Some distance in front of them, at what appeared to be the entrance of the Invisible Ancient Fortress World, four separate parties of cultivators had already gathered. Apparently, they were waiting for something.
One group mainly consisted of only cloaked people. No one could see their visage hidden behind those black cloaks. In fact, they were just standing in a corner quietly while no one even attempted to talk or disturb them.
The second class was comprised of individuals who looked oddly well-educated. That was mostly due to their consistent school uniforms that emphasized their academic air. Moreover, their every movement and pronunciation radiated grace and class.
The third gathering shockingly consisted of mostly monstrous beasts of various kinds. But as Virus’ sight was skimming through the faces of the two that were in the lead, he paused.
He at first paused because, strangely, one of the two in the lead was a human female and a human being mingled with monstrous beasts was indeed a peculiar scene to witness.
However, the moment he took a glance at the countenance of his target, much to his bewilderment, Virus realized she was someone familiar!
Hadelia!
Hadelia was one of the participants at the Martial Contest the last time Virus was on the Cultivation Earth running an errand. She was someone who had left quite a deep impression on Virus.
Virus remembered her as someone who only sought a heated battle, a proud girl that wanted to test her limits and enjoy a great fight!
Furthermore, evidently, Hadelia was from a strong clan called the Burning Sparrow, which automatically made her the most famous person in the Silver Sky Sect at the time.
One more aspect of their meeting that Virus paid special attention to was the strange ability, treasure, or technique of Hadelia in being able to suppress and hide her true level of cultivation.
‘I thought I forced her to use every last bit of her strength last time… could it be I was wrong? Or did she just progress that much during the time I was gone? Otherwise, how could she qualify to be here today?’ Through that contemplation alone, Virus noticed that Hadelia might not have lost to him that day if he had not knocked her unconscious fast!
“Ah, but what’s she doing there mixing up with monstrous beasts?” Virus murmured in an almost inaudible volume.
Unfortunately, it looked like the cheeky woman had still caught it as she explained while directly pointing at Hadelia with her finger, “Hmm, that woman, right? Well, their clan’s guardian beast is the Animal Kingdom’s well-known Burning Sparrow, a very strong monstrous beast. So that’s probably why she’s mingling with them since she’s most likely a representative of the Burning Sparrow itself.”
“I see, but please stop pointing at her.” Although Virus really wanted to approach Hadelia and ask her questions like “what happened at the Silver Sky Sect for it to be totally annihilated?” and “what happened to Astes and the Pagoda Master specifically? Are they still alive?”, regretfully, he still decided against doing that.
Because for one, currently, Virus was in his true face and not the one he had used in order to infiltrate the Silver Sky Sect. Thus, it was guaranteed that Hadelia would not recognize him.
And second, to be honest, Virus felt uneasy thinking about the terrible news he may receive while not being able to do a single damn thing about it. Thus, he decided to focus on what he could do for now, which is to get stronger as fast as possible!
Until the day he was powerful enough that is!
Nonetheless, returning to the previous matter, Virus gazed at the fourth group that he had yet to check. But the second he did, an unexpected frown irked him!
The fourth batch of men was made up of Barbarians!
Moreover, it was a party of barbarians that he was quite familiar with. They were the same group that had tried to kidnap him out of nowhere.
Meanwhile, seeing what had garnered Virus’ focus, the veiled woman started elaborating with a scornful harrumph.
“Hmph, so those barbarians were that bastard’s followers? No wonder!” Then pointing at a particular barbarian, she continued, “See that arrogant looking giant? He’s the true leader of that group! He’s called Ra and he is in fact the third prince of the Barbarian Kingdom! I never liked him to be honest!”
“Anyway, the other person beside him is that barbarian that was acting as the boss of the group in our encounter, he’s an underling of Ra named Knightgruella, I heard the third prince really trusts and cherishes him. If I knew it was him before, I would’ve beaten that bastard to death! Damn it!”
Meanwhile, as the veiled woman was clarifying the situation in annoyance, Knightgruella was also gritting his teeth in rage while doing the same as he explained everything to the expressionless Ra!
After expounding on the matter, blood seemed to have suddenly left the veiled woman’s skin as she realized an essential fact, “Oh shit! This is bad.”
“What is bad, miss?” By her side, Henna queried.
“All the leaders and their most trusted aide will be entering the invisible castle, but the followers will wait outside… which means Vee will be in danger when we go inside!” Turning toward Virus with an apologetic face, she muttered next, “What should we do? It looks like rather than saving you, I put you in more danger by bringing you…”
As a matter of fact, she was sincerely feeling remorseful and sorry now.
Afterward, she was just about to open her lips, when the trio noticed Ra and Knightgruella were striding in their direction.
“Is this the little man you’re blabbering about?” Stopping right in front of Virus, Ra lowered his head as he looked down deep into his eyes. It was clear he was trying to humiliate and intimidate Virus by standing extremely close to him and showing him how small he was compared to him, just like an ant!
“Woah, would you back off a little bit, man? I’m not gay.” Unluckily for the true barbarian boss, Virus only enjoyed situations like these as he always acted the exact opposite of how his opponent wanted him to act.
“Hehehe!” Standing beside them, the veiled woman immediately started laughing hysterically while slapping Virus’ back as she exclaimed, “Nice one! Hehehe…”
To that, however, Virus could only let out a helpless sigh as he thought, ‘I shouldn’t have said that while this woman is around.’
“What did you just call me?” On the other side, bloodthirsty killing intent was radiating off of Ra’s entire body as he questioned with a savage light flickering through his red eyes.
“Kill him, boss!” Knightgruella encouraged barbarically, wanting to see nothing but the bastard’s cut-off head!
And indeed, just as Ra was about to make his deadly move, the veiled woman suddenly stepped in the middle of the two as she interfered, “Woah, Woah, you’re not thinking of killing my friend right in my presence, are you, Ra? I mean he said he’s not interested, right? So, would you please go away and find another companion to tickle that hole of yours? Please?”
As always, the cheeky woman was as brazen-faced as it could get at every opportunity she found. However, unexpectedly, her voice promptly went through a complete change in tone as she added frigidly, “Unless… you want us to fight here, outside.”
“YOU!” Ra roared, attracting everyone’s attention.
“I’m what? I’m beautiful? That I agree! Though you’re an ugly giant that’s never going to see the beauty hiding behind the veil!” The cheeky female mouthed while touching her dark veil.
By now, Ra was at the absolute limits of his control. However, for some odd reason, he was still successful in controlling himself as he calmed down and replied with a smirk. “HUH?! Did you call me ugly? I heard the most hideous face in all lands is hiding behind that veil of yours, everyone calls you the ‘Supreme Ugly’, you know that?”
Fortunately, that provocation didn’t seem to budge her in the least as she simply let out a harrumph full of contempt, “Hmph, nice try! But you’re still never seeing this otherwordly visage, so dream on!”
“Let’s go!” Turning around, she prompted Henna and Virus to follow her.
Behind them, Ra declared, “See you in the castle, Supreme Ugly.”
After that, in a volume the trio could hear, Ra commanded his lackeys, “And that bastard following her, kill him when we’re all gone inside.”
…
After Virus and the two ladies left to another corner, in a concerned tone, biting her lips beneath the veil, the cheeky lady spoke, “Should I just skip the invisible castle and stay outside?”
Of course, the reason why she was even mentioning this wasn’t that she was afraid of encountering Ra or anything like that, but rather because she was even more troubled and anxious about Virus’ fate if she did indeed leave him all alone by himself, that was especially the case after hearing Ra’s previous threat.
“Miss, you can’t!” Knowing exactly how valuable and vital this trial was for the veiled lady, Henna denied it at once.
“But-“
Before she could utter any more, Virus interrupted, “You cheeky woman, just go on ahead and enter the castle… especially since I’ll also be trying my luck with the Bridge to Heaven.”
“What? You are going to try that? But you will still be killed when you fail and come out, what then?” There wasn’t even an ounce of confidence in her voice about the possibility of Virus succeeding. She didn’t even consider it, she was only put ill at ease about the time he was cast out of the bridge.
Catching that lack of confidence, Virus wasn’t in the mood to reassure her any further as he just declared, “If it’s too hard, I’ll just advance a few steps and remain there till you guys come out, would that be alright?”
“Ah! An excellent idea! You can definitely do that! Alright! But you’re below thirty, right?” Squinting a bit, she expressed her doubt.
“Huh? No, I’m not thirty yet, why does that matter though?” Befuddled, he inquired.
Touching her veil in thought, she started elaborating composedly, “Well, there are two requirements for everyone who wants to enter the Invisible Ancient Fortress World. One, the participant must not have reached thirty years of age. Two, the minimum stage of cultivation set is the Qi Circulation! These two rules are absolute and unbreakable.”
“About the first one, all these representative cultivators you see are below thirty years of age, and about the second one, well, let’s not talk about Qi Circulation, I bet at least a few of them are at the Sublimity Emergence stage. They’re all geniuses.”
“Hmm, is that so?” Virus sunk into deliberation after hearing about the rules and how strong the participants were going to be. Nevertheless, he wasn’t worried about his age since he had not aged a day since the time Immortality Serum has affected his body and DNA.
HOOOOOOO!
Abruptly, a terrifying sound caught everyone’s attention.
“That is the sign that it’s time for the participants to enter the castle!”
Following shortly, two people from every group began to sprint toward the bridge while holding a certain ancient-looking badge in their fists.
“We need to leave now, we can’t fall behind others. You just do what you told me earlier, please stay alive so I can see that hot face of yours again!” With that, the cheeky lady was just about to charge toward the bridge, when Virus stopped her in her tracks, “Wait! Tell me where the Bridge to Heaven is first!”
“Huh? Don’t you see where everyone is going? That bridge that connects to the interior of the invisible fortress, that’s the Bridge to Heaven! Though the only difference between you and us is that we have the badge so we won’t be facing any dangers or trials while crossing it.” She clarified in a single breath. “Anyway, we can’t delay any longer, see you soon!”
Subsequently, Henna and her charged toward the bridge before disappearing into it with every other participant!
Now, the only people that remained were the groups that had escorted their representatives to this location in Chao Mundi.
“Hahaha! You’re dead! Who’s going to save you now, huh?” The bald barbarian that had already bandaged his lost arm in his previous battle with Virus screamed. If there was a race of hatred toward Virus between the barbarians, this bald barbarian would definitely be the ultimate winner!
“KILL HIM!” He roared at all the barbarians. He was no longer willing to underestimate Virus by charging alone, so he ordered everyone else to accompany him and attack together!
In the meantime, perceiving the aggressors that would reach him at any second now, Virus knew he couldn’t dilly-dally at all. Therefore, pushing his feet ahead, he stepped onto the bridge!
Of course, he didn’t forget to leave a sentence behind.
“Wait for me. When you see me again, it’ll be the last thing you see!”
