The star nucleus was a precious star class treasure, much more precious than the star itself. The most marvelous and exquisite thing of a star in the sky was its nucleus.
Leylin was one of the rare types of warriors who cultivated Star Upanishad to such a high level and hence, for someone like him it was a perfect treasure.
Leylin contemplated for a while then looked at Fiona. “Maam, how did you know so clearly about it? And you didn’t answer my previous question, with your cultivation base, how could you know that I’m cultivating Star power from the moment you met me? How could you know that the star nucleus is good for me?”
“Even if I haven’t eaten pork, I’ve seen pigs running, okay? Anything strange about it?” Fiona’s misty eyes gradually brightened up. “I’ve been living for so long. Although I can’t break through my realm, my knowledge of powers Upanishads is much more profound than yours. Warriors cultivating star power have a distinctive aura. Ordinary people can’t sense it. Anyway, it’s not strange that I know it.”
Leylin just smiled and didn’t question her further.
“I guess you are right, age and experience can teach lessons that can’t be taught otherwise.”
After a while, Leylin turned away and walked to the door and pulled the stone door closed. People from outside wouldn’t be able to see what was happening inside the shop now.
Fiona frowned while looking at him, but she didn’t stop him as though she wanted to see what he wanted to do.
After closing the door, Leylin walked to her, “Maam… do you know anything about that small shield?”
“No!”
“Oh I see. It’s a relic of your husband yeah? I won’t be disturbing, I just want to observe it for a while” Leylin asked.
“Why?” Fiona furrowed her brows.
“It intrigues me and also reminds me of something. ”
Fiona slowly moved her tired body, frowning, walking toward the pile of miscellaneous stuff. She picked up a small shield.
Hesitating for a while, she handed it to Leylin. “You can look but you can’t take it away. Although this small shield is not a valuable thing, it has a special meaning to me.”
“Okay.”
This small shield was made of an unknown material. It wasn’t gold or jade, but it felt heavy and cold. There was no pattern or carving on either side of the shield. It looked pretty ordinary.
Caressing the small shield, Leylin repeated his previous action and used his God Soul to sense.
The soul altar slowly spun. The strange mark on the glabella of the God Soul floating above the soul altar slowly appeared. Five clusters of blood-red clouds were visible as if a strange energy was seeping out.
This plain shield didn’t glow, but some patterns started to appear on one side of the shield. Then, a mark of blood-red cloud emerged on the outer side of the shield.
The five clusters of red clouds on the shield and the ones on his God Soul’s forehead were identical. Although they had no halo or energy fluctuation, they gave the impression of a wicked and eccentric thing. They were like five garnet eyes, sneaking on people and making them irritated.
Swoosh!
A deadly energy bloomed from his fingertip. The gray, misty energy was poured into the blood mark on the shield.
Boom!
A garnet light shot out from the mark. The small shield buzzed and hissed. Shortly after, the small shield became larger. Now it was three meters tall and two meters wide. The garnet mark covered one side of the shield, glowing in a blood-red halo.The other side of the shield now had countless exquisite and complex patterns. Apparently, it was a magical formation that hid a wicked energy that couldn’t be sensed.
A fine handle slowly appeared on this side. It seemed like the handle was here so the user could lift up the shield.
A red light that wasn’t different from the halo of the Blood Vein Ring radiated from the garnet mark on the shield. Five clusters of cloud arrayed in a pentagon. From a distance, it looked like a giant, bloody mouth that could swallow all kinds of light.
Crack!
As Leylin hold the shield his foot directly sank deep into the ground. Half of his body pierced through the ground as if the rigid ground was a block of tofu that was unable to hold him up. Stone and rock scattered.
This massive shield was as heavy as mountain!
Fiona stood behind the counter, her eyes looked heavy with seriousness but they soon resumed the normal status.
She looked at him quietly, revealing no strange signs. She didn’t say anything, either. She just looked at him quietly and indifferently as though none of this was related to her.
With the energy in his body, Leylin can lift up the shield, which had just enlarged but even he can feel it’s monsterous weight.
Leylin was sure that even the warriors at the early Original God Realm couldn’t dream about controlling the shield as they pleased.
Leylin dragged himself out of the hole. After a while, he looked at Fiona.
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t know it would turn out like that. I didn’t know this shield could be such a strange thing. Before it transformed, the small shield was relatively light…” Fiona said.
“Don’t you think this thing has some connection with me?”
“Yeah, I can see that. If you weren’t related to the shield, it would never have transformed.” Fiona smiled.
