"Man has always puzzled over his origin, his genesis, a product of evolution? or work of God? If we could get all of our questions answered, would we be satisfied? Is fathoming the incomprehensible really worth it?"

Two silhouettes stood in the midst of absolute darkness, one wearing a black armor that blended with environment and the other sat next to the former, playing with his cards nonchalantly.

"Hell if I care, I've seen things none can imagine and thinking about such boring questions is the least of my troubles."

The armored man let out a long sigh before looking at the strange man next to him whilst adding:

"I care not for what happened but you.... haven't you ever considered going back and changing things? Change the course of time so that it wouldn't up like this... so you wouldn't end up here... waiting for incoming doom."

Hearing him talk so seriously, the Joker stopped playing with his cards and replied

"Incoming doom? You've always been a dramatic person."

After a short silence, the Nameless Knight spoke again

"Am I really?"

To this, the Joker merely remained silent as he stared into the distance with a melancholic gaze. An unknown amount of time passed before the Magician voiced his thoughts:

"Hey, do you think there's a Creator? Some sort of a God or so they claim? Someone or something that created everything in existence?"

The knight chuckled and shook his head while replying

" 'Follow the voice of God and he shall calm the waves' or so they preached. Such a thing does not exist and if it does then some will wonder about who or what created the former and it will never end, an endless cycle. They force their beliefs on others and themselves to create hope and rely on something to resist their troubles. An efficient illusion that temporarily works but until when? Things like fate or whatsoever only work on mortals. Our outcome is something only we can decide."

The Joker kept looking into the darkness that enveloped them...

"You mean to say that this won't be 'the end'?"

"No, it won't. There's always an 'after' and 'before'."

Time passed like flowing water yet the two figures sat there, motionless......

********************

Divine Planet, in an inner courtyard situated in the White Specter Clan. It was the same spot the Joker had a short tea session with the mysterious woman.

Currently, the same woman was talking with a tall and elderly man who respectfully stood before her, carefully listening to her orders. He was wearing an outfit similar to a butler yet strangely different. He looked old and was missing an eye thus leading him to wear an eye-patch.

"No matter the circumstances, I want you to bring her home."

The old man bowed while replying

"Mistress, have no worries, I shall bring her home before your breakthrough."

The woman nodded her head as she added

"I heard that Angelina is going with you?"

With an almost instantaneous answer, he responded:

"Yes, she wishes to venture to the dragon's lair that's about to open."

The woman merely nodded then waved her hand dismissively to which the old man bowed again then quietly left.

******************

Arthur and Lucy managed to reach the Wicket Forest after traveling for five days without any rest. Though they consumed many Spirit Stones to keep the Spirit Boat flying, they didn't mind at all since Zodiak's storage was filled with a mind-numbing amount of Spirit Stones, though it's not endless like the mountains of Gold.

As they appeared at the borders of the Wicket Forest, exactly South of this dangerous zone. They found a remote yet lively town that had all sorts of courageous cultivators who wanted to try their luck in this place. Some would tread some distance and slay a few beasts before going back to sell the materials they acquired for they were quite pricy.

Arthur was uninterested in visiting the town thus he stored the Spirit Boat and decided to walk. Flying is possible but that'll make him an easy target. He isn't on Astria anymore and although he's extremely strong, he wasn't willing to recklessly charge in until he reached the destination, which still remains unknown.

Logically, if someone found Star Iron, it had to be in a dangerous place inside the forest. Arthur speculated the existence of a secret Realm or a powerful beast that's protecting some sort of a mine or a treasure.

"This place has a small amount of lingering Yin Energy. I can feel it emanating from the depths of the forest, it's probably a Yin Beast."

Lucy stated while frowning. It could be a Yin Vein but that was too unlikely as Energy Veins usually provide pure Energy around specific places and would not leak outside. An Energy Vein is something that's born naturally when too much of a specific Energy is accumulated over-time though, in most times, they die before their birth due to exterior circumstances.

Any change in their environment whilst their birth will cause their death, the same applies to when they're alive though the effect weakens by a huge margin.

Without any more time, the couple entered the Wicket Forest with their guard up. A strengthened Dark Barrier enveloped both of them, moreover, both he and Lucy were in a completely other space. Using his Space Bending title, he created a small dimension that could fit both of them, it eliminated their presences and made them practically untraceable by even Sovereigns.

As they delved deeper into the forest, they encountered the first group of cultivators approximatively three kilometers away from the entrance of this eerie place.

Fog covered the sky and the weather was strangely cold, it didn't bother Arthur and Lucy but the weak cultivators would definitely uncomfortable, especially due to the Yin Energy which would affect them if their body unconsciously absorbed a considerable amount of it.

The group was composed of three males and one female. They were all Immortals with the strongest being 8th Grade. They wore the same outfit which indicated they belonged to the same sect or clan.

Their clothes were jet black and had a symbol of a large sword engraved on the top of a mountain. Arthur didn't recognize the symbol and wasn't planning on talking to them. He just casually used Appraisal on them only to find a rather pleasing surprise.

Nauphrinan(Race: Human/F):Realm; Immortal 5th Grade

Age : 38

Haberu(Race: Human/M):Realm: Immortal 5th Grade

Age : 42

Lutro(Race: Human/M):Realm : Immortal 2nd Grade

Age: 36

Veknur(Race: Half Human/Half Beast/M): Realm : Immortal 8th Grade

Age:47

Bloodline : Wind Eagle: 1.871% to awaken.

Titles : Master Analyzer

Short Description : Inner Disciple of Mountain Ba Sword Sect. Attained perfection in the skill(Analyze) thus granted the title 'Master Analyzer'. He's born from a beast tribe South-East of the Green-Leaf World and was exiled due to breaking the rules.

Master Analyzer: A skill similar to 'Appraisal' but consumes Nether Energy or Mana.

Tip : Has a strong chance to enhance the effect of [Appraisal] if the user 'Arthur MoonStar' absorbs it.

Arthur looked at the results of the appraisal then contemplated what to do for a few seconds before he decided to possess Veknur. He'll do it swiftly without the alerting the victim, moreover, since the target was way weaker than him, it'll practically be impossible to be discovered.

Fortunately, the group of cultivators were fighting a weird purple python which was a Heavenly Beast, meaning it equaled a cultivator in the Heavenly Realm but that's just theoretical.

An Immortal Beast can demolish a group of Immortals if they're not careful. Furthermore, a Sovereign can have difficulties defeating a God Beast.

The group of four had flawless coordinations as they attacked from all directions, slowly tiring the python and injured it little by little.

Arthur, who was a distance away, suddenly vanished and appeared next to Veknur only to abruptly become a black whirlpool which entered the target.

This caused Veknur, who was in the middle of the attack, to feel momentarily disoriented thus giving the python to lash out at him with its extreme velocity.

Arthur no more than two seconds inside the foreign body before he left it and returned next to Lucy as if nothing happened.

As for Veknur, he could've sworn he saw a strange black thing fly away from his body but didn't focus much on it due to the dizziness he was feeling and the fresh wound he just suffered...