After the couple left the area, they immediately felt hidden eyes watching them again. That ex-missionary seemed determined not to take his eyes off them no matter what, which irritated both Alm and Bruno.
At that moment, though, they noticed the surroundings were different from before. Ethereal shadows moved across the sky and the ground, while sounds of destruction, tremors, and frantic roars echoed from all directions.
They recognized it — these were the so-called evil specters, many of them. They had encountered these entities before, during the convention, and they were named that way because they were controlled to kill and destroy. In reality, though, they were just ordinary souls that had died in the past war, captured by heroes and used in this way. (Chapter 679)
This was the danger of the third level, considerably worse than the spatial blades of the second. The blades were powerful and sneaky, but the evil specters were intelligent and potentially even stronger.
’Every hour, more of them must be released. This place is huge, so by the last day, it’ll be completely infested, turning into a death trap,’ Alm explained. Bruno, on the other hand, gave Ruri an explanation about these souls, since she hadn’t attended the convention.
They quickly ran in one direction, avoiding the draconic beasts and blood golems. There still weren’t enough evil specters to put them in mortal danger. With the golems’ defenses and the techniques Ruri had provided to the beasts, they were tough enough to hold off a few attacks for a while.
They headed toward the exit, believing they might encounter that demoness, who was likely running straight for the dome after returning to the starting point.
However, after only a few meters, they abruptly stopped.
They turned toward a mountain and saw, at the top, a golden spatial channel forming. It looked very similar to the one that connected to where the evil specters were during the convention.
Back then, Alm and Bruno had invaded the place and stored all the souls in their inventory, freeing them later.
A dozen evil specters emerged from the channel before it closed.
They turned to Ruri, who understood their look and quickly analyzed the situation. Secretly, through the array, she said: ’I caught the fluctuations. It’s a branch of that formation, connected to the whole. If the master wants, I can sense where another one of these channels will appear a little beforehand.’
’Hmm... That demoness must go into that lake and waste time trying to absorb its essence unsuccessfully. Sounds good, let’s head back,’ Alm commented with a sly smile. Ruri, catching on, smiled in the same way, understanding.
Bruno just snorted at the two of them, who were plotting dark things without needing many words.
***
Less than an hour later, the red-haired demoness was running at full speed while holding a red saber. She used one of the weapons she had stolen from those idiots, taking down any evil specter that appeared in front of her as quickly as possible.
She didn’t even consider using a crystal made from the heroic core, which could’ve made accessing her desired destination easier. She knew the nature of this place and was aware of almost everything about it. The test was designed to prevent cheating. If she used the crystal, its fluctuations would be detected by the formation, and in response, a massive wave of evil specters would be released directly in front of her.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on freeweɓnøvel.com.
It was a trap in the test for the clever ones. While she might’ve been able to push through them, she’d waste unnecessary time, and now time wasn’t on her side.
Finally, the dome sealed by spatial laws appeared before her. "It’ll take me a day and a half to absorb everything. Those bastards won’t be able to get in here. When I’m done, I’ll turn this world into a nest of evil specters. They’ll have a death that’s at least desperate."
She thought this, smiling, as she approached the dome. Upon reaching the front, she waved her hand and summoned a golden rune.
"I did everything perfectly, Father. Soon I’ll be by your side again," she murmured as an opening appeared.
Entering, she saw the black lake and took a deep breath, feeling the dense Yin energy. After absorbing this, her body and lineage would undergo a terrifying transformation. Without delay, her golden scales fell away, and she dove into the lake.
Closing her eyes, she focused completely and clutched the golden rune in her hand.
’Where is it... Father said it was a unique energy in the middle of the Yin...’ She searched tirelessly for what she wanted to absorb. Until...
’Found it!’
She sensed something unique and different mixed in the depths. As she drew the energy toward her, she realized it was unlike anything she had imagined. Not even her father knew much about it. This was something born from heavenly laws, something that couldn’t be found in nature. She accepted that she couldn’t predict it fully and felt even more satisfied to gain something so precious.
Then, she opened her meridians and let it flow in to absorb it.
***
A few minutes after the demoness entered, that hidden human was lost in thought. He had seen the couple go in, come out, and then go back in; now, the demoness had entered too. ’What the hell were they up to?’
In the middle of his thoughts, the demoness came out of the place. ’So fast?’ he thought, confused.
At that moment, he noticed something very strange in her fluctuations, but he couldn’t figure out why.
Soon after, she turned in a certain direction and started running. The ex-missionary observed where she was heading; apparently, there was nothing there, not even evil specters. Until he felt a fluctuation condensing.
In less than a minute, the red-haired demoness stopped. Then, a golden channel appeared above her.
The moment the channel opened, before anything could even emerge, she roared and leapt straight into it.
"What?"
He exclaimed, stunned by what he’d just witnessed. It was impossible for someone to predict the opening so far in advance. Meanwhile, she vanished into the channel, and then, suddenly...
**RUMBLE!!!**
The entire small world was overtaken by chaos and destruction. Space-time collapsed, generating an unprecedented wave of destruction that rippled across the horizon.
The human panicked and immediately abandoned his concealment. Almost desperate, he activated all his cultivation and power, holding nothing back.
The ground trembled and fractured. Everything seemed on the verge of total collapse. The draconic beasts and blood golems, in the middle of their battle, immediately fell into despair as they felt it. But, surprisingly, everything stopped after a mere two minutes.
The skies, fractured like spiderwebs, began to stabilize. Then, a single humanoid figure, panting heavily, revealed itself. He had used everything he had to forcefully stabilize the situation. As the one responsible for this test, he couldn’t let something like this happen.
*Pierce!*
Suddenly, he felt an impact on his back, and blood surged up his throat. His eyes widened as he turned... but nothing could be seen.
Quickly, he activated the rest of his power and noticed something strange in his back. "This... a Yin needle?" Suddenly, his divine soul trembled.
Black lines appeared in his eyes, and his skin began to darken. It was a lethal, supreme poison. "A Divine Dao!"
He was horrified. After using nearly all his power, he had been struck without noticing anything. However, he wasn’t going to die so easily.
Snorting, his body radiated a powerful golden aura. Suddenly, his condition stabilized, and the poison stopped spreading. He waved his hand, but...
"What?!" he exclaimed, shocked. The poison couldn’t be removed so easily. It was something made with immortal Yin! "How can a god use immortal laws?!"
"Fuck..." he growled, spitting black blood. Without hesitation, he shattered an emergency crystal.
In the next moment, Alm, Bruno, and Ruri, who were watching everything with amused expressions, saw the skies change, making their faces darken.
Thousands of golden spatial channels appeared, covering the entire horizon with an endless legion of immortal heroes emerging from them.
Bruno just muttered, ’I think we went a bit overboard...’