Both Gaya and Noah slowly approached the old man. As if he had heard something, the old man finally raised his head up, slowly. With cloudy eyes, he looked at them. Vedora quickly went inside the satchel to hide.

  An old man, a really old man who was long past his prime. The robe covering his body was really loose, he had wrinkled skin on his face and an extremely thin body. He looked just like a skeleton who had nothing but skin. Pretty horrifying as he looked like a mummy.

  The old man's aura was really weak as if he was going to die at any time. And yet, he was still alive.

  "Sigh…someone is here again… someone is going to die soon… sign."

  The old man let out two sighs. His voice was shrill, making it unpleasant to listen to. It looked like he had gotten used to the deaths happening here.

  "A Soul Refining stage warrior"

  Noah looked closer at the old man. He immediately found out the cultivation level of the old man. But, because the vital signs of the old man were really weak, and there was no Celestial energy that could be sensed in his body, as it had been completely depleted, he couldn't determine which level this old man was.

  "Such young sprouts. Too bad you've come to this land of death."

  The old man let out another sigh, then he just flicked his wrist as a golden barrier appeared around them.

  "It's been twenty years, all who came here before me have gone. Now, I'm soon going to leave as well. For twenty years, I had no one to talk to. At Least heaven's granted me with my last wish. Pity the last person you're gonna meet is this old man"

  The old man carried a smile on his face. The despair and anger he had when he first arrived at this place was long gone; he had seen through life and death. The old man seemed calm, no signs of grievance could be found on his face. However, from his pair of cloudy eyes, one could still tell that he is grieving.

  "If this old man leaves this place, his cultivation will take a long dip before rising back again," Noah thought to himself. After breaking through to the Soul Refining stage, a cultivator required a constant supply of Celestial energy to achieve higher levels in cultivation. If the cultivator didn't get enough Celestial energy, his cultivation will gradually decline. Considering this old man was stuck here without Celestial energy, when or if he escaped the Fire Real, his cultivation would drop down to lower stages before returning to his previous state.

  "Shit, you stayed here for twenty years. I hope what you were searching for in Fire Realm is worth it" Gaya rolled her eyes.

  "Being able to stay alive in this harsh environment, you must have been at the peak of Soul Refining Stage old man. If I am right, you must have come looking for something that could help you deal with your bottleneck and reach Fusion Stage. After twenty years in this environment, the bottleneck has gone but you got stuck here" Noah said with an indifferent tone.

  "Those skeletons belonged to the people who came to see what happened to you"

  Hearing this, the old man's cloudy eyes suddenly light up. He stared at Noah with a look of disbelief. He couldn't help but start examining the young man in front of him.

  Being able to discover he had a bottleneck with a single look, and also judging his real cultivation level just from knowing how long he had been here was not someone anyone could do, that's why this old man couldn't help being shocked. Besides, he found out that the men who died here came searching for him.

  "What a keen eye… but, too bad…"

  The old man kept shaking his head, his eyes filled with deep regret. He could easily tell that Noah was extraordinary and had innate potential, a genius like this was supposed to become a well-known guy in the world. But now, he had to die in this shit place. What a pity. Gaya was looking around the place to find a way to deal with the golden barrier while the old man was talking to Noah.

  "Twenty years ago, I traveled alone to Fire Realm searching for something that could help me reach Fusion Stage. My damn luck and fate, I accidentally stepped into this place and activated the barrier set up by someone, and it has been twenty years since then."

  The old man said in a self-mocking manner. He didn't look at Noah, as if he was just talking to himself. But at the same time, it seemed he rather enjoyed the feeling of talking. It seemed like he hadn't talked to anyone for quite a long time. If he could go back in time, he would stop himself from venturing into the Fire Realm.

  "By estimations, my death will arrive tomorrow. But, I don't want to be like all the other people who died here, having my body corroded by the poison, that's too tragic. Young man, once I die tomorrow, burn my body"

  This was the last request from an old man who had gone past his prime.

  The old man looked at Noah, focusing on the flames dancing around his body. Gaya didn't give a shit about the old man's tragedy. She was busy searching for a way out of here.

  Noah inwardly sighed. The man didn't ask Noah to help him accomplish any weird unfulfilled desire at the last moment of his life, and neither did he have any special orders for Noah. He only requested that Noah burn his body and allow him to have a proper death.

  Noah however just calmly smiled at the old man.

  "Old man, your estimation is really accurate. If I didn't come, you'd be dead by tomorrow. But the lady luck smiled on you, I'm here"

  Noah walked toward the old man, then he waved his hand and unleashed a flame. The dancing flame shot out from Noah's body took the shape of an angel; a humanoid figure with feathery wings. It transformed into a flame barrier and covered the old man within. In an instant, all the surrounding poisonous vapor was pushed away, as if it had just met its natural enemy.

  Noah had decided to save this old man, not for any specific reason, but because this old man had been persistently staying alive in this place for twenty years. Noah really respected his endurance. Besides, Noah never ignored anyone in need of help.

  "What a majestic flame, it actually carries a divine aura. Even the poisonous vapor from the Fire Realm doesn't dare try to corrode it."

  The old man's eyes opened as wide as they could.

  After a short shocking moment, the old man returned to his calm state. He looked at the fire barrier covering his body, and with a smile on his face, he said,

  "Young man put away this flame barrier, it will only consume your energy and focus. You can't hold it for a long time. The poisonous vapor has already invaded my body, I'm dying.? You can only lessen the pain but can't stop the inevitable."

