Chapter 616 - Apparition (Patreon)

Sherlock naturally had no idea that Leyvi possessed a method to learn techniques much faster.

Time did not move inside Leyvi’s internal storage room. As long as the matter did not involve his physical body, he could simply send his consciousness inside to study or practice.

He could remain there for as long as his mental energy allowed. Once he grew tired, he would come out and rest.

During his decade-long seclusion, he had used this convenient method many times whenever he needed to study something or practice mind-related techniques.

Aside from his already outstanding Spiritual Cultivation talent, this advantage was the main reason his progress in Spiritual Cultivation had advanced at such a terrifying rate.

Since Leyvi had already mastered the sealing technique, there was no reason to waste any more time. Sherlock’s spiritual sense injury had also fully healed.

Sherlock immediately summoned all the Protectors back to the meeting hall.

Not long after, the Protectors arrived one after another.

When Protector Jade entered, Leyvi noticed that she looked especially happy. She was humming lightly and even skipping a little, a wide smile on her face.

Why is she so happy? Did something happen while I was learning the technique?

Even Sherlock looked dumbfounded by her appearance. He had never seen her this joyful before. From the expressions of the others, it seemed they already knew the reason for her good mood.

Don’t tell me she found a man or something?

The next moment, Jade’s eyes landed on Leyvi and her smile grew even wider. Leyvi naturally noticed the change.

Before Leyvi could even ask why she had become happier after seeing him, Jade had already closed the distance in a blink of an eye. She wrapped her arms around him and began pecking his cheeks left and right.

“I’m so happy! Muah, muah, muah!”

Leyvi’s mind went blank.

What? What’s happening? He could not think of any reason why Jade would suddenly act so intimately with him. Was she interested in his seed too?

He could feel her voluptuous body pressing against him as she continued pecking his cheeks. Thankfully, as an experienced man, this level of stimulation was not enough to provoke an uncontrollable reaction from him.

If she were not a Protector, he might have suspected she had some nefarious motive for clinging to him so closely. Even so, there was definitely a reason behind this behavior.

He looked toward the other Protectors for an explanation, but they simply watched the scene with clear amusement. Only Newton appeared slightly embarrassed. That only made Leyvi more confused.

Beside him, Sherlock was equally dumbfounded. Just like Leyvi, he had no idea what was going on.

“Jade, you’re going to make him misunderstand you. Stop with the excessive hugging. You’re already so old yet still acting like a little girl. Even Little Alexandra is more mature than you,” Fiona said as she walked gracefully to her seat.

Alexandra’s face twitched. Stop using me as a comparison just because I’m the youngest.

“Oh Leyvi, you’re truly my lucky star! My wish has finally been granted! It’s all thanks to you! I don’t have to rely on that useless Newton anymore! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this? Years and years of promises, endless excuses, and still nothing! But now, because of you, everything has changed! I’m free from that headache at last!” Jade finally stopped pecking him and spoke with pure, overflowing happiness.

However, she didn't let go completely. She shifted to Leyvi's side and hugged his arm instead, still wearing a bright smile.

“Senior Jade… what do you mean by your wish being granted?” Leyvi asked, glancing at Newton, who looked even more embarrassed than before.

He realized now that even though Protector Jade was acting overly intimate, it was not for any sexual reason. She was simply genuinely happy.

"Oh, yes. Of course you don't know. You see... your Big Sister Jade has wanted a much, much better communication system for the longest time, so I don't have to deal with all those stupid delays anymore." Jade explained.

Leyvi blinked.

Your Big Sister Jade?

Did she just decide to become my big sister?

"And my wish has finally been fulfilled! It's all thanks to you! Thank you for bringing Lapin here! I don't need to keep begging that unreliable Newton anymore. He's always breaking his promises. Humph!"

Newton smiled wryly.

Just when he thought he would finally fulfill Jade's long-time wish with the next development, this happened.

Now Jade would probably think of him as unreliable forever.

"Ah... that's why." Leyvi finally understood and nodded.

It seemed that while he had been busy mastering the sealing technique, the Protectors had met with Lapin and reached some kind of agreement with him after determining that he was harmless.

