After a few hours of searching around far past his normal range, making sure to mark the way back, Dan finds many different things to eat. But he found even better than that, a road. A dirt road, but a road never the less, and Dan knew what that meant. People used this road at least on a semi-regular basis, or else the road would have been overrun by plants.

Dan follows the road making sure to mark trees and rocks so he does not get lost when he wants to return. Following the road for a few minutes, Dan sees the main road, one made of asphalt. Observing the road, he can see that it is not a highway, and Dan does not see any cars traveling on it, so it is probably not a popular route. Dan decides to go the other direction on the dirt road and see where it leads.

Traveling the other direction for several minutes, Dan stumbles upon a huge log cabin inn or something. Dan climbs a nearby tree to see if there is a sign that says what it is. On a branch of the tree, Dan looks to see that the building is called, New Oak Log Cabin Lodge. "So its a log cabin lodge, it's pretty big. I wonder if anyone is staying there right now," Dan asks himself?

Dan searches around to see if there are any cars, but he does not find any. "I guess it is not open right now or something," Dan says to himself.

"I will come back here later, it's getting late, and I do not want to be caught out in the dark," Dan thinks to himself as he climbs down the tree he is on. "It is just a bit more than an hours walk from the stream to get here anyhow," Dan says to himself.

Dan got back home right as the sun is starting to set. Dan snacks on the snake for a little while. Looking at the snake, Dan sees there is about a third left to eat. Dan has enough bio-energy to evolve, but he is mauling over if he should evolve or upgrade his abilities more. Dan kept snacking until he is full, then goes to sleep for the night.

Waking up the next morning, Dan eats a bit of the snake and hears a notification.

[Devour trigged, gained ability Heat Sense Level 1.]

As the system notification rang out, Dan felt his face start to heat up. After a few seconds, Dan felt like his face is burning in a fire. After what felt like forever for Dan, the burning feeling stops. "Damn, the new abilities are awesome, but the itching, burning, and pain are awful," Dan says to himself while trying to catch his breath.

"So I got Heat Sense, I can now see heat just like a snake. I should try it out," Dan thinks to himself as he climbs down his tree.

On the ground, Dan looks around and faintly perceives the heat given off by things. He decides to close his eyes to see if he could perceive the heat better that way. With his eyes closed, Dan can see the heat much better than with his eyes open. As Dan thinks about uses for this ability, he realizes that as he never goes out at night, this ability will not be that useful to him.

"I better get moving if I want to see that lodge," Dan thinks to himself as he starts to walk to the lodge.

Back with Emma, she is talking to Catlin as she is getting on the bus. "I got a full night's rest, so I am fully energized for this trip," Emma tells Catlin with a happy tone.

"That good, we are going to have so much fun on this trip," Catlin says to Emma as they sit down together.

"Alright children, quiet down for a second," a female teacher says, then wait for everyone to settle down. "We will be heading to New Oak Log Cabin Lodge to stay,\ while learning about geology and plants in the forest. We will be staying there until Sunday afternoon, so be sure to keep track of your things. Also, if you need to take any medication be sure you packed it in your bag, New Oak Log Cabin Lodge is a half-hour trip, so we can't go back for it, your parents would have to bring it. From 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Ms. Brooks will be teaching you, the rest of the time you can play games or whatever you want to do. You will not be allowed to go into the forest or walk the hiking trail without supervision. Do you have any questions," the teacher asks?

A student with a black shirt and blond hair raises his hand. "Yes, William," the teacher says.

"When will we eat," William questions?

"Breakfast will be at 8 a.m., lunch at noon, and dinner at 5 p.m.," the teacher answers. "Any other questions?" Waiting for a few moments with no one raising their hand, she then says, "Alright then, let's get moving."

The bus driver starts the bus, and they were off.

Dan arrives by the lodge. He climbs a nearby tree to see if there are any cars today. Looking at the parking lot in front of the building, Dan sees three cars. "There are really people here," Dan says excitedly. "I could find out where I am, but I have to be careful. They could easily kill me either on accident or on purpose. I should stay out of sight. The other bonus of people is all the food they bring. I can massively expand the number of food types if I can get some of the food they bring," Dan thinks to himself, concocting a plan on how he can accomplish that.

Dan decides to upgrade his teeth before going down the tree and toward the cars.

Follow the tales of Dan, a man reincarnated as a lizard, on his journey to become the strongest.

A wooden coffin sat under the moonlight,
The world around it grew silent,
It sat there basking in the sorrow of the present and past,
Never to see the future,
The heavens looked overcast,
The people looked downcast,
The one-handed maiden just looked on with uncaring expression, 
but her heart most fragmented of all,
the Green eyes reminiscent of the sea looked toward the coffin,
filled with sorrow and rage all around the figure in the sea of warmth,
two vows to keep,
one to follow,
one to avenge,
and still,
The wooden coffin sat under the moonlight.
…..
The funeral happened on the next night, he was buried under the shade of an oak tree.
It was carried around the peak period of the night when the moon was directly overhead. 
Solemn faces were all around the coffin, they were few in no, but still plentiful in amount.
Their emotions ranging from pity to sadness to wrathful, all floating around them.
In the front, there were 4 people, a one-armed girl with pristine hair, an uncaring gaze, but with deep dark circles around her red eyes, the same eyes that showed the emotion of absolute uncaring, the same showed what the true emotion behind them. 
The second was a young man who looked to be around in his 20s, he had scars all over his arms, most of them still pink, showing how new they were, his deep green eyes dark and stormy, his hands clutched still, still dripping a drop of blood or two as he stood there. But still, it was as if he could not feel it.
The third was also a young lady, but this one with no obvious wound on her, except some broken nails, her eyes still flowing with constant tears, she was held within the arms of a young man, who was trying to calm her down.
They were Ming, Ryan, Xiao Ning'er and Nie Li.
The first two stood there without a word, but their body said all that needed to be said.
Ning'er, on the other hand, could not help but shed tears.
For her his blow might not be as harsh as the two he heart was the easiest to break, especially considering that the death was of her only brother who even though she might not have seen in many years, still first the guilt for his banishment then his disappearance had affected her deep in her heart.
She might not have that many or even no memories of her bother from before but still, the few she had from before were enough for she could not find any of the ones from before without him. It was as if he had always been there for her and she for him at that time.
So she cried for all the feeling of love that was left for her brother.
Nie Li stood there holding her, trying his best to comfort her.
Around them and the coffin stood various familiar faces, Ye Ziyun, Lu Piao, Du Ze, Wai Nan, etc there were also those of the older generation like City Lord Ye Zong, Sacred Family Patriarch, Divine family Patriarch, and the Patriarch of various other noble families, even the Winged Dragon Family Patriarch, who looked at the coffin with quite complicated emotions.
Ming looked at all these people around her, giving their final farewell to Xin, but she knew that most of them were not giving the farewell to Xin no, but the creator of the technique, the same cursed technique that led to the sudden demise of Xin.
She had understood it all, the internals and the externals of the matter.
…..
"XIN!!"
These were the first words she said when she woke up a few hours later, in the nursery.
She had been barely calmed down when the news of Xin's death had been hit her.
She had broken down, completely.
The next hour or so could have been the fastest or the slowest hour of her life, they(the staff had tried to explain to her what had happened), in short, the thing she had understood was that, Dark Guild had made a major strike on the Glory City, the had not only attacked them, but they had also attacked the City Lord Mansion, this attack had been made because some hoe the news of this technique 'introducer' had been leaked to them, this had been an attack mainly targeting them.
Ming after all this only had a single thought in her head, he was gone and only she as left
….. 
Soon she dragged herself out of the flashback and looked at her surroundings
Ming remembered it was something Xin had said sometime back to her.
At that time, it was a joke from him toward Ming, he said something along the lines, "if I die let me rest under the tree of oak so that maybe my death could help the tree grow stronger and live longer in my stead"
That joke from back then had been turned true today.
She could only hold back from crying again, barely, as the funeral continued.
…..
The funeral came to an end as the morning sun rose.
As all the people slowly took their leave looking at the newly erected tombstone in front of the oak.
"Here Lies the Pioneer that gave the city new hope, may his soul rest in peace"
"XIN"
There was no surname for his name, for he had forsaken one never to take it back.
As the people left soon only two were left near the tomb.
Ming turned toward Ryan.
"Ryan, do not, and I mean it, do not think that Xin's death had anything to do with you, you did your very best, it was never your fault, and it will never be."
" But, Sister Ming I.."
"Shhhhh! I said it wasn't yours, so it's not. Understand"
*nod*
"Good now take this, this is something he was preparing for you for a long time"
She passed him a single orb.
"When you think that your power is not enough and you feel ready to face a larger, a more dangerous world but with even greater opportunities, break that.  
"But remember this is a one-way trip, once you are gone, you are gone. There is no coming back."
Ryan studied the Orb in front of him, it was golden with a few grains of silver here and here and then he......…broke it.
He broke the orb!!
"There is no need to feel any more"
And he disappeared from there without a trace.
Ming looked at the place where Ryan had just been and slowly turned around.
"Ryan may the seas tremble in your name when the next time I see you, and you wait for it Xin I will pierce the wall of this world and the beyond, lets weather you will be able to leave me ever again"
Ming said as she looked at the sky, playing with the diamond ring in her hand as, she too disappeared, in the unknown.
-----

