Crow and the old man

"Senior, how do we address you?" Being the one with the higher ranking identity here, Nightin cupped his hands and asked politely.

"You two can just call me Crow, don't pry into my affairs once you're in the Oracle kingdom as well, unless you're prepared to face off against an expert in the Overlord realm."

"Senior Crow, pardon me if this sounds rude, but don't you think that it's too abrupt of you to be inviting me this courteously?" Nightin questioned back, his discerning eyes whispering into his head that things aren't as simple as it seems on the surface.

"Young lad, you're thinking too much into this. I'm only doing this to fulfill my duties as the royale servant of the grand oracle." Crow explained, but the haughtiness and disdain in his voice was clear, he was threatening them to follow him.

"You won't want to force my hands, you may be stronger than me, but do you think that I would have made it far without any ace up my sleeve?" Nightin threatened back, his sword energy rampaging around him.

"Follow me if you still want to live, unless you've seen enough of this broken world." Crow said, determined to keep his identity a secret.

"What do you mean by broken world? If I'm not wrong, you aren't someone from the oracle race or kingdom, you're merely a personal servant of the grand oracle." Nightin stated without fear, each sentence of his stabbing into the heart of Crow.

This young lad would have already been dead if not for the master's orders. "You don't get to question me, secondly, I don't recall claiming that I have no ties to the Oracle kingdom."

"Of course, you're just a traitor waiting for the perfect moment to ambush and kill the grand oracle. After all, you've already waited for hundreds of years, a few more years wouldn't hurt." Nightin smirked coldly before retreating backwards, pulling Alexander back with him.

"Space zone!" With a single thought, the scroll behind Alexander's back dashed forward and covered a wide area full of stars before returning to them.

"Sect master, his movement speed should be slowed down slightly in that time zone, make use of this chance to escape." Alexander told Nightin as they increased their speed once again.

"Grasp of the crow!" Suddenly, the ground beneath Nightin and Alexander trembled as a gigantic black hand spiked up and blocked their way. Retreating backwards, they realised that Crow had already approached them silently.

"Pretty smart of you two, but you two must have underestimated my strength to come up with some foolish sorceries." From behind, crow grabbed their necks with his two skinny hands wearing a tight fitting black glove.

"I have to be honest though, it wasn't easy for the two of you to arrive at the conclusion that I don't serve the Oracle kingdom when I didn't leave behind any loopholes." Crow said while laughing in a sinister manner with a scythe in hand.

"Just what is it that you want? If it's my life that you want, then I would recommend you to back down right now." Nightin replied coldly, the cold metal on the scythe triggering nothing but his laughter.

"What do I want? My master has been paying attention to you for some time now and after performing a background check, he realised that you definitely hold some secrets or your strength wouldn't have progressed that immensely."

"You want the secret?"

"Of course, be a good boy and tell me the secret right now, I might even break my taboo and leave behind a full corpse of you."

"You know what?"

Right when Crow was about to ask, he took out a talisman and threw it towards Crow before retreating.

Five mins ago, "System, what is the strongest talisman I can get with all the system coins I have with me at the moment."

"Ding!"

"There are three possible choices which are going to be listed below, please take a look."

[Earthquake talisman: Causes a tremor which will affect any cultivator regardless of their cultivation, effects may weaken according to the strength of the cultivator]

Without any hesitation, Nightin skipped past this option.

[Gale talisman: Instantly increases movement speed by ten times for five seconds]

Possible, but it would still be too slow.

[Mirror talisman: Goes back to where you were an hour ago instantly]

At that point of time, Nightin had already purchased the talisman. But he was cunning and waited for the perfect moment to make full use of it.

"Too bad, this whole place is under my surveillance, you wanting to escape is nothing but false hope for yourself." Crow laughed before taking his time to catch up, the distance between them closed up in just a few steps.

Is this really the end for us?

Nightin was about to strike back when someone tugged at him and Alexander from behind, pulling them into the portal he opened up before anyone present could react, not even Crow.

This aura, how is he still alive? Vanishing from the spot, Crow hurriedly made his way back to the kingdom to report this matter, it concerned the survival of their kingdom.

When Nightin regained consciousness, he realised that Alexander was still unconscious. Looking up, he realised that this place was well furnished, even the ceiling lights were top grade chandeliers that were fragile as grass, but even more dazzling than the stars.

The bed he was laying on, was simple but royale, the mattress felt soft and provided recovery support to his amazement. Maybe that's why I'm already conscious, Nightin thought to himself while standing up gradually.

"Young lad, open up the second drawer to the cabinet on your left, take whatever is within the box and use it." The voice of the person who kidnapped them said to him through a voice message, looking around, Nightin realised that it was from a radio.

This person is weird. Nightin thought to himself, yet still doing as told. Pulling the drawer open, he saw a box and was amazed by its intricate design, the exterior was freezing to the bones even for him as he hurriedly placed it down on the table. On it, flowers were carved as they intercrossed with icy vines, making the contents within seem mysterious as Nightin slowly opened the box.

Just what is the intention of the person who kidnapped us here? Nightin thought to himself while enveloping his body in spirit energy, ensuring that his blazing cloak was being put on before opening the box.

The moment he pulled open the box, the freezing chill devoured the room and made this place its territory, but Nightin could tell that it meant no malicious intent or Nightin would have already been dead.

"Don't worry, I mean no harm." Came the voice from the box.

Before long, a wisp of ice energy arose from the box. When Nightin peered into it, he realised that it was the pearl speaking to him.

Am I supposed to consume a living pearl? Nightin worried for a moment as this notion came to mind, but soon calmed down when the pearl spoke to him once again.

"Don't worry, I'm only a voice message contained within this pearl, my soul and mind had already dispersed when the Ancient Origin era ended." When the pearl spoke, Nightin realised that its voice was feminine and held a demeanor that only the nobility would have.

Keeping silent, Nightin remained quiet and was about to continue to listen when Alexander suddenly woke up with a groan.

Without any hesitation, Nightin made use of his samsara law to send Alexander back to sleep, only to realise that the person who kidnapped him was standing at the doorstep.

He was an old man, but tall with a muscular build. His hair showing shades of grey and black having lost their luster due to old age, but his eyes with the final sparks of life at its brightest.

"What is it?" Nightin asked, his gaze still fixated on the pearl.

"The pearl might not have mentioned it, but it wants you to shatter the last of it and absorb its final essence before it dissipates." The old man explained before walking out. The door closing behind him.

Nightin couldn't understand why, but he felt a strong impulse to crush the pearl before him. Before his mind could process his thoughts, he crushed the pearl floating above the box with his hand.