Chapter 88 - Silent Omen
"Meiyi, are you ready?"
"No. Wait a bit, I just need to bring this and that, get that too and I'll be ready in a minute."
"Ahaha. Don't worry, I'll be waiting for you." Seth sat on the couch waiting for Meiyi to get all the things she needed to bring along. He wasn't in a hurry, so the thirty minutes she took to get ready weren't that much of a bother.
"Then, let's go."
"Are we going by carriage again?" Meiyi kind of enjoyed their ride from the last time.
"No. This time I plan on getting there faster, so we will go by feet."
"By feet? How is that going to be faster than riding a carriage?"
"That is what you're about to see."
"Ah!"
Seth picked Meiyi up, carrying her in a romantic fashion.
"Are you ready?"
"You mean that... Ahhh!"
Seth activated his running skills, putting his Mana Control base of cultivation to good use. He sprinted through the terrain like a specter, unimpeded by anything. His speed was inhuman and Meiyi could not even see the scenery changing around them. However, she kind of started to like it, there was an adrenaline rush, making her heart pump wildly. While running, he protected her with his Mana, avoiding the possibility of her getting hurt.
Like that what would be a long day of traveling by carriage, turned into a single hour. Although Seth took a single hour to travel to Chun Meihui's house, he could have done it faster. He didn't want to let Meiyi feeling uncomfortable through their travel, so he deliberately reduced his speed.
When they arrived there, she couldn't even speak for a long time, feeling amazed by his inhumane speed.
Seth left Meiyi to take a breath behind and went to knock on the door of her mother's house.
Knock! Knock!
Chun Meihui found it strange that someone was knocking on the door of her house, however, she didn't think it would be Meiyi and Seth, since they visited her some weeks ago.
'Are the fee collectors finally coming to collect the taxes?'
Chun Meihui opened the front door and was surprised to see Seth standing there.
"Hello, mother-in-law, how have you been these days?"
"Seth? Hello. What are you doing here so soon? Meiyi usually visits me after four to six months have passed only."
"Well, I brought her to pass a bit more time with you this time. I'll need to leave the sect grounds for some months and I'm sure she would feel lonely without me around, so how about letting her stay here you with for a bit?"
"You should not be asking for something like that. My mother's house is my house, so there is no need. Mom, I'm back!" Meiyi came to greet her mother.
"My daughter, I was starting to miss you already. What is all this about? Were there any problems within your sect?"
"Don't worry mom, everything is alright."
"You'll have to excuse me then, mother-in-law. I'm in a hurry to go to a certain place. Next time, I'll make sure to stay for a bit longer."
"Okay."
"Meiyi, come here." Seth grabbed Meiyi by the hand and kissed her right before her mother.
She didn't have time to escape his evil clutches, so she could only bear the embarrassment from being kissed right before her mother.
"Oh?!" Chun Meihui watched with a mild smile.
"You! Taking advantage of me while I was unprepared... Shameless!" Meiyi said with her reddened cheeks.
"Well, that was a good goodbye kiss. I promise you that I'll give you more after I come back."
"Shameless!"
After saying goodbye to both of them, Seth parted ways with Meiyi, leaving towards the Hilkhell city. It would be a long travel until he got there. He had previously bought a map on the Blazing Phoenix City to help him on localizing where he currently was.
Seth expected to travel for three days straight until he arrived on the Hilkhell city and that while going at his full speed. Differently from what he has shown Meiyi, he wasn't calm at all. He wanted to obtain more resources quickly and get stronger fast. He was going to go with everything he got towards the Elven Kingdom, since he could not let this opportunity pass.
He knew that there was at least a bit more than a whole month for their event start, however, he wanted to get there earlier and familiarize with the environment. He was diving into an unknown territory after all. He couldn't possibly know the dangers waiting for him there.
While he was traveling and thinking things through, and entire day and a half has passed. He was passing through a mountainous area, full of wild life, when he started to feel that something was off.
Thump!
He felt some reactions from the Seed of Tyranny inside his chest. Seth looked towards his left side and felt that something was attracting him towards there.
"Lexi, can you feel anything coming from that place?" Seth pointed towards a certain place.
"Hm? I don't think so. What is making you say something like that?"
"Well, the seed is reacting to something coming from that place."
"You'll only discover if you go."
Seth hesitated for a bit, but chose to go in the end. He was cautious with this power, however he wanted to understand it too.
"Alright. I'm going."
After passing through a lot of terrain, he felt that the energy around was getting wilder and out of control.
Although the energy around this secluded place was acting crazily, Seth felt that it was just like the wild energy that came from the Seed of Tyranny. For him it was harmless.
After running for ten or plus kilometers more, Seth saw a wild beast dead body lying on the floor. It was the Metal-horned Moose. He felt the wild energy coming out of its body and remembered the first time he felt that kind of energy.
"It is without a doubt related to the Seed of Tyranny."
There was a serious look on his face as he sensed the heavy atmosphere in front of him, it seemed that things were only going to worsen from here on.
Seth kept advancing and more dead bodies of Metal-horned Mooses kept entering his vision. After some hundred meters more, he saw a dead body of another kind of beast, the Iron-jaw Wild Boar. He observed it for a bit longer and felt the same kind of energy coming from it.
"Another type of beast was actually invaded by that energy."
"Seth, look ahead!" Lexi made Seth notice the dead bodies lying some meters ahead of where he was.
There were bodies of pythons, panthers, wild boars, mooses, bears, tigers, lizards and etc. There were so many dead bodies, that the wide area ahead of him seemed to be a graveyard for the beasts.
All of them had some signs of struggle. They seemed to have wildly fought against each other before dying terribly.
"What has happened here?" Lexi was bewildered by that sight.
"I am certain that it has something to do with the Seed of Tyranny. Damn! What the hell is this power?"
"It seems that it made everything here lose control of its consciousness. At first it was just that Metal-horned Moose, that was acting very strange, but now, it is spreading to the other animals. What if it ever infects a human?" Lexi asked something that even she did not believe, but it made a chill run down Seth's spine.
He started to think about that. 'What if the human practitioners start to lose control, destroying everything?'
"Let's not think about such fanciful things. These beasts didn't have a strong cultivation and that was why they must have gone wild because of that energy." However, Seth knew that if that was the case, humans would sooner or later be infected too.
Just as Seth was making some guesses, the Seed of Tyranny started to act again.
Thump! Thump!
The red energy lingering in the air after losing its hosts, was attracted towards Seth in a fierce and quick torrent. It entered Seth's veins, going directly towards the Seed of Tyranny, making it stronger.
Seth could not control the flow of that energy and could only make futile attempts to stop it from entering his veins. That energy kept entering him, making the seed very close from breaking free from the third seal.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Seth could feel it was thirsty for more, but fortunately for him, the energy present in the air was totally absorbed, until nothing was left.
No visible changes happened inside or outside of his body, but he felt a heavy burden pressing on his shoulders. There was a looming sensation of danger.
The corruption was slowly spreading everywhere; however, it was still hidden from the eyes of the strong practitioners. There were some factions trying to discover something about it, but they didn't get anything substantial yet, just like the Elf Queen.
Some other different powers, like the Hilkhell City Lord Family, were treating it as a normal level plague.. Maybe when they finally realize that things are not as they seem to be, it would already be an irreversible situation, where only fear and uncertainty would remain.