Chapter 1708 — Introverts nightmare

Jack unsealed the Jolly Rancher, revealing its magnificent figure in front of the stunned Oroo who kept looking at the ship, and then at Jack, followed by the ship again.

"What’s the matter?" Jack asked, as if completely oblivious to the slight difference in size between them. "How do you like the ship? I made it myself, growing it from a tree using my fairy dust."

"It’s... impressive," Oroo answered diplomatically. "It must have been a lot of work."

"Yeah, it was," Jack answered, deciding not to tease her too much. Who knew how Celestials reacted to teasing?

"Well, fret not. Regardless of its size, we will make it fit to sail the Void. Now come on, next up is the reward you’re likely most looking forward to: your karmic curse is going to be suppressed. While at it, we’re also going to make you untraceable."

Jack was ready to literally burst with joy upon hearing that his karmic curse was going to be suppressed. The stench was an ever present torture that he could not get used to at all. If he hadn’t used its effect on him to cultivate and increase his mental resilience, he might have already killed himself just to be free of that torture.

"There’s one catch, though," Oroo said, her tone containing a hint of warning. "For those two specific rewards, you will have to leave the Artica realm. We have prepared your transport."

Jack suddenly stopped, and stared at Oroo through squinted eyes. Leaving the Artica realm would be a huge risk. Who knows what the alliance could do to him once he left the safety of the Artica realm.

Then again, he had already been proven that the supervision of the Artica race on this realm was far from perfect, and if the alliance really wanted to harm him, they wouldn’t need to kidnap him.

"How come?" Jack asked, deciding to trust them.

"You’ll find out soon enough," Oroo said mysteriously. "Don’t worry, the whole thing won’t take too long. You’ll be back before you know it."

"Yes, I’m sure nothing unexpected will happen at all," said Jack, rolling his eyes.

Nevertheless, he followed Oroo to yet another room where he saw the coolest looking coffin ever. It was made of layers and layers of metallic rings, each revolving constantly, forming a coffin that was continuously moving. The rings were filled with designs and shapes, making them look cool.

"Let me guess, I have to get in the coffin," said Jack, looking at it. It wasn’t hard to guess. It was exactly his size.

"That’s not a coffin. It’s a Quantum Pendulum," Oroo said, as if that explained everything.

"A Quantum Pendulum? What is that?" Jack asked, confused.

"Who knows? One of the alliances most reliable artificers adds quantum to the name of everything he makes. What it is, and how it works, I don’t know. What I can tell you is that it can transport you instantly across the void to a specific destination. It’s even faster than actual teleportation across the Void. This bad boy is only used for the most V of VIPs, so you better appreciate it."

Jack raised an eyebrow. Considering how vast the distances between realms were, that really was an incredible feat. Oroo rearranged the rings to open the coffin/Quantum Pendulum, allowing Jack to get inside.

"Enjoy the next bit. It’s not a privilege many have ever enjoyed," she said, her voice almost wistful. Before Jack could inquire as to the details, the rings started to revolve once more, blocking off Jack’s view.

He waited for the transportation to begin, but a moment later, the rings stopped revolving again, revealing an entirely new location.

Jack’s wings vibrated, vaguely detecting the different laws in this place, back Jack hadn’t yet understood the powers of Immortal fairies enough to tell the difference.

"Take your position in the center of the chamber, fairy," spoke a commanding voice, and before Jack knew it, he was flying into the room in front of him. This was not the same as the compulsion that Grimshaw induced.

Rather, Jack recognized the faint signs of a Dao Lord that Lex had begun to notice after meeting them so frequently.

When Jack took his designated spot, he realized that he seemed to be surrounded by rows of dark figures in robes. Jack got goosebumps when he realized that... that each and every one of them was a... was a Dao Lord!

"It is the decision of the Humanoid Alliance that you are to receive the highest level of concealment that can be offered to an Immortal being. As such, you will undergo the cleansing ritual, removing all traces of your actions henceforth. Not even Dao Lords will be able to trace you - however, you should know, this process is not reversible. Once done, it cannot be undone."

"I have no problem with that," said Jack immediately.

"Furthermore, the effects of your karmic curse will be suppressed. You should know, only the effects will be suppressed. That means that neither the curse itself, or even the effects will be gone forever. They will, eventually, return."

This time, Jack did not get a chance to respond. In a room full of multiple Dao Lords, none were interested in hearing him speak, though that was not surprising really.

Faintly, Jack wondered if he would need to cleanse himself of the Dao Lords auras, but he felt like the alliance wouldn’t make such a simple mistake. The thought of being untraceable, even to Dao Lords, sounded great to him though.

Once all of this was over, he could get to work on finding the Nexus point, setting up the Midnight Castle and creating a secret hideout for himself.

As for the whole racial leader thing... well, he’d deal with problems as they came. He had decided his path to growth, at least as a fairy, wouldn’t be the traditional cultivation path of fairies. No, he’d be a Paladin.

After all, it seemed like the cultivation path forward for fairies was effectively crippled. He’d know more once he got his hands on the records, but if that really was the case, being a Paladin seemed to be the easier way of growing stronger. The only issue was... his oath was hard to fulfill, and he wasn’t going to deliberately endanger his friends. That only meant one thing: he’d have to embrace the introverts nightmare and go out and make a lot of friends.