"Austin, do you think Humphrey has improved much lately?"
the sky-devouring dog asked worriedly the moment it saw Austin.
"He has the body of a chaotic sky-devouring beast, and as time goes on his strength increases as well.
He will be serious trouble to deal with in the future,"
the tiger sighed, already exhausted just by the thought of it.
"You're right. Once the chaotic sky-devouring beast has grown into an adult, he's going to be extremely
fierce.
My guess is he will swallow the entire Sea of Chaos in one gulp and just disappear, never to show up
again,"
the big black bull said, sighing as well. It seemed to be filled with sadness.
"We need to find a way to take him down together.
If we don't, it won't be long before he makes his way to the Fallen Divine Valley to harass us and cause
us hassle.
The twelve of us are definitely no match for him.
Unless our master shows up to fight Humphrey.
But if our master reveals himself to take action, it would only throw things out of control and cause
more issues.
I'm sure that our master's enemies will find him and then things would get real troublesome,"
said the colorful rooster, shaking its head dejectedly.
The twelve zodiac animals all already felt defeated and demoralized.
"I'm sorry, sirs. I brought this trouble to the Fallen Divine Valley. It's my fault,"
Austin apologized, guilt consuming him now.
He knew Humphrey had made the Fallen Divine Valley his target because of him. He was the one
Humphrey wanted, the reason he had come here.
"Don't do that to yourself, Austin. Humphrey would have targeted the Fallen Divine Valley sooner or
later, with or without your presence.
It's not your fault. There's nothing for you to be sorry for.
All you should be thinking about is a way to kill him,"
the black bull said, trying to ease Austin's mind.
"Right now, we don't really have a way to kill him.
That chaotic sky-devouring beast, is still in its infancy, but we can't do anything to him.
I'm scared to even imagine what it would be like when the chaotic sky-devouring beast grows into an
adult. It would most likely be impossible for us to kill Humphrey then,"
the tiger said slowly, looking off into the distance.
The twelve zodiac animals all fell into a silent contemplation for a moment.
"Humphrey!
I will kill you! I swear it! Some way, somehow, I will bring you to your end!"
Austin screeched through gritted teeth and clenched fists. He had a great challenge ahead of him and
he was determined to overcome it.
"Sirs, I apologize but I must go now. I'm going to cultivate in seclusion."
Austin said his goodbyes and left. He found a quiet spot within the Fallen Divine Valley, opened up a
small world and began cultivating.
The main purpose of this was to study that piece of wood and learn all he could about it.
In the small world, Austin sat calmly with his legs crossed. He retrieved the piece of wood and let it
hover in front of him.
"The maternal tree of the wood puppet race and the supreme grandmaster of the face race are both
very powerful masters.
They were both quite eager to get their hands on this piece of wood.
That must mean it's not as simple as it seems. There's probably some secrets hidden within, waiting to
be discovered.
Time to study it carefully and see what more there is to this strange thing.
Perhaps I can comprehend something useful from it,"
Austin murmured to himself, as no one else was around. He was preparing himself to dive deep into
analysis of the piece of wood.
He began releasing his spiritual sense and focused all his attention on the wood floating before him,
examining it thoroughly.
Time passed slowly in his seclusion.
One day, two days, three days...
One month, two months, three months...
One year, two years...
The concept of time and the speed at which it operated all faded during the cultivation process. All that
mattered, was the cultivation itself.
Austin had not even realized it, and ten years had passed.
Still, in the small world, he meditated quietly.
He sat motionless and cross-legged, still as a rock, focused like an old monk deep in mediation,
searching for enlightenment.
Time never stopped and neither did he.
More than one hundred years passed as a few minutes would have outside of his cultivation.
"Aaah! This piece of wood is nothing but ordinary wood. Is there really nothing more mysterious to it?"
Austin asked exasperated.
A heavy sigh fell in the small world, a lone sound among nothing else after more than one hundred
years.
Austin suddenly opened his eyes and stared intensely at the wooden slab in front of him. He was
confused, befuddled even. This didn't make sense.
He had spent more than a hundred years in meditation, and all for nothing.
"No, I'm certain this is not just any ordinary wood.
Those peerless masters had been longing for it for ages. How could it just be ordinary wood to inspire
their interests?
It's simply out of the equation, I refuse to believe that it's nothing more than this.
It must be that I have not yet fully comprehended it. There has to be more to discover!
I suppose I'll just have to keep trying,"
Austin said, again only for his own piece of mind.
He then immersed himself in meditation a second time.
He did not move, as time flowed on by and dust fell onto his unmoving, statuesque figure and remained
there.
While he was in a state of meditation,
another one hundred years passed.
Then, suddenly, Austin snapped out of it and regained his senses.
"I think I sensed something; like fog, flowers, clouds, rain...
Or, it could be nothing at all.
What the hell is this I feel?"
Austin had been completely stationary, like a dead tree, but now suddenly spoke, his face twisted in a
frown of confliction and uncertainty.
The piece of wood was still floating in front of him and had not moved.
Things stayed this way for more than two hundred years; a man and a piece of wood, transfixed in
place.
During the second spell of a hundred years, Austin felt as though he had grasped something, but he
was still unable to fully take hold of it.
It remained almost an illusion and no more to him.
'I think I should take a walk. Perhaps I will find some inspiration then,' Austin thought.
He got to his feet and left the small world he had been in for two hundred years.
A moment later, he came to a decision of where he would go.
It took only a few steps for Austin to return to the small world where the headquarters of the Flame Holy
Land was located.
He entered into it and immediately heard a woman's voice calling out.
"Julian, Julian, where are you?
Julian, my son, come out or you're in for an ass kicking!
Come on, help me look for him!
I don't know where he's gone to or where he's hiding."
"Oh, no. I've lost another bottle of spiritual pills.
I think it's safe to say it must have been Julian who snuck into my pill room and stole them."
"And who's knocked down my weapon refining furnace? I've been refining a divine level magic treasure
for decades and it hadn't taken shape yet. Now all my effort and hard work has been destroyed. Damn
it!"
The entire small world was in disarray.
There were many divine gods, scurrying around, coming and going, all in a hurry, searching every inch
of the world. It was chaos and madness!
"What? Julian? What just happened?"
Austin was stunned.
Then he was overtaken by excitement and anxiety
as he remembered that Julian was his son!
He immediately released his spiritual sense, scanning across the whole small world in an instant.
Deep in the depths of a void in this small world, a boy of two or three years, was laying on small deck
chair, holding a jade bottle in his chubby hand. There were more than a dozen divine pills in it, the boy
pouring them out one at a time.
He stuffed every pill down his gullet like it was candy, appearing to be having the time of his life.
The deck chair was made from the most precious chaotic crystal in the Sea of Chaos. It was a divine
level magic treasure.
The divine gods all over the world were searching for this little boy, but could not find him.
It was a truly joyous scene to behold for Austin.
This little boy was no doubt his son, Julian.
'I just can't believe this. Oh, my son! How is this even possible?'
Austin came to Julian's side, still in shock.
He found that Julian was releasing an incredibly impressive space and time law, wrapped tightly around
him, hiding his small body from everyone else.
If not for his powerful spiritual sense, Austin may never have found him!
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