Damned Healer-Chapter 743: The Anomaly

"Darian, don’t be so rash! The Sect Leader is choosing his direct disciple, so he’s using his own rules and has the right to demand a contest between the top two if he isn’t satisfied." Chrysos spoke hurriedly, his voice grave.

The Sect Leader’s dry voice echoed explosively in response. "Silence. This matter no longer concerns you. He just threatened the entire sect and now will have to face the consequences."

Darian smiled faintly. "Indeed, this test concerns his disciple, and he could argue he wanted to be sure of his choice. But clearly, he has different intentions toward me, so this has nothing to do with that test. I appreciate you helping me, but I don’t have time to waste on schemes and people trying to suppress me."

"Ignorant brat! You really think you’re the best, and that you have the right to step over everyone?!"

The Sect Leader’s thunderous voice boomed, and the entire environment was immediately flooded with intense gold. The atmosphere spiked sharply, and the temperature suddenly became so unbearable that all the surrounding disciples felt their minds and souls spin.

All the energy of the Golden Celestial Lake was abruptly moved by the Sect Leader. It flooded the surroundings with power, capable of melting anything very quickly.

All the Palace Masters’ eyes widened, and without any hesitation, they activated their celestial power toward the disciples.

It was as if a wave of energy flowed in all directions, striking every disciple in the chest and throwing them away, out of the Golden Celestial Lake.

In five seconds, everyone who had entered for the test was expelled... or almost everyone, because the focus of attention was still there, standing at the center of it all... completely indifferent and without any expression of suffering.

Darian looked coldly at the Sect Leader.

The eyes of that figure shone with such intense golden light that it eclipsed the entire surroundings.

Since Darian was his brother’s disciple, and he had healed him before, the Sect Leader clearly didn’t want to kill him. But Darian could tell he wanted to teach him a lesson and discipline him. So the leader tried to suppress him using only his Primordial Bloodline.

Any normal person, especially humans, would have had their mind and soul completely dominated. But... Darian couldn’t have been calmer.

It was just as Darian had said earlier. The Leader wanted to put him in his place, but if Darian accepted that and lowered his head... he had lived long enough to know it would never stop, only escalate. All the powerful figures in the sect would see it and also try to impose themselves on him in the future, even cause him trouble.

That was how a world full of power worked. The strong constantly had to show they were strong. When someone very young and talented appeared, if they felt they could gain something from it, they would try to take advantage.

Not necessarily in a way that would greatly harm him. But when Darian showed himself to be even greater than they imagined, they would want to use him to raise the name of the sect and themselves in the universe.

Ordinary cultivators would love that and gladly spend their time making everyone know and admire them. But for Darian, that was just a waste of time. So he had to assert himself as someone who did what he wanted and couldn’t be used.

If he wanted to reach immortality as fast as possible, he couldn’t waste time on small matters. If someone tried to block his path, he would destroy the barrier that very second.

He spoke slowly. "Better than the others? A few seconds ago, I heard you say I was less than an ant, and that you, being all-powerful, could crush me and do whatever you wanted. This sect is indeed interesting..."

"INSOLENT!"

Ruan roared. At the same time, all the sect’s big shots simply watched Darian as if that were the most ridiculous joke in the sect’s history.

Chrysos’s eyes locked onto the Dragoness behind, pleading desperately for help.

But... she remained indifferent, because she knew her husband wouldn’t listen to anyone once he set his mind on something.

"Ok, enough nonsense," Darian spoke dryly, then his eyes changed.

The Heavenly Elemental Body was fully released. A red light flowed around his eyes and body like hellish flames. Instantly, the entire environment froze.

Everyone was shocked for a second. Especially the Sect Leader, because...

...all his firepower was suddenly suppressed.

In that same instant, Darian moved like a ghost.

"!"

Everyone almost jumped back when they saw the absurd scene before their eyes.

Darian grabbed the Sect Leader by the neck!

The Sect Leader’s eyes bulged. He tried to activate his cultivation and power stored within his Dantian... but everything inside his body was frozen.

Darian almost burst out laughing at that foolishness. This was the greatest weakness of cultivators: almost all their power was stored inside a core called the Dantian, and they had to circulate it through the body completely when they fought.

The Sect Leader never, not even in his wildest dreams, imagined Darian could pose any danger to him. Almost all his celestial power remained frozen in that single place.

Earlier, he had only activated his Golden Crow Bloodline, which was already the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to kill an ant. But he was a human who gained this high-level bloodline and couldn’t even use a third of its real power.

For the people of this sect, that beast’s bloodline only served two purposes. The first was to let them dominate the fire element at a calamity level. The second was to use the Golden Crow Canon, a set of fire techniques used specifically with the golden flame from the bloodline’s power.

So, the Sect Leader only activated the bloodline and controlled the power of the Golden Celestial Lake’s flames to suppress Darian... but when the Heavenly Elemental Body appeared, he got a nasty surprise.

Darian was one with the fire element, almost 100% identical to a Heavenly Elemental Spirit. Added to the absolute dominance coming from his curse, how could a human’s control of that element compare to his?

Darian gave him no time to react. He froze all the fire element in the surroundings and cut off his control over the Lake. When he grabbed him, he used the power of chaos, and even the small amount of celestial energy maintained in that figure’s body was sealed.

That was definitely something impossible to happen. The Sect Leader was possibly the figure with the highest level of fire control in the universe; no one should have been able to suppress his control.

Moreover, with his cultivation at the peak of the universe, no one should have been able to seal him. But... the power of chaos managed, in a single microsecond, to freeze all his strength and power inside the Dantian.

Now...

