Duality of Shadows

A world completely enveloped in light surrounded Alm and Bruno from all directions as if nothing else existed; the notion of up and down was lost, and a suffocating Yang seemed to penetrate every inch of their skin like needles. But... it lasted only five seconds.

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Soon, the light seemed to freeze, and space began to spin. Alm and Bruno didn’t have time to analyze anything as they were enveloped by a spatial rift. This rift closed with them inside as soon as it was detected, causing spatial destruction that could easily kill even a cultivator at the peak of divine cultivation. And it would hit them in a matter of seconds.

’Vrix, I can only rely on you.’ The whale spoke mentally to the soul of the Cerberus that inhabited the bone club.

Suddenly, that completely cracked bone weapon appeared in the whale’s hand. Then, a black rune in its center lit up, making the entire bone club tremble as if it would crumble.

They crossed the limit of this weapon when they killed that Chromaraic by surprise in the heavenly realm. After that, Vrix only kept teaching Fides about the world, dedicatedly performing the task assigned by the whale. He knew he wouldn’t be useful in a fight anymore, but he didn’t waver.

’Yes, boss. This will be my last contribution for a good while, but I’ll open the portal to the underworld.’ Vrix replied lightly.

Alm and Bruno sighed, aware that to open this portal, all the remaining Cerberus bloodline of Vrix should be consumed in return. Vrix’s soul was sealed in the bone club, using the bloodline as a seal; without it, his soul would lose its vitality and typically disperse to reincarnate.

’Don’t worry, I’ll keep you in the inventory, just like Grassrunner. I’ll compensate you for your deeds properly. One day, you’ll be alive again. Maybe in the underworld, I’ll find a high-level Cerberus; that would be a good body, wouldn’t it?’ Bruno replied softly, as he felt the space shattering like glass; they had less than a minute.

’Yes, boss, just being able to open the portal to my race’s home is a dream I’ve pursued my whole life. Following the divine Cerberus was the right choice... Fides! Don’t be stubborn and obey the boss. You already understand everything, and I’ve taught you enough.’ Vrix began to speak, then continued, feeling Fides in the inventory and getting a bit emotional.

Suddenly, the rune on the bone club pulsed with all its power. The whale lit up his tattoos, pouring an immense amount of pure Qi, Yin, and Yang in support. In the same second, that bone from a beast at the peak of cultivation exploded into powder in all directions. Only the rune remained, and it began to spin.

A small fissure, one meter in size, appeared like a window reflecting a black void. The whale looked at it serenely, then Vrix roared, and the fissure forcibly opened to three meters. The whale snorted, grabbing the black rune, and jumped in without hesitation.

It took only a second for the portal behind him to disappear completely. Then, inside his spatial inventory, a second three-headed canine soul floated completely inert.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of bones breaking echoed sequentially. Blood flowed from the eyes, ears, mouth, all over the skin, and every possible place.

Alm and Bruno crossed the portal... but... if they could have done it earlier, things would have been different. Since the first time they confirmed that Vrix could open the portal with his help, they realized that the connection didn’t lead directly to the underworld. It was so unstable that just thinking about crossing made the sensation of death palpable. They would be killed by spatial laws immediately, without even really reaching the underworld. (Chapter 272/273)

That crossing was like being thrown into a raging sea with gigantic water currents, but being dozens of meters away from solid ground. They could see the underworld, but spatial laws prevented them from advancing because the connection was too unstable. They concluded that when they reached the Body Destruction Realm, their bodies would be able to withstand it in time to cross.

But... unfortunately, there was no option to wait until reaching that realm. If they stayed in the spatial rift, death was certain. Now, however, there was a ridiculously low chance of success. This chance came from something they left there waiting for them.

The whale spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his body pierced by fragments of space. If it weren’t for his physical cultivation, they would have exploded immediately. Then, the whole world around them was covered in celestial blue.

’Finally...’ Bruno murmured, with the arrival of his hope.

When they came to the underworld and destroyed the heavenly realm, there was a formation around the place that isolated everything from the underworld. Bruno felt the power of faith coming from his followers in other universes, trying to reach him. But they left without receiving it.

