Mortal Realm, Grade 3 Planet, A random bar.
Two middle-aged men were playing card while enjoying their beers in the middle of the noisy sound of conversation around them.
-”Old man Jin this time you'll lose even your pants to me” one of them said.
-”Humph! The last time was just a fluke. You can't...” Old man Jin started to say.
Before Old man Jin finished his sentence, the time seemed to stop and the second middle aged man started to crack his neck from left to right. “You need to stay calm old man, otherwise you'll have a heart attack.” He said. “Oh well, it's not as if you can hear me anyway. So, let's take care of the serious matter first before getting back to the fun one.”
The mysterious man then started to rouse his Mana energy to form what seemed to be a incredibly strong spell. “The little girl seems to be ready... Sigh... I hope what I've made will help you a bit. Being too cold is not a good way to live your life.” He says. “Mmhh... the little fox is also born. It should be right now. Alright, let's do it.” After this incomprehensible monologue, the man flicked what seemed to be two seals in two different directions. Following that action, the time seemed to resume.
“...Expect to win every time, you old cheater!” Old man Jin resumed saying.
“You're wrong. I'm not expecting anything, I just know it!” The mysterious man said in an annoyingly smug manner.
“Good luck to the two of you!” He thought.
***************
Divine Realm, Somewhere in the Void Zone.
A shadow reminiscent of Death was traveling in the cold Void Zone seemingly looking for something. It kept going, passing high Grade planets after another. Spaceships full of Immortals and Divine Layer Cultivators went by it without being able to sense its presence, as if it was invisible. It kept going until it reached a huge and majestic mountain floating alone in the Void. That mountain was even bigger than a Grade 9 Planet [A/N: The highest Grade for a planet in the Wanderer's Realms. The Grades go from 1 to 9.]. So enormous that the shadow was not even close to the size of a speck of dust in front of it.
“From what the man who sold me the information said, the target should be around this mountain.” The shadow stopped to think. “The target should also be weaker than me. I can't be careless though, since we have the same cultivation Level. After all, a cornered beast will do everything to bite back the hunter before it gets killed.”
It started to ponder. “Mmh... Where could he be hiding?” While thinking deeply about that problem, it suddenly saw a flash of lightning on the left side of the mountain. “Could it be...?” It said before immediately flying toward the commotion. Thanks to the use of Yin Laws, it could avoid any living being with lower Laws comprehension. Thankfully, although the Mana Beasts on the mountain had a higher Cultivation Level than it, their Laws comprehension left to be desired. That fact enabled it to successfully avoid all of them without being noticed a single time. After a few minutes of flying, the shadow reached where it perceived the flash of lightning. It was the entrance of a cave with a Mana Beast corpse in front of it. It was burnt to a crisp, seemingly from the lightning earlier.
While using its Divine sense to check the corpse it noticed a few things. “Lightning, Space and Time Laws combined into one Spell. From what I've heard the target is known to use a spell called Heaven Lightning Destruction. It was probably him here then. I'm on the right track.” It thought. Suddenly, it remembered something: ”Wait a minute! Wasn't it the spell that used all the cultivator Mana Energy and a huge amount of Lifeforce? If that's the case, he should be in a weakened state right now. It seems that luck is still on my side. I should go now then.” he muttered to himself with a corner of its mouth raised up in a cold smile.
After making its decision, it flew into the cave as fast as he could while being cautious of any possible danger. It kept flying for a few minutes without seeing anything beside the passage's walls nor hearing any sound beside its own thoughts. Not even the air was disturbed after its passage. That miraculous situation was the result of a great use of Space Laws. Being the best assassin in the Divine Realm, that much was a given for it. From what it remembered the first Lesson for a novice in the Assassin's League was how to hide. Only once you're hidden can you kill your target with the minimum amount of risk. “Why would I think of that now of all time?” It thought. “After I'm done with this contract, I really need to take a rest. That contract exhausted me. Sigh... Hundred years is probably the longest it took me to get rid of a target.”
