Chapter 18: The Urgent Meeting

Inside a dark room deep inside the Skull Lord's temple...

"What? That brat took 3 random techniques from that place? Number 9, just what were you doing at the time when he was choosing techniques?" Joseph Reed roared at a hooded man who cowered on his chair.

"Please, forgive me, O' great Liaison. But the boy simply ignored my presence and took three random techniques from the wall. After he took them out, no matter how much I tried to persuade him, he did not budge an inch. In the end, I could only bring him back. Ah, please punish this lowly servant for his callousness." The hooded man said while bowing repeatedly.

"At least tell me what techniques he chose. Maybe that would be of some help."

"That... that... Liaison, at that time, I was so stunned by his insults that I could not pay any attention to what manuals he took. Later, he had no intention of letting me see what he picked no matter how much I requested him to. He said that he will keep his techniques a secret until he achieves some success with those techniques."

"Get lost from my sight you imbecile."

"But... Liaison... I have an idea..."

"Right now"

"Yes, Yes."

Soon, Reed was left all alone inside the dark room. He sat down in deep thought.

'Damn it, what should I do about this brat? I need to find a way to weaken that soul shield without damaging the soul energy as soon as possible. '

Suddenly he heard an urgent voice. When he looked up, he saw Number One come running to him.

"Liaison, it is very bad news."

"What is it, Number One?"

"We are in deep trouble. Our sentries just spotted the empire's troops starting to enter the Black Mist forest. Even though the mist will delay them, once they manage to solve it, it will be only a matter of minutes before they find us. What should we do?"

"What's the rush? Do you think that this mist is a joke? It dulls the senses the moment you enter it. Also, if you stay in the mist even for just an hour, soon the mist will start blocking the energy channels, and eventually causing paralysis. Do you think just anyone can conquer it?"

"Liaison. This is not just anyone. We have confirmed the identity of two of the three people who were leading the way. One of them was Holy Knight Janet and the other was Holy Saint Emperor Ashin. And also..."

"Hmm. So that girl's sister has caught a trace of her and is coming to rescue her I believe. But I think that we could deal with them easily."

"Liaison, you don't understand!!! Even if it is unconfirmed, the third person might be... might be... Divine Saint Emperor Asin!!!"

"What? You idiot!! Why did you not tell me this from the get-go? Oh Skull Lord, this is severely bad"

"Number one, Immediately get all monks of the temple to this room within exactly minutes. No matter what they are doing, they are to stop that immediately and report here. Five minutes, now go!!"

"Yes, Liaison." Number one bowed and vanished as if he never existed.

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Meanwhile, Jason was sitting inside a room and listening to a hooded man. The hooded man continued speaking and scribbling while Jason was listening with rapt attention.

"And that completes the first chapter of alphabet learning. Do you have any questions?"

Jason took the scribbled writings from the hooded man and looked at them for a moment. Then he turned to the hooded man.

"Thank you so much, Elder Li. I think I will need to practice them for sometime before I can commit this set of characters to memory."

"No problem, I understand. Take your time. I am right here."

Suddenly, the hooded man turned his head. In the next second, he abruptly stood up and said, "Disciple Jason, practice these set of characters. I need to be somewhere so I will explain your doubts later."

"Ahh, wait a bit, Elder Li.." But before Jason could finish, the hooded man had vanished from the room.

'Oh well.. Let me practice a bit then.' muttered Jason as he opened a fresh page and tried to copy the characters on his own...

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"Liaison, everybody is here." Number one reported as he bowed.

"Good, Everybody listen up. We have got a very serious problem. Those damn humans are very close to finding out our location. We need to change our plans immediately."

"Liaison, shouldn't we just let them reach our base? Once they reach our base, we can trap and kill them. If they can't go back, they won't be able to tell the empire where we hide." Someone suggested.

"Number 10, in a normal situation, it would have been the best possible approach. But now, there is a severe problem. That old dog Asin is with them!! This virtually makes it impossible to fight with them head on."

"But why, Liaison? We have you. You are definitely stronger than a Divine Saint Emperor. Why should we not fight them?"

"Because that old dog Asin is a fucking coward. Wherever he goes, he brings his friends from the Golden Dragon Tribe and the Lycanthrope Tribe. "

"Just remember that his friends have similar or only slightly lower cultivations than Asin himself. Also, these tribes have a lot of strange techniques that even I would rather avoid. Also..." Reed paused for a moment before he continued.

"There is another very important thing. The current Emperor would definitely not have allowed his daughter Janet to come on this expedition, especially after losing his younger daughter. As the elder daughter is also here, it only means one thing; the emperor is 200% confident about the safety of his daughter. This can only imply one thing...."

"The strongest human on this plane, Divine Sword Saint Nyler is here."