Chapter 178: Vulcan’s Return
Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Vulcan’s Return
Chapter 178: Vulcan’s Return
[Ding!]
[Daily Sign-In available. Would you like to sign in?]
’Sign in.’
[Sign-In successful!]
[Congratulations! You have received the Epic-Grade Pill: Purple Spirit Ascending Pill.]
[Item automatically sent to System Inventory.]
Rhain sat in his bed, looking at the round purple pill in his hand.
It was a top-tier Epic-Grade elixir.
Swallowing it could easily help a cultivator in the Spirit Manifestation Realm breakthrough a minor realm without any destabilization.
"It’s quite useful," Rhain remarked, "But swallowing it right now would be a waste. I just broke through to the third level. I need to let my foundation settle before forcing another advancement."
With a flash of light, he stored the pill back into his system inventory.
A few minutes later, a sharp knock came against his courtyard gate.
"Hey, Rhain! Open the door!" a slightly impatient female voice called out.
Rhain’s Spiritual Sense had already identified the visitor.
He walked over and pushed the gate open.
Standing outside was Neve, carrying a large sealed container.
"Here are the Epic-Grade herbs we agreed upon," Neve said, shoving the heavy container into his arms with a proud smirk.
Rhain accepted the jade container.
He didn’t bother opening it to check the contents; with his Spiritual Sense, he already knew exactly what was inside.
"Thanks," Rhain acknowledged politely.
"Remember our deal," Neve grinned brightly. "If you ever need more restricted herbs, you know exactly who to find. Just make sure your pockets are full!"
"I will keep it in mind," Rhain replied.
Without lingering any longer, Neve turned and hurried back toward the Alchemy Division, entirely eager to use her newly acquired herbs to force her Master Rank breakthrough.
Rhain closed the courtyard gates and returned directly to his cultivation chamber.
He dropped his plan to go to Battle Arts Division today.
With a heavy thud, his dark-gold Epic-Grade cauldron materialized in the center of the room.
"Let’s get to work," Rhain murmured.
Fwoosh!
The blood-red Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame ignited beneath the cauldron.
Within seconds, the first batch of materials was tossed into the cauldron.
Because Rhain wasn’t pushing the boundaries of a Mystic-Grade refinement this time, the process was almost trivially simple.
His vast Soul Power, amplified by the Spirit-Ascension Star Lily he had consumed, controlled the medicinal clashes within the cauldron with an effortless ease.
The herbs melted, merged, compressed, and then shaped into the pure Epic Grade pills under his command.
But this time, Rhain deliberately held back on one crucial aspect.
He did not inscribe Pill Veins.
If he refined a batch of pill-veined Epic-Grade elixirs right here in the Inner Palace, it would undoubtedly summon a tribulation that would alert every Domain Master in Stormveil Academy.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Batch after batch of perfectly round Epic-Grade elixirs shot out of the cauldron, radiating an intoxicating medicinal fragrance but completely devoid of Pill Veins.
Rhain spent hours mass-producing the pills, filling dozens of jade bottles.
There were recovery elixirs, essence amplification pills, physical tempering pills, and several specialized formulas designed for cultivators ranging from the Spirit Manifestation to the late stage of Core Formation Realm.
In total, he had refined over two hundred individual pills across more than thirty batches, without a single failure.
A production volume that would have taken the Stormveil Academy’s entire Alchemy Division atleast a month to achieve — and at a quality their best Master Alchemists could only dream of matching.
"This should be more than enough for the initial stock," Rhain murmured, standing and stretching his shoulders.
He sealed the cauldron back into his spatial ring and walked out of the cultivation chamber.
Just as he stepped into the open air of the courtyard, a sudden vibration came from within his spatial ring.
Rhain pulled out a glowing transmission talisman.
"Master," Vulcan’s deep, respectful voice echoed from the tailsmay. "I have arrived at the outskirts of Stormveil City. My brothers are with me."
Rhain’s dark grey eyes flashed with a hint of satisfaction.
"Wait for me there. I am coming," Rhain replied.
He swiftly walked out of his residence, quickly bypassing the bustling streets of the Academy and making his way out of the towering gates of Stormveil City.
He ventured several miles into the surrounding wilderness until he reached a secluded, rocky canyon.
Rhain stopped, looking up at the endless expanse of the azure sky.
"Let’s test this out," he murmured.
He closed his eyes and channeled his essence.
Boundless Sky Wind!
Swoosh—!
An invisible, incredibly dense current of wind suddenly wrapped around Rhain’s body.
He merely willed himself upward.
His boots steadily lifted off the rocky ground.
One foot. Ten feet. Fifty feet.
