He’d been startled by the sudden shout and not fond of the new arrival’s hateful choice of language, but that close to the spirit well the tug on his mind from the Realm Engineer System was too strong to ignore any longer and he thrust his hand into the pond.
Strangely nothing happened, except for the sheer bliss as rich spiritual energy washed into his body, immediately causing him to break through and achieve the fifth stage of martial refinement.
Unfortunately he needed his mind focused at the moment, so the searing pain that accompanied a breakthrough in the martial refinement realm was a less than optimal distraction.
It also allowed Edwin and his cronies to rush forward and shorten the distance between them while Kade rushed to figure out why the Anomaly wasn’t reacting.
In an unexpected twist of fate, Kade’s eternal rival Aurora actually stepped forward to defend him, placing herself between the spirit well and the approaching disciples.
“I don’t know why you seem so desperate for the spirit well, but you seem to have forgotten that there is only one way in and out of this cavern. Hurry and do whatever it is you need to do so we can beat that creep Edwin’s ass and get back to Cat with the cure,” she said while turning to face the approaching enemies, eyes firing up as her clan technique activated.
Kade cursed himself for his slip up. He appreciated the gesture from his Junior Sister however and wouldn’t leave her battling by herself for long if he could help it.
With a nod he returned to investigating the spirit well, noticing that the tug on his mind was still there despite his hand being fully submerged.
He reached for the source, hand slipping through the soft sand at the bed of the pond where the spring was located.
Bubbles tickled his skin as they raced up through the spring to reach the water’s surface and the tug intensified; he was on the right track.
His fingers broke through the layer of sand, emerging into what felt like an empty room beneath the spirit well, though it was a struggle to tell without a line of sight.
Feeling around once his whole hand was inside he realised the space was tiny as he bumped into the walls.
His hand touched something solid and grainy, some kind of stone. It felt too uniform in shape to be naturally occurring and he heard a ding in his mind as the Realm Engineer System awoke.
Unknown Anomaly detected
Anomaly Source is missing, traces will be assimilated automatically
Unable to protest or cancel the action, Kade could only watch helplessly as his body went limp and his mind faded from consciousness.
There was no pain, presumably due to the fact the Realm Engineer System mentioned that only traces of the Anomaly remained.
All of a sudden a scene began to play out in his mind, just like when he’d absorbed the memories of the man from the strange world without cultivation.
However these memories were fragmented, portions missing and skipped which made them hard to follow.
Kade was able to tell that whoever they belonged to was from his own world at least, the background scenery being the location of Demon’s Fang.
It must have been far in the past though, as the mountain itself was nowhere to be seen, just the forests and less imposing mountain ranges decorating the land.
Whoever’s memories they were must have been some kind of giant, the view from their eyes was way into the sky, towering over the mountains by a long shot.
The giant was in a battle with a group of cultivators in various clothing, similar to the robes his sect elders wore, though bearing unknown insignia.
It seemed all of the giant’s opponents were from different sects and forces, yet had teamed up to face off against it.
Lightning crackled around one cultivator in particular with a long flowing white beard and a bald head. That cultivator shouted something but the memory cut before he could finish.
“Demon G… Reign of terror en… Evil Sealin…”
It was difficult for Kade to judge from the limited information he’d gained, but perhaps the rumours surrounding the Demon’s Fang had a grain of truth in them.
The giant whose memories he’d seen seemed to be some kind of demon, judging from the way the other cultivators had teamed up to defeat him and even resorted to a sealing formation.
Was this mountain perhaps the resting place of that giant demon? He shuddered at the thought. If it had only been sealed and not defeated weren’t they risking awakening it and bringing calamity to the sect?
Another set of memories lit up his mind, this time a regular human judging from the perspective that was back on ground level.
In fact it was highly likely to be a disciple of Mystic Solar Valley judging from the fact this person was exploring the Demon’s Fang.
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The person actually reached the very same cave they’d entered that day to reach the spirit well, though it seemed these events transpired long before Catarina had received the information.
Walking through the tunnel was easy for them, with not a single trap in sight and when they reached the cavern Kade realised it was because the spirit well had yet to form.
It was just as large and imposing, though many of the qi crystals were not present and there were no treasures to be seen.
Taking up the central location was a small stone tablet emitting a heavy and evil aura, presumably the same tablet he’d felt underneath the spirit well.
Surprisingly the person in the memory was someone Kade was extremely familiar with, a fact that was revealed as the boy muttered to himself while approaching the tablet.
“Hahahaha, so the rumours were indeed true,” cackled the disciple, “That bastard Kade will taste my wrath once I absorb the Demon God’s legacy. I’ll pay him back in full for the humiliation of losing my manhood.”
Indeed the disciple who’d first discovered the hidden secret of the Demon’s Fang was none other than Aaron Reed, the newly indoctrinated eunuch.
