The four kings’ eyes were wide as they watched those who had been their former slaves die for something so illusory and meaningless. Yet strangely, a warm feeling stirred in their souls, a feeling they had long lost.
Of the six million, only four were alive and fighting. Every second, others were self-destructing. The first to take this step were, of course, those whom Alm and Bruno had first converted. But the others were moved by their actions and started doing the same.
It was an epiphany that covered all those souls, the exact same feeling the kings were experiencing and remembering at this moment.
What was this feeling? It was the will to fight against the oppressor, to fight against anything trying to suppress them, to fight against the heavens and the world if needed. This will was the same that had driven the four kings to enter the Void Forest many millions of years ago. And with such a strong feeling, the immortal cultivators chose them to receive the heritage, hoping to one day free their races from the heroes.
"What have we done..." murmured Zaori, deeply disturbed.
The Celestial Jaguar took a deep breath before speaking. "We deliberately chose the path of evil to achieve our goals."
"The immortals who guided us..." Kun Peng began but hesitated. "No, they only gave us the tools. The path we chose to follow was our decision. They were doomed and only showed us the options; our actions were solely our choice."
The Immortal Crane spoke with pain in his voice. "We were blind. Those two were right. We enslaved our own people under the guise of creating a free future for them. We contributed to the suffering we swore to eliminate and claimed we wanted to save them... the ends do not justify the means. We lost the will to fight against the oppressors and became like them."
The four sighed deeply, understanding the truth. They wanted to change the world but forgot that true change begins within themselves. Being a good person and using the right means is the only way to achieve a worthy goal. Doing anything possible to achieve the goal only creates more karma and suffering; it is like trying to heal a wound while creating others.
"Don’t give up, he will come," a voice sounded toward the kings, making them turn their gaze. They saw a harpy watching them with a look full of understanding.
Rivine, as a beast, understood perfectly the feeling everyone who was fighting felt. Wanting to be free and live naturally were the clearest impulses in all beasts.
The whole group of the whale heard the conversation of these four. They didn’t need much to understand a bit of the situation. That round figure was once again saving people. But his dogma was simple, people needed to believe in him.
Hearing that, the image of that one sinister figure appeared in the kings’ minds. Although they had met two in the first battle, for some reason, they felt that the other one who attacked in the castle was the same one this harpy was talking about.
"Isn’t he dead?" Zaori asked, looking into the eyes of the harpy from a distance. They had seen those divine souls destroy themselves right at the start. But they knew almost nothing about the power of a divine soul.
Rivine replied with a snort. "Of course not, our master is immortal. I can assure you he’s alive and coming."
"If he’s alive, that’s great... but it’s impossible for him to come back in here. This place is completely sealed by the formation and the power of the four races," the Immortal Crane said lightly.
"Hm? The formation I can control part of it, but the heroic power and its rules are impossible..." Ruri said, making the four kings widen their eyes. "But... yes! As we are on the last day, the entry barrier is weakening to open in a few hours."
The Celestial Jaguar added: "If the power of the four races is forcibly reduced, it’s possible to open the entrance more quickly. But that doesn’t change anything. The hero will arrive in just over three minutes."
"Hero? Fuck the hero," Corin spat with disdain. "The master has killed so many you can’t even imagine. If he were in the same cultivation realm, they could only run scared. If the master is with us, he will solve everything."
The four kings widened their eyes at the information until Ruri continued: "If you put your faith in him, he will always deliver. Or will you choose to give up without a fight?"
Suddenly, the four kings had the same thought. When the hero arrived, everything they had done would be exposed, and the four races would surely be punished as sinners. The hero’s punishment for this would be one: total destruction.
Anyone who had their bloodline, even the hybrids, would be marked for death. The entire universe would hunt them, and quickly nothing would exist anymore. All because of them.
"Give up? I will fight again, one last time," roared the Celestial Jaguar.
The other three nodded, understanding the shared thought.
The Immortal Crane spoke with pain in his voice. "We are sinners who brought the destruction of our races. We don’t have that right, but we will put our faith in him. Maybe the four races can live…"
"The master is not a savior; he just reciprocates the faith given to him. Race doesn’t matter, only the individuals do. If they put their faith in him, he will save them," said Rehvka seriously.
The four kings nodded, and their eyes shone. Suddenly, Merua and all the young people who were hidden and came to that place felt their bloodlines vibrate.
The souls of the four kings pulsed with a powerful light, starting to burn in exchange for power. In the past, they were renowned kings of the four nations; they knew every secret and every trait within their bloodlines.
Immediately, the four felt the young ones of their races who were in the forest. "Sorry, I need to take a little, but it won’t be a problem."
The voices of the four echoed in the minds of four young people from different races who were in the forest. Merua, as the only one of the Immortal Cranes present, also heard. Quickly, a power removed a bit of their bloodline, and it was brought to the kings.
It took two seconds, and the kings used all the power along with the bloodline they took.
"Immortal Cranes..."
"Kun Pengs..."
"Celestial Jaguars..."
"Zaoris..."
The voices of the four resounded together through the forest. At the same time, all those who possessed the bloodline of the four across the entire planet heard the words directly in their minds.
They announced their names to their races. Immediately, everyone from the four races widened their eyes; they knew that name. It was the name of a king from the past, someone so talented and powerful that they managed to dominate the other three races in their time. Everyone had heard the glorious stories about that respective king.
