Damned Healer-Chapter 610: Into The Unknown

After everything was settled, Darian entered the city together with Niara and Ailik. They moved calmly toward the Nether Tree. When they got close to the trunk, Ailik took a deep breath and knelt toward that divinity.

That was a ritual all Nethergod Spirits had to perform to receive blessing and knowledge. However, to do that, they first had to find someone with whom they shared a connection. It worked like a test, where the Nethergod Spirits brought different people from time to time to confirm that bond.

She murmured a few words, and it didn’t even take ten seconds before a leaf fell from high up the tree, slowly shrinking until it was about a handspan in size.

But the leaf didn’t go to her. It floated toward Darian instead.

He took it, already knowing what to do; it was the same process as before.

This time, however, he only heard a calm voice in his mind. ’Thank you.’

Darian snorted. That was a thank-you for him not wiping out the Nether Beasts, even though he really wanted to. Being in a war where both sides killed each other was one thing. But capturing Nether Spirits and cruelly refining them crossed every possible line.

Still, Darian accepted help from that entity and honored the agreement... because, unfortunately, that leader had been smart enough to bow his head.

’I’m leaving this place. Niara liked Ailik, so I’ll take her with us if she proves useful. Just tell me how to draw out her full potential,’ Darian said bluntly, without beating around the bush.

’Very well... you truly are the one most connected to her. It’s quite simple. Just keep her close to you and help her accumulate the power of the Void in her body. She won’t face any barriers and will cultivate very quickly. By your side, she might become an Empress, or even a Divinity like me.’

The calm voice finished, and a flood of information flowed directly into Darian’s mind.

After a few minutes, the ethereal voice concluded, ’Unfortunately, I cannot help you leave this island. But I sense a rare power in this child; she should be able to achieve what she desires.’

After that, the leaf withered and vanished. Darian sighed. The black sea surrounding the island wasn’t made of water, but of a corrupt, terrifying, and deadly power. It was impossible to sail normally and reach another island.

He was confident he could deal with the corruption itself. But there were space-time currents in every direction across that sea, making it impossible to use his flying boat without a 99% chance of falling into the sea. On top of that, the distances between islands were equivalent to traveling from one planet to another within a galaxy.

To make matters worse, his white power wasn’t eternal, and Darian didn’t feel confident traveling safely.

So hearing that Ailik could help was a relief.

Darian turned to Niara. She nodded and helped the young girl up. "Come on, girl. This is your chance to prove to Dan that you deserve to follow him."

Ailik took a deep breath, her eyes shining.

At that moment, the prophet hurried over to them.

"The Divinity ordered us to take you to the city’s main building. Everything will be cleared just for you, and all knowledge and resources will be available. In these lands, there is no better place to cultivate than here."

Darian nodded, and the three of them were taken to an enormous building among the branches of the Nether Tree. It was the highest place where any structure existed.

There were hundreds of rooms, and just by breathing, the power of the Void in the universe entered the body far more easily. Still, the density was obviously quite low.

This island was equivalent to an ascending planet in a cultivation universe. The people living there were under severe limitations.

After settling in, Darian explained everything he knew to Ailik and Niara.

In this universe, people cultivated to ascend in power using the power of the Void. There were seven realms; the first three were what people in the center of the universe could reach. They were called Mortal Saint, Earth Saint, and Heaven Saint.

Above that was the Emperor Saint realm, occupied by the most powerful figures in the universe, with not even half a dozen of them in existence. Finally, there was the realm called Divine Venerate, which was exactly the level of the Nether Tree.

Thanks to the Void power of this universe, which contained the power of Time at an extremely high level, those who reached Divine Venerate could freeze their body’s vitality and become immortal. But to do that, they needed a massive source of power. In the case of the Nether Tree, it used a portion of the Primordial power granted to it by the Roc.

However, there were other Divine Venerates who found different power sources and could maintain themselves forever.

Ailik and everyone living on that island were only in the first realm and almost never managed to go beyond it. Because of that, they didn’t even know these distinctions existed.

The strongest people there were at the peak of Mortal Saint. As for the two old Nether Beasts Darian killed, they were at the early Earth Saint stage.

In the case of the Nethergod Spirits, throughout history, there were those who managed to break through to Earth Saint. When that happened, the Nether Tree sent them to the center of the universe so they could develop their talent.

However, that Divinity used the spatial treasures it possessed to send them. It had a limited amount, and all of them were already gone. If another talented individual appeared, it wouldn’t be able to help.

With everything explained, Darian sat beside Ailik and activated his domain.

He could easily move all the power of the Void into her body at a speed thousands of times faster. But he didn’t want her to just force her way through realms. He wanted her to develop her own power and talent.

So Darian and Niara planned a strict training and cultivation regime for Ailik. The two of them would use everything they had to polish that rough diamond and turn her into something truly incredible.

***

Days passed. Then months. Then years...

After three years, Ailik did what everyone on that island considered impossible. With Darian’s help, she didn’t need to go to the center of the universe to cultivate, breaking through to Heaven Saint without any difficulty.

