Unsealing Emptiness

First off, she took out a few crystals the size of a clenched fist. With its lackluster and rough surface, one would think that it was merely a raw crystal, but the truth was far from it.

The burning white light emitting from its core and its warmth in one’s hand was proof of it.

“From the illustrations in the book, this is supposed to be Medium grade Spirit Stone,” Raven presented the crystal for everyone to take a look at and then began to explain,

“Spirit Stones are the currency for the ‘cultivators’, it says here. There are three levels of Spirit Stones. Low grade, Medium grade, and High grade. A thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones can be exchanged for a single Medium grade Stone.”

“Let me guess; a thousand Medium grade Spirit Stones also equal to a single High-grade Spirit Stone?” Zier interjected, seemingly already having comprehended the entire currency system just from that.

Meanwhile, Ozul was more interested in the fact that Old Gu even drew illustrations in the guide.

.....

“No.”

Raven replied with a deadpan face and went back to explain, “A hundred Medium grade Spirit Stones are enough to exchange for a High-grade Spirit Stone.”

“What do you mean by ‘for cultivators’?” Ozul asked.

“If I understand this correctly, not everyone can cultivate in this world. More than half of the people can never manage to gather the Spiritual Essence in their bodies.”

Ozul nodded, mentally noting how it was much better in their Broken World.

“The ones who can cultivate this Spiritual Essence and improve their strength are called cultivators. As for the other people, most of them don’t ever trade using these Spirit Stones.”

Ozul extended his hand, gesturing for Raven to hand over the Spirit Stone.

As he inspected the stone, he saw that the quantity of Spiritual Essence contained in it was far more pure and concentrated than that found in the surrounding atmosphere. Almost as if it was forcefully put in it. Though Ozul knew for sure that it was more of a natural phenomenon.

Meanwhile, Raven continued, “They use silver and gold coins to trade. A single Low grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for 10 gold coins.”

“If my guess is correct, a single Low-grade Spirit Stone is enough for a normal family to live abundantly for a whole month.”

Realizing the worth of the Medium grade Spirit Stone in his hand, Ozul looked up and asked, “How many were in the Spatial Ring?

“There are a total of 5 Medium grade Spirit Stones and a few Low-grade ones.”

Surprised by the sudden wealth that they possessed, Blaze threw a glance at the Spirit Stone and wondered, “That old man sure is generous...”

They currently had more than 5 thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones and considering that even a single was enough for a normal family to live by for a month, this much was far more than they needed, for now.

Ozul handed the Medium grade Spirit Stone back to Raven, letting her handle their expenditure as always. She was more reliable than both him and Blaze in this matter.

It was then that Zier’s voice was heard from behind, “Look! I see people!”

They had almost already left behind the abandoned town and were on the same road when another town came into their view. The town grew in size as they got closer and closer.

The crowds bustling through the city, busy with their own lives, cattle grazing, street vendors shouting their prices, and the sounds of everyday life resounded throughout the city.

Be it Zier, Blaze, or Raven, all of them had an unknowing smile on their faces.

This was the kind of normal life that they had left behind; the life of the weak, but a life full of bittersweet moments that would tempt all but the ones living it.

Even Ozul’s expressions eased a little. It would have been perfect if the Star above in the sky could just drop dead today.

A sense of relief had washed over their souls. Currently, they had nothing to worry about. They had no enemies, no organization to operate, no urgency. Even if they were to abandon their ambitions and want to live a simpler life, they very well could.

But when Ozul looked into their eyes, he felt relieved noticing that their ambitions burned even brighter now.

Curious, he turned towards Zier and questioned, “Why did you follow me? What are your ambitions?”

Despite the fact that they had assisted him and shared a life-or-death situation, Ozul was confident that, based on his first impression of this young man, he would think things through, and not act on impulse.

Facing his question abruptly, Zier didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected Ozul to stop in the middle of the crowd and ask such a question.

“I... I don’t know-”

His hand unconsciously reached the back of his head, rubbing awkwardly.

He wanted to become a free man like him. But these words couldn’t leave his mouth due to embarrassment.

Squinting his eyes at him for a second, Ozul decided to let this matter go. As long as he didn’t feel any malicious intent from him, it was fine.

‘Ah.. it feels good to have this emotion sensitivity returned,’ Ozul thought happily.

. . .

Back in the abandoned town where Ozul had met Minho, three shadows appeared simultaneously.

An old thin woman, but with a straight back and her arms crossed behind her back.

She coldly looked down at the two corpses which had already long turned cold. Their skin was already a greenish color and a pungent odor permeated the air.

Behind the old woman, two men stood a distance apart. They also looked old, but the wrinkles on their faces couldn’t compare to the likes of the woman.

“Their heads were severed instantly. Those newly brought kids could never hope to achieve this as of now. He supposedly held an important position in this Howling Province. Was it one of their enemies?” one of the men pondered out aloud.

The man beside him shook his head, “It doesn’t matter whether it was their enemy or ours. He was here on our behalf and wasn’t even able to report anything related to this ‘batch’. While working for us, whoever killed them, is now our enemy! Still, I don’t see the need for three Elders to be dispatched for the death of someone unimportant like them.”

Nodding their heads, both men agreed on the last point.

Their faction stood at the top of the entire Realm of Abezan and even sending a single Elder would be giving the Howling Province too much face, much less three Elders, one of whom was even high in seniority.

“It isn’t a coincidence that someone so powerful killed them as they were carrying out a task ordered by us,” the old lady finally commented as she noticed all the minor details on the scene.

There were physically no signs of struggle. Everything was simply too clean and that displayed the strength of whoever did this.

“How many of them didn’t accept the invitation this time?” the old lady asked as the current scene reminded her of a one in the distant past, relating to someone she knew could very well be behind this as well. ‘He was just allowed to return from the Broken World. It can’t be just a coincidence,’ she thought silently.

“Total of six went on their own. One of them is a Beastkin and another was a human who both went separately while four of them were seemingly together, forming a group. We only know that much. The detailed report should have been delivered by this man but he...” reported the man before his voice trailed off, leaving the obvious unspoken.

“Keep an eye out for any news regarding these six. Don’t provoke them unnecessarily. Remember, they are still potential assets for the Realm of Abezan,” the old lady ordered, “I think I know who might have done this...”

The image of a certain old man appeared in her mind. The mere thought of him caused her to furrow her brows. Though since there was no evidence supporting her thoughts, she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Though, he would never do anything without a reason. Provoking everyone without gaining anything in return is not like him, so keep an eye on all those people brought from the Broken World.”

“Wait... You are not talking about ‘him’ right?” one of the men asked, not convinced that ‘he’ would go this far even when ‘he’ just returned.

“Who else could it be? Do you think anyone would dare lay a hand on anything relating to us in this whole Realm?” the old lady shot back.

Under her stern tone, the man who had questioned couldn’t speak. Moreover, considering who they were discussing, her guess might very well be true.

“You. Return and take back those people who had picked to join us,” the old lady ordered the other man, who nodded and disappeared from his spot.

She was still curious as to why Old Gu would go to such an extent when his banishment to the Broken World had only recently ended.

‘Is it just to confuse everyone like he usually does, or did this man have something important to say to us that that despicable man didn’t want us to hear?’ She couldn’t come up with a reason for Old Gu to do this, no matter how hard she tried. But she had a feeling it couldn’t be anyone else.

“Ha... I still don’t understand why we haven’t killed him already...” the old lady sighed tiredly and her expressions only worsened when the bitter reply came from right behind her,

“... wasn’t it because he was simply too strong...”