Chapter 65
But they also knew where they stood, Ethel was young and lovely, fair as snow, her skin so fine a breeze might bruise it, so supple a gentle pinch might wring water from it.
Born beautiful, flawless of feature, with perfect proportion, crucially, she was pure by nature, innocent, carrying a charm that pulled at people without her trying.
Were they Soren, they’d choose Ethel over themselves too, she had capital none of them was born with.
Bruce and Jared were likewise staring at the spot where the two had vanished, both wanted to say something, but neither opened their mouths.
Bruce broke first, nudging Jared with an elbow, all this time together had made them half teacher-and-student, half friends, and Jared had grown far livelier than before.
"Hey, tell me something."
"That sister of yours is really something, why do I get the feeling Master rates her awfully high? Are you about to get promoted to Master’s brother-in-law?"
Jared pulled his gaze back and rolled his eyes, overjoyed on the inside, on the outside he said, "Give it a rest, Master’s strength is formidable and he has no shortage of women, Ethel is simple by nature and weak in cultivation, Master may not fancy her at all."
"Who can say for sure with these things?" Bruce grinned, wicked as a schoolboy.
Jared hesitated, and went quiet, he and Ethel had received so much from Soren.
If, and it was only if, Ethel truly became Soren’s woman, then he would never again have to fear anyone bullying her.
Soren’s power was beyond question, Jared’s own tier with him had lit Absolute Loyalty, his trust and respect ran bottomless.
Anyone could see Ethel’s eyes were filled with nothing but Soren, she genuinely liked the man.
If it worked out, it would be the finest thing imaginable, for Ethel, and for him.
"By the way, I feel like I’m ready to attempt the breakthrough to Lower-Tier Spirit Venerable," Jared said, changing the subject.
"Give me a bit more guidance, I want to push hard and try this afternoon!"
"Good!"
...
Soren brought Ethel deep into a remote stretch of mountains.
Black Dragon Mountain was a huge range, Lysara had already taken over a hundred picked clansmen to a designated spot to harvest herbs and spiritual fruit, unless you went looking for them, running into them was next to impossible.
Wrapped in Soren’s demonic energy, Ethel traveled fast enough that the tree shadows below smeared into streaks, everything else was a blur.
"Hm? Down there, a strange surge of Spirit energy..."
Soren banked and dropped toward the ground with her in tow.
They landed on a boulder jutting from one of the peaks, he swept the area and found nothing out of place.
The fluctuation was still there, though.
Faint, drifting in and out, impossible to pin down, but his instincts said something dangerous was sitting under this mountain.
That was the perception of an Upper-Tier Demon Emperor.
Ethel sensed none of it, her eyes lit up at the sprawl of wild medicinal herbs nearby, and she bounded off toward them.
Soren kept scanning, his face went cold.
Black Dragon Mountain was his central stronghold, there could not be threats sitting here, he couldn’t tell what that thing was yet, but odds were good it was close.
The Strategy Encyclopedia showed only general information about Black Dragon Mountain, nothing about the source of that Spirit energy.
To know everything about it he had to make direct contact, standing above wouldn’t trigger an evaluation.
He wasn’t worried, he had the strength of an Upper-Tier Demon Emperor and two Demonic Forms activated, whatever crawled out of the dirt wouldn’t find mercy at his hands.
"Ethel, one hour, find me one of three things, a Grand Sun Heaven-Bearing Fruit, a segment of Regenerative Divine Wood Root, or a Five-Flavored Flower."
"Black Dragon Mountain is rich, herbs and treasures grow everywhere here."
"Those three are rare, though."
"They should be somewhere in this area."
"If you can’t find one..."
Soren paused, forget it, no need to be harsh with her, she isn’t Lysara.
"It won’t matt..."
"Demon Emperor, is this a Five-Flavored Flower?"
She had already plucked a blossom from beside a cluster of small rocks and trotted over, holding it up like a trophy.
Soren took it, five shades ran through the petals, twisting into each other, glistening like colored glaze, he gave it a light sniff.
Five completely different scents flooded his nose, thick with medicinal potency.
It really was a Five-Flavored Flower.
The corner of his eye twitched, this was absurd, she found one right off the bat.
At a commerce guild auction an herb of this grade would open at several million spiritual stones, was Ethel’s luck that good? Or had herbs in Black Dragon Mountain grown so thick that rare treasures could be picked up off the ground any afternoon?
"Find a Grand Sun Heaven-Bearing Fruit and a Regenerative Divine Wood Root within the hour, and I’ll grant you one small request."
Ethel nodded happily and ran off toward a slope choked with vegetation.
Within ten miles he could teleport to her side, so her safety wasn’t a concern, his eyes tracked her through tree shadows and boulders without trouble.
She worked her way along the cliffside, bending down, crouching, hips curving as she searched for what he needed.
Truth be told, Soren found her current outfit very easy on the eyes.
Her light pink strapless dress left her shoulders bare, snow-white against the fabric, every time she ran or skipped, the cloth pulled tight and traced out a figure that had no business being that well proportioned.
She was Ice Heaven Alluring Fox, besides, the clan was born with bewitching charm in the blood, Ethel herself was innocent as a lamb, and it made no difference, anyone who looked at her got pulled in anyway.
Having devoured the blood essence of the clan’s Ancestor Realm expert, Soren had refined his own bloodline and picked up a measure of that same charm.
The effect only sharpened as his cultivation climbed.
Most women would be caught by his face and blood the moment they laid eyes on him, once they learned how strong he was, currying favor became their only remaining thought.
While he watched her, he kept probing for that faint thread of Spirit energy.
Two incense sticks’ worth of time passed, and Ethel still hadn’t found either the Grand Sun Heaven-Bearing Fruit or the Regenerative Divine Wood Root.