As night fell, Alm and Bruno silently advanced towards Ruri’s location, using the array to guide them. As they approached three mounds, they encountered a giant stone where runic inscriptions formed words.
"Where the Horns of Death, Life, and Earth intertwine their fates, rises the Triphasic Abode of Death Horn, Life Horn, and Earthbound Horn. United as the Legion of the Primordial Beast, guided by the son of the Behemoth, the celestial masterpiece. The symphony of the three factions resonates in an eternal dance, interweaving the past, present, and future into a tapestry of power and balance," strangely spelled out Bruno. "I guess they’ve learned to be flashy..."
Both remained silent, concealing themselves in the shadows of the night as they approached slowly. Every step closer resonated with the sound of metal against metal. The whale nodded, indicating that they were working hard. Then, they saw a figure closer, talking to a large group lying on the ground.
It was a handsome young man with pure and focused eyes. He spoke to a sea of injured women, emphasizing the importance of formation and precise execution of tactics.
"Without discipline and mental balance, everyone will be easily cornered. You must always watch your allies; the safety and care of the members are priorities. Don’t worry about your backs; I will always be there to protect you. You are a part of me, and I will never let you out of my sight," said Loeus, demonstrating protective leadership.
’He has a very different style from ours, but this way... the women just look at him in increasingly strange ways. Well... if not even Langrum could manage, it doesn’t matter,’ Bruno commented mentally as they moved in another direction.
They circled around the factions, burying things in the ground every few steps. As they approached, Alm and Bruno stopped, hearing light laughter. They advanced and saw a young man who looked like an elf, chatting around a campfire with everyone. It was Corin.
Members of his faction were completely injured and fallen, resting, while he, standing, captured everyone’s attention, talking with a red palm mark on his face.
"I had pure intentions, but she was irrational!" Corin exclaimed. Soon, an elf in the audience asked for details with a smile on his face; that seemed to happen frequently.
"When I went to buy some pills, I saw a smooth-talking black elf selling his skills to a young woman. He said that as long as she gave him five thousand crystals, he would give her a predestined wedding pill that would definitely make the person who swallowed it deeply like the first person they saw."
"Don’t you think that’s nonsense? I hardly know anything about pills, but could there be something magical with that effect? Moreover, how could a disciple from an inner sect have something like that? He was clearly just deceiving her. I got angry at him for being so dishonest; I couldn’t just watch as she was fooled. So, I exposed him," said Corin, with a contorted face of indignation. "I saved her, but that irrational young woman... I should have let her be fooled!"
Everyone seemed to anticipate something, so someone asked what he did exactly. "I told her: ’Don’t be fooled, he’s tricking you. Someone as ugly as you won’t find other people who like you. It would be better for you to keep your resources and work to increase your power.’ I tried meticulously advising her, but she immediately became hostile and hit me! How can she be so stupid..." Corin concluded, hanging his head.
Everyone laughed explosively, while Alm and Bruno watched with strangeness. Soon, they saw Corin distribute recovery pills, and everyone quickly cheered up to resume training. It became clear to them.
’He uses humor to dissipate tension and create a more relaxed environment. Whether it’s intentional... is questionable. But he seems to emphasize the importance of commitment to the bigger picture. He has his skills,’ Alm commented mentally.
The whale remained there for a few minutes, watching Corin interact with everyone while training them. Corin showed enthusiasm in sharing a new training technique he had learned at the institute and subtly encouraged questions. Everyone seemed very close to him, and he genuinely showed interest in the experiences and life stories of the members. Perhaps out of curiosity, after all, his primitive world had nothing similar to things here.
Afterwards, they moved on, burying objects when they were near the last point. Then, they heard something different; it was screams of agony. They sighed, already anticipating the scene.
Ruri was trained hard, taught not to care about pain and agony from an early age... she experienced the refining pool that shaped her body at the age of 11, and then faced the sandstorm multiple times. Her method reflected what she had gone through herself.
The whale watched her calmly for a while. Ruri taught with determination, emphasizing the faction’s long-term goals. The essence of her teaching was to challenge the limits of the members to strengthen them.
She was so focused that she didn’t notice their approach through the array. Soon, things became clearer: Ruri demonstrated an innovative approach, introducing unique tactical strategies amid everyone’s suffering. She emphasized that the group’s unity was crucial to achieve objectives and overcome challenges. And everyone, despite the hardship, did not back down.
’Her style... inspires loyalty by showing strong and passionate leadership.’ Alm analyzed coldly. ’She highlights that strength comes from mutual understanding and support, and the importance of each member feeling secure. Willpower and mental security are most important to her. Quite typical, as the basis of her power is mental cultivation.’
After a few hours of observing everyone, the whale was satisfied. The three had their distinct skills. Then, it triggered the decisive test!
Quickly, in the entire circular area where the factions were, earth runes were released, sealing something. A sharp and subtle aura was triggered, then, in a second, almost two hundred wooden spears they had buried, sprouted from the ground shooting like arrows towards the center.
The whale watched them from above attentively. As the spears were shot, everyone felt something. They made sure to suppress the power of it; any cultivator would only sense it when it was almost in front of them. But... their instincts reacted immediately.
Coming from all directions, in a second, they would hit them, undoubtedly killing several. Alm and Bruno did not ease up, and even if the leaders went all out, it was impossible to block everything. So, the disciples acted.
From the three sides, those with greater physical capability jumped directly into the spears. Two sides had orcs and human physical fighters. But, in Loeus’s faction, there were none, yet... the elf women jumped in front without hesitation.
