The moment Azief shouted Refine, his consciousness entered the saber, his mind seems to be traveling through some unknown planes, as his body seems to glow with bluish color.
The Six Saber floated there inside that cave, glowing ominously as the other five dimmed and only the Heaven Sundering Saber seems to gathering all of the strength of the saber to create a powerful suction that is able to bring Death Monarch inside the saber.
It emitted a killing intent that soars through the ceiling of the cave, filling the entire tunnel like structure and threatens to collapse the entire cave tunnels
But when it is about to charge out the entrance of the cave glows for a bit as that intent was suppressed.
That intent returns back to the sabers like nothing ever happened, floating there in front of the unconscious mind of the Death Monarch.
Azief is sitting cross legged on the ground, his face is red, his eyebrows is creased, his eyes closed and then his body dissipated into the saber.
Not far from the cave there is a person wearing a green robe with a golden coronet on top of his head.
He is making his residence near the cave, building an idyllic hut by himself, his hammer pounded onto the wood beams as he finished a small cage where he put his game.
He is not a builder but the residence is beautiful, with fake mountain dotted on some beautiful path and a small pond in the four courtyard of his residence.
The residence is guarded by a squad of Orb Condensing levelers, patrolling every hour.
The pay for this work is also good and if they are lucky they might even get acquainted with top level people in the Death Monarch faction.
That person wipes the sweat on his forehead. Building that cage did not make him tired; it was the training of concentration he did that put him into such a tiring situation.
Even while he is building the cage he is training, mentally at least.
He got an inspiration as he built that cage. And that imagination begs him, to quickly put it into action.
He put down the hammer and then release a breath, feeling a little relieved as he look at his residence and smiles.
In his heart, he thanked Death Monarch for this.
This residence is special in all of Pandemonium.
It is because the area was given by the Death Monarch and this person alone has the authority to build or moves around this area.
And that is the reason why he is the protector for Death Monarch breakthrough attempt.
The Death Monarch has learned from his mistake before. When he breakthrough last time people take that opportunity to end him.
He would let that happen again this time.
So, he assigns this person to guard him. Not because he was the most loyal. But, because he was the most inconspicuous.
After that person finished taking a shower he walk to his courtyard and sit on a chair carved from Ulgnarian tree, a tree famed for boosting mental strength.
It is discovered by the group of researcher of the World Government.
He sat down on the chair elegantly as the servants in his home quickly offer him tea which he declines.
He needs to paint right now, to make his inspiration be unleashed into the world.
As he sets out the easel and put the canvas onto it, a woman come to sit beside him handing him his brush.
In front of him is a blank canvas. Beside her is a beautiful woman. He smiles, and kisses her cheeks.
She blushed but she did not say anything, only showing him a gentle smile that clam his heart.
He then proceeded to paint, the brush takes its own life as lines, and angles were painted, colors were filled, as sceneries forms.
The man is the Celestial Painter Xu Cong and the woman is Heaven Flute Lihua.
This couple is none other than the Immortal Couple. After the Massacre in the Island, Lihua seems to lose all of her power.
Thankfully her physical body reinforcement remains but all of her energy inside her body dissipated.
She is no different from a mere mortal before the Fall.
The Death Monarch then relieve them of their duty and gifted them this area as their territory as a repayment for their contribution.
No one find it suspicious and while some people lamented the fact that the Heaven Flute Lihua would no longer be participating in the matters of the Death Monarch factions, for the Immortal Couple they were actually relieved.
Unlike some people, Xu Cong and Lihua never wanted power, or fame. They only wanted to live in peace.
Circumstances force them to choose a side.
Now, that Lihua lost her energy, while they are no longer strong, they enjoyed protection from the Death Monarch.
And the highest echelon of Death Monarch faction all felt indebted to them for sacrificing so much for them.
