Kakarotto quickly calmed down the tensions among the different races, and after a few words, he managed to get everyone to agree to a temporary truce. With that, he teamed up with King Deion, returning to the imperial city peacefully.
However, the King was confused and disturbed. Kakarotto’s presence stirred up inexplicable feelings within him.
Upon arriving at the royal castle, a meeting was called with the King and the leaders of the four allied races. During the gathering, Kakarotto slowly explained the origins and ways of life of the other races.
"Change the plans. Call a meeting with the commanders of each race and listen to their demands. It’s possible to coexist in harmony, but there will never be a one-size-fits-all approach. They don’t hate the King; in fact, they all admire his strength and compassion. What’s lacking is flexibility."
Kakarotto finished, and silence filled the room. He stared coldly at the King, who was lost in thought. In that moment, as if an electric current ran through him, King Deion impulsively stood up and ordered everyone to follow the plan.
The three of them settled into the royal castle temporarily. After a week, the King called another meeting. When he entered, his words were filled with disbelief.
"They... they accepted the agreement, as long as we fulfill their demands; they promised not to rebel. I..."
Kakarotto responded right away, "Don’t worry. Making mistakes is the only way to get it right. Being King doesn’t make you infallible."
Everyone in the meeting nodded enthusiastically. In just a few days, the major conflict was resolved, and now the path to uniting the kingdom was clear.
"What do you want from my empire? Why did the King of the Empire Nine Secrets come personally?" King Deion asked, looking seriously at Kakarotto.
"Nothing much. I need to have a private and confidential conversation between kings," Kakarotto replied casually.
The leaders of the four races tensed up. Letting the king be alone with a possible adversary? But King Deion simply waved for everyone to leave, not hesitating much. For some reason, he felt that every word from that figure was right, and he should listen to him and help him in whatever way he could.
Ruri and Maelik also left the room. Only the two of them remained, and then Kakarotto spoke bluntly: "I’ll have to directly manipulate your soul so you know everything. Do you trust me?"
King Deion was stunned. Letting a stranger manipulate his soul, without explanation or proof that it was necessary? But when he looked into Kakarotto’s eyes, his instincts told him that if he refused, he would be letting him down immensely.
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’Why do I feel this way?’ he thought, tense.
"You’ll find out easily if you let me. You can’t resist. Unfortunately, that’s the only way," Kakarotto said, as if reading his thoughts.
Alm and Bruno knew Corin well. He was naturally emotional and acted on instinct. Gaining his trust and solving the empire’s big problem, combined with the feeling of connection between them, made it easy to convince Corin to cooperate.
They couldn’t beat around the bush with him; they had to speak directly. That way, he would act without overthinking it. After all, what king would accept something so invasive from a stranger?
Corin was overwhelmed by everything, but the feeling that something very important was missing from his life tortured him. It was like trying to remember a distant dream that he knew was extremely valuable. Solving that puzzle would make everything worth the risk... that was how he justified it to himself.
"Alright..." he replied, taking a deep breath.
Alm and Bruno sighed and acted quickly. They were already experienced in reviving memories without using Qi, just employing the internal Law of Origin. Plus, they could now feel the memories of the sealed lives and get a basic impression of them.
It was straightforward to identify the lives within that micro-universe and locate the memories of the Corin they knew. He had lived eight lives there, and those memories were brought back to the surface. However, Alm and Bruno realized it wasn’t yet time to revive the rest.
When Corin opened his eyes after the process, he felt like a mountain had been lifted off his back. "Master..."
"You did a good job," they quickly replied. "Now stabilize yourself. We have a lot of work ahead."
Ruri and Maelik returned and talked with Corin, sharing information and helping him stabilize. The three had gone through similar experiences and knew well how he felt.
A few days later, the King called another meeting with the nine races. Everyone agreed to come together and maintain peace.
After that, the King announced across all the planets of the empire that any cultivator who wanted to be part of the new imperial army should come forward. It was similar to what they did before; Alm and Bruno scoured all the races, both young and old from the empire, to find their allies.
