by KSY
“Did you … succeed in … getting Nascent … Soul Fruits?” Natasha asked as she stammered, and the rest of the group were even unable to speak as they were lost in their own thoughts.
“Yes,” Ryan said as he started to take Nascent Soul Fruits out of his Spatial pouch one by one. He handed them over to the members of his group as he took them out. Raban and company accepted them with heavy hands, as they had no idea what to say.
Ryan also took out his share once he was done distributing Nascent Soul Fruits amongst his fellow group, as he had yet to eat one himself. He had decided to eat along with the rest of them.
Ryan started to eat immediately, and found the taste to his liking even though its appearance was creepy. He felt a strange energy gushing into his soul. It was very pure, and he felt as if had once again returned to his mother’s womb. The feeling was completely different from what he was expecting.
“Why don’t you people start eating?” Ryan asked as he noticed his fellow group-members looking at him in a weird manner.
“Ryan, I will forever remember your goodwill,” Raban said as he started eating his Nascent Soul Fruit. Other members of the group also said similar things and started eating their Nascent Soul Fruits. They too felt a sensation similar to that of Ryan’s.
Livius and the other four for some reason felt that the Baleful auras inside their bodies were no longer attacking their minds. They had unexpectedly calmed down. This fact made them giddy deep down, as they quickly started to devour Nascent Soul Fruit in large bites.
It took everyone about half an hour to finish eating the Nascent Soul Fruits following which everyone found themselves a place while their souls slowly assimilated the fruit’s energy. They could feel an increase in the strength of their souls with each passing second as more and more Nascent Soul Fruit energy was assimilated. It took about half a day for their souls to completely absorb the energy.
Everyone was extremely excited as they could tell that the strength of their souls had increased by leaps and bounds. They were certain that now Soul attacks from beings with the same Cultivation Level as them would be unable to even harm them. The best part was that now they would be able to gain insights in Elemental Laws at a higher rate than before.
Livius and the other four Taboo Martial Artists were the happiest of all. In addition to being able to gain insights in Elemental Laws at a higher rate, they were now able to control the Baleful aura inside their bodies at will just like Ryan was able to do.
Ryan, on the other hand, had a stunned expression as he was studying the changes in his soul. The strength of his soul hadn’t increased, but his soul had undergone a strange mutation.
Generally, the souls of all beings are colorless and translucent, but Ryan’s soul had turned pitch-black and opaque. Yama was looking at Ryan’s soul with disbelief. He was unable to fathom how something like this could have happened to Ryan.
“How could his luck be so heaven defying?” Yama thought to himself. He was truly envious of Ryan’s luck at that moment.
“Yama, do you have any idea?” Ryan asked helplessly as he was unable to figure out anything regarding his mutated soul. He could tell from Yama’s expression that he knew the reason behind it.
“I truly have no idea why your soul underwent a mutation,” Yama said in a nonchalant manner as he regained his composure. His reply almost made Ryan and Dargar vomit blood, as they could tell that he was lying with a straight face. Ryan knew that the mutation of his soul was a good thing, though, otherwise Yama wouldn’t have been so calm.
Ryan just helplessly shook his head as he got up from the floor of the cave which attracted everyone’s attention. They too followed suit as the energy of Nascent Soul Fruit had already been assimilated by their souls.
“Let’s go for the exchange,” Ryan said with a smile on his face. Everyone looked at Ryan in an odd manner as they had no idea what he was talking about. He quickly explained everything to them, and then everyone nodded their heads as they smiled at him.
Soon they left the cave to find the spot in the Outer region of Forest of Tears, where the majority of participants had assembled.
Only twenty days were left before the Divine Trials ended.
Ch.28
In Outer space at a little distance from Grandura, a spatial tear appeared out of nowhere. A fiery blue light-beam came out of it, the forward-movement of which caused the space around it to rupture. So the power associated with the fiery blue light-beam can be imagined.
