Chapter 12: Immortal
Deep inside a virgin forest. Towering trees stood tall, seemingly piercing the dome of heaven.
Numerous branches and leaves from the trees cover most of the sky leaving only a small amount of light to pass through.
Thick fog permeates the surrounding. The fog illuminated by the soft light made this scene seem dreamy and beautiful.
However, the occasional roar of beasts or maybe the sound of wailing ghosts that were heard from time to time signified the danger of this place.
Inside this forest, there was a wide expanse of a flat field, devoid of any trees. In the center, there was a large hill.
Although there were a lot of precious herbs and a clear river, there was no demonic beast in the flat field, not even small animals.
It was like they were all frightened by something terrifying in this area.
Currently, a person was wearing a butler uniform stood in front of the hill speaking in a seemingly humble tone but hid an arrogance, "Have you thought about it, Mister Grim?"
After a moment of silence, a voice came out from the hill. No! The hill itself spoke, "Of course, of course, I would glad to be of some help for your majesty Leo. Please send my regard to your majesty."
Along with the voice, the hill trembled along with the surrounding area.
"Hmph, Of course, My Master would remember your help." The butler snorted and then a pair of black bat wings tore out from his back.
With a flap of his wing, the butler disappeared from the area.
A wave of divine will sweep the area briefly. After ascertaining that the butler had truly gone away, the hill shook greatly, removing rocks, dirt, and grass from its body.
A massive purple rhinoceros replaced the original hill. The rhino, Grim, stared at the direction which the butler had gone to with a cold gaze.
"Hmph, a mere middle golden core demonic beast dared to be unbridled in front of me, if not for your master how could you left with your life intact." Grim snorted, his eyes bloodshot.
As if answering to his fury, bolts of lightning wreak havoc on the surrounding area. The 250 meters radius surrounding the rhinoceros turned into dust.
The demonic beasts inside the forest near the flat field all hurriedly prostrated their body, trembling. They were afraid of being swept by the rhinoceros.
Grim only glanced at them indifferently and then disappeared from the area with a flash of violet light.
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Inside a room, Zaka sat in a lotus position atop his bed. His eyes closed, pondering a battle technique. Occasionally he would throw punches at the air without any qi or divine power.
Even then, the punch brought a whistling gale in the surrounding. If not for an isolating formation he set up, the whole building would have turned into ruins.
Two hours later, Zaka opened his eyes.
He glanced at the two badges with an image of a beast's shadow that were floating inside a formation sphere, isolating them from the outside world.
The badge flickered with red light, emphasizing the blood-red eyes of the shadow.
'Zaki, come here. The test is going to begin,' Zaka sent mentally to Zaki who god knows where he went to play.
'Got it, boss!'
Zaka sighed, his head hurt thinking about the numerous trouble that Zaki had made these past ten days.
Yesterday, his door was hammered hard by a lot of people. Luckily, he had placed a defensive formation around the room, inclusive of the door.
When he opened the door, he found many angry faces surrounded by guards who hammered the door. He tried so hard just to placate their fury and tried to talk about the problem.
It turned out these people were the owner of some of the restaurants in Blazing City. Zaki, that idiot, had eaten in their restaurants without paying.
Zaki was as slippery as a loach; no matter how many the guards tried to surround him, he was able to escape and disappear into thin air.
Of course, as a spirit lifeform, he was able to transform into his spirit form that no one, not even immortal, could detect him.
Okay, Zaka had no problem about eating without paying, but the stupid thing was he repeated this action many times using the same goddam* face!
MO RE O VER… he entered this room using that face. No matter how skillful Zaka was in controlling his facial expression, his face now turned unsightly.
Thankfully this just a minor problem. He paid the restaurant owners double the price and bribed the guards to turn a big problem into a small one and a small one into nothing.
But, even if this was just a minor problem, Zaka still got angry. No matter how small the trouble is, it's still attracting attention, the word Zaka hated the most.
That day Zaka had slapped hard Zaki's butt numerous times till it was swollen. Next, poor Zaki had to recite Life Sutra a thousand times that day and five hundred times for each day after.
Still, that's not enough for Zaki to feel the pain. So, he had been forbidden from eating for two weeks and not allowed to go outside Zaka's sight.
It took only a day for Zaki to be so listless, devoid of any spirit. Zaka took pity on him after seeing him like this and allowed him to play outside.
Zaka, however, put an alarm formation on Zaki which would notify Zaka every time Zaki tried to eat.
Life Sutra
Like a vast ocean with its immeasurable depth
Like wide prairie and all its inhabitants
Like the limitless sky and heaven above
My heart is wide and vast to accommodate all
Ignore any offense that comes in my way
An apology is all we need
A bow or a kneel is not a problem
What are dignity and pride in front of a good life?
Like a still lake in the depth of night
Or the gentle moon that illuminates the night
My heart is calm with emotion
Rage…
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A few moments later, Zaki came to the room.
