The Burning Fiend

It took a couple of months to go through all the interspatial rings obtained from the battle, there several artifacts that seemed unimportant to him and apparently the most valuable items where the Highgod sparks and Temark's sword. But just as Windsor had expected, Reynolds found several vials of antidotes, poisons and even some books regarding poisons and plants, no doubt that Temark had tried to find a cure for his brother.

He shook his head and started perusing the books trying to gain understanding on the Edicts of death, he felt that he was not that far from achieving the God realm level but there was something blocking him from advancing. 'Perhaps my understanding on the Edicts of Death had gone beyond my understanding on the Edicts of Life, and as both require balance... a natural block appeared... yes, that might actually be the reason'. He thought and decided to look for items or books related to the Edicts of Life.

For the moment he only had with him the Pearl of Life, but he had not used it for hundreds of years. He smiled as he unbounded the Pear of Life and started using his spiritual sense to force his way into the inner structure of the pearl. "The pearl might get destroyed in the process... but it is no longer useful to me, it might be more useful to disassemble it hoping to gain a better understanding of how does the pearl works." He muttered as he concentrated his full attention to his experiment.

He was surprised to find a complex series of arrays inside the Pearl of Life and understood that this low level treasure was more valuable and mysterious from what he had originally thought, he could not understand the array but focused on copying it for later study as he noticed that the pearl started to crumble the moment his divine power was forced inside the pearl.

Reynolds managed to copy only a third of the array before the pearl of life turned to dust but Reynolds felt satisfied with his progress. 'I will buy a few Pearls of Life to continue with this research... perhaps I will end finding something useful'. He thought eager to solve the mystery of how the 'Pearl of Life' works.

Time passed, and he finally made his way back towards Silver Grass City, Reynolds smiled remembering that grandpa Lomu had told him once that the return trip always seemed shorter even if the distance didn't change. He agreed with this seemingly ridiculous idea, but he still had felt extremely bored during the 30 years that took for him to return to the city. He did not encounter any bandit group trying to rob him, nor was he intercepted by the Lord Prefect's forces... he hadn't truly believed that he would get in trouble for killing four Highgods that were sent by his grand daughter for her private business. 'But one could never be completely sure'. He thought as he entered the Silver Grass City after 60 years.

The first thing he did was sent a mental message to Koral to check that things were fine with the family, he remembered that Temark's brother was targeted by that woman and was worried. 'Wife, I have just arrived to the city. Is everything alright with you and the girls?' He immediately felt Koral's enthusiasm and expectations. 'Master! Welcome back! Everything is good, but Talia is getting impatient to start our travel'.

Reynolds felt relieved as he walked towards the Fiend Castle. 'Well, I will go to hand over my mission and then I will buy a few things before heading to the courtyard. We will celebrate tonight! And tell our daughter that we will be leaving the city in a few days'.

He noticed that people was looking at him with sparkling eyes as he entered the Fiend Castle, he had guessed that news of his success would have arrived to the city before him, and smiled feeling a little pride as he approached the Task Hall to report the success of his mission. He did not meet the same clerk that had registered the mission 60 years ago, but a beautiful girl with purple eyes and long black hair that seemed fully concentrated in reading a book.

Reynolds smiled and said. "Hello beautiful, I am here to report my mission." He delivered a medallion and Temark's damaged head. The beautiful girls seemed startled and blushed furiously not knowing what to said, but regained her bearings after a moment and started the process to upgrade his medallion.

"L-Lord, here is your new medallion a-and this interspatial ring contains the reward. C-Congratulations!" The beautiful girl managed to said despite her stuttering making Reynolds chuckle. "Thank you beautiful". He took the medallion and the ring and started walking towards the Jadefloat Palace thinking of buying the defensive sets of artifacts for his family before returning to the courtyard.

Reynolds felt rather relaxed as he walked on the commercial area and suddenly realized that he had spent more time in this city than in the Yulan Plane, he chuckled thinking on how fast one could adapt to different situations. He arrived at the Jadefloat Palace and entered the third floor without any trouble.

He first walked towards an appraiser to sell the treasures he did not need, the person working at this time was a young man with orange long hair that smiled politely at Reynolds. "Hello dear guest, could you show me the items that you would be selling to us?" Soon he was working through the different interspatial rings taking notes while his eyes seemed to shine with happiness. 'I guess he might receive a good commission just for buying the items... how curious, I wonder how is Yale doing... he would be in his element while negotiating with these merchants'. Reynolds thoughts were interrupted when the terms of the transaction were defined by the clerk, and he accepted the price.

