‘And how are you doing, boy?’ Raphael asked.‘I’m quite okay,’ Huno replied. ‘Good, good, I can’t believe you damaged Hamax so badly,’. ‘I apologize. Raphael, what would you say if I told you I have a way out of here?’ Raphael frowned and looked at him. He was shocked by what he heard and took some time to comprehend it. ‘Then I would say let’s go immediately,’ he replied happily. ‘Don’t you have things you need to pack up, or someone you want to take with you?’ ‘Well, there are a lot of things I need to pack up and for people to take with me, well I would love to take my disciples with me. I have two who have families here. Can you take them along?’. ‘How many disciples?’ ‘Three,’‘I can carry them and their families out of here,’ Huno assured him. ‘I hope you aren’t forgetting me?’ A familiar voice sounded from the room entrance.Huno and Raphael turned and found Star standing in front of the room door.‘Of course I’m forgetting about you. Why should I

The ship stopped in front of them.‘By the order of the monarch of the Solar palace, we are ordered to search everyone who attempts to pass,’ a man among them said.‘Monarch?’ Huno whispered.‘A title for a someone at the third stage Ascension realm,’ Raphael answered.‘Please go on,’ he added.The man who spoke nodded and asked one of his companion.‘Are any among them who we are looking for?’‘No sir, but we should check. It’s a big boat,’ his companion replied.‘Proceed,’ the man said.Several people flew into the ship and began searching every corner of the ship. ‘You guys seem to have lots of fine ladies. Do you mind sharing?’ the man said to Raphael.‘We definitely can’t,’ Raphael replied.‘And if we choose to take them by force?’ the man asked.‘Well, please try, but I advise you not to,’‘And why is that?’‘Well, everyone on this ship right now can boast about single-handedly facing an Ascension realm and escaping with his or her life,’ Raphael said. ‘If you can boast o

~A Month Later~ ‘Still no sign of a city or a sect. Are you sure there are humans in this realm?’ Raphael asked.‘I don’t know,’ Huno said, opening his eyes.‘How’s your cultivation going?’‘Can’t seem to form a core so I’m unable to enter the foundation realm,’ Huno replied and stood up to stretch. ‘The energy in my body is enough to form a bronze core, but every time I try, it doesn’t work. So I’m stuck in the Er realm,’ he added.‘Oh tough luck boy,’‘Maybe this was a bad idea,’ ‘Maybe, but what if you forget about forming a core?’‘What do you mean?’‘You are trying a new thing but following the old method. Why don’t you try a new method and just keep absorbing the nature essence into your body,’‘Okay, you don’t think what I’m doing is stupid?’‘Why would I? I’m an artifact refiner. I usually try new methods for refining artifact,’‘The current cultivation way was learnt by someone and taught to others. Who knows, you’ll be able to do that,’ Raphael added.Huno nodded a

~In A Remote Village~ ‘Hey mom, we are back,’ two young ladies shouted.They each dropped a dead animal in front of a wooden house.‘Oh welcome back Rina, welcome back Sai. It seems your hunt today went well. Where is your dad?’ a woman asked as she stepped out.‘He went deeper into the forest to hunt. You know that area is dangerous, so he told us to return first,’ Rina said.‘Okay, Tanila, come let’s dress these,’ the woman yelled.‘Coming mom,’ a voice answered as a little girl ran out of the house. ‘Girls, it’s almost that time of the year,’ the woman said to the two young ladies.‘Yeah, the gods will pick a new protector. I hope I get chosen,’ Sai said happily.‘Not that Sai, mom meant the bridal ritual,’ Rina said.‘Oh, I don’t care about that,’ Sai said, pouting.‘No, the two of you need to get married, and have your own families,’ the woman said.‘Mom, I don’t want to get married, beside I grew up with the young men in the village. How do I marry who I see as a brothe

~In Sai’s Room~ Sai sat down on the ground and rested her back on the wall, waiting patiently for the stranger to wake up. She stayed as far as possible with her body covered with the bed cover meant to cover the stranger. Close to the stranger was a small bowl with fruits in it. After waiting hours, the stranger finally woke up. The stranger looked around before sitting up on the bed, curling up his body and resting on the wall. He looked towards Sai and stared for a while before looking away.‘Does he know I’m here?’ Sai thought.After looking round the room again, the stranger stared at the bowl close to him and then stared in Sai’s direction again. He didn’t look away this time and kept staring. Several minutes passed, and he still didn’t look away. Sai realized he knew. She raised the cover from her body. Immediately, the stranger hid his face in his knees. Sai frowned and covered herself back. After a short while, the stranger raised his face and looked at her.‘Wha