On the Divine Planet, a small, imperceptible glowing point breached the atmosphere. It didn’t emit any fluctuation, power, or presence, resembling a fragment of a wandering meteorite that would soon turn to ashes.
This small point descended towards a continent. Initially, its trajectory seemed to be heading towards a city, but suddenly, it made a slight turn and followed a path towards a desert, far from any civilization.
The tiny cube of ice crashed in the middle of a sand dune, piercing deeply into the ground until it buried itself. Once it stopped, all subtle fluctuations disappeared. The rune inside the ice cube was completely cracked and almost destroyed.
’Damn, that power almost killed us too... if it weren’t for the tattoos and our divine soul, we’d be finished,’ Bruno muttered.
Alm turned his attention to the inventory, where Liumi was quickly moving around, tense, assessing and tending to the newly arrived allies.
They were all unconscious; their bodies and lives had been nearly destroyed, and their souls were severely damaged. The only one in good condition was Mihkriel, but he was covered in runes and sealed. Alm and Bruno wouldn’t remove them until they decided what to do with the bastard.
Fortunately, no soul had been completely destroyed. They had been perfectly stored in the inventory. These allies had been incredibly important, allowing Alm and Bruno to land an almost unbeatable blow on the Divine Inquisitors.
Seeing Alm’s gaze, Liumi softly spoke: ’Master, Ruri is okay. Her soul is very strong, and I can use soul cultivation to help her heal, along with the others. Don’t worry, I’ll be happily busy with all the visitors here.’
Alm sighed painfully at the sight of Ruri’s weakened state; he preferred never to let her get hurt like this again. But he soon turned his focus to Bruno and the world outside.
’Our central rune is 99.99% destroyed. We’re completely useless,’ Bruno concluded. ’But thanks to our immortal knowledge of Yin and Yang, we can restore it bit by bit. After all, we’re a thousand times closer to the nine globes.’
Alm snorted, ’It’s a million times easier to cultivate here than in the empires. We’ll have to waste time here... but there’s no choice.’
***
That desert was known on the planet as the ’Immortal Devouring Desert.’ A harsh place where the laws of the earth and Yang were so intense that nothing with Yin could survive—essentially, anything alive.
But... ten thousand years passed, and the legends of the Immortal Devouring Desert could now only be found in historical books. Today, the place that was once a desert was known as the ’Forest of Seven Paths.’
No one knew exactly how, but somehow, all seven laws seemed to converge and be drawn to the old desert. Over the years, vines and trees started to grow, leading to the emergence of a forest.
As impressive as it was, the forest wasn’t considered extraordinary on that planet, just a curiosity. The area was rarely visited, except for being located near one of the three biggest and only divine sects of the planet.
The sect used the forest as a training ground for newly recruited young cultivators. In groups, they would venture out to gather herbs or anything useful, which they could then trade for points and resources in the sect.
On a beautiful day... like any other day on this planet that didn’t rotate, a group of a dozen young disciples came to gather herbs.
They belonged to the nine races and had just begun their cultivation. They were literally children, between ten and twelve years old. In Anima cultivation, the age to start was much earlier than in regular cultivation. These young ones worked hard, searching for something valuable.
"Hey, there’s a cluster of herbs here!" They spent half the day looking for small gains until they finally found a spot full of herbs and grasses.
The various types of plants were precious and grew in abundance. When the young ones gathered to examine the find, their eyes lit up. It looked like an actual alchemy garden! A divine find!
Excited, they began carefully picking the herbs. "We finally found a good area." They filled their baskets happily.
"Thanks to the first brother who noticed this, or most of us would have gone back empty-handed," said an excited Chromaraic girl.
"Now we’re rich... this will definitely be considered a meritorious contribution to the sect. The elders will be very pleased," some began to celebrate.
"First brother, there’s a corpse here!" exclaimed a Yggdrasil girl, noticing something alarming.
"A corpse?!" The children were startled and backed away, exchanging shocked glances. The more timid ones looked terrified.
"Dig it up so we can take a better look," ordered the first brother, a brave young Fiendgod, who stayed calm and led them.
The girls worked together to clear away the vegetation, while the boys gathered to expose the body.
"It hasn’t decomposed," said the first brother as he pulled out the mud-covered body to examine it. "It’s a Primordial Elemental Spirit, born of the water element."
"It’s not someone from our sect," murmured a Deepmonster girl.
Relieved to see that the corpse wasn’t wearing the sect’s robes—the sect’s robes were so durable that there would always be some fragment left—they sighed in relief.
"Well, technically, this guy shouldn’t have been dead for so long, judging by the state of the body. But why was he buried so deep? Murder, maybe?" speculated a young Aberrant.
That naturally scared the group. Could someone have killed him and buried him in this remote place? Maybe it was a robbery gone wrong, or something completely different.
This area was near their sect, but outsiders rarely came by. The group looked at the man, trying to remember if they’d seen him around the sect before, but they quickly shook their heads.
"He must’ve been some failure who wasn’t accepted by any of the three sects," a young Primordial Elemental Spirit said calmly.
