"Not only have I seen them, I had unpleasant interactions with them before."
Lan Xue furrowed her eyebrows, still a bit confused. She finally sat down to hear about what he had to say. She was unconsciously getting interested to know more about his story.
"The Cerberus Clan once invaded some remote human villages, searching for some human slaves. Hm... Actually, I wouldn't say they wanted slaves, but guinea pigs. Those operations are not recorded anywhere, since the small scale and place where they happened, were not as important as any of the big cities, where really important people lived. Unfortunately, I was one of those unlucky fellows that got captured."
Seth took another sip of his drink and continued: "The way I escaped from their hands is not something important right now, what you need to know is that I loathe and hate them for the things that they did with me and with the people I loved.. That's why I am hunting them down. Recently, I've found some clues indicating they are hiding deep inside the Desolate Scorching Wastelands."
"You know that that place is a barren land filled with death, disgusting creatures and desolation, right? How are we supposed to find them there? They could pretty much be anywhere."
"You don't have to worry about that. I have developed a way to search for them, but the operation can take more or less time, depending on our luck. If I am able to trace some energy signatures quicker, than it will take less time."
"What about their overall strength?" Lan Xue didn't ask about how Seth would do his search, she just wanted more information.
"Their leader is a man at the Profound Mana Realm. He is a tamer that is connected with a Cerberus beast, from which he uses for his protection or for any offensive tactics. Other than him, the Cerberus clan is full of useless individuals that didn't even cultivate properly. I've had contact with many of them before and that's why I can tell you they are weak. They have all taken the role of researchers and guards, since they were working on a dangerous project called "Crimson Agent"."
Lan Xue furrowed her eyebrows again. She stood up and said: "I think you know a little too much about them, but that's not of my concern. There are only two things I want you to take notice before we start this. The first one is that if the enemies are stronger than us, we will turn back and leave even if we need to run with everything we have, throwing away our dignity. Our lives are thousand times more important than that."
Seth nodded. However, inwardly he was doubting if he could really turn back and leave after finding that man.
"What is the second thing?"
"We are not going to enter the Forbidden Zone, even if our lives depend on that." Lan Xue said that with a sterner countenance than the one that she normally had.
Seth realized that something about that place seemed to be really off. Everyone that talked about it, always had that serious expression.
"What is so special about that place? The place one everyone calls as Forbidden Zone."
"Hm? You don't know about the Forbidden Zone?"
"I don't."
"Hm... There is not much I can tell you about that place, because no matter how strong a practitioner is, the moment he steps there, he won't ever come back."
"What?! How's that possible?"
"The Forbidden Zone is not a normal piece of land; it is not even a land. Actually, there is a huge abyss where that place is and just by approaching it, you're able to feel that the entire place has its own rules. I've been near it before, and just by standing near the borders of that huge abyss, I was able to notice that my Profound Mana base energy was not able to penetrate the space around there to scan anything."
"You just said it is an abyss. How deep is it?" Seth at least expected her to tell him how deep it was. But she just shook her head.
"There is no way I can tell you how deep it is, because it is not possible to actually see the depths. Not even the light is able to penetrate it and everyone that was brave enough to go down, never returned to tell us what they had discovered."
Seth sucked a mouthful of air. He was shocked that Mana Realm powerhouses were actually not able to explore a region. Mana Ralm practitioners could destroy entire cities with their skills, but they weren't able to explore a region!
"We know little about the sea, but even so, we know much more about the immense ocean than what we know about the Forbidden Lands. But if there is one thing I can tell you about that place, is that there seems to be a very dangerous aura at the bottom; however, we can only faintly feel it when standing closer. But even though it was faint, that aura gave me the chills and I will never forget that sensation."
Seth seemed to be deeply thinking, analyzing what she had told him, but it wasn't possible to get to a concrete opinion about that area if he didn't see it with his own eyes.
"Palace Master Lan Xue..."
"You can call me Lan Xue only."
Seth got a bit surprised about that behavior, but he quickly decided to address her like that.
"Then Lan Xue, the second thing I wanted to accomplish by going to the Desolate Scorching Wastelands, is to get a bit stronger. So, if possible, you can leave the beasts that comes our way for me. Even if it is a Profound Mana late-stage beast, I would like to fight against it first. If I don't feel like I could win against it, then you can help me out."
Lan Xue was already standing, but she finally decided to go up the stairs. While leaving she said: "Hm? I never planned on battling any beasts throughout the whole way. They are all yours."
She went up the stairs, entering her room to recharge the Mana she spent while running during the day.
"At least, she was a bit more responsive." Seth was thinking aloud, but his voice, kind of drew Lexi out of her rabbit hole.
"Seth! I've discovered something!" Lexi's voice startled Seth.
"Lexi? What are you talking about? What took you so long?"
"I've discovered something about the Illusive Ethereal bloodline. No! Actually, I guess I've discovered something you are able to do with it."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Since that time, you decided to rely more on that tyrannical energy we don't know much about, I was able to store some remnants of it to study."
Lexi was talking about the Corruption.
"I was studying about the Illusive Ethereal bloodline and I had the idea to mix both energies to see how they would react. With that, I was actually able to gather some really interesting data. During the whole process, the tyrannical energy dominated over the bloodline energy, turning it into something else at the end, but during that process, many bloodline cells were destroyed. The most impressive fact, was that the resulting bloodline cells have gotten stronger and it lost its flaws! Do you know what that means? If you were able to control it perfectly, you could change the bloodline inside that girl! Destroying the impurities and making it stronger!"
"What?!" Seth wasn't able to comprehend the things he was listening.
He shook his head and said: "Lexi... Even if your theory was a hundred percent correct, I could not do that with Meiyi. Even I don't know the final consequences of using that energy and I am not able to control it perfectly either. It's more like I'm a slightly more capable host for that, when comparing to the people who died by its corruptive effect."
"What if you could control it then?"
"Sigh... Do you still remember there were nine seals sealing the seed of tyranny?"
"I do." Lexi replied.
"Last time, at the Ereinrith City. After absorbing the Evergreen Essence, the third seal was undone. You probably already know about it, but what you do not know, is that I've not gained a single bit of control over that energy, even though the seal enhanced my body. What really happened, was that it increased the strength and toughness of my muscles, meridians and bones, while changing the structure of my cells. But in regards to control, it seems I'm just like a host that can use the power but not control how it works."
"Hm... Then we must discover a way to gain control over it, even if it means smashing apart those nine seals!" Lexi concluded.
Seth heard Lexi's idea and really felt like trying to do that. But he didn't even know from where to begin to achieve that effect. Things related to the Seed of Tyranny, that now had turned into the Crimson Light, were not only very aggressive, but very subtle at the same time. A complex problem he didn't know how to solve at all.
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