Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 416: ...

There was, at last, nothing.

Not in an arbitrary sense of meaning that people commonly use throughout their mundane lives; while in fact, they refer to just the absence of some things in particular.

No. This wasn’t just that. What Ozul was going through was finally a void in its truest sense.

Void of all that was material and all that was abstract.

There were no colors, thoughts, emotions, or even darkness.

If Ozul was conscious at that moment, he would have affirmed it to be the best feeling he had ever gone through. But there were no feelings here and the concept of consciousness itself would have ruined this moment; it would have tainted the essence of it all.

Wistful as it was, this holy state of being didn’t last for long.

There were, at once, cracks that ripped apart the void and brought forth all that was vile.

Streams of consciousness slithered through the emptiness and once again fell into the ocean of thoughts and emotions.

’I...’

Thoughts began to surface in his mind.

’...am alive...? *sigh*...’

...

As his eyelids trembled, Raven noticed immediately.

Alongside Zier, Blaze stood outside the tent with a grave expression etched onto his face. His fists were clenched in defiance of the reality of the situation. He refused to believe that Ozul could die even when he hadn’t opened his eyes for hours now.

It sent tremors through his heart when he heard Raven once again desperately calling out to Ozul.

He sighed and hesitatingly stepped inside only to be shocked at the sight before him.

Raven was once again crying, but there was a relieved smile on her face and Ozul’s head still lay on her lap but his eyes were fully open!

"M-master!" He subconsciously called out to him like he used to.

At that point, Zier too hurriedly made his way inside as his face displayed various emotions from shock to relief and from relief to unbridled joy in a couple of seconds.

Ozul, meanwhile, frowned as he heard the title and narrowed his eyes at Blaze.

"I thought I had made it clear not to call me that."

While there were various inconveniences with Blaze calling him master, the main reason it displeased him still remained that he liked his own name over any meaningless title.

With his eyes beginning to redden, Blaze immediately swiped at his eyes before tears left them and spoke, "I apologize, master..."

"..."

Ignoring Blaze and Zier, Ozul focused on the gentle hand that ran through his hair ever so softly.

He genuinely liked the feeling as he lay there staring at the ceiling.

’Why am I disappointed though? It feels as if I’ve lost something...’

Although it felt blissful, Ozul moved to stand up when his entire body jolted in pain.

"Urgh!"

Only then did he notice the ’bandages’ around his chest and remembered that there was a hole in his chest.

Not only that but one of his hands was still detached from his body.

His barely lifted back thumped back to the ground as he once again enjoyed the soft caress of Raven’s hands.

He closed his eyes for a few minutes while Blaze and Zier remained standing and waiting for his orders.

"Ah... was there a Spiritual Core?"

Just as he spoke, Blaze stepped forward with a Spiritual Core in his hands.

The drill created with the Purity didn’t have a pointed nose, Ozul purposely left an opening that scooped the cultivator’s Spiritual Core and covered it instantly.

It was a gamble, but it paid off nicely as evident from the unexploded Core before him.

Every time that he healed his or other people’s wounds using the Purity, it would leave him slightly more tired than before depending on the seriousness of the injury.

And right now, there was a hole in his chest and an arm was severed; he was so tired that he would rather sleep, but the pain wouldn’t go away so it wasn’t comfortable.

Hence, his last hope was to recover his health using the Core. It would, after all, rejuvenate his entire body as it always did.

Since they were in a state of war and people already assumed him to be an Origin cultivator, he didn’t need to cover himself with the Purity in the midst of this camp.

He straight away threw the Core in his mouth and focused on absorbing it.

The minute that he did, the Core melted in his throat, and streams of purified energy spread through his whole being before it started to concentrate and finally blew out in a small explosion of Spiritual Essence.

Blaze and Zier were already at a safe distance while Raven already expected it as she defended herself using her own Spiritual Essence.

The only unfortunate one was the fur ball that was snuggling against Ozul’s chest as it was sent flying into the tent,

*Meow!!*

Jinx roared as she looked at Ozul with an accusing gaze. She had never disturbed his sleep, but he dared ruin hers?! It was unacceptable!

