by KSY
The Legacy Lands were established by Martial Artists that had attained divinity and become gods. The weapons and Cultivation resources left by them in the Legacy Lands make even made Senior generations envious.
“GOD’S DOMAIN!” Raymond said with bright eyes. If Rai died, then he would be the happiest person.
“What kind of Legacy Land is God’s Domain?” Ryan asked with a serious expression. Raymond and Emerson gave him a weird look on hearing his question, but he understood the meaning behind those weird looks, and his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. He cursed himself for not keeping himself up to date with basic knowledge about Grandura.
“It is an Ancient Legacy Land that opens once in a million years. It is unknown who established it, but the opportunities it can provide to young Martial Artists can’t be compared with those of any other Legacy Land in Grandura. Rai will obviously go there,” Emerson said with a serious expression.
“God’s Domain will open in five years, but if your strength and powers don’t reach a particular level, then we won’t let you enter God’s Domain,” Emerson warned Ryan, who nodded his head in agreement and clenched his fist. He would have to increase his strength quickly.
“Don’t worry. We are with you,” Yama said.
“Yes. Believe in us and yourself,” Dargar said.
“Your Cultivation speed is many times faster than that of your peers and you have a very powerful physique. You will most assuredly possess the strength and powers to fight him within three to four years,” Earl said with a laugh. Ryan hearing his Martial Spirits’ opinions calmed down a little and looked at Raymond and Emerson with determination.
“Rai won’t return alive from God’s Domain,” Ryan said. His voice was brimming with confidence and determination and a lot of murderous intent. Raymond and Emerson nodded their heads after seeing this.
Raymond wrapped Ryan in his Spirit Power as he and Emerson took off in the sky with Ryan by their side. Raymond and Emerson had already decided to give full support to Ryan. If Rai died, then they would achieve two of their targets: Ryan would get a wife and they would get revenge.
“Roar!” Thorn roared, and Ryan had a sudden change in expression after hearing Thorn’s wish. He didn’t want to go to the Sect but wished to stay in Desolate Forest instead. Ryan consulted Raymond about it.
“Just ask him to stay away from beings more powerful than he is. He should be fine otherwise. Desolate Forest is also home to very many serpents and dragon species, so Thorn should have no problem in finding himself a beast horde,” Raymond said as he looked at Thorn poking his head out of Ryan’s right sleeve. He certainly didn’t look happy about accompanying Ryan to the Sect.
“Thorn, listen to me. Stay in the Outer region of Desolate Forest. Do not go in the Inner region and you will be safe and sound with your Cultivation Level. If you get into some trouble just inform Ryan, and I will come to save you. Just make sure you keep yourself alive in the meantime,” Raymond said with a smile on his face.
Thorn vigorously nodded his head. Raymond smiled at seeing Thorn’s cute response, which was completely different from the time he’d devoured the Barbaric bull.
“Follow Master’s instruction and don’t pick a fight with any creature stronger than you,” Ryan said. Thorn nodded his head and flew out of Ryan’s sleeve.
He then turned into a streak of light as he shot through the air and flew towards Desolate Forest. Ryan was worried, as Desolate Forest did have Elemental Beasts with Cultivation Levels similar to Thorn’s, but many of them had even higher Cultivation Levels too.
“Don’t worry. He is quite intelligent, so he won’t make a rash decision,” Raymond said as he tried to ease Ryan’s worry. Ryan nodded his head.
Raymond, Emerson and Ryan again started heading towards the Sect.
Ch.18
Ryan marveled when he saw Divine Martial Sect for the first time. He liked its architect quite a lot. It was clear that someone had spent a lot of time and energy in it. The First level, the lowest one, is meant for Outer-sect disciples of the Sect and has the maximum number of inhabitants. The Second level, in the middle, is meant for Inner-sect disciples and Core disciples of the Sect. The Third level, the highest one, is meant for members of the Upper echelons of the Sect and their disciples.
There is a Heaven and Earth difference from the First to the Third levels: it lies in the facilities and Cultivation chambers available to the Martial Artists.
