The whale took a deep breath; the Celestial state would end in a few seconds. Those bones had almost no energy left, but, since they were created directly by the heavenly laws, they still held a bit of primordial power. However, it was greatly weakened after so long.
The whale quickly turned to the rift in space leading to the world where the Empyreans were. He gestured, bringing Rivine and Yuan close. Just as he was about to turn and flee, he felt something strange.
It was an instinctive and subtle feeling that if he didn’t look more carefully, he’d regret it deeply. But there was no time to waste, making the feeling even more inconvenient.
Without hesitation, they used almost all their remaining power. They felt that world close in an instant.
At first, nothing stood out… until they noticed a nearly imperceptible fluctuation floating in the river of blood. No one would have spotted this without knowing exactly where to look. Not even they could have found it without being in their maximum state.
Alm muttered, deep in thought, ’That’s a rune…!’
Suddenly, they identified the source: ’The Devil God’s Dao! It has to be her!’ Bruno exclaimed, surprised.
Without delay, they gestured and placed that lone rune in their inventory.
Only three seconds remained before their power dissipated. They turned to the Leviathan, then to Purimu and Heze, who were at a distance. With a smooth movement, space twisted around them, and then everyone vanished.
Five seconds later, the heroes who had been suspended in the air regained their power and rushed toward the spot.
When they arrived, they only found traces of what had happened. They entered that world and widened their eyes. An immortal hero was dead!
"The Ziz was released and disappeared. Not even his bones remain," a Demoness heroine stated coldly.
Another hero retorted furiously: "Doesn’t matter, that Heaven-Defier and the two beasts can’t escape. They’re trapped here with us; we’ll find them."
***
In a place far away, on an island of bones surrounded by a dark mist, the whale and everyone appeared with tense expressions.
The Leviathan transformed, taking on a humanoid form that resembled a massive black demon.
The whale sighed and immediately brought out Rivine, Yuan, and that strange rune. They assessed the situation, and the Leviathan was the first to speak:
"The hero marked the souls of these two. It’s like a curse; even dead, these young ones won’t wake up unless another hero removes the mark."
The whale nodded, calmly sensing their souls.
The Leviathan sighed: "It’s impossible to remove. It’s not exactly tied to their souls but to the supreme energy that the laws grant mortal beings; no one can…"
He stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. With this knowledge, it only took Alm and Bruno a second to manipulate the law of Origin within the two and remove the mark.
The whale sighed in relief. The two were safe now. However, the mark had consumed their law of Origin, causing them to lose a lot, and the heavenly laws wouldn’t replenish it quickly. It would take them a while to wake up.
Then, they turned to the strange rune. The Devil God’s Dao had been given to them by its creator during their mission at the Devil’s Mountain in the underworld.
This Dao created a rune called the ’Devil’s Battle Rune.’ While the physical refinement was considerably inferior to their physical cultivation, the Dao stood out because it didn’t require resources to cultivate. Anyone with this Dao had to fight others to refine their bodies.
They gave this Dao to Lansha. Then, using their knowledge of chaos laws, they created an alternative Devil’s Battle Rune for her. Although it wasn’t exactly like the Devil God’s original design, it still retained the same properties but was obviously much more powerful and unique.
The whale turned to Purimu, who was watching their every move with a strange, silent look.
"Did Lansha mention anything about her Dao to you? Anything helps."
Purimu jumped at being addressed. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she thought for a moment and responded hesitantly: "Lady Lansha... said she had reached the peak... of the Dao she received from Uncle. She mentioned once that she was studying some possibilities…"
’She reached the peak of the Dao over these years… so thanks to that different rune we made for her, she felt she could create something beyond,’ Alm thought quickly.
The Dao itself had unique characteristics. The user could fully activate the Dao, merging it with their body and entering a ’Berserker’ mode, multiplying physical power, though only for a limited time.
’Maybe that merging feature of body and rune…’ Bruno considered a possibility. ’Maybe she managed to merge her soul too? To break space like that, power far beyond what her cultivation possessed must have been used.’
Alm nodded: ’The Dao only merges with the body and boosts physical power. If she did that, combining it with her three life energies and using an Empyrean’s reality-altering power... it’d be complete suicide, but could grant an indescribable burst of potential.’
They started to piece together how Lansha had managed such a feat. She was hardworking and incredibly focused. She definitely had the talent and determination needed to create a technique this risky.
Daughter of Loeus and Langrum, two people very close to them. And knowing the level of manipulation of Heaven’s Will, Lansha seemed deliberately chosen to be born and stay close to them.
Quickly, their minds flashed to a memory: the time Ruri died, leaving a fragment of her soul sealed in the ring they’d given her.
This story had become part of the city’s folklore, and Lansha, who spent many years in the city, must know it well. ’What if?’ Alm murmured.
They decided to explore the rune and carefully sense its core...
’Here it is!’ Bruno said, letting out a long sigh of relief.