When she reached that realm, her true talent became clear to both Darian and Niara.

She could manipulate space and the power of the Void in a terrifying way.

At that point, Darian finally understood what the Nether Tree had meant before. So they changed their approach, focusing on training her to use that ability to its fullest. One day, Ailik might be able to take them to the other islands with her own power.

But...

They soon discovered that even if she reached Emperor Saint, she still wouldn’t have enough energy to take them that far. She might reach the nearest island, but they couldn’t keep hopping from island to island, since the distance between some of them was a hundred times greater.

So that plan wouldn’t work.

"Dan, can’t your spiritual root help?" Niara asked, stating the obvious.

Darian shook his head. The spiritual root was his, and Ailik wasn’t like Niara, with whom he could share everything without any issue and with extreme ease.

At that moment, Awel, who had already woken up some time ago and was standing beside Darian, widened his eyes.

"That’s it, Master! You forgot you have a karmic connection with her, didn’t you? Your curse can link the karma between the two of you, right? With that, Master can use this new power together with her."

Darian’s eyes changed. He hadn’t thought about that, because connecting karma with someone else was useless in most situations. He did exactly that when reading someone’s past, but that connection was very weak and only lasted as long as needed to see the past of something. In Ailik’s case, that connection would certainly be much more solid.

They were in a beautiful forest, covered in yellowish-red leaves, as if it were autumn. The warmth and glow of the late afternoon softly illuminated them.

Darian motioned to the young girl, and she obediently ran over to him.

At that moment, Ailik saw Darian and Niara as her masters and the most important people in her life. Niara, in particular, had built a very strong maternal bond with her. Ailik had never had a mother; hers died shortly after her birth, in a battle against the Nether Beasts.

Darian took a deep breath and partially explained what he was about to do.

"I can do it, Master," she replied, full of confidence.

Niara nodded. Ailik knew her own limits, but she would give her blood and her soul to live up to expectations.

Darian sighed and reached out, gently touching her forehead.

"!"

In that instant, Ailik felt something connect to her soul. She looked at Darian and nodded, closing her eyes.

Her four arms slowly rose. Each one held a small black feather. That was an ancient treasure in the possession of the Nether Tree, left behind by a Divine Venerate who had died long ago. It had a power that made control easier for Ailik, working like a staff for a mage.

She wasn’t very skilled with a bow and arrow. Her greatest strength had always been manipulating the Void and space.

Her expression was calm. The four feathers began to glow with intense, multicolored energy.

She focused to the utmost. At that moment, the tribal mark of the third eye on her forehead changed. It opened, looking like a real eye, capable of seeing heaven and earth.

Darian activated his spiritual root to the maximum. At that instant, Ailik took a deep breath.

Darian began controlling all the space around them, pushing to his absolute limit. He had studied this for years, but the power of the Void in that universe was extremely complex and hard to master.

He extended his senses through space toward the sea. He managed to control up to a thousand meters ahead and stopped. He couldn’t go any farther.

Then—

"Go!"

Ailik roared. In that instant, Darian felt his spiritual root pulse with a new kind of strength.

The Void power around them grew thinner. He swallowed hard and forced himself past his own limit.

Two thousand meters...

One hundred thousand meters...

He advanced faster and faster; with every second, the distance multiplied several times over.

He passed the nearest island and kept going.

When he felt the next island drawing close, dizziness hit him, and he stopped.

Ailik staggered, and Darian quickly caught her, supporting her.

She tried to stand again. "M-Master... I can go farther..."

"Rest. You already did it. Now it’s just a matter of time. I’m not in that much of a hurry," Darian murmured softly.

Hearing that, she nodded and passed out.

Niara sighed, but inwardly she was very happy for her. It was a success.

***

Two years passed, making it five years since Darian arrived in that universe.

That day, the three of them stood by the shore. Behind them, Ailik’s father and the prophet came to say goodbye.

The old tribal leader spoke to Darian with a voice full of emotion: "I know I don’t deserve to say anything... I let two traitors stay by her side, and one of them almost bonded with her, but... please, take care of my daughter."

Darian nodded. He would not allow anything to happen to her.

Ailik gave her father one last hug. Her gaze, however, was filled with excitement and exhilaration. At last, she was leaving to see the world.

Having heard the words of Awel and Niara, she finally understood that even her entire universe was nothing more than a shallow pond. She was the frog at the bottom of the well who had, at long last, glimpsed the staggering immensity of the heavens.

Niara had always made one thing clear: Darian would never abandon those who strove to help him. Because of that, she would endure any Trial and cross any distance to push ever further into the unknown.

"Let’s go."

Darian spoke calmly. Ailik smiled and nodded.

The two worked together once more. In seconds, the space in front of them twisted in a terrifying way. It was as if a massive spatial tunnel, about two meters wide, had formed, cutting straight across the sea.

Darian held Niara’s hand on one side. Ailik grabbed his other hand. Then the three of them stepped into the tunnel, disappearing before everyone’s eyes.