On a sunny summer morning, the whale and Ruri set off alone from the city and the formation. Everything had already been prepared in advance by Ruri; numerous new houses and other infrastructures awaited the arrival of a new large group of residents.
The pair flew towards the forest, Ruri holding the whale’s hand and chatting animatedly and radiantly. She was beginning to recall more details of her past incarnation every day. That rune awakened something within her soul, connecting her to the memories of this life; fortunately, it was only from this life, without reliving all the suffering from the others.
She shared that when she died, she was younger than she is now. She learned everything almost by herself and developed her Dao on her own. Ruri mentioned that her parents died in the war when she was young, but she had the opportunity to meet them and share some happy moments; she cherished precious memories with them. Then, she made a point of emphasizing that she never had a romance or got involved with any other man. For Alm and Bruno, this was irrelevant, but it seemed to be of great importance to Ruri.
Alm and Bruno told her what they heard from Langrum. Unlike other inhabitants, the people of Montide lived together in one region and did not mix with other races. They were naturally reserved, which ultimately led to their downfall in the past. The talent of these people, combined with the mystery surrounding them, made the entire continent target them. Their isolation meant that the people of Montide had no allies to help them.
Ruri explained that this pattern of behavior in her people was intrinsic. Of course, many things happened until there was a rule restricting people from interacting with outsiders. But the people of Montide naturally felt a connection only with those of high mental power. In the divine world, they could find a match, but on an ascending planet, this was almost impossible; thus, they ended up limiting themselves to relating only to each other.
This favored the pure bloodline of the royal family, which persisted to this day. However, due to the great similarity among them, everything ended up being monotonous. Often, people from very close families ended up getting involved, which led to various problems, including the low birth rate, which only decreased over time.
According to Ruri, over the centuries, mental techniques of different levels of complexity were developed and accessible to anyone who tried to learn them. Alm and Bruno quickly understood her intention: they would bring these techniques to the city. With the genetic diversity of the inhabitants, if the most basic mental techniques were available, soon different people capable of using mental power would emerge.
Learning mental cultivation was impossible for those without great talent. Now with these more basic techniques, normal cultivators could slowly develop until they could use mental cultivation. Having lower steps was essential; not everyone was born with talent for something. But there had always been those powerful individuals who, with effort and will, forged the path to the top.
Thus, the people of Montide could more easily integrate into the city. If they remained isolated, divisions would soon emerge that could lead to conflicts. Peace needed to be cultivated by all, and everyone should feel part of a whole. The divine whale was the pillar of this ideal, and all who followed it should be united.
The pair flew calmly towards the forest. Ruri was eager, as the goal of her new life was being fulfilled. Soon, she would also approach the goal of her past incarnation: to destroy the family.
As they entered the forest, they turned in a nostalgic direction and proceeded forward. Their first stop would be precisely at the Divinestone Clan, where it all began.
The gates of the modest clan were almost the same as they left them, even the mediocre guards were standing, lazily looking into the forest. They did not notice the pair approaching in the skies, not even when they were just meters away. Their senses were as mediocre as their shallow and low cultivations; they were practically slightly stronger mortals. The whale waved its hand.
Boom!
The clan gates exploded into dust, throwing the guards away. The whale and Ruri landed on the ground and walked slowly inside. Alm and Bruno didn’t mind returning there, but for Ruri, it was clear that she had scores to settle.
It took only a few seconds for hundreds of sounds of running people to approach. They were all the counselors and the greatest cultivators of the sect, who came quickly, startled. Dust covered the entire entrance, they drew their weapons upon sensing the presence of the two invaders. However, the difference in cultivation was so great that they could barely detect their presence; to them, they seemed like mere mortals.
"IT’S JUST TWO OF THEM, ATTACK!"
An older counselor roared, pointing ahead. Immediately, a hundred common cultivators from the clan waved and rushed forward with war cries.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
In the next instant, they all fell to the ground at the same time. Nearly thirty counselors looked at that and widened their eyes. They... died? The counselors concluded without even feeling their bodies; they were all asleep, their minds were dominated.
As the dust settled, everyone saw a figure two meters and thirty tall, round, extremely large, and heavy. Its gaze was indifferent, and a strange aura permeated it. Beside it, everyone saw a figure that contrasted extremely with the whale. She was small, but her feminine curves gave her a beauty that made everyone feel their hearts beat strongly. Although her appearance was of the Montide people, none of them recognized Ruri; but that whale was unmistakable.
