NOVPUBXu Ying and the rest of the group stood before an elevator, the doors were already open and they could take this elevator to go to a higher level.
"Why did you ask us to leave him alone? We could have just overpowered him and taken Chloe with us," Alora said with a dissatisfied expression.
Xu Ying nodded, "We could have done that, but I estimate that half of you would die before you could get Chloe away from him," He said with brutal honesty.
His words were like a sledgehammer against their egos, physical pain could be felt in their hearts.
"That's nonsense!" Adolf flared, "Did you forget that you gave us the Recall Runes, we can always escape.
Besides, we have you with us, he's just a tier 3 while you're a tier 4. Are you afraid, Xu Ying?"
Xu Ying glanced down at Adolf with a chilling gaze, causing the fiery red lion to calm down and take some steps back.
"I find it surprising that in your little standoff back there, you failed to notice Kael's peculiar aura.
But then again, you never had the brightest of brains, no wonder." Xu Ying's words ruthlessly crushed Adolf's inner pride.
"Kael is not tier 3," Baba mentioned, "He's not tier 3 at all,"
Xu Ying nodded, "I also noticed that he had remnants of compressed energy flowing from his mane, it was very minuscule, but I noticed it.
It's as if he was a tier 4 lion at some point in the past, that's should be impossible but that's what makes sense right now,"
The lions murmured among themselves after hearing Xu Ying's words.
"And don't forget Chloe and Wadolius also had the recall runes, but he mysteriously intercepted it," Baba added.
Even with all these warnings, many lions were not willing to agree that they could be defeated by Kael. They had merely felt his aura but they didn't see any demonstration.
Luckily, they had Xu Ying, someone who used his brain more often, if not they would be dead or at the brink of death.
"Did you guys notice that Chloe was a bit reluctant to leave Kael's side," The green-furred lion pointed out.
"She didn't even speak to us. It's not like she was scared or anything, she seemed rather comfortable," The spirit lioness said.
Alora narrowed her eyes, "That's way too comfortable for comfort," She said under her breath. Ever since she had encountered him, she had him on her mind.
She was still thinking of Chloe but Kael's golden figure just kept flashing through her mind every time.
It wasn't a weird romantic or emotional thing like that. Alora just felt like she had just stumbled upon the biggest obstacle in her path.
His voice.
It was majestic, she had to admit.
"Let's find the heavenly beacon, Prince Xu Ying," Alora mentioned. No matter what, she had to take this opportunity to complete her plan.
"Mnh," Xu Ying walked into the elevator. Unlike how it had been for Kael, Xu Ying could interact with the two-dimensional diagram at eye level.
"Um," Thawne looked at his colleagues with a dejected expression, "I don't think I can keep on following you,"
"Oh," Xu Ying mouthed, not really surprised.
"Yeah, I've not been able to regenerate any energy that I lose. It sucks. I'll be depending on all of you to complete the mission without me," Thawne said with a melancholic smile.
He really wanted to follow them to the end, not because he truly cared about acquiring the heavenly beacon but because of the experience.
Thawne was just the type of person who loved enjoying the excess and taboo things of life, even if it meant becoming a depraved monster.
The experience he was getting from this expedition was exhilarating, this was the unheavenly dangers his father talked about that caused one to feel truly alive.
But he couldn't go on, his fortune powers were suppressed to the limit here, making him completely useless.
"We'll see you on the other side," Xu Ying said, nodding to acknowledge Thawne's decision.
Then after, Thawne activated the Recall Rune on his left paw by willing with his telepathy.
Spatial distortions appeared around the dirt yellow-brown lion and soon after, he was pulled into a spatial portal and disappeared from their view.
"Well then," Xu Ying turned to the rest of the group as they all entered the spacious elevator. "There should only be a limited number of elevators going to the throne room from this level.
Perhaps, only one is working, maybe more.
What we are going to do is search around the fifth level for the heavenly beacon, I should be able to pick up its signal if it is there."
"What if it isn't," Baba asked.
The elevator rose and hovered to the next level at a steady pace after Xu Ying selected the next level from the diagram options.
"Then we will have to search the throne level as well.
The problem is that that is likely where Noel's Heavenly Beacon is waiting.
I'm not suggesting we try to take Noel's Heavenly Beacon for ourselves, that's an action that will come with many long-term consequences.
But what if Kael decides to keep both Aziza's heavenly beacon and Noel's beacon for himself."
"There's no way he can do that, we won't let him," Adolf said, his temper starting to rise just from thinking about it.
"Naturally, even I wouldn't let him do such a thing, Primordial Lion or not," Xu Ying said.
"I can't wait to get off this planet," Baba commented. He was tempted to use his recall runes but decided against it at the end.
Alora, the pristine white lioness had changed the moment Xu Ying mentioned Kael taking the two Heavenly Beacons for himself.
Her mind froze and her heart went cold, her expression remained normal though.
The process was inconsequential, all that mattered was the end, and the life thereafter.
….
Kael and Chloe had already found an elevator and they ascended upwards in silence.
Nothing needed to be said between them as there was nothing to be talked about.
As the elevator rose higher and higher, the scent of the Law of Conquering got stronger. Kael could feel it right over his head and his body shivered uncontrollably from excitement.
He could feel himself inching closer and closer to tier 4 as his body absorbed the remnant Conquering Essence.
They reached the fifth level and the first thing Chloe noticed was the strange golden hue that covered the whole place.
The fifth level was not divided into rooms or hallways. Instead, it was just a vast hall filled with numerous large pillars.
Kael wasn't able to count all the pillars from just looking alone but he could recognize some things from each of them.
Each pillar here was like the upgraded version of N'bayé's six-tree clearing. Each of the pillars had intricate runes on them and long, bendy, intangible, magic strings flowed over the ground like multiple rainbow-colored snakes, connecting them.
But despite the captivating significance of these pillars, Kael completely ignored them all and rushed out of the elevator.
Chloe was still bewildered by the golden hue of the whole place. There was something in the atmosphere that permeated through the atmosphere, casting everything in a faint golden color.
When Chloe stepped into the fifth level, she felt her blood rush like a raging river and her eyes opened wide. Whatever this thing was, it was amplifying everything about her.
The Law of Conquering was present in this place and Chloe was like a bowlfish who had just entered the ocean for the first time.
Her pupils dilated and her breathing stabilized. Whatever injuries that had been on her or within her body began to heal at twice the regular speed.
If this was what she was experiencing as an ordinary lioness, one could only imagine how Kael was currently feeling.
Kael's wings were spread out as he maneuvered past the many pillars at dangerous speeds, moving closer to that thing.
His irises emitted two warm glows and left two soft gold-colored trails beside his head.
His body was like a sponge, every breath he took, every exhale caused the Conquering Essence to be sucked into him.
The heart energy pool, the Primordial energy pool that resided within his heart had begun to undergo drastic transformations.
… 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
"It's not here!" Xu Ying shouted. A red holographic screen floated in front of him, showing him the direction of the heavenly beacon he was looking for.
He had already picked up the signal for Aziza's heavenly beacon, but from what he was detecting, the beacon was above, not here on the fifth level.
"Quick, find the elevator before he does!" Xu Ying ordered but the others had already moved before he finished his sentence.
Adolf, Alora, and Orion burst out of the elevator ahead of the others, their auras rising as they dipped into the golden-hued environment.