  "If you wanted to die, you could have ended your life a long time ago. You hoped to leave this place. Don't lose hope now. Let me help you get rid of all the poisonous miasma in your body." After saying that, Noah placed his palm on the old man's chest.

  The moment Noah placed his hand on the old man, the old man's body swayed a little. He stared at Noah's palm with no idea what Noah was going to do next. He knew very well about his current condition, and it was impossible to get rid of the poison that had invaded his body.

  The old man who had been tense for the last twenty years had finally loosened up completely at this moment. He saw the confidence in Noah's eyes, and it made him feel calm, as well as hopeful yet again.

  Noah unleashed the poison absorbing skill he learned from Andreas, his mentor. Heaven's flame seeped through the old man's body. Sending a primordial flame into someone else's body was extremely dangerous. One misstep and the flame would burn the body into ashes.

  Yet this old man had no fear because, with his current condition, there was nothing that could scare him. After all, he was soon going to die. Besides, if Noah really was up to something bad, he could just kill the old man with a palm strike, there was no need to go through so much hassle.

  Heaven's flame circulated an entire round within the old man's body. After that, it returned to Noah's body. It only took Noah a few minutes before he had completed the healing process. Finally, he removed his palm from the old man's chest.

  Puh!

  The old man violently trembled, and in an instant, he threw up a mouthful of black blood and began violently coughing.

  The old man coughed for some time before he returned to normal. Then, he immediately raised his head to look at Noah who was calmly smiling at him.

  The old man checked his body's condition, and he instantly found out that all the poison that had been corroding his body for the last twenty years had disappeared. His internal organs that had completely lost their vital signs were actually pumping with an extremely active force now.

  More importantly, since all the poison was gone, the old man felt extremely relaxed and comfortable, as if someone had just lifted a gigantic mountain that had been weighing down on him for the last two decades.

  "I…I…am healed"

  The old man closed his eyes. He really enjoyed this moment, it was a feeling he hadn't felt for so many years.

  Twenty years, day by day, year by year, he had been suffering from constant pain. For ordinary people, suffering such severe pain for twenty years would definitely make that person crazy.

  The old man did go crazy before, but in the end, he had seen through life and death. Now, Noah had restored his hope of living.

  The old man was immersed in the pleasant moment, and Noah didn't disturb him. He had absorbed all the poison in the old man's body into his own body.

  After some time, the old man finally opened up his eyes. He looked at Noah and said, "Young man, you really absorbed all the poison in my body into yours, that's really dangerous. Yet, the poison hasn't affected you. How is it possible? Who are you really?"

  "A Guardian" Noah replied with a smile.

  The old man was stunned but when he thought about it, everything made sense. Who in the world other than a Guardian would venture into a place like this and help a stranger?

  "Guardian?! Young man, you've saved my life today"

  For the first time in many years, the old man bent his back to bow towards Noah.

  " What were you searching for here?" Before the old man could start rumbling about gratitude and a way to pay him back, Noah asked him.

  "The Five headed serpent"

  The moment the old man spoke these words, Gaya immediately turned back. She dashed forward,

  "Did you find it? Where is the lair? Tell me"

  "Sigh" the old man sighed. He could tell by seeing the look on her face that they came looking for the five-headed serpent too just like him twenty years ago.

  "A Naga killed the serpent and absorbed everything except this"? As Gaya's heart skipped a beat, the old man flicked his wrist. A charcoaled gray stone-like thing appeared in his hand. Noah and Gaya looked closer at the thing to sense pulses coming from within.

  "The heart" Noah mumbled. Suddenly Gaya grabbed the old man by his neck and lifted him up,

  "Who killed the serpent?!" Regardless of him being grabbed by his neck by the girl, the old man remained calm.

  Just as Noah was about to stop Gaya, the old man flicked his wrist again as a gold-plated snake-shaped pendant appeared in his hand. From top to bottom, Gaya felt an electric bolt running through her body.

  She immediately let the old man go before taking the pendant from his hand,

  "The Naga woman who killed the serpent left this with the heart"

  Gaya couldn't believe the words coming from the old man's mouth. She was shivering holding the pendent,

  "It seemed like a family heirloom. If I ever get out, I wanted to return this to her kin"

  "Wait…something's happening"

  Unexpectedly Noah sensed energy fluctuations around him. It felt like the space around them was getting distorted. It was the same feeling he had when he was teleported into the Alpha Guardian's warship but much stronger.

  Boom!

  In a blink of an eye, a bright light flashed across Noah's eyes, producing a loud booming sound. He couldn't help closing his eyes. When he opened his eyes, Gaya was gone.

  **************************************

  On a mountain cliff filled with dancing green lush grass fields, Gaya appeared out of nowhere. The setting sun painted the ocean with its golden rays. Gaya looked around, having no idea what just happened.

  There were nothing but grass fields and a calm ocean as far as she could see. While she was looking around, she felt a breeze brushing past her from behind. She turned back to see an ethereal figure gradually forming before a couple of meters ahead of her in the air.

  "Mother"

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  Note: The old man will play an important role in the story. Hence the long chapter about the old man and Noah. I didn't want the chapter to be split into two. It has crossed the 2k word limit. I hope you dont feel it draggy.

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