Heaven, Earth, Me

Yasenia's group walked down the halls, looking around. Without the strangers, their pace was much quicker as they all knew who was in charge of their group. With a proper leader, it was very easy to clean the place of treasures. Yasenia pointed at a few corners to pick up some hidden items, but overall, they just followed Kali's senses to approach the Natural Treasure, making very few stops. The last thing they wanted was to reach there late and fail to get it after all this trouble.

Andrea rubbed her chin and commented, fiddling with a sword she picked up from the side. "It feels that there was an armed conflict, right? If not, why would there be so many weapons and equipment lying around?"

Evelyn agreed. "There was probably a revolution against the rulers of the place. Remember that man that Tatyana took? Why would he be in a random basement outside of the inner city? He seemed to have either been locked there against his will or purposely locked himself away. Did he say anything about that, Tatyana?"

Tatyana shook her head, looking at the surroundings and checking for interesting things. "I haven't asked him. It's not that important either way. He also remembers little from when he was alive. While I've reinvigorated a large part of his dying soul with my Death Energy and energies of the Underworld, he has been dead for a long time. Only basic memories remain."

Yasenia blinked. "That key must've been very important if he remembered how to use it?"

"Perhaps." Tatyana smiled. "As I said, I have time to ask about his past in the future. Now, we should hurry and get Kali's treasure."

Ayanduin commented. "I think I've found the path." He squinted, his spiritual sense mapping the castle's complex hallways. Then, he pointed diagonally upward and asked. "Kali, is it more or less in that direction?"

Kali was somewhat surprised, but she quickly nodded. "That's right."

"Great. Come with me, we won't be stopping soon. Yasenia, remember the locations of the places where you detect important treasures. 

With that, they all accelerated and followed the Sixth Realm cultivator. Speeding through the passageways, they arrived in front of a large door in a short time. Once there, everyone was cautious and closely observed the surroundings. 

Still, there were no hints of formations or other types of traps. With that in mind, Ayanduin walked forward and pushed the doors open, revealing the other side. A massively large circular room entered their sights. Large columns were embedded with gorgeous imagery on the walls. 

Compared to everything else in this ruined world, this room seemed pristine, as if not a single year had passed since it was built. The images of the walls, the floor, the furniture, everything gleamed with the reflections of the sunlight hitting them, polished beyond belief.

Then, in the middle of the room, they all noticed a single orb rotating with powerful natural energies. Kali muttered. "There it is."

Yasenia shouted to Gu Chen and Ayanduin, her tone hurried. "What are you standing there for!? Take it!" The dragoness's hurried tone was not without reason. 

Both of them reacted and quickly rushed forward. However, as they were rushing, Yasenia felt a breeze pass her side. 'No…' 

Her senses sharpened to the limits, managing to see the blurry figure of the one person she didn't want to see. The dragoness's gaze chilled as she said the name through her gritted teeth. "Lord Hurricane…!"

Meanwhile, Ayanduin and Gu Chen felt Lord Hurricane's presence right behind them, and they both accelerated to the limits. Such a small distance that they could cross in less than a blink of an eye now felt impossibly large as Lord Hurricane caught up to them. 

The three of them, being side by side, extended their hands, wanting to catch the item first. Yet, Lord Hurricane's speed seemed slightly faster as his fingertip touched the Natural treasure first, and he managed to snatch it away.

In the middle of the room, Gu Chen and Ayanduin were looking up with somewhat twisted expressions at the old man holding the Natural Treasure. Lord Hurricane hummed. "So, this is the thing that you were searching for? Quite interesting. Why did you know that it was here, Yasenia?"

The dragoness saw the old man looking at her calmly, and she took a deep breath to calm her increasing anger as she imagined what was going to happen. "Lord Hurricane. That's a treasure that is very important to us. I hope that you honor the promise you made to me and give it to me."

Lord Hurricane smiled. "We separated, didn't we? There is no promise to fulfill after we split up."

Looking straight at Lord Hurricane, Yasenia's eyes gained an increasingly deep chill that made even the old man's expression gain a serious expression. 

Yasenia stated, her voice cold. "You'll regret it if you don't. Give it to us, and we will disappear from this place." 

Lord Hurricane smiled. "If you are willing to forgo everything for this treasure, then this treasure must be more valuable than everything else, right?"

"Wrong," Yasenia stated. "The only reason that item is more important to us is because we need it." Then, she said coldly. "Lord Hurricane. I am giving you one chance to give me that treasure, or I'll make this place vanish. If I can't have that thing…" Yasenia's tone became ruthless and murderous. "...no one can."

Lord Hurricane raised his eyebrows. "Show me, then, how you can do that. However, I warn you, the second you do something threatening… I'll kill you."

Ayanduin crossed his arms and said. "Old man. Stop trying to test her bottom line. If you do that, you'll die."

"Die?" Lord Hurricane was surprised. "Me, dying? You have yet to see a fraction of my power, and yet you are evaluating me. Isn't this arrogant?"

