In the underworld, in a region that would be considered the divine realm in any universe, a medium-sized planet floated alone in space. It didn’t seem special in that place; there were no suns or solar systems in the underworld. It was a completely Yin world, and all life struggled to exist amidst the void of space.
But that small planet was a bit different. Any experienced cultivator who approached would feel a strange sensation of warmth, something very unique and rare in the underworld. It wasn’t Yang or real warmth; it was just a sensation coming from a primordial bloodline linked to the most primitive fire: the bloodline of a phoenix.
Currently, that planet was home to the black phoenixes, a type of hybrid beast with a primordial phoenix. But alongside them, there was another race living in harmony: the black elves. They lived in the forests peacefully and calmly.
In the center of this planet, in the monumental central building where everything was commanded, Veria, the leader of the black phoenixes, moved down to the underground with an excited face. She had just received news and couldn’t wait; she went to share the news right away.
She was alone, and with every step, she felt her bloodline pulsating and warmth coursing through her body. As she approached a large door in the deepest region, she had to concentrate and calm her bloodline to conceal it and enter.
The doors opened slowly, revealing a gigantic underground hall. Everything was empty, but in the center of that place, a black flame burned fiercely. It was elevated three meters high and writhed in all directions as if trying to consume all existence around it, refusing to be extinguished.
Veria moved with excited eyes. After taking a few steps, a shadow distorted, and a small figure with pointed ears emerged. She turned to the figure and spoke calmly.
"Yanson, everything has been done. I received the message from the ancestor; he will arrive today with the resources. Soon, he will be born."
The black elf, with a childish appearance, sighed and spoke softly. "I understand... I’m happy, but my instincts tell me this was a mistake. He forged the weapons for the clan, knowing they would only be an internal treasure. The clan selling all the weapons... I feel like this is something he wouldn’t allow." (Chapter 364)
Veria waved a little annoyed, then fixed her gaze on the center of the flame. On the ground, the epicenter of that terrifying black flame was a black egg, about fifty centimeters in diameter. It radiated boundless Yin and Beastly power, so much so that even the most powerful black phoenixes felt suppressed by it.
That egg was still far from hatching and was precisely the child of Yanson and Lirellia. When Lirellia placed this egg a few months ago, she fell into a deep coma. During the process, half of the city on that planet was nearly incinerated by it. The egg was a natural disaster, but fortunately, no one died. Yanson was the only one capable of moving it; with the clan’s help, they sealed it underground.
Currently, the clan was taking care of Lirellia, who could wake up at any moment. And father Yanson was the only one who remained near the egg without suffering any backlash. All the black phoenixes could only stay briefly, or the egg would sense their bloodline, and its power would increase drastically, trying to devour the nearby bloodlines.
"At the incubation rate, it will take one or two millennia for my grandson to be born. My daughter is recovering and will wake up soon; a mother can’t wait so long to care for her child. And my grandson... even before being born, he has limitless potential," Veria said without taking her eyes off the distant egg. Then she sensed a hunger locking onto her and smiled. Her grandson sensed her bloodline and was already starting to feel hungry; he would quickly try to feed her.
She turned to leave, taking quick steps. On the way, she looked at Yanson and said, "The entire clan has agreed to sell everything of value we have to help him be born and develop rapidly. Your loyalty to that Heaven-Defier is commendable, but he gave us this, and we must do our best for our future."
Yanson waved, slightly snorting, and Veria continued to walk away with an extremely satisfied smile, completing: "Not to mention that my daughter won’t stop at just one child. We have to make him grow to help acquire resources for his siblings. The next ones will not be inferior to him; we will elevate our clan infinitely."
Veria radiated excitement about the future; she could hardly wait for her grandson’s birth and to care for him. That day was approaching, and she imagined the great future that the entire clan would have.
As soon as she stepped out and closed the gates, Veria took the first step to ascend, but a violent tremor shook the entire canal and the earth. Immediately, Veria felt several communication crystals shatter; it was an emergency call.
"An intruder!" She roared and ran as fast as she could.
Upon reaching the surface, the first thing Veria felt was her cultivation and Qi freezing in her body. The next moment, a golden light, as if a sun had risen, covered the entire central building.
"That... is a... a hero?" She murmured, completely stunned.
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Immediately, she felt a gaze lock onto her, and then her body was released. Veria quickly moved to the top of the place, feeling like she was being watched all the time. Upon entering the main hall, she saw all the elders of the clan kneeling.
Her gaze quickly moved upward, and there was a young human figure sitting on the main throne. His whole body radiated that golden light, and he was the center of the laws and of the whole world; he was undoubtedly an exalted figure, feared and revered by all: a hero.
Veria had good sources of information. She knew that the heroes who visited the underworld came from a single obscure place, and there were a dozen of them. Seeing and feeling the cultivation of that young man, she was shocked; he was only at the elementary level of the Divine Origin Realm. He didn’t match the information she had, so it could only mean one thing.
