Alm and Bruno awakened their consciousness and immediately felt a strange pressure in the air as if something massive had just happened around them. The first thing that came into their view was a dark sky, filled with black clouds, as if the heavens themselves were enraged.
But, in the next second, all that darkness began to dissipate. Countless cracks appeared in the clouds, and beams of sunlight broke through the horizon, illuminating the devastated landscape below.
Still disoriented, they instinctively looked around. They were in a desolate and rugged region, where the ground, blackened and full of fissures, seemed to echo the traces of recent destruction.
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It was clear they were in the middle of a land that had just survived a terrible heavenly tribulation. That’s when they noticed something odd: they were on top of something.
When they focused more, they saw a figure below them, with a body completely black and marked by deep wounds. And they... were being held in that figure’s fist.
’What kind of body are we in?’ they wondered at the same time, a sense of strangeness overwhelming them.
They were small and rounded, and a vast, natural, and pure aura emanated from these new forms.
’Did we turn into a pill?’ Bruno asked, trying to grasp the bizarre situation.
Meanwhile, Alm focused on the figure holding them. ’He’s dead. He overcame the tribulation, but... his soul was so damaged that it dispersed right after.’
[Main Golden Quest Initiated]
[Free the Yang Fire Phoenix]
[Reward 01: 250 upgrade points.]
[Reward 02: New Heavenly Miracles.]
[Reward 03: Cultivation in the Divine Origin Realm Unlocked.]
’What?!’
Alm and Bruno exclaimed at the same time, stunned. They reread the quest objective and took a deep breath. Suddenly, they found themselves facing an outrageously dangerous mission.
’Wait, Fire Phoenix. So we’re in the same universe. We ended up near Almin’s sect,’ Bruno thought, finally focusing on the figure holding them.
’The body’s vital energy is dissipating quickly after its soul was destroyed,’ Alm quickly noted. ’We’re in an alchemist’s pill... so he must be connected to the Phoenix Cry Sect. We need a body to complete this mission, and we definitely have to get into that sect—this is our opportunity.’
Bruno agreed, and without hesitation, the two used the power of their souls. They floated up and entered the mouth of that body.
Inside, their souls invaded everything. It took several minutes to stabilize the body, and the vital energy stopped leaking out. They acted fast because if they took any longer, the body would become useless without vital energy, and the Yin of death would emerge.
Then they focused on the main quest summary. The green confirmation screen popped up, and they quickly accepted.
[Every ten thousand years, the world of the Nine Red Lotuses opens. In it, the top disciples of the Phoenix Cry Sect are allowed to enter and try their luck. In a month, this place will open. This world is the planet where the Fire Phoenix is sealed, and this will be a rare opportunity to save this primordial beast.]
Alm and Bruno read the brief quest summary. It was incredibly straightforward and simple... and at the same time unbelievably difficult.
’Damn. We’re gonna have to pretend to be alchemists and become top disciples to get in there... and we only have a month! Seems really easy,’ Bruno spat sarcastically.
Alm sighed, reflecting. ’This is really dangerous. We literally have to jump into the tiger’s mouth to complete this. We can’t even count on Almin’s help; if we manage to free the Phoenix and he has the slightest contact with us, he’ll be implicated.’
The heroes weren’t in the same universe anymore, but doing something this big would attract the queen’s attention. Immediately after, countless heroes from other universes would investigate relentlessly. The slightest mistake on their part could make everything collapse; they couldn’t leave any trace connecting them to Almin.
The two focused on the possibilities and what they had available. The inventory was with them, as well as their weapons. But immortal items have souls and a characteristic fluctuation, which posed a risk if they used them and were later recognized, linking them to the whale.
’We’re completely on our own here,’ Alm sighed heavily.
Bruno focused on the wounded body they had taken over; it was the only thing they had as support. Heaven’s Will had placed them inside this pill right after his death. He must have been their way in.
’He must be a rich young man with a powerful protector,’ Bruno murmured and immediately focused on reading the body’s memories.
Meanwhile, Alm searched the body and found a spatial ring. Inside were many pills, a furnace, herbs, and several Jade Slips with recipes. This young man was definitely an alchemist. He grabbed some recovery pills and made the body swallow them, focusing on healing the wounds slowly.
