Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 357: I’m fine...

The bigger the stage, the more chances he’d have to get stronger and find people who could aid him.

At this point, he had already accepted the fact that it might take centuries to learn anything about himself. He could only cultivate his influence to the point where his decisions affected even the other Realms.

Only at that point would he be able to do something.

For now, he had to gain support. And that is what he was doing right now.

As he was indulging in his thoughts, the old lady’s voice woke him up, “It won’t be long before I regain my previous strength...”

The confidence and hatred overshadowed all other emotions erupting from the old lady.

“Which Realm were you in previously?” he asked curiously.

.....

In response, however, the old lady only mysteriously smiled. Her eyes could barely contain the contempt for all those weaker than her.

“You will know soon...”

. . .

Soon, the old lady was informed that Ozul’s companions were indeed back in that town.

She had explicitly told her subordinates not to approach much less harm them, so the likes of Raven, Blaze, and Zier had yet to know where Ozul was.

Hearing the news, the old Beastkin lady couldn’t help but smile viciously.

‘If we can use these Dragon Hatchlings... hehe...’

Although Ozul couldn’t hear her thoughts, he could still make out bits and parts of them because of her emotions.

“So, can we now discuss how I will work for you? Or... will we have to go to your superior?”

“Oh, I will be more than enough for you,” the lady smirked, and added as she leaned on the table,

“Although it’s confirmed that you are indeed one of the Dragon Hatchlings, you still have to prove your worth.”

“Was slaughtering your people not enough?” Ozul asked as he eyed her suspiciously.

“First of all, they were not my people. They were all humans, just some thugs I had hired to keep an eye around the area. I can get more of them whenever I want.”

“Second, you will be given a mission. If you can complete it we can finally start working together.”

Before Ozul said anything, the old lady added, “Of course, since you are only going to work for us, even this mission will come with rewards. Cultivation techniques up to 7-Star of Mortal Grade aren’t out of question depending on how well you do...”

“Hm...”

Ozul thought about it for a second and felt it reasonable. Although he didn’t know how generous they were being with the rewards, they would make do with whatever they could get right now.

He first had to get Raven, Blaze, and Zier the resources they needed to regain their past strength and surpass it.

‘Then I also have to find myself something...’ he thought internally with a sigh.

He had yet to find a method to grow stronger as he did when like in the Broken World with eating Mana Cores.

That approach had absolutely stopped working at some time. Now he had to see whether he could improve his abilities by eating Spiritual Cores. ‘Are Spiritual Cores even solid...?’ he wondered.

There were too many things he had to test, but they all needed to wait.

He then proceeded to ask the old lady what the ‘mission’ was about.

“Your job will be to cause a commotion. A commotion big enough to cause unrest in the whole kingdom. Big enough so the neighboring kingdom might want to take advantage of it...”

The old lady thoroughly explained the plan.

They were currently in the Howling Province, a small part of the Blue Lion Kingdom. The only worth this Province had was the summoning grounds.

The old lady explained that the summoning grounds weren’t so rare. It was just that the Dragon Hatchlings were best summoned at a place with a minimum amount of Spiritual Energy so they could slowly adapt to it.

Ozul’s mission was to stir up trouble in the Blue Lion Kingdom’s numerous counties and provinces.

The issue was that he had to accomplish everything in complete secrecy. It had to appear natural, or else higher authorities may start looking into it.

“What do you guys gain to have two small kingdoms go to war?” he asked after hearing his mission in detail.

He understood why he was chosen for this since even this old lady couldn’t sense any Spiritual Essence from his body when he had killed those people. She must have realized how useful Ozul could be then and there.

What he wanted to know was the reason.

‘What would these Beastkin gain if two insignificant kingdoms went to war or not?’ he pondered silently.

The old lady thought for a second, but chose not to reveal anything for now, “In due time... you will know.”

“If you’re worried, don’t be. The strongest person in the Blue Lion Kingdom is only in the Origin Realm.1”

“And you?” Ozul asked.

From the density of the Spiritual Essence that her body emitted, he could guess her strength, but after learning that she was considerably weakened for some reason, he couldn’t be sure just how dangerous she was.

“Currently, I’m a pseudo Origin Realm expert... What, you want to test me?” the old lady smirked viciously again.

Although her Spiritual Essence might be halfway into the Origin Realm, she was clearly capable of much more.

Ozul recalled the Spiritual Arts and the Spirit Weapons at that point. If the old lady was once a Transcendent Realm expert, she’d have a lot of them. He had yet to witness their power, but it was clear that they could alter the outcome of a battle. He remembered the sword that the Han family’s young master used to keep up with three people in his cultivation realm.

“Anyway, your first task is to kill the guard of the Han family. He is the one who remains beside the family head at all times. He and another one named Lin were sent by the Royal Family of the Blue Lion Kingdom. Just kill the one who remains beside the family head. It should be enough...”

Saying that she stood up and was about to leave before she turned around to warn him once again, “Leave no traces. None.”

The old Beastkin lady walked out, leaving Ozul alone in the room with Jinx who woke up and lazily stretched her body before jumping down his lap.

Ozul sighed and stood up as well.

‘I hope I don’t have to do this for long...’

He didn’t like the feeling of working for someone else. It was much better to have people do it instead.

. . .

Before Ozul left the place, he was handed a detailed map of the Blue Lion Kingdom.

What the old lady told him was indeed true. This Kingdom had a small territory, but a large part of it was surrounded by another border named the Steel Mountain Kingdom.

It didn’t end there. The other side of the border had three more Kingdoms surrounding it. In total, there were four Kingdoms and this Blue Lion Kingdom was right in the middle of them!

‘If a war broke out between this and the Steel Mountain Kingdom, it wouldn’t just end there...’ Ozul concluded.

Naturally, those other kingdoms would feel threatened if a war broke out. Amidst the confusion of war, greed and fear would force them to make a move as well.

The result of all of it could get much worse than a single war.

With these thoughts in mind, he reached the town he had left the trio in.

Although it was daytime, there wasn’t much starlight1 since the weather was cloudy. There were strong winds and it felt like it could rain at any time.

He quickly found the hotel and entered the room he remembered to have booked for only a single night.

Before coming to the town, he wasn’t really sure if they would be back there but it seemed like they had made a sensible decision. If they had wandered about in search of him, he would have had a hard time finding them.

As he opened the door, he saw three people sitting against each corner of the room in a lotus position, all having their eyes closed.

The noise immediately woke them up and the two people couldn’t help but jump in delight. The third, however, felt like a shadow who leaped across the room and engulfed his figure.

Ozul found himself in a warm embrace, and he didn’t need to guess who it was.

He had already sensed the more than disturbed emotions of a single person in that room with whom he was all too familiar.

He didn’t stop Raven since she was so worried. It took her all mental strength to not rush out in search of him. After all, it was a new Realm, she didn’t know what dangers lurked in the shadows. Anything could have happened to Ozul while he was missing.

After a brief pause, she let go of him and stoically moved away as if she hadn’t just lost control over her body.

“Where did you go?” She asked softly.

Ozul noticed her emotions shifting from slight anger to worry. He wanted to apologize for his sudden disappearance but since it was too late, he decided to leave it for later.

“We needed resources for cultivation, and there is a way to get them...” he spoke nonchalantly.

Blaze and Zier sighed full of emotions, and Raven’s gaze dulled.

Before they left the room, Ozul whispered to them, “Don’t worry, I’m fine...”

Unsurprisingly, that was enough to lift everyone’s mood up...