The whale emerged slowly from the underground entrance. Upon reaching the surface, it surveyed the vast number of Onis surrounding it. They knew the reason; the immortal Oni had said he had everything prepared. After defeating the puppet and the lingering will disappeared, an alert echoed directly in their bloodlines.
"DIVINE KING!!!"
They all roared in unison, prostrating themselves on the ground, completely ecstatic. Finally, after so many generations of suffering, the promised Heavenly Guardian had arrived to change the fate of the entire race.
The whale observed indifferently. They had some knowledge about them; although there were a large number of new faithful, understanding their history and culture made it difficult to accept them. But... who was he to judge? Humans were known across all universes for being problematic and unpredictable. At least the Onis had a defined line they followed. But each individual was unique; he couldn’t generalize them.
"Do you know who was on the top floor, right?" The whale spoke emotionlessly, addressing the old Oni woman who led them all.
She quickly lifted her gaze and bowed. "Yes, sir. The immortal ancestor awaited your arrival, or any Oni who could see him."
"Great, he told me a lot about the past and gave me some useful information. I didn’t initially agree to lead you, and he agreed. But I will give you a test, and maybe that will make me change my mind." The whale spoke slowly, and everyone trembled with excitement; it was an opportunity and a hope they had never had before.
The whale quietly headed towards the city, ignoring the fervent gazes. Upon arriving there, Almin emerged from a stone house. He used the extra herbs he found in the mountain cave; the level of the herbs was extremely high, and the whale asked for simple and basic pills. Every minute, he prepared hundreds of them; in a few hours, he made thousands.
A meeting was called with only the group members. The whale shared the information it received about the Onis. Rehvka and Thea grew serious; they understood the gravity of having prideful individuals causing problems among them. But Alm shared his plans.
"Although they are all physical fighters, there are various types and different abilities. Some are experts in explosive potential, others in concentration, defense, and so on." The three nodded; they all became experienced after a long time on this continent, and knew how to identify these characteristics. "Let’s divide them into these specialties and pair them with others with different skills, with blue and red Onis joining together."
The whale examined the pills and nodded; they were of high quality and could bring back to life anyone at the level of the Onis. Then, it continued:
"We’ll give them a single chance. We’ll explain that they need to unite, that each pair must protect each other and cultivate together. Then, we’ll simply send them out and give three pills to each pair. They will have to fight the beasts in pairs, with a chance of making a fatal mistake. But on the second mistake..."
The whale selected some pills and infused them with a bit of the five laws and Qi it received in the previous tests. Manipulating it with the tattoo perfectly, when consumed, it would bloom in their bodies into an explosive and invincible power; but it would be suicidal for them who did not have a real cultivation.
"We’ll say that these extra pills I marked will give them the power to overcome anything, but in exchange for their lives. Since none of them have ever consumed pills, the effect will be extreme; after witnessing the divine miracle with the first one, there will be no doubts in them."
Everyone sighed, understanding the whale’s method. Soon, they continued calmly.
"I saw firsthand the level of power this bloodline reaches when complete. If they cultivate together and exchange their runes, their power will multiply tens of times. If they learn to trust their lives to each other, their power will also increase. A pair using this to the fullest, even I would feel the pressure in fighting; no beast without cultivation can defeat them. But if they don’t and the change is only superficial, they will die quickly. As for the last pill, it’s a final test; if they divide it and both consume it together, neither of them will die by a hair’s breadth, and they can escape from a desperate situation."
"You three will oversee this. Each pair will have to bring a dead beast every day, gradually pushing them to the brink. Teach and give tips on how to fight together. Drop hints about the last pill, suggesting that it can be split, but in 99% of cases it will result in the death of both and the gained power will drop drastically, potentially not being enough."
Almin, Thea, and Rehvka nodded. The basic principle they had always been taught by the whale was simple: trust and fight for each other, not for oneself.
Placed in a situation of certain death, no member of the group would accept someone sacrificing themselves to save them. They would prefer to take a 1% chance over that. If the Onis truly understood what unity meant and wanted to live for each other, they would never allow the other to consume the pill alone and would always choose to die together.
With everything settled, Almin focused for another two days on making pills, while the whale used all the laws and Qi it could infecting a third of them. Thea and Rehkva focused on the task of dividing the Onis. This race was truly strange; there were hardly any children or couples. Everyone seemed to reject being together. Occasionally, they had a sacred festival, so they could reproduce. It was necessary to find an excuse to justify their union.
After a week, the three of the group commanded the entire race. If they wanted to be accepted, they would have to bring a beast as an offering every day. Initially, everyone searched in the weaker regions, but they were quickly forced to go to deeper and more dangerous places due to the lack of beasts.
