"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ESCAPED? HOW CAN FOOD ESCAPE!" a roaring echo of an overlord boomed through the red skies of the Red Palace. The Fire Lord, ruler of an entire dominion of the vast expanse exuded power beyond what any mortal could hope to ever see. A pressure is so domineering that it made the skies themselves tremble and the far mountains collapse.
The Fire Lord had just received more enraging news. Not only did the brat who he mobilized a good amount of his army to subdue, escape. He even appeared at the Wind Palace. His small plan to thwart the ascension of his rival the Wind King was blown away.
Not only that, he was also the prot??g?? of that whore of a Queen. Although killing her could be done, she would not go down without costing the Fire Realm an arm and a leg in the process. And the reason he didn't try and take her out of the playing field was because of the issue that will occur immediately after. The moment the Fire King weakens, many hyenas will come to claim his Key.
Three Keys have already been discovered. One is his, and the second belongs to that woman. The third is in the hands of an elusive master, but that wouldn't be an issue if the Fire Lord decides to hunt him down. Two more keys remain, but before their appearance, the Fire Lord cannot move.
The Fire Lord's fear only grew when he realized that. In case the other realms were to discover another Key, his position will be endangered. So he needed to quell the competition.
This was his plan, to take down the strongest of the four realms, then rule over the remaining forces. Subdue them all to his ruling, then escape this prison called the Vast Expanse to the grandiose world of the Celestials.
Yet, to arrive there, they must find Keys to this prison, and with so many not willing to break this world open for the chance to see the real world. He is bound to his palace, waiting.
But, if that was all, the Fire King wouldn't be this angry, the reason of his insatiable wrath was the fact that his 'food' escaped.
A prisoner that had been captured a few years ago should have been primed and ready for consumption, it should have been the time for it to ripen. A fire-attuned cultivator of dark skin, though the Fire Lord wanted to eat him immediately after he had been discovered, the Fire Lord decided it would be best if that food were to further grow, to become stronger, and by proxy, tastier. So, he had that young man work in the deepest part of his caves. Mining endlessly in the Blood Stone mines, growing day and night, due to the pervasive nature of the evil Yang Qi. Though the young man was bound to lose all rational from the heat and the vile Qi, he would invertedly be growing. And become worthy of eating.
Yet, when the time had come, and the Fire Lord ordered for the retrieval of that young man. The people who went to the deeper parts of the cave couldn't find any trace of him, it was as if he had disappeared. Not even his chains remained. And he seemed to have completely left the planet.
Rage beyond what anyone could ever support transformed into visible waves of dominating pressure that constantly rushed out of the Fire Lord.
"FIND HIM! FIND HIM NOW!" the Fire Lord roared and his strongest and most loyal rushed out of the planet in all directions to find the one that escaped.
---
Far away from the infernal domain of the Fire Lord, and in a most remote location of the Northern Domain, was a planet that was half a forest and half plains with little seas in between. This planet was where Shen Bao was currently, spending his days in peace... after all, he was as far away from the troubles of the Vast Expanse as anyone could... or so he thought.
***
As I was chilling inside the guest house, for the third day having surprisingly easily completed the full set of the Demonic Restitution manual, someone came to inform us of the decision of the Demonic Sect.
The person in question was our former guide, he came in with a wide smile on his face.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Oh, the Demon Sect had decided to agree to the terms of the truce, and the competition too. We'll be hosting it in a neutral area just so everyone can become comfortable. As for you, you're all free to go after completing your mission," he said.
"Hmm, good then, I should start preparing to leave." I said.
The guide left after having given us all the information we needed. With the truce between the two warring sects, this whole planet could come to an age of prosperity. Which isn't that bad. Now I'll have more time to focus on myself.
"We should leave soon," said Ai Li, "I don't like it here," she added.
"And how do you suppose we can leave?" I said as I went outside the house and began pulling some tools from my holding bag.
"What do you mean? We'll just walk out," she added.
"I'm really surprised that you can be this dumb," I replied to her as I pulled out the hoverboard.
"You do realize it will take several months of travel if we were to return on foot. Wait until I fix the hoverboard then we can arrive to the poison sect in close to no time," I said.
Yet the moment Ai Li looked at the completely fried, damaged and almost unrecognizable Hoverboard she said, "With damage like this, wouldn't it be better to scrap this off and buy a new one?" she said.
"You think this thing can be bought? Hah," I laughed as I began dismantling the damaged parts.
