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nAfter dealing with those guys and telling the junior disciples to leave, since he didn’t know what kind of tricks were the sore losers from the Red Sword, Light Blue Anvil and Purple Lotus factions were trying to pull, Aster and Vivian rushed through the inner part of the forest with ease.

nPreviously Aster wasn’t going to interfere much, since this date was meant for Vivian to demonstrate her progress, but they had to put a small stop to their fun due to those idiots, needless to say but he was angry.

nAster is always up to kill annoying bastards, but interrupting his time with his family is a capital sin, as the say goes, every dragon has a reverse scale, touch it and you’ll die, last time it happened when he was at the Treasure Planet in his date with Camila, but he didn’t take things that far.

nAlso, he wasn’t using his real identity and while Edward has been trying to cause him troubles, just to end up in a somewhat miserable state, he is still alive which has made those who want to gain fame by besting him at something, believe that there are no consequences for messing with him.

nThis time, the Purple Lotus faction was using the excuse that Julia died because of him, at least that’s what he secretly heard from some of those guys who tried to ambush him at the entrance of the forest, which didn’t make sense, he saw her accompanying Edward, not too long ago when they appeared outside of his store.

nAnd while she for sure was in a miserable state, due to everything that happened at the Extreme Silicon Forest, she didn’t seem to be dying.

nSo, they either were running out of excuses to mess with him, or there was something fishy ongoing behind scenes, not like he really cared about it, if they were plotting something, he just had to utterly crush their plans like he has done every single time until now, that being said, this won’t end with a simple “hand slap”.

n‘It seems they need a reminder of who to not mess with’, thought Aster as he leaked some of his aura, to keep the spirit beasts away, as he and Vivian moved through the forest, this time he didn’t even wait for Vivian to look for a path that didn’t include stepping into areas with abundant poisonous things, but instead dived straight into them as that was the fastest route.

nNaturally, he did so because Vivian wasn’t affected by these “minor” poisons due to her constitution, as for himself, his body was too strong to be bothered by them, that being said it didn’t diminish the anger he felt that their fun was interrupted.

nVivian gazed at Aster who stomped onto the poisonous traps as if they were nothing, and she inwardly giggled.

n‘Aria was right, Aster only gets truly angry when it comes to us’, she thought, she was also bothered that people were getting on the way of their date, but on the other hand she got to experience another new thing, someone getting angry for her sake.

n“Once we arrive there, don’t restrain yourself, that poison you used was the newest you could create for non-lethal attacks right, I want to see what the Vivian I know is capable of”, he said to Vivian whose eyes sparkled as she nodded.

n“Mm”.

nIn comparison with the outer part of the forest where large ambushes were the rule, the inner part of it, was designed to put less enemies, but in exchange their realms were higher, also the poisons were less abundant, but in exchange their effects were way more serious.

nStill, all the previous was limited to either the peak of the Earth realms or the early Mortal Transcending realms, which for Aster were nothing, unless we are talking about a well-organized team conformed by people who can cross realms to fight, but even then, in this Stellar System it would be a miracle if there are a hundred members of the young generation that meet those requirements.

nAnd even among them, the only ones that could possibly hope to be able to perform against Aster, would be people like Nerissa or Iris, who have comprehended at least the second level of an intent, besides their abnormal battle prowess.

nAnd they are in good terms with Aster, meaning that there are around four to five other people that would conform said team, it’s not enough to cause troubles to Aster who defeated Ley and Rox teaming up against him, of course the previous is limited to members of the youngest generation.

nBut so, what, he also has extremely talented girls from all the generations at his side, so the enemies can come as they want.

n…

nWithout stopping to rest and taking advantage of the spirit beasts running away the moment they felt the pressure radiated by a dragonkin, it only took Aster and Vivian a couple of hours to reach the innermost part of the forest, that would be halfway to the last stage, which no one has cleared in their first visit to the trial.

nUnlike what Aster expected, there wasn’t a completely organized “welcome” waiting for him, instead there were some sparks between the three different main groups that had set this “trap”, or it would be more accurate to say that there was fire in between them.

n“I won’t repeat myself, go back and tell that woman to stay out of this, attacking someone to whom we are indebted would only bring shame to the Bladeheart family!”, the angered voice of a young woman could be heard coming from the fire that was confronting the group from the Red Sword faction.

n“Oi, Laison, do you need help to deal with your “young miss”, we don’t have time for brats who can’t see the bigger scheme of things”, in response to the previous declaration, a mocking voice came from the group that proudly held a banner with the emblem of a light blue anvil.

