After comforting May about the whole situation with that brat, I headed back to my private villa, and once I was alone in my cultivation room, I sat down, and with the help of Gel, we tried coming up with ways to keep the system a secret.
"That was very reckless of you, Comet; for the safety of you and everyone you hold dear, you should never tell a soul about the Immortal Energy System. The consequences of doing so can be much more disastrous than you could imagine." Said Gel, manifesting her small body atop Comet's outstretched hand.
"I know. You've told me many times in the past, but what else was I supposed to do in that situation? Do nothing and watch how the sect May loves gets destroyed, along with the death of thousands of disciples." Asked Comet sarcastically with slight anger.
"Yes." Answered Gel, causing Comet to be taken aback by her heartless response.
"Listen, Comet; I'm the System's Ego, and my job is to keep the host, which is you, alive at all costs so that you can grow stronger. I don't care about anyone else's life or well-being, not random strangers, not the Sects disciples, not May, and not your wives." Stated Gel in an almost emotionless voice, causing Comet to be shocked at the revelation.
"You, never mind; we can discuss that issue later, now isn't the time. We need to figure out how to keep the system a secret from that kid; you're the smart one in the group; got any ideas?" Asked Comet, deciding to ignore her earlier comment and focus on the more pressing matter.
"There are not many options you have; you could lie to him, and with the help from the system, he won't be able to see through your falsehood; however, the problem with that is you need to come up with a believable lie, and while that wouldn't be too difficult for me, the real issue would lay in your acting ability. Do you think you could lie to him, knowing that he may destroy the sect and kill everyone you love if he finds out the truth?" Said Gel, standing up from Comet's hand and floating around the air.
"No, I'd never been a good liar, whether it was this life or my past life. Anything else?" Asked Comet, releasing a sigh.
"You can't kill him; he is far too powerful, and he has a Divine subordinate always protecting him, and with his prestigious status, it shouldn't even be used as a last-ditch effort. You could gamble and tell him the truth about the system; from how Prince Elif behaves, he is far too prideful to ever go back on his word, so as long as you stay within the Colossal Sect, you'll live. However, this option should only be used if we don't have better ideas." Declared Gel, while Comet sat down on his bed in a thinking position.
"How about this? What if I seduce his subordinate and have her turn to our side?" Stated Comet with a prideful smile and slight lust in his eyes.
"While it may be doable, it'll be impossible to pull off given the situation. Ms. Idonea never leaves Prince Elif's side, and if you haven't noticed by now, neither has ever taken a breath since we first encountered each other. Without the help of an aphrodisiac, you won't be able to seduce her, especially with how much she dislikes you." Answered Gel, already used to his lustful tendencies even in a bad situation.
"So, any other options, or is that it?" Asked Comet, sitting back down on the bed feeling dejected.
"There is one more actually, never mind; you won't agree to it. Until Prince Elif summons us, I'll fabricate a series of lies to deceive him, so try not to bother me, and you, Comet, try not to anger him any more than you already have." Said Gel, a weird glint briefly appearing in her eyes before her figure disappeared.
'Haa, I guess spending time with my wives won't be a bad idea.' Thought Comet as he left his room and headed towards the location of where his wives were.
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"Everything has been taken care of, your highness." Said Idonea, who had just appeared in the throne room and kneeled in a much-improved mood before Elif.
"Hmm, It seems like your anger has vanished. Was it that satisfying?" Asked Elif, still pondering about how he'll protect the sect.
"It was indeed very rehabilitating, your highness; I recommend you try it out if you ever feel angry in the future." Said Idonea with a slight smile before standing up.
"I'll make sure to keep that in mind; do you perhaps know how to engrave Formations?" Asked Elif with a light chuckle.
"I've learned some Battle Formations from the time spent in the RMA; other than that, I do not know Formations." Answered Idonea, shaking her head from left to right.
