Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 212

Chapter 212: Hunt for Orchid IV

Ruined Fate is Aiden’s Wild Card for any wild situation like this. Its name is Ruined Fate because it reverses what Fate had in store for any person or thing. For example, if someone is destined to become extremely strong in the future, it reverses that fate and makes them extremely weak.

In the case of the Ancestor, he was supposed to die due to exhaustion of his lifespan. Instead, Ruined Fate rejuvenated him, making him younger by many years and reversing his exhausted lifespan into one with an abundance of life.

“Hahahaha, I don’t know what you did, but it seems whatever you were trying to do backfired,” the Ancestor laughed as he smirked, releasing his martial spirit. His realm is now Middle Spirit God. “Thanks to you, I am now a Middle-Level Spirit God,” he said, clenching his fist and enjoying the power coursing through him.

Spreading his arms wide, he looked up at the sky, posing as if he had gained ultimate freedom. “Haah, how much I missed being so energetic. Old age really made me rust away,” he said, hugging himself, causing others to step back. He then tilted his head toward Aiden and vanished, reappearing behind him. He put his hand on Aiden’s shoulder, leaned in, and spoke, “How about submitting to me?”

“You’ve got great talent and that weird thing you do. If you can replicate it one more time, I’ll allow you to become my apprentice,” he said in a low voice. Then, he looked at Serina and said, “As for you, lady, your flames are a good match for alchemy. How about I share some ancient alchemy techniques with you, and in return, you become my sect’s exclusive alchemist?”

Serina grimly pressed her lips together as she watched him maneuver around them easily. Although she could see his movements, his battle experience made him dangerous. Now that he is equal to her in realm, she could sense that the borrowed strength wouldn’t last longer than 10 minutes, and he could kill her in less than a minute.

“I…” She tried to speak, but no words came out. “Just so you know, I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” the Ancestor said, appearing in front of her and looking into her eyes. Aiden, on the other hand, looked at him as if enjoying a show.

‘Should I let him enjoy more?’ he thought. The reason he was so carefree despite having such a powerful hostile being in front of him? Simple. The same reason it’s called Ruined Fate and not Reversed Fate. It not only reverses one’s fate, but if the outcome of Ruined Fate is in favor of the target, it binds them as a slave to the one who cast it. Simply put, the Ancestor is now a slave to Aiden, bound eternally until either he or Aiden dies.

“What’s your answer, kid?” the Ancestor asked, arriving in front of Aiden, his whole hand aglow with black light, clearly indicating that he was giving an ultimatum: say yes or die. “My answer is… kneel,” Aiden playfully grinned and said.

The Ancestor shook his head and said, “It seems you’ve chosen dea… What?” He was speaking when suddenly his body moved on its own and kneeled before Aiden. “What did you do to me?” he asked, glaring at Aiden. This outcome also surprised Shelly and the others.

‘I really thought he failed, but it seems it was a false alarm,’ Serina thought as she approached Aiden and looked at the kneeling Ancestor. “Did you really think I failed?” Aiden asked. “No, I just never wanted an old coot as a servant, so I rejuvenated you a little,” Aiden shrugged and said.

“Wait, so you can control this age-reversing thing?” the Ancestor asked, bewildered rather than angry as Aiden had expected. “Yes, I can,” Aiden replied, wondering why the Ancestor’s mood went from anger to confusion, as if he had won a lottery. “Then I will willingly serve you,” the Ancestor said, bowing.

“Why?” Aiden exclaimed, as his Akashic eyes told him the Ancestor was sincere. Serina, shaking her head, answered Aiden’s question. “Because the reason everyone cultivates is to achieve immortality, and with you, they achieve it. So he is now willing to serve you of his own accord.”

Hearing this, Aiden looked at the Ancestor, who nodded and said, “It’s true. You don’t know how it feels to have your strength leave your body, your own body becoming your enemy, every moment causing pain. How you go from being someone who can move mountains to barely being able to walk using a cane,” he said, his voice clearly expressing the emotions he was feeling.

