My Celestial Ascension

Chapter 534: Empyreal Oblivion And The Masked Figure

"That was an amazing display of strength, Sister Rose. You got me excited for a battle for a moment," Valeria said to Rose with a wide grin as she looked at the scattered corpses of the monsters. Since it was Rose who had killed them, the bodies didn't turn to dust; instead, they had burning holes in their chests or other vital areas.

Some of the monsters' bodies had been ripped open by Rose's spear, killing them instantly.

"Well, after my cultivation reached the second-level Spirit Master, I couldn't control my strength properly. It will take me some time to get used to my newfound power," Rose replied with a humble smile. She liked to maintain good relationships with her sisters and didn't enjoy showing off her strength.

"I guess the same thing is happening to all of us right now," she continued. "The sudden increase in our power is making it harder to control our strength."

"Indeed. You're absolutely right, Sister Rose," Valeria nodded with a kind smile. She wasn't surprised since she had experienced it firsthand herself. "The sudden surge in our abilities is indeed making it difficult to control our power properly. I hope we get used to it soon, before we accidentally hurt our family members."

A few moments later, Leah looked at Lily and Emma and asked, feeling uncomfortable speaking to Valeria due to her overwhelming status, "Have any of you managed to locate where Yuan and the others are? We haven't seen them for a long time now. I hope they're doing well as we speak."

"Well, we're as clueless as you are about this," Lily replied casually, releasing a small sigh.

"You're right. This Secret Realm is quite vast, after all," Leah sighed.

A couple of minutes later, Rose stood up and looked at Lily, Emma, and Valeria before saying, "Since we've reunited, shall we go and look for the others? It wouldn't be wise to waste our precious time. Wouldn't you all agree?"

"Sure. Let's go look for them! I'm missing my mother-in-law's cooking…!" Emma exclaimed, tossing her flying sword into the air before jumping onto it.

The others followed suit, tossing their swords into the air and leaping onto them. Since Valeria and Leah didn't yet know how to fly using a flying sword, Lily and Rose carried them on their own swords.

As they flew through the air above the forest, Lily and Rose used the opportunity to teach Valeria and Leah how to balance themselves on the flying swords, as mastering this would make it much easier for them to learn to fly on their own.

After a few hours of flying, Valeria and Leah began to balance themselves on the swords without Lily and Rose's assistance. If they were about to lose their balance, Lily and Rose would quickly grab them, preventing them from falling.

—

"Your Majesty, we've entered Lord Walton's territory. We will soon arrive at Roth City!" the captain of the royal knights suddenly informed King Richard, Concubine Aurelia, and Prince Tristan, who were getting bored inside the cabin of the luxurious carriage they were riding in.

"How long will it take us to get there, Captain Claus?" Prince Tristan asked, feeling embarrassed as Aurelia continued to tease him.

"With our current pace, we should arrive before dawn. But if we increase our speed a bit, we could get there sooner," Captain Claus replied after a moment of thought.

"In that case, order everyone to pick up the pace. That way, we will arrive quickly and have some time to rest afterward."

"As you wish, Your Highness! I'll inform everyone immediately!" Captain Claus bowed slightly, and Prince Tristan nodded with a smile.

"Did the captain say we will arrive at Roth City by dawn?" Aurelia asked with a curious expression, having overheard their conversation a moment ago.

"Indeed, Mother Aurelia. We should be arriving a bit sooner, as I've asked him to increase our pace."

"Is that so... I'm feeling a bit worried since we don't know when or where the crack in the air might appear again," Aurelia sighed, looking concerned.

"I'm also very concerned about that… It's filled with mystery, and I've never heard of such a phenomenon before. There is no telling what kind of powerful being might emerge from that strange crack… I hope the citizens don't suffer because of this," King Richard said, looking through the carriage window, watching the trees move past them.

Some time later, they arrived at Roth City. Despite the dangerous situation, the city was bustling with merchants and people. The entire Roth Family was waiting at the entrance to welcome the royal family. King Richard had sent a letter beforehand, so they knew when to expect their arrival and had made preparations accordingly.

"Hey, look! It's the Royal Family! They're here, so the rumors about a possible battle must be true!"

