I Can Give Talents

Chapter 256 – A Human

Suddenly, a wave of worry washed over him. What if Anda and the others are in a similar dangerous situation? Leyvi sighed deeply. He hadn't expected to be separated like this. All their plans to explore the Mystic Realm together had been thrown into disarray.

After a moment of fretting, Leyvi forced himself to calm down. They're all capable women. They can definitely take care of themselves, he reassured himself.

He spread out his spiritual sense, scanning the savanna. The area was teeming with life—wild animals, including demonic beasts, roamed freely.

"Finally, some familiar creatures," Leyvi said, relieved. He had begun to think the Mystic Realm was filled with nothing but strange beings, but that didn't seem to be the case. He had likely landed in the rock monsters' territory, which had scared other creatures away, explaining why he hadn't encountered anything else earlier.

However, something still bothered Leyvi. He noticed that all the birds here couldn't fly at all. The larger ones had evolved into running birds, like ostriches, with long, powerful legs and shorter wings adapted for high-speed running. The smaller birds, which were usually prey, had developed stronger beaks for digging to hide themselves, and some had feathers that blended perfectly with the savanna's colors for camouflage. Just how long has the flying prohibition existed for them to evolve like this?

He didn't dwell on it too long. After all, this was a Mystic Realm. He must adapt if things work differently. Since nothing nearby posed a threat, Leyvi decided to resume learning the Great Eruption Martial Skill while waiting for his body to fully recover.

Originally, the Mystic Realm exploration was estimated to last less than ten years, as maintaining the connection indefinitely wasn't possible. They were supposed to get a more accurate estimation from the three energy experts, but the void tunnel incident had scattered everyone, leaving Leyvi with no clue about the portal's location. What if they never found the portal's original location? Would they be trapped here forever?

Am I unable to see my first child at all? The thought weighed heavily on him. Leyvi quickly pushed aside the possibility of being trapped here for the rest of his life. It was too terrifying to even consider.

A day later, Leyvi discovered something unusual while producing strands of combined Qi. To be precise, he had already noticed this phenomenon while on President Albert's airship, but he hadn't been able to connect the dots at the time. Now, however, the same thing happened again, making it much easier to understand.

Leyvi realized that combining fire, water, and earth Qi into a single strand had suddenly become significantly easier. The process was now far less likely to result in an unstable strand that would burst. He first noticed this after they crossed from the South Region to the Central Region, where the spiritual energy density in the atmosphere had increased dramatically. Back then, the process of creating combined Qi strands had become noticeably smoother.

Now, the same thing was happening again in the Mystic Realm, where the spiritual energy density was even higher. The stability of his combined Qi strands had improved once more.

If Leyvi hadn't been able to connect the dots the first time, he definitely could now.

"Could it be that higher surrounding Qi density increases the stability of combined Qi?" Leyvi wondered aloud as he manipulated a hundred strands of combined Qi around his right arm.

If that was the case, he could potentially speed up his martial skill training by practicing in his mansion's room, which had a formation that increased the spiritual energy density by consuming spirit stones. Unfortunately, he wasn't in his mansion right now, so that luxury was out of reach.

Another day passed, and his injuries had fully healed. In just one day, Leyvi had added another ten strands of combined Qi to his collection. It was still a long way to reach five thousand strands, but the merging process had become noticeably faster. If he had already mastered the Great Eruption Martial Skill when he encountered those rock monsters, he might have stood a better chance in the fight or escaping without resorting to the use of Scary Void.

At that moment, Leyvi suddenly detected an unusually high-speed entity moving within his 40-kilometer spiritual sense range. He immediately focused his attention on it.

A human! Leyvi's eyes brightened. Finally, after three days, he had found someone!

However, his excitement was short-lived as he frowned the next moment. Who is this guy? He had never seen this person before, and the man's outfit was strangely fancy. While waiting at the gathering place before entering the Mystic Realm, Leyvi had made an effort to memorize the faces of all 7,200 participants. The man in his spiritual sense right now was definitely not one of them.

What's going on? Is he a native of the Mystic Realm? Are there supposed to be human natives here? No, right? He hasn't heard anything about this. All he heard was that it was a remnant of the past, full of resources and riches. 

