CHAPTER 121: THE PRICE OF THE VEIL

Meanwhile, while the two soldiers were still talking to one another, the subject of their conversation was already walking briskly out of sight. He made sure to walk fast, but not so fast that it was suspicious.

Those who were looking at him had just seen him with the soldiers and concluded that he was just trying to get as far away from them as possible. A very understandable reaction, since everyone there knew about the actions of the soldiers.

The incident was quickly forgotten as people continued going about their business. Meanwhile, the man in question, after he had retreated a sufficient distance away, slowed his pace. His steps were now lighter and smoother. His posture straightened a bit as he quickly started making his way back to the city.

A faint smirk tugged on his lips as he had successfully accomplished his goal. Who was this mysterious man? Of course, it was Adrian. He had just successively deceived everyone there.

And it was all thanks to the Veil of a Hundred Shadows. The bamboo hat on his head was actually the Soul rank artifact. The appearance of the middle-aged man was just one of the appearances that he could use with the help of the artifact.

With it, he had been able to appear as a middle-aged man who was in the initial stage of the Golden Core realm. When he first tried it out, he was surprised by the result. It wasn’t just a simple illusion. Everything about him was transformed, turning him into a completely different person.

Even his body structure seemingly morphed, making the disguise seem even more genuine. While his original body was still the same, to others, he appeared to have grown a bit taller and become much bulkier than before.

The disguise could be said to be perfect. And this was with Adrian only able to use the bare minimum abilities of the Veil of a hundred shadows. He could only imagine how formidable the Hundred-faced thief had been with such an artifact in his possession.

Only those who were much stronger than him or had incredibly powerful souls would have been able to tell that something was off with the individual in front of them, but how would the Hundred-faced thief make such a mistake? He would likely have multiple plans for emergencies, making sure he was never caught.

However, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve half of what he was able to achieve without this incredible soul artifact. The artifact that now belonged to Adrian. However, it wasn’t without its downsides. The amount of Qi needed to activate it was staggering, especially for the current Adrian.

The amount of Qi a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator had was not much, and could only activate the artifact for about the time it took for an incense stick to burn. With Adrian, perhaps it could be stretched a bit further, but it was still not much.

That was also part of the reason why Adrian had to leave that area quickly. He didn’t want to risk the disguise getting dispelled because he didn’t have enough Qi to keep the artifact active.

Adrian walked briskly until he was far away from the Misty Mountains and quickly his behind a tree. As soon as he did that, the disguise of the middle-aged man he was using was dispelled. A faint shimmer dazzled around his body, and his true body became visible. Luckily, no one was around and he quickly put up his hood.

Now that Adrian was able to successfully escape from the inspection, he began making his way leisurely back to the city. Even though he was in a hurry, he was currently out of Qi and could only rely on his physical strength to keep moving forward.

A normal cultivator would have been too tired to stand up, let alone walk. But that was part of what separated Adrain from the rest. His unique cultivation of both Qi and body made him able to do things that others couldn’t.

Well, it wasn’t as if he was in a rush. The journey back to Stonehold City would still take around a week. There was no point in rushing now. He began to think about his siblings once again. He couldn’t wait to see them.

He was sure that Olivia would love to meet the silver-winged tiger cub. By the way, where had the cub been all this while? When he appeared after leaving the Misty Mountains, he had been alone, without the magic beast cub with him.

Well, that question was quickly answered when the Blood Star around his neck glowed a bit. In front of him, the little cub appeared on the ground, seemingly out of nowhere. That’s right, it had been inside the Blood Star this whole time.

One of the most important features of the Blood Star had finally been put to use. Aside from himself, the silver-winged tiger cub was the first living being that had entered the Blood Star.

Adrian had put it inside the Blood Star just before he came out of the Misty Mountains. It was quite a thrilling experience for both man and beast, and Adrian learned more about the power of the artifact around his neck.

Firstly, he learnt that he couldn’t put a living being inside the Blood Star without their consent. He had to have permission from whoever he wanted to bring inside the Blood Star.

When he first tried to put the cub inside, nothing happened. Only after explaining to the cub that he was going to put it somewhere safe was he able to put it inside the Blood Star. He was a bit concerned at first that the cub wouldn’t understand what he was saying, but it seemed it was a useless concern.

Immediately, it entered the Blood Star, and the cub started looking around in wonder. Its surroundings had suddenly changed, turning into a slightly less barren landscape. Sparse vegetation could be seen growing in random patches everywhere.

In the distance, it could be seen that there was a specific patch that was denser than the rest. It could also feel that the concentration of Qi was more in that area than in the others inside this new space.

It walked over to find a beautiful white flower, with tinges of Red hue on the edges of its petals. It was the Rainbow Rose. Its appearance hadn’t changed since the day that Adrian transplanted within the Blood Star.

The only thing that could be said to be different about it was the fact that it had finally taken root completely inside the Blood Star. Now, the environment also began benefitting from the extremely pure Qi it was constantly dispelling. The

The cub began drooling when he saw it saw the flower and felt the immense amount of pure Qi within it. It would have eaten it if Adrian had not stopped it. He was monitoring the state of the cub from the outside. Since the artifact was already linked to his soul, he could check the contents within it without actually entering it.

It was just one of the many uses of such a treasure. Seeing that it was not allowed to eat the flower, the cub simply lay down beside it and fell asleep there. Now Adrian brought it back outside, since it was getting bored with the barren landscape.

He picked up the cub and continued the journey back to Stonehold City.

Meanwhile, back in the entrance of the Misty Mountains, Julian was currently inside a tent with his head bowed slightly. Sitting in front of him was the Young Mistress of the House of Vyre, Belladonna Vyre.

For the past few days, Bella and her team had been staying here in order to catch the mysterious cultivator that was supposedly involved with the beast’s rampage. She had cut her exploration short because of him, and now here he was bringing her not so good once again.

Even the most patient person would have been annoyed at this point, and Bella was not someone known for her patience. She looked at Julian with an icy expression while speaking

"So you are telling me that after all this time, you still haven’t found this mysterious cultivator?" Her words caused Julian’s body to tremble slightly. Not from fear, no, from disgrace.

If someone were to enter the tent now, it would look like a superior disciplining their subordinate. And in this case, it was basically the truth. Even though he was a disciple of the War Machine Sect, Julian’s family was considered vassals of the House of Vyre. He was basically her subordinate.

If she were to take any action against him, it might cause some friction with the War Machine Sect, but no serious issue would arise from it. Julian, who was used to being the one to talk down to others, couldn’t possibly bear this treatment.

He raised his head up to protest, but a sudden pressure landed on him, forcing his whole body to crash to the ground. His face was planted into the dirt, and he couldn’t even lift his head up in the slightest.