The initial ascent was slightly rough—he wavered for a brief second, his balance tilting as he acclimated to the absence of gravity and physical friction.
But with his extraordinary instincts, it took him less than ten seconds to completely stabilize his posture.
The sensation was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Sharp wind whipped through his dark hair, and his dark robes, he couldn’t stop himself from spreading his arms, and feel that intoxicating power.
He was flying. Truly flying.
"So this is what Domain Masters feel," Rhain murmured.
With a mental command, the Boundless Sky Wind surged, and his figure blurred into a nearly invisible streak of dark light, tearing through the sky toward Vulcan’s coordinates.
_______________
The coordinates Vulcan had provided led to a secluded valley nestled between two towering mountain ridges, approximately forty miles northeast of Stormveil City.
It was a desolate, rarely traveled stretch of wilderness.
As Rhain descended from the clouds, his Spiritual Sense had already mapped out every figure in the valley below.
A towering giant stood quietly, his arms crossed over his massive chest.
Beside him rested Kiki, preening its feathers.
Standing behind Vulcan were five rugged, battle-hardened men.
Their bodies were covered in thick scars, and their auras radiated the oppressive bloodlust of veteran mercenaries who had clawed through the gates of life and death more than once.
Every single one of them was a Core Formation Realm expert.
"Brother Vulcan," a scarred man with a massive bow strapped to his back spoke, his voice rough. "Is this mysterious Master of yours truly as unfathomable as you claimed? You are even ready to submit our whole group to that person?
"Is it a reclusive Domain Master?" another mercenary asked nervously.
Vulcan merely smirked, and replied, "You will see soon enough. Just remember one thing—show him the utmost respect. His power and wealth are beyond anything you could possibly imagine."
The mercenaries exchanged skeptical glances.
They trusted Vulcan with their lives, but to hear their proud, unyielding captain speak of someone with such reverence was deeply unsettling.
Before the mercenaries could ask anything else, Kiki suddenly stopped preening.
SCREEECH!
The massive eagle let out a cry of alarm, its sharp eyes snapping toward the eastern horizon.
Vulcan and the five Core Formation mercenaries instantly raised their heads, their hands instinctively reaching for their weapons.
High above them, a figure was descending from the clouds.
The mercenaries narrowed their eyes, trying to discern what kind of flying beast the person was riding.
But as the figure drew closer, their eyes widened in sheer horror.
There was no beast. There was no artifact.
The figure was gliding through the empty air.
"F-Flying..." Luka stammered, "He’s flying without an artifact! A Domain Master!"
Even Vulcan and Kiki looked completely stupefied.
Vulcan rubbed his eyes in sheer disbelief.
He could feel that familiar aura perfectly well.
But... flying!
"Master?" Vulcan blurted out, his jaw almost hitting the ground. "Since when could the Master fly?"
Swoosh—!
The violent wind dispersed gently as Rhain landed softly on the grassy ground before them. His dark robes fluttered slightly before settling into stillness.
The five mercenaries stood completely paralyzed.
They looked at the figure who had just descended from the sky, fully expecting to see an ancient, white-haired old man who had lived for centuries.
Instead, they saw a handsome teenager who looked barely eighteen!
"This... this is a disguise, right?" one of the mercenaries murmured.
A teenager who could achieve true flight?
It was impossible!
Vulcan immediately stepped forward, and bowed respectfully.
"This subordinate greets the Master!"
The five mercenaries forcefully swallowed their pride, their legs feeling inexplicably weak as they hastily followed Vulcan’s lead, bowing deeply.
"Stand up, all of you," Rhain spoke, his dark grey eyes swept over them.
The six men straightened their back in unison.
"Vulcan, why don’t you introduce all of them to me, first?" Rhain said.
Vulcan immediately nodded, introducing his five mercenary brothers.
He gestured first to Luka, the scarred veteran with the massive bow strapped to his back, whose tracking skills were unmatched in their group.
Next was Ives, a lean, sharp-eyed man who radiated the silent lethality of an assassin.
Beside him stood Dex, a heavily muscled brute whose sheer physical mass almost rivaled Vulcan’s own.
Finally, Vulcan introduced the remaining two men: Orin, and Ezra, both of them were seasoned fighters, who had gone through countless life-and-death battles.
Weakest of them was at the fourth level of Core Formation Realm.
Luka, and Dex were strongest, at the sixth level of Core Formation Realm.
Orin, and Ezra were at the fifth level.
And Ives was at the fourth level.
Yet, when it was matter of killing someone, Ives was most dangerous among them.
Rhain was very satisfied with Vulcan’s group.
They were exactly the kind of ruthless, sharp blades he needed.