179 Underground Wails

After leaving the king's bedchamber, Leon paid a visit to the treasury and deposited the 2000 bottles of longevity blood on the second floor. For the upcoming auction, it was best to store it somewhere safe, but accessible for his mother.

"I guess I should prepare for my next secluded cultivation session while I am here…"

Leon glanced around but didn't see anything of interest on the second floor.

"The Heavenly Crystals weren't stored on the first floor, and I couldn't find it on the second floor. Considering its importance, I guess it can only be on the third floor with the other important techniques and sword arts."

Heading up, Leon found what he was looking for. It was hard not to notice when the chest of glittering crystals was left in the open.

Presently, there were already over 200 Heavenly Crystals in the royal treasury. Leon collected one of each element he could find in the chest, namely; the fire crystal, metal crystal, water crystal and earth crystal. He wouldn't be able to use the earth crystal yet, but it would save him a round trip.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find a single crystal with wood element out of the whole 200 Heavenly Crystals in the chest. Was the wood element nonexistent in that ancient civilization?

Even all the high-tech relics retrieved from the ruins were mainly made of earth and metal components.

Leon developed a sudden interest in the ancient civilization. Not only were they technologically advanced, their ranks were filled with numerous Transcendent Realm experts. Yet, such a powerful civilization was destroyed.

Leon was about to leave, but a brief glance at the stacks of sword arts got him thinking; He had chosen the spear and the sword arts weren't of much use to him, but maybe he can derive the essence of the sword arts and use it as reference in creating his own spear arts.

He couldn't fully rely on his one-shot wonder. If his shot one fails him, it would put him at a great disadvantage in battle. As such it was not wise to invest everything into a single powerful killing blow, but to strengthen his combat skills at a foundational level. That way, he would be more rounded and have less weakness.

Also, it was always better to know more than to not know at all. He might not use the sword arts, but the people around him could.

Thinking to this point, Leon decided to stay back in the third floor for a while. He swept the shelves with his divine sense and began studying the sword art manuals, hoping to receive some insights from them.

…

Somewhere deep within the underground world, a battle was taking place between man and insects. In this world of darkness, nothing could be seen and only the rumbling movements of many creatures could be heard.

They possess a sturdy and fire-resistant exoskeleton body, a pair of sensory antennas and powerful mandibles capable of crushing boulders. Also, their blood is so acidic, it could melt human flesh at an alarming rate.

These creatures of darkness never move alone and always exist in colonies with a number much greater than the Deadeye Spiders. Evidently, they were much more powerful than the average Deadeye Spiders. The weakest among them cannot be harmed by flames of fire-users with the strength below the star ranking system.

Yet, it was also these very fire-resistant insects that were currently getting blown apart by occasional flame explosions in the dark world.

The one battling these creatures of darkness was none other than Don Astor, also known as Crazy Don and Grandmaster Don, the first Flame Transcendent expert in the Crawford Kingdom.

"Leave me alone, you goddamn insects!" Don cursed with an ugly expression.

His present appearance was not one would expect of the dignified number one grandmaster alchemist in the kingdom, but more like the beggars on the streets.

His battle with these creatures of darkness had been on and off for the past few weeks and not one made by choice but compelled by the situation.

A month ago, after the big battle, he went to explore the underground world and was the first to discover the entrance to the second floor.

Ever since he reached the Transcendent Realm, his affinity with the Fire Laws had reached new heights and could draw energy from heaven and earth to conjure his fire. It wasn't something he could explain and only those who reached the Transcendent Realm would be able to understand.

At the entrance of the second floor, he started to sense a great fire source that would be beneficial for his cultivation.

Considering his best friend, the Old king had also gone missing underground for many years, Don decided to investigate the second floor without reporting back first.

The second floor was boundlessly large. It was like entering a whole new world. Here, he found rarer minerals and more ruins of the ancient civilizations. Ancient relics were found in various places, half-buried.

However, retrieving these items was a highly difficult task, even for him, a Transcendent. The grounds, walls and even the high ceiling at a height of 300 feet were concentrated with dense earth elements, making it difficult for him to break apart the earth.

