Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 465: Potential.

While the trio quickly went back to cultivation after their little trip, Ozul was on his bed, thinking about the new ability he had discovered.

After absorbing the Three-Tailed Monkey, it became obvious this was his true path all along.

Instead of waiting to stumble upon a treasure with dense enough energy for him to refine and absorb, he could’ve just consumed all the people he had killed and gotten much stronger.

But there was no need for regrets now. From that point onward, he decided not to let any Transcendent go to waste.

’Is it really alright?’ He felt the need to ask himself the crucial question. Killing someone and devouring their life essence were two different things.

It wasn’t any different from what the Celestial Phoenix was doing except for the fact that he wasn’t using his mouth to swallow for the process.

But he quickly denied having any regrets about it. ’I did not feel a thing,’ he recalled all the times that he devoured others in the forest.

After absorbing the Three-Tailed Monkey, to his delight, his senses weren’t affected at all.

He only felt a greater control over Purity and an increase in its quantity.

Though it felt useless when describing in words, the effect it had on his overall fighting capabilities was astonishing to even himself.

With greater control over Purity, he could move it to his will with less effort. That alone allowed him to pierce through objects previously he felt indestructible.

’Though I will struggle less against Rai, I am still nowhere near...’ He thought helplessly.

Although the boost in his strength was great, it still wasn’t worth mentioning in front of a peak Transcendent cultivator.

While Ozul lay on his bed with Jinx beside him, Rai was in his office mulling over his own thoughts.

...

’His presence has dimmed,’ he thought to the moment when he had sensed Ozul walking toward his room.

Rai was one of the strongest Transcedents in this Realm and with his animalistic senses, few could sneak up on him.

Since Ozul had zero Spiritual traces on him, it was harder to feel his presence from the start, so he would always compare his abilities against him subconsciously.

’Did something good happen in that forest?’ Rai assumed that to be the only reasonable explanation.

That forest was uncharted even till now. There could be many treasures hidden in its depth for all he knew.

Even Ozul hadn’t realized that his presence had grown dimmer the more powerful he became. The only tangible change for him was his control over purity.

Raven, Blaze, and Zier were also aware of this change as they were always around him. It was only he who remained blissfully unaware of his own fading presence.

He walked more quietly, spoke more naturally, and blended more into the environment the stronger he became. Of all these changes, he only knew about the fact that he had started talking more.

’Well good for that fella,’ Rai smiled; unlike what people expected from his behavior, he wasn’t competitive when it came to power.

After Ember went into hiding, he had all the time in the world to cultivate and try to break through into the Sage Realm. Yet, he instead chose to become a bartender in a remote city, waiting for Ember to return.

People often mistook his actions for power thirst, even though he just wanted to spite and kill people.

’He will quickly reach the peak. This kid will give me a hard time then,’ leaning against his chair, Rai imagined having a spar with Ozul when his strikes were as strong or even stronger than him.

He had long realized that Ozul wasn’t following the normal cultivation path and was carving one of his own.

Standing up from his seat, he walked to the window and opened the shades, enjoying the sunlight hitting his face as he watched the trio training their Spiritual Arts.

"All of them are so interesting..." he muttered unconsciously.

Ozul was a special case, but those three Dragon Hatchlings were in a league of their own as well.

Not only him, but even Ember herself was surprised at how quickly Raven was able to learn and adapt to the Scarlet Eyes.

The greatness of her achievement only became clear when it was known that most people weren’t even compatible with that skill since it wasn’t made to be transferred to others.

Yet, Raven not only learned it quickly but also tweaked a few changes in the manual so that the technique would fit exactly into her physique.

Ember was so surprised that she even entertained the thought of grooming Raven as her heir.

Zier, on the other hand, not only had a knack for Blood Arts but even had a special constitution that made his blood akin to poisons and a cure for them at the same time.

Rai hadn’t seen someone like him in his entire life.

"But from these three..." He muttered, looking at the man with cyan hair. He finished the rest of his thoughts in his heart, ’He has the most terrifying potential...’

’Lord Ember underplayed his importance at the start, but she quickly changed her mind as well...’

When Ember informed them that Blaze was an ’Ice Prince’, she refrained from mentioning the part that all the Ice Princes were more cursed than blessed.

The mere fact that they were chosen as potential heirs of the now-deceased Ice Monarch limited their choices. But the biggest disadvantage was their mental health.

All the Ice Princes till now would go mad and suffer from Spiritual backlash sooner or later. For all his wisdom, the Ice Monarch or the late White Emperor hadn’t considered the fact that his inheritance, even while sealed, was still an unbearable burden on the mortals.

As such, even the Immortal Sect hadn’t made a big fuss when they let Blaze wander around the realm on his own. To begin with, they didn’t place much hope in him.

However, Blaze had exceeded all Ember and Rai’s expectations.

Ember occasionally checked the flow of his Spiritual Essence with her Scarlet Eyes and she found it even better than some peak Origin cultivators!

Not once had he shown any outbursts of emotions either. At most, she had only noticed a trace of Rai’s tendencies in him.

’Few survive the partial awakening of the inheritance when they enter the Transcendent Realm, and even then, those few hesitate to use it lest they lose control.

He, however, can abuse that power to his heart’s content.’

The smile on Rai’s face kept widening as he kept imagining the reactions of those Elders of the Immortal Sect once they finally saw the treasure trove they had let slip out of their hands.

Meanwhile, Blaze, the man in question, continued honing his Spiritual Arts when he had a tingling sensation, a burning gaze boring a hole in his back.

Glancing back, he didn’t see anyone. Ember’s office window was open, but there was no one there.

. . .

Time passed excruciatingly slowly for those waiting for the third Spiritual Wave to assault the Realm.

Inside the Celestial Phoenix’s nest, the Spiritual Essence from outside naturally flowed in and hid Ember in a large sphere.

From a distance, the Phoenix watched as Ember struggled to find the perfect blend of Soul and Form.

Since she was kind of a beast herself, she could help Ember merge the two Revivals and achieve the last one, but had no such intentions.

"It is your trial. If you fail to merge in time, you will not only die but also destroy my home. I expect you to understand that I do not wish for that to happen," the Phoenix spoke to the sphere, uncaring of the fact that Ember was in a life struggle.

There was no reply from Ember. Although she heard the comment, she couldn’t be bothered to reply as her life was hanging on the line.

All the confidence that she had before attempting the breakthrough dispersed after the 2nd Revival. She had been trying to merge her Soul and Body, but like two same poles of the magnet, they repelled each other insistently.

If she didn’t have peace of mind in the protection of the Phoenix, she would have failed already.

The Celestial Phoenix owed the Beastkin that much to let her breakthrough in her nest, but actively helping her was against the rules that the Celestial Beasts had enforced upon themselves.

While thinking of the consequences of Ember’s breakthrough, the Phoenix noticed that a figure was starting to appear amidst the storm of Spiritual Essence.

It was blurry and an exact figure couldn’t be traced in the chaos of Soul and Form, but she understood that the 3rd and last Revival was near.

For a long time, nothing happened.

And then the blast occurred unexpectedly.

Yet another Spiritual Wave assaulted the Realm, spreading to all corners of the world.

It was like an earthquake that occurred simultaneously everywhere, announcing the birth of a Monarch.

The forests hummed and the rivers swayed unnaturally. Realm of Abezan had gained another ruler.

The 3rd Empyrean was born.