Everyone heard the message directly and felt an extreme synchronization of power coming with it. Not even the current king would have the power to do something similar; a stranger also couldn’t manipulate the bloodline to connect with everyone this way.
By closing their eyes and focusing on feeling it, they could even see the shape of the voice, like a shadow. No one doubted that it was who they claimed to be.
Quickly, the four spoke about the present and the future. They were identical visions; the Four Great Ancestral Nations in the current time were just an illusory facade. They were mere slaves serving the heroes, not much different from all the races in the universe.
"We were once free. That’s why I’ve lived until today just as a soul, hoping to regain our freedom. But I failed," said the Immortal Crane to their race, while the other three said similar things.
"I would rather die trying to be free than continue to uphold an illusion. That’s why I will place all my hope in someone truly capable. A truly divine and immortal figure."
"Brothers and sisters, all who wish to fight against the heavens for our future, even if you die trying, this is the only opportunity. Leave immediately and use everything you have to influence the laws of the Void Forest. This place was created with our power and still stands with our power being used in it. This is the first tower we need to bring down."
The four concluded, and their souls were now just a thread about to disperse. Everything was burned to send this message to everyone and ensure there were no doubts about their identities. It wasn’t possible to forge what they showed and said; some very precise and hidden words about the races were subtly mentioned by them during the speech.
They fell silent, no longer having the strength to convey anything. They just closed their eyes and felt the response from all of their races.
An intense movement occurred among the city’s ruins. Suddenly, a few million beasts emerged from their isolated world. Among them, there was an overwhelming mass of Immortal Cranes and Zaoris.
Practically 99% of them, of all ages and cultivations, left without looking back and headed to the forest’s entrance. These two races were naturally peaceful and only wanted to live in peace, something they never achieved being used by the heroes.
It wasn’t just about maintaining the forest; throughout history, they suffered many orders, tasks, and humiliations. There was even a time in the past when a hero wanted to destroy the Zaoris because a woman of that race rejected him. They barely survived and rebuilt themselves.
Seconds later, a large number of Celestial Jaguars appeared. It was almost 60% of the entire race. Historically, they weren’t exactly peaceful, but they weren’t evil either. Upon hearing the story of that king, most decided to fight; those who didn’t come were the most powerful ones, unwilling to accept dying and losing everything they’d achieved.
Next, a small group of Kun Pengs showed up. There were only a few hundred, and none of them were pure. They were hybrids who lived their lives being humiliated by their own race for being born that way. But today, only they stood up to fight for their race.
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The other Kun Pengs saw all of this merely as an opportunity. They were going to show loyalty to the heroes and try to gain from it. They only cared about short-term gains and their own benefits; the future of the race? They couldn’t care less.
Inside the forest, the former Kun Peng king sighed heavily. This was the culture of his race; they saw everyone else as something to be used for their own benefit. This extended to everyone, even their own race.
"The future of the Kun Pengs is doomed..." murmured the ancient king, with intense pain welling up in his soul.
The bloodlines of these hybrids would slowly disappear over generations because it was too thin. As for those who chose to stay, they were too arrogant to understand; they wouldn’t enjoy any benefits for long.
The kings, of course, gathered information from the soldiers they brought into the Void Dream. They knew about the changes in the universe and that, with the nations’ power being based on bloodlines and not on Empyreans, they’d be plucked in just a few decades.
How many conflicts and evil deeds had the Kun Pengs caused throughout history? After losing the nation’s power, this race would be wiped out in revenge by others in the galaxy.
Then suddenly, the king widened his eyes. He sensed a figure covered in blood coming out of the Kun Pengs’ world and heading for the forest. It was a man, and the king felt his bloodline stir. "It’s one of the royal princes! There’s hope!"
If he, with his pure bloodline, has children with a hybrid of the same bloodline, the child would be born with a dense enough bloodline to hopefully be restored through cultivation.
Why did this young man make this decision? The king reflected. Judging by his wounded state, the others tried to stop him from leaving, but he forced his way through.
Then, that Kun Peng, who was just a thread of a soul, became emotional. Even when surrounded by fools and growing up within a sinister culture, someone can always refuse to accept it and follow a different path.
In seconds, a mass of millions of beasts from the four races surrounded the Void Forest. They spared nothing, using every drop of Qi, laws, and power they had. Ruri felt the changes in the forest and got excited.
The foundation sustaining the Void Forest was the formation and spatial power of the four races. Quickly, all the laws of the place were agitated and influenced; the location became weaker. The queen’s power wouldn’t react unless it was against the defined rules; the creator of the formation couldn’t predict something so abnormal, so there was no reaction.
Ruri quickly activated the runes of the formation, stirring the entrance’s laws. The power sealing the entrance was already much weaker because soon, the people inside would leave. It was the sixth and final day of exploration.
In seconds, she waved. The four kings turned to the entrance and saw the doors opening to the outside world.
The first thing they saw was a brown earthy light, followed by a pressure from a primordial bloodline so pure it seemed unreal.
Soon, footsteps that made the ground tremble due to their excessive weight echoed. Everyone saw the glorious and round curves of whale moving. It was as if the weight of a universe had been lifted off everyone’s shoulders.