by KSY
“So, do you want to come or not?” Ryan asked Livius one final time.
“Yes,” Livius said. He had nothing to lose either way, except for his life and he was OK with that.
“Ryan!!!” Emilia roared in anger as she appeared next to Ryan the moment Livius agreed to go along with him to Forest of Tears, as Raban had secretly messaged her about Ryan’s plans. Emilia had tasked him to take care of Ryan, so he hadn’t slacked off even a bit and had immediately informed Emilia. On seeing his mother Ryan felt a chill down his spine even though he was expecting her to come.
“Mom, did you forget something?” Ryan asked in an innocent manner. He made sure that he had a smile on face. Emilia’s hand moved at lightning speed as she caught Ryan’s ear.
“AHHHHHHH” Ryan cried in pain as Emilia twisted it. Everyone seeing this scene started laughing including Livius.
“Mother, at least let me explain myself,” Ryan said as he groaned in pain.
“Explain!” Emilia demanded as she released his ear.
“I am thinking of using my Undead creatures to acquire a few Nascent Soul Fruits. From the start I’ve had no intention of getting close to Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirits,” Ryan didn’t say this out aloud, but instead sent a Mental-message transmission which piqued the curiosity of others. Emilia felt relieved on hearing Ryan’s explanation even though she was not optimistic about his plan, but nevertheless she didn’t criticize him as she wanted him to learn from his own mistakes. She just gave him a slight nod of approval before turning into a blur as she disappeared from her spot. She could tell that her son was telling the truth, so she left quickly.
Ryan just sighed with relief on seeing his mother leave, but the hearts of the other participants were shaken up after seeing Emilia leave so easily. This made all of them believe in Ryan’s earlier claims that he knew of a special method for plucking Nascent Soul Fruits without endangering his life, otherwise Emilia wouldn’t have left so easily.
They could tell from Emilia’s actions that she was extremely angry with Ryan and had come to stop him going after Nascent Soul Fruits. They immediately informed their family members and Branch Elders about it.
This situation also emboldened Livius’s faith in Ryan, but Ryan had been expecting all of this to happen and a sly smile appeared on his face. He even felt a little guilty that he had used his mother in his nefarious plans without her consent.
“Brother Raban, can Brother Livius travel along with us? I will make sure that he doesn’t go on a rampage?” Ryan asked in a polite manner. Raban didn’t know how to respond, so he sent a Mental-message transmission to the other members of the group. Everyone replied affirmatively, as no one minded Livius tagging along with them, as long as they could have a Nascent Soul Fruit for themselves. They could tell that Ryan wouldn’t go with them, if they refused to let Livius their group.
“None of us have any problem,” Raban said while other members of the group just nodded their heads in approval. Ryan thanked them, but he was expecting something like that to happen. He knew from the start that no one would be able to avoid the allure of a Nascent Soul Fruit. Who would want to give up on an opportunity that could completely change their life? Raban and the other members of the group were no different. They were also thinking of somehow getting their hands on Nascent Soul Fruits. It was not just them but all the other participants. All the groups decided to keep an eye on Ryan and Livius.
Four more participants approached Ryan’s group the moment everyone agreed to allow Livius to join them. They were also dressed in red just like Livius, and gave off a vibe quite similar to that of Ryan and Livius. They too were Taboo Martial Artists.
“Can we also join in your expedition to Forest of Tears? One of them asked as they looked at Ryan intently, who, in turn, looked at Raban which made the four participants look at Raban too.
Raban suddenly cursed his luck, as the participants who had asked to join them were known for their violent temperaments. These four guys were best friends and were infamous in the Heaven Sundering Family Clan. They were nicknamed the Four Devils, and the biggest problem was that they were extremely strong which placed Raban in a difficult spot.
Raban didn’t have the confidence he could take them down as they fought like berserk beasts without a care for their lives, and he avoided fighting such people. He wanted to refuse them, but he was scared that they might target him and the members of his group once they were inside the Treasure Space. On the other hand though, if they joined his group, then he wouldn’t have to worry about that happening as the Treasure Space didn’t allow fellow group members to backstab each other, but the number of their enemies inside the Treasure Space would definitely increase, as these four had enmity with the majority of the top participants. Those participants would definitely attack his group if the Four Devils became a part it, but Raban was OK with them being his enemies instead of these four.
“OK,” Raban said after a few minutes.
“Welcome onboard brothers, I am Ryan,” Ryan introduced himself in an excited manner.
“Hello, I am Livius,” Livius said.
“I am Raban and …, ” Raban introduced himself and rest of the group members. They just nodded their heads when Raban introduced them. The Four Devils could tell that they were not that happy with them being in the group, but they were least bothered about that.
“Thank you for letting us join your group. We won’t create unnecessary troubles for you guys. I am Celsus,” the person who looked like their leader said. He was a black-haired guy with a stout body, who looked the friendliest amongst the four of them.
“I am Amosis.”
“I am Bion.”
“I am Hallr.”
The remaining three members of the Four Devils introduced themselves one after the other. Amosis was also a black-haired guy, but with a lean body. Bion had violet hair and was quite tall and muscular. Hallr had red hair and a normal built.
