Chapter 43
"Pfft!" Shin Jiao couldn't control himself from laughing at Prince Haulin Xi's thoughtless words.
Hearing a servant laugh at him, Prince Haulin Xi glared at Shin Jiao, wanting to strangle him on the spot. But he controlled himself, not wanting to show his bad side to Susu Ling. However, Qin Lou suddenly began to smile and held something in as Shin Jiao whispered something in her ears, and then she giggled.
"You two lowly commoners dare to laugh at this royal prince? I'll show you how I teach those who insult me to my face." Prince Haulin Xi erupted like a volcano in anger, which made Master Ju raise an eyebrow.
"Forgive this lowly mortal for my offense, Your Highness. Don't let my lowly and foolish self hinder you from giving Miss Susu Ling a good time tonight," Shin Jiao said politely.
This made Qin Lou grab her stomach and try hard to prevent herself from rolling on the floor with laughter. At first, she didn't understand what the 3rd Prince was talking about, but Shin Jiao told her the meaning of "giving Susu Ling a good time," which was a very impolite gesture from a man to a woman. The 3rd Prince's face showed that he, himself, didn't understand what he had just said. When Qin Lou looked at Susu Ling's angry face, she now knew the 3rd Prince's stupidity.
Susu Ling felt angry at the situation. It would have been fine if no one had understood what happened, as she could just brush it off as the prince being foolish. But because of Shin Jiao, even Qin Lou now understood what was said, and even the 4th Prince and Master Ju were giving the 3rd Prince and her an incredulous look.
"You… you… Shin Jiao, you're a scoundrel! Come here! Let this great aunty teach you a lesson! Don't run! If you dare to run, I'll… I'll whip you to shreds!" Susu Ling could not hold it anymore and immediately chased after Shin Jiao, who immediately ran away.
She took out her whip and began to brandish it, waving it in the air and shouting threats at Shin Jiao, who seemed to be running for his life. The two began to run away from the two dumbfounded princes and Master Ju, chasing each other. Qin Lou, on the other hand, bowed in respect to the three and followed the two.
Not long after, they were gone from the area and arrived near the river, where many people were washing and cleaning things.
"You owe me one…" Shin Jiao said as he patted the imaginary dust from his clothes.
"Who owes something to you? Humph… I'm not talking to you. Why did you tell senior sister what that buffoon of a prince said? It's too embarrassing; I don't know what she'll think of me now," Susu Ling said angrily, glaring at Shin Jiao and feeling wronged.
"I just don't want her to be clueless about those things," Shin Jiao shrugged.
"You… you're too annoying! I'm out of here."
"Are you sure? Those pompous princes would be looking for you. If I were you, I would hide. Haha…" Shin Jiao teased.
But Susu Ling didn't listen to Shin Jiao and just walked away.
As most beings in this world lived their lives as normally as they could, an unknown catastrophe was slowly emerging from within the deepest part of the forest. In a dreary and gloomy area where only dead trees and thorny vines could be seen, giving the place only black and grey colors, a tall and lifeless mountain stood. A small, dark cave was at the foot of that mountain. Inside the cave, a dark shadow with three pairs of eyes was looking at a distance far away.
"It seems that someone interesting has appeared. But this aura is unlike the one I felt before; this is a majestic and grand aura, the aura of a hero. If I can use what that person has, I can escape this prison and once again bring chaos to this slowly boring world. Hehe… I, the shadow slayer of heroes and gods, can't wait to escape and will once again reign with fire and chaos," the dark shadow said.
Afterward, the three pairs of eyes slowly retreated into the innermost part of the cave without a sound.
Empire of Xi, the Imperial Castle
"General, how is the search coming?" a man wearing a red and blue robe with a golden circlet crown on his head asked.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, we have already gathered some possible crafters, but so far, none of them are able to identify a part of the item. Our researchers, on the other hand, had a breakthrough; we have found a complex rune pattern inside the weapon. Our rune experts say that they might be able to break the secret of the rune pattern, but it's not that easy; at most, about a year or two," the general wearing silver armor reported.