The fiery blue light-beam charged straight towards Grandura, and soon entered Grandura’s atmosphere and charged straight on towards Dragon Head Continent with indomitable might. The night sky above Dragon Head Continent was eerily illuminated by the fiery blue light-beam as it tore through the sky.
The fiery blue light-beam gave off a very powerful pressure which froze all the beings on Dragon Head Continent in their spots for few seconds, including beings that had Cultivation Levels beyond the Immortal Realm, until it disappeared from the sky. Everyone on Dragon Head Continent had felt that the world was going to end within those few seconds.
So, when the terrifying pressure disappeared they sighed with relief. They were all shaken up and couldn’t help but tremble in fear. They were unable to fathom what exactly had come to Grandura from Outer space, but everyone was certain that the fiery blue beam of light was most likely an object from Outer space.
Dragon Head Continent’s factions immediately mobilized all their manpower to find the thing that had come from Outer space. It was not just them, but even factions from other continents sent numerous teams to search for it. Soon even powerful Elemental Beasts, Demon Kings, Devil Kings, Undead lords and even the Dragon King mobilized their followers. Everyone wished to get their hands on the thing that had come from Outer space.
One thing was certain: a big bloodbath was guaranteed the moment it was found.
Sheldon and Danr were personally leading a large group of Ancestor Level Martial Artists. The power of the blue light-beam had been felt by everyone present on Grandura, so it was but natural that they would rush to Dragon Head Continent in the shortest possible time.
The place where the thing from the Outer space had fallen was soon found. It didn’t take long for millions of beings of all kinds to assemble there, but each and every one had a twisted expression.
The place was Luminous Lake in Desolate Forest but it had been completely transformed into a raging inferno. The temperature there was thousands of degrees. The black Miasma that had shrouded the place for the past few months had been destroyed by the power of the thing that had come from the Outer space.
The water of Luminous Lake had also dried up from the heat released by the thing that had come from Outer space and a huge portal was visible at the bottom of the dried-up lake. A number of volcanos were also visible at the bottom of the dried-up lake at a little distance from the portal. All the factions could tell that the portal was the entrance to an Ancient Legacy Land, and they were certain that the thing that had come from Outer space had most likely entered the Legacy Land.
All Legacy Lands have safety mechanisms. The Legacy Land in Luminous Lake must have felt threatened by the thing that had come from Outer space, because of which it had activated its safety mechanisms. These safety mechanisms could even deal with a God.
Everyone who’d arrived at Luminous Lake knew that none of them would be able to enter it as only Martial Artists of the Younger generation can enter Legacy Lands. Most Legacy Lands are protected by Heavenly Laws so it is impossible for the Martial Artists from Divine Universe just to barge into them.
The creators of Legacy Lands are required to inscribe certain powerful runes on the Core of the Legacy Land so it can receive the protection of Heavenly Laws. Those runes are called Heavenly Runes. The Treasure Space in Sundering Valley has similar runes inscribed on its Core. Heavenly Runes can be inscribed on any kind of structure or spatial dimension by its creator. Heavenly Runes allow creators to
put restrictions on their creations. Others can only access them if they are able to fulfill the conditions set by the creator.
The portal in the middle of Luminous Lake closed soon afterwards, and a huge circular platform appeared in its place, which was within everyone’s expectation as the Legacy Land’s defense mechanism no longer perceived any sort of danger. Since the thing that had come from Outer space had entered the Legacy Land that meant that none of the factions could get it, as such a powerful object was not something anyone from the Younger generation could even think of acquiring.
This made every faction gloomy, but all was not lost. This Legacy Land was millions of years old so the Heavenly Treasures inside it must have already turned into Heaven Defying Treasures.
All the big-wigs of every faction, powerful Elemental Beasts, Devils, Demons and so on that was present at Luminous Lake were looking at each other with caution. A single move by any faction could lead to a bloodbath. A lot of Martial Artists and beings that had come from Divine Universe were currently present there, so the scale of any war wouldn’t be small.
