Once the treasure chamber opened, Aldrian finally saw what was inside. There were many artifacts, but he paid them no mind. Dragging Karl along, he stepped inside. Karl couldn’t resist—pain wracked his body, his cultivation was still sealed, and a sharp headache throbbed as Aldrian roughly looked through his mories without regard for his mind.
Aldrian walked to the far end of the chamber and stopped in front of the wall. At first glance, there was nothing unusual, just an ordinary surface. But then, he ran his fingers over it, as if searching for sothing.
"It’s here," he murmured before pressing one part of the wall. Suddenly, a hidden chanism activated, creating a cracking sound. A few seconds later, the wall in front of him shifted on its own, revealing a small hidden space. From behind the wall, an artifact erged.
The mont the artifact appeared before Aldrian, he smiled in amusent as its aura swept across his face—a thick, ominous energy he was all too familiar with. He had encountered it many tis before, and yet, it never failed to irritate him.
Before him stood a two-ter-long staff with a red, diamond-like stone at its tip. The ominous aura radiated from the gemstone, carrying a dense concentration of negative energy that was none other than devil energy.
He simply dropped Karl’s body and reached for the staff. However, the mont he touched it, he felt the negative energy trying to consu him. A thick, oppressive force surged, attempting to invade his consciousness and dantian. The overwhelming negativity also tried to cloud his mind, and he could feel a sudden surge of dark emotions rising within him.
Aldrian scoffed at the artifact’s feeble attempt to possess him. Without a second thought, he enveloped himself in golden energy. As soon as the negative energy sensed his power and aura, it dissipated instantly. With his mind now at ease, Aldrian could finally inspect the staff properly.
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The Devil’s Curse Domain Staff
Description: A devil artifact that creates an artificial domain with a diater of one kiloter. The domain has the ability to seal a person’s cultivation and drive them into madness through negative energy. This particular artifact can affect low Emperor-stage cultivators, but it can grow stronger if provided with sufficient sacrifices. Everyone within the domain, except those bearing the curse staff insignia, will experience these effects. This is a one-ti-use artifact.
Level: Peak Heaven Grade
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Aldrian was astonished as he read the artifact’s information. This was a growth-type artifact that beca stronger through sacrifices. The more sacrifices it received, the more powerful it beca, allowing it to affect cultivators at higher levels.
This artifact was similar to the unnad divine sword in the Forgeheart Kingdom, which was also a growth-type artifact. However, the key difference was that the sword did not require sacrifices but sothing else. Although it had yet to be graded, as it was still waiting for him to na it, its base was already at the peak of the divine grade once he nad it in the future.
With its extraordinary origin and the sa materials as the Origin Sword, he knew that peak divine grade was not its limit. How did he know this? Because he had seen visions—visions of the Origin Sword in "his" grasp. He could feel its imnse power, and he was certain that it surpassed even the peak divine grade.
Aldrian looked at the weakened Karl, who stared at him in shock, as if he had witnessed sothing unbelievable.
"How... how are you okay?" Karl asked weakly.
"How were you not consud by that artifact?!"
Aldrian smiled and knelt down, bringing his face closer to Karl’s.
"So, you really are working with the devils, huh? This artifact isn’t sothing you should possess. Its effects and potential are quite terrifying. From your mories, I see that Grand Duke Donovan gave it to you—but where did he get it? I doubt an ordinary devil would hand over an artifact of this caliber."
Aldrian yanked Karl’s hair, forcing him to et his gaze.
"You were planning to rely on this thing to face , weren’t you? Well, too bad for you. I’ll be taking it for now. But first—let’s uncover another one of your secrets," he said.
Aldrian stored the staff inside his storage ring before dragging Karl out of the treasure chamber by his hair. He wanted to humiliate him as much as possible, ensuring that others would witness Karl being helplessly dragged everywhere.
