"L-lord, we have gathered them all," Casually sitting over the wooden ledge of the first floor of the chief's house, Ja Sun looked at every scout and soldier he had stripped. Their armors and weapons were already stored in the storage ring. Youths and adults of the village surrounded the area. A hint of fear but boundless fascination in their eyes as they looked at the unconscious group of soldiers.
The one who spoke was the chief of the village. His already bent back bending slightly with the tilt of his cane supporting him. His voice raspy and dry, but his tone sincere.
"Tell me what happened," Ja Sun spoke calmly.
The more information he has, the better.
"Lord Spirit Master, these soldiers of Silvers Kingdom are invading the nearby territory. But instead of saving the hostages, the Balak Kingdom is responding in kind and holding territories over in the Silvers Kingdom!" The man stated harshly as Ja Sun's eyelids twitched. He still wore the clothes of the scout but nobody dared think of him any differently than a savior.
"Did they not clash?" Ja Sun smiled. Since the mask only covered the top half of his face and he had removed the veil of the scouting uniform, his smile was easily seen. The Chief shuddered and hurriedly explained, "My apologies for wording it incorrectly! The two armies have clashed once. After that, small teams are being sent around the border to gain a tactical advantage."
"And how do you know all this?" Ja Sun continued.
"The—"
"You overheard it from the conversation between the soldiers?" Ja Sun inquired with a smirk as the Chief's expression froze. His aged face was slightly pale by now while Ja Sun felt something amiss.
'Is he really too good of an actor? Or am I mistaken?'
He then glanced at other villagers and found them looking at each other with a clueless expression.
'The hell is wrong with the chief?' Ja Sun frowned.
Suddenly, Ja Sun felt like he had understood something. He still hadn't looted the unconscious middle-aged man inside the chief's house and now felt that eleven mental needles shouldn't have affected a spirit grandmaster in the manner the spirit master fainted.
Even if a spirit master doesn't cultivate mental energy, his or her mental energy rises passively with the increase in rank, experience, and spirit rings. So, in a way, everyone had mental energy but not just anyone could grasp it.
Eleven needles launched from Ja Sun's mind into the unsuspecting old chief. Though intangible, the old man suddenly felt ominous. His expression twisted and a red mask appeared in front of him with a crimson aura around it and two spirit rings: White and Yellow, flashing around him.
But it was too late.
The old man shrieked and collapsed on his knees. The other villagers suddenly retreated with a fearful expression as they recalled the strange mask and spirit rings. They didn't need to be a spirit master to understand that this old man isn't their chief!
'What a crafty martial soul...' Ja Sun's eyes glowed and he jumped down before prodding a few spots over the old man's back.
Without looking at the other villagers, Ja Sun turned to the old man and a familiar face was revealed. It was the spirit master himself!
Ja Sun slowly opened the door to the chief's house and spread his senses. All the while, he dragged in the body of the real spirit master.
"Do whatever you want with these soldiers," His voice echoed and the villagers looked at the band of soldiers who eyed them constantly with a hint of maliciousness.
'Spirit masters have different Martial Souls. This one, by every performance, maybe a more cowardly Spirit Master.' Ja Sun gazed at the corpse of the chief and narrowed his eyes.
The spirit master had two spirit skills and that alongside the basic ability of his martial soul gives him three skills.
'The basic skill is probably copying the appearance of others, the first skill is can be granting his appearance to others and finally, the second skill must be some form of restrictive ability.
The fact that I couldn't see through their true appearance despite reaching the Define realm of Fiery Golden Pupils could be because the Martial Soul changes the structure of face itself.'
Ja Sun tied the real spirit master with the soul-blocking rope, glanced at the corpse of the chief, and then moved on. He had to destroy this building but before that, he wanted to loot whatever the supply held. But exploring the entire area, Ja Sun found nothing.
*Thud*
Unblocking the points of the spirit master's body that were overflowing with his shock force, Ja Sun observed the force passing through the skin as the spirit master suddenly coughed loudly. His eyes snapped open and he looked around fearfully.
"You!" He instantly struggled the moment he saw Ja Sun. He tried to use his spirit energy but instantly felt cold the moment he couldn't mobilize his spirit energy or martial soul.
"Your token," Ja Sun smiled.
"I—"
"No false pretenses. I've killed one old man. It wouldn't be beneath me to kill another," Ja Sun pointed his index finger and the man followed the direction, finding the old chief lying down with a lifeless gaze. His head was tilted towards the direction of the spirit master as if his dead gaze looked at the spirit master, mocking at him: You will follow me soon.
"My token is hidden in the outskirts of the village."
"Where is the supply?"
