Bruno talked with Sihmo for a while until he felt more comfortable. He found out that Sihmo’s father often said he knew him better than he thought. Because of this, Zaimo quickly identified his talent and made him start training from a young age.
"I’m not talented, just lucky. You left a lot of things for my dad, and he, almost like magic, knew exactly what I was good at. I just had to put in a little effort, and I learned everything. In other areas, I’m mediocre," Sihmo said seriously, while Purimu mocked the respectful tone he used.
"Oh, really, Sihmo? This humility speech is gonna make me cry. You even told that blonde dwarf that the God of the Forge was surpassed by your father’s new methods. It was just a matter of time before you also surpassed him," Purimu teased with a sarcastic smile. She patted the whale’s arm and said, "Uncle, did you hear that? He says it was just luck. Maybe his real skill is winning over girls with sweet words."
Sihmo turned red for a moment and gave Purimu an angry look without saying anything. That young woman had grown up beside him, and they both knew each other’s secrets. He thought about mentioning his childhood prayers to the whale statue in the past, but when he thought about it, Purimu’s gaze seemed like a blade pointed at his throat. He didn’t dare to continue.
He would rather fight his way out of a mountain of corpses than face her fury later. Now, Purimu was standing next to the whale, practically hanging from its arm, and that made him even more confused. She had always been obsessed with him, but Sihmo knew that deep down, she was probably more shaken than he was.
"Hm? Of course we get along! I have just as much of my uncle’s blood as I do my father’s. We have a special, deep connection, and we’ve understood each other since the moment we first met," Purimu said shamelessly, as if reading Sihmo’s thoughts.
Alm and Bruno reflected silently, and they had no intention of contradicting her. The two of them got along great, which was nice.
’It’s likely that Sihmo is Ximo, Zaimo’s brother from another universe. Time passes differently between universes, so Ximo lived and died, and the Will of Heaven brought him back at the first opportunity,’ Bruno thought, convinced.
’His other daughter, Diama, seems similar based on the description we got. As for Purimu, she’s harder to figure out. If someone close to us feels something, we might confirm it. We learned that bringing past memories before time isn’t a good idea. Let’s not force anything to verify,’ Alm mused, sighing. ’Maybe we harmed Zaimo, Ruri, and Maelik by doing this prematurely. If they can’t reach the immortal realms, we’ll have problems.’
Bruno agreed, but he also knew that no one had ever controlled the Law of Origin as perfectly as they had. Maybe this was a new discovery opportunity.
Rocky was the last to arrive, but he wasn’t in the array. Kisala didn’t add him because she didn’t think he was perfect for the job. But someone who participated in the convention and was taken to the Yinblood sect later found him by chance and brought him, knowing he was close to the whale.
Alm sighed lightly. Kisala was no longer the young woman they had met. Time had passed, and now she was an adult, but that made her even more stubborn and severe. The worst part was that he knew: the fact that she liked that human made her expect even more from him, as she understood the danger of having him by her side and didn’t want to see him die.
"Sir, it’s been a while," Rocky said, a bit discouraged. "Big sis said I should be the first in the treasure hunt, but she forgot that I need to constantly eat to fight... my rations are gone, and I don’t have the strength to fight till the end..."
"Hm?" The whale narrowed its eyes. "But there are plenty of beasts here, right? Why didn’t you attack the enemies to solve this?"
"!" Rocky widened his eyes, as if the whale had said something incredibly complex.
"Go, there’s still time," the whale encouraged the man, who was bigger and extremely muscular. "Don’t pressure yourself to be first. I’m sure Kisala will be happy if you give your best to do what she asked."
Rocky smiled eagerly and ran off in a random direction. Despite everything, he was extremely kind and didn’t even think about attacking the beasts unless he was desperate with hunger. His intelligence was notably low, but with the right orders from Kisala, that might not be a problem.
Hours passed slowly, and soon the last day of the treasure hunt came to an end.
During this time, Liumi finally found useful information in the heroes’ memories. She quickly reported everything, allowing Alm and Bruno to plan everything in the best way possible.
