Damned Healer-Chapter 673: Universe’s Legacy

Darian and Awel kept assessing everything around them, without heading straight to the center of that place, where the Celestial Shadow was. That was because Darian wasn't in a rush, and he felt a different energy flow coming from a point to the west of that region.

At first, he stayed, supporting the Mannaz, letting Awel observe every single centimeter of that area covered in scarlet magma. Some of them were Summoners and had Spiritual Guardians, who floated above the magma, only providing support to their partners.

The Mannaz couldn't endure staying in there for long, but after half a day, they managed to gain minimal resistance on their own.

Because of that, Darian ordered them to consume the pills Veyle had made.

Since Darian knew a bit about what existed in that place, he was able to ask Veyle for specific pills to help them. With the support of the pills, everyone managed to stay submerged and go deeper, increasing the absorption rate.

...

After almost three days.

"!"

One of the Mannaz emerged with a euphoric expression. "Sir, I did it! I fully activated the primordial heart!"

Darian nodded in satisfaction. His Bloodline had reached the level needed to activate the primordial heart, allowing him to use the complete Technique.

Darian named everything that was created, encompassing the primordial heart, the spiritual root, and the power formed from them, as Primordial Blood Cultivation.

Basically, the primordial heart, created from primordial essence and material essence from those two, would give the Mannaz the ability to nourish their bodies and souls to an incomprehensible level, similar to normal cultivation.

This type of cultivation could only be used by those who were already born with this Bloodline in their bodies, or it would kill them. On top of that, they needed to have an awakened spiritual root with a power that only existed within the Laws of the world. In other words, it was practically impossible for anything similar to exist in any other universe. And it was only possible thanks to everything Darian had learned and had available.

The strangest part of this cultivation was that the power of the spiritual root could shape the Mannaz's body and power according to their will and talent, almost like a blessing. In short, if ten thousand people cultivated primordial blood, it would result in ten thousand completely different styles.

It was like setting goals and letting them decide how to reach them. They could walk, crawl, take detours, or even shortcuts. The objectives were there, and it was up to them to achieve them.

Another very important point was that, near the center of that sea of magma, the will of many powerful Mannaz who had died still existed there.

They were completely dead, but a part of them remained. Darian was certain that some of them could speak and even help this army. After all, in the past, those wills belonged to warriors who gave their lives to save the universe.

Since each individual had the freedom to cultivate and evolve according to their unique traits, with countless options available, Darian hoped that the wills of the Mannaz inside that place would help them refine their distinct styles.

...

Hours passed until Awel finally reached a conclusion.

'Master, I'm sure. That thing to the west is an entrance to another small world. It seems to be a very specific place that was separated so it wouldn't be contaminated.'

Darian nodded, excited. Now he had discovered something extremely useful.

'I'm certain that's where all the Qi of this universe was placed. I can feel a bit of it flowing from inside, but it's in a physical and different form. Also, the entire place is connected to the core of the cemetery. If we can get in, we can attack the Celestial Shadow in an even more perfect way.'

Darian had known this for a long time. In the past, this universe was considered above average and had a lot of Qi. But when the Celestial Shadow emerged, it did something sinister, making the Qi that existed everywhere practically disappear.

Of course, there were very specific places where some of it still existed, as well as small sealed worlds where a portion was preserved.

Now, Darian could finally find out what the enemy did, and on top of that, gain another huge bonus.

Without delay, Darian turned to Alear and told her to stay with the Mannaz, protecting and organizing them. Then, he and Niara shot off to the west.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a region with a small patch of black land above the scarlet magma. At the center of that small area, there was a tiny rift in space, sealed by several black runes.

Darian approached and analyzed it carefully. He quickly came to the conclusion that he could enter easily, but entering without breaking the runes and alerting the enemy would be very difficult.

Inside the inventory, Ailik spoke: 'Master, the power of the Void can penetrate this without causing any disturbance. But… it can't send anything fully physical, if you want it to be perfect.'

Darian sighed. If he still had his ethereal body, he could have invaded easily, but unfortunately, that was all lost. Still, there was a way.

He turned to Niara. "You'll have to enter using your ring. This space is connected to the universe, so I can communicate with you from inside."

Niara nodded. On her finger, the ring Darian gave her had never been removed.

That ring was a Supreme Artifact, with the power to put Niara into an ethereal form by consuming soul power. They had already used it once before, and now it would be useful again. (Chapter 479)

Darian took out several artifacts and filled Niara's ring to the limit, making it as stable as possible in ethereal form for the longest time. When they used it before, it only lasted a few minutes, and Darian had to help her, but now both he and Niara were much stronger and more skilled.

Light wrapped around Niara, and then her body began to magically turn ethereal. Ailik also sent Void power and covered her, like a white mantle, completely enveloping her.

"It'll last at most two hours. We don't know what's inside, so don't do anything unless I say so," Darian said calmly.

Niara took a deep breath and then simply took a step forward. The Void power around her helped her penetrate the place, as if she merged with space itself. It was so simple and easy that she didn't even need to know how to use it; she could enter and leave freely and had more than enough power for that.

Darian sat down on the ground and closed his eyes, focusing on the connection with Niara. Awel and the others were watching everything around them to protect him.

---

Light returned to Niara's eyes; at the same time, Darian was able to see and hear everything through her.

She was floating in the sky. In front of them was an immense region with no land at all, covered by a blue, crystal-clear ocean. In that same instant, Niara's eyes widened when she felt those waters.

