The synchronization with the pure Yang power, along with the clear draconic energy flowing, made everything obvious. With their divine souls, Alm and Bruno could feel a subtle presence on the other side, even though it was hiding its fluctuations and power as much as possible.
’He’s hurt and needs to recover after giving so much to Dem Zarn,’ Alm thought seriously. ’Shit... he’s using the Yang power from the Phoenix to speed up his recovery.’
Bruno breathed heavily, feeling the weight of the situation. Breaking the seals without the Dragon noticing would be impossible. This wasn’t just any enemy; it was a primordial beast with cultivation in the immortal realms.
Worse yet, this creature would probably do anything to kill them. If it happened to notice them, there was a good chance it would recognize who they really were. After all, how could that young guy be using another body so easily? With his other abnormalities, deducing that they were missionaries wouldn’t be hard.
’The sect must know this,’ Bruno reflected. ’They have control over the formation and the seal, but the fact that he’s hiding his fluctuations suggests he’s doing something he shouldn’t be.’
Alm agreed. Their mission was to break the seal, and they needed to find a way to do it. Time was short, and any mistake could destroy everything they had built in that universe.
They quietly moved away from the location. Almin, sensing the draconic presence, ran over with a tense expression. Bruno saw him and quickly explained who was on the other side.
"The situation has changed drastically," Bruno stated, then remembering Almin’s initial plan; he had a sudden idea. "Check inside this body. The real body we were put into is here."
Almin, surprised, felt the indicated point. In the stomach of the body, there was a powerful presence of a pill. His eyes widened. "An unmatched pill? I heard rumors that a disciple, during a test, created something..."
"It was us, due to the circumstances," Bruno explained. "But it was a useless pill that even a craftsman like us could make. It’s already... it was made by the real Raoni."
Bruno recounted the tragic story of Raoni. He was a true talent, lacking the Dao of the God of Alchemy, yet he managed to create an unmatched pill on his own. Heaven’s Will certainly helped a lot to make it possible, but that didn’t diminish Raoni’s merit.
"This is a pill called Soul Purger," Almin confirmed. "Given its unmatched level, it could definitely destroy a High Elder’s soul with ease. And for you to be put in it... yeah, the pill has a connection to soul energy. Using the power of tribulation and making some adjustments, it’s possible to fuse a soul into it."
Alm and Bruno exchanged glances. An idea began to form. "Your pill isn’t complete yet," Alm noted. "Could you make similar adjustments to support a divine soul like ours?"
Almin became serious and thoughtful. Then he nodded. "With the tribulation it would generate, it wouldn’t be hard. The laws of chaos could be converted for that."
Bruno nodded, satisfied. There was a path to follow. The pill they were in and Almin’s creation were the keys to solving the current problem.
After deciding what to do, Alm and Bruno activated their tattoos and entered the Wuji state. They focused on sensing the whole planet and its laws. The fire laws of that world were hard to control, but feeling their presence was simple.
The search didn’t need to cover the whole planet. Since the place where Lotus Central was located had once been inhabited by the most powerful beasts, they must have fled to some nearby point. In just a few minutes, they located a target a few kilometers away, but they also noticed other familiar faces.
"Let’s go," Alm said, and they moved quickly.
There was hardly any solid ground on the planet; it was all a vast sea of lava, with small floating islands scattered everywhere. Soon, they felt the fluctuations of an intense battle ahead.
On one of the floating islands, a fierce battle was taking place. On one side, a golden bird radiated flames at a terrifying level, with cultivation at the beginning of the Heavenly Saint Realm.
On the other side, an army of ten thousand was facing it, attacking and defending in relatively coordinated groups. These disciples had fire resistance and fought with fierce determination. Despite their inexperience in battle, their will to fight and the techniques they used were ensuring them a slow but steady victory.
"Aren’t they using resistance pills?" Almin murmured, intrigued. "These techniques... they’re incomplete Daos."
Leading the group was the little human Celilia. And those disciples were the same neutrals that Alm and Bruno had helped.
"But I also tried to teach them incomplete Daos," Almin murmured, incredulous. "And I even bought simpler techniques for them. But it seemed completely impossible..."
