Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 530: Reaching the True Sage Realm

’The decision to empty the entire continent of humans and animals was the wise one,’ Taranis murmured inwardly, his breath heavy as he tried to suppress the agony from the tribulation that had just destroyed a few of his bones. The lingering lightning on his scorched body was like bees stinging open wounds, causing intense pain that surged through him with every heartbeat.

Before long, the cloud in the sky had begun forming an empty inverted tornado, its vast funnel reaching down toward the earth. The lightnings thundered and danced in its central hollow.

Inside Taranis’s Sea of Soulforce, the yin-yang ocean was going violent, the two waters in complete disarray as waves clashed upon the heavenly gates of abyssal black and blinding white, both having intricate patterns drawn over their surfaces. The gates seemed to be coming from beneath the water, rising all the way up into the sky. It was taking everything Taranis had to make sure the fragile balance between his yin and yang would not break, or he would suffer from Soulforce backlash during the Ascension, the worst possible scenario apart from death itself.

Some of the darkness had already reached the surface of his body. Together with the corrupted souls of death clinging to his soul, they began eating away at his flesh, bones, and muscles, their cold touch spreading decay. Meanwhile, the leaking yang energy was actively healing those wounds, ehite flames knitting torn tissue together, making sure he was not completely devoured. If this fragile balance were to break, he would either be eaten away by the darkness or be blasted into pieces of flesh by the overflowing yang energy.

He tightened his jaw, his muscles tensing again as he sensed the next strike was about to come. The hollow of the clouds began glowing brightly, the humming sound from it could be heard from every corner of the Dome Argus.

KRAKABOOM!

The deafening roar of the lightning pillar was loud enough to travel through the whole continent, echoing across the vast expanse of ice. The strike itself obliterated the Dome Argus, leveling it to the sea level. The massive debris of ice torn apart from it and thrown into the air were destroyed before they could even land again, vaporized by the sheer force of the impact.

At the deep crater itself where the lightning had struck, the fabrics of reality had begun fracturing around Taranis’s body, taking the shape of irregular slits as if someone had cut a paper’s surface with scissors, revealing a dark dimension behind them shimmering with countless stars and galaxies.

As for Taranis himself, the bone of his shoulder blades was visible on his back, with white and black flames dancing on them in a duel of devouring and healing.

’Three done... two more to go...’ He murmured inwardly, his eyes closed, mind calm but his body betraying his will as it shivered from head to toe, threatening to collapse.

When the next pillar of lightning struck from the heavens, it caused cataclysm across several parts of the world, rising sea levels to threatening heights across the oceans, the tsunami waves striking the shores with devastating fury. The ground shook, and the sky turned dark with the violence of the tribulation.

Yet not even a single casualty occurred from the disaster that should have claimed millions of lives. At some places, protective barriers surrounded the shores, their translucent surfaces absorbing the impact. In other places, the waves were turning into mountains of ice before they could reach the land, frozen mid strike by an unseen force.

’T-the last strike...’

The land around Taranis had turned into a grotesque display of scorched black from the lightning strikes and crimson red from the blood that had leaked out of his body. The once pristine ice was now a nightmare of destruction. His body had turned thin, his skin so pale it clung to his broken bones inside, a skeletal figure barely holding together. The only thing that still confirmed he was alive was the faint mist leaving his nose as he breathed.

The bolts of lightning slowly disappeared from the spread dark clouds in the heavens, or more accurately, every last spark of lightning had reached the funnel of the inverted tornado. The clouds spiralled and twisted as the glow brighter than the sun itself began glowing at its centre, a blinding white point of absolute destruction.

KRAKABOOM!

The strike was off the charts, shaking the entire planet in an earthquake that rattled continents. Landslides occurred at the mountains, land splitting apart, buildings falling, lava exploding from sleeping volcanoes. For a moment it seemed as if the world had reached its end.

Perhaps Taranis was going against the will of the world, reaching a realm that it did not allow. The strike was deadlier than anything he had experienced. At the deep crater, surrounded by numerous large and small cuts in reality, sat a skeleton with numerous broken bones, a few veins clinging to the bone, the only remnants of flesh. Apart from the bones, at the ribcage, only the visible heart had remained, beating dangerously low, pulsing what little remained of the blood through veins that connected to the ground beneath. Each heartbeat took longer to beat than the last, the rhythm growing slower and slower.

Inside Taranis’s Sea of Soulforce, the final strike had finally opened the gates of Yin-Yang, sending the Soulforce to flow to the other side. However, the gates slowly began closing.

"Warning!!! The Host is critically injured!"

"The Host will die in five seconds."

"The Host must wake up before the countdown."

"Five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

The heart of Taranis stopped beating. The gate of Yin-Yang was about to close, with only a thin vertical line visible between them as they almost joined together.

"Emergency Safeguard Protocol activated!"

"Using the Soulforce of Maximilian to forcefully beat the heart of the Host."

Flickers of golden electrical bolts appeared around the heart, forcing it to beat again.

Ding...

"Three seconds added to Host’s life."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"WAKE UP TARANIS! THIS IS NOT HOW YOU SHOULD DIE!"

A sharp, commanding but familiar voice entered Taranis’s mind, pulling him away from his subconsciousness. The words cut through the darkness like a blade of light.

The gate of Yin-Yang stopped closing. An aura of chilling darkness surrounded the skeleton from one side while the other side was covered by warm light, the two forces finally achieving equilibrium.

The debris on the ground began trembling, floating upward. The air turned heavy, and everything fell into silence.

It was then that it occurred. A pillar of dual energy erupted upward, spiralling into each other like serpents in a cosmic dance. It tore through the atmosphere of Earth, the pillar visible even from the moon.

The gates of Yin-Yang opened with a sudden slam, letting the ocean of Soulforce pour to the other side.

In a rapid movement, the broken bones began healing, turning white from scorched black. The joints fixed together, followed by the formation of internal organs, muscle fibers, and finally a porcelain skin. Black hair sprouted on his head, reaching the length it used to be, falling across his shoulders. His body slowly rose upward, his limbs hanging freely at his sides, his head raised up as the energy pillar continued radiating from his form.

Slowly he opened his eyes, his sclera black as the void while at the centre was a glowing bright iris like a star burning in endless night.

He slowly clenched his fists, a smile forming on his lips as the familiar translucent screen materialised before his eyes.

Ding...

"Congratulations! The Host has successfully broken through! The Host’s realm has increased.

Level Nine Awakened Sage Realm → Level One True Sage Realm.

All stats +300.

All attribute-based skills have increased by three levels."

"Maximilian Éclair Valcyrion Bane," Taranis murmured with a smile of amusement.

The pillar of energy slowly dimmed before completely vanishing, the light fading from the sky. His eyes returned to their normal colour of auburn.

"Thank you for saving my life for the third time... Ancestor," he said as he slowly landed on the ground, his hair resting upon his shoulder.