Everyone in the city began whispering about the current situation. At first, they had thought it was all just a rumor, but seeing the Royal Family personally arrive with thousands of troops cleared up any doubts.

"Your Majesty, welcome to Roth City. I've been waiting for your arrival!" As soon as King Richard stepped out of the luxurious carriage, Lord Walton immediately greeted him with a polite smile.

"Unfortunately, due to the chaos at the Abandoned Ruin and the need to ensure the safety of my citizens, I couldn't give you a proper welcome. Please forgive me for the lack of courtesy," he continued.

"You're worrying over nothing; this is a serious time for the entire kingdom. We can skip the formalities for now and focus on solving the matter as quickly as possible," King Richard replied with a laugh, shaking hands with Lord Walton.

"Indeed. The situation isn't very good at the moment. I've ordered my son to set up a camp at the Abandoned Ruin and ensure no unauthorized person gets close to it," Lord Walton said, feeling relieved that King Richard did not mind the lack of ceremony.

"I see… It seems you have a capable son, Lord Walton," Aurelia remarked with a smile, praising him for his parenting.

"Hehe~ I'm quite proud of that brat! He is calm and collected and thinks carefully before making serious decisions," Lord Walton laughed, feeling very proud to be praised by the royal family.

As they walked toward the mansion, which was not far away, King Richard looked at Lord Walton and asked, "I heard that your youngest son has been missing for a few months. Have you found any information about him?"

"Unfortunately, we haven't found anything yet… I'm quite worried about him. Moreover, his friends' parents are also putting pressure on me," Lord Walton replied, a sad look on his face.

"I see… I'll look into the matter. Don't worry; if we find anything, I'll inform you immediately," King Richard responded after a moment.

"I will be forever grateful to you, Your Majesty," Lord Walton said, bowing his head slightly, his heart filled with gratitude.

Shortly after, they arrived at the mansion, and Lord Walton immediately ordered his chefs to prepare food for the guests.

—

Yuan was sitting in a lotus position in front of the stone tablet, seemingly deep in a trance. Despite his eyes being closed, he could still see the stone tablet in his mind, and every sword mark appeared vividly, almost as though his eyes were open and he was staring directly at it.

The sword marks were deep and refined, almost as though they were not made by a sword but carved into the stone tablet by a great artist. Each mark was clean, without any flaws, as if they had been polished to perfection.

Then, all of a sudden, the sword marks on the stone tablet began to disappear one by one, surprising Yuan with this unexpected phenomenon.

A few moments later, all of the sword marks vanished from the stone tablet, leaving it completely clean and untouched, as if it had never been struck by a sword.

Seconds later, Yuan saw a figure suddenly appear before him, facing the stone tablet. The figure wore the same white mask as the phantom that had brought him to this place, and in its hand, it held a very familiar sword. Yuan recognized it immediately—Empyreal Oblivion, his own soul weapon.

Yuan was shocked by this, but he was unable to utter a single word, as if some mysterious force was preventing him from speaking. He tried to ask the figure why it was holding his sword, but no sound came from his mouth.

He then watched the masked figure raise the sword and strike the stone tablet repeatedly, creating multiple sword marks. Each movement was as graceful as a calligraphy expert stroking a brush on paper. For a moment, Yuan thought he might be hallucinating from staring at the stone tablet for so long.

However, everything was too vivid to be a hallucination; it was as if he were standing directly in front of the masked figure, watching the scene unfold. He could even hear the sound of the sword striking the hard stone.

Soon, the stone tablet returned to its original form, covered in multiple sword marks. But once again, the sword marks on the stone tablet disappeared shortly thereafter.

Once they had completely vanished, the masked figure repeated the process, striking the stone tablet multiple times with the exact same movements, as if a video were being replayed from the beginning.

This scene repeated itself thousands of times, and Yuan finally understood that he was experiencing enlightenment once again. What he was seeing and feeling was the process of enlightenment—it was as simple as that.

The same scene kept repeating, as if Yuan were caught in a time loop, watching the same sequence unfold tens of thousands of times. With every strike, he sensed the Sword Aura from the sword and the marks more clearly than before.

An unknown amount of time had passed when Yuan found himself able to move within this state of enlightenment. He immediately stood up in his mind and approached the masked figure.