Divine Emperor of Death

After collecting the carcasses and the ores, Davis arrived beside the seventy-meter tall Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape that lifelessly lay on the ground with blood still flowing out from both holes on its head. It was not a clean kill but was definitely a one-shot kill, making him feel proud of his assassination skills.

He felt that attributed to Misdirection, his assassination skills could become the strongest weapon in his arsenal as long as the victim doesn't realize that some strange power was influencing him or her. Even then, by the time they realize something had gone wrong, perhaps, he might've already taken their lives.

It was that terrifying!

At this moment, Sophie arrived towards him from her hiding place, causing him to look at her in amusement with raised his brows as he saw her appear excited like a little child.

"Davis!!!"

Sophie whooshed towards him and stopped right in front of him as she scanned his figure with her gaze. Even though he cleaved the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape from inside and blood fell like rain from the severed heads, Davis appeared to be still clean.

On the other hand, Davis expected her to say something, but she still looked at him, appearing to be excitedly speechless. Well, it would be apt to say that he was expecting a praise or two as he managed to do what he said but looking at her remaining speechless, he moved as he grabbed her soft waist.

"Well, I can understand your disbelief in regards to my powers. But, how about a reward or something like that?" He asked, his sapphire eyes flashing with obvious intent.

He felt that a kiss wouldn't hurt.

Sophie picked it up but avoided his gaze as her cheeks took on a red hue, "A reward? I possibly c-can't..."

"Oh no, you can..." Davis chuckled with satisfaction, "But first, let me take care of the carcass..."

He let her go and turned to look at the King Beast Stage Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape that almost had bled out. Sophie also shyly turned to look at the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape with expectations, but the moment she laid her eyes on the carcass, she blinked before her eyes narrowed into two tiny silts.

Davis was just about to store it in his spatial ring when he suddenly heard her shout.

"Wait!"

Davis became taken aback as he looked at Sophie, wondering why she sounded extremely shocked. He followed her gaze and looked at the dead Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape. It was undoubtedly dead, so what did she scream for?

Sophie's purple pupils were dilated as she stared at the carcass of the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape. Specifically, she was staring at its forehead, where there was a tiny crimson bead embedded deep in its diamond-shaped crimson crystal.

Her purple eyes became normal, but she shook her head and blinked, noticing that it was still there and not her delusion.

"Is that what I think it is...?" She muttered, feeling her heartbeat increase while hearing it pound in her head.

"What is it...?" Davis glanced back and forth between her face and its head. What did she find?

Sophie grasped her cheeks, excitedly looking at Davis as she pointed towards its forehead, "It's the Crystallized Flame Bead of the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape..."

"Crystallized Flame Bead...?" Davis's eyes narrowed as his gaze settled on the diamond-shaped crystal before he saw an inconspicuous tiny bead on the center of its forehead.

His eyes went wide as it finally clicked in him!

"It's a Beast Flame's condensed source... Refining it can make the user conjure a Beast Flame within their dantian..."

Crystallized Flame Bead...

He vaguely knew this term as it was called Crystallized Flames, Condensed Flame Spark, Condensed Liquids, and whatnot. It all came in different forms, but it was true that various magical beasts were capable of producing them. The conditions to give birth to them in their body were unknown, but once this kind of resource was found in them, humans would go crazy to obtain them even if it meant sacrificing many things!

After all, it's a Beast Flame that could increase their prowess and aid their cultivation base!

"That's right!" Sophie's eyes gleamed, "Ranked Thirty-Second in the Emperor Grade Beast Flame Chart! Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape Flames!"

Davis knew nothing about Emperor Grade Beast Flames. However, he could tell that it should be better in terms of prowess when compared to Nora Alstreim's Purple Yin Star Flame. After all, the latter was Peak-Level King Grade while the former appeared to be Low-Level Emperor Grade.

However, the prowess that could be harnessed from a Beast Flame would be relatively less than a Flame Essence unless the user has absorbed the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape's blood essence.

Nonetheless, since it was a Beast Flame, he felt that it should have the potential to increase in strength as long as he obtained many blood essences of Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes to feed it.

He appeared a bit absentminded before he chuckled while turning to look at Sophie. He had actually missed it, and the one who noticed it was none other than Sophie herself.