A tiny fragment of Lansha’s soul was sealed inside the rune. A regular soul wouldn’t survive in this state, as the heavenly laws would forcibly take it. Only an extreme power could prevent that, and an equally abnormal power could restore it.
This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.
’The rune we made for her really is unusual. She managed to tweak it to her advantage...’ Alm muttered, exhaling heavily. ’She trusted we’d save her, even if only a fragment was left. Knowing her, she figured we’d investigate her death one day and find her... we almost missed it...’
With precision, they removed that tiny soul fragment. They thought for a moment, then focused on the heavenly laws. In seconds, the laws delivered all the soul energy to her.
They felt satisfied; after using their peak Celestial state for the second time, they’d discovered this new ability. Even if their soul wasn’t at its peak, they could force the laws to grant that energy.
This discovery meant they would no longer deal with damaged souls. They could burn whatever energy they had and recover easily. ’Ruri isn’t going to like this one bit,’ they thought in sync; but it would be very useful.
They turned their attention to Yuan and Rivine nearby. If they could force the laws to restore soul energy, could they do the same with the law of Origin? They quickly realized they couldn’t.
’The three life energies are considered minor, but the law of Origin is different,’ Alm confirmed. ’If we’re in our maximum state, it’s possible. But in this energy-depleted form, the heavenly laws resist.’
Everyone watched the whale’s actions. In seconds, a fragment as tiny as a grain of sand appeared. Moments later, everyone was stunned as the heavenly laws bent to restore that soul. The spiritual figure of a slender woman materialized before them.
Lansha was back, but her body and cultivation were gone for good. She’d even destroyed her Conqueror’s rune in the process.
The soul opened her eyes and met the whale’s gaze. Her energy waves became agitated and euphoric. But as she looked at herself, she quickly understood what had happened.
She bowed nervously: ’Sir, thank you so much.’
The whale snorted: "So, you really knew I’d find you..." Alm and Bruno felt the heavy weight of having people trust them so blindly.
"You did something incredible at a high cost... your cultivation is lost forever. You’ll have to start from scratch."
Lansha’s soul trembled and bowed even lower, almost panicking: ’Forgive me, Sir... if you give me another chance, I promise to recover as quickly as possible. I won’t be a burden.’
Alm sighed: "Stop that. You’re the daughter of two people very dear to me; you’re practically family. You don’t need to be so hard on yourself. I won’t blame you for anything, no matter what. I’ll find a solution..."
The whale’s words brought immense emotion to Lansha and to Purimu, who was watching nearby. Purimu, in particular, felt deeply moved, now fully sure of who this figure was.
Internally, though, Purimu was in constant turmoil, almost desperate. The image of the whale’s disappointed look earlier felt like a knife piercing her soul.
She didn’t know what to do; she’d finally met the figure she’d heard about growing up. But when she did, she ended up disappointing him deeply... even cursing him for various things... and calling him a pervert too... but those words brought her a bit of hope and relief.
Meanwhile, Alm and Bruno turned their attention back to the exotic Devil’s Rune. All of this had been possible thanks to that strange creation of theirs. Lansha had adapted the rune’s characteristics to her benefit.
Then an idea struck: "Lansha, can you connect your full soul to this rune?"
She looked at the rune, uncertain, and tried. After a few seconds, she turned to the whale: ’The rune has minimal capacity. A fragment of me was possible, but a full soul is too much.’
"Hmm, so it has the potential, but needs an upgrade," Bruno said, eyes gleaming. "Come on, I’m going to give you an amazing new body."
The inventory was opened. Lansha didn’t hesitate and went in with the rune.
Inside, she stood stunned in that immense micro-universe, as if she were in space, far from any planet. But it wasn’t dark; instead of a sun, there was an ash-colored tree the size of a galaxy at the center.
The whole tree glowed, emitting a peculiar light that brought a warm, comforting feeling, even to a soul.
Lansha spotted a huge sphere of earth in one corner. If she focused, she could hear a low murmur of agony. Confused, a purple feline-like creature approached her.
She recognized Liumi, who waved cheerfully, inviting her to come closer to the giant tree.
As she approached the tree, Lansha saw a gray rune radiating intense soul power. "This is just a slow bastard that Master took in out of kindness," Liumi said lightly.
At the base of the Chaos Tree, Lansha saw her rune surrounded by absurdly dense gray power. The tree seemed connected to the rune, invading and altering it. Alm and Bruno controlled the process, focused.
After a few hours, the energy in the rune dispersed.
A soft voice spoke: "It’s ready. Connect with this rune. Once you get used to it, you’ll be able to create a body through metamorphosis. You’ll now be a Primordial Elemental Spirit... but this rune isn’t tied to any specific element..." Alm paused, thinking.
Bruno finished, excitedly: "You’ll be a variant, or a new race: let’s call it... a Primordial Battle Spirit!"