Some time passed, and the flame was still raging on the side of the cliff. By this time, some of the people who had noticed the disturbance came to inspect the place. And what greeted them was a flame, gold in color, at its last breath, leaving behind a molten hole instead of a cave.
One of the people was Zhuang Yusen, a member of the Sea God Pavilion in Shrek and an elder of the Material Soul Department.
"Fascinating," murmured Zhuang Yusen. He was about to get closer as he sensed a pure light element, pure enough to make his material soul (life tree) react. He was approached by an older lady.
"Greetings, Elder Yusen. It has been some time," the lady greeted him respectfully. "Can I get your opinion on this situation? Is it a natural occurrence?"
The lady's question came from the idea that it was related to the strange occurrences that had affected the world over the last 20 years.
Twenty years ago, a meteor shower lit the skies. Initially, it was seen as a natural event, but soon the world began to change.
The energy concentration on the Douluo Continent rose sharply, noticeable at first, to the point of affecting creatures globally, before slowing down after the second year.
As the natural energy stabilized, strange effects began to emerge. From time to time, unusual phenomena appeared, new creatures evolved, and rare natural treasures were discovered.
And what's more, old clans thought to be extinct or hidden started to reemerge, both human and beast clans.
Based on that, the lady linked the hazard Ray left behind to the same type of natural phenomena.
After nodding at her, Elder Yusen got closer to the flame. By this time, his material soul reacted even more to the fire, as if the last spark of that flame were an old friend. But being a tree-type material soul holder, he found it strange in itself.
When they began to inspect, all they found was scorched ground, but they didn't come away empty-handed. Surprisingly, the zone that had been on fire now held pure, concentrated soul energy.
The energy was pure enough to tempt even a Title Douluo to cultivate here.
Back to Ray
After jumping into the plains, he handed the old man to the people around, who had surprisingly built a small village in the zone between the forest, the beach, and the open plains.
Settling down, he took in the view with surprise, and while trying to wrap his head around what was going on, he noticed a man approaching—a recognizable face despite his older appearance: Li Fang.
"Well, you're finally here, young master, and Lady Sophia," Li Fang smiled excitedly, looking between the two.
After getting closer, Sophia nodded at him and set off to look for her child, but before leaving, she looked at Ray. "Don't forget what we talked about."
"Oh! I will see what they want to do, and I will lead you there," Ray nodded, glancing back at the old man.
"Li Fang, right?" Receiving a nod from the man, he asked, "Mind telling me how much time has passed? Looking at this practically small town, I'd say quite a while."
"Yeah, it's almost three years now," Li Fang said, shocking Ray. He had expected a couple of months to a year, but this was beyond his thoughts.
Sighing, he asked the man a few questions, and to his surprise, not one had caused trouble in the past three years. On the contrary, they were living the best life, according to Li Fang.
After getting the gist of it, he started to compile a plan. Then it clicked. He looked at Li Fang for a second. "Do you think they will want to leave?"
"What do you think?" Li Fang, instead of answering, asked the same of Ray, meaning, If you were in their place, what would you do?
"Right?" Ray said with a sigh. "One last question: did anyone awaken their material soul?"
Since it was a closed zone, he knew only those who could awaken it naturally would do so. And there was a Soul Ancestor here to guide the process.
"All the children awakened their material souls under the guardian," Li Fang said, adding, "Actually, all the kids and teenagers are in a bottleneck currently. And since we aren't allowed to hunt soul beasts, they couldn't advance."
"Wait, who is the guardian you're talking about?" Ray asked, confused.
"Oh, it's the deer name… the village children call him that, so we started to call him guardian too," Li Fang explained. A couple of forest beasts had attacked the kids while they were playing, but they were stopped by Sophia's child. So the kids call him Guardian.
The process of awakening shocked them. While a kid was trailing the only Soul Master helping them awaken, the deer overheard and did it himself.
Ray raised an eyebrow, as it wasn't supposed to be one of his clan's abilities—or anyone's, for that matter.
Awakening requires a crucial object known as the awakening stones—the only process they were aware of. Ray asked merely to understand how nearly all the children possessed soul energy, implicitly linking it to the Soul Ancestor present.
Not expecting it, he called Sophia, asking her to bring her child along after they had spent some time together.
"Li Fang, can you gather the adults in the center of the village? We need to talk," Ray said seriously, heading to the village center.
Soon, little by little, the central plaza filled with over two thousand humans, all staring at Ray as he waited for Sophia to return.
Not long after, she appeared beside him with her child in tow. Ray caught an interesting emotion in the eyes of the people around: adoration and respect—something he had never expected to see in human eyes in this world. Not directed at soul beasts, at least.
"Now that everyone is here, let's start," Ray said. "Thanks to your patience, I inform you that we have destroyed your keepers." His announcement triggered a wave of awe and happy shouts.
Ray stood, taking in the delighted eyes around him, then nodded and raised a hand to stop them.
"We will celebrate later. Now I want to ask," he said, looking around seriously, "what is your next action?"
He left the question hanging and waited. A couple of seconds passed, whispers quieted, and Li Fang stepped forward. "I wish to keep living here.
"In these three and some years, I've felt peace I never felt before." He looked back at his children and wife, then at Ray. "And if I get permission, I wish to live and be buried here."
The last part caught Ray by surprise, despite it being a natural choice. After all, something they rarely found outside was safety.
Don't be fooled by kingdoms and countries setting rules and protections. The moment you step out of major cities, you're at the mercy of luck and evil masters. So, an environment where you can sleep safely is almost nonexistent outside the cities.
Otherwise, why would they build city walls and barriers?
After Li Fang spoke, Ray made up his mind. One by one, the people around stepped forward, asking the same.
So basically, they chose to follow Ray.
"I will be happy to have you, but we have to set three rules first," Ray said seriously, raising a finger. "First, no harming innocents." Then he raised a second finger. "Second, no hunting for soul rings. I have a way to get you those without hurting the soul beasts, and they're of better quality."
Then he raised a third finger, this time with no emotion in his eyes. "Third, no contact with evil masters except to kill or imprison them. If you accept, you're welcome to stay."
The last part froze the people for a second, but knowing how they had arrived in this place, they understood his meaning and fully accepted the first and third.
While the second rule was abstract, they saw Ray's rings and knew he was probably using the same method. So there was nothing to worry about.
"We hear, we comply, we honor," Li Fang said as the lead, kneeling before Ray. The others followed, repeating the words, finding them catchy.
Nodding at them, Ray asked them to stand, then handed Li Fang a couple of books to register all the people: name, material soul, rank, and one.
Meanwhile, he took Sophia and her child aside to explain what was going on.
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