by KSY
“Good. Good. I knew you’d be able to get through your bottleneck in the comprehension of Sword-intent quickly. And how is your cultivation progressing?” Emilia said jubilantly.
“It is also going well. I should advance to Mid Mortal Lord Realm soon,” Ryan said as a mischievous smile appeared on his face. His words immediately elated Emilia.
“Ryan, your uncles wish to talk to you. They’ve just returned from their mission,” Emilia said as she handed over the Mental-message transmission orb to Shane.
“Ryan, we all want to meet you in person, so when will you be coming back?” Shane asked in an upbeat manner.
“Uncle, I will return home once I comprehend First Realm of Sword-intent,” Ryan said with a contented laugh, as he couldn’t help but feel happy on hearing Shane’s voice.
“Sister told me that you intend to enter the Ancient Legacy Land,” Shane said in a somewhat gloomy tone. He and his brothers didn’t want Ryan to enter the Legacy Land, but they knew that Ryan’s future would be harmed if he didn’t. That was the only reason they didn’t try stopping Ryan from entering the Ancient Legacy Land.
“Uncle, please don’t worry about me. I will be entering with Thorn,” Ryan quickly said as he could understand Shane’s mood.
“Sister did tell me about Thorn but the dangers inside a Legacy Land still can’t be underestimated,” Shane said with concern.
“I understand, Uncle,” Ryan said with equal concern, as he knew that Shane was saying all this for his sake.
Ryan then talked with rest of his uncles one by one. All of them wanted Ryan to return home quickly and asked him to stay safe while he was in Starlight Forest.
Once he was done talking to his uncles, Ryan started to refine his skin in order to advance his Soul Cores to Mid Mortal King Realm.
In Mortal King Realm, a Martial Artist is required to refine its skin and transform it into Immortal Skin in order to advance to Mortal Emperor Realm. There are three stages in Skin refinement. The first stage is called High Mortal Stage Skin Refinement, the second is called Pseudo Immortal Stage Skin Refinement and the third is called Immortal Stage Skin Refinement. A Martial Artist advances by a sub-realm of the Mortal King Realm after achieving the first two stages of Skin refinement and steps into the Early Mortal Emperor Realm the moment he or she achieves the third stage of Skin refinement. The purity of the Liquid Spirit Power in his or her Soul Cores increases by a notch after successfully achieving each stage of Skin Refinement.
Martial Artists that possess more than one Soul Core only need to refine their skin once. All their Soul Cores advance to higher sub-realms of the Mortal King Realm after they attain the first two stages of Skin Refinement, and then Early Mortal Emperor Realm after attaining the third stage of Skin Refinement. The only condition is that they possess sufficient insights in Elemental Laws of the attribute of their other Soul Core and their understanding in it has reached the threshold requirement for that sub-realm or Early Mortal Emperor Realm.
Soon Ryan started to refine his skin with Death Attribute Liquid Spirit Power. The skin refining process required him to temper his skin with Liquid Spirit Power. The process was quite simple but the speed at which the skin could be refined depended on his insights and understanding in Elemental Laws.
Ryan was able to temper his skin at a terrifying pace using his Liquid Spirit Power since his insights and understanding in Elemental Laws had already bypassed the threshold requirement for advancing his Soul Cores to Mid Mortal King Realm.
Time passed quickly and after two days Ryan was still completely engrossed in tempering his skin but progressing at a rapid pace.
“Boy, can you let me out of this place?” a voice echoed in Ryan’s mind and startled him. His eyes opened. A smile soon appeared on his face as he had been waiting for the Greater Ancestral Vampire to finish gaining Asura Physique. The Greater Ancestral Vampire had taken the longest of all his Soul beings to gain Asura Physique. Ryan had been starting to get worried because of that but Yama had told him that this due was to differences in the biology of Undead creatures and living beings. Yama’s reasoning gave Ryan a lot of relief.
“Wait a minute,” Ryan said as he took out Death Sword from his Soul World.
