Damned Healer-Chapter 583: One Step From Disaster

With just over two days left before all the Spiritual Guardians left that universe, a fleet of flying boats arrived at a completely isolated, lifeless planet in a distant galaxy.

All 4,500 selected people landed on the rocky, dry surface in the center of a large valley surrounded by mountains.

Darian, Niara, and Alear stayed on the flying boat and landed on the peak of the tallest mountain, at a safe distance from everyone else.

The three of them turned toward the center of everything, watching those people with serious expressions. Darian had already done everything he needed, using the Primordial Bead on all the humans. Their bodies had been completely nourished and were now able to absorb the power coming from the heavens far more efficiently, reaching a semi-immortal level.

As for the 15 beasts, Darian had great confidence in their physiques. As for the Orc Tasia, he asked Veyle for help and used her best pills and methods to guarantee her a high chance.

Unfortunately, Veyle still didn't have the ability to create those same things in large quantities; it had taken her many years to create just a single primordial nourishment pill, using Yin and Yang herbs. So Darian could only choose one, and he preferred to value someone with white karma.

Besides physical nourishment, Darian moved a large amount of Qi from that universe and sealed it inside their bodies. When it was all released, it would be relatively simple to absorb it into the nine rings and break through.

In the end, Darian could only pray for them. If he dared to interfere in any way, he would be marked by the heavens, and it would certainly turn into another Heavenly Annihilation.

Lucius and Lucy were responsible for commanding everything and following the plans created by Darian. His two siblings were completely reliable when acting together.

That army split into four groups, keeping a distance of several hundred meters between each one.

The first group was made up of the 200 people who went through the Heavenly Annihilation alongside Darian. They were the ones with the highest chance of becoming immortals.

The second group consisted of the 705 blessed ones. They had a much greater chance than ordinary people, since they had a connection with the laws of the world; the furious power coming from those laws was easier for them to withstand.

The third group was made up of about 1,600 humans from Earth. They were all those who did not become blessed, but who had green hair and red eyes; 90% had been born in the former Aeternum Atlantis Empire, but there was also a small number from the Polar Circle Empire. This group didn't have the advantages of the previous two, but their bodies didn't need mandatory nourishment; they just needed to survive to become immortals without problems.

The last group was the largest of all, with over two thousand people, made up of all the ordinary ones who didn't fit the other criteria. These, in theory, were the most fragile.

'Bro, we can start.' Lucius's voice echoed in Darian's mind.

He took a deep breath and focused. At that moment, on the ground, everyone in the first group felt the power of chaos sealing the Qi in their bodies break apart.

All two hundred of them closed their eyes. A large portion of the Qi began to leak out of their bodies, but they managed to control part of it and fuse it into their nine rings.

Silence lingered for several minutes. The tension was thick in the air, as if time itself had stopped in anticipation. Until…

*Crack!*

A sharp sound of rupture echoed. Czaza opened her eyes; she was the first to break through.

In the very next second, other identical sounds echoed one after another. All the rest broke through immediately.

**BUZZZ!!!**

Suddenly, space-time began to vibrate and hum in a terrifying way. An oppressive, frightening sensation slammed into everyone like a hammer. Dark clouds started to form overhead, and all light vanished instantly.

If someone were observing the planet from outside, they would see that a third of it was completely swallowed by dark clouds.

Alear and Niara swallowed hard, watching everything with tension. What was about to happen before them was something unique and overwhelming.

Overcoming a Heavenly Punishment was absurdly difficult and cruel; even cultivators were terribly afraid of raising the level of their tribulations, because they knew that only one in a thousand survived.

But that percentage referred to a single person going through it. With 200 together, the laws of the world would increase their strength and pour onto each of them something far above what they should receive.

It wasn't the sum of the power of the 200, or it would stop being a Heavenly Punishment. But it was definitely something with several times more energy than what they would suffer alone.

Even so, Darian made them go through it together. The reason was that he knew the power of the heavens very well, thanks to that book. Increasing the power of the Heavenly Punishment also brought many benefits.

Darian had explained this to everyone beforehand, giving them confidence. A solo Heavenly Punishment was like crystal-clear water rushing through a river's current; if you weren't careful, you'd be swallowed by it.

A group Heavenly Punishment, on the other hand, was like the water becoming muddy. However, muddy water also has its benefits. Completely clean water rarely has fish, and only muddy water allows them to grow properly. Purity and impurity coexist. Good things sometimes have a bad side, and bad things sometimes have a good side.

Doing this in a large group seemed completely insane. But because of that, everyone would have dozens of times more nourishing lightning power to absorb, as well as more time.

