With renewed vigour, the group of nine used all manner martial techniques and artifacts to kill dozens and dozens of demons. Within a few seconds, the horde of several hundred demons were reduced to nothing.

“Finally!” Blaze cried as he cut down the last demon. He then turned to Drake and Sylvia, “What took you two so long? We were worried!”

“And what happened to those dark mages?” added Farisa.

“We dealt with them,” Drake replied. “As for why we took so long… we just discovered an inheritance along the way and decided to obtain it.”

Drake chose not to go into too much detail, and since Sylvia didn’t correct him, Blaze and Farisa accepted that explanation.

“I see,” replied Farisa.

At this point, Kurt, Ivan Flame, Derald Forge, and the other Silver Crane Sect disciples also gathered around. Drake glanced at them and made eye contact with Ivan.

For a moment, no one spoke, and the plains became quiet. Then, Ivan broke the silence with a sigh. He rubbed the back of his head and spoke.

“I thought about it and… I understand.”

Drake continued staring at him, silently nudging him to explain.

“… I understand, why you did what you did. If I was in your position, I would have also aimed to capture Theo for an exchange.” A few seconds later he added, “I still can’t forgive what happened to Jordon, however, that was the dark mages’ fault, so…”

Ivan’s voice trailed off, so Drake completed his sentence. “So… we’re good?”

“Yes…” Ivan sighed again. Drake was surprised at this development but Ivan appeared sincere. Hence, Drake simply chose to be grateful.

“Well, thank you,” he replied. “And, for it’s worth, I apologise for not being honest with you all from the beginning.”

“Me too,” agreed Farisa, as well as Blaze and Sylvia.

“It’s okay,” replied Kurt, and Ivan nodded.

With that, Drake felt the tension between the groups lift, and smiled.

Suddenly, Drake remembered something.

“By the way guys, the dark mages told us something. It’s about Cyrus!”

Blaze and Farisa shared a dry glance before turning to face Drake.

“We know,” they replied in unison. Drake tilted his head in confusion and Blaze sighed.

“We’ll explain on the way.”

…

A group of seven cultivators dressed in dark robes were speeding through the inheritance grounds.

“How much further is the next inheritance, my lord?” asked one of the cultivators respectfully to a man at the front. The man looked like he was in his late twenties, and circling above him were several dozen vulture spirits which were easily picking off any demon that came close.

The dark grand mage peered into the distance in the direction of the black tower which was slowly becoming more and more visible to their group. Some distance before that tower were the ruins of what looked like some old mines, which the dark grand mage noticed through one of his investigative spirits.

“Not very far,” he replied calmly.

…

A short while later.

Drake, Sylvia, Blaze, Farisa, Kurt, Ivan, Derald, and the other two Silver Crane Sect disciples were standing in front of a rocky hill with a wide opening. Several tracks were coming out of the opening, which were probably used by miners to transport extracted rocks and minerals in carts.

The group warily entered the opening.

Immediately, Drake felt the change in weather. As always, the heat was much lower at a regular, room temperature, the fierce winds disappeared, and he could see everything clearly without any dust storm obscuring his view.

‘So this really is an inheritance then…’ Drake thought, then shook his head to focus on his surroundings.

The group entered a large clearing, dimly lit by torches aligned along the walls. The floor was littered with all manner of rocks and occasional mining tools. Some distance away, on the right, there was a set of stairs leading down, whereas straight ahead and on the left, several passages were branching off.

“Sylvia-” Kurt began but paused upon seeing that she had her eyes closed.

She had already willed her pixie spirits to scout the mines and was focusing on them. A few moments later, she opened them. “Hmm…” she mumbled.

“What is it?” asked Kurt.

“I believe there’s black iron rock in these mines,” she replied calmly.

“Black iron?” Drake asked confused.

Farisa decided to explain. “Black iron is a type of iron infused with mana which makes it stronger, sharper, and more durable. Of course, it is also rarer, but the weapons and artifacts made out of black iron are far more powerful.”

Interesting… thought Drake. He had never heard of black iron before, could it be a material unique to this world? Drake was curious.

“Let’s head there then,” Drake suggested. Everyone agreed.

