The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 128: Under Arrest

The rest of the energy from the pill started flowing through his body. This time, it wasn’t flowing through his meridians. It was directly entering his flesh.

Adrian’s flesh screamed in protest as the raw energy of the Rank 5 pill surged through it. Every fiber of his body convulsed, as if set aflame from the inside. But he did not stop. He couldn’t.

It wasn’t just his flesh. Even his bones had started letting out creaking sounds. The tension they were under was enough to crush the bones of normal cultivators.

Yet, Adrian persisted. For two grueling hours, he bore with the pain, and finally, just as he was about to pass out, his persistence bore fruit. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

A shockwave of force erupted from his body, sending dust scattering across the Blood Star’s landscape. Adrian’s eyes snapped open, glowing with a fierce bronze light before fading.

He exhaled sharply, his body drenched in sweat and a black gooey substance, but thrumming with newfound strength. He stood up and started flexing and stretching his body.

He had been sitting cross-legged for about four hours now, and his body was feeling a little stiff. His muscles were firm and taut, filled with amazing strength.

If someone were to inspect his internal structure, they would find that his bones had become bronze in colour. Not just surrounded by a bronze aura, they had literally become bronze.

This was the defining factor of the late stage of the Bronze body. However, Adrian wasn’t just at the late stage of the Bronze body. He had reached the very peak.

The only path forward for him was the next level of the Diamond Sovereign physique. Adrian glanced at the pill bottle that still had four more pills.

In theory, he could use these pills to increase his strength further; however, he refrained from doing so. It was different now.

He had reached the peak of both the Foundation Establishment realm, and he was also a peak Rank 1 body cultivator. The only way to get stronger now was to break through to the next realm.

However, he couldn’t do so lightly. He had not accumulated enough foundation in his current stage, and breaking through recklessly would only harm his future prospects.

Plus, Adrian had plans for his next breakthrough. He wasn’t going to jeopardize his future just for a little power now. Adrian stood up and began inspecting his body.

In truth, Adrian was very excited right now. The feeling of rapidly increasing his power was indescribable. Adrian was almost addicted to it.

As painful as it was, the rewards were much more satisfying than he had ever imagined. He was even tempted to go back to the Misty Mountain to find a random beast to fight.

That was how excited he was. Of course, he wasn’t going to do such a thing. Let alone going to the Misty Mountains, he couldn’t even leave the city right now.

That was his current predicament and the reason he did all of this in the first place. As soon as he remembered this, his excitement calmed down.

He may have become more powerful, but it wasn’t enough to get him out of his current debacle. However, before he could continue pondering his current crisis, a foul odor wafted into his nose.

He blinked before finally noticing his soiled clothes. The impurities from his body had dirtied his clothes, leaving him looking like he had just entered a swamp.

Some of the impurities had even dried up and resembled mud sticking to his skin, and were falling off as he moved around.

It was clear what he needed to do. He needed to take a bath. Everything else could wait until he had taken a bath. He couldn’t do that in the blood star, so he had to leave and go back to his room.

As soon as he appeared in his room in the inn, he immediately discarded his clothes, tossing them out the window. He rushed to the bath before jumping into the tub.

He spent a few hours just soaking himself inside. Meanwhile, the rest of the inn was facing an unexpected crisis. A terrible odor that was stinkier than what most of them had ever inhaled before began permeating throughout the inn.

At first, most patrons ignored it, but after it spread throughout the whole inn, it became a serious issue. The patrons at the restaurants below couldn’t eat their meals, and those in their rooms had already come out and started complaining.

The whole inn became rowdy as angry customers complained to the staff of the inn. Even the manager had to come out to appease them, but it was to no avail.

"What the hell is this terrible smell?"

"Do you guys not even clean your inn properly?"

"It smells as if someone took their shit and smeared it all over the walls!"

"How are we supposed to eat in this filth. Even if the inn is in the slums, it still should smell like shit."

As the staff and employees tried their best to placate the aggrieved crowd, the one responsible for it was busy dozing off in the bathtub.

By the time Adrian woke up, it was already evening. He stepped out of the bathtub, and a new set of robes appeared in his hands. He quickly dressed and was now ready to leave.

He put on the Veil of a Hundred Shadows and stepped out of his room. As he went down the stairs, he was surprised to find that there was barely anybody inside the inn.

Only the employees and a few customers could be found. He wondered what had happened to the inn that was almost full just a few hours ago. He noticed that the employees seemed to be cleaning the inn from top to bottom.

However, he paid little attention to this and simply left the inn. When he stepped outside, he noticed the moon hung in the air. It was nighttime now in the city, and the atmosphere in the city had changed.

Street lights were rampant, giving the city a very vibrant atmosphere. However, none of this was important to Adrian. He barely glanced at them before making his way towards an alley.

He took off the Veil and put on his flooded cloak. Then he stepped out back into the street and began making his way back towards the inn that Jayson and Olivia were in.

However, it seems that the days when things went his way were over. Almost as soon as he stepped out of the alley. He ran into two guards who were passing by on the street.

As soon as he got close to them, he could smell the stench of alcohol from both of them. It was obvious that they were both very intoxicated. He wanted to avoid them, but one of them tripped over his feet and bumped into Adrian.

"Watch where you’re going, bastard!" The guards spat.

Adrian’s brow twitched, but he didn’t reply. He simply side-stepped the man and continued walking.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The second guard grabbed Adrian’s shoulder roughly. "What’s this? Too good to answer, are you?" he slurred, breath rancid with cheap wine. "Think you’re better than us because you wear a fancy cloak?"

"You’re just a lowly Foundation Establishment realm trash."

Adrian turned his head slightly. His gaze under the hood was still calm, but there was a faint glimmer in his eyes. However, he didn’t do anything. He wasn’t stupid enough to blow up over a few words.

He simply brushed the guard’s hand away from his shoulder and continued walking off.

"Y-You bastard!" The guard, whose hand was brushed off, stuttered in his anger. He rushed towards Adrian, who was still walking away, and tried to throw a punch.

Adrian, who was still paying attention to them, quickly side-stepped him. The guard, whose punch missed, lost balance and fell face-first to the ground.

His partner quickly rushed to his side, and the two of them began glaring daggers at Adrian. By now, a small crowd had gathered around them, watching the scene with rapt attention.

Some were watching with amusement, while others were shaking their heads in pity for the cloaked figure that seemed to have incurred the guards’ wrath.

One of the guards who noticed the crowd gathered narrowed his eyes. He was about to dismiss them when an idea popped into his head. Suddenly, a glint shone in his eyes. He stood straight and declared in a loud voice.

"By the order of the City Lord, you are under arrest under suspicion of your involvement in the beast tide in the Misty Mountains.

Follow us obediently or face the consequences."

The second guard’s eyes shone in understanding, realizing what his partner was doing. He also straightened his posture, trying to appear serious, despite just looking like a homeless drunk a few minutes ago.

Murmurs rippled through the surrounding crowd as they understood what these guards were trying to do.