His routine was killing and storing, so he didn't bother to check. Perhaps, he would've found it later or sold it to gain Peak-Level Spirit Stones while the buyer would've greedily profited out of him, but who knows about something that would come to happen later?

His sapphire eyes were fixed on Sophie with an intense gaze, "It's yours..."

"That's right!" Sophie appeared excited, "With this, you can finally improve your Fire Laws to a tremen-"

She suddenly stopped, feeling like she heard something else as she turned to look at Davis in confusion.

"What...?"

"I said it's yours..." Davis implied in a deep tone.

"What!? I can't take something so precious...!" Sophie flinched as she retreated, "Don't be absurd! You single-handedly hunted this Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape, so it belongs to you!"

"That's right..." Davis smiled, "But now I'm giving to you, so it's yours..."

"But..."

"Sophie..." Davis called out, causing her to grow silent.

"Do you train in Fire Laws as main, or do I? I think the answer should be obvious by now on who this should go to?"

Sophie's expression trembled as she appeared to be moved. Actually, she was planning on asking Davis later, feeling like she could try her luck. After all, this Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape's Crystallized Flame Bead was extremely useful to her in helping her conjure the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape Flames that would aid her in forging.

It was practically perfect for forging, not to mention that it would tremendously increase her battle prowess. But now that he gave it to her as if it belonged to her from the first, she couldn't help but tear up.

She didn't expect this at all as in front of valuable resources; it didn't matter if it were loved ones, people would tend to put themselves first. Although she knew Davis wasn't a person like that with what she saw, she still couldn't help but become extremely moved when she saw the reality with her own two eyes.

He was just the man she perceived him to be...

She quickly rubbed her eyes and sniffled, "Then I'll ask you myself. Can I have the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape's Crystallized Flame Bead...?"

Davis softly chuckled at her sincerity, "You really can... You can have anything that would make you strong since I need you to be with me till I die one day..."

Sophie's lips trembled as she held back her tears. She took a step forward, hovered above a bit as she pressed her lips on his of her own volition, sharing an innocent kiss with him before she separated and looked into his sapphire eyes.

"What?" Davis smilingly asked

"The reward..." Sophie shyly lowered her head, "I gave it..."

"Oh..." Davis appeared taken aback as he had forgotten entirely about that after finding the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape's Crystallized Flame Bead.

Looking at her shy expression, he just wanted to get a room.

"You wait, I'll collect it now..." Davis held his fists and cracked as he turned to look at the Scorched-Crystal Crimson Ape.

He knew that if he used Yama on its crimson crystal, Yama would break without a doubt. So the only way he could crack it was using through his bare fists.

"Please be careful..." Sophie uttered as she recognized the sturdiness of the crimson crystal.

It was what that gave their Elders a tough time to break, making these Scorched-Crystal Crimson Apes rather be unbridled towards them, just like those Twin-Shelled Earthen Tortoises. She even felt it would be better to return before collecting it from its forehead crystal.

She was afraid that he would rather hurt his fists despite seeing his strength.

Davis hovered above its forehead, wanting to use Earth Dragon's Destructive Fist with Hardened Scales, but he changed his mind and concentrated as he placed his palm on the center of the crystal.

"Earth Dragon Shatters The Earth..."

Martial energy surged from his palm and cracked the crimson crystal's surface before the crack spread for a few meters deep. However, it was still a few meters away from reaching the Crystallized Flame Bead.

"Good..."

Davis smiled as he knew that he should not crack the Crystallized Flame Bead as well. Therefore, he lowered his martial energy prowess before moving on to breaking it with the same technique.

He used the move two more times before the crystal shattered enough, revealing the price he was eager to take and hand it over to Sophie. It appeared to look like a beryl bead, but that was incredibly complex flame patterns that made Davis frown as he felt his head go dizzy.

Even then, he continued to stare at it for a while, feeling like grasping something before his eyes went wide!

The heaven and earth energy around him resonated, making his essence energy surge out as it transformed into flames amidst Sophie's dumbfounded gaze. It didn't stop there, but the heaven and earth energy around him strangely fluctuated again as his essence energy danced with weirdly patterned flames.

'My comprehension in Fire Laws has reached Level One Intent...?'

Davis possessed a dumbfounded expression like Sophie before he chuckled in amusement. It was absolutely useless to the current him, but who knows?

He felt that it could be a start for something...