Deep inside, Aldrian was suppressing a raging fury, caging it within his heart as tightly as possible. Since arriving in this city, he had kept his anger in check, knowing that if he let it show, it would affect his entire domain.
He understood that his domain was a place where the forces of nature, heaven, and earth were fully connected to him. If he showed his rage like he had in the past, the heavens and earth would resonate with his emotions, manifesting his wrath through natural phenona, such as thunderstorms raging in response to their lord’s fury.
The fury he felt right now was because soone had actually hard Eleine. To think that soone dared to harm her right under his domain and had almost taken her life! He would make sure that everyone connected to it faced his judgnt.
He needed to release the steam of his fury, and those poor King-stage cultivators who had blocked his path earlier were only the beginning.
After looking through Karl’s mories, he finally found one of his main targets—the source of the Gu.
Once outside the mansion, he took to the sky, still gripping Karl by his hair, and flew toward the eastern side of the town, continuing until he passed beyond the town’s walls.
Many people who had been keeping an eye on Aldrian’s movents watched in astonishnt as they saw him dragging Mr. Derick in such a humiliating manner. Mr. Derick was Karl’s alias in this city, and no one knew his true identity. While so cultivators had long suspected that he was connected to the Donovan family, they lacked any concrete proof and thus had not looked too deeply into it.
Mr. Derik was soone with significant influence in this place and other territories, so no one dared to offend him by probing into his secrets. Yet now, they were witnessing the mont he was being carried off like a sack of rice, and it was happening right in front of so many people.
Many onlookers finally saw Aldrian dragging Karl in his grasp as he flew toward the eastern direction.
So hesitated to follow, already aware of the masked figure’s identity. They feared offending Aldrian in any way, even by simply trailing after him. However, like curious cats, so couldn’t suppress their intrigue and decided to follow. Among them were King- and Emperor-stage cultivators who had earlier been observing Aldrian when he spread his senses. They kept their distance, careful not to draw his attention.
They followed Aldrian until he flew a kiloter beyond the city walls, deep into a dense forest. They wondered what he was doing here while still dragging Mr. Derik.
When they saw Aldrian land, they also descended. However, the thick forest obstructed their view, with the trees blocking a clear sight of him from afar. None of them dared to use their senses to probe what Aldrian was doing.
They had no choice but to be satisfied with what little they could see from a distance.
Suddenly, so of them caught sight of Aldrian striking the ground with his fist. In an instant, a deafening rumble echoed through the surroundings as the ground collapsed beneath him.
They were stunned by what they had just witnessed—Aldrian had disappeared into what seed to be a hidden underground passage!
Many of them were astonished that such a place existed here. Had this been Aldrian’s goal from the very beginning?
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Aldrian kept walking down the secret passage. In front of him lay a few dead bodies, victims of the collapsing ground and the impact of his fist. This was another secret he had uncovered after looking into Karl’s mories.
This was also a major secret of the Donovan Grand Duchy, known to no one in the empire except a few individuals and high-ranking mbers of the Donovan family. It was yet another secret that fueled his rising fury.
The underground passage was quite wide and illuminated by illumination crystals, ensuring good visibility. Occasionally, he noticed doors on one side of the passage, indicating the presence of rooms or additional pathways beyond them. However, he paid them no mind and continued walking past them.
Along the way, he encountered several figures multiple tis, so clad in knight armor, others in black robes. He gave them no chance to react, not even for a split second, cutting them down instantly with a slash of sword energy from his hand.
Blood was spilled everywhere, and severed body parts lay scattered. It was as if he cared nothing for this place, slaughtering anyone in front of him like a psychopath, driven by nothing but the urge to kill.
The commotion had already drawn attention, as Aldrian could sense many figures moving toward his location.
He kept walking until he encountered another group. When they saw Aldrian holding Karl, one of them froze in shock, his eyes widening.
"My lord—"
Before he could finish, Aldrian struck without hesitation, unleashing a wave of sword energy.
Swish!
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