"Victorious group acknowledged."
"Reward from the third island: Hero’s Sacred Dao complete."
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The robotic voice sounded as usual, and the whale narrowed his eyes upon hearing the reward. Soon, space distorted, and a Jade Slip radiating a golden aura appeared. Just by looking at it, he could already feel the queen’s will in it. The whale promptly took it, tossing it directly into the inventory and, without delay, destroyed all the will.
Alm cursed and sighed. ’That bitch. But this Dao must have many ways to use the hero’s rune; later, we’ll study it to adapt it for Ruri and Almin.’
’We have to dedicate efforts to this. This will be the Hero’s Dao that our allies can use. In the future, we can build an army of heroes under our command,’ Bruno spoke excitedly. This reward could yield many fruits in the future.
At this moment, a gravitational force enveloped the entire group, but, except for Ruri, everyone seemed quite shaken, refusing to face the whale. Ruri observed this, noting their reaction, but even she found it exaggerated.
As everyone was levitated to the last island, Ruri inquired about the array.
’Master told me before about the divine realm and that our planet was just something inferior. I thought that because master was so cool and the people from our planet were ignorant, it was normal for them to adore him... but now, everyone seems the same... they are all considered geniuses from the divine realm where they came from, why are they acting the same way?’
The whale sighed lightly, looking at all five around him; they all seemed extremely shaken. Sayqi, Sesel, and Oria had only vague hints from Ruri before, and they had no idea about the real cultivation of Hexaalis and Drake. But after using their divine souls to kill the necromancer demon, everything seemed to click in their minds and those of the two new members.
The whale explained gently. ’All the laws and Daos of the universes exist from the beginning. As life forms develop, they turn to celestial runes to understand the existing laws and Daos, thus shaping their experiences to create unique techniques. However, on rare occasions, something extraordinary happens: a being manages to transcend the established limits, and through self-created techniques, forges a new Dao that rises above the celestial laws themselves. This is the path to divinity, for cultivators.’
’There is the Sword God, Forge God, Alchemy God, and so on... cultivation and age are irrelevant. By creating a Dao that transcends the established laws, the Heaven’s Will marks the newly created Dao on itself along with its creator, immortalizing the cultivator and their new foundation.’
’This is the greatest pursuit of divine cultivators, and they all live their long lives seeking to become an immortal god. Of course, they still die of old age, but with the recognition of their divinity, their will and memories remain forever in the heavens. And in life, the ’god’ gains a literally divine ability, because they have been marked by the Heaven’s Will. They can employ a power beyond the understanding of all. This power resonates with the world and all forms of life, just like the Heaven’s Will.’
At this moment, Ruri jumped, remembering feeling this power from her master at various moments. ’So master... really was...’
’No.’ The whale cut her off sharply. ’All the phenomena happened due to another circumstance. My soul is special, something beyond their comprehension. And added to the power of faith and their hero’s rune connected to me; they all ended up giving us this title mistakenly after seeing a bit of the capability of my soul. They think I’m someone at the same level as those legends. However, I am not.’
’I understand...’ Ruri sighed mentally; a special soul was new to her. Every day, she learned more about her master, and new doubts and secrets emerged. ’But master is still extremely special, like a god. Eventually, you will become a true one; we are not lying.’
The whale just snorted at Ruri’s words of extreme adoration. And at this precise moment, the view of the last floating island materialized before them. They were at the highest point of this planetary formation. The runes carved at the top were almost tangible, sending waves of power through the air, while just below stretched the majestic island.
The outskirts of the island were adorned by a modest forest and vegetation, occupying a mere 10% of its expanse. However, the true protagonist of this scene was a monumental and gigantic mountain. Its top was vast and invisible, and Alm and Bruno felt a clear connection between this imposing pinnacle and the planetary formation.
The unique layout of the scenery unequivocally revealed that they would have to climb this mountain to conclude the main quest. But... a feeling of pressure arose in both of them. They had consumed only a small portion of their available time so far, with 17 hours remaining. But with this feeling, it became clear that things would be complicated within this timeframe.
Everyone around sighed at the sight of that mountain, as large as a country. Then, they all stepped onto solid ground, and it didn’t take long for the whale to turn in a direction, waiting calmly. The reception always came from those who lived there.
Minutes passed, and no one saw or felt anything approaching. But the whale remained still, and everyone saw Ruri tighten her grip on her katana. Then, the whale’s eyes narrowed, and he made a calm movement, drawing his green axe and causing everyone to jump.
A frenetic and deadly aura emanated from the whale, making them prepare for something they couldn’t comprehend. It was in that second that they heard dry words.
"Sorry, brother, didn’t mean to scare you."
Everyone turned immediately to the voice, bewildered, and then they saw, just a few meters ahead of them, a rugged-looking man with a strange smile on his face. How did he approach them so closely without being noticed? Everyone wondered, swallowing nervously.
"My name is Numir, I didn’t come with ill intentions," the man continued, remaining calm. "It’s very rare for someone to come here, and I have to welcome you at the risk of my life; otherwise, I’ll never even have a chance to get out of this place alive."
Everyone was intrigued; not even having a chance to leave? All the islands had their tests; you just had to fulfill them. Something out of the ordinary was happening; everyone thought tensely.
"We have to run, or we’ll be caught. I’m an alchemist, and I managed to make some pills to deceive the mind. Please, swallow this and follow me," he spoke quickly, and seven pills floated toward everyone.
The whale quickly analyzed the pill and felt a slight mental power in them. It simply created a thin layer of this energy, something that Ruri, with her ten years, could easily do. But for those without mental power, it was quite effective.
Then Alm smiled inwardly; the origins of that pill intrigued him greatly.