by KSY
Emilia then switched the topic as she had no intention of discussing matters regarding Ryan as it unsettled her heart. Julia didn’t mind either.
In the Estate in the Forest of Darkness, Blake and Cris had returned to their Cultivation chamber and started studying a few Darkness Attribute Martial Skill manuals that had been given to them by their grandpas and grandmas. They were trying to decide which Martial Skills to practice after True Darkness had been fully integrated by their bodies.
“When will Brother come out? It has already been a few hours since we left our messages for him?” Cris asked in an impatient manner.
“He must be in a deep Cultivation-state so there is a high chance that he has yet to see the Mental-messages. He should come out in a day or two. Let’s just wait for him,” Blake said in a calm manner as he flipped the pages of his book, but Cris just nodded his head in a dejected manner.
Ch.4
Ryan was finally out of his Closed-door Cultivation session. He had a big smile on his face. He’d already seen Blake’s Mental-messages and was heading towards Cris’s and Blake’s Cultivation chamber. They shared a Cultivation chamber as their Cultivation Level was quite low. They had Martial Spirits of similar attributes too, so a single Cultivation chamber could easily fulfill their requirements for Elemental Energy.
He still had a day before his departure to the Heaven Sundering Family Clan, which was sufficient for helping Blake form an Equal contract with the Three-eyed Shadow panther. His Closed-door sessions in the past month had been extremely fruitful. The toxicity of his Poison Attribute Liquid Spirit Power had gone up, and best of all was the evolution of Nightmare gas, even though it had had a severe side effect on its victim. His understanding in Fire Elemental Laws had also gone up considerably, though it was still lacking a little bit in comparison to his understanding of Death Elemental Laws. He was still a little far from attempting to breakthrough to Mid Mortal Lord Realm, but it wouldn’t take long given the speed at which his understanding of Elemental Laws was increasing.
Ryan appeared before Cultivation chamber Number one hundred one, which was the one allotted to Cris and Blake. The chamber was not sealed which meant that they were not cultivating, so Ryan pressed the white orb embedded on its door, and it was opened by Cris who was still shrouded in a dark aura.
“Brother!!!” Cris shouted as he hugged Ryan. He had not seen his elder brother for nearly a year, which made him feel overwhelmed with emotion. Ryan just patted his head in a loving manner. Blake also appeared at the door after hearing the ruckus made by Cris. He too was shrouded in a dark aura. Ryan didn’t ask about the dark auras around them as he could guess they were after-effects from absorbing True darkness.
“It’s been a while, Brother,” Blake said with a smile, and Ryan gave him a gentle nod.
“How is sister-in-law doing?” Blake asked in a teasing manner, because he finally understood the reason his brother intended to join the Divine Martial Sect.
“She is doing fine,” Ryan said but his cheeks flushed a little, as he was still not used to being teased by his family members.
“Tell us more about sister-in-law,” Cris said as he released Ryan from his hug.
“I will tell everything. Let’s first head into the Cultivation chamber,” Ryan said, still with cheeks a little flushed.
“OK. Let’s head in,” Cris said with a laugh on seeing Ryan’s flushed cheeks.
Ryan, Blake and Cris talked for a few hours. Ryan answered all their questions one by one. They covered all the topics about Cynthia and the Dark Moon Family Clan. Anger was evident on Blake’s and Cris’s faces when they talked about the Dark Moon Family Clan.
“Brother, the grandpas and grandmas are correct. They will definitely target you inside God’s Domain,” Blake said with a grave expression.
“They won’t be the only ones doing the targeting. I will definitely deal with Rai inside God’s Domain,” Ryan said with a cruel expression, and Blake and Cris expressions changed drastically: they finally understood their brother’s intentions.
“Brother, won’t it be risky? You just told us that he is a Late Mortal Emperor Realm Martial Artist,” Cris asked with a worried expression.
“I will be strong enough by then to deal with him,” Ryan said in a confident manner. Blake and Cris gave him a slight nod. They knew that their brother was not dumb. On the contrary, he was crafty as a fox, so it wouldn’t be easy for the Dark Moon Family Clan to deal with him.
“Cris, you should write a letter to your parents. Many people from the Third branch of the Eternity Family Clan are going to visit Heaven Sundering Family Clan for the Divine Trials. I will have someone amongst them deliver the letter to your parents,” Ryan said with a serious expression.
