Located in the far edges of Heaven’s Peak, rested a beautifully kept mansion. Exquisite and enchanting flowers decorated the front and back gardens of this home. If not for a sign on top of this mansion writing ‘Guests of Heaven’s Peak’, most would have originally guessed this home belonged to the mayor.

Within the walls of this mansion, were three people currently enjoying an afternoon tea session.

“I hope you two will forgive my tone today. I care deeply for my people and I may have reacted a bit strongly when I saw some of them were injured. ” the mayor gave an apologetic smile.

“Please don’t worry about it. It is my nephew who should be feeling remorseful for not handling the situation correctly.” The bearded old man gave an awkward laugh.

“Yes, I hope we can put all of this behind us.” Yan Mu had a forced smile on his face.

“Definitely, I believe both my Heaven’s Peak and your Yan family will benefit from this deal.” The mayor proceeded to stand up, “I must be going now. Please try some our famous local confectionaries before you leave, they are absolutely delicious!” he smiled before disappearing.

When the two could no longer sense the mayor’s presence, both of their countenance turned ugly.

“F*ck that guy!” Yan Mu smashed the table. The shards of wood flew towards the servants but none of them chose to move.

“Yan Mu, calm yourself.”

“Uncle, you must seek justice for me. That mayor has really gone too far! He does not put our Yan family in his eyes at all!” You could almost see a tear forming in his eyes.

“The circumstances have changed. We must not do anything rash at this moment.”

“B-but…” Yan Mu was dumbstruck. He was planning to take revenge on Relic and Hana for crippling his spirit beast. Was his uncle really going to let the mayor and those kids get away with this? “We have already taken such liberties to his people and yet he has not acted against us. He is obviously afraid of our Family!”

“You understand nothing!”

“Uncle…”

The bearded old man sighed.

“Yan Mu, you know I think of you as my own son. However, there are some things which you are lacking compared to others. For example, you lack the necessary senses to survive in this world. If you were suddenly thrown out of this family I’m afraid you would not be able to survive on your own.”

Yan Mu didn’t know how to respond to his uncle. Wasn’t he suddenly getting berated?

He continued: “That man is not simple… He is many times more powerful than me.” He could still remember the over powering pressure wash over him. It was enough to cause him shivers even thinking about it.

“But, in front of our Family…”

“He is even stronger than your father!” The uncle shouted. “It would take all our elite members as well as 30% of our family’s foundation in order to take down this mayor.”

Yan Mu seemed to pale in that moment. His father was his ideal and the strongest person he knew. He was the current patriarch of their family and stood above all as a peak golden world realm expert. With his father as support, Yan Mu did not feel any fear towards anyone. Yet, he was now being told that not only would his father lose in a fight against the mayor of Heaven’s peak; but also that their Yan family would have to make huge sacrifices in order to take him down!

“I-is he an immortal?!” Yan Mu was now fully frightened that even his legs were shaking.

“No, if he was we would not be able to even harm a single hair on his head even if we threw everything at him. He is definitely in the golden world realm, but I would wager he would be capable of handling even those in the half a step of immortal ascension.”

The bearded man walked towards an open window and gazed towards the active streets filled with people. Yet, his gaze stretched farther than that, as if he was trying to look towards the center of this town. “Yan Mu, in the future you must learn to restrain yourself when you are outside of our territories. You have been too sheltered and you must understand that there are powers which could easily wipe out our family.”

“Yes Uncle. I will not make such mistakes in the future.” Yan Mu calmed himself. Despite being a spoiled young master, everything his uncle said made sense to him. He took the lesson as something that will save his life in the future.

“Mn, that’s good.” He nodded. “However, something good did come from your transgressions today.”

“What is it uncle?”

“There is a powerful illusion formation in the center of this place. When we first arrived I had completely missed it. But after your guard endowed his essence into his weapon, I could sense small ripples coming from the center of this town. I will have to make a report about this to your father.”

Knock, Knock, Knock

Sounds of knocking suddenly came from the closed dining room floor. Without waiting for either Yan Mu or the bearded man to answer it, a man burst through and immediately dropped to his knees.

