The Sovereign represents the strongest person in the world, an existence that stands above all laws and orders. It’s the highest possible peak for a mortal, and their soul has undergone incomparable tribulations, transforming a considerable part of it into a divine soul, not just a small fragment.
It didn’t take long for a divine will to fall upon the three. Everyone saw within themselves two runes at the core, and their eyes widened. Alm and Bruno obviously concealed the faith rune in their inventory, leaving only the Yin radiating infernal rune and the earth rune. But the bigger shock came from the spatial rune inside Ruri, almost causing them to drop their jaws to the ground.
Everyone was so stunned that they took advantage of being "unconscious" to try to invade their souls and uncover their origins. Two runes? One of them with spatial laws? They must have an unbelievable origin. They were so shocked that they didn’t feel the subtle Qi that didn’t come from their divine world; they didn’t even think that was possible.
A person’s soul resides in the mental sea, located in the head. They tried to invade the whale’s mental sea and found only emptiness, with a subtle soul presence. For a cultivator only in the Elemental Condensation Realm, this seemed normal; they tried to find out more, but strangely noticed nothing, nor could they find their true soul there.
So, they turned to the two women, and the obsidian mask came into action. This mineral was frighteningly hard physically but also had the ability to block soul power nearby. Both of their mental seas seemed to be protected by an impenetrable shield.
Of course, if they really wanted to, they could break through this barrier using all their power and cultivation. However, if they reached that point, it would be easier to simply kill them directly, making the search for their secrets unnecessary in such a subtle manner.
The demons were completely puzzled. This situation was extremely suspicious, but at the same time, the three could be descendants of powerful individuals. They were just going through the test without causing trouble; there was no reason to go beyond that. It was at this moment that another presence suddenly emerged, causing everyone to freeze.
A malevolent power oppressed everyone in the skies, and without hesitation, they all descended to the ground and knelt. Then, they shouted in unison:
"Greetings, Demon Sovereign!"
It was a demon at the same cultivation level as everyone there, but his presence was overwhelming. It was as if they were all ants before him. Cultivation wasn’t the only important aspect; bloodline, techniques, and equipment also played a crucial role. This demon clearly represented the elite in the queen’s universe.
"Reporting to the Sovereign, this is our first group of disciples to pass the trial in this generation," said a demon with reverence.
The Demon Sovereign scanned everyone in the sea of infernal rays with his gaze. When his divine sense reached the three, he paused for a moment.
With a slight smile of satisfaction, he nodded upon seeing those disciples. "Not bad. One’s soul is excellent, the Yin of the other is extraordinary, and the other... your physique... how is that possible?"
He was momentarily stunned, but then he snorted dryly and continued, "These three individuals are exceptionally powerful. When the trial is over, bring the three to see me. If they meet my standards, I will consider them my personal disciples."
The Sovereign pointed to the three who floated motionless in the pool. He seemed strangely hurried and didn’t want to waste time on this.
Inside, their hearts trembled. Alm and Bruno used all their skills and souls to conceal their auras. Despite being fully merged into the lightning sea, that demon could clearly discern Ruri’s powerful soul, Rehvka’s Yin, and the whale’s physical body.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
Everyone fell silent, consumed by extreme envy. Soon, the demon turned, dismissing the matter and speaking seriously.
"I am heading to the underworld; an urgent call has arisen. A trapped Heaven-Defier has escaped; another Heaven-Defier saved him. Now both are missing."
Everyone widened their eyes. Clearly, that was inconceivable; they had never heard of anything similar in all of history.
"This happened just a few days ago. Both are somewhere in the underworld, and with everyone searching, they shouldn’t get far. The hero’s call was issued to everyone. I’ll be absent for a short while, but it shouldn’t take long. Devth, take over everything," the demon concluded before hastily disappearing.
’The idiot, you’re going to come looking for me when I’m here? Let me watch your show,’ Alm mocked mentally. ’A hero’s slut wants us as disciples? Hahahah. Just wait, this hive will be quickly destroyed behind your back.’
Fortunately, after that demon said that, everyone stopped trying to investigate them. The leader approved them; most likely, the problem in the underworld made him not think too much and just rush out. It was very lucky... or not, after all, they were the ones responsible for the problems in the underworld.
Two more days passed quickly, and now there were only twenty-four hours left for everything to end. Everyone else remained unconscious while they absorbed everything slowly and passively.
The two women remained silent and attentive to a specific point. They watched the eight-winged demon responsible for the test, who was meditating alone in a corner. He simply didn’t have the patience to stay watching everyone sleep and chose to meditate. It was a golden opportunity; no one else was there to watch over them.
At this moment, if the demon were to look at the center of the sea, he would be shocked. There were no more infernal beasts; everything had already been silently transferred to the whale’s spatial inventory.
They didn’t dare to move physically, but their tattoos pulsated, creating a channel with their souls, directly to the center of the place. Nearly ten thousand infernal beasts had disappeared... now, the whale focused... then everything was dumped into the array.
The two women quickly absorbed everything. It was such a gigantic amount of celestial energy and infernal laws that even after a month of sucking everything they could, it still wouldn’t be a third of it.
After an hour, the two snuggled into the whale’s arm and passed out, exhausted. It was no longer possible to accumulate anything in their bodies; now they had to absorb everything. Sleeping was the gentlest and quickest way.
Alm and Bruno focused; their disciples’ bellies were full, now it was their turn to try to profit. They could absorb it, but their tribulation was absurdly superior to what existed there. If they stayed for months, maybe they would have a similar amount. Their inner rune was already very powerful, and absorbing that was like throwing a cup of water in the desert.
Converting that into Qi was possible but not efficient; maybe in a week, they could level up in cultivation. They just filled the spatial inventory to the limit with celestial energy. They had many mouths to feed waiting. So, they focused on something else.
