Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 474: A Decade.

The wheels of time never stopped turning.

Weeks, Months, and then Years.

10 years of winds couldn’t change the landscape of the continent even in the slightest.

Unaware of the impending war upon them, the people of the Realm of Abezan remained busy in their everyday lives.

Since Ember’s ascension to Empyrean, things hadn’t gone as people had guessed they would.

No wars were waged against anyone, nor any major conflicts that could topple kingdoms and change the alliances in the Realm.

It was as if after Ember had reached a newer realm in her cultivation, she had let go of her past, deeming it a mere triviality before the new possibilities now open for her.

But these people didn’t know that one way or another, Ember was enacting her revenge on both the Humans and the Beastkin who had wronged her.

Only the Immortal Sect and the Wilderness knew with certainty that the occasional assassinations of their people were not done by each other but because of Ember instead.

Feeding on their misfortune, Ozul kept growing stronger with each Transcendent that he killed and absorbed.

The nickname ’Masked Death’ gained popularity quickly and exaggerated rumors soon followed.

Since he had no Spiritual traces, neither the Immortal Sect nor the Wilderness could do anything about it.

Over time, the operations of both organizations had to be limited outside their secure territories.

The number of people who were killed and were affiliated with the Sect was considerably higher than those of Wilderness. Despite having a grudge against both, Ember didn’t go after every Beastkin.

Since the culprit behind the assassinations, ’Masked Death’ could never be traced back to Ember, neither the Wilderness nor the Immortal Sect’s Elders could blame her.

As such, Ember quickly established a third territory in the continent solely under her control even without establishing any businesses.

While to a commoner’s eyes, it seemed nothing much had changed in the continent over the years, those involved knew that the consequences of a 3rd Empyrean were already apparent.

Although the Elders of both the Sect and the Wilderness remained bitter about their people dying left and right, they were all afraid of Ember now and seldom showed themselves to the outside world.

Amidst this power struggle, Ozul’s power grew exponentially.

There were only around 20 Sages alive on the continent, but the number of Transcendents that he could absorb was more than enough for him.

It started out slow as he used to struggle with his targets for a while, but over time, he not only got stronger but also got used to fighting the Transcendents. There were fewer surprises for him each time he killed one.

But that only lasted for the first few years of his debut as the Masked Death.

The number of targets he could assassinate decreased with time as both the Sect and the Wilderness ordered their Transcendents to stick together at all times.

After that, he could only thank his luck whenever Ember informed him of a lone Transcendent anywhere nearby.

Despite that, his strength was comparable to the peak of the Transcendent Realm in this short decade.

He was at a point where he considered himself to be almost on par with Rai when he first met him.

’No... With my abilities, I would easily be able to kill him,’ he thought as he sat under a shade in the estate, observing Rai being beaten by Ember. It was a rare sight that even he wouldn’t miss.

His control over the Purity had only gotten stronger, his senses sharper, and even his absorption had gotten more intense. The longer he fought his opponents, the more he ate away at their health.

It was either that he instantly decapitated his opponents or stretched the battle to steal their life force. Either way, anyone who witnessed his absorption ability didn’t live to tell the tale.

’Now, however, it is almost useless to go after the weaker Transcendents...’ He mused, wondering if he could ever get his hands on a Sage instead.

The stronger he became, the better quality of Spiritual Essence was needed to support his growth. Now that his strength was at the peak of Transcendence, absorbing a weaker Transcendent only gave him a nudge at best.

Even Ember had no other Sage except for Rai. And for the past 10 years, she made sure that she wouldn’t lose him by beating him every chance she had.

Although not as noticeable as Ozul, Rai’s growth had no pause either. With Ember’s personal training, he had passed a few small stages of the Sage Realm as well.

He was at a point where Ember could finally let him face off against other Sages without much worry.

"Hey, you brat! You are enjoying this aren’t you?!" Rai shouted at him, pointing at him as he lay on the ground, panting.

Ozul shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t denying nor agreeing to anything.