n“Shut up Frahat, your Warhammer family has no say in the matters of my Fireheart family, young miss stand aside, we are following the instructions of the Lady, if you have any complains please go discuss it with her, this opportunity won’t come with ease so…”, a man that appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with short dark red hair was the one that answered, before he turned to see the girl that was standing inside of that wall of flames, but his words were interrupted by Aster and Vivian allowing them to notice their presence.

n“Tsk, how the hell did they arrive that soon, what are Eugene and the wall of flames diminished until the figure of a tall, long red-haired girl, with a longsword hanging from her waist, became the others doing, did they got distracted by some spirit beasts or traps appearing out of nowhere”, mumbled the guy with short dark red hair, only to see Aster smirking.

n“Nah, they did their job and found me, I would have said that you’ll see how “good” they did, but you are all about to experience it first hand, so why wait”, he said to then turn to see that wall of fire.

n“This is a strange second meeting, but since I wanted to invite you to my Valley, I guess it works, what do you say, Iris?”.

n“…”, for a moment there was a sepulchral silence on the battlefield, the wall of flames diminished until the figure of a tall, long red-haired girl, with a longsword hanging from her waist, became visible.

nAs always, Iris’s red eyes had that sharp gaze on them, that usually kept other people away from her, but for Aster, they looked rather pretty, maybe because his sword intent is still a step ahead of hers, or maybe because she doesn’t have even the smallest ounce of malice towards him, but Aster finds them rather pretty.

nThey are of a different shade of red, compared to Lilia or Alice’s ones, which is normal considering that their attributes are way different from each other.

n“Let me deal with the idiots that came from my… the Fireheart family, they will leave the sect the moment they set a foot out of this secret realm, I’ll pay you a visit with those three to have a meal together, is that okay?”, she asked as she unsheathed her sword.

nIf the previous Iris had a sharp sensation overall, now that she had taken out her sword, red flames started dancing around her, her fire was different than Natasha’s wild yang orange flames that made her look like a miniature chaotic sun, Iris’s flames looked smoother, since she couldn’t use them to make different forms.

nFor example, after seeing Aster nod at her, her red flames flooded the whole left side of the battlefield, imprisoning all the guys from the Red Sword faction, that apparently came from Iris’s family.

n“We shouldn’t have counted with those useless fire matches from the Redheart family, whatever, we still have enough to deal with that bastard since he can’t even use his sword here, don’t take it too hard on that girl, considering how weak she looks if we aren’t careful enough, the formations will take her out before we finish our mission”.

nAster craned his neck, he already found his targets, which were that guy called Frahat from the Light Blue Anvil faction, and from the Purple Lotus, there was a girl that somewhat resembled Julia, but looked older than hers, she was also a peak Star Tribulation realm and a body cultivator on top of that.

n“Vivian, if you’d do the honors, please”, said Aster.

nVivian smiled, which gave those guys a bad premonition, Aster’s pupils changed to vertical ones, as he observed what was happened inside of Vivian’s body, he didn’t need to put any effort because he just focused on what he already knew about Vivian’s body, in other words, the cycle he personally created near her heart.

nFor outsiders, it looked as if he was trying to peek on Vivian’s chest, which of course those guys took with mockery.

n“Heh, I heard that the Lord of the Twin Sword Valley was a womanizer, but to believe you are actually spying on a girl when you are about to get the beating of your life what a lo… aghhhh!”.

nAster’s eyes glowed as he saw Vivian’s heart shinning, the multicolored light radiated by it rushed to the cycle formed by the meridians that Aster had connected with his spirit energy.

nNormally using her constitution, means that Vivian create a poison, which is why a part of her body is taken over by it, as a proof of it those patterns appear on her skin, depending on the intensity and strength of the poison produced.

nWith the cycle things are different, back when she just received her first cycle or the fragment of the cycle to be more accurate, it only made the poison follow the path traced by the cycle using certain specific meridians, it was done so that Vivian gained full control of that specific poison, so no matter how strong it was, there would be no side effects for her, like losing mobility or losing her sight.

nBut of course, Vivian wouldn’t be a genius on her own if she only followed the path traced by others, not to mention Aster’s intention wasn’t to encage her in a showcase like a fragile glass figurine, he believed in the strong Vivian he met, and so the cycle he asked Esmeralda to design, only acted as a helping hand to learn how to control her constitution.

nThe hardest part which was learning how to use it to create a new more efficient and stronger fighting style, was left completely to Vivian, of course Alice and the others were there to help if she needed or asked for it.

nBut besides that, she had to learn how to do it by herself, just like Aster and all the others had done, and the result was what laid in front of Aster’s eyes.

n“W-What the hell is that!”, the woman from the Purple Lotus faction felt her legs wobble, at the image of a large snake-like creature with spikes all over its body, that appeared behind of Vivian.

