Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 449: Life Is So Unfair.

"Oh? What is this trial?" Blaze asked with excitement in his eyes.

Ember smirked as if it was her achievement, and answered in a mysterious tone, "The Celestial Phoenix holds a special trial every decade.

Whoever fails the trial becomes food for the Phoenix while those who pass can get her blessing!"

The trio stared at her shocked. "Those who fail become food for her?" Zier asked again to confirm if he wasn’t hearing things.

Ember sighed before explaining, "What are you all surprised about? Look on the bright side! You get to have her blessings if you pass the trial!"

She paused and glanced at their faces before realizing they hadn’t heard of the blessing of the Phoenix either. So, she hurriedly explained,

"The blessing from the Celestial Phoenix isn’t just for goodwill. It’s like a rebirth! No medicine or elixir in this Realm is more effective in improving your cultivation than that blessing.

Those who receive her blessing have never faced any bottleneck in their cultivation journey until at least the Transcendent Realm."

It was only now that the trio understood the worth of that blessing and suddenly, the consequences of failing the trial were thrown out of their mind.

"When does the next trial begin?" Ozul asked. He wanted nothing more than the three of them to get stronger quickly.

Ember smiled, noticing his eagerness, "A few more months. The whole city transforms as if celebrating a festival, so you would know when the time comes."

She then turned toward the trio again, "That bastard would never allow anyone else under me to enter the trial, but you three get a free pass. You better not disappoint me there."

After all, they had been under her care for a while now. If they failed the test, it would tarnish her name and hers alone.

Before she could shoo them out of her office, Ozul spoke again, "Tell me about the Phoenix."

If he wanted to understand Jinx, he could only start with her ’children’ about whom people at least had some information.

"Well that is an interesting question, but I’m really tired after all of that..." Ember’s words trailed off into silence as she noticed he wouldn’t leave before getting his answer.

Sighing once again, she answered him with a deadbeat tone, "There are only speculations that she is from the Land Above Realms as well. There are no records of when exactly the Phoenix settled down in this Realm, but she has been here since I became aware of myself."

Nodding in understanding, Ozul asked again, "Are there more beings like her?"

The Phoenix had mentioned that she had siblings.

"Hmm... Well, there are three other beasts spread in three other Realms." Ember made a thoughtful face. She hadn’t seen them herself since she never left this Realm, but the information was still from a trusted source.

"There’s supposedly a Celestial Dragon, a Celestial Tiger, and a Celestial Turtle. Together with the Celestial Phoenix, these four are famously known as the Four Celestial Beasts.

Although they hold the same title, I’m not really sure if they are related or not."

Ember was unsure since she hadn’t personally seen the appearance of the other Celestial Beasts, but Ozul believed they were the siblings that the Phoenix had mentioned.

’So Jinx has four children...’ he made a thoughtful face, not sure how to feel about that.

After all, she was a cat while the ’children’ in question were different kinds of beasts.

. . .

Rumors about the Celestial Phoenix bowing before a cat spread quickly and before long, major forces of the Realm received word of it.

However, not many believed the story due to its implausible nature.

Unlike them, the City Lord had personally witnessed the scene with his own eyes. He couldn’t reject the truth even if he wanted to.

And so, he took the next best course of action; after quickly restoring order in the city, he began to investigate Ozul and the people who were given a free pass in the trial.

He was sitting in his office and waiting for his son to bring him any results when something clicked in his mind, "Alliance Leader mentioned Ember had someone who could completely hide his Spiritual trace..."

He couldn’t be mistaken since that fact alone stuck out like a sore thumb amidst that unbelievable situation. After all, even the Transcendents felt out of breath while confronting the Phoenix, how could someone who exude no Spiritual Essence stand before her straight?

Having made the connection, his anger only soared toward the raven-haired boy. If not for him, he wouldn’t have lost so many Transcendents!

Ryujin hadn’t been so angered in his entire life. He was played by both the Alliance Leader and Ember for their interests, and now, he couldn’t even make a move against them in his own city.

’Just you wait! I won’t let this go, Ember!’ He reclined on his chair, trying to repress his emotions.

He already had sent his son to figure out the identity of Ozul and his companions, so it wouldn’t be long before he learned that they were Dragon Hatchlings.

. . .

In his room, Ozul rested on the bed with his eyes closed as he sorted out everything in his mind.

For the first time in his life, he had a clear direction to search for his answers. But at the same time, he was also made aware of the existence of a God ruling the Land Above Realms where he was supposed to go.

’I am nowhere near strong enough to deal with something like a God,’ he thought before realizing how strange his line of thinking was. If there was a God, how could he ever hope to face it?

’Still, there are beings as strong as the Celestial Beasts in the Land Above Realms. I can’t even face a Sage much less them.’

He needed to become stronger, but there was nothing that could help him right now.

Glancing at the trio who were cultivating, he wondered if it would have been easier for him if he could cultivate as well. ’At least, they don’t stop growing because they run out of rare resources to consume...’ he thought wistfully.

"Life is so unfair sometimes..." he muttered, with a tired tone.

If any cultivator had heard him, they wouldn’t stop cursing at him all day. They were the ones enduring for months and years for little progress in their cultivation journey, and he was the one complaining?!

He was just about to stop all the thoughts and enjoy the sweet embrace of slumber when a familiar meow rang out in the room and Jinx jumped on his bed.

Curling herself under his arm, she made herself comfortable as they both drifted off to sleep peacefully.

Meanwhile, the other three people in the room were gawking at the cat.

They too had seen the Celestial Phoenix bow before this harmless thing which they had gotten familiar with years ago. But now, they couldn’t ignore her so casually as they used to before.

If anyone were to look at Ozul’s face at this moment, they would also notice a slight curl up of his lips. Without noticing it himself, he was a little worried that maybe Jinx wouldn’t return.

As he slept peacefully, the trio focused on their cultivation.

Having already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, the only thing standing between them and the Origin Realm was their Origin Locks.

There were 10 different Origin Locks in everyone’s body, according to Ember.

Once all of them were discovered by the cultivator and then forced open, they would officially step into the Origin Realm.

Even now, Zier was in the lead among the three of them. He had already opened 3 of his Origin Locks while Raven and Blaze were right behind with 2.

By this point, they had to admit that Zier was a genius in cultivation. Even Blaze who never lost in the race of cultivating was left to stare at his back.

Since their astonishing speed at cultivation was because of the Purity in their body, Zier just so happened to have a special constitution of blood which helped him absorb the effects to a greater extent.

In comprehension of techniques and understanding of the cultivation, he was still lackluster compared to Raven and Blaze.

Even now, if they were to fight, Raven could easily best Zier.

She had made great progress in the Scarlet Eyes to the point where even Ember, the creator of the technique, was impressed.

With the Scarlet Eyes activated, she realized how easily one could predict the movements of their opponents if they could only read the flow of Spiritual Essence surrounding them.

Blaze, on the other hand, had learned a few more offensive techniques that involved his favorite element: ice.

He enjoyed once again having the power to put cracks into boulders with punches.

Since Ember hadn’t told them what kind of trail it was, they were eager to advance in their cultivation for an easier time there.

If only they knew that the trial only tested their mental capability, they wouldn’t have been so anxious.