Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 468: Unexpected Visit.

In the estate, Ember was in her office, stabilizing her new powers.

There were only a few impurities that she had to squeeze out with her Spiritual Essence.

Regaining her true form had changed her entire internal pathways, and so she had to get comfortable with her powers again.

It was getting dark and she wasn’t expecting any visitors. Now that she had become an Empyrean, there were only so many people who dared to appear before her, much less do any business.

At that point, she sensed a familiar smell at the gates of the estate.

"Ho~?" Smirking, she muttered, "Here I thought you would never come."

...

At the gates, a man with bright orange hair stood confronting the Transcendents of the estate.

"I apologize, but we cannot let you in." One of them spoke, careful in his tone.

Ember’s men knew the man was once their Lord’s friend. But they were unaware of the current dynamics of their relationship, so they didn’t dare take chances and let him inside.

"I will wait," the man answered plainly, standing with his arms crossed.

His physical features did not make it obvious, but he was a Thunder Eagle Beastkin. He didn’t have feathers, talons, or even wings.

The five Transcendents across him stood not knowing what to do. They glanced at each other, knowing that if that man decided to wait there, they would also have to be constantly stationed at the gate, halting their other duties.

Fortunately for them, the standoff didn’t last for long.

An old Beastkin who worked as a gardener ran up to them with heavy breaths.

"Ha... Ha... Lord orders... to allow that man in." The old Beastkin held his knees while he panted.

Heaving a sigh of relief, the five Transcendents blocking the gate immediately dispersed from the scene as if they were never really there.

Meanwhile, the guard who was still sitting behind the gates smiled nervously, wondering just why he was even assigned this job when he was of no use here.

The Thunder Eagle Beastkin walked inside with indifference. There were no emotions visible on his face.

Seeing that the Transcendents had disappeared, the old gardener was forced to escort him to Ember’s office.

Once inside the office, the gardener excused himself, leaving the Thunder Eagle Beastkin standing in front of Ember’s desk.

"This is a face I thought I would never see again," Ember spoke with her hands resting under her chin.

"Why, did you expect me to die of old age?" The man replied with an equally calculating tone.

Ember waved her hand, motioning the man to sit, "I just didn’t expect you to visit me with all that pride in your chest."

"Pride, huh? That’s ironic, coming from a Dragon."

Ember smiled slightly, "Ah, I missed your sarcastic replies, Ying. And I was worried that everyone would start stuttering before me now."

The man named Ying remained unamused, however, as he coughed, "I’m here for the invitation."

"Huh?"

"You know I’m not going back to Wilderness, I thought you were smarter than that."

Ying shook his head, "It is not about that. I know very well that you have just reasons for rejecting those stupid geezers."

Ember smirked, knowing full well that the only friend she still had within the Elders of Wilderness was this man who was too prideful to admit it to her face.

"I’m here because the Leader sent me."

"Ho~? That old man wants to meet me now? He’s not even sincere with his invitation; should he have come by himself?" Ember raised her head, deliberately acting haughty to annoy Ying.

However, the man merely sighed, "You know very well that he couldn’t come here by himself."

It wasn’t a secret that the Celestial Phoenix hated the other two Empyreans. She would attack them without warning if they were ever to even pass by her territory.

If the Leader of the Wilderness or the Sect Leader of Immortal Sect were to appear here in person, they would have to face off against an unreasonable Beast in the truest sense.

"I’m an Empyrean now, tell that old man if he wishes to have tea with me, he must come by himself." Ember turned her face to the side as if she wouldn’t relent on this point no matter what.

"If he just wants to ask me not to harass his people, tell him I will do as I please," She added, waving her hand in Ying’s face, telling him to fly away.

Ying shook his face, wanting to say something about how childish she was acting, but refrained from those words considering she was now an Empyrean.

"I guess you are afraid now." She could read him like an open book.

Ying clutched his hands, wanting to scold her, but held in all that anger.

"Haha, I wasn’t this happy even after my breakthrough. The thundering ruler of skies couldn’t yell at me for the first time!"

