Duality of Shadows

At the end of the day, the whale and Ruri walked hand in hand towards the two clans. Ruri was radiant, and her clothing no longer felt tight. The whale made some modifications to the dress, making it more comfortable, with several areas now more open.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

It wasn’t just that which changed; now, Ruri simply clung to the whale’s arm, refusing to climb onto their shoulders. When they looked at her strangely for just holding onto their arm, Ruri spoke firmly.

"I’m no longer a child; I’ll stay down here; it’s easier to jump on your back in emergencies," Ruri spoke calmly, squeezing herself against their arm. They simply ignored that soft feeling against their arm, pretending not to understand what she was trying to do.

"Keep this spot for the future..." Ruri murmured but interrupted her words midway, unable to finish.

In the end, this was a relief for Alm and Bruno. Ruri was already quite tall, and despite their bodies growing even more after physical cultivation training, becoming broader and rounder in all directions, it now seemed strange to see her there. Not that walking with a child before was considered normal.

As they approached, Calirer and Runula ran with tense eyes, and the whale just glanced lightly, indicating that everything was fine.

"There’s still a month and a week until the spatial laws of this place open up. But there’s no danger now; I can open and keep the entire realm sealed." explained the whale as everyone nearby heard, feeling extremely relieved.

"The problem is, we can’t stay here forever; I have to leave the abyss because I’m not like you. As soon as the outside realizes they can’t get in, they’ll try various methods and completely surround us, blocking our escape."

The whale spoke calmly, but there was no fear or tension perceived from everyone; all those alive were now the elite of the elite among the demons.

He continued, "So, we need to capitalize on the element of surprise. First, I’ll leave before the opening time to attract attention. They’ll be on alert, and then they’ll be sure we’ll stay inside here. Don’t forget the Realm of Ashes is also about to open. Then, when the realm of ashes opens up, and they split up, all of us will have to leave and enter that realm, going against their expectations."

"Entering the realm of ashes, where death is almost certain for any demon, they won’t be able to pursue us incisively. Thus, we’ll have opportunities, and that place is the key to turning the tables."

Everyone listened attentively and clenched their fists; if the divine being said they would go, they wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. If the demon emperor were in front of them now, and they had to fight, they would raise their claws against him without hesitation as well.

The whale nodded, looking at everyone, and concluded, "So, you’ll have a little over four months to prepare. For now, scour every inch of land. The treasures and crystals of this realm must still be buried; we have to take advantage of everything."

The whale then gathered its entire group in an isolated area. Now, they had their bloodline power recovered again and could sense and restore their laws of the earth. This isolated place was completely transformed by the power of the Behemoth. Life was abundant throughout this dome that had a few kilometers; the laws of the earth flowed everywhere, making it an oasis in the middle of the abyss.

A closed structure of earth was erected, and the whole group isolated themselves, absorbing the purest Qi coming from everything they had accumulated in the spatial inventory.

In the first hour, a muffled sound resonated. It was Ruri; finally, all 300 acupuncture points in her body expanded, and she advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm. However, her excitement didn’t manifest, and she focused even more with a serious look. A few hours later, her body resonated again and again. She advanced directly to the second level of this realm but stopped there. She still needed to wait a few months to fully cultivate herself.

The whale looked at her happiness and sighed. They were uncontrollably sucking 90% of all the Qi from the environment, and due to the array, Ruri explosively advanced at their expense. Once her body is ready, she will probably quickly reach their level in a scary and abnormal way.

A week later, Almin and Langrum had already broken through several times, reaching the ninth level of the Core Formation Realm. They were only one step away from breaking through, but the whale stopped them.

As soon as they broke through, they would undergo the heavenly tribulation and have to form their spiritual roots. They should adequately prepare to form the largest and best roots possible. Developing a more subtle connection with the basic laws would be beneficial. So, Langrum isolated herself to study the rune of the winds.

The whale then sent a message, and the young girl approached Almin, puffing out her chest proudly, and led him outside. Ruri would be his teacher, and she was the only one with experience in using the hero’s rune. She would take her time teaching him how to use it; after all, it was a mystical power above all, and the cost was an unusually high mental strain, usable only for a short period. Therefore, the brief time of its use needed to be well utilized.

With only Loeus present, Bruno calmly analyzed his Yang power and gave some tips. His cultivation level was already unprecedented for his age. Due to the group always facing opponents much higher in level than him, he didn’t have many opportunities to fight seriously, only providing simple support. His understanding of the realm was not excellent. Thus, he only reached the third level of the Core Formation Realm and went to assimilate Bruno’s teachings.

Now, the whale focused on itself... but not before blocking Almin’s array channel completely!

They didn’t want to risk Almin breaking through while they were cultivating and a tribulation forming, especially with Ruri near him.

All the stock of crystals and treasures was quickly consumed, and the frustrated whale only reached the sixth level of the Core Formation Realm. Then, Calirer and Runula arrived with everything they found inside that realm, and they joyfully sucked everything, not caring about tomorrow.

Then it all ended... they only reached the eighth level, with faces in total disbelief. At the same moment, Ruri entered the building excitedly, saying that she had broken through another level.

Without any surprise, they only felt good seeing her smile and couldn’t criticize the array for that.

’ Even with Ruri just siphoning a bit... our heightened physical cultivation is a massive burden to bear,’ Bruno muttered mentally. ’The fact that our core is three times larger isn’t just for show either. That certainly increased the amount of QI even more... well, we can’t complain; the power level is proportional.’

