by KSY
“Ryan, nothing is more important than your life,” Raban said as he tried to reason with Ryan, who had no intention of changing his mind. Others in the group also tried to convince him against going all alone.
“Ryan, I just hope you are not overestimating yourself,” Raban warned.
“I know it is risky, but I have to go. I will back off immediately if things start getting difficult for me,” Ryan said in a serious manner. Raban and the rest just nodded their heads.
“Don’t leave the cave until my return. Many of the surviving groups are currently looking for us,” Ryan said before he exited the cave. Raban and company had mixed feelings about Ryan going deeper into the forest all alone, but soon everyone found themselves spots in the cave and started cultivating Elemental Laws.
Ch. 26
Using his Asura eyes Ryan stealthily exited the cave only after confirming that there was no one around. Ryan knew that his fellow group-members would be in unnecessary trouble if anyone found their location. He executed Shadow Steps Martial Skill as he charged in the direction of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit.
Lachesis also returned to Ryan’s side soon after he exited the cave which brought a smile to his face. She made herself comfortable on Ryan’s head which he didn’t mind at all. Ryan made sure to keep a distance from the Soul Devouring Mortal Tree Spirits and other kinds of Death Attribute vegetation. Soul Devouring Mortal Tree Spirits, unlike Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirits, are unable to freely uses their branches to attack other beings. This makes it difficult for them to attack at long range, so they avoid attacking a being that is quite far from them as they knew that it is of no use.
Ryan’s expression changed suddenly as he noticed hundreds of Undead creatures charging in his direction. He finally understood why this place was a Forbidden Land: it was filled to the brim with Undead creatures. Most of them that were charging in his direction had Cultivation Levels in varying stages of Mortal Lord Realm and a few were in Early Mortal King Realm. The Mortal King Realm Undead creatures were leading the Mortal Lord Realm Undead creatures.
“It seems that this time you will have to fight your way through hordes of Undead creatures to reach your destination,” Yama said in a mocking manner. Yama never liked Ryan’s policy of avoiding unnecessary conflicts, so this situation gave him an opportunity to mock Ryan.
Ryan didn’t retort as he knew that it would be next to impossible to circumvent powerful Undead creatures in Forest of Tears due to their sheer number. He would have to fight his way to the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit.
A sly smile suddenly appeared on his face just as he was gearing up to fight with the Undead creatures, so Yama and Dargar knew that he had most likely thought of a nefarious plan for dealing with the situation. He took out a hundred or so charms from his Spatial pouch, following which he tossed them up in the air. They flew straight towards the Undead creatures that were charging at him, which enraged them as they could sense a terrifying power sealed in the charms.
“Roar!” the Mortal King Realm Undead creatures issued angry roars as they ordered their henchmen to block the incoming charms, and the Mortal Lord Realm Undead creatures charged ahead of their leaders to intercept the charms. On seeing that Ryan smiled. All the charms ignited with a single thought of his and transformed into Black- and White-colored Fiery serpents, which were entirely made up of Hell’s Fire flame and Devil’s flame. Each one was about a meter long and immediately attacked the Undead creature nearest to it. The Fiery serpents made of Hell’s Fire flame burnt them into nothingness within seconds, while the ones made of Devil’s flame thoroughly tortured them before completely burning them into nothingness. The Fiery serpents wiped out all the Undead creatures within a few minutes, as none of the Undead creatures was able to defend itself at all against attack from the Fiery serpents.
The Fiery serpents then started moving in the direction of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit and ignited everything in their path including the vegetation. Soon a large part of the Forest of Tears was covered in flames, and it was burning with two different flames, one black and the other white.
The scene looked quite odd. Ryan could have extinguished this forest fire with a single thought, but he didn’t as he wanted to use the fire as a cover for moving towards the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit. The forest fire was not strong enough to kill beings with a Cultivation Level of Mortal Emperor Realm and above but nevertheless, it was doing its work.
All the beings except for Plants Spirits, Tree Spirits, and beings with a Cultivation Level of Early Mortal Emperor realm and above had already moved to the regions of the forest that were not covered in flames. Beings with a Cultivation Level of Early Mortal Emperor realm and above started to use their powers to forcefully extinguish the raging Hell’s Fire flame and Devil’s flame. No matter how hard they worked, though, they were unable to completely extinguish the flames as the Fiery serpents were igniting something every second which only added to their work. That they were having so much problem dealing with Ryan’s flame was due to their suppressed Cultivation Levels, otherwise they could have extinguished Ryan’s flames with a simple glance.
Such a situation allowed Ryan a free run as no one was interested in an Early Mortal Elite Realm Martial Artist at that moment. They just wanted to save their homes from destruction. Herman and Heron had never thought that someone would use such a method to traverse Forest of Tears, but it was only possible because Ryan possessed such terrifying flames, as normal flames were unable to harm Death Attribute vegetation.
“Yama, do you have something to say now?” Ryan said as a smile appeared on his face. Yama and Dargar were completely speechless, and Earl’s reaction wouldn’t have been any different from theirs had he not been in a deep sleep-state.