The all-powerful Sect Leader was like a chicken being grabbed by the neck.

Darian was only a few centimeters taller than the Sect Leader. He lifted him slightly off the ground, making the scene even more terrifying and shocking.

"YOU! LET HIM GO...!"

The Palace Masters roared and threatened to move, but... they stopped in the very same second. Darian’s dagger moved and stopped just centimeters from the Sect Leader’s Dantian; it was a clear threat, so everyone froze.

They weren’t fools and realized that something unbelievable had happened to the Sect Leader’s power. His body seemed completely devoid of energy and was now as fragile as a mortal’s.

Chrysos was completely catatonic. He had never imagined that the young man he brought into the sect could actually turn into a calamity.

Darian looked at the Sect Leader coldly.

"When I came to this sect, I didn’t ask for anything besides taking the test. I wanted something that small because I felt you and your brother would know how to be grateful and, at the very least, wouldn’t let anyone cause me trouble. I just wanted a little peace. But who would’ve thought you yourselves would dare to become the problem..."

"DARIAN, STOP!" Chrysos roared, but didn’t dare move toward him. "My brother has no bad intentions! He wouldn’t harm you!"

Darian snorted. He knew that, but they couldn’t just do whatever they wanted with him.

*Wooooosh!*

Suddenly, a wave of power erupted like a volcano.

Everyone was startled and turned in a direction. High above, a colossal Dragon appeared, radiating immense pressure over the world.

"Release him immediately! Or I guarantee you won’t leave here alive!"

A dry voice echoed through time-space, filled with rage. How could she accept someone hurting her husband?

Darian snorted. It seemed the explosive temper was a pattern among Dragonesses. She was confident her power was enough to save him. She was a Pure Dragon after all; no other race could fight her head-on.

But...

Darian turned to her and snorted.

At that second, his Celestial Bloodline ignited. Darian could only use something close to 1% of his strength, but it was already enough.

"An Azure Dragon dares to be arrogant?" his voice sounded, as a primordial blue glow lit up in his eyes.

"!"

*BOOOM!*

The gigantic body plummeted from above, crashing into the lake with a thunderous impact.

That imposing Dragon froze, and all her draconic power froze as well.

It was a complete suppression, impossible to fight against.

During her journey, Ruri, Darian’s mother, had obtained the full inheritance and Bloodline of the Yin Chaos Dragon, the most powerful Primordial Dragon in all universes. His father, meanwhile, naturally possessed the Behemoth Bloodline in his body.

After the two broke past the immortal level, the Bloodlines in their bodies changed, merging into a single thing that came to be called the Celestial Bloodline. It stood above all Bloodlines, one with the laws of the world.

A mere mortal Dragon was nothing more than an insect before that. This race also cultivated, but 80% of their power came from their terrifyingly powerful bodies and Bloodline. Now that Darian had sealed it all, it was like a shark that had been pulled out of the sea.

Technically, she could still fight... but theory was different from practice. And with Darian holding her husband’s life in his hands, she immediately fell into shock.

Everyone was completely pale, and silence dominated the place.

How... how could this be happening? How could a young man...

"Anomaly..."

The voice of the oldest Palace Master of the sect sounded, voicing exactly what had appeared in everyone’s mind.

Thinking about it now, everything about Darian fit that... or almost.

All anomalies were terrifying when given time to cultivate. But at the very beginning, despite being incredible, they still had to be careful and wouldn’t be able to do what this young man was doing here.

There were even some strange cases of an anomaly being hunted by the most powerful beings in the universe and cornered. But everyone who cornered it died, and that anomaly was never seen again. People had no idea what really happened, but it was clear that an anomaly was not invincible.

What people didn’t know was that the anomalies of the past were only children of the ancient allies of Heaven’s Will. Darian... was its direct son and still carried all of its past power. Thus, he was like heaven and earth in comparison.

*Buzz*

Suddenly, the sound of trembling scales making the air hum echoed.

"Let... let him go..."

That Dragon twisted, her body fallen in the lake. Her scales began to crack and become covered in blood. She was clearly making an incomparable effort to break free from the suppression.

For her, the Sect Leader’s life was hanging by a thread, and Darian was as calm as a ruthless killer, just like anomalies were sometimes described. She had to save him, even if she died.

That scene made Darian sigh deeply. All his killing intent dispersed as he remembered Niara.

"D..."

Suddenly, the Sect Leader tried to say something. But with his neck grabbed, it was difficult.

Darian subtly loosened his grip. "What?"

"I... didn’t want to cause you trouble... I really only wanted to teach you a lesson. But I wouldn’t have gone too far..."

Darian remained indifferent. "Yes, I know you wouldn’t have gone that far. But the Grand Supervisor of the Palaces, as well as all the Palace Masters, wouldn’t think that way. I already know very well how people who have lived long and think themselves powerful tend to think; if I show any weakness and they see that I’m submissive to the sect, they would use their influence and end up hindering me more than helping."

"As I said before, I only wished for a bit of peace. I even accepted staying by the lakeside and just cultivating a little... in the end, fate made me have a discovery and, unintentionally, attract the Elementals. I won without intending to compete. And yet... everyone, even the Sect Leader, treated me like a mediocre insect who has no right to voice opinions or demand anything. Do you think that’s acceptable? Would you stay silent if you were in my position?"

Chrysos and everyone else swallowed hard. What if they had the same potential and capability as Darian? In fact, everyone there was experienced and knew they couldn’t just let it slide. Most likely, they would do the same—or even worse.

Darian smiled.

"Very well, that said... let’s put an end to this."

At that instant, the entire environment changed, and everyone’s heart raced in terror.