Atop one of the many piles of treasure, lay a treasure chest… and upon seeing it, Gerald immediately knew that what he was looking for was in there. As he had predicted, it truly was here! Now that it was so close to him, there was no way he was going to be able to hold himself back from obtaining it! With that, Gerald paid little attention to what Rey and Yann were doing and simply walked toward the treasure chest… Watching as seemingly endless amounts of gold coins slid down from the mountain of treasures that Gerald was slowly climbing, Yann couldn’t help but get even more excited. Taking his backpack off, he immediately began filling it with piles upon piles of treasures! After all, he had never seen this many gold coins in a single place before, so he simply couldn’t help himself… While Rey—who had been standing at the side—was equally as excited to see all that gold, he knew better than to do what Yann was doing. After all, Gerald had told him not to touch things at r
“…What should we do now, Mr. Crawford…?” asked Rey. Staring straight at Yann, Gerald simply narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. He knew for a fact that Yann was already a lost cause… Greed truly was a frightening thing… Even so, he wanted to try one last time. Glaring at Yann, Gerald’s tone sounded much angrier as he growled, “…One final time. Are you leaving with us, or aren’t you?” “I’m not leaving yet!” roared Yann, instantly causing Gerald’s anger to peak. That was the last straw. Not wanting anything to do with Yann anymore, Gerald then began walking out of the treasure room… However, the second Gerald stepped out, all the candles in the room immediately went out. Following that, the room began glowing in an eerie green light! ‘This isn’t good!’ Gerald thought to himself as he quickly got out of the room—along with Rey—before yelling, “Yann! Get over here! Quick!” Of course, Yann’s fate had been sealed the second he chose to disobey Gerald… Unable to react i
Understanding that staying here for any longer would only spell more trouble, after resting for a bit, Gerald got to his feet before saying, “Alright, let’s leave this place while we can!” With that, the duo made their way back to the sealed main entrance… Once they were there, they quickly realized that there wasn’t a mechanism to open the doors at all, at least not one they could easily see… The pitch darkness of the place certainly didn’t help… Understanding the fact that they didn’t even know where to start looking for the mechanism, Rey couldn’t help but stare at the massive stone wall—blocking the cave’s entrance—before looking at Gerald and asking, “…How… should we leave, Mr. Crawford…?” “…Well, since there was a mechanism outside that allowed us to enter, I’m sure there’s another one in here that will allow us to leave! Since the Yin and Yang sides—based on the layout of The Eight Diagrams—was the key to opening the door from the outside, I’m assuming that the mechanism
Following that, Gerald got up and began feeling around the walls again... Since the stone walls were quite uneven, it made finding mechanisms—to potentially lead to a way out—even harder than usual… Regardless, after hearing what Gerald had to say, Rey was motivated to give it another shot. With that, he began doing the same as Gerald, hoping to finally find a way to get out of this place… While continuing to feel the walls, Gerald's ears perked when a crisp ‘click’ was heard. Eyes quickly widening, Gerald could only stare as the stone slab—that his foot was currently on—began sinking in… Lifting his foot, he watched as the slab continued sinking deeper and deeper… And by the time it stopped, a part of the stone wall had shifted open! Both surprised and delighted, Rey couldn’t help but turn to look at Gerald while calling out, “M-Mr. Crawford…!” Though Gerald himself was surprised by all this, he quickly snapped out of it and walked through the newly formed entrance… To t
“It’s fine if you don’t get it. Whatever the case is, I’m going to be having an out-of-body experience now to check if my theory is correct! With that said, be sure to guard my body well in the meantime!” said Gerald. “Got it, Mr. Crawford! Do be careful!” replied Rey as Gerald nodded before lying down… Shortly after, his ghost form shot out from his body before diving downward! Continuing to dive deeper and deeper, Gerald eventually came across the source of the duo’s plight… True to Gerald’s guess, there really was a giant mechanism underneath them this entire time! With that mystery solved, Gerald knew that in order for them to escape this hellish loop, they would need to take a literal leap of faith after finding a specific number on the stairs… If they didn’t, they could very well end up living the rest of their lives on these stairs… Regardless, now that he had learned all this, Gerald bolted back to his physical body… and upon re-entering it, he instantly yelled, “Bing
