Hello! Here I am and I have a few things to say. First of all I want to thank all of the overwhelming support from you, the fans. As lots of the behind the scene negativity can't be seen I greatly appreciate all of your support. And I'm not just here to say my thanks, I'm here to show it with this chapter!

Also I am now blessed with an editor~!~ So please give a warm welcome to Neshi!

You guys might not know this but I have a hard time asking people to become an editor for me. It's a lot of work just to volunteer their times for this story. I greatly appreciate it and because of that I would never ask for one. Simply because I know that my grammar is anything but good. Anyways I'm thankful for Neshi to spend his time working together with me to create an even better story that we can all enjoy together. And because of that I made the chapter even longer. So with both the thanks from the fans and thanks from Neshi this chapter is 4000 words. Yup, enjoy it!

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With the Devourer standing only a few meters away, Owen could smell the repulsive smell of the Feral’s blood. All of them had been killed in with their necks snapped in half. Through the bite wounds, blood was leaking out. It was thick black blood that looked gave an eerie feeling towards it. It was the same for Owen as well. Specially because the Sin had taken over the Essence of the body that included the colour of blood as well. Although Owen couldn’t be sure if the actual colour was black, at the very least he felt it was grotesque as well. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Although the blood of the Devourer’s had already been spilt, the scent was immediately taken over by the repulsive stench of the Feral’s blood. Even if Owen wanted to, he wasn’t able to hold back from rubbing his nose attempting to get rid of the scent stuck within his nostrils. Unfortunately the smell was too strong, and not only that it seemed that the blood covered Devourer in front of him had already lost all of its patience.

But before Owen could even think, or react for that matter, the beast leader dove straight for him. Although the distance was close it wasn’t close enough for Owen to be worried about sudden movements. At least this was what he thought. So when the Devourer exploded towards Owen it was much faster than he expected. After all the beast was still at least 2 meters high and 4 meters long. For it to have such speed was not something Owen could comprehend. It wasn’t a matter of underestimating it. It was simply too powerful! The only action Owen was able to do in the nick of time was raise the his arm wrapped by the sash to block the incoming claw.

The long fingers slashed towards Owen’s arm completely picking up Owen with its strength and launching him backwards 10 meters.

“Urgh.”

Owen groaned as he rolled on the ground, completely covered in dirt. The only thing that could be considered lucky was that he was launched outside where all the blood was. Otherwise he would be drenched in blood as well. As Owen tried to pick himself up he felt a sharp pain run through his right arm that blocked the beasts strike. From the pain alone Owen could tell it was a detrimental injury to the fight. As he forced himself up, he rubbed his remaining hand on his arm.

“This isn’t good. It’s at least broken. There isn’t anyway I can fight this Tyrant Devourer with just one arm.”

Because of the sudden action, he felt a tinge of anger deep within. It wasn’t anything serious, and in fact it wasn’t that he was angry at the beast for hurting him either. He chose to do this, and because of that he was a little angry on himself. Before anyone else he would blame himself. After all it wasn’t like fighting was the only option available to him. He could have waited to see how the fight turned out, he also could have completely forsaken the Awakened Cinder. But because he knew of its importance, Owen didn’t want to leave it behind.

Now however, that option was no longer available to him. And it was also impossible to acquire it with his injuries. Even with the chances being impossible Owen didn’t run away. He needed this Cinder. It would help him tremendously. There wasn’t much that Owen knew about the progress of his Solar Eyes or even the rest of his techniques for that matter. It was all a mystery to him, but his master already explained that these things needed to be figured out by him alone. His master could only show him the direction of the Path. Everyone was to walk their own Path.

And because Owen didn’t know what result would come if he used the Cinder, he wanted it even more. The anticipation of the unknown was something that Owen could not simply let go. This was why even though he was injured, even though it should be impossible and the only result would be his death, that he continued to face towards the monster in front of him.

“Fear? Me? I will not cower in front of you. If I die that shall be my destiny. However to me, fate is nothing more than what I choose it to be!”

Owen remained motionless as he spoke with no hint of pain shown on his face. He refused to show his shaking body in front of his enemy. Owen wasn’t scared but he was in pain. And the that struck him had shaken his entire body and he felt uneasy. But through sheer determination alone he kept steady. He tensed all his muscles equally to stand straight. The blood flowed down his arm onto the Tiny Thin Sash, and soon onto the Little Light Rock.

Although Owen spoke to the Devourer, it didn’t take any heed to the insignificant bug in front of it. It was angered at first by Owen’s disturbance to its rule. But now that it already injured Owen, it could just allow for the other beasts to rip him apart. Owen wasn’t worth its time and because of that it turned its back on Owen. However this was a huge mistake!