“E-elder Feng, Y-y-young Master Yan M-mu….” The man who came in was panting heavily and stuttered his words. Sweat was practically pouring down from him and had already formed a small puddle beneath him.

“Catch your breath first!” Yan Mu angrily shouted.

“Y-yes!”

After a moment of rest, the man once again repeated his words. “Elder, Young Master, I’ve just finished my inspection on the northern region of Heaven’s Peak.”

“Good. How were the results?”

The man immediately took out 24 lumpy black objects and laid them evenly spaced on the floor.

Both Yan Mu and Elder Wu immediately had a glimmer in their eyes and rushed to inspect these lumps. “These are excellent quality!” Yan Mu quickly said.

Yan Feng nodded in satisfaction as well. “How many did you have to go through?” he asked.

“30!”

The entire room went silent.

“Are you Sure?!?!” Yan Feng grasped onto the kneeling man and shook him hard. “DID YOU REALLY ONLY GO THROUGH 30 TREES?!”

However, before the man could even say a word, a women’s voice could be heard outside the room.

“Elder, requesting permission to enter.” The voice carried a hint of excitement.

“Come in!” Yan Feng saw the women come in with a smile on her face. “How were the results of the eastern side?” he asked.

Without speaking, the women laid out 23 of the same black lumps as the previous man. “Reporting, this is the result of going through 25 Blackwood Oaks.” She quickly said.

“…”

“A-a gold mine! Even within our own territories, the chances of finding one of these are 1 in 36!” Yan Mu couldn’t keep in his excitement as he caressed the black lumps in his hands. He had completely forgotten about what they were previously even talking about and continued: “If we take control of Heaven’s peak and offer some of the land to the Red Star Alliance trading group; we will be able to raise our standing to a core member!”

Yan Feng stroked his beard and nodded. “It seems this trip was a fruitful one. I will inform your father of our findings and also … about this mayor.” He quickly collected the black lumps and exited the room.

After his uncle left the room, Yan Mu sat around the table calmly sipping a cup of tea with a smirk on his face. “You acted so arrogant against me, you better enjoy the last moments here. The next time we meet you will be kneeling in front of me begging for mercy! ”

...

On the other side of Heaven’s Peak, an unusual trio were currently walking along the road as they made their way back home.

Relic waved his injured arm in the air and broke into a smile. “The physique of a divine spirit beast is amazing! My bones have already healed to the point where my arm only feels slightly numb!”

“(So pitiful… I’m now weaker than before! I probably can’t even handle a new foundation realm cultivator anymore.)” Jiro could only give a sigh.

Having shared their innate physique, Relic had benefited greatly from Jiro’s natural physique. Spirit beasts naturally had stronger bodies, many times greater than those of mortals and cultivators. This, including the astounding healing abilities all spirit beasts had, meant Relic was now vastly stronger than the regular adult male. If Relic were to face those two guards again, he would be confident enough to handle them both without retreating.

Jiro, on the other hand, benefited absolutely nothing from Relic’s garbage physique and was now sulking as he continued to walk.

Although it seemed as if Relic had easily and effortlessly grown stronger; under any other circumstances, Jiro would have rather die than to give in to Relic’s demands. However, Jiro still held onto life, and with the promise of having his neck fixed, he just couldn’t refuse. The spirit contract was also negligible as it didn’t prohibit his movement in anyway and was a small price to pay.

“(You’ll be changing your tone soon, I will tread on the path of immortality and then you will see how lucky you actually are!)” Relic smugly replied.

Jiro only rolled his eyes in response.

As the two continued to converse with each other, there was still a little girl who was silently walking in-between these two. Hana had been trying to make sense of everything her brother had done and said since this morning. Was it possible he really did meet a master when she wasn’t looking? Did he somehow chance upon a fortuitous encounter unbeknownst to everyone around him?

Biting her lips, Hana stopped and Relic turned to see a complicated look on Hana’s face.

“You can’t keep secrets from your sister. You said you would tell me what was going on. How do you know the things you know and how were you able to perform such incredible feats.” She spoke in a solemn manner.

Relic paused briefly before turning around to face her. “Hana, the truth is… I’m not your brother.”