Chapter 2.2 (1/2)

Chapter 2: Bestowment of the Seal (Part 2)

[West of Aslan Empire - Outside Town of Fauser]

“Also, we don’t have to go to Fauser anymore, it’s already……” Yin Chen pauses before continuing, “We’ll set off directly from here to Rennes’ port to take a boat, that’s the easiest and quickest way to reach Gelanerte.”

Qi Ling nods in a daze behind Yin Chen. He lifts his head to look towards the direction of the village, everything is dark and nothing can be seen in the darkness of the night, yet he remembers the scene when he escaped from the inn, the blood splattering in all directions, the innards scattered across the ground, thinking about that now, a sorrowful expression appears on his face.

Yin Chen looks at Qi Ling and sighs softly.

When Yin Chen reached Fauser, he initially thought that he had been too late, from the inn at the mouth of the village until deep into the village, thick icicles of various sizes pierced up from the ground. On some of them were human bodyies on others, a few sets of b.l.o.o.d.y innards; the whole town resembled a chewed-up h.e.l.l created by a monster. He senses the remnants of the track taken by soul powers in the air and chases it all the way deep into the forest outside the town, and then he sees Qi Ling in deep sleep on the ground.

He closes his eyes; all he could sense are what’s left of the soul powers from Qi Ling’s body. The three red dots he had seen before from the ‘Source of Prophecies’ are no longer there, leaving only Qi Ling. He is unsure of why that is the case either.

Yin Chen looks at the sorrowful Qi Ling and approaches him slowly, reaching his hand out to him.

Qi Ling does not speak, yet his pupils are shaking, obviously feeling a sense of fear.

Yin Chen closes up on him slowly, saying: “Don’t be afraid, I am not going to hurt you.” Yin Chen lifts his hand onto his face, the tops of his fingers grazing upon the bone behind his ear. “It may hurt just a little bit, but it will be okay, bear with it for a moment.”

Yin Chen’s fingertips latch onto Qi Ling’s scalp, a few strands of bitter cold energy pierces into Qi Ling’s body with lightning speed like a sharp needle, the insane could touch that went into Qi Ling’s head made his heart grip with fear.

Yet the one who is truly in fear is Yin Chen.

When he let his few strands of sensor soul powers enter Qi Ling’s body, he discovered that those powers he released into Qi Ling’s body has disappeared immediately without a trance, in comparison, the soul powers contained in Qi Ling’s body is like an ocean without an end overflowing with reckless large waves.

Yin Chen finally confirms that Qi Ling is the disciple that the Silver Priests tasked him to find.

Yin Chen sighs, looking at Qi Ling before him who is as pale as a sheet, his gaze unreadable.

But it’s probably a good thing, compared completely changing a person who has already learned some unregulated form of control for soul powers, a person like Qi Ling can start from the basics.

Just as Yin Chen wanted to put down his hand, suddenly, it’s as if he felt something, his fingers releasing another wave of heavier soul powers. “Don’t move”, Yin Chen commands with a low voice. Qi Ling had already been scared, but looking at Yin Chen who looks as if he has just seen the devil, he feels even more afraid and unsettled.

Shocked, Yin Chen withdraws his hand, his face pale and expression imposing. He cannot bring himself to believe what had just happened within the past few seconds, to be more precise, it is that his own soul powers felt as if a monster whose strength is beyond estimation engulfed them, and it was within an instant. What is more scary is that, if Yin Chen had used a large amount of powers with the intention of harming Qi Ling, or if he had not drawn back in time, maybe the unguarded powers in his body now would have been swallowed by at least half.

“What sort of…monster…do you have…in your body…”

Qi Ling’s face is pale, completely baffled by what Yin Chen is saying, but, from the horror on Yin Chen’s face, he knows that something terrifying must have happened.

[West of Aslan Empire – Port City of Rennes]

Lianquan stands up and walks to the window before jumping forward with force, her whole person resembling dark heron floating towards the night sky. The moonlight reflecting a ghostly black sheen on her pure black robes, paired with the moon in the sky and the blue-black waves on the surface of the ocean beneath her feet, she looks like a dark spirit crossing the sky.

A blurred white shadow appears in the sky and moves past her at the speed of light silently.

Lianquan changes direction in the air and shoots after the white shadow.

The vast and majestic ocean was left behind, the white and black shadows moving at the speed of meteors blur among the countless rooftops of churches and palaces.

