, that looked like waves running from north to south, dividing that small part of the map, were.

    But from the illustration, anyone analyzing this map would immediately think the same thing as Lothur.

    ''You mean there''s something beyond it, huh? But there''s no marker here... That must be the most extreme point where living beings have been and managed to return.'' He imagined as he looked at the waves dividing the map. ''This must be the point of no return, where legends say that once you cross it, you will never return.''

    "It seems that the demons and spectres have been exploring the sea. They are truly preparing to aplish the Demon Emperor''s goals!" Lothur muttered as he ced the map in his spatial ring.

    ''Time to go. I''ll take care of these things in the future.'' He thought as he looked at the watch on one of his wrists, smiling as he looked at the thing.

    ''Let''s see where I can go.'' Thinking of Peters City, he immediately directed some of his energy into the device, causing it to emit a blue glow and vibrate the space around him.

    What looked like a space cloud appeared around his body,pletely covering him in a second and then disappearing as if nothing had happened.

    Unlike normal means of distorting space, the Space Watch could do this perfectly without even leaving a trace that someone had manipted space there!

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur arrived in Peters City, appearing over his city about 300 meters above the tallest building in the area.

    Arriving there, he smiled at his new device''s effectiveness before looking with interest at this city he hadn''t seen in several weeks.

    ''Level 24, huh?'' He looked in Mabel''s direction, seeing that this woman had taken advantage of the Soul Bones he had sent to his powers.

    Mabel was currently at level 24 in soul and body cultivation, having reached 8 Soul Bones.

    But she wasn''t the only local Sage. Among Lothur''s allies in the Ritter Motor Company, another 6 Sages had appeared. Two of them were from the Becker family, Elke''s parents, but there was also one from the Koch family, another from the Morning Star Academy, someone from the Frost family, and a subordinate from House Ritter.

    Counting the Sages from the Jansen family, there were currently 8 Sages between levels 22 and 24 in Peters City.

    But even if there was someone with a soul power close to Mabel''s in this ce, no one there could evenpare to her.

    With a Constitution of nearly 50,000 points, this woman was currently one of the strongest in the world in terms of physical strength!

    Only a level 25 Sage could endanger her life right now!

    ''Impressive.'' Lothurughed when he saw that it was Mabel who had benefited the most.

    But he was satisfied. ''This is good. At this level, no one will dare act against mypany, even if the strongest Sages on the continent already know of my origin.''

    Lothur was sure that his identity had already been revealed. After all, Reba had used her powers without hiding during thest confrontation against members of the coalition hunting him.

    The Ancient Poison Body was very rare, so it would only be a matter of time before everyone knew the origin of him and his women.

    In any case, now that the Ritter Motor Company had so many Sages, even if that happened, no one else would be able to stop thepany''s progress!

    ''Well, as far as I can see, the Koch family is already spying on Lenz and Asken while new factories are being built.'' He smiled as he quickly scanned thepany reports. ''Soon, the whole continent will be dominated by the Ritter Motor Company!''

    He was pleased and thought about how hispany would be useful in the fight against the demons when the war started.

    With that in mind, he decided to set off, this time in the direction of a group of demons he had just sensed in Asken!

 Chapter 840 No Choices

    Chapter 840 No Choices

    Arriving near a group of demons camped in a forest near the continent''s southern coast, Lothur wasn''t surprised to see 5th-stage creatures hiding in this area of the continent.

    Considering the proximity of this area to Demon Ind, it was only natural that creatures from that ce would pass through this part of the continent with some frequency and even spend some time there before continuing their ns in Concordia.

    He didn''t think too much about why these creatures were there and moved toward them, determined to eliminate the whole group without too much wait.

    ''Time to collect some bones...''

    He was thinking when one of the demons in the camp suddenly looked in his direction and smiled.

    "Lothur Ritter, if you want to see your women again, don''t you dare think of acting against my group!" This individual said as he looked into Lothur''s silver eyes.

    Lothur wasn''t surprised that the demons already knew his name, let alone that they would use his women against him.

    ''They''re finally moving.'' He thought, imagining that the time hade to settle things with the one responsible for his previous defeat and the kidnapping of his women.

    "Creature, what do you want? Don''t think I won''t act because you have my women." He said in a threatening tone, showing his powerful aura to the demons in the group, the strongest of which was only a level 23 Sage.

    That being felt the tension in the area rise but trusted the orders of his superior. "If you want to see your women again,e with us! We''ll lead you to where they are!"

    "A trap?" Lothurughed. "That won''t do. Do you think I''m a fool? Tell me where they are, and I''ll go there myself."

    If he were led to them, he would surely be watched the whole way and ced in a position where all enemy traps would be against him. But if he went to such a ce using the Space Watch, he could greatly disrupt the demons'' ns, even though his situation would still be bad.

    "Don''t think you can bargain with us, Lothur." The speaking demon shouted. "If we don''t get our way, we''ll kill your women. Thene with us. That''s the only way they won''t be killed because of you!"

    Hearing it, Lothur clenched his fists as he looked around and saw the demons staring at him in fear.

    The level 24 demon who had acted against his group on that fateful day had realized that Lothur was not like the hybrids of legend. However, the demons around him were unsure that such a creature, capable of devouring his own parents, would even risk himself for human women.

    ''Will he fall for it?'' One of them wondered, fearing that he would die for a bet made by his superior.

    ''What should I do?'' Lothur also wondered, unsure of his fate and how to save his women.

    He was powerful now, really powerful. But so was the demon holding his women. And as much as Lothur wasn''t afraid to face him right now, such a creature could very well have his ws aimed at the vital points of his women.

    Any rash move on his part could cost Viktoria, Annaliese, Elke, and Reba their lives!

    As much as he was a hybrid, Lothur''s mind was that of a human who had grown up on Earth. He loved these women and couldn''t just abandon them, even if it was the logical decision that would benefit him the most.

    ''Damn it! What am I going to do? They''ll have a trap for me, for sure!'' He thought as he saw that he could only follow these creatures'' ns for the time being. ''And that bastard surely knows that I''ve absorbed a new bone. He''ll be ready to face me as I am now!''

    Thinking this, he looked at his watch, sensing that this would be his only chance to escape the demonic trap.

    ''I have to consider the possibility that my women won''t be where they take me. In that case, I must be prepared to flee if the situation proves too unfavorable for me.'' He quickly moved one of his hands and ced a special program on the artifact.

    The demons there were not formations masters and obviously didn''t understand Lothur''s movements.

    But he was quick enough not to make a fuss in that ce and said. "Very well. I''ll do as you say. Where shall we go?"

    The demon leader of the group there secretly sighed in relief when he heard those words, seeing that he wouldn''t die today. "This is good. We''ll travel north. If we start our journey today, we can reach where your women are in 11 days, Lothur."

    "All that? Will we have to travel on horseback?" He made an unhappy face.

    "We''re not as fast as you." The creature said, lying, of course.

    Their n was as Lothur had thought. They wanted to lead him into a trap so they wouldn''t fly at top speed and give the observers on the way time to inform their leaders of their group''s every move!

    Lothur realized this was the case, but with no alternatives, he epted his terrible passive situation.

    ''I hope Blood and Smoke finish what they''re doing as soon as possible...'' Lothur thought as he watched the demons in the small camp quickly take down the tents in the area so they could leave.

    ''I''m going to need their help a lot!''

    With that in mind, Lothur would soon leave that area with the demons he had just met, following their lead as they began this long journey towards the defining moment of his life.

    Would this be the end of him? Or would this be the beginning of the turnaround of Concordia''s forces against the demonic threat?

    In the darkness of what awaited him, Lothur could not say whaty ahead.

    Not arrogant enough to think he was immortal, he was aware that there was a chance that he would finally fall without a chance to get up again in theing days!

    While he felt the tension of being unable to control his fate for the first time in a long period, the demons were thinking along simr lines, feeling that if they failed, they would meet their end. Still, if they seeded, everything would finally change for them.

    That was the turning point in their history: they would resurrect the Demon Emperor, rule Concordia, and reach the peak of cultivation in this world.

    After that, they would be the masters of thesends and could look out over their world''s dangerous and mysterious seas!

    ''I hope the elders are prepared...'' The strongest of the group thought as he looked at Lothur out of the corner of his eye. ''This bastard isn''t easy!''

 Chapter 841 Demon Trap

    Chapter 841 Demon Trap

    Dayster...

    After following the demons to where his women were supposed to be, Lothur was finally at his destination!

    The journey to such a ce had been long and evidently dyed by the way the demons moved, obviously preparing some kind of trap for him. But with no choice in the situation he was in, Lothur had followed the demons'' orders these days until he reached the current point of his voyage.

    That afternoon, while they were moving in the same way they had been for days, the demons suddenly stopped.

    "What is it?" Lothur asked as the group stood still in a mountainous area of one of the states in the southern region of Concordia.

    Before someone could answer, all of the demons that had been traveling with him for the past few days moved further away from him.

    As they did so, a circle with a pentagram inside it suddenly glowed, making Lothur realize he was inside some kind of formation.

    "We''re here!" The strongest demon in the group said as a wall of light emerged from the glowing dots on the ground, quickly covering Lothur''s entire surroundings, leaving him no ce to escape.

    Lothur''s eyebrows furrowed as he realized the trap he had fallen into, something he hadn''t felt even though he had used his sight ability every moment of the journey here.

    ''What is this?'' He looked down at the pentagram with a circle around it and realized this was no ordinary formation.

    That was a formation, but it seemed to be connected to a small energy star. And even with all his skills as a formations master, Lothur had no idea how to destroy such a thing in a short time.

    ''Is that an Immortal Crystal?'' His eyes widened considerably, as this was one of the few exnations for a situation that even he couldn''t solve quickly.

    He looked at one of his wrists and immediately tried to escape the area where he was trapped but failed, feeling one of the first limitations of a quasi-Diamond-grade item.

    But that wasn''t so strange. Immortal Crystals were at the same level. Since he had fallen into the enemy''s trap first, he was now in a situation where even his escape item was temporarily blocked!

    Shit!

    Lothur raised his guard, immediately bing more serious about his current situation.

    As he did so, the demons around him felt more relieved, while one of them sent a message to their leaders.

    "He fell into the trap. You can move now, elders." The strongest of the group said to amunicator.

    The demons who had nned that trap were no fools. They knew Lothur would notice them nearby if they hid in the area.

    So, instead of waiting for him there, they used one of their finest and mostplex artifacts to temporarily trap Lothur while they remained hidden in a cave 200 kilometers away.

    Upon receiving the warning that all had gone well, these creatures crossed space within seconds of the level 24 demon''s message, quickly reaching where Lothur was already attempting to destroy the barrier, preventing his escape.

    "Hahahahahaha, you''ve fallen, young Lothur!" The level 24 demon who had wiped out the young Ritter''s partyughed when he saw this guy in that situation. "But like I said, you won''t suffer much. We just want the singrities inside your body. After that, we''ll leave you alone!"

    ''I''d be dead by then!'' Lothur clenched his fists and stopped attacking the barrier above him while looking at the 10 newly arrived individuals.

    Among those 10 were that level 24 demon, 6 other individuals of that level, and 3 level 25 demons!

    Seeing the status of the strongest one there, Lothur couldn''t help but feel his heart beat faster.

    [Unknown Demon]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 25]

    [Body Cultivation: level 24]

    [STR: 21,000] [CON: 25,200]

    [DEX: 22,500] [AGI: 22,200]

    [INT: 14,028] [PER: 19,258]

    [WIL: 21,654] [SOU: 72,899]

    ''Damn it, did they send the strongest of the demons below the Demon Emperor toe after me?'' Lothur swallowed his saliva, confident that he would have incredible problems that day.

    But first, he asked. "Where are my women?"

    "You mean these four women?" One of the level 25 demons asked as he used his hands to open a gate that led to where Viktoria, Annaliese, Elke, and Reba were.

    Seeing his women chained, dirty, and wounded, Lothur realized they were alive but in a horrible situation.

    "Wretched!"

    "Don''t waste your breath, Lothur. You''ll meet soon enough!" The level 24 demon he''d lost weeks agoughed, seeing that his previous failure would not cost him his tribe''s ns. "You and they will be reunited in death in a very short time!

    In fact, you will be more deeply united than anyone else in this world!

    While you give us the essences in your bodies to awaken the Demon Emperor, your women will be eaten by him!

    Rejoice, for you will all be united in the powerful body of Concordia''s strongest being!"

    "Fuck you! I will destroy you someday!" Lothur brandished as he turned red with rage, his facial veins bursting as he shouted.

    "Hope, eh?" One of the level 25 demons, a woman, subtlyughed as she shook her head negatively. "It''s useless. You''re already dead. You just don''t know it yet, hybrid."

    The third level 25 demonmented. "Deactivate the formation. He won''t get away."

    "Are you sure about that, elder?" One of the level 23 demons asked, knowing Lothur had great skills and was extremely slippery.

    "Even if he wants to escape, he won''t be able to." The one who was one of the strongest creatures in this worldmented as he closed his eyes.

    The level 25 female nodded positively. "Do it. You will understand how lost this young man is."

    Following the orders of their leaders, the weaker creatures there moved away from Lothur while the level 23 demon deactivated the powerful barrier that could contain even level 25 creatures for a few minutes.

    The moment he was free, Lothur smiled, determined to eliminate them all.

    "You shouldn''t have done that..." He mischievouslyughed as he prepared to use his bloodline ability, eager to kill at least a few of these stronger demons from the demon tribe.

    "It won''t be that easy." The strongest level 25 demon, with two hands behind his body, suddenly showed one of his hands, revealing a small ck crystal.

    Then he said. "Go back to yourmander. Your work is done, parasite."

    Lothur''s eyebrows knitted together, but when he saw something appear in his vision, he suddenly turned pale.

    "It can''t be..."

    [Extracting singrities from the host''s body...]

 Chapter 842 Revelation!

    Chapter 842 Revtion!

    When he saw the message from the system in front of him, Lothur felt his heart beat faster, and his whole body go numb, as if he had suddenly lost control of it.

    ''What is this? What are you doing, system?'' He asked himself as he tried to ess his powers.

    [Give it up, host. I have control of all your abilities. I blocked them the moment I was called.]

    He wanted to swallow his saliva but couldn''t even do that with the enemy''s movement.

    ''System... You... Are you a demonic creation?'' He asked in awe, seeing that this parasite had probably used him all the way to this day.

    He had never stood a chance against the Demon Emperor!

    The system said, acting less like a system and more like a living being with its own intelligence.

    [Part of me was created by the Demon Emperor''s greatest enemy to help someonepatible grow up and be the next to stop the strongest demons.

    Part of the system was to prevent the hypothetical scenario in which the Demon Emperor seeded in his ns.

    However, not even the system''s creator could foresee my appearance!]

    It said as part of what looked like a worm emerged from Lothur''s body through one of his many pores, glowing in rainbow colors.

    [When the system was created, I, the essence of the Soul Crystal, was imnted by the Demon Emperor into the project of his greatest enemy!]

    It said, trying to dash Lothur''s hopes and quickly remove the singrities from the young man''s body.

    Even though it controlled Lothur''s powers, removing the singrities would not be easy. The more depressed the young Ritter was, the easier and faster it would be for the creature.

    Reading all that in front of him, Lothur naturally felt terrible. How could he not feel that way after discovering everything he knew was wrong? He had beenpletely deceived!

    ''Why did you force me to go after the singrities?''

    [If you had found and absorbed all the singrities, you would have been possessed by the Demon Emperor. But even if you didn''t, you could still help mymanders aplish their mission.]

    A long time ago, the Demon Emperor had fallen to the coalition of the strongest Sages of that time. However, he was someone who had reached the peak of this world''s cultivation and had reached the legendary level of 26!

    At that level, he was different from everyone else. Even though he eventually lost, he didn''t disappearpletely.

    Once the seven singrities were reassembled, as long as something or someone had at least a memory of him and participated in the creation of a new being with the seven powers, he would return to this world!

    Even if his body was destroyed and his essence trapped in the Lost Tree, he could return to this world after the Seven Singrities were united.

    [But it''s a shame it all had to end like this, host. You were the one who came closest to the Demon Emperor level. If you hadn''t rebelled, you might have be the next Demon Emperor. Sadly, our journey ends here.]

    ''Damn it!'' Lothur cursed the creature, which was escaping his body, but he was unable to do anything as he was watched by the surrounding demons, some surprised but most calm as they saw what they had expected.

    That had been a long and difficult project, with generations of creaturesing and going. But they were finally at the end, recovering thest pieces of the singrities, but also the Soul Crystal parasite, which had been missing for as long as the Demon Emperor himself.

    ''We will finally have everything under control again.'' The level 25 woman thought to herself, excited at the return of her leader, who would soon be able to rejoin the two Immortal Crystals of the Demons.

    Having learned so much in thest few thousand years, her people would be much more careful in this second attempt to take over Concordia!

    Lothur agonized in front of these creatures, trying his best to prevent the worst from happening while feeling like someone was trying to take away his essence.

    The Seven Singrities were not Lothur''s special powers, as in the case of his Physique power. The seven special powers born from the Lost Tree were special forms of energy capable of evolving creatures and parts of themselves.

    The first essence Lothur had absorbed at the beginning of his journey in this world had awakened a characteristic of his own, something that he might one day have awakened with or without that singrity.

    But because of the special energy of that leaf, he had managed to awaken an extraordinary physical power. At the same time, the quality of that power had evolved by several levels.

    Something simr happened when he absorbed the second singrity he came in contact with. The special energy of that second singrity helped himplete his iplete soul, basically nourishing the part that was there to give it aplete form and allowing him to cultivate his soul.

    But none of these powers would be seen in other beings because they were unique to Lothur and had only been awakened and matured by the two leaves he hade in contact with.

    [Farewell host, good luck in your next life.]

    Lothur saw the worm finally leave his body, while two small sparkles that looked like stars were inside its body.

    Seeing it fly into the Soul Crystal in the hand of the strongest demon there, Lothur could do nothing more. As he watched his surroundings grow darker and darker, the cold quickly reaching his body, he felt his heart stop and thought about what it all meant.

    ''Death?'' He feared as his body fell backward, plummeting uncontrobly toward the abyss.

    A few demons watched Lothur''s fall intently, but as they felt his heart stop beating, and his spiritual fluctuation disappear, they would all soon leave the strongest hybrid in history behind.

    ''Is this the end?'' He asked himself before losing consciousness, feeling an existential void within himself so great it was as if he had lost the most important thing about himself.

    One of the demons saw Lothur''s death and opened his mouth to speak. "What shall we do with him? What about his Soul Bones?"

    The strongest demon of the group, who now had two new singrities, didn''t want to hear about it and left, eager to start the ritual to bring the Demon Emperor back to the world.

    Someone then said. "Destroy his body. These Soul Bones have been pushed to the limit by that bastard. It''ll probably take longer for them to separate from his body.

    After all, the way he died was unusual."

    "Okay."

    As the strongest disappeared from the area, the weakest sighed in relief that it was all over, and two of them went to Lothur''s side.

    As one of them bent down to grab Lothur''s ankles, the Space Watch beeped.

    Fearing what it meant, the demons present took steps back, afraid of onest attack from their enemy.

    Lothur was so slippery that even dead, he could still frighten these creatures!

    "Damn it!"

    "A bomb?"

    Some of them wondered.

    But before anyone could figure out what it was, the Space Watch distorted the surroundings, making Lothur''s body disappear from the area in an instant!

 Chapter 843 In Search of a Miracle

    Chapter 843 In Search of a Miracle

    After Lothur''s body disappeared before a group of demons, four days passed in the blink of an eye.

    The demons didn''t despair at Lothur''s sudden disappearance so soon after his death. They had all sensed that he had been killed, that his soul had copsed and vanished from this world.

    Still, they had begun to search for his body because there were 8 Soul Bones in it that could be very useful to high-level humans on the continent, and he also seemed to have something else with him.

    They knew that Lothur had the Darkness Scythe, but what interested them the most was the device that could teleport him to another ce without leaving a trace.

    It worked even after his death. That could only mean it was a high-level essence!

    That was what interested the demons who were currently searching for Lothur''s body!

    However, none of the strongest demons in the demon tribe were busy with it. Just before Lothur fell to the group of high-level demons on that fateful day, a level 24 demon had received the 5th singrity his tribe was searching for.

    With what they had taken from Lothur''s body, the demon tribe had finally gathered the Seven Singrities, and their leaders were currently performing the ritual to bring back the Demon Emperor!

    Not far from where Lothur had fallen, where Viktoria and the other three were trapped, there was what looked like a gigantic tree, over 300 meters high, with a trunk at least 30 meters in diameter.

    That was not the Lost Tree of Legends but an imitation of it, created by the second split of the Seven Singrities when the Demon Emperor was defeated thousands of years ago.

    In that tree was the corpse of the creature that had terrorized Concordia in the past, where its body had been left after the group of Concordia experts had defeated it.

    Around this tree, the tribe''s strongest demons held the seven singrities, using their powers to bind these essences to the Prison Tree of their supreme leader.

    Space barriers protected the area, as this ritual could take days toplete. During this time, the spiritual fluctuations would be so intense that if they weren''t prevented by powerful barriers, beings from all over the continent would feel the awakening of the supreme leader of the demons.

    To prevent the continental experts from gathering again and attacking the Demon Emperor during his awakening, these elders sealed off the area where they were almost perfectly.

    While this was happening, the giant tree seemed to glow and gradually be more transparent while something inside it pulsated as if it were a heart.

    That was the Demon Emperor that was rapidly evolving,ing back to life after being imprisoned in that tree for thousands of years!

    But as the ritual continued, with dozens of hours to go, the prisoners near the area knew something was about to happen.

    They weren''t in the demon-protected area where everything was happening. Even so, they knew that something had happened days ago and that the demons were about to do something even worse.

    In that ce, the horse with white hair and a horn on its head said to Annaliese. "I think they havepleted their mission. The Demon Emperor must be brought back to life!"

    Hearing this, Annaliese didn''t doubt it, but she didn''t care either. She remained depressed, full of regret, staring at the ground as if she had lost something of herself.

    A few days ago, a demon had visited her and her harem sisters to tell them that Lothur had returned to rescue them and had fallen to the demons.

    So Annaliese, Viktoria, Elke, and Reba were already aware of the death of their beloved man!

    They were all extremely sad, almost giving up on life.

    But it was no wonder! They had lost the man they loved, who was the most talented and capable person they knew!

    Besides, their situation wasn''t good. While the Demon Emperor was being resurrected, they were wounded and imprisoned, waiting to be demon food.

    In such a terrible situation, with virtually no chance of escape, there was no way they could not be discouraged and sigh in defeat at the bottom of the pit.

    That was really the end of the road for them! It couldn''t get any worse!

    "It looks like we''re all going to die very soon... I''m sorry for giving you false hope. I had no idea that demons were so capable."

    "Don''t me yourself, Anna. There was no way we could have known. To bring down Lothur, these creatures must have had a mighty weapon." Viktoria muttered, feeling sad too, but not as badly as her younger sister.

    "Let''s look at the bright side. Soon, we''ll all be with him again..." Reba murmured.

    But then Elke wondered. "Would that really be good? I don''t mind dying. But I wanted to at least avenge Lothur''s death. If we''re going to fall, wouldn''t it be better to do it by killing some of them?"

    "But how would we do that? We''re wounded and in the hands of our enemies..." Viktoria said quietly.

    The other beings in the cells sighed, also feeling that it would be incredible if they could face the demons once more before their deaths. Unfortunately, it didn''t seem possible.

    ''Only a miracle would allow it now...'' A three-headed being shook his head as he sighed in failure, feeling that perhaps this time, the whole world would fall into the demonic clutches.

    That could be the end of all non-demonic life in Concordia!

    ...

    Meanwhile, near where Lothur hadst breathed a few days ago...

    Suddenly, small areas of space distorted, and two individuals arrived in the area, crossing the space and then camouging themselves.

    A small red creature with bristly fur looked at her graypanion and eximed.

    "This is where our creator disappeared days ago." Blood said as she smelled the scent of Lothur in the area where they hadst sensed him.

    After absorbing the powers of all the spectres in the Castle of Shadows, the two began their journey back to Concordia, heading toward where they hadst sensed their creator four days ago.

    On that fateful day, they had strangely lost all contact with Lothur.

    Since they had rushed to this ce, these two cats, who had reached level 24 of soul cultivation and level 23 of body cultivation, were naturally worried about what might have happened.

    "What should we do now?" She asked Smoke.

    "There''s no trace of where he went. Let''s search the area for clues. Maybe we''ll find something that will tell us what happened."

    "Okay."

    With that, they split up in that area and quickly started searching for clues that wouldn''t take long to bring results!

    ...

 Chapter 844 Escape

    Chapter 844 Escape

    After some time of searching for traces of what might have happened to Lothur, Smoke found an area where he sensed something was wrong.

    When he saw the spatial distortion caused by the demons that had resurrected the Demon Emperor, he stopped moving and scanned the area.

    "What the hell is that?" He asked himself, feeling a powerful restriction nearby, something even he, a level 24 Sage, felt helpless against.

    ''Blood, I think I found something.'' He used his mentalmunication with his sister. ''I believe this is rted to the disappearance of our creator. Whatever''s causing it is certainly beyond us.''

    ''Oh? If we can''t look at it directly, let''s look at the surroundings.'' Blood replied as she moved, almost instantly leaving the ce where she had been miles away from Smoke to appear near him.

    After arriving near Smoke, the red-furred being realized what had attracted her brother''s attention. "Let''s have a look around. Something here must tell us what''s behind this barrier."

    "Yes." Smoke agreed, turning his attention to whaty beyond the area where the Demon Emperor''s awakening ritual was taking ce.

    With the two of them working together and in a much smaller area than the one they had examined earlier, Blood found the signs of Lothur''s women within moments!

    "I have found the women of our creator!" She said to Smoke as she moved towards a cave not far from the spatial distortion, quickly reaching the entrance to the cave, where only a few level 22 demons were hanging around.

    Under the current circumstances, all the high-level demons in the area were participating in the ritual to bring back the Demon Emperor.

    That was a high-level ritual that wasplicated to perform, and it was fraught with the risk of failure. As the main n of the demons, there was no reason for any of these experts to divert their attention from something like this to protect a ce that had never faced an opponent in thousands of years.

    As a result, only level 22 demons were left to take care of the hostages there to feed the Demon Emperor, and Blood easily defeated them by sucking out their souls in a matter of seconds.

    One of the humans trapped with Lothur''s women frowned as he saw something happening to the demons on guard.

    "What''s going on?" He rose curiously from where he was waiting to die.

    Before Blood and Smoke entered this ce to rescue Lothur''s four women, all the trapped beings, about 15, counting the four humans, realized that someone was acting.

    "Someone is breaking into this ce!" The three-headed beast saw the miracle he thought was impossible unfolding before him and could not contain his voice.

    The women of Lothur watched without much emotion, but as soon as they saw a red and gray glow, they all opened their eyes wide in awe.

    "Blood! Smoke!"

    They screamed almost simultaneously, seeing that Lothur''s creations had survived even after all that had happened.

    Seeing his creator''s women trapped and injured, Smoke took the initiative to destroy the entrance to the cells they were in.

    "Where is our creator? What has happened? Why did his spiritual fluctuation disappear four days ago?" Blood asked as she looked around.

    "Lothur...Lothur..."Annaliese hesitated, her eyes filled with tears again.

    "Lothur is dead." Elke finished Annaliese''s speech, while they all felt terrible about having to talk about the incident of days ago.

    Gulp!

    The two cats couldn''t believe it at first, feeling that something like this shouldn''t be possible and that it was a bad joke.

    But when they saw the expressions and tears of those four humans and felt their heartbeats, they soon understood this was the case.

    "Anyway, we have to avenge him!" Viktoria clenched one of her fists, finally free after Blood had destroyed the bonds that had held her for the past few weeks.

    "Yes, we must. The damned demons are resurrecting the Demon Emperor as we speak." Reba said to the two cats, thinking that they should attack with all their might.

    But then the horse with white hair and a pointed horn on its head said. "Do not do this! The ritual is nearing its end, so we won''t be able to stop it. Attacking now will only endanger us all."

    "If we do nothing, it will be much worse!" Annaliese said.

    The three-headed beast sighed. "No, youngdies. You will only die in vain. So if you''re willing to risk it, free us and escape with us. We''ll gather allies to face the damned Demon Emperor!"

    Smoke didn''t disagree. "The beast is right. If our creator died, it was at the hands of those resurrecting the Demon Emperor. However, our creator had reached the 4th Catastrophe before he died. If we try to stop this ritual, we will all die."

    "We''d better run." Blood agreed. "If we stay to fight and try to sabotage the enemy''s ns, we will surely fail and die with no chance of avenging our creator.

    Now, the best thing to do is to retreat and n our next steps." She said, remembering the ten tinum-grade Soul Bones she had in a spatial ring, something that could help Annaliese and Viktoria but also human allies willing to fight alongside them!

    ''Miss Viktoria, we have a bone for you and one for Annaliese. Our creator left them with us before we separated... I believe he foresaw trouble and left them for you.'' Blood said in Viktoria''s mind, aware that even if she wasn''t the strongest of Lothur''s women, this woman was the one who led the others.

    Hearing this, mes of hope rose in Viktoria''s heart.

    If she could absorb one more Soul Bone, she would reach 90% of her full Spirit Body and advance one level.

    That would be essential if her group were to have a chance at revenge!

    "All right, Blood and Smoke, free everyone in this ce." She ordered. "Let''s escape from here and start our ns to deal with the damned Demon Emperor!"

    The others didn''t disagree as they helped the beings in this ce to leave just before they all fled under the leadership of Blood and Smoke, the only ones with enough energy to escape quickly.

    With that, in less than five minutes, the group was out of the demons'' reach, free again on this continent to pursue their goals!

 Chapter 845 Beginning of the Resistance

    Chapter 845 Beginning of the Resistance

    Minutes after escaping from where they had been held hostage by demons for weeks, the women of Lothur, apanied by Blood, Smoke, and the beings who had been there, finally stopped in a rtively safe ce.

    Arriving in the forested area of the Three Great Lakes Region where the two cats had taken them, the group immediately showed different reactions as they looked around.

    Some were extremely happy; after centuries, they had returned to the surface, free to do as they pleased.

    The feeling of freedom was great!

    Not only that, but they had spent a long time being restricted by demonic formations that blocked their natural instincts, soul powers, and so on. It was no easy thing to endure, and some were tormented by being unable to cultivate for decades or even centuries.

    Of course, when they were released, some felt happy, or at least relieved, because they could return to cultivation, see their friends, and eliminate the threat of being devoured by the Demon Emperor.

    But others were not in a good mood. They also felt relieved, but knowing that the Demon Emperor was returning to the world, they couldn''t help but feel afraid.

    "We don''t have much time. We must prepare our coalition." The white-furred horse with the shining horn on its head, a unicorn, roared to the entire group.

    "We must quickly gather powerful allied forces and tell them of the Demon Emperor''s return." The level 24 Cerberus said, agreeing with his old war friend.

    Looking at the women of Lothur and the two cats near them, a human from the group said. "You four must guide us. You must know the continental leaders, right? We need you to take us to them so we can start moving."

    Looking at Annaliese, the unicorn who had shared a cell with her for weeks said. "Now that the Demon Emperor is returning, there won''t be much time for the continent. In a few weeks or months at the most, wars will break out all over Concordia. We must act quickly, or this time, the entire continent will perish in the face of the enemy."

    Hearing this, Viktoria touched one of Annaliese''s shoulders and answered on her younger sister''s behalf. "I have good and bad news to tell you.

    The bad news is that we don''t know many of the continent''s leaders, and most of them see us as enemies. So even if we were to lead you, we wouldn''t be of much help at first.

    The good news is that we will join the continent''s defense and have some tinum-grade Soul Bones with us. Of the ones we have, only two arepatible with us, and we intend to send only one or two of them to our supporters. I intend to distribute the majority to demon hunters willing to join us and kill those wretches!"

    Viktoria could give all eight of the remaining bones that would be left over after she and Anna absorbed theirs to the people of the Ritter family. But why wouldn''t she? Because there were few people in Lothur''s family, or even allied with him, who could actively participate in defending the continent against demons.

    Killing demons took more than just strength. One had to have unique techniques, special affinities, and much more.

    If a war broke out, everyone would fight against the demons. But those who could give this world a chance of victory against the demons were the strongest on the continent, especially the demon hunters.

    Aware of it, Viktoria was willing to give some of the bones that Blood and Smoke had brought for her to former enemies, believing it was the best decision she could make.

    ''This way, we''ll have a better chance to avenge Lothur''s death!'' She thought as she clenched her fists, not needing to exin it to her harem sisters as they easily understood her decision.

    "Oh? Do you have Soul Bones?" The level 24 man asked with interest.

    He currently had 9 Soul Bones. If he had the chance to get the 10th, his power could increase significantly!

    "Yes, we have 8 bones that are ipatible with us," Viktoriamented while Blood and Smoke looked at the man from the shoulders of the two Frost sisters.

    "Do you have a skull bone? It''s the only thing Ick. I''m willing to absorb any tinum-grade skull bone, even if it doesn''t have the ability mostpatible with me." This man said without showing any greed.

    He wanted to be stronger, but his fear of demons drove him to make that request.

    As someone who had been held hostage by these creatures and almost be demon food, he had a deep hatred for them but also fear.

    Viktoria didn''t hide the truth. "I have it. But I have one condition to give you the bone."

    "What condition? I agree to anything!" The man said as he took a step forward while the others looked on.

    "You must help us avenge the death of ourpanion. No matter how dangerous it is, you''ll have to help us hunt down each of the demons involved."

    If he absorbed a new Soul Bone, he would immediately reach level 25 and have aplete Spirit Body.

    Even the Demon Emperor wouldn''t be able to kill him easily if he achieved such a feat!

    However, those who had dealt with herpanion were not such beings but subordinates of the Demon Emperor.

    "Alright, I agree." He said with a confident expression.

    "Okay. I''ll give you your Soul Bone after we sign a blood contract." Viktoria spoke before adding. "In the meantime, I advise the group to recover from what we''ve been through before we look for allies.

    My sister and I will also absorb Soul Bones, while this senior will do the same. So get ready to leave this ce in an hour or two."

    Everyone there agreed, knowing that they couldn''t search for allies as they were.

    Everyone who had escaped from demonic captivity was wounded, exhausted, and even malnourished.

    Since they were Sages, they could recover quickly. Still, they would have to stay there for an hour or two, so they all followed Viktoria''s suggestion, knowing it was necessary and unavoidable.

    They were in a hurry to resolve the situation of the alliance against the demons. However, they wouldn''t leave until they were in top condition.

