Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 483: Smiling Qingyu.

"You wouldn’t understand," Ozul shot back, leaning back on his chair again.

Since this man hadn’t already started wreaking havoc everywhere, he wasn’t a threat at that moment. And if he wasn’t a threat, he couldn’t be bothered to stay alert.

’Not like I could protect myself if he decided to kill me,’ he shrugged, closing his eyes again.

"Oi! You brat!" Qingyu raised his voice, poking at his face. "You know I am a Heavenly Virtue and still dare to act like this!?"

"Are you here to kill me?" Ozul opened his eyes, asking him with a lazy expression.

"I’m here to meet that young lady named Ember, but looking at your attitude, I don’t mind teaching you some manners first," Qingyu replied with irritation visible on his face. Killing a nobody like him wouldn’t matter, would it?

"Raven!" Ozul called with a little strength. Unlike others, he couldn’t ’raise his aura’ to call someone in an emergency as he didn’t have any.

A few meters away from them, Raven and others were busy cultivating.

"Hm?" She looked in his direction.

"Call Ember. One of the Virtues is here."

Blaze and Zier, who were still busy with their training, dropped everything.

All of them stared wide-eyed at the tall man whose dazzling beauty overshadowed Ozul’s cold personality.

Despite her shock, Raven quickly calmed down and sent a distress call to Ember.

Quickly, the three of them stood behind Ozul, facing Qingyu as if he couldn’t just erase their existence with a small gesture.

"Brave little things," Qingyu smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

If there was anyone else here, they would surely be beguiled by that face. Only the three of them were already used to Ozul’s face, so it didn’t have much effect on them.

Before he could say anything else, a gust of wind blew and before him now stood Ember and Rai.

"State your purpose," Ember’s voice held a deep hatred as she glared at him.

Behind her, Rai took a stance of fighting, but one glance at Ozul made him aware that the matter wasn’t as serious as it appeared.

"My my, this much hostility is hurtful," chuckled Qingyu in a mocking tone. What did he care about an Empyrean?

"He is only here to talk," Ozul added from the back.

Ember didn’t take her eyes off of Qingyu and nodded her head. She was extra vigilant because she needed Raven’s distress call to realize that someone of his caliber had infiltrated the estate.

Meanwhile, Qingyu raised his brows at the scene,

’That brat doesn’t have a speck of energy on him either. Yet, she listens to him? Interesting...’

He could also feel something odd about the cat sleeping cozily in that brat’s arms. Adding everything together, he could at least conclude that there was something special about that boy.

"I came to discuss details with the Phoenix, but..." He shrugged, smiling helplessly.

Ember squinted her eyes at him, not buying his harmless act. There was something eerie about this man, but she just couldn’t put a finger on it.

"She hates the presence of other beings near her," Ember replied, "Are you affiliated with the Demonic Emperor?"

With a bright smile, Qingyu coughed slightly, "Although he could care less, we on this side refer to him as the Lord of Shadows."

Ember nodded her head, taking note of everything in her mind. "And the Phoenix sent you here?"

"From the little time we talked, she seemed very trusting of you," he spoke with a hint of approval in his tone.

It wasn’t all fake as he knew about the Celestial Beasts for a long time and though they hadn’t interacted much, he knew how distrustful they were toward others. Being able to earn the trust of such a being was praiseworthy.

"Come with me," Ember turned and led the man to her office.

She was waiting for someone to appear sooner or later since the Phoenix didn’t bother to tell her anything. From Qingyu, she could at least get the gist of the situation.

Rai didn’t follow them, instead, he preferred to throw orders around the estate, much to the annoyance of the trio. They were forced to go back to cultivation. Only they couldn’t concentrate all that much knowing that a Heavenly Virtue was right there in the estate.

Meanwhile, Ozul went back to sleep. Having interacted with the Phoenix and Old Gu, he knew better than to ask them for any information. Even the Phoenix only told him as much as she did because of her relationship with Jinx.

It was better to just take a nap with his favorite cat.

. . .

It took more than an hour before Ember came out together with Qingyu.

She had many questions regarding the war and the Heavenly Virtue of Chastity

In the courtyard, Ozul opened his eyes again.

"Will you still not tell me about the cat?" Qingyu asked while passing by him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ozul replied, "Ask Old Gu. He seems to have a clue, though he didn’t tell me either."

