A Letter Without Words

The next day, as Han Sen and Annie were leaving, Liu Meng was nowhere to be seen. His face had been beaten and bruised. Thinking it wasn't appropriate for the young scion of the Lan Te family to be seen in such a state, the housekeeper accompanied them on their exit.

Before they boarded the starship, the housekeeper gave a gift to Han Sen and Annie each. He told them they were gifts from Liu Meng.

After sitting down and unwrapping her gift, Annie was taken aback by the presence of sparkling jewelry within. They had been created by the finest of craftsmen of the Alliance.

Upon opening his box, Han Sen was greeted with the sword he had fought Liu Meng for. The broken sword named Taia was within.

"Why were you given a copper sword?" Annie did not know about the significance of this sword, and she merely believed it to be a relic or artpiece.

"This is was at the crux of our gambit." Han Sen smiled.

"Does that mean you won the fight?" Annie didn't really care much, but she still asked to make conversation.

"No." Han Sen shook his head.

Liu Meng did not open his third gene lock for the duration of the fight, and Han Sen did not use his super king spirit mode. Neither of them broke the defense of the other, and it resulted in a stalemate. Nobody won.

Liu Meng had more geno points than Han Sen. If Han Sen had as many mutant and sacred-blood geno points as Liu Ming did, he would have defeated him without issue. With strength like that, he could obliterate Odin's Eye.

But that would also result in it being a life or death fight; a fatality could easily occur. And seeing as they weren't actually enemies, Han Sen saw no reason to push Liu Meng so far.

Annie didn't ask any more questions about the gift he had received. She didn't know the nature of it, and neither was she really interested. She believed it to be a nice little decoration, and she was content in thinking that.

Picking up the sword, Han Sen saw an envelope lying below it. When Han Sen opened it, there was a plain white parchment inside with no text on it. It was empty.

"Why is there nothing written on it?" Annie asked.

"Who knows." Han Sen crumpled the paper in his fist and incinerated it with a fire born of his hands. Then he looked to the stars in the sky.

When he arrived home, he examined the Taia sword with greater care. The handle was not its original, and he noticed it had been forged of z-steel. It had later been plated with the copper scales of some beast. All-in-all, it seemed to match the blade well.

The copper sword looked a little red, and it looked rough. The tip of the broken blade was craggy and vicious-looking.

Han Sen could feel the lifeforce in the sword.

Han Sen gave it a swing and appreciated the feel he got from it. Still, it wasn't perfect. The blade was not complete, and as such, it lacked the precise balance the most exceptional blades typically possessed.

"The other half of this blade belongs to the Qin family. Even if I managed to retrieve it, it'd be useless. It's harder than z-steel, so how in the sanctuaries would I be able to reforge it? Still, there's always the possibility I could forge a whole other sword with the other half. Then, by dual-wielding, I could use Dual Fly sword skills." For now, Han Sen was going to use Taia and the red dagger. After giving it a quick go, they felt good in his hands. He was comfortable using them.

After that, Han Sen went to the Saint Hall community in search of a fire hyper geno art.

It wasn't long before he saw an S-Class skill named "Phoenix." Without hesitation, he bought it.

It was not too dissimilar from Phoenix King's phoenix body. It was a protective skill that required Nirvana for its learning.

Han Sen, of course, did not need that. His proficiency with the fire element was exceptional, and he could merely simulate Phoenix King's energy flow for the direct practice of Phoenix.

As expected, Han Sen learnt it with ease. He figured it would not be long before he could use it in combat.

Han Sen decided to return to Thorn Shelter, with Annie's bow in-hand once again. Although Thorn Shelter had not decided to retaliate, their presence there was still a concern.

To weaken them further, Han Sen planned to assassinate as many creatures as he could.

Heading through the forest, Han Sen wanted to pay Tie Yi a visit first. He wanted to learn more about Thorn Shelter.

Before he reached Fish Valley, he saw the bodies of many creatures strewn about, and many more creatures locked in combat with one-another.

"What the hell happened here?" Han Sen quickly hid his presence and snuck closer to get a look at what was going on.

"Caw!" A golden bird flew across the battlefield, unleashing a barrage of wind blades to slay many of the creatures down below.

"Tie Yi?" Han Sen saw Tie Yi fighting a creature, and he was heavily injured.

Making use of Taia, Han Sen sprung forward to severe the head of a primitive creature from its body.

"Tie Yi, what happened here?" Han Sen asked, while holding him.

"The Holy-Flame King lost the war. Thunder-King took Nine-Wish Mountain. Thunder-King's son, Thunder-Devil King, is coming. Thorn Shelter is done for," Tie Yi painfully explained.

"Thunder-Devil King?" Han Sen had once killed him in the spirit base, much to the spirit's embarrassment. He found it difficult to believe that same spirit was now trying to conquer this area.

"I signed a contract with the baron. I can't leave, even if it results in my death on this battlefield. If you want your people to survive what is to come, lead them into the forest and never look back," Tie Yi mournfully said.

"Stay here and hide. Get to safety. I'm going to try and take her spirit stone. If I do that, you will be free." Han Sen took Tie Yi to a hidden location.

"Don't go! Thunder-Devil King is much stronger than Thorn Baron. Thorn Shelter is lost," Tie Yi said.

"I'll be right back." Han Sen snuck towards Thorn Shelter.

Han Sen kept his presence hidden, and no creature across the battlefield was alerted to his coming. He killed a few that were close to seeing him, and soon arrived at Thorn Shelter.