Cris had been living away from his parents for so many years, that his parents would definitely be worried about him, irrespective of the deeds he’d committed for which he’d had to leave the Family Clan. Ryan thought it would be good if he wrote something to them: it would at least reassure them to a certain extent.
Cris was agape before a sorrowful expression appeared on his face. He opened his mouth a few times, but no words came out when he saw the serious expression on Ryan’s face.
“You should do it,” Blake said. Cris slowly nodded his head; he also found logic in Ryan’s words. Cris took out a pen and a paper from his Spatial pouch and started writing. Ryan and Blake didn’t peek, but gave him complete privacy. Once he was done, he handed over the letter to Ryan. Ryan didn’t read it, but put it into an envelope and sealed it in front of Cris.
“I will make sure that this letter reaches your parents,” Ryan said as he lovingly patted Cris, who nodded his head in return. Ryan could tell that Cris’s mood was little down after writing the letter, so he decided to bring up the matter of the Three-eyed Shadow panther to divert Cris’s attention.
“Blake, I caught an Elemental Beast that might accept you as its partner and form an Equal contract with you. Let’s go to the forest so that you can attempt to form an Equal contract with it,” Ryan said as a mysterious smile appeared on his face. Blake was stunned by Ryan’s words for a second, and Cris was no different.
“What kind of Elemental Beast have you caught, Brother?” Blake asked in an excited manner.
“Have you heard about the Three-eyed Shadow panther?” Ryan asked with a mischievous smile, as he teased Blake. Blake and Cris couldn’t help but suck in cold air. The Three-eyed Shadow panther was one of the most well-known Ancient Elemental Beasts. It was famous for its Heaven Defying Stealth capabilities and extremely powerful attacks.
“Brother, did you seriously catch a Three-eyed Shadow panther?” Blake asked as his breathing rate became abnormal. Cris’s was no different. Ryan didn’t reply, but just nodded his head.
Ryan, Blake and Cris quickly went to the forest surrounding the Estate. Their grandpas and grandmas also went to see if Blake would succeed in forming an Equal contract with the Three-eyed Shadow panther, but they were watching everything from quite a distance, as things might derail, if the Three-eyed Shadow panther detected them.
Ryan again released the Three-eyed Shadow panther from his Beast pouch. This time he had already activated his Asura eyes to deal with its Eternal Camouflage Innate Ability or any other Innate Ability the Three-eyed Shadow panther might have.
“Roar!” The Three-eyed Shadow panther issued a roar as it appeared in front of Ryan and his brothers. Unlike the previous time, it was calm and composed, and didn’t try to attack Ryan. On the contrary, it looked at Ryan in a cautious manner, and completely ignored Blake and Cris.
“I captured you so that you could form an Equal contract with my brother. If you think that my brother is not up to your standard, then you can leave. No one will stop you,” Ryan said in a sincere manner as he pointed at Blake. The Three-eyed Shadow panther almost vomited blood on hearing Ryan words and he glared viciously at him.
“I know what I did to you was excessive and I apologize to you
for it,” Ryan sent a Mental-message transmission to the Three-eyed Shadow panther as he gave it a wry smile. The Three-eyed Shadow panther looked at Ryan for a second before its gaze moved towards Blake. The Three-eyed Shadow panther sized up Blake for about five minutes before it slightly nodded its head and extended its paw towards Blake.
Blake was elated as he quickly bit the tip of his finger and dropped a few drops of blood on its paw. Ryan sighed with relief at this sight. The Three-eyed Shadow panther had a change in its expression when it came to know about Blake’s Martial Spirit from his blood. It would certainly be wrong to say that it was not tempted to form an Equal contract with Blake, as its bloodline purity would definitely increase.
The Three-eyed Shadow panther also wanted to free its parents that had been enslaved by an assassin organization, and if its bloodline purity were to increase, then it would be many times easier for it to free its parents. The Three-eyed Shadow panther could also tell that Ryan and company didn’t have small backgrounds, and that fact could help it in saving its parents too. The Three-eyed Shadow panther sent Mental-message transmissions asking Ryan and his brothers if they were willing to help it in freeing its parents. They immediately agreed and promised to help the Three-eyed Shadow panther.