“Ryan, open the Portal to the Death dimension at some distance from here. That guy will face Heavens wrath the moment he walks out of the Death dimension. Here, we will unnecessarily disturb Tondenth,” Earl quickly warned Ryan. Ryan couldn’t help but nod his head in understanding and immediately took off into the sky. He opened the portal after flying a few kilometers away from the mountainous region.
The Greater Ancestral Vampire immediately flew out of the portal and the sky started to darken soon after. Ryan had a drastic change in his expression as he looked at the dark sky. The violent aura it emanated was something that even the auras of Sheldon and his companions couldn’t compete with.
“Quickly fly away from the Greater Ancestral Vampire. The Heavens will soon attack him with lightning strikes,” Yama cautioned, so Ryan quickly flew towards the mountainous region. Tondenth had already ended his Cultivation session and was hovering above the mountainous region. Ryan had an apologetic expression under his mask as he looked at Tondenth.
“Roar!” Tondenth issued a light roar as he sent a Mental-message transmission to Ryan informing him that he didn’t mind the sudden disturbance and then asked Ryan about the Greater Ancestral Vampire.
Ryan didn’t hide anything from Tondenth and told him everything in detail. Tondenth couldn’t help but be envious of Ryan’s luck at that moment –a randomly caught Blood imp had evolved into such a terrifying existence! He was happy to be on Ryan’s side at that moment. He was certain that Ryan would definitely be someone extremely powerful in the future.
The Greater Ancestral Vampire flew into the sky and was soon struck by countless lightning strikes.
Boom!!
Boom!!
An explosion occurred every time the lightning struck the body of the Greater Ancestral Vampire. Ryan and Tondenth couldn’t help but look at this scene with horrified expressions and Ryan was genuinely worried about the Greater Ancestral Vampire.
“Don’t worry. The Heavens don’t have the ability to kill him,” Yama’s voice echoing in his mind was laced with arrogance. Ryan just nodded his head. The Greater Ancestral Vampire was still hovering in the sky with a big smile on his face and without any visible injuries.
“Boy, thanks a lot for giving me a chance of life!” the Greater Ancestral Vampire sent a Mental-message transmission to Ryan, which made a smile appear on Ryan’s face.
“Just concentrate on passing the Heavens wrath,” Ryan said via Mental-message transmission as he continued to watch the Greater Ancestral Vampire who was getting struck by countless lightning strikes each second. He was still concerned about the safety of the Greater Ancestral Vampire, as the intensity of the lightning strikes was increasing with each passing second.
The dark clouds started to thin after an hour. It was clear that the Heavens wrath was coming to an end. Ryan, Tondenth and his Martial Spirits couldn’t help but feel elated at that moment, as they looked at the Greater Ancestral Vampire flying towards them with a big smile on his face which made him look even more scary than before. There was not a single injury on his body which spoke a lot about the formidability of Asura Physique.
“Let me start with the introductions. I am Ryan and he is one of my Soul beings. His name is Tondenth. I will introduce you to the others later,” Ryan said as he introduced Tondenth to the Greater Ancestral Vampire.
“Roar!” Tondenth issued a low roar as he greeted the Greater Ancestral Vampire.
“Hi, my name is Kurt,” the Greater Ancestral Vampire introduced himself.
Ryan was stunned for a second, as he wasn’t expecting the Greater Ancestral Vampire to have a name, since he’d only recently evolved into a Greater Ancestral Vampire from a Blood imp and Blood imps lack the ability to name themselves given their low intelligence.
“I just named myself a few minutes ago,” Kurt replied with smile, as he could tell what was going on in Ryan’s mind.
“What do you wish to do now?” Ryan asked.
“I wish to create a Vampire hive to lord over,” Kurt replied with a puffed chest.
“He should be able to take control of all the vampires of Grandura. He could create a formidable force within a short span of time,” Earl’s voice echoed in Ryan’s mind. Ryan couldn’t help but agree with him.
“Ryan, where can I find hordes of vampires on Grandura?” Kurt asked as he wished to create his hive quickly.