“Don’t. You. Dare!”

Owen spoke three words although it felt calm. It caused a chilly shiver to crawl down the Devourer’s back. Previously it felt Owen was no threat. But now was an entire different story. It belittled Owen. To Owen this was worse than death. To him to wanted to earn people’s respect through his actions it was a disgrace! Owen’s calm heart pumped the blood through his entire body. His Essence flowed crazily through out his muscles causing them to contract and expand. The blood that was leaking from his arm started to become lighter and purer. It was the first time since Owen had ever felt disgraced by someone else. He was someone who tried his best to be acknowledged. He did everything to the best of his ability. Even when fighting all of the warriors, or collecting herbs. Not one person would say that Owen was weak or that he wasn’t worth being acknowledged!

And because Owen usually remained calm, his blood flow was slow and just the bare minimum needed to perfectly complete all of his tasks in a day. For a person to control himself to such a degree what would happen when that limit was broken? Furthermore it was under the conditions of being a Pathwalker. For his blood to flow this fast for the first time, it was something his body had never experienced before. The Essence filled blood gushed through his arteries. Then the veins sucked back all the drained blood. Giving his muscles, his bones, and every other inch a level of energy like it never felt before. The sheer amount of Essence that had been stagnant and not used was completely sucked back at this moment. Solidifying his body, this wasn’t a subconscious increase in strength where his Path was strengthened. Instead this was the pure acceptance of Essence throughout his body. This was the first step of body refinement. Although solidifying Path Blocks would strengthen the body, that was only to a point. Only when the Essence baptised the entire body could one truly join the ranks of a Pathwalker.

This was reason why the Devourer was so strong. It had already completely accepted the Essence baptism and could be said to have on a completely different level, not just including being a Peak Omega Devourer. The Path was deep and immeasurable. There was simply too many things that could affect one’s cultivation. And now Owen stared at the Devourer in front of him. His anger was no longer pointed towards himself but directly to the Tyrant Devourer! He was angry but he still kept control of it. It was only that his heartbeat that failed to listen to him. Other than that no one would be able to tell he was angry. His eyelids closed, his nose was straight and pointed, his face wasn’t contorted in the slightest. The dust covering his brown hair, all of this was shown fully to the Tyrant Devourer. And finally Owen showed a slight curl of the lips as he felt an intense increase in power.

“Come back here. If you want me to die, you better do it yourself.”

Owen spoke calmly once again as he pointed with his injured arm. The blood dripped from his fingertips, but anyone would think it was only a light injury seeing how easily Owen moved his arm. And before the Devourer could fully react Owen made his move first. It was the same situation all over again, only the difference was that Owen was the one moving and the Devourer was left there to stand still. There was a completely stage difference between them, but luckily the long snouted Devourer had severely underestimated Owen after the first clash. Thinking that was the limit of Owen’s strength, it had no idea because of it’s kingly attitude it would cause Owen to have an explosive increase in strength. Unable to react to Owen’s sudden movements, the Devourer stood still as Owen grabbed onto the Little Light Rock portion of the sash and slammed it straight into its chest.

The now blood stained Little Light Rock trembled as it felt the anger through Owen’s grip. As the collision was made, it helped its master and increased the force of the punch exponentially. Although this would likely damage Owen as well, he didn’t care. He was using his already broken arm to swing this punch. Why would he use an already injured arm? It was to send a message. A message to the Devourer to never look down on him. As he would fight to the best of his abilities at all times.

A broken arm could heal, specially with the herbs Owen had been picking, but even without them a broken bone would only take a week to heal. So Owen did this without any regrets and saw through it to the end. Because sometimes proving yourself meant more than the damage you would take from it. As such the force finally started to move back the Devourer. The Devourer no longer felt smug, as soon as it noticed Owen’s speed it attempted to protect itself, but it was not nimble like Owen. It was fast but that relied on burst movement of its hind legs. It could not keep up with subtle movements like blocking. Without any resistance the force of Owen’s punch swung through, caving in the Devourer’s body as it roared in pain. But at the same time Owen’s hand was being shattered without fail. Clearly his body was still weaker than the Devourers. But Owen held the pain deep inside of him without letting a tiny bit leak onto his face.

Along with his punch Owen was flung forward as the Devourer staggered back. Owen fell onto the ground while the Devourer breathed heavily while blood dropped thickly from its chest. It looked like a fatal injury it was just a minor injury. Nonetheless its pride had been shattered by Owen’s punch. It was smart enough to know what Owen did. It also knew that Owen’s arm was injured quite heavily but even still he used it to hurt it. One could imagine that the state of Owen’s arm after this punch. Not to mention half of the strength was not his own.

