Bellion's brown robe flapped gently toward the portal, tugged by the subtle currents of energy it emitted. He stood there, wondering how the portal had come to be.
"Mister Bellion, please don't get too close to the portal. If it becomes unstable, you might get pulled into it and obliterated in the chaotic void." A lady with a thick, dark braid reaching down to her hips called out to him loudly.
She was a formation expert from the Protogaea Continent who had volunteered to become Bellion's assistant after losing decisively to him in a formation showdown.
In the Protogaea Continent, formation showdowns were a common practice among formation experts, where participants relied solely on array disks to fight one another, testing their speed, control, and creativity. This culture did not exist in the Cloud Continent, so Bellion was unfamiliar with it at first.
Still eager to compete, she taught Bellion how a formation showdown worked, but to her astonishment, she lost badly to him, a complete first timer.
She had been completely overwhelmed by his ability to switch and combine so many array disks in rapid succession, deploying one sophisticated effect after another.
Convinced by her utter defeat, she decided to stay with him to learn his unique methods. Since then, they have become good friends and trusted partners.
Bellion took several careful steps back, then turned to look at his assistant.
"Is that so, Miss Kiyara? I really don't know much about portals," he replied honestly. He then moved to stand beside her, assuming this was a safe enough distance.
"What are you going to do about this?" Kiyara asked, her tone both curious and concerned.
"Hmm... I will try making something that can stop the barren area from spreading further," he answered thoughtfully.
He still remembers how widespread the barren land had become around the portal he used to enter the Mystic Realm. So of course, his top priority was to prevent that from happening here. His precious special metal deposits were located beneath this very city, after all. He couldn't let anything harm them.
"Eh? You know how, Mister Bellion?" Kiyara was surprised.
Bellion nodded calmly. "I have a few ideas on top of my mind. A combination of hundreds of inscription symbols, arranged like this or like that, might work."
Kiyara's eyes sparkled with excitement. "I want to see! I want to see! Mister Bellion, let me watch you work! I want to learn it too."
"Okay. But like I have said many times before, just memorizing and replicating the steps is not enough. It will limit your future potential. You need to understand the minute details of every single interaction between these inscription symbols by heart. They may appear random and chaotic at first glance, but there are patterns to how they influence one another. We can arrange them accordingly once we see the underlying order. Didn't I show you this already?" he asked patiently.
"Yes, I know that, Mister Bellion. You have told me so many times already. I did study your Bellionic Table, but I still can't grasp it fully. I don't know how your brain works. So for now, I will stick with imitating. I think I am better at learning that way," Kiyara explained honestly.
Bellion shook his head gently. "Do as you like. But don't imitate blindly. Try to understand how and why it works, even if it is one step at a time."
Kiyara smiled warmly. This was one of the reasons she liked being around Bellion so much.
No other formation expert she knew would willingly let someone else learn about their secret inscription symbol combinations, painstaking discoveries made after countless trials and errors, especially ones that produced unique and powerful effects.
But Bellion did not mind at all. He let her imitate many of his unique combinations without ever asking for anything in return.
At first, she thought he might be trying to win her affection by being so generous. She was not the most beautiful woman, but she knew she possessed a certain womanly charm.
But after spending much more time together, she realized he genuinely did not care about hoarding knowledge. He simply believed in sharing.
"Knowledge is not meant to be a secret."
That was what he had told her once, and he truly lived by that belief.
This was what made her admire him so deeply.
---
Leyvi's journey this time was relatively smooth, nothing like the turbulent trip before.
Along the way, his group encountered a few cultivators from Mental Lord Vincent's faction who tried to rob them. They were dealt with easily, especially with Ava's new eye power proving tremendously helpful in spotting ambushes from the dark.
Apparently, Vincent's faction was now in the midst of an internal conflict after members realized their leader had vanished without a trace. Some had already begun leaving the faction, either out of fear or opportunism.
Leyvi spared their lives but confiscated all of their spatial rings. Since they had chosen to become robbers, they should understand how it felt to be robbed in turn.