Surprised, the Heavenly Virtue smiled, "You know that old timer personally? If he didn’t tell you, he probably wouldn’t tell me either."

"Aren’t you close?"

"We are, but not in the sense you would understand."

Ozul didn’t dwell on it further. These people may have lived longer than the Broken Realm in which he was born. Their sense of ’being close’ was probably twisted and turned by the great river of time.

Although Qingyu was interested in the brat who even knew Old Gu, he had to return soon unless he was willing to deal with Baoshi and the silent glares of the Lord of Shadows.

Not wasting any more time, he tore a hole in the space and walked into it, disappearing behind the bending fabric of reality.

In the distance, the trio watched the scene with fascination plastered on their faces.

"Did he... just tear through space?" Zier muttered, not believing his eyes.

Ember noticed their amazement and answered, "It isn’t a technique, but a deep understanding of reality. In the Empyrean Realm, only the strongest have such comprehension."

Having only broken through recently, she didn’t hope to achieve that level anytime soon. But one couldn’t help but be hopeful. After all, it was an envious skill to have.

"So, what did he say?" Raven asked, curious about their conversation.

"He was sent to deal with the situation and help the Phoenix if she was injured."

Rai smirked. When did they ever need help? Sadly, Ember’s next words crashed his haughty inner monologue.

"They will also be sending us help since we don’t have enough people to fend off against the Sect and Wilderness at the same time," Ember explained while sighing tiredly.

"Will there be another Empyrean?" Zier asked with hope. With two Empyreans, he would finally feel rest assured that they weren’t gonna die overnight.

Rai looked alarmed. If there was another Empyrean, their authority would obviously overshadow his.

"Empyreans don’t grow on trees."

Zier rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly. A man could hope.

"They will spare a few Sages and tens of Transcendents."

Even that was enough to put some relief on Ember’s shoulders.

"We don’t need their help!" Rai added strongly.

Though his response was met with a fiery glare. "Are you saying you and Ryujin alone can handle more than 15 Sages?"

"Ahem," coughed Rai and didn’t open his mouth again. Maybe they did need some help here and there.

"And you lot. All of you!" Ember raised her voice, forcing Ozul to wake up and listen as well.

"There were only 2 Sages on the continent with no allegiance to speak of. One of them has already joined the alliance of the Sect and Wilderness."

"We have to convince the only remaining Sage to join our banner?" Raven asked, earning a nod from Ember.

"Find him and convince him. If you can’t convince him, don’t let him live. I would rather have a dead Sage than an alive one on the opposite side of the war."

"But we’re only Transcendents." Zier looked at Ozul, looking for some help. Even if multiple Transcendents ganged up on that Sage, how could they kill him?

Unfortunately for him, Ozul was not only unbothered but even in support of this expedition!

How could he miss out on a chance at absorbing the body of a Sage? He might even stand on par with Rai after that.

"Rai will be with you. All of you wanted some action, no? Now I am giving you an opportunity. Go have your fun," she said, waving her hand as if unleashing excited puppies into the wild.

The trio and Rai excitedly began to prepare for the journey.

That Sage was known to be a recluse even among the most devoted cultivators. It had been years since he was even sighted. The only reason they didn’t suspect he had died was because of his cultivation realm.

Ember sat next to Ozul, imagining the scene of Qingyu tearing apart the space. That scene played in her mind multiple times as she tried to extract any insights from her memory.

"You seem more relaxed after talking to him?" A voice came from her side.

Ozul was talking with his eyes closed. He could feel the waves of emotions emanating from Ember, which had become calmer and smoother.

"If you’re worried about that man’s ability, don’t be. I saw through his tricks," She assured him. She didn’t take long to understand that the so-called Heavenly Virtue was putting on an act and using an uncanny ability to influence emotions.

Ozul relaxed; he would be concerned if she was influenced so easily.

"I am relaxed because now I better understand the situation."

" What did you learn?"

"For once, the so-called ’God’ has allowed the Heavenly Virtues to do as they pleased. For some reason, he has gone mute and turned a blind eye to worldly affairs.

The war is started by his son and only he will see through it."

"Hm?" Ozul realized maybe he shouldn’t have given up on asking questions.