Alm and Bruno breathed a sigh of relief as they saw those eyes regain focus on them. Suddenly, there was a sudden change in her expression, and those eyes began to tremble and get teary.
"Is she in pain?" Alm asked, a bit concerned. "We only injected Qi into the essential organs for her to survive; she can barely walk. It will take some time to stabilize, and..." Bruno replied and then stopped abruptly, sensing several fluctuations approaching.
"We’ve stirred up quite a commotion; several cultivators are closing in. Quickly, she still needs time; it’s better not to fight now," Alm commented, and they turned their full attention to their surroundings.
It was at that exact moment that Ruri’s lips parted in a dry murmur. "Master... Ruri... is still too small; I cannot be your furnace yet. In the future... I will not hesitate..." She was cut off midway as they began to move. Alm and Bruno didn’t hear what she murmured.
They lifted that small body and held her firmly against their chests, pressing her. Then, the smell of blood became more intense and began to evaporate ominously. Soon, the laws of the earth emerged, covering them both, and Alm and Bruno moved their fists to the ground, causing a large amount of earth to shift.
They quickly dove down. Earth manipulation, stemming from the behemoth bloodline, not only allowed sensing anything in contact with the earth at a frightening Qi cost but also had the ability to completely bury themselves underground, as well as bury other things. They could dig tunnels and unearth objects in the earth. Of course, everything had its own costs of Qi.
It was a specific ability that only worked in places with earth. In the higher realms, where all cultivators fought in the air, it was quite useless. However, for physical concealment, it was useful; underground, Alm and Bruno, with their stealthy abilities, could disguise their Qi, seamlessly merging with the soil.
They didn’t forget to move the earth, completely sealing the hole after they passed through, making it look like nothing had happened. A minute after digging a deep tunnel, they reached a small cavern a few meters away and stayed quiet, feeling the ground above them. Several presences approached.
Ruri was even more dumbfounded. They brought her to a dark and quiet place. ’Old Denil is back! He’s going to attack me!’
Minutes passed, and Alm and Bruno were focused on the imminent danger. Ruri accepted her fate, but a few minutes passed, and they didn’t move an inch. She was tightly pressed against their chests, and their skins were in direct contact. She could hear their hearts beating calmly and quietly. Her mind gradually calmed down, and she felt comfort in being there... Well, ’Denil’ was very plumpy... if you don’t pay attention to the smell of blood, he was indeed quite a comfortable and warm pillow.
Suddenly, Alm and Bruno sighed, indicating that the danger had passed. They then detached Ruri from them and placed her on the ground. Both could see very well inside that dark place, thanks to their cultivations. When Ruri was laid down, she felt a great loss at first, but soon after, seeing her master looking at her again, her body started trembling.
"Are you feeling any pain? I’ll put more Qi into your body; focus on adapting to this place quickly. We’ve already lost fifteen minutes of the test," Bruno quickly said, moving his hands.
He then touched her heart again, but as soon as his fingers touched her skin, a strange moan resonated, petrifying him. Then, he looked at her again and realized her strange gaze and the situation she was in.
’Control your impulses, lolicon!’ Alm’s voice echoed in Bruno’s mind, snapping him out of his stupor.
’Shut up! I told you it is nothing like that,’ Bruno complained back. ’Wait! You are me, so you must be doing it on purpose.’
’You only noticed it now?’ Alm asked back, not minding Bruno’s feelings at all.
Bruno truly felt regretful they didn’t have each one their own bodies. If they did, the two would be fighting already.
Bruno then looked at Ruri again and sighed. He took out a piece of cloth and covered her. "Don’t be an idiot and stop thinking about weird things," he said to Ruri, making her stop trembling. "Grow up first before imagining me doing something."
"I see..." Ruri finally paid attention to her body and the suppression she was feeling. Yet, Bruno’s last words caught more of her attention. "So master will only do those things after Ruri grows up."
Bruno was speechless. "Where the hell are you taking those ideas from?"
Ruri struggled to point at him... again...
"Right..." Bruno once again failed to remember whose body he and Alm took over. "Ahem... As I said, old Denil is dead. You don’t need to worry about me doing anything improper. I have no interest in you, so you can stop fearing it already."
Five minutes passed, and sweat dripped from both of them inside the cave. Alm and Bruno couldn’t sweat the Qi within their meridians because the suppression was still present. So, they spared nothing and, with difficulty, poured everything into Ruri.
Soon, she was able to move again, full of energy. The Qi from Alm and Bruno was much stronger than Ruri’s. After sending their Qi inside her meridians, those same meridians that had been suppressed by the ’prison’ were forcefully swelled. It wasn’t anywhere near as efficient as outside, but Ruri was at least able to circulate her Qi a little bit due to that.
Still, Alm and Bruno warned her. "You can’t use your Qi, or you might die. Only use your armed combat techniques if necessary; your talent and training in them are being put to the test now. Let’s go!" Alm quickly spoke, pulling her up in a hurry.
He dug a tunnel to another place where he felt there was no presence. They just wanted to gain enough infernal laws to pass the test and nothing more. Even as they were climbing, they felt they were approaching a barrier, forcing them to rise straight up right there.
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Coming out of the earth, they took a deep breath of air and felt the surroundings. ’We’re at the limits of the prison. It seems like everyone with a strong human bloodline was brought to the farthest and easiest zone due to the frail human physique,’ commented Bruno. ’If we were taken deeper, Ruri would have died in seconds, and it would have been impossible to save her.’
Alm then spoke sharply. ’It doesn’t matter now; let’s quickly see these infernal beasts. I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Then he realized something. ’Oh, that’s quite good. The mist and infernal laws inside it are more intense the closer you are to the soil. After one and a half meters, the intensity diminishes a little.’
Bruno noticed that as well. ’We have practically two meters of height, one of the almost nonexistent advantages with this pile of fat,’ said Bruno, then he held Ruri and put her on his shoulders, greatly reducing the impact of the laws on her. The cold mist followed the laws of physics, at least. It gathered on the ground and turned thinner the higher you were.
They then moved calmly, focusing on hiding their presence. But then they suddenly turned around and saw a spear coming from behind, silently piercing the air.
They clenched their fists, and then a heavy punch made the air move, and the sound of bones breaking echoed. It was a cultivator taking the test who found them and attacked. Well, too bad for the guy... Now that Alm and Bruno had completed the Flesh Training Stage of their Body Cultivation Technique, pretty much no one in the Qi Gathering Realm was a match for them anymore. That single punch immediately killed the guy.
Alm then commented, ’Did we get unlucky? He should have been very close when we emerged and somehow saw us. These dense laws make our perception difficult.’ Their stored totem glowed and quickly absorbed a small amount of laws before they moved again.
It was then that they stopped where they were, and Ruri jumped from their shoulders to a tree on the right. The sound of flesh being torn echoed, and Ruri soon took quick steps toward them, with a smile blooming and holding a large dagger dripping with blood. She already understood that she should show no mercy to these people on the evil path. The more she got rid of, the better for the world.
’Again? Something’s wrong, what...’ Alm was speaking when Bruno quickly cut him off. ’Look over there.’ Bruno pointed to a nearby place but higher up.
’A tree? What does it have to do with anything?’ Alm didn’t understand.
’Our senses are being affected, and we can’t feel very far. These cultivators probably can’t sense anything around them. They rely only on their own eyes and physical senses.’
’Yes, but what does the tree have to do with it?’ Alm still didn’t get it.
Bruno then explained. ’We are... giant and round. Since the mist is less dense at the top, we can be seen clearly from a great distance, just like that tree. And when we walk, the ground trembles slightly because of our weight... we’re a giant, moving target. Everyone is being drawn to kill us.’