Damned Healer-Chapter 634: Essence Of This Universe

Darian and Niara were led by Sylvanos to a secret entrance inside the mountain. That passage led to a huge tunnel, taking them deeper and deeper underground.

After several minutes of going down, a region sealed by a vast Void power appeared in front of them.

Those two Elders were waiting at the entrance. When they saw them arrive, they waved and turned to open the place. Still, that would take a few minutes.

"That's Primordial Power," Niara said in surprise, sensing that energy.

Sylvanos nodded. "The God Roc left part of his power on many islands, as an emergency measure for the future."

"Emergency measure?" Darian asked, 'curious'.

"Yes. He foresaw that the races of the universe would create a different kind of cultivation using the power of the Void. In the same way, he foresaw that some races would manage to fuse with the Nether to create a new level of power. The greatest danger in this universe would be if a race contaminated by the Nether reached such a high level that it could invade the black sea and start absorbing it..."

Sylvanos stopped in the middle of his explanation, taking a deep breath. "It almost reached that point. My ancestor, the former leader of the race, almost had to activate everything if that Divine Nether Beast hadn't been contained in time. That creature was very close to entering the black sea. If that had happened, the power that kept all the Nether confined to a single region of the universe would become unstable and could disperse. To prevent that, the power left on the islands would have to be burned to eliminate the target. As a result, more than 99% of the islands would sink forever. Infinite lives would be lost, and, even worse, if another creature of the same level appeared, we would have no weapons left. In the end... none of that happened."

Darian nodded. He already had a general understanding of these things.

The Wood Spirits were the true protectors of that universe, and Roc left those safety measures in their hands.

Why did he do that instead of leaving this responsibility to the three races of Primordial Beasts he created?

Because he knew that, as generations passed, people would forget his words and start living only to gain more power. And the more powerful and eye-catching a race was, the more it would be targeted.

He was absolutely right. Of the three races, two were wiped out over time, and the last one had only Ramel left as a survivor.

Roc then chose a reliable and loyal race that wasn't powerful on the surface, like the Wood Spirits. And also...

At that moment, the place was finally opened by the two Elders. However, before signaling for them to enter, they approached Darian and stopped beside Sylvanos.

The Race Leader looked at Darian seriously. "I heard that the Golden Sky Mountain will be opened. Sir, you intend to settle all conflicts at once, correct?"

Darian nodded. "Things will probably erupt quickly at the exit. But I don't know what the four clans or the Primordial Empire are hiding."

"Good," Sylvanos nodded. "Our race will remove our restrictions. We will be your greatest support."

Darian nodded in understanding. During the arena battle, it had been obvious that Sylvanos was deliberately restricting his cultivation to the eighth level of the Heaven Saint Realm.

Roc forbade the race from going beyond that, so they wouldn't draw attention and could stay alive, away from conflicts. At the same time, he left behind some things so the race could survive in emergency situations. That was why Sylvanos was so strong. Now, he would easily break into the ninth level and might even go further.

"Come, I need to hand this over to you," Sylvanos finally gestured for them to move forward into the secret place.

After a few steps, Darian and Niara felt as if they were entering a completely black world. Light simply couldn't exist there.

A malicious and extremely cold energy immediately wrapped around them. Darian took a deep breath without hesitation and waved his hand; a white power lit up around his body and Niara's, protecting them. It wasn't truly necessary, but it was uncomfortable.

Sylvanos, a few steps behind, stopped in shock. When that white power flared up, the entire world began to tremble, and that unstoppable, insane power grew calmer. His eyes shook, becoming even more certain that Darian was the right person.

"Sir, this way," Sylvanos moved ahead excitedly.

The place stretched for thousands of meters, with space dilated inside it.

After several minutes of walking, Darian finally saw a small, pulsating pearl, about the size of a fist, floating ahead.

Darian and Niara sighed. They already knew the source of that darkness the moment they entered; that was pure Nether. As for the thing in front of them...

"This is the Essence of the Nether. A secret left behind by the God Roc for my race to safeguard," Sylvanos began explaining seriously. "In truth, there aren't only four Sacred Treasures. There are five."

Darian's eyes widened. He had seen the entire creation of the Sacred Treasures in the memories of the past, but he had never seen anything about this.

