The whale stood there, watching the gates and the large entrance in the middle open slowly.
’This was the abnormal luck from that amulet or from Ruri?’ Alm thought strangely.
’It’s good to have someone to rely on in these moments,’ Bruno replied, turning around with the whale waving to everyone in the distance.
When the gates opened completely, a dense Qi emerged from inside the castle, sweeping away all that bloody and threatening feeling at the entrance. Everyone took a deep breath and took quick steps towards the entrance, very excited.
They all entered together and found themselves inside a massive place as if they were within a mountain of shining stones. The entire castle from the inside had a pure light that illuminated every corner like daylight. Looking around at the walls, ceiling, floor... Everything was made of a single ore with a light blueish tone. All the light seemed to come from inside this ore as if it were a divine crystal.
The whale approached a nearby wall and felt its surface with serious eyes. ’This... this feeling, we’ve seen it before,’ Bruno commented mentally.
’All this crystal has its own energy. We’ve seen something similar in that primitive world; it’s primordial life laws!’ Alm responded in shock.
Bruno then felt that law and spoke. ’Outside, this ore emits Yin; inside, it emits Yang. It’s impossible for a demon to manipulate... even those demons at the peak of cultivation in the divine realm aren’t able to manipulate something other than Yin.’
At that moment, Alm was certain. ’For a demon, yes. But he wasn’t just that; he had the pure blood of a Behemoth in his veins. We managed to create dense and hard land like steel with very little of that bloodline. Perhaps the demon had a much denser bloodline than we imagined and could even generate primitive ores.’
Bruno nodded, still not believing. ’How could this ascending planet have someone with such a pure bloodline? For this to be minimally possible, this demon should be practically half Behemoth or more. As for this ore... it’s an unbelievable treasure, but we can’t even dream of taking it from here.’
The whale then moved quickly, stepping away from the wall and quickly striding in a direction. Everyone, still stunned, saw Goku moving away and ran after him.
They all walked, observing everything around them attentively. Inside that place, they were in a vast and expansive space devoid of distinctive features. The illuminated walls and floor were the only elements present, emitting a pure light that bathed the environment uniformly. Every step taken did not change the surrounding landscape; it was as if they were immersed in an infinite expanse of homogeneity.
There were no corridors, rooms, or any kind of architectural highlight. The sense of continuity was such that there seemed to be no clear demarcation between one point and another. The prevailing emptiness gave the impression of a gigantic open space, challenging the logic of the castle’s internal structure.
The absence of anything distinctive made the experience even more surreal. Quickly, everyone became incredulous; there must be something inside that was worth the effort and blood of so many who tried to enter.
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After two hours of swift movement, a gigantic staircase appeared before them. Everyone sighed in brief relief. After so long, something different finally emerged! The whale then stopped at the foot of the stairs, fixing its gaze on the vastness that stretched upward.
Everyone followed its gaze, but it was as if nothing was there, identical to the rest of the environment. They felt as if the staircase ended inside a wall... Everything was very strange.
Ruri was the first to inquire, "Master, where are all the things in the castle? Why is everything so uniform?"
The whale remained facing the stairs, responding, "Everything is around us, but no one can approach or even see. All the rooms and internal areas are sealed by laws connected to the world. If you’re not, at the very least, in the Heaven Stage Realm and possess a spiritual root, you won’t be able to see anything here."
The group heard the explanation with a shocking surprise; perhaps only the patriarch and the supreme elder of the sect would have the ability to glimpse anything inside. However, the whale worsened the situation.
"That would only be enough to visualize a few superficial rooms. There are three levels of laws; probably only in the fifth realm, the Elemental Condensation Realm, would it be possible to see a few others. The rest of the things can only be seen after that. Being at the pinnacle of this planet, in the Body Destruction Realm, which is the sixth realm, should be enough to see everything."
A tense silence enveloped the group that had never even heard the names of these unattainable realms. But Ruri, undaunted, asked again, "So, can’t we get anything yet?"