“If you want to die then I’ll aid you……” On the exposed arms and neck of Guishan Lianquan, golden circuits in the form of countless interweaving crucifixes appear, the ma.s.sive amount of soul power crashes like a tidal wave, with a dull roar in the sky, a large being suddenly materializes. The ma.s.sive pitch flack shadow covers the city beneath their feet. A pair of wings as ma.s.sive as mountains, countless silver wings emitting piercing light in the night sky, the sharp callings are like sharp swords cutting through the night sky.

Guishan Lianquan stands still on the juncture between the full wings, the wind blows at her robes, her soul beast “An Chi” ferries her silently forwards then white shadow before them, if you are observing from then ground, it seems as if a large iceberg is moving rapidly in the night sky.

[West of Aslan Empire – Outside Town of Fauser]

“Don’t move.” Yin Chen holds Qi Ling, asking him to stand straight.

Yin Chen reaches out his hand to untie his clothes, revealing the firm chest of the youth, “What…what do you want to do……” Qi Ling looks embarra.s.sed.

Yin Chen ignores him, only moving to press his long and slender fingers against his chest, Yin Chen closes his eyes before transferring more soul power into Qi Ling’s body. The being inside Qi Ling is unbelievable. If what he sensed before isn’t’ wrong, then what other secrets are hidden in this youth’s body?

And in then next moment, Yin Chen feels that the soul powers that sank into the youth’s body from his fingers are being swallowed by a ma.s.sive magnetic black hole, pulling him into a limitless abyss. Just when he moves his hand away from Qi Ling’s chest, he feels it – five paths of soul powers as fast as lightning, like writhing snakes, twisting and surrounding his own powers, from the depths of Qi Ling’s body, it surges out to attack and engulf him.

With a whoos.h.i.+ng sound, Yin Chen falls backwards, his whole person moving at rapid speed towards the crown of the tree high up like a soundless bird, and then he flips in the air before dropping with a dull sound a hundred meters away from Qi Ling. Sound as loud as an explosion, dust in the air, amidst the fumes, Yin Chen kneels with one knee on then sound, under his knee are countless cracks on the surface of the ground.

He raises his head and looks at Qi Ling in the distance who falls straight to the ground.

The tumbling waves of air in his chest are like water that has just reached boiling point, yet it is the most extreme of coldness, it’s hard to describe such an absurd misconception, yes, it is the boiling coldness, like countless sharp blades swimming within him cutting everything in its path, all the vital energy and limbs are torn apart by these blades, his physique breaking apart, shattering into dust, becoming thick liquid and finally morphing into air. The body no longer exists.

Qi Ling’s consciousness is murky, countless entangled powers are swimming recklessly in his body, like a primitive piece of land, countless sources of water coming together and separating, in his vision blurred by illusions, are countless golden light streams flowing in the darkness, densely packed together like a ma.s.sive root system, and all the veins, arteries and even capillaries are swelling due to these golden light.

“I am doing to die……” Qi Ling squeezes out from his throat painfully and weakly.

When Qi Ling opens his eyes again, his surroundings are completely dark, only unknown scatters of golden pieces of light floats between the tree branches, perhaps they’re just fireflies.

He struggles to support himself up, the feeling of an explosion tearing his body into pieces has disappeared, and it feels as if the pain never existed.

He turns his head and sees Yin Chen sitting behind him; face pale and panting, looking as if he was going to collapse.

“Are you……okay?” Qi Ling runs over and squats before him carefully.

“I’m okay,” Yin Chen’s pale face looks as flawless as a thin piece of fragile jade under then moonlight, “I was supposed to bring you back to Gelanerte before going ahead with the 'bestowment of the seal, but if I didn’t do that just now, you would have lost your life……” After saying so many words at one go, Yin Chen pauses, his complexion even pastier.

Qi Ling can indistinctly see on his exposed neck and collarbones the golden circuit routes, they look exactly the same as the ones he had seen before he lost conscious. Unsure of the reason, the gold s.h.i.+ning brilliantly on Yin Chen’s nape looks proceeding attractive, as if an unknown power, or miracles of beauty to the highest degree are calling out to Qi Ling, he wants to get closer, wants to make it his own……a psychedelic and confused feeling complicated Qi Ling’s vital energy and blood, he suppresses his heavy breaths and shakes his head forcefully.

Yin Chen observes Qi Ling, as if suddenly understanding something, he gestures at Qi Ling and says weakly: “You’ve just been through the ‘bestowment of the seal, you have to……distance yourself from me……”

“Why?” Qi Ling looks at Yin Chen with a flush on his face.

“Because……right now, you’d find me……how should I put it, very ‘attractive’?” Yin Chen tilts his head, seeming as if he had found the description after much labour.