Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

They flew upwards, bypassing all of the miners and overseers of the Deep Mines. Surprisingly, they weren’t stopped. At first, Yan Zaizen found this strange, but after thinking a little bit about the matter, it made sense. The overseers don’t expect anyone but officials to be well-dressed and flying within the mines. Considering the time and his actions of essentially murdering the overseer, he expected that there would be individuals who would be on the lookout for them.

It was like lawyers walking about in a prison, no one expected them to be there or knew why they were there, so they just let them leave whenever they wished.

They did investigate for days, actually. However, when they learned that Yan Zaizen and Tao had descended downwards like fools, they just assumed they were dead and continued onwards with their respective duties. It’s been nearly ten days since that incident, so the two of them didn’t have any interference.

Tao figured out the situation as well, realizing that it’s incredibly likely they’ll simply be able to just fly out and away without a single individual moving to stop them. "Where will we go after? The Imperial Palace?" He inquired. He was truly interested in Yan Zaizen’s course of action after their escape.

Yan Zaizen was silent for a long moment. He knew that going to the Imperial Palace would be suicide. When he first arrived, he felt an intense rage and an aggressive impulse for revenge, but after deducing the identity of the woman who sent him here and the Imperial Palace’s general strength, he decided against it. Even after he realized his soul cultivation had jumped an entire stage, he didn’t dare act rashly.

According to cultivation strength, his Advanced Aurora Soul strength would place him at the initial/mid-True Essence Realm. However, that’s only his soul attacks. His corporeal telekinetic manipulation would only rival a peak-Origin Core Realm, and this wasn’t enough. Perhaps an Origin Core Cultivator was a powerhouse in Presba, but the peak powers of the Four Countries were at the True Essence Realm.

If he decided to attack alone with his current strength, he would be bombarded with formations filled with Origin Core Experts, elites at the True Essence Realm, and sheer numbers all outfitted with extraordinary armaments. If he did that, perhaps he’ll be able to kill many, but escaping would be a different matter entirely. He didn’t believe something would fall out of the sky and help him at the last second to escape, not to mention, he had more pressing issues.

THAT OLD BITCH!

If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have been placed in hell on earth working like a slave for two years. He would be home, and Wu Yuanxu would still be alive. He swore he would make her regret her very existence, and eliminate the roots!

"We need to go back to Presba." He stated calmly. Tao wasn’t surprised, nodding lightly in response. He knew that Yan Zaizen was sent to Chaotic Space by a conniving woman and even killed one of his friends in front of him. Sure, the imperial palace was closer, but it was more fortified and held an unknown amount of hidden strength. It would be foolish to attack it head-on.

"I’ll find some way to get that woman outside of the palace when I return, then I’ll kill her." He coldly said. After learning from Tao’s stories of other events similar to his, he knew that attacking the palace for one girl was ridiculous. That didn’t mean he was going to let her off. He simply needed to wait for her to leave, take action then, and be decisive.

"She’ll likely be a participant in the Xiantu Dao Trials," Tao stated.

The Xiantu Dao Trial was a trial set up by the Xiantu Empire, the ruler of this realm, and they hold it every century. All those under four hundred years will be allowed to participate, but it was quite bloody with an exceptionally high mortality rate. The ones who do well in the trial would be given extraordinary rewards, the possibility of a position in the Xiantu Empire, and most important of all, obtain the Dao of the Xiantu Emperor.

Of course, all the members of the royal family from all the countries and even geniuses from the myriad islands would gather as well.

It may be a perilous venture for those without backing, but for those with it, it was quite safe. If you were to publically take action against someone, you must be ready to deal with the retaliation. When Yan Zaizen heard this, he shook his head decisively.

Perhaps this would be a suitable path for others, but it wasn’t for him. He needed to kill the woman without being discovered, or else his grandfather and the people he cared about would be harmed. It would be better if they believed he was dead until he decided otherwise. That was a small reason. The true reason for his refusal was time. It was going to be held in 43 years - he couldn’t wait that long.

"I’ll find some other way."

They finally saw the opening of the Deep Mines as they continued their ascension. The Deep Mines God Formation was rotating slowly above them. Stopping, they noticed that at the edges of the holes were numerous individuals who were being taken out of their carriages and placed within flight boxes. This brought back Yan Zaizen to when he first arrived. He was taken off a carriage and placed in one of those flight boxes, taken down to the deep mines, and forced to work under the threat of death.

He had an impulsive desire to turn everything into chaos. However, through gritted teeth, he held back this impulse. Tao informed him previously of the cruel reality of Grux. Due to overpopulation, slavery will always be a matter. A few thousands of years ago, Grux had a revolution for freedom in regards to slavery and the cruelness of it. The ones leading the revolution won.

This, however, left them with an even greater issue. Slavery no longer existed, and thus there were no horrendous work conditions forced on others. This, however, caused the country’s total yield of wealth to drop by a startling 90%. Why would people work harshly if they no longer needed to? Could they simply focus on cultivation and live longer lives by breaking-through to higher realms? The low yield meant low trades for cultivation resources.

Without slavery, violence and greed ran rampant as resources became insufficient to support the new age of cultivators. Vicious wars were started easily, and people slaughtered each other decisively. It swiftly turned into a chaotic country filled with death and disorder. Freedom brought that, freedom to choose to cultivate freely. The current rulers of Grux were actually the ones who won the revolution. They re-established slavery, but with better conditions than before. This seemed to have settled the issue.

However, a few idealists who seemed to have forgotten history still resist, trying to lead a rebellion against slavery. For other countries, slavery may be oppressive, but due to the sheer number of people and hard to obtain resources in Grux, without it, lives would be ended over small matters. Wars would be started over land, wealth, and innocents would be slaughtered viciously. Now, any war that occurs, the innocents are given absolute safety and priority. They were seen as objects and tools but still protected by all, even criminals.

You don’t rob people of their lives for wealth in Grux.

You rob people of their people.

This caused a unique dynamic to be created within the country. Therefore, Yan Zaizen resisted the temptation to act. It would bring very little good in doing so.

Taking a deep breath, he looked away towards the sky. "We’ve finally left. Let’s go." Tao nodded in reply. They both flew away, with Tao possessing the cultivation of a half-step Origin Core, none of the guards thought it was suspicious that they were simply passing. It wasn’t long before the Deep Mines were behind them, and the future before them.

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