Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 378: Humiliation.

“I... have something to say...”

Chen narrowed his eyes, still gripping the black needle between his thumb and middle finger, as it pushed forward, threatening to kill him if he let go.

Was this daring brat going to ask for forgiveness now? If so, he was bound to be disappointed.

“Thank you...”

He heard Ozul say as his hair stood in alarm. It felt as if something painful was about to happen, but he couldn’t put his thumb on it.

“...for getting me out of the entrapment.”

As soon as Ozul finished speaking, he jumped back while creating a shield of The Purity.

.....

Furious at the kid’s tricks, Chen was about to chase him but before he could do anything,

“-AHKH!!”

The needle he was holding between his thumb and middle finger suddenly compressed and stretched again, but this time the sharp heads pierced Chen’s thumb and finger!

All of this happened in a matter of seconds, he wasn’t given a chance to even think about what had happened before the needle he was so confidently holding had changed shapes and the direction in which it exerted its force.

He had underestimated Ozul thinking that the needle was merely a Spirit Weapon that could lock on to its target.

Pain assaulted his mind, but more than anything, it was filled with anger and rage.

“You filthy brat!!”

He took out the needle in one rapid move with his other hand, which he had coated with his Spiritual Essence since he didn’t want to take any chances.

Even as the needle still pushed forward, its force was completely nullified when met with the physical strength of an Origin Realm cultivator.

More than a hundred meters away already, Ozul rushed forward without looking back.

Although he had made a run for it, his chances weren’t high since he had even felt that his needle wasn’t able to completely pierce through that man’s hands. The needle couldn’t go through his fingerbones!

Bitter feelings rose inside him as he thought further about what he could do to escape.

‘haa... I knew I shouldn’t have taken up on that woman’s offer...’

He regretted letting his greed for the Spiritual Cores cloud his judgment.

‘Why didn’t I just ask for advance payment?’

If only he was a little stronger now, he might have had more hope in escaping the pursuit of a man who, despite the distance of more than a hundred meters between them, was accurately closing in on him.

He continuously made detours and tried to leave as few traces as possible. However, the rage-filled mad bull was hot on his tail.

Ozul had guessed that an Origin Realm expert would be out of his league, but he didn’t think that even escaping with his life intact could be close to impossible.

Since he had no Mana, it was evident that this Chen knew his location based on the noise he created alone.

‘Or is it yet another Spiritual Art?’ As he speculated the potential cause of his death today, he sighed before once again taking a detour amidst the never-ending trees.

Each time he jumped, he would leave a gust of wind that swept most of the leaves around the area.

‘If it’s this noise...’ Using The Purity, he lifted himself up in the air and slowly rose to the air.

Chen was barely around 90 meters away from him. It was easy to determine his location as he wasn’t even trying to hide his spiking Spiritual Essence. It almost felt like he wanted Ozul to feel despair as he slowly closed in on him.

Ozul was no longer hopping from the ground. He was off the ground with the help of The Purity as he once again slowly changed his direction while flying higher at the same time.

He was trying to do it calmly, but the huge spike of Spiritual Essence rushing in his direction wasn’t helping the situation. He needed to hurry, but at the same time, he couldn’t hurry since it would definitely alert the man.

Ozul didn’t have the luxury to focus on it, but the direct hit he had taken from Chen, despite The Purity nullifying some of the force, had shaken him from inside out. A normal person, twice as strong as him, would have lost consciousness.

He was able to stay awake, but it was hard for him to keep his reasoning intact.

With the speed that Chen was approaching him, it was impossible even if he flew in the air now.

The sky was wide and looking up once would give him away.

And if he was a little too fast, it would cause enough disturbance to let Chen know of his location as well.

Both of these options weren’t viable.

But having taken such a hit directly to his chest and being chased didn’t allow him to think so far into it.

Within a few seconds, Chen arrived at the spot from where Ozul had stopped running on the ground.

With a crazed look plastered on his face, he looked towards a certain direction and again thrust himself forward.

In the air, all of Ozul’s senses were screaming at him at the same time.

Trusting his instincts, he ducked in the air just at the right time.

“Agh!”

