The cultivation master

Upon hearing the sound of drums and the shouts of the guards, many people gathered in the main square. When the murmurs died down, one of the pirates, dressed in loose clothing and with a bald head, stepped forward and raised his hands. The rings and yellow and red agates on his hands glinted, catching everyone's attention.

"Today is the day of remembrance!!! A time to fear, a time to embrace nothingness! Now that the breath of death warms our chests and the cold of fear has drained the color from our faces, it is time to pray for the souls who are no longer among us!!!" the man said loudly, scanning the crowd with his eyes.

He was angry and afraid. The disappearance of a skilled pirate and a master spy in one night was terrifying news.

When he finished speaking, a large fire was lit behind him.

He continued to watch the crowd.

"Begin the baptism!!!" he suddenly shouted.

Then he knelt before the fire.

The baptism ceremony was to keep the memory of the deceased alive. Whisperers became void after death, leaving no corpse behind. They were like the smoke of a fire; when their life's flame was extinguished, they vanished without ashes, leaving only memories behind. Therefore, the deceased had no graves, and those who passed left nothing but memories.

Cyrus folded his wings and landed on the wall.

The baptism ceremony was so revered that no one did anything during it. When a large fire was lit and flags were half-raised, people had the opportunity to speak with the deceased.

However, holding the ceremony was a completely different matter. Once a year, for three nights, a ceremony was held to honor the dead. But the pirates performed this ritual differently.

When the number of dead reached a certain point or an important person died, they held the baptism ceremony.

But that night, neither had the number of deceased reached the required amount, nor had they lost a significant person. In fact, they used this opportunity to gather all the residents and find the killer. However, without the slightest disrespect to the ceremony, they performed all its rituals meticulously, even though they couldn't find the killer.

They knew the killer was somewhere on the island, and they were aware of the presence of an unknown ship on their shores. Nevertheless, the murders couldn't be the work of an inexperienced knight or an old captain.

After the ceremony, the bald man had to go to the secret headquarters to report; Cyrus had predicted this. When he lived as a wandering cultivator, he had seen many similar tricks.

Although the killing of Theodore and that pirate was entirely accidental, it yielded a good result. He managed to find the trace of the hideout and the main entrance to the pirate king's headquarters. He had guessed that even the mansion at the heart of the village was more for show and a kind of trap. He didn't get a good feeling from there. That mansion was not built for living.

Cyrus followed the man to the heart of the village. He ran across rooftops, silently strangling the guards. By absorbing their power, he increased his abilities. This increase in ability allowed him to gain a skill he didn't think possible without a Gu.

Cyrus pulled his hood higher. He looked down at the street and alley below from the roof.

He had a few hours before sunrise.

The bald man didn't go to the main building. Instead, he turned into one of the narrow alleys and entered a dilapidated building through an old door.

"So this was the main entrance, huh?" Cyrus muttered.

And he vanished into the air like vapor.

In the underground tunnels, Julian led the way with a lantern, and the captain followed. The air in the basement was stale and smelled musty. With each step they took, dust particles rose into the air. Julian looked at the delicate flame of the lantern and followed the black soot that connected to the darkness of the corridor.

As Julian quickly walked through the corridor, he said, "Captain, does such a map really exist?"

"Of course not, you fool! Maps are for discovered places. Who has a map of a legendary land?" the captain replied in an exasperated tone.

"Then why did that man…"

"Listen carefully, boy, we need to survive. Right now, that man's commotion is the only thing we can count on. If he can draw attention to himself for just half an hour, our escape is guaranteed… and if there is a map and he can bring it, then…"

Julian nodded and fell silent. Real life was very different from what he had learned at the knight academy.

"Blink" was the name of Cyrus's new power; it functioned similarly to the "Fixed Travel Gu" but was a more advanced teleportation. With Blink, one could appear anywhere within a specific range, but the Fixed Travel Gu only followed a predetermined path. Of course, Blink improved with the person's power, and its coverage area expanded, but the Fixed Travel Gu didn't have this capability.

On the surface, the building appeared abandoned, but it led to the pirate king's room through a safe route. Cyrus dealt with a few guards patrolling along the way, absorbing their power and continuing on his path.

At the end of the route, he reached a spiral staircase that ascended alongside a stone wall. Using Blink in several stages, he reached the top.

A little later, he heard an argument. However, he could only see two flickering shadows on the wall.

"I told you the king isn't here!!!"

"What do you mean!!!" the other man said in an agitated tone.

"The king has gone to the rocky shore; you can't meet him now."

"Damn it!!! Why would the king go to the shore at this time of night!?"

"What do you mean? Should he get permission from you, you bald bastard? Lower your voice; there are things we don't know. But I've heard he goes there some nights. They say the king was from this village, and a long time ago, when his father went fishing at sea, he got caught in the mist and became a wandering ghost!!!"

"Shut up!! Hush!!! There are things you should never say. Digging up the past is no different from digging your own grave!!!"

"So that boatman who guided me… could it be…?" Cyrus muttered.

He thought for a moment, but at that moment, these things didn't matter. Using Blink, he appeared between them, slit one of their throats, and held his blade to the second man's neck:

"Tell me where the treasury is…"