“For anyone strong, dying of old age is a fate worse than death. We wouldn’t mind much even if we died on the battlefield, but a slow, painful death in some unknown corner is nothing but torture to us,” he said. “Still, many choose it because we hope that if we achieve a breakthrough, we might earn a few more years of lifespan,” he said with a wry smile. “But with you, I have another chance. If you really can reverse anyone’s age, then I can guarantee many will willingly become your servants just to regain their prime,” he said, looking at Aiden.

Aiden nodded, understanding what he meant. It’s a common thing: the longer you live, the more you fear death. “Let’s talk about this later; we have more pressing matters at hand,” Serina suddenly interjected, explaining to the Ancestor about the Demonic Blood Dragon. “Impossible, there was no mention of such a thing in the records,” the Ancestor said.

“Yes, because the Alchemist Association didn’t want any fool to use it to cause mass destruction,” Serina nodded and said. “Then it’s bad; we have to move fast,” the Ancestor said, standing up. Then, they all dashed to the central area.

Many tried to stop them, but the Ancestor released his aura, causing others to widen their eyes as they recognized it. “He’s Ancestor Romeo,” one exclaimed. “But wasn’t he an old coot?” another asked.

The disciple near him smacked his head and reprimanded, “What old coot? He’s our Ancestor; say his name respectfully.” The disciple nodded while rubbing his head and said, “But still, how can he be so good-looking now, and who are those people with him?”

“How would I know?” the same disciple replied, and they went back to fighting beasts. Aiden and the others, meanwhile, reached the central area, where they saw a young man refining the Blood Red Orchid, whose petals seemed like a dragon coiling around it.

“We are late,” the Ancestor said. The sect leader, a handsome middle-aged man with black hair and red eyes like the Ancestor’s, looked at him in shock.

“Grandfather, how did you become so young?” he asked, jealousy practically oozing out of him.

“Leave that for now. Stop Sylas, or he’ll die,” the Ancestor shook his head and pointed at the young man refining the flower.

“What do you mean?” the sect leader asked, looking at Aiden and the others with suspicion, thinking they might be trying to sabotage his son’s chance to become strong.

Seeing his look, Serina explained the ins and outs of the matter. “No, you’re clearly lying. The ancient records I found didn’t state that,” the sect leader retorted.

“What’s with this record? Show me,” Aiden said, having heard about these records twice now.

“Brat, don’t talk when seniors are talking,” the sect leader, Ray, snapped at Aiden.

The Ancestor slapped the back of Ray’s head and reprimanded him, “Just do as he says, you fool.” With a pained expression, Ray passed the ancient-looking parchment to Aiden.

Aiden examined it with his Akashic Eye, shook his head, and said, “How old do you think this is?”

“It looks ancient; that’s all I can say,” the Ancestor replied.

Aiden nodded and said, “But it isn’t. It was recently made. Someone was trying to use your sect to release the Demonic Blood Dragon.”

Hearing this, Ray frowned, took the parchment from Aiden’s hand, and inspected it thoroughly this time. In anger, he ripped it apart. “You’re telling the truth; it’s barely a month old!” he roared as he looked at an elder from his sect, grabbing his neck. “Tell me, who gave you this?”

The elder in question smirked, grabbed Ray’s hand, and pushed it away from his neck. He chuckled and released his Middle Spirit God cultivation aura.

“Well, well, it seems you’ve almost caught onto my little plot,” he said, grabbing his own face and ripping off a mask. Underneath, he revealed an old man with broken teeth and black sinister eyes.

“You… you’re the Demonic Spirit Beast Master, Gudolf the Mad Enslaver!” Ray exclaimed, recognizing the old man’s face.

“Kekekeke, who else but me?” Gudolf laughed, then looked at the young man who was still refining the flower. From the looks of it, he had already refined a quarter of it.