Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 438: Beastkin Reactions.

A few days passed without any ruckus inside the newly built estate.

After the City Lord had confirmed that Ember had regained her cultivation, the news quickly spread to all the concerned people.

In a distant land, when the news reached the ears of the Beastkin, it created a wave of unrest. Among the reactions of everyone, those who went against Ember at her worst were the most worried.

Among them included Ember’s cousin who continuously came to taunt her. As a peak Transcendent, he could trample all over her when Ember’s cultivation was sealed. But in front of a Sage, he could only grovel and beg for mercy if he appeared before her.

Inside his room, Cass threw the golden cup adorned with jewelry with enough force to crack the ground.

"Who else knows?!" he shouted to his servant.

Trembling, the butler with dog ears answered, "All the elders know. They’re all preparing to contact the lady."

"What about the leader?" Cass questioned.

"There was no particular reaction from him. No one knows what is going through his mind."

"I knew it! I should’ve killed her even at the expense of incurring the leader’s wrath! Now, I can’t do anything even if I want to. The leader is a cold-blooded snake, but he adored that cousin of mine. He always let her run rampant with everything she wanted!"

...

In another darkly lit room, the topic of conversation was also Ember.

"Surely, if you were to talk to the lady, she wouldn’t refuse you," an old man without any notable Beastkin features spoke to the man with snake-like slits in the eyes.

But the man in question shook his head sideways and answered, "I turned my back on her. I have no right to ask her to come back. Even as the leader of the Beastkin, I know well that she worked more than me for our cause. Yet we turned our backs on her."

"But you didn’t have any choice! No elder agreed to go against the Immortal Sect."

Yet, the man shook his head again, "Petty excuses, my old friend. She found an intact Mind’s Eye even with her cultivation sealed. If I had helped her, she wouldn’t have had to suffer at all."

"But My Lord! Lady Ember wouldn’t have survived if not for you."

"She didn’t need my protection, old friend. Remember, she’s a dragon. Even with her cultivation sealed, she could devour the crouching tigers. Hasn’t she proved that already?"

. . .

Back in the new estate, Ember got busy rebuilding all of her connections.

People slowly began to ask for her audience and the crowd waiting outside the gates increased every day. After all, she was once the most influential person in Phoenix City.

The Celestial Phoenix rarely allowed anyone above the Transcendent Realm to settle in her territory.

After Ember’s cultivation was sealed, there remained only two Sages in Phoenix City. And so, the power was divided between two factions only; The Ryujin Family and The Alliance.

But now, the power dynamics in Phoenix City were shifting again. Ember, the old Phoenix Lord had returned, and it wouldn’t be long before a bloodbath began. The fall of the Night Walkers was only the beginning.

Ember was enjoying the sunset one evening when Ozul finally decided to approach her.

"Why are you awake, boy? Take all the naps while you can."

Frowning, Ozul asked, "What does that mean?"

"Well, the people who turned their backs on me. They won’t sit still now that I’ve returned. They will attack me, and I will send you to remove them."

"Huh? Why me?" Ozul frowned. He felt like he was being taken advantage of.

"I told you you were the perfect executioner for me! Also, keep an eye on the estate. You have my permission to eliminate all you deem are spies. Don’t hesitate even if it’s children."

Setting aside the fact that he had a problem with becoming her executioner, Ozul didn’t think it was smart to kill all those who entered the estate with malicious intentions.

"What if I kill someone whose background could create trouble for you?"

But Ember chuckled at his innocence before she replied dangerously, "I don’t think it has quite sunk in yet, so let me inform you again: I am the trouble, boy."

Ozul wanted to say something, but then he remembered the time she let every one of her hired people die just to satisfy her curiosity. This woman was calm and casual with him, but she was ruthless and cold-blooded nonetheless.

"Alright, I can help with that. But do me a favor as well..."

"Hmm?" Ember finally turned around to look at him, "I was beginning to think you would never try to take advantage of me."

’As if she isn’t taking my advantage...’

Before Ozul could voice out any complaint, Ember hurriedly added, "Tell me. What do you want?"

"I need to test my powers..."

He had given it a lot of thought before he came to ask her. She was the only outsider who knew so much about his powers. At least, it could be said about living people. From her emotions until now, he had determined her to be trustworthy enough that he could talk about his powers.

"...I need breathing people for that. It probably won’t be fatal, but I can’t be sure."

"Ooh? Human experimentation? I thought you of all people would be abhorred by that, o’ mad physician."

He was a little surprised by her intuition but attributed it to her centuries of experience. Though he had to admit, he didn’t particularly like putting people through the same experience.

In the end, however, he shrugged it off. At least he wouldn’t go to any extreme lengths.

Seeing him deep in thought, Ember was quick to change the topic, "Who cares~ This is a win-win situation, anyway. You see, you can torture whoever you catch as the spy. I will tell Rai to give you a room for your tests as well."

But Ozul didn’t like the wait. These past few days, there had been many visitors in the estate, but none held any strong malicious intentions. Their fear of Ember greatly surpassed their scheming emotions.

It could take weeks before a spy finally infiltrated the estate. And even then, just one person wouldn’t do it for him. He had multiple things to test with the Scent.

"Wouldn’t it be fine to test on random people on the streets?"

But Ember shook her head, "The Alliance has people spread all over Phoenix City. Believe me, you don’t want to catch the Alliance Leader’s eye. If there is any threat in this city, it is him.

If you are worried there won’t be many spies, you’re surely underestimating people’s stupidity. Just give it a few days."

He couldn’t argue any further than that. She knew this city like the back of her hand. Since it was like this, he could only wait it out.

...

A few more days passed, but nothing significant happened.

In the span of these days, even Transcendents had to wait outside the estate for an audience with Ember. It somehow didn’t sit right with them when Origin cultivators were allowed entry before them ’only because’ they arrived first.

Luckily for them, they all knew their limits and didn’t act out of line even with their frustrations.

While Ozul waited for someone to infiltrate the estate in disguise, it just so happened that his first victim wasn’t a spy but a peak Nascent Soul cultivator.

Unlike the Transcendents who obediently waited outside the estate, this Nascent Soul cultivator who was made to stand in line for hours was frustrated beyond his senses.

Having already taken a step into the Origin Realm and being so young, he thought of himself as a genius. As such, he didn’t see it as a big deal when he broke the line and ran straight into the estate.

Before any guard could stop him, Ozul saw the opportunity and snatched him first.

His hold on the Purity was so strong and firm now that not even the Transcendent Beastkin in hiding could figure out where that man had disappeared.

The Purity appeared just like a shadow, a dimness of light before it flickered away, taking the man with itself.

Ozul took the man to his secret room that Rai showed him following Ember’s instructions. If he hadn’t kidnapped the man in that very second, the hidden Transcendent Beastkin would’ve beheaded him on the spot.

He was only doing him a favor by letting him live a little longer.

The man in question started panicking as he was brought to a dark room with no one else besides himself. Ozul didn’t appear before him as it was unnecessary in the first place.

To test the effects of the Scent, he first had to inject it into a person. So, without any further delays, he carefully controlled a small amount and guided it into the man’s body.

Since it was the first time he was directing the Scent into someone’s body with his own will, he didn’t know what to expect.

Luckily for the man, there wasn’t any noticeable reaction from his body as the Scent enveloped him entirely.

Ozul concluded that not even Ember could’ve found any changes in the man if she had been here.

A stillness came over him as he waited for any reaction from the man.

Only a few seconds had passed when the man started shouting and thrashing the door!

He thought maybe it was the reaction from the Scent but then calmed down.

After all, it was only the natural reaction of a man who was kidnapped and brought to such a place.