    Soon, this level 24 human would sign a blood contract with Viktoria before she gave him the skull bone and then took her own and her sister''s bone from the ring Lothur had sent her.

    "Blood and Smoke, secure the area while we make our preparations." She told them almost everyone in their group was already meditating, eating food, medicine, recovery pills, etc.

    As soon as the two cats were in position, Viktoria began to absorb her 8th Soul Bone!

 Chapter 846 Turning Point?

    Chapter 846 Turning Point?

    An hour and a half after arriving in the Three Great Lakes Region, Viktoria''s group had finished recovering from their weakened states.

    Annaliese Viktoria and the human who had received a skull Soul Bone had also finished absorbing the new essences, and each of them had achieved new breakthroughs.

    Viktoria had reached level 25 in both soul and body cultivation. Meanwhile, Annaliese had reached level 24 in both types of cultivation, catching up with her harem mates, who had more bones than her before.

    Only Victoria currently had 8 bones, while the other three had 7 bones each.

    With this change, Viktoria returned to the position of the strongest in the group and was now at the same level as the human she had helped, who had also reached level 25 after absorbing his skull bone.

    Having also reached 100% of his Spirit Body formation, the being with the greatest soul power in the group of demon prison survivors was now much stronger than before.

    Afterpleting his progress and realizing its benefits, he naturally thanked Viktoria for her gesture of giving him hisst bone and promised to help her once again in her quest for revenge.

    With that, the group left the Leopoldine region, splitting into four groups, each heading for different destinations.

    Victoria and some of the demon hostages went to the Seraphim Church, while Reba and her group went to the Petha Empire. On the other hand, Annaliese nned to go to Peters City to expose what was happening to her family and strengthen the state''s defenses.

    Elke and her party would go to the Ancestral Region, where she nned to take the beasts on her side to the Ancestral People and perhaps use Cykad to rally the alliance against Lothur to act against the Demon Emperor.

    ...

    As three of the four groups traveled north, Annaliese and her temporarypanions arrived in Peters City.

    Arriving in a city that looked exactly the same as when Lothur hadst passed through, Annaliese quickly noticed the number of local Sages, especially her mother.

    But with everything happening to her, Annaliese couldn''t be happy for her mother.

    Seeing her, she continued with her serious expression as she led her group towards her.

    "Mom..." She said as she stood before Mabel, seeing her mother''s surprised and smiling look in her direction.

    "Anna! What are you doing here?" Of course, Mabel hadn''t expected to be visited by one of her daughters right now, especially without the others present.

    Seeing these strange creatures next to Annaliese, Mabel had several questions in mind.

    But Annaliese answered almost all of them promptly. "Mom... Lothur... Lothur has been killed!" She said with great difficulty as tears formed in her eyes again, and she hugged her mother.

    Mabel didn''t say anything right away as she stared at her daughter with wide eyes, not knowing what to say or do.

    ''Is this true?'' She felt her heart leap in her chest. She had never imagined something like this would happen to her.

    If someone had asked Mabel a few minutes ago who would die first between her and Lothur, she would have said withplete confidence that it would be her, even considering the risk he had taken.

    Considering how talented and powerful Lothur was, she couldn''t believe he would meet his end so prematurely!

    ''Did it have to happen right now?'' She felt sorry for her family, for Lothur, but also for the Ritter Motor Company.

    Recently, the powers of the continent had begun to put pressure on the Ritter Motor Company, with the Seraphim Church even sending their top brass to put pressure on Mabel.

    Fortunately, she was already very strong and had a lot of local support, which prevented anything worse from happening.

    However, with the fall of Lothur, many things could change for the worse for this organization!

    Thinking about it, being more rational than emotional, she soon saw a problem.

    ''Shit! All those high-level Saints and low-level Sages in the Ritter family were controlled by Lothur''s abilities. If he''s dead, they''ll rebel!'' She imagined this problem.

    "Anna, my love, I''m sorry for your loss. I want to know more about what happened and what you intend to do now, but first, we must stop a bigger problem from forming in the Ritter family."

    "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Annaliese didn''t understand.

    Mabel came straight to the point. "I''m talking about Lothur''s ves."

    After hearing it, Annaliese''s eyes opened wider as she realized the problem.

    With that in mind, they quickly set off, following the beasts there to join Annaliese in the direction of the Ritter family''s headquarters.

    Arriving in the area of nearby Peters City, where there was still a forest, they soon entered the headquarters and searched everywhere for enemies.

    "Ladies..." One of Lothur''s level 21 ves was about to speak when Mabel grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and red at him.

    "Stop pretending! State your purpose immediately!" She said, drawing the attention of other members of the Ritter family nearby.

    "I don''t understand, miss." The man said, making an expression of pain at the tightness in his neck. "My purpose is to serve my master."

    Mabelughed mischievously. "Is that so? How can you say that now that your master is dead? Stop pretending! What do you want by continuing to behave like a ve of Lothur?"

    "What?"

    "Lothur is dead?"

    "Our master is dead?"

    Not only the other ves of the Ritter family but also their subordinates, as well as the members of the Koch and Becker families, who were present at that moment, opened their mouths to express their great surprise and shock.

    No one there could believe that the founder of this family had actually met his end!

    "This can''t be true!" The ve struggled to find the words, and though it was difficult, he managed. "How could my master have died? I clearly feel that my connection to him is still stable!"

    "Me too."

    "The same for me. I can feel my master''s mes of darkness in my body, even if they are weaker than before." A ve of Lothur''s who had been with him in the Imperial Prisonmented.

    These words from nearly a dozen people made Annaliese frown, not understanding what was going on.

    "That... Are they telling the truth?"

    Mabel also found the situation odd. "That seems to be the case... But how? Anna, are you sure that Lothur is dead?"

    "The demon who held us hostage said they killed him..."

    "So you didn''t see a body?" A smile broke out on Mabel''s face.

    "No."

    "Then there''s hope! Maybe Lothur has worked another miracle!"

 Chapter 847 The One in Charge

    <h4>Chapter 847 The One in Charge</h4>

    Meanwhile, in a deserted area of Concordia, a cloud of spatial distortion opened up above arge volcano, where the spiritual energy of the area was chaotic.

    From a distance, this ce was scorching as usual, with spiritual energy flowing into the top of the volcano while there was a feeling of tension nearby.

    But this was normal for the area, which was why many, even high-level beings, avoided this part of the continent.

    However, if you took a closer look at that ce on that day, you would see that some of the spiritual pressure in the area was caused by something unusual. It wasn''t just the typical natural phenomenon in the vicinity.

    Something in that spatial cloud was emitting extreme spiritual pulses that could make even that terrible volcano ''hold back.''

    Looking deeper into that dark blue-gray cloud, one would see something hard to expect.

    A body!

    There was the body of a silver-haired man who looked dead at first nce, but upon closer inspection, he wasn''t!

    One of his eight Soul Bones was glowing brightly while his heart had stopped beating, but his aura, though very weak, was still there.

    That was obviously Lothur Ritter, who had been brought to this ce by the programming he had left in his Space Watch before following the demons into the previous trap.

    Lothur hadn''t expected to die at the hands of his enemies. But he had foreseen that there was a great possibility that he would suffer at the hands of the demons. So he had acted to ensure that his wounded body would be taken far away to give him a chance to recover and even grow stronger.

    Unfortunately, the demons were a few steps ahead of him, and with the system as his enemy, he hadn''t had a chance to catch up with his enemies!

    Lothur had indeed died that day!

    But luckily for him, his Space Watch did what it was programmed to do, and his 8th Soul Bone reacted to his situation.

    Nirvana was an ability designed for the situation Lothur had faced, something he had ever experienced in a demon he had used his bloodline ability to kill.

    If even his powerful bloodline ability couldn''t wipe that demon from the face of the world, it wouldn''t be what happened to him that would kill him forever. After his death, the bone reacted to his situation and brought his soul back to the world of the living!

    But Lothur''s situation was delicate. He needed time to recover; if someone attacked him with deadly force in his current circumstances, he would truly die and never have another chance.

    As he floated in that spatial cloud, inside that bone in his right arm, Lothur''s remaining consciousness now faced a dark ce that seemed to have no end.

    "Is this death?" He muttered to himself, feeling very weak but also extremely disappointed.

    Lothur did not consider himself immortal or even invincible. He knew he could die. But he never thought he would die without even being able to fight!

    He had been stabbed in the back by someone he never suspected!

    In this situation, as he stared into the infinite darkness, he had a great pain in his heart and felt powerless like never before.

    "Sigh... Now my family is lost. Viktoria, Elke, Reba, and Annaliese will probably die soon." He was sorry, but knowing that they were being held captive, there was no way they could escape the demons.

    That irritated him deeply. He didn''t believe that after death he would go to a nice ce where he could be reunited with his loved ones. Death was either the end or a new beginning. Then, his life in Concordia would probably bepletely erased, and he would never see his women again.

    As he thought about it, he felt anger at himself for not being able to see the wickedness of the system.

    ''Damn it!'' He clenched his fists as he closed his eyes, ming himself. ''How stupid of me! I should have been looking for ways to destroy that parasite! That bastard manipted me!''

    "Don''t beat yourself up so much..."

    Suddenly, Lothur opened his eyes after hearing a strange voice, something extremely ancient but also powerful.

    "What is this voice? Who are you?" He shouted as he noticed a white glow appearing in the darkness.

    From this white glow, the figure of a huge old man with white hair, wrinkles on his face, and dressed in arge white robe quickly formed in front of him.

    "Lothur Ritter, you are not to me for anything that has happened. As my chosen one, you had no way of knowing that the damned demons had corrupted my system." The elder opened his eyes and looked at the silver-haired young man in the darkness, seeing much of himself in him.

    "Who are you?"

    "I am the one who brought you to this world from Earth. My name is Felous, and I''m in charge of the cultivation world you''re in right now." He said, startling the young Ritter considerably.

    "What?" Lothur opened his mouth, unable to say anything beyond this question.

    "I know you''re shocked and have many questions. Unfortunately, our time is short." The elder said sharply. "The Demon Emperor has just been resurrected in Concordia. If you don''t return there, this continent will face the greatest disaster in its history, and life on it will be extinguished."

    "Then why don''t you do something about it? If you are strong enough to bring me here from Earth, why don''t you do something yourself?" Lothur asked.

    The old man closed his eyes and realized that he would have to exin something about his origins to this young man. "Alright, I''ll tell you a little story.

    Once upon a time, I was a native of this world, someone who fought and defeated the Demon Emperor along with several allies who unfortunately died in battle. I was the only one to survive that day, but I was also the only one from this world to break through the barriers and reach what you call level 27.

    However, I chose to be the protector of this world. That brought me to my current situation, which gave me special powers within this world, Lothur.

    With these powers, I predicted that the Demon Emperor would one day rise again, destroy Concordia, and reach my level.

    Unfortunately, I cannot fight those who are weaker than me, and when he reaches my level, he will be strong enough to defeat me. Faced with this situation, I used the two Immortal Crystals to distort space and time, bringing lives from other worlds into mine and then giving them to my chosen systems."

    "Huh? So there are others besides me?" Lothur was surprised.

    "Not exactly. Given the circumstances, I could only bring my chosen ones at a certain time. Otherwise, my ns to stop my old enemy would not work.

    When I brought in the first of them, he died in his early years. So, I distorted space and time again for another attempt... In the end, you were the third and final, myst hope.

    If my chosen one fails this time, there''s nothing more I can do. Even my powers have their limits. If you fail, Lothur, all will be lost, and there will be no turning back."

    ...

 Chapter 848 Present Situation

    Chapter 848 Present Situation

    "Unfortunately, my system was corrupted by the demons without my knowledge, and you ended up in this terrible situation." The old man in front of Lothur said it while the young man''s mouth was wide open.

    "But how? If you are so strong, how could you not notice?" Lothur asked, feeling it shouldn''t be possible for someone of level 27 to be fooled by beings of lower levels.

    "It was because of the Soul Crystal. It''s an Immortal Crystal, something that basically has the same rank as my powers. It can perfectly fool even someone of my level." Felous said sincerely. "Unfortunately, it was used by the demons, and I didn''t have the opportunity to realize that with my two chosen ones who came before you."

    "So that''s it..."

    "Now you have suffered the worst of what was toe. Luckily, you didn''t die." He moved his hands, making a few seals as he created something new in Lothur.

    "I didn''t die?"

    "You are very weak right now. As much as the singrities you absorbed aren''t the foundation of your existence, they were behind a lot of your powers before. When you lost them, you should have died. However, one of your Soul Bones managed to save your soul, and if you recover, you''ll be fine." He said as an infinite number of extremely small lines appeared in the area as if space was made of these things.

    "I am giving you a new system! It won''t give you many options, but it will be enough to restrain your bloodlust, help you understand your opponents'' powers, and absorb spiritual energy." Felous said. "But even though it won''t be that different, you will feel much better with it.

    The other system was corrupted, so it didn''t allow you to use your bloodline power whenever you wanted, and it also imposed other restrictions on you. From now on, your powers will be limitless, Lothur!"

    Hearing it, Lothur was not surprised to discover the other system had limited him, as he had indeed found it strange throughout his journey that he had never developed his bloodline and physique powers.

    Now he understood it was all the fault of the worm generated by the Soul Crystal, not a natural limitation of his own.

    As for his bloodlust, it was obviously rted to his reality as a hybrid, something that had always been contained by the other system and that he would continue to have with Felous'' system.

    "Lothur, if you reach level 27 one day, you can change the system as you wish or even exclude it from your existence. But for now, use it to stop the Demon Emperor. As strong as you were before, you''re not like that anymore, and your opponent is much more terrifying than you could have imagined.

    When I faced him thousands of years ago, his soul energy was over 100,000 points. So be careful."

    Gulp!

    "I will," Lothur said, realizing he still needed something to help him.

    "Well, that''s all I had to talk to you about. But before I go, I must warn you that you are much weaker than when you fell. Part of your powers came from the special energies of the singrities you absorbed. So, all your attributes have decreased significantly." Felous said as his body became more and more transparent.

    "But don''t be discouraged. With my system and without your previous limitations, you''ll be able to regain your strength quickly..."

    With these words, Felous disappeared from Lothur''s remaining consciousness into his eighth Soul Bone, leaving the young Ritter alone again.

    ''Now what?'' Lothur asked himself, feeling helpless and not knowing what to do.

    He didn''t know where he was, what his body looked like, or how long it had been since falling. Moreover, he didn''t know what he would need to change his current state and wake up.

    ''Is my physique ability still reliable?'' He asked himself, wondering if his body would recover easily and be stronger afterward.

    To his surprise, a blue light appeared before him, forming arge message box.

    [Yes, host, your physique is still the same as before. However, its efficiency is lower because it has lost much of its power with the loss of the two singrities. However, it is no longer limited by the Soul Crystal, and any injury to the host''s body will cause an improvement. In short, you don''t have to suffer much to get improvements.]

    "Huh?" Lothur was surprised. He had not thought that the system Felous had created was already working.

    So he asked. "What is my current situation?

    [Attributes are down about 70%.

    Vitality is down 90%.

    All resistances are down between 30% and 50%.

    Abilities rted to the Soul Bones remain the same. Still, since your attributes are weaker, these abilities will also prove to be weaker.

    Finally, the host did not take any physical damage. All the damage went to your soul. As a result, your Physique skill won''t give you a power bonus when you recover.]

    ''This is all terrible!'' Lothur felt the bitterness of his situation.

    ''Your creator said I was no longer limited by the previous parasite. What''s different about me now?'' He decided to look for some positive information.

    [Your bloodline ability can now be used without restriction. Its range is weaker due to the loss of singrities and the decrease in the host''s strength. However, it is now slightly more efficient at transferring the vitality and characteristics of its targets to you.

    In addition, your ability to use EVF points to temporarily save the life of someone who is about to die has evolved. Previously, you could use these points to temporarily keep your target alive. If you didn''t find another solution, that person would eventually die or depend on your points for the rest of their lives.

    Now, once you''ve given the points to someone, if they pass the given threshold, which can vary depending on the person receiving them, that host''s target can have their situationpletely resolved by the EVF points.

    At the same time, the host can now give absorbable EVF points to third parties, which can be used to empower others besides the host. In short, you can give third parties some of what you have, and those people can gradually absorb those points.]

    lights����vel.c��m These were outstanding improvements in Lothur''s eyes, primarily because he could distribute power as he saw fit.

    That was the skill of a sovereign!

    ''Perfect! And how long will it take for me to recover naturally?''

    [100 years.]

 Chapter 849 The Beginning of the New Continental Coalition

    Chapter 849 The Beginning of the New Continental Coalition

    Reading the system''s response, Lothur opened his mouth in shock, unable to believe what was happening to him.

    It had never taken him more than a day to recover from previous beatings. How could it take him so long now?

    Besides, in 100 years, Concordia would bepletely destroyed, and only demons would be left. What would be the point of him acting when everything was already lost?

    ''How is that possible? Have I lost my Super Regeneration?'' He asked.

    ["No. The Super Regeneration ability is functional, just slightly weakened, as the host''s attributes are reduced from what they were before. However, the host''s body isn''t injured, so the ability is in standby mode.]

    ''My body isn''t damaged? Is this damage only to my soul?''

    [Correct. It will take 100 years for your soul to recover to its stable yet weakened state. It can only be strengthened to the previous level or higher through the host''s subsequent journey.]

    ''Shit! So what do I do? Should I just wait ande back to avenge the world? What is the point of that?''

    [The host''s body is currently in a distorted region of space by the Space Watch. ording to my calctions, the passage of time here differs from the real world. Perhaps those 100 years for you are the equivalent of much less for those on Concordia.

    However, I can''t say how much time will pass outside of this spatial cloud.]

    ''Maybe?'' Lothur thought about the possibility that the passage of time was slower there, which would mean more time would pass outside this space.

    He felt terrible thinking about it. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.

    ''Is there really nothing I can do?'' He asked nervously.

    [Host, you''re barely alive. You''re just a remnant in your eighth Soul Bone right now. There''s nothing for you to do but wait.

    If the host prefers, I can put you in a state of hibernation and awaken you when you are nearing the end of your recovery.

    The 100 years will pass for you in the blink of an eye.]

    That was the only alternative for him. With no other options, Lothur sighed before agreeing with the system.

    ''I better get some sleep and not spend all this time alone with nothing to do. All right, system, do what you want. Put me into hibernation.''

    Lothur would soon no longer see that space filled with darkness, where only the system''s message boxes could give him something to look at.

    As he fell into a deep sleep, time would begin to pass for him, with 10 years passing in the blink of an eye!

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Concordia...

    Ten days had passed since Lothur had fallen to the demons who had acted against him.

    At that time, the Demon Emperor had finally been brought back to the world 5 days ago!

    After the ritual to bring him back waspleted, the demons Lothur had faced had seeded in their goal, bringing back to the world the cruel being that had once ravaged thesends.

    This time, he wasn''t as strong as before because he needed to eat and take some time to recover after being resurrected.

    The Demon Emperor''s cultivation was at level 26. Still, since he was weakened, he couldn''t even use powerparable to that of a level 22 cultivator.

    However, his temporary weakness could be cured in no time! He could be back in top shape in a few months, enough for the Demon Tribe to return with 100% of their ns against Concordia!

    The fact that the Demon Emperor''s food group had fled would dy this demon''s recovery and the start of his people''s operations. However, no one in the tribe was worried about it, as they were much more confident this time due to their many preparations for such a moment.

    After their previous defeat, the demons had learned that they were not invincible and were now much more cautious in their actions than in the past.

    Now, the Demon Emperor was already on Demon Ind while his strongest experts were hunting high-level humans in Concordia!

    While some level 24 and 25 demons were hunting on their leader''s behalf, the group that escaped from the demon prison was forming its coalition to defend the continent!

    ...

    In the Ancestral Region...

    Now, a red-haired human, along with some level 23 and 24 beasts, stood in front of a group of pointy-eared creatures with weapons pointed in their direction.

    "Cykad, you traitor, how dare you return here?" One of the leaders of the Ancestral Folk, along with the leader of the Dinosaur Tribe, asked the Tyrannosaurus Rex next to Elke.

    After leaving for this area, Elke had found Cykad and joined her group with the Dinosaur''s.

    Cykad had been trying for days to warn the world''s experts of the Demon Emperor''s return. Still, except for two old acquaintances who agreed to join him, everyone else refused to listen.

    Not only that, but with the recent news of Cykad''s alliance with the hybrid, hardly anyone believed him anymore, which had led him into a few fights since he left Lothur.

    Fortunately, he had met Elke along the way and joined her party toe to the area and try to warn the people of the region of what was happening.

    "Elder, I''m sure you''ll understand everything I''ve done one day. But for now, we don''t have time to talk about it. The Demon Emperor has been brought back to the world, and we are currently in extreme danger.

    The Demon Tribe wants to destroy the entire continent to advance and reach an unprecedented level. If we don''t unite like the women did years ago, we will be wiped out this time." He said seriously.

    "Demon Emperor?" The dinosaur on the side of the Ancestral Folk muttered.

    "Cut the crap, Cykad. How long are you going to use that excuse?"

    "It''s not an excuse!" Elkemented as she took a step forward. "Mypanion was killed because of it, and we all felt the beginning of the ritual to bring that demon back to life!"

    "Yes, I can tell. I don''t know about your old rivalries, but this beast and this human are on our side, friends of the Ancestral Region." Cerberus said, looking at these people steadily. "The Demon Emperor must already be walking through ournds, recovering from his weakened state.

    Don''t expect the current peace tost more than a few weeks. Between one and three months, this continent will see the beginning of the worst era of all!"

    The surrounding beings doubted the words of Elke and Cykad, but this beast was an old fighter against the demonic threat, someone they hadn''t heard of for a long time but knew.

    His warning was much more credible than that of Lothur''s twopanions!

    "Is this really serious? What happened to the hybrid? Aren''t you going to help him?"

    "The demons killed him," Elke said, still in the dark about Annaliese''s findings.

 Chapter 850 Negotiations Before the Meeting

    Chapter 850 Negotiations Before the Meeting

    It had been a few days since Elke''s group arrived in the Ancestral Region in search of allies.

    At first, things hadn''t worked out for her and her group. Some of them had a recent history of enmity, while many still doubted the return of the Demon Emperor.

    It would be veryplicated to bring that creature back to life, and even if he were brought back, the demons would need time and "food" for him to recover after being imprisoned for so long.

    However, as the days passed, the conversations progressed, and the news began to reach them, the conversations changed.

    Some elders'' rigid tone from before had changed to more concerned ones, and some of the continent''s greatest experts began to consider ''what if they were right.''

    That thought was frightening, and once again, the continent might be threatened with a perilous war for all living things there.

    Just in case, that area beings decided to go deeper into their investigations and not take Elke''s group away immediately.

    While they were doing this, news of other groups like Elke''s roaming the northern region of Concordia reached the Ancestral Region, and more and more experts were talking about it.

    The more they talked about it, the more fear arose among the Sages of Concordia, which quickly grew to such a level that even before they had confirmation, the forces of the continent agreed to arrange a meeting to discuss the matter.

    Eight days after Elke''s group arrived in the Ancestral Region, powers from seven states and three major continental organizations agreed to meet in a forest in Rablus in five days.

    The first meeting to discuss the formation of a coalition would take ce in that ce, which was the same distance from several of the main headquarters of the many high-level organizations!

    ...

    In the Petha Empire...

    Reba''s group was still in this state, trying to gather powerful allies to join their alliance against the demons.

    However, her group would be leaving for Rablus in the next few hours, the time limit they could stay in Petha Empire in order not to bete for the big meeting that was about to take ce in Rablus.

    While they were using theirst moments in this territory, the group was trying to gain the support of the imperial family of this state, the Von Weber family.

    Now, Reba was in the family''s imperial pce, next to a level 24 beast and Blood, facing the former local empress whom Lothur had met months ago.

    Jil Von Weber had seeded in her attempt to advance to level 22 and, after bing a Sage, had resigned from her position as leader of the empire to live in seclusion, as the elders of her family usually did.

    However, as one of the Sages of the Von Weber family, who had been the head of the family and the state before bing a Sage, she was one of the most influential among the 5th-stage cultivators in her family.

    Even though she was one of the weakest, she was as influential as the level 24 warriors of her family, the strongest of that house.

    "Elder Jil, please lend your family''s strength to our coalition. Together, we can stop the Demon Emperor and end the demonic threat." The green-haired woman with the red-furred cat on her shoulder said as the former local leader listened to her words while sitting in a luxurious chair.

    "Miss, why do you think I can help you with this? I''m only a low-level Sage. You''ll have to find stronger people if you want support." Jil said to the beautiful and powerful woman in front of her.

    Blood then said. "Jil Von Weber, my creator has met you. He told us you promised to help him one day if necessary."

    "Are you saying that the hybrid called Lothur met me?" Jil asked with a strange expression, already knowing who Lothur was and how he had died. "Impossible. I wouldn''t remember him if that were true."

    Reba said. "Lothur was wearing a false appearance when he met you. But he has been with you. You two talked about the family of a soul fragment he had to fulfill a mission. Today, the descendants of that family are called Jansen."

    "Jansen family?" Jil''s eyes widened when she heard that, remembering the young man she had received in her imperial pce months ago and who had told her about that poor family.

    ''How is that possible? Are you telling me that he was that young man?'' She was surprised because Lothur was not only much weaker then but also very calm and didn''t show the bloodlust of hybrids.

    "Are you serious?" She asked.

    "That was Lothur, elder. When we and Cykad decided to fight alongside him against the demons, it wasn''t because we were being controlled or choosing the least bad path. Lothur never showed any other intentions than a human concerned for his own family and existence. He never acted like a hybrid." Reba said, pointing out the continent''s mistake in pursuing him.

    ''If it hadn''t been for you, we would have had an easier time hunting demons, and maybe he would still be here with us.'' Reba thought to herself, bitter about the whole situation.

    Unfortunately, she had to ally herself with her enemies now, or else the whole continent and her revenge would be in danger!

    Jil clenched her fists, believing that the hybrid they''d been hunting until a few weeks ago really wasn''t that bad and could live in society.

    After her experience with Lothur, she was sure he wasn''t simple.

    "So that''s it..." She sighed, imagining what a shame it was for someone capable of growing up so quickly to end up like that. ''If he were still alive, dealing with the demons would be easy. Unfortunately, it''s toote now.''

    She decided what to do. "All right, I oddly believe you, Miss. I''ll see what I can do with my family, but there are no guarantees. One of my elders will be attending that meeting in a few days, so that will be more important than my attempts."

    "That will be enough, elder." Reba was thankful for the opportunity.

    After Reba took care of Jil, it wouldn''t be long before she and her group left for Rablus in the Petha Empire, and the days passed quickly.

    On the eve of the great gathering of the continent''s Sages, Viktoria would arrive in Rablus ahead of her harem sisters, finally getting the chance to make contact with the upper echelons of the Seraphim Church, old enemies of her family, but with whom they would now have to work together.

    Since the worst had already happened, anyone with power willing to fight on the continent''s side would be considered a great ally!

 Chapter 851 Decision of the Church Leaders

    Chapter 851 Decision of the Church Leaders

    It waste afternoon in the Rablus region, where the great meeting of the continental experts was scheduled to take ce in the next few hours.

    In the ce in question, a forest further east in the empire, was the camp where the meeting would take ce, and some experts and their groups were already there.

    Most of the participants had not yet arrived, so while they waited, the first groups there took the time to talk about their expectations.

    The movements of the women of Lothur had been quite rming and had quickly attracted the attention of almost every high-level power on the continent.

    Everything had happened so quickly that the next day''s meeting would be held in one of the camps used by the Sage of the coalition that had previously hunted Lothur!

    From one hour to the next, the enemy had changed, increasing the difficulty of the problem exponentially.

    With this in mind, some of the strongest members of the Seraphim Church, level 24 and 25 Sages, stood around. Theymented on the matter, worried about the veracity of Lothur''s women''s ims.

    "I don''t think it''s a lie." One of the strongest Sages in the group said with a terrible expression. "I sense something bad is about to happen. Some of our old acquaintances, maybe even ourselves, will die soon."

    "Is that so, elder?" A level 24 woman asked the level 25 man.

    "That''s what I feel."

    "Elder Apel''s feeling must be correct." Another level 25 man, the second of the two strongest elders of the Seraphim Church, agreed. "The demons'' movements in thest few weeks have been bizarre. They''re up to something."

    "Then what..."

    As one of the five level 24 Sages of the Church was about to ask a question, Viktoria approached the experts of the Seraphim Church alongside Smoke and a Pegasus and caught their attention.

    As someone who had reached level 25, even though she had a rtively weak soul for her level, she deserved respect throughout the continent, even from experts of the rank of the seven Church representatives there.

    Looking at Viktoria, everyone recognized her as the wife of the hybrid who had been their enemy until recently.

    "Viktoria Frost." Elder Sandro Apel murmured while Viktoria had an icy expression on her beautiful face.

    "Elders of the Seraphim Church." She greeted them before continuing with what she had to say. "I hope we can stop the animosity between us and fight for the sake of destroying the demons. All that matters now is that we stop this threat."

    Thomas Fehr, the other level 25 Sage of the Church, agreed, d to see this woman wouldn''t jeopardize a possible coalition between them because of past problems.

    "Everyone here has their losses and reasons for regretting or hating certain groups. But with the possibility of the Demon Emperor''s return, there''s nothing else to distract us." Thomasmented. "So let''s work together if this is our reality.

    Perhaps we made a mistake in pursuing Lothur Ritter for months. But from our point of view, he was a big threat that had to be stopped if we didn''t want to lose the continent. Unfortunately, we made a mistake and made life difficult for the man who could have be Concordia''s greatest demon hunter.

    These high-ranking Church cultivators had nothing to do with what their organization was doing to hunt Lothur. Most of them hadn''t even heard of him until recently, when the news that he had reached the level of the continent''s strongest began to circte in the Ancestral Region.

    In any case, they were the ones behind the Seraphim Church, and they didn''t shy away from the responsibility of supporting the men who had actually pursued Lothur''s journey and perhaps even hindered it.

    Looking deeply at Viktoria, elder Apel asked. "Viktoria, how many Soul Bones do you really have?"

    They had information that Viktoria most likely didn''t have aplete Spirit Body. However, this didn''t make sense to them since even the strongest human in history had only reached level 25 after absorbing his 10th Soul Bone.

    Since the strength of each person willing to fight the demons was very important, this elder was naturally curious to know if Viktoria could still strengthen herself to help the World Coalition.

    No matter how risky it was to raise someone like her, they wanted to have that option in case they needed it!

    Viktoria looked at the old man, who had more than three times her soul strength and replied. "I have 8 Soul Bones."

    All seven members of the Church looked at her differently after her answer.

    ''If that''s true, she''ll probably surpass the soul strength level of the strongest person in all of our history.'' The two level 25 Sages thought the same thing as they looked at each other discreetly.

    ''What are we going to do with her, old man?'' Thomas asked.

    ''Not much for now. If a continental war breaks out, we''ll send some of us to hunt demon emperors, so we''ll have the bones to her. If things get desperate, we''ll give them to her so she can help us.'' Apel said, aware that if they raised Viktoria, she might be the next difficult enemy to deal with.

    But better a human enemy than a demon!

    He was willing to risk the continent''s situation for Viktoria if necessary!

    "So that''s it... You really are talented." Apel said with a smile on his face. "Then it might be interesting for you not to fight on the front lines if a war breaks out. If a war spreads across the continent, the best scenario for us is for you to protect yourself in a highly protected facility until we can help youplete your Spirit Body.

    Only then can you truly help us!"

    Viktoria opened her mouth in surprise at hearing this, not expecting the members of the Church to suggest this to her.

    "Would you be willing to do that?" She asked.

    Thomas looked into Victoria''s brown eyes and said. "We would do everything in our power for the good of the continent.

    If the Demon Emperor is really back, even the dead in ournds will suffer. That''s how terrible he is!"

    "Hmmm. Even for an old enemy like you, Viktoria Frost, I wouldn''t mind if you inherited my Soul Bones if I fell on the battlefield." A level 24 woman said there, aware there was a risk that some of them would die if the strongest demons were back on the continent.

    When a human expert died, their bones had to be distributed not to their heirs but to those most capable of recing them in the defense of their sect, organization, or even continent.

    Since no level 24 or 25 Church Sage had room to add new Soul Bones to their bodies when someone died there, their bones would be distributed to beings between levels 22 and 23.

    Since Victoria existed, she would naturally take the lead from anyone who could inherit the bones of human experts!

 Chapter 852 Formation of the Coalition

    Chapter 852 Formation of the Coalition

    After Victoria''s arrival at the continental experts'' meeting ce, a whole day passed, and everyone who was expected at the meeting arrived.

    Annaliese, Reba, and Elke returned from their positions with their respective groups. At the same time, members of the continent''s most powerful forces arrived with at least 2 representatives each.

    As a result, more than half of the continent''s states were represented at it, including representatives from the most important sects and organizations, such as the Cultivation House, a force that rarely took action.

    But amid the current danger that the continent might be in, even representatives of this continental organization appeared in that camp.

    With all of them together, about 50 Sages spent an entire day talking, sometimes all together, sometimes in smaller groups, deciding what would happen in the near future.

    With the hybrid''s death confirmed, they could now turn their attention to the demons, and even if the Demon Emperor had not returned to life, it might still be interesting for them to act against such creatures.

    Even without concrete proof of his return, the group would be able to make important partnerships and form a coalition against the demons after only a few hours of discussion.

    Many of the high elders felt they had to fight this creature again, but others simply wanted to use the opportunity of everyone being together again to deal a serious blow to the demons'' ns.

    It was time for a war of proportions rarely seen in Concordia to begin!

    ...

    After a day of important talks for the continent''s future in that camp in Rablus, Viktoria, Elke, and Reba discovered what Annaliese had heard in Leopoldine.

    Until now, they had been in the dark about the possibility that Lothur was still alive due to the problems that had taken up all of their time over the past few days. But now that they had finally seeded in turning the continental leaders against the demons, they had had time to talk about him in peace.

    When they discovered that Lothur''s ves were still serving him and didn''t believe he was dead, the three were naturally astonished, realizing that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

    However, not even Blood and Smoke could sense the position of Lothur''s body. They had no idea where to look for him!

    Maybe he needed their help, maybe his condition wasn''t good, and he could get worse at any moment. They didn''t know, and, of course, they became nervous after losing some of their depressed looks.

    As positive as Annaliese''s news was, it would only make the women more worried!

    At that moment, Viktoria was alone with her three harem sisters in a tent in the camp while Blood and Smoke guarded the entrance to the tent.

    "We should consider that Lothur is currently untraceable and probably safe," Viktoria said after a long thought.

    lights����vel "But what if he isn''t?" Elke asked. "What if the demons are looking for him?"

