Venerable H.

Hugh's face twitched in anger, each step he took was thought-out, and he even was using a spell to guide the group through the mist, yet, he had hit a dead end again.

-" This Bloody river again!" He threw his hands up in defeat, never thinking that he would find such a powerful formation in such a place. " Who the hell put this here?"

The entire group was awkward, they all wanted to ask him to calm down, but, not one of them had the gal to speak up to the legendary Hugh Lyons.

-' Mister Hugh... Isn't it better for us to go back?" Dennis finally had enough and decided to try to reason with his boss. " We won't have any progress if we keep going like this."

-" Go back? And what about the missing group?" Hugh's eyes were bloodshot, he had given his utmost against the formation, and he still was defeated.

-'" We can find others way..." Dennis also didn't want to retreat, but, it was clear that they were lost.

-" So be it then!" Hugh sighed as he looked at the mist. " Now... How can we get out of here?"

Hugh's question made everyone frown, he was the one guiding them, so they all thought that he could at least do that.

-" Y-Y-You don't know how to leave this place?"

-" My God! We are all done!" The old woman shouted as she realized that they were struck in the mist labyrinth.

Hugh was annoyed by how noisy the group was, to him, they were all overreacting, he always thought that adventure should have a certain danger to it. Hugh was about to order them to shut up when he noticed the mist around him trembling.

Everyone watched in surprise as the mist around them started to swirl and flow toward the north.

-" Did someone break the formation?" Hugh's eyes widened, this formation was something challenging to him, so he wondered who was the one responsible for not only breaking through the formation but, also deactivating it. " Follow the mist! It will take us to the center of the formation."

The entire group followed Hugh's instructions and followed the mist, taking them directly to the cave where Peter and Henry were at.

The entire group was anxious, they still had no idea who activated the Signal Crystal, and their worries only grew even more as they entered the cave and saw the carnage that happened there.

-" Are those monsters?" Dennis felt his heart drop, he didn't understand what was so many monster doing here.

-" Looks like the job here is already done." The old lady grinned, at first, she was worried that the Signal Crystal was a call for help, but now, she was sure that the person who activated the crystal had found something.

The group was about to continue heading deeper into the cave when they noticed someone approaching them.

The entire group prepared for battle, but, they all lowered their guards as they recognized who the man was.

-" Peter?" Dennis bit his lip as he saw Peter's injured body, he couldn't imagine how much he went through, yet, what truly shocked him was the girl that Peter was carrying in his back.

-" You guys finally arrived." Peter was relieved as he found the group, he was afraid that they couldn't make it past the mist. " How did you guys get through the strange mist?"

-" The mist? It simply went away, I thought that it was you that did it." The old woman looked at the girl in PEter's back and continued. " Peter? Is she your daughter?"

Peter smiled as he looked at his daughter. " Thank god she is safe... The rest of the missing people are in the last room, Hen——" Peter stopped as he remembered that Henry wanted to keep his identity a secret. "Venerable H is there."

-" Venerable H?" The old woman was confused, she knew Peter quite well, and while he wasn't exactly a powerhouse, he was someone that could be considered quite powerful, so the person needed to be quite powerful for Peter to call him like that.

-" He is the one who found this place, and i think that the mist dissipating was his doing too." Peter was puzzled, he couldn't really tell if Henry was a powerful cultivator or not, Peter knew that Henry had carried this trip on his back, he was even sure that Henry had lied about the Titanium Maw Turtle retreating.

-" Oh? He must be quite interesting then." Hugh's eyes shone in excitement, he was itching to learn who the man broke through the formation. " Why don't we go over and greet this Venerable H?"

-" Greetings to Mister Hugh." Peter gave him an awkward bow as he couldn't lower his back too much due to his daughter, he was quite nervous as he didn't notice the presence of such a powerful man.

Hugh gave him a quick nod before heading deeper into the cave, he felt a strange sense of nervousness that made him reminisce about the times he meet the powerhouses of his younger days, however, Hugh was instantly let down as he gazed at the masked man.

