It was morning the next day when Damien said to Triton, "You guys go on ahead back home. I will be wandering the Gale Empire for a while before returning."
Triton was surprised, "You sure you want to stay here alone? But why?"
"Alchemist Azrael had assigned me one special job I have to complete in the Gale Empire before I return," Damien said with a sigh.
Triton's brows pulled together, "Do you want my help?"
Damien smiled, "No need. If you help, he will only berate me since it is something I should do on my own."
Triton nodded after a few moments of contemplation, "Alright, I will tell Blaze and Shania. But be careful since you don't know anyone in this empire."
"Oh, don't worry, I have a good friend here, and no one would dare offend him," Damien said coolly.
Triton raised his brows, "That's surprising. I wonder when you became friends with him."
"Oh, I chanced upon him back in the Rong Empire. He is a bit loose in the head but other than that, he is fine,"
"Hmm, are you leaving now? Or do you want us to drop you somewhere?" Triton asked.
Damien waved his hand as he walked backward, "Nah, it's no biggie. I can make it out of here on my own. So long then, Brother Tonton," Damien smirked before dashing off towards the distance.
You...haa, see you later...Brother Pompon…" Triton mumbled with a glazed stare as he looked in the direction in which Damien disappeared.
After a while, two figures landed near Triton.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Seems like you enjoyed his company," Shania said with an imperceptible gaze.
Triton turned around with a calm expression, "What makes Aunt Shania say that?"
"You have never interacted with someone of your age so closely before. And seeing how you seemed regretful of him leaving like that, isn't it quite obvious?" Blaze asked with a chuckle.
Triton sighed, "I don't know. But Uncle Blaze sure knows how to exaggerate."
Blaze smiled, "Oh, am I now? Hahaha."
Shania stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I know what you are thinking. Don't worry. Time will tell, child. 'He' can't be wrong, so you can at least trust his words."
A figure was speeding through in the distant forest, leaving behind a stream of dust in his wake.
Damien did not decide to leave the forest since he felt like he was ready to breakthrough to the next level. After fighting Kan as well, he was not lying when he said that he gained some enlightenment.
The more he used his ethereal abilities to fight someone, the more he unconsciously comprehends the profundities of the Ethereal Way.
But those like Damien who gain enlightenment through fights or anything similar were very rare since only ones with monstrous comprehending talent would be fortunate enough to gain enlightenment in these ways.
Others would have to do it the hard way and search for enlightenment instead of waiting for enlightenment to dawn on them suddenly.
He traveled quite some distance, searching for another cave since he was against the idea of cultivating in the open even if he got an undead slave to protect him.
Finally, he found a small cave just big enough for him to enter and called Valentina out.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"I already broke through to the fourth level of the Earth Ethereal Realm!" Valentina said with an elated smile as she hugged Damien.
Damien raised his brows as he hugged her back, "Already? So fast, good girl. But are you sure you didn't hasten it?" He knew that Valentina was mostly cultivating inside his soul space. Still, he was worried if she compromised her foundation since he realized how bad it could be after examining Maria.
"Of course not. Here, why don't you feel it," Valentina took his hand and placed it over her bosom.
Damien gulped, and seeing her seductive smile, he gave a light squeeze on one of her boobs and said, "Nice try in tempting me. But now we have to train. You can go hunt while I cultivate."
Damien was sure that if she tried to seduce him further, he might give in for having another intense battle with her.
Valentina didn't try any further and said with a cheery smile, "Okay!
She gave a quick peck on his lips before running off into the distance. Damien softly smiled, looking in the direction she went.
He called out Horrorclaw, who came out and bowed before him in a servile way as if worshipping him.
Even some of the ethereal beasts who were creeping around the place to execute a surprise attack on Damien immediately left the area after feeling the intimidating aura of a Heaven Ethereal Realm from Horrorclaw.
Even though these ethereal beasts were dumb, they weren't too dumb to ignore their instinctual fear.
"Hmm, what should I name a powerful bird like you…" Damien mumbled in a contemplative tone.
"Got it! I shall name you, Haunter," Damien thought of its poisonous claws and also from a character he remembered in his previous life and decided to go along with it.
Haunter bowed even further as if it was happy to be given a name by its master.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Damien ordered it to protect him and keep an eye on Valentina before going inside the cave.
He started utilizing his Anti-God Arts to assimilate the life essences stored in his ethereal core.
Within a short while, he opened his eyes with a smile as he had successfully broken through to the eighth level of the Spirit Ethereal Realm.
He could feel the increase of his ethereal energy reserves, and it was becoming even more concentrated.
Since he had gained a bit of enlightenment after his fight with Kan, it only made his breakthrough even faster and smoother.
That's why those who are lucky enough to gain enlightenment breakthrough faster than others and hence, gain an overall advantage.
He noticed that Lily had this quality since she was able to pick up on his sword skills faster than he anticipated. He felt that it wouldn't be too long before she even bests the sword experts from the Lancaster Empire.
Even without cultivating her Light seed and not having ample resources, she was still able to reach her present level fast enough.
And this time, he made sure she got all the proper resources necessary for her cultivation. Like a devoted husband, he had been discreetly sending her resources in certain intervals while exchanging love letters as well.
This was the only way he was able to take care of her from afar while keeping in touch with her, to not let her worry.
After all, with the uncountable number of Spirit Stones he was earning, he was using them to make sure Lily doesn't lose out on resources. That's why he even increased the price of his Supreme Pills according to his whims to drain more from the Xeton Empire.
After all, in his perspective, he was taking back what the Xeton Empire stole from the Rong Empire and could be considered a small payback.
The poor or the commoners would never buy a Supreme Tier Pill since even if they toil for 1000 years, they wouldn't be able to buy it.
Only the rich and privileged were buying these Supreme Tier Pills, and buying one of them was proof of their wealth and status.
Some crazy ones even bought and displayed them as collector's items in their homes to show off their wealth.
He knows he might not even have scratched the surface of the Xeton Empire's reserves of Spirit Stones. But at least, he had to start somewhere. After all, he was alone, and taking down an empire was no child's play.
But now, he had another matter to worry about—The Pandemonium Needles.
He already had a way to try and steal the Pandemonium Needles, but he was not sure if he would be successful, especially when he doesn't know its location.
"Tristen Gale...you better be useful, heh," Damien mumbled as his eyes glinted.
Tristen Gale was the second prince of the Gale Empire and quite a famous one due to being a genius on top of being a prince.
He had enslaved him in the Rong Empire when he came to visit Lily.
Damien could only hope that his ace card would be useful and was betting on Tristen's influence to get those Pandemonium Needles.
If he didn't have Tristen Gale as his ace card, he would have had no chance of getting those Pandemonium Needles from the Gale Empire unless he tried to spend a lot of time tracking down its location and then trying to steal it like a thief.
But that way would end up with him being killed since it involved quite many risks. And unlike the superficial words Ruthren spouted, the Gale Empire definitely wouldn't give him any favors even if he went there as Alchemist Azrael.
Even if they decide to give it to him, he was sure they would be asking something outrageous from him.
He had no obligation to help the Gale Empire by fulfilling their requests since they also caused the Rong Empire to weaken and caused Lily to suffer.
He got up and came outside the cave, "Onward to the imperial capital," Damien mumbled as he looked towards the horizon.