They had never expected Ryan to use such a nefarious method to achieve his target.
In the meantime, a big commotion had erupted in Sundering Valley, as some of the screens were showing Forest of Tears on fire. This was because the participants on whom those screens were focused were in the Outer region of the forest. The raging flames of the forest fire were rising to the sky so they were visible to everyone present in the Outer region of Forest of Tears, though the fire was mostly concentrated in the Inner region.
The thing that actually caught everyone’s attention was the Variant flames that were burning the forest: one of them black, and other white, in color. Both flames were extremely sinister-looking. Currently, many people were looking at Ryan’s family as they could tell that the black flames were Hell’s Fire flame, while they weren’t sure what the white flame was, but they didn’t have to wait for long to know its name.
“The white flame is Devil’s flame,” said one of the members of the Upper echelon of Heaven Sundering Family Clan who was able to recognize them. His words caused a big uproar as Devil’s flame was also quite infamous for the pain it caused its victim before taking its life, and also because it was as strong as Hell’s Fire flame.
Many people started to guess which participant possessed Devil’s flame. They assumed that either Ryan and the participant that possessed Devil’s flame must have exchanged blows which had resulted in the forest fire, or that they must have joined hands to start this forest fire for a certain purpose.
Ryan’s family members were looking at the screens with mixed expressions especially Emilia, Oscar, Cris and Blake as they knew that Ryan was the one who possessed both Variant flames, though they had no intention of letting the others know about that.
“What is Ryan up to?” Oscar asked Emilia via Mental-message transmission.
“It has to be something to do with Nascent Soul Fruit,” Emilia replied via Mental-message transmission. Her words made Emilia and Oscar realize something as they looked at the screens with stunned expressions.
They were already able to guess Ryan’s intention to some extent, which made them speechless just like Yama and Earl.
On Endless Divine World, Solomon had already made all his preparation for creating his doppelgänger inside the Treasure Space. He was also watching Ryan’s actions as he traversed Forest of Tears. A smile appeared on his face as he watched Ryan with interest.
“Father, you were right. Sheldon confirmed that he indeed is in possession of a Martial Skill that allows its user to create an Inferno Undead creature,” Herman said as he entered Solomon’s single-room house.
“How many kids can practice this Martial Skill?” Solomon asked with a little excitement.
“This Martial Skill is too demanding so I was unable to find a single person in either Family Clan who can practice it. It’s no wonder that Sheldon decided to pass such a Heaven Defying Martial Skill to Ryan so easily,” Herman said with a frustrated expression.
He and his brother had initially thought that this Martial Skill could become a core Martial Skill for both Family Clans but in the end, it turned out that his and his brother’s excitement was for nothing. They were not able to find a single person who could practice it. Generally, a powerful Martial Skill is only passed to someone if he or she performs numerous meritorious deeds.
“What are the requirements of this Martial Skill?” Solomon asked in a stunned manner.
“This Martial Skill can only be practiced by a Death Fire Dual Attribute Taboo Martial Artist. The Martial Artist must also possess an Evil Variant flame and should have an exceptional control over his flame,” Herman said with an ugly expression, as Death Fire Dual Attribute Martial Artists are extremely rare even in Divine Universe as these two attributes oppose each other.
So if the rest of the conditions are taken into account, then it is next to impossible to find a Martial Artist that can practice this Martial Skill. Solomon also couldn’t help but nod his head in understanding. It was natural that such a Heaven Defying Martial Skill would have its own requirements, which were difficult to fulfill. Solomon became silent after hearing Herman.
It was difficult to tell what was going on in his mind.
“Is the Inferno Undead creature created by this Martial Skill loyal?” Solomon asked after a silence of two minutes.
“Yes. The loyalty of the Inferno Undead creature is on par with that of Soul beings, as the Inferno Undead creature becomes a part of the Evil flame possessed by the Martial Artist. It will die the moment its creator dies,” Herman said. A smile appeared on Solomon’s face on hearing Herman’s words. He was happy for Ryan that he had a being with such a terrifying potential by his side.
“I will go and meet that boy. There are too many oddities associated with him,” Solomon said as he made a few hand signs following which his doppelgänger materialized inside the Treasure Space soon after.
Ryan was currently standing in front of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit. He had a big smile on his face as he had collected a lot of medallions on his way which had taken his total tally to one hundred ninety. He was sure that this many medallions were enough for him to secure a position in the top hundred in the Divine Trials.
Ryan had made sure to release his Baleful aura so that the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit didn’t attack him the moment he entered its range. The Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit was still clutching the Skeleton Undead creature like a kid holding its stuff toy.
The branches of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit moved at lightning speed and quickly wrapped around Ryan. It then pulled him near it just like the Skeleton Undead creature. Ryan didn’t try to stop the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit as he didn’t see any harm in its action.
Lachesis was watching the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit in a guarded manner. She was the not type to easily trust others. She was all geared up to save Ryan if he got into any kind of trouble.
