In the wilderness of Sumatra Continent, strolling casually without a hint of worry was a family of four—father, mother, and a pair of twins. They seemed unarmed, not even emanating any presence. But despite that, not a single Pranic Beast dared to approach them, not to mention target them.
The reason was simple—Fear!
"Will you be alright living there?" Yarsha Zahara asked as she stared at Brangara, "All the Life Stage cultivators at the Brimgan Empire would be able to notice that you aren't a Free Human."
"That's not an issue," Brangara casually used his hand as a swing for his kids, "I won't be staying with you there. Once you get accustomed to the place, I'll leave to search for more Sumatra Gold."
"But, I want to spend time with you." Yarsha Zahara stared at him with moist eyes, revving his instinct to protect her, "Can't I?"
"I'll return quickly," Brangara said as they arrived at a forest clearing, "I'll try my best to not be away for long."
"We'll all miss you." She said, nudging her children, "We have almost completed the cultivation technique. I am now able to build my Human Avatar using Sumatra Gold. But to complete it, I need the Brimgan Empire's wisdom."
"It would only take a few hours if I barge into their treasury by force," Brangara said arrogantly, "We'll save a lot of time if we were to do that."
"But that would mean we couldn't stay here," Yarsha Zahara said, "This is the place with the greatest number of Free Human geniuses. Even you said that this environment is a necessity for our children to grow and mature into powerful characters in the future."
"I was just saying…" Brangara laughed awkwardly and then led his family past the clearing, staring at a massive sea at the centre of which was a mountain range shaped like a lotus. Every single mountain part of the range was like a lotus petal, protruding outwards.
This range of mountains was named the Lotus Range and the area it encompassed as a natural fortress spanned five million square kilometres. This region became the Brimgan Empire, one of the oldest Free Human civilisations on Sumatra Continent.
The sea surrounding the Lotus Range came to be recognised as the Brimgan Sea, as homage to the exuberant strength wielded by the Brimgan Empire. With every century that spanned past, the Brimgan Empire only grew stronger and stronger.
And unlike Free Human Kingdoms that had to resist Pranic Beast invasions all the time, the Brimgan Empire was absolutely safe, protected by its natural fortress, the Lotus Range.
Contrastingly, it was the Brimgan Empire that invaded its neighbouring regions all the time to hunt for resources, their actions domineeringly invasive. The entire region was constantly in a state of chaos as countless Pranic Beast races fought against the Free Humans of the Brimgan Empire.
As the region was one of the most abundantly blessed in resources, even if a Pranic Beast race were to be wiped out, another equally powerful race would take up its place. After all, there existed at least a thousand Parute Trees even in smaller Pranic Beast territories, not to mention the larger territories where dozens of Gold Grade Pranic Beasts lived together.
The Brimgan Empire was a happening place.
"They have the presence of a major Free Human civilisation." Yarsha Zahara commented.
"That's true," Brangara said in seriousness, "The current me can at most wipe out a quarter of the Brimgan Empire before I'll be killed."
"Can you stop boasting for a minute, sir Mystic Grade Pranic Beast?" Yarsha Zahara rolled her eyes. She then became curious about something and asked, "Say,"
"Yeah?" Brangara looked at her.
"How strong do you have to be to completely annihilate the Brimgan Empire?" Yarsha Zahara asked.
"4-Life Stage," Brangara said, " And if I were to activate around fifteen Internal Inertial Gravity, I'll be able to destroy them."
"They are that strong, huh?" Yarsha Zahara nodded, "I'll be careful then."
"You don't need to," Brangara patted her back, "Remember who has your back. Just live domineeringly as the Boar King's wife."
"Besides, if any strong cultivator were to attack you, my treasures will protect you long enough for me to arrive and take care of things."
"One day, I'll protect you instead." Yarsha Zahara said and coiled her arms around Brangara's, "Just you wait. I'll see how you'll boast then."
"You're two millennia too early to say that." Brangara laughed and casually led Yarsha Zahara to the Brimgan Empire, soon reaching its entrance.
Each of the petals forming the Lotus Range reached at least a height of five kilometres. Therefore, it wasn't realistic to scale up such a wall without being detected as there were outposts situated across all the peaks on the Lotus Range.
"State your purpose." The guard at the entrance stared at the family of four, unleashing his Prana in response. He was at the 6-Life Stage, emanating a dense presence. Through his Prana, he sensed the conditions of Yarsha Zahara first, concluding that she was a Free Human.
He then focused on Brangara, for a moment going into a daze before concluding that he too was a Free Human, for some reason. He didn't even bother checking the kids and granted entry, "You're Free Humans, but not from the Brimgan Empire."
"State your purpose."
"We are refugees," Brangara smiled a little and approached the guard and handed over a One-Storey Storage Lantern filled with Parute Fruits, "Our Kingdom got destroyed by a group of Millingers. We travelled from afar to seek refuge here."
"As long as you integrate into the Brimgan Empire's society and consider yourselves as part of us, there wouldn't be an issue." The guard unflinchingly pocketed the One-Storey Storage Lantern and pointed at the small door positioned to the side, "Welcome to the Brimgan Empire."
"Thank you," Brangara thanked profusely and led Yarsha Zahara through the side door, for a moment glancing at the large double doors that served as the Empire's main entrance, reaching a height of hundred metres and spanning forty metres in breadth each.
The main entrance would only open during the raids conducted by the Empire. For anything else, only the side entrance had to be used, which was merely a four-metre-tall door allowing people to pass through.
The main entrance was located in a natural pass that formed in the Lotus Range. After entering through the side door, Brangara and his family walked through the pass before they reached the closest city.
"What was that?" Yarsha asked after walking far away, "Why didn't he figure out your identity?"
"I used a Skill to jumble his senses. It's nothing special," Brangara said and led her to the city, "I'll soon create some treasures that will help conceal the identities of our kids."
Brangara had plenty of wealth. And hence, it wasn't hard for them to buy a house and settle in the city. They soon adjusted to their life in the city.
A month later, Brangara exited the Brimgan Empire and walked into the wilds, gradually increasing his walking pace before soon, he broke into a sprint. A day later, after he had crossed the region of activity by the Empire's Free Humans, he took on his Empyrean Boar King form and covered large distances in a short time.
A few days later, he arrived at the Sanrey Plains and entered the Sandy-Grey Void ring, intending to check the Mudropper's status, 'Has it given birth yet?'
"What the fuck?" He muttered in shock, confused upon inspecting the entire Sandy-Grey Void ring, "Where did it go?"
The Mudropper had gone missing.