What would happen if you could travel in different worlds, be a Demo Spiritualist in Tales of demon and god, a wizard in Fairy Tale, creating formations with a certain emotionless Scalping Zombie, experiencing Virtual Realty with Li Xiao Ya.

Well come abroad you are about to know it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I DON’T OWN ANY OF THE FRANCHISE ABOVE MENTIONED.

*two weeks later

Morning came, warm sunlight were piercing softly through the window's interstice, birds were chirping melodious songs, it was a fresh and peaceful morning. 

Yamato's long lashes were fluttering when the warm sunlight hits his pale cheeks. Searching for a more comfortable position, he lay his body down unconsciously, the moment his back met the bed' surface, he jolted and immediately sat awake. His back throbbed and he had to open his eyes in a frown. It was not as painful as it was two weeks ago, nonetheless it still stung from time to time. 

Glancing outside the window, Yamato guessed it was about seven or eight. He stood and gone to wash his face. He donned a simple maroon dress. Due to an exaggerated embroidery on every single piece of Ren Xiu's wardrobe, Yamato had ordered the maids to buy several simpler dresses and even a man's attire. 

Yamato liked to do things by himself, however he has a lot of difficulty to do Ren Xiu's long hair, thus he always made the maids help although he only needs to tie the hair. 

These two weeks, Yamato had learnt that wife and concubine leads a very boring life with no activity whatsoever, especially in this household. Usually concubines only activity was to fulfill their husband sexual needs, however as Qing Rui was very loyal and infatuated towards An Xiao, these concubines merely exist with no purpose. Yamato could only sigh helplessly at their fate.

Having breakfast in his room, Yamato usually chatter with Ren Xiu's two personal maids.

"Ah yes, two days ago one of the guards were caught making love with a maidservant in the forest near the lake!" Xiao Meng who loved to gossip looked eager.

"Really?! Which maidservant??" Xiao Ming were as excited.

Yamato cuts, "Wait wait.. there's a lake near here? where?" 

The maids smiled, "It's behind our courtyard, outside the walls Princess."

Yamato pleasantly surprised, he had always liked lakes and rivers, never did he expect that there's one so close in the vicinity. He knew wife and concubine are prohibited to exit their courtyard like a caged bird, and for this exact reason did he bought male attire. He felt so stuffy inside this cage, thus the plan to go to the lake today was set on stone in his mind. Qing Rui had never visited him, hence he was sure it would go smooth and unnoticed. Worst case, if Qing Rui realized and decided to flog him, this time he would build an ultimate revenge plan capable of making the prince regret he had lived.

Anyway, whatever the risk is, he would go to the lake today regardless of the maid's anxious warning. The maids could only obey their master's wish to prepare a basket of packed meals. 

About one in the afternoon, Yamato changed into a male's outfit. It was a simple black clothes, however upon Ren Xiu's graceful model-like body the clothes looked very expensive and elegant resembled those of a noble. Yamato looked bewitchingly good, he had a noble yet carefree and mischievous aura surrounding him, especially when he smirked teasingly with that enchanting beautiful face. If he asked any person to elope with him, no one would possibly refuse.

Xiao Meng and Xiao Ming was strong and agile despite having a petite body due to their laborious work since childhood, thus they could climb the tall wall behind their courtyard without much effort. The original Ren Xiu was unable to do such exercise, however Yamato could. In fact he had spent these two weeks by recuperating and doing light exercises diligently, he couldn't afford to have such a delicate and frail body.

The three successfully got to the other side of the wall with their picnic set. Yamato looked enthralled because the lake was really in front of his eyes. The beautiful person ran towards the lake like an excited child in front of disneyland.

"Princess, slow down!" Xiao Ming and Xiao Meng followed Ren Xiu with quick step, they had never seen their miss like this.

Ignoring the warning, he reached a big tree. The tree was about 25 meter apart from the lake, it was a big impressive oak tree with a cool and calming lingering shadow.

Yamato waved to Xiao Ming and Xiao Meng which was still quite far, "Hey, set the picnic set here!" he shouted cheerfully. Yamato were not this energetic usually, however he couldn't help but being so jumpy after being locked up for two weeks. He needed fresh air so desperately. 

The moment the maids reached his place, he snatched the picnic set basket and layed a thick cloth upon the grass under the tree. He was excited but not impatient nor clumsy as he set the whole plate and foods with deft movements. 

Xiao Ming and Xiao Meng were already used with their miss's change of personality. Previously, Ren Xiu needed their assist at every single thing and almost couldn't live without being served. However the current Ren Xiu is so independent she barely need any assistance. She sometimes even served them instead, like this moment. Actually they had complained nervously before, explaining that a noble person like Ren Xiu shouldn't do such hassle in case she forgot how to behave like an aristocrat. However she only replied with mischievous flirty teasing, leaving the maid shut their mouth with red embarassed faces each time. At this point the maids already gave up and silently accepting her assistance. 

"Let's eat the lunch you two. Look, the lake are sparkling, it's warm and the shadow is cool, it feels great right?" Yamato revealed his most comfortable and gentle smile. 

The maids were dazed at that bewitching smile and subconciously nodded. 

They brought some cold vegetable dish and pork dumplings, still warm. Betraying the previous childlike excitement, Yamato ate neatly with utmost elegance befitting his noble status. 

As usual the maids would gossip while eating and Yamato will listen and laugh from time to time. It was so peaceful that Yamato relaxed. Finished eating his fill while being shaded by cold shadows in a warm sunlight, inhaling rich oxygen inside a peaceful scenery and atmosphere, Yamato couldn't help but become sleepy. 

Peering the oak's mighty branches above his head, he stood and intended to sleep on the big sturdy branch. "I'm going to take a nap above, you two do whatever you want but dont go too far. You could sleep as well, the weather's so nice." And thus he climbed swiftly and immediately settled himself to sat and leaned upon the most comfortable trunk he could find. Yamato closes his eyes right away, leaving no room for his maids to refute. 

