After a week of resting and healing (torture), Bian was finally fully healed and his armor had recovered also.
He pinned all his hate on the duke, and his anger for the spirit he never even met was through the roof.
The cellar was very active during his week of rest. Several creatures led by a spirit would come by to pick out dozens, if not hundreds, of the special stones.
These special stones were like crystal, unlike the normal ones. They could only be found if stumbled upon by luck or if their reflective glint was observed.
The creatures of Bluestone Coast were tasked with finding these special stones, slaving away during the day to hand-pick them.
At night, the special stones would blend in perfectly with the rest of the stones on the coast, making them unable to be distinguished.
Although what they were doing looked harmless, Bian noticed the glow of Bluestone Coast dimmed just a little bit after several days.
It seemed that removing the special stones was severely affecting the system of Bluestone Coast.
Bian could only imagine how the original coast must have been so breathtakingly beautiful, in contrast to how it was now.
"Great, another reason to end that miserable scumbag."
Now that he knew the duke actually affected Bluestone Coast, subsiding its beauty, he was pissed off.
Bian might not have cared that much for people, but he cherished the beauty of nature.
He wasn't an activist that would yell about how all life was precious, but Bian wouldn't idly stand by and let others destroy something he found beautiful.
Be it a person, place, or item, he cherished whatever he found beautiful. Especially scenes such as when he was sailing through space and when he was mesmerized by the coast.
Out of principle, and simply because he could, Bian would honor Marquis Nero's final words.
The duke would die.
But firstly, he had to up his fitness. After all, he barely managed to pull a win against one of the Sentries, and the Duke was stated to be strong enough to kill sacred-blood.
While Bian had been recovering, Earl Shin and Earl Starshine dropped by the coast.
They did some probing and found bits of crystallized flesh, leading them to believe Bian was some kind of doll or statue.
Bian had only heard this little out of their conversation, when they traversed over the cellar.
He didn't use the Dongxuan Sense because he was quite sure the woman with sharp senses would pick up on it.
Now that he was healed up and it was time to head out, Bian waited a couple of hours for the transport to come for more special stones.
At dusk, as the last of the sunlight graced the land, the transport wagon arrived and several goblin-like creatures departed from it.
A bird circled the wagon from the skies and a spirit stood by the side, coldly observing as the goblins carried crates of special stones batch by batch.
The creatures were pitifully weak, and each one barely managed to lift a crate that held about a dozen special stones.
By the time the wagon was filled to their satisfaction, night had already descended and the Bluestone Coast illuminated the environment.
"Get back in, you pieces of crap!"
The spirit barked, and the exhausted goblins climbed back into the wagon. The spirit got on, and with a crack of the whip, the giant lizard in front pulled the wagon forward.
As the tires moved over the uneven stones, the groans of the goblins could be heard. The wagon had no space for sitting, so the pitiful creatures had to sleep on the pile of stones.
"Quiet!"
The spirit bellowed.
Bian had to follow the wagon from afar, waiting for it to leave the area of Bluestone Coast. Only then could he use Terraslip to appear under the wagon and hold on to it.
'Since I can't use Terraslip easily in the central kingdom, I'll ride the wagon in.'
As Bian held on to the undercarriage, he couldn't help but wonder if this counted as a Trojan Horse tactic or not.
As they kept going, they soon approached a land of high-grown metallic grass, and Bian had to let go of the carriage, sinking into the ground instead to follow along.
Unlike at Bluestone Coast, where the water would have made them uncomfortable if they held onto the carriage, he had to let go here because the grass would emit a metallic clink when it struck their armor.
Then their stealth would not only fail, but it would be impossible to use this method again.
The large bird was always circling the wagon since they had arrived. Apart from protecting the wagon, it could also be acting as a familiar.
Bian had to be cautious so he wouldn't unnecessarily draw attention to himself. He planned to max out his Primitive Geno Points and Mutant Geno Points before he fought the duke.
That way, he would be sure of his victory against this mysterious opponent who was said to behead a spirit one level higher than himself with a single strike.
The rest of his journey to the capital was as mundane as could be. After a couple of days of travel, they finally reached the walled kingdom.
Before the wagon could pass through a gate, a thorough search was conducted. How could the ordinary spirits see Bian, though?
He had already activated the zebra glyph beast soul which turned him invisible and used the Dongxuan Sutra to reduce his presence down to zero.
This was probably the last time this trick would work in a long time. His fitness was about to cross a certain threshold.
Soon Bian found himself in the capital. The central and main city of the vast kingdom.
He abandoned the carriage and prowled through the streets, waiting for the cover of night.
"Woof, woof!"
A large purple dog sniffed the air and felt something was off. It began barking at no one, toward an empty alleyway.
Suddenly, a white katana flashed out of nowhere, beheading the dog in a single swipe.
[Primitive Creature Hyper Canine killed. The beast soul has been acquired. Geno Core destroyed. Consume the flesh of the Hyper Canine to gain 0 to 10 primitive geno points randomly.]
"Stupid dog."
Bian let out a quiet curse. He stuffed the body of the big dog into the cauldron with much effort and then he fled.
The ground of the capital was paved; he would have to break through several thick layers first to reach the earthy layer, and only then could he use Terraslip.
There was no time for that because Bian already heard multiple footsteps approaching the area.
As soon as he fled, three more of the same large purple dogs showed up, accompanied by a squire spirit.
"Blood stains with no body in sight. It's the phantom killer!" He had a grim look on his face as he searched the alleyway.
Then he brought out a small bell which rang out quite loudly.
An eagle descended from the sky, and the squire spirit brought out a parchment and wrote about what he found.
The eagle quickly took to the skies, heading to the castle, and the spirit released the three dogs from their leashes.
"Go, find him!"
A weird glass flower appeared above their heads and the dogs ran off in different directions, but Bian was long gone.
...
"Well, I was waiting for night time, but this works too."
After a couple of minutes, the cauldron had refined the body of the dog into a pill.
Bian swallowed it whole, knowing that from now on, the Dongxuan Sutra wouldn't be able to conceal him.
[Primitive Geno Points +1]
[Primitive Geno Points +1]
[Primitive Geno Points +1]
A surge of heat flowed within Bian, strengthening the parts of the body it flowed through.
[Geno Points Acquired: 100 Ordinary Geno Points; 100 Primitive Geno Points; 7 Mutant Geno Points.]
Bian let out a breath of turbid air, squeezing his hands to feel his increased strength.
"No need to consolidate, let's start!"