In a corner of the universe, there is a planet called Mira. The Mira was in a galaxy located in the Chaos Zone. Chaos Zone was the zone between two astral regions. The galaxy in Chaos Zone had a small solar system with mostly a Sun and a planet.

On the Eastern continent of Mira, there was a human alone in the Commonwealth Guild. The human wore a black button shirt and jeans. He had black hair in a crew cut hairstyle. He walked to a self-service counter and logged in to the kiosk with his identification, Ye. Then he sought a party that was going to WuJi (无极). 

The Commonwealth Guild was a guild formed by various groups of individuals. The Commonwealth Guild was one of the largest guilds. It had branches across Central’s astral region.

The guild accepted any awakener who had reached a level of 10. It was one of the reasons that the Commonwealth Guild had the largest membership. The other reason was that the member wouldn’t be bound by the kingdom or an individual from a higher society. The Commonwealth Guild wouldn’t provide many resources in exchange for freedom. Additionally, if the guild requires assistance, the member must lend a hand.

After a few minutes, Ye finally found the party he needed and sent his request to join via the kiosk. After logging out from the kiosk, Ye found a seat in the rest area and waited for the notification.

***

An individual ran while waving his hand,  “Boss, someone has applied to our party. Here is his information.”

The boss inspected the information and laughed, “He is weak. Good. Good. Accept him, and we will depart after the meal.”

The individual nodded and accepted the Ye’s party request via his bracelet. Then, he returned to his place and continued his meal.

***

Ye was sitting in the party's truck. It’s a small truck with four wheels and two segments. The head was where the driver and co-driver were seated. The rear segment was where the goods, Ye, and others were sitting. 

Ye got to know that the boss was named Eric. He formed this party a few years ago after he retired from the first line. He originated from an empire called Balcenia, located on the Western continent.

WuJi was founded five years ago and needed a large labor force. Eric came to the Eastern continent in search of an opportunity. They usually accepted transportation tasks at the Commonwealth Guild. The party members were retired soldiers. Their combat had dropped.

Along the way to WuJi, there were some Huang (荒) who wanted to attack the truck. But they were killed by the member at the rear who used two Yuan Li blaster guns on the side of the truck.

At night, they set up a portable cabin for rest. They assigned Ye to a corner far from the light sources. 

After dinner, Ye returned to his place to rest. At the same time, the other group members gathered around and discussed.

Eric, the boss, whispered, “He doesn’t seem to be rich and has no relatives. We can use him as a tribute. Our all-mighty God will be pleased and praise us for our effort.”

The other members were excited by Eric’s statement, and their eyes began to blink. As if they knew they would receive a feast and reward, saliva dripped from their mouth.

***

At midnight, they approached Ye’s cabin. Eric released a sealed magic with a crystal. A barrier was formed and covered the cabin.

Upon entering the cabin, they lost control over their own body. Everyone was shocked and panicked.

Eric shouted, “Calm down!!! Plan B!!!”

Everyone was bleeding from their faces, and a magic circle began to form with the blood. Ye, who sat on his bed, made an up hand gesture. Numerous creatures with only heads emerged from the shadows.

The heads began to bite those who entered Ye’s cabin. Eric, the mastermind, was confused by the turn of events. 

What came out of Eric’s mouth was, “What are these things?”

Ye walked towards the group, “They were called Head Lantern. The number of faces they wear equals their hierarchy. One face, one expression is the lowest. They could only grow by consuming the same expression. Ah, by the way, the heads are not their true bodies.”

Ye pointed at the shadows, “Their true bodies were in there.”

Eric lowered his head to look at the shadow. What he saw was a mouth with sharp teeth and a tongue with a backward-facing spine covered.

Eric was on the verge of crumbling, and he remembered a method the Father gave him. The Father instructed him to use it when he faced grave danger. He bit his tongue and murmured the chant for the magic.

Eric, “O my all-mighty God, I herely present my everything, what I wish for is a miracle, please grant me your blessing…”

A dry finger was summoned, and numerous veins were connected to Eric. The finger began to absorb Eric’s blood.

At first, the finger seemed human. On closer inspection, the finger didn’t have skin and muscles. The Yuan Li of the finger made it look like muscles. The blood from Eric was turned into the Yuan Li that the finger needed.

The blood-red finger pointed at Ye, and every single part of Ye was bleeding. In a second, Ye was covered in blood. The Head Lanterns submerged under Ye’s shadow.

The finger’s veins connected to Ye and started to absorb. Ye was lying on the ground, and he snapped his finger. Ye’s blood turned into a black mist inside the finger.

The finger began to crack and crumble. Ye sat up and waited for his regeneration. Looked at the finger, patiently watching it be destroyed.

A few minutes passed, and a female voice sounded nearby.

“Here!!! A battle happened here!!!”

The female kunoichi inspected the surroundings. She found that the finger was trying to launch its last attack. Without any hesitation, she slashed the finger with her skill - Falling Petals Slash (落花斩). The female kunoichi leapt into the sky. She performed multiple thrusts as she descended. As if an eagle hunted its prey.

The female kunoichi was in a purple sleeveless body suit that showed her curves. The arm guards reached up to her elbows. She had spiky bangs, turquoise eyes, and long dark blue hair. Her face was covered by a mouth covering mask.

She noticed Ye was regenerating and inspected Ye. After checking and finding nothing suspicious, she approached Ye.

She asked, “Do you know what happened here?”

Ye responded by nodding his head. Another female kunoichi arrived and was shocked by the aftermath of the battle.

Another female kunoichi asked, “Sis, what happened here?”

The other female kunoichi was wearing a black-leotard body suit with a deep orange skirt. She held dual daggers in both hands, and arm guards reached her elbows. She had short orange hair, spiky bangs, and blue eyes. Like her sister, her face was covered by a mouth-covering mask. Her skin was tanned, while the first kunoichi was yellow.

The first kunoichi shook her head, “I just arrived earlier than you a few minutes ago. There is not much difference from what you and I saw.”

Another female kunoichi had a smile on her face, “Ehe, my sister is the strongest. Since you had defeated the thing here. So, I thought you had found out the answer.”

The first kunoichi signed and inspected Ye. She informed her other squad members that she had found a person with an injury. She pulled down her mask and revealed her face.

She introduced herself to Ye, “My name is Asagi Hasegawa (长谷川 浅葱), and she is Sakura Hasegawa (长谷川 樱). We are a task force from WuJi. We will bring you back to WuJi. To investigate the situation here. Sorry, we have to put you to sleep for safety purposes.”

Asagi Hasegawa injected a shot into Ye’s neck with a stinger. The effect kicked in, and Ye soon fell asleep.

***

When Ye woke up, he was in a ward. It was a ward that singled out the patient and the connection with the outside.

Ye sat up and looked around the ward. Two individuals entered the ward. They were in formal attire. One of them was Asagi Hasegawa.

The woman with long blonde hair, “I’m one of the Yuan Zhu (源柱) in WuJi. My name is Jin Sheng (金胜).” 

“Currently, you are in the territory of WuJi. Starts now, you are bound to follow the laws of WuJi. Do you understand?”

Ye nodded, “Understand.”

Jin Sheng continued, “Alright, I would like to ask you some questions. Are you ok with it?”

Ye nodded and answered, “Sure.”