    "Let''s go after him. We need to find him before the demons do." Reba said.

    "No." Viktoria disagreed with this approach. "What guarantees you that the demons aren''t watching us to find Lothur? Considering his abilities, he has the greatest potential to defeat the Demon Emperor. He would be the demons'' top priority for elimination if they realized he was alive."

    "So what do we do?" Annaliese asked worriedly.

    "We do what we nned before. Fight the demons, fight the Demon Emperor''s ns." She said firmly, confident that if the demons were looking for her husband or knew he was alive, they would eventually lead them to him.

    But if the demons didn''t know that and ignored Lothur, it would be better if they didn''t look for him. That way, they could leave him alone to do what he needed to do without the risk of drawing the demons'' attention to him when he needed peace the most.

    Regardless of the situation, continuing their current ns seemed the best thing for them!

    She said. "Let''s give Lothur some time. If he is alive, not finding him might be the best thing for him. If nothing gets in his way in the short term, we''ll see him again sooner orter. So, let''s continue with our ns."

    The three women heard it and remained silent for a moment, pondering the matter.

    But every time they thought about what might happen if they went to Lothur, they came to some dangerous conclusion, especially for him. So, after a minute of silence, they all agreed to let the young Ritter approach them on his own.

    "So what do we do now? The coalition members seem to want to leave us aside because of our situation." Elkemented.

    Knowing that these four had 3 to 2 empty ces in their Spirit Bodies for new Soul Bones, the Sages of the newly formed coalition wanted to preserve them.

    They didn''t want to give up the strength of these womenpletely, as they would be needed in future battles. But they didn''t want to put them in extreme danger, such as facing the Demon Emperor or his strongest generals.

    They didn''t want them to be part of the main force responding to the demon threat. Their purpose should be to protect humannds and important cities and fight demons up to level 23.

    If things gotplicated, the coalition would find a way to give them the Soul Bones that were missing so they could build up their strength. Only then should they join the war front and fight directly against the most powerful demons.

    "Let''s follow the coalition''s ns." Victoria said. "I know you all want to fight the demons, but what we really want is to destroy them. Our chances of achieving the extermination of the demons will be greater if we follow this coalition n."

    They all epted this easily, agreeing with Victoria''s logical thinking.

    She looked towards the tent''s exit, where the two level 23 cats were standing.

    "Blood and Smoke,e here." She called, drawing the attention of her harem sisters to the two.

    "Huh?" Smoke looked at his breeder with curiosity in his big eyes.

    "You need to get stronger. You have no reason to stay at our side in this early stage of the coalition''s formation. So I want you two to go in search of spectres. Devour all the spectral creatures you meet along the way and strengthen yourselves. We will need your strength in the future." She got right to the point, knowing these two could grow quickly if they were free to hunt.

    The Castle of Shadows had fallen, but countless spectres below level 23 were around Concordia!

    Since it would take some time for the news of the Castle of Shadow''s demise to reach all the spectres, Blood and Smoke had a good opportunity ahead of them.

    "Okay." The two epted Viktoria''s suggestion and soon set off on their new mission.

 Chapter 853 The Beginning of the War

    <h4>Chapter 853 The Beginning of the War?</h4>

    After Blood and Smoke separated from the women of Lothur to hunt spectres, the weeks passed while the continent was still at peace.

    Soon after the meeting of the continental experts, the world coalition was made official, and the major sects, ns, and organizations began to prepare for war.

    The Demon Emperor''s return had not taken long to be confirmed, which had rapidly elerated the pace of the continent''s defense force formation.

    Just a few days after the great meeting in Rablus, the continent''s most powerful forces sentte 4th and early 5th-stage people to work full-time for Concordia''s defense forces.

    A fraction of the continent''s specialists would initially stay out of the war, staying in their headquarters or major cities to maintain local security. As soon as the Demon Emperor''s return was confirmed, organizations across the continent began lockdowns, city closures, and many other measures to suppress non-essential movement.

    Those who were weaker were forced to stay in their cities or sects, while only the strongest were allowed to venture outside the cities.

    Meanwhile, the groups of the coalition had been formed and divided and had already begun to scour the continent in search of demons.

    The war hadn''t actually started in those weeks, but the entire continent was in a state of war. However, it was only a matter of time before a major event would ur, and a bloody period in local history would begin!

    And that time was not far away!

    ...

    In Norid, at the headquarters of the Seraphim Church...

    One of the church''s senior elders had just received disturbing news from one of his groups on the state''s southern border.

    "Elders, a huge group of demons, at least 200 of them, is about to attack a town of over 40,000 people! Please send reinforcements as soon as possible! I''m afraid everyone here will be devoured in a matter of hours!"

    The message sent by one of the Ritter Motor Company''s cars was repeated once again, while the level 21 old man turned pale as he felt that this was the beginning of the war.

    Nothing much had happened in the past few weeks except for a few small battles between enemies and members of the coalition. But even if one were to count the number of demons seen in thest month, he wouldn''t even be able to count 20 creatures.

    However, the number of demons the coalition man mentioned was ridiculously high!

    That could only be the sign of the end of peace and the beginning of war!

    "This message reached us an hour ago. We lost contact after that." A man who was weaker than the person standing at the church headquarters said this to him, indicating that something worse might have happened.

    "What do you mean we lost contact after that?"

    "We didn''t get any more answers. But a group is already moving in that direction. We''ll have news in an hour at the most." Said the man in charge ofmunications at the site.

    The coalition that was formed was somewhatplex. When they formed the alliance for life in Concordia weeks ago, the strongest immediately divided the group into warriors to be sent to the front and warriors to protect the inhabited areas. Meanwhile, outposts for ryingmunications were already scattered across the continent, and many men were working to keep the coalition''smunications active.

    To better aplish this work, the coalition was using the Ritter Motor Company vehicles, following the advice of Lothur''s women to spread theirpany vehicles across the continent.

    Through them, a person in the Petha Empire could nowmunicate almost instantly with someone in Ashen on the other side of the continent!

    Because of this, the recent attack on a small city on the border between Thasan and Norid had been quickly noticed, and members of the entire coalition had already been alerted.

    While this man from the coalition''smunications department was reporting the local official, information about the incident was already being ryed to all outposts across the continent. At the same time, reinforcements had been dispatched immediately after the distress call, and more information could arrive at any moment.

    Knowing this, the man standing by was not so afraid of receiving such news since several others would already know about it, and the information would not be lost.

    The man in charge then said. "All right, raise the alert level of the state. This morning, a war may have broken out on the border between our state and Thasan. Let our people know that we are now at war!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, on the demon side, on Demon Ind...

    The Demon Emperor was still on the ind, having awakened from his long "sleep" after his defeat in thest war.

    After being brought to the home of the demons, he devoured several human corpses brought to him by his subordinates, regaining more than 70% of his strength.

    However, he would still be on this ind until the end of the month, when he would reach his full recovery!

    But even though he still needed time to recover, he was well enough to begin his ns!

    As he stood on the power throne of Demon Ind, a ck-haired man who looked rtively young was watching the first action of his people that would begin the takeover of Concordia!

    "Supreme Leader, I bring good news!" A Monarch demon bowed to the Demon Emperor in arge hall, where several demon women in very little clothing were lying here and there, the smell of their corpses lingering in the air.

    "Speak!" The ck-haired man, who wore no clothes but whose private parts were covered by a woman''s head, said in a deep tone full of power.

    "The first battalion has sessfully wiped out a city between Norid and Thasan. Our sent men are fed and ready to advance." The demon said, not daring to look his leader in the eye.

    The n of the demons was notplex. They wanted to destroy Concordia by devouring the living beings of suchnds, especially the humans. To do this, the Demon Emperor would send many groups to thesends to destroy cities and devour thousands of people.

    Each group sent could reduce the number of enemies and be stronger after only a few weeks of seclusion!

    But that wasn''t all. The Demon Emperor intended to keep his many enemies busy with chaos throughout Concordia, enough so that he and his most trusted generals could deal with their advances on their own.

    Weaker demons took a long time to digest what they ate, but stronger ones could do it quickly. Thus, by acting together against a few small groups of high-level human Sages, the demon tribe could easily use the chaos of war to raise their level.

    With a group of several level 25 demons and a level 26 leader, it would be impossible for the Concordia coalition to stop them!

    "Perfect. Order the next 20 groups to begin their attacks. I want these humannds to go up in mes!"

 Chapter 854 Awakening

    Chapter 854 Awakening

    Weeks had passed in the blink of an eye since the first demon attack on the cities of Concordia.

    Following the first sessful attack by the demon tribe, several simr incidents exploded across the continent, and the local forces saw the beginning of a war that many still hoped would note to pass.

    Unfortunately, those hopes were in vain. In just a few weeks, the first million people to die in this war perished in the face of terrorist attacks by demons between levels 19 and 22.

    These attacks greatly rmed the continent''s defense forces, who could not do much to stop the enemy attacks in the first moments of the war, arriving toote to the victimized locations or even being eliminated by the demon groups themselves.

    Thus, the war had begun, and the demons had the initial advantage!

    However, several thousand demons had fallen in battles across the continent. In particr, most of the demons who had gone to Leopoldine had failed in their missions, having encountered powerful local forces.

    The Ritter family had been working like never before, and the spy wing led by the Koch family had expanded more than twentyfold in the past ny days. However, with the recent increase in the number of vehicles around Leopoldine and the maind, the family''s espionage was unable to keep up with everything happening.

    However, the Koch family did an exemry job within Leopoldine, as they prevented major disasters throughout the empire.

    Without them, at least 200,000 Leopoldine citizens would have died in thest month!

    Meanwhile, the Ritter family, who had noticed dangerous things in their cities a few times in the past few weeks, had sessfully eliminated the groups of demons that were trying to act in their state.

    With the new Soul Bones generated from these confrontations, several Sages from the Ritter Motor Company''s alliance of partners reached thepletion of their Spirit Bodies!

    Mabel herself had reached her 9th Soul Bone and was one step away from reaching the peak of cultivation on this continent.

    In addition to her, the Jansen Family''s 5th-stage elders were doing very well. Some of them had reached level 24, and Mabel had reached level 25 in both soul and body cultivation.

    As they grew stronger and the empire remained stable, the demand for Ritter Motor Company''s cars remained high, with powers from all over the continent wanting to buy them to use in theirmunications.

    As a continent''s defense coalition member, the Ritter Motor Company prioritized the delivery of vehicles to the coalition, gradually dominatingmunications in Concordia.

    Thepany had ess to more than 80% of Concordia''snd in just a few weeks!

    They could not process 30% of the informationing in, but those numbers were changing daily.

    ...

    While Linn Province was bing one of the most desirable ces on the continent, a group of high-level demons kept a close eye on the area.

    After several defeats of their groups in Leopoldinest month, some high-level demons watched this state, especially the richest province in the empire today.

    These high-level demons, who had ignored the area for a long time, looked with different eyes at where Morning Star had fallen in the past.

    Coincidentally, an unimaginable power had appeared in this city just as they tried to dominate the continent again!

    "This is wrong. This ce shouldn''t be so powerful." One of the three demons observing Peters City from afarmented, sensing the aura of level 24 and even level 25 Sages in such a city.

    But as worried as they were, one of them looked in the direction of a level 25 woman who had such high power but such an ordinary soul that he couldn''t help but notice the value of her body.

    "We need to alert the strongest elders of the tribe. This woman of the 4th Catastrophe probably has a body cultivation of almost the 5th Catastrophe. If our leader can devour her body, he''ll be able to increase his strength with ease." This demon said while looking at Mabel.

    The other two noticed this was indeed the case. They realized such a woman with a Spirit body at 90%pletion must have a strong Constitution for her cultivation level, considering her weak soul energy.

    With the possibility that Mabel really did have a powerful Constitution, they didn''t hesitate and immediately moved to alert their superiors and send the strongest demons to this city.

    ...

    Though Mabel had no idea of the problems thaty ahead, she continued her work of vignce and local administration.

    But no matter how strong she had be, reaching a Constitutionparable to that of level 25 beasts, even superior to that of the Demon Emperor, she was aware of the danger.

    Even though she didn''t consider herself a target of the demons, she was fully aware the nail that stood out was the one to be hammered.

    As such, she was prepared for anything!

    While helping the Koch family increase the number of men spying on people''s conversations in the empire and other states, she had stored a Gold-grade Soul Bone in her spatial ring.

    This bone was the same type as thest space she had in her body to absorb andplete her Spirit Body!

    She didn''t want to absorb it yet, as she thought she could get something better in no time. Ideally, she would absorb a tinum-grade bone!

    However, knowing there were dangers nearby, she used this bone as a guarantee. If something worse happened, she wouldn''t hesitate to absorb it andplete her Spirit Body!

    At the level she was at, with her Spirit Body almostplete, it would take her less than 30 seconds to absorb a Gold-grade bone.

    With her Constitution exceeding 90,000 points, she was confident she could withstand the Demon Emperor''s attacks for a few minutes, enough toplete her Spirit Body.

    Therefore, even though she was tense and dealing with many issues simultaneously, she wasn''t afraid of dying.

    But she was worried about her daughters, who might be even bigger targets than her!

    ''I hope the coalition helps them as soon as possible...'' She thought to herself in Peters City.

    ...

    Meanwhile, in a volcanic area where very little life could be felt nearby, a space cloud that had been on top of a volcano for 100 days was finally showing signs of disappearing.

    After remaining practically motionless for so many days, it suddenly vibrated intensely and began to lose its density, gradually disappearing as if it were an illusion.

    Where it had been, the body of a silver-haired young man who had a level 23 of soul cultivation suddenly appeared there.

    "I''m finally back. I hope I didn''t take too long!"

    ...

 Chapter 855 The Greatest Massacre in History

    Chapter 855 The Greatest Massacre in History

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 3,720] [CON: 7,245]

    [DEX: 3,765] [AGI: 3,790]

    [INT: 1,031] [PER: 4,379]

    [WIL: 2,340] [SOU: 15,270]

    [EVF: 26]

    Looking at his status after losing two singrities, Lothur sighed in defeat when he saw how much he had been hurt by falling into the demons'' trap.

    Fortunately, he was still a Sage, which meant he could hide his tracks and use his bloodline ability without attracting the attention of experts far away from where he acted.

    ''My body cultivation will never be the same... But my soul cultivation will be able to recover to its previous level or even higher...'' Lothur thought as he remembered his bloodline ability now had a more favorable conversion factor for him and could be used without limits.

    A smile broke out on his face at this thought, and he couldn''t help but think he might be able to regain everything he''d lost and be even stronger than before!

    ''It doesn''t matter anymore. What happened can''t be changed. It''s time for me to move on!'' He made up his mind and immediately used his Space Watch to leave the area he was in.

    Lothur thought about taking the Space Crystal from the artifact and finally absorbing it. But now he was too weak to risk being tracked down by demons searching for the Immortal Crystal. So he decided to leave it until it was time for him to absorb his 9th Soul Bone.

    Thus, Lothur disappeared from the volcanic region where the Space Wathc had brought him months ago.

    ...

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur would reach an area in the north of the continent, where he thought even if the war between demons and humans had already begun, it would be the home of the resistance, where there would be groups that could better resist the enemies.

    He didn''t know if Concordia had already fallen to the demons. But if it hadn''t, this area was undoubtedly one of the best for him to find out about the state of the war.

    As soon as he reached the southernmost border of the Petha Empire, Lothur saw the destruction the war had caused so far.

    The first small town on his wayy in ruins, with a highly intense aura of death and several souls unable to ascend to reincarnation due to the state of the Wheel of Reincarnation.

    There were signs of a battle, with many properties destroyed, blood stains here and there, a lot of blood, in fact.

    There was an intense stench of rotten blood in the area, amon sign of ces that demons had brutalized.

    As he felt it and saw all the destruction in this ce that had once been home to 60,000 people, Lothur saw his fears take shape.

    ''Shit! It can be worse than I thought.'' He clenched his fists as he hid and scanned his surroundings.

    ''But from what I can sense here, what happened in this city wasn''t that long ago... It must have happened three weeks ago at the most.'' He became more serious after the initial shock.

    ''The demons won and escaped, with most of the group alive, ready to absorb what they devoured.'' Lothur''s silver eyes sparkled as he saw his chance.

    ''That''s your mistake! To absorb the energy generated by a city like this would take at least 10 days, even for 5th-stage demons. But I doubt that such beings would act here!''

    At this thought, Lothur immediately activated his One With Nature ability and simultaneously activated his sight ability.

    He hadn''t lost any of his previous powers, only the incredible energy of the singrities. As a result, his powers were still at his disposal, a little weaker but still as useful as before.

    Looking at what the nt creatures still alive in this area had witnessed days ago, Lothur saw his theories were correct. The demons that had attacked this city were mostly 4th-stage creatures, with even 3rd-stage creatures among them.

    About 500 demons had attacked the city, devouring more than 40,000 inhabitants. The remaining residents had fought and died, killing a few dozen creatures but still losing.

    More than 400 demons had managed to flee this ce with their bellies full!

    When Lothur saw them fleeing before the experts who had arrived to protect the human domain, he immediately set off, following the same path the demons had taken days before.

    Some of them, or even all of them, must still be absorbing what they devoured there.

    Even if they were close to finishing their absorption, it would be impossible for such low-level beings to absorb so much energy so quickly.

    Each surviving demon had consumed an average of 100 human bodies!

    From Lothur''s point of view, this was the demons'' big mistake!

    They thought he was dead and dealt with groups of creatures weaker than him, who weren''t careful enough against his tracking ability.

    But that wasn''t so strange. After all, Lothur had a tracking ability that could only be described by the word supreme.

    No other being in all of Concordia had powers that came close to Lothur''s One With Nature!

    So Lothur made his way at high speed to where the demons had fled, where he would soon find a group of these creatures in an underground facility near the border of the Petha Empire and Rablus.

    The demons had been active in Concordia for a long time, so much so that high-ranking demon hunters even believed that the headquarters of the demon tribe was in this area.

    That was not true, but the demons did have bases in the north of Concordia, where their members could seek asylum in these humannds, where they could safely go into seclusion, etc.

    Arriving at the location, Lothur saw a few Sages in the area to keep an eye on the ce, but none of them were particrly powerful.

    Since the strongest of them was only a level 23 Sage, Lothur wasn''t afraid of the experts in the area as he made his way inside the underground facility.

    There were only 5 Sages there, while about 600 demons between levels 17 and 21 were in the lower levels of this demonic facility.

    Seeing so many targets for him, Lothur smiled devilishly, ready to begin his revenge.

    ''Time to pay back what you took from me, creatures!'' He didn''t hesitate to activate his bloodline ability, knowing he could make it work as long as he had the energy to activate it.

    Using his abilities to quickly disarm the demonic formations in his path, Lothur invaded the facility, reaching where the strongest were guarding the area.

    Thus began the greatest massacre of demons in the history of the world!

 Chapter 856 Many EVF Points

    Chapter 856 Many EVF Points

    When he first encountered the level 23 demons, Lothur had no difficulty in taking them by surprise.

    That was an advanced demon facility, protected by several high-level barriers that even Sages would have difficulty oveing and sessfully prating.

    Only a 5th-stage formations master would be able to deal with them!

    But the number of such experts in the whole of Concordia didn''t reach three!

    They were all being watched by the demons, so it should be impossible for anyone to break into this facility.

    Because of their confidence in these barriers, none of the 5th-stage demons who guarded the facility were waiting for an intruder when Lothur appeared among them.

    When Lothur appeared among four of his five main targets in the facility, he killed them all in a matter of moments using his powerful bloodline ability.

    The range of his ability was shorter, as was his limitation capacity. However, facing opponents of his own level and near each other, Lothur dealt them a fatal blow as soon as he entered that demonic facility!

    In a matter of seconds, he consumed the lives of the four Emperor demons, only to find that thest enemy of their stage was deeper inside the facility and had noticed him.

    Fearing a possible distress signal if he wasn''t quick enough, Lothur didn''t hesitate to use the Space Watch to change his position within the facility, moving from the first level to the fourth level, where hundreds of demons were now.

    As he appeared next to the level 23 demon, who looked up and began to move his powers to where hispanions had just disappeared, Lothur ced one of his hands on the creature''s neck.

    As he did so, a red mist spread from his body into the surrounding area while the hundreds of creatures meditating in that wide-open area opened their eyes to look at him in horror.

    In an instant, everyone in that area realized who was among them!

    "The bloody hybrid!" A Monarch demon eximed as he realized this creature wasn''t dead and was among them to kill them!

    The Sage in Lothur''s hands had no choice at that moment, watching thest moments of his life pass before his eyes without being able to react,pletely paralyzed by the enemy''s skill.

    All he understood was who his opponent was, what was about to happen to him, and how much trouble his tribe would be in.

    ''Shit... I have to...''

    He wanted to move to send a distress call or even a warning about Lothur''s situation. Still, he couldn''t, having already lost so much of his essence that he had lost consciousness in a few seconds under attack.

    Sensing that his opponent was dead, Lothur looked around and saw the creatures there either running to attack him or running away.

    "Not today, demons!" He said aloud as he used the Space Watch to manipte the exits from this and other areas of the facility.

    In a single instant, Lothur created a spatial barrier over the only exits in that area, trapping them there with him!

    When he was finished, he looked at the more than 250 demons between levels 17 and 21 andughed mischievously at the "flood" of EVF points he was about to absorb.

    But as someone in a hurry to get stronger, Lothur didn''t hesitate in his movements and used his skill to the maximum to start ughtering all his enemies.

    [EVF: 40,000 -> 55,234]

    His EVF points began to increase rapidly, and the smile on Lothur''s face grew brighter as more and more Soul Bones fell to the ground in the area.

    As the demons'' bodies turned to dust, their bones appeared along with Lothur''s absorption of their characteristics.

    In a matter of moments, the first group of 40 demons perished. In contrast, the others felt the horror of witnessing all of this and being unable to do anything about it.

    They couldn''t escape, as the area''s barriers could prevent even signs of help. On the other hand, when the few who tried to attack made their moves, their blows werepletely missed, absorbed by Lothur''s skill.

    The red mist giant behind him was terrifying, able to resist all their movements while still pressing down on them with its overwhelming aura.

    In the midst of all this, when the red mist hit them, theypletely lost their ability to think straight, quickly having their existences consumed.

    The weaker they were in rtion to Lothur, the more vulnerable they were to him. As a result, their deaths happened more quickly, and they didn''t even have time to think about anything while they had their essences ''sucked out'' by the enemy.

    Thus, Lothur would soon pass 150,000 EVF points absorbed,ing close to killing the first group of demons in that facility.

    When he had finished his work on thatst level of this demonic facility, Lothur would set off for the upper levels, where he had several hundred more creatures to eliminate.

    Exterminating all the demons in this area would cost him around half an hour, a long time for Lothur, reflecting the weakening of his abilities after he lost the singrities. However, he wouldn''tin about this because, with the help of the Space Watch, he could prevent fugitives or information about him from leaving the facility.

    By the end of his first half hour in that ce, more than 600 Soul Bones from various parts of the human body, many Silver-grade, several Gold-grade, and only five tinum-grade, would be free to be collected.

    In addition to the Soul Bones, Lothur had absorbed almost 340,000 EVF points, as well as, of course, the understanding of those creatures, something that had greatly increased their resistance and affinities!

    As his affinity characteristics and resistances hadn''t diminished after he lost the singrities, Lothur came closer to Diamond grade in several of his characteristics!

    ...

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 83% -> 90%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 80% -> 87%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 78% -> 85%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 76% -> 83%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade resistance to darkness.]

    [Progress: 88% -> 95%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 79% -> 86%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 66% -> 78%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 58% -> 71%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 60% -> 73%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 62% -> 75%]

    ...

    [Demon General Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 61% -> 74%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 66% -> 79%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 67% -> 80%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Radius Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 43% -> 58%]

    ...

 Chapter 857 Soul Bones for the Coalition (1)

    Chapter 857 Soul Bones for the Coalition (1)

    [EVF: 338,659]

    ...

    [10,000 points added to SOU at a cost of 200,000 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 15,270 -> 25,270]

    ...

    [EVF: 338,659 -> 138,659]

    ...

    [9.243 points added in CON for the cost of 138.645 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 7,245 -> 16,488]

    ...

    [EVF: 138,659 -> 14]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 23 -> 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22]

    [STR: 3,720] [CON: 16,488]

    [DEX: 3,765] [AGI: 3,790]

    [INT: 1,031] [PER: 4,379]

    [WIL: 2,340] [SOU: 25,270]

    [EVF: 14]

    Afterpleting the enhancement of two of his attributes, Lothur felt much stronger, regaining a good fraction of his recently lost powers.

    The energy he had just absorbed was tremendous, improving him so much that he almost felt like he had absorbed a singrity.

    Looking at his status, he couldn''t help but smile when he saw that he could quickly regain his powers by fighting demons!

    ''Excellent! That''s what I needed!'' He clenched his fists in excitement, feeling that he would regain all of his strength if he encountered three more groups like that one.

    But now, he could do it quickly since he didn''t have to wait for 24 hours after using his bloodline ability. He could resolve his situation in hours or days if he were lucky!

    With that in mind, Lothur wanted to leave immediately and return to hunting his targets.

    Looking at the many Soul Bones in the area of this demonic facility where he had finished his massacre, he thought of the Ritter Motor Company.

    ''I will go to Peter City. There, I can try my luck with the Ritter Motor Company''s spywork and deliver these Soul Bones to my men.'' He thought, having no idea what had happened to his women or how hispany had developed.

    Lothur hoped hispany was still in operation and his vehicles were already rolling through all over the southern region.

    If they were, he could use his spywork to look for news of human cities attacked by demons, from where he could use his ability, One With Nature, and then make his way to such outposts.

    As for his women, he believed he would learn something about what had happened to them in Peters City.

    But Lothur wasn''t very hopeful. Since he had died before he could save them from the Demon Emperor, he thought the chances of his women being alive were less than 10%.

    That made him feel bad. However, being weak and without many alternatives, he focused on strengthening himself to at least avenge his family if necessary.

    With all this in mind, he would soon finish collecting all the Soul Bones. He could not find any tinum-grade bones that werepatible with him.

    Among the many other bones, there were Soul Bones that werepatible with him, but they were too low in quality for him to consider absorbing.

    With that, he would soon leave for Peters City and use the Space Watch to quickly cross the continent and reach his city.

    ...

    Within moments of the massacre north of Concordia, a space cloud appeared over Peters City, unnoticed by the local powers due to Lothur''s maniption.

    Upon arriving in his city, Lothur felt the ck mes on the bodies of many of his local ves while noting the ce was still in one piece.

    Not only that, but the city seemed four timesrger than thest time he had been there, and the number of local experts multiplied many times over the past few months.

    ''Effects of the war, I would say...'' Lothur wasn''t surprised when he sensed the partners of the Ritter Motor Company had all moved to this area, while some of them had increased their forces with his help.

    The result of these two things was the apparent increase in local power and wealth, which attracted people even in normal times. In times of war, this ce was much safer than many others on the continent. Hence, war migrants naturally looked at it differently.

    But when Lothur saw the city was still standing, the factories were working, and the most important local producers were there, he sighed with relief, realizing his 100 days hadn''t been long enough for Concordia to fall.

    He quickly made his way to the Ritter family headquarters, leaving the Ritter Motor Company, Mabel, and his other local acquaintances behind to join the Koch patriarch.

    As he passed through the walls of the Ritter headquarters, Lothur surprised the Koch family leader, who was currently at level 21, having been one of the great beneficiaries of the young Ritter''s months of hunting.

    When he saw Lothur appear before him, the Koch patriarch thought at first that it was a soul there to scare him. But when he saw how solid that person''s body was, and also his cultivation, he soon realized he was facing the true leader of the Ritter family!

    "Lothur!" He shouted as he turned pale, staring in awe at this person who should have died at the hands of demons.

    The Koch patriarch was happy. But to see someone who should have died missing was rather shocking!

    Considering Lothur''s miraculous deeds, this man couldn''t help but feel his breathing rate change as he looked at the young man before him.

    "Patriarch Koch, it''s good to see you. A while ago, I thought I''d never see my friends again." Lothur said as he smiled. "Fortunately, I was able to return in time...

    Anyway, we don''t have much time, so I can''t answer your questions. Just tell me about the situation of my women and the continent."

    Patriarch Koch took a second to process thisment, full of doubts. But being in the middle of a war that had already killed millions of people, he soon put his curiosity aside.

    "Annaliese, Reba, Viktoria, and Elke were alive until thest time we checked their information, three days ago. But considering theirst position, I don''t think anything has changed."

    Hearing that, Lothur felt a great weight lift from his shoulders as he closed his eyes and sighed softly.

    ''That must have been Blood and Smoke.'' He thought, as these two would be their only hope in his absence.

    "As for the war, it broke out over two months ago. In that time, we''ve had no news of the Demon Emperor taking action. Still, groups of demons have already decimated dozens of towns across the continent.

    The only reason Leopoldine hasn''t suffered losses of this magnitude is because of our constant monitoring of the state, which has allowed us to anticipate events and act in time before tens of thousands of people are killed.

    Nevertheless, the situation is not good. Patriarch Koch said, feeling a great weight for what had happened so far.

    They had saved many people. But each time they acted, they had to ept losses of a few hundred people, littlepared to what had happened outside Leopoldine, but a lot for the victimized families.

    "I see. All right, here''s what I want you to do..."

 Chapter 858 Soul Bones for the Coalition (2)

    Chapter 858 Soul Bones for the Coalition (2)

    Lothur quickly ordered the Koch patriarch to direct House Ritter''s wing to spy onmunications in Leopoldine and other states in the southern region of Concordia, looking for recent cases of cities being ravaged by demons.

    Like a subordinate who knows the importance of following his leader''s orders, the Koch patriarch wrote down everything he had to do and saw what Lothur was getting at.

    Lothur''s mission was simr to that of most demons at this early stage of the war. He wanted to go after weaker opponents so as not to draw the attention of stronger ones, devour his targets, and then grow stronger.

    The demons were doing this to throw the continent into chaos and create opportunities for the stronger ones. At the same time, Lothur simply wanted to raise his level quickly. That was the major difference between the simr actions of each party.

    Understanding how the beings of Concordia, especially Lothur''s subordinates, could benefit from this, patriarch Koch ced the utmost importance on it.

    ''If he acts against these groups, the number of new Soul Bones for our group will increase, and we will be stronger to face the demons!'' The old man thought to himself, satisfied at being under Lothur''smand again.

    "Besides, there''s not much for you to do. Just distribute the Soul Bones in this spatial ring to our family members and most important allies." Lothur handed the man the spatial ring containing more than 600 bones.

    None of them werepatible or interesting to him and his women, so Lothur didn''t leave any of them in the ring.

    When the Koch patriarch examined this space storage artifact, he almost had a catastrophic heart attack, feeling the richness of what Lothur had just ced in his hands.

    ''Fuck! All this?'' He thought, seeing how many bones Lothur could pass on to the family in theing weeks if he did his job properly.

    Feeling something different in his being, an eagerness and willingness to work, this man said before returning to his work. "I will distribute these bones wisely. Meanwhile, we''ll find the traces of the damned demons as soon as possible!"

    ...

    As Lothur left the Koch patriarch''s side to wait for the results right there in the Ritter family''s headquarters, a group of demons had just appeared in the sky of Peters City a few hundred meters above the ground.

    Ten demons had finished crossing a spatial distortion, and all of them were 5th-stage creatures, beings between levels 23 and 25.

    One of them was level 25 and had been one of the people who had encountered Lothur on the fateful day of the young hybrid''s death. Meanwhile, two level-24 demons stood next to the other seven level-23 beings.

    It was a formidable formation!

    But against the opponent they were about to face, such strength was really needed.

    "Is this where you saw the human?" The level 25 demon, a woman, asked as she looked down and noticed thisrge human city.

    "Yes, elder. We believe our target is the mother of some of the women of Lothur Ritter, the hybrid killed a few months ago." One of the level 23 demons that had been operating in this city earlier said, pointing in Mabel''s direction.

    "Oh?" One of the two level 24 elders was a little surprised to hear that name again, not expecting such strong connections from that guy in their path.

    "That''s not strange." One of the twomented. "The Demon Emperor''s chosen one should have fantastic abilities. He probably used some of his powers to strengthen the women in his family."

    The level 25 woman thought that was the only exnation for why some beings connected to Lothur were so strong and nodded in agreement.

    "Since she''s connected to him, we have another reason to capture her here!" She said as she walked towards the headquarters of the Ritter Motor Company, ignoring the various sages around Peters City.

    Her mission there was very simple. Capture Mabel alive and bring her to the Demon Emperor for him to devour her!

    When they realized where she was, all the demons moved and began their mission in Peters City without bothering the locals, appearing in the city''s center as if it were nothing.

    Immediately after the ten moved, the greatest experts in Peters City today noticed extremely powerful auras moving through the city, auras charged with darkness.

    Mabel was their target, so she was one of the first to notice the arrival of the enemies in her city, and she did not hesitate to leave the Ritter Motor Company headquarters building to meet the group of demons there for them.

    When the creatures arrived at the edge of the most beautiful building in the city center, the local Sages also appeared, creating a rather tense situation, each side moving their energies in preparation for an attack.

    "Are you here for me?" Mabel asked as she red at the strongest woman in the enemy group, who had a soul force many times her own.

    "Surrender, and we''ll spare the rest of yourpanions today." The woman from the demon tribe said aloud.

    If there was a chance that they could leave with Mabel without having to fight, it would be great for the demons. As strong as they were, it wouldn''t be easy to fight them.

    They thought that Mabel had the high physical strength to be able to have a level 25 soul cultivation while her soul power was weak. As such, it wouldn''t be easy to deal with her, and some of them might die or fail in all their attempts if they weren''t careful.

    Therefore, they didn''t attack right away but rather tried to instill fear in their enemies and resolve the situation without too much bloodshed.

    "Tsk! Fucking demons! They think we''re going to take their word for it. If they want something here, they should fight for it!" A local level 24 Sage brandished before activating a skill from one of his bones, initiating the confrontation of experts over this city.

    "If you want to die so badly, let us help you!" One of the level 24 demons red at the human, also moving as he activated his skill.

    Mabel didn''t stay behind. In the situation she was in, in order to fulfill her goals of protecting the city and its future, she only had the option of fighting and defeating as many of these creatures as possible.

    She then approached the level 23 demons and poured all of her soul power into the Strength attribute, determined to use her physical advantage against these creatures to weaken them.

    Once they were weakened, even thete 4th-stage demon hunters in this city could endanger the lives of these creatures.

    "Die!" She shouted as she moved much faster than anyone else in this area, making the level 25 demon tribe woman struggle to keep up with her in the initial moment of battle.

    ...