Quietly, a fragment of their divine soul separated from their bodies. Then, it divided into several small parts, the size of hair strands. There were exactly 210, and these parts moved and penetrated the bodies of all the demons, easily invading their mental seas. Naturally, there was no chance of resistance; they were all unconscious. Now, their lives were in the hands of these fragments; a simple thought from the whale and death would be immediate.
Soon after, the channel they had created towards the core expanded many times over. Then, their souls moved stealthily towards the core. They reached the giant celestial pillar.
’It’s a pretty peculiar divine demon formation. Well, no matter, our girl will like to study this,’ Alm said without hesitation and absorbed a third of the formation’s runes.
They were the central runes, where the main connections were; with this, Ruri could study them. They didn’t take everything because that would make the formation collapse immediately, becoming too apparent. The celestial power was accumulated in the pillar, and it would take a few days for the energy to run out.
So, if no one looked closely, they wouldn’t notice that the pillar had stopped collecting more. Those unfamiliar with formations wouldn’t easily notice this, besides the fact that they didn’t have a divine soul to feel the celestial flow. If that powerful demon were still nearby, they wouldn’t risk it; but seeing the level of the others, they judged it would be safe if nothing strange happened.
Then, they turned to the most central location of all: the Heavenly Lightning Spirit. It was a pity, but taking that would be impossible without immediately being discovered.
Its appearance was merely a scarlet sphere composed of energy and runes. Now that the celestial power coming from the formation had decreased drastically, that form of life seemed to pulse as if it were breathing a sigh of relief.
Alm and Bruno looked at it thoughtfully but were surprised by a voice in their minds. ’You... came to save me?’
They were taken aback. Could this natural spirit speak? It had acquired intelligence even in this situation. It was very unexpected. This demonstrated a talent for pure cultivation!
’Hm... I only wanted to steal the benefits. I didn’t act deliberately to save you,’ Bruno replied softly. ’Unfortunately, if I were to set you free, everyone would sense your presence and discover my actions earlier than planned.’
A trembling, almost childlike voice resonated in despair. ’Sir... help me. I can never live here... they took everything from me... if I can get out, I will do everything I can to repay this debt.’
Alm’s eyes lit up. A pure spirit created in the infernal laws? It was exactly what he wanted, perfect to become the spirit of his weapon.
’A life debt can only be repaid with your life,’ Alm said without hesitation. Bruno tried to interrupt, but Alm continued quickly. ’If you agree to come with me and become part of my power, I can risk getting you out.’
They felt the tremor coming from the runic sphere; did he want to make it his slave? The spirit pondered.
’Don’t worry, I won’t mistreat you. Look into my spatial rune,’ said Bruno, and then the inventory rune appeared on the whale’s body.
The Heavenly Lightning Spirit became confused, but it was very naive and focused its soul on the whale, using the channel they had created. It didn’t even consider that if they wanted, they could swallow it and imprison it forever.
Inside the inventory, it saw a separate world, and quickly spotted Fides, sensing another natural presence that made its soul pulse: a small chaos sprout. Fides seemed to understand what was happening, and its soul pulsed with a friendly and gentle intention.
’Good boy, Vrix did a good job in educating you,’ thought Alm, excited.
Immediately, the natural spirit felt something comforting coming from Fides. Without this assurance, how would it be foolish enough to leave a prison and become someone’s slave?
The spirit spoke. ’I understand... he seems happy. You don’t seem to have bad intentions.’
’No bad intentions? Is he crazy?’ thought Bruno, looking at Alm with a mischievous smile on his face.
’I swear to repay my life debt. I will obey your orders without hesitation. Please, get me out of here,’ said the spirit convincingly.
Alm and Bruno nodded, pleased to receive such an incredible gift. Alm moved quickly and activated his Yin rune. It pulsed with infernal power to the maximum, and then he divided all his soul power in half.
Mixing the infernal power with his own soul, he created a sphere similar to the shape of the being standing still. ’Give a third of your soul and runes, and then mix them with this. It will be painful, but it’s the only way to give us time,’ Alm said slowly.
This was truly the only way. If the spirit didn’t have consciousness and didn’t cooperate, Alm and Bruno couldn’t create this method. If it were a consciousness without intelligence and they tried to force it, the spirit would instinctively react, and the fluctuations would betray their attempt. Of course, they could swallow it into the inventory, but that would be a much worse solution.
’Come, Fides is still a bit childish. But he will be your companion,’ said Bruno softly, after the spirit did as ordered.
After the spirit ran through the channel and entered directly into the inventory, Alm placed the sphere in its place. Alm and Bruno focused and shaped the sphere to make it seem like nothing had happened. Obviously, anyone who looked closely would notice that it was very different, but they could superficially deceive and gain time.
They returned to their bodies excitedly. Unfortunately, Alm knew it would take time to get his weapon. They only had one immortal core, and reviving Liume was the priority. It didn’t even cross his mind to use the core immediately.
’Don’t worry too much. Ruri’s clan must certainly have another core. If the weapon were intact and the spirit alive, they wouldn’t be in this situation, and Ruri’s family wouldn’t have died,’ Bruno commented lightly. ’The core must certainly be damaged, so they won’t mind giving it to us in exchange for the debt we owe.’
’If we’re going to use it, I’d rather make a weapon for Ruri to use. I won’t steal anything that belongs to her,’ Alm replied without hesitation. At that moment, the two felt something strange and premonitory. It wasn’t a feeling of danger, but something related to Ruri and this issue...
Amidst this stupor, the eight-winged demon opened its eyes. At the same moment, its Qi enveloped everyone like an electric current. Immediately, they all woke up dazed.
"End of the test! Congratulations to everyone! Now, let’s move on to the final exam!"