Scarlet

Ray gritted his teeth and descended from the sky at his extreme full speed with his lightning wings pointed downwards, acting as a makeshift weapon. Creating a trail of shockwaves, he was a like a meteor falling from the sky.

Bryan and Ash were ready to follow up if any mishap occurs.

Not even a second had passed before Ray accurately smashed into the beast's head.

*BOOM*

Stones and dust were sent flying away and a massive crater was formed from the point of impact. The surrounding trees were obliterated and lightning crackled in the air.

Bryan and Ash had to go a few steps back due to the fierce explosion.

Once the dust had settled, the two saw the aftermath of the attack. Ray's wings had smashed the beast's head into actual meat paste. Gory pieces of flesh scattered around him and upon closer inspection, there was not a single sign of life from the beast.

Ray was standing with a smile etched on to his face. He declared, "The beast is dead!"

Bryan and Ash pumped their fists and roared at the sky in excitement and elation.

*Sizzle*

Small streams of smoke emanated from Ray's body as he knew that he reached the Bloodline Transformation's time limit.

"Oh fuck, this is gonna hurt a lot…" Ray wryly muttered.

The lines on his body faded away and the ancient aura disappeared along with his transformation boosts. The Lightning Wings also disappeared and he returned back to normal.

He instantly flopped onto the ground.

*Swoosh*

Bryan and Ash quickly dashed forwards and knelt beside him, holding him on their arms.

"He's unconscious." Bryan said as he lifted Ray onto his back.

"Yeah, that was a tough ass battle." Ash sighed and said, "But what a fucking day!"

"We need to get compensated for defeating a Rank 3 beast, that too in its peak stage."

Bryan frowned and muttered, "It's so weird though. How can a Rank 3 beast appear near the vicinity of the city?"

[Ding]

[A reminder!

You can store the beasts' body in the system's inventory. The body's state will be preserved with no signs of deterioration.]

"Oh, that's nice to hear." Ash said as he pressed his hand on the headless beast. The beast disappeared and appeared in Ash's inventory, occupying one slot.

They scuttered back to the for Ray to rest and heal. The village thankfully wasn't caught up with their fights, only 1-2 houses were partly destroyed due to the initial bout of exchange.

The Village Chief and the villagers hurriedly and gratefully thanked them, well only Bryan and Ash since Ray was still on the bed recuperating. The villagers also offered some medicinal herbs to help boost his recovery.

The two interestingly noticed that Ray's body was automatically healing itself at a rapid pace, but the injuries were quite major so it would take some time.

The two figured out that it must be a passive ability of his Eternal Lightning Bloodline. They wondered if they had it as well but they were not stupid enough to inflict damage on to themselves.

What was even more interesting was that they felt their unlocked apex points were consolidated and sturdier after the intense battle. This gave them a clue that fighting more equally intense battles will help them in their cultivation. The two sat beside Ray and started cultivating from boredom.

*Cough*

After a few hours, they opened their eyes and heard a slight cough from the bed. They immediately stood up and appeared beside Ray.

Ray felt every kind of soreness all over his body but at least his body felt better compared to before. He could smell a strong medicinal scent permeating the room. He opened his eyes with difficulty and saw both Bryan and Ash beside his bed.

"Ugh…"

"Finally awake?" Ash chuckled.

Bryan nodded and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess." Ray smiled.

Bryan gave him a thumbs up, "You did good!"

Ray chuckled but wheezed in slight pain, "All thanks to your great plan."

"But this fight reminded me of something." Ash spoke up.

"What?"

"We need more skills in our arsenal." Ash stared at both of them.

-The next day-

After some more hours of resting, Ray had recovered completely but the villagers insisted on having a small party. The three didn't refuse the opportunity to party and they had loads of fun.

The three were at the gate of the Forsha Village, waving good byes and ready to leave.

A small girl, around the age of 13, popped out of the crowd and presented a red flower to Ray.

"Come again, elder brothers~!" The girl cheerfully clapped and spoke.

"What's your name, little girl?" Ash asked with a smile.

The young girl pointed at herself and answered excitedly, "I'm Liah!"

Ray chuckled and gently rubbed her head.

[Divine Physique detected!

3-Lotus Spirit Physique (Dormant)]

'WTF!'

The three widened their eyes at the discovery. They stared at the oblivious girl with surprise. They truly hadn't expected this. Ray felt this was an opportunity but he or the other two didn't have anything to give her yet.

They soon left the village and went on their way back to the sect.

"We have to come back and give her a badge or something." Ray spoke up.

Bryan nodded, "Yeah, we better inform one of the elders."

"What's even more interesting is that the system revealed and identified the physique for us." Ash rubbed his chin.

"Maybe, the system can do more in the future?" Bryan contemplated.

"System, can you tell us more about it?"

[Upon physical contact, the system will reveal a divine physique or a divine bloodline, if found.]

"Ohh!"

"So, we have to make physical contact every time?" Ray tilted his head.

"Wouldn't that make us look weird? Us trying to constantly touch people?" Ash chuckled.

"We're not stupid to do that. If chance wills it, then so be it." Bryan bluntly said.