Hearing how worried the boy was for his safety, Gerald couldn’t help but smile subtly as he looked up while shouting, “What are you waiting for, Rey? Jump already!” Upon hearing Gerald’s response, Rey was instantly overjoyed. After all, not only was Gerald still alive, but he had apparently successfully found a way to escape this hellish loop! Now that he knew this, Rey mustered up his courage… before leaping and plunging straight into the abyss! Immediately screaming as he plummeted, his utter terror soon turned into confusion when he realized that his feet were already on the ground. The fall had barely even taken a second! “…Was there really a need to scream that loudly…” grumbled Gerald whose ears were now throbbing due to how loud Rey had been. While Gerald was left annoyed, Rey himself was so overjoyed—that he was still alive—that he immediately exclaimed, “I-I’m alive! And to think that the jump wasn’t even all that long! W-we’re finally free from those stairs, Mr. Cra
“W-what should we do now, Mr. Crawford…?” whispered Rey, gulping as he stared at all the giant scorpions around them. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see an opening for them to escape at all! “Stay calm! I’m thinking!” replied Gerald as he continued looking around, hoping that it would help him devise an escape plan. Thankfully, it wasn’t long after before Gerald spotted a large door leading out of this area. With their escape route in his sight, Gerald quickly whispered, “Rey, do you see that large door at your twelve o’clock?” Turning to look in that direction, Rey then nodded before replying, “I do!” “Good, now listen up. The plan is simple. You rush over to open that door while I distract the scorpions! Got it?” explained Gerald. “L-loud and clear!” replied Rey, knowing that that was their best bet of surviving this encounter. Hearing that, Gerald then drew his Astrabyss Sword before pushing Rey with his other hand while yelling, “Good! Now go!” As Rey nodd
After saying that, Gerald turned around and began exploring this new place with Rey… Shortly after, they came across a spring of sorts that had crystal clear water that splashed all over the place… Naturally, this surprised the duo. To think that there would be a spring here of all places… “How odd to find a spring out of the blue!” exclaimed Rey as he walked over to the body of flowing water before scooping some up to drink… Eyes-widening the second he gulped down, Rey couldn’t help but turn to face Gerald as he added, “Holy! The water’s sweet!” Rey had never tasted such sweet and refreshing spring water in his entire life! Hearing that, Gerald walked over as well to taste the water… and true to Rey’s words, the water truly was rather sweet. The fact that a spring with such sweet water was down here in this horrible place truly was mystifying… Before Rey could take another scoop, the water suddenly began bubbling, causing the youth to freeze in surprise. It wasn’t lo
Watching in fury as his black air blade dissipated, Daryl roared, “W-what power…!” As Daryl was too shocked to move, Gerald took the chance to yell, “Attack…!” And just like that, a blazing light momentarily lit the entire sky…! As surges of energy shot out in all directions, Daryl’s devilish formation was reduced to dust in a matter of seconds! “No…!” howled the anguished Daryl as the earth beneath him cracked and clouds of dust flew everywhere! It was chaos incarnate… yet moments later, everything fell deathly silent. Gerald himself had already vomited a pool of blood by now, and as he fell unconscious, he could feel his body freezing up… Fast forward to three years later, Mayberry Commercial Street was as lively as ever… “Darling, it’s your brother’s wedding day today… Shouldn’t we head over earlier? You’ve been dolling yourself up for ages!” “Fine, dad… Though, isn’t Second Uncle already there to help set things up? That aside, my brother’s gone through so many hardsh
‘Daryl’s been possessed by the Supreme Devilish Lord for ages, and the lord himself has been using your grandfather’s body to attempt his resurrection! This cycle has been repeating for years, and the Supreme Devilish Lord has already captured many people with Yin physiques but thankfully failed! This grew so out of hand that the Soluna Deus Sect, or Sun League as you call them, have actively been trying to force the Supreme Devilish Lord to show himself!’ ‘In order to further deter the Supreme Devilish Lord’s efforts, they’ve even been kidnapping people with Yin physiques! Do you see the entire picture now, boy?’ explained Finnley. ‘…So that’s the truth… Then, how’s Mila?’ asked Gerald. ‘She’s fine, but your reunion depends on whether we can destroy him this time!’ replied one of the white-robed ladies. That was relieving to hear… Still, as it turned out, the Sun League weren’t villains at all! They had simply been abducting people like his second uncle, Mila, and Leo for the
His chest felt like it was exploding, and it didn’t take long for blood to spurt out of his mouth. What immense devilish power…! Following a sneer, the Nirvadevil sect’s master scoffed, “I know you raised your cultivation level this high because you want to learn more about the Sun League, but you should understand that devilish cultivators will always be stronger! Did you really think that acquiring the angelic inheritance would give you absolute power? How laughable! Your Herculean Primordial Spirit won’t save you this time!” Furrowing his brows, Gerald retorted, “…Who on earth are you? How do you know me so well? In fact, how do you know about my Herculean Primordial Spirit?” Laughing in response, the master then said, “Oh, you’ll know who I am soon! But before that, allow me to snatch your Herculean Primordial Spirit! I need to destroy it so that the sacred Primordial Devilish Internal Pellet can reign supreme…!” Upon hearing that, Gerald couldn’t help but frown even more.
