Chapter 902: Preserving Immortal Essence (1/2)

Chapter 902: Preserving Immortal Essence

Protected by an astrum, the fragment of a soul could persist for much longer than normal.

Once Luo Xianni’s spirit was recovered Lan Jue continued his search. He quickly found the Pauper, Keeper, Bookworm, and the gods of wine. They were also conveyed into the Compliance Rod.

However, when he looked for Hua Li he was surprised and saddened to discover there was no trace that remained of him.

“A-Li!” When he returned to the corpses of Hua Li and Mo Xiao his heart was a tempest of emotion.

Zhou Qianlin gripped his hand. She said nothing and only hung her head before the scene. To claim there was no animosity within her would have been a lie, but be it Xiuxiu or Hua Li, they gave their lives to try and make it right. They died protecting Lan Jue. Could hate survive in the face of such sacrifice?

A thought came to Lan Jue. He extricated his hand from Qianlin’s and reached forth to search the bodies for any residual parts of Hua Li’s soul. But then a blue light from the distance captured his attention. As it approached, he watched in shock.

The one who came looked a lot like Hua Li, if more mature. He regarded Lan Jue with a calm expression, and was wreathed in pale blue light.

He nodded once he was close. “We’ll take him. The Poseidon family has its own ways.” Hua Xu answered Lan Jue’s unspoken question. There was no indication any of this had affected him emotionally.

Lan Jue regarded him with a pained and conflicted expression. “Uncle, I…”

Hua Xu cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Destiny makes fools of us all. I can only hope that you see some way to forgive them. When the light of one’s life goes out, it should extinguish their follies.”

Lan Jue nodded his head. Hua Li and Mo Xiao were dead, harboring hatred and resentment would serve no one. He didn’t bear any ill-will toward his fallen brother.

Hua Xu extended it right hand, and from it floated a deep blue crystal. It slowly floated through space glittering in the dim light until it came to the bodies of his children. It flickered with a blue light that hung over the bodies, and moments later when it vanished so too did Hua Li and Mo Xiao.

Hua Xu nodded a final time toward Lan Jue, then turned and left.

However, he did not go far before stopping. He turned back and fixed Lan Jue with his eyes. “After this fight, it will take a long time for the Group to recover. Hua Li hoped that you could help look after he and Mo Xiao’s child. It was his desire that their little one could live on Skyfire Avenue. Is there anything that might make this impossible?”

Lan Jue did not immediately reply, so Hua Xu continued. “You might not expect it from looking at our family, but our heirs are not immediately granted the full rights and powers of the bloodline. They employ the benefits of the family to choose their own path, and ultimately undergo the process of accepting the lineage. So it is destined. Of course none of us wish for this burden, neither I nor A-Li wanted to carry this mantle. I failed. Under cover of this conflict, as Hua Li was leaving to join the fight, Mo Xiao sent a ship back toward Skyfire Avenue bearing their child. I ask that you seek his aura, and bring our heir to Skyfire Avenue so that he might grow and prosper. When he comes of age, if he so chooses he can return and take up his rightful place as leader of Poseidon Group. If he does not…” Hua Xu stopped, a smile on his face. He didn’t finish the thought before a flash of blue light conveyed him far away.

Lan Jue heaved a sigh. A piece of A-Li still existed somewhere! A-Li, he thought to himself, I’ll do whatever I can to grant your final wish. I’ll look after your son.

The battle was finally over, and the Wine Master left to spread the good news across all the human worlds. However when Lan Jue returned to his fellows his face was no less serious and burdened. They looked into the distance where the gold-blanketed legacy of the aliens remained. They silently regarded Europa, immortal realm of their enemy.

“Brother, what are we going to do about this?” Lan Jue asked.

Lan Qing’s deep voice replied. “Under the power of faith the Banishing Strategy is strong. As its guides we can direct its power to smother and destroy Europa. We can erase every last trace of these aliens, once and for all.”

“No.” Li Ke answered quickly and firmly. Everyone turned their attention to him.

He explained. “Creating an immortal realm is phenomenally difficult. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn it’d taken ten thousand years of preparation for the aliens to succeed here. It was based off of what Monarch could piece together from the ancient immortal realm of our history, so its existence isn’t actually a threat. Now that the aliens are dead, we can take this realm for ourselves. Think about it, all four of you have reached the Infinite and the moment you leave the protection of the Strategy universal protogenia will leech your vitality. The only way you can continue to grow as Paragons is if you do so under the protection of an immortal realm.”