The group carefully ventured through the mines. Sylvia led them down the staircase to the next floor, where she navigated through a few passageways before arriving at another clearing.

This room was even more dimly lit than the previous ones. However, with their enhanced senses, everyone could still see clearly.

Drake noticed a pitch-black rock on the floor and picked it up. He willed the mana in his inner realm to enter the rock and began sensing its internal structure. A few moments later, he opened his eyes.

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‘Very interesting!’ Drake exclaimed internally.

The absorption of mana strengthened the bonds between the iron atoms. This also ended up altering the atomic structure, as the different forces meant that an arrangement which would not be stable for ordinary iron atoms, was stable for black iron. This different atomic structure and increased atomic forces was responsible for the stronger and more durable properties of black iron.

More importantly, Drake felt that this structure was not very complicated. He was sure he could study it easily and start summoning black iron artifacts soon.

This was an unexpected gain!

Drake was about to rejoice when suddenly, a large explosion interrupted him.

The group jumped back as a pile of rubble on the other end of the room exploded, scattering the rocks everywhere. A large creature rose from the debris and quickly began crawling up the wall. It moved fast and reached the ceiling in an instant, before moving towards them upside down. At the same time, it released the aura of a warrior class demon.

Drake noticed its numerous legs and recognised what sort of a demon it was.

“A demon centipede!” exclaimed Blaze. “What’s it doing inside an inheritance? And warrior class? I thought those didn’t appear in this inheritance grounds!”

“Maybe it’s because we’re closer to the black fortress now, the demons are stronger?” Ivan suggested.

“More importantly, look closer,” said Sylvia with a low voice. The centipede stopped mid way and stared at the group, giving them the opportunity to observe it closer. Its shell was thick and pitch black in colour, and looked extremely hard.

“Don’t tell me!” gasped Farisa.

“It’s a mutant?” Kurt asked out loud.

“Seems so,” Sylvia replied calmly. “It must have absorbed the mana from the black iron ores, which transmuted its shell to have similar properties. We need to be careful, it will not be like a normal warrior class demon.”

Suddenly, the centipede fell to the ground. The next instant, it let out a loud screech and charged at the group.

“Fire blade!”

“Solar barrage!”

“Rain!”

Blaze, Drake and Sylvia unleashed their attacks from their spot, whilst Kurt and Ivan Flame rushed towards the centipede.

“Thunder strike!”

“Crimson burst!”

Kurt and Ivan activated their martial techniques and punched the demon centipede with all their might, before quickly jumping back. The combined energy of so many attacks was powerful, and a mini dust cloud rose around the demon centipede.

“Did we… do it?” Blaze wondered. An ordinary warrior class demon would not have been able to directly take the attacks of so many powerful cultivators. It should either be dead, or severely injured - or so they thought.

The dust cloud settled and the centipede was revealed.

“What!?” Blaze exclaimed stupefied.

The rest of the group was also in disbelief. Apart from minor scratches on its shell, the demon centipede was mostly unharmed.

“This is not good,” Kurt muttered, before speaking loudly. “Brothers listen. Ivan and Derald, we will attack the demon centipede directly along with Blaze and Drake. The two of you protect Sylvia along with Farisa and act if you see an opportunity.”

Kurt charged at the demon centipede without waiting for a response. He jumped into the air and activated his martial technique. Bolts of lightning started wrapping around his legs.

“Arcane…. Surge!” His legs moved in a flash as he kicked the centipede repeatedly, each blow charged with lightning. However, the centipede’s shell barely cracked.

Seeing this, Ivan and Derald made their moves. Drake and Blaze shared a silent glance before they too started attacking the centipede.

“Crescent slash! Hammer fist! Lightning metal leg! Chain lightning!”

Drake used his techniques one after another but the demon centipede’s armour was unbelievably tough. After taking all of those attacks directly, it only developed a few cracks. While seeing this made everyone else worried, Drake’s lips curled into a smile.

‘I can’t believe… it’s so strong!’

For Drake, the strength of the demon centipede’s defence showcased the power of black iron. That also meant that if he could learn to summon black iron, his artifact summons would be that much stronger! How could he not rejoice at such a thought?