nBy the time she talked, only her and the guy from the Light Blue Anvil faction were still standing, all the other members of the two groups, a total of around fifty people, all peak Star Tribulation realm cultivators, some with only one path, some with dual paths, were all on the ground foaming from their mouths.

nTheir bodies were trembling, and while they appeared to be conscious judging by the despair that was painted all over their faces, none could let alone circulate their spirit energies, but even move.

n“Spirit Venom, Black Dragon Overlord”, said Vivian with her soft mellow voice, as she turned to see Aster.

n“This is something I only achieved thanks to Aster’s help, my first original which was inspired by you, it’s effect is that everything within its rank will be brought to its knees by the tetrodotoxin that paralyzes not only the body but even the meridians, making it impossible for spirit energy to be circulated”.

n“If so desired by me, then those under the effect of the Dragon Overlord, will die in agony by their heart or brain meridians being fully stopped, in other words is a poison that takes over the control of other people’s life or death and gives it to the user, pretty Aster-like, right~”, cutely said Vivian, which made Aster chuckle.

n“Now, you are going to make me blush if you continue, I gladly take the compliment though”, he said as he observed the strange image that floated behind of Vivian.

nWith his dragon eyes he could see the multiple flaws in it, but do not look down on the result of Vivian’s months of effort and headaches, Aster was genuinely surprised by what she achieved.

nShe didn’t use the word “original” lightly, this poison was created by her, though using a multiple plethora of different poisons, the result wasn’t just the mixed effects of the initial materials, but a completely new and stronger effect, those “flaws” Aster could see, originated on the fact that Vivian is still too new at using her constitution like this, so she is unable to completely fuse the properties of the poisons she used.

nAnd yet in a rough calculation, Aster believed that with this poison, Vivian could take on a Genesis Manifestation realm enemy without any problem, also she challenged her limits because this poison was created using her spirit energy, instead of her body, which is why the patter that took the form of that black spiked snake-like creature, wasn’t engraved on her body but appeared behind of her.

n“I still can’t properly materialize the pattern unlike when I use my body as a medium, so it is quite blur if I say so myself, the problem is that this poison affects everything and I can’t make it distinct between friend or foe yet, I only recently learned how to tone its intensity down, so that it doesn’t kill on the spot, I’m sorry…”, said Vivian in a low voice, just to be surprised at the fact that Aster patted her head a couple of times.

n“It’s okay, no one is perfect from the very beginning, the important part is that Vivian won’t be affected by her own power now, besides, even if you were to use the strongest poison you have, it won’t harm me, so Vivian can go wild as much as she wants when she is with me”, he said.

n“Besides if you fully mastered it alone, then what would we do during our next mission, since Vivian is coming with me too”.

nAster wasn’t just flirting with her, her poison was truly terrifying, let alone the cultivators, even the nearby vegetation had started to wither, since their structures stopped receiving spirit energy.

nThe poison radiated by the incomplete snake-like creature, was covering Aster completely by his own request, since Vivian only

ntoned it down enough for the presents to not die on the spot, but unlike those poor bastards who were feeling the scythe of the grim reaper against their necks, Aster was pretty much fine.

nVivian’s poison didn’t ignore him like normal, but actually gathered around him, it was quite a deathly “hug”, but Aster was unaffected by it, in that sense Aster was the perfect companion for Vivian, because she didn’t have to worry about the poisons, she used with him around.

n“Mm, thanks Aster”, said Vivian, a cute reddish tone appeared on her pretty face, it was a strange scene to say the less, to think that such a pretty fragile-looking girl like Vivian was creating a death zone with quite ease.

nAster smiled and then his expression took a whole 180° turn, as he turned to see the only two people who were still conscious, and that was only because Vivian toned the poison down around them, as Aster asked her to.

n“Now, let’s get this over with, so that we can return to our fun”, he said as he flashed towards those two, grabbing them by their necks and lifting them from the ground.

n“My heart isn’t as soft as Vivian’s, so you two are going to tell me everything I want, or I’m going to force the answers out of you, I don’t have the patience to waste my time going slow since I’m on a date right now, so ten seconds without an answer or saying even the slightest lie will be equal to lose a limb”.

n“Let’s start with the Purple Lotus faction, since this trial is like a day in the park for you guys, how come Julia’s death is now my fault?”, he casually asked as he tightened his grip on that woman’s neck.

nAkin to the name of their faction, that woman’s face turned purple just when the timer was about to hit ten seconds, she felt Aster’s sword intent gathering on his body, so realizing that he was actually about to cut one of her arms she shouted.

