It didn’t take long for the scarred man to locate the inn that Gerald and Yale were staying in. Thankfully, upon hearing quite a racket outside their inn, Yale popped his head out of their room’s window… and immediately recognized the scarred man! His face now fully pale in fear, Yale quickly turned to look at Gerald—who was lying on the bed—before whispering, “B-brother Gerald…! It’s the gang from the casino…! They’re here looking for us…! What should we do…?!” Hearing that, Gerald headed to the window to have a look… and he was just in time to see the scarred man rushing into the inn with his men! Frowning slightly, Gerald then turned to look at Yale while ordering, “Come quick!” Just as Yale was wondering what Gerald meant, his eyes went wide when Gerald began climbing out the window! Though Gerald then easily leaped onto the roof—from the windowsill—, Yale was far weaker than him. With that in mind, though Yale eventually managed to get to the windowsill, he simply coul
After thinking for a while, Gerald eventually said, “…Don’t worry, we’ll leave first thing in the morning!” Hearing that, Yale instantly agreed. To him, the sooner they left the town, the better… Fast forward to nighttime, Gerald and Yale didn’t dare to sleep. After all, there was always the chance of getting attacked in their sleep. Still, Gerald couldn’t help but feel that this truly was an ancient place. After all, once night fell, not a soul could be seen on the streets. The people of the Autremonde Realm didn’t really have a nightlife, and he had to admit that the quietness felt rather unusual… Regardless, the duo instantly set off once dawn broke. The earlier they left, the less likely they were to accidentally bump into the scarred man… Thankfully, all it took was about an hour for Gerald and Yale to successfully leave the town… Now that they had made it out safely, Yale was prompted to ask, “So… Where to now, brother Gerald…?” Yale was naturally curious to know si
Gerald himself didn’t move an inch, and simply sipped on his tea. By this point, scenes like this were completely normal to him… Whatever the case was, there appeared to be over a dozen men in black, and all of them looked fully prepared to attack the bodyguards. From what Gerald could tell, the men in black looked quite strong and skilled. With that in mind, he doubted that the bodyguards would be able to take them on… and after a while, it was made apparent that Gerald’s guess was right. With most of the bodyguards either heavily injured or already dead, one of the middle-aged ones turned to glare at the men in black before growling, “Who are you people?! I’ll have you know that I’m Tanner Junas! The head of the Juans’ Bodyguard Institute in Shontell! Daring to even attack the bodyguards of Shontell… Do all of you have a death wish or something?!” “Cut the cr*p and just hand us the holy stones if you want to live!” scoffed what appeared to be the leader of the men in black.
Simply chuckling in response, Gerald then said, “No need to be so modest, captain Juans! Either way, you should really tend to your wounds first!” Upon hearing that, Tanner realized that he was still pretty badly injured. With that, he then sat down and began treating his wounds… Shortly after, a troop of horseback soldiers arrived at the inn. From the looks of it, these were the Armored guards of Shontell that Tanner had previously mentioned about… Seeing them, Tanner immediately got to his feet and greeted one of the armored men, “General Lucarl!” General Kay Lucarl was the commander of the Shontell’s Armored guards, and upon seeing how wounded Tanner was, he couldn’t help but say in astonishment, “Captain Juans! That’s a pretty nasty-looking wound there!” “It’s only a scratch!” replied Tanner with a chuckle. Instead of laughing along, Kay simply got off his horse and began looking at all the dead bodies on the ground… While he was definitely sure that a fierce battle had
Still, just from the way Gerald looked and talked, Kay knew better than to doubt him. Whatever the case was, seeing that Kay was about to escort them back to Shontell—to ensure that the holy stones wouldn’t get stolen by other bandits—Tanner took the chance to walk up to Gerald and say, “Speaking of which, are you headed for Shontell, Mr. Crawford?” “Indeed, we are!” replied Gerald with a nod. “I see! Then… Why don’t you come with us? After all, I still need to properly thank you for saving us!” suggested Tanner in a sincere tone. Chuckling in response, Gerald then said, “You’re being way too cordial, Captain Juans! Regardless, I’d rather not get in the way of your work! Don’t worry about us, we’ll head there later on our own!” “Well… Alright then, but if you need anything or require any assistance in Shontell, you know who to look for!” replied Tanner in a slightly disheartened tone. Still, he wasn’t going to force Gerald to go along with his plan. With that, Kay, Tanner,
Looking at how disheartened Yale was, Gerald could only sigh as he thought about it for a moment before replying, “…Fine, I’ll participate!” Naturally, the second he heard that, Yale instantly broke into a smile. Regardless, the duo then began heading toward the arena where the martial arts competition was being held… Upon arriving, they were slightly surprised to see how crowded it was. At the time, a woman and man were competing against each other, and each move they dealt gained loud cheers from the audience. Shortly after, the woman landed a kick right in the man’s chest, sending him flying out of the arena! Following more loud cheers, what appeared to be the judge then stood up before declaring, “And Miss Yalinda Juans scores another victory! Is there anyone else who wishes to challenge her? Remember, if you win, a hundred thousand holy stones will be yours!” Despite the promise of so many holy stones, the crowd instantly went silent. After all, they had all seen how p
Gerald, for one, really hated sore losers, and Yalinda had very clearly lost the match. That fact was only made even more apparent by how the audience didn’t step in to defend her. After all, anyone with the most basic common sense would be able to see the massive difference between their power. Whatever the case was, after hearing Gerald declare that in the presence of so many people, she finally realized that she had messed up. With that in mind, she stomped her foot before fuming as she growled, “You…! Fine! You win! Big deal! Just you wait and see…!” Following that, everyone then watched as the girl turned to quickly leave… Instead of cheering for Gerald, however, for some reason, the crowd now seemed to be more worried for him if anything. After all, all of them knew that in Shontell, Yalinda wasn’t someone to be trifled with… The judge himself quickly walked up to Gerald and handed him the holy stones before shaking his head. Following a sigh, the man then said, “It
“…Either way, there’s no helping it. That person won fair and square, and we just have to accept that!” replied Tanner as he consoled his daughter, knowing full well that in the world of martial arts competitions, nobody could remain at the top forever… Though Yalinda looked like she wanted to refute, she finally realized that there was a terrible scar on Tanner’s arm! With that in mind, she quickly asked, “Huh? When did you get injured, dad? What happened?” Hearing that, Tanner simply chuckled indifferently as he waved his good hand and said, “It’s just a scratch! Regardless, I got the wound from some of Mount Tygress’s bandits on my way back!” “Those bandits? They’re really getting more and more chaotic by the day! Either way, do consider increasing the number of men with you while you’re out delivering things! If you don’t, I swear I’m going to start coming with you as extra protection!” mumbled Yalinda after a short pause. Simply patting his daughter’s head in response, Tan
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