"D... Denil!" One of them fell back in shock.
The whale snorted and waved. The skies darkened, and a pressure fell upon everyone as if it were the end of the world. In that instant, an aura slightly stronger than the majority ran in despair. It was the old leader of this clan.
"Denil! Don’t attack, or you won’t survive!" The patriarch shouted and ran at full speed towards them.
The whale just sighed. As he arrived, he spoke lazily. "Hm... yes, you have protection, and that’s why you’ve lived until today. Do you know the reason for this?"
The counselors swallowed hard. He knew, so why did he come?
"According to the founder’s records. Someone from the sect is responsible for our protection..." The old leader quickly said. "Denil, I don’t know what happened, but..."
"Shut up. I have nothing to do with you. I came here to fulfill her karma," the whale said dryly, and only then did everyone turn to Ruri.
"Ruri..." The old leader spoke, and only at that moment did everyone connect the image of this stunning woman with that young maid.
Shiiiiing...
The sound of a deadly blade slowly leaving its sheath echoed. That sound made everyone’s soul freeze. Ruri just looked ahead coldly.
"I came today to retaliate for all the humiliation I suffered, all the blood of my people that was shed by you, and all my sisters... maids... who helped me... and you killed them just for that."
Her words started serious, but she choked up remembering the maids who took care of her when she was very young. Some of them took pity on the young girl and ended up telling her secrets, who she was, and about her people. They didn’t live another single day after that. Similar things happened several times; whenever Ruri felt welcomed and helped, everything was taken from her. Until the day she decided to shut herself off from everything and live without contact with them. Becoming a maid was just a personal wish to live as minimally as possible before being used sinisterly.
"I remember the face of all of them... I also remember the faces of all of you, cowards," Ruri said, looking at them. The smell of blood coming from her covered the entire clan; all those with low cultivation fell to the ground and trembled uncontrollably due to the pressure.
All the counselors lost control of their bodies; they knew it was the end. But the old leader used every cell in his body to plead. "Please... Denil... this is your family..."
Ruri smiled. "Family? Don’t worry, master’s mother. The one who was the founder’s wife of this place, is coming back. I won’t destroy this place your husband built... I’ll just clean up all the garbage."
Everyone remained in awe; they knew the tales in the clan records. The founder was married to a woman from the largest clan in the sect, and from the entire planet. She wasn’t just any woman; she was legendary. Denil’s mother? They couldn’t believe it.
"Yeah, you trash. The one you expelled from the clan, and before treated like they didn’t exist, is the founder’s son. Not only that, this clan’s name was given in honor of the master when he was still a baby inside a divine stone," Ruri said, laughing maliciously. "Now she’s back, and I’m only not going to destroy everything because I don’t want to make my... her sad."
Ruri sighed, expressing what she wanted. She and the whale felt exactly where all the Montide people in the clan were. Alm and Bruno didn’t care about destroying everything, but it was Ruri who chose to keep this clan alive.
The katana and the woman moved slowly forward. All the counselors were trembling with death approaching, but the old leader was calm; he looked at Ruri and Denil seriously. Soon he felt something strange; the fate of this clan was about to change completely. Not for something bad... but... unfortunately, their karma would be paid... he wouldn’t live to see it.
Slash!
Ruri didn’t care to take a second look; she just cut them all with one motion. She wanted to do this with her own fists. But before they burst into blood, she used her QI. They all turned to dust and disappeared from the world.
All the counselors and those who commanded everything were gone. But the common members barely knew what was happening internally in the sect; Ruri knew very well how things worked there.
There were some more engaged members... she remembered the name and face of each one. With a step, she jumped and went straight to meet them... one by one...
There were no screams or gruesome scenes; it was just as she said: a cleaning of the trash. Ruri wanted to leave the place clean for when Quitera woke up.
After everything, they freed almost a thousand people from Montide. Mostly women, but there were men who were used as forced laborers. Ruri gathered all the maids and servants; they were all poor people who had nowhere to go and submitted to this clan. There were almost two thousand of them; they all joined the Montide people, they would go to the city with them.
Amidst it all, while Ruri was busy, Bruno remembered something. He then walked with the whale to a nearby house near the central building of the sect.
He approached the door, and immediately several people ran out of it and knelt on the ground in despair. Bruno looked at all of them and didn’t see a woman among them.