"General Qian, that is disturbing news. Do you mean that even our brightest minds cannot fathom the intricacies of the weapon? What if this thing came from another country or empire? This would be a truly disastrous thing," the emperor said with a frown.
"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry, as we have reports from our spies that this thing is not present in any country or city in this land or even the lands beyond. So, set your heart at ease. But, we have pressing news from the front lines, Your Majesty, the 2nd Prince. It seems that he is the one showing the signs and not the Crown Prince," General Qian said with a look of worry in his eyes.
"What! Yan'er is the one who is showing the signs… this… this is impossible," the emperor muttered as he suddenly had a deep thought.
"Your Majesty, the Slayer might make its move once more; we have to be prepared," General Qian reminded.
"This cannot be allowed. My ancestor already sacrificed his life just to keep that maniac from getting loose. If it breaks loose once more, the whole empire might fall. And the only chance we have is the Guardian Ancestor, but I have not heard from him for quite some time already," the emperor said as if trying to recall something.
"I can still remember that year when my brother showed the signs, four hundred years ago. That was the first time I saw that fiend. No matter how strong my father, the late emperor, was, he was truly not a match for that evil creature. When it sucked the life essence of my brother, the Crown Prince at that time, I felt like everything was only a dream. My brother's healthy body became all bones, and his soul wasn't even spared. Now that I am much stronger than my father, I won't let Yan'er suffer the fate of my elder brother." The emperor's eyes beamed with determination as he clenched his fist.
The border to the town of Haven was still miles away from the traveling caravan. It was estimated that they should be able to arrive in the town at sunset in two days if they traveled non-stop. So the caravan decided to do so as they had already recovered from the previous battle.
Shin Jiao was sitting peacefully outside a carriage, his eyes closed, while he checked his dantian. He felt a little shocked and happy at the same time as he now noticed that there were around 39 spheres in his dantian. He noticed that the big sphere was actually absorbing essences in the air and everywhere Shin Jiao was. It seemed that when he was in the illusion mountain, it had absorbed a lot, making his cultivation shoot up to 39 spheres from 31.
"Haha… I guess that's the reason I had that strength while fighting those Level 4 beasts. This is awesome! But now, how do I proceed from here?" Shin Jiao thought.
"I think I can now understand the spheres in my dantian. Although they are not under the same law as that of the cultivators, they are still under the laws of the cultivation world. I need to find a way to break through that law and make my own way," Shin Jiao began to contemplate and think of how he could be freed from bottlenecks.
Then an idea came to his mind: to change the spheres. If he had the ability to craft things outside, he should also have the ability to craft his own destiny and his own cultivation inside. To do that, he needed to redefine and go against the heavens. Shin Jiao decided to go into seclusion when they arrived in the city of Er.
Unknown to Shin Jiao, a pair of eyes was looking at him venomously. This pair of eyes came from the 3rd Prince, Prince Haulin Xi. The prince was already angered when Shin Jiao interrupted his talk with Susu Ling, and then every time he would come to find Susu Ling, Shin Jiao would always go between them. This, of course, was due to Susu Ling hiding behind Shin Jiao's back. Now that they were nearing the town of Haven, the prince wanted to get rid of the mortal servant without anyone noticing.
The next day, the group decided to rest for the night as they would be reaching the town soon and needed the rest for the trip. But they were not aware that it would be a prelude to something the alchemist school would regret later.
That night, while Shin Jiao was in his tent, he immediately noticed someone entering. He was not sure of their purpose, but he was sure that the target was him. Shin Jiao felt a little nervous, as he didn't know if he could defeat someone with a middle-stage Gold Core cultivation level with his brute strength alone. Unlike when he was fighting against the Level 4 beasts, he had his gear and weapons. Hopefully, the person inside his tent right now would not kill him and just capture him. That way, he had a chance to keep his presence secret and get rid of this danger at the same time.
"Heh… I can't believe the prince would ask me, a cultivator, to kill a mere mortal. This is too degrading," the man whispered under his breath, but Shin Jiao was able to pick it up with his already sharp senses.
Then he suddenly heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed.
"Oh, crap… I don't like this. I guess I have no choice but to fight them," Shin Jiao thought.
