Chapter 98: The Final Ultimatum

Irritability is one of the seven emotions and six desires inherent in humans, especially under great pressure, when long-awaited matters remain unfulfilled, irritability tends to intensify.

But Rayan is inherently a composed and calm person. He naturally possesses a kind of stability, as steadfast as a rock, and external factors hardly shake him. With such a temperament, he should be even less likely to be anxious and irritable at critical moments, yet even he couldn't explain why he couldn't control it.

Over time, he even developed an aversion and resistance to cultivation, and his will began to sink into an unprecedented depression.

Duke noticed his apprentice's abnormality early on. Although Rayan tried his best to hide it in front of him, Duke still noticed. He understood Rayan as well as he understood his own hand.

He didn't rush to console Rayan because he knew this wasn't simply "irritability." It was a symptom of Battle Qi triggered by breakthroughs in combat levels, a common encounter for every Fighter, especially when a Hall of Fame Hero aspired to become a Legendary Hero. This symptom, manifesting as "irritability," became more pronounced and was directly responsible for many heroes going insane or dying.

In the realm of Battle Qi, Fighters call this symptom "Demon Heart."

Demon Heart is incurable, lasting as short as a few days or as long as a lifetime. It dissolves all fighting spirit and positive attitudes, testing individuals with a state of depression.

Once past the Demon Heart hurdle, further advancements would proceed smoothly. Naturally, there's no need to mention promotions; new enhancements in other combat techniques would follow, maintaining a doubled pace of combat level advancement for a long time.

Thus, experiencing Demon Heart isn't entirely bad. Many people prefer to view it as a stern teacher of fate; only those who pass this strict teacher's assessment receive rewards and enter a new realm. Conversely, failing the assessment means remaining mediocre for life.

Demon Heart doesn't occur just once. Typically, a legendary figure experiences it twice, and an extremely rare few who reach the four legendary realms (Unmatched Under Heaven, Once in a Blue Moon, Transcending the Mortal Coil, Unity of Man and Nature) undergo it three times. However, if one fails the first time, the test of the Demon Heart never reappears, no matter how smart or hardworking the individual is in the future.

Generally, Demon Heart tests those with potential, at least those who are Senior Heroes.

Most Fighters who undergo the Demon Heart test encounter this dangerous yet hopeful challenge only after becoming a Senior Hero, as subsequent levels like Expert, Grandmaster, and Hall of Fame involve qualitative enhancements.

Duke faced the Demon Heart test when he was promoted from Senior Hero to Expert Hero. To this day, he still remembers the irritability and pain of that time, and the exhilarating feeling after passing the test.

—But the problem is, Rayan is only a Ninth Tier Fighter, far from the normal qualifications for the test. Why has Demon Heart descended upon him so early? Could it be that Rayan will undergo the Demon Heart test three times in his life, ultimately becoming the most formidable person in the world?

Regardless, he cannot interfere with Rayan, as the test of the Demon Heart is targeted only at Rayan himself. He can do nothing but watch his beloved apprentice suffer and pray that he passes the test.

Rayan is utterly unaware of what he is experiencing. After his emotions became disordered, his training intensity also decreased. He used to embrace sola twice daily, but now he stopped, lying on the wooden bed to sleep heavily, his ambition almost completely worn down.

Sola climbed onto Rayan's bed several times, burrowing into his arms, but he coldly pushed her away each time. Sola thought she had done something wrong and became desperately agitated.

In the past few months, she has changed the most. From a barely alive little slave, she blossomed into a charming young woman overnight. Despite her large appetite, she did not gain weight but instead, her golden skin became more radiant, her hair flowing smoothly, and her features grew more distinct, blooming like a rose in full bloom.

Her body also changed, her breasts developing well, and she already knew what "beautiful breasts" meant without Rayan's explanation. Her beautiful legs seemed sculpted, especially in the hot summer days when she wore only a slave's short skirt, she could draw the attention of all the men in town to the entrance of the Ravenstorm Inn—except for one person, Rayan.

The more beautiful she became, the deeper Rayan furrowed his brows. He used to read "Snow Love" with her in his arms, but since the time she playfully clamped his "one leg" between her legs, her capricious master immediately frowned and pushed her away, never reading "Snow Love" with her again.

