The almost-divine veena music continued to linger in the air. The music was gentle. It seemed like the music was using a special method to control the world itself, forcefully manipulating the space.
Michael looked upwards at the blue sky, eyes filled with a mix of shock and surprise. As a cultivator, he could feel the changes in the world around him. The laws of the world were changed by the sound of a veena. Considering Abras did not live long enough to learn about the laws of the world and cultivators who could manipulate them, Michael had little to no knowledge about the world's laws. He could only sense the changes but couldn't understand them completely.
The mysterious person who played the veena already had a terrifying level of understanding for the veena as well as the laws of the world.
The descending Celestial energy was forcefully trapped by the music. They paused for a while before slowly rising up the sky, being forcefully sent out of the region. Eventually disappearing from the Angel peak mountain.
In the blink of an eye, the Celestial Energy that two Core Strengthening level 10 cultivators struggled to deal with, were nullified by a mysterious, hidden person in a couple of seconds.
Soon, a dark blue-robed woman walked over slowly and gently from the distance. She was tall and her raven black, glossy hair fluttered in the wind. Her face was obscured by a dark yet slightly transparent veil, revealing her clear eyes. Her eyes were bright and as pretty as lotus petals. Her lean slender fingers caressed the veena strings. She had the perfect hourglass structure that many women could only dream of, gracefully she descended from the sky like an angel.
She was clearly vastly different from ordinary girls. Although her appearance was hidden, it was not difficult to imagine how beautiful she was. In Michael's heart, Gaya was the prettiest girl he has ever met but this woman dethroned even her, she was that beautiful.
He could not help but take a step backward. This was not only because the woman's strength was terrifying, but also the skill she used to defeat the Celestial Energy itself. She used the veena to control everything in the surroundings and injure enemies. Her ability with the veena had already reached a shockingly scary level.
"I greet mistress!" The two women courteously greeted the blue-dressed lady with their veenas in their arms. Not only was she the mistress of Angel peak mountain Island, but she was also the master of the two of them.
His eyes narrowed abruptly, and he called out huskily, "Wielder of Angel's veena, Lady Lailah Alden'' Michael slightly bowed to show his respect, he didn't dare to show any discourtesy as the woman was the strongest person he met ever since he came to this world, a freakin Fusion stage cultivator. The power she radiated was so great that he was only able to sense her stage, not the level.
Lailah Alden stood in the air with her veena while a colorful light flickered in her captivating eyes. She shifted her gaze slightly and looked towards Michael in the distance. Instantly, a sliver of surprise flashed across her calm eyes, "Hmm...a 5-star Alchemist, I don't think we've met before" She said softly before silently mumbling under her breath "it can't be a coincidence"
Lailah Alden's voice was extremely gentle, like the most pleasant tune in the world, yet also carried a bewitching charm. She was able to affect the moods of people from just her voice.
Michael's mood was also wavered slightly by Lailah Alden's bewitching voice and what. However, with his willpower, he tried to avoid being bewitched using all of his willpower. He did not think she intended to bewitch him but the power gap between the two of them was so great that Michael felt like this.
"How did she find out?" Michael's heart skipped a beat when she identified his specialization of Alchemy with a single glance.
"I'm called Ghost, Lady Alden, and I never got the honor of meeting you before" He had never been so respectful and courteous towards anyone until now, after all, he stood top of the world of assassins back on earth. After coming to this world, with the system's help, he climbed the ladder fastly as he never needed to be afraid of anyone. Even when he faced Julius of Phoenix island, he did not feel a sliver of fear because he had the system and the teleportation scroll with him to escape but now, he had neither. Therefore, he decided to be rather respectful towards this Lady Alden just like everyone else than getting kicked off the island or worse, killed by her.
Lailah Alden stared at Michael unblinkingly with her pretty eyes for a while, before speaking gently, "if I'm right, you're a disciple of a sect called Sunrise"
"You are right, Lady Alden, I'm indeed a core disciple of the Sunrise sect" Again Michael was surprised at the fact she actually knew about a declined sect in a backwater kingdom. How did she know? The question poked Michael's mind.
Lailah Alden gave a short nod before turning her gaze towards her students., "Johana, Nerita, go have a look at his situation."
"Yes, mistress!" The two women replied courteously before flying towards the cave together and disappearing into it.
Michael's eyes followed the two disciples as they moved, watching them disappear into the dark cave in the distance. He could not help but become curious, so he asked, "Lady Alden, just who is the person living in that cave? What just happened?"