But at the very least, with Owen’s increase in strength and resolve, he was able to make the tyrant Devourer look at him equally. As long as the race had a shred of intelligence to them Owen would try his best to earn respect. Towards his enemies or allies it didn’t matter, and because of his actions he had earned that right. Now the Devourer’s glare rested on Owen with eyes full of anger. As this was anger directed towards Owen for injuring it, Owen was definitely worthy of its attention. In fact the Tyrant Devourer wanted nothing more than to eat Owen at this very moment. If it did it could only imagine what benefits it would receive!

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“Hmm. To think this boy would be baptised simply because he was looked down by a Devourer. I couldn’t believe it when Iohanne said I was lucky to get assigned to watch over this boy. But seriously to pass the hidden test just a few days after entering the Boundary? Truly this disciple of the Sun-Dragon is a monster! Haha!”

A deep voice spoke out to himself. Although no one was close enough to hear him he didn’t mind. He was more interested in hearing himself talk more than anything. His giant round body shook with each exhale of laughter. His double chin gave the impression of a jolly person, but although he was laughing heartily, his eyes denied any hint of laughter. And soon after his laughter died down he made a serious look as he spoke for the sake of hearing himself once again.

“Although he’s a monster he’s also being watched by the Fallen. Why would they be here? This planet is only just going under the Rebirth stage. Is there something bigger happening? No wonder Lord Lunar Wolf asked me to look after him. Ah! If only he died by this stupid, ugly ass Devourer.”

The fat man was impressed by Owen, but being impressed was simply that. He wished to sit down and cultivate while eating a hot meal in front of him. Now he was required to follow Owen in case something happened. This wasn’t to say he would protect him from harm. That was absolutely not the case. All Pathwalkers were assigned a Keeper to watch over them. Only when the Pathwalkers were baptised along with the Tokens would they be able to move to the next Pavilion.

As for the Awakened Cinder, it was amazing and unique. But it was useless to the fat Keeper. His eyes only rested on it for a few moments before looking away again. It was the complete opposite element of his and would only harm instead of doing good. However that didn’t apply to the other one watching Owen as well. This was mainly the reason why the fat Keeper was in a bad mood. But nonetheless seeing Owen’s determination he still gain a light nod of approval. Owen’s resolve to be acknowledged by even a monster was not something seen very often.

Surely the Devourers could also walk the Path, but that was only if they made it through their natural selection of the best. Unless they were Alpha Devourers they could be nothing but trash. With another look towards the distance the fat Keeper shook his head and spoke again.

“Well, it’s unfortunate but it seems that this fight won’t be that peaceful any longer. It’s time for work.”

He stretched out his belly resting his thick hands onto his belly. Instantly after he disappeared, towards Owen’s direction.

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During this time Owen and the Tyrant Devourer had had already clashed a few more times. Although it was clashing Owen was dodging every blow. His speed had immensely increased after being baptised. As for the Tyrant Devourer, it was being harmed but it reacted quickly enough so that only little bruises were formed. The Little Light Rock was powerful but without a surface for it to accelerate towards it would just be a small rock. The beast learend pretty quickly after being watching and experiencing the damage itself. As for Owen he wasn’t bothered by the fact the fight had turned into a stalemate. Every second that passed by Owen was becoming more skilled in using his new increase in strength. Furthermore he was utilizing the sash in ways he had never before. Because his right arm had lost all of its feeling, it was only dangling there. However with his remaining arm he was skillfully using the Tiny Thin Sash with sweeping motions to gain speed as it came whipping around. Owen had to twirl his body in order for it to move the opposite direction. He was definitely becoming more fluent and stronger as the battled continued.

Even though this strategy was obvious Owen was able to utilize this distance to keep the Tyrant Devourer in front of him at a distance. Which made it easily possible for Owen to dodge when the Devourer came in for a strike. At this point even though the Tyrant Devourer was a stage higher than him, Owen had the breathing technique. His stamina far surpassed anyone within the same realm that was required to channel. As for Devourers they didn’t even have the ability to channel and this could be said to be their only downside about their Path. They had one option in their Path and that was to keep eating their prey.

Even though the Tyrant knew that a drawn out fight for it was bad, it wasn’t able to dash towards Owen now that he was baptised. Furthermore it was hurt in the chest area that caused it to be slower than normal. Even still, because there was destruction of the earth every time the Devourer striked it was an ugly fight from its side. As for Owen he was dodging meticulously as he sweated profusely. His concentration was simply at the point where he couldn’t even see anything but the Tyrant Devourer through his Blind Motion technique.

