Alm and Bruno finally accepted reality. The dwarf, on the other hand, was surprised and excited—a missionary had successfully used the technique, which meant he might get that item from the Primordial Chaos before the queen.
However, they noticed something strange in the dwarf’s eyes. That will sighed and spoke softly: "Now that you understand, finding the Reincarnation Mirror and its calamity is the most complicated part..."
Alm asked dryly, "The two Phoenixes, can they detect this calamity with their power?"
"Yes, the power of the Reincarnation Mirror is the perfect union of life and death. The two of them, being twin primordial beasts, split into two poles, have a subtle connection. Although they don’t like each other much, they worked together perfectly and, with great sacrifice, managed to detect and attract this calamity with their powers," the dwarf replied.
"It shouldn’t be a problem to find the calamity if we release the two of them," Bruno added, but the dwarf became serious. "The universe’s heroes have disappeared. This is the window we have to act. We know where the Yang Fire Phoenix is, and with the help of the Larinar market, it won’t be hard to find the other one."
"Heroes disappeared? The Queen just brought them closer to her, probably trying to get them to break through to the immortal level," the dwarf countered. "Releasing the two of them is very risky; she’ll send heroes from other universes to investigate, or she’ll act directly."
Alm spat. "Heaven’s Will has its ways of putting me in desperate situations, but always in an untraceable manner. That manipulative bastard is creative; he’ll create the opportunity."
"Anyway, you don’t have much time left, right?" Bruno said, noticing that the dwarf’s will was gradually weakening.
The dwarf grunted. "Indeed. Since you have her technique, these runes here might be useful to you... but, using them will destroy everything, this power is immense, so be careful."
He looked deeply at the whale before continuing: "You fulfilled my plans, so my race should trust and believe that you are my reincarnation. Please, take care of them."
Bruno hesitated and murmured, "Back then..."
"Yes, to kill the immortal heroes, everyone had their souls destroyed. I won’t reincarnate anymore, and I’ve ceased to exist. The two Phoenixes and that woman were the only survivors," the dwarf confirmed.
"She’s probably still reincarnating, trying to awaken again; maybe one day she’ll manage to get a divine soul. Then, she’ll be able to abandon the flawed body, get another one to cultivate, and return. She finally managed to create a connection with someone... fate should bring you together again. When that day comes, tell her my plan was a success; I obviously always have been right."
After speaking, a glimmer of old memories passed through the dwarf. ’What the hell? He liked her? Wait, wasn’t he married and even had kids among the dwarves?’ Bruno asked seriously.
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’In one of his books we read, he described a woman in great detail, emphasizing that she was strange, as if he was trying to confirm it to himself. We’ve read too many books to know—he was touched by her in some way,’ Alm replied coldly. ’The God of the Forge only married a dwarf near the end of his life, probably out of obligation; if he didn’t, he’d be too old to have kids. Unfortunately, their story will never have a proper ending.’
Alm and Bruno scoffed as they watched the will disappear. There were still many questions, but that will existed only to protect the Soul Jade.
When it found someone to receive its contents, the will would quickly lose strength. Finding it was already a miracle; many things were revealed, and they could seek answers elsewhere.
"Some immortal cultivators knew about my plans and certainly left Soul Jades behind. They should be buried where the battle took place. If you need it badly, maybe there’s an opportunity there," the dwarf explained before casting a final glance at those two opposing souls. "I think I did my best to help the world. I hope you manage to defeat her... goodbye."
Those were his last words before disappearing forever.
Alm and Bruno returned to their bodies and stored that Soul Jade. They gained a secret weapon capable of turning a difficult situation around... but using it would bring unimaginable consequences.
’Isla... if we find her again, it’ll be so strange. We were immature and stupid; we got married, but in the end, we didn’t love her. We thought we had just taken advantage of her, but she also took advantage of us a bit...’ Bruno murmured.
The two of them understood that it was definitely an exchange. She left something in them, and in return, she drew a lot from the divine soul, which probably helped her complete her Dao more quickly.
The whale took a deep breath and left the forge. Upon exiting the building, he saw Sesel, Leafar, and Ervly along with everyone from the group; they were already fully integrated. Sensing the whale’s gaze, the three of them turned and ran to his side.
"Sir, we’re sorry we didn’t follow your previous orders..." Sesel said with regret.
Before sending them back to their universe, Bruno had given them a faith rune to spread his faith there.
The whale simply nodded and asked, "What happened? How did you end up here?"
"We two got married and lived for about a thousand years," Ervly said next to Leafar. "During that time, we faced difficulties having children, but we spread your words everywhere. We must have reached a third of the universe, converting many."
Leafar added, "But one day, the universe was invaded by heroes, and a hunt for worshipers began. Thanks to the rune you gave us, we sensed it quickly and chose the most cowardly path... we destroyed the rune so they wouldn’t find it."
The whale turned to Sesel, who nodded with teary eyes, as if feeling deep shame. "I lived for three thousand years. I tried to fulfill your orders, but the same thing happened to me. They invaded my universe, and I chose to erase the evidence."
