The scenery around both Yun Che and Jasmine suddenly changed as if they were transported into a different world. It was the same as before, they felt the scenery around them changed when they viewed that pedestal on top of the altar back in the hallway. However, that was just a change in their surroundings. Both of them were still in the hallway just now and their surroundings changed as if they're in the holographic world. But this time, it was different. He was back to his usual and original form while Jasmine was right beside him. However, only both of them and the hollowed image of the Moon Empress in the so called new world. Looks like Chu Yueli didn't come with them. As expected as she didn't possess the Eagle Vision to see the Soul Essence and moreover, she's not a soul being like Jasmine and Yun Che.
[Ding…. Host's and Jasmine's consciousness has been transported into the Soul Essence. Host cannot leave the Soul Essence until the true purpose of the message was delivered successfully.]
"It seems that the pedestal brought us into the Soul Essence."
Jasmine widen her eyes at her surroundings before she spoke "But, she could just show us the message like before."
Since he was back to his original form, he could finally act like his original self. "By my guess, I think she wanted us to see and experience the message instead of showing it."
Jasmine suddenly went on thinking before she spoke "Why bother to go for such lengths for a mere orb?"
"Like I said before, if this is what I think it is then that orb is more than a mere orb."
The scenery brought them into a mountain area where the crater similar to the Moon Empress's first message. The crater with a small rock in head size rock in it. Previously, they saw a heavenly light mentioned by the Moon Empress before it was divided into nine rays before dispersing themselves to the rest of the world and one of them landed nearby the Moon Empress younger form back then.
But, anyone could see something was amiss. As if the heavenly light was meant to land near her. If the item is what Yun Che thought it would be, then it was possible she was chosen by it than acted like a mere coincidence.
Back to the story, the scenery changed to the scene where the Moon Empress's message in the hallway was cut and it was continued like a restored part of a cut movie. Both Yun Che and Jasmine were right beside the teenage form of the Moon Empress as if they were there but either one of them couldn't interact with her. He tried to touch the girl but his hand merely phase through her. When the small head size rock crumbled, it revealed the item she was talking about. The mysterious golden orb.
The golden lights around them subside before revealing the orb she was talking about. The orb was bigger than her hands but smaller than her head. The Moon Empress slowly remove the rocks covering the orb before holding it with both of her hands. It was a sphere shaped metal made from unknown material.
Jasmine floated near the girl, she was looking closely at the mysterious orb the Moon Empress referred. The orb was golden and had strange linings with circles all over it. Most of the circles were small but she could see the orb had three larger circles all over it. From the perspective, it was an orb with strange linings and circles. Moreover, she never seen or heard the existence of these orbs in the realm of the gods.
When Yun Che saw the orb, he was quiet and speechless. His hunch was right. This is the thing the Moon Empress referred to. No wonder she could create such as marvelous tomb. Those pedestal, messages, the materials used to create the temple and all of them pointed to the same thing. This is the last thing he expected from his home world. But it was impossible. He was the only one came from his original world. Just how could these things exist here? More importantly, if these things exist then were those people exists as well? But if he gave it a thought, this is a multiverse and there are more realms other than the Blue Pole Star. The probability of their existence is possible but sometimes those things can be dispersed as imagination.
Then a thought suddenly hit him. "Wait, she said nine heavenly lights. That means there are eight more of these things scattered all over the world? Damn it all, even one of these things caused enough ruckus back in my home world and now it exists in this world as well? This is such a pain in the ass."
Jasmine observed the orb from her view and concluded that the orb is not something she seen before. "So, what do you think? Is it the same from orb you had in mind?"
"Yeah, never expected she encountered one of these things in this world. I was hoping it was a different thing but history is about repeat itself again."
Jasmine turned to him and concluded "So, you do know of this thing."
"I do, this thing is...." He was about to talk but before it could happen, the Moon Empress continued her message.
"The mysterious golden orb, the very thing that changed my life for the better and for the worse. The turning point of my life. My only wish was to know why did I picked up this thing? Am I destined to find it or am I chosen to bear the responsibilities of possessing it?"
Then, she walked towards her younger form before she continued "Its beauty and material. It caused me to look at it with curiosity. My hope and despair back then was instantly forgotten by it as if I was called upon by it. It pulled me from mind as I gaze onto its shiny surface. My only question back then was what is this thing? Is it a divine object fell from the heavens to incite chaos upon the world or bring peace to it? Is the heavens fulfilling my wish of saving my wretched life? Back then, I merely thought of instantly gaining power to destroy my opponents. But now I know, the power I gained had its own price."
The teenage form of the Moon Empress continued to gaze the orb as she twists and turn it with eyes of curiosity. Not long after that, her thoughts were interrupted as she heard multiple voices in the distance. A blast from the heavens like that was bound to attract more people towards it so did what she had to do. She brought the mysterious orb and run towards the distance without looking back. She knew the cultivators came for it. So before those people find it, she brought it away.
Not long after she left, a group of cultivators arrived at the crater and started to investigate it. Yun Che and Jasmine can sense their aura and it was merely Elementary Profound Realms. Some of them were merely fifth and sixth level. However, one of them almost touch the threshold of the realm itself. To Yun Che and Jasmine, these levels are trash compared to them. Probably back then, this kind of level was enough for the non-cultivators to worship them. They curiously wander around the crater finding some clues of anything that can give them a lead.
Then, one of them started to speak "That golden light from before, are you sure it came from here?"
Their clothes looked the same indicating that these cultivators hailed from a sect. Judging from the men arrived here, the sect is probably not that far from here. One of them suddenly spoke "Yes, it was bright and illuminate the forest with its grace. It happened after I saw a golden light crashed into this area a few hours ago."
"Leader, the rock here looked like it was crumbled and there's a branch here. Someone's been here."
"They wouldn't have gotten far. Spread out and look for them. That golden light is probably a heavenly treasure. We will not let someone take it."
"Leader, what if the person who took it is stronger than us?"
"Hmph, this is the most isolated forest in the continent and most of its inhabitants were mere mortals. Besides, this forest is our sect's territory. We will the first one to know if anyone infiltrated our territory. Fan out and search for any clues." The cultivators suddenly disperse looking for the one that took the mysterious treasure.
Suddenly, the hollowed image of the Moon Empress suddenly takes off and travel towards the direction her younger self just ran. Yun Che and Jasmine took flight before they followed her. Her image led them into a cave not far from the impact site. Everything in the soul essence felt real as if they stepped on real ground but they couldn't interact with it. They slowly entered the cave along with her image before finding her younger self panting as she rested on the nearby rock. In her hands was the golden orb she took from the crater.
After regaining her composure, she placed the orb on top of a flat rock and stared at it. No matter how hard she tried exploring the orb, it wasn't responsive. But, a certain thing did happen. When she placed it on the flat rock, the linings around it started glow and pulsing like a beacon. The glow and pulse was getting brighter and soon illuminates the whole cave.
"Just what is this thing?" Jasmine murmured softly at the same time glances at her partner. Who was quiet all the time as his eyes was fixed on the orb.
The Moon Empress suddenly spoke "At that time, I panicked. I don't know what happened or what I did to cause such an event but I was more afraid that the cultivators would soon discover its existence. That's when I made my first mistake."
The girl at that time was panicked by the state the orb did the thing she will regret later in her life. She immediately grabbed the orb to hide its pulsing light but as soon as she touched it....
SWISH
The orb suddenly grows brighter and it shot light rays illuminate the cave and caused the girl to covered her eyes. She screamed as her head hurts from the illuminating lights and that's when she was shocked and fell on her bottom. It felt like she was witnessing a miracle.
Symbols…
Designs….
Alien words….
These things float around like crazy showing her countless of random things and it was too fast for her eyes to see and comprehend any of those symbols. With the lights blinding her eyes, she couldn't get even a single of them but Yun Che and Jasmine could see them clearly. Despite everything was fast like a fast forward video, Yun Che could grasp them clearly as the random symbols showed to them were too familiar in his eyes and Jasmine had her mouth widen as she saw countless alien symbols and words floating around her. Moreover, she couldn't even understand each and every one of it as she was bathe from the limitless knowledge from the realm of the gods. If she were to compare these knowledge and the apple, it would be like comparing the river and the ocean. The girl who was struggling at that time but she simply immediately taps the mysterious orb and it went back to normal as if it never happened.
[Ding…. System had detected an upgrade feature hidden within the mysterious orb. It is recommended for the host to obtain the orb so system can initiate the upgrade.]
"Hoo..an upgrade feature? What sort of upgrade the system can learn from the apple?" Yun Che thought in his mind.
