Is That A Wisp?

"Hurry up," Trivar spoke with a sense of urgency, commanding all the demon beasts to return into the storage ring. He then looked at the Zenith Pluggers, watching them all enter the storage ring with their respective carriages. 

At this point, only two Zenith Pluggers remained, pulling the carriage where Trivar, Tina, Yuric, and the mercenaries from Yuric's Mercenary Team rested. Two demon beasts in human form acted as the caravan members and sat on the backs of each Zenith Plugger, controlling it. 

Trivar had destroyed the bodies of the bandits by throwing them on the swamp, spraying their blood everywhere to destroy the traces left by Tina's Spiritual Incarnation. He didn't want the Spirit Aberrations to get a clue from it.

That's why he acted that way, always commanding the demon beasts to do all the work. Even then, he wasn't assured since it wasn't easy to destroy the traces left behind by a Spiritual Incarnation. Only a stronger Spiritual Incarnation could completely remove all trace. Unfortunately, Yuric's Spiritual Incarnation didn't seem to be as strong as Tina's.

With that, Trivar was helpless. If there was more time, he would have spent time excavating the entire land that was affected by Tina's Spiritual Incarnation and store it in his storage ring. That would have been the optimal solution in his mind. Sadly, he couldn't do that as Trivar felt an intense sense of danger approaching them from afar.

He knew that if they fought against whoever the approaching foe might be, their losses would be disastrous. 

'It would be unwise to engage at this point and become helpless by the time we reach the Four Sectors' Border Region. A lot of powerful cultivators would be arriving there to obtain 'that' this time.' Trivar thought to himself as he watched the Zenith Pluggers begin pulling their carriage. 

They swiftly left the area and proceeded into a deeper route to throw off the trail of their chasers. The corpses of the bandits had been looted dry of their weapons. It might not have been much, but they were still equipment at the Godly Fusion Realm. Some of them were useful or even had expensive materials used in them. They could be reused later. 

After all, he was getting them for free. As a merchant, Trivar had never failed to look away from such a profitable deal. All he had lost in this encounter were expendable demon beasts Tina had captured from somewhere else. 

"Tina, are you able to control some more demon beasts?" Trivar asked after pondering in silence for a bit, looking at the figure of his daughter that seemed slightly tired. 

"Eh?" Tina looked at him with slight confusion as she blinked her large eyes. Not long after, she replied, "Don't worry about something like that. The entire environment within the storage ring is my Land Incarnation. In other words, I'm not spending much energy to control them in there. After all, I'm not actively controlling their actions. I'm just making them follow certain commands while having absolute loyalty towards me."

"I can still subdue a lot more of them if need be," Tina added as she waved her hands, patting her stomach as she looked at Trivar with a tear-struck expression. "Dad, I'm feeling hungry again. Let's have lunch."

"You'll become fatter at this rate," Trivar sighed as he responded. "Try to have some self-discipline on your eating habits, will you?"

"Nope." Tina laughed in response, flexing her flabby muscles. "I created a technique just for this. It can convert my fat into Godly Energy whenever I want. It'll be helpful in times of need. Sounds awesome, right?"

"Fine, fine. I can't argue with that." Trivar sighed. "Just, don't be careless."

"The more I eat, the stronger I become, dad," Tina said with a smile, beaming in joy when she saw Trivar take out some ingredients to cook.

Back at the swampy area that had been left behind from Yuric's Spiritual Incarnation, two figures popped out of the swamp, grunting as they gasped for air. 

"I almost died!" Zuna groaned as she crawled towards a normal piece of earth. "Yuric definitely didn't pull his punches."

"If he acted any weaker than that, he would have surely looked suspicious. I must say, Yuric's acting was top-notch." Whack laughed in response as he lay on the ground before looking at the sky.

He sniffed the bloody scent in the air, sighing as he said, "We lost everyone from our bandit groups. This is quite the loss."

"It's not like you were emotionally attached to them or anything. It's either use or be used in this region," Zuna rolled her eyes as she responded.

"Well, you're not wrong about that," Whack laughed as he glanced around, noticing that all the corpses had been stripped bare of their equipment. "That Trivar bastard didn't even leave behind the damaged weapons."

"Remember, we have to be thankful to Yuric that none of our accumulations have been stolen," Zuna said, rubbing the storage ring on her left hand's ring finger. It was the ring that contained every item of importance she had stolen during her stay in the Immortal Suppression Zone.

"You're definitely right on that one." Whack smiled, gazing at the scroll he held. "We profited from this deal immensely."

"Sacrificing our bandit groups to create a scenario where Xula could escape. And in return, we obtain Yuric's method to condense a Spiritual Incarnation. This deal is the best I've come across in decades." Zuna smiled as she said. "Though, I never knew he liked Xula to the extent he would pay such a heavy price. The method to condense a Spiritual Incarnation. If this was made public, numerous cities would cause a bloodbath to just get ahold of it."