“…This formation. It feels… familiar,” muttered Sanchez. “Same thought here. I think it’s the Septelic Perishment Formation of the ancient Black Dragon Sect!” replied Gerald. “Ah, no wonder it felt so familiar… Though, wasn’t this formation lost to time ages ago? How did you learn of it?” asked the surprised Sanchez. The formation had been a legendary one that, as Sanchez had said, had been lost at the end of the ancient era. Just from its name alone, one could imagine that this immensely powerful formation had been used against the people of the Deitus Realm. In the end, however, the allies of the Deitus Realm still managed to destroy the Black Dragon Sect, thus leading to the destruction of all the sect’s other mysterious and bizarre formations… Naturally, they had made sure to obliterate all of them to ensure that nobody in the future would be able to threaten them like that again in the future… Whatever the case was, Gerald was quick to reply, “I read about it somewhere. Ho
Upon hearing Gerald’s question, Lord Ethern was prompted to reveal a few samples of the herbs they were locating… and it wasn’t long before Gerald felt his eyes twitch. After all, those samples were herbs inherited by the ancient witches… In other words, they were the ones he was for as well! Naturally, Marcel recognized them as well, and he was quick to say, “…These…” Noticing how the two were looking at the herbs, Darkwind muttered, “…I take it that the herbalist they’re looking for really is Ms. Phoebe, Mr. Crawford?” “…Well, it’s hard to say if she is since Marcel already said that the timing wasn’t right… Regardless, this is an important clue. Lord Ethern, was it? Could you elaborate a bit more on your master?” muttered Gerald as he turned to face the man again. “I really can’t say…! Look, Master always appears before us in a shadowy form, so none of us have ever seen his face!” replied Lord Ethern while shaking his head. “…Is that the truth?” “I swear on my life!” exc
“Flaxen, you bloody traitor…!” roared the three other lords who grew so angry that their faces went red!However, they had no time to remain angry since the Blancetnoir Double Lords and Sanchez had already made their move! As one would expect, it only took a single round for all three of the lords to crumble to the ground.With his eyes wide open, Lord Ethern stuttered, “Who… Who the hell are you people…?!”“You don’t need to know that information. That aside, tell us what you four are planning to do already,” scoffed Gerald as he slowly approached the three defeated men.“…Who the hell do you think you are? What makes you think I’ll comply so easily?” growled Lord Ethren.Upon hearing that, Gerald raised his hand… and within a split second, Lord Ethern let out a bone-chilling wail. The Blancetnoir Double Lords had just snapped both of the poor man’s arms!“If you want your other limbs intact, don’t make me repeat the question,” growled Gerald.Now terrified, the agonized man replied,
From what Gerald could tell, all of them were devilish cultivators. After all, their auras were way different compared to regular cultivators like Gerald and demonic cultivators like Sanchez. Though he had read about devilish cultivators before in one of Uncle Zeman’s books, this was his first time actually coming across them. It was a while later when the frowning Sanchez muttered, “So, they want to ambush some herb lady… Is she the one we’re looking for?” Sanchez, for one, had pretty much been frowning throughout his journey with Gerald. His only hope at the moment was for Gerald to find the person he was looking for as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knew how long that boy would continue controlling his life! Regardless, Marcel was quick to add, “I had the same thought, Mr. Crawford. After all, Phoebe excels not only in pharmacology, but also in all sorts of special techniques and formations!” Watching as Gerald nodded, the Blancetnoir Double Lords couldn’t help but scoff,
There were two straightforward purposes of the trip. The first was to find Phoebe, the descendant of the ancient witches. Only by finding her would Gerald have a chance to locate Daryl’s hideout… Hopefully the Yinblood pellet—that was now in his hands—would aid with that effort… As for the second goal, he was hoping to retrieve the inheritance according to the Zearl’s instructions. After all, he’d only stand a fighting chance against Daryl and the Soluna Sect after getting the inheritance. While it was true that Gerald’s cultivation level was currently one of the highest in all of the cultivation realm, the fact remained that Daryl practiced devilish cultivation, and those from the Soluna Deus Sect were already in the Deitus Realm. In other words, he was merely an ant to them, which was why he was making sure to fully prepare himself before confronting them. Though he now had Sanchez and the Blancetnoir Double Lords under his command, he still felt that he was underprepared… Re
Now that all three of them had been subdued with the Nineraid Band, the other big shot cultivators couldn’t help but stare enviously at Gerald, knowing full well that they’d never be able to obtain his angelic artifacts. After all, if he could take down the Blancetnoir Double Lords and Sanchez, then what chance did they have? By this point, Sanchez had managed to get to his feet, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty. Naturally, he no longer dared to make any rash moves on Gerald. Instead, he was prompted to resentfully say, “You’re really something else, Gerald…! It makes me wonder why you still need our help. After all, not only are you the sole person who knows the secrets of the general’s tomb, but you also possess those angelic artifacts!” “Oh, don’t you worry about that. With how powerful you three are, I’m sure you’ll become indispensable assistants as we head to the North Desert in search of a certain someone! Speaking of which, if you’re already thinking about killing me t