“Let’s first check the requirements of the Legacy Land before we try to kill each other,” Danr said in an ironic voice, and everyone couldn’t help but agree with his words.
The factions that were at odds with Eternity Family Clan and Heaven Sundering Family Clan, especially Calamity Sect, paid special attention to Danr and Sheldon.
Calamity Sect had also sent thousands of Immortal Realm Martial Artists and all of them were being led by a middle-aged man, whose aura was extremely archaic. Anyone could tell that this man was from the Main branch of Calamity Sect.
He’d been looking at Sheldon and Danr since his arrival at Luminous Lake. Naturally they could sense this man’s gaze on them, but had decided to ignore him.
One of the Ancestor Level Martial Artists of Black Blood Family Clan flew towards the circular platform at the bottom of the dried-up Luminous Lake. He channeled his Spirit Power into the circular platform, and soon a screen appeared above it which stated the requirements for entering the Legacy Land.
The requirements were within everyone’s expectations:
That the Legacy Land would only permit entry to beings whose age didn’t exceed thirty.
That the Legacy Land was not race-specific (which meant all kinds of beings could enter it - which made powerful Elemental Beasts, Devils, Demons and so on giddy deep down).
That the Legacy Land would open in a little over a year (which made simply everyone excited).
All Legacy Lands had fixed times for opening and closing. Some open only every thousands of years, while some open every few years. The Legacy Land whose entrance was at the bottom of dried-up Luminous Lake opened once every million years just like God’s Domain.
All the beings that had arrived at Luminous Lake quickly returned to their factions as they knew that staying there any longer was futile. They intended to make preparations and decide who from their factions would enter the Legacy Land.
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Calamity Sect was established on an island in the middle of Crimson Sea, which is one of Grandura’s nine seas. Crimson Sea is not actually crimson-colored. It was named that because of the sheer number of Martial Artists that had lost their lives while venturing onto it. Crimson Sea has innumerable beings in it, and all of them are vicious and dangerous in the extreme.
“Ancestor, why can’t we go to war with Heaven Sundering Family Clan and Eternity Family Clan? We have to make them pay for their previous deed,” one of the Ancestor Level Martial Artists of the Grandura branch of Calamity Sect asked with a frustrated expression. It was not just him but everyone from Calamity Sect’s Grandura branch had a similar question.
“The Main branch has asked us to avoid a conflict with both those Family Clans for the time being,” a man who was shrouded in Miasma said. He also had an ancient aura around him, and it was clear that he was a member of Calamity Sect’s Main branch. The members of Grandura branch couldn’t help but feel unhappy by such instructions from the Main branch.
“Don’t worry. We will make them pay a bitter price in the future; the current situation is not in our favor,” the man shrouded in Miasma said. The members of Calamity Sect’s Grandura branch could only accept the will of the Main branch, even though they were unhappy about it deep down.
They were thirsty for the blood of the members of Heaven Sundering Family Clan and Eternity Family Clan, as they had suffered great humiliations at their hands and wanted to use their blood to erase this blood-feud. The man shrouded in Miasma knew that for their Main branch to issue such a command meant that the Main branches of both the Family Clans had somehow survived the assault by Nebula Sect.
“First, decide the line-up of the members of the Junior generation that will enter this Legacy Land. Send the very best amongst them,” the man shrouded in Miasma said as he left the Meeting Hall. The members of Calamity Sect’s Grandura branch were hesitant to send the best amongst the Younger generation however, as there was a less than fifty percent chance of them coming back out of the Legacy Land.
The news regarding the Legacy Land whose entrance was located at the bottom of the dried-up Luminous Lake had already spread in the entirety of Heaven Sundering Family Clan and Eternity Family Clan, but not many youngsters were interested.