"Back then, my mind wasn't strong enough to withstand the orb's power. Those symbols, words and markings were alien to me. I couldn't even understand them. Since then, I've been trying to reactivate that moment but the orb didn't show it to me anymore. Those words, I will never be able to understand them even if I wanted to. What is this thing? Is this merely a heavenly orb? Why is it appeared on this world?"
The moment everything was covered with darkness. That's when the teen girl at that time heard voices outside the cave.
"In here!!! The same golden light from before!!" The girl was panicked as she heard the voices. The cave had a one-way entrance and she just delivered herself to death's doorstep. She couldn't even hide as she grabbed the orb and stared at the entrance. That's when it happened…
The cultivators from before. All of the them from before stood on the doorway of the cave preventing any escape room for her. She was just a normal girl. Powerless and naive of the world of cultivation. In the world of cultivation, the strong ruled over the weak and going against them is the worst possible fate even for her.
Seeing a girl in a village's outfit holding a golden orb is suspicious enough. But more importantly, she was holding the item that supposed to be at the meteor site. The leader of the cultivators shot her with a disdainful look as he spoke "Well, well. So you're the one who took the heavenly treasure. Little girl, you are playing with things you couldn't even hope to understand. Why don't you give that thing to me?" The cultivator known as the leader was eyeing the golden orb she had on her hands. Whatever the heavenly treasure was, there's no way it could produce such a majestic light from before. They really wanted to take and examine the orb.
"Leader, she's merely a mortal. Why bother asking like this? Let's just grab it."
The leader gave a thought before he realized that the one who took it is a mortal. He simply shrugged and spoke "Humph, grab it and then kill her. Wait, why don't we play with her? Even if she's a mortal. She's quite a looker."
Seeing dozens of cultivators eyeing her like a sheep. The girl defended herself "No…Please leave me alone. I could give it to you but please. Just leave me be…." She was begging to be let go but Yun Che could guess that even if that happens, the Moon Empress at that time won't have a good ending but they could only watch as the events unfold.
Seeing her freightened all of a sudden, the men slowly approached her but their expression says otherwise. "No..no.. Don't be scared. We won't bite."
"No… no… Please..." She was clutching the orb as hard as she could unaware that she was activating its true powers. The leader suddenly went on guard as he saw the orb on her hands was glowing and pulsing once more.
"Forget it. Kill her and take the orb!!!" The cultivators around her suddenly gank towards her to prevent them from using the power of the orb or whatever it had. Seeing her inevitable death, she strongly wished herself to be saved from their clutches. Unaware that a voice was suddenly influencing her from the orb.
"At that time, I was in a pinch. Death was already on my footstep the moment I took the orb. Whether I gave them or defend it were the only choices I had. I wish nothing more to be saved at that time. That's when I heard a voice came from inside my head. It just said 'Do you wish to be saved?'"
"Voices? That thing supposed to be silent and didn't have anything at all unless the precursors put something in there as a message like in my previous world. To think that it possessed a voice." Yun Che's expression suddenly stiffened. This thing is unlike those things in his previous world.
The Moon Empress continued her message "I should've said no. I should've died that day. In the end, I only said yes."
The cultivators were ganking towards her in an attempt to take the orb as well as kill her and suddenly, it happened. The mysterious orb suddenly pulsing before illuminating the entire cave once more with its light.
Yun Che suddenly murmured "Here it comes."
"What comes?" Jasmine asked curiously.
"See it for yourself. The reason this orb is not a mere orb."
Then, she saw it. Pillars of light suddenly conjured all over the cave as the orb suddenly pulsing with power. The teen form of the Moon Empress was still holding it as it suddenly emits a thin lightning that zaps its way towards all the cultivators nearby her. It was fast, the lightning zaps into their head and she could see it clearly. All of a sudden, the cultivators running towards her immediately stop as if they hit a barrier.
"What are you lots doing? She has bewitched you!!! Kill her now!!!" But his cries were ignored by the cultivators and none of them responded. Then, in a moment of truth.....
Shing… Stab
The cultivators around her drew their swords before started stabbing each other. It was a brutal sight. Dozens of them started massacring each other each other without any sense of fear. The moment they were stabbed and slashed, none of them emits a cry of pain as if they were completely controlled against their will. Under the orbs power, the sounds of slashing and stabbing were heard across the cave with the leader standing gawking at the entrance. The powers of the orb were still in effect as it illuminates the cave with its light. It continued to control the cultivators to kill one another before the floor was dyed with their blood.
Jasmine widen her eyes on the unfold event. She wasn't referring to the massacre but she was referring to the orb's powers. "What in the world?"
"Now, you finally witnessed it. Jasmine. This mysterious orb she referred to was not a mysterious orb at all. This thing exists in my world as well and one of the most powerful weapons of the ancient world as well as a big pain in my ass back then."
She looked at him with demanding eyes. "What is that thing?"
Yun Che smiled before he dropped the bomb. "This, love. This is the Apple of Eden."
"Apple of…Eden?" She spoke with a curious tone. She was always curious about his home world and this is the first time she heard the word 'Eden'. Then, why is this thing known as the Apple of Eden?
"Hnn, it's an ancient and powerful weapon designed to enslave mankind in my original world. They created these weapons to enslave humans back then. However, even after years had passed. This thing was nothing more than a big pain the ass and caused more trouble than helping us. This thing was designed to control the weaker minds and bid them under their power."
"Control the weaker minds? So this thing is a mind control treasure?"
"Hnn, those with weaker minds will be instantly fell under its power. However, those who had a stronger resistance can resist its power. But, despite its power. It only had a small area of effect. You can see that leader isn't affected. So, they will be safe as long as they didn't get in range of the apple's powers."
She slowly murmured "A treasure that can bid humans to its will."
Yun Che sighs before she spoke "Oh no, it can do more than that but I am sure the empress will show us later. It's better for you to witness it rather than hearing it from me."
"You said before about 'they' created these things. Who are 'they'?" If Shinigamis and Quincies exist, then who are these new beings who used powerful weapons aside from them?
Yun Che took a deep breath before he spoke "Hmph, 'they' were advanced beings with a humanoid body known as the Isu. They came into our world during the ancient times and enslaved the humans in our world to their bidding. They are nothing more than bunch of control freaks who wanted our world for themselves and use the humans as slaves. Even if we're shinigamis. We're also dwell in the realm of humans to watch over them and these people caused us nothing but trouble."
"These Isu race, are they similar to Quincy and Shinigami in your world?"
Yun Che shook his head. "No, they're mortals but they are highly advanced mortals who had the power of technology to dominate the entire realm. There was once a rogue Shinigami claimed one of the apple and brought it into the realm of the gods in our world. Let me tell you, it caused the shinigami a bunch of chaos in our realm. That rogue shinigami tampered with the apple and descend the realm of the gods into chaos. At first, that thing didn't even work on us but I don't know what that rogue did but it ended up enslaved the entire realm of the gods. You can imagine the chaos a single apple can cause. Then, rogue powers started to descend into that mortal realm to find other apples or pieces of Eden they can take but we managed to stop them."
"To prevent similar incident from happening. We created a special division among us Shinigami to find the remnant pieces of these technologies in the human realm and hide them from the mortals as well as ourselves. Tempting as they might be but these things are nothing more on bunch or troublemakers. A creation of the ancient mortal race caused the gods chaotic troubles. Ironic."
The truth is those events did happened it his previous world but he did tell Jasmine he was a shinigami through and through but he never told her about his life in the mortal realm.
Jasmine when curious once more as weak mortals like them had the power of 'technology' to cause the realm of the gods some trouble? She suddenly spoke "Technology?"
Yun Che started to smirk and he spoke "From where I came from, Jasmine. Mortals in our world are far more advanced than here. Sometimes, I was glad I was reborn in this world but never expected this thing exist in this world as well. These things might be artifacts but it can cause more harm than good if it fell into the wrong hands. But one thing hit me when she told about the apple's origins back then."
"The apple's origins? I thought it fell from the heavens?"
"Exactly, they were created in my world by those advanced mortals and one thing strikes me the most. These Isu came into our world and these things were sent into this realm. Could it be…"
Jasmine didn't understand him but she managed to get what he was trying to say "They came from the same place? Could it be they have their own realm as well?"
"Hnn, I can assume that they found a way to perform a travel between realms but why did they only sent the pieces here aside from their own race? Looks like there's more to this story than meets the eye."
Jasmine was having troubles understanding the Isu race from his home world but she decided to use the system's database to read the rest. "Anyway, lets listen to her side of the story. Maybe she had all the answers for our questions."
