Prime Originator

Stepping into Lost Isle Alley once more, the place was dark and lightless as usual. Whether it was night or day, this had not changed for the past few hundred years.

The captive vengeful spirit had grown much weaker during this period. Despite sensing another person's arriving into Lost Isle Alley, she did not say anything and remained soulless at the bottom of the well. 

Leon did not pay immediate attention to the vengeful spirit as he lifted his head with a narrow but glowing look, seemingly able to peer through the veil of darkness and see the hidden array within the dark clouds above.

The array was like a thin disk of red light. It hovered in the air and rotated at a slow but consistent rate. The portal to the other side laid just underneath the array. 

Portal cannot be seen as the array acted as the portal itself. While it is active, people would only need to go through the array from bottom-up to be sent to the other side.

Traces of dark miasma leaked out from the array and spilled into the surrounding area of Lost Isle Alley. Within that small trace of dark miasma, there was an even rarer and fainter trace of darkness profound energy.

Like how humans need air to breathe, dark miasma was the source of life for demons. Not only that, but it was also their source of power. Darkness profound energy was derived from refining dark miasma.

While demons are a very invasive and aggressive race, they cannot survive where there is no dark miasma. Only high-level demons could ignore this restriction.

Aside from drawing in the energy of heaven and earth, the heaven gathering formation and earth gathering formation also acted as a cage that traps the energy inside. 

The darkness of Lost Isle Alley was formed because of all these dark miasma and darkness profound energy trapped inside. It is also due to the devouring properties of darkness profound energy that any light source is swallowed shortly inside.

Leon was not fond of the person who set up the formations and array in this place. Still, he had to admit that the ingenious use of the two formations and the single array was impressive. 

It also proved that the person was very skilled, possibly peak Tier 4 Formation Master and peak Tier 4 Array Master. 

Shooting off his feet, Leon flew into the dark clouds and circled around the array before floating just above it. 

Having fully comprehended the Tier 4 Array, it did not take long for Leon to locate the heart of the array and struck it with his own wave of energy. 

Akin to being short-circuited, the array was deactivated as its circulation slowed down to a complete stop and hovered motionless in midair with dimmed lights. 

The portal to the other side was naturally closed as a result.

The vengeful spirit at the bottom of the well, raised her head and looked up, feeling the changes. Although she was shackled by chains, her power was no longer sapped away by the chains to feed the array above her.

"Who's there? Are you here to save me?" Some hope rekindled in the vengeful spirit's eyes.

"…"

Leon did not answer and continued to focus on the array. Freeing the vengeful spirit was the same as introducing unnecessary risk factors. He did not need to release it to save it.

A spatial collapse would not happen once the array was deactivated. Thus, it no longer mattered if the vengeful spirit dies or the heaven gathering formation breaks at this point.

However, some people still needed saving on the other side. It was inevitable that he would have to go over to the other side to save them, but not without making some preparations.

Thinking to this point, Leon took out his Ravenous Black scribing pen and some conductive Magisteel ingots and began making some alterations to the array's runic lines. The Magisteel was melted and used like solder. He was hijacking the array.

Once Leon was done with the alterations, the array was no longer set to self-destruct from the destabilization of either of the energy gathering formations and form a spatial collapse. It was no longer possible.

That plan had been foiled by Leon.

Leon's eyes soon lingered on a few stones embedded into the floating array disk. There were a few stones embedded in the heaven gathering formation, and he assumed it was the same for the earth gathering formation.

These two formations and array are not powered by spirit energy, wherein his interest lies. The stones were black but semi-transparent like glass and crystals. The black stone glowed with a crimson hue as a different source of energy was stored inside.

It was demonic energy, the primary energy source to power the formations and array. All other energies gathered through the formations were just supplementary to increase the activation time of the array.

"These should be… Demon Cores…" Leon rubbed his chin in thought. "This is a bit interesting."

Demon Cores are found in every demon. It was the source of their power, and their quality varies according to the demon's strength. 

For the number of Demon Cores present, it was safe to assume that an equal number of demons had been killed.

The demons were indeed a brutal race. They do not even care for members of their own race and used them as a convenient source of energy for their arrays and formations.

Leon slightly wrinkled his brows at another possibility. 

The array and formations might not have been set up by the demons, but by another group that hunted them.

…

Elizabeth led her army and stopped on a distant hill as they took in the breathtaking sight of King City that stood proudly at the heart of the Valaran Kingdom with its highly erected walls.

Lynne and Aria were awed by the vast surrounding farmland and the colossal aqueduct that ran overhead and channeled water directly to the majestic city from the nearby river.

On one side of the large city stood a towering mountain. It was the Blood Mountain where the headquarters of the Bloodfiend Sect was located.

Elizabeth sent out some scouts to search the region ahead. It did not take too long before they returned with intelligence.

"Report," Elizabeth ordered calmly with her sight fixed on the distant city.

"Merchants and farmers alike are entering and leaving the city at will with no security check. The city gates are left wide open, and few city guards can be seen atop the walls, but they are waving a white flag, Your Majesty." A scout reported dutifully. 

Elizabeth nodded and issued a command for the army to advance under lead. Aria and Lynne followed quietly by her side, but their eyes displayed a readiness to face any upcoming challenges. 

The army advanced with caution, but even after entering the city, no potential enemy was found. The common people simply made way for them and bowed submissively as they were passing. 

They reached a large square deeper within the huge city where found another pile of burnt bodies stacked together like they did with the other cities they had passed through. 

However.

This time, the number of burnt bodies had reached at least two hundred. 

A group of officials waited for them there, and a bulky tanned person stood at the front of them. Seeing Elizabeth's army approaching, the bulky tanned person stepped forward to greet them.

"Greetings, I am Denzell, an elder of the Burning Heaven Sect. May I ask to whom I am speaking to?"

"Queen Elizabeth stands before you," Elizabeth said coolly after signaling the army to halt their steps. "What are the intentions of your sect for being here?"

"Ah, apologies for not recognizing, Your Majesty." Denzell expressed his respect with a slight bow and said, "I am representing my sect to express our wish to establish friendly relations with your kingdom, Your Majesty."

"And these burnt corpses are…?"

"Disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect. You do not need to doubt this. This is our greeting gift to you, Your Majesty. I hope you like it." As if remembering something else, Denzell added, "This letter was personally written by our sect master and carries some vital information you may be interested in. If you would read it, please, Your Majesty."

Elizabeth carefully took the sealed letter from the Burning Heaven Sect's elder.. After unsealing the letter and giving it a quick read, she immediately frowned.