The Senior generation also had no intention of forcing anyone since the chances of returning from any Legacy Land were less than fifty percent. The ones that were interested either lacked talent, or were extremely ambitious. The members of the Upper echelons of both Family Clans knew, though, that the number of youngsters that wished to enter the Legacy Land would increase once the Divine Trials ended, as the most ambitious youngsters were still inside the Treasure Space.
Meanwhile, everyone in Sundering Valley wore tense looks as all the screens had suddenly disappeared from the sky above Sundering Valley the moment the Divine Trials had reached an important phase. Everyone had been anxiously waiting for the exchange that Ryan was going to hold, but now all their hopes were dashed.
They could only wait until the end of the Divine Trials to know who was able to acquire Dark Star Ore from Ryan.
Ryan and his fellow group-members had already reached the spot where most of the participants had accumulated in the Outer region of Forest of Tears. The first thing Raban and the others did was to find the groups that had joined hands with them to acquire Heretical Fiery Liquid.
Raban and the rest were able to find four of those groups while the fate of the rest was unknown to them. Some amongst those four groups had already used the Heretical Fiery Liquid following which they’d been ejected from the Treasure Space.
At the time the groups had had no idea why they’d been ejected. The members of the four groups almost fainted upon knowing that the Fiery liquid that they’d assumed was Divine Fiery Liquid was actually Heretical Fiery Liquid. Soon tears started to flow down their cheeks as they could already imagine what had happened to their team members after they’d been ejected from the Treasure Space.
Raban and company consoled them; Ryan also felt very sorry for them.
This scene but naturally attracted the attention of the other participants that arrived at Forest of Tears for the exchange. They were unable to fathom why the members of those four groups started to cry like that after meeting with Raban and company.
The members of those four groups lost all their interest in Dark Star Ore and bid Raban and company goodbye before they started walking towards the exit of Forest of Tears. Ryan quickly stopped them and took out Dark Star Ore pieces from his Spatial pouch, and gave one to each and every member of the four groups.
Everyone was looking at Ryan in a dumbfounded manner as he did that, and the reactions of the members of the four groups was no different. They opened their mouths a few times, but no words came out. None of them had expected Ryan to be the mysterious participant that had acquired the Dark Star Ore. They than
ked Ryan and quickly left for the exit of Forest of Tears, as they knew that many people were looking at them with ill-intentions.
“I will exchange these pieces of Dark Star Ore only for something of equivalent value, otherwise don’t even think of getting a single piece of Dark Star Ore from me,” Ryan said with a businessman-like smile once the four groups had left.
The remaining groups had an urge to bash him, and some had evil thoughts as Ryan had only a few people by side. The number of people that had turned up for the exchange numbered more than one thousand, so it was natural that some would have nefarious thoughts.
“Ryan, are you sure that you could stop all of us if we were to forcefully take those pieces of Dark Star Ore from you,” one of the group-leaders whose group had joined hands with Yate’s group said with an evil smile. He was trying to rally everyone to rob Ryan, who could but naturally see through him. Yate and other group-leaders were also looking at Ryan with evil smiles plastered on their faces, especially Yate, as he could finally even out things with Ryan.
“Why don’t you try?” Ryan said as he conjured Dargar. The appearance of Dargar alarmed many and they quickly stepped back as none of them had any intention of getting poisoned. Dargar had a sneering expression as he started to spit out large quantities of Emerald fog, which was extremely poisonous and formed a protective layer around Ryan and his fellow group-members. The expressions of everyone with vile thoughts changed, as they could already tell that Ryan had unsealed the Emerald Fog Innate Ability of Emerald vipers which is one of Emerald viper’s most fearsome Innate Abilities.
“I can control this fog with my will. If I find someone with ill-intent towards me or my fellow group-members, then I won’t hesitate in using Emerald Fog to deal with that person. If anyone has doubts that I won’t try to kill such a person, then they can try me,” Ryan said in cold voice which immediately made everyone’s spines tingle with fear. They for some reason felt that Ryan was not joking and would, literally, not hesitate to deal with them.