“But I can’t sell it to you. You should shrink it and put it back in the pile for me. I’m not interested in your secrets. If you don’t want to rob it from me, just leave. I have nothing to tell you.”
“Are you going to ignore destiny like that?”
“I’m old, and my realm is low. I just want to live and wait peacefully for my man to come back. I don’t want to get involved in unnecessary troubles,” said Fiona faintly.
“Age and strength has nothing to do with ambition and goals. Anyway, I guess we aren’t getting anywhere like this but I have a feeling we are far from over. Okay, I’ll go now I have a star nebula to absorb, pardon me.” Leylin resized the shield its pocket version. The blood mark on it disappeared. The shield was now just a normal item.
He picked up the small shield silently. This time, it was as light as a feather. He turned to Fiona and bowed before turning around and walking away.
Fiona stooped and didn’t care about him as if she had already dozed off.
Getting out of the shop, Leylin frowned while standing on the empty street.
After just several steps, he saw a graceful figure covered entirely. Even the face was in black garments. This person was walking towards him.
The person in black also saw him. The gentle body paused for a while before crossing him and walking towards Fiona’s shop.
‘Why is she here?’ Leylin turned around and looked at the shop again and walked ahead, shaking his head before leaving.
‘I knew you would come as well, I guess you found that letter alright.’
‘But what’s your motive of coming to meet Fiona? Does this means this old hermit is also a part of Bloodthirsty Cortege of Eight?’
Leylin was surprised but he didn’t inquire instead he just headed to Kato’s shop.
After he had left, the one in black also stopped, turning around and looking at the direction he had disappeared in as though this person was trying to be sneaky.
Shortly after, that person in black continued her trip to Fiona’s shop.
As Fiona was closing her eyes resting, she was shaken all of a sudden. Her misty eyes brightened for the first time.
After the one in black entered the shop, the thick stone door closed inaudibly. The entire shop fell into a lightless and gloomy ambiance. This person didn’t seem to like the light.
This person pulled her black veil off her head, revealing her frightful appearance. Her dark green eyes looked at Fiona, talking in a soft tone. “Auntie, you’ve just met him?”
She was the leader of the five feudal vassals of the Dark Firmament Divine Nation. She was the regimental commander of the Bloody Legion, Madame Leona.
Fiona sat behind her counter, her face unchanged. She nodded and said, “Yes.”
Leona’s eyes brightened. “Then I guess you must know as well. Auntie,… have you told him yet?”
“Told him?” Fiona’s face was mocking. “Why do I have to tell him? What does it matter to me?”
Leona frowned, looking at the broken ground inside the shop and the small shield atop the pile of miscellaneous items. “That shield belongs to him. You should give it to him.”
“Why should I give it to him?” Fiona gave a light snort.
“This is what uncle asked you to do. It was his wish,” said Leona in a heavy tone.
“It’s your Dark Blood Sunset Family’s mission. It’s not my mission. I have nothing to do with it!” Fiona put on a cold visage. “When that old bat gave me this that year, he didn’t say that I had to fulfill the mission of your Dark Blood Sunset. He hasn’t married me. I’m not a woman of the Dark Blood Sunset’s family. So that kid and I are not related. And as for you, your family has only you now. That guy has disappeared for several thousand years. Your father and the others are gone. Do you still want to keep that vow?”
“As long as one of our Dark Blood Sunset family’s members is still alive, the vow is still there. I will never forget it,” said Leona with a stern visage. “Uncle couldn’t marry you because he didn’t return alive. If he was able to return, he would have surely married you! You are a member of the Dark Blood Sunset family no matter how hard you try to deny it. I call you auntie and you have never objected to it. It means that you accepted it. If you did accept it, you should follow the vow of the Dark Blood Sunset. You should return to him what belongs to him.”
Fiona was silent. After a long moment, she sighed weakly. “Even if I give it to him now, he won’t be able to use it. His realm is still low.”
The scar on Leona’s cheek twitched as if she was smiling.
“Although his realm isn’t high, his competence is extremely outrageous. Not even I am sure that I can beat him, I have seen him in actions with my eyes. He’s a monster, truly an inheritor of that legacy.”
“He’s pretty impressive, I can see that. I guess the dream of your family’s reestablishment can be fulfilled by him.”
“It’s our family.”
“Hmph!”