So, they focused entirely on planning their next steps. But first, they had to read the memories of the three patriarchs. Due to their cultivations, they were only ordinary members of their demon clans, but they had valuable information about everything that happened.

They began reading everything, and soon, their brows furrowed deeply. Everything happened so abruptly, partly due to their ignorance. Celestial laws, also known as the power of faith, had many unknown peculiarities.

It all started with the human who was the new leader of the Sect of the Infernal God. As he advanced and used his technique to sense the flow of celestial laws, he clearly noticed that everything flowed nearby, in the statues from the clan that was on the eleventh level.

He then contacted the other two patriarchs. In the initial investigations of the patriarch of the Bloodthirsty Light Sect, after the death of some cerberuses that were part of his clan. They were certain that Goku was involved; everything around them was very abnormal.

However, according to the emperor’s laws, they couldn’t attack, and it was decided to wait for them to enter the realm of ashes at that point. The danger would be extreme in the realm of ashes, but inside, Alm and Bruno could avoid the worst results if everything went according to plan.

Then, everything suddenly changed, altering the patriarchs’ plans. A direct mission from the emperor arose for all the top 10 demonic clans.

"Find a human in the form of a whale and his demonic clan. No matter the cost or rules. Capture or find clues. Any clan that merely participates and helps will be generously rewarded."

Immediately, everyone sought information from the evil cultivators about this human. Quickly, information about Goku emerged, matching the description. The three patriarchs, who actually knew where he was, devised another plan together. After all, they weren’t really anyone in the abyss, and evil cultivators were obliged to unite.

The patriarch of the Vital Yin Sect was part of the number 1 clan called Hellfire, and the other patriarch of the Sect of the Infernal God was part of the number 2 clan called Obsidian Storm. If any of the top 3 sects made a move, everyone would know and follow them in search of glory and the reward for completing an emperor’s mission.

Soon, the patriarch of the Bloodthirsty Light Sect, who was part of the number 4 clan in the abyss, the Nether Hound clan, gathered a group of powerful cerberuses. With the influence of the clan, he brought together the two other clans, numbers 5 and 6, without really informing the truth. He only said that he might have found a lead. No clan really had a clue, so they followed cheerfully.

In the end, everyone died. The high elders of the evil cultivators who remained in the clans knew everything, so upon sensing the death of the patriarchs, they immediately informed the clans about what had happened. Then, everyone simply moved without caring about anything, knowing exactly where to go, and the number 3 clan just followed the flow upon realizing the movement.

Bruno dryly commented, ’Damn... I didn’t know we could be found like that, using the power of faith. And then the emperor even issued the order. Didn’t you say he wouldn’t do that to hunt us?’

’Something is very wrong. If he was going to do that, why did it take months?’ Alm replied coldly. ’You know demons as well as I do; they’re proud and would certainly prefer to die than admit what we did to him... something happened for him to change his attitude and swallow that loss.’

Bruno snorted but agreed; something seemed out of place. Then he spoke, ’Now we’re surrounded, and we can’t easily escape. We have to move forward thinking of the worst-case scenario... that the emperor managing to recover somehow.’

’In this universe full of strange laws, it’s not impossible for there to be a method we don’t know. Perhaps the cost of using something like that moved him to act against his will. In his eyes, we’re walking treasures, and he wants to recoup his losses,’ Alm concluded.

’A strange law... doesn’t need much; a cultivator in the Spirit Fusion Realm could easily restore the wounded demon emperor’s mortal soul.’ Bruno commented, but he didn’t take his words too seriously.

Alm spoke dryly. ’That’s not a real scenario. Such cultivation is only possible in divine realms. The Body Destruction Realm is the absolute limit of this planet unless it’s something on the level of a true dragon. Something like that on this planet? Why would it bother with a pathetic demon?’

So, Alm and Bruno simply focused on how to deal with the demon emperor if he recovered.

They weren’t worried, after all, just like when the queen activated the hero’s rune in Ruri; when they mastered the rune in Almin, a gift was left for them in return.

It was the divine Qi left by the queen, something that should be the key to cultivating at levels above the mortal plane. And it could shift into any kind of energy or law. For these old beings who knew all the laws coming from their universe, it was like a magical sword that could do as they pleased. (Chapter 125)

’Great, now all that’s left is to thoroughly study this technique from the Sect of the Infernal God. Finally got my hands on it.’ Bruno said excitedly, focusing on the technique that uses the power of faith.

Meanwhile, Alm focused on studying the infernal rune that was created after completing the twelve wings. The more he studied, the more certain he became. It was something on the same level as a rune created in the Elemental Condensation Realm.

The infernal wings were set aside by them, and they never used them again, as they received equally powerful techniques to use. With each use of the wings, they lost one or more of them, and if they continued to use them, they would never complete the twelve.

Now, this rune could be nurtured and elevated infinitely. Even if they exhausted it, it would be like the bloodline in their bodies; over time, everything would be replenished to the maximum. And the best part is they would still form their elemental rune when they reached that realm, thus having two!

It was in the midst of this excitement that Alm felt something wrong with Bruno. He thought of saying something, then felt a pressure focus on them.

CRACK!!!

The heavens roared, and Alm was astonished; that wasn’t for Almin or Langrum, clearly, it was for them!

Then, Alm felt something slowly condensing in the core inside his body. At that moment, a celestial blue glow emerged, and a new rune of the same color fixed itself, almost becoming completely physical. Then, the heavens stirred fervently in the same second.