n“W-Wait, I will talk, we the ones from the Zabback family were told by the Supreme Elder of the Blacksmith Peak as well as their Holy Son, that you and your group attacked them inside of the Extreme Silicon Forest”.

n“According to them, one of your who… “companions”, who specializes in the usage of yin energy, landed a heavy attack on her, which only triggered recently, causing her death while she was cultivating”, she said.

n“Oh?”, Aster grinned, finally understanding what was happening.

n‘Those two idiots did enter the tomb of the Blood Despair Sovereign, knowing that Edward bastard, they couldn’t have possibly come out unscathed, but they didn’t say anything as to not inquire on the disappointment of the Supreme Elder, or more accurately, after being caught cheating, if they gave that woman more trouble, they would have been punished, so they kept quiet, still to think that old man would give me one last gift even after his death, I guess doing him that favor isn’t that bad of an idea”, he thought as he turned to see the guy from the Light Blue Anvil faction.

n“Your turn, does the idiot of Edward know the truth about Julia’s death?”, he asked.

nThe seconds passed by and the guy called Laison didn’t answer, he came from Edward’s family, not from the family of the Supreme Elder, so he of course wouldn’t sell the raising star of his family, at least not so easily, luckily, for Aster not for him, Aster had an easy way to learn the truth.

n“And there go your legs, I originally was only going to cut one, but since she took too long to answer, you’ll take the penalty”, said Aster, a sharp light flashed through his eyes and then Laison’s legs were separated from his body.

nNormally a clean cut would cause less pain than a sword that only goes halfway and then needs a second swing to fully sever a limb, but that is limited to regular slashes, what just cut Laison’s legs was Aster’s ghost sword which was reinforced by sharpening, some of his sword intent stuck to the wound, and the result was that Laison felt as if thousands of swords at a microscopical level were cutting his flesh and bones, naturally there was only one possible outcome.

n“Aghhhhhhhh!”, a lung-tearing scream, followed by Laison’s miserable wails as he begged to tell Aster what he wanted to hear.

nThe previous interrogation lasted only around ten minutes, as Aster asked those idiots what he wanted, they had some answers and lacked some as well, but overall, he got to know the picture of what was happening.

nBasically, those guys were causing him trouble, because William as well as Valentina weren’t present in the sect, Salazar had a lot to deal with, and while the Battle Peak’s Supreme Elder was here, so was the Supreme Elder from the Blacksmith Peak, the other two were also out of the sect.

nIn other words, Aster was “alone”, without most of his backers not present, something that only now they got to know, since William’s matters were top secret, normally no one knew where the hell he was, unless he showed in public, but this time, his absence somehow was leaked, and this was the result. 𝑜𝒱𝓵xt.𝒞𝑜𝗆

nAlso, the timing was perfect, since Julia was partially “killed” by Aster, according to those two, so they had a proper reason to go against Aster publicly.

nUnfortunately, they screwed up in quite a few things, first of all, there was an Ancestor one call away for Aster 24

/7, namely Julian, but even if that wasn’t the case, that protector mother of his, was out for the blood of anyone that tried to harm her beloved son.

nAster completely disregarded these idiotic schemes, he honestly thought that a coup had exploded in the sect, but they lacked the guts to do so, and instead were just stirring up troubles now that William wasn’t here.

n“To believe I rushed our date for these idiots, whatever, they can wait until we have our fun, in any case, the trial won’t open until either the three days are over or all the participants leave, so we can have it all for ourselves”, said Aster which made Vivian sweetly smile.

n“Mm~”.

nAster then snapped his fingers, and the legs and arms of all the enemies were separated from their bodies, but they couldn’t even scream because Vivian’s poison had them completely paralyzed.

nAnd that wasn’t all, Aster’s body shone in a sharp light and then all those arms and legs were turned into red mist, he didn’t use annihilation, but his sword intent to cut them until only red mist was left.

n“I wonder if your families and forces will rather kill you all than buying the elixirs and pills needed to heal you, good luck”, said Aster as he used his soul energy to open all the pill bottles they had, they were an inch away from dying so the formations immediately transported them out of the trial.

nAt the same time, the fire cupule created by Iris, dispersed to reveal the scene of Iris standing in the center, surrounded by half charred enemies, though she didn’t slice them up nicely like Aster, those burns would for sure be hard to heal, not to mention that those who were still conscious had horrified expressions on their faces.

n“I will give you an explanation for today’s matters, soon I will visit your valley with an apologize gift, I’ll take my leave as I have a lot of things to deal with, please enjoy the rest of the trial… and tell Nerissa that I’m looking forward to our next match”, said Iris as she rose the sides of her dress, to then open her pill bottle as well as the ones of those guys from the Red Sword faction, making them all disappear.

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