Bruno interrupted him, speaking softly. "When we met, did we give you any technique or some valuable gift?"
Almin remembered how, initially, they beat him up and forced him to fight until he almost died repeatedly, in a nearly sadistic way. It took a long time for him to be truly trained, gaining things.
"You thought they were just ordinary people, so you failed to train them. Didn’t you see your own reflection in them?" Bruno commented, leaving Almin stunned.
Of the fifteen thousand neutral disciples that Almin tried to help, a third abandoned the group after Raoni confronted the Elders. These were young people without ambition who wanted to live in peace, without problems, which explained Almin’s failure.
The remaining ten thousand, who joined Raoni and were trained, were people who had already suffered a lot in life. If they were true geniuses or had easily achieved something, they would have joined a faction to feel protected and belong to a group.
But, knowing the cruelty of the world, they chose not to be controlled. The sect allowed the neutrals to exist and even protected them, as long as they remained indifferent; nothing too drastic would happen.
"All of them have serious mental wounds, just like you had in the past. I know you can train cultivators, turning them into reliable soldiers. But you’ve always dealt with regular cultivators. With these guys, the basic approach doesn’t work," Bruno commented softly, while Almin stayed silent.
"You were very kind to them. I, on the other hand, was the cruelest in the past, pushing you to the brink of death repeatedly. That wasn’t to train you or strengthen your will. It was so you could feel, with your own body, the drastic changes your suffering brought. You saw your strengths stabilizing and your power growing, little by little."
"Then you stopped putting yourself down and playing the victim. You learned that shutting up and working is what really makes things change. And after reflecting on all your suffering and saving those women, you realized that trying to change the world or hating it was the dumbest thing anyone could do. Real change happens from the inside out. Becoming a better person and working hard is the only way."
Almin’s eyes sparkled slightly. The whale had never said any of that; it just beat him up and pushed him to the limit. But he really learned all of this naturally. Nowadays, whenever he failed at something, he just worked and worked, already sure he could succeed through his effort.
"Do you get it now? My training was to make them experience despair, in a world where they had to face all their fears. They’re still in the middle of the process, but they’ve already grasped the basics and can feel the difference," Bruno added softly.
Almin nodded, clenching his fists. His mistake had been trying to spare them from suffering and teaching them to fight directly, without letting them face their own mental challenges.
The two stood still, watching the fight. Celilia wasn’t an experienced leader, and the fighters were far from powerful. Yet none of them showed fear.
The Chaotic Enlightenment was a rune each of them had received, transporting them to the dream world. It would only disappear when they overcame themselves. Alm and Bruno realized that none of those fighters had the rune. They all managed to get past that in time.
Now, even without great combat powers, their resilience was impressive. The incomplete Daos that Alm and Bruno had given them were specialized in reducing damage and speeding up recovery. The fight turned into a battle of endurance. Ten thousand against one, the beast couldn’t kill anyone, so it wouldn’t last much longer.
After an hour of intense fighting, the golden bird finally fell. At the same time, all the fighters collapsed from exhaustion. Celilia looked visibly worn out, especially mentally. She staggered back until she felt something gently support her. She turned around, startled.
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"Mr. Almin, Mr. Raoni," she said in surprise, with all eyes turning to the two excitedly.
"Good job, you passed the test. From today on, Almin will fully accept you," Raoni declared, waving to Almin.
Almin moved, handing out pills to everyone and simultaneously placing them all in the array as soldiers. Celilia was designated as the squad leader. She had the potential to make others trust her; if well-trained, she would become a good leader.
Meanwhile, Alm and Bruno approached the fallen flying beast. The bird had a bloodline of Phoenix that was much purer than the average on the planet, but that didn’t matter much to them. What really caught their attention was something inside the creature: a subtle fluctuation of a will.
The Behemoth and the Chaos Yin Dragon had managed to do something similar, and certainly, the Phoenix could too. Although it was something very subtle and seemingly insignificant, Alm and Bruno knew they could use it. With the help of their divine souls, they could briefly communicate with the primordial beast.
They removed the fragment of will and placed it in their inventory. Soon, a pair of fiery red eyes opened up inside the inventory space.