As the fighting was over, dozens of men laid dead on the floor in their own pool of blood. However, the teen girl from before fell on her knees as the mysterious orb or the Apple of Eden she held tires her instantly. Looks like Yun Che didn't mentioned to Jasmine that the Apple consume the wielders life force in exchange for power. Every time she used it, her life force was consumed by the apple. Her body was still young and she couldn't support that much power drained from her. Moreover, she's not a cultivator at that time.
Seeing all of his men had been killed by the orb's power, the leader of the men shouted at the girl. "You…YOU WITCH!!! What did you do to my men!?!?!?"
However, the girl herself was confused as well as she too witnessed the true power of the orb first hand. She didn't know how and what she did just now. All she knew that everything happened in an instant. The men were controlled by the orb and started killing each other. She was horrified on her actions just now. She just killed dozens of men using the orb's power.
The hollowed image of the Moon Empress spoke "As I witnessed its powers, I was shocked at that time. I've got what I wished for but this is not the wish I was hoping for. I never wanted for them to be killed in cold blood. I never knew this thing can control their minds. Back then, I am nothing more than a murderer. I convinced myself that I was protecting my own life. I had to kill them or else they would've killed me. Then, something awoken within me. I gaze at my mortal's self and curse everything. I wanted power. I want to protect those who are dear to me. So, I desire more."
The Moon Empress's teen form slowly woke up before she slowly walks to the leader with bangs covering her eyes. Her image of walking on top of the dead cultivators with the apple's power still activated on her hands triggering a mental image within the leader who is now scared shitless. The image she had right now akin to an evil empress who used the power of the orb to destroy all who stands in her way.
"You….stay away from me. I'll be your loyal dog….no…your slave… Just please don't kill me!!"
However, his voice was muffled by the apple's power as she raised it on him. All of a sudden, the leader was slowly lifted from the ground by an unknown force before she channeled her remaining energy into the apple. In an instant, the apple overloads the leaders mind with its energy before….
BOOM!!! SPLAT!!!
The head of the leader suddenly exploded into tiny pieces as his blood squashing out like a fountain covering her entire body with blood. The scene shocked both Yun Che and Jasmine as they witness the sweet Moon Empress had a 180 degrees swing in her personality. She changed instantly because of the apple. However, her change just now reminded them of their past selves. Both Jasmine and Yun Che experienced the change of their lives back then but seeing such changes happened again sparks a bad memory within them. With that, she suddenly fell to the ground and passed out deactivating the apple's power at the same time.
"It was the day I regretted the most. The day I possessed absolute power. Thinking that I could control everything. However, there wasn't a single day I regretted everything happened on that day. I should've died that day. I should just let them take the orb but I realized back then that I am a monster. With that mindset, I marched back into my village. I had the power but I lack the knowledge to use it. Then, my second mistake begun."
Suddenly, the scenery around them changed once more. It was like she was fast forwarding this moment instead of showing them like before. Well, as much as he was curious on the later events after she passed out. They were hoping to know what happened after she marched back into the village. It was only a moment as the scenery of her village was shown back to them. Still covered by the blood of her assailants, she walked past her villagers triggering whispers as well as rumors as both Yun Che and Jasmine followed behind her back. She was a famous one even before she obtained the apple as the village's cute troublemaker but seeing her in this state caused some of them sees her as a monster.
The cultivators had made the village their own base for the past month plundering their resource and raping their girls. As cultivators, they were treated like kings in return they treated her villagers like slaves.
As much as other villagers were curious on her outfit, she was carrying something that caused some of them distance themselves from her. She was carrying the glowing and pulsing Apple pf Eden in the open like her body part. The cultivators saw her unusual and bloody attire from a far and started to question her. But, everyone can see that the cultivators were actually eyeing that particular orb on her hand. Thinking that it was a rare treasure. Some of them tried to accuse her as a crazy monster and shout out in the open to kill her on behalf of justice but they wanted nothing more to snatch that treasure from her hands.
Without any provocation or talk, they immediately attacked her with full force. However, she immediately activated the apple's power and subdue the cultivators. The activation shocked the entire village as the golden lights covered the entire village's square. However, instead of making them killing each other and brutally exploded their heads. She makes them stabbed their own little brother with their knives repeatedly. Triggering a brutal scene where blood flew all over the direction. She knew each and every one of them as some of her friends were killed as offerings to satisfy their lust. Even after being heavily injured, they still stabbed themselves without feelings of fear and conscious. Her feelings and desire for revenge was shown on how she dealt with the cultivators without a shred of mercy. When she dealt with the cultivators, she didn't even realize the others were looking at her with a gaze of fear.
The last cultivator begs for his life when she wanted to kill him as well but instead of having his head exploded, he was spared when a man and a woman suddenly hugged the teen girl from behind with all their strength. They were begging for her to stop the senseless killing. It was brief and the cultivator took this time to run away from her. In an instant, she regained her consciousness and witness the brutality that she committed.
The Moon Empress sigh as she spoke "I killed each and every one of them but instead of admiration and praises. All I get was gazes of fear, disdain and greed. When I remembered that moment's time, I knew the orb I had on my hands were merely incite people to fulfill their greed. An object with absolute power. My actions were monstrous and could incite the wrath of the heavens but my parents saved me. I killed the cultivators one by one using the similar way and only one of them was left. He was begging for his life and I wanted to end it but my parents immediately stopped me. Telling me I am not a murderer and they wanted my troublemaker self-back. That's when I realized. I fell under its power and greed. I didn't notice and I remembered all the horrible deeds I've done back then."
"It's true…. The apple was none other than the device that incites chaos and destruction because it was built that way." Yun Che nodded in agreement as he witnessed the apple's power.
"Built that way?" Jasmine asked once more.
After years of understanding the research of the apple in his previous world. He spoke "The Isu race created these things and they did not simply create these things on a whim. They also build a safety measures to prevent their weapons from being misused by their enemies."
"It means…."
"Hnn, I've spend quite some time researching these things back then and I knew the apples can only be wielded by a member of their race. If the apple fell into their assailants, it would influence the assailant instead. Filling them with greedy and powerful thoughts to cause chaos among themselves. You've seen what the Empress had become at an early age. Not only it affects her but those around her as well. Only a strong and powerful mind can resist the apple's temptation and powers. Her parents' decision of stopping her was wise as it prevent her from falling further into madness."
"To think that the apple can cause this much trouble."
"Hnn, imagine what happened if one of the apples fell into the hands of the cultivators. Moreover, the hands of those from up there."
"I could imagine the chaos the apple could cause. Looks like if we're the only ones who knew the truth about these apples. It's better for us to reclaimed all eight of those things scattered all over the world."
"I doubt it because these things scattered three thousand years ago. Anything could happen."
Jasmine shook her head and continued "Anyhow, if these so called Apple of Eden can cause more harm than good. We should find and store them away. Like you said, 3000 years had passed and probably two or three of them ended up in the realm of the gods already."
Yun Che can't expect or know the things happened for the past three thousand years. "I don't know. Let's just hope for the best."
As they witnessed the aftermath of the event, the Moon Empress continued "But, my suffering had just begun. The more I hold the orb, the more people around me started to desire for it. There was once the people in my village wanted me to turn the orb to them but I refused as I experienced the first effect and tasted its powers. The people I knew turned against me. I had to threaten to use it against them but I feared they would come after my parents. Then, things started happening once more. The cultivator I let go from before turns out told his sect about the orb's existence. My worst fears come to life. He brought more and more cultivators but this time I noticed some of them were stronger. Most of them have ascended and even brought a powerful 'Spirit Profound Realm' old man."
The Moon Empress sigh as she recalled that particular day. "I tried to use the orb but its powers doesn't work on any one of them. I tried to use it once more but I couldn't control their mind and now I understood the nature of its powers. These cultivators and that old man had higher powers than me back then. I was only a normal mortal while they are ascended mortals. My powers were too weak to use it against them. Then, the villagers who have a greedy thought against me sold me off to them by telling them the true powers of the treasure I had. I was mad at them. I trusted them but they sold me off as I refused to give them the orb. But, there was nothing I could do. I couldn't even use its powers against the cultivators as they had stronger minds and bodies but it showed me one thing. It showed me the nature of humans of this world."
"When the cultivators stormed my house, my parents protected me by asking me to run as they hold them off. So I ran… I could still hear my mother's scream as they murdered her in cold blood. I couldn't use the orb to save her. I couldn't even do anything. This village was doomed whether I tried to save it or not. Even the villagers turned themselves against me. So I did what I had to do to survive."
Yun Che and Jasmine were brought to the scene where the Moon Empress was chased by the villagers. They have seen that even the people from her village turned against her. Then, the apple gave her another ability. It used the invisibility powers it had and she disappeared from sight even the strongest cultivators at that time can't see her. She cried as tears of despair fell from her eyes as she fled away from the village with the apple. She didn't have the heart to use the villagers as puppets to slow the cultivators. She had enough of killings already. As for her village's fate, the cultivators slaughtered all them as they did not get what they wish for.
