Unsealing Emptiness

Since Ember was being so generous, there was nothing stopping Ozul from exploiting her.

“Hmm... Well, there would be a small problem now that I think about it.”

Ember shot him a doubtful look with narrowed eyes. She felt like he was taking advantage of her, but she couldn’t take chances. There shouldn’t be any problems with this task.

“What is it?”

“Nothing much.” Ozul gestured toward the three standing behind him and spoke, “I am planning to buff them up and people would start getting suspicious.”

Without needing to think over it, Ember nodded in understanding. Not to mention others, even she was caught off-guard when she saw them all being in the Nascent Soul Realm.

.....

She didn’t know what he had done to all of them, but she was sure he wasn’t going to tell her. No one would reveal such a secret after all. She doubted if they could continue for long.

Even if they couldn’t, just the fact that they were Dragon Hatchlings was enough for people to take an interest. It would be best if even that was kept secret.

Sighing for an umpteenth time, Ember knew she was being exploited, but she couldn’t do anything about that.

With a flick of her wrist, three bracelets made up of brown leather and a bead attached to their ends appeared on the table.

“I believe you won’t be needing one,” she eyed Ozul from face to feet, annoyed she had no information on this kid.

Ozul nodded as Raven, Blaze, and Zier picked one each and curiously put them on their wrists.

“These bracelets can contain the auras of all people under the Origin Realm.”

Confirming her words, Ozul noticed the invisible layer of Spiritual Essence exhuming from their bodies disappear gradually.

Despite this, he could still peer through them and determine their general capabilities relying on the density of their Spiritual Cores. That, however, was solely pertinent to him. People with great enough cultivation or unique Spiritual Arts may be able to perform this as well, although encountering such individuals would be uncommon.

“That should be it then,” muttered Ember, expecting Ozul to turn around and confidently leave the room to prepare for the mission.

She was already preparing to arrange the documents on the table, but she realized Ozul was still standing there and looking at her. Since he was doing so, his three ‘children’ had no choice but to do the same. The continuous staring of these four was pricking at her from all sides.

“What is it now? Do you have anything else to say?”

Making a thoughtful face, Ozul slightly moved his eyebrows as if thinking about something serious, “Mhm. I have realized something.”

Ember was not liking this feeling welling up inside of her.

“Realized what?”

“Well, we might not see each other for more than four months, right? Until then, these three would have improved a lot and be done with their basic cultivation manuals and Spiritual Arts. They would pretty soon need better ones.”

Looking behind him, Ember saw Raven, Blaze, and Zier all three keeping a straight face as if it was a matter of fact.

Gritting her teeth, Ember forcefully closed her eyes, picturing a peaceful scene in her mind to calm her rising blood pressure.

With that, a few books and parchments appeared on the table as Raven went ahead and stored them in her Spatial Ring.

Nodding in satisfaction, Ozul continued to stand there motionlessly.

“We would be up against rich people who would be well equipped. To contend against them, it would be wise to be well-prepared as well. So, I think they would also need some Spiritual Weapons...”

. . .

Wails of frustration could be heard from the office as Ozul and the rest of the gang walked out of it.

He had the same old expressionless face as if he hadn’t just exploited a desperate old lady, but the others all had grins plastered on their faces.

Why wouldn’t they be happy? The old lady was rich! They had robbed her in broad daylight and she willingly complied!

They were all thrilled to see how much they would grow in these four months. Maybe even those who were brought together with them in this Realm weren’t doing so well.

“Don’t you think we might have gone a little too far?” Raven asked as they exited the teleportation gate.

Ozul shrugged, “I would have stopped if she said no.”

Seeing him act as if it was normal for him, Raven hummed with a small smile gracing her face.

Clouds thundered.

Ozul looked at the sky contently.

“Alright, perfect weather to start our journey.”

The teleportation gate had gotten them to a city right next to the Capital of the Blue Lion Kingdom.

It seemed to him that setting up a teleportation gate inside the capital was too risky.

If they were planning to dash toward the Capital, it wouldn’t even take half an hour.