"Cough! The invitation isn’t for anything trivial like that," Ying ignored all her words and steered the conversation back to the topic, "Leader summons both you and the Sect Leader of those Humans to discuss important matters. It will be a neutral territory."

It was at that point when Ember finally decided to get serious.

"Why the summons?" She asked.

He shook his head, "I was not informed of anything. The Leader only stated that it was an important matter and the Three Empyreans must discuss the fate of this Realm together."

"The fate of this Realm, huh? Those are some big words." A voice came from the door.

Rai walked in with pulsating Spiritual Essence all around him.

Ying looked at him wide-eyed, "You... have become a Sage as well."

Rai smirked, enjoying the moment as he flexed his muscles.

"As it turned out, I only needed a little nudge in the right direction. My Lord helped me in that regard."

Not only was Rai right on the fence of two Realms, but staying in Ozul’s presence had also started filling his body with traces of the Scent.

The Scent had further purified his body, slightly increasing his talent and making it easier to break through.

Even Ember had assumed it would take more than a few weeks at the very least. Yet, only a single day was enough.

Ying shook his head in disappointment at Ember, "He will only run more rampant now."

"I have the power to allow him that," Ember smirked. Rai matched her grin as well.

Looking at the two devils grinning evilly, Ying could only sigh at the heavens for allowing such people to get so powerful.

"Tell the old man that I will be there. Just send me the time and location." Ember told him, sensing a presence walking in her direction.

’Hm?’ Ying found her sudden response out of the ordinary, but he didn’t mind it.

Standing up, he was just about to leave when the door opened again, and in walked a boy with bloodied clothes.

Ying couldn’t feel even a speck of Spiritual Essence from his body, but the blood on his clothes couldn’t be mistaken for a Human.

"That is the blood of Beastkin," he stated coldly.

Ozul ignored him completely, looking only at Rai as he commented, "You are a Sage."

Ying, on the other hand, threw an annoyed glance at Ember, knowing that it must be on her order that this kid had murdered Beastkin. There was nothing he could do about it.

Ember wanted to avoid letting Ying see it, but Ozul didn’t stop by his room and came directly to the office.

"Convey my regards to the old man," she stated in a serious tone.

Pursing his lips, Ying couldn’t help himself, "Ember, I know we have wronged you. But do not take it out on innocent Beastkin."

But his words were enough for the temperature of the room to plummet.

"Don’t preach to me, Ying. I guess you didn’t know me after all."

Ying felt a sting in his heart as he noticed the piercing coldness in Ember’s eyes. He realized instantly that he shouldn’t have said that. He should have trusted her more.

"You can leave," Rai spoke with an indifferent voice, gesturing his hands toward the door.

Right after he stepped out, the freezing temperature returned to normal.

Ozul looked deeply at Ember, his eyes alternating between her and the direction that Ying had left.

"You both said different things than what you feel," He would never understand why people were so confused with their words.

Ember gave him a deep look, ultimately deciding not to answer him.

"There was another Transcendent with that Beastkin. I had to wait before he left," He narrated the events.

"Hmm... That was unexpected. It shouldn’t happen again, don’t worry." Ember assured him since she had her best men gather the information on these targets.

Ozul had only stopped here because the next target was in the opposite direction, and Phoenix City was in the way.

"Can I go with him as well?" Rai raised his one hand, pointing at Ozul with another.

But Ember shook her head, firmly denying him, "No you won’t. He can sneak in anywhere. You, on the other hand, will be found out from your disgusting smell alone. Go and take a shower!"

Rai’s hand dropped like a deflated balloon as he gave Ozul an annoyed look.

"What did I do?" Ozul asked with a serious tone.

Rai shook his head and was about to walk out of the room when all the hair on his body stood up in fright.

Ember too stood up from her seat, her face blackened at the presence she felt atop the estate.

Ozul too felt it. The three immediately shot out from the window of her office and looked at the sky.

"Did you miss me, kid?"