In the Empire Natural Harmony, there were almost 15,000 of their allies. They worked to revive the memories of those individuals and guided them to cultivate. After almost two months, Kakarotto finally moved towards his main goal.
It was a hidden place called the Path of Courage, located on the main planet. Just like in the Empire Nine Secrets, it was forbidden to talk about it.
The now quartet approached the location. Only Alm and Bruno had never visited the Path of Courage. It was a test divided into four stages, with a 99% chance of death.
But every day, countless cultivators entered without hesitation. The reason was simple: everyone who came out alive completely changed, like dragons rising to the skies. Their individual power and cultivation speed skyrocketed, and almost everyone became True Emperors. All the Divine Inquisitors of the empire had once overcome the challenges of that place.
Maelik had already completed the challenges in one of his past lives. Ruri, on the other hand, had also made it to the end but ended up dying shortly after, never getting to enjoy her victory.
In this life, she was born without family support. After surviving the challenge, she got caught up in a struggle between several sects trying to recruit her. Ruri turned them all down because she knew they were corrupt on the inside. But as a result, one of the sects killed her to prevent her from joining their rival.
"I was so naive... my older sister was part of that sect back then. I just wanted to take care of myself, but they didn’t hesitate to use her to trap me," Ruri explained sadly.
Years had passed, and the sect responsible for her death didn’t even exist anymore in that empire. Her family from back then had also become untraceable. Everything was in the past, but the scars from those experiences still lingered. Corin sighed deeply because he had gone through something similar himself.
The group crossed a spatial distortion, revealing a place shrouded in dense fog. The Path of Courage was a relentless natural masterpiece, stretching between two massive mountain ranges.
Alm and Bruno, using their divine souls, found themselves at the beginning of a long natural corridor, with gray rock walls surrounding them. The constant sound of the wind was a sharp, piercing whistle that seemed to sweep the soul of anyone who dared to move forward. But this wasn’t just any wind. There were blades of wind and hidden spatial distortions.
They just had to keep moving down the corridor, and they would eventually reach the end. They proceeded through the first test. Invisible, sharp, and relentless spatial blades sliced through the air around them, making it seem like space was disintegrating with each strike.
The ground was rough, filled with sharp stones that made walking difficult, turning progress into a true test of physical endurance. Each step was accompanied by blows coming from all directions. Any mistake or miscalculated move, and the cultivator’s body would be mutilated. Or so it should have been...
The four moved without hesitation; Ruri brushed the blades aside easily. After a few minutes and a couple of kilometers, the second test began.
The fog thickened even more, causing clarity of thought to waver. The blades didn’t stop; they only intensified. Now, the cultivator’s mind was challenged alongside the body, trying not to get lost in the abyss of their own uncertainties. This test was even quicker than the previous one, and the group just ignored it.
In the third test, the spatial blades disappeared, but ethereal strikes emerged, roaring like specters and injuring the cultivator’s soul directly. Soul strikes? Everyone there had terrifying souls.
In the final test, illusions replicating the cultivator’s memories put them face to face with their greatest friends, loves, and enemies, all wanting to kill them, forcing them to defend themselves and defeat them.
For them, it wasn’t hard. With a simple wave, all the illusions were destroyed. But Alm and Bruno watched the place carefully. The Path of Courage was more than just a test for instincts, minds, and spirits; it was a representation of a cultivator’s journey in search of true strength.
There, fighters were forged. Souls hardened by adversity, bodies strengthened by constant resistance, and minds clarified by self-understanding. The Path of Courage was undoubtedly a powerful tool for those wanting to transcend their own limits.
"No wonder everyone who comes back from here becomes extremely powerful cultivators," Bruno murmured. "But all this teaches you is how to fight and improve. Without knowledge and intelligence, in the first desperate situation, the cultivator will die."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Corin lowered his head, deep in thought. He was the living example of how far a cultivator could go, relying solely on the benefits of that place.
The group reached a spot made of reddish stones. There was a long staircase, and at the top, a throne, very similar to the one in another empire. They slowly climbed the steps. When they reached the throne, Kakarotto made a gesture with his tattoos, and the ground opened up. A second golden box emerged; it was the second one, and now only the last one was left.