Although the sealed world was completely closed, and the heroes surely wouldn’t open it for the cultivators to return, Alm and Bruno were now confident they would complete the event according to the script. The reason was simple: karmic luck.
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This luck was something provided directly by the queen through the heavenly laws. The laws could penetrate this place and bring that luck after her orders. As she was connected to them, the queen could place a trace of her will. This was the perfect chance for the heroes to keep the place sealed and still send news to her.
The whale was no ordinary Heaven-Defier; it had ’killed’ two immortals, and the heroes desperately wanted to report this and ask for reinforcements. Of course, they didn’t know that the two immortals were sealed in the whale’s inventory, and it didn’t have the power to actually kill them.
To conclude this event, the heroes had to follow the script and select the winning Empyreans. Although some parts were still missing, Liumi explained the necessary ritual. The heroes would use the Empyreans to signal the heavenly laws and send the message to the queen.
There was a sea of knowledge beyond that, which Liumi continued to extract in fragments and piece together like a puzzle. But that was enough to satisfy Alm and Bruno.
Everyone felt the intense presence of the heroes entering the place. It wasn’t just one hero, but hundreds of them. They all came to ensure the message reached the queen. All the Empyreans felt the karmic luck approaching and headed toward the site of the verdict.
Purimu and Sihmo also went to the center, as the heroes didn’t know who was by the whale’s side before. Alm and Bruno, on the other hand, moved slowly, using their celestial souls to remain hidden from perception.
They had used this method before, against the other hero they captured. It was another thing they had recently discovered, and it could be used even without energy. It only hid them from senses, and they could still be seen physically. Before, they had used Purimu’s power to hide themselves completely.
Now, alone, this technique had major limitations: they could only move slowly, unable to use laws to hide physically or move quickly. However, in that vast space and for their plans, this skill would be useful.
All the Empyreans gathered in an area of less than a kilometer in radius. The heroes floated in the sky, observing the Empyreans as if they were statues of divine gold.
When the time was up, a human hero snorted dryly, and his commanding voice rang out: "It will be simple and quick. I’ll activate the formation, and all the Soul-Wind Gems you have will be recognized and counted. Remove them immediately."
Everyone nodded and opened their spatial rings, pulling out the gems. Each was several meters away from the others, and soon gems with a slightly greenish tint began to float around each person. Some had hundreds, others thousands of them.
"There will be no doubt. Whoever has the most will come in first. After that, I’ll announce the ranked order," the hero said dryly, then activated the formation.
The river of blood below everyone trembled, and numerous runes from the formation emerged from it. In the next moment, all the Soul-Wind Gems of the cultivators pulsed, shining like stars.
The formation still maintained a connection with the gems until they were removed from this place. Technically, the gems were part of the formation, serving as the necessary power to completely negate the Ziz, if needed.
However, that power had never actually been used; the Ziz had never attempted to rebel. To the others, everything seemed normal, but an Elven hero noticed something subtle in the wind laws of the gems. They seemed more intense than usual, like a flame rapidly increasing in temperature.
Since there were no records of the formation being used and considering that this event was completely different from all the previous ones — whether because the queen was providing karmic luck or the Ziz had been freed — the Elf accepted this as something to be expected.
At the same time, in a very distant place, in a region where only a faint glow from the gems and heroes could be seen, the whale showed a sinister smile. Beside it, the wounded soul of the Ziz was tense and surprised.
’The formation... it felt me, but didn’t attack,’ murmured the Ziz.
At that exact moment, the two tattoos on the whale’s wrists glowed brightly. All the power of the gems and part of the influence of the formation were now under its control.
Bruno murmured, ’The heroes didn’t notice anything, excellent. Now, what’s left...’
In the same second, a deadly instinct of danger exploded in their minds, rising from zero to an absolute peak instantly.
It was the same moment when, coming from the queen’s universe, a trio of Divine Inquisitors perfectly infiltrated the sealed world. Their heavenly will opened within that place.