They, being cultivators of the natural laws of wood, exploded with everything they had, creating shields of wood as hard as steel. The wood had a red color, like blood. The elves used their own bloodline to gain more strength. Everyone acted in a single second.
BOOM
An explosive sound echoed, and then hundreds of disciples flew, spitting blood everywhere. The spears continued to advance.
At that moment, the leaders roared and unleashed all their power. Everyone behind them did the same together. Soon, they attacked using the best techniques they had. They had to pour out all of their QI in a second and hit the arrows piercing the air.
BOOM!
A dense dust fog rose. Everyone blocked together with a multicolored explosion that made the air vibrate. If everyone didn’t do this, they would die. If the first defensive group didn’t take the first impact, they would die. If they delayed reacting, they would die.
But they blocked. And amid the dust and silence, everyone tensely heard the steps of the whale approaching. Only then did Ruri feel it through their array.
"Good job. You’re still weak, but together, you can survive; learn from this." They said lightly, and everyone heard swallow nervously.
When everything settled, the whale called Loeus. While the whale was in the forge, they received a message from Ruri through the array asking for authorization. After five days of training, the three leaders and the two wyverns went to the inner institutes to enter them.
"Go to the alchemy institute and buy the best fire and water pills you can get. Buy enough for all the disciples." The whale told Loeus, handing over a ring with several million crystals.
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The whale individually analyzed each disciple with its soul as they were healed. Then, they concluded that they were ready for the next phase, but their bodies were too impure. They all came from small clans and likely forced cultivation with pills and strange techniques. The core of most of them was almost a third obstructed with impurities, which was very difficult to purify naturally.
When the day arrived, Loeus returned lightly. Soon, the whale gathered everyone and instructed them to separate by genders. The feys among them already had a well-defined gender; they were all hybrids. Shortly after, everyone locked themselves in separate tents.
"Loeus, put a trace of pure Yang in the fire pills. I will put pure Yin in the water ones." The whale commanded, and it was quickly done. The pills were already concocted, but since their Yang and Yin were pure, they could subtly penetrate and contaminate the pills.
"Legion of the Primordial Beast, listen well. To stay here, you don’t need to have much talent. You just have to be absolutely loyal. You can never betray your brothers and sisters. They will never betray you, and I trust you too. From today, you will become true members. Swallow the pills in your hands. This will be your first step towards the highest peak," heroically shouted Bruno.
"Yes, boss!"
Everyone responded and directly swallowed the pills. In their hearts, their leaders were heroes, but this figure was something beyond... perhaps a god... a very round one... but a god nonetheless. Even if he wanted them to swallow a ball of dung, they wouldn’t hesitate. So, in seconds...
"Heavens, my stomach is burning!" seriously yelled an orc man.
"My body... it’s cold..." A tense elf woman murmured.
Following suit, the other men and women also began to feel as if a fire was burning in their stomachs or a cold was freezing all their organs. Red steam and white frost began to come out of their mouths and noses as they breathed.
Then, it wasn’t just the nose and mouth but also the ears. In fact, even their eyes emitted a bit of it. It was a horrifying sight. Everyone began to groan in limitless agony; the training they had gone through seemed like a walk in the park now.
"This will purify your cores, greatly increase your capabilities, stabilize your foundation, and clear your meridians. Since your bodies are very impure and cultivation is high, you will have to endure a bit of extra pain, but everything you go through now is to be able to survive on the battlefield. Endure because it’s all worth it," said the whale calmly.
"Don’t worry, boss, we can still endure it!"
Someone shouted, but as soon as they spoke, they coughed up red vapor, looking comical. The entire area of the factions was covered by a hot and cold mist, and rainy clouds began to accumulate strangely in the sky.
Ruri, Loeus, and Corin were beside the whale, watching and feeling attentively the closed tents with everyone inside. Suddenly, the whale made a move. Dense earth runes covered the tents, sealing them.
Everyone was doubtful, but quickly... they felt intense Yin and Yang emanating from the tents. Sounds of strong and almost animalistic beats emerged from the insides. They lost their sanity.
"If men and women were outdoors together... they would quickly jump on each other like wild animals drawn to reproduction," commented the whale a bit strangely. And everyone briefly imagined the fifteen thousand disciples in such a bizarre situation.
It would take five days for their bodies to absorb everything. Then, they gathered with Ruri and analyzed the giant black rune. After they checked it into the spatial inventory and activated the emblem the woman used to control it, the rune stabilized, despite being cracked in several places.
They felt the world inside and realized it was something akin to a small black forest. Indeed, there were demon beasts grouped as if divided into family factions. Their cultivation varied greatly, but there were a few at the end of the Elemental Condensation Realm. As demon beasts, their bodies were dense and powerful. Even a human in the Body Destruction Realm couldn’t be sure of defeating them. But they were all trapped and confined there.
The whale gave an idea to Ruri, and she quickly thought deeply, discussing it. They wanted to create a spatial formation using that giant rune, using the incomplete Dao they gained. Ruri had already collected all the spatial formations from the inner institute to study before.
The whale and Ruri devised an unusual method. Ruri wasn’t very experienced, but she was creative; she just lacked the ability to put it into practice. So it was decided they would try it after the first test, and Ruri would isolate herself to study for this goal.
Days later, the disciples emerged from the tents, completely renewed. More days passed as everyone was busy increasing their strengths. Finally, the day arrived when all the inner sect disciples would gather.
Today was the monthly competition for the inner sect disciples. This would determine the rankings of the factions and the rewards distributed to the six factions. For the others, it was a fight for resources.