Damned Healer-Chapter 459: Completely Different

It was still early in the night, and the party was getting livelier by the minute.

The three emperors knew that now that Darian was back, the Shadows of Heaven clan would once again have new people wielding the Heroic Shadows. And since the three empires had become true allies, there were no longer any restrictions on people joining the clan. So everyone brought their most promising young talents and introduced them to Darian, hoping he’d recruit them.

There were over fifty outstanding figures, all with six or seven rings. Every one of them was under two hundred years old — if they were on planet Vadise, they’d be considered below average, and just for being human, people there would only marry them off to beasts.

But on Earth, they were all seen as incredible geniuses, only made possible because Darian had refined the techniques of the three empires.

In the case of the Celestial Order Empire, because they had become renowned forgers throughout the universe, their most talented youths were able to properly equip themselves, and the empire had gained endless resources by selling weapons abroad. As a result, those who already had talent received everything they needed to ascend and become stronger.

As for the Aeternum Atlantis and Polar Circle empires, their combat power had skyrocketed thanks to the improvement of their core techniques. Now, their most gifted young Fighters could stand toe-to-toe with the top geniuses from other major planets — as long as they had the same number of rings.

Darian looked into the karma of those young people; none stood out, either positively or negatively. In other words, they were ordinary people who, with the right training, could become good soldiers.

But karma didn’t perfectly reflect a person’s true nature.

"In a few days, I’ll be heading back to the Divine Protection Universe. That’s where the clan will officially hold its test and recruit new members," Darian said calmly, looking at everyone. "I won’t accept or reject anyone carelessly. You probably already know my life is surrounded by chaos and trouble. Anyone without strong willpower and without the resolve to fight for what’s right will die quickly. So... I’ll have to put you all to the test."

Camille nodded; she was the only one who knew the full truth about Darian’s real identity and the changes happening across the universe. She said, "Since you’re not really after talent, our three empires can send as many people as we can for the test, right?"

Darian nodded in agreement. At this point, turning an average Spiritual Guardian into someone strong was easy for him. He had everything needed to train them — all that mattered was that the person truly wanted it and could be trusted.

"Well, I also brought a few useful things for the three empires."

Darian spoke calmly and handed each of the three emperors a spatial ring. Inside each one were hundreds of different Jade Slips.

"These are all magical techniques I got from a distant place. Some are pretty complex, and most of them were designed to be used with Primordial Yin and Yang. But with blessings and artifacts, it shouldn’t be a problem to adapt and use them, right?"

Everyone’s hearts raced at those words. Magical techniques were things that came from other universes, based on energies that existed there. The core techniques of their empires were also considered above-average magical techniques.

Spiritual Guardians couldn’t use them directly, since they were made to work with the natural energy of universes, not with the power of their rings. But in the hands of talented people — with research and adaptation — they could create alternate versions of those techniques and make them usable.

There were blessings and artifacts of every imaginable kind. Sometimes, these adapted magical techniques even became stronger than the originals; sometimes, weaker. It depended on many factors.

"You’ve heard that I obtained an immortal-level magical technique ten years ago, right? Some of these I’m giving you aren’t any weaker than that," Darian went on.

When they heard that, the three emperors froze.

"All three rings have the same contents, so I suggest you gather your top scholars and focus on making these techniques usable. When one of you manages to make one work, let the others know. There can be two versions of the same magical technique, sure, but right now that’s a waste of time. The important thing is to make them usable so that all Spiritual Guardians from the three empires can grow in power together."

Those were all techniques from the Wild World and the Heavenly World, created by countless generations and recorded in the sects and clans of those realms. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Since those worlds had powerful primordial races, primordial energy, and the help of the system itself, the level of those techniques was terrifying compared to anything that existed in this universe.

Darian hadn’t spent his time in Vadise idly; aside from training, he also conducted extensive research on that fifth-ranked planet in the universe.

In the royal castle, princes and princesses had access to magical techniques. Depending on their type of blessing, those techniques could be quite helpful. Darian had even asked Zelkov and Tetoya, who showed him a few they’d trained with.

All the ones guarded by the royal family were considered high-level — but compared to the techniques Darian had studied in those other worlds, they were garbage.

That’s why he was sure that giving away everything he had would change Earth forever.

There were many blessings and artifacts that used pure Yin and Yang. By adding the power of the ring and the spiritual root that distorted reality, it would be possible to use them. Even if they turned out weaker than they should be, they’d still rival the power of blessings — giving everyone a secondary source of strength.

Because of these techniques, the next generations of Spiritual Guardians in the three empires would likely prioritize blessings that used pure Yin and Yang. That way, they wouldn’t rely so much on artifacts to perform techniques, and their average power level would keep rising.

The three emperors looked at Darian seriously. But seeing his expression, they realized he wasn’t done yet.

Sure enough, he nodded and sent a spatial ring to Tian Yu and Nikolai.