Although they could now communicate normally in the common language and barbarian tribes language, no longer needing to read "Snow Love" to learn, sola still missed the blissful times when she could carefreely lie in Rayan's arms, feeling his strong heartbeat with her palm.

As a leader of one of the nine barbarian tribes, she originally wanted to return to her homeland to lead her people against the brutal invaders. But since becoming Rayan's slave, her ambitious aspirations had all but vanished, focusing solely on being a good slave to make her master happy and pleased.

But Rayan became increasingly indifferent to her, not just ceasing to read "Snow Love" together, but even skipping their twice-daily embraces. Whenever she sneaked up to him, he would coldly send her away, and at last, in frustration, he carried her by the waist down from the loft and threw her into the storeroom.

Sola felt that the brief moments of being carried were blissful, but being locked in the storeroom was unbearably painful; even setting herself on fire would not bring any warmth.

What pained her even more was that, after understanding the common language, she had to obey her master's commands. Rayan told her not to follow him around, to practice on her own, to merge with the fire spirit element as soon as possible, and he would grant her freedom once she could protect herself—

Freedom? She didn't want any freedom. She just wanted her master to hold her as before. For a warm embrace, she was willing to trade a lifetime of freedom.

She wanted to tell Rayan that only by holding him could she merge with the fire spirit element within her, but she felt he wouldn't believe her and only considered her a burden, better off discarded as soon as possible.

She feared being discarded, so she dared not get too close to Rayan, but wherever Rayan went, sola always followed him from a distance.

The more he struggled to find a breakthrough to the Tenth Tier Battle Qi, the more despondent Rayan became.

As summer passed and autumn arrived, Rayan remained despondently tormented by the Demon Heart without any improvement.

Duke knew this couldn't continue. He had to help his apprentice regain his long-lost state before the test of the Demon Heart ended.

That evening, he found Rayan lying on the bed staring blankly and kicked him off the bed.

"Before dawn, take your little female slave and get out of the tavern."

He spoke coldly, like the tavern owner Rayan had first met, "This is the final ultimatum."

Rayan scrambled up from the floor, astonished, "Boss, are you kicking me out?"

Months of depression had left Rayan completely devoid of fighting spirit, his mood at an all-time low.

"It's not just you; I'm kicking you both out."

Duke crossed his arms and glanced coldly at sola, who had rushed to the door and was hiding outside, then said mercilessly, "You two are going to eat me out of house and home. I can't let you stay any longer."

If Rayan continued in this listless state, not to mention successfully breaking through to the Tenth Tier, the Demon Heart might even directly end his future prospects. Duke could not allow such a thing to happen; he firmly believed Rayan was capable of making history, and he was the one who could influence this history-maker.

The so-called influence was to give him a push when he most needed it, whether knocking him to the ground or pushing him over a hill, anything was better than letting Rayan stagnate.

However, making such a decision was difficult. If there were no feelings between them, there would be no barriers, and after parting ways, whatever path Rayan chose, whether becoming a saint who saves the world or a devil who destroys it, it would have nothing to do with him; but unfortunately, their feelings had already surpassed those of a tavern owner and an assistant, even deeper than normal master-apprentice relationships, and even exceeding that of typical fathers and sons.

And now, as a father, he had to sweep his son out the door. Duke didn't expect Rayan to understand his intentions; he just hoped he could overcome a true psychological hurdle through this.

"I can't let you stay any longer."

Repeating this statement, even he felt his own cruelty.

"But I haven't broken through the Tenth Tier yet…" Rayan said despondently.

"Whether you break through or not is none of my concern," Duke continued coldly. "Morien's inheritance is spent; you must go."

"I can earn money."

Rayan's face was pale as he said, "Boss, please… give me a few more days, at least, don't rush to kick me out, I still want—"

He stuttered, struggling to say the words that were difficult to utter.

Duke's heart was bleeding. He realized that this was the first time since meeting Rayan that he heard his distinctive apprentice utter a plea.

He put aside his usual pride to plead, just to spend a few more days with his boss...

"No, it can't be done."

He shook his head vigorously, "You two need to get lost. I'm thoroughly annoyed by you two. One of you always has a stern face, as if I owe him millions, and the other is just a glutton, one person who can eat the food of an entire town! I'm truly, truly tired of it, really, really tired…"

He almost cried out, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke the last few words.

"I'm really… thoroughly tired…"