Continent of Pride[7]

Several days passed in peace, Khan found that they were inside a village affiliated with the Divine Dragon Sect, Khan enjoyed the serenity of the hamlet, he would often play with the children which greatly entranced the Lily who followed him the whole day.

Mysteriously, after the ruckus that happened, the Sect Master disappeared, he only left a letter saying that he would be back in two days and that two days was today.

Sure enough, the Sect Master returned, on his face suffused a satisfied smile, on his hands, several jade bottles filled with pills could be seen.

"Khan, take these pills, this scarlet-colored one can help numb the pain that your feeling, while these sky-blue pills can heal your internal injuries, remember to take this every three hours to maintain its effectiveness." He spoke with short words and left, but this time, he went to his designated room.

Khan opened a jade bottle and sure enough, a concentrated scent of medicinal herbs assaulted his nostrils, "Azure Sky Lotus, Calming Grass, and Six-Streaked Leaf..."

He listed the major components of the pill in an instant, stunning Lily who stood at the side, 'He deduced the ingredients of a pill with a sniff?' She thought, towards these stunning feats that Khan could easily do with a flick of his sleeve, she became somewhat numb, and could only stand there, helplessly smiling.

Khan popped a pill into his mouth and felt a refreshing sensation permeating into his soul, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling the spread all over his body.

The effect lasted for about fifteen minutes before it gradually disappeared after being absorbed by his formidable soul, Khan gave an awkward smile, 'Damn, the Sect Master told me to consume a pill every three hours, yet only fifteen minutes had passed and my soul already assimilated everything...'

Amidst Lily's worried eyes, Khan popped several pills into his mouth and laid on the bed, his eyes closed as he felt the calming sensation taking over his consciousness.

Back at the city of Valencia, a muscular figure stood before the north city gates, the figure's eyes pierced towards the encircling troops, and his might slightly revealed, 'Judging from their bodies, all of them are members of the Lion Race...'

'What are they doing, encircling my city?'

The figure's eyebrows locked, the elegant armor strapped on his body and the roaring bear insignia on his left chest indicated his position.

Despite the numbers and the sheer power that the Lion Race possessed, he still stood there, giving off a deterrence of his own.

The demi-human enclosure opened, revealing a majestic figure seating on a palanquin carried by five demi-humans, the figure near the city gates frowned, for the pressure that he felt from the individual in the palanquin clearly surpassed, everything that he felt in his entire life.

He didn't notice when, but his back started to shiver in cold sweat, however, on the outside, his face still looked as calm as ever as he faced the approaching palanquin.

He scanned the figures carrying the palanquin and found that they had a cultivation that was in the middle-stage of the Divine Ascendance Realm, for them to work for the figure inside that palanquin, it could only mean, one thing.

The silhouette inside was more powerful than them all, and most importantly, more powerful than him.

He gritted his teeth, trying his best to maintain his calm, he clasped his hands together and offered his greetings.

"Greetings, your majesty from the noble Lion Race."

His eyes lowered as he didn't dare to meet the figure eye to eye.

Silence descended over the area, it was only until five minutes had passed did the figure inside the palaquin, spoke, his tone cold and distant.

"Kneel."

It was only a simple word, but it was followed by a heavy and agonizing pressure which focused on the figure that stood near the gates, a fierce bang echoed, followed by him, kneeling down on the ground.

His eyes shone with a light of determination to fight back against the incorporeal pressure, however, no matter how much resistance he mustered, his body was unable to budge an inch.

"Don't fight back..." The figure in the palanquin spoke.

The man who kneeled on the ground startled, he softened his struggle and spoke in a solemn tone.

"I wonder, what is your majesty's business for this humble servant..."

"Business? It would be a waste of time to ask, I'll just search your soul and be over with it."

His eyes widened, he gritted his teeth and boosted his opposition with the entirety of his cultivation base. His power formed an incorporeal barrier that lessened the pressure that he felt, enabling him to stand up.

"Hoooh... A bit interesting..." The figure inside the palanquin commented, the man's eyes stared at the former with a brutal gaze.

"Soul Search? I won't let you humiliate me to that extent!" A suffocating aura exploded within his body, his armor shone with a brownish light and his hand transformed into that of a bear with sharpened claws.