Ember was beating the shit out of Rai in the name of sparring. These were the few moments when they could enjoy seeing this insufferable man being on the receiving end.

Ozul wasn’t alone as he sat under the shade.

Right behind him, the trio sat in a lotus position with their eyes closed. They too had stopped circulating their Spiritual Essence and were secretly watching him get beaten up instead.

"Do you think I haven’t noticed?" Ember turned toward them after she was done with Rai, who had passed out from the pain.

Raven was quick-witted. As soon as Rai was unconscious, she had started circulating her Spiritual Essence again. Unfortunately for Zier and Blaze, they had been enjoying the show a bit too much.

"Since you enjoyed that, get on here now!"

Ember called out to them as both stood up with slumped shoulders. It was their turn now.

"You too." Ember pointed at her.

Raven opened her eyes, sighing as she couldn’t escape the eyes of an Empyrean after all.

These three had the greatest improvements in these years compared to everyone else.

Despite wasting a lot of his time experimenting with poisons and his blood, Zier was always the first to advance to the next Realms.

Over the past decade, he breezed through the smaller stages of the Origin Realm. And the fact that he wasn’t putting all his efforts into cultivating astonished even Ember who had lived for more than a thousand years and seen all kinds of geniuses.

But having become an Empyrean, she did not lose her cool in front of them. Instead, it only motivated her further to teach them.

Blaze and Raven didn’t fall far behind either. They kept up with his pace, albeit with more effort.

And so, in just 10 years, all three of them were at the initial stage of the Transcendent Realm!

The Immortal Sect and the Wilderness would cry out with tears if they received the news that the Dragon Hatchlings under Ember had already spread their wings.

Breezing through the Origin Realm in just 10 years was almost unheard of, and yet, all three of them had achieved such a feat.

Rai was even relieved that he had advanced to the Sage Realm or these kids he bullied would not hesitate to take their deserving revenge.

Raven particularly mastered all kinds of Spiritual Arts that Ember taught her, while Blaze outright refused to learn her techniques.

Yet, if the three of them were asked who among them was the strongest, even Raven and Zier would quickly consent to Blaze’s victory.

When he had achieved the peak of Origin Realm, Blaze had finally unlocked a part of the inheritance left by the Ice Monarch.

Several techniques and ways to circulate his unique Spiritual Essence were transferred to his brain.

The deep blue crystals on his forehead glowed brightly whenever he accessed the inheritance to cultivate.

In terms of overall combat strength, he surpassed both Zier and Raven!

"Isn’t it a little unfair? You are an Empyrean..." Zier couldn’t help but complain as the three of them stood in front of Ember.

"You two think it’s unfair as well?" She asked Raven and Blaze.

The two nodded their heads but with some hesitation. They couldn’t guess what she would do next.

"Alright then. There are three of you, so a Sage shouldn’t be unfair, right?"

She muttered before going to Rai and injecting her Spiritual Essence into his unconscious body.

Rai woke up with stinging pain all over his body as he hurriedly looked around to gather what had happened to him.

"The three of them were making fun of you while you slept," Ember pointed at the trio as she told him.

’Bitch...’ The three of them simultaneously cursed her in their hearts as they noticed Rai glaring at them like a bloodthirsty beast.

And so began another one-sided thrashing.

It started out with the three of them holding up against Rai as Zier used all kinds of poisons to keep him busy.

Raven confused him with her never-ending arsenal of techniques while Blaze carried the momentum of their fight.

But a wounded Sage was still a Sage and not something Transcendents at their stage could hope to take down.

Slowly, as they exhausted everything they had, Rai began to regain his momentum, having also recovered a little from Ember’s beating.

And soon, as Ember and Ozul watched from the side, Rai plummeted them to the ground one by one.

Ember’s estate expanded in these years as well.

They had created a separate space just for the Transcendents to train as they occasionally uprooted the earth with their spars.

Still, whenever Rai was involved, this new expensive setup was destroyed as well.

"Do you have any news?" Ozul asked as Ember sat next to him, both their eyes on the spar.

She nodded her head gravely, "It won’t be long now... "