Transcendent Dawn

Unlike the affluent and populous East Coast.

The West Coast is in a state of wide scale and sparse population; this started from the time when William, the ‘Western Conqueror,’ enacted a law declaring that anyone who voluntarily went to the West to reclaim the land would receive twenty acres of land free of charge after three years of farming.

Since then, even without sea routes to the Old Continent, the West Coast gradually developed.

Of course, it was dominated by farming and livestock.

This led to the unique humanistic customs of the West Coast, where households were spaced far apart, and people generally went to the church in town to pray and buy enough daily necessities every week.

Moreover, every household had a shotgun, vigilant against any creature that entered their territory.

Be it bears, wolves, or strangers!

Once they crossed the warning line, according to Western customs, it had always been ‘shoot first, ask questions later.’

On this day.

Su Lu, wearing a brown coat, a round hat, and carrying a suitcase, came down from the open-air steam locomotive station in Hua Nuo Town.

He was using his original appearance at the moment, intentionally going a distance to create the illusion that he’d just returned from out of town.

“Sir, where do you want to go?”

Su Lu hailed a horse-drawn carriage, got into the carriage, and the question came from the coachman upfront.

He gave an address, which was the place where Rod and Donks later lived.

“Oh, that’s the Pottery family estate.”

The coachman smiled, and plied his whip.

The thing about small places is that the circle of acquaintances is narrow, basically, everyone knows each other or at least has heard of what’s going on.

Su Lu could only lament that it’s a good thing the new house of the Pottery family wasn’t too far away. Otherwise, if the horse-drawn carriage didn’t want to go there, he’d have to wait in town to see if there was a neighbor enthusiastically transporting hay on a cart or horse cart along the way.

“Yes, I haven’t been back here… in many years.”

Su Lu’s voice was filled with some sentiment, as if genuinely expressing emotion.

“I remember now… You’re Rod’s younger brother who got into the university, right?”

The coachman’s hearty laughter resonated.

“Yes… ”

Su Lu tugged at his collar, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

This was typical of westerners-warm and direct-which made him, who was accustomed to eastern manners, feel somewhat unaccustomed.

“Then you might be disappointed… Rod has been staying away for a long period of time. Hmm… I remember running into him in the bar, it must’ve been a year ago… One thing must be said, he’s a formidable fighter, the dream lover of many girls… ”

The coachman boasted.

‘Rod… dream lover?’

Thinking of his counterpart’s powerful body akin to a bear, Su Lu felt like laughing. But then again, western girls seemed to like the rugged style of men like Rod.

In contrast, someone like him, a weak scholar-literally had no market at all.

While they were chatting idly, the horse-drawn carriage had already arrived in front of a wooden house.

It occupied a large area, with three floors and a large yard surrounded by a wooden fence at the front, complete with a horse stable and a warehouse.

However, it appeared to have been abandoned for some time now.

“This is the place.”

Su Lu paid for the ride, descended from the horse-drawn carriage, and deeply inhaled the somewhat chilly air.

‘I feel no excitement at all… It seems like a strange place, with no stirring of memories… Of course, after that fire, Su Lu went away to study abroad…’

He took a deep breath and watched the coachman leave.

That coachman was highly likely to be a police informant in town, and at the very least, he would spread the news of his arrival.

But Su Lu Pottery’s official identity was a graduate of St. George’s University and a researcher hired by Green Tree Castle and there was nothing shady about it.

Su Lu instead hoped that Rod would get the news as soon as possible and rush over to retrieve the coded message he left.

Squeak!

He pushed open the wooden fence and arrived at the front door of the villa.

Although he didn’t have a key, he still managed to open the front door when he grabbed the doorknob.

A smell of decay mixed with dust rushed at him immediately.

“Apparently… Rod never came back to clean. Fortunately, I’m not planning to live here… ”

Su Lu waved his hand and walked into the house.

Of course, he couldn’t possibly live here!

After all, though Su Lu Pottery had nothing to do with a series of incidents such as the ‘Black Knight,’ the Dream of the Ancient God in Nia City, and the most recent demon curse in Lore city, there was one person who would definitely remember him, and that was Bess Taylor, the Saintess of the Black Death Society!

Moreover, the influence of the Black Death Society was even more massive on the Federation’s West Coast.

They could have gotten hold of his whereabouts together with the official authorities.

“Although I’m not scared of fourth-tier occupational persons now, it would still be troublesome if I got surrounded… And after ‘learning her lesson’ last time, Bess definitely won’t come at me alone this time.”

Su Lu came to the living room and saw the cave bear head mounted on the wall, as well as the casually arranged tables, chairs, and various furniture; they were all covered with a white cloth.

He ignored these and directly opened his spiritual essence.

At this point, Su Lu’s spiritual power had reached a very high level; casual casting could envelop the entire Pottery mansion, and even penetrate several meters into the ground for a ‘sifting’ inspection.

“Clean… too clean… ”

After one round, he withdrew his spiritual essence with a sigh.

This house in his perception was simply as ‘clean’ as if it’d been licked by a dog!

In his sense of it, there was not a trace of spiritual body lingering around, let alone any miraculous items left behind.

Not even a Silver Hawk!

“I always feel… a bit desolate… But thinking about it, it makes sense. The Pottery family, despite its long history, had many spendthrifts over many generations, and it’s still possible to exhaust the family property… especially Donks!”

To establish a passageway between this world and the abyss that would allow people to pass through, how terrifying would that achievement need to be?

Especially when the one taking action is just an ordinary person?

Su Lu estimated that a vast majority of the wealth accumulated by the Pottery family had been consumed by Donks.

What’s left was taken by Rod for the promotion to [Demon Hunter].

As for him?

Heh heh… isn’t it good to be an ordinary person?

Perhaps in the eyes of his body’s father and elder brother, it was a good thing that Su Lu had gone abroad to study, away from the mysterious world.

“Unfortunately… the subsequent development completely exceeded their expectations.”

Su Lu felt somewhat regretful.

There were no magical items in this house, as he had expected.

What he really wanted to ‘explore’ was the place where Donks held the ritual.

“Now it seems… it’s definitely not here. If it were, the surrounding environment would’ve been permanently changed…”

Su Lu had a walk around the house and eventually left.

He and Rod had agreed to set the coded message, not in this building, for the sake of necessary confidentiality and safety.