Path to Transcendence

Chapter 699: Following His Mark

He was no stranger to ambushes or to people who wanted to cut off his head. Hence why he very calmly ducked underneath the sharp blade, letting the wind graze the back of his skull. In that same movement, he activated his life technique. The life mana enhanced his body and allowed his Concept of Burning Serenity to flow through it without holding back.

He quickly examined his attacker and saw they were dressed all in black, their faces covered, and they looked like a typical assassin. They even had some kind of aura-hiding item radiating from their wrist, which made it hard to detect their aura.

He took another step to the side, allowing the blade to pass his nose. He spotted a nasty little collection of mana on the edge of the blade. It was a slight purple hue, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it were a type of poison.

He told himself he should avoid getting cut by the blade. He still wanted to avoid using his healing ability, if only to prove to himself that he didnʼt need it.

His opponent was blistering fast, though, and seemed to be Tier 4. It was hard to tell with the obfuscation item in the way, but based on their speed and overall physical abilities, it was safe to say they were Tier 4. He was also 70% sure it was a man underneath that mask. They were a little too muscular for a normal woman.

He kept on dancing around the blade strikes, each of which was aimed at his vital points, and he could feel their hostile intent enhancing each blow, making them sharper and more dangerous.

If this wasn’t enough, the attacker threw some kind of spell at him. It appeared to be some kind of blindness ailment as well as a weakness debuff. He could feel the strain on his muscles more acutely than ever. But his aura and willpower helped limit the skillʼs effectiveness.

He was also realizing that the longer this clash went on, the slower the assassin became. It would seem their build was specialized for quick burst attacks, meant to deal maximum damage in as little time as possible, with as little warning as possible.

Unfortunately, once Julius survived their initial strike, their skill already had signs of wearing off. Their speed dropped, and their movements became noticeably more sluggish. He was able to predict their movements quite easily, and by no longer being as fast, he gained a good understanding of the man’s combat style.

Once he saw an opening, he took it. The assassin overextended by a few hairs. It would seem their skills were running out of juice, and that was when he decided to make his move. Instead of sliding back, he slid forward. Mana running through his flesh, he slammed his left hand onto the right wrist of the assassin.

The knife was stopped, and before they could try to slash him again, he stepped forward, and his fist pulled back in preparation.

He could feel their surprise when he retaliated so swiftly. They were barely able to throw up a defensive skill while his knuckles slammed into their nose. He felt the bone shatter from the force, and they tried to activate a teleportation skill to get away.

However, he wasn’t about to just let them do that. He clamped down with his aura and Authority. The oppressive nature of each of these was enough to destabilize the spatial skill, unraveling it. He reached out and grabbed them with his kinetic energy, making sure they weren’t able to move, and slammed another fist into their throat this time around.

He had charged even more mana into this fist, and their spine at the back of their neck exploded into pieces. Blood and bone fragments were sprayed everywhere. He winced as he felt the life drain from the person. He hadn’t meant to do that and was going to try to heal them, but it was already too late. The light in their eyes died out and bled out on the abandoned street.

He cursed not just because the person died before he could ask them questions, but because the old man had already vanished. His Phoenix Mark was still in place for some reason.

The obvious reason why he’d been attacked was that the old man had detected the mark and set up an ambush. But if that was the case, why keep the mark active? It was also possible that the old man hadn’t detected the mark and had simply realized someone was following him through other methods.

The other possibility was that the old man was just unable to remove the mark. Julius thought this might be the most plausible reason. When he tested out these marks, he’d come to the conclusion that they were harder to remove the more willpower he infused into them. And for the man, he’d stamped it with so much willpower, it would take a considerable amount of effort to remove.

He didn’t know if that could also be an explanation if it had been detected. That being said, the mark was moving fast. It seemed like the man was using a teleportation skill and was already at the edge of the city.

He had to decide whether to hunt down this old man. Considering he’d just been attacked, it was safe to assume the old man knew someone was coming after him and would be prepared. But then again, it wasn’t like Julius had many other options.

This might have been his best lead, and considering that an assassin had attacked him out of nowhere, it wasn’t that far-fetched to believe he was onto something. With that in mind, his decision was easy.

He followed the mark to where it led beyond the city walls.

***

Celestine POV

Things were becoming a huge mess. Everything was devolving into chaos. First, Heaven graced Lora Yoshu with a rare wind and light spirit. Then a person who could communicate with it was somehow on the same caravan. What were the odds?

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Without Kaito’s daughterʼs illness to leverage, it became a lot more difficult to pressure him into doing what she needed him to do. The next summoning ritual was almost here, and without his agreement, she wouldn’t be able to access the clan’s exclusive connection to the city’s Golden Tear’s Spring.

All of the clans that controlled the city had some sort of connection with the spring. The Golden Cauldron Sect specifically authorized them permission to access it. But that was also because the sect had no choice in the matter. They needed people to regulate the spring. Otherwise, it would go out of control and cause chaos in the city.

The last time the Golden Tear’s Spring overflowed, a big chunk of the city was annihilated, and thousands of people died.

