130 If Thou Gaze Long Into The Abyss

From the depths of the dark, twisted forest, a silver-haired youth emerged. His panther-like steps prevented his footsteps from producing any noise louder than the rustling of the leaves up above. The youth's naturally noble air was diminished by the dirtied state of his robes.

Klaus lifted his hand to gingerly touch the eye patch covering his left eye and immediately winced as pain shot through him. Warmth trickled slowly out from the sides of the eyepatch and left tear-like tracks down the side of his aristocratic face. When he removed his hand, a black tar-like substance was smeared onto his palm.

Klaus' face paled but he gave no other reaction, expression inscrutable.

[It's being rejected...]

The silver-haired youth's expression was unwilling.

[Obey me!]

Klaus breathed deeply and drew upon the power hidden underneath the eye patch. Undulations of power trickled into his body from his left eye, soothing any of the remnant pain he felt from his fight with the King of the Twisted Forest. The tension slowly drained out of the youth. A faint smile touched the edge of his lips.

Klaus' remaining ice blue eye scanned critically over the landscape. Suddenly, his left eye trembled.

The silver-haired youth's expression changed. He raised a thin brow.

"I see."

"So, there is a reason this place is called the 'Underworld Labyrinth,' after all."

The youth's figure blurred.

_______

Van was humming a bright little tune as he polished an emerald green egg that was twice the size of an average human head. He sat at the top of a small hill, waiting.

A few minutes later, the sound of metallic clinking noises could be heart.

Van got excited.

Two giant golden suits of armor trampled over the landscape, dragging two large corpses behind them. Van had not been sure if the two Stone-Armored Crocodiles would disintegrate when killed but as luck would have it they were still intact.

"Good job!" Van patted each Ghost Guard Captain on the arm.

When Van lured the male crocodile away, the injured female was killed by the two Ghost Guard Captains. When the female cried out for help as it was dying, the male Stone-Armored Crocodile ran back to save her but unfortunately did not arrive in time. The enraged crocodile tried to get back at the two Ghost Guard Captains but was still defeated after a long and drawn-out fight.

Van touched the scales of one of the crocodiles and revealed a pensive expression.

"Hn."

"A bit too rough and thick to make a nice crocodile leather jacket."

"Ah, I know. Use to soft underbelly to make a leather jacket and the harder back scales to make some light armour."

Van inspected the two bodies as if he were a butcher circling a slaughtered pig. After he was satisfied by his judgement, he used his Mysterious Obsidian Battle-Axe to cut out a relatively small portion of crocodile hide that was intact and unblemished. It was almost a difficulty to do this because of the scars and cuts made by the two Ghost Guard Captains.

"I'll take a few sharp teeth as well, to make a selection of daggers for Finn."

Van stuffed his loot into his waist pouch but was dismayed to find that there was very little space remaining in there after he put everything in. After all, the waist pouch was only 2mx2mx2m.

The red-haired youth pondered for a moment and then shrugged. There was no use getting upset about a lack of space.

He clambered onto the crocodile's snout.

[Heavy Axe Art!]

Weng!

A heavy, suffocating aura surrounded the obsidian axe as it swung down and brutally cracked open the skull of the 9th ranked Stone-Armored Crocodile. Van was impressed by the combination of the Pinnacle-Rank weapon art and his physical strength.

He quickly rummaged through the crocodile's parts but could not find a demonic core.

"That's strange – none of the monsters inside the Monster Mausoleum have beast cores. There must be a reason behind this."

Van quickly dismissed his pesky thoughts. It wasn't a question that needed to be answered right now.

Since Van couldn't take away the crocodile meat, he decided to quickly have a barbecue on the side of the road. He sliced off the most tender meat and placed it on top of a flat piece of rock. Then he went to collect a bunch of dry sticks and logs to build a fire. He pretended to rub the sticks together for a few moments before sneakily using a strand of the Tri-Divine Blood flame to get the flames to start.

Without salt the meat was quite bland but the spiritual energy stored in the flesh of the Stone-Armored Crocodile's was quite rejuvenating.

Van smacked his lips. He felt much better after eating.

"Eh, time to move on."

Van thought it was a shame but he could only leave the bodies of the crocodiles behind.

"The level of the monsters wandering in the central areas keep increasing. Sigh. At least I'm getting closer."

The red-haired youth sent his spiritual sense outwards again, a thin web of mental energy that spread over the landscape. Now that he had travelled further in, he could also sense what was closer to the center of the Underworld Labyrinth. The image was still blurry but the central structure seemed to be a dilapidated tower. When Van tried to concentrate on the image more, he got the strange feeling that he was being watched back. It was deeply unsettling.

In a flash the Van's figure had disappeared, leaving only a slight mark on the soil which was soon erased by the wind.

______

A black-haired young man around fifteen years of age was puffing as he ran over the landscape. With his hair cut short and rather ordinary features, this disciple would have been quite unremarkable but for one thing – his eyes, which were a strange lilac color.

His name was Tetsuya, the second-ranked outer disciple of the Star-Cutting Sword Sect. Although his name did not ring as loudly as Yun Hai's, the highly ranked outer disciples of the Star-Cutting Sword Sect were all well-known and popular. This was unlike other Sects like the Cedar Sect, where even their top disciple was only somewhat known.

Beads of sweat trickled down Tetsuya's forehead as he focused his mental energy on the world around him. His specialist skill was mental energy swords and illusion techniques.

Don't be fooled by his harmless and ordinary appearance – even those several ranks above him would think again before crossing him. Few people could guard their minds effectively below the Sea Establishment realm and his ability to warp their minds could affect their ability to cultivate in the future.

Tetsuya was highly skilled and routinely defeated cultivators two ranks higher than him. Anyone who lost against Tetsuya would not readily agree to battle him again, shuddering each time they remembered the torture they had suffered in their own minds.

But Tetsuya was currently experiencing some difficulty in the Monster Mausoleum. His strong mental energy and illusion skills were ineffective against the stone golems sent by the mausoleum as they were externally controlled and possessed no mind of their own.

Tetsuya was frustrated as he could not see a good way for him to kill the golems without risking his life. The only good thing was that he was quite agile and quick for his rank and could continue to evade the accumulated golems for a few more rounds.

[There shouldn't be many people left now. If I can make it just a few more rounds then I can break the one-thousand-year record of making it to the 15th wave… Even if I can't, Yun Hai definitely can.]

When Tetsuya thought of the glorious and haughty being that was Yun Hai and bitter feelings welled up from within him. The taller and larger a tree is, the more sunlight it takes up and the less sunlight the plants living in its shadows received.

If Yun Hai was the tree, then all the other stellar outer disciples of the Star-Cutting Sword Sect were like the plants suffering in its shadow.

Tetsuya bit his lip, "Just four more days to beat the record!"

If he could beat the record, he would be sure to gain the attention of the sect elders. Tetsuya's biggest wish right now was to be chosen by a sect elder to become a Core Disciple.

Lilac eyes flashing, the black-haired youth continued forwards. Only a few minutes later he bumped into someone he wasn't expecting.

"You?" Tetsuya said, taken aback.