"Senior Lapin... he won't be forced to serve our continent, right? On the surface, he might be my spirit beast, but I promised him freedom whenever he wants it. If his freedom ends up being taken away because I brought him here, that will put me in a difficult position." Leyvi asked.

"Hohoho! Don't worry, kid. We only have cooperative transactions. He is as free as he wants to be in our continent. He can also build his sky island however he wishes." Gandolf replied.

"You mean YOUR sky island, Gandolf? That's obviously what you always wanted." Sugaro chimed in.

"Hohoho. You got me. Jade and I lucked out this time." Gandolf happily stroked his beard.

"Wait, wait. What are you talking about? Who is this Lapin?" Sherlock asked, completely clueless.

Gandolf then explained to Sherlock about Lapin and the cooperative arrangement they had reached with him.

“A King Level Spirit Beast… Leyvi, I thought I couldn’t be surprised by you anymore, but I was wrong again,” Sherlock said, looking at Leyvi with clear amazement.

He decided he wanted to meet this unusually friendly King Level Demonic Beast after they finished the current matter. It would be his first time encountering a peaceful one.

Every King Level he had met before had been filled with violent tendencies that made any attempt at conversation impossible. Those encounters had always ended in fierce battles without exception.

Afterward, Jade continued treating Leyvi like a little brother, openly showing how much she doted on him. It seemed that whether he liked it or not, he had somehow gained a big sister.

Yes. A three-thousand-year-old big sister who ran the entire continent.

What a wonderful development… for Anda, of course. She would definitely find a way to take advantage of this situation.

Once Leyvi finally managed to shake off his new clingy big sister, he and Sherlock resumed their mission to retrieve the foreign memory.

This time their roles were reversed. Sherlock would locate the foreign memory, and Leyvi would handle the sealing.

Unfortunately, the third attempt also ended in failure. Leyvi mistimed the seal, and the foreign memory self-destructed, killing the demonic beast once more.

Gandolf immediately brought out another General Level Demonic Beast. They had already assumed that Leyvi and Sherlock might fail a few more times, so they had gone out earlier and captured several extras.

Leyvi and Sherlock tried a fourth time, then a fifth. Finally, on the sixth attempt, they executed the plan perfectly. Leyvi successfully sealed and captured the foreign memory.

“Hahaha! You did it, Leyvi! You’re definitely the most impressive youngster I’ve ever met after Little Alexandra,” Sherlock praised, still riding the high of success.

“Senior, this isn’t the time to celebrate!” Leyvi’s voice was sharp with urgency as his avatar drifted toward the exit. “We need to get out now! This thing is still trying to self-destruct!”

A golden disc trailed behind him, vibrating violently, the edges flickering like it might shatter at any second.

“You’re right. Move!” Sherlock snapped out of his excitement and followed at once.

Outside, the hall still echoed with the steady chant of the mantra. Leyvi’s eyes snapped open, golden light blazing within them.

“Come out!”

A palm-sized golden disc shot from the demonic beast’s glabella and streaked straight toward his face. It stopped a finger’s width away, trembling so hard the air around it shimmered.

The shaking slowly eased. For a brief moment, everything went still.

“Fuh… we finally did it,” Sherlock exhaled, relief clear in his voice. “Outside the sea of consciousness, things like this usually lose their—”

The disc pulsed.

A wave of pure, murderous aura exploded outward.

BOOM!

The golden disc detonated with a force that cracked the floor and sent a shockwave tearing through the hall. Leyvi, standing closest, caught the full blast. His body was hurled backward like a ragdoll and slammed hard into the far wall, the impact leaving a deep crater in the reinforced stone.

In the same instant, the hall’s defensive formations roared to life. Layer after layer of glowing barriers snapped into place across the walls and ceiling.

Multiple Protectors reacted even faster. Thick walls of Qi, elemental shields, and overlapping barriers formed a tight cage around the center of the explosion, sealing whatever remained inside.

Smoke and debris filled the air. The once-rhythmic chant of the mantra was now replaced by a chorus of raw, hate-filled screams.

Every voice carried the same message in different words: humans must die, humans must be erased, humanity must perish.

Gandolf’s sleeve flicked once. The smoke and rubble vanished as if swept away by an invisible hand.

In the cleared space stood an apparition of a woman, her form flickering with residual power and bottomless hatred.