Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 456: Lacking Imagination?

’Now how do I tell her that gods are starting a war...’

Ozul watched the piling papers on Ember’s desk. After the fall of The Alliance, people from all over the continent were sending her letters. She had also overtaken a lot of small businesses.

Despite all the work she was busy with, she was more interested in hearing what he had to say.

"So... What happened?" she asked with her hands interlocked, looking at him with a gleam in her eyes.

Not only the participants and their guardians, but even she and the City Lord Ryujin were curious about what the Celestial Phoenix wanted with him.

Ozul glanced at the mess on her table and deemed it not important enough to inform her of the war that every realm would be swept into.

"You seem busy, we can discuss it later. It isn’t important," he replied nonchalantly before yawning and walking out of the door.

Ember wanted to stop him but before she could say anything, he was already walking in the corridor.

...

As Ozul entered the room, he expected the familiar sight of the three cultivating ceaselessly.

Much to his surprise, they were all sleeping as if they had never slept before.

He inspected their bodies one by one and noticed the changes made by Phoenix’s Blessing immediately.

’Not only are the Spiritual pathways broader but that small flame in their Core...’ He observed it with deep interest. The Phoenix’s flame acted almost independently as it continuously refined their Spiritual Energy strands.

The flame in their cores made it possible for them to cultivate even in their sleep!

That was the reason people spent their fortunes appeasing the Phoenix Lord in hopes of getting an entry into the Trial.

While the trio slept soundly, the other 7 participants were being treated for their injuries. Ozul’s scent made it easier for the trio to heal. The others weren’t as lucky as them.

In the City Lord’s estate, Sarah was particularly gnashing her teeth while a physician was applying ointment on her bleeding palms.

She wasn’t seething because of the pain from the wound but at the thought of the trio enduring the trial as if it was a summer breeze.

Elder Saiko on the other hand, was also in deep thoughts.

’There is no doubt anymore. It is good that these two didn’t offend that man. I also have to inform the Sect Leader,’ he sighed, wondering just how could a mere mortal from a Broken World have dealings with the Celestial Phoenix.

On the other hand, in an auspicious hotel in Phoenix City, Vesta was licking her wounds as well.

At this point, she was more infuriated by the indifferent gaze of Ozul standing high on the platform than having to submit before a higher Beast such as the Celestial Phoenix.

The Elder recognized the look in her eyes, but she couldn’t offer any word of advice as she was busy handling the affairs of the Wilderness.

She had just received word back from them and was told to make one last threat, requesting an immediate meeting with Ember and offering her the Wilderness’ demands.

’Yeah... As if I am an idiot,’ the Elder clicked her tongue before burning the parchment to ashes.

Even she could tell how dangerous it would be to offend Ember as she seemed to have retained the support of the Celestial Phoenix.

Standing next to her on that platform, it was clear to her that she had fully regained her powers.

’And that boy...’ she thought of his strangely unkempt appearance, ’He too has dealings with the Phoenix.’

All things considered, she couldn’t be bothered to risk her life for the whims of those old coots who sit on their assess all day and cultivate. She would just lie to them if she had to.

Turning toward Vesta, she spoke, "We are returning. Pack your things."

Vesta glanced at her silently before standing up from the bed. She answered her coldly,

"I am ready."

’... I forgot she didn’t bring anything.’

. . .

The next day, in Ember’s estate.

Ozul woke up at the sound of the door knocking.

Raven, Blaze, and Zier had already woken up and were on the training grounds. Since there was no one to open the door, he had to make an effort and walk to the door.

He had yet to muster this kind of strength in him when the door swung open and Rai strode in without a care in the world.

Noticing Ozul’s frown, Rai removed his ever-present grin and stopped in his tracks.

"It wasn’t me, the wind blew open the door."

"...What do you want me for?"

"Oh, yeah. Lord Ember called for you," Rai answered quickly and left the room. It seemed like he was in a hurry.

Ozul groaned, weighing his options. He could either go there and tell her about the war or he could lay there thinking up ways he could improve his power again.

No matter how many times he reconsidered, the latter seemed to be the best choice.

And so, he ignored Ember’s summon and kept lying on the bed face up.