A painful grunt escaped his mouth as a claw-shaped hand landed right on his back, sending him rolling forward!

Ozul hit the ground like a dead rock and then bounced only to hit a tree.

By the time the dust had settled, Ozul was lying under the tree, with his clothes completely tattered.

There was no movement. He was unconscious.

He lay there face down, two giant claw marks clearly imprinted on his back. It looked like two swords had simultaneously cut deep into his back, shredding his shirt along the way.

From a distance, footsteps approached the unconscious Ozul in a steady manner.

“It would be a pity if you died with just this much, little rabbit,” Chen muttered in a cranky manner. his finger and thumb had already stopped bleeding.

As he inched closer to Ozul, two anxious heterochromatic eyes gazed at this scene from a nearby tree.

Jinx stood motionlessly as Chen was approaching Ozul.

Ozul would notice the clashing thoughts in those crimson and blue stars-like eyes if he could see her right now.

Chen, on the other hand, abruptly whirled around and looked in a certain direction.

Someone with Spiritual Essence equivalent to his was charging straight at him!

. . .

[Half An Hour Ago]

After Ozul and Ember’s discussion, Ozul had left to kill the captives.

Meanwhile, Ember teleported back to her estate, anxiously walking back and forth while receiving any and all reports concerning this matter.

She still hadn’t found out who was the person who had suddenly interfered and arrested the people she had sent.

As she was pacing all over the estate, the teleportation gate lit up once again and a person stepped forward.

Contrasting to the appearance of Ember, the man had two slender red horns flowing to the back of his head. His golden eyes matched those of Ember’s but his young appearance was contrasting with the aged face of the latter.

Unlike Ember, who wore a dark robe that entirely covered her body, his clothes shined like a burning star. The ornate red coat decorated with unknown jewels stung people’s eyes if they were to stare at it hard enough.

Despite his fancy appearance, the man radiated a pressure that no one in the entire estate could compare to.

Even Ember’s aura felt weak when put against his.

Sweeping his eyes all over the place, the man’s eyes landed on Ember’s figure.

Following which, as if he had recognized her, a toothy grin appeared on his face.

“Ember!” He shouted from afar, his voice rang all over the estate.

After assuring her people that it wasn’t an intruder, Ember looked back at her guest and replied with a flat tone,

“Cass.”

“As dry as ever, I see,” the person named Cass didn’t seem to mind her rudeness as he kept flashing his toothy grin.

“Cut to the chase. Why are you here?”

Cass’s annoying smile never faltered, “I heard you were in a plight, cousin~.”

Ember cringed at the mention of ‘cousin’ but didn’t let it show on her face.

Seeing her face gradually darken, Cass snorted, “You seem to forget that I am your superior now, Ember. Show some respect.”

“I am not under your authority and thus, not required to obey your orders or respect you. Now, please state your business.”

Hearing her steadfast reply annoyed Cass whose smile was now suddenly nowhere to be seen. It seemed clear that he wanted Ember to respect and fear him.

Cass then faked a sigh, “I just heard that you weren’t aware of who had caught your little ‘hoppers’, so I thought I might lend my generous hand since even now, you are my cousin~”

.....

Ember wanted to refute him and kick him out of the estate as soon as possible, but she indeed lacked this information. Pursing her lips, she kept her quiet.

“It’s one of the officers from the Night Walkers, my dear cousin.”

Ember’s eyes widened as Cass mentioned the name Night Walkers.

“Who hired them?!”

“HAHAHA! This is what I wanted! Ah... I can never get enough of it. Your anxious look! Hahaha.”

As he noticed her grinding her teeth, he further pressed the taunts, “Honestly, I was here just to laugh at you. After losing your powers, age seems to have caught up to you, my dear cousin~ Ah, if it was back then, you would have destroyed the entire Night Walkers for interfering in your work.”

After a slight pause, Cass looked down at Ember and continued,

“Now look where you are. Scared after only hearing their name, hahahaha!”

Right after saying that, the ostentatious man turned around and started walking back towards the teleportation gate while he kept muttering to himself, “... this was definitely worth it... keheh...”

Ember was left there staring at the ground, with darkened expressions.

Cass’s words kept ringing in her mind.