Sylvanos continued. "The four Sacred Treasures are the four essences of this universe: the Laws of the Universe, Time, Space, and the Void. But the fifth element, the Nether, can't be created immediately, because that would result in disaster. So the God Roc prepared a seed and left it inside the black sea. Over countless years, the fifth Sacred Treasure was born."

Darian paused to think...

Then he remembered seeing, in the memories, Roc creating something that seemed powerless and leaving it inside the black sea before dying.

Sylvanos continued. "It took me a long time, because the Divine Technique to draw the Sacred Treasure out of the sea was extremely complex, with many layers of security."

Darian swallowed hard. Indeed, five was the perfect number that summarized the essence of this universe. If there was a Sacred Treasure that controlled the power of the Void, then there had to be one for the Nether.

"You should know what to do with this. Please, take it," Sylvanos finished.

Darian nodded. He had thought he only needed to gather the four Sacred Treasures to reach the Book, but… the entrance to that place was inside the black sea. He still needed to think of a way to enter it in the future, but he left that for later. Now, with this fifth Sacred Treasure, everything fit together perfectly.

He took a few light steps, then waved his hand and stored that pulsing black pearl.

Ailik was definitely better at using this than he was, but she was busy studying the power of the Void with the other Sacred Treasure. So he would focus on this himself during his free time.

With that, he had three keys. As for the event he had set up to obtain the other two, it was getting closer and closer.

When Darian put it into his inventory, all the Nether inside the place began to fade away.

Sylvanos escorted him out. After that, he said his goodbyes, as he needed to prepare for the day.

Darian and Niara returned to the small house on that mountain.

Darian planned to focus entirely on that Sacred Treasure, so to keep Niara entertained for longer, he gave her several pills he had stored away.

At that moment, the city was boiling with merchants coming from all over the universe. They were buying and selling everything, waiting for all the big shots arriving in the city to head to the Golden Sky Mountain.

Niara got excited. She was going to sell everything and get an absurd amount of resources. It would take several months to sell it all, since the prices she charged wouldn't be modest at all. But they had time.

After that, Darian gave her the task of acquiring top-quality equipment for the Wood Spirits. They had spent a long time restricting themselves as much as possible, so even once freed, the younger ones wouldn't have those things anytime soon.

Of course, leaving Niara alone to handle something like that sounded like trouble waiting to happen. So Awel, who was Darian's right-hand, would go with her.

Eleri would go as well, since her ability to read fluctuations in the water of the environment was very useful. Only Tir would stay behind, because Awel put him in charge of supporting Ailik.

***

Days passed.

At some point, Darian received news from Awel that Niara had caused a massive mess in the city.

A powerful man from the Primordial Empire provoked her because she caught his attention. In Niara's universe, everyone feared her, so no man dared approach her; but now, with her being alone, the most powerful and bold didn't hesitate.

She responded by brutally beating him.

As a result, within a few hours, countless figures from the Primordial Empire's Royal Family stormed the city in fury.

Even the City Lord had to intervene to prevent total chaos.

To resolve the issue, Niara proposed a battle in the Central Arena, which had just been restored.

The man who had been beaten accepted to restore his honor. He was the husband of an absurdly important woman from the royal family and had been sent to the city to 'secretly' make contact with the masters of the four clans.

Yes, he was married… which already said a lot about the kind of person he was.

That man was at the ninth level of the Heaven Saint Realm, the same as the clan masters. But…

The duel the entire city watched was a completely one-sided beating. Niara pummeled him until he was unrecognizable, like a paste of ground meat. After she was satisfied, she killed him without the slightest mercy.

At that moment, the entire city understood that she wasn't just a pretty accessory walking beside Darian. She was an absurd anomaly capable of killing someone at the level of a clan master. In fact, everyone felt that she had been holding back, and her true limit was impossible to measure.

Everyone wondered if Darian had been so confident before because this powerful wife of his could protect him from anything.

Everything exploded in less than a day, and Darian only learned the outcome after it was already over.

All he could do was snort and nod.

***

The two years passed quickly.

Darian opened his eyes after a long study session. At that moment, he realized he was soaked in sweat. He felt as if he had spent all his energy in a single instant, almost as if he had pushed himself too far.

But… now he was finally sure that he could manipulate the Nether with some level of mastery.

"Master!" Awel's voice snapped him out of his daze. "You've been studying nonstop for over a day, and our time is almost up. The City Lord is waiting for you outside."