chapter 133

Su Chen, as usual, was testing out another one of his hypotheses today.

A gentle voice suddenly called out to him.

“Prince! Prince!”

It was Youthful Abundance.

Su Chen was taken aback. “Why are you here? This place is dangerous!”

Youthful Abundance said, “Prince, don’t worry! Their leader isn’t here right now. He left a while ago because he had to take care of some other business.”

“Hm?” Su Chen was taken aback.

He already knew that Kelesda had left.

Kelesda didn’t try to keep that kind of information from him.

He had told Su Chen that he needed to leave for a time and wouldn’t be able to discuss things with him for some time.

Of course, Su Chen didn’t take his words that seriously.

Kelesda had never given up on capturing Su Chen. This kind of ploy was almost childlike in its naiveté.

After all, who knew if Kelesda had really left? What if he hadn’t left and was merely waiting for Su Chen to leave?

Su Chen would rather err on the side of caution by choosing not to believe Kelesda’s words.

Unexpectedly, Youthful Abundance had showed up now.

Why would Youthful Abundance have returned at this point in time?

How could she know that he was here?

Had her identity been discovered by Kelesda?

Was Kelesda using her in an attempt to deceive him?

Of course, it was also possible that Youthful Abundance had merely discovered the matter and had taken a risk to notify Su Chen after Kelesda had left.

Or, there was another possibility, which was that Youthful Abundance had been captured or had betrayed him.

Too much could happen in a year, and there were far too many possibilities.

Su Chen didn’t know which possibility was true, but he knew that he couldn’t leave no matter what — the probability that Kelesda would be nearby was just far too great.

As such, Su Chen faintly said, “Is that so? I understand, but I don’t want to leave right now.”

Youthful Abundance grew agitated. “Prince has been here for over a year. No matter how thorough your preparations were, you probably won’t be able to last much longer. This is an opportunity granted to you by the Heavens! If you don’t go now, you might not ever be able to leave again.”

“I am aware of the situation. Right, Youthful Abundance, how did you know I was here?” Su Chen asked.

Youthful Abundance sighed. “So Prince doesn’t believe me? Actually, this matter has already spread throughout the entire Thousand Poisons Mountain.”

“Hm?” Su Chen was taken back. He hadn’t expected that.×l

So Kelesda hadn’t tried to keep it a secret at all. Instead, he notified everyone on the entire mountain.

This was because he needed to preserve Fate’s Hands’ prestige.

Fate’s Hands being robbed was a sensational piece of news. If news were to get out, it would be an incredible blow to Fate’s Hands.

Even terrorist organizations had reputations. Otherwise, how would they be able to attract like-minded individuals? And how would they be able to expand their circle of influence?

Kelesda wouldn’t sit by idly and watch the name of Fate’s Hands be smeared like this, so he needed to do his best to prevent news of this from spreading.

It wasn’t strange for Youthful Abundance to have found out.

“So how do you know Kelesda left?” Su Chen asked.

“My instructor told me.”

“Inigo?” Su Chen muttered. “Is he fine?”

“It seems that their organization’s leader suspected him, but he never attacked him. However, Instructor is really agitated. He did his best to think up a way to entice the leader to leave, then sent me over to notify you.”

Su Chen chuckled. “Is he worried that I’ll sell him out if I fall into Kelesda’s clutches?”

“……Yes!”

“Then he is already too late. Kelesda is not that easy to trick. He’s probably beating Inigo at his own game. Go and tell Inigo to run. Whether he can get away or not depends on his decisiveness. Kelesda is probably nearby and is waiting for me to exit. He won’t pay attention to Inigo for a little bit given that I am around.”

“Hm?” Youthful Abundance was dazed.

She had come to give Su Chen a good opportunity to leave, but she was now being told that it was time for her instructor to run.

This really was……

Su Chen, however, fell silent.

His words earlier were very sincere. He believed that Youthful Abundance hadn’t come to harm him, but he also believed that Kelesda wasn’t that easy to deceive.

If Youthful Abundance had told him that she had found out through some other reason that Kelesda had left, Su Chen might have believed her for a moment. But being tricked away by Inigo…… There was no doubt in his mind that Inigo was being suspected by Kelesda. If he were to fall victim again, he would really be an idiot.

As such, Su Chen said, “Go on and leave. I now understand some of the thunder method power and can investigate this myself. Kelesda is probably worried that I will find out and won’t eavesdrop on our conversation. Go and tell Inigo to run, now. That is the only generosity I will show him. As for you, a young maiden…… Kelesda cares about his status and probably won’t harm you much.”

Youthful Abundance nodded and gulped, “Got it!”

As she spoke, she knelt down and kowtowed to Su Chen three times as she muttered, “May the Desolate Poison God protect you.”

As she spoke, she turned around to leave.

At that moment, Su Chen suddenly said, “Wait a second.”

Youthful Abundance was taken aback. “Is there something else you need?”

“Did you just mention the Desolate Poison God?” Su Chen asked.

“Yes. Fate’s Hands is protected by the Poison God, which allows them to survive in this kind of environment. We are all very grateful to this Poison God.”

“But isn’t Thousand Poisons Mountain just a mountain?”

Youthful Abundance gently shook her head. “Not entirely. Apparently, this mountain used to not be poisonous. However, a Desolate Beast fell into hibernation some time ago, making this mountain incredibly poisonous. That’s why Fate’s Hands calls it the Poison God.”