"Good morning boss! On the way, I saw a popular restaurant and thought that you haven't had your breakfast so I bought it just for you!" Zaki put steaming dishes on the table, coupled with a refreshing drink.
Zaki put on his best flattering smile and stood behind Zaka like a loyal butler
'Hmph, do you think just because I really love this food which required hours of queuing and located far at the other remote part of the city, I would reduce your punishment?' Zaka snorted at Zaki obvious attempt, 'unfortunately… that's true'
"Alright, your punishment is reduced to just one week. But remember to not repeat your mistake." Zaka said while impatiently opening the dishes' wrapping and started eating.
"Of course, of course, how would I dare to ignore your warning. I will engrave your precious advice on the deepest crevice in my heart.
Thank you so much boss, your magnanimity knows no bounds. Your heart is as vast as the universe. Your grace is known by all race…" Zaki said with a flattering smile, hiding a sly glint in the depth of his eyes.
"Okay, okay, get out of my sight. Just prepare the necessities for our trips." Zaka stopped Zaki, this shameless system, from saying any more nauseating flattery.
After eating a hearty breakfast, Zaka and Zaki went out of the city and change their appearance.
Arriving at the headquarter of the Daemon Guard, Zaka showed his badge to the receptionist lady. An attendant then came and guide Zaka and Zaki to the back of the first building.
There, a group of people wearing the same badge as Zaka stood in the middle of a wide flat field. A further area after this group of people was row upon row of residences.
However, no one dared to take a step inside those residences, all of them were waiting patiently inside the area of the flat field.
Zaka chose an inconspicuous corner and sat down with Zaki.
In the next hour, several more people arrived. Even then, the field still seemed spacious.
After the number of people inside the field reached exactly one hundred and fifty, two figures wearing a black uniform arrived.
One of them was a young man who stood respectfully behind the other, an old man with an imposing aura.
All the figures who were waiting hurriedly stood up and stopped their discussion waiting for the newcomer to speak. This was because the two people in front of them wore a Daemon guard's badge.
A murderous and valiant aura unique for those who had undergone numerous life and death battle surrounded those two people. Their gaze was cold and sharp filled with an indomitable spirit.
No one dared to meet the two people's gaze. Their imposing aura, especially from the old man, was enough to make the 150 people at the level of the divine sea realm to suffocate.
Moreover, seven stars glimmering with an illusory light decorated the old man's badge! This made the eyes of Zaka and the rest to be filled with reverence.
Seven stars! That means the old man had the cultivation level of an immortal or had the combat power to match an immortal. Either of those was enough to command respect from all of the people in the field.
An immortal was an insurmountable mountain. Each of them was the pillar of the empire, able to move mountains and split the sea.
Nascent core cultivators were just an ant in front of an immortal, not to mention a divine sea cultivator.
"These people are the ones who were going to take a test today?" The old man spoke not with a loud voice, but everyone could hear it clearly
"Yes My Lord." The young man answered respectfully.
"Hmm, they are barely enough for the operation. Assign them to the third squadron, I don't want to babysit them in the middle of the operation." The old man spoke with an unquestionable tone.
Not waiting for the young man to answer the old man flickered and disappeared from the place.
Seeing that, Zaka's pupil constricted. 'Is this an immortal? I could just barely able the faint space ripple from his movement even after I had comprehended the grand dao domain?'
But, this only served as fuel for the flame of ambition hidden deep within his eyes to burn more brightly. 'Only with this power, I could live longer in this chaotic world. Its ability to escape is top-notch!
Taking advantage of that, I could travel to every corner of this continent, or possibly this world, to taste all the delicacies under heaven.'
With a single look at his boss's eyes, Zaki could infer what was his boss was thinking. Zaki shook his head and sighed. 'Boss took this power to an entirely different path.'
After the old man left, the young man dared not to lift his head. Only after a long time, he dared to do so.
"Greetings everyone! my name is Jeffrey, and I am in charge of your entry test. From tomorrow until next month, the Empire's army was going to do their annual cleaning of the beast mountain range,
During this cleaning, the Daemon Guard will assist the army by sending their force. Your test is to follow the army during the cleaning and survive till the last day.
You also have to bring the head of a peak divine sea demonic beast's head. Any item you acquire aside from the head of the demonic beast will be yours." After saying this, an uproar appeared in the 150 people.
They became restless and uneasy.
"I know what you're thinking. But the higher-ups of both the army and Daemon Guard will take care of the strong monsters.
As you all had heard, Lord Gray had told me to assign you into the squadron three, a squadron assigned for the weakest area. They were responsible for the divine sea realm demonic beast.
If you encounter a golden core or above demonic beast, you can only blame your bad luck. Enough chit chat let's go to the barrack." The young man, Jeffrey, waved his hand and a large flying ship appeared.
Jeffrey entered the last and the flying ship disappeared into the horizon.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone