“Why this person?” The old marquis was puzzled.
“Don’t you think she’s very interesting?”
The old marquis glanced at the document again, yet this single sheet of paper only took a moment to read no matter how carefully he studied the contents. Eventually, he shook his head in resignation. “I still can’t figure out what’s so interesting. Even though she’s cultivated our race’s arts, it must be the most shallow type. Our famed-clan inheritances cannot be learned by humans after all.”
The young demonkin smiled. “A human who can cultivate our race’s arts is already extremely interesting. Perhaps she’s the one that I want.”
“Young Lord…”
The young demonkin looked up. “What, you think this will be dangerous as well? I’m only going for one day.”
The marquis hesitated. “Fine, just one day.”
The young demonkin revealed a smile as he pointed at the old marquis. “Don’t send people to follow me or I’ll really get angry.”
“But how do you plan to find her?”
“That’s my business.” The young demonkin was apparently unhappy.
Moments later, a small, faintly-discernible airship shot out from the main vessel and sped toward the Eastern Sea. The old marquis said after a while, “Let’s split up and visit the nearby leaders.”
Everyone was puzzled. “At this time? Didn’t we just contact them?”
“Yes, right away. These fellows are used to lawlessness. We have to keep an eye on them so that they don’t hurt the young lord.”
Moments later, several small airships split off toward different directions in the Eastern Sea.
In the Totemic Castle, the Wolf King was in his newly forged steel throne, frowning at the masked man in front of him. “Haven’t we reached an agreement already?”
The black-robed man said in a husky voice, “Our superior believes we can expand the scope of our cooperation. For instance, you can help us build a new army corps…”
Cinnabar Volcano City, the Spider Emperor’s camp. The atmosphere here was shrouded in austerity as a dozen or so of the Spider Emperor’s subordinates confronted three black-robed men. The trio wore sinister masks that hid their true facial features, and they themselves weren’t really that powerful. Yet, their momentum was no weaker than their many opponents.
At this point, an extremely big arachne walked into the hall. He stood over five meters tall and was clad in a full set of heavy armor, not unlike a small moving mountain. Every step he took would shake the great hall since he hadn’t transformed into human form completely.
Looking down at the three black-robed men with his ten sinister-looking compound eyes, he said, “His Majesty is on the front lines and can’t rush back in time. I’m in charge for the time being. I think that your terms are too demanding!”
One of the robed demonkin men said, “How demanding these terms are is decided by how strong each party is. As we see it, they’re already quite generous.”
The tall arachne froze for a moment. There was anger in his voice as he retorted, “Don’t forget that it’s the neutral lands you’re in. You demonkin will be greatly restrained here, so don’t gauge people with Evernight standards!”
The black-robed man replied calmly, “I know where I am, but you shouldn’t forget that the restrictions on dukes and grand dukes are fairly limited. If you believe the Spider Emperor can contend with our dukes, there’s no need to continue our discussion.”
The generals in the hall were shocked. Even the big arachne blurted out in astonishment, “You have grand dukes coming over?”
The demonkin replied, “Everything is possible, is it not? If you people cannot decide on our terms, then contact the Spider Emperor. From what I know, there aren’t any big battles on the front lines. As long as the emperor shows up, we’ll consider it a sign of good faith and be open to discussing many things.”
Just as the tall arachne was in a difficult position, an indifferent yet powerful voice echoed from the roof. “I can show my sincerity, but you people have no right to negotiate with me.”
The demonkin looked up to find a fist-sized crystalline spider on the ceiling of the hall, the source of the voice just now.
The black-robed man’s stance became respectful immediately. He bowed toward the crystal spider, saying, “I’m only in charge of conveying the message. As for the negotiation, it’s naturally our marquis who will talk with you. We just hope there will be no hostile actions during the talks.”
“That’s a given,” the spider emperor said as he materialized.
On the holy mountain of Tidehark, Luo Yun arrived outside of the small courtyard where Luo Bingfeng remained in isolation. “City Lord, those demonkin are here again and they insist on meeting you.”
Luo Bingfeng’s clear voice emerged from the courtyard, “I refuse.”
“They’re saying we’ll have to face the consequences if we refuse to meet them.”
Luo Bingfeng sneered, “A group of bastards who don’t even dare to reveal their faces. Drive them away!”
