Damned Healer-Chapter 548: Arrogant

Darian and a large army of more than 705 blessed humans, along with their groups, returned to the Universe of Heaven's Will. More precisely, to planet Dharma.

That was where everyone from the Alliance had gathered. Another 300 blessed ones, from different races, were waiting for him. All of them had nine rings and had gone through almost two decades of continuous and extremely harsh training.

Darian saw Irana, who was the number one on planet Aethel. She and Cyaos were the most outstanding humans outside Earth.

Darian turned, meeting Czaza's gaze. She had a small, excited smile, and on her shoulders were two little foxes: one red and the other a shade of purple.

They were the Celestial Foxes of Vadise. During that time, Czaza went through her second Bloodline awakening and, following Darian's guidance, created an ocular power capable of connecting with the Heavenly Beasts. She had become a full Heavenly Beast Tamer.

Alear closed her eyes, focusing on breaking through to seven rings quickly. Meanwhile, Aurix, Caliris, and Painita approached Darian.

"The altar is already ready to take everyone. And also, the mission details arrived correctly." Aurix said in a very strange tone, catching Darian's attention. He didn't hesitate and handed over a Jade Slip.

Darian read it carefully, and his eyes quickly shifted in surprise.

The mission wouldn't happen exactly in a single universe. It was an extremely abnormal and supposedly impossible situation, a massive problem that could only have appeared… because of the actions of a Missionary of the Heaven's Will.

Everything had happened centuries in the past of that universe. A Missionary had been born in a universe called *Three Heavenly Divinities*.

That place, as the name implied, had three immortal Divinities who ascended from mortals to immortals naturally through Qi cultivation. But the Missionary ended up becoming an enemy to those three figures.

He was still very weak and, using his powers, escaped from that universe to another nearby one purely by luck. Then, after reaching the immortal level and taking over that other universe, he returned to the universe of the Three Heavenly Divinities together with aliens, starting a cosmic war. He did all of that purely for revenge, without any order or interference from Heaven's Will.

The Missionary's power created a solid channel connecting the two universes. The war lasted hundreds of years, and both universes were invaded and attacked, with endless deaths and destruction. But in the end… both the Missionary and the three immortals died.

Despite being abnormal and terrifying, the Missionary had been too arrogant and underestimated those three immortals, who had lived hundreds of times longer than him.

In the end, the channel linking the two universes became half-destroyed, but, surprisingly, it still worked and never closed.

The space inside was almost always chaotic and impossible for anyone to use. But every two or three hundred years, for a single day, the space became stable enough.

Inside, besides connecting the two universes, there was something like a small world: an immense battlefield where millions of powerful figures and even four immortals had died. Meaning it was a world full of treasures. When that happened, both universes sent their strongest people, and obviously, a huge conflict would break out.

But that wasn't all. Something even stranger happened there, in that place between two universes.

Put simply, it was as if several identical events kept repeating. Inside, no one could find many valuable things just by searching. But if they participated in the events… magically, terrifying treasures appeared.

The events were a competition for anyone who dared to try, very similar to a training ground. Because of that, both universes named it the **Bloody Battleground Convention**.

In the end, an immortal-level treasure belonging to one of the four dead immortals always appeared for a single lucky person. Everything happened as if that was the prize for first place.

But all participants received something good… as if there was an imaginary ranking where the best always earned more.

No one knew exactly why that happened. Many tests were done: it wasn't an Array, there wasn't any soul or living being controlling it, but it always happened the same way.

The Rank S mission was very simple. The next Convention would happen soon, and all Spiritual Guardians had to enter. The objective was for someone to obtain the final prize. That was it—no extra explanations.

Darian exhaled sharply. He knew Heaven's Will couldn't reveal all the details because of the rules. Obviously, something much bigger and different from the previous Conventions would happen; otherwise, it wouldn't be a Rank S mission.

When Darian turned to Caliris, she spoke coldly: "There's another important point. There's no limit to how many people can cross; they only need to have at least seven rings and form a group of six, with the leader being a blessed one."

Darian listened and nodded. It was a peculiar detail. Normally, missions had very clear limits. He didn't know what the three Spiritual Sovereigns and Vanh were plotting, but they would definitely try something to hinder him and test him.

Those three knew Darian still had seven rings, but they couldn't let him roam freely, growing however he wanted. They were possibly waiting for him to get close to nine rings before attacking, but if they saw him becoming a threat, they would strike immediately before the time came.

"Only people with nine rings and the natives of those two universes will be there. Just don't be too irrational, and they'll barely be able to cause any trouble." Painita said calmly, looking at Niara and Alear, both at Darian's side.

It was a very strange situation. The body Niara used before was quite different from Alear's current one. The mutation that created an atavism was under control, and she only had Dragon traits like a typical Mannaz. But it was still possible to feel it was the same body as before.

Now, Alear had appeared, while Niara was in her true body. Painita felt as if she had two twin daughters, but one of them she hadn't known existed until not long ago.

Niara smiled and sent a mental message to Painita. Soon, she and Darian would return to Vadise, and she'd have time to get to know Alear better.

Darian, unaware of all that, turned to everyone. Seeing that Alear had already reached seven rings, he spoke calmly: "Let's go."

