126 Chapter 126

Greenwood City

“We’re finally back!” Yssa muttered as soon as she and her husband exited the airport

It has been months since their second ‘honeymoon’. They visited quite a number of places and enjoyed themselves

However, there is still nothing like home. Greenwood City as their birth city is the most familiar place for them

Not to mention, their one and only son were also living here. Since they hadn’t seen him in person for months, they naturally misses him

“Honey, at least half of my clothes were left behind to accommodate Rezen’s presents. How are you going to compensate me?” Heinley said with invisible tears

They went a bit overboard buying presents for their son and as a result, Heinley was forced to leave some of his clothes behind

“Why are you talking as if it was my fault? I’m not the one that designed these airlines to limit the weight of the passengers’ belongings!” Yssa retorted without the slightest bit of guilt

Of the two, it was only Heinley that left some clothes behind. Not even a single underwear of Yssa was missing unlike her husband

In terms of shamelessness, Rezen might have inherited his from his parents

“Tsk, tsk, just you wait, I’ll hide your dresses in places where you wouldn’t be able to see them!”

“If you dare do that, you’ll be sleeping on the couch for weeks!”

“Mean!”

The two laughed at each other for their silliness as they hailed a taxi and sat inside

“Rezen would be surprised right? He doesn’t know that we are already back” Yssa said with a grin

“Hehehe, I’ll call and ask him to come inside the city. After dropping off our suitcases, we should eat with him in a restaurant!” Heinley suggested and his wife didn’t stop him

——-

Greenwood City

Slums

Inside the Twighlight Beast’s branch in Greenwood City, more than a dozen mages could be seen

They are inside a meeting room while filled with both fear and excitement

Sitting at the very front of the long rectangular table were two people wearing fox masks

They are the two Imperial Lords of this branch’s Twighlight Beast. In the secular world, they are at the very top. Hence, the reason for their title

Now that an Elder of the organization is not present again, these two regained their arrogance though they are filled with dread inside

Failure is not an option. If they fail, they might suffer a fate worst than death

. In front of these two mages was a small black snake resting calmly on top of the table

The eyes of this snake seems to hold high intelligence as runes constantly flickered all over its body though the most attention-catching was the imprint on its forehead

“How many of our members are given the ‘mark’?” Space Fox questioned the Noble Lords with her in the meeting room

One of the Noble Lords wearing an eagle mask replied. “All of the titled members (4th fusion rank and above) are already given the ‘mark’ but there’s still some below them that haven’t received it yet”

“It can’t be helped then, they would be sacrificed. From my investigation, the Preston Family is cooperating with the Military. They are already gathering their forces to raid us. We have to commence the plan!”

The existence of the Truth-seeking Rod created a large problem for their plan causing the plan to be forcefully altered

Although they have stolen the special treasure, during the time that the military still has the Truth-seeking Rod, they cleaned their members

The Clay Dolls are either discovered or called back. Once the Clay Dolls are discovered, they would be killed and that would be a loss

The Clay Dolls have the power of the person they are impersonating. They could even use magic and mystic gems!

They are also a considerable manpower and the Twighlight Beast called them back rather than letting them die

Due to the ‘cleansing’, they were forced to enact a new plan

It has been a long time since their location was known by the enemy but the military focuses on the ‘cleaning’ part

But now that they lost the only item that would help with their cleaning, they could only start the raid even if there were still spies among them

With the help of the Preston Family, if nothing goes wrong, the Twighlight Beast in Greenwood City will be eradicated

As such, they could only move forward and catch the enemy off guard!

“We would soon start!” Space Fox announced as she activated the imprint on the black snake on top of the table

——

Ownerless Blessed Land

A palace that looks like the Palace of the Celestials calmly and elegantly floated in the air

It gave off a bright and beautiful ethereal glow. The mechanism of how such a large palace that is larger than a village is floating is a mystery

The Palace was situated on a large piece of land. The palace was painted with white and gold color, looking untainted

The light emitted seems to have the power to purify all the curses in this world

Connected to the land of the Palace was a golden staircase. Each step floating steadily in the air as if no wind could sway them

The staircase was the largest staircase a person could ever see

It started down the ground to the Celestial Palace floating high in the sky

If the Palace is akin to the dwellings of Gods and Angels, the land mass below on the other hand was the complete opposite

The land was dark and eerie, seemingly devoid of any hint of life. It was a barren dark land where not even a single blade of grass grew

The long staircase connects both the Palace and the dark land below it

“Huff… huff… huff…”

In the middle of the staircase, a single silhouette can be seen. His face was pale, his lips and entire body trembling

His clothes were tattered to the extreme as if some sort of power had shredded them. What remains of his clothes were tightly clinging to his bare skin due to the excessive amount of sweat that his body secretes

This man is extremely familiar to Rezen. This was a man that he wanted to help and rescue but he doesn’t have the ability to do so

This is the Dark Saint, the mage that is said to have the talent to become a 7th rank mage even though the other talented mages of his era have close to no chance of breaking through that rank

This man is none other than Claude Preston!

Compared to his usual tidy appearance, he looks like he just went through hell

An Ownerless Blessed Land… these places are either a treasure trove or a place with certain death

Mages at the 6th fusion rank and below if lucky can plunder the resources inside such blessed land. If they were unlucky, they would be buried inside forever

Claude always has the reputation of turning misfortune into a fortuitous encounter and this time might not be any different

Claude raised his head at the sky, he can feel that once he reaches the floating Palace, not only would he not rot and die inside this Blessed Land, he would even receive great benefits

However, reaching that palace is not as easy as it seems

Claude raised his foot to climb another step and he instantly groaned

For whatever reason, there would be a pressure bearing down on a person’s soul that would appear as soon as they stepped on this staircase

The higher Claude climbs the staircase, the stronger the pressure was

Right now, he could already feel that his soul was on the verge of collapsing. But to survive and return to the outside world, Claude can only grit his teeth and continue without delay

He climbed one step after another despite the increasing pressure on his soul. His soul is constantly being placed on the verge of collapse but at the same time, the pressure is also refining his soul

It was akin to steel that was hammered over and over again to remove the impurities

No matter how pressured Claude’s soul was to the point that even his entire elixir field was shaking and cracking, he still persevered

In the end, his hard work paid off. As soon as his feet landed on the floating land, a bright light glowed on his body

All the injuries and fatigue that his soul and elixir field sustained from the spiritual pressure healed at an astonishing pace

Claude can even sense that the barrier separating him from the next rank was loosening

Claude’s talent whether it be in absorption or comprehension was frightening. It was to the point that he already met the requirements to advance to the next rank but he cannot do so because of the limitation of his mortal body

Mages start cultivation at 18 years old. Claude is still in his early to mid-twenties, it might just be a bit more than 5 years since he cultivated