The man in the fancy outfit was running frantically, clearly trying to escape from a High-Level Demonic Caracal. His movement technique was chaotic and uncoordinated, making it easy for the caracal to close the distance between them. However, the man's path wasn't leading toward Leyvi, and before long, he would be out of Leyvi's spiritual sense range.

Leyvi was baffled. The unknown man was clearly a peak Core Formation Realm cultivator, so why was he so terrified of a High-Level Demonic Caracal? At that level, he should have been able to handle the beast with ease. Does he have no fighting experience at all? What is he even doing in the Mystic Realm?

"Hmm... should I save him?" Leyvi tapped his chin, deep in thought. He was in a dilemma. Normally, he would avoid sticking his nose into other people's problems, adhering to his "Don't Be a Busybody" motto. But right now, he was in desperate need of information, and this man might be his only chance to get some.

In the end, Leyvi decided to intervene. Who knows how long it'll take to meet another human here? If this guy has no useful information, I can always leave him behind. He thought.

Swoosh!

Without wasting another moment, Leyvi sprinted toward the unknown man, moving at top speed to intercept him before he got eaten by the Demonic Caracal.

Some time later, after Leyvi had closed the distance to within a kilometer, the man noticed him and immediately called for help, though his tone was oddly arrogant.

"Huf... huf... Oi, country bumpkin over there! Help this prince kill this stupid cat, huf... huf... This prince will reward you handsomely," the man said, panting heavily.

Hearing the way he asked for help, calling him a "country bumpkin", Leyvi had the urge to turn around and leave him to his fate. The man's tone reminded him of Dorin, a male version.

This prince? Is he some kind of genius who was bestowed a prince title, like Anda with her "Princess of Alchemy Formulas" title? Leyvi wondered as he continued to close the distance.

Seeing another human approaching, the Demonic Caracal decided to cut its losses. It only chased the wimpy creature because it seemed like an easy target. But the newcomer radiated strength, so the caracal turned and fled in the opposite direction.

"Oi, country bumpkin... huf... huf... This prince ordered you to kill it. Why did you stop?" the man demanded, still sounding high and mighty even as he stopped to catch his breath.

Leyvi stared at the man as if he were looking at an idiot. Who acts this arrogant after just being saved? 

"Who are you? Which organization do you come from? I've never seen you before," Leyvi asked, thinking maybe he missed him when he scouted last time or a last-minute change. His eyes scanned the man's overly elaborate outfit. 

The man was dressed in a deep navy coat embroidered with intricate golden patterns along the sleeves and chest. A crisp white tunic peeked out from beneath, fastened at the throat by a gleaming sapphire brooch. A crimson cape lined with silver fur was draped over his shoulders, held in place by golden lion-shaped clasps. The entire ensemble screamed wealth and extravagance.

Leyvi tried to deduce the man's affiliation from his outfit, but he couldn't recognize it at all. Maybe I'm just that ignorant about fashion, he thought.

"What? How can you, a country bumpkin, not know who this prince is? Who doesn't know Crown Prince Dastan of the Howling Kingdom? State which kingdom you're from!" the man demanded, his tone dripping with condescension.

Leyvi was stunned. Howling Kingdom? Where is that? Is he really a native here? Because Leyvi was certain there hadn't been any kingdoms on the Cloud Continent for a long time. The entire continent was governed by the Protectors collectively.

"Are you a native here?" Leyvi asked.

"Did you hurt your brain after coming here? Why would this prince be a native here? Speak, which kingdom?" 

Not a native? Then he is from the Cloud Continent. Leyvi thought.

"I'm not from any kingdom," Leyvi replied. "So, which region is the Howling Kingdom from? As far as I know, Cloud Continent hasn't had any kingdoms for a long time. Did your father just create a new kingdom recently?" Leyvi asked, genuinely curious.

Crown Prince Dastan was stunned. Not from any kingdom? How is that possible? Only cultivators from the Twelve Great Kingdoms are allowed to explore the Mystic Realm.

Wait a minute. Did this country bumpkin just say Cloud Continent? Isn't that a small, isolated continent far from the rest of the world? How did he even get here?