Everyone nodded nervously. Seeing this, he gave a brief explanation of the mission. In the end, he added:

"This mission takes place between two universes very different from the usual. Their elements and energies are abnormal. Some blessings and artifacts might act in weird ways, and you might run into problems. Because of that, all Spiritual Guardians will be sent one year before the main event, so you can get used to everything beforehand."

After hearing that, everyone felt more at ease. Normally, in difficult missions, they arrived in the other universe already in the middle of chaos, but this one was truly different.

Aurix guided them to the altar.

Upon arriving, without hesitation, Darian stepped forward. But he stopped when he felt a slightly trembling hand holding his. He turned to Alear, who was trying to hide her anxiety.

She took a deep breath, calming down slowly, feeling the safety coming from him.

Darian didn't need to say anything, since he had trained and taught her everything he could. This adoptive daughter of his was quite smart, but still young. He had also told her to never try to suppress her emotions and to always be someone free. She could do and express whatever she wanted, and just like with Niara, he would handle any problems that came from that.

Niara was on the other side in silence, watching the two of them. Painita looked at Niara, seeing the maternal affection she had toward Alear. It was as if they were daughter and mother at his side, surrounding him.

Darian resumed walking, and the two moved slowly by his side, with everyone else following behind. It was an army with nearly a thousand blessed ones and their groups, totaling around six thousand people.

In the center of the altar, a circular portal five meters wide appeared after confirming that everyone was within the rules. Niara, as before, because of her contract with Darian, was considered one with him.

And so, they crossed one after another.

---

Everything went dark. Everyone felt as if they were at the bottom of the ocean, pressured from all sides and pulled by an invisible rope in a single direction.

After an unknown amount of time, the light returned little by little, their eyes and consciousness regaining clarity.

They found themselves on dry ground, on a planet without an atmosphere, inside a solar system whose sun was similar to Earth's.

Immediately, everyone was drawn to a terrifying spatial fluctuation. Their gazes and senses focused in a single direction in space.

There, they beheld a cosmic-scale fissure stretching farther than they could see or sense. It was as if the universe had been cracked open, and from within that rift, a destructive power flowed, sending chills down their spines.

At the same moment, everyone felt the energies of the environment. They couldn't perceive the five natural elements, nor any other energy they recognized. Everything in that universe was abnormal, as if nothing familiar existed there. In fact, if they began fighting right then, they would be at a huge disadvantage compared to the cultivators of that place.

The cultivators were extremely powerful. Many Spiritual Guardians had already participated in missions in universes where they existed, and most of the time, they were the threat to be eliminated. Therefore, cultivators could never be underestimated.

Darian's voice sounded emotionless.

"All the others should've arrived already, but each planet was taken to a distant and empty point in the universe, separated from one another. You all must stay here, testing and getting used to everything. As for me, I'll take a look around the universe."

Darian didn't want to sit still for a whole year. For him, it was much more worthwhile to investigate and gather information about that Convention and about the natives.

Knowledge was the greatest weapon he could have, and most likely, the other Spiritual Guardians would be satisfied only with the information provided by the mission.

They didn't know that Heaven's Will couldn't reveal even a third of what was truly necessary. Besides that, they believed they could solve everything just with the power they had. If no more details were given, it meant that, in their view, they already had enough...

Darian, however, couldn't afford to be arrogant. As soon as he said he would explore, Niara and Alear smiled excitedly.

The twins stood up, about to say they would go too, but Darian shook his head.

"Bringing too many people would be troublesome. I'll take my group, and also Czaza and her group, since I believe they'll be useful. The rest of you must focus on what needs to be done during this time."

They nodded, though a bit disappointed. Czaza, on the other hand, was confused about being chosen. Darian didn't explain, but she would understand soon enough.

Darian waved and took out a flying boat made for him by Amara and Haruto. With it, they could travel through the universe much faster. And even better: the entire boat was made of primordial materials he had brought. If Darian were willing to burn resources, nothing would be able to catch him in a chase.

The eleven people boarded the flying boat and departed.

Darian didn't have a specific direction in mind; any path might lead him to something. So he let Alear control the boat however she wanted.

She steered it with a wide smile and great excitement — she was clearly having fun, showing that she was still mentally a teenager. As for Darian, he felt it was his duty to spoil her whenever he could.

A few days later…

"Dan! There's a really powerful aura and a strong death Yin on that planet." Alear pointed toward a huge red planet up ahead.

As the ship approached, the death Yin and the energy fluctuations became even stronger. Clearly, a battle of immense proportions, with countless deaths, was happening there. And besides that, those involved seemed to be at the peak of power in that universe.

Darian nodded; Alear's luck wasn't bad at all. "Let's take a look. Whenever there's conflict, there's opportunity."

Alear nodded, excited. Everyone on the ship took a deep breath. Czaza, however, had a strange expression, as she sensed something very peculiar about that planet. When she noticed Darian's gaze, she understood he had brought her precisely because of that.

They crossed the atmosphere without any resistance, at extreme speed. Then Alear saw the fighters below and exclaimed, "They're all Heavenly Beasts!"