Divine Martial Sect’s Cultivation chambers are directly connected to the various Treasure Lands spread across Divine Mountain Range. They provide Martial Artists with wonderfully pure Elemental Energy for cultivation, but the purity of Elemental Energy increases as one goes from the First level to the Third level. This creates particularly intense competition amongst the disciples as they compete against each other to increase their standing in the Sect, so that they can move to a higher level in Cloud-piercing Mountain.
Ryan didn’t have to compete with other disciples for resources as he was Raymond’s personal disciple. He was to live on the Third level of Cloud-piercing Mountain in a mansion allotted by the Sect to his Master, Raymond, who was one of the strongest Ancestor Level Martial Artists of the Divine Martial Sect. Even the Sect Head held him in high esteem because of which Ryan’s status was quite special, even amongst the other personal disciples of the Ancestor Level Martial Artists.
Raymond started imparting his medical knowledge to Ryan soon after Ryan’s arrival in the Sect. He taught Ryan about the biology of Humanoids and other beings. He taught him different medical techniques that can be employed to heal Humanoids and other beings. He spoke about numerous poisons and their uses. He started teaching Ryan the art of neutralizing poison with poison. Ryan was like a sponge – he learned the medical skills from Raymond at a terrifying pace. Even Raymond was astonished by this. He was delighted with Ryan’s performance, and thanked the heavens for bestowing such a talented disciple on him.
Raymond also shared his insights in Poison Elemental Laws and Death Elemental Laws with Ryan on a regular basis. Ryan then entered a small Closed-door Cultivation session to understand these insights in Poison Elemental Laws and Death Elemental Laws, which then made Ryan’s cultivation soar. His insights and understanding in them quickly surpassed the threshold requirement for advancing both his Poison Attribute Soul Core and his Death Fire Dual Attribute Soul Core to Early Mortal Lord Realm.
Ryan decided to hold back on advancing his Soul Cores though, as he wished to unseal one Innate Ability each for Yama and Dargar. If his insights and understanding were way above the threshold requirement to attain breakthrough to the next sub-realm, then the chances of him gaining two new Innate Abilities were increased significantly. The seals on Martial Spirits easily break in such a scenario.
Time quickly passed, and it was already six months since Ryan’s arrival in Divine Martial Sect.
During that time Ryan had contacted his mother and grandfather multiple times. Oscar and Emilia were alarmed when they first came to know that Ryan’s Master was Raymond, as Raymond’s name was quite well known on Grandura. His feud with the Dark Moon Family Clan was similarly well known, so they were concerned that the Dark Moon Family Clan might make a move on Ryan. In order to avoid something like that, Emilia asked her Family Clan to officially convey to the Dark Moon Family Clan that Ryan was Raymond’s personal disciple.
The people from the Dark Moon Family Clan were alarmed by the news about Raymond getting a disciple. The Divine Martial Sect had previously made sure they kept that a secret, as they were concerned about Ryan’s safety. The Dark Moon Family Clan had made sure that no young Martial Artist wanted to become Raymond’s disciple, as his having personal disciples would just increase their enemies.
They had every intention of slaying Raymond and it was very rare for a disciple not to avenge his Master. If Ryan had been from an ordinary background, then they would have accepted the news and dealt with him somehow, but Ryan’s being from the Hea
ven Sundering Family Clan complicated things. They wouldn’t be able to make a move on Ryan that easily, and if they did, then a war might break out.
Emilia’s family members had talked with Ryan multiple times in that six months. Blasius almost started crying, when he spoke to Ryan for the first time, and Alexis was no different. Ryan felt warmth surge in his heart, as he could tell that his grandparents seriously cared about him and loved talking with him. He thanked the heavens for giving him a family this time. He even had a chance to talk with his uncles, who were as enthusiastic as Blasius and Alexis.
Ryan was invited by them to visit the Heaven Sundering Family Clan at the earliest. All of them wished to meet him personally as soon as possible and he’d promised to visit them soon.