The Three-eyed Shadow panther was happy on hearing their responses. Its entire body was covered in mystical black runes following which Blake’s blood was absorbed by one of those runes. Ryan, Blake, Cris and their grandpas and grandmas were all elated on seeing that. Soon Blake’s body was also covered in runes similar to the ones on the Three-eyed Shadow panther’s body. Blake was able to feel a connection with the Three-eyed Shadow panther soon after, and his affinity with Darkness Attribute also went up.
“Roar!” The Three-eyed Shadow panther issued a powerful roar as it entered a deep sleep-state while its entire body was covered in black light, which was a sign of its bloodline purity increasing, but its chances of gaining the Innate Ability of Black lightning tiger were next to nil, as the only Innate Ability of its Martial Spirit that had been unsealed by Blake was of Lightning attribute. Ryan gave a Beast pouch to Blake, who then placed the sleeping Three-eyed Shadow panther inside it.
“Congratulations! Congratulations!” The grandpas and grandmas of Ryan and his brothers quickly appeared next to them to congratulate Blake.
Blake thanked everyone, especially his elder brother, Ryan, as without him it would have been impossible for him to get the Three-eyed Shadow panther as his Soul beast. Everyone returned to the Living room to celebrate. Even grandpas and grandmas of theirs who remained in Closed-door Cultivation sessions most of the time came out to congratulate Blake. Oscar came out of his Closed-door Cultivation session too, and a feast was quickly prepared to mark the occasion.
Five grandpas from the Main branch of the Eternity Family Clan also came for this occasion. On Grandura, they were unable to cultivate as they required Elemental Energy far purer than the highest purity Elemental Energy available there. They’d also been unable to bring any kind of Cultivation resources from a Divine World to Grandura as the Heavenly Laws would have destroyed them the moment they were brought there. Generally, Martial Artists that come from some Divine World only come to a Lower World if they have no other choice. These five grandpas had come to Grandura to hide from a powerful faction, a lot of whose members they had killed. Their actions had also lead to their banishment from the Main branch of the Eternity Family Clan, so they’d had no choice but to escape to Grandura to avoid being found by that powerful faction.
Today, all five of them had big smiles on their faces which was quite a rare event. Ryan had rarely seen them smile since his arrival at the Estate. They also rarely took part in celebrations. But, everyone forgets to smile once they know that a powerful faction is after their lives, and once they have lost the support of their own faction. This celebration brought a small change in their monotonous lifestyles.
Blake was happiest, and Ryan and Cris were happy seeing their brother so happy.
“Cris, what kind of Soul beast do you want?” Ryan asked. Cris was stunned for a second, before he felt warmth surge in his heart, as he had thought earlier that his elder brother had forgotten about him. Truth be told too: he had also been a little jealous of Blake earlier on.
“You choose for me,” Cris said as a big smile appeared on his face, and all the ill-feeling completely disappeared from his heart.
“Do you also want a Three-eyed Shadow panther? I saw a quite a few of them in the Forest of Darkness. I can catch one for you too, but I don’t think its bloodline purity would increase at the same Level as Blake’s after it formed an Equal contract with you. It would be lacking in strength in comparison to Blake’s,” Ryan said as he explained the reason for giving the Three-eyed Shadow panther to Blake instead of to him. He didn’t want Cris to feel insecure.
“Oh!!” Cris looked at Ryan with a stunned expression. He hadn’t expected his brother to have thought about this matter so thoroughly.
“I will try to find one for you at the earliest,” Ryan said as he patted his head, and Cris nodded.
The celebration went until it was late in the night.
Ryan was summoned by one of his five grandpas from the Main branch to his Cultivation chamber. His name was Sheldon, and he was a Fire Death Dual Attribute Martial Artist whose Cultivation Level was not known to anyone except for the other four from the Main branch.
“Grandpa, why did you summon me?” Ryan asked, as he unable to think of a reason himself.
“I just want to impart a Fire Death Dual Attribute Martial Skill to you,” Sheldon said as he placed his right hand forefinger on Ryan’s forehead. Ryan suddenly felt a lot of information appear in his head.