Xiao Ming and Xiao Meng could only sigh in defeat and continued to gossip, til they eventually become sleepy and slept leaning on each other's shoulders.

On the other side of the lake, An Xiao were collecting herbs accompanied by the crown prince who just got off from the court's meeting. 

"When are you going to finish? Your hands are dirty" Qing Rui reached out to An Xiao's dirt filled petite hands. 

"Your highness is so impatient! Wait a bit, i'll finish it" An Xiao beamed her innocent and cheerful sunny smile. 

Qing Rui could only sigh helplessly, used to his beloved's stubborn temper. He hates it when she had to work such labor, however looking at her determinated and focused eyes, Qing Rui was always astonished each time as he fell in love once more. He could only protect her while she do what she wants. 

Looking at her stuffy basket, An Xiao felt satisfied while puffing her chest proudly. It was so cute that Qing Rui couldn't help but giggles. An Xiao pouted her soft lips, "What did your highness find funny? Anyway, i'm done. Let's search for a place to rest!" 

An Xiao walked up to the lake and washed her hands, Qing Rui followed and wiped her hands gently with his handkerchief.

An Xiao retracted her hands bashfully, "N-no! I couldn't bear the crime to dirty your highness belongings" her face was as red as a tomato. 

Laughing heartily, Qing Rui took her hand and wiped it once again, "Silly girl."

They both looked like nothing but a happy couple, even though not a couple made by heavens, it still brimmed with utter warm happiness. The two decided to rest under the oak tree on the other side of the lake. Qing Rui matched An Xiao's small steps while giggling and smiling to her stories and jokes. The attitude, demeanor, and gesture were pole opposite of what he had shown in front of Ren Xiu. 

Drowning in happiness, the couple reached the oak. However they didn't expect the tree to be occupied. 

Qing rui's eyes becomes cold, the smile was wiped clean from his face, he recognized the two maid sleeping under the tree. Even An Xiao was startled at the sudden change. 

Feeling the freezing eyes peering at them, the maids realized the danger someone emitted. They were immediately awake and panicked right away as they kowtowed to Qing Rui. "These humble servants greets his highness!" they were shouting intentionally in hope that their miss would also wake up and adapted to the sudden danger.

Xiao Ming and Xiao Meng were so frightened that they trembled with cold sweat drenching their backs and forehead, still kowtowing. 

"Where's your master?" Qing Rui asked coldly as though it was a block of ice in form of a voice. 

"S-she, she is-"

"Mmn.. What happened?"

Qing Rui was surprised at the raspy wet sexy voice coming from above. As a crown prince, no one was permitted to stand higher than him except for his imperial father. However this time he inadvertently look up and unexpectedly found a bewitching sleepy Ren Xiu in a man's clothing. 

She was handsome, yet beautiful, she was bewitching, not like a fairy, more like a demon who seduce people to the depths of hell. Her back was slightly arched leaning comfortably on the trunk, one feet was bent, one was dangling below, one hand was supporting her head, while the other one clung to the trunk, her pose was very manly, not at all resembling a woman. If one didn't scrutinized, they wouldn't realize that Ren Xiu was a woman. She was shaded in backlight, her silky long hair draped softly and appeared as though it was floating when the wind blows it. The scene was simply ethereal. 

Yamato were always clear headed even though he was woken up abruptly. However this time he decided to appear sleepy while leaping down the branch, he even had the nerve to yawn in front of Qing Rui in order to disrespect him. "Ooh, this humble servant greets your highness" in addition, he didn't even bow and dared wave his hand like greeting a schoolmate. 

Qing Rui's face become so flat and dark, it exudes a dangerous aura that even insects could sense. 

However Yamato could only restrain himself from giggling at the sight. He was not afraid, far from it, he was belittling the man, and he revealed it blatantly with his eyes and slight sneer. The man who had flogged his own wife, still dating happily with his lover, and dared not felt guilt, even still determined to treat her so coldly, this man amounts to nothing in Yamato's eyes. 

"Hm? What's up?" Yamato asked casually towards the silent yet intimidating crown prince. 

Ever since his birth, no one had dared to disrespect him, no one had dared to oppose him, no one had dared to provoke him, he was used to get everything he wanted, he was used to being above everyone. Whenever his mood was bad, people will involuntarily apologize and kowtow to him in fright. It had never crossed his mind, not even in his dream, did he expect anyone would disrespect him so blatantly and intentionally. He was angered. 

Qing Rui, "You- you-"

Yamato sneered in a playful disdain, "I what? Speak clearly your highness."

That words spewed solely to insult him, was something he didn't expect to get his whole life, hence Qing Rui didn't have any words to retaliate. Qing Rui was visibly raged, everyone except Yamato was frightened at the sight. 

Yamato tilted his head, "Hmm? Ah! Your highness, did you become mute? My! We must call the imperial physician immediately!" he displayed a worried and slight panicked look, however the sarcasm and disdain was crystal clear. 

Qing Rui's dark face goes even darker, "I will-"

Yamato dared to cut, "Eh? Flog again? The annihilation of my whole clan? Because i slept under the tree? No! No please don't your highness! We are of close relation, i would die as nothing without you! Spare my nap with your benevolence and mercy!" he furrowed his brows and revealed a sad look while clutching his chest, looking very convincingly wronged. However the true mocking words beneath were clear in Qing Rui's ears.

"You dare flog me again? Dare to lay a hand on my clan? Try it! I dare you! You possess such small narrow heart you couldn't even pardon any little things you dislike, such a petty lowly person. I'm your wife and you would be nothing without my family's support, learn to know your place! I also have power! Kill me if you dare! I won't be so obedient this time."

It wasn't the first sarcasm and wasn't the first threat he had ever heard. However it was the firts disdaining words and attitude he had ever received. He felt humiliated, raged, yet couldn't retaliate after considering so many things. In the end, he tried his best to suppress his anger, "Go back to your courtyard, did you forgot the rules along with your memory?" 

Yamato wanted to answer yes while mocking some more, but he knew the maids would bear the brunt that way thus he shrugged, "No, i just want to take a nap beside the lake." It was a candid truth, and Yamato didn't care whether Qing Rui believed it or not. "Goodbye your highness! Goodbye his highness beloved lover!" Yamato didn't reveal any intimidating or dangerous sneer, instead he acted as though they didn't even enter his peripheral sight. 

He left with the two maids. Looking as carefree as a person could possibly be. He felt happy because today he rendered Qing Rui speechless, he even made him surrender to his anger. Yamato felt proud and satisfied. 

Ren Xiu, did you see that? Haha!

After weeping himself to sleep from a broken heart, the gentle and carefree Yamato never expected to wake up in a body of an ignored wife on ancient time.

In a world he knows no one in, Yamato got a cold tyrant as a husband, an innocent medicine peddler as the mistress, and a super cute twin little bun as sister and brother-in-law.

He have the slightest clue to go back to his former world and body. But given the carefree man he is, bidding his time while playing with the buns does not sound too bad.