Additionally, they did not escape the fate of becoming Ava's personal punching bags. Each one received blow after painful blow, beaten until they fell unconscious.
A few days later, Leyvi's group arrived back at Pink Enchantress City.
He stayed there for a day, giving Rose time to handle whatever was necessary within her territory.
It had been two months since her last public appearance, causing worry and speculation among her followers about her well-being. To dispel these concerns, she held her faction's usual "unforgettable night" event.
Leyvi could only feel sympathy for the man who became her victim this time. He took a quick, regrettable peek at the so-called unforgettable scene, and it was even more disturbing than he had imagined. A female demonic orangutan and a man locked in the most intimate of positions.
He immediately regretted giving in to his curiosity. The mental image left him deeply uncomfortable and faintly nauseated.
It was a stark reminder that the real Rose was, at her core, an extremely wicked and ruthless individual, not the happy-go-lucky, infatuated girl whenever she was around him.
The next day, they departed once again.
---
BOOM!
At the western edge of the colossal tree's shade, a huge explosion tore through a hillside, destroying a sizable portion of the terrain.
A figure shot out of the newly formed hole at incredible speed, chasing after an individual dressed entirely in black who was fleeing a few kilometers ahead into the deeper darkness.
The man in black realized he had been discovered and immediately tried to escape further into the concealing shadows.
"Hmph! You think you can run from this prince?" Dastan's voice rang out, cold and sharp.
The next moment, a brilliant burst of light erupted in all directions as a huge glowing sphere appeared above Dastan, turning the oppressive darkness into near daylight.
The Crown Prince Dastan was now fully illuminated, his expression fierce and determined.
The assassin was suddenly exposed, his advantage of darkness stripped away. Realizing escape would be difficult in the open like this, he decided on a drastic measure. He swallowed a pill, steeling himself to complete his mission by sacrificing his own life if necessary.
Very quickly, Dastan caught up. With the overwhelming force of his Nascent Soul Body, he slammed the man in black into the ground, burying him under the impact.
"Speak! How did you know this prince was here?" Dastan demanded, his voice tight with fury and confusion.
How in the world had his whereabouts and true identity been exposed? He had always stayed hidden within the cave mansion, and he was in disguise most of the time, except during his private moments with Tamina. There was no conceivable way anyone could have known.
But starting from a week ago, many suspicious individuals began appearing one after another around their cave mansion. They tried to sneak in but were dealt with by the traps that had already been set.
After that, they dug an underground tunnel straight toward his personal chamber. Fortunately, Tamina noticed the disturbance in time, and their plan failed.
From this, Dastan realized these were assassins sent to take his life. More attempts were made in the following days using many other methods, including poison gas. Thankfully, Anda was there to deal with it.
At first, he was genuinely afraid, but after dealing with them several more times, he began to feel a growing confidence. His current power was enough to handle these attackers, especially with the cave mansion already fortified with formidable layers of defense.
However, the last assassin, who had only been observing from a safe distance, finally made his move today. He tried to kill Dastan outright by launching a powerful explosive artifact from far away.
Thankfully, Dastan sensed the danger in time and shielded the cave mansion with a dense layer of protective Qi. Only a portion of the hillside was destroyed instead of the entire structure. Still, he was truly and utterly annoyed by the persistence of these attacks.
"I will... take you... with me..."
Dastan sensed an intense, unstable energy building within the man's body and immediately retreated at full speed.
BOOM!
Another deafening explosion ripped through the area.
A Core Formation Realm cultivator's core detonation was devastatingly powerful. Even a careless Nascent Soul Realm expert could potentially die from it at close range.
Thankfully, Dastan had retreated in time and was protected by his active Nascent Soul Body. He was not injured, but his temper had reached its limit.
"DAMN YOU! THIS PRINCE SWEARS TO FIND WHOEVER ORCHESTRATED ALL OF THIS!!!"
A furious, echoing howl of rage spread across the darkened landscape, carrying his wrath far into the deep and silent shade.