Alm and Bruno waited a few hours for Kaiyka to finish reading the memories in the demon’s soul. With her spiritual cultivation, she could easily access all possible memories without triggering the block; at the end, she would trigger the block and read some of the blocked memories before the soul exploded. Alm and Bruno definitely couldn’t do it better than her.
Hours passed until they felt Rivine waking up. It was then that Kaiyka sent a message through the array. The whale summoned everyone to the cave, and Rivine woke up, joining them.
Kaiyka began to explain, "The entire Ancestral Devil race is part of the Shadow God sect. They are just one of the powerful races and don’t seem to be very prominent within the sect. As for Dem Zarn, he’s a foreigner from another universe. He was accepted into the race because he was brought to this universe directly by the Yang Chaos Dragon."
Everyone listened, taking a deep breath. That dragon was an adversary that had targeted them, and they would have to deal with him somehow.
"It seems the Primordial Dragon is a figure of equal or higher status than a hero. When he brought Dem Zarn, he was accepted directly as a Heroic Disciple of the sect, and the entire race’s status rose with that. So, Dem Zarn has complete control over his race," Kaiyka explained the basics she managed to uncover, then her expression became serious.
"Eight months ago, when Dem Zarn returned to the sect, he was considered to have failed his mission. His status was severely damaged, but shortly after, the Chaos Dragon, who was his master, appeared in the sect. Apparently, the Shadow God sect was forced to give him another mission. I don’t know the details, but the entire race was commanded to move to the Yinblood sect’s region secretly. I couldn’t discover the orders or the objective…"
Alm and Bruno listened attentively. Dem Zarn had told his master about Ruri’s reverse scale, and this, coupled with Dem Zarn’s failure, triggered everything. Kaiyka didn’t know their goal, but Alm and Bruno were certain of what it must be. It was a game they had seen many times.
The whale explained what he knew. The three young Feys already knew that the sect’s treasure was actually the blood of a Primordial Dragon. The whole group was shocked to learn that the demon’s Yin runes came from dead Feys and were certainly from the sect.
"The primary power of the Ancestral Devils comes from refining lives to create raw power Yin runes. The more runes Dem Zarn has, the more powerful he becomes. The dragon must have pressured the sect to allow his disciple to grow stronger through this. The objective is to refine as many ascendant planets as possible, which are easy targets, all to benefit him," the whale spoke slowly, while Rivine listened in silence, clenching her fists.
"Getting mortals to accept the Shadow God is just an excuse the sect found to save face. Obviously, no planet would dare refuse. Then, they would plant something random on the planet and accuse them of treason. In the end, they would be refined all the same. But the sect could say it was an internal issue, and no one would question it."
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Everyone sighed; the most powerful were the law. They created superficial scenarios to maintain the illusion of being great and honorable. There was no scruple or pity for the mortals.
"As for the Feys, the objective must be to slowly accumulate the Yin Chaos Dragon’s bloodline. So when they get the scale, this bloodline would greatly amplify their power. But the Yinblood sect can’t be attacked openly because it has invincible protection; they are the guardians of the hidden secret on the planet, a taboo that can’t be touched." The whale explained slowly, and the three young Feys had somber expressions.
"In summary: The Yang Chaos Dragon forced the sect to benefit his disciple. This way, he gained the freedom to refine numerous ascendant planets while kidnapping the Feys to obtain the bloodline. Until the moment they would attack again to steal the scale’s power."
Everyone now understood the gravity of the situation. The entire region dominated by Yinblood would be taken, and they would slowly suck everything from the sect without directly hurting it. What could the sect do? Nothing, just accept this imposition.
"Sir," Kaiyka spoke seriously, looking at the whale. "The task of attacking the ascendant planets was left to the young demons of the race; the more powerful ones are attacking the divine planets. They have two central bases, one in each place. I know where the base in the ascendant region is located."
Alm and Bruno listened and quickly got excited. Now that they had a better grasp of the situation, they could only return to the sect and swallow all of this. The demons were acting stealthily, and there was nothing they could do due to lack of power and not knowing where they were. But if they split up and only the young ones were attacking, there wouldn’t likely be very powerful demons at that base. After all, it was supposed to be a secret, and someone too strong would draw attention.
"Great, we’ll head out. Let’s pay them a visit before returning to the sect," the whale said, and everyone immediately clenched their fists with determination. How many lives did these demons intend to take? They had to strike back and show there would be retaliation.
After deciding their next steps, the whale turned to the silent harpy. She noticed his gaze and took a deep breath, understanding the message. She immediately stood up and walked forward.
Everyone focused on her, and she bowed to the whale, murmuring, "Sir... I can be useful. Let me serve by your side. I promise I’ll die..."
The whale interrupted her curtly, "No one by my side is allowed to die, no matter the situation. No one is here to serve me, but to help me. Everyone has their own desires and goals. What do you want? What is your will?"
She looked up at the whale, stunned. He then spoke gently, "I’ve told you before. I will take care of everyone here; you won’t have problems like this anymore. You can stay with them and live freely, or not. What do you truly want for the future?"
Everyone waited silently as she reflected. The whale’s group knew that without a strong enough will, staying by his side was like living in eternal hell. They were always under insane pressure to elevate themselves and faced mortal dangers daily.