“Since the introductions are over. Let’s go and get the registration done,” Raban said with a smile. Livius, Celsus, Amosis, Bion and Hallr just nodded their heads as they accompanied him to the Law Enforcement Officials for registration. The remaining members of Raban’s group cursed Ryan in their minds and just hoped that he hadn’t lied earlier, but they continued to talk to him just like before.
Everyone else was stunned that Raban had actually agreed to take Celsus, Amosis, Bion and Hallr into his group.
Many were already thinking of attacking Raban’s group once they were inside the Treasure Space.
Ch.16
The news about Ryan knowing a special method for plucking Nascent Soul Fruits from the branches of Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirits without risking his life quickly spread throughout the entire Sundering Valley. Many from the Senior generation didn’t believe Ryan’s words but nevertheless, they still asked the participants from their family and branch to keep an eye on Ryan and his fellow group members once they were inside the Treasure Space.
A single Nascent Soul Fruit can change the destiny of a Martial Artist. A Martial Artist with a strong soul has extremely potent Soul attacks, and also gains insights in Elemental Laws at a very high speed compared to before.
Many people present in Sundering Valley came to confirm Ryan’s claims with his family, who just gave them diplomatic answers. They said that Ryan was just playing around, but none of them believed their words entirely. Ryan’s family members could tell that Ryan was up to something, but they didn’t try to stop him. They had faith that he wouldn’t do something that might create problems for them.
This news even reached the members of the Upper echelons of both Family Clans. They too started paying attention to Ryan.
They found Ryan a little too mature for his age, so they were certain that he might literally have an ace up his sleeves.
In the Inner region, a middle-aged man had appeared in the sky up above, which immediately brought pin-drop silence to it. All the participants looked at h
im without blinking an eye, as they knew his identity. He was none other than Eadgar, who was one of the pillars of strength of the Grandura branch of the Heaven Sundering Family Clan. Eadgar felt satisfied on seeing respect for himself in the eyes of the Junior generation as he cleared his throat to speak.
“Hello, I am Ancestor Eadgar. I will be informing you about the objectives and rules of the Divine Trials. I suppose everyone knows that there is a small world inside the Treasure Space. It was named Raspite by the Founders, and all of you will be spending the next six months in Raspite.
“The Founders hid numerous Heavenly Treasures, High-grade Immortal weapons and armor and Heaven defying pills in Raspite. It also has High-grade Mortal Plant Spirits, Immortal Plant Spirits, descendants of Divine and Ancient Elemental Beasts with high-grade bloodline purities and other kinds of rare and powerful beings with high-grade bloodlines. People who still haven’t got themselves a Soul being can try their luck once they are in Raspite.
“The objectives of the Divine Trials are quite simple. You just need to collect medallions that are hidden across Raspite,” Eadgar said as he scanned the faces of the participants on the ground before he continued. “The medallions look like this, and there are a total of five thousand of them.”
He took out a golden-colored medallion from his breast pocket. It had an image of a Divine dragon etched on it. Everyone etched the image of the medallion in their minds and they nodded their heads hurriedly. The design of the medallions changed for every Divine Trial. The Law Enforcement Officials had new ones made every time and then threw them into the Treasure Space portal. The Treasure Space would then randomly scatter them around Raspite to make sure that there was no cheating.
Ryan was looking at the medallion with an incredulous expression, as he could feel a faint weird aura from it, and he knew that none of the participants except him could sense it. The medallions were made in a manner that they didn’t emit any kind of aura or energy, otherwise it would be a piece of cake to discover them. This fact made Ryan giddy.
Eadgar continued. “The total number of medallions collected by you during the Divine Trials will determine your rank. The first hundred participants are eligible for prizes so don’t waste time searching for the stuff left behind by the Founders. The top one hundred participants will get Heavenly Treasures of varying grades depending on their ranks. Others don’t need to be discouraged, as the medallions found by them can still be exchanged for normal treasures from the Treasure pavilion.”
“I wish everyone good luck and now you guys can start entering the portal,” Eadgar concluded as he wished them on their way.
Everyone nodded their heads and started moving towards the portal, and Raban’s group was no different.
“Brother Raban are medallions also going to be split equally amongst fellow group members?” Ryan asked with a concerned look. This was also the question in the minds of Livius and the other four Taboo Martial Artists who like Ryan had just joined the group.
“Medallions will not be split equally amongst the group members, unlike other treasures. They will be kept by the person who discovers them first. You will have to compete against your own group members for them,” Raban explained with a smile.
On hearing this Ryan just nodded his head.
“What if two people find a medallion at the same time?” Ryan again asked. This time his fellow group members were unable to hold themselves from laughing out loud.
“Such a situation very rarely occurs. In such situation, we generally toss a coin,” Raban said with a smile. Ryan just nodded his head as he finally understood everything.
The participants numbered in the thousands, so it took some time for Raban’s group to enter the portal. All the members of Raban’s group entered the portal at the same time and the runes on their palms lit up soon after. The runes made sure that all the members of the group were teleported to the same location in Raspite after entering the portal. This was one of the most important functions of the runes drawn on their palms .
