Darius’ gaze sharpened. The old man put his hands behind his back and looked at Darius appraisingly, allowing his gaze to travel over Darius. Darius didn’t say anything. Instead, he calmly lifted his head to meet the old man’s eyes. In that instant, he felt dazed, but he soon returned to his senses and enveloped himself in his life force. This time, the old man was the one who looked dazed. Similarly, he also returned to his senses a second later. He looked shocked. “I can’t believe I still share the same tastes as that old fart—we both chose you to take after us.”Darius frowned, a complicated look flitting across his face. He thought the old man had only discovered he was still alive; he didn’t expect him to also know about Teivel. Darius slowly retracted his arms and got to his feet. The old man frowned and stared at a spot on Darius’ arm, following it wherever it went. It made Darius’ hair stand on end. It seemed the old man was more powerful than he expected—from the moment he

Teivel smiled; it had been a while since he’d last smiled so earnestly. He sounded joyful, saying, “I’m glad to hear you refer to me like that.” After a pause, he continued, “He looks like that because he spent far too long in my body. Besides, he’s always done his best to imitate me.” He started to sound proud. “I’m sure you can now tell how exemplary I am.”Darius’ lips twitched. He didn’t expect Teivel to be in the mood for self-praise now. He turned to the old man and said, “You’ve imitated my mentor for many years.”The old man didn’t even blink. A few seconds later, he suddenly stretched out an arm in Darius’ direction, immediately obscuring Darius’ vision with his life force. Unfortunately for him, Darius had already shut his eyes and allowed the life force to push him backward. He knew he couldn’t fight fire with fire when going up against the old man, so he’d prepared himself for this.The old man’s eyes widened when he saw Darius being sent flying. He thought Darius would

Darius felt like he was going to freeze over. He was dazed when he opened his eyes and saw that his vision had recovered. At the same time, he realized he was floating in mid-air. Teivel was standing before his body, and the old man was standing before Teivel. The old man’s face was as twisted as before—none of his features were in their original spots, which meant there was no way of telling what exactly he looked like. Darius’ lips twitched as he walked—no, floated—over to his body.He frowned, reluctant to take his defeat lying down. He knew he had to be dead this time. However, the moment this thought popped into his mind, he knew he was wrong. When he floated over to his body, both Teivel and the old man turned to look at him, but their expressions were completely different. The former looked worried, while the latter looked murderous.Teivel said, “Get out of here. Lie down in your body; you’ll return to normal soon enough.” Darius looked surprised but still did as he was told

“It all boils down to one thing—you and I are on opposing sides!” As Teivel spoke, his gaze landed behind the old man’s spirit and on his body. His face turned frosty, and his breathing sped up. He turned back to look at the old man and said, “However, since we’re both still alive, we should leave the past behind us. Now, it’s time to settle new grudges.”The old man narrowed his eyes. “You mean like how you stole my disciple?”Teivel’s lips twitched. Then, he shook his head. “No, like how you stole my body.”An ugly look crept onto the old man’s face at his words. He glared at Teivel as his face started to twist with rage again. He roared, “No, this is my body! It’s mine!”At this moment, Darius could still hear what was happening. He wanted to do something but could only watch as his body and soul slowly merged. He’d never been this impatient for something to happen, and he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. It didn’t work. Suddenly, he felt something warm drip onto him,

Darius’ eyes were red, and they were tearing up ever so slightly. He didn’t say anything; instead, he tried to channel all the gold life force he possessed into Bridget’s body. Soon, she felt like she’d recovered. She opened her eyes, looking more spirited than before. She frowned at him disapprovingly and tried to push him away, but Darius stopped her immediately. He looked more relaxed than before, but his tone was grim as he said, “You’re not completely okay yet, and nothing’s more important now than your recovery.” Bridget didn’t say anything. Darius continued, “Besides, you must get well as soon as possible. I still need your help with plenty of things.”Bridget looked at him with a smile and nodded. She was a little choked up as she said, “Yes, sir.” She had many questions but didn’t have the nerve to ask them at the moment. When Darius was sure she was fine, he reached out and pulled her to her feet. They stood atop a pile of debris that used to make up the Anderson family’s

