Chapter 45: An Audience With A Supreme

While Devour announced its joy to the World.

Like a hero announcing its return to its hometown after a long voyage.

Neo tried to sense the changes that was occurring in this world.

The staleness had dispersed from the air.

But the world still remained bleak.

The air smelled fresher no doubt, but nothing else happened.

Neo couldn’t place a hand on anything that had changed.

He tried to communicate with Devour.

But the bloodline seemed to still be immersed in whatever joy had come over it.

It ignored Neo.

The bright golden light on his forehead dimmed, before it slowly faded.

Neo moved from the place he had landed.

Rather than wait on Devour, he would explore this world on his own.

He looked forward to what it had to offer.

The immortal couldn’t have just dumped him here for no reason.

He hadn’t walked too far when a tree appeared in his sight.

The tree had no leaves.

It was dry and dessicated.

When he moved closer, he saw its true condition.

The tree had withered.

There was no longer any life in this tree.

He touched it.

The bark flaked off.

He looked around.

There was nothing else in sight.

He walked around the tree, trying to find anything special about it.

There was nothing.

He turned away.

Ready to leave.

SWIPE!

Neo didn’t know what it was.

His body already moved, his sword flashed.

He turned to confront his assailant.

CLANG!

This was the sound of his sword hitting the claws of whatever strange creature had just appeared before him.

The tree was gone.

In its place appeared a strange creature.

Its body looked like the barks of the withered tree.

The strange tree lifeform was humanoid.

Its hands ended in long, sharp claws.

SWIPE!

Those claws flashed again.

Neo swung his sword, the move augmented by a powerful sword technique.

It was supposed to be just a simple move that would cut the claws.

But Devour seemed to have undergone something extraordinary since it entered this strange world.

The tree lifeform was cut into a thousand pieces.

Then the thousand pieces was each cut into another thousand pieces.

Cut after cut.

Until nothing was left.

Not even the tiniest mote of dust.

Devour had swallowed it all before it could even dissipate into the air.

Devour roared in Neo’s mind.

It seemed to be satisfied with whatever it was it had just consumed.

Neo stood stunned in shock.

His sword still raised in the air.

That move just now had exceeded his cultivation by levels.

Many levels.

Devour had just done something it had never done before.

It had directly powered his technique.

This went beyond just providing him with essence.

This was a direct boost in cultivation.

That move had felt like an attack at the peak of the F-Rank.

But his cultivation still remained at the third level.

As he considered the ramifications of what had just occured.

"If I praise your luck, I will be denying just how much of a natural talent you are."

A soft voice sounded from behind Neo.

He turned around in shock.

This day was turning out to be one full of surprises.

Behind him, a being whose whole countenance screamed perfection stood.

Her relaxed posture conveyed a gentle grace.

This was a being so assured in herself, that nothing could shake her.

This was the temperant of a true supreme.

Neo’s mouth opened wide.

This was an action that was so out of place with his usual calm self.

He had seen immortals before.

No, that didn’t sound right.

From the very beginning of his life, he had been living among immortals.

There was no day that passed, where he didn’t meet one immortal or another.

His parents, for heaven’s sake, were immortals.

But this young woman before him.

Demure as could be.

She was a type of immortal he had never seen before.

His eyes couldn’t leave her.

They stayed glued to her graceful form.

She was shorter than him, her head reached the level of his chest.

She was perfect!

"Have you seen enough?"

Her hand stroked her long, loose hair as her slender form moved into a graceful posture.

One leg gently stepped forward, as she turned her face slowly to the side.

Neo staggered back.

What young woman.

This was an ancient monster.

The moment she moved, Neo had seen something that shook his very soul.

In front of him had appeared a mighty ancient monster.

It was still the same young woman before him.

But her form towered beyond heights he never knew existed.

Her eyes were as large as the sun, bright red.

Her mouth dripped blood, as it opened.

The fangs that appeared were massive.

Her lips had formed into a bloody grin.

Her ears had taken on the appearance of a fox’s ears.

Her face had been slowly morphing into that of a fox’s.

Same with the rest of her body.

Then he had staggered back.

The vision that appeared in his sight cutting off.

His body shook with terror.

But with every moment that passed, he felt his body slowly relax.

The terror wearing off.

Devour didn’t seem pleased.

The bright golden light which had faded from his forehead, came back with full force.

It seemed almost tangible.

A mighty roar shook the air.

Devour roared at the supreme.

It cared for neither her might, nor power.

"Your guts have truly grown. You dare to raise your hackles at me. Have we grown that familiar?"

The voice of the ancient immortal being had a jovial tone to it.

But Neo couldn’t hear the cheerfulness in her voice.

Nor what her words seemed to imply.

Not after what just happened.

He almost cursed the stupid bloodline that was about to get him killed.

If he could, he would grab Devour by the neck.

He would wring its damned neck so hard, its damned stupid head would fall off.

What was the point of blustering before someone who could destroy you with just a snort.

Someone who could destroy you so thoroughly, there was nothing left.

Devour didn’t stop.

But there was nothing Neo could do about it.

It was his bloodline, but he was still far from the level of being able to perfectly control it.

"I should respect your chosen one?"

The immortal looked at Neo.

Her eyes surveyed him.

"Of course, I do. I might have overreacted, but the current him isn’t qualified to look at me that way."

Devour roared something.

The immortal laughed.

"You definitely have picked up some of her bad habits."

They seemed to be having a conversation.

Neo slowly realized this fact.

These two, Devour and this ancient immortal.

They knew each other.

No, they were more than familiar with each other.

All he could hear from Devour was the roars that seemed unending.

He couldn’t understand anything it mean, but he could glean some things from the immortal’s words.

"That is enough."

The immortal’s words were decisive.

Her face now held a seriousness to it.

"It might be the arrogance you breed in your hosts, or maybe you have always chosen the arrogant ones."

She looked at Neo, but her eyes seemed to look beyond him.

Or maybe it was within.

Her words were directed at Devour.

"She was this close to succeeding. It might have been her fate, but she will be the last failure."

She raised two fingers up, her index and thumb, pressed against each other.

As if to show just how close she meant.

"Then after that, you just had to go around causing trouble everywhere. Drawing more attention than was needed."

She drew in a deep breath.

"This time, whether you succeed or fail. This will be your final host."

Devour went silent.

Then it seemed to have said something to the immortal.

She stepped back.

Her graceful composure faltered for a moment.

She looked at Neo.

This time, she inspected him even more carefully.

Her mouth opened.

As if at a loss for words.

Then she settled on the ones that best conveyed what she felt.

"You are one lucky bastard."