All the cruelty and pressure the whale imposed were so they would be tough and strong enough to survive. The whale had no pity for them, and everyone was sure that if they fell behind even a little, he would abandon them to avoid seeing them die.
After a few silent seconds, Rivine took a deep breath and began to tell her story.
Rivine was a young harpy born during the war between the harpy planet and the orc planet, which had been raging for centuries. Her parents died when she was very young, which made her harbor immense hatred for the orcs, just like almost all the inhabitants of her planet.
From an early age, Rivine showed exceptional talent for cultivation. Very young, she reached an enviable level for a mortal and quickly rose in rank in the superior harpy army.
In a short time, she became a general who fought in several battles. Then, one day, she received orders that promised a big step toward victory in the war. She had to gather and lead several clans of humans and other races into battle and was given pills that all her soldiers had to take... to be used as sacrifices.
The orders were to say nothing; they weren’t harpies, so they could be used for the greater good. Without knowing the plans, this would ensure they wouldn’t give any signals, making it impossible for the enemies to avoid. With the sacrifice of thousands of non-harpies, they would win a crucial battle, dealing significant damage to the orcs.
However, Rivine couldn’t accept this cruel order. She turned against her superiors and told the truth to the clans. Despite everything, they remained loyal and accepted their sacrifice; Rivine decided she would die alongside them as their commander. They all took the pills and went into battle.
The outcome was as expected. The orcs noticed something was wrong. The fight failed, and everyone was killed. Rivine wasn’t even allowed to die; she was captured alive and taken as a prisoner to the orc planet.
Rivine expected the worst; she knew the harpy queen wouldn’t save her. If she was lucky, the orcs would kill her quickly, or she would live a life worse than death... but a lot of time passed, and nothing terrible happened.
She was kept prisoner, but the orcs recognized her as a respectable warrior and leader. She chose to die in battle with her subordinates, and to these orcs, she was an adversary who deserved respect.
Years passed. During this time, Rivine occasionally saw the orcs’ hatred for her, reflecting her own past hatred. In this war, both sides had committed terrible things; just as there was evil among the high ranks of the orcs, the same was true with the harpies.
There were good and bad people everywhere, and in war, evil spread in all directions. Rivine had always hated the orcs to the point of becoming a general and killing so many that she couldn’t even count them. But... were they really what she imagined?
The answer became clear to her. This war had been going on for centuries, and the hatred between the two sides was so entrenched and generational that ending the conflict without the total destruction of one side seemed impossible. At that moment, Rivine awakened an infinite will to fight and never give up.
Her Dao heart was forged. Even though achieving peace seemed impossible, she decided never to give up; both sides needed saving...
Until the whale arrived on the planet. He did the impossible and saved both sides, revealed the external plans fueling the war, and became the religion of all, eliminating hatred and war between harpies and orcs.
Back in the cave, Rivine looked seriously at the whale. "My life goal... you’ve already blessed us and resolved everything. But now I’ve seen true evil coming from the powerful of the divine world. My goal... I want to be as strong as possible and fight for the weak."
Alm, Bruno, and everyone nodded in satisfaction, until she added, "Everyone must be converted and worship the true god. My life will be to spread your name to all forms of life. As for those who do not accept... they will have a chance to reconsider in another reincarnation."
She spoke quickly, her violet eyes shining. Suddenly, a malicious and bloodthirsty smile appeared on her face. Bruno and everyone in the group were slightly alarmed.
’She’s a good hunting dog, she’s approved,’ Alm mentally spoke, very pleased.
’Are you crazy?! She’s a wild one without brakes,’ Bruno quickly retorted.
’Look at those sweet, bright eyes; we’re all insane, she’s just on another spectrum. Her Dao heart is solid and pure. Everyone who isn’t with us is a potential enemy... we just need to keep an eye on her to prevent her from going overboard,’ Alm said calmly, trying to convince. He genuinely liked her.
Bruno mentally objected, but Alm countered by explaining the utilities of a harpy in battle. Rivine had a potential none of their allies possessed. There was much to explore; manipulating sound to invade enemies’ minds with mental power was something unique they had never seen. If she could do that to enemies, could she do the same for allies in a different way?
After a few seconds, Ruri, seeing the internal conflict in her master’s mind, decided to act. She moved and spoke with Rivine. Alm and Bruno saw Ruri’s look at them and fell silent, understanding her thoughts without needing words. They would all help take care of this harpy; they didn’t need to worry so much.
Thus, it was decided she would walk with them. But they had no time to lose. The demons had already realized the second wave was killed and would now send something much larger to destroy the planet.
Kaiyka knew exactly where the operations base was in the ascending world. It wasn’t far, and they could use Wuji to get there very quickly.
Runula was inside Ruri’s bestial world, still unconscious. Calirer and the new member hadn’t awakened either. The whale put them in inventory for now. They would first resolve this issue and then take the harpy planet to their universe.
Rivine was accepted and inserted into the group; this would be her first test. Thus, about a day after the second attempt to dominate the planet failed, a simple ascending planet, which didn’t attract attention from the outside, was invaded by invisible shadows.
In a secluded location on that planet, they arrived at a quiet place. It was an underground entrance that looked like the mouth of an incredibly sinister skull. But today, it was welcoming the arrival of a true Shadow God.