“This Martial Skill is called Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill. It allows Death Fire Dual Attribute Martial Artists to create a special kind of being out of the Evil flame they possess, a being known as Evil Fire Spirit. The number of Evil Fire Spirits a Martial Artist can create is equal to the number of Evil flames he or she possesses,” Sheldon explained as he removed his forefinger from Ryan’s forehead.
Ryan nodded his head as he started analyzing the Martial Skill. He was stunned for some time as he had never seen such an overpowered Martial Skill. Very few people practice it, though, because it is very demanding. It can only be practiced by Death Fire Dual Attribute Taboo Martial Artists that possess an Evil flame. These Martial Artists must also have extremely high control over their flames. The Combat prowess of the Evil Fire Spirit depends on the grade of the Evil flame used to create the Evil Fire Spirit, but absorbing a powerful Evil flame is extremely dangerous and painful, because of which not many people dare to absorb an Evil flame - which fact further reduces the number of people who can practice this Martial Skill.
In Ryan’s case, that problem didn’t exist. He already had two extremely powerful Evil flames, could absorb even more powerful Evil flames without fearing anything, and could also create as many Evil Fire Spirits as he wished, but that fact was not known even to Sheldon.
Sheldon continued, “I discovered this Martial Skill in the ruins of an Ancient civilization on a deserted Divine World. No one knows that I have this Martial Skill except for Danr, Brian, Hague and Cenric,” and his face took a more serious expression for a moment.
“The Evil Fire Spirit is actually an Inferno Undead creature that was created by artificial means. The creator of this Martial Skill was definitely an unrivaled genius, as he created a Martial Skill that allows a Martial Artist to create an Inferno Undead creature,” Sheldon explained further.
“Inferno Undead creatures comprise the strongest type of Undead creatures that can’t be killed: they can only be sealed to stop them from rampaging. Generally, controlling even normal Undead creatures is considered an uphill task, so the difficulty associated with controlling Inferno Undead creatures can be imagined,” Sheldon said, and paused.
“In the Divine Universe, only a very small percentage of people can control
Inferno Undead creatures and these people are respected, as well as feared, by everyone. The Evil Fire Spirit created with the help of the Evil Fire Spirit Martial Skill will remain loyal to its creator until the bitter end, as its life is directly connected to that of its creator,” Sheldon clarified, and then added, “I have also created my own Evil Fire Spirit.”
“Grandpa, can you show me your Evil Fire Spirit?” Ryan asked in an excited manner. He had already decided to master this Martial Skill. On seeing Ryan’s excitement Sheldon didn’t refuse; on the contrary, he felt happy. In the Main branch, kids of Ryan’s age used to keep a distance from him as he was a Demonic Martial Artist.
The Vector tattoo of a Humanoid figure on Sheldon’s right forearm started to shine and a crimson-colored streak of light appeared out of the tattoo, and turned into a crimson-colored Humanoid figure which appeared beside Sheldon. This crimson-colored Humanoid figure was Sheldon’s Evil Fire Spirit, and Ryan could feel a tremendous amount of power from it.
Sheldon’s Evil Fire Spirit looked just like a Skeleton Undead creature that was wrapped in its entirety in crimson-colored flames. The Evil Fire Spirit held a sword in its right hand and wore worn-out armor. Ryan avoided looking into its eye sockets as he got an eerie feeling when he did. The Evil Fire Spirit released a lot of bloodlust and Killing intent as he looked at Ryan with curiosity. Ryan could tell that the Evil flame that Sheldon had absorbed was not weak. The crimson Humanoid figure again turned into a crimson-colored streak of light as it entered the Vector tattoo of a Humanoid figure on Sheldon’s right forearm.
“In order to form an Evil Fire Spirit, a Death Fire Dual Attribute living being has to be sacrificed during the creation of the Evil Fire Spirit. The sacrificed living being is then reborn as an Evil Fire Spirit, the strength of which depends on two factors: the grade of the Evil Variant flame, and the living being that is sacrificed during the creation of the Evil Fire Spirit. I sacrificed a very powerful foe of mine during the creation of my own Evil Fire Spirit,” Sheldon said as an evil smile appeared on his face. Ryan looked agape at Sheldon, who couldn’t control his laughter on seeing the expression on Ryan’s face, as he’d never expected Ryan to show such an expression.
