Return

As Hong Yue Xian waited for news from Luo Xiao, he used the time to consolidate his soul force and to upgrade his demon spirit. Thankfully, in the Nether Realm Legend rank demon spirits were not as rare as in Glory City, so Luo Xiao managed to collect close to twenty different kinds. It really made one sigh at the difference.

Two days passed, during which Hong Yue Xian finally managed to upgrade his demon spirit to 4 star Legend rank. In total he had to devour 8 demon spirits to achieve it. He stored the rest away and continued waiting, while cultivating.

On the third day he received good news. It seemed like Jade Seal family managed to capture a Legend rank expert. He was soon brought to Hong Yue Xian's compound. Hong Yue Xian was excited. He felt guilty for feeling delighted at what was equal to murdering a person, but it was already too late for second thoughts. With that resolve in mind he started another soul battle.

This time was a much harder fight than before, as, even though the expert was drugged, he was still a Legend rank. Even with poor control of soul force, he could still put Hong Yue Xian into a tough spot. If Hong Yue Xian did not focus all of his soul force in a single point, confronting quantity with quality, and used it to fight back, the battle might have turned out differently.

Hours after the soul battle, Hong Yue Xian finally stepped into the Legend rank. He tried walking on air and after an hour of practice managed to walk a few steps. Afterwards he was too exhausted so he went to sleep. After resting for a day and a night and feeling refreshed, he decided to absorb the memories of the Legend rank expert and noted anything of worth down before passing it on to Luo Jian.

It seemed like the information proved useful as the very next day two more Legend ranks were brought to him. One was captured, while the other was actually a member of the Jade Seal Family, who was secretly a spy and had his cover blown by Hong Yue Xian. Hong Yue Xian once again devoured their soul realms, however, this time he decided to see if he could consciously turn them into essence pellets, even though his soul force was not full. His experiment proved successful. He really could control whether to absorb the essence or to condense it into a pellet.

For the next week Hong Yue Xian devoured and condensed three more essence pellets, and provided a huge amount of intel to Luo Xiao. However, the sudden disappearances were starting to cause tensions in Blackrock City and since it was getting too risky, he stopped Luo Xiao and rewarded him handsomely.

It was ironic that a single Legend rank demon spirit in Glory City would be worth dozens of equipments with Gold rank inscriptions, while in the Nether Realm one Gold rank inscribed sword is equal if not more expensive than a Legend rank demon spirit crystal. So Hong Yue Xian did not feel a speck of loss from giving to Jade Seal Family any wine or equipment he had left in the storage rings. His profit from this trip was immeasurable.

Since he had achieved all he came to do, Hong Yue Xian bid the Jade Seal Family farewell, promising to do business with them again in the future, before setting off.

Hong Yue Xian left the Blackrock City and, after making sure no one followed him, headed to the secret passage. Now that he was a Legend rank he did not have to be as fearful of the journey but he knew not to be complacent, staying cautious along the way. His decision proved correct as he suddenly detected a Demigod expert approaching from the direction of the passage.

Hong Yue Xian quickly hid behind a nearby rock and concealed himself, before trying to figure out how he could tell that someone was coming closer and what their cultivation was. After all, he was not Nie Li with his godly powers. He tried to remember what alerted him first and realised that he smelled a certain scent and knew it was a Demigod rank expert. But how was that possible?

As he was deep in thought trying to come to grips with the bizarre phenomenon, an old man landed near the rock. The old man had a long beard white as snow and wise looking eyes. Hong Yue Xian knew straight away that he was Lord Ye Mo, the only Legend rank (Demigod rank) expert of Glory City who was here to keep an eye on the Dark Guild. Lord Ye Mo observed the area for a moment before leaving again in the direction of Blackrock City.

Once the old man left, Hong Yue Xian also hurried to leave the Nether Realm as he thought back. 'I could really smell Lord Ye Mo, or rather, I think I could smell his soul force. The smell was similar to the one Luo Xiao had, that of a Demigod rank. My soul form is a Soul Devouring Blood Wolf, perhaps it considers soul force as food and has an ability to detect and differentiate soul forces of others. I will need to test it out in the future. Now I need to hurry back home before the yearly auction.'

What to a Gold rank was an arduous journey of seven days, to a Legend rank was a relaxed two day walk. After spending the night in the woods and half a day travelling, Hong Yue Xian saw the Glory City once again. Compared to the Nether Realm it was a wonderful sight for sore eyes. To the natives of the Nether Realm Glory City might as well be considered a true Paradise.

As he passed the tall walls of the city, observed the lively streets, and felt the warm and carefree atmosphere, Hong Yue Xian could not help but think. 'I am home.'