Edward blinked, his eyes zeroing in on Darius and focusing. Then, his lips started trembling as he said, “Mr. Reid, I never would’ve expected to be able to see you again.”Darius rolled his eyes. “By that, do you mean you’d die, or were you afraid I’d die?”Edward faltered, then shook his head. “That’s not what I meant, sir.”Darius smiled. “I know that, of course. I just find your way of putting things amusing.” They shared a glance and saw the relief in each other’s eyes. Bridget was still standing atop the pile of debris as she watched the two of them chatting away beside the tornado, and she shook her head helplessly. Then, she cupped her hands around her mouth, channeled her life force to her throat, and said loudly, “Come on down! Mr. Reid, your mentor and that old man have left. We have to go after them.”Darius frowned. He thought Teivel and the old man had been transported somewhere else, similar to what had happened to himself before. It turned out they’d actually left. He

“Despite that, you’re bold enough to test my limits at this moment,” Darius finished, his nose scrunching up with disdain.The old man froze for what felt like forever. Eventually, he gritted his teeth and lowered his head while retreating backward.Darius believed the man would have immediately knelt for mercy if the latter was not trying to escape. Thus, his gaze snapped doubtfully toward the man. “What are you trying to do?”Meeting Darius’ eyes, the old man shook his head and answered, “Nothing. It’s just that those guys have abandoned me, so—”“So, you intend for me to chase them down and kill them,” replied Darius, who quirked a brow.The man nodded.“Are you sure?” Darius asked, his eyes widening slightly. “You’re content even though you’ll end up dying anyway?”Without hesitation, the man nodded.A broad grin spread across Darius’ face just then. He could tell the man harbored no ulterior motive, and the latter was also a martial artist that had cultivated for some time. Thus,

Darius caught a whiff of even more blood from the cracks. It sent a vile sensation down his throat, and he wanted to vomit. Darius kept his eyes open, not wanting to miss out on what had happened. However, he immediately frowned, taken aback by the endless pool of blood and tall piles of dead bodies. As the black barrier gradually vanished, the bodies poured outward like water gushing from a broken dam. Lips twitching, Darius could not accept the gruesome and unjust scene before him. His breathing hastened, and his mind filled with murderous rage.Just then, Teivel spoke up; the only difference was his voice rang out from before Darius this time. He snapped, “Darius, those bodies belong to the people in black robes. You may find them pitiful now, but you’ll ultimately learn that they’re unworthy of your compassion.”The former spoke with an edgier, almost angry tone that Darius had never heard before. Because of that, Darius realized the gravity of things and took several deep breat

“You’re wasting your energy on unnecessary thoughts right now.” Teivel squeezed Darius’ shoulder, adding, “I should’ve died long ago. Yet, by some miracle, my consciousness remained in this book. Thus, our meeting is abnormal and should never have happened.”Teivel no longer spoke. He lowered his hand, watched as the black gas vaporized, then looked ahead to where the old man in black robes ran. With a level stare at Darius, he stated, “We have to hunt him down and kill him at once—because he’s always had a hand in all the suffering the past years had brought. One could even say he planned the first seed of these many tragedies. If he escapes, he can disguise himself as anyone and continue to do terrible things. We won’t be around to stop him. Although you and I are enlightened martial artists and have slightly longer lifespans than most people, we’ll still die at some point. Our deaths will come much sooner than his, especially considering how he’s been devising ways to extend his l

Teivel spoke with a hoarse but content voice. “That old man has never been able to unleash his full strength. He’s never been able to and still can’t beat me, even though I’ve grown frail and can no longer wield my powers as well as I used to. Besides, his powers are now weaker than mine.”Darius raised a brow in amusement. He turned again to look at Teivel and asked, “Well, since he’s already turned himself into this black fog thing, what do we do now?”Face darkening grimly, Teivel replied, “Haven’t you been itching to ask me about the enchantment? I can tell you about it now. When you and Yarlyn Weiss chatted in his confinement chambers behind the gold brick wall, that energy you released—the one that resembled a layer of water—was an enchanted barrier.”Darius nodded, his focused gaze pinned on Teivel without moving away once.“I was impressed that you mastered it,” Teivel remarked with a smile. “However, I didn’t realize you did so without knowing. Nevertheless, you did all those