The man barely had energy in his body, Hugh wasn't even sure if the man was at the peak of the first circle. -" Are you Venerable H?" His eyes were full of suspicions as he didn't want to admit that someone so weak could deal with the formation, even more, after Hugh himself had failed in breaking through it.

Henry ordered the system to analyze the man's cultivation as he felt the suspicions in his eyes. " I suppose that the mist is already gone?" Henry smiled at the man, trying his best to pass a profound impression on the man.

-" You have my thanks for that." Hugh's suspicions wavered as the man mentioned the mist, but, he still wasn't convinced about the man's power. " May I ask how did you find the way out of the mist?"

Henry let out a wry laugh, if the man had asked him this question a few minutes ago he would have to create some lie to cover it, but, he now finally understood what the mist truly was.

Henry gazed at the system's inventory and selected the dark stone he found in the small room.

-' Soul Realm Stone - High Grade - Seventh Level of the Sentinel Realm -' Henry had almost fainted as he first saw the stone description, this was his first treasure that surpassed the Human Realm

-" How did I navigate the mist?" Henry got up and continued to laugh. " That mist is from the Soul Realm... Of course, I used my soul to navigate it."

-" Used your soul to navigate it?" The masked man's words made Hugh surprised. " What do you mean by that?"

-" You use your eyes to see the material words... so it's obvious that you should use your soul to sense the Soul Realm." Henry was almost sure that his theory, he had come up with this explanation after seeing how the mist returned to the stone after he had taken the mana stone away from the circle.

-" Use your soul to sense the soul realm..." Hugh was shocked beyond words, Souls Studies were a mystery for most of the cultivators of this continent as this art was lost eons ago. " That is truly enlightening, I thank you for this guidance." Hugh bowed to the mysterious man in gratitude.

The entire group saw how courteous Hugh was to the masked man, so they all thought of him as an expert even stronger than Hugh.

Even Hugh himself had thrown away his suspicions about the man's capabilities, after all, the man had already proven himself by conquering the formation.

-" Peter told us that you were the one who found this location." The old woman took the lead and bowed to the mysterious man. " Thank you, your help won't go unpaid, if you ever need something don't hesitate to ask it."

The entire group followed her actions and bowed to the man, only after thanking the mysterious cultivator they went around the room looking for their family members.

Henry was happy with the outcome of this trip, initially, he never expected to find Peter's daughter alive, even more, the entire group.

-" Everyone gather around! I will take us to the city." Hugh sighed as he saw how many people were unconscious.

The group was relieved to receive Hugh's help, there were too many people here and even the entire group would have trouble bringing them back to the nearest city.

-" Venerable H... Why don't you come with us?" Hugh saw that the mysterious cultivator and Peter didn't come and frowned, he wanted to use the opportunity to chat with him about Souls Studies a bit more.

-" I still have some matters to resolve in this place." All Henry wanted now was to escape the sights of the old man, especially now that the system had shown the man cultivation.

-' Hugh Lyons - Sixth Circle of the Journeyman Mage Realm - Second Level of the Body Forging Realm.' This old man was the most powerful person Henry had ever seen, and Henry had decided to never appear in the old's man vision again.

-" Are you sure? If you want we can wait until you finish this matter." Hugh insisted, he knew that it would be hard for him to get another chance of learning about Soul Studies again.

-" I'm sorry, but, what I have to deal with is some personal matters..." Henry cursed in his head, he didn't understand why the old man was insisting so much, and finally used his trump card. " You should take them to a healer before is too late, they had their souls injured, so giving them a Calming Herb or two may help."

The faces of the entire group darkened as they learned about the dire states of the unconscious people and they all started to ask Hugh to complete the teleport.

Henry let out a deep breath in relief as he took out his mask. " Thank god!" Henry didn't want to return to the city with the group as he knew that they would keep throwing questions at him, and most of all, they would likely discover his real identity.

-" Can we go now?" Peter had chosen to stay with Henry, the two of them had come together and he wanted to leave with him.

-" Of course." Henry smiled as he looked around the cave, he longed for his courtyard and the usual routine of gathering herbs and cultivating, which he found quite ironic as just a day or two ago he was going crazy looking for an adventure.