The days passed slowly, and after spending ten days in seclusion, Almin emerged from his room, getting ready for an extensive pill-making session.
Although his pills didn’t gain much prominence in the realm of flames, without them, no half-demon would have survived. The effectiveness had increased considerably due to the rare practice of half-demons consuming these pills.
Without hesitation, Almin meticulously reviewed his entire stock of herbs in his spatial inventory, a useful technique he had learned from the whale. He also carried Lyra with him wherever he went, thanks to this technique. Soon, a message through the array arrived, and Almin hurried to find the whale.
Entering the room calmly, Almin was met with a dazzling violet color that covered the entire environment. Looking at a corner, he sighed as he saw Ruri floating gently.
She meditated deeply with a mental lotus between her hands. The simple entry into the room made him feel his soul tremble slightly; combined with the sight, it truly seemed transcendent, as if the young girl were a fairy from another world. Ruri was taking significant steps to improve her power. As for him...
"Your flames are noticeably below your current level, aren’t they?" the whale said, noticing Almin’s frustration.
Almin smiled strangely and nodded as he approached. The whale then pulled out a grayish sphere. Almin observed it but couldn’t perceive any sensation coming from it.
"Inside, the entire source of the Realm of Flames is sealed. It’s a divine fire rune, and it’s not entirely bound to celestial laws," the whale stated emotionlessly.
Almin widened his eyes, incredulous, murmuring, "Not bound to celestial laws... is that possible?"
"Yeah, the fifth level of cultivation is called the Elemental Condensation Realm, as you probably already know. In this realm, instead of using borrowed celestial laws, the cultivator creates an elemental rune within their own body and uses Qi to gradually develop it," the whale explained slowly.
"You didn’t notice this in the half-wyverns and half-demons because the demonic blood in them benefits them, automatically creating a Yin rune. Races like humans, on the other hand, need to incorporate one of the five basic elements to create this rune. In short, this rune is similar to the bestial core you absorbed, but it can grow along with your cultivation."
Almin looked seriously at the grayish sphere. "So this rune..."
"Yes, this kind of rune can be ’stolen’ from some cultivator and used for other purposes. This one came from a cultivator in the divine realm with high cultivation. Its laws are beyond your imagination, but it’s sealed, and less than 1% of it was being used to feed the realm of flames," the whale concluded gently.
Almin swallowed hard, remembering all that unbelievable firepower that gave rise to a mortal world and the dwelling of countless powerful fire beasts... and all of it came from just 1% of that rune.
Seeing Almin’s trembling eyes, the whale made the sphere float in his direction, saying, "Now, this is yours. 99% is sealed, and the remaining I sealed with Ruri’s power. So, extract very carefully a small amount of its laws and incorporate it into your body."
Almin trembled in astonishment; this was complete suicide. First, he would be turned into ashes, and even if he miraculously survived, the laws of fire would penetrate his body, killing him from the inside out like poison. Using it meant killing himself in the most horrific way possible.
"You will be killed quickly, indeed," the whale said sarcastically. "But there’s a method. Take only the smallest possible amount of laws. When your body is a millimeter from death, use the mithril furnace and enter it."
"The furnace won’t last a second and will explode..." Almin murmured with a trembling voice.
"I made this furnace myself, I know its limits," the whale cut in sharply. "It can easily refine even living things, and its runes, along with the mithril, have the ability to be strengthened if they receive enough Qi. Abyssal crystals are not a problem; I’ll give you enough so that this furnace has fuel to protect you."
Almin threatened to say something, but the whale continued undisturbed.
"Don’t worry. Once you shield yourself from the flames, I’ll know you’re dying. Then, I’ll transfer the power through the array to save you. This training will literally bring you to the brink of death and back... countless times. ’Infernal’ seems too mild to describe." the whale added with a sinister smile.
Almin was frozen for a few seconds. Then he felt his ’motivation,’ floating inert inside his inventory like a dead corpse that never opened its eyes again. He clenched his fists tightly and drew the grayish sphere to himself.
"At first, this will only drastically increase your fire resistance, and your understanding of these laws will rise a bit. But after assimilating these runes countless times into your body, you will become somewhat more compatible with these high-level laws." the whale said, satisfied.
"By creating this compatibility, when you reach the Elemental Condensation Realm, you can create an elemental rune and start absorbing this divine rune directly into yours. This method will give you an advantage even among cultivators in the divine realm, and it will change your future forever."
Almin trembled with excitement as the whale continued. "First, study the rune without using it and make pills for the clan. You’re an alchemist and still need to refine this Dao. When you’re done, you can start, but if you’re not careful, not even the furnace will withstand the laws. You can go."
The whale spoke and threw dozens of spatial rings to Almin, who grabbed them without checking the contents. They were filled with abyssal crystals. He then left, waving, unable to find words.