"Aren't you just trying to impress us with trying to fix something like this? I know a bit of inscription, and from the looks of the inscription damage there, it would be more time efficient to buy a new one or get another type of transportation method, it's good to know when to give up you know," she said.
"Those words are for people with little patience and too much money on their hands, as for me, as long as it hasn't completely turned to dust, I can fix it." I said and began by opening the reactor.
A surge of Saint Qi pulsated from inside the damaged reactor and it was enough to have several elders of the Demon Sect to notice and immediately come investigate.
"What the hell are you doing?! Do you plan on getting us killed!" said Ai Li as several Elders arrived with swords drawn.
"Put, that damn thing down child! Do you wish to incur our wrath!" said one of the elders.
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" I said as I tilted my head."
"That thing in your hand, it looks dangerous, with Saint Qi that powerful, it could raze the entire Demon Sect to the ground, was that your plan from the start humans? Even after agreeing to your terms! You still want to harm this sect!" he said.
"Just chill man, I'm just repairing my ride," I said.
"Do you think us fools! How can you a mere Soul Formation cultivator even tune Saint Qi!" he said.
Just as his words left his mouth he came charging at me, I didn't feel any murderous intent, and that came in handy. For him that is.
"Y," I spoke. And immediately a massive puppet, three times my height appeared behind me, it stood tall with energy and power equivalent to an Ascendant at his zenith of power. Four great swords in hands, and a massive mask-like shield hovering eerily behind it.
"Lord, do you want me to end them?" asked Y.
"No, you're just here so that no one makes a stupid move," I said "As for you elder, if you're that worried about me blowing up your sect, if I wanted you harm, you think I'll waste a Saint Qi crystal on you? Y alone can raze this whole place, so please, just sit back, relax, and watch, you might even learn something," I said as I waved my hand over the reactor.
The moment I did, a great golden holographic inscription showed up. I then pulled my brush and began re-aligning and adjusting the damaged inscription, rewrote the older and updated them.
The brush in my hand was moving at a speed that even the elders were mesmerized while they were looking at it.
"X, come out," I added and another puppet showed up, "I need you to cut and solder some of the parts," I said and began giving X detailed information on how to help me.
This was nothing but a show of power, not for the elders, no, but for the Sect Master of the Demonic Clan. Simply put, this was to show her, that if she had tried anything against me that day, this would have been her end.
X began by cutting apart the pieces and bits that were too damaged of the hoverboard to be repaired, and replaced the broken parts by other parts I had in spare inside my Lord of Lords pagoda. And after six hours of constant work, I placed the reactor back inside the Hoverboard. And then turned it on.
The board exuded a powerful Saint Qi wave and hovered over the ground.
"Good, it's done," I said, "Now let's go back I said to the other two, who seemed to still be too stunned to speak after seeing how I managed inscriptions.
"Well then, see you all in a bit, we'll arrive back to the Poison Sect in one day, maybe a bit less, so, how about we start this competition you talked about in a month time," I said.
"Shouldn't you consult with your sect first?" asked one of the elders.
"No need, the faster we bring peace the better, now, what do you say, Sect Master," I said to no one in particular.
The elders turned around, confused seeing me talk to a Sect Master that didn't seem to be among them, but just as they were about to speak, a pink gust of wind formed in front of us, and the Sect Master appeared.
"Then so be it, we'll meet in a month's time, we'll mobilize only the talented of our sect, based on the contents of the letter we received from the poison Sect. Along with five elders each for protection and keeping security, and the sect masters themselves will be present." She said.
"Good then, glad we're on the same page, alright you two, let's go," I said.
The two hopped on the hoverboard and I started it and began elevating, "See you all in a month," I said and then turned it toward the direction of the poison sect.
"Hmm, are you sure we can even make it back to the poison sect, inform them and have them mobilize in less than a month? Though your board is indeed fast, it took us three weeks of flight just to arrive here, and now you said you can get back to the Poison Sect in less than a month, how?" Ai Li asked.
"Simple, it's because I wasn't using this board's full speed that time, buckle up," I said.
"With what?" she asked.
"Well, anything, just grab onto the handles of the board," I said.
And just as they did, I pressed on a pedal to erect the protective barrier of the board, then pressed the gas.
The world seemed to elongate as the board shot forward with speeds several times faster than sound. Leaving the two who rode with me on the board completely flabbergasted at the speeds we were moving.
After all, when I carried them to the Demon Sect, the board was heavily damaged, and now that's repaired, I might as well flex a bit of speed.
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