"Fanny, what about you and Lona?"
"Uh, I've also been working on integrating the Profound Mystery of Explosion with the Fire Body Art lately. I haven't been playing around that much."
Fanny said awkwardly.
"Ahem, well, my training has temporarily hit a standstill. I haven't made any breakthroughs recently, haha."
Lona said just as awkwardly. Although she had successfully fused two Fire Element Profound Mysteries, the other Profound Mysteries she had comprehended had yet to be integrated. There was no chance of breaking through to Highgod in a short time. She still had two Profound Mysteries she had not even begun to comprehend.
"It's fine, Nana. I'll protect you from now on."
Napote said affectionately at the right moment.
"Looks like you know what's good for you..."
And so, they discussed their current cultivation problems while chatting about all sorts of things.
While Simon and the others were immersed in good food and conversation,
Cleve, seated in a private booth nearby, quietly kept watch on them.
Seeing that Fanny had once again gone out without bringing a Highgod, Cleve was now ninety percent certain that she had sneaked out this time.
Cleve was not worried about Fanny recognizing him. Back then, he had observed her appearance and aura from afar.
From his two rounds of tracking, Fanny truly had not noticed him.
"How arrogant. She deserves what's coming to her."
After a long while, Simon's group had eaten and drunk their fill. Once Hamut settled the bill, everyone returned to where they were staying.
This time, the Penya Family had switched to someone else to track them.
Over the following days, the Penya Family changed the clan member monitoring Simon and the others every day.
But strangely enough, after their last outing together, Simon's group did not appear together again until five hundred years later.
During those five hundred years, Fanny and Lona went out several times.
Without exception, no Highgod accompanied them.
This completely convinced the Penya Family that there was no truly powerful expert protecting Fanny.
As for the Midgods around her, Kaufman automatically ignored them.
Midgods?
No matter how strong they were, how strong could they possibly be?
He, Kaufman, was a seasoned Seven-Star Fiend tempered through countless battles.
Having cultivated the Law of Light and fused four Profound Mysteries, he was extremely formidable in speed, Soul Attack, and soul defense.
His only weaker areas were material attack and material defense.
But that was only in comparison to experts of the same level.
Against ordinary Highgods, his material attack and defense were still far from weak.
Now, they only had to wait for Fanny to leave the city before making their move.
Thinking of how the Grayson Pearl of old was about to fall into his hands, Kaufman was thrilled beyond measure.
He had waited far too long for this day!
After returning to the estate, Simon and the others entered seclusion once more.
Over these five hundred years, Simon successfully fused Wind Space with Water Element Essence and Profound Mystery of Wind Element!
As a result, the crushing and binding power of Ice Wind Space surged once more, while the destructive and restraining power of Ice-Wind Prison likewise rose sharply.
With these two ultimate moves, Simon was absolutely confident in crossing the Starry Fog Sea.
Not to mention that Simon had made considerable progress in both the Law of Wind and the Laws of Water during this period.
Among them, he had successfully fused the Profound Mystery of Dimension with Profound Mystery of Wind Element, Profound Mystery of Speed, Profound Mystery of Slow, and Wind Space. He had now begun the overall fusion of these five Profound Mysteries.
With the fusion of the Profound Mystery of Dimension, Simon's material attack rose once again.
Simon estimated that his pure Wind Element material attack had now reached the threshold of a Seven-Star Fiend.
If he used the upgraded Ice-Wind Slash, Simon's material attack would reach the peak level of a Seven-Star Fiend.
Combined with the single-target ultimate move Ice-Wind Prison, Simon was confident he could fight an Asura-level expert.
As for Water Element, Simon had successfully fused Sharpness of Ice with Water Element Essence, Mist Illusion, and Profound Mystery of Roundness and Softness. He had likewise embarked on the overall fusion of these four Profound Mysteries.
The addition of Sharpness of Ice also raised Simon's material defense once more.
With everything prepared, Simon had no intention of remaining in seclusion.
He could hardly wait to accept Fiend missions and battle more powerful opponents.
Only through more battles could he temper himself and further perfect his various ultimate moves.
At the same time, he could continuously accumulate experience fighting powerful experts.