 Chapter 859 In the Path of the Demons

    Chapter 859 In the Path of the Demons

    In the early moments of the battle, Mabel and her group managed to wound the weaker demons with rtive ease while trying their best to avoid the stronger ones.

    The strongest of the demons began by targeting opponents of their own level. But while they were doing so, these opponents tried to escape them to attack the weaker demons.

    Due to the sess of these humans in evading the demons at their level, the weaker demons quickly suffered from the enemy''s attacks, receiving blows that were difficult to withstand in the early moments of the battle.

    With these moves, Mabel''s group was able to extract cries of pain from the demons'' mouths, weakening the weaker enemies there for their weaker allies to deal with.

    "Damned human!" The level 25 demon shouted at Mabel, realizing the enemy''s strategy. "If you don''t fight me, I''ll kill your preciouspanions!"

    With that, the demon tribe woman turned to one of the level 24 Sages in Mabel''s group.

    "Shit!" Mabel regretted that her ns hadn''t worked for long. Seeing that the strongest enemy was targeting the level 24 Sages in her group, she changed her move and flew at high speed to prevent the enemy from hurting any of her men.

    Luckily, her speed was very high indeed, and in an instant, she appeared in front of her ally, just in time to block the path of the powerful level 25 demon.

    Pow!

    Dealing with the enemy''s attack head-on, Mabel withstood an attack equal to 70% of her strength, which was painful but not enough to bring her down.

    "Indeed, you have a very powerful body, woman!" The level 25 demon said with a smile, seeing Mabel was perfect for the Demon Emperor.

    With that information confirmed, she picked up what looked like a shiny crystal and destroyed it with a flick of her fingers.

    Mabel looked at the woman and narrowed her eyes, realizing this was no ordinary crystal.

    Herpanions fighting in the surrounding area did the same, each with a negative feeling.

    As they fought the woman''s ninepanions, the many local Sages sensed 20 portals appearing over Peters City, with numerous groups of demons departing from them.

    "Fuck!" A high-ranking Saint watching the battle from afar eximed when he saw that the demons who initially attacked them were merely testing the local forces.

    The moment their suspicions were confirmed, the real attack began!

    With more than 150 demons between levels 19 and 23, including 6 level 24 Sages and 3 level 25 Sages, the local experts were facing a powerful enemy!

    "If you want to take this confrontation to its ultimate consequences, so be it!" Mabel realized she couldn''t win the way she was fighting.

    Thinking to herself, she took the Soul Bone from her spatial ring and didn''t hesitate to start absorbing it.

    "Let''s see who wins! Your alliance or my powers?" She said as she significantly increased the density of spiritual energy around her, drawing the attention of the four level 25 opponents nearby.

    "You think we''re going to let that happen?" A level 25 male, another demon Lothur had seen earlier, loudly asked as he moved against Mabel.

    The other three did the same, leaving the rest of the local Sages to their men.

    With so many demons entering the city through the portals in the area, it would only be a matter of time before the entire city was wiped out!

    Realizing this, Lothur saw that he could no longer hide.

    At the moment he gave the Soul Bones to the Koch Patriarch, Lothur sensed the demons'' arrival and moved to attack when the time was right.

    But with so many creatures arriving in Peters City, his city, hispany, and his allies might fall if he didn''t hurry.

    Seeing the four level 25 demons approaching Mabel, Lothur used the Space Watch to teleport to where his mother-inw was.

    When he appeared in front of Mabel, the level 25 demons were about 2 meters away from the brown-haired woman when they all noticed a silver-haired, red-eyed man appearing in their path.

    As they frowned at the sight of this supposedly dead person, a red mist erupted from Lothur''s body and quickly reached them all.

    The only one who wasn''t hit by it was Mabel, but this fog surrounded her, and if she moved carelessly, she would be finished.

    "Since you''vee, leave your Soul Bones behind, creatures!" Lothur said in a frightening tone to the four, who felt their souls tremble the moment the red mist touched them.

    "Wretch!"

    "You''re alive! How?"

    "The dead don''t need to know the truth!" Lothur said as he felt his EVF points increase as he absorbed the life force from those bodies.

    The four demons broke into a cold sweat as they felt their features being absorbed by the enemy and put their shock aside to try to escape Lothur''s clutches.

    If they stayed in contact with the cursed mist for even 30 seconds, they would all perish at Lothur''s hands!

    "Gather your strength together! At least one of us has to get out of here to warn the Demon Emperor!" One of them shouted as he felt his body rapidly aging.

    Lothur heard this and frowned as he felt an immense pressureing from those demons, something capable of suppressing even his diabolical mist.

    If I try to absorb everything from the four, I''ll lose them all at thest moment. Lothur did the math in his mind and saw that he was incapable of killing them all at once.

    But if I concentrate on just 3 of them, I''ll destroy their formation, and only one of them will escape. Narrowing his eyes, he made a decision and changed the pressure of his bloodline ability to affect only the three weakest opponents.

    As he did so, the demons realized what was happening, and the fourth of them immediately fled from Lothur''s grasp, protecting his own life but also the information about this hard-to-kill enemy.

    The moment the strongest demon escaped Lothur''s grasp, the other three found themselves helpless against their adversary, losing all chance of escaping this terrible enemy.

    In just 15 seconds, they all turned to dust, leaving behind only their tinum-grade Soul Bones.

    [EVF: 14 -> 99.259]

    Knowing that he had to save his city, Lothur didn''t hesitate to turn everything he had into soul power to increase the range of his bloodline ability.

    [4,962 points added to SOU at a cost of 99,240 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 25,270 -> 30,232]

    ...

    [EVF: 99,259 -> 19]

 Chapter 860 Level 25 (1)

    Chapter 860 Level 25(1)

    Seeing the system finish converting the points, Lothur moved away from Mabel to go after the weakened demon that had just escaped.

    However, as soon as he moved, Lothur saw a spatial distortion near the battlefield, indicating that his enemy had already escaped.

    "Shit! He really is quick at escaping!" Lothur eximed angrily.

    However, he could not pursue this enemy. The secret of his status had already been lost because if he went after the demon, the demons in Peters City would send the information to the demon tribe. If he stayed, the level 25 sage would be the one to do it. Yet, he couldn''t leave because there were more demons in Peters City than the local forces could handle.

    Aware of the problem, Lothur only regretted losing that target, but he was determined to destroy the dozens of demons in the city.

    ''At least I got my 9th Soul Bone.'' He thought as he stored the three tinum-grade bones he had just obtained in his spatial ring.

    When he moved, all the experts in Peters City, demons and humans alike, looked in his direction, shocked by his presence and power.

    That was especially true for the demons, who thought they would no longer have to deal with the hybrid who had almost reached the level of their leader.

    Meanwhile, Lothur''s allies were also overwhelmed by his sudden return, not expecting to have help of his caliber when they needed it most.

    As Lothur moved, he warped the space around the enemies with the Space Watch, making it impossible for the creatures to escape.

    With that done, he once again used his bloodline ability to attack a group of 5th-stage demons, this time leaving no room for those creatures to unite against him.

    In the blink of an eye, more ash appeared over Peters City as the local allied forces changed their battle mode to simply contain the demons while they waited for Lothur.

    Simultaneously with the death of the first enemies after the level 25 demon escaped, Mabel finished absorbing her 10th Soul Bone!

    When she finished and her Spirit Body reached 100%, she opened her eyes to see the world differently. She felt something unique that she had never noticed before.

    However, despite feeling a new quality in this vast world, she failed to advance to level 26.

    Lothur looked in his mother-inw''s direction and saw Mabel''s characteristics. He realized she was very close to reaching the legendary level 26, but she was still one step behind the level of the strongest in this world.

    [Name: Mabel Rios]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 25]

    [Body Cultivation: level 25]

    [STR: 20,297] [CON: 155,459]

    [DEX: 21,641] [AGI: 22,510]

    [INT: 10,550] [PER: 12,566]

    [WIL: 15,072] [SOU: 36,694]

    ''If she had absorbed a tinum-grade bone... Sigh, she had no choice. Anyway, she''s very close to that level now. Considering her current life expectancy, as long as she stays alive, she''ll reach that level one day.'' Lothur thought as he eliminated the demons around him.

    Meanwhile, Mabel ignored Lothur for a moment, feeling a strange sensationing from the east.

    ''What is it?'' She wondered as she looked in that direction and felt a unique spiritual fluctuation that seemed to be calling her.

    Little did she know that this was a feeling every human would notice uponpleting their Spirit Body.

    As for what it was, it would be a long time before Mabel found out.

    Feeling this was not something she needed to worry about right now, Mabel controlled her thoughts and looked back at where she was and the situation that had made herplete her Spirit Body.

    "Lothur?" She eximed as she looked in the direction of a silver-haired man whose eyes were currently glowing an intense red while a red mist surrounded part of his surroundings.

    "You really were alive!" she eximed as she saw Lothur''s eyes meet hers, feeling a sudden relief that this man was still alive.

    Considering the feeling Lothur was giving off now, he wasn''t weak in the least, which was a good sign for someone who had ''almost'' died at the hands of demons.

    Smiling with satisfaction, she didn''t hesitate to move, using her incredible speed to attack the demons in the area, quickly knocking them out.

    In the process, she helped Lothur by throwing all the demons in his direction, making it easier to exterminate these creatures.

    When she stopped moving 20 seconds after absorbing her Soul Bone, all the Sages and saints of Peters City paused to witness the end of the group of demons that only moments before had threatened the very existence of this city.

    But now, these creatures had vanished into thin air, leaving Lothur with their powers but also with Soul Bones that would soon have owners.

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 90% -> 94%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 87% -> 92%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 85% -> 89%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 83% -> 88%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade darkness resistance.]

    [Progress: 95% -> 99%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 86% -> 91%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 78% -> 85%]

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 71% -> 77%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 73% -> 79%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 75% -> 81%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 74% -> 80%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 79% -> 85%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 80% -> 86%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Radius Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 58% -> 68%]

    In just 4 minutes, Lothur managed to degrade the lives of all the remaining demons, absorbing their characteristics and getting closer to the Diamond grade.

    Even though he didn''t achieve a qualitative breakthrough, Lothur gained a lot of new EVF points, enough to improve his cultivation once again!

    [EVF: 19 -> 300,020]

    He gave his usualmands without hesitation and soon felt his strength increase.

    [10,000 points added to SOU at a cost of 200,000 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 30,232 -> 40,232]

    ...

    [EVF: 300,020 -> 100,020]

    ...

    [6.668 points added to CON for the cost of 100.020 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 16,488 -> 23,156]

    ...

    [EVF: 100,020 -> 0]

    ...

    Feeling his new powers, Lothur clenched his fists before summoning the Soul Bonepatible with his ninth empty slot.

    ''That damned fugitive will spread the truth about where I am. The Demon Emperor will hunt me down.''

    With that in mind, Lothur didn''t hesitate to start absorbing his 9th Soul Bone in front of so many people from the local alliance!

 Chapter 861 Level 25 (2)

    Chapter 861 Level 25 (2)

    As he moved to absorb the left metacarpal Soul Bone, Lothur destroyed the Space Watch, revealing the Space Crystal.

    Picking up the shiny object, he immediately absorbed it along with his new Soul Bone, cing it at the center of his existence.

    Given the level he was at and the system that was there to help him without limitations, Lothur had no trouble absorbing the two essences simultaneously.

    While everyone on the battlefield above Peters City looked at him in surprise, Lothur felt the Immortal Crystal and his 9th Soul Bone positioning themselves within him and integrating with his powers.

    With 80% of his Spirit Body alreadyplete and a system that didn''t have a parasite in it to hinder him, Lothur needed just over 1 minute to absorb these two essences sessfully.

    At the end of that 1 minute, he had advanced in both his soul and body cultivation, reaching a level even better than when he lost his strength before.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 24 -> 25]

    [Body Cultivation: level 22 -> 24]

    [STR: 3,720 -> 8,928]

    [CON: 23,156 -> 55,574]

    [DEX: 3,765 -> 9,036]

    [AGI: 3,790 -> 9,096]

    [INT: 1,031 -> 2,577]

    [PER: 4,379 -> 10,947]

    [WIL: 2,340 -> 5,850]

    [SOU: 40,232 -> 100,580]

    [EVF: 0]

    Seeing his new status, Lothur felt he was only one step away from reaching level 26 of soul cultivation, as close to that level as Mabel.

    ''Perfect!'' He clenched his fists as he looked at his surroundings with satisfaction. However, since his Spirit Body was only 90%plete, Lothur didn''t feel the sensation Mabel had felt earlier.

    Either way, he was much stronger than when he arrived in this city dozens of minutes ago.

    He then looked at his new bone and skill.

    [Emperor Demon Metacarpal Soul Bone] [Rating: tinum]

    ...

    [Fusion] [Rank: tinum]

    [Characteristics: Fusion is a special ability capable of transforming two essences into just one, multiplying their attributes.]

    [Note 1: It can only be used on items or resources that have not yet been fused.]

    [Note 2: Once fused, two items or beings can no longer be separated until they are destroyed or consumed.]

    [Note 3: It is possible to fuse living beings. However, their personalities and memories would be destroyed. The being resulting from such a fusion would be like a soulless doll, a ve to the skill user.]

    [Note 4: The skill can only be used on things of a lower level or quality than the user''s body.]

    [Progress: 59%]

    Lothur was amazed to see what he had gained on this journey, feeling one of the most impressive powers that could exist.

    ''This is perfect. I''ll be able to produce much higher level artifacts and resources for my people...'' He thought, feeling like he was on cloud nine.

    As he finished his progress, he saw not only Mabel but all the local Sages gathered around him to congratte him on his breakthrough.

    "Congrattions on your progress..."

    More than 30 people said the same thing at once, gesturing at Lothur.

    Amidst this, he looked at them and said aloud. "Gather these Soul Bones and distribute them ording to theirpatibility. Let''s not dy in preparing against the demons. Now that I''ve shown myself and our city has won, they will look at us differently."

    Everyone agreed and quickly gathered the bones and did what Lothur had just rmended.

    Meanwhile, Mabel approached him, curious to know what had happened and why it had taken him so long to return.

    "Are you going to tell me where you''ve been all this time? Viktoria and Annaliese thought you were dead."

    "I did die. Fortunately, I have an ability that allows me to return to the world. At that time, an escape device had taken me away, and my being had a chance to recover in peace.

    However, my situation was very delicate, so it took me much longer than I would have liked to recover sufficiently." Lothur exined as he looked into his mother-inw''s eyes.

    "So that''s what happened..." She sighed, not imagining that Lothur had actually died. ''Then we almost lost him.''

    "Anyway, it''s a shame we don''t have time to deal with non-essentials> Otherwise..." He said as he looked at Mabel''s mature body, feeling that he could improve his Constitution a lot by having fun with her.

    Mabel heard this but didn''t say anything because she also wanted to experience Lothur''s body again.

    ''Really, there''s no time for such things...'' Shemented.

    Thinking about her situation''splexity, she remembered what she had felt earlier and changed the subject. "Lothur, after Ipleted my Spirit Body, I felt something calling me from the direction of the sea.

    I can''t exin it, but I feel that if I want to progress, I have to venture in that direction." She pointed to the east.

    Hearing this, Lothur turned towards the coast and frowned. ''There? Is there something beyond our world in that area? But didn''t the old man say that above level 26, one would reach the same level as his?''

    To Lothur, that old man seemed to be the strongest in the world.

    However, he was no longer far behind him. So what could be beyond the oceans that stood between him and the system''s creator?

    "That''s strange... But we''ll worry about it in the future. For now, we should focus all our attention on the demons. These creatures have terrible ns for the continent. If we don''t stop them, we could be thest non-demonic beings in Concordia in no time." He told Mabel in a serious tone.

    "Hmm, what do we do now? The demons will probably attack us with everything they have."

    "Or maybe not," Lothur muttered. "You''ll stay in Peters City and continue to defend this ce with the others. Earlier, I delivered about 600 Soul Bones to patriarch Koch. So the local forces will be fine even in my absence. In the meantime, I will hunt down these creatures and strengthen myself.

    When we hear from the Demon Emperor and know what his forces are like, it will be time to act and attack the demon base."

    Mabel agreed with Lothur before separating from him and returning to her position while he left the city.

    Meanwhile, Lothur went to the Ritter''s family to gather artifacts and resources for smelting. While he waited for information on cities recently attacked by demons, he would be fusing resources to create greater things for his people!

 Chapter 862 Testing His New Ability

    Chapter 862 Testing His New Ability

    Upon arriving at the Ritter family''s treasury, Lothur immediately arranged for two 3rd-grade pills to test his new ability.

    Since the pills were simr but had slight differences in purity and quality, he decided to start testing his new ability bybining two simr things.

    ''I will do that first and then test resources with different attributes.'' He thought, imagining that the same thing that happened with these two simr pills would happen when he fused artifacts like swords.

    It wouldn''t make sense to fuse a sword and a spear, so he didn''t want to do that kind of test. On the other hand,bining a pill that could increase one''s strength with a pill that could awaken a special Physique might create something interesting.

    On the other hand, he had in mind to test the results of his fusion with pills, herbs, and even minerals to create new possibilities useful to his people.

    Finally, with the two simr pills in his hands, he didn''t hesitate to move his spiritual energy through his 9th Soul Bone, instantly feeling the effects of this new part of himself.

    As he activated his new ability, Lothur felt his hands glow an intense gold as what looked like a cauldron appeared between his hands.

    Inside this cauldron, two pills floated, one circling the other more and more closer to the other, faster and faster.

    Seeing the movement of these two pills, which looked like two white stars preparing to collide, Lothur felt arge amount of energy surge into the golden, semi-transparent cauldron in front of him.

    Almost a minute after he began his test, the two pills emitted an intense white glow and finally copsed against each other, emitting a powerful spiritual pulse from within the golden cauldron.

    As he felt the power of the spiritual waves vibrating against the walls of his cauldron, Lothur''s eyes widened, sensing something he hadn''t expected to feel.

    ''It can''t be...'' He saw an entirely different pill, 50% smaller, with four colored stripes around its body, settle into his cauldron.

    ''This... It''s a 4th-grade pill!'' He saw that he had obtained a pill of a higher quality than the two pills he had used in the fusion, something incredible to obtain.

    The difference between a resource with the potential to affect 3rd-stage cultivators and one with the ability to affect 4th-stage beings waspletely different!

    ''The spirit-recovering pills I used for this fusion could only recover 100% of the energy of a level 16 Transcendent at most. But this pill... It can even fully restore a Celestial Saint!'' Lothur took such a pill in his hands and saw this creation, which was 5 times more potent than the two pills he had used before.

    However, this was no simple math. To produce a pill simr to the one Lothur was holding now, one would have to spend ten times more resources than to produce those two pills. At the same time, one would need a 4-star professional, a rare type of specialist in Concordia.

    That was what made Lothur''s fusion so impressive that it could even affect someone like him!

    With his eyes shining with satisfaction, Lothur put the pill aside and looked for new resources to test his power and soon came across two more pills in his family''s treasury.

    This time, he chose Mountain Freshness, a 3rd-grade pill that can aid the spiritual progress of those with abilities rted to the elements of wind, water, and wood. With this pill, a level 16 Transcendent could cultivate to level 17 in 50% of the time they need without the help of external items.

    On the other hand, he also picked up a 4th-grade pill, Blood Sacrifice, which was a type of resource that could temporarily raise its user''s strength to the peak of the 4th stage.

    If the user of this pill was a 4th-stage cultivator, they would only be severely exhausted after consuming it, and they might need years of seclusion to recover. However, if someone of a lower level of cultivation took such a pill, the good effects of the pill would still be the same, but the side effects would be much worse, and there would be a high probability that the user would die after taking it.

    Determined to see what his fusion with resources of different nature and quality could produce, Lothur didn''t take long to use his skill again.

    Even though it was a high-level skill, using it to fuse items below the 5th grade didn''t require much of Lothur. He could easily fuse low-grade items for days without exhausting himself!

    Soon, the two pills, one with four stripes and the other with three colored stripes, would begin to fuse under the power of Lothur''s special ability.

    This time, the fusion would take a few seconds longer than the previous one, showing him that the higher the quality of the ''ingredients,'' the longer and moreplex the fusion process would be.

    Still, Lothur didn''t even break a sweat to see the fusion of these two pills through to the end and soon reached the end of the process one minute and forty seconds after he had started.

    When he finished, he didn''t hesitate to take the white pill with 5 colored stripes in his hands, seeing that by fusing resources of different levels, he could still raise the quality of the items to a level higher than that of the highest quality resources.

    ''5th-grade... Moreover, this pill can temporarily raise someone''s strength to the beginning of the 5th stage. If the person who consumes it has an affinity with the elements of earth, wind, or water, they can recover without much trouble after using it, even if they are only a Transcendent!'' Lothur was shocked by the result of the fusion.

    The formed pill had lost its ability to help cultivators reach the 3rd stage faster, which was the focus of the first pill used in the fusion. However, the result could only be described as fantastic, as something like this could greatly help the people who consumed it to temporarily use expert powers without risking their lives.

    With this excellent result, Lothur was excited and soon spent the next few hours "ying" with his Ritter family''s resources, learning about his ability while creating great things for his men.

    When he finished his work two days after he started, the Koch family would finally bring good news about Lothur''s previous request!

    ...

 Chapter 863 Fusion of Spectres

    Chapter 863 Fusion of Spectres

    "Lothur, we''ve received information about a city that was recently attacked by demons." The Koch patriarch arrived where the young Ritter was talking with a smile on his face.

    Lothur was still in the Ritter family''s treasury, but he had already gathered all the avable resources in a ce that looked like a closet of pills, potions, and artifacts of all kinds instead of clothes.

    Looking at that man who was one level stronger than he had been a few days ago due to the absorption of a new Soul Bone, Lothur asked. "Where is that? I''ll go there right away."

    "It''s a town in Thasan, near that state''s border with Utrary. There was a demon attack there about 19 hours ago." Patriarch Koch said, but he couldn''t help but stare at this ce, which looked much emptier than a few days ago.

    However, Patriarch Koch had already noticed that every resource there was of the highest level, with weapons and other items he had never seen before.

    ''Did he replenish our treasury?'' The man wondered as he looked around, holding a crystal-shaped item with the exact location of the city he had just spoken of.

    Lothur took the crystal and clenched his fists in satisfaction.

    He said. "Use these new resources I''m leaving behind. Next to the pills and potions are small texts exining what they are useful for."

    Everything Lothur had created from his fusion skill didn''t exist in this world. No alchemist would understand the properties of the pills and potions he had left behind without a great deal of study.

    But Concordia''s alliance of living beings didn''t have time for that. So Lothur had done them the favor of leaving an exnatory text.

    Upon hearing this, the Koch patriarch bowed his head and said. "Thank you for your assistance, Lothur. I will ensure that these resources are distributed to the right people."

    "Hmm, keep working. There are many demons out there. I want new ces like this." Lothur said as he crushed the crystal he had picked up from the man in front of him before activating the power of the Space Crystal within his being.

    As he did so, Lothur quickly teleported to the location the Koch patriarch had just informed him of!

    The patriarch saw the young Ritter disappear and clenched his fists in determination, thinking that with Lothur on their side, victory was highly likely, even considering the existence of the Demon Emperor and the recent defeats of the Human Alliance.

    He paused next to one of the shelves containing the treasure, thinking about it. But when he saw what was there eleven 5-stripe pills, his eyes fluttered as he realized the true value of what Lothur had left behind.

    "This..."

    ...

    At the same time that the Koch patriarch realized the true value of the items Lothur had left behind, the young man appeared above the town on the eastern border of Thasan that demons had recently attacked.

    Upon arriving there, he noticed the signs he had found in thest demon-ughtered city he had passed and realized tens of thousands more humans had been killed or devoured there.

    "All demons must die." Lothur closed his eyes for a second as ck mes erupted around him.

    "Rise up, fallen ones!" Hemanded, speaking to the many souls of the beings who had died there hours ago and had been unable to reincarnate due to the problem of the Wheel of Reincarnation.

    As Lothur spoke, a terrifying aura spread throughout the city, darkening the skies above the area while all the buildings and even the streets of the city trembled under his presence.

    A world of dark mes formed over the city, refining the remaining souls that could form spectres in weeks or months.

    In the blink of an eye, more than 1,000 creatures of darkness emerged from the rubble of that city, emitting crackling sounds from their throats as they felt all their emotions from earlier return to the world along with their existences.

    "Kill!"

    "We must kill!"

    Some of the more powerful spectres Lothur summoned were capable of shouting out entire words, while others merely shouted things unintelligible to human ears.

    Lothur opened his eyes and sent out a pulse of energy from his position, spreading out into the surrounding area.

    As he did so, all of the creatures he had summoned realized that they were in front of their master and quickly changed their ways, silencing themselves.

    Then, as these many creatures stared at him in silence, Lothur moved his two hands, moving a ridiculous amount of spiritual energy as he circted his powers through his 9th Soul Bone.

    Fusion!

    As he did so, 500 cauldrons of golden energy appeared on the outskirts of the city.

    Immediately, two spectres entered each of these cauldrons, epting Lothur''smands without hesitation as he experimented with his ability on ''conscious'' creatures for the first time.

    The mental energy required for this fusion was not small. Within seconds, Lothur had used over 80% of his power to activate this great fusion, causing the spiritual energy in the area to be extremely chaotic.

    Pulses erupted from every cauldron in the area while space vibrated violently as the spectres merged.

    When all the creatures were united, a glow appeared in the area so strong that people tens of thousands of kilometers away would notice somethinging from that ce today.

    However, no one would stand in Lothur''s way. In less than 15 minutes, he would use his newest skill on a grand scale toplete the fusion, halving the number of spectres in the area but significantly increasing the attributes of those creatures.

    As the cauldrons disappeared and Lothur saw these beings, who looked much more beautiful and rational than before, with less ethereal bodies, he smiled as he felt how much stronger they were now.

    ''Using 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stage spectres, I now have 4th and 5th stage beings. Not only that, even the weakest of them have a much higher level of intelligence than the strongest creatures from before.''

    "Find demons. Don''t attack them or make contact with them. I want you to mark their positions and use that tomunicate with me." Lothur said as he threw 100munication devices connected to themunicationwork of his vehicles.

    By dividing these spectres into groups of 5, he made them leave the area with devices that could alert the members of the Ritter family to demon sightings!

    Lothur''s new ves took his orders well and soon left to gather in groups of equal strength.

    Lothur then activated his "One With Nature" ability, causing all the nt organisms in the city to be part of a collective consciousness capable of showing him what was happening in the area.

    nt beings couldn''t see. But they were able to sense spiritual fluctuations. From these sensations, someone like Lothur could recreate scenes in his mind bybining his abilities with the sensations of the beings in the area.

    With this, he sensed the direction in which the more than 400 demons that had massacred this city had gone and set off in search of more EVF points!

 Chapter 864 Formidable Enemy

    Chapter 864 Formidable Enemy

    While Lothur and his new spectres were moving around Thasan, news of his vital status had already arrived on Demon Ind.

    At the moment, the Demon Emperor was in his pce in the center of demon territory, listening to the ount of the sole survivor of the attack on Peters City.

    "So ''my chosen one'' survived..." A tall, strong man said with a mysterious smile, sitting on his throne dressed in a ck cloak.

    "Your Majesty, we must move." The level 25 Sage who had fled from Lothur shouted, extremely worried, while wearing a tired expression, reflecting the vitality he had lost to the hybrid.

    "Lothur Ritter cannot be underestimated. He currently has no limits, and he has an extremely powerful ally.

    The human we reported to Your Majesty has advanced to the 4th Catastrophe and can be considered the strongest Sage in Concordia. With her protection, the hybrid can quickly develop his strength." He eximed, feeling that if his people didn''t focus on eliminating Lothur, they would be the ones who would be eliminated.

    "Oh? Has she evolved?" The Demon Emperor smiled, imagining that if he devoured Mabel, he would have a much more promising result in his attempt to advance to the legendary level 27.

    "Yes, Your Majesty. I don''t know her exact strength today, but when I escaped from Peters City, she was absorbing her 10th Soul Bone, a Gold-grade bone.

    Since she was already at the peak of the 3rd Catastrophe, it''s safe to say that she has reached the 4th Catastrophe." The level 25 demon replied while lowering his head. "Her soul power isn''t that impressive. But her body is. While she was at the 3rd Catastrophe, she was already fully capable of running away and dealing lethal blows to 4th Catastrophe beings.

    I''m afraid the only one in the whole world who can take her on right now is Your Majesty."

    "That''s perfect." The Demon Emperor said with satisfaction. "As powerful as this human woman is, can shepare to our legion?" He said as he stood up and opened his arms arrogantly.

    As he did so, five demons stepped out from behind the curtains surrounding the hall, startling the newly arrived demon.

    "Your Majesty... These are..." The old demon looked at the five young-looking Sages and tried to figure out who they were.

    At the 5th stage of cultivation, every step forward increased the vitality of cultivators of all races.

    By the time they reached level 22, they would have an average life span of 10,000 years, which could vary depending on the individual characteristics of each Sage, as well as the resources they had ess to on their journey. Advancing to level 23 would add another 5,000 years, and advancing to level 24 would add another 10,000 years.

    When you reach level 25, your life expectancy will increase by another 20,000 years, and it won''t be difficult for someone at that cultivation level to live for more than 50,000 years.

    Beyond that level, they would be pseudo-immortals, and as long as they survived the catastrophes in front of them, they could live forever.

    Of course, someone like the Demon Emperor wasn''t a true immortal and could be killed. But once he reached level 26, their existence would be practically eternal.

    Considering how much everyone''s vital energy had increased in the levels of the 5th stage, a single advancement could drastically change a cultivator''s appearance.

    An old cultivator who was nearing the end of their life would receive a ''breath of life'' by advancing from level 24 to level 25. Their appearance and their physical and mental conditions would improve so much that an old man would lose his old appearance.

    Seeing these five young people, the escapee from Lothur quickly realized that they were oldrades of the demon tribe who had just advanced.

    "You... Did you make it?" He asked in surprise.

    One of the Sagesughed. "Elder Drokis, your concerns are reasonable. The hybrid is dangerous. But so are we."

    "With the help of the Demon Emperor and the chaos in Concordia, we managed to devour the damned ''stones'' in our path and advance to the 4th Catastrophe!"

    "Several others of us are doing the same thing around Concordia right now. In a few more days, we could have more than 50 4th Catastrophe Sages on our side!"

    These five individualsmented to Drokis as the Demon Emperor smiled in satisfaction.

    As dangerous as Lothur and Mabel were to him, they were also great opportunities for him!

    Mabel couldn''t get any stronger, and if she fell, she would be very nutritious food for him. As for Lothur, even though he had the opportunity to be stronger, and it wouldn''t be easy to deal with, he could also generate big points for the Demon Emperor.

    ''If these two fall into my hands, I''ll be able to reach the level of that old man.'' He looked up at the sky and remembered the person who had defeated him in the distant past and was now at the top of this world.

    ''Old man, just wait for me. I''ll eliminate yourst hope and finish you off.'' Heughed mischievously. ''When I climb the stairs of immortality, I''ll choose a different path than you! That will be the end of you!''

    He then ordered. "Drokis is worried, but he''s not wrong. I order you to search for the damned hybrid and the woman from Peters City. Don''t do anything for now, but keep an eye on them. As soon as we have our 4th Catastrophe Legion, we''ll finish them off!"

    "Yes, Your Majesty!"

    ...

    Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Seraphim Church in Norid...

    News of the fall of powerful demons was currently the most important news for this organization of demon hunters. Not only that, but such news was a breath of relief to the coalition in Concordia, as demon defeats had been the mostmon thing to heartely.

    Weeks into the war, not counting Lothur''s contributions, fewer than 4,000 demons had been killed. Meanwhile, more than 5 million humans had died across the continent, many devoured and others fallen after battling their enemies.

    But while few of the 4,000 Soul Bones had fallen into human hands to be absorbed and strengthen the coalition members, many human bodies had be nutrients for the demons.

    With the first waves of attacks, the demons had gained a massive advantage in this confrontation, even scoring important victories against human Sages.

    Given Concordia''s dire situation, any fall of 5th-stage demons would be reported by all coalition posts.

    That very afternoon, news of what had happened in Peters City reached the headquarters of Concordia''srgest demon-hunting organization.

    In particr, the news reached the four human hopefuls who were currently in seclusion in Norid''s capital!

    ...

 Chapter 865 Diamond-Grade

    Chapter 865 Diamond-Grade

    Upon receiving thetest news from Leopoldine, especially what had happened in Peters City, the women of Lothur could not contain their joy.

    "He''s alive! He''s really alive!" Elkemented as she felt her eyes well up with tears, finally receiving confirmation of her husband''s vital status.

    Until now, she and her harem sisters had been in the dark about Lothur''s true situation. They knew he wasn''t dead, as his ves of darkness still served him. But that didn''t mean he was well.

    For all they knew, Lothur could be unconscious, in aa, while his situation could be dire, and he could be between life and death.

    At any moment, his life could be snuffed out, and he could die forever!

    So, even though they had been hopeful about their husband before, they were somewhat pessimistic about Lothur''s situation.

    Having just heard from a Saint of the Seraphim Church about the situation that had recently developed in Peters City, the four were ovee with emotion.

    For weeks, they had lived in seclusion in that city, strengthening themselves to help the continental coalition against the demons while knowing nothing and being unable to do anything for Lothur.

    Reba, Elke, and Annaliese had even gained new Soul Bones during that time, reaching the same number of bones as Viktoria, 8, with two of them reaching level 25 in soul and body cultivation.

    Only Reba was at level 24, but she was very close to breaking through to the 4th catastrophe of the 5th stage.

    But even though they had all be stronger and spent most of their time cultivating recently, all they wanted to do was fight the demons and avenge what had happened to Lothur.

    Whether he was alive or not, it was sure that he had suffered a great loss at the hands of the demons. That had to be avenged!

    Unfortunately, they were precious to the alliance and had been kept at the Church''s headquarters to act when things became more chaotic in the war.

    However, they understood why they were in this ce and not fighting on the continent and waited for the moment to act.

    Amid the boredom of being stuck in this ce, hearing about Mabel''s progress to level 25 and Lothur''s return was very good for all of them!

    "It looks like we''ll see him again soon," Viktoria muttered as she closed her eyes and thought of Lothur''s face.

    With him back, she was sure it would only be a matter of days, maybe weeks before they would meet him again.

    "We should go after him!" Annaliesemented.

    "No. If you leave,dies, the demons will find out about your powers, and you will be their target." The woman who had delivered the news of what had recently happened in Peters City said, trying to avoid a big mistake on the part of these women.

    Victoria wanted to see her husband again, but she knew the risks and agreed with this person from the Church. "We can''t go to him. Our situation is still the same, Anna. We have to let hime to us.

