The Paladin in the Abyss

Afterward they discussed some other matters, but as they were not particularly relevant to Lancelot, he did not listen closely.

His thoughts remained fixed on his hometown. The words of Alamir gave him much to ponder but left him with even greater confusion.

The world from which he hailed seemed truly unique, as there, death was final, and the living could never understand what lay beyond; Elves were like deities, capable of immortality, yet they had scarcely made themselves known in human history; deities had never directly revealed their existence to mortals, a mystery that was equally confounding.

According to Kalalin and Alamir, the faith of mortals was one of the significant sources of divine power for the gods and even related to the very survival of a deity, which made it unthinkable for them to ignore a large group of unclaimed souls.

The sole explanation was that his hometown might be located behind some sort of 'barrier' or that it didn't even belong to the current Multiverse, which is why those beings of divine power couldn't interfere with his world. However, the Goddess of the Moon, Suren, worshiped by the Elves is a genuine, well-known deity, making the theory that his hometown is in another universe untenable.

According to Kalalin, Suren was a Goddess born when the universe was created, one of the oldest beings among all deities, second only to the Creator God, Ao. Despite her ancient existence and significant origins, she is merely a deity of moderate divine power, who was once a subordinate to the Lady of Love, Shuni, for several centuries.

All of these resulted from her ongoing struggle with her sister—Goddess of the Night, Shael, who embodied the primordial darkness and chaos and whose temperament was the complete opposite of her inherently kind and peaceful sister.

The sisters' conflict began at the dawn of creation and has continued to this day.

As eons passed, Shael grew stronger and accumulated more divine offices, encompassing night, darkness, caverns, the Dungeon, oblivion, secrets, and many other potent portfolios, while Suren's offices dwindled to only include the moon, the stars, and a few insubstantial ones like navigation, wanderers, and non-evil lycanthropes.

But these matters were too remote for him, perhaps one day when he can traverse the stars and planes on his own strength, he might uncover the special truth of his hometown world.

After a while, fatigue set upon everyone, and they each retired to their rooms for rest. Little Isha, however, donned a modest set of leather armor and went off to train under her vampiric elder. According to her, the training was to take place in Tijana's castle, and with big sister Tijana around, there was absolutely no need to worry about her safety.

Once the room became completely quiet, Lancelot sat cross-legged on his own bed and began his daily cultivation.

It took some time to enter the state of cultivation tonight because he would occasionally have to stop and recite the Ice Heart Technique to banish the image of a Succubus twirling a forkful of food into her mouth with her tongue from his mind.

Once he entered the state, though, Lancelot settled his mind completely and repeatedly performed Circulation Transfer. The process of cultivation was monotonous, akin to scooping a small spoonful of water from a river, walking a mile to pour it into a water jar at home, and then repeating the process endlessly.

The True Qi within him had been greatly depleted in the battles of the past two days, and despite replenishment from Upper Grade Spirit Stones, a night of cultivation restored only about seventy percent. However, to Lancelot's delight, he noticed his 'water jar' seemed to have grown larger, a sign that his Realm was on the verge of advancing.

He had a feeling that in less than a month, he could enter the late High Rank phase of Qi Cultivation. It seemed his earlier speculation was correct—combat on the edge of life and death greatly aided the advancement of one's Realm. The recent battle with the Succubus and the Lust Demon was a case in point.

Of course, if possible, he still hoped to cultivate in a more secure way. The pressure of death indeed could hasten progress tremendously, but once you failed, the loss would be irremediable. Those who pursued spiritual cultivation aspired for longevity; if in pursuit of eternal life one lost their life instead, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?

In the small bamboo slip was left the highly refined life experience of Han Tianzun:

Make a fortune in silence!

Of course, this piece of advice might not be very applicable to Lancelot, because in the Abyss, you don't need to seek out danger; danger actively seeks you out. Not to mention the bloody battle being waged right beside him. In Eckmond's words, this war that involved the situation of the entire Multiverse was as dangerous to avoid as to participate.

Lancelot, although spending his days in Hagrid Manor, practicing his companions' combat skills by day and meditating on Qi cultivation by night, still received new information every day.

The Demons' prolonged siege had created an opportunity for the guards of Oasis Fort. After paying a heavy price, a temporary Portal leading directly to the twenty-first layer of the Abyss, the Sixfold Crematory Piles, was opened. A powerful Barlow Flame Demon was summoned and delivered the final blow to the wavering hearts of the Demon Legion.

When the huge figure of the Flame Demon appeared atop the city walls, victory became completely impossible for the Bartez.

Tijana publicly claimed that her timely support had bought time for Oasis Fort, and the longsword from Enreyes served as strong evidence. This significantly boosted her prestige among the Demons and also eased the long-standing hostility of Mekanshut toward her to a certain degree.

However, the headache of a side effect was that Molo had a completely different understanding of the event. The male Succubus firmly believed it was solid proof that Tijana was in love with him, and his self-esteem, which had been shattered in Twin Bridges Town, was restored in a mysterious way.

The trade routes passing through Oasis Fort remained open, and as for Molo's enthusiasm, Tijana in the walls of Twin Bridges Town was temporarily unaffected.

At Volcano Fortress, the sudden introduction of Cold Iron Weapons brought abundant victories to the Demons' side. 'Destruction Flame' Visuvius's army pushed the front line forward by a hundred miles, recapturing several outposts and reversing the previous trend where the front line was gradually being eaten away by the Demons.

It was said that due to a series of recent defeats, even the Commander on the Demons' side had been replaced. The Duchess Zariel had bypassed the eight Demon Generals and directly intervened in the personnel arrangement. This act, against Bartez tradition, inevitably led to much speculation.

After all, it was well known that the eight Demon Generals had always been supporters of the former Archduke Bayer, and even after Bayer was dismissed by the Lord of the Nine Hells, their loyalty to the new Archduke Avernus was only to the extent that duty required.

Some of this news was heard by Bruto or Kalalin from taverns and markets, but some were told to Lancelot by Tijana herself. The Succubus Lord would occasionally bring little Isha back, and Lancelot could take the opportunity to chat with her for a bit.

But later on, Tijana seemed to get busy, and it became difficult for Lancelot to hear the latest intelligence from the Succubus Lord. However, the external situation's changes weren't of much relevance to Lancelot; after spending over a month, he finally achieved a breakthrough to the late High Rank of Qi Refinement, officially launching an assault on Foundation Establishment.
Enjoy new chapters from empire

Just when he was starting to miss Tijana's beautiful figure, he suddenly received a message from a Succubus Maid:

"Gather your mercenaries and come meet me immediately; there's a very urgent mission, and you're the best choice for it."