As soon as Flying Flame flew outside the Black Marsh, Abel saw the crazy hell creatures behind them suddenly stop. They each went their own way like nothing happened. The dark energy on top of Bartoli also faded.
In almost no time, Flying Flame was above the Dark Forest again. However, at that exact moment, another cloud of dark energy emerged above Bartoli again and started to track her down.
Every single hell creature in the Dark Forest has gone insane, but that place was a natural maze. Most of the Carvers were trapped, so not many hell creatures were actually chasing after Flying Flame.
Flying Flame was too fast; it had exited the Dark Forest in under 2 hours. Just like that, the Dark Energy above Bartoli faded once again.
Flying Flame continued to fly. It came across the Stones Field and Cold Plain, as the dark energy above Bartoli appeared and disappeared again. At last, Abel finally saw the shadow of Blood Moor.
"Flying Flame, you don't need to roar up front anymore!" Abel padded its neck.
Flying Flame was starting to get a little annoyed by Abel's constant reminder through the soul chain. It remembered very well--no more reminders were needed.
After they entered Blood Moor, the sky began to gather the dark energies again. Abel sighed; he would not be able to bring Bartoli back to the Holy Continent if this kept happening. Did he really have to leave Bartoli in the Dark World?
As long as there was dark energy above Bartoli, Abel could not ignite a Scroll of Town Portal next to her and enter the Portal Door with her.
Soon Flying Flame had arrived at a place not far from Blood Moor. There was a huge Oak Tree there. As soon as Abel landed, he wanted to connect with the Oak Tree, and the Oak Tree Understood his situation as well.
The huge Oak Tree began to shake, and a mystical green beam shot up to the sky. The entire sky was now filled with green lights, turning Blood Moor into a haven of green.
As the sky was covered in green, the dark energy above Bartoli disappeared. Abel didn't know how long the Oak Tree could sustain this, so he quickly yelled, "Flying Flame, quickly go back to the Rogue Encampment!"
Flying Flame realized time was running out, so he accelerated even more. In a few short breaths, they were back at the open field of the Rogue Encampment. 
Abel jumped down and took out a Scroll of Town portal from his Horadric Cube. After it was ignited, a watery blue portal door appeared in front of their eyes.
"Bartoli, get in quick!" Abel yelled. But this point the sky was filled with tension. It seemed like the cloud of dark energy was about to penetrate the lockdown of the green beam.
Bartoli quickly jumped down from Flying Flame as well and speeded straight towards the Portal Door without hesitation. As Bartoli exited, the dark energy in the sky disappeared.
Abel let the Oak Tree know through the soul chain, and the green beam began to retract back towards the direction of the Oak Tree in a blink of an eye.
"What did I actually do?" Abel basically had no knowledge when it came to Oak Trees. There was only information about Druids in that book, and it rarely mentioned anything about Oak Trees. Since Abel didn't know much about Druids in the first place, of course, he wouldn't know what just happened.
The Oak Tree had just defied the law of Blood Moor, which sent chills down Abel's spin just thinking about it. How could laws be defied? This Oak Tree was quite young too. What could it become in the future?
However, when Abel looked at his soul chain, he claimed down a little. This Oak Tree was personally cultivated by him through the Druid's soul cultivation technique. This soul was almost entirely made up of Abel's power of the will, so this was the closest form of contract. It would not betray him even without the soul chain.
Too bad the Elves had forbidden too much stuff about the Druids. They had already given Abel a lot of face by providing him with a Training Guide, which made sense considering how much Abel had contributed to the Elves, especially the ones in Angstrom City.
It seemed like it would be very hard if he wanted to take a further dive into the knowledge of Druids, so maybe he would need to seek knowledge about Oak Trees by himself. 
As Abel was still distracted by what was happening in the sky, he realised the portal door had already disappeared. Without another choice, he had to ignite another Scroll of Town Portal and return to the Holy Continent with Flying Flame.
As soon as Abel stepped out the portal door, he heard the excitement drenched voice of Bartoli "Master!" Her voice even sounded a little bit shaky.
"Bartoli, this is the world I live in. It's called the Holy Continent. Since you didn't know a single thing about this world, I'll organise someone to explain everything to you after we return to the human world." Said Abel with a smile. He understood Bartoli's feelings. As a free-thinking individual being locked up in hell for tens of thousands of years, she could finally become a human again. 
In a gentle flick of a finger, a magic staff with a 'spirit transfer' ability appeared in his hand. After a few flashes of lights, the Protection Circle of Dark Valley had been put away. 
"You need to learn how to set up a magic circle and protection circle. You have to protect this place when I leave again in the future!" Abel said as he was putting away the protection circle.
"Yes, Master!" Bartoli said with a bow.
Afterwards, Abel looked at Bartoli's dress. Although it looked like a noble dress, it's style was completely different from the ones that humans wore at the time. He needed to buy some new clothes for her in the next city.
"Master, careful!" Suddenly a spark of fire emerged from Bartoli's hand, and a wall of flame was about to shoot out.
"Stop, that's my contract beast!" Abel quickly shouted.
The Stone giant happily ran to Abel's side. It carefully gazed at Flying Flame and stuck it's hand out to show it's owner what it had found.
There were tens of red gems, green gems, and blue gems. Although they were all tiny compared to its giant hand, they were still shining in immaculate colors.
Of course, Abel didn't really care about just a few gems, but he had never given Johnson any gems before. He must have found them itself. Could this place be a gem mine?
"Master, are these things useful?" Johnson asked Abel through the soul chain like a little kid handing over their test results to his mum.
"Of course, where did you find them?" Abel asked back through the soul chain.
"Down there; there's a lot!" it pointed with its giant fingers.
"How deep was it?" Abel didn't have time to bother with gems, but he wouldn't mind taking some home if the mine was shallow. If it was deep, he would just leave it for the future.
Johnson was having a hard time responding. After half a day of thinking, he pointed at its own body and said, "two Johnson's tall!"
Abel almost immediately gave up on this idea. Without a large team of people, no way he could dig for 20 meters by himself.
"Master, if you want, I can help you summon them!" it continued.
"Fine, I'll stay here for a few more days anyway. Just get as much as you can !" Said Abel as he tied an empty portal bag around its hand. Then Abel explained the purpose of a Portal Bag through the soul chain.
After it learned how to use a portal bag, it started to keep putting stones inside and taking it out again. It seemed like it was having the time of its life.
After a while of playing with the portal bag, it fully grasped how to use it. Suddenly a beam of white light shot out from it's body towards the ground. The rocks on the ground began to shake and opened up a road for it.
Soon, pieces of natural gems began to fly out from the gaps on the ground, and went straight towards the giant's palm.
Abel couldn't help but admire this stone controlling ability. Although he had more than enough money to buy gems, he would still attract a lot of attention if he bought too much of it at once. Therefore, he always had to buy them in separate batches.


I was reincarnated into another world, and I brought the Horadric Cube from Diablo II with me. 
Being a knight is cool and all, but being a wizard is pretty neat as well.
So, which one will it be?
  

As the vehicle turned at a corner, Long Yu could immediately see a large shadow looming over them.

"Wow, that's a super big tree!" Xixi beside him exclaimed in surprise.

Even Long Yu who would normally be fairly calm, was startled. Just by looking at it alone, he could tell that it was at least 100 meters tall.

If it was just its height alone, he would not have been so shocked. However, the so called vampire tree's diameter was actually more than 20 meters wide! Giant truly fitted its description. 

Having rooted itself deep into the ground, the tree stood right between the tall skyscrapers. More accurately, it had forcefully pushed aside the buildings in its vicinity. Some of them were even bent at an angle, as if they were about to fall over at any moment.
The tree's branches had also pierced into the nearby structures, creating a disastrous sight.

Furthermore, the main road that originally led out of the city was nowhere to be seen. The vampire tree was now literally a blockade, obstructing any vehicles from passing through.

With the sunset casting over it, its shadow extended hundreds of meters into the distance. Even though they were so far away, Long Yu could still feel a slight suffocating pressure.

Its size alone made the previous mutated eagle and snake he encountered look like babies in comparison to an adult human.