With a thought, he was able to bring out his trusty wakizashi, and since he was wearing a blanket, the assassin didn't notice this. And because the man was underestimating Shin Jiao, he didn't use his spiritual sense.
The man moved casually, but this move was very fast for a mortal. He lifted the sharp sword, and when he was near the person on the wooden bed, he dropped his sword in a stabbing motion toward Shin Jiao's body. As a mortal, this was enough to kill him.
When the sword entered the blanket, the man had a surprised look on his face as he noticed that his sword didn't feel like it had entered someone's flesh. Then he was stunned to see Shin Jiao's figure already out of bed and in a jumping motion. One of his hands supported his entire body while holding the edge of the bed, while the other was already in a thrusting motion towards the man's head.
Before the man could react, his consciousness had already turned blank as a black sword entered his frontal bone (forehead) and exited behind his neck. Before the man could fall to the ground, Shin Jiao quickly caught his body. He then decided to see what the purpose of this assassin was and who sent him. And the only way to do this was to take the man's clothes and wear them himself and act as the assassin.
Then Shin Jiao used his goggles to find a group of people who were active or acting suspiciously. Not long after, he could see his target; surprisingly, it wasn't the third prince of Xi but the 4th prince of Er, Prince Nei Er. He was standing a little distance away from the convoy with some of his personal guards.
"This is what Susu Ling brought me. Jeez… That girl is really troublesome. Anyway, let's see where this goes. I'm not sure if I can handle those Gold Core realm guards, though," Shin Jiao thought but still decided to go to the place, albeit stealthily, while bringing the dead assassin with him in his spatial ring.
"What's taking him too long? I thought you said he could do this quickly?" Prince Nie Er angrily pointed at the Captain of the guards.
"My prince, you worry too much; that young man is only a mortal servant and is powerless. What could happen?" the Captain said.
"I need to finish this mission given to me by Prince Haulin, or else he would have my neck," the 4th prince muttered.
Then, while he was in deep thought, a guard interrupted.
"Sir, there is a body here. I think it's a mortal's," the guard said.
"What? Where is it?" Prince Nie Er said as he frantically ran toward the guard.
He felt a little anxious and excited upon hearing that there was a mortal body. Maybe the assassin was successful? The prince could now never think of anything else other than seeing the dead body. When he arrived at the location, he saw the body wrapped in a blanket, and only the head was exposed. The head was that of Shin Jiao. Of course, the 4th prince was very familiar with that face, as he himself would always curse it even in his sleep, for taking advantage of Miss Susu Ling.
"Haha… hey you, bring out the lure. We must make sure that this body will be consumed by the beasts so that no one will suspect us," Prince Nie Er commanded.
"My prince, how about we just bury it or burn it?" A guard suggested.
"Are you crazy? With Master Ju here, he can trace the body and find it. Then there would be more trouble for me. This is better! Enough talk and just follow my orders," the 4th prince commanded after losing his patience.
The soldiers didn't ask anymore and just put a lure next to the body. This lure was a special lure that they had used to start the beast tide, and if this were discovered, his father would kill him. But he didn't have a choice; he needed to do this to win the 3rd Prince's favor. But after putting the lure on the body and before the guard could do anything, something happened.
The ground suddenly shook violently, making all the people in the surrounding area wake up immediately. All the cultivators became wary as they didn't expect that there would be another beast tide coming. But since it was here, they wouldn't chicken out and just face it.
Meanwhile, at the place where the lure was put on the body, the ground suddenly caved in, and out came a huge, worm-like creature, taking the body into its mouth. Its size was like a small mountain, and the hole it came out of was the size of a whole house. Upon seeing the huge beast in front of them, the 4th Prince almost peed his pants. As a pampered young master with little ability, Prince Nie Er was never a favorite of the king, and so he spent his time in debauchery.
But unknown to his father, the king, and his brothers, Nie Er was very ambitious. And if he couldn't get what he wanted through sheer strength, he would use trickery. And so he had allied himself with the 3rd prince of the Empire so that he could gain some power at the least.
But now it seemed that he had made a mistake.