"That's unfortunate; it looks like I'll need to have a Formation Master from this realm engrave a protection Formation around the Sect." Commented Elif, feeling slightly annoyed.
Using my divine sense, I once again scanned the entire realm in hopes of finding a competent Formation Master, although I made sure to lower my expectation; otherwise, I'd find no one. After three seconds, I finally settled on one; he was living in one of the realm's most dangerous forests and living his life as a hermit.
"Stay here, Idonea; I'll be right back." Said Elif, standing up from his throne before suddenly disappearing.
Appearing outside the hermit's cave, which had many layers of protection, attack, and concealing formations; of course, the moment I appeared, every single one of them activated. Yet, they were all weak from my perspective, and with a single attack, I obliterated every formation; however, I made sure not to destroy the runes as I had no reason to.
Floating inside the cave, I'm met with a straightforward but nice living area, and while it may be small, we cultivators don't need much; as long as we got a room big enough to cultivate, that'll be enough. Deeper inside is a large hollowed area filled with many runes and formations, and standing in the center is an old man with red skin, two horns pointing to the sky, and a surprisingly muscular body.
"Hmm, a Demon, not many of you are left in this realm, much less one as powerful as you." Commented Elif as he scanned the nervous and frightened Demon.
"T-There are other living Demons beside me?" Asked the old Demon hesitantly, not wishing to anger Elif somehow.
"Yes, a small village in a neglected forest; only one-hundred and thirteen of you are left, including you, and they're hidden quite well." Answered Elif casually after having finished scanning the old Demon.
"Anyways, I didn't come here to talk; I came here since I need your expertise in crafting a powerful protection formation around the Colossal Sect." Said Elif, though he noticed the Demons' wrathful expression when he mentioned Colossal Sect.
"It seems like you side with the Colossal Sect. I don't know how they've gained the favor of someone so powerful; however I refuse to help the Colossal Sect in any way whatsoever. I'd rather die than help any human factions." Said the old Demon resolutely as he eyed Elif fearlessly.
'Ugh, all these inconveniences because of my dumb curiosity, so annoying.' Thought Elif while looking at the old Demon.
"First off, I don't side with humans, and I definitely don't side with Colossal Sect; I merely made a deal with one of the humans, and secondly, while I may force you to create a formation, I'll at least compensate you for your efforts." Said Elif as he forcefully grabbed ahold of the Demon with a Royal Elf's Palm before disappearing from the cave only to reappear sitting on the throne while setting the demon down.
"May I ask what type of compensation you're talking about, esteemed one?" Asked the old Demon with greedy eyes as his entire demeanor practically changed to a subservient one.
"It's Prince Elif, and the compensation could be anything, as long as it is a physical object. Now get to engraving the formation, as I'm sure it'll take a while." Said Elif as he waved his hand.
"But of course, Prince Elif, before I go, what type of protection formation would you like me to engrave? A defensive one? A reflecting one?" Asked the old Demon excitedly.
"Hmm, what is the strongest defensive formation you can engrave?"
"The strongest one I can create is the defensive energy formation. It is extremely expensive to use as it absorbs spirit stones based on the amount of damage it receives, but as long you have enough spirit stones, no one below a Divine will be capable of breaking through such defense." Explained the old Demon calmly with a hint of pride as he waited for Elif's orders.
"Perfect, engrave that formation. Also, you have a time limit of three months; you should be able to finish it by then, right?" Replied Elif, closing his eyes while resting on the throne.
"Three months is more than enough; I'll immediately get on it, Prince Elif!" Said the old Demon before quickly leaving the room and heading to a spot in the sect to begin engraving formation runes.
"Shall I go and bring Comet to you, your highness?" Asked Idonea, appearing out from the shadows
"No, I'll leave him for another day; I just want to cultivate right now." Answered Elif as he summoned an Immortal spirit stone and began cultivating.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 195: Elif's Demise) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 75: The Calm Before The Storm) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 125: Fisher Tiger Incident) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]