He started walking towards the adjacent hall and as soon as he approached the area where the defensive artifacts were on display a beautiful silver haired woman approached with a bright smile and bowed making her abundant b.r.e.a.s.ts visible through the cleavage of her dress while greeting him. "Welcome dear guest, how may I help you?" Her voice was melodious and inviting but it did not reach the level of the innate ability used by the celestial fox woman he had met before.

Still, he lifted her chin with his right hand while taking his time to admire the beautiful girl making her blush. Satisfied with her reaction, he said. "Beautiful, I'm looking for 5 sets of material and soul defense artifacts at the Highgod level. I would like if the material defense artifacts were related to the Earth Elemental Laws and the soul defense artifacts were nurtured by either the Edicts of Life or Death".

The beautiful silver haired beauty immediately forgot that she had being molested a few moments ago and her smile turned dazzling as she pressed her round b.r.e.a.s.t to his arm while pulling him towards where the requested items were in display. "Lord, we can provide 5 identical sets with the exact properties you requested. Our Jadefloat Palace manufactures these artifacts, and they are nurtured by Highgods under the strictest regulations. You will not be disappointed!"

The happiness in her voice was completely pure and natural, assuring Reynolds that the price of these artifacts should be quite expensive. She soon took him to a glass display showing a brown plate armor for males and khaki long coat designed for women, he smiled mischievously and said. "Pretty thing, would you mind modeling that coat for me?" The girl blushed lightly but soon was wearing the coat turning her hour-glass figure around for him to see while keeping a bright smile.

He smiled in appreciation and said. "I will take five of these, please". The silver haired girl was delighted and soon was taking him to the place where the soul defensive artifacts were on display. He saw medallions, rings, collars and even head tiaras. He chose 4 identical rings that were nurtured under the Edicts of Life and one ring nurtured by the Edicts of Death.

After paying for the items, the enthusiastic girls bowed deeply again inviting him to come back soon, Reynolds chuckled at her shameless display of her love for inkstones and started walking towards the pharmacy area. He soon found a blue haired young man who was busy doing inventory notes.

"Hello, I'm looking for 'Pearls of Life'. Do you have them?" Reynolds voice surprised the young man and frowning in confusion, the 'Pearls of Life' was a low level treasure that was only useful for saints... 'Perhaps he wanted for a pet or perhaps he had a young child'. The young man smiled trying to remember the last time that someone had asked for a 'Pearl of Life' but such event did not come to his memory.

"Give me a moment, I'm sure that we might have one of those somewhere in here... they are not really popular items". The young man started looking in boxes below the desk and after a couple of minutes he opened a small box containing four pearls glowing with a gentle green aura.

"I will take the four pearl, please". The young man was even more surprised but happy to complete the sell. And Reynolds soon was walking towards his courtyard thinking that he had not seen his family for 60 years, he shook his head reminding himself that soon they would be traveling together to explore the Infernal Realm and his smile turned brighter.

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As soon as he entered the courtyard a beautiful girl with black long hair and bright red eyes was holding his arm while admiring with her shining round eyes the 7-star Fiend ensign on his c.h.e.s.t. She was muttering things like. "Father is the best! So cool!" Reynolds hugged her and kissed her forehead. "I missed you my child". Talia blushed slightly and returned the hug. "I missed you to father!" They walked together towards the living room were the rest of the family was waiting with bright smiles.

He soon was kissing his wives and embracing them gently, he took the food and wine he had brought for the celebration and soon they were all eating and listening to Reynolds's adventure with curious eyes as he described the castle made out of jade and how beautiful it looked on the swamp, he then took the recording orb and started projecting images of the place.

Koral was more interested in the fight itself and purred in excitement when he described the battle, no long after they were already discussing their following trip feeling happy at not having to remain on the courtyard anymore, they would enjoy beautiful sceneries and the exciting adventures to come.

Later that night he gave the artifacts to the girls who were delighted by the coats and the rings as their confidence and security increased. They had decided to stay in the city for a few days before departing giving Reynolds a little time to rest. While the 5 women started making modifications to their new coats to suit their personal taste, Reynolds took a 'Pearl of Life' and continue to copy the array contained inside as the pearl started to crumble. Catherine who was on her room looked with bright eyes in Reynolds direction while a slight frown started to form on her forehead and soon she was lost in her own thought.