**BOOM!!!**

The heavens rained black lightning, so dense it looked like energy swords.

A vast area around them was affected, but everything was focused on those 200. All of them roared and drew their weapons, attacking the lightning. When it exploded, runes scattered everywhere and were then absorbed into their bodies.

But there was an absurd number of those lightning swords. Many struck the ground, creating earthquakes and waves of power.

A few hundred meters away from the center of everything, the second group, with 705 blessed ones, was positioned as the closest.

They took deep breaths and endured the waves of power. Inside them were those same runes. Quickly, all of them began absorbing that power and nourishing themselves.

The terrifying sounds didn't stop for even a single second. It continued for over an hour without weakening at all.

Until Lucius turned to the other 704 around him and nodded, satisfied. Without delay, he squeezed a crystal in his hand and shattered it.

On the mountain peak, Darian snorted. That was the signal, so without wasting time, he opened the seal on all 705.

The process was identical. They closed their eyes and focused for a few minutes. Then…

Silence.

It was sudden—the Heavenly Punishment stopped completely.

Everything went silent, but the clouds in the sky kept expanding rapidly.

Seen from outside the planet, almost two-thirds of it was now completely covered in darkness.

People looked up, swallowing hard. An absurd Heavenly Punishment, involving nearly a thousand people, had formed.

"GO!"

Lucy, Lucius, Camille, and others from the former Aeternum Atlantis Empire roared in unison.

The ground split open, with countless wooden roots bursting out and rising into the sky.

They merged together, and it was as if a massive tree, hundreds of meters tall, had been born. It had no leaves, but its branches stretched out in every direction above everyone, covering a colossal area.

There were nearly 300 people. All of them had the heart of nature within their bodies, and after the changes Darian made to their technique, their potential was immense.

**BOOOOM!!!**

Those lightning swords fell as if it were the end of the world. But all of them shattered the moment they touched the branches above.

With everyone together using their wood power, they were able to destroy the lightning swords over a huge area. As soon as they were destroyed, runes rained down over the land in all directions.

The third and fourth groups, who were a bit farther away, immediately began absorbing everything greedily.

The thunder in the sky was deafening, but beneath that tree, it felt as if everyone was bathing in a hot spring.

Slowly, everyone in groups three and four felt their bodies pulse with a terrifying new strength. For them, it was simple, thanks to the Primordial Bead that had prepared them.

One hour later.

Darian waved his hand. At that moment, the seal on everyone else was released.

In seconds, the entire planet was swallowed by black clouds. On top of that, massive electrical currents, as large as dragons, could be seen swimming through the darkness.

Darian took a deep breath, feeling the pressure. This was a Heavenly Punishment of 4,500 people at once. The level of this…

"It's just one step away from turning into a Heavenly Annihilation. This is the absolute limit before disaster," Darian murmured, serious and relieved. After all, he hadn't been able to guarantee beforehand that it wouldn't escalate.

The entire environment was silent and so dark that you could barely see a meter ahead. Everyone below tightened their grip on their weapons and fists, extremely tense.

"PREPARE!!!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Lucius roared, and at the same time, the skies lit up with fluorescent, multicolored lights.

There were thousands of five-colored lightning beasts, all descending from the heavens while exuding a savage aura.

Seeing that, Darian and the other 200 who had fought similar things before were stunned.

Back then, those had been made of pure energy. But these were formed from the Five Lightning of Life, which had been Darian's final challenge at that time.

In other words, the level of these lightning beasts was far above the previous ones. No wonder—back then, the place had the protection of Heaven's Will from the temple, and they hadn't faced anywhere near the full power of a Heavenly Annihilation.

But now, they had to endure it completely.

Their auras were extremely powerful. And most importantly, all of them seemed real, as if they were made of flesh and blood.

In seconds, a sea of lightning beasts, of all sizes and colors, attacked wildly.

*BOOM!*

A demon struck a giant elephant, but it didn't explode and only staggered back.

"Watch out!" Lucius roared, giving a sudden warning.

The beast's tusks suddenly lit up with purple light, and blades of light shot out toward dozens of nearby people.

Thanks to the immediate warning, everyone managed to dodge in a rush. But one of them was grazed on the leg. Blood sprayed as his leg exploded.

That attack was incredibly explosive and destructive, shocking everyone.

Niara and Alear were terrified; any tiny opening or wound would result in horrific damage. But when they turned to Darian, they saw his expression change.

"This… they can use Magic Techniques," Darian said, sensing the fluctuations and becoming truly tense.