CHAPTER 545 A MOUNTAIN OF PRIMITIVE STONES (PART TWO)

"Okay, then," Darren said, mirroring her careless demeanor. "I believe you about the bead. I was only

being curious. But what's it about the demon? What made him so special?"

She gave him a sly smile. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. I don't know everything my master does. But as

for that bead, I did see someone get poisoned by it. Someone much, much more powerful than you,

and I can tell you it didn't end well for him. In fact, you may just meet him, and he can tell you all about

it himself."

Darren shook his head, irritated by Anna's behavior. Despite having made such a fuss about the bead,

she now showed herself unable, or at least unwilling, to give any facts in support of her argument. All

the same, Darren decided to let the matter drop. After all, it was only a bead. Even if it actually was

beneficial somehow, he surely could do just fine without it.

He remembered then how Mathew had told him there were Primitive Stones on the fourth floor, which

was where he was at right now. If he could get his hands on those stones containing the Heavenly

Repression Rule, he would be able to work on increasing his own strength toward the level of the

Grand Realm.

"Well, right now I'm more interested in what's waiting for me on the fifth floor. I'm kind of looking forward

to getting up there."

Saying this, Darren looked over at the site of his latest battle. The demon on this floor was a real livng

beast, so he couldn't come back to life. The moment the demon was killed, a stairway leading up to the

next floor had appeared there.

Already excited, he sent his spiritual sense probing up the passage, only for it to be stopped cold.

It was shocking enough to him that something was powerful enough to block his spiritual sense. But

even more arresting were the emanations that came down from the opening. There was an aura

somewhere up there, one that was somehow familiar to Darren.

"Damn! What the hell could be up there?" he murmured to himself.

Ever since entering the Starry Tower, he'd been aware of this aura. It had to be coming from the top

level, and he was very interested in discovering its source.

Still, he was well aware that he wouldn't even make it through the next floor, let alone all of them, Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

unless he found the Primitive Stones first.

Having made up his mind, he gathered all the strength of his spiritual sense and started looking for the

stones. He didn't bother asking Anna about it. After all, she was just a guardian of the third floor, so she

couldn't possibly know where the stones were.

Unsurprisingly, the girl followed close behind Darren as he explored. Also unsurprisingly, she couldn't

keep her mouth shut. "Hey! I thought you wanted to know about your opponent on the fifth floor. Why

haven't you asked me about him?"

"No doubt he'll be stronger than that demon I just splattered," he replied casually. "Am I wrong about

that?"

"Well, no, of course he'll be stronger. But aren't you curious just how much stronger he really is?"

Anna's tone was playful, almost as if she was trying to tease him.

He tried not to look at her. "Not really, no. Whether or not he's stronger, I'm going up there sooner or

later. What concerns me is improving my cultivation base so that I'll stand a better chance of defeating

him, whoever he is."

"Improve your cultivation base? What are you talking about? I thought you'd reached your limit already.

There's no higher level for you to get to." Anna's little heart skipped a beat when she heard him talk

about this, though she was careful to conceal it. Exteriorly she stayed aloof as always, but on the

inside, she could hardly have been more shocked or upset.

In the course of her short life, she had excelled at everything she'd set her mind to, and never had

cause to feel jealous of anyone. But since this guy had come along, things were different.

The advances Darren had made in just a few short years, not to mention the challenges he'd

overcome, were astounding enough on their own. And now he was talking about cultivating and

growing even more powerful like it wasn't even a big deal. But Anna wasn't about to admit to her

jealousy. Just knowing that Darren was better than herself, that was bad enough.

For some time Darren continued his search in the air, before finally stopping and turning on the girl.

"Anna, would you stop following me around everywhere? It's getting on my nerves."

She was taken aback. "Why is that? I've answered every question you asked and helped you as best

as I could. What have I done to annoy you?"

Darren decided to get right to the point. "You don't listen to anything I say, all the while trying to

convince me of your own groundless speculations. Besides that, you talk too much."

"How dare you!" Enraged, Anna stamped her foot—or tried to, since they were still a good distance off

the ground. The way she saw it, she had been nothing but nice to Darren, but nobody she could

remember had ever treated her with such contempt.

"Fine, then! I'll stop following your stupid ass. It's your loss, anyway!" Having said this, she turned away

and flew off, humiliated.

Half a year flew by as Darren turned his full attention to seeking out the Primitive Stones containing the

Heavenly Repression Rule. He searched meticulously, shaking every tree and turning over every

stone.

At long last, he discovered an enormous mountain hidden in a vast stretch of lava. This would have

been impressive on its own. Adding up to his astonishment, the mountain itself was made out of the

Primitive Stones that contained the Heavenly Repression Rule!