Ryan appeared in a white cubical room within a few seconds of entering the portal. It was not just Ryan, though, all participants appeared in similar rooms after entering the portal. These white rooms scanned the participants and their equipment. Ryan could tell that his entire body, Spatial pouch, and Undead pouch were being scanned by the white room which made him a little nervous. He was worried that Death Sword, Lachesis, and his Undead creatures might get sealed.
Soon a few hundred seals materialized out of thin air near Ryan. These seals entered his Undead pouch and Spatial pouch without any kind of resistance. The seals that entered his Spatial pouch sealed all the powerful charms and other dangerous things that he’d received from his grandpas and grandmas during his stay at the Estate in Forest of Darkness. On the other hand, though, the seals that entered his Undead pouch just suppressed the Cultivation Levels of all the Undead creatures in his possession to that of the Early Mortal Emperor Realm. The good news was that nothing of that sort happened to either Death Sword or Lachesis. It was as if the white room was unable to even sense their existences. Ryan was covered in white light before he was teleported from the white cubical room once it was done scanning him. This time Ryan appeared in a desolate lush green meadow.
Ryan’s expression changed when he noticed that the air in the lush green meadow had large quantities of Poison Elemental Energy. This place was quite infamous as it was extremely dangerous. Many participants in the past had lost their lives in the meadow, when they’d tried to venture into it.
This meadow was also one of three Forbidden regions of Raspite, just like Forest of Tears, but it was the most dangerous of them. His family had specifically asked him to stay away from this place, which was called Poison Meadow.
This was not the only problematic thing about the entire situation.
The other one was that he was all alone. His fellow group members were nowhere in sight. He quickly used the rune on his palm to locate them, and its result made his facial expression turn grim. It turned out that his other group members had been teleported to another end of Raspite completely in the opposite direction from his current location. He didn’t know what to think about the entire situation. It turned out that he would have to go solo after all, until he could reunite with his fellow group members.
Ryan suddenly had a stunned expression as he realized something else. The Treasure Space was made in such a manner that Divine Trial participants lost all connection with the outside world while they were inside it. The Soul links between the participants and their Soul beings had also been suppressed which would make it difficult for them to communicate, but this hadn’t happened in Ryan’s case as he was still able to feel a very strong connection with his Soul beings. Ryan tried to contact Caius and instantly received a response from him, but this fact bewildered Ryan.
“This is most likely due to your overpowered soul. The Treasure Space was designed to suppress the Soul links between Late Mortal King Realm Martial Artists and their Soul beings at most. So, it is not odd that the Treasure Space is unable to suppress the Soul link between you and your Soul beings. I think you are probably the only one amongst all the participants who is still able to communicate with his Soul beings,” Yama explained.
Ryan just nodded his head in agreement. He then activated his Asura eyes and took off in the sky as he flew in the direction of his group members at high speed.
He wished to reunite with them at the earliest.
“Father, why did you do something like that?” Herman said in anger. He didn’t like the fact that Solomon made the Treasure Space teleport Ryan to Poison Meadow, and that too, all alone. This was the most dangerous area in Raspite and had claimed numerous lives in the past. So, it was but natural that he would get angry at Solomon.
“I have great expectations of this kid. So, I just wish to test him a little,” Solomon said in his defense.
“Father, you are unnecessarily putting him in danger,” Heron said as
he looked at his father in a displeased manner.
“Why don’t you check the stuff he is carrying along with him before you question me?” Solomon said as he handed over a blue cube made of an unknown metal to Heron. The blue cube was the Master controller of the Treasure Space. It could also be used to retrieve the result of the scans that were done on all the participants by the Treasure Space in the white cubical rooms.
“Just how??” Heron mumbled in disbelief.
“What happened?” Herman asked with curiosity.
“Why don’t you check it yourself?” Heron said as he passed the blue cube to Herman.
“What the!!!” Herman was stunned.
“Why is he in possession of so many dangerous things?” Herman asked with disbelief.
“No idea, but I have already sealed the majority of them. This will make the competition fair,” Solomon said. Heron and Herman just nodded their heads as they left Solomon’s house. Solomon was living in a simple single room house that was located on the top of a cliff. The first thing that came into their sight after exiting it was the red sky. It made them remember that they were no longer on Radiant Divine World as they took off into it.
Solomon’s Divine World was named Endless Abyss Divine World by the inhabitants of Hell, as no one had ever returned from this Divine World after entering it. It was one of the many Forbidden Divine Worlds of Hell. Endless Abyss Divine World had been Solomon’s Divine World even before he received the serious injury that had forced him to hide on Grandura. Solomon had only dared to return here, after he had fully recovered his former strength. He had placed numerous restrictions on Endless Abyss Divine World and was unable to remove them without his former strength. These restrictions were the main reason for Endless Abyss Divine World’s fearsome reputation.
All the members of the Main branches of both Family Clans that had survived the first assault by the Nebula Sect had arrived at Endless Abyss Divine World safely. The second assault by the Nebula Sect was extremely strong, but they’d still been unable to breach the barrier created by the Heaven Mutiny Pillar as Solomon was actively powering it.