But it was that very same connection she needed to access. Some of the other clans had already accepted their terms, but their connection to the spring was different than the one Clan Yoshu had. They weren’t compatible with what they were hoping to do.

The only other clan in the city whose connection might be sufficient was Clan Kaizen. And they hated Celestine and her family. Her family had killed their Patriarch’s son a while back, and they had been enemies ever since.

That left Clan Yoshu as their last choice. And she was so close. She had several elders and influential members of the clan already in her grasp, but Kaito had enough influence to completely stall her out. There was no way he would agree to it, which was why she had found that treasure to heal his daughter. She was hoping to leverage it and use it as a bargaining tool to force him to allow her access to their Clan’s connection.

Kaito’s father was the Patriarch, but since he didn’t care much about the day-to-day, Kaito was essentially left in charge. That posed a few problems, especially since his daughter was cured of her curse.

She couldn’t believe the spirit bonding actually worked. She allowed it only because she hoped something would go wrong and she could step in to offer aid. Who would have thought a girl who hadn’t been able to use her mana pool for most of her life had the control necessary to command such a volatile spirit?

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the boy she decided to take back to the warehouse was gone. Vanished into the wind, and according to the guards stationed there, it would appear that Clan Kaizen might have been behind it.

She tried to track him through the Heartburst Seed, but for some reason, it wasn’t working. She had even tried to activate it, but either someone had blocked its signal or removed it from the boy entirely. The latter would require a specialized surgeon familiar with such items. It was becoming even more plausible that Clan Kaizen had interfered.

Things were falling apart, and so it wasn’t a surprise when the Conclave sent over one of their agents to talk with her. She was behind schedule, and they weren’t happy. In return for their help, House Cromweld had been rewarded considerably. Several of their members have advanced to Tier 5 in the past year alone.

She was experiencing even more pressure from her family, too. It was partly because of her younger sister Helen. She was an unparalleled talent, something her family pointed out every time she spoke with them. She needed results now.

Helen was already on the precipice of Tier 4 and had been recruited by countless powerful guilds in the Empire. It was likely she would be given the role of Clan Matriarch if Celestine didnʼt do anything to stop it. She needed to show that she could help the family more than a musclehead like Helen.

She was able to gather resources for her family, but all of these treasures and resources were contingent on House Cromweld, or rather, Celestine, completing her side of the agreement. The Conclave needed things that weren’t entirely legal, nor were they the right thing to do. Celestine would be the first to admit that. Some of the tasks she and her family had to do for the Conclave were extremely distasteful.

This summoning ritual was one of these tasks. She tried not to think about what these rituals were being used for. Her only job was to help set them up and procure the materials needed.

She did her best to make sure they came from the most forgivable places, too. Some of the ritual materials would be considered dark and highly restricted magic. But with some extra effort, she managed to get some of the items without resorting to the usual methods. This way, nobody got hurt too badly.

The Conclave didn’t just send over any agent, either. They sent over Erek, which meant Caiden was involved now. It was a clear indicator that they thought this was serious. And Erek made it very clear what would happen if she didnʼt show results by the end of the week.

She approached Hale, a captain of her family’s guards. “Have you found the boy yet?”

“No, my lady, but we are searching everywhere in the city for him. I’ve already made a request and was about to issue a city-wide request to all of our allies to help us find him.”

She snapped her head up. “No, don’t do that. I don’t want too many people knowing we are looking for him. Find him, but be discreet. If Lord Kaito finds out we are searching for him, he will be upset. I’ve already informed Hayden to keep Clan Yoshu under tight supervision so that if the boy goes there, we will be the first to know.”

Hale inclined his head down. “Understood, my lady.”

She pinched her fingers to her forehead. “Has there been anything else you’ve been able to find about the boy? Did our contact at the Adventurer’s Guild have anything to tell us about him?”

He shook his head. “No, apparently, there isn’t anything about anyone who fits his description registered at the guild.”

She cursed internally. Just who was this boy? And why had Clan Kaizen helped him escape? Who had even told them about him and the warehouse? Or was it a coincidence, and the clan was there for another reason?

“I got more bad news,” Hale added with a hesitant pause.

She glared at the man. “What?”

“They did a check on supplies and materials inside the warehouse, and found out that several of the boxes containing the ritual materials have gone or burned,” he said with a frown.

Her right eye twitched, and she gritted her teeth so hard they almost cracked. Well, it would appear Clan Kaizen had been there for other reasons too.

“Check all of the properties of Clan Kaizen that we know about. We need to find the boy and make sure he can’t spill our secrets. If we find him, he might lead us to whoever in Clan Kaizen was responsible. Also search for Walter Gale of the Sky Nimbus Company. Maybe he’ll have information about Julius we can pay for.”

“Yes, my lady.” Hale saluted her and quickly went on his way to follow her instructions.

Only when he was out of sight, Celestine finally let out a sigh. She needed to get things back on track and soon. Because if she didn’t, then she wouldn’t have to be worried about her family losing privileges to the Conclave’s resources; her biggest concern would be to make sure the next person they sent wasn’t to kill her.