[Side Quest Available: 01]
[Escalate the War and force the hidden forces in the universe to reveal themselves.]
[Reward 01: 120 Upgrade Points]
[Reward 02: 90 Celestial Points]
[Reward 03: Main Mission released]
Alm and Bruno read the side quest and were quickly surprised. The system often mentioned Heroes or the Divine Inquisitors, but now, while it wasn’t shocking that hidden forces existed in the universe, they had expected it to be something familiar.
’The system always mentions things we already have some knowledge about,’ Bruno commented. ’It only brought up the Divine Inquisitors after we learned about them from Mihkriel. That’s a clear pattern.’
Alm nodded. ’The system also never points things out directly in side quests or optional quests. It only gives subtle hints. It’s only in a major main quest that it provides a summary, and even then, there are clear limitations.’
They concluded that Heaven’s Will probably couldn’t directly reveal certain information; doing so might violate the laws or alert the queen. Otherwise, it would be simple to issue countless optional quests detailing everything Alm, Bruno, or their allies needed to know to defeat her.
Even so, the fact that the mission mentioned hidden forces was a clear indicator it referred to something they didn’t yet fully grasp. The side quest served as a warning for them but didn’t say it outright.
Without delay, they sent a message to Mistie and Nebai. Within minutes, the two joined them at the Larimar market.
Mistie quickly explained the latest updates. The Heroes hadn’t returned. Previously, they had forced all the sects to use their strongest cultivators to search for the fugitive, but now it had all stopped. They had only sent a message saying, Stay alert and await further orders.
She was referring to the Heroes summoned from other universes, who had spent 22 years in this universe searching for them since the events at the Nine-Star Tree Sect. After the queen summoned everyone for the hunt in the micro-universe, the Heroes simply didn’t return.
"I see," Bruno murmured lightly. "So, the enemy alliance sects are moving their strongest cultivators. The war is finally about to get real."
Mistie nodded firmly. As Purimu had mentioned earlier, the fighting had so far been restricted to young Empyreans. With these changes, everything shifted.
"Sir, we also haven’t found any more Agarthium, even after all these years. It’s very strange. It seems like the entire stock in the universe was taken by someone. It wasn’t so rare a few decades ago," Nebai said seriously. "I checked in other markets. It seems that prominent figures from the enemy sects have been buying up all available ore. This has been going on for almost two centuries."
Agarthium was the metal used as the base for creating new runic seals. Alm and Bruno had managed to obtain a small amount before, enough to create the Heaven-Defier Runic Seal. That small quantity seemed like sheer luck. (Chapter 741)
"I’ve sent people to the underworld to search in other universes, but it might take a long time. Time flows differently in those universes," Nebai continued, regretful. "As for the Ice Phoenix you asked us to find... unfortunately, there’s no trace of it. I’m sorry we couldn’t help."
This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēwebnovel.com.
Alm and Bruno nodded, indifferent. If the Larimar market couldn’t find something, no one else could. Hopefully, they’d uncover the reason someday.
Mistie asked, "Almin, before heading to that place, you left three of those pills with the sect. I and the sect’s High Elders managed to complete them perfectly."
She showed the pills to the whale. These pills were meant to sustain the souls of primordial beasts. When Almin returned from the sealed world and learned about the Leviathan and the Ziz, he had returned to his sect to prepare for invading the dark sealed world.
Before Ruri confirmed that the others had entered and it was time for him to go as well, he created these three pills and sent them to Mistie. To complete them, they needed to undergo a tribulation led by someone at the peak of divine cultivation.
"You did this with your High Elders?" Alm asked coldly.
Mistie nodded, clenching her fists. "We’re old and can’t evolve like the young ones. But we’re giving everything we have to help you. I gathered a hundred trusted High Elders from the sect. Together, we endured the tribulation of the three pills simultaneously as a form of training."
Alm and Bruno nodded, satisfied. Previously, Mistie had faced this same tribulation alone. The whale had used Ruri’s formation to attract the most dangerous lightning, leaving her with the less lethal part, which still demanded immense willpower to overcome. Even so, she had suffered greatly.
Now, by gathering a hundred cultivators to activate three pills at once, it must have resulted in an insane tribulation. They could only rely on their own strength, but they survived and completed the task, showing their determination.
Looking into Mistie’s green eyes, they saw her motivation: after marrying and having her daughter, she now lived to build a better future—whether for other children or her grandchildren.
"Good. Gather them all. Eat this and have them eat it too," Bruno said, storing the pills and then taking out a hundred luminous, strange fruits.
The Chaos Tree continued to produce its fruits. Whenever an Empyrean died and the whale was on the same plane, he captured their karmic luck.
After returning from the main mission, they had entered that world where a treasure hunt was happening. Thousands of Sovereign Empyreans had fought and died there, creating an abundance of these fruits. Now that the Tree had grown to the size of a galaxy, the fruits were barely visible, but they hadn’t stopped appearing.
"That..."