Now, this was their chance, and the celestial rune was finally activated to the fullest. Bruno took charge, and Fides appeared in his hand. The whole body of the whale trembled as he held the heavy sword. Only with Qi, it was not possible to move it; his bloodline had to be active, his physical cultivation... everything possible should be used to attack only three times.

But he didn’t need to attack; he just squeezed the sword’s handle. Soon, the entire blue blade began to glow. The whale’s body began to regenerate before his naked eyes, but the spatial damages were penetrating his flesh at the same speed as it regenerated.

At the same time, an infinite amount of faith power enveloped the whale like a river crossing space. It seemed like an infinite source, coming from various universes. Clearly, it was much larger than when they last saw it. Bruno thought of Sayqi, Sesel, Oria, Leafar, and Ervly; they must be doing a good job and contributed to this.

But unfortunately, it was not infinite.

’We’re burning faith energy and balancing the regeneration and damage with it; at this rate, I think it will take a few years for everything to end. You bought time.’ Alm analyzed coldly.

Bruno sighed, completely focused. Only he could manipulate that, and only he could solve it as well. ’With Fides, I feel like I’m close to developing the technique. If my theory is correct, the power of faith, something coming from the living who worship us, contains the essence of their life, mind, and soul. This is the energy given by celestial laws to all living beings as soon as they are incarnated. Spatial laws are something below celestial laws; we can overcome this with their faith.’

Alm just sighed; he couldn’t do anything at this moment. But undoubtedly, the karma they created in various places became a weapon they conquered as a prize. Something they didn’t intentionally do, but this power only grew day by day.

So, with the whale’s body being destroyed and rebuilt continuously every second, it was a source of perpetual observation, study, and meditation for Bruno. Pain had long since ceased to have any meaning from Alm and Bruno, so it was as if it didn’t even exist at the moment. Bruno analyzed and tried everything he wanted. After a month, their bloodline finally recovered.

Fides was now moved and could be fully used. Bruno tried... and tried... as time flowed like in their past. Someone who lived for millennia could enter meditation and stay in it for centuries without feeling it pass.

Alm was the only one who counted and noticed everything around. He took his time observing the underworld, which was like seeing through a foggy glass. But soon, he could faintly feel outside that glass, after all, the underworld was a Yin world. While the universes were balanced with Yin and Yang. That’s why they were separate places, but Alm noticed many other things that left him stunned.

One fine day, Bruno swung Fides in another test.

Soon, the space in front of them distorted, and a celestial blue cut advanced for a few meters before dispersing. ’Success! Space was subdued for a while. I’m almost there.’ Bruno said excitedly.

Then, the days continued to unfold.

In an unknown period of time for Bruno, the whale opened his eyes as the celestial rune pulsed.

Whoooosh!

Suddenly, their bodies were covered by a celestial aura. The whale closed his eyes, and Bruno roared.

Finally, the aura mutated then condensed and became something akin to a flame around them. All the spatial laws around quickly receded, being subdued.

’Finally! I’m calling it Celestial Flame!’ Bruno said, smiling. ’Simple, but it describes it well. Now, let’s get out of this place!’

The whale moved Fides, and the entire giant blade was covered in celestial flame. A swing reverberated like the end of times. A massive cut advanced, destroying the entire space furiously.

Bruno jumped following the cut. They traversed the entire place in a few minutes until they saw the spatial barrier to the underworld.

"OPEN!" Bruno roared and attacked a second time.

CRACK!!!

Cracks appeared in the barrier. Then, all the possible power was used without sparing a drop. This was the final strike.

BOOM!!!

Everything collapsed, and Alm and Bruno sighed in relief, jumping inside at the same millisecond.

Then, they saw the space behind them immediately reconstructing, but they had passed through. They had survived.

Only then did Bruno notice that he no longer had a massive amount of power of faith around him. At that moment, he finally realized something and trembled as he asked.

’How... how long was I immersed... how much time did we lose?’

Alm just scoffed emotionlessly. ’We survived, so why worry about that? It was exactly 99 years and seven days.’