"Alright, what do you plan to do now, Zuna?" Whack inquired, getting up as the two of them vacated the area immediately, unwilling to linger there and encounter someone dangerous. 

Everything they had done before was an act to fool Tina. Yuric had used his swamp to hide the two of them from her while using the condensation of his laws to create two figures resembling them. That was also an ability he possessed. 

As for the demon beasts that swarmed them at the end, killed them, and devoured their bodies, well, in actuality, they only consumed part of his swamp that he had disguised as such. It would remain in their bodies. And in the future, Yuric would only need one thought to melt their bodies from within. It was a scheme he was slowly but steadily weaving. 

After all, he had no plans to be used forever by Tina. Right now, Tina was a lot stronger than him. That's why he had no other choice but to obey her. Otherwise, he could have killed her through a sneak attack and suppress her Spiritual Incarnation using his own, preventing her from reviving while trying to come up with a method to free Hwalian from her control.

People always schemed. As long as they didn't cultivate like mindless pigs, every strong cultivator was gifted in the field of cunning and intelligence, especially for experts like Yuric, who possessed a Spiritual Incarnation. He wouldn't submit that easily. 

He had his own methods and managed to contact Whack and Zuna secretly before their caravan's departure, creating a plan of action. 

"Before entering here, I had reached the Ninth Stage of the Nascent God Realm. It was then that I realized something. My path of cultivation was wrong. Even if I were to survive the heavenly tribulation and become an immortal, I would turn out to be the weakest of the bunch. In my playing field, I would become the easiest prey. I didn't wish to see that, but my clansmen were adamant," Zuna spoke her true thoughts. 

She sighed as she continued, "No matter what, they wanted an immortal to govern them. As I was the only one among them who had enough talent to reach the Semi-God Realm, they heavily invested in me. But I wasn't content with that. I have a lot of confidence in passing through my heavenly tribulation. Nevertheless, I wanted to become a true powerhouse when I become an immortal. Otherwise, what's the point of immortality?"

"So, I guess you started to search for a method to condense a Spiritual Incarnation and ended up here," Whack nodded while he uttered.

"Indeed." Zuna smiled wryly. "Every clan that has a method to condense a Spiritual Incarnation are powerhouses among powerhouses, having tens of cultivators in the Semi-God Realm. Stealing from them is truly impossible. But, if I roam here, there's a non-zero chance I might come across a cultivator possessing one."

She laughed with joy as she added, "And well, my conjecture proved out to be correct. Even though it was something I got through a deal, I still completed my objective."

"Anyways..." She gazed at the sky, sighing once. "I'll start cultivating from scratch once again. I'll comprehend the Suppression Law and the remainder of the Primal God's Spiritual Incarnation before slowly lifting the restrictions on me to the Godly Foundation Realm. Once I reach that point, I can finish condensing my Spiritual Incarnation."

She laughed as she continued, "After that, I'll leave this place, find a secluded corner, and commit suicide. I'll revive through my Spiritual Incarnation and cultivate from scratch once again without any restrictions. Having hunted here as a bandit, I've accumulated more than enough resources to reach the Semi-God Realm."

One must remember that the Suppression Laws remained forever. Just comprehending it enough to re-reach the God Foundation Realm was already an enormous job that would take a very long time. Let alone go further than that. That's why suicide and revival through the Spiritual Incarnation was the only option. After all, the restrictions were only applied to the body, not the soul. If a new body was made, it logically wouldn't be affected by this region's laws.

"My plan's the same as yours," Whack said, placing the scroll within his storage ring. He then swallowed the storage ring, using a mystical technique to erase its presence. From this moment onward, no one would be able to find his storage ring even if they were to kill him and search through his internals. "I've been here for a long time already. I'm getting bored of the same routine. It's time to proceed into the world beyond once again."

Not long after, Zuna had also used a technique to swallow her storage ring, ensuring no one would ever detect it. At this moment, she was the same as Whack, only wearing the equipment that they used in their fights. 

The techniques they used here may or may not be effective in the outside world, but it was foolproof in the Immortal Severance Zone. That was the confidence they had after living in the region for so long and having encountered numerous geniuses and powerful cultivators one after another. They had perfected it through experience and had verified it innumerable times to be assured of its functions.

Sometime after they had left the swampy area, a figure gently landed on the ground. It was the man with the crown. He was currently alone, crouching low as he inspected the condition of the swamp and commenting after a long time of observation. "I guess, whether it's a backward region or not, cultivators with Spiritual Incarnations are just as strong as anywhere else."

"It would make the treasure hunt just that much more exciting." He smiled as he looked around at the scene of carnage, asking his rings, "Can you trace the presence of Krune?"

A voice resounded from his pouch, responding, "I can feel it everywhere here, but it has been cut off abruptly. The Spiritual Incarnations are affecting my senses. They're just…too strong."

"Well, they are Spiritual Incarnations." The man with the crown nodded, unaffected by the result. He continued to travel through the area by…walking at a slow pace.