However it was at this moment when the battle was reaching its conclusion that two explosions right after one another was heard. It was so loud and earth shaking that Owen was shaken out of his concentration where he instantly stopped to his knees. He instantly vomited as he body couldn’t handle the intense stress he put it under.

“Urgh. I didn’t even notice how much strain I put my body under to fight equally with that Tyrant Devourer.”

His words were mumbled out with each exhale while he breathed heavily inwards to allow his flow of Essence to return to normal. As he was doing from the dust particles, a dark and slow voice was heard as Owen faced towards the source of the sound.

“Hmm.. The Water Bull. What are you doing here?”

The Devourer’s hearing this voice immediately fled, including the Tyrant Devourer. It had never felt so much fear in its entire life from just a voice and decided not to stay a second longer. Such was the instinctive abilities of animals to sense immense danger. The Awakened Cinder? What did that matter if it was dead. So the Tyrant Devourer even with all its injuries fled like nothing had happened to it previously. In return from the other dust explosion a deep laugh was heard.

“Haha! You should know very well what I’m doing here Fallen. I don’t know you so you shouldn’t be too famous. But in case you are what is your name and purpose here?”

As the dust settled, and the two figures walked out of the craters they created Owen was able to see the two figure’s colours. One was a pure white even more pure than Iohanne’s and Alesia’s Essence. It looked like it was on the verge of breaking through to something. But as to what Owen had no idea. As for the other figure it was a pure black. It gave the impression that it was darker than night. Much like the Ferals that had just passed away, yet even more sinister. Yet unlike the Ferals, there was a spark of colour intertwining near the figure’s head. From this alone Owen was able to see that there was a difference between this man and the Ferals around. Not to mention that he was even speaking. Even though Owen didn’t understand, he wasn’t worried as he knew there was much he still didn’t know.

Maybe the only thing Owen was worried about would be losing the Awakened Cinder, as he already knew that this two men were many folds stronger than him. But both figures didn’t look at the Cinder once and continued to stare at one another. One was a fat man that would take a few Owens to wrap around him completely. The other was a frail skinny man, and on this man were thousands of small scars. He wasn’t ugly but he was indeed terrifying from this appearance. After a few moments the skinny man answered the one he called the Water Bull.

“Well truthfully, I’m here to ask for this boy to join us. But on second thought, I’ll just take this Cinder away so I can tempt him later.”

With a diabolical smile the man laughed unevenly. He clearly said these words to try and anger the other man. But his words were instead directed to Owen even though he wasn’t look at Owen. It was a direct invitation. As to what? Owen had no idea but he was sure whatever it was it wasn’t a good thing. Owen instead chose to stay kneeling on the ground recovering his breath incase he had to run. He knew it was hopeless to try and escape from them. But nonetheless he would try in case he needed to. As for the Water Bull he spoke out with a voice showing his emotions.

“You know the rules. Must you anger me? You should know you are not my opponent.”

The skinny man’s smile turned into a frown and nodded after a bit of thought.

“While this is true, that doesn’t mean I can’t kill that boy.”

The Water Bull could no longer hold in his anger. From his pores water droplets were rain rising as opposed to falling. It was mysterious sight but Owen saw the pure colour of blue Essence fill the air around the Water Bull. As the water continued to be drawn from his pores, his body was shrinking at a rate in which the eyes could easily perceive. Seeing this the skinny man frowned even more as he spoke in retaliation.

“Indeed, the innate abilities of a Water Bull is indeed quite scary. Adding the water from your own body is much stronger than utilizing the water in the air. This might be a dangerous fight, but even still Water Bull, let me taste how strong you truly are!”

Owen was slowing recovering but as he was he was thinking thoroughly as to why this situation was developing this way. It seemed like they wanted to the Awakened Cinder, which was obvious it was an important object born only once during the Rebirth of the planet. However as to why he was important this was more than confusing to him. Why was he waned by this skinny man? No matter how hard he tried to figure out he couldn’t. None the less he was able to finally stand up as the last bit of droplets formed into a stream dancing around the now toned Water Bull.

On the other side the skinny man had a dark black gaseous mist appearing in his hands. As to what it was Owen had no idea but he could see the immense amount of Essence within it. The situation turned from his personal clash into a clash between Keepers, but Owen stayed where he was. After all it was a chance to see what powers like Keepers could use!

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A lot of development and questions. If you have any feel free to ask and I can tell you. But don't worry everything will be explained eventually. IMO as it is still a Xianxia story these things need to develop slowly and naturally. I hope that you can wait patiently for this world to open up naturally. It's slow but it's slow because I want to show you guys this wonderful story as best as I can!