The first four hours of the test passed slowly. On the third level of the prison, inside a dark cave, the whale opened its eyes, fully recovered. As he surveyed the surroundings, he felt strange seeing everyone with relaxed expressions, chatting with Calirer as if she were an old companion. Despite being hundreds of years old, she didn’t show any arrogance and managed to blend in magically in a short time.
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"Is she manipulating all of them?" Alm commented incredulously.
"We would sense malice from miles away if that were the case," Bruno replied lightly. "Even Ruri has no defenses against her anymore. She’s an extremely sociable and trustworthy person, very different from Langrum and you."
Langrum also recovered after consuming all the stock of Yang pills that Almin had made earlier. The balance of her bloodlines and her physical power depended a lot on the Yang she could obtain through dual cultivation. Strangely, she didn’t take advantage of her free time in the city to accumulate Yang, using only those inefficient pills. This left Alm and Bruno intrigued for a moment. However, they ignored it in the end; they soon got up, and everyone prepared to leave.
"Master, master," Ruri spoke to the whale, jumping onto its shoulder. "Calirer told us about several interesting places in the abyss. Are we really going to join her clan and visit everything when?"
The whale looked at Calirer, who smiled awkwardly. She was sociable but not naive. Making friends also served a purpose, even if it didn’t involve malice. So, observing the whale’s doubtful expression, Almin commented:
"The abyss is open for disciples to explore every ten years. Before that, only the outermost area could be accessed for crystal mining. It’s been almost nine years since the last window; in a year and a few months, it will be open again."
The whale nodded and looked at Calirer with doubt. She was smart enough to understand his hesitation, so Calirer spoke: "The abyss is an enigmatic place even for demons. It seems like a living being and has cycles of intensity in its laws. Only those with demon blood can live there carefully, but during a ten-year cycle, for twenty-four months, other races can go down to its depths."
"Are there areas that even demons can’t normally access?" The whale asked lightly.
Calirer nodded in response, "Yes, the Ashen Realm is one of the most sacred places and is in the deepest part of the abyss. If someone tries to enter it, their life is instantly consumed. Only in this twenty-four-month period does the intensity decrease, allowing demons to join other races to explore the sacred places."
"Hm, but it’s not open to everyone, right? With the pride of demons, they must do something to deserve access." The whale said lightly.
Calirer smiled strangely, "Demons value clan strength above all else. So, a grand ceremony is held, and everything is decided based on the outcome. If you participate, it will increase our prestige, and maybe... we’ll definitely secure a spot!"
"Is the overall result decided based on the elders as well?" Alm asked.
Everyone looked at Calirer seriously, and she nodded. "There are two competitions, one for the young ones under 100 years and another for those above three hundred years. I’ll be exactly the right age to compete in the second. I can assure you that we’ll do everything not to drag you down." She spoke, concerned about him reconsidering joining her clan.
The whale sighed but didn’t worry too much about it. Then, he turned to Ruri. "If everything goes as she promised, we will indeed go in the future." They then turned, opening the entrance to the cave. "Let’s go. We have to make the most of the remaining time."
Everyone exited, and the whale turned to Calirer. "First of all, I’ll make it clear that I don’t deal well with betrayals. And for your honesty, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Don’t disappoint me."
She waved, not understanding, then saw the whale wave his hand, and something sprouted from the void, floating above her palm. A black liquid began to emerge and accumulate into a sphere slowly. In the same second, Calirer’s entire body and demonic bloodline began to tremble while pulsating along with her heart.
"This..." She murmured, astonished. But the liquid continued to accumulate, from a small two-centimeter sphere to five, ten, fifteen... in a few seconds, it was the size of a human head, and then it stopped.
"Yes, it’s pure demonic blood. You must figure out where it came from." The whale said nonchalantly.
"...you! Did you destroy the fifth level?!" She took a step back, bewildered.
"Hm? Didn’t Langrum tell you? We were all present and worked together to take everything. The curse was lifted. Absorb everything quickly before I regret it." The whale said as if it were nothing.
Soon, Calirer turned to her shocked disciple, and she didn’t deny it, leaving her even more incredulous.
The large sphere floated toward Calirer, so before touching her, her demonic bloodline immediately lit up instinctively without her even thinking. All her pores and meridians opened to the limit, and a devouring force absorbed everything directly into her body before anyone could blink.
Calirer’s eyes turned completely black, and a sinister Yin aura emanated from her body, resonating with the entire prison and the infernal laws. The entire scarlet environment around everyone changed to gray and then to black in seconds; the demonic power in her body pulsed in an uncontrolled manner.
"Go back to the cave and stabilize your bloodline. You’ll have plenty of time to digest everything slowly." The whale commented calmly and turned away.
Calirer was trembling to the extreme, and she couldn’t even control her own body properly. Just feeling this blood starting to merge with her own bloodline made the power of her soul denser; the benefit of this would multiply her power many times. She just looked at the whale’s back, taking steps away, and couldn’t believe he gave her something so valuable; her fists clenched tightly. She had to repay this in the same way.
Langrum and everyone saw her reaction and could feel the explosive changes within her. Langrum smiled contentedly and turned to follow Goku with Loeus by her side. Ruri turned around and waved to Calirer too, happy for her. Then, everyone was gone. In a few seconds, Calirer took shaky steps back into the cave, unable to speak due to the physical and emotional disturbance she felt.
"If she knelt and called me Divine, I’d give everything to her. Why did you leave so quickly?!" Bruno commented mentally.
"If that happened, I would lose my composure and forcibly extract her blood." Alm retorted frantically. "There’s only a third of the blood left after leaving some in the city and now giving it to that strange demoness. We’ve still lost five of the six wings we had! We just keep losing and losing!"
"We still have plenty of time. Let’s finally cultivate with maximum efficiency." Bruno replied, and the whale turned around.
Suddenly, a sharp and extremely malicious roar echoed, making everyone tremble slightly. It was an infernal beast as high-level as an elder, and it was very close.
Then the whale spoke to everyone, who was tense: "Ten hours left. Let’s spend half of it here and group kill as many infernal beasts as we can to form wings."
Everyone swallowed hard. The whale clearly did not intend to use that magic that made infernal beasts disappear. The level of these beasts was similar to that sea monster they killed in the village, and now they couldn’t use Qi, making what was already extremely difficult impossible.
"After that, we’ll go to the fourth level. Then, we’ll try our luck with some true beasts!" The whale spoke as if it were a walk in the park. And everyone petrified at this insanity.