"There were few heroes, but they were accompanied by cultivators from this universe. It seems the biggest sects here do work for the heroes and help out in other places, given the size of a universe," Ervly added lightly.
"Fortunately, it was our master, the Starry Sky Tree, who helped the heroes in our universes. We were interrogated for being the missionaries in everyone’s memories, but they judged us to be just like the others. Then, he liked us and wanted to recruit us. He said he came from a sacred and unmatched universe; we felt we could find you and accepted."
Sesel nodded, confirming that something similar happened on her side. But... her eyes filled with tears. "Oria... her universe was also attacked. But the invaders were the Shadow God sect. I heard from master that a dwarf started a war against the heroes and died fighting to the end... she didn’t stand a chance, but she died to fulfill her words without backing down..."
Oria was the dwarf who had been trapped with Sesel when they saved both of them. The whale huffed heavily; a dwarf can be really stubborn sometimes.
Alm spat dryly. "Oria’s act was as honorable as a suicide; she gained nothing, and the enemy won. You guys, on the other hand, chose to bend and survive. Now you can fight again and turn the tables."
Everyone listened, and their expressions turned serious. Bruno took over, speaking quickly: "But she didn’t die in vain. She had my faith rune; those heroes who killed her will be marked by my curse. I’ll be able to sense them when I’m near. We can take revenge... and even more, this curse will give me many different opportunities. Her sacrifice will give us a great chance in the future."
The three turned to the whale and clenched their fists. "Now you will fight by my side. Your sect seems like a good place; I was thinking about putting down roots elsewhere, and you guys showed up just in time."
The whale spoke, placing them in the Array as squad leaders. Their general would be Ruri, who knew them well. They could recruit soldiers from their sects and prepare an army.
"Your soldiers and you will be able to take advantage of everything from the Yinblood sect. But remember, everyone in the universe, besides my closest ones, are potential enemies," the whale said seriously.
Then, he briefly explained the situation in this universe and about the queen. They had been heroes and quickly understood everything he said.
In the end, a month passed, and Ruri was still in seclusion. It was at this moment that Nebai sent a message to the whale. He went to meet her in the Larimar market; when he got there, he saw Zaimo and King Nival waiting for him.
"Sir, we want to negotiate... my niece, she’s someone very honorable and loyal," Nival said, and the whale narrowed his eyes.
"He’s pretty big and not a rich family damsel! If you want to marry, go ahead," the whale spat dryly.
They were considered Zaimo’s guardians. With him being someone very close to the God of the Forge, his status was even higher than the royal family’s at the moment; that’s why the King came personally to ask for this. Alm quickly cut off the awkward situation before it got worse.
Zaimo, standing beside them, smiled awkwardly. There was nothing to be done; in this new life, he was very young. In the end, he accepted Nebai, and the dwarves didn’t want to waste any time. They were practical—if they wanted to be together, they should get married soon.
"Ruri should come out of seclusion in a week; you should have the wedding then. Almin also has to return to his sect after," the whale added, and everyone nodded with smiles.
Alm and Bruno returned. And on the same day, Ruri emerged from seclusion, radiant. Alm and Bruno had no free time, so they isolated themselves with her, completely disappearing from the world until the wedding day.
On the way out, the whale walked beside Ruri, and when everyone saw him, they were completely catatonic. The whale looked like he had lost dozens of pounds... while Ruri was like a little radiant sun beside him.
Silent and shocked; the whole whale group was taken to the dwarves’ galaxy and attended a luxurious royal wedding.
Unfortunately, Vuard and Oldis couldn’t see their son’s wedding. It was even hard to tell if they were still alive in that universe. But the wedding was peaceful, and in the final moments, Nival brought with him a treasure kept by the dwarves.
When a royal family woman married, the King had to give something worthy to the husband. And Zaimo, obviously, demanded the Prana Hammer that the whale wanted so much. Upon receiving it and getting married, he was now considered part of the royal family, and the hammer was his.
The moment he received the hammer, he handed it to the whale. None of the dwarves found it strange; after all, he was the God of the Forge and the original owner of the hammer. Zaimo, being so close to him, simply said he wouldn’t accept keeping something from his master and returned it.
[Congratulations, Golden Optional Quest completed!]
[Would you like to receive the rewards?] [Yes / No]
They finally got the hammer and immediately accepted the generous rewards. They received 70 upgrade points, 100 celestial points, and Free Divine Level Celestial Knowledge.
But they didn’t plan to spend it all now. When the couple was "expelled" away, the party among the dwarves began. At that moment, Alm and Bruno surrendered to their carnal desires. An endless hunger took over them, and they started eating as if there were no tomorrow.
Ruri just smiled and started working as their maid, just like in the past. She brought food and served them. Everyone in the group watched the scene in silence and started to feel a little sorry for the whale. He looked very thin and haggard; Ruri showed no mercy.
The whale ended up eating two-thirds of the party food, made for thousands of dwarves... none of them cared; the dwarves just drank happily, and that was enough.
The next day, the whale’s group left, but the party among the dwarves would continue for several more days.