One morning, Simon's group left Herbert Mansion, and the Penya Family member tailing them immediately reported to Kaufman.
"Five hundred years. This time they've all come out again. Hopefully, they're preparing to leave. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to make a move inside the city."
At the same time, Kaufman ordered his men to continue closely monitoring Fanny and the others.
The moment anything happened, they were to report it immediately.
Green Mountain City
Simon's group did not linger much on the road and headed straight to the Fiend Castle to accept a mission.
"Hello, the six of us would like to take a Three-Star Mission to Green Mountain City on the Bifu Continent, to be completed within one month."
Simon spoke to the staff member behind the counter.
The staff member was a young woman with a head full of purple hair.
"Please wait a moment."
Seeing customers arrive, the purple-haired young woman began flipping through the files behind her.
A moment later.
"There are 3,482 missions from Lier City to Green Mountain City that must be completed within one month. Of those, 341 Three-Star Missions are suitable for you."
"Oh? There are that many?"
"Lier City and Green Mountain City are both port cities near the Starry Fog Sea. Many merchants and powerful experts travel between them every day, so naturally there are many missions."
The purple-haired young woman explained.
"Then please select an escort mission with a team of several dozen Fiends for us."
"Mm... As it happens, a merchant caravan will depart tomorrow morning. It is currently short exactly six Two-Star Fiends, so the six of you fit perfectly."
The purple-haired young woman smiled.
"There, the employer of this caravan, Monk, is over there."
The purple-haired young woman pointed toward a corner in the southwest of the Fiend Hall, where the employer, Monk, was seated.
He was a middle-aged-looking male Highgod. When he saw Simon's group looking over, he smiled and waved in greeting.
"The requirement of this mission is to safely escort Monk to Green Mountain City in Warsaw Prefecture on the Bifu Continent. Your reward is 200,000 Inkstone per person. This caravan has one Five-Star Fiend, one Four-Star Fiend, twenty Three-Star Fiends, and twenty Two-Star Fiends. If you confirm that you wish to accept this mission, give me your Fiend Medals and I'll handle the paperwork."
Simon felt that this mission was not bad. It was an ordinary merchant caravan escort mission, and it had hired two Highgod Fiends. Monk himself was also a Highgod, so the journey should be relatively safe.
If all went smoothly, he would hardly need to make a move. He and his companions could cultivate in peace along the way.
After discussing it, everyone felt this mission was a good choice.
"We confirm that we'll accept this mission."
As he spoke, Simon's group handed their Fiend Medals to the purple-haired staff member.
The purple-haired young woman handled matters efficiently. Before long, she had completed all the procedures and returned the Fiend Medals to Simon's group.
"May you have a smooth journey."
"Thank you."
Simon replied with a smile.
At that moment, Monk also walked over.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Monk, the issuer of this mission. Thank you for accepting it. I'll be relying on everyone for the journey ahead."
As Monk spoke, he examined Simon's group. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Oh... I didn't expect to be so lucky this time. I actually encountered a Highgod Fiend who has just started taking missions. A pleasure to meet you."
Naturally, he was referring to Fanny.
Hearing this, Fanny gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
Monk continued.
"Since everyone is here, let's gather outside the city tomorrow morning and set off."
"Understood, Mr. Monk. We'll be there on time tomorrow morning."
Elno politely replied on behalf of the group.
Then Simon's group left the Fiend Castle.
At this moment, Cleve, who had been following behind them all along, saw Simon's group walk away and hurried over to the purple-haired young woman.
"Excuse me, can the mission those people just accepted still be taken?"
The purple-haired young woman glanced at Cleve and said bluntly,
"Probing into other people's mission information is forbidden. Don't you know the rules of the Fiend Castle?"
"Ahem, well, we're actually friends. We just happened to miss each other earlier. Come on, beautiful, make an exception."
As Cleve spoke, he handed two Azure Slates toward the young woman. The purple-haired young woman accepted the Inkstone without changing expression and said flatly,
"So you're friends. Then it's fine. Your friends accepted an escort mission departing tomorrow morning for Green Mountain City on the Bifu Continent, but the positions for this mission are already full."
Before you continue