“Today, vampires can only be found on Vampire Isle in the Undead Sea. Vampires in other places have long been hunted down,” Ryan said solemnly. He then told Kurt about the situation of vampires on Grandura. The Undead Sea is a famous forbidden zone on Grandura with countless numbers of Undead creatures. The most famous place in that forbidden zone is Vampire Isle, a place that is considered heaven for vampires. It is also the place where the Queen of the vampires resides.
Vampire Isle has been the stronghold for vampires for a very long time. Vampires are the creatures that have been scorned by most living beings because of their Innate Ability to create Blood slaves. They infect other creatures with a special energy called Blood Energy, whenever they bite them to drink their blood. The creature infected by Blood Energy turns into a Blood slave. Blood Energy for vampires is like Spirit Power for humans. Vampires convert Death Attribute Elemental Energy into Blood Energy to use the power that they’ve gained from cultivation.
Blood slaves are Undead creatures that can only be created by vampires and are extremely loyal to the vampire that created them. Blood slaves don’t die after the death of their creator vampire but become independent and are then called Free Blood slaves. A Free Blood slave can be enslaved by another vampire and it then becomes that vampire’s loyal follower. The strength of the Blood slave depends on the species of vampire that created it as well as its Cultivation Level. Blood slaves look quite like zombies but their capabilities are far superior. Blood slaves lack the ability to cultivate because of which they have the same Cultivation Level as their previous living self.
The vampires of Grandura, just like most sentient beings on Grandura, have a powerful backing from the Divine Universe – in the form of a Vampire Overlord, who has extreme tyrannical strength and has existed for a very, very long time in Hell. He is the only reason vampires still exist on Grandura today, otherwise they would have long gone extinct.
The first few vampires from Grandura ascended to the Divine Universe at the same time as Heron and Herman and were then able to gain favor of the Vampire Overlord. They asked the Vampire Overlord to grant protection to Grandura’s vampires, as they knew that the beings of the other races that had ascended with them would soon or later send help back to Grandura to deal with the vampires.
The vampires on Grandura wreaked havoc every now and then by creating enormous numbers of Blood slaves and then using those Blood slave to attack factions of the different races on a regular basis. Some vampires took extra steps to increase the hate of the different factions towards them by turning their members into Blood slaves and using those Blood slaves to attack their former factions. All this made the hate those factions had for vampires just tremendous.
The Vampire Overlord readily agreed to their request, but his way of providing protection was quite different from what Archdevil Mundus did. He had a few of his followers create a sanctuary for the vampires on Grandura in the form of Vampire Isle. Vampire Isle was somewhere in the middle of the Undead Sea and was covered in its entirety by a powerful barrier. This made Vampire Isle an impenetrable fortress, which beings of other races, no matter how strong, were unable to enter.
Once the different factions of Grandura had established their Main branches in the Divine Universe, they sent beings with Cultivation Levels above the Immortal Realm back home to eradicate vampires from the face of Grandura irrespective of their race. That was the only time when devils and demons worked with factions of other races.
The different factions of Grandura along with the beings having a Cultivation Level beyond Immortal quickly slayed large numbers of vampires, and within no time all the vampires except for the ones in the Undead Sea were slain. The Undead Sea was left until the end as it was a place where Undead creatures could easily blend in and hide, which made it difficult to find and kill them.
The beings hunting the vampires entered the Undead Sea with the full intention of eradicating vampires from the face of Grandura only to discover Vampire Isle.
The existence of Vampire Isle had been unknown to anyone until then! The beings hunting the vampires tried their best to destroy the barrier around Vampire Isle but failed. The hunters from all the factions could only withdraw helplessly, which alarmed them as they returned empty handed from the Undead Sea. They knew that since the vampires weren’t thoroughly eradicated, they would certainly strike back the moment their strength and numbers reached sufficient levels. The beings that had come from the Divine Universe could not stay forever on Grandura and returned to the Divine Universe since the vampires refused to come out of Vampire Isle.
Eventually, the vampires did come out of Vampire Isle, but that didn’t happen for a few million years and in any case, they still remained within the Undead Sea and never ventured further. The different factions of Grandura were OK with that, as they had no choice in this matter, since the chances of them eradicating vampires was next to nil. This way the Undead Sea became the last place on Grandura where vampires can still be found.