"Pure Qi…" she murmured, stunned.

All the Qi of the universe was right in front of them. But all of it had been transformed into a state similar to water.

'This is the thinnest Qi. The main body is below…!'

Darian cut off the thought when Niara's eyes turned toward a distant area in that ocean.

There, she saw a Mannaz and, beside him, an ethereal humanoid figure.

Fortunately, that person didn't notice her. Niara quickly descended, leaving that figure's line of sight.

'So there were traitors in this place, outside Howlyn's radar.' Darian snorted. 'Burn a bit of the spiritual power I gave you. We need to get closer and see what they're doing.'

Niara nodded and moved the energy in the ring. That would burn away the time she had left in ethereal form, but it would make her almost imperceptible and invisible to anyone who didn't know she existed.

When she was in Vadise, Niara studied and practiced countless techniques that used soul and mind power. She wasn't a specialist, but she had definitely become reliable and full of skills.

She moved, stopping at a safe distance from the figures ahead.

The two of them watched carefully for a few minutes.

The Mannaz was floating above the ocean, fully focused downward, as if searching for something. The Spiritual Guardian, on the other hand, kept looking around cautiously, as if afraid of other people.

'Hmm… so there are many inside here, and they're not exactly friends.' Darian reflected. 'If he's this alert, it's probably not uncommon for people to disappear… good.'

Hearing that, Niara smiled maliciously. To be in this place, there was no doubt they were traitors to the universe; so she wouldn't be gentle at all when sending them to hell.

Even though the Spiritual Guardian was alert, he only had eight rings and didn't possess especially sharp senses.

Niara managed to slowly approach through his blind spot. When she was just a few meters away, she waved her hand and activated an offensive spiritual technique.

Immediately, that Spiritual Guardian froze. In the next second, Niara roared and attacked with a soul strike sharp like an arrow, leaving no chance to react.

*CRACK!*

When it hit him, a sharp cracking sound echoed. It was an instant and brutal assassination.

The Mannaz, who had been distracted, took a moment to react. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Before he could think of anything, Niara grabbed him by the neck, sealing him completely. Without waiting, she burned even more power to read his memories from the past few hours.

They had barely arrived, and Niara had already lost half of the power and time they had there. But that wasn't a problem; she could simply go back and have Darian replenish everything again.

Ailik still had plenty of Void power left. As long as she wasn't caught by anyone, they could investigate everything by making multiple crossings.

Minutes later.

'Dan, this idiot has been here for over five years. I saw him complaining about it while still uselessly searching for something he called the Universe's Legacy.'

Darian heard that name without having any idea what it was. 'Let's investigate slowly. We need to find someone who knows more.'

***

A whole month passed.

Suddenly…

*Wooosh!*

In an ordinary spot within the Qi ocean, a burst of light exploded. A pillar of energy shot into the sky, drawing the attention of countless figures inside that region.

When the light faded, a divine diagram appeared high above the ocean.

The divine diagram shone intensely, its pulsing light spreading everywhere, visible even from far away. It had glowing marks that clearly sealed its interior, hiding something seemingly incredible inside.

'Is this really going to work?' Niara murmured from a distant corner, watching everything.

At that moment, the commotion attracted people from all directions, including a certain man dressed in white. He was a nine-ring Spiritual Guardian, very important among the traitors.

When Niara saw the man in white appear, a sinister smile formed on her lips.

"I got here first! Everyone else disappeared!"

Countless others had converged on that location. However, upon hearing that the place belonged to the man in white, some of them hurriedly retreated.

Everything indicated that, even though they were technically on the same side, in this place, everyone was on their own, risking their lives to find treasures.

"Who do you think you are? I saw the treasure first! It belongs to me!"

As expected, not everyone backed off. A nine-ring Spiritual Guardian, so large he looked like a humanoid beast, appeared beside his Summoner. He completely ignored the warning and advanced toward the diagram.

"Ignorant ant, die!" snorted the man in white. Without making any fuss, he conjured countless fire runes in the air, forming a net around the attacker.

Darian recognized that blessing; it was something he had seen before. At the same time, the level of control that the man in white displayed made it clear where he came from and what his original race was. He was an Alv, a terrifying specialist in controlling all kinds of energy.

"You dare use such a useless net?" mocked the beast-like man, summoning a gigantic axe made of energy into his hand. This was a very rare blessing, one that created solid, terrifying constructs of energy.

When he swung it, space itself seemed to explode.

But to his surprise, the giant axe simply shattered upon contacting the flame net.

"Not good…!" Seeing his weapon destroyed, the beast-like man hurriedly turned to flee.

However, he was clearly too slow. As soon as the net wrapped around him, he trembled and roared in despair. It was already too late to regret anything. His body began to break apart and crumble.

His Summoner tried to flee in panic, but the man in white showed no mercy and attacked him, making him explode into a rain of blood.

Everything fell silent.

The man in white walked up to the diagram. His Summoner was already there, calmly analyzing it.

Suddenly, he exclaimed, "This is it! We finally found the Universe's Qi core! The Celestial Master will reward us greatly!"

'Hehe… what an idiot.' Niara cursed internally.

The man in white stared at it for a long time, until a flash of understanding appeared in his eyes. Then, he took out a transparent crystal nearly one meter tall.

'Oh!' Darian grew excited. The fish had completely fallen into the net, and it was even willing to hand everything over?

When Niara saw that, she abruptly covered her mouth and almost let out a loud laugh.