The Moon Empress slowly dissolved the soul essence world as she spoke "My successor, I don't know whether you could see this message but I showed you the nature of the orb. I only wanted it to be use for the greater good. I've come from a bad start using the orb. Find my third essence. You will decide what you will do with the orb."
Then, the message was over as Yun Che and Jasmine's consciousness was ejected back to the tomb. That was her second message. She showed them the true nature of the Apple of Eden. A powerful weapon used to enslave mortals but turns out it was useless against stronger cultivators as stronger as they had stronger minds than ordinary mortals. But she showed what happened if the apple was exposed to the world.
Right now, Yun Che was back to his Mihawk's persona and Jasmine floated right next to him. She recalled the Apple's nature and understood why the Moon empress had to leave everything behind. "So she had to brought it somewhere to hide it."
Yun Che nodded in agreement with her. "Hnn, But I am sure she'll use it to gain more insight. This message only showed its nature but not her path to become a sovereign. I am sure she had more to tell us. Besides, she knew the Apple's nature and she wouldn't built a teleporting formation to send everyone here. It means there's more to this story."
"Now that you've seen that message. It's your job to find out."
"Why me?"
"You're the only one here who knows about the apple through and through. Besides, I am only a floating ghost who just knew about the existence of the Apple."
Yun Che sweat dropped at her antics before he murmured "Floating ghost, my foot."
Jasmine slowly floats beside him once more before spoke"By the way, how long did we spend in that message?"
"I don't know. A few minutes? Probably hours? She did show us a lot at that..." As he was talking internally with Jasmine.
"Mihawk…"
His thoughts and speech with Jasmine was interrupted as a lovely voice suddenly entered his ears. He turned his head around and he immediately saw his wife's master or the only woman who entered the tomb with him. The woman he saved before killing those two old men.
"Chu Yueli."
She looked at him with curious eyes and said "What is the matter? You've been staring at that pedestal for quite some time. Is something wrong with it?"
"I…how long I was staring at it?" He asked her some questions hoping that he didn't take that long in the Soul Essence.
"You stared it for a while and you didn't even respond when I called you just now." She answered but Yun Che and Jasmine widen their eyes. They felt like hours in there as she showed them quite a lot and she only responded he was in there for only a moment?
He regained his bearings before he replied "I was lost in thought. This place is majestic enough but they didn't even leave anything on the pedestal which makes me wonder."
She looked at the empty pedestal and unknowingly spoke "Could it be there are other people came before us?"
"But we're the only ones arrived at the tomb so I am sure this place has more mysteries to solve."
"Still, this methods and design in this tomb is different from what I heard or been. As feels like as if we're in a different world. The ones who build this tomb had very bizarre ideas." Chu Yueli started to widen her eyes as he scanned all over the arena zone. She went countless of times into temples and tombs but never actually found a tomb like this.
Yun Che play dumb and said "Who knows. Now, are you really going to tell me the true reasons why you are here in this tomb? I am sure recognition is not the only thing you're after."
"I…." The question suddenly wakes her up from her sightseeing. Mihawk asked her these questions before but she wasn't ready to answer them but he did save her. At least he trusted her and she wanted to tell him about her situation.
"You can take your time. I am listening." Yun Che tried distracting her about his stare just now. The secrets and existence of the Apple must be kept a secret from anyone but his trusted companions. From his research in his previous life, the apple's doesn't work on soul beings like him, Jasmine, Retsu, Kon, Nemu and Mio. Mio is not a soul being but she was bound by the system and immune to the apple's power.
Moreover, he did asked the system that whether the Apple can be modified by it. Turns out it can but only if he can get his hands on it the apple would be safe in his inner world. If he can modified the apple's nature, then it will be harmless and can't be used other than him or the system. Just like Jasmine mentioned before, he must regained all the pieces of Eden sent into this world. Those things caused enough trouble in his home world and he wasn't going to let the them cause trouble in this world as well. Moreover, he wanted to know the reason why the pieces were sent here instead of the race themselves.
As Chu Yueli was gathering her thoughts, Yun Che stared back at the pedestal where the Moon Empress just shown her message just now. Now he knew the purpose of this tomb, he decided to get to the bottom of it. By the way, this place wasn't it even a tomb. She probably tried to hide the secrets of the Apple in here.
"This is a vault." He spoke in his consciousness.
Jasmine heard his words and spoke "If this is a vault, then should one person be allowed to enter this tomb? Why bother gathering ten peak Sky Profound Realm warriors just to enter this vault? She could just pass the Apple to her successor and be done with it."
"Unless there's something hidden in this vault she doesn't want anyone else to know about. Just remember, the Isu won't sent the apples or any other things here without any member of their race accompanied them. She probably discovered something hidden within the Apple and wanted to hide it from the world. Remember she said something about a voice?"
"The voice, hnn. The voice that taught her how to utilized the apple's power as well as turn her temporarily into a cold blooded killer? You probably think…."
"Hnnn… let's pressed on. The answer probably lies there." However, Yun Che turned his head towards the two old men from before but his eyes widen when he saw nothing was on the pillars. The only thing that left was the sword and sword pieces he used to stabbed them. Thinking that probably Chu Yueli disposed them while he was in the Soul Essence but he still has doubts she was that cruel so he immediately asked "Yueli, did you dispose the old men from before?"
She suddenly grew red when Yun Che used her name but she regained her composure when he asked her that question. She shook her head and said "I did not. I was behind you all the time. Why did you… Eh!?!?! Where are they? They were here a moment ago. How in the….."
Yun Che kept his calm as he examined the light pillar. "Impossible, those wounds we gave them would kill them instantly if they tried to escape and even as simple as moving their arms."
"What is going on in this tomb?" Chu Yueli spoke while having thoughts on the men's disappearance. As if they suddenly vanished into thin air just like that. How in the world did that happened?
"I don't know but we're not going to waste our time to find out. The Moon Empress's tomb is not as simple as I thought it was." Yun Che looked at Jasmine as she nodded before proceeding on the energy path created by the arena before. Chu Yueli didn't know what is going on but she immediately followed next to him unaware that things had started to get more sinister than before.
Yo...back into writing. I read a review that someone disagree if I give Yun Che more girls. Should I stop and summon a man or men next time?
PS: You guys disagree when I summoned Kon. What will happen if I summoned more guys?
"So, you did all of this for your sister?" Yun Che calmly spoke to his current traveling companion, Chu Yueli. Currently, she was travelling with him inside the massive hall leading to the somewhere but the thing is she didn't even wearing her veil around him unlike Little Fairy who took almost a week to took hers off.
Chu Yueli nodded her head as she sway that alluring body of hers next to him. "Hnn, my sister was my source of inspiration. I wanted us to be a duo like we used to but now the gap between me and her was getting larger by the minute."
Yun Che nodded while rising an eyebrow. "So, you're not after recognition from the sect?"
She slowly lowering her head before she spoke" I am…. But at the same time, I wanted to be stronger so I can stand by my sister's side rather than standing behind her."
"For years, my sister left me and the others behind so she could pursue her cultivation. But recently, her strength just jumped multiple realms. I was shocked when she revealed her true strength to me back in my sect." She continued.
"What is her current strength?" Yun Che decided to asked her even though he knew the answer. He wanted Chu Yueli to opened up to him instead of being suspicious. Right now, she wasn't aware of his true identity.
"She's…currently in the Eight Level of the Emperor Profound Realm. By right, she is way stronger than our sect master." She answered without hesitation.
"She's already in that level? Damn, she's fast." He spoke in his heart. He expected her broken through to the peak of Emperor Profound Realm before they arrived in the Imperial City. But, there's one thing bothering him. This was supposed to be a secret between the Chu sisters. Why is she telling him all of this? He never expected Chu Yueli's trust level to him was that high and moreover, he's a man. A sworn enemy of her sect. Sort of.
He suddenly stopped walking before staring at her with his intimidating yellow eyes. "Yueli, why are you telling me all of this? We only knew each other yesterday and I am man. I thought your sect didn't trusted men." It's not like he wanted her to keep quiet but he didn't want her to be an easy woman who easily gave her trust to others. Moreover, she's the master of his wife and his image of her was quite high whether it came from the novel or from his own perception.
Chu Yueli suddenly went quiet. She really doesn't know why she told him all of this. It just naturally came from her mouth like she was speaking to a friend. She slowly spoke "I don't know. It's just I had this feeling in my heart. The truth is I really don't trust men at all but for some reason I could trust you. I just don't know why. Is it because you saved me twice? Is it because you used your secret skill to save my life? "
She really reflects on her action and her trust this time was well put. Moreover, she gave a thought when she was invited to the city's treasury to select treasures as a gift but the moment Mihawk declined the offer and left. She subconsciously followed his footsteps. Makes her wonder why did she gave up the opportunity to gain treasures and simply followed him out of the arena.