After finishing that thought, it suddenly saw a light getting brighter and brighter in front of it. Instead of picking up its speed, it chose to slow down. Another lesson from the Assassin's League: “Once you're close to the end of a contract, that's when you need to focus, because that is usually when things that you didn't predict start to happen.” Following this essential lesson, the Shadow arrived into a gigantic space with only one entrance. On the walls were hundreds of LightShade Gems illuminating this huge room. In the middle of it was an ancient black and white altar on an elevated platform of the same color. Both of which were on the same scale as the cavern, in other word: enormous. On the said altar were floating one beautiful seal with a carved Yin Yang symbol on both sides of the seal. It radiated a kind of energy more powerful than anything the shadow has ever felt before. It reminded it about the time when it was leaving a Grade 1 planet in the Mortal realm. At that time it was only a Level 4 Mortal Cultivator and decided to take a flying vessel to leave the planet to reach a grade 2 or 3 planet to continue its cultivation. That's when it saw a Peak Level 9 Mortal Layer Mana Beast fly by it. The Energy coming from its body was so powerful that it made it feel insignificant in comparison. This was the same feeling that it felt now.
“How it is possible?” It thought. “Even a Peak Divine Layer Cultivator [A/N: Peak Level 9 Divine Layer] would not give me this feeling of powerlessness!” A sound suddenly broke its train of thoughts. Being distracted by the seal, it only now noticed the other man, similarly in a state of stupefaction, walking toward the Altar.
“So it was true.” He mumbled under his breath.”That seal is so powerful. I'll definitely be able to reach the Peak of the Divine Layer with it. And once I do, I'll kill those pursuers of mine. Those trash made me hide myself for hundreds of years. Revenge will be served...” He then started to laugh in a creepy way. “keh keh keh...”
“What a madman.” The shadow thought. “Mmh... He may be mad but I can't take the risk. I must get that seal before him.” Pondering further. “Since that seal is so powerful, I doubt it will be as easy as it looks to get it. There is probably a hidden defense mechanism around. I better let him scout in front. That way, it will lessen the danger for me and increase my chance to get that seal.”
Having decided to only observe first, it kept its focus on the other man. That man kept walking towards the altar while the shadow was lost in thought. Step by step, he closed in on the bottom of the platform. Then as if bewitched by a powerful Illusion Spell, he started slowly climbing the stairs of the platform while mumbling things like “That seal is mine”, “I'll kill them all” and “The most powerful shall be me”. It gave the atmosphere of the room a creepy vibe.
“Once he triggers the Mechanism I'll immediately get rid of him. He is too dangerous to be left alive.” The shadow thought. After a few minutes of climbing, the man arrived in front of the Altar and the mysterious seal. Looking entranced his hand started to close on the seal, but it encountered a kind of obstruction when it was only a few centimeters from it. He tried a few times to reach it, by touching the obstruction on every side, but to no avail. There seemed to be a spherical invisible shield surrounding the seal. “I should try attacking it. From how powerful the seal seems to be, even if I break the energy shield the seal won't break.” The man muttered. Having decided, he acted right away. He roused his Mana Energy to create a powerful spell and destroy the shield. Unfortunately, breaking the shield seemed to be wishful thinking for him. Indeed, after his attack not only did the shield not break, but the Spell was redirected to the attacker. The man who attacked was then sent flying and crashed into the cavern's wall.
“Urgh!” He exclaimed while spewing out blood and pieces of his damaged organs from his mouth. “Damn it! Cough! It's an extremely high...Cough!... level reflective shield! Cough!” He exclaimed in anger, interrupted a few times with severe coughs. “How the hell am I supposed to break that! Cough! Cough!” He shouted to the cavern's ceiling while spewing more blood, his injuries being exacerbated by his angry fit.