"What is that?" The middle-aged man revealed a bitter look. Instead of accusing the spirit master of being a liar, Ja Sun leisurely continued, "What was your mission?"
"To defend the Hue Village's Chief's residence and not let it get destroyed," the spirit master replied candidly while stealthily struggling against the restraints. Everything, however, was observed by Ja Sun.
"Hmm," Ja Sun once again explored the residence and once he was sure that there was nothing to be gained, he walked out alongside the stripped Spirit Master and called for the villagers who were dragging away the corpses of the soldier with a ghastly expression. Ja Sun's expression remained carefree but the spirit master next to him shuddered.
How would he have known that the villagers can be so fierce?!
He didn't dare glance at the sliced throats of the soldiers again.
"I will return in a few minutes. By then, burn this house and completely destroy it," Ja Sun commanded. Since he had won the hearts of the villagers temporarily through fear, he might as well use them to save him some time.
The villagers instantly bowed. And in the next moment, with utmost ferociousness, they started bringing back the corpses.
They might as well give them a funeral, right? Or else the ghosts will haunt them.
"I'll take you to my token!" The man instantly spoke. Unwilling to bear the hateful gazes of the villagers.
The two walked towards the northern exit that faced the border of the two countries and after a short distance, crouched down. With his hands tied behind his back, he gestured towards the tree next to him.
"I buried my token here."
"Dig it out," Ja Sun stated calmly.
"But my hands—"
"If you had your arms chopped and a chance to regain them by digging something, would use your feet or not?"
Ja Sun's curious inquiry made the spirit master's heart shudder. Cold sweat poured out of his forehead as he couldn't believe this was another spirit grandmaster.
He leaned against the tree with his shoulder and awkwardly curled his toes before digging with his foot.
"How many missions have you completed?" Ja Sun inquired
Nothing ever good came when the mysterious young man in front of him opened his mouth. But he could only grit his teeth and squeeze the worlds out of his mouth.
"This is my third mission."
"Have you exchanged your merit points for rewards?" Ja Sun's smile turned sly. If their side could reward others then why couldn't the opponent? An individual spirit grandmaster's mission brings at least 10 merit points. That means the man in front of him had at the very least— 20.
For 20 points, Ja Sun could exchange for a cold weapon made out of 10-year-old spirit beasts material.
"No," the man shook his head.
True or not, Ja Sun didn't mind. It was already a long shot.
Finally, the man dug enough to reveal a square red token embedded in the surface. But seeing Ja Sun still calmly observing him, the man gritted his teeth and dug a few more times to free up the token.
"Is this the token?" Ja Sun inquired with a focused gaze once again. He hadn't seen the token of the other side so there may be a chance that the spirit master was acting smart. After all, he had disguised himself as the village chief previously.
"This really is the token. Even my title is carved on its surface," The man gave a weak smile.
Picking the token up, Ja Sun flipped it and looked slightly strange.
"Fire Lord?" Ja Sun gazed at the half-naked man as he shrugged.
"It's just a name. But now, please, let me go. We don't have any hatred—"
"Where is your other stuff?"
"What?" Fire Lord inquired.
"The village is completely empty. How do the soldiers sustain themselves? And you, too?"
"A troop visits the area to deliver food. The soldiers are not allowed to eat the food in the village because it might be poisoned, or may eventually be poisoned later on."
The reply made Ja Sun frowned. In the distance, he saw the billowing smoke rising up and his heart felt ominous.
'No time to delay,' He walked past the man and suddenly gripped him by the back of his neck.
"I'm going to untie you. One wrong move and I'll snap your neck."
"Y-yes!" the man nodded in a hurry.
Untying him with his other hand, Ja Sun continued, "Bring out your tool spirit."
"What?"
"You want to live, right? If you escape now, the Silvers Kingdom will send their forces. Do as I say."
Fear and hope made Fire Lord follow Ja Sun's instructions and he revealed the crimson mask once again. The surface seemed to be made out of wood.
"Explain," Ja Sun continued. Unknown to Fire Lord, a beautiful butterfly suddenly flashed out of the middle of Ja Sun's forehead and flew around behind him silently.
"It's called Crimson Face. It allows me to change my appearance once every day!"
"Your abilities?"
"I can't—" Fire Lord suddenly felt the squeeze turning tighter and he gasped for air, "Alright! I'll tell you!"
"The first spirit skill allows me to place my appearance on someone else. The second skill reduces the pain of the disguise since my ability directly changes the structure of face!"
Unknown to him, Ja Sun's expression was already flat by this point. The fleeting butterfly had disappeared and he sighed softly, "Good enough. You can leave."
Saying this, Ja Sun instantly flashed away.
