Prime Originator

"Mo—er… Her Majesty is a Peak Preliminary Accession-stage Transcendent. Furthermore, Her Majesty didn't leave to look for Lynne until she comprehended Sword Intent. So, given Her Majesty's ample preparation, I don't think Early Rank 1 Transcendent-level vengeful spirits would be a problem for Her Majesty," Faelyn assured.

However, Leon shook his head with a sigh.

"A Metal Transcendent with Sword Intent indeed has great combat prowess, but that it only against physical beings. My mother's attacks won't be effective against spiritual beings," Leon stated.

Then, he added with a slight smile, "You can just call her mother in the future."

"Mm," Faelyn nodded.

In truth, she had been calling Queen Elizabeth mother for quite a while now.

However, she thought it would displease Leon if she said it. After all, they only had a few intimate contacts. They had yet to take the final step.

She didn't want Leon to think she was getting ahead of herself.

Nevertheless, Leon knew his mother also had the fire element. However, the fire element was something that his mother didn't focus on cultivating—or rather, she completely neglected it.

Furthermore, Faelyn didn't mention anything about it. Thus, he assumed that remained the case up until his mother went to look for Lynne.

"Sorry… If only my cultivation base were higher, I could have been able to expand my search range further," Faelyn apologized with a discouraged look shortly after.

She thought she could have been useful with her ability. However, five days of searching without results had made her lose her confidence.

Nevertheless, Leon wouldn't blame Faelyn for something like that.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Faelyn. This isn't your fault. Even if your cultivation were higher, it would still be far from enough to cover the entire misty forest," Leon said with a sigh.

They had followed the frozen trail underground. However, the singular pathway branched off into multiple more paths after entering Extreme Misty Forest's territory.

Even if they backtracked and picked a different route, they might not necessarily find his mother either.

If they ended up backtracking to explore all the possible routes, it was very likely that they would have wasted time searching in circles instead.

That's why it was essential to understand Lynne's purpose in Extreme Misty Forest. By following her objective, it would lead them to her.

Of course, Lynne's purpose could have been to destroy the underground energy conversion towers in Extreme Misty Forest like the ones he had seen along the way.

However, he had already borrowed the Authority of Earth to scour the entire Extreme Misty Forest's underground region. He didn't find any underground cavities or energy conversion towers beyond Extreme Misty Forest's inner region.

If Lynne proceeded without that knowledge, one of two things would happen; she would explore the central region for the power source or return to New Capital.

If it was the first possibility, then they were heading in the right direction. But if it was the second possibility, nothing changes; Leon would continue to explore the central region.

After all, if his mother didn't run into Lynne, she would still be looking for her in Extreme Misty Forest.

…

Yiii—!

Another Early Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirit made a piercing scream before Aria's lightning killed it.

Aria collected the vengeful spirit's soul core shortly after.

"Does this misty forest only have vengeful spirits? There were at least some ghouls in the outer regions. However, there's only been vengeful spirits ever since we stepped foot into the inner regions," Aria mentioned.

"There might have been other creatures in Extreme Misty Forest in the past, but the vengeful spirits most likely wiped them all out," Leon speculated.

"Still, it's a bit nerve-wracking that there were so many Transcendent-level vengeful spirits in Extreme Misty Forest. If these vengeful spirits were ever let loose on the Human Domain, it would be a disaster," Darlene thought.

"These vengeful spirits are so aggressive to all living things. Forget about a disaster; it would have been the end of humanity if there was an outbreak during the previous Cataclysm," Aria said wryly.

During that time, the number of Transcendents among humans could have been counted with one's hands.

And while the Human Domain prospered after the construction of the Great Wall, humans didn't even know their lives were still hanging by a fine thread.

"Nevertheless, these vengeful spirits wouldn't leave Extreme Misty Forest. They are relying on the heavy yin energy to continue their meaningless existence. Otherwise, I doubt Transcendent-level vengeful spirits could have existed for over ten thousand years," Leon stated.

"But what would happen if the heavy yin energy in Extreme Misty Forest suddenly disappeared one day. Would the vengeful spirits disappear too?" Faelyn asked.

"…"

Suddenly, Leon and Aria paused their steps with solemn looks, causing Darlene and Faelyn to follow suit and stop as well.

"The heavy yin energy is the only thing keeping the vengeful spirits in Extreme Misty Forest. So if the yin energy disappears, the vengeful spirits would indeed die off. However, it wouldn't happen right away," Leon stated.

"The vengeful spirits would go crazy and scatter to look for new sources of yin outside of Extreme Misty Forest. Thus, the outbreak would endanger everyone in the Crawford Empire," Aria added.

"We got to hurry," Leon urged.

The three ladies quickly agreed before they picked up the pace. After advancing a few dozen miles deeper into the inner region, they encountered Mid Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirits.

"At this rate, we might even encounter Paragon-level vengeful spirits by the time we enter the central region," Aria commented with a frown.

Her Ice-Lightning Law had yet to reach the Paragon level. Thus, its effectiveness against Paragon-level vengeful spirits would diminish due to the power difference.

"Leon!" Faelyn suddenly exclaimed with surprise?"

"Hm?" Leon turned to Faelyn.

"I'm picking another battle taking place four hundred yards northwest from here! I think it's Her—M-mother!" Faelyn exclaimed.

Four hundred yards wasn't exactly very far. Even if they couldn't see due to the poor visibility, they should hear the sound of battle.

Furthermore, they were used to the ongoing howls of the vengeful spirits. Thus, they didn't notice anything usual—that is, until Leon noticed the sharp whistle of winds.

Leon's eyes flickered immediately.

"Let's go and check it out!"