Chapter 48 48: Eternal Burning Lake



The whole fiasco with Gail Village was out of Yoze's mind when they made it to their next rest stop. 

The sky was pitch black as night had fallen but they weren't planning on stopping until they made it to town. Still a few miles away from the town, Yoze felt that the air had become drier and warmer.

The closer they got to the town the higher the temperature became and the drier. However, Jewel said that this was normal and meant they were getting closer to the town.

"Boom! Boom!"

Soon they heard the sound of beating drums and Jewel perked up as she said, " The Eternal Burning Lake Ceremony must be happening tonight. Let's hurry up so that we can meet the town's people, no one's going to be in town because of that "

"The Eternal Burning Lake Ceremony?" Yoze asked 

"It is a ceremony that happens every year where everyone in town gathers at Fire Lake and throws a massive festival," Jewel explained.

The Eternal Burning Lake was originally a ritual that the people who lived in the town created due to the stories of Fire Lake. That lake was previously a demon graveyard before it became a lake. 

So the water in Fire Lake was pitch black and highly flammable. Every year the people of the town would set the lake on fire and toss in holy items in hopes of cleansing the lake.

The longer the lake burned the more demon spirits would also be burned away. This ritual has been done every new year to see if the following year would be a disaster for the town or a blessed year.

However, now most people treat this ritual more like a festival than a noble ritual. The townspeople bring in fireworks, play music and games, and sell cool merchandise to travelers visiting.

"In that case, let's go have some fun before we settle down for the night."

Turning the carriage toward the source of the drums, they soon saw a red ball that quickly transformed into an enormous fire that looked more like a pillar of fire. The flames were so hot that the closest people got to the burning lake was several miles away where tens of thousands of people gathered for a massive festival.

"Dad, are you alright?" Yoze asked as he helped his father leave the carriage.

"I am fine, I have been feeling much better after eating that demon meat. I could probably live for another year." Drew said with a smile.

Yoze looked at the green flame on top of his father's head that had doubled in size and seemed to be filled with vigor. But the black mist of death still surrounded the flame and slowly corrupted it.

After eating the Serpent demon's flesh and leaving just the bones and scales remaining had doubled his father's life expectancy and his body became more healthy but it still only gave him a few more months to live. Luckily, there haven't been a lot of delays so they should reach New Swampscott City in a few weeks.

As for Jewel and Leah both of them have also experienced quite a bit of growth with their Spiritual energies. However, Leah seemed to have been the one that had changed the most.

He had doubled in size and his fur had gained a tint of red and green and the green and Red sparkles in his eyes had become more numerous.

"That's good, how about we all try to have fun and meet back here later?"

"That sounds good, see ya in a few hours." 

After saying goodbye, Jewel left the group behind leaving Drew, Yoze, and Leah to find something to do by themselves. Luckily, they were at a massive festival with the number of activities available being nearly infinite.

Time quickly passed as they ate and drank the local cuisine and played in the festival games. By the time they began to head back to the carriage, Yoze was carrying a whole sack of candies, toys, and prizes he had won.

"Is Jewel not back yet?" Drew asked, realizing that Jewel hadn't come back at their allocated time. 

"Yoze, you should go look for her."

"Alright," Yoze agreed to go looking for her since they couldn't leave without their carriage driver.

Yoze then walked in the direction that he had seen Jewel walk earlier. He would occasionally stop people asking if they saw her but no one said they saw anyone that matched her description.

As Yoze went deeper into the festival and closer to the burning lake, he suddenly saw something that made his heart flutter. There was a young couple holding hands as they were walking through the festival. And from the clothing Yoze recognized that this young couple was a pair of locals to the town.

That wasn't what attracted Yoze because he saw that the man of the couple didn't have anything floating above his head. Yoze's pupils shrunk as a single word appeared in his mind, Demon.

The man demon seemed to sense Yoze's gaze and turned around and smiled as he nodded his head as if he found a comrade. The man then mouthed a sentence that made Yoze leave without hesitation.

"Don't harm anybody or you'll regret it." 

After parting with the demon, Yoze looked at the prize that he had just caught.

[Talent Mark locked on target and his Grade 10 talent Three-Headed Fox Spiritual Body Cultivation Talent. Grade 9 talent Three-Headed Fox Spiritual Body Cultivation Talent has been added.]

Yoze's eyes quickly turned black as he found himself inside the same void that he had been in when he took the Serpent Demon's body cultivation talent. Instead of the towering and oppressive aura that the Serpent Demon created, a Giant Fox Demon with three heads and ten tails walked around with an aura that made Yoze doubt whether he was seeing a demon or imagining it.

Just like the Serpent Demon, Yoze saw that he could see orange energy flowing through a specific route in the demon's body. Yoze found that he was having a harder time knowing if the Fox Demon was there or not even though it was staring at him with a mischievous grin as time passed by.