Most of them agreed, thinking the man looked too ordinary to be a remotely relevant cultivator.
"Maybe he got sick while gathering herbs and died?" said a young Immortal Lotus girl, until she noticed something, paled, and screamed, "Wait! He... he’s still alive!"
The figure opened his eyes for a brief moment, only to close them again. A "corpse" suddenly opening its eyes naturally frightened the group.
"He’s alive," the first brother muttered. After the initial shock, they took a closer look at him and quickly calmed down. He wasn’t a reanimated corpse.
"Yeah, I think he’s badly injured and crippled. It’s a miracle he’s still alive," confirmed the first brother confidently.
"Maybe he’s been here alone for a long time, and since he has no family, no one came looking for him," another Primordial Elemental Spirit suggested.
"It’s already a miracle. I think he’s in this vegetative state because of the herbs around him. The dew and energy from them are keeping him alive," added a young girl from the Alv race.
Most of the group agreed. After all, no one could survive in that condition for so long. It had to be the energy from the rare herbs keeping him alive.
Two girls shivered, clutching their baskets filled with herbs. ’Were they taking the only thing keeping him alive... technically killing him?’ they thought, distressed.
The young ones didn’t know what to do. They were inexperienced. "How about we take him back to the sect and let masters decide?" suggested a young Chromaraic.
"What if there’s no solution? Who would take care of him then?" a young Alv immediately retorted.
The group fell silent. They were cultivators, and even the weakest among them considered themselves above a cripple. Who would be willing to take on that responsibility?
If he had family, it would be easy to return him. But if not, masters might require whoever brought him back to care for him, something that could last decades until his death.
"Why don’t we just leave him here and ignore him? He’s not a disciple of our sect, he’s a total stranger. It’s not like we did this to him," said a young Ancestral Devil, trying to ease the guilt.
The group pondered. It wasn’t a bad idea, after all, none of them had any ties to the man.
"I don’t agree. If we leave him here, he’ll be eaten by beasts," a young Chromaraic girl looked at the man and couldn’t accept it.
"And who’s going to take responsibility for him after we bring him back?" the young Ancestral Devil insisted coldly.
Once again, no one was willing to commit. They needed to focus on their cultivation. How could they waste time caring for a stranger?
"Kill him." Finally, the first brother offered a solution.
"Kill him? We shouldn’t…" Some were shocked and disagreed.
"If we don’t kill him and just leave him here, he’ll only suffer more. It’s just a matter of time before he dies, so a sword would free him from that fate. It would be merciful," said the first brother, emotionless.
Though the disciples didn’t openly agree, they found logic in the suggestion. Maybe killing him was actually an act of mercy, sparing him from a painful end.
"If no one objects, let’s do it," the young man declared, looking around.
The group stayed silent. No one wanted the burden. He slowly unsheathed his sword, which gleamed sharply.
"First Brother, I... I’ll do it. I’ll take him back to the sect and see if he can be saved." A weak and uncertain voice interrupted his action.
Everyone turned to her. It was a young, delicate, and beautiful Chromaraic girl. Her expression was nervous, but there was a shining determination in her pure eyes.
"Younger sister…" A young Yggdrasil girl beside her tugged at her sleeve when she heard this.
The Chromaraic couldn’t bear the eyes on her and quickly lowered her head.
"You shouldn’t. You don’t even know him," an older girl reprimanded her.
The young Chromaraic’s name was Heril. Her talents were mediocre, and many said she only got into the sect by luck or through connections. Overall, a forgettable disciple.
"Are you sure? If you bring him back, you’ll be responsible for him. Don’t do this without commitment," the first brother warned her.
The veterans stared at her, thinking she was making a big mistake. The girls tried to gently persuade her to give up.
Heril hesitated under the pressure. She knew they were right, and besides, this man was a complete stranger.
She looked at him. His face was dirty and covered in mud. Yet, something about his features stirred a strange sense of familiarity within her.
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The Yggdrasil girl beside her said nothing but continued to look at the man, feeling the same inexplicable connection. He wasn’t handsome, he looked like a beggar… so why did she feel that way?
"I… I’ve already decided. I’ll take responsibility for him." Heril said, letting out a sigh of relief after making her big decision.
Everyone knew that bringing him back would only hold Heril back, hindering her future. "You’re too kind… but kindness is a fatal weakness. This could be your downfall," the first brother said, but didn’t stop her.
"Our mission is complete, time to head back," he told the group.
The others followed him, but several meters behind, a small Chromaraic girl carried a man much bigger than her on her back.
Beside her, her Yggdrasil friend helped, trying to offer support. Heril smiled shyly. She thought she had made a few friends in the sect, but now, they all ignored her.
Heril was already considered useless. Now, after making this foolish decision, she was even more isolated. Someone who wasn’t talented now had a burden to drag her down; she was destined never to achieve anything significant in life.
But the Yggdrasil girl didn’t leave her side. In that moment, Heril was certain she’d never be abandoned by her. In tough and complicated times, true friends reveal themselves. And so, they headed back to the sect.