Of course, the other reason he was so relaxed was because there was so many of them. With so many powerful cultivators here, a single warrior class demon would not be able to threaten them, no matter how powerful. Beyond that, he also had not yet used his fire dragon ring.

‘Could it survive an attack from a rank four artifact?’ Drake wondered, then shook his head. He wouldn’t be able to use it unless the right opportunity showed up. Moreover, he wanted to try using finger thrust first, which was ordinarily very powerful at breaking defences.

Drake saw the centipede twisting and turning, trying to attack anyone that came close. It used its powerful shell to block the attacks while striking back with its horns and its numerous legs. Additionally, its speed was incredible. Despite its size, perhaps due to its numerous legs, it could move extremely fast, forcing everyone to stay on guard.

As everyone dodged the demon centipede’s attacks and retaliated with their own, the demon suddenly did something unexpected. Drake watched the demon centipede suddenly turn a full 180 in the blink of an eye and bash into Blaze who was attacking it from behind.

Blaze was caught completely by surprise and, given his still weakened state, was unable to react in time. He was sent flying.

‘Now!’ Drake thought. Not wanting to lose this opportunity, Drake willed his mana to move. His index and middle fingers began glowing with mana as he struck at an already weakened point of the centipede’s shell.

“Finger thrust!”

The centipede screeched in pain as it was attacked by a powerful yet concentrated force. The part of the shell Drake attacked developed several large cracks. However, it didn’t break.

‘This really is strong!’ thought Drake, however, he couldn’t be distracted for long.

The centipede rotated its huge body in an instant once again and slashed at Drake with its enormous horns. Luckily, with his acute sense activated, Drake detected the attack and dodged just as the tip of the horn scraped past his robes.

Drake jumped and flipped through the air before landing on his feet several metres away. The centipede did not want to give Drake any respite as it charged at him immediately.

In response, Drake smirked. He poured mana into his ring and it began glowing red.

“Fire dragon strike!”

Drake waved his hand and three streaks of fire flew out. They darted through the air so quickly that the centipede could barely register their movement. By instinct, it turned its head just enough so that the strike would fall on its shell instead of its neck and head.

BOOM!

A large explosion resounded across the mines and the streaks of fire cut through its armour and embedded deeply into its skin. Blood splashed everywhere. Drake summoned a quick barrier to deflect and prevent it from staining his clothes.

SSCCCRRRREEEEECCCHHHHH!

The demon centipede felt pain unlike anything it had experienced before and screeched. However, the streaks of fire relentlessly cut through its body, and encased it in flames.

BOOM!

Another explosion rang through the clearing as a mini dust cloud rose into the air and fierce winds swept at the surroundings.

For several seconds, everyone stepped back and stared in shock.

‘He… did it?’ gasped Kurt. They had all been struggling to break through its defence - it was unbelievable that Drake had managed to kill it so easily with just one attack. ‘Wait, that was…’ Kurt focused on Drake’s left hand and noticed a ring.

‘A rank four artifact!’

The ring was still giving off a faint aura from the use of its rune so there was no mistaking it. It really was a rank four artifact!

‘How did he find one?’ Kurt was confused and excited at the same time.

Everyone else was in the same position. They too had noticed his rank four artifact by now and were stunned.

‘He’s gotten stronger again!’ Blaze yelled internally. While he was happy for Drake, his competitive spirit made him want to not fall behind Drake.

Drake stared at the demon calmly but he was internally shocked as well. That attack had just consumed more than half of his mana. He knew using a rank four artifact would require a lot of mana, but he wasn’t expecting this. However, looking at the demon centipede with incredibly tough armour cut into pieces and burning to ash from a single attack, Drake knew that the cost was justified.

‘Just a shame that I wouldn’t be able to use it very often for now,’ he thought to himself as he consumed a mana recovery pill. If he reached at least the undying body realm, he’d be able to use the ring more.

Drake sighed and turned around. He was greeted by a series of surprised faces. In response, he just rubbed his nose and walked back casually.

Suddenly, alarm bells blared in his mind.

Shadow steps!

Drake dodged back just in time as another huge demon centipede fell from the ceiling. At the same time, four more demon centipedes showed up out of nowhere, each radiating the aura of a warrior class demon, and surrounded everyone else.

Before Drake could worry about them, the demon centipede before him charged.