Chapter 334 Chapter 334 – Waiting for an Old Friend
"This city was fun."
Ken and his group left the city the next day after the tragic wedding. They left behind them their last identifications as Serene Lotus disciples in the rented house, and three new members joined the team for the mission, namely Maria, Odette, and Yuri. Those three remained quiet the whole time, knowing that it was not their place to comment.
There was no room for more on Emrys' back, and the wolf also did not deem them worthy of riding him, so Ken had to use his usual carrot-and-stick trick on a bird passing by – beating it first to establish hierarchy and paying it with a Bloodline Refining pill to appease it and make all bad feelings disappear.
"Slow down, Emrys, the bird can't keep up."
The ten of them, Emrys and the bird included, soon made it to an empty plain inhabited by flowers and critters. Ken patted his pet's back and Emrys hit the brakes, stopping quickly but not too abruptly.
"Team Leader, why are we stopping?"
Ken jumped off the wolf's back and walked down the air as though it was a staircase, using his mind to conjure stepstones made of Qi underneath his feet. Alaric did not get an answer.
"Henry, find a burrow."
The monk, his eyes hidden behind his blindfold, brought his palms together and scanned the area using his Earth Qi. After a minute, he pointed at the south, and Ken could almost hear him saying "this way," from the intent embedded in his gesture.
"Enlarge it," Ken instructed.
Henry turned his head in Vivienne's direction only to see her avoiding eye contact. He shook his head and did the job himself without asking for help. He knew that she knew that he disliked speaking, so as long as she averted visual contact, he wouldn't approach her at all.
Henry stomped the ground with his left foot, causing it to quake in a large radius. Over time, the entrance to the burrow widened and so did the tunnel inside, making enough space for the five of them to camp comfortably.
"Team Leader, it's too soon for a break," Alaric spoke again despite not getting an answer last time. They barely left the territory of the Serene Lotus Sect a few hours ago. Before they could make it to the Divine Lightning Sect's territory, they still had to cross the lands of the Tiger Fang Sect and the Sunfire Sect, respectively ranked 9th and 12th.
"I'm waiting for a guest," Ken explained, "Be prepared for battle, it won't be an easy one."
He did not waste time. He stood in the center of the underground cave and dozens of ingredients, treasures, herbs, animal parts, and ores floated out of his ring. They were each levitating to different places, finding their rightful place in the incomplete formation.
"Hey, Vivi," Alaric whispered to the woman beside him, preferring not to break Ken's concentration, "If he prepares that much stuff, doesn't it mean we are going to fight a whole army? Either that, or…"
"Both options seem too troublesome," Vivienne pouted in annoyance, "I hope his formations will make things easier."
She never got to participate in a battle where Ken used his formations for support, simply because he had not taken part in any battle that difficult since she joined his team. Thus, she did not know how useful they were.
"Oh, you have no idea. They can make the impossible possible," Alaric said in pride as though it was his own achievement.
"I hope they also make the possible easy sometimes," she mumbled.
"I wouldn't count on it, he doesn't tend to waste resources to make things easier," Alaric patted her shoulder, trying to comfort the sulking lady.
"Vivi, Henry," Ken called amidst his activities, "Dig identical burrows around us, I want at least thirty. You have ten minutes per burrow."
"That's slavery!"
"Hm."
"Work hard, you guys. I will play some calming music for you to help you concentrate. Tiara, you might be unable to help, but it's ok as long as you don't stand in their way."
Alaric sat down with a wide smile, happy by the free chance to tease Tiara. He took out his guqin and started playing, spreading his Sound Qi.
'Symphonie of Peace,' he played his special piece for everyone to enjoy and benefit from.
Tiara could only snort in response and find an empty corner to sit at. She contained her Charm Qi, including its natural effects, preventing it from leaking and bothering the others despite knowing they have grown accustomed to her cultivation due to their long time together.
