Chapter 97
Hera sat on the edge of the bed, her mind in turmoil as she debated whether or not to invite Nash to join her there. Though their interactions were few and far between, she felt a certain comfort with him. After all, he was her fiancé, so sharing a bed with him shouldn’t be so strange.
But after a brief internal struggle, she chose to resist the temptation. She was afraid that if she allowed him into her bed, he might think she was too easy.
With a sigh, she settled onto the mattress and started texting Skadi.
[Skadi, you can’t imagine how perfect Nash’s abs are!]
[If you don’t send me a photo, I won’t believe you!]
[No way! He’s my man—find someone else to ogle!]
[We’re best friends. Do you really think I’m some outsider now? They’re just abs. It’s not like I’m sleeping with him.]
[Tsk, tsk! No one’s allowed to look at his abs but me!]
[Well, well, I guess friendships really do die, huh?]
[You’re being way too dramatic.]
Hera had just sent the last message when she heard the unmistakable rumble of thunder outside.
[It’s thundering!]
At the exact same moment, Skadi sent the same message. Then, a flash of lightning lit up the room, and the lights flickered out, plunging everything into darkness.
Nash, who had been preparing to sleep on the sofa, abruptly opened his eyes. Autumn thunderstorms were rare, and the weather forecast hadn’t predicted any rain or storms that day. Even if the weather had changed unexpectedly, the intensity of the lightning was strange.
Could it be…?
He rose quickly from the sofa and walked toward the window. Looking up at the sky, he saw purple lightning streaking across the clouds, a bizarre and eerie sight. The strange weather seemed to confirm something unusual was happening.
Nash gripped the iron railing of the window with both hands, his eyes glowing scarlet. “Master, is that you?” he whispered under his breath.
His master had been an immortal cultivator who had ascended to godhood after completing his trials. Earth’s spiritual energy had long been depleted, and his master’s ascension had only been a matter of time.
Far away, in the deep mountains of Capiton, a vast castle stood surrounded by guards. At that moment, a complex array appeared above the castle, slowly rotating. Cracks began to form within the array, and it shattered with a thunderous sound. A coffin emerged from the ruins and floated into the air. The lid creaked open, and a white skeleton sat up within it.
Green flames flickered in the empty eye sockets of the skull. It spoke, its jaw moving, “Have you finally left?”
As the skeleton spoke, an illusory figure materialized before it—a tall, elderly man whose presence exuded the essence of immortality. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “I almost forgot about you,” he said with a smirk.
The old man raised a hand, placing it gently on the coffin, and began pushing it back into the castle. The shattered array was quickly restored, the cracks closing as though they had never existed.
“I’ll seal you for another 300 days,” the man muttered. “Once that time is up, someone else will deal with you.”
The skeleton’s hollow voice replied with a hiss, “Ah, Johnathan, I’ll make sure you die a terrible death.”
The illusory old man smiled faintly. He then turned, his gaze settling on Capiton. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a ball of light and vanished.
On Phoenix Island, a burly man sat cross-legged, floating above the sea. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stared at the stormy sky, a mix of joy and sorrow etched across his face.
Back in Hera’s room, Nash knelt down on both knees, bowing three times toward the south. He had expected his master’s ascension soon, but the event had come much sooner than anticipated.
Hera, seeing Nash in such an intense posture, grew anxious. She quietly snapped a photo of him and sent it to Skadi.
[Skadi, what do you think he’s doing?]
Skadi responded quickly, sending a horrified emoji before typing, [Could he have been possessed?]