Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 471: The Masked Death.

Drowning in his thoughts, Ozul slowly walked toward the estate, wondering the old man’s identity.

The only thing he knew without a doubt was that Old Gu was stronger than the Empyrean Realm.

When he finally reached the estate, he went to Ember’s office, knowing she would come to disturb him instead.

The trio was also there, and they surrounded him as soon as he entered.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

However, Zier and Raven’s questions were quickly overshadowed as Ember spoke, "What did that old man want with you?"

As an Empyrean, even her emotions were enough to cause a disturbance in the air. Everyone in the estate could feel something was off.

Ozul shook his head, "I don’t exactly know, but he was deciding whether to help me or kill me."

"Huh?" Ember thought maybe she had heard it wrong because of how nonchalant he seemed.

"So he didn’t ki-...?" Rai began but paused when he saw Ozul’s flat expression, "Of course, he didn’t kill you." Almost chuckling to himself.

Sighing visibly, he replied, "Well he didn’t help me either."

"Do you know who he is?" Ember asked. She was relieved that he wasn’t hurt, but still, her frustration remained about being kept in the dark.

To her disappointment, he could only shake his head. However he didn’t forget to relay Old Gu’s exact words, "He says he is an old man with dreadful responsibilities."

Ember’s eyes darkened, and if the temperature wasn’t already hot enough, it rose a few degrees higher.

"Dreadful responsibilities?" Rai couldn’t help but chuckle, stopping himself from laughing out loud.

"And why does he want to kill you again?" She squinted her eyes, pointing at the trio, "They told me that he had protected you before?"

Ozul shrugged his shoulders, "I am not sure, I didn’t ask. His subordinate at least was better than him."

"That unknown Empyrean? Why?"

"He wasn’t confused like him. He only wanted to kill me."

"..."

"..."

’In hindsight, I should have insisted on knowing the reason why that old man wanted to either help me or kill me,’ Ozul reflected in his mind.

But he quickly rejected that thought as well. That old man’s personality was too annoying to give him any straight answers.

"So, since you are alive, he must have helped you instead. Did he give you an artifact or something?" Zier asked, the others turned to look at him as well, wondering what he may have received.

But Ozul remained quiet for a moment.

He didn’t get anything, so what could he even say?

"He must have forgotten..." he finally spoke in a confused tone.

"..."

"..."

"Either way, I must know who that old man is. That Sect Leader hid his identity well, I must know what role he plays exactly in this Realm," Ember sighed.

"You can ask the Phoenix, maybe. The old man said they knew each other, hence why she didn’t stop an Empyrean in her territory."

Ember looked at him wide-eyed; she hadn’t stopped to consider the fact that the Phoenix could give her all the answers she needed.

"Well, maybe later. Those old coots have called a summit and it is tomorrow."

"Did the letter mention any details?" Rai asked, curious like others.

Ember answered, "No. But that sect leader will have to explain what someone like that old man is doing in his Sect acting like an Elder."

’I should go and focus on increasing my strength... A fight against God will not be easy...’ Ozul thought before turning to leave.

He didn’t mention the part about him now wanting to get his answers from God. It wouldn’t do them any good.

However, he did urge the trio, "You three. Get strong quickly."

The seriousness in his voice was quickly received by the three of them.

It was especially true for Raven and Blaze, whom he had always told to prioritize their safety first, and then think about getting stronger.

They nodded like ducklings and quickly stormed out of the office as well.

After he was gone, Rai looked at Ember, "Something has changed in him again."

"We could all see that," Ember replied without looking back.

They had all noticed the distant look in his eyes as if he was unsure about something.

. . .

Nothing noteworthy happened for the rest of the day.

Ozul left the estate to hunt down the rest of the people Ember had listed down for him, while the trio were now steadily on their path of progressing as Origin experts.

They had each broken through to the Origin Realm after having found all their Origin Locks.

According to Rai, they had at this point, recognized their true potential and seen the chains holding them back.

In order to advance through to the next Realm, they had to destroy these chains. Only then could they proudly call themselves Transcendents.

Raven experimented with different techniques taught by Ember and Rai himself, while Blaze and Zier were more focused on exploring their potential.

Blaze was feeling a peculiar hotness from below his chest. His sixth sense was telling him to focus on that no matter what, and so he was occasionally seen meditating.

Zier, on the other hand, was experimenting with his own blood.

Rai had even given him a room full of tools for his experiments.

He continued cultivating as well, but most of his time was spent in the room now. He would draw out his blood and test various poisons on it.

He even mixed in his blood in an attempt to concoct better poisons.

Sometimes, the Beastkin of the estate could hear mad laughter resounding from his room. No one dared to check in on him, and Rai only laughed it off when he was informed of this peculiarity.

"I should give that brat some Blood Pills. He will die at this rate," he chuckled, proceeding to tell the Beastkin to send Zier top-tier pills that would help restore his blood.

Ember had also ordered him to teach the trio, so he didn’t hold back in helping them.

Currently, he was observing Raven sparring with a Beastkin from a distance.

"She doesn’t have a special constitution like those brats. As such, she is more desperate."

Raven would continuously ask for better Spiritual Techniques, greedily learning them all.

Though her learning rate was astonishing, what really stood out was the fact that she didn’t seem to tire at all.

Shaking his head, "At this point, she needs more experience with the already learned techniques."

Until she instinctively learned to use all of her arsenal in real battles, it was practically useless to learn more techniques.

And that is why, against her will, he was forcing her to spar with as many Beastkin as he could convince (force) into doing his bidding.

He too focused on finding a balance with his new powers.

To become a Sage, the cultivator also needed to understand the nature of the Spiritual Essence around them. That included learning more about nature and becoming conscious of that which is not even alive.

He effectively understood more about nature now, but that didn’t change his nature. He was desperately in need of a fight to death.

Ignoring his needs, Ember focused on the things at hand.

Although she had to change her plans and refrain from starting new businesses, she still had to maintain the few older ones.

Once again, she pushed most of the work over to Rai, who in turn shamelessly delegated the tasks to his subordinates.

...

While the estate functioned as usual, Ozul went around from one city to another in search of his targets.

Ember had marked people according to their estimated cultivation ranks.

Since Ozul had told her about his ability to absorb things to increase his strength, she understood that putting them in an increasing order of Spiritual Essence would be the most effective strategy.

Only it was annoying for Ozul since he had to run all around the central parts of the continent in order to jump from one target to another.

On that night, he had killed two more people. This time, both were Human and affiliated with the Immortal Sect instead.

With the dawn of another day, the news about Transcendents being assassinated quickly started spreading in the neighboring cities.

Although there were only three such victims in a single day, the obvious patterns were easily picked and dissected by the spreading gossip.

Since Ozul sucked their bodies dry, leaving them a shriveled husk, his targets became unrecognizable. So, even as he threw them into the woods near the cities, they weren’t found.

And in a single day, he received a new moniker.

People were calling him ’The Masked Death’ since he covered his face with Purity.

While people didn’t think it would continue the next day, many from the Wilderness and the Immortal Sect were anxious and worried sick after connecting the dots.

Ignoring the bubbling rumors and the gossip, Ozul returned to the estate to sleep. The most tiring part of the assassinations was that he had to skip entire cities to reach the target.

...

The next day, Ember had to attend the summit of the three Empyreans.

She left the estate quietly, leaving Rai in charge of all the affairs.

"I wonder what those old coots want..."