Within those six months, Ryan had also honed his combat skills. He’d learned two Martial Skills from Raymond. They were Grim Reaper Scythe Martial Skill and Soul Poison Martial Skill, which were Raymond’s personal creations. The Grim Reaper Scythe Martial Skill is a Death Attribute Martial Skill. It is a high-grade Mortal Martial Skill, that targets the soul of an enemy. It is twice as deadly as the Soul Devouring Singer Strike Martial Skill but it consumes a lot of Death Attribute Spirit Power. With his current Cultivation Level, Ryan could only use it twice before all his Death Attribute Spirit Power was depleted.
Soul Poison Martial Skill is a Poison Attribute Martial Skill and also a high-grade Mortal Martial Skill. It also targets the soul of the enemy but using a different technique. It invades an enemy’s body and attacks his or her soul like a ghost. It is exceptionally vicious.
Grim Reaper Scythe Martial Skill and Soul Poison Martial Skills can also fuse with each other, which results in a terrifying attack. Their fused attack power is comparable to a low-grade Immortal Martial Skill. Currently, Ryan was unable to fuse them, but at his current rate of growth, it wouldn’t be long before he would be able to do so.
On his request, Raymond even provided Ryan with a Sword Martial Skill. Ryan had his sight on God’s Domain which was going to open in few years. If he was able to comprehend Sword-intent, then his combat power would amplify once again. This Sword Martial Skill was known as Heaven Sundering Sword Martial Skill. It had been leaked from the Heaven Sundering Family Clan by one of its traitors and had been spread to such an extent by the traitor that it was now one of the most commonly available Sword Martial Skills on Grandura.
This Heaven Sundering Martial Skill is considered as a high-grade Immortal Martial Skill, but not all of it was leaked. It has a total of sixteen slashes, but only the first six were leaked. The attack power of the first six slashes is equivalent to a high-grade Mortal Martial Skill, but significantly for Ryan, mastering those six slashes allows a Martial Artist to comprehend the First Realm of Sword-intent.
Sword-intent has a total of ten realms – First realm, Second realm and so on up to the Tenth realm. A Mortal Realm Martial Artist can only comprehend the First and Second realms of Sword-intent. Martial Artists who can comprehend all ten realms are supreme existences in the Divine Worlds. Even Asuras or higher species of dragons known for their Tyrannical bodily toughness avoid using their bodies to stop the sword strikes from such Martial Artists. If they do try, there is very high chance of them being cut into two.
Ryan was certain that he would have no problem in comprehending the First realm of Sword-intent as he had Asura Martial Spirit, but subsequent realms of Sword-intent would not be that easy to comprehend. It takes billions of years for a Martial Artist to comprehend all ten realms of Sword-intent.
The Heaven Sundering Sword Martial Skill is not easy to master either. It requires a Martial Artist to spend a lot of time before he can master a single slash of it, and Ryan was no different. He spent a lot of time in Divine Martial Sect’s Sword Pavilion trying to master the first six slashes of the Heaven Sundering Sword Martial Skill, but he was still far from mastering them.
The Sword Pavilion enables a Martial Artist to comprehend Sword-intent at a much faster pace than usual. Its walls and floors are imbued with the Sword-intent of powerful Martial Artists of the Divine Martial Sect, which can be used to comprehend Sword-intent. The chamber also provides Martial Artist with targets and practice dummies to hone their Sword skills on.
Ryan practiced the first six slashes of the Heaven Sundering Sword Martial Skill while sensing the Sword-intent in one of the Sword Pavilion’s chambers. As time passed Ryan’s mastery over the sword increased, though he was still far from being able to comprehend Sword-intent.
Ryan trained like a maniac each day as he had very limited time on his hands. He had to surpass Rai before God’s Domain opened. If he failed, then his Master might not allow him to enter God’s Domain.
Occasionally, he went to the First level of Cloud-piercing Mountain to meet Haden and company to deepen his friendship with them. He came to know that both Haden and Ryder belonged to Family Clans under the Divine Martial Sect. Their Family Clans could be regarded as the strongest amongst all the other Family Clans under Divine Martial Sect. Being from prominent Family Clans, they knew a lot of things about the different factions on Grandura. Ryan bombarded them with a lot of queries so that he could have a better understanding of the way in which the different factions of Grandura worked and they tried their best to answer his queries.
