On that same day, the whale got ready to work, not wanting to waste time. A gigantic mummified body emerged in the center of the realm. It was precisely the now completely dead body of Vrix. With a movement, all the skin was swept off the bones, revealing the skeleton that shimmered like a black diamond.
Inside the abyss, all forms of life that live in it naturally absorb Yin and infernal laws into their bodies. Even their bones, after death, continued to absorb, and that’s why they never deteriorated, generating treasures buried in the sands.
Vrix’s body bones were nourished for millennia within the abyss, and in addition to that, he was connected to the demonic diagram. And to the surprise of Alm and Bruno, Vrix really managed to find a way to divert some of the life force taken from demons for himself.
Vrix was truly someone with extreme natural talent, something rare in ascending planets. He managed to mix and amplify his bloodline with the help of the infernal rune and tried hard to create a portal to the underworld. And besides talent, he had destiny and, along with the other two founders of the evil sects, had the opportunity to go to the divine world after a lucky encounter.
In the end, he failed, and because his cultivation never rose due to the emperor’s restriction, he returned to the abyss. However, the experience in the divine world helped him create a subtle connection with the underworld through his bloodline. Thus, he managed to transfer some of the laws of the underworld to this universe.
The demonic diagram was a piece of a divine formation created with the laws of this universe. Vrix realized that the diagram could not absorb or expel this law from the underworld. After all, it was a law from another place, and this formation, even though it was from the divine realm, was made for the laws of this universe.
With a lot of study time, the Cerberus managed to use these laws within the diagram to influence it a little, diverting the life force it sucked from demons. It was minimal, but enough for his body never to die, allowing him to live with his soul.
Back to the present moment, the fact that those bones existed for millennia, and he didn’t die completely, amplifying his absorption rate, made the hardness level of these bones abnormal. Not even the demonic emperor had bones so hard; that was a treasure, and the whale wouldn’t waste it.
Five days later, hundreds of weapons made with bones were produced. The bones were hard but not heavy. The extreme hardness was very useful for piercing weapons, so hundreds of spears were made. All were distributed to the half-demons. Then, the whale gathered the two clans and focused on seeing their progress in the new technique, ’Rurian Faithlink.’
Using the principle of the array and the technique of evil cultivators, it should be like a party in games that Bruno played on Earth. They should be able to communicate more quickly without needing to use Qi or concentrate, and everyone could sense each other through the rune of faith, allowing them to move tactically as a single unit.
After encouraging the members of the two clans to use everything they learned from the technique, Alm and Bruno were a bit surprised.
Through the demonic and wyvern bloodlines, they were able to connect and transfer Qi between them. This allowed them to gather all the Qi in a specific group or individual to attack or defend. It was something close to the array it was based on; however, since Alm and Bruno were terrible at formations, they thought the technique wouldn’t do anything more than let them sense each other. It seemed that their bloodline played a role in this, but they didn’t understand it very well.
’Hundreds of cultivators concentrating all the Qi... it seems incredibly powerful and could defeat someone several realms above,’ Bruno pondered but soon shook his head. ’Unfortunately, it’s useless in most cases. After using this, everyone’s Qi drops almost to zero, or even zero. In other words, it can only be used once. There’s no point in having a blade that can defeat anyone if you don’t hit anyone.’
Alm reflected coldly and muttered, ’The more powerful the cultivator, the more weapons and techniques they have available. When facing danger, everyone has and will use hidden lifesavers. A single blow doesn’t solve anything. Raw power is not useful without technique... but maybe it can be useful in another way.’
The whale observed the two clans and noticed something different: they were all mixed together, there was no longer a distinction between the two clans. Now, they were one thing.
"It seems that now you trust each other completely and no longer feel like you belong to a specific clan," Alm commented to the whale.
Calirer laughed lightly, saying, "Indeed, everyone now calls themselves worshippers of the Celestial Couple. And most who survived up to this point were young and unmarried... now they followed your previous command and formed couples. They were united and blessed by the divine being."
’Command... what is she talking about?’ Alm asked mentally, but not even Bruno remembered saying something like that. But then again, Bruno had given countless bullshit speeches he had forgotten right after speaking, so maybe he said something like that at some point... they thought.