'System, what level is that.…giant tree?' he communicated with the system, still feeling that it was unbelievable.

[According to the energy level of the creature, it has already surpassed the first level. Given time, it would soon reach the third level.]

'So you mean that tree is now a level 2 mutated creature?'Long Yu sucked in a cold breath as he asked.

[That is correct.] the system replied.

'Please tell me that not all level 2's are this freakishly large!' he cried in his mind.

[Negative. The reason this mutated creature has such an astonishing growth rate and size is due to a combination of elements.]

[Would host like to exchange for the information?]

[Confirm/Cancel]

'Confirm!' Long Yu accepted  without hesitation.

———————————

[Redwood Vampiric Oak Plant- Level 2]

[An original redwood plant that went through mutation, granting it the unique ability to integrate itself into another host plant. Due to it having amalgamated with another mutated oak tree, it caused both plants to undergo an exponential mutation rate, enhancing both their natural abilities. The redwood plant eventually outgrown the oak tree and has now become the main controlling entity.]

[Abilities:

Vampirism- The plant is able to siphon the genes within the blood of other creatures to enhance its growth.

Enhanced Regeneration- Stemming from the original mutated oak tree's ability, the plant is able to consume its prey's blood to rapidly regenerate from any injuries.]

____________________

After reading the information he exchanged, Long Yu obviously wouldn't rashly approach it. Otherwise, it would be just seeking death.

'Oh right! Does it mean that there's a chance that it possesses a level 2 mutant core?' Long Yu had almost forgotten to ask about the most important matter.

[No. There is no mutant core within that mutated plant.]

Long Yu was immediately deflated when he heard the system's reply. But its next words raised his hopes once again.

[However, system has detected the presence of a mutant seed inside it, which value is similar to a mutant core. Furthermore, this seed can also be used as a form of currency for the system.]

'To think that there's such a thing!' he exclaimed with joy.

Originally, the currency that he knew could be used for the system was limited to money and mutant cores. Now that this vampire plant could produce a seed equal to a level 2 mutant core, it was certainly good news.

According to the system, a level 2 mutant core can be traded for ten level 1 cores. The number of cores that Long Yu previously collected wasn't even half this amount!

As Long Yu looked back at the 100 meter tall tree in front of him, he could only suppress the joy in his heart. Although he did not plan to let go of this chance to obtain the mutant seed, the danger that it posed was terrifying at the same time.

The redwood vampire oak plant is without doubt the strongest mutated creature Long Yu has encountered to date.

"Let's first do some probing," he said as a familiar looking headset appeared in his hand.

…..

On the edge of the roof of a random skyscraper in Changsha city, sat a six-legged insect shaped drone. Suddenly, the mechanical wings resting on its back unfolded.

The drone propped itself up and exited from standby mode. Its eyes, or more accurately cameras, blinked twice as they changed from yellow to a bright green color. Next, its wings rapidly flapped like a real flying insect as it jumped off the roof.

…..

Back in the Black Shark, Long Yu had already put on the telepresence headset and was controlling the drone to approach the vampire tree. He had temporarily put it on standby mode before, since he had to focus on driving. Now that he needed to do some scouting, the insect surveillance drone was obviously the perfect tool to do so.

As the drone flew towards the gigantic tree that was tens of thousands time larger than it, Long Yu was in the car watching everything it saw. The headset made of advanced technology, allowed him to control the drone as if it was his own body and also instantly transmitted its vision to his brain as if he was personally there.

One cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be paid.

The life saving system that Long Yu received supposedly follows this rule. Unfortunately, the price required some times can turn out to be somewhat strange.

 'System, I want to exchange for something that can regrow an arm.'

Searching....
Recommended option:
Limb regeneration capsule
Price required- 20kg of mutant lizard fertile semen

'.....'


P.S.
This novel has nothing to do with F.M.A (Full Metal Alchemist) just in case you were wondering.

