On the open battlefield that was filled with a bloody atmosphere, a young man stood alone as he was being surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
His face was pale, and his body was battered from hours of continuous fighting.
While fixing his white, disheveled hair, the young man scanned the surrounding area, where he saw hundreds of dead bodies scattered across the ground.
'To think that I'd die in this kind of situation,' the young man thought to himself as he shifted his gaze toward the crowd surrounding him.
Despite the gravity of the situation, he showed no signs of backing down, not even an inch. Instead, his expression was filled with contempt.
"Can someone tell me who's the one that spread the information and planned all of this?" the young man asked with a chuckle.
"Kai, stop talking so much nonsense and hand over that 9-Petal Lotus Gem! I might spare your life if you do so," someone from the crowd spoke. He was an old man with long white hair and black hands that appeared poisonous.
"How about you answer my question first? I'll even give you a better one," Kai said, sticking his sword on the ground and smiling broadly at the old man.
"Hmmph! Do you really think we are kids?" The old man snorted.
"Well... If any one of you answers my questions, I will even extract my strongest skill and store it in the 9-Petal Lotus Gem. Isn't that much better?" Kai took out the 9-Petal Lotus Gem and looked around at the crowd.
The crowd immediately showed greedy expressions as they looked at the item in his hand.
"Are you sure?" The old man frowned, sensing something strange about the unexpected surprise that he had never expected.
"Of course! Why should I lie in this kind of situation now?" Kai replied, shrugging his shoulders.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, the old man agreed to comply, explaining in detail who had spread the information about him obtaining the 9-Petal Lotus Gem and who had planned everything.
When Kai heard it, he could only curse them in his heart while showing an irritated smile as he gritted his teeth.
Noticing the gaze from the crowd, Kai waved his hand and smiled. "Don't worry, I've never gone back on my words."
Kai then sat in a lotus position, smiling as he thought about the scene after his death.
The reason Kai proposed this was mainly to cause more casualties among them because he was confident that they would kill each other, given that the value of the item in his hands had just increased significantly.
Naturally, that wasn't the only reason, because he had actually been exhausted to the point where he might not be able to make a move right now.
That's why he suggested this, thinking that at least he'd be able to drag more people down to hell with him.
Not to mention that the skill he wanted to extract was not his strongest—[Extraction of the Dead (9th Echelon–Level 9)].
However, what Kai didn't expect when he extracted his other 9th Echelon skill was that he suddenly felt something within him awaken.
His body suddenly burst with a power that no one in the crowd understood, not even Kai himself.
A white–golden aura suddenly enveloped his body as a majestic yet small glowing white–golden halo appeared above his head.
The crowd felt a power full of life energy, but also a dread power that made them shudder unknowingly, as if they were faced with the Lord of the Dead himself.
"W-what is that power? How could he still have this much power?" Someone in the crowd shouted, causing the old man to come to his senses.
"What are you daydreaming about now? Stop him all at once!" The old man yelled, waking up the others from their shock.
Looking at the hundreds, if not thousands, of people attacking him at once, Kai didn't even feel anything as their movements were so slow that he could even take a quick nap first before reacting with their attacks.
He even felt that he was full of power as he suddenly mastered an extremely terrifying power as if he could even control the life or death of everyone in front of him.
"Die!"
Kai commanded, creating a dreadful black halo beneath his palm as he slowly raised his hand.
"Wh-what's tha—"
Before they could react, a wave of dreadful aura swept through his surroundings, annihilating everything living things, including people and trees, which rotted away and died.
Even Kai was surprised by himself, as he didn't even realize what he had just done.
...
At the same time, after Kai had killed his enemies, an old man in a white robe suddenly opened his eyes slowly before raising an eyebrow, as he was surprised that he had suddenly felt something interesting.
The old man sat in a lotus position in a pavilion set in the middle of a tranquil lake.
Above his head, there was a white halo that was similar to Kai's, except for the fact that his halo was as calm as the water in the lake, unlike Kai's halo that was quite unstable since he couldn't control it.
The old man then tilted his head slightly to the left, narrowing his eyes a little bit as his gaze appeared to penetrate through anything before coming to a halt when he spotted a young man with white hair and golden eyes, as well as a white-golden halo above his head.