Yun Che looked at her with curious eyes. Looks like that simple gesture he showed her really caused a big ripple within her heart. It was just a small warning in the arena but that small warning changed the outcome of her match. Moreover, he just used his 'Status Recovery Skill' on her. To him, it was just a once a day skill that he sometimes used for fun but to her, it was a heaven defying skill that the whole world world flipped itself over after knowing its powerful effect.
He merely walked to the front before replying "*sigh… It was just a simple skill. Anyway, Is your sister really that strong? She could easily control the entire sect is she wants to."
She almost wanted to puke blood as that miraculous healing skill that saved her life was being called as a 'simple skill'. She really thought he was sacrificing his life force or his cultivation to save her. Instead of making this bizarre speculation, she shook her head before she spoke "She hid her strength so the sect won't treat her like a valuable object. She did say that she always wanted to live freely without the shackles of the sect. She revealed this to me as I am her sister but to be honest. It actually made me feel depressed."
"Why is that?"
"For years I am trying to follow her footstep and trying to catch up to her but for each passing day, her strength grew and the gap between us was getting further away. In time, our dream of becoming the ultimate duo is nothing more than a distant memory."
Then, Chu Yueli had a slight smile on her face radiating her beauty further. "Recently, she was calmer and warmer compared when she left the sect to pursue her breakthrough. I was shocked as she wasn't as cold as before and I could approached her easily. I was really glad I get to experience the bonding between us sisters once more. We finally able to talk on a lot of things together after so many years. Usually, she only spoke a few words but now, she told me almost everything. I was never lonely as I was before." She speaks between smiles. He never knew the changes in Little Fairy really had a powerful effect on Chu Yueli.
"Almost everything?" Yun Che tilted his head at the same time hoping that Little Fairy didn't tell her everything about their adventures. She might thought the real him used some kind of evil charm to bewitched her. Not to mention that particular man is standing right beside her.
"Hnn, elder sister had a fortuitous encounter when she went out last time. She said she met a senior who purified her profound energy by saving her life. Her purified energy was much stronger than our own cold energy. She was also bestowed some kind of powerful arts and even the forbidden arts were paled in comparison on what she had learn. It's a miracle she was able to learn such arts and it sometimes makes me envy of her because of her luck."
Yun Che smirks internally as she subconsciously giving him credit. Not directly but at least its something. "What about you? I am sure you're lucky enough to meet that 'senior'."
She turned her head towards him and spoke while lowering her head. "Me? It's impossible. She met that senior when she was severely injured. I am not sure I will meet that senior in my lifetime. I am not that lucky."
Yun Che simply kept quiet as he spoke in his heart. "Lucky? You survived a dual ultimate assault from the two strongest elders and it takes more than luck to survived that. Moreover, your ice heart shattered when you were defeated and the 'Status Recovery Skill' restored back your former self. I am sure you'll be shocked in a few hours when those energies finished purifying itself. Besides, you already met him."
However, he smirks a little when she said certain things about this 'senior'. "Is that senior really strong?"
"Hnn, that senior also helped her breakthrough to her current level as well as giving her a lot of cultivation materials. That senior also taught her several skills that my mind was unable to comprehend. Some of those skills were only tailored to her so she couldn't teach me those skills even if she wanted to. She even gave me some of it in exchange I kept everything a secret. That's when…."
"When?"
She pulls a deep breath and spoke "I broke through several levels. Jumped from the Fifth Level of Sky Profound Realm into the Peak in an instant. Whatever she gained from that senior was too powerful. She also taught me a powerful evasion skill from the senior as well. You saw that skill in the arena right? She was the one who taught it to me."
He nodded in agreement as Table Hopper skill was a universal skill that anyone can learn. But, she was able to grasp it the moment she broken through was enough to impressed him. It took Little Fairy almost a few days to grasp the Table Hopper's basic but she only needed a day or two to learn it. Not bad if he say so himself. "Hnn, extremely precision type evasion skill. From what I can see, it requires you to dodge at the very last minute to temporarily gain distance between you and your opponent. Useful in avoiding pinch type situation. If you have such skill in your arsenal, why didn't you use the skill in the arena before?"
"I .... I used every bit of my energy to cast a forbidden move. In the hand, I got everything handed back to me. I really am weak." She lowers her head remembering that painful experience. She remembers that if Mihawk wasn't there, she would lost her life and no one will know that she's now dead. What pains her the most that her sister would blame herself because of her death.
"Not quite…"
"Eh?" She suddenly rise her head and meet his eyes.
He pat her head like a brother consoling his sister as he spoke "You survived. That's all that matters. If you really loved your sister, survive this and go back to her."
Suprisingly, she did not resist his sudden touch but her face went full red. "Hnn, I will…."
"If you wanted recognition, you could reveal your strength to the sect."
She regained her composure as she was kind of disappointed he didn't even bat an eyelid on what he just did to her. "If I did that, I am nothing more than a valuable object. I wanted to follow my sister's footstep so…."
"You left without her knowing…." He finished her sentence.
"Hnnn, I heard rumors of the Moon Empress's tomb being unearth and calling all cultivators with my strength so I just left without thinking it through…. I wanted to pursue an edge so I could stand beside her. Ever since my disciple's training was supervised by our sect master, I am nothing more than a cast aside."
"Disciple?"
"Hnn, my sect recruited a special genius from Floating Cloud City two years ago. I was the one training her with my sect's profound arts until…... she was discovered to have possessed a Heavenly God Spiritual Veins and her cultivation steadily improved. Since then, our sect master took her under her wings and our relationship ended just like that. I never considered my disciple's view towards me. I even took her away on her wedding night. I never knew it felt empty." After shattering her ice heart, she took a moment and thought on her action on that night but she didn't knew the reason Xia Qingyue left that night.
Moreover, she asked her a lot about her husband especially the massive events that attract the whole continent into their empire back then because she felt almost similar energy came from the wedding and that particular event. But, Xia Qingyue didn't even gave any remarks and focused on her cultivation. She was disappointed as she couldn't relate or find anything about her disciples's husband as he went missing for almost two years now. She heard some rumors where a man named Yun Che caused ruckus in the New Moon City. A man who destroyed pillars of the seven sect single handed alongside a black clothed woman. Then, she also heard that the same man returned back to the Floating Cloud City and caused another ruckus but by the time she got there, there was nothing more of his trace and all that's left was a massive trench alongside a destroyed mountain. Whatever or whoever he was before, he is now an existence she couldn't afford to offend.
Yun Che just kept his mouth shut as she told him about her reasons for leaving her sister and sect quietly. She really wanted to stand beside her sister so that's why she braved herself into pursuing the legend of the Moon Empress. From her story, she left the sect the moment her breakthrough was complete. The requirement for entering the tomb was sufficient but her training back then wasn't even complete. She had to do it as she thought that she finally has an edge to stand by Little Fairy. He also knew that Xia Qingyue wasn't with her anymore because of his wedding gift to his wife back then. But, he never expected she was separated from her master because of that.
He shook his thought before he spoke "I am sure she is grateful to you. She might look tough but I am sure she wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for her. Everything she gained now is all because of you."
Despite only knowing Xia Qingyue for a day, he knew and understand more about her than anyone else in the world. She might look cold and heartless but she's actually the one caring for others more than herself. She seeks ways for him to restore his cultivation as well as protecting him by leaving days after their wedding night. Probably when he first came into this world, he was kind of thinking about her bad side rather than her good side. But, at that time. He wanted her to leave so she could cultivate rather than relying on him. He wasn't as strong as his current self back then.
"How do you know?"
"I am just saying." He slowly walked along the familiar temple while Chu Yueli followed him. She looked at the swordsman back for a while now. This man understands her completely rather than shooting her with sarcastic remarks or keep quiet all the time like the others. She didn't understand why he bothers saving her. He could just let her die but now, she just couldn't understand his every action and what all of it is for.
Yun Che had familiar feelings as he walks the hallway of the tomb. The Moon Empress really built the tomb based on the Apple of Eden. So it means, she had seen how the design and era of the Isu race. But, the thing is how is she able to accessed them? The apple doesn't show any memories as it was simply as a device or a recording disk for the Isu to transmit their messages. But for her to build this kind of temple complete with the markings, materials and mechanism means she might have something inside that head of hers. A human cultivator single handedly built an Isu temple or vault without any help was enough to cause some doubts within him.