'Hmm, this new feature does give me a good idea but it's way too early to implement it.' Ray was in deep thought.

The sound of hooves galloping on the ground interrupted his thought process as he and the other two turned around to see a fancy carriage breezing through the road behind them.

The two ebony horses donned a white shiny armour, elegantly pulling the carriage. The coachman was a middle-aged man with a stout expression and sharp eyes.

The coachman saw three young men beside the road but ignored them as does a normal human. His ears perked up and he suddenly reigned in the horses, slowing down right beside the three young men.

Ray, Bryan and Ash were obviously interested in the situation and simply waited for the other to respond first.

"Excuse me, young men. Are you three heading towards the Celana City?" The coachman asked in a dignified manner.

"Yes, we are." Ray nodded and answered.

"Since we share the same destination, the young miss has invited you three to board the carriage." The coachman continued.

"Oh." Ray lightly exclaimed.

Bryan accepted the invitation, "Sure, we'd like to accept the invitation."

Ash opened the carriage door and a sweet fragrance wafted over but this didn't surprise them considering the number of times they have experienced stronger or worse scents back on Earth.

They sat on one side of the carriage as a sign of respect and politeness to the host. Sitting on the opposite side was a young girl, wearing a lavender ankle-length dress. She had a light-complexion, rosy lips and a pair of unperturbed eyes. Her lustrous black hair was accompanied along with a flowery white hat.

All in all, the three felt that she was beautiful in the pure sense. Of course, they didn't exhibit any signs of rudeness.

'She could definitely be a model on Earth.' Bryan mused.

"Thank you for having us." Ray politely thanked her.

The young miss simply waved her hand and said with a smile, "It's nice to be accompanied with handsome young men like yourselves."

Bryan replied in courtesy, "You're beautiful yourself."

"May I know your names?" The young miss curiously asked.

"I'm Ash, this is Bryan and the last one is Ray." Ash spoke up.

"And yes, we're best friends." Bryan added.

The young girl's eyes twinkled with fascination. It was her first time meeting young men like them. They each had unique looks and they didn't stare at her with disrespectful gazes.

"And you?" Ray was curious himself.

The young miss was surprised and said, "You don't know who I am?"

"Are we supposed to?" Ash tilted his head in confusion.

'She must be a part of one those major powers residing in the city.' Ray instantly thought.

"My name is Shery Scarlet of the Scarlet Clan." The young miss, Shery Scarlet introduced herself.

Despite introducing herself, they just nodded and didn't have any absurd reactions. This just confused her immensely. Her clan was well-known amongst many and was very powerful in the Celana City. She thought her clan's fame reached far and wide but seeing the reactions of the young men in front of her, she suddenly doubted that.

"If I may ask, do you have any business in the city?" Curiosity took over her mind.

"Nope." Ash answered straightforwardly.

"Oh."

Not before long, the carriage had arrived in the city. One thing the three noticed was the people on the street respectfully gave them way, signifying her status in the city.

Despite wanting to hurry up back to the sect, the three were still curious towards the world like newborn babies so they didn't reject Shery's offer for a small tea talk at her residence.

The carriage came before massive multiple mansions and residences enclosed within a fancy fence. At the entrance was a huge white gate, emboldened and engraved with the words 'Scarlet Clan'.

"WELCOME BACK, YOUNG MISS!"

"WELCOME BACK, YOUNG MISS!"

The guards and the maids resoundingly welcomed their young miss. The carriage door opened and the maids tended to her.

What they didn't expect was for three random young me to come out after the young miss. What's more they were handsome and exuded a foreign aura.

A middle-aged man came out of the center mansion, who seemed to look like a butler. He came forwards to the young miss and bowed with a hand on his left chest, "Welcome back, young miss."

"Thank you, Dillon."

"I request for the young miss to follow me to the meeting hall. We have some guests from the Shine Association."

Shery frowned but nonetheless still nodded.

She looked at Ray and asked, "Would you three like to accompany me?"

Bryan was about to refuse but Ray quickly answered, "Sure."

The butler didn't say anything and led them to the meeting hall.

Meanwhile, Bryan aggressively whispered to Ray, "What is wrong with you? Why do you want to meddle with someone's business that has no relation to us at all?"

"I'm curious, man." Ray patted his back. Bryan shook his head with a sigh and Ash simply smiled.

Soon enough, they arrived before a massive hall with illustrious lightnings and fancy decorations, befitting of a large clan.

Not wanting to meddle in any further, Bryan dragged the other two and simply stood in a random corner away from the center of attention.

At the center of the hall, there were two parties on either side of the center table. On one end, there was a middle-aged man who resembled Shery in many ways. He is Samuel Scarlet, the current leader of the Scarlet Clan. He is also accompanied with his wife and Shery's mother, Stella Scarlet.

On the other side of the table, were three individuals. On the forefront was a yellow-robed middle-aged man with a similar bearing to Samuel Scarlet. He is the current leader of the Shine Association, Alden Baroff. Beside him was his young son, Belric Baroff and his butler accompanying him.

"So, what do you think about the proposal, Samuel?" A hearty voice sounded out from Alden.