Eryn looked up to see Wayne and Elias appearing around the corner.
"So there you guys are," Wayne said, catching everyone else's attention.
The girls had all escaped the huge crowds of the party and hid out in San Jing and her sister's personal courtyard, where it's closed off to the guests. "Come sit down!" San Jing said, gesturing at the empty seats at the huge table they sat around.
Wayne took the seat across from Whitney and Elias sat down next to him, placing his hands under the table to hide his messed-up sleeve from Eryn.
But she saw it anyway.
"What happened to your sleeve?" she asked.
Celeste looked up from her plate. "What?"
Wayne glanced at Elias. "Oh, he almost killed someone, that's what happened," he said casually. He coughed into his arm and Whitney noticed the cold sweat coating the back of his neck.
"Is that true, Elias?" she asked, sitting up on her seat. She frowned and darted her eyes between the two boys.
Elias glanced down at his arm and placed it back up on the table, realizing there was no use trying to hide it now. "Um, yeah," he muttered, picking at the crisp edges of the blue cloth.
"Then what's wrong with you?" Whitney questioned, poking her brother at his side. "What did you do?"
Wayne scowled. "I tried to stop him, that's what. Hell, he scared the crap out of me. I had to burn his arm to get him to stop."
San Jing and Lan Jing snorted. Wayne? Scared? That's something new.
Eryn released a breath, clearly concerned. "What the heck were you thinking, Elias?" she hissed. "How could you do that?"
"He came at me first and put me down, then he threw my crystal in the water," he grumbled, still holding the pendant tightly in his left hand. "It's not my fault. I didn't start it. He asked for it. Literally."
Celeste placed down her chopsticks and leaned forward, intrigued. "Tell us. Who was it?"
"Shane Wang," Wayne answered, crossing his arms.
"What?" Whitney exclaimed. "Who invited him?"
San Jing shrugged. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure Father wouldn't put him on the guest list. Maybe it was one of his friends that were invited, or maybe someone invited his father."
"Who's Shane Wang?" Eryn asked.
"His father is the captain of the city's garrison," Celeste told her. "He's also a disciple at Infernal Spirit Sect. Everyone knows that since he keeps bragging about it when he's home."
"Sect?" Eryn repeated, confused. "What are these sects?"
Wayne grabbed a piece of cake and bit into it. "Well, these sects are where people train their talent. Many powerful people belong to these sects. They also have sorts of military power and are sometimes needed by the Imperial family."
"Shane Wang belongs to the Infernal Spirit Sect, which is one of the second-rank sects. There's the first, second, and third rank. The first rank is the one and only Mystic Sky Sect, which leads the others. In the second rank are the Dark Feather Sect and the Infernal Spirit Sect. Finally, in the third rank are the Cold Moon Sect, the Hero Sect, and the Black Rain Sect. Of course, there are more, but these are the top."
"Each of these sects is led by a grandmaster. There are also teachers and elders, who help the grandmaster lead and train their disciples. Most of them are pretty well-known and powerful."
Eryn gave her brother a look. "Well, you're in trouble now, aren't you?" she said flatly. 
Wayne shrugged. "Eh, like he said, he wasn't the one who started it, and there were many witnesses, so it's not likely they'll come after him."
Ying sat at the far end of the table. "Oh, you'll see," she said. "They'll come...just not for the reason you guys think."
The whole table fell silent as they blinked at her. 
Lan Jing leaned over to her sister. "What's that supposed to mean?" she whispered. 
She shrugged. "Don't ask me," she hissed back. 
Ying got up out of her seat and left. 
She knew they were coming, and she had to leave. She knew they needed Eryn and Elias, but she also knew they were looking for her, the Pheonix.
But she didn't want anything to do with these martial sects...especially how they've failed her father...
______________
It was starting to get late, and many of the guests began to leave for the night, leaving only a few wandering around and helping the servants clean up. 
San Jing and the others left the courtyard to the atrium, wondering if they should help.
Master Jing brightened up when he saw them coming. "Oi! Birthday girl, you should go see the presents that you've got!" he beamed. "Come, come!" 
He led San Jing away to the tables, and suddenly, Chen and Changming came running up to them. They were extra excited when they saw the twins. 
Elias stiffened in surprise as the seven-year-old clung to his leg, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. "Hi, big brother!" he squealed. 
"Ming! Get off of him!" Celeste scolded her youngest brother, prying him away from Elias. "Sorry," she said awkwardly to him. 
Changming wriggled in her grip as she picked him up. "Where's your brother, Channing?" she asked, looking around for her fifteen-year-old brother. 
Chen pointed out the door. "Mom said he ran out with his friends," he said.
Celeste grumbled. "Ugh, again? Does that mean I'll have to take him back?" 
"I don't know..."
Madam Liu suddenly came running up to them. She took the boy from Celeste's arms and took Chen by the hand with her free hand. "It's bedtime!" she announced, taking the two boys along. 
They protested. "No! We want to stay!"
"Be quiet, we're going home!" Madam Liu insisted. She turned to Celeste. "Do me a favor and find Channing. That boy keeps running off, he has no limits!" 
Celeste rolled her eyes. "Okay..." she mumbled, heading for the door. 
"Bye, Celeste!" Whitney called after her, rocking back and forth on her heels. 
This left Wayne, Whitney, and the twins standing alone in the center of the courtyard again. "What now?" Whitney asked. 
Eryn raised an eyebrow. "We clean, of course." 
"..."
The three of them did as they were told and went to help pick up the trash and sort the cups and dishes, giving a hand to the maids. 
By the time they were almost done, Master Xia appeared from inside the halls followed by Master Bai, Edison, and Evelyn. "Ah, so you were here cleaning up," Master Xia said. "Master Jing would be grateful. It's about time to go now, how about you just leave the rest for the maids?" 
Wayne, Whitney, and Elias all glanced at Eryn. 
Eryn straightened up at looked around. Seeing that there were only decorations left hanging up, she agreed. "Alright, then," she said, brushing off her hands. "Let's go."
They headed out the door and noticed that the carriages were missing. 
Wayne whirled around, looking for his father. "Father? Where'd the carriages go?"
Master Xia grinned quite mischievously. "Hehe, actually, I sent them home. Don't you think it's good to have a nice walk every once in a while? Look at the night sky! Ho, ho! Beautiful!" 
Wayne raised an eyebrow as Master Bai walked alongside his father, Edison and Evelyn on his heels. "And...Uncle Bai...?"
Master Bai laughed nervously. "Ahaha...I happened to send my carriages home as well," he said awkwardly. 
Wayne made a face while the twins rolled their eyes. Who would buy that? Clearly, the two Masters were trying to create another chance for another interaction between the twins and their biological father. 
Still, they walked on through the night streets in a small group. 
The twins walked ahead with Wayne and Whitney, who was chattering away endlessly about anything random that comes up to her mind. But they didn't mind, as it filled up the silence. 
Edison trailed closely behind the four, awkwardly trying to find the right moment to fit in with them, eager to somehow join into their conversation. It was hard, for they didn't even seem to realize he was walking behind them. He was like an ant trying to catch the attention of four giants. 
Evelyn trailed behind the two family heads while they walked, refusing to say a single word. 
It was all fine, perfectly fine as they walked through the streets until Elias looked down at his pendant that he reattached to his belt. It was activated again. 
He glanced at Eryn, who was also looking down at her white crystal hanging around her neck.
The twins glanced around. Was there something wrong? 
But it was only them out on the road. 
Elias glanced back down at his crystal and realized that it wasn't buzzing or pulling towards any certain direction like it did the past two times. It only glowed softly, hanging loosely from its chain. 
They continued to walk, aware of their surroundings, but the crystals remained the same, merely just glowing. 
They reached an intersection, the point where the two families had to split ways now. 
"Ay, see you tomorrow, Old Bai," said Master Xia, giving his friend a pat on his shoulder. 
Master Bai smiled. "Yes, see you."
Wayne and Whitney bowed politely as the Bai's turned to leave. 
"Eh? Where are the twins?" Master Xia wondered, searching around. 
Master Bai sighed almost sadly. "It's fine, we'll be going then." He left with Edison and Evelyn and disappeared down the street. 
Master Xia shook his head. "I thought it would work, this time..." he muttered. 
Wayne turned around to see Elias and Eryn already halfway down the street, and he ran to catch up with them. "Hey, wait up!"
He caught up with them and went in front, walking backwards to face the twins as they were talking. 
Eryn snorted as she watched him stumble over a pebble. "So, they're gone?" 
Wayne regained his footing and continued to walk backwards. He nodded. "Yeah, they've probably already reached home," he answered, scratching the back of his neck. "I think that-"
Elias and Eryn both stopped in their tracks and Wayne felt himself crash into something as he took another step backwards. "What the-"
He turned around to and looked up to see two old men staring down at him, both dressed in significant colored robes. They both stood tall and had one arm crossed horizontally under their chests while the other rested at their sides. 
One old man had a wrinkly face and had a long, gray beard, ten times, the one Master Xia had. He was wearing light blue robes with swirling patterns that ran down the seams of the cloth. 
The other one had long, black hair with a few strands of white sticking out here and there. He was wearing striking black and red robes and considerably skinny. 
"Hello, Wayne," the one with the long beard said warmly. 
Wayne stepped back to stand with the twins, who seemed equally surprised. "Who...who are you?" he asked. 

Elias Bai and his elder twin sister, Eryn Bai, are the firstborn children of their generation. The eldest children were always meant to be the most powerful of their sibling group in every family, but when no spirit appeared in the skies when they were born, they were deemed as disgraces with worthless souls. For seventeen years, they were ignored by their own people and left to fend for themselves, trying their best on their own in the little area provided for them in the back of their Bai Family's property while the rest of their family celebrated and trained their other children that were successfully born with notable animal spirits. They have both dreamed of something more, hoping they could leave the place they have been confined to for their whole lives. Then, unexpectedly, the day the youngest member of the family was born, things start to change, for the better and for worse...

Thursday went by in a blink of an eye. The three trainees were once again bombarded with information and were required to remember it by tommorow as they would be undergoing a mock practice as a Personal Assistant.

Today, the group did not see the General once at all, as he had meetings the whole day. The only one that had caught a glimpse of him was Sato. He had stayed back in the resting area to revise over the notes for a little while longer. The other two trainees had left to eat dinner together. As Sato was leaving the office building, Gray had just got out of his car. 

The boss wore his no. 3 uniform that had no creases. His hair was neatly combed sideways, face emotionless. He looked like a prince from a faraway land, distant with others, yet possessed a unique aura that attracted other's attention. Sato held his breathe as he immediately bowed to him. Gray nodded lightly before walking past him and into the building.

The exhausted Sato reached back home at 8pm. He was instantly revigorated as he stepped into his one room flat. Excited to finally try on his GamingPro Device, he first took a quick shower before putting on the head device and lying down on his bed. The machine was connected to the electrical source by his bed, and it powered on within 5 seconds.

"Welcome to GamingPro. Are you a first time player of Ray Of Light?" The device sounded out.

"No." Sato replied plainly.

"Ok. Please wait a moment as we scan your face using facial biometric authentication. Please keep your eyes open during this process." The device spoke once again as it started to scan his face. "Device recognised user as Sato Takahashi. You have an existing account, would you like to enter the game using this character?"