While the soldiers fighting in that war didn’t know what contribution this couple did to gain such favor, people of the highest position in the Death Monarch faction all knew that Loki uses Lihua to summon that Ten Demonic Beings and their army which prevented the gigantic coffin from descending down.
This resulted her losing all of her essence energy and could not be regained by pills or any other regenerative measures that is considered orthodox.
The Death Monarch did offer her that he could use his Death Source to try to stimulate back the energy.
But she refused.
And the Death Monarch knows the reason for her rejection. Since he understood it, he did not force her.
He after all knew that Lihua has helped him in many events. In the Will event, it was their intel that leads to Will release.
So, the Death Monarch granted them his protection. And this is no secret. The Death Monarch even publicizes his support in his Decree.
Now, nobody would dare to even seek revenge lest they incurred the wrath of the entire Death Monarch faction.
The Immortal Couple could now peacefully retired from this chaotic world and seclude themselves in the paradise of their own making.
And while Lihua has lost her powers, Xu Cong is still an Energy Disperse Stage expert that is now on the verge of breakthrough to Seed Formation.
Xu Cong when compared to the other bright halos of the other people in Death Monarch faction of course seems mediocre. But when he is compared to the rest of the world, he could be considered an expert.
And if he reached Seed Formation without taking a shortcut, then he would be a veritable expert and joins big names in the world.
The Immortal Couple also have one more perks.
Their position is unique in this new administration of the Death Monarch faction. While they are no longer involved in the administration daily to daily routine but they still have a say in the matters of the faction.
But while they do have that power, they rarely make use of it. They were perfectly content to remain an observer.
They are not a threat. To the administration, or to the other political faction that is growing now in Pandemonium.
It could be considered, that Pandemonium is an empire and the Emperor is the Death Monarch. And like any emperor, he has subjects.
And this subject all wanted to gain his favor.
Death Monarch has three valiant generals, and below them thousands and now hundreds of thousand following them, and they all have their interest.
Better hunt spot, artifacts, manuals, pills and quest distribution and high level resources, all of this is part of the daily conflict that happens between many factions in the ever growing city of Pandemonium.
Sina is in charge of all the resources in Pandemonium. First, because she is capable she was appointed by the Death Monarch.
Second, it is because she is someone that the Death Monarch trusted. In the current political situation of Pandemonium, there is a class.
People who were beside the Death Monarch since the beginning and gained his trust and people who don’t which is the newcomer.
People like the Immortal Couple that is highly favored by the Death Monarch could change the balance of influence between these generals, because the Death Monarch truly listens to them
Even though Death Monarch did not administrate heavily, that did not mean he did not see or didn’t hear anything about what happens in the city.
He just couldn’t be bothered… and he trusted that the people under him would know to clean their mess up before he step in personally.
Athena, Freya and Wang Jian might be heavily trusted by the Death Monarch, but that doesn’t mean they could betray that trust.
They are working under the feet of the strongest person in the world. If they say they have no fear that would be lying.
This is a man that could be categorized as a calamity level disaster.
He massacres people without mercy and with his word he could cause the entire world to shake, and change the political landscape and balance of power in the world
The Death Monarch punishes whoever he wants and do whatever he wants.
He never punishes the loyal and the competent, but that is because they are loyal and competent.
If they are not competent and obstruct the Death Monarch plans, they did not want to know what would happen.
In the end, the fear come because they did not know what the Death Monarch will do if he is subjected to such situation.
That is why the fact that the Immortal Couple did not murky the already murky political landscape of Pandemonium is praised by the subordinates of the Death Monarch and gains the appreciation of the Three Army
It is precisely because of that reason the Death Monarch chooses them as his protector.
No one would have thought that he would hide near the cave around the Immortal Couple territory.
To the outside world, the Death Monarch is inside the Palace and he is achieving breakthrough there.
Even his subordinate thought he is there. Wang Jian squad keep patrolling there, not daring to lax at all.