Ryan also came to know a lot of other things about Cynthia from Raymond, who’d used his connections to find out everything about her. Ryan was stunned when he came to know these things. Cynthia’s circumstances were quite like his.
She belonged to a powerful faction named the Raffle Family Clan and she’d come to Divine Martial Sect due to Arlo, who was the strongest Life Attribute Ancestor Level Martial Artist on Grandura. Cynthia’s Innate talent was truly remarkable, because of which the Raffle Family Clan had requested Arlo to take her as his personal disciple as the Raffle Family Clan wanted her to have the best possible Master. They had decided on Arlo without thinking much about the reservations that the Dark Moon Family Clan might have about their decision. The Raffle Family Clan’s action also showed their disinterest in upholding the marriage agreement between the clans.
The Dark Moon Family Clan opposed their decision to choose Arlo, as Arlo was Raymond’s friend, but the Raffle Family Clan ignored them. Cynthia’s future achievement was more important to them than the Dark Moon Family Clan. That had infuriated the Dark Moon Family Clan and had led to some differences between the two factions but the marriage was not called off.
Rai and Cynthia had been engaged when Cynthia was still in the Awakening Realm, when she was yet to display her terrifying talent. The members of the Upper echelon of the Raffle Family Clan at that time wished to form a relation with the Dark Moon Family Clan because of Rai’s Innate talent, which made it clear that he would stand at the helm of Grandura in the future, if nothing happened to him before he matured. The Raffle Family Clan wished to have a strong connection with Rai and marriage was the best possible option, so they’d decided on Cynthia as the scapegoat. Cynthia was against it but was forcefully engaged to him.
Things changed, though, when she entered the Condensation Realm by successfully awakening her Martial Spirit. Her Martial Spirit and Innate talent shocked the Raffle Family Clan, as her talent was higher than Rai’s by a whole level, and her Martial Spirit was of Life Attribute. Martial Artists possessing Life Attribute Martial Spirit are exceptionally rare and the ones with exceptionally high talent are even rarer, so Cynthia’s standing in the Raffle Family Clan changed vastly.
Generally, no faction would send such a talented disciple to another faction. The members of the Upper echelon of the Raffle Family Clan regretted pushing Cynthia to marry Rai, but they could not backtrack as their reputation was on the line. If they backtracked, who would believe their words in the future?
The Dark Moon Family Clan was happiest at that time, as they had gained a Life Attribute Martial Artist with such terrifying potential, but their happiness was short-lived. Cynthia publicly refused to m
arry Rai soon afterwards.
This infuriated the Dark Moon Family Clan, but it gave a chance to the members of the Upper echelon of the Raffle Family Clan to avoid the marriage agreement. The members of the Upper echelon of the Raffle Family Clan extended the marriage date by a few years and set the marriage for Cynthia’s twenty fifth birthday. The Dark Moon Family Clan understood their intention as did the other factions of Grandura.
The members of the Upper echelon of the Raffle Family Clan had made it clear to the Dark Moon Family Clan that they wouldn’t force Cynthia to marry against her will. They suggested that Rai could try courting Cynthia. If Cynthia agreed, then they’d proceed as had been decided previously.
The Dark Moon Family Clan understood the intention of the Raffle Family Clan in placing such a condition. They knew that Cynthia hated Rai to the bone for some unknown reason, so the chances of Rai successfully courting her were next to nil. The Raffle Family Clan’s suggestion was just meant to give them some face, however the Dark Moon Family Clan couldn’t do much, but accept the Raffle Family Clan’s condition.
Since then Rai had been trying to court Cynthia, but each attempt had resulted in failure. The Dark Moon Family Clan decided then to rely on dirty tricks and started putting pressure on the Raffle Family Clan. They hurt any guy that approached Cynthia under the guise that he was trying to hit on their daughter-in-law and thus made sure that no guy approached her.
They also sent a few of their disciples to the Divine Martial Sect to keep an eye on Cynthia. The members of the Upper echelon of the Divine Martial Sect were opposed to that, but had no choice in the end, and had to allow it. Those disciples attacked any guy that approached Cynthia and hurt many Divine Martial Sect disciples, but the members of the Upper echelon of the Divine Martial Sect were unable to do anything.