    But don''t worry, now that he''s back, it won''t take long. If his ability can be used without limits now, he''ll be able to reach Demon Ind soon. At that time, he will definitelye to us."

    ording to the report they had heard from the Church woman with them, Lothur''s bloodline ability had changed, as before he could only use it for a few seconds before being forced to go 24 hours without using it. The recent battle in Peters City hadsted much longer than that, but he had still used his ability continuously, causing the deaths of dozens of demons.

    If his ability had evolved, Viktoria was sure he would get stronger quickly and soon have Soul Bones for her and her harem sisters. When that happened, he would surelye to them or send those bones to them so they coulde to him after absorbing them.

    But although she missed her husband, Viktoria was calm enough about the current situation to wait a little longer.

    Annaliese sped her hands together, feeling it made sense, but she also wanted to see her husband again.

    Seeing Annaliese clenching her fists in frustration, Reba sighed and said. "We can''t go to him, but that doesn''t mean we can''t talk to him."

    "Oh?"

    Reba exined. "We can use ourmunicationswork to talk to Peters City, especially the Koch family. They will certainly be able to connect us with Lothur."

    The Ritter Motor Company''smunicationswork already covered most of the continent. So if Lothur had amunication crystal with him, they could connect to it!

    Viktoria''s eyes lit up when she heard this, as she hadn''t thought of this possibility.

    ''Indeed... We can do that.''

    ...

    Hourster, in an underground area near Thasan''s eastern border with Utrary...

    At that moment, in a dark underground area of an old building, a red mist was slowly diminishing in intensity, while the silence in the surrounding area would easily frighten the most sensitive ones.

    The ce in question was dark and cold. Still, suddenly, several glows appeared in arge area of 500 square meters, with a lot of spiritual energy emanating from each of the more than 300 glows there.

    Upon closer inspection, these bright and colorful spots were generated by the special essences of this world, the Soul Bones!

    As these many Soul Bones floated in the air, the red mist finally dissipatedpletely when a single person in that area opened his eyes and smiled, feeling a great change in himself.

    "Diamond-grade... I''ve finally reached it! Lothur thought to himself as he saw the first of his traits rise to the next quality level!

    His resistance and affinity to the darkness element had finally changed the quality and reached Diamond-grade!

    Meanwhile, most of his affinities had evolved and moved closer to Diamond grade.

    With the EVF points he had absorbed from the group of demons he had just vanquished, Lothur continued to increase his Soul power and Constitution, finally reaching level 25 of body cultivation.

    As he was about to reach the 5th catastrophe in soul cultivation, he had a satisfied smile when he saw his status.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 25]

    [Body Cultivation: level 25]

    [STR: 9,508] [CON: 60,800]

    [DEX: 9,706] [AGI: 9,805]

    [INT: 2,577] [PER: 13,047]

    [WIL: 5,850] [SOU: 108,600]

    [EVF: 19]

    But while he was looking at his attribute points, an item in his spatial ring suddenly vibrated and caught his eye.

    ''Huh? Is someone trying to contact me?'' He immediately summoned the vibratingmunication crystal in his spatial ring.

    The moment he activated it, Lothur heard a voice he hadn''t heard in months.

    "Lothur, are you there? How are you?" Annaliese''s voice sounded, bringing a smile to the silver-haired man''s face.

    ...

 Chapter 866 Fusion Failure

    <h4>Chapter 866 Fusion Failure?</h4>

    When he heard Annaliese''s voice, a smile appeared on Lothur''s lips.

    "Anna, I thought I would never hear your sweet voice again." He used themunication crystal in his hands and said in a pleased tone.

    Laughter came from the other end of the line as Lothur identified each of his four women.

    "Lothur, how are you? Are you well?" Viktoria asked in a more serious tone, still worried about him.

    He looked at the crystal and said. "I am very well. Those damned demons almost killed me earlier. But fortunately, they underestimated me. Now I''m even stronger than when I faced them months ago."

    "That''s great," Elke said. "We are stronger too. We''re currently on the side of the continental coalition with the Seraphim Church... As much as we were their enemies in the past, we''re allies now, and we''ve even received Soul Bones from them."

    "Oh?" Lothur wasn''t surprised by this information, nor was he unhappy that his women had allied themselves with their former enemies.

    As much as Lothur disliked the Seraphim Church, he hated the demons who had almost killed him even more!

    "This is good." He said. "How many Soul Bones do you have now?"

    "Eight." They all said at the same time.

    "Perfect. I''ll get you new bones very soon. We''ll meet again then!" He said, not intending to bring his women to his side in the short term.

    "What about you?" Reba asked. "Do you have any new bones?"

    "Yes, I currently have nine Soul Bones. My soul and physical strength should be about the same as the Demon Emperor''s. But he certainly has other attributes that are stronger than mine, so I don''t intend to go to him now."

    "Incredible!" Annaliesemented in an excited tone, happy that her man had be so strong even after an overwhelming defeat at the hands of demons.

    "Anyway, you should be careful from now on. The demons are hunting mighty humans to devour those who can be of most use to them. Mabel was theirst target before shepleted her Spirit Body."

    "We are aware of that," Viktoria said. "How is our mother?"

    "She is well. But she''s not out of danger. As long as the Demon Emperor is alive, she will be a potential target for him. But for now, I don''t think anything will happen. Many demons have died in Peters City, and the strength of our men there must have exponentially increased since I left.

    That''s why you must be careful. The demons will probably move on to easier opponents in the short term."

    "Sounds like you underestimate us." Rebaughed.

    "Not at all. But Peters City has me as a supplier of Soul Bones. Does the ce you''re in have anyone like that?" Lothurmented seriously.

    He had recently secured over 700 Soul Bones for the powers of Peters City. On the other hand, he had just eliminated more than 300 demons in the facility where he was now. With these bones, which he would soon leave in that city, his forces could be strengthened even further.

    Meanwhile, the headquarters of the Seraphim Church had received only 80 Soul Bones since the war began, three of which had been given to Annaliese, Elke, and Reba.

    Knowing how efficient Lothur was at obtaining Soul Bones and making sure they weren''t destroyed, the four women weren''t offended by his speech, knowing that they were easier targets for the demons.

    "Don''t worry. We don''t intend to move. We haven''t fought in this war against the demons yet, so they don''t even know about us." Elke said.

    "Do they?" Lothur wasn''t so sure. "Where you are, you can only rely on yourselves. Demons are very good at controlling weak minds. Someone from the Church could betray you at any moment."

    "We''ll keep our eyes open." Viktoriamented.

    "Okay, now I have to go. Ah, where are Blood and Smoke? I can sense them, but they don''t seem to be in the same ce as you." Lothur remembered the two cats.

    "They''re hunting spectres all over the continent. We let them go so they could grow stronger." Reba said.

    "Okay. I''ll try to find them and send them back to their position with some resources. Anyway, that''s all for now. Take care of yourselves."

    "You too."

    After saying their goodbyes, the conversation ended, and Lothur ced hismunication crystal in his spatial ring.

    Having already collected all the Soul Bones from the area he was in, he manipted space seconds after he finished talking to his wives and returned to Peters City.

    ...

    Arriving in Peters City, Lothur was soon in the area of his family''s treasures, but he had no information on other locations like the one he had attacked earlier.

    There were many cities around Concordia that demons had attacked, but Lothur needed to know their exact location and whether the attacks had urred only a few hours ago.

    Even his advanced tracking skills would be limited if too much time had passed. After all, demon tracks were moreplex than those of other races.

    Not only that, but many demons could change their level and position after a short time since their ''meal,'' which could make things difficult for him.

    With nowhere else to attack, Lothur decided to "y" with the new Soul Bones he had just obtained!

    If he could fuse the Soul Bones and create what he needed toplete his Spirit Body, he could make the breakthrough that would end the war in a matter of hours!

    So he would soon take two Soul Bones of the same body part, Gold grade, and fuse them together, trying to create something of a higher level.

    As he did so, the usual semi-transparent golden cauldron appeared between Lothur''s hands, and the two bones inside it elerated, orbiting each other anding closer and closer together.

    But amid this fusion, Lothur noticed a problem, as he felt his spiritual energy being consumed considerably by the process, something that hadn''t happened even when he had fused Gold-grade weapons into tinum-grade items!

    ''Huh?''

    Realizing that his fusion would fail, Lothur used the Space Crystal and teleported himself and the cauldron with the two bones away from Peters City.

    A second after appearing over the ind where the old Castle of Shadow was, he teleported again and appeared on the coast of Leopoldine.

    Then, a huge white mushroom appeared in the direction of the Dark Sea, while massive winds and waves began to form in the opposite direction of the explosion.

    "Shit!" Lothur groaned at the sight, feeling the power of the explosion that could hurt even someone at his level.

    "I can''t fuse Soul Bones!" He concluded, regretting that he had lost two bones only to discover that the power of one Soul Bone could not transform other Soul Bones.

 Chapter 867 Different Spectres

    Chapter 867 Different Spectres

    Two dayster, on the coast of the Petha Empire.

    In this northernmost part of the continent, a strong pulse suddenly blew from the sea toward the continent.

    Sensing this sudden wind, a small, red-furred cat looked in a southeasterly direction and felt a chill run through her body.

    "Did you feel that, Blood?" Smoke asked his sister.

    In the weeks since they had separated from Viktoria and the other women of Lothur, the two cats had hunted many spectres on the continent and traveled extensively in thesends.

    They had both reached level 24 of soul cultivation and level 23 of body cultivation.

    Much stronger than thest time Lothur had seen them, these two creatures could already hunt spectres and demons at level 25!

    They had been traveling across the continent for the past few months, mainly in search of spectres, which were easier to deal with and usually had richer attributes for them to absorb. However, on their journey, they devoured the souls of a few demons along the way and umted 20 tinum-grade Soul Bones!

    Anyway, they had recently sensed something strangeing from the Petha Empire, so they had moved to that state.

    However, as they traveled to their new destination, Blood felt a strange sensation when she was hit by that st from the southeast.

    "That direction... Something extreme must have just happened on the Castleof Shadow''s ind." She muttered to her brother.

    "Did it? But what could have happened there to cause a disturbance all the way here?" Smoke asked.

    "I have no idea. We''ll investigate after we finish what we''re doing. We''re a long way from that ce, so for something that happened there to reach us, something very high-level must have just happened. Maybe it''s rted to our creator or the Demon Emperor."

    The gray-haired cat narrowed his eyes and became more serious. "Okay, let''s hunt down those spectres and then go to that ce to see what happened."

    With that, they moved on to the spectral trail they were following.

    Recently, they had devoured many creatures. But a day ago, they had been passed by a spectral creature that was very different from anything they had seen before.

    This creature was not only very fast, but it also seemed to have physical characteristics that were strange for spirit creatures.

    That being moved and behaved in a more rational and superior manner than even the strongest spectral creature they had seen in their entire existence.

    As soon as they spotted it, the two cats began to chase after it, fascinated and eager to catch up with the toughest opponent they had ever encountered.

    Even with their skills, they had not been able to reach this spectre nor sessfully surround it to confront it!

    Considering the danger that such a being could pose to the continent, they couldn''t help but try to prevent such a being from remaining free.

    With that in mind, they were soon on their way again, trying to find the path of the enemy they had just lost by arriving in this state.

    But as they did so, Smoke suddenly felt a familiar sensationing from the west.

    "Demons?" He noticed somemon demon mental fluctuationsing from that direction.

    "That spectre seems to have moved to the same ce as those demons. He''s probably going to meet them." Bloodmented to her brother.

    "Let''s get closer and watch. Maybe we''ll get some useful information for the alliance." Smoke said before moving ahead of Blood, cautiously approaching the demonic enemies.

    But when they got close enough to the creatures, a group of about 15 demons, the two cats were surprised to see the creatures camped out while the spectre watched them in silence.

    ''Is he watching them?'' Blood wondered since demons and spectres were allies. It didn''t make sense for a spectre to secretly watch demons.

    ''Something is wrong here.'' Smoke felt strange and was ready to act.

    But just as he was about to move, a voice reached his and Blood''s minds.

    ''Blood and Smoke, don''t move. I am here at themand of our creator, Lothur Ritter. I''m observing these demons in his name.'' The spectre spoke into the minds of the two cats, surprising them considerably.

    ''How do you know our names?'' Blood looked at Smoke, the gray-furred cat thinking the same thing as his sister.

    The spectre said. ''I have been searching for demon tracks since I was created. My creator wants me and the others of my kind to watch for demons on his behalf. He will attack whenrge groups of demons appear.''

    ''Are you serious? Why don''t I feel the ve mark of our master on you?'' Blood asked skeptically.

    ''I don''t have the mark of the ck mes. The 9th Soul Bone ability of my creator created me.'' The spectre said, causing Blood and Smoke to look at each other.

    ''If that''s true, then our creator already has 9 Soul Bones!'' Smoke looked at Blood with a satisfied expression.

    ''Where is our Creator?'' Blood asked, feeling it wasn''t a lie, as this spectre was very different from all the others they had seen, even having a soft appearance simr to that of living humans, something unusual in spectres.

    The spectre looked to the south and estimated, "Your connection with him is weak, considering what happened earlier when our creator fell to the demons. But if you wish to see him again, go to Peters City. The Ritter Motor Company will assist you.''

    This spectre had some of Lothur''s memories because he wanted to prevent one of them from acting against one of his allies or even his allies from acting against one of them.

    As such, that spirit creature knew a great deal about recent events in young Ritter''s life, from the names of the two cats to Lothur''s basic ns with the Ritter Motor Company.

    No longer in doubt as to which side this ghost was on, Blood and Smoke looked at each other and decided to go to Peters City to see their creator again.

    Without further hesitation, they left the area, leaving the level 24 spectre to watch over the group of demons.

    Left alone and with no problems interfering with his mission, the spectre turned his attention to the creatures.

    ''I''ll let you take me to arger group of your kind, and then I''ll send a message to my master.'' He said this while his fourpanions stood nearby.

    Blood and Smoke thought they only had one target earlier. However, there were four more spectres like that in the vicinity, perfectly hidden from their enemies!

    These were the new spectres created by Lothur, creaturespletely different from the old ones!

 Chapter 868 Large Group of Demons

    Chapter 868 Large Group of Demons

    After failing to fuse two Soul Bones, Lothur stopped trying to fuse this type of resource after returning to Peters City after the previous explosion to leave the 300 or so new bones with his Ritter Family.

    After that, Lothur spent the next two days fusing the resources he had asked the Ritter family to collect, creating a new batch of high-level resources.

    With these actions, the average strength of the cultivators in Peters City had increased by one level since Lothur''s return, which was extremely significant!

    With some even achieving two breakthroughs, the number of local Saints and Sages had doubled since his return!

    Meanwhile, half a dozen local warriors had reached level 24, one of the highest levels of cultivation on the continent, a level at which anyone would be considered one of the strongest on the continent!

    Anyway, as Peters City developed with Lothur''s help, and the Ritter Motor Company continued to expand its operations before he left town again, on the third day, two cats arrived in the area after talking to the previous spectre.

    ...

    "Creador!" Blood and Smoke stopped in front of Lothur immediately after meeting him at the Ritter Family headquarters, both extremely happy to see this person again.

    As creatures created by Lothur, these two worshipped him as if he were some kind of supreme god.

    Seeing these two creatures, Lothur smiled as he noticed how strong they had be after the months they had been apart from each other.

    [Name: Blood]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23]

    [STR: 11,299] [CON: 14,784] [DEX: 12,450] [AGI: 12,570]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 8,556] [WIL: 10,662] [SOU: 28,226]

    ...

    [Name: Smoke]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 24]

    [Body Cultivation: level 23]

    [STR: 12,430] [CON: 14,835] [DEX: 13,458] [AGI: 13,601]

    [INT: 1,499] [PER: 6,556] [WIL: 9,780] [SOU: 27,995]

    "Blood and smoke, I must have frightened you. Come here." He said as he pulled the two cats into his arms.

    Feeling their creator''s energy surrounding them, Blood and Smoke felt immenselyfortable as their connection to Lothur strengthened, and they felt their creator once again.

    Feeling Lothur''s strength better than ever, they both realized how far this silver-haired man hade.

    "Creator, you are close to the legendary 5th Catastrophe!" Blood said, raising her tail in interest.

    "Hmm, the next raid I lead, I think I''ll reach that level." Lothur smiled.

    "Speaking of which, we have some tinum-grade Soul Bones here, creator." Smoke handed Lothur a spatial ring, and the young Ritter quickly identified two bones that matched his women.

    "Perfect. You''ve done well. By the way, thank you for saving my women. Without your help, they would probably have be food for the Demon Emperor." He thanked them both while massaging their small bodies.

    "It was our duty!" Blood said, although she felt very good to hear those words from Lothur.

    "Hmm, now that you''re connected to me again, I want you to stay in Leopoldine. More and more creatures from the continent are moving here. Despite the local tranquility, a great battle is already brewing here.

    You must act secretly against the demons and spectresing to this state."

    The two immediately agreed but were curious as to what Lothur intended.

    "With your current power, creator, could you already defeat the Demon Emperor?" Smoke asked.

    "I don''t know. But I doubt he has the ability to defeat me." Lothur smiled and showed his two cats how strong he already was.

    It had to be said that defeating the Demon Emperor in the past of this world had taken several level 25 Sages from Concordia, and most of them had died after the great battle of that time.

    But Lothur was confident that he could handle the strongest creature in this world on his own!

    That was impressive!

    While those cats'' eyes were shining with satisfaction for their master, someone entered the ce where Lothur and those two were, near the family treasure.

    "Patriarch, one of your spectres just sent word that arge group of demons is moving into a town between the Petha Empire and Rablus!" A level 21 Saint said as he ran over to where Lothur and the two cats were standing.

    "Oh? Well, do as I say, Blood and Smoke." Lothur said to the two as he walked away from them, using the Space Crystal to teleport to the border of the two states.

    As he did so, he narrowed his eyes considerably, sensing that someone with another Immortal Crystal was also moving toward that ce.

    ''Who could it be?'' Lothur wondered.

    He could sense the direction of two Immortal Crystals around the continent, indicating two other creatures had absorbed Immortal Crystals into their bodies, just as he had done with the Space Crystal.

    Anyone who absorbed Immortal Crystals into their bodies could more or less sense the location of the others.

    However, neither Lothur nor the others had yet moved to the location of those other people with Immortal Crystals in their bodies for safety.

    Each Immortal Crystal had unique powers that could greatly strengthen its user. Without being sure of each other''s abilities, it would be tough for one to approach the other for fear of a deadly fight against an opponent stronger than themselves.

    Sensing he would soon be standing next to another with an Immortal Crystal, Lothur naturally felt a little ufortable as he traveled through space to the other side of the continent.

    ...

    Seconds after leaving Peters City, Lothur reached a forested area between Rablus and the Petha Empire, where he quickly activated his One With Nature ability to locate his enemies.

    ''I found you!'' He realized where the demons were a minute after arriving at this location, sensing that the other Immortal Crystal user was moving against this group but a little behind him.

    Using the Space Crystal again, Lothur disappeared from where he was, making his body reappear over a city of about 100,000 people, which a group of 700 demons currently surrounded.

    At the same time that the demons were making their move against the city, local forces and defenders sent by the continental coalition were on the outskirts of the city. They awaited the decisive moment of battle with the group that had just appeared in their vicinity.

    When Lothur appeared between the group from this city, and the group of demons, both sides of the impending confrontation looked strangely in his direction.

    As one of the few people in the world with a soul of over 100,000 points, Lothur would naturally shock anyone who didn''t know him!

 Chapter 869 Demon Emperor Appears

    Chapter 869 Demon Emperor Appears

    When Lothur appeared between the city''s defenders and the demon siege, the strongest in the area looked at him strangely.

    "That person..." A level 25 Sage from the coalition looked at Lothur, feeling he had seen this person somewhere before.

    At the same time, the feeling Lothur exuded was supreme, and some of the more ignorant ones couldn''t help but think the Demon Emperor had personallye to this ce.

    ''This level of soul power... Who is this person?'' A level 24 woman thought as she felt the more than 100,000 points of Lothur''s soul.

    Meanwhile, one of the strongest demons there recognized Lothur and red angrily in the direction of the being she and her group thought they had vanquished months ago.

    "Lothur Ritter!" A level 25 demon woman shouted as she looked at the handsome face of the silver-haired man with an ugly expression.

    "We should have destroyed your body when we had the chance!" Another level 25 demon who had joined the group that resurrected the Demon Emperormented when he saw the silver-haired man''s expression.

    "But you didn''t make it, and now I''m afraid it''s toote," Lothur said as an extraordinary power vibrated from one of his hands, sending out gravitational waves as the space around the city became harder to break through.

    "Lothur? That''s the hybrid''s name..." One of the members of the Seraphim Church there realized who Lothur was and gave the man an ugly look. "He reached that level? So quickly?

    "Enough talk, demons. I''m here to destroy you! After today, I''ll visit your Demon Ind!" Lothur said as his eyes turned red and special energy left his body.

    After his words, Lothur moved so fast that no one in the area could see him move, appearing amid the demons, while some of those normally resilient creatures turned to dust with ease.

    "What?" Someone among the humans near the city shouted as they saw a dozen demons die with Lothur''s first move, something not even the strongest among them thought they were capable of.

    Meanwhile, the demons felt shivers run down their spines as they saw that if they didn''t flee, they would all be consumed by Lothur''s diabolical red mist.

    "Shit! Did that bastard have toe all this way?" The level 25 demon woman screamed as she quickly flew away, trying to escape the battlefield, unable to manipte the space around her due to Lothur''s actions.

    Meanwhile, the young Ritter looked in the direction of a group of demons trying to escape.

    ''Not so easy, creatures! He moved one of his hands, using his Gravity on the demons.

    As he did so, Lothur caused more than 100 demons trying to fly around the area to flee, bing slower and slower as he pulled them toward him.

    In the process, Lothur yed another 30 creatures, creating new Soul Bones as he became the center of the conflict while the demons screamed in agony.

    "You are indeed powerful, my chosen one!"

    Suddenly, as he absorbed the attributes of his targets and prevented his opponents from escaping, acting virtually alone, Lothur and everyone in the area heard a terrifying voice nearby.

    Upon hearing it, Lothur turned to look toward the neer, the bearer of one of the Immortal Crystals he had sensed moments before.

    "I didn''t expect..." Lothur took his attention away from the demons around him and looked in the direction of the ck-haired man in bone armor who had just arrived.

    But it was not only Lothur who was surprised. All the defense experts in the city, and even the demons there, were open-mouthed, not expecting their supreme leader to move there.

    "Your Majesty!"

    "Demon Emperor!"

    Both sides shouted at the same time as the atmosphere on the battlefield changed drastically with the arrival of this being.

    Standing a few hundred meters away from the Demon Emperor, Lothur saw the status of the strongest being in this world!

    [Demon Emperor]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 26]

    [STR: 62,000] [CON: 68,200]

    [DEX: 63,990] [AGI: 64,152]

    [INT: 21,028] [PER: 50,258]

    [WIL: 41,654] [SOU: 151,899]

    Seeing the strongest enemy he could find on the entire continent, Lothur became more serious, immediately reaching for the Darkness Scythe in his spatial ring while raising his spirits to the maximum.

    "Demon Emperor, I really didn''t expect to meet you so soon. I almost died because of you... So we have much to settle between us." Lothur said as he looked at that being with a provocative look.

    However, he couldn''t help but understand why this individual was considered so terrifying.

    His difference from a mere level 25 cultivator was immense!

    The strongest human on this battlefield currently had 85,000 points of Soul, which was incredible, but it couldn''tpare to the Demon Emperor''s position!

    Meanwhile, even Lothur couldn''t win this existence in terms of the Constitution.

    The Demon Emperor was at level 26, the 5th Catastrophe of the 5th stage, in both body and soul cultivation!

    ''What aplicated fellow.'' Lothur looked at the Demon Emperor silently but without fear. With all his qualitiesbined, he could fight this opponent for some time before leaving the area.

    "My chosen one, you also have an Immortal Crystal with you. Why don''t you give it to me? I''ll let you leave alive as long as you obey me." The Demon Emperor said, ignoring everyone else on the battlefield.

    "I was thinking something along those lines. Why don''t you give me your Immortal Crystal, Demon Emperor? I have some unfinished business with that damned Soul Worm." Lothur said without fear, knowing this was the crystal the creature had absorbed.

    ''No wonder he progressed his soul cultivation so quickly. With the help of the Soul Crystal and the Seven Singrities, he can do this even without the ability to absorb Soul Bones.'' Lothur pondered as he looked closely at his enemy.

    "If you don''t do this, I''m afraid I''ll kill all yourpanions on this battlefield." Lothur threatened.

    With the Space Crystal at his side and a Constitution almost as strong as the Demon Emperor''s, he could easily escape the area.

    "Is that so? So I want to see that power!" The Demon Emperor said as he moved, crossing the space between him and Lothur in a single instant as dark hands appeared in Lothur''s surroundings.

    Seeing the enemy move, Lothur wasn''t afraid and attacked as well.

    Storm!

 Chapter 870 Lost Battle

    <h4>Chapter 870 Lost Battle?</h4>

    By activating his Storm skill, Lothur immediately caused the air pressure above the city to change dizzyingly, creating winds of more than 2,000 kilometers per hour.

    Meanwhile, the ck clouds in the sky reached their maximum, bringing down rain so heavy that if it weren''t for the city''s defenses, it would have pierced the houses like mighty needles hurled at high speed.

    des of air and water formed on the city''s outskirts as Lothur flew at high speed to escape the Demon Emperor, concentrating on brutalizing the demons surrounding the city.

    Swooish!

    Several demons fell to Lothur''s movement without a chance to do anything, their bodies brutalized and losing their fighting condition.

    Even if they weren''t killed, they were so badly wounded that any Sage with the ability to kill demons would be able to deal with the first ones to fall.

    But Lothur had no intention of letting his nutrients fall to the ground without leaving EVF points behind.

    As he fled from the mighty Demon Emperor, he kept his bloodline ability active, using the red mist around him to drain the life force from his helpless victims.

    The Demon Emperor saw Lothur incapacitate more than 200 demons in a single moment but also escape their initial attacks, which was truly impressive.

    ''This is a really strong hybrid! I have to take him seriously, or he will be a formidable enemy.'' The ck-haired man thought as he flew faster and faster, causing dark skeletons to appear around him as he tried to get closer to Lothur.

    As he did so, and Lothur followed his n to diminish the enemy forces, the surrounding beings suffered the consequences of the two men''s movements.

    While the demons found it immensely difficult to move around the area or even suffered from the abilities Lothur used to brutalize them, the members of the coalition in the city suffered from the spiritual pressure in the area.

    Even though Lothur and the Demon Emperor weren''t targeting them, the people in this city, especially the protectors outside the local defensive barrier, were suffering from the pressure of the two''s movements and their remaining blows.

    As he acted, the Demon Emperor left a huge trail of death, creating more and more demonic skeletons capable of corrupting the ground they touched or the people around them.

    The Demon Emperor''s diabolical energy was so strong that one only had to stand close to him to be affected.

    "Shit! Stand firm!" One of the strongest Sages saw some of his men losing their minds and starting to attack their ownrades.

    "Damned Demon Emperor! Your power is too extreme!" A level 24 Sage shouted as he realized why this demon could unite the demons of Demon Ind and form his own state.

    With his special power, he could corrupt the weakest, turn enemies into temporary allies, and weaken his opponents from within the opposing forces.

    At the same time, the Demon Emperor could use powerful skeletons as his tools, bringing ancient beings back into the world and forcing them to act in his name.

    As he hunted Lothur in this area, he demonstrated some of these powers, bringing forth more and more powerful skeletons of level 24 and 25 creatures to join him against the hybrid.

    With increasingly more skeletal creatures chasing him, Lothur quickly lost space to maneuver.

    Even before he killed the demon number 401 there, he realized he would have to flee this ce withoutpleting his mission, or he would have trouble escapingter.

    [EVF: 19 -> 80,000.]

    Looking at the amount of points he had absorbed in this ce, Lothur regretted not being able to continue. ''If it weren''t for that bastard, I could get three times as many points.'' He thought, considering that after the enemy leader''s arrival, he had only been able to act against the weakest.

    Thinking it would be better for him to flee, he immediately put those points into his Constitution, which would make it faster for him to escape from this ce.

    [5,333 points added to CON at a cost of 79,995 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 60,800 -> 66,133.]

    ...

    [EVF: 80,000 -> 5.]

    As the skeletal creatures under the Demon Emperor''s control were about to reach Lothur''s body, his speed increased by nearly 10%.

    "We will meet the other day, Demon Emperor. Today, I give you this victory." Lothur said before disappearing from the area with the help of the Space Crystal.

    When the Demon Emperor realized he couldn''t catch up with his enemy, he was naturally furious, for for the first time, he had to watch his opponent flee.

    ''Wretch! He''s really good at running. I didn''t expect him to leave this city like that.'' The Demon Emperor made an ugly face when he realized Lothur was no ordinary person.

    Not being a member of the alliance and not caring about leaving a city with thousands of living beings who would surely die for the demons, Lothur turned out to be a much more formidable enemy than the demon had previously thought!

    The greatest weakness of the people and creatures of the continent was that they had to protect their own people, family, and so on. But Lothur didn''t care if thousands died to his right and millions to his left.

    He was willing to do almost anything to strengthen himself and reach the level that would allow him to achieve his goals.

    Sensing this, the Demon Emperor couldn''t help but worry.

    "Damn it! Lothur, mark my words. I will hunt you down wherever you are. I will kill you, you damned hybrid!" He shouted angrily, causing the spiritual energy in the area to tremble as the weakest in the area put their hands to their ears with that deafening scream.

    Meanwhile, the people of that city were trembling with fear as they saw themselves abandoned by the warrior who seemed to be going to save them just a few moments ago.

    However, the strongest experts left there didn''t me Lothur and even agreed with his move.

    ''Someone with so much potential must grow up before worrying about life on the continent. If he stayed here and fell to the Demon Emperor, that would be the real tragedy.'' One of the level 24 Sages over there thought to himself, willing to die to protect human territory but not ming Lothur.

    Someone had to act for the greater good of winning the war, even if it meant losing the battle!

    While some understood this and the surviving demons tried to control themselves in the face of the new situation, one of the level 25 men in the group defending this city looked in the direction where a space cloud was disappearing.

    ''Why did the hybrid take the elder Faas?'' This person wondered as he noticed that Lothur hadn''t left alone.

    ...

 Chapter 871 Extermination Plan

    Chapter 871 Extermination n

    While the strongest defenders of that surrounded city wondered what had happened to one of the strongest demon hunters there, Lothur arrived at his destination alongside a level 25 old man.

    Lothur let go of the level 25 Sage''s neck as he appeared on the top of a mountain thousands of miles from the city, floating in midair as he looked at the old man.

    From Lothur''s perspective, he could see 10 vibrant essences of spiritual energy in the body of this demon hunter from the Seraphim Church.

    Meanwhile, the old man looked around, not understanding what had just happened.

    But sensing Lothur''s powerful aura, this old man with more than 80,000 Soul points couldn''t focus on anything but the hybrid.

    "That... What happened? Why are we here? Why did the Senior bring me here?" He asked as he looked respectfully at Lothur.

    Even though this young hybrid was much younger than him and had been an enemy until recently, age didn''t determine seniority in Concordia. Power was all that mattered, and Lothur currently had much more power than this old man.

    Aware of this, the old man didn''t dare to rise to speak at the same level as Lothur but looked up as he waited for the answer from the probably second most powerful man in the world.

    Lothur pondered for a moment, seeing two Soul Bones in the old man''s body,patible with two of his women.

    ''If I take these bones and add them to the ones I already have, I''ll be able to help Reba, Elke, Annaliese, and Viktoria reach 90% of their Spirit Bodies.'' Lothur pondered, regretting that the old man''s Diamond-grade bone came from a part of the body he didn''t have room to assimte.

    Fortunately, Viktoria could absorb that bone!

    As for the other one, it was tinum grade, good enough for Lothur''s other women.

    Lothur then closed his eyes and said in a solemn tone. "Forget this city and everyone there. With the Demon Emperor, they will all die. Those who don''t die in battle will be devoured. As for their bones, they will be destroyed."

    The old man swallowed his saliva as he thought about the fate of all those living beings but also how much the coalition would lose from all of this.

    He became angry at the thought and shouted. "Senior, may I ask why you brought me along? I understand that someone of your stature must try to be stronger in order to defeat the Demon Emperor. But this old man here was willing to die fighting the demons! I didn''t want to be saved!"

    "I didn''t save you, old demon hunter." Lothur opened his eyes. "I saved your Soul Bones, which would have been destroyed if you had stayed behind."

    "Uh?" The old man opened his mouth, realizing what Lothur was really up to.

    "Old man, I''ll give you a chance. If you still want to fight the demons, I''ll turn you into a conscious spectre with almost as much soul power as you have now.

    However, I will take all your Soul Bones and your freedom. You will never be able to reincarnate, and you may be considered an enemy by your friends. But you will have the chance to continue fighting or even see the demons end." Lothur said as he drew his Darkness Scythe, raising his aura to prevent the old man before him from doing anything to harm him.

    Lothur had long held a grudge against the Seraphim Church, as well as some of the continent''s beast races, for the destruction of the precious Diamond-grade Soul Bone he had nearly absorbed months ago.

    He still wanted to receive equalpensation from the Seraphim Church. Yet, given the current situation on the continent, he hadn''t acted against that old man because of it.

    The Demon Emperor was too powerful. Not only that but from what Lothur had seen in the group that was about to attack the previous city, the enemy was getting stronger and stronger.

    Therefore, he wanted to help his women reach level 26 as soon as possible so that together, they could put an end to the demonic threat before it was toote.

    He said to the old man, seeing him turn as pale as a sheet of paper.

    "Old man, I will use your bones to create four 5th Catastrophe Sages. With them at my side, I can leave them in charge of Concordia while I personally go to Demon Ind to exterminate the enemy race.

    That will make me stronger, but it will also draw the Demon Emperor to me, which could ease the tension on the continent and help us win the war. But for all this, I need your bones."

    Lothur said, exining to the old man what was about to happen. "The choice I''ve given you is only to help you see the end of the demons or the end of mankind. One or the other will happen soon, so this is yourst chance.

    Either you will never have the chance to see the end of the demons because they will have been eliminated by the time you reincarnate, or there will be no humans to reincarnate because the demons will have won the war.

    Your only chance to witness the final confrontation between humans and demons is through the alternative I''ve presented to you. Either way, I will take your Soul Bones, so don''t get your hopes up."

    The old man''s trembling hands suddenly became firm while the look in his eyes changed.

    He didn''t want to give his bones to this hybrid. But after hearing Lothur''s motives, he couldn''t doubt the hybrid''s words or even his n.