They had to stop for a rest at one of the pillars and Chu Yueli decided to explore while observing the temple grounds carefully. Ever since he won the match as the final victor in the arena, the energy seems to powered the rest of the halls with aqua lights and there's no need for him to use his modified kido as a light anymore. Seeing the strange markings, Chu Yueli was curious every step of the way. She's been eyeing on one pillars at the time since they started walking as well as observing the markings on it. She did spoke to him about those strange alien markings and patterns on the pillars as she never seen them before but Yun Che merely shrugged his shoulders. He really didn't want to tell her about the origin of those markings for safety reasons.
To think that this tomb was built by the Moon Empress. She got the time and skills as well as powers if she managed to create a tomb of these wonders even after having a bad start.
As Chu Yueli was exploring the nearby area, Yun Che stood near one of the pillars while Jasmine floats around him at the same time observing for any abnormality within the halls. Ever since she gazed on the apple, she's been thinking how it actually works and its purpose among mortals especially humans. For an ordinary mortal had the powers to enslave cultivators was enough to tempt any humans to abused its powers. She was wondering what would happen if she was the one possessed it but Yun Che did warn her about the after effects of the apple. Tempting or pleasurable it might be, it would only cause more harm than good. She was also wondering whether she could use its powers to regain what she once lost but it was nothing more than a device of temptation. Because of it, the Moon Empress lost her family, friends as well as her home.
After seeing its effect through her memories, Jasmine abandons the thoughts of utilizing the apple's powers and focused on training Yun Che to her cause. The apple might be tempting but she wasn't dumb enough to use it for her own selfishness. When the time comes, his powers will be strong to counter those from up there and she'll be there to reap the fruits of her labor.
Speaking of his abilities, one thing crossed her mind. Yun Che once explained to her that when mortals died, the souls are reincarnated to the afterlife and they are chosen to become Soul Reapers. They can turn mortals into Shinigami but their powers will not be as strong or as powerful as normal Shinigami. A normal Shinigami can overpower a human Shinigami by a large margin. It's like wearing a costume instead of having a real power. In order for mortals to become Shinigami, he explained that the soul must be separated from the body before undergoing a process called hollowfication which is similar to his and Retsu's hollowfication but the soul must search for their own powers dwell within the itself and draw them to the real world. If they failed, the hollow will consume them and turned into a hollow instead.
Once drawn, that's where Zanpakuto is created. Because of the system, Yun Che's body possessed the capabilities of wielding multiple Zanpakuto in his body but he did say that not all Zanpakuto were 'interesting' enough to be wield. The ones he had right now were considered the best of the best. She wonders why he discard almost every Zanpakuto rewarded to him and he merely shrugs them as boring.
However, she wasn't ready to abandon her current powers so she could start all over. Every three or four months, a major realm of her cultivation recovered but she was used to not using her powers to help him. She hated the fact that he never needed her help or could help him in the real world. While she quietly guides him, he was having fun cultivating in the outside world.
Deep down, she wanted to learn how to have fun as well. He did say that she must be ready to discard everything and transform into a new person. It means she would have a new soul, new cultivation method, she will be helped by the system but most of all, she will have a new identity and she can roam the real world as she pleased.
But…. All of them had its price. She must forsake everything and start anew. It means she must discard the very thing that was given to her, her skills, Star God Bloodline as well as her cultivation. She's not the same as Yun Che who can merge his body and soul powers together allowing him to utilized his bloodline skills. It was either her Star God Powers or Shinigami powers.
"You've been quiet. Is everything okay?" Yun Che suddenly sounded in Jasmine's mind.
Jasmine immediately regained her composure before she was back to her haughty self. "I am fine. You idiot. Can't you see I am perfectly fine?"
"Jasmine, I know someone is not okay when I see one. You can lie all you want but that energy of yours can't do the same."
"*Sigh, there's no escaping your sight. Sometimes, you looked like you can pry inti other's secret before they even noticed them."
"I've been with you for almost two years now. I know you like the back of my hand. As for your origin, that depends on you whether you wanted to tell me or not."
"I don't know. Seeing the apple back then, relying on supreme powers sometimes caused more harm than good. I was thinking on what would happen if I used the Apple up there? My origin isn't as simple as you imagined." As she spoke, he remembered reading about her origins in the system's database as well as the original novel. He was hoping Jasmine didn't give in to the apple's temptation. It's true that she could use it to solve her problems but for how long? If she solved her problems, another shall arise. That's why the apple can only be used if the situation requires. The realm up there is not as simple as that if she used the Apple or other Pieces of Eden up there. She'll just make herself a living target unless she had the powers to protect the devices. But not all humans are powerful and allmighty.
He nodded and replied "I know the Realm of the Gods isn't as simple as that. Everyone has their own side of the story."
"For the past two years, being with you and Retsu as well as the spirits opened up more of my feelings. You taught me the value of a friends and family. The spirits, you, Retsu and even those newly added phoenix and dragon making me feel like I have a family. I never though they treated me like a sister. A person of my origin is bad enough to consider me as one of them. I felt like the more I get attached to you, I will be devastated if I lost all of it one day. It will be the same feeling when those days happened." Jasmine always watched them from the inner world and she never wanted the dark days splashing her all over again.
Despite everything that's happening around them, Yun Che and the others never stopped smiling. His and Retsu's origin might be worse than hers but they always had a genuine smile rather than a force one. Retsu might not remember anything but Yun Che did told her a glimpse of her past. What impressed her the most was instead of fooling around with it, Retsu shrugged it off as she wanted to enjoy her new life rather than sulking in the old one. The same as her idiot disciple. She always thought that she was the strongest one among them but comparing her to them is like comparing the heavens and earth.
He shrugged all of those thoughts and simply said "You don't have to worry about it. We'll protect you with all our powers. Besides, those girls will be devastated if you gone missing one day especially those little rascals. They really treated you like a big sister huh?"
"Hnnn, parting with them will be the last thing I had on my mind. At first, I only wanted to used you to recover my cultivation."
"Harsh…." He sounded sarcastically.
"I am not finished you idiot! Anyway, the more I observed you and others. The more enjoyable this life could be. I always focused on vengeance and I never knew the joy or fun in cultivating. Seeing you so happy for each level you gained makes me wonder those feelings really felt."
"You know? You've already felt that on the first step."
"I did?"
"I can see that you're really keen on learning new things. I only taught you a few skills and now you are eager to learn every skill I taught to the others. Remember the day I taught you how to use your Haki and utilizing them? You mastered them well and it's the first time I've seen you really enjoy something that you learned. Moreover, you were pestering me into teaching you how use Eagle Vision. That alone proves you really enjoy learning new things after all. Before, you learned haki exist. Today, you learn that you can manipulate haki into your organs. Imagine what you learn tomorrow." Yun Che's words really did spark an interest in her. She had all the skills from the beginning and she never actually felt a sense of accomplishment. Just maybe, she'll try to gain those feelings once more.
"But those skills are much more heaven defying than those skills from up there. If they get a whiff of it, they will spend everything just to dissect you. Besides, I never knew I was interested in learning something new."
Then, his voice suddenly sound happy as he spoke "That's the feeling Jasmine, the feelings of learning something new. The feeling of leveling up and utilizing the skills. That's the joy of cultivating. It might be hard to restart back at the bottom but you'll get the hang of it. Remember the time I fought the dragon instead of running away?"
"Yeah, you could just snatch the fire bead and run away. I would say that's stupid of you." She grunted as she remembered that time. Back then, she was really vulnerable and had to resort to that white demon to rescue her. She might not acknowledge such a rescue but that thing really saved her life.
But, Yun Che simply replied "But, where's the fun in that? The feeling of fighting a stronger opponent and loot the experiences. It might be dumb but it's worth the risk. It boosts my level as well as gaining something to start Retsu's cultivation. Running away sometimes isn't the solution. If you had the capabilities to face it, then face it."
Jasmine was taken aback. In this world, mortals sometimes run away when situation's getting to dire. However, this idiot never runs away. Even when he's badly hurt or being overpowered. He just keeps on fighting and it wasn't a desperate, a winning or a losing fight. It was a fight to gain levels. "Is leveling up is really that fun?"
"Of course it is. You can get stronger by defeating opponents aside from cultivating for years."
Hearing those words, Jasmine went quiet. She never knew the joys and feelings of cultivation. Her abilities, powers and skills were all transferred as well as given to her.
She might be fifteen years old right now but she never knew the joys of cultivating. "I can gain this ability as well?"