The figure inside the palanquin chuckled, he merely moved the curtains that hid his image away and pointed towards the man.

"Soul Scour."

He spoke only a single word, yet the man's face stiffened, blood came out from his seven orifices as he kneeled down, never to stand up again.

The figure inside the palaquin gave a small smile as a stream of Qi flew towards his mind, giving him the information that he needed, he signaled to his troops and the encirclement around the city gradually disappeared, leaving the corpse of the City Mayor as they sped towards the distance.

With the help of jadeslip transmissions, news about the death of Valencia's City Mayor spread fast, the Sect Master summoned the two and said that they should immediately find a mount and hasten their pace towards the Divine Dragon Sect.

Before they left, Khan remembered the name of the Azure Dragon Village in his mind as they sped towards the Great Forest of Pride.

The Great Forest of Pride was one of the main borders separating the Divine Dragon Sect from the outside world, according to the tales that surrounded it, the Great Forest of Pride didn't have a clear demarcation and that it covered half of the continent.

Towards this rumors, Khan only smiled, for if he claimed to be the most knowledgeable about this forest, everyone who knew about him wouldn't dare to retort, for Khan truly knew everything about the forest.

But, of course, the current him felt excited about exploring the forest since his knowledge had a gap of a hundred thousand years, maybe, something that he knew back then didn't exist, anymore.

However, he didn't want to reveal his knowledge, for he didn't have something as an excuse, but judging from the smile suffused on his face, it was clear that he had an idea.

The Sect Master took a map from his spatial ring and scanned, he marked a spot on the map with his Qi and encircled an area on the map.

'He memorized the location of the Divine Dragon Sect?' Khan thought, according to his knowledge, the Sect Master correctly marked the location where the Divine Dragon Sect should be.

'Judging from our current location, the Divine Dragon Sect should at least be ten thousand kilometers away...' Khan thought, 'Looks like we really need to find a suitable mount since even I wouldn't want to walk through this dangerous forest...' He gave a wry smile, if he was at his peak, Khan would just walk through the forest like he was strolling through his backyard.

But for now, he would need to take the necessary precautions before he could challenge the dangers inside the forest.

The Sect Master handed them the same map that he had and several other jade bottles for antidote and recovery purposes.

"It would be inefficient to find a mount in a group, so we'll split up, but Khan, you stay here, you're injured after all."

Khan nodded towards the Sect Master.

"However, if you met a beast, try not to fight it and just crush this jade slip, I'll arrive within a minute."

Lily looked at Khan and infused him with her Qi, "This will make you somewhat immune to common poisons, but I prefer that you don't stray from here." Lily told him with a gaze full of warning, prompting Khan to awkwardly smile in return.

"Okay, I'll stay here, you guys go and find a suitable mount..." Khan gave a slight smile, looking at his smile, Lily frowned in suspicion, "I should really just stay here, Sect Master... Looking at this guy, he seems to be having some weird ideas..."

"What? No- I'll definitely stay here..." Khan retorted, the Sect Master sighed and said, "It's not like I don't want you to stay, but it would be much easier to subdue beasts using your Draconic Aura..."

"Why? You're a Divine Ascendance Realm Realm, Powerhouse, right?"

"Yeah, I am, but I would prefer to have them willingly submit under your royal pressure..." The Sect Master's eyes flashed with awkwardness.

Lily sighed, in the end, she agreed and the two sped towards the distance, Khan waved towards their disappearing backs, on his face an excited smile, 'As If I could just stay here!'

Khan's figure leaped towards the nearby trees and went towards a certain location within his mind, his movements looked fluid and stealthy, that his footsteps couldn't be heard.

Within several minutes, Khan arrived before a cave, his eyes shone with an eagerness, 'Back then, I planted some Immortality Peaches, if my memory serves me right, it should be right here and it should already be a hundred thousand years old!'

Khan's face became reddened, the thought of eating a hundred thousand years old Immortality Peach filled his mind. However, he didn't immediately approach for such a formidable natural treasure would certainly have a guardian around it.

He scoured around and found several signs that the cave was taken as a beast habitat, judging from the human-like footprints, it should be a Jade Titan Ape.