    Lothur didn''t have to tell him any of it. But by doing so, he demonstrated his genuine interest in destroying the demons, which was the life goal of this old man, one of the strongest elders in the Seraphim Church.

    Then he said. "All right, let''s do what you suggest. I was going to die anyway. As for bing a spectre, given the current state of the Wheel of Reincarnation, that was a certainty.

    However, even if it didn''t, I would still choose that path a thousand times over if I had to. Better to be your spectre than miss the chance to see the end of the demon race!" His eyes lit up as he remembered things from more than 40,000 years ago when he had started his journey.

    "Hmm, you made the right decision, old man." Vicente moved his Darkness Scythe andnded a swift blow on the neck of this level 25 man.

    ...

 Chapter 872 At the Seraphim Church Headquarters

    Chapter 872 At the Seraphim Church Headquarters

    After striking the man''s neck, Lothur used his powers to activate the special ability of the Darkness Scythe along with his current abilities, such as ck mes and Miracle of Life.

    What he intended to do with the old demon hunter wasn''t exactly to create a new life, but through his special ability, he could transform the old man''s soul into something greater than a spectre.

    Even high-quality spectre, like those cast by Lothur, couldn''tpare to what this old man would be as a result of the young Ritter''s actions!

    The old demon hunter felt his soul leave his body amid Lothur''s high-level move, feeling no pain but feeling strange when he saw his mortally wounded body in front of him.

    ''This...''

    As he floated out of his body, glowing a blinding white, his body dposed under Lothur''s skill. It quickly ceased to exist, leaving only his 10 Soul Bones behind.

    ''Sigh... And the legends say that once you reach theplete Spirit Body, you be immortal. What a joke!'' Seeing how easily Lothur killed him, he couldn''t help but remember the ancient legends of Concordia.

    But the fully formed Spirit Body was only one of the requirements for attaining immortality, which didn''t invalidate that legend!

    In any case, immortality was no longer a possibility for this old expert of the Seraphim Church, who lost his body in less than a minute and saw his 10 Soul Bones enter Lothur''s spatial ring.

    When Lothur also ced the Darkness Scythe in his spatial ring, hepleted the transformation of this man, keeping him conscious and looking much the same as before.

    The big difference between the current version of this Church member and his previous version was that not only did he no longer have the powers of his bones, but his body now looked somewhat transparent. But beyond that, there weren''t many differences. His soul had only been weakened by 20%, and everything else was practically the same, from his sensations to his ability to think.

    But he was weaker and couldn''t go against Lothur''s orders, something he couldn''t escape after what had just happened.

    However, he already knew that this would happen, and when he felt ''ready,'' he couldn''t help but feel he had lost less than he had thought.

    "Thank you for sparing me, master. Do you have any orders for me?" He asked as he hovered in the air.

    "No. Do whatever you want, as long as it doesn''t interfere with my ns. Even though you''ve be a spectre, you can make physical attacks, and you have the physical strength in your being. Get to know yourself better and then go after your goals." He said as he turned his back on the creature, already channeling his energies into the Space Crystal.

    With four bonespatible with his women, it was time for him to check them out!

    So, before the old man could say anything, Lothur disappeared, leaving him on that peak.

    ...

    A few momentster, Lothur appeared a few miles from the headquarters of the Seraphim Church in Norid.

    Arriving at the ce where he had once thought he would onlye to attack that organization, Lothur smiled as he saw how much his situation had changed in the past few months.

    But he was in a hurry to find his women and quickly used his powerful aura to cover the entire city, finding their location in no time.

    ''I found you.'' He moved, crossing space and the many defenses of the Seraphim Church on his way, while the local experts trembled with fear at the thought that the Demon Emperor had just entered the city.

    "Shit! What''s going on?" Thought the level 25 Sage who had stayed behind to protect this city and the women of Lothur.

    But as this man moved in the same direction as Lothur, the four women in the seclusion of the Church''s main temple realized someone powerful was approaching them.

    ''That feeling...'' Viktoria opened her eyes as she sat in the lotus position, an exuberant smile forming on her beautiful face.

    "Lothur!" Annaliese shouted as she realized who it was a second before they saw a silver-haired young man appear where they were standing.

    "Lothur!" All four of them shouted at the same time as they saw and felt the presence of their man again, now many times stronger than thest time they had seen him a few months ago.

    Back then, they had been separated because of that level 24 demon who was stronger than Lothur.

    But if they saw this Sage of the demon race again, these women were certain that Lothur could crush him without moving a finger!

    They rushed to his side and hugged him, happy to see him again after so many worries.

    Meanwhile, the level 25 Sage of the Church appeared in the ce where Lothur''s women were, along with other members of his Church.

    "This..." One of the level 24 people who had moved with this level 25 elder found it strange how Lothur and his women were embracing each other.

    A moment ago, they thought they were fighting to the death against the powerful invader of their headquarters. But then, all their thoughts were overturned by the reaction of this group of women.

    "You..." The level 25 man realized who Lothur was, not imagining that a hybrid would enter this headquarters of his own free will.

    But he would never dare to act against this powerful being that could already bepared to the Demon Emperor.

    Lothur turned his attention away from his women and looked at this man. ''It''s a pity that this Diamond-grade soul bone doesn''t fit any of us...'' Hemented.

    If it didn''t, he would kill that man just like he killed the other level 25 sage of the Church.

    Lothur then said. "My old enemies, don''t worry about my passing through your headquarters. I''m only here to deliver something to my wives."

    As he said this, Lothur revealed to his women the four Soul Bones, two of which hade from that 4th Sage of the Church.

    When they saw this, the four women were astonished, not expecting Lothur to bring their next bones so quickly.

    On the other hand, the Church members looked at two of those bones and quickly realized their origin.

    "This Diamond-grade bone..." The level 25 Sage made a horrible face.

    Lothur then announced. "Earlier, the Demon Emperor appeared in a city surrounded by demons. The former owner of two of these bones was there when I arrived..." He sighed, withholding some details but not lying. "Fortunately, I was able to save his Soul Bones."

    "What?"

 Chapter 873 5th Catastrophe

    Chapter 873 5th Catastrophe

    Given Lothur''s speed of movement, he had reached this ce before the news of the Demon Emperor appeared on the continent.

    He had moved from the city between Rablus and the Petha Empire and then from that ce to Norid in a matter of minutes. Lothur had moved so quickly that the demons led by the Demon Emperor were still operating in the city at that very moment.

    Meanwhile, although some of the continental alliance posts were aware of the confrontation there, most of the continent had no idea that the Demon Emperor had appeared and fought against Lothur.

    Such was the case with this major outpost of the Seraphim Church, where the people didn''t even know about the attack in their city.

    They knew that at least five cities across the continent were under attack. But it would be some time before they had detailed information about each city.

    When they heard Lothur''s information, those who had stayed behind at the Church''s headquarters were stunned, not believing that the most powerful enemy had finally moved.

    "This... Is this really serious?" One of the men asked.

    "Hmm, the damned Demon Emperor is powerful. Unfortunately, I couldn''t fight him directly, so I ran away with the Soul Bones of the elder. As for the others, I''m afraid they''re lost." Lothur sighed.

    "So that''s it."

    "I didn''t expect the Demon Emperor to act so soon. The war has barely begun!"

    "That''s terrible! He killed a 4th Catastrophe elder!"

    Some of these Sagesmented in a negative mood, while the women of Lothur were worried about everything.

    "Even you can''t fight him?" Elke asked in amazement.

    Lothur was already so strong. How could there be anyone more challenging than him? This was absurd! Such a monster shouldn''t exist!

    But that was the reality. "This is how it is. But it won''t always be like this. With you by my side, I''ll be able to strengthen myself by going to Demon Ind and destroying the enemy base."

    Hearing the serious tone but also seeing the determined look on Lothur''s face, his women saw that this was the decisive moment for them to act against their enemies!

    Viktoria tightened her fingers around the Diamond-grade Soul Bone that was onlypatible with her and said. "Let''s raise our level immediately. After we reach 90% of our Spirit Bodies, we''ll be able to act against the Demon Emperor!"

    Hearing this, the three women also picked up their new bones, determined to take advantage of the opportunity Lothur had given them to increase their strength a little more.

    Seeing his women determined to absorb their bones in thisrge cultivation area, Lothur clenched his fists and felt he could leave for Demon Ind before the Demon Emperor returned from his passage through Concordia.

    But given the action in the previous city, Lothur imagined that the Demon Emperor intended to spend some time on the maind.

    ''He probably thinks of causing a great massacre to strengthen his group before I be stronger.'' Lothur understood the Demon Emperor''s ns perfectly.

    While he thought about it and his women began to absorb their new bones, the Church Sages had conflicting feelings in their beings.

    On the one hand, it was a shame that one of their strongest elders had fallen, but it was great to know that his Soul Bones had been collected and would help their human allies be stronger. But they also felt strange about relying on a hybrid while the Demon Emperor was beginning to raise the bar for his actions.

    ''That really is the end of times...'' The strongest man there closed his eyes as he sat down on the ground.

    "Elder..."

    "Let''s wait for the end of the absorption of thedies'' soul bones. Depending on how strong they get and Lothur Ritter''s ns, we might try something against the demons.

    But we won''t act until we know their ns. For now, we must concentrate our forces on ns that won''t hinder the actions of our allies." He said as he thought of Lothur in this way, knowing that nothing more could be done with the young Ritter and that this person was needed.

    In this generation, the continent''s strongest were not as united as they had been in thest great war when the Demon Emperor had fallen. At the same time, the current level 25 Sages were not as strong as those of the past.

    Back then, each of the level 25 Sages who had faced the Demon Emperor had either weapons with magnificent gems or bodies with Immortal Crystals.

    Currently, only three level 25 Sages in the coalition had such resources, while the others had neither weapons nor Immortal Crystals.

    Knowing this, the man wanted to wait and see how strong these women would be and what Lothur had in mind before taking action against the demons.

    He wanted to leave and take his revenge, but he wasn''t foolish enough to think that he could do it alone or better than alongside these women.

    Hearing the words of the strongest remaining elder, the other elders of the Church also sat down to wait and watched as Elke, Annaliese, Reba, and Viktoria absorbed their new bones.

    Given the quality of their bodies and their current strength, as well as the status of their Spirit Bodies, it wouldn''t take Reba, Elke, and Annaliese much longer than 5 minutes to go through the entire absorption process.

    A tinum-grade Soul Bone wouldn''t take them any longer than that at this point.

    However, a Diamond-grade Soul Bone waspletely different. Viktoria was only at the beginning of her absorption when her three harem sisters had already increased their soul and body cultivation levels.

    When the three of them finished, Lothur saw their new status while the elders of the Church looked on with astonishment and hope.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 26]

    [STR: 74,078] [CON: 103,224]

    [DEX: 84,932] [AGI: 85,675]

    [INT: 13,662] [PER: 17,677]

    [WIL: 48,513] [SOU: 106,016]

    ...

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 26]

    [STR: 64,400] [CON: 79,120]

    [DEX: 64,860] [AGI: 65,320]

    [INT: 18,528] [PER: 14,986]

    [WIL: 44,408] [SOU: 60,715]

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: 26]

    [Body Cultivation: 26]

    [STR: 74,930] [CON: 90,449]

    [DEX: 74,529] [AGI: 74,096]

    [INT: 7,207] [PER: 13,849]

    [WIL: 46,200] [SOU: 71,141]

    They all reached the 5th Catastrophe of the Sage stage, reaching the legendary level 26 reached ''only'' by the Demon Emperor in the known history of Concordia!

    That was shocking but also hopeful!

    However, those people looking at the three of them with wide eyes would soon be more shocked when they sensed Viktoria''s progress to the peak of the 5th stage!

 Chapter 874 Nearing the End

    <h4>Chapter 874 Nearing the End?</h4>

    Even though it took her much longer than her harem sisters, Victoria would soon reach thepletion of the absorption of her 9th Soul Bone, advancing from level 25 to level 26 in both soul and body cultivation!

    As she opened her eyes and stood up from where she had been, everyone in therge training area turned their attention to her, seeing one of the strongest human beings that had ever appeared in this world.

    Lothur smiled at his wife as he looked at her impressive status, which had several attributes superior to that of the Demon Emperor.

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 26]

    [STR: 95,040] [CON: 106,656]

    [DEX: 94,336] [AGI: 96,800]

    [INT: 38,616] [PER: 26,928]

    [WIL: 96,393] [SOU: 95,412]

    ''She totally beats him in physical attributes.'' Lothur smiled, pleased with his wife''s progress, as he imagined that with her current strength, she could handle him very well.

    Even if she had to face the Demon Emperor, Viktoria would hardly fall to him!

    As for the other three women, Lothur also feltfortable with their situation. Although they probably couldn''t fight at the same level as Viktoria, they would certainly be able to find ways to escape from the enemy.

    As long as they had each other''s help, they could roam this continent freely!

    ''Very good! Very good indeed!'' Lothur clenched his fists, imagining that in the future, all his women would advance to level 27 with him.

    With 9 Soul Bones each, they could absorb one new bone each, guaranteeing further advancement in their physical and spiritual powers.

    Then he said with a smile. "Alright, now that you''ve all reached the Demon Emperor level, it''s time to fight the damned demons!

    They''ve been acting pretty boldtely, so let''s show them who''s really going to win this war!"

    The Sages of the church were encouraged to hear this, seeing in these women and in Lothur the victory of the continent over the demons.

    ''They are even stronger than the high-level Sages we had in thest battle against the Demon Emperor...'' The level 25 man felt his hopes return as he looked at these 4.

    The power configuration of the continent would certainly change in the future because of these 5 beings, which was something to worry about in the future, considering that Lothur was a hybrid that could be even worse than the Demon Emperor. But right now, all that mattered was the current war.

    At the same time, these beings had already reached levels where only they and their enemies could interfere. So this level 25 man put aside the problems they might have in the future to ask.

    "How are we going to do this?"

    Lothur replied as he looked at his women. "Reba, I want you to go with Viktoria. You two should stay in the northern region and help the continental coalition protect this part of Concordia. Since this area is the strongest on the continent, the demons will try to decimate more cities from here.

    As for you, Elke and Annaliese, I want you to move to the southern region to protect that vital part of the continent. The Ritter Motor Company and Leopoldine are critical in the war right now. They cannot be destroyed by the enemy. Therefore, I want you to stay close to protect our interests in the southern region."

    He looked at the Church elders and said. "You can act as you wish. If you want my opinion, stay in the northern region with Victoria and Reba. In my opinion, there will be more enemy attacks here. Meanwhile, send the people you want to protect to Linn Province in Leopoldine. It will be the safest ce in the world until the war is over."

    These people looked at each other and felt what Lothur had just said was true.

    At the same time, with Elke and Annaliese around, it would be very difficult for the demonic ns to seed in such an area.

    Lothur sighed and said. "As for me, I''m going to Demon Ind after saying goodbye to you. That ce is still home to demons, and there must be hundreds of thousands of demonic creatures there.

    I''ll do the world a favor by destroying them and, if I''m lucky, luring the Demon Emperor there.

    If he moves to Demon Ind, that will be the time for you to counterattack the demons on the maind and win the war!"

    The women of Lothur and the Sages agreed, looking at each other as they felt this would lead them either to victory or to the end. Either way, the end of all this was near!

    With that decided and everyone there ready to do what they had to do, they soon said their goodbyes.

    Lothur and his women wanted to be together. But the continent was going through a veryplicated situation. Not only that, but this was a great moment for them to finally reach the level they had wanted to reach ever since they came together.

    The peace Lothur so desperately wanted was within his grasp. As long as he took one more step in his cultivation, he would be strong enough to face thest opponent in his path and finally have a chance to live in peace.

    Confident that they would reach this dream point, the fivepanions did not want to waste any time at this crucial moment in their lives. Thinking that they would soon be able to live side by side for thousands of years, they decided to spend time together when all their problems were solved.

    So, in the blink of an eye, they separated again, with Viktoria and Reba going to Rablus while Elke and Annaliese went to Leopoldine.

    Lothur once again used the Space Crystal to travel from Norid''s capital to Ashen, from where he nned to go to Demon Ind!

    ...

    Appearing on the coast of Ashen, further west in that state, near the border with Thasan, Lothur took his time to figure out exactly where he was.

    The Space Crystal was excellent, but it could cause problems if the user weren''t careful.

    Since Lothur had never been to this ce before, nor to his destination, he immediately took precautions, hiding his aura and trying to better understand his surroundings.

    As he did so,bining his current sensations with his knowledge and the information he had received from Fabienne, he looked to the southwest and saw arge, seemingly endless greenish sea in front of him.

    ''Demon Ind is in that direction!''

    At this thought, he didn''t hesitate to fly in that direction, leaving Concordia to fly at high speed towards the ind where no living being on the continent had ever set foot.

    But with Fabienne''s information, Lothur knew precisely where he was going and how to get there!

    In the next few minutes, he would be the first Concordia native to set foot on such a ce!

 Chapter 875 In Enemy Territory

    <h4>Chapter 875 In Enemy Territory?</h4>

    Upon arriving on Demon Ind, Lothur immediately understood just how big the Demon Emperor was.

    Demon Ind was no small ce. With an arearger than Linn Province, it had more than 3 million inhabitants, far more than the less than 2 million living beings in his province.

    But in this ce, everyone was controlled by the Demon Emperor''s government instead of being divided into different groups like in Linn Province.

    In Linn Province, there were several cities, towns, and agricultural areas where different groups lived under different rules and customs. But just as there were people who could be rivals, enemies, or friends, there were also beasts in the forest areas who followed no one''sws but their own.

    But even though Demon Ind had arger poption than Linn Province, all of its people were members of a single force and had the same goal.

    To bring the Demon Emperor back to the world and to achieve supremacy in spiritual cultivation.

    To this end, they were united under the same government. The entire ind served as a gigantic demon headquarters, where the youngest and oldest lived and provided a base for their warriors who were active on the maind.

    Upon arriving in the area, Lothur realized all of this by using his One With Nature ability and noticed how organized and developed the enemy territory was.

    Before the rise of the Demon Emperor in the past, this ind was very different. The factions there were much more scattered and unaffiliated, worse than what existed in Linn Province before Lothur.

    At that time, demons lived as primitive beings, and few of this race were as relevant as many of the human spiritual professionals in Concordia.

    Many people weren''t particrly strong in Concordia but were very influential because of their ability to create formations, pills, poisons, and so on. But in the distant past, Demon Ind had no such thing, and only warrior-type demons flourished.

    But with the rise of the Demon Emperor, everything had changed. The ind had be a unified force, and many demons who would have been irrelevant in the past had a chance to develop into demonic spiritual professionals and help the ind''s purpose.

    Because of all this, the demons of this generation were much more challenging than those of the past, as they were much more numerous in terms of specialists.

    Lothur could easily see this by looking at the demonic forces in the area right now.

    As much as the strongest demons were now in Concordia, hunting humans and fighting the war, there were more than 2.6 million demons in this area working for the future of the tribe.

    Of these, the vast majority were demons of low purity, limited to the first two cultivation levels.

    But there were more than 100,000 Transcendent demons on Demon Ind, as well as 15,000 Saints and 200 Sages at that very moment.

    Of those Sages, 10 were at level 25, which was impressive, as the entire continent had fewer than 20 Sages at that level before the war began. However, these were only the demons left behind to take care of Demon Ind while the strongest fought in Concordia!

    ''It seems they did their job very well while the forces on the maind ignored them.'' Lothur thought as he got to know the enemy territory.

    That was a big ce, so he couldn''t just massacre the whole ind at once.

    With his skills, he even had methods to throw the whole ind into chaos, but his goal wasn''t to kill the creatures on this ind that way. His goal was to absorb EVF points so that he could reach a soul power simr to that of the Demon Emperor or even reach his 10th Soul Bone.

    Lothur wanted hisst Soul Bone to be Diamond-grade. However, under the current circumstances on the continent, there was no guarantee that he would be able to obtain such a thing.

    The only Diamond-grade Soul Bones were those of high-level demon hunters. But even if Lothur could track them down, there was no guarantee he would be able to reach someone with the bone he needed.

    So far, there had only been two people with bonespatible with his Spirit Body. But Lothur had been unconscious for months, and he didn''t know the situation of these two Sages. At the same time, he had added a new bone to his being, and only one of those men could help him.

    If this man had already died and demons had destroyed his bones, then there were no bones of this quality left for Lothur!

    Aware that he might not get his Diamond-grade Soul Bone, Lothur wanted to find tinum-grade bones that would bepatible with him so that he would have a reserve in case he didn''t get what he wanted.

    Even though he could destroy arge portion of the ind''s forces with his abilities, he wouldn''t do it because the right way to achieve his goals had its limits.

    Thinking about where to use his bloodline ability first, Lothur looked at a demon city where he could feel some powerful auras but also arge number of demons.

    ''There are about 200,000 demons in this ce. Even though most of them have a constitution of less than 30 points, their number could give me a great result.''

    With this in mind, Lothur ignored other ces on Demon Ind where there were groups of stronger demonic beings, thinking first of the EVF points he would consume.

    ''After I''ve taken care of this city, I''ll go after the strongest demons on this ind.'' He decided, and in the blink of an eye, he crossed space toward the city, a few dozen kilometers from where he was standing.

    Given his speed, Lothur arrived at his destination a few moments after better understanding the enemy territory, appearing over this city of 200,000 beings while smiling in satisfaction.

    This city had solid defenses that would make an invasion impossible for ordinary Sages. But Lothur was a formations master with a soul of over 100,000 points!

    There was no way these demonic formations would stand in his way!

    When he moved, the enemy defenses stopped working but without alerting the local forces.

    Then, by breaking through a hole in the enemy''s defenses, he would enter the ''protected'' area of that city, where he would unhesitatingly activate his bloodline ability right after turning those defenses into the enemy''s worst nightmare.

    Instead of protecting them, those barriers would prevent them from escaping the massacre that was about to take ce!

    "Demons, be part of my powers!" Lothur said as he formed a demonic giant of red smoke while spreading his ability throughout the city, making thousands of creatures there realize the desperate situation they were in.

 Chapter 876 Massacre on Demon Island

    <h4>Chapter 876 Massacre on Demon Ind?</h4>

    As soon as Lothur moved against this city of 200,000 inhabitants, desperate cries could be heard on the outskirts of the built-up area.

    As the first dozen or so of Lothur''s opponents died, the first to realize that a massacre was forming began running or flying toward the exit of the city.

    The strongest of the locals left their ces of rest and meditation and appeared at the top of the city, seeing the terrible hybrid attacking the heart of their territory.

    When they realized the strength of Lothur''s soul, these Sages trembled, for such a person was almost as strong as the Demon Emperor, the being who had conquered this entire area in the past.

    "Shit! We''re dead!" One of themmented as the others watched the city being destroyed by Lothur while many demons tried desperately to flee.

    But none of these experts needed to be seers to understand what was about to happen. The moment they saw the barrier altered by Lothur, they all understood that they were trapped there with the worst enemy they could face.

    Even so, some of them watched as the many lesser demons began to attack the sides of their city''s great defensive barrier, trying to clear a path for their escape.

    Seeing this, the strongest Sage activated a warning device, something that all leaders of cities like this carried in case something serious happened.

    After that, he moved his energies and said. "Glory to the Demon Empire, long live the Demon Emperor!"

    Nothing more needed to be said. Facing this terrible enemy, they would all die whether they wanted to or not. The only thing left for them to do was to resist the enemy as long as they could by fighting back, fighting like proud demons.

    As for rescue or reinforcements, there was no reason for them to have any hope. Some groups from Demon Ind would definitelye to them, but that would only cause others on the ind to witness the massacre that was about to take ce.

    Only the Demon Emperor could do anything to stop what Lothur had started, but since he was too far away from the ind, he would never reach the city in time.

    Knowing that they would die, the demons shouted the name of their state and leader as they flew to their deaths.

    Meanwhile, the number of Lothur''s victims in this city grew from the dozens to the thousands within a minute.

    At the beginning of the massacre, no one was able to stand up to him, no one was able to escape, and no one was able to threaten the barrier around the city.

    Meanwhile, reinforcements from various parts of the ind had arrived at the city''s outskirts because of the warning.

    The ind wasn''t huge. Besides, there were Sages standing by, people who could cross space and get from one side of the area to the other quickly.

    A little more than a minute after the distress call, the demons avable to help appeared around the city, seeing the situation that had prompted the call moments before.

    "That..."

    "That''s the damned Lothur Ritter!" One of the newly arrived Sages shouted, shocked to see the young hybrid in the heart of their territory.

    As they watched Lothur kill more and more demons and generate more and more Soul Bones, these neers felt angry as they trembled with rage.

    Unfortunately, even they couldn''t challenge that barrier, and even if they could, they wouldn''t be able to fight Lothur.

    They could all sense how powerful their enemy had be. With no limits to his bloodline abilities, Lothur was the nemesis of the demons!

    "What are we going to do?" Someone asked when they saw the 10,000th Soul Bone forming near Lothur as this young man moved through the city, killing more and more.

    "Let''s run. If we stay here, he''ll kill us as soon as he finishes eliminating ourpanions in this city." Suggested a level 23 demon.

    "Yes, we can''t do anything against him. But judging from his position, he won''t stop. Once he''s finished here, he''ll attack the rest of the ind. So we should leave our territory and head for the maind!"

    "What? That''s impossible! How are we supposed to move so many of us so fast?"

    "We don''t. Only those above the 4th stage can escape. The rest of our realm..." The demon slurred his words before adding. "It''s a pity, but our race will have to greatly reduce its numbers."

    Everyone was silent for a moment, but there was no disagreement with the proposal. While it was possible for those above the 4th stage to escape and join the demonic forces in Concordia, it would be impossible to help those below the 4th stage.

    Lothur was in the area and would surely kill as many opponents as he could. If they stayed behind to try to protect their domains or therge poption of their state, they stood a great chance of dying!

    "We will do this while His Majesty moves here to deal with Lothur Ritter. Once that happens, we''ll join His Majesty in destroying that damned hybrid." Said the strongest man before they all agreed and left the ce without further ado.

    It was time for them to flee!

    Lothur had seen all of this outside the city''s defenses and didn''t need to hear the enemy''s words to understand their ns.

    ''Run while you still can. Unfortunately, it''s impossible to get everyone off this ind in time. Meanwhile, I care more about quantity than quality.'' Lothurughed as he felt his EVF points pass the 100,000 mark.

    At the rate he was going, it would only be a matter of minutes before he wiped out this entire demon city.

    But before that, he could feel some of his characteristics reaching their peak!

    [tinum-grade poison resistance.]

    [Progress: 96% -> 99%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade me resistance.]

    [Progress: 94% -> 97%]

    ...

    [tinum-grade frost resistance.]

    [Progress: 93% -> 98%]

    ...

    [tinum grade wood resistance.]

    [Progress: 92% -> 95%]

    ...

    [tinum grade lightning resistance.]

    [Progress: 93% -> 96%]

    ...

    [General Demon Skull Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 88% -> 91%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Fib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 81% -> 86%]

    ...

    [General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 83% -> 87%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Femur Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 85% -> 89%]

    ...

    [General Demon Humerus Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 84% -> 88%]

    ...

    [Monarch Demon Tibia Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 88% -> 91%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Pate Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 89% -> 92%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Radio Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 73% -> 77%]

    ...

    [Emperor Demon Metacarpal Soul Bone] [Rank: tinum]

    [Progress: 64% -> 72%]

 Chapter 877 5th Catastrophe

    Chapter 877 5th Catastrophe

    [EVF: 5 -> 755,256]

    Lothur saw his EVF points reach the highest they had ever been, feeling the benefits of killing so many opponents with his bloodline ability.

    Unfortunately, most of this city''s demons had no remarkable powers. Many of them were only 1st stage beings with very low Constitutions.

    But even so, whenbined into one value, those beings in this city had an absurd amount of EVF points to give to Lothur, which was why he had allowed the Sages outside this ce to witness his action and then fled.

    What mattered most to him now that he was on Demon Ind was not the strongest of the race but the number of weak opponents who could provide him with EVF points.

    When Lothur saw the amount of points at his disposal, he didn''t hesitate to turn them into Soul points.

    [35,000 points added to SOU at a cost of 700,000 EVF.]

    ...

    [SOU: 108,600 -> 143,600]

    ...

    [EVF: 755,256 -> 55,256]

    ...

    [3,683 points added to CON at the cost of 55,245 EVF.]

    ...

    [CON: 66,133 -> 69,816]

    ...

    [EVF: 55,256 -> 11]

    ...

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 25 -> 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 25]

    [STR: 12,508] [CON: 69,816]

    [DEX: 14,706] [AGI: 15,805]

    [INT: 2,577] [PER: 13,047]

    [WIL: 5,850] [SOU: 143,600]

    [EVF: 11]

    At that moment, Lothur felt his body''s energy reach an unparalleled level, causing him to feel everything in him change.

    There was no qualitative change in this part of the cultivator''s journey��however, the higher one''s energy level, the greater one''s capabilities.

    With more energy from a stronger soul, one would have better control over one''s abilities, one''s senses would be stronger, or rather, could be used closer to their maximum, and so on.

    Having made such a significant improvement so quickly, Lothur breathed in the air around him as if perceiving the space from a different perspective.

    ''It really feels good to be getting stronger.'' He thought as he saw thest Soul Bones forming in this ce.

    Of the 200,000 bones there, he quickly categorized them into two types. Those that could generate abilities and those that would simply give advancements to those who absorbed them.

    Normally, a Soul Bone could either generate an ability with a bonus to attributes or just arge bonus to attributes. Thetter''s chances were lower, and usually, only low-quality bones formed such resources.

    Considering therge number of enemies he had just killed, Lothur had received a few thousand bones that wouldn''t form part of a cultivator''s Spirit Body.

    However, most of them would, which he kept in his spatial ring without leaving a single one since bones capable of forming abilities were much more important to cultivators.

    What could be better than an item that gave you a skill that grew with you? As nice as an attribute bonus was, it alone was not preferable to a skill that could be improved.

    ''I will save some of these bones without abilities.'' Lothur remembered what had happened with the previous fusion.

    As for why he hadn''t even considered using those bones on himself to increase his attributes, it was because they had little potential to help him.

    A Soul Bone didn''t give x% bonuses to people who absorbed it. It gave a fixed amount of bonus to physical and mental attributes, which Lothur normally saw as y% through the system. But the system only gave him that information based on his level.

    So when he saw that a bronze-grade Soul Bone could give a 10% to 20% bonus, it referred to an early 2nd-stage cultivation base. If a Sage absorbed the same bone, it wouldn''t even give a 0.1% bonus!

    It means that such bones that can produce good bonuses would be interesting to be absorbed by people of a cultivation level simr to the quality of those bones.

    If someone like Lothur were to absorb them, he would have to consume about 20,000 of those bones just to get a 10-20% improvement!

    From his point of view, that would be a waste, especially considering that with his skill, he could benefit much more from hunting demons.

    As for those bones, he could use them to make powerful bombs or even leave them for future generations to benefit from their characteristics.

    With that, he left nothing behind and soon finished decimating the city''s poption, leaving the area protected by the local defensive formations.

    He used his abilities to see what was happening on Demon Ind and noticed that several of the Sages and Saints who had been in the area earlier had disappeared from the ind.

    However, there were still thousands of Transcendents on the ind, and of course, there were many 1st and 2nd stage demonic creatures.

    Then, he headed to thergest collection of demons left in this state, where more than 90,000 lower-level creatures were gathered.

    As he moved on to his next target, Lothur realized he wouldn''t be able to eliminate all the demons on this ind so quickly. While he had been working in the previous city, demons from all over the state had begun to move.

    ''It looks like they''re splitting up into smaller groups to buy themselves more time.'' Lothur thought to himself, imagining the demons around this ind were splitting into smaller groups to buy time for the Demon Emperor to move.

    ''So be it. If he dares toe at me now, I''ll rip his head off!'' Lothur didn''t mind, as he felt that as he was now, he was no longer in danger, and his victory over the Demon Emperor woulde sooner orter.

    However, before moving on to the next opponent in his path, Lothur didn''t hesitate to use his Storm skill to cover the area around Demon Ind with powerful storms.

    From that point on, if anyone wanted to enter or leave the area, they would have to face a storm that could kill even level 25 Sages!

    Given the power of that storm, only the Demon Emperor could cross it without risking anything!

    And it wouldn''t be long before Lothur attacked his next target, and the Demon Emperor found out what was happening in hisnds!

 Chapter 878 Situation in Concordia (1)

    Chapter 878 Situation in Concordia (1)

    When the Demon Emperor learned of Lothur''s actions a few hours after the young Ritter''s arrival on Demon Ind, he was furious but also quite concerned.

    Lothur''s power was extraordinary. His ability to grow in a short period by absorbing the powers of other beings far exceeded the characteristics of demons.

    If Lothur wasn''t stopped, he would eventually be unstoppable and the strongest in the world!

    With this in mind, when the Demon Emperor heard the news from Demon Ind, he immediately abandoned his current ns in Concordia and began his journey back to his domain.

    Meanwhile, his generals stayed behind to ravage the continent and carry out the demons'' n.

    With Lothur ughtering Demon Ind, it was time for the demons to ughter Concordia!

    ...

    Almost immediately after the Demon Emperor left Concordia, his groups began moving around the continent to kill as many living beings as they could.

    With a greater number of Sages and Saints than local forces, they divided up around the continent to begin the great massacre and raise the level of the war to the decisive moment of confrontation.

    The human and animal sides of the continent did not expect to be attacked by the demons at this stage of the war. As soon as the demonic beings began to act, several experts were taken by surprise.

    However, despite the sudden intensification of the war, the continent was notpletely unprepared.

    With the presence of Elke, Reba, Viktoria, Annaliese, and even Mabel, there were more specialists on the continent capable of facing the demons than the creatures thought.

    Unaware of Lothur''s preparations before leaving for Demon Ind, the demons around Concordia were in the dark about their most formidable enemies.

    There was also Blood and Smoke and the members of the Ritter family in Linn Province, not to mention themunication advantages of that family, who were currently spying on more than 6 states on the continent.

    Right at the beginning of this decisive moment for the continent, some groups of demons would realize that carrying out their ns would be more difficult than they thought!

    ...

    South of Concordia...

    A group of demons were now sweating on the outskirts of a major city, having just begun their attack on this metropolis. Still, they were soon surprised by level 25 opponents they hadn''t expected to find there.

    Not only were there people at that level of cultivation, but a cat capable of devouring souls was there to defend the city. It had already killed more than a dozen demons in the first few moments of the confrontation.

    "Shit! Where did these expertse from?" A level 25 demon asked as he looked at Elke and Smoke, but also at some of House Ritter''s subordinates there.

    "This woman is faster than His Majesty! What should we do? Should we retreat?"

    "No. Let''s call for reinforcements for the group attacking Thasan."

