Chapter 4936  Looking Up

Hanging on a canopy of a tree upside down, Azariel flipped himself up and landed on the branch.

"Damned old man, he must be out of his mind…"

He patted himself and wiped the blood that dripped out of his mouth.

That one push sent him flying like a ragdoll. He was unable to resist, once again experiencing the extent of his father's powers.

He jumped, landing on the surface before making his way back, not knowing how many formations he had broken. Although it wasn't something he needed to pay for, someone was going to get busy repairing all these formations their mothers had painstakingly built.

While he made his way back, he noticed an enclosed formation.

Such formations contained dangerous resources.

His lips twitched since he saw that he created a hole in it from being sent flying by his father.

The enclosed formation flickered, its cracked edges bleeding pale light where his body had torn through its barrier. The air inside was thick, humid, and faintly violet. Poison-attributed heaven and earth energy drifted like mist, coiling low across the ground as though reluctant to rise.

Azariel stepped in.

The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the residual poison energy reacted, hissing and recoiling from his presence. His father's push may have sent him tumbling like a ragdoll, but the bloodline in his veins was still terrifying to lesser poison.

At the center of the small enclosure stood a single flower.

It was beautiful in a sinister way.

Its petals were a deep amethyst, almost black at the edges, veined with faint streaks of emerald light. Each petal seemed to drip with viscous poison essence, yet none of it touched the ground. Instead, the droplets dissolved into shimmering motes midair. The stamen at its heart glowed faintly, pulsing like a miniature core.

And hovering just above it was a tiny spirit that appeared startled by Azariel's sudden intrusion.

The tiny spirit was translucent, shaped vaguely like a child curled in fear. Its form was woven from amethyst poison-attributed energy, yet its eyes were startlingly clear, like two trembling pools of glass.

Azariel tilted his head.

"Oh?"

He crouched slightly, resting his chin on his palm as though examining an interesting insect rather than a High-Level Empyrean Grade treasure.

"It's extremely rare for a poison flower to produce a spirit… especially when you're from the secret realm of the Elemental Dimension. Who picked you up?" Azariel asked curiously.

"Ee…"

The spirit only made a faint, distressed sound.

It shrank further into the blossom, petals folding protectively around it. The poison mist thickened instinctively, forming a thin haze between them.

Azariel blinked, "I'm not going to eat you."

The spirit trembled harder.

He glanced at the hole he had blasted into the formation wall and then back at the flower. The formation's suppressive arrays were clearly designed to restrain and harvest the flower's essence gradually. Its essence had likely reached peak maturity long ago and was being harvested to slowly keep its essence from overflowing.

Yet, a spirit had suddenly formed.

It is generally known that the higher the grade, the more difficult it is to form a spirit. Poison-attributed flora spirits were even rarer due to their unstable and corrosive nature, so he was surprised.

Azariel extended a hand slightly.

Its poison energy surged in response, attempting to corrode his skin, yet he merely watched.

The amethyst poison fizzled out before touching him. However, his flesh remained unscathed, his aura steady.

Azariel's lips curled softly as he maintained a warm smile that appeared rather evil. He was immune to many types of poison by a large margin.

The spirit noticed something, its trembling lessening slightly as it lowered its petals.

"I recognize you… you are… Dreadmist Soul Crownflower." Azariel's brows raised, "Don't worry. Since you managed to become sentient, I'll exclude you from being used as a resource. I'll notify Mother Everlight."

His voice was warm and sincere, but the flower shrank even more in fear.

Its petals folded tightly as though trying to hide itself.

Azariel's brow twitched.

"… Why are you more scared now?"

The spirit emitted a tiny whimper in response.

For beings born from poison, instinct was survival. And survival meant fearing overwhelming presences. To the spirit, Azariel wasn't a benevolent youth. He was a monstrous convergence of higher-order energy. His bloodline pressure alone was like a sun descending upon a candle flame.

He sighed, knowing it was his aura while he broke the formation that scared the spirit.

He sat down and researched it a bit more before understanding that it still hadn't learned the Sky Word Language, so he taught it some words and finally managed to make it understand that he didn't mean any harm.

Then he bid farewell and notified Mother Everlight using a messaging talisman.

When he returned, he saw his twin sister and complained.

However, she made the situation clear to him, making Azariel.

Their father hadn't been able to see Mother Natalya and had to brainwash himself into reaching the levels of devotion that Mother Natalya had displayed during the formation of the Heavenly Restriction Pact. It seems like he had been acting the whole time as though he could see her. If he couldn't find her, then Mother Natalya might've disappeared forever.