He wasn't aware that another troop of soldiers would come to various villages and didn't wish for further trouble with the army. He had tried to use his spirit soul to try and feel something from the martial soul but nothing happened.
Clearly, Ja Sun wanted to see if the benefit of absorption of spirit energy for spirit soul can be harvested from humans, but it was clear that it couldn't be harvested from living humans. And after death, Ja Sun didn't have any confidence in the matter since humans do not expel spirit rings.
Since death brought him no decisive advantage, Ja Sun chose to retreat the very next moment.
Feeling the terrible existence retreating, Fire Lord was stunned for a moment before he ran away at full speed, too. He didn't return to the Silvers Kingdom or the village. Presently, Fire Lord's mind felt great. He physically felt refreshed— credits to Ja Sun's acupuncture.
However, he hadn't been on the run for more than twenty minutes when a cold voice interrupted his escape.
"Nicknamed Fire Lord. Your objective has been considered a failure. You have lost your token and you are now considered a deserter."
A figure suddenly appeared out of thin air.
The figure had his body wrapped in a white cloak with a beautiful golden embroidered around his shoulders meanwhile, an insignia of a golden sword pointing downward could be seen over the left chest of the figure. A pale white mask and a hood covered the features of the man as he gazed at Fire Lord with an eerie expression. A tremendous pressure of spirit energy already made all thoughts of fleeing fly out the window.
"Lord! Have mercy!" Fire Lord instantly fell on his knees."
Surprisingly, the figure nodded and calmly explained, "Every spirit master who lost the mission has a chance to survive. Fire Lord, state your true name."
While saying this, a small bell appeared in the hands of the interrogator.
"It is Xian Fu, Lord!" Xian Fu stated.
"Your Martial Soul?"
"Crimson Face."
Seeing the bell not ringing even once, the figure nodded, "At least, you are honest."
"Xian Fu, origin: Faye Valley. Martial Soul: Crimson Face. Age: 37. Serial Rapist chased by spirit hall. Known crimes also include robbery and smuggling of evil cultivators. Passed Judgement: Execution."
Another calm voice blew over. A spirit master was already behind the kneeling Xian Fu with an infernal red sword in his hand. Even before Xian Fu could continue, the man swung his sword and Xian Fu's head was separated from his shoulders as it rolled down with a large fountain of blood gushing out.
The new figure also wore the same clothes as the first speaker.
Both of them glanced at Xian Fu's body.
"Should we take away his inner garments?" The first speaker finally inquired.
"The Hall doesn't like to waste resources so we are entitled to collect the legacy of the dead. Even if it is inner garments. We are not the judge."
The second one replied coldly but he didn't seem to move at all. Letting out a bitter sigh, the first one completed the 'heavy' task and the two left. The naked corpse is left for nature to feed on.
---
Ignorant of the death of Fire Lord, Ja Sun returned to the Balak City. The routes chosen by Olivia are nothing short of divine. Though winded and long, she managed to bring Ja Sun to the city safe before flying out towards her son.
Entering the city, Ja Sun made his way into the Spirit Temple of Balak City and as directed previously, used the red token to enter the Merit Room.
Unlike other rooms, there were a total of eleven merit rooms to accommodate as much as possible.
And after entering the room for the first time, Ja Sun finally understood why the process is so quick.
Because the conversation is kept to the minimum!
After asking for Ja Sun's token and the square token, the individual behind the desk sunk in silence and hurriedly processed the situation.
First, he placed Ja Sun's token on a similar-looking binder as the one held by the individual mission center. Next, the man silently pressed the red token on the binder.
Once the red token revealed a flash of light, Ja Sun was handed the green token back.
Strangely enough, on the backside of the token, there is a number: 10.
"These are my merit points?" Ja Sun inquired as the man nodded.
"Can you tell me how this process works?"
To this, the man shook his head.
Ja Sun then thought and recalled the red token.
"The enemy tokens work similarly?"
The man nodded once again.
"Is there any benefit in bringing back tokens that still have merit points?"
Nod.
"Could you describe these benefits?"
Nod.
"Will you?"
The man remained silent for a moment before a pleasant voice escaped through his covers.
"The accumulated, unspent merit points on the enemy's tokens are transferred to you. The same will not occur for ally token unless both the parties consent."
Ja Sun nodded and he recalled the slimy fellow. If he wasn't willing to risk too much, he would have stayed back just for those 20 merit points!
"I want to see the rewards list."
The receptionist took out a scroll and unfurled it in front of Ja Sun.
Instead of salivating over top rewards, Ja Sun looked at the bottom. For ten merit points, he can either have the eye for Ghost Wolf, an earthen dagger, a set of clean and stretchable robes, and such. None of them suited Ja Sun and he left after stating his reluctance on spending the merit points.
***
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