"No."

"Are sure about your decision? When the account is deleted, you will have no chance of recovering the account."

"Yes I am sure."

"Deleting the character... Please wait a moment." 10 seconds passed before the device prompted Sato again. "Would you like to create a new character now?"

"Yes."

"Please pick a class job. There are four choices: Warrior, Mage, Ranger and Assassin."

"I choose Assassin." In the first account, Sato was forced to choose Warrior to play as a tank (one who takes damage) for the club. He did not like that particular playstyle as he felt that he lacked some form of freedom in the game. Thus, this time he decided to pick the most mobile class in the game and that was Assassin.

"Would you like to use 'facial morph' or use your normal face?" In Ray Of Light, the players can only choose between using their real faces or have slight adjustments to their looks. In addition, their body size could not be changed and so a person with a fat body will be fat in game. This was to prevent catfishing from occuring and keeping the game as real as possible. 

"I choose 'facial morph'." With that, the facial features of Sato's became slightly sharper and his eyes bigger. Rather than becoming uglier, it enhanced Sato's looks and made him idol-like.

"Now, please give yourself a nickname." 

"Dawnlore. " 

"Please confirm that 'Dawnlore' is the name you wanted." 

"Confirm." 

"You will now spawn in Beginner Village 3007. I wish you all the best in your upcoming adventure!" With that, a blinding light shone and when Sato opened his eyes, his entire view had transformed entirely. 

He had spawned in the same typical village that everyone starts off in. A small town that only had one-floor houses. They were all made out of wood and everything was designed with a 'robin hood' theme in mind. 

Sato looked at the clothing he was wearing. It was the typical beginner leather vest and pants. The shoe he wore had scratches all over the surface. As he started moving around, he began to grow accustomed to his current speed. Back when he played warrior, he had already reached lv58, but now he was back to lv1. 

Sato looked at his stats (statistics) and had placed his 5 free stat points all into agility. Back then, his stats had mostly went into health and it made him feel like a sloth whereever he moved. He didn't want to experience that again. 

Next, he decided to send a friend request to Ming's account, 'LonelyGhost '. He had already told Ming about his new device, at which he was happy for him. Ming had the version 1 of the GamingPro device. He had saved up money from his part time job for 3 months before having enough to buy it. 

"'LonelyGhost ' has accepted your friend request." The system notification sounded out.

"Hey Ming. I just started my account over and so I'll be in the beginner village for a bit. I'll call you when I have reached lv10." The in-game voice rang out. Only at lv10 could you leave the beginner village and enter the real map. 

"Alright. Take your time. Yesterday's raid was a complete failure and Tyron is requesting for us to gather to try again today. I will tell you how it goes when I'm finished."

"Alright, have fun!" Sato proceeded to start his adventure again. The game has been out for almost 2 years already and people are still discovering hidden traits about this game. The deep learning technology created by GamingPro runs independently from it's father company. The creators themselves do not know about many of the easter eggs in the game, making it exciting for the users to discover new terrains by themselves. 

Sato had once delve into the typical quest pathway, but this time round, he decided otherwise. He ran through the Evergreen forest, swift and quick, avoiding the wild beasts skillfully. Even in real life, he was quick on his feet and knew how to move through tight or tall places.

He only stopped when he reached a large old oak tree. The tree had it's branches snapped off, a long large sword stroke cutting in between the tree trunk. It looked as if the tree had been split into two by an angry swordsman and it was on it's last breath. 

Sato walked a little forward and placed his hand on the tree trunk. 

"May the great ancient oak tree rest in peace." He spoke solemnly. 

A bright light shone and enveloped the assassin. When the light dissappeared, so did Sato. He had been transported into a different realm, an empty void that resembled the galaxy. He floated in the midst of the stars, waiting for something to happen.

Yes! I had managed to trigger the quest again. Sato was overjoyed. Back then, he had stumbled upon this quest accidentally as he was grinding his level up to be with his club members. 

He had to complete the mission of protecting the villagers from a raid conducted by bandits. In the midst of the mission, he stumbled across a beautiful maiden that turned out to be the Elven princess, Rayla. She gave him a clue on how to find the Great Sage, to which he had capitalised out of curiosity. However, in the end, he had declined the offer given by the Great Sage due to time constraints, but he would not make the same mistake again.

As expected, a blurry figure started materialising infront of Sato. He had bark-like  skin with an aged face. His bent back and withered body was supported by a walking stick. He was the Great Elven Sage. 

"Young man. You are the one who had stumbled upon me the previous time. What brings you back again?" The old sage spoke sonorously. 

"Great Old Sage, how could you tell I was the same person from last time? " Sato was shocked by the old man's discovery. 

"You people from the otherworld had their souls transported into my world. Your physical body may be different, but your soul will forever be the same." 

"Oh that makes sense now." It probably meant that once Sato had discovered this unique quest, no other people were allowed to trigger it as certain Non Player Character (NPC) could tell the difference between other players. Or else after so long, how was it possible that no one else had discovered this quest. 

"Now, let me ask you the same question as before. Are you willing to take on the mission of saving our dying race from extinction, young assassin?"

Sato had to drop out of university as he lacked the funds to continue his education. Due to some unfortunate encounters, his original scholarship funds had disappeared and now he was forced to earn enough to carry on his education journey.

As such, he saw a advertisement ad recruiting a personal assistant in the military. Anyone could be eligible and not only that, the pay was high too. Immediately Sato applies for it, where he soon finds out that it was to be the Personal Assistant for a Major General of the Army of Country Z.

Read this novel as you start to see the relationship that blooms between these two contrasting individuals!

Support me on Patreon and you will receive some personal benefits!
https://www.patreon.com/OverTheHorizon

*I DO NOT OWN RIGHTS TO THIS PICTURE*

Please drop a VOTE and 'ADD TO LIBRARY' to keep me going and motivated!

Bluecloud City, City Lord's Mansion.

The green-robed city lord scratched the head and sighed. The City Lord's Mansion, the three big clans, and the Sunflower Pavilion were the biggest powers of Bluecloud. Chosen by the overlord and royal family, in normal situations, no one dared to go against the city lord. However, since the Bright Clan fell, the other powers became stronger and harder to control. The Silver Clan allied with the Sunflower Pavilion, causing many headaches. Everything looked peaceful on the surface but behind the scenes, they wanted nothing more than to tear each other apart and incorporate territories and industries. Tension increased because no one felt safe. If the Bright Clan disappeared overnight, any of them could.

The Cloud Clan became nigh untouchable because of their little princess. The talent from the White Clan put it into a similar situation. The city lord who walked unopposed before now had to be careful not to step into any powerful toes. Annoy the royal family? Death. The overlord? Death. The Sunflower Pavilion? Death. How could he not be on edge? Other cities were easy to govern, his city was hell itself. 

An assistant hurried in and bowed, "My lord, there's trouble at the Vagrant Woods!"

The Vagrant Woods contributed a lot to the resources and income of the neighboring clans and the City Lord's Mansion itself. Hunters sold pelts, cores, skins, monster blood, and parts inside the city. The forest itself worked well for the training of young cultivators.

The city lord had a bad premonition, "What is it?"

"That's... almost everyone inside the forest is dead or being hunted right now…" 

"What?" The city lord jumped from his seat, "Give me the report!"

"Yes!" He waved and a bloodstained hunter came in.

"My lord, someone killed a newborn from a queen. She was too powerful, the entire forest became agitated, and the beasts attacked together. I was near the edge, but the others…" 

The city lord frowned, "How strong?"