’The power of faith created a new window for us to explore. Almin has now benefited, but when we get our hands on the other elemental runes from the realms, we can create many integrating things.’ Alm commented sinisterly.
He didn’t mind having handed that over to Almin. The power of faith was the key to saving Almin, and now he could abuse this method of torture... and learning, considered nearly impossible even in the divine realm.
***
When the first month passed, the whale opened its eyes, and its whole body vibrated with dense electricity running through. They felt all the meridians vibrating full of Qi. Then, they clenched their fists tightly, but, in the next second, all the Qi dispersed, and their meridians emptied.
’A complete failure... but now we’re sure electric power is essential to elevate physical cultivation. The Qi itself is now like a drop in the ocean.’ Bruno commented, sighing.
They couldn’t recover any bit of their bloodlines, and it was still completely withered. But, even with the earth laws almost nonexistent in the abyss, they managed to gather some of them this month with some effort. Then, they used them to create electricity and conduct tests to confirm their suspicions.
’In fifteen days, we will go to the so-called lightning realm. It will be the perfect time, but to do that and survive, we can’t use the rune. If it’s all the same as the realm of flames, the residual power that remains in the place is the key.’ Alm commented, thinking about a future plan.
At that moment, the door opened quickly, and they turned to the entrance. It was Ruri, smiling, bringing Runula by the hand.
Runula entered, bowing slightly, and said, "Sorry for the delay, sir. It took me fifteen days to clear the fourth level, but it took longer than expected to defeat a fifth-level clan."
"It was faster than I imagined," replied the whale calmly, noting the turbulent blood aura in her. "Take the day to relax; resting is also part of the training."
Runula waved, and Ruri laughed cheerfully, then forcibly pulled Deryu out of the confined space. Deryu was already quite grown physically in his true form and could be considered an adult; perhaps something close to a human in their 15 or 16 years. Physically, he was an adult, but you couldn’t really consider that.
His mental age, however, was quite childish, and it would hardly change anytime soon. Runula was similar, but she was calm and obedient, easy to live with and teach. The little brat, as Alm called him, was stubborn, proud, and extremely arrogant, to the point that even Alm felt inferior to him in that aspect.
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A few days ago, Ruri dishearteningly told the whale that Deryu had an insatiable hunger, and when she didn’t have anything to give him, he just slept all day. According to Ruri, Deryu clearly considered not only humans but any other race inferior. So, he simply refused to take on a human form and only kept the small form because Ruri demanded it.
But despite everything, he respected Ruri as if she were a mother, even though he was stubborn. And in front of the whale, he just lowered his head and didn’t make sudden movements. It seemed like he could sense an infinite malevolence coming from them; the senses from the dragon’s blood were no joke. Little did he know that pure divine dragons were killed and refined by them in the past; this kid was less than an ant in their eyes.
As for Runula, she was clearly trying to get closer to Deryu. That day, Ruri dragged the whale out of the room against his will. In addition to sleeping together every night, she demanded attention from time to time, and they couldn’t refuse.
So, when they went out for the first time since they arrived, they saw not one, but half a dozen rounded statues without surprise. Now, they had some level of refinement; the demons were slowly improving their sculpture techniques.
Then, Runula approached Deryu timidly and waved with several spatial rings. Mountains of meat appeared in the middle of the clan. They were all beasts hunted in the fourth level.
"Brought what you like the most, let’s... eat together..." Runula spoke with her head lowered timidly.
Deryu snorted, and, feeling Ruri’s cold gaze on him, his scales trembled. He then just waved slightly to Runula and flapped his wings, shining.
Runula smiled and jumped, assuming her true form as well. The two then went at it, eating together. Both were very similar in size, but Deryu was clearly growing fast and would soon be much larger.
"That’s the new tactic, win them over through the stomach," Ruri said beside the whale. "Too bad he won’t get fat, no matter how much he eats... Runula will have to accept him being either muscular or boringly lean."
Alm and Bruno snorted; this girl’s tastes seemed to have been molded in a strange way.
The day passed, and the last two weeks also went by quietly within the clan. With five days left for the opening of the next realm, Runula presented herself again in the whale’s room; the mission to clear the entire level was complete. This time, the whale didn’t use the bones of the abyssal beasts to boost their cultivation; they had to fight and improve with what they already had.
During this time, Runula returned every other day, bringing food for Deryu and herself. Ruri entrusted her with the responsibility of feeding him, and she happily fulfilled it. Gradually, Deryu changed his gaze towards her a bit; instead of total disdain, there was only something almost neutral.
Then, with three days left, everyone gathered everything inside the clan on the whale’s orders. They wouldn’t return to this place, and everyone moved cheerfully. There was no doubt in them after hearing those words from the divine being. So, the two clans moved to the seventh level of the abyss.