"Okay, let's go,"
Austin said, taking a step forward.
'First, I must find Wilfred, '
he told himself inwardly.
Wilfred happened to be a genuine medium-grade divine god.
Naturally, Austin wasn't willing to lose such a powerful slave.
Feeling rather safe and secure, the mermaid closely followed behind Austin.
She had witnessed his strength with her own eyes, after all.
Apart from seeking Wilfred out, Austin intended to get his hands on more Illusionary Tokens.
He had just entered the Rudimentary Stage of cultivating the law of illusion.
But that wasn't enough to satiate him.
He sought to become even more proficient.
Obtaining more Illusionary Tokens was a means to improve his mastery of the law of illusion.
At the very least, he could enter the Intermediate Stage or even the Major Achievement Stage.
As always, Austin aspired to grow stronger.
Running into the maze would have come off as a dangerous adventure for other creatures who came
across it.
But Austin could only say the opposite.
He had mastered the law of illusion, after all.
So seeing the maze before him only put him in a good mood.
Probing the way, he led the mermaid across.
The two continued moving forward.
The area was riddled with illusions.
But once Austin passed any of them, they grew timid, like pets meeting their master.
None of them made any move to attack Austin.
Instead, they remained docile.
Austin could even kept the illusions under his control with his mind.
At this point, Austin was like a king strolling along his own territory.
Anyone who came saw him would have assumed that he was in charge.
Meanwhile, the mermaid kept following closely behind him.
For a while, she couldn't get rid of her nervousness.
She was on alert—ready to deal with any attack from the illusions that might come their way.
As she was a genuine divine god, the illusions couldn't pose a real threat to her life.
But if she let down her guard, her Soul Sea would undoubtedly be invaded to the point where she'd be
completely trapped and enveloped by the illusions.
But much to her surprise, none of the illusions attacked her while she was with Austin.
Everything seemed to be going too smoothly.
Before meeting Austin, she had to proceed with the utmost caution.
'This young man is full of surprises, '
she remarked inwardly, staring at Austin in astonishment.
"Hey!"
she suddenly called out.
"What's the matter?"
Austin turned to her and asked.
"What's your name?
I didn't' even catch it,"
she humbly said.
"My name is Austin Lin,"
he said honestly, without hesitation.
"Austin Lin... Which force did you come from?
Those forces that sent people to the Land of Outlaw are top-ranked in the Sea of Chaos.
You must be from one of those, right?"
she probed further.
Austin's mysterious aura piqued her curiosity.
She wanted to know everything about him.
"I'm from a weak force in a remote, underdeveloped area,"
he answered.
He was telling her the truth.
The three thousand big and small universes was indeed considered a rather weak universe community
in the Sea of Chaos.
"No way!
I don't believe it! You must be lying.
Why can't you tell me the truth?
I mean you no ill will,"
she called him out, thinking Austin was trying to fool her.
'Such a talented, powerful young man can't possibly come from an underdeveloped place, ' she
thought to herself.
"I'm not making it up. It's up to you to believe it or not,"
Austin replied flatly.
He couldn't be bothered to prove anything to her.
'We met by chance. After this, we'll probably never cross paths again, anyway.'
Austin didn't see any merit in paying her any mind.
"Alright, I'll believe you.
But how did you get here from a weak and remote place as you said?
I heard only people from powerful forces are allowed to enter the Land of Outlaw,"
she pressed further.
"Well, it's simple.
I'm a slave of a genuine divine god from the beast race. I merely followed him here,"
Austin answered casually, still moving forward.
"Now that's too hard to believe!
You must be lying!
You're so talented—it's actually scary. Who would believe that you're a slave?"
the mermaid couldn't help but yell at him.
"Why must you keep lying?
I just want to know something real about you. I'm not a bad person," she complained, almost pouting.
She figured Austin was giving her the cold shoulder.
"Believe it or not, I'm not lying," Austin simply said.
With that, he sped up, deciding to ignore her.
"How mean...
Alright, I won't ask any more questions. Wait for me!"
She was so angry that she kicked into the ground before quickening her pace to match Austin's.