"As for the current you. I am sorry to say that the system won't accept you like this unless… you're ready to discard everything and join our ranks though." Yun Che understand the heaviness of his words. It means Jasmine must discard her current skills, abilities and cultivation so the system can reset her soul thus transforming her into a Soul Reaper just like Kurosaki Ichigo rebirth session. It means she must go through the process of hollowfication as well so she can discover her powers but knowing Jasmine, she wouldn't discard her cultivation because those powers belong to someone important to her.
"….."
"Only if you're ready, Jasmine. I wouldn't ask you to throw something of that important away. The day you gave me your true name is the day I will train you to become a Shinigami. Well to be honest, I couldn't wait to become your master actually."
"Hmph, this princess would strangle herself before letting you become this princess's master." She shrugged him off floating to a nearby pillar.
"Worth a shot I guess." He shrugged his shoulders before walking to the front.
He wondered why they didn't find any more of those scheming elders along the way but Chu Yueli did told him that she encountered similar hallway as him including the altar and the pedestal but she didn't find anything on it. If what he thought was true, those elders from before probably encountered the same thing and fighting among themselves to determine the final winner. However, none of them will expect the arena seems to have a loophole that they can carry more if they healed their opponents but knowing them, they probably gone for the kill instead.
As they were walking along the illuminated hallway, they finally arrived in a massive hall which shocks both Jasmine and Chu Yueli. The hall was much different than the other halls. In the middle seems to have four broken pillars. At the end of the hall, there seems to be a massive triangular doorway which leads to another room. By the looks of it, the triangular gateway looks like it was leading to somewhere important. One more thing that is new to the women where hexagonal shape stones carved on the ceiling and even as floors. The thing is those hexagonal shape stones were shiny and some of it had dull colors. Although some of them were damaged, it was still give the aura of a futuristic look.
Jasmine suddenly spoke while observing the hallway once more. "To be honest, I never seen designs like this. Most people would build tombs out of stones, earth and probably wood. Some would even build castles on top of a hill but this tomb, I feel like I am stepping into another realm. This markings and patterns really does bear similarities when that apple was showing those strange markings in an instant. If my mind and soul still function like a normal cultivator, I've passed out by those markings alone."
Then, she continued "You said that designs like this is common among the Isu race isn't it."
Yun Che simply replied "Yeah, they built temples to store their research across the world in my original home. Temples like this houses secrets they tried to hide from being reached by humans. However, just remember that the Moon Empress built this vault as a tomb."
Jasmine nodded before they proceeding on entering the massive triangular vault doorway and the sight was too majestic to behold. The first thing they saw was a massive three sided pyramid floating above what seems to be a stage underneath it. But, that massive pyramid seems to be suspended in midair without having any supporting pillar. Looking from a distance, this place really looks like an arena with statues on top of the massive stair like structures as well as the stage was surrounded with water. Seeing a pyramid suspended in mid-air, he thought on how such things even possible. Then again, this is the cultivation world where sometimes logic is thrown directly outside the window.
Yun Che however was observing the structural and construction method of the hall. To be honest, this place is really like one of the temples back in his world. Almost similar. They descended under the stairs like stones until they reached the central part of the massive hall. The three sided pyramid just floats and slowly rotated above them while they observed the hall to look for similar clues. Looking at the distance, they can also see two more triangular doorways leading what most probably towards the remaining elders. Aside from them and those two missing elders, only six of them are left and they most probably fighting among each other and two of them will emerged later.
If he were to guess, the Apple maybe stored inside that pyramid and he could slice it clean and retrieved it. However, he had a feeling that floating pyramid's function is much more different than it looks. So maybe that thing is probably carrying a different purpose compared to what he was thinking about so he decided to explore the area more just to see whether his hunch was correct. If it doesn't, there's always a plan B right?
"Incredible, to be able to witness the wonder of this tomb. I never knew people of the ancient era able to perform such feat." This time it was Chu Yueli's turn to express her amazement.
"No, by the looks of it. Looks like this tomb was built by the Moon Empress herself."
"Eh, how?"
"Imagine, she left behind a disciple but none of the Empire's records seen any one of those symbols carved in the pillars. There's no markings recorded in the history of the Empire."
"But, she left behind a disciple. She was bound to know something about it?"
"No, her cultivation back then probably not enough to match the Moon Empress. Just remember, she was a Sovereign and a powerful monarch that established the Blue Wind Empire. Giving her strength and capabilities as a sovereign. I can see she was able to create this kind of temple."
"But, these designs, markings as well patterns carved on the pillars. I've never seen or heard about them before. She even built those kind of energy path back the arena. It's like her capabilities was far more advanced than any other places that I've been."
"I don't know Yueli. It's better for us to see what happens next."
They started to wonder the inner areas of the hall to find whatever clues they could find. The place was really roughed up after thousands of years. It's like there's been a grand battle inside this temple but they were the first ones who arrived here so who was the one roughed up the halls?
Yun Che shook himself from his thought before arriving near one of the statues in the temple. It seems that the Moon Empress built statues of herself in the inner hall. The statues were similar with the statue in the ruins of the old temple beneath Xiao Clan's training ground where the statue of the Moon Empress was pointing her palm towards somewhere. However, the statues were not arranged properly and he as a former gamer could see something was way off with the arrangement.
Seeing that Yun Che was keen on observing the statues, Jasmine suddenly spoke "Do you think these statues hold some sort of significance?"
"I don't know. Now that you mentioned it, the statues' positions seem to be off for some reason. Let me try something." He tried pushing the statues and it started to move with ease. So he arranged them properly and pointed the palms of the statues towards the pyramid.
Click...
A sound was heard as he managed to arranged the statues' position and suddenly aqua lights started to flow all over the statues before shooting off light beams from its palm towers the floating pyramid. Chu Yueli was exploring the other end suddenly had her eyes on the pyramid as well. The lights produced from the palms of the statues arrived on one of the pyramid's sides and suddenly it stopped rotating.
"So, I was right." He jumped from the statues area and proceed on towards's Chu Yueli's side of the grand hall. He suddenly spoke "Yueli, arrange the Moon Empress's statues and pointed their palms towards the pyramid."
Chu Yueli observed the arrangement's effect before nodding towards him and arranged the statues. As expected, the arrangement produced beams of light before making its way towards the other side of the pyramid. The beams of aqua lights stopped the pyramid from rotating and it seems that one of the side was still incomplete. When they tried to complete the pyramid, Yun Che suddenly had bad feelings all of a sudden. He observed the aqua lights movement as he thought about the wonders that the Moon Empress create to protect her tomb. "To think that she created a puzzle to unlock the secrets of that floating pyramid."
Jasmine floated beside him also thinking about the same thing. "Well, there's no denying it. Whatever is hidden in this tomb she really wanted to keep it away."
"Still, why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?"
"Me too, lets complete the puzzle to see what else the tomb left in store for us." He jumped alongside Chu Yueli towards the final side of the statues. All of the statues seems intact but one of them kind of had its palm severed from its hand. So Yun Che simply activated his phoenix flames and restored the statue temporarily but his action was unable to escape Chu Yueli's eyes.
"You….you have flame profound energy? I thought you only cultivated the way of the sword?" She observed the flames from his hand and those flames weren't ordinary. It was clearly scarlet and it felt hotter than ordinary flames those Burning Heaven Clan had.
"I was bored. So I cultivated other things as well. Why? Is it not necessary for cultivation?"
Chu Yueli was speechless. He cultivated those skills because he was bored? "A swordsman with scarlet flames. But, he never used that flame in the previous battles. This means he didn't even bother to use all of his skills. Dracule Mihawk, how strong are you? Is your cultivation really at the peak of Sky Profound Realm?"
As soon as the statue was fixed, the beams shot from its hands and arrived at the last side of the pyramid. But nothing was happening....
Suddenly...
Click….click…click….
Suddenly, clicking sounds were heard in the floating pyramid as it suddenly glows with the same aqua lights before covering the whole pyramid. With that it shot a light straight from underneath it to the central part of the stage. All of a sudden…..
Click…
A pedestal slowly emerged from the ground standing proud on the stage. Chu Yueli was curious as the same type of pedestal suddenly emerged from the ground. It also shows the same thing as before that is nothing was on it. She suddenly turned her eyes towards Mihawk who had no indifferent expression than he was before. It seems that he discovered something the moment he placed his hand on top of the pedestal but she didn't see anything on it.
She did give it a thought when his mind suddenly wandered in front of the previous pedestal. "Can he see something that I wasn't able to? What secrets that this tomb really hides?" She also thought that the Empress's sarcophagus is probably hidden somewhere in this grand hall but they solved the puzzle and all it gave them was a single pedestal, with nothing on it.
She decided to keep quiet while let Mihawk do his thing. If she was right about him can see something she could not. Then, whatever secrets it has. She will never know about it. Deep down, she really wanted him to give her his trust unless whatever he saw isn't really that important or someone like her doesn't have the strength to shoulder the knowledge about it.