"Welcome, young hero. It’s a pleasure to meet you," she spoke quickly and immediately knelt.
The human had green eyes and long golden hair tied back. He wore a white robe adorned with golden ornaments and had a beauty considered divine for any humanoid race.
"You are well-informed," he looked at Veria and nodded curtly. "My name is Orojin, I am a recently decorated hero; that’s why my cultivation is still low, and few know me."
She bowed even lower, and everyone waited for his words silently. He snorted and spoke calmly. "I came because of what happened recently, the incident that led to the escape of the two Heaven-Defiers."
The entire clan of black phoenixes trembled in terror; they were directly linked to this, and if a hero visited them, nothing good would come of it.
"Lord hero, our humble clan was deceived by that Heaven-Defier, just like all the people on that planet. We are open for everyone to investigate; we hide nothing," Veria spoke slowly still bowed.
"Yes, yes. Everything has been investigated, and your innocence seems legitimate," Orojin spoke sarcastically. "But..."
Everyone held their breath, and a bitter premonitory feeling hit them. "Luckily, one of my followers told me something peculiar. A large batch of weapons created by the disciple of the forge god was put up for auction. He felt something was wrong and investigated..."
Investigated... everyone understood what he did, and they knew the way heroes and their followers investigated; they tortured, killed, and destroyed until they knew the truth.
"I don’t need to tell, right? You sold those; and in the reports from the Golden Asuras, it said that demonic whale that revealed itself as a Heaven-Defier could control and use to the fullest the weapons made by the Forge God."
The hero spoke slowly, and a funereal silence spread through the hall. He chuckled lightly and continued. "It’s not hard to imagine... a mediocre clan of hybrids like you in possession of so many of these weapons? And still knowing the connection with the Heaven-Defier... well, well, it seems you received some benefits from him."
Everyone broke out in a cold sweat; no one knew exactly how those weapons came about, only Veria and a few who kept it secret. Obviously, there were suspicions, but when it was proposed to sell everything, everyone agreed. No one imagined that a subordinate of a hero would be interested in the weapons. After all, despite having a runic seal, they were not immortal weapons; only cultivators in lower realms would find the weapons useful.
But unexpectedly, a new hero emerged. He and his subordinates certainly had low cultivations, and that led them to find the weapons. It was a terrible mistake to have sold them, because of the connection they had with the incident; but only now did they realize that.
The hero smiled coldly, and the whole atmosphere grew heavy. "The question is, what did you do to receive this? How did you help him?"
"Lord! That was a gift he gave us, we did nothing for him. He probably had nefarious plans to use us in the future, but since he was discovered very early on, we ended up being saved," Veria spoke quickly, fearfully. Stories of a hero destroying an entire clan for investigation existed everywhere. "Please, there’s no need to investigate my clan. It was I who received these weapons and had direct involvement at the time."
"Great, then that makes things easier," Orojin said emotionlessly and nodded.
An infinite golden pulsated within the hall with his movement. All those cultivators near the peak of the divine cultivation had their cultivation completely sealed. Only a young human in the Divine Origin Realm, using heroic power, could deal with all of them easily.
Veria felt her body move against her will, and she floated. Then she was grabbed by the neck in the air.
In that second, her eyes trembled... she instinctively felt... it was her end... her decision to sell the gifts from that round figure was like jumping off a cliff. At the time, he gave it to them as a gift, and now she understood Yanson’s bad feeling. They couldn’t have done that, and if this hero wasn’t satisfied, Veria could have destroyed the entire clan.
The hero grinned sinisterly as he grabbed her neck, then Veria closed her eyes; in the last moment, she thought of her grandson she would never see born. Then everything went dark.
In a few minutes, everyone in the hall felt the pressure on them lift. Then, the sound of something being thrown away and hitting the ground sounded.
"How ridiculous, did he just like these beastly women? Well, now I have a clearer trail, excellent."
The hero muttered, uncaring of the people who heard; he was excited with the outcome. There were only traces of one of the fugitives, the demonic whale had evaporated and no one had any idea of its whereabouts. Now he was the only one with information about him; he truly was a disciple of the forge god; just had to dig deeper.
He didn’t look back and leaped away without a word. It took several minutes for those in the hall to rise and turn to a place.
Veria, as soon as she closed her eyes, released her whole soul and body to be investigated. Normally with this, any cultivator could read everything in her memories without causing harm; just read everything calmly and she would be fine.
But she knew this hero wouldn’t want to waste another minute to not harm her. She was like an insect with no value to him, to go slowly and waste time? He wouldn’t care about that.
Immediately, all the elders of the clan gathered with trembling eyes. In seconds, tears began to fall from the youngest... they saw the leader... no, the former leader of the clan; now completely lifeless.