To deceive his enemies, he even had to deceive his subordinate. After all he did not know how many enemies he has by now.
With the way he is acting, it is impossible for him to not have any enemies.
It is only that they did not dare to attack openly since they couldn’t defeat him in a fair fight. So, his enemies always targeted his liability.
So, Wang Jian and the Three Army all put many efforts to strengthen the defense around the palace believing the Death Monarch is there attempting to form another disk.
But he is here, nearby the residence of Xu Cong.
But the cave is not as vulnerable as some people might think.
Before Azief decide to form his new disk, he had already lain out magical formation and array traps to protect himself from any external threat.
Xu Cong sighed.
He is trusted but being trusted by the Death Monarch did not ease his heart.
It made him cautious in doing anything as the task weigh on his heart. If anything happens to him while he is attempting his breakthrough, he knew that trust would crumble.
All it takes is just one slip up and his head could roll down.
The handsome man no longer possess that boyish look instead looking more mature, his long hair is slowly breezing through the wind, like he is relaxing in some tropical beaches.
He is painting Pandemonium…the continent.
The story.
The scenery, the allegorical allusions is numerous in his work and his painting seems to transforms to seem even more lifelike as time passes.
In his hand, with a brush guiding his slender fingers, normal scenery of monster turns into an art that rival the great artist of the past.
Lihua is beside him, assessing his work. Her long hair that reached her waist is being combed magically by a floating comb.
Around her small creatures like horned squirrels and purple eyed rabbit play around. There is a gigantic serpent that led angels into revolt towards a shining sky symbolizing the throne of God.
A burning lake in the ground where a person set a stone to build a palace….which is a direct reference of Satan building Pandemonium.
To build Pandemonium. It is from Paradise Lost.
‘It is a beautiful painting’ Lihua said as she looks closer at the painting. It is really vivid like almost like the painting would jump out form the canvas.
Xu Cong smirked. People always misinterpreted Paradise Lost. They think it is about the Satan rebellion and the rise of his infernal kingdoms but it is actually about God omniscience and even Satan knows it.
Knows that God knew his plans to rebel and he still do it anyway. It is about fatalism, that destiny and fate is set. It is a bleak way of seeing the world.
‘You think this is beautiful?’ He asked as he tries not to think too much about it.
‘It captures reality’ she remarked. Xu Cong looked back at his painting and he nodded
‘Well, you are not wrong. But it is not a happy painting.’
Lihua shakes her head.
‘Are you saying this because I said I like happy paintings?’
He nodded
‘It was just a throwaway comment. You think too much.’ she said, with a little giggle.
Xu Cong traces his finger on his painting and said
‘Is there hope? Even among monsters and demons, and darkness that could cover the world, will Light still prevail?’ He said without asking anyone. He just said it following the sentiment he is feeling right now when he finished his painting.
Lihua look at the painting and he remembers her teacher, Loki. And she remembers something about her teacher.
While her teacher did use her, he fulfills his promise. He said that if he did that for him, she would be able to live peacefully without any more war to fight.
And right now…isn’t this the life she dream about.
She did not hesitate to choose between power and happiness. Not many people are like her and Xu Cong.
Some people believe power is the key to happiness, while she believes happiness is happiness.
You could be ahoy without power, but with power, there is always a chance for something to become an obstacle to happiness.
Power and happiness is after all two different concepts.
At least that is what she believes.
She holds his hand and then said
‘There is always hope. Even when the darkness seems to envelop everything, there will always be light.’
She smiles and kisses his cheek. Xu Cong put down his brush and nodded as a smile is formed on the edge of his mouth.
Then he said to Lihua.
‘You want to walk for a while?’
‘With pleasure’ she said as they both hold each other hand together.
They began taking a walk on the park behind their residence, laughing and smiling, looking like they were meant to be together, sharing stories about the happiness they share and the sadness that they overcome together, affirming their love and trust.
Their brilliant day is just beginning.
***