A small drop of Purity drained from his chest and hovered above his face as he curiously inspected this strange element that only he could produce.

’Not only does it heal, but it can also purify a cultivator’s impurities. Something that even the Celestial Phoenix finds difficult...’

The reason the trio remained steadfast while the others in the trial screamed in agony was precisely because of this Purity.

He used it mostly as a weapon; sharpening it when needed, creating storms of blades or needles so thin that even the keenest eyes could miss.

Yet, it was limited to how much pressure he could exert mentally.

Each time his powers improved, the biggest benefit was the increase in his mental capacity to wield Purity in the most unexpected ways.

’Maybe I am only lacking in imagination...’

He had tried various exercises to sharpen his control over the massive amount of Purity that he could produce now, but after some time, those exercises didn’t yield any more results.

With an element so versatile such as Purity, he had mostly used it to create sharp things and hurl them at his enemies.

He had planned to perfect his control to a level where he could let the gaseous form of Purity enter his opponents and destroy them from the inside, but this concept proved far more impossible.

’It can heal wounds and purify impurities... Maybe it can do other things as well?’ he thought while playing with the drop of Purity. Since he never really tried it, he couldn’t be sure of the results.

He finally found the energy to sit up straight on the bed as he looked around the room to find something he could experiment on.

The first and foremost ability he wanted to imitate was the burning of the Celestial Phoenix’s flames.

He’d been fascinated by that abyss-like fire since he had first seen it.

Unfortunately, he found no such object in the room.

He could only look down on the bed, ’It can burn...’

And so, he didn’t even think for a second before bringing the drop of Purity onto the bed and mentally forcing it to burn.

"..."

*zzzzz!*

If stares could produce a sound, Ozul’s would be buzzing like a honeybee.

He waited for a few seconds, and those seconds almost turned into a minute before he gave up.

Touching that part of the bed, he even confirmed that there was no heat at all much less a burning smoke.

Although disappointing, he didn’t give up.

Standing up from the bed, he produced Purity half the size of the bed and enveloped it all.

And then again began his incessant staring as he not only kept muttering the word ’burn’ but also kept imagining the bed heating up and finally catching fire.

"..."

Fortunately for him, the door of his room was closed so no one noticed him staring so intently at the bed for 5 minutes straight.

Again, he touched the bed for confirmation.

If anything, he felt as if it had gotten a little colder.

And thus began his experiments of trying out different things that he could do with the Purity. Since burning or heating had failed, he tried freezing next.

Sadly, nothing of such sort worked.

Next, he tried many other things, but there were no results whatsoever.

’Maybe it can induce illusions?’ He glanced at Jinx looking at him curiously before shaking his head. He couldn’t experiment on her.

Since there was no one in the room either, he only had one alternative, "She was calling me..."

He had wasted more than an hour staring at Purity and willing it to do stuff he hadn’t tried before.

There was no guarantee that Ember was still in her office, but he had no other choice either.

As he entered, he noticed her sitting behind a clean desk, watching him enter with her hands clasped together and under her chin.

"You took your sweet time..."

Ozul looked around and found no evidence of all the papers and letters he had seen the day before.

"How did you do that?" He remembered the days he was the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers. He would usually ignore all of those letters or let others handle it all.

"Ahem, I work very hard," replied Ember with a cough. She conveniently forgot to mention the part where Rai was in the next room dealing with all of those things right now.

"Can you tell me what you and the Phoenix talked about now?" She urged. That was the only reason she had called him this morning and why she had the room cleaned of the mess.

Ozul paused, he weighed the idea of telling her now or finding a more convenient time when he had the energy and the will.

In the end, however, he sighed tiredly. He would never find such a time.

"... You remember there is a God in that place..."

"Yes, the Lands Above Realms."

"Hm... His son and his enemy are about to go to war."

"Okay... Wait what? He has a son and he has enemies? And they are about to go to war?!"

Ember’s reaction wasn’t exaggerated. She could only imagine the scale of such a war since she had witnessed the strength of the Lands Above Realms firsthand.

"The Phoenix told me it could take a decade, but all existing Realms will be swept away in the chaos..." Ozul revealed every detail.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds before Ember finally erupted,

"... And yesterday you said it isn’t important! "