Sternritter Calendar

[16:38]

[18/5/1996]

[Q: "Question"]

A month passed since they began their journey on their feet, and now they are just outside the Blue Wind Empire, but there was something strange about the Navy Tide Nation…

"This…" Cang Yue placed an hand on her mouth to cover her surprise. Jean and Fen Juechen were also surprised from what they were seeing, it was understandable…

Jean looked behind him, and he saw a green land full of grown up trees, the land was covered in tall grass, and there were some squirrels that were carrying food to feed themselves, the sky was blue, he could also see some clouds carrying water for the rain…

Then he turned his gaze at what was in front of him…

Nothing.

There was nothing except for dried up earth…

He could see some dried up trees that were on verge of turning in dust, while others already did so. Corpses of animals, people and vermins littered the floor for more than a dozen of kilometers of distance…

Jean raised his head, and saw that there wasn't even the light necessary to give the sky the color blue, so if one looked up, one could see a starry sky, it was as if it was night, however it is strange looking at the black sky with the normal blue sky standing right beside it…

Everything was dead, even the light.

"What the f.u.c.k happened here?"

Jean voiced the thoughts of the "four" of them. Even Jasmine didn't understand what happened, she only saw this type of sight only once, and it was when Jean rampaged around with the Almighty back at the second trial of the Dragon God's Trial, where he absorbed even grass just to find more creatures that could help his growth.

Meanwhile, Jean had something more relatable in his memory. It came from his second life, when he wandered the Azure Cloud Continent as Yun Che after he unleashed the power of the Sky Poison Pearl, the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison.

In a land with 7,7 million of dead rotting corpses of animals and people, with 33 ghost cities and 76 sects destroyed…

It was as if there was an apocalypse of zombies, but the real threat was just him.

This is what the current sight was making him remember, his second life…

Jean slowly walked forward, while looking around. This isn't what he expected when he wanted to make a journey. 

He thought that he would visit many places, know many people, find many treasures…

Not… This. This was the opposite of what Jean wished for.

Fen Juechen and Cang Yue followed Jean in the dead land, they could just go on and find out about what happened.

So they will find a village or town and investigate from there, whatever this was, it couldn't be done from a normal enemy.

It could be one of the Four Sacred Grounds, or it could be a treasure like the Sky Poison Pearl… Well, if he stays there he will never find out. "So… What do you think about looking for the cause of this?"

Fen Juechen raised an eyebrow and replied. "You're joking? We will get killed!"

Jean turned around and extended his arms. "Well, we came here for fun and training, not to go back to our beds and never leave the bedroom. You can consider this as a test."

"Are you sure this is safe…?" Cang Yue asked with some insecurity to Jean, who chuckled.

"Of course not, you think that finding out what reduced this piece of land in nothing could be safe? If you are still afraid of this then why did you even begin to cultivate?"

Cang Yue and Fen Juechen froze on their spots at that question, due to Jean's schrift, the Question, they will be forced to answer anyway. Fen Juechen answered first.

"To bring glory to my clan, the Burning Heaven Sect! It would be idiotic if I let my older brothers surpass me! Also, my elder brother Fen Juecheng is currently crippled to the very soul and I beaten once Fen Juebi, by second brother, in future I will take the place of my father as the new Master of the Burning Heaven Clan!"

Jean nodded and turned towards Cang Yue, who also answered his question. "I wanted to protect my father and my mother when I was small, so I started to cultivate… However at 14 years, my mother died, so I started to take it more seriously. If I was strong then no one will look down at the Blue Wind Profound Palace and at my father…"

"Great! See? This is what gave you the push to start to cultivate, now don't chicken out just because we see a dead wasteland.This is as much dangerous as your paths to get stronger is."

Fen Juechen and Cang Yue nodded, and with a newfound determination they followed after Jean, ignoring the dried up corpses, since there wasn't almost anything in their way, it was much easier finding a town.

"...Hey Jean, why did you start to cultivate?"

Cang Yue asked Jean with curiosity, she was thinking about what she said to Jean, and wanted to know the reason for Jean to cultivate.

Fen Juechen's ears caught the question and looked at Jean in curiosity. Jean was able to get free from the seal in the Sword Management Terrace, meaning that his power is much stronger than that of any Emperor Profound Cultivator, his combat prowess might also be at the level of a Overlord, a Tyrant Profound Cultivator.

For a Throne to become at least as strong as an Overlord, this was never heard of… What could have pushed Jean to break the chains of the natural law and surpass everyone's expectations?

Revenge against the Heavens?

Glory to his ancestors?

Reaching for a person that is too far away from him?

"I just want to be strong."

Those words echoed in the silent land, as if the world froze, Fen Juechen and Cang Yue looked at Jean in shock…

Just for this asinine reason, Jean became a monster among monsters… He wanted power, just because he wanted it?

Jean chuckled at their expressions and explained in details. "You two seemed to have forgot it, but who is the one who stand atop of all of us?"

It finally clicked inside their heads… Jean didn't want only strength….

He wanted to become God, with no one and nothing being capable of harming him.

Only the strong gets respected in this world of dogs that eats other dogs, although some tyrants are shown to be killed at the end of some stories, it was because they weren't strong enough to go against the entire population.

But it would be another matter altogether if the person in question was so strong that he can't be defeated in any way, isn't it?

Such strength that will permit him to achieve whatever he wants… This is what Jean is looking for. 

Once Cang Yue will have the Blue Wind Profound Palace standing above any other Major Sect, then there isn't really any reason to continuing to cultivate except to maintaining that state as it is.

Once Fen Juechen will become the Master of the Burning Heaven Sect and will be sure that he will be respected by his peers, there isn't really any reason to continuing to cultivate except to maintaining that state as it is.

But Jean wants to go all the way to the end… If there is a Sovereign Profound Cultivator, then Jean will aim to become a Profound God. If there is a Profound God, then Jean will aim to become something bigger…

He wants to stand at the apex, peerless, unmatched, undefeatable…

Doing this will require him doing things that no one ever did…

Cang Yue and Fen Juechen started to laugh upon thinking all that… In front of Jean, they felt like their reasons were childish. His ambitions are too big… But they felt like it was the most appropriate thing for Jean, who was able to unleash the power of a great realm higher than what his cultivation level is.

Suddenly, they bumped on something, they stopped their thoughts and stepped back, realizing they bumped on Jean's back.

Jean seemed to be in guard while gazing at something in front of him.

Cang Yue and Fen Juechen raised their heads and looked at whatever it was, before their eyes widened in surprise. 

In front of Jean, 10 meters away, there was… a thing.

It can't be really specified because his body was covered in statics, Cang Yue and Fen Juechen rubbed their eyes, thinking that their imagination was playing tricks to them, but indeed, he seemed like a profound projection that came out in the wrong way or damaged.

"I̵ ̷w̶a̵s̶ ̶s̵e̷a̵r̵c̵h̵i̵n̴g̷ ̶f̸o̷r̵ ̷s̴o̴ ̶l̴o̷n̸g̶.̵.̸.̸ ̶J̴e̵a̸n̷…̵ ̷H̸e̶h̷e̵h̵e̷h̸e̸h̸e̷.̷.̷.̸"

A bone-chilling laughter came from him, as he seemed to have laid his eyes on Jean, who raised his guard. 

"...Jean… Don't fight it, just run away as fast as you can and hope that you won't get caught…"

This voice didn't come from Cang Yue or Fen Juechen, but from Jasmine, who was speaking with a trembling voice. Jean was surprised, and whispered. "What cultivation level is that thing in?"

"...I...I-I... don't know…"