Then, they felt Ruri’s gaze drop slightly, timidly avoiding looking them in the eyes. It seemed that she gave them that name, and "Celestial Couple" gave a very clear impression of her intentions, causing Bruno to feel a slight headache.
Alm scoffed without caring. "Great, from now on, you’ll always fight in pairs. One half wyvern and one half demon."
Bruno heard that, and his mind clicked. ’DRAGON KNIGHT!!’
"The sacred rune I gave you should only be used between pairs to transfer Qi. This way, you can fight with precision and technique, attacking and defending," Alm said calmly, and everyone listened, a bit confused.
Then, Bruno took charge and exclaimed impatiently, "Wyverns, assume your true form! Demons, mount them quickly!"
Everyone jumped to understand the order, and in a second, they quickly did what was commanded.
Bruno nodded in satisfaction. "Now, just train in this way and practice the synchrony of pairs. You have been promoted from followers to... Infernal Dracronic Knights!"
Thus, everyone started a bit doubtful, but quickly realized that flowing Qi through a pair was much more efficient. Because they were mounted and united, they could make unpredictable maneuvers and plays. The defenses of the wyverns, once powerful, became impenetrable with the help of the union. The precise attack of the half-demons with their newly acquired weapons also became undefendable through this union.
Those half-demons with human blood could use the manifestation directly on the wyvern in the midst of battle, so at a frightening speed, an unpredictable power was awakened.
And those half-demons with beasts could use the wyvern’s defense to block while manifesting their insides directly onto the enemy; after all, the manifestation used the power of the soul and laws, not Qi.
’They fit perfectly. Even Calirer, now has a hidden power within her that doesn’t need any pair. When Deryu is strong enough, he will fight alongside Runula,’ Bruno concluded, satisfied and relieved.
Then, a few days later, when everyone was fully prepared, the whale gathered them all. They moved to the center of the realm, where Ruri and Almin had the water elemental rune before. Soon, it retrieved three grayish spheres and spoke loudly for the whole realm to hear.
"We now have three months to train. The training will commence until then, and everyone must make the most of it or be consumed by the realm of ashes."
They turned to the stopped pairs and spoke. "I will release the three elemental runes simultaneously in this realm. Ruri and Almin, you can only use the hero rune to control the elemental power of these runes and prevent everyone from dying."
"When everything is released, the three elements will clash, expanding into total chaos, something similar to the laws of thunder and fire we used at other times. You will have to be completely focused to perceive when the worst is about to happen and interfere. After all, Ruri can only activate for a minute, and Almin a little less."
"It will be a severe training for everyone; start!" The whale spoke quickly, without giving anyone time to think or realize the madness it was proposing.
Suddenly, the seal of the three runes was released. Previously, a realm with 5% of this rune was already deadly; now, three of them were activated at a single point, and everything quickly turned into an elemental hell.
There was nowhere to run or dodge. All the laws of water affected the senses and the body, while the electric and wind laws attacked together, without giving any chance for defense or evasion.
Everyone in that realm felt boundless despair and fought to survive, feeling their bodies being punished. But, in that moment, everyone realized they were not alone. They felt all the allies around and, at the same time, their partners by their side. With this mindset, everyone further expanded their bonds and techniques.
Ruri and Almin began to work exhaustively. When one fell unconscious, the other took over. They observed all the laws and activated their powers only at the precise moment and time for them to separate, preserving themselves a bit. After this training, the timing and precision of both using this power would increase dozens of levels at once.
The whale stayed a few meters from Ruri, it was an emergency measure if something happened. And it happily collapsed on top of them and rested without worries. So, after watching for a while and everyone stabilizing, it focused on using all the treasures it received.
Half of everything was transformed into pure Qi and distributed among the two clans. This way, they could raise a few levels. Then, the rest was used by them.
Everything was being sucked in rapidly... when they had used 95% of everything, they sighed in disbelief; the amount of Qi needed for them was already hundreds of times greater than anyone would need.
Then, at 99%, they finally felt a muffled relief sounding in their bodies. They had finally reached the ninth level of the Core Formation Realm.
’No beating around the bush, send the side quest already!’ Bruno thought quickly.
The green window then opened...
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.
[...]
But only emptiness existed...
Soon, after a few seconds, it faded away. And a strange feeling permeated between Alm and Bruno, leaving them with frozen expressions.