However, Ozul never liked that. He preferred walking at his own leisure pace than sprinting at the speed of a Nascent Soul Realm expert. If he was going to limit his speed to theirs anyway, he would very well just take his sweet time.

The Capital was located right at the heart of the Kingdom, and there were many people going in and out of the place. Hence, it would also attract unwanted attention if they were seen dashing toward the Capital in such a hurry.

As though the clouds couldn’t take it anymore, raindrops began to fall gently.

Mixing with the dry earth, the raindrops spread their heavenly petrichor all around the place.

Ozul adored such weather.

Though he preferred it if it was night.

The distaste for light was always with him. He could never get used to that disgusting thing.

Walking down the streets, Raven found and bought herself a bamboo umbrella while Ozul just created a conical hat for himself with the Purity.

Blaze didn’t care much about the rain, while Zier wanted to get drenched. It had been a long while and he was kind of excited. He was still a kid at heart after all, unlike the other three.

As they walked forward on the road, many people and caravans passed by them.

Ozul noticed also noticed a couple of people at the Nascent Soul Realm. While they weren’t a threat to him or his group anymore, it was still unusual for cultivators of this Realm to become so common.

‘Is it because it’s the Capital?’ he pondered while pretending not to notice their presence as many people passed by them.

All of them seemed to be in a hurry.

‘Something must be happening in the Capital.’

He couldn’t have asked for anything more if that was really the case. This would provide some explanation for their small group’s pottering around the Capital in case anyone became suspicious later on.

“Did you notice?” Blaze asked as he nudged Raven.

“Mhm.”

Zier looked on between their short-lived conversation, confused as to what they were talking about.

He was also at the Nascent Soul Realm, but his Core wasn’t as stable as theirs. He also didn’t have as much experience as them. Only after he roamed his eyes everywhere did he notice the attires of the stronger of people passing by them.

Most of them looked like wandering sellswords.

And since they were all either heading towards the Capital or coming from there, it either meant that the Capital was just a place for the strong or something out of ordinary might be happening for such people to come looking for opportunity.

Ignoring the hoards upon hoards of people, they slowly reached the Capital while enjoying the cold weather.

Some people also scrutinized them, but since they emitted no Spiritual Essence, they were quickly ignored.

Just what Ozul needed in such a city.

Their appearances alone stood out among the crowd. It would only annoy him more if random annoying guys picked fights with them simply to prove their superiority for some unknown reason.

The Capital looked much more flourished than any other city they had been to.

“The other cities pretty much seem like barren villages in front of this...” Zier muttered as he took in the sight with much appreciation.

They occasionally noticed cultivators among the crowd as well.

It was clear that most of the strong people in the Blue Lion Kingdom were all in the Capital for one reason or another.

“You guys go ahead and find an inn to stay at, I will find you later.”

Leaving these words, Ozul disappeared into the crowd before they could say anything.

Raven and Blaze were almost used to it, but Zier wondered how he would find them amidst such a big crowd. Shaking his head, he decided to forget about it as well. He needed to learn that common sense did not apply to that man.

Meanwhile, Ozul rushed through the crowd to find a remote location. It was yet another dark alley where he released the Purity to fly in the air.

The speed with which he shot toward the sky was enough to generate heavy winds, but no one paid it any heed due to the windy weather with a light shower.

As he reached a high enough point in the sky, Ozul gazed down and took in the size of the city before pinpointing the location of the royal palace. Just like every kingdom he had ever been to, be this one or the ones in the previous Realm, the Capital was at the heart of the kingdom and the royal palace was at the heart of the Capital.

Keeping his focus on the royal palace’s territory, everything else blurred in his vision.

“I don’t see those peak Origin Realm cultivators the old lady was talking about...” he muttered to himself, a little surprised.

.....

There was either a barrier around the Royal Palace or all three peak Origin Realm cultivators weren’t present at the same time. The latter was an unlikely case, so he considered the former to be the case.

“Alright, let’s see what’s the fuss about then.”

Gradually descending on the ground, Ozul knew he first had to get a general grasp on the situation.