Almin needed to go back to his sect with his group because an important event was about to happen there. He didn’t give many details, and the whale wasn’t interested in hearing them; it was something Almin would have to handle on his own. However, Ruri mentioned that things in the Phoenix Cry Sect were pretty problematic.
Cultivators were already arrogant and greedy by nature. Alchemists, who were worshiped and with whom no one wanted to have problems, were part of that mix. Plus, most in the sect were humans, which meant that the chaos and intrigue there were worthy of a real dramatic story.
[Level 4] [Dao of the Alchemist God] [50 Upgrade Points]
[Total: 50 Upgrade Points]
[Accept? Yes / No]
Alm and Bruno accepted and passed the new level to Almin. Before he left, the whale authorized him to teach the Dao to his allies. With that, all his allies would grow astonishingly.
They had collected countless unknown and unbelievable herbs in the Twelve Peaks Forest. Soon, these alchemists would stir up a storm in the sect.
Sesel, Leafar, and Ervly left with Almin. The whale hadn’t given them anything yet, as they were being cautious not to draw attention. The Array was something very hard to discover, so they didn’t see any problem with it. Later, they would visit that sect and confirm the leader’s intentions, checking if they could trust them.
A few days passed, and Alm and Bruno focused on studying that hammer and the Prana law within it. They had other things to do; they hadn’t even touched the heavy sword of the God of the Forge yet, but this hammer was a priority now.
A week after Almin’s departure, Zaimo returned to the sect. Nebai lived in the Larimar market on the Gloom planet; they could see each other whenever they wanted. She didn’t want to interfere with his cultivation at all.
The whale gathered everyone from the main group and used all the resources they had earned at the Convention, along with what was in the spatial rings of the God of Wealth worshipers. Everything was converted into Qi for cultivation.
In the three months they had been apart, Rehvka, who was at the ninth level of the Spirit Fusion Realm, advanced to the Divine Origin Realm. Kaiyka, who had been at the ninth level of the Divine Origin Realm for some time, also moved up to the Heavenly Saint Realm.
The two hadn’t participated directly in the cultivation but had benefited from the Array in every way.
The amount of Qi was absurdly high, and everyone quickly broke through levels, one after another. They had fought hard and wouldn’t have any problem advancing. The whale absorbed practically 75% of all the Qi. Corin took 20% of it all, due to his physical cultivation; the others got just 5%.
In one day, everything came to an end. Everyone in the Spirit Fusion Realm jumped straight to the ninth level, able to break through whenever they wanted, but they didn’t do it without the whale’s permission.
Alm and Bruno took a deep breath at the incredible amount of resources spent. But by this point, they had already accepted their karma. In the end, they also reached the ninth level of the Spirit Fusion Realm.
[Side Quest Available 01]
[Free 698 billion enslaved souls and return them to the heavenly laws]
[Reward 01: +20 Celestial Points]
[Reward 02: Access to the main quest]
’What?’ Alm and Bruno read the quest and were shocked by the staggering number, but then they realized something obvious.
The whale waved, and a spatial rune on his forehead lit up. Suddenly, everyone around the whale saw an infinite number of souls leaving the inventory; they were all immediately taken by the heavenly laws the second they left.
Alm and Bruno had brought those souls from the Convention. It was such an overwhelming amount that the inventory was packed in every inch. They had no idea what to do with all of them, so they decided to think about it later. But it seemed the system wanted them to free the souls no matter what.
In minutes, everything was over.
[Congratulations, Side Quest completed!]
[Would you like to accept all rewards?]
[Yes / No]
’That easy? This reminds me of our first time,’ Bruno murmured. But he didn’t dare say anything more and curse them... even more. If the side quest was simple, they were scared to imagine what awaited them.
"Have Mistie gather some elders to take you to a nearby wild planet. Everyone advance together; you know what and how you should do it. Take the opportunity to get stronger," the whale instructed everyone. "For others, the heavens are a source of fear and reverence. But for us, the heavenly laws are a unique opportunity. Don’t be shy and take as much as you can from them by force. Or in the future, you might die for having held back at the most important moment."
Everyone nodded quickly until Ruri asked, confused: "Is master not coming?"
"I’ll be absent for a while. I’m not going anywhere, but my body will probably be in a coma. I don’t know how long it will take. Focus on advancing, then cultivate. I’ll try to return as soon as I can."
The whale briefly explained, but everyone had already heard from him that, for him, advancing wasn’t that simple. He usually needed to do something scary, and it seemed that was exactly the case.
"Ruri, Corin, and Kisala. After you advance, focus on stabilizing your cultivation. Then, ask Mistie to send a message to the Dragon Ascent and Three Sovereign Gods sects. They’re waiting for you." They nodded; the whale had already told them they would receive the position of rectors of those sects.
Everyone said their goodbyes, and the whale went to the forge alone, sealing the place completely. Then, they accepted the rewards. Soon, they didn’t see the runes of the heavenly laws surrounding them, but they felt a force removing their souls from their bodies and sealing just the bodies in time.
They nodded; the laws couldn’t seal the whole place, but sealing the body was simple. So, the body wouldn’t die without a soul. Shortly after, the two felt their minds darken and went out.