"Another pedestal?" Jasmine suddenly comments. Moreover, she didn't even see anything on top of it even though this is the final hall.
"Yes, her third and final message. This is the end of the line but there's still no Apple or even her sarcophagus. Did she hide it somewhere outside the tomb?"
"Or somewhere inside this tomb. Anyway, we will know once we pressed our hands on it." But, as soon as they walked up to the pedestal. A voice suddenly sounded in the distant.
"Halt, whoever you are. The treasure belongs to the Xiao Clan. We were the first who found this tomb and it is our right to claim it."
"Xiao Clan? We agreed to split the treasure among us and you decided to withhold that agreement." Yun Che and the others turned their head towards the source and they saw two figures suddenly emerged from the triangular doorway in the distance. It seems that the champion from each path had been chosen. Looking closer, one of them is the elder from the Xiao Clan that escort them before and the other was that guy named Lang Long. It seems that he was stronger than he looks if he was able to defeat three peak Sky Profound Realm elders. By the looks of it, both of them looked really torn up probably because of an all-out battle with other elder ranks.
The Xiao clan elder from before suddenly spoke "You….Why are you here? Where is my brother?" He was the only one fighting the other three while using the formation as a suppression field. He was quick witted when the elders tried to ambush him and he was able to kill all the remaining elders before proceeding her. The alliance only works if they wanted to kill Mihawk and Li Yue but since it came to this. There's no helping for them to going back to their primal instinct.
"Hmph, do you ignore the fact that I didn't know that you two scheming Xiao Clan has the counter for that formation? So I aimed at steal it from him the moment he used it on the arena. Looks like you managed to betray the others but I managed to sense him before he managed to betray us. So I used the formation to kill them."
"You killed him? You dare kill my brother? Looks like you really wanted to offend the Xiao Clan?"
"Hmph, its not the matter of offending no more. The moment I killed you, no one will know the truth about this place." As they were looking at each other, they heard a familiar voice and that voice also is the voice they never wanted to hear as long as they live.
"You weaklings again." They turned their eyes and their mortal enemies, Mihawk and Li Yue. But Li Yue's look was quite different and they never knew she was a silver haired beauty. Moreover, those robes of her is famous enough for them to recognized it. They never expected their female opponents hailed from the strongest sect in the Empire.
"Dracule Mihawk?!? And you… looked somehow familiar… Li Yue?!? You two still alive?!? You…!!! You killed them?" They were shock to see they survived the assault of the other elders and they were surprised to see two of them were here since there were only three triangular doors. It means they managed to bypass the tomb by allowing two cultivators to advance.
"Hmph, pitiful weaklings. Don't bother using this weak formation against me. You might consider this as treasure but it is nothing but trash in my eyes." Yun Che suddenly pulled a ripped part of the Xiao Clan's formation before burning it off with his flames shocking the Xiao Clan elder. He did keep some of it as provocation for them later.
"You dare call me a weakling?!?" The Xiao Clan elder suddenly roared.
"To tell you the truth, I am. Or What are you going to do about it?" The remaining Xiao Clan elder remains rooted on the spot. He lost his brother in this tomb and only two of them against two of them. With Li Yue's identity revealed as the disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard. There's no way for them to match her one on one.
Suddenly, Lang Long regained his sinister smile and spoke "You two have the treasures of this tomb right? I suggest you two hand over the treasures before I am forced to use my final trump card."
Jasmine sweat dropped as the man still wanted to be a man after being cornered like this. "What is the matter with that guy? You can take all them back then and he still wanted to act tough?"
"What if we refused?"
"You…. Then I will use this." He suddenly revealed a familiar looking black pill on his palm.
The Xiao Clan elder turned his head towards him and slowly widen his eyes. "No wonder it was missing. It was you who took it all along." The said pill was actually the Wu clan pill that was slapped away by Chu Yueli in the arena before to prevent that jackass from transforming himself. He heard from one of the elders of that clan back then that this pill is actually their latest product and it was still unstable.
"Now, hand over the treasures before I will use the pill and end your sorry existence."
"You…" Chu Yueli was about to step forward but Yun Che simply raised his hand stopping her.
"Mihawk….."
Yun Che didn't actually stop her from doing something stupid but he actually had another thing in mind.
"Fine…. Use it." His words actually cause Chu Yueli to snapped her eyes at him. He actually wanted that elder to use that sinister pill? Is he really that mad?
But what she saw on his face was not an expression of provocation. He looks like he is…
"Is he smiling?" She murmured under her breath. The truth is Yun Che was curious about the pill the moment he laid eyes upon it in the arena but he wasn't going to let Chu Yueli face such as sinister thing so he warned her. However, now that this is the fight of a lifetime as well as to satisfy his curiosity so he decided to provoke elder Lang Long to use the pill instead.
Elder Lang Long suddenly burst out laughing as his provocation. He wanted to scare him off using the pill but didn't expect for the swordsman to ask him to use it. "Haha… if you really wanted to die. I won't bother using this precious pill I got from the arena and just simply kill you. Or you're too scared and suddenly lost your mind."
"Like I said, use it. If that pill is exactly what they said about it. Feel free to use it."
Lang Long almost lose his cool as he continued to trick him. "You….I am not bluffing… I will use it….." But Mihawk remain indifferent and still smiling there while asking him to use it. As for Lang Long, he didn't even know to effects of the pill. He wondered why the Wu Clan treated this pill as sacred. It was only a testing pill but he couldn't help it by feeling massive powers contained in that pill.
"If you use it, it'll be the point of no return. Are you sure this is what you want?" The remaining elder from the Xiao Clan almost given up the moment he heard the monstrous swordsman was able to counter their treasured formation. He took and given to all of the elders for them to use it on that swordsman and that black clothed woman. Moreover, he even prepared another plan to counter the formation's effect
Lang Long turned his head towards the Xiao Clan elder and he spoke "I don't care. The two of them will be able to match us and we will be the ones in disadvantage if we take them on. I decided to use this pill. I don't know what and how the Wu clan made this pill but for the sake of ending their lives. I am going to risk it." Then, with a swift motion. He tossed the sinister pill into his mouth causing everyone to be on their guard.
Seeing the pill when into his mouth, Chu Yueli remained on guard as she spoke "What are we going to do?"
Yun Che immediately gave her orders to stay away from the central stage. "Go up over the statues and watch from there. Make sure to disrupt one of the statue to cancel the light."
"But…" She looked at him worriedly.
"Go… I'll deal with this." Yun Che looked at her with his intimidating yellow eyes and Chu Yueli reluctantly complied. She followed his order and removed one of the statues thus cancelling the lights pointed at one of the pyramid's side. Suddenly the pedestal underneath it slowly descends back under the stage.
Chu Yueli understood now as he wanted to protect that pedestal until the fight was over. She heard about these pills from him that it increased the cultivation and powers at the same time transforming them into hideous creatures. She made a lifesaving decision back then to slapped the pill away from the Wu Clan elder but she was quite shocked when she actually seen its effect right now.
Lang Long's body suddenly transforming into something massive than his current self. What shocks them is his head started to grow large horns as he screamed for agony when the process really expands his muscles. When the transformation was complete, what emerge from the smoke was a pair of red eyes with hairy legs and arms. The rest of them widen their eyes as a giant half man half bull was roaring across the hall in intimidation. Seeing the rage in its eyes, there were no sign of human control. Only pure instinct or rage.
Last time, his opponent transformed into an orc but now "Damn, he transformed into a Minotaur."
Not just a Minotaur but a twenty feet tall Minotaur. Then, it suddenly moves itself into one of the massive statue of the Moon Empress and pulled the stone weapon from its hands with ease. In coincidence, the massive Minotaur pulls a stone axe from its arms before roaring itself in intimidation and provocation once more.
ROOOARRR!!!!
Shing…!!!! Seeing the half man half bull was suddenly grew large and enraged, he immediately drew Yoru from his back as he spoke with a sinister smile as well. He didn't even feel intimidated but he actually grew excited.
" Finally, a proper fight."
Yours truly here was busy preparing a proposal for my work. I am a little late but here's the next chapter.
PS: My thanks for everyone supporting me into descending towards the harem route. I promised not to abandon those girls.
Moreover, I can't write an NTR version of the MC... I just don't know how...
PS... Another Breakthrough in words.... 8K words...
Commentaire de paragraphe
La fonction de commentaire de paragraphe est maintenant disponible sur le Web ! Déplacez la souris sur n’importe quel paragraphe et cliquez sur l’icône pour ajouter votre commentaire.
De plus, vous pouvez toujours l’activer/désactiver dans les paramètres.
OK