“Hey! Do you wish to become my Soul being? If you do, then I will always be by your side and you won’t be alone ever again,” Ryan asked in a sincere manner as he gently stroked the branch that was currently holding him.
The Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit was stunned for some time after coming to know about Ryan’s intentions. It had always seen other beings in the forest look at it with hate and disgust. This was the first time someone had asked it to becomes friends in such a sincere manner. This fact overwhelmed it.
Ryan didn’t have to wait for long for the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit’s response as it released Ryan from its hold, and its entire body was soon covered in runes. A smile appeared on Ryan’s face on seeing that.
He made Death Sword release a drop of Netherworld Honey as he bit the tip of his forefinger and dropped a few drops of his blood on one of the runes of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit. The Netherworld Honey was mixed with one of the drops of his blood. The blood was quickly absorbed by the rune on the body of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit, following which similar runes appeared on Ryan’s body.
Soon the Soul link was established between them. The branches of the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit started to sway violently for some time before it entered a deep sleep-state, and soon it was covered in its entirety in Unholy black aura.
Ryan felt giddy on seeing this, as it signified that the Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit was most likely gaining Asura Physique as the concept of bloodline didn’t exist amongst Plant Spirits and Tree Spirits. Ryan’s affinity with Death Attribute had again gone up by a notch.
“Your luck is quite good. This Variant Soul Devouring Immortal Tree Spirit has exceptional potential,” Ryan heard someone’s voice from behind him.
“I know that,” Ryan replied in a nonchalant manner, but the next moment he realized something, and he immediately turned around at lightning speed. Ryan was agape as he looked at the middle-aged man standing just a few steps behind him.
The fact that the middle-aged man was not highlighted in his Asura eyes meant that it was not his real body, and most likely an energy projection. The most striking thing about this middle-aged man was his facial features which were quite similar to Ryan’s. This was none other than Solomon’s doppelgänger.
“Who are you?” Ryan asked in a cautious manner though he had a hunch that this middle-aged man was most likely from the Main branches of one of the Family Clans.
“I am your Ancestor. So, you can relax in my presence,” Solomon said with a smile.
“Did I do something wrong?” Ryan asked with a worrying expression as he remembered the strict laws of both Family Clans.
“No. I am here to ask a few questions regarding the Inferno Undead creature on your head,” Solomon came directly to the main point as he had limited time. Ryan’s expression changed, and his hand moved at lightning speed as he quickly covered Lachesis in a protective manner.
“I won’t do anything to your Inferno Undead creature. You can be at ease about it. My son had a talk with Sheldon some time ago, and Sheldon has already informed him about the Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill,” Solomon said. Ryan could tell that Solomon was telling the truth as he knew that Lachesis had been created using Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill.
“If Grandpa Sheldon has already told you everything about the Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill then what questions do you have for me?” Ryan asked with an odd expression.
“I am sure that you already know that your Evil Fire Spirit turned out to be a little different than normal. I wish to know the process that you followed in order to create it. I want to know everything in detail,” Solomon said.
Ryan just nodded and started speaking about his experience of creating the Inferno Undead creature. Solomon just kept nodding his head. Ryan had followed the same process that Sheldon had told Herman. He hadn’t done anything unique. It didn’t take long for Solomon who had lived for countless years to think of a reason why Lachesis had turned out to be so different.
“Ryan, can you condense one of the runes of the Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill?” Solomon said with a bright
smile. Ryan nodded his head and condensed the rune using Hell’s Fire flame. The rune was extremely life-like. It seemed that it would come to life at any moment. Solomon looked at the rune with a stunned expression, as he finally had the reason why Ryan’s Evil Fire Spirit turned out to be so different.
“Thank you for giving this old man some of your time,” Solomon said as he gently patted Ryan’s head. Ryan just nodded his head.
“Are you going back, Grandpa?” Ryan asked in a caring and sweet manner. Ryan could tell that Solomon had no ill-will against him, and Solomon couldn’t help but feel happy when he heard Ryan call him Grandpa.
None of his descendants on Endless Abyss Divine World called him Grandpa, even if he specifically asked them to.
“I have not come here physically. This is just a body I created using energy which won’t last long. I will give you a Martial Skill since you answered my questions truthfully,” Solomon said with a smile.
“Grandpa, what kind of Martial Skill are you going to give me?” Ryan asked in an excited manner.
“This is a Death Attribute Martial Skill, but it’s a support-type Martial Skill, not a combat Martial Skill,” Solomon said with a mysterious smile. Ryan suddenly lost all enthusiasm, and Solomon suddenly had the urge to spank his butt.
“Don’t look down on this Martial Skill. If you are able to master it, then you can even temporarily summon demons from different parts of Grandura, as well as from other High-grade worlds and Divine Worlds. The demons that you summon could support you in fights provided you have something that can entice them to fight for you,” Solomon said in an angry manner.
Ryan couldn’t help but feel excited after hearing this description of the Martial Skill. A smile appeared on Solomon’s face on seeing Ryan’s excited expression. He could not help but see similarities between his younger self and Ryan.