In a month, almost everyone had already consumed the two pills they received. The real test had begun, and by now they should have started exchanging bloodline runes quite a bit.
Almin and Rehvka were very concerned and practically begged the whale to allow them to help a bit more. Faced with the pleading look of his disciple, they relented. Almin made stimulating pills for the couples. This way, they would have a wild stimulus to physically unite, which would facilitate the exchange of bloodline runes.
Three days later, the bad news started to come in; almost ten thousand died. Some died with only one person consuming the pill and saving the other, but there were cases where neither of them ate even though they knew they could split it. Either they gave up on living even with a 1% chance, or neither of them was willing to sacrifice themselves. Ultimately, they failed completely.
In a week, the numbers rose to thirty thousand dead; in a month, fifty thousand. But fortunately, after that, the number of deaths decreased drastically.
The whale simply received the reports, satisfied. It wasn’t just a test for the Onis; the three in the group were practicing their teaching and observation skills on people. They had to observe the differences between each Oni and find ways to help them without breaking the whale’s rules. None of the three wanted to see anyone tragically dying, and they worked hard to train them.
Commanding in battle and teaching were completely different things. Thea, Rehvka, and Almin proved to be efficient and learned as much as the Onis did. The four who went to the families were also going through something similar, but Ruri, Corin, and Loeus had already gone through this in the sect. So, to avoid a big gap between them, this opportunity came at a good time.
Meanwhile, the whale stayed inside a stone house all the time. After a while, Liumi would come out and stay with the three in the group and then go back and stay with the two in the inventory. Alm and Bruno meditated on everything the immortal Oni had given them. The Scripture of Will technique was very complex, and they hardly knew anything about the Dao Heart. It was time-consuming but of great value.
In the third month since the test began, Liumi returned to the whale, jumping in through the window like a cat. She wasn’t the same size she was when she was alive, but it seemed like she felt more comfortable in this reduced size. She rubbed her head against the whale excitedly, and they opened their eyes.
"Sir, I did it! I spoke with a race of feline beasts from this continent. They already live in groups and are a bit larger than me. They’re used as scouts by a larger race and treated as disposable. They could be useful for you to find precious things on this continent."
With the whale’s authorization, this group of beasts was brought to the chaos gem. There were nearly a thousand lynx-like felines, varying in size but slightly larger and more proportionate than a domestic cat. Their physique was below average among beasts, but they were fast and agile, capable of truly helping to track things all over this continent.
Liumi was in charge of organizing them. She couldn’t go too far from the chaos gem, and she was just lucky to find them outside. The lynxes received pills and instructions and were pleased; they could go to the ends of the continent and find things. If they encountered danger, they could flee and recover with the pills; if they weren’t cornered, nothing would kill them.
In the fifth month, the three in the group came to see the whale excitedly. Half of the Onis had died, but those survivors, all of them passed the test.
A cleansing was done in this race; now everyone there was extremely united. Some women were even pregnant, and despite the deaths, everyone was radiant feeling their newfound power... not individual power, but group power. They felt they could overcome anything together and would never have a miserable life again.
If the whale were to leave them now, they could live on their own. That’s exactly what Alm and Bruno were aiming for; they didn’t want anyone dependent on them. They had to strive to become strong with their own hands. But now they understood that true power was something very different from what they thought it was.
Everything happened very quickly because, fortunately, their bloodline seemed to have instinctively taught them about it. The heavens had already engraved this teaching into the Onis. They just needed to understand it.
After this point, the pairs formed groups, so the real hardcore hunting began. All the powerful beasts on the continent became their targets. In no time, a countless number of beasts filled the whale’s spatial inventory.
The three in the group also went out with them to hunt. At the same time, the beasts called Dark Lynxes began to bring more and more herbs and treasures spread across the entire continent. All the treasures and powerful beasts began to be collected.
Liumi’s lance was handed over to Rehvka to increase the distance Liumi could go. Although Almin seemed like a more obvious choice since Rehvka didn’t use spears, Liumi preferred a woman to hold and carry it for obvious reasons.
Liumi sought to communicate with all the beasts that didn’t attack directly and didn’t possess an intense bloody aura. Unfortunately, she realized that her task would be difficult and that she still had much to learn. Besides the Dark Lynxes, she couldn’t recruit any other race. However, most of these beasts simply backed off and weren’t killed; she avoided many deaths.
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In the sixth month, the whale concluded its in-depth studies. It was an exorbitant amount of information they received, but they felt they had understood the general logic. Now they needed another piece of knowledge to complete it, they wanted to know about the queen’s technique. Ruri and the others were essential for this. Soon the whale gathered everyone; it was time to return.