407 A Map of the Lands Unknown
"No," Azmodeus denied tly. "I neithere from a prestigious household, nor am I a noble young master. I am simply the one who takes care of the ck Qilin Horses in the Royal Castle''s stables."
He assumed this brief introduction would make the Merchant act normal, but contrary to his expectations, the Merchant''s face lost even more color than before. He immediately hit the ground and bowed at the deepest of angles, causing his shiny golden jewelry to jingle and smack against the thick stone pavement. "Please forgive this lowly one for his earlier rudeness," he shouted passionately, sweat beads pouring down his face. "If I had known that I was talking to a mighty Immortal Venerable, then this lowly one would haveplied with any of the young Lord''s demands! You want chocte!?"
BING!
Wrapped balls and square-shaped pieces of chocte fell out of the Merchant''s storage ring. "Here, have it!" he said as he shoved a small hill''s worth of the highest quality chocte into Azmodeus''s hands. "A map of the Lands Unknown!? Say no more," he thered as more items fell out of his storage ring. "In that pile is a map, a brief introduction of the Factions in the Lands Unknown, and anything else that is made avable to the public! Now, it is all yours!" N?v(el)B\\jnn
Question marks went off in Azmodeus''s head, as he never would''ve expected his status as a stableboy to be so renowned to themonfolk. Like seriously, he didn''t even have someone receive and show him the ropes. There was only a small slip note on the side of the stable that instructed him on how he should go about caring for the ck Qilin Horses. Other than that, he might as well have been treated as thin air, expected to go in blind and figure everything out.
''Apparently, even a stableboy of the Royal Castle is widely known,'' Azmodeus thought. ''It''s even to the point that amon Merchant in the All-Epassing Immortal Realm knows the average cultivation of the Stableboys, which also means that the Omega Dome chose within the right league bracket.''
''Well, if things are like this, then I will take advantage of what I can.''
His thoughts stirred behind the scenes, whereas on the outside, he wore a forgiving and understanding expression. "Don''t worry about it," he said empathetically. "These things; are you sure you wish to hand them over for free?"
''For free!?'' The Merchant''s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He had assumed that the young stableboy would pay something for his goods, but to have all his hopes dashed away with a single question! It was with a strained professional smile that he motioned to the dropped items. "Of course you can have them for free…" His hand was shaky and his voice hoarse, but Azmodeus could care less. His hands moved like a blur as he snatched up all of the chocte and the information on the Lands Unknown. He then turned around and walked off, returning to the ck Qilin Horse stables. "Bye, friend," he said coldly, his friendly facade breaking without remorse. "It was nice doing business with you," he added, furthering the pain stinging the Merchant''s heart.
"O-Of course, young Lord," he replied shakily. "Pleasee back again and ask for this old sir. I-I wille running from miles away…!" ''Please, for the God of all that is holy, never return! Never ever, not in this lifetime, and not in the next lifetime!''
The Merchant cried out within his soul as he clenched his heart in pain, feeling the wealth leak from all his pores. As the poor bastard wallowed in the sorrows of it all, Azmodeus re-entered the Azuresk Royal Castle through the small entrance. He then approached the two-story stalls, immediately noticing the sudden activity of the ck Qilin Horses. "I see you guys are especially lively today," he said as he walked up to thergest and proudest one. "Isn''t that right, Rudolph?" He smiled coldly, his face darkening to absurd degrees.
"!!!"
Thergest and strongest of the ck Qilin Horses forcefully had its nose painted red by the devil-in-human-skin. The devil then instructed it to y the part of the whimsical and sometimes silly red-nosed reindeer, which was why it…
Thud!
"Neigh! Neigh!"
Rudolph flopped to the ground and wiggled while neighing in a goofy way. To the other ck Qilin Horses, this was a huge embarrassment to their kind. But in the face of that monster, even they understood why their brother did what he did. That didn''t make their cracked pride hurt any less, but it was the only way they could cope with this new reality, and their new stupidly overpowered caretaker. Far different from thest caretaker, who was weak and eventually killed by them, this one was strong. He was so strong that they shuddered at the mere thought of getting on his bad side…
They were still growing, and even Rudolph only had the approximate strength of something in the Grade 9 Immortal King Realm. When faced with the crimson devil, their resistance was deemed futile, and their subservience was mandatory.
"Anyway," Astaroth said as he rxed on top of Rudolph, with his legs propped up on Prancer and Dancer. "The more I read about this Lands Unknown, the more intrigued I be."
"Thend that even Immortal Transcendents find nearly impossible to survive in? Thend that serves as the exit gate for those wishing to leave the Eternal Jade Heavens Immortal Realm??" His devilish smirk widened. "To me, this sounds like the perfect paradise."
"But unfortunately…" His face suddenly morphed from an excited one to something more downcast. "To enter this ce, one must be, at the very minimum, of the Immortal Emperor Realm. And Battle Power does not affect this minimum requirement, which means that I still have to stay here and amass more strength," he sighed. "Well, I have some loose ends to tie up here, so I guess I can force myself to wait."
Ultimately, he decided to be patient and bide his time. For now, however, he had some unruly reindeer to manage.
......
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Astral_Pandemonium
Creator''s Thought