Death… And Me

Chapter 4545: Useless

Rean tried to approach the throne, but he soon found himself unable to move any farther. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. Instead, some kind of invisible barrier prevented him from getting closer. Obviously, Rean had already heard the entire story from Thery, so he understood that this Azerion was very likely the same Thousand-Script Ancestor Thery had read about in the ancient records.

—

"Roan, quick, tell me what is happening there!" Thery asked anxiously.

Roan nodded slightly and placed a hand on Thery’s shoulder. It would be much easier to use Godly Sense to transmit everything in real time rather than constantly explaining what Rean was seeing.

Godly Sense might consume a considerable amount of Godly Energy, but Roan only needed to send a huge amount of information for a split second before stopping. He could then wait until there was more information to transmit before repeating the process. In the end, his total Godly Energy expenditure would be pretty negligible.

Thery was happy that Roan was sharing everything with him, but he was also surprised by the sheer amount of detail he was receiving. "Could it be that you can actually see what Rean is seeing?"

Roan nodded slightly. "Our connection allows us to literally share memories. Don’t think this is a good thing, though. Believe me, it is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

’It is good that we agree on this at least,’ Rean’s voice echoed in Roan’s mind.

Thery could see Roan’s ugly expression and conveniently decided not to ask why. "I see..."

Thery also used his hands to send his Celestial Sense to Sison and Haniala. As the two received all the images of what Rean was seeing, they soon noticed something unusual.

’Azerion’s bloodline runes...’

Rean had also noticed them back in the Rosvelt Sect. As mentioned before, one could see many bloodline runes all over the bodies of the Thousand-Script Race. However, most of the time, they looked more like tattoos than anything else. They remained relatively still on the skin, making them appear more like elaborate markings than something truly alive.

Azerion was different, though. His bloodline runes kept moving around the surface of his body, and they carried the very familiar navy-blue color that Roan had seen many times by now.

’Could he be the origin of the Ghost of Woster?’ Roan couldn’t help but ask.

’It makes sense, doesn’t it?’ Thery answered. ’According to what you told us about the womb’s enclosed space, the womb itself is still nurturing the being inside it. The being inside is probably like Luxa and hasn’t been born yet.’

Rean agreed with Thery. ’It should be just like Luxa was. It doesn’t have sentience yet, but it does have all the impressive Yin Energy-related power that Luxa also had back then, although in Luxa’s case, it was Yang Energy.’

Roan could see where they were coming from. ’You’re saying that this Azerion was the one controlling the navy-blue threads that kept attacking me and that couple. Azerion is using the power of the womb to make it possible.’

’Exactly,’ Rean and Thery said at almost the same time. That was the conclusion both of them had reached after seeing the strange movement of the runes on Azerion’s body.

Rean began to walk around the pillar. On the other side, there was obviously no throne or anyone seated. It was simply the back of the pillar. Rean could even approach it and touch it if he wanted... and so he did.

*Pin!*

[An attempt to extract Host’s Soul has been detected.]

[Blocking Access.]

[Completed.]

Rean was surprised to hear that. He had heard from Kentucky that the cultivators in the meeting hall could touch the pillar up there and that nothing would happen to them even if they did so. And yet, although the base of the pillar underground was still connected to the same pillar above, the underground section carried the power to extract souls.

’Why does touching the pillar on the surface have no effect while it still works normally underground?’

Roan didn’t have an answer for that. ’I don’t know. Perhaps because there are many smaller pillars spread throughout the city, the main pillar can’t be fully functional from top to bottom. It’s just a theory, though.’

Rean nodded slightly before returning to the front. However, as he approached the throne again, he was forced to step away from the pillar because the invisible barrier prevented him from getting any closer. ’Is this guy even alive?’

Rean stared at the throne from a distance, unable to tell whether Azerion was actually sitting there or if what he was seeing was simply some kind of remnant.

’Hey, back there!’ Thery suddenly said, having noticed something in the images Roan kept sending him.

Naturally, Roan continued to work as the bridge between Rean and Thery, allowing the two of them to communicate despite being in completely different places. Celis and Kentucky were also listening in, since they simply didn’t need to touch each other to communicate through their soul connection.

Rean had been focusing on the throne and the pillar so far, so he had failed to notice a hill in the distance. There were many hills scattered throughout the enormous underground space, but that particular one looked different from the others.

Rean immediately walked away from the pillar to take a closer look. The hill was not made of dirt. It was a massive rock instead. An enormous purple rock...

Rean could see from the sides that the rock had been cut several times, with large pieces apparently removed and taken away. The exposed sections were uneven, as if someone had repeatedly harvested pieces from the enormous stone.

’Isn’t this...?’

Thery immediately understood what Rean was thinking. He was reminded of the same type of purple rock he had received from Fornetia, which they had used for communication. They had seen a few cultivators in Woster using those rocks to communicate so far, although the vast majority didn’t do so because of their high price and the limited number of charges each stone possessed.

’Rean, get closer to one of those cut parts. I think I saw something there,’ Roan asked.

Rean nodded and approached one of the sections that had obviously been cut out. Faint golden light could be seen moving around the exposed part of the rock, almost as if the stone itself contained a slow-moving flow of energy.

Rean touched it, using his Godly Sense to carefully feel what was happening inside. ’Hey... this thing is growing back.’

It was almost imperceptible, but Rean was certain now that this enormous purple rock was nothing normal. The portions it had lost were slowly growing back, although at an incredibly slow pace. If he hadn’t been paying such close attention, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the change at all.

’Somehow, the array and talisman masters of Woster found a way to use this purple rock’s special properties as communication devices. Of course, compared to our RC network, it is ridiculously inefficient. But then again, it doesn’t seem like they know how to do anything else,’ Thery commented.

Rean was quite interested in that rock, though. It was probably some kind of living metal, and as an Array Master, Blacksmith, and Inscriptions Master, he absolutely wanted to take some with him. Something that could regenerate itself, even if extremely slowly, was definitely worth studying.

But then, he suddenly remembered something. ’Wait, Thery received a call warning everyone to leave Woster before his purple rock crumbled, didn’t he?’

Rean turned around, closing his eyes and paying attention to the energy flow running through the enormous chamber. ’Celis, can you check it for me?’

Celis also focused on the energy flow Rean was feeling. He immediately understood what Rean wanted to know and carefully followed the flow for several seconds before finally speaking. ’I can’t be sure since I’m not the one down there. Still, I do think the purple rock is connected to the pillar at the center of that open space.’

Rean nodded, turning his attention back to the Purple Rock. ’So there is a good chance that Azerion was the one who contacted us.’

’Shit!’ At that moment, Kentucky suddenly called their attention. ’Rean, Falasliu has just arrived at the entrance, and he has a few more High-Elders with him as well.’

Rean narrowed his eyes.

He had used Falasliu’s appearance to pass by the guards, so the guards would obviously notice that there was already a Falasliu inside before the real one arrived. That alone would be enough to expose the disguise. Unfortunately, Rean had no time to think about that problem now.

Out of nowhere, a bony hand touched his shoulder. "I told you to leave Woster, didn’t I?"

Rean and even Luxa, who was perched on his other shoulder, froze in place. For a moment, neither of them moved.

They slowly glanced back toward the throne... and it was empty!

As for Azerion, he was standing directly behind, glaring at the two of them.

Yes! Luxa and Rean’s Light Bending seemed to be completely useless against him!