His investigation led to his encounter with the bothersome creatures. These trifling creatures were no match for his Transcendent flames, but even the greatest of experts would be tired out after battling without rest.

As such, he was wise enough to return early in preparation for his next trip. But when he reached the foot of the great spiral entrance leading to the first floor, he would unexpectedly find it sealed!

Backed against a sealed wall and unending army of six-legged insects, he had to defend against attack of the insects while trying to tear down the sealed entrance. He had lost count of how many insects he had killed.

Each time he made progress in breaking down the very thick wall blocking the entrance, someone on the other side would reinforce it, thus delaying his escape.

He didn't know which bastard was reinforcing the seal, but when he found out, he cursed for three days straight!

In order to survive after his rations ran out, his meals were made from the organs of these six-legged insects. But due to their high acidity, he had to cook them to a crispy texture before double checking for its edibility.

Surprisingly, the organs of these insects were very palatable.

Don didn't doubt that with a few seasonings, it had the potential to become one of the best dishes in the kingdom.

However, there was only one problem each time he had to eat the insect's organs. He would get stomach aches and diarrhea. Furthermore, each time it happened; he would also be forced to tear a piece of his clothes to wipe his ass.

Gradually, his clothing was replaced by a full exoskeleton armor he made in order to avoid becoming full naked.

This was how he lived for the past few weeks.

"A chance!" Don's eyes lit up.

He suddenly discovered that the other party had stop reinforcing the seal. He only needed one last push to break through and escape this hell hole.

…

"Leader, we cannot reinforce the seal any further! It's about to be breached!" A shadowguard informed with dripping sweat.

Kasif had a heavy expression when looked at the shaking sealed entrance that continue to fill with cracks. Was their kingdom fated for destruction?

The Capital had already experience one recent crisis. They weren't ready for another one. As such, no one knew about this hidden crisis except the highest level of authority, the Queen.

"Stop reinforcing and prepare for battle!" Kasif barked, before sending away one shadowguard to request for the Queen's reinforcement.

The shadowguards and palace guards immediately retreated and positioned themselves into a defensive formation.

For the entity capable of breaching the earthen reinforcement of 20 shadowguards and 50 palace guards, it must be a Transcendent-level boss.

The mood was depressive and heavy. The sounds of heavy breathing and dripping sweat could be heard.

Boom!

The seal finally exploded with a deafening boom, sending rubbles flying.

The shadowguards and palace guards all had stern faces as they prepared to face the greatest battle of their life.

However, a powerful human-like voice caught them by surprise!

"At last! I'm finally out!!!" Don roared, before studying his surroundings. Soon, he locked onto head of the group, Kasif with red eyes. "It was you!"

Kasif was immediately startled by this almighty humanoid insect that spoke in their human tongue.

"Y-You know me? Who are you? Are you the boss of the second floor?"

"Am I the boss of the second floor, you say?" Don shook with anger, before he roared, "Yeah! I am the big bad boss, you sons of bitches! How dare you trap me in the second floor! Prepared to feel my wrath! Arghhh!!"

Don charged at Kasif and raised him high in the air with one hand. Kasif was like a helpless chicken, unable to resist. Don's previous words continues to ring through his head.

Trapped him in the second floor!? Wait… Grandmaster Don had been missing since he went exploring the underground. Don't tell me…

"Y-You are… Grandmaster Don…?" Kasif gulped with wide eyes as he studied Don's appearance, who was decked out in the exoskeleton armor from top to bottom.

"So, you recognize me, huh!? Why didn't recognize me before when I was still on the other side!?" Don stared at the rest and warned. "None of you are allowed to leave until I am satisfied beating all you brats up, you hear me!?"

Everyone shivered.

Strangely, being stared by Don, they were even more fearful than when they were preparing for the unknown threat.

"Wait… Grandmaster Don, we didn't know it was you! Good lord… have mercy…" Kasif pleaded, before he began to wail as Don rained punches on his face.

Ahhhhh!

After the first wail, came the second! The third! The fourth! Soon, the wails of many men reverberated throughout the area!

Don patted the dust off his hands with a smile, while everyone else laid on the ground in pain, bruised and battered. It felt good to vent his frustrations! But this was far from enough to satisfy him for the hell-like experience he'd been through.