Just then, the two heard people arguing in the distance ahead of them.
To find out what was going on, Austin unleashed his spiritual sense.
The two groups stood, facing each other.
One was the beast race's team.
The other team was from the Novel Court.
A highly intense atmosphere enveloped them.
The courtyard they were in was rather spacious.
Flowers, trees, and artificial hills and ponds were scattered in the area.
Three tokens lay on one of the hills.
They just happened to be Illusionary Tokens.
As it turned out, the two arguing groups were fighting over these very tokens.
"Be reasonable!
We got here before you did and therefore spotted the tokens first.
They belong to us.
You're just getting in our way!"
shouted a genuine divine god of the Novel Court.
"Nonsense!
We saw the three tokens before you did.
Your people from the Novel Court are far too aggressive for a bunch of liars. Do you think we're afraid
of you?"
a genuine divine god of the beast race roared back just as fiercely.
"We saw the tokens first!"
"We spotted them first!"
It had been going on for a while—neither of the factions was willing to cave.
At this point, a full-on battle was on the verge of breaking out.
But now, Austin's eyes were completely fixed on those three tokens the two groups were arguing so
intensely over.
His face lit up with excitement.
"What a good day! To think that I ran into three more tokens..." Austin muttered to himself.
Then, he made his way to the courtyard.
Behind him, the mermaid continued following him blindly—her spiritual sense was far weaker than
Austin's.
Because of the illusions in the maze, she couldn't perceive things in the distance.
So she had no idea about the two groups ahead of them.
A moment later, Austin brought her to the yard's entrance.
"This isn't good.
The people of the beast race and the Novel Court are there.
Don't go in there, Austin. They outnumber us by too many—we're no match for them," she whispered
to him harshly, pausing in her tracks.
From there on, she could clearly sense the groups of people in the yard.
Some panic began creeping up her spine.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here with you.
You can follow me or find a place nearby to hide.
That's up to you."
And with that, Austin boldly walked into the courtyard.
"You ..."
His decision had the mermaid feeling both anxious and angry.
"Alright.
I'll stick by your side no matter what happens!"
Finally, she gritted her teeth and followed behind Austin once again.
Austin's spiritual sense could pick up her movement behind him.
Admittedly, her decision gave Austin a better overall impression of the mermaid.
'This mermaid seems to be brave and kind, ' he remarked to himself.
In the courtyard, Austin had his hands behind his back as he leisurely walked up the hill.
Meanwhile, the mermaid was on high alert, as though she was entering the enemy's territory. Albeit
nervously, she continued following behind Austin.
"What?"
All of a sudden, the people of the beast race and the Novel Court turned to find Austin and the mermaid
walking up the hill.
They simultaneously released their spiritual senses to examine the strangers.
Soon, they were all aware of Austin and the mermaid's vital energy realm.
'So the man is an ordinary preliminary-grade divine god.
The woman is a genuine preliminary-grade divine god.
Mere weaklings.
They pose no threat to us.' They all began thinking to themselves.
Soon, the surprise in their eyes was replaced with ferocity.
'Two weaklings had the nerve to break into the courtyard so blatantly...
Idiots.
They're screwed, ' they thought, all their eyes fixed coldly on the strangers.
Completely ignoring their gazes, Austin continued making his way up the hill without any sense of
urgency.
In a matter of seconds, he was right in front of the hill.
His face remained calm and composed.
There was no shift in his relaxed demeanor.
It was as though he was merely taking a walk in his own garden.
He didn't even bother casting a look at the two arguing factions.
Meanwhile, the mermaid was completely scared out of her wits. She trotted up all the way to keep up
with Austin and remain close by. Her fear and anxiety about the situation had her nearly paralyzed.
There were genuine medium-grade divine gods in both groups, after all.
And on top of that, there were seven of them in total.
Not to mention that there were dozens of genuine preliminary-grade divine gods as well.
'I'm finished... This is over...'
she thought to herself in fear.
While she had no doubt that Austin was powerful, she wasn't certain he could handle so many genuine
divine gods on his own.
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