Khan enhanced his sensory nerves, and focused as he closed his eyes, feeling all the changes and vibrations in the air, his ears twitched, he felt a stream of water, just two hundred meters away.

He glanced at the skies and felt the scorching heat that the sun emanated, his lips leaked a cunning smile, "This should be the time where the guardian would restock his water supply and hunt for food, If I want to get those peaches, this time would be the best..." Khan murmured, bending his knees, he took a deep breath and extinguished his presence, he stuck around the walls and blended with nature.

This was Khan's greatest stealth ability. The Ever-Changing Form, one of the strongest ability when it comes to reconnaissance and stealing.

As he entered the cave, a strong medicinal scent struck his nostrils, Khan's figure twitched, his eyes darted towards the distance and there, he saw five peaches glowing with a pinkish light.

'Sure enough, It's ripe!' He exclaimed in his mind and gestured with his hand as a small thread of soul energy flew within his body towards the peaches, it wrapped around the peaches and brought it over towards Khan.

However, he didn't take everything, he only took three peaches, one for him, the Sect Master, one for Lily, and one for his father-in-law.

Khan slowly retreated towards outside, however, his face paled when he saw that the Jade Titan Ape had already arrived, and it was looking at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Damn, it! I underestimated its hunting ability! To think that the beasts around here were weak to the extent that this Ape wouldn't take at least an hour in hunting!" Khan inwardly cursed, he glanced at the Jade Titan Ape that held a pig-like beast on its hand with an awkward smile on his face.

"Oh, bro! How is it going? Woah, I see that you have some good food in there, especially that Earth Boar, Mhmm, just imagining it makes me drool!" Khan laughed, he waved towards the Jade Titan Ape as if he was speaking to a good friend, however, as he talked, his feet had already started to move towards the opposite direction.

"But unfortunately, bro. I still have some important matters to do, So I'll be off! See you later!" A booming sound echoed from Khan's feet as he desperately sped towards the distance, back at the gave, the Jade Titan Ape roared in anger, its cultivation base of the peak Divine Soul Realm exploded towards the skies, sending the entire forest into a ruckus.

An olden figure accompanied by an aquamarine-haired girl startled, the two of them looked towards the distance as an incredulous thought formed in their minds, 'C-could it be...'

the Sect Master glanced at a jadeslip and found that it was still intact, he sighed and continued his hunt with Lily.

Khan glanced at the speeding Ape behind him, he gritted his teeth and thought, 'Damn, it's a peak Divine Soul Realm beast!' Although he could fight with a peak Divine Soul Realm practitioner, he would surely worsen his injuries even more, and that was something that Khan didn't want to do.

He turned around, his face solemn and stared at the rushing Ape, the Ape abruptly stopped, it looked at Khan with a confused expression on its face, it wondered about the reason why the weak human before him stopped, and even looked at it with a serious face.

Khan took a huge breath, as he shouted in the Ancient Beast Language.

"Pre, kalma ka lang, apat lang yung kinuha ko!"

The Ape's eyes shone with a disbelieving light, 'This human knows how to speak the Beast Language?!' Its mouth opened wide in shock.

However, the reality presented itself, the human before it, really spoke in the Beast Language. The Ape hesitated for a moment before deciding to converse with the human.

"Anong kalma ang sinasabi mo, alam mo bang ilang taon kong binabantayan yang mga prutas nayan?!" Its eyes, once again reddened in anger.

Khan frowned, 'How persistent!'

"Tang ina pre, di mo ba alam na ako ang nagtanim nito dun?! Gago ka pala eh, taga bantay ka lang!" Khan huffed and puffed, speaking in the Ancient Beast Language evidently took a huge toll on his voicebox as he felt his voice becoming hoarse.

"ANONG SINABI MO? GAGO KA BA?!" It slapped on its chest and rushed towards Khan, the berserk light on its eyes indicated that it didn't want to hear about Khan's bullshit anymore.

Khan clicked his tongue and snapped the jadeslip that the Sect Master gave into pieces. Somewhere inside the forest, an olden figure twitched, his eyes glanced at a certain direction and disappeared with a roaring sound.

The figure beside her also utilized all her strength to follow the Sect Master, in her eyes, a worried luster could be seen.