*Ting* *Ting *Ting*
The music soaked them in a relaxed ambiance where their minds raced freely, and previously eluding enlightenments turned within reach. Their working speed improved, helping them do their jobs efficiently.
Thirty-one burrows hid underground with the original one as the center of the large net. Each one of them was mined and dangerous even for peak sixth-stage cultivators to the point of killing them on the spot if they took one wrong step.
"Now what?" Tiara thought when everyone took a break to rest.
"Now we wait until our target arrives. He will find us soon, no worries."
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"Atum, are you finally leaving?" A chubby man called out in happiness when he saw his roommate for the last two decades pack his things.
"Yes, Frank, will you miss me?"
"Hell no! You have been lodging here for free for way too long, you are lucky I haven't killed you in your sleep. You owe me over two million high Qi Stones for the rent," Frank grinned. He sat on his bed and watched Atum prepare to leave without offering a hand.
"Ah, I will pay it all when I pick up my treasures, you already know I don't carry much with me."
Atum's emerald eyes shone with green light for a moment as he introspected something. He couldn't stop his smile, he had the same reaction in the past few years every time he saw he was completely healed. However, there was a chain of reactions, and happiness was only the first one.
Next, his expression turned into a frown, followed by rage, and lastly a sting of pain. Not a physical pain, but one of a great loss.
"Are you thinking about him again?" Frank chuckled at the series of emotions on Atum's handsome face.
"Yes, but this time, I'm not only thinking about him. I'm also planning his death, and it's going to be spectacular. It's a shame I can only kill him once before he is… well, dead."
Atum changed to clean robes and walked toward the entrance. It was a net of underground tunnels, the house of the peak seventh-stage evil cultivator, Frank. Frank was a famous illegal trader, and his customers said they had never visited the same tunnel twice, even if they were regular buyers.
"Does it mean you have news of his location?"
"I always had news of his location, but I could do nothing about it even when I was fully healed," Atum shrugged.
"Top five?" Frank knew that there were only five sects which neither of them wanted to poke due to their large number of Supremacy Phase cultivators and resources. Those five were, obviously, the top five of the great twenty sects.
"Yes. Before I could heal enough to go after him in the Phoenix Feather Sect, he switched sides."
Atum recalled Ken's smirk as the latter threw a top-tier talisman at his face. The explosion was so powerful it left Atum completely battered. Worse yet, another talisman followed, leaving Atum on the verge of death.
'He cost me so much luck…' the black-haired man remembered the sense of loss after Ken left. There was a difference between Atum's luck cultivation and Ken's.
While Ken avoided damaging his own "luck container" as he called it, Atum did not. He stole forcibly from others which would allow him to go beyond his limits, but also damage his limits. When one's natural capacity reached zero, they would be hunted by the heavens, struck with disasters and misfortunes until they died. Ken, however, borrowed the capacity of a luckier person.
Unlike his goons who were sent to bully anybody and everybody, Atum was more of a gourmet eater. He only consumed his own envoys after those had consumed the luck of many others, this way, he would pay the penalty to his luck container only once in exchange for the combined luck of many others.
"This kid is a little psycho," Atum complained for the millionth time. When his luck affected Ken's judgment and made him run away after using two of his precious talismans instead of finishing Atum off, his hard-earned luck took a huge dent.
Whenever Atum was met with fortune, it would cost him luck. Luck usually regenerated, but only up to one's maximum capacity. Since Atum has gone beyond that a long time ago, each luck point used would never return, only at the cost of another devour, which would lead to another penalty.
"He just defended himself, I think that's pretty normal," Frank said in amusement. He was not privy to Atum's luck cultivation since it was the man's most treasured secret, hence, he did not know the way luck was calculated.
"Trust me, I know," his friend replied bitterly. The more unlikely the scenario that one's luck created for them, the more luck it would cost. Making Ken turn away without killing him cost a thousand luck points. Points that he hoped would lead him to his desired breakthrough to the eighth stage were wasted on not being killed instead.
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