Dysfunctional Little Brother

As the morning sun rose, two figures stood several meters away from a wooden bridge that crossed over a deep abyss-like chasm and into an endless forest.

Naturally, these two figures were Athena and Blade, after spending a day and a night inside the nearby city approached the borders of Forbidden Zone 029.

With a fairly massive chart that was filled with depictions of special places and danger zones inside Forbidden Zone 029 in his grasp, Blade smiled.

"You trust that old man? Isn't it entirely possible that this map is simply a scam to make money off of cultivators wishing to enter this place for their first time?"

Seeing the smiling face Blade adorned, she wasn't dazzled as her resistance had amplified a few levels over the past few days, but more importantly, she was worried.

It had gone far too smoothly for her liking. Something as special as this map which depicts the safety zones, the danger zones, and all the places that contain treasures, such a map would surely be very hard to get hands-on...

But, the only thing they paid, though it was a large sum of Spirit Stones, for Athena, and even Blade after he accepted the kind gestures of giving from the City Lord and Peng Clan leader, this sum was barely worth a dent in their savings.

So without batting an eye, even shocking the old man by how casual they were, Athena easily took out a few hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

"Hehe... Of course, something isn't right. Well, you'll see very soon what exactly is wrong and what foolish ideas have taken place. You should learn from this too, after all, I wouldn't always be with you, now would I... Hehe."

Cackling lightly, Blade seemed to be in a splendid mode as he then gestured for Athena to follow behind.

Not even explaining what his words meant left Athena confused but, she still didn't question them.

Since Blade said that soon everything will be revealed... Then everything must be in his control, right? Athena thought. And with these thoughts, the duo walked across the bridge.

On the other end, there wasn't much to it besides a misty appearance. A normal person wouldn't even be able to see what was in front of them.

Passing through the mist with relative ease, they entered what could be said a magical location.

Firstly, the place was expansive. Truly expansive. So much so that, a few hundred meters away, Blade caught sight of the first tree-like object.

But, the only thing was, this tree was the biggest tree he had seen in his life, and just the sight of it left Blade momentarily shocked.

To make it easier to understand, the tree was hundreds of meters away yet, Blade was under the shade of its leaves in his location. As soon as one entered, the sight of the sun would forever be lost due to the immense covering by the leaves.

Yes, the tree expanded across hundreds of meters. And, this was simply one tree as within Blade's vision, with the vision of a Martial King, he could see as many trees as a regular forest... Or probably more.

"Let's go!"

Escaping the moment of shock, Blade stared down the map for a few moments, memorizing multiple depictions before his body flickered. Athena also followed behind him quietly.

But, at the same time, several figures suddenly appeared. Mostly behind Blade, obstructing him and Athena from having a clear path to return to the bridge that connected the Forbidden Zone 029, and the Limitless Sky Continent.

"Oh!" Blade grunted in surprise. "This was much quicker than I expected. It seems you guys are lacking, so you can't wait for even a little now can you?" Casually saying, a slight smirk etched onto his face.

"Quite the big talk coming from a dead little brat." The one to speak was large and bulky as he had a massive battle axe strapped around his back. The casualness Blade continued to express made it seem like he had expected this.

"Humph! Foolishly flaunting Spirit Stones... Stupid brat from a rich family!"

"Why don't you give us your space rings and let us enjoy both of you for a while, surely, we'll leave you alive and well."

"What are you talking about, after experiencing my little brother, both of them wouldn't bare to separate from me!"

As the group of more than thirty was jolly, laughing with their comrades, even the leader not taking Blade and Athena seriously, the former glanced towards the latter, saying...

"Do you see now? Your mistake..." Blade once more said casually. He didn't mind the words of pitiful people. Whatever vulgar threats they proclaimed, it didn't affect him even slightly.

"Ah! Yeah, from the looks of it, they should be connected to the old man." Athena placed two together and concluded. Naturally, she now understood Blade's words before entering Forbidden Zone 029.

"Oi... You two... Are ya ignoring us?" The leader seemed slightly taken aback. For a moment, silence descended.

Haha... Hahahahaha!

Bellows of laughter resounded in the surroundings. Not just the leader, but the whole group had begun laughing.

"What are you people laughing at..?" Deciding to play along, Blade asked with his hands on his waist. His long purple hair slowly lifted as his powerful voice reverberated in the minds of these bandits.

"Oh... She's a man!"

"Well, isn't that even better? A cutey with a fierce attitude... Trying to act all high hehe, I must admit, my guilty pleasure is straightening you noble people with my heavenly rod." The bandit leader said, simultaneously glancing at his rising member as even with pants, it was possible to see the out print.

"Big boss... please, let me handle him... please, share this one with us!" Some began laughing and talking once more. Their expressions were seemingly even more jolly.

"Am, Blade, why does it seem like..." Athena placed a finger on her chin. But, before she could finish, Blade continued her sentence.

"As if, wherever I go, there are always some people with, hmm... special tastes." He sighed, shaking his head. It wasn't just one young master now, but a whole group as the worst part was...

"You people are the kind I hate the most. You are disgusting, unable to control your desires, and the worst part of all, not one of you is even half decent in appearance. I'm pretty sure, your little brothers are all dysfunctional and contain countless little diseases from using overly used goods~!"

Thrum!

Once more, silence descended. If before, it was the eve before jolly laughter, then at this moment, this was the eve of an angered outburst. But, before they had the chance to express their anger...

Shing~!

A sharp multi-colored and an elegantly designed sword appeared in Blade's hand. With it came a dreadful aura of bloodthirst and death! At this moment, Athena's space ring flashed simultaneously, as a blood-red spear appeared in her hand.

She had a lot of spears, and this one, in particular, was solely for slaughter. Yes, this was the perk that came with a useful master, so at this moment, with the appearance and then words of these bandits, coupled with the facts of Athena's master's usefulness, Blade was truly angered.

Buzz!

Before any of the bandits could react, a buzzing sound entered their ears. Right after this sound was heard, another loud and ear-deafening sound followed.

Instantly, Blade appeared several tens of meters away and in front of the group's leader, slashing his sword with the force of a Low-Level Martial King!

Shockingly, relying on pure instinct, the group leader was able to react. His battle axe appeared in front of him, obstructing Blade's sword's path.

Clang! Fwoosh!

A furious explosion took place right after as the bandit leader was sent flying from the collision.

Even though the leader of the group of bandits was also a Martial King, several factors resulted in Blade's absolute strength, sending him flying.

But, the most glaring wasn't how he underestimated Blade greatly, presuming him to be another noble young fellow but, the absolute unfairness known as Blade himself.

Not to mention Beasts who had strength normally at least ten times as strong as humans of the same level, and the fact that this group leader could be said to be average at best, but Blade's strength, even compared to Beasts of the same level, was leagues above.

And when compared to the group leader, there shouldn't ever be a comparison or one would simply be humiliating the poor fellow.

Before he could stop his body, Blade had already flickered, appearing by his side, slashing outwards casually once again.

Lightning purple in color flashed in his eyes and on his sword as it tore apart the wind and straight through the unprotected skin of the Bandit group leader.

In the case of a second, a Martial King is dead..!

Turning his gaze, he saw a blur and also several heads flying to the skies. Smiling to himself, he turned his attention back to the burly fellow limply falling to the ground.

More importantly, the space ring. Something that contained an actual map of this place since, it was highly likely, his map was a fake.