A huge group of people arrived at the Larimar market on the planet Gloom. The whale immediately sent a message to Mistie, who showed up in two minutes.
"Turn them into red disciples," the whale said calmly, before turning to the group. "My allies are always recruiting and testing among the disciples. Make an effort. Talent and initial power don’t matter to them, but your will does."
Mistie nodded, indifferent, and soon another elder came to take the disciples away. The whale then turned to Almin and the members of his sect.
The alchemists had a different relationship from the disciples of other sects. Since they needed a lot of herbs and rare items, they could freely venture out in search of ingredients and research. Their only obligation was to present themselves to the sect annually and pay a fee.
"There’s a place here that’s almost untouched, called Twelve Peaks Forest. There must be countless rare and unknown herbs there. You’ll have permission to explore for a month. In the future, you’ll be called to go again, but this place is obviously secret," the whale said, before turning to Mistie.
"Form an alliance with all of them and give them permission to enter. Whenever the sect’s disciples explore the forest in the future, they can accompany you. Also, the alchemists will become the official allies of our sect. We’ll buy and negotiate everything among this group."
The whale spoke quickly, and Mistie nodded, getting excited. Her sect didn’t have any alchemists, not even at a medium level. Now, with the Twelve Peaks Forest, a lot of herbs would emerge, and without skilled alchemists around, they would waste valuable ingredients and could only sell them. The whale brought something essential that the sect was missing.
Almin looked at his people, who were confused, and gestured for them to follow without questioning. They had never heard of the whale before, but they had recently witnessed how terrifying he was. If he claimed that place held rare and unknown things... it must be something that would drive anyone from their sect crazy for a chance.
Mistie immediately took everyone to the Twelve Peaks Forest. After that, the whale brought Almin and the others to the center of the sect.
When they arrived, Ruri and all the others were already waiting, excited. Almin was especially thrilled to see them again; Ruri and Corin were shocked to see Sesel, Leafar, and Ervly.
Everyone gathered in a large building, isolated in the heart of the sect. Mistie had had that area built so everyone from the whale’s group could live there. There were several empty buildings, and all those recruited by the group lived nearby, being trained day and night.
The whale’s people could supervise and train the recruits for a while and then easily focus on their own cultivation.
As they entered the main hall, everyone showed their runes of an Empyrean Ancestral. During the months that had passed, they had fully assimilated those wills and advanced on their own.
Almin was shocked to see that. He mentioned that in his sect, there were very complex techniques where a disciple would have the chance to go from a True Empyrean to a Conqueror, but he and his allies hadn’t been able to advance at all.
Alm and Bruno handed him a space ring full of fruits. "Just give one to each, and they’ll all become Conquerors. Once they fully assimilate this power, choose the most outstanding ones. They’ll be the squad leaders, and with these fruits, they’ll become Empyrean Ancestals."
At the convention, countless Conqueror Empyreans died. The heroic disciples from the top 10 sects that they killed were all Empyrean Ancestals. This yielded a dozen Ancestral fruits, all given to Almin.
Alm and Bruno would change their heroic runes later. They also informed Almin about the changes in the array so he could place people in the array on his own. He would separate them into soldiers and squad leaders; his allies would gain impressive benefits from that.
"About the Phoenix... I already know where her seals are, there are nine. I planned to start trying to communicate with her after the convention, when an important internal event will happen in the sect," Almin explained seriously.
The whale nodded, then left him to chat with everyone. Ruri and Corin introduced Sesel, Leafar, and Ervly to everyone. There was no rush, and they all got along quickly.
Meanwhile, the whale noticed Zaimo’s serious expression in a corner. Before, even though he wasn’t exactly chatty, he didn’t keep to himself and felt comfortable with everyone. Now, he had definitely changed.
Things were still confusing for him, but the real reason was different. Before, he hadn’t recognized Thea from the past, but after seeing Rehvka, everything became very strange in his mind.
The whale had Rehvka and Thea come closer, and then he needed to have a long talk with the four of them. First, he explained how he met Rehvka and Thea in the past, along with the reasons that led both of them to start the war in that universe.
The current Zaimo already knew about the queen and her domain, but now he finally understood... Before, he was just one of many people who were mentally controlled by the queen, just like his brother and everyone else.
Rehvka fought against the people controlled by the queen but always spared those who surrendered, even if it hurt her in the end. Zaimo understood with a heavy sigh that if the whale hadn’t interfered twice in that universe, everyone would still be slaves to this day.
Rehvka and Thea were actually trying to free everyone in that universe, a colossal weight lifted from Zaimo’s shoulders.
After a few seconds, he nodded, then looked at the whale and, thoughtful, asked:
"Sir... what should I do about Nebai? If she didn’t have obligations to the Larimar market, she’d be by my side right now... she seems to not want to let go; I feel like things got weird."
"Hm? The situation changed. It’s better to be direct with her and tell her it won’t work out. It’s crueler to give false hopes than to cut it off now. Later, the pain will be much greater," Alm replied without hesitation.
Zaimo looked down, his expression troubled. He remained silent, but his emotions were chaotic, reflecting his inner turmoil.
Rehvka let out a soft laugh and glanced at the whale. Bruno understood but didn’t know what to say. Then Alm, in a dry tone, took over:
"If thinking about her suffering causes you this deep pain, or if you can’t imagine telling her this... the answer is simple: you love her. Accept that."
Zaimo looked at the whale, stunned. "But... I’m much older than her. And my future? She clearly isn’t the type to cultivate to the limit and fight by my side; while I... could die at any moment."
"So what?" Alm replied coldly.
"I know exactly what you’re thinking." He continued, and the look he cast toward Ruri illustrated his words. "I made a similar decision in the past, and now I see clearly that I made the right choice. It doesn’t matter how long you have together; what matters is making every moment count. If time is short, live it intensely. Why were you born, after all? To sit around thinking about the end? Focus on the present. If you die tomorrow, at least you won’t have regrets."
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Zaimo listened intently, unable to respond. Until Bruno broke the silence: "Ximo certainly lived fully and was happy. I’m sure what he wanted most was for his brother to experience a bit of that too. How do you plan to protect people and give them a chance to be happy if you’ve never even known what happiness is?"
The dwarf looked at the whale, and something inside him changed upon hearing those words. In that moment, everyone felt someone approaching the building.
Rehvka went out and brought Nebai, as Bruno had secretly called her while they were talking. It was the perfect moment for her to make the final move. Rehvka had secretly passed along the information when she brought her.
With everything ready, the whale headed to the forge. The building had been constructed, and Ruri had instructed them to create a rustic place in the deep underground, saying it would be their forge. Her intentions were obviously different, but the place would also serve as a forge.
In the end, Ruri didn’t take her eyes off those two, and the next day, she came back excited to share. The situation between them flowed... maybe a bit too quickly. Ruri said she saw a tension in Nebai’s gaze, something she knew well. It seemed that the optional quest would be completed faster than they imagined.