The trio and even Ozul looked at Jinx with amusement before Ozul finally clenched his jaw and removed the bandage covering his chest. The hole was still there so he conjured the Purity and as if a gourd was covered with a lid, he closed the hole in his chest.

After that, he picked up the severed arm and attached it at the right angle before also binding it with the Purity.

Now that he was all patched up, the pain had finally numbed to the point that he could go back to sleep, but first, he needed to understand the situation completely.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"It’s almost midnight, so it has only been around 12 hours," Zier answered while standing with one of his feet still outside the tent as there wasn’t enough space for all of them.

"What about the other platoons?"

Once again, Zier replied, "The main camp had also defended against the attack with minor losses while one of the platoon commanders also died."

"That bear guy?"

Shaking his head, he answered, "Kumaou is faring well. He not only survived but even killed two Origin cultivators just like you!"

Ozul hummed in response, ’He didn’t seem that strong...’

He had seen many battle-hungry fighters and Kumaou didn’t seem any different, but he knew first-hand how hard it was to kill two Origin realm cultivators.

By that time, many soldiers had gathered around the tent as they had sensed the explosion of Spiritual Essence.

Although he would have liked to take a deep nap just about now, he understood that showing himself alive was important for the soldiers.

He walked out of the tent and gave everyone an annoyed look, "Who ordered you to abandon your duties? Get back to work!"

With that, he simply walked inside while Zier hurriedly walked about, herding the soldiers as if they were sheep.

As the soldiers were finally informed that the platoon commander was well and alive, the atmosphere around the camp changed for the better. The soldiers enthusiastically did whatever Zier told them.

Walking inside the tent, he noticed Blaze wanted to say something but it just wouldn’t come out of his trembling lips.

Sighing, he shook his head and spoke, "It wasn’t your fault. Just focus on growing stronger for now. It wouldn’t be long before it becomes your responsibility."

He waved his hand at him, "Now, don’t keep standing there. Get back to work!" He didn’t even know what work Blaze was supposed to do outside, but that wasn’t his problem.

With his resolute eyes, Blaze tiptoed outside, also wondering what he was supposed to do. After all, everything was handled by Zier the moment Ozul had dropped.

Raven stayed inside the tent, not moving an inch from her place while Blaze stood as a guard outside the tent just in case.

The responsibilities thus all fell on Zier’s shoulders. He calmed down the soldiers, had them pick up the dead bodies, and reassigned their duties. It was also he who had found the Spiritual Core back at the place where the Origin cultivator and Ozul fell.

If there had been another attack within the same day, Blaze had already planned that they’d abandon the platoon and just run away with an unconscious Ozul. Until then, Zier had to manage the situation.

. . .

The night was restless for the soldiers as this attack had been the worst they had faced yet, but Ozul had a cozy nap with a grumpy Jinx.

When he woke up, he was alone in the tent, having told Raven to leave in the middle of the night.

His arm had already attached back while the hole in his chest still required some time.

As he walked out of the tent, he noticed everyone busy with their work while the trio was focused on cultivating in their tents. Their motivation to reach the peak of Nascent Soul burned brighter than the star which hung annoyingly in the sky.

Soon as they felt him coming out of the tent, they stopped what they were doing and rushed to swarm him.

"What?" he asked in confusion; they seem to be expecting something.

Zier was the most interested in his healed arm and the hole in his chest, but Raven and Blaze had other questions,

"So, are we leaving?" Raven stepped forward.

From the look on Blaze’s face, he seemed to have the same question.

"No, we will stay." He shook his head.

"This has become too dangerous for us; you always said that it was better to retreat..." complained Raven as she knew such battles would only become more frequent as the days passed.

But Ozul was adamant, "Until a certain gate opens, we will not leave."

"Gate? What gate?" questioned Blaze.

"I don’t know..."

"..." Raven and Blaze looked at him speechlessly, having realized their fate was once again in lady luck’s hands.

"Why would there be a gate in the middle of nowhere!?" Zier asked in an even more exaggerated manner.

The reply he received was Ozul shrugging his shoulders as he lazily walked back into his tent.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Today as well, just like most days, he didn’t have any work and so he decided to take a nap.