After several minutes, Bruno spoke heavily, ’Damn... we’re screwed...’
Bruno summed up the story of this young man. He was a pure human, around a hundred years old, and his name was Raoni.
The Phoenix Cry Sect was an alchemist sect, so their disciple recruitment process was different from other sects. Across a vast region that covered hundreds of solar systems in the northern part of the galaxy, the sect had established dozens of branches. In these branches, young people were recruited and taught the art of alchemy.
Every year, these young people were subjected to an alchemy competition, and the first-place winner of each branch earned the right to enter the main sect, Phoenix Cry.
Raoni was the champion of one of those branches. He was talented but had a simple past, coming from a rising planet. This victory would forever change his life and that of his family. But, unfortunately for him, the second place in the competition was the son of a High Elder from the main sect.
All disciples had to register at a branch and could only enter the main sect by winning the competition, even the children of important people.
For the High Elder’s son, coming in second place was an immense humiliation and a loss of prestige. Would he accept losing to a nobody? Of course not.
Raoni was quickly hunted down and marked for death so the second place could take his spot. Naturally, no one at the branch dared to say or accuse the High Elder’s son of anything.
Raoni was talented but not foolish. He immediately went into hiding after his victory, seeking refuge on the numerous rising planets. He just needed to wait for the months to pass until he could go to the main sect on the recruitment date, and then it would all be over.
But he hadn’t counted on the cruelty and lack of scruples of the powerful. When they couldn’t find him, they captured his family and his entire planet, forcing him to come out of hiding. His parents surely had some method of communication; otherwise, they would simply be killed, which wouldn’t be a great loss to the pursuers.
In the end, Raoni found out what had happened and returned to rescue his family. However, those who underestimated him met a tragic end. Besides being a talented alchemist, Raoni was also a formidable fighter. He fought and won, killing the young master in a bloody battle, but he was left on the brink of death.
The final result, though, wasn’t as expected. Raoni never really had a chance to win completely. The High Elder immediately discovered his son’s death and, in a fit of rage, set out for revenge. In a minute, he arrived and attacked with devastating fury.
Raoni, injured and exhausted, had prepared a means of escape: a teleportation formation. The High Elder obviously wouldn’t allow him to use it, but his parents, with Gaia’s help, managed to send him away.
’For some unknown reason, Gaia decided to help, even knowing it wouldn’t survive... the manipulative Heaven’s Will must have interfered again,’ Bruno commented.
Gaia, being a life form connected to the heavenly laws, was the easiest to be influenced by the Heaven’s Will. Surely, this was its doing.
However, in the face of a High Elder’s power, it required Gaia’s total sacrifice to save just Raoni. After that lonely escape, Raoni’s home planet was doomed. His family, friends, wives... everything was gone.
The destruction of a rising planet was a common occurrence. If someone without status did it, they’d be hunted down and punished by the larger sects as an evil being. But a High Elder? He’d just buy the silence of a few, and everything would be resolved.
Raoni survived, but the hatred he felt upon discovering the tragic fate of his family, all because he won a competition honestly, was indescribable.
’He planned his revenge for years while fleeing from the High Elder’s pursuit. He jumped from rising planet to rising planet, found rare things, and dangerously adventured. Until, with his own talent, he created the tool that would enable his revenge: an unparalleled pill that would give him enough power to kill even someone at the peak of divine cultivation... well, it was really powerful and capable of that; so much so that its tribulation was at the same level. This young man couldn’t withstand the tribulation and died. And now, here we are.’
Bruno finished, and Alm snorted. The heavens weren’t fair. Raoni lost everything, and in the end, he died alone to a tribulation.
’Not exactly,’ Bruno replied, reading Alm’s thoughts. ’Now we’ve taken over his body, and maybe the heavens will grant him his revenge. We’re the missionaries of the Heaven’s Will, and we can represent divine justice.’
’This Phoenix Cry Sect seems completely rotten having a High Elder like that. Well, screw it. Things are easier than they seem. Let’s do what we do best: destroy and destroy until there’s nothing left in the way,’ Alm declared, unconcerned.
Bruno countered, ’You talk like we’re the villains of the story! We’ll rebuild... but for something to be reborn, it has to be destroyed first. It’ll be a rebirth from the ashes... it’s poetic, and it fits the sect.’