Now, with five people, they returned to the city much more slowly than usual. However, everything flowed smoothly. After Ruri received that rune, her understanding of many things seemed to have elevated. Her mental power was used in an extremely more refined way, which helped them move stealthily.
She shared with Alm and Bruno what she felt. It was as if a completely different perspective of cultivation and mental power had instinctively arisen in her. The rune gave her the insights into Ruri’s cultivation at the time she created her Dao. Thus, Ruri understood every detail of it. Even though it was inferior to mental cultivation, having two different views of something was always more beneficial.
When they entered the desert, Alm and Bruno calculated the remaining energies of the formation. Now, there should only be seven days left until the end. It was possible before to use the Qi that was trapped to restore the formation. But that was just delaying the inevitable; the only way to resolve it was to strengthen everyone and fight.
Yamar was shocked by the change in the "desert." Now it was a sacred forest with a natural power that shouldn’t exist on that planet. But when he entered the city, the shock was even greater.
In addition to the seemingly infinite Yang, he felt thousands of gazes directed at him. They were all weaker in terms of cultivation. But he felt a deadly pressure in each individual and gaze... how could there be so many terrifying cultivators together? His mind pondered, but his answer was obvious when he looked at the whale’s back.
The sect demon was already with them, and now the abyss demon joined Yamar. The whale’s plans had already been shared with him. Yamar would use his mental power to control both together. The goal was the Skyward Forest.
He entered the castle, and soon, the whale gave orders to Almin and Vuard. In a few hours, half a dozen pills and a black dagger were handed to him. Then, they turned to Yamar, speaking.
"I’ll extract a third of your soul. With these pills, you’ll be able to stabilize yourself. This is essential to fulfill the objective."
He waved nonchalantly. With a third of his soul, he could still live due to his divine cultivation. The problem was the instability it would cause him for a while, but if the pills sorted that out, everything would be fine.
Bruno focused entirely and used his power of faith. Cleanly, he removed a portion of his soul and stored it directly in the inventory. The power of the divine soul combined with the power of faith covered it, preventing it from dispersing and still retaining a trace of it.
The power of the soul was closely linked to consciousness; most of it connected to the body maintained complete consciousness. But if the rest were destroyed, the part of his soul stored with them could regain full consciousness if the soul were restored. This method was only possible after Bruno gained a deeper understanding of the power of faith. The life forces contained in that energy could create this miracle, among many others.
As for the dagger, it had a storage seal. Inside, a fragment of their divine soul was placed, along with the law of Duality of Shadows. When the time came, that part of them could use the law.
"You have three days to get used to commanding them. Then, follow the plan. You know your brother and are the only one who can master him and make him act normally within the sect," the whale said softly to Yamar, handing him the dagger. "In exactly six days and twenty hours, through this dagger, I’ll be able to communicate. Be with the two of them inside the Skyward Forest and let some important people know that you’re together. This must be a secret to them."
Yamar nodded, not exactly sure what he was going to do, but he had an idea. With him controlling the two, who were literally puppets with their souls and wills sealed, he could pretend everything was normal.
Before saying goodbye, Ruri approached Yamar gently. "I’m not sure what happened between us in the past. But it seems like you knew me in another incarnation," she said calmly, and he looked into her eyes without saying anything. "Well, I don’t feel anything bad towards you; I’ll assume we understand each other. But I’m sure you helped me find the master; so, thank you."
She made a point of thanking him even without knowing why; it was just an irresistible urge to do so, and she just let it out. Nowadays, she put everything she had out there without caring. Fortunately, most of the time, it was just good things; otherwise, she could become the worst of villains.
Yamar nodded gently; these would be the last times they would meet. Finally, after so long, he could speak to and see her again. The whale had already made it clear that he wouldn’t survive. But his actions had betrayed salvation for the entire planet for a long time. That would compensate for a portion of all the evil he and his brothers had done.
He sighed and bowed. "I also thank you. I was greatly helped and only repaid."
Ruri smiled, he watched that smile carefully; the image of the ice fairy from the past had completely changed in his mind now. She had achieved what she wanted after going through so much pain and suffering. Her entire demeanor and aura were that of a joyful and content person.
Before leaving, Ruri activated her mental power on him. Inside the demon’s brain, a rune fixed itself. As soon as he died, this rune would activate and change his memories to something that Ruri and her master had planned.
The other two demons had already had the memory of their body and soul changed. Now Yamar only needed to change that within the body at the right time. His soul wouldn’t be caught and read; Alm and Bruno had already ensured that. They would only have a small residue of power to use the law of Duality of Shadows, so they would have to use all of Yamar’s as fuel. All of his soul within the body would be destroyed; he foresaw that, but didn’t care.
Ruri isolated herself to focus on refining her Dao. Everyone in the city had already elevated themselves and rebuilt. Now, they did the same and isolated themselves in preparation, thirsty and eager for the day of revenge.
Alm and Bruno entered the room and put Quitera, unconscious, on standby. They would only restore her and wake her up when everything was over, and her son was already with them, with his soul properly altered. She didn’t need to know what happened to the original soul. Even though he was a forced child with someone she didn’t love, Alm and Bruno didn’t believe she would abandon him.
They planned to leave this planet soon so she could live with her son in the free and peaceful city. Yamar would be reborn, and Alm and Bruno would make sure he didn’t retain his memories. That way, he could live as a good son, starting from scratch. Due to her good nature, Quitera would quickly forget any ill feelings toward him. She wouldn’t have consciousness or memories of being forced to conceive this child; she chose it herself by hurting her soul and mind. Hence, the deep trauma shouldn’t exist, and time would heal everything.
’Our karma with Denil and his family will be concluded. Now we have to suck up the system’s quests,’ Bruno commented. ’But if the system doesn’t want us to break the seal...’ In the midst of this clearly provocative thought, the green screen appeared.
[Optional Mission Available 01]
’Hm? Not golden, stingy system,’ Alm retorted, and they read the mission.
[Destroy the second seal in the Skyward Forest]
[Reward: +60 Upgrade Points]
[Accept?] [Yes / No]
’No celestial points... well, the amount of Upgrade Points is quite significant,’ Bruno said, somewhat pleased.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
They promptly accepted, now everything was aligned. In the time they had, Alm and Bruno absorbed all the laws of the earth that came from the mountain sealing the Fey. With the tattoos, that became an exuberant amount of Qi. For anyone in their realm, it should represent several consecutive levels. But, they merged everything and only ascended to the first level of the Elemental Condensation Realm.
The torment of having a physical cultivation, and now an array with six people afflicted them mercilessly. Fortunately, all the other six now had a cultivation far above theirs. So, none rose at their expense.
When three days had passed, Ruri and the whale quietly led the three demons out of the formation. Time passed, and everyone worked fervently, so finally, the hour arrived.
The formation began to lose its strength slowly, but even before it destabilized. Hundreds of holes appeared in it; soon, nearly a million cultivators covered the horizon, and a dense battle aura engulfed the world.