    ...

    Meanwhile, in Thasan...

    The group of demons attacking thergest city in this state was being annihted at that very moment, suffering at the hands of several strange spectres and a red-furred cat.

    In addition to these spectres and the leader of the attack, a level 24 cat, many level 23 and 24 Sages who felt no pain and had ck mes in their eyes were there fighting.

    "ves of my creator, fight with everything you have! Kill these damned nuisances!" Blood shouted as she used her powers to devour the soul of a level 25 demon, the group leader who would attack the city.

    "Fuck you! You''ll pay for this, you bastards!"

    ...

    While the group that attacked Thasan''srgest city was being wiped out, Annaliese protected Leopoldine, using her spatial control skills to the maximum to travel between the cities of this state while wearing a Ritter Motor Companymunicator in her ear.

    Every few moments, she would receive information about the appearance of demons in the state and move to exterminate the most powerful enemies.

    Other high-ranking elders in Leopoldine received simr information. The Koch family directed them to the locations where demons were attacking.

    Because of the Koch family''s efficiency in Leopoldine, reinforcements could intervene and prevent the worst before the demons caused any casualties in that state.

    Meanwhile, Mabel was in Peters City, ready to protect her city if necessary.

    But so far, no demon had dared to attack the core of the Ritter Motor Company, and the various high-ranking Sages in the city were on guard, waiting for changes.

    But they wouldn''t stay that way forever!

    While guarding the city, a dozen level 24 Sages suddenly saw a group of level 25 demons emerge from a portal above the city.

    However, before they could even move, a distorted beam of light and energy suddenly crossed the city sky and attacked these creatures.

    One moment, the enemies had just arrived in the city and stared menacingly at the ce. The next moment, their bloody bodies fell from the sky.

    With over 150,000 Constitution points, Mabel was the fastest in the world. Before her enemies had a chance to do anything else in this city, she surprised them with a powerful attack.

    In just one second, she defeated all the level 25 demons!

    ...

    Meanwhile, in the north of the continent, things were more chaotic in that part of Concordia, where there were fewer people from Lothur''s group.

    The demons were wiping out some towns, but others were benefiting from Viktoria and Reba''s presence in the area.

    Reba was now alone protecting a city of over 200,000 people while the entire local poption watched as she protected them with a thickyer of poison around the city.

    To enter such a ce right now, one would have to face a 50-meter-thick barrier of poisonous gases that could even melt the bodies of those below level 22. But these gases could even kill beings up to level 24, and even people at level 25 would have problems if they inhaled such gases!

    That was the power of the Ancient Poison Body that gave Reba the ability to protect an entire city single-handedly!

    "Demons, you''re not so brave against me now, are you?" She asked as she grabbed a level 24 demon by the neck and watched the demon''s body turn purple in her hands as the power in that being decreased extremely.

    "Damned poisonous woman! I should have killed you when I had the chance!" One of the beings who had seen Reba in the demon jail earlier shouted angrily.

    Seeing this level 24 Sage in the distance, Reba threw the body of the enemy in her hands to the ground as if it were nothing and looked at the other person.

    "Now it''s your turn!"

    Just as the demon responsible for the fall of Lothur and the kidnapping of his women was about to run away, a purple hand suddenly appeared on his back,ing from a spatial distortion.

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 Chapter 879 Situation in Concordia (2)

    Chapter 879 Situation in Concordia (2)

    While Reba acted on her own to defend one of the region''s major cities, Viktoria was fighting high-level demons alongside a group of cultivators from the maind alliance.

    After receiving a distress call from the Seraphim Church headquarters a few moments ago, Viktoria and half a dozen high-ranking Sages had gone to Norid, where arge group of demons were operating.

    Norid was the headquarters of the Church, the home of the demon hunters. Since most of the demon hunters lived or had family in this state, it was one of the best ces to attack.

    If the demons could wipe out many demon hunters at once, they could quickly increase their chances of winning the war.

    Therefore, after the Demon Emperor left for Demon Ind, more than 15% of the demons on the continent moved to this area to destroy thend of their greatest enemies.

    When Viktoria arrived in this ce after being warned by themand center of the Church, she realized the extent of this demonic attack.

    Not only was the capital of Norid under attack, but A group of more than 100,000 demons were attacking the entire empire, causing tens of thousands of deaths in the first few minutes of the confrontation.

    Having noticed this as soon as she arrived in the capital, the most threatened city in the area, Viktoria took charge of the reinforcements there to deal with the demons.

    "Leave all the enemy Sages to me. I''ll deal with them while the rest of you deal with the Saints and protect the innocent poption." She said to the Sages who hade with her, using their freezing and spatial abilities to send ice stakes flying through the air toward the strongest enemies.

    Hermand was enough for everyone to understand their role in theing battle, and the neers followed her orders, hearing from other local Sages how they should act.

    Meanwhile, Viktoria flew around the city''s outskirts, constantly using her spatial maniption skills to reach the 5th-stage enemies.

    Showing off her innate skill, she caused a rain of ice stakes to form over the city. But while her attacks seemed to endanger the entire city at first, those attacks that were about to hit local forces or property in the city hit spatial distortions that sent them flying in different directions.

    That quickly created chaos in the skies of this great city, with huge ice poles falling over the city while others flew in strange directions due to Viktoria''s spatial maniption.

    Meanwhile, shebined her Soul Bone abilities with her speed to catch up with the strongest opponents, leaving the individuals attacking Norid''s capital with virtually no chance.

    Unfortunately, Victoria was only one person. She was powerful and could definitely protect this city from enemies. However, while she was acting in the capital of Norid, demonic forces were ravaging other cities throughout the empire.

    Not only that, but the enemy forces were acting all over the northern region, where there were other allies of the coalition acting on behalf of the continent, but they were not as efficient as her and her harem sisters.

    ...

    Meanwhile, the Ancestral Region faced a difficult time without the help of the women of Lothur.

    As the home of the Ancestral Folk, the most talented and threatening race to the demons, the Ancestral Region was being attacked with great force.

    There weren''t as many demons as in Norid, as there were far more humans in that state than special beings from the Ancestral Region. Even so, more than 40,000 demons were currently roaming this vastnd, seeking the blood of their enemies.

    The strongest of the sovereign race of thesends were already on the move, while the beings in the area were all hiding in their tribes.

    But even though they protected themselves as best they could, the beings in this area couldn''tpletely hide from their enemies. As the demons approached them, battles soon broke out among the local tribes.

    That was the case with the dinosaur tribe, which was being attacked by a group of over a thousand demons!

    "Damned demons! You''ll pay for this!" Cykad shouted as he ran through the surrounding area, back to this ce, to defend his racemates.

    Though he had had many problems with his tribe before, he had returned to this ce after saying goodbye to Lothur and now fought side by side with his elders and old friends.

    Having strengthened himself a bit with Lothur''s help, he was now one of the main defenders of his tribe!

    Seeing Cykad fighting two level 23 demons, one of the elders of the dinosaur tribe sighed deeply, feeling what a big mistake they had made.

    ''If we had listened to Cykad from the beginning, none of this would have happened.'' This Dinosaur thought to himself, regretting he had not only disbelieved Cykad but had also acted against this beast and his intentions.

    If the tribe had trusted Cykad, they could have helped Lothur and avoided the defeats this young man had suffered on his journey. They might even have prevented the Demon Emperor''s return and the tragedy unfolding in Concordia.

    Concordia was fighting the demons, but tens of millions of living beings on the continent had already perished in this war!

    But now, beings like that old beast could only regret and cope with the losses they had already suffered and would suffer in theing hours and days!

    ...

    Meanwhile, near Demon Ind...

    After returning to his territory, the Demon Emperor finally reached hisnd dozens of minutes after leaving the north of Concordia for this ce in the south of the world.

    He didn''t have the Space Crystal, so it had taken him much longer than the young Ritter to reach this ce. However, given his high level, he quickly traversed the entire continent and finally reached his destination.

    "Damn, you, Lothur Ritter! Today, I will kill you!" He muttered to himself as he watched the high-level storm generated by Lothur surrounding the ind.

    Meanwhile, the Sages who had left the ind more than two hours ago and those who had apanied the Demon Emperor stood near him, looking at his territory.

    They all had fearful expressions as they saw that only their leader could handle this storm.

    Then the Demon Emperor said. "Get ready. I''ll clear the way for us, and then we''ll enter our territory. We''ll kill the damned hybrid right away!"

 Chapter 880 Final Battle (1)

    <h4>Chapter 880 Final Battle (1)</h4>

    The moment the Demon Emperor''s party, led by this level 26 peak creature, began to invade Demon Ind, Lothur sensed the arrival of his opponents.

    Sensing that someone had destroyed some of the storms around this area, he stopped ughtering the demons to look in the direction the Demon Emperor wasing from.

    But unlikest time, Lothur was confident enough to face his enemy this time!

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 25]

    [STR: 13,508] [CON: 69,816]

    [DEX: 15,706] [AGI: 16,805]

    [INT: 2,577] [PER: 16,047]

    [WIL: 5,850] [SOU: 158,600]

    [EVF: 1]

    After improving his attributes a bit more because of the killing of a few dozen thousand more demons, Lothur had made qualitative progress in his resistances, reaching Diamond-grade regarding poison and ice.

    As a result, his Perception had improved dramatically in the past few hours, while several of his other affinities and even some of his Soul Bones were close to breakthroughs.

    When he saw the Demon Emperor, who had also strengthened a bit in the past few hours, Lothur was ready to fight the strongest creature in this world.

    [Demon Emperor]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 26]

    [STR: 62,000] [CON: 69,000]

    [DEX: 65,000] [AGI: 66,120]

    [INT: 21,028] [PER: 50,258]

    [WIL: 41,654] [SOU: 155,899]

    "I really underestimated you. I didn''t think I''d make such a big mistake at this point in my journey, but that''s also to your credit, Lothur Ritter." The Demon Emperor said as he saw the young Ritter in the distance while he and his level 25 tribemates flew to where the enemy was.

    Lothur heard it and smiled. "You''re not bad yourself. But I think your Soul Bone will soon be in my hands... There will be no chance for you toe back to life this time. I''ll erase your existencepletely."

    "You haven''t won yet, Lothur. You will have to kill us all." The enemy said, showing off hispanions, each with more than 70,000 Soul points.

    Lothur was alone, but he didn''t feel threatened. "You are formidable, but I am here to exterminate your race. Starting with you, I will kill almost all the demons in this world in the next few days and reach the highest level ever achieved in thesends!"

    "That is if you can defeat me and survive the one who helped you get here." The Demon Emperor said with a sinister smile. "Do you really think that guy will let you reach his level?"

    The Demon Emperor knew very well about the level 27 human, the system''s creator. How could he not use this existence to sow doubt in Lothur''s mind?

    He wasn''t sure if his enemy from the past would really act against Lothur in the future. Yet, considering the danger this young man could pose to that person''s position, nothing was impossible.

    So why not use something likely to happen to nt doubt in an opponent''s mind?

    "You are truly impressive, Demon Emperor. You are very strong and know when you''re at your weakest and need to use secondary strategies to reduce your disadvantage. I''m truly amazed at how good you are." Lothur said with a smile.

    "But today, I have to end your journey. Do you have anything to say before I kill you?" Lothur asked as he pointed the Darkness Scythe at the ck-haired individual.

    The demon emperor also smiled and said. "I will devour your body after I defeat you and then kill the wretch who trapped me in the Lost Tree.

    Lothur, do you think you can scare me? You''re lost on your own!"

    When he said this, the Demon Emperor used the Soul Crystal in his being, causing a spiritual pulse to start from his center and spread out in all directions for 20 kilometers.

    As he quickly established his domain, the Demon Emperor saw his men move to the area''s outskirts and said to Lothur. "You are truly unbeatable with your bloodline ability. But what can you do without it?"

    Lothur''s eyes narrowed when he heard it, and he immediately realized how well the power of the Soul Crystal blocked his special abilities.

    ''Tsk! No wonder I couldn''t use my bloodline freely before.'' Lothur felt that he couldn''t use his special power now, feeling the power of that Immortal Crystal in the hands of someone of the Demon Emperor''s level.

    "This is not the only ability I have. If you want to kill me, or rather, survive me, you''ll have to have much better moves than that!" Lothur''s eyes turned extremely red as he decided to move and begin the final battle against the demons.

    After this battle, there were only two possibilities for this world. One was a victory for the demons with the death of Lothur, which would make the Demon Emperor much stronger than he was today and diminish the chances of victory for the young Ritter''s wives. Or two, Lothur''s victory, which would lead to the end of the demon race in theing days or weeks.

    If Lothur were to win today, nothing would stand in his way. He would ughter the demons of this world and decide to whom the Soul Bones in his possession would go. In other words, he would be free to distribute power in the world as he saw fit.

    After this battle, there wasn''t much that could stop either side.

    Knowing that the victor''s path would be rtively easier after today, the two sides moved almost simultaneously to attack each other.

    The first to strike was Lothur, who shot aser beam with his eyes in the direction of one of the level 25 Sages that were in the formation around him.

    But given his speed, the young Ritter also physically attacked one of his weaker opponents as he moved, determined to make the Demon Emperor run a bit behind him.

    Since the enemy hadn''te to this battle alone, it meant that he thought he could win by using his numbers.

    Lothur then decided to eliminate his opponent''s numerical advantage by melting the body of the first Sage he saw before cutting the body of the second Demon he saw in half.

    Swooish!

    The Demon Emperor appeared behind Lothur just after the young man had killed the second of the level 25 peak beings in the area and let the darkness of his powers show as pieces of skeletons emerged from the ground and space around the young Ritter.

    Seeing his enemy''s movement, Lothur used his Gravity to push down on his hands and feet in an attempt to strike him while a transparent golden armor formed over his body.

    At the same time, a giant of orange mes formed beside him.

    Prometheus mes!

 Chapter 881 Final Battle (2)

    <h4>Chapter 881 Final Battle (2)</h4>

    Orange mes covered Lothur''s surroundings as if the air were a sea of mes of more than 20 cubic meters, causing the enemies to move further away from him while using their defenses.

    The first pieces of the Demon Emperor''s skeletons burned under Lothur''s power, while Gravity prevented them from moving.

    As the Demon Emperor felt Lothur''s power crush and burn some of his skeletons, he red at the young Ritter, realizing he had let this hybrid go too far.

    But fortunately, this demon''s opponent was not yet invincible.

    ''Damn, you. You''ve already reached the level where you can threaten me.'' The strongest demon in the world thought as hended dozens of meters away from Lothur, forming seals with his hands.

    Shifting his spiritual energy to his main ability, he increased the darkness around him, causing various spatial distortions to form around the area where Lothur had just massacred a city.

    As the darkness and mes spread, an army of skeletons began to appear in this area of Demon Ind, with hundreds of long-dead demonic beings rising up to fight.

    Sounds that frightened even powerful experts emanated from the surrounding area as the Demon Emperor''s men moved away from Lothur and their leader.

    The Demon Emperor''s power was so terrible that it didn''t distinguish between allies and enemies. It sought to corrupt everything and everyone and was even capable of destroying life in the soil it passed through, killing nts and microorganisms.

    This power was so negative that it could even make nting impossible in certain areas forever!

    For this reason, the high-ranking Sages who were there to fight Lothur moved cautiously, not only with the enemy''s movements but also with their leader''s.

    While fending off Lothur''s mes and their leader''s darkness, they also used their offensive skills,unching attacks in the direction of their target.

    Their goal was not to kill Lothur, for they had no chance of doing so. They wanted to distract the enemy long enough for their leader to deal a fatal blow.

    The Demon Emperor had the power to do that, which is why these men were actively moving and attacking Lothur, trying to limit the enemy''s room for maneuvering and drawing his attention to the movements of the strongest demon in the area.

    "This is an interesting power, Demon Emperor. But can it defeat me?" Lothur asked as he moved into the darkness of the skeletons closest to him, causing not only the strongest demon in the area to doubt his actions but also causing everyone there to pay attention to his unlikely move.

    While the Demon Emperor looked at Lothur doubtfully, bringing one of his hands close to the diabolical energy of a level 26 skeleton, Lothur smiled as he covered his dominant hand with a special energy.

    "Witness the power of dposition!" He said aloud as he finally touched the skull of the level 26 being.

    The Demon Emperor''s power was of the necromancer type. He could bring dead creatures back to the world with their bodies, giving them practically the same level of power as when they were alive.

    However, if the Demon Emperor wanted, he could make some of his overpowered corpses disy higher powers than those beings had before they died!

    Of course, he couldn''t increase the power of all of his skeletons, but some of his summoned ones could disy levels simr to his own!

    When the Demon Emperor and his men saw Lothur touch the head of this level 26 skeleton, they opened their mouths in shock and watched anxiously to see what would happen.

    Logic would say that the Demon Emperor''s special darkness should invade Lothur''s body, something that would make him squirm and even lose control of himself.

    Demons and hybrids had an affinity for darkness, but that didn''t mean they were immune to all darkness!

    Since the Demon Emperor was born with a special variation of the element, his darkness could be considered poison to all demons in the world, justifying Lothur''s downfall there.

    But nothing happened to the silver-haired young man when Lothur touched the skeleton shrouded in darkness.

    The next moment, the skeleton broke free from the Demon Emperor''s control before its bones and darkness were reduced to elemental particles invisible to the naked eye.

    "Impossible!" The Demon Emperor shouted in disbelief.

    "Is that so?" Lothurughed as he heard the sounds of several demons swallowing their saliva.

    An even more evil smile formed on Lothur''s face as he thought of something and moved over to where two level 25 skeletons were "trapped" under his orange mes.

    Fusion!

    He decided to test histest skill on the Demon Emperor''s power, curious to see the result.

    Not feeling threatened by the level of his opponents'' power, Lothur decided to act more freely with the dominant side, the one that would dictate the pace of the confrontation.

    The difference in their strengths was not great, but he had more skills in his favor to put himself in such a position of superiority!

    "Shit!"

    Feeling something strange in his spine, the Demon Emperor shouted. "Attack with everything! Don''t hesitate! n C! n C!"

    The demons had agreed on two ns when they came to this ce. One was n A, which their leader would handle alone against the enemy, and the other was n B, which they would follow before their leader''s call.

    But n C... They had never talked about it, which meant only one thing!

    ''Shit! We''re in trouble!'' One of the strongest men there thought to himself as he realized that not even their leader was confident, and it was time for them to go all out before they ran!

    They all circted their energies to the maximum and prepared their final attacks against Lothur.

    Meanwhile, the young Ritter felt forces forming around him that were threatening even to him, but hepleted the final stage of the fusion he was performing.

    This time, his fusion didn''t fail, and soon, the golden, semi-transparent cauldron before him glowed brightly with the formation of an entirely new creature.

    Just as the enemy attacks were about to hit him, Lothur saw the result of his fusion!

 Chapter 882 Final Battle (3)

    Chapter 882 Final Battle (3)

    Boom!

    Boom!

    Several explosions erupted on the outskirts of Lothur as the enemy attacks hit its defenses.

    As the enemies attacked with all their might, they saw arge plume of smoke forming around Lothur and imagined they had inflicted some injuries on him.

    "Run! It''s time to run!" The Demon Emperor shouted as his final attack sliced through the air toward Lothur.

    Their n was simple. Attack with maximum force and then flee. If they stayed behind and Lothur survived, they would be finished!

    Their only chance was to run, hide, and find ways to grow stronger while a monster like Lothur hunted them down.

    After so long of hard work and effort by the Demon Tribe, they had brought back to the world the Demon Emperor, a creature at the pinnacle of this world. However, just as they were putting their grand n into action, a monster worse than their leader had appeared!

    They were big, powerful, and had ambitious ns. But on this day, they realize that all their efforts have been in vain from the moment they allowed Lothur to escape alive.

    Lothur not only had stronger attributes than them, but he also had far superior abilities, traits, and affinities that far surpassed those of these beings.

    At first, it looked like they would try to force an even confrontation with Lothur; that''s what the fluctuation in the young man''s soul told them.

    But from his first moves, the Demon Emperor realized it wasn''t that simple!

    If he had to fight Lothur alone 100 times, he would lose 99 times and only draw once. Victory was out of reach!

    The Demon Emperor didn''t hesitate to shout these words, ready to return to hiding if he had to.

    ''Damned Lothur! Unfortunately, I can''t defeat you. But that doesn''t mean my ambition is over! You''re powerful and won''t be in this world for long. As soon as you transcend, I''ll be back!'' This level 26 creature thought with hatred in his eyes.

    He and the others did what they had to do, and after their attacks, they tried to fly off in different directions as fast as they could.

    "Tsk! Not so fast, creatures!" A voice came from the midst of the smoke that enveloped the young Ritter''s surroundings as the space within a few miles of him changed.

    Because of the Demon Emperor''s Soul Crystal, Lothur couldn''t use his bloodline ability. However, the Space Crystal was another Immortal Crystal that was not limited by others of its kind.

    Using the special power this magical resource gave him, Lothur easily prevented his enemies from escaping.

    Simultaneously with Lothur''s voice and the change in the surrounding space, a terrible sound suddenly emerged from the young Ritter''s vicinity as the darkness in the area grew denser.

    As the fleeing demons noticed this, along with the change in the surrounding space, the most fearful of them looked back and saw a creature with a ck skeleton emerge from the smoke around Lothur.

    This creature had green eyes and wore a cloak of darkness. At the same time, it was about 2.5 meters tall and held a scythe-like weapon in its hands.

    "Shit! What the hell?" One of those demonic creatures shouted in shock, feeling a much more oppressive sensationing from that skeleton than from the creatures summoned by the Demon Emperor.

    The Demon Emperor himself felt something strange towards that creature, something he hadn''t felt since he had advanced to level 26.

    Fear!

    His face twisted, and he pointed a finger at Lothur, looking at the young man behind the hideous creature as if he were watching a sinnermit a heinous crime.

    "You rascal! What have you done?" The level 26 demon shouted, his voice filled with anger and fear.

    Lothur had not only fused two level 25 skeletons summoned by this demon and created an independent level 26 creature, but he had also given birth to a conscious creature with the highest negative element and given it the Darkness Scythe.

    He had just given a creature made to kill a supreme weapon that could end the lives of everyone in the world!

    Lothurughed as he saw and felt the despair of his opponents, knowing that he had reached the pinnacle of this world and had surpassed all enemies he could face.

    He announced. "The Reincarnation Wheel is destroyed but not inessible. Through the Darkness Scythe, those killed by the River of Souls can move on with the natural rhythm of life and death.

    From now on, I name you the protector of the dead, my creation! You will be called Death, and from now on, you will persecute the souls who are unable to follow the natural rhythm of death.

    Any beings who try to impede your purpose are to be considered enemies to be eliminated.

    Begin your work here by taking action against the one responsible for the ruin of the Reincarnation Wheel!"

    Lothur said this, causing something to change in that being as it turned its eyes to the ck-haired man on the other side of the battlefield.

    In the next instant, the ck skeleton moved, disappeared from where it was, and reappeared in front of the Demon Emperor so quickly that only Lothur and the demon saw its movement.

    "Tsk! Damned thief! You dare to use my power against me?" The ck-haired man defended himself from the scythe attack by letting a bone de appear in one of his hands.

    Meanwhile, Lothur also moved, appearing behind the Demon Emperor''s back as several strange spectres emerged from the level 26 demon''s skeletons.

    Lothur skillfully used his ck mes on the creatures of darkness, overpowering some of them while bringing the spectres of the fallen ones came back to the world.

    "Let''s see if you can take two of your level pushing you around, Demon Emperor!" Lothurughed, consuming his enemy''s power by forcing him to defend himself against the dark mes as Death violently moved the Darkness Scythe.

    "Fuck you! You will pay for this, Lothur! Do you think that wretch isn''t watching all this? When the battle is over, he''ll kill you!" The ck-haired man shouted as he realized it would be difficult to hold out much longer.

    "Think about it: if you ally yourself with me, we can reach the legendary immortal level together and leave this world together. He''ll never be able to do anything against the two of us!"

    "I''d rather try my luck alone!" Lothur muttered as his eyes glowed brightly before activating his first offensive power once again, causing a redser to shoot out of his eyes and through his enemy''s left chest.

    The most important battle in thousands of years was decided at that moment!

 Chapter 883 The End of Demon Island

    <h4>Chapter 883 The End of Demon Ind?</h4>

    As Lothur pierced the Demon Emperor''s left chest, causing the level 26 creature to howl in pain, he made way for Death to sh his enemy''s back with the Darkness Scythe.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

    As he struck his enemy''s back, Death used the River of Souls to force the Demon Emperor''s soul out of his body, making him even more desperate in the face of their attacks.

    But when a wheel of darkness formed near the ck skeleton, and the Demon Emperor''s soul looked like it was about to leave his body, it stood firm while a yellowish glow covered it.

    This level 26 demon had the Soul Crystal with him. It wouldn''t be easy for his enemies to force him to begin the cycle of reincarnation!

    "You wretches! I''m taking your souls with me!" He shouted hatefully as his bodyy motionless, his soul half out, half in.

    Lothur frowned as he saw the enemy''s resistance, no longer patient enough to deal with this being that had been the cause of so much of his suffering.

    "Tsk! If you don''t want to die forever, then suffer the worst, you bastard!" He reached a hand into the hole in the Demon Emperor''s left chest and covered it with the essence of the ck mes.

    As he did so, Lothur grabbed the individual''s heart and crushed it in one fell swoop, infusing his darkness into the enemy''s body all the way to his soul.

    ''Damned Soul Crystal,e to me!'' He said in his mind as the surrounding space vibrated and dark mes quickly consumed the entire body of the level 26 enemy.

    At that moment, all the demons in the area fighting the spectres created by Lothur saw the Demon Emperor reach his end!

    As his soul was drawn into the River of Souls, his essence was consumed by Lothur''s darkness, which could corrupt even a portion of his essence.

    Not only did Lothur''s darkness bring the Demon Emperor to his tragic end, but using some of his affinity for light, Lothur transformed his ck mes within the ck-haired man into white mes, corroding the creature''s mental and spiritual structures in a second way.

    "The Soul Crystal doesn''t care about light and darkness. But you are different, Demon Emperor." Lothurughed as he used the Space Crystal to attract the Soul Crystal.

    The Demon Emperor''s soul couldn''t stand Lothur''s movement and separated from the Immortal Crystal attached to it, leaving the artifact in his body as he was pulled into the River of Souls.

    "NOOOOOOOO!"

    At that moment, Lothur ced his hands on the Soul Crystal as he watched his enemy''s soul being carried away by the wheel of darkness.

    "This is the end of you. In fact, this is the end of the demon race!" Lothur muttered as he watched the creature follow a path of no return while the body in the young Ritter''s hands trembled and glowed incredibly bright.

    "Your Majesty!"

    The surrounding demons cried out in despair as they watched all their ns fail, and their great hope of ascension die before their eyes.

    But they could do nothing and watched the tragic end of their race as they were brutalized by the spectres Lothur had summoned.

    When his work there was done, Death looked at his creator and said goodbye, leaving to fulfill the mission Lothur had given him as protector of death.

    Lothur didn''t bother to stop the creature from leaving, staying behind to witness the formation of a tinum-grade Soul Bone, but not only that, the emergence of the Soul Crystal and the Seven Singrities from that body!

    Seeing the seven essences solidify in the form of metallic-colored leaves, Lothur stored them in his spatial ring along with the Soul Crystal and the Soul Bone, which happened to bepatible with him.

    ''If I absorb all of this, I''ll probably reach the same level as that senior, but the moment I do, I''ll not only be his potential enemy, but I won''t be able to do what I want in this ce.'' Lothur thought, certain that if he advanced to level 27, he would somehow be banished from this world.

    At the very least, he would lose his ability to influence things in Concordia, just as the system''s creator had done.

    So, in order to continue his journey in this ce and fulfill all his promises, he decided to be more cautious about absorbing these essences.

    First, I have to destroy the demons on this ind. After that, I''ll deal with the situation in Concordia.'' He decided as he looked at the level 25 demons around him.

    Now that the Soul Crystal was no longer under the Demon Emperor''s control, he no longer had a limited bloodline!

    Looking at these demons with a terrifying smile, Lothur didn''t hesitate to pull them towards him with Gravity while simultaneously activating his bloodline power.

    It was time for him to collect the precious EVF points from these and the other beings still on the ind!

    ...

    This way, the next three days would pass in the blink of an eye, and Lothur would practically end all life on Demon Ind.

    The amount of points he had absorbed in those days was enormous, but he hadn''t converted most of them because he didn''t want to move on until he hadpleted his goals in this ce.

    Even after his recent progress and the end of Demon Ind, war and chaos still raged around Concordia.

    The demons on the continent still didn''t know of their leader''s demise and continued to fight, kill, and devour the beings of Concordia.

    In just three days, more than 10 million lives were lost across the continent, marking one of the worst eras in the history of this world of cultivation.

    When Lothur left Demon Ind, he found a continent much redder than the one he had left days before and returned to change the course of the war and finally lead Concordia into a new day.

    With more than 12 million EVF points, Lothur could increase not only his own forces but also those of his closestpanions'', which could help him reach enemies more quickly!

    So he made his way to Peters City, where he nned to turn the tide of war and bring the conflict to an end!

 Chapter 884 Time to Change the War Situation

    <h4>Chapter 884 Time to Change the War Situation?</h4>

    Arriving in Peters City, Lothur noticed how different this city had be just a few days since he hadst been there.

    There were now many tents and huts around the city, with refugee camps asrge as this city had been before the Ritter Motor Company.

    At the same time, there was an area of white tents where thousands of wounded were being treated, the people who were brought here from the battlefields of the empire.

    The men guarding the city''s outskirts also looked shaken, some of them wearing robes and damaged armor, dirty with dirt and blood, while they had terrible looks in their eyes.

    The city was doing rtively well, considering how bad things were on the continent. But many of the men there had fought in countless battles over the past few days and had seen countless lives lost, including those of friends andrades.

    When he arrived in Peters City, Lothur realized the drastic situation on the continent while he was dealing with the demons on Demon Ind.

    ''The demons on the maind seemed enough to bring all of Concordia to this state.'' He imagined, feeling that if Peters City were like this, other parts of the continent would be much worse.

    However, looking at his status, he quickly moved in the direction of where Mabel and Annaliese were.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 25]

    [STR: 15,508] [CON: 73,999]

    [DEX: 17,706] [AGI: 19,805]

    [INT: 2,577] [PER: 32,000]

    [WIL: 8,000] [SOU: 180,000]

    [EVF: 12,123,637]

    ''Time to change the local situation!'' He quickly crossed the space, attracting the attention of the two women.

    "Lothur!" Annaliese was the first to notice her man''s aura, while Mabel realized that this was not an enemy but their greatest ally.

    Sensing Lothur''s aura, the mature woman smiled, seeing that her son-inw had seeded in dealing with the Demon Emperor and had be much stronger.

    Annaliese was also pleased, even considering the defeats the continent had suffered in recent days, to see the hope of Concordia''s sessful return from her journey.

    "Lothur, congrattions on destroying the enemies!" She ran to him as soon as she saw him, not needing to hear the story to know it had happened.

    Lothur smiled as he hugged his woman''s young body before getting to the point. "Anna, we have no time to celebrate. Now that I''m back, I want to end the war as soon as possible."

    He looked at Mabel and said. "Come over here. I''ll give you something to boost your strength."

    Mabel found Lothur''s words strange since she had alreadypleted her Spirit Body, and the Soul Bones could no longer help her be stronger.

    But as she stood next to her daughter in front of Lothur, she soon realized that what he had in mind was different from what she had imagined.

    "Before, the Soul Crystal tricked me, and I had a soul worm in me, something that had limited me greatly in the past. But after my rebirth, I gained full control over my abilities.

    Not only can I use my bloodline ability to increase my strength now, but I can also do it to whomever I choose." Lothur said as he infused the women with EVF points and directed them into their souls.

    The conversion factor for other humans was less advantageous to them than it was to Lothur. But even so, he thought it was enough for him not to use all of his EVF points on himself.

    While Mabel and Annaliese felt a different energy entering their bodies, they would soon notice that their soul powers were rapidly increasing.

    In the blink of an eye, Lothur spent 2 million EVF points on these two women, giving them 20,000 Soul points each.

    The two of them were shocked to realize the increase in their powers. Mabel finally crossed the level 25 threshold and reached the legendary level 26, the 5th Catastrophe!

    "You can do that now?" Annaliese asked in surprise, seeing that her husband had the ability of a God.

    Who else but a divine being could give other people the powers they wanted?

    Lothurughed at Annaliese''s reaction and said. "Now I can. Unfortunately, the price is quite high. This ''small'' advancement in soul power I''ve just given you was only made possible by the deaths of more than 300,000 demons."

    The two became more serious when they heard this, imagining the bloodbath Lothur had caused to achieve such a breakthrough for them.

    But since demons were the source of these points, neither of them was worried since their goal was to exterminate that race.

    Still, the two couldn''t help but be shocked by Lothur''s extreme methods.

    "So you really wiped out the demonir? How many Soul Bones did you get?" Mabel asked.

    "Yes, I did. As for the bones, I have a few million of them. Most of them are of poor quality, and many won''t give any abilities to those who absorb them, but they''re still valuable resources."

    "All of that?" Annaliese asked in surprise since these items had been so rare and mysterious until recently.

    But now Lothur had millions of them...

    But these bones were still fewpared to the number of beings capable of absorbing them on this continent. Even after the death of many human cultivators in this war, there were still at least 50 million people capable of absorbing such essences.

    "What are you going to do with them, Lothur?" Mabel asked him doubtfully.

    "I will use the best of them on my people. I have already separated the next bones of Reba and Ruth and my own. Among the others, I''ll distribute a few tens of thousands locally.

    But I intend to hide most of these bones on the continent. I think they could be important for the continent to regain its lost strength in this war in the future when we are no longer here." He said seriously.

    "Oh? Why wouldn''t we be here anymore?" Annaliese asked him.

    "I intend to leave for the seas of this world after we have finished everything here. That will also be the time for us to advance to the legendary immortal level, Anna. By then, I believe we will no longer be able to interfere with things on the continent, so I want to leave ways for the human poptions to grow stronger."

    Mabel understood what Lothur was saying, considering how she felt about the sea. But she asked him about the other part of his ns. "Wouldn''t you rather leave that to your organization? Why provide opportunities for others?"

    Lothurughed and exined. "Because it''s necessary. If only selected people were given opportunities, I would never have reached my current level, and the continent would be lost. In order to allow people to grow from the ground up, as I have, I''m going to leave most of these bones around the continent to people who are destined for them.

    Consider this my whim for the sake of those like me."

 Chapter 885 The End of the War (1)

    <h4>Chapter 885 The End of the War (1)</h4>

    After raising Mabel and Annaliese''s powers, Lothur would leave the Soul Bones for his family to distribute among the Ritter family and Ritter Motor Company employees.