"Interesting..." The old man muttered and smiled slightly as he narrowed his eyes further, seemingly scanning the young man's body as well as looking into his past.
"Well, since it could be said as fate, let me help you a little bit then." The old man mumbled, widening his smile as he discovered something unexpected when he saw the young man.
However, before the old man could act to help the young man, he was surprised when he heard a young man's voice.
"Old man, who are you?" Kai asked, feeling confused himself when he suddenly noticed that an old man was staring at him, and he could see the old man as his gaze seemed to have penetrated space and time.
'Ohhh, he can see me?' The old man's eyes shone brightly as he smiled at the young man's curious expression.
"Old man, can you hear me?" Kai raised an eyebrow, suspecting that the old man might not be able to hear him.
"Hahaha... Of course I can." The old man laughed as he stroked his long white beard.
He then added, "Before you ask any further, I will only answer one question from you with the condition that I can answer it. So, think wisely about your question."
After thinking for a few seconds, Kai finally made up his mind, believing that this was the most important question he needed at the time.
"Old man, what are these halos above our heads?" Kai pointed to the halo above his and the old man's heads.
"Unfortunately, that's one of the things that I can't tell you. Ask something else." The old man shook his head with a smile.
Kai was disappointed when he heard it, as he was really curious about what kind of power that he had just awakened and how the old man could also have it too.
However, he then immediately thought about something else that had become the sole reason why he wanted to become stronger.
"Old man, do you know the method to resurrect someone even when they had passed for a few years?"
Kai asked about it, believing that the old man should have known about it, even if only slightly, because he assumed that the old man must have been a very strong individual with a rank higher than the 9th Echelon.
"Hahaha... Your question is like a fish wondering whether it can swim or not." The old man laughed for a bit before waving his hand dismissively as he explained. "I'm sorry, you might not know this, but you will understand it by yourself in the future."
He then asked with a kind smile, "As for your question, do you ask it because you want to resurrect your family?"
Kai was taken aback when he heard it, as he had not expected the old man to be aware of it.
He then instantly became overjoyed since he thought that the old man must be really strong to the point that he might even know the method to resurrect someone.
"Yes! Can you please tell me about the method?" Kai asked eagerly, his eyes lit up with anticipation.
"Not only do I know the method, I can even help you to resurrect them." The old man replied with a chuckle.
Kai was stunned, opening his jaw as he hadn't expected such an answer.
"Old man...No—Senior, please help me! I will do anything for you if you can help me with it." Kai immediately kneeled on the ground, begging the old man as his life goal would be fulfilled if the old man resurrected his family.
"Young man, never—ever kneel to anyone but your parents and master!" The old man shook his head.
He then added, "And as for your request, you don't need to go that far to the point of doing anything for it. You only need to swear on your Dao heart that you owe me a favor and will help me once in the future. What do you thi—"
Before the old man could finish his sentence, Kai instantly stood up and swore loudly. "I swear upon my dao heart that I will owe you a favor and help you once in the future if you really manage to resurrect my family!"
The moment Kai said that, he instantly felt a mysterious power envelop him as he felt that he was compelled to carry out what had been sworn or else he felt something terrible would happen to him.
However, he didn't care that much since if the old man could actually do what he had said, he would even help him tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times in the future.
'What a smart little fellow.' The old man smiled when he heard that Kai would only owe him a favor if he were really able to do it.
"Good!" The old man nodded in approval before opening his palms upside down, creating two halos between his palms.
"Let's meet again in the future." The old man said with a smile and clasped his palms, combining the two halos instantly.
Before Kai could react, the moment the two halos combined, he felt that he was gradually losing his consciousness slowly as he watched his body slowly fall to the ground.
However, before he completely lost consciousness, he heard a few notifications ringing in his mind.
[Ding! Re-Awakening the host's class.]
[Ding! An error has been detected.]
[Ding! Finding a solution...]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, you have awakened the Immortality Lord Class (???)]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, your skill (Extraction of the Dead) has been upgraded to (??? level)]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, you have awakened your skill (Resurrection of the Dead)]
...