“You can do whatever you want provided you remain in the shadows until you reach Vampire Isle. No one should know about your existence, otherwise you will be hunted by endless numbers of beings,” Ryan said in a sober tone. Kurt just nodded his head and a smile appeared on his face, as he could tell Ryan really was concerned for him.
“I am perfectly capable of keeping my real identity hidden,” Kurt said as he transformed into a handsome human being with blonde hair and a slim body. He looked no different from a human and his aura was also quite like a human’s aura, which brought a smile to Ryan’s face.
“This should allow me to move around on Grandura without trouble as long as I avoid powerful factions, but I won’t be able to use eighty percent of my Innate Abilities,” Kurt pouted, which made Ryan laugh a little.
“I also want you to avoid killing the members of my family clans ...” Ryan said in an earnest tone and he told Kurt more about the Heaven Sundering Family Clan and the Eternity Family Clan.
“I am perfectly capable of making sure of that,” Kurt replied, as he flashed a smile at Ryan.
“If you need Death Elemental Energy for cultivation purposes just inform me and I will send it to you via the Soul link between us,” Ryan said with a mysterious smile.
“I won’t require that because I am strong enough to occupy a High-grade Death Attribute Treasure Land …” Kurt started speaking complacently but stopped before completing his sentence, as Ryan had started sending it to him via the Soul link between them. Earlier, Death Sword had been supplying him with an inferior version of Death Elemental Energy, so it natural that he would be shocked.
“Just make sure you keep the information regarding it to yourself,” Ryan said sternly. Kurt nodded his head multiple times. He himself knew the importance of keeping this matter a secret. If this matter was leaked, then Ryan and his loved ones would be in great danger.
“You can use this Death Elemental Energy to cultivate beyond Immortal Realm just like my other Soul beings,” Ryan said lightly. Kurt nodded his head vigorously. He was also thrilled deep down, as he was quite keen to cultivate Death Elemental Laws at this time. His Cultivation Level was already at Early Immortal Saint Realm and he was certain that it wouldn’t take long before he could advance to the Celestial Realm with the help of Death Sword’s extremely pure Death Elemental Energy.
Generally, vampires depen
d on drinking the blood of their victims to cultivate Death Elemental Laws and a Greater Ancestral Vampire is no different. Previously, the Red aura that Kurt had been absorbing from the bodies of Lesser Ancestral Vampires was actually Blood aura. At that time, Kurt had subconsciously turned the blood of the hundred plus Lesser Ancestral Vampires into Blood aura as it was easy to absorb.
That blood had been sufficient to push his Cultivation Level to Early Immortal Saint Realm, but it was still not as potent as the Death Elemental Energy from Death Sword. The Cultivation Level of Greater Ancestral Vampires increases at a terrifying pace until they reach Celestial Realm, and even after reaching Celestial Realm, their cultivation speed can outstrip that of most beings. Kurt felt that the Death Elemental Energy from Death Sword was even better than blood for his cultivation.
“In which direction does the Undead Sea lie?” Kurt asked in an impatient manner. He wanted to reach Vampire Isle at the earliest and cultivate Death Elemental Laws in peace.
“The Undead Sea is to the east of us,” Ryan said with a smile as he could already tell Kurt’s intentions.
Kurt and Ryan talked for a few more minutes before Kurt flew in the direction of the Undead Sea and disappeared into the horizon. Ryan and Tondenth returned to the spots where they’d previously been cultivating and started cultivating Elemental Laws again. They soon entered deep Cultivation states.
When Tondenth started to cultivate, a few hundred Celestial runes appeared around him. These were the Celestial runes that he’d already condensed but even this many weren’t enough to increase his Cultivation Level to Celestial Realm. He needed to condense thousands more and then fuse them with his body to advance to Celestial Realm. The speed at which Celestial runes are condensed depends on the being’s insights and understanding in Elemental Laws, so it wouldn’t take long for Tondenth to condense the required number of Celestial runes given the speed at which he was creating them.