Su Chen squinted his eyes. “Desolate Beast? You’re telling me that there’s a Desolate Beast asleep below me? Or that the mountain is actually a Desolate Beast?”

“That’s how the legend goes.”

“So that’s how it is.” Su Chen nodded. “Fine, I understand. You may go now.”

“Farewell, Prince.” Youthful Abundance bowed and then left.

After a moment’s thought, Su Chen said, “Patelocke, I think I’ve found a way to leave, even if it’s…… a bit suicidal.”

In the blink of an eye, three more months passed.

Kelesda and Su Chen continued to converse.

He didn’t bring up Inigo or Youthful Abundance, as if nothing had happened at all, so Su Chen had no idea what had happened to them. However, he didn’t ask any questions, and both parties were able to preserve a silent understanding.

Today, however, Su Chen finally took the initiative to speak.

He immediately uttered a shocking statement.

“I’m out of rations,” he said.

Kelesda was shocked for a moment before that shock turned to joy. “So you’ve finally run out of your rations? Hahahaha, my young nameless friend, why don’t you come out then?”

Su Chen replied, “I will, so I wanted to let you know that I am about to come out. Will you let me leave?”

“I will!” Kelesda immediately replied.

Of course he would agree. Anything that followed could be discussed after Su Chen emerged.

Su Chen said, “What if I come out and you don’t let me go?”

Kelesda hurriedly said, “What kind of person am I? I wouldn’t lie to you.”

That answer wasn’t sincere in the slightest, but Kelesda felt that he no longer needed to be sincere. Su Chen was out of resources, and would eventually die if this were to continue, so there was no way Su Chen couldn’t try something. Also, Kelesda really had no intentions of killing Su Chen; he just wanted to capture Su Chen to serve him properly.

Su Chen said, “Fine. If you lie to me, you will forever be unable to make any further breakthroughs in your comprehension of method power, and a demon will perpetually exist in your heart from today onwards.”

Kelesda was rendered speechless.

In this world, there wasn’t really such a thing as a heart demon.

One equaled one, and two equaled two. All common things could be calculated, and all power came from the use of Origin Energy.

However, method power was different. It was obtained via inspiration and guided by a person’s emotions. Perhaps there truly could be something like a heart demon when it came to the comprehension of method power.

However, Kelesda only hesitated for a moment before agreeing. There hadn’t been any such thing as a heart demon across all of the Primordial Blood Continent’s history, and he didn’t believe it could happen to him either. As such, he said, “Fine, I agree. If I go back on my word, I will never be able to make another breakthrough in my comprehension of method power, and a heart demon will follow me wherever I go.”

Even though he appeared totally nonchalant as he uttered these words, it appeared as if a small seed had planted itself into his heart.

However, Su Chen still refused to come out and continued, “I also have a technique that will allow me to overturn the heavens and cause the very ground to collapse if you go back on your word. At that point in time, the Spiritual Light Institute and Fate’s Hands’ headquarters may both be destroyed. Do you understand?”

Kelesda chuckled. “If you had a skill like that, you would have used it a long time ago. Why insist on waiting until now?”

Su Chen replied, “Obviously, it’s because I only discovered this secret technique recently.”

Discovered recently?

Keep spouting nonsense.

Even if you were able to perceive some method strength, it would still be impossible for you to overturn Thousand Poisons Mountain.

Kelesda completely ignored Su Chen’s words and chuckled, “Fine, fine, fine. As long as you are willing to come out, we can discuss anything. If I go back on my words, you can do anything within your abilities. Even if you can destroy Fate’s Hands’ headquarters and the Spiritual Light Institute, I won’t hold it against you. Is that good enough?”

“I feel much more at ease, hearing that from you.”

Su Chen’s figure really appeared at the edge of the forbidden area as he spoke.

Even after a year, Su Chen’s appearance was still the same. He wore a pure white robe, and most shockingly, he had taken off his mask, revealing Halcyon Wing Streak’s face.

“Halcyon Wing Streak! So it is you!” Kelesda wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Kelesda hadn’t been idle during this period of time. He had tried to discover Su Chen’s true identity, and he was actually able to find some clues on Su Chen’s identity; however, these clues pointed him towards the Halcyon Wing Clan. This trail had been purposefully left behind by Su Chen for this purpose. Now, it appeared that Su Chen’s preparations hadn’t been in vain.

Su Chen smiled faintly. “So you were able to see through my disguise, huh? Yet you didn’t try to use my clan to threaten me.”

Kelesda replied proudly, “I wouldn’t stoop to that level.”

Even though he said that, the Halcyon Wing Clan was located in the heart of Sky City. If he were to try and stir up trouble there, that would be suicidal even if he was a legendary Arcana Master.

Su Chen didn’t bother exposing him and took a step forward.

Even though this step seemed simple, it brought him out of the forbidden area at least once.

He was one foot in heaven and the other in hell.

Kelesda, however, did nothing. He continued to smile at Su Chen. “Are you at ease now?”

At ease? There was no way Su Chen would be at ease.

He continued to walk forwards slowly until he finally stopped at the 99th step.

Then, he said, “Once I take this final step, I will be at a hundred. Are you sure you want to wait until that point?”

Kelesda replied calmly, “I won’t go back on my word.”

Su Chen took another step.

With this step, the entire situation suddenly turned on its head!