With him being so angry, he failed to noticed the shadow hidden close to him with a cold smirk on its face. “Completely useless... Sigh... beside bullying the weak, that kind of people is really trash.” It thought. “Since he can't do anything about the shield, I'll just get rid of him and try it myself.” As soon as it decided, it began to act. A beautiful sword which emanated high level Divine power magically appeared in the shadow's hand. “Silent Murmur!” It thought while flicking its sword. The wounded man then cocked his ears as if to hear something better. However, while moving his head he fell down seemingly completely dead. “If you hear something, then it's already too late for you. That murmur was your life floating away.” The shadow says with an indifferent tone. Crouching down to cut the head of the corpse as proof that it fulfilled the terms of the contract, it then said. “In your next life, don't try to use innocent lives to cultivate devil arts.”
After putting the head away in its inner world, it stood up and walked towards the platform. Surprisingly, the closer it got from the two, the more comfortable it felt for it. It was as if the Item was supposed to be its to begin with. Not only that, but the shadows were starting to disappear to reveal the shape of the person inside. It was a tall woman, a body that would make most men sacrifice their entire lifeforce and money just to be able to talk to her. Very generous breasts, a perfectly shaped butt, and a toned overall body. Those physical characteristics could be inferred from the form-fitting full-body white Combat Suit she wore. That slick armor was a perfect example of Mana technology, which was a combination of the Rune inscription Branch and the Technology Branch. Full of runic inscriptions, the power waves coming from it would scare any Divine Layer Level 6 Cultivator or below . She also wore a emotionless looking mask, with only the eyes and no mouth, on her face and coupled with her helmet, not a single piece of her skin could be seen on her entire body. Although her body may invoke men's lust, after focusing more on her aura, they would experience a feeling of extreme danger, as if they could die at any moment if they made the wrong move. Those blasphemous thoughts would then be immediately extinguished and they would want nothing to do with her. That is unless they wished to embrace death sooner than they were supposed to.
After reaching the stairs on the platform and having climbed them up, she reached for the seal with her hand. The latter sending a welcoming aura to her, almost to tell her that it waited there specifically for her. She even felt that the shield would not block her from the seal. And surprisingly it did not. She could touch the seal with her fingers without problems. “That's strange.” She thought. “Could it be the so called fated Item? Well, I'll take it regardless now that I'm here.” Following that thought, she grabbed the seal with her hand and backed off from the Altar, in case another defense mechanism was triggered. But nothing happened and everything stayed silent. After a bit of pondering, she decided that since this place was well hidden she would stay here to refine the seal. “The sooner I refine the seal, the safer I will be. Otherwise I won't be able to use it and if a Peak Divine Cultivator suddenly decide to rob me I'd be screwed.” She muttered under her breath.
She then activated a few formation plates to hide her presence and any energy fluctuations that could come out from the seal. Feeling reassured, she sat herself in the meditation position and started the refinement. It went extraordinarily well. After a few hours, the seal was completely refined and was placed in her sea of consciousness while the Item's spirit started to send her information about the seal's powers. From what she understood, the seal was a part of an Item's set which was called Dual Yin Yang Seals. To use the seal she refined, she needed to gather the other one. She would then have her talent and comprehension improved drastically. Her cultivation and Law comprehension improving by leaps and bounds. There was a caveat though. If the other seal was already refined she could not kill the one who refined the seal, or the seal would leave her. To benefit from the Seal's power, she would then need to cultivate close to the other person and the closer she was emotionally to him/her, the higher benefits she would receive.
“Those conditions seem odd. Was it made intentionally to trap me?” She wondered out loud. “But who could be powerful enough to create those two seals?” After a few moments of trying to fruitlessly find those answers, she decided to stop thinking about it. “If that person really wanted to hurt me, with how powerful they are, I would have no chance to defend myself. So it's probably safe... Mmh?... It said that I can use a Portal to appear where the other person is by using the seal.” She exclaimed, surprised. “Let's see who is lucky enough to get the other seal, then.”
In a decisive manner, she activated the seal's power and a Portal appeared in front of her. After hesitating a few seconds, she firmed her resolve and immediately flew through the portal. The latter then disappeared followed by the Altar and the Platform leaving the Cavern empty and desolate, with only the corpse of the dead man as proof of what happened.
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