Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 159 The Complicated Things (Part One)

Darren let his eyes rest upon the map again. He couldn't help it. Seeing all of the forces in the worldlaid out in front of him on a small piece of paper completely fascinated him.

Looking at the map, he could easily identify the area he was in at the moment. The map not onlyindicated the position of each force, but also specified the perimeters of the territory that each forceowned, including the Northern, the Eastern, and the Western. As he looked closer at the map,Darren was surprised to see that the map included even the territory occupied by the Grand Realmfighters.

In comparison to all the other areas that had markings, the border region of the map wascompletely blank with no labels on it whatsoever. It seemed rather mysterious, so naturally, Darren'spassion for exploring unsolved mysteries was woken up.

"Darren, you can stay here for as long as you like. Actually, I encourage you to do so. The Holy Landis a good place for you to cultivate. Once you are powerful enough, you may leave this place andsearch for better cultivation resources. You can rest assured that no one will harm you during yourstay here in the Holy Land! You have my word,” the Holy Lord Diana said to Darren.

"Duly noted, Holy Lord! Thank you so much. I really appreciate your hospitality,” Darren uttered inthanks. Then, Darren started contemplating. There was something that still did not make sense tohim. "There is something I have been wondering about, and I just cannot keep it out of my mind.You said that the Holy Lands aren't that powerful but they rank high among all the forces in theworld for a particular reason. Do you think you can tell me what that reason is?" Darren inquired.The words the Holy Lord Diana had said kept running through his mind, and he could no longerkeep his curiosity at bay. Now that they were alone, he took it as an opportunity to ask her about itand finally clear up the confusion in his mind.

However, his question seemed to make Diana on guard. "All I can tell you is that it has something todo with the forbidden areas that our eight Holy Lands are guarding. I'm sorry, Darren, but that's all Ican say. I can't give you any more details,” she responded carefully.

Although she kept all of the details of the secret to herself, the simple explanation she had justgiven was enough to pique Darren's interest even further.

However, he knew there were boundaries and he shouldn't be asking things he wasn't supposed toknow. Truth be told, Darren believed that none of the Holy Lords knew as much about the forbiddenareas as he did. He didn't think they even knew about the existence of the thing named witcher.

As he lost in his thoughts and was reminiscing about his experience of bumping into the witcher lasttime, Diana spoke once again in her soft, amiable voice, "I sent for you not only because I wanted totell you the truth about Belle or show you the map. I actually have a little reward for you.Considering your contribution to our land, I will allow you to cultivate in our miraculous lotus forthree days. Given your current state, you might be able to level up by three stages if you try hard,”the Holy Lord Diana offered. The offer would have sent anyone crying out in excitement. However,Darren felt differently about it.

"I appreciate your kindness, Holy Lord! I truly do. But I don't think I'm in a hurry to upgrade mycultivation stage at the moment," he said curtly.

Even though Darren had always been very eager to upgrade his skill, he was not going to be hastyand foolhardy about it this time.

Others might want to upgrade their skills as fast as they possibly could, but Darren knew that hewas different from the others, and the way usually applied well on others would have a differenteffect on him

His body was still in the state of refusing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. He could onlyabsorb the spiritual energy via assimilating, and he knew that cultivating in that lotus would onlyexpedite the speed of his assimilating spiritual energy without providing him with the strength heneeded. Therefore, it would not be much of a use for him. Speeding up his cultivation that muchwould very likely backfire on him and cause some unwanted side effects instead. In the long run, hemight experience from having a vacant, false spiritual energy that might lead to crippling injuriesthat would affect him for the rest of his life.

"You ungrateful thing!" the Holy Lord Diana joked while smiling at him. "If you don't want toupgrade your stage, then I won't push you. But one day, you might replace that you lost an invaluableopportunity today," she added.

Darren grinned absent-mindedly at her. He thought about taking her up on her offer now, but heknew that there was no point. Perhaps one day, when he really needed some help, that was when hewould take her up on her offer. "If there is nothing else, will it be alright if I take my leave?" Darrensaid, rising from his seat.

"Yes, my attendant disciple will see you to the door," Diana replied. She knew quite well what Darrenhad been thinking.

She herself, understood that given Darren's current cultivation stage, practicing in the lotus wouldnot bring him much benefit, so she chose not to persuade him any further.

After leaving Diana's place, the same attendant disciple who had brought him there led him towardsBelle's room.

The moment Belle saw him, her face lit up with joy.

"My dearest brother!" she exclaimed delightfully and rushed to him, her arms stretching out to hugher brother.

Darren's heart warmed up with love and tenderness upon seeing his little lovely sister. "Belle, how isyour master? I was at the Holy Lord's place, and thought I would swing by in case you wanted to seeme," he said. As he watched Belle's beautiful large eyes gleam with excitement from seeing him,Darren had the urge to hold out his hand and stroke her silky hair with his fingers lovingly.

Belle grinned joyfully at him and replied, "My master has not fully recovered yet, but don't worry!She just needs a few more days of proper rest and she will be as healthy as ever.” Once theirexcitement from seeing the most important person to the world to them had subdued, a confusedlook came over Belle's face. "Darren, why did the Holy Lord call you to her palace? What did shewant to talk to you about?" she inquired.

"Nothing in particular, really. Just a few trivial matters. She wanted to check on me and see if I'mfeeling better,” Darren said casually, trying to avoid the subject so that he wouldn't say anythingabout what the Holy Lord had said about Belle by mistake. Darren smiled faintly. He thought aboutwhat Diana had told him about Belle, and he could not help but feel a complexity of emotions as hewatched Belles innocent face. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine that his family mightnot be his real family, and that his sister, whom he had known all his life, would actually be adescendant of an unusual, exceptional family. Now that he knew that Belle was not his real sister,and that she might react badly if she knew about her bloodline and the disastrous history of herfamily, Darren felt a stabbing pain in his heart. Right now, he did not think Belle would be able tohandle such information. Perhaps, one day she would be ready to replace out, but for now, Darren feltthat it would be better to keep the secret so that he could protect her just like he always had.