Khan took a defensive stance, in return, the Ape raised its fist, carrying a huge amount of wind in the process, the prickly wind brushed through Khan's face, just from it alone, one could deduce the strength that the Ape had.

However, the light within Khan's eyes didn't falter, instead, he had an excited expression as his eyes narrowed in preparation for the Ape's attack.

Although he knew that he was no match for the Ape, he had experienced far more dangerous battles than this, how could he hesitate?

A buzzing sound rang, followed by a small thread of golden Qi that he wrapped around his right arm, Khan utilized the minimum amount of power that he could and went around the Ape's punch, thanks to its huge physique that spanned several meters, its movements looked sluggish in Khan's trained eyes.

The muscles all over his body bulged, looking as if it would burst from his clothes, he hugged the Ape's Fist and twisted, along with his own body.

The Ape's eyes widened in shock, for the force that he used with the punch dissipated and in turn, its body started to sway forwards.

A deafening sound reverberated across the entire forest, an innumerable amount of trees flattened down to the ground as dust flew towards the skies, atop a gigantic fallen figure, a reddish haired youth smiled, his foot stepped on the figures head.

With a violent twitching, Khan flew backward and witnessed the Ape standing up, its eyes clouded in infinite anger, it was the first time that it felt so angry that it wanted to annihilate the weak human before it.

Khan merely smiled to this sight, his eyes stared towards the sight as a dazzling golden figure descended before the Ape. The golden figure merely pointed as a burst of suffocating pressure enveloped the Ape.

The might that came from the golden figure exceeded that of everything that lived in this forest, for it was the might of a Divine Ascendance Realm Elder.

Several seconds after, an aquamarine figure landed beside Khan, her cheeks puffed, and her eyes reflected her emotions, Khan awkwardly smiled before explaining, "It's not what you think... It's just that, I found these peaches in a cave and thought that they may be delicious... Also, I'm feeling quite hungry..."

Khan started to spew some bullshit, of which, the golden figure of the Sect Master frowned, however, his eyes constricted when it landed on the peaches that Khan had on his arms.

"I-i-i-Immortality Peaches?!" the Sect Master hoarsely shouted, his figure could be seen intermittently trembling, never in his life did he felt this aggravated, but for this extremely rare natural treasure, he didn't even care about his image and just stared at the peaches with hungry eyes.

According to the legends surrounding the Immortality Peach, it doesn't actually give the curse of Immortality, instead, it unconditionally raises the eater's cultivation base depending on the eater's realm.

The higher the cultivation base of the eater, the lower its effects, if the Sect Master ate the fruit, he would become a half-step Divine Emperor Realm powerhouse while Lily's cultivation would jump a single stage from the middle stages of the Flesh Tempering to the peak.

"Oh, so these peaches are called Immortal Peaches? Sounds like it's really a good treasure." Khan nonchalantly spoke, causing the Sect Master to become aggrieved, by Khan's immense luck.

Khan thew a peach towards the Sect Master who clumsily caught it in his hands, he glanced at Khan and found that the latter was giving a small smile, "It's yours, I took four so we will each have a peach."

Seeing the smile on Khan's face, the Sect Master turned around and wiped something on his face, he once again faced the two and solemnly nodded his head before chomping down the peach.

Before he could exclaim about how delicious it was, a berserk energy exploded within his body, prompting him to sit down cross-legged as he diverted all of his attention into absorbing the energy from the peach.

Lily stared at Khan with a hesitant look on her face, "Is it really, okay? You're the one who found this..."

Khan chuckled, petter her head and said, "What are you saying, we're family, so you need not worry about that." Lily nodded her head and said no more as she wolfed down the peach and sat down, absorbing the gentle, yet fierce energy.

Khan glanced at the peach on his hand and sighed, although the power that comes from the peach was gentle, it also contained a ferocity that his current body couldn't ignore.

He pondered for a while, searching through his memory banks about a method to absorb this kind of energy without harming the body, after about several minutes of searching, he found a method and sat down cross-legged.

He took a patch of cloth from his sleeve and stared at the peach with a solemn look on his face. Eventually, he hastily devoured the peach and bit on the cloth in his hand.

The returned peacefulness of the forest didn't last long, for a hoarse suppressed groan resounded across it, sending everyone that heard it into cold shivers.