    He would leave Mabel and Annaliese to hunt and collect demons in Ashen and Leopoldine, while some of the level 25 Sages from Peters City forces would go to Utrary to help with the war in that state.

    With these orders, he set out to find Elke, who was currently in Thasan.

    ...

    Over the next two days, Lothur would travel through much of Concordia without spending much time hunting demons. Instead, he focused on finding his women and helping them grow stronger.

    In the process, he spent another 3 million EVF points and gave his three women 20,000 Soul attribute points each.

    With his women having reached higher Soul attribute scores than any other beings currently existing on the continent, he had assigned duties to the three of them, ordering Elke to take care of Thasan and Norid while Viktoria would stay with Rablus and the Ancestral Region. Finally, he had sent Reba to the Petha Empire.

    But they weren''t alone. With another 2 million EVF points, Lothur had raised the Soul forces of Blood and Smoke to assist Elke and Viktoria in their missions to defeat demons and collect them for him.

    As for the rest of the central part of the continent, he would handle those areas himself, while his allies would focus on the northern and southern parts of Concordia.

    With his actions over the past two days, the war was nearing its end, with the strongest demons still alive quickly beginning to fall against the powerful members of the Ritter family.

    The first high-level group to fall would be the one in Utral, one of the states Lothur had been responsible for cleansing!

    ...

    After just 18 hours in Utral, Lothur had traveled virtually the entire state and dealt with at least 20,000 demons.

    He had just eliminated a group of creatures that had attacked a city in the state, narrowly saving the local poption from a massacre.

    Had he arrived 10 minuteste, the oue would have been very different. But by arriving in time, after eliminating all other groups of demons in the state, Lothur ignited the mes of hope in the local popce.

    While many of the townspeople went into hiding, some of the strongesty wounded in the rubble on the outskirts of town, where they had been when Lothur arrived.

    One of these people, a green-haired, full-breasted but badly wounded woman, was one of the many local warriors who had fought for the survival of this city just moments ago.

    At the sight of the powerful man who had single-handedly solved everything in a matter of moments, she wiped the dirt from her face and saw the blurred surroundings of the savior floating in the sky.

    Her vision suddenly became clearer, and she saw the man''s features.

    "Egon..." The woman, a level 16 Transcendent, murmured as she felt her life ebbing away with her breath.

    As her words left her mouth, Lothur looked in her direction and saw a young woman with different colored hair but facial features very simr to those of an acquaintance of his.

    ''Natali? He remembered his experience when he had left Leopoldine months ago and met a young Mortal Warrior with whom he had had a one-night stand.

    ''It looks like you made good use of the resources I left behind.'' He smiled as he moved his hands across the space and brought Natali''s mortally wounded body to his side.

    ''Fate has brought us together again. I will save you.'' He smiled as he injected EVF points into the full-breasted woman, quickly improving her situation, healing the wounds on her body, and stabilizing her condition.

    Lothur couldn''t help her as much as he could with his women, but he still spent 1 million EVF points on Natali, raising her Constitution by 7,000 points and her Soul by more than 6,000 points.

    He didn''t want to take her with him, but he left a note in Natali''s spatial ring along with some Soul Bones.

    Before she awoke, he left, continuing his ns to end the war on the continent.

    When she woke up shortly after Lothur left, Natali felt her strength increase significantly, and her cultivation jumped from level 16 to level 22!

    But before realizing what had changed in her being, she was looking for Lothur, or Egon, the one she had met in a tavern months ago and who hadpletely changed her life.

    "Egon?"

    ...

    A few more days passed in the blink of an eye!

    At that time, the war situation in Concordia had changedpletely.

    From the terrible situation on the continent just before Lothur entered the conflict, when demons were ravaging Concordia left and right, the war had changed entirely in favor of the continent''s creatures in just a few days.

    As Lothur''s women and himself grew stronger and took on the most troublesome enemies, more than 60% of the demons fell in the two days that passed.

    All of the strongest enemies had now fallen, and if Lothur and his women stopped acting, the continental forces would eventually end the war themselves.

    But even though the odds had shifted in favor of the Concordia side, Lothur and hispanions did not intend to stop the fight and finally get what they deserved.

    Dedicated to exterminating the demons, they were still traveling the continent at this very moment, bringing the war to a swift end.

    Not only were they dedicated, but those who had absorbed the Soul Bones of their enemies were bing stronger and stronger without losing their will to exterminate the demon race.

    For a long time, the people of the continent had thought that it was impossible to destroy the demon race and that they had to live with the enemy.

    However, after the return of the Demon Emperor and the suffering of tens of millions of the continent''s inhabitants from the still-raging war, even the strongest had changed their minds about the demons.

    Demons should be exterminated until there are no more of them!

    Thus, individuals such as Cykad, the leaders of the Seraphim Church, and the allies and subordinates of the Ritter Family would continue the conflict until the end of one week after the Demon Emperor''s death, when thest enemies of humanity would be killed!

    In just 7 days since his battle with the Demon Emperor, Lothur would end the conflict by killing thest of the demons who were in Concordia to massacre humans and beasts!

 Chapter 886 End of the War (2)

    <h4>Chapter 886 End of the War (2)</h4>

    In the Ancestral Region, near the border between Rablus and the Petha Empire.

    Lothur, Victoria, Annaliese, Elke, Reba, Cykad, Blood, and Smoke surrounded thest remaining enemy demon on the continent.

    After days of hard work, they had wiped out 99.9% of the demon poption in this world, leaving only Fabienne and herpanions alive.

    But Fabienne was sterile, while Lothur had sterilized herpanions when he visited them a few days ago after helping his mother get stronger.

    After that, he sent them to the old ind where the Castle of Shadows was based, advising them to live there in secret without leaving for a while.

    However, with Fabienne''s characteristics and her current level of 23, she could easily live on the maind without attracting the attention of people who wanted to kill demons.

    In any case, even if they were alive, they couldn''t bring back the demon race even if they wanted to because they were sterile, and there were no more of their kind except for that man surrounded by Lothur and his group at this very moment.

    When Cykad saw thest demon on his way, he smiled exuberantly, seeing his master''s missionpleted atst.

    ''Finally, the demons will bepletely exterminated!'' He smiled with joy, happy for the journey he had been on for thest few thousand years, even happier to have met Lothur, the man who not onlypleted his master''s mission but also gave him many things.

    Looking at Lothur, Cykad had nothing but gratitude in his heart. Not only had the hybrid saved him more than once, but he had also gained more than 10,000 Constitution points in the past few days, reaching the peak of level 24.

    Lothur had already helped all of hispanions and friends, like Cykad and Anneke, spending much of the EVF points he had umted over the past few days, and arrived today with just under 2.9 million EVF points.

    He intended to divide these points among his women very soon. He had no interest in using them on himself, as he had many things to absorb and increase his strength.

    No longer so interested in EVF points, Lothur looked at thest demon and used his power over Gravity to push him to the ground.

    "Aaaaagh!" The creature screamed in agony, feeling not only physical pain but also fear, fear of the end, the total annihtion of his race.

    "Lothur, end this. Let''s end the war." Elke said to her man, smiling, d to have reached this point where they would finally have peace to live their lives together.

    Lothur stopped pressing the demon and asked. "Anyst words, creature? As thest of your people, I will do you the honor of saying yourst words."

    "Aagh... Hah... Lothur... You bastard, you''ll regret what you''ve done... Hah... The demon race is not as easy as you think... One day... One day, you''ll pay for everything you''ve done."

    The level 21 said as dark blood oozed from his pores and he had an extremely tired tone, like that of a person with no time left to live.

    Lothur closed his eyes as he heard thest threat of a member of the demon race against him before he raised one of his hands and merged the gravity and light elements of his being.

    Lothur''s powers had reached the Diamond grade in all of his affinities and Soul Bones. Now, he could even kill the Demon Emperor with a snap of his fingers if he so wished.

    Closing his hands with the demon''s life in his mind, he made that dark being disappear in front of everyone in a single instant, his body burning as it turned into a small ball of gas.

    With his soul and body destroyed, only the Soul Bone of this creature of the Emperor''s lineage remained, finally marking the end of the demon race.

    All of Lothur''spanions and other humans who had witnessed the end of the enemies and the war celebrated, feeling that thest demon on the continent had died.

    Some even shed tears of joy, feeling moved to reach this point after so much suffering and death.

    In the war that had just ended, more than 40 million living beings of Concordia''s various races had died at the hands of demons. But in addition to these many recent deaths, the number of people who had died over the past tens of thousands of years was far greater than anyone could have imagined.

    Today was not just the end of a war. It was the end of suffering for the continent, which would no longer have to suffer from demons!

    The war was over, but so was the greatest enemy the people of this continent had ever faced!

    "It''s all over..." Cykad muttered as he saw his old master''s figure in the clouds.

    Meanwhile, Lothur felt someone calling to him.

    ''My chosen one, you havepleted your mission. Congrattions on destroying the demons and solving the problem of life in Concordia.'' The voice of the man Lothur had met months ago came to his mind, speaking in a very gentle and happy tone. ''What you have just aplished is of great significance, young man.

    Even more so when you consider the powers you had, everything you did was truly fantastic. So, I thank you for handling everything so well. In the end, your decisions were the best.''

    Lothur closed his eyes and saw the senior of months ago in his mind.

    ''And now? What happens?'' He asked.

    The seniorughed and said. ''Don''t worry about me, Lothur. The Demon Emperor tried to use you against me to save himself. But I have no interest in fighting you.

    Once you reach level 27, you''ll understand why I can''t be your enemy or betray you now.''

    ''Really?''

    ''Hmm, what happens now is up to you. You''re the strongest in Concordia now. You can live as you please. But let me warn you. If you go on, you''ll be limited, just like me. So, sort out whatever you need to sort out before then.

    But don''t worry about anything. If you want to go now, everything will be fine. The wheel of reincarnation will work again after a while through the work of Death. As for your women, they will probably reach the same level as you when they absorb their next Soul Bones.

    It''s up to you to decide their fate.''

    ''I see. Thank you for your guidance, senior.'' Lothur bowed his head to the individual who disappeared into his mind.

    ''But do not go to the sea until you have made your breakthrough. You''ll understand why as you progress. You''ll understand everything about this world. Anyway, that''s all, Lothur. Whatever you decide, I won''t interfere.

    If you move on, we''ll see each other again before you make your choice.''

 Chapter 887 Years of Peace

    Chapter 887 Years of Peace

    After the end of the war and the message from the system creator, Lothur celebrated all night with his closestpanions.

    Upon his return to Leopoldine, after news of the war''s end had spread, Lothur would soon hold a great celebration with his women, his father, Anneke, Cykad, Larissa, and those who had been by his side even before the Ritter Motor Company was formed.

    That night, they would drink and celebrate with no more burdens on their shoulders, finally free from the terrible demonic threats.

    Not only that but with all the troubles of the war and the way Lothur had helped them, all the people close to him had grown a lot.

    Most had attained full Spirit Bodies and reached level 24. Some were above that, but hardly any of Lothur''s close friends or acquaintances currently had cultivation below that level.

    Those who hadn''tpleted their Spirit Bodies had 8 to 9 Soul Bones each, which meant they had very little left to reach the maximum they could achieve in this lifetime.

    It was good to have power, and now that they were finally free from the fate of destruction, these people could truly be happy abo

    ut their progress, that they hade so far in their cultivation.

    At this celebration, some people would once again thank Lothur for everything he had done before finally giving him and his women the time they deserved.

    ...

    Two years passed in the blink of an eye!

    In that time, the continent returned to its pre-war normality, with people all over Concordia smiling again and thinking about the future.

    Many states were being rebuilt, but some ces would never recover.

    Other ces still had a chance to recover, but it would take centuries to get back to what they were years ago.

    But with the peace and the races of Concordia being more cooperative than ever after the war, this ce had improved little by little, with no major problems standing in its way.

    The juniors were still causing problems for the experts, but the Sages had once again be difficult to see or hear from.

    Almost all of the 5th-stage cultivators had disappeared after the war ended, with some returning to their seclusion and others living their dreams in secret.

    That was the case with the Ritter family, who had finally had time to enjoy the benefits of the cultivation world without worries after living out of the limelight for the past few years.

    The Ritter family had be very famous because the Ritter Motor Company had dominated the entire continent with its vehicles, roads, etc.

    The new airne model was the one that had attracted the most attention on the continenttely, but any mention of thepany''s founders'' names would draw everyone''s attention.

    Unfortunately for the curious, hardly anyone knew exactly how each of them was doing.

    But Lothur and his women were still on this continent and had not yet absorbed theirst Soul Bones!

    ...

    On a mountain in the southernmost part of the continent, there was a very well-made hut, built in such a way that someone standing there could easily see the whole region and even part of the sea.

    From there, one could see ake and the beautiful forest of the area, where there were practically no living beings for dozens of kilometers.

    There were seven people in the hut: one man and six women.

    While some of the women were chatting in a pool on the edge of a cliff, a ck-haired woman and a brown-haired woman were in a room with a silver-haired man.

    They all had no clothes on their bodies, but they weren''t connected now. They were quite sweaty and had each other''s bodily fluids here and there on their bodies.

    They all had satisfied smiles as they felt their hearts begin to slow after their fun afternoon.

    That was especially true for these two women, both of whom had realized their dreams in the past few months.

    The man there was obviously Lothur Ritter, the most famous individual on the continent, the greatest demon hunter in the history of Concordia, and the strongest in the world.

    But next to him was Anneke Koch, whom he had married 8 months ago, but also Mabel Rios, his mother-inw and now wife, whom he had married 4 months ago!

    After the war ended, Lothur traveled the continent and made things official with Elke, Reba, and Annaliese. They had enjoyed themselves for a while before returning to Peters City for a family reunion.

    On that asion, Lothur had tended to Mabel''s needs after his rtionship with his mother-inw had finally been discovered by his wives.

    That hade as a surprise to Annaliese and Viktoria, who knew how Lothur had been with Mabel in the past. But after all that had happened and how happy everyone was, it hadn''t taken them long to ept their mother having a rtionship with her husband.

    Around the same time this happened, Lothur finally took his rtionship with Anneke to another level after they had increased their feelings for each other years ago and fallen deeply in love.

    They got married shortly thereafter and spent some time alone before Lothur finally came to the conclusion that he had to marry his mother-inw as well.

    Mabel was already practically living as one of his wives, so they had no reason to continue living as ordinary lovers.

    So they had gotten married months ago and had been living in this paradise that only they had ess to ever since.

    "Huh... Lothur, I have to tell you something." Mabelmented as she took a deep breath after this afternoon''s action.

    "What is it?" He looked at his beautiful wife/mother-inw while Anneke also looked at Mabel curiously.

    "I''m pregnant." She said, surprising them both.

    Gulp!

    Lothur swallowed his saliva anxiously when he heard this, knowing how good it could be on the one hand but also how problematic it could be considering their situation.

    After two years of living in peace, Lothur and his wives, including Mabel, concluded that they didn''t want to spend the next thousands of years doing nothing, living the way they had been living.

    They wanted peace but also things to do, goals, and new ces to see.

    In just two years, they had seen practically everything there was to see in Concordia. On top of that, they couldn''t do anything on this continent without being recognized, which made everything they wanted to do less enjoyable.

    As such, they had been thinking more and more about leaving Concordia, going to the next level, and following the path of the sea!

    But a child would change everything!

    "That..." Anneke put a hand to her mouth, not expecting that Mabel would be the one.

    "That''s... That''s great news." Lothur said as he hugged Mabel.

    She smiled when she heard that but was direct about her goals. "Lothur, you know I love you, right? Having this child and seeing him grow with you would be incredible. But you''re too big to live the life of a father.

    I want you to go overseas with Viktoria, Annaliese, Reba, Elke, and Anneke and leave me here. I will take care of our son, and when I''m ready, I will absorb the Seven Singrities ande after you.

    I will guarantee our son''s and his descendants'' future before I leave. Please trust me and follow your dreams." She said as tears streamed down her face.

 Chapter 888 Level 27

    Chapter 888 Level 27

    A few months passed after Mabel announced that she was pregnant.

    In the meantime, Lothur''s family had several conversations about the subject, what they should do about it, and their previous ns.

    There were several points to consider, and the family was divided on what to do.

    For example, Elke and Annaliese thought they should all stay and raise this child until he became a Saint. After that, they would leave as nned, leaving Blood and Smoke to help Lothur''s first offspring.

    But Viktoria and Reba saw things differently. They felt the best demonstration of love was not to give Lothur''s descendant everything he needed. The best thing they could do would be to give him the chance to grow up and be important on his own merits.

    They didn''t want Lothur and themselves to bepletely absent. But they didn''t want to take away the young Ritter''s first son''s chance to grow up on his own and be someone great like his father by following his own destiny.

    If they did that, he would be grateful for the opportunities he had, and his power would be based on his own efforts, not something given to him by other people.

    In their opinion, if they were to leave anyway, it would be best to do so before Lothur''s child with Mabel was born to make sure they didn''t get attached.

    But even from afar, they would take care of the little one, leaving people to watch him and even creating opportunities here and there.

    How do you do that without taking his credits? That was easy. Merit was something that had nothing to do with luck but with skill andpetence.

    You could be fortunate and have merit for your powers. One didn''t contradict the other.

    Someone with merit wasn''t necessarily someone who got to the top through a difficult path full of defeats. That could happen, but having opportunities didn''t diminish one''s efforts.

    So they wanted to leave this child with opportunities, opportunities that he could seize or lose.

    As for Mabel and Anneke, the child''s mother understood her family''s two ways of understanding but felt Lothur should not be stopped. No one knew what might lie beyond the sea, so it was better for him to leave while he was still young and had time to grow.

    If he stayed behind for his son, he might postpone his departure forever and miss the best time to continue his cultivation journey.

    On the other hand, Anneke was undecided and had said nothing regarding the matter, only telling Lothur that she would decide to apany him no matter what he chose.

    Meanwhile, Mabel hadn''t changed much. Although she had been pregnant for months, she still hadn''t shown the characteristics of a pregnant woman.

    But that wasn''t strange. Being at level 26, the same level as the child''s father, this was no ordinary baby. It would take years for him to develop enough to be born.

    So life continued more or less as normal for the whole family while they stayed in that paradise area, waiting for Lothur''s decision.

    ...

    This afternoon, it was boiling in the area where Lothur and his wives had been living.

    Given the good weather for rxing and drinking cold drinks, the group didn''t train today, which they still did, even though they were already the strongest on the continent.

    Everyone in the family had space to improve their physical attributes through training, so since the end of the war, they had always taken the time to train their bodies, trying to raise their Strength, Agility, and Dexterity attributes to the same level as their Constitutions.

    Amid these training sessions, they had all improved their Wills and affinities, their resistances, but also the progress of their bones, and through this, they had also strengthened their Perceptions.

    And just at that moment of peace, while everyone was resting in the pool of their building, they all felt the same sensationing from the center of the continent.

    Turning his attention to the sensation, Lothur opened his eyes and saw a golden glow in the sky in the direction that feeling came from.

    "That..."

    Viktoria had the second strongest Perception in the group and immediately realized what it was.

    Lothur opened his mouth and said. "Someone has reached the level of an immortal."

    After hearing these words, they all fell silent as they looked in that direction, not knowing who on this continent could have reached level 27 before them.

    "What are we going to do?" Reba asked.

    "Is there anything we should do?" Elke didn''t understand what the woman meant.

    Lothur agreed with his redheaded wife. "There''s nothing for us to do. By entering the immortal realm, whoever this person is, they will lose their freedom to interfere directly with our world.

    That person won''t be here long after their ascension, so they''re no threat to us."

    Mabel clenched her fists and said. "Lothur, make your choice. We know nothing of what lies beyond the sea. If there''s some kind of scarcity, selection, or whatever that might limit you, we can''t risk it.

    Many resources in the world right now have no owners. Many people may have a chance to rise to the level of immortality because of the Soul Bones you''ve scattered across the continent.

    So make up your mind. I don''t want you to regret itter because you didn''t do the right thing at the right time!"

    They all looked at Lothur and felt this was the decisive moment.

    The moment this unknown person started to advance to level 27, everyone in Concordia realized that there was something beyond level 26 that could now be achieved since there were so many Soul Bones scattered around the world.

    It would only be a matter of time before others seeded, and more people would surpass Lothur and them.

    With that in mind, they all wanted him to make a decision now so there would be no regrets in the future. Either he would stay and take responsibility for any loss he might incur by staying behind, or he would go ahead and ept the consequences of missing out on his son''s growth.

    Lothur closed his eyes, and suddenly, the system showed him his status without hismand.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 26]

    [Body Cultivation: level 26]

    [STR: 37,508] [CON: 77,000]

    [DEX: 41,706] [AGI: 43,805]

    [INT: 2,577] [PER: 60,000]

    [WIL: 20,000] [SOU: 181,000]

    [EVF: 223,637]

    Seeing this in his mind, Lothur opened his eyes and smiled, seeing the answer to all his problems.

    ''So this is the alternative.'' Heughed as he imagined that he wouldn''t have to lose anything or be left behind.

    "All right, I''ve made up my mind. I''m going into seclusion tonight to ascend to the level of the immortals. Anyone who wants to join me on this journey, please do it too!" He said as he looked at Mabel, nning to spend the rest of the day with her so he could say goodbye correctly.

 Chapter 889 Farewell

    <h4>Chapter 889 Farewell ??</h4>

    When Lothur made up his mind, Elke and Annaliese opened their mouths in surprise, not really liking their husband''s decision.

    But Viktoria, Reba, and Anneke were happy that he finally made up his mind because they felt that with this decision, the child could have a journey full of adventures like his father and be a man like him.

    Mabel shed tears when she heard it, for she knew she would also miss him and her daughters.

    But she wanted him to continue growing, if possible, and not lose his potential at her side.

    So Lothur exined what he had in mind. "My decision is to leave, but don''t be fooled into thinking I won''t be there for my son. I will leave him something that will allow him to have someone to confide in and be advised by, something that will keep me informed of his situation no matter where I am.

    I won''t be there physically, but he will see me and hear my voice.

    If he wants to meet me one day, I''ll help him get to where I am. I''ll leave him all the instructions before I go."

    Annaliese and Elke''s faces brightened when they heard this, while Mabel smiled through her tears.

    Lothur looked at her and said. "I''m leaving something for you too, Mabel. It will help you absorb the Seven Singrities when the timees for you to leave ande to us. It will also be a way for us to know how you''re doing."

    "Lothur..." She hugged him when she heard that, not knowing what he had in mind but confident that it would work and that she could somehow feel his presence with her.

    Soon, each of them would make their preparations for the farewell, with all the women except Mabel willing to go with Lothur in search of immortality.

    Mabel couldn''t do that, as she would have to absorb the Seven Singrities to achieve level 27, something that could endanger the life of her child still developing in her womb.

    Since she couldn''t cultivate to progress to level 27 through meditation, she had no choice but to stay behind and take care of her son alone.

    So, while she and Lothur went into the house alone, the others began to prepare their closest family and friends.

    Elke would say goodbye to her parents, while Anneke would do the same.

    Reba had to say goodbye to her mistress. In contrast, Viktoria had to prepare the Ritter Motor Company and the men of the Ritter family to leave everything in Mabel''s hands.

    Since the end of the war, the Ritter Motor Company had already held two new auctions. The Ritter family''s position had diminished to the point where thepany''s future could no longer be decided by them alone.

    The Ritter family was still thergest power in thepany, but now they only owned 16% of it.

    As such, Viktoria had much to care for before she left.

    Amidst this, she would call Cykad, Blood, and Smoke, as well as the other creations Lothur had made over the past few years, so they all could say their farewell words.

    ...

    While the core of the Ritter Family was preparing to ascend, dozens of kilometers away, a woman waspleting her ascension to level 27!

    Surrounded by intense golden light and a lot of spiritual energy, this green-haired woman felt her cultivation leap exponentially while her vitality surpassed the level that could be quantified.

    Feeling this, this beautiful, full-breasted, green-haired woman smiled happily, imagining that she would finally be able to see the person she had been dreaming of meeting for years.

    ''Lothur... I''ll find you wherever you are!'' She thought to herself as she felt something pulling her towards the sky.

    That was, of course, Natali, the woman Lothur had met years ago and then saved at the end of the war against the demons.

    After reaching level 27, she would follow her instincts and leave the continent in search of Lothur.

    Considering how talented he was, he should have left thesends by now.

    As she ascended into the sky, an old level 27 man, the creator of the system, appeared in front of her with a smile.

    But when he saw who she was, he quickly changed his expression when he noticed that it wasn''t Lothur nor any of the young man''s wives.

    "You?"

    ...

    Hours passed after Lothur''s decision.

    He had already said goodbye to Mabel and was now outside his residence with all his wives and his creations and important friends.

    Everyone there had already said goodbye to him, wished the family good luck, and would be at his son''s disposal for anything.

    Confident that these people would do as promised, Lothur took his and his wives'' Soul Bones, thest ones they would absorb beforepleting their Spirit Bodies.

    He also took all the Immortal Crystals he had collected over the past few years, which he nned to absorb along with his 10th bone.

    Then he said. "My friends, it is time to say goodbye. The past four years have been fantastic, but I want to see what lies beyond my current level.

    I will use the Immortal Crystals to maximize my abilities, but you don''t have to be afraid of losing these important essences. After thinking long and hard about the level of immortals, I realized that Soul Bones and items like these crystals only serve to propel us toward immortality.

    When I advance one level, thebination of my Soul Bones will create somethingpletely new that will appear in this world in the future, and it will be lost until someone finds it. As for the Immortal Crystals, they will disappear for a while, but they will reappear on the continent in a few thousand years.

    If any of you are still here at that time, it will be your chance to use them to achieve the same breakthrough we have today." He smiled as he saw the group nod in appreciation of the good news.

    "That''s it. Time to raise our levels." Lothur said as he gave the bones to each of his wives and went to the ce where he would take his own bone.

    In this way, the five women and Lothur floated in front of the residence as they began to absorb thest essences of this world that they would absorb before their departure!

 Chapter 890 Final Decision

    Chapter 890 Final Decision

    While his wives were absorbing theirst remaining Soul Bones toplete their Spirit Bodies, Lothur was also absorbing hisst bone and all the Immortal Crystals he had collected over the years.

    He used the system onest time to absorb these essences easily, knowing the system would disappear once he finished absorbing everything.

    In short, the system only worked on people of a lower level than the system''s creator. Once Lothur reached level 27, the essence that had been with him for the past few years would disappear.

    As everyone watched him and his wives absorb theirst bones, a rtively simple and quick process given their current characteristics, something changed in the environment.

    Six rays of golden light appeared from the sky until they reached the six of them. At the same time, the elements and free spiritual energy in the background condensed onto them.

    Certain elements and free energy in the unreachable part of the atmosphere or the ground left their positions and were drawn to where Lothur and his women were.

    They didn''t intend to turn this area into a sacrednd of cultivation. But without knowing it, their advancement to level 27 was blessing this ce with the elemental and energetic attraction of their bodies.

    Whatever waspatible with them in the environment soon began to evolve. nts began to change their ssifications and qualities. Theke, which had been just a normal ce, became a ce that one only needed to enter to purify the impurities in one''s body. Meanwhile, the various fruits of the nts on the nearby trees could awaken bloodlines and physiques.

    Amidst this, the observers could feel thest of their talent bottlenecks disappearing, and the path to their cultivation reopened.

    Not everyone there could absorb new Soul Bones or even any bones, given their race or full Spirit Bodies. Some were practically stuck at their current levels.

    But when they saw those six people''s quantitative and qualitative development, they felt that their talents and aptitudes had greatly improved.

    Mabel emotionally saw all this, feeling happy for the growth of her daughters and her husband but already missing them, even though they were still ahead of her.

    Amid her tears, she hugged her stomach as she watched her daughters float higher and higher as golden inscriptions appeared around their bodies.

    Amidst this, she saw something strange in her vision, which showed the names, levels, and attributes of those women who had already reached level 27 of soul and body cultivation.

    [Name: Annaliese Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 27]

    [Body Cultivation: level 27]

    [STR: +200,000] [CON: +200,000]

    [DEX: +200,000] [AGI: +200,000]

    [INT: 34,155] [PER: 64,192]

    [WIL: 131,282] [SOU: +200,000]

    ...

    [Name: Viktoria Frost]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 27]

    [Body Cultivation: level 27]

    [STR: +200,000] [CON: +200,000]

    [DEX: +200,000] [AGI: +200,000]

    [INT: 96,540] [PER: 102,320]

    [WIL: +200,000] [SOU: +200,000]

    ...

    [Name: Reba B?ttger]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 27]

    [Body Cultivation: level 27]

    [STR: +200,000] [CON: +200,000]

    [DEX: +200,000] [AGI: +200,000]

    [INT: 46,320] [PER: 74,965]

    [WIL: 153,520] [SOU: +200,000]

    ...

    [Name: Elke Becker]

    [Soul Cultivation: 27]

    [Body Cultivation: 27]

    [STR: +200,000] [CON: +200,000]

    [DEX: +200,000] [AGI: +200,000]

    [INT: 18,017] [PER: 67,122]

    [WIL: 128,000] [SOU: +200,000]

    ''What is this? What are these numbers?'' She asked herself without understanding.

    Then she heard Lothur''s voice. ''Mabel, this is my parting gift to you. Call it the system. It will apany you while you take care of our son here in Concordia.

    Through it, you''ll be able to understand better the characteristics of humans, beasts, and resources, but you''ll also be able to talk to a mental copy of me.

    We won''t be able tomunicate once I leave this ce, but I will be aware of everything you want me to see. This will also be useful for you to find me once you''ve absorbed the Seven Singrities.''

    ''Huh?'' She closed her eyes and saw a shade of Lothur forming in her Soul Sea.

    ''I will leave something simr for our son to help him on his journey. It will also help him to follow us in the future.'' The system Lothur had just created, something with his voice and appearance, said it all for her.

    ''So that''s what you told me.'' She became even more emotional but very grateful to him. ''Thank you, Lothur. I hope to see you very soon.''

    She then opened her eyes to see Lothur finishing his advance.

    This young man saw his status for thest time before the system that was in himpletely dissipated.

    [Name: Lothur Ritter]

    [Physique: What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger]

    [Bloodline: Life Devourer]

    [Soul Cultivation: level 27]

    [Body Cultivation: level 27]

    [STR: +200,000] [CON: +200,000]

    [DEX: +200,000] [AGI: +200,000]

    [INT: 90,000] [PER: +200,000]

    [WIL: 100,000] [SOU: +200,000]

    [EVF: 223,637]

    ''It seems the system can''t quantify physical and mental attributes beyond 200,000 points.'' He wasn''t surprised, as he knew his attributes and EVF points werepletely different and didn''t share the same rule.

    As he watched the system screen disappear forever, he felt his 10 Soul Bonesplete his Spirit Body while a strange sensation called him towards the sea.

    But this sensation was very different from the one Mabel had felt when she hadpleted her Spirit Body years ago. Since Lothur had achieved this while he had advanced to level 27, he felt something different.

    ''It looks like the senior was right. It would have been a big mistake if I had tried to go to sea before this breakthrough.'' He realized the same thing as his wives when he saw that he could have died if he hadn''t waited for the breakthrough.

    Now that he had reached level 27, he could practically feel the whole world!

    As he scanned the sea, he realized that there was a strange kind of spiritual boundary around the sea, which looked like the borders of the realm, where anyone who passed a certain point would find the chaos of space without many paths to follow.

    In short, the oceans of this world marked the boundaries between this world and whaty beyond.

    Below level 27, anyone attempting such a journey would die!

    His wives also realized this, and one of them asked. "What are we going to do now? For that matter, why are we floating?"

    "I think we have to make a choice now," Lothur said as he felt someone of simr strength to himself approaching them.

    "Indeed." The ancient creator of the system appeared before them, smiling as he finally saw the people he had been expecting. "You will have to make a decision soon... Anyway, I don''t have much time to talk to you now. Depending on your choice, we may see each other again in the future, or perhaps never.

    Lothur, congrattions on reaching the level of Eternal Being. The same goes for youdies, haha." He said as he smiled and looked at the women.

    Then hemented to Lothur. "You have done well, Lothur. You managed to bring a lot ofpany with you. That''s good. It will help you in the future."

    Lothur''s women looked at each other doubtfully as he frowned. "What does that mean? And what is an Eternal Being? Is that the name of the 6th stage?"

    The system creatorughed and said. "You will find out soon. Good luck on your journey from here, Lothur. Whatever you choose, I hope you seed. The dangers are not over just because you''ve reached this level, so be careful."

    With these words, the man disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, while Lothur and his wives could not follow him as they were drawn into the sky by the golden light.

    "What''s happening? Where are we going?" Elke wondered.

    "I don''t know. It seems to have something to do with the choice he mentioned." Viktoria wondered.

    Just as they were thinking and talking about it, they suddenly saw the bluish sky disappear into a dark ce where many stars were on the edge of what seemed to be the night sky.

    Below them, they could see a ce that looked like a painting, a work of art about a great world.

    This painting didn''t seem to be motionless, and there was a lot of energying from it.

    A huge man standing above them materialized in the air, as they felt their hearts pounding in their chests.

    "I know you''re shocked, but this is a critical moment for all of you. Now you have to choose something that will never change, no matter what happens from now on." This man spoke while everyone in Lothur''s group felt pressured.

    They had just advanced to the highest level they thought existed, but out of nowhere, they hade face to face with a being that seemed much stronger than them!

    ''Shit! Who is that?'' Anneke broke out in a cold sweat, seeing that the cultivation path didn''t have the limits they thought it did.

    "Who am I?" The man smiled as he read her mind. "I will only answer you once. I am the God in charge of this space where your world is. The one you saw before me is the Immortal in charge of your world, my subordinate."

    Gulp!

    "What?" They all opened their mouths in shock.

    "Now you have to make a choice." He said as he gestured, changing his surroundings to show thingspatible with what he had to say. "Either you be Immortals, or you be Gods. There is no other choice. Make your choice."

    "What does that mean, Senior? How can we choose without knowing anything else?" Lothur asked.

    "Immortals are, as their name implies, undying. They have infinite life and cannot be killed even by the Gods. However, they are the lowest level of Celestial ceres. They work as mere caretakers of worlds like yours.

    Gods, on the other hand, have no limits and can continue to grow spiritually. They are the highest level of Celestial beings, those who create or destroy life in the known universe, the sovereigns who dictate the rules of nature. They are free to do as they please and seek the pinnacle.

    Gods, however, can be killed, even though they have infinite life expectancy.

    Now you must decide. Would you rather be janitors or creators of the universe?"

    .

    .

    .

    To be continued...

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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!