"The things left behind, not yet. But up there is where the heart of the castle and this entire city is located," said the whale calmly, taking a deep breath as it tried to perceive something else. "There should also be the center of power that creates all the sandstorms. The storms at the beginning of the desert are just some remnants coming from here. Everything in this desert was shaped around this ancient city, which still influences everything to this day."
"Can we go up?" Ruri asked with excited eyes.
"There is a barrier preventing you. But the demon had a great connection with me and my bloodline. If I can... maybe we can get something good..." The whale spoke hesitantly, and everyone could feel the lack of certainty in its words.
"If master says he can, then he will succeed! If that place is the center of Everything, then the master will become the owner of ewverything?! Is that going to be our home and castle?" Ruri said, clenching her fists in excitement.
Alm and Bruno heard that and sighed deeply. With those words, all worries seemed to dissipate along with the air. Her innocence and total trust were heavy but somehow comforting.
’Now we have to succeed.’ Bruno said lightly.
’That’s the center of the formation, and it probably doesn’t have many good things since everything worthwhile is hidden,’ Alm commented thoughtfully. ’But we can really leave our mark there and partially dominate this city and castle.’
Bruno then pondered, ’Hmm... this place is too morbid and lifeless. It’s not suitable for any race other than demons to live in.’
After a second, Bruno’s mind clicked, and an idea came to him in excitement. ’The QI permeating the city comes from this primitive ore!’
’So what?’ Alm scoffed.
Bruno immediately replied, ’Everything is connected to the formation. We can manipulate the ores and reverse the poles. With that, outside, a Yang of life will be predominant, and the Yin will be trapped inside.’
’What’s the point of that? We’re not staying here,’ Alm grumbled.
’You wanted a place to leave the women, didn’t you? This place is safe from invasions. We can even bring the people from Montide we find here. It’s a safe haven, perfect under our control.’ Bruno said excitedly.
’What a pointless waste of time. But first, we have to get up there; the barrier on the stairs is not a problem, as they seem to be made of earth runes. But what’s waiting for us up there is.’ Alm replied dryly.
Bruno then nodded. When they arrived at the base of the stairs, they felt something at the top. It was a sensation of death waiting for them, but at the same time, there was a subtly different feeling. It was a calling—the same calling they felt when they saw the bloodline soul fragment in the prison.
’Well, we’ve already decided not to turn our backs on anything. It must be a defense mechanism, so there must be some extra benefit,’ Bruno commented. Then they put Ruri on the ground and waved to everyone who was looking at them intently.
So, they took the first steps up the stairs. Everyone who was far away took steps back, feeling a disturbance in the surrounding laws.
A luminous explosion followed, and the entire place was covered in infinite dense runes that seemed to emerge from the void. Everyone was startled, but Almin, Langrum, and Ruri could sense a familiarity with the runes and realized they were all pure earth runes at an unbelievable level.
In that second, the whale, still at the beginning of the stairs, illuminated. The world changed color to a brown earthy tone, and the runes around seemed to freeze instantly. The women looked forward in shock as the whale seemed to float in a sacred and infinite-like power... of fatness... Then he made a gesture with his hand, and all the runes moved quickly at his command, making way for him. The whale easily mastered the runes as if they were nothing.
Silent minutes passed, and only the heavy footsteps, like an elephant or whale-ogre, climbing the stairs were heard. Then, on the last step, he ascended calmly, and everyone saw him disappear completely as if he had never existed.
From the top of the stairs, Alm and Bruno found themselves in a vast open space. Spatial laws were present, distorting and expanding the area. That location became a giant and dark room with thousands of meters.
In the center of everything, only a strangely illuminated place stood out. It was the center of the formation and the heart of everything. The whale then felt something and took a step forward with a slight smile. With this simple step, something seemed to reflect in their eyes. Then space began to distort, and in the midst of darkness, another figure seemed to take shape.
"An interesting and classic defense mechanism," Alm sarcastically remarked.
Then, earth runes lit up, and the image took a complete and clear form, radiating power... and fat! It was the terrifying fusion of power with fat! And the exact round shape of the giant whale!