“Auntie, I’m here to ask for your help… The star map appeared. Leylin brought it out of the Purgatory Star. It’s destined. You can’t escape your fate. The Imperial Masters of the Dark Firmament Divine Nation were all the ancestors of the Dark Blood Sunset family. My Big Uncle disappeared while trying to find where the star map leads to. Don’t you want to see what’s there? Perhaps, you can find Uncle’s body,” pausing for a moment, Leona added, “if he did die there.”
“You mean that he hasn’t died yet?!” Fiona was shocked.
“Nobody has ever seen his skeleton. With his realm and competence, even if you see his corpse, it doesn’t mean that he vanished,” said Leona faintly.
“If he hasn’t died yet, why didn’t he come to me? It’s been several thousand years already! Oh, this bastard. If he isn’t dead and he didn’t show his face, I will not let him live at ease!” Fiona’s eyes sparkled with brutal light.
“I guess he is reluctant for some reason. Maybe he’s confined somewhere, waiting for us to unchain him,” Leona just smiled.
“You got a silver-tongue, girl. People from your Dark Blood Sunset family are all lunatics and swindlers. I don’t believe you,” snorted Fiona.
“It’s alright. You can believe what you want. Before that kid leaves, I will stay in the Heaven Punishment City. When you make up your mind, auntie, you come see me. With your powers, I think that no one could hide the person you want to see in the Land of God Punishment,” said Leona indifferently. She faded into the dark then vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of aura.
Fiona fell into silence. She frowned, but no one knows what she’s thinking.
———————
Kato’s shop.
Leylin sat quietly in the garden behind the shop. Starlight fell over him like a drizzle, illuminating the whole place.
Mysterious, misty starlight disappeared into his body right when it touched him. It seemed like the stars in the sky had a magical connection with his God Body. They were all attracted and pulled into his God Body.
At the same time, the earth and heaven energy turned into invisible flows that gathered into his God Body. It streamed fiercely through his vessels. After more than ten times of refining, it became the pure Essence Qi, contributing to the vortex in his lower abdomen.
His soul became peaceful and crystal clear. He didn’t have any distracting thoughts in his mind, giving room to comprehend the magical mysteries of the star.
His Star power Upanishad had a positive advancement after the experience of the fusion between the star nucleus and the Star Martial Spirit.
As Leylin was cultivating Star Powers suddenly Gato’s aura suddenly entered his Sea of Consciousness. Leylin woke up from his meditation.
“What happened?”
“Barrette’s making a huge scene in Weerlig’s headquarters. He could potentially look for trouble with us as well.”
“Barrette? Isn’t that one of the four great Original God Realm pirates? What’s he on about? Is there any dispute about the star map?”
“Well no, it’s has actually something to do with you.”
“Me…?” Leylin’s eyebrows perched up then he speculated, “Is it about Fatima?”
“Ye-yeah.” Gato was shocked by Leylin’s guess.
“Women are source of trouble, what’s the whole deal here?”
“Well hundreds of years ago Weerlig promised Barrette that once he entered the Original God Realm, he will let Fatima marry him.”
“Now that Barrette reached the Original God Realm, he wants her but Fatima refused to have anything to do with this promise, and even Weerlig is hesitant.”
More than two hundred years ago, Barrette was just a warrior at his First Sky of King God Realm who sought refuge in the Land of God Punishment. When he saw Fatima for the first time, he was stunned because of her beauty. He swore that he would make her his wife.
At that time, Weerlig had already been an overlord of the Land of God Punishment. Naturally, he looked down on Barrette who had only the First Sky of King God Realm cultivation base. He mocked the man for his low realm and said that he didn’t deserve his daughter.
He had publicly said that if Barrette had reached the Original God Realm with a strong background force, he would fulfill his wish.
At that time, he hadn’t recognized Barrette’s potential because people still chased Barrette to kill him. Everyone thought that Barrette would never make it to the Original God Realm.
But after more than two hundred years, Barrette had reached the Original God Realm from his shallow realm that year. At the same time, he had replaced his former leader to be the big boss of the Black Curtain, the overlord of a region in the Heaven Punishment City.
And now, Fatima came back. After Barrette received this news, he became so excited and he went to the Heaven Punishment City immediately.
“What a luck this Barrette has….Hmm?” Leylin was lamenting just then he suddenly frowned. He squinted slightly looking in North East direction.
A dark spot appeared in a ruined corner of the shop. A magical energy fluctuation rippled, but the others couldn’t feel it.
Sensing quietly for a while, Leylin stood up. He then said to Gato, “Stay here, I’ll have to go out for a while. Don’t worry about Barrette, he won’t come here.”
