In response to Vahn’s request, Seraphina slowly shook her head, as if refusing him.
For a moment, he thought she was finally revealing her true colors. But her next words made him swallow back his doubts.
"You don’t need to call me by my title, Vahn. Call me Seraphina, or anything else if you like. And yes, why wouldn’t I grant such a small request? But you must not remain in this backward place for too long. I am not trying to imprison you, nothing like that. It is simply that something evil may appear at any moment. Your awakening has not only drawn our attention, but also the eyes of dangerous foes. So, be careful, alright?"
Vahn gulped after fear after hearing her warning. Still, he nodded as replied,
"I-I understand, Seraphina. Just give me a few hours. After that, we will leave."
She was satisfied with his answer.
"It’s good that you understand, Vahn. You may return and bid your farewells. I will be here, waiting for you."
Vahn cast a glance at her, then at the desolate mountains stretching endlessly around them.
"Won’t you be alone here? Why not come with me to my village?"
"That would not be wise, Vahn. If a mortal with a tainted heart were to see me, it could bring them great peril to them. And do not worry about me being alone, for I have Mother Nature herself to accompany me."
A soft breeze blew, lifting her golden hair into the air. At that moment, against the barren peaks, she appeared as a vision of Immortal beauty, detached from the mortal world, untainted and serene.
Calming down his racing heart, Vahn asked with great curiosity, "If what you say is true, then why wasn’t I affected? Why am I still standing before you unharmed?"
Her lips curved into another faint gentle arc as she replied, "Because you have a pure heart, Vahn. The purest I have seen until now."
"O-okay..." her words left him flustered, unable to find a response for further conversation.
So he turned away and began descending the mountain while struggling to calm his emotions down.
Her serene gaze and sincere praises were almost too much his young heart. Yet the rational mind he had forged across two lifetimes allowed him to keep his cool. Even though he was a virgin of two lives, he would not abandon his goals for the sake of a beauty.
He would reclaim the powers stolen from him.
Seraphina watched his retreating figure with her tranquil blue eyes, though within them held unspoken words she could not give voice to. Not yet.
Her gaze softened as she murmured to herself, filled with quiet yearning,
"Are you the one I can finally rely upon Vahn? Or will you, too, become another fleeting memory in my life?"
She was not asking only to herself, but also the growing emptiness within her heart that no one had ever managed to fill, no matter how hard they tried.
And perhaps that was why she had given Vahn, a boy far younger than her, this chance. Fate and destiny were just the excuses she offered to others. But deep inside, she knew the truth.
---
On the other hand, Vahn made his way to the Village Chief’s house first. He intended to bid farewell to Emilia before anything else.
It wasn’t out of love, but friendship.
Strangely, he had never felt romantic affection toward her, even though she was fairly beautiful in her own right. To him, she was simply a childhood companion who cared for him, and he for her in return. Nothing more.
But Emilia was not what occupied his mind now. His thoughts kept circling back to his conversation with Seraphina.
The place he was about to step into lay far, far away.
The world called Dalu was massive. It is divided into two great factions. One was the Righteous Path, the other the Demonic Path.
As their names suggested, the Righteous Path claimed to walk the way of virtue, while the Demonic Path embraced evil. Yet as someone who came from modern Earth, Vahn found it difficult to decide which was truly right or wrong. However, one fact remained certain: both paths pursued the same ultimate goal. That is Immortality.
Until he experienced that world himself, he could not make judgment.
From what he had learned from the old man in the past, the Righteous Path consisted of countless sects, Royal Kingdoms, Empires and Holy Lands. Among them, however, the seven great Holy Lands stood at the very pinnacle. Each had their unique traditions and philosophies.
Some pursued the way of the sword. Some honed martial techniques to perfection. Others cultivated the body, delved into the mysteries of the soul, or mastered rare elemental powers.
Together, these Seven Holy Lands were revered as the divine sanctuaries for cultivation, wielding the most resources and preserving the most ancient lineages.
And now he was going to join one of them. The Holy Land Of Light, White Lotus Sanctuary.
Compared to the disciples of the Holy Lands, he was insignificantly weak, with no allies to guide him forward.
Yet he was determined to make the most of this chance. No matter what happened, he would stand firm and fight—even if it meant defying fate itself.
Rumble!
As if answering his vow, the sky beyond the mountains split apart. Thunder cracked like a web of lightning stretching across the heavens.
Then something even more astonishing occurred.
Ding!
[ Activating the Divine Bonding System... ]
[ 1%... 5%... 11%... 34%... 67%... 99.99% ]
[ Activation Complete ]
’Another golden finger?’
An unavoidable storm was coming, and he would at the center of it.