Lailah Alden gazed towards the cave in the distance, and only after a few long moments, she started speaking slowly, "He was cursed by one of the eight Great Clans. An extremely powerful and complicated curse was placed in his soul, sealing his talent and preventing him from reaching the Soul Refining stage. If the Celestain energy reaches his body, it would activate the curse in his mind, turning it into a battlefield. The curse would use the Celestial energy and wipe out his soul from existence forever, not even a 6-star Healer can revive him after that"
"Eight Great Clans?" Michael repeated softly, his voice filled with a sliver of confusion.
Looking at the bewildered expression on his face, she spoke gently, "Given the current situation, you should know about this. The Eight Great Clans are the most powerful organizations on the four continents. Most of them have existed for an extremely long time, having already existed even before the Guardian Guild had appeared in ancient times. Of the eight clans, other than the Guardian Guild, humans have two more. Among the five, elves, dwarves, beastmen have one great clan each while the seal folks have two"
Michael was stunned, he tried to look not too shocked. Until now, he thought defeating the Guardians guild would make his path to become this world's ruler easier but now, he realized that controlling the world will be harder than he imagined. Since he never left the Elon continent and Gaya had little knowledge about the other continents, it was natural for him to be clueless about the other Great Clans in this world.
Lailah Alden continued, " if it was any other elves, lifting the curse would have been easier but the one who put the curse on him was an elven great mage of the Elven Great Clan, the ArchAngels. You may have heard of this poor soul from your Elders or your Sect Leader"
"huh?" As soon as he heard that, Michael was surprised. His expression changed several times before asking out, "Lady Alden, who is this person?"
"His name is Christopher Merigold, your sect leader's grandfather. It seems the gods have sent you to help me save him" Lailah Alden replied softly.
He was completely stunned after hearing her words. "Wasn't Claire's grandfather supposed to be dead?" Michael asked himself. Claire herself told him her grandfather died during one of his adventures and it was her father who went missing which led to the downfall of the Sunrise sect. He always wondered how one man's disappearance could affect an entire sect, leading to such a poor state but now, everything slowly started to make sense, if someone from a Great Clan like Guardian Guild put a complicated curse on Claire's grandfather, it would make sense for the great mage to hold a grudge and destroy everything the man built.
"Christopher Merigold? How can I help him? What is she talking about?"
Her lips slightly curved upwards, revealing an alluring smile
"You came here looking for me to save that death-kissed dragon, right? She pointed at her fingers and the very next moment, he felt something pulling out the baby dragon from him. The baby dragon hovered in the air without moving, his crimson red scale had completely turned grey except for a few scales thanks to the healing potions.
"Follow me" Lailah Alden spoke softly, carrying a bewitching charm with her words. She then started to slowly descend and fly towards the cave before disappearing into the cave. Michael did not hesitate at all as he entered the cave in a flash.
The cave was filled with fist-sized luminous pearls which gave off a soft light, illuminating the entire cave. When Michael had traveled a hundred meters in, the space before him suddenly opened. He had arrived at a huge cavern of several dozen meters in radius. Currently, the walls were covered with cracks while some loose pebbles lay scattered across a floor covered with ditches. It was a mess.
In the center of the cavern stood Johana and Nerita. Meanwhile, a disheveled, tattered-clothed, beggar-like old man slept soundly before them. His body was emancipated due to lack of replenishment to his body and soul and on the ragged robes he wore, Michael saw the familiar symbol, a rising sun, it was without a doubt the crest of the Sunrise sect.
Michael looked at Lailah to see her examining the baby dragon.
"Go on, talk to him" Her voice was extremely plain, without the slightest emotion. Initially, he wanted to save only the baby dragon but now, he wanted to save this old man. It was not because he loved to see the old man reunite with his granddaughter but if he could save the old man, he would have a powerful Soul Refining stage cultivator protecting his base of operations, plus, by lifting the curse and reuniting the family would make the old man loyal to him, this would make recruiting this old man as his subordinate easier in the future.
With these thoughts in his mind, Michael gently walked over and stared fixedly at the old man on the ground. The old man's face was ancient and haggard. He was currently sleeping peacefully.
.
"Johana, Nerita, play the song of fairies melody."
"Yes, mistress!" The two women did not hesitate to crossed-air and place the veena on their lap. As their fingers moved slightly, a wonderful veena sound was immediately generated.
It was gentle, filled with serenity. It seemed to be able to comfort the emotions of a person, to allow that person to calm down. When the music reached Michael's ears, his slightly excited and frantic feelings also disappeared very quickly, making his mind calm.
Lailah Alden touched a string of her veena with an elegant finger. With a slight trembling, a note appeared that immediately began to slowly wake the sleeping old man.