While Luo Yun was hesitating, the lady’s voice appeared from the courtyard as well. “Bingfeng, the demonkin suffers a lot of restrictions here. Most of them need to use masks to protect themselves from the corrosion of void origin power. It’s not like they want to wear it on purpose.”
Luo Bingfeng said in a cold voice, “If they’re truly powerful, they’ll naturally be able to ignore the corrosion of void origin power. They clearly have experts overseeing them, yet they only send such riff-raff to see me. Are they trying to bully people from the Eastern Sea? Drive them all away. Tell them their life is forfeit the next time they enter Tidehark.”
The undercurrents flowing through the Eastern Sea did not affect the wilderness. Despite the continuous spread of war, trade caravans could still be seen trudging majestically along the inter-city highways. To these lowest level merchants and mercenaries, there was war everywhere and danger was lurking around every corner. Whether or not they would risk their lives for this was dependent on how much the owner was willing to pay.
The wilderness wasn’t entirely deserted. Villages big and small were scattered throughout the land. Some of these settlements were formed while prospecting rare ores or because there were underground wells beneath them. Others were naturally formed places of rest or nests of mercenaries and hunters. These villages were unaffected by the environment and kept on operating at their own tempo.
In the depths of the wilderness, there was a fairly lively secret settlement. This place was hidden in an overgrown valley and formed from several interconnecting tunnels. It was both secluded and safe since the exits toward the outside world were hidden deep inside the mountain range. At first, it was a temporary settlement set up by some hunters, but its location eventually spread among the hunters and mercenary circles. In the end, it turned into a common camp used by all kinds of people in the wilderness.
There were several bonfires in the camp with pots hanging over them, and the strong fragrance of meat wafting out from them stirred everyone’s appetite.
The bonfires naturally separated the people into different groups. The largest mercenary group occupied two caves, while the smaller ones could only share one together. The nameless newcomers and lone wolves couldn’t even stay in a cave. All they could do was camp out in the valley. In truth, they wouldn’t dare join a stranger’s group even if someone were to invite them. There was neither guarantee nor law in the neutral lands, so these lone wolves would rather leave before nightfall and face the wild beasts alone than risk unknown dangers.
There was a small bonfire flickering in a corner of the valley, with a rabbit hanging over it from a simple meat rack. There was a young girl beside the flame, covered in a dirty cloak. One side of the rabbit was somewhat burnt and the other side was still covered in red veins. Apparently, her cooking skills weren’t that outstanding.
The lone girl attracted a lot of attention. People would whisper among themselves from time to time, scheming and pointing occasionally. The oversized cloak hung down and covered most of her facial features, only revealing her chin. Yet, her lips were exquisite and white, the best these hunters could ever find in the wilderness.
It was just that people who could operate alone in the wilderness were usually quite capable, and the girl had a large sinister-looking cleaver beside her, proof that she wasn’t an easy target.
Three hunters walked out of the cave after some discussion and headed toward the young girl. They were tall, big, and their equipment was also better than the normal standards—clearly, they weren’t easy individuals. They walked straight toward the girl, much to the dissent of the others eyeing her. But most of those people eventually turned away after seeing the trio’s weaponry, choosing to ignore the commotion here.
The young girl was entirely focused on roasting her rabbit, almost oblivious to the disaster coming her way.
The three hunters hastened their steps, and the leader eventually reached out to pat the girl’s shoulder. “Hi lass, do you want to get to know us?”
His hands hadn’t even landed when it was frozen midway. A wisp of faintly-discernible black energy had wrapped around the man’s hand, making it impossible for him to move or advance.
A young man had appeared beside the bonfire at one point. He was unusually handsome—his smile was as warm as the sun, and a pair of deep blue eyes sparkled as bright as the stars beneath his elegant brows. With a wisp of black energy still lingering around his fingers, he said to the girl with a smile, “Can we be friends?”
The young girl looked up, revealing a small face comparable to a porcelain doll. She looked at the young man in confusion but didn’t say anything.
The latter slapped his forehead, saying, “Ah, how could I forget to present a meeting gift for this beautiful lady? This is my present, do you like it?”
With that, the young man flicked his finger. The dark energy around him began trembling, and the shades of black on the hunter’s hand transformed into an extremely complicated diagram that cut the three men in pieces.
