Immortal Kingdoms

They knew that the only reason they could survive this long against a High Divinity was its wide distribution of the misty white fog. Although that fog seemed redundant, it was the only buffer allowing this creature to openly expand a domain in the uncharted wilderness.

However, even 20% of its powers with a domain would be enough to completely dominate their party of four, let alone get killed in one strike by a possessed High Saint.

This was too absurd, but it indeed did happen.

Leonardo quickly stored away the natural treasure which he didn't recognize and looked far into the dissipating misty fog.

"The fog is about to clear up, I'm not sure how many hundreds if not thousands of cultivators are stuck in this maze, things might get a bit too lively," although Leonardo was worried about his injuries, he couldn't just start meditating and healing in the presence of a stranger.

He could tell she was a powerful divinity just like Maiden 001, but that was all there is to it.

He didn't know her motives and whether she was a friend or foe.

As for the vampire woman, she furrowed her brows.

However, she then quickly relaxed her stiff expression and smiled faintly, "How about I invite you two back to my place? It's not very far from here,"

Only now did Leonardo turn his head to look at this woman closely, but his eyes were already back to their normal, lifeless black. Hence, there was nothing to be seen in the shades of his hoodie.

Honestly, he was very uncomfortable with these clothes, but he didn't wish to expose his identity to humans. However, this woman was clearly a vampire, and she most likely was the descendant of some vampire household hidden away in a closed pocket dimension.

The question is, why should they trust her?

The woman quickly said, "You don't have to follow me all the way back, we can simply find a hidden underground cave for you to rest and tend to your wounds while your follower and I protect you from the outside."

She didn't want to assume that Maiden 001 was Leonardo's disciple because their methods were vastly different, and their interactions didn't portray the image of a master and disciple. Moreover, she wasn't certain whether this Maiden 001 was talking to the pseudo-rebirth through this man as her master or if it was something else.

Leonardo didn't know much about this woman's character so he turned to look at the Maiden instead, feeling like getting her opinion would be more suitable.

Maiden 001 hesitated for a bit before saying, "I trust her somewhat… She gave me a feeling of mutual reliance."

Maiden 001 didn't mention the natural treasure and neither did the woman.

Leonardo had no intentions of talking about it either so he nodded silently before removing the black cloak, allowing his long silver hair to flow like water, and revealing a set of white clothes underneath.

The cracks on his skin had long since disappeared, leaving behind only his internal injuries to deal with. The woman was a little bit surprised by the color of Leonardo's hair, and coupled with his crimson eyes from earlier, she doubted whether or not he was also a vampire.

A moment later though, she laughed to herself and realized how silly the idea was. "Let's go then, I can already grasp a sense of direction."

Maiden 001 didn't follow after the woman but instead dashed to stand behind Leonardo. One would usually walk in front of the person they wish to protect, but Maiden 001 was an archer, it made no difference to her be it standing behind or in front of Leonardo

As for the vampire woman, she maintained a distance of over twenty steps ahead. Since no one could use a domain, this distance was fair for both parties.

The moment they entered the fog, they immediately caught up to the changes as a rough outline of the landscape in the distance could be seen clearly.

"What's your name?" Leonardo suddenly realized that neither party introduced themselves, feeling a bit speechless as he continued, "I am Shi Yuhhei, you can simply call me Yunhei. As for her, you can call her Maiden 001, or simply Maiden."

The vampire woman didn't think that Leonardo would actually introduce himself, smiling faintly. "Alright, I will call you Yunhei and Maiden, you can address me as Zaylee."

…

"Why did you stop?"

The woman with a black scarf suddenly asked the man behind her. His face was shocked and confused, and the expression was so lively it was infectious.

The man took a deep breath before looking back.

"The creature was already killed, we barely ran away for a little over half a minute," he responded to her in a grave tone. "You don't need to ask how I found out, you can simply look around on your own."

The woman was about to talk but then she went silent. Looking around with less panic and more focus, she also grasped the minute difference. Although the fog was as ever-present as earlier, they could see the distant outlines of towering mountains and trees.

She was shocked.

"Doesn't matter. Now that we have a sense of direction, we should hurry back to Greenheart City and report to our Lord."

The woman nodded her head and rushed together with the man, their hearts heavy with concern and apprehension.

They had been roaming the uncharted wilderness for a few years and had met many inexplicable things. However, top that list would be the frequent presence of vampire cultivators and now a potential rebirth cultivator.

Although each city had a number of rebirth cultivators looking after it, that doesn't mean they could easily overlook a rebirth cultivator who is adamant to cause trouble.

…

When the fog began to dissipate, many people lost within the region began to notice the sudden change.

Those who were on the brink of mental collapse immediately rejoiced and left the region without any hesitation, while those with a bit of calm realized that someone might have found the source of this fog, and that this fog must have been artificially dispelled.

If that were the case, the only way to dispel a natural phenomenon like this was to extract the natural treasure responsible for it.

With a bit of intelligence and greed, everyone began to send messages and contact their friends and companies, deciding to lock down the outer regions of the fog.

The natural treasure would naturally be located in the center of the phenomenon, allowing many cultivators and mercenaries groups to narrow down their area of search as they advanced to the center.

Just as Leonardo expected, within half a day, explosions and powerful auras swept through the forest and mountain ranges, and the fights were getting closer and closer to the original spot of the shallow waters domain.