"Where is that... don’t know the name; but she lost all her cultivation when I was still here. She was your daughter, remember?" He spoke to a worn-looking man.
He was shocked, he was talking about his daughter that he barely remembered... the one who was once considered one of the clan’s geniuses, and was engaged to a renowned member of the sect. Overnight, she lost everything, all her cultivation and resources that were given to her. It was a disaster for the whole family and clan. His grandfather, who was someone important in the sect, had to sacrifice himself so that the whole family wouldn’t be killed. As for her... she had to be used to pay off old debts...
"She... is..." he stuttered, but his fluctuations indicated where she was, Bruno sighed and moved.
With a step, he floated to a floor in the central building of the sect. He blew everything up and, inside a room, saw a thin woman, but with a still pleasant appearance. She was chained to a bar in the room. Her demeanor was bleak, lifeless, and hopeless.
Thanks to her previous cultivation, she could easily live for over a hundred years even after losing everything. She should have been old after spending a hundred years... but she was handed over as a slave to some clan counselor. Because she had a good appearance, he nurtured her to maintain her beauty. She didn’t have the vital energy to live for another ten years, but she would be used until her last days.
Bruno looked at her and she slowly raised her gaze, as if living for the day of death. She wasn’t a good person at the time; she was responsible for Ruri being targeted and slightly physically injured. It wasn’t something very severe, but hitting a 10-year-old girl made both of them serious. They were responsible for her fate, took away her cultivation and her whole life. (Chapter 19/20)
’I think we went a little overboard with this. Not even Ruri must remember what happened.’ Bruno spoke mentally and Alm just huffed indifferently.
The whale waved, and the woman floated forward to him. "Do you remember who I am?"
Her eyes trembled, but she didn’t respond. She clearly knew who he was, but a visceral fear took hold of her. Bruno sighed, letting the power of faith flow to her along with a bit of soul power. Her entire body was healed, and her soul stabilized a bit, as if a fog was dispersing. Without saying a word, he began to pour Qi into her using his tattoo.
Within seconds, cracking sounds echoed repeatedly from her body. In three minutes, she broke through from a mortal to the second realm of cultivation, the Foundation Establishment Realm.
"With this, you can live another hundred years. Now, you’re a cultivator again, and your karma has been repaid. Look forward and learn from all of this; it’s never too late for anything," Bruno said slowly to the woman, who remained catatonic.
Then, he floated with her to the center of the clan, where Ruri awaited him serenely. He prepared to speak but realized he didn’t know her name. Ruri anticipated the question and said:
"Her name is Nixis, Master," Ruri said, then smiled gently at her master’s kind act.
Nixis saw Ruri and recognized her in shock. Instantly, she threw herself to the ground and bowed her head, trembling. Though she didn’t utter a word, her expression clearly conveyed her deep regret for her actions. Living for so long in the way she did made her not want to speak; it was instinctual fear. Her life up to that point was much worse than Bruno had imagined... she lived the fate Ruri was supposed to live; it seemed they simply swapped places.
Alm and Bruno nodded internally; this woman had plenty of time to reflect on the choices she made. Now, she was a completely different person; pain had taught her much. The kindest individuals often were the most brutal once. One should never judge someone who has done something wrong because, in the future, that person will reflect on their actions and learn from them. Bruno simply accelerated that process, and now she had a chance to start anew in this life.
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"Get up... you were just a spoiled woman. I didn’t take it to heart. Actually, it was even good... it helped me make the master feel sorry for me and want to help me... I had nothing to offer, so pity was all I had left," Ruri said softly.
Alm and Bruno felt strange. This girl... at just ten years old, was thinking about that back then? Well, they really did feel sorry for her; there was no denying it.
The whale walked over to them, and Ruri held his hand. "Nixis, from today onwards, you’ll be the one in charge of the Divinestone clan. You also have permission to go to my sacred city if you want to cultivate; there are plenty of resources and techniques there. Make the most of this new opportunity."
The whale spoke loudly so that everyone in the clan could hear. Nixis looked up at him, in tears. She couldn’t say a word from the beginning to the end of the reunion, but her fate changed completely once again.
The people who were going to the city stayed in the clan for now. They would rescue the Montide people and bring everyone back to the city on the way back. They made only a quick stop that lasted a few hours; it was enough to clean up and transform the entire future of the Divinestone clan.