Ayanduin shook his head. "Her mother is a Seventh Realm cultivator. I recommend that you give that thing to her, or you'll really regret it."

Yasenia looked at Ayanduin for a second, but she didn't mind much. If she needed to use Tatyana's influence to get that Treasure for Kali, she would. 

When he heard her words, Lord Hurricane paused and looked at Ayanduin deeply. "Seventh Realm? Young man, that realm is impossible to cross. Heaven forbids that kind of strength from appearing in this section of the Universe."  ṛ

Ayanduin shook his head. "I do not know about those kinds of things, but you should've noticed that Gu Chen and I are not really the leaders of this group. Why else do you think this is as such? We are just her bodyguards."

The tension in the air increased even when the conversation was spoken with a calm tone. A revelation like the one Ayanduin just made could not be taken lightly. If it was the truth, Lord Hurricane would really not dare offend Yasenia. Even if Seventh Realm cultivators were prohibited in the lower parts of the Heavens, they had their ways of descending for a very short time to take revenge as long as they were willing to make a relatively small sacrifice. 

The Universe was divided into several layers. Yasenia currently didn't know how many, but she was sure that there were at least four. The one they currently were in was the second lowest one. A Heaven layer where cultivators that had strength beyond the Transcendent Realm could not exist. The Heaven Layer below the one she was in was called the Mortal Layer, where not even Transcendent cultivators were allowed.

The layer above was where the Sky Continent was located. In that layer, Seventh Realm cultivators and beings could appear, but only to a specific limit. Those approaching the boundaries of the Seventh Realm would need to go to a higher layer. 

Beyond that, it was a complete mystery for Yasenia.

Lord Hurricane knew about the layers above and below, as he was someone from the Mortal Layer of the Heavens. Still, he had traveled in the past to the layers beyond this one, and he had gazed upon the strength of those in the Seventh Realm. 

Back then, he was young, and he decided that he didn't have the strength to traverse those areas, forcing him to come back down. Eventually, he got tangled up in his current role, which led to this exact moment.

Looking at the strange orb in his hands, Lord Hurricane thought about it. Was it worth offending someone for this item? At first glance, the orb seemed to gather strange cosmic energies that were related to weather energies. As a wind attribute cultivator, he was naturally interested in things related to his element. However, the rank of the treasure confused him. 'Low-Level Heaven-Ranked. She is so desperate for this treasure?'

Yasenia spoke again, her voice sounding as cold as before. "What's your decision, Lord Hurricane? Will you give it to me, or do I blow this planet to smithereens?"

"Would you really kill hundreds of thousands of innocents if you do not get this treasure?" Lord Hurricane asked, curious. "Are you really that ruthless?"

Yasenia released her killing intent, flooding the entire place with a dense wave of blood-scented aura. Then, she snarled maliciously. "I've already killed millions. What are a few hundreds of thousands more?"

Lord Hurricane's face changed, looking at Yasenia deeply. "You don't have a Demonic Cultivator's aura, and yet you killed so many?" 

"That's enough talk, Lord Hurricane. I've given you my conditions. Will you hand it over, or will you not?" 

"Why should he do that?"

A voice reached Yasenia from beyond, and turning around, she saw Elder Payun appearing together with many others. The commotion had naturally fallen into the sensing range of many Transcendent Realm cultivators, and who would not want to look at the group that dared face Lord Hurricane?

Gu Chen flashed behind their group while Ayanduin covered Lord Hurricane's side. Lord Hurricane knew that these people were provoking him, but he really didn't want to be their test subject to see if Yasenia's words were a bluff or not. 'A Low-Level Heaven-Ranked treasure is really not worth it, even if it has a hidden strength.'

With that in mind, he threw the orb at Ayanduin. "Take it, then. Still, I don't want you on this planet anymore. After you get it, leave."

Elder Payun, however, had other plans. On his side, there were five Transcendent Realm cultivators. So, when he saw Lord Hurricane step back, he snorted and commented. "Yasenia, hand over that treasure. You can't protect it with your pitiful strength."

Yasenia turned around, and her lips arched in a cold sneer. "You want it? Too bad." 

Then, she broke a talisman, and their entire group disappeared in the blink of an eye. Everyone was left stunned at the high quality of the teleportation talisman. Lord Hurricane looked around and muttered. "If she has something like that, I wonder if she really had the tools to erase this place…"

Elder Payun's face twisted as this situation was a direct slap to his face. So, he shouted. "Go out and pursue them! They must not be too far away!"

All the Transcendent Realm people rushed out, and Lord Hurricane decided to ignore that. "Well, there are quite a few more treasures in this area, so I would rather search for those. Let those people test that junior's true bottom line."

Violet had been observing everything from a distance, and she could not help but frown. However, she really didn't want to get involved. Dandan pulled her sleeve and asked. "We won't help?"

Violet shook her head. "We don't have enough strength. Fate will decide whether they make it out safely or not."