Mistie murmured, confused, and Bruno added: "Yeah, the karmic luck is inside. With that, all of you will become Sovereign Empyreans, just like the young ones."
Her eyes lit up. Across the entire universe, the older ones could only lament being born too early, unable to evolve into Empyreans or absorb karmic luck. Now, with this resource, the sect would become even more unique in the universe.
They were already considered the most powerful, but now... the gap to the others would become unimaginable. But the outside world knew less than the tip of the iceberg.
Her gaze reflected joy and gratitude. The logic and laws of the world seemed to disappear when that round figure acted. She had already made up her mind that nothing from him could shock her. But these days, she knew that fully trusting him when they entered the sect was the best and wisest decision of her life.
Who could have imagined that the Yinblood sect, once only in the top 20 of the universe because of the protection of the Dragon’s seal on the planet—but mediocre in every other aspect—would now be number one? And every day it grew even stronger.
After this, the whale returned to the sect and summoned all allies for a meeting. They arrived quickly, but waited for a few more moments. Soon, a group of alchemists from the Phoenix Cry sect arrived.
At the forefront was Celilia, the human that Alm and Bruno had met when they were in that sect. Back then, she gathered and assisted the alchemists who chose not to join any faction. (Chapter 708)
After Almin practically took control of the sect, Celilia was trained and became responsible for handling everything in his and Lyra’s absence.
The whale gave a brief explanation, mentioning that Almin and Lyra wouldn’t be returning for a while. But Celilia didn’t flinch. She had been trained to fully trust that round figure. If he said they were fine, she accepted it without question and followed his orders.
Now, she was the one commanding all the alchemists there. The whale’s words were serious and clear: "The war is about to get real." Everyone gulped at hearing this.
"We need to push hard. If it drags on too long, there will be many unnecessary deaths. So, I will escalate the war quickly to its maximum and then end it. The sects leading that alliance must be our focus. Once they fall, the smaller ones will surrender, saving countless lives."
After a slight snort and a glance at everyone, he added: "But... there’s a hidden danger in the universe, probably protecting these sects. That’s why they’re not afraid. We need to push them to their limit so they reveal themselves, or this will never end."
Everyone grew tense and worried. They’d already been fighting that alliance for years, but the leaders truly seemed to have no fear of their own destruction.
"Everyone commanding troops outside of the Yinblood sect, you must return and prepare everyone. We will begin relentless attacks, pressuring them," the whale finished, before turning to Rehvka and Maelik. "You two will be in charge of everything. You already know what to do. Work together organizing everyone in the alliance."
"Yes!" Everyone responded promptly.
The summoned ones quickly left, leaving only Rehvka and Maelik in the room.
"Master, look what I got." Rehvka handed over hundreds and hundreds of spatial rings: "Sorry for not following your orders earlier. I thought this would be more important since the leader and the main people of that sect were absent."
Alm and Bruno examined the rings and found a multitude of Jade Slips, Essentia Crystals, and various things filled with Yin energy.
Before infiltrating the Heavenly Spirit God Sect, they had ordered Rehvka to accompany Almin and the rest of the group on the invasion.
However, upon entering the sealed world, Almin casually mentioned that she had spotted an opportunity when she noticed a gap in the Shadow God sect and decided to exploit it. Alm and Bruno didn’t mind and ignored it; they trusted Rehvka’s decision completely.
Now that Rehvka was a legitimate Goddess, her Dao had merged with the world and its laws. In that Yin-charged environment, she was like a shark in its natural habitat. Alone, she managed to infiltrate the sect and wander anywhere, including the conference room, without being noticed, even among cultivators at the peak of cultivation.
Almin had been informed that the current leader of the Shadow God sect was absent. He was with Vrix in the sealed world. So Rehvka took the opportunity to act.
Without the leader, she infiltrated even the most protected Yin formations. Only the leader had total control over them, so the sect members realized the defenses had been compromised but were unable to react—after all, something like this should have been impossible, and only the leader with control over them could fully remedy it.
She stole everything she deemed relevant: demonic techniques, Essentia Crystals, accumulated knowledge, and other valuable resources.
She also reported that there were many immortal weapons, but the most powerful were made of demonic metals. Rehvka decided she would never bring such weapons to be used by her allies; of course, she destroyed them completely and left nothing for that sect.
"The only treasure I couldn’t get was the Dao of the Shadow God. It’s the sect’s biggest trump card, and the formation protecting it is extremely abnormal." Rehvka said with regret.
"Hmm, don’t worry. You did an excellent job. Vrix already has that Dao, and now the sect has lost all its other treasures. It’s a shame I wasn’t there to see their faces when they came back."
The whale said, satisfied, before turning to Maelik. "In these Jade Slips, there’s a lot of ancient information about your race and others. Study it all, it will be useful for you, and later for commanding other demon races. Carlier will benefit a lot from this too."
After handing over the rings, he concluded: "As for the other resources, you are the commanders, and you can use them as you see fit. But remember: you need to corner them to their limit as quickly as possible, or many lives will be lost."