One Wish to Own the World



"You two can follow us but let us fight on our own. You may intervene only if something endangers our lives."

"Yes, Young Master."

The two bowed, but only one of them spoke. They didn't plan to follow his order. The one paying them only mentioned protecting Ken, so if the two girls were in danger, they'd help only if it didn't put Ken at any risk.

"What are your names?"

"I'm Miles, and he is Henry. Please excuse him for not talking, he rarely ever speaks."

The two were around the same height, so Ken couldn't distinguish them by calling them "the taller one" and "the shorter one" as he did when the pair of girls came to talk to him.

Miles, the talking bodyguard, was a black-haired man with brown eyes. His facial features were average, and nothing stood out about him. In contrast, Henry's shaved head and white irises screamed his presence to everyone around him.

"Young Master, he is blind, but you don't have to worry about him dragging you down. He is very powerful and only held back by the lack of suitable techniques to his fighting style."

The talking bodyguard spoke again when he saw Ken and the two girls staring into his partner's eyes.

"You do make a good pair. With him being silent, people might not mind you speaking enough for two people."

Diana remarked with an obvious hint of sarcasm in her words. After the initial hesitation when facing a more powerful cultivator, her fiery temper returned, making her irritated at the variable that just entered her plan to get closer to Ken.

"I was just reporting to Young Master what I thought he should know, why do you care?"

Miles didn't have a reason to be polite with the girl and didn't hesitate to bicker back.

"Both of you, enough. We are leaving. Miles and Henry, try to follow us from behind and hide your presence. I want your presence to affect us as little as possible."

The group of five departed toward the Outer Ring. Since their only purpose was to act as cannon fodder, their residence area was near the entrance, and they only had to travel on a road nearby for 20 minutes.

"Hello, are you disciples from the Phoenix Feather Sect?"

At the exit from the sect's territory, a local outer disciple stopped them. After they confirmed their origins, the disciple spoke again.

"You need to carry a disciple token of our sect to enter, so the enemy can find it when they plunder your corpses. It'd be bad for both our sects if this collaboration turns public."

The young man explained with zero sensitivity.

"Hey, what makes you think they can kill us?!"

Diana immediately turned agitated at the disciple's words. The man's phrasing annoyed all five of them, but she was the only one who couldn't hold back her tongue.

"I didn't say they will kill you, I said in case they will. It's all bureaucracy, don't get mad at me. I'm sure you can match the disciples of the Four Seasons Sect. Now pour some Qi into those tokens and tell me your names."

The man said with a bored voice as he handed them the tokens. Despite being a mere outer disciple, his pride as part of the top five sects made him disdainful toward the five.

He engraved their names on their respective tokens and handed them again.

"Good luck inside. If you kill an enemy, you just need to bring back their tokens to earn MP. We can check the token and find their identities. Are you aware of the rules of this war?"

"Yes. Bye."

"Don't worry, we know what to do!"

Diana and Miles vocalized the same message with contrasting tones as the five individuals crossed the gate and entered the Outer Ring.

According to the map Ken picked up in the exchange office, the terrain of the central zone that was connected to the sect was mountainous, although there were also forests, lakes, and even one desert in the distance.

"We should distance ourselves from the entrance as far as we can during the night and get some sleep."

Ken instructed the group and the girls nodded. The two men already disappeared as they tailed them from behind, trying to hide their presence. However, concealing wasn't their forte, and both Ken and Diana could sense them.

"By the way, why do you want to distance us from the gate? Wouldn't it be better to remain nearby so we can run back in case we are attacked by too many enemies?"

"No. I doubt there are many enemies waiting nearby since the sects are pretty much equal to each other in their strengths. I'm worried about solo assassins that lurk in the shadows and ambush unassuming disciples of the Divine Sword Sect near their gate since most disciples feel safe there and let their guard down."

"I see, I didn't think of that."

Jane said seriously as she pondered over Ken's words. She didn't expect Ken to think that deeply on the matter.

"Diana, let us know if you find a cave. My detection technique works mainly on humans and beasts; thus, it is not optimal for finding inanimate objects."

After journeying several dozen kilometers into the mountains, Diana abruptly stopped her friends.

"I found a cave one kilometer away, there is a beast inside, but I can't tell which. Move close to me, I will hide our presence."

By making the air around them stand still, their scent wouldn't be scattered, and their movements wouldn't be sensed. The three did their best to move silently as they neared the beast.

When they got close enough, Ken sensed it too, and the bloodlust was extreme. According to his experience, the power and the density of the bloodlust pointed to a powerful peak fourth-rank beast.

His technique couldn't tell him the strength of the entity he was sensing, but he could make an educated guess based on his past experiences. Unlike humans, beasts developed bloodlust for every kill, regardless of the species of the prey.