The city lord dared not belittle the opponent. Most hunters rarely had exceptional cultivation, they made up for it with experience and instinct, only a powerful and cunning enemy could wipe many teams out at once. In the past, a spirit beast at the peak of the ninth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm caused the city great losses, even the Spirit Gate cultivators of the four main clans fought together to kill it.

"A two-headed lioness at the bottom of the middle stage in the Spirit Sea..."

A queen at least at the fourth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm. Only advanced or middle-late stage cultivators could fight it properly. No wonder the hunter groups couldn't survive, any group capable of surviving such beast would choose more profitable spots than the Vagrant Woods.

"Any strong groups in the area?" The city lord asked.

The assistant shook the head, "We heard nothing, the news should have reached the other clans by now."

"Dispatch the flame commander to the forest. Coordinate with the other clans and take the beast out quickly, don't leave it alive. Once the cultivators are dead, it will go to the nearby villages and towns and wreak havoc," the city lord commanded.

He often dispatched the flame commander to deal with similar situations. While not the top expert of the City Lord's Mansion, his strength was at the advanced stage of the Spirit Sea Realm. The assistant and surviving hunter clasped their hands and went out.

*

The other big clans of Bluecloud City also received the news, but only the White Clan mobilized forces to help. The other powers sent a lot of manpower out to look for Ming Ren's whereabouts…

**

Forest Clan, Redwater Town.

"What? Lin Dong and the others?" One elder cried in surprise.

The Forest Clan's patriarch had a serious expression, "Second elder, assemble a team, we will head out immediately!"

He already lost his wife, how could he bear to lose Little Fu? This time he had to protect him no matter what.

***

Back at the Vagrant Woods, Ming Ren caught up with the others.

'No good, this speed is absolutely no good!' Their speed wasn't enough to shake off the beasts and reach the formation in time.

"Brother Ming Ren!" The group didn't stop running, occasionally fending off a spirit beast. Ming Ren pondered about what to do. He needed to activate the formation while fighting the beasts, and there was still some ground to cover before reaching the vulnerable spot. The proud queen didn't run at full speed and sent its goons first, but she was still too fast. With limited options, Ming Ren could only gamble to avoid this crisis. 

"RUN HARDER! When you reach a clearing with an oak tree, stand ground and fight back!" Ming Ren shouted to the group before flickering away with [Flash Step] and disappearing from their sight.

"So fast!" Lin Qiang couldn't help but praise. The rustling of leaves became louder, broken trees fell, and ground stomping came closer. Many spirit beasts roared, appearing from behind Lin Qiang and the others. Lin Shu leaped forward and shot several arrows, always keeping up with the group. Her hand rested on an almost empty quiver. 

"DAMN, THEY'RE COMING!" Little Fu princess carried the elder but outran everyone, "How long do we have to run for!!!!"

"There, that place! Everyone, get ready!" Lin Qiang spotted the clearing with a huge oak tree nearby, hard to miss. They stopped, turning back to face their foes. The first spirit beast came running and Lin Shu shot her [Vanishing Arrow] technique. The arrow seemed to disappear, only to pierce the beast's head. 

Lin Yin raised the greatsword and struck furiously with his [Forest Slash] art, a powerful descending strike. Most cultivators favored short or long swords, but greatswords had greater destructive power without other techniques in the mix. Lin Qiang pierced at their foe's weak points, her thin sword suitable for piercing, and she made the best use of it. Her [Forest Needle] art was primarily based on thrusting. Beast after beast came, and the group fended them off.

From the right, one second layer Spirit Sea Realm beast appeared. From the left came another. Flood mantis and wild ape. Lin Qiang and the others thought they were done for when a huge roar almost eliminated their souls out of fear. With a leap, the two-headed lioness stood a few meters from them, its eyes full of hatred and killing intent. The other spirit beasts retreated, never standing in front of it.

How could Lin Qiang and the others move? How could they have any hope of resisting such a powerful creature at their level? Before despair descended completely, a figure hit the enemy's flank with blinding speed and a powerful kick.

[Ming Ren Style Arts - Flash Step + Flash Kick]

The kick landed in a peak of the Body Tempering Realm bird-type beast. Ming Ren flickered, appearing in front of Lin Qiang. He didn't dare get too close to the queen. On his chest, a huge diagonal cut stood out, from near the ribcage to the shoulder, as if he couldn't completely dodge a sharp blade. Blood dripped down, the rest of his training robe dyed red.

"You're wounded!" Lin Qiang shouted with concern but Ming Ren couldn't bother with it, not right now. He looked further away, waiting for something, and clenched his teeth. Still not there. The queen could bear his defiance no longer and stepped forward to attack...

… Ming Ren had no chance in direct combat, even with the first rank sword and his heaven-grade arts and cultivation law. The gap was too big. His concentration reached the maximum, and his spiritual sense dove into each of the present spirit beasts, fiercely releasing his aura!

The beasts retreated in fear, almost dropping to the ground immediately after. Only the queen stood still, frozen for a few breaths. It was also terrified but not enough to retreat. Aside from buying a few breaths, Ming Ren only wounded its pride. The roar appeared again, the queen ready to rip them apart. But, this time, while Lin Qiang and the others trembled, Ming Ren looked confident, "Too late!"

From the direction he came before another powerful aura came gushing forth and the entire ground trembled. A high-pitched scream shook even the queen. A powerful figured struck their flank like a high-speed truck, killing several spirit beasts as if they were nothing. A heavily armored rhino-like spirit beast with sharp longhorns. The king of another part of the Vagrant Woods, cultivation base at the fifth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm. Its battle efficiency was very high even though it only had one monster core. Ming Ren couldn't even scratch it.

The lioness queen stared at the rhino king for a second, then its tail struck forward, and the longhorns deflected it. Ming Ren didn't hesitate, looking for a spot to open the formation immediately. Their chance had arrived, but soon they would also be crushed by the fight!

Cultivation ruled everything in this world.
Humans and other species could sense the Qi of Heaven and Earth and break the barriers of mortality. They molded their mortal bodies through cultivation, gaining immense power and vitality. 
All to reach the realm of immortals.
Billions strived from an early age to reach the Heavens and yet only a small part could cultivate. Cultivators, true gods among men and symbols of power and prestige, often treated common mortals as livestock or servants. As time passed and society adapted, a group of supreme beings enforced honor and justice. Cultivators no longer trampled mortals with ease, but they didn't always respect the rules. Absolute strength tore rules apart without effort, and clans and sects stood at the peak of power.
With many worlds, countless territories, and beings, humans were often mistaken as the weakest species. Traveling between worlds was difficult, but the realms contained mysterious ways and arts.
Ming Ren was born in the Bright Clan but deemed an untalented cultivator. However, his curiosity was unsurpassed under the heavens! Determined to uncover the path to the True Heavenly Dao and armed with an indomitable spirit and powerful companions, will he be able to surpass the gods and protect everything he cares about?

Releases: released by book, no set schedule. Book I - The Vagrant Woods, currently available. All main story chapters will always be available here.

If you like the story, support the novel with the e-book: Https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082DZJ8L8

In the Realm of the Gods, countless legends fought over a mysterious cube. After the battle it disappeared into the void. Lin Ming stumbles upon this mystery object and begins his journey to become a hero of the land.

ming oak tree road edison nj

Quiet Oak Tree

Tales of the Strongest Lizard

The Traveler

Transmigrated as an Ignored Crown Princess

Abe the Wizard

My Perverse Equivalent Exchange System in Doomsday

Forgotten Dragons

Oh Mr General!

Journey Of The Bright Immortal

Martial Arts World

People search ming oak tree road edison nj also like: