"Now that you understand what the Void Forest is and its goal, as well as the purpose of the sealed worlds, you can grasp this place. This Void Dream isn’t named that for no reason; it’s basically a world created with the power of a new law of the same name," Zaori explained slowly.
"If I understand correctly, all of this aims to create laws that can manipulate the Primordial Chaos items, which are the calamities," Bruno replied thoughtfully. "So, which calamity is this Void Dream similar to? And what are its powers?"
"The Phantom Calamity," the Kun Peng answered with a snort. "The name is something people who witnessed it came up with and doesn’t say much. But among the heroes, it’s known as the Beastly Void Spear. Its domain is precisely the control of the void. Over the millennia, dozens of laws similar to the laws of the void have been created. The law of the Void Dream is one of the closest."
Alm and Bruno immediately connected this to the law Coltia created. The Holy Light Law was also created with that purpose. That’s why she could use those laws against the Phantom Calamity. Her law was close, but not quite; otherwise, the queen wouldn’t have kept it sealed on the Pristine planet. Coltia’s law didn’t compare to the original; it was just an imperfect version.
"In short, this place we’re in is a world created with a power similar to the void laws. This law is something nobody really understands how it works, but from the obvious signs, creating worlds within the void seems to be the basics," Zaori finished.
Alm sighed and asked, "The other two Primordial Chaos items sealed in this universe... do you know their names and powers?"
The Immortal Crane replied, "One is called the Cauldron of Chaos and Order. That’s the only one the heroes managed to win against. Its power was split into two, and it will soon be mastered. One half has an affinity for destruction, which is very similar to demonic powers. There’s one of the largest galaxies in this universe where demons reign. That’s where the calamity is, and the laws created to dominate it are very close to getting that half. With it, dominating the other half will be much simpler. As for the power of the other half, we don’t have information."
One of the largest galaxies, where demons reign? Alm and Bruno knew it well; it had to be the Demon Eye Galaxy, where they came from.
"The other one is a mystery; we only know its name is the Reincarnation Mirror. The name the heroes gave is a big hint about its powers, but we can’t confirm or deny anything; we just know the name, as you do now," the Immortal Crane added.
Alm and Bruno nodded. Knowing the name of the calamity doesn’t help much, and it’s even possible that people give different names in different places. For example, the Phantom Calamity; its name doesn’t have much to do with its power. Now that they knew the names the heroes gave, they had indeed received a valuable hint.
After a few seconds of silence, Alm and Bruno nodded and turned to the four beasts. Bruno said, "Okay, and what about you? How are you alive here, and what’s your plan in bringing people to this place just for them to die?"
Zaori answered calmly, "We four were kings of the four nations millions of years ago. Each of us lived and died in a different era; but all of us received the immortals’ inheritance in the Void Forest."
Alm and Bruno were skeptical. They had visited a Divine Mountain before, when they were that rusty kitchen knife. The seal was something insurmountable; it was impossible for an immortal cultivator to communicate with the outside, and they could only die slowly while their soul was refined.
But then they reflected. Coltia went through the same thing and survived to this day thanks to her law. These laws close to the void laws seem to be able to produce some miracles due to their characteristics. Something even the queen couldn’t control.
"Unfortunately, all twelve immortals are already dead, but we four received the methods to seal ourselves in this place. And we’re working to defeat the heroes," Zaori finished, making the atmosphere tense.
This was a surprise for Alm and Bruno. It seems the four nations weren’t completely dominated by the queen. She just suppressed the revolt and chose to use them without destroying them. It seemed like a very naive move on her part... Alm and Bruno were sure it was a trap. After all, they already knew the queen had dark methods they were quite familiar with.
’It looks like the plans to dominate the Beastly Void Spear are as advanced as those for the Cauldron of Chaos and Order. I have to admit, her methods are precise,’ Alm commented mentally, with a sarcastic tone.
Bruno snorted. ’This Void Dream law is already so powerful it can prevent celestial laws from reincarnating souls. It must be close to the level of a calamity, and these four are working hard for it, thinking they can win.’
Zaori continued, "The reason we bring people from the planet here is simple. I received the inheritance capable of removing the purest power from a consciousness. This power can kill heroes, but to obtain it, we need to destroy the souls and collect a small part."
Alm and Bruno understood but pretended to be surprised. He was referring to the Law of Origin. They had already realized that with the death of those on the battlefield, more of it was accumulated in the sphere that looked like an eye in the city. This was indeed a technique fitting for an immortal’s inheritance.
"Here comes the inheritance I received," the Celestial Jaguar said dryly. "We wouldn’t just destroy the souls, and my power can seal time with a rune in the soul. When it’s destroyed, I can go back in time to when I placed it, rebuilding the soul exactly as it was."
Alm and Bruno nodded. So, that’s why no one had memories of the events. When the soul goes back in time and is rebuilt, those memories aren’t yet recorded in it. But, obviously, just like past lives, there was an unknown place in the souls where all the memories of the events remained intact. Thus, without knowing why, they instinctively sensed what happened and created fantasy stories with a slight twist of what they had experienced.
"The Void Dream law is a sealed world that I maintain with my inheritance," the Celestial Jaguar said dryly. "This world is a treasure for soul power, and training here increases your power. Everyone who comes here to fight and dies ends up coming back stronger. It’s not a bad thing for them, and the power of consciousness they lose isn’t missed."
Now it was clear why everyone on this planet had souls much stronger than the norm. Every time they came and went back, it was like a powerful training for their souls. But that was for those who came back alive, and what about those souls that had already died?
As if reading their doubts, the Kun Peng spoke slowly. "When souls are rebuilt, we send them back because there’s a limit. We can’t remove too much of the power from the consciousnesses, or the celestial laws might mark us, alerting the heroes. Each soul can come to this place at most a dozen times; after that, we don’t bring it back... as long as it’s still alive."
Alm and Bruno had felt a dense malice from the Kun Peng since they arrived, and now it seemed clearer. When they arrived in the city and met that young Kun Peng, they noticed that this race’s culture was focused only on itself, treating everything else as tools to be used.
"Here comes my inheritance. I received the Dao of the Eternal Crown. A divine Dao, capable of connecting, sharing, and amplifying power among an infinite group."
After the Kun Peng’s words, Alm and Bruno were surprised. Divine Dao? The technique they received was called the Array of the Eternal Crown, not a Divine Dao.
Bruno snorted and said lightly, "I’ve heard that name before, but it wasn’t divine; how strange... are you exaggerating?"
"The words of my race are like gold!" The Kun Peng retorted, falling for the provocation. "The creator of this Dao only completed it after being sealed. Before, it was just a technique passed to his disciples; you must have heard something from there. But later he completed it, and it was accepted as a divine Dao, which he passed on to me as his inheritance."
Bruno nodded, pretending to understand, while the Kun Peng snorted and continued. "The method to defeat the heroes and free our race involves two main parts. The first is to gain a lot of power from the consciousnesses. The second is to create another immortal cultivator. For that, we need to elevate our souls to divine souls."
Alm retorted with cold eyes. "You intend to refine the souls using this Dao?"
"No." The Kun Peng said dryly. "Those who come to this dream world and fight bravely, we mark them with the Dao. After they die, we bring them to this place to serve us."
Seeing their looks turn colder, the Immortal Crane added. "They’re not refined, just keep fighting, just like those you used to reach us. Since they don’t need to return, they keep fighting and their souls get stronger and stronger. The Dao of the Eternal Crown shares soul power, helping those with the eternal crown, which is us four, to rise."
Alm and Bruno took a deep breath and understood. The arrangement they had was an earlier version of the Dao, created before that figure reached the immortal realms. Even though it was a mortal version, the divine soul power affected everyone in the array, greatly strengthening their souls.
Ruri and Almin, who cultivated a lot with it, had souls many realms higher than normal. This superior array being used made sense that the reverse could exist, benefiting the king’s servants.
In summary, they forced cultivators to fight and destroy themselves to slowly siphon their Laws of Origin. The more outstanding ones were marked and, in the afterlife, brought to this place to destroy themselves again. Everyone was reborn without memories and repeatedly destroyed themselves in an endless cycle.
But there was a purpose: the souls became more and more powerful, and the four kings benefited from it. One day they hoped to elevate their souls to something divine. Once they reached that point, they could return to the world without restrictions, and the benefits would be immense.
’Bastards... none of these people were consulted. They were all enslaved to benefit them, and even after death, they are forced to serve them with no freedom. It’s a method as cruel as the queen’s...’ Bruno thought angrily.
Seeing Bruno’s aura turn bloodthirsty, Zaori said, "They don’t have memories of this, they’re all fighting for a greater purpose, and there’s no suffering. While they’re alive, we benefit them greatly with all of this. Later, it’s fair they work for a while, but it’s not eternal, and eventually, they will be freed. Do you understand?"
Alm snorted, asking, "How many souls has each of you trapped in this place?"
The Immortal Crane answered calmly, "Each of us must have about one and a half million, I think. But we’re already feeling the bottleneck narrowing; with probably two million and a few million more years, we’ll manage..."
"It won’t take that long." The Kun Peng interrupted. "Now that you two are here, everything will be easier. As you know, a divine soul regenerates completely if it’s not completely destroyed. Its power is eternal."
Hearing this, the Immortal Crane and Zaori sighed. They preferred to handle things more gently and give Alm and Bruno time to understand the situation; their races were naturally peaceful. The Celestial Jaguar, on the other hand, maintained a more neutral stance: not inclined to be evil, but not hesitating to be cruel when necessary.
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However, their inclinations didn’t matter anymore. Bruno recalled a saying from Earth: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." They had chosen to use millions of people for their own benefit and, to make matters worse, Alm and Bruno were sure that the queen had left them free, knowing they’d eventually end up helping her in the end.
"Oh? And how do you expect us to help you?" Alm asked coldly, looking at the Kun Peng.
The Kun Peng laughed before answering. "We’ll destroy you and absorb the power of your souls. Don’t worry, we won’t kill you; we’ll wait for you to regenerate completely, and then we’ll repeat the process."
Alm and Bruno laughed loudly at these words. The four of them narrowed their eyes, and the Kun Peng began to radiate a furious aura as he spoke.
"Did you feel pity for those who served us? That’s perfect. With your help, in just a few thousand years, it will all come to an end. You’ll continue as always, and we four will gain equivalent power."
"Hehehe, and what if we refuse?" Alm asked, still amused.
"Please, understand. It’s a win-win for everyone. In the future, we will reward you." The Immortal Crane tried to argue.
The Celestial Jaguar added. "You have no choice. I’ve already sealed this Dream of the Void; you’re trapped. You’re powerful divine souls, but we four have been marked by the inheritance of time. Our souls can go back in time, while you’ll eventually run out of energy. Just accept it and save us the time."
Suddenly, Alm and Bruno seemed to hear the funniest joke in the world. They laughed, clutching their stomachs. But none of the four could speak or move.
The aura of the two made the four of them feel an instinctive terror. They didn’t know the origins of these two, but they had encountered immortal cultivators in the past and had never felt so cornered.
"Trapped?" Bruno said after they stopped laughing and caught their breath. "You’re the ones trapped with me here. I’ll make sure you experience what you’ve caused. Have you ever felt the pain of fighting and dying in battle? Have you ever imagined being forced into something against your will?"
Bruno suddenly shifted from a pure Yang aura to a bloody and villainous one. "Have you ever imagined the pain of being imprisoned and enslaved against your will, without being able to fight back?"
The Kun Peng snorted sarcastically, while the other three seemed to sigh, thoughtful.
Alm smiled wickedly, and his eyes gleamed as he spoke. "Fuck it. Wait and fear. I’ll savor the despair."
The four immediately widened their eyes, sensing something. Then a divine soul power pulsed in a dark light, like a harbinger of the end of the world.
BOOM!!
Far away from there, Alm and Bruno, alongside Kaiyka and Coltia, opened their eyes.
"Bastards." Bruno spat. "It seems like we always end up having to be the game breakers. Well, luckily, we’re really good at it."