"I also brought some metals and minerals... let’s say, peculiar ones. There’s a lot in both rings — you can use it all to better equip the strongest people in your empires," Darian said calmly. "Make that a priority too. Things on Earth are about to get pretty chaotic and tense."

The two looked inside the rings and narrowed their eyes. The rings were top-tier, with maximum space — like enormous storage vaults hundreds of meters wide — but they were completely full. Inside, they saw countless materials, all with their energies sealed.

Why would anyone seal the energy of metals and minerals? They’d never seen anything like it before, not even in the highest-level universes.

Darian didn’t explain; they’d understand soon enough. Those materials were born from Primordial Yin and Yang, and they’d never find anything that pure in their entire lives.

He turned toward Camille, who stared back at him calmly, waiting for something. In the end, she didn’t receive anything.

Darian sighed and turned to Lucius and Veyle, who were standing nearby. Veyle was elegantly dressed, her hand held by Lucius. Feeling his gaze, she turned to Darian with a very different glint in her eyes.

’Good boy, he handled things the right way,’ Niara murmured in satisfaction.

Darian nodded — Lucius must’ve calmed her down properly, meaning the two had made up and were ready to take a big step forward in their relationship.

Turning back to Camille, Darian murmured, "I brought plenty of things for her to train with and use. Everything will be planted near the World Tree, and that isolated land will change completely. I’d say the World Tree’s going to bear a lot of new fruits for you."

Camille nodded, excited. The World Tree created life around it, but also connected with everything nearby. If they planted powerful things in that area, the benefits from the World Tree would match their strength.

After Darian finished talking, the party went on, with everyone chatting and eating. A little later, Darian slipped away and went alone to the balcony.

Everyone noticed, but no one followed him, since they knew he wanted to be alone with the one he was connected to.

He took a deep breath and looked at the beautiful full moon and the starry sky.

"..."

This moon wasn’t as big as the one from that world, and not nearly as bright. But he really missed admiring it.

’How frustrating... I can’t even see how much you’ve changed. I can only feel from here... that you’ve gotten physically a lot stronger,’ Niara murmured softly in his mind. ’Besides... without me around, you get way too many nasty looks all the time.’

Darian sighed quietly. Niara’s "nasty looks" obviously referred to the female gazes that lingered on him a bit longer than normal.

’Why worry about those looks? You’re here with me... actually, you never really left.’ He sent the thought gently, with a calmness that surprised even him.

Niara huffed inside his mind, and Darian let out a small laugh, feeling the soft breeze brush against his face.

’Why are you laughing? I heard about what happened in that world! That woman, Remira, got really close to you, didn’t she? Why did you talk so little about her, like you were hiding something?’ Niara snapped back.

Darian let out a muffled, drawn-out laugh.

Then, feeling the wave of anger rising in Niara, he stopped and took a deep breath. She, in turn, felt confused, sensing an absolute certainty coming from him.

’I never understood why you pretend to be insecure when you actually know exactly how I feel about you. It’s impossible to hide anything between us. But now... I get you a bit more. I really was kind of an idiot.’

’What do you mean?!’ she shot back quickly.

Darian said calmly, ’When we’re back and you’re in your body again, I’ll tell you the truth. If everything I imagined works... the two of us will, for the first time, meet in our real bodies.’

At that moment, Niara went silent, feeling an immense sense of safety coming from him. That airheaded Darian, who used to run away from his feelings for her, was completely different now.

’What did he mean by that?’ she thought to herself, stunned.

Feeling what he felt... a strange yet wonderful sensation washed over her, making her desperately want to leave and return to her own body.

’Wait... both of us, in our real bodies?’ As that thought crossed her mind, something intense stirred inside her.

At the same time, she sensed nervousness and a burning desire — coming from him too. Niara was even more shaken. Darian was completely certain about something, but also waiting and preparing himself, like he was about to do one of the most important things in his life.

’Damn it... if you make me this anxious... then don’t expect me to be gentle later, got it?’

She murmured mentally, sending him a wave of fierce, impatient desire — clearly physical and anything but gentle.

Darian felt it coming from her and went quiet, a bit stunned.

This time, Niara was the one laughing at his cute reaction. He was still the same deep down, but now so much more mature — and around others, or even her most of the time, he didn’t let that innocent side show anymore.

The two stayed there peacefully for a while longer.

After Niara calmed down, she went back to asking about Remira and other details of that place. This time, Darian answered everything patiently and openly, showing she had his full attention.

...

Hours passed slowly. Around three in the morning, Camille suddenly received an emergency message.

When she picked up the communication artifact and listened, her expression changed.

Anger and killing intent flared in her eyes.

Everyone at the party noticed and turned serious.

Darian walked up to her. When Camille turned to him, she huffed and said:

"An army of over a hundred top Spiritual Guardians stopped in the skies near the empire. Among them are the other three emperors... plus Mellory and that bastard of a husband of yours. They stopped over the sea and said they’ll talk no matter what — or they’ll invade."

In that instant, the whole party went silent.