Aaron approached the tablet and placed both hands on it, cackling maniacally all the while. A scream rang out as the demonic energy rushed into him and the scene cut abruptly.
Judging from the timeframe, the spirit well likely came into being shortly after Aaron inherited the legacy of this ‘Demon God’ character, who was almost definitely the giant whose memories Kade witnessed beforehand.
If everything he had seen was true, and it probably was given the reliability the Realm Engineer System had demonstrated thus far, then the sect may be in danger.
Though thinking of the sect would have to come second in his priorities, since Aaron had made it clear who his first target was.
Kade slowly came back to his senses once the memories had concluded, very clear on what his goals for the remainder of the time before the inner sect examinations were.
Insufficient energy to accurately identify Anomaly
Locate main source to complete assimilation
Once more Kade felt a gentle tug in the back of his mind, this time leading towards the direction of the sect.
It seemed that he and Aaron would be needing to have another ‘friendly’ chat in the very near future, especially since it would provide a significant boost to Kade’s cultivation if he could assimilate the Anomaly that was the Demon God’s inheritance.
Why such an inheritance was considered to be an Anomaly by the realm engineer system he wasn’t sure, given that as far as he could tell it originated in this world and not from a deity like the previous [Battle God Gacha System] had.
Mission - Mountain Investigation complete
Realm Engineer Gacha pull x1 received
That was a great bonus, but there was no time to use the function at that moment as he overheard conversation from where Aurora had been defending him.
“Unhand me you disgusting creep, my father will never forgive you for this,” wheezed Aurora.
“I don’t see him anywhere, do you?” Replied Edwin, holding the girl up by her neck, “You’ve always pissed me off with the way you look down on the rest of us mere mortals without such lofty backing. Such good looks deserve to be used by a powerful man like me, not squandered away on some rich young master.”
“That’s enough, Edwin. They can’t fight back so let’s just loot this place and get out of here before the rest of their group arrive, there’s no way they came here with just the two of them. Don’t be so disgusting,” said one of Edwin’s cronies, Jemima.
The boy tossed Aurora to the ground where she lay unmoving, the strength gone from her body after what had clearly been a brutal fight against the five opposing disciples, three of whom she’d managed to take down and were scattered across the mossy floor of the cavern.
“You seem to be mistaken about something, Jemima. When did you ever have the authority to tell me what to do? Besides, if there’s no one left to spill the beans, who’s going to ever find out what happened here,” he said as a sinister grin crept across his face.
“What are you talking abou…” Jemima was cut off as a thin crimson line appeared on her neck, followed by her crumpling up and dropping to the floor.
In Edwin’s hand a thin, yet razor sharp dagger had appeared, dripping with the fresh blood of his slain comrade.
Three more daggers of the same style appeared in his other hand and with an expertly trained flick they buried themselves into the back of his other three teammate’s necks.
Once he’d disposed of his allies, the despicable disciple turned back to the helpless Aurora who was doing her best to crawl away from his sickening clutches.
Kade wanted to intervene, but his body still felt a little drained from his attempt to assimilate the Anomaly, and if he approached now Edwin would swat him like a fly.
Luckily, his hand was still submerged in the spirit well which was still intact even after the removal of the Demon God’s inheritance in its entirety.
‘Stillness without form, strength without limit.’
He chanted the mantra for the 【Flowing River Art】in his mind while hastily absorbing the rich energy from the pond, recovering at an astonishing rate and even managing to stabilise his new cultivation stage at the same time.
Edwin had caught up to the crawling Aurora, grabbing the back of her neck and pinning her to the floor to prevent further struggle.
“There’s no way to run, stuck up brat. Just give in and maybe you’ll find yourself enjoying the ride,” he taunted while undoing his outer sect disciple’s robe.
The fact that such a perverted creep had the right to wear the same robes as him truly pissed Kade off, to the point that he almost interrupted his concentration.
Thugs like Aaron and his ilk and sickening bastards like Edwin were a widespread corruption in Mystic Solar Valley, one that he hoped to begin rooting out as his strength grew.
Edwin tossed his robe to the side and chuckled gleefully as he moved to take off his undergarments, unsympathetic to the crying girl beneath him.
It was now or never. A wave of dizziness struck Kade, though he pushed through, now used to the sensation and got to his feet right as the accompanying cold washed over his body, filling him with energy.
Whipping the Resonant Echo Staff from his back he charged at the unaware Edwin, ready to pulverise him for his misdeeds.
“Did you really think I couldn’t tell what you were doing over there, mutt. Lie back down like a good dog and don’t interrupt my fun,” said Edwin, making a seal with his free hand.
Another dagger, previously unseen by Kade, tore through the air on a beeline for his neck, moving so fast that he struggled to track it with his eyes.