'So that's why some of them were so tense… and the sudden command to not speculate…'

Learning of this truth, Azariel felt it made sense and heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

He imagined that there was more to it than the others knew, and in due time, their father would explain hopefully if there weren't any consequences behind it anymore. Regardless, his expression faded as he saw the spatial barrier.

"I suppose this is also a part of the Heavenly Restriction Pact, but father does what he does best- being fruitful…" He spread his hands and shrugged.

Viridia lightly smiled before the two of them left the scene.

At the entrance, many children were told to leave, so they gathered at the entrance, wondering what it was that disturbed their game. They knew it was their father, but they weren't allowed to see him.

Aurelia and Sheria gathered their little siblings, not letting them re-enter the Imperial Garden.

At this moment, the Imperial Garden was something that solely belonged to their father and Mother Natalya. Only Evelynn, Iesha, and Everlight remained.

Once everyone gathered, Azariel stood before them, his hands folded into his sleeves. His demeanor appeared regal and commanding, instantly making the siblings stand at attention.

"The time for fun is over. Return to your cultivations and lessons. Grow strong as soon as possible so you can help protect the family from those who want to eliminate us."

"Yes!" Arc and the others roared.

It caused Azariel to nod before he instructed, "Aurelia, Sheria, we'll leave it to you to take care of our siblings as always."

"Leave it to us." The two of them accepted the task.

It was hard to look after these troublesome little siblings, but to them, it came naturally.

"The rest of you, come help me carry out the defense of the realm. We don't want to place burden on father so he can cultivate freely and become strong as soon as possible."

Viridia, Lucian, Eterna, and Celestia nodded.

Their Empyrean auras surged, leaving the little siblings gazing at them with awe and envy. Only the elder siblings are allowed to go out of the sanctuary after they come to the Upper Realm Space. This feeling was common among Class Two since they felt it was unfair. Now, their elder siblings had all entered the Empyrean Stage and were considered adults in the family who were capable of standing on the frontlines.

In other words, they were free of their mothers' incessant yapping to stop them from doing something that is even considered remotely dangerous!

This was what made them gnash their teeth, wanting to hurry up and reach the Empyrean Stage.

Meanwhile, Arc first wanted to reach the first stage of Astral Cultivation - Astral Refinement Stage. He could only wryly laugh at himself, that he was way behind like a baby who had just been born.

Soon, they were taken away as they flew off.

Azariel also left with four others, first heading to the Imperial Library.

They landed and entered the grand library, which contained all types of records ranging from cultivation manuals to information on even the most obscure mortal grade resources that even major powers might not have in store.

Here, powerful formations were present, and the fragrance of aged parchment and the smell of jade lingered in the air, heavy yet comforting. Towering shelves stretched endlessly, rising beyond sight, each filled with jade slips, scroll tomes, and many other formats of information recording items.

Even the information gained from the inheritance rings of the Boundless Formation Sage and Boundless Forge Master and the Pill Inheritance inherited by Dalila was here, available to anyone as long as they had enough contribution points to gain access to it. It was constantly updated by Yotan, Sophie, and Dalila.

Nonetheless, in one corner of this massive library, a person floated.

Seated atop a gently drifting white cloud, the pink-robed fairy appeared as though she were a dream conjured by spring itself. The cloud swayed faintly every second, causing the hem of her robe to ripple like petals over water. Her sharp yet bright eyes moved across a suspended array of rotating runes.

She possessed a chiseled nose and full lips, her face partially concealed behind a translucent pink veil. Her curves pressed subtly against silk that seemed far too delicate to contain her presence.

Behind her head, a single dragon horn twisted up in a curved manner, gleaming faintly under the library's immortal lamps.

Stacks of jade slips orbited her like obedient stars.

"Aunt Lereza… we need your help," Azariel said and patiently waited.

"Why? Didn't master return?" A sweet voice resounded, filled with a vague amount of amusement.

"Father is busy."

"It's like him, alright."

Lereza waved her hand, causing the jade slips to return to their shelves and the runes to disappear. She leaned on her cloud as it took her down before she stepped out and walked before them.

Azariel and the others gulped as they still looked up. Some didn't dare look up, especially the boys.

The person in front of them was undoubtedly their Lereza whom they called 'aunt' from childhood. She was an Everlasting Ivyblade Thorn Spirit, the progeny between a Floral Dragon and a Celestial Wood Spirit.

However, she had grown to eight meters tall!

Why?

Because she had entered the next stage, becoming a Level One Exalt Spirit Fey!

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